YOU'RE A WINNER!!!

I'm sure that all of you have received one of those classic postcards in the mail from the local dealerships saying you have won a prize at least once in your lives. Well, Jeph and I must be pretty lucky because we get about one per month. And I am sure most of you look at it, see it they are just trying to get you to buy a car and throw it away. Well not us! We always take our card to see what we've won. Jeph loves to walk in tell them we are not interested in buying a car and that we are only here to collect our prize just to see the disappointed look on their face and one last attempt to talk him in to some great sale they are running right now! So far we have won three Walmart gift cards (each worth $5, so we're going to keep saving them up til we can make a big purchase), and two 1gb MP3 players.

Someday we hope to win one of the bigger prizes, like a vacation, or the $2500 Walmart giftcard, or the $25,000 cash reward. Luckily they keep sending them to us so we'll see what our luck brings us next month. In the mean time, both Jeph and I already have MP3 players so if anyone is in need of a 1gb, be sure to let us know, I think we could find a way to spare one or two of ours.

Anyone Noah Plumber???

Monday morning as I was just about to walk out the door to go to work, I heard the sound of water running somewhere in our apartment. Much to our surprise, it was raining. Unfortunately the rain was not from the clouds outside, it was from the upstairs neighbors’ toilet overflowing directly into our bathroom. So for most of the morning we stood under our rain cloud catching as much of the brown water in our buckets as possible to prevent more damage then necessary. For some reason the plumber thought it would help to keep flushing the toilet to unclog whatever was causing this problem, but it really only increased the flow of water into our apartment. In the end, we were informed that a piece of carpet had somehow found its way into the drain pipe which had been creating a dam sending all the flushed water back up the toilet and down into our apartment. After a morning like that, I decided to take the rest of the day off and clean up a little. Though it was an excuse for a much needed day off, it is the last thing I would have chosen to do if I didn’t have to go to work.

You're Simply the BEST!!!

For Jeph and I, there are quite a few holidays to celebrate this week: we’ve been married for 6 months now, Jeph celebrated his 22 birthday, and then of course Valentine’s Day. In honor of all the holidays I decided to come up with 10 of my favorite memories from the past year spent with Jeph!!!

