Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

As a new year approaches we take time to reflect back on the wonderful year that 2011 has been.

Elna has been staying busy with school and loves every minute of it. She will graduate from dental assisting school this coming May and will begin the dental hygiene program in August of 2012. She is super excited to finally be starting the hygiene program! She is serving with the young women at church as the 2^nd counselor and just accepted the calling to serve as the ward camp director. This means going to girl’s camp next summer. She is excited for this new opportunity and happy to serve.

Michael is serving as the 2^nd counselor in young men’s at church and loves his calling. There is no doubt that the boys love him and look up to him. Michael enjoys going to soccer and basketball each week and loves to socialize with friends. He stays busy with work and school and is excited to be applying to the nursing program this spring.

Together we were able to go visit our families this year, which we enjoyed very much. At the beginning of the year Elna got to see her family and see Javan off to New Zealand, during the summer we were both able to spend time with the Roberts up in Washington and before school started Elna was able to visit her grandparents and Alene while attending the BYU education week. We love our family!

May God continue to bless you and your loved ones this New Year. We send our love your way and hope that this finds you in good health.

Happy New Years!

Love,

Michael & Elna Roberts

Sister Carlson

Look who I found up here at the Mesa Temple? Sister Carrie Carlson! One of the sweetest most beautiful friends I have. She is serving her mission here in AZ and since Michael and I get to go up there about once a month I have gotten to see her twice so far. She is a doll and I know she is working hard. It was so wonderful to see her again!

Harry Potter

We didn't make it to the midnight showing, nor did we try, but we decided to go to one of the evening shows opening day. We had a free movie ticket thanks to livingsocial.com so we felt like spoiling ourselves this time. We had a blast! Michael is the master of shirt making so I agreed to wearing one :) Michael came up with both designs. Aren't they great? He is so clever! I felt bad though because I accidentally made a mistake...I ironed the wrong pictures on the wrong t-shirts. Michael was suppose to wear the Harry Potter picture and me the sorting hat. I felt so bad. Michael forgave me (after not fitting into my shirt).

"Your mother is a horcrux..." (this was suppose to be Michael's shirt.

"I'm not that sort of hat..."

Cute modeling of the homemade t-shirts!

At the theatre with our friends Amanda and Michael. (I forgot to get a picture with them).

At home after the movie. The movie was great and we had so much fun just spending a night out together. I love this guy so much!

Flat Tire

The day I was suppose to take my siblings back up to Phoenix I discovered a flat tire. I ended up taking my mom's van instead so everything worked out fine. That night after work my awesome husband went to work! He put the spare on took our car into work the next day and bought me 4 new tires (we were planning on replacing them)! I downloaded the pictures out of order but you can read from the bottom up if you want the correct order :)

I'm so glad I married a handy man! Isn't he cute?

This was a piece of cake for him.

Here's the reason we had a flat. I seem to like to run over nails in the road. Oops!

Taking the wheel off to find the problem. While Michael changed the tire I went ahead and thoroughly cleaned out the trunk. It sure looks better now.

Lots to Share

Mom, My sister Alene, her husband, kids and I all went to the Children's Museum earlier this month and we had a blast! It was so fun to watch the boys use their imaginations and figure out how things work. The boys look adorable and everyone else looks great in every picture. I on the other hand pulled all my hair up to cool off and well... not my cutest look. Overall it was a great day and I can't wait to visit my sister and her family again soon!

Nathan had fun with the siren on this baby.

My cute mommy and me!

Sisters!

Don't judge... I wanted to try out the police motorcycle too.

Nathan loved the fire truck. He had to get a picture with all of inside.

Me, Alene and Michael. It took us about 5 attempts to get all our heads in one shot.

Cute little Nathan and Zen.

And Another!

Here's another pair of baby shoes I made! Cute little shoes!

I've Started A New Hobby!

