Brian, the Graduate!

I am absolutely so proud of Brian.

He graduated from the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University!

CLASS OF 2013!

 

He wasn't sure if he wanted to walk, he thought it was going to be lame.

But when he picked up his cap and gown and we went to the rehearsal together, he became very excited that he had decided to walk.

 

It was amazing to get the families together and be able to watch Brian get his diploma from the dean.

Brian got his diploma towards the end, which I thought was good because I was excited the whole way through the graduation.

 

Sadly, both of our phones died during the ceremony so I had to rely on the pictures of family members, but here are my favorites taken that day:

 

 Brian right after getting his diploma from the dean!

 



 Just a few of my favorites of us together after the ceremony.

Thanks to those that sent these to me!

 

At Brian's graduation party, we set up a little table with some of the pictures of the graduation.

I also was sure to include Hooters, the owl, as he is very wise and all knowing...

I also made flower arrangements even though Brian thought they were lame because,

 

"I'm just a guy graduating. I don't need flower arrangements."

 

WRONG!

 

Trust me, you do :)

 

They played Frisbee and Volleyball

Brian and his Grandfather, Harold Southwick

We were so very happy that he could join us for the party!

 

Brian and his delicious and festive cake!!

 

*as a side note: aren't his eyes flipping striking in this picture?!?

 

The next day Brian and I went over to his sister's home early so we could take family portraits in seriously the most beautiful spot in Orem.

I didn't even know the place existed.

 

We went to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast.

It was seriously an absolute treat because we are NEVER up that early!

 

Afterwards we went to our car and it wouldn't work!

 

Poor Ursylla was finally on her last breath.

We decided that it was time to put her to rest and get a newer car.

Even though I was excited to get a new car and we really needed it, it was still emotional.

I cried. Ursylla held special memories for me as my dad had given her to me as a graduation present.

That car had taken me a lot of places and was part of my budding independence.

 

Ok, don't judge me. I know I'm being lame.

But there's some raw honesty for you and I'm not ashamed!

 

We went and saw my brother-in-law Chase who works at Volkswagen in Orem.

He is great! If you need a car, go see him!

 

We decided to leased a new car to give it a try and see if we like it.

We have heard opposite thoughts and opinions on leasing, but we wanted to give it a try.

 

We now have a VW Jetta, Marcell.

 

Me saying goodbye to the old girl.

Sorry mommy couldn't save you!

 

As a final note. Brian and I celebrated Cinco De Mayo by eating taco salads and for dessert a deep- fried churro cupcake!

 

Delicioso!

 

Viva Mexico!!

 

Oh yeah also, Happy 24th Anniversary to my Mom and Dad! I'm so glad you guys are still weirdos!

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Madness of March

To me birthdays and holidays are a BIG deal!

I'm certain I get that from my mother.

I go all out. I get super into it. Some might say I do "too much."

Sue me, I don't care!

I enjoy making things birthdays (especially) a HUUUUUGE deal!

 

So when Brian turned a QUARTER OF A CENTURY this month...

hahahahahaha!

I made it a big deal.

 

One of the reasons I made Brian's birthday a big deal was because I never know what to get him. I always ask him what he would like and he says:

 

"Goggles for skiing. But, don't get me those because ski season is almost over.."

or

"A backpack. But, don't get me one because I want a particular kind and you probably won't get the right one. I'll just get that myself."

or

"I don't know. Nothing really. If I really want something I'll just go buy it myself."

 

So, I'm left with trips.

Fortunately for me Brian LOVES trips.

I love trips.

I feel so much more at ease and stress free if I can take a weekend hiatus at least once a month.

If I am deprived of at least a weekend vacation once a month...

I will literally

go

INSANE with CABIN FEVER

 

I struggle.

 

Anyways. Brian kind of had a month long birthday. It started the first week of March.

Brian and I had been thinking about getting a kitten for about a month.

At first we wanted to get a Russian Blue because they remind us of Tatem.

Then, I read this paralyzing article someone posted on Facebook about animals that are taken the shelter. I balled my eyes out and told Brian we had to go to the shelter that day.

 

That's how we found

 

 

Kyoto!!!

 

We love her.

Well, most of the time.

Sometimes she's a brat but I guess she is kind of like me in that way.

She loves attention. She loves sleeping. She loves eating.

Overall, she's a keeper.

She was Brian's birthday present # 1.

 

Brian's Birthday Present # 2.

Refer back to mention of a trip.

Brian loves to go out into nature. Anyone who knows me knows that I avoid nature and being outside like the plague.

However, it was not my birthday.

 

I booked us a trip to Zion's National Park.

Brian was so thrilled.

He loves that park.

 He has a lot of nostalgic memories of that place as his family has held family reunions there for quite some time.

He showed me around a lot of the sites he loves

<3

 

We had a lot of fun jumping from bed to bed in our hotel room.

