Sea Change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!