Courtney and Kyle

Saturday Quick Craft

2011-11-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

This morning while watching the Wisconsin Badgers game (sorry Utes I would watch your games but they don't broadcast here) I decided to make a new key chain. I have used the same lanyard since my first year in college. I got that lanyard from the military recruiters that came to our school in high school. It was camo colored and by this point starting to fall apart. I found this fun idea on pinterest and decided to make it.
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2009/08/guest-bloggerfashionable-fabric-key.html

I used the clip from my old lanyard and material scraps I already had from other projects. I followed the same instructions from the website except I did not get any fusible interfacing. I also used flannel material so when I got the point where I had to sew I decided it was too thick so I cut off a layer of each side of the material. It's does have a few flaws, but it was fun and super easy to make. If I were to make it again I would make the straps a little bit longer. Right now it is just a little too small and I would like to be able to put it around my wrist.

September Fun

2011-09-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

So far September has been great. The weather has cooled a bit so we haven't turned on the air conditioner for almost a week. I have a feeling the weather is going to change quickly. Next week's forecast calls for a high of 82 on Monday and by Thursday it is a high of 61 and a low of 39.

Downtown Madison has a huge farmer's market every Saturday all day surrounding Capitol Square. A few weeks ago we went down and walked around. We also stopped by Ian's Pizza, the first restaurant we went to when we came here in April for Kyle's interview. It is pizza by the slice, but not your regular pizza. We enjoyed a Mac and Cheese slice, Chicken potato, and chicken cordon bleu.

The next weekend we went to Taste of Madison. This is a huge event they do every Labor Day Weekend around Capitol Square. There were maybe 50-60 local restaurants all around with several items you could try each between $1-4. Here are some of the things we tried.

Egg Rolls

Aloha Burger-had a spicy sauce and pineapple

Beef and Cheese empanada

We also had Blue Raspberry Ice (so goood!), a mango orange smoothie, and some cinnamon almonds. There were three stages set up around the square with live music-rock, djs and country.

Yesterday was Kyle's birthday. Since we are rather boring we both worked and in the evening I made Kyle his favorite dinner-crepes. At first I was having a really hard time getting them to cook and they were way too thick. I switched to a smaller pan and was able to get enough good ones to enjoy. We filled them with fresh whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, raspberries and covered in syrup.

Kyle told me he didn't want his presents wrapped but that would be lame so I used what I had around the house to at least put them in something. You would think it was a girl's birthday based on this picture.

Kyle got a few collared shirts, new khaki pants and some ear buds. He needed some dressier clothes than t-shirts and jeans because he has to wear business casual when he is around customers. My parents got Kyle a video game, Deus Ex. Kyle had mentioned he might want it and we were all stumped on what to get him for his birthday so he got it... what a spoiled guy. He seems to like it, he played it for a few hours last night. This morning he got a package from his family, a hoodie and shirt. I also made him his favorite ice cream cake.

Final Decorating Class

2011-08-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my final class in the decorating basics class by Wilton. I learned a few flowers, leaves and how to do lettering. This is the best flower I made it is called a pompom flower.
Roses are hard to make! It is partly because you have to turn the flower base while you're squeezing the frosting with your other hand, and you have to turn counter clockwise. I kept doing it the wrong direction but it still turned out well.
This is the best cupcake swirl I did. It was fluffy and full, which is why I didn't cover it up like I had to for the other ones.
This is a pompom flower on the top of a cupcake made with 1 color instead of 2. Also notice the awesome leaves. They are so easy to make and you can't mess them up!
Finally here is the shaggy mum. I think my frosting wasn't the right consistency because the pieces should have been smaller and neater but it's still a fun flower that can cover up lots of mistakes.
Finally, here is my certificate. I am officially certified in decorating basics!

Cake Day!

2011-08-23T15:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my 2nd lesson for my cake decorating class. Last week we learned how to fill (tort) and ice a cake so Monday we all got to do it ourselves. I also learned how to do swirly lines, rosettes, star flowers, swirl flowers, and circles. I tried to use all these new techniques in decorating my cake. By the end of the night my frosting was getting warm and a little mushy so some of the decorations were less than ideal. Here are some pictures!

Cookies!!

