BJ & MJ

Christmas in Florida

2012-01-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

This year, we were lucky enough to spend Christmas in Florida with some of the Jurgensmeier family. I only had a week off from work, but the family was able to be here all week. We made sure to make the most of our time!! We went snorkeling, paddle boarding, learned to skim board, went on an airboat tour to see some gators, and overall just enjoyed the sunshine and the amazing weather!

Although the Jurgensmeier's didn't get here until late on Christmas Eve, we were able to have a small get together at the beach with some ward members during the day. How weird to spend Christmas Eve at the beach in 80 degree weather! It was our first experience paddle boarding, and Brad and I became a little obsessed with it.

When the family finally arrived, the fun began! We spent Sunday opening gifts, going to church, eating good food, playing games, and taking walks on the beach. Monday was spent just at our beach across the street from our apartment. Brad, Bryce, Kevin, and I (kinda) spent time learning how to skim board and soaking up the sun.

Tuesday was the day for our Air boat ride! We drive up to Sawgrass Mills Recreation Park, which is part of the Everglades. It was a bit chilly that day (chilly meaning you could wear long pants and maybe a sweater), so it was a perfect day to skip the beach. We saw a Gator and enjoyed some Everglades scenery. Then we did some shopping and played some games later in the day.

It sure was windy on that airboat ride!!

There was also a little zoo at the place we did our airboat ride, so we had fun walking around seeing and even holding some animals! We got to hold a baby alligator and a python!

Wednesday we went down to Key Biscayne, the first in the chain of islands known as the keys. It is only about a half-hour drive from our apartment. After getting lost for a bit, we found a fun little snorkel spot where the water was only about a two-feet deep for a long ways out. We also got to watch a bunch of people kite surfing in that spot, which was fun!

Thursday was probably MY favorite day. We drove down to Key Largo where we booked a snorkeling trip off of a Catamaran. The boat drove out about four miles and we snorkeled around the coral reef. It was so fun! The water was so shallow you had to wear your life jacket to keep you from touching the bottom. We even got to see a Sea Turtle! We had an awesome day.

Friday was another beach day around our place. Our friends were nice enough to loan us their paddle board for the day so we could teach the family. It was a fun day just paddle boarding, skim boarding, and soaking up the sun again. We were so lucky to have perfect weather pretty much the whole time the family was here.

Everyone left on Saturday, and Bradley and I spent the rest of the weekend recovering from the crazy fun we had all week! It was a great time, and we were glad that Karen, Dee, Kevin, and Bryce could come for Christmas!

This Week

2011-11-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

This week was pretty awesome. I scored some SWEET couponing deals. Got $105.00 worth of groceries for $38.00...GAFLARGINBARGIN!! :) (for you, Erin)

Brad and I also got to spend some lovely time at the beach. We love living so close!!

Happy weekend everyone!!

Baby Got Back

2011-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

So Miami. This place is interesting. I am greeted by new, different, exciting, annoying, odd, ridiculous, and unimaginable things on a daily basis. Maybe it's because I have been living in the bubble of Provo, UT, for so long, but I really don't think even Virginia can compare to the craziness of Miami. I was expecting to feel a little out of place when we first moved here, but even with those expectations things surprise me every single DAY.

Yesterday, for example. I decided to go to 7-11 during my break because I was craving some DP. I pay for my drink, and as I am putting away my card/wallet, a black guys comes up to the register and buys two cigars. (everyone here smokes. Whatever.) I end up holding the door open for him since we are leaving about the same time. I then proceed to get one of the stares I get daily. I usually assume that this stare is because I am glaringly tall. I tower over most people in Miami, and I get told on a daily basis, "Wow, you are so tall!" (Weird, I didn't know that??) Utah was filled with tall people. It spoiled me.

Yesterday, however, was a different story. This stare was more in-depth. The man proceeded to say to me, "Wow, you are tall." (...long pause, as if thinking how to put this best...) "You, know, you don't see many tall, thick (uses hand-cupping motion, as if holding a butt), white girls. hehe!"

Umm...thanks?? Haha. I had forgotten that this happens. Comments(/compliments??) like that don't really happen in Utah. Now, growing up in Virginia for a large part of my life got me used to people admiring a large backside, (which both Katie and I were so luckily endowed with) but this was just another level. Thank you middle-aged black man, for pointing out my tallness, my bootyliciousness, and my whiteness, all three of which make me an odd bird here in Miami. Thanks for showing me once again that Miami is in a world of its own.

Bragging Rights

2011-11-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

I decided that since I am married to Bradley, I have full bragging rights about his awesomeness. As you all know, Brad and I are living in Miami for the next year or so while he completes his Master's of Biomedical Science at Barry University. The point of this program is to heighten his GPA so that we have greater odds of getting into dental school on the next go-around. The whole program is aimed for people trying to get into medical/dental school, so it is nice for him to have people to study with that are shooting for similar goals.

This past week Brad had (GASP) two tests AND a quiz, and this week he has THREE tests. It has been a little crazy lately, but after this week he has a break from tests until finals. I am so proud of Brad because he got 100% on his last quiz and 94% on BOTH of his last tests!! That means that he has straight A's except for one class (he has an 89%), and all he needs is an 88% on one of the remaining tests and he will have an A! Brad has been studying SO HARD. Day and night he sits and listens to his recorded lectures and goes over mountains of notes. Although sometimes I wish we could spend more time together, I know his hard work is paying off. A friend in the same program who is taking the 18-month route instead of the 12-month route had EIGHT dental school interviews this time around, mostly because of his improved GPA and DAT after studying at Barry. At this rate, Brad is sure to get some interviews next year, and I am so proud of his hard work! Love you Brad!

***This just in. Brad got a 96% on the "ridiculously hard test" he took yesterday!! He is awesome :)

Scribe

2011-11-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

As most of you may know, I FINALLY got a job a few weeks back (yay!). Now that I have officially been a working woman for a few weeks, I really feel like I need to be a grown up (weird). I go to work from 9-5 every day, which can be difficult, but I am definitely really lucky. When I graduated from BYU, I never thought I would actually be able to work in book publishing. But here in I am, living in Miami, working at Scribe where I am working with books from publishers like Random House, Palgrave-Micmillan, etc. Big publishers like that hire us to do their copy editing, typesetting, html conversion, and e-book creation. Basically they decide what books they want to publish and we do most of the work behind the publishing process.

Right now all I do is convert regular book documents into html e-book documents, but after my three-month training/probation period, I can take the editing test and become a more full-time copy editor! It is just such a dream come true to be able to work with books and to know what kinds of new ideas authors are having. I am excited to start editing more so I can really read each story and get to know the characters. I know I am so lucky to even have a job right now, but the fact that I have a job in the field that I love makes me even luckier.

I have also begun the game of (somewhat) extreme couponing. It is so addicting!! I am not good enough to get everything for free all the time, but I have gotten pretty good at least saving fifty percent on the my grocery bill. It is actually pretty fun, and I like being able to get the things I need for a steal! The best deals so far have been on things like make-up and toiletries. If you pay attention, you can get that stuff for almost nothing!

Anyways, I promise to be better at the blog in the near future. I need to keep you all up to date on our crazy life in Miami! (literally the foreign country of the U.S. At least I have a foreign-sounding last name now! I fit in way better. haha)

The Big Move

2011-09-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in a long time because I am really lazy. That is really my only excuse ha. We have been trying to get out apartment together and buy furniture, but it is definitely a challenge! This post will be I guess a little bit of a collage of what has been going on in our lives for the last while.

Before we left for Florida, we had a last rendezvous with all of my editing friends. I have been through a lot with these girls, and it was fun to get together one last time before we all went our separate ways. For those in the fam, Melissa (far left) is actually Melanie Mullis' sister! Small world. But we all had a lot of fun together.

From left to right: Melissa, Sarah, Callie, and Me!

Our drive across the country was definitely interesting--and LONG! Being a foodie myself, I was excited to drive through the South and eat some seriously good food along the way.

I found out that I will probably never feel the need to live in the state of New Mexico. There is seriously NOTHING there. We drove right through the whole state. We stopped one night in Albuquerque and decided to get some burritos at this little place we heard was good that was across from our hotel. The burritos were seriously SO SPICY!! I literally could not eat mine, and I even got a breakfast burrito! It sounded harmless, but little did I know that neither Brad or I could eat half of the food because of the spicy chiles. In Texas we stopped at a BBQ place called Lon's, which was DELICIOUS. We had some BBQ turkey and brisket, and Brad and I really enjoyed it. We were able to stop in San Antonio to see Jeff and Kathy, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. It was fun to see them though and check out their cute new house :)

After New Mexico and Texas we drove through Louisiana and Mississippi, which Brad LOVED. There were swamps and lagoons and water all through our drive, and he just couldn't get enough of it. We stopped at a place down in Mississippi called The Blow Fly Inn. It's food was featured on Food Networks Diner's, Drive-In's, and Dives. Brad had some crab cakes and I had a seafood pasta filled with shrimp, sausage, and CRAWDADS. It was actually really good, and we had a good time trying some local cuisine. The rest of our drive was basically through Florida, and by this point we just wanted to get home.

