Halloween Madness

BOO! Yes, I am still alive and kicking, even after our hectic life, with school and the occasion bouts of sickness and snow. Yet still, we MUST get the most we can out of this Halloween season, even if it is, just an exciting prep for the wonder that is Christmas. But still...

Apart from the obvious holiday baking [haha of course..] we got together with a group of our friends a few nights back for fhe and did some pumpkin carving. It was a lot of fun! Many of you may not know this, but because Lester didn’t move to America until about age 10, and apparently they don’t celebrate Halloween in Australia [his native country]. So he was excited when talking to our friends Saritha and Ignacio who are from India to find out that this was their first time carving pumpkins, meaning that he wasn’t the most inexperienced haha! Ironically though, in carving them, their pumpkin turned out way better then ours of course. But still it was a lot of fun, and it definetly went a long way in giving us a much needed break, a feeling of comradery and friendship with out neighbors and also a much needed holiday charge!


our front door with some fun decorations

black bottom cupcakes with halloween liners againSaritha & Ignacio
Lester carving our pumpkin

Beau & Lindi

Tyler & Steph

all of us together!

Another thing you may or may not know is that a few years back, I took a stage makeup class here at BYU-Idaho. It was so much fun, and I learned a lot. Now, today apparently many ppl are celebrating their Halloweens [since said holiday falls on Sunday] and while Lester and I don’t have any fun and exciting plans other then just cuddling, I am going to use the things I learned to do my friend Giddy’s makeup! I am really excited about it since surprisingly, I don’t really get the opportunity to use these skills that often haha. Im posting some of the pictures of my work in class, but other techniques we learned was ‘glamour’ stage makeup, inanimate objects, false hair application, animal makeup and so on and so forth. So this is something I’m looking forward to!

Brittany after i did her makeup!

in the application process!

clown makeup

Kibuki makeup

practicing blood and gore makeup

more blood and gore makeup
old age makeup

We have also been decking out selves and our apartment out in orange, in respect to our WORLD SERIES Giants players! Woot woot! Lester loves it because out of all the sports he tries to get away with, this is the one that I will actually watch gladly with him, and also not interrupt him every few minutes to wonder whats going on...we are running out a black and orange clothing to wear..thank goodness for cheap laundry, right? haha!

Overall, it has been a good halloween season, and we are excited for the rest of the holidays!

oh no.

crap. i think i may have strep throat.

i think it would be awesome if all the females in my family could be the next case on House so that way when we ambush him, he'll have no escape and he'll HAVE to figure out why we get strep throat each a few times a year...and also prevent it from happening.

cross your fingers that i'm just being paranoid. its still midterm time, and i dont want to have to miss classes.




[this would be his face upon our arrival]

Making the Grade!

People always told us that

1. our social life would die once we got married.

2. we would get the better grades then we ever had.

3. that the honeymoon and good feelings would be over once things got busy and crazy and life started happening.

Here is my assessment.

1. FALSE. Our social life has not died..in fact if anything it has improved. I think we've mentioned this in other blog posts, but its true. There was this poem I heard when I was in elementary school that said, "Make new friends, but keep the old. Some are silver and some are gold." We have done just this, and we feel rich because of it! The kids from home are close and its alot of fun..were thinking of having a holiday party with them. But we have also made a TON of new friends, especially in our ward. This week alone, we had a fun ward temple trip, complete with dinner and everything, then enrichment, and we just finished dinner with some friends and phase 10. So that one is false.

2. TRUE. Suprisingly, this one has proven to be correct! After our first round of tests, Lester got a 100% on his human anat & phys test, and I got a 96, 97 and 107% [in race and ethnic relations, juvenile deliquency, and music and LDS hymns]! Here are the pictures to prove it..

Im not really sure why he's making this face..

and this isnt a whole lot better..but honestly this was the best we were gonna get..and lets face it, biology makes me feel this way to haha...

This is an example of my excellent note taking skills, and the test review I made to get that A grade I like! Notice how it is neat and there is even diagrams...YA!

This is the test I scored the highest on..it may sound easy, but everyone in the class is music majors, and I can't even read music, let alone conduct a 4 part choir [which, if you could see the rest of the test, I am required to know..but some how I pulled it out!]

3. FALSE. So far, this has been a complete myth. If anything, we feel like everything just gets better and better, and while I realize its only been two months and we have an eternity to go, they have been the best days of our lives....my Mom and I have both talked the assumptions people make when they hear how early our relationships started...they think it must be perfect, and so much easier this way. But, in our experience, while high school relationships that grow into marriage have their many perks, they also have their many heartbreaks and trials on that road there. Lester and I have been waiting for this time of our lives since we were 16, and while it may not be all flowers and candy all the time, this every day life is literally our dreams come true. No. Its better then that.

Thus ends our assessment of the myths and truths of married life so far! Now..back to making the grade I suppose!

My Addiction

Is there a support group for Kitchen Aide addicts? If so, I think I would need to enroll in a 12 step program...and honestly who knows if I would even make it through that. Seriously though, while Lester and I both LOVE and utilize every single one of our wedding gifts thus far, this is my favorite one..the one that i use daily. I don't even take it off the counter anymore.. bc really, what would be the point? It sits in the same place of honor in our home now that it does in my families back in California. I really am living the dream life...and despite the fact that Lester has gained what, 12 lbs since we've been married...he really doesnt mind either ;). Here are some of the things that we have been using it for:

 *chewy cocoa brownies

guacamole [to go with our fajitas and/or enchiladas]

chocolate chip cookies

 *key lime tarts [one of my new favorites..thank you ourbestbites!]

