home sweet home.

our little story:

we started looking for houses in may of 2009.

we started with a very low price range and found nothing.

we raised our price range a little. found one. had our hearts broken by a short sale. (nothing about those are short). continued to look. continued to make half hearted offers. made an offer on one house. went camping, decided while camping this was NOT the house for us and when we came home we were going to retract our offer. came home. they had accepted our offer. prayed. fervently. walked through the house FOUR times. made plans. decided it COULD be the house for us. and here we are...

5 beds. 4 floors. 3 baths. 2 car garage. 1 happy family.

i thought i would just should you some of the "inspiration" in our home!

real pictures of rooms completed to follow (when ryan takes them, i can't figure out angles and what not..)

disclaimer: these pictures do not do our lovely home justice and if you really love me you will come see it in person.

our lovely painting. we are doing like a rustic black in our family room. we still need a sectional. but you will see ryan's christmas present (aka the tv) ft. sarah palin at the moment. and our new stand, i love it. but seriously in need of a sectional :(

slightly embarrassing but my favorite room in the house is the guest bath. i love it. it is americana. dark red. i love it. come be our guest you will too! :)

our dining room decor. these are the colors of our kitchen/ dining room. i love them.

our kitchen/living room (before christmas went up..) our new frigdge. which we love. we still need bar stools. but again..it is all a work in progress.

well there you have it. the beginning. there will be more. i promise.

but in the mean time come see it!

Christmas 2009

i feel like i missed all of christmas.

there were parties, dinner, plays, lights...and i feel like i slept through it all!

and i forgot my camera so i don't even have proof i was there.

it breaks my heart!

but we did have fun.

even if it was frazzled and dazed fun!

-attempt #1 to see the lights at temple square:

THEY CLOSED i-15. we sat in traffic forever.

went to a far too busy restaurant.

walked around the gateway at a whoppin 13 DEGREES

we left the gateway when it closes (10pm)

TURNS OUT...

thats when the lights turn off at temple square!

so sad!

-jensen family christmas party. at the golden corral. followed by a fabulous free for all of gift giving at the grandparents.

so much fun. except...ryan had to work and i had to go stag. plus it was the same day as my family's big christmas party in california...aka "family"sick (it is not homesick...this is definitely home...)

-ward christmas breakfast...

fun. i love our ward. it is fabulous. the people are amazing. the spirit is so strong even when we are singing jingle bells over 30 breakfast casseroles. :)

ryan did not attend, he was hunting. people think he is inactive or non existent. (both theories are at times correct :)

-work christmas party. hilarious.. i love my job! my coworkers! the whole bit. it is fun for ryan to meet them too and put a face with a name (even though he put the wrong name with faces ALL night!)

we played awesome games, i hope i am in charge of christmas party games next year so i can use them!

-ugly sweater party with our great friends that we don't see enough. we love them so much and miss them (the ones that are far away) and are bugged by the ones that are close that we don't see enough :)

-annual christmas eve dinner at the jensen's (when do we become the jensen's? and then do his parents become ..?)

korean dinner, i again did not take a picture of a totally picture worthy meal!

christmas stories of the grandparents childhood christmas

and of course the story of the christmas long long ago.

bearing of special testimonies that make christmas that much more special

(if you ever want to hear me gush ask me about my father in law...aka the greatest man ever...next to ryan...maybe ahead of ryan a little, but he will get there! (can I say that?)

-christmas morning. with ryan. so special and wonderful. i am a lucky girl (i changed my answer above..ryan is better!)

-christmas breakfast with jeff & hayley. and elk sausage. nuff said. :)

-christmas lunch at my house with the jensen's. and watching my wedding video. gift from ryan!

-visiting all the grandparents. coming home so sleepy.

-attempt #2 at the lights in salt lake, the day after christmas. giving up we are so cold and tired, instead getting cafe rio and a redbox!

oh the memories...

