another one done

its been a while since i posted, here's a quick update.

jared and i just finished another semester of school. we are excited to check another one off our list. now i only have 2 more semesters left (july cant come fast enough) and he has 4. we can kind of see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel and its a good feeling. jared did awesome this semester with his grades, im so proud of him. he sure is one smart cookie

we both have the winter semester off, but i got accepted onto fastgrad, so ill go to school and work part-time, and jared will work... maybe. the good ol' USDA laid jared off again, surprise surprise, we can always count on them to "let us go." he did apply to be a substitute teacher for the two school districts in Idaho Falls and had his first job today, teaching high school spanish. im excited to hear how his day went. hopefully he will be able to get a job everyday to bring home the big bucks!

we are looking forward to christmas next week and spending it with jared's family in idaho falls. i still cant believe another year has come and gone. time really does go faster and faster each year. we've almost hit our 2 year mark of marriage. hard to believe 2 1/2 years ago we had no idea who each other were, and now we're in it forever :)

hope you all have a very merry christmas!

holiday season!

thanksgiving break was so nice. I am sad that it is over already. we had a good visit in colorado and enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation. thanksgiving dinner was delicious as always and we all ate way to much! we did a number of things while we were there...

like practicing our break dancing skills

jared got a couple of taekwondo lessons from a very cute 5 year old

ate cute turkey's made out of candy

put together a very hard 1000 piece snowman puzzle

and set up my parents christmas tree the morning before we left. we also went and saw the christmas carol movie which was pretty cute and ate at a fun japanese restaurant where they cooked right in front of you.

I remember last year writing about black friday shopping and how I would never do it again, so of course we got up at 4:30am to see what kind of deals we could find. my younger sisters had never been before so i told them all about how crazy it was and how long you had to stand in line and how many people push and shove. we went to walmart first and only waited in line for 5 minutes, then we made our way to kohls, were there was NO ONE in the store, it was crazy.

I love christmas time and yes, I am one of those people who set up my tree and decorate the day after thanksgiving.

I love willow tree's and I told jared each year for Christmas he can get me one piece of the willow tree nativity scene till I have the whole set. well my parents found this set on ebay for a really great deal and so they went in on it with jared and got it for me for my birthday in june. I have been so excited to set it up for christmas. I love it!

My younger sister gave us these stocking holders for christmas, and they work perfect! I love having our stockings hanging up. I cant wait to see what santa puts in them this year :)

and we cant forget the christmas tree. I bought this my first semester of college. Its little but fits perfectly in our tiny living room.

only 3 weeks left of school till christmas break!

colorado or bust!

saturday we are flying to colorado for thanksgiving to see my family and i absolutely cannot WAIT! im so excited to have a break from school and work and just relax. ill bring all my homework, but really who are we kidding, its not gonna get done.

While we are there we are going to go see this movie, im excited! has anyone seen it yet?

I love this time of year. and since thanksgiving is next week, i just want to write a few things i am thankful for

• JARED
• My family (both of them!)
• the gospel
• a warm place to live
• the draper family (cannot say thank you enough to them for the car they gave us)
• the chance to attend school here at BYU-Idaho, i complain a lot about it, but i am grateful for the chance i have to further my education, and i know i will never regret it!
• my health
• the men and women who serve our country (being an Air Force brat i have a soft place for them in my heart)
  

here's hoping you all enjoy your own turkey day and stop to think about those things you are thankful for!

37 days left till CHRISTMAS... are you ready?

rambling

holy hannah, hello novemeber! i am so excited october is over, and thanksgiving is fast approaching! we went down to utah this past weekend for my grandma's 80th birthday. i forgot my camera, so i have no pictures to show the fun we had. halloween night i passed out candy to a few kiddos, and then we played glow in the dark dodgeball. it was fun. we also got to stop and see our friends trae and candice and robby and zenna.

im also excited october is over, because that means the semester is almost over HALLELUJAH! this semester has been pretty rough for me. not because my classes are hard, and not because im stressed to the max... but i think maybe because i had to take 2 dumb classes im NOT enjoying, or maybe because if i was on track i SHOULD be done in april, but i wont be, or maybe because senioritis has set in and i just have no motivation, or maybe because im losing interest in school... its just been a bad semester. so im anxious for it to end and to start fresh next semester. poor jared has put up with all my whining and complaining all semester, and i think we are both hoping july gets here fast so i can be DONE!

seems like all i ever post on here is about school, but sadly thats all we seem to do now a days. graduation will come im sure, faster than we both think! there is one thing i am very grateful for right now, and that is no snow outside! maybe we will make it all winter with no snow? :)

busy being crafty

my friend kara had posted a blog about some fun halloween crafts she made and inspired me to do the same! for the last week i have put off all my homework and made some halloween decorations. these were cute, fun, easy and best of all CHEAP to make. most of the supplies i already had at home.

