Christmas Recap!

I have been away from the blogging world for far too long!
But I'm back! Lucky you!

Josh and I had the wonderful privilege of flying home to San Diego last week for Christmas!
Because this was our first married Christmas together...we chose to exchange gifts the night before we left. It was so wonderful! This season we were able to think of new Christmas traditions to continue with our family in years to come!
One tradition is to get matching Christmas pjs (This one was my idea)! I wanted to get us awesome pjs but didn't want to put the money towards them. So I thought, to myself, that we would just start this tradition  next year. Then when I got home from work that night and it was time to look in our stockings...I pulled a pair of Olaf pajama pants out of my stocking!! I held them up and turned to look at Josh and he was already holding a pair of his own that he hid behind the couch! He is seriously perfect for me!

We flew into San Diego early Wednesday morning and came home late Monday night. Making it a too-short trip of 5 days! Our trip was full of family time- both with Josh's family and with mine. We had delicious meals and wonderful shopping trips...lazy naps and crazy family parties. We had it all! 

Josh's family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve with all of his extended family. We drove down to El Cajon to his uncles house where we had a delicious dinner and the annual white elephant gift exchange! We brought some salt and pepper shakers shaped like chickens and a marshmallow gun and we ended up with a Justin Bieber singing toothbrush and a giant mug with some dark hot chocolate mix!

I stole Cards Against Humanity from Josh's brother and was so excited about it! Until the same brother stole it back from me...I was so mad.

Something that I absolutely love about the Stephens family Christmas party is that the Christmas story is always read. Apparently they have been doing this for more than 50 years. Such an awesome tradition!

Christmas day gets a little crazy with us. A good kind of crazy, of course! We started the morning with breakfast at my mom's house, followed by visiting at my dad's house! From there we all went to my Oma and Opa's house!

This year for a gift exchange with Josh's family we figured we would all save some money and only buy 2 gifts and exchange them white elephant style! It was such a fun way to mix it up and save some money!

This Christmas season has been so wonderful. Josh and I spent last Christmas engaged, so we still spent Christmas with each other's family but this year was so much more special! 

I love my husband and I love that he was born Christmas Day so I can celebrate him during my favorite holiday season!

I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday!

Audrey Jo

Yes. I'm THAT girl.

So you know how at work they were making fun of me for running outside to stand in the snow flurries?
Well today it got even worse!

This morning I woke up to about 4 inches of snow on my car! Which meant tons of snow on the roads! So yes, I'm that girl, with the California license plates, driving 20 miles an hour down State Street.
I felt a little better about myself when I got to work and everybody else said they were a little nervous driving on the roads. But I realized I probably need to get my tires changed...

So not only was there a ton of snow on the ground (well, a ton for me at least)...but it was snowing all morning! Before it got too crazy at work I asked a coworker to take a picture of how excited I was for it all!

And scrubs are definitely not warm, snow clothes. Just in case you were wondering!

Luckily it stopped snowing in the afternoon so the roads weren't in terrible shape by the time I left work to drive home! (Well...to Target then home!)

Audrey Jo

He is the best. Ever.

Do you ever have those weeks that you're not excited for? This was one of those!
Work was just a little bit more stressful this week and for me that meant longer work days. Woo!

You know what always made my day better? Sweet little texts from my handsome husband throughout the day! And seeing him at the end of the day helps every thing!

I am just so grateful for Josh and the amazing guy that he is!

So here is a picture of us after our long days-me with half of my makeup on and Josh with his hat hair...that I cut out of the picture for ya;)

Now I'm going to finish my wonderful night watching TV, eating ice cream, and cuddling under a warm blanket! (Because this cold winter is seriously killing me.)

Audrey Jo

Thanksgiving 2015 + Temple lights!

For almost as long as I can remember I spent Thanksgiving up in Utah with my mom's side of the family. And it is a biiig family. Which means a looot of fun!

I haven't been able to have Thanksgiving up here for the past few years just due to school or work. But now that we live up here there is nowhere else to go! 

This was Josh's first Turkey Day with the Cleggs. I was so worried he was going to be overwhelmed and that it would all scare him off. But let me tell ya...he did just fine!

Remember how I said it was a big family? Well there was 55 people there, plus children. And some of them weren't even able to make it! It gets pretty crazy. But the good kind of crazy, of course!!

My mom usually drives home the day after Thanksgiving. This year she decided to stay through the weekend! Which meant she would be here for the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City! I haven't been to see the lights there since I was probably 5 years old. So I don't remember much!

