Masquerade Party....

For our work Christmas party this year...

The theme was a masquerade ball to be held on Friday the 13th.

So we bought our masks...

Got our selves dressed up...

...and we mingled. We laughed. We ate dinner. We danced. And we had a wonderful night.

Quick Photo Update...

A few people have pointed out that I haven't blogged in awhile... And although I hate to admit it, it's the truth. I was sooo good all year - I don't know what happened. So here is a quick photo update (with captions) of the most recent adventures...

Relaxed and played some pool.

Ran in the Color Me Rad race with the boy and set a new 5K PR for both of us.

Went to Comicon. What a hoot.

Spent a Sunday afternoon at the park reading.

Tapped into our creative side with some pottery painting.

Got new shelves and a nice sofa for the living room.

Went to Cornbelly's and played in the corn (if you have children and have never taken them here it's one of the best October Carnivals I've been too. So family friendly)

Went to lunch with these cute girls I haven't seen since graduation.

Enjoyed the warmth of southern Utah with the fam.

And finally, enjoyed two glorious half pound cups of Reese's peanut butter.

V-J Day...

Here's to Halloween and the end of War War II!

One Year Wiser... But that's it.

 I'm not allowed to mention who's birthday it was recently. Or how old he turned. In fact, we weren't even allowed to celebrate. I obeyed these requests with respect... see for yourself...

Just us have dessert with a few friends - clearly not a celebration.

Sticky rice with mangos. A Thai delicacy. A unique dessert - but not for celebration of course.

A test drive on a newly remodeled motorcycle. But obviously not for any sort of celebration.

As you can see, Jake and I had a fun filled weekend just like any other weekend with no mention of a birthday and no celebrating of any kind....

The End of Summer...

The hardest part about Labor Day is saying goodbye to the long days, warm nights, and outdoor adventures of summer... Jake and I made sure we experienced every last minute of the long weekend with a few of our favorite things...

1. slurpees and a midnight walk...

2. cooking our favorite breakfast together - eggs in a basket...

3. 7 Peaks and the Boomerang. This ride gets both of us screaming every time...

4. expensive, greasy amusement park food on a park bench people watching...

5. an outdoor dinner with family to celebrate mom's birthday...

6. A run around and around and around Sugarhouse Park with the boy that pushes my pace...

7. take-out and a late night movie with friends...

8. one last camping trip at our favorite place... Logan Canyon...

9. miniature golf in the rain followed by a warm breakfast and hot chocolate...

and...

10. an afternoon relaxing with a nap, strawberries dipped in homemade fudge sauce, and laughing until we were crying (when you're already laughing pretty hard and then Jake gets the hiccups so he starts squeaking between laughs there is no stopping the hysteria).

I'm putting this one on the list for the best Labor Day weekend yet...

A Break and a Boat...

Words cannot describe the joy I experience every time I visit Lake Powell - so I'll let these pictures do the talking...

What a wonderful break from busy lives we all lead and a way for the soul to rejuvenate - aside from the lost cell phone... that's not very rejuvenating. It's probably on its way to the bottom of the lake...

The people and the laughs, the views and the sunrises, the HOUSEBOAT with a HOT TUB on top!, and the relaxation in such a gorgeous and unique place make these trips some of my favorites...

Feeling Powerful....

This moment in history marks the time that I will never again have to submit a paper, assignment, or take an exam for my undergraduate degrees. This moment right here will never happen again... and I couldn't be more thrilled!

"Didn't you graduate in April...?" You ask. Well, technically yes and no. I finished my Interior Design degree in April. I had three more classes to go to finish my sales degree. Yes, I could have taken the classes during the previous semester and killed myself, but instead, I saved them for the summer. They were all available online and there were only three of them, so what the heck.

I turned in the last essay at 10:30 this morning. So today marks the day that I am officially done with my undergraduate degrees! 

I'm excited, relieved, but most of all, I feel powerful. Maybe a strange thing to feel. But even before I hit "submit", the feelings of excitement started to bubble up inside of me. I had to keep from shouting hurrah! I swear I could have run a marathon right then and there. So I threw on my running clothes and went running. I didn't quite make it 26.2 miles, but I didn't once feel exhausted and ready to give up. I was pumped! 

I feel like I have officially arrived. I got a glimpse of this when I got offered a design job the week before graduation. I got another glimpse while I was sitting in the auditorium in April listening to someone say how wonderful I (and however many other hundred students there were) was. But today combines all of those moments into a seriously rockin' feeling of accomplishment. If I could feel this powerful everyday can you image what I could do with myself?? 

