Brett & Kirsten

Hello Houston!

2012-01-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone out there didn't get the memo, we made it safely to Texas. We've been here for a couple weeks now and are loving it more than we expected. I feel like I should have a lot to say about christmas and driving across the county and settling in to our new home.... but I'm having a hard time putting it all into words. It has been a whirlwind of a month, thats for sure. Suffice it to say, we had a fabulous christmas and were throughly spoiled, the drive was long but rather uneventful and our new place is perfect!

I guess the biggest and most important thing I can say is just how thankful I am for how blessed we've been. I truly know that God's hand was in our decision to move down here and he watched over us as we did our best to make it happen. Looking back, what we did could easily be described as crazy. Our life in Provo was comfortable, secure, and stable. We left that all for a life in Houston that is initially filled with discomfort, insecurity and lots and lots of unknowns. See, crazy! But in addition to being crazy, I also believe it was the absolutely best thing that we could have done at this point in our life. And for that knowledge, I am grateful!

I'll try to give you a peek into our life here with a bulleted list of things I am grateful for.

I am grateful....

That everything we packed fit perfectly into our small trailer
That we had so many friends come help us pack up the trailer so I didn't have to make as many trips up and down all the stairs
For the generosity of the people at the U-haul store in allowing us to store the trailer safely (and for free) with them over christmas weekend
For Brett's parents/brother for helping by driving with us
That the pick-up made it over the two 10,000 ft mountain passes in Colorado while pulling the heavy trailer. We were a little naive about the "rocky mountains" and didn't find out until it was too late. There were multiple times we didn't think it would make it as we drove 30 mph in the lowest gear with the second fan on to keep the engine cool. But the Yoda pulled through for us!
That after the rockies the roads were flat and straight!
For beautiful weather during our three day trip. No rain or snow. We couldn't have asked for better weather and we would not had been able to do it during a "normal" winter season.
That our apartment was clean and nice and smoke free and safe and most importantly BUG FREE. For those of you who were not aware, my BIGGEST fear with regards to this move was our apartment. Renting a place sight unseen is a scary process especially when you are moving to a state that is notorious for having bugs. I am pleased to report that we have yet to see a single cockroach or any other critter in our place!
For a friendly and welcoming ward who noticed us the first sunday and has truly made us feel welcome.
That we were able to find living room furniture for a good deal. We are no longer sitting on camp chairs and it is GREAT!
That my husband is a rock star and is absolutely excelling at his teaching responsibility. The full time teacher he is assigned to didn't initially know he was coming so the start was a little rocky but Brett has been teaching all week and comes home from school happy, energetic and with great stories.
The opportunity that Brett has to also help out with coaching the baseball team. He was very excited about that and I love seeing him excited.
For the beautiful weather! We had one day of rain but the rest has been sunny and nice. The pleasant weather sure has made the transition easier. I do not miss the snow/freezing temps one bit. Nor do I miss the dry skin.
For a strong marriage that although is not perfect has become so much stronger during the last month. In addition to working together during stressful times, living without cable/internet for 2 weeks also helped.
That our internet and cable is finally up and working. Brett enjoyed this last night especially as he was able to watch and cheer on his 49ers to victory.
For the free time that I have had to try our new recipes and practice my "home maker" skills.
That there are so many yummy looking new restaurants to try out once we get income again.
That I have been finding multiple job openings that sound interesting and match my skill set. No job yet, but I'm feeling good about it.
And although we miss all of our dear friends in Provo, I am especially grateful for everyone who has touched my life over the last 6 years while I lived in Utah.

All in all, life is good. :) I'll work on getting some pictures of our new place and we can have a little virtual house warming party/tour soon.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

We've checked most things off our moving to-do list and are enjoying a few relaxing days celebrating Christmas in Baker City Oregon. With everything being so hectic I didn't get any christmas cards sent out but we want all our family and friends to know that we are thinking of you this holiday season. I love this time of year and how people seem to change for the better, if only for a few short moments. It is impossible not to try to be better as we remember the birth of our Savior and the love that he has for us and the great sacrifice he ultimately made.

Prior to packing everything up, we did take the chance to decorate for christmas. I know that this season isn't about the tree and the lights but seeing those things sure helps put me in the spirit.

This season we were blessed to have the chance to participate with our ward and help provide christmas for a number of families in the area. It was such a special experience to go shopping and spend money on people we've never met but know will benefit from our sacrifice. We all got together and wrapped the presents while we ate and I was blown away by the generosity of our fellow ward members as the piles around the gym continued to grow. Brett and I then delivered to a few families and it was a special experience to see the smiles on their faces.

On a lighter note, we also had a number of parties to go too. It was fun to see friends/coworkers one last time before we headed out. One of the parties was a "tacky christmas sweater" party. I took the opportunity to get out my glue gun and get to work.

From our family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas!

Banana Bread

2011-12-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

A little anecdote about living in a half packed up home...

With our couches sold and our table/chairs taken apart our apartment is not only looking kind of bare, it also greatly lacks "livable space". So for dinner last night Brett and I had no other option than to sit in camp chairs around a pile of boxes. As we talked about our seemingly endless to-do list, I remembered a item sitting in our freezer. We have been trying to use up all of the perishable food that can't make the trip to Houston with us. We did a good job of eating all the frozen meat and using up the random half bottles of sauces from the fridge. Although I'm still not sure how I made the mental error and bought a large bottle of Miracle Whip a few short weeks ago.... Anyway, last night I remember that we still had a number of overly-ripe frozen bananas just waiting to be made into Banana Bread. Brett and I agreed this would be a nice treat and Brett got VERY excited.

Later that evening Brett and I were in the kitchen getting ready to make our yummy treat. I reached for my binder of recipes only to remember that we had already packed up my cookbooks. Good thing we live in a day of information overload and so I sent Brett to search out a recipe online. He pulls up a recipe and starts reading off the ingredients to me so I can get them all out. Bananas- check. Sugar- check. Eggs- ....whoops! We thought we were being good by using a large number of eggs that morning for breakfast and even proud of ourselves for thinking ahead when saved two for dinner (one for some homemade bread and the other for the recipe). My first thought was to go ask our neighbors. Unfortunately they have already left to go home for Christmas break.

Not willing to give up all hope for banana bread I sent Brett back to google to search out a new recipe. This time for one that didn't need eggs. He was successful and so we started again. Bananas- still check. Flour- check. Butter- oh dear. I'm not sure how I didn't think of these things BEFORE deciding to make banana bread. I mean, I know that baking requires some basic ingredients, I'm just used to always having them on hand. Anyway, back to the butter. I checked the fridge and we had 3/4 of a stick of butter (the recipe called for a whole stick). Oh well, we decided we would just make do. I put the butter in the bowl and added some oil to compensate and called it good. I was hoping the recipe wouldn't be too dry since we skimped on butter and cut out the eggs.

With all the ingredients in the bowl we are ready to mix them up! I open the drawer to get my hand mixer out and can't help but laugh as I tell Brett that its not there. I must have already boxed it up. Truthfully, I don't actually remember boxing it up so I sure hope we find it when we unpack! Yes, I know that you don't need a hand mixer to bake but when you are dealing with frozen bananas the electricity power sure helps. I apologized as I gave Brett the metal whisk and handed him the bowl. He was a great sport and mixed everything up.

We finally got the goods mixed and poured into our bread pan and baking in the oven. Thankfully we didn't run into any more surprises. It actually turned out yummy and we enjoyed our treat last night as well as some for breakfast this morning.

We finished packing up our dishes/appliances/kitchen stuff this afternoon so hopefully I don't get the notion to do any more baking. In the meantime we just try to laugh as we continue to try and find things we've already packed. Today's list was the envelopes, ace bandage wrap, a christmas present for my brother and a pair of my shoes I wanted to wear. Unfortunately we are also finding things that should already be packed up like a stack of printer paper, a random school book, and a lonely kitchen fork.

I will be happy when we are all unpacked and settled in our new place! Although it might take a couple trips to the grocery store to replace all the little things and who knows how long to get all the boxes unpacked.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-12-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Things are changing around here. And its kind of scary. But still very very exciting. Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter.

Brett finished his last final of his undergraduate career yesterday. Definitely exciting!
Tomorrow is my last day of work. Both. Scary: leaving a steady source of income in an uncertain world. Exciting: the opportunity to take what I've learned in the last 2 years and apply it in a new situation that will help me learn and grow even more.
In 5 days we will load everything we own into a moving truck. Scary. I am not even close to be ready and I have no idea if everything will even fit...
Christmas. Exciting! Family. Friends. Food. And constant reminders of the Savior and the love he has for us. (I'll miss ya mom and dad!).
A 4 day car ride to Houston Texas, starting the day after Christmas. Both. Scary: unknown weather conditions and possible vehicle difficulties. Exciting: adding a few more states to the ones I can say I've been to.
Moving into a new apartment. Both. Scary: moving into a place we have never seen and could be a total dump. Exciting: having a new home to decorate and make our own.
Moving to Texas. Both. Scary: moving far away from family and friends. Exciting: new adventures and getting to take Brett with me!
Living in Texas. Scary. Two words: humidity and bugs. Oh yeah, and living so far away from family.
Being a part of a new ward. Exciting: I'm just glad that the church is constant despite a drastic change in the congregation.
Brett doing his student teaching. Exciting (at least for me, haha) I think Brett will be one rock star teacher and I am excited for him to actually get in the classroom and show off his talents and abilities. I know he is going to be successful and do so good at providing for our family. We have thought and prayed a lot about this move and really feel like it is the best move for us!
Me not having a job lined up. Both. Scary: uh... rent, bills, etc with no income. enough said. Exciting: having a chance to relax (read: be lazy) and get us established in our new little home.

Overall, yes there are a lot of scary things about this move. I've lived in Provo since 2005. Its been a great place for me/us. We have lots of friends and feel very comfortable here. However, I know that it is in the moments of discomfort that we learn and grow the most. I'm sure this move will cause a lot of discomfort but I am honestly looking forward to the growth opportunities it will provide. And most of all, I'm SOO glad I'm married to my best friend and get to take him with me!

This IS happening. It IS real. And there is no turning back now. :) Any advice/ideas on how to make the drive fun? What about dealing with humidity and (shudder) flying cockroaches.

Fall Semester

2011-12-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm not still in school, something about living in provo/going to a student ward for church/having a husband who is still a student makes it easy to refer to time frames in semesters. So it is crazy to think the fall semester is quickly coming to an end. The end of this semester is pretty significant for us and lots of changes will be happening, but that's for another post. Right now I want to document some of the fun we've been having the last few months. I'm really far behind and know that if I don't just post it all now it'll never get documented. There is a lot of random stuff so I'll try to keep it organized (for those of you who actually read all of it) and post as many pictures as I can (for the rest of you).

Just after coming back from our Portland trip my office location for work changed. I had avoided several "office space" moves in the American Fork office because the idea of packing up all my work junk and moving it just didn't sound appealing, even if it would have meant and bigger/nicer office. Because of this, you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of moving all my stuff to a completely different building down in Provo. Especially because this change did not come with a bigger or nicer office either. Instead, I spent a few weeks working out of a conference room before moving to a slightly better location and finally ending up where I am now which is decent but still a step down from my other space. The move wasn't easy; as saying good-bye to friends/routines/familiarity never is. But looking back, it was definitely for the better! I have LOVED the shorter commute and realized just how much stress I came home with simply because I hated driving in traffic/construction. The State also switched from four 10-hour days to five 8-hour days around the same time. And although I miss my 3 day weekend, I have greatly enjoyed the cut from an 11 hour day to a 8 hour and 10 minute day. An extra 3 hours a day has been fabulous! The extra time has been a blessing too because it means that I'm more available to help around the house which makes me feel better. As for a picture? Here is one I took off my phone one day. My office is on the 5th floor so the view is nice.

While my time commitments went down, Brett's increased significantly. He has been serving in our ward as the Elder Quorum President. It has been quite the ordeal getting things straightened out. Our wards combined and re-arranged boundaries shortly before he was called and there was almost 2 month period of time where there was no president officially called and then to top it off they combined two quorums into one. Lots needed to be done but I'm always impressed by Brett's work ethic and strong skills in leadership. And although its no fun having him gone most of Sunday in meetings and one night a week doing visits, its been a huge blessing in our life. One of the best things is that Brett was forced to meet everyone in the ward and we have GREATLY enjoyed getting to know so many amazing couples in our ward. Sorry, no picture.

Brett's brother, Tyler (not to be confused with my brother Tyler) moved down to Provo this fall so we've also enjoyed spending time with him. His parents were also in town at one point and we all celebrated Tyler's birthday by going golfing. The score ended in a three-way tie.

We took a quick trip up to Baker City to surprise Brett's mom for her birthday. I was impressed the guys were able to keep it a secret. We weren't there for that long but we got to celebrate with them which is always fun! The only picture I got was of this deer by their house. I always tell Brett that I only ever see the does around town but this one actually had his antlers!

The annual Smith Elk hunt was at the end of October. Brett was gone for a week and although he didn't shoot anything, he had a great time as always. He had been working so hard I'm glad he got a chance to relax (even if I don't understand how walking around in the mountains all day every day can be relaxing.)

Brett brought one of his guns back to Provo so he could go trap/skeet shooting with my brother Tyler. He has only been once, but has fallen in love. I think he has found a new hobby. I wasn't there to take pictures, but the way Brett has been talking about it I'm sure I'll get a chance to see what it is all about eventually.

Speaking of Tyler (my brother) he got MARRIED! I am so happy for his and so glad to have Nicki as a sister-in-law. They are perfect for each other and their wedding was beautiful. My parents and younger brother, David, came into town for wedding. As did a number of extended family members and David's girlfriend, Linda. It was great to all be together even if it was SUPER windy and I look funny in all the pictures!

The fall season also means Intramural Flag Football. Brett decided to forgo playing with his typical team and instead put together a ward team. They struggled a little at the beginning but really got it together at the end. Their last game was this morning and they lost in the championship game. Second place is hard, but they had lots of fun playing and I actually had lots of fun watching and getting to know the wives better. This is the last time Brett will be playing intramural sports here at BYU and he is sad to see it go. I'm especially grateful we've made it this far without any serious injuries to Brett (we've had 3 broken fingers on our team this season alone). I slacked in picture taking, but here are a few.

This was the first (and probably last) time that Brett and Tyler got to play on the same team

Their dad came down just for the Championship game!

Of course you can't have a fall without Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving week was great. We spent a nice long week with my family in Portland. Although we had some work/homework to do we took full advantage of the chance to relax. We got together with some of my friends from highschool for a game night one day and then went to a Hockey game one night as well (it would have been a basketball game, but well.. you know). Our friends Brittany and Rob invited us to the game and we always enjoy the chance to hang out with them and play with their adorable daughter. Our seats came with free hats so you'll note Brett and I sporting them...cute, yeah I know.

Thanksgiving day was also fabulous. My brother and his new wife came in and we invited over her brother and his family (wife and two kids). It was a full house and although we missed my youngest brother, David, we enjoyed the great company and good food.

Well, that about brings us to now. We are busy getting ready for our big move. This post is long enough as it is, so I'll try to get on here real soon and post about all our plans to move across the country in a few short weeks.

Oregon Coast! picture overload

2011-11-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am SOOO far behind. Is it really already November?!? Don't be deceived by the delay in blogging and the dreary pictures that could easily pass for a visit in the fall. After the Deschutes fishing trip Brett and I drove the additional few hours to spend some time with my parents.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but I just love driving over the bridges in Portland. It is still about 20-30 minutes from my house but this is the part of the trip where it really feels like I'm home.

Brett and I both had a friend in portland during the same weekend we were there so we decided to set them up on a blind date. Mostly it was just an excuse to see them, but we ended up having lots of fun playing bocci ball! Stacey (my friend from high school) and Matt (Brett's friend from Freshman year/high school sports).

And of course we found our favorite treat, frozen yogurt! Thanks for playing with us Matt and Stacey!

Next we had to take advantage of being in Oregon in the summer and spent 3 days at the coast with my parents. Warning: there are a lot of pictures. I'll do my best to explain them and give you a quick glimpse at the FUN we had.

