...It's been way too long!...

Ok, Jill. Here is an update!!!!



This is a picture that Randy's cousin took up in Dammeron Valley, where Randy's mother lives and it's about twenty miles away from St. George. We were showing him around the town because it's a planned horse community and there are lots of pretty horses, nice homes, mountains and hills. Just PRETTY!! Anyways, he loves to take pictures and when he saw the sunset, he asked if we could drive up and take pictures. The best part is that this picture is hardly photoshoped. It was just so pretty. I love UTAH!

Two weeks ago it was our dog, Jizzo's birthday. He turned 3. So we took him down to the new dog park, which we now take him multiple times a week. He had so much fun. As you can tell in the pictures. :)



He is usually way more active than these pictures show. He loves that place. We are gonna take him to the park tomorrow.































Well, after we took him down to the dog park on his birthday we made him a cake... :) I opened a can of tuna the other day but then realized that it was in vegetable oil. EWw, gross. So we took the tuna and cut one of his bones in half and placed them inside... and sang "Happy Birthday." Yes, I know, we sang to a dog. Ha.


























Ok and the last thing is we put up our beautiful christmas tree. This is our first christmas married but we were together last christmas and so we went out and bought christmas stuff at 75% off. It was so nice. Here are some pictures of the progress. I took some pictures with all the final decorations but for some reason I was like seizuring while I was taking the pictures because I couldn't get one that wasn't fuzzy.



So, there is a little bit about what's going on with us lately. We are just living life and trying to survive. I graduate hair school in about 3 months so i'm super excited about that and hopefully I pass my State Board test the first time and then I can work immediately after I graduate!! :)

Blogger

Please help me....

I want to keep my blog address so it's still thedemkealliance.blogspot.com. but I dont want to sign in with my old address anymore. if i deleted my account but saved all my post and like redid it all. like if i deleted thedemkealliance will it be immediately available to use again so i can like redo a account with it but with the right email address to sign in with. i dont want to sign in with one email and then have my messages sent to another. make sense? HElp>?

Huge Costco Savings and a Naked Man!!

Okay, I'm going to keeep this short.

Randy and I went to costco yesterday. We bought paper towels, toilet paper, brown gravy mix, dog food, hash browns, pancake mix, plates, bacon, and oatmeal.

We have a American Express Costco Card so we get a yearly rebate on purchases we have made. Okay?!

So we also had a huge 45lb bucket of wheat and a big thing of Otter Pops. We were trying to decide if we wanted to spend the money for them. We didn't want to spend more than $60 dollars after our rebate was used which was for $64.05. So we said if our total goes above $120 w/o the wheat and otter pops then we wont get them. So we get up to the register and the cashier rings up $111.43 and deducts the $64.05. So the total was $47.38. But then Good Ol' Randy Boy pulled out a Rebate that expired in 2007 which means it was from purchases made from Feb. 2006 to Feb. 2007. A long time ago. He asked the Cashier, "Do you think you guys would take this?" She said," Umm..." and she calls over a Manager, the manager says, "Wow, that is a long time ago. But SURE we'll take it." (We later found out that she was a real good friend's mother. I love connections.:) The expired rebate was for $44.06. So it dropped our out of pocket price to $3.32. Wow right? I know.... Tell me we're amazing!

We decided since we were only gonna pay three bucks to definately add on the wheat and otter pops. So we did and ended up paying only $31.11 for all of that stuff. Also included in the prices are also Manufactured coupons which made us have even more savings.

We were so shocked and super excited. We thought well while we are here let's get gas. We pulled up behind an SUV to use the behind pump. (Making sense?) All of a sudden, Randy says, " Oh wow, Baby, don't look.!" Of course, I said, "What?" and looked. Some Foreign man DROPPPED HIS DRAWERS right in front of my car. I saw his man package and all. It was so gross!!! I couldn't believe people do that stuff outside of the their car. HAHAHA! Couldn't he have gotten a Indescent Exposure Violation?!?!

I Want A BABY!!!!

The other day Randy was at a job and the home owners had a little baby girl. Randy thought she was so cute so he took a picture and text it to me and ask "Can I take her home?" Of course, I said "Heck yes!" (P.S. For those of you who don't know, I want a baby like super super bad.) Anyways, so today I was at my Cousin/Sister Mary's bridal shower and there was a baby and it was just so cute. I held her literally the whole entire shower. Tee hee! I sent him a picture and asked him if I could bring her home. Lol. So naturally I want a baby even more! Ha. Randy thinks I am so silly for posting this blog.

