New cure for bad days!!!!!!!!!

So my friend, Lori, showed me this website today. BEST MONDAY EVER! The website is mylifeisaverage.com. They're just little comments about people's day. For example:

Today, in one of my classes, a student's phone rang. He answered the phone, yelled "What? I'll be right there!" And then ripped off his clothes, revealing a superman costume he was wearing underneath. He then left the classroom, leaving our teacher so confused that she didnt finish teaching us the lesson. MLIA

If this doesn't make you laugh I have no idea what will. Enjoy.

Rain Rain Don't Go Away!!!!!

Well it rained yesterday. It rained a lot! Wahoo! I am so excited, because it means I have a date tonight!!!!!!!!! James told me he was going to surprise me....I don't know if that means that he doesn't know what we're doing yet or if he really does have a surprise for me. He also made me breakfast this morning. It was so sweet. He got up early and made breakfast while I got ready for work. I love my husband and I love rain!!!

Dumpy old motels....

Well the weekend came around and James was still cutting grain. I booked a room for James and I for Friday night. There was some kind of Indian get together going on and so all the hotels/motels in Blackfoot, Pocatello, American Falls, and everywhere else was booked. I was lucky to get the last room at the Hillview Motel in American Falls. To give you an idea of what this motel is like you can drive by it on the freeway and you'd think it was deserted. It's a rundown, very ghetto motel, but it served it's purpose for us. So James finally got through cutting at eleven and we drove to our motel. We went to check in at the office and the clerk came out wearing lingerie. Dead serious. James and I weren't sure what to think. We waited until we were outside to burst out laughing. Needless to say the woman did not look good in what she was wearing. I think that's what made it so funny. The bed and the pillows were like rocks! I ended up using James as my pillow. On Saturday we went out to go cut more grain and it started to rain. James was so disappointed, but I was jumping for joy. Even if it rains just a little they can't cut grain until it dries. So it rained enough that James and I got to home. We spent the rest of the day being lazy. I love having him home.

So this is a picture of the four combines they're using to cut the grain. Sorry it's such a terrible picture. James wouldn't stop so I could take a picture plus it's raining.

Here's a better picture. You can see three combines with the tractor pulling the grain cart.

Another story. About two weeks ago, I drove up to American Falls with James and his Dad to go pick up the combine. At the start of the drive they asked me if I wanted to drive the truck home or the tractor. Thinking they were just joking I said I wanted to drive the tractor. I've never driven a tractor in my life! The biggest thing I've ever driven is my Dad's pick up! Well finally I figured out that we were going to be driving a combine, a tractor, and the truck. Hmmm....three vehicles and there's only three people in the car. I didn't want James' dad to see that I was scared out of my mind to drive the tractor and there was no way I was going to drive the truck since it had to pull the header behind it. So James gave me a two minute crash course on how to drive a tractor. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.


It's been a while since I posted pictures. This is Austin cutting tile for the house Alise, Austin, Danielle, and James were redoing. Austin cut all the tile. He did a great job on it.


James (my James) redid the basement for them. At first it was just one big huge room that wasn't finished and had posts in random places. Oh man it was awful! I forgot my camera the first night and so you can't see what it really looked like. Just imagine that the wood planks aren't there. In the picture you can tell that there is a huge post and then right behind it was a smaller post.

This is just a different view of the basement. In this picture you can see all four of the random placed posts. It was decided that James would build an enclosed family room, storage area, and a hall. It turned out really good.

The Bogey Man

So grain harvest has come and I now never see my husband. It hasn't been a fun week. We both weren't looking forward to Monday since it'd be the first night we're apart. That night James told me that he'd call me after he'd taken a shower. So I decided to take a shower too so then when he called I could go straight to bed. By the time I got into the shower it was eleven at night. James and I live on the second floor and I always have the chain on the door when I'm alone (it's really easy to break into our house otherwise). About five minutes into my shower I start to hear noises. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. I started to get scared. My co-worker at work has been telling me about this t.v. show that features stories about how people survive through some horrible experiences. A lot of them had to do with people breaking into houses and beating them up. I was trying to convince myself that it was the people who lived downstairs and that no one could get in through the balcony plus the chain was on the door. The bathroom door was half way closed so I couldn't see out into the hall. All of a sudden someone walked into the bathroom and I lost it. Poor neighbors. I'm surprised we didn't get the cops called on us. I was screaming so loud. James had decided to come home instead of staying at a motel. He felt so bad for scaring me...it took a while for me to calm down. I think he learned his lesson though.

