Sometimes...

I haven't blogged in FOREVER. I know, my bad. I just thought I'd put this up here, for no particular reason. I loved it and thought it was cute. Have a great day ya'll!

(yes, I'm catching on to texan lingo...)

Living in the NOW

I've been falling into a little mental rut lately, or actually, two ruts if you will.

I often find myself reminising about the "Glory Days" (basically high school) OR what people would like to call "Wishing My Life Away". Now don't get me wrong, it's great to remember all the good times you've had, and it's even better to have dreams and goals. But for me, this has gone to a level much more deep and troubling than just that, and gosh darn it I will stop! I must stop because it's getting ridiculous, and to be blatantly honest, it's been making me a depressed Amber, and not the bouncy, happy Amber.

Let me explain a little further. In high school, dancing, singing and cheerleading was my life. MY LIFE. That is no more. It's been a struggle dealing with it too. Church choir just doesn't seem to "do it" for me, and now that I'm married, dance and cheer are for one, not financially feasible, and two, my time is better spent on my husband, church callings, work, and homework even if I did have the money. This is rut numero uno.

Rut numero dos: I cannot stop thinking about babies. I swear, I feel like everyone is pregnant. Everyone is having a baby (I had THREE shower invites just for October-THREE) and that's just here in Texas, not counting everyone I know in Arizona and friends from Utah. Baby makin is becoming a serious deal, and apparantly I missed the memo. Not only that, but I have prayed, I have fasted, and I have prayed and fasted almost EVERY month and the answer is stronger and stronger: Not Yet. I don't get the answer "No" (thank heaven!) just "Not Yet". I cannot deny how strong that answer has been. Why not now? I have no idea. Actually, I do. I'm supposed to finish school. So here's rut number two: I dream and dream of the day I will finally be done with school so I can be a mom.

Here's the problem, and this is why this MUST stop: I am totally neglecting all of the many blessings I'm able to enjoy right here, right now in the present, because I'm either locked away in the past or future. So to help myself get out of this mind set, I'm going to make a little list of why I love my life right now:

1. I can write this blog without having a baby cry in the other room or someone running up to me because "so and so" flicked a booger on the other "so and so".

2. I basically get to do whatever I want on my own schedule.

3. I AM MARRIED. One dream accomplished.

4. I have the opportunity to finish my education! I love school, and love learning.

5. I get to travel whenever I want to.

6. I get to run a million errands without buckling children in and out of carseats a million times and I don't have to deal with the two year old meltdown in the check out line (win!)

7. I get my husband all to myself.

8. I have made great friends here in Texas, and I get to hang out with them and their sweet kiddos all the time.

9. I nanny for the BEST family in the ENTIRE universe!!! Those three sweet babies are my everything. All the laughs and cries over little boo boos and all the runny noses really make me feel like I'm making a difference to someone that really matters to me. How I love those sweet kids and their parents. I dread the day I have to say goodbye.

10. I can have a craft sprawled out all over the table or floor and do it all day long without having anyone stop me.

11. I get to do SO MANY fun recreational things with my hubby and his family! They are so so so much fun! I'm glad my husband is so active and brings back those fun active times for me.

12. Less laundry. Nuf said. I. hate. laundry. I told Steven that once he's on full salary in 8 years that the first person I would consider to help around the house is a laundry lady. I hate it THAT much. I'd rather clean a million toilets than do the laundry, yes seriously.

13. Less messes! Although, my cat does a great job at messing up the apartment. I got home today and discovered that he had gotten into the cheeze-it box and there were cheeze-its scattered all over my kitchen floor. I swear...his cute fuzzy face saves his life sometimes...

See? Lots to be greatful for and lots of fun things about my life! I feel better already :) I think I should make this a mental exercise every single day. Today is the first day of conquering my mental "illness". Here's to many many more!

-AN

Fall Fun

Well the last two weeks or so have been pretty fun. The temperatures keep dropping little by little and I am loving it! Today we have a high of 81, but by Thursday the high is only supposed to be 63-yay! That means sweaters, hot chocolate and oatmeal. Three of my favorite things :) Anyway, here's what we've been doing the last two weeks:

Last Saturday we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. The weather was great, and we we're bored, so we decided to go! (I also get some extra credit for a class by going and writing a little paper) Here's some pictures!

Happy Halloween?

Last Tuesday I didn't have to work and Steven's schedule was light enough that we we're able to escape for a day and go to the State Fair! It was so much fun and definitely BIG-Texas style. Steven and I like to look at cars so we really liked the car exhibits that they had. It was pretty fun to run around and look at the new 2012's, but we especially like oooohing and ahhhhing over the luxury cars. The new 2012 Lexus two row SUV hybrid is very, very, very nice. We also liked looking at the Chevy Volt-it's pretty rad. Anyway, we also looked at all the animals, and ate deep fried everything. It was a great day!