No we do not sleep Ricky and Lucy style...

The deals on travelocity.com always only offer deals on double beds

with one bed rooms being more expensive.

It's actually kind of nice because we had one bed to sleep in and the other to relax on after hikes when we were all sweaty and outdoorsy smelling.

 

SCORE!

 

 

A picture we took in a convenient spot on our morning hike along The Narrows.

 

I named this rock:

Snuffleupagus Rock.

You know, from Sesame Street?

I think it's quite fitting.

 

Eh? Eh? Eh?

The resemblence is uncanny.

Hahaha!

 

 

Brian showing off the "awesomeness" of his beloved Chacos

They dried in like 30 seconds.

 

 

Me on our overlook hike. It was actually pretty scary.

Well probably not to most people but I am super afraid of heights.

 

Yeah.. pictures could fool you.

I look like quite the nature doer in these.

 

After our overlook hike, we went back into town and were upset to find that we would get stuck in their town's St. Patricks Parade

for no joke

2 hours!

 

I died.

 

We went to Switchback Bar & Grill.

Brian got the most amazingly delicious and messiest burger I have ever seen.

The Bleu Cheese Burger.

 

So good!

 

Later on we went to Weeping Rock. It was the quickest hike I have ever been on.

 

Brian at weeping rock.

 

The next day we went to the Emerald Pools. We were going to just go to the lower one, but then figured we should do all of them since we were already there.

You might as well, right??

 

Afterwards we got brunch at Cafe Solei.

So yummy!

Then, we made our sad journey home.

 

:'(

 

We had a super fun trip.

We took home a super sweet rock that we have displayed on our wall shelf.

The vacation was just what the doctor ordered!

 

 

Then it was time to celebrate Brian's birthday on his actual birthday!

 

I woke up early and made him a pancake breakfast.

I made the pancakes in the shape of Kyoto's bottom..

 

 

 

Hahahaha! Great right?

I got it from pinterest it was an original idea.

 

Brian and I both had school.

After school we went to Tucano's.

Brian wanted to have a regular

Ron Swanson Birthday Extravaganza!!

He ate sickening amounts of meat...

He loved it!

 

Brian making his birthday wish with help from Kyoto!

 

 

 

It really was a Ron Swanson birthday.

 

Brian wanted to relax and watch a movie after his "exhausting" birthday activities.

We watched Argo, which is super good.

BTW.

 

Brian got some birthday smooches...

 

and bites!

 

"Aw! You're so cute I could just eat you up..."

 

For his family birthday dinner, I made him a cookies and cream mustache cake.

This is what Brian's mustache will look like in 25-30 years;

Salt and Peppery!

 

He loved his cake.

Almost as much as I love him.

Okay maybe he loved his cake more...

 

 

Just kidding!

 

Have a Happy Easter!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"It's not Valentine's Day without Bacon."

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

I want to be with you

Blood is Red

Bruises are Blue

Don't say, "No."

...

Before we get to Valentine's Day. I just want to say..

Hahahahaha! The Ravens beat San Fran! Wooooooooot! Just another peice of evidence to show that the East is way better than the West.

Ok. Now that that is out is of my system...

Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is actually a very special day in particular to Brian and I. Not only is it a day to celebrate our relationship. But, it holds a lot of really great memories.

2 1/2 years ago. A very bold Brian, decided to text a girl he liked the day before Valentine's Day. He had just gotten back from his mission and wanted to make sure he spent that day of love with a girl and not a man.

The girl (me) got his message at approximately 11 AM. She decided to be a deuce and not text him back until 10 PM.

Luckily, he hadn't asked anyone else. So he was still available.

She wore a red, white and black outfit and bought red shoes to match for the occassion.

He bought her flowers and took her out for Sushi.

Brian and I had been going on dates for 5 or 6 months... But it was the day before Valentine's Day in 2011, that I knew Brian actually really liked me. After a well designed and thought out Power Point presentation, that I made with cue cards and pictures... Brian was a little afraid of commitment... 

Brian consented to dating me exclusively 6 days later.

His life was never the same. Poor Kid...

What did he ever do to deserve this?

;)

This Valentines Day, our first being married to each other, was really great. I had school all day, while Brian's got cancelled. Brian and I made each other a wonderful breakfast: Orange Juice, Waffles, Parfaits, Eggs, Toast and Heart-Shaped Bacon.

As Ron Swanson would say, "It's not Valentine's Day without bacon."

What a wise man.

I went to school ALL DAY LONG! When I got home I was surprised by a HEART ATTACK!!!

I had never been Heart Attacked before so it was really fun and totally unexpected. Each heart had a little note or thing that he loves about me. Here are a few that made me laugh.

In case you can't read his handwriting, the above says:

Just so you know, I'm not cleaning this up!

Below, it says:

Don't take a picture of this and post in on Facebook!

