Eddie & Marianne

love package

2012-02-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

people either love valentines or they hate it. i am one that loves it. but i've always loved it, even before i got married and had a perma-valentine. i know for a fact its because i grew up with the best mom ever who made holidays so fun. i remember being so excited to see what new outfit, treat, movie, nail polish, etc. she'd have on the stairs/ my bed for valentines day when i got home from school.

the awesome packages haven't stopped. in fact, eddie has now caught onto them and if he is home before me, he always tears into them. he seriously can't wait. then he greets me at the door cause he feels bad he opened it w/out me, and excitedly escorts me into the kitchen to check out the goods. but who can be mad at their 28 yr old husband who gets so excited for holiday packages?!

this year she sent eddie his fav sweater in a new color, and me the first season of downton abbey. little did i know eddie would get into it just as much as me. we are only on episode 3 but already obsessed. there's almost nothing we love more than getting into a new good show.

and how cute is this love tree?? i serve with such talented women in primary.

one of them made this with sticks she picked up in the canyon.

it was filled w/ chocolate valentines for all the kids- they loooved it.

superbowl 2012

2012-02-08T05:32:00.000-08:00

the annual rib-fest Super Bowl party was moved from matt's to booboo's this year.

the closest thing i got to a group shot- ha!

madsen- even with a completely scratched up nose he is still cute.

allison and i loving madonna's halftime show

all the haters can keep hating, but i thought she was great!

cute emma- loved her curled hair!

also celebrated michael's 22nd birthday- yahoo!

sugarhouse park

2012-02-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

when the weather is nice all i want to do is go outside,

so we hit up sugarhouse park this weekend for a little walk.

The Happiness Project: February

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

I am loving the monthly-resolutions! January was a total success, maybe that means my resolutions were too easy. Regardless, I really do think that taking the stairs is a new habit for me, thanks to my 31 days of doing so. Also, I hit the gym at least 3-4 times every week, surpassing my goal of 2x/ week.

My goal for february is sleep-based.

Lately, I've gotten in the terrible habit of turning on my phone the second I can't sleep, and reading the news/blogs for hours. I get so excited/energized when I come across good ideas, that I'm just wired and can't sleep. It.is.terrible. I realized it was a serious problem when I literally couldn't keep my eyes open the other day at school. After not falling asleep til 3 am and having to wake up at 6 for school, I was a zombie. I ended up going into a big, empty, dark auditorium and laying on the floor for an hour nap during a break. I was so tired, that i was able to fall asleep on a cold, hard floor. Didn't even care that my hair was all over the ground.

This goal will also help eddie, because he has a goal of being up by 7 and at school by 8am everyday. If we're both going to bed earlier, hopefully it's easier for us to wake up earlier.

Neither one of us are morning people.

February:

Be in bed by 11 every night.

And no phone/computer after 10.

Here i am rolling out of bed with a fat smile on my face after my month of sleep training.

our month

2012-01-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

january typically seems like the slowest month of the year, but not this year! can't believe we're almost into february already. here's a sampling of what we've been up to lately:

eddie leaving the library after studying all day. you might say "wow, that's the only picture of eddie she posted." and that's because study is all he does! he's a great student- much better than i am. he's also really involved with the law clinics- every tuesday and a couple thursdays a month he helps out at the clinics. plus, the main attorney he's been working with gives him assignments to do on his own time. i am proud of him, and just happy he enjoys it.

oh, he also plays church ball every tuesday night- loves that.

i've had a couple interviews lately, hopeful for a great job after graduation.

went to dinner with his law buddies and their wives.

eddie, max, steve, drew

sam, me, carly, noelle, liz

taught the little rascals in primary about the creation.

applied for graduation! yippee!

we switched it up a bit and went to the oquirrh mountain temple instead of the usual slc.

it is BEAUTIFUL

we saw an awesome movie at the sundance film festival. it was about our health care system, and how

we have a disease care system instead of a health care system. how we, as Americans, need to get back to the basics of good nutrition and exercise instead of treating all our ailments with tons of medicine. how lifestyle changes are better than drugs and surgery.

my crafting girl whit and i got together and decked our halls for valentines day.

of note but not documented w/ pics:

-we were introduced to Vinto by max & carly- delicious!

-we've done the sumo vip night a few times, always a favorite

-caught 2 byu basketball games

-getting whipped into shape by the physique 57 dvd w/ allison

-makeover and all new makeup- NARS. allison and i spent 10 hours at the mall this day

-eddie and i brought back our game nights, just the 2 of us

-loved the golden globes. fav dresses were octavia spencer and sofia vergara

didn't love angelina jolie's dress- i know, i'm the only one.

-anxiously awaiting the grammys & oscars

-seal and heidi klum- what!?!?! i broke my own rule of no gossip mags for this one.

-can't believe the weather. it's only snowed twice the entire winter. so grateful though, since i'm still commuting to provo twice a week.

anyways, january has flown by. excited for february, the month of loooooove.

Books

2012-01-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

The thing I will miss most about school is being exposed to the latest and greatest books. This is the first semester where I've been assigned more interesting-read type books more than actual text books, and I am loving it. I am currently reading:

{ for my Judaism & The Gospel class... a refresher from my days in Jerusalem}

{this is for a little side reading. yeah right, like i'll have time for this!

i'll probably get around to this one on April 20th}

New Years 2012

2012-01-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

We spent new years at lake tahoe- one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen. Jewels and Brett invited us up to their cabin with some other couples, and it was a fun and relaxing weekend-- perfect way to ring in the new year.

The weekend included a lot of games, lounging, chatting and good food. It was crazy that it was pretty warm with no snow in January, but we'll take it!

the huntings

the munsons

(ps how beautiful is jewels? let me be that pretty 7 months pregnant)

lunch in reno

games around the table for hours

twins?

blondies at midnight

welcome 2012!

the cute kids on the trip- zion & mae

thank you, brett & jewels!! we had the best time.

The Happiness Project: January

2012-01-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

I love the clean slate of a new year, and have been thinking a lot about resolutions and goals. I, like most people, always set resolutions and forget what they even were by February. This year I want to take a different approach, and focus on one area a month. I have not yet read The Happiness Project, but evidently this is what the author does. She focuses on a different area of her life each month, hoping to develop new habits to increase her overall happiness by slowly making small changes. I like this approach since its not so overwhelming.

My goal for January is fitness oriented, and has two parts.

1. Make it to the gym twice a week for at least an hour.

2. We live on the third floor. Take the stairs every time (unless I have groceries).

I am excited about it! Hopefully I stick with my resolutions easier this way. It'd be great if these little changes turn into habits and by the end of the year I have 12 new habits, but we'll see.

Here's to fitness!

Hail to the Redskins

2012-01-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in Virginia for Christmas. We loved seeing both of our families, eating delicious home-cooked meals, visiting the midlothian ward on Christmas, walks, bowling and going to buffalo wild wings for the jimmer show. One of the highlights of going home is always a skins game, thanks dad!

I do have to note that this was my first trip to virginia where virginia felt a little less like home and more like vacation, and coming back to utah felt like coming home. I don't know if it's because it was my first married christmas in virginia, or the fact that i haven't lived there in 8 years, but there was a noticeable change. Just another step of growing up, I guess. But I am learning this is very true:

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

Love, The Gold's

& The Prignano's

Girls Night

2011-12-21T01:03:00.000-08:00

How beautiful are these girls? Chelsea hosted a christmas dinner and it was so fun. The food everyone brought was seriously delicious, and the gift exchange was a good time. I lucked out and got an awesome white serving dish. Highlight of the night was Kendyle teaching us the sock bun.

Christmas Bunco

2011-12-19T01:09:00.000-08:00

Candice hosted this month's Bunco & it was Christmas-themed, naturally.

I am loving these monthly get togethers with these girls.

So nice of santa's reindeer to make an appearance!!

Thank you for the fun night Candice!

Christmas Crafts

2011-12-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Whitney & I got together for a little crafting. I got there around 3, with the intention of being back to SLC by 9:00 for a movie with eddie. How about I rolled into SLC at 1:30 a.m. instead!

It was fun, if I could craft all day and night I would. We ended up making 2 different pieces, one with wood and the other with canvas. Both ideas came from here. The wood took a long time, since we bought it raw and had to cut, sand and stain it before we could paint.

