~ Tyler and Alyssa Sharp ~

Thrid time is the charm

2011-12-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

Let's see if this will work finally. I couldn't post it from my phone so I'll see if this will work:

Our christmas train!

2011-12-03T20:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qszmlRNSsU

Our backyard work

2011-11-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

view full image

"Soon our entire backyard will be all grass!"

Pumpkin and Chili Party!

2011-10-09T20:13:00.001-07:00

Tyler and I went met up with Jeffrey and my Dad to head out to Schnepf Farm's Pumpkin and Chili party! This was Tyler's first time at the farm so I was excited to go with him.

First Jeffrey and I got our faces painted and we met up with my mom. Then we went to eat some food so Tyler can experience the famous chili! He loved it and I can't wait to go buy some at Frys. Tyler loved the food and we got to see Kathryn! It's fun to walk around the farm and see so many family members working out there.
We took some dinner to Dallin and Tyler and I took a turn on the bicycles. Mine was so hard to ride! I had to get help a few times because it was difficult. Thankfully we were able to laugh through my difficulties and we had a blast. Then we went over to the swings and roller coaster which were awesome! I loved both of the rides.
We met up with Misha and John at the BMX show then went over to the roller coaster again. After riding it twice in a row we ran over to the spooky train ride to meet Kimberly.
Since it was the last ride of the night, Kim got to ride with us!
We had such a fun time at Schnepf Farms! I can't wait to go back there in a few weeks. It's the perfect family fall activity!

A great anniversary gift from Tyler!

2011-09-04T22:25:00.001-07:00

Three years of heaven with Tyler! I love him so much!

Life and Death

2011-08-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a funeral for my cousin, Karen Delight Roberts. I would be remiss if I did not blog about her and the feelings I had during this time.

During the funeral I kept thinking about her amazing spirit and how frustrating it must have been for her to be trapped in her human body weighed down by the worldly obligations. I heard stories about her zest for life, her love of singing and dancing, and her ability to touch others with her smile. She came from an extremely musical family and had the ability to fill in all the missing tones when her family sang.

She was blessed with the gift of grace and dancing. As a ballerina, Karen could express emotion as movement on the stage. She was incredible in her ability to glide across the stage making the most complex moves appear effortless. I remember watching her as a dancer. I was constantly mesmerized by her ability and grace and strived to dance as she did.

In addition to her talents and attributes, people spoke of her ability to reach out and comfort others. People spoke of her ability to make people feel special and welcomed.

While talking about all of her amazing qualities, I can't help but imagine her on the other side of the veil, dancing and singing praises to God. I bet she is an incredible missionary on the other side.

another thing that touched me during the funeral was the courage her siblings had while they sang numerous musical numbers throughout the service. Their testimonies were born through their songs and the spirit was definitely present. The funeral was a beautiful testimony of her life and the power of the atonement. I am grateful I attended her funeral. It served as a reminder to me of how I should live my life. I need to reach out to others, share the gospel more and invite others to learn of the happiness and peace in my life because of what I know.

In other words, Karen, I am sad to see you go. I know you are in a better place and will serve others while in the next life. I am also grateful for the legacy you left, your example of service and the reminder your funeral played in my life.

2011-07-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to start with life right now. Tyler and I can't complain too much because we....

1. live in a home in AZ,
2. have great jobs that provide us the opportunity to save for the future,
3. live next to family,

AND

4. are married to each other.

Hawaiian Shaved Ice Ecstasy

2011-07-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

I have to admit it- I am an Hawaiian Shaved Ice addict and snob.

Seriously! Someone people are happy with any chopped up ice with colored sugar water on top. That is called a snow cone, not hawaiian shaved ice.

I don't know how my addiction started. I really think it came on slowly. A craving here, an indulgence after work, a quick trip to Water and Ice while running errands. Now, it's the full on, constant craving of shaved ice from a square block, vanilla ice cream underneath the ice, and some sort of strawberry colada/ coconut syrup on top. It's heaven on earth in AZ. Trust me! Life literally does not get better then that.

Now comes the sad part.... Hawaiian Shaved Ice is EXTREMELY hard to come by in Mesa, AZ (calling all entrepreneurs!). There is literally one place that makes them, but 2/3 of the time they are closed when I show up and they are 20 minutes away. It's somewhat hard for me to rationalize a 40 min round trip car ride for $2.75 worth of ice and cream, although I've done it 3 times. I try to just head over to Water and Ice, but their cups are all wrong. They have the wrong ice and their ice cream is off. It's just not the same. Bahama Bucks is close, but they don't have ice cream (although their cream is the second best option). It's just a tragic thing to crave something constantly and not have the ability to curb the craving.

I would literally keep the Hawaiian Shaved Ice company in business if someone had time to open a shack near Lindsay and Val Vista. Any takers :)

Moments that Matter

2011-06-21T22:55:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love this video. And I teared up when I watched it. I have a tender spot in my heart for Mormon Messages.

Blessings in Disguise

2011-06-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I am so grateful Heavenly Father has a plan for me and does not give in to my every desire when I ask. If he did, I would probably have a 3 month old child, Tyler and I would be living in Utah in an apartment just trying to get by.

Thankfully he has a better plan for us. Last April Tyler and I had a prompting to start trying to have a child. So we did. We prayed and fasted and tried everything we could, and month after month the results were negative. At first it didn't bother us because we heard it takes a while for birth control to get out of a woman's system. After 6, 7, 8 months, we knew the issue could be a little more complex.

In the meantime we followed another prompting to move down to Arizona. Tyler and I built up a large network of influential people in Utah and we were supposed to move down to Arizona where unemployment is at it's worst. Acting on faith, I applied for numerous jobs and eventually received an interview over Christmas break. They immediately hired me and gave us two weeks to pack up and move down to start.

I started at Direct Alliance thinking the company operated in a certain way, would compensate a specific way, and the environment would be one fostering innovation and growth. I was wrong on all accounts. While I am grateful the job afforded an opportunity to move down to Arizona, live with my parents, and get a little bit of income (emphasis on the little), it didn't seem like a long term solution. Tyler thankfully received a job with Partners in Leadership on their marketing team. This was a much better paying gig than mine and we could start the home buying process.

After looking at what seemed like 1,000 homes, we found one 7 minutes away from my parents in my aunt and uncle's ward. We walked through on Saturday, prayed and received a confirmation, and put an offer in first thing Monday morning. We immediately fell in love with the home and had to wait to see what the bank said.

As Tyler and I started the home buying process, I also decided I had enough of Direct Alliance. I pursued other employment and received an offer and a Scottsdale company, Jawa. As the old adage goes- when something seems to good to be true, it probably is. The company provides everything their employees need to live besides a house and a car. I anxiously started and at 4:30 pm of my first day the CEO emailed the company addressing a lawsuit Verizon just served the company. Things seemed to be ok because everyone around the office was optimistic, but eventually the company's sketchy tactics were revealed in court and the lawsuit took a turn for the worst.

In the mean time, Tyler and I closed on our home! We started the renovation process and after a month finally moved into our home. Two weeks later, my department was closed down and I was looking for new work. After receiving the blow, I called my dad, hoped on a flight up to Utah and helped my sister while she was on bed rest for the last week of her pregnancy. Thankfully we set our lives up so we could live on only one salary because, when I get pregnant, I didn't want to have to work. So we would be ok with just Tyler working.

After the baby was born, I hoped on a flight home and started the job search. I immediately was blessed with interviews and offers, but they didn't seem right. Acting on faith, I turned down the position and more windows were opened. I received two job offers and now had to decide between two great companies. After accepting the one that felt right, I started and immediately my decision was confirmed. The company had energy, people were happy and no lawsuits were issued! Success!

Tyler, in the meantime, received a promotion at work with a pay increase so we could save even more!

In the end, if I was pregnant at this time, looking for a job would have been terribly hard. The Lord blesses us in unusual ways and this past year taught me to trust in him explicitly, never lose faith, and always stay positive because He takes care of those who trust in Him. I am eternally grateful for his plan and that He loves Tyler and I so much that he withholds good things, such as children, while giving us the opportunity to grow and progress so when he does bless us with children, we are ready and able to care for them.

Now as we set ourselves up in our home, we both feel more ready to tackle the demands of parenthood and once again, can't wait until that happens for us!

Not a lot going on

2011-06-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a bunch of exciting news to blog about, but I really do not and it's slightly annoying. Tyler and I are almost moved into our home. We have been gone/ busy for the past few weeks so moving in is taking longer than anticipated. We actually got a letter from the HOA saying we need to get rid of the weeds in the front of our home. (Come on! We have been living here for less than a month.) So last night I was out spraying our rocks to get rid of the weeds so we don't get fined. Welcome to home ownership!

The office is almost complete so I can start posting pictures of our rooms. There are just a few more piles of papers we need to go through before the room is clutter free. I can't wait!

Tyler playing the piano. It's bringing a great spirit into the home.

2011-05-29T21:19:00.001-07:00

2011-05-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I walking around the resort grounds

2011-05-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

Tyler's parents

2011-05-09T12:46:00.004-07:00

The lovely grandmas

2011-05-09T12:46:00.003-07:00

My parents and Jeffrey

2011-05-09T12:46:00.001-07:00

Eating dinner

Homeowners

2011-05-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I officially moved into our home last Friday thanks to the amazing help of my parents & family. It felt weird waking up Saturday morning to an uncluttered room (our bedroom in my parent's house had way too much stuff in it), a room with sunlight in it (once again, we could not open our windows because there was a table/ desk blocking the windows), and a room with plenty of space around the bed (once again, due to all of the stuff in the room, maneuvering around was slightly difficult.) I am so grateful my parents allowed us to stay with them while we conducted our home search, but I am also really grateful we found our home. (Now my brother can stop making fun of me for living with my parents :) ).

I will post photos and maybe a video walk-through after I create one. I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend! My mom let me and Tyler make her dinner on Sunday and we ate with Tyler's parents and the two grandmas over at my parent's house.

On Saturday we went to a delicious dinner at T Cooks at the Royal Palms Resort. It was literally amazing! The company, food and ambiance surpassed my expectations. The crab cakes literally melted in my mouth, I ate my entire pear salad- something that never happens- and enjoyed a delicious carbonera pasta. For dessert we had creme brulee cheesecake (once again amazing!). Tyler had main lobster, a antipasto platter, and a delicious buttercup apple tart with popcorn. Others at the table had amazing empanadas for their appetizer; Jeffrey even tried quail (a little tough for my liking, but a good experience). Nana had Salmon, my Mom had Sole, and Tyler's Dad tried lamb. I can't remember what Tyler's mom & Nannie ordered. Overall everyone had a great time (i'll post pictures in the next blog) and we celebrated the great mothers in our lives.

This is why I love AZ so much!

2011-05-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

New Design

2011-05-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

I played around with the settings, design and everything on my blog and went a little crazy! Instead of the plain white like I normally do, I choose a psycho background that reminds me of summer! I can't wait to get into our home so Tyler and I can relax and start enjoying the wonderful weather we moved down to AZ for (well, the weather and the fact that we can live 7 minutes away from family; both are great reasons).

Blogging

2011-05-02T12:30:00.002-07:00

Why is it any time I want to blog I never have anything to write? As I go throughout my day I can think of all these topics to blog about, opinions I can make known, or thoughts I could share, but when I have an extra 20 minutes my mind goes completely blank! Lame, I know....

So instead of some insightful commentary on life, you will get an update on mine and Tyler's house project. We are 98% done with the painting. It's the final 15 second push in the State Pom routine and I am exhausted. Since I am not a runner I don't want to use "the final sprint to the finish line" track analogy. Since I don't really know that feeling, how can I use it in an analogy. I can relate to the dance reference even though few people experienced the final 15 seconds of a dance routine (it's killer if you aren't prepared. Try jumping rope at a fast pace for 3 minutes and let me know how you feel at the end). Whatever reference you choose to use, track, dance, I could throw in basketball or football also if you'd like, the end result is Tyler and I are tired. Tonight will be the final touch-up painting party, and hopefully it won't take forever. Tomorrow we will start the deep clean, (I am actually so excited for this process). Then on Thursday we will start the move-in process.

We have until Saturday to get completely set-up because Tyler's parents come into town to stay with us. We are definitely excited for them to come and can't wait to show them our home.

Our final checklist before Sat includes:

finish painting
get carpets cleaned
deep clean entire house (won't take too long except for the tile areas. We need to scrub the grout).
purchase kitchen appliances and go with my parents to pick out a washer and dryer (thank you so much for the help!!)
get the internet turned on so Tyler can start working from our home next week
move furniture into appropriate rooms
quickly organize and put away everything
sleep in the home Friday night! (potentially could not happen... we will have to see)

It's going to be a busy week..... haha oh well! We're grateful for the willingness of our family to help us! You guys are awesome!!

New Kitchen Countertops

2011-04-26T11:08:00.004-07:00

Check out our new Counter tops! The link is to a YouTube video Tyler took.

New Counters

The movie title says cabinets but I meant counters. Let me know what you think!

Saturdays progress

2011-04-17T21:59:00.001-07:00

The kitchen walls painted with the first coat. We also bought our countertops earlier today. Those will get installed sometime next week. I can't wait for those!

Big thanks to my siblings and parents. They have been awesome in helping us paint this past week. We really appreciate you guys!

2011-04-17T21:56:00.001-07:00

First coat of the office on two walls.