For the record, I didn't post it one Facebook... but I did post it on this blog.

Don't tell him.

For Valentines Day, I got Brian some chocolates and some new shoes.

I also made him the greatest Valentine's Day card of all freaking time.

Um.Yeah.

Do you feel like you suck?

You should.

Just try to compete with that.

Since we were so busy... waaaaa!

We celebrated Valentine's Day later on that week.

On Saturday, I used one of my date coupons from last Valentine's Day to go to Color Me Mine.

It was so much fun. I made little mustache cups.

Brian made a super manly mustache bowl that he has informed me I am not allowed to eat

out of. I would fight him on this, but he normally does the dishes...

so he is more entitled to claiming dishware than I am.

:-{)

(Nope, your eyes do not deceive you. That my friend is a mustached-face emoticon.)

I'll even let you tell your friends that you came up with it on your own.

People will think, "Wow! They're so innovative."

But you & i... we'll know the truth.

Us with our masterpeices pre-glaze.

Us with our masterpeices post-glaze.

I love Valentine's Day.

(I hope you do too.)

I love my life.

(I hope you do too.)

I love my husband.

(You shouldn't cause that would be weird and I'll cut you.)

Have a Fabulous Day. Until next time, Loves!





New Year. New York.

Sorry for the delay in our posts.
I know you have been dying of anticipation to know exactly what we have been up too...

In January we were fortunate enough to fly back East and spend a wonderful 12 days with my family and friends. When we landed in New York, the pilot got on the overhead and told us, "It is currently 9:06 AM. The weather in syracuse is cloudy with an 80% chance of precipitation. It is currenlly -10 degrees." My immediate thought was, "Why are we HERE?!?"

Our whole trip looked like this.
But it was great.
Our lives have been so absolutely chaotic lately.
We both go to school full time.
We both work full time.
I work weekends, he doesn't.
Any minute we have to spare is spent trying to catch up.
It is exhausting.

Case and Point = That type of vacation is exactly what we needed.

My mother, the sweetheart (or lazy bum) that she is kept her Christmas decorations up so that we could celebrate Christmas with them. I got so many great things. I will be baking and cooking until the end of time using all the nifty things they got me.

For instance, My parents got me a Wok. I made a delicious stir fry with it in celebration of Chinese New Year... and The Walking Dead. Absolutely not correlated, but day was officially complete!

We slept in. We went to the mall a lot. I only bought one pair of beautiful heels. I was so proud of myself for not going on a shopping spree. Brian's wallet was pretty happy about that too :) We went out to dinner a lot with my family. We went to Moe's. It is my mom and dad's favorite place. It's kind of like Cafe Rio, but they just serve burritos.

Us in front of Jeffrey's favorite Restuaraunt, Johnny's Rocket.... LOL!

My Parent's took our whole family to this super awesome place on the last day we were there. It was super delicious and absolutely beautiful on the inside. I really liked it and Brian said he definitely wants to go there again.

My mom and I also cooked a lot. Brian and I cooked Salmon and Steak for my family. We ate that on our family's mock Christmas Eve. My dad even tried the Salmon even though it is fish! Truly a (Delayed) Christmas Miracle.

Every night, Anthony would come home super late. Either from working or hanging out at Jordan's house. We would stay up with him and watch a movie or a show. It was so relaxing to unwind and know you didn't have to go anywhere the next morning. Also, Anthony likes some pretty lame movies, so it was fun to make fun of the movies he chose. They all rated less than 11% on Rotten Tomatoes... Haha!

While I was on my trip I was able to see two of my best friends.

Rachel has been going to Nursing school for the past year. When I told her I was coming and when, we learned that I would be there for her graduation. I was so ridiculously excited and thrilled for her and to be there. She has worked super hard and I'm so very excited for this new chapter in her life. She is seriously, the sweetest and most caring person I know, she is going to be a great nurse.

Oh! and I got to see my handsome boyfriend, Joey!!

I also got to spend time Kaitlyn. She is such a riot! She is going through a very exciting time in her life. I am very grateful that I was able to spend time with her and share some very special moments with her. On the last day I was there, we went to the Farmer's Market and she came with us. We probably spent $50 on their .50 cent treats. They were so freaking delish!

Going on this trip reminded me that I need to be better about staying in touch with people. I have been so blessed to have such great friends.

I also learned that I'm glad I don't live in Syracuse because I would go to the Geddes Bakery WAYYY too much and get fat!

Cannolis are my weakness.

I was also super happy to get a chance to spend time with my grandparents. They weren't feeling well at the beginning of my trip so I was worried we wouldn't get to see them. But, they pulled through and my grandma even helped me pack. I wish I would have gotten a picture with my Grandpa :(

The last day we were there I told Brian I wouldn't be joining him. I really love being with my friends and family. I really love being on vacation!

Why must vacations end?!

Probably because your mom starts to drive you crazy... Just Kidding!