Florida was basically a full days' drive since Miami is ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM, but we are excited to be here. I have to say that we are definitely the minority living here! There are so many different types of people and so many different languages being spoken it is hard to keep up! Even our ward is mostly filled with Haitians, and I think our ward is like the only non-Spanish speaking ward in the stake. At stake conference we even all sang one of the songs in Spanish! It was definitely been an interesting ride thus far. Far cry from living in Utah and going to school at BYU. However, there are actually a good number of young couples from BYU in our ward that are at Brad's school for his program or in the podiatry program, so that is good. We hope to get to know them better.

Other than that, we are just trying our hardest to get settled into our apartment and adjust to life at the beach! Not too bad, all things considering. We do miss our friends and family in Provo though, that is for sure. And of course my parents had to move all the way out to the west coast the same time we were moving back to the east coast, but we hope to visit them soon!!

Oh, and of course a big CONGRATS to all of my pregnant SILs! We are so excited to have more nieces and nephews on both the Jurgensmeier and the Bell side!

Sunny Isles Beach, FL

2011-08-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

So I have been really bad about posting lately because of my computer. My battery really sucks and needs to stay plugged in all the time; however, the cord is also messed up and needs to be tweaked in just the right way for it to work. I use Brad's computer most of the time, and his CD-rom is broken and can't download my photo updating material. So anyways, I don't use my computer that often, but we are hoping to get a new battery or something soon so this can be fixed. I still have to update on the Harry Potter finale, our trip to Lake Powell, and our trip across the country!

In the meantime, go to this url and check out our videos of our new apartment and our walk to the beach. It is not the nicest, newest place, (it is expensive to live here!) but you can't beat the location! It should be fun living so close to the beach and living in such a diverse area!

youtube.com/user/mbjurgy

Enjoy!

A Rupert Fourth

2011-07-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

This year, Brad and I were lucky enough to spend the Fourth of July in Rupert! We had a great day filled with patriotic events. First, we woke up early to go to a little program about Veterans and independence at the church, followed by some delicious donuts and drinks. After that we made our way to town to watch the Rupert Independence Day Parade! What great fun it was. We had some awesome seats right in front of city hall (a Jurgensmeier tradition) and we enjoyed watching the floats, cars, veterans, horses, and tractors go by! (and BOY where there some big tractors!!

After the parade, we headed home to grill up some burgers outside! It was a delicious American meal, courtesy of Brad. Then we spent some time playing cards with some family friends and headed over to Burley to see Transformers 3, which was AWESOME!!! We of course ended the evening watching some amazing fireworks over the river. It was a great day! Happy Fourth everyone!

Arches National Park

2011-06-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Brad and I went on a camping trip with our friends Stephen and Chase. Stephen is moving to California in a few weeks, so this trip was kind of our last hurrah! We decided to go to Arches National Park, and we had a great time! It was pretty hot on our seven-mile trek, but it was definitely worth it in the end. Enjoy the photo evidence!

The boys excited about our Dutch Oven dinner! Man, this dinner was delicious! Potatos, bacon, pepperoni, cheese, onion, green pepper, carrots, and all types of seasoning! Unfortunately, it ended up taking about THREE HOURS to cook so we didn't eat until about 10 pm. Yay for camping!

These next few photos are of the view from our campsite along the Colorado River. Look at all that red rock!

The first stop on our seven-mile hike: Tunnel Arch.

Pine Tree Arch, plus Brad standing on the Pine Tree Ledge

Brad's new career: Red Rock Pizza; based off of this photo, we will create an award-winning pizza restaurant where we will bake pizza in red rock ovens. Everyone who visits Arches will see this and be reminded of our restaurant. Winning.

Landscape Arch: If you look on the right side of this picture, you can see a big pile of rocks underneath the arch. This was a large piece of the arch that fell off in 1991. People were actually there when the piece fell off, and someone even got a picture of it! It was pretty cool.
We enjoyed a lot of incredible views! Ignore my grossness: it's hard to stay cute when it's 100+ degrees outside!
This next pic is one of all of us in front of Partition Arch. This arch has this large piece...

Then this smaller piece you can sit/stand in! It was pretty cool looking, but a little scary to balance!

Next up, Navajo Arch. This one was kind of hidden, but Brad and I found a few fun play spots on the way there!

And now for the final three (because quite frankly, this post is too long): Double O Arch, Black Arch, and Delicate Arch (the famous one on the license plates)

Double O was kinda cool because it is two arches on top of each other. Black Arch was just a small one off in the distance. The hike to Delicate Arch was a completely different one from the seven-mile hike we went on to see the other arches. Plus, it was pretty steep, three miles, and really, really HOT by about noon. So we decided to just see it from the Delicate Arch lookout point. It is still pretty nifty!

So in a rather large nutshell, that was our weekend. Oh, but we can't forget what we saw along the way.

GO JIMMER!!!

Just so you know...

2011-06-12T22:53:00.001-07:00

So Brad and I decided that we are moving to good ol' Rupert, Idaho for the rest of the summer. Since we are starting graduate school in the fall and I have yet to find a job we thought it would be a good idea and save some money and spend some time in Rupert (and obviously come visit everyone in Boise!! Who wants to let us stay with them?? :).

For graduate school we are trying to decide between two post-bacc programs that will hopefully help Brad get into dental school. They are both one year long and are geared toward pre-med and pre-dental students. One school is San Francisco State University, located in the heart of San Francisco. (cool, huh?). This would be an awesome place to live, close to family and such, but would only offer a health certificate at the end.

The other school is called Barry University and is located in North Miami, Florida. All the way across the country! Obviously Florida would be a cool place to live for a year or two, plus Brad would receive a Masters in Biomedical Science upon graduation after a year. However, we would be very far away from a lot of family!

We are praying and talking and trying to make the right decision, but either way I know it will be great. What do you guys think, Miami or San Fran???

Sea Change

2011-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like all of these crazy changes are starting to happen, and I really can't keep up with all of them on my blog! One of by best friends had a baby while the other one got married (all in the same week!!). Once I get a new computer (fingers crossed), it should be easier. Anywho, here is the long update you have all been long-awaiting!

The birth of Cameron Lee Porter

On May 23, 2011, baby Cameron Lee Porter came into the world! Brad and I were able to go to the hospital to see Sarah and Jayce and meet Cameron for the first time the next day! It was really a wonderful experience, and I know Sarah is going to be an amazing mom. She is so cute with him already. About a month back I threw a baby shower for Sarah with a blue and yellow duck theme. We had a great time! So here are some pics from the shower and some pics of Cameron!

Such a cute baby! Congrats to the Porters!

The Marriage of Pete and Dani Janzen!

Brad and I were lucky enough to travel down to Gilbert/Mesa, Arizona this past weekend to watch Pete and Dani tie the knot! It was such an amazing experience, and I felt so lucky to be able to see one of my best friends get married in the temple. Pete is surely smitten with Dani! Congrats to both of you guys, we love you!Coming out of the temple!

Pete and Sis. J. Love them!

The cute couple dancing the night away!

Magnum

The Janzen Clan! Yay!

Along with the wedding, Brad and I were able to visit Eric and Dawn (brother and sis-in-law) for a little while down in Gilbert. We had a great time getting to know them better and playing with Elizabeth! Hopefully we can go down again sometime soon. (Since we have a key to their house and all... :)

After our jaunt in Arizona ended, Brad and I decided to stop in Vegas on the way home, go to a show and stay there for the night. We had a good time seeing the show Matsuri (especially since the tickets were only $11.00!!) and just walking around Vegas seeing the sights. We had a great trip!Us with a member of the Matsuri show.

Enjoying a delicious crepe in Paris! (the paris of Las Vegas of course)

Fountain show at the Bellagio

We have had a crazy few months and weeks, but things are going great! Brad and I decided to move to Rupert for the rest of summer before we start school again (either in San Fran or Florida) so our next update will be from there!

Marianne and Brad

Valentines Day

2011-04-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

So I know Valentines Day was FOREVER ago, but since I finally have some free time I need to post about the amazingness of Brad. I really have the best husband in the world!! For Valentines Day I had to get up early for homework and Brad surprised me with post-it notes all over our bedroom! On each post-it he wrote reasons why he loves me. They were all really cute!

Later Brad came home and made me a lovely dinner, Lasagna with garlic bread and salad. It is his specialty! We had fun just having a low-key V-day together. Brad got me some cute earrings (Juicy of course!) and I got him a sweet new tie.

After dinner Brad even made us some homemade sugar cookies. We had fun cutting out V-day shapes and decorating them together. It was a great day!!

I love Bradley R!!