Deep Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwich and a Funnel Cake! Heart attack city!

Reminds me of Charlotte's Web!

Deep Fried Pepperoni Pizza. Delicious and Disgusting all at the same time...

-Crew of Two

One monster post!

I am going to try to make this post as easy to read and as efficient as possible. So many things have been happening in our lives within the last 6 weeks! Here we go:

1. Annual Neeley Girls Trip (plus little nephews). About three weeks ago I ditched school for four days to join my husband's family (just the girls and three little nephews) in Disney World. It was awesome! The weather was a bit sticky, which I am not a fan of, but it was a great trip. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws-I love them all!

Disclaimer: I have to be honest and say that I get a little embarrassed about how much I leave and vacation. I have never vacationed so much in my life since I got married. I try not to put much on facebook about when I come and go because I try to be sensitive to my friends and other people's situations. My worst fear is that someone will think that I'm trying to rub it in their face, or they'll think I'm ungrateful for everything I have. If anything, it has been an overwhelmingly humbling experience since I got married. Even before I got married, I have always been very blessed. I try not to take anything for granted.

It's SMEEEEE!!!

Stef and I waiting to go on Star Tours!

I texted this picture to Steven while I was gone with a caption that said, "It's a boy!", but I don't think he found it as funny as I did...

2. This last weekend my mom came to visit me and we went to the Taylor Swift concert! I heard that she wasn't that good live, and whoever told me that is off their rocker. It was UH. MAZ. ING. WOWWWW!!! I want to cry just thinking back on it, it was that good. The whole time I didn't want it to end. I also felt like a total dork because there wasn't a single song that I didn't know every word to. Ya, I guess I'm a total Swifty! It was also incredible watching her in the Cowboys Stadium. It was by far the biggest crowd she has had all tour and it was awesome to see her reaction to us-you could tell she was totally blown away by the deafening roar!

:)

<3

She is so pretty!

3. During this same weekend my hubby was down in central Texas doing the tough mudder race with his mom, two sisters and our brother-in-law Kyle. They were totally awesome and they all finished the race (which includes 11 miles, 23 obsticals, mud, water and craziness). Steven said it was one of the most fun things he has ever done, and he has convinced me to do one with him in January in Phoenix.

Team Awesome!!! (from left to right: Kina Thompson, Stefanie Delorey, Kyle Thompson, Steven Neeley, Becky Neeley)

Stef and Steven

Steven and my mother-in-law Becky

Stef and Steven

Ya, they're crazy :).

That's basically all of the fun and exciting things that we have been up to lately! Steven just found out that he made an A for his first quarter of his 2nd year and I am so proud of him! He has been studying so hard! I love TCU, and I've made some new friends. I am enjoying my CTR 4 class, and I am excited for the Primary Program in two weeks. Halloween is almost upon us and Steven and I are running a Halloween 5k called the Vampire Run on the 29th. All is well! Loving life!

P.S. Scampi still exists. He's very, very, very active and is a total nut case. He stole my make up brush from my bathroom (and I know because I caught him) and then he stole it again and it is no where to be found...poor brush :(

-Neeley Crew of Two

Labor day!

As a 21st Century girl I commit a certain "sin" that I really need to work on:

I am horrible at taking pictures.

I never have my camera on me. And I always forget that I can just use my phone.

With that said, I have no pictures of this weekend even though it was an absolute blast!

Steven's sister Kina and her husband Kyle came up from Houston to visit us for the weekend.

(It is so fun that they live relatively close to us now!)

We went to the rodeo Saturday night.

Went to church, played lots of games and ate yummy food on Sunday. (speaking of yummy food, I tried out a new recipe for chicken and dumplings for the crock pot and it was a huge hit! I shall post the recipe later!)

And on Monday we attempted to go to the waterpark, but ended up leaving after and hour and a half because it was FREEZING! Texas has been ridiculously hot this summer, and then we get this "cold front" the day we want to play in the water. Figures. Oh well, we came home and played Settlers of Catan out by our pool and then went to a yummy burger joint.

The weekend came and went too fast, but it was oh so fun. Now were back to the grind of homework and studying-hooray.

