Kauai - aka Heaven on Earth

We just got back from a trip to Hawaii with Blair's parents, Rob and Deb. It was one of my most favorite and definitely most relaxing vacations we have ever been on. It is Rob and Deb's 40th wedding anniversary this year, and we are lucky we got to celebrate with them in Hawaii! :)

I won't torture of the day-to-day, hour-by-hour. I will just tell you this..... Beach. Blue Water. Snorkeling. Sharks. Turtles. Helicopter ride. Kayaking. Waterfalls. Napali Coast. And an overload of pictures!

Trip to Logan

Last month we had my mom and dad in town. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with them. My mom came in for a few days and we went shopping and got to hang out with my sisters. We had a lot of fun! Then my dad came in to town for the weekend, and we went up to Logan for my nieces 4th birthday party! It was fun to spend time with her and my brother's family. Ryan works at The American West Heritage Center in Logan. He gave us the whole tour and everything. It was really fun to see him in his element. He is so knowledgeable about so much, I was shocked at everything he was telling us. Thanks for the tour Ry!

We did a tomahawk throw...

And Reesey got to ride the ponies.

And it would not have been complete without a train ride!

It was such a fun week with my family. You're welcome to come visit any time! :)

Strawberry Days Rodeo

Last week we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo to hear my sister Britney sing the National Anthem. She did such an amazing job!!! I am so proud of her! She has a beautiful voice and is so brave to do that! We had a lot of fun at the rodeo and it was so fun to see Britney up there!

Britney axiously awaiting her moment to shine!

I think me and Megs were just as nervous as Britney was!

Utah Valley Half Marathon

Blair and I ran in our very first half marathon on Saturday. We've been training for a few months, and it feels so gratifing to finally finish the race, and know that our hard work has paid off. Blair did unbelievable! He has worked so hard, and has been training for a while. He came in at 1:41 minutes. Keeping a steady 7:35 minute pace the whole time. For his first race, this is an amazing accomplishment. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard, and it definetly paid off!!!

We originally signed up the race back in March, because Blair was going to run in a relay race with some friends, but last minute a few of them weren't able to do the race. He decided to sign up for a half marathon, and some how talked me into doing it with him. Now, I'm so happy he did. I'm thankful to Blair for all of him encouragement and support he gave while I was training. This has definetly been one the most challanging things I have done. I am in no way athletic, and I never have been. And I'm not a runner, and I have always hated running. Now, I actually enjoy running and I like the satisfaction it gives me when I finish a hard run.

I can't say the run was easy for me. The first nine miles went smoothly. I was passed by A LOT of people. But I was ok with that. I started at the front with Blair, and I had to just keep my own steady pace, so I wouldn't burn out fast. Around mile 10, I didn't think I was going to finish. I somehow kept going, and luckily made it to the finish line. I came in at 2:22, which is better than I thought I was going to come in at, and I'm just happy I finished! :)

Do we want to do it again? Asks us in a few weeks, when our bodies aren't so sore!

spring cleaning

Well, I have been putting it off for weeks. But Blair is in Wendover this weekend competing in a basketball tournament, so its just me and Charlee at home. I felt like I had run out of excuses and my house needed some love. So I took a trip to Ikea and Walmart to get a few extras to help me get excited about getting things organized. But I'm still having a hard time staying focused (this is me putting it off). I live in a 3 bedroom condo, its not like I have a huge house to clean or anything, but for some reason it still feels so daunting. There is so much I need to get cleaned and organized.....

I guess I should get back to it. Dang it.

sunny st. george

Last weekend Blair and I took a quick get away trip down to St. George! We went with some friends of ours. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to be outside with just a t-shirt for the weekend (no coats!).

Our mini-trip was filled full of:

pickle ball

rock climbing

karaoke

glee sing-a-longs
road-trip

Vegas

and the weekend would not have been the same without watching

Emily eat a scorpion filled sucker.

I'm not a super great rock climber but Blair and his friend Jordan are really good! So I got some good pics of them:

As you can see I'm not quite as good as Blair, but we had a lot fun hanging out with the Anderson's and totally LOVED the sunshine! :)

oh january

I feel like I should blog, since its the middle of January, and I need to post my monthly blog.

But the truth is, is that there's not much going on I feel is "blog worthy".

