Graduation Surprise!

Video of BJ's reaction to the PARTY!


Christie planned a huge surprise party for my graduation which we had the day after Christmas. It was so awesome! I'm not big on getting all the attention, but felt so blessed by Christie's time and dedication she put into planning it. Some of the most important people were there and it was a lot of fun. The party actually was also for my twin brother JC, but he ended up getting really sick, so was not able to attend, unfortunately. Besides that, it was a huge success and it was good to catch up with some old friends and visit with family. The two biggest highlights for me were

1. Seeing how happy Christie was
2. Having my Mom come for a surprise visit from Oklahoma!

How much fun we had eating and visiting. Thank you to Christie, this has to be the most amazing wife ever!

This is a video of BJ's reaction to his surprise visitor!

2008 Christmas Memories

Just as many of you, our holidays were extra busy, and a lot of fun. Our families made it wonderful, and being together made it another magical season! Rather than writing all about it, here are just a very few of the memories we made this Christmas!

Playing with the kids (or being one of the kids!) at one of our family Christmas parties

Petting the camel at the live nativity at the park.

Sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve! Santa was extra quiet delivering our presents!

Opening presents Christmas morning!

School & Soup

Ok first things first....I got through my first semester of the nursing program!!!! I took my last final today and I am so excited I can't even tell you!! I honestly have never studied so hard before in my life...but I really think (ok I hope) it will get easier because I feel like I learned HOW to STUDY for these classes this semester and in turn learned a lot! Shout out to all the girls in the program....couldn't have done it without you. (you think this speach is crazy...wait till I finish the program :D)

Now on to the soup recipe. So I really wanted to make a vegetable soup...I tried a couple weeks ago...it was good but I wanted to perfect it. So I got online to look for some recipes. I found this website:

http://www.bigoven.com/108450-make-it-easy-make-it-light-recipe.html

and decided to give that soup a try. Well, while I was writting down the ingredients and instructions, I saw that I could enter to win $100 if I took a picture of my finished soup...so I did! Ok so the exciting news is not that I won- well I haven't heard yet :D. The exciting news is that the editors approved my photo and added it to the recipe. I am famous!!! Ok my soup is FAMOUS! It is on that website posted above. How exciting! lol BJ was like, who has time to enter these contests...I said, "Nursing students on their two week break!!"

1 Year!!!!

We've been married for a year! Wahoo - what an awesome year it's been. December 13th was the day of our anniversary and to celebrate we went to the Forgotten Carols and spent Friday to Saturday night at the Anniversary Inn in the Jungle Safari room. Here are some pictures of our fun room.


We feel extremely blessed to be together and for all the support from all those around us. We've learned a lot in just a year. Oh, and time flies when you're having fun.

The Funniest Nephew EVER!

This is our nephew Carson. He is so funny! Carson stayed the night at my grandparents in Idaho. He brought is favorite pet dog "nose". Yep, nose is his name. When he wants "nose" to sit, he throws him on the ground and says, "sit nose sit". Since nose could sit, my mom wanted to see what Carson would do when she asked him to feed nose. lol She was not expecting this!

Giorno di ringraziamento!

Thanksgiving Day (that's what the title means) was a very special, hectic day! How much we have to be thankful for, here's a short list:

• An amazing wife and future mother (I'm not dropping any hints about anything)
• Incredible family
• The plan of happiness
• Material pleasures (i.e., shopping the day after thanksgiving)
• Interaction with others
• Good health (you have no idea how much Christie's health has improved these days and I'm the usual healthy)
• Good food (Talk about two Thanksgiving dinners! I think I ate half a turkey, a potato field, and a full pie when you add it all up.)
• Friends
• Education (and graduating and holiday breaks from education!)
• Good jobs
• A spouse who is patient and loves me

Here are just a few pictures from our Holiday fun :)

BCS Busters...