Internet Finally!!!

For all the men out there who actually read blogs...don't read this...it could hurt your ego. So James and I finally got Internet...the modem, cords, etc. James has been so excited to get it. He got it all out and put it together and started installing it. 30 min later....the Internet is still not up. We go to bed and decide to try it tomorrow. Tomorrow rolls around he still can't get it to...Wednesday comes and still no Internet. So James asks me to take care of it. So I get out the instructions and actually hook the modem up correctly and volla 15 min latter we have Internet. Why men don't read instructions I do not know.

Paint Meet Foot

So last night, James and I went and worked on Danni and Alise's house. I was working in the kitchen when there was a commotion in the living room. Danni had been using a paint bucket for a stool, but the lid hadn't been tightened. So the lid fell and Danni's foot went into the paint. I wish I had my camera with me. It was so funny. Poor Danni though. She had to go outside and wash all the paint off with cold water from the hose. It was a good laugh though.

Haircutting Marathon

Yesterday I took one look at my hair and decided that it needed something done to it. Sheetrocking mud is not a good conditioner for it. For the past week James and I have been helping Danni and Alise with this house they're remodeling. James is finishing the basement for them. I just follow him around like a puppy dog and do what he tells me to do. So on Monday we had to sand down all the mud we put on the walls. By the time we got done I looked like a snowman. Like I said...mud is not a good conditioner. During lunch I went and got my haircut at Evans, the hair college. James was so surprised when he got home and I had bangs! I don't remember the last time I had bangs...I think I was 11. I got the urge to go different and now I have bangs. I actually like them though. I'll have to post a picture up. So James finally found his trimmers yesterday and started cutting his hair. He's been wanted to do it for about two weeks now. It was midnight and we had just got home from working on the basement. I'm exhausted, because for some reason I just haven't been able to sleep for the past couple of days. So I went to bed and he stayed up to finish cutting his hair. After a little while I got back up to see if he was done. He gave me his trimmers and asked me to get the hair on the back of his neck. This was his first mistake. I was half asleep and I've never trimmed a guy's hair before. So I accidentally shaved off a six inch strip of hair on his neck...oops. He had to cut a lot off after that. He really didn't like it when I started calling him Sargent. He's definitely got an army haircut. At least he won't have to cut his hair for a long time now.

When it rains it pours!!!!!!!

It's been forever since I've written and every day I think "I need to write a blog", but somehow there never is time or no internet. Our internet is a bit shaky sometimes. The wedding went so well. I was so scared that no one would come and James and I would just look silly standing there. But from 6:30 to 8:30 there was a constant line of people. Thank you everyone for coming! It meant so much to me and James!!!

So this is one of my favorite pictures of me. I love how she edited the picture. My photographer did an amazing job! Danni found her. Her name is Jeri Johnstun. She also had her assistant there so there were two photographers. The assistant took shots of my ring and accessories and of people just being natural while Jeri took more formal shots. I wasn't able to get bridal shots before I got married due to the fact that there was no time so I loved how Jeri got shots of just me and ones of just James.

I love this picture of me and James. You can just tell how good we are with kids!

Carly and me at the reception. Carly was so excited for the wedding. She couldn't wait to wear her orange dress and flower in her hair.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my colors were purple, orange, and blue. My mom made my bouquet. She did such a good job on it. We decided on more of a wild flower look. Danni did my hair. I had picked out a wedding dress that was lacy and more ornate but then my Mom and Danni went shopping in Utah and we found this dress. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. It's classy, elegant, and simple which fits me perfectly.

This are my old roommates. They were so sweet to come down to my wedding. Casey is on the left and then it goes Sarah, Liz, Kelle, and Shay. They wanted to lift up James...but it didn't really work.

