The Adventures of Supermar

Work Adventures

2012-02-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago when I was working a banquet a guy attending the banquet handed me this napkin.

To be fair, I don't wear my wedding ring when I work for 2 reasons. 1) It would get dis. gust. ing. because I'm up to my elbows in who knows whose leftover ketchup and 2) If I lost it (which would be very easy to do due to how many times I wash my hands because of said leftover ketchup) or the diamond fell out, it would be lost forever and I would die. So he didn't automatically know I was married.

That being said, I've been asked out a handful of times by patrons who come into my work, but this was the first napkin ask out I've gotten in awhile. The poor guy had nothing going for him in this situation. First off, I'm married. Second, I don't drink. And third, you asked me out with a napkin via a 5th grade method. Three strikes. Yikes. What I did do was immediately take a picture of the napkin with my phone and send it to David and asked him which box I should check. David thought it was sad, and funny.

When the guy came back up to the bar to reclaim his napkin and discover my answer, I told him thanks, but I'm married. He was very apologetic. Sorry guy. :(

CrossFit Adventures

2012-02-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

This video gives you a pretty good idea of what CrossFit is. This is what David and I have been doing for the last month. It's nuts. And yes, I lift barbells full of weights like the girls in this video and have done most of the exercises they show. I'm just not nearly as strong as them...yet. It's super awesome to be sore every. single. day. But my body is way different than it was a month ago. I've got to admit, I'm starting to get hooked.

Survivor Adventures

2012-01-31T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

David's and my workout at Fit2Fight tonight was in honor of Michael Murphy. One of the Navy Seals lost in in the killing of Seal Team 10, written about in one of the best books ever that everyone should read, Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell (the lone survivor of the attack), and soon to be major motion picture that I can't wait for (especially because Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights is going to be in it).

Apparently the guy in charge at Fit2Fight was friends with and/or knew all the Seals that died in that attack and today we did what he said was Michael Murphy's favorite workout. It was ridiculous to say the least. Here it is:

1 mile run

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 squats

1 mile run

All with a 15 lb vest on (20 lbs for boys)

David and I did the whole thing. Granted, I had to take the vest off for MOST of the push ups and squats and ALL of the pull ups, and use a huge rubber band to hoist me up so I could actually do said pull ups, and it took me almost 2 hours to get through, but still, I did it all. I thought about Michael Murphy the whole time too. That is the only way I got through it. So so so hard. This is what I get for going on an all you can eat 7 night cruise. Running with a 15 lb vest on REALLY made me not want to gain anymore weight. If anything can get you to stop gaining weight it's that. Try it. You'll see. It sucks.

Besides working myself out to death, I recently bought some maxi (opposite of mini) skirts. FINALLY! I've been waiting for the maxi skirts to go on sale at Express and it finally happened! Yea! Go get them. Such a good deal. Love this blue one.

Finally, long black skirts! I bought these two.

Lately it's been ridiculously warm here. Like 59 degrees! It's nuts I tell you. I've been able to run outside...in January...in Omaha! LOVE it.

Other Goals and Such Adventures

2012-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

One of my other goals for 2012 is to learn to play the piano.

I had a few years of lessons when I was around 7 and 8 years old, but hated it, of course, as most kids do. Now I totally regret not learning the piano, of course, as most adults do. I have wanted to learn for awhile and this year I decided to start taking lessons again. Luckily my 1st counsellor, Dani (shown on the right in the picture below), plays and teaches piano (check out her blog because she is also an amazing photographer!). Perfect! I've already had two lessons and am learning the notes. My goal is to at least be able to play the hymns in the simplified hymn book. I have a long way to go, but am learning fast. I can play a really simple version of Jingle Bells already!

Onto the current events! On Wednesday the YW made headbands and hair accessories. They love this activity. We have some creative girls.

The girls and their wears.

The 2 hair clips I made. Super easy and fun.

Last night David and I saw The Iron Lady.

David had been wanting to see this movie for awhile. It is all about Margaret Thatcher (the first female prime minister of Britain). The movie was very good. Not everyone's cup of tea (British humor intended), but very well done. Meryl Streep plays an uncanny Margaret. Seriously, she is so good.

Meryl as Margaret:

Margaret herself:

Surprisingly, this movie was very emotional for me. The way it was done was very touching and made me really think about the life of a woman. Every old lady you see has a story. A whole life of experiences that most people will never know or understand. All we usually see as youth is an old person who is out of touch with what is going on in the world today, when in actuality that old person understands more about the world than youth will for years to come. The elderly are, in most cases, written off as spent and of no use, doomed to live out the remainder of their years in a "home" or with family who undervalues them and doesn't know how to relate with them. The irony of that is, who better to relate to you and understand you than someone who has lived through most things one can live through in a lifetime? What we don't realize or think of is the amazing life that has been lived. Years of invaluable experience and knowledge that are hidden behind wrinkles and thinning hair. Thousands of untold emotions, feelings, experiences, thoughts, and stories.

As I get older (and I am by no means old), age is something I think about more and more. Aging is something that has been twisted in our society to mean something bad. If you are old you are somehow ugly, of no use, and senile. The reality is that with age comes wisdom, knowledge, acceptance, patience, calm, and endurance. How are these bad things? Now I'm not saying that getting old isn't without it's pitfalls. My mother would be the first to tell you that having your body fall apart on you is no fun. I've had other older folk express to me the strangeness of passing by a mirror and not recognizing that old person reflected back as themselves, but that is why the aged require the youthful and the youthful require the aged. We need each other. Youth needs the wisdom that can be passed down to them from decades of living. Age needs strong legs and hearts that are willing to listen and help with work that is still required.

