the life of a roadie..

wait.. does that even work? what exactly is a roadie? an obsessed fan of a famous band? i dont know... but in our case roadie means ones who lives on the road. literally. out of our car. and its thrilling.

the pictures then the scoop.

of course we celebrated mardi gras while we were in sacramento. sam is a true blue Louisianan

sams grandma was so happy and beautiful on her birthday. it was wonderful spending time with all of the family! sam has some incredible uncles.

we thought they looked russian!

cousins and uncles. of course not everyone was able to come though.

such a beautiful place to visit.

rob and britney aaron and lindsey this one is for you! after hauling it to sacramento we decided it was no longer traveling with us.. it now resides in preston.

i told you my new hat was cute. got it at an antique store. lovely.

this little beauty is our current home. jenny and nicholas live in a small cottage, so this is our guest suite. its actually really nice inside and we get to have our own little villa! fantastico!

building a hen house for jennys new chickens!

lots of hiking! what a beautiful place. it really makes me want to rock climb. some of the best rock climbing in america! people from all over come to do it.

oh my heck i love this one. he is actually really high up. and this wind mill is really old. i was nervous!

a recent fire came through the park

sams brother in law is building a house right now. sam decided to help out a little bit.

im missing a lot of pictures but i thought id give you a little taste of what we have been up to.

we are honestly having a wonderful time. we are feeling as relaxed as i think we could ever be. the past week we have spent in joshua tree with jenny and nicholas. i dont know what it is about the desert, but it sure is refreshing. the atmosphere is calm, the people are all wacky, therefore very open to anything and anyone :) its great. nature is everywhere we look. and jenny and nicholas have treated us like royalty. warm cooked meals every night and most mornings, an awesome and needed massage from my sister in law who might i say is an incredible massage therapist. and as many hikes as we could as for.

all the hiking is right up sams territory. and im happy to join him. really, its right up my territory too. as long as we can stop at all the small shops along the way! :)

currently (for the weekend) we are in arizona. sam has training meetings for work, so we just added it to the map.

after this we dont know. we will go back to joshua tree and then probably head to mexico with jenny and nicholas.

march 16th we will be back in pocatello to visit the little beauty stella. taryn and ryan decided to fly home for her blessing so that we ALL could attend. i cant wait!

after that its back on the road until the end of april.

we are officially unofficially going to dc again for the whole summer sales thing. we are excited for another summer and another experience. if anyone wants to come visit. START PLANNIng.... all you would have to pay for is a plane ticket.. seriously.. stay at our house=free, food= you might die of starvation but ill do the cooking (free), museums, memorials, practically everything= free... come on you know you want to.

dad had surgery again on tuesday. thats two in less than a week. everything turned out well. thanks for your prayers. i know they were answered.

have i mentioned what incredible parents i have. a dad who is so strong and determined and positive and a mom who sacrifices so much no matter how exhausted she is. i dont know how i got so lucky to deserve such saints. i love you mom and dad.

all is well.

x0x0

joshua tree

well folks next stop is joshua tree! we are so excited to spend a little while with sams sister jenny and her husband nicholas! i promise i will post pictures of our WONDERFUL time in sacramento for grandma t's 80th birthday bash!

oh.. and my AWESOME new hat... your gonna love it!

x0x0

presidents day ramblings

ok this has nothing to do with presidents day- although if i was in school i would be very happy to have a day off :)

with really not much to do the past few weeks besides sleep in and spend time with sam, family and friends, ive had a lot of time to think. (dont feel too sorry for me- i know its a rough life) anyways. sorry about my somewhat depressing posts these days i dont know exactly what has gotten into me... maybe it is all this time to think.

ive been having kind of a hard time understanding trials lately. i do know that trials are given to us to grow and to learn, but sometimes i wonder if it is ever going to end. to me it seems like when it rains it pours. and its been a freakin hurricane for many people i know lately.

i did however come across this quote recently and i had an epiphany!

