Christmas

Everyone loves Christmas time. After many months of not seeing my family, we came down to Texas to spend Christmas with the Green's. We arrived in Texas late Monday. We got home and to my totally astonishment, my parents redid the entire basement in out house. Let me just say that it is absolutely amazing, they did a great job. There is no carpet and our floor is actually the foundation concrete. They got a concrete cutter thingy and cut diagonal lines throughout the floor to give it the illusion of tile, it really does look amazing. All of the rooms have been painted and our rooms are completely different. I actually have a closet rather than those two huge antique wardrobes. And instead of my room being blue, green and yellow, my mom changed it to pink and green. Typical mom, she loves her pink. Well the next couple days we mostly just relaxed, so we could re-cooperate from our semester of college. On Christmas Eve was the day that we decided to open our present which was awesome cause we got to open them early. Jared got me a necklace, Sonicare toothbrush, hair clips, new socks and a new poof. I got Jared a new razor (cause he is always using mine). Some Old Spice products, and a new PS3 video game, oh and the Sonicare toothbrush was a double pack so he also got himself one, that goober. On Christmas day, we left for Arkansas to go up to the family farm. It was awful weather, especially Christmas Eve. It rained and snowed and it was windy, awful, awful weather which is what I wanted to get away from in Rexburg. As we were driving to Arkansas, because of the all the rain that they got, the highway was shut down. We had to take a detour through a small town in Arkansas. Man, talk about a complete shocker. There were houses and cars flooded all over the place, it was devastating to look at. I can not believe what they must have went through.

We finally arrived at our destination, only to find that our Grandparents have a new baby calf, about 2 and a half weeks old, that they are taking care of. So for the Arkansas trip we took care of a baby calf, supposedly her mom is unable to produce milk, so we get to feed her with a bottle. We named her Bubbles, and she has a friend who is about 3 months old named Rocky. It was fun to watch them. On top of that, my Uncle Scott shot a deer for my dad who wanted some venison. (Uncle Scott LOVES to hunt). So for the first time in our lives, Jared, Kalee and I watched him skin and process the deer. It was gross at sometimes (alright most of the time) but it was still pretty interesting.

On Wednesday, we had a family dinner. Many of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins came down to have dinner with us. My Aunt Jodie and Uncle Chris came down. I haven't seen them in 3 years or maybe longer. So it was awesome to see her and her family. Her kids have grown so much!

Thursday we are spending the entire time with our friends Brandon and Laura who are visiting us from San Antonio. We planned a date where we go to dinner at the most amazing Steak house. It is called Texas de Brazil. It is an all you can eat steak house that Jared has been wanted to go to again since our honeymoon. It is the best steak house in the entire world. We are so excited to go and we can't wait till Brandon and Laura get here.

College Life

Well I can definitely say that this semester has been a very interesting semester. This semester I was given the position of a Mother's helper. Pretty much that means that I live in a Family's basement and my rent consists of working 12 hours a week for the mother. We only had to pay a set amount of $80 for the month, which is totally nice. We saved a ton of money with this position. My job consisted of babysitting their 5 year old girl who went to a half day kindergarten from 9:00-11:15 in the morning. On Mondays and Fridays I would stay till 12:30 and do some cleaning around the house. On top of this I had all of my classes: Microbiology and Microbiology lab, Anatomy and Physiology, Economics and a Biology Major lecture class. My classes were pretty hard this semester.

As the semester went on my classes got harder and my Mother's Helper job wasn't getting any easier, pretty much it was going down hill since the beginning. Let me just tell you these people seemed like somewhat normal people when we first met them, but as I got to know them talk about some weird people. All of the children have some type of learning disability, the dad talks with a lisp and the mother favors one child over all the rest. Talk about the youngest girl being deprived of motherly attention, I could see just how deprived she was everyday I was with her. So figuring this out, I pretty much had to be the mother for her. On top of that that house was a complete disaster, a total train wreck. The kitchen is disgusting, absolutely no organization. I hated going to their house everyday. Well, the semester went on and I trudged through with my responsibilities as Mother's Helper. One week before Thanksgiving break, the two parents called me on my cell phone and asked for Jared and I to go upstairs and meet with them (We lived in their basement apartment that is separate from the main house, thank goodness). So Jared and I went upstairs and they told us that they are taking their daughter out of her kindergarten class and putting her into a specialized preschool because she was having a hard time with her ABC's. After that, they asked us to move out of their basement apartment by the end of the semester. Talk about not good timing at all. We gave up our Thanksgiving vacation cause we thought that I would be working, so Thanksgiving break wasn't what it could have been. We had to find an apartment, move out and then move in all within the time they told us and before finals week. Jared and I were not happy at all. So that night, we stayed up till who knows what time talking with out friend Laura Stucki and trying to find an apartment. Luckily we found a couple of possibilities that we went to check out that next day, within a couple of day we found the apartment we want. Yeah it sucks that we now have to pay for rent AND utilities. But we saved all this last semester so I think we should be fine. Jared and I are hoping that this semester will go much more smoothly.

