A Year in Retrospect...

It is always hard to believe when one year ends and another begins.  You finally realize "Hey, I am never getting this year back!".  It is really gone for good.  Did I accomplish all that I wanted?  Do I have any regrets?  Did I really try to make each day count?

The wonderful thing about not being perfect is there is always room for improvement:) But as for the year of 2011 it was pretty great.  Full of change and a start of something new.  Here is a quick year in review:

-I lived with my grandparents in Mtn. Home, AR while Andrew was in Ft. Leonardwood, MO

-We bought our 1st puppy whom we named Athena

-I flew with Athena to stay the rest of the time with my parents in March

-Andrew graduated from Tech School for the Air Force

-We got our orders and moved to Minot, ND

-We lived in an RV waiting for a house

-There was a record breaking flood in Minot

-Luckily, we got our first real place together, a beautiful 2 bedroom, 1 study, and 2 bath split level home on the Air Base, all in July

-I visited my Aunts in Iowa while Andrew had training in Florida for 2 weeks.

-We had our 1st Halloween together, and dressed up as nothing:)

-I had my 21st birthday (up at Spirit Lake Resort & Casino)

-Andrew turned 25

-We adopted our second dog, a calm beagle we named Maia ( My-uh)

-We got to spend Thanksgiving in Iowa

-We did Black Friday for the 1st time (on the bucket list) and got myself a netbook

-We got our own phone plan (I got an iphone)

-I started school at Minot State University and started running again

-We got a 42" TV for $100.

-We realized that the Lord truly sends us where we are meant to be

-I became a Nursery leader and Personal Progress Adviser

-Andrew teaches CTR 4 and is a cub scouts den Leader

-We had the blessing of visiting family from Dec. 17-Dec. 30 in Utah

-We started making a bucket list

-We started planning a graduation cruise

-Andrew and I had our 2 yr Anniversary

-My Uncle John passed away

-I grew to love my family even more

-I realized further the importance of family for Andrew and I

-We made it through 2011 together!

You always think nothing really exciting happens during certain years.  Looking back that certainly isn't true.  We had a great year and hope that this next year will be even better!

 Us in 2011

Love,

The Andersons

Home For the Holidays

Just a quick update for all of you reading (which I realize is very few and therefore know that this blog is really for my own benefit), we are heading down to Utah in exactly 3 days! Wahoo.

We are Stoked. Excited. Jubilant.  Joyful.  Ecstatic.  Pumped. Giddy.

Ok you get the idea.  We thought for a while that we wouldn't be able to travel down to Utah to see family.  Due to the fact of snow and expensive plane tickets. But my loving parents came through and bought one of our tickets!  So it will cost us only $400 dollars to fly for Christmas. Yay us.

But something else exciting is we may have found out a way to see more of my family.  A beautiful thing called group skype.  

So pretty much we can see everybody for Christmas.  We can't wait to spend such a major holiday with family.  In 3 days we are leaving...on a jet plane.  Don't know when we'll be back again.  Kidding, we get to stay until the 30th when Andrew has to be back for work.  But, either way we have lots of fun things planned.

I will keep you posted,

The Andersons

Gobble Til You Wobble

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome!  We were so blessed to actually be together this Thanksgiving and even better to be able to spend this time with family.  Last year was the year I was in Romania while Andrew was in basic training.  Sometimes I feel like the years just jumble together...

So this was our second Thanksgiving ever.  Wednesday, we spent the night in Wahepton, ND about 5 hours from where we live.  We then got up early on Thursday and drove the last 7 hours to my aunts' house in Shenandoah, IA. So us and the two dogs had quite a trip!  It worked out great since Cris worked on Thursday and we ended up having our actual meal on Saturday.  What did that mean?

Black Friday!!! Yep, we were some of those hard core people that sit outside in the cold for hours just waiting to be pushed or trampled to death hehe.  But seriously it was our first time and what an experience!  My Aunt Karen, cousin Aspen, me and Andrew all drove to Omaha and waited outside of Target for four hours till midnight.  It was cold but definitely worth the wait.

Between the four of us we got 3 out of the 16 Acer Aspire Netbook laptops available for black Friday.  At a total price of $167.00 each it was worth it! Our other big item prize was the Harry Potter movie set at Best Buy for $39.99.  Aww...victory is sweet.  And no there was not any trampling.

