Home Sweet Home

We've been living in our house for about three weeks now and I can officially say that everything is put away and it is clean.. for at least a few more hours.  Andrew even managed to put only one hole in the wall!  Accomplishment!  
I must say I have never spent so much time at Home Depot in my whole life than I have this past month.  I even asked for a gift card to Home Depot for my birthday.. what??  We have already started a project in the bathroom that I cannot wait to get done!  It is so much fun to be able to make things look exactly as I want, and its going to look so sweet!  Every day my mind runs wild with the changes I want to make to this place, especially getting rid of wallpaper.. I am beyond hate for wallpaper right now.  I don't think Andrew is prepared for my list of projects, but so far he's done an A+ job at going along with it.  Although he's trying to bring all of his dressers and nightstands (yes there are multiple) and "lucky" rabbit furs into our bedroom, I have to remind him that the man cave is down the hall and the bedroom is the lady cave.  We're still working on that one!
So far our ward seems like a really great place.  Everyone is so nice and I think we will fit in nicely.  I've acutally been able to enjoy relief society.  For the past long while I've been in primary, although I do love the primary, it has been fun to get to know people my age and all of the neighborhood ladies. We have some really great neighbors too that we have already become friends with.  


Our favorite things so far:
using the grill
laying out on the patio
sliding down the banister
being able to park in a garage
having plenty of storage space
the loft
the bathroom sink (its a bowl sink that sits on top of the countertop and has a waterfall faucet, Andrew picked it out.  Its pretty awesome)
having a yard (I love this because Andrew really loves doing all of the yard work)
the lawn mower (that I guess feels like its floating on air)


I also really love that it finally feels like we're not pretending to play house anymore.  Having a real house, a real yard, and so much needed space is a great feeling.  This is like the third time we've moved in two years, so I am loving the stability of knowing that we'll be here for a while, we'll be in this ward for a long period of time, and we'll make really great freinds.  We are so blessed to have been able to find our perfect home and its going to be a perfect place to start a family.  I'm not announcing anything... yet!


 

Happy Birthday to me!

What is the best birthday gift you ask?  A house! thats right we are now the proud owners of a perfect little home. We're going back to the west side where we belong. 
I call it my little gingerbread house.  The keys landed into our hot little hands last night and we couldn't be more excited! Its a very surreal feeling but we can't wait to say goodbye to apartment life.  I can already picture the summer tanning sessions on the deck, the bbqs, new traditions and one day a little family of our own.  Yay for houses and birthdays :)

2 Years!

Two years ago Feb 24 I made the best decision of my life.  I married the most amazing person I've ever known!
I have never laughed so hard, cared for someone so much, or felt so much happiness than I have the past two years.  Every day is an adventure and I wouldn't trade a single one.
I love Andrew because...
he is my rock when I am breaking down
he is almost always the first to apologize
he always makes sure I'm taken care of and happy before he thinks of himself
I love him because...
he has stood by me through every good and bad day
He has a way of knowing just the right thing to say and a way of finding humor in everything
I love him because...
He always has a surprise up his sleeve
He listens to me
He appreciates me
I love his musical talent
His passionate and caring heart
and his spirituality
I fall in love with him again every day
Happy two years and eternity to go!!!!

A Christmas in Hawaii

You may now call us Linake and Analu. Those are our Hawaiian names.
Thanks to Andrew's dad and step mom we got to go to Hawaii the day after Christmas! Can I just say it is the best feeling to pack summer clothes and swimsuits in the middle of winter! Luckily I slept just about the entire way there.  I woke up just in time to see the lava rock filled ground below.  And much to our surprise Berta from Two and a Half Men was on our flight!  The airport in Kona is literally surrounded by nothing but black lava rock and weeds.  Not exactly how I pictured Hawaii. But as we drove further into town it got greener, more tropical, and absolutely beautiful.  Our first night there we went out to dinner and then the exhaustion took over and we headed back to our hotel for some sleep.  Kona is three hours behind Utah. I didn't think that only 3 hours would make that big of a difference, but it did!  We got so tired around 9 every night and kept waking up at 5. 

Goodnight Hawaii!

The next day was Andrew's Birthday. Happy Birthday Andrew!!! Who gets to spend their 24th birthday in Hawaii?? This spoiled kid and his eternal plus one. During the day we hung out at the beach and Andrew and his dad did some snorkeling.  I'm not much of a water person.. ok lets be honest, big bodies of water terrify me so I spent most of my time relaxing on the beach and loved every second.  But by end of the beach trip I got brave and walked waist deep into the water, with Andrew holding my hand and I saw a huge sea turtle!  It was so cute and just floating along with the waves.  That night we went to a luau for Andrew's birthday celebration.  We watched as they dug the pig out of the pit.  It was nasty looking, but really tasted very good.  As we ate we watched the hula girls dance away and the fire throwers do some amazing tricks.  It was a really fun experience.