So my mom, Josh and I drove up to SLC to check it out! And oh man...it was awesome. First of all...any Christmas lights make me freak out because I love them so much. Just imagine how I was feeling when nearly every tree around me was filled with lights!! It was beautiful!! This is definitely going to be a new tradition!

I am so excited for this Christmas season! I love celebrating Christ's birth. The whole season is filled with so much love! Josh and I get to start new traditions for our little family and Josh's birthday is Christmas day! It's so much happy all in one season!

I sure married the right guy. (Especially because he not only puts up with my Christmas music dance parties...but he gets up and dances with me!)

Audrey Jo

Normal Rockwell

I really love being in Utah with my mom. Every time we would come up for Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July we would do super fun stuff with her sisters. 

Last night we had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Normal Rockwell exhibit at the BYU Fine Art center. It was so fun! I vaguely remember going to a similar exhibit with his art when I was young. Actually...all I remember is that my two brothers and I all got to pick out a print of one of his paintings to hang in our bedrooms!

My mom and I love puzzles. We even have a puzzle of one of his paintings! I think it was the puzzle we did the most out of all of them.

I think it is just such a cool painting! I mean...a triple self portrait...that's pretty awesome!

At the beginning of the exhibit they had us watch a 10 min video about him. In the video it showed some of the actors he used to paint and the process he would go through to get just what he wanted the art to look like. It was so cool to see the actual painting in the exhibit and see all of the detail that was described in the video and all of the effort he put into those small details. And boy...did he put a ton of detail into everything!

Anyways...I love Normal Rockwell and think he was such an awesome artist! 

Josh wouldn't let me take pictures in the exhibit. But my mom snuck these of us ;)

I'm convinced we can't go more than 30 seconds without one of us doing or saying something weird...

Audrey Jo

So Very Thankful Part 3

1. Temples
I had the wonderful privilege of flying down to San Diego Saturday morning to see a life long friend get married to her love! My mom picked me up from the airport and we drove right to the San Diego Temple just in time for the sealing. It is so wonderful and special to see my friends be married for time and  all eternity. It always takes me back to my own wedding day. Josh always makes fun of me because I didn't cry during our sealing but I cry at all of my friend's weddings. I think it is just because I know exactly how they feel and I know all of the wonderful blessings that come from getting married in the temple. Marrying Josh on January 16 inside the walls of the temple was the best decision I have made!

2. In N Out

 So I'm 90% sure that my mom's favorite restaurant is In N Out. We use to go there all the time! I have not eaten there once since moving to Utah! Today we drove back up to Utah together and we always stop in Vegas for lunch. Apparently my mom found a new In N Out there! So naturally...that is what we had for lunch. And let me tell you...it was so good! I am always so grateful for delicious food that is inexpensive! (I'm super picky so don't judge me for my lettuce, tomato, onion free cheese burger! It's still yummy, I promise.)

3. Cupcakes
Yes, I know. Two about food this week?! Yes. Two. So I'm not sure at what point it became our thing to make the cupcakes for weddings...but we have been doing this for years! My mom was given a delicious cupcakes recipe that everybody loves so my mom gets asked to make this for different weddings then I help her decorate them. I love it! I love being part of these wedding in small ways. My hands sure cramp up while we're frosting 300 cupcakes though! It's totally worth it though! I was so grateful to be able to help my mom with this for the wedding this weekend!

xoxo

Audrey Jo

So Very Thankful Part 2

1. Friends
I have the greatest friends. And what I love most about these friends is that they have been around for so long! Some of them since Preschool! And Josh and I have always had a lot of the same friends...so that's pretty cool too! One of these amazing friends is a photographer! She offered to take pictures of Josh and me. We were so excited! This took place yesterday behind the beautiful Provo Temple. She sent us little teasers yesterday and I am so in love with them already! Here is my favorite one so far!

Isn't she awesome?!

2. Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I seriously do not remember the last time I have eaten chocolate chip pancakes. I love them! So why has it been soo long?! So I decided to make them for Sunday breakfast this morning. They were absolutely delicious. I put so much whip creme on top of them. It was magical. I think I put whip creme on more breakfast items than dessert items. I'm totally okay with that though.

I didn't take a picture of my breakfast this morning though. I dove in and ate it too fast for any of that picture taking nonsense (hehe).

