Trimming the tree

Tonight, we trimmed our very first Christmas Tree. I had this planned for a few days, and work went by so slow today, because all I could think about was going to the store, buying pretty ornaments and rushing home to our little apartment to decorate our tree. We decided on white and gold, mostly because I saw a Christmas tree at Temple Square that had white ornaments, pictured here, and I thought it was really pretty. As we decorated our little tree (that matches our little apartment oh so well), we listened to our old Christmas records, and drank Coca-Cola from their glass bottles. I'm pretty sure that our smiles got bigger, and our eyes lit up a little more for each ornament we hung on that tree of ours. When it came time to put the star on top, we each grabbed an end, and put it on together. It was cheesy, but mostly cute, because we're newlyweds. :)

We also got our very first nativity set (I want to collect these!) from Zac's parents on Sunday (thanks Lyle and Jill!). It's gorgeous, and I love it. We set it up on Sunday night, and all the little Bethlehem people and animals are sitting on top of our bookcase in our living room. I also hung up a wreath the other night--it's a green pine wreath with a red, plaid bow on top. Our apartment is really starting to feel like Christmas, and it gives me a wonderful feeling inside. I think I might just make a paper chain out of green and red paper like I did when I was young, to count down the days to Christmas--I am that excited!

As of tonight, there are 26 days left. I already have some plans of what to do during the 25 Days of Christmas, which include watching the old Christmas cartoons like I did when I was little, and service projects--both big and small. Zac told me tonight that he wished there was somewhere cozy and quiet where we could go to get hot chocolate somewhere close in this town of Provo, so maybe we'll go on a quest to find a place like that, too.



By the way, don't mind the picture in the 6th picture from the top... We got that frame for our wedding from the wonderful Shanny, and we haven't gotten around to putting one of our pictures in it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that 95% of all the frames in our apartment are not filled. So, we need to go get some pictures printed. Merry Christmas in 26 days!

A trip downtown.

Yesterday in the afternoon, Zac and I headed up to Draper to hit up the Ikea there. We went a couple of months ago, and that's when I saw something fantastic. It was a mirror inside of a fancily designed frame. I told Zac I wanted it, and he decided that I could have it for Christmas. So we spent about an hour walking through that huge store, and finally found my mirror! We also bought some Swedish food there (because it's tradition!), like mustard basil sauce, chocolate bars, and orange ginger thins, and snagged some lunch at the cafe, too.

When we finished our activities at Ikea, we drove another 20 miles north toward Salt Lake City. Zac and I here, we love a little store called Urban Outfitters. Unfortunately, the closest one to us is 45 miles away, in Salt Lake City. So we made the drive up there to shop. Because the store is so over priced (I seriously saw a shirt there priced at $250), we usually find ourselves in the sale corner of the store, but that doesn't mean that I don't LOVE to adore and admire the pretty bedspreads, dishes, books, records, cameras, and clothing that are not on sale. While browsing through the sale rack, Zac found a nice (and I mean nice!) pair of green pants. I've been wanting colored pants (preferably yellow, thanks) for the last little while, so I was kind of jealous when he found these babies. However, I did find two belts that I loved. Zac found a shirt to go with his pants, and we made our way up to the registers. Everything we got was on sale, which made me happy inside.

We left Urban Outfitters and the crisp, cold air hit us as soon as we did. It was a cold night, but the Christmas lights and people running through the fountains (are they crazy?!) made it fun.



When we were done watching these crazy people run and scream through the fountains, we decided to walk the four or five blocks to Temple Square to see the magical Christmas lights. It was a nice walk. It was chilly, and my arm was in Zac's. On our way, we saw the prettiest little house called the Devereaux Mansion. I wanted to live there right away, but decided to take a picture of it instead. When we arrived to Temple Square, it was wonderful. The lights were everywhere! I've been to Temple Square to see the lights every year, and it still impresses me when I go back. We walked around and saw the Nativity scene, and the temple that Zac and I were married in. I love everything about Christmas, and going to Temple Square just makes it that much better.



