So Long, Good Bye, It's Been FUN!!!

Jo, Nic, and Ambs

After spending the first year (and a few months) of married life in Downtown Salt Lake City it is time to say our goodbyes.  When thinking back the time has come and gone too quickly, the first year of marriage has honestly gone way too fast.  I still can not believe our time in Utah is over.  At first it felt like two years or so was going to be a very very long time here in SLC.   We were anxious to have our life together, start our own way of doing things, and getting settled into married life but WOW so much has happened and we have enjoyed all of it!  

I could not be more excited and eager to get back to the warm weather with the smell of the ocean and our family surrounding us.  I felt like we missed out on many eventful and special times going on in our friends and families lives back in California. I am so ecstatic to be with each of them again and create many more memorable times. 

We will miss the interesting and fun people we have come to know while being in Salt Lake. There are many great memories we have made while living Downtown through school, church, work, friends of friends, and just shopping at Anthro!  We want you each to know you have made an impression in our hearts and lives, we will truly MISS you each SO MUCH.  Thank you for your friendship, compassion, happiness, understanding and most of all your love and strength. You are always welcome in our home, we hope you make your way to Orange County in the near future. 

Jo and Amber hosted a FUN filled party for us last night! Thank you everyone for the "on the road" package of games, goodies, and tunes! The party was rockin till the weeee  hours of the night! I do not recall the last time I was out till 3am. I was happy but sad all at the same time. I am really going to miss Jo and Ambs.  I loved all the fun and funny times we have shared here in SLC. I love how life happens in ways that I NEVER would have thought it would be! My life is always filled with adventure and I try to just have fun and enjoy (sometimes it is hard) but it is so worth it! Thank you for the great time girls! We love you and will miss having you so close. 

BLOWOUT!

Linds and I have been Christmas shopping through out the week. It always seems to be an adventure whenever we hang out! This is what we found upon returning to our car after shopping at  Nordstrom Rack...

A completely flat tire! We decided to drive to the tire place at a whopping 10mph. Everyone was honking at us, staring, and laughing. We made it safely and the tire was shredded...

The other night while out shopping we ran into these cuties- Max and Jessica! I saw a cute little boy starring at me when I realized I knew him, it was Max. 

EmilieJayne

Amber introduced me to this adorable store filled with plenty of great finds for any home. I picked up a couple aqua blue butterflies to add to my collection and if we were not packing up I would have bought a lot more stuff!

Brithday fun!

Yesterday Broc celebrated the big 27 with a large get together at The Cheesecake Factory. We all enjoyed the yummy food along with dessert at the restaurant and chocolate cake I made later in the night. Fun was had all around! Broc and Sandra we will miss spending time with you each week. Hopefully Med school will bring you close to us in the future!

The boys being goofy!

This one is for you DAD...

As we were driving up 4th this is what was spotted next to us. Isn't he AWESOME? I could picture my dad cruising down the road with his sidekick Drake next to him. Miss you dad we can hardly wait to get back!!

Eel, Tuna, Funky Charly, Shrimp, Edamame...

Sushi! Last night we enjoyed one of our last nights out with Jo, Ambs, and Kent. I was thrilled a year ago when I found out Ambs was moving to SLC and us three girls would all be united again! Just like high school but now Ambs has a baby, I am married and Jo is getting her PHD. Honestly it feels like only a couple years ago when we wondering the aisled at Target on a boring Wednesday night or driving around Orange County to check out hotties or hanging out laughing all night over silly stuff... WOW how the time flies! Jo and Ambs have made my time in Utah feel that much more like home. I am going to miss seeing them both on a weekly basis. It is funny how life takes you to unexpected places on random journeys - oh I love being with people who make my life happy and fun. Girls I love you both and will miss you so so so much. I hope you come home to Orange County often. 

Nemo and friends in aquarium behind us... hope we didn't eat them for dinner!

Can you tell we have been in Utah for awhile??? We are so pale and crusty!

Christmas Devotional

I wish you could see the background... there is a life size camel from the nativity

The newlyweds Maggie and Jonathan

The view from the Conference Center of lights on Temple Square

Happy Hannaka... A blue tree at The Gateway. I love looking out the window and seeing these trees each night!

I'm not sure what I love more... Being in the same room as the Prophet or the Spirit of Christmas?

Tonight we were privileged to attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints First Presidency Christmas Devotional. At this event the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings a variety of Christmas songs, the living day Prophet President Gordon b. Hinckley speaks, along with his counselors on topics related to the birth of Jesus Christ and the Christmas season. How I love the feeling of the powerful spirit that surrounds the Prophet. I would absolutely be thrilled to hug this little man and to shake President Monson's hand (he is my fav).  The Prophet seems to be aging this will most likely be the last time Tim and I will see him since we are heading out of Utah and will not be attending conference live for a long while. The weather was bit nippy after the first snowy storm yesterday but we endured the walk.  We met up with Maggie and Jonathan for a stroll through Temple Square. I sure am going to miss being so close to Temple Square and attending the events here.