2011-04-17T21:55:00.001-07:00

Two walls in the master painted. This is what the whole house will look like.

2011-04-17T21:54:00.003-07:00

Dallin and his friend helping us with the high places.

Friday's progress

2011-04-17T21:54:00.001-07:00

The kitchen cabinets painted, taped, and ready for wall paint.

2011-04-17T21:52:00.001-07:00

The finished product on Friday in the master

2011-04-17T21:51:00.001-07:00

My dad and Kathryn helping out!

Thursday's progress

2011-04-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

My two awesome sisters who helped paint while Tyler was in a meeting. I don't have a picture but Jeffrey helped to paint the kitchen.

2011-04-15T08:22:00.001-07:00

The kitchen is finally complete! We painted the boxes. Now we just need to paint the walls, get countertops, add the trim and put the appliances back in place.... And I thought we were making progress! Lol

2011-04-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had two fabulous helpers paint the office ceiling.

Wednesday's Progress

2011-04-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

An the ceiling in the master painted. I can't wait to paint the walls. Who wants a purple master bedroom?

2011-04-15T08:18:00.001-07:00

Wednesday's progress: second coat of primer for the kitchen

Tuesday's Progress

2011-04-13T10:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we primed the boxes and looked at cabinet doors. We are still debating as to what we want to do... Keep the doors or get new ones? I'm all for getting new ones because it will give us the effect we want, but then again it adds an additional cost. Thankfully we have to decide asap because our kitchen needs to be completed by next Saturday!

2011-04-13T10:01:00.001-07:00

The finished product of Monday's efforts.

2011-04-13T09:59:00.001-07:00

On Monday we finished sanding a repairing our cabinets!

It's been a while....

2011-04-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

A quick catch-up. We now live in AZ and love it! I workfor a company in Scottsdale called Jawa and Tyler works for Partners In Leadership while still b uilding Fashion Genome.

But the most exciting thing is.... We bought a house! Located between Hermosa Vista and McDowell off of Lindsay road, our home has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It's the perfect starter home!

Last Wednesday we received the keys and the home became officially ours! We instantly went to home depot to look at paint colors and other renovation ideas we have.

Saturday marked the first day of renovations. We started in the kitchen because it has the most "work" that needed to be done. (Ok, we're being a little picky because the house is literally move-in ready. But since we have the time we decided to update the kitchen before we moved in.)

I forgot to take a before picture, but thankfully one of the websites still had a photo up.

See the kitchen is not bad. And we could easily have kept it the way it is. Maybe we are too particular, but we decided to make it the way we wanted it. So on Saturday we partially gutted the kitchen! After removing counter tops, all the cupboards, sinks and appliances we started on the sanding.

We were able to get quite a bit down. All of the cabinet boxes are sanded and ready to be primed. On Monday we will start the priming process. We absolutely loved working on our home yesterday and can't wait to get started again on Monday!

Owen enjoying egg nog on Christmas

2010-12-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

It's Official-

2010-10-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

I officially started P90X's Lean program last night. The past two times I started P90X I tried the strength training program and never really succeeded. This time I will do the lean program which focuses on toning and strengthening (always a good thing).

The video last night focused on Core Synergistics. I attempted to do the entire video, but about 5/6ths of the way through I died and fast forwarded to the cool down/ stretch portion. At least I have lots to work on and a goal to make it through the entire video next time.

In addition to the work-outs, Tyler and I will be eating the meal plan. Tonight we will have Mango-Ginger Swordfish (it sounds so delicious!). I'll let you know what I think.

Since I need motivation to continue with the program, I will blog a little about the work out every day.

On a side note- 10 days until the Utah Student 25's application deadline! After that date Tyler will get to sprint to the finish line of graduating.

Williams- Sonoma

2010-09-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am on the Williams-Sonoma email list and receive emails almost daily. I never look at them because let's face it- I don't have time to cook. Today during lunch I thought I'd open the most recent email- Big Mistake! Now as I pursue the website I find all of these fall/ Halloween creations that I "need." Seriously!

Take these delicious pumpkin and maple concotions. The kit is $49 (totally out of my price range) and comes with the cake mix, frosting mix, and trays. Now I'm salavating as I find a need in my life for these delicious treats. I mean the maple leaves have real maple in them! (Tyler... if you loved me you would get these for me :) haha jk!!)

As I get more entrenched in the wonders of baking (aka look at different products they have), I come across these kitchen necessities. How did I live without a Yoda cookie cutter? My life has not been complete! How fun would it be to host a Star Wars party where people could decorate their own Darth Vader cookie mask!! (Note to Tyler... Scratch any plans for a pirate party. We're hosting a Star Wars movie marathon party!)

Thank goodness lunch is over otherwise I might race down to Williams Sonoma and buy everything in sight!

2010-09-14T11:38:00.001-07:00

It's official... I can update the blog from my phone, send photos to the blog via email, and tweet photos. I am so far behind in technology...

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

First I want to say I LOVE AZ!!! Seriously I don't remember the last time Tyler and I had such a relaxing weekend. Perfect weather (108 degrees) + the perfect amount of family activities + the perfect date on Saturday night + an awesome time at the lake = us never wanting to leave AZ. Ok Mom and Dad- you convinced us! :)

After a surprise text from my Dad on Thursday morning (he randomly bought us plane tickets to fly home instead of having us drive), Tyler, KC, Brookie, Owen and I boarded a delta flight to AZ. We arrived and I instantly felt the fabulous heat de-thaw my bones.

Friday morning we woke up and my dad took us to the lake with Kerri Larson and her two children. We wakeboarded, tubed (slightly) and swam. The water felt fabulous and I decided Tyler and I will have to get a boat in our lifetime. We had so much fun that boat broke at the end of the day. Thankfully we were near the dock and a nice dad and son towed us closer to the doc so we could load it up.

Friday night we had a steak fry with Nana and Nannie. We played Hello and enjoyed the time relaxing.

Saturday we waited for the call from the boat repair man so we could take it out again, but the boat wouldn't be fixed until later in the day. We relaxed, went swimming, the boys played basketball, and Brookie and I painted Kim, Kat and Holly's toes. At 2 p.m the boat repair guy called and said the boat was fixed! We quickly took it out for a few hours before our date later that night.

Since Dallin turned 16 (!!!) a few weeks ago he planned an awesome date for us to go on. We invited my cousin Misha and set her up with one of the star basketball players. I went with Tyler (naturally), Brookie went with KC, Dallin went with his homecoming date, and Misha went with the bball player. It pays to have connections with the coach :)

We went to California Pizza Kitchen and Jesterz, an improv comedy club. I had so much fun on the date and I can't believe my brother is all grown up!

Sunday, Dallin was ordained a Priest and blessed the sacrament for the first time! He did fabulous. We also went to my cousin's baby blessing and my grandma's house for dessert. We saw my Uncle who lives in Saudi Arabia and my cousin in the Navy who is stationed in San Diego.

Monday morning we took family pictures then headed to the airport for a short flight home. We stopped by Nordstrom Rack on the way home and bought Tyler a new suit for his pitch on Friday. We got an amazing deal on the BCBG silver suit (seriously it was a steal). I'll take a picture of him on Friday and post it so everyone can see how great he looks.

I start my new job next Wednesday. I was recently offered a position in the training department at OrangeSoda. I can't wait to start!!

Can you believe it's September already?!?

Birthday Fun!

2010-08-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I turned 22! Tyler took me out for a quick breakfast because I had work at 8 a.m.

We went to Starbucks and I had their breakfast sandwich (surprisingly good!) and a vanilla cream (my fav).

Brookie and Owen took me to lunch at Paradise Bakery and we saw a Ferrari F430 Spyder! I didn't have my camera with me so the photos I took are on my phone and I don't know how to put them on here yet- I'll have Brookie teach me sometime. Anyways, seeing the Ferrari definitely made my day.

After work Tyler took me to see the movie SALT. We tried to go to the American Fork theater, but after we bought our tickets they told us there was an issue with their movie and the showing was canceled. We got our money back plus two free ticket vouchers (score!).

We headed up to Salt Lake and watched the movie in a theater near our new apartment. Even with the LONG drive we still got the matinee price. (Proof to Brookie and KC the drive is NOT LONG at all; it took us less than 20 min to get from AF to Midvale).
Anyway, the movie was fabulous. I really enjoyed it and Tyler sorta enjoyed it. Basically, it's one we will own but won't buy at full price.

After the movie we tried a new restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack. We both thoroughly enjoyed the different types of crab and special Joe's seasoning. If you like crab- try it!

Saturday morning I received a phone call from Brookie saying Nana wanted to meet up for lunch in an hour. Tyler was still sleeping and I was lounging around- needless to say, we weren't even close to being ready. So I woke Tyler up, we got dressed and zoomed down to Provo to meet up with the family (once again.... Midvale is not that far away because we got completely ready for the day and drove down to brick oven in an hour). We met up with Nana and two of her sisters, Kylee and Zack, and Brookie and Owen (KC came later). I didn't know Nana would be in town and it was great to visit with her sisters and catch up on their families.

After lunch Brookie and I took Owen home to nap while Tyler and KC went to browse a few music stores. Once they met up with us again we woke Owen up and took him to see Toy Story 3. Owen did such a great job in the movie. He basically sat the entire time and even laughed at a few scenes. You know Pixar made a fabulous movie when a 1.5 year old and 22 year old both laugh during the same movie. Overall the movie was good, but had a slightly sad theme. I teared up a few times and thought back to my old teddy bear I played with when I was younger. Now he is in a chest at my parent's home.... Poor Teddy!

After the movie we headed to Happy Sumo for my birthday dinner. I absolutely LOVE sushi so Brookie humored us and went to dinner. She had a delicious steak and.... she even tried a piece of Sushi! I was so proud of her. Even though she didn't like the taste, texture, or anything about the piece, she tried it. Thanks Brookie!

Sunday Tyler and I went to church and cleaned our apartment. We are about 90% moved in and will finish the last bit sometime this week. Tyler worked very hard to get the front room set up so we could start watching season 3 of Gray's Anatomy (my all-time favorite show!).

Overall a fabulous weekend! Thanks Tyler, Brookie and KC for making it wonderful!

On a side note.... my brother turns 16 tomorrow!!! Ladies- watch out! I love you D!

Moving

2010-08-10T17:27:00.001-07:00

Tyler and I moved to Midvale, Ut so we can live in his Grandma's basement rent free! We're saving up for a down payment and an extra $700+ a month will make that go by a lot faster.
We moved Saturday after a ton of help from KC, Brookie, Owen, and the Elder's Quorum. We spent Sunday scrubbing, and I mean literally scrubbing, our apartment so we could close the door, drop off our keys and move on from Parkside.
Our new apartment is actually larger then the apartment we had at Parkside. It has real carpet and tile (no more linoleum!) and provides the comfort Tyler and I need.
Now that we live up North, Tyler and I drive down to American Fork/ Orem together. Now I have an extra hour I get to spend with him every day!
Tyler keep trucking with his company. www.fashiongenome.com (in case you missed the last post). Check it out, put in your email address and get ready for a completely unique online shopping experience. It's going to be AWESOME!
On a side note.... I am 1 five-page paper away from graduation!! I cannot believe I will soon be done with college. Am I old enough to be a college graduate?

Fashion Genome

2010-07-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

Tyler's company launched their splash page yesterday. Check it out: www.fashiongenome.com

I am so proud of him! The alpha site should launch in a week. I'll keep you updated.

Last night Tyler and I watched The Proposal with Brookie and KC last night. That movie has to be on my top 10 favorite movies. I was laughing the entire time. Saundra Bullock played the character so well.

Dallin, my brother, left Utah two weeks ago. I decided he needs to come visit more often. He has two more weeks on his three-week long Boy Scout vacation. I really miss him! I wish we lived closer to the family because I have so much fun with Dallin. He turns 16 in 3 weeks. WOW!!! Ladies... watch out!

Invictus

2010-06-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Tyler and I watched the movie Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.
Life-changing. That's all I can say. I firmly believe every human being should watch this movie. I don't want to give away too much because I believe it is more impactful when you don't know what to expect.
I thought it was a sports movie about Rugby. While Rugby is a major aspect of the movie, the sport is not the main attraction. Two words: Nelson Mandela. I already applied the overall message of the movie into my life (thanks to a reminder by Tyler).
To sum it up:
Watch it + Implement the message into your life = World Peace

Here is the poem from the movie:

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horrors of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged the punishments of the scroll.

I am the master of my fate.

I am the commander of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Today was Father's Day and I gave Tyler some new movies to add to our growing collection:

An Affair to Remember was on sale and I couldn't pass it up.

Tyler wants me to watch American Graffiti , so I decided to give it to him for Father's Day.

Tyler surprised me with Gone with the Wind on Friday. I can't wait to watch this cinema masterpiece!

Wow, it's been a while....

2010-05-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have been the worst blogger EVER lately. I can't believe it.

