Summer as Mr. and Mrs. Fisher

Well it's been a busy summer and I can't believe that it's already practically over! :( Time really does fly when you are having fun, doesn't it?  Well to start off my post, I posted one of my favorite wedding pictures, as promised in my last post.  

In July, we moved into our new apartment! And I absolutely LOVE it.  It's so quaint with all original wood floors, lots of character, high ceilings and open space.  It is perfect for us.  It's right next to SLU, where Ben is going to med school and right next to a gorgeous park that I actually grew up next to! So I have come full circle. And I'm loving it.  We are loving having friends and family over and having the space to do so! I'm realizing that I haven't taken any pictures of our new house.  So I suppose I should get on that, huh?  That will have to be my next project.  

We spent the 4th of July with my family down at the arch watching fireworks.  No one does the 4th of July quite like St. Louis! And Ben had never been, so of course I had to take him!  Here we are with my little bro, Ethan, wearing our red white and blue! :)

No one looks as good in glow stick glasses as I do...

We've had our share of lazy Saturday mornings full of sleeping in, snuggling and eating waffles (Ben's specialty!) He even made me a heart shaped one.  So impressive!

We spent a long weekend out on Bear Lake for the Fisher family reunion in July as well.  We spent two days on the lake with jet skis, a paddle boat, kayak and other fun water toys and played all day long to our hearts' content.  Jet skiing had to be my favorite part.  As well as playing with my new adorable niece, Alice!  I have always wanted nieces and nephews, but being the oldest, I haven't had any.  But now that I'm married to Ben, I have 16 nieces and nephews! So it's a party.  Yes, overwhelming as well, but I'm getting used to this new larger than life family! :) 

While at Bear Lake, we had to get raspberry shakes of course! I say of course, when really, I had no idea that Bear Lake was famous for it's raspberries.  But hey, I LOVE raspberries, and the shakes didn't disappoint! Probably one of the best I've ever had.  SOOOO good.  

Uncle Ben with our niece Charly :)

Ben and I have also given the whole "eat meat sparingly" thing a try this summer.  No, we are not vegetarians.  But we've been doing "meatless mondays." At least we have been trying to... not going to lie and say we've been 100%, but hey we are trying! It's hard not to eat meat apparently.  So I've been making some new recipes, which has been a lot of fun.  Example shown below: Stuffed Zucchini! They were pretty good! I got the idea from pinterest but then really just made up my own recipe.  They are filled with brown rice, sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes, goat cheese and basil.  

On August 3rd I went to an EPIC concert with my friend Elizabeth- BACKSTREET BOYS.  It was fantastic.  Elizabeth and I grew up listening to them on repeat, so it only felt right to go to the concert together to relive our glory days as 12 year old girls! And they were everything I wanted them to be.  Loved. every. minute.

My brother Parker also came in town at the beginning of August and it was awesome having him in town.  My uncle Shann and aunt Deena also came in town with their family.  So it was a family filled week.  We had a Fin bro sleep over at the Fishers and of course got delicious Ted Drewes.  A St. Louis summer MUST.

We also took the opportunity to take some family pics while Parker was in town.  Since we have a new member of the family, we needed a new family pic of course.  We photographed them at Laumeire Sculpture park.  One of the sculptures is this giant eye, as you can see.  So we had a little fun as well.  

So a little background behind this next picture.  Over Christmas break last year I went to Utah to meet Ben's family for the first time.  When you first walk into his parent's house, his mom has 6 different pictures up on the wall representing each child with their family.  Ben is the youngest and all of his other siblings are married.  So all of their pictures have their spouse and children in it, and then Ben's picture was this cute little grinny pic by a tree.  And it just tickled my funny bone and I have been laughing about it ever since.  So I figured we needed to take a new pic to replace the old one.  :)

It was Ben's birthday last Sunday, so we had a whole weekend of celebrating!  We went over to Washington State Park about an hour Southwest of St. Louis to go camping!  And it was a lot of fun.  I made tin foil dinners for us to cook on the fire and of course we had smores.  And in the morning I used the propane stove that I got Ben for his birthday to make pancakes and bacon.  It was pretty cool!  And the weather was absolutely perfect.  We couldn't have had better weather actually.  After breakfast we went on a nice hike that was just gorgeous.  Overall a really peaceful weekend.  