Lets be honest, its January, and nothing fun ever goes on in January. Except for of coarse the starting of a new year. The excitement of a new beginning. New resolutions and the excitement and anticipation of the "new you" that we are all hoping to become. And I'll be honest, I do like the excitement of it all. Blair will tell you, that all my goals are "Starting Monday". I like to start fresh. So with it being a new year instead of just a new week, gets me really geared up and motivated. I feel like maybe this time, I will actually follow through and accomplish the goals I have set for myself.

I have set a few new years resolutions for myself and going into the 4th week of year, I can say that I've made it this far and feel like I'm going strong. I'm still feeling good.

So here's to a new year and becoming the people we want to become and accomplishing new goals.

(And we can almost say good bye to the most boring month out the year! )

got kinect?

If you haven't seen this thing in action yet... you need to!

These puppies are hard to come by this time of year. We got lucky to find one in stores last week.

For Christmas this year, we decided to get the XBox Kinect for our family gift. And I just couldn't hold out that long before busting it open and playing. To be honest, I couldn't even wait 10 minutes after getting home to start playing!

This is seriously, the best thing ever invented! I'm addicted!

We got the Dance Central game, that you see on all the commercials. I told Blair the other day I feel like I could one day make it to "So You Think You Can Dance"! LOL (kinda like I play Rock Band and think I should play the guitar in real life, never gonna happen.....) But I can dream :)

Put it on your wish list this year, you won't regret it!

cooking....

Some times I wish I could stay home all day and cook. There are so many receipes I want to try and I want to become a better cook....

So yes, I need ALL day (well quite a few days) to stay home and cook!


But given the opportunity, would I do it?

feels like home

I've been feeling a little domestic lately. I always have these great ambitions to cook these fabulous meals and to be the best house keeper, blah blah blah....

Ask people I work with, I'm always looking for a new recipe to try (on my new favorite website check it out HERE). I mean well, and I try to do better. Except I seem to fall short - when I get home from work all of my motivation to cook a great meal, do the laundry, and clean the kitchen, all goes out the window, especially when I could be doing better things, like watching GLEE! ;)

BUT, I can't help but give myself a tiny tap on the back, because this week (granted its only Wednesday) I have cooked dinner every night this week. AND I used my crock pot twice! This may not be a very big feat for most people, but I've used my crock pot more this week than I have in my whole 2 years of marriage! LOL

a year of not-so-plenty

Earlier this summer I posted some pictures of my attempted garden. I thought it was a brilliant idea that my brother and mom gave me, and my mom and dad even helped me buy everything I needed to get started when they came out this spring. So I felt like at that point my porch garden was fool proof. How could I go wrong? I've learned from the experts here!

Well, apparently there is more to it. I'm not sure where I went wrong. Did I over water? Did I under water? I'm not so sure to be honest with you. But what I can tell you..... is my little garden did not produce. I started it out with a flower basket, 2 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, beans, peas, and a tomato plant. Shortly after planted I lost both cucumbers, all my flowers and my peas. My zucchini and tomato plant seemed to have been doing pretty good and looked they had the potential of bringing us some delicious veggies. Not so much.

However, I did get 1 tomato!!! That's it.... I think they went a couple days with out water and now there is no hope of bringing them back. I've tried.... they're gone. Its a shame... I don't know what I did or didn't do. I haven't quite decided if I want to try again next year, or if it will just lower my confidence. Or maybe by then I will have forgotten how hard it was to make my little garden grow.

the final book

THE HUNGER GAMES:

the final book

I LOVED IT!!

back to school

I love school supplies! I love office supplies in general. Sometime I wish I was going to school, just so I could buy the supplies, I don't actually want to do the school part.

I had to go to office depot the other night to buy some ink for our printer..... I was there for about 45 minutes and left with a large bag full! I just can't help myself when I get around all that stuff. I know I'm a dork, but there is nothing like getting a new cool pen.

Now you know I am a true nerd at heart :)

It's what fun is!

So last weekend Blair and I spent Saturday with sister Megan and her roommate Nicole, AT....

