Bahamas gone bad..

My brilliant sister signed us up for the Valentines Day Massacre..presented by 97.1 a radio station in Salt Lake City. It consisted of 97 women diving into a cake full of all kinds of prizes..the grandest being a 5,000 dollar wedding ring. WE went with very hopes of selling the ring on ebay and flying to the Bahamas..or someone even closely as cool as that

This face is pre-disappointment.
l



Sadly for me, Jaimee got disqualified being 7 months pregnant (obviously).
But I tried my hardest..I almost got my head taken off.


I am sad to face the truth about how un-intimidating I look in this picture..



Looking back on it I can't figure out how I even had the liberty to be disappointed. My mom reminded me that both of us girls never collected one single egg at any childhood easter egg hunt..and when I played basketball my happiest moments were without the ball in my hands. Aggresive behavior is not my specialty...we all have our personal talents right?

Will I be there next year?? Umm, of course. Will the Bahamas still be around? Right when we got in the car to leave Shawn said..girl you tried your best.
We all know what that means.

Three is Company..

We just got back from El Paso. I don't have any pictures from our trip yet. And Most of them aren't very beautiful-please don't judge. However, this one is one of my favorites. Not because my hair looks good or anything even in the same category as that-because wait none of it does. I only like this picture because of the people in it with me..

They were 2 and 1 when I was born. They were the king and queen in castles on the couch-and I was the maid. They were in high school, and I was in Jr. High-They drove me to school, and dropped me off at the Broulim's stoplight and made me run for my life WITH my backpack before the light turned green. Together we proudly sported wranglers on our first day in an Idaho elementary school. We rebelled and watched VH1,missed curfew, got grounded, and fought with our parents, thinking we had it so hard. I tried really hard to do my part as Josh's hockey goalie, his fellow ninja turtle, and his fellow wood wittler with his pocket knife. I was the last up the ladder to the treehouse when we were chased by our dog, and the guinea pig sent to see if the coast was clear when we were doing something we really shouldn't. we were weird little country kids, but we were pretty happy.

Usually I'm glad they do everything first-Josh has two kids and is leaving for Afghanistan and Jaimee is having a baby in just a few months. I couldn't be a more proud little sister. I might wish I could lead the way sometimes, and have the first baby, or be the first to graduate from college..but lets be honest-I'd be their maid again any day. They are the very best. Sometimes life gets a little bit routine, and then sometimes I wake up and realize just how very lucky I am. Thanks to El Paso for reminding me. I'll post more pictures when I get them.

Love Love..Blah Blah Blah

In college I used to like my anatomy textbook more then dating. I used to feel sick to my stomach very often from "romance overload". I used to stay up late with my friends, because they were way more fun at night. I used to come to the decision quite often..that love was lame. That love was "for the birds" as some would say..
But then something very eventful happened..I was invited to join this team:

And now my slippers are kissing birds..

And our rug looks like this...

And we eat off heart plates and sit in matching chairs..

And I homemade hearts so our apartment can feel loved even though we are a little bit poor at the time..(Thanks Shayna :)

And we hurry home as fast as we can so we can sit by ourselves on our couch as close as we can and eat pink frosted brownies with valentines sprinkles (that aren't as cute as they sound because I am a horrible brownie froster.)

And today home all by myself I took a little look around. And I came to the conclusion that love is not lame. And it is definitely not for the birds. Being semi poor and crappy frosted brownies are actually much more lame..
cheesy?? ya but I'm okay with that. for this month only.

Happy Valentines Day to all little love birds!!

Plane Tickets, Track Meets, Football games....

Last week we had a little bit of company. It's about time! Shawn's family came and stayed with us and we watched his little brother Aaron run track at BYU. Aaron is amazing we are excited to watch him run more this year!! we played games, ate good food, and had a usual good old fashioned really fun time with his family.