"There is one thing the Lord expects of us no matter our difficulties and sorrows: He expects us to press on." (Joseph B. Worthlin)

yes, life can get hard. for most people it is harder than they might think they can handle, but we are expected to keep going, to keep pressing forward.

my dad has been having a very rough patch in his health lately and i think that is why ive been having such a hard time. as im sure most of you would agree, watching someone you love so very very much suffer so severely is a horribly painful thing. all you want to do is help, but for a lot of people especially those with physical pain, you cant do a single thing about it. except pray.

oh how thankful i am for prayer and fasting and priesthood blessings. the power of God is REAL! although it has been hard to watch sorrow and suffering, my faith has been increased so tremendously. i do know that my Savior knows me and loves me and does answer my prayers. He does know my deepest desires, my wishes, my questions, my beliefs, my thoughts, my doubts, everything! and im thankful to truly have a testimony of that.

He is on our side. He is sending us subtle and even sometimes extreme promptings to say or do certain things to lighten a burden or even two. all we have to do is listen, and then act.

the truth is, life is good. people are good. trials happen and its ok, its just how we respond to them that makes the difference.

im thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life- without it i know i would be lost. and watching those i love suffer would be much more unbearable than it is now.

~~~~

ill move on with something a little more upbeat. we are now in sunny california.

we moved out of our house on friday.

oh what a day friday was... oh heavens what a day.

we went to a wedding in twin falls- lovely, on our way home i (yes meaning it was me driving and it was my fault) got in a wreck. it could have been a heck of a lot worse than it was. whew Heaven was smiling down on me. we packed all day as soon as we got home and cleaned and then headed to my cousin carlis wedding reception. wow the most beautiful and classy wedding reception i have EVER been to. so awesome.

saturday we started our adventures!

we are enjoying very much the sunny, warm days here. we are currently visiting sams grandma and grandpa. it is his grandmas 80th birthday this week so we will be having a festive celebration with all of sams family!

valentines day was pretty low key this year. and i loved it. we actually celebrated on thursday night because we knew the weekend would be crazy.

i was in charge of the valentines date this year and wanted to do something a little bit different than usual. so putting my incredibly creative mind to use (right) i came up with
something (ok not so creative) but it was really fun and really cheap!

last semester sam and i took a kayaking class at isu. awesome. anyways on thursday nights they have an open kayaking night so for FREE sam and i spent a little bit of time flipping our kayaks in the pool. after that we raced for a $5 hot and ready with some soda from home and ate in the car. we then went to an awesome show that my beautiful friend stephanie is in at mystique! i was planning on this ever since i read on her blog that she was in it, but while searching for tickets discovered that it cost quite a bit of money... any how i still wanted to do it but was avoiding buying tickets because of price, then i got a text from her saying that if you brought a can of food you got in for $12! AWESOME! problem solved.

i think its so hard coming up with fun, new, cheap date ideas, but i think this valentines day was a successful one.

anyways it was a great night and i have a wonderful husband. he really does treat me like a queen and honestly wasnt even mad at me about our car! phew.

sorry there havent been any pictures recently but i promise soon enough they will be plastered all over your screen!

i wish you all well!
x0x0

the secret life of bees.

i watched this movie this weekend and tonight realized how much i am like a character from this movie. do you remember may boatwright played by sophie okonedo? if you have seen this movie she is the one that mourns for the world. in the movie if she ever hears of something in the least bit upsetting, she is set off and has to go to her "wailing wall" to mourn.

i am her.

i cry often. too often in fact.

somehow, somewhere along the line of my life i like to think i learned sympathy. lately though- maybe the past year i have felt myself become more sensitive than usual.

and i cry.

there are many people that i know that are struggling with sickness, distress, heartache, and yearning. and i cry for them. i dont exactly understand why i cry so much… i know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that we have a living God who knows what is going on in our lives and blesses us even still.

yet i cry.

im so grateful for the temple and especially for the opportunity that we have to pray for others. what a blessing it is to participate in such a glorious blessing.

im not mad that i cry, in fact im thankful that i do. im thankful that i am able to "mourn with those that mourn and (hopefully) comfort those that stand in need of comfort". even though i cry i understand that we all must endure trials and heartache to grow and "overcome the world"

and im thankful.

to all of you out there who are struggling with personal and family trials, my thoughts are turned to you and i love you. please know that there are people thinking of you and praying for you.

and its ok to cry.
if you ever need someone to cry with you my tear ducts open quite easily :)

x0x0

i leave for idaho again tomorrow (or today since its 3 am). its very bittersweet. i miss my sweetheart, but my im going to miss little stella too. :/

dear february

i cant believe your already here. what will you bring?

this is the month of love.
a month of red and pink.
a month of candy hearts and boxes of chocolate.
a month to spend with my sweetheart.

im excited for the month of february. a big reason i get to see sammy again. its only been since thursday, but i do miss him.

its been lovely seeing stella. you wouldnt believe how beautiful she is. so incredible that such a miracle has come into all of our lives. her real due date was yesterday- boy am i thankful she didnt wait until yesterday to come. she will be a week old tomorrow- holy!

hopefully tomorrow the ground hog wont see his shadow and that will mean winter will be over soon! im really more of a fan of the warm weather.

another reason to be excited for february. miss carli is getting married on friday. she will be lovely. im so excited for her.

super bowl sunday comes soon too. usually im not very excited about it, but this year we're attending a party in logan- and the saints are playing! WOOOhoo go saints! (thats for sam)

we are moving out of our apartment. im a little sad about it because it is a lovely one! 3 bedrooms, washer and dryer, storage room and hardwood floors. if your looking for a new place this one is a GREAT deal and we have awesome landlords- talk to me if your interested! and the ward is the bomb dot com (ok so lame i know) but really its a good one.

we are leaving on an adventure. we will be traveling up the coast. starting in southern california and heading to seattle- all while driving on highway 1. have any of you done this before? PLEASE tell me the dirty details of where we MUST go!

february should be a good month.