3. Late night snacks

Josh and I are kind of obsessed with Netflix. Have you noticed? We just love having "our show" and being able to watch it together at night after work and homework are all done. But what is Netflix without a late night snack?! Our cravings change all the time. Like all the time. Popcorn, M&Ms, ice cream, Oreos, even yogurt. There are just way too many choices. Yesterday we went to the grocery store to (only) fill up our 5 gallon water jug and get a quart of vanilla ice cream so we didn't bother getting a cart. Josh went to go fill up the water while I grabbed the ice cream. We like to be efficient like that. Until I saw that there was a sale on Oreos! The only thing was that you had to buy 4 packages of them. I think I stood there for a solid minute deciding if I should do it or not. Obviously, I got the Oreos. I finally made it to the ice creme isle and saw that there was a sale on ice creme! 3 for $10! So obviously I got 3 things of ice creme. Now this because a problem when I realized I didn't have a cart. So I walked through the store holding the 4 packages of Oreos and the 3 cartons of ice cream. When Josh saw me he just started shaking his head. I probably looked like such a fool. But now we have lots of Oreos and ice cream! What could be more exciting about that?!

Mmm:)

xoxo

Audrey Jo

Is it Christmas yet?

So I love Christmas. But who doesn't, right?
Well now that I'm married I have to have my own Christmas decorations and why spend money on them when I could just make some?

So I made some Christmas lights! I think they are stinkin' adorable! I get so carried away when I made something that I like. I seriously have like 10 of these made in all different sizes. It's a problem!
But I mean come on, look at how cute they are...

I just love them. They will be all over my home for the next 2 months. 

And lucky for you...they are in my Etsy shop: AudreyCrochets!

So go check it out!

xoxo

Audrey Jo

Wednesday Rants

I think we should all be allowed to rant freely about whatever the heck we want. So I'm going to devote this post to the random thoughts and rants I have had this week:

This week I brought snacks with me to Stake Conference. Why? Because I we woke up about 45 min before it was suppose to start (whoops) and I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast! Also. Why are kids allowed to eat during sacrament meeting and I'm not? So I ate my little snack! We were also sitting in the very back so it's not like everybody could see me.

Apparently Fall is over. There were little snow flurries for a couple days last week and yesterday it was for reals snowing. Yes, I am that silly girl from California that ran outside 5 times during the work day just to stand in the snow. Who can blame me? This is so new to me and I love it! I would walk back into the office with little snowflakes on my scrubs, a bit smile on my face and they would just laugh and roll their eyes at me. Oh well. I got to play and that makes me happy:)

Josh's flag football team lost their second playoff game. (Thank goodness for double elimination!) They did win their 3rd game though! And I have never seen a group of guys get so excited over a flag football game before! It was adorable. The wives are practically frozen while watching the games. And the wind chill does not help one bit! But at least it wasn't raining or snowing while sitting there, right?

Jake invited Josh and I to another $5 Tuesday movie last night with him and his friends! We saw 007 and it was awesome! I'm sure it would have been more awesome if I actually kept up with all of the James Bond movies but it was still pretty cool. I was almost falling asleep the entire time though. It was rough. But that's what I get for always agreeing to see the 10:30 pm showing with them! We got home at like 1:30 (it was like the longest movie ever) and fell asleep so fast! And we didn't wake up until 9:30. Josh has class at 10. So that made for an exciting morning!

Speaking of 007...Josh has been singing the theme song nonstop today.  While pretending to be a spy. 

Josh got us annual passes to Disneyland for my birthday. Since moving to Utah we obviously haven't been able to use them. Which totally sucks. I was hoping we were going to get lucky and be able to go to Disneyland when we head home for Christmas. Buuuut...the dates we are home are all blacked out. Yipee. I guess that means we have to plan a trip to head home when we are able to go to Disney!

I made cookies! On Sunday Jordyn told me she had a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast. From that moment on I was craving cookies. So I went home and made some! Chocolate peanut butter with chocolate chips. Uhh yum. They were delicious. I took some to work on Monday and they were gone so fast. I was very glad I didn't bring all of them to work with me so I could still eat some for dessert! Here they are!

Don't they look delicious?! Cause they were!

Xoxo

Audrey Jo

Monday Meals

So I have always tried to plan out my meals for the week or hopefully a couple weeks in advance to reduce trips to the grocery store and to save money.
Let's be honest. It doesn't always happen though I am getting a whole lot better!

I use to just write them down on a sticky note to remind myself what I had planned. But sometimes the sticky note gets lost...or Josh doesn't feel like eating what I had planned for that night.

