Too Much Free Time

So since I haven't started working yet, i have started a few projects here and there. James had a special request that I sew him a hoodie. I have never been the best sewer but a hoodie isn't too hard.... So here is the final project being modeled by James. He first teased that he was only going to wear it when he changes his oil... But he has been wearing it all around town!

Brrrrrr......

I don't know if i have ever in my life experienced weather below zero. Honestly. I'm trying to remember a time. But most of my life I lived in Arizona. And LA for a few years. UT was the coldest but even there i don't remember it below zero. It is -1 degree right now and with the windchill it says its -21 degrees. Right now in Arizona its 50. And with the windchill its still 50. And in LA its 53. And with a windchill its still 53.

This video is becoming all too familiar:

Husker Pride!

James & I attended the last home game of the Huskers last week with his family. The Huskers played Colorado and although it should have been an easy win it did turn out to be an exciting game and the Huskers did win the game. Its been fun that we have been lucky enough to attend a few of the games this season. James' dad has 7 season tickets so we got lucky. The Huskers are rich with traditions. They always have a plane fly over after the star spangled banner (a couple of games ago it was a stealth bomber!) and they always let off red balloons after the first touchdown. And EVERYONE wears red. Its a sea of red. I've never seen anything like it. These Nebraskans know how to be supportive fans!

The Mile High City

I had the greatest mini vacation to visit Sarah Z in Denver a couple of weeks ago. Besides the speeding ticket i got , the rest was a blast!!! Here are some pics:

We also saw the movie:
Sad but good.

More adventures

Some family friends gave us this picture from Halloween out here. I was the only one from James' family to dress up but we had fun passing out candy to the all the kids.

Another adventure i had this week - since i haven't started work yet - i volunteered to help James' friend who has a paper route before he goes to his FT job as an architect. He knew that the day after the elections would be especially busy because the papers print late, etc... So i got to see a day in his life and help him out. I went to bed about 12:30 or 1 and woke up at 3am to meet him at the Newspaper distribution center. The papers were even later than we thought and didn't arrive until after 4. For the next few hours i wandered around some neighborhoods in Lincoln, passing out the Lincoln Journal Star, the Omaha paper, and the Wall Street Journal. In case you don't know - it is still dark at 3 in the morning. And at 4. And at 5. :) So a headlamp came in handy as i studied his map to determine which houses got papers and which didn't. Quite an adventure. I don't think i'll ever get my own paper route. (I have never been a morning person) but it definitely makes me want to tip my paperboy!

Settling in Nebraska

We have been in Nebraska for two weeks now. I wanted to share a few interesting things i have noticed besides the beautifully changing leaf colors and freezing cold weather -

**Nebraska is just about as vanilla as Utah. To put it bluntly - I never see Mexicans and rarely see african-americans. Its a little weird...

**The mid grade gas is cheaper than the lowest grade gas here - ALWAYS. I'm told it is becuase the mid grade has ethanol which is made from corn and we are in the land of corn. :) Thus it is cheaper.

**I miss the option to recycle. Nebraska hasn't joined the recycle bandwagon and i cringe when i have to toss a bottle. I didn't realize how much i cared, until now. Maybe that is becuase we just visited Costa Rica - one of the most earth friendly nations in the world. Or maybe its because i now have a sister-in-law who is more pro-recycling than anyone i have ever met. Anyways, we have been separating it and drving to sites that have limited hours, but they definitely don't make it very easy.

**I am convinced that the Lincoln/Omaha area has more pumpkin patches per capita than any other area of America. But maybe i haven't visited enough of the mid-west...

**Lincoln/Omaha also seems to have more Nissan Muranos per capita. I love it!! That is what i own and i love my Murano. These are my kind of people!

Other than that Lincoln is a fabulous mid-sized town. We have seen a lot of it so far - besides racking up quite a credit card bill buying a sectional sofa, kitchen table and chairs, 46" TV, and washer and dryer, we have also:

biked around the trails of Lincoln
gone ice skating
did a session at the Winter Quarters Temple
visited the greatest Pumpkin Patch in Gretna, NE complete with a big bouncy pillow (trampoline thing)to jump on, and go-cart tracks with adult sized tricycles.
went to a Husker Vball game - the girls are ranked 2nd in the nation! They are incredible!
went to a Husker Football game. (there's nothing quite like it)
visited the Henry Dorley zoo (one of the top 3 zoos in the country)

**Special thanks to Lindsay for getting us directions when we call on a whim...

Honeymoon Recap - Pura Vida!!

Well - we spent 6 days in Costa Rica and LOVED it. Many of my friends had already been there so it was helpful to talk to people beforehand. We were in San Jose the first night. Arenal the next. MonteVerde two nights. And then on the coast at Playa del Coco/ Ocotal. We enjoyed every area and we stayed in some really fun hotels! The food was fabulous. The people were great. It was rainy season so we got at least a little rain every day which made it interesting, but it didn't ruin too many plans.

We did a zip line in Monte Verde which was through a protected rainforest. So fun!

