Christmas Time!

So John and I actually put our Christmas tree up right before we left for Thanksgiving so that it we be up when we got back. I am just now getting around to putting a picture of it on here though. Notice how we have no ornaments on the bottom two feet of the tree. Kusko would wait until he was home alone and then take them down and play with them! What a bad dog! Notice him sulking on the couch.

Tea Party

So every year the girls in my family hold an annual tea party. There is always a different theme. This year the theme was locations. You had to dress to represent a certain location or country. Then you have to bring a dish to share from that country. In the past we have done certain era's and decades and all sorts of things. It was pretty embarrassing the first year John came home for Thanksgiving. That year we did a tea party based on the book Fancy Nancy. I was so embarrassed. Anyways, here are some pictures (and I am no longer embarrassed). I was from Japan and wore my kimono. We also have a "talent" portion...if you can imagine....

Isabel was from Greece and played a festive Christmas duet with MaryLou.

Katie is hilarious. She wanted to be from Germany so decided to be a Nazi! Thanks to Randall she had an incredibly authentic costume.



MaryLou was from Hawaii. She played a recorder song. (not with her nose)

Alicia was one of my favorites. She was an English queen complete with authentic English teeth! She did some stand-up comedy for her talent. My favorite: How many ears did Davy Crocket have? Answer: 3. His left ear, his right ear, and his wild front ear! Get it (front ear...frontier...) Whatever. I thought it was hilarious.

Josie was an Egyptian queen.

Aunt Jane was Caesar. She even brought a Caesar salad.

All in all another fun and hilarious event.

THANKSGIVING!

John and I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving this year. We went there last year too actually. We had a good time. There was tons of food and fun. Here are some pics of the event:

Two turkeys with a turkey...or maybe its a ham....

Another game of hockey

Johns old roommate Johnny absolutely loves hockey. He bought two season tickets to the Coyotes. He couldn't make it to this past Saturdays game. Since we took him to one game this season he gave us the tickets and we enjoyed another hockey game. We had a great time! It was a close game. We lost 2-3 to the Dallas Stars...stupid Texas!

Young Women Sleepover....poor john....

So a few weeks ago my Young Women asked me if they could have a sleepover at my house. I said sure, if you plan it then we will have a sleepover. I thought that there was no way they would actually get it all planned. We were in Nevada last sunday but apparently they had a planning meeting after church and informed me Wednesday night at our activity that the sleepover was all planned. When I asked when it was going to take place, one of them said...well its in two days, you said we just had to plan it and we planned it for that day. So Friday night came around and eight young women piled into our tiny little apartment. We had a good time but at about 12:15 I realized that something has definitely changed. I absolutely could not stay awake. I left the screaming (poor neighbors), laughing, wild young women and tried to get some sleep. Of course John and I were up by 6:30 but the young women slept til about 8:30 or 9. By 11:30 we finally had them all home! Whew!


Halley asked if I would dress her up so I got my old Kimono out and did my best!

One of the girls never wears make-up or does her hair so she asked a few of the other girls if they would give her a make-over. It was really funny to watch them with their kits and their boxes and bags. It was like watching surgery. I am not sure they changed much. There was a whole lot of makeup and some straight hair. They all seemed very pleased with their work. Here is a vern before picture.

Here is a Vern after picture. She actually looked great because who knew she had those long legs! I had never seen her in heels and a short skirt! I think they all had a good time!

Grandma's Big Birthday Extravaganza!!

I am a little behind in my blogging so I am going to go ahead and get caught up to everything we have been doing. First is my grandmas big birthday party. Almost everyone was there. It was fun! We had pictures and good food and prizes....whats better than prizes? John and I won a gift card to a restaurant. We used it already to go on a date! It was great! Here are some of the photos I took during the party!

This one is my favorite picture! Aren't these boys so cute! John and baby Troy!

Carolee and Grandma laughing about something.....

Carolee and Zeke

John and Heather Whitney

Alicia and Troy-Troy

Me and MaryLou

Why I Love My Husband!