~~~~~~

on another note: my dear friend katie shared a fabulous recipe with me and i want to share it with you.

wingers sticky fingers:

buy a bag of frozen breaded chicken strips, a bag of brown sugar and FRANKS hot sauce (only franks will do)

this is seriously the easiest and tastiest thing (way cheaper than $20 for two of you to go to dinner)

bake the chicken strips

heat on medium until the brown sugar dissolves (on the stove of course)
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 TBS Franks hot sauce (more if you like it spicier)
2 TBS water

wala! thats it! then in a large bowl mix the chicken and the sauce.

so easy and so good. if i were you i would double the sauce recipe so you have more but its up to you!

its way cheaper than going out and tastes VERY similar to the real deal. we will definitely be eating this on superbowl sunday!

i hope everyone has a great day! i love you sam!

x0x0

caution: post may cause vomitting.

no not really, this is just going to be a LOoOOng one! thats alright though because its been quite awhile since ive posted. A LOT has been going on in my life since my last post (actually long before that because that post didnt cover much).

by the way i want to thank EVERYONE for your kind comments on that post. im seriously so thankful for everything that you said and how you made me feel. i love my dad and from your comments i know you do too! i sincerely am thankful for all of you!

on with my post.

as of now im in columbus, ohio enjoying the newest addition to the palmer family. little stella rose. let me just tell you how much i love this little girl. she is the most precious thing ive ever seen and im so grateful that i get to be here and spend time with this little peanut. she was born on tuesday the 26th (also my grandpa normans birthday) thus giving her the nick name norma :). born at 6 lbs 4 oz and now 5 lbs 11 oz, she is so tiny. taryn and ryan are doing wonderful and they couldnt be prouder. we all just stare and talk about how cute everything she does is. even her little whimper cry is to die for!



ALL of my pictures are pretty random and out of order- but like i said this is such a long post that im not changing it :)

stella and mama all snuggled in a ballauntie kyrsten and the little peanut

look at how small she is

shag has a little cough so taryn requested a little caution :)

the first time i saw this sweetheart (excuse my apperance i was traveling all day)

i love her so much!

okie dokie.. heres what we've been up to since december. are you ready?

the biggest news (besides stella) in our lives is that sam and i have decided to take this semester off of school. it has been heavenly. its something that we have wanted to do for quite awhile and a week before school started decided to DO IT! both of us were registered and ready to go, but decided to go crazy! anyways this past month has been quite exciting and really relaxing. neither of us have any responsibility now- no school no work and sadly we were both released from our callings. our plan is to travel quite a bit and by so doing would be unable to fulfill our callings. its a bitter sweet thing for me. i loved the calling i had and all of the girls i worked with, so i will miss it, but to be honest it is a big weight off my shoulders. along with a calling comes a lot of responsibility and it was always on my mind (not a bad thing by any means) but i was always thinking about what i should or could be doing! the new relief society president is AMAZING though and she will do a fabulous job! ( for those of you that know devri 'ellis' larson)! yahoo!