When we moved up here to beautiful Provo, Utah my mom had given us a gift card to Tai Pan Trading Co. to start decorating our new home with! Definitely in my top 10 favorite stores! I brought Josh along with me because sometimes he has an opinion on that kind of stuff. He spotted this giant menu chalkboard and fell in love with it. So I let him buy it for us! And it has been so amazing! Every Sunday night I clean off the board and write what I have planned for the upcoming week. This helps because he can see and anticipate what I'll be making for the week. It makes me a whole lot more accountable for dinners! It also  would be pretty hard to lose it if it's hanging on the wall in our kitchen!

SO! This is the menu for this week!

Yeah, yeah, I know I spelled burrito wrong. I was just waay too lazy to redo it.

Remember a few posts back when I talked all about how I love simple things? Well I feel like this week is the perfect representation of that. I mean think about it:

I pre-make my dough and just freeze it so all I have to do is pull it out of the freezing in the AM

Breakfast burritos? Eggs. Cheese. Sausage. Bacon. Tortilla. Salsa. DONE.

As long as I keep using store bought Alfredo sauce this meal will continue to be simple.

I have the best stroganoff recipe that seriously only takes like 10 minutes. I love it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu may sound fancy...but that's because you don't know that I crock pot it. 

Okay so my stuffed shells recipe isn't so simple. But it's delicious. So who cares.

Every other week my extended family gets together for Sunday dinner. So I don't have to cook:)

Told you it's simple!

So tonight I am planning on putting a little bit of sauce, a lot of cheese, some pepperoni, and some bacon on my pizza. What do you put on yours??

xoxo

Audrey Jo

So Very Thankful Part 1

I absolutely love November! Everybody is starting to get into the Holiday Spirit and I think people are generally just happier this time of year.
November is especially awesome because it is a time of year we can focus on what we are thankful for. It is so easy to get caught up in the world thinking of all of the things you want and "need" so it is so refreshing to have an excuse to sit back and just be thankful.

So here are a few things I am thankful for this year:

1. My husband

This year has been one for the books. The main reason being that we were married mid January and got to start our eternity together. That was a day that I waited years for. It was a beautiful sunny (80 degree) day in San Diego and it could not have been more perfect. Being married to him has been the best time of my life. It's so cliche...but I love getting to hang out everyday with my best friend. He is the greatest!


2. School

(Josh is working with BYU recruiting and gets to go to ALL of the home games!)

I know, I know. School sucks. But it actually doesn't! This year I graduated from medical assisting school and have started working in the medical field. And I love it! School is the worst while you are attending it with all of the studying and hours spent in class. All I could think of the whole time is how I just wanted to be done so I could finally start working. Now that I'm working I miss school! I love learning new things that are relevant to what I'm studying. I could seriously sit in an anatomy class all day long and be so happy. School is also what brought my wonderful husband and I to Utah! Soon after we got married he applied to BYU and got accepted! We made our trek up here and we have loved it ever since! Especially because we get to be close to so many of our friends!


3. Medicine

This past week I have had a serious case of "the dizzies." Friday when I got home from work I was completely exhausted so I went upstairs to lay down until Josh got home from school. While I was laying there...not moving at all..I got way dizzy! I thought I was going crazy and just really tired so I shrugged it off and I was fine the rest of the night. But this kept going all week! Throughout the day I would get dizzy while just standing there or walking around. Pretty much any time I would do something that normally wouldn't cause somebody to feel that way. I was fed up with it so I made myself an appointment to be seen while I was at work. (It is so nice working at a doctors office!) We still couldn't figure it out but we tried a few different things and ran a couple tests. (Everything came back normal!) Luckily my case of "the dizzies" is going away. But it is just such so wonderful knowing that whenever we feel sick or that something is "off" with our bodies there are usually ways to figure out what is wrong and how to fix the problem. Not always...but usually! I mean...medicine is always changing and no two bodies are the exact same! I just love medicine. But maybe I'm bias ;).


So the plan is to give a short list of things I'm thankful for each week because I love November and everything about Thanksgiving!
What are some things you are thankful for this year??

xoxo

AudreyJo

Wednesday night lights

For the past 2 months Josh has been on an intramural flag football team through BYU.
It has been so fun for both of us: he gets to play football with his friends while I get to watch on the sidelines with the wives! 3 of which are my friends!
Sometimes it is more socializing than football watching. But how can you blame me when you're sitting with 3 friends and an adorable baby girl!!

