Pinterest

I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about when I say I am addicted to Pinterest. I have plenty of boards with hundreds of ideas on DIY projects, hair styling tips, and miracle cleaning products you can make yourself from just three ingredients.

Now, before I say that I am going on a Pinterest fast, understand, I am not opposed to Pinterest, it's ideals, or even checking it's boards about ten times a day.

The problem with me is, I have hundreds of pins and I think only two have come to fruition! So, before I go pinning anymore great ideas, I have to complete a project!

So here's the first project on the list. (Notice, I start small so I can quickly get back to pinning again.)

72 Hour Kit!!

I know Chris will be soooo excited about this.  I have been talking about doing this for months now but nothing has been done.  My procrastination ends now!  Emergency preparedness, here I come!!

Cool Breeze, Now you've got the chills!

Autumn Fires

 by Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

 

Chris loves fall and is excited to feel the air turn cool and see the colors changing on the mountains just west of our home. He picked this poem to share. Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today, Chris and I are celebrating one successful year of marriage!  We made it! J Time has flown by and yet, it feels like we’ve been married for a lot longer than a year. I love how comfortable our marriage feels and how well we fit into each other’s lives. Chris has been the best husband a girl could ask for. He’s kind, loving, forgiving and easy going.  I have loved spending this year with him!

Chris also planned a wonderful anniversary for us. It started with a return to one of the memorable places from our wedding – La Caille.  We took our formal wedding pictures in La Caille’s gardens and the pictures turned out beautiful! This year, we went back to try the food. J It was delicious.  I think one of my favorite parts of the dinner was the house hor d’eovre they served us - smoked pork with a slice of parmesan cheese and microgreens.  Delectable! We shared an appetizer of duck confit, a French onion soup, and for an entrée Chris braved the halibut while I played it safe with the chicken. Chris and I are not seafood fans, but we are trying to get out of the box.  And to be honest, Chris’s halibut was a lot better than my chicken. I think I won’t be such a wuss next time!

Next, Chris drove us up to Midway where he had reserved a room for us at Johnson’s Mill, Midway’s famous bed and breakfast.  Chris actually booked the room a year ago, before we were even married.  This place fills up fast! The bed and breakfast is an old house nestled in the mountains and adjoining a small pond.  Chris booked the honeymoon suite and it was gorgeous! The hotel had even spread rose petals before we arrived. I was in love!

After I was done oogling over the hotel room, we decided to catch the local rodeo and carnival that was going on down the street.  We caught the last of the bull riding and enjoyed their great display of fireworks. Teenagers were everywhere and the air permeated with the youthful sense of freedom they enjoyed. It brought me back to my high school days and made Chris and I believe we could handle anything those teenagers could. With our borrowed nonchalance, we decided to buy some carnival tickets and brave all those spinning carnivals rides – the Gravitron, the Tornado, the Zipper, you name it. We thought we could take them all! However, at the end of the night, we discovered we were not quite as young as we used to be. Both of us were ready to hurl as we staggered off the last ride and found a bench where we could sit and calm our stomachs.

We went home shortly thereafter, not daring to try anything else. We did, however, want to walk around the grounds at Johnson’s Mill before we set in for the night. We walked to the back, over a river, past the mill, and onto the gazebo in the middle of the lake. We sat for a minute, enjoying the night air. However, my stomach was still not feeling well, so I said we should go back to our room.  I promptly set across the dock to dry land, hurrying as I wasn’t sure how much walking my stomach could handle. When I got to the other side I realized Chris was not with me. I turned around to see where he was. And I saw him, still in the gazebo, down on one knee.  Realizing I had messed up the moment (again) I ran back to him. He had a ring box and inside was a delicate wedding band that matched my ring. (We hadn’t gotten one when we were first married, because the ring didn’t come with one. Chris had this specially made. He had taken my ring down for “cleaning,” during which one of my pave diamonds “fell out”. Chris even had the jewelry store call me to reassure me that they were resetting the diamond and my ring would be ready in a week or two. Man they had me fooled! I had no idea Chris was doing something like this.) On his knee, Chris asked me to marry him again. I, of course, said yes. It was very sweet and I love my new band! 

The next morning we explored the Olympic Park in Park City. We watched skiers practicing their jumps into swimming pools. I have never seen that before and it was awesome. They do some cool tricks. We also took a ride down the Alpine Slide. For some reason, I was nervous as we were riding the ski lift up to the top. However, once I found myself on that small scooter, I was ready to roll! Chris had a slight problem with his. He got about 20 feet down the slide and found that his scooter simply wouldn’t slide. I saw him carrying his scooter, slowly walking back up the hill. J Luckily, they gave him a new scooter, told him about the secret “sweet spot” and he was able to have a nice run!

It was a wonderful anniversary and the best part was being able to spend it with Christopher. He is my best friend and I’m grateful we’ve chosen to spend our lives together!