(l-r: dan, jason,kimball/darrin, zak, and ryan. the greatest group of guys.)

pictures from the ugly sweater party. ryan won first prize and i won the "i am special" ribbon. but we all know i deserved first.

the jensen family on christmas eve. l-r: jeff, grandma godfrey, grandpa godfrey, kyle, kevin, brayden. front: hayley, me, and ryan. I wore a different ugly sweater. i don't know why ryan is making that face. and lynette is taking the picture. we will have to show her the timer trick.

our christmas tree. with our gifts. you can't see but i got a cricut AND a sewing machine. that was pretty much my list. santa loves me. :)

our stockings hung by the fireplace with care.

we hope you had a great christmas and that you have a happy new year!

Thanksgiving 2009

we spent this thanksgiving in california.

this is was not our original plan since we had spent last thanksgiving in california also.

but my sister was bringing my grandma out with her and we hadn't seen her since 2007!

we decided that was worth fudging the every other year plan...

after all we LIVE here!

so i wanted to fly.

ryan thinks we are destitute.

....

we drove.

(evidentally we are more destitute!)

we packed in a lot of fun while we were there but had no time for friends...

next time!

we played games.

ate lots.

had the annual hansen turkey bowl...i am pretty sure my team kicked trash

played on the elementary school play ground f.o.r.e.v.e.r it was fabulous!

had a delicious thanksgiving feast prepared by the best brother in law i have ever had!!

i love my family and am so grateful when we get to see them!

maybe next time they can come visit me....right...

me and my nephew zak. in the christmas outfit we got him. i love this "little" guy (he is a beast and will probably play every professional sport!) he loved ryan and i. and i think if no one would have noticed we would have just brought him home with us! we love you zak! and miss you so much!

ryan and i at the playground. we had just played football. we look haggard. and i am definitely rocking the spandex world. (we are hardcore)

but we also look in love. more important than trashed.

zak with the football. this is how we will round out our portfolio.

everyone should invest in this childs future pro sports career!

fyi...he isn't even 18 months old in this picture.

the whole fam-damily. grandma is in the middle. pretty much none of the couples are together so this is a little complicated.

(l-r: ryan, andrew, grandma, beck, mom, chris (our pro chef) backrow l-r: kylie, jeremy, dad, jen, john, me, zak attack, brian, kelly and rachel)

we hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

This is so touching. And so true. I often find myself wondering "if I were a rich man..." but the Lord has plans for me just where I am. I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me. Who blesses me with far more than I could deserve. I am grateful for the knowledge of Him. For a testimony to sustain me when there is so much doubt and fear in the world. I am so thankful for a husband who teaches me and inspires me to be better, who works so hard for our family. I am thankful for a home that is beautiful and comfortable. I am grateful for our families. Parents who have sacrificed, spoiled, taught, prayed, listened, instructed and guided us to get us where we are today. We will forever be in debt (figuratively and probably literally) to them. I am so blessed to have friends. The best friends. To have a job with people I absolutely love, doing something that is so interesting. I hope you have the best thanksgiving! And you enjoy this video, it is SO good! I am off to California!

Las Vegas

reasons we went to vegas...

1. it was free

2. to celebrate our anniversary!

3. to celebrate buying A HOUSE

4...we like to party!

we had fun. it is not our favorite place in the world. and certainly not the cleanest place in the world. i think we set ourselves up for disappointment going to the western caribbean for our one year! but oh well...

we shopped at fabulous outlets!

ate at delicious restaurants! ♥cheesecake factory

gambled away $20 hard earned dollars :)

laid out by the pool! my personal fav. activity!

saw the coolest aquarium at the mandalay bay (check out the video!)

walked the strip at night. what a treat!

visited the temple. so peaceful!

enjoyed sometime away with my husband...and i couldn't ask for more!

(well maybe the west caribbean one more time :)

classic. we had to get a picture right?

picture quality is terrible...but us at the temple.

beautiful. phenomenal. elaborate! New York New York! (i made that up, i should be in marketing!)

the best $15 we spent in vegas. ceasar's palace.

he followed me around for awhile. hilarious. at the aquarium. we loved it. see video. :)

by the way...GO COUGARS!!!

