Friday, September 7, 2012

BzzAgent

I am a BzzAgent. This means that I get free products to test and then review.  It's a cool program, I heard about it from Samantha.  I have only gotten into one campaign so far, and I hope to get more. I am currently "testing" Glade Expressions collection.  There's an oil diffuser that I got Pineapple and Mangosteen scent.  I also got a mist spray of Cotton and Italian Mandarin.  It is really yummy.  I enjoy the product!

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

I am a terrible blogger

Just an update on our lives, because I am not very good at keeping up with the blog.  I probably could blame it on school, but really, I am just lazy.  I would rather go browse Pinterest than write on the blog.  Or read other people's blogs, or do anything else really.  Don't get me wrong, I like blogging, but it's not as fun as some of those other things.

Anyway. I'm going to put pictures and just talk about them. :)


We got an ice cream maker for my bridal shower/wedding from Nickolai's mom.  This was our first attempt at making the ice cream.  It has a freezer bowl that is used instead of ice and salt.  We pulled the bowl out and just started dumping ingredients into it. That is a bad idea. Do not do it. The brown sugar, salt, and egg all started freezing to the sides of the bowl, and we were not able to get the paddle down into the bowl to start it mixing.  Nickolai did his best to scrape out the sides and eventually got it thin enough that we could get the machine running. Surprisingly, it mixed it well and actually made a lot more ice cream than we thought. That is what the second picture is.  It started overflowing a bit. :P Oh well. It still turned out great. 


 This is quinoa black bean salad.  It was super yummy! I found the recipe on Pinterest and since Nickolai had quinoa from Winco, I decided to use it.  I would recommend eating it cold and possibly even as more of a salsa type dish than a main dish.



I have developed a love for making sugar cookies. I love eating them too. :) I bought a big bin full of cookie cutters, so this time I decided to have some fun with them.  I made these while Nickolai was away, and then showed it to him when he got home. I think he appreciated it. :)

Well, there were a lot of events inbetween, but I don't have time to blog them now. I'm sort of updated now, at least.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Shooting Guns

One thing that is different between Nickolai and me is our opinion on guns. I have always been afraid of guns. There were never any in our home. My dad's only weapon was an aluminum baseball bat that he kept under his bed. The only time I had ever held a gun was with my Grandpa Collings when I was probably 8. I don't like the noise, and there's just something about how it can be used to kill things that scares me.
Nickolai, on the other hand, loves guns. His dad has a few guns and they've gone hunting for the past few years. He loves to tell me about all of the guns, and I really have no idea what any of it means. It's fun to see him get excited about it, though. The hunt is next week, and so he wanted to go out and practice his aim with the guns. I agreed to go and try something new. :)
It wasn't as bad as I thought, though they were a lot louder than I expected. I was able to shoot the smallest gun and actually have decent aim. In laser tag, I'm usually terrible at aiming. Guess it's not the same......:P  I did my part, and then let the boys take the rest. I still don't understand the fascination with guns, but at least I got to shoot one (and I even got proof!).




Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Wedding Day

This is one thing I did write in my journal, but I would also like to put it on here with some pictures.

August 19th, 2011
I had an early start on this day. I woke up at 5:30 in order to go over to Machelle Gear's house. She has done my hair in an up-do for two school dances and I decided to have her do my hair for this day. She did a great job, giving me exactly what I wanted from the picture I gave her. McKinzie did my makeup for me.
We headed to the temple a little before 8:00. Nickolai and his parents came at the same time. I was so happy to see him and ready to go inside! Our ceremony was at 9:00. It was such a wonderful ceremony. George Durrant was our sealer. My dad requested him to do the sealing. He used to be a professor at BYU and my dad's MTC Mission President. He did a great job and gave us a lot of good advice for our married life.
After the ceremony, we came out of the temple to see all of our family. I love how many people were there! It's great to have all of our family so close. We took pictures of each family in front of the temple. It took a bit getting everyone together, but it worked out in the end, and I was kind of surprised. After all of those pictures, we got to do the couple pics. Mandy Lee Taylor took our pictures. She is a sister of my mom's friend from work. She was really great! I loved how free-flowing and easy she was to work with. I got the pictures back from her, and I love them.

We went back into the temple to change and I told Nickolai that I would meet him at the luncheon, since it was easier for both of us. While changing, I accidentally pulled the zipper pull off of my gray dress, the one I was supposed to wear for the luncheon. It took awhile, but thankfully my mom got it back onto the dress, and I was able to wear it. It made us a bit late to the luncheon, though.
Nickolai's mom organized the luncheon. She had pasta and two sauces with bread and so many desserts. It was a really great meal. We had the luncheon at Don and Melanie's house, which is also where the reception was at.  It was a wonderful time to have with our family.
Afterwards, we went back to American Fork and took a nap. We definitely needed it. I was so glad to have some down time on this big day.
It got around four o'clock, and we headed back to Don and Melanie's. I got into my dress, Nickolai in his tux.  We got outside just in time for Mandy to take some family pictures in all of our nice reception attire. I also got some bridal shots done. Guests started showing up and it was nonstop line for two hours. I wanted to get done earlier than that in order to do the traditional stuff, but people just kept coming. I loved seeing people I hadn't seen in awhile.
A little before eight we had to cut off the line and went to cut the cake. It was a beautiful cake that Becky, Nickolai's aunt, made for us. I loved the detail on the flowers and how well it matched my colors. Thanks Becky! We had decided before the wedding that we were not smashing it in each other's faces. And we didn't. I'm so glad! I hate that tradition.
I then went to throw the bouquet. The triplets tried so hard to get it, and Mary Matheson was yelling at me to throw it to my left so that Sarah would get it. I just went for it and Mary ended up with it somehow. She looked so surprised at seeing it in her hands. :)  I loved it!
Then Nickolai took the garter from me and flung it out to the guys. Ethan, Brittany's boyfriend, tried to get it, but Jason was the winner of this one. Troy and Jacob admitted later that they pushed him forward and helped him to get to it. I loved that Jason and Mary got them together. It was a funny (kind of) coincidence.

Once that was over and we got some cake, we finally got to change out of our wedding clothes and go to the car. Everyone lined up and blew bubbles at us as we walked past them. We hadn't wanted the car decorated, but of course it happened.  There was whipped cream and blue paint all over the car. I thought it was pretty funny, but Nickolai was a bit irritated by it. I think we were both worn out at this point. We said our goodbyes and headed up to Salt Lake.
I am so glad I got married to the wonderful man that I have.  He is so sweet to me and I can't wait to spend eternity with him. I love being married now!

Trying Something New

I've tried blogging many times, but I never have the knack for it. However, since getting married, I've had a terrible time writing in my journal. I realized that I am on the computer a lot though, and since I am, I might as well try to journal on here.  I love reading other people's blogs, and so I want to be able to share as well. Hopefully I will be consistent in this.  We'll see.....
:)
Here's to a new start.