Both of David's grandmothers are alive and in their 90's. I love talking to them. They have both lived and are still living extraordinary lives. I have grandparents that are alive today and some that passed before I ever knew them. I have loved getting to know the ones I have had the chance to and can't wait to get to know and hear the stories of the others in the next life. I guess this is all way journaling and genealogy is so important, right? So we can learn from each other.

Anyway! Random tangent over. The Iron Lady was a good movie. The end.

Physical and Spiritual Goals Adventures

2012-01-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

I guess it's about time to blog.

Now that we are almost at the end of January I can finally blog about goals and/or New Year's resolutions! Really though, I made some goals for myself for this new year of 2012, but wanted to get a little ways into doing them before I announced them to the world on my blog (or the 4 people who read this). Here they are and how I'm fairing so far.

Let's start with physical goals.

Needless to say, I went a little overboard on the eating the last few months of the year. Can you say Thanksgiving, a cruise AND Christmas all in a row? Wow. It was bad. David and I both had to shape up. Luckily Groupon always obliges us by having an awesome workout deal available around the new year. If you'll remember last year we got the Warrior Training Groupon. This year we got the Groupon for a place called Fit 2 Fight. I got 4 weeks. David got 8 weeks. This was the picture on Groupon for this place. I later met this girl. She is really buff.

Remember how I threw up the first day I did Warrior Training? Yeah, this is worse. Way worse. I didn't throw up the first day, but after the first workout I literally could not walk. David had to support me so I could get back into our apartment. Seriously. It sucked. But was good. Fit 2 Fight uses the CrossFit method which is apparently all about strength training. Our first workout was called the 20/40/60. We had to do 20 kettle bell throws (lifting the kettle bell from the ground to above your head and back down in a throwing motion), 40 overhead chest presses with a bar with about 45 or 55 lbs on it (I'm not sure and I didn't ask), and 60 squats all in a row. 3 times. I seriously almost cried. I didn't think I could get through it, but I did.

Not only are the workouts crazy there, but the whole affair takes place in a dark warehouse downtown with spray paint all over the walls and a HUGE American flag hanging from the unfinished I-beam ceiling. It is seriously straight out of a movie. When David and I walked in the first day, we were scared. Scared at what we were about to go through. Inside was a bunch of HUGE guys (and a few HUGE girls) all with tattoos, grunting and throwing HUGE weights around and yelling things like, "Lift it you lazy sack of crap!" and the like. It seems that most of the members were or are in some sort of military branch or are professional body builders or are collegiate athletes of some sort. It's nuts. I wish I had the courage to take my camera there and snap a few pics for you all. But I'm too scared to even ask. Once I attended a class I didn't sign up for online beforehand and the guy in charge made me do 50 burpees before we started our workout which was all squats with max weight on the bar.

The good thing about this place is that it's actually working. David and I have been watching what we eat a lot more and going to Fit 2 Fight and are getting back to not looking like a pair of puffy, soft, roasted marshmallows. I haven't lost much weight, but I am stronger and my body is changing and that is what counts. Plus I feel better about myself. At last nights workout ONE of the things we had to do was do as many consecutive squats as we could (that was after a bunch of snatch lifts, pull ups and push ups). I did 420 squats. 420 PEOPLE! I literally did squats for a half an hour. There is NO WAY I could have done that 2 weeks ago. I could only do 1 pull up and 10 push ups, but I can pop a squat baby!

Well, I've gone on long enough about all that. Seriously, so. many. squats.

Let's move onto other goals, like spiritual goals.

Lately I've been having a hard time reading my scriptures everyday and going to the temple (at least once a month) so I decided to really concentrate on those by trying to keep a schedule. It has been awhile since I had to keep a schedule, but I've been doing pretty good. Every day when I get up I say a prayer then read my scriptures (anywhere from a chapter to 3 chapters, just whatever I feel like reading) before I do anything else. Another goal that went hand in hand with this one was getting up earlier in the morning. That goal needs a bit more work.

As far as the temple goes, David and I went in December and January and have dates scheduled for going at least once a month on the calendar for this year. So far, so good.

One other spiritual goal I have for the year is to finish the Young Women Personal Progress Program again. The program has changed a bit from when I did it as a teenager and leaders and well as women in the ward can do the program and get the jewelry. I already started this when I read the Book of Mormon with one of my YW to pass off the value project for virtue last October so I'm on my way. Luckily my 1st counsellor is totally on board with me on this and is getting hers too. If you are not aware, here is the new stuff you get for finishing:

Well, first, this is the old necklace. What I got when I finished the Personal Progress program as a teen.

The new necklace comes in silver or gold and has the a laurel wreath, a rose and a beehive on it (symbolizing the Laurel, Mia Maid and Beehive classes) as well as the temple and a ruby which symbolizes the value of virtue (Proverbs 31:10).

The bee charm is not required but for those girls who go the extra mile and read the Book of Mormon for a second time and do 40 hours of service more than what is required. I'm totally getting the bee.

As you pass off each value you get a bejeweled ribbon of that value's color that goes into a bookmark with the YW torch symbol on it.

I want it all!

This post is already a million years long so I'll stop now. I have a few other goals to mention, but I'll do those in the next post. More goals to come!

Pay My Telephone Bills Adventures

2012-01-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

Why, oh why must there always be SO many bills to pay? And this is just for the 2nd half of the month. Sometimes I hate being a grown up.

Chalk Art Adventures

2012-01-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes at work when things are slow I do the chalkboard artwork for behind the bar. Yesterday I finished this one.

