Tagged

Another tag (Alli, it's doing it to me too). Anyway, thanks Jackie. I'm bored.

8 THINGS ABOUT ME
Here are the rules:
1)POST RULES ON YOUR BLOG
2)ANSWER THE SIX "8" ITEMS(They're not in any particular order)
3)LET EACH PERSON KNOW BY LEAVING THEM A COMMENT

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS -
1. Biggest Loser
2. What Not to Wear
3. anything on discovery
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
yeah, we get 3 channels and have no time so that's all I can think of

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. went to church
2. cooked my very first roast which was delicious if I might say so
3. played up up down with Brooke, her dad, and Steven
4. made some chocolate chip cookies
5. read the Ensign
6. held my adorable nephew Carson
7. finished my book "The Star Garden"
8. took cookies to the Beagley's

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. finishing school
2. Thursdays and Fridays when I don't have work
3. Getting my pressure canner in April!
4. Sleep
5. working out
6. seeing Steven
7. spending time with family
8. having our cars paid off

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Rosa Maria's
2. La Parilla Suiza
3. Red Robin
4. Macaroni Grill
5. Cafe Rio
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. Hungry Howie's (not really a restaurant...)
8. Native New Yorker wings

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
1. a nice camera
2. more space (a.k.a. house)
3. a bachelor's and maybe some day master's degree
4. exercise/fitness room
5. blackberry pearl
6. jeep cherokee
7. whole new wardrobe
8. a nice road/tri bike

8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. Amy (since she hasn't updated her blog in FOREVER)
2. Kati
3. Alli
4. Desiree
5. Amy L.
6. Trish
7. Meagan
8. Sarah

Valentine's Day!

Usually I try to plan something for Valentine's Day but this year Steven took control. It was kind of nice actually :o) Saturday morning Steven had a hike with his boy scouts so I stayed home and went to the gym and cleaned. When he got home we left to go out to eat. We wanted to avoid the crowds and not eat so late. So we went to Cheesecake Factory. I didn't like my food or what Steven got and we were wedged in between people. It was ridiculous and SO not romantic. Oh well. After that we spent forever at Barnes and Noble. I wish I worked there...I love books! And speaking of books, Steven got me the entire "Twilight" series for Valentine's Day! I've been wanting to start the books over again but only have Breaking Dawn. I still haven't even seen the movie. Don't think I want to. Anyway, after that we went and checked into our hotel. This was a surprise for me (up until Friday). Steven got us a room at the hotel where we stayed at after we got married. They even upgraded us to a suite for free! It's a pretty interesting place--it used to be a run-down Motel 8 or something but they've renovated it and you'd never tell! It's really nice now. Anyway, we just hung out there all night. They have a heated pool and spa so we went swimming. It was so nice to be somewhere other than the apartment. Later that night we went to the Sugar Bowl since it was just down the road from our hotel.
We kept Valentine's Day pretty simple. Usually I like to do candy and hearts and everything pink/red but this year it just crept up on us so we just ate dinner and stayed in the hotel. We had to get up and go to church Sunday morning but we still had fun! We didn't take any pictures of us but here are two of our hotel. There aren't any of the whirlpool but they have these HUGE bathtubs with jets in the corner or of the suite room. They're heavenly. I want one in my house someday.
Anyway, we had a really good time and it was nice to have a mini-vacation. Thanks for the great weekend Steven--I love you!

Cirque du Soleil

Here's a youtube clip of O. It may seem a bit weird and random and well, it is! But that's just what makes it so cool. It's so different and crazy. We loved it!!


There's a lot more on there you HAVE to watch. It's amazing. The music is fabulous and all live. if you ever get a chance to go see it, do it!

Viva Las Vegas

Whenever we were with our friends, the Beagley's, we always would say how we needed to go to Vegas sometime and see a Cirque du Soleil show (O to be specific). Finally last month we just decided to do it. We went this past weekend and had a BLAST. It was a much needed vacation after starting school! We left Friday after work and drove on up. We were tired when we got there so we went to bed within a few hours of getting there. The Beagley's have a condo up there so didn't have to pay for a place to stay! D'nette's parents were there too.
Saturday morning we woke up, made breakfast and then got ready to go down to the strip. I've been to Vegas a few times but never done anything there so we had a few things on our list to see or do. We went to the M&M factory and Coke store and then just walked around. We went to Circus Circus and walked around there too. It rained all day but we loved it! When we got back to the condo that afternoon we threw on our swimsuits and went down to the pool/spa. The pool was heated so we went back and forth. I think we spent about an hour in the spa!! It was so relaxing!