Our hotel in Arenal was right at the base of the active Volcano.
Our hotel on the beach at Playa del Ocotal
Its funny because James was quite hesitant to go to Costa Rica becuase his only foreign travel has been Mexico. Beforehand he said he would have rather gone to Hawaii... But during and after.. he has said that he is so glad we went to Costa Rica. He has been recommending to everyone and their dog..

Professional Wedding Pics

Our wedding photographer, Justine, was great! She just sent us a link to view the proofs on her website. Follow the instructions below if you want to see the pictures that she is sending us. She is sending a CD with the images and we can print them out wherever we want. So let me know if you want copies of any of the images. She got some great shots of family and friends!

Your wedding photos have been uploaded into your password protected gallery. To view your photos, go to www.justinemillerphotography.com and click "enter site" at bottom. Once you are in the site, enter the proofing page. In the bottom right corner you will see a space for your password. Type in; Heather ( case sensitive) Your gallery should load, although it may take a moment depending on your browser and computer.

Wedding Pics

Well, We've been married going on two weeks now and i'm finally posting a few pics. We haven't gotten the pics back from our photographer except for a couple that she posted on her blog:
http://justinemillerphotography.com/Blog/
But other friends have shared some that they took. I loved that i had my favorite people all around us for a couple of days. It was so great to see everyone! Hope to catch up with everyone really soon as we settle in to Lincoln this week.

Wedding Details

Well its less than two weeks til my single life comes to an end. The big stuff is all taken care of but the little details drag on..... Its like when you are moving. And you think you have most everything, but then the little stuff takes forever..... Our wedding is going to be super simple - nothing extravagant - no bridesmaids, no groomsmen, just us and our parents. But even still - there are lots of little details. So one of the minor details i have been thinking about - is what music to play at the reception. Just for background music - this is where i need everyone's input. I thought about it as i looked at my sister Lauren's blog and the song "True" by Ryan Cabrera was playing... I thought to myself, this would be a good song to add to the mix.. So - all those who have asked what they can do to help - please provide your fabulous ideas. I need your input!

The Cornhusker State

So - as most of you know - just after getting married, James and I are moving to Lincoln, Nebraska. Change-overload!! It will be an adjustment but i think a really good move. For those who have never been to Lincoln, now you have a reason to go. James keeps saying - " I want us to have a really cool apt/house where people want to come visit/stay with us." So you are always welcome! Lincoln really is a great town - not too big, not too small. Lots of pride - but in a good way. They are all about Husker Sports. The downtown is so fun. And there are bike trails everywhere all over the city. And a few other interesting facts about Nebraska....

Nebraska has more miles of river than any other state.

The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have been to a record 27 consecutive bowl games and 27 consecutive winning seasons (James' dad was on the team for at least 2 of those winning seasons!)

In Blue Hill, Nebraska, no female wearing a 'hat that would scare a timid person' can be seen eating onions in public.

The largest porch swing in the world is located in Hebron, Nebraska and it can sit 25 adults.

In 1950, Omaha became the home of the College World Series.

So there you have it....come visit for the College world series, or to bike along the many river trails, or sit with 24 other adults on the largest porch swing! Whats not to love!?

Babies!!!

Yesterday both my sister Holly and my best friend Heidi had their babies!!! Holly named her little boy Jensen Brian Rawlings and Heidi named her first little girl Audrey Leilani Sherman. Both are miracle babies in their own way - Heidi and Jason have tried to have kids for 10 years. They have done every kind of fertility treatment you can imagine! This baby will never wonder if it was wanted! And Holly has had complications with all of her pregnancies and lost her last baby. Jensen has given them several scares over the months but he is healthy and happy! Heidi is here in Arizona so we were able to go visit them at the hospital yesterday. Here are some pictures!

Violated

Last week i had my car broken in to and my purse stolen! They busted the passenger side window and grabbed the purse from the floor. I was in the gym for abou 30 minutes and came out to find i had been violated!! The random part is that exactly the same time i found all of this, my phone stopped working without warning at all ( i had the phone with me). So i had trouble trying to make calls to get credit cards stopped, etc. Luckily we got all of that taken care of within an hour or so and we discovered that the new credit cards that James had given me (from his credit card accounts) with 'Heather Janssen' on them - had already been used by the criminals who did the deed. Those dirty dogs. Anyways, a word to the wise - be extra careful at the gym... I never thought about it much, but apparently i have heard since, that this a huge hot spot because people don't usually take everything in with them. On a positive note - my phone started working (randomly) again on Tuesday. So i went a week of being phoneless and moneyless relying on my generous sugar daddy but now i've got credit cards and debit cards back so i'm on a spending spree to celebrate!

Everything's bigger in Texas

We spent the last three days in Texas - San Antonio area. James' grandma lives in San Antonio and his uncle lives in the area as well. We spent time with their family friends in Boerne and Fredricksburg but we also visited Luchenback, TX and Bandera, TX. We saw the San Antonio temple, spent time at the famous Riverwalk and also the Alamo. It was great to get a small taste of Texas living. The people are so great!!

