Not much of an update

Poor Travis. If you look at my previous post you can see a picture of what he looked like when I dropped him off at the armory on Monday. He doesn't get to use phone very often because "they" take it but the DS let them use them briefly before they took off for Ft. Benning.

This is the current Trav:

Isn't that so sad!! I've spent years getting him to wear his hair a little bit longer than his liking and then they go and do THIS, are you KIDDING me. Well, they didn't ask me and that's the army for you.
Of course I'll love him no matter what his hair looks like. Counting the days- 3 down, infinity to go.

For me- SVU graduation is on Saturday so... I'll be doing that. I'll be done with this place, which I love, and have a degree under my belt. Oh happy day. Most of my time is spent making plans for the summer and sending all my love and prayers to Benning.

Sad goodbyes...

Monday at 7 AM I dropped Travis off at the armory to start his journey to Army basic training. We had to get up at 5:00 to make sure everything was ready to go so we could leave the apartment by 6.
It was the saddest morning, drive and departure I've ever experienced. I mean, what is there really to talk about when someone is about to leave for 14 weeks? We both cried a lot last night and this morning. It felt worse to see him sad than it was for me to cry.
As soon as he walked through those doors at the armory I felt the instant need for one more hug but it doesn't look like that will happen soon. Travis goes to Ft Benning, GA on Wednesday. I really don't know anything other than that. I'll find out dates I can/ if I even can visit him and what his graduation date will be as time passes.
He is doing this because he loves this country and he loves me. I know that he is sacrificing a lot to be able to provide for us. We've only been married for one short month (which passed entirely too quickly and has been filled with so much love and happiness) but I am thankful every day for the time we've had together. Travis is the best man in the entire world and I will miss him so much.
If I find out anything or have any contact with him I'll let you know. Otherwise, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
We are all so proud of you Trav.

Whoops

 So, our ward had an activity this past Saturday. It was a chance for everyone to get together. We were asked to bring a dessert or appetizer to share. My mom had sent me this recipe a while back and I'd kept it. It's a brownie cake with sour cream. The topping is a a sour cream and whipped cream topping with vanilla and powdered sugar. The recipe suggested strawberries and kiwi but we liked blueberries better. We got to put the cake on a really cool crystal cake platter we got for the wedding, carefully walked it to the car, drove to church and... arrived at an empty parking lot. Long story short- the event was Friday, not Saturday... we missed it. I was pretty bummed but Travis was good about helping me laugh it off. We ended up having a good night and watched The Social Network- worst movie ever.

 Saturday, before the ward activity fiasco, we decided to try a restaurant called Aroma for our date night. I thought it was going to be an Italian joint from how the sign looked outside. We walked in and to our surprise it was an oriental buffet with ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI!! It was all delicious! Usually I'm wary of buffets like that but it was really nice inside. The service was great and the food was awesome. They have a great salad/fruit bar, soft serve ice cream and all the desserts you could want. Travis enjoyed some steak and I enjoyed some noodles and Burbon chicken- among other things. Best part- it was only 9.99!! We will definitely be going back.

Our church has a scripture study program called Institute. They provide optional classes on the various books of the Bible, as well as teachings of the living prophets and The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. It is an opportunity to learn and grow spiritually in a great environment. Institute is one of the major reasons I love SVU. The instructors are great and I have grown a tremendous amount since I have been at SVU as a result of institute. The classes are similar to college courses in that you pick a class and time to go to- most people take one class which meets twice a week for an hour. Certain courses will transfer over to the university for credit which is great!
This Sunday we drove down to SVU for my institute graduation. Each course is 2 credits and 14 credits are required to graduate. You can continue attending institute if you'd like to get higher certificates of achievement. The service was really nice. It was a great night and feel proud in my decision to have attended institute.

Our brothers Javi and Todd and their friend Vihn came down for the weekend. Monday they went to JMU's open house and loved it!! We hope they come back to visit- we enjoyed having them around. We all packed in the car for the hour drive to Buena Vista and Institute graduation. It was nice that they were all able to support me. Thanks guys!

All's well

 We have been doing really well. Having fun and being happy :) We are eating well too. I'm getting the chance to test out my domestic skills since I've never really had any reason to cook much before. Above is what we had last Saturday. NAVAJO TACOS!!
The bread is made from:
3 cups of flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Mix it up in a bowl. Pour canola oil into a sauce pan and heat it over medium heat.
Dust the counter (or cutting board) and your hands with flour to make balls of the dough. Flatten them out into thin rounded patties. 
Using tongs or a slotted spatula lower the dough into the hot oil. (If you use a big pot you can do more than one at once.) Wait until the bread has risen some and turned golden brown. Remove it from the oil and place it on a plate with a paper towel (to soak up extra oil).

