No pictures, but a great Christmas

Sorry to everyone, there are no pictures from Christmas because I can't find the battery that goes to our camera and we forgot our Flip video camera. We had a wonderful holiday though, so you'll just have to imagine some snap shots of us smiling, Matt unwrapping his presents and us resting from a joyful overload. "Santa" was good to Matt this year; we were able to get Matt some good stuff since we started shopping earlier in the year, like in October. He got a new table and chairs to play and color on, lots of cars, clothes, and lots of fun toys from his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I got Nate a live scribe pen. I know that a pen sounds like a really lame gift, but this is not just an ordinary pen; it is like a computer in a pen that has a sound recorder as well as recording everything that you write so that you can download it onto the computer. Nate got me a new sewing machine that we have been saving up for since my birthday. So, lots of really good stuff this year.
However, even more important than the stuff we received this year, we got a lot of really good quality time with family. It was great to spend time with my family on Christmas eve, we had a lot of fun together, especially listening to my brother's family share their talents of singing and guitar playing with us. My sister even played the guitar for us, and she's pretty good. My mom shared stories that she wrote with my sister in law that were really touching and we enjoyed listening.
We had a fun Christmas eve party with Nate's Kresser side of the family where Nate ended up with a golf range finder and I got a bird feeder. We enjoyed the time with Nate's family and he and I were also able to spend time over at his brother and sister-in-law's house watching a movie and talking. This is the last year for a while that we will spend Christmas in Utah, so it was great to see everyone and enjoy each others company.
Nate is studying right now for his OAT (the test he has to take to get into Optometry school). It's a pretty hard test, but I think he is going to do great! He has some shadowing this week with some Optometrists here in Logan and after his test he can send in his application. There's a lot to do the next couple of weeks, but I'm confidant that he will get accepted.
Today Nate and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary by taking Matt with us to dinner and shopping. Don't worry, we have a date this weekend where Matt is going to have a baby-sitter and we are going to dinner and a basketball game. It was really fun to have Matt with us today though, because 3 years ago we were sealed to each other and to our posterity and we are so happy to be a family! I love Nate so much; he is a wonderful provider, kind, gentle, funny, and a great husband and father. Sorry if this is so nauseating, but I really am glad that I have him, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend eternity with. I'm also really happy to be a mother, this has brought me more joy than I've ever known. Matthew really is a special boy and I'm so glad to be his mom and hopefully the mom of more precious children in the future.

Hmm...

So many of you, since I think 3 people read this blog, know that I don't really particularly care for my current occupation. Driving around town, with what seems to be a bunch of crazies, isn't exactly my idea of a good time. And it seems that the bus provides opportunities for the worst of human nature to come right to the surface. Schedules and moving people seems to do that a lot. Well, Thursday night I had an experience that made think that driving bus isn't all that bad really. That not only does it bring out the worst in people (sometimes) there is opportunity for the best to shine on through as well.
Thursday, up here in Logan, was a frigid cold night. I was glad that I got to stay on my heated bus and felt a little sorry for all my passengers who had to walk to and wait at the stops in the near zero temperatures. I was getting ready to leave the transit center and I saw someone running to the bus and figured I had time to wait for her. She was so thankful that I had, she had no gloves and her coat was falling to pieces, if she would have had to wait she would have froze. She sat down and started talking to another passenger and mentioned that she had been out in the cold for over two hours and it felt could to be somewhere warm. I was glad I waited. The best part of this whole story is when I pulled into a stop, and as a woman was about to get off she slipped off her own gloves, set them in her (the original passengers) lap and whispered "Merry Christmas". Tears rolled down the face of the receiver as the giver got off the bus and walked away. It was a little bit hard finishing my run as a watched how the countenance of this woman changed. December is really a good time to be a bus driver.
I am hoping that this holiday season we can all be on the look out for someone we can help in a small and simple way. Opportunities are all over the place we just have to look for them and be brave enough to act on them when the Spirit speaks. Merry Christmas.

MATT MAN!!!!

We have the cutest kid in the whole wide world. Really we do, you might doubt it but all the evidence is right there. For this week's blog post a few stories from our favorite MATT MAN!

-Matt has decided that the mini-stapler from the drawer is actually a phone and who ever he is talking to hears "Hi" a lot.
-On Thanksgiving he was naughty and hit his cousin on the head. Amy told him to say sorry and this is what happened.
Little injured cousin: "Sorry"
Matt: "Thank you" as he happily ran away.
-Matt frequently jumps on his bed to go to sleep and right after he wakes up, it is pretty much his favorite thing to do, I think.
-Matt has a new beanie that looks like a tiger; when we were leaving my parents my nephew Gabe said "Goodbye Tigger" it was so cute. We now call Matt, Tigger. (so that was more Gabe being cute but it works, I guess)
-Matt really loves having bananas for breakfast and when we have them around he will happily say "na-na, na-na, na-na" until he gets one.
-Matt will frequently walk around the house in Amy's high-heels and winter boots that go up to his knees, it is pretty athletic actually.
-Matt is very fascinated by his new Christmas stocking, but it's not just fun to look at, he likes to utilize it. Especially by putting his sippy and snacks inside, to eat later.
And the cutest thing about our little Matt right now, is his pink, goopy, half closed right eye. The poor kid picked up pink eye for the second year in a row. Needless to say he will be seeing the doctor (out of his left eye) in the morning. So we love you all but stay the heck away!! BIOLOGICAL HAZARD!