The next pictures are just some of the fun from Thanksgiving weekend:

Those ahead of us at Target (we were in the 3rd "wave" of people allowed to go in!)

The girls waiting in the cold

Andrew couldn't believe we actually waited for four hours hehe

Getting stuff ready for the Thanksgiving meal!!

Aunt Cris cutting the turkey

The table

The guys watching the game while we cooked.  Typical:)

Overall it was a great weekend.  Did I mention there were a total of 5 dogs and 4 cats in the house?  And yes (sadly) two of the dogs finally caught a squirrel while going Ya-ya at the park.  Anyways it was a weekend filled with fun, food, and most importantly family. And of course lots of games!!  Booyah! :D

Love,

The Andersons

Until We Meet Again

Yesterday was an incredibly hard day for my family.  After a long battle, my uncle John passed away.  The initial shock was something unfathomable.  My mom was on a flight over there when the battle ended.  She didn't make it in time.  What hurts me the most is I wasn't able to say goodbye either.  What an amazing uncle he was.  I just hoped he knew how much I loved him.  I was so blessed that Andrew went into the Air Force and his graduation allowed me to visit my family in San Antonio.  At least I will have those memories always.  I just wanted to dedicate this particular post to my uncle john who passed away November 8, 2011.

One memory I will always have of my uncle john is one I will always treasure.  Just under 4 years ago all of my mom's side of the family was able to go on a cruise together! Amazing I know.  What a special time it was for my family.  But the memory I have to share is of the arcade on the cruise ship.  It took many quarters and time but my uncle john and I beat the Jurassic Park game together.  Like, we actually beat the whole game in the arcade!  

It was also because of my Uncle John that I was able to participate in the stingray excursion.  What a special experience I will never forget.

My uncle john will be very missed.  Something I felt we connected on was our love of travel and culture.  Something I always loved about my Uncle John and Aunt Jenny is that I was able to talk to them about this.  I love art, travel, and experiencing life.  Going to Romania even furthered that.

His passing is one still very hard for me.  He left many people behind who loved him.  His parents, 2 sisters and a brother.  His wife, my aunt jenny, who is one of the strongest people I know!  And his young son Rhys.  All of his family and friends knew what a special person he was.  

As hard as it is to say goodbye to someone very much loved, he has someone just as special as he was waiting for him.  My cousin Brittney.  I know at this moment my uncle John and cousin Brittney are in eachothers' arms, finally reunited. 

How grateful I am to know how merciful our father in heaven is.  He sent His son, my lord and savior Jesus Christ to sacrifice himself that we might all return to Him.  It is through Him that we have the opportunity to have eternal families and the opportunity for repentance.  Knowing this truth has gotten me through the hard times.  It is this truth, that will strengthen our family.  We will see my uncle again today.  I feel so sad knowing he his gone so prematurely but I know everything will be alright.

I love this song, it is one of farewell and hope we sang often as a goodbye in Hawaii. I wanted to share it for my Uncle John, until we meet again...

Aloha Oe

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali
Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele
E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko
Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:
Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai
Ke hone a`e nei i
Ku`u manawa
`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha
A loko e hana nei

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani
Nâ pua rose o Maunawili
I laila hia`ia nâ manu
Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

Papa's Pumpkin Patch

Yes, before you even ask, that really is the name of the place we went for date day on Saturday!  I am not creative enough to come up with something like that on my own.  Anyways...

Our Date Day was so fun!  Andrew and I decided to travel down to Bismarck since we were in serious need of some pumpkins for Halloween.  We went Papa's Pumpkin Patch, an all-around Halloween, harvest, hay bale place to be.  Seriously this place makes can't wait to have kids because it would have been a haven of fun for children!  That day if you wore a costume you got in free (no sadly we didn't wear one) but it was still a blast.   It had miniature pony rides, a "sand" box filled with corn kernels, a hay maze, a train, pumpkin gun launcher, and of course the pumpkin patch.

 

Us on the train

Yes, that really is corn in there

One of the "hay forts"

Who could not love this dork?!

Part of the pumpkin patch

We got 4 little pumpkins ^_^

Our "big" pumpkin we brought home

As you can tell it was raining the whole time we were there.  Big deal.  It was a blast!  It is days like that, that make us remember why we love spending time together. After we killed time by stopping at Old Navy, getting a costume for Athena (muahaha...stay tuned), and the dollar store for some decorations.  For dinner, as I am supposed to mention, we had Red Lobster where Andrew dove into the special of having the endless shrimp.  I have no clue how many he ate, I lost track after 50!  