Can you believe the gorgeous green! Love LOVE LOVE it!

We spent our time at Depoe Bay and Lincoln Beach. I hadn't spent much time in these coastal towns prior to this trip so it was great to see new things. Like the worlds shortest river!

And the worlds smallest harbor. Who knew Oregon was so famous?

This is us leaving the Harbor on our way to go Whale Watching! Another Depoe Bay specialty.

Proof that we made it out on the boat! And no one got sea sick either.

This picture doesn't do what we saw any type of justice. You can slightly see the mammouth of a whale in the picture but what we saw in person was amazing! The tour was supposed to take us to see little gray whales but our captain spotted something in the distance and we went to check it out. Turned out to be a couple Blue whales. Blue whales, for those of you who don't know (I didn't!) are the biggest mammals on the planet! They are super rare to see in so close to the land so it was a great sight and we were very very lucky!

This picture shows the relative size of the Blue whale that we saw to the other whale/dolphin species.

Thanks mom and dad for the special treat!

We also had to shop in the little shops. Brett and my dad found some chairs to sit in while the ladies shopped.

The weather was kind of chilly and cold (it was the coast afterall) so shortly after this picture we went and bought me a sweatshirt so I wouldn't freeze on the whale watching tour.

Luckily it decided to get nice on the last day. We took advantage of the sun and ventured down to the beach.

Brett had fun watching the guys crab fishing. Those poles were HUGE!

They could only keep males that were a certain size. This guy is letting them loose to crawl back out to sea.

Brett also likes skipping rocks anytime there is water. He is really good at it, and when I try I end up just getting frustrated that mine don't skip as much as his do.

In my younger days, I would always get in the water anytime we made a trip to the beach. Despite the freezing cold water temperatures I loved it. This trip we opted for just getting our feet wet.

Look at that wave that is about to attack me!

There is just something so peaceful about being at the beach and watching the waves. Brett and I look forward to many more trips!

While driving between the cities we took full advantage to stop and see the sights. There were lots of cool bridges and beautiful coast lines.

Water is so powerful!

And yet can also be so peaceful.

One of the places we stopped was populated by squirrels. Brett got them to come right up to him and eat out of his hand.

They clearly weren't scared of people and let Brett go up and touch them.

This natural formation is called "Devils Punchbowl" During the winter storms it creates quite the sight as water comes in and then swirls around.

Another beautiful view in Newport!

A restored lighthouse that we toured.

And last but definitely not least here are the pictures from our glass blowing experience. There are a lot (and I only uploaded like 1/5 of the ones we took). My mom blew a bowl and I made a heart shaped paper weight.

Heating up the glass and getting read to start the processes. That oven was HOT!

Adding colors to my red hot liquid glass

Melting the colors in another hot furnace

Showing up my glasses and holding the tool I was about to use to form my heart.

I decided to put a swirl pattern in the heart and so here we are creating that.

Meanwhile my mom was warming up her glass. You have to be careful to keep the rod it is on moving because the glass is so hot and liquidy it would slowly fall right off.

My mom starting to shape hers.

Mom blowing through a straw to hollow out the glass

Molding the chunk of hot glass into a heart shape. Yes, I personally shaped the glass into a heart. How cool?!

To make the bowl they used centripetal force and it bloomed like a flower in the furnace. The lady did this part because it takes great practice and skill. Very cool to watch though!

And finally, after a cooling process that lasted all night, our finished products! My moms bowl, I love all the swirls in it!

And my heart! So proud that I helped make it and what a fun experience!

Again, thanks mom and dad for the great trip! We had lots of fun, as I hope you can tell from our pictures!

Deschutes Fishing- August 2011

2011-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

All of our practice fishing this summer was in anticipation for our big trip at the end of August. Brett and I joined his mom, dad, and brother in Oregon for a good ole camping and fishing trip. This trip is an annual tradition with his family but this was the first year that I decided to join in on the fun.

Brett and I finally got to use our red tent again that we got for our wedding. The single one off in the distance was his brother's and the blue and orange was his parents.

Brett's dad, mom and brother just relaxing around the campsite

Getting their fishing stuff read I was helping them pick out things I thought the fishies would eat.

It was a good year to choose to tag along because the weather was pleasant and perfect (as opposed to the normal which is windy and miserable). It was a joke with Brett and I that God blessed us with good weather to prevent me from being miserable and in turn ruining the whole week. Lets just say, wind and I don't have a good relationship.

There were two spots that they fished. One was off an island that they floated out to kind of by our camp. They didn't have as much success there though, so they spent the majority of the time down the river a ways. They would hike down there in the morning while Brett's mom and I stayed at the camp.

getting ready to raft out

all fishing together

The boys had great success fishing and because he was catching so many, Tyler (Brett's brother) even let me reel one in! Prior to going Brett talked lots about how bringing in a steal-head is so different from the normal trout we had been catching. Boy was he right! That little sucker sure fought hard! They ended up with quite a few to take home and eat. Some of the fish are natives (as opposed to hatchery fish) and so we had to release those.

Yup, I'm fishing off the bank in the middle of nowhere. who knew!

Sure is bigger than the little trout we have, you'll notice that I never actually had to touch the fish

Tyler's keeper fish from the first day

Tyler and Brett's Dad with another fish

Brett also caught a great big Salmon! I wasn't there when he caught it, but from what it hear it was quite the fight. The poles they were using aren't made for the big salmon but he got it in after a good 20-30 minute fight! They set it loose only to later find out they could have kept it, so that was kind of sad but at least he got some good pictures with the large beast so it was not just another "fish tale".

Confession time: When I first met Brett I thought the "fishing outfit" was kind of ridiculous. I am now proud to say I finally get it and even think he looks great all decked out!

One afternoon while fishing they saw a rattlesnake on the bank. Brett grabbed a stick and clubbed the snake on the head until it died. Yes, he is that tough! They cut off the head and then saved the very end rattler part as a keepsake.

While the guys were off fishing I hung out with Brett's mom. We did a lot of relaxing and tried to sleep in. The boys would get up early to make it to their fishing spot before the sun came up. We usually were able to get another hour or so before the noises from the camp and the sun woke us up. I didn't get many pictures with his mom (sorry!) but we enjoyed hanging around the camp and talking. We also made the drive into town one day and went shopping. Don't worry, just because I'm starting to like the outdoorsy stuff doesn't mean I don't still love to shop! Brett also set up a hammock for me to relax in and I just enjoyed the fresh air and read some books.

This as the view from my hammock. Quite peaceful!

All in all it was a successful week! Everyone caught something they could keep and we left feeling relaxed.

early fall weekend

2011-10-03T19:46:00.001-07:00

I think this last weekend may have been the last pleasantly warm weekend of the year. The temperatures are supposed to drop this week and we will then get to enjoy pleasantly cool weekends for a while. I'm ok with that!
This weekend we went with our friends and old neighbors to the byu football game. Brett mentioned wanting to make it to one last game before we move on from our provo years. Let me just say, we sure picked a good game to go to! The third quarter was kind of slow but the amazing comeback of the fourth made out all worth it! Riley Nelson played on one of Brett's softball leagues this summer/fall so we especially enjoyed cheering for him.
This weekend we also enjoyed two lazy days at home with each other watching conference. I kept myself awake by organizing my craft stuff.That was a good choice because it helped me pay attention and I feel like I had lots of questions answered.
In between sessions on saturday brett took me on a picnic to enjoy the fresh air. It really was beautiful outside!
Saturday night, while brett was at the priesthood session, I invited a couple girls over to do crafts with me. We dominated our crafts and turned out some cute things in a mere two hours. I painted and decorated this flat wooden pumpkin that now sits proudly outside my front door. I'm especially glad it won't turn rotten by the end of the month!
We ended sunday by having brett's brother over for dinner and playing some games. A great end to a great week.
After such a great weekend I was not looking forward to going back to work but I just have to make it thru. My older brother is getting married next week and my whole family will be in town to celebrate. I can't wait! Life never seems to slow down but at least it is filled with fun memories! In the next few months we will attend the wedding, send brett off to hunt for a week, fly to portland for thanksgiving, finish up brett's last semester of classes at byu, pack up out whole home, travel to baker for christmas and then move to texas for brett's student teaching. And I guess we have to work sometime during the next few months too, and serve in our church callings (I'm serving in the primary presidency and brett is the elders quorum president). Busy but great!

(sorry for the grainy pictures, I posted this on my phone and the pictures didn't upload in the best quality)

Hiking the Grotto

2011-09-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Enjoying fresh air is a favorite summer pass time. We escaped some of the heat and went up the canyon to enjoy a nice pleasant hike (slash walk) to the Grotto. Here are some pictures from our hike.

The Grotto Trail is a short trail up the Nebo Scenic Loop by Payson that leads to the Grotto waterfall

Date night! enjoying the time outside and together!

Walking across the makeshift brige

Making our way up up up!

Taking a break to enjoy the scenery

The water fall

We made it up to the falls rather quickly and enjoyed the easy hike with beautiful views.

Since we were already halfway up the canyon we decided to try a new fishing spot.

We didn't have much luck but I didn't mind. I just sat in the chair and relaxed anyway.

We might have to make the drive again now that fall is here and the trees are starting to change! I'd love to see how the canyon looks with all the beautiful fall colors.

Country Girl

2011-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

You can't spend a summer in Utah without going to one of the many city day festivals. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, just about every city in Utah celebrates itself during the summer with a rodeo/fair/carnival.

This year we went to the Strawberry Day's festival in Pleasant Grove. It was a great choice because the "strawberry" part of the celebration was an ample supply of strawberries and cream. Delish!

We enjoyed walking around the carnival area and window shopping at all the booths. Brett was a great sport and looked at all the little boutiques with me. He even tried to win me a prize at the basketball game but he only tried once because we couldn't justify spending more than a dollar. Maybe some day.

Next up was the rodeo. I have always been a fan of rodeos (in the spectator, not participator, sense), which is odd because in our marriage I am the "city girl." Brett, on the other hand, never really went to rodeos prior to meeting me even though he grew up in a small town. Since being together, we've gone at least one every summer. We both enjoy them and they always provide good entertainment (both watching the events and people watching in the crowd). Although I may have been to more rodeos than Brett, he still is way more knowledgeable about them than I am. So please forgive me for a lack of correct terminology.

These little kids were doing their own competition and riding the sheep. Mutton busting, I think is what it was called. Those little kids sure were tough!

And if riding a sheep wasn't enough excitement, they then let a few cows loose with dollar bills taped on to them. The kids were invited into the arena to chase after the cows and grab the money. Again, tough kids. Those cows were large and some of the kids were fearless.

I've always thought horses were beautiful, so I enjoyed watching the mother and baby horses ride around the arena. Can't remember why they did it, probably just to show them off!

Of course they had the usual rodeo competitions as well, such as the calf roping pictured above. Most of the events started after it got dark, so I didn't get many pictures.

After the rodeo they had fireworks. I know I've mentioned I like a lot of things already in this blog but I LOVE fireworks! They were the perfect end to a great night!

It's a rock, it's a tree... no, it's an Moose!

2011-09-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm been slacking on blogging this summer. Truth is, we have been too busy off having fun. One of my favorite parts of being married to my best friend is that I always have someone to go do things with and have crazy adventures with. It seriously is awesome. Consequently though, I'm way behind in my blogging/documentation of said adventures. I'm not going to even try to write about everything we did, but I do want to at least get the activities in which we took pictures up (I know half of you only look at the pictures anyway). It will be a process, but hopefully with Brett now back in school I'll have some extra time while he slaves away at his homework.

Okay, enough pointless words. Lets get on to the fun stuff.

One Sunday afternoon we decided to take a drive up into the Provo canyon part of the Alpine Loop. We had been up past Sundance a couple of times for hikes, but this time we decided to keep going and see where the road would take us. Usually, it's hard to justify driving around and wasting gas, but we needed to charge the battery in the Jimmy. It was a great drive and well worth the money spent in gas.

I could have spent the whole day up there looking at the scenery and enjoying exploring new areas. Brett was a little hesitant at first, but was sold on the idea once we spotted this Moose. It was HUGE and so close and didn't seem phased at all by our presence.

We didn't think to bring a camera, so the only picture we took was this one of the Moose on our phone. But believe me, the rest of the scenery was just as cool. Hundreds of tall aspen trees, views of the snow-capped back side of mount timp, valleys of trees and being surround by nothing but nature.... all with no sign of civilization for miles.

Softballs aren't so soft

2011-08-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know who decided on the name "softball" because they aren't exactly soft. Trust me, I know these things now that I'm an official legit softball player. Okay, okay, I'm far from official but I made a giant jump into the world of slow pitch softball this year and got my fair share of blisters and bruises to prove it. Brett has played every summer since we met and I've always enjoyed going to his games and cheering from the sidelines. This year, however, we decided to throw together a co-ed team so I could get in on the fun. We got a group together through our ward and signed up for BYU's intramural lower division co-ed softball.

"Tough face" picture. Apparently some of us need a little practice being tough.

We didn't have any high expectations and were all out there to just have a good time. And a good time was had! Also, I'm proud to report that our team went ALL-THE-WAY! We made it through the regular season and didn't want the season to end. Once the tournament started, we played our hardest hoping we could just live to see another game. In the end, we won the championship game and were undefeated in tournament play. The best part, we got these coveted intramural champion shirts to prove it!

Champions!

Actually, despite popular belief, the shirts were not the highlight of the season. (Prepare yourself for the lovey-dovey mushy portion of this post) The real highlight was getting to play with Brett. It really was so much fun to be on the team together. He taught me everything I know about softball (literally) and was so loving and patient with me as I learned. Brett is very passionate about sports and definitely gets into the games. It was a new experience to be out there next to him when the game got intense or a little heated. I actually surprised myself and got into the games just as much as he did (okay, almost as much as he did). It was rewarding to work together to make a play and get the out. And always fun to come home after the game and talk together about it (as opposed to his usual talking to me about the games). And I especially enjoyed making him proud when I would get a good hit or catch the ball to get an out. The "good job" smile he would flash me would just make my day! And of course I was always impressed by his ability to hit the ball FAR, think fast and make important plays.

We make a great team!

While playing, we met the classic "angry young guy" on one of the other teams. I used to think Brett was intense, but this guy took the cake. If you have the time, listen to the following clip as it described this player very nicely and is really funny (at least it was for Brett and I who could relate). Some of the things describe Brett too (cough cough, plays on multiple softball teams) but overall I'm grateful Brett is not "angry young guy." I apologize in advance for the occasional strong language.

What do you and your significant other do together for fun?

Kirsten's 24th Birthday

2011-08-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

I've spent the better part of this afternoon typing up activity logs for work. Right now my word document is at 21 pages. My eyes are tired, my brain is drained and my hands are sore but I have an hour left before Brett comes home and decided I should update our blog, since it has almost been a month. I apologize in advance if there are lots of typos, I blame them on being tired.

We've been up to lots of fun adventures this last month. The most memorable/significant was celebrating my 24th birthday. I've never been a huge celebrator of birthdays, but Brett is slowly changing me. Especially when it comes to celebrating MY birthday. (Don't worry, I try my hardest to make his a special time too!) In the month leading up to my birthday he started asking me what I wanted. SUCH a tough question. I've never been good at spending money on myself so its hard to come up with things that I want/need or presents. So I told Brett that what I wanted most was to spend time with him relaxing. He took that and ran with it and even took it one step further. Let me just say it right now, Brett is amazing! I don't know how I got so lucky in finding him!

Brett surprised me with a weekend get-a-way! If you know me, its no secret that my job stresses me out. And if you know Brett, you know that he is Mr. productive all day everyday. So this little get-a-way was perfect for us. A chance to just relax without thinking about our daily life and what needed to be done around the house.

It all started Friday night. The first matter of business was getting dinner. Brett and I both really enjoy Tucanos, a Brazilian grill here in Provo. A yummy salad bar, all you can eat meat, sweet grilled pineapple.....What's not to love? Oh yeah, how about the inevitable overly-stuffed feeling after leaving? Yes, but that is besides the point. Anyway, I digress. Brett decided to try a very similar restaurant called Rodizio Grill up in Salt Lake City. It was good, definitely didn't disappoint, although I think we'll keep our loyalties with Tucanos. They were running a couple deals so we decided to splurge and get drinks and dessert with our meal!

