BYU Football

I just had to blog about how my job can be pretty cool sometimes. We have been doing some advertising with BYUtv and so they gave Dean 2 tickets to the game last Saturday. Since Dean already has season tickets, he gave the tickets to me if I wanted them. They were pretty good seats and they had set up those cushy seat things with the back rests for us. We were also fortunate to sit next to some really cool people--they were so much better than students--and they were all families. It was probably some of the best fun I have ever had at a game.

Then Dean told me to get in contact with Aaron, our Concessions Manager (who I know really well), and ask him for some vouchers. It took a little while to find him in the stadium, but we did and he was awesome enough to give us all the yellowy-orange and red vouchers. The red ones are for the subcontractors (things like Costa Vida) and are redeemed for $10.00, while the yellowy-orange ones are for BYU Concessions for $3.50. We had somewhere around $60 to spend all for free! We had so much food it was ridiculous and we shared some of our fries with the kids from the family we sat next to. And we WON!!!! It was so great! And all because I have a pretty darn good job!

Utah State Fair

Last Saturday, Bryan and I went to the Utah State Fair. I have to admit that it has nothing on the Texas State Fair. I sometime miss Big Tex. But still, it gives us something to do on a Saturday and we had fun anyway walking around and seeing the exhibits. This year they had sea lions who would take pictures with you. They were pretty darn cool.

Next we went to the photography exhibit and looked through hundreds of pictures. Some of them were really amazing. We had to take a picture of this so that we could brag about our sister in law.
That's right! Sarah got second place in her category. Great job Sarah!!
We, of course, had to eat our once-in-a-year greasy, deep-fried food and so we stopped and watched a show at the same time. The show at the time was called Tagaloa and it was Pacific Island dancing. Yay!!
A picture of us at the fair. I really wish my front camera took better pictures, but it works I guess.
We walked through all the cows, sheep, goats, pigs, bunnies, birds, 4-H clubs, garden, anything else you can think of areas and lasted end with Aussie Kingdom. We got to see kangaroos. I find it kinda sad that they are put in cages and on display when they usually hop around everywhere, but it was cool seeing them.
Later that night we had the privilege of watching BYU majorly loss to the Utes, but so is life. At least we were able to spend time with one of Bryan's old mission buddies and his family. So in the end, it was a great weekend!

Newest Addition

So, Bryan and I have really been wanting this fluffy pillow from Pier 1. It is the softest, most fluffy, bestest pillow ever. (see below) Anyway, it FINALLY went on sale and I told Bryan that he had to go and pick it up after work. So, being the good husband he is, he did. But being the BEST husband ever, he saw this chair and proceeded to hurry home with pictures of it to tell me about it so that I could decide if I wanted it. We've been looking for a chair for a while now, but just haven't found a good deal for one we like. I LOVE that Bryan 1) knows what I like 2) now knows a good deal on furniture when he sees one and 3) lets me buy things. So I saw the pictures and we scurried on back up to Pier 1 (all while having tickets to a movie at the dollar theater in less than half an hour) and bought it on the spot. Yeah, we thought it was that good of a deal. Plus I love the color and shape!!

So now I have a green and red chair next to one another and I love it!! Now I am in the works of getting a fat, squatty red pillow for the green chair to counteract the wonderfully large white one and tie everything together. Which, come by and cuddle with the white one. You'll love it.

Us

Just some pictures of us. This was at Alex's wedding. Sorry they are a little fuzzy.

Rockin' Chair

I finally remembered to take a picture of the finished rocking chair (which has been done for like 2 or 3 months now) so now I can post about it. I guess there isn't much to say. It was old and rickety, the paint was coming off and it was brown. Like old 70's brown. So we changed it. We were debating between white and red, but decided on red since we needed color somewhere and we'll just paint it again if we want to change it in the future. So after many hours of working on it.....here is our "new" rocking chair.

Yes, we took it apart and sanded the whole thing.....by hand.

In pieces.

All sanded and back together again---much more sturdy too with new glue.

Primer. So this is what it would look like white.

RED!! Please don't look at it and think it looks really bright. It doesn't in person, it was just late at night with terrible overheard lighting. It looks great in person. Everyone compliments it.

So yep, Bryan and I can do things if we put our mind to it.

