Christmas Surprises!

That's all I'm going to say .. ;)  But shhh.. she's a surprise to someone who doesn't read my blog :)

Funny Finds

Oh the things I've found from Devin's childhood .. love it :) 

Translation of an "Aussie Gentleman" .. He got this when he visited Australia with his parents. 

Wanna Rage?

Would you like to drink vast amounts of alcohol with me until we both drop?

Bloody Oath! 

I'm in total agreement with you.

Drango.

You are a rather dimwitted person.

Pull ya head in.

You may be correct in your assertion. But shut up.

Fair Ankum

Of course I'm telling the truth

Just a few of the hilarious things it says, that apparently Aussie gentlemen say ... (Kinda sounds like some Oklahoma Rednecks making up funny words to me) 

... just cracked me up. thanks for making me laugh from 500 miles away, Devin :) 

Happy First Birthday!

Check out what I found tonight as I was unpacking and going through stuff in the new house .. 

Barbara saved the cards that she was sent when Devin was born! So many "Congratulations on your baby boy!" cards in there. Also so many "Happy First Birthday!" cards .. It was so neat to see those, thank you Barbara, for being such a sweetie, and saving those, I'm so happy that I was able to hold them and see them with my own eyes. Devin was such a stinkin' cute baby .. :)

I also found this in the bag of cards. A birthday card to Devin from his brother, Logan. It cracks me up. 

Just in case you can't read it, it says, "Love, your most incredible most unbelievable, Logan" 

Loooove it! :)

Winter Quarters Visitors Center

My Granny is a recent convert to the church, so what better way to spend their one day in Omaha than going to a famous church history site here in Omaha? The pioneers stopped here for a winter on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. They had many hardships, deaths, sickness, and had to cross a cold, icy river to get to where they were going. There is a temple here, called the "Winter Quarters Temple", and it is built next to the cemetery where the pioneers buried their loved ones. They lost over 400 people there that winter, I can't even imagine the pain they felt, not only to lost those beloved, but have to leave their burial site when the winter was over. Such strong men and women who did such a brave and noble thing so that we could celebrate and live our religion without (as much) persecution and trials. I am very grateful for their sacrifices and could feel their spirit while we were there. 

On a not so serious note, the sister missionary who was giving us the tour had us pull a handcart around.. it's super easy, until she puts rocks in front of the wheels. Derek and I barely got over one single rock with both of our strengths and nothing inside of the cart. I know for a fact those pioneers didn't get to pull their carts on perfectly smooth, carpet covered fields .. they were rough, and tough, and they got through and made it still. 

Things like this humble me. I'm nowhere near as strong as these men and women were, and I'm just so grateful for everything they did for the future of our church. 

Hart Surprise

After a couple crazy days of moving into the new house in Omaha, my mom, granny, Chance, Derek, and my Granny's foster kid, John, came to visit me. They surprised me! I was at Walmart getting some stuff for the new house, and I had just happened to call my mother before hand (out of loneliness) and mentioned to her that I was going to Walmart. I was asking a lady that worked there where to find the Berts Bees, and someone grabbed my arms super hard, and it was kind of scary ... It was my 8 foot tall brother, Derek!!!!

Seriously, that was the sweetest surprise ever. I love my family, they're the best .. and they buy and make bacon for me all while trying out my new skillet that I got for $9.97 at the Black Friday sales.

Love you guys! :)

The big move

Okay,  so to say the least, things have been crazy over here!

We're getting ready to move, and we're doing last minute things, still working in our callings, getting ready for Devin's living arrangements, and just de-crapping our house (de-crapping is the Despain version of de-cluttering, in case you were wondering) ..

I've had to say goodbye to great friends, an awesome workplace, and an incredible town.

This is really hard for me, but I know that Heavenly Father is sending us to Omaha because he knows there is something great for us there. I'm absolutely positive of that!

Keep us in your prayers, as Devin and I will be apart a lot throughout this holiday season, and will need all the love and blessings that we can get.

I'll catch up soon (when I'm at our new house totally alone for the next 3 weeks) on all of the happenings of the past month that I've skipped out on because of business! :)


Omaha, here I come!

Black Friday

I braved the crowds and went Black Friday shopping. There were things that we needed and just flat out wanted for some seriously awesome prices. However, I wouldn't ever recommend going alone. I had to use the restroom, and asked a total stranger to watch my cart (after almost peeing myself first of course) 

My final list: 

Stainless Steel Trash Can

2 Crock pots (1 for a friend)

2 Electric Skillets (1 for a friend) 

2 Barstools for our new kitchen island

2 sets of our favorite tupperware

23" TV for Devin's treadmill (notice I say Devin's treadmill .. hahah)

Roku HD

Looooove Black Friday shopping, but I would love it much more if I had my madre or someone else I love very much to come with me next time. I'll work hard on making some fellow Black Friday shopping friends here in Omaha for next years trip  :) 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, everyone is so thankful for everything and expressing it more than usual, they're happy, smiley, etc. I love it :) Plus, it doesn't hurt that there is a ton of absolutely delicious food, and usually family! 