First, I know I have to do a tag, but that will be a post later. For now, I want to talk about the Utes! For anyone who may not know, the Utes won their final game last night against BYU and will be going to a second BCS game in school history. I was in Italy the last time they went to the game, so I was unable to participate, but not this year. I just wanted to make a short list of why this years Utah football season has been unforgettable:

1) No one expected the Utes to be here at the start of the season

2) I have got to share all of the joy with my awesome wife (she went to all but two games with me - that is an awesome wife)

3) First down smack! (Christie and I would give each other a smack - on the lips - after every first down)

4) 2 awesome comebacks at home against TCU and Oregon St.

5) Being on the field before and after the TCU game

6) Doubling up BYU on the scoreboard (sorry BYU fans, but it was awesome!)

Hopefully the Utes play a real team in the BCS and not some sorry team from the ACC or Big East. I think the Utes can compete with a lot of teams out there after seeing them in the BYU game, so whoever we get, I think it will be a good game. Go Utes!

Tag

We were double tagged. So I will do one and BJ will do one. :D
Random Facts about Christie
1- I am really really loopy and silly when I first wake up and I laugh about everything when I am really tired (I get that from my mom :D)
2- I have really loose joints. When I was young my arms would "pop out of place" frequently, so they taught my parents how to pop them back into place so I didn't always have to go to the ER. My hip "pops" out of place as well. I say "popped" out because it is not completely dislocated...it is just slightly out and causes pain until it is put back in.
3- I eat my cereal with juice. I am lactose intolerant but for a while they thought I might be allergic as well so I got used to eating my cereal with juice that I can't have it with milk any more.
4- I LOVE breakfast. It is one of my favorite meals. On my mission I ate waffles almost every morning. Yummy
5- My biggest pet pieve is people eating loudly. I can't even stand it when I eat loud...so I suck on my chips and cereal before I eat it so it isn't loud. I feel like when I eat loud (chips) I can't hear everything that is going on. lol I know it is silly
6- Whenever my feet get cold, my second little toe on my right foot goes numb. Wierd huh! It has happened for as long as I can remember.
7- I am married to the most amazing husband in the world! Sorry girls....my man is better. :D

K- BJ it's your turn! :D

10-0 Utes - a field day!

Yesterday, Christie and I were on the field before and after Utah's awesome victory. One of my mission buddies is an intern for the U football team and got us field access passes (not that we needed them after the game.) but it was awesome to be down there and watch the players warm up. Check this video out of the ref warming up...

So, normally I'm not a rush the field kind of guy, unless it's a win over a team that is lots better than you, but since we were going to be getting on the field after the game anyway, we hopped down with the fans who chose to charge!

Here's my breakdown of the game: Both teams played great defense. TCU played a little better defense than Utah, but Utah won the other important battles - turnovers and special teams! You can call it luck, but the Utes know how to win close games. Christie and I are hoping for 12 and 0 - Go Utes!

Happy Halloween

BJ and I went out and bought pumpkins Saturday and had a lot of fun carving them this last Sunday. After we finished, BJ toasted some of the pumpkin seeds...it was way yummy!!! BJ doesn't cook or prepare food very often but when he does it is AMAZING! We are having his old mission companion and his wife over for dinner this Thursday...and we get the pleasure of BJ making his wonderful lasagna! I am way excited!

Here are a few pictures of the fun things we have done recently.

This was our trunk for "trunk or treat". LOL, notice the orange jumper cables, I used them for decoration. Hey they are orange aren't they?!?

Yummy Pumpkin!!

BJ with hair, what do ya think?

BJ having fun & being creative

Becoming a Nurse!

Did you ever wonder what it takes to become a nurse? Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm telling you it takes a lot! Well, here's a small list of the things that Christie is doing right now just to become a nurse...