2011-08-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

I finally started my cake decorating class! My first lesson was yesterday and I learned a lot of great things! At the end we decorated cookies using our new talents, with a star tip. Here are some examples of what I did. Sorry about the poor quality on some of the pictures.
This one, the letter K, is probably the best one I did. A lady sharing the table with me was very impressed when she found out I've never done this before. She said I had done a great job keeping even pressure, which is hard to do.

This is my new necklace holder. I got some coat hooks from Bed Bath and Beyond that had adhesive on the back and stuck them to the wall next to my closet. Now I can see my beautiful necklaces hanging out and easily choose accessories.
On a side note... I started my new job today! I am an accountant at National Guardian Life Insurance. My first day was great. Everyone is super friendly and once I got started learning what I'll be doing I feel very comfortable that I can learn it and be successful.

Birthday Stuff

2011-07-20T10:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I love my birthday... maybe because all day I tell Kyle he has to do things because it's MY birthday!! I also love sharing my birthday with my wonderful Mom. I love her very much and it's great to celebrate our day together. You may not be aware that I am a very emotional person. Lately whenever I get to talk to my family on the phone or Skype I get teary eyed. It's not so much because I miss them (I do) but more because I love them and for some reason that just makes me cry. So dad, if you were wondering why I got so quiet when I talked to you yesterday it was because I didn't want to start bawling in the restaurant. (Even now I'm getting a little teary eyed)

I told Kyle I really didn't want any presents. My reasoning for this is because we just moved 1500 miles and it was not cheap. I also just got a new cell phone and we bought rock band, so I felt spoiled enough. The one thing I did ask for I haven't gotten yet, a job. Well I guess I'm learning patience but I don't know how much longer I can take it! Because I have so much free time on my hands I did end up at nearby mall a few times during the day. I got myself a few presents, clothes, because Kyle says he will NOT buy clothes for me because he doesn't know how to choose them, etc. Here are some things I got, for me, for my birthday

My thoughtful parents also sent me a gift. In a conversation with my dad I mentioned I didn't have a hammer so I couldn't hang up any pictures or anything. He knows I love to decorate my home and was adamant that I get a hammer for my birthday. They got me this tool kit, which is pink, with all the things I would need to decorate or hang shelves. I'm very excited to use it.

Kyle said he really wasn't getting me anything, but he did get me a shirt from Epic. It's actually very comfortable and now I don't have to steal his... not that I ever did.
He gave it to me in this gift bag, which was hilarious. He said it's because I'm a princess, but for some reason I didn't believe him. Kyle did get a birthday cake, a Oreo cookie ice cream cake. It was delicious and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful guy. He even got some sparkly numbered candles for me to blow out.

Cupcakes!!

2011-06-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

I normally have my evenings wide open so last night I decided to experiment and make filled cupcakes. I started with a white cake mix and added some thawed frozen strawberries for a little extra flavor.

While the cupcakes were cooking I made a filling with strawberries, cornstarch, sugar and some lemonade Koolaid. The recipe actually called for lemon juice but since I didn't have any I had to improvise. After letting it boil it thickened up and then I let it cool in the refrigerator. I realized it's basically what you would put on strawberry shortcake and way better than the store bought stuff.

After the cupcakes were done and cooled I used the "cone method" to fill them. (I looked it up on the internet since I've never done it before) I frosted them with a vanilla frosting mixed with the lemonade to give it a different flavor.

They were very delicious. As soon as they were done Kyle had 3 and I ate 2. I even had one for breakfast as well :)

The Place We Now Call Home

2011-06-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here is our new table. That is our front door so you walk right into our dining area. The kitchen on the left and down two steps is the living room

Here is our living room with our new couch. Yes mom, I know sectionals are bad. Unfortunately due to the shape of the room we wouldn't be able to fit a couch and loveseat and this is perfect for us and has enough room.

Here is our kitchen. Pretty basic, but it is so nice to have a dishwasher!!

Down the hall is the main bathroom. Finally I have my bathtub and I love it!

Here is our bedroom. There are no lights in the living room and either bedrooms so we have to have lamps and lights plugged in or else we'd be in the dark all the time.

Next to the bed are my saloon doors...these are the random closet doors we have, which lead to a closet and a secret bathroom

We do have a second bedroom which is for now storage and my craft room.

Introduction to Epic

2011-06-20T10:32:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Kyle took me on a tour of his workplace, Epic. It is a huge campus with over 12 different buildings. Here is an aerial view of maybe a 1/2 of the campus.

