Monday Memoirs

FRIDAY:
We got to have dinner with a big group of friends at my favorite Mexican restaurant. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and just have a really great night.

SATURDAY: (most of my pictures are blurry for some reason)
We drove up to Grapevine and hopped on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad train.

An hour and a half later, we were arriving at the stockyards in Fort Worth. We did quite a bit of shopping and found some really neat things. 

We got to sit in on a cattle auction for a little but and that was pretty interesting. 

We got to watch the "running of the bulls" and I got to ride a mechanical bull! It was my first time and it was SO much fun! I stayed on the whole time! Woo! 

Then, we jumped back on the train and got upgraded to first-class on the way back up to Grapevine. We totally lucked out because the kids sitting across from us on the first leg were kind of annoying. 

I dropped Jed off at home and I went babysitting for the night.

SUNDAY:
After church, I took a long nap. That was pretty much all I did the whole day...

Monday Memoirs

Friday - Jed was on a camp-out with the scouts (did I mention that he's the scoutmaster and is gone almost every weekend for something?). So I went to Panera by myself and got my new obsession: Thai Chicken Salad. I sat there and read a book by myself. I'm not a huge fan of eating by myself in public, but it was nice. Then I came home, watched some TV, and took a long bath. Then I read some more and went to bed.

Saturday - I got a wonderful facial in the morning. Then I went to the mall and walked around a bit - exercise and retail therapy all in one. Costco was next and then the farmer's market. Jed finally came home in time for dinner and then we watched The Land Before Time. I had only seen it maybe twice when I was a kid. Cute flick.

Sunday - Guess who was an hour late to church? And yes, my phone is my alarm and it changed automatically. But, 7:30 church was just not in the cards. I taught the Beehives for the second time. The first time I ran out of time, and this time I ended 20 minutes early! Haha! I'll get it eventually...
I got to take a nice nap and then we made my mom's tortilla soup for dinner. I took another bath (it's becoming a habit) and talked to my sister a little before bed.

Monday Memoirs

I went to my first ever circus on Thursday! It was fun! I can't believe I never went to one as a child - it was a child's dream! Thanks for taking me, Jed!

We went and saw Toy Story 3 at the dollar theater on Friday. I had already seen it, but it was Jed's first time. I cried again... great movie.

Oh, Saturday! What a day! We went grocery shopping in the morning (woo!) and then we drove in to Dallas. We ate at Twisted Root and then went to the Zombie Walk and took some pictures. We went swimming later on that night and then bought me some new running shoes (because I run now...)! Such a fun and productive day!

Sunday was just your average lazy Sunday. Nothing to report.

Monday Memoirs

Before I tell you about my weekend, let me start by saying that I lost 3 pounds this week!! :D

Saturday was our anniversary, but we celebrated all weekend. On Friday, we went out to dinner at this great Italian restaurant. Then we went to see Inception, since everyone is raving about it on Facebook these days. It was my first IMAX! The movie was great, and the company was better.

On Saturday, we slept in and had a relaxing day at home. We played Mario together and watched a couple of movies, and then went swimming at night.

I was sick yesterday, so I just chilled in bed all day and watched movies. Jed made me dinner and then we played some more Mario (it's really fun on the Wii, even though I suck really bad).

Monday Memoirs

Friday - We went over to my friend Jen's condo for a house-warming/birthday party. It was good to see her again - it had been a while. Happy Birthday Jen!

Saturday - We went to Tucanos for lunch with my birthday BOGO coupon. It was so good!
Then we went to the temple. It was so nice, and exactly what I needed.
We had Emily and her cousin over for game/movie night - so fun!

Sunday - After church, we took a much needed nap. Did I mention that we hung out with Emily last night? Yeah, that's always a late night (and I love it!).
Then we went to the Burkes' for the Super Bowl! It was so much fun! Jed was rooting for the Colts, so I decided to go for the Saints - and they won!!
We had a really great day!

