BLAIR & AUBS

Kauai - aka Heaven on Earth

2011-09-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a trip to Hawaii with Blair's parents, Rob and Deb. It was one of my most favorite and definitely most relaxing vacations we have ever been on. It is Rob and Deb's 40th wedding anniversary this year, and we are lucky we got to celebrate with them in Hawaii! :)

I won't torture of the day-to-day, hour-by-hour. I will just tell you this..... Beach. Blue Water. Snorkeling. Sharks. Turtles. Helicopter ride. Kayaking. Waterfalls. Napali Coast. And an overload of pictures!

Trip to Logan

2011-09-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last month we had my mom and dad in town. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with them. My mom came in for a few days and we went shopping and got to hang out with my sisters. We had a lot of fun! Then my dad came in to town for the weekend, and we went up to Logan for my nieces 4th birthday party! It was fun to spend time with her and my brother's family. Ryan works at The American West Heritage Center in Logan. He gave us the whole tour and everything. It was really fun to see him in his element. He is so knowledgeable about so much, I was shocked at everything he was telling us. Thanks for the tour Ry!

We did a tomahawk throw...

And Reesey got to ride the ponies.

And it would not have been complete without a train ride!

It was such a fun week with my family. You're welcome to come visit any time! :)

Strawberry Days Rodeo

2011-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo to hear my sister Britney sing the National Anthem. She did such an amazing job!!! I am so proud of her! She has a beautiful voice and is so brave to do that! We had a lot of fun at the rodeo and it was so fun to see Britney up there!

Britney axiously awaiting her moment to shine!

I think me and Megs were just as nervous as Britney was!

Utah Valley Half Marathon

2011-06-12T11:56:00.001-07:00

Blair and I ran in our very first half marathon on Saturday. We've been training for a few months, and it feels so gratifing to finally finish the race, and know that our hard work has paid off. Blair did unbelievable! He has worked so hard, and has been training for a while. He came in at 1:41 minutes. Keeping a steady 7:35 minute pace the whole time. For his first race, this is an amazing accomplishment. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard, and it definetly paid off!!!

We originally signed up the race back in March, because Blair was going to run in a relay race with some friends, but last minute a few of them weren't able to do the race. He decided to sign up for a half marathon, and some how talked me into doing it with him. Now, I'm so happy he did. I'm thankful to Blair for all of him encouragement and support he gave while I was training. This has definetly been one the most challanging things I have done. I am in no way athletic, and I never have been. And I'm not a runner, and I have always hated running. Now, I actually enjoy running and I like the satisfaction it gives me when I finish a hard run.

I can't say the run was easy for me. The first nine miles went smoothly. I was passed by A LOT of people. But I was ok with that. I started at the front with Blair, and I had to just keep my own steady pace, so I wouldn't burn out fast. Around mile 10, I didn't think I was going to finish. I somehow kept going, and luckily made it to the finish line. I came in at 2:22, which is better than I thought I was going to come in at, and I'm just happy I finished! :)

Do we want to do it again? Asks us in a few weeks, when our bodies aren't so sore!

spring cleaning

2011-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been putting it off for weeks. But Blair is in Wendover this weekend competing in a basketball tournament, so its just me and Charlee at home. I felt like I had run out of excuses and my house needed some love. So I took a trip to Ikea and Walmart to get a few extras to help me get excited about getting things organized. But I'm still having a hard time staying focused (this is me putting it off). I live in a 3 bedroom condo, its not like I have a huge house to clean or anything, but for some reason it still feels so daunting. There is so much I need to get cleaned and organized.....

I guess I should get back to it. Dang it.

sunny st. george

2011-03-10T19:55:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Blair and I took a quick get away trip down to St. George! We went with some friends of ours. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to be outside with just a t-shirt for the weekend (no coats!).

Our mini-trip was filled full of:

pickle ball

rock climbing

karaoke

glee sing-a-longs
road-trip

Vegas

and the weekend would not have been the same without watching

Emily eat a scorpion filled sucker.