Besides company our life has been so wonderful with the three day weekend as well as the huge long break from Shawn's school. Shawn just had to go back last Monday and I had to adjust to not having an errand partner on all my days off . Unfortunately our time together has been spent mainly watching the Cardinal's football games, and the Sun's basketball games. Since when did I all the sudden have to become an Arizona sports fan?? Maybe it's since Idaho doesn't a team to support so I think I can feel good about it.
I am only a fan for short periods of time, and then I am secretly happy when the Cardinals lose in the playoffs so I can stop watching it every spare second..I try to be a very good sport, and I actually like it just a little when Shawn acts like he needs me to watch with him(which is kinda rare) and when he cares about my input and calls me his "teammate"



This weekend Jaimee my mom and I are flying out to El Paso, Texas to attend our niece Olivia's Princess third birthday party, and to see Josh before he gets deployed to Afghanistan the end of next month. I am soo excited to see Josh and his kids. I am also excited to be on a trip with Jaimee and my mom. It will be fun for us to all be together and I am always up to visit anywhere new! I have never been to Texas before. I have also never spent more then twelve hours away from Shawny boy. I'm hoping I can make it four days! Fortunately I will be in very good company. See ya when we get back!

Goodbye 2009!

I got put on call New Year's Eve. Yahoo! We went to a party with some of our neighbors and some new friends in our ward..after that we finished up the night with some of the people we love the most to ring in the New Year...Here's a picture taken right at twelve as we watched the ball drop with our Martinelli's..no thanks to my piece of crap old camera.


And here is the way we finished strong the year 2009..
Sonja's wedding. She looked gorgeous!! I love her. No one knows the bond two exhausted nursing students can form in the middle ot a ten hour cramming session. It only strengthened as we were exhausted construction workers for a summer in Nome,Alaska as well as when we walked the streets of Tonga in search of edible food. I will always love her pearly white smile for all it saw me through haha..

During Christmas break we had tin foil dinners in the Arizona desert with Holly and Stetson and Whitney and Mike. These are two of my favorite girls of all time. We finished our night with Rock Band in honor of sleepless nights at King Henry. RIP Apt 110.





We also obsessed over our new niece Kylee. Shawn informed that I had to share him while we were in Arizona with Kylee, but that he still loved me just as much as he always has. haha he loves Kylee and we are thrilled to have her cute face in the family. WE can't wait to see her be sealed to her parents in March. We love you miss Kylee..with all our hearts :)


Our Christmas in Arizona was so fun, I love being around Shawn's entertaining family. I was a little homesick on Christmas..but thought I was brave until I started hearing my mom's phone ring and waiting for her to say hello. Then I remembered how much I missed her face on christmas morning and couldn't hold it in any longer..these are just some of the faces that cheered me up. Just for the record in case Shawn's dad ever stumbles across this..he really is tough enough to wear pink. I sure love him-they always make me laugh, homesick or not.



This a picture of us last year snowboarding in Jackson right after New Year's..lots has changed since then!! That's back when we weren't poor married people..and oh it was soo very fun. but I'd still rather be married and broke.


hope everyone had a great new year's!! see ya in 2010.

Christmas Surprise..

This Christmas I got a Christmas present from an actual husband of my very own which is still WEIRD to think about. However, I underestimated the boy. Shawn has been doing research all semester and he definitely does not do it for the money, I am a witness of that. He studies long hours and works soo hard, and I would rather him not have a job because I already don't see him enough!! however that definitely leaves us with limited funds.

I wasn't expecting much of a Christmas present, if anything-because I knew he has been so busy with finals. I didn't know until recently that my poor boy was donating plasma (and even passed out), worked for his dad in Arizona, and found little ways to pull together quite a stash for...a Cannon Rebel xti camera. Impressive is it not?? It was a present even worthy of tears..He worked really hard for the money, and that means more to me then a camera ever will. We haven't gone to get it yet..but we are many steps closer then we ever were before.

I am trying to rediscover my creative brain..currently my brain only works in reading and science...any advice on how to use the thing is welcome.