My Christmas decor is now complete.

finals

2011-12-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

we are swimming in finals around here. literally doing the backstroke in a sea of finals. ever since thanksgiving week, so for the past three weeks, eddie has been in the library everyday from 9 am- 9 pm. Or later. While I haven't been that dedicated, I've spend the majority of my time studying for finals, writing papers, and preparing presentations.

i have 3 left to take, and eddie has 2. then two weeks from today we'll be on a plane to virginia!! it has been too long, almost two years since either of us have been home. so we are both getting excited.

here are some pictures from the highlight of our week; last weekend when we had settebello pizza and played games w the huntings til the wee hours of the morning.

Christmas Devotional 2011

2011-12-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I always forget how much I love it. My favorite part of the devotional is how every year I am reminded of one of my top 3 favorite days of my life- the night I spent in Shepherd's Field in Bethlehem, having a Christmas devotional. It was seriously the best.

I don't have any pictures from that night, but this is what it looks like. We all got off the bus and Bro. Wilson led us to the perfect place to have our devotional. He recited Luke 2 from memory, and we sang Christmas songs and read scriptures with our flashlights. I am so glad that my clearest memory from my whole study abroad is from that night- I remember every detail. Especially how I felt the whole night. Having those memories makes it so much easier to remember what Christmas is really about. Truly, Christmases for me have never, and hopefully will never, be the same.

I really enjoyed the talks from this devotional, and how Eyring and Uchtdorf both stressed how our best, most memorable and happy Christmases will be the ones where we keep our focus on Christ.

No pictures from Shepherd's Field, but here is one from earlier that day in a church in Bethlehem.

And just because it doesn't seem real sometimes, this really was my home for 4 months. Can you even believe how beautiful the BYU Jerusalem Center is?

Best place on earth, can't wait to go back and show Eddie.

Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

This year we decided it was time for a real Christmas Tree. After Thanksgiving, we headed out in search of the perfect tree with Alan & Michelle. This tree lot was legit with live reindeer! I think reindeer are so cute, I am always tempted to buy gold & silver reindeer statues in every store.

If we were sending out Christmas cards this year, you'd probably be seeing this in your mailbox.

Alan & Michelle

Spotted: the perfect tree. Alan & Michelle found theirs in 2 seconds, while it took Eddie & I a little longer.

{I need to figure out my camera settings so eddie's head doesn't melt into the sky.}

My first time putting lights on the tree all by myself! Mom, this picture is for you. Eddie and I thought it would only take 2 strands for the whole tree- wrong.

Ta-dah!

Confession: First we planned on cutting down our own. We thought you could pick up permits starting the day after Thanksgiving, but turns out Heber started selling them on November 1st. So they were completely sold out and our options were either Evanston, WY or Tooele. Not having that much time we settled for a tree lot here in SLC. Not wanting to pay $1,000 for a tree, we ended up at home d*pot :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

5000 calories later! Thanksgiving this year may have been the best yet; we were with both the Haynies & the Golds. After stuffing ourselves to the brim with delicious food at Boo's, we lounged around for a bit then headed to Todd's for the Gold festivities. I am loving getting to know the Golds better. Nancy and Barbie were telling me all about my dad in his younger days. You never really think about your parents when they were your age, and apparently he was a real ladies man. I had no idea! Athletic, good-looking, well-mannered & a very good dresser. No wonder my mom fell for him. My next order of business is digging up old pictures.

I didn't take too many pictures at Booboo's and completely forgot my camera in the car at Todd's.

Grandma & Grandpa

the hostess w/ the mostess & james

it's not a party at boo's without a game of horse

erin & jonah

primary

2011-11-25T09:59:00.000-08:00

a few weeks ago i was called to serve in the primary presidency in our ward. at the time i was only excited, and now i am nervous and excited. i was about to write my thoughts about this in my journal, but realized that since i only write in my journal about 4 times a year, i would rarely ever look at it again. i go back and re-read the blog all the time, and it gets published into a book every year, so this is my best bet at reading these thoughts ever again.

1. my first thought was honestly, "how do you even talk to children?" I've babysat a ton in my day, and love kids, but i've always talked to them as adults. my first sunday in primary all the other leaders were, "helloooooo boooyyyss annnddd giiirrrlllssss....." you know the voice i'm talking about. combined with the overly-excited voice. so i started thinking that's how i had to address our primary kids if they're ever going to understand/listen to me. i think i've decided just to talk to them as adults, even if i'm the only one.

2. i LOVE the other women in the presidency. we're all at different stages in life, and i think we're going to work very well together. the president is about 30 and has two kids, the first counselor has eight grown kids and 12 grandchildren, then there's me, a newly wed, and the secretary is a fabulous single girl who i think is around 38. we're all on the same page on wanting to make it really fun for the kids, and keeping our presidency meetings to a minimum. we decided to have a combined sharing time, so that gives us an extra hour during the 3 hour block when we'll meet. very nice that we don't have to meet during the week.

3. my biggest worry is learning all the kids' names. we've only been in the ward for 2 months, so i barely know the adults let alone the kids. as someone who isn't too good with names, i have to write down the name of everyone i meet right after i meet them or else i'll forget, this is a tall order! i've been brainstorming all kinds of ways to do this quickly. i think i'll bring my camera this week and take their pictures, so at least i can start matching names to faces during the week.

4. i feel very humbled by this calling.

5. i love singing primary songs again. it's amazing how quickly they come back!

6. i've already thought of suggesting eddie's name to be a primary teacher so he'll be in primary with me the last 2 hours. it would be so fun to be in there together, mainly laughing at all the funny things kids say.

7. i don't think the kids can say my name. scratch that, i know they can't. i kind of just want to go by sister marianne.

8. i can already tell that my artsy-fartsy side is going to come out in full force in this calling. the other day i spent hours perusing the web for cute ideas we can implement. i need to not get carried away or i could spend so much time and $$. i've already had the thought cross my mind, "i need to get a sewing machine to make those "talk, scripture, prayer" seat covers."

8. i am very excited to be in primary again!! it's been 13 years.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed. This is our second Thanksgiving together, and here's what we've been most grateful for this year:

apt 206. eddie. mare bear. condo 314. my parents. corolla that takes me safely to provo and back everyday. our apartment. carpool mondays. patriarchal blessings. opportunity to go to law school. MPA classes. summer sales job. the tanner building. oatmeal choco chip cookies. prospect of mare bear working. a hardworking husband. crock pot. my best friend also being my wife. our marriage. the gym. my health. prayer. pilates. the gospel. temples. my puffy coat. our new ward. my own temple clothes, no more renting. UGGS. tuesday night basketball. slc. our tv shows. my friends. my family. my new hobby-shaving. underground parking. a healthy body.

All Boys

2011-11-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend eddie and i watched my uncle matt & aunt erin's 3 boys. The weekend consisted of watching football, U/BYU trash talking, playing games (uno, sorry, phase 10), going to the gym for some basketball (i was very proud that i came in 2nd place in horse, and played a full-court game against 7 year olds in my UGGS), and tons of eating. Oh yeah, and a lot of farting. It was a lot of fun, and even though we were only there for 2 days, we missed them when we came home! They were so well-behaved and fun to be around. I need to learn matt & erin's parenting secret.

Indian Princesses

2011-11-21T00:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend these awesome girls came up to visit me in SLC. I'm so glad they did! It was a fun night, we're thinking of making it a monthly tradition. In honor of Thanksgiving, we wore festive Indian headwear and ate chili, cornbread, butternut squash salad & pumpkin trifle.

Justine taught us her Tomahawk cheer moves

So thankful for good friends.

alan & michelle

2011-11-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

our friends alan & michelle got married this weekend. we got lucky and were able to make the temple sealing & the reception. it was the first real sealing we've been to since our own, and it was so beautiful. a great reminder. it totally made us reminisce about our own wedding, and we spent the rest of the day scrolling through pictures from our big day!

alan and eddie have been good friends for a few years. they've sold together twice and were roommates one year. alan and michelle are perfect for each other and it was great to celebrate with them. we love the whitakers!

flipping channels

2011-11-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

Last night made for some good TV. While Eddie was studying away in the office I was flipping between the debates & the CMAs. I LOVE the country music awards.

