tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44645399895018007422024-03-05T19:39:48.268-08:00 The Engel's Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-37438065283703819922014-03-07T13:25:00.001-08:002014-03-10T09:08:11.216-07:00East Coast GirlWell, this is rather embarrassing. MORE THAN A YEAR WITHOUT A POST? That's totally unacceptable. (I'm not really sure what happened to the pictures... so I'll have to figure that out later). I'm not going to stress about what I've missed - because frankly there is no way I will be able to fill all you lovelies in on everything - so I will start with what's been happening recently.<br />
After a long, hard, slow, dreadful, cold,(are you getting the picture yet?) couple years, Mike and I were finally able to get out of Idaho! YIPEE! Mike graduated with his BS degree in Financial Economics; but please don't mistake that for Business Finance because he will certainly correct you. ;) He worked his tooshie off trying to finish those last couple months of school and I mean seriously, he's the hardest worker I've ever known. Before we moved out, (I'll get to the whereabouts in just a moment) he had to go through the refiners fire of applying for jobs. That was the biggest headache in the world - having to worry about not having somewhere to go, and then figuring out our future from somewhere we didn't want to stay. Just stressful all around. One of the businesses that called him up was Vanguard in Scottsdale, AZ saying they were interested in the sexy, hilarious, crazy, financial economics dude who applied. Oh wait, they didn't say that. Anyway, so they called and got him an interview in Scottsdale which was on a Thursday; right in the middle of the school week. That was fun for him to work around but he won them over and got them to offer him a job. THANKFULLY, and I mean that in the best way possible, they had job openings in the Philadelphia, PA area too which gave us a choice between the two. Arizona is great and grand but living there, in our opinion, was less adventurous than the East Coast. So what did we decide? Arizona. No, I'm kidding. We decided on Philadelphia. After that major decision had passed all we had to do was get Mike through the last couple months of school and head out! It was bliss until finals week. Then I had to worry about him surviving those tests and passing those classes in order to graduate to get his job. I mean he thought he was stressed?! His poor wife ;)<br />
Meanwhile, I am working at a job that came to me at just the right moment. Originally, I was working at a bank. First of all, I hate banks. I've known that since I was little because both of my parents worked for banks. HELLO!!! It's cool though, because like I said a job came out of no where (actually from a customer of the bank) that saved my sanity. It was beautiful and full time and more pay and fabulous and everything else on the planet. It was perfect. (Not sure where I was going with this story, but that's what happened.)<br />
Ok, so now back to the story of moving to the East Coast. It was fun getting everything packed... and if you couldn't tell that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. But, alas, I got through it while Mike finished his finals. Chris came out to help us move, which was amazing because that meant I got to fly out to Pennsylvania instead of driving. I. Will. Not. Complain. Unfortunately, once Mike was on the road, I was pretty much guilt tripped by my own brain the whole time I was relaxing at home waiting for the day to come to fly out to PA. You see, Mike was sick and he hadn't slept well in the previous months because of random stressors. So while I was hangin out with my family eating Panda (his favorite Chinese fast food) he was suffering and miserable for 36 hours of driving straight through to our future home. Yeah, I felt like the best wife award could have gone straight to me for sure. Ouch. But besides that, I had a fabulous time with my family before I left. There was a lot of crying and blubbering that went on but I was so glad that I got to spend a little bit of Christmas with them. I miss them a lot.<br />
When I finally got to Pennsylvania (on Christmas Eve), I was so excited to see Mike! Even though we're not a newly married couple anymore (in Mormon terms) I was still dying to see him after a week. I mean really, am I pathetic? The first thing Mike and I did after he picked me up from the airport was have dinner with Dan and Allison! It was amazing and the perfect way to welcome me to the East Coast. We had soup (Gnocci something or other) and it was to die for. I've been craving it ever since. (And I got to meet Mason for the first time. And I love him. And I love Connor.)<br />
That was the beginning of the quickest couple months I have experienced in my entire life. I got to PA, we had Christmas which was fantastic, I tried to get over the time change which took me like a week, we had New Years, Mike started his job and I started online school, we found an apartment, we waited, waited some more, and then finally moved in. I'm going to speak for both of us right now.... WE LOVE IT HERE! We absolutely love it. It's 1000% better (in terms of noise, bugs, space, and move-in-cleanliness) than our apartment in Idaho. Even though the apartment was probably built in the Stone Age, I'm happy with it. We are happy with it and that's all that matters.<br />
Another amazing thing we love about living in this apartment is the ward that we are able to be a part of. Holy Smokes you guys, these people are the most amazing group I have ever seen. They are so welcoming and interested in each other's lives and they don't care about money. They don't care! I can't tell you how much I appreciate that about people because they don't let their jobs and their pay checks define them or their thoughts about anyone else. Amazing amazing people. They will do anything for you and it has helped us get into that same mind set which is such a blessing. We have learned so much just by being around people who care. It was a tender mercy to move into this ward and I know that we needed it right now. When we were living in Idaho and going to church there, it was extremely difficult to feel part of the ward. We were fortunate enough to be in a family ward but they had so many students moving in and out that they just kind of gave up on getting to know any of the students. Even after a year and a half of being there, people who I had had conversations with were still asking if I was new. {sigh} I have always been a religious person and it's always been important to me, but I can tell you that I hated going to church for that year and a half. It impacted me in ways that I don't like and I am seeing those effects carried in myself now. I know that one of the reasons we needed to be here, in this specific place, was so that we could grow into the people we have had goals to become. Mike and I have had so many conversations about how perfectly this situation is crafted to this time in our life. We were struggling with church, He put us in an amazing ward who cared and loved us from day 1. We were struggling financially, he helped us find an apartment that fit our budget. We needed to stretch our testimonies, the bishop called us as ward missionaries. I could fill the rest of my journal pages with the ways that we have been blessed and we make sure to talk about it every day. We want to live in this moment because we have seen the effects of looking forward to the future too much. It robs us of happiness. Even though it's really easy right now, we want to make sure to hold on to our gratitude.<br />
So many other things happened on our move out here like our car having problems, valentines day, our stay at Mike's parents house, our birthday week, decorating our apartment, etc. but I feel that that's a great note to end on. Be grateful for the things you have because it brings so much happiness and satisfaction. I have felt peace here like I have never felt before.<br />
I will post an update on our apartment once we have everything completely unpacked.<br />
Thanks for reading! And thanks to Nicole for pushing me to update my blog finally. ;)<br />
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The beginnings of packing in Rexburg</div>
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Me taking a break from cleaning and taking advantage of AMAZING light</div>
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Mike's reaction when he found out I made him a Harry Potter Wand... ;) Nerd</div>
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Preston and Bentlee on Christmas</div>
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I want to eat him.</div>
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These are pictures of random times when I just happened to have my camera</div>
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Bentlee and Preston playing in the first big snowfall.</div>
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-5724146971116364232012-11-21T10:38:00.003-08:002012-11-21T10:38:41.890-08:00Fitness Day 11Hello!!<br />
Todays workout was pretty dang hard.<br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/04/tight-butt-stomach-and-arms-home.html">Tight Butt Stomach and Arms</a> - this one killed me. It was my favorite though because it gave me a big workout.<br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/03/abs-in-hurry-10-minute-workout-fitness.html">Abs in a Hurry</a> - and this one is always an amazing workout for me. It's all about really pushing yourself and really trying to perfect the moves. Why I say that is because you could easily cheat on a lot of these moves, but it's up to you if you want a good workout.<br />
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DAY 11 COMPLETE!!<br />
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-47824171000977742482012-11-20T17:32:00.002-08:002012-11-20T17:32:16.405-08:00SweetsWell, to start off, no I have not stopped my work out challenge. It just happens that I got sick last week and couldn't bring myself to do it. So IT STARTED AGAIN YESTERDAY!!!<br />
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<b>Yesterdays workout:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/06/standing-workout-thighs-hamstrings-and.html">Thighs and Hamstrings</a><br />
I wanted to work specifically on these because I pulled my hamstring and wanted to stretch that out to make sure I could start running again.<br />
<b>Todays Workout:</b><br />
2 mile run (18 min- after being sick and afflicted).<br />
Even though the blog workouts may look easy, they really test your strength and endurance (especially on the timed interval workouts).<br />
You can see my past workouts on my blog.<br />
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<b>Exciting News from the past couple weeks..</b><br />
Mike is almost done with one of his classes. He only has one final test to go and that means one less thing he has to worry about!! Yay for him :)<br />
I had off work for Vetrans Day (I work at a Bank) so that was fun and awesome. That was the day I go sick though, I was super grateful that we had the day off work for that reason. Mike was an angel and took care of me - of course!!<br />
Made homemade caramel apples - with M&Ms<br />