• 3 days of school a week
• 2 days of 8 hour clinicals
• At least 1 test and quiz every week
• Minimum grade of 80 required
• Regular patient care pass-offs
• Studying 3-5 hours every day including Saturdays

I don't know about your schooling, but I don't ever remember having to do so much. I mean, I study a fair amount, but I don't have hard tests every week, and the minimum grade is a lot lower for most degrees! But at the same time, isn't it comforting to know that they have a high standard for our health care employees!Oh, and nursing school isn't all bad - here's a short list of good things that Christie is getting from all of this

• friends (you girls rock, thank you!)
• learning
• patient interaction
• preparation
• RN

Did I mention I love my wife!? She's so busy and still does so much for me. Keep it up honey!

Thank You

I just wanted to thank my wonderful husband BJ and my friend Rosalee and mom for talking to me yesterday and letting me vent. I really appreciate you guys. I am loving nursing school but it is a lot of work and at times feels a little overwhelming. (tiffany don't stress....I am just a big worry wart you will do absolutely amazing!)
For those of you that don't know me well, I worry about everything...more than the average person. I think it was just a curse I was born with. :D
But I have to say, that nursing school is helping me deal with stress and helping me not to worry as much. There is just so much -that if I were to worry as much as usual I wouldn't make it! So it has definitely been teaching me and helping me cope better.
I am sure this won't be the only breakdown I will have for the next year but it really helped to have the reminder of why I want to be a nurse and that it will be all worth it in the end. This will be a huge accomplishment for me and I know I can do it, I guess I just need a little reminder sometimes. So thanks again guys!

Circus Circus

Elephants, kids and clowns! That's who we spent our evening with last night! We went to the circus. Christie and I must be kids at heart, not having kids ourselves, but we had a ton of fun. It was awesome to see the elephants - one of them even painted a picture. We saw some pretty spectacular twists, rides and heard some roars from the tigers. I don't ever remember going to the circus, nor does Christie - but we had an awesome time. What clowns!

The Cutest Niece and nephew in the WORLD!

This is my nephew Carson Scott and his new baby sister Brooklyn. This was the cutest video- I just had to share it with everyone.!!

5 K run & U of U football

WOW. We made it! These last 3 weeks have been pretty busy. With BJ working full time and going to school full time and Christie starting the nursing program and working Friday nights...we end up staying pretty busy to say the least.

But things have been going really well. This is BJ's last semester until he graduates with a bachelors degree in computer science. I am so proud of him and this huge accomplishment. BJ just takes each challenge and shows it "what's what". He is such a hard worker and can do anything he sets his mind to.

The picture to the left is BJ and some friends from our ward right after they ran a 5K. He told me the night before the race, "I think I am going to run the 5K tomorrow." And it just did it. A perfect example of BJ doing what he sets his mind to.

As for me, the first three weeks of the nursing program have been quite an adventure. It was overwhelming at first, not knowing what to expect. But I am really enjoying it now. It took me a little bit to get used to studying all the time but now it is almost routine. I don't even know where to start as to what we have done thus far. The last week we practiced Baseline Assessments on partners, took a full health history (that was fun to see the looks while Nina took my "pretend" health history on the bus). Oh and we also practiced intramuscular shots on this cool flap of "make believe" fat. lol I really don't know how to explain it better than that. :D

But despite all the craziness we still had time to go to the first University of Utah football game. It was a lot of fun. I am a BYU fan at heart but BJ thinks I might change my mind after this season. I Cheer for U of U when they aren't playing BYU so we will see when that infamous BYU vs. U of U is here.

Nursing Program First Week

Well I made it through the first week of the nursing program! YEAH! For those of you that don't know...I just started the nursing program at the DATC. It is a four semester program with no summer break so I was a little nervous about it. Thankfully a girl named Nina (shout out) who lives just downstairs from BJ and I, just found out that she was accepted into the program as well. So we carpool and study together. I am just so grateful for her and all the help she is to me.

The first week went pretty well. It was a little overwhelming not knowing what to expect and intimidating since it it is an accelerated program. But I made it!

We have already had two tests and two pass off's and we start clinicals in a couple weeks, which I am so excited for! Wahoo.