Well the honeymoon was great. We stayed at a condo at Sunset Beach, CA that was about two seconds from the beach. It was so nice. We loved staying there and being so close to the beach. Thanks so much Alise for getting us such a great deal! So funny story. James and I had a gps system to help us get there. I wanted to break that gps system after listening it for 12 hours. Every five miles it said, "Stay on the left lane then keep left." I wanted to scream. It was so annoying. Well we finally made it to Sunset Beach at midnight and all of a sudden the gps system said you have reached your destination...James and I had no idea where we were. We were on the main highway and we didn't see a condo anywhere. So James used On Star's gps system and it sent us to some back street. So we got out and went to the door. It supposed to have a code to open the door knob. We couldn't find any numbers on the knob so we went to the back. Nothing. Then we noticed we were at the wrong address. Oops. So we head to the next place. There was still no code on the front door and so we went to the back. James and I were thinking that the place seemed pretty nice. In the back it had a barbecue and a hot tub just like the condo said it had. We looked at the knob and it didn't have a code either. The door was locked and we didn't know what to do. Finally James realized that we were at a private residence. We ran out of the place and figured out that the place was on the other side of the street. Oh boy. Yep there it was on the next street down a little alley. James and I were so embarrassed, but in our defense it was really hard to find unless you knew what you were looking for. We were glad that everyone was asleep while we were going through their backyard. We were able to go to Sea World. James and I loved it! We made sure to sit in the splash zones. Oh my gosh we got soaked!!!!!!!!!!! But it was worth it. I think my favorite show were the dolphins. It was crazy how high they could jump! All in all it was a really good trip.

So when it rains it pours....Well James' dirt bike is dead, my laptop is dead, and James' cell phone is dead. Oh ya. I didn't realize marriage life was so hard. I told James I wanted an annulment in defense that I didn't know he had such bad luck! But it's all good. James' keeps telling me that it doesn't matter because they're just material things and he has me so everything is good. I love him. He keeps me on track.

Married and in Cali!

Well I'm finally married...crazy to think that I've been Mrs. Risenmay for two days. Well the day before the wedding was pretty hectic. I was busy running errands everywhere. The family dog, Apollo, was put down that morning. Great wedding present, huh. But it was the best thing. The poor guy couldn't walk anymore without being in pain. He wouldn't eat anymore either. It's was strange to see him not eat...he's always gobbled everything up. I'm glad that I was able to be home to say goodbye to him. Everyone in the family was an emotional mess that day...I think I was probably the worst. Thanks so much to all of my family for putting up with me. I don't do very well with death. Well the next morning I woke up at 5 and got ready. Danni did my hair and makeup for me. She did such an amazing job! Thanks Danni! James and I got to the temple and were married at 830. Everything worked out perfect! The weather was perfect for pictures. It didn't rain until after the lunch-in. Peggy, my mother-in-law, made the lunch-in so much fun. The theme was a picnic. I hope one of my sisters got pictures of it. It was so cute. There were green table clothes and then checkered table clothes over them. Then fake trees were placed on top of the table. So it looked like we were actually outside in a picnic. The reception turned out really nice too. I wish I had pictures of it, but I'll have to post them later. The cake was amazing!!!! My aunt Cathy is amazing. My cake was purple with white trimmings. I loved it. My mom did an amazing job putting it together. Everything turned out perfect. My really good friend, Miriam came down from Wyoming and surprised me. It was so good to see her again! James and I left for California the next morning. We made it here in 12 hours only going about 5 mph over. We made such good time! It's so nice up here. Although I think the natives here think it's too cold. Me and James were the only ones out playing in the beach this evening. We were running through the water acting like kids! It was so much fun. Some time this week we're going to Sea World. We're both so excited to go. I love just being lazy with James. It's a really good vacation for both of us.

Graduation

Graduation. Isn't it wonderful. Well here are some pictures of my graduation. My Mom, Dad, and James came to see me walk. I was so nervous to get up in front of everyone and walk....I really don't like being the center of attention in huge groups....I don't know how I'm going to do for my reception. During the closing prayer I kept thinking what was next on my list to do...what homework I had, what classes I needed to take...and then I realized that I'm graduated and I don't have to do homework ever again!!!



My Mom and Dad. They were really the ones that kept me in college. After every semester started I always called them and begged them to let me drop out. They always talked me into staying. Love you Mom and Dad!

Miss Lori Jane McKee. This girl is seriously amazing. We really became friends when we were sophomores in the program. I owe it all to Sister Harris' calculations class.

This is me shaking hands with Brother Julander the Department Chair of Interior Design.

Of course I had to get pictures of me and James.

James again. This is on Friday morning where President Clark spoke to us. James then stayed all day and helped me move out and clean my apartment for white glove. He forgot to bring extra clothes so he stayed in his suit and clean. He's pretty much amazing.

Sleep sounds good right now...

