Day 30... last one!

Today I'm thankful that I get to go to dinner with Matt tonight and that we get to spend some time together.  Life has been a little busy for him recently and I've missed being with him all the time.  I'm also thankful that November is almost over because now I don't have to keep writing thankful posts and it means that Christmas is coming!!  Yay!  Thanks for putting up with the grateful posts for thirty days.  I'm glad I finally got to do it, but who knows if I'll do it again.

PS- I missed two days so on those days I was thankful for the temple and for beautiful weather.  I hope that's good enough haha.

Day 29

I'm thankful for all the love I felt on my birthday!  I'm thankful for the yummy cake I got to eat thanks to the best sister in the world and most importantly... I'm thankful that I got to feel special to Matt today.

Update on the 1st ever haircut adventure...

It's always been a goal of mine to learn how to cut hair decently so that I could save my family a bunch of money by cutting my husband and sons' hair.  With that said, Matt and I bought a hair cutting kit from Costco like three months ago and didn't touch it.  We had his sister Sara's friend come show me what to do and then we kept putting the first cut off until just a few days ago.  Here's how it went down...

First Matt was nervous and I was excited.  Then Matt was anxious to be done and I was nervous.

We didn't have a cape so I had the "great" idea of having him put a plastic bag on (It's not the best idea.  It really doesn't help that much... it just makes you look ridiculous haha).

FINALLY... an hour and several hair-infested pieces of clothing later we had the finished product.  I was very proud of myself.  You can't tell in this picture so much because his hair wasn't styled but I didn't butcher it!

So basically, life is still good.  I didn't die and Matt's hair looks pretty good if I do say so myself!  

Day 28

Tonight I'm thankful for this delicious-looking banana bread I get to wake up to tomorrow. I just hope it tastes as good as it looks. Don't fail me now 33 cent bananas!

Day 27

I'm grateful for "Parenthood".  It's kinda my new TV obsession.  I've never gotten too into a drama before but I really like it.  Call me girly and unoriginal... I'll accept that.

Funny Moment...

Today one of my kindergartners told me that all they wanted for Christmas was me.  I don't exactly know how to take that, but I'm glad I'm at the top of my class's list haha.

Day 26

I'm thankful that my students' behavior was back to normal today. I was getting tired of their crazy Halloween and Thanksgiving moods.

Day 25

I'm very very grateful that my first haircut on Matt is over! I'll fill you in tomorrow :)

Day 24

I looove the holidays!  I love everything about the holidays and even though I usually hate decorating and listening to Christmas music before my birthday (next Thursday), I gave in this year and I'm loving it.  I am definitely feeling jolly right now.  I've already listened to Michael Buble's Christmas album and Matt and I bought a tree today so life is pretty great.  I'm starting on our stockings soon too!  Oh I'm just so excited to make gingerbread houses and cookies and everything else!  ANYWAY, today I'm grateful for the holidays and for the awesome husband I have to spend them with :).

Day 23

I'm grateful for good deals and for a husband that is a good sport about going shopping with me... I love black Friday!

Day 22

I'm thankful that Matt and I had a great first Thanksgiving together as a married couple! I'm thankful that we could spend the day with Matt's sister Stephanie, her husband Nate, and their daughter Eliza who we have so much fun with. I'm thankful for the awesome food, for our families in Mesa, and I'm thankful that my banana cream pie turned out great! Happy Thanksgiving :)

Day 21

I'm thankful for relaxing days like today :)

Day 19

Today I am grateful that I only have two days of work this week.  I love my class, but I am sooo grateful that I get a break.

Day 17

So three or four years ago one of my roommates, Daily or Da-haily as I like to call her, gave me a Belle cup for my birthday.  I have loved this cup since day one and every time I drink out of the twisty straw or spin the cute little heart on top it makes me so happy.  Today I am grateful for my Belle cup.

Day 16

Today I'm grateful for Lysol. All my students are getting sick with the flu, pink eye, and everything else so that stuff sure comes in handy.

Day 15

I'm grateful for these little kiddos that make every single day an adventure.  A couple days ago we put on a fall program for the parents and the school.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  Unfortunately the video got cut short because of my lame memory card.  Anyway, my favorite parts start around 6 minutes when the kindergarten teachers take over leading the kids.  Enjoy!

PS- My class is wearing orange pumpkins :)

The video isn't working :( ... I'll try it again later

Day 14

My little brother Dave stayed with us last night while he was in Provo for a job interview at the MTC (best of luck to him!).  Basically he was the biggest "nicey" ever because while Matt and I were at work and school he did our dishes and cleaned up our house!  I felt really bad for leaving it so messy, but the last few days have been a little crazy so today I was grateful to come home to a clean house.  Someday that boy's going to make a girl very happy...  I'm glad my mom taught him so well.