I have been crocheting like a mad woman this past week in hopes of making some cute baby gifts for family and friends! (I'm not pregnant) I've gotten pretty fast at it really and I am excited to start new projects soon. My next project is to make a quilt but that won't be finished for a while because I am collecting old shirts, pants, shots, etc from our "give away" pile until I have enough for a quilt. I got the idea from a story of a woman who wasted nothing, and one of her ways of doing this was to keep all the clothes they grew out of and turned them into a quilt. Anyway, that's my future project idea.

Here are 2 pictures of what I've made so far. 1. Cute baby girl shoes and 2. Cute little eskimo hat (I still need to finish the straps but I just couldn't wait to post about it!)

I hope I win!

This is a little blog about Shelf Reliance! I am sharing this blog with everyone in hopes of winning some new product! Happy Birthday to Hilary :) I hope I win!!!

Running & Coupons!

I've been trying to be cool and use coupons every time I go shopping, but I haven't been having the best luck with it. First my computer won't print any coupons from freecoupons.com (where most of the coupons I want are!) I've downloaded the printer app successfully but the website won't recognize it! (arg... so frustrating!) Anyway.. I've come upon some good deals but nothing to brag about yet. I don't seem to find anything for free. At least I'm saving some money right? ha ha ha.

Quick update on us... We are almost done with this semester! Only a couple days left to go! I will be happy to have Michael home in the evenings again. It gets pretty boring around here without him :( I will have to start that new hobby I have in mind soon so I have something new to share for once :)

I have been keeping myself busy with exercising. I have been at it for almost a month now and I am feeling great! I had started running back in January but I ended up hurting my knee. I'm pretty sure I twisted it real bad when I went home for a visit in CA and played soccer with my brother. Whatever I did it kept me in a knee brace for a month which meant no running. Even walking was painful at times. I stayed off my knee for two months to make sure it healed all the way and then started running again in March. I've been waking up early to escape running in the heat and I've really been enjoying it! I highly recommend getting outdoors, it is so beautiful and fun! With waking up so early, I have so much time during the day I almost don't know what to do to keep myself busy. I've applied for summer jobs but no takers so far. Secretly I'm okay with this :) I've had more time to make yummy dinners (which I know Michael has been enjoying) and spend all the time I can with Michael once he's home. When I was working at the mall I had the evening shift so we hardly saw each other because he worked mornings, not to mention dinners got pretty lame around here for a while. I'll stop rambling now so you can all be saved from boredom. I guess I'll get back to organizing my coupons!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life! I couldn't have married a better man, companion and friend :D You are the best honey love! May this year be all that you wish for and more!

Love, Elna

XoXoXoXoXo

Families are Forever

As most already know, I was treated to a trip home from Michael for Christmas. My brother was called to serve in New Zealand (!!!) and would be giving his farewell talk the end of January. Michael knew how important it would be for me to be there, so he bought me a plane ticket for an entire weekend, so I could be with my family. Saying it was a wonderful trip would be an understatement. It was SO GOOD to be home! I hadn't realized how much I had missed being home with Mom, Dad and my younger siblings. It was the first time I experienced what "being homesick" felt like. While I was there I was able to help my mom unpack the kitchen and all the toiletries. I also got to share two of my favorite recipes (which were a hit!) and prepare some musical numbers for Sunday. My parents, brother and I got to go to the temple, and when we got back I spent time with the youngest 3. It was surprising how long I lasted playing soccer and running around the fields as much as I did! My favorite game was Sunday night. We all put about 8 names in a hat of celebrities, movie characters, book characters etc. and then had to act them out until each name was guessed. So much laughing and smiles. It was just the best night ever! :D At night, I read 3 chapters from one of my favorite books to the youngest 3. (They'll have to check it out from the library to finish the rest). Sarah, MaryJo and I did our nails, hair and make-up and enjoyed being girls. I got to give everyone a haircut and got to watch Sarah model all the clothes I brought for her :) Overall it was such a relaxing and enjoyable trip! I wasn't ready to leave Mom and Dad, but I was also anxious to get home to my sweetheart Michael. I cried when he picked me up. I was full of so many mixed emotions. I was a sight to see! I could hardly explain how I felt to anyone. When I called home I cried again. I needed my family! As I evaluate my life, I know hoe good I have it. I have the best husband a girl could ask for who also has a wonderful family! I told Michael that heaven for me would be to have our families together all the time. He told me that's exactly what heaven will be! How grateful I am to know that we are all sealed together for all eternity! This trip made such an impression on me. I don't think I could ever forget! I am more grateful each day in knowing that I will be with my family forever. I could never be complete without them nor could I ever be complete without my Michael and his family. Thank heavens I don't have to decide between them :) How grateful I am for the gospel and having this knowledge. I would be lost without it for sure!