On Sunday, his actual birthday, we celebrated at my family's house.  Ben had sent my dad this recipe link on facebook for redneck turtle burgers as a joke since my dad loves cooking.  Well I guess the joke is on Ben because my dad surprised him and actually made them for Ben's birthday dinner! It's a burger patty wrapped in woven bacon with hotdogs/polish sausages for a head, legs and a tail.  Guess we didn't succeed with eating meat sparingly... They were pretty good as far as taste goes, but they were just TOO much meat! haha.  Is that possible? And they were HUGE.  I couldn't even eat a whole one.  Ben did though! And we ended the night with a white chocolate cheesecake with blueberry compote.  Delicious.

            

 So yeah, nothing TOO crazy, but overall a really great summer.  Now it's back to the grind.  Ben is back in school.  And I am actually starting a new job! I got a promotion at work, so I'm moving up in the world! It's actually a lot of changes.  I moved locations, have all new clients and all new staff to manage.  But I'm the head honcho at my new location! Which is both exciting and a little intimidating, but I'm excited for a new challenge.  I really do love my line of work, which makes it fun to go to work every day, even though it does get stressful at times.  I started officially this week, so I've been soaking it all in and learning a lot.  I'm sure it will all settle down soon though and everything will be good!  I bought myself a new bike in celebration.  Which is perfect for the park that Ben and I live next to.  So here's to lots of bike rides this fall!

I think that's all for the current Fisher update! Hopefully there will be another one more sooner than later. :)

Boating on the Mississippi

Well I finally felt like it was summer for the first time today.  Although I don't really miss being in school, the one thing that I do miss is summer vacation.  Ben is off of school and enjoying the "I don't have to do anything" life while I am working 40 hours a week.  This just doesn't seem fair somehow! Back to my post however.  We went boating with friends today out on the good ole Mississippi.  And it was awesome! Big shout out to Annalise- the organizer of the event and also provider of the boat :) 

The weather was perfect until it started raining a bit, which means our day was cut slightly short.  But only slightly and we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  So it really felt like summer today.  And I got to wear my new swim suit!  That's good news as well.  

In other news: We are moving to our new apartment on Monday!  Well starting to on Monday at least.  and finishing the rest of the week.  And wow can I NOT wait.  I've been living out of a suit case since the week before I got married- for those of you counting (and aren't you all?) that's been over a month- we are about to hit the 6 week mark.  So yeah we are living out of boxes and suitcases, and needless to say, it isn't ideal.  So this move is just what the doctor ordered! I will post pictures when I get a chance. Happy summer everyone!!

New Name, New Life

Oh hey there! I'm married! Yes I have been absolutely horrible about keeping up with this blog for the past year.  More than a year actually! But wow does life change like crazy in a year.  The biggest change would be my marital status :) So now this blog will be one of those boring "look at what married people do" blogs and will eventually turn into a "look at a million pictures of my kids" blog.  So hopefully that's ok with you? Don't get too excited about my mention of kids.  It's just a general statement.

So what have I been up to since I moved back to St. Louis? I mentioned in my last post that I was falling all over with St. Louis again.  And my love affair with my hometown is still going strong.  Let's talk about the new love of my life though, shall we? Ben moved to St. Louis to attend St. Louis University (SLU) med school this past August.  I noticed him in the singles branch- mainly because he has bright red hair, so he is hard to miss ;)

My roommate and her boyfriend were doing that thing that couples always do and were trying to set me up with someone. So they were really pushing me to be friendly and introduce myself to new people, and specifically Ben.  So I finally got the courage to introduce myself to him at the institute opening social on September 6th.  And the conversation was just easy and I left that evening thinking "wow that boy is really cute!"My crush basically started from the get-go.  Very unlike me, by the way.