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My manager brought one of her puppies to work for me to play with :) :) :) BEST DAY EVER - then he peed on my desk... but I still love him.<br />
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Mike and I went on our first date in a LONG time (he has work Friday and Saturday nights usually) because he had Friday night off!! WAHOO! We went to see The Dark Knight Rises. Wow. I am totally speechless. Just to give you a feel for how wonderful it was... If someone asked me to go 3 weekends in a row... I would say yes.<br />
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I started an etsy account called <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/PleasantlyVintage">PleasantlyVintage</a>!! I felt like doing something crafty and I didn't really want to get everything out - which I ended up doing anyway. So, I uploaded all of my crafts to sell. If you are interested, go take a peek!!<br />
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But.. can you believe its Thanksgiving in 3 days?! I'm ready to eat some yummy food. Speaking of: Do you all have you elastic waistband pants ready?! I sure do. Plus we have our awesome friends coming over!! YAY! I'm super excited to see Nicole, she's my favorite :) Anyhow, it's kind of depressing that I didn't even decorate for Thanksgiving... I had no ideas. even from pinterest! The only thing I could have done would be to print out those cute framed sayings... yeah. We're still out of ink. Oh well!! That just makes me super excited to decorate for Christmas. EEK!!<br />
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-80786414104748040322012-11-10T19:17:00.001-08:002012-11-10T19:17:16.674-08:00Fitness Day 8I slacked a little today... oops!! But what I DID DO:<br />
As many mountain climbers as possible<br />
Side Swipe Plank (Each Leg) - 20 each<br />
Side Crunch Plank (Each Leg) - 20 each<br />
Downward Dog Pushups - 10<br />
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-13046268266156487302012-11-09T07:39:00.002-08:002012-11-09T07:39:38.747-08:00Fitness Day 7Heck yeah!! I've been going for seven days already, (not in a row since I have two days to rest) but still. One week down!!<br />
Today I skipped running so that my leg can heal up for next week. I do need to keep up with running, that's what burns the fat!<br />
Todays workout:<br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/03/tight-arms-and-abs.html">Tight Arms and Abs</a> - This really worked me for my arms. But, I need to get better at my arm strength so that's what my goal was today. AND<br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/06/pushup-challenge-9-pushup-variations.html">9 Pushup Variations</a> - these are awesome even though I still can't keep up with the arm workouts quite yet. This one was a little easier, although I had to do some girl pushups when I couldn't go on.<br />
Day 7 complete. :)<br />
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-21168496466322425132012-11-08T10:52:00.002-08:002012-11-08T10:52:52.614-08:00Fitness Day 6Todays workout:<br />
Mike and I did as many sit ups as we possibly could (we actually didn't count for some reason)<br />
Then we ended with <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/06/5-minute-ab-workout-interval-melissa.html">5 Minute Ab Workout</a>. I loved working out with Mike- he even admitted to how difficult these videos were. I would have done more of a core workout (and more than 5 minutes) but that requires legs (squats, kicks, etc) and with my pulled hamstring I can't exactly do that.<br />
Day 6 is completed!!<br />
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-75241535384039508172012-11-07T07:30:00.001-08:002012-11-07T07:30:45.997-08:00Fitness Day 5Todays workout:<br />
4 Mile run this morning - I think I did a pretty good job with the run. I was feeling a little sore still from the Full Body Tune Up I did on Monday - my upper abs are still killing me!! (This is a good thing - YAY for muscles!!) - so I felt pretty good with the time I got on the 4 mile run. Every time I add an additional mile to the workout I run at a pace of 10 minutes per mile so that way I know I will definitely survive and I can only improve from there. So today I ran 4 miles in 38 minutes and had a work out (after I took Mikey to school) called <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2011/12/tighter-tush-fitness-bender-workout.html">Tighter Tush</a>. Unfortunately I pulled my left Hamstring and had to sit out after workout 9.. hopefully I will be able to recover quickly so I can continue this workout routine!!<br />
That's my update for today!<br />
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-76983070936266262252012-11-05T08:32:00.000-08:002012-11-05T08:32:10.851-08:00Fitness Day 4Hello Blogging World!!<br />
Today is day 4 in my 30 day fitness challenge - I started off the day with a 2 mile run with my work friend and ended my work out for today with <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/11/quick-full-body-tune-up-home-workout.html">Quick Full Body Tune Up</a>. I love that she has reps for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced because there are certain work outs that I seem to be able to hit advanced but some I can barely hit Intermediate. That way I can see exactly where I stand and I have something I can look to for improvement! Well, there you have it, day four was a success!!Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-80934652120307107252012-11-02T18:55:00.001-07:002012-11-05T08:33:32.367-08:00Fitness Day 3Today was a little bit of a lazy day. I was feeling exhausted this morning so I didn't end up running... yet... but this morning I did a <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/01/full-body-stretching-great-for-runners.html">Stretch Out</a> video which helped my tight muscles a lot!! Later tonight I will continue with my workout schedule so I will update then!!<br />
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Tonights workout!!<br />
No running unfortunately (I re-realized that if I don't go in the morning, no matter how hard I try I cannot find time during the day AND do these work outs).<br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/04/sexy-arms-workout.html">Sexy Arms Workout</a><br />
<a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/06/5-minute-arm-workout-melissa-bender.html">5 Minute Arm Workout</a> - this one you do need some weights (I skipped that part because I don't have the weights and continued on with the previous workout shown. P.s. don't be freaked out about the rolling push-ups, they were actually really fun!!)Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-11194588437190983162012-11-01T17:27:00.000-07:002012-11-05T08:33:41.255-08:00Fitness Day 2Day 2 of Exercises:<br />
Holy smokes.. I feel motivated to lose this belly chub. It feels great to finish day two because now I can tell myself that I'm already two days in.. why quit now ;) Right?! Or that's what I'm trying to convince myself. Anyhow, if you liked either of the videos I posted last time, I decided to go with <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/">Bender Fitness</a> because the website is easier to navigate and I can find what I want to work on pretty quickly. The thing I love about this website too is that she posts work out updates everyday - or almost everyday- so if you're not feeling strongly about working out a specific area, just do what she is doing. Today I did the <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/03/12-minute-ab-fat-burn-fitness-bender.html">12 Minute Ab Fat Burn</a><i> </i>and <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/10/full-body-fitness-workout.html">Full Body Fitness Workout</a>.Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-61774885672720081472012-10-31T15:49:00.001-07:002012-10-31T22:10:42.475-07:00Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet<span style="color: lime; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Trick or Treat</b></span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Smell my Feet</b></span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Give me something </b></span><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Good to Eat...</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I always used to secretly sing that song as I rang the doorbell when I was a young'n. Anyhow, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I wish I had somewhere more important to go than to my open lab for Anatomy tonight, and I certainly wish Mike would be home from work to celebrate with me... unfortunately that's not the case. BUT I can still be excited and eat all the candy that we bought for the little kiddies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Last post I had was of me getting ready to put up Halloween decor.. since it's the actual holiday I thought it appropriate to update before it was too late - tomorrow. :) So, here are the basics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I love pinterest. It's true. And I'm addicted. But at least it feeds my passion for creativity.. right?! Well I found these lovely printouts among many other ideas and decided these would be most cost effective. So here they are!! Aren't they beauties?! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I certainly got excited when I put them up - although I had a run in with the printer. Yeah it ran out of ink. Mike was a genius and suggested to buy markers so we didn't have to spend the extra moolah on colored ink. I got the cheap brand though - but I mean who knew Crayola was cheap?! - so each marker ran out after one use. LAME. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So many other exciting things happened this month!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My parents and brother came to visit and we all went to Outback... Yummy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I tried herbal tea for the first time and loved it - but only with added sugar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I wore a sweater that I added a heart to, to work... I got lots of compliments!! :) Yay!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There was a week that Mike and I were a little worn down from school/work etc. and Mike actually got sick. But of course he was fabulous and left me a little note when I got home from work with a can of soup- what a cutie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We got sparkly pumpkins to decorate the apartment. I. Love. Them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike and I went to Broulims to pick up some pumpkins to carve with our wonderful friends Nicole and Blake and o</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">n our way home from picking up pumpkins we stopped in at </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Cocoa Bean </i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and got pumpkin hot chocolate and a butterfinger cupcake. Mmmm. I love pumpkin EVERYTHING.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike made homemade salsa- he's such a wonderful cook. We finished it within 2 or 3 hours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday we carved pumpkins with Nicole and Blake... I absolutely love them to death. Talk about perfect couple. They are so happy and funny and real. I just love them. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">WE.HAD.A.BLAST!!!! "Happy H'lon" hahaha!! - Ignore the whole glasses situation, I thought I had scratched my eye but turns out it was the contact. Figures :) - </span><br />