I'm not a super great rock climber but Blair and his friend Jordan are really good! So I got some good pics of them:

As you can see I'm not quite as good as Blair, but we had a lot fun hanging out with the Anderson's and totally LOVED the sunshine! :)

oh january

2011-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

I feel like I should blog, since its the middle of January, and I need to post my monthly blog.

But the truth is, is that there's not much going on I feel is "blog worthy".

Lets be honest, its January, and nothing fun ever goes on in January. Except for of coarse the starting of a new year. The excitement of a new beginning. New resolutions and the excitement and anticipation of the "new you" that we are all hoping to become. And I'll be honest, I do like the excitement of it all. Blair will tell you, that all my goals are "Starting Monday". I like to start fresh. So with it being a new year instead of just a new week, gets me really geared up and motivated. I feel like maybe this time, I will actually follow through and accomplish the goals I have set for myself.

I have set a few new years resolutions for myself and going into the 4th week of year, I can say that I've made it this far and feel like I'm going strong. I'm still feeling good.

So here's to a new year and becoming the people we want to become and accomplishing new goals.

(And we can almost say good bye to the most boring month out the year! )

got kinect?

2010-12-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen this thing in action yet... you need to!

These puppies are hard to come by this time of year. We got lucky to find one in stores last week.

For Christmas this year, we decided to get the XBox Kinect for our family gift. And I just couldn't hold out that long before busting it open and playing. To be honest, I couldn't even wait 10 minutes after getting home to start playing!

This is seriously, the best thing ever invented! I'm addicted!

We got the Dance Central game, that you see on all the commercials. I told Blair the other day I feel like I could one day make it to "So You Think You Can Dance"! LOL (kinda like I play Rock Band and think I should play the guitar in real life, never gonna happen.....) But I can dream :)

Put it on your wish list this year, you won't regret it!

cooking....

2010-11-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Some times I wish I could stay home all day and cook. There are so many receipes I want to try and I want to become a better cook....

So yes, I need ALL day (well quite a few days) to stay home and cook!

But given the opportunity, would I do it?

feels like home

2010-10-20T15:43:00.001-07:00

I've been feeling a little domestic lately. I always have these great ambitions to cook these fabulous meals and to be the best house keeper, blah blah blah....

Ask people I work with, I'm always looking for a new recipe to try (on my new favorite website check it out HERE). I mean well, and I try to do better. Except I seem to fall short - when I get home from work all of my motivation to cook a great meal, do the laundry, and clean the kitchen, all goes out the window, especially when I could be doing better things, like watching GLEE! ;)

BUT, I can't help but give myself a tiny tap on the back, because this week (granted its only Wednesday) I have cooked dinner every night this week. AND I used my crock pot twice! This may not be a very big feat for most people, but I've used my crock pot more this week than I have in my whole 2 years of marriage! LOL

a year of not-so-plenty

2010-09-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer I posted some pictures of my attempted garden. I thought it was a brilliant idea that my brother and mom gave me, and my mom and dad even helped me buy everything I needed to get started when they came out this spring. So I felt like at that point my porch garden was fool proof. How could I go wrong? I've learned from the experts here!

Well, apparently there is more to it. I'm not sure where I went wrong. Did I over water? Did I under water? I'm not so sure to be honest with you. But what I can tell you..... is my little garden did not produce. I started it out with a flower basket, 2 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, beans, peas, and a tomato plant. Shortly after planted I lost both cucumbers, all my flowers and my peas. My zucchini and tomato plant seemed to have been doing pretty good and looked they had the potential of bringing us some delicious veggies. Not so much.

However, I did get 1 tomato!!! That's it.... I think they went a couple days with out water and now there is no hope of bringing them back. I've tried.... they're gone. Its a shame... I don't know what I did or didn't do. I haven't quite decided if I want to try again next year, or if it will just lower my confidence. Or maybe by then I will have forgotten how hard it was to make my little garden grow.

the final book

2010-08-30T11:36:00.001-07:00

THE HUNGER GAMES:

the final book

I LOVED IT!!

back to school

2010-08-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

I love school supplies! I love office supplies in general. Sometime I wish I was going to school, just so I could buy the supplies, I don't actually want to do the school part.