Lots o News

I haven't posted in a month now and a lot has happened!!! Almost 3 weeks ago i got engaged!! I have discovered that i am not the type to shout it on the mountain tops...its taken me this long to update my blog. We were in Nebraska this past weekend for James' ten year HS reunion. Good times! Kind of randomly, his sister's best friend went out with us to take a few pictures to see if there was any we could use for our engagement photos. In between photo shoots she took some of us playing around.... Kinda fun. We are getting married Sept 27th in the Mesa Temple!

Zorbing in New Zealand

So one of the highlights of my South Pacific Trip was Zorbing in New Zealand. You may have seen it in a Toyota commercial. There are only a couple of places in the world you can do it. Its like you are in a big hamster wheel... Check out my pictures:

So Stinkin' FUN!!!!

Finally over the jet lag...

I'm back in the real world and missing my vacation days. I'm still getting around to posting more pictures. But in the meantime, one of the guys from the trip put together a best of the best photo assortment. You can see them at the following website:

http://www.stecks.net/southpacific

Check em out!

Bula! from Fiji

We are on our way home tonight and Fiji has been incredible! We went scuba diving two different days and saw lots of sharks and a sea snake and incredible soft coral and fish. Lots of nemos (clown fish). Four of us went sea kayaking and our kayak got water logged out at sea. It was an adventure. We were trying to swim it back in and drag the kayaks but we were going about 10 meters an hour and someone on shore spotted us and sent out the boat! Stupid tourists!
We saw some Fijian dancers last night who were really good and there was some great firedancing as well.
Yesterday we went up to a real fijian village in the rainforests - just six of us. Not touristy. But the chief met with us and his son showed us around there land. We hiked up to a cave and some incredible waterfalls that we swam in. And they cooked us a traditional lunch - taro leaves with coconut milk, fried eggplant, fish, sausage, boiled tapioca and lemon juice. It was pretty good.
I don't have any pictures to post because i lost my camera in Sydney. Not sure where...I'm trying not to think about it. :) But everyone else has taken tons so i'll have lots to show!
Hope to talk to everyone very soon!

Aussie Style

Today was day two in Australia! This place is even better than New Zealand!! We did a petting zoo today with all of the Australian animals. I pet a koala bear, fed tons of kangaroos, pet wombats, and saw a tasmianian devil, croc, flying foxes, penguins, and tons of other stuff. I thought of Miriam Oh who really likes furry animals like Koala bears and soft kangaroos. The gray ones were the softest Miriam. You would like. Tomorrow we are going to go to church, do the bridgewalk, and go to the sydney operahouse for a show. I'll keep you posted....

Greetings from Auckland

we have been here in New Zealand for four days now and it feels like we have done it all!! Waterfalls, Scuba Diving at Poor Knights Island, Glo Worm Caves, New Zealand Temple, Maori Village, Zorbing (you need to look this one up), Shopping, the Luge, and eating eating eating. I haven't taken enough pictures but there are 11 others taking pictures of everything we see so i know i'll get some good ones. I'll post again soon...

The Season of the BBQ

This past weekend I attended 3 BBQs PLUS a dinner at my cousin Marsha's with BBQ meat. All were very yummy. At my work BBQ someone brought kettle corn and my co-worker said she had a recipe that was great and easy. So James and I tried making some last night. The first batch was no bueno. But we figured it out the second batch and found this recipe online that was slightly different but helped us get a better result.
Try it out. Its addicting!!!

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/appetizer-side-dish-recipes/sweet-and-salty-kettle-corn/article.html

Bit more on Spain...

Half the time we did public transport and half the time we rented this little number... It met our needs and got us all over southern Spain. But we HATED driving in Madrid. I don't recommend.

Not much to say about this one...

The Rock of Gibraltar. So cool. Down at the SOuthern tip of Spain is Gibraltar - a UK territory. So all of a sudden we could read the signs and speak English again!! We took a cable car to the top and you can see Africa from there!


We also saw these guys at the top. Miriam was dying to pet them. But we restrained her. Sarah and i forgot about the warnings posted everywhere and we started snacking on some chocolate. One almost pounced me!


MORROCCO

We learned to make tanjin chicken at a cooking class in Morrocco! Hands down the best meal that we had on our whole trip!


Morrocco was just how i imagined it... But everyone there makes you pay them if you want to take their picture. Especially this snake charmer.

Spain revisited....

I went to Spain end of Feb/beg of March and several people wanted to see pictures. That was the main reason i started a blog....hmmmm... so, even though these are a couple of months old now, i wanted to share the amazing things i saw/did in Spain and Morrocco...
This picture is Toledo, Spain. Beautiful!!

We did a bike tour in Barcelona. We saw all the major sites of the city with our guide from South Africa!

There was a marathon going on in Barcelona - fun to watch but we chose to eat sweets we discovered at a great little chocolate shop!


The national favorite in Spain is HAM. Ham everything - from ham flavored potato chips to fried ham rolls. Here we are in Madrid eating one of many ham sandwiches.


This is how we spent a lot of our time....


This reminded us of Christmas...but it is buildings by the famous architect Gaudi...world famous who lived in Spain.


One of my favorite towns was Sevilla. Not too big. Not too small... And Beautiful with tons of history..

Sevilla is the home of Flamenco dancing.