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{here is a beautiful picture of me and my amazing friend Nicole}</div>
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{I had fun editing... it is Halloween you know}</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Monday- we had steak. Seriously the best dinner we've had in forever!!! Well, I take that back but we have been getting sick of chicken. So needless to stay, stake was a fabulous burst of flavor in our mouths.</span><br />
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It's been quite the eventful month of October. I have been running with a co-worker every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday... I finally timed my mile and it was a fabulous 7:53!!! Heck to the yes. I was pretty freaking astounded. (Considering the shape I have been in). Anyhow, I am wanting to get down to 7:00 as my fastest... also I started a 30 day work out - on top of the running because I feel like I need to work on other things too- and if any of you are interested, here are the sites I've been looking at. They are both wonderful but trust me they are hard!! The one I started today was <a href="http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/01/02/day-1-of-our-30-day-challenge-fit-test/">Body Rock</a>. It's absolutely fabulous. It starts out with a personal test and mine wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, but I'm going to start posting my personal scores on the blog. Feel free to follow!! The second site is <a href="http://www.benderfitness.com/2012/10/full-body-fitness-workout.html">Bender Fitness</a> and looks just as wonderful if not better! So I might make my own workout routine between the two sites. Anyhow, if anyone is looking for free online workout videos that wouldn't be too hard to stick to, these are them!! I am so excited to finally find something that works for me.<br />
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Happy Halloween!!<br />
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-6112416547688018612012-10-17T08:42:00.001-07:002012-10-17T08:42:39.829-07:00"Plus" DaysToday Mike has an interview with Northwestern Mutual for his internship. We are crossing our fingers that he's able to get in, talk about perfect internship!! That way we get to stay in Idaho, (plus), we get to keep going to school (plus), I might not get to see him as much (negative...) but eventually a plus because we'll graduate the same day!! (PLUS PLUS PLUS)!! I also went for a 2 mile run this morning... and 2 people bought things from me on ebay... and this is my day off of work... It's a good day! (Plus)!<br />
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This beautiful, sweet and precious picture is of us heading to Costa Vida.. yeah we spoiled ourselves a little that day but we certainly needed it. The only reason I'm telling you this is because -if you like shrimp- I seriously died when I had the sweet shrimp salad! Oh my goodness gracious. They put mango salsa on there... and give you this amazing mango vinaigrette dressing... definitely heaven in my mouth. I highly recommend it. Seriously, go try it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> {Isn't he a cutie?!!}</span></div>
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More exciting news... We have visitors! I talked with my wonderful mother yesterday and she told me they are all coming up for a trip to Yellowstone. First of all, so jealous that they get to go up there. Dang work... Mike and I can't go. But I'm excited because our family (on either side) hasn't actually seen our apartment in person. Also, I'm super excited to see my family. I miss them.. and I missed my brothers birthday because I had to stay up here. He's 15! I freaking can't believe it. I remember when I was 15, yeah it makes me feel old and I'm only 20.. blah. </div>
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Also, we've been saving up for Christmas... WE FINALLY GOT OUR FIRST TREE!! It's so cute. It's 4 ft tall! I love it. We obviously don't have it set up yet. Hello people/businesses/radio, it's not quite Halloween yet! (I'm totally guilty though.. it's our first Christmas together and I'm so super/crazy excited!)</div>
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Some other amazing and cool things: Mike bought me a rose a while ago :) It was so sweet of him. He's always so thoughtful. </div>
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And he bought kisstix. Best Chapstick Ever. Ever. Ever. One is peaches and one is cream, so when you kiss it tastes like peaches and cream. We can thank the show Shark Tank for this wonderful little gift. It's so fun, and not to mention it's actual quality chapstick!! </div>
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I'm decorating the apartment for halloween currently... well I will be in a second. I have some pretty awesome banners and things. I'll post pictures when it's all finished! YAY FOR HOLIDAYS!!! :) </div>
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Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-57655893757438180962012-10-03T14:30:00.003-07:002012-10-03T14:44:49.541-07:00The Mother PostI decided to change the blog around a bit since everyone seems to have the best blogs ever. Just trying to keep up with the Jones'. Holy Smokers... I'm a little intimidated by this post that I'm about to write... It's going to be <i>sooooooo </i>long and <i>soooooooo</i> fun. :) Alrighty. Starting now.<br />
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{I'm going to use bullet points unless I feel the need for the actual story} - this is for memories sake.<br />
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7/31 (Tuesday)<br />
-We arrived at the airport at 845, got on plane and left by 10.<br />
- Strange lady sitting next to us that had lived in Idaho<br />
- On the plane ride, Mike and I watched an episode of Rookie Blue which was absolutely amazing! (The one where the blond girl gets kidnapped...) We almost had heart-attacks.<br />
-When we landed we got Quiznos (Yay!! I had been craving it for-ever)<br />
-Jeannie and Matt picked us up in Chris and Karols van ...and Matt was driving crazy - no surprise there :)<br />
-On the way to the house we got to hear all about the ticket Matt got for speeding<br />
-Stopped at Dans on the way to the airport<br />
-Picked up Lori from the airport (She had been telling Mike that she wouldn't be able to make it.. so sneaky)<br />
-Left for the Beach House<br />
- Jeannie got pulled over at the same spot Matt did earlier (speed trap - 50 mph to 30 mph)<br />
-We got in at 1 and set up camp in the Living room<br />
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8/1 (Wednesday)<br />
- We (Mike, Matt, Allison, Lori, and I) all went running that morning. We ended up running about 3 or 4 miles but I was pretty proud of myself because the humidity was killing me!! It was still fun though because it started to rain :)<br />
- It rained for a while that day but the coolest thing happened! We weren't able to go down to the beach because of the crummy weather so we went out on the balcony and right as we did a crack of lightning hit the water... it was so loud! I had never been that close to lightning in my life.<br />
-The night we had spaghetti for dinner and Mike, Matt, Lori and I all went to the boardwalk and had salt water taffy, funnel cake, polish water ice (Mike was excited for me to try that) and we also got these amazing fries... unfortunately no one has free ketchup. I know right? They all charged for it. EVERYWHERE. So we ate plain fries and loved it.<br />
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8/2 (Thursday)<br />
-Ran with sweet Allison! We went about 5 miles which was amazing and I loved my time with her. It was always so relaxing.<br />
-After we got home from the run, Chris made these delicious shakes (I can't even remember what was in them now) but wow they were good.<br />
-We all went down to the beach for a bit and played with frisbees and kites. Benny lost her shoe.. :(<br />
-Mike and I got locked in the bathroom together because whatever genius installed the knob... installed in backwards!! There were plenty of pranks that went on with that.<br />
-The girls did their toenails! I had never tried the little sticker things but they are wonderful and they don't come off for weeks. Sweet deal!<br />
-Chris ordered Pizza and at first sight I thought it was a huge box! But, never underestimate the Engels, they will finish it off! :)<br />
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8/3 (Friday)<br />
- Allison and I skipped running, I woke up late and it was too toasty by then!<br />
-The whole family went to the boardwalk and because it was during the day, especially when it was the hottest day of the week, we were all eyeing the ocean the whole time. Needless to say, we didn't stay very long.<br />
-Mike and I got dip n' dots (Cookies and Cream flavor)<br />
-Got to try Jeannie and Ray's homemade chili for lunch {SOOO DELICIOUS!!}<br />
-We spent most of the day at the beach trying to cool down<br />
-Most memorable part of the day, Mike slapped Matt in the face with a big wad of sand from about 10 ft away. {Mikey loves telling that story}<br />
-Benny found her shoe all torn up by the sand machine that comes through... not sure what to call it.<br />
-First night playing Uno with the fam... guess who won!! Surprisingly me. Yeah, everyone was shocked because apparently I had some serious people to beat.<br />
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8/4 (Saturday)<br />
-Packed and left from Ocean City. That was fun trying to fit everyone and everything into three cars!! I forget how much stuff is needed for a big family.<br />
-On our way out traffic was crazy so we decided to stop and have breakfast outside of town. We ended up at Ihop {Yummy... Unhealthy... So yummy}<br />
-Mikey and I went to Rutters for some tastey cakes but they didn't have the coconut kind which Mike was bummed about.<br />
-Stopped to look at Lake Williams (which was flooded last time I was there)<br />
-Jeannie made BBQ chicken which was so delicious!!<br />
-Played uno of course.<br />
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8/5 (Sunday)<br />
-Slept in... that was so nice!<br />
-Went to church<br />
-Pappy came over. That was the first time I met him, he's cute. He told me he almost called me Lori a couple times since she used to have blond hair.. definitely took it as a compliment. She is beautiful.<br />
-Lee and Karen visited (Lee is Ray's brother)<br />
-Dan and Allison taught us how to play bang - I can say it's one of my favorite games now!!<br />
-Played uno again :)<br />
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8/6 (Monday)<br />
-This was the day that all the sicknesses started. Mike got his sinus infection. Boo!!<br />
-Ally and I went for a run on a beautiful trail and ran a crazy steep hill. She was a champ though.<br />