I made these pumpkins out of rolls of toilet paper and i found that BOO sign for $1!

These are my favorite!
the ghost is made out of an old tupperware container
the pumpkin is made out of a glass jar
frankenstein is made out of a glass vase i found under our sink.

i love making crafts! im starting to look for christmas crafts to start on so if you have any ideas let me know!

18 months

today is our year and a half anniversary! i know 18 months isnt that long, but i just cant believe it has already been that long! time really does go by so fast! and speaking of fast, the semester is almost half over already, halloween is just around the corner, and then before we know it, the holidays will be here! really, where does all the time go?

it snowed here the other week, thank goodness it was gone by the afternoon

we got a bread maker from jared's parents back in the summer and finally got around to using it conference weekend. jared became quite the domestic husband and made a loaf of bread and a batch of cinnamon rolls. they were yummy.

our good friends trae and candice had their little boy last week, so we drove down to pocatello to see him and them. he was so cute, and so so tiny. congratulations trae and candice thanks for letting us come and crash at your place for a little bit, we miss you guys!

jared is gonna make a good daddy someday

in other news, i got accepted onto fastgrad, which means HELLO GRADUATION in JULY! im so excited i cant wait to just be done. hopefully jared follows me in a year and then its on to MORE schooling for him... sometimes i catch myself daydreaming of living in a house with our 4 perfect children, and jared's perfect job that brings home more money than we know what to do with. then i have to think to myself that its never going to be just me and jared again, and i need to enjoy the stage im at right now. even if we are stinkin poor and going to school... although we might not think so right now, our life really is easy. and i really am enjoying every minute of it :)

(tonight its only going to be 17 degrees for a high brrrrr. hope everyone stays warm!)

Life in an elementary school

working at the elementary school every day i hear some pretty funny things. this was a conversation i had with a 4th grade boy, who isnt "fat" but a little on the bigger side when standing next to other 4th grade boys.

4th grade boy: Have you ever ran the mile?
Me: Ya i had to do it when i was in elementary school.
4th grade boy: Cool, we ran it today!
Me: Awesome! How did you do?
4th grade boy: *Huge Smile on his face* Well last year when i was in 3rd grade, i ran it in 12 minutes and 11 seconds. This year i ran it in 12 minutes and 35 seconds! My PE teacher told me i SMASHED my record.
Me: AWESOME! *High Five*

HA i tried so hard to keep my laugh back and i didnt want to crush the poor kids heart and tell him he actually ran it slower this year so i just said awesome. you could tell he was so proud.

i cant believe its october next month, time goes by so SO fast. the leaves are starting to change colors, and the mornings are starting to feel like fall mornings do. Halloween is just around the corner and then the holidays can start!

another semester

seems like school just ended and now we are on to another semester. it has only been two days of school and already i have no motivation to do ANY homework. ever. but after this semester is over, we are that much closer to being done! well... i am, jared still has a little ways to go.

my younger sister started school this semester and its been fun to have her up here. its weird though i feel like she is just here for a really long session of EFY. she is a little smarty pants and is my personal math tutor this semester. lucky her.

i started my new job last week and i LOVE it. seriously, its the best job ever. i dont think i have ever had a job that i LOVE and it makes it that much more easier to go to everyday. the kids are absolutely crazy, but they crack me up with the things they say. it really is a lot of fun and i just go hang out with them and try to keep them entertained. im really grateful for it.

jared is still working in idaho falls at the good old USDA. i know he hates it, but im glad he goes and gets that paycheck! he is gonna have a pretty tough semester ahead of him, but he is a smarty pants too so im sure he will be just fine!

life continues to move forward faster than our feet can walk, but we are just chugging along staying busy with school and work and loving every minute of our poor college life chapter.

