Correction...

This is Brian. The Cougar win was awesome!

Turkey Day & Other Things...

Hey, out there! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. Brian and I enjoyed the 4-day weekend. We ate ourselves silly and avoided all stores on Black Friday. If you are one of the crazies that day, good for you! I prefer online shopping. I value my health and well-being enough to not venture out and get killed over Christmas presents.

Brian and I played in the Turkey Bowl with Paul's family & Travis' family. It was awesome! It was a little chilly, but after running around, I got warmed up. I had multiple chances to catch but missed a few. The sun was in my eyes! Next year, I'll be better prepared with my sunglasses.

We went to the Blanks' this year for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad are great cooks! We had tons of food! Mom made 2 turkeys for 8 people so we got to take home lots of leftovers. Brian has been eating turkey sandwiches all week, and there is still some left! We had to move the stuffing away from Ryan...he kept saying how full he was but then would have another helping! Growing boys, I guess. Brian got his boysenberry pie, and I gobbled up the pumpkin pie from Costco. So good! Dad had a little bit too much fun with the Cool Whip on his. We played some games and even got Mom to participate on Mad Gab. It was funny! We were kicking butt with Ryan on our team, but the older folks eventually got the hang of it. All in all, very fun!

We ventured over to the Reynolds' as well that day. Brian thought he could eat another meal; didn't happen. But we did take some pie home. We brought Lily over to get her used to a lot of people. I think we've got 2 kids now that will play with her. We're getting there! Ethan and Isaac had a lot of fun with her. Lily is just a big sweetie (50 pounds now). I hope our families continue to warm up to her.

Lily got fixed on Friday morning. We went to pick her up from the vet and were so sad to see her limping. She had very wet eyes all day and kept crying. It was killing us! The rest of the week has been much better. She is back to her old self. Only a few more days left till we can take her walking again. She needs it almost as much as us! Gotta get that turkey weight off!

I wasn't going to mention the annual rivalry game, but I will. Utah played terribly last Saturday! We were listening to the radio so we would know what was going on. I think they made it into the end zone once the whole game! So maddening! BYU won 23-20 this year. I will say that I don't think either team played up to where they could have, though. Notre Dame also concluded their annoying season with a loss. They were 6-6 and have fired old Chuck. See ya! We hope good things are happening for the future with all our teams. At least the Colts keep winning! No matter what, though, football is a lot of fun to watch.

Have a great week, everyone!

What happened?

Let's have a contest to guess what this is, shall we?

I experimented today with a banana bread recipe. It said to cook the bread for 1 hour. About 40 minutes into it, I decided to stick a toothpick in it since it looked a little brown. It came out clean and so did the bread. Being ever the genius, I thought you were supposed to get the bread out as quickly as possible and dump it on a cookie rack (hence the steak-looking markings on top). I shook the pan and out came the bread...without the bottom. Oh, well. It still tastes good. Now the real test...will Brian still eat it?

Backstory: A few weeks ago, Brian and his dad came up with an awesome plan for a new dog kennel. They made it out of wood and then put chicken wire on the inside so Lily wouldn't keep chomping on the wooden dowels that make up the bars. Present: I came home today, so excited to see Lily. She always is happy to see people, especially us. But to my shock and dismay, I notice that her kennel door is quite demolished. Not good. She was in timeout for a while so I could vacuum up the wood shavings that she tries to eat. Plan B for the new door: thick plywood. No more looking out the front, but Lily will live. Hopefully this solves the problem. And I can make it cuter in the future by painting it up nice. Purple should look good, don't you think? :)

Slow mo...

Currently, my computer program at work is in turtle mode, so this pic sums up my feelings at the moment. Plus, I really love posting pics of Lily; isn't she sweet? Get ready for some updates as well.

Brian and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary 3 weeks ago. Hooray for us! Since Brian had a math test, we celebrated early with a trip to Tucano's on Saturday. We filled our mouths and tummies, and still managed to eat dessert a few hours later. (Try the Snicker's cheesecake - heavenly!) We didn't do gifts this year; Lily counted for that.

My new job is awesome. I just feel badly that my co-workers have to babysit because it is very involved and complicated to learn all this stuff. But I am getting good reviews from everyone so that is a good sign. Plus my schedule allows me to have Fridays off which is always a bonus!

Lily is growing and growing! Brian wants her to continue and be a huge monster. She gained another 10 pounds this last month; up to 33 pounds now. She got her rabies shot and her first grooming done. I let the professionals clip her nails; I'm a woos! They put a little Halloween bandana on her after her bath and stuff; so cute! It remains to be seen how she'll do with a costume or if we get one. She's going to play with Dexter again and will meet Zoey on Saturday. That should be interesting…what a fun life for a dog!