Day 13

Today I'm grateful for my happy little home.

Day 12

Today I'm grateful for nights when I come from work and get to eat a yummy dinner, relax, and spend time with Matt. I even read a part of a good book tonight :) Life is good.

Day 11

Today I am grateful for my in-laws. Matt grew up in an amazing family and I am very grateful that I now get to be a part of that great family. I am thankful for their love and for how accepting they have been. I'm grateful to be a Calton :)

Day 10

Sometimes when I think about how blessed and happy I am, I realize it's the little things in life that make me happy. Today I'm grateful for the little things. I'm grateful for tim tams and for funny moments and warm sweaters. I'm grateful for all the little things that make life so great.

Matt looking all dorky in my boots... it cracked me up when

 I saw him like this.  I thought you'd enjoy it.

Mmm Tim Tams slams 

Day 9

I'm grateful for Arizona. Yes I know I'm living in Utah but that's the point. I am not loving this snow stuff and I'm really excited to go to AZ for Christmas. I actually think the snow is pretty but today I froze my fingers trying to get the snow off my car and then I slid on the ice, so needless to say... I miss Arizona. Hopefully someday Matt and I will end up there or somewhere else warm. Until then... I'll be roughing it in this crazy weather.

Day 8

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be a part of my family, but I absolutely love them.  They have always been such great examples and they have always helped me make good choices.  Now that I'm getting a little bit older I feel like it's easier for all of us to relate to each other and I love it!  It's so fun to get calls from my siblings and my parents and just hear about how things are going.  I am so grateful for them and for their huge amounts of love and support.  They truly are amazing people and I am so glad that we are all such great friends.  Let me tell you... there's never a dull moment when you're with the Schmidt clan.  The bottom picture is of our most recent family adventure in Coronado, CA.  It was Matt's first time on vacation with the whole crew and I'm pretty sure if you asked he would say that life with the Schmidt's is tons of fun and a little crazy.  Luckily he fits in pretty well :)

The world's greatest parents

Schmidt family + Brodie, Aidyn, baby Clara, and the real David (not the cardboard one)

Caramel Brownies

A week ago or so I made caramel brownies from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Everything I've ever made from Mel's has been great and this recipe definitely wasn't a let down.  It's the perfect fall dessert.  Matt and I topped it with some ice cream and it was delicious!  Ok great, I'm craving it right now.  Hm... maybe I'll make it again tomorrow and THEN I'll start a diet haha.  Here's the link.  http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/06/caramel-brownies.html

Day 7

Ever since I was little my sister has been one of my very best friends.  She is an incredible person and she is such a great example to me.  Today I'm grateful for my hilarious and awesome little sister.  I'm grateful that she keeps me company every Wednesday when we go grocery shopping and I'm grateful for the great sister she has always been.

Day 6

With the temperature slowly dropping, our house has been getting pretty cold.  Luckily I have the best husband who bought me some new cozy socks!  I love my new socks.  Today Matt was laughing at me because I pulled my socks up over the bottom of my pants but it's because it makes me happy when I look down and see them :).  Today I'm grateful for my fuzzy socks.  Everyone should buy them... they could probably make the world a better place.  

Day 5

I am so grateful for my job.  Yeah sometimes it can be stressful and a little crazy, but I am very blessed to work at such a great school.  My students are stinkin' hilarious and adorable and I just love them.  I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given and for the joy that my students bring into my life.  They definitely make every day an adventure.

Day 4

Over the summer when Matt and I first rented an apartment together we were living in a place that four girls lived in in the the fall and winter.  In case you didn't already figure this out... we were sleeping on two beds pushed together for three months and there was often a big ol' crack down the middle of our "bed".  Needless to say, I didn't especially love that crack so now that we have our own suuper comfy bed I never want to get out of it.  Usually I have to get up by 6:30 everyday, but today (with the added bonus of a little daylight savings catch up time) I got to sleep for a glorious nine hours (not counting my nap I just woke up from :) ).  Sooo... today I'm grateful for our super comfy bed.  Thank you "Mattress Dealzzz".  Although I still think your name is somewhat ridiculous... thank you for bringing our family a little closer together (aka about 6 inches).

