25 Random Things About Me Tag

1. I love circles, I want everything in my house to have circles on it. Just looking at them makes me smile.

2. My favorite food is pot roast and I would eat it every night if I could (It has to be beef though, I'm not a fan of pork).

3. Growing up I always hung out with "the guys" however when I meet a special girlfriend our bonds we make are for a lifetime.

4. I have never been crafty, but the last 6 months I have dreams of making crafts. However in my dreams they always turn out better then in real life.

5. I am a co-dependant of my mother. I have to talk to her everyday. And usually multiple times a day. Every year she goes on a two week camping trip where there is no cell service and it about kills me.

6. The greatest thing in my life is the gospel...what more can I say.

7. When I was little the only thing I wanted to me when I grew up was a mother. Now that the time is about here, it terrifies me.

8. I love to laugh.

9. I love meeting new people but whenever there is a large crowd I get shy. I'm more of a one on one person.

10. I had a ten year plan. Bank manager at 23, married at 25, and children at 30. Then I met Zech and everything changed.

11. Black and white movies are my favorite. I even like old foreign movies.

12. I want to me more like my grandmother. She is a smile and her faith is stronger than anyone else's I know.

13. I love to cook, but I don't like to try new things. In fact when we go out to eat, I always order the same things because they are safe. Then I convince Zech to order something new.

14. I hate frosting (Yes, Becky we have this in common). Everytime I eat cake, I scrap the frosting off. I made Zech have cheese cake at our wedding because I dislike frosting so much.

15. My mother saved my life when I was 14. I wouldn't be here today without her.

16. When I was 16 I convinced my mom to let me move to the city with my friends for school.

17. I like to entertain. I love having people over for dinner and putting place settings on the table.

18. I don't like to read, however for the past two days I haven't been able to put a book down.

19. I'm afraid of heights, going on the space needle made me throw up.

20. When I was seven I went through a stage where I wouldn't let anyone brush my hair. Everyone in town thought my sisters and I were neglected.

21. I was bald until I was 2. My mom used to tape bows on my head.

22. I love to salsa dance, but I love watching Zech salsa even more.

23. The first thing I ever drove was a combine.

24. I grew up in a town of only 940 people, where everybody knew everybody else's business and I loved it.

25. Family is the most important thing in the world to me. I wish we could be closer to everyone.

Tag: Donna and Bryton, it is your turns~!~

Brown-Sugar Pound Cupcakes!

Yesterday I made some delicious

Brown-Sugar Pound Cupcakes

for a lady's birthday that Zechary

home teaches. After delivering them

last night We had about 10 or so left.

We were robbed in the middle of the night!

Of Cupcakes I mean. I woke up and now there

are only a few left. I know it couldn't have

been my darling husband in the middle of the

night. I found the recipe on Marthstewart.com

I would recommend everyone try them.

Becky Vip, this is for you!

I always here this talk about how you love Martha, so yesterday I found myelf exploring her website. All I can say is AMAZING. I am headed to the craft store tomorrow. I love it! Thanks for the pointer!

This is how I feel...

As we are trying to get ready for our sealing tomorrow I just now finally realized just how much I need to do. I'm trying to get everything done so we can be in Idaho Falls by 2:30 to pick up my parents. I don't know that everything will get done.

My Testimony

Since I went to the temple for my endowment yesterday I felt as though I was obligated to bare my testimony in church. I personally only wanted to do it in RS however Zechary made me share in sacrament. And I say MADE ME. I'm not one that likes to talk in public, I am rather a one on one type of person. Sometimes I feel as though because I have not been a member for very long maybe my testimony isn't good enough and that people will make fun of me. However my fabulous mother-in-law asked if I would share this, so here you are Donna! Here is my testimony especially for you. Love you!

I want everyone to know I have a testimony of this Gospel. I know Jesus Christ lives and I know he atoned for our sins. I know my heavenly father loves me and knows me personally. I know he cares about me and I look forward to the day I can be with him again. After going through the temple yesterday I can know say, I have a testimony of the temple. Of the sweet yet strong spirit that is there. I know for certain that the temple is the house of the lord and the ordinances preformed there are God's true works. I have a testimony of the power of service. I often believe that I get more out of serving others then the people we are helping. I have personally experienced the blessings that come from visiting and home teaching. I have had the opportunity to experience changes in peoples lives because of it. I am thankful that Zech and I have had the chance to go out together and spend time with some of the inactive people in our ward. I'm so thankful for my husband and the great person and example that he is. I'm grateful that he pushes me to do things that I don't want to do. I"m thankful that we can be sealed in a few weeks and that we will get to be together with our family for eternity. I love the members of this church and the friendships I have made. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Going to the Temple~!~

And we're going to the temple and we're gonna get married....okay so we are already married but we are going to get sealed. Finally the time has come. I have been a member for a year now, well not officially until the 30th of December but close enough. Next Saturday I am going to the Idaho Falls temple for my endowment and then we will be getting sealed Jan 17th in the Rexburg temple. We are very excited for this wonderful day to come. We hope that you can all join us at 11am!

