It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas rocks! It's such a fun time filled with excitement and joy, shared with the ones we love. This year, Jared and I had Christmas with his family. We had lots of fun, and FOOD! I decided that I am going on a "chocolate detox!" Even though it may only last for a day! Haha! Ok....getting back on track. This Christmas was also pretty special because it has been the first Christmas that Jared and I have had our own Christmas tree! Pretty crazy huh? Basically after three years of marriage and it was our first! We were pretty stoked and the tree was be-a-utiful! :) If I only knew how to download pics of it from my phone! Oh well...it had pretty lights and ornaments and stuff..with a pretty glittery light up star on the top! We even got my favorite decoration out......."The Nutcracker!" Jared was a little freaked out at first..but he warmed up to it eventually, after I told him it really wouldn't crack his nuts! Haha...that was a little innaproptiate..oopsie daisey...just a little holiday humor. :) So yeah...we enjoyed every bit of Christmas this year..not just because of the cool presents (aka my new baby blue kitchen aid mixer) yeah! But it was the time we spent with eachother and making our own Christmas traditions that was my favorite. Happy birthday Jesus! He is the whole purpose of this time of year and is the BEst gift I've ever received. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are going to have an amazing New Years! Party on! :)

Turkeys are muy delicioso!

I didn't post because it was kinda THANKSGIVING yesterday, and I was all about stuffing my face and chillaxin' with my amazing family. :) However, I hope all 'yall had an AWESOME turkey day!! There's tons of snow on the ground up here in Utah this weekend, and man oh man. I miss the snow! Lol...sounds kinda crazy for all those who have had about enough of it, but it's SO fun and reminds me that Santa Clause will be comin' to town soon. Woot woot! Haha...well "Bubba Claus," anyway! I've just LOVED spending time with my fam. I miss them a bunch! We'll be hiking up the mountains for a Christmas tree today, so that should be fun. It's a good thing I actually brought snow boots this time. Last year, I was "smart" and wore jogging shoes and the good old snow seeped in and froze my toes pretty good! I was scared I'd take my shoes off and would see a "Mr. Deed's" foot!! Ahh! Haha, but luckily that didn't happen and no freaky dude wanted to change my socks. ;) Anyways, that was kinda random! But yeah...I'm grateful for all that I have in my life. God. Family. Good Friends. Love that never ends. Food. Shelter. Happiness. Everything. Life is truly a blessing and I'm grateful for every moment. :) I hope you all had a fun Thanksgiving. :) I know I'm still trying to recover from that "turkey coma." It's a good feeling and I'm not feeling "guilty" because it only happens once a year! *raising the roof* Ok...that enough of this random post. ;)
Gobble Gobble

What would YOU do? WARNING: PG-13 information!

Ok, since we're all adults,I'm just gonna get right down to the nitty gritty. Well, when a husband and a wife love eachother they have "family time." Lol....and that's right folks, all sorts of fun things were going on at the Asendorf household! Except, the moment the doorbell rang" fun" was cutt short a little. Jared peaked out the window to see who it was and lo and behold, the elders from our ward were standing on our front porch. What to do? Anyone? This kind of occurance had never happened to us before! Jared freaked out, so he turned the lights off in our bedroom to make it look like no one was home. Eek! Haha...but I'm thinking that they saw the light on and just figured we were "up!" What does one do in a situation like this? All I could do was bust out laughing!! But now, with Sunday coming up, how do you explain why you couldn't answer the door? They obviously saw the light on when they first got here, and magically it" shut itself off?" Lol....We were thinkin that we would just tell them that we were" in the shower." But...uh...that doesn't sound right either! Bahaha! What to do? Has this ever happened to anyone else before? Suggestions would be appreciated. :)

Bubba's 24th Birthday Bash!

Jared turned into an old man last week! ;) And boy, does he get cuter with age! To celebrate, we of course did the traditional cake and ice cream (or ice cream cake) that to me tasted freezer burned and totally nasty, but Jared put on a smile and ate it anyways! Poor guy. ;) He loved his b-day present though, and is somewhat glued to it for a while when he comes home. (It's a PS3) Haha. One of the other cool parts of him turning 24 was that we were able to "get away" for the weekend, to a place that both of us had never been before! We took a three hour drive to the central coast of San Simeon, to the Hearst Castle. It was way fun! We turned off both of our phones for the weekend and just enjoyed spending quality time togeher. I love my birthday boy and think that he's pretty much the best! :) If I can somehow figure out how to post up pics of the birthday weekend from my phone, I will!

bakersfield...is cool?