When our noses and feet were too cold to bear, we made our trip back to the car, with the other dozens and dozens of people. On our way home, we stopped by Kneaders and ordered a cup of hot cocoa to share and sat by the fireplace. I recently discovered their hot cocoa, and have decided it's my new favorite. There's a hint of coffee to it, and I think that's why I like it so much, which is weird, because I've never had coffee--I've just smelt it. When we finished our hot cocoa at Kneaders, we went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. Among other things there, we bought our very first Christmas tree: a four foot pre-lit tree. We set it up last night, and it brings magic into our home, I swear. It's glorious. We are going to hang ornaments tomorrow night, so I'll post a picture of what it looks like when it's finished. I'm so glad Christmas is here. I can't wait for the nights where Zac and I are snuggled up on the couch in our jammies with all the lights turned out but the ones on our tree, drinking hot cocoa, and listening to our old Christmas records. That just sounds like heaven to me. I'm excited to start new Christmas traditions with my little family, and continue old ones, like watching old Christmas videos on Christmas Eve. This time of year is wonderful, isn't it?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Zac and I spent Thanksgiving this year with my family. On Thanksgiving morning, we all woke up really early to go out to breakfast at Village Inn at 7:45 AM. We met my dad's entire side of the family there. We sat at a booth with Sara, her boyfriend, Josiah, Daniel, his girlfriend, Erika, and Rachel. Zac and I both got chicken fried steak, mostly because it's delicious. I also got a strawberry crepe for the two of us to share. It reminded me when we made crepes at home a few weeks ago, with raspberries, strawberries, bananas, and nutella. That was a good night.

When Thanksgiving dinner came around, we had quite a few people there. My entire family was there, as well as both sets of grandparents, and my aunt Marsha and cousin Parker. We had a table full of people, and such great food, like mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and turkey, of course! I love feasts. And afterward, we had pie: apple pecan, pumpkin, and pumpkin cream cheese. My good mother even sent us home with a small little feast of leftovers. And the whole entire apple pie. Sweet.

Now Christmas is coming up. I've been listening to Christmas songs since early November, and I'm not even sick of them. We bought our first Christmas tree last night, and I was overly thrilled. I think we're going to decorate it tomorrow for Family Home Evening, so pictures will be up soon.

October and November

The last couple of months have flashed before our eyes. So, without any more delay, here's what we've been up to.

The first weekend of October was General Conference. Zac and I wanted to go up to Salt Lake City and listen to it in the Conference Center, but we had no way of getting tickets, so we drove up to my parents' house on Sunday morning to watch with my whole family. A tradition us Barlockers have every General Conference Sunday is to make apple dumplings together in between sessions--the kind my Grandma Deenie used to make. We usually end up using a turkey baster to squirt refreshing ice water in each others' mouths, though. Thank you, Matt, for starting that trend.



On October 22nd, my best friend, Emily, was in town. We met halfway in American Fork and took pictures of each other there. We also went to the American Fork DI where Emily bought some belts, and I bought the cutest little baby sweater I've ever seen. I don't care if I'm not going to have kids for a few years. We're both pretty awkward-looking in front of the camera, but aren't these pictures cool beans?



In the middle of November, we got to go up to Park City for a couple of nights with Zac's family. There, we relaxed in one of the many hot tubs of the Marriott Mountainside Resort, went Christmas shopping at the Outlets (where I got two gorgeous coats for $65 total) and sat in the hotel room and spent time with family. It was fantastic to get away for a weekend. It kind of makes me want to plan a road trip. In the summer of course. I'd be crazy to want to drive all day in the ice and snow.



That's the gist of what Zac and I have been up to the last couple of months. Well, that's all we have pictures of. I used to be so good at carrying my camera around everywhere I went. Now I don't. That's my new goal. I need more pictures of my new marriage.

Tonight Zac and I are at my parents' house. We are spending Thanksgiving with them this year. I'm excited for family and food. I'm excited for everything about tomorrow. I love the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving!

Labor Day Weekend.