This year we weren't able to visit any family members for Thanksgiving, because of Devin's work schedule, he couldn't take off any time around the holiday in order for us to be anywhere longer than a day. However, a quite large family in our ward, the Allgaiers, invited us to their family dinner. It was a blast, there was 39 people there, 27 of them were children (do the math, it's a lot of kids) ... and it was loud, crazy, crowded, and probably the most fun dinner ever. :) I even got pooped on by one of my favorite kiddos (I won't name names) .. We had a great time, thanks for inviting us! 

Devin and I decided that we just had too many traditions between the both of us that we just weren't willing to skip for one holiday, so we cooked and we cooked, and we had our own Thanksgiving dinner as well (which lasted us up until the day we moved out of our Oswego home) ... I tried cooking Barbara's famous butterhorn rolls, and I'll have to say, they turned out better than the last time I tried them, (at Easter) .. but they're still not there yet. I burned the bottoms! So sad... But practice makes perfect, and I'll be making them again for Christmas, no worries :)


Happy Late Thanksgiving! :) I hope you all are having a lovely holiday season :)

BYU vs. Notre Dame

The BYU vs. Notre Dame game was on November 23rd, it was freezing cold, snowy, and windy. Devin had gotten us tickets from a friend at work, and since we were only 2 hours away, how could we resist taking that trip to see our Cougs and see the Notre Dame campus? Another one of Devin's coworkers, who graduated from Notre Dame, printed out a map of all the things we have to see on campus, all the things we have to do, and a semi-essay of the significance of each of these places. It was very thoughtful of him, and very helpful as we could have easily gotten lost on campus. 

I just had to get a picture with Touchdown Jesus, I remember it from the movie "Rudy" and just couldn't leave without one :)

 There are just so many beautiful places and buildings on this campus, I can't believe how beautiful it was, and it's always extremely interesting to learn about others cultures and religions. I loved walking through their church, and seeing their relics and paintings of popes, Christ, and other important Priests, etc. of the Catholic religion. It was a very special experience.


The "Dome" on campus. Verrry beautiful building, Devin took a much better picture of me than I took of him, way to go babe. ;)



We made friends with two older gentlemen who happened to be Irish fans, they were a blast, and we had bets going throughout the entire game. They made that night a blast! Thanks to "Lou Holtz" and his buddy for cracking us up the whole time and helping us forget that it was 3 degrees outside :)

I may still be thawing out from this trip. Hahah :)

Eighteen Days

Okay, this is super weird - but Devin and I will be packing up the house to move in exactly 18 days.

I can't believe it's coming so fast, and I can't express how excited I am to start this new chapter and move into our new home. We've already starting switching our address, setting up our mail to be forwarded, ordering new services.. blah, blah, blah .. I'm excited! :)

Family Photos

Devin, Zoey and I got all dolled up today for family photos.

First off, here's a big shout out to Adam Allgaier for being awesome and taking our family photos out in the cold rain this morning. Thank you!

It was chilly, wet, and windy .. but we got some awesome pictures, because of Zoey's shining face ;)

Here they are : 

I just love this one - cracks me up because Adam was barking so Zoey would pay attention and look at the camera. Instead he made me laugh and now I'm making some sort of crazy face and it looks like Zoey is sneezing. Devin looks adorable, of course. Ahh, I just love it - it's hilarious :)


MERRY CHRISTMAS! OH WAIT ... 
HAPPY FALL Y'ALL

Young Women in Excellence

Tonight was Young Women in Excellence. How grateful I am that it is over, but also how grateful I am that I had the opportunity to help in the planning process, set up, and see what our incredible girls have done with their time. 

I absolutely love these girls, and I've been so blessed to be able to serve with them and to get to know them on a personal level. 

As I saw tonight, the incredible things these girls are doing, it made me reflect a little bit. Even though I work super hard and have a lot to do in my callings at church, I still have time to improve myself, develop talents, and serve others. 

This is my goal, to focus on serving at least one person outside of my home per month. Once I do it a few times, it will become habit and I can then bask in the blessings of service, and share it with others. 

I love this gospel and I can't even express how grateful I am for the blessings and happiness it brings me. I can't imagine being happy without having the knowledge that I do of this gospel. It is true, and I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and he sent me these amazing young women to teach me, strengthen me, and help me. 