For clinicals we have a DATC patch that we need to sew onto our uniform. I kept telling BJ that he should sew it on with his mad sewing skills. Well, last night I was studying at Nina's apartment and came up to find the apartment completely clean, laundry done, dishes done, and a clean vacummed floor...not to mention...BJ watching football while sewing on the patches on the uniform. I am just so luck to have BJ. He is way to good to me!!! I am the luckies girl in the world. I definitely couldn't be doing this without him!

Water, Weddings and Salsa

This has definitely been the most busy week that Christie and I can remember! We were running crazy. It started Tuesday night with my brother Ryan's wedding dinner. We had some delicious steak and honored him and his wife Tiff.

Wednesday morning we took a practice bus ride to DATC where Christie will be attending school this fall. Of course, we hurried home so we could make it to Ryan and Tiff's wedding in the Bountiful Temple. After the pictures were done there, we hurried and went to Raging Waters (we had to make up for the time we tried to go before.) We didn't have a long time, but Christie and I had an awesome time. I was so proud of her for being brave and doing the biggest slide. We then hurried over to Ryan and Tiff's reception and ate too much chocolate from the chocolate fountain.

Thursday left no time to relax as we worked and then went up with Christie's family and worked until 11:00 pm that night making and bottling Salsa. (Her mom didn't go to bed until probably 2:00 am) It was a lot of work, but we really enjoyed it and love our Salsa!

We're just getting ready for this semester of school - good luck to everyone!

Twilight Series

If anybody knows me really well, they would know that I am not a huge reader unless it is a really really good book. Well... so far the "twilight series" have been really really good books and I can't stop reading them. I just barely finished reading "new moon" (I know I am behind) and I really want to start into the next book "eclipse" before school starts. So I was wondering if there is anybody out there that would let me borrow that book????

The BEST Husband in the WORLD!

Can I just say that I have the most amazing husband in the world. He planned such a special day for me today. I told him that I really wanted to go to Raging Waters before school started because I had never been there before. Well he totally surprised me and called me family and some close friends and invited them to come with us today. I knew something was going on because I was asked to work today and he told me that he had something planned. I thought I knew the plan until he got up and went to work this morning...taking a lunch with him. Little did I know that he just went and worked from the Library at the U making me think he went to work and came back just a little over an hour later (right before Raging Waters opened) and walked in with a cooler full of food and everything packed and ready to go. I was totally surprised!!! Unfortunately we headed to Raging waters and the rain started coming down, and they closed for the day. But I will never forget this day and all that my husband went through to surprise me and do something for me that he knew I would love! See why the title is "the best husband in the world". Thanks BJ you made this day unforgettable.

The "Couch"

Ok so when BJ and I got married we received a lot of wonderful gifts from different family members...including some furniture. My sister in-law Jamie gave us a couch that worked really well for our apartment. It breaks into 3 pieces, it is very light and convenient to get into our apartment on the 3rd floor. It is not however the most comfortable couch to say the least. So when my parents got new furniture for their front room and offered us their nice couch we took them up on the offer! Well....it didn't fit. BJ's brother J.C. came over and helped try to manuever it up the stairwell but it just wouldn't go. Here are some pictures of "the couch" that we unfortuntely had to give back to my parents.

But on a positive note. My parents came to our apartment and we had a nice visit. My dad even got my mom to ride on our new scooter!

Darn...I guess BJ is just going to have to buy me a brand new couch when we move out! :D

Auntie Christie & Uncle BJ

My brother Johnathon & his wife Kierston had their second child a few days ago, and let me just tell you....SHE IS SOOO CUTE!!! She was 8 lb 20.5 inches and is named Brooklyn Lucille Scott. Here is a picture...more to come later. :D

Nursing

We found out yesterday that Christie will be attending nursing school this fall! She's been trying to get into the program the past couple of years, so we are very excited. She will be attending DATC (in Kaysville) and will graduate from Weber next fall! Congratulations to my AMAZING wife.