Happy Birthday to my best friend and the most amazing person I know!

                                          I was in love with this little hut at the luau.



We decided to take a road trip to the other side of the island, Hilo, which is where the waterfalls and volcanoes are.  It took about three hours to get there.  It really is the exact opposite of Kona.  Hilo is very wet, muggy, and rainforesty.  We hiked through the rainforest and saw the huge waterfall.  It was really neat!  There are some crazy cool plants there that I have never ever seen anywhere else.  It was beautiful!

We had made an appointment to do a session at the temple.  We could see the tip of it from our hotel so we decided we would walk there.  The walk was literally up hill for 20 minutes straight!  A very steep hill.  At nine in the morning it was already bloody hot and here we are trying to run up this hill, because (a) we didn't really know where we were going and (b) we were running late... as usual. But we finally made it! The temple is absolutley beautiful, and very small.  There were a total of 9 people in our session.  Much different than what we're used to here in SLC.  But it was still very powerful and spiritual and I am so glad we had the opportunity to go. 

I went and got a massage one morning, and it was just what I needed! Andrew got to lay in bed for one whole hour watching basketball and football without any interruptions, which is just what he needed!  Then we headed back out to the beach.  You can never have enough naps on the beach.

We went out for a romantic oceanside burger dinner.  With the ocean and tiki torches in the background it was magical.

After dinner we drove to a spot where there are often mantarays hanging out.  They shine light into the ocean at night which brings up the mantarays. Some crazy people even snorkel out there with them.  Let me tell you they were enourmous!  Their wing span was like 6 feet.  It was pretty neat.

Saturday was our last day in paradise.  We went out with one last bang.  We kayaked about a mile or more across the ocean to this little bay where we snorkeled.  Let me rephrase that: as we were kayaking I was trying very hard not to have a panic attack.  I was trying not to think about shark attacks and being tipped over and eaten to death.  I wanted to enjoy the fun excursion.  It was exhausting! At one point I was feeling sorry for myself because my arms were about to fall off and I hear Andrew behind me say, "You're doing great, we're almost there keep going."  I thought, hmm how nice of him to support me because I am on the verge of freaking out here.  And I look back and he has his ore on his lap, his hands behind his head, his eyes are closed and he's enjoying the ride!!! lol. Such a terd!  Who knows how long I paddled all by myself.  Other times our oars would collide, or he would lift his so high he would hit me on the back of the head (purposely).  Yeah.. we should probably never consider any type of water sports competitively. Its a miracle we ever made it to the bay.  Andrew and his dad went out for more snorkeling and I was told myself I had to do it! I was in Hawaii and I had to snorkel.  So I put on my life jacket and mask and flopped in to the water. I was doggy paddling in there for about 15 seconds before I panicked.  I saw a bunch of bright blue and bright yellow fish and the coral was awesome, until I smacked my knee on a piece and it hurt so bad!  I then turned around and was surround my big black sea urchins bigger than my face!  I freaked out and yelled at Andrew, please get me out of here!!!!  That was enough for me. I saw what I needed to see.  It really and truly is a whole new world under there. We immediately jumped in to the kayak and I have never paddled so fast in my life.  I broke down in the middle of the ocean out of fear.  Not a proud moment, but I think I paddled us back to our starting point in record time.  I'm glad I at least tried to conquer my fear. The rest of the day we lounged until we had to head to the airport for the long journey home.

Watching this sunset was the perfect way to end our trip.  It was so pretty!

Here are a few random pics of the trip. We hope to see Hawaii again some day. It was so relaxing and amazingly fun to spend 24/7 with Andrew and not have to worry about work and school. That is my paradise.

Every night we would take a stroll around town and enjoy the scenery. 

 I had to snag a Christmas pic.

RESTroom... what an oxymoron

When you have to visit a public bathroom, you usually find a line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the stall doors. Every stall is occupied. Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall.

You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn’t matter, the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants! The dispenser for the modern ‘seat covers' (invented by someone's Mom, no doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your purse on the door hook, if there was one, but there isn't - so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck, (Your Mom would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR! ), yank down your pants, and assume ' The Stance.'

In this position your aging, toneless thigh muscles begin to shake.. You'd love to sit down, but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat  or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold ‘The Stance.'