This is probably the third or fourth board I've done for them, but I didn't get a picture of the others. I think they ordered some more chalkboards though so I'll probably be doing more. I like the olde timey sign feel to this one.

PS-Thanks to Jen over at Tatertotsandjello for posting my Pinterest artwork and sourcing it on her blog. That little saying I did is everywhere! It's fun to see where it ends up.

Christmas Projects Adventures

2012-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've been pretending I don't have a blog lately! Sorry about the absence. It's always hard for me to get back into the swing of things after Christmas and New Years.

Speaking of Christmas, I can finally post some of the projects I was working on for Christmas. Remember when David and I went to Israel back in March of 2011 and I brought back all this sand and water?

Well, this is what I did with the sand and small shells that came from the shores of the sea of Galilee.

I designed this and stuck it in the window of the box.

I ordered the boxes from Nashville Wraps online (it took me forever to find this, the perfect box) and the glass balls somewhere online too that I can't remember. They are a little nicer than the ones you can buy at the craft store because the glass is a little thicker. I super glued the tops on so the ball wouldn't fall off under the weight of the sand or come out of the small holes at the top.

I'd seen these ornaments before many times. They are a favorite for Young Women leaders to do with their girls because they involve Christ and are usually cheap to make (using any sand and balls that usually come from the craft store). I was excited to make them because I was able to use actual sand and shells from the sea of Galilee! I think they are pretty cool because of that.

The water David and I gathered from the Jordan River I treated with a little bleach and divided into these small vials (I knew that year I spent working in the HydroGeoChem lab at BYU collecting and distilling water samples would pay off!) I ordered the vials from a science supply site online and wax sealed the caps to avoid evaporation.

Then I designed these labels and put them in more boxes I ordered off of Nashville Wraps. I gave them to all my nieces and nephews (I only have one nephew above the age of 8 and I told him he could do whatever he wanted with the water) and I have plenty of vials left over for my future kids and any other future nieces or nephews.

One of the other projects I did was this 20"x20" oil painting I did for one of my sister's in law. All my sister in laws and mother in law on David's side have a watercolor I did of their fave flower. On my side they now all have an oil painting I did of a flower.

I have a hard time taking good pictures of paintings with my camera. In this pic the colors are truer to the actual painting, but there is a glare.

Anyway, I finished the painting just before Christmas and I couldn't send it out wet so I sent a picture of it to my sis with a note. I still have it at my house. Don't worry Paige, it is drying nicely and will be yours soon!

Those are most of my Christmas projects. I miss Christmas already!

Christmas and New Year Traditions Adventures

2012-01-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

So sad the holidays are over. Hope yours was as fun filled as mine. David and I stayed in Omaha with his family this year so you know what that means...TRADITIONS! Here is an overview in pictures.

David and I decided to start a new tradition this year. That of ordering a 3 gallon tin of Garrett's Popcorn from Chicago. You may remember that on our recent trip there we fell madly in love with it.

The Friday before Christmas we decorated cookies. Tradition!

Christmas Eve eve sleeping by the tree. Tradition!

Not a tradition, but fun non-the-less was the Christmas eve bowl David and Michael played in with my co-workers. Everyone loved the Thanksgiving turkey bowl, they decided to do it again. Luckily it has been unseasonably warm here this winter. And by unseasonably warm I mean above zero.

Later, Santa came by the house. Tradition!

Christmas eve dinner of steak eaten by candle light. Tradition!

Christmas eve and new PJs. Tradition!

The reading and acting out of the Christmas story. Tradition!

The eggnog toast out of Santa mugs before bed. MY Tradition!

All the "kids" sleeping in the same room on Christmas eve. Tradition!

Waiting to go downstairs in age order on Christmas morning. Tradition!

This year Santa brought everyone hats!

and a marshmallow Yoda head. Yum!

Christmas morning breakfast, candy cane bread. Tradition!

This year going to church was amid the festivities. We all went to mine and David's branch because we both had to sing and narrate in the Christmas program. I sang O Holy Night with David and another duet with a girl in my branch.

After church.

Finally, Rachel doled out the presents from under the tree. Tradition!

This year I got David a sport coat as per his incessant complaining on our cruise that he didn't own one. Doesn't he look smart!

David surprised me with this little jewel. I guess a jeweler nearby was going out of business and everything was half off. I'll take it! I like emeralds.

Christmas dinner Ham. Tradition!

Besides the necklace from David, this was another one of my favorite gifts. Those who know me will agree, these onion goggles were the PERFECT gift for me. Thanks Santa!

Most of the time between Christmas and New Years was filled with being at Tom and Beccy's house with the whole family. So I'll skip to...

midnight on New Year's Eve!

Outside banging pots and pans and lighting off fireworks at midnight. Tradition!

And last, but certainly not least, singing Auld Lang Syne at the piano with Beccy playing and everyone singing like George Bailey. Tradition!

This is really a great picture. It really captures the George Bailey of it all. It's really ridiculous.

Here's to 2012! May it be a good year! Thanks to Beccy and Tom for putting up with all of us all week!

St. Thomas and Done Adventures

2011-12-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Our last port before we got back to Puerto Rico was the US Virgin Island, St. Thomas. Here is the view from our balcony. Lots of boats!

David and I got up early that day because we did our one and only shore excursion (fun things to do that you book through the cruise line and usually cost a fortune) that morning. We decided on snuba-ing because it neither of us have ever been snorkeling or scuba diving and this is a cross between the two and it wasn't too expensive.

We hit the buffet before we left.