The next stop was the hotel. The purpose of a get-a-way is to "get away" from your home and the stresses associated with it. We didn't go too far, but it was perfect. (Have I mentioned that Brett planned the "perfect" birthday yet, because he did, and I might mention again, and again). Brett came up with this all by himself too, which makes it even better. He reserved us a room at a local bed and breakfast called The Anniversary Inn. I had heard of this place before and was a little worried it would be corny or overdone but I think it surprised both of us!

The specialty of this place is that each room is decorated. And when I say decorated, I really mean transformed. Our room was "Jackson Hole" and it had a nice country western feel to it. Here are some pictures of the room to give you an idea. (click to enlarge) Yes, that is right. We slept in a covered wagon, the jetted tub (!) was behind saloon doors, and the walls were painted with Wyoming landscape/ old country town scenes.

Aside from the overall feel of the room there were many little details that really helped it feel like we were away from all our worries. They had the room all ready for us complete with love songs playing on the TV, iced sparkling cider, and cheesecake in the fridge.

We were so full from our dinner that we decided to play a game of checkers (yes, it was painted onto the table) first. I made a huge comeback at the end and won!

The other great thing about this place was that they delivered breakfast to our room the next morning. When we checked in they had us select what we wanted and when we wanted it delivered and then, like magic, it was there. We both got ham and cheese croissants with plenty to drink and then they surprised us with a fruit and yogurt parfait. It was all yummy! I've never actually ordered room services so I'm guessing it was kind of like that, except it was all included in the price of the room.

After a nice relaxing and lazy stay at the Anniversary Inn we headed off for part two of my birthday present. This is the last picture I took, it was of us in the hallway all ready to do some damage up in Park City.

Brett, being the thoughtful guy that he is, planned for us to go shopping on Saturday. Yes, clothes shopping, together. I know, he is great! Like I said before, I have a hard time spending money. Especially on clothes. I just talk myself out of things if there is not someone there telling me it looks good and that I should go for it. So it was perfect to have Brett as my shopping buddy. We went up to the outlet mall in Park City and we sure did some damage! I should have taken a picture of all our bags! Brett told our families that all I wanted for my b-day was spending money, which was great, because then I could buy things without feeling guilty! We also got a few things for Brett, so that helped with the guilty feelings that result from getting so spoiled.

After shopping we ate at this Mexican restaurant that we found while up in Park City last year for our anniversary. Then we drove back to our place and crashed. Shopping sure takes it out of ya! Brett made me a cake and we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing and eating too much cake. Rainbow chip cake, of course.

It really was the perfect birthday! Spending an extended about of time with my lovely hubby, getting away from our daily stresses, sleeping in and relaxing at the hotel, good food, and some great buys while shopping.... what more could a girl ask for? Thanks honey for being so thoughtful and spoiling me!

Project time

2011-07-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

The walls in our place are all plain and white and our bedroom especially is rather boring. I accept that it is my fault for not hanging up any pictures on the walls or really decorating at all in our bedroom. And my fault for being too cheap/lazy to buy bedroom furniture when I know we'll just have to move it. But we finally changed that.

As my desire to add something increased I began seeing different headboards that caught my eye. If they could make something like that, so could we! I had many great ideas.

I thought it would be cool to make a headboard out of an old door or shutters. Adding a little crown molding really ties it all together.

Inspiration found here, here, here, and here

I also really liked the idea of a tufted headboard. They look so elegant and add lots of dimension and texture into the room.

Found here, here, here, and here

However, I wanted to enlist the help of Brett and because this was our first "project" together I knew I needed to keep it simple. I also took inventory of our "tools": a weak electric screwdriver that loses its charge after a few minutes, a staple gun, and a hot glue gun. It would just be impractical to try anything that would include fancy cuts or lots of attaching pieces, or sand/paint anything that would need space to dry. So we decided on a simple padded fabric covered headboard. Some day we might add some tufting to it, or even add a boarder using crown molding but not this time around.

These are the supplies I determined we needed:

plywood
fabric
batting
foam
staple gun
spray adhesive

We ventured to Lowes where I found myself staring cluelessly at the piles of wood. Brett helped me decipher the coded measurements and the nice guys at Lowes cut the wood to the size we needed. We also picked up some spray adhesive and were on our way.

I felt a little more at home at the craft store but it still took some time to get the perfect amount of batting, foam and fabric. Because we were just covering a large piece of wood, we needed a lot of each (it would have been less if we would have done legs on the headboard). Luckily a nice lady behind us in line asked us if we had anything we could use her 40% off coupon for. um, YES PLEASE! We wanted the pattern to be simple (so our bedding would always match) but still quality fabric. We got some black fake leather looking stuff.

Once home we sat out our supplies and got to work. It was SUPER easy and went surprisingly fast. Looking back I bet we could have done the tufting, but we'll save that for another day. The basic steps were:

Use the spray adhesive to join the foam to the plywood
Cover the foam with batting and staple into place
Cover the batting/foam with the fabric and staple into place.

Brett did all the hard work while I held things and tried to snap a few pictures.

And here are some pictures I took (not nearly as nice as the professional blogger's ones above) of the finished product. Its not perfect, but we love it. It makes such a difference in our bedroom and was an affordable project to spruce up our bedroom.

Here is a picture of the before that I found on my camera from when we moved in almost 1 1/2 years ago.

And here is the after

We had our black bedding on and in the pictures the pillows blend/disappear. It looks better in person but we also have a green/cream set that I'm sure will look sharp.

We still need something for the wall above the bed. I'm thinking a few covered canvases? Or some nice large black and white pictures? Or maybe some letters? Or framed fabric? I have lots of ideas, in fact I even I have a whole pinboard dedicated projects and design for our future home. I can't wait until I can actually paint walls!

But for now, we are proud of our finished headboard. I think I even convinced Brett we should do these little projects more often. We'll have to invest in some big-boy tools eventually, but I'm excited for all the fun things we can make in the future! (when we have a house, and a garage, and a backyard and money....)

4th of July- Baker City Style

2011-07-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry its a little late, but here is a recap (mostly pictures) of our 4th of July weekend.

We drove up to Baker and spent some time with Brett's parents in the great outdoors. Although I love spending time outside, it also reminded me how much I DISLIKE bug bites. I don't really mind bugs (read: spiders) unless they are biting me (read: mosquitoes). Eww

We spent Saturday/Saturday night/Sunday up at their family cabin

Brett's parents were so good to us! Taking us out to play and feeding us well!

The boys made us a great fire to sit around Saturday night

During the day we went on adventures on the 4-wheelers

I decided one of my favorite things about nature is water. I love lakes/waterfalls/streams etc.

On Monday we went back up in the mountains

We stopped at the dam and took in the beauty of it all.

And of course, we got some fishing in. Brett and his dad meant business... wearing their waders and getting into the chilly water. They caught so many too! So, I guess it was worth it.

Mostly I sat on the bank and relaxed, but I caught a few fish. Please don't judge my overly excited "I-just-caught-a-fish" faces.

For fireworks, we headed to the next town and sat in the back of the pickup on a dirt road and watched the show from the local rodeo. I loved it! I guess there is a little county girl in me.

The 4th of July is one of my most favorite holidays. I love spending the day doing fun activities with family and friends and what a better way to end a holiday than cuddling up with the one you love and watching fireworks! LOVE IT!

Thanks again to my great in-laws for taking time out of your busy schedules and letting us play with you guys!

Monday's Memories: Passion

2011-06-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm grateful today for friends. Good friends. The ones you can be yourself around and catch up with even if it has been weeks/months/years. We got to babysit for our buddy Creedence last week, and although I didn't really get to chat much with Maria, it was fun to maintain that connection. I also got to go out to dinner tonight with Chelsea and baby Claire, who are visiting from Arizona. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I was so blessed to have such awesome roommates during college! And because a blog isn't a blog without pictures, here is a blast from the past picture. It was our first "roommate family picture" circa September 2005 (a special thanks to Elise via facebook for providing the picture)

In other news, today's installment of Monday's memories comes from a blog post entitled On Top of the World. It isn't much, but its a good reminder.

Be passionate about something, feel that passion and follow that passion! 

That really sums up what I was trying to do with my education. But now that I'm working, I sometimes forget to feel the passion. I need to remember not to let work get in the way of enjoying what I do.

Just Fishin'

2011-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of spending 10+ hours at work each day is having all of Friday off. This has been especially nice lately because Brett has had most of Friday off as well (he only has to work in the evenings). Unfortunately that'll change in a few weeks, but we took full advantage of our time together today. We went fishing!

The title of this post comes from a newish song that I really like by Trace Adkins. Its a cute song about a dad fishing with his daughter and makes me excited for when Brett can take our kiddo's fishing. Feel free to listen to the song as you read the rest of the post. (fyi: it won't play if you are reading this in Google Reader)

After a few failed fishing attempts last year, we didn't have high hopes of any success fishing in Utah. You may remember our 4th of July trip to the land of murky waters.

And then our 2nd attempt where all we caught was seaweed.

However, a few weeks ago we saw some people fishing down at Utah Lake and decided to try it out. Today was a nice day and so we packed a picnic and headed to the lake. We were disappointed to find out that we had to pay $8 just to get into the park so we scratched that plan rather quickly. Because Provo River runs into Utah lake, we walked along it for a while to see if we could find somewhere decent. No luck.

So we decided to head up the canyon and that is where we hit jackpot. It was my kind of fishing! Sunny weather, a railing to sit on, clear water, and lots of fish.

I caught the first one! Sure, it was small, but Brett was so proud of me and only a little disappointed that I caught one before him. (Sorry for the weird coloring of the picture, we took it on Brett's phone because I had left the camera at home. The rest were taken on my work phone which has a better camera. Did I mention I have a Droid for work? Sweet huh! Anyway, I digress.)

We didn't bring the right bait, something about there being different fish in the lake we were planning on going to than in the river we ended up at.... ?? Don't ask me. But, that didn't stop us. It wasn't long before Brett had caught himself a fish too.

Lucky for me, Brett has no qualms about touching the slimy icky fish. Not only is he in charge of baiting my hook, cleaning the mossy stuff of my hook and fixing my line if (read: when) I mess it up somehow.... he also gets the hooks out of the fish for us! What a stud.

We were just catching and releasing. I was worried we had killed one, but he was alive! Off he goes to get caught by someone else. (I promise the water wasn't this limey green color.)

I had lots of fun fishing (finally). It was really rewarding to actually catch some and seeing them in the water kept my interest. The spot we found wasn't for the hardcore fishers, but that is okay with me. There were lots of kids there with their parents and I fit right in.

We actually liked it so much that we are planning on going back up tomorrow after our ward activity. This time we'll take the right bait and Brett says we'll do even better! If we catch any really big ones I'll be sure to post the pictures. Wish us luck!

Monday's Memories: Spring Cleaning

2011-06-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

A few quick highlights from this last week:

The sun finally came out and Brett got to play some softball for the first time in a long time, and did I mention they won? Cause they did. And Brett is an amazing athlete.
We took advantage of the sun and went for a nice long walk one night. Seriously one of my most favorite activities.
Brett and I decided we love to go out to breakfast and have been trying some different restaurants in Provo. Last Friday we tried this placed called Communal. I had a yummy ham and spinach omelet and Brett had biscuits and gravy. If you live in the area... we need more suggestions for yummy breakfast places. Pretty please?
We spent some time playing mini golf out in the sunshine on Saturday. We got to use our Pass of All Passes and got super excited for it to warm up enough that we can justify going to the water park.
On Saturday we got to spend time with Brett's Grandparents and Aunt/family in Sandy. Brett played with the guys in a Golf Tournament Fundraiser while I tried my hand at decorating cupcakes for a surprise b-day party for cousin Cami who turned 16! We enjoyed seeing family and although we came back exhausted, we had a great time.
While the 16 year-olds were partying it up at the house, Brett and I went with cousin Matt to see the new X-men movie. Full price movie theaters have nice seats. Period.
Church was great, especially because I didn't have to teach or give a talk in sacrament meeting (yes, I had to do BOTH the week before)
Kinda random, but we got to eat corn on the cob with our sunday dinner and I LOVE corn on the cob. Love it.

And now on to our regularly scheduled program. The next installment of Monday's Memories. This week is brought to you direct from "Spring Cleaning" written on March 17th of 2008.

 I got home and a sink full of dishes welcomed me.  That's not usually a good feeling....  but i just decided that it was okay because i wanted to  wash the dishes.  Yes, that's right.  I, Kirsten Clark, actually wanted  to clean.  Oh but it didn't stop there folks.  I washed all the dishes,  cleaned the counters/stove, swept the floor...went to fhe... mopped the  kitchen floor, cleaned the table, swept around the carpet (you wouldn't  believe how much hair was stuck there) vacuumed, partially cleaned the  vanity area of the bathroom AND started cleaning my room.  It felt so  good!

Wow, really? I did that? Hmm... any ideas on how to get that bug back? Cause lets just say that I came home to a sink full of dishes today, and they are still there.

Also in the same blog I stated:

I've always blamed small spaces and lack of organization. Especially at college! It seems pointless to try and organize the endless piles because there isn't really anywhere better to put them. Sure i could throw things away, but what fun would that be?! Instead i just look forward to next fall/ my new house. There is SOOO much storage space in the house we are renting. Its going to be great!!

But let me just set that record straight. No, it was not easier to stay organized in "The Hub" aka the pink house. Nor is it easier to stay organized now that we have a whole spare bedroom. Space does not create organization. Only work can do that. And so until I have time/energy to do it, organization will remain a dream.

Monday's Memories: I wear my heart on my tagline

2011-05-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Its Monday, again. Today was a much better Monday than last week. Mostly because I didn't have to go into to work. Love me my holidays! Instead...Brett and I slept in, went to breakfast at Kneaders to eat our weight in french toast, hit up the stores for some Memorial Day shopping, and attempted to hit some golf balls at the driving range before the rain/sleet hit. All in all, it was a great day.

In my free time tonight I decided to re-read some of my blog entries from the blog I kept prior to becoming a Mrs. In reading the posts I decided I want to try something new. Here is my plan, its called: Monday's Memories. I think Flashback Fridays sounds better, but alas, today is Monday not Friday. I won't make any promises on how long this will last or how entertaining it will be for you guys, but I'm pretty excited about it. It'll give me a chance to read though my old posts and reflect on how I have (or have not) changed. Some posts will be simply a quote or paragraph from the old writings. Some will include new commentary or perspective. As I said, I don't promise anything and we'll just see where this goes.

To start things off I'm just going to copy over a couple paragraphs from my firsts blog post ever. Its kinda long, but had some good stuff and re-taught me some things. You can read the entirety of it here. The post was entitled I wear my heart on my tagline.

The picture shows the boy reaching for a heart. And, if you know me at all, you know I can be dramatic, and needy, and love sick etc etc (especially late at night which is when i found this picture... and probably why i liked it so much). However, I would like to expand this concept to more than just the idea of unreachable love. I think the item that is just out of reach could be anything. Recently I've talked to a lot of people who would give just about anything to have some more sunshine and time to play in it. Seeing as I spend most of my days in the library, this shared dream is just out of reach for me. Sure I could quit my job, decide school isn't really important and be able to appreciate the daylight hours and the sun (assuming Utah decided to actually continue the nice weather). but as appealing as that sounds, its not really what I want. And so life goes on. A dream set on hold, an ideal waiting to be reached, and all of this done with the hope that someday it will all work out.

That feeling of hope is an interesting feeling. Some days I feel it strongly, and I KNOW deep down that its true. That eventually everything will work out. But then some days.. some days its not so easy. Stress builds up, country songs put ideas in our heads, and our vision gets clouded. Its days like this that I find myself dreaming and wishing and not feeling any better. What we need to do is learn to appreciate what we have and not get stuck always reaching for something that is just out of reach. And so I end this post with a personal realization that I do know life is great. And I do know that I can be happy with what I have. And I do know that someday, all my dreams will be fulfilled. And until then... I will hold on to this hope that I have. Because its this hope that will keep me from reaching for what is just out of reach.

