December 10th, 2010

Here is the whole engagement story for those of you who haven't heard or just want more detail!

Friday afternoon I left Davis after student teaching and drove back to Danville. PJ was working out of the city that day. He told me his co-workers wanted to but it was really so he could pick up my ring! Anyways he got off work early and came straight to my house. I was wrapping presents and trying to figure out the rest of our night. In my mind it consisted of running some errands and working on my relief society lesson and talk, maybe watch a christmas movie. We were beginning to discuss these riveting options when Candace called and asked us to go over to Oak hill Park and measure the distance between the pillars for Melanie's wedding. We grabbed a tape measurer and headed out. I asked my mom to just leave my wrapping stuff where it was, assuring her I would be back in just a couple minutes, little did I know.

We drove over and talked about how happy we were that I was on winter break and then when we were driving past the park PJ started rambling on about someone living on the hill. I assured him he was being silly and we pulled into the parking lot. He said he had to call his mom and get more detail on what we were supposed to be measuring. I teased him for not figuring that out the first call, I had no clue it was really a tip for Candace to sneak off. We walked around the building and noticed that there was a table with roses and hot chocolate sitting out. I thought someone was doing something and was about to come back so I instantly wanted to rush and began measuring the poles.

PJ was not helping me and kept moving closer to the table and I kept telling him to leave that persons stuff alone and help me hurry it up. He didn't listen and kept telling me to come look. I finally walked over and saw that there was a card on the table that read "Courtney" but it still didn't click I thought "how weird their name is courtney too, now lets hurry this up". Just before I said that out loud PJ got down on one knee and I thought he was joking and apparently said "no". He told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him! I dropped the measuring tape I was still holding and kissed him!

Peej said that's a yes right and slipped my ring on my finger. It was gorgeous and everything I every wanted. I read the note he had written me and he started telling me all the secrets he had been keeping about the ring and the planning. We packed everything up and headed to dinner at The Little Pear in Blackhawk Plaza. We had gone walking around that plaza on our first date! We talked and ate and then walked around. It was fake snowing so we had fun playing around in that for a while! Next was back to visit each of our families and spread all the joy.

It was the most wonderful night I couldn't believe he tricked me so badly. I always thought I would never fall for anything, in fact just Thursday night I told Peej he would never be able to trick me! I'm so glad he could though, I love him so much and can't believe how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with!

To see the video click here

Talk Dodging

Apparently I am an excellent talk dodger. I don't know how I did it but somehow I have managed to avoid being asked to speak in sacrament for about 6 years. Mind you this entire time I was going to church, so some of you may ask how is this done. I'm not quite sure but I think it can be attributed to a few of my former church habits.

1. Sit in the back or very close to the walls (you blend in with the scenery)
2. Don't socialize very much, it raises expectation.
3. Travel quickly from class to class and use extra time to go to the bathroom.

Now for those of you who are thinking what on earth is Courtney rambling on for here is the punch line: it finally happened this Sunday I will be giving a talk. Lets hope it goes well because its also my Sunday to teach in relief society!

Turkey time!

This thanksgiving marked my first drive to Utah, my first negative 4 degree weather, first frozen christmas tree, first trip to temple square, and of course first thanksgiving away from my family! Here are the brief highlights:

At 2am on wednesday morning we loaded up the car and started our long drive to utah, we had to stop and put chains on and there was ice on the road so it took around 15 hours to make it there. The trip was spent watching movies, playing games, talking and of course sleeping.

sam is and excellent sleeper he can even do it with his eyes open!

Thanksgiving day was wonderful we spent time with al of PJ's family. 42 relatives where there so Gram's house was packed and it was some of the most interesting thanksgiving food I have ever had! Everyone was so nice and Jaicy and Ev even got to join in the festivities! we finished the day with an intense game of taboo, even Gram got into it.

Friday morning we got up and all of us young adults went to gap for some of the black friday madness and then out to breakfast. Later that day we went to get a christmas tree for Grams' and they were all frozen in little bundles so we just had to buy one at random. We went bowling at BYU and then PJ and I went to Temple square so I could see the church sights.

That night we went to dinner at PJ's cousins house with Mollie and Steve and a few of their other cousins and we played a really fun game that I will be spreading around with anyone who hangs out with me.