Grey's River 2009

Last week we went camping up at grey's river in wyoming.

Ryan left tuesday morning to go up with his parents. They fished and hiked and camped for two days....

meanwhile

Brayden, kyle and i stayed here to work. pretty much the lamest arrangement ever.

I was so scared at night i would go and sleep at their house.

(sounds lame now, but seriously i never would have slept if i had stayed here!)

But they didn't tease me too bad and they helped me forget how incredibly sad i was missing ryan! i am one of those lame wives who can't hack it on their own! i cry when he leaves (real life tears...maybe it is because he always leaves at 5 in the morning so i am just out of it more than anything :)

thursday morning we drove up to join the fam camping! it was the longest drive

We got there in the afternoon. lucky for us, camp was already set up! i love coming late for that reason!

we went for motorcycle rides, played horseshoes, visited, went for a wildlife drive, and of course ate yummy food! (food is ALWAYS better camping!)

that night we were all sitting around the campfire and this deer strolled around, i would have taken pictures but it started to get really annoying.

on friday we fished, all day! i caught my first fish completely alone YAY! now i am the mrs. jensen people expected me to be!

i really did ♥ fly fishing and i really did ♥ my hip boots!

we enjoyed it so much and it was so beautiful.

i will be sad when summer is over and we don't get and to camp anymore.

and even more sad because it will surely be hunting season... :(

ryan & i...that is a gun big enough to kill a bear in his hand

my first fly fish alone!

we woke up really early and hiked to this waterfall. i look like trash but it was beautiful.

my last fish. sad note to end it on. it all smacked me in the face. gross.

Lastly...we are going to las vegas for our anniversary...what are your favorite place we have to see?

July...the whole month...one post...

sorry for all those faithful blog followers who have gone without the precious updates into the Jensen world.

by that I mean, sorry chelsie, i lost the cord to upload my pictures! :)

so here it is all at once. coming at you fast. i didn't take very many pictures after all so this really should be painless!

fun we had in July:

- i got to see thurl bailey for the first time in person, seeing how i am deprived of a utah childhood.

-demolition derby, fireworks, cherry days parade! clearly not in that order on the 4th! loved it all.

- i turned 21!

- i went way blonde...thanks to my fabulous shawni, whom i adore.

- Oquirrh mountain temple open house...fabulous. i seriously loved it.

-limo ride. (free) dinner at braza grill. (free) 

GEORGE STRAIT

..priceless..

-camping with our friends at yellow pine. most beautiful campground ever. seriously it won an award! we loved it.

-we went UNDER CONTRACT on a house. more on that in another post. hopefully one soon that says we are HOMEOWNERS :)

-flying home to california.

-this little boy who makes me so happy. 

i just love him.

feel caught

 up?

this is random and i am sorry if you stuck it through.

i promise i won't go this long again.

♥

ryan fishing at yellowpine.

us at george (my elevator celebrity)...just kidding...that is kiptyn. :)             

                                          the jensens at the                                                         temple.

the ever adorable toyn family.
our truck limo for george strait.

Family Picture

so it kinda looks like brayden and i are an item and ryan looks so confused. but i love it and we don't get too many pictures with this many people! i wish jeff and hayley were here but they will be soon! YAY for moving back! YAY for thousands of prayers being answered!

note: jaelyn's cute prego belly!

returning with honor

brayden came home from the raleigh north carolina mission on june 3rd.

brayden left may of 2007. i knew him and hung out with a few times but while he was gone:

ryan and i got married (we actually got engaged less than 3 weeks after he left since he was still in the MTC!)

jaelyn and craig got married

jaelyn and craig got pregnant

he pretty much missed a ton of kyle's milestones!

it was hard to have him gone for all of that, but we were so blessed and he was too!

brayden makes us want to be better missionaries. he makes us want to try a little harder to do a little better. he is a great example to us! he served as an AP for like 18 months or something ridiculous like that! he was perfectly obedient and the most faithful writer ever!

the jensen boys (not pictured: jeff) 

we had so much fun at the airport. we did rehearsal pictures to show our excitement. we made friends with the other 33 families waiting for their missionaries! 

seriously, the salt lake airport on missionary coming home day is my favorite!

our pride and joy banner. a direct quote from a bishop in a ward brayden served in! oh we love those folks!