Well I am now graduated, but it seems even more busier than ever. Every time I think about life it seems as if I'm forgetting something or getting behind in something else. I thought everything was going to slow down after graduation, but no it just got busier. Take our marriage licence for instance. We're getting married in 18 days and we still don't have a marriage licence. The only time James and I are able to see each other are on Saturday's or after 5...and of course the court house has to close at 5 and not be open on Saturdays. James promises me that we're going to plan it all out tonight of when and where we're going to do it. James and I are such planners. We don't really do anything random. It's all planned. Funny story. A while back I was telling James that I had always wanted just to pack up a few things and start driving. Don't have a destination...just drive. Well he decided that we would do that for our honeymoon...two seconds later we were planning where we were going to drive to! We can't not plan. It's impossible. Another thing I feel behind on is insurance. James has to get insurance through BYU-I (it's not something we want, but we have to do it), but I can get insurance somewhere else....except I have no idea who to go through or what to do! I almost wish that I could be back home where Mom and Dad take care of everything and my only worries are what time I have to be at work...but then I wouldn't have James. I hear about girls who go to school here and their fiances are hours away from here. I honestly don't know how they do it. Like Danni and her James...how many times did you guys actually see each other before the wedding? 8 weekends? How did you survive? While I was in my last week of school I told James that we couldn't see each other from Sunday to Thursday....three and half days...the longest we've ever gone since we started dating. We both about died. Yes I know. It is a bit pathetic, but I blame it on being engaged. Except secretly I hope that we always stay this way. I always want to be madly in love with James and I always want to miss him when he's not here. It doesn't seem possible, but every day I feel like I love James more. Well Jess...here's your payback...I'm in love.

I hate being sick but I love graduating!

It has been a crazy past week. I think the stress is getting to me, because when I woke up this morning I had a sore throat and all I seem to do is cough. No fun. It seems like I'm sick at least once every semester, but at least I'm almost done. Then I'll have time to actually write more on my blog! Yay! I can't wait until I graduate. Only three more days! I can't believe that I won't have to go to school after this! But then I have to go around and look for a job. Not so fun. But I'm sure that I'll find something. I would love to work in the kitchen industry. I love designing kitchens. So I've been wanting to put pictures up, but the only time I have to write on the blog is at work and the only pictures that I have on my jump drive are engagement pics...so it looks like I'm stuck with putting some of these up. So I think I said before that we took these pictures at 7 o'clock in the morning. It was freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the very bottom picture is of poor James freezing to death and the top picture is us playing around on the tracks.

PHOTO TAG

Aunt Linda tagged me and informed me that I didn't have enough pictures on here...which is completely true! I promise I'll post more pictures up soon...meaning after I graduate!

1. Go to your picture folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.

2. Go to your 6th folder and then choose the 6th picture.

3. Post it on your blog and then tell the story that goes with the picture.

4. Tag 6 other lucky people to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog telling them about it.

So this was back when I was 20. Wondering how I can tell? My hair. My roommate cut it for me and it was the first time I had it really in an A-line. So Stephen and I had gotten home from church early and were playing with the dogs. We knew that Angel wasn't going to make it much longer so we decided to take some pictures of her. I'm so glad that we did, because she died a couple of months later. This was one of the bad pictures...Angie looks good, but the sun was glaring in my eyes!

Four Things About Me-
Danni tagged me...


4 Jobs I've Had:
1. Receptionist for BYU-Idaho
2. Assistant to an Interior Designer (Plus personal psychiatrist and marriage therapist)
3. JCPenney (Sales Associate)
4. Security Connections Incorporate

4 Movies I've watched more than once:
1. Scarlet Pimpernel
2. 10,000 B.C.
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Stardust

4 Places I've Been:
1. Canada
2. Nauvoo
3. Mount Rushmore
4. Glacier National Park

4 Places I've Lived:
1. Afton, Wyoming
2. Shelley, Idaho
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Jackson, Wyoming

4 People Who Email Me Regularly:
1. Sister Harris
2. Lori
3. ASID
4. Stephen (Once a week!)

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Broccoli Cheese Soup (Trust me. It's so good!)
2. Vegetarian Lasagna (Don't worry I'm not a vegetarian I just love the white sauce)
3. Malibu Chicken
4. Anything from the dutch oven!

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to This Year:
1. GETTING MARRIED!
2. My Honeymoon
3. Going camping
4. Not living with five girls

4 TV shows I Watch:
1. Chuck
2. Bachelor
3. Office
4. American Idol

4 People I Tag:
1. Queen Lori Jane
2. Big A...I mean Alexandria
3. Alise Kelley
4. Mandi Bond

Now go to a picture folder and upload the 4th picture.

