:) Thanksgiving Eve

Yesterday was the last day of classes before Thanksgiving break. However, this morning, Seth and I woke up at the normal time so I could get him to work by eight. The whole campus was closed so he had to sneak into his locker room through the pool. Then I went home, showered, and started studying. At noon, I met Seth on campus, we ate lunch, he showered, then we started studying. Seth is at the end of his major so he is very busy, and I am too because I'm taking 15.5 credits. At BYU 12 credits is full time so this is quite a full load for me. However, I do have friends who take 18 each semester and I don't get how they do it... all I do is study and I always feel behind! Hence, today has been spent in the Talmage Building being a busy little bee.

Seth is in a computer lab working with his group and I am out in the hall. No one else is out here and the building in feeling very lonely and empty. It is now 5:45 and I've been sitting here since about 1. That's a long time. I miss my husband. This would be a very good time for me to start complaining (ok so I've already kind of started...) and feeling sorry for myself but... TOMORROW'S THANKSGIVING!!!

I seriously cannot feel down today. Which is strange because I feel that I would be completely justified if I did. But I found a cozy little corner where the sun shone on my face (until it set) and today has been lovely. I've gotten a lot done and I know it will help me have a less stressful holiday. Plus I know as soon as Seth is ready to leave, we'll be out and having a wonderful relaxing rest of the evening. And tomorrow we will just eat and lounge ALL... DAY... LONG. Oh bliss. I cannot wait. I think at this point, I am expected to write my list of things I'm thankful for. This is so hard right now because I'm so thankful for so many random things. The big things are obviously Seth, my family, my new family :), my wonderful friends who have helped me throughout my life and the newer ones I've made in Provo, the temples (Seth and I went to Bountiful on Saturday after my Great Grandma's funeral. It was so beautiful. That was a good day.) sunshine, heaters that work, feeling healthy, yummy food, our own apartment, school (sometimes) my dreams for the future, and... I think I'm going to start getting carried away. So there you go. There are a few things. Maybe someday I'll do just a thankful post. For now, I'm going to get my husband and go do something fun and worry free. Have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone!

*amber*

Stabbing Update

The three cuts reported last time have been healing up quite nicely. However, yesterday I was making stroganoff and as I was opening a can of cream of mushroom soup, the lid sliced my right ring finger. This is the first cut on the right hand. My right is the favorite of my two hands, so you can only imagine how distraught I was. I don't know what to do anymore!

Seth said he won't let me touch anything with an edge anymore. He didn't say sharp edge. Just an edge. I told him he has edges. Touche.

Cruel cruel world.

The stroganoff was yummy though!

*amber*

I'VE BEEN STABBED!!!

THREE TIMES!!! This is no joke people! This is serious. Lately, I've been having a little trouble in the kitchen. The knives have apparently decided to band against me. The last three times I have decided to do some serious cutting, they have cleverly wriggled their way out of my firm grasp and thrust their razor sharp blades into my helpless fingers. Here you will see all three victims of the stabbings in chronological order.

The third stabbing was committed this evening at around seven o' clock when I was innocently slicing a tomato for a delicious dinner of BLT's. Then, the knife violently turned on me. Why knife? WHY???!!! Seth has threatened to discontinue my knife privileges, but I am the victim here! Apparently it will remain up to me to put down this revolt of the demon blades and restore peace to my humble kitchen.

Knives, you better watch out. Knives and daggers may cut through matter but... um... spoons will never hurt me. It is resolved. I will resort to a boycott of all sharp kitchen utensils and opt for spoons until the this rebel band of cutlery decides to enter into peace negotiations. Take that.

My fingers hurt :(

*amber*

"Becometh as a child..."

So, I'm not sure this is exactly what King Benjamin meant when he said this, but I love acting like a kid. Seth and I have this joke that I am perpetually a four-year-old; and it's true! I love to be silly and giggle and speak in toddler language. I've totally mastered the little girl pout when I'm "sad" about something or have a "boo boo."Sometimes I get a little carried away and Seth has to remind me of my age. But what can I say? I love being a kid!

In all seriousness though, I think it is good to act like a kid sometimes. Being an adult is too stressful and boring. Children always live the moment to its fullest. They are always playing some imaginary game or discovering something new about the world. That is my favorite thing about children. They seem to be fascinated with everything. There is nothing like seeing the amazement in a child's eye when she sees the first snowfall of winter. Or when the leaves on the trees change color, a bug walks across the sidewalk, or a balloon floats up into the sky. Every experience is a new adventure and the simplest game or gesture is the greatest thing in the world. That is something I try to do. Rediscovering the miracles of life is what makes it beautiful. How else can we be truly grateful to our Heavenly Father if we do not really take in all the things He has put in place for us to enjoy?