Work has been going great. I am learning a TON about online marketing and I really enjoy the work environment.
Tyler has been working like crazy on his business. (I'll write more about that later this week once the website is up and running. Then you can visit it and see what he has been up to).
I wish I had more to say... nothing super exciting going on.
This weekend, Jeffrey has been staying with us. He came up on Friday and will leave tomorrow. Dallin and my dad came up for a BYU Father-Son Basketball Camp. My mom, Kim, Kat and Brookie went to Disneyland for the weekend, so we got to spend time with J-man. On Saturday, we ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast and went to the driving range. After golfing, we ate dinner at Olive Garden.
Today, Tyler and I went for a short drive before church. I made some banana bread. (I think it was the best I have ever made. I put some brown sugar on top before I baked the bread. Then I made a glaze for the top.) After Church, we went over to Brookie and KC's and made dinner, talked and laughed, picked up my Dad and Dallin from the camp to spend the evening with us, and now we are watching Horton Hears a Who.
That is all we have going on. Nothing too exciting or surprising. Just plain old summer fun....

So what's new with everyone else?

Past weekend

2010-05-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I watched my adorable 16 month-year old nephew Owen all day. I loved spending time with him because he totally makes me want to be a mom. He is just so cuddly and precious and full of life.
On Thursday I received great news. I was offered a Campaign Manager position at OrangeSoda, online marketing (with a fizz). (Check out the Web site: www.orangesoda.com ) I am SOOO excited! I start tomorrow and can't wait. I am a little nervous though-- in a good, anxious nervous type of way.
Since I received, and accepted a job offer, Tyler and I decided to go to the Park City Outlets to get a few desperately needed items ( I only had 1 pair of jeans I liked. The other pair randomly got a hole in the bottom and my third pair was just ugly).
We didn't realize there was a HUGE sale going on at the Outlets, but were pleasantly surprised once we got there ($20 jeans from Calvin Klein? Yes I'll take a pair). So we stocked up on a few items (Tyler got some much needed dressy t-shirts. With $15 a shirt from Calvin Klein, he got a few).
Needless to say, it was a very productive and enjoyable outing. After shopping, we went to my favorite restaurant- Pei Wei's! After a quick stop at the Nordstrom Rack, we headed home.
It was a great weekend and I can't wait for 9 a.m. tomorrow when I start my new career!

Graduation Weekend Cont...

2010-05-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

After Tyler's Convocation, the two families went to Spark Restaurant and Lounge and ate dinner together. We said goodbye to Tyler's family after lunch/ dinner and just hung out with my family for the remainder of the day.
On Saturday, we met up and planned a BBQ at the park. The weather was ideal. We played outdoor games like Ultimate Frisbee, Beach Tennis, catch, while Jeffrey built a fort under a nearby tree. I loved spending time outside with everyone.

KC was at the grill and made delicious hamburgers. (I was still a little sick, so I didn't eat one. But they smelled delicious!)

Graduation Day

2010-04-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Tyler and I walked at BYU's graduation. It was extremely exciting; I only wish we were completely finished with school. I have to do an "internship" (which my new job can count for), and Tyler still has to finish a few classes. So we will officially be finished in August, we just wanted to walk in April.

Our families arrived on Wednesday, after a miracle occurred. My parents were stuck in Germany after the volcano erupted in Iceland. It was hit or miss on if they were going to make it back or not in time. Thanks to prayer and the airlines opening up more flights, they made it to SLC on Wednesday afternoon. It's just an example of the tender mercies the Lord gives us. I mean, it wouldn't be the end of the world if my parents didn't make it to my graduation. But I would have been extremely sad they weren't there. Thankfully things worked out.

The Commencement exercises were held on Thursday evening. Elder Christoffersen was the speaker and did a marvelous job at including humor and advice into his talk. Tyler and I were surprised because BYU didn't reserve enough seats for the graduates in the Marriott Center. We were about 100 people from the back of the line, and they ran out of reserved seats. So, they made visitors get up and move to the top of the bleachers to make room for the graduates. It was funny and a little interesting they had such a huge oversight.

After Commencement, Tyler and I wanted to meet our families on the south side of the ASB to take a few photos. Once my family got there, Tyler left to find his. We took a few photos while he was gone. When he came back, the camera died.

Skousen Family minus Tyler, Brookie, KC and Owen.My wonderful parents who barely made it.
My grandmothers who flew down to support me!

After Commencement, we went over to Brookie and KC's to each Skousen Enchiladas and watch the NBA play-offs.

Friday morning, everyone had to get up bright and early because my Convocation started at 8 a.m. and parents had to be in the room by 7:15 a.m. to get good seats. I was excited to get backstage because I would get to see Katie Bruce! She was in London all semester and almost got stuck overseas also. It was great to see her for a brief moment before we took the stage because I missed her so much this past semester. I'm so glad she is back in Provo.

The commencement wasn't long or boring, but my name was read and I was happy to be off the stage. I was sick all night and so Tyler and I hardly got any sleep. Needless to say, I was exhausted and it took everything in me not to throw-up all over the stage.

After Convocation, I met up with the families and friends and took some pictures. Then Tyler went off to line up for his Convocation.

Tyler and his business partner

My dad and I! Two of my best friends from freshman year!

Tyler's Convocation went by surprisingly fast. He graduated from the college of Humanities, so I thought it would take forever to go through all of the names. (Thankfully, it did not.)

We also took a few pictures after Tyler's convocation:

The whole crew who came to Utah to support us and the two graduates:

Weekend Update

2010-04-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

With 2 days of school left, time is running out on procrastinating papers and projects due at the end of the semester. (I have one article left and one 15 page paper to write. Thankfully, I already have 8 pages of my paper done, and 1/2 of the article written.)

While many of our peers took advantage of the last Saturday of the semester, Tyler and I decided to shirk homework and enjoy the day. It was our first Saturday home in about 6 weeks. (Last week was General Conference and it doesn't really count because we were busy watching that all weekend.)

Friday night we had a fun time at the News Editor of the Daily Universe's house. He invited all of the editors over and we hungout and laughed at the funny/ dramatic times of the semester. It was great because Tyler got to meet all the people I have been working with this semester.

Saturday, we slept in, visited Bob Oats at the hospital, walked around University Mall, bought two new candles from Bath and Body Works-- they smell delicious, Island Margarita and lilac blossoms. We also had a meeting with Tyler's Fashion Genome team.

After the meeting we ate at Slab Pizza-- yes, this was my second time eating there this week. But, in my defense, it's only $4 for a quarter of delicious pizza. While pepperoni is still my favorite, Tyler and I tried two different kinds. I had a Chili Verde slab which had sausage, a spicy salsa, green chilies and other toppings. Basically, it was a taco pizza. It was fabulous, but lacked the satisfaction basic pepperoni pizza brings. Tyler tried the White Pizza. It had different types of cheese, sausage and mushrooms on it. He enjoyed his slice, but was slightly disappointed because his favorite was Buffalo Chicken Wing pizza. I have a feeling we'll be going there again this week to satisfy our cravings.

After pizza, we went home and got ready to go to the Temple. We wanted a change, so we went to the new Oquirrah Mountain Temple in South Jordan. What a beautiful Temple! Seriously, you should go there next time you're in Utah Valley.

We also drove around a new housing community, Daybreak, right near the Temple.

After the Temple, we went over to the local Harmon's store and bought some delicious Beehive Cheese, french bread and orange juice. (Random combination, but very delicious).

We came home, watched a Brian Regan DVD and fell asleep.

Today, our church time was moved to 2:30 p.m. so we have the entire day to relax and do as we please.

Apart from finishing homework and the semester, this next week I have two job interviews. One is a second interview at Orangesoda, an online marketing company, and the other is with Stole Rives, a law firm. I am super excited about both opportunities and hope to find employment soon.

I was supposed to hear back from two companies on Friday, but one company didn't answer the phone so I left a message. The other company said the girl in charge of calling us back wasn't in so I'll get a call tomorrow.

I have applied for more companies, but these four and the ones I am super interested in. So hopefully I hear back soon.

That's the update with our family, I hope everything is going well with everyone!

One week left

2010-04-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

One week until...

No more school! My last assignment is due next Tuesday at midnight.

No more work.... Well at least at the Daily Universe. Next Wednesday is our last newspaper.

I have interviewed at three different places and will hear back from two of them by Friday.
I applied at a few more companies yesterday, but Tyler and I don't know if we will stick around Utah after he finishes classes in August.

I go insane if it snows anymore.

Quick Catch-up

2010-03-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

The month of March is almost gone!!
Tomorrow, my adorable younger sisters turn 14!

Saturday night dances here they come!

It's hard to remember them when they were like this:

(At Aspen Grove when they were younger)

Because now they look like this:

(This photo was last year when they turned 13 at Disneyland.)

They are just beautiful girls and I am so lucky to be their older sister.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBERLY AND KATHRYN!!!

This past month Tyler and I have been in Arizona and Washington for family events. My grandfather, Papito, passed away a month ago tomorrow (February 26, 2010). He was such a great man and I can't believe he is gone. In fact, I still can't talk about it without chocking up. So... more on that later.

Last weekend, Tyler and I went to Washington for Emily and Javon's wedding. It was fabulous to be there to support them on their big day. On Saturday we are driving to Idaho for a reception up there.

Tomorrow I have a job interview with Orangesoda online marketing. I am super excited because graduation is in a month and I will need employment. I will have an interview at Stoel Rives, a law firm in SLC, sometime next week. I am excited about both possibilities and I hope something comes from each.

Tyler is plugging away on school work and his business. Ask him about it sometime because it's super cool.

Between funerals, weddings and receptions each weekend has been family-filled and we wouldn't want it any other way. I wish we had more family nearby, but I am super happy Brookie and KC live so close. I know I will cry when they move to Arizona, but maybe Tyler and I will have to follow (haha, we will see). It's always nice to be around family and participate in the family events-- birthdays, new cars (can't wait to see it mom!), cookies at Nana's, sibling's sports games, running with mom and Brookie, family dinners with the Skousens, and the plethora of other events families have.

I hope everything is going well in everyone else's life!

Photos

2010-02-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

These are photos from when Dallin was here and when we went down to Mesa. Here is Jeffrey's basketball game. He had to play two games in a row. They lost the first one, but won the second! GO JEFFREY!

We have photos from Emmett's and Ethels and the ice cream Tyler and Dallin got. Also, we had a fun time eating wings for dinner. It was super messy!

Someone was super happy being messy!

Husbands

2010-02-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were in AZ.
Normally it would be a blessed thing this time of year, but we went because my grandpa has been in critical condidtion in the ICU.
KC, Brookie, Tyler and I drove down to AZ on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday. We saw my grandpa Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Seeing him in the hospital bed, in pain, uncomfortable and unable to talk, broke my heart and I couldn't help but tear up. He was mostly unresponsive except for a few squeezes of the hand and an occasional eye open. I never wanted to leave his side or let go of his hand because I was scared it might be the last time I saw him.
Thursday, we were there when he opened his eyes and was responsive for about 20 minutes. He recognized Brookie and myself and placed his hand on my head. He mumbled something that sounded like, "so pretty" and "I love you." I teared up.
Friday, he got worse and Saturday was just the same. On Saturday, he was holding my dad's hand and woke up for a little bit. He was in pain and mumbled, "I want someone to listen to me. I want someone to listen to me." After responding with, "Here we are Papito, what can we do for you?" he went silent again.
Needless to say, it was an emotional roller-coaster weekend.
Tyler and I were planning on spending the weekend at the Snowbird Resort in Utah, but obviously canceled those plans to go to AZ. I didn't know Tyler had an amazing surprise he wanted to give me.
The package came on Saturday so he had his friend pick it up to keep it safe. I had no idea he was doing something like that for me.
When we got home on Sunday, after his friend dropped off the package, I opened up a teal box with a signature white bow to find this:

Tiffany Beads Necklace.
I, of course, cried because I was so excited and emotionally drained. Tyler is so incredibly good to me and knows exactly what I need, when I need it.
Thanks Tyler for being amazing and making this Valentine's Day the best one yet. I love you!

Dallin's Awesome Visit to Provo

2010-02-16T16:14:00.001-07:00

What could be better? Three day weekend, Valentine's Day and Dallin!
Tyler and I had the privilege of Dallin, my 15-year-old brother, come stay the weekend with us. (Ok, he also came to visit Brookie, KC, and Owen).
First, he arrived on Friday and we met up with Brookie and Owen for lunch at . In high school, Panda's was my absolute favorite fast food restaurant. I would eat there at least 3 times a week for either lunch or dinner. Recently, Panda's has sounded gross and I haven't eaten there in a while. On Friday I was reminded of the delicious flavors of Orange Chicken , Kung Pao Chicken and fried rice. Yummy!
Unfortunately, I had work after lunch and met up with Dallin after. We had an hour until Tyler was off of work, so we hit the mall and went to . After the mall, we picked Tyler up from work and met up with Brookie and KC again. KC got tickets to (the University of Utah's Gymnastic Meet) and we ate at The Pie Pizzeria (Since I found the parking spot, I got to pick the type of pizza we ordered and chose pepperoni!)
After our fun times with Brookie, KC and Owen, we went home and watched a movie.
Saturday was great because we spent the day walking around the mall, ate: for breakfast and went to Happy Sumo for dinner where Dallin tried Sushi for the first time. We met up with Brookie and KC after dinner and hungout.
Sunday, Valentine's Day, was fabulous. I was feeling a little under the weather so Tyler let me sleep a little longer and missed church. Because we missed church, we spent the time watching Top Gear's reviews of , , and . (If you can name all of these cars you're the winner!) It was the most perfect morning. Tyler got me and we watched it. I LOVED the movie and made me want to have a child eligible to go to a cool school like the one in the movie. I got him a gray sweater from Banana Republic from and some . We went over to Brookie and KC's and Tyler cooked some steak and crab for dinner. Brookie made mashed potatoes and dessert, a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. YUM!
We later played "Just Dance" on the Wii. It was hilarious because I completely FAILED at every dance. Tyler, Brookie and Dallin were awesome so it ended up being me and KC switching out with the lowest scores.
On Monday, I had some homework to finish and Dallin took us to and it was delicious. We went over to Brookie's for a little bit then KC and Dallin played basketball at Apx.
We ate wings for dinner (pictures to come) and went to Emmett's and Ethel's for dessert. Tyler and I took him back to the airport and he went back to AZ. We were very sad to see Dallin leave and hope he will come visit us in Utah again.
We love you DALLIN!!