I had to go to office depot the other night to buy some ink for our printer..... I was there for about 45 minutes and left with a large bag full! I just can't help myself when I get around all that stuff. I know I'm a dork, but there is nothing like getting a new cool pen.

Now you know I am a true nerd at heart :)

It's what fun is!

2010-08-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

So last weekend Blair and I spent Saturday with sister Megan and her roommate Nicole, AT....

We had a blast and it was a fun Saturday. But I have to admit..... it just wasn't the same as it use to be. Don't get me wrong I love all the rides and stuff and always have. But it wasn't the way I remember it when I was 12. :) Blair and I decided that we think maybe the next time we go we should probably have some kids to take. We would enjoy it more watching them experience it, then getting sick on the Screamer!

every summer....

2010-06-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

I got burned..... I got burned real bad.

I swear, every summer this happens. I go out to the pool for the first time of the year, and what do I do? That's right.... I scorch myself to a crisp. And now I am paying for it. I'm bright red in all the worst places. My shoulders, between my legs and behind my knees. It's so uncomfortable. I make Blair lather my burns with aloe... I'm so lucky I have him.

But as I have been whining and complaining and feeling so sorry for myself about my stupid sunburn, I've realized that there are so many people out there that have to deal with so many more, and more serious, physical and emotional pains than I do. It makes me feel bad for even complaining about my little problem, that I brought upon myself.

I am grateful for all the blessings in my life. And from now on I swear I will use sunscreen! (Someone should hold me to that, because I'll probably forget next year.)

Only in Utah

2010-06-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I did this....

Friday morning did this...

Friday afternoon road tripped with them...

Life is GREAT!!

beans and blessings

2010-05-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well I'm happy to say this week has been much better than last
(I don't think things could have gotten any worse).

Miracles DO happen!

After LOTS of phone calls to the Salt Lake County Library, some how the check I lost was FOUND! They called us on Monday afternoon and told us the check had been found. What a huge blessing that was! Prayers work. Needless to say that check went directly from the library to the bank. Thank heavens.

The water is now decontaminated.... so they say. I don't trust them.

We have stocked up on water bottles.... and steer clear of the tap!

And my sickness is gone! Hooray!

Sun is shining and beans are sprouting!!! I know its not much, and my cumbers died, but at least its something. I was extatic to see that little bit of green poking out of the dirt.... its the simple things in life that matter. :)

And this little monster hasn't gotten away from me since! I guess we'll keep her...

a no good, very bad day.... or weekend..

2010-05-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it turns out Saratoga Springs City's water is contaminated. Unfortunately I found out a little too late. Blair was sick earlier this week, and to help prevent me from getting the same sickness, I have been diligently taking my vitamins daily. Little did I know that the water I was drinking to take these vitamins to help prevent me from getting sick, was in fact making me even more ill. Yes, I drank the contaminated water, and had to pay for it. The silly thing is, is that I usually don't drink straight tap water, we usually have bottled water or filtered water that we drink. But for whatever reason, I felt like this was more convenient. Not in the the long run though. So for the past few days I have been miserable and even had to stay home from work dealing with the repercussions of my actions.

Second, I lost check. What an idiot I can be, for some reason, I put it in a library book I had, and then returned the library book, while leaving the check still inside. What a no good, very bad day.

And then today, Blair is off at work while I am at home trying to nurse myself back to health. Of coarse I have Charlee here to keep me company. We took a trip outside as we usually do. She wasn't being very cooperative, and lately she has learned that if she pulls hard enough she can get her leash to unbuckle. Well, my head has been cloudy, because of the sickness you know. And I forgot to take the extra step to put on her collar and secure the leash. So of coarse, as the darling dog she is, broke free from the lease and from me. PLAY TIME!! She takes of running as fast as she can, and its a big game to her. We live next to a pretty busy road, which we have luckily never had to deal with, we can usually catch Charlee before she gets there. Not today. She made it to the very busy road in the middle of the day, ran across the street and started chasing a couple of cyclist. Super fun for Charlee..... about KILLED me when I saw her. Out in the middle of the street stopping traffic, and almost stopped my heart. So here I am, this crazy owner running down this busy road after her dog, in my PJ's no less. I'm sure it was a site to see. I am just happy she's alive, and I can tell you that I wont make the mistake again.