So my man's team has been doing so good. They lost only 1 of 5 games. After those games they get ranked to determine what division they will be in for playoffs.
They started in the middle division and got ranked to be in the top division for playoffs! Woo!!

And tonight was the first playoff game! They played a team the had played a few days ago. Apparently this team was wanting a rematch. Well. They got it!

And guess what...we beat them again! And this game I even paid attention (almost) the whole time!
Okay...so I might have only been paying attention because I was too cold to move. But that is beside the point. For reals though. It was fah-reezing. I was wearing so many layers and I did not feel like it was helping at all! I seriously do not know how I am going to survive this Utah winter. How is this only Fall?!

Their next playoff game is this Friday night! Which means another freezing cold hour of football. Yay. Josh is so amped already which makes me pretty dang excited!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

Audrey Jo

Simplicity

You know what I'm a fan of? Everything simple.
Really...how awesome would it be if everything were short sweet and too the point? Obviously not everything can be like this. And a lot of things are so nice when they're beautiful and elaborate.
But I still like the simply things:)

The past couple of weeks I have been such a lazy wife. (Kind of.) I have been cooking such simply meals that only take 10 minutes or things I can just throw in the crock pot before work. Or Ramen Noodles-because they are seriously the easiest ever...even if they are terrible for ya.
But do you know what I realized? I don't have the try to be a fancy chef every night!
Josh is perfectly happy eating hot dogs good on the stove for dinner! Or spaghetti and meatballs! Or cereal! Pretty much as long as he gets fed...he's a happy camper. Also...this totally saves on the grocery bills!

I have also decided that I don't need to spend an hour getting ready in the morning. I'll be honest...the only time I have every spent that long getting ready was for a high school dance or my wedding. But still! I put on as little makeup as I feel necessary for the day, throw up hair up in a pony tail-because even if I leave it down when I get ready...it's up in a hair tie before 10 am. It just happens. The hardest decision I make when I get ready is what color scrubs to wear for the day: gray, purple, or blue! I put a lot of thought into that part of my morning. Not spending a lot of time getting ready makes my mornings so much more enjoyable. I don't (usually) have to rush out the door and I'm able to relax and enjoy my mornings.

One of the things I love most about my life with Josh is that we are awesome at not getting caught up in the world. We have simplified our life so that we aren't going around spending money that we don't have or buying things that we just don't need. We have spent such great time together without any distractions from outside sources. I mean, obviously we love watching Netflix. But we are able to spend time together on weekends or whenever we watch our shows and just enjoy each other's company with a home made meal, hot cocoa, and a nice cuddly blanket. It is those simple nights and weekends that I love! And it makes real date nights that much more enjoyable. Even going out to dinner or seeing a movie together is such a treat and seems so special.

I don't know about you all...but I think I picked the best husband out there! He is okay with me simplifying everything to enjoy the beautiful extra time I have in this wonderful life of mine!

So really...you all should just take a step back and simplify! Because it is one of the best things we have done!

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Happy Halloweenie!

So I always love Halloween and always want to get way into dressing up but I never actually do. I'm always the kind of person that gets their homemade costume ready the day before or the day of Halloween.

Not this year folks.

Apparently I chose the perfect office to work at because they go all out on Halloween.

Last year they all dressed up as characters from Harry Potter and the pictures looked awesome!

This year when we were trying to decide what to dress up as there were quite a few ideas thrown out. Some of them were: Lord of the Rings, Super Mario, Peter Pan, and a few others. We eventually decided on Disney Villains. And I was so excited! 

Naturally, in my mind I decided to dress up as Scar, from The Lion King. Because they aren't enough human villains apparently (HA!).But really. I was so excited. I had it all planned out in my head!

Luckily I work with an incredibly talented artist that was willing to paint my face for the day!

I woke up nice and early to do my hair then headed to the office so she could paint my face before patients started to show up! It almost took an hour and it was so worth the time of not moving, not smiling, and not itching my face.

She did such an awesome job! Like...patients didn't even recognize me!

(Keep in mind these pictures we all taken on different camera phones!)

Every year they block out schedules and shut down the office for a few hours for all of us to head to Malawi's Pizza for lunch. They Have a giant tree in the middle of the restaurant. So naturally I take a picture by it in my "natural element."

 This is the amazing artist herself as Ursula. Can you believe she made those tentacles herself?! She for reals is amazing.

