Ketchup

I have come to realize that I am awful at blogging, maybe when I have kids and they do cool things ill be better (but that wont be for a long time!). Anyways, me and mike have been busy entertaining family. Mikes sister, her husband and his younger brother came and visited us at the beginning of October. It was a sports filled weekend
We went to a

NHL St. Louis Blues hockey game. It was my first NHL game and we had a really fun time! (Me and Mike have now gone to a few more) Mike and Travis (mikes brother in-law) got our tickets for the scalpers on the street... I stayed in the care.
Then the next day we went to

a NFL game. The Rams were playing the Minnesota Vikings so it was really cool to see Brett Favre (he was really the only player I knew). We won (we meaning the vikings).

Then my parents came down for a visit!! I was so excited for them to come and so sad when it was time for them to leave. We did a lot of fun things and saw a lot of neat St Louis "things". We ate at two places that have been featured on the Travel Channel so that was pretty neat. I have come to find out that that is one of the nice thing about living in a big city, there are lots of "famous" places. Both places were amazing (Pointers Pizza which is know for there 32" pizza, and the other is Crowns Kitchens which had amazing milk shakes and sandwich).

Then this last week, me and mike have been from one side of Washington to the other and back. LOTS OF DRIVING! Mike got a couple jobs offers so we went to scout the places out. We are having a lot of trouble deciding where we want to settle down and live. It is such a big decision! We are really thinking about Monroe, Wa.
We both really want the Spokane area but nothing has opened up there, we are a little disappointed about that. I think we keep hoping that something will open up soon but it doesnt look very good ( but im still keeping my fingers crossed).

Nauvoo!

Last weekend me and Mike went up to Nauvoo!

It was my first time and Mikes second time. It is such a beautiful place! We camped out while we were there. Which was actually really nice, not only did we save on money but the weather was great and there were very few bugs!
We started the day out by doing a session in the temple, our trip wouldnt have been the same if we hadnt made time for a session. I was blown away at how big the temple was. It was absolutely gorgeous! Then we walked down to Old Nauvoo and took a carriage ride which took us up to Inspiration Point.

The whole way up to Inspiration Point one of the Senior Missionaries told stories, ones I had never heard before and a few even made me tear up a little. Then we hopped on a wagon ride which took us around Old Nauvoo.

It was a neat way to see the whole town and scope out things that we wanted to come back to and visit. After we walked around Old Nauvoo and hit all the "must sees" we drove down to Carthage.


That is the actually bullet hole that killed Hyrum Smith. It was unbelievable to be in the same room that both Hyrum and Joseph Smith were martyr in. When you go into the bedroom where it took place you can instantly feel the Spirit. I couldnt help getting all weepy when I entered the room.
I am so glad that me and Mike were able to go and visit Nauvoo, and see how the Saints had lived and to learn/better understand the things that they went through. It really does have a special Spirit there, one of sacrifice and true faith.

Lake Lazy

Me and Mike headed back to North Dakota to spend sometime with his family this summer, and what summer would be complete without a little lake time. Mike's parents own a lake in Minnesota (called Strawberry lake...how cute is that?!) Anyways... while we were there we up to Itasca and did a little...

We worked up quite the appetite so on the way back to their lake place we stopped at this little bar and grill that has kinda become a tradition to eat at every time the family comes up, and it was just as good as I remembered! The boys decided to play a little...

while the girls chatted.
The next day it was freezing! It was defiantly pants and sweatshirt weather, but the boys decided to jump on in and wash up anyways!! What "tough" men!

Even though it was kinda a drizzly cold day the sunset was absolutely beautiful!

The next day we kept noticing all these wasps so we started looking around for the hive and we were shocked when we found it! You may not be able to tell by the picture but it was about the size of a soccer ball no joke!!

On our last day there I decided that I need to join the club (seein how everyone else had) and bathe in the lake... so I braved the freezing water and did it! And to my surprise I really enjoyed it!

Art and the Wondeful Andy Warhol!