I know this feeling won't last forever, but while it's still here I have a lot to do with it! First I need to figure out what my next big goal is....

Moab Trip...

Took a quick weekend trip to Moab with a couple of friends. It am seriously in love with red rock and blue skies! Although it was quite hot - Moab isn't necessarily the middle-of-summer-vacation-spot of choice - we had a great time relaxing and just enjoying the free time. 

One of our spontaneous activities included making music at this awesome park! Why don't we have these at home? Those bridge looking things are xylophones. There were drums, bells, chimes of all sizes, and tons of xylophones all over.

We met this odd gentleman who built his own bike - with two (maybe three) bikes welded on top of each other. Soon to be more.... of course.

We did other wonderful things like rock climbing, hiking, swimming in a watering hole...

...and snapping my very first instagram photo! Holla! (Yes, I gave in to the instagram world. I've been holding out for awhile. Maybe one of these days I'll blog about why I decided it was worth the time suck).

Definitely need more of these quick and relaxing getaways - fuels for the spirit....

Real in the Rain...

Last Tuesday Jake called me on my lunch break and asked if I was dressed warm. It was raining hard that day but I was wearing a skirt, heels, and a cardigan. I told him I was dressed sufficiently (seeing as I was sitting inside all day at a computer) and asked him why. He then told me to clear my schedule after work. Again, I asked why. After much probing, Jake finally told me that he had won tickets to the Real Salt Lake game for THAT night! I was so excited! Not just for the soccer game, but it's very rare that I get to spend time with Jake during the week!

I rushed home from work, changed, and grabbed some serious rain gear - it was going to be a wet and cold game. I made it to the stadium just in time. We had great seats! $100 tickets will do that for you! They will also buy you dinner! I wish this picture gave you a better idea of what the rain was like - it was coming down in sheets.

Luckily the design of the stadium kept us just out of reach, even with the wind. We stayed nice and dry :-)

I love when I get to spend unexpected time with this boy...

Longboarding...

Jake and I learned how to longboard. We found this lovely trail that ran down Provo Canyon that wasn't too steep but had enough of a hill.

 We made our first attempt last Friday night. About 5 minutes into it... I biffed it. It was definitely not graceful...

We decided it would be best if we practiced first. Practiced how to bail that is. And before we went out again, I made us go to the store and purchase knee and wrist pads for me.

It was fun. And a beautiful ride (turns out our longboarding speed is slower than our running speed... pretty pathetic. But we'll get there). We even went again this weekend for a nice four mile stint.

This may become a regular mode of transportation for Jake and I this summer...

The Start of Something Beautiful...

Today has been a day of excitement, sadness, overwhelming accomplishment, and gratitude.

Today I graduated with a double Bachelor's Degree from Weber State University.

As I sat in the bleachers of the Dee Events Center listening to Jon Huntsman, Jr. speak about doing our best but always listening to our hearts and Fan-Ya Lin, the student graduate speaker, talk about the late nights she spent practicing the piano even with blistered fingers, it was all I could do to keep the tears at bay.

Today is an incredible day - and the amount of time, effort, sweat, and tears that have gotten me to this moment make it all the more incredible. 

As I walked back into my apartment after the commencement exercises, I paused for a moment to just reflect on where I am and how I've gotten here. I felt that I needed to write my feelings down, so here I am... yet I am at lose for words.

How does one describe so many different emotions?

Am I sad?

Ya, I'm sad to leave this behind.

Am I excited?

I had spontaneous fits of dancing throughout the day yesterday because I couldn't contain the excitement.

Am I nervous?

Sooo nervous.

But most of all, I feel like I have accomplished something great - something that will affect the course of my life for the better...

The Genius of Kraft...

I love love love that my man does not feel the need to eat meat and potatoes every meal to prove his manliness. Jake is a very health conscious person - sometimes more than me, which is surprising. I love this about him. He's not afraid to eat a salad as the main entree. And because of this, we had this delicious southwest chicken salad for dinner last night.

(okay, this isn't actually a picture of our salad, it's from the internet. But it did look that good, I promise)

This great salad recipe came from a genius creation by Kraft. It's called a Sizzling Salad Dinner Kit and it has been the the catalyst for a few great meals.

The kit comes with a sauce for your meat, dressing for your salad, and a recipe on the back with recommended ingredients/toppings for your salad. It also has alternative ideas for changing the recipe into a wrap or substituting the meat. Although it is a bit pricier than I would like, it is sooo much better than eating the same old chicken salad where all I know how to do is change the dressing. I have enjoyed some great salads from these with some delicious meat!