HaPpY NeW YEaR!

As the new year begins you can't help but think back on all that has happened during the past year. Here's a list of our many adventures of 2010!

January- Celebrated our 1st anniversary in DisneyLand with our dear friends Scott & Sarah.

February- Spring semester begins.

March- Michael's amazing Ninja/Pirate birthday party.

April- General Conference

May-Trip to Wyoming to be with the Roberts :D

June-work work work.

July- Hatch Family Reunion (Included a fun mini vacation with Lash, Tania & Sadie in Las

Vegas!) & Elna's birthday :D

August- Fall semester begins...

September-Keeping up with school & work.

October- General Conference & who could forget our famous Nacho Libre characters for Halloween?

November- Camilla's baptism & Thanksgiving with the Roberts! (A much needed vacation)

December- Christmas then dinner with the Judd Family! Also, Elna received her acceptance letter into Dental Hygiene School 2015 Woo Hoo!

We are sure 2011 will bring us even more joy in life! We are excited for our future and are grateful everyday for our many blessings!

Christmas Card

SEASONS GREETINGS

Another year has come and gone and what a year it was!

You wish to know what’s going on? Well we’re here to give you the buzz.

Elna girl is doing well and stays as cute as ever.

She goes to work, excels at school. My girl is really clever!

Every week we go to church and she serves the Young Women,

The sparkle in her eyes ne’er e’er be dimmin’.

For now she cuts hair and does tuxedo rental,

But come next year she will assist in dental!

Michael enjoys his calling, teaching the Young Men.

He always shares such good advice, they’ve all become great friends!

He works so hard to pay the bills, and rarely is he terse,

Then he goes to school and gets good grades, so he can be a nurse.

We’ve been married almost 2 whole years, and life is really swell!

We are so happy together now, words can hardly tell.

Our life is full of blessings, and you are one of them,

We thank our Heavenly Father for you, from which all blessings stem.

Love,

Michael & Elna Roberts

Weekly RuNDoWN

Sunday: Church, nap and dinner!

Monday: Work, buy some wooden hangers and possibly pillows from co-worker, treat myself to V.S., buy new hair products and color, make dinner, have family home evening then finally got my hair done!

Tuesday: Work, pick up a few items at store, make lunches for school, while in school I tell my teacher my honest opinion during class (have to stay after class...) come home frustrated, clean my house real good, share ice cream with my honey, cuddle :) then go to bed.

Wednesday: Day off! It is finally cold enough to feel like Fall so I changed our blog so it has a Fall theme. Now I plan to study for next weeks tests, go to lunch with Michael :) then re-paint toes with cute new nail polish!

Thursday:Thanks to Veteran's Day there's no school so we are celebrating by going up to the temple! I'm so excited! Then, hopefully we will get back in time for the monthly mingle at church. We are going to make our own lipgloss or something fun like that.

Friday: Work... then DaTe NiGhT!

Saturday: Full long work day at the salon! Lots of color and cuts!