Addiction

2010-02-08T13:21:00.001-07:00

Hi, my name is Alyssa ...........and I am a Bachelor addict.
I didn't realize my problem, until last week when Vienna (a contestant I absolutely detest) was not sent home and Jake is going to visit her home town in tonight's episode. It was a tragic experience, one I am not proud of. After a few tears- only a few- Brookie calmed me down with two episodes of 30 Rock and assurance that it would be ok.
Tyler chose to remove himself from my side because last season, when Jason broke up with Melissa on TV to be with what's her name (I can't remember the girl who got second place), I had an emotional reaction and slapped his leg. It was a total accident and my frustration got the better of me. One would think actions like that would raise red flags to my addiction, but alas, here I am watching The Bachelor, season 1,000.
My paranoia from this season only increased when I heard rumors that Vienna actually wins, but her and Jake break-up shortly after the show (what's new?). While I heard that information via facebook- curse you people who like to ruin things for others- I don't fully believe the gossip blogs and will have to put myself, and unfortunately my husband, Brookie and KC, through an emotional roller coaster while Jake meets Vienna's, Tenley's, Ali's and Gia's families. Who gets sent home tonight? My guess is as good as yours. Once again drama ensues and rumors speculate Ali leaves on her own (job related reasons).
Curse you ABC and your reality television!! On a side note... who is going to be the next Bachelorette? (Great.... here it goes again!)

Creating Experiences

2010-02-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

I am planning the FHE lesson for tonight and came across an interesting quote from Elder Bednar.
He said, "We should both CREATE and LOOK for opportunities to bear testimony of gospel truths."

As I read that quote, I immediately thought of my dad. He, along with my mom, constantly create experiences for my siblings and I to learn and hear the testimonies of our grandparents.
When we were there for New Year's, my parents invited both grandparents over for dinner. It turned into an amazing opportunity where both Nana and Papito bore their testimonies. I will always remember those sweet experiences and am grateful my parents take the time and energy to create those for the family.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Recipes Again

2010-01-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was a slacker and didn't post the recipes because Tyler and I ate Little Ceasar's $5 pizza and Brookie and KC went out with their work. Today, on the other hand, we are back to eating healthy (despite the Krispy Kreme doughnut I ate for lunch, nutritious- I know).
Tonight for dinner we are having Tri-Color Pepper Steak.

Tri-Color Pepper Steak
2 t Canola Oil
1/2 lb top round, London broil, or flank steak, thinly sliced
3 assorted bell peppers
1/2 large onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup beef-broth
1/3 cup dry wine
1.5 T soy sauce
1/4 t ground pepper
3/4 t cornstarch, dissolved in 1/8 cup cold water
1.5 cups cooked brown rice

Heat 1 t of the oil in a large skillet over medium high-heat. Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 min. Transfer meat with it's juices to a plate.
Heat remaining 1 t of oil in the sames skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 min. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the peppers are softened and onions are translucent, about 5 min more.
Return the beef and juices to the skillet and add the broth, wine, soy sauce and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 min. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook until the moisture thickens, about 2 minutes.
Serve over the rice.

Tomorrow's meals include:
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Beef Taco Salad
Dinner: Chicken Paella with Sausage and Olives

Lunch:
For the meat:
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 15.5 oz black beans
1 clove garlic
1/6 cup water
1/2 T chili powder
1/16 t cayenne pepper

For the Dressing:
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T lime juice
1/4 t salt
1/8 t ground pepper

For the salad:
1 heart of romaine lettuce, chopped
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 oz baked tortilla chips

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat with a spoon. Add the beans and garlic, breaking up the meat with a spoon. Add the beans and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the water, chili powder and cayenne and stir until well combined. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes (with their juices), oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. The dressing and meat mixture may be prepared cup to 2 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
To serve, place 2 cups of lettuce on each plate or in lunch containers. Top each serving with 1 cup of the beef mixture, then sprinkle with 2 T of cheese. If making to go, pack 3/4 cup of the chunky tomato dressing in a separate seal-able container and put about 8 chips in a separate bag. Right before eating, top each salad with dressing, and crush the tortilla chips on top.

Dinner:
11/2 T plus 1 t olive oil
1.5 oz chorizo sausage, casing removed
1/2 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-in pieces
1/2 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1.5 c chicken broth
5 oz frozen peas
1/5 C uncooked rice
1 large tomato, chopped
1/8 c sliced, green Spanish pimento-stuffed olives
1/4 t salt
1/8 t ground pepper
1/16 t ground turmeric

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1/2 T of the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat (use a skillet that has a cover). Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken and chorizo to a plate.
Heat the remaining 1 t of oil in the skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring until softened and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 1 additional minute. Return the chicken and chorizo to the skillet and add the chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper turmeric and saffron. Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven, Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes.

Try them and let me know what you think.

Simplicity

2010-01-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a great talk with my dad and decided to make some SIMPLE changes. As Brittney Murphy said in Uptown Girls, "Fundamentals are the building block of fun" and "Get rid of the excess to find your center." (I know, I just quoted Uptown Girls, but it's applicable none-the-less).

So, in an effort to simplify my life- I know I desperately need it- I decided to not live in the 5-year plan future, but in the present.
Instead of dreaming about my $2.5 million Santa Barbara estate that over looks the ocean and is made up of perfectly modern design elements, I will focus on getting a job and earning an income more then $9 an hour.
Instead of trying to lose 7 pounds and gain the perfectly toned, tanned and healthy figure I dream of, I will just focus on eating better and working out.
Instead of complicating things by worrying about others feelings and things I cannot control no matter how hard I want to, I will focus on school, church and family. (If any of those stress me out, I need a serious life re-evaluation and a few good talks with my dad and Tyler to help me put things back into line).

Thanks dad for the great talk! I desperately needed your advice and perspective.

Recipes

2010-01-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Brookie wants to use the cookbook I just bought for this next week, so I said I would put the recipes on my blog for her reference. Here is tomorrow's menu:

Peach Pie Smoothie
Salad with Lemon-Cumin Chicken
Baked Beans with Ham

Smoothie:
1 C Nonfat Milk
1 C Vanilla Yogurt
2 C Frozen Peaches
1 T Honey
1/2 t Vanilla Extract
1/8 t Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
Pinch of Ginger
1 C Ice

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Lunch:

1/4 C Walnuts
1 Stalk Celery chopped
1 small Scallion chopped
1/6 C Finely chopped Parsley
1 T Olive Oil
1/2 T Lemon Juice
2 C Lettuce (Spinach is recommended)

In a large bowl, combine walnuts, celery,parsley, scallions, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. This salad will keep up to 5 days in and airtight container.
Place 1 C of lettuce. Mound 3/4 cup of the combined mixture with thin slices of the Lemon-Cumin Grilled chicken. Place a lemon wedge on the side of each serving.

Lemon-Cumin Chicken

1/2 pound chicken
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 t olive oil
1 T lemon juice

Put the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound it slightly with a mallet or rolling pin so it is an even thickness of 1/2 in.
In a small bowl, combine the cumin, salt and pepper. Rub the chicken breasts on both sides with olive oil and then rub the spice mixture on both sides.
Heat the grill or a non-stick grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken until grill marks have formed and the chicken in cooked through.
Remove from heat and let stand for 5 min, then slice into 1/2 in thick slices and drizzle with the lemon juice. The chicken will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

DINNER:

1 t canola oil
1/2 medium onion diced
6 oz Virgina ham cut into 1/4-in pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15-oz Navy beans
1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 c water
1/2 T Dijon mustard
1/2 T Cider Vinegar
1/2 t black pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 min. Add the ham and garlic and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Stir in the beans, crushed tomatoes, water, mustard, vinegar and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until about half of the liquid is absorbed, 15 min.

There you go Brookie- the menu for tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it!

2010- again

2010-01-20T10:40:00.001-07:00

Is it too late to make some New Year changes?

Well, Tyler and I are finally kicking things into gear and hoping for the best.
We created a budget for this semesterand will do our best to stick to it.

We want to eat healthier (who doesn't?) and bought a new cookbook: and can't wait to try it. That means making less of these: . (I am now craving one) We still need to go grocery shopping for these: so we can eat healthy, but we're starting soon!
We have a new resolve to do this every night: . Last night we did the pre-fitness test. Man do I need to get stronger. I couldn't even do one hardcore push-up. NOT OK!
Tyler surprised me last night and took me to one of these: (a tanning bed). He knows that I always enjoy being slightly darker then normal. Especially because I am getting my hair colored on Saturday so I can look like this again: (Notice the super blond hair?)
And, like my old goals, I intend to read this: every night. I have been doing alright so far, but now it's time to knuckle down and make it happen.

So, those are a few lifestyle changes we hope to make and want everyone to know it. (Help to keep us accountable).

Hope everything is going great for you!

Weekend Fun!

2010-01-17T22:25:00.001-07:00

Here we are, two weeks into the school year and we get to have a three day weekend. YAY!

Last week was cute little Owen's first birthday. I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any pictures of me and him :( That's ok because "who needs pictures, when you've got a memory like mine?" (Song by Brad Paisley)

Friday, I went to Kneaders with my mom, Jeffrey, Brookie and Owen. We had the French Toast (of course) then went to Nordstrom to exchange some black shoes that my mom bought me- yes, my mom is amazing and bought me some MUCH needed black shoes. Thanks MOM!!

Friday night, Tyler took me on a date to the Utah Auto Expo. It's tradition and a fabulous thing we love to do together. We saw great cars-- ahem, the Audi R8-- and some fun ones-- Ferrari F430 Spyder-- and practical ones-- the Audi flagship, A8.

Afterward, we went to Emmett's and Ethel's for some ice cream.

Saturday, we cleaned the apartment and waited for Javon, Emily and Elissa to come visit us. We FINALLY got to meet Javon. (What an amazing guy. We are so excited for him and Emily to get married).

We went to Avatar, the 3D version, and enjoyed it. I know, we are totally late in the game, but enjoyed the movie none the less.

Today, I left my phone on silent (from the movie last night) and slept through the morning alarm for church. I felt super bad about that, but what can you do? We made Skousen enchilladas for Tyler's siblings and I think it was a success.

Tomorrow, I have the privilege of watching Owen!! I love watching him, and can't wait to spend the day with him.

On Saturday, I am getting my hair colored blond again. YAY! I'll post pictures once it gets done.

New Shoes

2010-01-12T11:34:00.001-07:00

My little brother, Jeffrey, is amazing. He knows me so well.

While at Nordstrom with my mom, he successfully picked out the cutest shoes and wanted to get them for me (see shoes on the left).

Jeffrey- you can pick out and buy me shoes any time.

Writer's Block

2010-01-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here, on the couch while Tyler is hooking up the projector, cable and surround sound. Unfortunately, I am bored. When I am bored and Tyler has a project to work on, it usually turns into me tyring to distract him in every way possible.
Tonight, I decided to be nice. Instead of distracting him, I would sit and blog. It's working so far... He is almost done setting up the living room and that means it's MOVIE TIME!!
Until that happy time, I wanted to blog. Except, I have writer's block. I don't really have anything to write about. LAME!
I guess I'll just move to facebook and see if that give me any inspiration.

New Year

2010-01-04T10:12:00.001-07:00

I guess when I go on vacation, I vacation from everything... facebook, twitter, blogging, email and the msn homepage. I realize I can go weeks without any of those updates and survive quite nicely. Oh well, it's back to the grind of Provo, work, school and new year's resolutions!
I could go on and on about how I hope to improve myself this year, but really I don't have 14 hours to spend blogging. Instead, here are three things I hope to do better:

1. Read my scriptures everyday, starting.... TODAY! My grandma, Nana, gave us a new Book of Mormon for Christmas with the urge to read everyday and recognize the blessings that come from being diligent. Frankly, with school ending and the onset of job searching.... I can use ALL the blessings I can get.
2. Stick to the P90X workout and do it daily. Seriously, after all the treats I ate over the holidays, I need to get back on schedule. Thankfully, Brookie wants to help me with this athletic feat, so I will have a work-out buddy.
3. Eat healthier... aka less fast food and more "rabbit food" (gross!). I really need to eat healthier, but with school and life I get so busy. Last semester, Tyler and I would not get home from work/ school/ meetings until 8 p.m. We would both be starving and not in the mood to make an hour long meal. Hopefully this time around I will be a better scheduler and can plan my days out better. (I wanted to do that today, but left my planner at home) :(

What are some of your new year's resolutions?

12 things...