10. Las Vegas: Last March we took a few days off to go down to Las Vegas and meet up with some old friends. We got so lost while we were driving around and it was all my fault. Jeph now hates Las Vegas but the good news is that we did find Simmons Street while we were wondering around. As for the rest of the vacation, it was filled with two very exciting Dave Matthews Band concerts and hanging out with friends we hadn’t seen for a while.
9. Clean checks: At the beginning of last year I lived in the college apartments in Provo. As we all know college apartments have wonderful clean checks before you can check out at the end of your contract. Well the last day that I was to live there my key to the apartment ended up missing and I hadn’t done any cleaning and some of my stuff was still in the apartment. So come 9:00pm when I finally got off work I went to check it out and there was Jeph with my key in my apartment finishing up all my clean check assignments. What a sweetheart!
8. Engagement: Jeph and I had talked about getting married last year and August had come up as our planned date. Well, the months just kept passing and it kept getting closer to August and still no proposal from Jeph. I was starting to get worried because after all it was June already. I finally told Jeph that I would have a summer wedding so either it was now or next year, but he’d better let me know as soon as possible because this was ridiculous. He gave me assurance that we would get married this summer but that I needed to be patient. He knew my sister would be in town and that would be the only chance I would have to go shopping with one of my sisters so he gave me permission to go look around with her. We looked and somehow we found a great dress at a great price and couldn’t resist. I bought the dress and yet I still had no ring to prove that I needed it. Well luckily that night Jeph took me on a special date to the Jordan River Temple grounds where there was a picnic all set up and he finally proposed.
7. Jeph’s return: Just two days after Jeph proposed he and his family left for their two-week vacation. They would be gone until the end of June, leaving us just 5 weeks from the time he got back until the wedding. Well, I did as much as I could over those two weeks to keep myself busy with wedding plans and work but I still missed Jeph more than anything. I think one of the most glorious days from the past year was the day that he finally returned. I was so happy to have him back and I didn’t want to let him out of my sight. (And he looked like such a babe!)
6. Wedding: Of course, it would not be a good list if our wedding didn’t make it somewhere on here. What a great day! It was so beautiful and we were surrounded by family and friends and everything went so well. It was simple and beautiful, just like I wanted. And of course how great is it when you get to marry your best friend for eternity! (I’m not going to lie though, the sealer had me lost for a good portion of the ceremony, asking all those questions that I didn’t care about at the time, all I wanted was to get married but finally he got to that and I was happy!)
5. Gorge: Our first family vacation. Though this trip had its rough spots, overall it was very enjoyable. I would also like to thank Mike and Mike for the fine entertainment on the ride there and back. We got to stop in Missoula, Montana to see Beth and Andy and also witnessed Trevor proposing to Marianna. And the highlight for some would have been the Dave Matthews Band Concerts but for me it was great company, my first camping experience in the last five years, and Mike laughing so hard he threw up.
4. Coffee table: When we finally got our cable all set up, I became addicted to HGTV. I love it!!! They are always fixing things up and doing way cool projects. Well Jeph and I decided to embark on our own little fix it up project. We went to the DI and found a cool coffee table but unfortunately it was painted this green color that we didn’t like. We decided it would be worth it to buy the table, strip the paint and repaint it. Well after days of stripping the paint and repainting the thing, we finally finished, unsure if the adventure had been worth it. The table is far to big for our small living room and might have been better left at the DI for someone else to find and love. But in the end, it doesn’t look that bad and we had fun completing the project.
3. Christmas: Jeph spoiled me this year!!! We set a limit on how much to spend and Jeph spent way over the allotted amount. I ended up with a keyless entry / remote starter for my car, which has proven to be one of the greatest inventions ever, and a cool ZUNE MP3 player, and many other great treasures. It was fun to get each other presents and to just spend the holiday season together!
2. Tire day: See previous post!
1. Jeph’s birthday: Because Jeph had gone all out for me on Christmas, I wanted to do something great for him on his birthday. I thought about the things that he loves most in life: Dave Matthews Band, Utah Jazz, and me, and decided this year would be a Jazz year. I got us both Jazz jerseys, Korver for Jeph and Boozer for myself, pretty decent tickets to the Jazz vs. Chicago Bulls game the day before his birthday, and dinner at Benihana’s. It was fun to take Trax downtown (which reminds us both of Russia so it is tradition that we only speak Russian while riding) and totally surprise Jeph with both dinner and the game. And then topped off the night with a big hug from Marcus and a few rounds of roller-skating. Happy Birthday Jeph!!!

Jeph, thank you for a wonderful year full of fantastic memories! я тебя люблю!!!

Oh, what a day! (It might take awhile)

After watching the funeral services for Pres. Hinckley this morning, Jeph and I set out to accomplish our list of Saturday errands for the day, we never expected what was to come. First on our list of errands was to have both of our cars registered, which consists of having the inspection and emissions testing done, since the registration supposedly expired January 31 and we wanted to be good law abiding citizens. Well we took it over to the friendly neighborhood Napa Auto Center just across the street where they do on-the-spot registration renewals. They were very kind and told us it would take about 45 minutes for each car so we decided we could just walk to K-Mart and then across the street to Walmart to look around while we were waiting. K-Mart was pretty uneventful and I hadn’t eaten all day because we didn’t have any milk for my cereal this morning so I was starving. We walked over to Arby’s and had a nice lunch and then went to Wally World. As we all know, it is very difficult to “just look” at Walmart, and the same was true for today. We gathered our found treasures (including milk and a filing box) and headed out the door. Jeph had a wonderful idea: instead of carrying all of our stuff back across the street to where our cars were, we could just walk to the back of the Walmart parking lot, where so conveniently located is our apartment, drop the stuff off, make some phone calls and then go back and get our cars. As we approached the stairwell of the apartment, it was only then that we remembered that both sets of keys were with our cars and our cars were not with us, therefore, we had no way of getting into our apartment. Luckily Jeph had the key to the storage unit outside out apartment, and not wanting to carry everything with us back to the car shop we decided to leave everything but the milk in there and just leave the milk out side since that would be cooler.