But so what!!!

Transformers

So I, Nikki, went to see Transformers opening night. Randy was up in Salt Lake and I really wanted to see it so I ask my mother to come with me. She was like "a midnight movie?" Anyways, she came with me. We really liked it. It's action packed and funny and all. Here is a picture of the Optimus Prim they had outside the theaters doors.


So finally after the two and a half hour movie, I had to pee so bad. I was worried I wasn't going to make it to the restroom. But I did. I came out to see my mom waiting to get more popcorn but they had already cleaned things up so we just started to walk out the theater and go home. Well, my brother-in-law and his wife came to the movies too and so I was like, "Oh, I wonder if their behind us?" So, I looked back and didn't see them but then I saw this guy and I thought, " Weird, that guy looks like Randy." So I took another look and then had to take another double take after that. And, OH MY GOODNESS, BY GOLLY. It was Randy. He totally got done with work and 9pm and drove all the way home from way up North and drove straight to the theater and waited a whole 30 minutes for us to get out of the theater. I was so shocked and all night I kept saying, "I can't believe you came home." I kept hitting him for not telling me and then hugging him because I was so excited and I missed him. ( To explain, i've been sick, stuck at home so it was a boring day without him and not being able to talk to him because he was so busy with a "big job."

And then ALL of a SUDDEN it hits me.............I DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH NOW!!!! NOR DID I HAVE TO WAKE UP EXTRA EARLY IN THE MORNING AND WATER THE GARDEN!!!

That was when I got even more excited. My mother, who stays at our house on the weekdays, said , " I'm gonnna plug my ears tonight!" Lol. Oh man, I was just so excited to see him. Ha. I can't believe he didnt tell me. Ha. The funny part is that I heard like an engine and I asked him, "Oh, are you still driving to your room?" and he said, "No!" So I thought he was just outside talking to me and cars were driving by. Ha. How dumb am I? Then he called me back and I asked him how much more work he had to do tomorrow and if they were going to make it home and he said all these big construction words that probably made no sense to what he was doing but I wouldn't know any different and he said, " Oh, well it's really complicated and very hard to explain." HAHAHAHA.

Anyways, It was just so awesome. I love him so much and I was so happy to have him come home. He worked so hard to get done and then drove all the way home just to be with me and cuddle with me. I am so grateful to have him. :):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Gardening....Zion's....Bread Making

Okay. I know that after we haven't posted for a while, I get on and finally say, Hey guys, I'm sorry.....But I really am. HAHA

I have reason this time. (I'm sure I've used that excuse before too.) But. Look. Randy and I have built a garden. Well, Randy built it but I planted everything, (except one little brocolli that Randy planted, that I thought was a weed and pulled it out!)Sorry love!. Anyways. We are having so much fun with it. These pictures are only one side of the garden. We still have another side to build and we need to get started on it. But here is a list of some of the things we have growing.

Veggies:
- Brocolli
- Green Onions
- Sugar Snaps
- Cucumbers
- Pickled Cucumbers
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers
- Jalapenos
- Onions
- Carrots

Herbs:
- Lavendar
- Thyme
- Mint
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Cilantro
- Sage
- Parsley

Who knows what we are going to put in the other side. Already what we have planted is so much for just two people. Ha. Oh well, those of you who live near us will definately recieve some goodies. :P Here are some pics.









Beautiful, isnt it? Randy is amazing and he did a very good job in building this. I am so proud of him. He is such a good worker. If you want any tips of gardening let us know. This new method that we are doing is so amazing our garlic starting growing less than a week after we planted it and now look at it. ( It's one of the close up pictures.) Anyways I know I mentioned that I had to weed but I rarely have to. We made our own soil and It's really awesome. Anyways, if you guys want any tips let us know. This is the greatest method and it's so amazing how well it works.

On Saturday, we went up to Zion's National Park. It is amazing how close we are to such a popular place. My father-in-law is probably the most embarrasing person in the whole entire world. Almost every person that was walking by, he was guessing where they came from. I know it sounds silly! Lol. Anyways, I was just amazing and how people come from all over the world to enjoy these National Parks and we just said Saturday morning, Hey, Let's go to Zion's today. It's insane. Here are some pics.