WICKED!!

a couple of weeks ago, chris took me to see the play, WICKED, and i forgot to write about it!! can you believe that??  i have wanted to see Wicked for years after hearing the fun music and learning a little about the story line.  chris bought us tickets for christmas and we have waited patiently these last seven months to see this amazing show.  and it was amazing!! 

i loved elfeba and especially galinda.  i know, she is the ditzy, shallow one, but she was hilarious!! she really played up the part and she reminded me a lot of myself when i was younger - but only in the ways that she was over-dramatic and cheerful. elfeba had a wonderful, strong voice and was pretty funny herself. i really like the music of the play.  it is fun and quirky, yet powerful.  a good combination, if i do say so myself. 

the only "low" point was fierro.  he just wasn't as strong as the other characters.  he didn't have a strong voice and he couldn't dance worth a hoot.  he kept doing the same move over and over and looked quite awkward doing it.  sorry, fierro, you just didn't cut it for me.  luckily, he wasn't the focus of the play and was not in it very much.

everything else was great! the singing, the dancing, the stage, the music - loved it all!  thank you so much, chris, for giving me that experience!

The Famous Farmington

This is now the second week since we officially moved to Farmington. It feels like only the second day because we have been traveling all over the place the past two weeks and we haven’t really lived in our apartment.  However, now that we’re back, we’re settling down a little. 

A few tidbits about Farmington:

v  I love the location! We are about a minute away from the freeway entrance and yet we feel tucked away in a quiet, little neighborhood with tree-lined streets and family-friendly parks.

v  Even though we’re only about fifteen minutes farther north, it feels like I am sooo far from my family!  I think I was just spoiled before, being smack dab in between my parents and my in-laws. I have no idea what I’ll do when we actually move out of state!

v  There is a pool right next to our apartment.  I haven’t taken advantage of it yet (because we’ve been gone) but I am excited to spend some of these hot summer days lounging in the cool water!

v  Our new ward is fantabulous! The Elders Quorum presidency came to visit only two days after we moved in and the Relief Society presidency is coming over tonight!  (The Relief Society wouldn’t have been over just as soon as the Elders Quorum if we hadn’t been out of town. Just FYI – they’re not slackers. J)

v  For some reason, this new apartment seems much more difficult to decorate! I am in need of some serious help.  Pinterest isn’t really helping because I just end up wanting my room to look exactly like the room in the picture! Argh!

For the most part, we’re really loving it here (minus the crazy landlords) and we’re excited to make this our new home for the next few years!

Thank You!

I just wanted to give a shout out to all those who came & helped us move today. You were all so quick and efficient and made this move so easy! We were so appreciative to have your manpower with us!

Also, a special thanks to Darren for coming all the way from Logan and for bringing the trailer. It was a huge help!! (even if it was a pain to get out of the driveway)

We are excited to be in our new apartment and make it our home.

pictures coming soon

Bookstore Date

Last Saturday I decided it was time that I take Chris out for a date.  We went to Barnes & Noble armed with a list of tasks we each had to complete. For example, find a recipe of something you would like to make for your date, or go to the children’s section and pick out your favorite book.  I surprised Chris with this date and he seemed pretty excited to give it a try.  (I found this idea here along with all of the tasks for our date.  Great site!)

We started out with the recipe section.  Turns out that we both picked out something simple but delicious.  My recipe – an ice cream sandwich made with waffles.     Chris’s recipe – a blended drink of mint and lemonade.    Simple but Delicious!

Next stop – magazines!  We each found a quiz in a magazine that we then took together.  I had a hard time actually finding a quiz!  I thought magazines were filled with quizzes but I couldn’t find one anywhere!  Chris took the only magazine with a guaranteed quiz each issue so I just took an article and made one up myself.  ;)

We then sauntered over to the children’s section to pick out our favorite book as a kid.  We found that we read similar books as children. It was fun to reminisce of our favorites and relive a few as we read them aloud to each other.  We couldn’t pick just one!

Task #4 told us to go to the humor section and find a joke we could tell our date.   Chris found “A Book of Insults Every Man Should Know.”  Inside were some seriously witty comebacks and insults.  Chris was having a hay day!  I picked out a book called “Porn for Woman.”  Now, before you go jumping down my throat, you need to see what was inside.  Pictures of men (fully clothed) saying or doing things we women always wish they would.  For example, this young man is leaning forward intently saying “Well, I can’t offer you any solutions, but I am a good listener.”  Priceless! J

One of my favorite tasks was in the travel section.  Chris and I both picked out a dream vacation.  Mine was to Istanbul, Turkey.  Why? Because I know very little about the place and the culture.  I do know about Haggia Sophia and would love to visit that feat of architecture. I know it has both Christian and Muslim influences.  I am drawn to it because I feel it would be a great discovery.

Chris chose Cambodia and Laos.  Apparently, Cambodia is the Asian country least touched by Western civilization, therefore retaining a lot of the ancient culture.  Chris also loves nature and beautiful landscapes, which Cambodia and Laos are full of.  Who knows, maybe one day we will actually take these dream vacations.

 

However, we saved the best task for last.  For our final book we went to the poetry section and picked out a poem that expressed how we felt about each other.  It was so much fun to rummage through different love poems to find the perfect one.  I don’t think I succeeded in finding the perfect poem, but I’ll tell you what, Christopher did – On an Anniversary by Donald Justice.  We had such a fun time and bonded in a way we hadn't for a while.  I would definitely recommend this date to anyone.