"Leaves are falling all around, on the rooftops on the ground"

The season of Fall in Provo is absolutely beautiful. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, I ponder about the biochemical processes in the leaves that paint the landscape with Nature's autumn palette. And for reasons like this...this is why I am studying science! I love learning about molecular functions of Christ's marvelous creations. I am loving it :)

Life at BYU is quite busy! Jake and I are doing well in school, we're working hard, and enjoying our first semester as a married couple :) So here's a recap of our journey through Fall in captured moments...



About 2 months ago, Jake broke his LEG (right fibula) while longboarding. This time period has definitely has been a test of patience! Jake loves to be on the go doing any physical activity...but since he fractured his leg...he has been resting and taking care of it the best he knows how. Since day one, Jake has been high spirited and always thinking positively about his situation and I know that we are both growing from this experience. In this photo, here are the remnants of Jake's injury...the torn up shoe worn from the incident, the boot he wore during the healing process, and now the ankle brace to help secure the bone. Slowly but surely, he should be back to playing sports by January :)



In honor of Jake's recent injury, we attended our ward's Halloween party as LONGBOARDERS!! That was so fun!! However, throughout the night, people kept asking us if we longboarded to the party and wondered if we dressed like that normally . Uhhhhh...well...we thought the crutches would give it away, but I guess we needed a sign that said "Jake broke his leg longboarding." We'll conjure up a poster for next time ;)



Jake's work (Best Buy) threw a Halloween party!! Our last minute costume we put together was MISSIONARY COMPANIONS! Aren't we the cutest companionship?? ;) Throughout the night, I definitely grew fond of wearing a tie, I think ties should come in fashion for women...maybe I'll start a new trend ;)



Yayy! Becca's Birthday :) Becca sure is excited to be 18!! We were glad to be with her to celebrate!!! Thanks to Lisa's birthday package, we had lots of fun decorating Becca's room with balloons, streamers and confetti!



Before the Thanksgiving break, we hosted a potluck dinner at our home with Becca, her roommate (Hannah), Kayla and her roommate (Keelia), and Blake! We love visiting with all of them:) Since our table is too small to fit everyone around it, we decided to have a picnic on the floor! Yeah, it was a bit crowded...but we were cozy and we had a good time :)









Thanksgiving, we went to Uncle Kurt and Aunt Wendy's place up in Ogden. Uncle Mike, Aunt Connie and Tyler came from Sacramento and Davis and Derek came from BYU-Idaho :) It was so fun having some of Jake's family together!! We played in the snow, made some pumpkin pies, ate Uncle Mike's deep fried turkey (yum!!), and relaxed together :) It was a wonderful break from the craziness of school and work.

Now, what am I grateful for?!?
I am so grateful for having family on both sides living so close to us!! :) I am grateful for our dear, loving family in California. We wish they were closer :/ I am grateful for our good health. I am grateful for our opportunity to attend and gain knowledge from Brigham Young University. I am grateful for various scholarships we have received to help assist our educational journey. I am grateful for our trials that we have encountered thus far as a newly married couple--through them we have overcome and grown together.

Happy Holidays!! We love you all :)

BYU at Last!!!

Recently, the hate mail has been piling up because of our lack of updates. Especially from a certain, very persistent young lady in Idaho (KRISTINA PATTON) so we voluntarily decided that it was time for an update!

When we last left our love-struck heroes, they were sizzling in AZ and loving it! The wild world of Pest Control came to an end, and with the new semester fast approaching, they saddled up to return to BYU. Mama Bean and Annelise were quick to come down and help us uproot our few belongings (and many presents! Thanks again!!!) to Provo!



Then, DISASTER STRUCK!



Yes, that is the middle of nowhere.

After extensive repairs in AZ, we thought we were good to go. The first tire blow-out wasn't too bad, because we quickly emptied our jam-packed trunk and changed it out for the spare. The second blow-out was incredibly frustrating, however!!! Not only did we not have a spare to change out, but my AAA membership was 10 days expired and no one would answer the phone at any tow yard.

Lucky for us that day happened to be the FIRST DAY OF DEER SEASON, which, for all the rest of us who don't enjoy climbing a tree drenched in deer urine, means no males anywhere in the nomad-like portions of Utah run their businesses. Our tow truck driver, Scott, is the mechanic for his towyard, in CEDAR CITY (an hour the opposite direction) who kindly towed us to a hotel near a Wal Mart where we could go in the morning to get new tires and be back on our way.

Making the best of a bad situation, the four wearied travelers rented a movie from RedBox and promptly fell asleep 3 minutes into it.

...

But don't worry, we awoke the next morning, got the new tires, and made it to BYU where we have quickly adapted to our new life!









One of our MANY highlights thus far has been the visit of Brittney's cousin Jamie with her husband Tyler and their daughter Avery!







It's been amazing being back in school and just buckling down to do well! So many distractions have dissipated being married, and we are loving every minute of it!

Brittney continues to work as the all-star receptionist and do-it-all secretary at the on-campus Pre-School/Kindergarten and has recently taken on more responsibility preparing the food for the kids in preparation for her new Dietetics (Nutrition) Major.

I had planned on keeping work to soccer referee jobs and graphic design after the summer burn-out, but recently had the opportunity to work as a portable electronics salesperson for Best Buy (iPods, car audio, digital cameras and video games? YES PLEASE!) so I'm back in the workforce again ;)

Between acing tests and dominating our classes, we've spent a lot of time playing with other married couples, hosting Kayla and Becca at our place, organizing epic longboarding journeys and most importantly: PLAYING SOCCER!!!