This was my typical breakfast every morning, eggs, lots of bacon and a sweet roll or two.

We were bussed to this secluded beach by our snuba instructors. This is our group and a paddle boarding group.

First we were instructed a little bit by this lady. Snuba-ing is cool because you don't have to be certified like you do to be able to scuba dive, but you use the breathing apparatus like scuba diving. The tank with air floats on the surface of the water with tubes attached. Neither of us had ever used a scuba breathing type thing to breath underwater. It was weird. We all had to practice breathing in shallow water first. We both didn't think we were going to be able to do it, but got used to it. You have to breath out twice as long as you breath in which is kind of backwards.

Below is our snuba instructor. The wind was blowing that day. She was freezing, hence the wet suit. It was like 80 degrees out. Seriously. She thought it was so cold and it was not in the least bit cold.

Equipment on the beach.

We snuba-ed in 2 groups. David and I were in the first group. It was really neat being able to stay underwater. It was a bit cloudy under the water due to the waves and wind so we didn't see too much just some fish, but it was still a cool experience. The only downer is that my ears are still a little clogged to this day. Not with water but air. You are supposed to hold your nose and blow as you go deeper in the water to equalize the pressure in your ears. I did that, but still have some sort of air or something trapped in there. I can hear fine, but I'll have to go to an ear, nose and throat doctor out here after Christmas to see if they can release anything.

While the second group went snuba-ing David tried snorkeling. He didn't like it much. It looks like he's drowning in this picture.

The beach we went to was really pretty.

After the snuba experience we went back to the boat and laid out by the pool as usual. Then worked out as usual. And got ready and went to dinner as usual. Last night!

It was sad to think we wouldn't have gourmet food waiting for us every night after that.

This pic was taken Saturday the 17th on our balcony back in Puerto Rico before we disembarked. We had the earliest time that you could disembark because we had an early flight.

That's it! That was our trip! It went fast as did these posts about it. All in all we liked the cruise and may do another one someday. I'm more apt now to go on an Alaskan cruise everyone talks up all the time. It would be fun to see Alaska that way. David wants to go on a cruise where there is a sea day every other day, which would be nice. Anyway, we'll see where our $1200 in Delta vouchers brings us next!

Now on to Christmas posts! Yea, Christmas!

St. Maarten Adventures

2011-12-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning we woke up to this view from our balcony of St. Maarten.

As usual, we got ready and got off the ship to see the island.

David was especially excited about this port because St. Maarten is the home to Sunset Beach a.k.a. Airport Beach.

Dully named because this is what happens at Sunset Beach all. day. long. The island's airport is known as one of the world's craziest to fly into because it is so close to the coast. At this beach people lay out all day long and watch plane after plane land. This one below is small and those planes come and go all day, but a handful of times the big 747's fly in and out and those are crazy to watch! More on that later.

This beach is extremely small and cramped due to the airplane watching crowd, but a must if you come here. This bar on the beach has the times of all the plane arrivals listed on a board so everyone knows when to watch.

David and I checked the board and had a few hours before any big planes were going to land so we headed north a little ways to check out Mullet Beach which is supposed to be one of the best beaches in the world. It was gorgeous, but I still liked our beach in Cancun better.

My main qualm with this beach was the nudity. We were in the Dutch side of the island (not the French) so I didn't think this would be a huge problem. I was wrong. Yes, the beach was beautiful, but there was also beautiful topless (and practically bottomless) girls on this beach. A couple young girls camped out right next to us and then they promptly almost completely undressed so we left and walked down the beach to the snack shack. Seriously. I don't get the whole being naked in public thing. It was/is weird. Usually the topless people are old and gross, but not here. Hot. Naked. Girls. There, that should get me into some great google searches!

This is the awesome snack shack on this beach. If you go here definitely go to Rosie's. We got the coldest, best soda here then I saw some people's food they ordered and I HAD to get some.

It was BBQ by this guy in the trees off to the side of the shack.

This was the only food we ate off the ship on our entire trip. BBQed ribs with dirty rice and salad with fried plantains and avocado. So yummy.

Plus the shack has a great view.

After lunch we headed back to the Airport Beach to watch the planes again. This picture shows just how close the end of the runway is to the street and beach.

When planes came in it seriously looked like they were going to crash into the beach LOST style!

This was the best plane of the day. A 747. It was soooo loud. Quite an experience. I had a crappy video of it, but I think I accidentally deleted it from my camera (Sorry David)!

I just had to take this picture because it looks like this guy doesn't have any pants on and he's standing in the street.

I took a panoramic pic of a plane coming in and this is what came out. This is all the same plane. I thought it was cool.

All around the beach and road are these signs and for good reason.

We watched this plane behind me take off and it was nuts. The engines are facing the beach so all the sand blows super hard and people have been known to fall backward.

I didn't get any pictures of the take off except this one of everyone waiting for the engines to start. It was crazy. Way fun.

After that we took a cab back to the ship just in time for...COOKIE TIME!

That night was the 2nd and last formal night on the ship.

I can't even remember what this was, but it was good.

This was the best! Baked Alaska.

Petifores.

This night there was another late night buffet, but it was a dessert extravaganza! Yes, that is really what they called it and for good reason. It was such an extravaganza. Seriously. There was 4 HUGE buffet tables each adorned with an ice sculpture with all sorts of desserts on it, 2 chocolate fountains, a cheese table and a huge ice sculpture slide for drinks. See all below.

Petifores, cheesecakes, jellos, mousses...

White and milk chocolate fountains and fruit...

4 kinds of creme brulee and doughnuts...