Monday Memoirs

Thursday (My Birthday!!) - Jed pretended to go to school and then woke me up with breakfast in bed! It was a great way to start the day!
I brought him Pita Pit for lunch.
We went bowling and then to PF Changs for dinner. And then to top of the day, we watched Julie & Julia. That movie is SO cute!

Friday - I applied to a bunch of jobs! Hopefully one will pan out.

Saturday - I woke up at 3am with what I thought was food poisoning. I spent most of the day between my bed and the toilet.
I was feeling better by nighttime, so we went ahead and had my birthday dinner at Red Robin. Even though we had to be at two different tables, it was great to see everyone! I had a great birthday dinner!

Sunday - I woke up feeling a little ill again, but not nearly as bad as the day before. Primary was the worse ever. We had a visiting girl who was insanely hyper, a handicapped child who has a "helper" stay in the room with him, and the helper's daughter is one of our students, and she got really clingy with her mom being in the room. Plus, the helper kept telling us how to run our class and how to do everything. It was so frustrating.

Monday - Jed woke up with the "food poisoning" virus that I had had. He tried to go to work, but came home shortly after leaving. He slept it off and is feeling much better.

Monday Memoirs

Thursday - I got home from work and Jed had deep-cleaned the apartment! I was thrilled - what a great surprise! Thanks Jed! You are so awesome!!

Friday - I got so much done! I mailed Christmas stuff off at the post office, I returned some stuff, I exchanged some stuff, I bought the last of Jed's Christmas presents, and I made a yummy dinner in the crock pot.

Saturday - I worked, Jed studied. I am so glad that I'm leaving this job. I cannot stand my coworker. And the worst part is that it's just him and me on Saturdays. I kept a log of all the annoying things he did/said. That made my day a little better. ;)

Sunday - After church, I took a long nap and Jed went to school to study. Later that night, we went to the Pages' for our weekly game night!! They had another couple over and we had such a blast hanging out with them!

Monday Memoirs - A Day Late

Friday - I had the day off and got a ton of things done! It was great!
We went to our ward camp-out, but didn't sleep over because I had to work the next day. The food was good, and my cherry cake was gone in five minutes - that made me happy.
We sat next to some interesting people, the husband is actually Jed's HT companion. And on the other side were the parents of one of our girls in nursery. We really like them.

Saturday - I worked. Jed came to SLC with me. We went to lunch together and then got massages, too. I love that perk of my job. It was my first massage at the schoool, and Jed's first ever. I think he really liked it, which is good because he'll go back with me. :)
My friend Megan had texted me about this women's expo going on at UVU that day. We swung by her house on the way home and got her ticket so that I didn't have to pay. :) Thanks Megan!
The reason we wanted to go is because she had gotten a 2-night vacation to a resort in Park City for $50, and we wanted the deal too! ;) So we go to the expo, get that deal, and get another for a timeshare presentation. I'll let you know how that goes - we're going tonight.

Sunday - They split the nursery, again. It's really nice to only have about 4 kids each week, as opposed to 10-15 like it was in the beginning. We are able to work more closely with the kids and get to know them better.

Monday Memoirs - A Day Late

Friday - We headed out for Laurel's house right after work, around 6:30. At 8:30 we blew out a tire. It was totally shredded. For some reason the jack wasn't tall enough, so we called AAA. The AAA guy took almost two hours to show up, but he changed our tire and then suggested that we follow him to his shop in Beaver and get some cheap used tires rather than drive back to Provo to pick up my car, like we were planning on doing. He changed and rotated our tires and we were on the road by 11:00.
We had been "traveling" for 5 hours at this point and still had seven to go. It was a long night, energy drinks included. Jed was such a trooper - he drove the entire way, and even let me take two- one hour naps! We got off at Laurel's exit and realized that we didn't know her gate code. At 5am! Luckily someone pulled in right after us. What they were doing out until 5am is anyone's guess.

