The semester is over!

Finally! Winter semester is over! So, some of you may be wondering why I haven't written for so long. Did we drop off the planet? Actually it just got overwhelmingly busy! I think this semester took a toll on us both. We're both tired and really glad it's over. Malone starts spring semester on the 20th. He thought about deferring this semeseter because we're low on school funds this semester, but he decided to go part time with two classes. Malone has decided on majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and possibly eventually Civil engineering. BYUI offers civil engineering, but it's only an associates program here. So I think until I graduate, he will do the mechanical engineering thing and eventually we'll probably transfer somewhere else. The question is... when do I graduate? Good question. We'll see...
We had the opportunity to spend time with our families this weekend. It was alot of fun! Thursday was Parker's birthday. We had steak and played some games. Friday I worked all day and that night Malone and I went to his parent's for a little BBQ and games. Saturday, I got to spend some time with my mom and do some shopping. I was in desperate need for some jeans and khakis, and she bought me a new Easter dress. I'll have to take a picture and show you guys! It's so cute! Eventually Malone and I made it over to his parents for Easter dinner and an easter egg hunt with his family. It was so much fun!! Malone and his brothers hid the eggs for all the grandkids and we got to watch them all go at it. It's kindof funny being one of the "adults" now instead of the kid running around for the eggs. There were a few moments I wanted to! Sunday, Malone and I sang in the choir for the Easter program in our ward. That was fun and new! I think Malone really enjoyed it. He got to stand next to a friend of ours and had a good time. Afterwards we went to my parents and had dinner and an easter egg hunt. It was alot different having an easter egg hunt at my house versus Malone's house. There were like 8 grandkids at his parents house and 2 grandkids and Parker at my parents house. Anyway, we had alot of fun spending time and playing games with family this weekend.
At the moment, Malone and I are thinking of finding a new apartment. Perhaps one that is a little bigger. The one we have now is at the Village apartment complex and it is 543 sq. feet and we're paying $535/month including cable and internet . The complex is going to start making us pay a new price at $545/month including cable and internet. We want a bigger apartment for a good price. There's a new complex building 3 new buildings just down the road and we can be guaranteed an apartment there for August (after our contract here is up) if we sign up soon. The one we're looking at is a bigger 1 bedroom for about $20 more with free internet and cable, storage options, covered parking, reserved parking. It basically has alot more amenities and it seems like a big deal. We're still looking into it. I'll keep you all updated!

Let marriage begin

Hey everyone! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've updated. Things have really been busy since school started. Malone and my schedules have been crazy!

Malone is still working at Broulims in the dairy department. He's off track so working is pretty much all he does now. His schedule has allowed him to finally get a few more hours, which has been a blessing. Work has been busy now that school is back in. He also has weekends off so we can spend time together. During the week, we usually only see each other at night when he gets off work. He works in the afternoon from about 3 till 11 or so. He's been able to fit in some time to exercise with the extra time he has in the morning. Recently Malone has been working on keeping our second car running. I'll explain more about that later, but it's been quite the hassle lately!

I have been in school since the beginning of January. It's been a few weeks in now and I have been kept pretty busy! This semester I'm taking about 13.5 credits. I'm taking Intro. to Illustration, Building Eternal Marriage, Aerobics, Medieval Art History, Oil Painting, and Art Seminar. All of my classes are pretty hard except the marriage class. Generally my classes have been pushing me further and harder than any of the classes I've taken so far. Especially Intro to Illustration. I realized that this class would have benefited me more if I had just taken one or two more classes. I feel really unprepared and inexperienced for this class. Luckily I have a friend from the ward in the class with me. She's really good!
My aerobics class has literally made me work my butt off! The first day we basically checked to see where we were at physically with a few different exercises. Since then we've been doing alot of really fun stuff. I haven't taken aerobics since High School, so I feel like I'm a bit out of shape! I really like the class though. I feel so much better afterwards, even though I do get a bit tired and sore. I've been able to tell a little bit of a difference already.
Speaking of exercise, I wanted to mention that Malone and I have a goal to get in shape this year. Which is why we have both been trying to exercise this semester. I hope that this aerobics class helps!! It's only about 2 days a week, so I have to work out more outside of class...