Crepes with caramel and toppings...

Beverage ice slide.

Yeah, we pretty much tried everything. This isn't even all the plates we used.

So ridiculous and delicious at the same time.

Antigua Adventures

2011-12-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we did much the same thing as the day before, but this time we woke up to Antigua.

Off the boat we decided to just walk around the city for a bit.

We ended up at this church. The city we ported in is called St. John and this was the St. John the Baptist church.

The church was closed for refurbishing. It was in pretty bad shape, but this cemetery on the grounds was open. It was pretty.

David in front of the church.

We really didn't stay long in the city. We just walked around for an hour or so.

On the way back to the ship we stopped by this market.

Back aboard the ship we laid around by the pool. Around 4 or 5 everyday we were on our cruise the buffet would put out cookies and scones. David deemed this his cookie time.

Everyday we would wake up, visit the port for a little while, get back on board and lay around the pool then get cookies and whipping cream and bring them back to our room to eat on our balcony while we watched the ship leave port. Then we would work out and get ready and go to dinner, then walk around the boat for a bit and go to bed. Seriously, the laziest week ever.

The point is, David REALLY liked cookie time.

On the balcony leaving port.

Goodbye Antigua!

A workout and a shower later we are at dinner.

More shrimp cocktail. So good.

David's meatballs. He said there was "a lot going on" in those meatballs, but he liked them.

Salmon and mashed pots for me.

Dessert. That was a passion fruit cheesecake. Yum.

After dinner David entertained me by trying to play the white grand piano in the conservatory.

Later it was off to bed for another day of sightseeing and eating!

St. Lucia Adventures

2011-12-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the 13th we woke up to this lovely view of the island of St. Lucia from our balcony.

We got ourselves ready and got off the boat to look around.

St. Lucia is mountainous and jungley so we decided to take a taxi tour around the island for a couple of hours. Francis was the first driver that got our attention. He was really funny and didn't over charge us.

Francis drove us around and told us all about St. Lucia. It really is a beautiful island. I love all the French, British and Dutch influences in all architecture on all the islands in the West Indies. The buildings on this island were especially fun in color and decoration as you can see.

Here is an overlook of the bay where our boat was docked.

Francis drove us around through the college campus on the island which us mostly made of old army barracks from when the British and French occupied the island. David loved hearing all about the history. He likes history. Here he is in front of part of the college.

The college campus is also home to this park/memorial about the British and French occupation.

It had pretty jungle views.

And canons and a HUGE mango tree.

Francis drove us around some more and we stopped at this pretty overlook. David is pretty good at selfies! His arm is longer than mine.

Last stop on the tour was Francis' favorite beach. It was pretty, but a little steep. This beach is north of the port and in a more touristy area of the island. There was a huge difference.

We weren't at the beach long because David wanted to get back to the ship. They were allowing a limited amount of people onto the ship's helipad in the very front of the boat to watch it leave port. Here is David on the helipad. The crew had a little helicopter toy on the center of the H on the helipad. They thought it was so funny for some reason and were very upset when the ships photographer stepped on it accidentally.

I'm the king of the world! Well, almost.

It was neat to watch us sail out to sea.

We both worked out then got ready for dinner, of course. First course appetizers. The cocktail sauce for that shrimp cocktail (not pictured) was amazing.

Bacon wrapped filet mignon came after salads. That green side is a pea mash. So good. Seriously. The others are curry mashed potatoes and some yams or something. All very good.

Creme brulee for dessert.

After dinner we walked around like we usually did, but eventually made our way to the pool deck for a 10pm fruit and ice cream buffet. It was so pretty. All sorts of sculptures made out of fruits!

That first watermelon is a profile of a face and the one behind it is a flower with a lovely melon bunny in the foreground.

How cute is this owl?

I love the use of broccoli in this bird.

It was all pretty amazing. The best was the mango sorbet. While the buffet was going on the house party band was playing and part of the crew was really getting into it in the front especially the head chef! That's him in the front. He was standing on a pillar twirling around. I was afraid he would fall, but he didn't.

We left the party shortly after I took this picture and went to bed.

Barbados Adventures

2011-12-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

Monday the 12th we docked in our first port, Barbados!

We immediately found a cab and he took us to the beach. We heard that Barbados has some of the best beaches on our trip. The beach our cab driver recommended was a private beach behind this bright yellow awesomeness.

Our cab driver said it was his favorite. I don't know if that is the truth, but it didn't disappoint. It was beautiful.

I love the panoramic feature on my camera. I used it a lot this trip. Just click on the photo for a better view!

Yea! Warm weather! I love it when it's hot and humid.

We got to be out on the beach for a little while and then it started pouring rain. Luckily this storm was the worst it rained on our trip and it only lasted about an hour. We hung out here at the beach bar/restaurant while it rained.

To keep people from fleeing the premises, the bar manager announced free shots! That's the bar tender up on the bar. Many people were happy to partake. We did not.

Tropical rain is the best.

We weren't sure how long it was going to rain and we wanted to see the city so we ventured out in the downpour and wandered around.

A pretty church in the middle of downtown.

It stopped raining eventually.

I love the way all the buildings in the Caribbean are so colorful. Mexico is like that too.

We boarded the ship around 5pm and got some french fries, of course.

Then a rainbow came out. Yes, it was a double rainbow for awhile, but I didn't get a pic of that.

More eating at dinner that night. Crab cakes.

More fruit.

Steaks!

Chocolate!

We wandered the ship again. Here is David in front of the stairs on one of the main decks. They had it all decorated pretty for Christmas.