Isn't it funny that sometimes we learn the same lessons over and over and over again. Reading this today was very timely as it reminded me, yet again, that I can be happy with where I am today. And, you know what, I am happy. I mean, why wouldn't I be? I have a husband who loves me despite my imperfections (yes, I am still dramatic and needy at times) and who I love more and more each day. We have 2 great extended families who support us in everything we do. We have jobs that provide income allowing us live comfortably and save for our future. We have a warm house to keep us out of the elements (which lately has been a lot of rain). And we have the Gospel in our lives to remind us that we are not here on this earth alone or without a purpose. I'm sure my list could go on and on, but my point is that life is good and its time to start living in the present. Its kind of funny that I needed something I wrote over 3 year ago to remind me to live in the present. But it worked for me and I hope it helped remind you too!

It always seems impossible... until it's done

2011-05-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

This quote by Nelson Mandela about sums up my feelings about work this week.

quote card: from http://www.thegirlinthecafe.com/2008/01/21/it-always-seems-impossible-until-its-done/

I'm grateful for checking things off an endlessly long to do list and for looking back and realizing that I can do tough things.

Monday nights are for loners

2011-05-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

My Monday Night Schedule:
7:00- get home from work
7:05- sign into facebook chat so I can chat with Brett while he works
7:15- eat leftovers for dinner
7:30- 10:00- entertain myself on the computer by reading blogs, listening to NPR, listening to Pandora, and occasionally getting messages from Brett via facebook
10:00- realize its bedtime but avoid going to bed alone
10:30- follow Brett's direction that I need to sleep
10:35- lay awake in bed wondering how I ever slept alone
11:15- fall asleep
12:15- get waken up by Brett and try to carry on a conversation in my dazed state
12:30- fall back asleep

Yes, that is my Monday night schedule for the next few months. Kinda pathetic, I know. After a long day of work there is not much that I want to do aside from relax. And after Brett had a long day around the house there is not much left to be done. (He works the 4-midnight shift answering phone calls and chats from LDS.org at the MTC, so he has all morning/afternoon and is much better than I at staying productive.)

Sure I could work on one of my "to-do" crafts-- but that would require organizing my craft supplies that became SUPER unorganized after my last craft splurge. Or I could complete one of my "to-do" chores around the house (like organizing my craft supplies)-- but that would require being away from the computer which is my best connection to the husband I won't see all day. Or I could call up a friend or family member and catch up- but lets be honest, for some reason I don't really like talking on the phone. And so here I sit. All alone but avoiding anything productive.

Its almost like I don't know how to be alone any more. How did I do it when I was single? I find it so hard to motivate myself when I know Brett will be at work for a long period of time. It doesn't help that I know he will pick up any of my slack.

I realize it is different, but am I different too?

When I was single.... I lived with 5 other girls, spent late hours in the library, had an endless to-do of homework that I could not ignore, and had a boyfriend/fiance that I spent any other spare minute with. I simply had less time to waste and as such had to be more productive with the time I did have.

Now that I'm married.... I live with one boy (who happens to be the love of my life), try my hardest to be home from work by 8:00 if not earlier, try to leave my work at the office and have no "home-work" (although I am all call every night this week and have to keep my phone on me all night), and I have a husband who I'm lucky to get any free time with due to conflicting schedules. Sure, work takes a lot of my time and certainly a lot of my energy, but I don't have the same kind of obligations and I used too.

Have I changed?....I hope that my overall laziness on Monday evenings isn't due to a change in my personality. I hope that I haven't become too reliant on Brett to pick up my slack. And I hope that he knows that I appreciate all his hard work for our little family. Most days I don't feel like I am avoiding important things. I simply feel like I have done everything I needed to do for the day.

DISCLAIMER #1: Now don't get me wrong, I do NOT need more to do. I feel adequately stressed with everything that is currently on my plate. And some days I day dream about when I was single because looking back, things seems a lot more simple (although I'm sure I would not admit it at the time).

DISCLAIMER #2: I don't want it to sound like I wish my life was back the way it used to be when I was single. I would not change my life for anything. Sure I'll day dream for a few minutes to escape reality, but never wish it to change. Because, yes, sometimes I get cranky when I come home to an empty house. Yes, sometimes I miss having 5 other females/friends as roommates. Yes, sometimes I miss the excitement of dating Brett. And yes sometimes I even miss the familiar routine of college classes and homework. But I repeat, I would not change it for anything. Because I know that after a long day, week, month I will always have the love of my life there waiting for me.

Well, its officially 10:15 and I just got the first "aren't you supposed to be in bed" message from Brett. I guess its time for me to start trying to convince myself to go to bed.

What happens in Vegas...gets written about on the blog.

2011-05-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Brett and I were so lucky to be able to get away for a weekend and go to Vegas. We are blessed to be at a point in our lives where we have the flexibility and the means to take trips like this. We are trying to take full advantage of it because we know it won't last. The occasion for this trip was our anniversary. What a great excuse to take some time off work and go have some fun! As is my nature, I took lots of photos to document the trip. Brett and I joke that if i don't take a picture of it, I won't remember it. Settle in for a lost post, full of picture and fun memories. I had lots of time while Brett was at work all day to get this all done in one shot.

The Drive Down

The weather was perfect for a Road trip.

Brett and I were both in a great mood on the way down (not so much on the way back, for reasons that will be explained later). Not even the 6 hour car ride could dampen our excitement to get to Vegas. We often take road trips up north but had yet to travel south together, so we enjoyed the change of scenery. Neither of us like to stop while we drive. One quick stop for food and that is all. That means we get places nice and fast, but it also means most of the pictures were taken out the window of a moving car. Please ignore the reflections from the window in a few of the pics.

Ready to hit the road again after some yummy Cafe Rio in Cedar City

We loved as the rocks started to turn more and more red

The beautiful red mountain

The Temple in St George, hard to get a good shot from the car, but it looked amazing all white and magnificent against the red rock

Made it to Arizona!

Seeing the rock up close as we drove through the canyons

Check out that MUDDY river

Quoting Brett "its like God came down and cut the mountain with a machete"

Sorry its blurry, but we made it into Nevada!

Vegas Day 1

We spent Friday and Saturday night with a great friend of mine, Brittany, and her husband Rob. They moved to Vegas about a year ago and we haven't seen them, or their adorable baby girl, since they left. It was so much fun to be able to catch up with them and play with Kylie. It was also super nice to have tour guides to show us around. We were able to go out on the town Friday night with Brit and Rob while Kylie slept the night at grandma's house. We ate dinner, walked the strip, played at ESPN zone and saw the Bellagio Fountain show.

Brit took us to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. It was an neat restaurant with a fun atmosphere and good food. It was decorated like a rainforest, complete with regular thunderstorms!

Just chillin' with the Gorilla

At the MGM hotel we saw the large lion statue....

.... and a few actual lions!

We ventured over to the M&M world where Brett was a great sport and posed with Mr Red for me

We spent quite a bit of time at the ESPN zone where we played over sized arcade games.

Brett and Rob shooting some hoops

Kirsten getting ready to bowl with a mini bowling ball

Brett dominating the football game

Kirsten threw a couple, but it was harder than it looked!

Rob boxing

Some target practice

Brit and Rob taking a shot (get it, a shot)

After playing around we walked down the strip for a while, a long while. It was worth it though!

We got to see lots of pretty lights

We ended up at the Bellagio hotel to see a few of their fountain water/music/light shows

Our amazing tour guides showing us where to go


We watched two shows/songs. Viva Las Vegas, and God Bless the USA. Both were great!

With the flash on the camera, the water almost looks like it is on fire!

After the show we walked all the way back to our cars. We stopped and ate some frozen yogurt (always delicious) and then went home and crashed. It was a great first day!

Vegas Day 2

All buckled in and ready to go

Saturday was a little bit more relaxed. We slept in, ate a great breakfast that Rob made for us, and then packed everyone in the car and headed back down to the Strip. This time Kylie got to come play with us! Our first stop was the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. You may think this is an interesting "tourist" choice, but Brett and I love watching the History Channel show Pawn Stars, and had to take the chance to visit the store the show is based on. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturday none of the main people were working.

waiting in line to get into the pawn store

With a name like Chumlee, how can you not like the guy?

Brett checking out all the old guns, including a sweet antique pistol for $5,500

A Babe Ruth Autographed baseball priced at $13,000

A stack of sports championship rings

After the Pawn Shop, we headed to Cesar's Palace to get some shopping in. Brit took us (read: me) to the largest H&M store, it was 3 floors! I did some damage there before heading home.

At the fountain/mural in Cesar's Palace

We took a break at the giant fish tank. We waited for the "feeding time" but it didn't happen

Kylie was such a trooper!

We headed back to the house so Kylie (read: all of us) could take a nap and rest up for a while. Later in the afternoon we headed to Rob's parent's house to relax in their Spa/giant hot tub. The weather turned kinda windy, but it was still fun to sit around and chat for a while. After we were fully turned into prunes we grabbed some dinner and then spent the night in playing on Brit and Rob's Kinect. Neither Brett nor I had played the Kinect before and we had fun trying to run fast, bowl, box, and play table tennis.

Our stay at the Luxor
On Sunday we went to church with Brittany and Rob and then packed up and said our goodbyes. We spent Sunday and Monday night at a hotel on the Strip. We took a detour on our way to see the Vegas Temple. The ground were very pretty and it is always fun to see how each temple take on the style of the location. We spent quite some time watching some Hummingbirds in the trees but couldn't quite get a picture of them.

We decided Palm trees can be very pretty is properly groomed, if not they can be very ugly.

Contemplating life

I love to see the Temple!

After the temple we ventured back to the strip....talk about a drastic change!

We stayed at the Luxor hotel on the Strip, aka Las Vegas Blvd.

The Luxor is the classic Pyramid shaped hotel with a Egyptian type theme

In the Egyptian themed lobby

Our room complete with slanted "pyramid" walls

When we left Brittany's house I was starting to feel sick. By the time we got checked into the hotel all I could do was lay weakly on the bed. I'll spare you the details but within a few hours I had lost my lunch and could barely move. Brett was a sweetheart and went and got me ~~extremely overpriced~~ medicine for dinner. We spent the night in the hotel; me sleeping and Brett watching TV. Now don't start thinking I'm pregnant ... unless pregnancy sickness is contagious. By the morning Brett was plagued with similar symptoms. We had the flu. :( Brett was on a 12 hour delay from my symptoms which meant for a long 2 days. Luckily we had splurged to get the Spa room, the warm jets felt great on our sore achy muscles. Our room was an odd shape, but quite spacious. It had a slanted wall on one side due to being part of a pyramid. It was fun though to have a unique room!

We studied the hieroglyphics while we were stuck in the room

The only plan we had for our stay was to see a Variety Show at Planet Hollywood on Monday night. I was feeling better enough by that time to be getting cabin fever and Brett is a trooper and a good sport and agreed to go out with me to the show (although he was still in the throws of it). The show was actually pretty good and surprising clean but funny. It was a variety show with a juggler/comedian as a host and different acts such as an impersonator, acrobats that flew around the room, and different comedy acts. I'm glad we put the effort in to go see the show! Although the quick trip out sucked all our energy so we went straight back to the room and crashed.

Tuesday morning we decided to try our stomachs at the breakfast buffet. We hadn't eaten anything substantial (a few ritz and saltines) since Sunday. At least we saved lots of money on vegas priced food. Although we weren't feeling great, we enjoyed the buffet and eating food. On our way back to our room we had to walk through the casino and decided to put a dollar into a slot machine. We pushed the button and WON! We doubled our money! I didn't have our camera and wanted pictures so I made Brett cash out and walk with me back to our hotel room.

Doubling our money with one easy button

After we got the camera we headed back down to the casino to play with our 2 dollars.

Brett at the machine

Rubbing it for good luck

We played a few different penny and quarter machines. We lost some and won some but never made it past our $2 mark. At the end of the day (about 10 minutes) we had lost all our money.

We had to cash out from the quarter machine when we only had 6 cents left

Luckily we limited ourselves and we only lost a dollar, not our life savings! On our way out I had to grab a picture of the pool. I was really looking forward to spending hours soaking up the sun in Vegas but alas, that was not in our cards.

Sunny pool at the Luxor

Leaving our Luxor Vacation, feeling a little cheated but glad to still have each other

Our Trip Back

The trip back was mostly uneventful. We didn't even stop to get food, we weren't hungry and just wanted to get home. 6 long hours in the car made our bodies tired and our muscles ache. We did get to watch our odometer change to 7000 miles. We sure do add miles up fast on our little Corolla. After taking the picture I realized we were going (almost) 70 MPH and it was 70* outside. Maybe we should have headed back to Vegas with out lucky number 7!

Lucky number 7

Provo welcomed us back with an abundance of rain and clouds.

Not quite the sunny Vegas weather we left, but it felt good to be home. Our 2nd Anniversary trip sure was one to remember. Overall we had lots of fun with Brittany and Rob and were able to see lots of cool things in Vegas. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that when I was tired and sick I felt very cheated and mad that we got sick and felt like it ruined our anniversary weekend. Luckily for me, I have an awesome husband who helped me remember all the good things we did get to do and the fun memories we made. After-all, it was only a few days out of 2 full years (and counting!) of a wonderful marriage!

Guilty Pleasures

2011-05-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

We haven't done too much lately that is blog worthy but I feel the need to update. So I'll let ya all in on what I'm doing tonight. Nothing too exciting, so read at your own risk.

Due to work schedules, there are many hours during the weekend when Brett is off at work and I am left to do my own thing. For the most part, I try to be productive (groceries, laundry, cleaning, the occasional craft or shopping trip, hanging out with friends etc) but there are times when I just want to kick back and relax. Give me a computer with internet and I can pass the hours very quickly. And so today I shall teach you my ways and let you glimpse into what I do in my free time online. Don't judge me too harshly and considered yourself warned, you shouldn't click on the links unless you have some time to waste.

My number one go to is reading blogs. My Google reader is packed full of blogs; mostly those of family and friends but there are also plenty of craft and recipe blogs. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have 122 subscriptions. Luckily my reader lets me know which ones have updated, even though some (cough cough, you know who you are) rarely update. A few of my non-friend favorites are: Catalog Living, UCreate, Coming to Grips, The Dating Diva's and a recent addition of Sunshine Promises. If you have any suggestions send them my way!

After I check my blogs, I go to facebook. I'm not the type to spend hours clicking around on facebook looking at people's pages. However, Brett and I both are semi-addicted to the game FARKLE. Because of our addiction to winning more and more chips in Farkle, I know that we would be very bad gamblers! Luckily the game is played without any actually money.

If I run out of new blogs to read and lost too many games of farkle I have a new favorite website: Pinterest.com. This website is great. It allows me to "pin" things that I like or want to remember. It helps me keep track of different crafts I want to try and helps me remember things that make me happy. Also, it is super easy to spend a few ~~too many~~ hours. It has made my "idea binder" a thing of the past.

Part of my pinterest addiction is due in part to the "shopping feel" it provides. Another website I play around on is Polyvore. Polyvore allows me to play dress up without actually spending any money. I get to create different outfits and shop for new styles all online. I've always been hesitant to spend money, but being able to see the clothes in multiple outfits helps me decide if I like something enough to buy it. I have yet to get addicted to shopping online, and lets hope it stays that way.

Of course, if Brett is around, watching shows on Hulu together is our preferred internet activity. The internet really is an amazing thing. So much information at our fingertips. Its easy to spend too much time online, so I have to make a conscious effort not too. Luckily the weather is finally getting nice around these parts so its easier to spend more time outside enjoying an even greater creation!

What do you do online? Please tell my I'm not the only one that can spend a few hours online and not know where they went!

February 2011

2011-04-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry about all the posts tonight. (Scroll down for two more new ones.) Brett is watching the Blazers game and as much as I like rooting for the blazers, I need to be doing something else in addition to watching the game.

Here are some of a few pictures we have of our adventures in February. In addition to sending Dekker off on his mission and spending time with family both in Baker and here in Provo we celebrated Brett's birthday and Valentines day.