One last thing, my mother-in-law is the best home-making, do-it-yourself fabulous lady. She is really big on the gardening and has taught Randy and I what we now know and she is big on bread making and all those kinds of things. So I asked her yesterday to give me her bread receipe and to teach me. So she did. and Last night Randy and I made pretzels. They were really good except that I cooked them too long so they were a little hard. But hey, it was my first time. Last night we also noticed that the house on the culdasac that's kinda like behind us (because we live on the corner of a somewhat busy street and a culdasac.) and it was really late so I didn't want to walk over and welcome them. So this morning, I called my sister Christy over to make bread with me with my mother-in-law receipe and we had lots of fun. Caleb and Natalie love our dog, Jizzo. It's funny to hear the things Caleb says to Jizzo and to us about Jizzo. We made two loaves of bread and I was going to eat one and then give one to Christy but then I saw the new neighbors moving in their things. So I wrapped up a loaf and walked it down to them and welcomed them into the neighborhood and told them that if they needed anything at all to let us know. I told them and Randy is a good handyman so if she needed anything he would love to come help. ( Oh, it's a single mom and her two kids.)Then on my way home I saw the little old lady's house that lives behind us and I thought, " Ya know we haven't seen us in a while so maybe I'll take the other loaf to her. So I did and we talked for a bit. With the other dough, I made pull apart cake. That didn't work out so well because my dough balls were too large. But It's okay. I'll work on it and next time will be better. :)

So that is what's new with us. We love to do things together and this garden has been a huge blessing in our lives. It has brought us closer together and we have had so much fun doing it.

Just a little update of us KiDDO's!!!

I feel like I just posted but then I looked and realized that it has been 6 days since then. Time is seriously slipping out from under my feet. Everyday goes by so fast. Can you believe I've been married for 5 weeks already? I feel like it just happened last week! I keep getting told that every year of marriage it goes by faster and faster. I'm a little nervous! If our first year is going by this fast, what is to come? Next thing we know, we are gonna be all wrinkled and old and people are gonna be feeling sorry for our old crippled lives. Uh, oh! ( I hope Granny isn't reading this!.. I love you Granny-Boo, your my favorite ever!!!)

Well, Randy is working like crazy. Everyday until like 6pm. or so. It fluctuates but it's usually after I get out of school which is 5pm. Then two days a week, he goes over to Biolife and donates plasma. The extra cash certainly helps. We are praying and hoping that work is going to continue to be busy. The economy is certainly against us at this moment. But hopefully, we can work together to make us all succeed. It's been really hard financially for us. Since I was laid off of my job, because of the economy, Randy has had to make enough money for his bills as well as mine. We are trying to figure out what more we can cut back but it seems like there is nothing else. This last month was really hard with the wedding and honeymoon. Randy took so much time off that we were feeling the effects of it.

PRAY FOR US! WE NEED IT! :)

And for me, I'm still going to hair school. Still got another eleven months of it. Seems like forever but I'm sure it will go by fast. I love it but it's hard not working and bringing in an income. But soon, I will. Randy is going to build me a little home salon in our office. So I can still work while we have kids and I can stay home with them and still have a career in something that I love to do. So I'm excited to get started with that project. I think Randy is just excited as I am about my schooling. I think this is because his sister went to the same school so he is excited for us to do the same thing and have lots in common.

Oh, yeah! and.... I think I broke my toe on Sunday. Randy and I always go to his dad's for Sunday Dinner then to Hatch's to visit and of course, the Hatch girls talked us into walking down to the Virgin River to play. We weren't planning on getting wet until we got down there and saw how much fun it was. So we changed into some shorts the girls had and went swimming. Well there are tons and tons of rocks so our feet were hurting so bad. I think maybe a few tears were released from Randy's eyes. :P Then on our way back to the house. I went up to scare the girls who were walking ahead of us and , by golly, stubbed my toe on the back of one of their feet. Now, I know it doesn't sound too bad but my foot has been swollen and insanely bruised since then. I have missed two days of school this week and the other two days I limped around and by the end of the day my feet were so fat, you would have thought I was pregnant. It's a good think my honey loves to make me feel good. He has been giving me nice feet massages. Good kid! :P

Man! This was supposed to be a little update. I swear I can never post small. It seems as if I always have to write an essay or two! Ha.

We love you all and love to hear your feedback and comments. Your the best! :P

Newlyweds!!!