1. Where did you meet your husband? I met John at a munch and mingle in our singles ward. Its one of those weird activities where we all stay after church and eat a meal in hopes of finding our one and only soul mate by the jello salad.....
So, my old roommate Regina was sitting with her then boyfriend at a table with this new guy that was very mysterious. He had longish hair and was all tan and handsome and I had never seen him before. I decided to go sit at my roommates table. So I sit down and her stupid ex-boyfriend starts in about the wonders and glories of Mexican dentistry.....Seriously I got so annoyed. He was telling me all about how there is no difference in quality of dentistry between a doctor down the street and Tijuana. Well, I wasn't going to let him go on like that so I basically got in a fight with him in front of this handsome stranger. I felt foolish. Well, the jello salad was gone and it was time to clean up. The mysterious stranger was putting away tables. I went over to my friends and they gave me some encouragement so then I went and asked him if he wanted to come to a party that night. He said he would and he gave me his number. I called him that night and we went to a party. Here I was thinking I was with the new mysterious stranger. Actually he knew everyone there because he wasnt new. He had just been away for the summer. I again felt foolish....
He of course has no memory of any of this. According to him I did in fact ask him to go to a party but that is all that he remembers.....

2. How long did you date before you got married? We met on August 26th and got married March 8th. So like 7 months. That is pretty short now that I think about it. I couldn't be happier though!

3. How long have you been married? We have been married for a whopping eight months!

4. What does he do to surprise you? Much like Zeke, John has a hard time with surprises. He does bring me home flowers every now and then which is really nice. He mostly just does stuff for me. He always takes out the garbage which is perhaps the greatest thing he could ever do for me. I HATE doing it. He will clean the kitchen or take the dog out. Mostly he just does little things that I love.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His calves. I want to bite them.... HA Just kidding....sort of.

6.What is your favorite quality? When we were first dating my friends would be like, I dont know if you can date him. I would ask why and they would say well, he is kind of like Jesus! That was their response. They didn't think I could date him because he was like Jesus.... Thanks a lot friends. Jerks. He really is the nicest guy I know. He is the most grounded human being. He knows why he is here and works so hard in everything he does. He is the one that drags me to stake conference and helps me with my calling.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? I don't think so.

8. What is his favorite food? Well, John will eat stuff that I don't think should be eaten. He is crazy. He eats stuff like broccoli water and diet coke mixed with hot cocoa. Stuff that is disgusting and doesnt make any sense. I think his favorite food is whatever he is eating.

9. What is his favorite sport? Ok, John loves his sports. His favorite sport to play is Tennis. If you were to ask him what sport he would play professionally if he could it would be tennis. But he LOVES to watch football. You better believe we watch some Cardinal action on any given Sunday. He also likes to watch baseball and tennis but not the way he loves football. He has taught me a lot about football. Like what a first down is. What the little measuring thingy is for. Ya know, good stuff like that.

10. When and where did you first kiss? Oh our first kiss!!!! So let me preface that by telling you where our first display of affection was besides hugging. We were at the cheap seats movie theater. We were watching Transformers and three-quarters through the movie he reached over and grabbed my hand and then leaned over and said....Hey is this ok? Oh it was adorable. That was all that happened. Then a few nights later we had gone for a walk to the park and we laid down on the grass and he gave me a little smooch. I love him!

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? I think our favorite thing to do is play tennis. Although we haven't really had any chances lately. When we have had chances we have been playing like crap because we never get any chances to practice. Here are some other things we like to do: play shrek super party, go to ikea for breakfast, go to the drive-in, play phase ten, watch movies, walk our dog, wash our dog, play with our dog, snuggle, read, etc.

12.Do you have children? No.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? John has a lot of hidden talents. I think they are hidden for a reason though....like his sweet dancing skills. He and Zeke had the same teacher. One thing John does SO well that no one knows is that he can play a mean guitar. He is very impressive.

14. How old is he? 25

15. Who said I love you first? John did of course. I am not the say i love you first kind of girl. I dont actually remember where we were. We were probably at my house.

16. What is his favorite music? EHHHH. Worst music ever. His favorite music is weird 90's music. We definitely don't love the same music. HOWEVER, just the other day he did tell me how much he likes the new Beyonce song. I think he has been listening to my radio stations lately!

17. What do you admire most about him? He is so good. He is genuinely good. Everything about him is good. He is always trying to do good. I also admire how smart he is. He hates school and every now and then I glance at his homework and cant believe the stuff that he does. He is so close! Only 7 more months of school!!!