Day 3

I love shopping. It's been a while since I've shopped a lot, but sometimes I love walking through stores just looking at things. Today I did some errands while Matt was studying on campus and Kohl's had Christmas music playing. Normally I'm not one to go for Christmas music before my birthday (right after Thanksgiving) but between this experience and buying a bunch of Christmas stuff at the awesome sale at Joan's I was in a very happy mood. Today I'm grateful for the joy that the Christmas season brings and I'm grateful for the awesome deals I got :)

Day 2

Today I am especially grateful for Matt. We've known each other for over six years now and he has been my best friend for almost that long. I have always admired Matt and often found myself thinking that whoever ended up with him would be one lucky girl. Matt is one incredible guy and I am one lucky girl to have him for eternity. I'm very grateful for my awesome new husband :).

30 Day Gratitude Challenge: Day 1

Every year I see people post about 30 day challenges, etc. and I never get the memo until after they've started (or finished for that matter).  Luckily I was on Facebook today and noticed a 30 day gratitude challenge... challenge accepted.  Hopefully this isn't too boring for you as a reader, but I'm going to be posting about something I'm thankful for for the next 30 days.  

Day 1:  Today I want to start with some of the most important things.  I am very thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and I am incredibly grateful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It's hard to imagine life any other way, but I truly am so happy with my religion and my beliefs.  I am grateful that I am a daughter of God.

Fallin for Fall

     I love fall!  It's always been my favorite season because it's right before my Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Christmas, but it is especially beautiful here in Utah during October and I have been loving it.  I was a little upset when it snowed a couple weeks ago, but I'm ok now because the temperature is back up to the 60's :).  

     Ever since I moved to Provo almost four years ago I have been wanting to go to Cornbelly's up at Thanksgiving Point.  I bugged Matt about it all last year so this year he promised me that we could go (I guess sometimes persistence pays off haha).  He's a trooper and we had a great time.  I think our favorite thing was the kettle corn we bought.  Mm!  Just thinking about it makes me want to go back and get some.  Maybe I'll attempt to make some sometime. 

Us with the corn dude.

 Our hayride (ride?).  We were surrounded my little kiddos and the guy that 

took our picture failed to get any of the hay so it doesn't exactly look 

like we're actually on a hayride, but I loved it.

When Matt and I were going through the Obama & Romney corn maze

 he told me to go one way so that he could meet me where the paths

 met up again, but the next thing I knew he was creeping through

 the corn stalks trying to pop out at me.  He eventually was running towards

 me... it was stinkin hilarious. Life is so much more fun with Matt.

     A lot of people don't like Halloween, but there's something about dressing up in dorky costumes that I just love.  Matt is a little bit of a Halloween Scrooge, but he loves me and he puts up with the nerdy costumes I pick out for him.  I've realized that I can't ask him what he WANTS to dress up as because he won't ever say anything (other than maybe a ghost... he always brings that one up haha).  Last year Matt and I dress up as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story...

And this year we dress up as....

 Where's Waldo and Wenda 

      We had a fun time at our first ward trunk-or-treat party together.  I'm sure there will be many more to come but it was fun to go together as matchees :) and meet new people.  We handed out a bunch of candy to some kiddos, ate way too much white chili, and watched out bishop dance gangnam style which was quite memorable. 

     After all the fun in Provo we headed up to Matt's sister Steph's house and stayed with her cute family and went to "Boo at the Zoo" in Salt Lake.  It had been a long time since I had been to a zoo and I loved it... especially the baby giraffe!  I asked Matt if he would buy me one, but I think you can probably guess what the answer was to that question haha.

Eliza in her cute owl costume.  She was strapped a little tight in

 her stroller so she looks a little awkward but she sure is a cutie.

The owl in her nest

The adorable giraffe babe

We love her.  Matt always talks about how he misses Eliza.  

:)

I also might have put Matt's costume on Eliza :)

     Matt and I also celebrated our six month anniversary last Saturday (October 27th)!  Part of me feels like it's crazy that we've already been married for six months, but the other part of me feels like we've been married for a lot longer than that because it's hard for me to imagine life without Matt.  I know this sounds super cheesy, but the last six months really have been the best months of my life.  Matt is so good to me and I am soo happy.  ANYWAY, Matt and I went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Shoots, to celebrate.  It was up at the Riverwoods in Provo and they were having some big celebration so it was fun to walk around with all the lights, fires, and little stands.  We had a great time and I even got my free mini candle from Bath & Body Works that I claimed on Facebook haha.

      On the way home we stopped by Target to buy something fun and irresponsible with some of our gift card money, but all we left with was some pomade for Matt's hair and some sweet fuzzy socks for me.  I do love my socks, but it was a pretty lame "irresponsible purchase" on our part... we'll have to work on that for next time :).  