Brian's doing well in his math class. Since it's word problems mostly, it is right up his alley. I hated word problems! I'm glad he has other resources if he gets stuck.

So…there's our life this past month. Hope all is well out there. Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Ah, sweet relief...

I don't know how fast news travels around here. For those of you not in the "know", I will update you on our little corner of the world.
1. Brian got into Math 1030. Yay! Why is this such huge news? Well, it means the end is FINALLY near for his schooling and bachelor's degree. He will not need to take pre-reqs. He will have just one class next semester and then be DONE!!! Yay! We are huge fans of SLCC. They saved us.
2. I got a new job. Yay! I have been looking around for a while and finally found one that will suit us perfectly. I will be working in cancer registry, starting on Sept. 14. I am stoked! I will get to work from home after a year, and when I am certified, I will make more money. Yay! You can't beat that, really.
So...that's my update for this week. We feel very grateful for all the good thoughts on our behalf. Things do pay off eventually.

Our 2009 Disneyland adventure...

I want to preface this post by saying there are no pictures of Brian and me. We had the camera phones ready and even brought a regular camera. But did we use them? No. We'll have to do better next time. I also think that if there were kids involved, we would have made sure to take some pics. Who wants to see pictures of us? BORING! Just enjoy this Buzz Lightyear shot. You can see we take the game VERY seriously!

We stopped over in St. George on the way down to Cali. I got to go-cart for the first time! It was fun! I probably looked like a loser cause I was just out for a nice ride. Everyone else was bashing into people or running into the side barriers. I saw Brian a few times mixed up in some collision. I was just crusing along.

L.A. had beautiful weather this year. The middle of June is the way to go. It was 75 degrees all week. How nice! We strolled and shopped and loved every minute! We went on Nemo at 11:45pm; only way to go. That line is forever slow, even when no one was there late! We caught the new Toy Story ride which was pretty awesome. It was a 3D midway game where you shoot different targets. It was cool! Favorite quote from the Monster's Inc. ride: At the end of the ride, Roz (secretary monster) says different things to people that are coming out of the cars. When we got there, she says to me, "Is that your husband? Ha ha ha!" Poor Brian.

We splurged A LOT on this trip. We felt we were overdue for a vacation and had been saving up extra dough to spend. We ventured over to the ESPNzone and Rainforest Cafe. Both were ok. Not really worth the money, but at least we can say we have gone. We also got a lot of fun souvenirs. I got cute clothes, and Brian ate food. We got our favorite pineapple whips outside the Tiki Room. So yummy!

We went to Santa Barbara one day. We love it! It is beautiful. We mostly window shop and stop for lunch somewhere. It is so laid back. Next time, we'll have to hit the gardens and/or tide pools. We'll also have to time our trip better. We were stuck in traffic FOREVER!

This year, we ventured out into the ocean at Newport Beach. I never thought I'd want to go swimming in public, but since the weight loss, I'm good with it. I got my shorts and tank and dove in. Well, really the waves knocked me over a few times. I was eating sand a lot. Eventually, I learned my lesson and swam out farther where Brian was enjoying just floating on the waves. So nice!

Such a nice trip, far too short for our liking. We are already planning for next year and looking forward to more adventures. Au revoir, Disneyland. Until next year...

Meet Lily...

For those of you who don't know, we finally broke down and bought a puppy. We really wanted an English bulldog, but the price was crazy! Plus they can be stubborn and have medical problems. Enter Lily, the golden retriever. I found her on KSL.com. I liked her larger head and bigger body out of her litter mates. Plus, she was really mellow. She has been with us for over a week, and we love her! Isn't she cute? She has been such a good dog so far. She doesn't cry at night or during the day in her crate, she knows how to sit, she goes outside to do her business, and she's just GR8! We hope you enjoy the photos.

First bath

Loves Brian's smelly shoe

So tiny...

Nap time...loves that cold tile

Outta My Way!!!

We have been watching our countdown clock religiously for the last week or so. I cannot describe how excited we are to get out of Dodge! Ah, the open road, palm trees, ocean view... and Mickey!!! Our car has been checked; our bags are packed. Let's head! New adventures are awaiting us. See ya in a week!

You Are Reggae Music

You're laid back, friendly, and even a bit of a bum at times. For you, life is too short to spend your time angry at the world. But while you don't take life too seriously, you're deeper than people realize. You're very reflective, and a few key topics (like social justice and love) are very important to you.

What Kind of Music Are You?