So here is the whole gang. You'll find:

The evil step sisters and her mom with Lucifer the Cat, Captain hook, Dr Callighan, Jafar, Cruela De Vil, Yzma, Ursula, Darla, the old hag from Snow White, Mother Gothel, and Gru with his minion. (With a couple pirates in there too.)

And we were totally not all ready for this pic by the way. I mean, how easily can 18 people and a baby all be ready for a picture at the same time?

So basically, this was the best Halloween ever! Well...best day-before Halloween ever!

So what are we going to be next year?!

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Oh hey there Fall, nice to meet ya!

Everybody keeps asking me how I like Utah so far. My answer? I love it!!
The only thing is that I'm freezing cold already. Super excited for Winter.

I have never experienced Fall before! I'm use to the leaves just dying and falling off of the trees. The weather starts to calm down in November. And I wear boots and scarves just because they're cute.

Now I get to see the trees turn beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds before they fall and turn to brown. Now I understand the real beauty of boots and scarves. And fuzzy socks...because my feet have been getting soo cold!!

Fall has been going easy on us and it wasn't cooling down for the longest time. It doesn't matter so much for me because I'm inside all day wearing scrubs. But now it is starting to be so cold at home! So cold. Like 65 degrees cold in the middle of the day! I'm not completely use to wearing giant fuzzy socks, warm leggings, and sweatshirts inside. I guess that is something I'll have to get use to! (We have always refused to turn on the AC or heat. That might have to change.)

Wednesdays are my day off and I usually spend my morning running errands then come home and clean, do some laundry, and relax. Today was a bit more difficult. I just wanted to stay in bed all day! Not to mention we have been trying to work out every morning. As in 5:30 am. It has be so hard. So today we skipped the workout part and went with the warm cuddling option instead.

Anyways...after my chores today I decided to enjoy the wonderful Fall. I drove to a park close by our home and just walked around and enjoyed(?) the cool air and the beautiful trees. While wearing my scarf and boots.

So...yes, I do love it here! But it also hasn't been Winter quite yet. So I'll let you guys know when we get to that point.

But for now, I will enjoy this beautiful time of year!

xoxo

Simply Stephens

PS. Be sure to check back on Saturday. At work we are dressing up as Disney Villains and you do not want to miss out on my costume. It is going to be epic.

Recap of my Halloween filled weekend

My wonderful weekend was all about Halloween!

And it was awesome!

Friday

On Friday I planned on going to a haunted house with some of my friends from work. 

I don't always do well with scary things...

But I was so excited for this!

I got off work at about 4:30 and we were planning on meeting at 6.

That gave me just enough time to go home, shower, and greet my wonderful husband before ditching him for the night.

When I got to their apartment complex it took me like 10 minutes of wandering around and being a little prideful to find their apartment. 

I wanted to be able to find it myself without calling them. But that didn't work!

The apartment number they gave me did not even exist. Gotta love typos!

So finally after I humbled myself I called them, found them, and we were on our way!

We stopped at Red Robin (Yuummm) which is seriously yum.

(By the way, Josh didn't think that was as funny as I thought it was. But I wrote it anyways).

After eating our burgers, fries, and shakes we left on our way to the 

Castle of Chaos

There are 4 levels of scary for this haunted house. 

Level 1: I'm not exactly sure what this level is all about...

Level 2: the actors weren't allowed to touch us.

Level 3: The actors could touch and grab us, but not drag us.

Level 4: The actors could touch, grab, drag, put bags over our heads, separate us from our group, and move us to different rooms.

We thought we were all brave and were planning to just do level 2. 

Then last minute we changed our minds to do the level 3! 

Oh my gosh...I was so scared!

The 4 of us made a chain by linking arms and did not let go!

Things got pretty cray-cray in the Castle of Chaos.

Somehow amongst all of the freaking out and running...the bobby pin of the girl next to me ended up on the back of my head. 

I still don't know how it ended up there! 

And even though I practically peed my pants...

I survived.

Saturday

Sometimes I have to convince Josh to go on dates with me. 

But I'm okay with that. Because he always (usually) says yes!

This time I invited him to go to Gardner Village for Witches Night Out.

I am so glad we went!

First of all...I just love Gardner Village. There are so many adorable shops to look at.

And I never realized how girly the shops are until I had Josh there with me. 

In the past when I've gone it was always with my mother, aunts, and cousins.

Apparently Witches Night Out is the busiest night of the year! And I definitely saw why!

There were women and children everywhere dressed up as witches

with husbands and dads following behind.