INTRAMURAL CHAMPS

2011-04-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

THUNDERCATS, HOOO!!! So last night my intramural basketball team became the DI Intramural basketball champions!! It was a close game but clutch free throws at the end sealed the deal! It was so fun playing with these girls this season, and it was awesome to end my years as a college intramural athlete on such a high note. Go Thundercats!

The last picture is of me and the other bigs on the team. Couldn't have done it without such awesome posts!! We had such a fun season. It definitely feels great to go out on such a great win! :)

Life Update #1

2011-03-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have been really, really bad about keeping up with my blog. My computer has been on the fritz for some time now and I lost the cord to plug my camera into other computers (my computer has a slot for the SD card, so that is usually what I did). So I decided that every time I feel like being lazy and taking a break from my crazy studying/paper writing that will be going on for the next three weeks, I will update a group of old pictures to my blog. So here goes!!

Visit with Alyssa, Josh, and Logan Jurgensmeier

A few months back we were lucky enough to take a drive up to Bountiful with the Provo Jurgensmeier's to hang out with our SIL Alyssa and our two nephews, Josh and Logan. It was the first time all of us got to meet Logan, and it was so much fun! He is definitely a cutie.

Me and Logan just hanging out and having a good time snuggling on the couch!

I thought it was so cute/funny that I caught pics of both Brad and Bryce holding Logan and all of them making the same faces. They all sure look like Jurgensmeiers to me!

We can't forget all the fun we had with Josh(y) (and Josh as well :). He is getting older now and is really good at remembering all of our names. He is such a fun kid and we really like hanging out with him whenever we get the chance!

Alyssa, you have to come and visit again soon! Next time you can bring Cory as well :) And we have to get a picture with the whole group, I am not sure how we didn't make that happen...

Anyways that is our first update. Life has been so crazy lately that blogging is not my #1 priority, but I definitely keep up with everyone else's blogs! Also, anyway who wants to come visit us, we have an extra bedroom waiting for any friends who want to stop by! Keep posting!

Love,
Marianne and Brad

Basketball

2011-03-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

So a lot of basketball has been going on lately. Bradley and I have gotten pretty into the whole NCAA March Madness thing this year, especially since Jimmer is POY candidate! It has been a lot of fun watching in person BYU be so successful this year, even with our ups and downs. We have also loved watching "Kimmer" do work in the Great West Conference. She is doing awesome her freshman year, and it is so fun to go to the games with the family. We love basketball!

However, we can't forgot the little people. Tonight I had one of my first intramural games in three weeks. My team was ranked #1 so we had a bye in the beginning of the tourny, and MAN, were we not ready to play tonight! We could not hit a shot to save our lives; however, the worst part was that the other team was just complaining the whole time. I was getting torn to shreds every time I touched the ball. Luckily the ref was calling (some) fouls, but the people guarding me would complain every single time the whistle blew! I mean, I understand that sometimes calls are controversial. But when you make a player bleed and her eyes are bright red and watering because you smacked her in the face, I think you need to just own up to it. It just amazes me how different basketball gets during tournament time!! I think I need to actually start working out more so I can get some of that muscle back in my legs, ha. We pulled out a tough win, but we have to bring our A game from now own. Bring it on ladies! And, LETS GO COUGS!!!

Sorry I have been so lame about my blog...I actually have a lot of pictures and posts that I want to do, but school has been so ridiculously busy I don't even know what to do with myself. I actually sat in the same room on campus today for six hours...I didn't realize it until someone asked if it was cold and I had no idea what the weather was even like that day. I NEED to get out more, ha. Only one month left!!

Love, Marianne

CUPCAKES

2011-02-03T21:23:00.001-08:00

So i was looking through my pictures today and I realized that I never blogged about my amazing Thanksgiving cupcakes!! Since last time i went to Rupert for Thanksgiving (when Brad and I were dating) I was kinda sick, I wanted to make up for ditching out on Thanksgiving dinner early by making some wondrous treat for everyone. This year I have had somewhat of an obsession with anything Pumpkin, so i made some beautiful Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (but really more like muffins).

I spent a lot of time trying to make them look pretty, and I think they turned out pretty tasty! They have a wonderful cream cheese frosting and a square of Hershey bar stuck on the top! Here are a few pics of my masterpieces with the recipe underneath. Enjoy!

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (found on blessthisfood.blogspot.com)

2 2/3 cup AP flour
2tsp baking soda
2tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 tsp salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can pumpkin (or squash)*
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350
Line muffins cups with liners

in a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice & salt. set aside.

using a stand mixer, mix together the pumpkin, white sugar, dark brown sugar & oil until combined. add the eggs one at a time making sure to mix well after each addition.

add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in 3 parts- mixing until JUST combined after each addition (over-mixing is a no no)

flour the chocolate chips (add 1tsp flour to the chips & shake- this keeps them from sinking) & then stir into the batter

fill the muffin cup 3/4 of the way & bake for 20-25 min (mine were done in 20 min)

Best Cream Cheese Frosting: (i usually dislike cream cheese frosting- but this stuff is freaking awesome. light, fluffy & just a hint of cream cheese flavor. perfect!)

8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 stick un-salted butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups confection sugar

Directions:
using a hand mixer: beat together the cream cheese & butter until blended. add the vanilla. then mix in the sugar 1 cup at a time until blended.

jack up the mixer speed (like HIGH) and beat for about 30 seconds or so (until you get some fluffy)- and you're done. make sure to lick the beaters as so not to waste.

Christmas in Virginia

2011-01-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Well since my mom extended the call to me to add pictures from Christmas I figure I might as well make the most of my sick day. For some reason I ALWAYS get sick the first week of school. The past two semesters have been the worst, but I hope that once this weekend is over I will be better and ready to go. I already have so much homework! But, lets get to the fun stuff.

First, I had a glorious reunion with some of my very best friends. I went to lunch with my friends Becky and Hillary, some of my best friends from Williamsburg. We met up at the Panera Bread in Reston Town Center. It was good fun getting a chance to catch up with some old friends and letting them get to know my hubby!

Bradley, Me, Becky, and Hillary

Heather, Me, Kelsey, and Hillary

Later that night, Brad and I met up with some of my Ashburn friends. (Notice Hillary is in both categories. Our families moved up to DC from Williamsburg at the same time :) It was much fun just chatting and laughing and catching up with everyone.

After catching up with some friends, the rest of the trip was spent having fun with the family. We played basketball, cards, Cranium, Settlers of Cataan, and so much more. We also watched movies while eating lots of popcorn made by Peter and delicious dinners made by momma Bell. I wish our break could have lasted longer!

One of my favorite days was when Brad and I went to the Washington D.C. temple for the first time with my parents and Peter and Jen. What a fun experience that was to go through my hometown temple with my family. My dad even took us to a room that a pictures of all of the previous temple presidents. My Grandma and Grandpa Bell were there on the wall! I don't remember the exact dates of when they were temple Matron and President, but it was sometime in the 1980s. Fun stuff!

We also spent some time walking through D.C. with the family. Brad and I walked around the Holocaust Museum for almost three hours! What an amazing museum. I really love history, and that museum is just beautifully done and so well put together. There was so much information, and I really could have stayed there for two more hours. Alas, we had other places to go, like walking along the mall.

We did want to go ice skating, but the line was like two hours long. We decided to take a cute picture instead and then strolled off to Peter and Jen's friends house to play games and eat pizza. They (the Hawks) live in a sweet apartment right in the middle of the city. They were nice enough to let us stop by there and warm up before our drive home.

Finally, we went to First Night in Alexandria. Unfortunately, I didn't really take many pictures either. However, the end part was my favorite, which I got a few pictures of. There was a light show at the Masonic Temple in Alexandria, and there was a countdown to midnight lit onto the building.

One of the buildings we went to for a musical performance was an old church. I got a few pictures of how beautiful the inside was. It was all white and blue, and there was a beautiful organ on the top floor.

We really had such a fun trip. I wish we could have stayed longer. Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, I also took some pics of my Mom's famous Christmas Trees!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Study, study, study

2010-12-14T15:07:00.001-08:00

So I have been studying/working on editing stuff for all hours of the day since Friday, and I am going a little crazy!! I didn't think that all of my papers and finals would take the ridiculous amount of time they have taken, and I had hoped that I would be able to work more this week. However, once again my school life has taken me by surprise again and taken over any amount of time I thought I had.

I had a huge ten page paper plus a final due last night, which I was working on until the very last minute. However, I am proud to say that when I dragged myself out of bed this morning and looked online at my grade, I ended up with a 97% IN THE CLASS!! WHAT?? I got a 92 on my huge paper and a 94 on a final, and since I did well on all the other work throughout the semester I ended up with a 97%!!! So for all of that hard work I have done, and suffering through 18 credits and a job this past semester, this one class has made it worth it and at least gave me a little feeling of success! Just five more grades to go, then I get to party it up in good ol' VA!!

