Gingerbread House Competition

            Every Sunday we go to my parents house for dinner and this Sunday, with it being all Christmas and all, we had a Gingerbread house competition! we have started this new tradition and for the past couple years my family has been expressing our Christmas Spirit by doing this fun activity.  This year we had three teams: team 1 - Mom & Dad, Team 2 - Dustin, Casey and Tatiana, and team 3 - Me, Dillon and Brandee. Ashley is living in Hawaii now and so since she wasn't here to participate she participated in a way by becoming our judge.  She and Grandma Hamamoto skyped with us and they were to choose the winner.  Well let me tell ya...there was all this creative craziness goin on up in thur!! That kitchen became a mess once our minds were running wild! we were grabbing anything we could think of and using it to create our masterpieces. Our house had a theme to it, it was a Hawaiian Christmas house.  We surrounded our house with sand and water that had little fishes swimming in it, Dillon made a palm tree out of chocolate covered raisins and lettuce as well as tiki torches, a roasting pig, and a little Hawaiian snow woman.  Then Brandee made the surf board and the stain glass windows and helped me to put all the detailing on the house, helped Dillon do the landscaping to give it a bit of curb appeal as well as make the ocean. The finishing touch on our house was the chimney, in the chimney we put dry ice for the "fireplace is burning" effect. 
           After several hours of creating we finally finished and got Ashley and Grandma on skype to do the judging.  Things got intense as we all sat in the front room waiting as my mom was showing the judges the houses in the kitchen and as we were waiting for the judges as they were deliberating.  Finally they announced the winner..... the judged it in three categories: most creative, most intricate and most wintery/christmasy.  Team 1 won the most intricate, team 2 won the most wintery/christmasy and team 3 (my team) won most creative. I can't imagine the tough time the judges probably had trying to decide who the winner was, all the houses were crazy good! It was so much fun.  I love doing things like this and seeing it all come together. I'll post a few pictures here but if you go to our picture page you can see more pictures of this years competition as well as last years! enjoy!

Our little neighborhood

Mom & Dads

Dustin, Casey and Tatiana

Mine, Dillon and Brandee's hale

Finals week,job, and almost death experience! -_-

Well folks, it has finally come.....Finals the last few weeks has been SUUUPER crazy since this week is Finals week. I had to give a presentation in my ethics class and Dillon had to give a presentation in his as well AND in his English class plus we have all of our big papers due along with everything else as school is coming to a close.....for now. Dillon has been and will be picking up extra hours at work since Saturday we leave on our honeymoon for a week (SO PSYCHED! ). I have also been helping a neighbor in my homeward with her parents 50th Anniversary so I had designed invitations, a sign in book, favor tags, put together a music playlist while everyone is socializing and also for her parents vow renewal and last but not least put together a slideshow.  But aside from all the havoc we still find time to take a breather and just enjoy each others company.
                However! this past Monday I got a call from the place Ashley used to work asking if I was still looking for work because they have two positions available if I am interested and if I could come in for an interview on Thursday.  Of course I got all giddy inside because I couldn't believe I just got a call about a job after months of searching and praying then one day it was just handed to me. Then the next day they call me back and are like "um actually you're hired...you don't need to come in for your interview on Thursday." BOOYA! I was so excited and still am, I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to start working! I just am continuing to thank the Lord for this great blessing, we definitely see his hands in all things.  We have been able to recognize and appreciate all the blessings of the Temple and the power of prayer.  He does live and he is our Savior.



  I bet you are wondering why in the title of this post it says, "...and almost death experience" well let me tell ya.  After school the other day Dillon and I went to Applebees to celebrate the ending of the school year and for me getting a job and well...I was eating my steak and was chewing on that one piece where you feel like no matter how long you chew it it will never break down and well it ended up getting stuck in my throat.  I tried to play it cool and take care of the situation myself without causing a scene so i was trying to cough it back out but of course it lodged itself further into my throat and then of course the oxygen was cut off and I started panicking, I couldn't focus, I felt the circulation get cut off from my brain and I thought I was going to die...and while all this was happening picture Dillon with his mouth full of fajita with a tortilla in one hand and his other hand stuffing the tortilla with more filling not even noticing his dieing wife on the other side of the table until I panicked while I was reaching for my cup because I felt like I was gonna black out and I made a noise and jumped and that's when he finally looked up but when I jumped I was able to swallow my food.  I was so scared afterward that if I wasn't in public I probably would have cried lol.


And that's what has happened thus far in our lives :)

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas....