Last but not least, some of you may know I have started a garden this year. I have always wanted my own little garden, and this year, my mom came into town a few weeks ago, and helped me get started on my very own porch garden. I was really excited and inspired by my brothers garden. Go HERE to check out how beautiful their garden is.

Because their garden has turned out perfectly, I took his exact advice, did everything they told me and this is what I got:
My cucumbers and zucchini.....

My flowers, beans, and tomato plants....

As you can see, my garden hasn't really turned out the expectations I had. I guess I'll leave gardening to Justin.

Looks like someone is tired.... that little rascal.

trying a new stroke

2010-03-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

It all began last fall.....

When Blair and I went to Europe last fall, we were lucky enough to be able to go The Vatican. The world's largest art museum, which also holds the Sistine Chapel. It was one of the most amazing places I've ever been. I'm not an art history major, (although at the time we were there, I wish I had been) but I the art in there was so unbelievable!

Ever since then I have wanted to try and develop more talents of my own. I am by no stretch of the imagination an artist. I don't have a lot of creativity built up in my DNA, but I really want to try and work on that... I have been wanting to do some sort of craft or something lately that I can decorate my home with to add a personal touch.

Well, Blair and I have really been wanting a painting in our house for some time, but haven't been able to find anything we like at a reasonable cost. And we decided, we could do it ourselves! So we went out to the nearest craft store and loaded up on all the supplies we would need to create our very own masterpiece! Since neither one of us has really ever attempted painting before, we decided to get a couple small canvas's to take a practice run first. It was so fun! But we realized we needed to do a little more research on some painting techniques... neither one of us are naturals....

After doing some more homework and a couple more practice paintings I started my project on Saturday:

The Process..

It wasn't exactly what Charlee had in mind for a Saturday afternoon! ;)

The Finished Product!

The BIG apple

2010-03-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Blair had his 28th birthday on February 26th! To celebrate his birthday this year we decided to take a getaway trip to New York City. This was his first time going there, and we had such an amazing time! New York is one of those places you have to go to. When we got there it was snowing and raining. Apparently alot more than New York is use to! The first two days we were there it was snowing and they had storm weather reports on TV all day long. It wasn't anything we hadn't seen before, and the city only got a few inches. The pictures, I think, look awesome with all of the snow. Blair took most the pictures, so I really can't take any credit. I thought he got a few good shots!

Snowy first night in Time Square

Brooklyn Bridge

Blair's Birthday! Out in Time Square

Serendipity - Frozen Hot Chocolate!

Centeral Park

Knicks Game at Madison Square Garden

I love this shot of the Statue of Liberty - so much bigger than imagined

Manhatten - This looks a painting to me!

The End.

Table Tales

2010-02-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

I have the best husband ever!

Just to preference the story a little. Blair and I have been in the market for a new dining table for the past 4 weeks or so.... probably longer. The table we have now is too small and we're ready to upgrade. So I have made all my efforts to go out looking for a new table for and have been to probably a dozen furniture stores.

After doing all my homework and many hours and weeks of shopping/looking, last Saturday I had finally found THE one. It was perfect. I loved everything about it! I hadn't felt this way about any other table I had seen until now. I was in love. We spoke to the Dave, the salesman, and we told him we weren't quite ready to commit (Blair, not me:) and we would call him later that afternoon and let him know if we wanted it. He said, "You need to call me by 6:00pm, I'm leaving then." We told him, "Not a problem, we'll keep in touch."

We hit up one more store where we had found a few we had liked before, just to make sure we were positive on that table. Time had passed and 6:00 o'clock had come and gone, even after much deliberation and me trying to convince Blair that I knew this was the one for us, we didn't make that call.

Blair called Dave on Tuesday afternoon, to let him know we decided we were ready to order the table. Dave say, "Unfortunately, the last table had been sold, and the company is discontinuing that line and no more are available to order." NOOO!!! My heart was broken. I felt like I had just been betrayed. My only true table love was gone forever, and I was not sure how long it would take for me to heal. I told Blair it would probably take me a couple months before I could start looking again for another table. I knew I wouldn't be able to find another one like it.