HARRY POTTER

2010-12-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

For those who know me well, you will not be surprised that I was RIDICULOUSLY excited for the new Harry Potter movie to come out, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Unfortunately this year I had to deviate from my normal course of going to the midnight showing and dressing up with all of the other Harry Potter crazies. I had a ton of schoolwork and work due that week, so there was no way I was going to make it. However, I was able to lend some of my Harry Potter gear to both my friend Halie and BIL Bryce. Glad to spread to Harry cheer any way I possibly can!

Anywho, Brad and I were able to go see HP7 the Monday before Thanksgiving. We went to this random theater up in Sandy since we were picking up my mom from the airport later that night, which turned out to be THE GREATEST IDEA EVER. We arrived right before the previews started because we got stuck in some traffic, and I was worried that we would have horrible seats. However, I think we picked an obscure enough location because there were only about ten people there and we had awesome seats! I love me some Harry Potter. Even though we couldn't go the first night, I still had to dress up of course!

So happy to get good seats! Also, I was happy that this film actually FOLLOWED the Harry Potter book. Most of the past movies have been quite upsetting to me and have not really lived up to my expectations. This movie, however, was a pleasant surprise, and I am so excited for the next installment! Long live Harry!

We also went to a Jurgensmeier Family Reunion this past month. We met up at a church house in Bountiful and had tons of fun playing minute to win it games and eating food. My team even won first place, gift cards to Dairy Queen! It was fun getting to spend some time with the Jurgensmeier's

We have really been having a great Fall semester. I thought it would be terrible with all of my difficult classes and work, but it has actually been really rewarding and fun. We love our new apartment, our new ward, and our second year of marriage!

Love,

Marianne and Brad

P.S. Sorry for the reposting of my freshman ward reunion. Oops!

Reunited and it Feels so Good

2010-12-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

Another thing that has been consuming our time this semester is hanging out with good friends. A lot of my friends from freshman year came home from their missions this summer, and one of Brad's besties Nicole came home from the Czech Republic in November. At the end of summer, we had a freshman year reunion with a lot of my friends. It was so fun to see everyone again and catch up! A lot of the girls from my freshman ward are married, and a lot of my guy friends were totally weirded out by that, haha. I think they are starting to get the hang of being in the real world. Here are some pics of our group at the reunion! We had a few husbands there who gladly took pics for all us girls :)

The girls from DJ 3200 and 2200!!

The boys from Budge 1100 and 1200

We had such a great ward freshman year, and I really made so many great friends. It is so nice to have everyone around again and get to see how different so many of the guys are since their missions. We even have a volleyball group with some people that meets every Friday afternoon. Love it!

For those who don't know, these are two of my very best friends from high school, Sarah and Pete. We were all in the Brambleton Ward together, and we called ourselves the Brambleton Boom. We actually have a fourth member, Kenton, but he is still on his mission in Chile and will be returning in April. I need to say that Bobby Kuhn is also a member, and he will be returning from the Dominican Republic in September (I think...). But without these two people neither senior year of high school nor freshman year would have been half as fun and amazing as it was. I am so grateful to have great friends as these to share everything with. We really helped each other out. We missed you Pete!

Morning with the Nephews

2010-12-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well we haven't posted in a long time, but we have done a lot of fun things since school started. One of the first things was hanging out with our nephews, Ashton and Weston. Tommy and Shayna came up to Utah for the weekend, and Brad and I had the pleasure of baby-sitting Ashton and Weston one Saturday morning

First off, all of the boys had a great time wrestling and playing. They love their Uncle Brad!

Next we had some fun at the playground in front of our apartment complex. We were swinging on the car swing (perfect for the boys!) and also had fun playing wiffle ball. Ashton and Weston sure do love the park!

Then Ashton and Brad spent some time racing on MarioKart Wii while Westy and I ate some snacks and played with the beloved bouncy ball. We had so much fun. Thanks for coming to visit Tommy Shayna, come again soon! We love you guys!

Love,
Marianne and Brad

Our Return

2010-11-12T12:35:00.001-08:00

Well, Brad and I have been absent from the blogosphere for quite so time now, but I promise that we are returning! I had some troubles with setting up my new email with the blog, but thanks to the help from my aweome SILs and hubby, we are back on track. We have a full weekend ahead of us, so prepare for some awesome posting with some awesome pictures! See you soon!

Love,

The Jurgensmeier's

Us...thus far

2010-09-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

So today I realized that I have made posted on the blog in FOREVER. Our lives have been ridiculously busy. I am in my final year at BYU and for some reason decided it would be smart to take 18 CREDITS! Holy cow. Brad is also working full time at a sale company while I am finishing up school. We are waiting to hear from several dental schools to find out what we will be doing next year. Pray for us! It is definitely a difficult thing to go through, the dental application process. We are hoping to get a spot somewhere for the Fall 2011 school year. AHH.The first football game! Brad is definitely the bearded stud!

Anywho, our lives have been just that--moving to the new apartment, going to school and work and trying to enjoy some BYU Football. We have been able to have a little bit of fun though! A lot of my freshman year and high school friends just got home from their missions, so we have had a few reunions and just a few fun times hanging out with old friends. I guess I have had more fun than Brad, but he has been a good sport about meeting my old friends and what not. What a guy :)

The girls from our freshman ward.

BYU 95th Ward Reunion! Missed those kids for sure.

Two of my high school best friends, Sarah and Pete. Now we just need Kenton to get home and our little family will be reunited!

I will get up some pics of the new apartment as soon as we have finished putting up our decor. Hopefully you have all been well!!

Love,

Marianne and Brad

Backpacking Through the High Uinta's

2010-07-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Brad and I went hiking in the Uinta's with our friends Stephen, Chase and Cami. We were originally going to do about a 5 1/2 mile loop on a trail, and hike in the middle of the loop at Lake Clyde. However, when we got to the highest point in our hike (the notch), we decided to hike down to the other side, turning it into about an 8 mile hike overall. It was tough, but it was really fun! We saw some great views and had a fun workout hiking through the mountains. Next time, I will be taking extra padding to sleep on though! Enjoy some pics from our trip :)

This was the start of our hike. Brad was such a gentleman and insisted on carrying most of our baggage. I picked a good one!!

This is Lake Woll where we stopped to go cliff jumping! We had a really great time.

The middle of the hike was the top of a notch, and the view was amazing! There were so many lakes along the trail of our hike, and we were able to see a lot of them from the very top. This is from the first day.
We even saw some mountain goats along the way! We tried to get a picture with them in the background, but you can see them a lot better in the next picture.

This was the place where we finally stopped to camp. It was such a beautiful lake! Our campsite was next to this babbling brook, and it was so scenic, it was from like a picture book!
Check out the view at sunset! The lake was such an awesome mirror. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

Just spending time cooking grub around the fire.

All in all, it was a really great hike. Getting to the top of the notch on the second day was challenging, but it was really fun! We had a great time seeing the beauty of nature and just hanging out with friends. We can't wait to do it again soon!

Life in Provo

2010-06-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well guys, life around here has been pretty ho-hum lately. I have been in a crazy amount of school for the past six weeks, but it is all coming to an end. However, there is some good news in the Jurgensmeier Household. Read on for me...

#1- I was given a piece of the REAL Marriott Center floor! I guess they are re-doing the floor this year, so they took out all of the old wood and decided to give a piece to every basketball player that played on the floor. My name is engraved on it along with the years I played with the team. It actually turned out pretty cool. Coolest part, my mom got a piece too. :) Like mother like daughter!!

The latter two pictures are of the box my piece of the floor came in. Pretty cool huh?

#2 I GOT A JOB!!! yes, this is very exciting. I have been looking for a job for quite some time, and it has been REALLY HARD. However, I finally had a breakthrough this week. I applied for a job as a student editor in the David O. McKay School of Education. I had my interview THIS MORNING, and it went AWESOME. I truly left the interview feeling like they loved me, and I have never been that confident in an interview before. Anywho, they told me they would let me know within the next few days. However, they called me THIS AFTERNOON AT 4:30. Yea, my interview was at 10:30 this morning!! How cool is that?? So I will be an assistant editor, and I will be helping them edit dissertations and theses from graduate students in the school of education. WOW!! It is not a very heavy hour job, but I can keep it throughout the school year and it will definitely help give me experience in the field I want to join! I am so excited!!

#3- Brad and I have a new apartment!!....almost. We are still waiting on the 100% ok, but we are ready to move from our first nest and get to a place with a WASHER AND DRYER!! OH THE LUXURY!!! haha.

So that is what's going on with us! Almost one year of marriage down, and things are looking up. Brad is getting ready to take the DAT on July 13, and we are both looking forward to the reunion coming up. Yay!

Jeff and Kathy: Happily Ever After

2010-05-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the family had a great time at Jeff and Kathy's wedding! Although it was too short of a trip, we definitely had some fun just hanging out with the family and enjoying the California sun. Kathy looked gorgeous in her dress, and Jeff couldn't help but smile all day. It was really amazing to be able to be in the temple when they got married. Grandpa Bell did an amazing job with the sealing! Who knew I would be able to see my older brother get married?? Lucky me! We all had a great time. I miss everyone already.

