home of the brave.

I hope everyone had the BEST fourth of July weekend! How awesome is it that it fell on a Friday?! YAY for not having to go back to routine weekday life tomorrow!!

This year, our fourth of July came in two parts. Part one was at James's parents' house. We had a nice BBQ there with TONS of food-potato salad, chips, beans, burgers, hot dogs...and of course, desserts. Every holiday must have yummy desserts. It's a rule!

I was in charge of making some star spangled cupcakes (I LOVE getting dessert assignments!) It was also Zach's dad's birthday, so I wanted to make sure they were that much more spectacular than just regular, boring, everyday cupcakes....but they weren't. I think they were just alright. I made marshmallow frosting from scratch, but didn't take into account that I now live in Florida., and it melted on the way to their house.

His mom also made that fabulous fruit pizza! And yes, it was just as delicious as it looked.

Then came part two. We headed over to Greg & Tammy's (aka: The Party House) for another BBQ, some swimming, eating, chatting, and of course, some World Cup watching. And did I mention eating?

I also got to spend some quality time with my favorite little buddy. His first one!

But one of the most FUN parts was the fireworks. Of course! They gave everyone glow sticks and let the kids stay (and take them) in the pool while the fireworks were going off. 

We can NEVER get a good night shot. Dumb blur. :/

I do not know why it looks like I have braces, but I have so much fun with this guy.
I couldn't help but put this picture up!

But our firework show started off...with a bang I guess you could say. I was SO lucky to be taking a video right at the right moment! Talk about a fail! But it sure was hilarious and now you get to see it too!

We hope everyone else had a very safe Fourth of July!! I love this holiday. It gives me the chance to show off my country pride! I am so grateful for all of the sacrifices that went into getting this country where it is today. I count my blessings I live in a place where I have the freedom to be who I am. I am so grateful for every soldier who ever bravely faced their worst nightmares so that I can live freely. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten. I am thankful for presidents up until now who have shown courage to stand against our enemies and unite us and live for the good of the people. I definitely don't agree with our president now, but as the leader of this great nation, I sure say a lot of prayers in his behalf. I am grateful for the music of those who are able to put my feeling about my country into beautiful songs that touch my heart every time I get the chance to hear them. I am just so thankful to live in such a beautiful country that I get to live in every single day. I truly feel so blessed every single day. I'll defend it until the day I die. So HAPPY AMERICA DAY everyone! I hope you're just as proud to be an American as I am! Love you all! 

xoxo, the Andersons

healthy & happy.

A lot of people have been seeing and commenting about how I have been going to "Boot Camp" since December. [Ps-all of the posts on my ole Facebook are because we are supposed to check in & be accountable and sometimes we can win stuff if we have the most!] Some people (like James's sweet grandma) have told me how I actually do look like I'm getting more fit, to which I will just about hug them to death.

But it's been a little difficult personally because I'm one of those silly minded people who think they will see immediate results. So. Not. The case. It's not that I am not seeing or feeling results, because that's a whole different story. I actually see my muscles starting to grow in my legs and calves. My arms are really weak, probably even the weakest part of my body, but even those are getting stronger. It's much slower than I would like, but it's working! That's what matters!

My problem is my abs & "love handles," and I know I am not getting results for two reasons: my diet & my lack of running. I hate running. Especially in this hot hot weather. But almost every single person in my class runs at least a couple of times a week. They are champs. They all do mud runs and fun runs and 5Ks and everything! And then there's little ole me. Who makes it three times a week to class, if that. I am in charge of Faith in God activities every other week and it's really hard to make both, so I skip Wednesdays every other week, which is even more lame because Wednesdays are PARK DAYS, when we go work out at a local park. Look at what I am missing. Tsk tsk.

But it's such a good feeling to get my exercise in. I'm pretty proud of myself and how far I've come since December. It's definitely a slooooow process, but I'm a work in progress.

Now sticking to an actual diet is hard! I feel like it really limits all of the yummy food this world has to offer! I was doing well and really trying to count my calories for a while, but it was just awful for me. I tried to eat the same exact things for lunch and breakfast and it was just miserable. Everything lost its flavor and was not exciting. It was working, and I was doing great calorie-wise, but it took all the enjoyment out of food altogether.

But now, I am trying to really stick to a new, happier, healthier way of eating. Just making healthier food choices. Small desserts, fresh foods from our garden, and eating a good breakfast every single morning to kick start the day have really been doing me good. 

In fact, today I was able to complete the entire white board. My trainer puts these up for us to do when she can't make it (she's a wife & a mom too! Seriously my inspiration!) and usually, I get through about half or three-quarters because I have to stop so much from getting so winded! It's hard work! But I got through every single thing today AND threw in a couple laps outside to break them up. I'm so proud of myself!