2009-12-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was sitting down to write my final project for one of my classes, but realized I left all my research at work, so I couldn't write anything tonight.... not a good thing.
Instead of writing, I decided to clean the kitchen and blog.
I sat down to blog and realized I don't have anything to update.... It's a problem I don't experience very much. So, in the season of Christmas I decided to blog 12 reasons I love Tyler (you know, like the 12 days of Christmas?)
Well, here it goes........
1. He has the best smile in the world. When he is really smiling and laughing, it makes my day.
2. He loves to cuddle, snuggle and give me HUGE hugs when I walk in from work. I can't imagine a better way to be greeted.
3. He will listen and talk with me when I am stressed about something. Even if it's something silly like a work problem or a school project I am not liking. He always talks things over and helps me figure out how to get through the problem.
4. I love when he gets super excited about something. It could be something little like figuring out how to hook up a new stereo (he helped my family in AZ over Thanksgiving) or talk about his business idea. He gets so passionate about his interests it's like a kid in a candy shop. (Don't even get me started about walking into RC Willey or Best Buy with him. He loves the electronics and furniture.)
5. He looks dang good in Seven jeans. I know that is superficial, but it's great that he enjoys wearing clothes that I think look great on him. Once we found a pair of black jeans at the Banana Republic Outlet that fit similar to his Seven jeans and they were only $20! He knows how to find a bargain while still maintaining the quality he enjoys.
6. He buys me unlimited tanning memberships during winter because he knows I get depressed when I am super white. Even though it's not a big deal to him, he knows I feel a MILLION times better when I have a little bit of color.
7. He cares about my siblings. At Dallin's basketball, Tyler really got into it and was cheering for Poston and Dallin. He likes to play with Jeffrey and taught him a new game, The Incredible Machine. He ALWAYS tells Kimberly and Kathryn how pretty they are and how much he loves them. That means SO much to me and I'm glad that he likes to get involved in their lives.
8. I love how musical he is. His voice is amazing and he has mad guitar skills. I like hearing him combine the two. Yesterday I had a stressful day at work. When I came home, he was listening to the Owl City CD online and learned one of the songs. He played it for me and it totally calmed me down.
9. He is an incredible cook. Seriously.... ask him to make you something and it will be fabulous.
10. He surprises me by taking me to walk around Nordstrom or to get a manicure or pedicure. He enjoys what I enjoy and will walk around the shoe department looking for the perfect pair of black heels (which I have yet to find.... dang Nordstrom!). What's even better, is he knows the brands and styles I enjoy.
11. He likes eating bishop's bash ice cream from the creamery..... wait, we like Earnestly Chocolate! (I always call it Bishop's Bash for some reason. I absolutely hate bishop's bash because it has soggy nuts in it). In addition to the ice cream, he indulges my Magleby's Chocolate Cake cravings and ate Sub Zero ice cream for about a month straight because I loved it. Even if he isn't in the mood, he will get a treat with me.
12. Lastly, but not least, I love that he tells me how much he loves me EVERY TIME WE TALK! Seriously, how does life get better then that?
I could go on and on and on, but then I would never get to sleep. So those are 12 reasons why I love my husband.

BUSINESS Q

2009-12-08T18:39:00.001-07:00

Three times in one week, I think everyone is going to be sick of me by now.
This one will be short.
Here is the link to my latest editorial publication.

http://www.utahvalleybusinessq.com/winter2009/index.html

It is Utah Valley Business Q. I did the story on the Greenest Companies, Executive Recruiting, Office Organization, compiled the People and News section, helped with the "How To" section and the calendar.

Let me know what you think!

A few of my favorite things...

2009-12-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Recently I have had time to reflect on a few things.... wait. I haven't had time to reflect on anything! Tyler and I are going 1,000 miles a minute. But, here are a few things I have been obsessing over lately (maybe obsessing is a little too strong of a word, but they have been on my mind)

1. The Blind Side. I can't stop talking about this movie. I absolutely loved it! Sandra Bullock did an amazing job and her character is one of my new role models. She had amazing style -- another thing I can't stop thinking about. Where does she find all of those cute clothes?-- she can manage her children great, she has a loving husband, and can still be successful in her career choice. She is basically superwoman. Not to mention the whole changing a boys life part. That would be AMAZING to accomplish.

2. The Proposal. I know, Tyler and I are behind the times, but we watched this yesterday and laughed the ENTIRE time. It was witty, silly, sarcastic and once again, had amazing fashion. Sandra Bullock did it again-- she won my heart over via shoes, purses and an amazing black skirt ensemble (see cover). I would HIGHLY recommend watching this.

3. Snow. Yes, it's that time of year again in Utah where this cold, wet, white stuff covers the ground and makes driving, walking and any other form of transportation impossible. I know I might sound pessimistic, but today at church I almost slipped four times to the car. It was a sprained ankle waiting to happen. Maybe it's because neither Tyler, nor myself enjoy summer sports more then winter, but I think this season might be the end of us. The first day did kill us, but give it until March- with no vacation time- and see how we fared.
4. Nordstrom. I know, this isn't a shock to anyone. After all, my license plate cover says I'd rather be shopping at Nordstrom. But instead of glorifying this store, I am scratching my head wondering why they don't have a simple black heel in the entire University Mall store. They have all the Ugg boots you can handle but not one 4-6 in black heel. It's very disappointing because my black heels are broken and I am left without black heels-- a closet staple. Tyler and I will just have to wait until they choose to sell them again to fix that problem.

5. MAC Dazzlegloss: Get Rich Quick. This gloss is amazing. Well, I might not actually own it ($18 is hard to justify for a lip gloss) but I can tell from the texture and color that it does wonders for a girls lips. I mean seriously, how could it not? It's a neutral/ bronze color with shimmer/ dazzle in it. I believe it instantly attracts attention to the lips and is a must need for every girl. MAC has good lip gloss. It stays on very well and adds instant color for any occasion.

Well I could name some more, but my computer is being weird and going slow. Personally, I don't have the patience to wait for the Internet to decide to work and find more pictures so this is all you get :) But it's a good list.

Lunch Break

2009-12-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have been in a little funk. Today it was worse then ever. So during my lunch break, I came home and made some spice muffins. They turned out pretty well. Here is the recipe-- maybe they can help get you out of a funk also:

Cinnamon Spice Muffins
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk

Sugar & spice coating
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar mixed with
2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup muffin tin (or coat with non-stick spray).
Sift together flour, salt, nutmeg & baking powder. Set aside. Beat together 2/3 cup butter and 1 cup sugar, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time and beat in. Add dry ingredients in three portions, alternately with milk, combining just until well mixed. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake 25-30 minutes until lightly golden. Cool about 3 minutes, then remove from pan.
While still warm, use a pastry brush to brush muffins with melted butter and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture until the muffins are well coated on all sides.

Try them out and let me know what you think!

Quick Catch-Up

2009-12-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

I know everyone says this but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? Last night I finished writing a paper, checked my blog and realized it's been almost over a month since I last wrote. It's like the month of November never existed!

Thanksgiving was fabulous! AZ was so nice, warm and relaxing. We spent time with family, played games, played tennis and golf, watched DALLIN DOMINATE on the basketball court in his first game, saw BLIND SIDE- an amazing movie; seriously one of the best movies I have seen in a while- participated in Aunt Diane's Cookie Day and didn't do one bit of homework.

I think we need to live in AZ because family is there and the weather is to die for (Tyler and I didn't want to come back to the cold).

Here is the count down to our month of December:

7 days until the last day of school (5 for me :))

9 days until the first day at my NEW JOB!! I am the new CAMPUS EDITOR for the Daily Universe

12 Days until my first- and last- final of the semester

13 Days until we can move into our new apartment! We will be living at Parkside next year and we are so excited!

16 days until my FAMILY drives up to Utah (They are celebrating Christmas up here in the snow)

20 days until the last day of my internship- I am sad about that :(

21 days until we leave for WA. It will be my first Christmas away from my family

26 days until we leave for CA. YAY for the sunshine!

28 days until we leave CA to go to AZ for the NEW YEAR!

AND...

33 days until MY LAST SEMESTER of COLLEGE!!

That's our month!

How busy is yours going to be? I know this time of year is always full of change.

UTAH STUDENT 25

2009-11-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that November 5th has come and gone already. It seemed as though with over 9 months of planning the actual event would have lasted for days instead of hours.
Thursday was amazing. Everything went as planned and Tyler could not have pulled off a better event. He received many compliments from industry professionals and attendees alike. I could not have been prouder to be his wife. He looked great! He wore a Tux and I got to wear my favorite red dress (I wore it for senior prom, but in reality it was a red ball gown). We had such a great time.
It was great to have our families there to support us. My parents flew in from AZ, Brookie and KC came, and Tyler's mom and Addison came. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us.
The weekend was fun afterward. We went to dinner as a family on Friday and everyone left on Sunday. Sunday night we went over to Brookie and KC's and Tyler helped them with their computer troubles and I fell asleep while Brookie and KC watched Rain Man (edited of course).
This semester is going by so fast. 2 more weeks until we leave for Thanksgiving in AZ!! YAHOO!! I am so excited to go back to AZ. It's been almost 6 months since I have been back and I can't wait. My mom is planning her famous Aunt Diane's Cookie Day. She holds it the Saturday after Thanksgiving and invites all of the cousins over to bake cookies. It is such a fun day and I can't wait to be apart of it again this year.
My brother Dallin made the 9th grade basketball team! He is such a stud; I am so proud of him. I heard a rumor that we might be able to see one of his games over Thanksgiving break.... I hope so!
Tyler and I decided we don't want to renew our contract at Cambridge Court for next year. That means we get to find a new place to live. Our contract ends at the end of December, so we are hoping to move before Christmas. Hopefully we can find something we like!

Halloween!

2009-11-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Brookie and KC hosted a Murder Mystery Party for Halloween. They invited some of their friends from work, Kylee and Zack, and Tyler and myself. We had so much fun dressing up and doing crazy make-up on Tyler. He is so creative so when I did his make-up, he wanted it darker and with little accents here and there. It was fun. The final thing was pretty creepy. I didn't like walking with him in the dark because he looked like a creeper and was talking in a creeper voice.

We had a blast. Brookie made roast for dinner and had everyone bring ether a side or the dessert. I know Tyler and I had fun!

This is mine and Tyler's costume. We were given the character Lizzie Bordeaux- the creepy girl who supposedly killed her parents with an ax. That is why Tyler is creepy and my hair is crazy. I was going to do my make-up darker, but ran out of time. I think Tyler looks awesome!

This is Brookie and KC's costume. They are the Roger and Hammerstein Monster. They are a creepy creature who loves to sing and dance (hence the tutu's and the black tights). They looked great!

What did you do for Halloween?

Chicago

2009-11-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Chicago was so much fun! We were there for the CEO National Convention. Tyler and I are both Vice Presidents in the BYU Chapter of CEO (I am VP of Finance and Tyler is VP of Sponsorship) so we were able to go for free. Who wouldn't want a free trip to Chicago? On Wednesday, we spent the day walking

around

downtown. On Thursday

thru Saturday we had the conference and were preoccupied with that. At night we were able to walk around, but most things were closed by the time we went out. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Far right: In front of Tiffany and Co

Middle: Me in front of Nordstrom. It was huge, beautiful and reminded of what Nordstrom is supposed to be like

Left: The Trump International Tower; I want to stay here someday.

These are two drinks we ordered at the Gherdelli chocolate store. One is a Caramel Hot Chocolate with sea salt and the other is drinking chocolate.

The sign on the left exemplifies my feeling of Chicago!

These pictures are views from Michigan Bridge. It was beautiful at night and I never wanted to leave. I love the City and I can't wait to live there someday. I hope that at some point in our lives, Tyler and I can live in a place like Chicago. The people were so nice and I just felt safe and at home there. This picture to the right is the view from my hotel room. I was pretty lucky huh?

The Best Muffin Recipe Ever!

2009-10-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

If you love Mimi's Cafe's Buttermilk Spice muffins try their recipe. It really tastes just like the ones at the restaurant. I made them on Sunday and have eaten one a day since-- I know probably not the best thing to eat, but they are so good!

Let me know what you think!

Here it is:

Muffin Batter:
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Butter or margarine
3 Eggs
2-½ cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Nutmeg
½ tsp. Cinnamon
¾ cup + 1 tbsp. Buttermilk

Nut Topping:
½ cup Sugar
1 cup Walnuts (finely chopped)
½ tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375°. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and the butter together with an electric mixer. When they are thoroughly mixed, add eggs and beat one more minute.
Sift the flour into a separate bowl, together with the baking soda, nutmeg and the cinnamon.
Add the flour and the buttermilk to the first mixture, mix at low speed until smooth. To avoid lumps in the batter, add the wet and dry ingredients alternately, in small amounts.
Make the nut topping: Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Grease muffin tins with butter or margarine. You can also use paper baking cups. Fill each cup 3/4 full of batter. Add a full, rounded tablespoon of nut topping on top of each muffin cup of batter. Bake immediately or the topping will sink to the bottom of the muffin.
Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin should come out dry. Home ovens heat differently from commercial ovens so you may need to adjust the temperature or the baking time accordingly.
Recipe yields 12 standard-size muffins, or six Mimi's-size muffins. If using the jumbo muffin pans, reduce the oven temperature by 25° and increase the baking time 5-10 minutes.

Park!

2009-10-18T15:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Tyler and I had the privilege of watching Little Owen for Brookie and KC. Since it was SUCH a nice day outside, we took him to the park to play. First, we went out to a small patch of grass outside our apartment. Owen was not very adventurous-- he didn't want to leave the blanket and crawl in the grass. Finally, Tyler placed him in the middle of the grass and Owen was able to experience the thick, Utah grass. After being outside for a while, I thought it would be fun to go to the park and play with Owen on the swings and slides. Tyler took us to an elementary school nearby and here are some of the photos:

These photos were taken in one of the tubes. Owen loved playing in here and so did we!