To make a long story shorter (of course you can always ask me for more details- I love sharing our story) we started seeing each other a lot- at FHE, institute, church, etc.  And occasionally at the same parties that people from the branch would hold.  He FINALLY asked me out for our first date on October 18th to go see a movie.  And although we didn't do anything epic, it was SO fun, and I knew that this was the start of something special.  I knew that Ben was going to be someone very special to me.

I guess you could say that the rest is history, but I guess I'll tell you a little more since this is my blog and all.  We basically couldn't get enough of each other after that and became official 3 days later.  We dated for 2 months and then I went out to Utah to spend New Year's with his family.  And he proposed on January 1st! Yes I know, I'm one of those crazy people that got engaged after only knowing someone for 3 months and dating them for 2.

The stars seriously aligned so perfectly when I met Ben, that it HAD to be the real deal.  God led me to this point in my life and thankfully he led me to Ben because everything has felt so right and I know this has been the right path for my life.  I'm excited to start down this journey as a married couple :)

We were engaged for 5 months and then just got married on May 31.  And it was the most perfect of perfect days a girl could ask for.  Seriously.  I will do a separate blog post for my wedding once I get the wedding pictures back, but just know that it was spectacular.  I am very blessed.

I have now been married for 3 weeks.  I keep thinking that this is just a fun vacation and we will go back to normal life eventually- but that's the best part! This is my new life!  We are currently in transition mode because we are moving into our new apartment in about a week. So life is a little crazy.  But it's a good life and I can't help but remember a song that I learned in Jerusalem.  "Our God is an awesome God!" He is.  And I am overwhelmed with His goodness.  Married life is starting off well- it can only get better from here, right?

Until next time- I will leave you with one pic from the wedding that I do have.  Enjoy!

Falling in Love with St. Louis all over again

Well I had the fortune of procrastinating real life for another week thanks to the visit of some great friends from Provo!  I'm really glad they came for multiple reasons.  One of them being that I was able to get out into the city of St. Louis and remember what it has to offer.  We often don't appreciate what is right in front of us unless we are given a reason to see it.  In this case, I was able to go to the arch and other attractions- which are things I probably wouldn't have done on my own accord.  And can I just say that the arch is glorious?  It makes me proud to be from St. Louis.  Here's me reveling in its glory:

 We also walked down the loop, which is just this street full of cool shops and restaurants.  Another fun thing is that is has "hollywood" stars all along the sidewalks with the name of celebrities from St. Louis on them.  Oh and I found this gem of a mural up on one of the walls.  Needless to say- Viva St. Louis!

 My lovely guest then decided that they wanted to take a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery since it is headquartered in St. Louis and all.  And it was a lot of fun!  Who knew there was so much to making beer?  And that the midwest drinks more beer than any other region in the nation.  I was the only one in our group that was able to pat myself on the back for that major accomplishment.  Here's the souvenir pic that they tried selling me for $20.  I figured I would just take a picture of it with my phone instead.  Taylor is my favorite in this pic (far left):

 We also enjoyed cooking lessons from my wonderful father.  Let's just say that we ate verrrrrry well this weekend.  

 Angela stayed a little longer than the rest of the group so I took her to the botanical gardens.  It was the perfect day to go.  Not too hot and not too humid- which is the more important part.  The Mo Bo gardens are getting ready for their Chinese lantern festival- which is what we are pictured with here:

Overall, it was a splendid weekend.  Now off to the real world.  For realzies this time. 

Tiny Update

Well my post Jerusalem life continues.  Haha eventually I will stop calling my life post Jerusalem life... maybe.... Anyway.  A lot of my time has been spent going to water polo games for my baby bro, Ethan.  And wow is he good!  Here is a pic of our little friend Max cheering Ethan on.  So cute!

 I've also been busy cleaning out my room, since I haven't lived in it since high school and all.  And wow did I find some treasures!  Here is one example:

 This is a pic of me with Barbara and Maia at my first youth conference- which means I am 14 in this picture!  It still feels so weird to be back in my bedroom in my parent's house.  I still feel like I am just visiting and will be heading back to Utah soon, but I am here to stay!  It will take a while for me to get used to that.

I also found a wonderful essay that I wrote in the 4th grade called "Born to Win."  And boy was it funny!  Allow me to share an excerpt with you...