*molten lava fudge cakes [again, ourbestbites]

*lemon tarts

black bottom cupcakes

cookies n cream cupcakes [thank you carly and gabby!]

potatoe salad

cinnamon rolls

chicken alfredo pizza [we used it for the dough here...this is one of lester's faves!]

 *white bread

and many, many more. Its so fun to be able to use recipes that are tried and true from my Mom and family and friends, but also try new things. So yes. I am an addict. But then again, who said all addictions are bad right? ;)

*the pictures with stars next to them are things we've made but forgot to take pictures of, so we got them from where we got the recipes or from google! haha ghetto, but effective in making you a little jealous, right?!

Release

Confession: I am a crier, and I not ashamed to admit it. I cry sometimes cry when I’m happy, when I’m sad, mad, stressed out, feeling the spirit or whatever. You name it, I probably have cried for it. I even cry in commercials sometimes...like that ‘Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus’ one. And you know what...I used to feel bad about it, but I don’t anymore! Sure sometimes it’s a bit inconvenient, but for the most part, it is an extremely effective release and it helps me to enjoy my life to the fullest and process the things I would like to improve upon....In fact, I think that if Freud knew me, he would say that it’s the perfect compromise between my superego and the id. Quite frankly, I think every once in a while, every girl just needs a good cry to get it all out!
The reason I bring this all up is because it has just been one of those weeks. Despite the fact that I have been super stressed with school and my hormones have been ALL over the place, a huge factor is that I miss my family and my home. It was Luke’s birthday yesterday, and as I cried about the fact that I have missed the last five years of it, my sweet patient husband said, “Well. Let’s make cake!” BRILLIANT I tell you! My tears quickly were wiped away and as my family celebrated with my Mom’s creative Harry Potter party, we had a Luke themed cake and I watched some Phineus & Ferb in his honor.

To make me feel even better, the next day, Lester and I continued to enjoy ourselves with Steph and Tyler as did some good old fashioned bowling [and by old fashioned I mean with no bumpers!]. We packed a delicious picnic with homemade sandwiches, potato salad and key lime tarts for afterwards, and then finished by going to the dollar theater to watch the masterpiece that is Inception yet again. It was just what I needed.

And now, as I get ready to go to church tomorrow, I look forward to walking away from this week/weekend having gotten all my tears out and feeling recharged and ready to tackle a new week. I am very grateful Heavenly Father saw it fit to send my these tears and to be reflective in life...I think it is safe to say that I will make it at least till Thursday with no tears…well…starting Sunday after our we meet with our bishop and potentially have to speak or have a new calling in our ward that is!

Our New Life

Good news guys, ITS FINALLY HERE. The one you’ve been waiting for, the blog of all blogs...the one that will keep you updated on all the exciting happenings in the burg for Julia and Lester!

No but seriously- I know what you’re all thinking. Wow, how original...she gets a blog as soon as she gets married. And I will admit, the fact that there are just two of us now, rather then 6 hormonal girls under one roof, has added to my free time making me want to do something more productive then watch law and order and bake! But apart from that, I have always loved writing, reading and yes, talking [thanks dad!]. This gives me the opportunity to not only do all three of those things, but also to keep in touch with all those who we hold dear, and who actually care to see what’s going on with us. So here is to the new adventure that is blogging!

So here goes; Lester and I are doing really well! Rexburg is...well...as always, quite the adjustment. But so far a good one! I usually don’t get here until it’s starting to get all slushy and gross, but let me tell you-right here, right now, Idaho is BEAUTIFUL. The weather is warm and breezy, the grounds are gorgeous and get this-the skies are phenomenal. I’ve always thought that the only place to get good sunsets is over an ocean backdrop. But at sunset here, the sky has colors I’ve never seen, and the clouds and sky are so huge you can’t even begin to fathom where it all begins, let alone ends. I am loving it.

Our apartment is small, but it fits our needs perfectly. We love it. And thanks to all the wonderful generosity of our friends and family at our wedding, we have everything we need and want. We’ve had a lot of fun decorating to; in fact we’ve been doing that for our fhe activities the past few weeks. But were done now, and we think we’ve done a pretty awesome job, if I do say so myself!

I was a little nervous going to our ward for the first few times, but now I LOVE IT! Everyone is so nice and lots of fun…people always used to tell me that your social life died once you got married but they were wrong! Not a day goes by that we don’t have someone or other stopping by or plans with some friends. So far our favorite married friends are Tyler and Stephanie and Stacie and Jeff. Tyler and Jeff are both from the bay area, which is great bc then I don’t have to pretend like I care when football is on, bc they can just watch it together and grunt manly things. Plus, this way me, Stacie [who loves Disney as much as I do] and Steph [who loves Hitchcock as much as I do] can just talk, hand out and do girl stuff…its really just a blast!

Our single friends still come over and play sometimes to. This has all been really good for me, bc [although I may be slightly biased] I think I have just the funnest family in the whole world and what with all the changes going on in my life I have really been missing them. Growing up, it has always been an open door, open heart policy in the Hanaike house. Its fun to be able to establish this pattern that I love in our home now.

Well, Lester says I have delayed my homework long enough and it is time for me to get back to that. But here is to our new life and our new home- we love you all and miss you lots and are grateful for the influence you’ve had on our lives in the past and currently. Until next time!

Our Humble Abode

Here are a few pictures of our new apartment...im still trying to figure out how to add them to the same post without it looking weird haha. But there will be more good blog posts and fun pictures coming soon!