Tis the Season to be blogging

O Christmas Tree

Here's our Christmas tree:



Just kidding:) that is a beautifully decorated tree in the library at BYU. That is how I would like my tree to be decorated. Really here is our tree
Looking nice all decorated...With the lights on:)

This is not our Christmas tree, but it is Ty's parents. We went over there Sunday night and helped decorate the beautiful tree. I have one more picture to share, and it goes with a story.
I wasn't really sure when his siblings decided to play this trick, but

Tyler was walking around for a very long time with an ornament hanging from his pants. Everyone was laughing hysterically, but so was he!! He had no idea what hit him. It wasn't until I said "honey, don't sit down" that he figured it out. Turns out, this was a joke he used to play on his siblings EVERY Christmas and so this year they decided to get him good. They did!! In the car on the way home, Tyler told me that he didn't even think about doing that to anyone this year...maybe marriage is better than we thought:)

Long Overdue

Even though I keep on trying, somehow the days just go on by without me posting. I've been doing really well at taking pictures though:) I was in the Nutcracker and did 4 performances. 2 Matinee and 2 night ones. I was cast in 6 different roles: Party Parent for the opening party scene, Ladies in Waiting to introduce the Sugar Plum Fairy, Chinese dance, Russian dance, Snowflake in the snow scene, and a Flower in Waltz of the Flower. It was my first performance on pointe and it was SOOO fun. There were some tragedies along the way, however, first my toenail. I was going to post a picture, but it's too hideous. The first weekend of rehearsals were so intense that both my big toes got blood blisters. Well I babied my left toenail for months to try and keep the nail on so I wouldn't be dancing and irritating the new skin that would be exposed if I lost the nail....but alas, after my Tuesday night performance it was gone. That left me with two performances to go without a toenail. I am happy to report that it didn't even hurt me that bad on pointe, only when I was in flat shoes because I was putting the top of my foot on the floor instead of dancing on top of my toes.
I was so happy to be done and I'm so grateful to everyone who came to support me!!! I love my family!!! Here are some of the pictures

These are our Snow costumes. You probably can tell how illfitting it is on me:) but you can't see the loads and loads of glitter we have on!!

Dancing on stage for the snowflake. My phone doesn't take really good movement pictures, and there's no flash:)Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

After the show in my Chinese costume with my hottie of a husband.

Our Russian troupe:)

Tag

TAG!
A- Attached or single: Attached to my best friend
B- Best Friend: Tyler
C-Cake or Pie?: Cake, but only if it has ice cream with it
D-Day: Sundays. The only day I can sleep in and don't worry about school at all
E- Essential Item: good pair of boots
F- Favorite Color: blue
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: gummi bears, especially the ones from Germany
H-Home town: Colorado Springs, CO
I- Indulgences: Ice cream and cookies
J- January or July?: January! I love the winter and the beginning of a new year, especially when you forget to change the date and are stuck in the previous year:)
K-Kids: soon...
L-Life is incomplete without: Tyler
M- Marriage Date: August 29, 2008
N- Number of Siblings: 7; 5 girls, 3 boys in the family
O- Oranges or Apples: both
P- Phobias or Fears: not being able to have babies, sleeping in a house alone
Q- Quote: "when women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. men invade a country. it's a whole different way of thinking"
R- Reason To Smile: a clean house and a nice warm bed
S- Season: Fall and Winter
T- Tag: Ashley Akin, Elyse Garlock (and Andrew too)
U- Unknown fact about me: I've broken 5 bones
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: OPRESSOR
W- Worst Habit: leaving cups around the house
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: x-rays
Y-Your favorite food: lasagna or chicken enchiladas
Z: Zodiac Sign: Libra

Missions

My cousin got her mission call:) she is going to Oslo, Norway and reports Feb 4 2009.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

we're having a Christmas party and we want everyone to come:) here's the link:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/CYIOFPGEDUDRRKHJQKZU/rasmussendutcher

Usually Thanksgiving is for family

but this year it was a little different. Ty and I went to Colorado for the break and it turned out to be more of project week than a break:) So, about the whole family thing for Thanksgiving...we had all of my siblings there and also cousins of my cousins and then a widow in our ward who didn't have anywhere to go and also an older man in their ward whose wife was working all day. Needless to say it was fun in its own way. It was a project week too because we worked on wedding stuff for my sister and painted one of our bathrooms and I also worked on some tutu's for our Nutcracker performance which is on December 9th and 10th. My biggest achievement was the pies...I was in charge this year and I made 10! here's some pics:

that's 4 pumpkin, 1 cherry, 2 blueberry, 2 peach, and a mincemeat(pioneer tradition or something)

my sister and her friend working on wedding announcements


Ty and my dad painting the bathroom

our Waltz of the Flowers tutus for Nutcracker.

