It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Here at the Condie basement apartment, we love Christmas. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Looking at the calendar today we realized that we have a full month of activities ahead of us...but first we have to survive finals this week. We can't wait for a break from school and to actually spend some time with each other and not have to worry about school.

It finally snowed here in Cache Valley, making it look more like the Christmas season. Of course with Christmas comes all the decorations and it has been so fun decorating out little dwelling. Now don't expect anything grand, however, because #1 we are still college students and #2 we live in a cozy (and I mean COZY) apartment. But below are some pictures of our apartment with the Christmas spirit.

Of course with Christmas comes the lights at Temple Square. After the fun and eventful Condie Family Reunion Thanksgiving in Salt Lake City, Garrett and I went to look at the lights in Salt Lake City with the Condie clan. You can't help but feel the true spirit of Christmas when you are walking around the temple grounds, looking at the lights and hearing the music.

Thrown into the mix of pictures is our most recent family picture that Garrett's aunt Lisa took on Thanksgiving. She is a fabulous photographer among many other things. We are so glad that we could get to be in the Ward family photo as well.

Christmas is truly the best time and year. We can't wait for Grandma & Grandpa Martin's Christmas Party, my Mom's Birthday (she's the best! And she's turning 48 on the 16th), Doughnut night, sledding, singing, and the Swenson Family Christmas Spectacular! I guess that's what I love most about Christmas; being able to spend time with family and recreating yearly traditions. What are you family traditions? Have a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!

I tried to do those detail shots that people do...obviosly my little digital camera didn't quite cut it. Someday I'll have one of those fancy cameras and you won't be laughing...

We love being able to have a mantle and fireplace in our apartment.

Our little tree, which it on top of a table to make it look taller. We have a tradition to get an ornament everywhere we travel. It's so fun to decorate our little tree and remember all the memories.

Jen, Jer, Skyler & Kendyll at Temple Square with us.

Ward Family (Garrett's Mom's Family)

Garrett and Sarah...not our best shot but you all know how good looking we REALLY are!


Condie Family

We're Thankful For Our House

2 Months in Pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So here is ourlife since we got back from Des Moines, IA in late August. We are glad to be back, but back in school is another thing... This picture above is us riding the Train at Lagoon. Over UEA (last weekend) we went with my family to Hogle Zoo and Lagoon for a fun weekend.

Abbey and Mom with the Elephant. Believe it or not it was farting while taking the picture. No lie.

John, Anna, Abbey and Cache on the Train. Cache was a trooper at Lagoon. We love going because it's Frightmares at Lagoon and the park is all decked out in Halloween stuff.

Pilot Sarah on the Flying Aces.

Garrett who flew his plane the highest.

The baby elephant is new at Hogle Zoo. She was just born. Her name is Zuri. Isn't she so cute?

The big daddy elephant.

You could never guess that this was Garrett's first time at a zoo...

They had these awesome hats at Hogle Zoo. I couldn't resist the picture opportunity.

NOW ON TO THE BIGGEST NEWS! We are officially homeowners now. On September 23, 2009 we closed on our house in Rupert. We are so blessed to be able to have a home and are excited to eventually move into it. Below are some pictures of the house. They are kind of old because we haven't taken any pictures of the finished product. I promise they will be up next week.

Master Bedroom and Closet

The darling Sante Fe doors up against the painted wall so you can see the contrast of colors

This is the living room. The front door is the dirty one shown in the picture. Now it's beautiful, deep colored, solid wood door.

The back of the house.

This is before all the exterior was done, but you get the gist of it. This is the what she looks like! We absolutely love it.

We asked if we could keep the port-a-potty, but they wanted it back!

Our fireplace. It now has tile around it.

The master bathroom. I love the big garden tub. I've missed getting to take a bath.

This is our laundry room.

This is the guest bathroom

Our beautiful mahogany cabinets.

These are our hand carved wood floors, covered in a ton of dust. Just imagine their beauty!

This is our kitchen. I can't wait to use the pantry in the corner and cook my little heart out.

Another shot of our living room with the fireplace. We had the mantle match the cabinets throughout the house to create a good flow.

We are so excited for our house. It's crazy to think we're homeowners. We will be moving in when we both graduate in the Spring. Until then it will be our little weekend getaway retreat. Thanks to Dean and Debra for taking pictures and keeping us updated all the time and to Jen for her drive-by updates on her way to work.