Favorites:

Faith Hill can do no wrong. She looked so beautiful! I loved her giant hair and beautifully simple dress.

kimberly perry from the band perry. it could be that she was so cute accepting her awards, so it just made me like her, but she was one of my favorites for sure. loved the lacy dress.

another thing i love about country stars? they all fall in love with each other!

tim & faith just celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary

& look how they still look at each other.

or look at blake shelton checking out his new bride. when he won the male vocalist award he gave her the biggest hug & kiss, it was so cute.

the performances were awesome, my favorites being:

t swift

lady A

kenny

lionel richie (tim singing along was awesome)

martina mcbride

i've seen most of these guys in concert. i love a good country concert.

got the itch for another one, it's been too long!

Only thing I wish happened but didn't: toby keith performing made in america.
oh well, it was still probably my favorite CMAs yet.

we enjoyed the debates too. i always get nervous for the candidates though, especially when they seem so caught off guard and stutter through the first 10 seconds of their responses. ha, or forget the last part of their economic policy.

Halloween

2011-11-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Brett & Jewels hosted a fun halloween party this year. I love dressing up & it's always the best when people get into their costumes! My favorite may have been Gloria & Jay because jenny IS gloria!! Here's a sampling of the costumes:

a rockstar & his carrot-top wife

gloria & jay

joan & husband from madmen. (ps we've never seen it but evidently need to get into it. if only for the wardrobes!)

scarecrow & dorothy

{thank you booboo for your perfect costumes}

a little WT

i probably should sensor this image somewhat

the girls

& the guys

i love halloween. thank you munsons for making it so fun this year!

the Gold side

2011-11-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Eddie & I went to sunday dinner with my gold relatives this past wknd. It was fun! I don't know them as well as the haynies, and it was nice to spend time with them. It was fun to see parts of my dad in his siblings, especially his bro Charlie. They have the same mannerisms- both easy going and fun to talk to. Best part was when we were all out on the porch scooping the guts out of our pumpkins and Charlie came out with his drill to blast the pumpkin out in 2 seconds.

cousins:: carrie (charlie), dagny (charlie), me, tanya (nancy), shannon (carol) & tyler (barbie)

me & 5 of my dad's 6 siblings. charlie, todd, nancy, barbie, carol

charlie is a vet, todd is in insurance, nancy is a retired attorney, barbie works at the U, and carol spends 6 months out of the year on an island in British Colombia. not pictured are merilee because she lives in canada, and my dad because he lives in virginia.

looking forward to spending more time with them,

especially since most of his siblings live within 20 minutes of us.

funny eddie

2011-10-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

there's nothing eddie hates more than the grocery store. haaaaates it. he doesn't like any kind of shopping, but especially food shopping. anyways, i tricked him into going with me last week and he was so funny about it. when we walked in, out of the corner of my eye i saw him reach up to unplug the scooter cart. he had the most serious face as he rolled around the corner. then he got mad at me for laughing cause he thought they'd take it away from him. i wish he came every time!

Thriiiiiller

2011-10-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the best event of the season: Thriller! I've seen it now 4 times and am not sick of it. The Munsons & Fredricksons joined us, and it was a good time. Before the show we stuffed ourselves with pizza at the Pie, then walked over to the U.

creepiest mask, right!?

Highlights of the show: Lorena Bobbit & explaining to Jewels who she was, the MJ thriller dance that I've been doing around our house ever since & the glow in the dark tap dancers!

Scary Movies

2011-10-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts about this time of year is watching scary movies! As soon as October hits thats all I want to do. Good thing I married someone who likes scary movies as much as i do. In fact, this time of year three years ago was when eddie & i made the big switch from friends to dating. And scary movies played a part in that. We watched what lies beneath at his house w/ all his roomies the night we both realized we liked each other, and a week later we watched pet cemetery the night of our first kiss.

This is the only picture I have of that one week period when we realized that after 8 years of friendship we liked each other. I remember the night this picture was taken. It was at the ward halloween party, and i was giddy, had butterflies and kept checking my phone waiting for eddie to call me. This had never happened before! We left the party and I headed to the library. Right when I walked in Eddie called and I turned to leave. On the way out I saw Paige and told her I was headed to Eddie's & that I think I like him. She said something like "I told you so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" & that was that.

So, given our love of scary movies, in the past month we've crammed in as many as possible.

Here's our running list:

(Most of these are R because they're horrors & the language is terrible.
So I'm not sure I would recommend them as great movies, but they make for good thrillers.)

Scream 4

The Lost Boys

Descent

The People Under the Stairs **

Fright Night

Paranormal Activity 3 **

Hocus Pocus

Paranormal Activity 1

** means it was so scary I literally watched through my fingers the whole time.

Grandma's 80th

2011-10-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

My beautiful Grandma on her 80th birthday

Best part about this pic is Eddie thought this was Carson's real smile

Everyone who was able to make it. Laurie from Kentucky, Mike & fam from Arizona, Robyn from Virginia, Susan & Jack from St. George.

Grandma & Grandpa with all 7 kids

Thinking of her 3 wishes for her 3 cakes

Grandpa giving a nice birthday toast

We made her a book full of memories and pictures

The finished house. Complete with trees~

Eddie & Ruby

Booboo & Ruby

Allison & Jason's cute kids Madsen & Ruby. Eating noodles from the counter

& we rounded out the day with a game of kickball.

I'm thankful for such a great family!! It was a fun weekend having everyone in town.

Party Prep

2011-10-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

the four sisters hard at work

Alex, Carson and I were on decorating detail. We blew up 75 balloons and hung them over the bar.

best part: you could see them from every spot in the house, even the front door

ballet

2011-10-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

this was allison and i last night in ballet class. hardest workout i've ever done. i seriously was about to pass out in the warmup. can't wait for the new barre place closer to our houses to open so we can join! i always love a new workout.

Family in Town

2011-10-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend tons of family on my mom's side came to town for my Grandma's 80th birthday. It was fun & I especially loved not thinking about school for one second from Wednesday- Sunday. The night my mom flew in Eddie and I went up to Booboo's to see her and Susan.

My mom is the gingerbread house queen! Here she is making one for my Grandma. She made all the pieces in Virginia, then shipped them out to Booboo and brought the candy with her on the plane. Then she was decorating the house every spare minute until the party.

Here's Susan with the quilt she made Grandma.

This year everyone got crafty with their gifts.

The best part of the night; however, was when Michael and I discovered Booboo's amazing costume collection! I've never seen so many awesome costumes in one place.

Anniversary Trip

2011-10-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

Eddie pulled off the surprise of a lifetime and took us back to Sky Lodge to celebrate year 1!

We decided we'd alternate planning the anniversary celebrations, and this was his year. We went a week early since this weekend was the big family party for my Grandma. The day before we left I got it out of him that we were going to Park City, which I was thrilled about since I've always considered PC "our city." Especially since it's where we honeymooned.

So as we were driving up (which is only 20 minutes away from our new casa,) I was directing him how to get to a mystery hotel. Suddenly he stopped listening to me and drove down Main St. As we passed Sky I got real excited, "That's where we stayed last year!! Awe...it was the best! I think that was our room!!" etc. Next thing I know he's flipping a U and stopping in front of it! I was so shocked and excited. I love surprises.

Opening his gift. I wanted to stick with the traditional anniversary gifts, and 1st year = paper. I had 12 of our instagrams from the past year printed into magnets. They turned out cute! (stickygram.com)

Dinner @ our favorite spot- Loco Lizard

private hot tub overlooking Main St.!

Zoom for our Anniversary dinner. Service was terrible but the food was excellent. Eddie didn't even need a knife for his steak it was like butter & my mahi mahi was the best ever.

We went on a drive to see the fall leaves but it was more like a winter wonderland drive.

Ordered room service for the first time ever.

The view we woke up to

We kept comparing this trip with last year's. Besides being 10 lbs heavier, we are simultaneously happier and more stressed! I attribute that to law school for Eddie and job hunting for me.

It was a very fun, unexpected trip. I have big shoes to fill when it comes to planning anniversaries.

One.

2011-10-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

how has it already been a year!? i don't want to give up our newlywed status!

you're more than a lover, there could never be another to make me feel the way you do.

i don't know where i'd be, without you here with me.

life with you makes perfect sense, you're my best friend.

these lyrics of "our song", could not be more true.

happy 1st anniversary, hunni!

i hope we always turn life into an adventure as much as we have during year 1.
i love you!