Wow! There's been a lot of changes this last month. From moving to beautiful country to cockroaches and heat. Cool! Hana. Anyhow, This last month has been a blast. We have all our furniture set up, And it's starting to feel like home.. Well sort of.
Since there is no babies in the picture yet, Jared and I have talked about getting a puppy. We'll see how that plays out but in thet meantime, I'm just loving the residential bugs. Some say i've become quite the exterminator!
I'm loving the oven that I have now. When we lived in boise we didn't have one. This is a huge luxury! However my cooking still kind of stinks. I'm loving being a little homemaker. Its hard work but fun stuff. I am grateful for my hardworking husband! He pretty much rocks my socks. He just got called to be the scout master in our ward. I know he'll be awesome at it! The bishop apologized because they don't have anything for me yet but I told him to take his time. Haha.
It's so nice to have the internet now! Thanks to the droid I just got yesterday! I can't believe a phone could be so capable for doing so many things. I still dont know how to work it all the way, but I'm having fun trying.
So all in all things are working out just fine in nothingville! Can't wait to go back one day though and live the good old country life again.
Well i better go hit the pavement ( go running).
Peace out from bakersfield!

2 Years ago today....

I married my BEST friend, forever.

I honestly don't know what I did to deserve this guy. He's amazing! I look forward to growing old with him. I love watching old people holding hands, so deeply in love. You know that they have many sweet memories together, as well as the bad but that's what makes them stronger. There's no one else in this world that I would want to experience thick and thin with. And every year that passes only seems to get better! I don't know how, but it does.

I can't spend today with my sweety....but I'm soo excited to celebrate with my man this weekend!! I can't wait to jump into his arms. He gives the BEST hugs to. I just imagine it being like "The Notebook," and him spinning me around. :) hehehe...I'm such a romantic.

I love you babe!

Here's to forever.

Love,

Minnie Kimmy

xoXoxOxoXo

What a whirlwind!

I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach for a while (not in the way people may think)..but because of the job/apprenticeship search that my husband has been going through. Times have been tough out there and with the good ole' economy the way that it's been, we haven't been holding out too much hope for Jared getting into a good apprenticeship program.

Nevertheless, after MANY days turning into months of job search, e-mailing resumes, fasting, praying and humbling ourselves, I'm pleased to say that miracles Do happen! :) Jared just found out yesterday that we will be moving to good ole' sunny............ Bakersfield! Yeah, I know it's Bakersfield, but it's an apprenticeship! :)

I will miss my family here in Utah, but I know we'll be coming back someday soon, since this is where we'd like to settle down. Meanwhile, we're counting our blessings and taking it one step at a time.

I'm thankful to God for his love and constant care he has for us. Although we may not feel deserving of his blessings, he loves and wants the best for all of us. I know that I've seen some incredible miracles happen in our family over the last few years and all that I can feel right now, is pure gratitude.

So, we're going on an adventure.... "California here we come!" :)

Sweet 23

Another year older...and wiser too? Hahaha, well on Sunday I turned the big 2-3. It was a lot of fun! Because my birthday was on a Sunday this year, my hubby and I celebrated on friday night at a ritzy restaurant in Logan called " Le Nonne." The atmosphere was romantic, the food was Italian and the atmosphere was superb. :) I loved how they turned an old Logan house into a yummy restaurant! If you're coming to Logan, UT I would definitely suggest it! I had some "hot pasta" that was so spicy, that it turned my lips red and made my nose run. It was bomb! Jared had a bolognese pasta that was cheesy and meaty and sooo decadent, but so delicious! After dinner, we came home and snuggled up to a movie. The perfect end to a perfect evening!