At this time of year, the colors/smells/feelings of Fall amaze me and I cannot help but rediscover my world. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I don't really have to take the extra effort to find things to be thankful for because I've been appreciating my blessings every day. I think this is why Autumn is my favorite time of year. More than Spring, to me it is a time of reflection and renewal.

Now that I have attempted to explain why children are so cool and we should all try to be like them, here's the reason I thought of writing this. Seth and I both goof around like kids almost all the time we're home. Sunday night, we wanted to do something fun so we built a fort in our living room. Yes, a fort. I hadn't made one since I was probably in elementary school! But our fort was awesome and we crawled inside and played phase 10. Then when it got late, we decided to go to bed. But first, Seth said he was hungry. So he asked if he could have a spoon full of sugar. I thought he was kidding. No. Dead serous. I know it's a song but... really? I couldn't believe him when he told me he'd actually done it before! I mean, I love sugar too but... plain? I told him no, that was gross so instead he started eating plain chocolate chips (I'm ok with that.) Then the sugar got to his blood and he went crazy. He suddenly got hyper and started bouncing on the bed and wanted more. Keep in mind, this was at about 1 in the morning. It was cute but I was tired, so I told him no, go to bed. I'm going to be such a good mom someday :) haha. What's funny is he's usually the one that has to tell me no.

Anyway, I really enjoyed being in our fort and feeling like a kid. Luckily for me, I am still four so I enjoy being a child every day of my life! (and it's not only with Seth. One time my roommate pointed out that when I eat an ice cream cone I hold it with both hands and sway which makes me look like I really am 4. Yep. Case closed.)

I was going to give a recap of our week... but I don't really remember what happened except study study study (another reason this is such a fun time of year...) As for the rest of the week, It will be even busier than the first half. Tomorrow I'm doing nursery for the other ward's Relief Society activity, Friday I'm having solo practice with my sister, Saturday is Great Grandma Nelson's funeral, and Sunday is Keaton Shoell's farewell. Then next week is Thanksgiving week so there's no telling when I'll be on here next. But until then, Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the world around you!

PS: so I added this pretty font for my post titles but for some reason, my old titles still show up. Anyone know how to fix this? I've tried and Seth has too but we just can't figure it out. I don't want to get rid of my pretty new typeface! Ok, the end.

*amber*

I love being married... *sigh*

Tonight, Seth made me curry for dinner. Japanese curry, not Indian. If you didn't know, Seth served his mission in Sapporo, Japan (where a new temple was announced last month! Read about it here) and curry is kind of the staple meal for missionaries there. The first time he made it for me, I was a bit skeptical. First of all, the little blocks of curry look like chocolate. Then, once you've made the curry, it just looks like a brown stew (see above.) To be honest, I was doubtful that it could live up to all the hype Seth had given it. Plus, it didn't look at all like what I thought curry should look like. I thought it would be yellow or some lighter color and look, well... more... Asian... However, after my first bite, I had to take this all back. It was very good. Tonight we made it for the second time and I think I've officially become hooked because just the smell of it cooking, which I thought was weird before, was amazing. Even though I wasn't very hungry due to pre-dinner snacking, I ate until I was completely full. Yum. Then we just sat on the luv sac and Seth told me more about his mission. I love hearing about Japan and we hope we can go there together someday. Haha assuming someday we'll actually have some real money ;)

As students at BYU, it is needless to say that we don't have a lot of free time. We are always busy busy busy and there's always more to be done. Sometimes this can be very tiring and makes me start missing Seth. True, we may be sitting only feet from each other in the living room, but we're both so absorbed in other things that it's not really hanging out. I love the rare chances we get to just enjoy each other's company. Tonight was a perfect example of that. Yummy dinner and then relaxing and talking. I realized tonight one of my favorite things is being in our (tiny tiny) kitchen, cooking dinner or doing dishes together and just talking about random things in our day or joking around. It's just so nice to spend time together. And hey, I just love that guy :) Right now, we're back to our separate ends of the living room, eyes glazed from staring at our computers, but I am just so thankful for those moments that we get. We didn't go anything or do anything particularly special, and yet I am completely content and had a beautiful evening.