"What does born to win mean to you?  If you don't know then I am going to tell you in my own way.  No one on this earth was meant to be born so they could get beat up, bossed around, or even get bad grades.  We were born to become the best and at least try."

Inspired?  And yes, you can quote me on that one....

In other related news- I finally won hearts! (must have been the essay) This probably won't mean a lot to most of you, but let me give you some background so you can appreciate this win with me.  I played hearts every single day in Galilee and then in Jerusalem after we got back from Galilee.  And I did not win ONCE.  It was kinda sad.  I didn't lose a lot, but I just could never win 1st place!  And I could not shoot the moon to save my life.  BUT let me tell you- I played the other night.  Not only did I win, but I won BECAUSE I shot the moon! Intentionally!  haha.  So yeah... I was born to win people!

 Oh, also I high lighted my hair.  I guess I'm a strawberry blonde now.... I'm still getting used to it.  But I like it.  And I think I will continue to like it more and more the more I get used to it.

So yeah... there you have it!  More to come soon

Last Day in Jerusalem/Post Jerusalem Life

Well my blog continues, even if my life in Jerusalem doesn't.  So a group of us played hearts/cards every single night at the JC and it was so fun!  Jarom named it the lonely hearts club- and I guess we will stick with the name since we haven't thought of anything better.  Here is a pic of some of the member: Travis, myself, Jarom and Sarah Brown!

We also got some oh so cute photos of us around the center with all of the pretty flowers.  Here is myself, Lee and Sarah looking adorable:

The chefs in the oasis prepared us a BBQ feast, which was wonderful!  My table was awesome- it had the Jackson's, Travis, Bonnie, myself and Jarom.  All people that I love and miss terribly!

After some tearful goodbyes, it was finally time to leave Jerusalem.  I can't believe that I'm already back in America!!  It all still feels so surreal.  I got back on Thursday morning and then graduated the next day at 8AM!  I can't believe that I have a bachelor's degree!  I still say that ending my undergraduate career in Jerusalem was one of the best decisions that I have ever made.  I would do it over again a thousand times!  Here's a lovely pic of my fam on my graduation day.  That is a picture of Parker on my mom's phone, in case you are wondering.  He couldn't be there, with him being on a mission and all...

 Cosmo was nice enough to present me with my diploma :)

 On Saturday night, my grandparents hosted a small graduation party with friends and family, which was so fun! It was a great time- I wish all of my JC people could have been there- I was missing them so bad!  Here are some pics of the evening: Emma and I

 Levi, myself, Evan, Emily and Tay Tay- my Provo friends!

 JC crew- I'm so glad they came!  

 One more graduate pic which is out of order... but blogger is being dumb. 

 My last night in Provo was spent with Travis at dinner and then the chocolate!  Great news everyone: I look exactly like Miley Cyrus!  Can't you tell?  These ladies at the chocolate told me that I look and sound exactly like her.  First time I'd ever heard that one before!  But hey I'll take it as a compliment.  Plus I'm sure Travis was just thrilled to be with a Miley look alike! :)

 SO yeah, I'm back in America.  It is really weird.  And my JC withdrawals are much worse than I could have anticipated!  But I'll make it through somehow :)  My life might not be as exciting as it used to be, but I still plan on keeping up with my blog, just as I did before I went to Jerusalem in the first place.  So until next time!

Last Free Day of my Study Abroad

Quick post- might be the last one I do in Jeru! On Sunday we went to Ein Karim, which is the birth place of John the Baptist. The village is so awesome! There were multiple churches there, which were really cool and then shops and such. Here's a pic of us at the church of St. John the Baptist:

Later that day we took a tour of the Knesset, which was really cool. Here I am in front of the room where parliament is!
This is a statue outside of the Knesset:
Then yesterday we had a field trip to different sites from the last week of the Savior's life. Here's a pic of me inside of Lazarus' tomb at Bethany:
This is the tear drop church, commemorating the place where Jesus looked out over the city and wept over Jerusalem.
Here is Madison and I looking out at the city, just as Christ would have done.
Sorry this is short- but we are leaving tomorrow and I have to pack!!