-Crew of Two

Chicken and Dumplings

3 cans of canned chicken (I actually didn't like this too much and I think I'm going to use chicken breasts next time and then shred it)

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

2 cans of chicken broth (or you can make your own with chicken bullion)

1 bag of frozen carrots (I used the little circle crinkle cut carrots because thats what I had in my freezer-it was great)

1 bag of frozen peas (I omitted this ingredient because Steven doesn't like peas)

1 and 1/2 tube of Grand's flakey biscuits. (I purchased a normal tube and one of those half-sized tubes.)

Throw all of the ingredients except the biscuits into a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours. Cut the biscuits into fourths and throw them in. Cook for an additional 40 min on high.

So easy. So yummy. I think I might be making it next Sunday again! Enjoy!

New changes, new opportunities.

I start school tomorrow, and I'm trying not to freak out.

AHHHHHHH! Why am I so nervous?? And I don't even have chocolate ice cream in my freezer to ease the pain...sadness :(

It's going to be a long night.

***

On a totally different topic, Steven got a new calling today! He was set apart today as 1st counselor in the elder's quorum presidency. How exciting! I know he'll be awesome!

I'm loving my CTR 4 class. They are too dang cute. I think I learn more from them, than what they learn from me sometimes.

Happy Sunday!

-Crew of Two

Jitters

I'm 20 years old and I'm starting school on Monday.

Do back to school jitters ever go away?

Like, I'm having nightmares that I can't find a place to park and then I'm late to my first class.

But during the day I'm excited.

Oh help.

Some good friends of ours from BYU got married today in the San Diego temple, and Steven and I are way bummed that we weren't able to make it. I've been stalking their bridals and her blog to try to make myself feel like I was kinda there. Needless to say, I've been thinking about them ALL DAY, and it also made me a little sentimental (aka, me going through all of my wedding photos). It makes me so happy to see them happy. And...

I'm so happy I married my favorite boy too :)

Summer 2011

I could give you a million reasons why I haven't blogged in 6-7 weeks (yikes!), but in between the lost the camera charger and being in and out of town, the REAL reason just comes down to priorities. Sorry, I chose to do other things instead of blog. This summer was Steven's last summer of his life (minus the research every day from 9-5) so we took advantage and did lots of fun things!

July 4th (ok, I'm cringing, that was SO long ago)

Steven's parents drove into town to spend the Holiday weekend with us. Don't they look like so much fun!? I LOVE it when they come and visit. We always have a great time.

I'm also a little bit of a nerd about the 4th so it was filled with lots of activities and FOOD :)

While his parents were in town we saw two firework shows, goofed off at the Ft Worth Stock Yards, went to a rodeo and went shopping! I don't think a Texan 4th of July gets much better than that!

After the 4th of July, Steven and I went on a 5 night cruise the following weekend down to the Yucatan Peninsula and Cozumel! It was SUPER fun! Our first port of call was down in the Yucatan where we drove out and saw the Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins. (brace yourselves for lots of pictures)

Here is a pretty crappy picture of where the Mayans used to play their sacrificial games. The members of the losing team were sacrificed on their alter, and then a carving of a skull was added to their mural. Life could always be worse, folks...

^^^Look at those SKULLS! Pretty freaking cool!!!^^^

This pit, which now looks like a murky lagoon thing, was actually the burial place of over 30,000 human remains. At least, that's how many were discovered down there. Pretty creepy...

By the end of the Chichen Itza tour I almost passed out from dehydration and heat exhaustion. I have never craved so much water in my life! It was an AWESOME place to visit, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

While we were in Cozumel we decided to scuba dive because we heard that it's one of the best places in the world to dive. And the rumors were true! We saw sting rays, jelly fish, a beautiful purple lobster that was about 3 ft long (no exaggeration), a crab about the size of Steven's head and sea turtles! It was our best dive together yet! The only tiny downside was that we both got stung by these tiny jelly fish, which really didn't hurt that bad, and we got back to the ship with a bunch of tiny red spots all over our arms. Oh well, STILL WORTH IT!

Once we got home it was time to work again. But Steven was able to leave a few weeks later for a weekend in Utah with his family and my mom came to visit me in TX. Unfortunately, due to an MIA camera charger, I have no photos of my mom's visit. This summer was awesome, but has quickly come to a close already. Steven started school again this Monday, and I start up at TCU on the 22nd (which, btw, I am super excited!!!). For all of you Phoenicians, I will be in AZ next week to visit my family and to welcome a new nephew into the family. Sorry this blog was epically long, but it was more for myself than anyone else. Hopefully I will be blogging again soon!

-Neeley Crew of Two + kitters

Lately...

Here's a bunch of random pictures about what has been goin on lately with us!

This was before we moved. Scampi lays out like this all the time and it cracks us up!

This picture was taken during my visit to AZ in May. We were babysitting my niece, Lydia, while her parents took a little vaca for their anniversary. Quite the morning hair-do there uncle Jordan!