Saturday we woke up early and got all dressed up and headed out to the Draper Temple. Melanie was going through the Temple so Bett Sam and I did baptisms for the time being. It was really beautiful and fun except this old man thought I was like 13 and kept trying to set me up with random boys! After the Temple we went to lunch and then loaded back in the car and headed for home. After dinner in vegas, a few gas stops, one movie, and some napping we got back to Danville at 4am.

All in all it was a wonderful trip! It was so nice to spend the Holiday with PJ and his family just couldn't be more amazing! I loved every minute of it and was surprised by how beautiful Utah was. The one shortcoming was the extreme lack of pictures I took! I can't believe how blessed I am to have such an incredible boyfriend with such a loving and kind family!

Feeling Sheepish?

So for Halloween this year PJ took one for the team and was a sheep to my Little Bow peep! I think he secretly loved it especially since he sewed his own shirt and pants (I know he's such a keeper) Not to mention the fact he wore the whole costume to work Friday!

Before I continue on with the rest of this post on my Halloween fun I realized I have yet to write about my school week at all! The basic run down is student teaching for 1st or 5th graders during the day and classes almost everyday on top of that! Its way fun and crazy busy and most nights are spent talking to PJ like this....
I know right so silly but thank goodness for video chat or I might loose it here in Davis! Anywho back to the fun! Over Halloween weekend PJ and I went to the Johnson's party (see first picture) carved pumpkins with Aubrey and Phil

(can you guess which one is mine and which is PJ's) and made this awesome cupcake haunted mansion!!!
Then we had friends over to eat dinner and Randi and Chad taught us this awesome game that I want to play all the time now! All in all a wonderful Halloween!

Gertie Gets MARRIED!!!!

of course I forgot my camera again but her is a stolen pic from peej

This weekend was Emily's wedding! It was crazy busy and crazy wonderful!

Friday night all the Gals got together to live it up before her big day. We went to the Blatter's and ate junk food, played games, talked, and I embarrassed emily with some old notes emily wrote me in high school! An excerpt from one was "My husband better have good hands" Gertie assured us Dustin does! We had so much fun and lauren made this cute slideshow! It was grand getting a lot of the gang together again! I'm also obsessed with chelsea's baby bump and she tried to convince us all to by maternity pants. I think I'll wait on that one! After that party PJ and I hung out and stayed up way to late talking and (get your barf bag ready) being all in love with one another!

Saturday was such fun we did the traditional Blatter bathroom get ready and Kim, Katie and I headed out to get the flowers. They were beautiful and filled the car up. The off to the temple we went and awaited our bride and groom. Emily looked so gorgeous from head to tow and they both looked so happy! We all took some pictures and then Kim, Katie, Lauren, Jeff and I picked up Katie's friend from BART and went to pic up Dominicos for lunch. We went back to the Robinson's ate up and helped finishing up the final reception details. PJ came to help with the set up and was such an adorable helper! The entire yard was transformed with tons of white pumpkins, lights, flowers, candles, and white japanese lanterns. It was so great! The food was amazing especially the desserts and the photo bored was so cute. Of course I loved the dancing! All of the ladies tore up the dance floor and PJ's moves were to die for, he entertains me to no end! Of course my family also debuted some pretty solid moves, including the hussle by my mom, sis, and a bunch of other women, and a Michael Jackson duet by phlabry! My feet are still recovering! The whole night was finished with a beautiful sparkler send off. All in all it was an amazing wedding and I couldn't be happier for the bride and groom they are headed for one terrific eternity!

PJ's 25th B-day weekend

On Friday Peej turned 25 and the celebration began! PJ's parents were out of town for the weekend so I got to be in charge of all the birthday celebrating! On Friday I got out of class at 4 and drove back to danville! I stopped at Trader Joe's and Safeway to get stuff for dinner and headed over to the Andersens. We made some dinner and then PJ, Bett, Sam and I headed to the Danville Bowl!

