HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hope your dinner is more enjoyable then this guys!

May we all take time to share with each other what we are thankful for.

Over The Top Award

I got the Over The Top Award from my cousin Liz a little over a week ago. I am just now getting to doing something about it. (I know....S-L-O-W)
1.Where is your cell phone: On the couch next to me
2.Your hair: in a ponytail as usual
3.Your mother: is creative/crafty
4.Your father: hard working
5.Your favorite food: Steak
6.Your dream from last night: HMMM, don't remember but I have had some WEIRD ones lately
7.Your favorite drink: Mtn Dew
8.Your dream/goal: To be a great mom and live a happy and fulfilling life
9.What room are you in: living room
10.What is your hobby: Blogging, photography, scrapbooking
11.What is your fear: Not sure what to put. I have always put never having kids, but now that we are expecting....I don't know
12.Where do you want to be in 6 years: Healthy, happy, hopefully living somewhere warmer.
13.Where were you last night: At home watching the BSU game. GO BRONCOS!
14.Something you are not: crafty...my mom and sisters got all the craft skills
15.Muffins: blueberry
16.Wish list items: A home we own, a 60D Cannon Camera
17.Where did you grow up: Boise, Idaho...never moved away from this city.
18.Last thing you did: Worked on my Sunday School Lesson and our class's sharing time
19.What are you wearing: Jeans, cami (always have one on) and a t-shirt
20.Your TV:is currently on. Mike is watching King of the Hill while I blog
21.Your pets:Sage, our boxer/shepherd mix. She is a great dog. Unfortunately she is living with my parents right now.
22.Your friends: are wonderful and uplift me constantly. I miss those who are far away.
23.Your life: is going great. Very excited to start the next chapter of my life- parenthood
24.Your mood: good.
25.Missing someone: The Bolanders. We are so bummed we are not able to go down there this New Years for Drake's baptism. LOVE YOU GUYS!

26. Vehicle: Subaru Impreza AWD....LOVE MY CAR!
27.Something you're not wearing: shoes
28.Your favorite store: Not sure. We go to WalMart a lot, but only because it is close. I like Fashion Bug and Lane Bryant
29.Your favorite color: Deep purple, like eggplant
30.When is the last time you laughed: This afternoon. Mike and I laugh daily.
31.When is the last time you cried: I don't remember.
32.Your best friend: I have a few close friends. All are great supports. One is the most positive person I know. Another one is more like my sister then a friend, and has allowed us to be apart of her family, and the other is the one who is always up for a good time. Like Nashville.
33.One place you go over and over: Store wise: WalMart, Location: SLC and Disneyland

34. One person who email me regularly: My Dad
35.Favorite place to eat: Olive Garden, Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, Cracker Barrel

I'm going to pass this award on to:
Stephanie @ the Johnson Family Blog
Monae @ Backstage Center
Courtney @ The Tam Fam
&
Terrilyn @ The Houdek Household

I Am Thankful For~

My Family~ I am so blessed to have them

Mike~ my best friend and eternal companion, need I say more?

My friends~ they inspire me every day

The Gospel~ I don't know where I would be without the knowledge of Heavenly Father's plan for us

Employment~ I know it could change in a heartbeat, but for now we are both employed by wonderful companies

Modern Medicine~ Our little miracle would not be on the way, if not for medical treatments that are relatively new

There is so much more I am thankful for, it would take pages to list it all. I feel like I have everything I could ever want/need.

I {LOVE} Thanksgiving!

It reminds us all of everything we have to be grateful for. Even during these hard times, we all are so blessed! I loved the Sunday School lesson for the SR primary last week. It talked about how even with all the trials the pioneers faced, they still gave thanks to Heavenly Father for their many blessings. Our trials seem so small compared to theirs, how can I not be thankful for everything I have! I hope we all give thanks every day, but ESPECIALLY this Thanksgiving.

Fall Pictures

I have been very blessed to be able to put my camera to good use lately and take pictures for several families for their Holiday/Greeting cards and presents. I am a strong believer that we should be constantly working to develope new talents (although for me this may not qualify as a talent...LOL). Below are a few of my favorites.

Fall Pictures

Being Sick is No Fun!

Ugh! I am going stir crazy. Thursday, I got one of those soar throats where it HURTS LIKE HECK to swallow. I came home after work, and was in bed (well, on the couch) all night, all day Friday and most of Saturday. I felt a lot better Saturday so I met up with someone to do some pictures for her. After that, I came home and took it easy. By the end of the night though, I was coughing like crazy. My ears were plugged and my nose is stuffed up. No fun! So Sunday, my birthday, I have stayed home and in bed. I am feeling better, which is good because I have to go to work tomorrow, but I still have a cough. I never got a fever luckily.

Other than that, we have led a pretty boring life recently. I am looking forward to the Holidays. Mike has been rolled over as an official full time employee at his work and is now getting benefits, paid time off and more. I am spending a lot of time decluttering our home. I am also going to try and get a lot of Christmas crafts done.

5 Things To Be Happy About in November

1) BIRTHDAYS!!!!- both mine and Mike's (busy time of year, good thing baby is due in May)
2) The smell of pies, turkey, and so much more.
3) Another full month of BSU FOOTBALL
4) Christmas Crafts!
5) The new Jeff Dunham Show (FUNNY!)

