Date Night

So Eric and I were watching the movie "Date Night" and it's starts out portraying this boring couple for New Jersey who do the same thing every date night and have little romance left in their marriage and through out the beginning, I'm thinking to myself, "this is so true"...but wait, in the middle of my thinking this I become appalled that I'm even thinking this at all...not only the fact that Eric and I haven't even been married 2 years, but we don't even have any kids yet (however soon to change)!!! Could we really be stuck in this rut already?!

Ok, I'll have to admit that being as hormonal as I am right now only added to the drama of the situation, but I have felt with Eric being so busy with school and me keeping busy doing tons of different projects and things we really haven't had a lot of quality time to spend together and when we do we usually just do our usual thing, which is watching the latest TV show we've started.

Lo and behold, after thinking about this I came across this blog were all these women got together and started blogging about creative dates they came up with to keep their marriages alive and fun. Granted, I've never been one for themed dates or cheesy tag lines, but the idea of trying to be more creative in dating your spouse to spruce things up beats the regular dinner and a movie.

So right in time for Valentine's Day I decided that each month I was going to try to put a little more thought into "date night" and do something creative and fun for both of us. Since Eric was extremely busy last week with a project that he was doing for school and wasn't home much, I decided to start out with something simple and relaxing...yet different from the "usual". While Eric was gone during the nights doing his project, I made little "love" notes telling him some things I especially loved about him. On Sunday morning, I got up before him and put the notes up around the apartment in places he would see them (by his toothbrush, on the door, on the TV, etc) then I made him breakfast in bed...stuffed french toast! All in all if was a success and good to spend some time relaxing together in bed and eating yummy food. Hopefully Eric doesn't mind that I'm sharing some of these :) And sorry...no pictures of us. I've become quite the roller at night since I've been pregnant, my hair can get a little crazy. lol

In conclusion, I so admire those couples that can do whatever and keep things fun and bonding, but for those of us who have spouses with hardly anything in common (interest wise) we have to work a little harder...then again, whoever said marriage was easy? :)

Much love to my amazing husband....even though we have our differences...I picked a KEEPER!

Keeping busy with craft projects!

Over this past year Eric has been kept really busy with school, group projects, and intramural sports so I've had a LOT of time by myself. After watching every good movie on the netflix's instant que (and for those of you who don't have netflixs, there is a limited selection of "good" movies on the instant que) I had to find something that kept me busy when I didn't have school work to do. This is how I found my love for crafting. Of course, I have always admired those with the "crafting" ability and homemade items, but never really attempted to do much myself because 1st, my creativity level is well below average and 2nd; whenever I did try some kind of craft it turned out less than perfect. Anyway, I decided to give it a try after finding some truly inspirational craft blogs (hence, giving me the craft ideas...and instructions included!) and now it has become a craze of mine, especially while trying to pass the time alone.

One of mine and Eric's goals for the new year is to stick to a budget as we try to save everything we can before we have a to fork over an arm and a leg to deliver Mia (which will be a "well worth it" investment, but a pricey investment none the less!) So to stick to our budget I have been searching for cheap crafts that can be done for less than $5.

The first craft I found were these temple blocks from Lil' Luna blog. She had her husband antique a ton of different temple pictures people would send her and posted them back up in high resolution for others to use. I made one for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I printed the picture (8x10) at costco and went to Home Depot to get scrap wood (they cut 7 11x9 inch blocks for me for free and I got all of them for $2!) This would be a great and easy gift for newlyweds also!
The next project I did was for a friend who just had a baby boy and said she was having trouble finding a church outfit for him. I have always wanted to try the tie applique onesie so this was the perfect chance to try one. While looking for ideas online I also got the idea to add a corduroy vest over the tie as well. It turned out super cute and was really easy and cheap to make! I found a tutorial for the tie applique on the blog Crap I've Made. Also, as since my classes haven't really picked up yet, I decided to deep clean and organize a room in our apartment each week in preparation for Mia and needing some extra space to store all the stuff for Mia. Last weekend I did our bedroom, which was neglected since we moved in. I reorganized our closets , rearranged the bed and dressers (with Eric's help of course) and finally hung up a shelf and pictures I bought for our bedroom almost a year ago. The final product looks great and who doesn't like falling asleep in a clean, organized room! The next room on my list is our guest room which will be Mia's room.