The buildings are name from A-K with names like Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Juno, Isis and even one called Heaven. The building that has Kyle's office is called Deneb. Each building has a theme and is decorated accordingly. Kyle's building is a Jungle theme, with a wall that looks like a giant snake then moves into a Mayan jungle look.

It is a beautiful place, with lots of grass, trees and walking paths. Outside the cafeteria center is a small pond with a waterfall.

Other building themes include Dungeons and Dragons, cowboys, and an Asian decorated building. They go all out in the decorations. In the Dungeons and Dragons building the carpet looks sort of like lave/fire. It is actually pretty ugly but goes well with the theme. They try to focus on not being a number and allowing a space for people to feel comfortable and to be creative. Here are some pictures from the Epic website (I couldn't get my pictures off my phone). Kyle also has some posted on facebook. I really liked Kyle's building and my other favorite was Heaven. It had an awesome picture made of lights that looked like a swirl of stars in the sky. It also had a slide going from one floor to another. It was actually pretty fun :)

They also have a giant tree house there, but we didn't make it inside of it because it started to get dark.

Officially Moved In

2011-06-13T21:50:00.001-07:00

Today we finally checked out of our hotel and are officially living in our apartment. It still smells like fresh paint and newly cleaned carpets. Since the living room and bedrooms do not have any light fixtures I had to go out today and buy several lamps, and a fan for our bedroom, since the A/C is an in the wall in the living room. Still no couch or dining room table but we did get most of the kitchen put away and tomorrow I will start working on the random boxes we put aside in the 2nd bedroom. Pictures to come in a few weeks when everything is here and beautified :)

We are so grateful for my (Courtney's) parents for driving all the way out here with our furniture and stuff this past week. It was great to have them enjoy Madison with us and explore. We already like it and it feels much better to show our family how great it is too. Hopefully Christian can post some of the pictures from our adventures on facebook or email them to me to put up here. While they were here we went to the Cave of the Mounds (basically a giant cave).

I was expecting a glittering cave with cool formations and different colored things. I think the gift shop was a little misleading with all its pink, purple, teal and black crystal items for sale. It was still pretty cool to see and not as claustrophobic as I thought it would be.

We then drove a little further to tour the House on the Rock. Yes, it is a house built on a rock. It has 3 different sections you can tour but you have to pay for each section so we only went through one. It was insane!

Part of our tour we went through the infinity room. It looks like this when your walking into it.

I thought it used mirrors to make it look like it went on forever but no...It actually goes out to a point. The scariest thing is that the whole thing is just an extension off the house with NO supports underneath! Once you get out to a certain point you can feel it moving and that is seriously scary. I could not make it out very far, but Kyle, my dad and Christian made it to a section where there was a hole in the floor to look down at the trees.

See the silver jutting out, that's where we were!

Inside the rest of the house it is very dark, a little dank, and smells like an old man's house. It had lots of carpeted seating areas and big fireplaces. It was asian inspired so there were beautiful chests and cupboards covered in drawings and art and statues and things. Maybe we'll go back to see some of the other sections, including a giant carousel, a dollhouse room, and much much more. Did I mention in the women's bathroom there was a giant Santa Claus display and airplanes on the ceiling?

The Beginning of our Adventures

2011-06-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

We left our beloved Utah on Tuesday May 31st and drove for 2 days until we reached Madison, Wisconsin, our new home! The weather was great during our travel and we had no problems, except Kyle's air conditioning died so the final day of travel was less than cool for him. After the long drive and getting pulled over in Nebraska, I (Courtney) hope to NEVER have to do that drive again, or at least for a very long time.

Thursday, after a good night's sleep, we set out looking for an apartment. We walked through 4 or 5 and called many others. Unfortunately Epic does their hiring all at the same time, so everyone else starting on the 6th was also looking for an apartment too. In the end we chose a great 2 bedroom 1 1/4 bath. It is on the 1st floor so we have a big sliding door to outside. This is great so get all our furniture inside! On a side note the apartment complex has a golf simulator. I'm not sure if I'll use it, but is pretty cool nonetheless.