Me and Grandpa Bell waiting outside of the San Diego Temple

The Newlyweds! They both looked amazing :)

Me and my big brother Jeffy :) Now four Bell kids are married! Four down, two to go, haha.

Brad and I enjoyed a fun swing at the reception

Cutting the cake! I think that Jen said it best when she said that the reception was very "quaint". I loved all of the little decor and the coloring. You did a great job Kathy and the West family!

The rest of the time was spent hanging out with the funniest and cutest guys I have ever met: Ashton and Weston. We had a great time playing with them in the hotel room after the reception. Thanks Tommy and Shayna for partying with us all night! It was a blast!

Weston was showing off his skills of fitting into the mini fridge.
He had us laughing all night!

Weston also makes the best CHEESE faces. I think that these two pictures can attest to that!
Oh Westie Bear, what a hoot!

Ashton and Weston just having fun with their favorite Aunt! (Me of course!)
I was also lucky enough to get to sit by Ashton at In-N-Out. We had so much fun this weekend! We can't wait to come visit you guys again soon. And congrats again to Kathy and Jeff!

Bryce's Birthday, Conference and Easter

2010-04-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have taken the time to make a post. A lot of things have been going on around here lately! School is definitely coming down to the wire, and after I write this post I have to go to campus to work on a project for four hours, bleh. But anywho, let us talk about the fun stuff!!

March 30 was my brother-in-law Bryce's 22 birthday. We all had a busy day, but Brad and I and Karee and Josh took the time to make Bryce some brownies, get some ice cream and sing happy birthday. It was nice to just hang out with the Jurgensmeier's for the evening. :) (and yes Karee, I just got the squiggly red line under Jurgensmeier, but surprisingly, not under Karee. Interesting!)

Bryce Blowing out his "candles". It's ok, because the brownies and ice cream still look delish!! I also took sole responsibility in singing Happy Birthday in Indonesian to Bryce, a Bell Family tradition. :) Sadly, Brad says he still doesn't "know the words", but one day I will have taught it all to him.

A good thing to do while at birthday parties is help each other with homework. Well, at least that is what Karee and Brad like to do. I guess that is what takes the place of dancing in their lives??? ;) Don't worry, one day we will turn them into dancing machines.

And then came Easter! We woke up to a delicious Easter Basket, and Brad got me some beautiful spring flowers and some of my favorite chocolates! It was a nice treat to have while watching conference together!

Somehow, we got lucky enough to get tickets to the Sunday Afternoon session of Conference in Salt Lake! I had never been before, so I was really excited to finally have the experience. Brad and I got there early, so we got some pretty nice seats!

All in all, it was a really nice weekend. Now back to the grind of finishing school, and off to campus to work all day in the Mac Lab! Ahh!! I am excited to see a lot of family in a few weeks at Jeff and Kathy's Wedding, it's gonna be so fun!

The Twins are Celebrities!

2010-03-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

The twins were interviewed on camera for their school newspaper, and I just had to post it! I am very proud of all of their accomplishments and their Celeb status at Briar Woods High School :) Its crazy to think that the twins will be in college next year! What are mom and dad going to do?? haha. The Bell girls will forever be cool! Check out their interview with the link below...

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/2524/articleid/341183/newspaperid/2529/Its_a_Twin_Thing.aspx

So Offended!!

2010-02-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in my Elang class, someone was trying their VERY HARDEST to make me upset. So here is the story...

Everyday in class, we have a presentation on a word or phrase that is commonly misused in the English language. Yesterday, the controversy was between the two phrases "reason is beacause" and "reason is that". According to the rule, "reason is because" is redundant, as the word because means "for the reason that". ANYWHO, we still use this term all the time in everyday speech, and the guy who was giving the presentation decided to give an example of how we would use it today

"For example, the reason that people don't go to Women's basketball games at BYU is because it is extremely boring. And, I know this first hand because my roommate went and said it was boring."

WHAT THE HECK??? I could not believe this garbage came out of this child's mouth. Number 1, you do NOT have first hand knowledge because your roommate went. First hand knowledge comes from your experience. Secondly, why would you openly disgrace a part of the athletic institution at your own dang school? I mean, I might not be on the best terms with the whole coaching staff, but I don't going around dissing the team right and left! i mean, come on, they are second in the conference. It just irks me. Womens basketball is a different sport than mens. Yea, it might not be extremely fast paced with people dunking right and left, but it still takes extreme technique, athleticism and hard work. And I bet you I could take that loser kid in a game of basketball any day.

I was just fuming that he chose to be rude in an in class presentation. Fine, you can have your own ideas about what sports you like, but don't just diss it in front of a huge class. Grrr. He is probably just a pansy boy anyway. I bet that a lot of the girls on the basketball team could hang with the guys on the mens team. But what do I know, I have just been playing basketball for 14 years of my life...

And especially during the Olympics! Just because womens sports are a little different does NOT make them less important or less intense. You are just choosing to be offensive and sexist. We should support all the female atheletes, especially those who can compete at such high levels of athleticism. Go ballers!

7 Months of Marriage :)

2010-02-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ohhh what a husband I have :) I came home from class today to these on the table...

This in the oven...

and this hunk waiting to take care of and serve me! What a wonderful husband I have!

What a surprise for our seven month "anniversary" :). It was a delicious dinner of Mint chicken, baked potatoes and Caesar salad. I sure am a lucky one! I love being a Jurgensmeier and hanging out with this guy everyday :)

Olympic Trials in Deer Valley

2010-01-16T11:10:00.001-08:00

This weekend was definitely awesome!! Karee and Josh and invited me, Brad, Bryce and Bryce's friend to come up to Deer Valley to see some Olympic Trial Events. Deer Valley is so pretty! It is basically the same area as Park City. It would definitely be sweet to have a condo there! Anywho, we watched some Olympic Freestyle Aerial Events. The event we watched was actually a qualifier for the Olympic games. There were 12 girls and 12 guys, and the top three from each group won money and plaques and also a spot on their respective countries' Olympic Teams. It was really fun, and really cold!!

Brad and I in front of the Aerial Event before it started. We had to trudge up a huge mountain to get there! It was crazy, but definitely fun to slide down at the end!

Before the event, they had skiers trudge down the slope to prep it for landing. They also spread pine needles across the landing area so the fliers could spot their landing from sixty feet in the air! It was so high!

Karee and Josh enjoying the view as well :)

This was after the event, but we had so much fun! There was music and fireworks after. Josh and I were trying to teach Karee and Brad to dance, with no avail.

This is the Mogul Slope. It was right next to the aerial slope. On this, skiers bump up and down on the large bumps in the snow. We didn't get to watch this, but the slope was cool to see!

Of course, I couldn't leave without taking some AWESOME videos of the skiers as they jumped. The ones with the yellow bibs are ranked #1 in the world, men and womens. The girl who was actually wasn't #1, which was pretty cool. The #1 girl was from China, and I don't remember the guy. He did win though. Enjoy the videos! It will almost seem like you were there :)

The video above is the best aerialist in the World! She is from China, and she flew just as high as the men! It was ridiculous!

Pretty sweet huh? I don't know how you get into this sport, but its pretty awesome! Man, i wish i went to BYU during the Salt Lake Olympics!

Oh the Christmas Holiday

2010-01-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

This year, Christmas was a bit different for me. Bradley and I went to his family's house up in Rupert, Idaho. I must admit, I was a little sad to not be spending any time with my family, and also sad that I wouldn't be visiting Virginia at all. But Brad's family definitely made me feel welcome, and we had a really fun break.

Before break started, however, life was pretty hectic! We had a week full of finals, studying, and tying up all loose ends. I had a heck of a time trying to get all my studying in...just look at all of the notecards I made!!

I was definitely super excited when my last final was over, even though it was at 7:00 IN THE MORNING!!! That definitely made it more tough. However, finishing finals made the excitement for break that much bigger!

Right before Christmas Break, Brad and I even found time to have a small Christmas party with our friends at our apartment. We had a few treats, a few Christmas decorations, and a few good friends to celebrate. Even in busy times, Brad and I find time to party and have good times with friends!

Brad playing the Wii with Karee and Josh.

Our very first Christmas Tree! It is snowflake themed! Thanks Mamma Bell :)

Some nice decorations from Target; you can't go wrong with decor from Target! Erin will back me up on this :)

Some of the yummy Christmas treats!

Haha I had to add this picture of Bradley. This was after Sunday dinner with Jeff and Kathy. Brad is doing a rather awesome impression of a monkey with symbols! DANCE MONKEY DANCE! (Zoolander)

After we had our party and our finals, Brad and I spent good quality time with his family in Rupert. We had fun playing Hand and Foot, Dominos and a million other card games! We also saw Avatar in 3D! It was AWESOME! I was actually thinking that the movie was really stupid looking, but I was definitely proven wrong. We also had fun times playing basketball and stuff with the family. Kevin even shattered the backboard!! I have a picture of it, but for some reason its not working so I will try to add it later. I had fun getting to know Brad's older siblings a little better, and also playing with our nephews and playing in the snow. Here are some pics. Enjoy :)

Alyssa, Cory and Joshy on Christmas :)
Tate and Beau opening presents!