I know it's been forever and a day since we last posted. But we have an excuse, really!! Planning for a wedding takes up your time. Then the honeymoon, very busy! :P and then coming home, trying to get back into the groove. We got home on a Sunday and on Monday, we both had to wake up a 6:30 in the morning and get ready for school and work. We haven't really had a break since then. Last night was our four week or one month anniversary. We were so shocked that it has already been a month. Time has gone by so fast. We went out to dinner at this new Brazilian restaurant. I was so excited to go this restaurant especially since Randy went on his mission to Brazil. He always talks about how he doesn't remember the language. Can you believe it's been six years since he has been home? Of Course, he has forgotten the language when he hasn't used it for 6 years! I can barely remember what I wore last week. Anyways, I highly recommend this restaurant. It's called Made in Brazil. Very, very good and the people who work there are so sweet. I felt like everyone spoke portuguese, many of the meat servers went on Brazilian missions and one guy is from Brazil. They had portuguese music playing and tonight they are having a live band and having what they call is a carnival. (If we had've known that then we would have waited until today to go. Lol. Anyways, these last couple months for us have been really hard. Since I lost my job in January and Randy hasn't been working barely at all, we haven't really had the money coming in to pay our bills. And then when some money comes in....it's immediately gone to bills. :( Sad, I know! But we are okay. We keep praying and hoping that work will come in. and Viola! Every since the day we got home from the honeymoon, Randy has been working all day and quite late. It's kind of hard because he works so hard and late that when he gets home he is so pooped out. So for those few weeks after the wedding we were struggling so hard but now we are doing much much much better..... Just thought i'd keep ya'll updated on that aspect. The Honeymoon was amazing. It wasn't too long nor too short. Friday and Saturday night we went to Vegas and spent the night at a Resort. We have this travel share thingy. Then Sunday morning we got up early and drove to San Diego. It was nice to be able to drive a long time and just talk. It was also really cool because we drove through the areas where Randy grew up in California. So he would tell me where he lived and little stories. When we got to San Diego, we checked in and just relaxed. The next day we got up and went to the San Diego Zoo. It was way cool. Just to see all the different kinds of animals and whether they were endangered or not. The next day, we went to Sea World. We loved the Dolphin Show and the Shamu Show. We definately got drenched. :) The next day we went to old Town San Diego. There is a Mormon historical center but they were remodeling it so we weren't able to see it. But lots of Mexican food and cool displays. Thursday, we woke up and drove up Highway 101 to Oceanside. It was so awesome to drive along the beach. In Oceanside, our resort was right off the beach. Our view was amazing and we were right near the harbor and the pier. We went to this cute little 50's diner at the very end of the pier. We felt as if we were in the middle of the ocean. We went at sunset and got lots of pictures. The trip was amazing and I hope one day we can go back and enjoy that time together again. Our wedding was beautiful and we are so grateful for our families and all those who attended. We are so happy together and we are happy to have the example you all place in our lives.

I'm trying to put together a slideshow but I am not very good at it. I think the file is too big. I'll let ya'll know when we get it.

Waxing...

So about two months ago, I decided that I wanted to go to cosmetology school. So I enrolled, got a student loan and my first day starts March 16th. Well, since this decision has been made, Randy and I have been talking about how we are gonna survive the next year with only one income. We decided Top Ramen is the answer.

A couple weeks ago, I went to my hairstylist and got a mani and a pedi and then my eyebrows waxed. Well, for those of you who don't know, Randy and I text all the time. I mean, when we are with eachother we don't text but the minute we leave eachother, messages are sent. So the whole time I was at the salon, Randy and I were texting eachother and I made the mistake of mentioning that I was getting my eyebrows waxed because when I got home Randy mentioned that he wanted to wax his back before the wedding. So we went to Sally Beauty and bought applicators and strips and borrowed wax from his sisters. We went then got a call from my mother to go out to dinner and then go to the mall and go shopping. So we did and told them all of our good idea. So we went home and got started on the waxing. I was so excited because I knew this was gonna hurt. I know that sounds so mean but any guy who ask to get his back waxed deserves the pain. HA

So we started the waxing. I started to feel a bit bad when I applied the strip and was rubbing it. I asked him if he was ready and......







LOOK AT HOW RED HIS BACK IS!!! I felt so bad. I couldn't help but kiss it better. But I also couldn't help laughing so hard!!!