What more could I even ask for? 

Hello Dolly

Saturday Devin took me to a play at Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook Terrace. When we walked in, there was literally no one below their ninties in the entire room, so I was a little worried .. but oh my goodness it was incredible. I've loved plays since the first play I went to "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Theater with Devin and all of his family when we were dating. My favorite is still "9-5" with Dolly Parton :)

Speaking of how much Devin and I love plays, we are going to "Wicked" the musical when it comes to Omaha in May! I'm so terribly excited :))

Zoeys 1st Birthday!

Today is Zoey's first birthday, in dog years she is approximately 10-1/2 "years" old. We bought her a few new toys and a birthday cake. She's our baby right now, so we spoil her :) 

Happy Birthday Punkin!! We love you!

Scrum diddly umptious

Oberweis came out with their eggnog for the holiday season!! 

I know what you're thinking .. "Ew! Eggnog?!" ... But seriously I absolutely love it. 

I've never been able to find any that's been as good as Braums (an ice cream and burger shop in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri) ... But lo and behold, Oberweis Egg Nog. It's delicious, and I'm extremely happy, but I'm not going to go as far as to say it's better. Because it's definitely more expensive and breakable (see below) .. The container is made of glass, as to the reasoning of why it is buckled in -- Hold on tight Eggnog! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS .. ALMOST !!

Meatheads

I went to meatheads today for lunch with a few friends from work, and ate approximately 1,000 calories in one meal, but it was delicious and my tattoo is beautiful. Now just work off that 1000 calories. 

30 Days of Thanks

November 1, 2013: Day One

Today I am grateful for the 7 young women that were at my home last night, I'm grateful for their sweet spirits, their smiles, their jokes, the incredible insight they have, and for the happiness they bring to my life.

November 2, 2013: Day Two

Today I am thankful that my sweetheart came home safely from Omaha and that we have been able to spend one day together without having to do anything or go anywhere. I really appreciate these days we have together, because if know that someday when we have children that there will be no more days like this in our future!! :))




November 3, 2013: Day Three

Today I am thankful for an extra hour.

I feel like today has gone by sooo slowly, but in a good way! Usually on Sundays I feel like the day is over in a blink of an eye and suddenly we're back at work on Monday morning. But today has seriously been so nice, I felt like I had lots of time to get ready this morning, for dinner and relaxation in the evening. You'll hear many people complaining about Daylight Savings, but you won't be hearing a peep of it from me! :)

November 4, 2013: Day Four

Today I am thankful for missionaries. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve them, feed them, and feel of the spirit that they bring to our home.

November 5, 2013 : Day Five

Today I am thankful for a husband who is financially minded, who spent his entire evening budgeting out our income, bills, savings, etc. for our move to Omaha, because we all know I couldn't do it even if I wanted to! :)

November 6, 2013 : Day Six

Today I am thankful for my callings. I'm grateful for all the constant running around, meetings, activities, and phone calls I have to make because these Young Womens and Cub Scouts are worth every bit of running that I have to do and more. They bring such happiness to my life, and I am blessed immensely to be able to serve with the youth.

November 7, 2013 : Day Seven

Today I am grateful for a puppy who loves me unconditionally - who forgives me when I give her a bath or forget to take her on a walk. Dogs are truly mans best friend and I'm very grateful for my Zoey girl.




November 8, 2013 : Day Eight

Today I am thankful for good friends who care about me, make life and work a blast, and help me stay sane!!




November 9, 2013 : Day Nine

Today I'm thankful for my sweet little friend, Brooklyn Allgaier. It's incredible how such a small child can bring such a beautiful spirit. She came over to our house today to play with Zoey and she helped me pick out my outfit, shoes, earrings, necklace, and even my lipstick. Haha she's just too adorable. :)

November 10, 2013 : Day Ten

Today I'm thankful for motherhood. As I gave a lesson about knowledge today, I was terribly nervous/frustrated because I never finished college, and I thought I was the worst person to be teaching. However, we began talking about the important of a woman's knowledge so she can teach her children, and it touched my heart how incredible a woman's role is in the family and helped me remember the countless times my mother taught me and helped me. I can only hope to be as great of a mother as her someday.

November 11, 2013 : Day Eleven

Yesterday I was grateful for a dad who taught me to always be prepared. Because of that, I had an ice scraper in the back of my car instead of having to wait forever for my car to dethaw itself in the freezing cold rain/snow/sleet.

November 12, 2013 : Day Twelve

Yesterday I was thankful that when I work hard, it pays off immensely. I've never worked extremely hard on something and then have absolutely nothing good come of it - I am always blessed when I push myself to do my best!