The Montgomery cousins visiting Grandpa at the hospital on Christmas Eve

Brad and our newest nephew, Baby Beau!

Kevin and Joshy taking a nap

Finally, Brad, Kevin and I had some fun playing in the snow on New Years Day. It was sad to leave Rupert and go back to school, but we are excited that Bradley is graduating this semester!

This is the same field that was a beautiful green color where we took pictures for our wedding. What a special day we will never forget, and I love Bradley even more after six whole months!

Happy New Year to all! :)

Good ol'... Brad?

2010-01-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

Just a quick video post before I take the time to make my Christmas post! Hope all is well with everyone.

I love my Bradley :)

Weddings, Football and Family- What Else Do You Need? :)

2009-12-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

What a crazy two weeks this has been!! Brad and I have been driving to and fro for the past two weeks going to a wedding in Vegas, spending time with the Jurgensmeier siblings in St. George, driving back to Provo, going to and from Midway and Alpine, then all the activities inbetween. Whew! However, it really has been fun. We don't get to see the whole Bell Clan very often, so when we do, it really is special and super fun, but also super hard for me to say goodbye :( (yea, I'm kinda a whimp when it comes to stuff like that...) Anywho, here are some pics that we documented from our adventures!

Spending some time on the strip :)

LoveBirds in Vegas :)

Brad with a Sweet Motorcycle in Treasure Island

Had to 'pretend' play the slots! haha

One of my good friends Elise- what a beautiful bride! We are so happy for her and her husband Dustin. They are so cute together, and have always been awesome people. Elise and I were in the same Freshman ward, then roomed together at Spy Glas Apartments in Provo :)

Okay, I have to pause and digress momentarily...but I feel you won't be disappointed. As many of you know, Brad is not lacking in the 'hairy' department. Its not bad, but he definitely has a good amount of that stuff. Well, while we were unsuspectingly playing cards with Josh and Karee in St. George, Bradley made an amazing discovery-- An arm hair three times as long as his others. Now, at first we thought it was perhaps a hair fallen from his head--but no, this long, flowing hair was CONNECTED to his arm. As he pulled it, his skin even came up a bit! I tried to capture the beauty of the Super Hair, so I hope you can catch a glimpse of its rare amazingness. :)

Anywho, back to Thanksgiving break. My whole family was able to come out for Thanksgiving this year! It was really fun because I haven't had to the chance to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them since I have been in college. We all got together at Aunt Pam's house in Alpine for a fabulous dinner! It was fun to see all of my siblings and sisters in law, and of course my nephews!

Grandma with Weston

Bradley and I with our hott 'matching' plaid shirts, haha; and of course, Brad and his 'signature' smile, if you will.

Me and Ashton just playing around after dinner!

Me and Westie bear, the cutest little tot ever! Maybe I am biased, but my nephews are the CUTEST little boys on the planet! Thank goodness Tommy married Shayna to bring in the good genes :)

Then, of course, we were all excited for the huge game, BYU vs. UTAH!!! Before the big game, we got to eat lunch in the Varsity Club since Papa Bell was such a football stud back in the day :). Then, we got to go to the Cougar Club and listen to Dad give a quick speech about his reign as a Coug football captain and the awesomeness that BYU is. It was so fun, and we took a pic in front of the podium.

For the game, Bradley and I were quite comfortable on our second row, forty yard line seats. Good thing the cougs defeated the utes!! It was a great game, and of course we rushed the field at the end! GO COUGS, especially #58 :)

All in all, it was a fun but exhausting vacation. I wouldn't have changed it a bit though, expect to have made it longer so we could be with everyone more. Now I can't wait for these next two weeks of school to be over so we can party with the Jurgensmeiers for Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Halloween had two parts this year. First, I dressed as Hermoine from Harry Potter (it can't be stopped, I have all of the tools to be a completely convincing Hermoine). It was my at work costume, much easier to wear in front of your boss.

My friend Alicia was flapper, Karen was a jelly belly (with her pregnant belly) and Laura just wanted to join in the pictures. So much fun with my fellow school of music workers! haha.

Then, for the real Halloween Festivities! Bradley came up with our costumes this year. He was a Tool from Tool Academy and I was a girl from Charm School. (Both shows on MTV). I thought Bradley's was a little cooler than mine, but it worked out just fine. We had a good time.

First, we went to a small party with Jeff and Kathy (who made a great Barney and Betty Rubble) with her friends from California. Then, we went to a big outdoor dance party with Haunted House included. It was a good time. Later, we watched The Sixth Sense at Chase's apartment. Even though I have seen that movie a million times, it still manages to creep me out!!! It was a fun end to Halloween though! I loved looking at everyone else's cute Halloween Pics! :)

Blog Update: Football and Food!

2009-10-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

Because it has been awhile since I have updated the blog, I have a lot of pics to put on here. Even though I woke up early to study for my test...I just want to finally post!! Brad and I have been feeling sick all weekend, and today is no different. We are supposed to take care of each other in sickness right?? Even if we look bad? haha

I think we will just be lounging around today while I study for one more test, two quizzes and a paper I have to have done by tomorrow!! I already took two other tests this weekend (darn that testing center!). It has not been the most enjoyable weekend of all time, but the football game and conference helped boost it up.

First Football game: BYU vs Oklahoma

Excited for the game?

What an amazing win! There was a huge party in the Wilkinson Center were thousands of people came to watch the big game!! The Wilk was PACKED, with people filling the ballroom, the terrace and the Varsity Theatre. It was so exciting to watch us win such a huge game with so many people around.

One of the best parts of the game was Max Hall's SHOCKED face at the end!

1st Home Football Game: BYU vs. Florida State
Here are pics of us at the very first home BYU Football game!!
Although we lost...it was still the first home game! We have seats on the 2nd row, right behind the team, which is AMAZING. Talk about superfans huh? :) We got a few shots of Jeff and the team on the sidelines.

2nd Home Football game vs. Colorado
Although not the most beautiful game, at least we pulled off a large margin win!Here are the captains on the field. I just want Max Hall to stop with those interceptions!! We had fun though. After wins, the team comes around and gives high fives to all the people along the first row (anyone can run up there after the game) Luckily I was able to snag a pic with Jeffy! (even though my body looks weirdly contorted.

Finally, we round off this weekend with the BYU vs. Utah State Game
It was the first cold game of the season! I think thats why Brad and I started feeling so crappy that night. We were out in the cold for four hours! Although I had a coat, a sweatshirt, a blanket, warm boots, a hat and gloves, I still got sick. But what is a diehard fan to do? Recover during the week! Even though Max Hall is now leading the country in interceptions....still love the Cougs!

Lastly, I just had to document my very first crockpot dinner! Brad and I both work from about 12:30- 5:00, so we have the half hour from 12:00-12:30 t0 eat lunch in between class and work. The other day, I spent that time making this dinner so it would be ready when we got home! It worked out great! I can't wait to try out more recipes on it!

Sorry that so many of my pics are of me smiling and Brad looking awkward. For some reason, he HATES taking pictures and tries to just be goofy in all of them...what a weird kid I married... :) Gotta love him though!

Whew! Well that's it for now! I'll try to be better on keeping the blog updated from now on!

Brad turns 24!

2009-08-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

While we were in Virginia for our open house, we got to celebrate Bradley's 24th birthday! We had fun eating at Joe's Crab Shack and Opening Presents. I love going to Virginia, its always such a party! The Best part about Joe's Crab Shack was the fact that Brad and my dad had to wear cute little aprons, then Brad had to fly around the restaurant like a bird as they sang happy birthday. I scored a sweet video of that. Enjoy!

We also got to go over to Brads brothers apartment a few days later and eat cake and celebrate with his family.

This is our (ha..our!) nephew Josh. He loves playing with cell phones. We got to take care of him on monday afternoon and it was fun getting some of Brad's relatives to like me hahah. He is adorable :)

I'm not sure this is something to be proud of, buttt....

Brad has an uncanny ability to stick out his stomach far enough to look pregnant. Yum. This is him compared to his sister in law Linsy. She is due in September. Another nephew for us soon!

Finally, before our open house, some of my good girl friends met up at Clydes in Ashburn for a girls Brunch. It was a fun time just catching up with everyone.

I miss being in Virginia so much! Those days eating "mussins" with the Jensens and playing Wii with everyone...we can't wait to go back! Thanks for a great trip everyone, especially Momma Bell for planning a wonderful Open House. Oreo Balls are the new favorite treat!

Just Married!

2009-08-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

I am now officially Mrs. Marianne Jurgensmeier! Holy cow!! Our wedding was so amazing and happy, I couldn't have asked for anything better. Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day!