Our Weekend

2011-10-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a great one. I think it's safe to say that fall general conference weekend will always be my favorite weekend of the year! Not only is it the best time of year weather wise, but it's also the beginning of halloween season. Plus, it's two weeks before our anniversary, so I'm in the mood to celebrate. You throw in some amazing guidance from our Church leaders and the weekend can't be better. Speaking of our anniversary, I love how the SLC Temple looks this time of year because it reminds me of our wedding day.

We started out the weekend with a little shopping and a last minute cougar win that made us giddy all night. Then it was on to dutch baby pancakes and conference, while curled up in blankets on the couch. Instead of meeting Justin & Elissa for our usual VIP night at happy sumo, we went to BRIO which just opened by us. I used to go in Virginia, but no one else had been before. Thumbs up all around, it's good! Not as good as Carrabba's, but nothing really is. It was funny because we're all on diets, and tonight was our "free night" so to speak, so everyone was chowing down like we've never seen a meal before.

Then we caught a movie, Moneyball, which we loved. Lately we've been picking good ones- last weekend we saw Warrior which we also liked and recommend. The weekend ended with a lot more conference and a nice fall walk around the neighborhood. These walks would last for hours if it were up to me, but usually they're cut short after 20 minutes because Eddie's bored.

Happiness

2011-09-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

Last week in ethics class we had a discussion that I can't stop thinking about. We started talking about happiness; what real happiness is and its causes. The things we were talking about weren't novel ideas or concepts I haven't heard before, but for some reason I was really impacted by it.

What I learned is this. Tons of research and experiments have proven the following:

50% of our happiness is our biological set point.

{meaning half of our happiness is simply our inherited predispositions; just the way we are}

Another 40% is comprised of intentional activity.

{things we can actively do to increase our happiness}

behavioral activities to increase happiness: serve others, be kind, exercise

cognitive activities to increase happiness: be grateful, be optimistic, self-reflect & count your blessings

volitional activities to increase happiness: religion, marriage & family, work

And the last 10%, just 10%, of our happiness is due to our circumstances.

{including where we live, age, gender, job, income, looks, etc.}

& what i kept wondering during the lecture, and keep thinking about now, is how are so many people missing the boat? a lot of what we talked about is what i hear every sunday in church, and even i still sometimes think things like "as soon as i can travel the world with eddie i'll be set and my happiness will increase exponentially." but it's not true! money does not equal happiness. actually, up to a certain point, precisely $75,000/year, more money can bring more happiness because it is providing the essentials. but after that point money is not a source of happiness. in fact, mo money mo problems.

i am not writing this because i am unhappy. in fact, at this point in my life i am really happy, probably because i have a lot more meaningful relationships than i do possessions. i am writing this to apply what i have learned, and to record something that really impacted me so i can use it as a reminder of what is really important. to remind myself if i am feeling down in the future to go serve. or to exercise or to count my blessings.

as a side note, as part of this unit we had to write a paper about what makes us happy, and i spent 4 of my 5 pages writing about eddie. and i hope in 50 years nothing changes!

Showering Becca

2011-09-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

This week was the first girls' dinner since we got back from Louisiana. We were honoring Becca since she's getting married at the end of the month. It was so fun having Sarah, the life of the party, back visiting from North Carolina. These girls are so fun and I look forward to this night every month!

Camping

2011-09-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed up American Fork Canyon for a night of camping w/ the Munsons. It was fun and so nice to escape schoolwork and hang around a fire for a night. We cooked our meals in the fire and took brett's atv for rides up the mountain. Now eddie and i both want one!

*the ribbon is because the morning we woke up was his birthday!

28 brought him sweaters, his fav tshirts, $$ and a new gun

They have the cutest daughter that everyone loves, esp. me!

Clearly she enjoyed playing in the dirt for 5 hours

looking our best

Hopefully we get at least one more camping trip in before it starts to snow~

28

2011-09-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

this sweet face turns 28 today. happy birthday to the best guy around!

25 in Jackson Hole

2011-09-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Jackson Hole celebrating my 25th birthday. The first day we were there I didn't really understand the appeal of Jackson. We saw the entire town in about 30 minutes. But by the end I fell in love with the charming little western town and would love to move there.

Thanks grandma and grandpa for the bubba's bbq recommendation- it was delicious! We also ate mile high pizza. The good food, coupled with the cool mountain air and the indian jewelry shops to wander around in made for a good time. Only regret was not seeing a moose or finding antlers to put on our wall.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful place? It's a really simple place with tons of natural beauty.

Those teton mountains!

Our bed & breakfast: the sassy moose lodge.

Complete with the softest sheets and the most entertaining British couple at breakfast.

It took us the longest time to decide between white water rafting & horseback riding in the mountains. We chose horseback riding and it was the best decision. So relaxing, fun and the perfect way to soak in the area. Eddie's horse was named Pepsi and mine was LazyAss. I named him myself. He seriously ate a 10 course meal on the trip- would not quit stopping to eat!

The best part was crossing the river at the end. It was a thrill. First we ran thru that super tall green grass (covering the houses) in the background. It was so tall I rode with one hand covering my face because we were going so fast that the grass, which was taller than my head, kept hitting me in the face. Then it was straight down into the river.

Thanks Eddie for a dreamy weekend in such a beautiful place! Since our birthdays are just a week apart we've decided as soon as we're both out of school we're going to start going on week-long trips during birthday week.

Jason & Alisen

2011-09-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated our friend Jason's wedding. It was beautiful and both Jason and Alisen looked so happy. It was also freezing! I forgot how cold it gets in the mountains this time of year.

I've heard about weddings lately having the tangled-lantern send off, but this was our first experience with them. They were awesome! Only problem is it was so windy that they headed straight for the dry mountain, so they decided not to do the lanterns.

It was fun to be with these guys again after being away all summer.

& we were happy to be there for the happy couple!

It's a School Night

2011-08-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

I'm about to begin my last year of school ever. So bittersweet! I've been a student for 19 years and I've actually loved it all. I have so many good school memories.

{Warning: The english in this post is very poor. It's mainly for my own record-keeping!}

Elementary school at Evergreen Elementary

Walking down to the bus stop on Lauren Lane. Winning the coloring contests for the school calendar. All the holiday parties. Being embarrassed by my mom's reindeer antlers at the Christmas party. My mom bringing me boxed lunches. Loving the ropes in P.E. Hating the computers. Playing 4-square every second of recess. Jessica Eames was my bff. Lizzie May. Loving heads-up-seven-up on rainy days. Living for Buddy Field Day. My lunches packed by my dad with a cherry 7up and butter on my sandwiches. My teachers loving my sandwiches and trading me cause they were so good. Being a total teachers pet. Loving Pat Nally. Mr. Flannagan and parties at his house. Pen-pals with the 5th graders. Sanrio boxes on our desks. Playing tons and tons of night games every night of the summer. Hung out with my bff Lauren all day everyday- we met at the "green box" where our backyards met. I was always playing with Jade too- she had two ferrets and I remember she brought them to my house one time and I freaked out when she let them loose in my bathroom. Swimming til 9 pm at Queensmill pool. Riding bikes. Playing with the neighbors Paige & Brittany.

Middle School at Midlothian Middle School

Don't remember too much here. Loving the mall and going every week. Hanging out with Kara Ramey everyday and shooting hoops in my driveway. Sean O'Laughlin calling me about the homework for science class- Sean and I never got it, I think we did it all together. Hanging out with Lauren and Carolyn after school. Birkenstock clogs (they're so terrible looking!) Overalls. Cotillion. Everyone racing to Arby's afterwards. Nervous about gym cause i couldn't skate. I turned 12 and started going to YW every week. Loved the kids at mutual. The Witts picking me up for basketball practice in the "seminary car". Sitting outside on the fence talking with Jordan and Wes. Started the NYC mother daughter trips. The first two years it was me and my mom, and the next year Bryn & her mom came too.