So the past few days I have been mourning. I didn't realize how attached I had become to this piece of furniture in such a short amount of time. I didn't even know that was possible. Blair was comforting, thank goodness I at least a shoulder to cry on, and he showed remorse over the loss as well.

This weekend kicks off the celebration of love. Happy Valentines Day! Blair had the day off today and I unfortunately was stuck at work. I came home this afternoon from work around 4:30pm, and as I walk in the door I am greeted, loyally, by Charlee eager to say hello and Blair sitting on the couch.

Then I see it. Out of the corner of my eye. It couldn't be. I take another look. IT IS!!! THE table is sitting in our kitchen with a bouquet of roses on top. It was the most beautiful sight ever! And the most amazing surprise of my life! Blair really got me! What a sweetie. He said he knew I loved surprises, and knew I would love this one. He couldn't have been more right! The best gift ever! Words can't express my happiness. I love you, Blair!

The picture doesn't do this table justice - but here it is in all its glory. I'm just so excited, I had to share!! :)

Go JAZZ Go!

2010-02-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Monday night had the privilege of going, as the dedicated fans we are, to see the Jazz battle against the Dallas Mavericks. It was fight until the last quarter, and then the Jazz put 'em away (as those of you know, who watched)! We were able to get our tickets from none other than the dependable KSL Classifieds! They have everything you need there! :)

We has such a blast there and we able to snap a couple pics of the players! Blair even got to jump on the floor after the game and throw a few balls around. A dream come true! He can now check that one off the list.

Classified

2010-01-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Even though I don't post blogs often, I love to read everyone elses and find good blogs to read. A few weeks ago I was introduced to a blog called "All Things Thrify". Which has turned out to be my new favorite blog to follow.

They teach you step-by-step instructions on DIY decorating ideas. I LOVE this website. I myself, cannot decorate. I was not given that gift, unfortunetly. However, I am willing to learn.

So I have since be inspired to decorate my home, and get things done for cheap if I can do it myself. I have become a KSL Classifieds junkie!! I have been looking online everyday for my next good buy. We bought our couch on KSL last year, and every once and while you will get a steal on there. But you've gotta be quick! Good deals don't last long around here!

confession

2010-01-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make.

Today a delivery man came into our office, and had a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Unfortunately, it was not for me, but for another girl in our office.

She was so excited to see that old man and thrilled to receive unxpected flowers! Who isn't?

My DREAM job is to be a flower deliverer.

You will be bringing joy and smiles to people all day.

One day, my dream will come true.

All I want for Christmas....

2009-12-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Parents Beware: Think twice before taking your kids to see Santa this year....
Don't be fooled by the "Oh-so-jolly" look.

Is that his serial number below?

What did we do before computers?

2009-12-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

I think its a valid question, that I personally cannot answer. I'm sure they got by just fine, it just took a lot more time and work! I'm so grateful for computers!

For the past three days at work, our network has been shut down. And without my computer, I am completely at a loss. I can't do anything here! I've got long lists of things I have to do once the computers are up and running again.

Luckily I've got the internet! So here I am, trying to make it through the day, blogging.

It's finally here!

2009-11-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've waited so long for this day to come! In-N-Out is in UTAH!

I know there are a lot of lovers and a lot of haters out there. Mostly fence sitters. But I'm gonna put it out there that I am most definitely a lover! It is so delicious and so fresh, i mean you can watch them cutting the potatoes through the window! I think we owe it all to Chadder's for opening up there stores in Utah, the made In-N-Out made and brought them to us! So thank you Chadder's for making my dreams come true!

The Draper store opened up yesterday morning. I don't love it enough to eat it at 9:00am, but we did go last night at like 10:30 hoping the crowd would have died down a little bit. It was LONG line. But moved quickly and only waited 30 minutes! Well worth every minute! It has been long over due that they needed to come to Salt lake county and they finally have! YEA!

If you haven't been yet- GO! You won't regret it! :)

Utah in the Fall

2009-10-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Blair and I decided to take Charlee up American Fork Canyon! It was her first time and it was such a beautiful day, I wanted to see all the fall trees before it was too late. It was perfect, and Charlee had the time of her life! :)

Charlee's first time at the lake. It took her a little while to get use to it.