Oh how we've missed you, Provo.

Wedding Photos!

Wow! We sure are late in uploading all the wedding photos! Brittney did a spectacular job of updating everyone about all our happenings here in AZ, but since we all looked SO GOOD at the wedding (ya, even you!), we all want to see our glamour shots! Here ya go:



Facebook Album Link

Here's one of the group, and a link to an album to see them all! Make sure to tag yourself in the shots if you haven't already!

THANK YOU Bro. and Sis. Whitaker!!!

SUMMA LOVIN'

Summer sure has gotten away from us...so we decided this new post would be full of pictures to show ya what's been going on.

OUR BIRTHDAY WEEK--
Yep! we have the same birthday week :) Jake's is June 13th and mine is June 15th. So we celebrated with the Campbells and the Justesen clan. We ended the night with Grandma and Grandpa's new favorite game called "aggravation" --It sure is aggravating-- Boys against Girls...and of course the boys won!







On the 15th... my actual birthday...Jake surprised me with decorations all over the apartment and night out to an Italian restaurant (my fav!!)





Gma and Gpa--
Living near Grandma and Grandpa Campbell has been soooo nice :) We love going over there to visit! I've been painting with grandma, learning how to make gravy and pies, doing water aerobics at the club house, playing pool with grandpa, and cruising around the neighborhood in their golf cart :)





Look! Jake and Grandpa are wearing the same shorts! They're lookin' so fly ;) Grandma got Jake those shorts for his Birthday, and Grandpa for Father's Day...Funny thing was-->she had no idea they were the same!



WORK--
Has been going well! Jake and I are so grateful that I could work at Dr. Justesen's Dental Office. It's been fun learning how a dental office works, and how to deal with insurance claims.
Here's me at the front desk!



Jake has been doing well with his Pest Control gig. It's a smaller company down here in AZ...and if you sell a certain amount of sales in a day, then the Boss treats you to dinner :) So, here's a pic of us at texas road house enjoying our meal :) -->thanks for the advice of what to get, kayla!<--



DEATH OF BANZAI--
Banzai is Jake's red Honda Civic Hatchback...unfortunately, on the way to work the engine threw a rod and completely shot the engine. Stranded, on the side of the freeway, Jake walked a couple miles to work and tried to figure out how get some help towing it... he had no such luck.

Eventually, Jake found a friend that could help us. So we borrowed the friend's truck and drove out to the freeway where Banzai sat...but it was GONE!! We called the police and found out that it had been towed :( BUMMER.

Long story short. We couldn't get the car out until the next day :(



While driving to the lot, a bird flew in front our car and we hit it!!!! AHHHHH! I freaked out!
To our surprise, we found the bird dead as a doornail on the grill of my car--chillin' like a Christmas wreath. Ewwwww. Jake sure was fascinated! I, however, was quite disgusted.
...neither of us wanted to touch it--and so (couple days later) it fell off somewhere.
Sorry birdie!



GO-KARTING--
Jake's favorite place!
Go-Karting is one of the bonus's at Jake's work if they sell a certain amount of accounts during the week. We absolutely LOVE this place!











CHERISE'S BAPTISM---
YAYY! Jake and I were thrilled of Cherise's decision to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints :) Matt came down to baptize her!! That was so fun having him down in AZ. Wish he could have stayed longer!





4TH OF JULY---
For the 4th, we celebrated with Chris and his g/f Elyssa :) We sure did have feast!! Hamburgers, 7 layer dip, corn on the cob, watermelon, and chocolate cake :) yummm! Then we headed to Mill Ave. in Tempe to watch the Fireworks show (ppl say its the best one in the area). The whole day was SO FUN!







MOM'S VISIT FOR CHRIS'S BIRTHDAY--
What a nice treat! Thanks for coming out Mom! We had lots of fun playing games with you, hangin' out, and swimming!!! Gotta love swimming at night in AZ :) it's the best!







STAY TUNED!
Wedding photos are coming up next!

Our Place

We're all moved in!! Yayyyy!! We are absolutely loving the desert. Bring on the heat, AZ! People like to warn us of the weather in the summers, but according to Jake, "We're still thawing out from Utah!" lol! -- I agree ;)

Here are some photos of our apartment area!













Having our own assigned parking spot with an overhang is sooo nice. It helps cool the car down more than I thought it would. We live on the 2nd floor (in the picture with the stairs--we're on the right side) in a spacious apartment! We definitely don't have enough stuff to fill it up ;)



My favorite part of the place is the balcony. I've never had one before! Here's Jake perched up there!



Today, we went to the dedication of the Gila Valley Temple. That was incredible! It's always a privilege to hear our prophets and apostles speak to us.

As for the rest of our peaceful Sunday afternoon, Jake and I decided to try to make a Pot Roast with our new crock pot! I was kinda bummed at first, because we didn't have a peeling device to peel the potatoes with. But Jake assured me, "How do you think I peeled a potato in Argentina?...with a knife!" So he went at it with a butter knife successfully but catastrophically. He ended up making a mess all over the sink and losing most of the potato. haha! Jake browsed around the kitchen to check if we had one...and soon enough, he found one! Yay! the potatoes have been saved!









--Gotta love the card table, eh?? ;)

Well, we'll see how this whole pot roast experience turns out...hopefully it's edible!

Stay tuned for next week