As for the rest of you, I hope you can take joy in these moments as well. I think sometimes it is too easy to disregard them because we are so busy. What are some of your favorite simple, sweet moments?

Also, tomorrow is Friday. That was a fast week, but huzzah for the weekend! I hope yours is lovely. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I hope you enjoy your weekend away!

*amber*

On a happier note...

Now for some happier news... yesterday I started making earrings again! For those of you who don't know this about me, when I was 14 (well really 13, but 2 months away) I designed my own line of earrings. For Valentines Day that year, I was trying to figure out a gift for my mom. I wanted to make her something special so I started playing around with random things we had around the house. One of these things was a box of paper clips. I realized that, using some needle nose pliers, I could shape the wire and make some pretty cute earrings! I started making more and more and had fun making interesting, whimsical designs. Soon after, I went to the craft store and bought some real earring-making supplies. I liked making my own earrings because I could make exactly what I wanted to go with any outfit, and buying jewelry was so expensive! That's when I decided to sell my earrings. Because I was fed up with the price of cute earrings in stores, I decided to make original earrings for a reasonable price. I designed a line of earrings, made cards to put them in that said "Earrings by Amber" and started selling them at boutiques and consignment shops. I actually made quite a bit of money (for a 14 year old,) and I loved doing it. I custom designed a few pairs for clients who couldn't find exactly what they wanted and I loved doing that too. At one point, I took pictures of all of my designs and made a catalogue along with all the bead and color options. Maybe someday I'll post some of those pictures. Looking back, some of them were kind of funny :) but I was proud of my work and loved being creative with it.Sunday night, Seth and I went up to my parents' house for dinner. While we were there, we grabbed my old earring supplies. Last night, we were just hanging out in our apartment (something that rarely happens) and Seth was reading his book, so I decided to make some earrings. I hadn't done it for so long and it was so much fun! I'll definitely need to make a shopping trip one of these days to replenish my supply and get some new stuff, but i made four new designs. (sorry they're sideways)

This design (above) is my favorite. The picture is a little hard to see but it's different than anything I've tried before.

I like the cool oriental-looking carvings on these beads.

Seth helped me make these ones :) he wanted me to make some BYU inspired ones.

I also used my supplies to make the little crown thing that for my Audrey Hepburn costume that I mentioned last time (for which I still need to find an event so I can wear it!) I basically used some flexible wire to string pearls and some other beads through a crown from my dance competition days (oh, and I broke the pointy top off, so it doesn't look like much of a crown now.) I just need to attach it to a little comb and my Miss Hepburn ensemble will be complete!

Yesterday, I also set up my own Etsy shop! Although it is still empty and I still need to dress it up, I hope soon I can get my earring business going again! We'll see if I can have any success in the Etsy world.

Secondly, my NEW FAVORITE recipe! My mom handed this to me on my way out the door Sunday night and told me to let her know if it's any good. IT IS! Oh my goodness. I just can't help but share it...

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

• 4 T. flour
• 4 T. sugar
• 2 T. cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 tsp. milk
• 3 tsp. oil
• 3 T. chocolate chips
• small splash of vanilla extract
• 1 large coffee mug (microwave safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil and mix well. Add chocolate chips (it says optional, but I say they're not. WAY too good) and vanilla extract and mix again. Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise a little over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool (careful, it's REALLY hot and takes a while to cool... ok so it's not exactly 5 minute cake... I know it's hard to be this patient.) Then, tip onto a plate if desired (or eat straight out of the cup! I used a knife around the edges so it comes out clean.) Eat!

This can easily serve 2. Plus, it's pretty rich. I cut it in half to share with Seth and served with ice cream. (Note, if you can, take the bottom half. More of the chips sink to the bottom :))

... My mouth is watering again. Now for my thoughts on this recipe.

Pro's: Delicious, so quick and easy, it's cake made from scratch and it's still easier than a cake mix, makes perfect serving sizes, would be so easy for little kids to make, you could even frost the two halves and decorate them to make adorable little cakes! (I might have to try that)

Con's: Too delicious (especially with how much sugar I've eaten lately,) feels too easy, like I said, it comes out very hot and takes a long time to cool but I hardly have that much patience when making chocolate cake so I may easily burn myself, and, to quote the warning on the recipe "This is the most dangerous cake recipe in the world. Because now we are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night." Use this recipe with caution.