Festival of Trees

Friday night Jo and I had girls night just the two of us (we do not have too many girlfriends here) we had so many activities we wanted to do it was a difficult decision to pinpoint just what to do. Since we are both loving the Christmas season and all the fun festivities that come along with this time of year we headed over to the Festival of Trees. What an amazing charity event this is! It is actually a rather large production of not only pine trees big and small magnificently decorated going for thousand of dollars but, gingerbread homes very elaborately decorated, wreaths, sweet treats, play houses and dancing and singing groups. All in the name of Primary Children's Hospital. 

What a touching and humbling experience this was, seeing the photos of those whom each tree was decorated for and hearing the heartbreaking stories that came along with each loss.  I guess I should briefly explain this event... Individuals, families, and companies sponsor/donate a tree but not just any tree a tree decorated very elaborately in a theme, each tree is unique to the individual who has passed away. Wealthy families and individuals bid on these trees for thousands of dollars. All the proceeds from the entire event are donated to the Primary Children's Hospital. Last year the event raised over $1.5 million dollars. For example a young man from the BYU football passed away and his tree was decked out with autographs of the foot ball team and mass amounts of football related items. Going along with the theme are other items around the tree and everything is related. It is amazing! My favorites were the trees adorned with butterflies and the tool tree (this reminded me of my dad) it was a tree made of wire and metal decorated with tool and hardware related items accompanied by a tool box and hundreds of tools. I look forward to the day when Tim and I can do something similar to this. I would love to decorate a tree and donate it as well as bid on these amazing trees.

I often forget how fortunate I am to be a healthy thin young woman with every opportunity in front of me. I am extremely grateful for the life I am privileged to live.  Although life flies by life is short I was reminded of this as I saw photos of way too many young children and young adults whose lives ended before they had expected. Enjoy this time of year with all those you love dearly.  Merry Christmas.

Christmas on Temple Square

We spent last Sunday evening enjoying the first weekend of Christmas lights and festivities on  Temple Square with Kent, Ambs, little Andy and Jo. The temperature was freezing but we laughed as we people watched and checked out the vibrant array of lights in every color of the rainbow. I am going to miss this place with its beauty and peacefulness.

SNOWFALL

The snow is finally here!! For the first time this season it is snowing in Salt Lake. I love sitting on the couch starring out the window into the city watching the snowflake twirl around. The view is amazing today with snow covering rooftops, signs, cars, tree branches and the street below. Thankfully I am in for the day packing up the house.

Idaho Photos

Country Living... Idaho

Jo was kind enough to invite us to Preston for Thanksgiving with her family. The fun was endless! We toured Preston and the small country towns nearby checking out the acres of land with cows, horses, sheep, lamas and lots of dry grass and weeds. Went to Kings, the DI, Pop n Pins, stayed in the house where Napolean Dynamite was filmed, got spooked out in a ghost town, saw a real live reindeer, toured the Thomas mansion and relaxed. The Thomas and Smith families were so generous and kind, we enjoyed the yummy turkey dinner and the delicious pies. THANK YOU for having us and making our trip to Preston a memorable one! We loved every day of our getaway. I hope someday we can have a home away from home to go for fun relaxing vacations.

It's official I'm unemployed...

and it sure does feel great! Wednesday was my last day working with bridal gowns and I could not be a happier person. Although the position was filled with much learning and it would look fabulous on my resume I supper dupper excited to be moving. I will miss a handful of girls I worked with and hope they come visit soon! Now its time to pack up this house and get on the road to our home sweet home...

FUN FILLED WEEKEND!

The fun was never ending this weekend... Friday evening started with Amber, Kent and our favorite toddler Andy, we all headed down stairs to the new Urban Outfitters to check it out and to meet up with Jo for a few. The people watching was great, I enjoying seeing the different fashions of those in Utah. We then headed over to the Hilton to pick Kirk and Chelsea up!! We were super excited to have them in town for the weekend. A delicious meal of lots and lots and lots of meat was had at our favorite Brazilian Eatery up here. The boys(brando, spence, and scott) joined us too, it was a little reunion.
Saturday was jam packed busy - breakfast with kirk and chels at a ghetto place, the airport to get Jo and Britt!, the temple, dinner at CPK, and gaming, laughing, talking, blogging all night at our place! We enjoyed all the time we had to spend with all our many friends through out the weekend.
Sunday we got a special treat when Jo and Brit missed their flight and stayed for the day! We did a little sight seeing around town. As soon as they headed off we went down to P-town to spend the evening with Jules, Russ, Baby S and Margie. Jules made the most delicious meal we ate till I was ready to pass out! Jules thanks for having us over we are already counting down to April when we can all be together for a short while till you three head off on your adventure. We are really going to miss you all, I just love how much we have together and how well our hubbies get along, I feel like Russ has been a part of the gang forever. It is funny how meet people at certain points in your life and dont realize how things might turn out. Thank goodness for the boys of the past... I sure am grateful we are friends for life.
The weekend was a memorable one! I wish we could see all of our friends all together more often. I love to see how happy each of you are and how much you have changed since our single days. We love you all and thank you for making our weekend special.