NEED HELP!- Christmas Crafts

So now that November is here I am starting to think about Christmas. I have decided that this year I want to make 90% of my gifts. I have already decided the few gifts that will be bought and have my budget for them, and for crafts. I have been searching tons of blogs and sites for ideas. I thought that one way I may get some great new ideas is from asking you~ the wonderful family that are so creative (AHEM JENSEN FAMILY MEMBERS~ THIS MEANS YOU) and also my creative friends. Give me some of your ideas. Right now I am going to do a large picture thing (not sure what to call it) of "The Living Christ" that has the Christ pictures surrounding it. Anybody that saw the one I made my friend Terrie of the Proclamation, it is a lot like that. I am also thinking of making some fun purses, etc out of old jeans or something. That one may require to much planning for me though.

What are some great home-made gifts you have either made or received? Leave me a comment with the idea.

Hot Cocoa Mix

After a cold, snowy day, I came home from work and decided that I needed to make some home-made hot cocoa mix. I also made pancakes for dinner. YUMMY!
When I was little, my family had the best hot chocolate recipe. However, before I got too old, there were not enough of us in the house to use up an entire batch. My older brother decided to take our family recipe and make it into a mix. I thought I would share it with everyone.

FARRAR FAMILY HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

In a bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa (we prefer the winco brand) If you use RICH cocoa, you may want to only put in 1/4 cup. Stir well.

Add in 3 cups of dried/powder milk. Stir well.

Put in a air tight container.

To use: add 1/4 cup mix (or more to taste) to each 8 oz of HOT water and stir well.

I will admit, I tried a new brand of powdered milk and the milk was in big clumps so it didn't mix in very well even though my water was BOILING! So you may want to beware of this.

This is great to have and costs a lot less then buying all the mixes from the store.

First OB Visit and a 3d/4d ultrasound

Mike and I went to my first OB appointment today. I was kind of nervous having been going to the Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine for so long to be seeing a new doctor.

Our OB was highly recommended to us. INSTANTLY, we knew he was the right doc for us. He started out by asking me in a hushed tone if Mike knew I was pregnant. Then he cracked jokes about how we probably won't be able to turn off the baby machine now that it is started.

During the first part of the exam, pap, etc Mike sat in the corner playing video games. When the OB got ready to do the internal ultra sound (I thought I was done with those ones. Didn't know he was doing an us at all today) I asked Mike if he wanted to come where he could see. The OB said with a straight face and monotone voice, "He doesn't care."

Yeah, he is the perfect doctor for us.

Here are some pics.

First the Alien Baby looking one.

And now the one where the baby looks like a sleeping angel (OUR KID? Right!)

Everything's Amazing & Nobody is Happy

8 Wonderful Years

Married October 13, 2001

Sealed June 14, 2008

Today, Mike and I celebrate 8 years of marriage. Boy has it gone by fast! So, I thought I would list 8 things about Mikey.

1) He is still a giant kid at heart! He keeps me young and has gotten me to loosen up A LOT!

2) He grills an awesome steak! Keeps it super juicy while still getting it well done for me.

3) He has done such a good job at working out. Maybe it is because he can play video games while working out, but who cares. It has made it so much easier for me to focus on eating healthy when he is concerned about it too.

4) He won't admit it out loud, but I know he likes country music.

5) He loves to fish, but he didn't get a single bite this year. Okay we only went twice. Once the lake didn't have a single fish. Nobody in the campground caught anything. I still like to tease him about it though.

6) He has a great sense of humor! Probably one of the few people that can say some of the things he has to my dad and make him speechless too.

7) He has been a great support to me through everything we have been through. I couldn't have gotten this far without him.

8) He will be a great dad when baby Robins arrives in May!

Yes, we are happy to announce after years of struggling with infertility, we are expecting our first around May 12, 2010. At our last u/s the little one was already moving a ton so the picture is blurry. Thanks to all who kept us in their thoughts and prayers.

Fall

So the temperature in Boise dropped drastically last week. On Monday (Sept 28th) it was around 90 degrees and by Wednesday (the 30th) it was 55? WHAT THE HECK?

Don't get me wrong, I {LOVE} Fall! Love it! But, it is nice to have a slow decrease in temp. First off, it helps us get those beautiful, colorful leaves we had last year. The best I have seen in a long time. Second, it gives me time to adjust. As we have had days in the 40s and 50s (and when lucky 60s) I find myself freezing. I didn't even get to have time where I didn't need the A/C before having to turn on the heater.

Ok, with my little vent done. I really do love the fall. I love the activities there are. I can't wait to go to the Corn Maize again this year. We get to celebrate our anniversary this month. I love the crisp feeling in the air, when I am not FREEZING!

I have really enjoyed already seeing the mountains surrounding Boise topped with snow. It is kind of interesting. They usually aren't snowcapped for another month or so.

My favorite fall weekend, was this past weekend. I LOVE Conference Weekend. It is so uplifting! I loved all the talks. April I had a few that really stood out to me. This time, I can't pick. I loved them all.

5 Things to Be Happy About in October

1. Leaves changing colors
2. Cooler Temps (even though you freeze at first)
3. Hearts Beating
4. Every candy bar ever made in a bite size version
5. 8 WONDERFUL years of marriage!