:)

*amber*

Get Well Soon

Yesterday, Seth had to have surgery on his foot. It's the fifth time he's had to have this surgery and it's really not a fun one. Just ask him about how it feels to have big needles stuck into your toes. He'll tell you, "It's like death. Like a migraine in your toe. It's the worst pain I've ever felt." I'm actually the one that made him make an appointment to get his toe fixed because it's been pretty bad for awhile. He said he would rather live with an infected toe than go through that procedure again. He keeps threatening to grab my hand and squeeze as hard as he can and scream, "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" when he's in pain. I'm still waiting for it. Needless to say, the last two days have not been the funnest.

After the numbness from the surgery wore off, the painkillers (all 3 kinds) didn't really help much so he was in pain most of the night and this morning. Today he stayed home from work and school and had to stay in bed all day. Because he can't really get up, I brought him breakfast in bed. We ate apple streusel muffins and orange juice (yum!) but he still wasn't doing too well. When he does get up to walk around, he limps :( It makes me so sad to see him in pain. This morning when i got home from class, we took the bandages off and soaked his foot. Taking off the bandages was very painful and he almost got sick. Poor guy! So, in an attempt to distract him from the pain, I turned on a movie. It was "The Man Who Knew Too Little," one of his favorites. Then we ate spaghetti for lunch and took a (long) nap.

Really, I just hope he feels better soon because I HATE to see him in pain. And he can't even get up to do normal things like go grocery shopping with me. I miss him. So I decided to write him a poem to make him feel better. Here it is. Get well soon sweetheart! I love you!

*amber*

The Big Reveal

Drum roll please... dududududududududududududududududuDUDUDUDUDU! Tadah!!! Yes indeed, we were Mario and Princess Peach. For those of you who don't know, Seth LOVES the game Smash Bro's. And his character is Mario. Mine is actually Kirby, but I decided not to be a big pink blob; as cool as my beloved character is. Instead, I opted for Mario's love interest, Peach. Although I went BLOND and wore ALL PINK which are really... well not at all me, I thought the costumes turned out great!

As noted by my previous post, yes my costume was made out of my sister's old dance costume. Then I found a pink satin sheet that I bought for my bed years and years ago but never ended up using (it served as a makeshift curtain for a while) and used my incredible sewing skills (ha!) to craft a skirt. Then all I had to do was attach my turquoise broach to the front of the dress, fix the turquoise earrings that I made, turn my brother's old frog prince costume crown into a Princess Peach crown, and find some long white gloves at my mom's house. Alas, I did have to buy one thing. The wig, because the blond wig I had belonged to my sister and was too small. So there you go. I actually really liked the wig (as weird as it was to be blond) and some of my family members told me that I should go blond. Um.... no. Thanks. haha

Seth's costume was, strangely, trickier and more expensive. We found the overalls online at JC Penny's because overalls don't exist ANYWHERE anymore! Not even the DI! Then the red shirt and white gloves from Target (thanks mom,) and I bought the hat online (even though, when it came, it wasn't the one I ordered, argh.) For the finishing touches, he wore his brown shoes, I made the little M emblem for the hat, added the cartoon-ish design to the gloves, and put big yellow buttons on the overalls. Oh, and we found the mustache at my mom's house for the party the night before. On Halloween, I drew one on him that looked like the real Mario mustache.

Yep, I love costuming. Alot. I get really into it. I always have my costume picked months before Halloween (if I haven't decided the day after Halloween the year before.) There is one problem however. I wish Halloween came more than once a year. I have SO many costume ideas (that would be so easy!) and no way to use them. Tonight, for example, I realized I could (and did actually) pull together an awesome Audrey Hepburn ensemble using only things I already have!
Problems: Halloween just ended. I already have at least 3 other ideas for next Halloween. But I need to find a place to wear it to! Seth and I were trying to figure out if there was a way we could have a costume party or something.... ugh, it's just too much fun!

Anyway, that's my little shpeell about our costumes. Sorry for the rant, I sort of have a passion for it. Next time, I'll write about what we actually did for Halloween, and maybe post some better pictures of our costumes. Sorry, no pictures of our Halloween party, my camera is dead and her charger cord is missing :( Sad day. Oh, and perhaps next time, I will thrill you all with yet another passionate rant about the sad demise of Halloween. In the meantime, I have a test to study for and a warm bed calling my name. Goodnight, and happy weekend!

*amber*

Hug Someone Today

Hug. It's a roundabout way of saying "I love you."

*amber*

I LOVE This. Alot.