If anyone wants to come you can get tickets at Thanksgiving point. They are 18.00 for adults anyday before the show and 20.00 day of. For kids it's 13.00. I am really excited for it to be here, but also ready for the rehearsals to end:)

Also, if anyone knows of places to live in Seattle let me know. We are not sure what we're going to do...I LOVE THE HOLIDAY SEASON:)

Summer Plans

I know now is not the time to be looking forward to summer because we haven't even really started winter yet! however, I have some spectacular news...Tyler accepted an offer from Ernst and Young for the summer in SEATTLE! So we'll be heading up there during the summer before returning to BYU for him to finish his masters. Crazy how life just keeps on trucking!

Blogging like crazy

I have been blogging so much lately. It's a good thing because I have been keeping busy while Tyler's been gone interviewing with accounting firms up in Seattle, WA. He leaves me at home by myself. What else is there to do without a husband around? Just kidding. Please, anyone, give me more posts to read and more things to blog about!! Cissy did tag me so I will go ahead and blog about that, yay

6 TV shows I watch:
hmm, since our TV is broken and we can only watch DVDs, my TV watching is pretty limited. However, we do usually get to watch
-The Office.
-I will sit down and watch days worth of What Not to Wear. I can't get enough of you Stacy and Clinton!!
-I also will watch How it's made at any time of the day (or night, as it is usually on at like midnight).
-Other than that, I can't really even remember the last time I watched TV...

6 Things that happened yesterday:
-hmm, I danced, I danced, I danced, I danced, I danced, I danced...is that 6? It was actually 6.5 hours yesterday...
-ok and I went to dinner with Ty and then the ballet
-we went to best buy to get a new power cord for his laptop
-did some homework...
not very productive saturday i guess!

6 Things I'm looking forward to:
-Tyler getting home
-going grocery shopping (we have seriously no food)
-GRADUATION
-having a baby
-my first Christmas married!!
-our own house

6 Things on my Wish List:
-shopping spree (especially for shoes...I love shoes)
-living abroad (hopefully south america)
-to be a professional ballerina
-read a book not related to school
-learn how to fly (airplanes duh)
-more time with Tyler!!

Ok, so now I tag Lindsey Nardone, Julie Rasmussen and Valerie Housley!

Ballet

Anyone who knows me knows how OBSESSED I am with Ballet. So, it's not too surprising that I wanted to go watch BYU's Ballet Showcase perform this weekend. The surprising part is that Tyler consented to go with me:) I figured out this weekend that I dance more than I am in school! (Dance= 18.5 hours; School=10) I found this AMAZING video snippet of what ballet is...more than just girls(or boys:)) in tights!


I also couldn't help but put this one in too... I think I watched it like 5 times! Check out those men!


So even if you don't like ballet or don't understand it, you can at least appreciate the beauty and grace of being able to move your body like these professionals. These are the kind of dancers that inspire me to keep going, even when my feet are bleeding while I dance and when I can't walk the next day because my legs and feet and hips hurt so much.
Next time you see a ballet, or meet a ballerina, you may understand just a little more of what they go through to build their strength and talent. Just like any other professional, they work to become who they are. Countless hours and days and years to be able to lift and sustain their leg above their hips. Hundreds of falls and slips to be able to turn 3 times in a row en pointe. Lots of pain and self-discipline to develop the technique, speed and power to defy physics!
Oh ya, did I mention, I love ballet??

A little poem for the Newlyweds

Here is the poem we wrote for Elyse and Andrew for their wedding:
Dearest Drewelle:
We drove to California with haste
(remember when dad used to eat paste?)
After these yummy foods we did taste
We're happy to say it wasn't a waste.
As easy it is for Andy's dad to make widgets,
So it shall be for you to make midgets.
Look at all these presents people have brought
Watch for Elyse, she's energetic and runs around a lot.
Gallop off in your car and pack your bag,
Make sure tonight you play lots of tag.
In Elyse's early times she was abused by steers
But she has beautifully mended through the years.
Snogging and Blogging, what more can we say,
HOPE YOU HAD A FANTABULOUS DAY!!!

