Date Night

Josh's work schedule changed recently in a very good way. When Josh first started working at Kneaders he worked days. 6-2 M-F. But then he was promoted and moved to nights as the night manager. Obviously it was great because it was a promotion, but the hours stunk! With Josh's sleeping disorder playing into it, his schedule was whack! Just a couple weeks ago his schedule changed again. He still works 2 nights a week (3-10:30) but the other three days he works 9-5. The perfect time. Although I personally liked 6-2. We pretty much still had ALL day to do things when he got home at 2. But I don't blame him for not enjoying waking up at 5am everyday. Well, his schedule now has made our ability to do dates much more possible. 


Josh's boss (the owner of the Provo Kneaders) had tickets to the Jazz game on Wednesday and invited us and another couple from Kneaders. It was so much fun. We decided to make a big date out of it. 


We got up to SLC around 4:30 and ate at one of our favorite places (introduced to us by Joe and Karen); Tony Caputo's. 

I think I've mentioned it before. We both get the same sandwich every time and a lemonada (sparkling lemonade) to go with it. We ate our sandwiches and then did some shopping in the market that's connected to the restaurant.

 We love to buy meats and cheeses there and make Italian style pizza on our grill. I know I've posted about that before. So we bought some meat, fresh mozzarella, pesto sauce, some jam and some fun drinks. After we were done there we drove over to the Gateway Mall which happens to be right across the street from the Energy Solutions Arena where the Jazz game was so we got awesome parking right in front. We walked around the mall while we waited for the game to start. We met everyone in our group at the will call booth and then got directed to our seats. This was my first NBA game and I don't think I could ever go again if it wasn't like this. We had studio box seats. We had our own booth with room service, a mini kitchen and bathroom. 

And I thought it would feel like we were really removed from the game, but it didn't. It felt like we were right there in the action. It was so fun. Unfortunately, the Jazz lost in second overtime but it was still intense and super fun. I'm so glad we got to go. Neither Josh or I had ever been to a Jazz game. 

Since the game went into second overtime it was pretty late when we got out and we had to drive back down to Provo so we headed home. Plus, nothing is open past 10 or 11 in the valley on a Wednesday. Ha. But it was a great night!

Tommy Dunn Visits

Josh served his mission with some incredible guys that he happens to still be very good friends with. Jacob Russell (as in Jacob and Valerie), Garrett Koefed and Tommy Dunn (just to name a few). We're lucky enough to still be around Jacob and Garrett but Tommy moved to Georgia a couple years ago so we don't see him often enough. But Tommy and his wife Megan came to town this weekend so we saw this as a great opportunity to get everyone together. 

On Friday we all (boys and wives, since they're all married now) met up at Tucano's for dinner. Tucano's is this amazing all you can eat Brazilian buffet. They have a giant salad bar with cold and hot foods and then they bring around all this meat that's been grilled on skewers and they cut you off pieces of whatever you want. It's so delicious and we love going. We don't typically go all that often (because it's pretty pricey) so it's always a treat when we do get to go. We ate our little hearts out at Tucano's until we were so stuffed. Tucano's is at the River Woods which I talked about in my Christmas post (the little outdoor mall place) and so we did some walking around afterwards too. We went to Blickenstaff's which is this adorable toy store with all kinds of fun old-fashioned and new toys. They also sell British candy so I picked myself up one of my all-time favorites, Mint Aero! After goofing around in Blickenstaff's we headed to the Provo Beach Resort. It's basically a grown-up Chuckie-Cheese's...? Kind of...but not really. They do have tokens and tickets and all those games but they also have bowling, miniature croquet, food, ice cream, a ropes course and indoor surfing. We just walked around and looked at things for a little bit. Jacob and Valerie left (Valerie is almost 7 months pregnant and she needed to head home) and we planned on meeting them at their house soon. Then the boys (Tommy, Josh and Garrett) discovered the basketball game. There were three hoops and so they got tokens after tokens and played their little hearts out. It was actually pretty funny to watch. 

The girls just sat at a nearby table and watched and talked. It was pretty fun. Then the boys headed over and got some prizes for the tickets they have accumulated. They got parachute men, tootsie rolls, rings (for their wives), and these sticky things on a string. They played with those the most. They kept hitting each other in the face. It was pretty funny. After they were done with basketball we went over to Jacob and Valerie's. 

Garrett and Presley and Tommy and Megan had never played the game of Things so we decided with this crazy bunch...it was a must! I have to admit, it was the most inappropriate game of Things that I have ever been a part of...but it was kind of expected. Those boys get ridiculous when they're together. But we were all laughing so much and so hard. Jacob actually complained about his ribs hurting the next day. Ha! 