Saturday came around and the whole fam-damily came over to my mom and dad's to party. We put together little party bags for the kids, bought TONS of candy (I'm still trying to detox) ate lots of cupcakes, played lots of games, including: the Lolli-PoP game, a balloon relay race (hahaha....I wish I had some pictures of the kids popping them with their bums, so cute!) and a tricky bean-bag toss. It reminded me of games I'd play as a little kid at my little girl birthday parties. :) It brought back lots of fun memories!

Sunday came around, I woke up and my hubby was waiting with card in hand and a box on the bed. :) A good morning kiss was all I needed to satisfy. I love that boy more than anything! I especially love his creative-ness. He made me an adorable home-made card and somehow, from another singing card, took the music box thingy out and assembled it in his card, that he made! I opened it up and it sang "How sweet it is, to be loved by you!" Then, I opened the box and out comes TONS of chocolate! Yay! Then, to my surprise was a few pairs of skinny jeans! I hope they still fit after eating all of the chocolate!! Thank goodness for sharing! :)

It was a fun weekend! I love birthdays (except for the getting old part)...but who's counting? Up next is little Melody's birthday! She'll be six years old, on the sixth! She's growing so fast! Yay for May babies. :)

Farewell Boise

It's been an exciting, challenging, fun and crazy four month adventure living in Boise Idaho. Now we're packing up and saying good bye to this chapter in our lives and hello to the next! It's funny how we all think that we know pretty much how our lives will play out. We have a certain "print" in our minds, of how we think that our lives should be. Sometimes, we even get frustrated when things don't go as planned. Well, I'm learning how to embrace change and am realizing that it's all good!

These last few months, Jared and I have grown so much closer than we ever have in our, almost two years of marriage. It's also the first time that we've lived away from both of our families. We've missed them like crazy, but we have learned to grow on our own, with the help of the Lord. And it's been a great experience.

I remember a few months ago when our first car was having MAJOR problems and we had to walk 5 miles, and then some just to pick it up. I remember the excitement that we felt, when we realized that we wouldn't have to put up with that car anymore and were able to buy our next car with cash. I remember the discouragement my husband felt, when the company that he really wanted to apprentice with, called and told him that they wouldn't have any positions available for him when he finished school...but oh the joy, when later on that same day, we got a call from another company that said that they had a position available for him and he'd be able to start in the next few weeks! It was fun to walk through Cabelas (the coolest outdoor store in the WORLD) and dream of collecting a bunch of camping stuff, kayaks and griddles, tents and fishing poles and dream of the fun traditions that we want to make with our own kids, one day. :) I remember the time of walking through Babies R Us, looking at future baby items for our little angels, that will hopefully come to see us soon. :) This last weekend was fun, going to the Boise temple for the first time with Jared and doing temple work together, just the two of us and seeing all of the cute newlyweds, with sparkles in their eyes, on the road to starting their new adventures. I loved having dinner ready for him when he walked through the door, muddy and exhausted after a long day of school and being his little "cheerleader." Did we think that we'd be spending four months in a hotel? No...but it's been so much fun! Life is just full of surprises! And just like that good ole' Jodee Messina song, "You gotta role with the punches." :) So, that's what we're doing right now. Rollin' with the punches and ready for our next journey!

Life is a bit scary, when you're unsure of what is next....but when you put your faith in God and trust him to guide you, you know everything is gonna be alright. :)

Congratulations to my Bubba for finishing school and graduating on Friday! I'm so proud of my man! :)

My little boy's all grown up!

Friday March 12, 2010 my brother Daniel got married to his sweetheart, Stephanie. It was a nice day and a lot of fun! They married at 10:20 am, in the SLC temple and it was a beautiful ceremony.

Dan is an awesome big brother and closest to me in age, out of my siblings. I will admit, I felt a little melancholy the morning of his wedding. I had flashbacks of our childhood and the way that things used to be. He was the last one out of our family to get hitched and I just feel as if we're all grown up now and on the road to starting our own families and that things are never going to be the same. I understand life changes and for the better, but why does it have to happen so quickly? Isn't it funny that when we were little, we couldn't wait to get older and now that we're getting older we sometimes wish we were little again? Oh man, I sound like a mom already! If I feel this way right now about my brother, what will it be like when I start having my own kids?? Ahh! I'm such a hormonal woman right now! Excuse me.

