Our New Hobby

Mike and I wanted to find a hobby we could both enjoy together. After some thought, we decided to try tennis. We found some older rackets, bought the tennis balls, and went to the park to play.

While we were playing, I started realizing that I am pretty good at tennis! And I was actually enjoying myself. I took lessons when I was 8 years old, but I don't think THAT has anything to do with it. Probably more to the fact that Mike was exhausted before we started playing, and he is too sweet to actually mention that to me. Thanks babe! I'll just keep the mind-set that I rock at tennis!! Woo Hoo!

Cutest Kid in Primary

Last Sunday, Mike and I went over to our friend's house for dinner. I was really excited because Michele is one of my only friends in the ward and we just attended a Scrapbooking Workshop together last Thursday and just had a blast. Well, Michele's son Mark was in my Primary class, but after my class was split, he is no longer one of my students; which was really sad because he is adorable.

Well, as soon as Mark found out that "Sister Pless" was coming for dinner, he apparently tried really hard to stay in his church clothes all day, but finally changed into comfy clothes before we got there. But Mark was also in charge of setting the table and assigning seats for everyone.

When Mike and I arrived, I was chatting with Michele and she mentioned that because Mark set the table, she knew exactly where I was sitting, but didn't know if Mike was sitting next to me. Mark had in fact placed himself in between me and one of the missionaries that were there for dinner as well. His two favorite people. That just warmed my heart! In fact, that touched me so much, I kept the place card he made for me just so I can remember the impact I might have on someone.

So, the rest of the night, I was teasing Mike about the new competition he had. Mike has never made me a place card! Lame!

Trashing the Wedding Dress Slide Show

Our Favorite Photographer

Mike and I had lunch on Saturday with our favorite photographer, Karyn Giss. We found her through Google by chance and she did an amazing job on our Engagement Pictures and my Trashing the Dress pictures. (We are even on her website!!) You can see her site here.

After having lunch with Karyn, I realized I had all these wonderful pictures of Mike and I and I'm not sharing them. (oops!!) So, I put our favorite pictures from Karyn in a slide show! Thanks Karyn for the wonderful memories! Mike and I both think you are amazing and we can't wait for another photo shoot with you!

Mike and Jess Slideshow

Our Crazy Sunday

Mike and I had a Sunday to remember today. We were getting ready for our 9:00 a.m. church meetings when Mike mentioned he had to give a talk today. I asked him if he was ready for it and he said something to the affect of, "I'll wing it." I am the complete opposite. I like to map out my talk, figure out how I'm going to word things and type everything up in an organized document. If I don't do this process, I'm a complete mess!

As we were driving, I was mentioning how weird it was for only Mike to have to give a talk. Usually, the Bishop has a new couple both prepare talks, but I quickly shrugged it off thinking the Bishop wanted to have me speak another Sunday. Then we got to church...

Mike picked up a program and just stared at me until I saw the words "Jessica Pless" as the second speaker. I was stunned. The Bishop never talked to me about a talk and I didn't even know what to speak about. So, my job was to introduce Mike and myself by telling people how we met and then share my feelings about the Atonement. I grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled some thoughts and feelings down and just prayed the entire time that everyone would suddenly fall asleep magically during my "talk". Luckily everything turned out fine and then it was Mike's turn to talk. He opened by telling people, "When the Bishop called to ask me to speak, I zoned out everything else he told me...so my wife found out she was speaking today about 5 minutes before she gave her talk." SO THE TRUTH CAME OUT!! But it was a good learning lesson and it taught me how to rely on the Spirit and say the important truths I know. And in return as an apology, Mike is doing the cooking and cleaning this week. :) Amen to that!!

Primary Teacher Calling

As most of you know, I am the new Primary teacher for our ward's 7 year-olds. For those of you not familiar with my Church, that means every Sunday, I get to spend 2 hours with 5 little kids, teaching them the fundamental teachings of our Gospel. But there was just one concern for me before I started my new calling...I have no clue what 7 year-olds like or how they learn. The only thing I knew was pretty much summed up in this picture...
The great thing is, I got advice from my mom, my sister-in-law Marci and my friend Holly - who all have experience with this age group. So, now, I can feel like I'm helping them learn the teachings of the Gospel while preparing them for the most important event of their lives...Baptism! And the best part is...we can all color in the meantime! (Who doesn't love coloring??)