Brett's B-day-
I spoiled him this year with the help of family and some leftover Christmas cash...

Don't mind the creepy "blowing out the candles" picture. I guess I need to practice a little before we have kids.

Here he is showing off his goods. Can you tell he likes sports??

The other big event in February was Valentines day. It was Brett's year to plan our V-day celebrations and he did a great job. We celebrated Saturday night for our date night.

And he made dinner Sunday night. Yumm Yumm!

Our Stake put on a dance that we went to for a little bit. Here is our "dance picture".

We had some good time in Februrary!

Snowmobiling Jan 2011

2011-04-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

One of our trips to Baker included some snowmobiling up at the cabin. When we were dating Brett told me about the "snowmobiling test." Basically, going snowmobiling is a test to see if the couple is going to last. I guess snowmobiling had put its toil on some previous relationships in the Smith family. Unfortunately we never got a chance to go while we were dating, but we made it through this trip without fighting so I think we are good to go.

The trip was fun because everyone was there. It was in those few precious months after Tyler got home from his mission and before Dekker left.

The line up of snowmobiles...

All geared up and ready to go. Although over the last few years I've become experiences on the 4-wheelers, I wasn't sure what to expect with the snowmobiles. Brett said they were faster so I was a little nervous.

Dekker and his friend went up to the cabin earlier in the week to dig us out an entrance. Unfortunately, the snow melted enough to fall off the roof and covered the nice path they shoveled.

And so the boys got to shovel again. I tried to help a little, but mostly just stood out of the way and watched.

One of the rides we took ended up at the base of a hill. The boys had fun playing around on the steep slope. This is some of the crew down watching the action.

The is the only picture we have proving that I drove a snowmobile too. I drove quite a bit on my own too. It was lots of fun, and lots of hard work too.

It was a fun trip and a good chance to spend time with Dekker before he left for his mission. He is in the MTC now preparing to head over to Russia. Hopefully he'll feel right at home in the snow, lets just hope no one lets him on a snowmobile!

Springtime in Utah

2011-04-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

So far spring time in Utah has consisted of

Finishing up basketball and winning the city league CHAMPIONSHIP!
Me beating Brett in march madness
Brett hitting some bombs with his new softball bat
Multiple rained out softball games and a softball game played in a downpour
A few sunny days in which we enjoyed being outside in the fresh air
General Conference
An attempt to bike to Utah lake for a picnic
Finding a new promising fishing spot for Brett
Rooting for the Blazers
Brett finishing finals for the semester
Spring time crafts

The only thing I have pictures of are the crafts. I got tired of the gloomy weather and decided to add some Spring decor to our home and my office at work. I decorated a little around the house with the few plastic Easter eggs we have.

I made a spring wreath for our front door using some scrap fabric, pearl stick things I had left over from decorating for our wedding reception and a plain wreath.

I also transformed a picture frame I picked up from DI into a dry erase board for my office. I wanted a frame with a little more character, but couldn't find one so I settled for this. I painted the frame, covered the picture in fabric, made the flowers and put it all back together. The glass part of the frame works perfect as a dry erase board. Its up in my office now with a quote on it that I can change out as I desire.

It sure made a mess in our house but it was fun to get my craft stuff out and make some cute things to encourage Spring to get here already!

Japanese Gravity Marimba Plays Bach In An Ancient Forest

2011-04-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

So this turns out to be an advertisement, but it is a remarkably beautiful advertisement.

All in a day's work

2011-04-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

I recently read an interesting article about working for Child Protective Services and the responsibilities and stresses involved (see link below). My primary job function is to investigate Abuse and Neglect allegations and I can definitely relate to the remarks made in the article. I'm not so much worried of being arrested, but rather worried sick some days that I might miss something. What if I don't ask the right questions to get disclosure from the children, what if when I walk through the home I miss the drug paraphernalia, what if I can't respond fast enough to a new case, what if what if. It definitely is a taxing and emotional job. Many of my coworkers have been at it for years and I applaud their work. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am somewhat looking forward to the day we move from Utah and I'm forced to leave. However, I do it because someone needs to. Because someone needs to give the kids in our community a fighting chance. Sure it interrupted my Conference Weekend when I got 3 cases that I had to respond immediately too, but I'm glad I could be there to help. The article mentions that recommended number of cases is 12... in my office we juggle upwards of 20 cases each month and it isn't slowing down. I clearly didn't choose this line of work because of the high pay or constant praise; because, lets be honest, those aren't a reality. I chose this field because I am passionate about making a difference and helping people. I don't intend on making this specific aspect of social work my career, but I'm glad I can get the experience now and hopefully help a few families along the way. Ultimately, I know I can only do so much and so I just do the best that I can on every case and pray daily that God will help me on the cases where his beloved children are at risk.

Its worth the read if you have a minute.

Child welfare workers second-guess stressful jobs

Also, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. The following statistics were found on the website below regarding Utah:

Utah ranks 10th in the nation for confirmed child abuse cases.
There is a confirmed case every hour of every day in Utah.
42 percent of victims were younger than 5 years old.

Learn how you can help at http://preventchildabuseutah.org/

Christmas 2010

2011-03-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

After spending Thanksgiving in Cancun with Brett's family we spent Christmas in Portland with mine. Getting married and splitting holidays is always hard but we are glad we have so much family that loves us and wants us around.

We didn't take pictures of every thing we did (I think I was burnt out from Cancun) but we did have lots of fun!

Brett and I flew in on Thursday the 23rd. The rest of the clan had been there for a while but they saved some of the traditional activities for us all to do together. They all picked us up at the airport and we went straight to Peacock lane.

This is the only picture I got of everyone. I promise Brett and I were there, we were just taking the picture. For those of you unfamiliar with Peacock lane, it is this old street in Portland that decorates the whole street every year. The architectural style make the houses look like giant gingerbread houses.

Part of moving onto the street means you have to agree to participate. Its kinda a big deal and lots of fun to see so many lights in one place. There are also horse drawn carriages, and carolers, and even Santa!

We enjoyed walking around and it finally started to feel like Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we got dressed up and went out to dinner and then went to a Christmas concert down town. The concert was by Michael Allen Harrison and was absolutely beautiful. He is a very skilled piano player and had lots of fun pieces and talented guest performers.

Of course Christmas day was also great. It was great to have everyone there as it had been years since we had all been together for a holiday. We got spoiled and enjoyed giving our gifts to the rest of the family too. We ate yummy monkey bread, opened presents, ate more, played with presents, ate more and relaxed. It was a great day!

We only had a few more days in Portland to relax. Of course we slept in and we got some shopping done too. I just couldn't pass up the lack of sales tax and after Christmas sales! It was a quick 5 day trip and we were back to the grind on Tuesday but it was fun to get out of Utah again and spend time with family.

Promises

2011-03-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

(sorry about the typo in the image, I didn't make it)

Today I am grateful for the truth of this statement and the strength and comfort I receive from a loving Heavenly Father.

Cancun: The final wrap up

2011-02-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

There was only about one day that we didn't spend our touring the sites or at the resort. We made sure to enjoy our time though.

The big to-do was going snorkeling and hanging out at the beach. The weather was pretty nice, until late afternoon when a storm came in. We saw a crazy funnel out in the water and got caught in a 5 minute down pour. But the rain was something we were used to. (It rained most nights while we were in Cancun.) We took a picture of the storm coming and the rain out in the ocean.

Brett and I made it into Playa Del Carmen for some good ole shopping. We got some fun things including a hammock that we have yet to use, some Christmas gifts for my family and some small souvenirs for my coworkers. My boss asked that I bring him back something "inappropriate" and once we saw it, we knew we had to get it for him. They has pipes all over! Not your typical tobacco pipes, more like the drug paraphernalia kind. Since we are always investigating drug use at work I though it would be perfect. So I picked him out one that was carved to look like a lazy man laying down and said mexico on the side. He loved it.

While in Playa we saw the ocean again, but didn't go in. The Caribbean Sea is so beautiful and nothing like the Oregon coast that I'm used to.

I forgot to mention that we also went to some "shows" at the resort. This pictures are awful, but they give you the idea of one of the shows we saw. It was like Cirque de Soleil. The other nights we went was cultural dancing.

We were also there for Thanksgiving day. The resort was catering to us Americans and had a display with a turkey and all. We decided not to pay for the ridiculously overpriced Thanksgiving dinner and instead ate at one of the other restaurants with Brett's parents. I got pizza and Brett got Asian food. The rest of the family went into Cancun for the afternoon, but we decided to just relax and enjoy the last of our time at the resort.

Overall it was a GREAT trip. We loved relaxing from work and school and getting out of cold Utah for a while. We came back to a lovely storm, but what can ya do. I was grateful that Brett could speak Spanish while we were down there and it was fun watching him use one of his talents that I rarely get to see. We struggled a little bit at first with the idea of the Peso, but soon caught on that a meal for 150 pesos did not mean it was 150 dollars! We were so grateful for everyone who helped make it possible and enjoyed spending time with that whole side of the family.

Phew... we are finally done with the Cancun posts! hip hip hooray! Eventually I'll get caught up with everything else. :)

Cancun: Seeing the sights, part 2

2011-02-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.... this is taking forever. I apologize for yet another Cancun post. I just really want to make sure it is documented and I'm horrible at writing in our family journal. I promise we are almost done and then I'll catch up on Christmas, Valentines and all the adventures in between.

If you've missed the first parts of the trip feel free to go back and read them, starting here. If you've read it all and aren't interested in anymore details (I wouldn't blame you) feel free to skip the remainder of the post.

Our second day with Helaman, from Helaman Tours, was just as great as the first! Our first stop was Ek Balam.

There were two large structures at this site. The first, shown below, I believe was a smaller temple. I honestly don't really remember. One thing I like about the pictures though is that you can see the piles of rocks that they were using to rebuild it with but apparently had to stop due to budget. There really are so many ruins down in this part of the world that haven't even been touched yet because they don't have the money.

The second large structure was definitely a Temple. This was one of the more memorable stops because of all the interesting things about it. Lots of symbolism that related back to our LDS Temples today! There were also paintings on the walls that just could not have been coincidences. It seemed clear to me that the people who built these structures did have parts of the true gospel. It also appeared like they might have become apostate because of the size and grandeur of the temples. We were told that when the people fell into apostasy they began building large building due to their pride and there was evidence of human sacrifices.

Our next stop was the famous Chichen Itza. We started with lunch and had amazing fajitas! Yum. Chichen Itza was one of the largest and most touristy places we visited. There were vendors all around in the grounds selling stuff. We got some fun things as souvenirs.

This temple is one of the better known images when people think of Mayan Ruins. It also has lots of symbolism and was built in such a way that a serpent appears on the side (due to shadows) at certain times of the year. The best day to see the serpent is April 6th. Coincidence, I think not. (I know the shadows on our faces are awful, my camera battery died so I didn't get to take as many pictures and I guess this is the only one I got of the temple and the whole group.)

There were lots of other structures at this location. Including another ball court. This one though was the court of all courts. The walls were perpendicular to the ground and super high, the hoops were like 21 feet off the ground. Brett said he could dunk on it.

And an observatory. The Mayan people had amazing knowledge about astronomy. At the equinoxes the sun would rise (or set) right in the window of the observatory.

Any many other structures with symbolism and ornate carvings. We learned all about Helaman's "friend" Chaac the Rain God and many other cultural tidbits.

After some shopping at the vendors we left Chichen Itza and began the long drive back to our resort. We took a pit stop in a small town and saw some sweet murals before finally crashing back in our room. It was a great day.

I know I just barely touched on the places we visited, but I hope I did them justice. They were all truly amazing and beautiful!

Like I promised at the beginning. We are almost done with Cancun. Up next Cancun: The final wrap up.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

Love can carry you away.

Words to live by:

Cancun: Seeing the Sights, Part one

2011-02-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the next installment of our trip to Cancun!

Two full days in Cancun were spent touring some of the local Ancient Mayan ruins. Brett's Aunt scheduled them through Helaman Tours and they were a definite highlight of the trip. Our tour guide, Helaman, specializes in LDS tours which connect the Mayan history to the history told in the Book of Mormon. He was very knowledgeable but what I appreciate most was he didn't try to speculate about what we were seeing. He told us lots about the Mayan ruins, Mayan culture and then let us make the connections. We learned so much that it was hard to capture everything in pictures and now looking back its hard to remember everything but I'll give you a little taste of what we experienced, hopefully I don't say anything incorrect.

Our first stop was Coba.

Coba is an ancient Mayan city nestled in the Jungle. It was a great first stop because we learned many of the basics to look for and recognize in the other locations.

The picture below is the ball court where they played this crazy game. Basically they had a 7-9 pound medicine ball and the goal was the get it through the sideways "hoop" only using their hips.

We also learned about a species of Bee found in the jungle that has no stinger! That sure would make it easier to travel across the ocean with, if ya know what I mean.

There were lots of stone tablet thingies. This picture shows the original stone with a picture version showing what it represents. I believe this one told the story of the High Priest who lived nearby.

There was one large temple (?) that we got to climb up. It was a steep climb up the stairs but the view was worth it. We could see forever in each direction and we could even see other "bumps" that were other ruins.

After a hot humid hike/bike ride in the Jungle we went to a local Cenote where we cooled off by swimming in the fresh water. The cenote was amazing; you climbed down into it and then it was like swimming in an underground pool.

After we cooled off Helaman took us to delicious buffet lunch. Nothing beats good authentic Mexican food in Mexico. Then we drove to the next stop: Tulum.

Tulum is another city, this time by the coast. You can see in the map below that it was complete with an inner wall and outer wall and everything in the city focused around the Temple. There were approximately 50 homes within the outer wall and there were approximately 50 priests at the time. All of the houses also faced east towards the temple. Lots of cool parallels.

The temple itself was quite the structure and had some really interesting details. Above the temple there were 3 spots. One held a carving of the "God of Gods", the next was the "Descending God" and the last one was blank representing the Holy Ghost.

On the back half of the temple there was a lighthouse type deal with two windows. The water surrounding Tulum is full of reefs that made it difficult to navigate. There was only one spot that was passable and a secret trick make it through. If you didn't know the trick, you couldn't get in. Looking toward the temple would guide them through the reef. Pretty good self defense huh!

In addition to being full of history and meaning, the whole place was absolutely beautiful!

It helped that it was right on the ocean.

Tulum was amazing and a great way to end the day.

Up next: Part 2 of the ruins, Ek Balam and Chichen Itza

Be Kind

2011-02-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

I read this quote recently and its really stuck with me. A good reminder.

Cancun: At the Resort, part two

2011-01-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

If you missed part one, read it here.

The resort was as beautiful as it was relaxing. We were in Cancun for a whole week, but we didn't spend too much time at the resort. However, the days we did stick around were well spent!

There were two LARGE pools that we enjoyed sitting by ALL day. We started in the morning at the pool aimed for the younger crowd. We played an intense game of water volleyball and enjoyed laying in the sun.

There was even a swim-up bar that we had to try out. Brett swam over to get us some drinks.

As the day went on we made our way over to the other pool which had a more relaxing feel.

At this pool we laid around some more. Tough day, yes I know.

We ended the day watching the sun set over another part of the pool.

It was definitely a day well spent!

Besides unlimited access to the seemingly unlimited pools, we also had direct access to the ocean.

I enjoyed the time looking over the beautiful water an relaxing in the many lounge chairs.

Brett practiced his rock throwing skills trying to hit some of the large rocks out in the ocean. The water was too rough to swim in, but we did wade out a little bit, just so we could say that we did.

I'm glad we got to spend time relaxing and enjoying the beauty and peace at the resort. And I'm especially glad I got to enjoy it with Brett!

Stay tuned for some of the other fun activities we got to do while in Mexico!

Cancun: At the Resort, part one

2011-01-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

We were so incredibly lucky to spend the week leading up to Thanksgiving in Cancun with Brett's family. The trip was a family trip with his grandparents (on the Smith side), Aunt & family (his dad's sister) and Brett's family. The grandparents wanted a special trip with everyone there. It was a rare time when all the grandsons were home from/not left yet on missions and were able to go. I know it was special for them to have everyone there and I was lucky to be a part of it. It was such a great experience with many fun memories. I took lots of pictures and almost filled the 4 GB memory card in the camera. I'll try to share our experience and some of the things we learned in an organized manner.

