NYC!!!

So not much has happened with us lately, Andrew is starting to get burned out with school, and I think we are both looking forward to spring break. Hopefully we will get to do something fun, and he can take a break from all his homework and studying. One bit of exciting news for us is that we are going to New York in May! I am so excited!!! I have always wanted to go to NYC, and you better believe my camera will be my best friend while we are there. I am so excited for all the fun things we are going to do and for the time we will get to spend together and with our good friends Mike and Brenda, our designated travel buddies! We have been wanting to take a trip with Mike and Brenda for a while and we talked about a few options before finally deciding on going to New York. I'm looking forward to posting my pictures and telling you all about it in the future, but for now I will continue to dream about it, and think about what I am going to pack even though it is still over two months away. oh well, it is giving me something to look forward too!

Oh How Time Flies!

There are days when I think to my self there is no way it has been a year since we got married and there are other times I think it has been way longer than that. Even still it is a new adventure everyday. For our anniversary we decided to take a little "staycation" if you will and partied it up in downtown SLC. We were down that way for the holidays and decided that it would be fun to rent a hotel and hang out for a few days with just the two of us. We rented a room at the Radisson in downtown SLC which was pretty nice despite the surprise renovations we were not informed of upon booking the room. Besides a little dust in the lobby and the pounding of workers that woke us up every morning it was a lot of fun. Andrew was extreamly excited that the hotel had an indoor pool so we made sure to pack our swimsuits. Much to his dismay I am sure, I would not step foot in the pool because it was far too cold for me, but rather spent my time in the nice warm hot tub. The day of our anniversary 12.28.11 we did a little shopping at the gateway went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill and walked around Temple Square. We also went on a carriage ride around the city which is something I have always wanted to do and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was not bothered one bit by the cold until we got off the ride and had to walk back to our hotel then all the fun was gone and I was able to focus on the reality of how cold it was. Once back to the hotel we broke out the top layer of our cake that my mom had saved for us after our reception. She did an excellent job of wrapping it up and freezing it. Despite all the negative things I have heard about saving your cake top for the one year anniversary it actually tasted pretty good. I'm sure it would have been better had we eaten it right away but I am glad we saved it. Over all it was a great little get away and it was fun to spend time together before the semester started up again.

Us on our wedding day!

One Year Later...almost to the hour.

Walking around Temple Square to see the lights

The carriage ride

The cake- the black frosting bled a little and turned green but other then that I think it still looked and tasted pretty good.

Update Time...

Well since our last post was about our fish Mango Fizz, I will begin my giving you an up date on the fish in our life. Mango Fizz died two weeks after we got him. We suspected he was sick because he stopped eating and swimming and would just float around. So we replaced him with two other guppy fish, General Finn and Pez. Come to find out our tank was too small for two guppies to be together so they battled and Pez died. So we replaced him with another little orange guppy named Cheez-it. Cheez-it and General Finn battled while we were at church and General Finn died. So we didn't replace General Finn and Cheez-it has survived for a month now and seems to be doing well. Hopefully we can keep him alive for a few more months. In other news... I finally found a job. A new portrait studio is opening up in Logan and I applied had a few interviews and thankfully got the job! I am way excited to start working there and doing what I love and getting Paid for it! Andrew has been busy with school, he has worked hard on projects and there have been many late nights doing homework but he is doing well in his classes. Not much else has happened with us, we're happy and healthy and looking forward to the holidays!

Keeping Busy

Now that school has started up again our lives have become a little less hectic. It is nice to be able to stay in one place for more than three days at a time. It has been a little weird for me to not go back to school but I have been keeping my self busy. I have enjoyed reading books and I started sewing a quilt, and taking it easy. I am still looking for a job and hopefully one comes along soon. Andrew is enjoying his classes and he comes home with a pile of homework every night. I'm trying to find ways to keep my self entertained while he studies so I don't distract him. We recently added a new edition to our little family! We are not allowed to have big pets in our apartment, and as some of you know I have wanted a Kitten for a very long time. But since that is not allowed we decided to get a fish! We named him Mango Fizz, he is a tropical fish and seems to be very energetic, hopefully we can keep him alive for more than a few days.