Saturday - We all went to brunch at this really good restaurant - my parents were in town over the weekend too! I taught West how to drink out a straw. :)
We all drove down to San Diego and everyone else hung out around town while Jed and I went to WICKED!! It was INCREDIBLE!! I am SO glad we went! I absolutely loved it and can't say enough good things about it.
After dinner at a really yummy Mexican restaurant called Ancho's, we went back to Laurel's house and played Five Crowns. Laurel and I kicked butt. It was a fun night and I'm glad that my parents were able to be there too. It was really nice to see them and get to hang out and play games with them. And of course it's always a good time with the Lakeys - that's why we like to visit them so much! :)

Sunday - My parents left super early to catch their flight, so we didn't really get to say goodbye. After a yummy breakfast of hoot-nannys that Chef Laurel made, we got back on the road again to come home. It was a whirlwind trip to say the least, but it was a blast!!

Monday Memoirs - A Day Late

This weekend was spent in Bear Lake, at my grandparents' cabin. We played lots of games and watched movies and went to the beach. It was great to hang out with my cousins and spend quality time with them.


Things didn't go so well back in Utah County. Jed's uncle passed away on Friday. His parents will be here tomorrow and the funeral is scheduled for Saturday. Unfortunately, Jed and I will not be able to make it because we will be in California. I have never been to a funeral and apparently that isn't going to be changing any time soon.

Monday Memoirs

SAT - We went back to Lagoon for the day. We were going to go to the waterpark all day, but it was too cold, so we just rode rides for a few hours.
That night, we went to see Star Trek. I loved it! And I also cried during the first five minutes. :\

SUN - We had Jed's three brothers who live in town over for dinner. After dinner we all played our Office Trivia game - so fun!
Nathan is starting a pond in his backyard and is looking for "pond plants", so we took a field trip to a pond to look for some plants. We didn't find any, but we saw some huge, fast fish and skipped rocks. Good times. :)

Monday Memoirs

Friday - I fixed my headlight, finally. It had been smashed since that hit and run way back in December. :\
We went to the Steel Days Carnival in American Fork. We did a little shopping and fixed Jed's fog light. Then I had this huge craving for sweet potato fries. And we found them at Arctic Circle, thank goodness.
We came home and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix until bedtime.

Saturday - We were up before the sun; Jed ran a 5K! He did a great job and I'm so proud of him! I, on the other hand, sat on the sidelines and cheered. :) After the race, we came home and crashed for a few hours. Then we seriously just bummed around the house all day.
Jed had to work that night. After I dropped him off, I went up to SLC for dinner. Then I went to Sugarhouse Park and read some more Wicked. I really, really like that book.

Sunday - We picked Nathan up and went to Jed's grandpa's house. We visited him for a while and then came home and had dinner. After dinner, we made funnel cakes. They were so yummy! Then we watched Family Guy and Simpsons.
Nathan left and Jed and I watched Sleeping With the Enemy. It was pretty good.

Monday Memoirs

Friday - We went to Jed's friend's wedding reception. The bride and groom were both Hispanic (I felt like we were the only white people) and everything they said/did was in Spanish. But I had a good translator. It was pretty fun and lively, and the food was great.
We hiked Mount Timpanogos! We went on what's called the "midnight hike" or "sunrise hike" where you start climbing around midnight and get to the top in time for the sunrise - hence the name. We went with the Nielsens and some friends of theirs. Jed and I made a great pair - I had a hard time going up the mountain, and he had a hard time going down the mountain. :)
We made it to the lake at the top (Emerald Lake) by sunrise and then the rest of the group continued on toward the tip and Jed and I turned around to go back down. There are a few spots where the trail consists of following previous peoples' footsteps on a thin strip across a snow slide. We did fine on them on the way up, but the second one on the way down was a challenge. We were almost across it, when I lost my footing, tried to grab on to some snow and it gave way, so I fell and went sliding down the mountain on this slab of snow and ice. Luckily we were close to one side, rather than right in the middle, and I was able to turn my legs towards the edge of the snow and slide on to some rocks that stopped me. Thank goodness for that because otherwise I would have gone about a mile striaght down and crashed into trees and boulders going who-knows-how-fast. Scary, scary.
We crossed 15+ waterfalls during the hike; saw deer, chipmunks, muskrats, a rabbit, and a porcupine; I got altitude sickness and am still trying to recover from its effects; my legs still ache; my contacts started blurring halfway up, and by the time we were coming down, I could hardly see anything; the hike was about 5.5-6 hours up and about 3.5-4 hours down.