The Power of Home Teaching

Two weeks ago, the last Sunday of the month, Zechary was in a rush to get his home teaching done. It was his companions turn to schedule visits but that never happened. Since Zech is secretary of the E.Q. and his main job is to bug people about getting their home teaching done he was in a panic. Here it was the last day of the month and he needed to visit five families and his companion was unavailable. So being the good wife that I am, I went with him. I am pleased to say that we got all of our visits done but even more pleased that we found an inactive member. We went to her house and after hearing we were from the church she let us in. We shared our lesson that Zechary prepared and then we both shared our testimonies. We invited her to church and offered her a ride. The next Saturday night she called and asked if we could still give her a ride. We of course said yes. She stayed for all three meetings and during a break she mentioned she had not been to church for over a year. Well last night was our ward Christmas party, which was amazing but that is besides the point. We tried to call this member to invite her to go with us but her phone was disconnected. As we were getting ready to go Zechary got a phone call and it was her. She wanted to tell us that she was sick and couldn't make it to church. Zech told her about the party and said there would be a free meal and invited her and her friend to come. She agreed and we picked the two of them up. They had a great time. Everyone was very kind towards them, which doesn't always happen in our ward. They felt very welcome. On the way to drop them off, Zechary invited them to attend church with us today. After a few mins of silence, the friend of the inactive woman mentioned he didn't feel comfortable because he didn't have anything to wear. Well we fixed that! I offered some of Zech's old clothes and I am going by to pick them up at 12:15. I have already seen the changes in this woman's life. It brings me great happiness to know that Zech and I were involved in bringing it. I don't know if I will ever share to this woman at the testimony which she helped me grow, but it wasn't until I met her that I realized just how important home teaching and visiting teaching are.

Elai Carter Rios

Here he is, Elai's first debut.

Our Finished Product

That's right, Zech and I have finally finished our home made Christmas presents. And I do have to say they look fabulous thanks to Zechary's amazing ribbon tying skills. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to tie them so he stepped in and did the finishing touches. I'm so very grateful for such a wonderful husband who doesn't mind helping me with all my silly little projects. And I'm so thankful that he doesn't complain at all the crafts that I have going on at once. He still lets me by all the stuff I need even when I do ten crafts at a time. I just love Zechary, he is truly amazing. I do think he really got into the ribbon tying though, he started to tell me that some of them didn't look good!

We have conquered Canning!

In my family it is a tradition that every year for Christmas we give home made gifts. Things that we can make for $5 or under. About a month ago I was trying to decide what I was going to throw together. I couldn't think of anything! Then it hit me. I love spaghetti! I decided to make and can home made spaghetti sauce. So I went out and bought the jars and all the ingredients I needed. Then I just had to find a caner, I ended up borrowing one from a lady in our ward. The only problem is that she didn't have any instructions and had never used it herself. After bugging Donna almost everyday for a couple of weeks and doing some research online I figured out how to use the thing! We were all ready to go, and then we found out the caner is to heavy to use on a glass top stove. Somebody suggested we use it on the bbq, but we found the water wasn't boiling (later we found out we weren't doing it right so that is why the water wasn't boiling!). Well we finally found a solution! Zech and I put everything in the car and drove to our friends house and used their stove!!! We are finally done, and it worked! Our first canning experience worked out perfectly. Though we stumbled along the way, we never gave up. Here are a few pictures of us trying to figure out the bbq situation!

Our First Pie~!~

Zechary and I are attending an eternal marriage class every Thursday. During each class the teachers try to teach us a skill that we can actually use. Last Thursday we learned how to make home made pie. It was really exciting. We have made two since! Here is a picture of our very first cherry pie. Oh course it had to be cherry, Zech always wins! I wanted apple but he put out his bottom lip so I just had to give in.

Pampered Chef~!~

So as most of you already know I have been selling pampered chef for a few months now, and I just have to brag about how fun it is. There is nothing better then a girls night/cooking show. I recommend all of you have one. I am the biggest pampered chef fan and now I get paid to do my Hobbie. I love just love it!

A Night At The Park~!~

The other night Zech and I decided to go play at the park with some friends. Here are a few pictures (Wow, my belly is getting so big!!!).

I'm a mean wife!

My poor husband had to work the graveyard shift then go straight from work to take a 4 hour long practice MCAT test. When he finally got home, his wife didn't have the bed made for him. I washed our sheets this morning but they weren't finished in time when Zechary got home. I am the meanest wife in the whole world. He just grabbed a pillow and and extra blanket and there he sleeps anyways.

Hot Curlers

Seriously, does nobody have hot rollers anymore? For work we have to dress up for Halloween but me being the cheapo that I am didn't want to buy anything. So I thought that I would just be a crazy house wife. You know that kind that dresses crazy with hot rollers and an apron. Well nobody I know has hot rollers! I know that nobody now days uses them, but what about the older generations? So I am stuck being a scientist. Luckily Zechary works at a lab so we have free use of whatever we want!

It's A Boy!!

It's official! We found out today we will be blessed with a little boy on March 29th. His name will be Elai Carter Rios. I think I'm even more excited about it than Zech. I keep talking about little Elai going on his mission. Everything seems to be going great from what the ultrasound said. Zech and I couldn't be happier.

My First Ever Talk

It was awful I tell you, just awful. Just kidding. I think it actually went quite well. I wasn't nervous at all. I did try many times to get out of it but when it came time, my talk flowed. Right before it was my turn I tried to pull the I have to go to the bathroom trick as a last resort to ditch but it didn't work. I am definitely putting my first talk in our family history box for our children.

Wedding Pictures

I keep getting asked about our wedding pictures therefore I am just posting a few. I'm sorry I can't e-mail them fast enough, there are just so many to go through. We ourselves have only printed very few. I will someday get them e-mailed but until then, here you go.

Okay so it looks like everyone in the family, both sides, has one of these blogspost so Zech and I were obligated to create on also. So for all of you who have asked us to create one, here you are. STOP BUGGING ME! More to come later.