seriously so blessed

*DISCLAIMER: this might be a pretty long post!*

i remember writing one of our first blog entries entitled "spoiled or blessed" and now here i am a year later knowing that i am DEFINITELY blessed. some exciting things have happened recently in the rucks home and we have seen the work of the lord in our lives so much the past few weeks.

first off, jared and i have only had one car since we have been married, which has worked out great for us, but we realized starting in january, ill be going to school in rexburg, and jared will be working in idaho falls, so we were going to need to buy a 2nd car. but with a car payment on the one we have and me not having a job for the last 8 months, we were pretty stressed about buying another car with what little money we have. when we finally decided we were just going to make it work with one car, we get a call from my mom telling us she found a car for us. an extremely nice family in my parents ward, the drapers, have 4 cars and only 2 drivers and were wanting to give away this car that they had. they pretty much gave it to us for free, we just had to pay for some repairs that it needed. we are so SO grateful to the draper family and their kindness they have shown to us. we only hope that one day we will be in a situation where we can help out a newly married poor couple the way they helped us. my parents are going to drive it up to us when they bring my little sister up here for her first semester of school. (which by they way im so excited for her to start college have her up here close to me)

secondly, i got laid of from my job at the USDA in january, 8 months ago, and havent had a job since. living in rexburg idaho, where the majority of the population are college students, finding a job is almost nearly to impossible cause EVERYONE needs one. it seems like you either need to know someone who knows someone or have some other kind of connection. with jared only working part time, it seemed like we spent his paychecks before they even came. my friend candice had a job as an after school aid at an elementary school and it seemed like the perfect job for me! i have been waiting all summer for it to open up and apply because i REALLY wanted this job. after many many MANY prayers, i got an interview and learned this afternoon i will FINALLY be employed, and will FINALLY receive a paycheck again. words cannot express how grateful i am to have a job again and help support jared and i. i love the hours too. ill work from 2:30-5:00 monday through friday so i will still have my nights and weekends to myself. i have never gone to school and worked before so it will be interesting.

needless to say my life is about to take a 180 degree turn going from staying home all day by myself doing NOTHING to school from 8am-12pm and work from 2pm-5pm. ill be busy busy busy, but thats how i like it.

im grateful to know that we have a Heavenly Father we can turn to in prayer, and he will answer those prayers, not in our time, but his own. we really have been so blessed and can only pray that we can reach out to those who need help, maybe not as drastic as the way they helped us, but hopefully we could do something. our testimonies of the gospel have been strengthened so much the past few weeks. my friend deb had this video on her blog, i cant figure out how to upload it, but here is the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz41YxNiHEg

everyone should watch it. its short, but has a good message.

weekend of weddings

this past weekend jared and i went to logan utah to attend TWO weddings. i have never been to the logan temple before, it is so pretty and really BIG. the first sealing was on friday at 4:00 for our friends mikey and brittney... so i picked jared up from work early and away we went. i was so glad they invited us to be there, the sealer had some really wonderful things to say. they had a dinner afterwards and of course we got their car.

Brittny looked so pretty and mikey was very happy to FINALLY be married!

our friends Garrett and Kaleena were up next on saturday afternoon! their sealing was also really great and i was again very happy they invited us to be there. they also had a dinner afterwards... garrett tried hiding his car because he saw what we did the night before.... but after some driving around....we found it :)

this picture makes me laugh... it looks like they are about to have a harry potter duel over the cake

Kaleena also looked very pretty all dolled up in her wedding dress and garrett too was happy to finally be married!
on a side note: ever since we moved into the apt. we are in now, our 2nd bedroom has looked like a bomb had exploded in there... well jared and i finally decided to go through it and clean it up and it looks like a whole new room... we found these shelves and hung them up and then this is what jared decided to put on them:

he told me when we have a baby boy, these are the decorations that will be in his room haha. sometimes i just dont know about him. but he sure knows how to make me laugh :)

cousin campout

every summer since i can remember, my family always does what is called a cousin campout. usually its in utah, and we've had a few in mexico on the beach, but this year it was in colorado and was SO fun! we had one maybe two good days of nice weather and after that it was COLD and RAINY, but i think we all still had a fun time... we spent the week playing foursqaure, cards, ladder ball, eating GOOD food, sitting around a camp fire, hiking, finding a waterslide formed out of rocks in the river, climbing a castle down the road from our camp ground, and only managed to smash one finger with a rock.