The last class I wanted to mention was my oil painting class. It's been a challenge! I like the challenge though. It's like a puzzle. Trying to figure out colors and how things work together. The only thing I don't like about the class is 1. trying to clean after using oil paint. It's hard to clean up! and 2. standing on a hard concrete floor for 2 hours and 45 minutes kills my knees and feet! But other than that it's been good.

To be honest, I have been really frustrated with school this semester. There have been times I just wanted to quit. Two of my classes I'm taking needed some, basically, prerequisite classes taken first. So because I haven't taken those classes yet, it's making these classes alot harder. The teachers expect me to know more than I do... which is frustrating! But after looking at how far I've come and how much more school I have, I know I have to stick with it. I really only have about 2 semesters left ( if everything goes as planned ). So I can't quit now! I wish I could start school over and start in the direction I think I should have gone in the first place.... (did that make sense?). I think I should have gotten and associates in like medical assisting or something first. Then at least I could get a good paying job to help me afford this art major. I think I would have minored in Art. But, at this point I am majoring in Art with a cluster in Health science and possibly music. Oh well. I'm almost done and that's all that matters!

So, you might be wondering why I made the title to this "Let marriage begin". haha. Well, it's been 5 months since we've been married. And I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we have both learned alot! I undersestimated just how hard marriage can be sometimes. We are still trying to get use to living with each other. We are very opposite in many ways so both of us have really been trying to change our ways a bit... if that makes sense. Right now we're figuring out our tight budget and trying to make sure we are both on the same page as far as where our money is going. It's hard trying to share money!

We've also been trying to save enough money so we can eventually afford a car. We've been using the old Honda CRX ( for those who don't know about that honda, it's about the same age as I am and is basically falling apart now...). Luckily it's been working pretty well for us the past few months. These past couple weeks it's been giving us some trouble. The brakes were having issues, which we got fixed, and now the battery is bad and the alternator is going out. We are hoping it'll last just a bit longer so we can save some money for another car. Because with our schedules, sharing one car is going to be a huge hassle. So... if anyone knows of someone who is selling a decent car for relatively cheap, let me know!

But all in all, Malone and I have been very blessed in so many other ways. Even though money is tight, we have always had enough to support our needs. And I think that is a huge blessing. We still have 2 cars that run (barely haha) and take us where we need to go. We're both in good health, and have been able to receive a good education in a good school, in a good area with a beautiful temple only a couple miles away. And we have family nearby if we ever need anything. Thanks to everyone who has supported and helped us out.!We love you all! To be continued...

Christmas is almost here!

I don't know how everyone else keeps up on these things all the time. Maybe it's easier when you have kids and things are always changing. For Malone and I, things aren't too exciting! Since I wrote last, we have finally finished this semester of school. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it was a long semester! Last Friday, the 12th, was our last day. Malone will be off during the winter semester and I'll be right back in classes again. I think we both made it out with pretty decent grades. I am going to miss seeing my friends I made in my classes. I really haven't had much of a social life since we've been married, so having friends in class has been a highlight! (Sad isn't it?)

As far as classes for next semester, I will be looking forward to my first oil painting class. I've never really painted before. So this will be a big step for me! Unfortunately I'll have to buy all the supplies which can add up. Hopefully we won't go broke over it! I also get to look forward to my first Intro to Illustration class. Illustration is what I really want to do with this Art Degree ( in case anyone is wondering what I'm planning on! ). I'd love to be able to write and illustrate my own books. That would be the best! It'll be alot of work. I just hope I have the willpower to really reach all these goals. Sometimes they seem so out of reach for me! Anyway, I have other goals other than just career wise. I've been wanting to shed a couple pounds and I can't seem to motivate myself to get up and go. So, I signed up for an aerobics class for next semester. It should really kick my butt, which is what I need. We'll see how it goes! Chances are I'll be complaining about it, but I know it's for the best. I am also going to take a guitar class. Random right? I've always wanted to learn. I got a guitar for christmas a couple years back and I really don't even know how to play it. So, just for fun, I am going to take a class. We'll see how that goes too! There's a chance I might drop a few classes and go part time next semester... we'll see. It'd be best if I just got school over with already, but it gets overwhelming sometimes with all these credits.