We had a blast and it was a fun Saturday. But I have to admit..... it just wasn't the same as it use to be. Don't get me wrong I love all the rides and stuff and always have. But it wasn't the way I remember it when I was 12. :) Blair and I decided that we think maybe the next time we go we should probably have some kids to take. We would enjoy it more watching them experience it, then getting sick on the Screamer!

every summer....

I got burned..... I got burned real bad.

I swear, every summer this happens. I go out to the pool for the first time of the year, and what do I do? That's right.... I scorch myself to a crisp. And now I am paying for it. I'm bright red in all the worst places. My shoulders, between my legs and behind my knees. It's so uncomfortable. I make Blair lather my burns with aloe... I'm so lucky I have him.

But as I have been whining and complaining and feeling so sorry for myself about my stupid sunburn, I've realized that there are so many people out there that have to deal with so many more, and more serious, physical and emotional pains than I do. It makes me feel bad for even complaining about my little problem, that I brought upon myself.

I am grateful for all the blessings in my life. And from now on I swear I will use sunscreen! (Someone should hold me to that, because I'll probably forget next year.)

Only in Utah

Thursday night I did this....

Friday morning did this...

Friday afternoon road tripped with them...

Life is GREAT!!

beans and blessings

Well I'm happy to say this week has been much better than last
(I don't think things could have gotten any worse).

Miracles DO happen!

After LOTS of phone calls to the Salt Lake County Library, some how the check I lost was FOUND! They called us on Monday afternoon and told us the check had been found. What a huge blessing that was! Prayers work. Needless to say that check went directly from the library to the bank. Thank heavens.

The water is now decontaminated.... so they say. I don't trust them.

We have stocked up on water bottles.... and steer clear of the tap!

And my sickness is gone! Hooray!

Sun is shining and beans are sprouting!!! I know its not much, and my cumbers died, but at least its something. I was extatic to see that little bit of green poking out of the dirt.... its the simple things in life that matter. :)

And this little monster hasn't gotten away from me since! I guess we'll keep her...

a no good, very bad day.... or weekend..

Well, it turns out Saratoga Springs City's water is contaminated. Unfortunately I found out a little too late. Blair was sick earlier this week, and to help prevent me from getting the same sickness, I have been diligently taking my vitamins daily. Little did I know that the water I was drinking to take these vitamins to help prevent me from getting sick, was in fact making me even more ill. Yes, I drank the contaminated water, and had to pay for it. The silly thing is, is that I usually don't drink straight tap water, we usually have bottled water or filtered water that we drink. But for whatever reason, I felt like this was more convenient. Not in the the long run though. So for the past few days I have been miserable and even had to stay home from work dealing with the repercussions of my actions.

Second, I lost check. What an idiot I can be, for some reason, I put it in a library book I had, and then returned the library book, while leaving the check still inside. What a no good, very bad day.

And then today, Blair is off at work while I am at home trying to nurse myself back to health. Of coarse I have Charlee here to keep me company. We took a trip outside as we usually do. She wasn't being very cooperative, and lately she has learned that if she pulls hard enough she can get her leash to unbuckle. Well, my head has been cloudy, because of the sickness you know. And I forgot to take the extra step to put on her collar and secure the leash. So of coarse, as the darling dog she is, broke free from the lease and from me. PLAY TIME!! She takes of running as fast as she can, and its a big game to her. We live next to a pretty busy road, which we have luckily never had to deal with, we can usually catch Charlee before she gets there. Not today. She made it to the very busy road in the middle of the day, ran across the street and started chasing a couple of cyclist. Super fun for Charlee..... about KILLED me when I saw her. Out in the middle of the street stopping traffic, and almost stopped my heart. So here I am, this crazy owner running down this busy road after her dog, in my PJ's no less. I'm sure it was a site to see. I am just happy she's alive, and I can tell you that I wont make the mistake again.

Last but not least, some of you may know I have started a garden this year. I have always wanted my own little garden, and this year, my mom came into town a few weeks ago, and helped me get started on my very own porch garden. I was really excited and inspired by my brothers garden. Go HERE to check out how beautiful their garden is.

Because their garden has turned out perfectly, I took his exact advice, did everything they told me and this is what I got:
My cucumbers and zucchini.....


My flowers, beans, and tomato plants....

As you can see, my garden hasn't really turned out the expectations I had. I guess I'll leave gardening to Justin.

Looks like someone is tired.... that little rascal.