I really am just so happy that he made that big and important step in his life and with the woman he loves so much! She's good to him and great for him and that's really all that matters. What is a life without love? I'll tell ya, it definitely wouldn't be a life worth living! I heard that quote somewhere... I'm not sure who it's by, but it's so, so true!

Now I can look forward to getting to know my new sister-in-law better and raising our kids together (in the future) and all the fun traditions and stuff that expanding the family brings. :)

Congratulations Danny Boy and Stephanie!! We love you and are so proud of you!

Poop in the pool, Family visits and Valentines

This post won't just be about poop in the pool, but I'm so disgusted about it that I figured it would be a good title. Anywho, my sissy and family came to visit Jared and I this weekend! They came on Friday night, and camped out in our hotel room until Saturday morning when they checked into their room for the weekend. My cute little nieces were so excited that we were all of us were having a "sleep over" together! Heather thought that the kids would get a little too loud for us during the middle of the night, because they couldn't sleep from all of their excitement..haha, but in all honesty, Jared and I miss all of those cute kids and their loud presence. We just laughed at their cute little voices until we were so tired, that we fell asleep. Saturday morning came, and around 6 in the morning Katie Lyn and Mellie were already awake and ready to go eat breakfast and go swimming! We of course, mooched off of the breakfast at the hotel...but since there was a "Krispy Kreme" down the street from us, we had to go there too! Can you say "sugar overload?" Heather's kids had never had gone before, so it was a special treat. Their cute little faces were pressed up against the glass, as they watched the donuts being made through the window. :) I asked Katie what she thought of Krispy Kreme donuts and this is what she said: " They are the most glorious donuts that I've ever had!" After the donut run, we decided to take Heather's family to the "Old Idaho State Penitentiary." The kids got bored and spooked pretty fast and decided that they would rather go to the mall. The mall in Boise is a two-story mall. The kids were amazed! :) We went to Build a bear and they picked out their own little stuffed animals, which was a good time. After that, we headed to See's Candies. Oooh how I love that place! Thanks to my sweety, I got my own box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, which I pretty much consumed the same day! My lips loved me...but now, my hips are paying for it! Haha...so we had a fun time at the mall and the kids were riding up and down the escalator like it was a ride at Disneyland. They were so happy! :) Haha...and the look on Matthew's face was priceless! The following day, we had a blast at the Boise State Zoo! There were slides and things for the kids to play on, and so many fun animals to look at! We packed a lunch and ate right outside of the Zoo. We brought bags of nasty bread too, and decided to feed the birds. Haha..the funniest thing was when Matthew was buddying up with Uncle Bubba (Jared) to chase the birds. But, when chasing became to tiring for him, he picked up a brownie from lunch and said "birdie like it?" My heart melts for that little boy..lol..he is so adorable! For dinner, we went to the "Goodwood" BBQ. It was delicious! I had some kind of Mexican salad, and I'd have to say...it's the best salad that I've had yet!
After consuming that huge dinner, the kids could not wait to go SWIMMING!! We were a little scared to try it out though, because the day before it had been shut down due to some kid pooping in the pool and they had to do a hard core cleaning. We geared up anyway, and had a blast! Monday morning however, we went to go swimming again before Heather and family had to check out and were in the pool for about 15 minutes. The first five minutes, there was another family with a bunch of little kids and one of them had to be about 2 years old, and wasn't wearing a swimming diaper or any kinds of diaper for that matter! We didn't think about it too hard..we just figured that if the kid had to, you know "do it's business," then, the parent would have taken him to go use the bathroom. Unfortunately, it didn't work like that. I'm thinking that the kid dropped a load, the dad possibly noticed, then left as fast as they could..because they jetted out of there all at once in what seemed to be a "hurry." We didn't think twice about it and everything was fine, until I had to go step into the little dookie at the bottom of the pool. I just remember feeling a "squish" between my toes and thinking to myself "please don't be what I think it is!" Sure enough...it was! Poop!!! At the bottom of the pool!!! Ahhh! The first time and last time I hope! It was nasty! I told Heather and Ryan what had happened and Heather was like a fire alarm, saying "everyone out of the pool!" Haha...it was kind of a funny moment now when I think about it, but not so funny then. I just hope those kids don't get sick from any "ecoli" or any other harmful bacteria...ew! The sickest thing, was that we were ALL swimming in it, under water, full- fledged swimming in it. I mean, that has happened before..where a public pool has been shut down due to some kid "doing their business" in the pool..but I've never been the victim before!! Ewww! Ok...I just had to throw that out there and get it off my chest. Lets just hope that NEVER happens again! lol..Parents, please make sure your kid has a swimming diaper or diaper on while in a public pool. Thank you. :)
The trip besides the poop in the pool was fantastic and it was a BLAST to see my sis, Ryan and kiddos again! :) I cried like a little baby as they drove away. But thank goodness I have a patient and loving hubby that let me cry in his chest and get his shirt all wet from tears. I'm so thankful for having a forever family. Even though we have to say good bye every once in a while, we know that we'll be together forever, and that's a good feeling. <3
Valentine's Day was awesome too! Jared is the sweetest, funniest and caring man I know, and did I mention FINE?.. and I'm so thankful that he's mine..haha! :) The Valentine's Day card that he made me was awesome and I'll admit, made me tear up a bit (in a good way). He knows that the way to my heart, isn't something always bought..but something made from his heart, and chocolate and he did both. :) Thank you baby! I became the luckiest girl in the world the day that I married you and every day together just keeps getting better! :)

