Gone Private.. for real this time...

Well, you may have noticed that I have finally set my blog to private. I am getting closer to having my business website done, and have started sending some people to the website. I figured that now is as good as time as ever to make the transition into a private blog. I'm sorry if this inconveniences any of you... but we would eventually be going private anyway. Remember to add http://peadenpreblog.blogspot.com/ to your blog rolls so you will be able to see when we update!

David and I are doing really well, we are just trying to prepare for next week when David will start his first classes as a graduate student and I will start into my student teaching. It's kind of a crazy, but we are both really excited for the challenge.

David and I are incredibly grateful for your continued love and support. As I was going back through all of my comments to find all of the e-mail addresses (to invite you to view our blog) I was filled with gratitude about all the nice things that were said and how many people truly care about us. Thank you again for being such wonderful friends and family. Good luck with the beginning of the new year!

Alive and happier than ever!

Hooray! We made it! David and I have had an incredibly busy month and we are SO happy to finally be able to rest and relax and NOT have to worry about ANYTHING.

I wish that I could really explain how insanely busy things have been, but I won't bore you. However, I will try to go over a few of the highlights we have experienced in the last little bit.

THE PEADEN LIFE IN PICTURES:

One of my biggest projects that I have been working on this semester is a set of 6 curtains for the bonus room in my in-laws house. I made them as a surprise birthday present for my mother in law, Sue. It was her birthday on December 2nd, which means that I was finishing them up right towards the end of the semester. It was a lot of work, but they turned out wonderfully! I am so pleased. Sue was surprised, and I think that she really likes them. It was my first time making curtains, and I didn't use a pattern or anything. So I am pretty proud. :)

David snapped a picture of me while I was working. I spent a lot of time ironing those suckers. Seriously, I probably spent twice to three times as much time trying to iron the fabric down as I did on my sewing machine. The fabric was just really stubborn and wouldn't stay folded unless I made it stay.


Here are a few pictures of the final product. Isn't the fabric beautiful?

Okay. On to more exciting things!

THANKSGIVING!

This year for Thanksgiving, my family invited my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc.. to our house. This was a really big deal! I have never before had Thanksgiving at my house, because we have always been at one grandparents house or another. This year we decided to invite everyone to Morgan. It was a smashing success! We made all of the traditional dishes including homemade cranberry sauce. The entire dinner was delicious, but my favorite part was just hanging out in the kitchen with my Mom, Dad, siblings and David making food and laughing.

This is a shot of the beautiful table. It turned out so well. Thank you JoAnns fall clearance!

One of the many pies that we made. Isn't the lattice-work gorgeous? My dad and I make a great team.

There were lots of pictures that I could have included here, but I just couldn't resist adding this one as well. Not all of my Thanksgiving dishes turned out perfectly. These poor Lady Fingers just didn't make the cut. May the rest in peace. (Even my dog Sparticus wouldn't have anything to do with them.)

Probably the biggest event of the entire month was when David graduated Magna Cum Laude from Utah State University with a double major in Accounting and Economics. I am so proud of him! It was a great achievement for him. He will start his Masters degree in January, and is thinking about continuing his education even further and going on to a Doctorate Degree. I certainly married a brilliant, motivated man. I have no doubt that he will succeed in every area that he pursues. Congratulations David. You are wonderful!

A shot of David and his beloved seat in the spectrum. Couldn't leave without it. Oh, and a sidenote: During the Commencement Ceremony we had the opportunity to sing the Scotsman. That is not something that usually happens during graduation, but one of the higher-ups had requested it. I thought that it was a perfect end to Davids undergraduate career!

Here we are... Mr. and Mrs. Peaden. (I just like the way that sounds.) I'm so proud!

David and I had the opportunity to go to Temple square with my cousin and his wife and some of their friends. We had a blast and loved looking at all the lights. We also watched the Joseph Smith movie, went to the Gateway, went to a Gingerbread house exhibit at the Grand America Hotel, and ended the night with hot chocolate at Wayne and Jessica's apartment. What a great night!

David and I in front of the lights.


I couldn't resist including some pictures of the Gingerbread houses. They were amazing!

Look at the detail!

This one was inside of a house titled "Santa's Workshop". Wow.


Later that week David and I attended the Peaden Family Christmas Party (Part II) and I defended my title of Cookie Decorating Champion. I have now won the contest two years in a row and am looking forward to next year. David held his own in the contest and came in third place! The Christmas party was wonderful and we were so grateful for the chance we had to spend time with our family.

If you look close, you can see the Harry Potter glasses on Davids snowman and the mistletoe ornamentation on my snowwoman's hat and scarf. The details are what clinched the title's for us.

Now on to Christmas!

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without our annual Christmas Eve Pizza Party. This is one of my favorite traditions. See how happy I am?

Another tradition is that all of the kids sleep in the same bedroom on Christmas eve. David and I "graduated" from this tradition and had to sleep downstairs, but you better bet that we were the first ones up and that we were in there jumping on their beds shout/whispering "Christmas is HERE! Christmas is HERE!"

This is the aftermath of Christmas in the Walker household. If you look closely you can see that Jenna is holding a balloon animal and Jacob is inspecting his new unicycle. What you can't see is the card trick kit or the juggling kit. It seems that Santa is trying to turn out family into a circus! (Not that we have far to go.) Everyone loved their presents. We were so blessed this year with SO many incredible and thoughtful gifts.

My silly brother and sisters. I don't know that Santa needed to bring us ANYTHING to try to turn us into a circus. I love these people!

Oh well! If you can't beat them, join them!

The whole family! I can't tell you how grateful I am that David and I were able to spend all of Christmas together, instead of just part of it.

After Christmas morning in the Walker household, we drove to West Jordan to spend the rest of Christmas day with the Peadens (and the Renchers (David's oldest sister Wendy and her family) of course!) It works out quite well considering that Davids family doesn't open presents until the afternoon. We didn't miss out on anything. However, due to a slightly late missionary phone call and about 20 people taking turns opening presents we didn't finish unwrapping everything until almost nine o'clock!

This is what Christmas looks like when you celebrate it with so many people!

These are the Christmas ornaments that David and I made first at the Peaden Family Christmas Party and then we made more with my family on Christmas Eve. Didn't they turn out wonderfully? I love them.

As much as I love Christmas, Thanksgiving, Graduation, etc... Nothing compares with how much I love this boy. Can you blame me? He is so sweet, kind, thoughtful, and incredibly handsome. We have been married for almost 7 months now. I can honestly say that these last seven months have been the happiest, most wonderful of my entire life. Even the last month when we were both incredibly busy, the things that I remember are the times that we have spend together, talking, laughing and being in love. I am grateful for someone who makes even the most stressful times full of light, hope and happiness. I love you David!

David/Dead Week

Do you see this boy? I love him. More and more each day.

Right now we are in the middle of Dead Week. Some say it is named dead week because it is the final calm before the storm... however... I tend to believe that it is called Dead Week because it is so busy it could kill you!

We are both swamped with school, work, and projects.

See you after Finals!