Our Home

Here are a few photos of our cute house.  We live in a basement apartment of an older lady in Orem Ut.  She is really sweet (though somtimes kind of annoying) and provided a lot of the furniture in our apartment.  We love living here and making it into our own (as much as we can).  I can't wait until we can get in our own place so that we can paint and such, but this works for now!  This is the room that you walk into from our outside door.  Don't ask me why it is a bed room....it's our "spare" for some reason the front door doesn't open up into the living room.

This is our living room.  It is huge and feels really homey.  We love to spend time in here, usually watching TV or reading a book.  I am thankful that we have the chance to live in such a nice place and in such a great neighborhood.

This is our TV that we are pretty proud of.  It was one of the first purchases that we made when I moved into the apartment in September.  It is really nice and we love it.  You'll have to excuse the trout box on the floor.  It is actually an apple box...for Christmas decorations.  I just haven't had the chance to go to the store and buy an actual box to put stuff away in yet.  

One of the first things that I fell in love with about Curtis is the fact that he LOVES to read.  He reads all the time and I love it.  We go to the library frequently and rent books, but we also own a lot of books as you can see here.  One semester when I was single I spent more money on used books than I did on food! :D 

This is our cute bath room!  My Mom and Dad really helped us a lot when we first got into our apartment.  They hung all of our pictures and bought us a ton of "home" things that you might need when moving in.  I love our bathroom though.  The only thing I don't like is that our washer and dryer are in the bathroom thus making lint EVERYWHERE.  Other than that our bathroom is super cute!

This is our bedroom.  Curtis' Mom and Dad bought us the bedspread and the pillows for Christmas and it was a very nice addition to what we had.  Our window as you can see is covered up by a blanket, because it is a single pane window and I sleep on that side of the bed and freeze to death at night if that blanket isn't in place.  I know, I am a wimp.

And lastly this is our tiny kitchen.  It is barely big enough for Curtis and I both to cook something and not kill each other.  As I said earlier though we are happy to live in our cute home and in such a great place.  We love it and are thankful that we found it and that we are able to afford living in such a nice place.  

Cabbage Soup Recipe

Ok, first of all this recipe is the easiest thing in the whole world.  You'll have to allot yourself like an hour before you can eat it in order to make it.  But other than the hour it is so easy!

You'll need a BIG pot to cook this in.  I use a 16 qt pot because it makes a lot of soup.

First I start out with a can of beef broth.  I usually try to by the low sodium fat free kind, because it tastes the same but is better for you.  After I empty the can I usually fill it two or three times with water and put that in too.  After your broth and water are in the pot you can start browning your ground beef.  I salt and pepper it in order to season it, and I also add chili powder to it...a lot of chili powder. Next I cut my carrots.  This time I used an entire bag of the baby carrots, I cut them in half and throw them in.  Turn your stove on high and let it begin to cook.  Next are the potatoes...6 or 7 small potatoes.  I don't ever peel them (I like the peels) I just scrub them well and then cut them into 8ths.  Half of an onion diced into the pot.  4 or 5 stalks of celery diced as well.  2 cans of corn and 2 cans of green beans (with the water and everything). 2 yellow squashes and 2 zucchini's.   Really you can put ANY vegetable in this soup.  Anything!  My room mate once put turnips in it and it turned out great!  You can experiment and try anything.  I love vegetables so anything goes for me.  Lastly I take a small head of cabbage and I slice it into small pieces.  The whole head.  Put it into the pot with everything else.  You might need to add some more water at this point (if there isn't enough water to go over the cabbage add some).  After that add your browned hamburger, and a lot more chili powder.  (we like it hot!!) Salt and pepper to taste.  And you're done.  Basically it is a bunch of water with a TON of vegetables, chili powder, and hamburger added.

You'll have to let me know if you have the chance to try it.  Honestly Curtis even liked it!  :D

A day in SLC

Today Curtis and I had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple.  Curtis had never been before and I had only been once myself.   We did an endowment session then we sat in the Celestial room for a while.  It was so nice and peaceful we didn't want to leave.  This is us in front of the reflecting pool, some very cold missionaries stopped to help us.  It was freezing!

Here we are a little closer.  The wind was blowing so bad that we had to hold on to each other tight so that I didn't blow away.  :D

We came home from the Temple and decided to make cabbage soup.  Well, I decided to make cabbage soup.  Curtis was a real trooper though and stayed in the kitchen to help me cut up all the vegetables that he doesn't like (at least he thinks he doesn't like them).  I love to make and eat cabbage soup...in fact it is one of my favorites.  Curtis on the other hand could do without the veggies.  But, surprise of surprises he LIKED it!  He at a whole bowl and told me that it was ok if I wanted to make it every once in a while.  Oh how I love that man!

Curtis downloaded a new game on his computer called Star Craft and he has been enjoying it as you can see.  I am glad that he is so happy!  He is such a sweet husband, and I love him more than anything.  He is way to good to me!!