So it hasn't snowed much yet here in Utah County but it's beginning to accumulate quite a bit up in the mountains.  However, it is absolutely freezing all the time still which in a way is good because then it calls for a hot cup of hot coco and cuddling up in warm blankets and watching movies.  I absolutely love the holiday season, it really is the best time of the year Dillon and I are starting to collect Christmas decorations and slowly decorating our little apartment.  We have our tree up which is an Asian tree in which my grandma has started for me a long time ago, she would send each of the grandchildren ornaments each year and mine has been an Asian tree because I am my grandmas little Tomiko-chan which means like little girl or beautiful girl in Japanese.  So far we also hung a few wreaths one of which Dillon's Uncle Tom had surprised us and sent in the mail, we were so excited! it is so cute, fresh smelling and full.  I know this winter will be so much fun Dillon and I leave on part 1 our "wintery honeymoon" in a week and a half to Colorado. I am sooo excited because we will be going dog sledding, snowmobiling, snowboarding etc. and Dillon surprised me with an early Christmas present and bought me a new snowboard which is so rad so we can do lots of snowboarding this season.  This past weekend we did some Christmas activities with my family, my family also invited Cody so we went to the Festival of trees where Mike also joined us on his way to work.  On our way there Cody called us to let us know he had just arrived and that there were TONS of people there and it was crazy hard to find parking but he is such an amazing brother that he found two parking stalls next to each other and parked taking up both stalls to save one for us for when we got there.  He told us that people would come behind him and lay on the horn, someone even walked up to his car and knocked on the window getting mad at him in which he just ignored the guy and say there until we got there.  Oh the things a brother who loves his family will do, he was so sweet and so strong to be able to take the wrath of all those frustrated people.  We saw hundreds and hundreds of amazing trees and wreaths as well as crafts and gingerbread houses.  They had lots of activities going on and entertainment. Then later that evening we went up to Midway to the Creche Festival which is an exhibit of a bunch of Nativities from all over the world and there we got some fudge, caramel apples and got to dress up as the nativity and get our picture taken.  After we were supposed to go to a live Nativity in Pleasant Grove which my family has always been going to for years but for some reason they aren't doing it this year which was a huge bummer so we went back to my parents house for some pizza.  I love Holiday traditions and all the Christmas spirit and great music around this time of year.

Our Asian Tree

Codys parking job saving us a spot!

Gobble Gobble!

We first want to wish everyone (Even though it was 2 days ago) a Happy Thanksgiving and safe Black Friday! We hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays and were able to stuff themselves full.  This year it was mine and Dillons first Thanksgiving together as Mr. and Mrs. it was just the two of us this year which meant I was able to do all the cooking for our meal, I cooked all the things Dillon wanted for Thanksgiving with his help in the kitchen. We were going to go to Seattle with my family to have Thanksgiving with Ashley and my other family there before she moves to Hawaii but Dillon had to work so we are staying at my parents house house and dog sitting for the week.  It has been real fun and very relaxing, Dillon and I finished putting up the Christmas lights on my parents house, played lots of games, watched movies by the fire place and drank hot co co with our pumpkin spice creamer and played with the dogs. The day before Thanksgiving my mom and sister and I skyped while we were both preparing our turkey for the next day, it was like our little cooking show lol.  It was interesting as Dillon and I were trying to finding the innards and the neck within the turkey and were cleaning it and rubbing it down with our brine.  On Thanksgiving we got up early as its been a tradition ever since I was little to watch the Thanksgiving and Macys parade and have breakfast.  We had breakfast burritos which had sausage, eggs, hash browns with bell peppers and salsa in it and then we had onion dip and artichoke and spinach dip to snack on throughout the rest of the day.  We started cooking our yummy turkey, funeral potatoes, yum yum corn, rolls, deviled eggs, stuffing, mashed potatoes as well as twice baked potatoes, Dillon is always such a good helper in the kitchen.  We also had pumpkin pie and Dillons jello casserole for dessert (which I absolutely love, it's so refreshing mm). At the dinner table Dillon and I both said what we were thankful for and we played the thankful game where we would alternate each letter in the alphabet and say what we were grateful for. There are so many things to be grateful for and playing that game really made us realize all the little things we should be grateful for.  We are so thankful for so much and there will never be enough words to express our appreciation for all the lord has blessed us with.  We are so grateful for such amazing family and friends, our education, our home, the experiences we have every single day and how they help us grow and bring us closer as a couple, our health we have been so lucky to have good health so we are able to do the things we need to every day, for temples and the knowledge we have of the eternities and how families can be together forever.  I know for myself that I am extremely Thankful to have such an amazing husband that loves me and works hard to support and provide for our little family, that takes care of me, is so crazy and fun, encourages me to do the things I don't think I can and who makes me a better person. After dinner we relaxed a little then went to the movies and saw Breaking Dawn and then we drove around Orem to places we knew were gonna have ridiculous lines for Black Friday to see how crazy it was.  We didn't go black friday shopping this year because there wasn't anything we really were wanting but we did go out around noon to go clothes shopping.  Now that Thanksgiving is over I cannot wait for Christmas to come around I absolutely love decorating, seeing all the lights, drinking hot chocolate with creamer, and watching Christmas movies it's one of the best times of the year for sure.  

Rubbing the turkey with Brine. Ash on skype in the background doing her turkey!

glazing mm

Putting up the christmas lights

Dillon Getting ready to cut the turkey

He did so good

my favorite are those rolls

One Month Anniversary!

Exactly one month ago from this very day I was sealed to my best friend for time and all eternity.  Our wedding day just seemed so surreal to us but was everything we had dreamed of and more! I am so blessed to have such a loving, sensitive, spiritual, positive, supportive, hardworking and crazy husband in my life who loves me no matter the day or time and who does so much for me and our marriage. Married life has been a complete BLAST! we have had so much fun this past month as Mr. and Mrs. transforming our little apartment into a home, eating meals together daily where we discuss how our day has gone and confide in one another and on top of all that there is nothing in the world that compares to being able to go to sleep and waking up next to the man of your dreams every single day.  I recently made the big name change and am still getting used to signing my new name and being referred to as Mrs. or Chelsey Swanson.  It still causes butterflies in our stomach when we or others refer to us as husband and wife.  Daily we are saying to each other, "We are married! You are my husband or you are my wife!" we still can't believe that this special time in our lives has finally come and can't wait to see what other adventures life has in store for us.

My amazing husband and a quick update!

      So I have quite a bit to update on but first things first I just love opportunities where I can just rave about my wonderful husband.  He is such a hard worker, positive, supportive, thoughtful, loving, creative and everything wonderful you can think of, the definition of your "dream man."  Dillon is a full-time student at UVU in the Civil engineering program with an emphasis in fire protection engineering as well as working at Wells Fargo so he is gone from 8 am to 7 pm on school days and busy studying everyday. As busy as he is he still makes time for me everyday, time for weekly temple night together, and to donate plasma.  Luckily he gets off work early on Saturdays, there's no school and he has Sundays off so we get to spend time together. 
       Even with knowing his busy schedule, at the beginning of the week when we were writing out our dunner menu for the week he volunteered to make dinner on Friday.  Little did we know I would come down with the stomach flu towards the end of the weekend so he making dinner on Friday was such a big help.  The whole week I was so excited to see what he was going to make since he wanted to surprise me and finally the day came.  He had tucked me into our warm bed to rest and brought me some ginger ale to help with my stomach and he got to work making dinner.  Oh man was it DELICIOUS! I craaave his meal everyday now! he made a spinach ravioli lasagna casserole mmm mmm. He is such a great cook and cleans as he goes and washes his dishes even though he washes dishes every night, what a man right????

Dillon got his badge at Wells Fargo this past week as well it is so cute to see him all dressy and profesh and to hear about his day when I see him in the evening.  This is the first job he's had that he really enjoys.  He will be working as a teller for now but is hoping to be made a banker within the next few months.  I am so proud of him he mos def is a go getter!

So profesh!

 Another fun activity we were able to attend recently was a type of Country Fair that UVU was doing.  We just got out of class and was heading to our car but as we walked by the ballroom the place was decorated crazy cool like the Amazon and there was a bunch of music and people dressed up so we decided to check it out.  Tucanos was there serving their cheese balls and yummy grilled pineapple as well as lemonade. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, China, Japan, Countries in Africa, Finland, Iraq etc were all there displaying their country, their dress, language, activities as well as food.  It was fun to walk around and see things from all these countries and try a bunch of yummy foods.  On our way out we spotted these dog carriers and of course wanted to go see what was in them and to our surprise it wasn't a cat or dog but parrots! and yes we just had to hold them.  The lady was so nice and let us do so which was fun, the parrots were so cute and talked to us which was neat.

    If you haven't been to Me Crepes yet in Provo you should head out there, it's so yummy they have several different types of crepes on their menu from breakfast to dessert.  Dillon and I stopped by and tried their Oreo Crepe and it was mm mm good! Take a look at it! How can you not want to down that baby!