Congratulations you two:)

Donkey Love

Anyone who knows my little bro Brennan (to lame to use all of bro-in-law all the time) knows how he loves donkeys. Well I found the perfect blog for him. Check it out here.

Election Time

I already posted a huge post today, but my grandma just had me read this quote and I thought it especially pertinent:
"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.
"I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through" (Harold B. Lee Ye are the Light of the World. p 350-51)

Catching Up

I struggle each week to think of how I can be more creative in blogging. I re-read my posts and I'm like BOOOORRRRING! So, either that means my blog is a reflection of my personality, or maybe I just can't write:) So I decided the blog needed a facelift. How does it look??

Or maybe it's actually because I'm sitting here in my managerial economics class talking about money, markets, and banking and we're discussing the current LIBOR rate and TED spread and what's going to happen when the Fed meets Wednesday to discuss the Federal Funds Target Rate (and Bloomberg says drop is most likely to go to .75%!!!) It's actually a good time to be studying the market because I am able to understand everything that is going on right now in our economy and the implications, not only for the United States, but also for the whole health of the world.

Or maybe it's because I haven't posted in forever. So I don't even know where to start...So i'll start with the now and work my way backwards. I voted today!!! Now that's a crazy story because I don't have any identification yet that shows I am a Rasmussen (except my Social Security Card) I haven't gotten my new drivers license yet so I couldn't register to vote in Utah. But, because I HAD to make sure my vote counted, I registered for my absentee ballot in Colorado. Funny thing though is that I thought I was already going to get my absentee ballot but it didn't come, it didn't come and it didn't come! I called my mom and asked her what I should do. Resourceful as she is, she called our county clerk (who used to be in our ward) and he said that that day was the last day to send in a request for a mail in ballot! Well, there wasn't enough time to mail it in, so I faxed it. Except we don't have a fax machine at home...or so I thought!! Turns out out printer has faxing capabilities and all I had to do was plug it in to the phone line and it works!!! So I am so excited now:) I faxed in my request and the mail in ballot came while we were in California for Elyse's wedding, which was yesterday. Problem is that the ballot had to be received in Colorado by tonight at 7:00pm. Well, A voter's got to do what a voter's got to do. I mailed it (well Tyler did), overnight express, for $16.50!!! My vote better count!

I mentioned in there that we were in California for Elyse's wedding and that's the next thing. You will HAVE to read Kristin's blog because she has many things to talk about for this trip:) We drove to Las Vegas Thursday night and then arrived in Southern California Friday afternoon. We ate at this delicious Mexican restaurant called El Patio located in Dana Point CA and then we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Fountain Valley (right by Huntington Beach). We talked about everything from my trip to Chile, to the election, and also those Twilight books and we talked way into the evening. It was fun though to catch up on our short married life! (it's already been 2 MONTHS). We woke up and got to the temple on time and loved it. The Newport Beach temple is Gorgeous! heres a pic:


Here's some other pics from the wedding:

My adorable nephews from left to right Braxton and Jace (oh and my adorable husband too:)

In front of the restaurant where Elyse's reception was...right on the coast!

Brennan, me and Jenna at the temple

Tyler and Jenna

Brennan holding Ashlyn

On the way to California, we had to do something to keep the boys busy, so we fed Braxton doughnuts...

Pushed Jace in a merry-go-round...

The boys did "kung-fu" fighting

While we were in California we went to Downtown Disney and this is a picture of a really cool percussionist and guitar player. It sounded like New Age music, but whatever it was it was good



Since the wedding was over Halloween weekend, the boys got to go trick-or-treating. Jace of course was spiderman and little Brax was the cutest monkey ever!! Ashlyn was a flower and Kristin will have pics on her blog soon!
So those are the newest stories. Now to the old. Tyler and I carved pumpkins with Elyse and Andrew...

Carving that crazy spider was tricky! And I learned (since I am not a skilled pumpkin carver) that you start carving the middle and then move outwards. I got to the eyes last and could barely even do it without breaking the poor spider's legs.

The cards Jace and Braxton made for my Birthday!


