The Best Day Ever!

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Man!!!!!

So as many of you already know...yesterday was probably best day of my life! Around 5 o'clock my sister Noelle gets a phone call from my dad saying his car died by tempe town lakes and he needed some help. So we hoped in the car and headed that way. We arrived and my dad asked me to get the jumper cables in the back of his truck. When I get back there the love of my life, Justin Togisala, was lying in the bed of the truck! I was so delighted to see him! I jumped in the back and gave him a big hug! Next he asked if I wanted to go on a walk. Of course I said yes. Then we went on the paddle boats and after paddling a while we turned the boat around to watch the sunset. We just sat there talking and listening to music, then he pulled out the ring and asked the question! After I said yes he reached behind him and pulled out sparkling cider and fresh strawberries and some cute little brownies. He is an awesome guy and I am so lucky to have him in my life! Love you all!

WATCH THIS

Hey guys! You have to watch this! I found it on youtube and it is hilarious! Just click the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQpbzQ6gzs

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween Everyone! This past week Rexburg had a pumpkin carving competition and these are some of them....

This is Yoda and I think Darth Mal

This is Monsters Inc. You can't really tell but there is a door swinging open and Boo is peaking out.

This is my favorite! This is the Joker! The picture doesn't do it justice at all! There is so much detail! I wish I had a better camera!

This one is also super awesome! It is a dragon head! Sweet huh?!

Well I hope you enjoyed them! Wish I had a better camera to do them justice, but oh well! Love you all!

Howdy to All Ya'lls

What can I say other than Ben is REALLY diggin' this Texas thing!

Sending Ya'll lots of love from Tejas!

Happy Father's Day!

I ment to put this up earlier, I just haven't had time to! I think your awesome dad!

Just click on the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s

Just a little taste of our semester!

So this is my second and 1/2 (if you count when i was here in the summer) semester and so far it has been just peachy! School has kept me busy especially these past few and the next two for sure will be hectic with midterms! I have very much enjoyed living with nellie this semester, i don't know what i would do without her silliness, late nights of non stop laughter, pranking each other, making dinner, or breakfast together, picnics with jessi :) and just acting really weird! ha ha i also love having brad and jessi around, they are always looking out for me, and inviting me to fun hikes with them and making sure i have food in my belly..thanks by the way. also me,nellie and jessi have planned a sleepover! i am really excited although poor bradley will have to suffer through our dance party/tie dye shirt making/ fingernail painting/ chick flick party! They are also so good to listen to me and nellie vent about our roommates, school, friends, whatever. And they are just really cute!haha anyways somethings nellie and i have been up to..i have joined a co-ed volleyball team as well as a soccer team, Nellie, brad, and jessi are all on a ultimate frisbee team! i am the secretary in my relief society and nellie is the FHE coordinator for the ward, looking for a job is endless..i am going to start going back to the plasma center (wish me luck, that place scares me) my cooking is improving but i cant say i really have done to much, still sticking to the turkey and cheese sandwiches and nellie mac'n cheese, the boys are all after nellie! she seriously is so stinkin pretty and amazing and she doesn't even realize it, 2 of our FHE brothers are after her! she is just the best! some of my new favorite things are...taking naps or doing homework at the park (when its sunny), going to zumba, pulling pranks on my roommates (i cant say they say the same). Speaking of roommates, my roommates are all from idaho but one which is from georgia. nellie and i like them all, some more than others...but we have fun and its all good! ha ha Sorry this isn't that exciting of a post but thats whats been going on! enjoy the pics

Apartment 101!

So nellie and i have LOVED living together! this is a tour of our apartment! Please excuse the mess! The day i took pictures wasn't the cleanest it has been :)

This right here is my favorite! theres not much yet but its growing! this is door the entrance to our room! we often leave each other random notes of just whatever or of where we are! They usually really weird and always make us laugh! you probably don't think it is but we always get a good kick out of it!

Dedicated to J-diggity

I promised Jessica a million years ago that I would post pictures of our home on the blog for the parade of homes series. I didn't do it at first because we were supposed to be moving into a home, and then when that didn't work out we were going to move next door, but then we didn't. We have also been playing musical rooms, my room up stairs and then downstairs and then back upstairs (This is why none of the rooms and the basement have any decor on the walls).  Well I am finally doing it. So here ya go.

Front of apartment (B-for Backus)

View of the "Great room" from front door.

Living room side

Dining room side

Kitchen

Children's room (yes that is a black sheet hanging on the window. It gets dark so late here).

Master bedroom

Basement-playroom side

Basement-Family room side

basement-office

The shared back yard

Well that's it. We of course have bathrooms and a laundry room but I couldn't get good pictures of those. Just imagine your typical bathroom and laundry room and you will have had the whole tour.

We Got it!!!

They called this afternoon and said the house is ours (to rent)!!!!! We feel so blessed!

Hoping and Waiting!!!

After 3 days of SEARCHING we were so blessed in the last hours of our time in Austin to find this home. We are just hoping and praying our application will be approved and accepted. If so we'll be living here SOON! It is in a cul-de-sac with a park nearby and just a teeny bit farther a community water park with water slides! A very pretty and quiet neighborhood...

Happy Mother's Day/Birthday!