Our Apartment is FINALLY FINISHED!!

Wohoo!! I am SO happy I finally finished our apartment. And what do I get as a reward?? A big, romantic kiss from the man I love. Aww! Totally worth it.

Even though it has taken me a month and a half to get our apartment "show-ready", I had so much fun making our apartment a home.

I still have two pictures to hang, but I thought I'd share our happy home with you.

Our Apartment

The kitchen is one of my favorite room. (I never thought I would say that.) But there is so much room, it makes cooking fun. The only down-side is the fact that we don't have a dishwasher.
After 4 years of college and one year of random roommates, I'm so glad I don't have to fight for kitchen space or label every piece of food I had. (Which never worked anyways...my name scribbled on the bag didn't stop some roommates)
I love my little kitchen cart! I think it is one of the best furniture investment we made! Also, another bookcase holding my cookbooks, our microwave and Mike's stereo speakers. (I like to listen to music while I cook)

More of Our Apartment

I am actually really happy to post these pictures because that means our apartment is spotless! This is part of our bedroom. I absolutely love our bedding! Thanks Mom and Dad!
My side of the bedroom. Mike and I have separate dressers. And you can see one of our many bookcases we own and filled! Apparently we love bookcases.
For anyone who knows me, you should have expected this picture. I love my shoes and purses. The sad thing is, there are only half of my shoes and purses pictured. But, to my credit, you can see I shared my shoe rack with Mike. That is true love right there.
This is our second bedroom we turned into our office. Now...who can guess which side is Jessica's and which side is Mike's? Yes. I have all my pictures and do-dads and Mike has 3 computer screens and guitars around his desk. Pretty obvious.

Apartment Pictures

Okay...so this is our living room. MUCH better from the previous post picture. There comes a satisfying feeling when your apartment is decorated and clean! I love our apartment now because it feel like a home. A happy and loving home.
My wedding bouquet is in the larger picture box. And I love my little Pless plaque from my cousin Stacey and her husband Tim.
This is our movie collect corner with our wonderful curtains from IKEA. I wanted some color with the great black and white drapes, so we layered the red curtains under the black and white ones to get more Va-voom.
This is our fabulous couch! Mike's boss, Camille, gave this to us as a wedding present; which was perfect because we didn't have one! Thanks Camille!
This is our Pless wall with a peep-hole of the kitchen. I painted and hung the letters myself. I was pretty proud of myself. A cute and cheap craft project.

Life after a Honeymoon...

Coming back from our Hawaii honeymoon and entering back into reality can be a little harsh. Anyone who is married and been through this process will agree with me. You have to move into a new apartment, unpack all of your stuff, put everything away plus the wedding gifts you received, write the thank you notes, cook, decorate, clean, and go back to work as if nothing major has happened in your life. Plus, if you are the girl, you have to change your name on every piece of paper and plastic you ever had. A little overwhelming! And I think the funniest part is when people ask my name, I don't know what to tell them yet. "Hi, I'm Jessica Anderson/Pless" That will get some attention. It makes me look like I'm constantly confused.

But, the good news is, I think Mike and I are almost done with this "transitional" period. Our apartment is almost finished, I can tell people my last name is Pless without stuttering or stalling, and all the Thank you notes are out! But before I can post pictures of our new apartment, I want to show you what we started with. We didn't take "before and after" pictures...(even though that would have been awesome!) But Mike did capture a moment when we were moving in that I think EVERYONE can relate to...
This is a picture of me giving up cleaning our apartment after we unwrapped every wedding gift and unpacked all our stuff. This is what our living room use to look like. But, after many hours of tender love and care, I can happily say it will never look like this again...until we move out. But now, when I post the pictures of our cute, updated apartment, you can appreciate it more!