A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Next Friday my family will be driving up here to help Jake and I move to Utah! Only 8 more days, and we will be saying goodbye to our first home. This place holds a lot of memories that I will never forget. I thought I would share with you as I ponder those memories. :) 

This is the first sign I saw when I first moved up here letting me know I was home. :)

 We live only 20 miles away from Mount Rushmore! Its more like a half an hour drive though. The roads are so windy and you are driving through the black hills. Jake drives past it on his way to work everyday. We can check that off our list of cool things to see.

 We started out only with what was given to us. No mattress, no furniture, nothing. We slept on an air mattress for the first 2 months. If you have read my last post, I talked about paying off our king sized tempurpedic bed. I'm pretty sure that's why we got such a nice bed. 2 months of an air mattress hurts your back! This is what our apartment looked like for the first 2 weeks or so. I had fun organizing and putting everything away..heh heh. ;)

 Our first night in our apartment I walk into our bedroom and what do I find on the wall? This beauty. Jake said he wanted to make our apartment feel more like home for me. Although it was a sweet gesture, it quickly came down. My husband is known for his dumpster diving skills, who knows where he found it.

 There is a TON of sights, parks, and things to do around here. During the summer we went to Keystone. Its a small little town just before Mount Rushmore. It has a lot of fun actives and rides and a big long strip mall. There was a ginormous slide there, it is a lot like the Alpine Slide for those of you that have been there. Keystone made for a lot of fun dates. :) This is us on a sky ride.

 Last summer we had some CRAZY storms! It rained at least 2-3 times a week. When I first moved up here I was like "Wow, its really rainy up here" to some Walmart clerk one day, and she said that it actually hardly ever rains and that is was abnormal for it to rain so much. I didn't mind tho, I love the rain. One day one of those rain storms turned into a hail storm. We were out looking at couches to buy for our empty apartment and then out of no where it sounded like our car was being hit my huge rocks or something. Jake quickly drove the car up onto the slope of an underpass and we waited it out with many other vehicles. I'm glad we did because when we got home Jake's car had lots of little dents in it. This picture is of Jake holding one the pieces of hail that were falling from the sky. There was also an amazing snow storm that hit us in October. Cars were buried under the snow. The power was out for a week. We lived off of chips and crackers for a couple of days, until the roads were cleared and we could go find some place to eat. We were too afraid to open our fridge because we didn't want any of the cool air to get out. I didn't want all of our food going bad! It made me think of an apocalypse. It was so quiet for 2 days while everyone hid in their homes, then when the sun broke through the clouds, you slowly starting seeing people venture out. Neighbors that I didn't even know I had came and talked to us, everyone was helping everyone dig out their cars. It was quite the experience. I have pictures of it on my FB, for anyone who wants to see.:) Who woulda thought talking about weather would be so interesting? haha

 There is also VERY PRETTY sunsets up here! Jake and I loved going out and watching the sunset.:)

Welp. I'm afraid that's all I got for now. I need to get up and make my husband and I some dinner.... Taco Salad sounds pretty good. I think I'll make that. :)

Oye..

Oye..that's the word I have been using a lot lately. Probably because there is going to be a lot going on for Jake and I in the next couple of months. In about a month we will be moving! Yay! :)  I love the opportunities and experiences that South Dakota has brought us, not to mention I think it has helped our relationship in tremendous amount of ways, that I don't think would have happened if we did live closer to family and friends. Jake is my rock, he is amazing and I don't know what I would do with out him, but I'm ready to be nearer to family and friends. When Jake and I went to go put our 2 months notice into the office of our apartment complex we were told we would have to pay another months rent after we leave. All along we thought it was a 6 month lease, but I guess it was a year. I guess we didn't read all of the fine print. We will have lived in our nice cozy apartment for 11 months! It has been so good to us, I hope we can find one like it when we move. 

As a lot of you probably already know, my family is doing a TV show! My Five Wives on TLC. It has been an awesome experience for my family, and has opened up so many doors to them. Jake and I will only be on one maybe two episodes seeing as we live in a completely different state. That's okay with me, I'm just so excited to watch my family! Seeing the commercials and articles online about my family is almost surreal. It hasn't really clicked with me yet, maybe it won't ever. I have the most amazing family, 5 moms and 23 brother and sisters. I'm the oldest, so growing up I always wanted to set a good example for them all. Whenever one of them is struggling is tugs on my heart. I hate seeing the ones I love in pain, but there is always someone there to help. One of the many perks of having a ginormous family. :) March 9th is when it airs. The anticipations is killing me.( not literally:))

My not so little brother Josh or as a lot of people know him as Brady landed in Africa today! HOLY COW! The big sister in me is nervous and worried about him, but I'm so proud of him. He always talked about going to Africa while growing up. We would look at picture books of lions and tigers and all the other wild animals down there and that sparked an interest in him. I'm so happy he has the opportunity to go. I have an Uncle down there right now serving in the Peace Corps. Its pretty awesome, so Josh made it happen to go and he will be staying with him for 2 weeks! He gets home just in time for the premiere of our families TV show. Have I ever mentioned how big of a stud he is? He has a jaw that makes the ladies melt, he is a big sweetheart too. I hope he has an amazing time down there.