-We all went Kayaking at Lake Williams! I loved being out with the family.<br />
-This was the day that Lori left - so sad<br />
-Karol accidentally backed up into the mailbox and took it out :)<br />
-Chris, Mike, and I went to Sams club to pick up Karols b-day present!!<br />
-Later that night, Matt, Kacey, Taylor, Mike and I went over to Taylors to have a fire. They are all so fun to be around. That was the first time I met Taylor and he is AWESOME.<br />
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8/7 (Tuesday)<br />
-We all went to Alexanders for breakfast. This is the restaurant that I had heard about from Mikey for-ever. He always had good things to say about and especially for how cheap it was. Well I tried the chipped beef and whatever the heck thing he had. IT was So good. I crave it sometimes now, too bad we don't have it out west. Bummer.<br />
- This was also the day we all went to run errands. We stopped in at Michaels for Karol to pick something up and I found these amazing wood plaques that you could do basically anything with! Oh my goodness, I would have so much fun with those!<br />
-Drove to Karol's to get her beads and on the way I was enjoying the houses way too much. The character that they have is absolutely stunning. It's nothing like I've ever seen!<br />
-Stopped in at Brown's. Cutest. Shop. Ever. They have everything I could ever want. Fresh food. Potato and Pasta salad. Fresh jam. Mmmm, I could have stayed forever. We got their peaches and they were to die for. Jeannie also bought the pasta salad and potato salad and we had that for lunch when we got home.<br />
-After Karol knocked over the mailbox, we noticed that there was a wasps nest under the post so we couldn't do anything about it until that was fixed. There were also a couple nests up by their door - I usually went through the garage if I could help it. Mike was a champ and went to the store for the spray and took care of it. What a man :)<br />
-Jeannie made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. But it wasn't the normal kind all of us Westerners think in our cute little heads. They make it with mashed potatoes so when I went up to get the food, you can imagine my surprise. I just couldn't believe they could call it Chicken Pot Pie, I mean where was the crust?! But it was certainly delish and it might even be as good as the normal stuff.<br />
-My first favorite part of the day: When Bentlee said the prayer. She asked to say the prayer so Jeannie helped her and she started off... "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day..... thank you so much for this day. Please bless we will have a good day and this food. Jesus Christ, Amen." I just wanted to take her home with me. Little kids prayers are the best.<br />
-My second favorite part of the night: I got to see fireflies for the first time in years. Oh. My. Word. I was so excited!! I would have chased after them but we happened to be over at Josiah's house and most of them were in the woods. (They have scary bugs out East... I wasn't taking my chances).<br />
-To demonstrate this... when Mike and I got home from Josiah's there was a HUGE centipede in the garage. Even Mike thought it was big. Yikes.<br />
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8/8 (Wednesday)<br />
-Today was Karols birthday!! Wahoooo!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAROL!!!!<br />
-This is the day Mike and I went to Maryland. Wow, it was so fantastic down there. The original plan was to go to Washington DC but Mikey was still feeling Crummy so we decided to leave that for another day. When we got there, I realized we were in a super nice part of town. How did i know? Because we were able to count the old cars on our fingers... instead of counting the new ones like in Rexburg. Hahaha. That was strange. It kind of felt like a false reality because I have never been around that in my life. I mean, Sandy has wealthy people but everyone doesn't own a Lincoln...it was crazy. We stopped in at the mall and I loved it so much. I found a store called Madewell.. their stuff is amazing!! But stupidly expensive unfortunately. So I wasn't able to even half convince myself of buying something. I mean we were in and out pretty fast.<br />
-The real reason we went to Maryland was because I wanted their famous crab cakes. We had the hardest time finding them for some reason though. We stopped at a Crab Shack... thinking they had CRAB cakes. But the guy looked at us like we were the dumbest people on the planet because they only sold full on crabs. Anywho, we eventually found a place and he cooked it for us on the spot. It was awesome and so good! It was basically a fried crab ball... nothing to really give it a different taste which I loved. MMMM. Love me some seafood.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> {I talked Mike into going to Pottery Barn with me... this will be our living room one day}</span><br />
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8/9 (Thursday)<br />
-Hershey Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So fun :) I went with Mike (obviously), Matt, and Kacey. IT was the best. I hadn't been on roller coasters forever and it was totally worth it. Even if I did feel like I was going to fall out and die on the Sky Rush. Future reference, don't go on it. Ever again.<br />
-This is the day that I got super sick. I had been feeling a little under the weather but I had been taking medicine for the past couple days. Hershey Park was my excuse not to take it and that was a very bad idea. Mike and I stopped in at the Hersheys Chocolate Factory (like we did the year before when the park was flooded) and watched a Hershey's 3D show and went on the little ride. So fun. "Moo Moo Moooo" :)<br />
-Their chocolate... they have lots. And they have huge packages of it. I mean Huge.<br />
-Did I mention that they have Huge Candy bars there? HUGE.<br />
-Oh... their candy bars are HUGE<br />
-Had to leave early because I was feeling super super sick.<br />
-That night I slept for 10 hours. Apparently I needed it.<br />
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8/10 (Friday)<br />
-Orioles game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super fun and fabulous. Matt go lost on the way down because he missed the exit (the one he was sure wasn't it... turned out to be the right one hehehe). We got to Dan and Allison's, had some delicious spaghetti with a side of fruit and salad... MMM and we waited for the babysitter (Jacinda- yes she's white) to come take care of Connor.<br />
-Left for the game<br />
-Walked for a little to get to the actual stadium (which was awesome until we had to walk back in the dark)<br />
-We bought nachos that were super delicious! They were spicy which gave it a nice kick.<br />
-Orioles won 7-1 against Kansas I think it was.<br />
-Mike kept calling the babysitter Jaquesha on accident. (His excuse: Well I just knew it was a black name!!)<br />
-Slept over at Dan and Allisons (watched an episode of Rookie Blue... Duh).<br />
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<br />
8/11 (Saturday)<br />
-Woke up to a beautiful breakfast made by Allison. We had waffles and cherry/oatmeal shakes. So. Good.<br />
-We left for DC. Saturday was our day with Dan and Allison. Mike and I were super excited to hang out with them since we hadn't seen them as much as everyone else while we were down there.<br />
-When we got to DC, crazy girls were running around in their bras holding posters about being slutty and getting raped. So strange. We weren't really sure what they were trying to get at.<br />
-Saw the washington monument, Lincold monument, and White House! (I wasn't able to get a hold of Barack... so sad.)<br />
-We stopped in at the Smithsonian very last and it was incredible. Everything they have there is... well I don't really have words for it. If I could go there and just read all the information that would be the best day ever. (If I could retain it all that is.) We saw this crazy long snake that was apparently able to eat dinosaurs? I think that's what it said. Anyway, I wouldn't want that laying around my apartment. No way.<br />
-When we headed back to the apartment, we all wanted something to eat super bad and for some reason we could not find a Subway. Hahaha Allison and I are totally alike when it comes to not eating. We. Get. Grumpy. But we found one eventually and we were all good :)<br />
-After we got back, Ray and Jeannie came over with Mikes recipe of Tinga. (Yummy. Spicy.)<br />
-Watched random videos. And left. That was the hardest part for me. Leaving Dan and Allison - even Connor- who I felt like I could really relate with and have fun with if we lived closer to each other. Someday maybe. :)<br />
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8/12 (Sunday)<br />
-Slept in again. Yes.<br />
-Went to Church<br />
-Jeannie made a wonderful dinner. We had pork roast. :) My favorite.<br />
-We all watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics! We thought it was all kind of strange but Kacey was so optimistic and cute and kept telling us it was awesome and cool to see. What a gem. Love that girl.<br />
-This was the night that we were all able to sit in the family room and just talk. It was so nice to just hang out with everyone while everything else was turned of (...the TV) and nothing else was going on in the house. It was just calm and I loved it. And that was the night that everyone seemed to really connect. (There wasn't even fighting until Matt turned the TV back on hahaha)<br />
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8/13 (Monday)<br />
-The last full day with the Engel's. This was a hard day for Mike because he knew that seeing his family wouldn't come again for a while.<br />
-That morning Mike and I watched Bentlee and Preston. Preston slept for a bit though because he cried all the night so he was tired. Mike and I took turns sleeping on the couch while the other one watched the kids. They are seriously the two happiest little ones. I love them to pieces.<br />
-Mike took me to the house he used to live in. Ray and all the boys helped with building it! Isn't that awesome?! He took me to see it which was in a small town called Red Lion so we stopped in a couple antique shops to browse.<br />
-Stopped at Perrydells on the way home and had heavenly Bannana Ice cream. Where has that been all my life?!<br />
-We had Roburittos for lunch which was a HUGE and I mean HUGE burrito. I couldn't even eat half of it!<br />
-Later, at dinner, we stopped in and had Marinos pizza with Stronbolis. They were pretty good but I stuck with a salad since the burrito killed me for lunch.<br />
-We had to stop in a a lady's house (in the ward) to pick up a table for Chris and Karol. Her house was amazing! I mean it was decorated like my grandmas house... I'm talking about the architecture though. I mean you could do amazing things with that house if we moved in and renovated it. It's so much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. Just take my word for it, you would be just as surprised.<br />
-Stopped by at Chris and Karols to say our last goodbye's and headed home to spend the last couple hours with Ray and Jeannie.<br />
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8/14 (Tuesday)<br />
