The Crowther's: August 2009

Dear Marriage,

Thank you for being so good to us these past 5 years. We can't even remember life before you. We've enjoyed every adventure we've had so far, and hope for many more years of life adventures with you. Thanks for showing us how to find the simple joys in life. Thank you for teaching us that true love means unconditional love. We've enjoyed every minute we've had together. Most of all, thanks for being our solid foundation in a world so confused on the definition of you.

Love,

Tyson and Jen

Our Love Story...It all started when I decided to stay at BYU-Idaho for a summer term...I met Tyson on May 16th 2004 when he came over to my apartment to get some information about my roommates for church...on May 18th he came back to my apartment, he talked to me for 3 hours before finally asking me out for Friday night...by May 29th we decided we wanted to get married...on June 15th we made it official...by June 24th I headed home to Oregon to help my mom with all the wedding plans...Tyson came to Oregon for the 4th of July and then went back to Idaho for work...I didn't see him again until 2 days before our wedding. We got married on August 14th 2004...we were just 3 days shy of knowing one another 3 months and we were apart almost a month and a half of that. Crazy? Maybe. But it was meant to be and it has been amazing even since! We've had incredible adventures so far...let's take a look at just a few of the many things we've done in the past 5 years...

...{warning this will be long}...

{dating}

hi...i love you...wanna get married? okay!

{engaged}

we talked on the phone daily... multiple times...for hours!

{august 14th 2004}

the day was Perfect!

{true love}

{for eternity}

{pest control - summer sales - 2005, 2006, 2007}

anytime I see a 'white polo shirt' the first thing to come to mind...PEST CONTROL. During our first year of marriage - we were finishing up our winter semester of school - and it was getting time to decide what to do for the summer. After some thinking we decided that Tyson was going to sale pest control in California - and long story short - that's exactly what we did. In the summer of 05' we moved to Rancho Cucamonga, California where Tyson sold Pest Control for 3 months. Words to sum up our summer - Fun, exciting, Disneyland, the beach, L.A., hot, hard, trying, difficult, struggling, best experience ever! The hot, hard, trying, difficult part would be the selling. Knocking doors for 6+ hours a day was not fun. We didn't really like the company Tyson sold for, but he totally stayed with it and ended up doing amazing! The hardest part was the month of August when we had $1.37 in out checking account for almost the entire month. Yes that's right, after we paid tithing, shopped for food, paid rent and bills, and gas'ed up the car was were Poor. How could we be poor? Oh, probably because we spent all our money going to Disneyland One too many times. Opps! But it was so worth it! And we sucked it up and didn't call our parents for help. haha. After that summer in California Tyson swore he would Never...EVER...sell pest control EVER AGAIN! I was okay with that. Well give yourself about a 4 month break and realize if you work hard you make good money...it might not be so bad. During the winter semester of 06' I sat next to a girl at church who's husband was going to be a manger selling pest control in the summer. Well...after some thought and knowing it was a different company to work for.... what did we do? That's right Tyson sold pest control for the next two summers. So in the summer of 06' we lived in Albuquerque New Mexico - Tyson did AMAZING, it was HOT, it was BUGGY, we went swimming every day, we experience flash floods on like a daily basis, we hung out with extended family, we ate good Mexican food and we had never met nicer people! In the summer of 07' we lived in Houston Texas where Tyson was the manager of the Houston office. That summer was great! Tyson worked so hard managing his office and dealing with whinny boys who didn't want to knock doors, but somehow wanted to make lots of money, we did lots of paper work, we played a ton in Galveston and went and took walks on the beach almost nightly at like 1 am, we ate yummy BBQ we learned that we hate 100% humidity and that swimming in the gulf of Mexico was like taking a hot bath. We had some of the best times ever! Tyson worked so hard to provide for us, and to him I am so grateful for his hard work and love!

{summer in Houston}

we were out at the beach in Galveston. Pretty sure this day was one of the hottest of the year, not only was it 100 degrees outside, it was also 95% humidity and that bench we are on was flaming HOT!

{summer in Albuquerque}

Pretty much the only thing to do in Albuquerque is go and ride a tram up to a place called Sandia Peak...it was beautiful!

{summer in California}

out at the beach somewhere...but you'd think I'd put a picture of us from Disneyland. Um, pretty sure we were to busy playin' to take any pictures at DL.

{Cozumel Mexico}

We were bit by the travel bug on the day we were married! We've been all over the place.

{Grand Cayman Islands}

Yes, we've been to Hell. Don't believe me? Look it up!

{Ocho Rios, Jamaica}

Yah Man! This trip was BOMB! we went tubing down white water rapids that took us all the way to the ocean, we went cliff jumping and we saw Bob Marley's statue and ate Jamaican Jerk Chicken...did I mention that the town we were in smelled like pot? yeah it did. Happy people everywhere!