After so long...

Well it has been awhile since I have posted on this thing. It is harder then it sounds to keep the blog updated regularly, especially while Amy and I are both going to school full-time. It has been a busy yet rewarding semester. I have discovered that although I understand plant physiology really well, I don't particularly care for it at all. Amy has been involved with a class that raises money for an international micro-loan program, if they raised $1000 dollars they would be excused from taking the final. Her group sold hot cocoa, cinnamon kettle corn, and other such things, as well as raffle tickets for dinner at local restaurants who were kind enough to donate gift certificates. They sucSEEDed! "SEED" being the name of the charity/microloan organization they were raising money for. Matt has mastered the art of saying "Thank You!" although he doesn't always say it when socially acceptable. He will hand me my phone and say thank you, jumping on his bed tonight he would cough and then say thank you! Such a grateful kid.
Amy and I (mostly Amy) rearranged the furniture and put up the Christmas stuff the other day and now the house looks great. We have a small tree but it brightens up our home and Matt calls it the "pretty tree". We are excited for the Christmas break- although I do have the biggest test of my life to take during the break. Some serious study will have to take place in the next couple of weeks. For those who might not know the test I am referring to is the OAT (Optometry Acceptance Test) and about 45-55% of the decision making process involved with accepting an applicant to those schools comes from the scores on the OAT.
In other news, Amy is being kept very busy as the Young Women's Secretary in our ward. She seems to like it more and more every week, although she was kind of dreading a calling in the YW before she got one.
That is about it for now, thanks for sticking with us through the long break in posts, here's to hoping the next one comes before next June. But if we don't Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's and St. Patrick's Day, and give thanks to your Mom's and Dad's on their special days.

Gardeners' Market!

I realize that I never post anything on here anymore...sorry. I was never a good journal writer either, maybe out of laziness...I don't know. Anywho, I'm sure a lot has happened since I last posted, and I'll probably leave a lot of details out because, frankly, I have a terrible memory. Most of my time these days has gone to chasing a little guy around the house, diffusing tantrums, and making hair accessories to sell at the Cache Valley Gardeners' Market. That actually starts this Saturday and I'm really excited. We still need to get a table and a shading device for our booth and I'm trying to think of cute displaying ideas for the hairbands and clips. After I get going a little more with the market I will finish my chalkboard menu boards so I can sell those as well.
Matt is doing really well these days. He can be a handful sometimes, but for the most part he is a very loving, cuddly, chatterbox and we love it! He got all four of his 1 year molars recently and his k9s are starting to cut through, so yeah for us... He is really a happy kid but when he gets his teeth it's like a Jekyll and Hyde transformation; one minute he is a sweet little boy full of love and the next he's hitting and biting and screaming, and throwing...Ugh, I'm getting frustrated just writing about it.
Some of Matt's favorite activities include: running around the house with a spatula, running into walls with a kitchen towel over his head (he thinks that one is hilarious), throwing two racquetballs at the same time in the kitchen, pretending to stir with the bucket opener and a bowl, playing peekaboo has surprisingly not gotten old yet, caged lion ( I put a basket over me and Matt pokes me through the cage while I growl), and many more silly games. We have a lot of fun here.
Nate has finals this week, he just finished one today and has two more this week. He has done really well in school this semester and I'm so proud of him. I know how much hard work he has put into this semester with school and work full time and trying to spend time with Matt and me. He is definitely looking forward to the summer, he needs a break! In July we are going to take a family vacation with mama Margie and papa Lloyd to Nauvoo Illinois which we've been planning for a year and we're so excited to go! I am doing full time school this summer during May and Junemester so I will also be needing a break.
Well, I hope everyone is satisfied with this blog post, I hope it gave insight into our lives since we live far away from everyone. Enjoy your week folks and maybe in a couple months I'll update this blog again.

Amy

We've Got a Walker!