So I just opened a random file and this is actually my little niece, Lydia. I was babysitting. She looks alot different now!

The history of it all...

All right so I really wanted to write down how James and I met. I have such a bad memory and I wanted to be able to remember it. I'm sure if I get any of this wrong Danni and Alise will correct me. The Sunday after Christmas, I was asleep on the couch. Austin came and pounced on me and told me that if my cell phone rang I had to say yes. I had no idea what he was talking about! Well later that day my cell phone rang and it was James. He asked me to go on a date with him on Tuesday and sure enough I said yes. We were going to go to Kellys and go snowboarding. He said that he hadn't been for three years and I hadn't really gone for about two years. I was so nervous. Poor Alise and Austin, they got bombarded with my questions. Tuesday finally came. James was on time to pick me up. Brownie points for him. James may not have been snowboarding for three years, but he's still amazing at it. He was so good to me. He stayed with me the whole entire time. We found out that we've actually been to a lot of the same things (he is Austin's cousin)...like Austin's farewell, Austin's homecoming, Alise and Austin's wedding...we just didn't realize who the other person was. So I guess technically it wasn't a blind date. While we were on the chair lift we made a bet. He said that if he won he wanted a second date with me. I kept on thinking, "Please let him win. Please let him win." He won. It wasn't love at first sight, but I definitely knew that night that this guy was different from anybody else I have ever dated. I wanted to see where things went. So three days later we went on our second date. After that we were hooked. We saw each other almost every day. In February, we started talking about marriage and I figured that we would get engaged in March sometime. On Valentines Day, James and I went over to his house and helped his nephews make Valentines cards. James made me a card too. Later he was taken me to dinner at the Olive Garden, but he wanted to make a stop first. He asked me if we could take a walk before dinner. I was already suspicious, because both him and Michelle (his sister) were acting weird. So we went to the Green Belt and he had me stand on the platform that overlooked the falls and had the temple right across the river. He had to run back to his car and grab something and then had me finally turn around. James was down on one knee holding a dozen roses. My first thought was....Oh boy. He's going to propose. He said, "Erica Virginia Sparks....(You can imagine how I'm reacting right now.) Will you be.....my Valentine?" I was in shock. I had expected him to say "Will you marry me" not "Will you be my Valentine." Of course I said yes and then we ran back to the car. Where he pulled out a white rose, actually proposed to me, and gave me my ring. He made my parents promise not to tell me. I was in shock! James loves to surprise me and he really surprised me then. I love my ring. It is perfect for me. I'll put up pictures of it soon. He did such a good job picking it out. James is such a sweet guy and loves doing things for me. So this weekend I was in Utah. I only have limited minutes and text messages on my cell phone and so James and I can only talk after 7 and then he has night classes so it's usually not until 10. On Saturday I got a call from an unknown number...it was James calling on my new purple phone he had just got for me. So now we can talk or text each other whenever we want. I love him. He's so good to me.

I'm Engaged!

I know it's been so long since I've written on my blog, but I didn't want to write anything about James until the engagement was set and basically my whole entire life revolves around him so there hasn't been anything I could write. Then I decided to wait until Danni could help me make my page actually look good. She's amazing at this. Well it's now been official for almost a month. I'm engaged. I'm so excited about it! Everyone that talks to me just laughs, because everything that comes out of my mouth is about James. I think I drive my roommates up the wall sometimes. I can't wait to actually get married. I keep on trying to convince James that we should just elope, but he's not going for it. We're getting married May 2nd and having a reception that night at the Woodville church at 6:30-8:30. James is going to be going to school at BYU-I during the summer while I try to find a job somewhere in Idaho. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I'm graduating while he's just starting. It'll be good though. I love Idaho...I've just never included Rexburg into the equation.

I can't believe I'm doing this...

I can't believe I'm actually starting a blog. Everytime I see Danni she's updating her blog. I never saw a point to it, but I guess that it's time. Since I'm about to graduate from school it might be nice for everyone to know where I'm at. School is coming along and I have to admit that I'm actually counting down the days until I graduate! I can't believe that I will have four years of school done! It's a bit bittersweet though. I'll miss the Interior Design teachers, all the Interior Design girls, and all of my roommates, but I can't wait to get out and actually start making money!