WELCOME HOME BRANDON!

Turkey Hunt 2009

this post is strictly for posterity.

while jeff was in town, ryan took every opportunity to get out turkey hunting. we would spend our evenings road hunting up in the mountains. ryan only had one week left to get his turkey so his determination was a bit excessive! :)

We left one tuesday night and headed up old trappers loop, i think, it was up by snow basin. jeff and i were merely moral support and the get away drives and ryan sported the full cammo. we would drive a while call. drive awhile call. drive awhile call. drive awhile call. AND THEN...drive awhile call. A TOM CALLED BACK! oh my goodness I think we were the most excited people ever at that moment. high fiving as absolutely quiet as we could! we (ryan and jeff) figured out where it was coming from, ryan grabbed his gun and was gone. after jeff and i had drove around and waited patiently we parked at a good look at spot. ryan had just then texted to say the turkey had flown away (sad) a turkey flew right past us and landed in a tree just down the hill. i told ryan that. he said it was the same turkey. we directed him to if from the truck. bang. turkey dead. 20 minutes later we are home. oh how i love road hunting. 

this picture was taken the next trip so kyle could get his turkey, which he did. much cooler story but i don't remember his. lame i know.

this is one of those pictures i will treasure and look forward to putting together the next family slideshow!

ryan with his turkey. he might mount the fan. or do something with the tail.

we ate the turkey. i don't like turkey in general. but i tasted it. and it tasted better than the turkey i taste at thanksgiving, weird cuz i HATE everything he hunts!

dead turkey. (wonderful captions, i know)

disclaimer: my husband does NOT road hunt. he does not believe in. support or encourage it. however, he had two days left to get a turkey. everyone told us this is how they were doing it and the poor boy had hiked over ten miles in the mountains trying to get one his way. congratulations ryan! i love you 

Memorial Day

fyi: if Jamie Horspool says she knows a really fun place to go spend the day...

she is lying and wants you to suffer! 

just kidding...kinda!

so us Jensens were struggling with where to spend Memorial Day.

I suggested Locomotive Springs, because Jamie had said it was so fun for fishing and hanging out. 

So after much debating my suggestion won (it often does with the Jensens)

First off it is clear out in the west desert which I love.

Clear past ATK/Thiokol. (which we stopped to look at, I have never been there so cool, probably less cool for Kevin since he goes there everyday but he is a good sport!)

So we get there (oh and we were in the van. With no AC. The van was full. Very uncomfortable.) And find a "spring" with no people so we set up our day camp there. The boys begin to fish catching fish about 2 inches big...really...we eat lunch and just hang out as we see this...

forming around us. It's actually the entire front of the storm it was so neat to see. Although a storm coming was not very neat. We could see some old abandoned structures, and since the fishing wasn't riveting we headed off to explore.

This is the abandoned train car. Don't you love the candid pictures that capture personalities. This is one of those perfectly.

This is the abandoned house. It was very neat. Minus the giant rat (some people referred to it as a field mouse, but to me it will always be a giant rat) We had some dating arguments for the structures. Some people believed that this was like pioneer structures. But the oven and the wiring hanging out from the walls led others to believe it was much more recent. But it makes it more interesting to think it is a pioneer structure!

We also thought this little building was abandoned. That was until the giant bird flew out of the roof and hit me...not cool. and very scary!

This wasn't the picture I wanted to post, and I am still not good at this. But we took some "welcome to your first home" shots, oh so not funny! 

So we stopped getting pictures shortly after this, when the pre-pictured storm arrived and we had flash flooding and the sand turned to the slippery slide as we raced back to covering in the middle of the desert so we wouldn't be struck by lighting!

It was a pretty crazy day but we had fun! And if you go, be sure to wear LOTS of bug spray, and a hat.