After 13 1/2 months, Matt is finally walking. For the last month he's been able to take a couple of steps, but he was never brave enough to walk on his own, then he got sick and really didn't feel like doing anything accept let me hold him. Now he is getting better everyday, walking from the front door to the back door ( they're only 15 feet apart), and all over the house. He still falls a lot, but at least he gets back up and tries again. It's nice having him walk because there is a lot less entertaining on my part, and he's pretty good with boundaries, he knows what he's not allowed to touch. Many people told me to enjoy the time he didn't walk because they are a less cuddly and don't want to be held anymore, but that's not true for Matt. He still likes to come up and give me hugs and kisses and likes to be held.
In other news at our house; we finally got the table we ordered the day after Christmas. We have been looking forward to it for a while, but when it got here it was a little frustrating to put together. We had to assemble the table which would have been fine if things were better shipped. A couple of the bolts that are used to connect the base to the top were bent in, so Nate took a hammer and tried to push them back into place but that ended up cracking some of the wood. Luckily it wasn't a major crack and we had wood glue to fix it. Now the table is fine and it looks great. We got an espresso colored round table with a leaf to extend it for company. It works so much better in our tiny apartment. I put out all of our spring decorations and pillows and the apartment looks so fresh and inviting and it looks larger having a round table. Matt is still getting used to the new table, however; the clearance is different and so when he plays underneath it he bonks his head. Well, that's all I've got for today, enjoy your day everyone!

Going to Long Beach in March!

This semester has been a rather tough semester for Nate and I both; Nate works hard at school and for CVTD and we don't see each other for more than a couple hours a day, sometimes less than that. However, we have been blessed to have a good tax return this year, which hasn't ever happened and we are going to use some of the money to visit Long Beach California for spring break, where Nate served his mission. While we are there we are going to stay with a family from one of his old wards, which is nice because we don't have to pay for an expensive hotel. We are also going to visit Fullerton, where one of the potential optometry schools is for Nate. It will be nice to actually go to a campus and see what things are like. When we went to a career fair up here at USU, we were really impressed with the representative from Fullerton, the only thing is the cost of living in California, it's quite expensive to live there.
It will just be nice to be somewhere warm! I've been getting cabin fever and I want to be able to spend more time outside. We might even be able to score free tickets to Disneyland; I haven't gone to Disneyland without being pregnant and without a child for a long time, and I'm excited to go on all the rides I want to, hurray! We will think of everyone while we are in warm California, and think of how grateful we are to be away from the cold.

Our Favorite Meal!

I'm not sure what to call this, let's just say it's kind of a Chicken Parmesan casserole thingy or maybe a deep dish pizza thingy...Anyway, it's really good and we get lots of compliments on it. It's very easy because I like to cook things that are easy.
Here are the ingredients for the dough:
3/4 cup very warm water
1-2 Tbsp yeast (I never do it the same and it always turns out just fine)
2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flower

In a 9x9 inch round or square pan, mix ingredients starting with the water, yeast and sugar; let those ingredients rest for a couple minutes and then add the others. Spread it around as best as you can then top with diced tomatoes or spaghetti sauce, grilled or breaded chicken, cheese and then sprinkle italian seasoning on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Enjoy!

(I'm sorry I have no picture to post, just trust me it is delicious!)

An Update!

I'm sure no one checks our blog anymore because we are terrible at keeping it up, but today I will update the few that still read it. Nate has started this semester of school and is doing a terrific job; he is certainly taking on another full load of 12 credits as well as working for CVTD full time. Yikes! He is a wonderful husband for doing it and Matt and I are very grateful for his hard work. I'm not doing school this semester but I will pick it up in the summer again. I am very happy to be able to play with such a cute little boy all day long. Matt is learning so much and is always full of surprises. He is still crawling, but we hope that any day now he will start walking. He can, however take about 3 steps without help and then he'll realize that he is by himself and won't do it anymore. It can be frustrating for me because I know he can do it, he just needs a boost of confidence. We recently got a Nintendo Wii and Wii fit plus with some of our grant money and we are loving it! Although, I am lazy and I should work out more with the Wii fit. My goal is to lose 40 lbs before December, so hopefully if I continue to eat well and kick up my exercise I will meet my goal.
So, I really want to be a better blogger; I read all sorts of cute blogs and wish that I would have 100+ followers and a really cute theme to my blog, but alas, I don't. Someday I will, and I'll have giveaways and awesome recipes (which, I'm sorry that I haven't been doing more recipes), and really inspiring articles...someday...*sigh*. Thinking about giveaways, I, Amy Steenblik am going to open up an Etsy shop. If you don't know what Etsy is, go to Etsy.com; it is a site for mostly stay at home moms to sell handmade products, and the stuff on there is dang cute. I know what you're thinking "but Amy, do you even make crafts?" It's a legitimate question, I don't do a whole lot of crafting, in fact, most of the time I just head over to hobby lobby or Ross and just buy what I want. Well, I am going to make childrens' silent books out of felt.
Matt has a really cute felt book that we were given at one of his baby showers, and it's great, for older children. I want to make a book that is more centered for babies ages 6-12 months. I have a few of the pages drawn up and I'm hoping to have 8 pages total full of things to grab, bright colors and things that a baby that age could really have fun with. After I start selling the books I might expand my site into other areas, hair accessories are a big thing right now and super easy to make. Oh, ya, back to the giveaway part, once I get some books made I will do a giveaway on this blog. Since I don't have a whole lot of people reading this, you all have a pretty good chance of winning. Well, I've made this post a lot longer than I was intending, but I hope everyone has gained a little more insight on our lives. Maybe in a few months I will update again ;)