Malone is hoping to get more hours at work. It'd really be good for us to get some extra cash while he is on break. So more hours means more time Malone is gone. I always miss him when he's gone. I come home from work at about 6 or so and just chill until he comes home at 11-11:30 at night. Usually he comes home around 8 for dinner for about 20 minutes, and then he's off again. He says he likes working. I think he just likes to be busy. I decided that I need to find more stuff to do so I don't get lonely! I need a life!

So far this winter has been chilly! I hate going outside! This week I've been filling in for a girl at work in the morning, so I have to get up super early to get to work on time. Malone has gotten up early to scrape my windows and warm up the car for me before I go to work. What a wonderful husband! We'll see how long that lasts haha. But the extra hours this week is a great blessing. I love going to work!

Malone and I are way excited for our first Christmas together. We borrowed a tree from my parents and put it up in our little apartment. It was hard making space for it, but totally worth it! We didn't have any decorations to put on it, so we made a trip to the dollar store and just bought some cheap ornaments for like 4 dollars and a couple strings of lights. It's a cute little tree. I just put some presents under it yesterday and it's so fun! Over the years my roomates and I never once had a tree. So it's way fun to have it in my home! I went shopping for Malone yesterday and bought a few things. Funny how our wants turn into needs. I think this year was the first time I put socks on my wish list! Anyway, I bought a few things I felt like Malone needed. His birthday is 3 days after Christmas, so I've been looking into buying a few more things for that.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Travel safe everyone!! Happy Holidays!

Yet another fun weekend!

Malone and I enjoyed seeing family this weekend. We hitched a ride with my parents down to Utah for a pre-thanksgiving dinner at Cory and Shelda's house. It was so much fun! We went down on Sunday and came back on Sunday. (it's great having the gas prices down!) The drive down was good, except we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for about a half an hour. My whole family was there, Amber and Brian and their kids, Dan, Aubs, and Steve and Karla's family were there too. We had an awesome time like we always do! I wish I had taken my camera. We all played the tie game which is always a blast. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! It was fun seeing how much all the kids have grown up too. It was a good opportunity for Malone to get to know my side of the family.

We have been enjoying our time off from school this week... well at least I have! Malone has been catching up on alot of homework and doing some work on the side along with his part-time job. That's alot! I on the other hand could be doing some homework, but I've been enjoying sleeping in, shopping, and hanging out! I need to get out and visit my friends haha!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! Unfortunately I've been sick like all day today. So I hope I'm over it by tomorrow so I can enjoy the day. We'll be partying over at Malone's parent's house with his family. It'll be way great! Hopefully we'll get a chance to stop over at my parent's house. Anywho-- not much else to update on! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Fun Weekend!

Hey everyone!

So a few weeks ago Malone and I got a chance to hang out with my best friend Deidra and her boyfriend. We went swimming at good old Green Canyon, the one pool place in the area that hasn't changed since 1970. Classic! It was alot of fun and it was neat to get to know this guy that Deej is always talking about and is completely in love with. His name is Casey! Nice guy and I completely approve. Turns out, they actually just got engaged this past weekend! How exciting! They 're planning on June. It's a long ways away! Congrats you two!

Deidra and Kacey

For Halloween, Malone and I didn't do anything really. He had to work that night. But we carved pumpkins a week or so ahead of time. We learned quite a lesson from that actually. Don't keep pumpkins inside for a long period of time! They MOLD! I have some interesting pictures. The carvings were cool, and turns out the nasty mold actually ended up making it look even creepier!

I wanted to include a couple pictures of us cooking and some little food experiments. The picture of that big cookie on the cookie sheet is us trying to get rid of the last of the cookie dough... it was soo yummy! I ate a piece out of the middle.

So the most exciting thing that's happened lately is Malone and I took a trip down to Utah with my parents to see Tiff and Marshall. It was so much fun! We left Friday and came back Sunday, so it was a short trip. We stayed at my dad's brother's house in West Jordan Friday and Saturday night. It was really fun seeing them and their newly remodeled home. It's pretty awesome! Saturday we went down to Marshall and Tiffany's in Lehi and hung out. It was so great seeing them and the boys. The boys have gotten so big! Chan just turned 3 last week and Rowan will be 1 in January. Adorable boys!

