Sometimes...

the best view is the one from your own window. :)

Tip of the Week

This may or may not become a regular thing, but this was too good not to share.

I don't know why, but it seems like we have a TON of dust here.  I feel like I'm dusting all the time.  A few months ago I discovered these disposable dusters.  They are a lifesaver!  I love that they are small enough to get in those tight spaces and my favorite part is that you can just throw them away after a few weeks!  You only have to buy one handle and then you can buy replacement dusters for the end for pretty cheap.

 I recently found another really great use for these dusters.  We had a vent in our laundry room that was disgusting, but I wasn't quite sure how to attack the problem.  Well, I used my duster and the end was thin enough to fit right in each slot.  It was so easy and fast!

Here is the before and after picture :)

These would also be really great for dusting blinds!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

 CHRISTMAS! :)  We finally had a legitimate snow fall last night and woke up to this beautiful sight!  We couldn't be happier about it.  To celebrate we are staying inside all day (while Matt studies :P) and I'm going to make soup (more on my soup marathon and yummy recipes later).  I love this time of year.

Christmas Decor

Remember when we thought we were getting a one bedroom apartment, but ended up with a two bedroom?  Well, we gave our Christmas tree away before we moved thinking we wouldn't have room for it in our new apartment.  I'm not too sad about it since we'll be spending a lot of the Christmas season in Utah with our families, but it leaves our decorations looking a little sparse this year. :)

The several small decor items we do have, along with Michael Buble's new Christmas CD, are doing the trick to bring the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving

We had a pretty laid back Thanksgiving this year.  Our friends, Eric, Cambria, and their baby Will came over to eat with us.  Great Friends + Yummy Food = a Great Thanksgiving.

 The table all set for dinner :)

I didn't take pictures of all the yummy food, just some of my favorites.  Matt LOVES these rolls and asks me to make them pretty much every day.  Recipe found here.

We decided to just make turkey breasts since we don't really like dark meat.  This recipe was amazing.

This is my favorite jello salad of all time.  You can find the recipe for Frog Eye Salad here.

It's Fall :)

 I couldn't wait any longer to put up all our Fall/Halloween decor.  We love this time of year as it's filled with so much anticipation.  We have been loving having BYU football parties, visiting the farmer's market, and talking walks in the brisk Fall air.  I hope your taking time to enjoy this wonderful time of year.

P.S. My parents come in 2 weeks!!!  :)

New Climate

I'm loving our new climate (but you might want to ask me again when January rolls around...).  During the last rain I decided to snap a few pictures of the raindrops and the moss.

Do you see the moss on our patio?

 We love all the trees and how green it is here.  I'm looking forward to fall when all the leaves start changing.

Our home in South Bend :)

First let me say how much we LOVE it here!  :)  We love our ward and have already made so many new friends.  There are quite a few student couples in our apartment complex and even more in our ward.  Our ward was so nice to help us move twice and then we have had 6-7 dinners with people in our ward since we have been here.  We love the location of our apartment!  It's 10 minutes from campus, 20 minutes from church, right near three grocery stores (within walking distance).  I wasn't able to relax until everything was unpacked.  Matt was so good to help out and we were completely unpacked within three days of our second move.  It's been really nice to get all settled in.  Here are some pictures of our new place so you'll know where to picture us!

 

The family room.

Family Picture Wall

The Family Room: We love our balcony.

The New Ikea Entertainment Center: Matt and I built this and it only took us like 6 hours.

The Balcony: the pond was feeling a little sick for a while, but it's doing a lot better now and looking a lot less green.

We love how this family room has quite a bit more space than our last one and we are able to have our desktop computer out here where we'll use it more often.

Our Bedroom: We love that it's right by the Family Room

Our Dresser

The 'Master' Bath... I'm not sure if I can call it that since there isn't a tub, but it's the bathroom that's connected to our bedroom, so we'll call it that.

The Dinning Room/Kitchen

The Kitchen: LOVING the gas stove!

And my personal favorite: The Laundry Room!  I will never be able to go back to not having our own washer and dryer.  It has saved us so much money and it's so nice to just pop a load of laundry in whenever you feel like it rather than waiting until you have 10 loads!

Bathroom #2:  I think I would rather have 1 bathroom, personally.  Less to clean.  But, it will be nice when we have guests!

The Spare Bedroom!  This is our random room, as you can see.  Weights, Drying Rack, Bookshelves.  It also has a huge walk-in-closet which is great for storage and this is where guests will stay. :)

So, that's it!  We love it here - come visit and we'll show you why!  :)

Good Bye Nelson...

Good Bye Nelson Apartments.  We'll miss you.  Thanks for all the fond memories you helped us create here.

With our favorite neighbors :)

Here's to all the good times with the four of us going to dinner, playing games, going for walks, and talking until all hours of the night.  And to all the good times Katie and I spent talking, shopping, painting our toe nails, and watching Grey's Anatomy.  We miss you guys so much!

Our New Home Finally! :)

So I finally got around to taking pictures of our new place in Orem :) enjoy...

Our bed... still the same - but look at those walls :)

Our dresser and window... still working on some curtains for the window for decoration and also to block out some of the light.

Our cute wall hanging... our only one in the bed room at the moment..
I'm gonna work on that too!

My closet and the wall... We are going to put a book shelf there.
Matt's closet is in the other room.

The hall way leading out of our bedroom

Our bathroom

Our TINY shower :) Hence the detachable shower head.

Bathroom sink and mirror

Bathroom towels

We used our shower curtain as a cover up for our storage area under the stairs - no pictures please :) hehe

Our family room from the hallway to our bedroom

What you see first when you walk in

And moving left :)

Lets zoom in on Matt's favorite part :) We thought it was so fun to get this cute little fridge to put in the family room and we have had so much fun buying drinks for it and it is great for parties!

Family room

Fire place

Entertainment center and our new lamp. We were watching the TV version of Braveheart

View of the back corner of the family room... and Matt's elbow.

The Kitchen

Well that's our new place - we really like it and it's nice to be all settled in :)