[Megan took these pictures so Tommy and Megan aren't in them but there's us, Presley and Garrett and then Valerie and Jacob in the bottom photo]

We had wanted to get ice cream after Tucano's but I think we all agreed that we were way too full so after a long round of Things we were finally ready for some ice cream. We went to Farr's which is one of those places where you pay by the ounce. It was delicious. I got chocolate frozen custard with brownies, cookie dough, butterfinger and caramel sauce. Ridiculous, I know. But it was soooo good. Valerie and I also snuck over to Five Guys (which is next door) and got some fries to go with our ice cream. Yum! I'm actually eating my left over fries right now. :) I wish I had some left over ice cream...haha

[Go me! I got everyone in the shot!!]

[I may or may not be standing on a chair...]

[the girls! Val, Megan, Presley and me]

[so fun!]

After ice cream everyone was pooped (it was close to midnight) and full so we all headed home. But it was such a fun night and I am happy to have such great friends. I can't wait until everyone is in town again so we can do this again! 

No Good Very Bad Day

Monday was one of those no good very bad days. It didn't start out bad...Josh and I started some laundry, took our car to Discount Tires to get some new tires put on (for cheap since they wore through before their warranty was up) and then headed out to get our hair cut. We were both in dire need of hair cuts. 

Since our car was getting new tires we borrowed Josh's brother's (Morgan) car so we could run errands while it was being worked on. We spent 45 minutes or so at Craig's Cuts getting our hair cut before heading out to grab some lunch at Gandolfo's (a local sub sandwich place with NY style subs). We had just turned off a main street on to a residential street (so we weren't going more than 25 mph) and a girl sitting a stop sign proceeded to drive across the street without seeing us. Josh slammed on the brakes but it was too late and so he had to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting her. That happened to land us in the middle of someone's front yard. Getting into their yard also involved driving over a stop sign...

It was awful. We were fine (in fact I was surprised how much I didn't feel the impact of the stop sign) but it really shook me up. That was the first "wreck" I had ever been in. Not fun. It happened so fast. While we were sitting in the car waiting for the police to arrive Josh and I talked about how thankful we were that it ended up the way it did. Obviously we felt awful that Morgan's car had damage done to it. It wasn't fair to Morgan or Jenn. The front and side were scraped up pretty good and the undercarriage was torn out from the stop sign. But I really feel like God was watching out for us and made sure that the wreck happened the way it did. First it wasn't our fault...at all. Thank goodness. Hopefully everything with the insurance companies works out in our favor (since it should). Also, had we not seen her for one second more, we would have slammed right into her side (a big truck) and could have been seriously hurt or injured. We also avoided a huge oak tree (by inches) and a house (by feet) in our skid into this yard which both would have made the situation much, much worse. 

We also believe that had we been in our car and had to swerve the way we did...we would have rolled the car. We're pretty sure we would have. Morgan's car is a racing car that is low to the ground and can turn quick and safely...ours cannot. 

Long story short, we really felt like God was watching out for us. It has made us more aware when we're driving and really made us appreciate life. Because it can be taken so fast. 

Of course that doesn't make the situation of wrecking someone else's car any easier. The day was just a dud after that. We waited for the police to arrive for over an hour, filled out reports and were sent on our way. We went home and just kind of bummed around the rest of the day doing nothing. We just felt crummy. Things like this really make you appreciate life, but that doesn't make them any more awesome. I'll let you know how things turn out...but we're hopeful. 

**UPDATE**

Since this whole crazy thing, everything has been taken care of. The girl's insurance company finally gave in and cut Morgan and Jenn a check for the damages. Thank goodness! It took a lot of phone calls and work with the insurance companies but we are happy to not have to pay for all the damage.  

New Years Resolutions

I've spent a lot of time sick lately (I got a cold shortly after returning from Washington) followed shortly with pink eye so I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and really focus on what I want my New Years resolutions to be this year. I must admit...I've never been very good at setting goals and sticking to them all year. I'm not sure why. Josh is always gung-ho about setting his goals, writing them somewhere he will constantly see them and sticking to them. He was great about all of his goals from 2011. I need to follow his example and be better. 


I feel like if I post my goals on my blog, I have more responsibility to stick to them...maybe?


Well, either way, here they are. 


1. Save. 
     
2. Be Healthy.
    
3. Love my husband.
     
4. Love myself. 
  
I toyed with the idea of adding more to those...I typed descriptions 3 times but decided to just leave them like that. They seem broad, I know, but trust me, they aren't. :)


Here's to another year. A year that, I have a feeling, will be the best yet! 2012! 

Post Christmas - New Years

The day after Christmas I left my adorable hubby for Washington. I wouldn't have gone home but my best friend Alyson got married on the 27th and I wouldn't miss her wedding for the world. But being home was great, as always, and it was so much fun seeing my mom and my brother, wife and kids. I don't get to see them very often and so it was a fabulous trip. 