Blair held Charlee over the water and I cleaned off her muddy paws and this is Blair carrying her back to the car so she wouldnt get his car all dirty.

(this picture just makes me laugh)

They never look at the camera when you want them to......

Back in the USA

2009-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Blair and I finally made it home safely last Sunday from our cruise to Europe! I know its taken me a while to get our pictures posted, but we've had a hard time adjusting to the time, weather, and cold season. Both of us have been sick this past week.

To brief you on the most amazing trip of our lives: the weather was beautiful! It was 80 degrees and sunny the whole time. We got really lucky! We were there for seven days which just flew by. And it almost feels like a dream now. It was so surreal being there and experiencing the things we did and saw. Its crazy to actually be standing in the Colloseum and thinking that you are standing where the romans stood thousands and thousands of years ago. The architecture and culture and atmosphere of being there is unreal. Everything was exactly how you would imagine it to be, only better. It was such and amazing time and Blair and I both feel really lucky that we had the opportunity to go and see it all.

We started our cruise out in Barcelona, Spain and then hit five more stops: Cannes, France; Portofino, Italy; Florance, Italy; Rome, Italy; and Naples, Italy.

Unfortunatly we didn't really get to see much for Barcelona.. we just snapped a couple pics from the cab as we were going to our ship. So this is the cemetary. Looks crazy their coffins or whatever are actually placed into the walls there.

Barcalona from the streets

First thing we saw when we got up the next morning. Hundreds of sail boats everywhere.

Streets of Cannes, France. Just how I would imagine it! (only better)

Sushi on the back deck with sunset everynight! Rough life huh?

Portofino, Italy - Are we in a postcard? I know I have a puzzle of this....

Pizza del Duomo in Florance - 2nd largest church in the world.

Colosseum - By far the most amazing thing to see!

The Arch and St. Peter's Basillica

Sculptures from the Vatican Museum.

(Couldn't take pictures of the Sistine Chapel but it was breathtaking)

Streets and homes and resturants of the city of Herculaneum.

This was the Ruins of Herculaneum, just a couple miles away from our last port - Naples, Italy. This city was near Pomeii and was devestated by the volcano that erupted in 79AD. The city was built in the 4th century BC and was thought to be founded by the legendary Hercules. (Hence the name) This was an elite Roman resort and instead of being covered by by lava and ash it was buried by mud. Which preserved the city with more detail. It was decovered in the 1700's and only 8 blocks have been uncovered. The excavation and findings are still continuing today. It was so interesting to see all of the detail and history there.

It was such an amazing trip and very surreal to experience all we did. But we are so happy and grateul to be back home in Utah!

Guilty Pleasures.....

2009-07-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

There is something about carnival's that draws me to them every time. I have to go every year to AT LEAST one to get corn dogs and cotton candy. I am a sucker for a good greasy corn dog from the carnival, they make them the best there. I know, its shameful it to take joy in such a fattening food, but I can't help it. I love them, and they were delicious! :)

Just a few highlights from the carnival we up this weekend at the Riverton Town Days.

This is the ride we went on last year, that ended up being one ride too many for Blair. Needless to say, we avoided the rickety rides this year!

We got one of the "Carney's" to pose for us! I don't know where all these people come from.

What would any carnival be, without the classic Ferris Wheel?

Twice in a month?

2009-06-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

I can only blog when something exciting happens... At least exciting enough that made it worthy for pictures. Unfortunately for those who read this blog, I'm sure you know by now, I'm not a writer! So I have to fill up the blog post with pictures! :) So I'll keep it short and sweet....

Our McDonald Family Camp-out! We went down to Moab this year to hike the arches. I have to say, once again, I was a first-timer! Never had I seen these beautiful arches with my own eyes! I loved it though, we had a blast! We did a lot of hiking and had fun camping together!

"The Delicate Arch" (I can never remember the name of this arch)

Reese had a long hard hike up to the top! She's was not a happy camper (no pun intended)!