Scoot

BJ and I made our first big purchase together last week. We drove down to Eco Moto and purchased a brand new 125cc red Buddy Scooter!! We love it! It gets 80 miles to the gallon! We decided that this is the perfect time to have a scooter. We are in close proximity to work and school and we don't have any kids yet.

Here is a picture of our new "scoot."

We both took the motorcycle written test and recieved our learner's permit. We have been practicing the last couple days and hope to have our motorcycle license within the next couple weeks.

It is a lot of fun! Yeah for Scooters!!!

Tenney Golfing

Imgagine walking into your house and you actually found a golf course! Well, that's exactly how I found my house Friday night when we got home at just after 9 pm. Christie had created what she calls Tenney Golfing. Even though our apartment is tiny, she was able to create 6 holes ranging from par 3 up to par 6! Here is a walkthrough of the course :)

Oh, and Christie even let me jump on the bed to hit a few shots! My wife's amazing - a golf course in our home, what fun!!

4th of July

Happy 4th Of July! Christie and I had an awesome time together on the 4th. We went up to the Layton City Parade and collected lots of candy. (Okay, BJ did most the collecting!) We then went swimming - the clouds were very nice, but we both got a small sunburn. We then drove down to Riverton with Christie's family as there was a horseshoe tournament going on. We did some dancing and playing at the carnival (I won Christie a small bear throwing darts and Christie's little brother won her a huge stuffed animal frog.) The fireworks were spectacular - especially with Christie. It was our first 4th of July together and we really had a lot of fun.

CAMPING!

What a crazy month it has been for BJ and I. We went camping two weekends in a row. We went to the Heber Valley Camp and then to Bear Lake!

HEBER VALLEY CAMP

BJ's parents had reserved the camp a long time ago- but things came up and they weren't able to go. Since the camp doesn't give you refunds, the reservation was still open to whoever wanted to attend. So BJ and I decided to head up there. We were alone for a couple hours---thinking we had the whole camp to ourselves--but BJ's uncle Milo and his family came around 8 pm and stayed the night.

We cooked tin foil dinners, which actually turned out really good. BJ is a pretty good cook. We then stayed in a sweet cabin!!!! It fits 16 people...and BJ and I were the only ones in it. The camp had 3 cabins. So BJ's family took the other two and gave us our own. :D We are so spoiled.

After the best sleep I have had camping....we went out to the lake and took a canoe out. My arms are so weak, I had to keep taking breaks. Poor BJ pretty much did all the rowing. We then talked with the family and headed home.

BEAR LAKE

Every year my family goes to Bear Lake for a Scott Family Reunion. It usually lands the weekend before the 4th of July so it is pretty warm...and it was warm for sure!

We stayed in a tent we recieved from our wedding ( THANKS BJ's MOM!). It is a 7 man tent. LOL We didn't even take half of it with everything we brought. But we were really grateful for it- it is really really nice.

Since it was Bear Lake we spend a lot of time SWIMMING!!! One of my cousins rented Jet Skies along with a tube and a wakeboard. The jet skies were really powerful and pulled the tube and wakeboard. The tube was my favorite--but it killed my arms and gave both BJ and I a rash on the back of our legs from rubbing---but well worth the fun. Neither one of us fell off thank goodness. My sister and a couple other's did and they were pretty sore needless to say.

But don't worry massages all around!!! :D

So, when we were out on the lake BJ took me on the jet ski into the middle of the lake and we both jumped out and had a cute romantic kiss....and then we realized how freezing cold it was being 7pm so we both jumped back on the jet ski teeth chattering. Nonetheless it was really fun.

We then participated in the reunion, bingo, singing around the camp fire, auction, food, and of course line dancing. Well, the line dancing was a new thing this year. Oh and my dad signed BJ and I up to teach everybody. It actually went pretty well. After we finished teaching 2 songs, BJ and I did some swing dancing untill we were both dying of the heat and out of breath.

We had a great time and can't wait till next year!!! YEAH FOR CAMPING!!!