Shoots

 Happy six month anniversary to us!

Culture Night: Colombia!

     So Matt decided a couple weeks ago that we should have a Colombian feast for dinner sometime.  I had been thinking about how it'd be fun to start having a culture night every month so I thought it was a good idea.  Anyway, we had a Colombian feast with our friends Mike and Ally (Matt & Mike served their missions in Colombia together) and it was really fun!  Together we made bandeja paisa and we even got decked out in our Colombian jerseys to get into the spirit of the evening. I quickly learned that Colombian food takes forever to make (and it's suuuper fattening), but it was worth it to see Matt so excited about everything.  

Team Colombia

This my friends is bandeja paisa: ground beef, chorizo, 

chicharrones (fried pork skins), plantains, pinto beans, 

rice, fried eggs, and a chunk of avocado.  I was sooo full.

Hopefully we'll get going on having a culture night once a month or so.  I don't know that we'll be in matching jerseys every month, but stay tuned!

Teaching, Crafting, and Chicken.

     Sometimes teaching five year olds can be a little exhausting.  At first when people told me that I was a saint for teaching kindergarten or that they could never do something like that I thought they were just trying to make me feel good.  Now I'm starting to see what they were talking about.  I love my little kiddos and that makes my job fun, but it's hard to be spunky and happy all day every day... especially on days when you don't feel well.  Luckily, I have the cutest class in the world.  See for yourself.  This is why I teach...

     Balancing being a "great" teacher and a "great" wife has been a little rough for me because I always feel like I'm slacking in one department.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now, but I'm really grateful for a patient husband.  Sometimes after getting home from a rough day at school, the last thing I want to do is spend a bunch of time cooking and cleaning so I've been simplifying my cooking style by boiling and freezing shredded chicken.  It saves me sooo much time.  Anyway, last weekend I saw an awesome one day sale for chicken so I went down to Macey's to buy some and let's just say the ad was a little misleading so I ended up walking out of the store with 20 pounds of chicken!  Here's a pic to prove it :)   Let me know if you have any great chicken breast recipes haha.

     I've also been trying to balance my life by doing something for myself which basically means... being crafty :).  I should probably start exercising more so that I can actually fund my addiction (Matt & I made a deal a while ago), but that's besides the point.  Here are a couple projects I've done recently for our little apartment we love... 

 First I made pillows which was my first REAL project with my new sewing machine that I got from my parents for my graduation gift.  I copied my sister-in-law Stephanie's idea with the ruffle, but I love it. Thanks Steph!

 Next I made a matching valance for the kitchen mostly because I'm too cheap now to pay for two valances that are twenty bucks each... getting married does things like that to you haha.  I'm happy with how it turned out though.

Finally I made a fall wreath.  It's a lot cuter in person, but it's been on my to do list for a long time so I'm glad I finally did it.  

That about brings us up to date with all the dorky (and fun) wifey things in my life.  Thanks for reading!

Love,

Becca

  

The Start of Something New

     I have been wanting to start a blog for our family since we got married, but let's face it... I'm a slacker sometimes and it never really happened.   The truth is that it's overwhelming to write a post that is supposed to make up for being married for almost six months, but Matt told me I need to rest because I've been kind of sick so this is me resting :).

Our Story...

     Matt and I officially met in a chemistry class during our junior year of high school.  We quickly became best friends and to make a long story short we started dating on June 1st of 2011 when Matt came up to BYU after serving his mission in Colombia.  We got engaged on December 27th, 2011 and were sealed in the Mesa, Arizona temple on April 27th, 2012 which truly was the happiest day of my life.  Life couldn't be better...  I am so lucky I fell in love with my best friend.

Calton Adventures since the I do...

Honeymooning in Cancun

Beautiful Beach in Playa Del Carmen

Romantic dinner for two on the beach

Camping in our living room

We actually do have a tent behind us in case you were wondering

Celebration dinner... I got a teaching job!  I teach kindergarten at Liberty Academy in Salem

First real camping trip as a new married couple... Mona

Trip to the cabin with Matt's family... Wyoming, tractors, "swimming" in the creek, & lots of ice cream :) 

I love this place :)

I Love the Caltons... such a great family to marry into :)

Coronado, CA trip with the Schmidt clan... Matt's first vacation with the whole crew

Love them all

I just love him so much

Life has been so great over these past several months and I honestly couldn't be happier.  I can't wait to see what our future together holds :)  I am so lucky <3

Love,

Becca