Mango Fizz

One Busy Summer

This summer has got to be the busiest summer I have ever encountered. We started it off by moving into a new apartment. I am so happy to be out of the flood ridden and bug infested basement apartment that we lived in before. We now live in a two bedroom apartment that is right next to campus! It is by far so much better then where we were living before. Besides moving, this summer has been full of driving and living out of suitcases. Andrew works in Kaysville, so he commutes to work about 2 or 3 days a week. The rest of the days we drive down to Kaysville and have been staying with Andrew's Mom. It has been a blessing for her to let us stay there so often, but I must say, there is no place like home. I love coming home to our apartment and being in our own place. It is hard sometimes to feel like a newly married couple when we have no time to our selves. It has also been a blessing for me to be working for the University of Utah, on a project that allows me to work from home most of the time. It has ensured that I can work wherever we are staying at the moment, and I don't have to commute to Salt Lake everyday. Besides driving back and forth from Logan to Kaysville we had the chance to go to Flaming Gorge with Andrew's family for a few days. It was nice to get away and be on the lake. My summers are never complete without a few boating trips and I am happy that we got one in. Hopefully there will be more to come in the next few months. Currently, I am on the search for a full time job in Logan. Having graduated this May, but still living in Logan for the next two years while Andrew finishes School, has not given me much hope for finding a Photography Job. So hopefully something will come along, and I will be able to do my own photography business on the side to make a little extra money. Anyways, We have a few more trips planned for the summer so when those come along I will try to update a little quicker. As for now, I hope you enjoy a few pictures of Flaming Gorge, and my Graduation!

Getting ready to go rafting down the green river! It was fun, and very very cold!

Red Canyon

Hip hip hooray! It's Graduation Day!

Almost done!

Well it's been a while since I posted so I figured that I would just give a quick update. School has been very very busy and time consuming and while It has been fun, I am super excited to graduate. Which is only 3 weeks and 3 days away! I have so much to do before graduation it is crazy but some how I will get it all done. What I am really nervous for is finding a job that pays well when I actually graduate. It will be an interesting summer with Andrew working down in Kaysville while we still live in Logan but we will make it work. I've already completed one class this semester. So just four more to go and I will be free and off into the real world... I don't know if i am ready for this!

You Will Be Missed!

It is amazing how things can go from being wonderful, to being the worst they could possibly be in so short amount of time. After a 14 Month battle with multiple myeloma Randy Noorlander left this earth to return to our Father in Heaven on February 14, 2011. Andrew, my self and his siblings found out about two and a half weeks ago that their Dad's cancer had returned with full force and was quickly taking over his body, there was nothing left to do but wait out our remaining time with him at home and pray that he wasn't in too much pain. So we decided to take the time off of school and be with the family. It was hard to watch Randy suffer as the cancer took over his body, it was hard to watch Lori and her kids in pain and in their own way suffer and try to deal with the fact that in a matter of days their beloved husband and father would no longer be with them. As we spent time with the family we had many opportunities to reflect on good memories, and things that they have been taught about their Dad. I took the chance to reflect on some things that Randy had taught me even though I had only known him for a little over a year. First and foremost he taught me about enduring what ever may be handed to you, he taught me patience, optimism, love, gratitude, and serving others. Randy always made me feel welcome when I came to the Noorlander home and I always felt included in their family activities. I always felt that he genuinely cared about how I was doing and what was going on in my life. He made me feel apart of their family before I actually even was one. I will greatly miss Randy, I will miss listening to his stories, tease his children, and miss his warm and giving heart. I am grateful for the short time in which i had to get to know him and even more grateful that he was able to attend our wedding, that is a blessing I will always treasure. I know he is already hard at work on the other side, and hopefully he is teaching my children how to behave. We will always love and miss you Dad. Thanks for everything you have taught us, done for us and the love you have given us.