Visiting the Old Idaho State Penitentiary

Man oh man! So this last weekend, Jared and I took a trip to one of Boise's historical sites "The Old Idaho Penitentiary." Since we're new to the area, we weren't quite sure what to do for fun on a Saturday...but we "Google-ed" and found this place. The reviews were awesome and many people explained it as historical and creepy. We couldn't wait!!

We arrived at the place and it immediately was nice and warm and weird to say "inviting" (since it was pouring outside and very cold). I told that to the man at the desk and he said..."well it won't be very cozy for very long." Ahh! It was then that I got chills up my spine and my husband and I looked at eachother, thinking "should we really do this?" And we did! In order to enter the jail grounds you have to open this huge bared door. We opened the door and walked into the jail yard. There were many different buildings all around us, a building for men, a building for women, a punishing chamber, solitary confinement, death row, and a drop room for the hangings that happened there. There was even a rose garden, where they hung prisoners before they built a drop room indoors. There weren't too many people taking the tour at the time we were there,which made the whole experience that more freaky.

We made our first stop in the male jail cells and looked through the bars. Many of them drew on the walls, smoked, gave eachother tattoos and played cards. Anything to make the time pass faster I guess. Looking at their toilets in their cells made me want to gag also. Maybe guys are a little stronger when it comes to accepting a dirty toilet, but I'll tell ya one thing, it grossed me out! After that, we walked to the other side of the yard and walked into the jail for the more dangerous criminals. I remember getting up close to take a picture inside one of the jail cells and just getting a sick feeling in my stomach. The place felt a little haunted (if you believe in that kind of stuff). So I took my picture and ran to Jared saying "wait for me!" Haha...I'm such a baby. As we were about to walk out of the building..we noticed that there were stairs that we were able to walk up (since most of the buildings stairs were blocked off). There was a sign "Death row and Drop room." We were curious, so we walked up the steps and looked into the room where they hung people. The walls were stained with something. I didn't really want to find out what it was though. There even was some historic facts on the walls of some of the men that were hung there. I couldn't stand it anymore, so we left that building. Up next was solitary confinement. Oh my! Those guy's cells were un-livable, I don't know how they did it! Those that were sent to solitary confinement were the ones that splashed their toilet buckets on the officers and slit the throats of some of the guards, the real out-of control ones. Just as I was about to take a picture of Jared in one of them...(because there was one that you could walk inside) my camera died! Perfect timing right? Maybe it was a good thing we couldn't take a picture of him in there though, there might have been something or someone "extra" in the picture (if you know what I mean).

The jail was opened and operating from 1870 to 1973. They built a larger facility for the prisoners in the 70's, so they just left this place to be a historical site. It was very interesting, creepy and a cool place to tour. I would suggest it for any of you that ever come and visit this area....but uh..you might want to leave the kids at home (just a suggestion).

Sweet dreams everyone! :)