Seriously! We are ridiculous! More desserts we ate before bed.

Wow. I think we just ate and ate and ate this trip. Like I said, we did workout at least!

At Sea Adventures

2011-12-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 11th we would have gone to church, but we were on our one "at sea" day.

We began our Sunday with this insane, amazing brunch in the main restaurant. Seriously. So. Much. Food. As you can see, there were tables and tables of good things to eat including but not limited to, 2 chocolate fountains, meats, cheeses, sushi, eggs benedict, waffles, pancakes, omelets, hash, pastries of all kinds, etc.

This was my first plate. The mini napoleon and the eggs benedict were the best but it was all good. Bacon, doughnut, waffle with cream and...

the cutest cream puff you've ever seen!

After gorging ourselves we went to the pool and sun deck of course!

It rained a bit, but was still sunny long enough to catch some rays. After lounging in public we went back to our room and lounged on our balcony. Here is a view.

The sunset was so pretty.

That night was the first of our 2 formal nights on the ship. We had to dress up. It was fun, but David was super angry that he doesn't own a sport coat. He just kept talking about how ridiculous he looked in this old suit coat from his mission. Maybe one day, when he's all grown up, he'll get a sport coat or a blazer.

Dinner was amazing. I started out with fruit.

We had some salads too then David got this rack of lamb which he said was awesome, especially with the mint jelly. He LOVED it.

I got this plank grilled salmon dish. So good. Have I mentioned all the food was so good?

This apple tart for dessert was incredible. The french really know how to make a caramel sauce!

After dinner we wandered into some karaoke that was going on. Actually, there was hardly anyone there and even fewer people willing to sing. GREAT! I sang 2 songs. My traditional, standby karaoke song, Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot (shown here with me rockin' it) and Pat's We Belong. I was going to do another because no one was going, but they ended it.

David got up and did the Moulin Rouge movie version of Your Song (so by Elton John but as sung by Ewan McGregor). It was awesome.

After that rockin' out, we walked around and called it a night.

Atlanta and Puerto Rico Adventures

2011-12-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lapse in blogging as of late, but we were on our first cruise ever to the Caribbean! We got back Saturday afternoon and with Christmas coming up so quickly I've been busy, but I plan on pumping these cruise posts out so I can do Christmas posts too, so lets get to it!

Friday morning, December 9th we left for Puerto Rico and our first cruise ever! Our ship didn't leave until the 10th in the evening, but with unpredictable weather and airport conditions this time of year, when we bought the airfare we decided to leave the day before and stay overnight in Puerto Rico just to be sure we didn't get delayed somewhere and miss the boat. That is not what happened. What happened was much more awesome!

Our plane left Omaha on time and we got to our layover in Atlanta with no problems (which usually doesn't happen. For the past year when we've travelled we've usually run into delayed flights or problems). While waiting at our gate in Atlanta to get on our plane to Puerto Rico the Delta agents announced that the flight was overbooked and they needed 6 passengers willing to give up their seats and leave on the first flight to Puerto Rico in the morning. In return they were offering hotel accommodations, meal vouchers and, get this, $600 in Delta dollars each. DONE! We couldn't pass up the deal. I've heard of airlines giving $300 or $400 vouchers away but never $600! And we each got $600! That's $1200 total! We didn't get to stay overnight in Puerto Rico, but now the airfare for our next adventure somewhere is paid for! Woohoo! We were super excited as you can see. It totally paid off to leave a day early!

The only downside was that our luggage was on its way to Puerto Rico so all we had was the stuff in our carry ons. Luckily (and I'm so not joking), I wore my Pajama Jeans! PJ Jeans to the rescue! I was set. Pants and PJs in one. Best idea ever. Delta also gave each of us these overnight bags that included a Delta t-shirt, toothpaste and tooth brush, deodorant, laundry detergent, shaving kit, and a brush.

We took the shuttle from the airport to our nearby hotel.

Neither of us had been anywhere in Atlanta besides the airport so we decided to take the metro into the city and eat at Gladys Knight's chicken and waffles restaurant we had heard about.

As an appetizer we got a bunch of side dished. Fried corn, mac and cheese, candied yams and some sort of vegetable mash. So good. Oh, just FYI, all these cruise posts will be half full of just food pictures. So. Much. Food.

We both ordered the Midnight Train, 4 full wings and a waffle. It was all very good, but I think Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Long Beach, CA is better.

The next morning we flew into Puerto Rico without any problems and took a taxi to our boat, the Celebrity Summit.

The boat is big but not huge, huge. It was also a little dated, but still very nice. I think they are updating the whole boat soon. It was also not nearly full, so nothing was ever crowded.

We got to the port and dropped our big luggage off here so they could take it to our room for us.

Once inside the terminal we checked in here.

Our cruise didn't include beverages so if anyone wanted anything else besides water, milk, or juices they had to buy them. They offered a bunch of beverage packages, but they were so expensive. If we bought the soda package it would have cost us over $100! For soda! Ridiculous. So before our boat left we visited the duty free shop and bought our own soda for the trip and carried it on board. Saved us over $75. We like soda. So bad for you, but I love the bubbles, what can I say!

Our room was awesome. A few days before our trip, David upgraded our room. It wasn't very expensive at all to do and we got SO much more space. We got a balcony room at the rear (aft) of the ship on deck 9 (the top level with cabins on it). Deck 10 was the pool and buffet so we were set! Here is our bedroom area. Behind those windows in the back is a sitting room with 2 pull out coaches (I guess the room was for a family) and beyond that was a balcony.

They need to upgrade the TVs bad!

