this hobby of mine....

so, i do have a hobby. and its called takin pictures and editing pictures. and even though caleb hates takin pictures, hes still a good sport about taking them...sorta. last year as we got christmas cards i told my self that this year i want to send them out. so today i made caleb get ready and take a grand total of about 10 min to take pictures. so here they are!

haha whoops!! forgot to zoom back out. these always make us laugh.

So grateful for my marriage and happy little family of 3 :)

stayin strong.

well, i havent blogged since thanksgiving and i do have a good explanation for that. its called we have bad luck and im trying to not blog about all the horrible things that go on in my life. but to sum it up, libbie pooped on my suuuper nice tree skirt and totally ruined it. i was so upset. so now our tree is a bit naked. i had to dye my hair back to its natural color (:( and im sad about it) so i wouldnt have to spend lots of money on it each month to keep it lookin good. ya know, just the little things that drive you crazy. anywho, ya know how i quit work like 3 weeks ago because i had my boards coming up and i just couldnt do on average 45 ish hours of school and like another 20 hours for work a week? it was too much making me hate life because i was too stressed and when im stressed it leads to other problems. well, lets just say we have had terrible luck and no im not going into detail to complain some more. so now im back at work until im done with school. it was either i go back or caleb work full time and also possibly full time doing a graveyard shifts. and i just could not handle him being here for only 6 hours of the day which he's be sleeping. i think god it just truely testing us and i know he doesnt give us more than we can handle but my heck it sometimes sure feels that way. i just have to remember what i do have and be greatful for it and that HOPEFULLY what we both have worked for so hard will pay off.
here's just a quick list of things i hope for next year:

1. a place of our own. as greatful as i am to live where we do for free rent it would sure be nice to have a place of our own.

2. money. im tired of paying for unexplained medical bills and just bills in general. (yes i know it will only get worse as time goes on)

3. to be able to eat out and not feel guilty about spending the money for it.

4. to have health insurance

5. an education and to be able to work in the field i worked so hard to get in.

6. to be able to get christmas gifts for eachother next year. even if its a pair of socks
(its hard knowing that gifts are out of the picture this year. but, it brings in the real meaning  for christmas in our home)

and thats really all. there are a lot more things that i hope to see look up but those are the few. i try to be thankful for what i do have even though sometimes its extremely hard to. things like:

1. my husband. i swear, with his stomach problems he is always so sick but he still does anything for me. i'll come home to a clean home and that alone takes the weight off my shoulders. he is working full time and getting so close to his career job getting all ready. im proud to call him my husband.

2. im thankful for my family and that i have such a close relationship with them.

3. my dog. as silly as this is, and probably all you people that dont own a pet just wont understand. but she seriously just makes me smile every single day. she does the funniest things and even when i so upset she has a way to make me laugh.

4. my schooling. as much as i hate school and going to school every day i am thankful for what ive learned there and know i will be able to use it for the rest of my life.

5. work. and same with this one. as much as we dont like work, its simply helping us live.

6. im gonna be an auntie! :)

ok thats all. i hope you all are having a wonderful time getting ready for the holidays. :)
<3 shalei

Thanksgiving

well, for thanksgiving this year we just stayed here again. Calebs brother and his wife and baby came up from washington DC so it was fun to see them. i held that baby a whooole lot and she is a cutie! We basically just stayed home, ate food, watched movies and shows and ate some more and thats about it. pretty low key. i got out from school the day before thanksgiving which was so nice. and i have the rest of the week off. its been a nice little break. Calebs still workin hard. 6 days a week. and hes now lookin into online school once im done with school so i can work and he can do school. i have only 77 days left of school. so we are gettin there! ugh i just so badly want it to be here. ive been focusing alot on state boards and we've had state board class a couple times a week. getting a bit overwhelmed but excited to be done too. im to the point now where its just like lets do this thingy and get this overwith!