That's all the excitement for our little family this week. I love having days off so I can spend more time with my honey. Sometimes it seems we only see each other late at night. I guess that's pretty much the same for most couples who both go to school and work. I forgot to add to Tuesday (last night) that we figured out our schedules for next semester. I know I'm a nerd because I'm actually excited for more school! The reason being that after next summer I will officially be done with all the pre-requisites for dental hygiene, which includes all the courses that are usually taken during hygiene school or after :)

So...I need some ideas for my couches... We were fortunate enough to have leather couches given to us for our wedding. They are a dark navy blue and I have decorated them so far with lighter blue pillows with a paisley design on them. I have been wanting to add a second color for over a year but just can't decide on one. I got two light grey pillows from my co-worker and I'm thinking maybe add yellow to them as well? What are your thoughts? Blue, grey and yellow... yes or no? Pictures would help I guess.. I'll try to get them up so we can decide together.

My romantic evening

I have the sweetest honey in the world! Sunday we sort of "celebrated" the night Michael proposed to me 2 years ago :) We celebrated by going back to the Seminary building where we had met, parked the car and turned on the c.d. I had made him over 4 years ago. When the song, "The Luckiest" came on by Ben Folds (the song we had our first kiss to), Michael asked me to dance! He sang to me then it was back to the car where we shared favorite stories and qualities about each other and had fun laughing at inside jokes. I am such a lucky girl. I am so glad I said yes when he asked me to marry him 2 years ago :D I LOVE my Michael!

It's that time of year again! Back to school for us :) So far so good this semester. Both of us are excited about getting further ahead! We are going to be taking a class together this year, what luck! We love being together but we are not impressed with our teacher. We feel that it is a little unorganized and very hard to understand what is expected etc. We will make it through though no doubt. I am taking 14 credits and Michael is taking 9. At the beginning of the semester I was fortunate enough to be given a temporary job at the campus bookstore. It was a nice easy job and the extra money was great! They asked me to come back in December when the will need the extra help again. I will be happy to return.

As far as other news goes, we decided to stick with our apartment for another semester. We (more like I) didn't find an apartment that was in our price range that I loved better than what we already have. It seems pointless to me to move to another apt. without any upgrades. Someday I will get that washer and dryer I am waiting for. Of course there were some I loved, but they were too close to "too much $" border. We plan to move out in June however because they are increasing the amount here and to be honest we can get a much nicer apt for the price they are wanting by then. Wish me luck in my continual search for a new place.

As for me I have an interview in another week for position with the dental assisting program for next fall! I am super excited and cannot wait to begin this program. If I am selected it would only be 2 semesters and I would have a licensed certificate! I would hope to go to work full time so that Michael could get more schooling done faster. I am still working at the salon and enjoy it. I hope to continue with that always.

I can't think of much else to say so I'll close for now. I'm trying to figure out how to change things on the blog but certain options seemed to have disappeared. I no longer have an option for font anymore. It is so frustrating. Also I can't see the backround I chose unless I am using the mac. Someday I'll figure all of this out.

We hope all is well with everyone we know and love! Wish we all lived closer :) -Elna

Check In...

Okay, here it is! My checkin for the week.. Not as great as I thought I would do but practice makes perfect right? First I'll let you all know what my goals were and then how many points I got each day. My goals for the week were: Exercise 30 min, Drink water throughout the day, No fast food or unhealthy snack, no sweets, no soda, no eating after 8 p.m., personal prayer and scripture, make dinner (which I usually do but I meant more full meals like sides of veggies or fruits, etc. not just the main dish), clean/tidy home or laundry and lastly my personal goal for the day/week.

Monday= +7 points

Tuesday= +9

Wednesday= +7

Thursday= +9

Friday= +8

Saturday= +9

Sunday= +7

TOTAL= 56 out of 70 = 80%

(not bad but definitely room for progress!)

So there are some things that I don't know if they should count or not. For example, we were invited to dinner Sunday... I didn't give myself a point although in a way it shouldn't count since I was PLANNING on making a nice sunday dinner... ? What would you do? I am proud of myself for exercising 3 days of the week! I usually do 4 but had some things come up. I LOVE water! I usually have a water bottle with me everywhere I go. I feel lost without one :) only had sweets 3 days out of the week. In my opinion that's pretty good! Anyway you all get the point :) I think I did pretty well. B average isn't bad right? ;)

Cheer me on for this coming week!