High School at Midlo High

Lauren driving me on the first day freshman year cause she was 2 years older than me and we stopped by McDonalds in the mornings. Listening to "country grammar" a billion times. Then seminary started and I started riding with Jordan. Taking David Fife to seminary in the RAV4 with us. Jordan running over a rabbit and I cried forever about it. Rolling up to seminary 20 minutes late everyday. Ryan Witt was always on time and I was always late, and we came from the same place. Our teacher gave us crap about it everyday. Jenny Waters & I were the "bobbsey twins". Megan Fisher & Megan Hensley. Trying out for field hockey when I had never played a day in my life. Field Hockey camp w/ Colleen. Neither of us made the team, so I ran cross country and she played volleyball instead. Working at the bakery during the summers. Prom with Mike Vedomske & Mike Dennis. Jenny Waters was my bff. Junior year of high school I became extremely health-conscious. We're talking I would order my pizza without cheese. I worked out like crazy... loving running and group exercise classes. I remember when I couldn't even drive yet my dad would take me to kickboxing classes at Robious. Sunday Park. Ohhh, Sunday Park! Matt & Drew Whitlock. Chandler. Working so hard in school cause I really wanted to go to BYU. Checking the mail in my fuzzy pink robe and finding out I got in, and being SO excited.

College at BYU

Best 5 years of my life! Freshman year being so excited to be in a new place. 3 days into it I thought it was the weirdest place ever when some guy wanted to go "pretend ring shopping". My favorite roomie was a BYU cheerleader so she was never home. I loved the girls downstairs and am still good friends with them today. Met Jessie, who would remain one of my closest friends the rest of my BYU career. Jumping the belmont fence with these girls. Hanging out with Eddie all the time because he had a car! Taking the bus to 24 hour fitness with my roomie. Not minding the dorms. All sports passes. Going to every basketball, football and volleyball game. Dance parties. Tons of brownies. Getting a whopping 2.6 GPA! Not minding one bit because i had fun. Moving to Belmont sophomore year and having the best time. When I think about sophomore year I can't help but smile as a billion awesome memories come flooding through my mind. Moved in with Chi, across from Paige and Jordan (& honorary roomie Jenna). Goooood times. RNC trip to north carolina, sleepovers in the 164, tons of eating, burritos at all times of the day, random people always in and out, dessert parties every sunday, skiing, kickboxing with every girl we knew, bonfires, shopping when we failed tests, packages on my doorstep everyday cause chi loved to shop online, id come home to chi tutoring every boy at byu because she was an accounting genius, swimming with our clothes on at king henry, fishtailing in the stang when the roads got icy, N.B. & C.H! working at Pizza Factory w/ Jess and eating all the breadsticks in the back while working maybe 10 hours a week. They for sure lost money on us. Sachin. Getting Real Estate licenses with Paige. Whole chickens from Goodwood for class treats! Moved to Lanai for the next 2 years for some more good times. Started the PR program, loved the kids in my program, mainly Tyler, Jenna and Adam. Worked at Pier 1. Dated some boy eddie thought was girly and he still mocks me about that. Sleeping on the roof of Eddie's house. Allie Barker. Haley Nielsen. Chanel Wright. Still Paige & Jessie. Flash-cards: on the front 1 on the back B (paige you know exactly what I'm talking about!) By this point knowing most of Provo everywhere we went. Decided to go on a study abroad to Israel. 2 months before I left started to fall for Eddie- threw me for a loop! Had the experience of a lifetime in Israel then it was off to LA for an internship. Moved to Canyon Meadow with Paige & Amy. Dated Eddie the whole year. Fell in love. Camping in MOAB with eddie's friends. Kansas for the summer. Engaged.

Masters at BYU

Got married. Honeymooned in Park City. Had a successful albeit very difficult first year of my program. Karla was my BFF, Emily, Char and Jared were my other good friends. Karla, Jared and I did most of our assignments together. Christmas in California. Attended every BYU basketball game. Jimmer obsession. Summer adventure in Louisiana. Moved to SLC. Eddie started law school. And here I am starting my very last school year ever!

Whew. I for sure left important things out. That was clearly for my own record, but it's unbelievable how enjoyable my school years have been. Having written that, I realize I've been in school my whole life! Those aren't just school memories, they are life memories. It's impossible for me to separate the two because they're so intertwined. I'm so nostalgic tonight remembering all the good times I've had with all the good people I've met not only at BYU, but at Midlothian High, Midlothian Middle and Evergreen Elementary before that. It's the end of an era for me. I still have a mixed bag of emotions when I hear the words "It's a school night!" after a long, fun summer. After this year I will be excited to go through it all again with my own kids, because it is one fun ride.

a summer hike

2011-08-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

we're trying to soak up the last few weeks of summer before things get really busy with both of us being back in school. these pictures are from our hike up big cottonwood canyon this week- it was beyond beautiful.

*side note. every single person that passed us yelled "redskins!!!" at us. it pumped us up and made us pick up the pace! this is the first year i've ever been genuinely excited about football starting- i give credit to marriage.

2011-08-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

looking sharp during his first week of school

Moving Week

2011-08-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

i'd like to say our week has looked like this:

but in reality it looked a whole lot more like this:

every time moving day rolls around, i always come to the decision, at least once in the process, that i want to either throw or give all my stuff away. i'd rather live with very little than have to move it all! but it was sure nice having eddie around to help. this was our first married move together so we had twice the stuff. (i guess we had the same stuff going into our 1st married apt. but i moved in a month before him so it wasn't the same).

before we even left louisiana we decided we were going to hire movers. but since we made good timing on the drive back and we were feeling so efficient, we just started moving ourselves the day after we got back. we moved most of the little stuff ourselves then hired a guy to help us move the big stuff. like our giant couch up 3 flights of stairs. you kind of learn a lot about yourself during a move. during the couch fiasco, when we didn't think it would even fit in the stairwell, i kept saying "lets just sell it. no big deal. ill go list it on ksl right now." but eddie wanted to make it work! and he did.

we got super lucky and ended up moving into my cousin's condo instead of the apartment in holladay, which turned out much better. an accurate comparison of the two is heaven to hell.

it sure feels nice to be 90% settled. i always love the fun part of unpacking and organizing once everything is in place. we already love the area up here- our first day here we were missing the provo bubble, but it's growing on us. a lot. our 1st apartment, Parkside 206, was a real gem and we're so lucky to have lived there for a year! but we are thrilled to have made the move to SLC.

DAY THREE

2011-08-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

We saved the best for last. On Sunday we spent the whole day in New Orleans doing a few things eddie & i had already done, but still managed to do a lot of new stuff with jord.

On the way down we stopped by our favorite plantation, oak alley, to show jordan the gorgeous trees & plantation house. After waiting 20+ minutes for my camera lens to defrost because of humidity, we just grabbed a couple pics and left instead of doing the actual tour.

We've been trying to go to an exhibit on Hurricane Katrina all summer, but just missed it every time. We made sure not to miss it this weekend! It was one of the highlights of the whole summer. It had live footage of the news during the whole week of Katrina, as well as live footage of the actual hurricane. It was unreal. Then you went into a room and they had different tv's set up all over the room and would turn on one at a time and talk about a different part of Katrina. Ie. the hospitals, super dome, heroes & first responders.

They had an axe on display that was used to cut through the roof to get a woman and her daughter out of their house via helicopter. There was an audio recording from the lady and she said on the day of the hurricane her daughter said, "Mom, look outside the rain is starting to come down harder" And when she went downstairs to look there was two feet of water covering the floor. It all happened so quickly.

Can you even believe this warning??

This boat was found in a parking garage next to one of the hospitals. After floodwaters trapped two thousand people, including more than 200 patients, in the hospital, a few staff members spotted the boat and began using it to evacuate people. It carried up to 39 people at a time.

{given that jordy works in a hospital, one night while he was here we sat around reading stories about how the hospitals in particular were hit by katrina. the stories were terrible. with no power/water/anything you can imagine how bad things got.}

The Katrina exhibit was on the first floor and the Mardi Gras exhibit was on the second. Extreme opposite feelings walking though these two! But it was nice to not feel as heavy when we left.

butter pecan praline cones

Then we made our way down to see the destruction. Here's jordan up on the flood wall

We discovered this whole apartment complex that was totally abandoned. The insides were completely gutted and stripped of everything but the bare structure. It was very eerie.

Where's waldo

We drove around for an hour or so looking at the lower 9th ward and more specifically the rest of Brad Pitt's project. The best part about it was passing an older woman on her front porch who waved and gave us the biggest, most genuine smile. You know life's been hard to her and I couldn't believe how friendly she was to us obvious outsiders.

Then we made our way back to the french quarter for some shopping and relaxation

I love the street entertainment!