These are pictures of Owen playing on the bridge and steering the ship. He was a great captain!

Owen hated going down the slide. So, Tyler would hold him all the way down. We tried to have him go down at least 15 times. But he never liked it.

Tyler and Owen on the swings!! This was one of Owen's favorite things.

We had a great time at the park and are so grateful Brookie and KC let us borrow their son for a while until we decide it's time to have our own :)

WAKE-UP!!

2009-10-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up a 5 a.m. to finish up some homework I had. It only took me about 20 minutes- thankfully- so after a shower I decided to climb back into bed. It was 6 a.m. by now and Tyler was still asleep. I cuddled up to him and he pulled me in close and I fell asleep too. We slept until 7:30 when my alarm went off. I woke up and was like dangit, now we are going to be late for work. We both hurried off, getting ready for the day, met for family prayer and went off to work.
Thinking back on this morning made me realize that Tyler and I never get to spend time just laying in bed and cuddling anymore. With me getting up at 6 a.m. every morning and falling asleep before Tyler sometimes, we don't get to spend time just relaxing together. How sad is that?

I think it is time for a vacation!! Where should we go??

Tyler's newest tease is to reminisce on when we were in AZ laying by the pool soaking up the warm rays while Jeffery swam. He likes to go into great detail about how the sun felt on his skin while I am sitting on the couch with the heater on wearing sweats! Silly Tyler! He likes to torment me so- good thing I love him!!

So, morals of the story: don't get so busy that you never have time to spend with your spouse and don't live where it's cold!! :)

Shopping!!

2009-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Tyler and I went to Park City to do a little shopping at the Outlets! For our birthday's, my parents gave us some money to update our wardrobe for a more professional look and we were finally able to spend it! We actually went on the perfect day because lots of the stores were having Columbus Day sales (I thought Columbus Day was in January so we had no idea!!) We went to the Calvin Klein Outlet and everything in the store was up to 50% off- and then take an additional 20% off of that. It was a great price. Tyler and I both got some work-shirts for about $20 a piece (regularly $60) We loved it. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us do that!
We also went to Harry and David. Tyler had never been there before and I told him how good some of the treats were. We tried some sort of salsa-like dip and it tasted so good. They served it with cream cheese and some special tortilla chips. We bought some- it was that good! Next time you are in Harry and David, try some!
The Utah Student 25 applications are due next week. Tyler is hitting crunch time on this and I know he will pull everything off. I don't know what he will do after this event is over- he might have time to study!! (haha just kidding)
The first magazine that has my name in it comes out in a few weeks. Deadlines are on Friday and then we spend about a week editing. I am excited!
We leave for Chicago for the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization's National Conference in 10 days. I am excited for that! I have never been to Chicago!
That's a brief update on our lives. Thanks to everyone for giving us such great support! 7 more months until we graduate!! :)

Conference!!

2009-10-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

General Conference was amazing! I seriously cannot wait until the November Ensign comes out so I can re-read all of the wonderful talks given by the General Authorities. I have so many favorites that I can't narrow it down to just one or two. Some of my top favorites were: Elder Holland, Brother Walton, President Monson's, President Erying's and Elder Bednar.

What were some of your favorite talks and why?

For the last session of conference, Tyler and I watched it over at Brookie's and KC's condo. It is so awesome having them in town. Conference always reminds me of being with family, so it was nice to spend some time with them. I hope they never move (at least until we move out of the state). After the session was over we continued to watch Errand of Angels. Maybe it's cause I never served a mission, but I thought the movie was kinda hokey. We enjoyed watching it and analyzing some of the things we didn't agree with. It was fun with Tyler and KC, who have both served missions in other parts of the world, because we could hear what a mission was really like.
We ate dinner (Thanks Brookie!) and played Ticket to Ride. In all of the games that we have played over at Brookie and KC's (and we have played a ton... probably over 100) this one was the most intense/ violent. We were laughing the whole time-- thankfully! It seemed that at one point or another in the game everyone mad at another person because of the trains they were playing. I believe it was the first time in Ticket to Ride history that no one finished all of their tickets. Everyone lost points at the end- the highest score was me at 71; lame huh? But, I believe we all had fun. Tyler and I were able to walk away holding hands, KC didn't kick us out of their condo and Brookie laughed at me when I freaked out at Tyler for playing on the pieces that I needed (TWICE!! in one game. What are the odds?)
Now, we are back in our apartment with LOTS of treats. I went on a baking spree yesterday and made Banana Bread, Caramel Bars and Mima's Butterscotch candies. Did anyone else make yummy treats over the weekend?

Quick Update

2009-09-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to not wait 3 weeks to post again this time.

Last week was the BYU "soft" deadline for the Utah Student 25. The "hard" deadline is October 12, but BYU has a competition this week for student entrepreneurs. The completed applications for Utah Student 25 were moved over into the BYU Student Entrepreneur of the Year competition for BYU. (the SEOY deadline was on Thursday night so Tyler and I were up calling people who had a nomination on Wednesday night, then again on Thursday. Except, I didn't have to help on Thursday because it was the Grey's Anatomy premiere). Anyways, the # of applications was just want people wanted, so everyone was happy with Tyler and his success (no surprise though because he is amazing!)

Thursday night was the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. I missed that show! Brookie hosted a party where me and Katie Bruce came over, brought food and enjoyed the 2 hour show. KC was kind enough to miss The Office and Community so we could watch it.

This weekend was fabulous! I had originally planned to study all day on Saturday- that didn't quite pan out the way I wanted. Instead, Tyler and I ran some errands for my work, went shopping for Tyler (we got him a few new shirts thanks to the birthday $ my parents gave him!) met up with Brookie and KC, went our separate ways for a while, then met up at Outback for dinner and had a jolly good time!

Sunday brought relaxation and togetherness. After Church, we had family council- it has been a while- where we made our final plans for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Thanksgiving and New Year will be spent in AZ, and Christmas will be spent in WA! We are super excited for all of those holidays!

We watched the new movie: One Good Man, last night. It is an LDS movies about a dad who juggles work, being bishop, and his 6 children. Tyler said the dad reminded him of his father. I just thought it was one of the better LDS movies made. I would recommend that everyone should watch it!!

2009-09-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have written- I apologize. Fall semester has hit Tyler and myself by storm and we have hardly had a chance to breathe.
Tyler absolutely LOVES his classes. He is taking a couple of philosophy classes for his major, but then he also added one business class taught by his very good friend John Richards. It is an entrepreneurship class where he works in a group and writes a business plan. Since Tyler is fabulous and already had some ideas, his group is going to work on his business plan. That will allow him to potentially start his business for real in January. It's exciting! He loves what he is doing and is learning a lot.
I am taking some communication classes and one art history class for my final GE. I can't believe I don't have any more GE's! I thought the day would never come. Since my internship is full time, I hardly have any time to breath. I am so busy there- which is a change from my last job when I had nothing to do ever. It's refreshing. I am already learning so much about how a magazine works and all the various components that go into one.
Tyler had a birthday and he turned 26! We celebrated the best we could with both of us having school and work that day. He was happy with everything though.
That's just a brief update on us. It seems that we get more and more tired as the days go on. Yesterday, we took a 5 hour nap! It was glorious.
We rearranged our front room. I'll post pictures so you can see!

School Starts!!

2009-08-30T13:21:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow school starts for both Tyler and myself. We anticipate that fall semester will be our busiest semester yet; thankfully we only have 2 more to go!!
I start my internship tomorrow and I am super excited about that.
This semester, Tyler and I are taking our first class together: Social Dance 280. It will be so much fun because Tyler has expressed an interest in learning some basic ballroom dance steps so when we go to various functions, we will know how to foxtrot, waltz, and all the other dances.
Yesterday was a busy preparation day. I made a meal plan for the next 2 weeks and we stocked up on good fruits, meat, bread, milk, and other essential items we will need. The only thing we didn't get was promax bars because they were about $18 for 12. That would get pricey with two of us eating one of those a day. So we are going to look around more to see if we can find a better price.
P90X has still not come!! It has until Friday to get here, but I am so anxious. I want to get started now on it :)
I hope everything is going great with everyone else! We appreciate all the love and support.

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki

2009-08-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tyler recently had me read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. As I read, I took notes because the information was so interesting and vital to financial success. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting more insight on true financial freedom. It is a little outdated; I believe it was published in 1997, but the concepts and ideas are very true for today's society. Here are just a few thoughts I wanted to share:

1. Don't work for money, have your money work for you.
2. Pay yourself first and the government/ bill collectors last. By so doing, you require your mind to think and come up with new ways to earn money.
3. Accumulate assets, not liabilities.
4. Develop a financial intelligence by knowing basic accounting, investment strategies, market supply and demand, and law.
5. Find/ accept jobs that will teach you a skill you lack, not just the highest paying offer. Move jobs frequently to learn more about various skills.
6. The rich loose money and learn from it. They win big and loose big, but each time they walk away with a lesson learned.
7. Don't believe that things you don't know aren't important. Always educate yourself financially.
8. Give what you want to receive. If you want more money, give it first.
9. Keep daytime job, but start things on the side to accumulate your asset column.
10. Know the difference between an asset and a liability.

Those are just 10 things, out of 30 that I wrote down, that I learned from this book. Now I am constantly talking to Tyler about what we need to do to get ourselves into a financial situation to begin investing or starting some businesses. It's an extremely liberating book and I seriously would recommend it to everyone!!

Anniversary!!

2009-08-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our ONE YEAR yesterday! I can't believe it has been a year. Since the 23rd landed on a Sunday, we celebrated on Saturday by going out to breakfast, going to the Draper Temple, walking around the mall, buying some new books to read, going to Tucano's for dinner and watching the 1931 version of Dracula!! It was an extremely pleasant day relaxing and spending time together. It reminded us of our honeymoon, just not in Costa Rica.
I made a photobook on Shutterfly.com filled with pictures from November 16, 2007 (our first date) to August 1, 2009 and gave it to Tyler. He loved it! I think I will make it a tradition because I am not big into scrapbooking, but I think it would be important to document each year of our marriage through pictures.
On Sunday, our actual anniversary, we went to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple Dedication in the morning and ate delicious Honey Baked Ham for dinner that night with Brookie and KC. We also watched Horton Hears a Who with them. I love that movie!! We read, went for a walk, looked at houses to buy in San Diego (not that we are moving there anytime soon, we just like to look at what is available), and talked with our families. Both expressed the wish to spend the day with us- something that means a lot.
Tyler and I are extremely blessed to have parents that support us as a couple. We can't wait to see them again. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
We have one week left of summer- school starts next Monday! I start my internship on that same day also! Both Tyler and myself are so excited for the fall semester and the opportunities that it will bring!!

Thoughts on Education/ Time

2009-08-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Recently, Tyler and I have been reflecting on our lives, the way we spend our time, and the future. It seems that every Family Home Evening lesson covers a talk by a General Authority about the use of time and the importance of an education. As I prepared to go Visiting Teaching last night, I was surprised to find the topic was education again. I would encourage every one to read these two talks in addition to the Visiting Teaching lesson: President Henry B. Erying's Education for Real Life and President Thomas S. Monson's Three Gates to Open. They are amazing and will really make one sit back and think about their life.
I reread the two talks and found some fabulous quotes. The first come from President Erying's talk. They are:
"You are interested in education, not just for mortal life but for eternal life. When you see that reality clearly with spiritual sight, you will put spiritual learning first and yet not slight the secular learning. In fact, you will work harder at your secular learning than you would without that spiritual vision."
"And since what we will need to know is hard to discern, we need the help of heaven to know which of the myriad things we could study we would most wisely learn. It also means that we cannot waste time entertaining ourselves when we have the chance to read or to listen to whatever will help us learn what is true and useful. Insatiable curiosity will be our hallmark."
"Before we have families, there is leisure time even in what is our busiest day. Too often we use many hours for fun and pleasure, clothed in the euphemism “I’m recharging my batteries.” Those hours could be spent reading and studying to gain knowledge, skills, and culture."

Tyler and I studied this talk for FHE a couple of weeks ago. After much discussion, we made a couple of goals on how to better spend our time. We realized that once fall semester starts, we won't have a lot of time to spend with one another; we will have to cut back on activities we are currently involved in just to keep our focus on school and marriage.
Our main take-away-goals from this talk was to eliminate the distraction of watching movies. Tyler and I could watch movies all day and night long, but, we realized what a huge distraction of time they are. Watching movies caused us to go to bed late and wake up the following morning late, both of which affects work and, at the time, my schooling. We made a goal to not watch any movies during the week, and any extra time we had could be spend either studying or reading an uplifting book.
The first week was extremely hard. I think we went through what many would call withdrawals. Fortunately, at times of one's weakness, the other would help them keep our goal. Since making that goal, personally, I have read 2 books: Dracula and The Count of Monte Cristo. Without sticking to our goal, I know I would not have had the opportunity to read those great works of literature.
I know that watching movies isn't an addiction to most people- for Tyler and myself, it was. But read the talk by President Erying and think of what things in your life are a distraction of time.