New Goals

Today I've made up a chart that has 10 goals listed with the week. I got this idea off of another blog called, "Get your mojo on." It's a wonderful idea and since I'm the kind of girl that loves making lists just so I can mark it off later... this looks like something I would enjoy doing! On the top left corner of my chart I have the category Activities followed by each day of the week.

Under the activities column, I listed my 10 goals to hopefully do daily. These goals are; Exercise 30 min., Drink 48oz of water, No fast food or unhealthy snack, No sweets, No soda, No eating after 8 p.m., Personal scripture and prayer, Make dinner, Clean & tidy home (or laundry), and finally Personal goal! (personal goal can be anything from organizing a closet to writing in your journal... etc.) Some of these goals are things I already do, but some will be new and possibly a challenge!

Under the days of the week, I keep track of which goal I accomplish by giving myself 1 point. Each week you are allowed one FREE POINT anywhere but only for activity. At the bottom of the chart is the where you calculate your total. Hopefully I will have 10 points in each column.

I am wanting to come up with a reward depending on how many points I earn! It will be fun. I don't know what that/those reward(s) will be, but it will be something fun like go get a pedicure or buy a new shirt! I am super excited about this! Now I just have to make sure I follow through! :)

Mini Vacation

I love Family! Michael and I got to go up to the temple last Tuesday. We had so much fun staying with the Nortons! We love them! We left for the temple Wednesday afternoon and on the way Michael let me buy 2 undershirts from Down East Basics. They are wonderful! It's so nice to have them! The temple of course was exactly what we needed. So peaceful. I wish we could go everyday. :) On our trip up to Phoenix I got 5 voice mails from my family. They were eager to let me know they would be in Phoenix that coming Saturday!! What a wonderful surprise! Since Michael had to work, I went up with my brothers and stayed the night with my parents. It was nice to be with everyone again. I forget how much I miss all the noise that comes with big families. I'm so used to my quiet apartment all the time, so it was nice to have constant conversations going all around. I have to say though, I am so happy to be back home with my Honey! Life just isn't the same without him :D I love my Michael!

We picked up the boys today as a favor to Aunt Cora. Since we were near we decided to go over to Pima to get some errands taken care of. We spent 3 hours there for basically nothing! Turns out someone took my name off the Advisor list so we sat there for 2 hours waiting... for nothing. Stupid Pima. I really don't understand what goes through the employee's minds. THEN I find out that my pima account had been inactivated 3 times... WHAT? WHY? I seriously don't understand this school. Always surprises there. You never know what will happen next. Oh well life goes on. I just have to try and let it go.

I got to finish off the evening with Kristine! I'm going to miss her when she leaves for her mission :( We were suppose to exercise but instead sat and talked all night until Michael got home from soccer. Girl's night is the best!

100%

Just needed to brag a little tonight. I got 100% on one of my finals in Microbiology today! I was so happy! I only have 2 more finals to go. One left in Microbiology and then my last final in Organic Chemistry. I am nervous about both... :P Of course instead of studying I am on here writing my thoughts to keep from boring myself with reading the text books. I can do it! I am only one week away from having my summer break!

Michael is out with his best bud Brad tonight. I am glad they get to hang out every so often. Brad is a wonderful friend. They usually go to soccer Monday nights but Brad wasn't there so they arranged a get-together tonight to talk about Manly things :)

After school is out I plan to get back on track with my exercise routine! It is a challenge for me to stay on top of that when I have hard tests to study for. I know it is possible, I just don't have enough motivation to do it. I did just get my new swimsuit in the mail so maybe that can become my motivation for now. I'm not obsessed. Just want to have energy again... and to tone up would be nice!

I'm feeling guilty now so I better get studying. Wish me luck!