You can put anything you like on there for toppings.
This is what we used:
Ground Beef (you can used shredded chicken if you prefer)
Sour Cream
Salsa
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Black Beans (or refried or chili or whatever)
Lettuce
Tomatoes (any taco-type veggie would work- avocado, onion...)

They turned out delicious!! And the great part is that you can use the extra bread for dessert. I saved the extra dough and we had the bread with powdered sugar, butter and honey for dessert later in the week.
It was awesome!!- Thanks for helping me find the recipe Lindsay :)

 We want to start a tradition of having a more fancy Sunday dinner, as opposed to the Little Caesars Pizza we had earlier in the week. I got a nice crock pot for the wedding and couldn't wait to try it out. We bought a pot roast, put a package of lipton powdered soup mix, onions, and carrots in there turned it on and left. When we came back after watching General Conference on Sunday our apartment smelled great. It turned out really nice. We enjoy our meals together <3 Thanks for the help mom!!

 This past Saturday SVU had a softbally game against Eastern Mennonite University which is literally 5 minutes down the road. I'm glad Abby texted me about it! It was freezing but we were glad we got to get out and support her. SVU didn't do their best but it was entertaining. Especially since Travis and I were the only SVU fans and one of us is more willing to cheer in public than others ;) Thanks for the invite Abby!!

 There is a beautiful arboretum right off JMU campus at the east end. My friend, Emily, told me about it the other day and I'd been wanting to go. This past Sunday was just such a nice day we couldn't stay inside all afternoon. After church we packed a picnic, which we were not prepared for as is evidenced by the Japanese noodles, bananas and cheese-its we ate, while there. It was SO relaxing. The sun was shining. It was nice to see some little kids playing, all the flowers, and the pond with ducks there. We will have to go back sometime and take advantage of the trails.

 I've been working my butt off on my senior paper. As of today it is "finished." I still have to add the abstract and edit the heck out of it. It made doing research much more enjoyable since we were at the park.

Overall things have been great. Life is hectic with me driving back and forth from Harrisonburg to school in Buena Vista every day. We both have a lot of projects and papers to do as the semester winds to a close but mostly we are concerned about April 25- the day Travis leaves for Basic Training. It will be hard for both of us but we know that it will be good for us. We haven't spent the summer apart in 7 years so it will be different. Wish us luck.

I can cook!!

Getting married suddenly throws you into the role of housemaker. I don't mind cleaning or organizing. I was a little worried about my cooking skills. When I'm done the kitchen is a trainwreck and our sink is overflowing with dishes but our meals have turned out pretty good.

This is a meat and pasta dish. I got the ingredients from my friend Abby.

Start with Italian sausage, or regular sausage (It is less flavorful).
Toss in some canned diced tomatoes, diced onion, pesto, zucchini (optional) 
Add basil and oregano to taste.
Slap it on some pasta and add a side.
It's pretty easy and fairly quick. We like it.

Thanks Abby!

We're married!!!!

SO much has happened since we last blogged- most of all we got married!! Now that the wedding is over we are settling back into life and are constantly busy (and exhausted). I'll be better at updating the blog on a regular basis since things are slightly slowing down.

A good number of our wedding pictures, taken by Leah Sidwell, are on facebook. Even if you don't have a facebook account you can go to this link and see our photos.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=636738&id=558050467&l=b91a372e1e

It was such a great day and we couldn't be happier together. We feel so blessed that we were married in the temple for time and all eternity- we wouldn't want to spend any less amount of time together. We are so excited for the life that awaits us.

There were so many people who worked their tails off to make sure the day ran perfectly. It was (nearly) flawless. My mom and Lori spent countless hours preparing everything that could possibly make the day better. It was wonderful.

THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM!!!

Travis's aunt Doree and my aunt Cathy came in town from Hawaii and Florida to be there for our special day. We were so glad they could come as well as all of our friends and family from as far as Idaho, South Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. My maid of honor, Kiley, flew in from Idaho taking time away from school and her husband. Jewelz Janis drove up from South Carolina and Travis's best man, Serge, drove 7 hours from Pennsylvania. We have great friends and great family. Thank you to everyone who made the effort to come!!!