Babies! Aah! So many cute, precious, angel babies have been born lately! One of my most very best friends just had a baby boy last week! He is so handsome and I can't believe I am old enough to have friends that are having babies. Where does all the time go? I can't wait to get my hiney to Utah and cuddle all of my friends babies! I will admit seeing all these cute babies being born has made me baby hungry. Yep, I said it. I want a baby! Jake has some goals he wants to accomplish first before we start that journey of our lives together. So I'll just have to reign it in and be patient. Jake will be such a good daddy, I just know it! :) I also just found out one of my close cousins will be having a baby in September! Yay! Babies...I just love everything about them. :)

Jake and I just payed off one of our bigger debts! We now own our lovely king sized tempurpedic bed. Its worth the pretty penny, trust me! And we will be paying off another one next month! Hooray for accomplishing goals.:)

Well despite the freezing cold weather, and my craving for babies life is pretty good up here in Rapid City. :)

Long time, No see.

So it's been awhile since my last update. I'm a slacker. There have been quiet a few blog posts recently, and so that is what gave me my motivation to write this one! Thank you fellow bloggers! :) Since it has been more than a month since my last one I'll get you up to date. 

Jake and I drove the long 12+ hour drive to my parents house in Utah for Christmas! We left after he got off work, trying to beat a storm that was coming. In the middle of no where in Wyoming at 1 in the morning it was a white out! It was horrible, we drove under 20 mph for at least 3 hours. It was a long miserable night. We reached my hometown hours later, and were greeted by a lovely camera crew. My family is doing a TV series for TLC called 'My Five Wives,' and they wanted to catch us walking into my parents house and seeing my family. We had just spent 14 hours in a car and had only 2 hours of sleep, I'm sure you could see it on our faces.  It wasn't really all that bad though. There is always a million people walking around our house, whether it be siblings, parents, pets, or neighbor friends. So the camera crew fits right in and has become part of our family. :) 

Christmas eve and Christmas morning were great! We woke up bright and early at 5 o'clock. I grabbed the recorder, I wasn't going to miss catching Jake and I's first Christmas together as a married couple! I'm sure it was a new experience for Jake celebrating Christmas with so many little ones, but he seemed to enjoy himself.:) While we were visiting I ended up getting really sick. :/ I wasn't able to do anything or see anyone that I wanted while I was there. I went to bed at 10 pm on New Years, while Jake and the rest of my family celebrated. Oh well. Jake got to hang out with his friends while we were there, so that's good. We ended up staying a little longer than initially planned, hoping that I would get better for the drive home, but that didn't happen. I slept for more than half of the trip home. I felt bad, that's a long drive to do alone, my poor husband. He is such a sweetheart! <3

Now that we have been home for almost a month, we have both gotten back into the swing of our routines. We just bought our first TV! Jake has been wanting to buy a Xbox for a while now, and I would always say "Okay! You'll have to buy a TV first.' One day he splurged and went and bought a TV and a Xbox! We can now watch the big collection of DVDs that we have. :) Our favorite thing that Jake and I like to do now is sit and watch The Office while eating dinner. It's nice, and makes for a wonderful evening. :) 

This past Saturday it was my 21st birthday! My amazing husband spoiled me the whole day. We went and watch my cousin Chris run at a track meet in Spearfish. He's a collegiate runner and is very good at it! Jake and I both did track and x- country in high school so we enjoyed it. After, we met up with some friends and went to Deadwood City. You know like off of Calamity Jane?! I was so excited! We went to a casino and I won a total of 24 bucks playing the slot machines. It was fun! We also enjoyed a nice dinner while we were there. I love my life being married to Jake. He is such an amazing man. Everyday he takes the time to ask me how my day was, and how I feel. He is so supportive of me. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. Even though life throws you those tough days where you just want to throw your hands in the air and give up, that man always finds a way to cheer me up. I'm so grateful for him.

 Life is good. :)

My husband plays the guitar.