Caleb's health is still the same. and we just found out that his insurance wont cover the next step we were going to do. so now idk.

my health...eh same. still have my dumb stomach issues. as soon as we get health insurance i hope to go to the doctors and get to the bottom of it cause being sick all the time is simply draining.

other than that, nothing. we are looking forward to the christmas season and all the happiness and greatness that it brings!

cute little Rayleigh bug. :)

had to take a step back

so recently, i have had these jealousy issues. i will admit that jealousy is probably one of the greatest things that i struggle with. I look at people and see that, they have a nice home they live in or they have more money than we do or they have better jobs or kids that they love or cute clothes and cute shoes. and i kept feeling overwhelmed because when i found out we were having family pictures i always have the ideal outfit in mind but of coarse i dont own any of it and shopping is something we cant do right now. or i get sometimes frustrated because i talk to friends and they are startin to talk about what they are getting their spouse for christmas and how some of the gifts that are named off are these big extravagant gifts that any person would want. and its hard knowing that this year for christmas we will simply have a christmas tree set up and then nothin to sit underneath it. but i then take a step back and realize its all ok. i too am blessed just in different ways. I have a husband that loves me unconditionally, i have a place to live in that has free rent. yes it may not be my favorite and id rather be in our very own place, but its ok. i have a family that loves me and supports me, i dont need all these gifts for christmas to make me happy. i dont need all these outfits that id love to have because i have clothes that i am greatful for. i will have my own kids someday and timing is different for everybody. i work hard and am going to school to be successful in life. so its all ok. sometimes i get in over my head and i just simply need to take a step back and realize that i too am blessed.

happy birthday to caleb!!

yesterday was Calebs 23rd birthday! unfortunaly, he had work, and had school. birthdays just arent as fun as they used to be. we kept it pretty low key. since he turned 23, i cut up 23 hearts and on each one wrote a reason why i love him and then hid them throughout the house so he'd find them throughout the day. and then the worst news, he didnt even get his present on his birthday. in fact, he still hasnt gotten it. its getting shipped here and of coarse its not here by the day i need it. im a horrible wife. haha good thing caleb just simply doesnt care and is just content with sitting at home doing nothing. :) and as for other news, i only have 88 days left of school. not toooo shabby right?? haha so i am staaaarting to see that small light at the end of the tunnel. i cannot WAIT to be finished !! other than that, nothing. happy birthday caleb!! i love youuuu!

this funny thing called life...

so, last week was a rough yet great week. a week ago monday i wasnt feeling all that great. and it went on to tuesday. and i was just so extremely tired of missing school cause i never feel well. and you all know how much i just love school oh so much. so i decided that i was just done. gonna quit and everything. i found a full time job and knew i could also pick up more shifts from juds. well, my mom calls me most everyday and everytime we talk she asks me how school was. so i decided to finally tell her that i quit school, found a job, and was moving on in life. lets just say that the conversation i had with my parents over the phone didnt end well and that i am now back in school. uuuuuuggghhhhh. and today being there was so hard. but, im back in the game. i made a deal with my parents that if i go back to school and i am quitting my job because i couldnt do both anymore. so sadly, last night was my last night. but it feels soooo great to know that i can now just focus on school and my boards which are coming up. anyways, other than that, nothing new. ive still been a craftin. as usual. caleb's good, just workin his bummy off. other than that, nothin. excited for thanksgiving!! thats for sure. and to have a break from school. :)

my sock snowman

and wreath.

lovin the holidays!

well, i have had a few extra hours on hand lately and have been up to craftin. my favooorite :) its been chilly and it gets me in the mood to craft. it snowed last night and today and now there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground. pretty but i am not all that much of a fan. i hate the ends of my pants wet and when i step in puddles of melted snow in my kitchen. (BIGGEST pet peeve ever) and slick roads. but, i am excited to snowboard and to make snowmen and decorate the house with my winter crafts. and that is about it.

so when i do my crafts im all about doing things for cheap. otherwise you will spend quite the $$ if your not careful. so my husband picked up these tiles for 10 cents a piece. and then i just use some creativity and go from there. basically, alot of my crafts consist of cardboard, paints, and ribbon.

new coaster. 

and i got to babysit this little guy (my cousins baby) for a bit the other night. i think hes only about 2 weeks old or so. sooo tiny. so precious. :)

Pine tree place

Last sunday, me and caleb went out to my parents house to hear my cousin Jason's mission farewell. he did such a great job! he left the next day to Johannesburg(sp?) south africa. so proud of him. he was probably one of my closest cousins seeing that we lived 2 miles apart and hung out an awful lot, especially when we were younger. anyways, after the luncheon and such, me, caleb, and my sister drove up to the pine tree house because Caleb had never been up there. its the place my grandpa grew up and where there were lots of memories made up there weather it was camping, fishing, bobbing for apples, using the outhouse, feeding the humming birds, playing on our old tire swing, fourwheeling and sooo many more memories. such a pretty place up there.

other than that, nothing new. same old same old. me and shandell went and got our nails done together yesterday which was fun. i love spending time with her.