Date Night

I don't know if I would consider this our first official date night since we got married, because we do activities together all the time and Bryan treats me AMAZINGLY (especially when I want chocolate). But I decided that we needed a real date night. How does the saying go? Planned, paid for, pair off. Well, we are always paired off and we are always paying, so I emphasized on the planned part.

I "chatted" Bryan (through Gmail on our Androids---could you get more tech-y?) and asked him if he was busy that night. Of course he said no, so I asked if he would like to go on a date with me. Luckily he said yes.

Whew! That could have been a close call.

I wanted to make dinner instead of going out because we are hopefully starting a new, extra- better savings plan to pay off some debt. Could a house be in the future? Who knows? So instead of spending our typical $50-$65, I spent $6 for asparagus and Swiss cheese. We had everything else. I decided on my classic Chicken Cordon Bleu. Behold, our dinner date....

For those who would like to know, I locked Bryan in our bedroom so he wouldn't know what has going on. PLUS, I used the skills I learned in my Cooking Class at BYU to make it so that everything would be finished at the same time. And it WORKED!! Plus, I love Chicken Cordon Bleu because it is delicious AND so simple. Also notice from the picture below that I used some skills from the same class to make a meal that is pleasing to the eye and taste buds. What I mean is that there is an array of color (orange, green, yellow and redish purple) and flavors (sweet, buttery, brown sugar carrots; savory chicken, ham and cheese; salty balsamic---with a little soy sauce---asparagus with a wonderful tender crunch; and tart grape juice). Seriously, isn't your mouth watering?
Bryan was very proud of me and he loved it. Or at least I'm saying he did. After finishing dinner I had gotten us tickets to ComedySportz. I have never been although everyone talks about it and Bryan hadn't been in a pretty long while. I thought it was a perfect idea, just like the meal. A romantic meal followed by comedy. A perfect opposite balance. Man, I'm good.

Anyway it was hilarious. These guys are so good at improv. And yes, they are all guys. Bryan and I had a discussion before it started that guys are just generally more naturally funny than girls. Seriously, how many good women comedians are there? Tiny Fey, Bonnie Hunt, Ellen, Rosie O'Donald back in the day? Yeah, that's about as far as we got too. Well, that was a sidetrack, but they are so funny! And the 'sports' come into play (like the pun?) in a Whose Line is it Anyway type of way. They are on teams and get point depending on who the audience cheers louder for. I was for the Blue Team. They were hilarious!!
As seen below. He was trying to get the other guy, Trevor, I think, (in the bottom right corner) to guess what he was trying to "buy" by giving Trevor clues. This picture he was trying to buy Kryptonite Jello. I know, random, but that's what makes it funny. And so he came out as a typical Mormon mom. You get it---green jello. It was so funny that I was laughing so hard my throat started to hurt. Plus Trevor has some type of degenerative problem I think so he uses his hands to pull himself around, but despite his problems, he was one of the funniest! Congrats to him for laughing his way through life.
Overall, a successful date I would say. If you need tips on how you too may have a wonderful, perfectly balanced date, feel free to call or email. I'm available most days of the week.

The Fourth

Well, it's been a while since the Fourth, but I thought I would give a shout out to my ward and the awesomeness of it. The Fourth is a big deal to them. They have a block party (10th year running) where they block off all traffic, paint the sidewalks with stars, and we have a huge party. And the whole neighborhood is invited!! This year it took place on Friday the 1st. Here are just a couple pictures that show you the coolness, especially for an event that individuals--not the ward--pay for. By the way, sorry for the blurry images, but my phone has a slow shutter speed and there were just too many people that kept moving.

They had a rock wall and a bouncy house.

This is where we all grilled up out food. Bryan and I had steak and we brought Bryan's awesome salsa to share.

Don't ask me what this picture is. But we were dancing. Us and another couple were the only adults dancing at the beginning, but by the end everyone had joined us. That's right, we are the trend-setters!!

"Train" ride for the kiddies.

It was awesome!! Plus with the new Utah Fireworks Law we were allowed to shoot off aerials. People were buying them left and right and for 5 days straight you could look over the valley and see fireworks everywhere!!! They also had a outdoor movie night the next night after this and on the actual Fourth we had a crepe breakfast before the parade---which goes right through our ward, I literally only had to walk a block. Later that night we went to Uncle Ken's and Aunt Becky's house to see more fireworks. Overall, a great holiday!!!