 For the past couple of days I've been feeling down in the dumps. I miss my family. Especially with it being Christmas season. Not being able to go to Temple square and see all of the beautiful lights, missing out on all of the fun Christmas parties, and basically everything else that comes along with the holiday. Not to mention my body hasn't been very nice to me for the past week as well. The one thing that has helped me through this rough week is my husband! He is so sweet. Have I ever mentioned he plays the guitar? And he sings too! The combination of my hunk, a beautiful voice, and a guitar is just wonderful!  He has written many songs for me, most are from when we were dating. My favorite one though is his recent accomplishment. He was going to sing it at our wedding but then chickened out last second! Ugh, I know! But thats okay, because I get to hear it all the time. :) When he sings and starts to strum on the strings of his guitar, it takes all of my worries away, and brings me back into the moment. I love it. I think I can speak for all girls when I say a man with a guitar and a beautiful voice is a gift from God. :) At least I think my husband is anyway. Here is a rap my husband made up for me back when we were dating. 

'Come gather round and ill tell you a story

Of a girl so fly, she da opposite of boring

theres no arguing here she is simply the best

if she was the gold rush id be headin west

Im telling you dude she the finest of the female

if shes was a cup then shed be the holy grail

if her brain had a name then it would be steller

if karlie was a book  would be a bestseller

listen up

if she was a guitar she’d be a takamine

if she was car she’d be a lambragini

if she was a magician she’d be Houdini

if she was linguine- chicken fricken fettuccine

if she was a fish then she’d be a beauty

and xbox game she’d be call of duty

if she was girl shed be a cutie

oh wait she is a girl, ha ha, brain tootie

if she was Chinese she be panda express

if she was a school subject she’d be recess

if she was a flower shed be a daisy

KFC she is potatoes and gravy.

 In all seriousness tho

Karlie your my girl

You mean more to me

Than anything in this world

I don’t think you could ever understand

What I feel for you. But I hope you can.

its hard to describe someone that blows your mind

you’ve got my heart and stomach all intertwined

No amount of words are ever going to do you justice

I want you to know, that to me your perfect

I know that I might be just fool with a dream 

but impossible as it seems

im gonna shoot for the stars and

Hope that you discover me in your heart

Cause I cant stay grounded and live

That’s just the way that it is.

Id completely understand if you wanted nothing more to do with this.

Before you go you should know

that I will never stop tryin

to make you laugh and keep you from cryin

I just want you to know how much you mean to me.

I just hope that you know how much you mean to me.'

-Jake Jessop-

He is a cheese ball I know, but that is one of the many reasons why I love his so much!

Mother Dear

For the past week or two I have been thinking a lot about my mom. She is such a beautiful person all around. For those of you that have met her, you know what I'm talking about. Whenever I introduce myself to someone, and let them know who my parents are, I almost always get a response of ' Oh I know Paulie! You look just like her. I love your mom, she is so sweet.' I'm not even kidding, almost those words exactly. There is probably not one person out there that can say one bad thing about my mom. She is so very beautiful, graceful, sweet, feminine, loving, and one of the most giving people I know. My grandma's up there too. That is probably where she gets it from. :) Growing up my mom always taught me to always care. Care about having things nice. Care about doing things the right way. For example, wrapping Christmas presents. My mom would show me how to wrap the corners right, so that they would look nice. Or, there was a time when my mom sat me down to practice my signature. She had taken me to the bank to cash a check, and my signature was unreadable, so she showed me a couple of different ways to write my name in cursive nicely. Just before I got married I walked into my moms room before bed to visit with her. She had asked me if I had any pajamas that matched. I looked down and said 'no, not really.' (I had collected high school t shirts and sweats for pj's) She responded with 'don't you want to look pretty going to bed?' I chuckled in response, 'we will just be sleeping mom.' Later that week she took me and bought me some very feminine and 'pretty' pajamas to wear for when I got married.  Growing up I loved to watch my mom put on her make-up and do her hair. I now realize I was learning while watching her, and I now do some of the same things. Through out the years I always just thought ' Oh whatever Mom, its silly to care that much about stuff.' Now that I have a house for myself to take care of, I find myself repeating something my mom would always say to me, "It's good to have things nice, you will never regret making things nice.' That is my motivation for having a clean house for my husband to come home to. Making the bed every morning when I get out of it. Decorating our apartment. Or simply getting ready for the day. I say those words in my head. I also say them to Jake as he helps me to make our bed on the weekends. His idea is to throw the covers up and call it good. I on the other hand want to make it 'nice.' My mom has been such a wonderful example to me. I look to her example when I'am trying to figure out the task at hand, or how to act in a stressful situation. My mom is my best friend, and I honestly don't know what I would do without her. I love my Mom!

My mom and my grandma!

It's been a crazy wonderful month!

