Birthday Dinner!

Last night Austin took me out for an early birthday dinner to Maggiano's. It was absolutely delicious!! We had so much fun spending a night out together and getting all dressed up (ok maybe that was just fun for me :) I know school is getting harder for Austin so our date nights are getting less and less but knowing that Austin was willing to take the night off just for my birthday meant the world to me! Here are a few pictures from the night :D

All dressed up with my new sparkly shoes that I found a Target!! 

Just the two of us :) 

 So we couldn't make up our mind about desert... Austin had just eaten cheese filled ravioli with alfredo sauce and then wanted to get cheesecake but I thought that was too much cheese so we decided to just get one of each! (It was a desert option, we did not really ask for one of each, we aren't that fat! haha) 

 Austin just had to take a picture when my mouth was full... and no I didn't eat the whole thing by myself! Austin helped... a little ;D

So that was our night! Guess we will just have to see what is in store for my actual birthday on Tuesday!

I'm a Mormon.

After reading the title of this blog post one might think, well no duh! so let me explain... This month has been a great kick off to a new year spiritually. Just last Saturday Austin and I finished reading the Book of Mormon together. I've read/studied it many times before but it gets me every time I read that last chapter in Moroni and I can't help but feel a reassurance of the truthfulness of the book. The next day, Sunday, I was reading the January Ensign and saw the ad in there for the Mormon.org website. Let me just say this, I think that the Mormon.org website was an amazing idea and a truly awesome way to use the internet for good. Anyways, as I was looking at Ensign I realized that anyone and everyone who is a member can make a profile on that website. Well after seeing that I thought it would be a great way for me to share a small portion of my testimony to those who visit the site.

Well last night I got a call from Wade saying he had discovered my page! haha I had been checking all week to see if it was posted (cause they have to review your entries) and of course the one day I didn't check, it went up. He was also creating a Mormon.org page and had stumbled across mine while searching for other Horrocks. Anyway it is kind of crazy to think that anyone could be out there reading about me and my thoughts on the church, but in another sense it makes me proud to be a Mormon and show what I believe. So I urge any of you reading this blog who might be Mormon to make a page of your own! And possibly help someone understand a little bit more about what it means to be a Mormon! 

Also if you are wanting to see my page I posted a link of the right sidebar :) Enjoy! 

January Update

Sorry it's been so long! I just haven't had anything exciting happen lately for me to update... sad story! We are just enjoying the 65 degree weather while going to school and work. Speaking of school Austin has been having some eye troubles so instead of getting contacts that he will never wear he bought some cute old man reading glasses. Isn't he just the cutest in them!! Makes him look even smarter than he is!!

Also, it's funny because as I mentioned earlier I am making a Mixbook of our blog posts from last year and as I was going through and reading my posts from this time last year I couldn't help but laugh. They were all about how much I hate the snow, how I can't wait to move to Arizona, blah blah blah but now we are here living in it! Crazy! To tell you the truth I thought maybe I was going to be one of those people who is never satisfied and I would be missing the snow right about now... well to be honest I'm not. haha I am so happy that every day is the same, sunny and 65. I don't wish it was cold, I don't want the snow and I am not getting sick and tired of the sunshine. Arizona has turned out to be the absolute best place for me to live!!

Ok so now that I'm off that topic, I want to show a craft I just finished! A few months ago I posted a list of crafts I wanted to to. Well I can finally say I've checked one off the list! I got the idea from this blog post.  I bought all the supplies with the intention of making this wreath plus more decorative balls... well after making the one wreath I think I'm gonna have to pass on the balls. Well maybe not pass but definitely hold off for a bit. It's not that it was hard just extremely time consuming. So if you are thinking of doing this make sure you are bored out of your mind and have lots of time for a craft.

Still I am very pleased with the results. Plus it looks even better with the frame I found at Austin's grandma's house so thanks Grandma Nail! And the awesome bird pictures, thanks mom!

So that is about it for now. After finishing this craft it's on to my next projects... making pillows!!! I will definitely make sure to post pictures when I finish those :D

Party with the Parents

This past week we were lucky enough to have my parents come out and visit! I was so excited for them to come down and finally see our little apartment and where we live in Arizona :D My dad was the first one to come out on Wednesday. He helped us move into our apartment back in July but this was his first time seeing it all put together. I imagine it looked quite different! We met up with him for a few hours and had a nice lunch (minus the hair I found in my food) before he headed over to Scottsdale for meetings. We didn't see him again until Friday when my mom flew in to join us! Once she arrived, the day was spent showing her around Arizona (she had never been here before) walking around the Fashion Square Mall and then enjoying a delicious dinner at a cute little Thai restaurant. After dinner we walked down Scottsdale Road and stumbled upon this ice cream parlor to have something sweet to eat.

 Dad and his root beer floats... this one was overflowing like a volcano! 

Saturday my dad had to go back to Texas but my mom stayed one more day. We had way to much fun finding lots of cute decorations for my apartment. She even found these cute blue bird canvas paintings that I wasn't sold on but once we got them back they were absolutely perfect in my bathroom! Plus she was willing to get me an early birthday present which I won't post on here until my actual birthday because then it will feel more special :D

Sunday she unfortunately had to leave at six in the morning. Needless to say we went right back to bed once we dropped her off at the airport haha But overall we really did have an awesome time with them. Having my parents out just makes me even more excited for all the visitors we are planning to get this year!