Mike and me spent last Saturday in Forest Park and we went the Art Museum there. I have been a big fan of Andy Warhol since pretty much the beginning of time, so to my pleasant surprise they not only had one of his original paintings(screen printing)

but they had a gift shop full of Andy Warhol stuff! I was in heaven! I just wish I had the money to buy it, but oh well that will come. I am oddly obsessed with him (I get all exciting inside just thinking about him and the impact he has had on art)
Here are some fun Andy facts:
* He worked as an illustrator for Vogue (along with other magazines)
* His last name is really Warhola
* Valerie Solanis, founder and sole member of SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) walked into Warhol's studio, known as the Factory, and shot the artist. The attack was nearly fatal.
* Warhol also published The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to B and Back Again)
* He also created two cable television shows, "Andy Warhol's TV" in 1982 and "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes" for MTV in 1986
* Following routine gall bladder surgery, Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987
* He is the King of Pop Art!!
Needless to say Andy Warhol is awesome and I love him!

Here are a couple of other neat things we saw...
if you look close this paining is made up of house hold items
and this was a replica of a big pink balloon bunny

Mom

Yesterday was my moms birthday, so I thought I would write a little blog all about her! I could go on forever about how great my mom is, she is by far the best mom ever! She is not only my mom but one of my very best friends. Ever since I was little I have always love to spend time with my mom, we would go out almost every Saturday morning and go shopping and just dink around town. Now that I am in St Louis and too far away from my mom, I call her at least once a day if not twice. My mom is the cutest most thoughtful women I know, she is always thinking of cute little things to send me and always has the cutest holiday decorations! I love my mom lots, she is the best mom and friend a girl could ask for!!!

Title Change

So Mike just informed me that he really didn't like the title of our blog so we tried (tried being the key word) to brainstorm some other ideas... but we came up dry. I thought it would be cute to name it "Ta-Da.... Its the Thompson's" but Mike thought that was stupid and I didnt want to have a stupid blog title, but I may change it to that any ways because I think its cute and it made me laugh when I thought of it.
I have a really hard time even having the word Thompson in there... for some reason I'm not too fond of my new last name quite yet and it is still weird to think that that is my new name. It so weird to get letters and packages in the mail and for them to say Danie Thompson!! I freak out a little inside every time I see it!

Coldplay

Me and Mike went to see Coldplay at the Verizon Amphitheater the other night and it was AWESOME!! They really interacted with the crowd. During Yellow they dropped big (and I mean big) yellow balloons on the crowd, I tried to grab one but I couldnt quite jump high enough!

Then the band came out into the crowd and sang! They had set up two different stages in the crowd and one of them just happened to be on the lawn, and it was super close to where we were standing!! It was exciting to be that close! They then got the crowd to do a cell phone wave, Mike lifted me up so I could see it and it was amazing, such a cool thing to see! And if that wasnt enough cool stuff they shot out all these paper butterflies while they were singing.

It was cool because the butterflies literally filled the sky. And to top it of they gave everyone in the crowd their CD... for FREE!!! That was the best concert I have seen thus far (I even danced to the music), and it will be a hard one to top!!

Well here is a quick little update on our lives (nothing too exciting)
*Taught my first Relief Society lesson
*Got to go home to Washington for a few days (not long enough)
*Edward Jones flew Mike out to Spokane to knock doors and try to find clients (so awkward, but he did really good)
*Im super sad about the whole Jon and Kate Gosselins thing!
*Went to an outdoor play "Meet me in St Louis", it was awesome! Im excited they are doing Hairspray there in about a month

Other then that nothing exciting has happened but I did find a really cool article that I wanted to post, about sleeping and food that will help you sleep and food that will not help you sleep.

10 top sleep boosters

Nibble on one of these 10 high-carb calmers an hour before bedtime. You'll be yawning in no time.

