the leininger manor

welcome to the leininger manor, as tommy sometimes likes to call it. otherwise known as our humble abode, located at XXX XXXX, provo. (you didn't think i was going to put the real address online, did you?) anyways, here are some pictures of our apartment--i know my mom has been wanting to see the finished product. it really is just all one big room, with the kitchen on the left and a living/dining room adjoining it. i didn't take any pictures of our bedroom because the giant pile of laundry would probably terrify most of you.

the thing that i am probably MOST proud of is our curtains in the second picture, which grandma murphy so kindly helped me to make during conference weekend. and we also only just put up those pictures above our fake fireplace this week. finally everything is set up!

birfday

two posts in one day! what is going on? oh yeah, i have a take-home midterm to work on. so i blog instead.

it was my birthday on monday and i had a lot of fun... tommy made me breakfast and lunch and then my dad was in town for recruiting and took me, tommy, and 11 of our cousins out to dinner at the brick oven. this is the fourth year running that dad has been in town the week of my birthday and that he's been able to take us out to dinner. it was grant's 18th birthday as well, so it was a double bday party. alec, the brother and cousin of the birthday kids, was oh so kind to buy us smashing sweaters at his favorite store (nordstrom's. oh wait, DI.).

and now i'm 21!

running

once upon a time, i was really good about exercising. i would go running six days a week, i felt really great about myself, and i even ran a half-marathon last november with sarah and my study abroad friends.
fast forward. i don't seem to have the time or the desire to go running every day. or any day. it's SO hard for me to want to wake up early to go running. last week, we didn't go running at all. i was so grouchy and irritable all week--until i realized what was wrong. when we finally did go running, all that grouchiness was GONE.
i'm just discovering what a difference exercising has on my mental state. we went running three times this week and i'm promising myself to be faithful this whole year to control my stress level.
also, on an unrelated note, can i just say that I LOVE FALL? i walk around hyperventilating because of the beautiful trees everywhere around campus. i love it i love it. snow, stay away until the leaves are gone!

cooking

as my mom and roommates can testify, i've always hated cooking. i don't want to wait for my food, i just want to eat it right then and get going. my mom used to call me to the kitchen and ask me very kindly to help make the sunday rolls or just a green salad, for crying out loud, and i would put up a fuss and yell and run away and hide in a corner. (i'm not even really exaggerating here.) and since i've been in college, i've mostly existed on a diet of macaroni and cheese, cold cereal, and PB&J sandwiches. tommy's roommates still praise me for my mac-and-cheese skillz, and are shocked when they find me eating anything else.

but in the last few weeks, i've found out that i kind of LIKE cooking. i'm trying to figure out what has changed my anti-cooking feelings so drastically, and i've come up with this reason:

-the world is coming to an end.

or, maybe it has something to do with:

-actually having the cooking supplies that are necessary (like pots and pans and cheese graters and spatulas and sharp knives) and having them be NICE and not trashy.
-having a kitchenaid (this falls under the above reason, but it's such an exciting machine i wanted to include it on its own)
-having the right ingredients and a place to keep them
-having someone to cook for and with (because tommy helps more than i do)
-having tons and tons of delicious-looking recipes and cookbooks that i'm excited to learn how to make

i didn't have any of these things of my own before, but this has all changed with getting married and the wonderful, amazing, generous people who have given us our new kitchen supplies. last week, we made homemade bread, homemade ice cream, a delicious cake, and snickerdoodles. we're eventually going to work our way up to real food and not just desserts. it's been fun. more fun than i ever would have expected. mom, gloat all you want!

sister missionaries

this picture was taken in december, 2008. i miss this.

not even one year later, four of these best friends are on missions. i can't even say how awesome they are.

but this week, after more than a month of an empty mailbox, i got a letter from this sister missionary. and i wanted to share my joy.


she has reached her NINE MONTH MARK. she's HALFWAY DONE!
i try my best not to remind her of how much i miss her in my letters, but it's hard.
i'm really proud of her... she's such a rockstar.
i can't wait for our date at fuddrucker's 2010.

late nights in the library

obviously, we are very productive. (no, seriously, usually we are. it's only about when it hits 11:00 when i get antsy and take pictures on tommy's computer and distract him, even when i still have that paper to write.)




tommy needs more things to do. clearly.

wedding pictures

how can i be expected to do homework when there are at least 1000 pictures like this one to go through? this is clearly far more important. who cares that i have a paper due wednesday that i have yet to start?



and once again, a ginormous THANK YOU to miss kylie nixon for being a magical photographer!