18. What is his favorite color? Light tan, said with a nacho libre accent. No he always says like gray or clear when I ask him that question. So light tan, gray, and clear.

19. Will he read this? Yeah probably but not for a really long time. Actually I will probably tell him to read it when i see him next.

Thanks for sending this to me Carolee. I cant wait to see you guys this weekend!

COYOTES!!! OOOOOWWWEEEEEE! (thats my howl)

Johns office gave him some free tickets to the Coyotes game Thursday. It was a lot of fun. We went with his old roommate Johnny and his friend Kacey. They were great seats only a few rows back from the ice. We also got to go to some fancy shmancy lounge for dinner and stuff. It was pretty awesome.

Recent Adventures!

This is a young womens activity we had last week. Brother Jones in our bishopric took all the young women....all 7 of them....to some lake about an hour away. The water was COLD but we all went tubing and had SO much fun! We had a BBQ that night. My young women are the best! I love them!

Ok I got this off my sisters blog. She stole it from Kati apparently and told me to fill it out also. She is right it is indeed going to be a tight race between us. She will probably win though. I mean come on....she is an old lady....she has a lot of years on me!!! I'm assigning a rating of 4* for I loved it and 1* for I didn't hate it.
Oh....and I never intend to read Lord of the Rings......

The Big Read is a National Endowment for the Arts program designed to encourage community reading initiatives and of their top 100 books. They estimate the average adult has read only six.Here’s what you are supposed to do:Look at the list and bold those you have read. Italicize those we intend to read.*Star the books we LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen**

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien***

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte**

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling ****

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee****

6. The Bible ****

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte**

8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott ****

12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy**

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger**

19. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald**

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams*

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll***

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame**

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis****

34. Emma - Jane Austen

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis****

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini****

38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden***

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne**

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell**

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown****

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez***

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery ****

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding**

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel*******

52. Dune - Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons**

54. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen**

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens***

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon***

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck**

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold*

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas***

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding**

69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville**

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens ***

72.Dracula - Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett****

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath***

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray***

80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens***

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker**

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte's Web - EB White****

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom****

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle****

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery****

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas***

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl***

Fun at the ZOO!

Here are some pictures of our fun day at the zoo. The weather was perfect last Saturday so we set out to see some exotic animals. We rented one of those two person bikes and rode through the whole zoo. We had so much fun! Originally it was supposed to be us with Ian and Braden but then they had a football game. We decided to see it anyways though! It was such a fun day!

Super Kusko!

I was hard at work on Monday night in the dental hygiene clinic. John had just gotten home from a long day at school and he found that Kusko had decided to have some fun while we were away. I had gone to Kohls earlier that day to buy some new running shoes. My old ones were starting to get big holes in the sides so John said I had better go buy some new ones....or else....
So I bought some shoes and decided to wear them to clinic. I left the shoe box inside the Kohls bag on the floor. Kusko usually doesn't bother stuff that isnt edible but last night he must have been bored or something. John opened the front door and heard some weird rustling under the table. He said he was a little worried because he thought no one was home. Then he saw little Kusko wearing a Kohls bag like a cape! He had shredded up some of the stuffing from inside the shoe box and somehow had gotten his head and one leg through one of the handles on the shopping bag.
I love when John stumbles upon stuff like this. There is no way I would have reached for the camera. My first thought would be, Oh No! Get the bag off the poor stupid dog! But John of course reaches for the camera first. I think that is a good sign for his future parenting skills. He will be taking pictures and I will be freaking out.... sounds like a pretty good partnership actually.

Peach Pie! (and a sleeping dog)

So I decided to make a pie from scratch! I have never done it before. I made the crust and everything. We had some extra peaches lying around and it turned out so well! It made two so I took one for my young women to enjoy!




And while I was at work one evening John was "studying". He was actually taking pictures of our sleeping dog that he loves! I bet you he didnt let the poor sleeping dog lie though. He loves to torment him!

Favorite Video

So I watch this video probably once a week. I cry every single time. It is one of my favorites!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGKWoJi5qM

Oh man its so good.

Birthday/Impostor Teacher

So for my birthday Johno took me to a fancy resort and we swam and watched movies and played tennis and did everything that I love. It was ridiculous amounts of fun. It was gone before you I knew it! Happy 26 to me! I have the best husband ever!