OUR SPECIAL DAY...

Today was the best day we have had in Utah since living here. We want to thank all our wonderful friends for taking time to spend the entire day and night with us. It has been years since we have spent time with Kirk, Clay and Joe all at the same time. It reminded us of our single life long before we were ever in love. It truly was amazing to been in such a special place with so many of you today. We love each of you and often do not get spend much time with you. A special thank you go's out to Jo and Britt who made a very quick trip (less than 24 hrs) to Utah to show love and support of us. We are beyond excited to live in the same city as you and enjoy the future babe! Kirk and Chelsea for making the 7 hour drive just to see us and support us. Tim considers you his brother and really misses you. Wether its Shell beach or SC we can hardly wait to raise our little ones with you. Mason and Melissa we know how busy Mas's schedule is in Idaho we appreciate you making the trip down. Tim has admired since the day you came knocking on the door to skate his ramp. THANK YOU for tricking him into institute! We would not have been here today if it were not for Mas, Jeff, Ben, and Dan the man. Tim loves you and thinks so highly of you. We wish we could have seen the babe today too but thankfully we will be in the bay together soon. To all of our other friends we can not express how much your friendship, love, support, and examples have influenced us and helped us. Love you all!

NOW SPOONING...

Yummy frozen yogurt has found its way to Utah. Spoon me offers two flavors of fresh yogurt frozen adorned with any three toppings you want. We have enjoyed this cool fresh yummy treat a few times over the past couple weeks. Tim is a big fan! I on the other hand prefer a sweet treat over this tart treat. But it's worth a try.

It has arrived...

We were so stoked when we heard the Cheesecake Factory was really coming to Utah. We of course had to go opening weekend we could not resist! The wait was only two hours - not too bad. Jules, Russel and baby S joined us for a very scrumptious meal and delicious desert. We celebrated my birthday (a little late) since I had been gone for the whole month. Jules I am loving the butterfly, it is so me! Thanks for the fun day guys. We will miss you!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tim and I have been keeping busy since I have been home. The time seems to fly by incredibly fast. We had a blast at this is place
touring their haunted city! Season and Benjamin invited us to go on a spooky adventure. I had so much fun!! We ventured through old historic homes, the forest, the mountains, rode on a horse and buggy, got chased by the headless horseman, and laughed the entire 45 minutes.
Today I had the fun opportunity to dress up for work. As you can see I am a gypsy girl. Last night I was scrambling to come up with a costume, as I dug thru the drawers and searched out the closet this is what I came up with. Tim was teasing me all night stating how scary it is that I could create this costume with my normal wardrobe. Here are some random of photos of a few girls I work with...

TRAVELS

I am so happy to me home with my hubby after all my traveling. What a long month it has been... Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.
Atlanta is an interesting place to say the least! Where do I start.... How about the horrible hotel we stayed in! Not only did I find a black hair on my bath towel, but a booger in my bed! Disgusting! I was scared out of my mind with the Black Panthers having their convention at our hotel, so I Linds and I stayed up to the wee hours of night and slept with a chair behind out door. The mall was amazing with the BET awards going on I had some wonderful people watching opportunities, there were high class gangsta's everywhere, large chains, black diamonds, gold teeth you name it I saw it. I absolutely love thier style! Linds and I even got invited to a BET party by King. Oh did I mention the mall was like South Coast, great shopping!
Dallas was much better. A clean nice Hotel was refreshing, the hotel even had tasty restaurants! Unfortunatly someone had issues with my Dallas photos and this new leopard program so they are all gone... I was so bummed! We had the opportunity to eat De Lux a yummy restaurant just like Cheesecake and do loads of shopping at a three story mall. The best part of all the traveling is finally eating good food and shopping at places that carry fabulous lines! I know it is hard to believe but I am actually totally shopped out! Heather, Linds and I had such a great time with our new found friend Christopher, we enjoyed hearing about his boyfriend and all his advice. I met some very interesting people and heard alot of touching stories. It is comforting to good genuine people still exist.