Lets start with where we stayed! First, let me clarify. Although I often refer to "Cancun", the truth is that our resort was in Playa del Carmen, just outside of Cancun. It was one of many resorts along this road. It was crazy driving up and down the road seeing all the entrances to the different places. Quite the tourist town, that is for sure.

The resort itself was beautiful. Once we entered the gates, there was quite a drive to get back to the lodge and then we had to take little shuttles to get around the place. Whenever we got on the shuttles to go back to our room we said we were staying in "The Jungle."

We didn't think to take pictures of the room until the last day, so please excuse the random mess. We were so grateful for our room as it was a much needed respite from the constant humidity outside.

The grounds at the resort were covered in palm trees, flowers, tropical looking plants and huts. The whole place just felt very tropical.

There were also crocodiles, lizards and iguanas out and about. Okay, maybe the crocodiles weren't so much "out and about" but they were there.

It was a very relaxing and luxurious feeling place. I highly doubt Brett and I will get the chance to visit a place like that again in the near future. I can't say enough how lucky we were!

Time for a break. Stay tuned for Cancun: At the Resort, part two. The place had 2 huge pools and was right on the ocean. Yes, it was indeed a little piece of paradise!

Oregon Coast 2010

2011-01-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

This semester Brett is back to working on Friday nights. Kind of a bum deal, but it does give me time to blog, so that's a plus. Especially since its been a while since I posted anything substantial. I think we left off with the home comings of Brett's brother Tyler, and my brother David. The next adventure we had was our trip to the Oregon Coast.

Side note: If you received our Christmas Card/photo thingy you would know we went to the coast. But the truth is I haven't sent those cards out yet (with the exception of a few that we sent with Dekker to pass out in Baker). Please accept my apologies and we may or may not get those sent out eventually.

Although we were only in Portland for a few days (in connection with seeing David), we made it a priority to take the quick trip down to the coast. It was great to spend time together with everyone, we all went: the parents, Tyler, his girlfriend Nicki, David and of course Brett and I.

The weather was rainy, of course, so we mostly just drove around to different places. Our first stop was to see a light house.

At this stop we weren't close enough to touch the water, but looking over the ocean always reminds me how small I am and causes me to appreciate God's great creations.

While walking around, we saw signs that mentioned an "octopus tree". Of course we had to go check it out.

And of course we took pictures in front of the tree pretending to be an octopus...

Next stop was the Tillamook Cheese factory for lunch and a tour of the facility. I've been there many times, but it still amazes me how the factory works.

And of course a trip to the coast wouldn't be complete without touching the sand and the water. We got out and enjoyed the "beach" oregon style. We played in the caves.

Wrote love notes in the sand.

Took pictures to prove we were there having a good time

And played the classic beach game "run away from the waves". The boys were also throwing little rocks at the big rock in the ocean, but I guess I didn't get a picture of that.

Our next stop was at the Astoria Column. For those of you keeping track, yes we drove all the way from south of Tillamook up to Astoria. Unfortunately we made it there too late to climb up and throw gliders off. Next time.

We drove across the Astoria Bridge (not pictured, but pretty cool/impressive) and ended up at a restaurant out on the pier. I guess the place used to be an old sea food cannery. The building was historic and had lots of character. Complete with some old boats and a tub full of crab.

Our trip to the coast was lots of fun. We enjoyed the time with family and, despite both getting car sick at points, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We'd LOVE to go back and spend a weekend at a beach house just the two of us. Preferably in the summer though, so we could have at least a chance of decent weather.

Here are some collages of more pictures. Because you know I took lots!

B+K = <3

Oregon Love

Up next: our trip to CANCUN!!!

New Year's: Look Not behind Thee

2011-01-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS!?

2010-12-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

Something to Smile About

2010-12-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

I feel like my world has gotten so busy lately that I have forgotten to notice and appreciate the little things. You know, those little things in life that make you smile and remember how good life is? One of my New Years Resolutions is to take more time to cherish the things I love. I'm going to try to post more pictures/videos of things that make me smile. And, I'm going to do so without caring if my readers agree with my tastes or not. Take that self conscious! Whether it is food, music, decor or clothing I've always been pretty simple and easy to please. I've always felt like my preferences are not refined enough to be of value. But the truth is: if I like it, that is all that matters. It might even be a blessing to be so simple. I've also been hesitant to post some things because I know it is just a matter of time before my taste change. But life is about living in the moment, not worrying about the future. And so I hope to regain the joy I feel in simple things by recognizing them everyday and sharing them whenever I get the chance. Stay tuned for a look through the world from my eyes. I might share touching music, stunning photographs, funny images, beautiful decor, and anything else that makes me smile. I hope you enjoy.

Here is a little picture to get us started. On this picture I appreciate the colors, the details in the text style and the theme of the rain.

Book Tree

2010-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this festive decor at a library in San Fransisco

Happy Holidays

2010-12-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

I know I have some "past due" posts that need to be published, but I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Holidays!

I feel very touched right now with feelings of gratitude and love. I've seen some great acts of generosity this year around me and read numerous stories about others. It always gets me. I love remembering what great things we are capable of, all we have to do is put some effort in and recognize the needs of those around us.

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and were able to spend some time with family, friends or loved ones. I also hope you were able to take some time away from the busy hussle and bussle of the holiday and remember the great reason for the season. We are so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves us dearly and blesses us each and every day. And to have His Son, Jesus Christ, who was born in that manger many years ago, lived a sinless life, taught all those around him, suffered, died and then overcame death so that we can all live again. We are part of something huge, people! Life is good.

We love our missionaries!

2010-12-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our families' have been full of missionary buzz lately. Sorry for the delay in this post, but term recent is all relative, right?

Brett's brother, Tyler, came home first. (Well, actually Brett's cousin Matt came home first, but I don't have any pictures of him... sorry Matt!) Tyler flew into SLC and so we got to welcome him off the plane. I had only met Tyler a few times before he left on his mission but had heard so many great things about him that it wasn't like he was a stranger. Brett's parents drove down to pick him up and so we all got to spend some time together that evening.

That weekend we made a quick road trip to Baker to spend some more time together, listen to Tyler's homecoming talk at church and of course the boys had to take advantage of the chance to go hunting. You can read more about the hunting adventure here. Its been fun getting to know Tyler better these last few months!

Just as Tyler came home, Dekker, Brett's other brother, (pictured above) was finalizing his papers to serve a mission. He just got his call, and has been called to serve in Russia! I'm crazy excited for him and for all the adventures and experiences he will have! It is crazy that we send these boys off for 2 whole years, but I know they are doing good work and making such a difference in the lives of others and themselves! I respect missionaries so much! For the short period of time that all 3 Smith brothers were home, they got in lots of hunting. I probably won't post about Brett's Elk hunting adventures (since I wasn't there), but here is a picture of them all and the head of the Elk they got.

My brother, David, also recently got home from his mission. Although we weren't able to be there for him when he got off the plane, we were able to make a quick trip to Portland and spend the weekend with the family.

We spent Saturday driving along the coast and enjoying one of the many things I miss about Oregon. Stay tuned for more details and pictures from that trip. Overall we definitely enjoyed spending time with the family and getting to know David again. He hadn't changed too much except I swear he grew at least another inch!

I'm kinda bummed I couldn't talk him into coming to Provo for school, but I can't blame him. I wouldn't pass Hawaii up either!

Pumpkins

2010-11-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

For many, October means Halloween. For us, October means Elk Hunting. We don't have pictures of awesome costumes to show off, but I did manage to decorate a little bit. Nothing too fancy, but they were fun to make. And of course they are pumpkins!

These first pumpkins probably wouldn't have happened without the help of Brett's mom. The fam was in town and while the boys went off golfing we went shopping and committed ourselves to actually making these. Luckily, they are super easy to make. Just a fabric square, a roll of toliet paper, and some embellishments (cinnamon sticks, ribbon, etc). I tweaked them a little after taking these pictures, but you get the idea.

The next pumpkins are a product of a church activity. We had a craft day and one of the stations was making these glitter pumpkins. I wasn't sure about them at first, I'm not much of a glitter girl, but they turned out cute!

The last pumpkin activity was the classic pumpkin carving. We got together with our friends Steve and Maria and adorable baby Creedence. I'm not going to lie, Brett did all the work.

But I did get the traditional "take a picture of me so it looks like I helped" picture.

And here we are showing off our hard work. Maria actually did do all the hard work on hers, I was impressed! And the reason Steve is unpictured is because he was busy feeding the baby, what a good daddy.

And of course we had to get in our time in playing with Creedence.

Of course, the carved pumpkin is long gone. But what should I do with the other pumpkins? Can I leave them as "fall decor," or has their time come and gone as well? What festive decorations do you use in November?

Summer catch-up

2010-10-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

Utah has officially decided to make that dreaded transition from fall to winter. Although winter has its perks, it is far from my favorite season. And so I shall take a few minutes and reminiscence about the summer days that have come and gone. I can't believe this was our second summer as a married couple. Time sure flies!

We did lots of fun stuff this summer, but didn't take pictures of nearly everything. I've been meaning to write separate blogs for each of the following things I did get pictures of, but because it hasn't happened yet I'll just combine everything into one lengthy post. I did a decent job of staying caught up on our adventures up to our trip in July, but after that I slacked a bit.

Enjoy the randomness!

I took a trip to Texas (can anyone say humid!) for my friend's wedding. Tausha looked beautiful and I enjoyed the trip with Elise, Maria and baby Creedence.

Brett went on his yearly fishing trip and came back with about 3 pictures. I sent him with the camera and specific instructions to take pictures, oh well.. some is better than none. I'll take what I can get! Here is my handsome hubby sporting the fishing gear.

While he was gone I went boating with a bunch of friends from work. I tried surfing for the first time and had a blast doing that! And of course we also spent time tubing. I think my "water activity" trumps his any day, but he might disagree.

Speaking of boating. We went back at the beginning of the summer to celebrate a friend's birthday and I never posted these pictures. We officially decided we want to buy a boat when we get rich.

I am trying to "learn" more about the things Brett loves to do. This summer we decided we would try to go fishing more. Up until meeting Brett most of my fishing experiences were at places like fish farms (not sure what the correct term it) where I just had to stick my pole in the water and wait for something to bite. I do really well with immediate gratification and not so well without it. I was a little worried about how I'd liking fishing, it just can be so slow and boring if the fish aren't biting. We only got out a few times, but I think it is something I could enjoy on the right day. We didn't catch any fish, but still had fun spending time together. Brett got bored at one point and used our left over dinner to catch crawdads. At least I know we wouldn't go hungry if we were stuck in the wilderness!

Brett played LOTS of softball this summer/fall and I think he has found a sport that he can play for years to come without me stressing about him getting hurt too badly. He did have one minor/major incident where his instinct kicked in and he slid into 3rd base. Of course he was just playing in basketball shorts so his leg got pretty beat up. I'm not sure the picture does it justice, it was pretty deep and full of rocks/dirt. It took a while to heal but he toughed through the pain like a champ. About a week after he did that I was feeling jealous of all the attention I was giving his leg so I decided to try and chop off my finger. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that intentional. I was making a cabbage salad for a ward activity while Brett was at work when the knife slipped. Because he wasn't there there I had to doctor myself up at first. I must say, I did a great job of not panicking, applying pressure and stopping the bleeding. By the time he got home it had stopped bleeding and was all bandaged up. I minimized the size of the cut when I was telling him about it so he wouldn't make me go get stitches (I probably should have) and although it was very sensitive for about a week, I made it through.

In addition to softball, Brett rekindled his love for golf too this summer. He spent many days on the golf course and got pretty good. I actually went with him once and drove the golf cart around. I forgot the camera for that, but here are some pictures from the driving range.

Just before summer ended we caught an Orem Owlz baseball game. It was a beautiful summer night, but it got cold and we so we ended up leaving early. Nothing too exciting but I figured I should throw in a picture of Brett and I together... ya know, in case you forgot what we look like ;-).

Oh warm weather, how I miss you already! Fall/Winter will bring good times too though! We get to celebrate brothers and cousins coming home from missions, go on a vacation to Cancun, and of course celebrate the holidays. We have lots of traveling planned this semester so I'll be sure to update on those fun times eventually.

Darius and Brad

2010-10-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

For my birthday (back in July) Brett got me tickets to Brad Paisley's H2O tour. We had to wait until September for the concert, but it was so worth the wait. Two of our favorites were preforming at the same concert! We love Brad Paisley (who doesn't?!). He sings our wedding song, "Then." Any many other every day songs that just speak to us. We also love Darius Rucker. His voice is so easy to listen too and he has some great songs. You may remember that we saw him in concert last year. He was just hitting the country scene at that point, but you may also know him from Hootie and the Blow Fish circa 1990's.

We got some misinformation regarding the details of the concert. There were actually two stages with three artists preforming at each. The first set started early and the second set (with Darius and Brad) didn't start until late. We got there early (of course) and ended up spending like 7 hours there. It was a blast though! Brett dunked the guy at the dunk tank (multiple times), we dank some yummy smoothies, sat in the grass and enjoyed the great weather and got to let go and just relax. There is something about being surrounded by drunk people that helps you loosen up. It was a great show and the perfect present!

Deer Hunting 2010

2010-10-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

One of these things is not like the other:

I'll give you a hint: Its a girl, she is wearing pink, not carrying a gun, not wearing a hat and smiling in the "hunting" picture.

Yes, that's me. No, I didn't photoshop myself into the picture... I actually went hunting. Shocking I know. And, even more shocking, I mostly enjoyed myself. I say mostly because we can't forget the last part of the last hunt in which my whole body decided it was done. My ankles were tired from supporting my body down the steep hills and my hips were tired of supporting my body up the never ending hills.

The highlights were:

Seeing the beautiful mountains

Spending all day with my awesome husband.

And I must admit I think he is pretty dang good looking in camo (disclaimer: this only applies when we are in the forest, I still refuse to let him wear his jacket around town).

Learning more about my husband and his interests. I learned all about the difference in deer poop and elk poop. I learned that a boy deer is called a Buck and a girl deer is call Doe. I learned that animals itch their antlers on trees and the marks left are called Rubs (as shown below).

Getting a good ole fashion workout. See that meadow, not the first one but the second one, that is where we went next. It is the little yellow spot in the middle of the picture with the fog above it. This picture was taken about 2/3 way into the hike. (If you look close you can see it in one of the other scenery pictures too)

And of course seeing all the deer! We saw lots of Does, but we (read: Brett) were hunting Bucks. I didn't get any pictures of the deer sadly, but we probably saw 10 or 12. We did see one Buck and Brett fired a shot at it but the dang thing was running away down hill and he had to shoot standing up because of all the brush. It was a tough shot. The excitement at shooting at something sure got my adrealine going though! It was pretty exhilarating.

Later in the day we were driving back to the cabin and saw more deer. We chased them for a little bit and that was pretty intense too! We tried another hike after that but didn't see anything but cows. Not quite as exciting. All in all it was a good day. I'm not sure getting up at 4:30 to go walk around in the woods is my favorite form of entertainment but I'm glad I was able to do it once and share the experience with my husband.

Calling all Chefs

2010-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

As alluded to in the previous post, I have a hard time keeping track of recipes. I'll read about a new recipe on a blog and then make it and forget about it (or simply forget about it), or I'll write one on a scratch piece of paper after calling my mom and lose it in some random pile of paper, or on a rare occasion I'll make something from scratch and love it but never remember what I did. And those realities are just not working for me.

Summer was great because while I was working full time and Brett had extra time to make dinner each night for us. Now that he is back in school full time and working part time and I'm still working full time dinners are a challenge. I try to plan the week and go grocery shopping on the weekend to save stress each night. But as I sat down this weekend to do so, I felt like I was in a rut. I could only think of the same 5 dishes and none of them sounded good. Now I KNOW I can make more than 5 meals. I'm sure of it. But I forget them so easily.