Some of them got way into it with awesome costumes while others just wore a pointy hat.

I didn't dress up at all! Whoops.

It was just such a fun atmosphere with so many fun things going on around the village.

There were old ladies dancing to popular songs,

Face painting,

And sales in most of the shops!!

Of course I was drawn to the shop that was full of yarn of every color I could imagine!

I only let myself buy 1 thing though. And it only cost us $4.

It was so hard to hold back!

When we decided to head home we were starving! And what sounded good to us, you ask?

Oreo shakes.

So we made a stop at the grocery store on our way home to get the supplies.

The rest of the night was cuddling, Netflix, and Oreo shakes.

Such a fun date night!!

And I definitely recommend going to Witches Night Out next year. 

It was a blast!!

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Where did the weekend go?!

For reals.
Where did it go?

I'll admit this weekend wasn't the productive weekend I envisioned myself having every week. (Let's be honest...do we ever actually do everything on our to-do list?)
I was planning on vacuuming, organizing the kitchen, washing the bed sheets...and a whole lot more.
None of it got done!

Instead Josh and I got to sleep in! It was cool enough in the morning where we could just cuddle in bed with our comforter. Usually I hate my comforter in the mornings because I can't stay in bed and be comfy and am forced to get ready for work. So Saturday morning was wonderful! We finished watching an episode of Revenge that I fell asleep in the middle of the night before. Then we watched another episode...and another... We were on the last season of the show and we ended up finishing it all around noon!

Then we started a new show! The Blacklist. And it is so good! (Thank you Netflix!)

It was just the most perfect day ever!

Pajamas
Netflix
Comfy blankets
Sound of rain coming from outside
Crocheting
Cuddling
AND
It was the year mark from the day he proposed to me!

It was such a needed day. And the weekend wasn't over!

On Sunday we slept in then got ready for church after a quick breakfast. The gym floor of the church building had gotten resurfaced this past week...making the building full of strong fumes. Since we always get to church right as it is about to start, we had to sit in the overflow. AKA the gym. Where all of the fumes are. Yay. I made it though the first half of sacrament meeting just fine. But then the fumes started giving me the worst headache! So...we left early so I could sleep it off. And sleep it off, I did! I think I took a 2 hour nap. And it was awesome!

Finally 5:30 rolled around which meant family dinner! Oh how I love family dinner! My extended family does this twice a month. A bunch of us get together and eat delicious home made food. Which mean homemade rolls this week! Homemade rolls are such a weakness of mine..

Josh and I got home in our food comas and got to relax with each other for the rest of the evening! This weekend was the best! I am so grateful to be able to relax like I did these past couple of days.

Maybe instead of making a to-do list for this Saturday I'll cuddle and watch Netflix all day again. Don't judge me if I do!

xoxo

Simply Stephens

I know...I'm practically an old lady.

I get made fun of a lot for my love for crocheting.

My husband, my boss, my mom, my friends.

Everyone!

But you know what?

I love it.

It soothes me!

My love started when my wonderful friend Jordyn came over

so we could decorate some cakes together!

After we got over that...

we went on a trip to the craft store to buy what I needed to crochet my first blanket!

We got back to my home and she started teaching me right away!

And i fell in love!

It took me a while to finish because I would undo parts and redo parts

over and over and over. 

It had to be prefect!

Finally...I was finished!

I became obsessed!

I didn't know what to make next!

But I had a ton of random yarn laying around and I just got started...

Since then I have made like 50 thousand headbands/ear warmer things.

Okay fine.Not that many. But I have made a bunch!

It is so fun and easy!

 I bought a bunch of fall colored yarn and have gone crazy with it. So far I have only been making these two kinds. But I will definitely be learning how to make others! 

But for now...that is what I have

And...drum roll please...

I decided to open up an Etsy shop!

In the shop I have both of these posted with the different colors I have or can make them in for now!

The shop is called...

AudreyCrochets

So go on already! Head over to my shop and check it out!!

Link HERE

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Tuesday is movie day

For these past 3 weeks my wonderful brother invited 

Josh and I to $5 Tuesday with him and his friends.

Yes, you heard that right.

$5 Tuesday.

This might not sound crazy to everyone.

But I'm still use to San Diego's crazy prices of 

$12 movies!

Now you understand my excitement, right?

Also, I have the best job ever. They gave me 2 free movie tickets

just for offering to work a few hours on my day off.

I'm still convinced I work for the most awesome office and doctors ever.