Life with Jared

Well I can say that these first couple months of marriage haven't been the easiest on us, especially being newlyweds. Jared works with his father at a construction site in Santa Rosa which is 2 hours away from him home town, which is where I stay. Because it is such a long commute, the boys: Scott, Jared and Jake stay at the site and only come home Wednesday nights and Friday night to stay over the weekends. Because of this we only have been able to see each other 63 days out of a possible 109 days, I know it sucks, but we make do. Jared and I try to find alone time with each other whenever we possible can. We have gone camping twice over this summer and we had a blast. We went to McCloud campgrounds where there is ample opportunity to fish, which Jared loves to do. Supposedly they stock the river the trout ever week, who knew people did that. We went fishing everyday while camping, Jared fished and I read my book, the typical thing right :) Our first night we had foil dinners, second night fish and steak (tri-tip), third night fish steak and chicken. Yeah we were definitely spoiled. I even caught my very first fish, I was really proud of myself. So granted Jared and I don't have that much time with each other, but we do the best we can, whether it be watching a movie and cuddling in our room, or spending the day in Vacaville checking out different stores and looking at things we need to buy to complete our house, once we get there, which I am so excited for. Only 6 more days till Jared and I can build our home together and actually start our couples life. Even though our life is tough, nothing is better than being married to Jared and starting a new chapter in our lives.

Married Life

I love it!! Marring Kashari was the best thing i've ever done. Every day I wake up and cant wait for an opportunity to show her how much I love her. Some days I have to wait longer than others because of work. I stay in Santa Rosa during the week for work, so I only get to see her on wednesdays and the weekends. But sometimes she comes up to visit and stay with me at the trailer. I love those nights, this week she surprised me and was waiting on the couch when I got out of the shower. She's the best

Registering

Last week kashari and I spent the day together in Idaho Falls. We went to get the fittings for her brides maids dresses and while we were there we registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target. I always wanted to run through a store with a sensor gun zapping random gift ideas. It was a blast. At bed bath and Beyond the lady followed us around the entire time, and to be honest I didn't think I would like it, but we learned so much about cook wear, dishes and bedding, we ended up glad she was with us. I highly recommend registering, even if you're already married :)

The Proposal

After Spending the week in Texas we flew to California for New Years. We left on the 31st and arrived in California at 11:30. When we arrived in the airport, Jake picked us up and took us to the house. As we pulled in and got out of the car, I took Kashari around to the back of the house. As we made it to the back she noticed a few candles flickering in the breeze, and as we turned the corner, my dad was there, standing in front of the decorated back porch dressed up like a waiter. He showed us to our seats where the back porch was decorated with candles and roses on the table, chairs and floor. As we sat and got comfortable, dad brought out appetizers and filled our glasses. Everything was perfect. We finished the appetizers right as our meals came out. Fettichini Alfredo, Kashari's favorite meal, and it was made perfectly by mom. As dad finished grating fresh parmesan on our plates we said "eight minutes until midnight" as he secretly drooped the ring in my hand. Now I can say i've never been this nervous in my life, but as the clock struck midnight I told Kashari how much I loved her, and how life would be pointless without her. I told her that I loved her more than life it's self, knelt down on one knee, and said "Kashari Aubrey Green...Will You Marry Me?" Needless to say she said yes. She couldn't finish her meal that night because she was so excited, but since, has made me promise to make Fettichini Alfredo for our anniversary's to come.