Later that night we got showered and ready for dinner and the Cirque show. We went and ate at the Rio (Carnival Buffet). We stood in line for an hour and a half but it was well worth it! I've never seen so much food in my life! Steven was definitely loving the sea food. I think he had 2 plates of it! He doesn't get that stuff at home since I can't STAND the smell of fish or anything "fishy".
After dinner we RUSHED to the show over at the Bellagio. I thought for sure we were going to miss it but we made it with a few minutes to spare. Words can't even describe the show. We literally sat there the whole time going "wow" "oh my gosh" "did you just see...?" Yeah, we were all kind of tired from having just eaten and having the 10:30 show but it was still SO AMAZING! It was kind of random and different but in a cool way. We can't wait to go back and see another one.
Needless to say we were all very tired when we got back so we crashed. Sunday we just spent the day relaxing inside. We played a few heated rounds of Up Up Down and pretty much ate all day. Later that afternoon Steven and I went to visit his aunt and uncle and cousins who live there in Vegas. We haven't seem them since August so it was fun catching up!

Anyway, we had SO much fun. The Beagley's are some of our favorite people and we consider them family! We're SO SO SAD they're moving from our ward but we know we'll keep in touch and are happy they found a house! Anyway, we wish we could have stayed another few days. We weren't ready to come back home and go back to work but oh well, such is life! :)

Someone thought this was a parking space but...it wasn't and Steven thought it was funny

Our last day (Steven, me, D'nette, Scott and Aubri)

My plate...nothing too exciting

Steven's plate--one of many I should say!

D'nette's parents, Dave and Janet (so much fun!)

This part was fun :) Totally not worth $12/lb but it's all part of the experience :)

Aubri kicked our trash at this game and won a stuffed animal!

The closest I'll get to New York :)

I caught Steven rocking out to his Spanish music :)

New York Skyline

Catching Up

I used to be so good at blogging but I just have ZERO time these days. I'm in school again so that's keeping me REALLY busy! I love it so much though. I love to learn and be in school. It makes me feel so much better about myself and I love coming home and telling Steven something I learned. Right now I'm taking chemistry+lab, public speaking, psychology, and nutrition. I'm so fortunate to have a job where I can read and do my homework because I swear I'd never sleep if I tried to handle this load of classes at home. No way. Anyway, my days are definitely busy and we have some late nights!
A couple weekends ago we went out to the Olive Mill in Queen Creek. It wasn't as fun as I was expecting it to be but we got a really good lunch out of it and a day away from the city. The weather was gorgeous! We were the youngest people there by about 40 years--easy. We learned a lot about olive oil and were just glad to be out of the apartment.
One Sunday the weather was just perfect so we unrolled some sleeping bags, put them out on our balcony and took a nap. It was so quiet and peaceful. I could have laid out there all day!
Anyway, here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Not much but it's something!

I love that we have a somewhat pretty view from our balcony
Our sleeping bags
First day of school! Cheesy picture because I didn't want my picture taken. I was so tired.

The Best I Ever Had

I just had to take this opportunity and tell everyone about my sweet, sweet husband. I really don't know how I ended up with someone who is SO good to me. Here is just one of many examples.
On Monday and Wednesday nights I don't get out of school until 10 and I have to walk across the parking lot to my car. When I got out of class last night I had a text from Steven saying to call him right when I was done so I did. So I'm talking to him as I'm walking out of the building and when I go outside it's POURING but there is Steven, right at the front door waiting to pick me up to take me to my car. He knew I didn't have a hood or umbrella or anything and was in heels and didn't want me to get wet and cold walking all the way to my car.
He's always so thoughtful and sweet like that. It was the perfect way to end my long day and I was so happy to see him. Thanks babe!