So here is my take on the movies we have seen these past few weeks!

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Trailer HERE

I'm convinced that if you have not read the book, the movie is awesome! Just like the first movie in the series, there is action: running, fighting, death, and survival of the elements.

But, unlike the first movie: this does not follow the book. Like all movies that are made from books, the trailer says "Based on the best-selling novel." The only problem is...I don't think this was based off of the book at all! The couple of scenes that I do remember from the book at awesome! Just how I pictured them as I was reading!
Josh enjoyed the movie and so did some of Jake's friends! I just walked out of the theater so disappointed.
But like I said before, if you have not read the book-i think it would be worth your while to go see!

The Martian Trailer HERE
This was the best movie I have seen in a long time! Josh and I saw the trailer for this while we were waiting for The Scorch Trials to start. We just leaned over to each other, starred, and said "woah, that looks good!" And. It. Was. Seriously, everybody needs to see this. There is a bit a language that is unnecessary, but besides that I didn't see anything wrong with it. There was action, anticipation, humor, and it was in space! This is a movie I would totally go see again.

Everest Trailer HERE
This was the movie we saw last night. And it was awesome! This movie is based on a true story, which makes it even cooler, in my opinion.Walking into the theater we were all thinking that we would feel so motivated and want to climb Mt. Everest. We were wrong! This movie shows a team of climbers making their way up the mountain and the strain it puts on their minds and bodies. It's crazy! Most of the team makes it up but on their way down they get hit with n insane storm that causes a whole mess of problems. I always want a happy ending in moves an stories but when it is based off of a true story you know that is not always what you get. It was a happy ending for some of the climbers bu no for others. Even though I got a bit emotional at the end, I loved his movie and I recommend you going to see it!

So pretty much:

Tuesday movies are the best. 

And I fully recommend that you all take advantage of $5 Tuesdays. 

Because its awesome.

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Who could not be happy?

"With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?"

I think these wonderful words of Oscar Wilde could not be more true.

Sometimes I just like to step back

and remind myself how happy I am.

->I have the best husband in the world.

->I love everything about my job-I get to help people and get to know people every single day!

->I am finally learning how to cook without recipes (woo!!)

->Joshua James doesn't judge me for eating cookies before dinner.

->I am surrounded by beautiful mountains every day.

->I basically get to wear pajamas to work. (Thank you scrubs)

->My phone did not break when I dropped it in the toilet on Saturday!

->I'm convinced I have the coziest bed of all time. Especially when I'm trying to get up for work.

->I bought a candle that makes my home smell like Fall! (Thank you Target)

->The jar full of m&ms sitting on my coffee table right now.

And honestly, the list could go on and on and on.

There is so much to be happy about!

Sometimes we just let the negative side of us take over and make our days cloudy and gray.

So if I were to give any advice right now it would be:

Take a couple minutes out of the middle of your day and just think about the happy.

Find anything that makes you happy!

It is not as hard as we sometimes think it is.

I promise.

xoxo

Simply Stephens

Hello world of blogging!

Hello everyone!

So I have always loved the idea of starting a blog. And I attempted a few times. But I would always give up on it after like 2 posts. So we aren't going to let that happen this time!

I have always loved journaling.

And to me...my journals are art.

But let's be honest. Journals are hard. It takes so much time and effort to keep up an awesome journal.

Blogs are so much easier to add pictures to. And typing is so much faster.

No, I will not dump all of my secrets into this blog.

But I will update all of you lovely people with the happy moments of my life.

And maybe the not-so-happy moments.

(But let's hope there are more of the happy that of the sad!)

I love my wonderful marriage to the handsome Joshua James.

He is perfect for me in every way and life is so much more fun with him by my side.

I am still learning how to cook and how important it is to keep our little home clean.

But I like to think I am getting better each week.

I love baking. Especially cookies. And brownies. And pretty much anything sweet.

But especially cookies.

I like to think that I am crafty. I am working on actually being crafty.

My wonderful grandma taught me how to sew when I was young so I have made a few blankets.

While playing lacrosse in high school I would make bows for my team.

I recently started to do a little bit of embroidery.

And my wonderful friend taught me how to crochet. And I am obsessed.

So far I have crocheted a blanket that is oh-so-cozy. And I have made headbands to keep my ears warm in these cold Utah winters I have ahead of me.

So. Expect a little bit of everything on this blog...because I do not intend to post about the same things every week. I think we all would get bored of that!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Simply Stephens