the oldest cake I'll ever eat

I'm not sure why someone decided it was a good idea to freeze part of their wedding cake and eat it a year after their wedding, but now its a tradition that we have proudly participated in.

The cake looked and tasted much better a year ago. It was an entertaining experience.

Christmas Extravaganza

Our 2009 Christmas was definitely a memorable one. We attended the traditional Vickery Christmas Eve party. It was Cody, Mara, and McKay's first time. Cianna participated in the Nativity as an angel but got distracted halfway through by the organ in the corner and she went over and pounded on the keys for a little while and then sat in Kirk's lap for the remainder of the Christmas Story. Grandma shared her talent for food making and Frank shared his for story telling. Grandma's crab loaf was amazing. Afterwards, Cody and I went to my parents for the night. Mom gave us all matching pajamas as usual, Cody was disappointed his weren't the same as mine, he liked the rhinestones and pink checks. Jacque and Janeen stayed up till 6 am making cinnamon rolls and vacuuming. Christmas morning Jasmine, Mom, Dad and I went to Stuart and Heather's to watch Cianna and the twins open their gifts from Santa. Cianna got a little horse that bounces up and down on springs and she LOVED it. She jumped up and down and squealed when she saw it. Cianna is such a good big sister and she shared her new toy for about 5 minutes with Mara and McKay, just long enough for them both to sit on the horse and smile for a picture for Heather. Christmas with the little ones is a special time. We had breakfast at my parents and opened gifts there. We drove to Kuna in the early afternoon and Cody put his Christmas present Harley parts on his Harley. Then we went to his dad's brother Mike's house for prime rib christmas dinner and we drove to Brenda and Eric's for dessert with the Hoffman clan. Afterwards we went to the Howertons for a movie and we didnt get home until well after midnight and I collapsed into bed. Definitely the most action packed Christmas I've ever had.

Cody and I at the Vickery Christmas party on Christmas Eve.

Our "SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS" faces.

What do the Jensen girls do when wearing matching outfits in the wee hours of the morning?

Take tons and tons of pictures of course.

We tried doing a star with our legs, then we realized we were too tall to do that and fit into the picture, so we did a leg square with thumbs up in the middle, it made sense at the time.

Thanks for the PINK pajamas Mom!

Cody and Cianna on Christmas morning watching one of Cianna's favorites,

"The Lion King" or "RARS" as Cianna calls it.

Cody and I on Christmas morning.

McKay being his usual smiley adorable self. He's my fav!

happy anniversary

I can't believe it's been a year since Cody and I got married! Here are a few highlights from 12.20.2008

My neice Cianna was our flower girl.

Our wedding party right after the ceremony.

I was mean.

He was nice, even after I was mean.


Our first dance.


The day I chose my dress.

internet hiatus

After a long blog vacation, I'm back! I'll be more consistent about blogging now, because it's a requirement of old married people to have a blog. Cody and I have moved to a little old farm house that sits on 80 acres of farmland in Emmett. The house is about 10 feet away from the Payette river but it sits on a dike and my dad says it hasnt flooded since it was built in the 1910's. Our closest human neighbors are my parents who live about a mile away. Other than that we have ducks, frogs, cows, horses, geese, snakes, Boo the pug, Rocky the kitten, and millions of bugs and spiders to keep us company. There is also a huge creepy barn full of black widows and 4 angry owls. The amenities are endless. We don't have internet, we haven't found a provider that comes out to our house.
I haven't blogged about the wedding yet, so look forward to that next time.

and we'll live happily ever after.