Labor Day weekend was great to us. We spent it with family--both mine and Zac's. On Saturday, we headed up to Kaysville with my side of the family for a Family Reunion at the one and only Cherry Hill resort. My family has been going here as long as I can remember, and I always get so excited when the day finally comes. Cherry Hill is an RV park that has swimming pools, water slides (well, only two, but the tube ride is the best one I've been on by far), mini golf, a rock climbing wall, batting cages, playgrounds, an ice cream parlor, and a cute little convenient store. It's one of the best places in Utah. When my family arrived, we set up the canopy, put on our sunscreen and headed to the water slide. It's one of those water slides that you can ride all day and not be bored... just tired. There were ten of us--me, Zac, Jake, Matt, Steph, Daniel, Erika, Rachel, Melia and Sara--who went down the water slide all at once. It was hilarious to look back and see the train of ten people on tubes that you were a part of--especially when the rule was strictly four people per train. I wish I had a picture. Even a crappy one. It was hilarious.

After the water slide sucked all the energy from us, we walked back to camp to eat lunch, watch movies, eat junk food, make froot loop necklaces and earrings and sleep. After our nap, Zac and I went with everyone to hit up the arcade and play mini golf. We must have gotten bored with both, because we didn't even play any games in the arcade, and we only played about eight holes of mini golf. Still fun. We drove home exhausted.



The next day, Sunday, we drove down with mom and dad Swenson to their cabin down in Fairview to spend the night. That night was filled with pizza, card games, sunflower seeds, shooting BB guns, a visit from Robbie K and her husband, camp fires, scary stories, and a movie. While Eli, JoJo, Whitney, JT, Sophie, Zac and I were sitting around the campfire in the darkness telling scary stories, JT found a rock to wipe his boogers on, and then threw it into the bushes. Sophie and I were oblivious to JT's booger wiping, because the second that rock hit the bushes, we both screamed at the top of our lungs, and before I even knew what happened, Sophie was on my lap, hugging me for dear life. It was a great sight! She didn't get off, either, until Whitney told her that she could sit on her lap. Oh, Bouge...

The next morning, we woke up to mom Swenson making us breakfast! It was wonderful! When breakfast was over, we bummed around--played more card games, ate more sunflower seeds, and took some pictures. Zac even carved my name in a tree, next to his that he carved back in 2001. Then the both of us went on a ride together on the four wheeler around the mountains. If you've never been to the Fairview mountains, I suggest you go, because it is a treat, especially with the wind blowing in your hair. Nature is gorgeous. There's a reason Heavenly Father made it this way. It's for us!



The day after we came home from the cabin, I started my new job. I am loving it so far, and have convinced myself that it is the best job ever. Why? The pay, the benefits, the people, the free lunch on Fridays, the casual dress, the hand scanner, the drinks, the customers and even the work. It's fantastic. The only job better than this, that I can think of, would be to be a Photographer like Jaquilyn Shumate. Really. Isn't her work amazing? And she works with her husband. How great is that?!

Anyway, there's my Labor Day weekend in a nut shell. It was pretty grand.

Last weekend.

Last weekend, Zac and I wanted to get out of the house and do some fun things before he had to go back to school. On Friday, after coming home from work, we were going to go to our Ward Campout just for the night, but then it started raining, and we remembered that we hate driving through canyons in the dark (remember our elk encounter?). There was an outdoor concert that was being held that same night just a few blocks from our apartment, so we decided to go to that instead, but not before we got some dinner at Two Jacks Pizza. Ryan Innes and his band were playing first, and we really liked them. Ryan had some serious soul, which I am always quite fond of. Did I mention they closed off a whole block of Center Street for this show? So we just stood there in the middle of the street and listened to him play. It was a great time. The other bands who played after Ryan Innes were not so good. Zac and I decided to go find a place to sit, and watch people instead of intently listen to the music. People watching is so fun; I don't even know why. We saw a pair of lesbian couples. It was weird. When you see lesbians, especially in Provo, you really can't help but stare. It's just weird.