This picture makes me laugh everytime! it reminds me of the seminary video where he doesn't pump the well! its perfect huh!

catching up...

happy mother's day!

late.

but not forgotten

(i don't know if either of our mothers read this anyway...)

to my own mom:

who is too far away but not for long.

..(like 4 years but i am patient)

to my mother in law:

who is incredibly talented and generous

 and i learn more from everyday

to my sister in law jaelyn:

who is going to be a mom so soon! and i am so excited for her! and i hope you name him grant! he is going to be amazing and smart and talented and funny...pretty much a champ!

to my friends:

you are such amazing moms! and i love you all! and am so excited to have gorgeous girls and hottt boys to date your cutie boys and girls! (pretty much i have to have girls because so far cooper and jaxon need me!!)

TURKEY HUNTING:

I had the day off on monday and so did ryan. so we went turkey hunting up in east canyon.

it was so beautiful and such a nice hike. its so fun to be up there with him...you guys would laugh he is just a little boy he is so excited! but he is so smart and good at it. that is one thing i really love about ryan. he is the best at the things he does. he ties amazing flies that he could sell for so much but he just does it because he loves it. he is an incredible fly fisherman. which, if you 

have ever tried you know takes extreme talent! he has little respect for bait junkies (except my dad:) since they don't have to work for it. he is just amazing and he doesn't give anything half hearted! 

i love him and i hope that i become like that!

back to the story...

we did not see any turkeys (sad) but we did see

6 live deer (mostly girls)

14 winter kill deer (sad...but fascinating)

lots of cow.

pairarie dogs (annoying...but neat)

and....

a porcupine

he was so scared of us. i felt bad, and i think that branch was going to break any minute.

we took lots of pictures of him. really it was so neat. 

and made the trip worthwhile since that was it!!

no turkeys....

until next week. (the hunt only goes til the end of may)

my FAVORITE day!

when people used to ask me when my favorite time of year was, i would always say i like all of them but spring. 

well things have certainly changed!

april 28th is my favorite day of the year!

a day dedicated to celebrating ryan!

i love ryan so much!

and i am so grateful for all the memories we make together!

like birthdays

ryan is now 26 which we were reminded is now his "late twenties" not his "mid-twenties" 

 celebrations started early this year:

on sunday we went to the in-laws (mine, not ryan's...thats a trek)

for a delicious dinner and an even better dessert!

ryan's traditional birthday cake Strawberry Cream Cake

(chelsie: you have to show me how to take pictures of food so it looks appetizing!)

thank you so much to the jensen's for all the wonderful things they do for us.

we are the luckiest.

cute brothers. 

on tuesday i picked up ryan from work.

since he work at ARUP in salt lake we decided to take advantage of some saved gift cards and eat out down there!

(thanks mom & dad for a wonderful christmas gift we are still enjoying!)

true story:

Parmesan-Crusted Artichoke  Cakes Appetizer $9.99

(buy 2 entrees get 1 appetizer free coupon)

free!

Ryan's Penne Rustica $12.49

Jessica's Chicken Scaloppine $13.49

total: $25.98

christmas gift card: $25.00

new total: $0.98

free birthday cake! (delicious too..the three bites we ate!)

total for birthday meal: $7.98

oh we love our cheap ways!

beautiful birthday cake. and the waiter singing happy birthday. sorry i didn't realize it was good til 30 seconds into it! and then you get to watch ryan pose. thats cute. sorry i say dag-am thats the red neck in me!

also this week we found out i am BLIND

so i got contacts...love them!

and my glasses should be coming next week.

i took ryan to help me...

seriously i don't think i could love him more! 

one more birthday note:

ryan i love you so much! i am so grateful for all you do for us. i am so proud of you and you always impress me! i appreciate how hard you work! you make me feel beautiful all day long! you make me laugh every day. you know how everyone always says that i am such a happy girl, you make that happen! you are my happiness! you are my everything!

you are my best friend and i love you. 

i got him wranglers. that will be a post in and of itself.

p.s. congratulations dan & tara on blessing trevin. it was beautiful. he is precious!