I'm sure you are wondering what the point is of this post... and I'm finally to it. I'm thinking of making a blog devoted to recipes so I have one place where I can go and look for ideas. And not just ideas, but things I know we like and that I can make fast and easy. A place to compile our little menu. I think this might work for me! I'm pretty excited! I just need to get over the hurdle of picking a name/web address. My first thought was "K's Kitchen" but go figure, someone already has that blogspot address. Sure, she only used it once, but it will forever be hers and I can't have it. *pout*. And so I turn to you... help me think of a fun name for my menu blog. And while you're at it, feel free to send me some recipes for this week.

Apple Crisp

2010-10-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

My awesome coworker has an apple tree and "unloaded" a bag full of apples on to me this week.

I decided to take advantage and make some apple crisp. YUMMY!

Because I had to call my mom to get the recipe and because I still need to figure out a recipe system so I stop "misplacing" recipes and because I still have enough apples to make 10 more dishes and because it is my blog and I can do what I want... here is the recipe in my own words.

Peel and core 4 cups of apples. Place in cooking dish.
Mix together the following:

2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Add mixture on top of apples
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes

Easy and Simple.

I am no chef and certainly no baker so its nothing fancy, but boy does it smell good!! Nutmeg and cinnamon always remind me of the holidays. And it tastes yummy too! Now I just need to get some vanilla ice cream to go with it.

Those hours Kirsten doesn't remember....

2010-10-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

Yes this is Brett, I'm finally breaking down and writing a blog. I thought the day would never come and that it was an insult to my manhood or manliness or what ever you want to call it. I guess a year and a half of marriage and learning how important the blog world is to many people (both male and female) finally broke me down.

Anyway, on to the good stories!

Kirsten's last memory was going into the chair at the dentist office and so I'll pick up when she got out, because she has no idea what happened between 1045am and 2pm. I'm in the waiting room and working on my homework when the door swings open and out wheels Kirsten in her new wheelchair. Her mouth is wide open and her mouth packed full of gauze, and there is zero, and I mean zero, expression on her face. I say hi and ask how she's doing and she just kind of looks at me and groans. And I'm like, o dear this is going to be a long weekend.

So I get some instructions from the dentist and Kirsten happens to be facing the other way in her wheelchair while the dentist is talking to me making sure I know what I need to do. Kirsten decides she wants to be in on the conversation and turns around in the wheelchair to try and participate in the conversation, but just mumble a bunch of jibberish.

At this point I wasn't super sure how out of it she was, but I would soon find out. We head out to the car and we've got to get her in the car. I help her stand up and she is just wobbling back and forth. I've got her around her waist and arm and get her in the front seat. The dental hygienist wished me luck on on our way we went.

In the car I started asking questions and she told me that everything came in twos and that everything was spinning. She then just babbled all the way home, and I really couldn't understand what she was saying. She seemed happy and that was ok with me. So we pull into our parking place and I decide just to drive up closer to our stairs so she doesn't have to walk through an obstacle course, and as I explained that to Kirsten she got quite upset with me! She was very adamant that she could walk on her own, but I didn't buy it.

I put the car in park over by the stairs and she was so convinced that she was ok that before I knew what she was doing the door on the car was open and she was trying to get out. As she got her foot out of the car and tried to stand up, she just fell limp into the seat. It was pretty comical! She then proceeded to tell me that should could just stand up while I went and parked the car. I told her she couldn't and she argued with me. So I got her out of the car, and I'm physically holding her up and she is just swaying back and forth and it feels like she could just go limp at any time. All the while telling me she can do it! So I let go of her really slow to see if she can and she tips over towards the car and I catch her. This seemed to convince her that she needed help.

The next obstacle was the three flights of stairs. We walk over the stairs and I'm holding her up and she is walking in a zig zag pattern, totally out of it. We get to the first stair and she just kicks it with her big toe and doesn't even flinch. No pain at all. I couldn't believe it. So she gets her foot on top of the step and I lift her up so she can get up the step. She then kicks the next one, so I tell her " you need to lift you foot up really high so you don't hurt your toe" Okay she tells me. She then lifted her knee up to waist high just to get up a normal step! Too funny. Fast forward ten minutes and we are at the top. haha. It took so long to get her up those stairs.

We come in the house and I ask her "Bed or Couch" and I get a "Couch" response. I get her to it and she just collapses onto the couch. It was like her legs just gave out. One of Kirsten's conscious habits is to grab the computer when she gets on the couch, so naturally she tried to grab the laptop over and over and over, but couldn't pick it up off the floor. I give it to her and she just stairs at the screen for about three seconds and says, "I need to go to the bathroom" I'll let you all wonder how that went...

I got her back on the couch and told her that I needed to go and fill her prescriptions and get her some food and liquids. By food I mean pudding, jello, applesauce and yogurt. I left her staring at the computer and her not doing anything on it. I got all the stuff as fast as I could so she wasn't home destroying everything. The last thing I told her was, "the rule is no getting up and walking when I'm gone" I'm happy to say that she listened to that council.

When I walked in I found her on her side on the couch out cold with the laptop on the ground upside down. I should have taken a picture, it was priceless. She didn't move from that spot until 2, when I decided she should wake up so I could see how she was doing. I started the laundry, which was decently close to her, and she didn't wake up, did the dishes, no response, put some food in the microwave and that did the trick. She started coming to.

When she woke up I went over and she was just starring at the clock trying to figure out how it was 2 in the afternoon when the last thing she remembered was being at the dentist at 830. She was pretty much back with it at this point and doing good, but slept for another 3 hours.

After all of this I decided that my wife would be a terrible drunk. She would be getting tipsy after just a little bit and it would be pretty comical. I also realized how much caring for someone makes you love them. I thought about all those long nights with my parents and all the parents in the world who care for sick kids or people and how they just can't help but love them. I felt that for Kirsten as she was lying there in her sick state. Love ya babe and look forward to many more sick days!

a loss of wisdom

2010-10-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

In case getting my wisdom teeth out really does cause a loss of wisdom I figured I'd document the transition. Okay, bad joke, I know. But I'm still a little groggy so give me a break...

Here is a little time line:

Thursday night:
Brett surprised me and took me out to dinner and a movie. (awww, isn't he sweet!) Dinner was my "last good meal" before I couldn't eat solids for a while. And the movie was to distract my mind from the "what if I die tomorrow" thoughts.

Friday morning:
Sometime before 7:00am I was laying awake in bed because I was too paranoid about sleeping through the alarm. The alarm went off at 7:00 and I had to take the first of two "sedation pills" that the dentist gave me. I slowly got ready for the day (minus eating breakfast, putting on make up, doing my hair or generally getting ready at all). At 7:30 I took the second pill and began to feel a little dizzy when I moved my head. Brett drove me to the dentist for my 8:30 appointment.

At the dentist office:
The immediately invited me back and I sat down in the dentist chair where the kind lady gave me another pill to dissolve under my tongue. The last memory I have was her giving me another pill, the first one falling into my cheek, and me being aware enough to use my tongue to move it back. I have a vague memory of thinking "there is too much stuff in my mouth!" and feeling upset about it all. But that is all I remember from the office.

My next memory:
I am laying on the couch in my apartment and Brett is asking me if I am okay. I start crying. It took me a few moments to remember where I was, where I had been and why I felt funny. Now THAT is a weird feeling. Once I got over the initial shock I stopped crying and Brett helped me into the bed. I decided laying on my ride side was not a good idea (I had two teeth removed from that side and only one from my left side). I fell asleep in my bed and slept for hours. Brett woke me up at one point, gave me some medication made me drink some yummy Sobe Lifewater (my favorite!) and then I was out of it again.

5:00 ish: I woke up and was actually feeling awake. I relocated back to the couch and convinced Brett it was okay if he went to his mission reunion. He made himself some dinner and I ate a cup of pudding and jello. I kept thinking he was making lunch, not dinner, but finally got it straightened out. Before he left we examined my face and were surprised at the minimal amounts of swelling. My tongue felt something weird on the right bottom side on my face and I was aware enough to determine the object to be a stitch. Brett was convinced my mental status was functioning and headed out.

9:30- Over the last few hours I spent some time researching post-wisdom-tooth-extraction care. I learned that the peak of swelling and pain isn't until 2-3 days post op, became anxious of what I will look like on monday and worried myself crazy about getting Dry Socket. Right now I am feeling great: minor jaw pain and some swelling and soreness on my right side near the bottom, I'm starting to feel hungry (for the first time all day) and am still pretty tired. Over all, not too bad. (knock on wood!!)

9:45- My amazing husband is home from his mission reunion and I can officially go back to being overly needy. Good thing he loves me!

We'll see what tomorrow brings. Also, I'll try and make Brett share his side of the situation. Apparently I said and did some funny things on the way home from the dentist.

sorry no pictures: I didn't think my swelling at this point was significant enough to document and like I mentioned at the beginning... I didn't get ready for the day so no pictures.

Spotlight: A Book Full

2010-09-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Get this. I won something. You're jealous, I know. :)

The Contest:
My amazingly talented friend/roommate Cassi Elton hosted a give-a-way on her blog. She has some incredible talent when it comes to binding books and making the most out of every last scrap.

The Goods:
I won a gift card to her shop. Everything is handmade and super unique. From simple yet adorable button earnings to intricate and beautiful flower notebooks.

Her notebooks are all personally bound and full of character. Did I mention she makes her own planner and folders? She also does wonders with keys, playing cards, paper bags, jello boxes, the list goes on and on. Head over to her site to see more!

One of my favorite features is that she has hidden pockets in most of her books. Genius! I snatched up one of the personalized notebooks and I can't wait to get it in the mail!

FYI: I was not asked to write this blog and other than winning, I was in no way compensated for this post. I just think she is pretty stinking cool.

I have a secret..

2010-09-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

I have a secret that Brett doesn't know about. And considering he only reads "our" blog when I tell him he should, I think my secret is safe on here. You just have to promise to help me keep this secret....

Promise? Don't worry, its nothing life shattering. Okay? good! :)

Lets start with a little history. I'll keep it simple. Brett HATES sour cream. In general, he hates all things white; specifically mayo and sour cream. Kirsten (that's me) LOVES sour cream. In general, I love all things white; especially miracle whip and sour cream.

Now for the current situation. Last night I made mashed potatoes for dinner. Brett was out cooking the fish/chicken on the grill so I was left alone in the kitchen as I made them. Fast forward to the dinner table. Brett took one bit of the potatoes and said "WOW, these are good" and then later in the meal "you should write down what you did, these are so good" (yes, I have a habit of cooking yummy food and forgetting how I made it), he commented on them a few more times and then even requested that I make them again tonight to go with our ribs for dinner. Now, I'm not trying to brag, I just couldn't help but giggle and bite my tongue as he said those things.

The secret: If you haven't guessed yet I'll come right out and say it. There was sour cream (among other things) in the mashed potatoes. I took advantage of him being outside and made them the way I wanted to. I knew that if he saw me add the sour cream he wouldn't want to eat them, so I had to be sneaky. I want so bad to tell him what my secret weapon was in making them so yummy, but I have grander intentions. I plan to add sour cream to more recipes and then break it on him down the road after I have properly trained his taste buds!

True Confessions: Life in the fast lane

2010-09-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

True Confession number one: I speed.

Yes that is right, I said it. I speed. More specifically I speed on the freeway, I make it a point not to speed elsewhere. But on the freeway, I speed. I speed constantly, consciously and compulsively. I've actually noticed myself getting anxious lately if I'm not going 9 miles an hour over the speed limit on the freeway. Even more concerning is the compulsion I feel to still go 74 MPH even when there is construction on the freeway and the speed limit is only 55 (which is the WHOLE freeway from my home to work). You see, I have this delusion that my behavior is completely appropriate, and even more so, that anyone NOT going that fast is ridiculous and needs to get out of my way. After all, don't they know that is how fast they are supposed to go?? Obviously I feel entitled on the freeway. I'm realizing this now.

I travel quite frequently on the freeway. 15 miles each way to and from work and then around and about for work everyday. (yesterday I logged 97 miles) I'm kind of proud to say that I've never gotten a speeding ticket (or any ticket for that matter). But that fact also plays into my delusion that my speeding habits are in the right.

Now that I've confessed I wish to share my new resolution. No more speeding! Especially in construction zones. Well, I should clarify and correct that statement. I will stay within 5 miles per hour of the speed limit. ( I do live in Utah, have you seen how fast everyone drives on the freeway??) I know, it seems like a silly goal to promise myself to only go 5 MPH over, after all speeding is speeding. But trust me... its been hard. My reasoning for this goal is multifaceted.

Some reasons, in no particular order:
1) Recently there have been lots of accidents around me, and yes... it scares me.
2) Lately I've noticed I live my whole life in the fast lane. I rush everywhere and am always in a hurry to get things done. My goal to slow down on the road will hopefully help me slow down in life.
3) I've become increasingly paranoid about other drivers. I have decided to take more control over my safety.
4) I decided that I admire the construction worker who work all day long in the hot sun. I couldn't do it. And I want to obey the reduced speeds because I know they are for the safety of the workers.
5) Honestly, it scared me how tense I was beginning to feel when I couldn't go fast. I was addicted in a sense. I need to slow down.

You should see me driving now! (Insert proud and cheesy smiley face here) I'm usually in the right lane (as opposed to always in the left lane). I take deep breaths to keep myself calm and reduce the desire to pass all the cars. I even cringe as people pass me. In true-to-myself nature I now am convinced that my new driving habits are the right way to drive and everyone faster than me is a maniac. I know I know. I am prideful and "always right".

Overall my new resolution is going remarkably well. I am sticking to it and actually noticing a change in other aspects of my life. I arrive at my destinations less tense and more relaxed. By giving up my need to control how fast I drive, I have lost that inevitable tension that comes when I can't always control traffic patterns. (The confession that I have a need to control everything will have to be addressed in some later post). Its great. I highly recommend it. I don't plan on giving up my reputation for being on time. I still value being on time to things but I find the two things unrelated and hope I can find an appropriate balance.

Conclusion: It is good to learn to let go, to learn to slow down, and to remember what things are most important in life.

On a side note, I couldn't help but thinking of this song as I contemplated my new goal.

Does anyone else feel like life is some sort of race and you are rushing to "come in first"? What have you done to avoid those thoughts of competition and the need to always go go go?

Pass of all Passes

2010-08-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

"Pass of all Passes" That is the name of the new season pass for 7 Peaks, Trafalga, Orem Owlz, and Utah Flash. The pass is good from now until NEXT labor day. We usually buy our passes for 7 peaks anyway, but this just wraps all sorts of goodness in with the water park. Unlimited mini golf? What? yes please! Also, the price is CHEAPER. Yes, cheaper. ALSO... city deals is offering a limited time offer on these "Pass of all passes". 39.95 for one or 74.95 for two. We couldn't resist! If you are interested follow this link and then click on the 7 peaks logo to see the different options.

http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUMTIyMDQ3

Let us know if you get one and we'll play together!

Niagara Falls

2010-08-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

We ended our trip by visiting Niagara Falls. Remarkable. Simply remarkable. I always find God's creations so amazing.

We walked around to all the view points and rode the Maid of the Mist (a boat that takes you into the mist super close to the falls). We also rode a Jet Boat that took us up and down some rapids and got us soaked! And of course we took LOTS of pictures (and when I saw "we" I mean "me", and when i say "LOTS" I mean like 200, here are just a few).

ENJOY! (click on any to enlarage)

MAID OF THE MIST

Yes, we drove into that mist

And came out looking like this!

JET BOAT

We're in our swimming suits and ready to get wet!

This isn't us, but shows EXACTLY what happens

A pic of the pictures they took before we got on

They took this picture of us while we were out. Look at those waves. We are in the front right.

Toronto

2010-08-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

...Better late than never right?...

Part two of our trip was visiting Brett's old stomping grounds. We drove from Palmyra up into Toronto, Canada.

Canadian flags, traffic signs in Kilometers per hour, billboards in the grass. It wasn't long until it became obvious we were in a different country, although it really is SO easy to forget Canada is a different country.

We had a blast visiting with some of the people Brett served. They were all so kind and loving. (click on the photos to enlarge)

I love these pictures because they remind me just how much the people we met love Brett and the love he has for them.