I am so sad that today is the last day of 2009, I have come to grow very fond of this year. It was the year we were married, the year I freaked out and we almost didn't get married, the year I realized I'm so happy I didn't freak out one step further and ruin it all, the year we decorated our own apartment and stayed up all night hanging pictures on the walls, the year we went to sleep starving some nights because I can't cook, the year I received amazing in-laws, the year I had to work full time ALL year, the year we bought hand me down couches that we love, the year I finally enjoyed living close to the city and started feeling completely at home somewhere besides Idaho.

2009 had those days where I woke up on the wrong side of the bed..the days where I thought life was over and couldn't get any worse, the days we were really poor, the days full of final exams and final senior papers...Regardless of the circumstances, I'm grateful for the memories of this year. Here's to the end of 2009. It's over whether we are welcoming it out the door, or wishing it would stay. 2009 is a year of the past, Happy NEW YEAR!

'Tis the Season...

Time flies! We have been so busy lately, with lots of different things. I don't mind being busy, and being exhausted at the end of the day feels pretty good sometimes, however today is one of those rare days that has time to include my very favorite thing-a nice break. It doesn't happen often. Shawn has finals so he has been studying since 630, I on the other hand slept in, went to the gym, took a bath, and even wrote in my journal. I love the holidays, and the music and the lights we can see from our window. Today when I was in our empty apartment I couldn't help but think about how much I have loved this holiday season, and how blessed I have been in 2009. Here is a picture of Shawn just relaxing, I haven't seen him do this since the semester started..the picture also includes my red couches which are my favorite thing that I own, thanks to my Aunt Lori. And a lot more pictures that include a few of our recent exciting events


We went home this year for Thanksgiving, I love having Idaho as my home to visit. My mom worked so hard to have us home and I REALLY appreciate it, it was obvious how much time she had spent-our house was decorated so cute as usual, and she even put up some lights outside all by herself, which I was impressed with-I could never do that. Here are a few thanksgiving pics, my favorite is the sign Abby made to welcome us home and to her room which was where we stayed while we were home. Abby is the greatest little sister a girl could ever ask for. She is everyone in the family's biggest fan, it feels good to know she is always up waiting when we go home.





We went to my grandparent’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Tyler has always been so good with our little cousins, and Shawn has joined right in on the fun. They both are also so good to Abby, and now even to her new dog Bentley. I am not a dog person, but even I became a fan. Abby loves Tyler and Shawn, It’s nice to have boys around in the house again.

A few weeks ago we went to Callie’s wedding. She looked so beautiful, her reception was perfect! The majority of memories most associated with Callie and I in our younger days are probably not very precious ones. Fortunately for us, life’s all about doing better next time. I sure love that girl and she is one of my favorite people alive. We also love Tyler and are happy they will only live a short drive away from us. It was my first opportunity to witness a sealing and be in the temple for a wedding, I was so excited and was not disappointed.


Also, Shawn's family took us on a cruise last weekend. It was not only the same cruise line, but the same ship we went on on our honeymoon. I'm not much of a romantic person..and even for me I had a few flashbacks, it felt exactly like our honeymoon again. It was SO fun not to mention soo nice of them to take us. I have never met a boy who loves his family as much as Shawn does. The weather was a little chilly sometimes, but the fun we had had nothing to do with our destinations on the cruise-it had everything to do with the fact that the entire family was together. I can't believe I have only been a part of Shawn's family for 4 months because it seems like so much longer, they are SO fun and easy to be around-and I really don't know how I survived 22 years without them. I am very lucky to be a part of another great Allen family. We had so much fun I will post more pictures later..
This time we had windows in our room...it was so cool to see the ocean at night. I wish the little bum was mine, but it's Shawn's little sister Megan's.




P.S. WE have our OWN christmas tree!! Shawn waited to get this tree on sale at 3 am at Walmart, all by himself with my brother in law Tyler. I was so proud of him for staying awake, and getting the right tree at the right price, and the right size ha. Us girls were already gone shopping by the time they left-they stayed up all night playing nintendo so I was worried they would miss it, but they came home with everything on the list-including this little piece of joy!


we had to be pretty cheap, I used leftovers from our wedding..haha it's nothing like my mom's but we love sitting in our living room with the lights on. Happy Holiday's everyone..