the first day: happy to have made it to the camp spot!

foursquare

this castle was down the street from our campground... it was fun to walk through and was SO high.climbing high on the castle

me and my sisters climing on the castle

my family

the hike to the waterslide had some tough parts to climb upthe waterslide we hiked to... it was COLD!jared on the waterslide

Jared took our trusty SEAHAWK II rubber raft out on the lake one day with my sister carissa and her firend andrea... this was on the COLDEST day we had, notice the coats and sweatshirts...

Thanks mom and dad for a FUN vacation!

a tribute...

to these crazy kids right here: we have had such a fun year with robby and zenna and trae and candice and are so sad to see them BOTH leave. luckily they are both only going to pocatello so we might have to do game night once a month... especially since they both have babies, well kind of... robby and zenna's puppy and trae and candice's little boy who will be here in octoboer! thanks for all the fun times and good memories. good luck in pokey!

as embarrassing as this is, i just have to add this picture in:
it was suppose to be a silly picture... who do you think won?

it's a boy!

my very good friend candice is having a baby boy and i threw her a baby shower friday night. a big thank you to everyone that came! although there were only 7 of us, i think we still managed to have a good time. we had so many goodies because everyone was so thoughtful and brought something to eat. we played some games, my favorite being guessing what kind of "poop" was in the diaper (really it was just melted candy bars). here are some pictures:

stacy and zenna inspecting the diaperskelcie inspecting the diaperheidi and candice both trying to figure it outapril was good at guessing

the happy mommy to be

candice got some really nice things for her new baby. i made her a diaper cake. ive never made one before and i didnt have enough diapers to make it as big as i would have liked so i had to improvise a little and make it taller... i thought it turned out cute though:

candice isnt due till october, but they are moving at the end of the month so i wanted to give her a shower here before she left. jared and i feel so blessed and are so grateful for the friendships we have made with trae and candice and are really gonna miss them when they leave us behind... :(

fun fourth

we had such a fun 4th of july! of course i didnt take a single picture and im so sad cause we did some really fun things. we had thursday and friday off of school and it was wonderful! jared had to work on thursday so i thought i would get all my homework done and out of the way while i was home all by myself... so naturally i didnt open my back pack once all weekend :)

friday we went to the sand dunes and played in the water and rode four wheelers with jared's family. it was a lot of fun! jared and i both got some sun on that day. i found a frog there and showed it to our niece charlee and she loved it! she held it and didnt want to put it back in the water when it was time to go.

Saturday we went to the parade here in rexburg with our friends trae and candice... afterwards we were so hot we decided to go back to the lake at the sand dunes. candice and i were just walking around when trae and jared told us to come over to them.. while they were looking for frogs to catch they happened to catch a salamander! it was pretty cool and we spent the next little while playing with it and digging a little sand castle for it... we all felt like 8 year olds again.

That night we went to jared's parents house in idaho falls and had a BBQ with trae and candice and played some card games and ladder ball. then we headed over to the fireworks. we had a pretty good spot and they were awesome like always.

I lied.. i got this one picture of us watching the fireworks :)

yes it was a cold night so we had to use a blanket!

and now it's back to school :( thank goodness there are only 3 more weeks left of the semester and then we are going on a MUCH NEEDED vacation to colorado to see my parents and sisters and im so excited!

the end is near

the end of this semester is SO close! i cant believe how fast it has gone, but i am anxious for it to be OVER. i really enjoyed my classes this semester. i absolutly LOVE being an elementary education major... jared always laughs at the homework i bring home and says all i ever do in school is color :) this is the project i just recently finished; we had to make a bulletin board:

its a little blurry, but this is what i came up with... a birthday bulletine board. On the candles id write the students name and then on the flame id write the date of their birthday. i worked hard and was pretty proud of it so i just thought id share it.

there are some days when i get so stressed out and just want to quit school (ask jared, he hears it all the time) but then i think about what a HUGE accomplishment it will be to graduate from college with a bachelors degree. and i know that getting that degree is something i will never regret doing. plus im so close now, why stop? 3 more semesterssssssss!!! :)