Yummy Holiday Goodies

When I was little, my mom made decorating cookies a really big deal and I think that is why it is my favorite part of the Christmas season. She would let us help bake the cookies and cut out the shapes. Then, when the cookies were baked and cool, she would let us help decorate. On the kitchen counter there would be little dishes filled with colored frosting, sprinkles, and candies. I think we ended up with more frosting on us than on the cookies but each of our cookie creations showed a little bit of our personality and style.

This year was the first year that I have made my own Christmas cookies. I was lucky enough that my mom came over to help me bake them and Jordan helped me frost them. I learned that we have very different decorating style! Jordan is a bit more creative than I am... i.e. a tye-dye Christmas tree. But, it has never been the cookies alone that I love, its the fun of being with the people I love decorating them.

Now, we get to share our yummy holiday goodies with friends and family at the upcoming holiday celebrations.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas has always and always will be my favorite time of the year!! I just love all of the happy people, fun movies, and delicious cookies. What a fun way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!! I also LOVE that there are entire radio stations dedicated to Christmas music!! Who wouldn't like to drive down the road blasting the classics!! Luckily, both of our mom's also loved Christmas so our apartment naturally looks like a cozy winter wonderland :)

P.S. We are officially settled in our new apartment, we celebrated our 6 month anniversary, I LOVE my new job, and we got to meet one of the sweetest newborns ever last night!

We're moving... again

Believe it or not, two avid Hawkeyes are moving to Cyclone country. I (Kate) have accepted a position as a hall director at Iowa State and am super excited to get back to working with students. Not that I have not enjoyed my current job but this opportunity will give me a chance to really utilize my talents and education. Jordan is also excited because this means he won't have to drive to Ames two nights a week to teach... now he will have to do it everyday :) That is actually a VERY positive thing in our world because we think this new arrangement will make our nights less stressful and will give us more time together.

I am also really excited to get to decorate another apartment! I feel like our current place is my practice run for our next apartment. At least, that is what I am telling myself so that I don't go crazy thinking about moving again. AHH!! We will be pros at this soon I'm sure. How many other couples get to move 3 times in their first 6 months of marriage???

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Stiles!!

The Garrett's and the Stiles'

Love Love Love!! This weekend we celebrated love and the marriage of Rich and Meredith Stiles!! We are so excited for them!! God has blessed them with the gift of love and we are excited to have been part of their special day!!

1 year later...

1 year
12 months
52 weeks
365 days

It amazes me how much our lives have changed in such a short amount of time. I mean really a year is just a second in the grand scheme of things but some years are monumental in a person's life. For Jordan and I, the past 365 days have been full of the happiest, saddest, funniest, most romantic, exciting, scariest, sickest, and most frustrating days of our lives. We have experienced dates, engagements, wedding prep classes, bridal showers, bachelor/ette parties, a wedding, a honeymoon, assistantships, graduate coursework, graduation, job searches, interviews, new jobs, apartment hunting, and moving into our first big kid apartment ... along with emergency room visits, diagnoses, surgery, radiation treatments, and countless visits to UIHC. Any one of these things would be considered a big deal and we decided to take them all on in a 12 month time frame... At times, I think back and cannot believe that it all started a year ago today...




After reading that last paragraph you are probably thinking one of 2 things:
1. Jordan and Kate are the most insane people ever and should probably seek some kind of professional help or take a REALLY long vacation to a tropical island for the next three years.
or
2. Jordan and Kate are the most amazing and inspirational people I have ever met and should win an award for their awesomeness.... seriously...

Well, either way... you are wrong (although the 1st one is kind of right... we do need a beach vacation)... we are not inspirational, amazing, or insane... we are just Jordan and Kate... who happen to have gotten a few things thrown at them at the same time... if God did not think we could handle it...he would not have done it...

We also could not have done it if we did not have the most amazing and supportive family and friends. We do not tell you all enough how much you have helped us this past year and we really never will be able to express how much it has meant to have such a strong team on our side... The only thing we can do is continue to love you all and support you through your good and bad times like you have done for us :)

So... to end this terribly cheesy post I want to tell you all thank you and that I sincerely hope that the next 365 are a little more calm but as happy and filled with love as the last 365.

Our favorite season is here!!

HAWKEYE FOOTBALL SEASON...I mean fall!!!

While I know that I am the love of Jordan's life, I think that Hawkeye football comes in at a close second. This is the first year in SIX years that Jordan and I have been without season tickets and at this point I think we may be going through withdrawals. We will attempt to get our Hawkeye fix this season by going to a game with Chris and his family, driving to the Northwestern game in November, occasionally attending Iowa City tailgates, and (of course) watching the game on the nearest t.v. But really, there is nothing like standing in the student section with 5000 of your closest friends (maybe one of us should go back to school again so we can get tickets again... just kidding).

Besides Hawkeye football, fall also brings out my favorite clothing stiles (hoodies, scarves, and jeans), the best foods, fresh air, and warm smells. Since this is the last weekend we have free until the middle of October, I wanted to get as many of these things as possible.
Hoodie= check
Chili on the stove= check
Windows open=check
Apple candle= check
Awesome weekend= double check

Those are just a few of the reasons that we love fall....

How things change!

So... Jordan has started school and I (Kate) have started my adventures as a housewife!! I must say that this adventure is different than I had expected but I love it. Don't get me wrong I really want a new job (I am not very good at not being around people) but staying home is not all that bad.

As for being a housewife, I have learned that I absolutely LOVE to cook. There is something about getting an idea stuck in your head, prepping it, and tasting the final product! I am learning to be better at using my cookbooks but what I really love to do is throw things together and see how it turns out... YUMMMMY!