So I know it has been about a month since my last post. I've been on the go, and trying to get back into my normal routine. Now that I've been home for a week, I've started to get back into the swing of things. It's sooo nice being home. Sleeping in our own bed. Pulling a drawer full of clean, nicely folded clothes open, without having to rummage through a suitcase. I was living out of a suitcase for over a month! Its not as bad as it sounds though. Here is a quick update on what Jake and I have been up to, and how our Thanksgiving went!

I left my parents house and flew up to North Dakota to be with Jake for the last week that he was working out of town. Let me tell you, it is COLD up there. And living in a motel room for a week, I was about ready to go insane! It helped that I was finally with my husband. It was hard being away from him for so long, so I was grateful to finally be with him. After that week was over Jake and I drove back to Rapid City after he got off work. It was about a 6 hour drive, and we made 2 different stops on the way back to catch up with some friends! We got back around 3 in the morning. Woke up later that morning, paid the bills, cleaned out a STINKY fridge, caught up on some much needed laundry, re-packed and headed off to Montana to spend Thanksgiving with his family. We were only home for just over 12 hours, it was hard to leave again so soon. BUT, we were going to be with family and celebrate the holiday! :)

Thanksgiving was great! I love my in-laws. Its always so nice going to see them and catch up. Not to mention we were celebrating Thanksgiving and there was tons of yummy food! Double win! While I was there I made Cranberry Salsa. If you haven't tried Cranberry Salsa you have to! It is delicious! And my in-laws loved it too. Whoo! Here's the recipe!

Cranberry Salsa

12ounce bag of cranberry's 

3 jalapeños 

4-5 green onions

A handful of cilantro (I always estimate on this one)

2 limes squeezed

1 cup if sugar

A dash of salt

Mix all together and put over a brick of cream cheese and enjoy with crackers!! YUM!

After all of the laughs, fun games, and much needed family time Jake and I headed home. It was so nice to walk through our front door knowing we wouldn't have to leave again so soon. So we've been home now for just over a week. I've been having fun decorating for our first Christmas together as a married couple. Making yummy holiday treats, and doing plenty of Christmas shopping. We are looking foward to going back to my parents house for Christmas and New Years in just a few weeks!

This is Jake and I last year around Christmas time. Crazy how fast time flies! It has been a great year to say the least. :)

Believe

The other night my family was sitting around our living room talking. My mom started to talk about the book she is reading. It is by Teresa Caputo. You know the spirit lady on TLC. Anyway, in the book Teresa talks about reincarnation, and when you die you are shown and made to feel how you made others feel throughout your life. But it's peaceful, not scary/sad/mad or whatever other emotion you would be afraid of feeling that you have made those around you feel. Teresa also talks about how you work towards becoming a perfect soul. How you can have many lives but your soul remains the same. You know when you've met 'the one' and you feel as though you have already met and been together? I believe yes, your souls have already met. In another lifetime...

When I was 14 my family left our former church. I'll just refer to it as the 'group.' I was old enough to understand what was going on and to start thinking for myself. All I had ever known was the group. That is where all of my friends were, and some still are. It was my comfort zone. Being the age that I was,  I had felt that the floor had been ripped out from under me. I was confused and I became fearful. Fearful that I would loose my friends. Fearful that I wouldn't be strong enough to make good decisions without a church. Fearful that I would end up alone. With the support of my parents and my wonderful family, I became confident enough to fight against my fears and figure out what I believed, and to not just follow my parents blindly. I continued to attend our former church alone. My friends helped me to feel comfortable to continue to go. I also started to attend the Mormon church with some friends I had made from school. As well as go to some Christian churches. While at home my dad would teach of Buddha, Gandhi, and Christ. I was determined to figure out what I believed for myself. What I found, through prayer and long conversations with many different people, is that there is truth everywhere. I was raised to believe that there is one real truth, and you have to follow that truth to make it to heaven. But my soul feels differently. I wasn't content to commit myself to just one church.  Through out the years I have started to believe a lot of what Teresa talks about in her book.  I believe that our spirits are growing and learning. That we all are on different levels in life, simply because we all go through different life experiences, and that the main goal is to become a 'perfect' spirit. I have chosen Christ as my example of a perfect spirit,  and it is my goal to become just like him. When my mom started to tell us what Teresa talks about in her book, I became all excited! 

I'm grateful that my parents left the 'group.' It has opened my eyes to so many wondrous things. It has helped me to think for myself and to work for and find what I truly believe. Because what I was raised to believe was taken away, it made my testimony of Christ so much stronger than I could have ever imagined. I'm still learning, so I'm not saying THIS IS THE WAY, or anything like that. But to my soul right now, it feels right. So I'm going to continue to follow Christ's example, and try to show my love that I have to share to everyone.

On a more lighter note! I get to be with this hunk in just 4 more days!! :) Wahoo!!