November 13, 2013 : Day Thirteen

Today I'm thankful for the Personal Progress Program! I can testify that it is truly an inspired program. I'm thankful for my parents and leaders who pushed me to work on it because it taught me how to do things that are necessary as a wife, mother and woman that I may not have otherwise learned

November 14, 2013 : Day Fourteen

Today I am thankful for a day that's not filled with things to do. It's crazy how thankful I am for this simple pleasure, but man, I feel like I've been so busy lately that one day to just sit and work instead of run around like a crazy person .. that's nice.

November 15, 2013 : Day Fifteen

Today I am thankful for a roof over my head. I know I take it for granted most days. When I see homeless people out on the streets asking for money, food, or work .. I don't even stop to think how blessed I am to be able to have a warm, beautiful home, with the person that I love. I am truly grateful for the blessing of a home. And today - I officially own two homes. Nerve wracking, but I'm happy :)

November 16, 2013 : Day Sixteen

Today I am grateful for members of my church. I was sitting in the church building today, waiting for Devin to get out of a meeting, and two older men walked up to me and introduced themselves. They said, "Hi, my name's ____, what's yours? How's your afternoon? What are you doing out here?" .. Very interested in me, my day, and why I was sitting alone on a couch outside. I'm grateful for the love that they immediately had for me, their willingness to express that they cared, and for Heavenly Father sending me two old men to show me that there are still sweet strangers in the world. 

November 17, 2013 : Day Seventeen

I'm grateful that Devin and I were safe in the super strong winds, rain & storms as we came home from church on Sunday. It was terrifying, news of tornadoes all around us, but we made it home safely with no scares.

November 18, 2013 : Day Eighteen

I"m thankful for being taught about service. My parents always taught me that serving others was just the thing to do. After each tornado, my dad would load up his pick up truck with his chainsaw, and we would go remove trees from the roads so people could get through, we would help people. One time, I even remember finding a little snake on the road that I removed myself. :) I have such good memories of serving others because my parents were great examples, and I am grateful for that.

November 19, 2013 : Day Nineteen

Today I'm thankful for a sweet husband who takes care of me. Devin works so hard doing what he does, and he then comes home and has to drive through crazy rush hour traffic, which has to be super frustrating. I'm grateful that he's willing to do all of those things for our family. I sure love that man :) 

November 20, 2013 : Day Twenty

November 21, 2013 : Day Twenty - One

November 22, 2013 : Day Twenty - Two 

November 23, 2013 : Day Twenty - Three

November 24, 2013 : Day Twenty - Four

November 25, 2013 : Day Twenty - Five

November 26, 2013 : Day Twenty - Six

November 27, 2013 : Day Twenty - Seven

November 28, 2013 : Day Twenty - Eight

November 29, 2013 : Day Twenty - Nine

November 30, 2013 : Day Thirty

Personal Progress 'Late Over'

Day 1: 

Today I am grateful for the 7 young women that were at my home last night, I'm grateful for their sweet spirits, their smiles, their jokes, the incredible insight they have, and for the happiness they bring to my life. 

In my church, I am a leader over the 12-14 year old girls, and there is a program that we encourage the girls to do that helps them learn new skills, develop talents, and learn to be good homemakers, citizens, and women. So last night all of my girls came to my house, and another leader and I helped them pass off a lot of the different goals all in one night as we played games, ate junk food, and learned all about one another.

It was a late night for me, but we all had such a great time, the girls are so funny and all get along well, and I just love them to death. 

Happy Halloween!

Devin was in Omaha on a business trip over Halloween this year, so Mary came and spent it with me! We took some friends kids trick or treating in the rain, and then watched a scary movie and modern family while we felt like our stomachs were going to just die from too much sugar. We had a blast! 

I hope everyone else had a happy Halloween, and hopefully with less rain than ours!

Say What??

As I was Christmas shopping this evening, I pulled into this strip mall and guess what I found ...  

NOTHING BUNDT CAKES!!! 

Seriously, I've been missing this place since the second we left Sandy last year. But I'm gonna make sure I make good use of it while I'm still here!! 

I've been working hard!

I've been working on my new recipe blog lately ... 

http://www.despaindinners.blogspot.com

... Have I ever mentioned that I love designing websites? Well I do, it's what I do for work, I wish I could just do it forever, it's truly what I love to do, if I were to go back to school, website design would def. be what I study. 

Anyway.. Please check out this new blog, leave me suggestions and feedback, because I want this baby to do really well. 

:) Thanks guys!

Fall Festival

Boy am I glad that the Fall Festival is over. It has been a big stresser lately, especially today, but I've never been so relieved!

We had a fun time, ate lots of junk, and now we're home watching the World Series. 

We are burglars. Zoey being the cutest burglar you ever will see :)