Saturday - After the hike, we went to register Jed for his 5K. I stayed in the car because I was having a hard time functioning (I felt/acted like I was drunk, I was nauseated, and I had body aches and could barely move). We came home and crashed. We only slept for about 3 hours because I knew it would mess us up if we slept long. Plus we had a dinner date to keep.
We went to Five Guys with the McDaniels and then watched Public Enemies with them too. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time - I loved it!

Sunday - The Doxeys were having their homecoming and David's mission farewell all in one, so we went to their ward. It was very nice. The children all bore their testimonies in Spanish, and they had great accents. Debbie, Gary, and David gave wonderful talks and you could tell that they loved their experience in Mexico and that David is very much prepared to serve a mission.
After church, we went to the Doxeys' for an open house. There were so many people who came! I'm sure they felt very loved. It is so good to have them back and I hope that we will be able to see them frequently.
We came home and took a little nap before we headed up to the Busaths' for my Aunt Jonni's birthday dinner. We got there at 5 and didn't end up leaving until almost 11 because we were having so much fun playing games. :)

Monday Memoirs

Friday - Jed didn't have to work(!), so he got to come to the Lehi Pool with his family and me.
We left and went to the airport to greet my aunt, uncle, and cousins (the Doxeys). My uncle has been a Mission President in Mexico for the past three years. It was so good to see them again - and the kids have grown so much!
We followed my grandpa back to his house and visited for a while, and then we went to a homecoming party for the Doxeys.
We met Jed's family at a wedding reception for one of his distant cousins, Tinae, who happens to be an old friend of one of my good friends, Katy. Small world. The reception was fun and she looked beautiful.
Tyler and Nathan came home with us and spent the night. We watched The Messengers, and I still jumped even though I've seen it twice before. :\
Saturday (Fourth of July)- We spent the day at Deer Creek Reservoir with the Vallen family. They rented a boat that came with kneeboards and a tube. It was so much fun!
I put sunscreen on twice and I still got fried! I'm in so much pain even now, two days later. And I can barely move. :(
That evening, we went to Jed's aunt and uncle's house in PG for a BBQ and to watch the fireworks. They live just down the street from the town fireworks, so we got a great view!
Sunday - Theresa (Jed's mom) came for the second hour of nursery and it was so fun to have her there! The kids loved her. I was grateful for some extra help since I was burned and not feeling well. Thanks Theresa!
I made a Black Forest Chocolate Cherry Cake after church and we headed out to Jed's aunt and uncle's house (on the other side of the family) for another family get-together. It was a great night and we had a lot of fun.

Monday Memoirs

Friday - We went camping! The Burkes stayed the night and the Cooks, Westesens, and Chad came up for the bonfire. It was really fun - we did foil dinners, s'mores, banana boats, and Erik even brought Dr. Pepper (my hero)! It rained a tiny bit for a few minutes, but our fire and table were under a big tree, so we barely felt it. :)

Saturday - We woke up around 8, packed up, and headed out. I came home, showered, and crashed for 3 hours. I woke up right as Hiedi's bridal shower was started, so I had to race over to Amanda's house. It was a fun shower.
Jed and I were going to go to Tucano's for lunch, but didn't feel like it, so I grabbed Chadder's on the way home. There was one person ahead of me when I got in the drive-thru (and they had already paid) and it took me over TEN MINUTES to get my food. In the drive-thru! It wasn't even busy! Maybe next time we'll go inside and it'll be faster.
We of course waited 30 minutes and then went swimming at Scera. ;) I had never been there before, but it was fun.

