Chose a major :)

Guess who finally decided what to major in? This girl!!!

Can you guess what the major is?

I'm taking the Intro to Elementary Education class right now and after 3 days I'm in love with it! Brandon said the first day, "After taking this class, you'll really want to be a teacher." He was right! (He is most of the time.) 

Debating between Elementary Education which licenses to teach 1-8 grade or Early Childhood Education which teaches Pre-3 grade. I've really been leaning toward the latter. I get to observe a Kindergarten classroom for 5 hours starting next week. Soooo excited! Then I can decorate my classroom doors like this: 

Count your blessings

Brandon still working + Melinda thinking = a long post.

The past few days at the Fonda apartment have consisted of this:

I started out with a simple cold on wednesday and since then it has gone downhill. Stuffy nose, sore throat, plugged ears, pressure in the head...I've got it all. The worst part, Brandon started feeling it coming on yesterday. But despite the fact that he is feeling crappy too, he has taken such good care of me. I don't know what I'd do without him. Thanks Brandon, for still sleeping next to me even though I wake you up with my coughing every hour. Thanks for getting me all this medicine. Thanks for always asking me if I'm ok. You're the best! 

Last night we were sick of sitting around the house waiting for the 4 hours to pass by until we could take another pill, so we decided to make it date night. We felt well enough to get up, get ready and go to dinner at Cafe Rio then go to "Mission Impossible." I've never seen any of the Mission Impossible movies but I LOVED this one! We want to see it again :) 

P.S. Don't worry, we took the trash out right after this picture was taken, just as we were headed to Cafe Rio :) 

Another side note: Don't we look smokin' hot in our new clothes we got for Christmas!? Best looking newlyweds? Yeah, I thought so too :) 

The past month and a half I've been nothing but smiles (and sniffles and coughs in the past few days). Being married is seriously the best! Brandon is the most amazing person I've ever met. I felt like we were on top of the world! Nothing could get me down. 

While that still is true, last night I was reminded of some things going on in my life that aren't so happy. I began thinking of all the trials going on right now and started to become emotional. 

After a few minutes of laying there, I looked up at our wall and right as I did Brandon asked me what I was thinking. "I'm really glad we put that sign right there," I said.

I began counting all the blessings I have and suddenly became happy again. There are 3 people that I just couldn't stop thinking about last night, so here's a shout out to them. 

My mom, Carol. She is seriously the strongest, most courageous woman I know. She has taught me everything. She is my best friend. While she has so many reasons to frown, she always know how to smile. Endure to the End? She is a pro at that. She has ALWAYS been there for me, through the ups and the downs. And I will ALWAYS be there for her. I love you mom! 

The best little sister, Ashley. Ok seriously, is there anything she can't do? She plays soccer and basketball, she can sew up anything (my veil and ring pillow were done by her), she sings in the school Arioso choir, and she is in all sorts of plays. She is a friend to everyone! One day over Christmas break, she asked me, "Did you always give presents to your friends for Christmas?" "Yeah, just small things. But I only gave them to my really good friends, why?" I said. "Well the problem is, I have too many really good friends and I can't afford to get them all presents," she said back. Man, she has such a huge heart. I wish I could be more like her. I wish I had more time to spend with her and more time to go to all her games and plays. We always have such a fun time together. She makes me laugh :) I love ya smash!

Mitchell! My very favorite little guy! I can't help but give him a HUGE hug every time I see him and he is always willing to give a huge hug in return. He may only be 11 but he is one of my biggest heroes. He's only 11 and he's been through so much and yet, he is always as happy as can be! (well, not always but...he's almost a teenager, you can't blame him :) ) He is amazing at soccer, basketball and golf. He can beat me anytime, any day. He could probably beat you too. Did I mention that he rocks at snowboarding? Oh yeah, and he owns people when he plays them on xbox. (Or so I've heard. I don't understand those games, I never know who is winning.) We are always laughing and giggling when we're together. He is the best! I'm so glad he's my little brother. I love you Mitchell Beau! 

Pretty much, I have the best family ever. 

Well, now that I just wrote a novel! I'll be done for now. 

xoxo 

Melinda

I never thought the holidays could be better...then I got married :)

Seriously, the holidays are SO much better being married! We had a great christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we had to work until 7. Then we drove down to my house in Perry. We ate dinner, then opened our pajamas and ornaments, watched the Nativity and A Christmas Mission, went downstairs and all slept in our family room.

We woke up at 5:30 am and headed upstairs at 6:00 am! We opened all our presents and were done by 7:30 am. Then we watched a movie and played a few games. Brandon and I left at 11:00 ish so we could make it to South Jordan by the time his family got out of church. We got there just in time! Now it was time for Christmas Round 2! The Fonda's make Christmas last a lot longer than my family does haha we spent hours opening presents there. We took a break and skyped Brandon's brother Andrew who is on a mission in Chile. It was fun seeing him for the first time. The family really loved talking to him :) Then we went back to opening presents! We were done by about 4:30. Christmas lasted all day long! It was so fun :) We stayed there for a few days after. Our days consisted of games, watching movies and going shopping. I love having two christmas' and being able to spend time with two families that I LOVE! 

Then it was back to Logan so we could work again. Lame. 

Saturday, December 31st, we had to work. Again. We got off at about 8:45 and headed up the canyon to Perry. Red and blue lights started flashing in out rearview mirror. Brandon looks down to check his speed, he wasn't speeding. We just got our headlight fixed the day before so it wasn't that. Weird. We pulled to the side of the road and the cop came up to the window. He said that Brandon swerved a couple times and that our light for the license plate was out. Luckily, we got away with a warning. We tried to run through our minds of the times Brandon swerved but can't recall anything. Oh well! Then we were really off to Perry. We got to my family's house and played a bunch of games including Just Dance 3 on the Kinect. Then, at midnight we ran outside banging pots and pans and celebrating the new year. 

2011 went by so fast! It has been the best year of my life. Brandon and I met January 23 of last year. He has made my life so much better. I can't thank him enough. We set some goals last night at my house and are excited to achieve them this year. I was sealed to my best friend in 2011...nothing gets better than that. But other than the wedding, we will make 2012 an even better year :)