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!

Spring Break

i hope you all had the best Easter! we had so much fun in reno/susanville. thank you jeff & hayley you two are the best! we are lucky to have amazing friends who just happen to be our family! we had so much fun! one minor annoyance (i will blog about that in my next post, its a post all on its own) but seriously the best time! we shopped, went shooting, ate at delicious restaurants and couldn't have asked for nicer weather (boo utah today!)

this is my favorite store. ever. if you ever find yourself going west on i-80 stop in sparks nevada and enjoy SHEELS we love it! with jeff & hayley we spent over 3 hours! they have this incredible salt water tank. it isn't like the gross ones at cabelas that are over populated and dirty! its beautiful and there are the neatest fishes ever! ohhh...i love it! then there is this ferris wheel in the store. seriously. i have always wanted to ride it and thought for sure we would this time but ryan shot me down because "we are not paying a $1 for that!" so then we bought $350 in ammo...DANG YOU OBAMA :) 

but after sheels hayley and i got to shop at the summit mall, also a MUST STOP in reno! we LOVE it. and we shopped our spring hearts out! and i didn't take pictures cuz i am stupid!

we also ate dinner at claim jumpers. one word: yummm!

the boys are so mean. they take hayley and i up to shoot when it is so cold out. shoot for like hours. and then have the nerve to make fun of the way we shoot!! this is their "hip shots" oh boys...silly silly...boys. but we had so much fun and added to our Must Have Gun List (oh you don't have one of those...weird!)

these are deer in Susanville, CA. they are insane. our camera is not even zoomed. they are not scared of people. they look both ways before the cross the street! seriously. maybe its because they are in california and no on is man enough to hunt them (there is the utahan in me!)

i believe, sadly, one of the main reasons this boy married this girl was the single fact that visiting her family would always include trips to in-N-out. the boy loves it. but the girl loves him so it works out! and no fear when her family moves to arizona (maybe!!!) there is one in vegas. 

so i heard purple was an in color for spring. have you? i love it. plus nevada is so boring! 

we need to know what this building is in the middle of Nevada. its all alone. in the middle of no where. no parking lot. vents up on the hill. someone research it ok?

side note: we are going to have a new nephew jaelyn & craig found out its a boy

Lately...

i promised to do better since we have a 

computer and internet now!

but now i think we have gotten boring!

on saturday we ran a 5K

it was so much fun! and we did good!

we are working up to a half marathon

but i think if we do 5-5ks that should count right?!

things i loved about our run:

-being with ryan

-starting our saturday with a run 

-being outside even if it was 30 degrees.

-our hott t-shirts see picture

saturday night was priesthood session for General Conference.

tradition has it: the girls play while

 the boys receive much needed instruction!

our tradition has been to learn to bake/make a delicious dish from Lynette (the mother in law), stop by Ladies Night at Deseret Book (hello, free gift!) and out to eat!  

however...

we changed a few things up this year!

i still learned how to make the best cinnamon rolls ever!

which i forgot to take a picture of because sometimes I make poor choices

but instead of Deseret Book (lame free gift, that will teach them!)

we went to Bonneville 

High School to see

Guys & Dolls

this was the best 3 hours of my day! 

the actors did an amazing job

the music is awesome

the dancing was incredible

the story is hilarious!

the costume and set were fabulous

it ended yesterday but i hope others got to see it!

i took sucky pictures :( i swear i will get better someday!

side note: General Conference was excellent. i

 love it so much! Elder Holland was my favorite. (can we have favorites?)

i am so grateful for the Jensen Family Traditions I get to be a part of! 

Like General Conference ebelskevers! again no pictures :(

but seriously yummy! meet here for pictures in October

exciting story for the week:

Ryan does not work at ARUP in Salt Lake on Mondays. So we spend our Monday mornings  together before I go to work and he goes to Forsenius. 

Yesterday we (he) decided to go fishing at the Harrisville stream we discovered (probably not really) over by the Harrisville cabin/BDO.

as we walked out there we passed fields with horses and what not...

and then...

we see a fox!

i never seen a real fox before. 

its close to this residential area!

i panic

ryan calmly reminds me he is packin' heat (thank you Utah Legal Heat)

so we stop and take pictures and get closer and then we see a second fox!

but they "are more scared of us then we are of them" (i doubt that!)

so they ran off...but really it was so neat! 

p.s. we also saw a skunk.

less neat.

and maybe more scary.