And of course the kids just adored him.

Brett took me around to some of the places he lived and the churches he served in. We were lucky enough to make it to Toronto in time to go to church with two of the wards he served lots of time in.

We tried to squeeze in some time to visit downtown. Toronto is a BIG city. Fun to visit, but I doubt I would like living there.

This amazing view was from an apartment where we ate dinner with Joel. Maybe I could live there if we had a view like this. Speaking of food... Yum! That is all I have to say. Everywhere we went. Good, good food!

We headed to the temple before we left town.

But it was closed... so we just took some pictures of ourselves before heading back to the States.

Toronto was SO much fun. It was great to be able to meet some of the people Brett tells me stories about and see where he lived for 2 years. It was a quick trip, be we were glad we could make it up that way!

East Coast Adventures- part 1

2010-08-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

We've been back from our vacation for two weeks and I haven't posted a single picture on this blog. my bad. We've been working, celebrating my birthday, relaxing at the water park, going to the gym and playing/watching lots of softball. We also went golfing this morning (well, Brett was golfing, I just drove the golf cart). But, I don't have any pictures of those activities... so don't ask. We have been having fun though!

It IS Friday night, and I SHOULD be off on a hot date with my hubby but Brett got called into work tonight so I'm here at home with nothing to do but blog. Technically, I have other things to do, but too bad for the chores, they shall be avoided another day. I DID start a loaf of bread in the bread machine (a b-day present!) AND went grocery shopping today, so I'd say I'm doing pretty good.

Anyway, enough wordage. On to the photos....

Our first stop {after a red-eye flight} was Palmyra, New York. For those of you unfamiliar with New York, the city of Palmyra is not like New York City. It is a small town in upstate NY. We drove by lots of wide open spaces and corn fields and drove on lots of toll-roads (what a foreign concept to us west coast folk).

Speaking of driving, let me just saw I got us a sweet deal on our car rental. Brett and I are both under 25 and thus require a "underage fee" anywhere from 15-35 bucks a day. The best deals I could find were still high 300's with the fee on top of that. YIKES. I was able to secure a deal for under $200 /week. We still had the fee to figure out but at the counter I got them to waive the $35 dollar fee. It came to a total of $205. 50% savings. Win! It was just a little two door car, but hey, we're not picky!

We went to Palmyra to visit some church sites and watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was all AMAZING! We were there with my parents and some of the extended family. We saw the pageant on both Friday and Saturday night.

We visited the city of Palmyra- literally a church on every corner (none of which are LDS).

Did a session at the Temple.

Saw protesters. (btw.. if you are interested in learning about what we really believe please talk to me, don't visit those websites)

Saw some church history sites.

We walked around the Smith family farm. (as in Joseph Smith, not Brett and Kirsten Smith... we do NOT have a farm) We saw both homes they lived in and cool things like the fireplace where Joseph hid the plates one night to keep them safe.

And of course we spent time in the Sacred Grove.

Overall, Palmyra was a great place. I can't believe we did all that in 2 days!

Next stop: Toronto Canada!

We're back!

2010-07-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our vacation SO much. Palmyra, Toronto and Niagara Falls were all amazing. It was such a nice break to relax and actually spend time together. No work to stress about and no real obligations. AMAZING! We spent lots of time with family and friends, ate lots of good food and saw some pretty amazing places. Don't worry, we took lots of pictures and I'll update this blog with all our fun adventures. It will take a few posts, so brace yourself! Right now, I need to go finish the laundry, find something to make for dinner and finish unpacking. Oh the joys of being back to the real world.

yumminess

2010-07-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Holidays mean good food. We ate our share of yummy dinners this weekend. But the favorite, by far, was the dessert I made. I wanted to post a link here for two reason. First, so I don't lose the recipe and second to share it with others. I found the recipe here for the delicious cheesecake bars. So simple to make. Brett has already requested that I make them again soon!

Independence Day two thousand and ten

2010-07-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the holiday on Saturday night by eating good food and watching fireworks. We went up by the temple in Provo where we had a perfect view for the "Stadium of Fire" firework show. The night was beautiful, perfect temperature! And the setting sun looked amazing.

I spent some time this weekend thinking about the wonderful county we live it. Honestly, it is all I know and sometimes I have a hard time remembering what a blessing it is. I'm grateful for the chance to remember. I have some friends whose husbands have served/are serving overseas. I am amazed by their strength. I found this one of their blogs. Its kind of long, but made my heart hurt for those wives who sacrifice by allowing their husbands to sacrifice for our country.

LOVING A SOLDIER

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t know adventure. You don’t know smelly gray PT uniforms that require a daily washing. You can’t understand green and brown camouflaged bags flooding your bedroom floor. They may seem like they are just thrown around, but move one thing the night before an important layout and expect to hear about it.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t understand the meaning of the phrase "going to the field" and the weeks you spend away from each other.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t understand what it’s like to have company every weekend that you will soon refer to as your "children" and they will need to be fed, so figure them into your grocery bill. You will need to teach them that you can’t fit 3 hampers of clothes into the washing machine at the same time, and that whites and darks are not washed together.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can never imagine the hole in your heart when that phone call comes. "Honey, I am leaving tomorrow to go overseas. I don’t know how long I will be gone or exactly where I am going, but I want you to know that I love you - always!" You don’t know the anxiety that comes with not knowing any specifics until it is already happening.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you don’t know what it’s like to say that final good-bye, to watch those buses drive away and wonder if you will ever see him again. You don’t know what it really means to be glued to the television watching CNN. You don’t understand fear and you can’t possibly understand the sleepless nights of endless crying wondering if you will ever see the love of your life alive again.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t understand why a computer must always be on full volume just in case. And why it is necessary to have one of every messenger... because you will never know when MSN messenger might work and Yahoo wont, or vice versa.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you don’t know the best brand of webcam and all of the features by heart and recommend them to everyone you know. You can fully utilize all of the emoticons on every messenger and even know the hidden ones on yahoo...

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you also won’t understand the importance of always having access to a cell phone charger. Or having that special ringer for "unknown" and 13 digit phone numbers.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you would never understand the bond that instantly forms with any woman you see wearing anything battalion-related.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, on the nights where we all come together and talk for hours about nothing but our men, and how even those little things that annoyed the crap out of us a few months ago are the things we miss so much. And then compare ideas on how to keep them... "entertained".

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t know the immense joy, the uncontrollable smile, or the butterflies in your stomach when you see your soldier march into the family waiting area upon redeployment or the end of basic training. You can’t understand the self-control it takes to stand on the other side of the room as some higher-up gives a seemingly endless welcome home speech while all the soldiers stand in formation. You don’t know what it’s like to have that second first kiss or what it’s like to experience puppy love all over again. You spend hours and hours getting ready so everything is in perfect place, just to have your hair ruffled and everything tousled up with that first embrace.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can’t truly understand how to make every moment count because you never know when that phone call may come again. You don’t understand why a secret bottle of cologne is kept in the medicine cabinet, or his deodorant left on the bathroom sink all year, just to smell when you want to feel closer to him.

If you’re not in love with a soldier, you can never really understand how very delicate life is! You don’t understand how fast one phone call, or a knock at the door can instantly change life for so many people. You don’t understand why the National Anthem will forever be something that we will STAND for and probably well up in tears, no matter where life takes you after the military.

I'm grateful for this country and the men who help protect our freedoms. I'm also selfishly grateful for the man I am in love with and the fact that at the present time he doesn't have to risk his life defending my freedom.

Fishing

2010-07-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

We also went fishing this weekend. We both got our licenses and stocked up on all the fishing essentials. Too bad it was windy and the water looked like this ...

Needless to say, we didn't catch anything.

Some of the bait we used were night crawlers. We had to laugh at the slogan for the worms. "our worms catch fish or die trying"

We are looking forward to finding some good spots around for fishing. I really think I could learn to like fishing if we had a little more action. Anyone know some good local places we should try?

Camping

2010-07-05T18:04:00.001-07:00

What a good weekend! Full of fun activities. The first activity was camping.

I was on-call on Friday for work but we didn't let that stop us from going out and having fun. We were planning to spend some time relaxing at the waterpark but made an improptu change and decided to go camping. The biggest thing that has kept us from camping thus far in our marriage is a lack of air mattresses and sleeping bags. We got a tent and multiple camping essentials as wedding gifts but I was having troubles justifying buying a mattress/sleeping bags since we never go camping. The problem was that we never went camping BECAUSE we didn't have sleeping bags and a mattress. So when the idea came on Friday to go, we decided we would just load up lots of pillows and blankets and tough it out. Lets just say, we now have justification to go get a mattress. We hardly slept on the hard ground and have bruised hips and tail bones from the pressure. Aside from the rough sleeping situation, we had fun sitting around (away from the TV and computer) talking about life and enjoying the fresh air.

Good thing Brett is so strong and set up our tent!

And so good at starting fires!

And so talented at cooking on a fire!

Our tin foil dinners turned out perfectly. Yum Yum! (yes, we have a full dish set for camping... but no sleeping bags)

I recently found some new ideas for tin foil recipes (banana boats and Malibu chicken) but I'm hesitant to try them. What have you cooked in tin foil on a camp fire? Was it good?

Outdoor Adventures

2010-06-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

The weather is finally starting to warm up here in Provo-land and we have been enjoying the chance to get out and play. Fresh air really is good for the soul.

Last night we went up the canyon for a picnic and to hike Bridal Veil Falls. We walked along Provo river for a while and then ventured up the falls. There is a nice, relatively easy path for hikers... but we started off on the wrong path and took our life in our hands as we clung to dirt trying not to slide down the edge at one point. We also had to cross the rushing water about halfway up, but don't worry the water was pretty low and we made it just fine. We didn't venture beyond the "don't go past this sign" point, but did enjoy siting in the fresh mist at the base of the waterfall. (for those of you unfamiliar with the area, we were at the base of the 2nd fall, basically at the bottom of where this picture shows)

We have also obtained our 7 peaks water park passes for the summer. One of my favorite activities is sitting in the shallow water at the edge of the wave pool, people-watching, relaxing and talking with Brett. I hope our schedules will allow for lots of pool time this summer.

The one outdoor thing we haven't done yet this summer is go camping. We keep talking about it, but it never happens. (usually because Brett has to work Friday nights) Starting this week, he no longer works on Friday nights (yay!) so we need to get our act in shape and go camping. Brett brought home a fishing pole from our last visit to his parents house so hopefully we can get some fishing in soon too!

For those of you around the Provo area, we need ideas of places to go. Where do you like to spend time outdoors? camping? hiking? fishing?

Thoughts on dating

2010-06-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about being married is always having someone to go on a date with. None of the anxious waiting and wondering if you'd have something to do each weekend. And let me just say, I love going on dates with my hubby. It is such a great time to forget about the stresses of work/school/everyday life and just enjoy the time together. We get to try new things and act a little silly at times. Plus, after a long week it is exactly what I need and I'm always looking forward to it. We have made it a priority to go on a date every week and we alternate turns planing what we'll do. It can be hard to think of something new and exciting to do each week, but it is so worth it. Putting a little thought into the night changes the time from time simply spent with each other to time spent together. In the last few months we have: gone to comedy shows on campus, gone to the Orem festival/carnival/parade, played frisbee golf, gone bowling, stayed in and watched House (we may or may not be addicted), gone mini golfing, and watched a BYU baseball game.

We remembered to bring our camera to one of those date nights, and because I want to brag... I'll post those pictures. This was the night we went to Trafalga and played some mini-golf and then hit some baseballs at the batting cage. These pictures are me bragging because I got THREE, yes 3, hole-in-ones that night. Amazingly, we both got a hole-in-one on the last hole. And, as you can see "a hole-in-one wins" so we were both winners! We then headed over to the batting cages and attempted to hit some baseballs. Brett actually hit them, me on the other hand.. I hit a few... but was mostly too scared of the sting of the bat to hit (that and I don't have much talent in that area).

Hole in one.... or three

I made it in, he got it stuck behind the concrete slab

Both winners!

Brett is far more talented at baseball and actually looks like he knows what he is doing.

What do you guys like to do for date nights?

bad/good news

2010-06-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

So we've got some news I'm sure you will all appreciate. I share the bad news first... We never found our camera cord. The good news, however, is that we went out and bought a SD card reader! I had a few blogs that I "wrote" but never published due to wanting to add pictures. I finally posted those. So, sorry for the outdated posts below but hopefully you enjoy the pictures. I'll work on finishing the updates and get back in the groove of posting.

1 year done, many to go!

2010-06-05T16:45:00.001-07:00

We made it! One year! Brett planned a "surprise" get-a-way weekend trip (meaning I knew it was coming, but didn't know where). We went up to Park City and spent the weekend relaxing. With such crazy schedules it seems like we rarely get time together (think: only seeing each other at 7 am and 10 pm). It was such a nice treat to get away and such a great excuse to celebrate.

When Brett checked us in the front desk lady asked what brought us up to Park City. He told her it was our anniversary. That night we received a call from room service stating they had something for us. We told them to bring it down! To our surprise the nice lady at the front desk sent us some sparkling cider and chocolate covered strawberries. How sweet of her!

On Saturday we did the "tourist" thing. We went up to the Olympic Museum and walked around the grounds. Those hills they ski down are SO steep!

We got all educated up on Olympic history and decided we will probably never make it to the Olympics ourselves. Inside the museum there were some games. Brett dominated the downhill slalom and got the high score for the day!

After leaving the Olympic Park we drove around a little and gawked at all the nice houses.

We also ate lots of good food, walked around the historic parts of town and went shopping at the outlet stores! On our way home we stopped at the lake to check out the fishers and enjoy the beautiful day.

Here's to many more great years!

Valentines is for lovers

2010-06-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our first V-day as a married couple! The weekend was mostly spent packing, moving, and unpacking-- how romantic...not. Luckily, we were able to forget the clutter of boxes for a little bit and enjoy some together time.

Warning: the following may contain lovey-dovey details, feel free to stop reading now....

....

okay, I warned you :) Here are a few highlights from our celebrations.

1) Breakfast in bed. My amazing hubby woke up early on Sunday morning and made me breakfast in bed. Now this would be a feat of accomplishment on a normal morning, but let me remind you that we had JUST moved in. This means, everything we owned was still packed away in boxes. Brett had to search through multiple boxes to find all the necessary items (plates, syrup, griddle, seasonings, etc etc). But he did it! And it tasted delicious. I was too amazed slash hungry to remember to take a picture, but lets just say it looked good! Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, hash-browns, eggs, and bacon! Yum-my!

2) Celebrating all month. Knowing that the holiday weekend would be busy and hectic I planned "14 days of Valentines". The title is pretty self explanatory but basically each day we opened an envelope with a different activity for the day. Understanding that our days our busy and time together is limited most activities were small, simple and cheap. But they were also very meaningful and full of love. We shared foot rubs, danced to our wedding song, made cheesy v-day cards, mailed love notes, read quotes about love, looked at old pictures, listened to our favorite love songs, the list goes on and on. I was so grateful that my tough "all-man" husband was willing to humor me and share in the romance.

3) Delish Dinner. Not to brag, but I made a delicious dinner Sunday night! I made Fettuccine Alfredo with Parmesan topped Italian chicken, a yummy side salad (complete with nuts and strawberries) and Brett's favorite... garlic bread. We were able to clear off the table of all the boxes and found a few decorative items and made the most of the moment.

4) My miracle flower. I specifically told Brett not to get me a big bouquet of flowers. Crazy? no, I don't think so. I did this for two reasons. One- because I'm a fan of simple and often the big bouquets are anything but simple. And two- because there was no way they would have made it unharmed in the move. Anyway, back to my miracle flower. Brett bought me a single pink rose on Friday night. We then navigated around it as we packed and moved. We had to transfer it from table to counter to car to new home. And when it finally got to rest on Saturday night it was more than a little droopy. I thought it was a goner. But, Sunday morning we woke up to find it standing tall and as beautiful as ever! It found new life and lasted all week! I was so surprised I accused Brett of sneaking out and buying a new one.

5) Spending it with the love of my life. Of course, the best highlight of valentines day this year was having an excuse spend time with Brett and celebrate our love!