We decided to end the night by watching DragonHeart.  Audrey came over and we made a night of it.  DragonHeart by the way is a great movie.  We loved it and would definitely recommend it.  Cabbage soup, a great movie, an awesome sister, and a sweet husband.  What more could you ask for?

Vernal

Curtis and I had the chance to go to the Vernal Temple with my Mom over the weekend. It was so fun, even though the endowment session (which we wanted to attend) was full, and we had to go through and do initiatories instead. Curtis and I always enjoy going to the Temple and we are thankful for the chance that we have to go so often. We are really blessed to live in Utah where so many Temples are accessible.

Loads of festivities!

Ok first of all it has been way to long since I last posted. What with school starting and trying to get settled into a routine I haven't had much time. It has been an amazing couple of months and Curtis and I have been having so much fun. Below are a few photos of the festivities. They are a little out of order, but hey I tried!

Christmas at the Jackson home. This is Curtis opening his first Christmas present. We decided we wanted to keep the tradition of opening up one present (usually pajamas) on Christmas Eve in our little family.

This is me Christmas morning, bed-head and all. It was a good morning! Curtis lead me on a wild goose chase (or scavenger hunt) in order to find my gifts. I had to search high and low for clues which finally lead me out to the car to get my gifts. Here I am sitting at the kitchen table trying to sort through some fake money to get a combination to a lock that was holding my next clue. Christmas is intense around here!

Here is Curtis with our Christmas tree. We bought it like the 2nd or 3rd of December and let me tell you, I will never buy a tree that early ever again. By the time we took it out, (about the 2nd of January) it was so dead that it made a HUGE mess all over our house. I wish I hadn't have been so worried about cleaning it up and snapped a picture instead but I didn't. It was the worse mess I have ever seen.

Christmas was amazing though. Honestly the best one of my whole life. I am so thankful that I get to spend every Christmas from now on with Curtis. He just makes my life so much better.

And lastly, we have done a TON since I last blogged and I promise from now on to make a better effort to keep up with our busy lives. One of the most amazing and fun things we did though would have to be going to the circus. The Jordan World circus comes to Orem, Ut once a year. Curtis and I both went last year, he with another girl, and me by myself (because my family bailed on me last minute). It was fun last year, but of course something was missing. This year the circus was AMAZING. Curtis and I both had so much fun! We laughed and giggled and ooooo'ed and aaaaaa'ed at all the fun things there. In planning to go to the circus I told Curtis that I would love the chance to ride the elephant (since last year I didn't want to look like a complete loser and try to ride it by myself) and Curtis, being the amazing man that he is got us tickets to RIDE THE ELEPHANT! It was awesome. It was a moment I will never forget, and I am thankful for a loving husband that is willing to sacrifice so that we can do fun things.

Keep checking back for updates. As I said, I will be better about posting, I promise.

<3

Halloween Fun Part Uno

Well, blogger is stupid and these pictures are out of order. But that is ok. You can still get the idea of what we did. Here is Audrey at our Halloween fest that we had at our house. She carved this pumpkin only to break it at the nose and knock the entire face out. She was discouraged but all in all ok. :D

In order from top left to bottom right, Colton's, Anita's, Curtis', and mine. I think they all turned out fairly well.

Colton's pumpkin with a little light in it. His turned out probably the best of everyone's. I say that is because he had a real printed stencil and the rest of us had to free hand.

Audrey trying her best to gut her pumpkin, while Anita is carving hers.

Anita making preparations while Colton instructs.

Curtis with the amazing food he made for everyone. I think we may just have a chef in the family.

Curtis making his first attempts at carving his very first pumpkin ever. He did amazingly well.

Showing off the cook and the food that was prepared.

Audrey making fun of Curtis in the kitchen. He didn't have a clue.

The proud cook.

Nightmare on 13th

So last night our friend Ashton asked us to go with her and a date to Salt Lake City to the Nightmare on 13th attraction. Curtis was all over the idea but I was more than a little hesitant. Ever since I was a little kid I have had an overactive imagination. Scary things and I usually don't do amazingly well. It isn't that I don't like scary things. I am after an adrenaline rush just like the next person. Usually what happens though is I watch/go to a scary thing and then I can't sleep for a week or so. Even as I am typing this there is a story on the history channel about the "skunk ape" which is freaking me out. As a child I was terrified of Big Foot, and this show is almost as terrifying.

Anyway, last night we went to this Nightmare on 13th where I proceeded to get scared out of my pants (not literally). Thankfully now I have a 6'3" husband to hold and protect me when something comes from me from the shadows. Even though it was scary I came out alive and well with Curtis at my side. He is my "protector" that is for sure. I would suggest anyone living on the Wasatch Front...or even Utah for that matter, who wants to get a good scare, should definitely visit Nightmare on 13th. It is only 20 bucks to get in the door for over an hour of chills, thrills, and scariness. I loved it, and I know that my husband did as well. (He didn't even get scared once...what is up with that?)

Here is a picture of us before we even went in. I look terrified.