So I think that brings me to my last post. A lot more has happened, but too much I'll bore you I think so I'll end here. Hopefully you all are doing well and enjoying the fall weather and the fact that Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!!

NOW I AM 22!

This weekend has been probably the best weekend and a horrible weekend at the same time. I don't know if that's even possible, but let me elaborate...Friday, Tyler took me shopping and I got some way cute things! I can't even believe how lucky I am to have him as my husband. He just knew that taking me shopping would make me happy. I got this cute tweed jacket and the beautiful cowl neck sweater (but in cream)

After church on Sunday we went to Ty's parent's house for a birthday party. We had the most delicious homemade chicken pot pie that is Kristin's recipe. There were a lot of people there and it was great. Thanks again Kristin for coming down with your family. I love the boys' cards. Jace and Braxton drew me pictures of me as a robot and said happy birthday. I love having nephews and little Ashlyn as a niece! I always thought I would have to be a mom before and aunt, but that is not the case and I love it!!! If you haven't seen the latest pics, look at Kristin's blog. She is a wonderful sister-in-law! Ok, well after the fantastic dinner, we had fantastic dessert and then present time. Rasmussen's got me a beautiful purse and sweater and jewelry. Kristin gave me a pampered chef vegetable steamer, pyrex mixing bowl and corn on the cob holders. They're fantastic. My family bought me a sewing machine and a little basket and pin cushion and stuff. My mom also got me a pastry cloth (I didn't get one for my wedding) so I can make delicious pies!! Yahoo for birthdays. I wasn't too surprised about the sewing machine because 1) I asked for it and 2) my mom basically begged me to get one when I was at home. I never have been too "crafty" and do not have the patience for sewing things. HOWEVER, now that I have been out of the house for awhile, and been able to sew a couple things on my own, I have learned that it is fun and can be quite resourceful. Now I can finish my curtains that I got for our house. Right now they are hanging in our bedroom quite drearfully.

Here's my sewing machine

And this is what I'm hoping my curtains will be like. This is the only picture I could find, so as soon as my project is complete I will post pictures.
Now to the somewhat bad part of the weekend. Tyler had this huge programming project that was due Monday that I swear he worked on for more than 25 hours (Mostly between Thursday and Sunday). We missed the BYU Football game because of my dance rehearsals, which is another part why the weekend was so hard. I had rehearsals from 4-9:30 on Friday and then from 11-2 and 3:30-5:30 on Saturday. My right big toe is bruised and black...gross and yes sooo painful. That's the price you pay for greatness I guess:)

Hope you can come to the show December 9 or 10!!!

Joe Biden . . . or Michael Scott?

October Days

It's already October and we're hitting midterms...but the exciting news is it's Conference Time! There are a lot of other exciting things happening right now too:

• Erin's engaged,
  
• Elyse and Andrew are less than a month from go time,
  
• I'm pregnant...haha JUST KIDDING! Tyler continues to make false announcements to the family and no one's going to believe us when it's true. (Besides I wouldn't even be able to know for sure by now if I were I don't think!!)
  
• We are in the middle of picking out photos from our photographer (look at them if you want at www.merephoto.com/proofing password carissatyler
• Tyler has flyout interviews with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst and Young (Our top pick for location is Seattle, WA...If anyone has any contacts with jobs for me there, let me know!)
• Halloween! This is actually one of my least favorite holidays and I'm not exactly sure why except that I don't really like dressing up. I love candy, but maybe the fact that I can't really remember many years that I even went Trick-or-Treating has created my bias. I was deprived! Maybe it was also because my mom preferred that I was a fairy or princess or something and I always wanted something more....wild.
• MY BIRTHDAY! I will be 22 on the 12th. Hard to believe I'm only 22. I feel like the past 2 years have aged me at least 3.5 years.
  

Me as a 3 year old

Me as an 8 year old


Me last year


Yay for birthdays!

3 weeks in...

Well this weekend I'll be married a month. Crazy how time flies. Our photographer was really quick and already posted a slideshow for everyone to view of some of the pics from our wedding...find it at: www.merephoto.com/carissatylerslideshow. I also posted some fun pics from our honeymoon on facebook, but if you haven't seen them:
This is Ty with the Welcome Bear in front of the hotel




















Here's a pic of the hotel from the ski lift