I think the best part is that I get to have hobbies again. This is a huge thing since for the past 20 (especially the past 2) years my hobby has really been school. I am getting back into reading, scrapbooking, and taking care of myself. It's really sad that those things get put aside during grad school but such is life. I am just excited to get back into doing things that I love!

I know that this adventure is not at all permanent for me so I am going to live it up while I can.

End of Summer Fun

Since Jordan has his first official day of work tomorrow, our lazy summer is coming to an end! It is kind of sad but we have had a fantastic couple of months together that most newly weds don't get to have! Who wouldn't want to have one last high school style summer full of lazy mornings and pool days?? (sorry if you disagree and like to spend beautiful days in front of a computer screen or in a cubicle :-P )

In between our pool dates and Starbucks runs, we have managed to get in a few fun excursions this summer :)

At the end of July, we went to the Determan Family reunion in Galena, IL. This was the 5th time we have had the event and it was a lot of fun to get to see family again. Especially since we did not get a chance to talk to everyone at the wedding! (The photo below was taken by my Uncle Ed of the beautiful sunset right after our main dinner).

A few weeks ago, we met up with some friends at the local zoo for an event called "Zoo Brew." This was the best idea that anyone ever had. You can have a beer or margarita while looking at your favorite animals!! We did discover that the animals are a bit more adventurous after hours haha.

This past weekend was especially busy. My (Kate's) sister Emily, her family friend Lynn, and her grandparents all came in for the weekend. Since we are just learning about Des Moines, it was fun to show them around to the places we have found. We went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill, visited the Downtown Farmer's Market, shopped at Valley Junction, and of course found some great deals at Jordan Creek Mall.

As if that was not enough, on Sunday we (Kate and Jordan) hopped in the car and headed to Kansas City to watch the Royals play the Yankees. Before the game, we tailgated and explored the stadium. For those of you who are baseball fans, you have to see this stadium. It has the LARGEST jumbotron I have ever seen. Seriously, this thing was ridiculous, a true relic of the 1980s haha. Anyway, this was Jordan's first time seeing the Yankees and they got beat 1-0 by the home team.


As for this week, we have been staying fairly low key. On Monday, Karla, Brynna, and Hayden came to our apartment to spend the afternoon with us at the pool. It was such a fun afternoon and Hayden seemed to love the big kid pool! She even was brave enough to jump in the water to Uncle Jordan!

Now, Jordan is gearing up for his new life as Senor Garrett, professional Spanish teacher and I am gearing up for whatever role comes next! We hope you are all having a fantastic last few weeks of summer!!

July in Iowa = HOT HOT HOT

With heat indexes reaching over 100 degrees, our main goal lately has been to stay cool. Thus, we have spent a lot of time near water. Our apartment complex has a pool and we have become almost daily patrons! Needless to say... this summer has been all about working on our tans haha...



This past weekend, we got to escape the heat with the Garrett family at Lake Odessa. The original plan was to go fishing but instead we spent the day boating, swimming, and drinking ice cold beverages. It was a fantastic day!!

One Box at a Time

We have finally made it to the Des Moines area!! After what seems like months of packing, several trips to Norwalk to fill our storage garage, and a two week stay at the Garrett's, we have FINALLY made it to our new home!! Our first step was to move the boxes from the storage room to the spare bedroom. Yes, we have a LOT of stuff. The best part is that a lot of it is new (YAY for wedding gifts!!) Our next step was putting things together. Jordan and his dad were very handy at putting together our new grill. I think it was because they had food on the brain!!
After that, the fun part began!! DECORATING!!! With the help of both Mom's, Kate's sister, and Jordan's Grandma, we had the basics done by the time we went to bed on our second night here!

Dining Room

Kitchen
Spare Bathroom

Our Bedroom

We are still working on getting everything just the way we want it but it is coming along. Today, we put together a new shelf for the living room that has been designated for"Kate's nick-nacks." It was a great project for us and really has made our living room start to look like we are living here.

We are taking the "one box at a time" approach to moving. By the time we move again, we might be unpacked!

Our first month as the Garretts

Hello friends!!
As to be expected, Jordan and I have spent this last month (our first month as marrieds) busy busy busy. This should not surprise anyone since we tend to make all parts of our life an adventure!What have we been up to you ask??? Well let me tell you :)

• On May 22, 2010, Jordan and I were married in Clinton, Iowa at the Prince of Peace Catholic Church. It was really the most beautiful day full of family, friends, food, dancing, and LOVE! (Eventually, I will post a blog all about our wedding and honeymoon!!)
  

• After our awesome wedding, we headed down to Mazatlan, Mexico for a week of relaxation. We stayed at the resort Pueblo Bonito at Emerald Bay, a gorgeous place on the beach. We made it our mission to relax and work on our tans (quite successfully!!). We also visited the Pacifico Brewery (a Mexican Brewery) and went sailing for a day. Jordan even was able to practice his Spanish!! I think that we are both ready to head back ASAP!!

• Once we were home, it was time to get ready to move westward to Des Moines. Jordan will begin teaching in Pleasantville in the fall and a commute from Iowa City just did not seem feasible :) We found a great apartment in Norwalk, Iowa that is almost 3x as big as our current place. We will be moving in on July 1st and are staying with Jordan's parents until then :)

• Our two week stay at the Garrett's has been a fun one! Jordan was one of the best men when his brother Braedan married his best friend, Miriam on June 19th. It was another beautiful and fun wedding! We also spent some time at the lake, visited some Washington local eateries, and saw Toy Story 3.

• Overall, we could not have asked for a better first month of marriage!!