The second talk, by President Monson, was about the importance of an education. Here are some quotes I pulled:

"Someone has said, the trouble with not having a goal is you can spend your life running up and down the field and never crossing the goal line"
“Study something you like and which will make it possible for you to support a family. While this counsel would apply almost certainly to every young man, it also has relevance to young women. There are situations in life which we cannot predict which will require employable skills. You can’t get the jobs of tomorrow unless you have the skills of today. Business in the new economy, where the only guarantee is change, brings us to serious preparation.”
“Accountability is not for the intention, but for the deed.”

The last quote was for you Dad! Accountability is everywhere!!

Here is the quote from the VT lesson by President Monson:
“Beyond our study of spiritual matters, secular learning is also essential. … I urge you to pursue your education—if you are not already doing so or have not done so—that you might be prepared to provide if circumstances necessitate such.
“Your talents will expand as you study and learn. You will be able to better assist your families in their learning, and you will have peace of mind in knowing that you have prepared yourself for the eventualities that you may encounter in life”

In mine and Tyler's discussions, we constantly stress the importance of continuing an education after our schooling is over. To tie the two talks together, we made it a goal to spend more time gaining an education, rather then finish school. We want to become well read individuals with broad, accepting minds that will open doors and opportunities before us.
Thinking back, it made me grateful that I have a mother who loves to read and stressed the importance of an education in the home. Her example showed me the worlds that could be opened through books and the knowledge and understanding available through an education.
I know that when the time comes for Tyler and myself to have children, we will have books be a focal point in our home. Thank goodness he wants a large library!
Those are some of mine and Tyler's thoughts. Hopefully you'll take the time to read those two talks. They are amazing! Here is a final quote from President Packer. He spoke in today's devotional at BYU: "We are free to choose our actions, but we aren't able to choose the consequences."

My Birthday!!

2009-08-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

I turned 21 last Thursday and Tyler had this amazing day planned out- but he wouldn't tell me what we were going to do! He woke me up and after we got ready, he took me to IHOP for breakfast. He still wouldn't tell me what we were going to do. After breakfast we hit the road toward Salt Lake. Once we got near Thanksgiving Point, he started to get off the free way. I was so confused because I didn't know what there was to do at Thanksgiving Point. At the last minute, he stayed on the freeway and continued North. After passing through Salt Lake, I was completely lost as to what we were doing until we passed a sign that said Lagoon. He surprised me by going to Lagoon!! I had never been there before so I was excited. He gave me the map and said- where do you want to go first? We headed over to some of the roller coasters on the south side of the park. I was so excited. I absolutely love rides and amusement parks so I couldn't wait to ride all of the different attractions. The second roller coaster had two loops in a row. When we went on that one, by the second loop, the g-forces were too much and caused me to pass out for a second. Tyler said it looked funny. That had never happened before, so I thought I had lost my roller coaster tolerance. It was a tragic moment. The line was so short, that we went on it a second time, and the same thing happened again! I couldn't handle the force so I blacked-out again. It was hilarious. This is a picture of us on the ride going upside down!

It was getting hot, so we decided to head over to Lagoon A Beach, the water park portion of Lagoon. We had such a fun time there! We didn't want to rent a tube because there were plenty of water slides available for single people. We started out with the two tallest slides- (of course! I always go for the most extreme things first.) Tyler and I have been against going to water parks all summer, and I think we were in the wrong. We just really enjoyed being in the water and going down the slides together. We ate lunch after the water park and then went on more rides.

The middle picture is of one of the rides called The Rockets. There were two of the rides next to each other. One of them shot you from the bottom to the top really fast; the other took you to the very top and then dropped you from the top. We went on the second one first- the one that drops from the top. Tyler and I realized how scared we hanging from the top of the contraction. Another frightening ride we went on was called The Samurai. Participants are strapped into a seat in a row of 5 seats next to one another. The ride then twists and turns 360 degrees and each seat is able to rotate individually. It was terrifying. Tyler had me sit on the very edge of the row and I don't think I have ever screamed so much. It was great. We went on it twice during the day.

We had a great day. I could go on and on about it, but I don't want to bore everyone. We left when the park closed- I love to stay until the very last ride closes! We stopped at Krispy Kreme to bring some birthday doughnuts home for dessert. I got to open presents and Tyler got me...... P90X!! I am so excited! I can't wait to get started doing the workout. Tyler and I are going to get all toned from the workout. The Sharps gave me... Horton Hears A Who! One of my favorite movies. I was excited. Tyler and I watched it today and I forgot how funny it was.

Then, on a last note... I colored my hair! I wanted to go dark brown, but the girl didn't go quite as dark as I wanted. I think I will go back sometime this next week to get it darkened again. Here is a picture of it:

What do you think??

Family Picnic

2009-08-03T21:26:00.001-07:00

Kylee and Zack planned this fabulous picnic for us and the Cowles. We drove up Provo Canyon to Canyon Glen Park and set blankets out to enjoy the shade. We made sandwiches and drank Capri Suns and enjoyed the company.

At one point, Tyler, Zack and KC went to go play with KC's Frisbee while the girls were entertained by little Owen. While we were relaxing on the blanket, there was a bug near Owen and then it moved towards me. In my process of trying to escape the terrifying creature, I accidentally put my knee on the bug and smashed it on Brookie's blanket. It was funny/ gross because I had ant guts on my pants and on Brookie's blanket. Kylee was laughing.

Owen is growing up as a product of his generation. He can't keep his hands off of his parent's phone!

I have one week left of summer term! YAY!!! I am excited. Last night, Tyler and I went over to Brookie and KC's to watch SHARK WEEK! Brookie, KC and myself had seen the different shows already (I mean, how much can they learn about a shark in a year?), but it was still a lot of fun!!

Ferrari 458 Italia

2009-07-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

So I found this new article on MSN the other day and found my new automotive love. The Ferrari 458 Italia. It is a beautiful work of art. Here is a picture:

Here is a link to the MSN article:

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1081818&icid=autos_0709017&GT1=22017

You should check it out!

Fresh Summer Fruit

2009-07-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

The other day, Tyler and I were in the mood for some fresh fruit and corn on the cob. We went to Sunflower Market and bought some yummy fruits and cheese. Here is a picture of our feast.

Update time!

2009-07-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Every time I update our blog, I have to look back through my school planner to remember all the things that have gone on. These past two weeks have been very uneventful- thankfully! Two weeks from today is my last final for summer term. I am excited, but nervous because I have 2 papers to write before then.
August is just 2 days away and that means that fall semester is right around the corner. Tyler can't wait to start school again and I am nervous for my internship.
We are 3 weeks away from our 1 year anniversary. (I still can't believe I am married to my best friend!!) I have some fun things planned for that momentous day. Tyler has no idea- and it has to stay that way!! I am bursting at the seams to tell him what we are going to do, but I won't ruin the surprise.
Tyler gets to plan my birthday- it is coming up in 2 weeks and I won't let him forget it. (Not that he ever would) I am getting old. 21! WOW I should be getting age spots and botox any day now. :)
The Utah Student 25's website is up and running. Here is the link so you should check it out: http://utah25.siliconslopes.com/ Tyler has done an awesome job heading the website up. The final event should be pretty shnazzy. Black tie and everything.
I am finally getting over whatever ailment I have had for the past 5 days. I think Tyler will be happy to finally have his wife back. I do think he enjoyed all the reading he was able to do the past few days. He finished Dracula and is now reading Aesop's Fables. I am currently working on The Count of Monte Cristo.
Life is grand and we love the warm nights that Utah is giving us!

Hilarious prank while White Water Rafting

2009-07-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

While in Montana, my family signed up to go white water rafting. My dad had arrived the night before, so we were excited to do this with him. It was pretty cold outside because we signed up for the 9:00am rafting trip. The water, we imagined, would be even colder.(Later that day, the guide said the water was about 40 degrees). Being from Utah and Arizona, plenty of the party was a little weary of how freezing the trip would be, but we were super excited too. We just didn't know what to expect.
Everyone got dressed in a wet suit with a helmet and their life jacket on. We got into the bus and began the drive to the river. The main raft guide, Cory, was hilarious. Preston and Dallin were joking around with him the whole drive up. Once we got to the start of the trip the group split into two rafts. On the one with Cory as the guide was Dallin, Preston, Kimberly, Tyler and myself. On the other raft was my mom, dad, Jeffrey, Ryker, Theresa, and Kathryn. I knew we were in for a treat with the dynamic personalities on our raft. Preston and Dallin wanted to wage war against the other family raft- something that Theresa did not like. But, because our guide wanted to have a little fun, he would strategically place our raft within splashing distance of the other and the war ensued. My mom really got into it. She would splash everyone. When we were on the side of my dad, he splashed us and a huge wave got thrown right into my face! We laughed and continued on.
Cory took us on some fun rapids and taught us how to spiral the raft through them; so we were rocking and rolling the whole time. He talked of how he was going to have us ride some rapids and do some fun things with the weight on the raft. At one point, he said, "Ok, when I say go every jump to the right side of the raft." The right side was the side Dallin, Kimberly, and myself were on. Being the obedient rafters that we were, when he said "Go!" Tyler and Preston jumped over to the right side, just at the precise time we were heading over a rock, causing the raft to barely tilt, and fling all its occupants into the freezing cold river water. (Somehow, our guide Cory was able to magically stay on the raft. We later realized he set us up for that!) I was flung the furthest from the raft and knew that somehow I needed to swim against the current back to safety where Cory could pull everyone into the raft. Kimberly was able to grab onto the rope as she fell backward so she was the first one Cory rescued. Preston and Dallin fought to stay on the raft, but eventually lost. They grabbed onto the rope on the opposite side of the raft. Tyler was closest to Kimberly and as soon as he was pulled in, he went to help drag Dallin and Preston to safety. I don't know what was going through any one else's mind, but I was struggling to get back to the raft. I thought for sure I was going to float away and be the one stranded on the shore. Thankfully, I made it back and picked up all the floating paddles on my way. Cory was able to pull me up, and with Tyler's help, everyone was safe. I couldn't stop laughing. I am sure it was a hilarious sight to behold. The other raft saw the whole thing, and they were shocked and laughed when they saw we were all safe. Soaking wet, we finished the trip and climbed aboard the bus. I thought it was the funniest thing that could have happened. We all commended Cory on his hilarious prank and learned a valuable lesson: if your raft guide tells everyone to rush to one side of the raft, Don't Do It!!
The rest of the vacation ended without incident. We watched Harry Potter # 2 as a family that night and drove back to Utah the following day.

Yellowstone with the Family!

2009-07-17T11:53:00.001-07:00

After the 4th of July, our family took a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was the first time there for us and after giving the idea to my mom a while back, she planned an amazing trip. She rented a condo/ townhouse type thing up at Big Sky Resort in Montana. The resort was about 40 miles away from the West Yellowstone entrance to the park, so each day we had quite a long drive. Thankfully, I enjoy spending time with my wonderful husband, so the drive wasn't that bad. On Tuesday we had the whole crew there: Tyler and myself, The Skousen Family (minus dad who had an emergency business trip he had to go on) KC and Brookie Cowles, and Theresa, Ryker, and Preston Biggs (My aunt and cousins on my mom's side). We drove to Yellowstone and went to the Midway Geyser Basin, The Lower Basin Paint Pots, Old Faithful, some other geysers and Mammoth (up in North Yellowstone). I never realized how bad the fumaroles and steam pots smelled. This trip was completely different than any that my family has taken. There was a lot of driving and getting out and walking. I thought watching the two huge geysers: Old Faithful and this other one that only goes off twice a day, was the best part of this day. Well, besides the part of being with the family and everything like that. Unfortunately, I don't think Yellowstone liked mine or Theresa's car windows because, at different times of the day, the driver side rear windows on our cars broke. As in, they wouldn't electrically go up or down. Thankfully, Tyler was there and fixed both so they were leveraged up and didn't fall down the rest of the day. On the long drive to Mammoth, we saw multiple elk and bison. On the drive back to W. Yellowstone, we finally saw a bear. It was the highlight of the day for my mom! That night we saw the play, Footloose, at the local Playmill Theatre. We didn't get back to Big Sky until 1:30 am, but it was a fun filled day.
On Wednesday, we spent time in Yellowstone again. Brookie and KC had to drive back to Utah for school and work. We drove to the East Side of Yellowstone and saw Yellowstone Lake, a huge herd of Bison, Artist Point, and other animals. We drove a ton this day, but Tyler and I had the opportunity to have Kim and Kat ride in our car in the morning, and Dallin and Preston on the way home. We enjoyed the time spent in the car with them laughing and seeing which teen stars were the most attractive to 15 year old boys. Congrats Selena Gomez (a Disney Channel Star), you were the winner! That night, Tyler watched his first Harry Potter film! I was a little nervous that he wouldn't like them, because he didn't know anything about the story. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and was anxiously awaiting #6 to come to the theaters, so Tyler wanted to catch up on the first 5 films. Thankfully, he enjoyed it and wanted to watch the following 4 films.
Yellowstone was so much fun. The only thing missing was my dad. He was able to drive up to Big Sky with my family and then spent most of Monday with them. He flew back into town on Wednesday and got to spend the remainder of the trip with us. My mom did an amazing job at coordinating all the activities and planning everything.

Fourth of July Weekend!!