Bett schooled us all and beat her personal best, Sam was a close second and I let PJ beat me so he wouldn't come in last :) After bowling we picked up a movie and headed back to the Andersens.
I didn't have time to make a cake and we couldn't find any birthday candles so Peej blew out a tea light candle on top of a mound of Muddie Buddies and Peanut Butter M&M's! We vegged out wrapping up a wonderful evening!
The next morning was the beginning of conference so I went over early and PJ and I made french toast! After the first session we went on a walk and made some waffle iron grilled cheeses (I know this weekend feels like it all about the food...it probably was)
Then more conference and PJ headed off to priesthood and I went out with Aub, T and the cravens. Then PJ and I made cinnamon roll dough for sunday morning and watched The Work and the Glory and picked up sam from his friends house and headed to bed early in preperation for conference sunday!

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early and headed out to the Andersens. I knocked on PJ's window at 7:30 to wake him up (he didn't want to get up a second early) and we finished making the cinnamon rolls and tried to clean up the house a little! We woke up Bett and Sam just in time for conference and Erin and Jared came over for the spiritual festivities! Then Aub and Phil joined up for second session

After all the conferencing was over we made dinner and a welcome home pie for the Andersen parents and finished out our wonderful weekend catching up with everyone. It was such a great weekend! SOOOO much good food, good company, and great spiritual messages!

It's Official!

What's official you may ask?

You'll never guess......... I officially can make anything out of duct tape!

Now I can see some of you disappointed at this amazing skill I have developed but give me a chance to explain my sheer awesomeness.

Last night I was swamped with HW to the point that even though PJ came up to davis for a visit I really only made time for dinner with him. The rest of his time was spent playing angry birds, watching me work, and reading over my financial aid paperwork. He handled it like a champ (I know he's such a keeper). Once PJ left I worked non stop and around 3am I had finished all of the written assignments and was on to the creative projects. The first was decorating a poem about myself. I cut pictures of my childhood into this cute bow shape and finished around 4. Then it was on to my literary history creative project.

For those of you who don't know I'm really only half moved my stuff up to davis. Only what I need day in and out and a few pictures. Now normally it all works perfectly but unfortunately it has me totally tapped out on craft supplies. So It's 4am and I'm looking around my room feeling totally lost when all of the sudden my multi colored duct tape catches my eye!

But what to do ... I know I'll make a heart shaped box to fill with the books I love

But can it be done..... o yes it can!!!!

and here is the proof!

I know I'm still in awe

Now I must admit my pride in this accomplishment is probably amplified by the fact that I'm running on like 45 minutes of sleep but please humor me!

Back to school already?

I know I know I'm a blog failure, but its not like my mom and aubrey ( the people who routinely acknowledge the existence of my blog) aren't 100% aware of my life already and just comment to keep up my moral! However i was going to try and be more on top of this thing and have just let it go to shambles so its time for an update! And in the true spirit of my blog I stole all of these pics!

so in an effort not to drag on, this summer I........turned 22 and lots of cool people came to celebrate with me...

...Went to the boardwalk and capitola as part of lauren and jeffs pre-wedding three day extravaganza...


....Acted like a crazy person at laurens bachaelorette party with the greatest girls I know
....Celebrated the union of Mrs. and Mr. Jeffery Thompson
...saw peter pan in the city! Tara and Camille were the cutest couple in the bunch!...
Went to family camp! yes me and my mom hauled those kids till our arms fell of and of course I ate my weight in pie and ice cream!And I think that sums up the big events! I just started student teaching and classes start in a little over a week and I'm in Davis all week and home all weekend! so Life is Grand !!!!!!!!!

All Growd Up!

Warning : I have be exceptionally bad at taking pictures of my life so thanks to everyone I stole these from!

Ok so I know that I am terribly out of date here but I promise to attempt to be better at blogging, I'll add it to my summer goals!So for starters I graduated college!!! Crazy right! My Mom, Dad, Grandma, Aub, and Phil came down for the celebration and it was super fun and totally hot!!! My ceremony was at nine in the morning and people were taking there robes off during the ceremony to try and cool down! We went to lunch after all the commotion and then my parents and grandma headed home but Aub and Phil got to crash with me for another day and relive that o so joyous dorm experience, which Phil never actually had during his college years! We went to the beach, hung out down town, and had the best clam chowder ever before packing up my entire life and heading home!