The bathroom was tiny as expected (Rachel and Teri - but still bigger then the bathroom at our flat in London!), but was fine.

Sitting room!

Our balcony had 2 deck chairs a table and 2 regular chairs. That is another cruise ship parked behind ours in the port. We loved the balcony and were out there all the time. We sat out there every evening and watched our ship pull away and leave every port we were in. It was beautiful. Don't worry, I have tons of pictures.

After we settled in and unpacked we walked around the boat and checked things out. Here is a view of Puerto Rico and David from the deck above the pool that had the jogging track and tons of deck chairs.

Speaking of the jogging track, David and I worked out everyday on our trip except Sunday. With the amount of food we ate it was a necessity and we each probably still gained 10 pounds I swear. I favored the jogging track which claimed that 3 times around it was 1 kilometer. I ran a total of a 20K during our cruise (four 5K's) and worked out in the gym a few times. David ran a few times, but favored the gym which was large and really nice. The funny thing was the buffet was between our room and the gym so sometimes when David return to our room from his workout he had an ice cream cone in his hand. Cruises.

We visited the sun deck at the head of the ship on our way to our first dinner in the restaurant.

As I said, we ate a ton. Most of which took place in this restaurant. The food was so good. Seriously. So. Good. The ships' head chef is this big fat french guy and let me tell ya, he was good. Each night at the Cosmopolitan (the name of the restaurant) we indulged in a 4 or 5 course gourmet meal.

I didn't even take pictures of every course because it was just ridiculous, but took a few shots every night of the food. Here is our first night.

Some sort of crab and avocado salad.

Endive salad.

Prime rib. Yummmm.

Ice cream in cream puffs? Yes! At the restaurant there was a good sized standard menu that they had every night that was always the same then they also had a wide selection of items that charged daily. We usually ordered off that.

After dinner we walked around the ship some more. While touring the casino a girl walked in and sat at a blackjack table. I thought, "That girl looks exactly like Lauren Conrad." I turned to David and said the same thing. Upon closer inspection, it WAS Lauren Conrad! We had an actual celebrity on our Celebrity cruise! Well, a reality TV celebrity anyway. It was so funny to see her on our ship. I snapped this picture of her. I was standing far away and zoomed in and didn't use the flash because I didn't want her to see me taking a picture of her! I didn't want to be a weirdo, but I HAD to get proof to post here on my blog.

We are pretty sure she was there vacationing with her family because she was with what looked like her mom and dad and some siblings, but I don't follow her that closely, so I can't be sure. We saw her a total of 4 times on our trip. 2 in the casino and 2 at dinner. She seemed to have the same dinner schedule as we did (which was open and we went whenever we wanted, but tended to be later, around 8-9pm). She was always sitting at a table like 2 or 3 tables away from ours and once I tried to get another pic of her, but she looked right at me and I got scared! Another time she walked right by us as we were waiting for a table. Like 2 feet away. Let me tell ya, she is SUPER skinny. Wow.

Anyway, pretty funny.

So that concludes the beginning of our trip. I'll try to do a few posts a day this week and do the rest. Overall, we loved the cruise and neither of us got sea sick (although I brought a ton of sea sickness remedies just in case) except once. I felt it a little while I was packing up my suitcase on the last night of our cruise, but it wasn't too bad. We talked to a few people who had been on a lot of cruises and they said that our cruise was actually one of the rougher ones they'd been on, so I guess we'd probably be okay on any cruise. There was definitely a rocking motion most of the time!

Gingerbread 2011 Adventures

2011-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

You may remember from last year that here in Omaha at the Mormon Trail Center there is a gingerbread display. Members from all the stakes out here create gingerbread masterpieces and they are displayed in the basement of the trail center all season. They have been doing it for over 25 years. It's an Omaha tradition.

Every year my mother in law does a scene with her friend, Tania. They are pros! Check out there farm scene below.

This year there were some awesome pieces. Better than last year I think.

The next few were done in the style of a specific artist. Here is Andy Warhol. You gotta love printable fondant!

Munch's The Scream.

A personal fave of mine, Piet Mondrian.

Monet.

I love this Lichtenstein.

A Picasso house.

Even a Calder mobile. Amazing that it's all edible and gingerbread!

David loves going to see gingerbread every year.

Fondant nativity.

This scene was so good. It's the north pole.

Note the elves. I love the cookie roofs.

Santa's house with Mrs. Clause and Santa out front.

The Elves quarters.

Here is the UP house.

David's cousin's cute library.

I'd have loved to play on this Candyland board as a kid.

This one has to be my favorite this year. I LOVE the colors. The blue gum roof is amazing. My good friend, Jen (who does my hair) did it. It was her first try at gingerbread. AMAZING. It looks like a Martha Stewart I think. And it looks better in person.

I like the columns on this one and the Smarties facade.

Doesn't this fondant homecoming scene just bring you to tears? So cute.

These people are talented. Maybe I'll try it someday.

Humidifier Adventures

2011-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

My Christmas present came early this year in the form of a humidifier. I know, really exciting, right? You know your old when you get excited about getting a humidifier for Christmas. But it's not just any humidifier, it's the cadillac of humidifiers, an Air-O-Swiss. I've been wanting one for awhile because my old humidifier was so crappy and just made everything wet.

I thought Utah had dry winters, but the winters here in Omaha are worse on my sinuses. I think it's because of the shift in humidity here. In the summer it's like 100% humidity then it shifts quickly to zero in the winter. The change is killer! This helps a ton!

Ain't she a beaute?