We got to go out to Cabelas and check out all the cool displays and got to shoot at the shooting gallery. The guys had a little contest to see who could get the highest score! I did pretty good considering I don't really shoot much at all. It was my first time there, and I was surprised how many animals they have there. Wow!

After that we went over to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. I was suprised to see all the amazing things they have there. There were some huge dinos!! And there was alot of stuff for kids to do and have fun. Malone enjoyed this little hands on trough of water and sand display. It had something to do with how dinos were preserved in wet mud and stuff... I dunno. But Malone played in that with the kids for a while!

That night we all played video games and gave Chan his late birthday presents. We had cake and ice cream and just talked. It was really a blast! After church Sunday at Marshall's ward, we had dinner and played around. We played with these little toy cars Malone and I got Chan for his birthday. We made up this dumb game to play with them. We left that afternoon around 4 and headed home. Overall, it was a really fun trip! And it was nice to get away from homework for a while.

Speaking of homework, we have only 4 weeks left in the semester including Thanksgiving break!! Both of us are so excited! We're hoping Malone will get better hours at his job next semester and will be able to be home at night. I'm crossing my fingers hoping it works out! Last week I checked my email and noticed that I had just received an award of excellence scholarship from the school for $1000 dollars. We were soooo excited! We can definately use extra cash. I also have another scholarship for $500 for next semester as well as the other half of our grant. Pretty exciting next semester! Somehow things just seem to work out. Someone is definately watching out for us.

We've been looking into getting me a car so we wont' have to depend on Mom and Dad's old honda. So if anyone knows of a good deal, let us know!

That's about it as far as updates go. Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all!!

Funny Name Tag

Funny Name Tag
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Jazz Trailblazer
2. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR'S NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The piano playing sunshine tour
3. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate fudge brownie chocolate chocolate chip!
4. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)D-BUL
5. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Burgandy Dog
6. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Marie Bonneville
7. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Bulda
8. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The green lemonade
9. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Mont Max
10. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Pink Aqua Di Gio Tootie Frootie
11. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Lee George
12. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Hamberlin Housten
13. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Summer Cala Lilly
14. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Peach Socky
15. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Coco Pebbles Willow

This is me attempting to sum up the past month..bear with me.

It's been far too long since I've updated. I'm sure you are all dying to know what's going on with the Bullocks. I do have a few stories that have occurred since I wrote last. I even have pictures! Okay, so first story.

It was a few days after Malone and I had gotten married. We were in the process of getting settled in still. He had to work that day, and there was still alot of moving in to do. So, while he was gone, I wanted to get ALL the moving in done so he wouldn't have to worry about it at all when he got home. So, I spent several hours putting things away, organizing, and making sure everything was perfect. As I was doing this, I decided to even do a little decorating. I had some green garland left over from the reception and I wanted to use it to decorate the top of my cupboards in the kitchen. So, I climbed up on the counter top to arrange it and make it all pretty. Things were going fine and I had pretty much finished. Still on the counter top, I turned to get down, and suddenly I lost my balance. I realized there was no stopping gravity now and nothing to grab so I fell clear from the top of the counter down on the floor landing right on my knee. Luckily I didn't land on my head or hit the edge of the countertop. I was pretty lucky! Although, my knee really took a beating. I had a HUGE bruise and it was extremely tender. When Malone found out, he told me I was lucky I didn't break my neck!! Which is true. I included a lovely picture of my knee. It doesn't quite compare to Tiffany's 25 bruises on her leg, but it's still a doozy. I'm also including the lovely picture of my thumb that I messed up about 2 weeks before the wedding. It got caught in the door and ripped half my nail off. I attempted to keep the nail on with nail polish, which ended up making it worse. OH and I am also including the most recent picture of my hand. I accidentally burned it on the oven on Friday. As you can see, I am a little accident prone. Luckily they're minor!