Waiting for the st. charles trolley

being gentlemen and giving up their seats for some ladies

the most unexpected highlight of the night! i was obsessed. these guys were straight from the tv show america's best dance crew. they were incredible- they go by"white gold". i wish i had pics, only video. if you're lucky i'll figure out how to upload it on here.

i could do without the naked girls and endless drunk people on bourbon street at night,

but i love the live jazz music!

DAY TWO

2011-08-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

The highlights of Saturday included:

the gator tour

almost missing the tour and laughing about how nothing has changed- we're both still late to everything

when our tour guide kept referring to us as a couple and neither one of us cared enough to correct him

seeing the two GIANT gators that were hiding last time

jordy grabbing boudreaux's (15 foot gator) tail

walking around baton rouge

missing the tour of the capitol building by 2 minutes

debating going to the circus

LSU drive-thru

dinner at Sammy's- hoping to introduce him to crawfish but when we discovered we just missed crawfish season... getting another po-boy

home for UNO and me asking him every question under the sun about his job/life/love and him being so patient and answering every single one

{1 foot away coming straight at me. this is when i leaped over the boat and

into the arms of the 14 year old girl on the opposite side of the boat. }

Jordy Visits

2011-08-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Jordan came to town this past weekend! We had the best time showing him around Louisiana. The only person I know who likes a good adventure more than eddie & i is jord, so it was fun having him here. I called him a few days before he arrived and asked what kinds of things he wanted to do. He said he was up for anything as long as we were eating every 3 hours. He was excited for the food! I am happy to report we pretty much stayed on schedule in that regard.

He is the most relaxed and easy-going person; I want him to come back to hang out with me! He's also great at directions, which eddie was loving. Someone who could navigate him the right way on the first try- it usually takes me 3 or 4. I usually just sit there laughing while eddie gets mad because it really is a joke how terrible i am at directions.

These pictures are mainly for you mom! I'm breaking his visit up into three posts since there are so many pictures.

DAY ONE

We started with po-boys from Guy's. de-lish

Then we dropped Eddie off in his hood and watched him knock some doors

Next it was onto the aquarium. This was one thing we probably could have done without. The highlight was getting this great shot of a jelly fish.

Next we made our way to the french quarter and jackson square.

Here's Jordan participating in a magic show on the street.

His first taste of a beignet

That night the three of us went to dinner at a local fav so Jordan could get some more seafood.

Then we all crashed by 11 cause we were so tired!

NOLA with the huntings

2011-07-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

on sunday we ventured back down to new orleans with our friends josh & candice. the main purpose of this visit was to drive through the worst of the katrina damage: the ninth ward. the dark and rainy weather actually helped set the mood for it. while some of the houses are occupied again, most of them are totally empty- no doors or windows even. the thing that shocked us most and made the whole experience more real were the x's spray painted on the front of the houses. the numbers in the X tell the date, unit doing the investigation, and number of dead found in the house. some of the x's were hard to see, but once we looked hard enough almost every single house had one.

the worst damage was a couple streets right by the levee. at one point the levee broke and 200 people were killed by a single wave of water. it was all very sad, and i couldn't stop thinking about what it would have been like almost 6 years ago. pure chaos and fear. the three pictures below are just normal places we go every time we visit new orleans, and what they were like right after the hurricane.

via

how scary would this have been...literally trying to beat the rising water on foot.

This is where our driving tour began...

part of brad pitt's "make it right" homes

Visiting the ninth ward was definitely memorable. Eddie has actually knocked into a few people who lived in new orleans during katrina, and were given money to restore their homes as part of the "the road home" program. some people were given up to $30,000, and have made their homes quite nice he said.

Then it was on to cafe du monde for beignets and chocolate milk. That's the secret to a good beignet- chocolate milk!

figuring out our game plan

engagements round 2

I'm going to go ahead right now and vote this best picture i have ever/ will ever take

walking around the most charming streets- the restaurant was in an old house in this neighborhood. and it had the best.food.ever. both josh & eddie got "chicken under a brick" and it was to die for. candice got ribs and i got scallops. i couldn't believe how good it all was.

This is it!

ladies luau

2011-07-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Amy & Lyn planned an amazing luau last weekend. Lyn, from hawaii, even got her family to ship some real hawaiian treats & ingredients. They had delicious ham & chicken, rice, salad & tons of fruit. They got all the girls leis & grass skirts. We played tons of games too, it was a lot of fun.

Holladay

2011-07-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

We found an apartment!

And all it took were these two (of 17) pictures taken by Jenna to seal the deal.

We sent in our application this morning, and we're perfect renters so there's no reason they should deny us. This has been one of our biggest stressors over the past month. Every morning we'd scour KSL and craigslist, hoping for a hidden treasure and we finally found it. I hate finding housing. What I hate even more is trying to find housing in Utah while living in Kansas or Louisiana! I've been texting allison everyday asking about different parts of SLC, what's OK and what to avoid. Once we finally found one, jenna went over to do a walk-through and take some pictures. It's so nice to have help back in utah. Paige and jesse did this for us last year- thanks friends!

Anyways, it's in holladay, which I'm very excited about. That's where my dad grew up and I think it will be cool to spend a year in the same place. It's closer to family on both my mom and dad's side. Plus, eddie and i have lived in provo for 7 years! We love provo, but we are ready for a change of scenery. I'll still commute down to provo for school, but with a bus pass and my friend karla to commute with it won't be a big deal. The good news is it's only 20 min from eddie's school... which is especially convenient for someone who will be spending 8 hours+ on campus everyday.

The biggest bonus of all is it has 2 bedrooms! i can't believe we lived with only 1 for an entire year. you would think that's all one couple needs, but 500 sq feet is pretty tiny.

anyways, all this for under $700! see you soon salt lake city~

the pool

2011-07-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

this was hands down one of my favorite days of the summer!

the kid i work with texted me on wednesday and said there wasn't much to do in the office, so i headed to the pool with all the wives. it was the first day it hadn't stormed in over a week, so the pool was definitely calling our names.

all the girls have these pool floats and we pretty much fill up the whole pool when we all get in at the same time

jenny, brittany, me

whitney, jenny, candice

mae! she has the best imagination. whitney, mae and i were playing with the "dolphins" in the pool

kate & candice

then we came up with the bright idea to race in teams on the floats

whitney & me

brittany & justine

there was a relay of sorts involved

justine, ashley, emily

candice, brittany, kate & jenny

*jewels! somehow you escaped every pic. i wish you were in this one

the wives in this office are for sure one of the highlights of the summer.

thanks for a fun day girls!

amusement park

2011-07-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Another fun day at Blue Bayou...

This time it was overcast and drizzly most of the day

so we spent the majority of our time on the dry rides.

Turns out the best kind of day to visit a theme park is when it looks like its going to rain!

Rides still run and there are zero lines.

i hope the day never comes when i tell our kids i'm too old to ride rides with them, but if it does- here's proof i loved it at one point!

dead battery

2011-07-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

i jumped in the car after work yesterday and my car wouldn't start! first time that's ever happened to me. so these three angels came to the rescue and jump-started it for me.

kate, candice & whitney

& this angel is the handiest of all handy-men.

New Orleans round 4

2011-07-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some real pictures from our New Orleans trip last weekend. The main reason for the trip was to eat at the highly-recommended Brennan's. Well we showed up right before they closed for lunch and they wouldn't seat us, so we ended up walking around for a while and dining somewhere else.

The first place we went was the cemetery. For some reason we are still fascinated by these above-ground family coffins. Evidently they're pretty dangerous places and pickpocketing can occur easily since there are rows and rows of these coffins. I didn't know this, but once Eddie told me I never left his sight.

Eddie finding us a good place for lunch

We ended up eating at Stanley's which was pretty good. We both got breakfast food.

This picture below is our table from the outside. It was so cute! We looked out over Jackson Square and all the artists. The best people-watching of all time. Especially when some friends from our group walked right past our window~

right when we sat down for beignets and milk it started pouring rain. perfect timing!

a good weekend

2011-07-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

this is a pretty typical weekend around here:

some pool time

a fuuunny movie

& a trip to what is quickly becoming my new favorite city:

new orleans

i almost like taking instagrams more than real photos these days

travel bug

2011-07-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

i've caught it.

over the past few days i've looked up flights/hotels/attractions in:

Greece

Argentina

Australia

Costa Rica

Bali

South Africa

and...