A new year...a fresh start!

So, I'm a little late welcoming in the new year not only on my blog, but in my mind as well. It's taken me about a week after the new year to come up with my resolutions and to get my mind set with "a new year, a fresh start and I'm going to do better!"

In looking back, 2010 was a great year! Eric and I celebrated our first year of marriage, moved into a new apartment, went to Germany, started our family and are expecting a baby girl, became an aunt and uncle to the adorable Sophia, now 6 months and getting cuter by the day, and we've been able to spend lots of time with friends and family which we are so blessed to have.

We ended the year (Christmas vacation) in Ely with my family. We both got to have some relaxation time, which I'm sure Eric was a lot more grateful for, considering he was really busy last semester in his first year in the Information Systems major. I got to watch my fair share of sappy Christmas movies that I had my mom tape for me over the month of December since we don't have TV and had a list of projects that I was able to get done with Eric's gracious help! We also got our fill of Christmas goodies and homemade dinners...at least I did anyway with my generous 7 lbs of weight gain over the break. :) (The downside of being pregnant during the holidays.)

We spent Christmas Eve in the traditional Robertson way of going up to my Grandparent's house for dinner and singing all of the Christmas hymns before reading the account on Christ's birth in Luke. My little brother Seth, in his tactic for being able to fall asleep that night, woke up really early that morning and planned on staying up late, so we all watched a movie to help him. It made me excited for that future time when our kids will be big enough to get excited for Christmas. That will be a lot of fun!

Anyway, at promptly 7am (which it the earliest my parents allowed us children to wake them up Christmas morning) Seth came running to get us all up to open presents. All in all it was great Christmas and it was nice to have most of the family there. We missed having Tyler, Annelise and Sophia there though, but luckily we got to see them, along with some extended family, for New Years at my grandparents house in Logandale to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday.

Eric and I have now started into the winter semester at school and have both continued working. This first week went really well for me, considering I went into it with a less than excited attitude; however, I have come to get a little more excited about it (I don't know if that's the right word). Now that I'm getting closer to being down I get to take a lot more classes in my major and I'm reminded of how much I love Family Studies. I hope that I can take what I learn in my classes and not only apply them into my own family, but be able to help other families in the community, especially those struggling.

Eric is still plugging along in his major and for the most part loving it. He is also getting ready to take the GMAT and apply for internships this summer. Mia is also doing great! (P.S. Over the break I decided that we would settle on a name for our baby girl since I was getting really tired of the "name" conversation...hence Mia Caldwell.) She is starting to kick a lot more now and I've been loving the task of getting her room ready! I'm getting some really cute ideas from craft blogs that I keep up on. We are both excited for her to come and to see what she'll look like and eventually she what her personality will be like.

The long awaited pregnancy pictures at 26 weeks.

Below are some of the projects I did over the Christmas break!

The top is a baby quilt blanket I started for Mia's room. I backing in with minky material which I love because it is so soft. I just need to have it quilted and then finish off the ends. Below is the window frame I made for her room also, with the decorative knobs to hang things.

Below is mine and Eric's Christmas present to each other...a new LED TV which we found for 55% off! Talk about a great deal. With the help of my Grandpa I also made the frame shelves above the TV. They turned out great and were free!

We're having a.......!!!!

Wow, so many updates...where to start?! Ok, so I'll start with what most of you are reading this for...Eric and I found out last week that we are going to have a baby girl! Both of us saw ourselves having a boy first, but by the time we went in for the ultrasound we knew it would be a girl and there was no disappointments, especially as we got to see our baby in the ultrasound. The nurse said everything looked great and that she is right on schedule. The only thing was that we couldn't really get a good picture of her face because she was being shy and was in a corner with her hands over her face. They couldn't get her to move after trying for about 5 minutes lol. I guess she is going to be shy like her momma. :) After finding out it was a girl...I went on a little shopping spree and bought the cutest material for a baby crib quilt I'm going to make over the holidays and stuff for another project I'm doing for the babies room. I got the idea from littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com I had been wanting to do something like this for a while but didn't know where I could find old window frames is Utah. I came across this ad on KSL for a woman in Lindon who's husband tears down houses and saves all the old window frames for her so she sells them from $1-10! For anyone who's looked into the price for these, that is a steal. I bought a 6-pane window frame for $5 and decorative knobs at Hobby Lobby for 50% off! Pictures of the final product to come!