If you're feeling stuck in a salad rut this is a fantastic option to spice up your collection :-)

Jackson Trip...

Jake took me on a surprise trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week! He called me Tuesday morning and told me to get work off because we were flying to Jackson in a few hours. As a girl that likes to have a plan and follow a schedule, I was a bit stressed thinking I couldn't missing class (I only have 3 weeks left!) and how on earth was I going to get work off so last minute?? But Jake did I very good job convincing me that this is the time in life that I need to be spontaneous and that college is a time that I need to have fun. He was right, and I'm glad that I was able to go.

Here are just a few sneak peak pictures of our trip.... more to come later if Jake ever gets them to me...

We took a 6 seater Beachcraft Bonanza. Jake was even able to get a few more flight hours on his record.

It was a nice, short flight and we even enjoyed the sunset after we took off.

I've never been to Jackson Hole and boy is it beautiful! We spent all day Wednesday on the mountain. I ski and Jake snowboards. Jake's brother James was in town from Hong Kong set up the entire trip. His girlfriend Jane has never seen snow before so it was fun to be with her for her first experience.

This was our view for lunch! How incredible is that?!

Jake rocked the GoPro most of the day so we have some fun action shots and more pictures of the trip. Hopefully I'll be able to post those soon!

Lake Havasu...

I spent the weekend in Arizona for the collegiate triathlon championships. I didn't compete because of a shoulder injury, but I went down to support my team... and maybe to enjoy this....

and this....

...while everyone back at home in Utah had snow. Ha. We went on a bike ride the day before the race to get a feel for the course - it kicked my butt (as you can see I'm the only one sitting down).

Glad I didn't have to race the next day. This is just one of the many hills they had to face as part of their 24 mile ride...

Yikes!

Watching everyone set up on race day made me wish I was competing, but then as the wind picked up I was pretty glad I didn't have to. 20 mph winds with 35 mph gusts! They were swimming their 1.2 miles in whitecaps and almost getting blown off their bikes! And the last 1/8 mile of their 6 mile run? Oh my! Not only did they have a brutal sand run, but they were running against a headwind that was so strong it was sandblasting everyone (it did not feel very good and I wasn't even racing).

Poor things! My teammates did well though. We didn't qualify for nationals, but everyone survived, and that's a pretty big accomplishment. 

My biggest accomplishment on the trip? Being the only one that knew how to back up a trailer :-) Thanks mom - for not letting me be a helpless girl!

The boys...

Every Saturday night, the boys go bowling. And by every Saturday night, I mean EVERY Saturday. And by boys I mean all the boys that live at my parent's house on the weekend - my two brothers and my two cousins from Texas. They're inseparable it seems. Guess they're just making up for all the years we wished everyone lived close together when we were younger so we could play. 

Jake and I joined them this time and had a blast...

We had three lanes (these guys are serious about their bowling) and hung out for over 2 hours. Turns out Jake isn't half bad at the bowling thing with 6 spares and 2 strikes in one game that led him to beating everyone. Which of course made me loose our bet and I had to make dessert for everyone.

On Sunday, Jake and I couldn't get enough of the beautiful weather! 45 degrees may sound cold but it was sooo perfect for our first hike of the year. We didn't even need jackets. I'm quite proud of myself for thinking to take a picture - even though it's just one and makes Jake's shoulders look oddly large. You can't even see the view, but it's better than my usual no-pictures-to-document-anything side... I'm getting there.

Can't wait for more of this spring stuff!

Just Hanging Out...

I started my spring break with a nice relaxing weekend with Jake. We had plans to be productive but then we decided to just relax and have a date night. We enjoyed dinner at the Sonora Grill, a fancy Mexican restaurant in Ogden. We ate swordfish. Who knew that was a Mexican dish. Then we went to a movie.

This is the newest zombie movie. Don't worry, it's not like all the others out there with the blood and gore. It's a comedy and it is definitely funny. Lots of laugh out loud moments. I would definitely see it again. And you can't watch that movie without thinking... waiting a second. Is that the twilight girl? It can't be.

Feast your eyes on Kristen Steward (the twilight girl) and Teresa Palmer. No way they are not twins - I mean look at them!

We ended the weekend with a delicious plate of angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. If the weather is nice, we may find ourselves in Moab next weekend... but Jake doesn't know that yet ;-) We'll see...