the long awaited engagement story:
I'm not exactly sure where to begin. Obviously this is going to be pretty informal, but I'll include all the details for everyone's [and my own] enjoyment. I'll start with Thursday night [that's October 23rd]. I had work in Meridian and I got off at eight and Cody and I had decided that I'd come over to his house after work because he had been at my house every night that week and we would play some rock band on his PS3. I called him as soon as I got in my car, as usual, and we were talking about plans for the night and he told me that he would be driving out to Emmett that night after we spent some time at his house. I thought that was really weird because it would be so late at night, but then he told me that he had made plans with my dad to work with him the following morning at 7. He told me my mom had recruited him to help on the farm. I was annoyed at my mom, and so I told him I had to go to make some phone calls. He asked me who and I told him I would be calling my sister Jacque. I called Jacque, but she didnt answer, so then I called my mom and I was a little irritated and I asked her if she had recruited Cody to work the next day and she told me no. So of course, I was extremely suspicious because Cody would be spending his whole day off helping my dad around the farm, and I knew there might be key discussions.
The next day, Cody came into my room to tell me goodbye [at 7 am!!! ewww] and I went to work at 10:30. We didn't get to talk all day because he was with my dad. Then, he drove back to Meridian and came to my work when I got off and he followed me back to Emmett. Friday night is always date night so we got ready and were about to leave when my mom started acting strangely [which is really normal] and she wanted pictures of us. I told her to stop being weird haha... of course that all made sense later... Anyway, so Cody took me to Roe Ann's and I asked him where we were going and what we were doing and he told me that we'd be playing a little game of I.O.U.. I had no idea what that was, but we drove up to wild rose park by black canyon dam. He explained the rules of the game, which were that if you caught the football you got to ask a trivia question from one of the categories, which were politics, sports, makeup and clothes, history, and emmett history. There were six little cards that he put on the ground and when you won a category, you got to pick a little card [they were I.O.U's for things like one romantic date of the cardholder's choice, one movie of the cardholder's choice, one star gaze of the cardholder's choice... but more in detail, he is so cute!!!!] and the winner of the majority of the categories got the grand prize which was in a box. Of course, I won... and so he asked me to guess what was in the box. He hinted that there were about $5 dollars worth of stuff in there so I started guessing my favorite candy. I was wrong, so he hinted that it was something I wanted, so I started guessing things like the new Taylor Swift CD [which doesnt come out until November], and I was wrong again so he hinted that it was somewhere he could take me. By this time I had opened the box and there was a card inside, and I'd opened the card, but I hadn't read it yet because he was still making me guess. So I started guessing all the places that he had told me he would take me, Salt Lake, Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia... and I was wrong again, so he took the card and told me that I wasn't going to get it. I was disappointed... and we got into his car and we sat there for a minute and I told him some random trivia about the dam and he told me that it was his favorite place in Emmett, and probably Idaho. I told him that it was nice, but that it wasn't my favorite. He asked me where my favorite place was and I told him old freezeout because I liked to look out at Emmett and I'd never taken anyone there, and I only had good memories there [like the dance party we had up there senior year, one of my favorite memories from high school]. So he said we'd go and we started driving across town. At this point I really thought that I had messed everything up and he wasnt going to ask me...We got to old freezeout and we started talking about how his grandparents had gotten engaged there, his grandma had told us that when we went to dinner with her a few weeks ago, and Cody hadn't known previously. We talked about our families [which have known each other for YEARS, our grandma's played together when they were growing up, and thats just one connection]. I have this ring that he gave me about a week ago, and he bought it for me at the hospital in Emmett out of the little vending machine one day when we were visiting my grandma and he had tried to bend it to fit my ring finger but it's made out of something that won't bend, so he had it and was trying to bend it again. I started talking about how I wanted to climb the hill behind us and he asked if I wanted to get out of the car. We're outside the car and I'm walking around and looking at stuff and he asks me if the ring is bent, and he puts it on my finger and it wasnt, so he kept working on it... I saw a shooting star, and I made a wish [you'll never guess what it was for haha]. Then Cody put my engagement ring on my ring finger [of course it fit!!!] and he got down on one knee, and I freaked out saying something like, "Oh my gosh!" and he said, "Jannelle, will you marry me?" Obviously I said yes, and jumped on him and then I said, "You had that planned the whole time!??!! What if I hadnt been wearing the ring!?" He said that he had a few ideas and then on our drive back to my house [I was sooo excited/happy] he explained how everything had happened, how he'd asked my dad for permission, how he'd been in touch with Jacque [sneaky...], and all the details. It was definitely an amazing night. I'm so excited!

the picture my mom took before we left my house.

I love my ring, he did such a good job.

this is the one.

Cody Mitchell Howerton [aka Cowboy Cody]

Our story [well... the beginning]:

Cody and I first met when I was 3 and he was 5 when he came to my grandma Jensen's house. I don't really remember this... but it's what we have been told. Our families have a history together, my grandma Holiday and his grandma played together when they were little girls growing up in Emmett, and of course my dad's family and his family have known each other for years. When I was 15, I went to Meridian with my second cousin Curtis Vickery to go to a stake dance with my cousin Derek. That's where Cody and I met for the first time that I can remember. When I first met him I thought he was really cute and tall. We talked all night and I thought he was hilarious and I couldn't wait till I turned 16 so I could date him. Of course, this is all documented on the 4 solid pages of my journal that I wrote after that night that are completely devoted to him. We went our separate ways, but every time I was single, I asked Derek about him. In April, I was single again, and I talked to Derek and I asked him how Cody was and Derek told me that he was single too, and I told Derek that he should set us up. I ended up getting back together with the guy I had been seeing previously, but Cody sent me a message on myspace asking me if I remembered him (which is ridiculous, of course I remembered him). We've been talking every day since. Although we were on opposite sides of the country, we spent countless hours on the phone this summer, sometimes we talked all night until the sun rose. He sent me a package when I was homesick, and we exchanged letters and post cards. When I didn't know where to go after the summer was over, he told me that he would make Idaho worthwhile. So, at the end of the summer I drove the 3,000 miles home to Cody, and found him waiting in my driveway at 5 am (he had waited all night for me to get home). We've spent everyday together since, and it has definitely been worthwhile.

I'm back!!!

After a long break from blogging, I am finally writing again. The past few weeks, or months, have been pretty crazy. I got back from Philadelphia just over two months ago. My summer was amazing to say the least. I miss it, and I miss my two little friends, but it's good to be back in Idaho. Right now I am working full time for Citi, trying to plan a wedding, and keep up with Cody. Life is great, I love it. Look forward to more posts in the near future!

summer plans

Well its been two months and I am well overdue for a blog update. Recent events have been less than satisfactory in most cases. However, my sister and I have reached a decision about our destination for this summer: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am excited because it is another historic city, like Boston. Also, not only is it closer to NYC, it's also close to Atlantic City and I know Jacque and I will be visiting both cities. I only have 8 days left at school before the end of the semester when I'll be moving home for the time between the end of the semester and when Jacque and I drive across the country. Time at home should be a good change before work starts. I spent the last weekend with my parents and little sisters on a roadtrip to a town north of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. I wasn't really expecting to be in a car for that long, but it was good to spend time with my family. Now I'm just trying to get through the final push before the semester is over, and waiting for summer to arrive.