To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser. In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Honey, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!' Your thighs shake more.

You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your purse. (Oh yeah, the purse around your neck, that now, you have to hold up trying not to strangle yourself at the same time). That would have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than your thumbnail

Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn’t work. The door hits your purse, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest, and you and your purse topple backward against the tank of the toilet 'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your precious,tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor, lose your footing
altogether, and slide down directly onto the TOILET SEAT ..

It is wet of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late.Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to try. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew, because, you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, 'You just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get.'

By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl that sprays a fine mist of water that covers your butt and runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the empty toilet paper
dispenser for fear of being dragged in too.

At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You’re exhausted. You try to wipe with a gum wrapper you found in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks..

You can’t figure out how to operate the faucets with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting.
  
You are no longer able to smile politely to them.. A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED it??)

You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this.'

As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used, and left the men’s restroom. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long and why is your purse hanging around your neck?'

This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with public restrooms (rest??? You've GOT to be kidding!!). It finally explains to the men whatreally does take us so long. It also answers their other commonly asked questions about why women go to the restroom in pairs. It's so the other gal can hold the door, hang onto your purse and hand you Kleenex under the
door!

Go Grizzlies!

About two weeks ago I was just getting off of work and called Andrew to tell him I was going home for the day.  He said to me, "we are going somewhere at 7, but its a surprise, I'll be home soon."  Suddenly my brain is going wild with ideas of what surprise he has come up with.  He can get some pretty mischevious ideas so I had no idea what to expect!  Once he and his brother Chase walked in to my house he told me that my surprise was season tickets to the Grizzlies hockey games.  I was so surprised and very happy!  A full season of seeing guys beat the crap out of each other?! don't mind if I do! I was even more happy when he told me they were only $50 since we are students.  Finally college paid off for something! Andrew has always been a huge hockey lover and I used to go to games with my best friend growing up and I truly grew a love for the sport and the fighting mostly, lets face it is really entertaining. 

So we picked up Andrew's other brother Tim and headed off to the game.  The awesome lady at the ticket counter gave us front row!  I literally hadn't even sat down yet and a fight happened directly in front of my face.  I have never experienced it so close.  I think I gasped.  After the fight was over, there was a big wet thing running down the glass, I immediately became physically ill because the guy sitting next to me said it was snot.  I'm gagging just thinking about it.  The rest of the game I found myself ducking as the puck would fly and hit the glass in front of us.  I swear its going to break through one day, it is insane to see that thing flying a million miles an hour right at your face.  I also found myself staring in awe and laughing at Andrew as he screamed and banged on the glass non stop at our opponents.  At one point, one of the security guards came up to him and told him there was a report that he was yelling profanities and would he please stop. lol!! If you know Andrew you know he doesn't swear. ever. I've literally only heard him swear once in my life at Target, which made my whole day.

Yes that was just the first game's experience.

During the first intermission of the game they bring out a couple of cars and have a few people shoot the puck from center court.  If you make it through the very small hole in the piece of cardboard covering the goal, then you win the car!  So Andrew and Tim went and signed up at the Nissan dealership the next day so they would have the chance to shoot the puck.  Before the game they went to the Murray ice rink and practiced shooting.  They were very serious about this.   After the first period they trotted out on the ice in helmets and sticks in hand.  I had a very nice image of Andrew and I driving away in a brand new completely free Nissan Altima.  So Andrew waltzed to the center of the rink, tapped his stick on the ice and stared down the target.  He swung back the stick, sent the puck flying................ and missed wide right, by like a mile. haha!  Dream shattered.  

Tim shot next and got really close but missed as well.  They each got a puck as a souvenier afterwards. Maybe next time boys!

I have to thank my husband for the sweet gift.  He always has a surprise up his sleeve and these games will definitely make for fun date nights!

Park City, Parties, Pumpkins and Philly

October was full of fun!  We went up to Park City to celebrate Andrew's dad and step moms birthdays.  We rode the sky coaster down the mountain and did some shopping on main street.

This is Andrew at the top of the hill of the sky coaster.

All of us after riding the coaster down the mountain

We also went to a Halloween party at my cousins house.  The theme was fairytale.  Andrew dressed up as Pinocchio and I dressed up as the Blue Fairy. Yeah you have to use your imagination a little bit to see it but it works right?! 

Steff and Tyler's finished product

Mine and Andrew's finished product

The whole pumpkin family

Round 2 of pumpkin carving.

Halloween weekend Andrew went to Philadelphia with two of his brothers and his best friend Jordan.  They went to see the Eagles kick some Cowboys trash! Here are a few pics of his trip: