nobody likes it when you're 23.

Not a very good blog title, but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I started to write... Well, 23 was a great birthday. It started out with Halie and Kendall calling me at 6:50AM while they were driving to school/work in Texas. They chatted with me for a bit and definitely woke me up, but it was ok, because they were doing it out of love and not to make me mad.. Don't get me wrong, it was a little mean, but I definitely felt loved.

My birthday continued by going to work and being surprised when flowers were delivered. This was great because for the first time, Ben was able to completely surprise me and I didn't suspect a thing! He usually gets too excited and if I bug him enough he tells me. Surprises are awesome. Then, I got home and Christopher and Cassie left me some cupcakes. They are the greatest. It was another great birthday surprise (especially since I told Ben I didn't want to make cake or anything because we always have too many leftovers). Personal cupcakes just topped off the night. 

Grandpa took us all out to eat and I got a FREE sandwich at Firehouse Subs. This place is delicious and I definitely recommend it. (sorry, no pics up to this point.) 

Then we got to go shopping for a little bit at Ross and went to Grandpa's for a bowl of ice cream. When we got home Ben gave me another present (aside from the flowers and shopping). It was the holiday collection of Charlie Brown movies. I was SO excited. I love Peanuts/Charles Schultz/etc. It's one of my favorites.

Can you tell how excited I am??! 

We then immediately watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"and really had a nice evening together.

Here's us with the flowers, movies and awesome bowl grandpa gave me. 

Saturday consisted of DELICIOUS Tucanos with both sets of Ben's grandparents, his parents and sister (gotta love the free birthday meal)... and then relaxing afternoon designing wedding announcements with Katie for Christopher & Cassie's wedding. Ben's mom also got me a super cute scarf and a gift card to Old Navy. I'm excited to go shopping and find awesome black friday deals.. :) I also bought my first pair of boots. I am kinda excited for them. They're super cute. It was a great day.

Us after Tucanos... Jackets stayed on to hide the full stomachs. :)
Pretty colored leaves, huh?

I also got to talk to my family who is in Iowa right now on the phone (when the called and sang to me) and on google hang-out. It was so great to see them and visit for a bit. That's all for the birthday celebrations... Next Post--Dan get's ordained an Elder. 

Elder Foell and the MTC drop-off

Well, as some of you know my brother, Riley went into the MTC this last Wednesday and I had the privilege of taking him. It was such a surreal experience. Is my little brother really old enough to go on a mission? Did I really just get teary-eyed as I drove away from the MTC? Is he really ready for spiritual boot camp and a new language? Does my mom really only have three kids at home? ..... It has taken me a few days to digest it, but YES. He's ready. I did. He is. She does. I am so proud that my brother has chosen to serve a mission for our church. He will change so many lives, including his own. I had a great time during the 24 hours (literally) that I spent with him before I dropped him off. We spent most of it shopping for last-minute necessities and skyping with Halie/Kendall and Mom, but it was a great time. 

What was great about dropping him off was that as we were driving to the drop-off spot, there were TONS of elders just waving and welcoming him before he even got out of the car. They were even nicer after he got out. It gave me such a peaceful and joyful feeling to see and know that he will be taken care of while he's on the Mission. I wish my mom could have seen it. Then again, she probably would have started to cry almost immediately. It was such a cool thing. I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

I think the reason this was such a great experience for me is because Riley and I never really got along growing up and still have a hard time talking to each other as young adults.. but he's my brother and I love him. I know he will do great and I hope when he comes home we can see a little more eye-to-eye then we have before. Love you, Elder. I hope you stay warm this winter.. It's still a shock to my system every year. and I still try and wear flip flops... Good thing you're not allowed to wear those. :) adios.

Elder Foell
Baltimore, Maryland Mission
Spanish Speaking

For Real?

Random Note: Between Ben and I, our cars were hit three times in 10 days. First was Ben, on his way home from work. Some crazy person decided to turn from her lane, through Ben's, into a gas station. Guess what happened? He T-Boned her. Luckily she was totally at fault, Ben was ok, just a little sore, and her insurance covered EVERYTHING.

Second was me, while driving grandpa's car. We were on our way to the airport with Uncle Todd and the freeway came to a complete stop. Lucky for us, the guy behind us was going way to fast and couldn't stop in time so he rear-ended us.. then someone rear-ended him. Lovely, right? So we pulled over into the construction area and found no more than a minor scratch on grandpa's car (can't say the same for the other two cars). Since the damage was so minor to our car, we exchanged information and left as soon as possible to make our flight. We were pretty sore during the flight and the next day, but everyone was ok.

Lastly was my car (that we flew to vegas to get, which is why we were going to the airport when we got hit). The best part of this one was that I wasn't even in it! It wasn't even moving! It was parked in a BYU staff lot while I was at work and the person left a note. I was definitely grateful for the note, but it was a little annoying because I had owned the car for less than 4 days and hadn't even gotten a license plate for it when it was hit...

ANYWAY... About 6 weeks later, both our cars have been fixed and we did not have to drop a dime on it. I LOVE INSURANCE. I'm also very grateful for honest people and the fact that they actually had insurance to begin with.

But Still.... For Real? Three times in 10 days? oh yes... only to us. :)

Projects.

Well, it's been a busy semester at the Chambers home... Ben has been busy with tests, presentations, work, and more tests. I have been busy with work, cooking new pintrest meals, attempting to keep the house clean, and more work. I also have periodically in a bad mood so I try not to blog during those times. I figure it's just not worth remembering the random PMS moments that are stupid to begin with. So... I remember the good ones. And today I am in an especially grateful mood. So I thought it'd be best to blog. :) First off, in our random few moments of spare time (that we have to schedule into our week) Ben and I finished some projects and got lots of cleaning done. 

Have I already mentioned that we organized the storage under our bed? If not, we did and it's been wonderful. I know exactly where [most] everything is.. and if I forget, I just look at these pics and can remember.

Aside from the cleaning, I am done cutting up my t-shirts for my quilt and just need about a half-yard more of interfacing to iron on the pieces. I'm hoping to take my machine to CA and sew some of my quilt with my mom (IFwe can actually go to CA for Christmas--fingers crossed!). While waiting to sew my quilt pieces together, I've been making table cloths. Here is the first one on the table. and the one I'm about to make before I got to bed tonight.. I LOVE this yellow fabric!

As for Ben, he has wanted to make some end tables for our bedroom ever since our landlords gave us a TON of free wood.. So, we decided to do it. Here's the process and finished products:

 We also bought little tubs so we could put storage underneath them. Mine has all my socks, tights and other random clothes I never wear. I think I'll be able to part with most of it after this winter (depending on what I use and don't use). It's nice to have a little extra space in the dresser.

 While Ben was making those and when he didn't need me to hold something in place while he sawed or drilled, I was busy cutting up my paint samples to make a menu calendar for our kitchen.

 Here's the finished product. It's in a frame which makes it dry-erasable. It's pretty precious and I like being able to see what's on the menu without having to search the house for my little scrap of paper I wrote it on..

I think that's it for the projects. We've had a great few weeks and I'm feeling very accomplished. As my mom has told me and Ben has learned, I always need to be doing something... Luckily, Ben understands and is sometimes the same way. We have fun doing projects together. Well, I need to go write another post on something else... that's all for this one. :)

under budget

Well, after 1-month of our strict budget and we totally did it! We budgeted $250 for food this month and we came in at $248.77! In addition to staying within our super sweet budget, I'm happy to have discovered is that our budget would probably be a little more realistic at about $275 since grandpa had us over quite a bit this month. Although I feel proud to have accomplished our goal to not go out for fast food more than once this whole month (other than with grandpa).
It was a long month.. but we did it.

I was going to post my month of recipes on this blog post, but then I remembered that I have a recipe blog... So, I'll go post it on there. =] Should be exciting. That's LOTS of dinners.

Hallo-we did nothing

Well, everyone's posting about Halloween and Ben and I did absolutely nothing. No parties, no costumes, no candy (except the loot Gpa has on a regular basis). We sat at home while Ben did his paper and I planed dinner meals for the week. On the up side, I got to skype with my family for a long while. It was great just chatting with my mom and dad. My brother goes into the MTC in a few weeks and I get to pick him up at the airport/take him to the MTC. I'm kinda excited, but kinda worried he'll be bored with my life. I'm having to plan two weeks in advance to make sure we stay busy. It's an exciting time for him and I'm excited to be a part of it.

So, my Halloween was good but not for the same reasons as most. I got to spend it with my family via skype. It was not chaotic and I didn't have to stare at hoochie girls in costumes, nor be around screaming/excited kids running around the cultural hall. It was nice. AND President Monson is speaking in 12 minutes at BYU. I'm going to go watch it online while I answer emails. It should be a good time.

p.s. It's BIRTHDAY MONTH! Me, Brother 1 and Brother 3 all have birthdays this month AND My favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) is coming up too. It's going to be a great month (Except for the cold/rain/snow/wetness).

lately..

We haven't been up to very much lately... so here is a quick update:

Ben is rocking his classes, especially accounting.

I say everyday that I'm going to blog because I'm so bored, but I never do because I don't have pictures to go with my posts. Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate posting without pictures.

I started the recipe blog and haven't posted anything yet... How embarrassing. Maybe I'll do that now since netflix isn't working.

We cleaned under our bed this past friday night (we put our winter storage under the bed, it wasn't just random crap like when you were 8). It was a great feeling to get it all reorganized and find so many things I'd forgotten about. Despite my track record for being a grinch, I suggested that we get the Christmas tree out (it's still in the box, don't worry) so we didn't have to do it in 6 weeks.

I also found about 20 t-shirts that I NEVER wear... so I think I'm going to start my t-shirt quilt. My sister made an AWESOME quilt earlier in the year and I'm hoping mine will be just as awesome. Probably wont be, but I can dream. Hopefully I can stick with it and not get too overwhelmed. I should also probably send out my graduation announcements soon. I've had them printed for a while I just have been too lazy to address all the envelopes. So, when you get them in the mail SUPER LATE I apologize. =] That's all for now. the cookies are ready to eat! adios.