1. Half of a whole-wheat English muffin or raisin bagel drizzled with honey

2. Two cups of air-popped popcorn

3. A small slice of angel food cake topped with berries

4. A frozen whole-wheat waffle, toasted, with maple syrup

5. Half a cup of pretzels

6. Fresh strawberries dunked in a little fat-free chocolate syrup

7. Half a cup of pasta topped with marinara sauce

8. A 4-ounce baked potato topped with salsa

9. A handful of oyster crackers and a piece of fruit

10. Canned mandarin oranges sprinkled with crystallized ginger

Foods that Steal your Sleep

1. Spicy Foods

2. A big dinner

3. Raucous veggies

4. Speed eating

5. Nightcaps

6. Coffee after Breakfast

Forgot this...

I forgot to put this collage in my last post, and I couldnt figure out how to put it in there so here is the last set of our pictures for Chicago!

Chicago

Once again I have fallen behind on my bloggin... so here is what we have been up to...

We went to Chicago a couple weeks ago and it was a BLAST! Mike's uncle and aunt and their kids went down there on a vacation and invited us up to join them and who could turn down a trip to Chicago?! We stayed right in the heart of downtown (the good part) so pretty much everything was within walking distance which was nice since traffic is a little crazy down there! Our first day there we went to a Cubs-Twins game (and of course the Cubs lost). It was really neat to see Wrigley Field and see the ivy in the outfield. Mike was like a little kid wanting to take pictures of everything. I couldnt believe how many people were there!

Mike's uncle and aunt took us out to this pizza place that is famous for of course the Chicago style pizza, we had to wait a little over and hour to get in but it was well worth it! The pizza was really good, I could barely finish one piece because it was soo big. The next few days we spend hoppin' around town trying to see as much as we could. We went to the museum of science and industry which was really cool! The best part about it was they had the Harry Potter traveling exhibit which seriously was the coolest thing I have ever seen! I never wanted it to end! After that we went down to Marine Point which is kinda like a board walk with vendors and lots of places to eat. The view of the skyline was amazing from there! The next day we went to the art museum which was really neat to see... lots of interesting pieces... after that we spend most of the day in the park. They where having a Blues Festival and I won a tote there and Mike won a really cool water bottle.

It was a really fun trip and I wish that we could have spend a longer time there. There is just so much to see and do! I cant wait until we get to go back!!!

Twilight!

So I recently have become obsessed with Twilight! I didnt start reading it until a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it... aka Edward!!

I am now on the third book... and I am reading it kind of slow because I know after this one there is only one left, and I dont want the saga to stop! But like most girls who read this book they fall in love with Edward and I sure as heck did! Although Bella sometimes bugs me in the book Edward can do NO wrong. As far as the movie goes... kinda disappointed although I thought Robert Pattinson was a good pick :) but I think I would have made a much better Bella.

Fun Filled Saturday!

We spend most of today downtown! Which I always love because it is full of new and exciting things! We went to Union Station in the afternoon. Union Station use to be the main train station in St Louis a long time ago, and they have now turned it into a mall, hotel, and a mini museum. It is really neat on the outside, they have left all of the original structure/architecture which gives it this really old 20's(or whatever decade it was built in) feel!! They also have a little area where you could rent paddle boats, and feed the enormous gold fish! After we were done exploring that we decided that we would treat our self to Hard Rock cafe (neither me or mike had ever eaten there). It of course had a really cool atmosphere and the food was pretty good too!

After lunch we then went down to Forest Park. They where doing a Shakespeare festival and that night they were going to be performing The Merry Wives of Windsor. It started at 8 but we got there way early (530) because we wanted good seats! We walked around the park for a bit while we waited and boy oh boy is it a nice park! Finally it was show time! It was very well done, I just wish I had been more familiar with the play, that way I could have sat back and enjoyed it instead of trying to piece everything together. But it was still a lot of fun! The only down side of the whole thing was that a spider some how crawled up on my hand which was gross, but thankfully it was small so I didnt make too much of a scene!

Take Me Out To A Ball Game!

We went to our first baseball game the Missouri Cardinals, the other weekend (it was my first Major League Baseball game so I was pretty excited)! We went with another couple that are in our ward (funny story about that... Mike just happened to have played hockey with the husband while he was up in Rexburg and he and his wife just happened to be doing summer sales in St Louis, so that is nice to have so friends). Earlier that week I had found a really inexpensive Cardinals jersey at Wal-Mart so I was excited to wear that to the game. The game wasnt very exciting the Cardinals lost 0-1 but we did get to see the other team hit a home run. We of course had to eat a hot dog for lunch and it was a mighty good hot dog too! It was a Nathans hot dog and coast us 6 bucks a pop for one! But ya just have to have a hot dog a baseball game (at least for your first time). We went down to the game with no tickets and Mike and Steven (the husband of the other couple) just planned on getting them from scalpers (scary)! And it was scary they are all up in your face trying to bargain with you. Im glad Mike was there and they werent all up in my face because yea they were scary. But we got two tickets for 20 bucks!! We are hoping that we will get to see quite a few games while we are here!

Forest Park

Our first Saturday here we went down to Forest Park which is huge park in down town St Louis. They have so much to do in this park it is kinda crazy! They have museums, shops, places to rent boats, swimming, tennis courts, a zoo, and everything else you could ever want in a park (no joke). We decided that we would walk around the park and then go and explore the zoo (which is free). The zoo was really cool and big we didnt even get to see the whole thing before it was closing, so we will have to go back one of these days and finish it. After the zoo we walked around a little more and went up to where the museum is. It was closing so we decided that we would just walk around. We say some people all decked out in Renaissance gear and they were jousting (you dont see that everyday). They were all serious about it too which made it even funnier. Since it was a Saturday the park was buzzing with people but because it is so big it didnt seem crowded at all. It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun!

The Drive Part 2

We spent about a week in Grand Forks just hanging around and relaxing. Mike was suppose to take his last test for Edward Jones but he put it off a week because he didnt feel like he had gotten enough time studying (he ended up passing it!) We had a really nice reception at one of the local hotels there. A lot of Mikes family came down for it so it was nice to meet more of his family. I wore a really cute dress and had hot pink heels!! It was a lot of fun.

Mikes parents and his Uncle Eric decided that they would help us move down there (so very nice). We bought a bed while we were in Grand Forks (an amazing pillow top bed). But other then that we planned on finding most of our furniture down there. We left Monday morning and planned on making the trip in two days. Drive mostly Monday and then have only about 3 hours on Tuesday. The drive went much more smoothly this time around! It helped that Mike drove most of the way so I could just lay back and relax. Funny Story...When we got to the actually Missouri state line sign we had put the camera on top of the car and ran to the sign before the picture took and right as the picture was taking a BIG semi truck drove by and the wind for it knocked the camera off the car and this is the picture we got as the camera was falling... not as bad as it could have been.
When we made it to St Louis we were all surprised at how green it was here! I never thought that Missouri was so lush! Everything was so green and pretty! Our apartment is way nice and is in a really good part of town (what a relief). Mike works about a mile and half away so he can come home for lunch which is nice. Mikes parents stayed for about 3 days after we got here to help us move in. It was nice to have there help.

The Drive Part 1

So we got kinda a late start on Sunday so we didnt get nearly as far as we wanted.On our way through Montana we saw this bison on the side of the road! It was crazy it was just hang out right on the side of the road eat grass. I dont think I have ever seen on so up close other then in like a zoo. So I just had to stop and get a picture (actually I made Mike take the picture I didnt want to get too close to it just in case). But by the time it got dark the deer were really starting to jump out! Which scares me to death!! So we decided to stay over night in Montana somewhere.

The next day we got up early and started out again. We had a long day ahead of us. Mike wanted to make it to North Dakota that day so that meant about 12 hours of driving!! We were both in separate cars so that made it kinda boring to not have anyone to talk to. But Mike had gotten me Twilight on audio book (he was convinced I would love it, I was not, although in the end I have to say I love Edward!) so that made the time go faster for me. Everything was going just great, we stopped at the Bad Lands to stretch our legs and I had never seen them before so that was pretty cool. About 15 minutes out of Bismark (about 5 hours from Grand Forks) I blew a tire!!! It scared the crap out of me!!! It was a back one luckily so I didnt lose control I pretty much just came to a very abrupt stop. Mike was a head of me and I tried to get his attention but no luck, then I tried calling him but of course he was not answering. But finally he realized that I was no longer behind him! So finally when he found me we put the spare tire on (which was quite the task seeing how we had just gotten the car and had no idea where it was and then we realized that in order to get it we had to unpack the entire trunk!!) But finally we got it on and made the 15 minute drive to Bismark and stayed there over night. It was nice that we got a break because five more hours of driving would have been a killer! The next morning we got up and got the tire fixed (which took forever and was $$) and made our way to Grand Forks! We finally made it!!

Saying Bye

So on April 19 we were finishing packing up and saying bye to Rexburg. I never thought leaving Rexburg would be so hard! My last day at work was Saturday the 18 which was sad I had really grown to love my job and the people I worked with (what an amazing bunch)!

We started packing about a week before we were planning on leaving because Mike was studying to take a BIG Edward Jones test (which he passed) and I was still working at the Financial Aid Office, so we didnt have a whole lot of spare time to pack. It was a disaster packing! You never realize how much junk you have until you pack. It was unbelievable all the stuff we had in our apartment.
Mikes truck was unbelievably packed down and so was our car. Every little nook and cranny was packed with something. We did sadly have to leave some stuff behind. But thankfully we hadnt yet gotten any furniture so we didnt have to drag that along on our journey. Once we finally got everything packed up and cleaned we headed out. I shed a few tears leaving but not too many. Rexburg had really become a place I had come to love (never thought I would say that). So many great things had happened to me in Rexburg and I meet some really great people, I will miss it!
Bye Bye Rexburg!

Not Faithful!!

So I totally have not been faithful at keeping this up..that is why until now I havent added anyone or anything but I need to get better at this because so far we have done some way awesome things! We have been all over the place in the last month or so. Idaho...Montana...North Dakota...South Dakota...Ohio...Kansas...and finally Missouri our home sweet home... for now.

Jackson Hole

For Valentines Day/Mikes Birthday we went to Jackson Hole, Wy and that was a lot of fun to get out of Rexburg and just have a lazy weekend. We ate at our favorite pizza Mountain High Pizza Pie, we had to wait over an hour for our pizza but it was so worth the wait. We also ate at this great Mexican Restaurant and had deep fried ice cream which was soo good! We stayed at this tiny little hotel (we are poor so we have to take what we can get) but it was right in the heart of downtown so everything was walking distance which was nice.

It is so pretty and snowy there, downtown was lite up all cute. We did a little shopping (all I bought was one zip up sweatshirt and Mike actually picked it out, im training him well :) ). There was part of the Holocaust Museum for DC there, they had a traveling exhibit on the Burning of the Books, so that was pretty cool to see and get all educated. But most of the weekend we just spent relaxing and enjoying the "no obligation" weekend.

Lets Pick It Back Up... Or Start

I have really wanted to start blogging but I just cant seem to find the time for it, but I am going to make more of an effort, especially since we will be moving far far away from everyone really soon :(
Just as a quick up date Mike and me have been married for a month an a couple weeks. It has gone fast! I am always paranoid that I am pregnant but no baby yet and hopefully it stays that way for a loooonnggg time! I will get some pictures up soon! Promise!
Mike started his Edward Jones program on the 17th and it looks to be pretty intense with all the studying and exams he has to take... good luck to him!
We moved across the hall into a much bigger apartment I will have to post pictures later, once we get everything in its proper place. I really want to decorate but we will be moving so soon that im not sure it is worthy decorating a place we will only be at for another 2 months.... so right now it looks empty and very unfriendly.
Im taking a sewing class at school and wow it is intense I do more work in that class then my major classes. I have never sewed before so I have no clue what I am do half the time, but slowly I am getting better. So far I have made a pillowcase and a pair of jammas and next up is a shirt with a collar (oh boy!)
Well like always it is cold and snowy here! I cant wait for sunshine!!