Malone and I are finishing up our fourth week of school this semester. As for me, school is going well so far. It's keeping me plenty busy. I don't have much of a social life other than Malone. But I am learning alot. I'm taking sculpting for the first time ever, and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. Our first project was a replication of a plaster head. In other words, we had to copy a mold of a head provided by our teacher, and create it out of about 25 lbs of water-based clay. At first, it was alot more difficult than I thought it would be. Since we started I've put in about 10 hours a week or so on it. We're finishing it up now and I have hollowed out the head and it is currently prepping for firing. This picture is not quite the finished product, but it's close. Freaky I know. But that's what the guy looked like! It's a death mask of a Renaissance Sculpter named Canova. Now we're working on models of an animal of our own choice in which we are going to use to make molds. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'll update you!
As for my other art classes, Head drawing and Figure Drawing... I'm learning very slowly. There are times when I compare myself to the other artists and start to feel like i don't deserve to be in the art department. There's sooo much talent! I have to keep reminding myself that these people have put in alot more time in the past and I'm just getting started. If I put alot of effort into practicing drawing, someday I will be as good as them. Still feels like my butt is getting kicked though. But I am getting better.


I'm in a first aid class this semester. And it's been quite educational. The best part is that when the class is over, I'll be CPR certified as well as First Aid Certified. Pretty cool huh? Right now we're testing our skills on CPR. I got an A on the first part, and now I'm working on CPR for infants. No prob!




I'm also taking a Book of Mormon class. I have the most awesome teacher ever and I have learned SO much. We're in Helaman right now, and from what we've read so far in the class, it's so easy to relate the Book of Mormon to our day. I have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is so true and that it was meant for us in our day. I love it sooo much!


That's about all as far as school goes. Other than that, I've just been trying to learn how to cook better (poor Malone has to eat what I cook... poor poor man), and just be a better person in every way. I've been looking into some exercise classes on campus. They fit with my schedule pretty well, and I've been needing to work out. SO we'll see how that goes. Tiffany inspired me with her work out story, only I doubt I'll work my butt off that hard!


Malone is still working at Broulims. He got an offer to work at his old job at Grease Monkey, but he turned it down. They don't pay as well. I was a little disappointed just because I knew that if he worked there, he'd be with me more because he'd get off at like 6 as opposed to 11:30 every night. Oh well. He's been doing alright in school, even though it's definately not his favorite thing. He's really been dedicated to keeping up in school. I'm proud of him. He uses any spare time he has on homework because his work schedule is crazy. By the end of the day the kid is exhausted. He recently caught the cold that was going around and spent the last week or so pretty miserable. Luckily I never got sick!



The other night we decided to take a break from homework and go out for dinner. We came home with left overs and the movie Iron Man. Malone has been wanting to see it, so we rented it from redbox. It's a pretty good movie. I fell asleep though it...oops! I've already seen it luckily.


Work for me has gotten alot better. Since my highly experienced original coworkers left, we've had new girls working with me. I, being the only girl there that has been there probably the longest, feel like I have alot of pressure because I need to know all the answers. It's also my job to teach them what to do and what not to do. It's been hard!! At first I was so extremely stressed out because I was trying to keep track of 3 girls and make sure none of them made mistakes. Finally I decided that they need to make mistakes to learn. That's how I learned! So, I took a chill pill and let them learn. Things have gotten better and the girls have learned alot I think. I've been thinking about trying to find a job here in Rexburg to save on gas. So if anyone knows someone or of a job, or even ideas, let me know!


This weekend is Mother's Weekend here at BYU-I. It's a time where students' mothers get to come and visit their kids and go to their classes and spend time with them. Mom has her own classes to go to this time. So she won't be able to accompany me to my class. But we have plans to check out some stuff going on on campus Friday night. (I need to check on tickets!!) And her, Ashley, and me are all going to lunch on Saturday. So yay for quality time with Mom! Mom is truly a lovely lady. Love ya mom!


That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll remember to update this more often so that the blog isn't so long. And I'll also include some of my artwork so you can see my "improvements" I guess. Something I learned about art this semester is that Art exposes you. In that everything you've learned, things you feel, is all out on paper for everyone to see. What does your art say? Mine says, "I'm lacking much practice" right now haha! Anyway, I'll keep you all posted! Peace!