Now for the other updates...Eric and I spent Thanksgiving in Vernal with his family. Neither of us had classes that Monday or Tuesday so we got the whole week off which was much needed...especially for Eric. I fell in love with Eric's family the first time I met them so I really enjoy going to visit them. We always have such a fun time and I always feel like I've had a relaxed and nice vacation when we go there. Some things that we did when we were in Vernal for the week were help set up the Christmas lights, went to "Tangled" and "Harry Potter", baked and ate a ton of yummy food, I went shopping with Eric's grandma which was fun to have a girls outing, we celebrated Will's (Eric's little brother) 6th birthday at Farr's ice-cream, cut down Christmas trees, and visited with everyone. All in all it was a great trip and I was grateful that Eric and I finally got to spend so time together since he's been so busy with school. Below are some pictures of our trip.Will and his much wanted Woody doll that he played with the rest of the time we were there.

Eric cutting down our Christmas tree which Eric's grandma graciously found for us since every tree we found ended up not being able to work. She picked a great one! It looks perfect in our living room.

After coming back from Thanksgiving, we finished up the last 2 weeks of school and are starting finals this week. One more semester almost down! Then we are going home to Ely for the Christmas break which I'm very excited for and hope it doesn't go by to quickly!

As for life in general, we couldn't be happier! I feel so very blessed for everything that I have and for all that the Lord blesses me with each day. I've really enjoyed this Christmas season and to focused on the Savior. I've been in a New Testament class this semester, covering the 4 gospels and have enjoyed studying Christ's life and mission on this Earth. We finished the class last week with Christ's atonement and it's really helped me have the spirit with me this Christmas season and remember what it's truly about.

We hope everyone has a great rest of the Christmas season. We are so very grateful for everyone in our lives who has helped us, befriended us, and loves and supports us. Merry Christmas!

A Family for Three Please

Alright, so I figure that it's finally time to get the word officially out there (unless my mother already got to you) and since I'm not going to be able to hide it for much longer anyway...I'm pregnant! Yes, it's true, we will soon be a family of three instead of two!

I'm almost 15 weeks along and for the most part have been feeling pretty good. If I'm luck I'm only sick one day out of the week; however, it's always seeming to land on the day when I have most of my classes and work. The doctor even told me at my last appointment that I passed with an A+...now if only school could be as easy as doctor appointments since I always pass with flying colors. My due date is April 20th which is right in the middle of finals weeks so it will be interesting to see how that works out...I'll just be praying that I don't go into labor during a final! As for the baby itself, Eric is really hoping for a boy and as much as I've thought about which one I would like first, I've come to the conclusion that I would love a boy or a girl...and don't worry because I already made sure that we couldn't have both at once...aka no twins! We find out the gender the first week in December so start placing your guesses!

All in all, Eric and I couldn't be more excited to start this new chapter in our lives and even though our lives are super crazy already, we are up for the challenge. I'm trying hard to get through school so I'll have more time to be home with the baby, but for the first years it's going to busy. Eric and I both are planning to graduate next April and then Eric will only have one year to get his masters if he gets into the program this year, then it's off to real world for us and it's crazy to think by then we'll have a two year old!

I feel so very blessed for my life and everything that has been given to me, especially Eric. He has been so extremely patience and helpful these last couple of months even though he barely gets anytime for himself with school and everything else he has going. He's going to make a great daddy!

On a general note, I'm gearing up the for the holidays and am excited to spend them with family and friends! Sara and I even put on a Dinner Halloween Party last weekend, which I think was quite successful. We made these delicious little smokies and spinach and artichoke dip for the appetizers and had soup and rolls for the main meal. The we broke up into groups and did a Halloween scavenger hunt afterward. For the holiday weekend we are going home to Ely for Halloween to party some more! There's nothing more fun for the holidays like getting together with a bunch of fun friends and family to eat good food and play games!