2009-07-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

My Family came up from Arizona to spend the 4th of July weekend with us in Provo. It has been a tradition for as long as I remember to spend the 4th in Provo. Usually we are at Aspen Grove Family Camp in Provo Canyon, but this year we decided to take a different family vacation.
On Friday, July 3rd, Tyler and I woke up early and met my parents to watch the hot air balloon launch near the Provo hospital. I remember doing that when I was younger. Brookie and I had some of our favorite balloons that we waited to see every year. I remembered it being a lot colder than it was this time. There were still some of the same balloons from seven years ago- the last time I woke up early enough to go see the launch. My old time favorite was the pink piggy bank balloon of sponsored by Bank of American Fork. Albertson’s didn’t have the grocery bag balloon this time. Smokey the Bear and Tony the Tiger showed up though. It was great. I think Tyler had a good time and it was fun to wake up early and do that. The rest of the day was spent outside playing miniature tennis on a badminton court. It challenged our control. Tyler and I played against my dad and every now and then we would switch up the teams. It was never fun being the single person against the doubles. Tyler and I enjoyed spending the day outside- something we don’t get to do very much due to work and classes.
On the morning of the 4th, we woke up SUPER early to run the 5K Freedom Run. I know- we were crazy. Tyler and I had not trained for this or anything. We just woke up that morning and said, “Let’s go run!” Tyler did awesome in the race. He could have run the entire way, but stopped at 2 miles to wait for me to catch up. My mom stayed behind with me and we ran one mile and then ran and walked the rest of the 2.1 miles. Brookie was a trooper too. She ran the 2 miles with Tyler and then waited for us to catch up. I felt so good after running that. We celebrated Brookie’s birthday at a BBQ at the park and then rented two tandem bikes to ride down the canyon. That night we went to the Stadium of Fire and watched the Jonas Brothers and SheDaisy perform. It was everyone’s first time in the Stadium of Fire and holy cow I did not know what we had missed all of these years. The energy and patriotism was amazing. The entire crowd sang the National Anthem and it brought tears to my eyes. I hope that in the future we get to go again.
That was our 4th of July weekend. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend it than with family, fireworks, hot air balloons, and running.

Busy Busy Busy

2009-07-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

Summer school has officially started for me, and I absolutely LOVE all of my classes. I am taking 8 credit hours and I thought it would overwhelm me. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but since it is only a term, it is equivalent of taking 16 credits during a semester. Needless to say, I thought I would be completely overwhelmed with papers and assignments. Thankfully, I am not and I think it will be a nice term. I am taking a Communication class where we are conducting our own research. We split into groups and my group decided on studying various interrogating techniques Jack Bauer implores in 24. Mainly, we are studying if the torture scenes in 24 affect viewers and change their perspective on torture used in actual interrogation. I think it's fascinating and I can't wait to get started. I am also taking a Teaching of the Living Prophets class. My teacher is amazing. I love his energy and enthusiasm about the subject. It really makes me enjoy the two hour religion class and I have already learned so much in just 3 class periods. My last class is a persuasive writing class. That one will be fun because I can learn how to set up and poke holes in various arguments. I recently learned that the true definition of an argument is not two people yelling at each other, but two people from differing view points discussing a topic until they reach a conclusion both can agree on. So in reality, argumentation is a good thing. Who would have thought?
Last Thursday, Carlye, my friend, came over and did facials on Brookie, myself, and Kathryn. It was so cute to see her doing her Mary Kay presentations and learning about the fun she is having. I don't get the chance to see her very much, so it was fun to catch up.
Last Friday, Tyler had a big meeting for the Utah Student 25 at the Snowbird resort in Utah. He planned the agenda and coordinated everything. It was great to finally meet some of the people he has been chatting with until 3:30 AM on various occasions. He did a wonderful job on his presentation. I was impressed and so were all of the industry and college professionals.
Last Saturday, KC, Tyler, Kathryn and myself went for a ride down Provo Canyon on bikes and longboards. I think that might be my new favorite Provo activity because of the beautiful scenery and warm weather. Tyler and KC were on their longboards and Kathryn and myself rented some bikes. It was all downhill so we pretty much coasted the entire ride. While we were enjoying ourselves, we came across a snake on the path. I did not like that experience because it almost bit me. Seriously. I was the last in our line and everyone else spooked it by going past fast and I slowed down slightly and it retracted back in striking position. I hate snakes and did not enjoy that one bit. Then, later down then trail, Kathryn and KC were in front and I saw them swerve suddenly and KC yelled "Snake". I have super fast reflexes so I swerved and missed the snake, but Tyler didn't hear KC and almost ran over the snake's head. It was traumatic. I was terrified that I would see another snake and so I didn't enjoy the rest of the ride. Overall, the experience was fun and I would do it again. I think I might just wear pants so I don't have to be paranoid about snakes.
Right now we have Addison staying with us for the weekend. It's super nice of him to dive down here to be with us. My family is driving up from AZ to spend 4th of July with us. We are going to the hot air balloon launch, run a 5k, go to Stadium of Fire with the Jonas Brother's, and travel to Yellowstone on Monday. Tyler and I are really looking forward to spending the next week with them in Yellowstone. My family has never been and Tyler hasn't been in a while. My mom planned some fun outings such as a zip line tour, white water rafting, lounging at the pool, and other fun things. I am excited!!
I know this post has been so long! Next time I imagine it will be long too because I will be talking all about the Yellowstone experience.

Washington and Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

This past week Tyler and I went up to Washington for his little sister's graduation. It's crazy to think that a year ago was the first time I met his family and spent a week with them. We drove up on Saturday. I love road trips with Tyler because we just have so much fun together! For the first 6 hours we were listening to music, but then last 6 hours we talked the entire time. It was great to set goals and talk about the future of our family in that amount of time. I wish we could go on road trips all the time because I love them so much! I don't think I could last much longer than 12 hours though. That was a long time to be in a car.
Tyler spoke at his sister's Baccalaureate. He did such a great job! I think I might be biased, but it was cool to hear him speak in a public setting. I don't get to hear that ever outside of church meetings. Later that day we went to his sister's Seminary Graduation and celebrated his dad's 50th birthday. Tyler and I brought him some Dunford Doughnuts from the factory in Utah. That was all he wanted from us, so I think we got off easy present wise. Monday was high school graduation. The rest of the week we were able to relax and copy some edited movies. It was nice to take a break prior to finals and the start of a new term.
We flew back on Thursday morning and straight from the airport Tyler went to a meeting and I started finalizing projects and tests I had due later that day. Once we got back to Provo it has been kinda hectic.
Last Saturday, I took Tyler out for dinner in celebration of Father's Day. We went with Brookie and KC to Spark in Provo. The food was delicious. I had never eaten dinner there and was completely blown away at the quality of everything. I had fish with mango salsa and coconut rice. I am not a big seafood eater, but wanted something out of the ordinary so I tired it, and absolutely loved it! Tyler had the surf and turf special that included lobster and steak. I was excited he got that because I wanted to try lobster. After eating it, we decided we don't like lobster very much. The steak, on the other hand, was amazing! I still have the taste in my mouth. We didn't want dessert there, so we walked to the gelato place on center street and ate gelato. I had the amaretto flavored and Tyler had the banana cream flavor.
On Father's Day, I woke Tyler up with breakfast in bed. I made him some cinnamon, honey cream cheese filled crepes with fresh strawberries and other berries. I am not trying to brag, but it was so good. I had some of the cinnamon, honey cream cheese filling left over and ate it on bread Monday night. We played games and just relaxed all day. I was happy I could show my appreciation for him through service throughout the day. It was also nice to rest up for the busy week ahead.
I started summer term on Monday. I am taking 3 classes, but I don't think I will be overwhelmed. None of them require a ton of reading or assignments.
Tyler is busy with the Utah Student 25. He has so many meetings and phone calls I wonder when I'm going to get my husband back. It's a little funny.

INTERNSHIP

2009-06-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I got an email today and....I received the internship for fall!! I am so excited because I will be working for the Utah Bridal Magazine and Business Q! It is literally a dream internship for me right now because of location and opportunity associated with it! I can't wait! YAY!!

Weekly update

2009-05-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I had my internship interview... I think it went very well, but now I am just waiting until Monday when they said to call back. I really hope I get it! I am so nervous about it because it's finally something that I really want, and it seems out of my hands. So I am keeping my fingers crossed until Monday.
We had Tyler's younger siblings up here this past weekend. It was so much fun! They drove down from BYU Idaho and stayed with us. I don't remember the last time Tyler and I stayed up until 3 am. I guess that is what happens when you get married. They got here on Friday and we went to Spark Restaurant and Lounge. They were playing live music and we ordered sushi and nonalcoholic drinks. I loved it because of the cool unique atmosphere that can't be found anywhere in Provo. We came home and watched a movie after. Saturday, everyone slept in because they were tired and I got to watch Little Owen!! I absolutely LOVE watching my little nephew he is hilarious and so much fun! Emily and I watched the Bone Collector while Tyler and Addison worked on Addison's MR2 all day until we had a BBQ at Brookie and KC's. KC made some- I don't even know what they are called- really good steak hot dog things. On Sunday we went to church, came home and made crepes and then slept for a while. Monday was similar to Saturday. Tyler and Addison worked on the car and me and Emily sat in the apartment. We got to watch little Owen again. It was so funny- Tyler was making him laugh/ sequel like he does when he is happy. Owen was so loud! He woke Emily up in the next room. It was adorable. They left on Tuesday and we were sad to have them leave.
I am still writing for the newspaper- only two more weeks :( I am sad. Tyler is still working on the Utah 25 and the Honors program database. He is busy all the time. Now we are trying to catch up on sleep that we missed last weekend.

2009-05-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

This past couple of weeks has been crazy! Spring term is not settling down for Tyler or myself. I can't even remember everything that has gone on.
Well the day before Mother's Day, Tyler completely surprised me with breakfast in bed. It was Saturday so he woke me up at 7:30 and had made me french toast, hash browns, eggs, and sausage. It was so good! Then we went back to sleep until 11:30. That felt fabulous. We watched Owen later that day- it really made me want a child right then!!! Later that night, we went to dinner with KC and Brookie, Kylee, and Sam and Liz. We went to Ruby River steak house. I wasn't completely impressed with it. I thought everything was fried and it made me a little sick afterward.
On Sunday, after church, we made crepes with fresh fruit, pudding, and cinnamon whipped cream! I am in love with that meal. I thought it turn out so good!! We took a four hour nap and then had roast and mashed potatoes. I thought my first mother's day- without children- was awesome! Tyler did so much for me. Now I really have the pressure on for Father's day!!
Last night we went to the Angels and Demons midnight showing!! I think that could be one of the best books turned into a movie ever! I felt that nothing was really left out, and the plot moved right along. Tyler had never read the book, so I didn't know if he would be lost. But Ron Howard did an amazing job again! I would recommend everyone go see it right now!!
Other than school and work, nothing super exciting is going on for us. We are loving life- 9 months into marriage!! It's crazy how fast it seems to go. Yesterday I planned out all of our finances for the Summer months. I am so excited because I created it in Excel so if something changes- like the number of hours we work- then we can easily see the change and how that affects everything else. It's going to be nice because by the end of the summer we will be completely out of debt with some in savings!! We are super stoked about it! I always like to have a plan for everything, so it was fun to spend time doing everything.
Next week I have an interview for an internship in the fall. I am super excited because this would be with the Utah Valley Bridal Magazine. I hope I get it!! Keep your fingers crossed!!
I think that is all that has gone on with us!

Kylee's wedding, Tyler's work and the Daily Universe

2009-05-04T09:13:00.001-07:00

This past week has been so crazy!! We finished winter semester, only to be bombarded by new activities going on during the spring. We love it though.
We went to AZ for my cousin Kylee's wedding!! It was so much fun to be down there and support her. We were able to be in the sealing room with her and Zack. It was such a cool experience. She asked me to do her makeup. I was completely honored!! So I helped her out with that. Zack's sister came over and did her hair. She looked absolutely stunning! I was blown away. I can't believe that Kylee is married. I am so happy for her. I am also happy that they are going to live in Utah for a little while longer!
My mom helped out with the food for the reception and so Tyler and I helped her out. After the weekend was over I don't even want to think about chicken salad croissants or pasta salad. I have eaten my fill for a while. The reception was beautiful. She had it outside in a friend's backyard. There were tables, lights, and blue/ brown fabric decorating the gazebo and serving tables. I thought it looked beautiful!
After our trip to AZ, Tyler and I came back to Utah and I started school. It was crazy for the first few days! Tyler had a huge meeting last Wednesday, so he was up until 2/3 in the morning working on it daily. I was so impressed by his dedication. He was pitching the Utah 25 idea to Omniture and working out some of the kinks. It turned out great. The further involved he gets in this project, the more grateful we are for this opportunity. He will be working with many many high professional people in the Utah community. The meeting went over fantastically! He was so happy/ relieved it went as well as it did. He still has a ton of work to do, but at least his proposal and plan went over well with the executives.
I started writing for the Daily Universe, the BYU newspaper. I was given the lifestyle beat!! That means I get to write about fashion, makeup, events and basically whatever I want! I am so excited!! I am also taking a media law and ethics class. WOW I love that one too! It's so fun to finally be back in the major that I love! My first article was published last Friday! It was a momentous occasion. My family was in town for my brother-in-law's graduation, so they got to read/ see it in the newspaper!
Tyler and I have so much going on. We sometimes feel we just need to take a day off and relax. Unfortunately, that probably won't come for a couple of weeks!