Red, splotchy arms is my FAVORITE thing to see! Take that cellulite!

So I wanted to post this to say don't get discouraged. You are a work in progress. You make your own choices every single day and you should celebrate every single victory. Work hard. Visualize your goals and charge ahead for them, nothing holding you back. I don't like to limit myself. If I want to snack on something sweet, I should be allowed to do that! One cookie won't hurt you. A dozen could. 

For myself, I stopped craving the bad stuff once I gave it up. I never eat fast food anymore. I never drink soda. However, I have trouble with my sweet tooth. So I try to choose healthier options-popsicles made with real fruit & coconut water. Banana "ice cream." Fruity smoothies. You can overcome your weaknesses too. You should never have to "suffer" through your food! Just try something new!" Read your food ingredients. Look for food that only contains a small amount of ingredients at all. And the more natural & normal they sound, the better! Abs are made in the kitchen." I've heard that, you've heard that. You have to just go for it! Try something new every single day and open up your options. It saved me!

Also, I've learned the key to a good workout is to switch up your diet and switch up your exercise. By eating better, I've seen myself gain SO much energy! I used to never be a morning person and now I sleep well and rise early. And exercising every part of your body is important, and it's not easy. There is NO such thing as a quick fix. It just doesn't work that way. So love your body and give it the TLC it needs. Take care of it like you would a BRAND new beautiful car. Fix what needs to be fixed, but love every detail. 

Change is a good thing! It's just getting past those first few hurdles. I'm definitely not an exercise or health guru. These are just the things that I've learned and that work for me. Find what works for you! Don't be scared! There are hundreds of people who got where you are and gave up. Beat those odds and show off your stuff! I can do it and so can you!

busch gardens.

This weekend was my first time I have ever been to Busch Gardens! For some reason, people here are always really shocked when I say that and it makes me laugh. :)

My cousin was in town for the weekend so we were heading in their general direction to see if maybe we could get together at some point during the day. [Sadly, that wasn't able to happen] My in-laws had got both of us season passes to Busch Gardens as a combined birthday/graduation gift and we were getting antsy to use them. So we decided to just get up and go on Saturday, early enough to miss the crowds.

However, I am realizing that the older I get, the more motion sick I get. :( Granted, we were in the heat all day with no food or water (we didn't want to take anything in!) but it's pretty sad to see that clearly, I can no longer ride with the big dogs. After the third roller coaster, I thought for sure I was going to be sick. I was dizzy, nauseous, and I had started to black out  But I tried to make sure that James couldn't see how gross I felt because I knew how excited he was to take me on all the roller coasters and show me around. What kind of wife would I be to rain on his parade? But thank goodness that James was a little woozy too because it saved me from a grisly experience in the bathroom, I know it!

Besides roller coasters, Busch Gardens is basically half zoo. We came on a really lucky day because we got to see the alligators fed raw, frozen chicken breasts and that only happens twice a week! We got to hear a cute story about how good a little young elephant did as she had her blood taken that morning. :) Elephants are so stinkin cute.

These little guys decided to get a little posy. Look at that crocodile smile! ;)

They may be pretty, but we could smell them a mile away!

Legitimate Egyptian statues.

Riding the SkyTram to the other side of the park!

We ended up leaving after about four hours. We had made our way around the entire park and ridden almost every ride we wanted to hit (James missed out on one, I missed out on two--I had to let him go alone on the last one) and we did have season passes, so we will come back and can do anything we miss. We finished our little adventure with a pretty cool show that released real birds to fly around the audience! But ten minutes in, James said "Ok, forget the last ride. After this, we are leaving. I'm STARVING." "Me too!"

So then we ate a nice, yummy, well-deserved lunch at Carrabba's, did a little shopping at the outlets (I FINALLY got new shoes for my workouts!), and cooled off with a Frosty. By then, we were just so exhausted & hot & smelly that we decided it was time to head home.

I'm sorry, I'm just SO excited to have shoes that won't kill my
feet! Aren't the pretty!? :)

But all in all, I think I'd give the park an A! I hope when we come back with our kids someday that I will be able to ride with them, but it's nice to know that the animals are always a nice back-up for old ladies like me. :)

husband turns 24!

Ah. It seems like just yesterday he was walking around his living room in that big ole Florida orange sweatshirt, rockin the soccer shorts with a bowl of cereal in his hand.

James is having a pretty big birthday this year. He & his friends decided to take a trip to Tennessee and stay in a cabin for a few days together. Do some manly stuff. But I'll save that whole thing for it's own post (it's going to need it I'm sure). So before he left, I wanted to make sure he had a little birthday fun.

I was told I was NOT allowed to spend money on getting him a gift this year because of his big trip. Pft. Yeah, like that's going to stop the person who is crazy for birthdays. But I tried not to go too overboard.