-Woke up at 430 for our flight.<br />
-Don't remember what we had for breakfast.. I think it was cereal.<br />
-It was so sad to say goodbye to Jeannie.. I know Mike had a hard time with it.<br />
-Slept on the plane for 1.5 hours but I've decided planes are not comfortable.<br />
-Finally got to Utah, mom picked us up (I was happy to see her) and we headed home to do laundry and take naps.<br />
-Mike and I got Subway(me) and Panda (him) for lunch. I swear, Panda is the best fast food chinese restaurant out there! We both decided P.F. Changs is 100 times better... and we are going there once we graduate.<br />
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Utah was a blur so this might not come in order... But after we got to Utah, Hal and Jared showed up and we were all (Mom, Dad, Trev, Me, Mike, Hal, Jared, Stormy, Frank, and Summer) able to drive up to Bear Lake and ride on Jet Skis!! It was so much fun to spend time up there with everyone. It was the first time Jared met Mike too so that was cool. Stormy really took a liking to Mike which I was thankful for. I'm mostly thankful she was vocal about it to me. I love Mike and I'm glad my family does too- that's the most important thing. Thursday we went to Boondocks and spent the night there with my Mom's company. They had a work party so we were all able to get in for freeeeee :) Sweet deal. We had pizza, played laser tag, payed arcade games, went for rides on bumper cars, and go-carts. It was a fun night. Friday the cousins and Hal went to Raging Waters. It was so stinking fun. Mike got stung by a bee on his foot though so that was a bummer... I was proud of myself I was sitting among those bees for about a half an hour and I didn't freak out (outwardly) once!! I can't remember what happened on Saturday... or Sunday. All I know is that Mike and I left for Rexburg on Monday and were not too excited to be driving home. But, once we got back it was so nice to feel like we could just relax. We had been going and going and going for 2 weeks with activities going on every day so it was nice to just chill out for a second.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> {The thirteen mosquito bites I got the last day in PA...)</span><br />
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8/22 (Wednesday)<br />
-I went out looking for jobs which was discouraging at first because I wanted to find something at a dentists office since I am planning on becoming a Dental Hygienist eventually (YAY!!) but nothing was open. At all. So I tried the next best thing, a bank, and what do you know! I basically got hired on the spot. It was a long interview though so that's probably why. I met with all the girls and got interviewed by them too basically. They are really into getting along with all the workers (which was why they came to talk with me) but they were awesome and so funny so I knew I wouldn't have a problem working with them. I started work on September 4.<br />
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Exciting news: I added pictures (finally) to our bedroom wall. I'll put a picture on here. But I love it. And Mike loves it so I'm very happy about that. He was such a champ and went to Porters with me (a craft store) to pick out a letter and a wood block to frame it in. Best. Husband. Ever. Especially cause we spent WAY too long in there. I can't help my craftiness!! :)<br />
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-15277357641801908802012-07-26T10:37:00.002-07:002012-07-26T10:37:08.825-07:00Bring on the Sunshine!!Well hello there fellow bloggers and followers.<br />
This week has been <i>such </i>a fantastic week! Do you know why? SCHOOL IS OUUUUT!!!! Seven weeks to relax and hang out with my hubby. Best. News. Ever.<br />
I'll do a quick recap of what has been going on.<br />
4th of July: We actually didn't do much in the morning except for go to the Rexburg parade. We saw some sweet floats and some awesome dances (like Thriller which was a little random) but we had fun. Later we went to Idaho Falls with Mark and Maren, Aaron and Stephanie, Lindsay and Sam, Nate and his wife, Bryce and a couple of Aarons family members that I don't know. Of course the boys played frisbee while the girls talked for a while but we all ended up playing Battle of the Sexes. Guess who won :) Yup. The girls!! It was kind of a miracle though because the guys questions are sooooo much easier. The fireworks were so fantastic and I actually got some pretty cool pictures of them!<br />
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{The 4th}</div>
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We were also able to see Patriots & Pioneers with Alex Boye! He was so fantastic!! I could have listened to him all day.<br />
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Wednesday 7/18 (Finals) : Still in School but this was the craziest day for Mike and I. I had to start studying for my awesome math final (where I was teeter tottering on an A- and a B+.) Needless to say I was a little nervous. I took my Environmental Stewardship final online and ended up with a 97% in the class. HOLLA! He had to take his Spanish test in order to start studying (the next day) for his Accounting test.. Well he was in the middle of the test online and it kicked him out. He was certainly freaking out but thankfully his professor let him continue with it. <span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
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Thursday 7/19 (Still Finals): Mike and I took our most dreaded tests- Accounting and Biostatistics. We both ironically got the same score on our tests and I stayed at an A- (tender mercies) and he got exactly what he was shooting for. I believe it was a B+ that he ended up with. Smarty pants! After we were done it was like the weight of the world was lifted off our shoulders. We had nothing to do. Absolutely no responsibilities whatsoever. If we wanted to be couch potatoes no one would stop us. We celebrated with frosties from Wendy's - it was fabulous.<br />
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{on our way to Wendy's}</div>
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Friday: We left for Utah and on the way down we had some fun taking pictures. We saw a trio of olypic cars driving by (we lost them for a bit but got lucky when another came driving beside us. It got us so stoked for the games coming up!!) AND guess what we did at 8 o'clock pm that night. We saw WICKED!!!!! Oh my gosh I thought I was going to lose it. I was laughing so hard I was crying (in most parts). I loved it. I loved it. The funny thing is I hadn't really looked into the plot line of the play so I didn't really know what it was about. I knew it was about the Wizard of Oz and the witches but I had no idea what to expect. It far exceeded my expectations and I wanted to stay and watch it again. </div>
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{Utah bound}</div>
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{at Capitol Theatre}</div>
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The main reason we went down to Utah was because my cousin came home from her mission!! WAHOO!! She's so beautiful! Not to mention she did fabulous on her talk. It was great to see my whole family. </div>
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Saturday: I went running with my mommy and my Uncle. Wow, are they in shape or what!! It's crazy how fast you lose all the work you've put into working out. I ran 13 miles a little more than a month ago and I could barely run four. Stupid school.. and knees. (Good news is I have a cute new running buddy!! I'm so stinking excited. She's fabulous. AND I'll continue to have a running buddy when we get to PA too - yes Allison I'm talking to you - she'll whoop my butt into shape so that'll be great.) Later we went to visit the other side of the family Dave, Shaylin, and sweet little April. She's getting so big and her hair is getting so long! It was amazing to see them - even though Dave was grumpy ;) - because we all just hung out and talked. No pressure to entertain or anything, it was so relaxing. We also went to Wingers- much to the dismay of Shaylin. She wasn't feeling the spicy foods. (We're rootin' for her baby to come soon though!! I hope she comes before we go to PA!) </div>
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Tuesday: We went shopping! First time in forever and I actually was disappointed with what the mall had- nothing that I wanted. So sad. But I did find some awesome pink capris and we got Mike some shirts that fit!! This is seriously fabulous news. He looks Grrreeeaaaat in them I must say. :) He's a cutie.</div>
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{the new outfit}</div>
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Wednesday: So, our dishwasher is horrible. It spits out all of this crap (it looks like bits of green seaweed.. right? Gross.) and have resorted to washing them by hand. It's so strange though because we wash our dishes off before we put them in the dishwasher!! Well, you can probably imagine how on top of it we have been because we have nothing to do. Haha. No. It took me an hour and a half to do dishes (not because there were so many - well there were a lot- but because the green seaweed would not come off anything) and now my hands are all pruny. Mmmmm. But I'm so glad it's done because now we can focus on packing...<i>we are going camping</i>!! I'm stinking excited!!! </div>
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Back From Camping:</div>
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Wow was camping an adventure or what!! I haven't been outside in the "wilderness" in so long! (I mean "wilderness" because it was 10 minutes from our house hahaha!) But really, I haven't been in so long that all the bugs were driving me absolutely insane! I felt like such a girl, it was embarrassing and I'm sure Mike was hating it, but I couldn't help it! Especially the bees. I hate those little buggers. So we drove a whole 10 minutes to get to the campsite called Beaver Dick - Mike got a couple laughs out of that one... He's definitely an Engel :) - and found the perfect campsite! It was down a little path away from all the other campsites and it had so many trees and flowers, even a trail! We thought it would be perfect. Before we could, or wanted to, start setting up we had to pay the $5 fee at some sort of drop box that they kept telling us was around. <i>We could not find it anywhere</i>. We walked around a couple times, saw a couple guys working on something at the campground - dang construction, and finally called the lady again because we had no idea where to get it. She told us that there was a separate building that we had to pay at (that was back on the road we came on) so we got back in the car and left. We asked one of the workers there what the directions to the building was because the lady didn't even give us that great of directions of even the name of the building. Anyway, we got to the building (which was called Mesquito & Fertilizer or something like that) and the guy said that the only fee we had to pay there is if we were going to get a reservation not a campsite. Awesome. We called the lady back and she was like "oh I totally misunderstood you... you