-until next time

...and it's been awhile...

warning: this is very long.
i imagine you all think we are dead. i reassure you we are not.
just simply living without the joys of technology (aka no computer) i know, no one lives like that in 2009 but let me assure you, ryan sees nothing wrong with this picture.
so for good news #1
we ARE getting a MAC with our tax return! i am so excited!! and our blog will recieve some much needed attention post computer access! YaAYy!
news #2
ryan has started his new job in salt lake. which is absolutely wonderful. we love the company, their benefits, he loves what he spends his time doing and we could not be more grateful for the generous blessings we have received! but for every incredible merciful gift we receive comes that trial of our faith that will make us grow...
news #3
we had pretty much planned on going to idaho to attend ISU and settle up there for sometime...but now we have no idea what we are going to do. we have so many options and decisions to make. but we know two things...this 3 hour round trip commute is ridiculous. and we are so ready to get into a house! any advice you feel like giving please feel free to share
news #4
i have been blessed with the best job. i am currently teaching science for the ogden school district Astro Camp. it is so fun. and perfect to stretch me and challenge me. i love it!
news #5
i applied to weber state to begin classes this summer! i am so excited to get to go back to school, so many things are falling into place for us! yay!
news #6
*which is so exciting it should have #1*
we are going to be an aunt & uncle again! jaelyn & craig are expecting! we are so happy for them! and so excited for our new little pal joining the family in september!

now for the pictures
we had a wonderful valentines day.
we ate at goodwood bbq.
delicious!
we were going to go
cross country skiing
but it was such bad weather we just went sledding.
i love our fun!
we went cross country skiing a week later. it was
so fun! i loved it. I hope we get to go one more time but i don't know if we will!


we went up to hardware ranch. it was beautiful and the most amazing elk we have ever seen. its closed now but i hope everyone got to go!

*thanks if you read this whole thing! i promise i will be a better blogger!*

Blogging Slacker...

our lives have been so crazy, i don't even kow where to begin...(no pictures...sorry!)

• i gave my two weeks notice at my job. which was a little sad because i have the best coworkers. but happy too because now we are off on a new adventure which is so exciting.
• ryan is probably going to start working in salt lake 7 on 7 off. that will make for a lot of alone time which is a little sad. but happy too because we will have 7 days he doesn't have to work! (in salt lake,)if you know ryan you know he has 17 other jobs to keep him completely occupied...
• we have started elders quorum basketball season, which i love. we beat the 4th ward pretty good. i was going to get a picture of the score board but i forgot my camera. and we love the 4th ward. so we don't want to rub it in. (but maybe i can get them to put the score up again tomorrow night so i can get a picture of both nights!) we went undefeated last year until region with the 4th ward, so beating them in our first game means we are off to a good start! it was hard not to cheer for brandon and fred!
• i got my wisdom teeth taken out earlier this month so that has been quite an experience. besides the holes in my mouth i think i am pretty much recovered! i don't recommend this to anyone...but i am sure everyone else got it done when they were 15 (i think that is the normal thing to do)...
• we went and toured ISU and really loved it. the school was neat, the town was fun, everyone we met was so nice and ryan seemed genuinely excited about the program and research they were doing! i have had so much fun looking for houses there! i am hoping we will be able to start there in the fall..keep your fingers crossed!

thats all i can think of for the most part...sorry we haven't taken any pictures in so long! we'll do better! and since i didn't mention them earlier:

New Years Resolutions

run a half marathon

get my personal progress award (i didn't do when i was in young women's and you can get them as leaders so i am gonna..)

read my scriptures everyday

go to the temple more...willingly

eat better

save more money

*i heard if you write them down you are more likely to do them, so not only did i write them down but also where EVERYONE can see them...oh boy

oh the memories of 2008

2008 has been an exciting year for our little family! 

i am sure it will seem like that is the case for every year for the next 60 years!

i am so grateful for the blessings we have had this year and all the answers to prayers we have received!

we have had a lot of opportunity to grow and have been so lucky to have such awesome family and friends to surround us! 

i am excited to see what changes will come in 2009:

grad school?

undergraduate school?

a house?

a move?

a career?

a baby? (just kidding!)

anywho...here is a recap of 2008! (in no particular order...)

probably the funnest thing we did all year was celebrate our 1 year anniversary!

we took a cruise to the west caribbean! (we honeymooned in jackson hole so i thought it was 

fair!)

we had so much fun in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, on the ship, the Grand Cayman Islands and in Cozumel Mexico! We snorkled and sunbathed and kayaked and ate...lots! we went to shows and gambled and danced and lounged! it was the best vacation/anniversary ever! and i can't wait to go again sometime! (soon...please!)

We cheered on our cougars at our annual BYU game! its a fun tradition even if we never get good seats, atleast they are free!  I hope kevin & kyle enjoy it too!

we spent a week or so up at flaming gorge with our family. it was so beautiful and fun! we fished and hiked and played games. and obviously didn't wear make up or do our hair! (ryan never wears make up just to clarify!)

ryan bagged the biggest buck of his hunting career during the mussel load hunt. he got the beauty at 270 yards, which for those of you unfamiliar is almost impossible. he did his own european mount and it looks incredible (in his hunting/fishing room...)

this year we became an aunt and uncle for the very first time! we have the sweetest nephew, Zak and we love him so much, our only complaint is he lives so far away!

we spent the summer hiking ogden's beautiful mountains and enjoying the breathtaking views from the top. i may have slowed ryan down but he didn't complain! 

ryan graduated from Weber State in the spring with his bachelors in

microbiology. he is currently preparing to apply for grad school.

we had so much fun celebrating with family! thanks again to mom & dad for 

coming out to support us! 

i hope you all have the best new years! and good luck with those resolutions!