We are so excited for Halloween, literally our 1st one we have ever celebrated together (we have somehow been apart all the times we have been dating and married).  So we loved sharing this day together and getting ready for the most festive time of the year - Oct 31st through Jan 1st :D

Love,

The Andersons

Makin Our House A Home

Today was a pretty crazy awesome day.  We were told last night that we were speaking Sunday (today).  So with barely anytime to prepare we gave pretty amazing talks if I do say so myself. But what made it even crazier were our roles today in church!  One of Andrew's calling in church is over the CTR 4 class.  He has about 8 kids and the other teacher has only shown up once to help teach.   Meaning he is in there all by himself.  But, last night I was also asked to help out in nursery for today.  No big deal only 15 kids under the age of 3.  haha Yeah it was crazy fun.  Who would have known all the things you can learn from little kiddos?  

Anyways, for this blog post I wanted to share some of the little treasures in our house.  We moved into the house the middle of July but I still feel like we are setting up.  But first things first...

We have grass!

When we first moved in everything was under construction still.  It was all dirt and looked very uneven.  So they just put down seed and ta-da!  Grass over night (ok it took a little longer than that).  They have a contract for about a year where they do everything to make our yard look nice.  They even added planters and our very own tree.

Obviously no real growth yet:)

The other pictures I am going to show you are merely little add ins that I have found overtime to make our house more of a home.  As you can see it is a bit of a tropical theme, perhaps to create our very own sanctuary when we hit the true North Dakota weather!

Our couch we bought and brought from Utah:)

The little side table 

Just an accessory for the dinning room I bought at a base garage sale!  25cents for the new Chinese lanterns not too shabby

Our little set up in our ikea furniture!  I made the picture frame display!

A new painting just given to us from someone moving out

The best new furniture of all is a TV!  We do have an old TV my parents gave us, which we were very thankful for, but we did plan on getting a new one during Black Friday.  But Andrew works with someone recently going through a divorce and is getting rid of all his stuff.  So....drum roll please....we just got a 2009 flat screen 42 in TV for $100.  That painting was thrown in as well.  Got to love living on base you get awesome deals!

Andrew very happy with his new television!

That's all for now for now folks. Although,we are officially going to Iowa for Thanksgiving and Utah for Christmas and couldn't be more excited!  Where better to spend such major holidays than with family.  We feel we have been truly blessed lately and just know things are finally falling into place.

Love, 

The Andersons

The Craziness of Life

This blog post is almost solely dedicated to how I feel myself fighting each day to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  As most of you know, Andrew and I are in Minot, North Dakota.  Even now it is hard to believe we are actually living here.  But in moving here I have changed my life around in order for Andrew to start his.  Over the summer it seemed like things were pretty chill, other than the flood of course.  I had just two summer classes and the rest of the time I felt like I did nothing.  Oh how I wish things could be like that.  Now I have am going to school and started cross-country.  It might not seem like a big deal but it is...

School, cross-country, being married, taking care of a dog, along with other stressors....is a lot for me.  Especially when I feel l will NEVER  be done with school.  Next semester I am applying for the nursing program here at Minot State University but I won't be able to start till next August.  And the program itself is 5 semesters.  Perhaps now you can see why I feel like my life has not really started yet.  On top of that tuition is so much more expensive!  It is no Stanford but it isn't the low cost of BYU either.  Meaning school books and the extra tuition cost, even with a scholarship, is a bit much.  

And then there is cross-country.  The kryptonite of my existence sometimes.  Don't get me wrong, I love running and I get paid to do it.  But when you have to practice 6 days a week for at least 2 hours a day (sometimes at 7:00am) and have to schedule the rest of your day around it, it kind of stinks.  Plus since we live on base I have an extra 20 min each day to drive.

Now on to Andrew's fun life. He starts work at 7:00am and works till 5:00pm.  A regular work day right? Until they have inspections( which feels like they happen every two weeks) and is required to always be on call in case of a substance leak somewhere. So last week he had work on Saturday and today he may be out at work till at least 10:00pm because of an inspection. I know I shouldn't complain because at least he has a job (which he actually enjoys).  But for all those who understand the military will know that the "benefits" we receive through the Air Force is actually compensation.