And since we could not go in we might as well go back to wait for our cars. On the way back, I saw three icicles hanging on the over hang of the carport right where I park my car and not wanting them to fall on me or my car later, I decided now would be the perfect time to jump up and hit them off. I did so and as I jumped up to hit the third icicle, a car came driving up and undoubtedly saw me jumping up to knock down the icicles. I felt silly and just started walking to where Jeph was waiting so we could continue our journey. The car drove by and the passengers waved and smiled as they passed. Luckily I did not recognize them! So we walk all the way down the street to the cross walk just to cross and walk all the way back to being just across the street from where we started. We got inside and talked to the lady at the desk to see how the cars were doing. Just then I stuck my hand in my pocket and my cell phone, which I had placed there earlier, was gone. Where did it go? I had no idea. I last checked it at Walmart and everything was fine. Did I walk past someone who stuck their hand in my pocket and stole it? Did it fall out? I don’t know!?! AAAHHHH!!! Where did it go? At the same moment, the service man was telling us that we would need 6 new tires in order to pass emissions. I didn’t care I was too busy retracing my steps from Walmart to the car shop in my mind. I tried to remember every face that I might have passed and if I had bumped into someone who could have easily reached into my pocket, then it sank in. I knew exactly where it was. Jumping, falling icicles, falling cell phone.

Yep! It was the only thing that made sense (not to mention this had happened before but luckily I was in my apartment when I realized my phone was gone and not across the street, temporarily carless). So I have a pretty good idea of where my phone is but the thought of walking all the way back to the cross walk and then all the way back to the apartment was not appealing at the time. Luckily the lady overheard the stressed tone in our voices and told us that one of the cars was in a position that could leave for a minute. I decided to stay to hear the quote for the services of the day while Jeph cruised over to the apartment in search of the cell phone. A few minutes later Jeph returned, Venita’s cell phone in hand; cold, wet, and working a little slower than usual, but I was grateful to have it despite the condition. Well, I was right, it was right where I left it, in a puddle of water, being dripped on by the newly forming icicle in the same place I had just knocked the others down from. So an hour later, now waiting for the new tires, Jeph starts playing on the floor with the foam building blocks, who could resist?

After a few minutes the guy comes out and says to Jeph, “Um… sir, do you want to come with me so I can show you this other problem …” Jeph reassured the man that he wasn’t too busy and he could come see what was going on. After the demonstration, we resumed position in the waiting room to endure what ever else may come. As we sat, Jeph pointed out that you could see the reflection of the cars driving behind us, on the vending machines in front of us. The funny thing about it was that one of the machines had a convex front and it made all of the cars look really short. Needless to say we laughed really hard, and had a good time watching the circus like cars drive by. So almost four hours, six tires, a cell phone scavenger hunt, and foam building blocks later, we finally made it out of the car center just to find out I need to take my car back on Monday to check the alignment and then to the DMV to get my new Utah plates and registration. At least we were able to laugh about it all and have a good time. We finished the day off attending a concert of the local Murray Concert Band (for Jeph's school) and then dinner at the local Chinese buffet place (greatest invention ever). What a day!!

"Life is to be enjoyed...

This morning, Venita and I had the wonderful and memorable experience of going down to the Conference Center and attending Pres. Hinckley's viewing service. It was a very solemn experience and the feeling was that same warm, comforting feeling I believe we all felt when we heard of his passing. He was a great man who lived a great life. He truly LIVED a great life and created experiences rather than just living from day to day, accepting life and adjusting as it passed like so many of us. For Christmas this past season, we recieved a very nice stone slate that now stands on top of our entertainement center with the quote "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured" -Gordon B. Hinckley. He was a perfect example of this as he was a man that lived what he believed. He will be greatly missed, but I know I'm not alone in the comfort that I take knowing who he is with and what will happen here with us. We are all in good hands and the church will continue to progress.
As we were getting ready this morning, Venita found this video on her sister's blog. I decided that it wouldn't hurt posting it here as well for those who haven't seen it. Glen Beck was already one of my favorite CNN political analysts but he scored some more brownie points with this one.