Now onto the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo. Since the day Garrett and I met, I have heard nonstop about the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo. Garrett even planned to come back in time for the fair from summer sales! I must admit that the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo wasn't a let down at all. I loved tasting all the yummy food (scones, maple bars, pretty much everything I shouldn't be eating) and watching the Wards show their Steers was great. My favorite part, however, was watching my own little cowboy in the rodeo. Garrett joined Wesston and Wesston's friend in competing in the Wild Cow Ride. The winning team gets a belt buckle and amazing bragging rights in Rupert and Burley.

The Wild Cow ride is nothing like I have every seen. A team of three has to chase down a cow, put a saddle on him, and ride it through some barrells. This is all while firecrackers are going off so the cows aren't too happy. I watched and screamed until I couldn't talk watching Garrett and the crew compete. And guess what...THEY WON! They beat out all the other teams. I am so proud of Garrett and his Strong, Muscley Body and the pride he gave me in telling everyone that my cowboy won at the rodeo. Here are some pictures of the event!

Here we are getting ready to watch the rodeo.

*notice Debra's peace sign*The Cassia County Fair is so great that we invited my parents and Abbey to come up to join in the fun!

Before the Wild Cow Ride began. As you can see Wesston and Garrett both have on their belt buckles from their previous win right before their missions. A lot was on the line this time around.

I am so proud of my Cowboy. They got new belt buckles worth $150. Notice in the above picture that my dad wanted to join in the celebration. He. Jeff Faux and Dean are going to do it next year...right?

Well the eternal post is over. Between all of these events Garrett has been working hard at Mount Logan Middle School while doing full-time school. I am working 3/4 time as a receptionist at the Dental Office and am teaching Aerobics and Pilates at USU. School is going good. I just turned in my graduation packet for the Spring today with Garrett. We're doing it...we're growing up. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes school, then comes a home...what's next?

A Much Needed Update

So much for my blogging every week! It's sad because I have all the time in the world out here and for some reason I just keep putting it off...like I have anything else to do. In order to officially update all 5 or so of you who actually look at our blog, I am going to do a top 5 list of things have have happened since the last update:

1. We're coming home! We have enjoyed our time in Reno and Des Moines this summer but both Garrett and I are aching to be back in Logan and Rupert to see our families and get back into the usual swing of things. Since our car's untimely death we have decided to fly home instead of hitchhike. We will be leaving Des Moines on Tuesday, August 11 and are excited to have 2 weeks of summer before school starts.

2. Our house is getting closer and closer to being done. We've heard that the sheetrock is up and shingles are on but don't have any pictures of that yet. Garrett's parents, Dean and Debra, have been so sweet to go check on our house every week and send us updates. Here are some pictures they sent about 2 or 3 weeks ago of the outside of the house. It is further along now and when Garrett and I get a chance to go to Rupert we'll update the pictures.

3. I have a new job. When we get back to Logan Garrett will return to Mount Logan Middle School where he is a hall monitor/snack giver-outer an I will be back at Dr. Jensen's dental office as the secretary. However, every Monday and Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 at night I will be teaching step aerobics and pilates at Utah State. I am so excited for this opportunity. Many of you may not know but I became a ceritified personal trainer in April and so now I'm putting it to use. If you are ever around come to one of the classes. It should be fun. Also I have another blog titled For A Fitter Life that you should check out. It's just a blog where I'll post information about having a healthier lifestyle and improving on fitness. I just started it so hopefully it will begin to get some traffic.

4. Garrett has done awesome this summer. With the tanked economy, selling alarms hasn't been a breeze, but Garrett has risen to the occasion and completed his goal for the summer. I am so lucky to have a husband with so much drive and ambition. I know that I will never have to worry about being taken care of. Garrett is a go-getter...the best husband there is.

5. It's time for the Condie duo to run another half marathon. Earlier this summer Garrett and I registered for the Top of Utah Half Marathon, right after we'd completed the SLC half marathon. This time around it should be a good one considering all the training we've been doing *notice the hint of sarcasm*. With Garrett's work schedule we haven't had time to properly train but regardless we're putting on our running shoes and doing that dang 13.1 miles even if we have to crawl. It's August 29 so maybe we'll see some of you there are you run past us...trust us, you will. Time doesn't matter, right? Just the feeling of completing it.

Well that's about all that's happened in our world. Thanks for all the love and support everyone gives us as we're so far away from home. We can't wait to see you all and pick up right where we left off.