Italy

A girl can dream, right? Travel has always and will always be near the top of my priority list. I get such a thrill from exploring different places. I'm grateful for the experience Eddie and I have had to explore different parts of the country with his job and am very excited for the day we can start traveling abroad together.

Fireworks on the Mississippi

2011-07-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

I love this firework shot that Eddie got. We spent the night of the 4th in Baton Rouge grabbing burgers and watching fireworks over the Mississippi River with friends. It was a fun way to spend my favorite day of the year. I wish we got out more during the day to celebrate but my 4 hour nap got in the way of that.

Kaid & Justine who waited 40 minutes to get their food and it never came.

Michelle & Alan who are engaged to be married 11/11/11~

People think we're sisters. One of the best parts of the night was when she claimed it was "finale time" 4 minutes into the show.

One of the best things about Eddie is that he is always teaching himself how to do things. Before we even left for the night he was researching how to take firework pictures. He was the photographer of the night.

Candice & Josh

fireworks are always best over water~

The older I get the more patriotic I feel, and the more I realize
what a blessing it is to live in America. Happy Birthday America!

4th of July Sunday

2011-07-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

candice, whitney, emily & i were an american vision today at church

blue bayou

2011-06-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

the first week we were here, eddie and i got season passes with another couple to the water/ amusement park, blue bayou, and we loved it! then this week most of the wives in the office bought season passes so all the girls can go together while the guys are at work. it was the best idea. i surprisingly and thankfully had monday off work, which turned out to be the only day without rain in the past few weeks. we hit up the waterpark and had a real good time.

{thanks candice for the pics!}

1 year ago today

2011-06-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

was the best day of my life!

the day we had floor seats to my favorite artist of all time-

TIM MCGRAW

i still think about that night all the time.

canoeing

2011-06-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

on sunday eddie and i went to a state park about an hour away and rented a canoe. the last time we were in a canoe was during our engagement pics! this experience was very different. instead of being in the middle of an open lake in the desert, we were cruising up and down the bayous and rivers in louisiana.

we love louisiana!

our week in photos

2011-06-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

this past week was pretty uneventful. we both just went to work everyday, with a few things here and there to break up the monotony.

first, eddie received his acceptance letter from the U. ever since the admittance phone call from the dean, he's been checking the mail 3x a day looking for the letter. the one time i happened to check the mail without him it came! he was so excited.

also, there was a 2 week selling competition at work and eddie's team got third place- so he won a playstation 3. he's been wanting one of these since before we were married. i've always thought gaming systems were a big waste of time so i discouraged it but what can ya do when he wins it!? go eddie!

his latest thing has been making homemade lemonade. he makes it on the stove and it's so good! candice and josh came over last week for some lemonade and shrimp.

somewhere i had heard that la madeleine's was good so we went to try it out. we even took pictures out front b/c i thought it was going to be awesome and one of our favorite restaurants of the summer. it was terrible! it was run by a bunch of 17 year olds and the $30 food was comparable to airplane food.

but luckily we ended the week at a good restaurant.

we went to sammy's for the 3rd time and it was delicious

gator swamp tour

2011-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

last weekend we headed out with the majority of eddie's office for a true louisiana adventure-a swamp tour! this state impresses me more and more with each thing we discover. we learned that louisiana is covered in bayous, and there are more than 2.5 million gators in louisiana- 1 for every 2 people! our tour guide said there were thousands of them swimming all around our boat. oh and fun fact- the particular tour company we went with is owned by a guy that was on deadliest catch.

the whole gang- this is one fun group

on the airboat. these boats go so fast and swerve all over the bayou- we couldn't have loved it more

the guide said to stay in our seats but the second the boat stopped everyone jumped up and started walking around the boat to get a better view of the gators. also, the boat was so loud everyone had to wear those red earmuffs

the gators were lured to the boat w/ raw chicken! rod the guide would tie chicken on a stick, drag it in the water and the gators would come creepin right over

at one point the gators were getting feisty so eddie had to push off any that tried to climb on the boat while rod backed the boat up to go find a new area. check out how beautiful the bayous are

that's rod. this was probably all the guys' favorite part of the tour when rod grabbed the tail of a gator and told them to help him pull it in the boat! of course he swam away but it was thrilling.

just hooking his chicken while he picks out which tourist he's going to throw overboard. he was crazy and so funny

here are just some great gator shots! another highlight for me were the happy gilmore gator quotes on the boat. happy gilmore and billy maddison are still 2 of my favorite movies.

at the end they let us hold (or kiss) baby alligators. this one was less than a year old. typically they grow 3-4 feet a year, but they keep this one in air condition so it stunts its growth.

i know, right!?! i love this picture. sometimes they would just jump up out of nowhere and they had to be swatted back into the water.

such a great day. this will be a hard sunday funday to top

Father's Day

2011-06-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to our wonderful dads!

We are both very blessed to have great dads who we talk to regularly.

There is nobody on this planet as wise as your own dad, that's for sure.

Eddie & his dad have a special relationship. They talk all the time and are each other's best friend. I'm grateful for him and the things he's taught Eddie- my favorite of which being how to treat a lady! Eddie treats me like gold and I know he learned by example.

Marianne pretty much said it best... I really think of my dad as one of my best friends. He's always supported me, and I know he'd do anything for me. Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Here is a tribute I wrote to my dad back on Fathers Day of 2009. I will always love these memories. As I wrote in his card this year, after Eddie, he is always the first person I call when I'm really upset or really happy about something. He's always been willing to share personal experiences that relate to how I'm feeling which always makes me feel better. On the flip side, when I have good news I like telling him first! Like when Eddie told me he got into law school my dad was the first person I called.

I'm very grateful for the relationship I have with my dad and for the support and love he has always given me. Dad you are the best! I love you~

law school

2011-06-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

eddie is going to law school at the university of utah in the fall!

i'm so happy for him i could burst.

all his life people have told him he should be a lawyer.

he's very smart and analytical.

no matter what he decides to do with it,

law is the perfect background for him.

he called me while i was at work yesterday to tell me the good news. i started screaming and wanted to know all the details! i could tell he was so happy and relieved.

i'll tell you why this is so exciting.

he applied to only 4 schools: 2 in virginia and 2 in utah.

he got into both VA schools (richmond & george mason)

but would have to sit out a year and start fall of 2012 since

i still have a year left of my program at BYU.

but now he can start this fall! we're planning on selling our apt. in provo
(which is sad because we'll never find one as cute and cheap again)
and moving north.

all his hard work preparing for and taking the LSAT, writing essays and completing applications has paid off...

congratulations eddie!

ladies' lunch

2011-06-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

on saturday these two beauties, whitney & candice, hosted a lunch for all the wives in the office

we piled high our delicious cafe rio-like salads and

chatted and played games for a few hours. it was fun!

all these girls get to hang out everyday while i work in the office.

i'm grateful for my job but wish i got to see them more often!

our louisiana casa

2011-06-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

this is the apartment we're living in for the summer. it's in gonzales, which is 20 minutes south of baton rouge and an hour north of new orleans. we love it. the first day we drove up to our apt eddie was thrilled we had a garage. i can tell he still enjoys clicking the garage door open every time we come home- it's our first one! and i love the bathroom right off our room. in the past i've always had to walk into the hall to get to the bathroom. i feel like a real adult now that it's attached to the master bedroom.

cute

2011-06-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

via

are you kidding me!?
cutest creature ever.
i say creature cause eddie thinks its a dog
and i think its a polar bear

Oak Alley Plantation

2011-06-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the most beautiful place: Oak Alley Plantation.