Steven and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a few things and he decided to "test" the tempurpedic pillows haha.

The family that I nanny for got a "new, new, new" (as Bo would say) puppy!! Black Lab, SO ADORABLE!

His name is Dutch. I'm in love! :)

I was making brownies and I decided to be an idiot and leave our stick of butter on top of the stove while the oven was hot. Ya, not the smartest thing I've ever done.

Stay tuned for an exciting 4th of July post in a few days!!! I'M SO EXCITED!! :):):)

Eyes like an eagle!!

I would like to refer all of you to this blog post. Katie is a friend of mine here in Texas, and I seriously could not stop laughing after I read this a couple of weeks ago.

My experience today wasn't quite as bad because I didn't have my eyes dilated. (THANK THE STARS IN THE HEAVENS!!!) Yes, my prescription needs to be more powerful. Yes, I had to wait forever. Yes, they shined a light brighter than the sun in my eyes, but WHOA! I now have eagle vision folks!

It's funny, every time I go to the eye doctor I always think that my glasses are working perfect and how it's such a hassle to have an appointment just so I can refill my contact prescription. And then at the end, they give me the new contacts/glasses and it's like I'm looking at a whole new world. It's almost shocking how clear everything suddenly is!

Anyway, if you've never been to the eye doctor because you're like Steven and are SUPER BLESSED to have perfect vision, you probably won't understand what Katie or I are talking about. For the rest of us handicaps out there, I hope you enjoy her post as much as I did :)

-AN

Oh the possibilities...

I just want to say one thing: I AM SUPER PUMPED ABOUT LIFE!

Seriously, I have my whole life ahead of me and that is pretty exciting! Finishing school, starting a family, moving somewhere else for residency, and then moving again to finally settle down somewhere. I am just at the very beginning of my adventure! YES! I love adventures :)

What started this whole random spurt of enthusiasm five minutes ago was that I was being a normal person and mentally whining about dumb things I shouldn't be whining about. The focus of the whiny thoughts was "wow, I freeking miss the mountains. like, really, really miss them. Gosh dang you Texas and your nothing but flat, flat, flat EVERYWHERE! :(" Ya, kinda depressing huh? But it's also annoying to have those thoughts float around when you know you are pleanty happy where you are.

But what's exciting is that in three more years we will be picking up and moving to who knows where! It could be somewhere like this:

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

Who knows!? Life's exciting! Maybe I'll get my mountains, maybe I won't. I'm sure we'll end up wherever the Lord wants us to be. And right now, He wants us in Tejas, which is fantastic. Hooray for Texans and their GIGANTIC 4th of July celebration (which I am REALLY looking forward to!) and their boots, and horses and cows and giant bugs...ok, maybe not the bugs, but you get what I'm saying. Texas is great! Loving life, looking forward to the future, but making most of the present. Let's do this!

-Amber N.

Look what I found!!

So while I was on facebook yesterday I went to my chat bar and noticed that my sweet hubby was online, which was funny because he was in the other room. I thought I'd be a dork and message him, even though I could have easily talked to him. So I clicked on his name and sometimes parts of old conversations will show on the chat thingy (I don't know what to call that, but I'm sure all of you know what I'm talking about). This is the conversation that showed:

How have you been Amber? Long time no see. Are you still at BYU?

I'm awesome! Life is good And yep, I'm still here goin to BYU. How bout yourself? What have you been up to lately? Skiing im assuming?

I've been doin okay, been skiing a lot yeah, but not too much cause the snow has been kinda lame. How are you classes going? Are you getting along with your roommates? Are you still dating Mac?

My classes are SWEET! I love this semester and my gpa is going to love it to . My roommates are pretty cool too, a little loud sometimes, but they're nice and keep the apt clean which is more than I can ask for. As far as Mac goes, we broke up over break. It was a mutual thing so that's good. We're still good friends. I just hung out with him the other night. How was your break? Did you go back to AZ?

Yes, my friends. My husband and I started dating because of facebook. Seriously! I had met him my first summer up there, but I had honestly forgotten about him until we became facebook friends months later. That was the very first conversation we had that started everything. (we had spoken before, but it was always on big group date type things) Unfortunately, facebook cut off this conversation yesterday and this was all I could read :(. However, I believe the conversation ended up with him asking me out to go skiing with him the following Saturday. Nice!

Something that cracks me up is that this short snippet is just flowing of BYU dating culture. Oh man, I know I'm still super young but, I do not miss dating AT ALL. Bleck. No thank you. I am so grateful to be married.

Well, thats all for now folks!