I got into Spokane around noon, drove up to Tri-cities with my mom and sister-in-law and then headed to the store to get prepared for the bachelorette party. I was in charge. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty last minute and it felt kind of thrown together, but I think everyone had a lot of fun. We had Alyson blushing and everyone laughing. I had a side ache from laughing so much. 


Alyson had to answer a bunch of questions about the wedding night and the honeymoon that I had Nathan answer. Needless to say, he didn't spare any details in his answers and I think some of the questions and answers really shocked Alyson. I didn't take a lot of pictures, which bums me out, but enough to get the point. 

[the drinks were amazing. good thing my mom knows what she's doing in that department. haha]

[each person brought a pair of panties or piece of lingerie for Alyson and she had to guess who brought what. She did pretty well!]

[Starting to get embarrassed...maybe?]

[love her!]

[Alyson and her sisters]

The next day was the wedding. Alyson was so kind to invite me to the sealing. It was amazing. It was seriously such a beautiful wedding. Seeing how happy they were together kneeling over the alter, hand in hand, reminded me of the day Josh and I were married and how exciting it was. It reminded me of the promises that we made that day and how important those promises are. I am so happy to be married to the man I love and I am so happy for Alyson and Nathan. I know they are going to be so happy. 

After the sealing I changed into my bridesmaid dress and we headed outside to take pictures. Alyson had Devan Squires as her photographer who was incredible. She has posted some of the pictures and they are amazing. She is very talented and the day was just gorgeous. We were somewhat freezing, but you could never tell in the pictures! 

[Photo belongs to Devan Squires]

Here is the link to the photographer's page of photos from their special day:

http://www.squaresofpaper.com/Devan_Squires_Photography_Tri-Cities/Alyson+Nathan.html#1

After taking pictures we headed to the reception hall. It was gorgeous. We spent the next couple hours before it started getting everything set up. Alyson's decorations were beautiful! She is such an artist and you could totally see her artistic abilities reflected in her reception. It was so pretty. 

The happy couple...and me!

[the ceiling]

[some of the bridesmaids]

[the guys]

[centerpiece]

[doesn't she look beautiful?!]

[my favorite part of this picture is the way Nathan is looking at Alyson. So precious!]

[first dance]

[Daddy/daughter dance]

[Ben and Jacob Walley and Marshall Merrill wrote and performed a song for Nathan and Alyson. It was really sweet]

[more decor]

The rest of the week consisted of time with family. I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and a lot of time with John and Sara and their kids. It was a great week. 


One of my favorite pictures from the week...one of many (like 45). 


Me and Eva. 





She was my little friend all week. It was adorable and I couldn't get enough of her cuddles. 


I also spent New Years Eve in Washington. I spent the countdown on the phone with my hubs but we spent our evening over at John and Sara's. They let the kids stay up until midnight (Eastern time) and celebrate. We ate delicious food and spent the night talking and just having fun. 


Thanks for such a fun visit mom! I had a blast of a week. 


I got home on New Years Day. While it was fun to be home and be with family, it was great seeing my hubby after the week apart. We really, really missed each other and have decided that being apart (even for a week) is not for us. Nope.


:)

I realize...

...that I haven't done much blogging lately. I just haven't been able to find the motivation within me to do it. But, I promise, I will work on getting you all caught up on our fabulous life.


Last I posted I had just graduated. I can't say that being done with college feels any more real today than it felt the day I wrote my last post. Even though BYU is back in session, it hasn't really sunk in that I'm done. Still feels weird saying it. But, I am. Done.


Besides being graduated, life is fabulous. Christmas was amazing. Christmas started here in Provo. Because of Josh's work schedule, we spent our first Christmas, just the two of us, here in Provo. Josh claims that I left him for Christmas but I didn't. I left the day after Christmas. But our Christmas together was fabulous. 


We each opened something small on Christmas Eve night after a trip to the River Woods. The River Woods are a an outdoor mall in Provo. They decorated the place with tons of lights and so we walked around, stood by the fire and enjoyed the brisk weather.

[It was really pretty]

On Christmas morning we went to church and then came home to call the families. We got to Skype Josh's family for a little bit which was a lot of fun. And we called my mom and my siblings to wish them all a Merry Christmas too. It was a fun morning. After talking to family we opened our gifts. We got each other one gift and then filled each other's stockings. My big gift from Josh was a cashmere scarf from Gap. It's huge, warm, soft and I love it. He got a video game. Lame on my part, I know, but it's what he wanted. :) But we also got a bunch of fun things in our stockings and we wrapped everything in our stockings so it felt like we were opening more things! So we actually had a lot of fun. 

[fancy gloves from josh]

[a bunch of socks!]

[my amazing scarf!]

For Christmas dinner we made a pork roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. It was delicious. Josh isn't a big fan of ham so we went for the less traditional route, but arguably more delicious one. Our roast was yummy. 

[Our cute little Christmas dinner]

Being together was the most important thing on Christmas and while we both had a hard time being away from family, we really enjoyed spending our day together.