Beach Cruising

On March 7th we headed to California. It was a glorious trip. I am in love with California. It is gorgeous and don't even get me started on the weather, let's just say I think it's not too shabby. Anna, Jordan, Ryder, and Aaron also traveled with us. It was the perfect break from colder weather, even though I can't complain much about our weather because it has been pretty great considering the fact that it is winter.

When we got there we headed straight to the beach were we road bikes along the shore... OH MY GOSH, it is my new favorite thing. ever. I love the beach. and I love bikes. put them together and you get one amazing calming, soothing, tranquil, enjoyable afternoon. I decided Andrew and I need to move to Santa Monica (ha.ha.) so I can ride this trail everyday. It's just magical.
Okay am I talking it up too much? But really.... it's the best.

After riding we headed to a fabric store that I could have spent hours rummaging through and spending a TON of money. I love fabric. have I mentioned that before?? By the time we were done there it was time for a relaxing dinner at our favorite spot, Gladstone's.

Every time we travel to California we have to stop here. It is right on the beach so you watch the sunset as you eat and they have the BEST clam chowder ever. and I am obssesed with clam chowder. Our left overs then got wrapped into a swan and a ninja penguin.

On Saturday Lisa threw a baby shower for Anna and Ryder! It was fun to see all of the cute stuff she got for the little guy, eat some really yummy food, and catch up with everyone in Cali!

That afternoon family came over to hang out and eat more yummy food. It was so much fun to catch up and just chat. We hadn't seen Nicole and Dave for a long time and we hadn't even met baby Zen. I loved meeting her! She is just the cutest! And lucky for us Lynette was visiting them so we got to catch up with her as well. I love family time.

Sunday we had Church and then just hung out at home. I got lots of snuggles from baby Ryder and enjoyed just relaxing, talking, and watching funny clips on YouTube. We also saw Frozen for the second time. It's adorable, if you didn't already know.

Unfortunately, on Monday we had to go home. After staying up late it was difficult to get up and get ready to go but luckily our flight was delayed a few hours so we didn't have to wake too soon and we got to relax a little longer.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are already trying to find a time that we can go back. I think we are both dreaming of a day when we could potentially live there.

Until next time California.
love, alex&andrew

A little catching up

Obviously I haven't posted in a while. It was nice cutting out things that weren't necessary in my life but now I don't get to look back and see what we did the past few months and my thoughts on it all. And that makes me kinda sad. Which is why I think I am going to start posting again. I have had the ache for it the past couple weeks and just never have. So here we go.

It has been a weird past two months. Not being a full-time student and not working full-time or even part time, err kinda... I have felt pretty lazy. Like I need to be doing more and accomplishing more to fill satisfied with my days. Some days it has been amazing to have no set responsibilities and to sleep in until whenever I feel like getting up and other days it has felt very unsatisfying and depressing.

Last semester being a full time student was hard. The first two months of school I thought I was going to mentally break down. and lets be honest all I really had to do was pass my classes and I would be fine so really there was nothing to stress about. But when I get all the information of what I am supposed to do in a three month period it kinda freaks me out. Okay maybe it freaks me out a lot. and I panic. and its super annoying when you have no idea what the teacher is asking of you or how they grade so you are just trying to figure it all out... Yea thats how September and October went.

Then when the assignments were graded and tests were taken I felt like, ok I can do this. what was I freaking out about? and it turned out to be an awesome semester. The class that I started out hating turned out to be one of my favorite classes.

I learned a ton about families and a little about art and sewed like crazy.

We also traveled a lot... Is that a surprise to anyone? thats kinda what we do.

Andrew's brother Aaron went to BYU-Idaho for his first semester. Lisa, their mom took him up there so naturally we thought we would tag along and see how it went.

The next weekend was Anna's baby shower so of course we had to go to that as well.

When October hit it was time for haunting season. I am pretty sure that is the only thing Andrew misses about Idaho, being able to haunt at the straw maze for the whole month of October. Luckily the past two years the owners have welcomed him back whenever he wants because he is just that good. and trust me I have had enough experience to know that he is really good at scaring people. So we went two more times in October. Hanging out with Anna, Jordan, Justina, Curtis, Taeden, and Caleb, along the way. We even went to the Apple orchard and picked apples.

Andrew was pretty excited about his costume this year!
I think it turned out pretty awesome. 

In October we also welcomed home our dear friend Clayton who was on a mission in New Zealand and we had to say goodbye to our dear friend Chris who left on his mission to Peru. What great guys and awesome examples of leading a Christ like life and having Christ like love. I'm so proud of both of them and glad to call them as our friends.