Meeting the Family

Every christmas break since my mission I've threatened my mom saying, "You never know mom, I might be at a girls house next year" well this year was as close as I've ever been. School let out and we all headed home. I had to watch Kashari fly to Texas, while I geared up for the long drive to California. The longest two weeks of my life later I flew to Texas to see Kashari and meet the family. I've never been really nervous about meeting people, and to be honest I wasn't too nervous on this occasion either, until I pulled in her driveway. The week was fun and it was great meeting the family, and by family I mean lots of them, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Last but certainly not least I survived the three hour interview with her mom. We went out to lunch just her and I. We talked about everything you could imagine and by the time we finished I was ready for dinner, but in the end I guess I won because I'm the one marrying her daughter.

Girl meets Boy

It was a boring Sunday, September 7, 2008 afternoon. I was wearing my high school soccer playoff shirt and bright blue shorts, with my hair thrown up in a wild pony tail. Not much was going on, and school was about to start the next day. I was upstairs in my room chatting on facebook with all my friends that were still back in Texas and wishing I was still there in the nice warm weather. After about an hour of facebook, I decided that it would be a good time to socialize with my new roommates and get to know them a little bit better. As I came downstairs I suddenly realized that there were two boys that I have never met or seen before in my life, Jared and Jake Honsvick. It turned out that they were friends with one of my roommates and had just come over to visit her, little did I know that this was going to be the beginning of my life.

So, Jared, Jake, Ashley, Sarah, Jana and I all sat down in the living room and started talking and getting to know each other. Jared pretty much was focusing all this attention on me and was more into getting to know me than anyone else. He asked me random question, what were my hobbies, my favorite color, what type of computer I had and whether or not I loved the TV show Prison Break. I pretty much freaked when he asked me that because it turns out that I absolutely love that show. After several hours of non-stop questioning, Jared asked me on my very first date with him, country dancing. Not only did he ask me to go with him but he also asked my roommate Jana to come with him as well. I figured that if he was going to ask me AND another girl on the same exact date I was going to get something out of it. I told him that I would only go on the date if he paid. He said, ok and to meet him there at 7. Oh and get this he told me to get his number from my roommate, can you say lame? So that Wednesday came along and we went on our date, then more dates came up as we watched Prison Break together at his place. Weeks went by and things we going great. He asked me over for breakfast on General Conference Sunday, and at that point I knew that there was something about this guy that I needed to figure out. Not to long after, I decided that I should only be friends with him, that I wouldn't allow myself to fall in love with him. Maybe there was someone out there that I was suppose to be with instead, and I didn't want to lead him on. Those next couple of days were tragic, life was not the same without him and I needed to know why that was. Two days later, Thursday, October 16 2008, I got the prompting, my answer, that I was to hold on to him and wait for the next step. I text Jared and told him "Can I meet you somewhere? I have something I need to say that I think you are gonna want to hear." That following Tuesday, I was able to find my answer, thanks to the help on my soon to be brother-in-law Jake and to my Father in Heaven. From that day on, not a single day goes by that Jared and I are not together. I have grown to love him with more love than I ever thought possible. Every night I thank God for bringing me a man who loves me for who I am, a man who is patient, fun, loving, supportive and kind. He may not be perfect, but the one thing I do know is that he is perfect for me, and there is no one else who can or will ever replace him.

Boy meets Girl

September 7, 2008

My brother and I went to visit a good friend that we had grown up with. A few minutes after getting reacquainted, Kashari Aubrey Green, walked down the stairs and into my life. The moment I saw Kashari I think I fell in love. We started seeing each other about a week later when we got together to watch our favorite show, "Prison Break." Many nights I went to bed wishing I had made a move, something to show her that I cared. Weeks later I finally did, and it looked like life was golden; little did I know that the next two days would be the hardest two days in my life. I lost her for those days, and realized that was just the way life was for me. "Girls like that, don't date guys like me." Well, two days later I got a text; "Can I come see you? I've got something to say that I think you might want to hear." To this day I look at Kashari and ask myself why she chose me? I have always said that when I get married, my wife will be the smartest, most fun, best looking, most amazing girl on earth, and I don't care if you think so, or if your friends think so, because I'm going to know so. I don't know why a girl like that would want a guy like me, but every morning and every night I thank God that I have her because I know that he made her extra special, just for me. I realize that, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life showing her exactly how special she is, and how much I absolutely love her.