{Disney world}

we are all about Disney! Tyson got bit by the Disney bug when he married into my family. He passed the test in our first year of marriage when we went to Disneyland for Spring Break with my family. That was the first of MANY trips we've been on in the past 5 years to Disneyland! We've also now been to Disney world twice.

{Houston, Texas - NASA}

If ever in Houston Texas...you MUST got to NASA! It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

{Colorado}

riding the motorcycle at Grandpa Crowther's!

{Philadelphia, PA - Liberty Bell}

This was during out first trip to Philadelphia to see friends of ours who were living there at the time.

{Little Italy - NYC}

One Word: PIZZA!

{NYC}

Best Frozen Hot Chocolate!

{coca-cola campaign - "Mr.Invincible"}

Where to start with this one? Um, Tyson is truly AMAZING! He will do ANYTHING for me! I was in an advertising campaign class and our assignment was to come up with a campaign for Coca-Cola. Well, long story short our campaign was called "Invincible" and we needed someone to be the center of our campaign, and who comes to the rescue? like you even had to guess... Tyson was our "Mr.Invincible". That's right, my husband volunteered to be our "guy". He put up with photo shoots, production of commercials and even a live appearance during our presentation to a board of judges. love him!

{april 2007}

{december 2007}

we both graduated from BYU-Idaho with our bachelor degrees! Tyson graduated with a BS degree in Applied Mathematics and I graduated with a BA degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Advertising and an emphasis in studio arts.

{Bahamas 2008}

we cruised to the Bahamas and key west - one of our best and favorite trips.

{running}

we ran 3 - 5ks - three weekends in a row in the month of June, last summer. The last race was on the beach. Run 3.2 miles on the sand and let us know how you feel at the end...we were pooped!

{April 2008 - the offical day Tyson decided on OHIO STATE}

After applying to 8 graduate school PhD programs, and being accepted into 7 of the 8 and being offered full-rides to all - it was hard to narrow schools down. We visited a few different schools together, my vote was for University California Santa Barbara, however, It was Tyson's choice. I've been asked before how "we" decided on OSU. "We" didn't. Some think that's werid, but for us it's not. Tyson was/is the one going to school. I knew he needed to go where he would be the most happy and love it! For me, I would go anywhere he wanted to as long as he was happy. So, I knew from the minute Tyson stepped on the grounds of The Ohio State University, he was a kid in the candy story, he had a twinkle in his eye like it was christmas morning and I knew he would be choosing OSU. I kept trying to remind him of "remember UCSB and how great it was there?", haha. When we were in the plane taking off from Columbus, Ohio, I cried. And I cried for almost 2 weeks. I was sad to leave Idaho, and to leave family all on the west coast, and I am so nerdy but I wanted to live by the Beach SO BAD! haha. But here we are...in Columbus Ohio and we've almost been here an entire year! And what a year! We like/love it here! We are happy here! And I know for a fact that we both know this is where we are suppose to be! EVEN though I so have my days of denial where I am wishing I was in Santa Barbara on the beach. Love you Tyson! Thank you for putting up with me!

{Fall of 2008 - OSU College Football}

We have now learned the "true" meaning of College Football and the love for the OSU Buckeyes! We experinced all the home games with Front Row seats! Kinda crazy! We were on the waiting list for season tickets - one day before the Fall quarter started Tyson got an email from the ticket office saying more season tickets were open. He hurried and called and got us tickets. Little did we know that we had Front Row Seats on the West End Zone...um, I think that's what it's called. Any ways, our seats were spectacular and it was a fabulous football season!

{preggers}

living in a new state, new school, and now having a BABY! Life seriously...couldn't get any better!

{our family of 3}

I haven't even really begun to share everything we been done and exeperinced...but it's a little taste of our lives. I am so Lucky that Tyson is all mine! I love that everything I've done in the past 5 years has been with him. I am so happy I married my Best Friend...and here we are 5 years later...tons of adventures and so many more to come!

Happy Anniversary Tyson

I LOVE YOU!

Also for your viewing pleasure...

{banana cupcakes}

If you have extra bananas sitting around, I advise that you use them to make these banana cupcakes! It's super easy and they are super yummy! I didn't put nuts on mine. But nonetheless that were tasty! I some how have lots of bananas in my freezer waiting to be used up. So if any of my OHIO friends wants some - leave me a comment and I will so deliver some to your door!

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

1 sticks butter, slightly softened

8oz cream cheese

3cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In the well, mix together the butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture, being sure not to over mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

4. T H E I C I N G; In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla and the cinnamon. Ice the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes

Monday, August 24, 2009

Grandma's and Grandpa's come to town...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Brody's Blessing...

Friday, August 14, 2009

Our Love Story...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

It's BANANAS...