Love you all! Watch for newlywed updates! haha :)

City of Rocks

2009-06-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was up in Rupert Idaho (where Bradley my fiancee is from). He is living there right now and vigorously studying for the DAT, so we only get to see each other on weekends. Kinda sucks :( but he taking it next week (June 9) !!!! I am so excited, even though I doubt he is haha.

Anywho, we went to City of Rocks this weekend. Its this really cool national park about an hour from Brads house in Rupert. We rock climbed and had a little bonfire with hot dogs and smores! It was way fun

Here is Brad with my future Nephew Tate!

Rock Climbing!! It was so much fun, but we all got a few scrapes.

We climbed this huge rock called Bathtub. Here is us on the top of it!

Here is the view from the top of the tub! it was so high and we climbed up without any ropes! Yea I was whining about it, but it ended up ok.

Dangling from the rocks!

What a stud I am marrying!

We had a great time just playing all night long!

So Lucky and So Excited!

2009-05-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have been engaged to the greatest guy in the world, Bradley R. Jurgensmeier, for exactly two whole months!!!

And now we are getting married in 51 days!!! I cannot wait. I wish it would come sooner :)

My Golden Birthday

2009-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was my golden birthday! I turned 20 on the 20th! It was kinda lame because its finals week so everyone is busy. However, we were able to have a short party on saturday night with just a few people to celebrate. Thanks to my fiancee for letting my use his apartment! Here are some pics of the night.

One of my presents. Birthday Princess accessories!

Jeffy and I just hanging out.

Some of my closest friends who came to the party- Britten, Sarah, Me and Elise
(Britten and Sarah are two of my bridesmaids :)

Blowing out the candles!

Don't I have a good looking finacee? I am so lucky! :)

Happy Birthday...to ME!

Yes, its TRUE!!

2009-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't yet know (though I'm almost sure everyone does) I'm ENGAGED!!! Mr. Bradley R Jurgensmeier and I are getting married on July 8, 2009 (7/8/09) :) in the Bountiful, Utah temple! We are so very excited! So, for all of those who haven't seen it yet, here is my ring! :)

What a good lookin guy huh? I love him :)

Fun with the Colorado Bells!

2009-03-18T09:12:00.001-07:00

Here are just some pictures of our trip to Colorado! It was so fun, I wish it could have lasted longer. Ashton and Weston are so adorable! I have the cutest Nephews ever for sure.

I Love my nephews! Thanks for letting us come visit Tommy and Shayna!

Basketball Runs in the Family

2009-03-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

All I have to say about this picture is that my basketball skills obviously came from my mother. Although they lost this game, Mom totally stuffed this young teenager. You still got it mom!! haha

Adding to Erin's...

2009-02-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

So I saw the super cute pic that Erin posted on her blog Aly and Kohen, and I couldn't help remembering that I took one just like it when I was visiting them during the summer. I love these kids!

Hopefully I can come visit you guys soon!! :)

Christmas Break

2009-01-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Here are just some pictures of Christmas break. We had a blast playing games, shooting hoops, playing guitar hero and watching some football tv and watching kims basketball games. Not to mention Bradley was able to make it out to Virginia!!! Too bad school had to start again...

Twins Birthday Party

Bradley told me that if you put a spoon in your mouth while cutting an onion its supposed to help you not cry. It actually worked!

New Years Eve Party with some friends from high school

Watching the big games

The Greatest Boyfriend Ever :)

2008-12-14T23:18:00.000-08:00

So Bradley told me he has been searching and searching for good daises to get me because those are my favorite flowers. He said the Halloween ones were ugly and the Thanksgiving ones were weird, but these Christmas ones are perfect! I love them so much! He is basically the greatest ever :)

Yea, I caught a good one :)

BYU v. UTAH and THE EYE!!

2008-12-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

So I know this is late, but I forgot I had these pics on my camera. My dear brother Jeffrey was able to get tickets to the byu v. utah football game for me bradley, tommy (my brother) and tommy's friend. We had a lot of fun, even though we lost horribly. blah. here are some pics from the game! Scroll down to see my greatest new battle scar

Bradley and I at Halftime.

Bradley and I cheering on BYU! This is what I get when I ask him to take a "normal" picture with me haha.

Tommy and his friend Josh.

Halftime show.

As Bradley would put it, I got to play basketball with "the big boys" tonight. Despite the fact that I was the biggest person there besides Bradley, I still managed to slightly injure myself. I decided that I am a walking magnet for odd injuries. First my floating rib, then my retardo back, and now I get a chunk of my face taken off. What's next? I don't even want to list an idea because with my luck, it would come true. Luckily I'm pretty tough (right mom?) so I can handle this sort of stuff haha. As if I don't get beat up in practice enough everyday with girls who have got 20+ pounds on me digging their elbows into my already feeble ribcage. mmm what the life I lead! :)

What a nice chunk of eye just gone right there! Fabulous. You should have seen the other guy though. It was a sad story. I was breakin his ankles all night! And for those of you not too familiar with athletic jargon, try as they might (cough, Erin, cough), I do love you, and will explain! As urban dictionary defines, breaking ankles is defined as this:

break ankles
	Basketball ...making such a good offensive move that the defender falls and breaks an ankle Coach: "Let's break ankles in the game tonight!"

:) Those boys don't know what hit em!

Thanksgiving Break in the Rupe!

2008-12-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

This past Thanksgiving I drove up with my boyfriend Bradley to spend some time with his family in Rupert, Idaho!!! I know you all must be so proud I am dating a good ol' Idaho boy! (hold applause) We had an amazing time, just chillin,eating tons of food, sleeping in and hanging out with the family.

Here we are on Thanksgiving Day!

This is us about to take a ride on his four wheeler! My very first time EVER driving one. I was scared out of my mind because of horror stories I have heard of people and crazy injuries...and we ALL know how Rosie would feel if I hurt myself again! (Love you mom :)!)Don't worry, we were very careful.

Don't I look like a natural? :) It was FREEZING COLD!!

My turn driving...we truly had a blast! :)

On Saturday after thanksgiving, I went with Bradley and his family to their church building in Acequia? Or something...haha. There they had the annual Jurgensmeier Family Christmas party! Woo WOo! It was a good time getting know his family and just playing some games.

One of the games involved groups of four blowing up balloons and putting them in pantyhose to make reindeer antlers. Our antlers (and some sweet moves by Bradley) sealed the win for us, along with some candy!

Me with the cutest reindeer there :) (Don't be embarassed Bradley ;))

All in all it was an awesome trip! Sorry I couldn't come up to Boise to see a lot of you guys, but hopefully I will see you all soon at Jessica's wedding. Yay! I cannot wait to go back to Virginia at Christmas and show Bradley my neck of the woods!

Formal Dinner Date

2008-11-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Bradley's ward planned a formal dinner date for everyone to get matched up with someone else from the ward. However, for those with significant others, (aka Bradley and Marianne) we were signed up separately for the other people. (as to not confuse some cute girl in Brads ward that she might have a chance at snagging him- haha!) We ate in the Sky Room, and it was kinda a downer, but sometimes its just fun to get dressed up!

A Full Family Weekend!

2008-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

What a weekend it was!! Momma Bell popped into Provo on Wednesday evening for my very first game of the season, and to meet a certain boy i like of course (Bradley) :). After what seemed like an eternity without them, we met up with our favorite friends from Virginia, Erin, Nathan and the kids!!! Boy do i miss sunday dinners and hangouts with them. Then, Cousin Jessica came with uncle ray on friday afternoon was well. We had a yummy lunch at Cafe Rio then went to the mall for a little bit ( um, who doesn't need to go shopping when a momma is in town? :)
Mom and Aly Hota

Me and Kenna Jolie!

Mom, Bradley and I met up with Jessica and Uncle Ray for the Football fireside on friday night where we got to listen to jeff speak. Woo! After that we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Red Robin! MMM!!
Lets see...on saturday, everybody went to the football game. I only got to stop by for about a half hour because I had a game that night too! We played Dixie St. and kicked their trash by about 30 pts. I even got some solid PT! Four mins??? haha. It was fun to have such a large fan club at the game. After that we all went to olive garden and sat there talking and just having fun for a few hours!
Sunday was the greatest day for me! We went up to Park City and had dinner and spent time with the kids! And I truly enjoyed letting my mom, Nathan and Erin get to know Bradley. (I need their input of course! Thumbs up guys???) Here are some pics of us in Park City just playin around!
Bradley and I :)

Jeffy with Crazy Kohen and Kennedy!

I'm sorry but i had to add this! We captured Erin's face in the most priceless expression. Love it! and Erin, you are just our size :) hahaha

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

So Halloween has come and gone. I went to a dance party with some friends and had a great night! I didn't take a lot of pics but I got a few cute ones. I hope you guys like my outfit!!

This is my roommate Britten and I. I am the Sun! haha :)

Bradley and I...he makes a good retro basketball player...yeah? haha. I thought together we kind of make the Miami Heat...basketball team, the sun...yea!