Then it was a brief stop back home before heading down to San Diego for the most awesome weekend ever!! It was full of bridal and baptismal bliss and the most wonderful people I know! We started off the weekend with some cut throat game playing (Literally), then a beach day complete with a night time bonfire, followed by the main events of bridal shower, baptism and baptismal party including some super awesome dancing!!! Then we finished off the weekend with a trip to the Mormon battalion museum and two excellent talks by Lauren and Jeff! Did I mention that I cried every day I was there! It was so wonderful and emotional in the best possible sense! I love all of these girls so much and they bless my life every time I'm with them! It seriously couldn't have been better! I don't know how I got so lucky and ended up with such wonderful friends who are also some of my greatest examples! I can't wait till Laurens wedding when I get to see them all again!Then it was back home for another few days then off to Santa Cruz for a surprise trip my dad had planned for my moms anniversary! The whole family was there which was soooo incredibly awesome! We went to the boardwalk (I have the injuries to prove I went on rides), we swam everyday, we went to the beach, ate lots of good food and spent quality time together! then on Tuesday me, my mom, Tara and my cute niece and nephew went to sky high which is this awesome room filled with trampolines! I wanted my niece do some of her gymnastic tricks and basically exhausted myself, but it was way fun!Those are the big events but my life has been filled with changes this past month and I am excited and nervous to see what will be coming up next! I'm so blessed and thankful for the opportunities I have to grow and am trying not to focus on how scared the unknown makes me! Hopefully I will continue to keep ya'll more updated!

Hello blog

So I'm really failing on the updates but here is my life in 8. points

1. My internship: its super fun in a multilingual first grade room and pretty much the most entertaining and challenging part of my week!
2. My classes: being in my last quarter and having gone scholastically crazy in all other quarters i get to take things like bowling and aerobic instruction
3. My job: now is when the freshman slowly loose all inhibition and go nuts (pray for me)
4. My eating habits: four years on the meal plan has basically killed me and i find chocolate is the only steady thing in my diet
5. My new car: its beautiful and red and I am scared to death that something is going to mess it up
6. My summer plans: still looking for a job and mapping out my travel plans.
   
7. My plans for next year: Its UC Davis for those who haven't heard and I'm working on the last paperwork, verifying prerequisites, and all that Jazz fortunately my beyond awesome cousin found me housing swapping for her place.
8. Graduation: its only 32 days till i put on my cap and gown

so there's my little life in short! more details to follow

My Senior project ( minius the 35 page part :) )

click here : http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbid=2554168&invitationToken=1W3ePM

Like Mother Like Daughter

For those of you who know my mom you can understand I jump at the oportunity to be compared to her. She a force to be reckoned with and is amazingly caring and spiritual. Her strength and determination has always been something I have looked up to. One thing you may not know about my mom is that regardless of her parents not attending a church she always felt the need to pray. As a little girl my mom memorized the Lords prayer, motivated by my very religious Great Grandma Helen, and to this day when she gets stressed out she recites it to herself over and over again. Apparently I have adopted some of this stress relief strategy. I don't use the Lords prayer, but instead find myself turning all of my thoughts into little prayers. For example when I would normally think "I'll head to the library and work on this assignment first" it now starts with a Dear Heavenly Father and ends with an Amen. I think there is something calming in feeling like you're continually talking to the Lord and even a comfort or affirmation that I'll be able to do what I need to. My mom, I believe, gets this same sense of security in those stressed out moments and thinking that I'm like my mom in this respect just makes me feel all the more capable!

All I want is a room somewhere...

For those of you who don't pay attention to my life I am an RA, its a generally pleasing job. You make great friends, learn a lot about yourself and others and while at times it feels like "being a camp counselor at a prison" (to quote some of my witty staff members) it has enhanced my college career and I don't know what i would have done without it!

However, there are some draw backs the one that is currently bothering me is my lack of kitchen!!!!!!
I love to cook and bake and being kitchenless can be utterly painful. I dream of being able to walk into a room with a normal sized fridge, cabinets, food that I actually want to eat and to be able to control what goes into it! This things while so normal have been absent of my last three and a half years of campus dining and I'm running out of things on the meal plan I'll actually eat! there is a distant light in the future in about 5 and a half months i will graduate! until then I'll just keep dreaming of ovens and blenders!