On Saturday, Zac and I packed up the car with food and headed up to Park City for a day trip. We started the day off shopping at the Outlets up there, but then quickly realized that the Outlets weren't cheaper than the regular stores they had down in our neck of the woods, so we stopped shopping, and drove to a park. It started to rain while we were trying to find the park, and so when we got there, we took a quick nap in the car and waited for the rain to pass. We woke up about twenty minutes later and found ourselves a nice spot on a picnic table, where we started making sandwiches for lunch. Then we decided to go walk Main Street. It was pretty, and took a few great pictures. I started to get tired while walking Main Street, and after a while, we decided to go back home.



Zac's now in school, and we're excited for this weekend, because we're going to Cherry Hill for my family reunion, and then up to the Swensons' cabin. It's gonna be awesome!

Plunge.

The other day while hanging out in our almost-a-century-old basement apartment by myself, I decided to do some cleaning. Zac was at work, and since our little 500 square foot apartment can be totally cleaned in just a few short hours, I went to work. I started on the bathroom, since that's the room that always seems to get the dirtiest the fastest. Between my make up all over the counter in the morning, and Zac's occasional shaving, it doesn't stand a chance.

Growing up, my mom would make us kids (Daniel, me, Rachel and Sara, mostly, because we were the ones who were home schooled) clean the entire house every other Monday, instead of learning about History, Math, English, and any other expected school subject. She said that she wanted us to learn how to clean a house, an

d how to clean it well. While this was mostly true, there's still a part of me that knows that somewhere deep down inside of her, she really just wanted her house cleaned. It was fine with me, though, because we'd get to split up into teams of two, and do house work, and it was a lot of fun. Not to mention the pizza she'd always order for lunch every other Monday. Sure, sometimes we'd fight about who did what, but looking back now, it was fun, and the feeling of a clean house afterward was incredible. Not only that, but now I know how to "clean the shit out of a house." (Sorry, that was weird. I hardly ever swear, promise.)

My mom always taught me, when cleaning a bathroom, to always clean the toilet last, so as to not spread the germs that were on the toilet to the sink or the bathtub. So, I cleaned the sink and the shower first, and then moved onto the toilet. Our toilet has a hard time flushing stuff down. Usually, we'll flush, and then a while later, toilet paper will creep back up and sit at the bottom of the bowl. (I know you are all dying to hear this.) Since that's what happened in this very instance, before attempting to clean the toilet, I flushed, hoping the toilet paper would go down. It didn't. Instead, the water in the toilet bowl went up to the very top of the bowl, and just sat there. Our toilet was clogged.

Zac and I don't have a plunger. We're usually pretty good about not clogging the toilet. I'm not even sure that this little incident was our fault, because our little toilet looks about as old as the house is that we live in. Not knowing how to clean a clogged toilet (my mom didn't teach me that one), I waited for Zac to come home. When he did come home, he went and used the bathroom, flushed twice, and over flowed the toilet. I'm talking toilet water all over the floor of the bathroom, seeping into the carpet of our bedroom. I'm not going to lie--I was freaking out a little. I handed him two of our extra towels (thank goodness for people giving us an abundance of bath towels for our wedding that we couldn't return), and we wiped up the mess as best as he could. I stayed far away.

When he was finished, I told him that we needed to buy a plunger. We drove over to Walmart, and picked one out. We had to walk the length of the store carrying that stupid thing. It was kind of embarrassing. Everyone knows that if you're at the store, carrying only a plunger, and walking in a hurry, there's only one thing t

hat could've happened. Everyone who passed us was giving us weird, disgusted looks. I mumbled to Zac, "Don't look at us, don't look at us, don't look at us," as we made our way up to the self check-out lane.

When we got home, Zac took action and plunged the toilet. It took him a while, because our toilet is pretty crappy (haha, get it?!). But soon enough, the deed was done. Then I made him mop the floor with cleaner, and he did. Our toilet is working now, which is fantastic, because I really had to go that night.

In other news, we finally got our wedding pictures back after two and a half months of being married. I'll post more on that lovely day in a while. I guess I also still need to post pictures of our lovely apartment (and when I say lovely, I mean falling apart, bug-infested, smells like cigarette smoke). Stay tuned for that. I know you'll love it!