Mom! I hope you are having a one heck of a day! I just wanted to tell you how much I love and appreciate you. I was reading the scriptures the other day and came across a verse or two that reminded me of you. It's in Moroni 7:45-46 and I exchanged the word charity for mothers so it goes like this...."And mothers suffereth long, and are kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my brethren, if ye have not mothers, ye are nothing, for mothers never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto your mothers..." This is how I feel about you mom. I love you! Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday!

Dear mom,

I LOVE YOU! happy birthday and merry happy mothers day! Thanks for everything you do for me, you mean the world to me! I love you sooooo much!

Dear Mother-

(I tried to come up with a clever way to combine my happy wishes for Mother's Day and your birthday into one, snappy little phrase, but all I could come up with was Happy Birthers Day. Given the extensive media coverage of the rise and fall of the birthers, I didn't think this was as snappy an intro as a joint Mother's Day/birthday deserved. So we'll have to take this down a more traditional route...)

Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day!

I know a lot of great women, but there are few women greater than our mom. She's Betty Crocker, Mother Theresa, Oprah and Annie Oakley, all rolled into one. And that's on a bad day.

Now mother, I know you well enough to know that as you sit reading this, you're denying most of it. Stop. We're your kids and, consequently, are probably the most qualified people on the planet to tell you what you are and what you are not. We all know that you have a tendancy to remember the worst bits -kicking children down the hall, losing your patience, making tuna casserole- but trust us on this, you're one spectacular lady. Remember, when it comes to you, we're the experts!

We love you, we're proud of you, and we're forever indebted to you. Do us all a favor and have a happy Mother's Day and a super birthday, you deserve it!

So Proud of You!

The kids were so proud to see their Grammie working at her mission. It was fun to stop and see her for a few minutes.

 We all know this is a woman who does not need a tag to show or tell who she strives to be an example of in her everyday life. It shows in her eyes, her heart, her actions, that she is a friend of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We know that this time at the storehouse is probably a bit of a reprieve from the great amount of service she gladly gives morning, night, day, dawn, dusk and in between to ALL around her! We could never begin to express the grandeur and far-reaching impact of her life to all who have known her, let alone been related to her!

We are so grateful for a Grammie and Mother who has already given such a legacy of love and service and does so each and everyday that she lives. What a beautiful life you have created for yourself and your posterity!

 Thank you for all you do! We love and appreciate you!

Does anybody still read this?

If you do, maybe you've noticed the design changes. Maybe not. But if you haven't, you might be the kind of person who doesn't notice when your spouse/significant other gets a haircut. Shame on you.

In either case, you might enjoy reading this. It's my new blog. And I like it. There. You've been shamelessly plugged at. (click me... just do it... or finish reading and come back)

Oh, and if you belong to my immediate family, Jessica cries herself to sleep every night because no one else is posting pictures of where they live. Shame on you, twice.

Bryan and Jen have the only legitimate excuse. Don't even try to top "my kid has leukemia, I don't have time to blog."

And here is a token picture, because every self-respecting blog post needs a picture. And this is a pretty good one.

Toasted

So i have a question, how do all of you that have recipe blogs or can cook and don't even have to follow a recipe and simply just make something up and have it taste so delicious (ben), how do you do it? Because through all of my cooking experiences i can't figure out how to master cooking. Sadly i can't even master toasting toast, i am not even sure you can call that real cooking too! I love turkey and cheese sandwiches, and Saturday night i wanted one but the only bread we had was in the freezer so i brought it in took to slices of frozen bread put it in the microwave to defrost. Little did i know that while i was blow drying my hair, waiting for the bread to defrost i had set it to auto defrost for 2 HOURS! not 2 minutes..2 HOURS! after blow drying my hair which takes about 10 mins i went to the kitchen to make my yummy sandwich. I was so confused when i saw the smokey kitchen and smelt the awful smell of burnt bread! i ran to the microwave and there in side was my two slices of bread completely burnt! i am pretty sure it caught on fire! i had to remove the whole microwave plate out and break the bread off of the bread off with a knife because it had stuck to the plate. and then when i went to throw it away i wore oven mittens to carry it because of how hot it was! this sad and embarrassing! Anyways the house smelt all night and i was so sad not to have my yummy sandwich! Maybe i should have a blog that shows and tells about all my pathetic attempts at cooking ha ha i could call it "Toasted".

-The pieces of bread were stuck together and it was so hard! I don't think i have seen toast quite this burnt before!

Love it Love it Love it

So this past week i was invited to go with Whitney lager on a road trip to California! It was a lot of fun especially since it was both of ours 1st real road trip! NO PARENTS BOO-YA! Then Friday night nellie and a few of our good friends drove up to Westminster so i went with them for their vacation till sunday! Every time i am in california i can never get enough! its so prettyand there isso much to do! i love it love it loveit!

on the pier at Huntington beach after a 8HOUR car

drive when it only should have been 6! way to many U-turns haha

We saw the "World of Color" at California Adventure! so cool!

we explored a really cool cave in the rocks at Laguna Beach!

We love you carter!

Looking out side the cave! soo cool

Kaley, Nellie and i on our amazing hike in Laguna!

Hello? Is anybody there?

I know not too many of us get on here these days, but in case anyone is out there listening, I created a new blog. I think it's kind of funny. You should go check it out. And leave a comment. And spread the word. Click the pic to take you there. Enjoy!

PS- Who else thinks it's time for a redesign for this blog?