Sunday - We split the nursery, but we still had 8 kids. It ran a lot more smoothly this week.
When we got home, I realized we had just enough time to put a pizza in the oven before our home teacher came over. But I forgot about cooling time, so we decided just to turn the oven off and leave the pizza in there to keep it warm. Bad idea. Our home teachers were ten minutes late (enough time to cool and eat) and they stayed for 45 minutes! Our pizza was still kind of warm, but it was tough and chewy. No bueno. :(

Monday - I spent most of today cleaning and organizing my aunt and uncle's house for when they come back from Mexico on Friday (my uncle was a mission president down there). The people who were staying in their house while they were gone were supposed to be out like a month ago, but they were there when we showed up. They were cleaning the kitchen and re-staining the banister and things. Almost all of the stuff we were planning on doing (ie pulling things like mattresses out of the basement and setting them up in their bedrooms) couldn't be done because the carpet hadn't been cleaned and won't be cleaned until tomorrow... It was pretty frustrating.
Tonight Jed and I drove up to Squaw Peak and watched the sunset and then went to a park and watched a movie on a blanket - all Jed's idea. It was a great date!

Monday Memoirs

Friday - I spent almost 2 hours at the gym that morning!
We went to the driving range with the McDaniels and the Vallens. Jed had never hit a golf ball before! But he did really well. :)
After all of our balls were gone, we went to get dessert at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (and Tomassos for Italian Ice for Amanda and me).

Saturday - We drove up American Fork Canyon and met up with the Nielsens. We hiked up to Silver Lake, about 2 hours. It was pretty up there and there was still ice on the lake and we got to play in snow. I'm proud of myself for doing it - I was struggling towards the end. I think it had a lot to do with the thin air and the fact that I worked out a lot the day before, for the first time in months.
We came home and watched a few episodes of Planet Earth. I really like that show - it's really interesting.

Sunday - After church, our home teachers came over. Then we went to dinner at the Georges' (they live above us). It was definitely an interesting night - we haven't been to a dinner at another family's home in a long time.

Monday Memoirs - Tuesday Edition :)

Friday - I made the most AMAZING, easy broccoli cheese soup I've ever tasted. Go to my recipe blog, here, for the recipe. :)
I picked Jed up from work and we headed out to the Great Salt Lake to take a handful of pictures on our way to a wedding reception for one of Jed's friends from home (Jake Hurst). We got to see a lot of our friends (whom we haven't seen in forever) - it was really nice.

Saturday - Jed played frizz in the morning while I did some things around the house (and missed the incredible $1 flip flop sale at Old Navy!).
We went out to lunch with the McDaniels and Hiedi an Zach at one of my favorite sandwich shops - Hickory Kist. It was good to visit with them and catch up on what they've been up to.
We went to Erik & Porch's wedding reception and made it just in time for them to leave. :\
After dinner, we went over to the McDaniels' house because all of the Hursts were staying there while they were in town for the weddings. I really like the Hurst family. They are all super nice and I feel like I've known them for years.
We went and got frozen custard at this really good place in Springville called Yummies.

Sunday - Worst. Day. Ever. Well, maybe not. But close.
Jed had to go in to work and couldn't come with me to church.
I woke up feeling sick, so I was just going to go to church and give the lesson in nursery and then leave right after that. I show up and the other couple isn't there and they didn't call any subs. So I'm alone with 10 kids. Yeah, 10. Luckily one of the dads went and told the primary president and she found me a couple to come and help. They were so nice and helpful and great with the kids, but I couldn't leave early like I had planned because they didn't know anything. Also, I took two of the girls to the bathroom and one of them peed on the floor and all over herself, and it inevitably got all over me too. Fabulous.
I read a little in my favorite book, A Tale of Two Cities, and fell asleep for 3 hours. When I woke up, Jed still wasn't home (it was an 8 hour shift), so I had some cereal and waited for him to get home. We didn't really do anything else that night.

Monday (Memorial Day) - After grocery shopping, we bummed around the house and Jed took a nap. Then we drove up to SLC and tossed around the football on the golf course by my Grams' house.
We drove to my aunt & uncle's house with Grams and met up with everyone for my uncle's 40th birthday (and Memorial Day)! The food was great, the company was fun, and we even got to see newborn birds in a nest in the front yard. :)

Monday Memoirs

Friday - We did absolutely nothing! I organized recipes (oh joy, oh bliss...) and Jed played video games. It was one of those "you know you've been married more than six months when..." nights.

