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..

Like Husband..Like Wife

We have many miserable tasks (ones we must secretly love) that lately have brought us some sort of twisted type of joy..
1. Chemistry-

Unfortunately, Shawn is spending many hours studying chemistry and biology. He has been doing really well and I am impressed by him, and also admire him. I on the other hand I am taking a chemistry class online-to be prepared in case I ever may want to go to grad school. I sign up for things like this sometimes and get ahead of myself on those rare days when I feel ultra motivated. And then I realize what was I thinking ($430 later).It is nice that we both are studying the same field..it brings us together as nerdy as we are.
2. Primary Children's..

Shawn has been doing a research internship in a lab at the University of Utah and PCMC. He assists in doing research on children who have what he calls "NF1". The only reason I like it is because one of the clinics he works in is in Primary Children's and so recently I have had a built in lunch buddy on all my lunch breaks. I have spent a lot of time at the hospital over the past year and a half (I can't believe I have kept one job that long)..and am realizing how much I love going to work-on most days at least..and how much I love the bright resilient faces of sick children that greet me there. Most of all I love the things I learn every day, and probably will keep learning as long as I work there. It will be really hard when I ever have to leave that place that gave me my first nursing home.

3.Early mornings:
Shawn and I leave the house everyday USUALLY before 7 am Monday-Thursday. I go to work three of the days, Shawn goes to school all of those days. We usually get home around eight, go to the gym and are exhausted by the time we hit the pillow. Our weekends however are the opposite-we try to make sure we are as lazy as can be..especially on Sundays. We are ALWAYS together-actually almost 24/7. We leave at 630 together, we meet up for lunch, we drive home together...

We have a lot in common..Like Husband-Like Wife.

Confessions of an honest housewife..

Well, I had big dreams. I had dreams of being a housewife that always had beautiful hair when her husband returned home for the day, and dinner fresh on the stove in a sparkling clean kitchen-oh ya with cookies baking and all the toilets scrubbed. I had dreams of bringing my nursing skills home from work and nursing my husband back to full health after a week of midterms, an internship and chemistry lab. I had plans for always having matching socks, fresh folded laundry and a painted entertainment center. I pictured well my husband getting off the trax to see his cute wife, who of course gets skinnier and more young and beautiful by the day, right on time to greet him with a bright white smile and a huge happy hug.

CONFESSION: NONE of this has happened for more then two consecutive days in a row. My hair has donned the beloved ponytail at least 85% of our married life, however I am nice enough to spice it up with a plethora of different headbands-and if we are lucky possibly a braid. My enthusiasm for cooking is starting to diminish as I have realized the dreaded truth that by the time I buy every ingredient for a recipe, mess up the kitchen, slice my hand on a soup can while talking on the phone, and proceed to clean up the kitchen-I may as well have spent ten dollars on takeout. I would spend ten dollars to save that hassle..even if I am on a budget. OH wait..and since Shawn is nice enough to take the trax while we are living the glorious newlywed life of one car-he has yet to get off the Trax and find his faithful wife there waiting. Instead..he sees a black corolla squealing into the parking lot, trying-just trying to live her dream. And that my friends is how I ended up with my $150 dollar ticket this week.

We have a wonderful life despite my struggles..Usually when we throw our feet up at the end of the day..Shawn is wearing one NIke sock and one pink little girl sock (my fault)..Last week I did forget to empty the lint in the process of working on my fresh laundry-and we had a very terrifying disaster that I won't include..

But we laugh our heads off together-just the two of us in our lovely apartment that smells like fall, and we laugh that we are slightly pathetic..and we write goals every Sunday of how our next week will be better..and eventually we will. Just wait and see..but eventually is not right now. For now, if you need us-we will be just enjoying eachother's company and forgetting about the fire starting in our drier, the burnt chicken on the oven, and the fact that we were late for school and work not one, but two days in a row. I dare you to compete with that..:) Happy Homemaking everyone--

Fall...

I have to say I am in love with the season of fall. Not only is it my birthday and my cute little sister Abba's birthday (which is always a plus) it also means little kids at our complex start walking up the streets with their backpacks on and new little shoes. The beautiful trees lining the streets show off all different colors and I can't help but stare out the window more often then usual. Our neighbors-Erica and Austin-are the cutest little things I have ever seen walk back from a bus stop. It took us a while to be used to having 5 and 6 year old visitors who thought they were welcome at all times-but now that I am used to it I can't help but love them. Yesterday they knocked on our door dressed as a queen and a bumblebee transformer..The day before that they brought us pumpkins right from the pumpkin patch-Lucky Us! They add excitement to our lives-I need to post pictures of them soon.
Here are a few pics of our fall thus far..Please excuse my hand signs-Shawn is still in this little phase where he loves those-he insists in some pictures I make an A for the "A-team" or A for "ALLEN". A IS apparently our favorite letter, but still I don't think those signs are necessary.




Our drive to ARIZONA was beautiful through the canyons last week. Usually I fall right asleep to the lovely lull of the car no matter how hard I try-but not this time. This trip I stayed awake and had long conversations while we looked at the trees. I really believe that the air smells better in the fall, the mountains are prettier, and my body is happier warmed up in sweaters and boots. I am ready to bring out the pumpkin carving, hot chocolate and potato soup. I have spent all my spare change these past few weeks on autumn leafy garland or pumpkin and apple cider candles. Oh ya and on an extremely cute pumpkin hat for our niece Kylee. Nothing makes me happier then when Shawn comes home from school with Maverik's wonderful pumpkin frozen yogurt and we throw in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. If you haven't tried pumpkin frozen yogurt from Maverik PLEASE do.






oh also..Last night was my dear friend Natasha's birthday and we all went to dinner..it was so fun to be out with all my old roomies and it's so crazy that almost all of us are married!! I love them all oh so much. It was a wonderful night..
This picture is very scary of me and my sweater..but I never get to see them so I have to put it up anyway-for old times sake.
Happy Fall!!!