As I finish writing this I realize how silly it all seems.  I need to be grateful for all the things I do have!  My family is awesome and always there for me, I have a loving husband, a beautiful house, and in 3 years I will be looking back saying how fast the end of school went by.  I guess I will just have to wait till then.  But in the meantime I have learned that I need to live life in moment.  Enjoy the scenery as it passes me by.  Do the best in everything I do now. Instead of telling myself "if only I was done with school" or "I can't wait till my final running season is over and things will be easier" or the best " I will do that when this happens"...I need to be enjoying life now.  Not waiting to do life when "life gets easier" because it never will. 

The present really is a gift I need to take advantage of.  So thanks for listening to the ramblings of a stressed soul... The fact that I realize I need to just roll with the punches shows that at least I can change right?:D ha ha. 

Here is exactly what popped into my head, and will stay with me the rest of day...

I thought it was fitting:)

Love,

The Andersons

A day at the zoo

A few weeks ago, right before school started, we decided to take one last little trip to celebrate the end of the summer.  We again went to Bismarck which is only about 1 1/2 hrs. away.  Last time we were there everything was closed!  This time, since our zoo was flooded, we were able to visit the zoo in Bismarck.  A lot of the animals from our zoo had already been transported down there.  The zoo was tiny and cost only about 7 dollars to get in but it was fun!  Granted it kind of resembled a swamp due to flooding down there and some of the animals were things like deer and horses but still it was worth a few hours...

 Me and my favorite ^-^

 An example of the majority of types of animals (aka deer, bears, racoons)

 Cute, huh?  They were only like a foot tall

 An eagle's wingspan perhaps?

They had these tiny primates everywhere!

So cool! In an underground tunnel viewing point the tigers were sleeping right on top!

 Like I said, the types of animals they had. And what ND is known for-groundhogs!

Overall it was a really fun day.  We only spent a few hours there but it was fun to just walk around and enjoy our time spent together.  Simple days like this just show that you make the fun with whoever you are with. In this case, the zoo was fun because we loved spending time with eachother!

Love Always,

The Andersons

My First Recipe Post

I cannot claim in any stretch of the imagination that I am a good cook.  However, when I find something that even I can make I can't help but post it.  So a few weeks ago I bought a mini Taste of Home recipe pamphlet and found this AMAZING recipe. 

I love Cajun food and I was craving it when I found it. I made it for Andrew and I and while at my aunt's house I made it for them! So here it is...

Jiffy Jambalaya 

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) red beans and rice mix
• 1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Olive Oil
• 1/2 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined( though I just got the frozen bag of medium shrimp)
  
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Louisiana-style hot sauce, optional (add to taste because we definitely like it much more spicy)
  

Directions

• Cook red beans and rice mix according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute sausage and onion in oil until onion is tender. Add the shrimp, tomatoes, brown sugar and hot sauce if desired. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until heated through. Stir in rice mixture. Yield: 4 servings.

This is a very filling recipe!  So it goes a long way...

Enjoy,

The Andersons

Home, Sweet Home!

Sorry everybody that has been awaiting these pictures!  But we are finally moved in.  With internet and everything.  About July 12, Andrew received a phone call from housing on base.  They asked him various questions about our current living situations and whether or not we would be willing to give up BAH (basic housing allowance).  He of course said yes.  They then said they would have to call  him back to see if they could offer us something.  Right before Andrew got of work they had a commanders call (basically a meeting) so he one missed call. Turns out it was housing and he called right back.  All they said was come into the office tomorrow at 8 am and we will give you keys.  

We were so surprised!  We still didn't know what to expect in the morning.  But we went in at 8 and they gave us keys to our house.  They said because of they housing problem they could only offer us one option but said it shouldn't be a problem because it was BRAND NEW!  So new that there is not fence or grass yet since they are still under contract and working on it.  Trust me, we did not care about that at all.  We were just thrilled to have a house.  So we got the keys and his shop helped us move in that Friday.  

So let me take you on a quick tour of our house-granted by now I have a lot of it set up and it is no longer empty.  Once everything is clean I will put up pics of it all set up!

From the outside-our half of the house

 Andrew with the keys  for the first time!

