Our Home

So Justin has been anxious for people to see our apartment. I think he said Emily particularly wanted to see pictures of it. So here are a few pictures of our little home that we've lived in for the last six months. It definitely has its quirks, but it's roomy, lets in lots of light, in a nice neighborhood, and it's within our budget.

The bathroom
the living room

the kitchen (sorry about the clutter, I think we just ate lunch when justin took the picture.)

The Lost Wedding Files

So when our photographer gave us the cd with our pictures on it, we couldn't access all the ones with Justin and his family, and a few other ones. We were tired of dealing with our photographer so we didn't say anything to her about it, we just figured we'd deal with it. However, yesterday I was on campus trying to do somethings, and I tried the cd there, and lo and behold the missing pictures were accessable. So here are a few that I really liked.

The Justin and Jill Story

I decided there are not enough pictures of Justin and I on here so I'm devoting this entry to the history of us.
We met through our singles ward. Justin was ward mission leader then later became elders' quorum president, and I was RS president so we got to know each other through ward welfare and ward council meetings. He thought I was cute so he volunteered to set up my technology for a RS activity I was having. After that he threw me a surprise birthday party...my first ever surprise birthday I might add.
Then we started going on dates. Below is a picture of us on our second date...we went on a scavenger hunt, made rice krispy sculptures, and then watched, oh yes, a family favorite on both sides: the Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts.
Our courtship consisted of two months (much to our surprise; we'd thought we'd date at least a year). We liked going on walks, playing with my silly roommates, running away to Wyoming, going to Montana for the 4th of July, and having breakfast picnics in front of my apartment.

We got engaged on July 24th, 2007 in Las Vegas. he proposed on the Las Vegas temple grounds, and then we went to his house for cheesecake and sparkling cider. I flew out the next day for a five month long distance engagement...sick.
We were married on December 22, 2007 in the Logan Temple, and we are oh so happy together. Just earlier today I told Justin "I can't believe how perfect we are for each other." Well, I guess that's our story.

Mesa Falls

Well we took a little trip to Mesa Falls. These huge waterfalls are located northeast of Rexburg about 45 minutes away on Henry's Fork of the Snake River. They are so beautiful. We didn't take a picture from the lower falls so these pictures are only of the upper ones. Amber was staying with us then, and although she didn't let me take a picture of her, she thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the falls and the magnificent picnic I packed.

Baby Name Contest

So far Justin and I haven't really talked a lot about names for Baby yet. We still have time, but I am scared to death of naming our baby something and then regretting it later...wishing that we had named Baby something else. So I thought that I would let other people contribute to our baby naming task. If you have favorite girl or boy names just add your little comment or send me an email. The person who wins the contest is the one that suggests the name we choose. Your reward will be the pride of knowing you suggested the name we chose. The sad thing is everyone might lose because we might not like any of the names you suggest and might just make up our own. But give it a try...you might win!

Here are some names that I like.
Madelyn
Sarah
Elizabeth
Carrie
Rachel

Mason
Samuel
Daniel
Justin likes the name Aaron...but I'm not really a fan.

Justin says:
I like the name Joseph but Jill doesnt like the name "Joe" so shes afraid he'll be called that (if its a boy that is)
Jill replies:
I never said that I didn't like the name Joseph or Joe...I said I liked the name James but not "Jim"

The Man of My Dreams

I was thinking yesterday about how lucky I am to have Justin because he is practically perfect for me in every way. While thinking about that, I decided that my friends and family might not know how wonderful he really is since we haven't been able to spend a ton of time with them. So I'm going to tell you more about him...Hopefully he doesn't care when he finds out...

BASIC FACTS

Born: January 5, 1985

Where: California

Home town: Modesto until ten then to Las Vegas

Family: Middle child of three, little brother and an older sister

Major: Health Science

Emphasis: Occupational Safety and Health Management

Height: 6'4"

FAVORITES

Person: Me

Time of Day: When I hug him when he gets home from work

Restaurant: Craigo's Pizza Buffet

Cookie: Emily's chocolate chip

Juice: Apple

Holiday: Christmas

Music: Coldplay

Children's Books: Chronicles of Narnia

Things to do together: read a good book, star gaze, or have a good talk

Hobby: Shooting (not hunting just shooting)

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS

nearly always sleeps on his back with arms and legs spread out

likes everything to be pre-washed before he uses it the first time

makes really good homemade chicken alfredo pizza

sings very well

doesn't like dancing

insists on playing Christmas music even before Thanksgiving

loves popcorn made over the stove

enjoys a good documentary on pretty much anything

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT HIM

(not in any particular order)

1. very kind and patient
2. silly as all get out
3. good listener
4. compassionate
5. humble
6. pure heart
7. most adorable smile
8. big loud laugh
9. big strong hands
10. clumsy as me if not worse
11. loves to learn about the most random things
12. selfless
13. doesn't tickle me because I hate it
14. gets me beautiful flowers
15. does the dishes
16. listens to me babble on at night even though he's tired
17. thinks of romantic dates for us to go
18. let's me use his razor
19. kind to other people
20. let's me watch lots of girl and horse movies if I let him watch a boy and dog movie every once in awhile

CUTE THINGS HE HAS DONE FOR ME

1. bought me flowers for mothers' day
2. made me a birthday cake and decorated the house for my b-day
3. took me to get ice cream at the new dairy place as a surprise date
4. randomly makes me breakfast in bed
5. gets me little debbie snacks
6. sends me cheesy e-cards
7. rubs my feet and back when they are sore
8. made me green eggs and ham for breakfast in bed on St. Patty's day
9. turns the light on for me when I'm scared of the dark
10. waits on me hand and foot when I'm pukey...and pretty much the rest of the time too

Picnic

So yesterday I kidnapped Justin after his chem lab and took him on a picnic. We played frisbee and Justin barbecued some meatballs and chicken and hot dogs. And we went for a little walk around the duck ponds. How romantic...Oh and to top off our romantic evening, we were surprised by fireworks. We couldn't figure out why they were lighting them off, but then my friend told me later that it was because the new half of the hospital had it's grand opening. Random to have a huge firework display just for the opening of the hospital, but we enjoyed the show.
Our picnic excursion was really good for me because besides going to the library the day before, I hadn't been out of the house for two straight days, and I was going crazy. I almost wrapped a stuffed animal up in a blanket and put it in the stroller we just bought and took it for a walk. But then my honey decided to come for lunch so I was saved from my last resort.
I've also been doing some family indexing to fill up my time. It's pretty fun and easy, and I feel like I'm contributing to other people's genealogy when I do it, so that's my new hobby. If any of you want to sign up to do it, you should it's super easy and you can do it whenever and for however long you want.

Camping in the Dead Trees

So Justin and I went camping last night along the snake river about 11 or 12 miles away. We had the whole campground to ourselves. It was quite a pretty place despite the fact that all the trees were dead. Yes, weird as it sounds, all the trees in the whole campground we're dead. I have no idea why. The grass was really green though.
We had a good time making tin foil dinners and walking around. And there were some crazy birds. At the first light of day they went off like an alarm. Ducks, geese, woodpeckers, robins, you name it and they were all chirping at the top of their lungs. I've never heard so many birds in my life.