Tribute to Mom's

I know this is a day late, but I wanted to post this video in honor of Mother's Day.

This is for you mom...

On Sunday my mom informed me that my last post is titled "March Madness" and it's almost May so I guess she was right when she said I needed to update! Here's the thing, mine and Keith's lives are incredibly boring right now because I'm going to school and he's studying for the DAT so really our lives revolve solely around homework and going to my parents on the weekend. Except for last week when I was at my parents 5 out of the 7 days of the week because Keith was out of town and I am way too big of a baby to sleep in my apartment on my own. It's pretty pathetic considering I live in Rexburg and have nightmares about people breaking in. But I definitely want to give a little shout out to Kaleena and Stephanie for crashing with me because I'm a weakling! You girls are amazing and I owe you! I didn't know how awful it would be to be separated from Keith for a week. All I can say is that I'm glad it's over but I'm grateful that he was able to take care of his grandma while his parents were out of town. Speaking of Keith, I need to brag about him a little bit. He had a HARD semester in the winter and he ended up pulling all A's. He's such a hard worker and he really does accomplish anything he puts his mind to. I'm so proud of him and grateful for his good example.

So I am getting over the sickness and definitely showing a belly! It's kind of fun but at the same time kind of awkward because I know I look like I've just put on some (okay a lot of) weight and my clothes are too tight. What's funny is how much I bloat after eating! I start out somewhat normal in the morning, then the stomach expands throughout the day. Let me just show you how it gets at nighttime and I'm really not exaggerating this: Not even 14 weeks pregnant so we'll have to see just how big I get! Katy asked if we think it's going to be a boy or girl. I'm saying a girl and Keith's saying a boy but we both don't really care. We just want a happy, healthy baby and if that's not possible we just want to be able to accept the Lord's will. We're so grateful for this pregnancy (as unexpected as it was) and feel blessed to have the privilege of bringing a child into this world.

March Madness

As you can tell by my lack of posting, March has been a crazy busy month for Keith and I. The new shortened semesters at BYU-I can really kill you! We can see the end though, our official last day is April 10th and at this point, it really can't come any sooner. I've decided to go to school this summer and finish up in the fall with my Bachelors in Health Science (emphasis in Public Health) which I'm really excited about! Keith is going to take a little time off and study for the DAT (the dental test) then hopefully get an internship here in Rexburg. It's been so cold and we cannot wait for the snow to melt.
So I've been pretty sick lately and at first I joked about it being morning sickness. A few weeks later, the naseua wasn't so funny anymore and the pregnancy test came positive!! You could definitely say it was an unplanned miracle but Keith and I are really excited. I'm glad that we dated so long and knew each other so well when we got married. I think it really helped prepare us for the news. Keith and I weren't going to say anything until 3 months but my mom happens to have a pregnancy radar and can detect it like you wouldn't believe.
I had my first ultrasound on Tuesday with Dr. Lovell and will post the picture as soon as I can get it to my parents and transfer it to the computer. It was so scary to know that I was pregnant until I saw the ultrasound and the little heart beating. What an amazing thing! The due date is October 31st which makes me 9 weeks today. I can't complain, Keith's been really good helping me out around the house because I've honestly been so tired. If I can, I go to bed around 8:30 and don't wake up until 7:30. Poor Keith gets to experience all of my wrath when he wakes me up from my naps! The morning sickness is almost at it's end though, just one more month and it should get better. The Doc. told me to stop taking prenatals until I'm out of the first trimester and that's definitely helped.
Did I mention we're so excited! We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents. If anyone has advice for good exercise to do while pregnant, it would be greatly appreciated, actually I could use any advice at all!

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I have been searching on-line for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe because mine always turn out flat or just don't taste very good. I made this one this weekend and Keith and I both made ourselves sick! The bonus part of this recipe is that the dough is as good as the cookie. Keith and I made the first batch extra big (I used a large ice cream scoop and only fit 6 on the cookie sheet)and made ice cream sandwhiches which I highly recommend, but make sure you have an empty stomach because they are so filling. The trick to this recipe is to slowly melt the butter- I cut my butter into pieces and stirred them on low heat for about 10 minutes- and then mix it with your sugars. I also made sure to refrigerate my dough beforehand which is supposed to prevent burning and take them out right as they're turning brown. One other tip I loved, I chilled my cookie sheet by running cold water on it before my first batch and between my others. Doing that will prevent burning and a more perfect cookie. Enjoy!

Big, Chewy chocolate chip cookies
INGREDIENTS
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
· 1 cup packed brown sugar
· 1/2 cup white sugar
· 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
· 1 egg
· 1 egg yolk
· 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2.Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Refrigerate dough before baking, leave on cookie sheet until cool, pull out of even when edges are just starting to turn brown

Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Here are a couple pictures from the wedding:

Our Cake

Since I don't have pictures of the wedding yet, I thought I would find a picture of our cake. We found our "cake lady" (Alissa Fuller) in Orem through UtahWeddings. com and loved her. Our cake inspired her to begin a new company that rented wedding cakes. We wanted fondant because of the look but knew we probably wouldn't serve it. That meant we were going to spend $325 on a centerpiece! We signed for the cake but a few weeks later she called and said she had been thinking about making cakes for rent (for 1/3 of the price!) and wanted to know if we would be interested. I was all for it and am so glad I did it because our cake looked beautiful and if you can tell by our picture, it still looked like we were cutting into the fake cake.

It's finally open!

I'm so excited for our temple to be open, it's so beautiful! Keith and I went to the dedication on Sunday. They started half an hour late and Keith and I woke up ten minutes before we were supposed to be seated and you all know how I get on an empty stomach! But overall, it was a really amazing dedication. President Monson was so funny and the talks were all very inspiring.