Happy Nevada Day this weekend...and Halloween! :)

Catching Up!

I think I'm always going to be one of those people who's always playing catch up...on everything. Anyway, life is going great...it's crazy but great. I was hoping that my next post would have been to tell you all about my trip to Maine for Open Lighthouse Day with Sara and my mom; however, we were not able to make it which was very disappointing to all of us since we've all been wanting to go there for a long to. We were going to flight standby for free since Sara's husband works for Jet Blue, but that day all of the seats on the plane filled up and then Sara got sick with the stomach flu. We were still determined to have a fun, girls weekend and that is exactly what we did! We spent the weekend shopping, watching movies, doing crafts and eating. We even went to Red Lobster to get our little taste of Maine. Lol. In the process I even bought a sewing machine with the much grateful help of my mom. I've been wanting one for a while now for all my crafty needs :). I have big plans for that machine, so stay tuned! While we had a girl's weekend, Eric and Collin went to Vernal to go fishing. Eric had a good time and enjoyed doing something other than homework and school I'm sure. All in all it was a fun weekend. It was so nice to have my mom there that weekend and have someone to do things with since Eric has been so busy with school lately. Thanks mom! As a side note, we have already started planning our trip to Maine for next year which we decided to save up and buy tickets so nothing will stop us.

The weekend before that Grandpa and Grandma Bohn came up with my aunt Margaret along with my parents and Seth to go to the temple and do my uncle Bart's temple work who was mental handicapped and pasted away almost two years ago. The spirit was so strong in the temple and I felt Bart's presents there as we were all there remembering him and doing his work. I can't wait to meet him in the eternities and really get to know who he actually is. I have always cherished the memories of watching my grandparents care for Bart and the love they had for him. They are true examples of service to others and have true charity.

This last weekend Eric and I went camping with some good friends that we love doing things with. We've been wanting to go camping for some time now but never found a chance during the summer so we were excited to finally get some time to do it. It was a little chilly, but even for me who wears long sleeves and pants to work during the summer found it to be bearable. We came home on Saturday for the BYU vs. UNR game and to my deepest disappointment we lost! Winning I guess was a little more on the prideful side since UNR is the big school to go to for those in Ely. It was still fun to go to the game and enjoy the atmosphere of game day among the cougar fans. Because of the game I missed the General Relief Society Broadcast, but was able to watch it online afterwards. It was such a good meeting! Even listening to it later, I felt the spirit so strong and felt so blessing have the gospel in my life and for a beloved Prophet who leads and guides our church in such a tender and loving way. President Monson's talk was so good about not judging others. I loved the quote, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." Such a powerful talk and something I'm sure I could work on.

Now for my "life in general" moment, Eric and I are about a month into the fall semester. Eric has been very busy with school and homework. I can't help but being so very grateful for him though. Even after his long days at school and work and having a lot of homework he still finds time to cook me dinner on some nights and help me around the house, and even surprise me with a date night to dinner and a movie when I'm not looking forward to another night of being alone. I feel so blessed to have found am amazing husband who is working so hard to support his family and be the best husband EVER! My semester is pretty easy and chill so far, which is nice because it's been really hard for me to get back into the groove of school.

Anyway that's life for now. Sorry I don't have any pictures of anything that has happened. I really need to get better a that!

In the mood for crafts!

Eric can testify to the fact, as can many of my friends, that about every couple of months I get in a really crafty mood. Since work has been a little slow lately I have been looking around the web for some cheap and easy crafts and I came upon this really fun craft blog called Little Birdie Secrets. They have tons of crafts projects ideas on their blog that are super cute and really easy too!
Eric's little brother, Will is starting Kindergarten in a week and I wanted to give a little "Good luck at School" package. On that craft blog I found a cute idea for making clipboard chalkboards for kids to draw on. Not only is it cute but it's perfect for kids when traveling or maybe even at church to entertain them. Anyway, I made two and each clipboard cost less than about $4-5 to make. You just need a clipboard, some chalkboard spray paint, scrapbook paper, mod podge and foam brush, and some ribbon. Walla...the results!