Easter

Easter is kind of a strange holiday for young married couples. Do you get each other baskets? Do you hide them from each other? Do you make a fancy dinner? Or do you just think of the Savior and go to church and wait to start traditions until you have your own kids?

Ethan and I talked about what we wanted to do, and we decided that we would do Easter baskets. Anytime we would see an Easter section in the months leading up to Easter, we looked for baskets, but could not find anything cute. We ended up finding these cute matching totes in the dollar section at Target (holla! I'm obsessed.) And the Easter planning began.

For several weeks, we secretly decided what to put in each other's baskets. With stockings, baskets, and pretty much every holiday in general, we try to set a budget/limit so we are giving and receiving similar things. On Easter morning, I set out our baskets and when Ethan woke up, I told him we had to see if the Easter bunny had come yet!!

He did.

Christmas in College

This year, we are headed to California for Christmas and I couldn't be happier about that. I usually get pretty home sick around this time of the year... home sick for my friends, California, the sun, and especially my family. I can not wait to see them all. We're leaving just in the niche of time too because it has been snow-free all semester and just as the snow starts to fall, we get to put our car into fourth gear and get out of here! ( I think it's fourth gear, I don't speak anything but automatic.)

H A L L O W E E N

Ethan and I don't really like anything scary, so when we think of Halloween, scary movies and haunted houses are definitely not what comes to mind. This is seriously a blessing in disguise that he doesn't like it either because I hate hate hate scary things, so it it better that we just don't do it at all.

For Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins earlier in the month, and went to Ethan's brother, Ian's, Halloween concert. It was actually pretty good. I really enjoyed it because it was "Phantom of the Opera" themed, so I was familiar with a lot of the music.

Our costume fell through at the last minute, so we decided to be greasers at the last second. I think he looks dang good in a leather jacket, so I was pleased as punch about that.

Plus, he's definitely the one that I want.

;)

Lemonade.

Alex Boye is a popular singer in the LDS culture. I heard he was coming to BYU-Idaho & sent Ethan a screenshot telling him to buy tickets because I thought he really liked Alex Boye. So, he quickly sent me a text back saying he bought the tickets. 

A couple days before the concert, almost a month after buying the tickets, I asked Ethan if he was so excited to go to the concert. He answered, "I guess, I've heard he's pretty talented." Turns out that while I thought Ethan really liked Alex Boye, he only bought the tickets because he thought I really wants to see the concert. We both laughed and decided to have a good time anyway. 

The concert had an African tribal sound to it, so I didn't understand a lot of the words, but the moment Alex Boye walked into the room, you could feel his spirit. It was obvious that he was a good, kind man. He performed all night with high energy and loads of light in his eyes. He sang songs about how one should love themselves, reminding us that we are golden, nothing can stop us from achieving our dreams. 

Besides his rendition of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, I probably won't remember a lot of his songs, but I will remember how this kind man used his talents to uplift those in the room. It was quite different than any concert I have been to. 

He sang a song called lemonade playing off the old phrase "when life gives you lemons..." reminding us that when hard things come your way, add some sugar so things won't taste so bitter. During the show, he requested that the audience post pictures on social media with the hashtag #byuiboye and it was trending, so fun! Even though there was a miscommunication about why we attended the concert in the first place,  Ethan and I chalked it up to a great night where our spirits were uplifted. 

It's Fall, Ya'll!

I'm not like your typical basic white girl who loves the fall. I don't like wearing boots and scarves, and I'm not pumpkin's biggest fan. However, it wasn't until I moved to Rexburg a couple years ago that I saw the leaves change for the first time, and that is beautiful. 

I don't love fall because it means that Rexburg is going to get really cold, but I do love that it means the holiday season is coming quickly, and holidays mean family and the pure love of Christ. I love that, so I don't hate fall all that much.

To celebrate the month of October, we decorated our home with some Halloween decorations, but nothing too fancy since I finally decorated our house to begin with. Ethan and I decided that we needed to bring some Halloween traditions into our lives starting with attending the pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins! 

My family went to the pumpkin patch every year growing up with all of our extended family, but Ethan hasn't been for like 15 years. We decided it would be best celebrated with some of our favorite people, the Nystroms!