I got him a couple of games to take with him on his fun trip, because thank goodness I married someone who loves games just as much as I do. I also got him a gift card to one of his all time favorite stores: Home Depot...which is tied for first with Bass Pro Shop. 

He was super excited to go spend that card on some new tools. My little handyman. Since James isn't a dessert person (that part still gets to me) I didn't make him a cake or anything. But I tried to make sure everything else was good enough for my sweetie pie!

My favorite part of the whole day was when James complimented my card-picking skills. "Did you make this card? It's, like, perfect!" Don't think I'll ever forget that. What can I say? When you got it, you got it.

hook, line, & sinker.

So once again, I've been slacking. I know, I'm sorry about that.

But I was just talking to my friend in church this week about how I feel so lame in conversations these days. James & I are living a quiet, just-the-two-of-us little happy lifestyle right now. So there's never really anything SUPER exciting to talk about. BUT! Finally last week, some fun, more lively things happened.

First off, I went fishing for the first real time in my life! I know. My sister thinks I've turned into "a rootin tootin hillbilly." Haha...it's possible. We went once in Texas and I used a tiny pink Barbie fishing pole because the big kids were doing their thing. And we used live worms that time, which my stomach had quite a problem with.

This time, we used pieces of shrimp and those I could hook pretty well! We took Tyler's boat out to the river and were there for most of our Saturday! James is already a pro fishermen. He has like 3 poles and knows all the tricks. It was time for me to step up to the plate & show him what I got.

[Side note: These pictures are all very bright. Which is weird because it was overcast, but whatever. I'm definitely no photographer!]

I love love love being out on the water, especially when it's nice & cloudy like that. It's so beautiful and peaceful. In fact, so peaceful that there was more of this going on than I thought there'd be! Haha

At one point, the guys got out of the boat and went to explore the land. It was a small space, so when they came back, we all ate the sandwiches & chips we'd packed up in the cooler. It was like a fun little boat picnic.

Then it was off to find more fishing spots. Abby said she had a good feeling in a couple spots, and we were pretty sure she almost caught a couple fish, but they managed to get away every time. It was pretty fun for me to just sit and wait because I was so sure I was going to have beginner's luck and I'd catch dinner...so not the case.I ended up setting my fishing pole down next to James and waiting for it to move, but it didn't. It was still nice though! We all just sat on the boat, talking, relaxing. And Zach & Ana even caught a couple sticks! ;) Finally I can say that I've "gone fishin." Haha

The second thing was that James finally has passed his tests to get his insurance license and is now official!

He started his job on yesterday and was mostly just training. BUT! He worked for our bishop again last week (to get out of the house) and was telling a lady about how he got his license and she wanted to get a policy from him! Not only that, but that lady was talking to another lady on the phone and now SHE wants to buy a policy from him as well! It's a talent James has. He's very much a people person. After his first day, I brought him a balloon to show him how excited & happy I am for him. It's been a long hard road for him and I'm SO proud of all he's accomplished. All of that work has finally paid off and I'm glad he can start the job he's wanted for years now. YAY James!! Now we wait for the business cards...

And that's about it. That covers the highlights. Others include James's garden is growing & feeding us, I almost get to start working from home two days a week (WHOO!) and both of us are going to the gym every other day and we feel awesome! We're getting stronger! Now if we can just keep our healthier eating up, I'd say this family is on a roll!

green thumb.

Recently, and it feels like from out of nowhere, James became the next Master Gardener.

His green thumb has actually made quite a few tasty additions to our dinners. Well, mostly spices...for now...but let me tell ya, there actually is a huge difference between fresh herbs and packaged herbs. Mmmm! (In fact, he cut some up for our pasta just last night!)

It may have started way before, but I first noticed it after Halloween. I think with all of the talk about everyone else's gardens & the season and seeing how expensive fresh foods are getting, James decided to start a garden all on his own! I got him some gardening tools for Christmas and his parents got him this gardening book that he took everywhere until he finished it. [Side note: James is like a cute little kid. He started randomly stateing plant facts and telling me all these cool ideas he had for his garden & what he wanted to plant. It was adorable to see him so excited!]

*I know zero gardening terms, so I hope the rest of this post doesn't make you wince* He built two planters out of pallets that he got working construction and fixed them up nicely with fresh dirt. Then slowly, he's added more & more pallets & plants, and a few pots that were left at our house. He asked everyone for tips and has been working on it every single day!

Now they look like this...

I can't wait to keep eating all of his delicious results! I am loving seeing him so passionate about this and truly loving taking care of it! Way to go babe!!

our first anniversary.

One year.

I can’t believe it’s already been one whole year with my sweetheart. 

I know anniversaries are a big deal, and they should be, but this year (with us still feeling the effects of college tuition) we decided to go small and stay home. Well sort of.