The home is over 200 years old and the oak trees are over 300 years old.
This plantation is right on the Mississippi, almost to New Orleans.

snakes

2011-06-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

the weirdest thing has happened since moving to louisiana. for some reason i think snakes are EVERYWHERE. i haven't even seen one yet! so i don't know where this fear is coming from. i've turned into such a nervous freak about it. it probably has something to do with the fact that spiders are everywhere, so i assume snakes are too.

our washer and dryer are out in the garage, and i usually run down there barefoot to change the laundry. but as soon as i open the door to the garage i BOLT to the w & d (up on a platform) cause i always think snakes are gonna be in the garage.

also, last week eddie and i went to the hot tub late one night. when we came back, i took a bath and was washing the chlorine out of my hair. eddie came in and started yelling "oh my gosh! mare!" i JUMPED up and started freaking out, splashing water everywhere- about to lunge out of the tub at him.

turns out the pool water had just turned my hair green. and i thought he was yelling because there was a snake in the tub with me.

southern ice cream

2011-06-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

if you've been to the south then you know about blue bell!

eddie and i got this flava flav last week and it's almost gone.

it has real coconut and the fudge is still liquid!

evidently bluebell was sold in kansas last summer too

but i wasn't eating much of anything-

i had a wedding dress to squeeze into.

it's nice to finally enjoy this delicacy.

a new orleans sunday

2011-05-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

we went down to new orleans to explore a little more during the day since we went at night last week. this city is a totally different place during the day- it's so beautiful! we walked around for four hours straight just taking it all in. the french quarter is the coolest little area- it's so colorful and filled with plants and flowers. i would love to live there for a year or two. i told eddie we could sell our cars and only have bikes cause thats how everyone gets around anyways!

this place had a toy model of the city and interesting books on hurricane katrina

my new summer do

this was a memorial coffin for all those that died in Katrina

1,464- we didn't realize it was that many. so sad

they bury their dead above ground since the water table is too high and

caskets come up out of the ground with heavy rain

on to the french quarter...

new orleans jazz festival

the most dreamy back porch/ yard. especially the ceiling fan on the patio

if i had to pick one word to describe the french quarter, besides party, it would be PLANTS.

they're everywhere and it makes it the most charming little place

tons of horses- especially horse-drawn carriages

green eggs & ham! cutest thing for a nursery

we'll be floating the mississippi on this thing in no time

while this jazz band was playing, a purple school bus full of elementary kids in dreads drove by. all the kids stuck their heads and arms fully out the window and started dancing and singing and the band was going crazy for them. it was so cute!

we can never have too many crab-cakes

i wanted to buy this dress so bad but eddie convinced me it wasn't the most flattering

al fresco dining

mardi gras bike

teal doors & shutters!

a couple beignets (delicious doughnut-like pastries covered in powdered sugar)

for the drive home

it was a perfect sunday. it's days like this that remind me

for the 1000th time how grateful i am that eddie and i ended up together.

one of our favorite songs

2011-05-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

what if she's an angel

by Tommy Shane Steiner

this song has been a favorite of mine for years.

usually makes me cry, always makes me want to be better.

best part about it? eddie loves it too.

There's a man standing on the corner

With a sign sayin "will work for food"

You know the man

You see him every morning

The one you never give your money to

You can sit there with your window rolled up

Wondering when the lights going to turn green

Never knowing what a couple more bucks

In his pocket might mean

What if he's an angel sent here from heaven

And he's making certain that you're doing your best

To take the time to help one another

Brother are you going to pass that test

You can go on with your day to day

Trying to forget what you saw in his face

Knowing deep down it could have been his saving grace

What if he's an angel

There's a man

And there's a woman

Living right above you in apartment G

There's alot of noise coming through the ceiling

And it don't sound like harmony

You can sit there with your TV turned up

While the words and his anger fly

Come tomorrow when you see her with her shades on

Can you look her in the eye

What if she's an angel sent here from heaven

And she's making certain that you're doing your best

To take the time to help one another

Brother are you going to pass that test

You can go on with your day to day

Trying to forget what you saw in her face

Knowing deep down it could have been her saving grace

What if she's an angel

A little girl on daddy's lap

Hiding her disease with a baseball cap

You can turn the channel

Most people do

But what if you were sitting in her daddy's shoes

Maybe she's an angel

Sent here from Heaven

And she's making certain you're doing your best

To take the time to help one another

Brother are you going to pass that test

You can go on with your day to day

Trying to forget what you saw in her face

Knowing deep down it could have been her saving grace

What if she's an angel

a night on the town

2011-05-21T13:41:00.001-07:00

we drove down to new orleans w/ kaid and justine on friday night to check it out. one of the most exciting things about the night was that we brought our new camera! so it was like one big photoshoot. i'm in love with it. eddie keeps telling me to read the owners manual so i know what i'm doing, which is probably good advice. so while these pics are not indicative of what the camera can do, they're way better than the old point and shoot!

crabcake & shirmp alfredo

shrimp jambalaya pasta

most photogenic couple

pitch black outside but the camera makes it look like day-time.

we wandered down to the mississippi to see it overflowing. we were looking at little green bush-like things that were really trees that were fully submerged except for the very tops.

there were quite a few other locals out looking at the river too. no one was really talking, just sitting on benches in the dark looking at the river. i can only imagine they were just so grateful the water didn't flood their homes and entire city like it did a few years ago.

the green row of shrubbery in the water right behind eddie are the tops of the trees. the river is supposed to end like 100 yards away, but it came right up to the levee.

then we headed to bourbon street which was just a giant party

it was a fun night. new orleans is a city we want to visit tons of times while we're here, it's only an hour away! it kind of has a vegas vibe, but a lot more original and unique. oh, and way better food!

Baton Rouge Temple

2011-05-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

the temple is 15 minutes from our apartment!

they only have two sessions a day- one in the morning and one at night.

eddie and i were able to go this morning and it was wonderful.

before today, i had only been inside the SLC and Provo temple

(well, and DC but only for baptisms),

so it was nice to go to a smaller one.

water for elephants

2011-05-19T18:29:00.001-07:00

best movie i've seen in a long time.

rosie the elephant was so cute!

crumbs

2011-05-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

this is what our bed looks like every morning until i sweep all the crumbs out!

it's a result of eddie's habit of getting up every morning around 3-4 a.m.

and eating whatever he can get his little paws on.

he usually brings his snack back to bed which is how our bed resembles a child's.

i don't love having cookies in the house at all times, but i need to feed his little craving.

Crawfish

2011-05-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yum! This was our "sample" plate to see if we would like it or not.

Well look who did and ordered his own giant platter of them!

Both Kaid and Eddie ordered crawfish for their meal. Justine & I were out 5 seconds into the tutorial when the waitress said, "So then you rip off the head and drink the juice"

The guys liked them, but I don't know if they would order them again. They said it was more of a cultural experience you have to do at least once. I think next time we go, and we will because we all loved the restaurant, we're ordering what Justine got- the crabcake po boy!

The Mississippi

2011-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of the things we wanted to see this summer is the mississippi river, so we headed to Baton Rouge on Sunday. We didn't know what to expect, especially with all the flooding. They had opened the Morganza Spillway just the day before, so water was being farmed out to other areas to prevent New Orleans and Baton Rouge from flooding. So even though we didn't see the river overflowing the levees, thank goodness, you could definitely tell the water was high.

us w/ the Mississippi and USS KIDD (WWII and the Korean War) in the background

the water was going so fast

we don't know how high the water usually is at this spot, but you can see the stair-rails were all taken out except this one, and it's under water. people around us were saying there used to be trees down there, but they're all covered, which makes me think it's at least 10+ feet higher than normal here.

tons of sandbags ready to lay out

this is downtown baton rouge- right by the river. louisiana is beautiful. so green! i'm beginning to think all the southern states look alike- very pretty. and for the most part, they take good care of the grounds. everything is well-manicured.

Church in Louisiana

2011-05-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

in our new apartment before our first sunday

Church here is from 9-noon, which is perfect since it gives us all day to explore this state that I'm already so intrigued by. A few things stood out to us on our first sunday:

1. They call each other by their first names. Ie. "Brother Chris, Sister Sarah..." Like everyone does it. The bishop was referring to people this way from the pulpit.

2. They are so so nice. After sacrament meeting we were sitting in the hall for maybe 5 minutes and I'd guess 10 people came up and introduced themselves. And those who didn't come over gave us giant smiles. They were eager to welcome anyone and everyone.

3. Everyone participates! The elders quorum sang the special musical number in sac. meeting, and seriously every man got up to participate. The stage was entirely full. In almost every other ward i've been in, they're lucky if they get 12 people up there! And that's including the relief society too.

4. Living in this part of the country, they're used to natural disasters. The bishop got up and talked about the flooding that's happening around the state. He said "we will certainly go down and help them as soon as we get word to do so". Evidently the elders quorum regularly goes around to all the southern states to help with hurricane clean-up.

It was just a great experience to be back in a strong family ward. That was something I definitely took for granted growing up- my ward was the best. Especially our YM/YW programs. Of course this inspired a conversation between eddie & i about how we really want to find a good ward to raise our kids in.