"The Double O"

They made it.... Like men (or monkeys-i can't tell)!

Addie on the trail of "Park Avenue"

Park Avenue" By Far the easiest hike we did..... All down hill and one way! :)

I love this picture of Reese! She was loving playing with Uncle Blair

until next time.......

967 miles later...

2009-05-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Memorial day weekend 2009:

Didn't turn out quite as we planned, but better than we hoped.

We had a fun filled weekend planned with some of our friends to go camping in Southern Utah at Calf Creek. Regardless of the weather warnings of flash floods in the area, we were determined to enjoy our extended weekend! After getting lost and driving through podunkville after podunkville we arrived at our destination at 1 AM only to find the very inaccuarate weatherman, just so happened to be dissapointed-ly accurate. We stepped out of the car, grabbed the umbrella and followed the river to our campsite, where at least 8 other tents were soggingly sleeping.

After a brief walk through the camp Blair decided the car would be our tent for the night (wouldn't recommend it - not the most comfortable bed but better than a water bed in the wild). We woke up only to find buckets of water still pouring all around us. Watching the water-logged hikers just didn't appeal, so Blair called a quick audible, and ditched the optomistic "it's gonna stop any second" campers. So, we hit the road, to St. George.

Blair's "tough-guy" look!

We passed these man-made arches on our way through Escalante, it was the most excitement Blair showed since we had hit rain.

We stopped at every other Scenic Turnout to take pictures! It was gorgeous.

Apparently, it costs money just to drive through Zion's. I'd never been, so it just added to the adventure. Our first excited citing through the park.

Half way point of what turned out to be the hardest hike of my life! On the trail of Angels Landing. If you can't tell, i'm not super happy about having to smile for the camera. I was tired!

Nothing a little water and some shade can't fix. I had to have a change of heart if I was gonna make it to the top of that mountain!

We both made it to the top! YAY!

The last 1/2 mile of the hike is on a narrow trail of rock with cliffs that drop thousands of feet on either side of you. Nerve-racking to say the least. As we got to the top we could see dark clouds and lightning in the distance. We knew we had to get off that mountain! We started to make our way down, as we are watching other's still climb and claw their way to top. With only chains and some boulders to save us, 50 MPH winds hit hard! We literally thought we were going to get blown off the mountain and plummet to our death. I said my last good-bye to Blair. We couldn't see with sand in our eyes and the sand was blowing around so hard it felt like pellits as it hit our body. There were still those anxious and determined to make it to the top, we tried to warn them it but wasn't worth the risk. Some listened, some didn't. We'll never know if everyone made it off that mountain alive. ;)

Once we were back on solid ground, feeling weak in the legs but proud, we got back on the road and continued our journey on to St. George. That night everything was sold out except the 1980 honeymoon suite at the Best Western, heart-shaped jet tub and all.... but just didn't know if we were willing to take the risk of actually using it so we passed but laughed at the thought of it!

The whole weekend was a big success full of In-and-Out burgers, rock-climbing, shady hotel rooms, aimless driving, and lounging pool-side.

Morning Sunshine!

2009-01-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

Charlee's favorite thing to do is wake up Blair in the morning! It is the cutest thing. Every morning I take her outside and as soon as she gets back in the house she is bolting right back into the bedroom and jumping up on the bed and licks Blair clean! She is so funny and so much fun to have around.

Last week, Blair was out of town for work. And as Charlee's routine every morning she would run to the bed to see if Blair would be there for his daily wake up call. Every day he was gone she would go running back there, and every day would turn around in disappointment. I was sad for her but at the same time, it was so cute to watch her so wishfully hoping that her daddy would be there to give her loves.

The best day of her life, I think, was the day that Blair got home. He came home in the middle of the night, so he wasn't there when she went to bed, but was there when she woke up. And just as usual as soon as we came inside she went rushing back to the bedroom in hopes to find Daddy. She went back there expecting to be disappointed once again and heard her name as Blair called her to him. In such excitement and shock she jumped on the bed and kissed and licked him for AT LEAST 5 minutes!! It was the cutest thing I ever saw!

My Girls...

2008-12-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

So just over a week ago we brought a beautiful baby girl into this world, who wouldve thought that just after three months of marriage we could have a baby! ok ok... So its actually just a puppy but we had some fun with it calling a few of our sister-in-laws and telling them they are aunts to be. Our puppies name is Charlee and she is a boxer with a reverse brindle coat making her a rare breed of boxer. She is very active and loves trying to bite her mommy. We got her as our main Christmas present to each other AND to try and prevent Aubs REAL baby wants and needs for at least a few years! :)

She loves to watch the jazz... Jazz beat pistons double OT

Aubrey and Charlee

CHARLEE......

Never Again....

2008-12-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving!! Its one of my favorite holiday's because its the one time a year that you are expected to gain weight! Its great! Plus you are always surrounded by family and delicious food and of coarse pie! Which I couldn't get enough of, so I love the holiday. This year was fun, since it was Blair and my first Thanksgiving together. I've never been with someone other than just my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so it was fun.

So this year all of my family was going out to my parents house in Missouri for the holiday. For various reasons its been 6 years since we have all had thanksgiving together, so it was exciting! We decided to save some extra money and just rent a van and drive out there! There were five of us driving so it didn't seem that bad to just drive straight through and take turns driving. Only 4 hours each for a 20 hour drive. Turns out we were wrong.....

It was awful!! I don't know how my parents do it. After being in a van with 5 people for over 20 hours, you just want to die. Its small, with no space to really sleep at all and it stinks!! I hated it. And to make it worse on our way home there were bad snow storms so we had to take the long route home and drove through Albuquerque, New Mexico and then back up to Salt Lake. We were in the car driving for 25 hours straight. I thought it was going to be the death of me!

So over all.... I absolutely loved the being there with my family, we got to go to Andy's with the very best frozen custard in the states, and Lamberts, home of the thrown rolls! Which is always a treat! And I went shopping with my parents and Holly on Black Friday and got some killer deals!! And ate a ton of delicious food. So Thanksgiving was great. But we will never again make that drive..... definitely not worth it!

the reception...

2008-11-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

Well I figured, I have post a few pics from the reception as well! We had so much fun, but glad all the planning is all over now! And a big thanks to everyone that was there and helped out! It meant the world to us, and everything turned out more perfect than I pictured. All of our family was there and helped out so much, we couldn't have done it without you guys, thank you!

All the brothers and sisters, and a couple secret best men :)

I love this picture!! Their faces make me laugh.... this is my mom's "your in trouble" or "you know what you did" face... And Justin looks as guilty as can be! haha

Blair is ready to get out of the line!

I thought both these pictures were kinda funny. Cutting the cake... no one smashed the cake in the other ones face we both just pretended to. I've never really like the idea of this tradition, and wasn't super excited about doing it, but it was fun. And I guess we thought it was pretty funny.

I don't know how I got so lucky, but we danced our first dance together to my favorite love song - "Love of a Lifetime"! I loved every second of it!

And we're outta there! I loved the bubbles! But unfortunatly, Blair wasn't the biggest fan... he swallowed one... eek! :)

we got married!!

2008-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well... we got married on Sept 25th in the Salt Lake Temple. It was the perfect day, the weather was great! We had so much fun and all of our family was able to be there. I finally got our pictures back a few weeks ago, and now I'm finally getting them posted! I'm still trying to get use to this blogging world... I'm a rookie! just trying to get the hang of it, but here a few pictures from the temple.

Just out the door as a married couple!

All our family and friends, this picture is a classic at the SLC temple!

I love the tree behind us in this picture!

Badger Photo Shoot...

2008-11-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

So we got our family pictures taken the same day as our wedding reception! It was a crazy and hectic day to say the least! We had Raquel Allen do our family portraits as well as all the pictures for our wedding! She did such an absolutely fabulous job!! I love her to death! Check out her work if you haven't! Since my family is spread out across the U.S. from here to Virgina, we had to do it when we were all together! We had a lot of fun even though we we're rushing and I think in the end they turned out great!

Gettin Married...

2008-09-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

We are so behind. We have been wanting to get this blog for a long time now, but have been so busy with wedding plans! But we're finally apart of the blogging world! YEA!