Saturday night, or our “anniversary-eve” as I like to call it, we had to go down and help clean the church. Starting the night off with a dirty job wasn't ideal for me. I mean, I wasn't angry or sad, but trying to vacuum tight pants and pretty high heels was harder than I’m going to admit. But afterwards, James was saying how it was nice that we got to start our next year out by doing a little service for the church. And of course, my “eh” attitude melted away. I mean, who can argue with that?!

After that, James told me that he was taking me to Kumo, which is a Japanese restaurant that we had heard so much about, but never had been. I felt a little anxious about it since we were trying to be smart with our money, but he told me that is [super sweet] parents had given us their gift card so we could have a nice dinner. I know. I definitely married into the best family. It was definitely worth waiting for.

A little memory that was funny for us, but might not be funny for everyone else: they asked us if we wanted to be seated “at Hibachi or booth” and I immediately said “Oh no, we’ll take a booth.” 

Idiot. 

When we sat down and James showed me what the Hibachi actually was, I was ticked at myself. “I thought they were talking about the bar!!” That was my only regret of the night. But at least we sat neeear it so that we could kind of see. It was just like what I’ve always seen on tv. So awesome. James always makes me feel better about my regrets. “It would be kind of pointless to sit there and then order sushi. So we’ll come back again with a big group sometime and you can see it live then!” And I was fine with it after that because those rolls were sooooo good.

*Sorry about the pictures. Trying to take pictures in "romantic lighting" is WAY harder than I thought it would be!

My husband's hot. I'm just putting that out there.

Behold. The Monster Roll and the Kumo Roll. Mmmmm.

Then Sunday, our actual anniversary, we obviously went to church. But afterwards, Ana was sweet enough to take some anniversary pictures of us! I’m hoping it’s a tradition that we get to do every year because they turned out perfect. James had even MADE that number one for me before church! Talk about a great husband!

Our favorite. :) Love my little cowboy.

James had taken a nap right after church, before we were going over to Zach & Ana’s, so in the meantime, I baked a mini lemon cake (since James isn’t a huge dessert person. You know what they say, opposites attract! At least he likes lemon cake a LOT!) in a little empty can. [Side note: we did not keep our cake. It stayed in my parents’ freezer and became a rock while we finished college. Haha So we had to improvise] It was the perfect size. I actually baked a couple just in case (and thank goodness because I used an empty bean can-AND washed it-and it still had a slight bean flavor. Blech!) James woke up just as I was taking them out and I frosted them with whipped cream (we’re not huge frosting people) and we headed over to his parents’ house for dinner, just like every Sunday. [I always love that] But this time, Zach & Ana were able to come! Because Zach is a new leader in the singles ward, they usually have church at the time we have dinner. So it’s always awesome when we get to eat dinner with them. Anyway, right before dinner, just go ahead and guess what happened. JAMES STARTED TO FEEL SO SICK. I swear January 5th is cursed for him. It was so sad. But luckily he was still open to the cake.

So we went home and I stuck a sparkler right in the middle of it. Then I snapped a few pictures because it was COOL. It was still cool even when it was putting metal ashes on my cute cake. Haha But sadly, James was not doing too well so we went to go spend the rest of the night on our bed. After I scraped a lot of the topping off, I ate that whole cake. Poor husband.

Then we decided to start another tradition. We both write each other a letter every year on our anniversary. The next year, we will write a new one and open the letter from the year before. I think it will be such a neat thing to look forward to each year. I ended up wrapped cute black & white twine around it too, just to keep it extra safe, but here’s what our simple little envelope filled with love letters looked like.

I have to say, even though it was SUCH a simple anniversary, it was one I will never ever forget. It was so nice to just get to be together with no distractions. As I was writing my letter to James, all these memories came flooding about the past year. We had no money, and had to live so simply. But I won't forget coming home to our little apartment after a long day at school and making dinner together (or having dinner waiting for me!) and watching a movie on James's laptop because we had no tv. Or decorating the entire game room for James and having him let out a little giggle with a big smile when he opened the door for Valentines day and opening our gifts on the twin bed in there while we ate heart shaped gummies. Or camping for the first time and proving to James that I am NOT a city-slicker. Or filming the youth Trek on my birthday and having James sing me Happy Birthday when we were finally all alone. This was our newlywed year. The first one that people always look back on with such fondness, and we definitely felt that. It was the best, most wonderful year I could have asked us and I CANNOT believe how blessed we were. I almost cry every time I think about it. I can't believe how lucky I am to have James right by my side, all day, everyday. He's the perfect companion in every way and my absolute best friend in the world. I can't wait to grow old together and see what life has in store for us. If it's anything like this year, I can't imagine a better way to live a life!