And we have spent some time with Talon. i seriously wish he was my own kid. love him to death!

that is that!

I love my marriage. i love my husband. 

Life is sweet

Life is sweet. these three pictures are what makes me realize how truely lucky and blessed i am. Someone to hold my hand, laugh with and be by my side for forever.

this last week....

so as of lately, all i have wanted to do is seriously rip out my hair. i have been sooo stressed its killing me! since i took a medical leave this last quarter, i learned that 3 days before my final that i had to make up every test that i missed, which in 4 weeks, i missed 6 tests. so my instructor says to me, study for the final, but i wont make you make up all those tests this week....which really doesnt solve anything because i never learned the chapters so i had to teach myself anatomy and physiology and skin structures blah blah all in one week. so i seriously got to studying. in 2 days i attended about 18 hours of school and put in 10 hours of straight studying. i left early for school so i could study for my final one last time and guess how i did?? not great. frustrated?! yes, to the point i cried a little in class. embarrassed? dont care. and you all know how i have anxiety issues...the morning of my final i was soooooooo sick. dizzy to the point i fell over in the shower, nauseous, couldnt eat, and terrible stomach ache. so i went, took  my final, and then came back home to calm down a bit. so that test was last friday. so now this week i want to get all my tests DONE. so studying, studying is allllll i have been doing. i feel like i have been a caged animal even towards my husband. i feel like i never see him, never see anybody or do anything but school and sleep. anyways, enough of my rambling of school, lets just say i am more than ready to be done.

my goals after these tests is to find some time to exercise. even if its takin my dog on a walk. or to simply just get outside. where we live in a basement appartment right now kinda stinks because truely, you never see outside the windows are so small and the blinds are always shut. and at school you are in a building all day with not too many windows to look out of. so i love to just go outside and enjoy some fresh air. sad thing is, is that its starting to get darker early which makes me sad.

as for other news, i came down with a cold...just my luck right? pretty sure its all the stress. im sure it cant be helping. ive gained like 3 pounds cause all i want to eat lately is little ceazars pizza. dont know why but it has just HIT the spot lately. yesterday (monday) before work me and shandell got to play with out little buddy talon. always so much fun! and last but not least, i bawled to my sister at work the other night and when i woke up the next morning i realized that the reason i was bawling to her was quite embarrassing and really pathetic of me. im not tellin you peeps why cause its just too embarrassing. haha well, other than that, its just been me, caleb, and libbie just hangin around the house being our cute little family of 3. :)

we went to the pound, and i could have taken every single one of those pupps. so cute.

feeding the ducks.

me and my libbers.

2 years baby!!

two years ago today was the best day ever! somewhat boring at times to be honest and excited and nervous all at the same time. The past two years of marriage have been more than perfect. i have one amazing guy. this year for our anniversary we were in a pickle on how to celebrate. first off, i had school from 8 till 5:30 this evening. so really all we could think of was dinner. well, i got home, exhausted as usual and we were deciding what we wanted to do. and to be honest, we did what we love to do best. take out and a movie. yes we're weird but i love the fact that we dont expect some huge fancy celebration to be happy. simply food  and a movie in our comfy sweats is probably our favorite thing to do together. fancy dinner is fun too but, its just not us. really, if i didnt have school, we'd be out campin or somethin. but anyways, i officially decided that i am a horrible wife. the one day i want to stay awake during a movie i zonk out within the first half hour...on our anniversary celebration!!! arent i horrible!??! i seriously just cant help it though. in order for me to stay awake id have to pry my eyes open with toothpicks. school just wipes me out to the point im just exhausted. poor hubby. hes such a trooper. so yeah, this year was definately on the simple side. just the way i like it! Happy anniversary to my sweet sweet husband. Love him with alllll of my whole heart!!

a little bit of nothing

i almost forgot i that i had a blog its been so long since my last post. my bad peeps. probably because not a whole lot has gone on. just the usual. school, work, sleep. repeat. seriously, thats it. i have had long days at school lately. like 10 hour days and some of those days without a lunch break. its been pretty exhausting. i sometimes wish that half those hours are sitting times, but nope. on my feet that whole time. so by the time i get home, make dinner, its like almost 8. and if i have homework, then i do that, then go to bed and do it alll over again. cool life huh!! I have had horrible luck these last couple weeks at school. i even tell myself before i go that its going to be a great day and then someone/something just has to ruin it. like the other day, i turned on the sink to wash my hands and some idiot had put a rubber band around the hose thingy and yep...im sure you can picture the rest. it left me soaked with a puddle on the floor which i didnt even bother to clean up. January cannot be here soon enough!! i am SO beyond ready for 2013. its not even funny anymore. im ok skipping the holidays and everything if it could just be january already. other than school, ive still been working part time. and same with Caleb. His website is coming along so hopefully it works out so we can move onto the next part of our lives.

I have been watchin TONS of tv lately. thats all i want to do when i get home. So, in the last 2 weeks, i have seen every episode of pretty little liars. 3 plus seasons worth. Ive been keeping up with bachelor pad. and now im watching Life unexpected. Plus a few other shows inbetween.

Couple of weeks ago i got to go to the fair with my sister and our buddy Talon and his little sister. i met up with my family, went to the rodeo, and then ended the night with some Nielsons frozen custard. which is delicious.

I weighed myself yesterday and i have lost a total of 14 pounds. SO happy. my clothes are starting to fit better and im starting to feel better. i still want to lost another 10-15 pounds. so im just gonna keep on workin. 

other than that, here are some things that make me laugh every single day:

1. My dog. i seriously love our little animal. i cant immagine life without her. She randomly gets in these hyper modes and will run as fast as she can throughout the whole house. she digs in our bed for who knows what. usually nothing. haha. she tries to sneak off our bed at night cause she is never ready to sleep and constantly wants to play. the second i open my eyes in the morning she is laying on my chest with a toy of some sort ready to play. she LOVES to go on walks. she pretends she needs to go potty, so we take her outside and she never goes. shes a little trickster i tell ya. haha she seriously makes me laugh all the time.

2. My husband. He is the funniest man i know. hes so goofy and i just love that about him. i tell people at school how lucky i am and i hear these awful stories about young couples and it just makes me realize how truely blessed i am to have Caleb in my life and how lucky i am. Love him to death!

3. The little boy Talon that i see often. I love kids so much. the things they say and do just crack  me up. they make my heart melt. i cannot WAIT to have my own someday. 

Isnt she just the cutest?

family pictures

yesterday me and caleb went and finally got some nice pictures taken. caleb is such a trooper. he hates taking pictures and i dont give him much of a choice weather he wants to come or not. because i LOVE having up to date pictures throughout my home. here are a few out of like a 100 that we took :) enjoy!

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs kiss :)

Loves my hubby <3

there you go! walla! 

oh the memories...

so as most of you know, my grandma past away from her 4th time of reoccurring breast cancer last monday night. i unfortunately found out at work and i was waitressing that night so im sure people gave me some interesting looks because my eyes were bloodshot and puffy. by the end of the night i called my mom and bawled like a little baby. i am actually somewhat relieved that she is no longer suffering. and i cant help but think that her and my grandpa are now holding hands, giving eachother kisses on the cheek, and dancing. my grandma's funeral date and my grandpas passing date was exactly 5 months apart. yes, two funerals not even within a half a year. hard stuff. i got the privilege to tend my grandma a little bit before she passed. and i feel as though we drew alot closer just by me sitting in her room holding her hand and haveing some very close talks. we laughed together, and cried together.

I now have alot of memories going through my head of me and my grandma. here are some:

she sewed absolutely everything. i remember walking a pair of black jeans over to her because i had a great big hole in the crotch. she of course could work her magic and fix em right up. when i later went back to pick them up, i got so mad because she had sewn them up with bright blue stiching so it was totally noticable. and the worst part, was that she had also patched up a meant to be whole in the pocket with the same stiching. needless to say, they are still hanging in my closet and i never wore them after that. haha and now that i look back on it, i think its hillarious.

I used to sneak into her raspberry patch and she seemed to always have a way to catch me.

riding home from church with her.

eating her delicious home made bread and jam.

having sleepovers

her coming on vacations with us

having sunday dinners with her and grandpa

her and grandpa coming over every christmas to see what santa brought

going over there every christmas eve for stories and rootbeer floats

helping her can basically everything

helping me sew a baby blanket for my dolls

how she came into school and got a pedicure with her sister :)

and just sooooo many more. i could go on forever. i love that i got to grow up next house to theirs. i saw her about every day. what i loved most about my grandma was that she was the sweetest, caring, most humble lady i know. i miss her warm bear hugs, and kisses on the cheek. but now she is reunited with her dear husband and im greatful for that. i love you and miss you sooo much grandma!


as for other news, i started school again this last week. and my first day back, they scheduled me a spiral perm 1/2 hour before my lunch. cool right? no. i never eat breakfast so i didnt get to eat till 5:30 that night. i thought i was going to die. welcome back shalei right? ugggh. i made it through a week. and im proud. i usually have to take it week at a time, day at a time, hour at a time and sometimes minutes at a time. i have to tell myself all the time, "ok, i made it through class, now if i can make it to lunch im ok. ok i had my lunch break, i can finish this, ok its time for duties" ya know, i realllly have to break it down. school is sooo tough i just almost cannot stand it. oh well, im half way through. ill put my big girl panies on and get it done.

Where all the family is up for the funeral, i got to see all of my cousins. I especially loved my little cousin Isaac. He's 2 and so sweet. i read him stories while we snuggled until he fell asleep on my shoulder, went outside to look at the lambs multiple times, swang in the swing, ate yummy food and hung out with the family.

well, thats basically all thats new here. im greatful for a great husband thats helped me through this rough week. and this rough year. boy am i ready for something great to happen. i love him so much.

i unfortunately only have one picture from all this.

what a cute little bug huh :)

family camping trip!

so my family went camping this last weekend and let me tell ya, it was fabulous! i had been wanting to go camping all summer and we finally found time to go! We drove up to Box Canyon which is in Island Park. it was a nice campground and me and Caleb were so excited to try out our new 8 person tent, new air mattress, and new sleeping bags. they all work perfectly! especially the tent. LOVE it! anywho.
Day 1: Drove up to camp, set up camp, sat around the fire, roasted hot dogs and relaxed for the night.

Day 2: Slept in, ate fantastic camp breakfast (eggs, sausage, pancakes) loaded up and hiked up to the fire watch tower which is roughly 2 miles or so. and then went to big springs to feed the fish.

On the hike

Top of the tower with an AWESOME view

the whole family minus my mom who is takin the picture

feeding the fish

my cute parents.

Once we were done feeding the fish, we took another small hike to see Johny sacks cabin along the spring. it was kinda neat. After all that, we went back to camp to have lunch. and then for the rest of the day we just simply hung out at camp, explored trails and walked down to the gorgeous river where we decided to take a bath. trust me, it was MUCHLY needed. we all smelled so bad. haha crazy how bathing in river water can make you feel so much better. We had tin foil dinners and made us some scones and all just laughed around the fire till our cheeks hurt.

Day 3: Slept in, ate breakfast, packed up our camp and then drove to yellowstone for the day. which honestly turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. throughout the whole day i did not see a single buffalo. WHAT!? right?! and it was so crouded everywhere!! not a single parking spot at any park or anything. we had to wait about a half hour just to go to the bathroom. We saw the geysers and bubbling pot thingys and also Old Faithful and by the time we were done seeing that we all were done with yellowstone. way to hecktic. only saw 2 elk sitting next to eachother in a far off field, we were hungry, getting cranky, tired, and kinda ready to just be done. so we pulled off to a place we could set up a picnik and had some lunch and then shot for home. 

Just relaxin

haha my little brother

the many games of Uno we played

my dadios

love this boy :)

oy. please ignore my hair. i cant just pull it up and call it good anymore. so i look like ive been through a tornado. dont judge.

Old Faithful

Shandell, Lane, Kristie :)

I love camping!!