All in all, it was a great night! :)

..I previously forgot to add that it was Bradley who actually created my sun ray headband for me. What a stud!! :)

Britten's Birthday and Homecoming Parade

2008-10-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

This past week was my roomie and good friend Britten's birthday. We had a nice party at her friends house. I made her this cool picture board with help from Shayna :)

It was also Homecoming Week here at BYU, which was kinda exciting. The basketball team was a part of the student athlete float..woo! Too bad it was FREEZING COLD. It was snowing when we got there. It was fun though because we got these little balls to throw out to people and the kids loved it. The best part was one of the girls aunts made all these funny hats and we got to wear them. we looked legit!

We can be goofy, but we always have a good time! What a fun weekend.

The Reveal

2008-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

I know that many of you have heard from my loving mother, cousin or brother that I am seeing someone new. Yes, it is in fact true. (hold your applause) For your viewing pleasure ( and at the request of my mother), here is a picture of me and Mr. Bradley Jurgensmeier. Enjoy! haha

America's next top Model???

2008-09-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

For basketball we have to take all these cool pictures to make posters and calendars and what not. However, this year, they decided to mix it up a little bit. They wanted to show that the basketball team is not only legit, but super cute and hott too! So we had an America's Next Top Model-esq photo shoot.

We all had to wear black tops, dark jeans and high heels. It was so fun! I don't have a really good picture of all of us yet, but I will put it up when I get one. This was the group I shot with. I promise I look cooler in other pictures but these were just some our coaches took with someones digital camera

Sarah's 18th Birthday!!

2008-08-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

So my best friend Sarah just turned 18 last saturday and we had a really fun party. We went to dinner then dancing on friday night and stayed up watching movies and eating junk food, as all good girl parties consist of. Then we spent the night out on the top balcony of liberty square and it was super fun! On saturday for Sarah's REAL birthday, we took a big group of friends and we floated down the provo river on tubes. It was really fun, even though I got flipped over into freezing cold water! haha. Provo is definitely fun in the summer :)

All of our best Virginia friends! Pete, Sarah, me and Kenton. My favorite people :)

Where are we going?? Sarah doesn't know! We were actually crashing some dance at the wilk.

Dancing the night away with my friend Michelle! We know how to get down.

We all love birthdays! haha. What a crazy night.

Happy Birthday Sarah Terry!!! :)

Marianne and Sarah or....Belle and Snow White, Disney Princesses!

We all got sweet tats on our arms in celebration of Sarahs birthday. Look at those guns!

Waking up on the balcony the morning after. What an awesome party!

On the way to Vivienne Park. We had to squeeze the tubes and all the people in the car. However, Sarah and I had plenty of room up front.

Getting ready to float down the Provo River! It was definitely so much fun. Everyone should float down the river if they visit Provo.

Hope you had a great birthday Sarah!!

Family Reunion

2008-07-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

So I know these are a little bit late...but these are some of my favorite pictures from the family reunion. I miss everyone already! I wish I could come back to Boise and hang out with everyone but its getting back in shape for me...yay.

Surgery

2008-05-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

So after being home for a few weeks and having fun, I finally got my surgery and that set me back for good! Surgery sucked though guys. I felt so sick after. Finally i was able to go home after like three hours of waiting and Jake and my mommy have been caring for me. It has not been a fun ride though. I can't stand up on my own, i cant bend over, i can't pick anything up and i can't lay on my right side. Its pretty painful. But hopefully it will all work out for the best for next year playin bball. However, for right now, it just sucks.

Yes my stomach looks very odd right now! its really poochy and weird. I don't really have any control over it. so don't make fun! :)

Classic Skating

2008-02-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

So we had a whole ward family home evening on Monday Night and we went CLASSIC SKATING. It was definately difficult because I haven't done it in forever. It was all i could do to just stay standing! We all had to get dressed up in funky mismismatched clothes or just funky skating outfits. It was really fun!! We went to D.I. and looked through everything until we found some pretty awesome outfits. They played all kinds of music and we just had fun dancing and skating and trying not to fall. Even though it happened on several occasions....needless to say everyone had a few bruises after it was all over. But still had a great time!

My Sweet Skating Outfit!

This is me and sarah when we first arrived!

Me and my Suitemates :)

A big group!

I definately think that i am going to do this when i come home! it was a fun night.

Girls Night

2008-02-16T10:51:00.001-08:00

When you go to BYU, its ineviatable that you will have many girl nights. The other night we had a Girls Party on our floor lounge where we all brough in our mattresses and where funny pjs and danced around. Then we went to ihop at like one in the morning in our awesome pjs. ohhh what a night :)

It's the White Elephant time of year!

2007-12-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

To start, i just thought that this was funny. My friends and i describe it as "Me in my Element" Fuzzy socks, basketball shorts and ramen noodles. thats how i show up to everything these days :)

So our floor decided to do a white elephant gift exchange in place of our sunday floor meeting. as you can probably guess, most everyone forgot. Furthermore, it being sunday, no one could dash to the dollar store to get a quick funny gift. So things were pretty interesting! We started off with some games. The first was someone would put a poster picture around their head and have twenty questions to guess what they were! my friend stephanie was the statue of liberty...she asked if she was a political figure and we figured technically yes. so of course she would get a disgusted look on her face and ask, AM I HILLARY CLINTON??? hahaha it was great!

Next, i of course decide to volunteer. Low and behold, i get the best face of them all...a toilet seat! Its what i get for being an active participant..

One of the best gifts was the real white elephant made out of paper towels and toilet paper! Man i wish i was creative...

I can't be modest here. I have to be truthful and say that my gift got the most laughs out of the whole night. I was in a rush to get something to wrap. What else could be funnier than a tampon wrapped in a big box? Man im good.

Here is our group for the White Elephant! They are most of the girls from my floor, probably only two outsiders. Our floor is bomb!

BYU vs. UTAH

2007-11-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

So the BYU v Utah game was quite the exciting event. Even though we should've put them away in the third quarter, we always like to make the game exciting and figure out how to play in the last few mins. Props to the defense though! Here are some pics from the game.

Pete is now a Fully Invested COUGAR FAN! Way to choose the right :)
(his parents went to Utah)

During the game

Storming the field afterwards! Yes i was by myself! I pushed right through to the middle!

Sweet Pic of Brian Keele. It was just way fun :)

I wish my family could've come to the game because it was a blast! Maybe next year...

Family Metaphor

2007-11-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

So for my introduction to family processes class i had to come up with a metaphor to describe my family. i could not use any photos to depict them, just think of ways that they could be represented in an abstract sense. it took me forever to think of something, but this is my final product. What do ya think?

The first one is the whole thing, while the second and third are side views. So can you figure it out? is this like my family? lol

I think the best parts are the football and basketball paper! Sweet

Decades Dance!

2007-11-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Yet another dance! This one was kinda lame though. They basically tried to force us to learn how to swing dance instead of actually having a dance. i took lots of pictures though! yay!

I was an awesome hippie :). My friend sean tried to be a hippie, but i don't think that just a tie dye shirt cuts it. I dont really know what pete was trying to be, but a red womens blazer is definately the way to go. My friend Cami (who also happens to be our Relief Chief aka Relief Society President) was from the 80's. So basically the best part of this dance was dressing up and taking pictures. yay! i miss you all! only 41 days until i come home! yayyy

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

So Halloween has come and gone! Wow there are lots of halloween parties! One is never without something to do out here, thats for sure. Last Thursday we had a ward Halloween party where everyone dressed up and we had a dance afterwards. That was good fun! My friends and I also of course made it to two different Halloween dance parties on friday and saturday. what a weekend! Here are some pictures from the dance

Sarah and I are dressed up as Harry and Hermoine! Doesnt it look like we are waiting for the Knight Bus? (...Harry fans would understand...)

Here are just some friends and I at the dance!

Its a Death Eater! AHHH!

My Army friend Tim...except he really is in the ROTC program so this wasnt very creative.

I hope you all had an awesome Halloween! Im counting down the days until Christmas break! AHHH!

Secret Agent Date Night

2007-10-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well I have been out here at BYU for almost two months now! Me and some of the girls on my hall made up this totally awesome date where we pretended to be captured secret agents. The boys we asked had to help find us and become agents too!
We even had them call a random number to leave messages about themselves, their aliases, etc. It was so much fun! We sent them so many anonymous letters, and it worked out really well. We even outlined our bodies in chalk and left them a message on the basketball court outside our dorm

The last step was for them to complete a scavenger hunt then save us from being tied to trees. it was so funny when they found out who we were!

My dates alias was "Agent Slapduck" and i was "Agent Fire Duster"! After they found us we had pizza and went to laser tag. It turned out to be a really fun night.

Well, all is well here at BYU! Hopefully ill get good grades, but im definately having and awesome time!~

BYU!!

2007-10-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

So this is my first time trying this out! I just wanted to make a blog so you guys can all keep up with what im doing out here at the Y! I love you all!