pay that campsite fee back at the campground. There should be a blue drop box right when you drive in". Hahaha! We told her that we looked for it and couldn't find it and she said it should be right where she said. So we drove all the way back and do you know what we found? The blue drop box right when we drove in! We do have an excuse for not seeing it though. The construction I told you about, yeah their truck was blocking it because they were doing some work on it. We weren't just retarded. :) Finally we got the paper, filled it out, and headed back to our campsite- which could have been taken by then. Luckily we got it back. Finally we started setting up camp for real. The tent went up first, we filled it with the pads and the sleeping bag, the pillow and blanket, and we were pretty much set! Then the fun part, cooking! I had made turkey burger patties before we left- the recipe was for Italian Turkey Sliders - and we started grilling them to make burgers. It took a little longer than expected to cook them though :) We were both pretty hungry so when we finally got them, <i>MMMMMM</i> so beautiful. Exploration was next. We went down the the river, headed to the trail and it was absolutely beautiful!! The contrast of the hike was pretty cool because one minute we were in a green grassy area with tunnels of trees and the next we were in the African Savannah (according to Mike)! It was absolutely stunning out there and if it weren't for something rustling in the trees.. I probably would have stayed forever. There was a mom and a girl riding horses on the trail that came back just after us. We were talking to them for a bit and I guess they were on the same trail we were and they saw a herd of goats and they saw a couple wild dogs. They had their dog with them and didn't want anything to happen so they turned around. I was feeling pretty lucky that nothing happened with that rustling in the bushes (although it probably wasn't a wild dog... but still) Oh and we also had to start the fire for S'mores!! It was a beautiful fire but it burned out pretty quickly so we had to keep feeding it little twiggys and branches - but eventually we got to S'more time and oh was it fabulous! Even Mike seemed to enjoy it more than usual (probably because the last time we had them the marshmallows were roasted over our oven burner). :) After sitting a little while and enjoying the bugs being gone (thank goodness for fire smoke) we got ready for bed. I must say sleeping was sure an interesting time. We got a big enough sleeping bag that both of us could fit in it... just not very comfortably. I usually sleep curled up in a little ball on my side but that didn't work out so well. Not to mention that any time either of us moved, the other had to move too. It was so fun!! We woke up pretty groggy. Even though we got zero sleep we were both still very happy to have gone camping. It was so relaxing and beautiful out there! The weather was perfect and I was with my best friend. I couldn't have asked for anything more (except for someone else to pack up for us hahaha. That is the worst part.) </div>
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{camping adventures!!}</div>
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This wood was naturally purple - SO COOL</div>
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Hahaha I love this one :) </div>
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One last thought. Today a very exciting thing happened: we ran out of pancake mix at the same time we ran out of syrup. Mike: "THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!" He was pretty stoked. :)</div>
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Thanks for reading!! :)</div>Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-31679438168640659532012-07-02T20:14:00.001-07:002012-07-02T20:14:39.601-07:00Pillow TalkWow, two months since the last post already?! Time. What am I to do with it? Well, as you can imagine I have much to say.<br />
A quick overview from the past couple months:<br />
smores over the stove burner<br />
A trip to the dunes with Elliot and his cute wife.<br />
A perfect weekend to Sammy's for a coconut cream pie shake.<br />
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That same weekend we decided we needed to get out of the house for a couple hours so we went to Mill Hollow and walked to Snoasis for beautifully constructed "Malibu Barbie" and "Wedding Cake" snow cones. We headed over to Porter Park to sit in the shade for a bit and saw soooo many wrong things. This being one of them...<br />
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But other than that we had a perfect time together just forgetting about school and spending some quality time together.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">{which also included some fort building!!}</span></div>
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Still working on my jewelry business ... coming slowly but surely.<br />
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Now, to start, Mike and I completed our Half Marathon! We are proud owners of our wooden medals for finishing (just finishing).<br />
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But, let me tell you, it was no easy task. Those first 8 miles may have been the easiest, except for the straight up hill for 3 miles, and we held our pace pretty well until about the last 2 miles. That's really when I started strugglin a little bit but Mike was a champ and wouldn't let me fall behind. I think finishing was the hardest part because we could barely walk to our car (which was uphill.. YAY). The fruit they provided after the race was unfathomably delicious. I could have eaten watermelon, bananas, and oranges all day long. What a fabulous treat. I also heard there were massages going on after the race - too bad I didn't get to take advantage of that although it's probably best considering how ticklish I am. I doubt any progress would have been made. Getting home was <i>absolutely</i> the worst part. We got super sick. Not the lay-on-the-couch sick but more of the in-the-bathroom sick {hence the sad faces}. It was not so fun and I wouldn't be surprised if Mike denies me on any type of request for a Half Marathon again. I am quite sad I lost a running buddy.<br />
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Mike has been doing fabulous in his Ultimate Frisbee games!! What a stud. He's been improving like crazy which is I know is such a stress relief to him. I took a couple pictures on a fabulous rainy day that they had, check out the sweet DOUBLE RAINBOW. :)<br />
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{and me.. getting ready for the rain}</div>
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This past weekend was absolutely fabulous. We basically had all weekend to just hang out which is the second weekend in a row. We contribute that to our power outage that blew out our router from our internet service. I guess that's a blessing? We got it, thankfully, today but apparently it had happened to other people in the area. Too bad.<br />
Friday we had a couple tests that had to get done before we could spend time together but we watched "Equilibrium" and popped some Mormon bubbly - Martinelli's Grape Sparkling Cider. MMMMM. We have been on this sparkling cider kick for the past two months and found it for super cheap at Winco so we haven't minded spoiling ourselves with it. Other flavors we really like are the raspberry lemonade and Apple Mango; they're both fabulous for summer and it doesn't ruin the memories of the original specifically for holidays. We also made a delicious dinner. We made tostadas (...Mike reminding me how to spell it... toast- tadah!! Hahaha love him) with seasoned lentils and toppings of yellow squash, broccoli, artichoke heart, tomato, and sour cream. Delish and so healthy. Score.<br />
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Saturday Mike had his game, the last game before the finals, and unfortunately they lost. BUT... they are still ranked #1 (WAHOOOO) and they play in their first finals game this weekend. They're going to kick some serious trash (watch out visor guy, they're coming for you). It's interesting to see how many crazy wives show up to those games and yell their little lungs out as if they have a say in how the game ends up. Entertaining? Only the first 5 minutes and then I want to shove a sock in their mouth, although I do admit to getting quite into the game. Later that night the original plan was to go on a hike up to a lake with some of the team and their wives/fiances/girlfriends/"just friends" but I was so bummed when I found out we couldn't go. We changed our plans to the new water park they have in Rexburg called "Rexburg Rapids" and we had an absolute blast! Are there sweet water slides? Not really. Are there tons of people there? Yes. Do the Seagulls poop on you? Only Mark. :) We had such a blast and definitely got toasted.<br />
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After our adventure to the park, we decided to watch another movie since we didn't have enough energy to do anything fun and weren't tired enough to go to bed. "This Means War" was a great movie although for some reason I was bummed with the outcome. I feel like the nice guy should have gotten the girl (right?) but he ended up getting back together with his ex-wife. So I'm happy about that.<br />
Sunday was great. Church was great. Napping for 2 1/2 hours was great and going to a BBQ with shishkabobs was also great. So fun and so delicious. The BBQ sauce they had was to die for - raspberry chipotle. OH. MY. WORD. I highly suggest it. It's always so crazy to see the connections people have once they start getting to know each other. The boys all go along swell for that reason and the girls, well, we can always get along. I got to see Becca Ray, she's the sweetest girl and I freaking love her to death. We played games, ate to our hearts content, and ended up... surprise... watching another movie! Hahaha We are so lame when we don't have homework to do. But, my goal was to watch about half of "The Hulk" and I got so into that I just couldn't help but watch all of it. I was hoping to talk to my lovely friend Kenzie about life because I miss her so, especially about her wonderful missionary boyfriend WHO JUST GOT HOME!!! I'm so flippin excited for her. I certainly did stalk her facebook all day to finally see the adorable picture of them both together. :) YAY!!<br />
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Another random little side note: I was going through old documents on my computer and found a blog post that I never posted.. had good intentions but you know how that goes. It was actually logged more than a year ago now and what a sweet little message it was. Here it is:<br />
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Pillow Talk 6/28/2011<o:p></o:p><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></div>
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It’s been one of those weeks where setting goals and
accomplishing them have surprisingly been unfolded to my advantage. What a
journey this life is, and I haven’t hit my 20’s yet! Lucky for me, I now know I
can accomplish goals. Setting realistic ones is where it gets tricky.