Simmons Family Picture!!!

She passed!!!!

We're so proud of Venita today! She has been so worried about this test that she's had to take ever since she got her new job with DCFS of Utah. It's a test to certify her as a Licensed Social Worker and she's put it off for several months now. Finally after some moderate coercion, she finally signed up to take the test. She studied a little and was nervous about her success but she came home this morning with the good news that she got a 73%!! (for those of you who think that's not very good, 70% is passing)So now, we get to license her and with that comes a raise!!
Congratulations Venita! You are so amazing!!

Kami on New Year's Eve

Jeph and I were so lucky that we got to go see Kami at the airport just before she flew away. It was great to see her and she looked so good. What a perfect way to spend New Year's Eve, visiting our little Kami one last time. However, the visit was much too short, we barely had enough time to take one picture and then she had to be on her way (poor Jeph didn't even get to be in the picture with us, unfortunately).

One year older and wiser too...

Today's blog might be a long one but one I would like to share. It has been a whole year as of today that Venita and I left for America from that vast distant land of Russia and what a year it has been. Missions are often referred to as the “best 2 years”, but that should only be true until you return home. The following 2 years should be even better, and as life changes and progresses, so should your “best 2 years”. This year has definitely been the best of my life so far as I have been able to grow with Venita and have had the wonderful opportunity of taking my best friend as my wife. She is my sweetheart, my love, my life, and there is no one I'd rather spend this past year with and no one I'd rather spend eternity with. I never knew that someone could actually make me feel complete, but she is the one that completes me and gives me reason for living. I love Venita with all my heart!
Some people however, look at our love and judge us simply because we met in Russia. I wish these people would be accepting of us and be happy for us and our love. It's something I'm sure we'll face all of our lives in the Mormon culture since we met on the mission rather than at a BYU singles ward. It's too bad that people jump to conclusions and are quick to judge without knowing us or our relationship. In my opinion, the mission was a perfect place for Venita and I to meet and we both know that we were placed in such circumstances and later blessed because of our obedience to laws set before us. Venita and I are very proud of our history and proud of the knowledge that we maintained an appropriate friendship while missionaries and the Lord blessed us because of our obedience. Getting to know Venita while on the mission taught me a lot about her and let me see certain qualities that are very important in a relationship. Because we developed a strictly formal friendship first, we have a relationship based on our common interests, values, and goals. I developed great respect and admiration for Venita because of her integrity, personality and spirituality which provides for a strong, deep foundation for our marriage.
I love Venita with all my heart and can't imagine life without her. She is my everything. Despite what others might say about us, it is comforting to look back this past year and a half and see the Lord's hand as He guided us, blessed us, and answered many prayers. I know that Venita was meant for me, and I for her and I am truly grateful to the Lord for providing what I believe the only way for us to be where we are today. I love you Venita! Thanks for the past year and I look forward to endless others with you in the future!
I realize this might be a little cliché but this is just for you V!!
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night
Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

Merry Christmas everyone! May the birth of our Savior inspire all of us to be better Christians and serve and love those around us.

The Scrapbook

For our wedding we were given this amazing custom designed guest book from Lynnette.

She did such a great job making the pages look so professional for our friends and family to sign so that we will always remember who came to our open house and reception.
When we got all of our pictures back from the photographer, we wanted to put them in a scrapbook.

So instead of making a separate book, I decided to just add to the guest book because there seemed to be plenty of space remaining in the book.

After working on the book for the last 2-3 months, I think I am finally finished.

I was surprised that I finished so soon but I think that is all thanks to the Jazz games that come on 2-3 times a week and because I told myself I couldn’t start any other projects until I finished the scrapbook.

I know Jeph was happy to finally see the coffee table and living room floor again!

But I just thought I would share some of our favorites with everyone.

Unfortunately, the binder has grown too small for our cute little guest/scrapbook it won't even close all the way.


But we still love it!