 The Kitchen

Me, so happy to have such a perfectly-sized kitchen for myself:)

First bathroom- and part of the stairs

 The main bedroom

 Our walk in closet!

 The Backyard

And finally...

Everybody on base has to have their rank and family name on the outside of the house.  This is ours!!!

We feel so, so blessed to finally have a place to call home.  We are going to be here for about 3-4 years and it is officially our first house as a couple:) We were not expecting to receive a house until at least end of August or September.  Just four days before the call we were told we were still #54 on the waiting list.  Talk about major blessing!  With everything going on (i.e the major flood in Minot) we often questioned why we couldn't find a place to live.  We looked at places in the city and were told a 6-9month waiting list for on base housing.  It was very easy to discouraged.  But when the flood hit we realized why.  Those houses/apartments we looked at are not under water.  

We have definitely seen the tender-mercies of the Lord in our lives!  So thanks to all of you for the support and sharing of joy in our first real home:D

Love Always,

The Andersons

Happy 4th of July!!!

Living on an Air Force Base has definitely opened my eyes what freedom really means.  I am reminded of it at least 2x a day and in other occasions.  For instance, when a movie is showing on base, before the movie starts everybody stands up for the national anthem.  At 1700 and 2200 hours the national anthem and taps play.  If people are driving they must pull over and stop.  If you happen to be outside you must stand at attention.  Our dog is even patriotic!  She howls everyday at those hours:)  I am definitely grateful to have a husband who works so hard everyday to preserve that freedom I know I would otherwise take for granted.

This past July 4th the RV was in front of a huge park where everyone gathered.  Lots of people came for a fireworks show that shot from just about 200meters down the street from the park.  We got front row seats!

We watched them from the car since we were being attacked by lots and lots of bugs!

Being silly

They played patriotic music the whole time the fireworks went off.  The show couldn't even start till about 10:30 or so when it actually started getting dark.  We ate enchiladas and rice (yes I know not super patriotic) and Andrew even had a friend over earlier.  We might not have the best situation, the living situations, bugs, and flooding but at least we are together on a holiday really special to our family.

 Happy Independence Day from all of us!

Love,

The Andersons

Anniversary Weekend

Again, it has taken me so long to update this blog.  Not really my fault since we are still living in an RV with no Internet access other than the library.  Tonight is laundry night so we head over to lodging on base to do it and of course they have Wi-fi so win-win:) Anywho...the weekend of the 19th Andrew and I decided to go to Bismarck to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed at the Radisson and because Andrew is military we got a room way, way cheaper.  So nice pool, spa the works!

 Never, ever, before coming to North Dakota did I ever believe I would go to its capital.  I mean honestly not many people are like "man, I think some day I am going to visit the capital of North Dakota"...I certainly didn't.  Yet there I was in the capital city.  Honestly it is not that much bigger than Minot, maybe a few more shops and restaurants.  Andrew actually had something planned out of what we were going to do before hand.  We got there and literally everything big was closed, Lewis and Clark Riverboat and the zoo because of the flooding.  We picked the wrong weekend to go down there.  So, besides that we didn't know what else to do.  I went online to see what else there was to do...I found out about the cultural center near the state capital building. 

I wish I had taken a picture because it is probably the worst capital building I had ever seen...but the cultural center was actually really fun!  Surprisingly, it made for a fun day.  I even learned about the Walleye- this is a fish. 

I had to put this picture in because if you look in the background there is a buffalo statue.  Pretty much what North Dakota was known for (yes buffalo and wheat are on the state license plates).

But other than that we couldn't find anything else.  Until we just decided to see where the zoo was a found a mini park.  In the park was like an amusement park or fair or something.  I was very kiddie but we decided to have fun anyways.  Turned out to be pretty awesome!

 This slide ended up being the best part!

The kiddie roller coaster.  Very much worth it



 Us on the Ferris wheel which we rode forever since nobody else was in line...

Here are some other random pics from our trip.......

Last but not least were the present we gave to each other.  Some were silly but others very thoughtful! 

 The card I got him.  Something about of all the fish in the sea I am glad I hooked up with you haha

An appropriate gift for all old men....nose and ear hair trimmer!

He wasn't too happy about it so he showed me his nose.

 A classic Andrew face.  He was VERY excited about his new game

Overall what could have been an extremely lame vacation ended up being a very fun weekend. I guess attitude really is everything.

Love,

The Andersons