So I started teaching at Mesa Community College this week. I feel like a total impostor! I walked in on the first day and I saw the first years and second years sitting on the opposite sides of a big clinic waiting room. I walked over to the second years since thats who I will be teaching. One of them turned to me and said, um....are you a first year because if you are you should be over there and you arent wearing the right color of scrubs. I just looked at her and said no...i am not a first year. She looked back at me for a second really confused and said, well we are dental hygiene students. I said oh.... Then she said, are you supposed to be in here? I said....yeah i think so. I am your new teacher. Then she looked me straight in the face and said, what? how old are you? are you sure? I said 26 and yes.

Since then we have just done clinic procedure stuff. They arent allowed to call me Alysson. They have to call me Mrs. Hunt which is weird since most of them are either older than me or we are the same age. Weird. Sometimes I dont answer though. I am still getting used to this Mrs. Hunt thing. I am not Mrs. Hunt....I guess I am but I still dont answer right away when called that. I have to think about it. I think they think I am bogus. Its hilarious. Tonight we reviewed piezo's. When I was telling them how to use it I think they were shocked that it wasnt a big practicle joke but that I actually am their teacher. Most of the time I feel confused because I still feel like i should be in school. the other teachers dont really mix with the students. The teachers go over and stand behind a desk when there is any down time. i feel weird with them so I just stay with the students. i guess that further perpetuates my impostor teacher status. Oh well. The other teachers arent as fun as the students.

Olympics....and Anatomy??? and hopefully this doesnt offend anyone....

Ok so can I just say that I LOVE the olympics. I think it is great. Everyone comes together and America competes with everyone and we all have pride for our countries and we cheer each other on. It is fantastic! However....I do have certain reservations about attire that the athletes wear.
For instance, the famed swimmer Michael Phelps. I realize that they have these new suits designed by NASA to make them swim faster and glide through the water like never before. I mean, they have pretty much set new American and World records for nearly every event since the new suits were introduced. BUT....I just dont understand what happens when he turns around. I was surfing the web and I found this picture with an article about American Olympic Gold Hopefuls. I decided to read it and this was the picture they had of him.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE TURNS AROUND??? IS HE ANATOMICALLY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PEOPLE???? I just don't understand. I mean he has to have a butt......right? It just doesn't make any sense!!!

We MOVED!! Heres why.....

As it turns out there is a drain around the corner from our apartment. One of the maintenance people had put a cap on that drain and that meant that the torrent of rain we received on a Sunday afternoon had no where to go but in our apartment. Thankfully we have some of the best ward members ever. They were there in a flash to help us get some of our furniture on bricks. When they finally gave us a new place to live (24 hours later, and without air conditioning for the first week) the ward showed up in full force to help us move up the three flights of stairs. They were amazing and it was so humbling to see how a ward family can step in and help you when you need it most. Now we are three flights up and if we have any leaks or water problems up here....I think I might jump.



Our doormat floated away!! You can see how high the water got on this picture.


This is after they had uncapped the drain and the water was going down.

He can brush....but can he floss....

Ok so I know some of you may think this is overboard but I can give you a very long list of reasons why this is necessary. Just ask Duane if you don't believe me! He is so cute!

Fourth of July with Dallin and Troy

We had a good and very hot fourth with my brother Luke and his family. Alicia and I hung out and we all played with their two cute boys Dallin and Troy. It was so stinking hot though....blah.

POOR Blue Blankey!

Ok this picture is for my family. They are going to crack up. One day I was at work and John was home studying. He thought he would be sweet and decided to make the bed. This was the result. I know I have issues. I am sorry Mom!!! I know you tried your hardest but I just cant survive without blue blankey!!!! We are working on it. Baby steps. I have gone three nights without it. That is some sort of record. Actually it wasn't by choice. Stinky little Cuzco got excited and leaked a few drops while standing on poor blue blankey. He (blue blankey) is in the wash and I just don't know if he will survive. Come to think if it I dont know if Cuzco will either. This may be blankeys final washing (either that or Cuzco's final washing). I love you blue blankey!

Our First Camping Trip!

This was our very first camping trip! We have had several since and we even went fishing and caught several whoppers!!! Of course we forgot the camera.... Anyways, this is John looking very cute whilst camping!