A New Year and a New Wreath!

Wow I can't believe it is already 2011... That means in a few months Austin and I will have been married a whole year!!! I just finished making a Mixbook of all our blog posts from 2010 which was a great way to look back at the year and reminisce on all those big moments in our life. I figured since I am probably the world's worst journal keeper that putting all our blog posts into one book would be a great way to somewhat keep a journal of our life. I didn't realize how big of a year 2010 was for us until today. I can without a doubt say it has been the biggest year of our lives so far. I mean who gets married, graduates college, moves to a completely different state and starts medical school all in the same year?! We do... haha

So what can we expect in 2011? Well definitely more blogs posts, and just more updates on our life together. I am so excited for this new year! One of my new goals for the year is learning how to sew (seeing as I just got a new sewing machine) and just continuing to learn and grow in all aspects of my life. One thing I learned to do yesterday was make us a homemade wreath! I got the inspiration from this blog post and yet my wreath looks nothing like it! haha Once I got to Hobby Lobby I decided to take things a different route.

There you have it, a new year and a new wreath. Here's to a great 2010 and to seeing what 2011 has in store for us :D

Our First Married Christmas!

Alright it's time to give a recount of our Christmas break! Austin and I had such a fun time. It is hard knowing that Austin now has to go back to studying and I have to go back to work... oh the joys of growing up.

Our break started last Wednesday when we caught a late night flight to the DFW! I took a picture of the airport because I don't know if this was coincidence or not, but they had our gate decorated like a western Christmas, and seeing that we were going to Texas it was fitting.

After a bumpy flight we made it safely to Texas. Thursday we traveled over to the Dallas Arboretum. My dad received free tickets from his work and while looking at flowers in the winter isn't the most exciting thing, we made it fun :)

Inside this old house they had on the grounds. It was all decorated for Christmas. 

 So my family is a little obsessed with birds. Especially blue jays and red cardinals, so naturally they needed a picture of this blue jay :) 

 I told you my family was obsessed with birds.... so obsessed that they try to be the birds haha

After that fun family outing we went home to make gingerbread houses and sugar cookies! 

Even though I spent the entire night making sugar cookies we weren't able to decorate them until Friday because we didn't have the right ingredients to make the frosting. 

As a side note I had to take a picture with my dog Abby because we were matching Thursday :) She got red jingle bell bows put on her ears haha 

Friday was spent lounging around the house, finally decorating our sugar cookies and then doing the traditional Christmas eve program. Except this year we changed it up and added singing to the program. I'm not sure Austin was too thrilled about that, but he was a good sport and helped out my dad with the bass part :D After the Christmas program we opened sibling gifts, another one of our family traditions. 

 This was the favorite out of all the decorated cookies. Way to go Jessica! 

Austin with his doctor dish. You are officially initiated into the family once Jessica makes you something from art class. This year it was a dish with Austin's name and snake around it representing medicine. 

 I made my sisters some of those fabric flower headbands

Austin and me in our new pajamas that the sisters got us! 

 Being rough and tough :) 

Saturday was of course none other than... Christmas!! We had such a good Christmas this year. We definitely got spoiled :) 

Another great tradition... taking a picture of everyone waiting on the stairs. Thanks to Jessica this picture was at 7:15 in the morning

 So this was one of Austin's favorite Christmas presents, a little pocket knife/plier/lots of other things. Note to self, next year don't spend money on a huge new TV, just get Austin some little tools haha 

 Yes my family has gone gun crazy... hahah 

 Please excuse all these horrible Christmas morning face pictures 

 Wearing the scarves I got my sisters and mom

 Austin and I had a hard time thinking of what to get my dad, the man who has everything, and then it hit us... get him some stuff from Trader Joe's! He is obsessed with that place and they don't have one in Texas, but they do in Arizona!! Needless to say, he loved it :) 

 An "Our First Christmas" ornament! 

And a couple more presents my parents had sent to our house before Christmas. I am pretty excited to learn how to use the sewing machine!! 

Christmas morning was great, and the day continued to get even better! My dad made an awesome dinner that followed with a dessert party at some family friend's house. 

Working hard in the kitchen...

 While everyone else chills on the couch :D haha 

 Sisters!! 

Lexi was pretty excited about dinner haha 

 Let's eat!! 

As I said before we had an awesome Christmas day :) Sunday was a typical Sunday, just went to church and hung out around the house. 

Monday was the day my family took us to the shooting range. Yes you read that correctly, a shooting range! haha My family is really into guns now, my parents even have their concealed hand weapon license-- so watch out! lol and Austin and I are lifetime members of the shooting range. I am not gonna lie, when I got in there I was so scared. I did not want to shoot one of those guns! But I got over my fear and had a great time trying them all out. 

 Bond...James Bond

After the shooting range we got all cleaned up and went out to Texas de Brazil that night. I had been talking this place up for years to Austin so I was excited that he was finally going to get to try it. Austin told me after dinner that it lived up to everything I said :D 

Tuesday we spent shopping, hanging out and we also went to see the movie True Grit. Unfortunately our trip came to an end early Wednesday morning. We had such a fun time in Texas with family and friends. Plus I wasn't too sad to leave my family because my parents will be out here in a week! So that was our Christmas break and we enjoyed every minute of it!