Of course we went to a ton of BYU Football games. Andrew waited in lines hours before the doors opened to get us a good seat. And he sure did do a great job. Every game we had awesome seats! The BYU vs. Texas game was probably the most crazy game. Andrew waited in line for a few hours and it was pretty hot out. I got there before the gates opened and waited with him. A little before the game started this HUGE and pretty scary looking storm cloud came rolling in. It started pouring and lightning and thunder. It was CRAZY. All the students were dancing in the stands. Then we decided it would be best to seek cover so we hung out under the bleachers for a while. When the rain finally did stop we took our seats and we were freezing and the game was delayed! Our friends Logan and Alex went and got warm clothes so we had them pick us up some. But it was still a pretty cold game BUT BYU did awesome! and we ended up winning the game! YAY. Afterwords, Andrew and I went to our favorite little run down Mexican place. We were riding the scooter home and all of the sudden the tire blew out! Luckily Andrew stomped his foot down saving us from falling over and probably getting very hurt and a lot of road rash! (I sure am grateful for that guy!) We ended up parking the scooter in a lot and walking home.. still being a little wet and cold! Andrew did something to his foot, he never went to the doctor, just wrapped it and was really careful for the next few days. That was such a crazy day though!

Before the game.. notice how clear the sky is! 

The storm coming in! 

After the game! We WON! 

In November our first nephew on Andrew's side of the family was born! Ryder Jay Parson, on November 4th 2013! So of course we had to make a trip to Idaho to see him right away! He is the cutest little guy. I am obssesed with him. We got lots of snuggles in with him that first week of his life and then again during Thanksgiving time when all the Sorensen's went to Idaho for the week. We had a great time relaxing, playing with the dogs, snuggling the baby, snowboarding, skinning a deer and eating lots of food!

Then on the way home we HIT a deer! AH! I actually had no idea what happened, I was looking down at my phone and just heard a clunk and saw some things fly up over our hood. I thought maybe it was a small animal but not a deer! Well we pulled over and it was definitely a deer. Andrew said he saw it coming across the road and we barely hit it. The poor thing was almost out of the road and then it hit the corner of the passenger side of the car. We couldn't even find it afterwords! I am glad though that we could still drive the car and that Andrew handled it so well. He didn't swerve or do anything crazy but he was very safe about it. Luckily his parents were right behind us as well so they pulled over and the guys made it so we could still drive the car and not ruin our tire.

In December of course I was crazy with finals and finishing school. We also celebrated Andrew's 24 birthday! We went shopping, saw Frozen, and ate delicious food at Tucano's. That week we also saw Marilee and went to Savior of the World with her and her kids. It was a beautiful performance!! I would love to go every year if we live here!

The end of December we spent with my Family in Kansas. We celebrated Christmas and the New Year by playing games, eating lots of food, shopping, going to a KU game and exploring Kansas. It was a wonderful time seeing family and making life long memories.

Nowadays Andrew is working full time as a property manager, which right now includes helping to move a 16,000 sq ft house. Needless to say he is a busy, hard working guy. I am being a little house wife, cooking, cleaning, blogging, and pinteresting (thats in the description right?). I have been making lots of YouTube videos and trying to start a children's swimsuit business! (I'll talk more about those two later) We are going to all the last basketball games of the season and watching as much of the Olympics as possible, or that I can stand ;) I am also taking an intro to entrepreneurship class. It is wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone! It is inspiring and really opens my mind to the possibilities that are before me.

For Valentines weekend we went to St. George with Richard and Lisa and our friends Logan and Alex to relax and enjoy a little warmer weather. We were shopping, riding, watching the olympics, of course eating lots of good food, and visiting family.

It has been a great past few months. Busy but wonderful! We are certainly looking forward to more traveling and warmer weather!

and if you read all of this good job. That was a long one!

love, alex&andrew

And the Festivities Begin!

October was a good month. and looking back I can't believe it has already come and gone. Life is busy. School is hard. and so is work. we are two worn out kids ready for a little break coming in 2 weeks. However we had some fun activities this month that kept life being really great.

• First we went to the Carrie Underwood and Hunter Hayes concert! It was amazing. probably one of the best concerts I have been to, and lets just say I have been to a lot of concerts. Andrew got me tickets for my Birthday in July so I had been looking forward to this day for a long time. And they did not let me down. We got delicious Thai food at this great place in Provo and then headed to the concert in Salt Lake. We walked in while Hunter was performing. Now I haven't listened to much of his music but this boy melted my heart. My sister is in LOVE with him and I understand why. His voice is wonderful and if you haven't heard his single Wanted, you should click here and listen to this beauty. Now Carrie Underwood was for sure the BEST thing ever. What a voice that girl has and what a performance. I was entertained and in aw the whole time. She even floated over the crowed with her band on a piece of the stage! (picture below). It was AWESOME. 

• One weekend.. we went to Murray, Utah (Where my little brother is living on a mission right now for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and we went shopping :) it was fun and relaxing. Bought a few little treats. And then we headed over to Scheel's, a sporting good type store, for its grand opening. We walked all around and took some fun pictures. It is a fun place and I am pretty surprised we didn't walk away spending a lot of money, instead we bought nothing. How good are we? ha I am sure we will go back :) 

• The last weekend of October we headed up to Rexburg so that Andrew could scare in the straw maze. If you remember last year he was able to work at the straw maze the whole month of October. He LOVED that job and was really missing it. So we were able to go up for a weekend so that he could scare on Friday and Saturday night and I could spend time with the Parson's and the Checketts. I had realllllly been missing my little baby boys so I am very glad we got to go. Andrew got a little scaring out of his system which is always nice for me and overall it was cold but great weekend. 

• As for Halloween we dressed up as an Old Man and an Old Woman. It was hilarious. Andrew even had these little hair pieces for his ears. He legitimately looked like an old man. I can't wait to have kids to dress up in obnoxiously cute and awesome costumes. And I really can't wait to pass out candy to all the little kids in the neighborhood. I love seeing everyones costumes and hearing trick-or-treat. We stopped by Hannah Taylor's party and hung out there for a while. She was dressed up as Katy Perry, it was awesome! 

What a great month. and I am thinking november is going to be just as great! 

Hope you guys are having a great week! 

Happy Election day! Did you go out and vote? 

I got to vote for the first time ever. I was so excited for it and really looking forward to it. and it was great. I like getting my little red sticker. 

We have spent the night anxious and watching fox news and eating pizza. Oh me oh my, what a night. We are ready to hear the outcome! Hope you all did your part and went out and voted! 

love,alex&andrew 

Shoot Me

oh hey there June, it is GREAT to see you.
Let's just not talk about the last month or the one coming up either.
Let's just say that this semester is hard. and it shouldn't be because not one of my classes are required.
I am taking classes this semester to work. aka to get money. aka so I can go to a different school.
got the picture? great :)
In the words of everyone around me, I just care too much about grades. and man is that TRUE. and how sad it is! I have learned that I don't learn very quickly. It takes time for me to process. and I almost always need a visual. So when a test comes or a large assignment or project comes along I do all I can to get the best grade even if it means cramming everything into my head and then letting it exit once I have gotten that A.
Moral of the story this semester I am really learning to not... care so much(although that sounds bad) but really try to LEARN and UNDERSTAND the material.
BUT real great story I LOVE MY PATTERN MAKING CLASS. I was a little hesitant to take it because I thought it would be hard and its at 8am and if I have a choice then the choice is not waking up that early. but I risked it and I am SO glad I did. This class is seriously amazing. I definitely have a lot to learn but it is SO great. and i can't forget my building an eternal marriage class. WOW this teacher rocks and has so much knowledge and quotes and information from prophets and apostles. I look forward to this class every monday and wednesday. so its all good.
Now I realize I have not posted in a while hence that little rant. So I am now going to proceed to overload you with pictures of a time we went shooting. and then hot dog roasting. and then watching people blow up a REGULAR SIZED FRIDGE. and then beautiful sunset gazing. all in one night. man its great.

Stupid people trying to drive up the hill and falling back down..oh teenagers.

The fridge with tires on top and us standing far away from these crazy peoples experiment. 

and after..real bummed I didn't get a picture of it actually blowing up.. but we didn't know when it would really happen. bummer. 

okay people you will probably be seeing this photo all over the place for a while cause I pretty much LOVE it. ok so deal. its great though right :)

So its June and that is pretty awesome. Less than 50 days until the end of the semester. and about a month until my 21st birthday. yippie!
How is your summer going?
love, alex&andrew
p.s it was like 50 degrees here today so summer is uhm...slacking in small terms? hopefully this weekend is better. and did I tell you we get to see BILL COSBY this weekend. yes in little ol rexburg. how awesome. The question I keep asking myself is What the heck is he going to do in-between the three shows he has over the next three days in REXBURG? come on people...