I'm thankful for...

long weekends with my best friend, Brian. He is the love of my life, and I couldn't be happier than when we are together.

family and friends. They help you to remember what is most important in life and give you some laughs along the way.

sunshine and parks. Thanks for playing with us yesterday, Ryan!

little kids. They always remind you of all the good in this world. Also, simple pleasures are best.

(This post comes in lieu of finishing the book "The Last Lecture." I highly recommend it...good for some self-reflection.)

Rooting for Lebron...

Yes, another sports update. I just can't help myself. The NBA playoffs are going on! Even though our beloved Jazz are long gone on their summer vacations, I still like to know what's new in the basketball world. I find it very exciting that King James and the Cavs have swept their series. I think I'm going with them to win it all this year. Lebron is just amazing. No one will ever beat Michael Jordan in greatness, but Lebron James comes pretty close. And he's only 24! I'd like to see the Cavs win the championship and this year's MVP get his first of many rings. GO CAVS!

New 'Do...

So...I decided since summer is around the corner, it was time for a hair cut. Some might say that it is quite a drastic change. But I really like it. It turned out better than expected, especially now that I'm skinnier. (Insert smile here.) It's always a little scary to change your hair, but you never know what you'll get until you take the chance. Thanks to my awesome hair stylist who always knows what will look good!

Shack Shots...

This is for all of you who wanted to see our new place. We love it! Hope you enjoy the tour.

Living Room (gas fireplaces rock!)

Dining Room (old lady light fixture included!)

1st Bedroom (office space until further notice)


1st Bathroom (old lady squishy toilet seat...will be junked)

Hallway

Patio (love the ivy, trees, flowers; plus NO yard work!)

Happy Springtime!

I love spring! Hooray for warm weather and t-shirts! There is nothing better. In honor of beautiful sunshine, I have updated our blog and musical selections. I hope you all enjoy.

We have been very preoccupied getting all moved in. Everything is settled now, and life is getting back to normal. I will be posting pictures of our awesome condo soon. Until then, enjoy the music and get up and dance!

Pittsburgh Steelers - 2009 Super Bowl Champs

What a crazy game! I was getting a little nervous in the 4th quarter. The Steelers almost blew it! Arizona and Kurt Warner were looking good, coming back from a 20-7 deficit. They scored quickly and led 23-20 with about 3 minutes left. But Big Ben and Santonio Holmes hooked up for the game winning touchdown.

The Steelers won 27-23. The 2009 MVP was Santonio Holmes for that amazing game-winning catch. Pittsburgh now has the most championships ever with 6 total. Woohoo!

Willie Parker

Big Ben

Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger

Our favorite commercial was by CareerBuilder. Check it out! The lady in the car reminded me of Brian for some reason. Ha!

Tips - CareerBuilder.com TV Commerical

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Our house, in the middle of the street...

Hello, friends! We have been busy bees here. We are now proud homeowners! Yay! This is a picture of the outside of our building. Our condo is actually in the lower right hand corner. We have wanted to live in this particular complex for a long time. Finally, one of the units opened up for us at the right time. We will be moving in March. We want to go NOW!!! But we'll have plenty of time to pack and clean. Hooray! We are very excited! If you don't see regular posts on here for a while, we are probably digging our way out of stuff and boxes!

UTES WIN!!!

Don't worry. I didn't forget to post anything about the Utes winning huge on Friday night. I am still a little stunned and way excited!

Utah finally got a chance to play the big boys from an SEC team. No one thought they could do it from the moment they were chosen to represent in the Sugar Bowl. The sports "experts" were claiming all week that Utah would get creamed. Yet, here we are with the biggest win in Utah football history. How awesome! I love when the "little guys" win big!

The Utes started out the first quarter with 21 consecutive points. The defense swarmed all over Alabama's running game and made their quarterback try to throw. Poor guy; Utah ended up sacking him 8 times. Hee hee...

Brent Casteel stretches the ball over the goal line for the first Utah touchdown.

Great catch!

By halftime, Alabama had scored a touchdown and field goal. The halftime score was 21-10. The Tide looked very confused at how they could be losing to a little team from Utah. But when you have the will and heart, anything can happen.

Both teams scored a touchdown in the 3rd quarter. But the Utah defense played their best and Alabama's big guns weren't a factor. They had no answer for the Utes' swarming D.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Louie Sakoda got to wrap up the game with a field goal. (Very fitting for Utah's highest scoring player EVER.) The kick was good, and Utah won 31-17. Awesome...

King Louie

The Utes ended their season with the best record in the nation, 13-0. Utah is the only unbeaten team in the country. They should get a claim of the national championship, but the system is not built that way. It's too bad the Utes can't at least have a shot at it. It would be awesome to have a college football playoff. But until then, we'll take this huge win.