Saturday - We went to the duck pond to feed the ducks - if you live in the area, go to the duck pond! There are a bunch of little ducklings and they are adorable. One in particular is bright yellow and the cutest thing ever:

Jed took me out on a surprise date...to Brick Oven! I've only been there once or twice before, and I had forgotten how delish it is! They have incredible root beer and the pizza was probably one of the best I've ever had in my whole life. However, DO NOT get the salad bar! Such a waste of money.
We came home and took a little nap and then did some errands. We picked up a Wii game at Hollywood Video called "Big Brain Academy". It's fun and challenging and you have to use your brain - I like those kind of video games. :)

Sunday - After church, we played a little bit more of that Big Brain game. Jed had to work from 5-7 and I slept the entire time he was gone! It was a great nap.

My poor husband grew up under the rock that is West Virginia - he had never seen Grease! So we watched it last night. I love that movie!

That's about it. Hope you guys had a great weekend! :)

Monday Memoirs

Friday - We rented Mama Mia because we thought it was the only decent movie at RedBox. Wrong! That movie is terrible. We would have been better off not getting anything. :\

Saturday - We met up with Amanda at the Gateway Mall in SLC and shopped around a bit. Jed got some new Crocs and I got a new purse - it was only $4!! :)

We went to my grandma's 75th birthday party that night. Lots of old people we didn't know, but it was good to get together and honor Grandma. Plus, we snuck away to the duck pond and fed the ducks/fish with my cousins - they had a blast.

When we got home, we watched Uncle Buck because Jed had never seen it and I think it's hilarious. I'm pretty sure Jed liked it a lot, too.

Sunday - Nothing special, just church.

Monday - This morning I got to go to breakfast with Meals and Trent. They are moving this afternoon, so I am so glad that I got to see them one last time and say good-bye. I'm going to miss Meals so much! She's one of my best friends and I always love hanging out with her.

I have an interview this afternoon for a summer nanny position. I can't give out any details because I don't want to jinx it, or get too excited just in case it doesn't work out. Of course I'll post the outcome - let's hope it's good!

Monday Memoirs

Oh what a weekend!
Friday - Jed played frisbee while I worked on some projects at home. Then we had a movie night.

Saturday - We went geocaching (in the rain - not recommended) in the afternoon. And then we went to the pet store and got two fish and a frog for our fish tank. :D

In the evening we went to a Passover service at BYU. Dr. Ludlow puts together several of these services each year around Passover. He is incredibly knowledgeable and kept interjecting neat comments about certain aspects of the service. It was a really neat experience and I'm glad that we were able to participate in this special Jewish tradition.

We got home pretty late that night and completely forgot about Resurrection Buns and Resurrection Cookies!! Maybe next year. Or next week. ;)

Easter Sunday - I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter Sunday! We had stake conference which was a little bit disappointing because we didn't get the usual Primary program and other things that you associate with Easter Sunday church.

We went to my grandparents' house for Easter dinner and games. There was no egg hunt or anything like that, but we did have ham. That was as close as we got to doing anything really "Easter-like".

We came home, picked up our Wii, and headed over to the Nielsen's house. It was Adam's birthday and we brought our Wii over for his party. We also playing the new Monopoly (with the credit cards!) and that was really fun.

**Frog Story**
When we got the frog, the girl at the pet store dropped it on the floor not once, but twice - I should have taken the hint. Then, Jed gets up the next morning and can't find the frog in the tank - he thought it was just hiding somewhere. Five hours later, he sees something hopping around on the floor. Who knows how long the frog had been out of the tank....he was covered in hair and dust and dirt. :\ So Jed puts him back in the tank and he was doing alright but then we came home after Easter dinner and found this:

We thought he was just chilling by the tower. But no, that's how he died, standing up... :(