Throughout this semester I have been handed trials and realizations that some
things in my life need to change-for the better: Relationships, future plans,
what I know about myself, etc. I can tell you it’s been a crazy couple months
with so many changes, but it’s given me a time to grow and explore my life in
ways I never fathomed. This week in particular I have been working on patience
and happiness and I will tell you, once I decide to change something to my
eternal benefit, Satan is attacking me twice as hard! He doesn’t want me to
progress, but guess what! I’VE WON SO FAR THIS WEEK!! I have been a happy
go-lucky, laid back, and patient little girl! Granted I wasn’t 100% of the
time, but it’s the thought that counts and it’s trying and fulfilling that
really matters, and that is why I’ve won this ongoing battle (for these past
couple days in particular). My relationship with my Heavenly Father has
definitely gotten stronger, and my love and commitment has strengthened as
well. Not only that, but, my relationship with my future husband is continuing
to get stronger and deeper. We have been in perfect sync this week and we have
been able to talk our little hearts out. I contribute that to his amazingness
of course, but my positive and patient attitude has helped my point of view
change also which I’m sure has made his life much easier. He’s very stressed
with school and his stake so I know that I need to be understanding of his
situations as I expect him to be of mine. It’s been a busy week. I had my physiology
test to study for over this last weekend, which I took on Monday, I have been
studying for my Lab exam in Anatomy, which is Thursday, I have a Psych test
which opens Wednesday and closes Friday, and I have an American Foundations
test that opens Friday and closes next Wednesday. He took his accounting test
today which he didn’t do very well on considering the situation within his
stake. He said he let that get to him and he could have done a lot better. I am
proud of him for realizing how much he can accomplish. He really expects a lot
of himself and that is rare to find. But, guess what else is coming… A TRIP
HOME!!! A much needed break from this little town called Rexburg. I haven’t
been home all semester and seeing my family will be wonderful! My grandma is
coming into town with Aunt Janet, and we will all be going to the Stadium of
Fire for the 2nd of July! We’ll see fireworks, Brad Paisley, David Archuletta, and
have a fantastic time. The 3<sup>rd</sup> I will come back to be with my love
for Sunday night. We are planning on a little movie in the park that night. And
then the 4<sup>th</sup> of July will be so fun! We will be going to Idaho Falls
to watch incredible fireworks! It’s supposed to be the best show on the west
coast (I think the show is called Melaluca? Or that’s the name of the actual
place we’re going to. I can’t remember). Anyhow, this week is full, and I’m so
grateful for everything in my life this week! I’ve also decided to change
majors. Currently I’m thinking of switching from nursing to dental assisting! I
found out they don’t have a real program here for dental assisting, so I will
have to get my bachelor’s degree in Health Science and finish all the
pre-requisites for whatever Dental Assisting school I will have to go and
specialize in. It will be wonderful! I think this is how it will work out- of
course things never go according to plan. But here is my thought process. I
will change my major by next semester, the next semester (which is in one year)
I will be married to Mike. (That is a positive). He will most likely get on the
fast grad system which means I would be able to also, so I could get my
bachelors and finish about the same time that he finishes his degree! Then, of
course, I would have to apply to get in to the Dental Assisting schools and
work up from there. I want to be able to support my family too and make some
income. Mike gets stressed about providing everything because he wants nothing
but the best for me and I love him for that. But I want to take off some of the
load, so hopefully I can get into a career that will lighten that load and earn
us some extra income. My goals for this week: Go to the temple, study
scriptures every day, practice piano, be patient and happy!! What a wonderful
world this is and I have the opportunity to be here!!</div>
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What a sweet little note. Well, I should probably get to helping my sweet husband with the finishing touches on dinner. We're having steak with raspberry and chile sauce tonight. So spicy. So delicious.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mrs. Engel</div>
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-24262781187230718402012-05-08T17:45:00.002-07:002012-05-08T17:57:18.252-07:00Tent Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What a weekend it was!! Friday and Saturday I had to take three tests which was exhausting and unfortunately Mike and I never went for our 6 mile run...we went for a 2 mile instead. Good news is: We did 5 on Monday!! Allison - we made the Temple run just for you and it kicked our butts! We made it up the hill in ten minutes though so we were making good time. Friday night was fantastic. Since we didn't have time to do date night {which we moved to Saturday instead}, we tried G's dairy which was FABULOUS.<br />
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I am pretty sure the guy accidentally gave us a three scoop bowl instead of two, but I was not complaining. I've decided they have the best ice cream I have ever had. It kicks Cold Stone straight in the face. Mike loved it too, he never told me his official 1-10 rating but with every bite it went from 8.5 to 9.3 and so on. We watched our TV show Once Upon a Time while we had those delicious bowls of ice cream... and actually got to bed before 1 that night! It was a weird week last week, we were stuck on this late night routine. No fun.<br />
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Saturday. What can I say? We woke up at ten :) Oops. I studied for two more tests that I took, Mike had a group meeting, we were busy running errands and doing homework all stinkin day... and then the fun part. Mike had this planned for a while and guess what we did!!<br />
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We set up our tent, filled it with a billion blankets and pillows, and watched a movie! :) Not only was that amazing, but we tried Allison's homemade Winger recipe which was <u><i><b>exactly</b></i></u> like Wingers!<br />
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{Mikey making homemade french fries!!}</div>
I WAS BLOWN AWAY!! So good. We had it two nights in a row because we couldn't have enough. :)<br />
Another delicious recipe we have been loving is the homemade pizza!! {including the dough!!} Here is our most recent :<br />
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{Barbecue Chicken... MMMM}</div>
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Today (May 8th) is a month and 1 day of being married. It's flown by and little does mike know... I have a surprise for him. Since he was home all day yesterday, which would have been exactly a month,... I couldn't surprise him. LAME. He's taking a test tonight until 9ish so I am cooking dinner (Chicken, rice, and Kung Pow Sauce from Panda Express) and decorating with balloons. (Maybe some banners or something). I am planning on using some of the decoration plates and napkins Lori gave us {which have E's monogrammed on}. I hope he's surprised, he has had a stressful day today and maybe it'll take his mind off things. Anyhow, just wanted to catch everyone up!! Have a fabulous day!!!Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-29399319772043285562012-05-04T12:31:00.000-07:002012-05-04T12:31:05.171-07:00A Start to a New Life!Well, this is the first blog since my life has changed significantly, so if this seems a little scrambled i'm truly sorry. April 7th was basically the best day of my life; I got married to the man of my dreams and I am now officially an Engel!!!! I won't put all the details in because I frankly don't have enough time, but it was the most gorgeous day and as I walked into the Temple and saw Mike, I could NOT stop smiling! He was happy too but he keeps his emotions under control a lot better than I do. I am going to list my favorite things about my wedding day, semi in order.<br />
1. I was with my love ALL day and that hadn't happened since my visit to the wonderful east coast!<br />
2. Having all of my family in the sealing room was the most wonderful feeling. Most of my family I hadn't seen in years and I was so incredibly happy to have their love and support. It was also amazing seeing how many significant people I was gaining in my life through the sealing. My "to-be" family had filled up the whole second half of the room and it was a happy overwhelming feeling. AND they traveled sooo far to support us :) LOVED IT.<br />
3. I loved coming out of the temple doors for the first time! I know it's cliche but seeing my new family, and all the friends that weren't in the sealing room (namely my amazingly wonderful fantastic perfect best friends -Bridesmaids) made my whole day. Even in family reunions it's hard to get everyone smiling like that. I think I will remember that for a long time :)<br />
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4. Contrary to what everyone else says, I didn't mind "the line" so much as I thought I would! It partly could have been that most of the ward family came early because of a stake meeting but I loved seeing everyone I hadn't seen in so stinkin long! My ward is the best.<br />