this past weekend sam and me and our friends katie and jonny headed to bear lake to enjoy some relaxation. during which we decided to go sledding. i forgot snow pants so i made due with a few garbage bags


a couple of weeks ago andrea and i threw a bridal shower for my incredible cousin carli. this shower was seriously a BLAST. probably the funnest one ive ever been to. it was a 50's cocktail party! so much fun. we all dressed up in cocktail dresses and served drinks! (virgin) pina colodas and strawberry daquiries! then we set up a little photo area and took fun vintage pictures together. seriously we need to do this monthly just because it was such a blast!!

drinks anyone?

the food was divine

the photo area with vintage accessories

for thank yous we gave out vintage hankies-so cute

lovely

annie made aprons for the game winners. she is so talented!

the two kyrstens(kirstens)

cousins

do you love the sick mullet? i sure do :)

the shag and me

the blushing bride :)

at the beginging of january we headed to florida for a cruise with homeshield! it was an absolute blast! the weather was super crappy but the company was awesome! even though mother nature backfired on us, the people we were with were rays of sunshine!! :) so cheesy yeah?

sam and brit decided to help out a local store by being window mannequins! so funny a few people actually went into the store because of them.

of course we had to have a little key lime pie in key west.

these sweeties decided to try on a REALLY reaLLY big pair of pants together! the store worker wasnt so pleased with this.

we enjoyed jeep rides on cozumel. lots of fun seeing the ruins and cruizin around

we were all pretty cold and wanted to buy ponchos but they were $25 each. instead we bought these $5 blankets and sam asked the old guys for some scissors and wala we had ourselves some authentic mexican ponchos! it was pretty funny even the owner laughed!

i dont think you understand how much i love my husband!

olay!

they were so good they should have been street vendors

dancing our hearts out!

add and brit. sure love them.

i could put a funny caption here but i wont... im sure you can think of one yourself! :)

introducing the top ten salesmen! way to go sam!

they won champange for being in the newlywed game! so funny!

on to new years!

yep you get a kissing picture! WAHHOO!

i did love his beard!

we love love catch phrase! never a dull moment!

katie and jonny!

jaylyn andy and sadi (and half of kevin)

all the cousins go to bear lake a week before christmas every year and sled and eat and have fun.. heres jace in his savers full body snow suit so sick!

i got a sewing machine for christmas! with a little, ok a LOT of persuasion from sams dad i decided to make a quilt! this is about as far as ive gotten but it will eventually get done!

forgive my red eye- i left my contacts in far too long! someday ill get out of the habit

i made them do the dirty work

nicholas and sam

weve been able to do a little bit of skiing and snowboarding this winter, but most recently sam got me to snowboard. i havent tried since highschool, but tried on wednesday and i LOVED IT! it was seriously amazing and i will brag a bit and say im not too bad! :) im already carving!

we started a new christmas morning tradition with both families this year! silly string fight anyone?

sampson got a snuggie! oh how disgustingly awesome.

sam bought me this lovely picture of the logan temple. im in love

sam cut us down a christmas tree. i was a little sad i didnt get to go with him this year but he picked out a great one!

see i love it.

at the begining of december taryn came to idaho for a couple of baby showers this one is at her in-laws house!

the hansen girls! all 5 of us! :)

my beautiful cousin addie got married in december! she was one of the most stunning brides ive ever seen! i love you sister!

love this. rand dawg and add

the thomas family

dont be jealous of my killer shoes! i know they rock. and what makes them better is they only cost me $2!

this is at adds shower. it was a jungle theme and for party favors we gave goldfish. i dont know how the girls felt about it, but i thought it was pretty stinkin cute

it was a busy week for showers. my cousin emily and i threw taryn a baby shower too. oh my heck it was so cute and so fun! my cousin emily is so talented and my mom is of course a goddess too!

we made darling fabric bows and flowers for party favors. the theme was pretty in pink so everyone was showered in pinkness?! im not sure if that makes sense? anyways emily made the most adorable ones ever! check out her craft blog the rubber punkin- her button is on my side bar! trust me you wont be sorry!

sisters

thank goodness this was at the church we had alot of people there

neighborhood friends. i sure miss these guys.

and one more picture of this sweetheart!

x0x0