We also bought a new couch and kitchen table. We enjoyed the ones in our old apartment but were excited to buy them for ourselves and get them new and in the style we wanted. We had to order them so we won't have them for a couple weeks but we will post pictures as soon as we're all settled. Here's a picture of what the couch sorta looks like, except it is a dark brown.

The first few days here have been great but has not been without it's problems. This will probably be one of the hardest things we've had to go through so far in our marriage. It has been stressful trying to find an apartment, getting lost and frustrated trying to find places and getting used to their driving skills. We've tried not to take it out on one another, but I know I (Courtney) have snapped more than a few times over silly things. Luckily we will survive and hopefully grow together in our new adventure.

Wisconsin!

2011-05-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce many great things happening in our lives. Last week we both graduated from the University of Utah, Kyle with a Bachelors in Computer Science and Courtney with Bachelors in Management and Accounting. Below is a picture from Courtney's graduation ceremony, Kyle declined to walk at his.

Our lives will also be changing dramatically in the next month. Kyle has been accepted a job offer with a company called Epic as a software developer. We are very grateful for this opportunity, however it does require our relocation to Verona, Wisconsin. We will be leaving around June 1st. It is an exciting new chapter in our lives but of course we are sad to leave our family and friends. If anyone has any friends/relatives in Wisconsin who may be able to help us get an idea about the area we would appreciate the advice in choosing a place to live. We will be looking to live in the Verona/West Madison area.

Thanks to our families for all the love and support in our decision. To all our friends we would love to take some time to see you all before we go. Please give us a call!

Spring/Summer Updates!

2010-05-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well the spring semester is finally over, and as of Monday the summer semester has begun. I've decided to torture myself by going to school over the summer too. Last week I enjoyed my one week of summer vacation, at least until August.

Grades were posted this week and Kyle got a 4.0! This isn't surprising because he's very smart and worked so hard this past semester. His summer plans include working for the VA for an internship and Papa John's on the weekends. I'm actually a little jealous he gets to sleep in, at least later than I do.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be getting my top braces in. Once those are in I will have a couple teeth pulled and then get the bottom braces in. I'm excited because I know my teeth will look great in a couple years, but for now I'm not completely thrilled about actually have braces. The one plus, my orthodontist is right by Jamba Juice and I always make sure to stop by after an appointment.

Christmas!

2009-12-27T20:37:00.001-08:00

Yay Christmas! I couldn't figure out how to organize the pictures correctly but you'll be able to see our beautiful red and silver tree, me looking through my new lotions, Kyle opening socks and our Pringles pictures. There is also one of me struggling to open the packaging on my new laptop battery.

2009-10-16T18:43:00.001-07:00

My sister in law Emily put up some vinyl for me this week. I decided to post some pictures of my house of everyone who hasn't been over.

Here is a sign I made all by myself that hangs in our

office. I couldn't turn it so just turn you head to the left :)
The vinyl phrase over the clock in my kitchen
Far end of the family room
shelf above the tv

main part of the family room, our beautiful picture

of Christ
new vinyl, you can see it as you walk through the

front door. I will be putting a picture of us under the words
Our bedroom, literally all it has is a bed
The sign in our bedroom

Kyle's Birthday

2009-09-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

Kyle's 21st birthday was on September 9th and he was lucky enough to get three birthday parties. The first was Sunday the 6th at the Oveson's. We had ribs, mashed potatoes and cake. Kyle got Spiderman on DVD and Guitar Hero 5.

His second birthday was on his real birthday. I put up a beautiful handmade sign that said IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY. If you haven't seen that episode of The Office it is hilarious. He got Season 5 of The Office from me and and much needed new laptop battery. I made him crepes for dinner and we later enjoyed a strawberry ice cream cake from Coldstone.
Tonight we went over to the Anderson's and had another party for him. We had one of this favorite things, jello. His cake was a delicious pink lemonade ice cream cake (I really want the recipe for it) He got a couple gift cards, one ot Jamba, and overall he had a great birthday, though I'm sure he'd never say it that enthusiastically.

2009-06-11T18:35:00.005-07:00

Kimalee got mad at me last week for not updating the blog. So... here you go. Happy?

Our new blog

2009-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

I had some free time on my hands this weekend so I decided to make us a blog. Kimalee and Jordan are great at keeping up with theirs and it always looks awesome. I can make no such guarantees. I can't even figure out what I'm doing. But hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get everything figured out and looking good.