5. The food was amazing. So much better than I could have thought and it was probably because I was starving myself the night before out of nerves.<br />
6. I loved the first dance mainly because Mike doesn't know how to dance (except for crazy) and so we were just having fun with it. I think the BEST dance was with my dad though :) He pulled those moves out of no where and even though I was tripping over my dress, I didn't want to stop dancing!!<br />
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I could go on for ever about how wonderful I thought our wedding day was, but I have other stories to tell!!<br />
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On to the honeymoon!!! It was the best trip I think i've ever been on in my life! I love family trips, but when you can spend a whole week relaxing after school is done, being with your new hubby, hanging out by the pool (occasionally getting burnt)... it was bliss. We stayed in Sandy the first night and then headed to St. George for a couple days. On the way down, we hadn't washed off our "Just Married" decorated car and were startled by a couple semi's honking at us. That was an adventure :) The biggest surprise of all, was when Mike told me we would be staying in Planet Hollywood on the strip and going to a show!! It's called the V Show which might sound a little risky, but it stands for Variety Show, no worries. We saw the fastest juggler in the world, we saw a couple skating on a small round table doing crazy tricks <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ZYz5tkh2U&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL8C482A1FB9116146">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ZYz5tkh2U&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL8C482A1FB9116146</a> (these weren't the actual people we saw but they did very similar tricks), there were other performances, but trying to explain them would be pointless. All you need to know is that they were hilarious. When we were in Vegas, we visited my Grandma and Grandpa and were surprised when we saw my Aunt Ruth there! It was so nice to visit them, and Grandma wanted us to stay so badly for dinner. I wanted to but we had made reservations back in St. G that same hour (keep in mind the time difference). I miss them so much and I wish I could see them more often. When we got back to St. George that night, we went to visit Lori and Jeremy and their cute family. We had so much fun over there! Alexis sang for us, I got to try Kava for the first time, and I felt so much a part of the family. It was wonderful :) Here are some adventures we had...<br />
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This drawing is from Doctrine and Covenants class with Mike. Clearly we were pretty excited to get married hahaha<br />
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Driving on the Strip to our hotel PLANET HOLLYWOOD!!! Nicest hotel I've ever been in. It was fantastic.</div>
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Yes, we did head over to the famous "Pawn Star" shop which is actually called Gold & Silver. So stinkin cool. We got Chris a mug for his collection, it still needs to be sent though.<br />
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Before we went to see Grandma and Grandpa, we had a picnic at the temple. Best picnic ever!! (I'm pretty sure this was the only place in Las Vegas that had grass).<br />
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Coming back from the Honeymoon was the worst part by far. I didn't want the vacation to be over because I knew that school was in just a couple days. BUT we did get to decorating our apartment which is wonderful!!! Here are a couple pictures.
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Our cute Living Room<br />
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Our (also) cute Kitchen!!! We have been making home made bread lately and it's been sooooooooooooo YUMMY!!!!<br />
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This is our cute bed!! I am in love with the design on the comforter. To the right of the picture there is a walking space that has the huge closet! We have no decoration on the wall yet.. the mirror (in the second picture) is obviously still on the floor. </div>
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Plans for the weekend: Mike and I are training for a half marathon coming up on June 9th so we've been running our little butts off. We are planning our longest run so far this saturday (which isn't super long comparatively) which will be 6 miles! We're looking forward to a Temple run tomorrow morning, a Gee's Dairy run tonight... and big news of the day, WE SAW THE AVENGERS LAST NIGHT!!! That is quite possibly the best movie I have ever seen. I strongly recommend it :) Mike is also hoping to get on his friends team for Ultimate Frisby this semester so he will be pretty busy!! </div>
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Goal: I'm also trying to eat healthier (it's hard when Mike has cookies and chips layin around the apartment). But here was my kick off to the day: a spinach, strawberry salad with a little poppy seed dressing. It was heaven.</div>
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I'm pretty satisfied with this blog post so I will leave it at that!! Have a fabulous day!!</div>
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Officially,</div>
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Courtney Engel :)</div>
<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-9666079158368890512012-03-22T15:10:00.001-07:002012-03-22T15:10:39.296-07:00Mill HollowBreaking news: It's 64 degrees here!! Can you believe it?! It's been so great to have the sunshine out, so much so that Mike and I have done absolutely nothing homework-wise with our day. Right after classes we headed over to Mill Hollow as a celebration and "accidentally" stayed chit-chatting for a little over an hour! We drove back to my apartment as an attempt to get homework done and stayed out laying in my car with the sunshine on our faces for another 30 minutes. What are we doing now? Watching Once Upon A Time (or trying to if his internet will connect). Will I study for my test? Yes I will, when it starts cooling down :)<br />
Take a look at these amazing sandwiches though.. Mike told me today he was surprised they weren't translated when we unwrapped them.<br />
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<br />Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-19039107001544198172012-03-21T19:51:00.002-07:002012-03-22T14:50:33.781-07:00A Lady Bug SpringAfter it snowed yesterday morning, I was convinced that whatever snow Rexburg didn't receive this winter was on its way. Thankfully, <u>this</u> morning I woke up to sunshine and warm weather {and my first class with the love of my life}. That always helps. On my way home from my last class, I saw something red with black spots hanging out on the ground where it was nice and warm. Lady bugs are my favorite and do you know what this means?! Spring time is coming quickly and I couldn't be any happier!!!!! Warm weather, some color on my cheeks, BEING MARRIED TO MY MAN.. life is wonderful. I didn't have anything too significant happen today except for the conversation my communications class had on "R rated movies are okay". It was quite entertaining especially for BYU-I and the fact the most were entirely offended. Probably the best moment of the day.<br />
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Cheers to Lady Bugs!!<br />
P.s. 18 days!!!!!Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-37035192504395469592012-03-20T21:22:00.000-07:002012-03-20T21:57:28.100-07:00Building a Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Meet our new baby!! We bought this beauty today at 9:00 pm. I'm pretty excited!! This will be the first official addition to our home and Jeff & Amber have been wonderful for letting us keep it in their extra room until we move in. What angels!! Take a look :) I will be redoing the chair cushions, although they look a million times better in person. I was almost convinced at keeping them just for the fact that it's less work. Then I remembered I don't like red. Oops!Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464539989501800742.post-86036437752613792492012-03-19T17:51:00.002-07:002012-03-19T19:34:20.687-07:00Finals Week ApproachingThe end of the semester is coming quickly which means that, today, Mike and I only have 20 days left until we are MARRIED! Not that we are counting down. Speaking of a count down, I am going through the temple this weekend, March 29th, which is quite exciting news. Unfortunately reality is still here so homework and tests will continue. On the more positive side, we got an apartment last week and we're getting a table tomorrow for our apartment. I've started <i>"pinning" </i>ideas for our wonderful apartment and luckily came up with some inspiration. Mike was a champ and went shopping with me for fabric.. we were in search of a neutral but amazing piece. Thankfully we have very similar tastes... and we are making blinds. No, no, not the grandma kind, but a sleek modern cool look will become of it. At least, that's our hope. Who's excited to start decorating?! Surprisingly Mike!! And of course I am as well :) He's a cutie!<br />
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Courtney Soon-To-Be Engel </div>Courtney Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13831763209327094375noreply@blogger.com4