YW/YM Christmas Party Adventures

2011-12-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again! Christmas! Yea! Exclamation point!

Yesterday my new first counselor in Young Women (hurray), Dani came over and helped me decorate for Christmas so my house could look festive for our YW/YM party. *Kelly you will note the unopened brown box under the tree*

This year for the Christmas party for the youth I did the chocolate fountain again. It was a hit last year. We also had Italian cream sodas.

Kids and David being David.

Everyone arrived and we ate pizza first.

Yea new leaders and friends in the Branch!

David getting Italian.

After pizza the crew enjoyed a game of Wits and Wagers. If you haven't checked this game out, do. It's fun. And like gambling without gambling.

After the game (which Dani won) it was chocolate fountain time. We had a tray of fruits, a tray of sweets, a tray of salty stuff and a tray of weird stuff.

Cucumber, bacon, Cheetos, Lays potato chips, pretzels and the surprise hit, Funions! They were so good dipped in chocolate. Seriously.

He was lovin' it!

Cute girls.

No party can be bad when a chocolate fountain is involved.

Snow White Adventures

2011-12-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

In honor of our first winter snow storm of the season...

I'm doing a Snow White red bow in my hair for work tonight.

I can't wait to go somewhere warm!

Nebraska vs Iowa Adventures

2011-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving David, me, Michael and Tom (FIL) headed to Lincoln, NE to go to the Nebraska vs Iowa football game. Now, you might not be aware of this, but Nebraska is a HUGE football state. Nebraska football specifically. AND Nebraskans generally HATE Iowans. That combined with the fact that this was Nebraska's last regular season game made this a crazy one.

I had never been to a Nebraska game yet as every single game has been sold out for the last 60 years or something ridiculous like that. Especially ridiculous considering the stadium hold like 90,000. David and I got tickets from our branch president who holds 4 season tickets (pricey I'm sure). Tom and Michael acquired some from a seller.

Here I am on our walk to the stadium.

Inside. I gotta say, it felt extremely wrong wearing red to a football game, especially on the day after Thanksgiving (*Shudder* I hate those dirty Utes)! But as you can see, EVERYONE wears Nebraska red to the games. I love this picture. The guy sitting behind us took it before there were too many people packed in there to move. Seriously, I've been to quite a few football stadiums and this was by far the most crowded. They really pack 'um in!

The view from our seats before the start of the game.

Outside the stadium people hand out red balloons and the first time Nebraska scores, everyone lets them go. It's tradition.

The game was good and by good I mean that Nebraska won and it wasn't too cold outside. After the game we ventured over to the bookstore and bought ourselves hats. So cute!

I'm glad I finally got to experience a Nebraska football game as I will probably never go again. They are usually really cold and tickets are hard to come by. Go Huskers!

Turkey Bowl Adventures

2011-11-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving day started out with a bang with David and his brother, Michael playing in my work's turkey bowl. I was the team photographer. It was so fun to watch. Hilarious actually.

Here is David in the orange.

Michael is next to David on the left. One of my managers (and the only girl who played) is second in from the left with the green bandanna. That's her son next to her on the left. They were on opposite teams as were David and Michael. It was a fun game. The kid actually sacked David once.

Team photog!

The winners! Michael's team won.

The losers! Maybe they'll win in the Christmas eve bowl.

After football I had mashed potatoes to make (only 10 pounds this year) and fruit salad, then it was off to the in laws.

Big hair day!

Rachel and Michael were in town for Thanksgiving.

So cute!

The only Thanksgiving disaster was the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes. Not to worry though. Scrapped them off, melted new ones on. Good as new.

The spread.

Dinner was amazing as always. PS-my new new cell phone is pictured here. That was a crazy experience. I'll have to blog about it...well, basically it took us 4 hours to get new cell phones. We could have bought a car in that amount of time. It was hell, but now we have phones that work I guess.

I take this picture of Rachel every Thanksgiving I can. This year, two plates. She ate both completely. And still wasn't stuffed. Weird.

The gang! We had a little smaller Thanksgiving than normal, but still awesome.

Breaking Dawn Adventures

2011-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of working, Christmas stuff, Young Women stuff (so glad YW in Excellence is over, now a YW/YM Christmas party to plan and execute before the cruise. At least I have a 1st counselor now! Woohoo!), painting, Christmas stuff, etc. It's been a little busy.

In the mean time David and I got new cell phones. I hate them. We switched from AT&T to Verizon and with it came smart phones. Costly. Did I mention that I hate them? We got some sort of Android Stratosphere phone that does everything. Whatever. First of all the call quality on the particular phone we got sucks. I can hardly understand people when they call me. Besides that, what ever happened to phones just for calling and texting? I can't stand that I have to push a million buttons just to get to the screen I use to text someone and that everything is so complicated. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a neanderthal, but I don't want a full computer to carry around. I just want to hear the people that call me clearly and text and check my email maybe. That's it. If I wanted a computer in my pocket I'd buy an iPad.

Well, we have another week to decide about the phones before we are locked into the Verizon deal we signed up for, but Verizon doesn't have any phones I like. I swear they make the non-smart phones look and work like baby toys on purpose now so you're forced to get a smart phone. We are re-looking at AT&T so I can just keep the phone I had, but it's more expensive than the new Verizon plan we got. Oh well. We'll see what happens.

On to Breaking Dawn. I saw it. By myself. Friday afternoon matinee.

I actually didn't mind it. There was only one part that was so stupid I felt awkward watching it and that was when all the wolfs are taking to each other about the baby in their heads. So bad. So so poorly done. Besides that I didn't mind it. The wedding was pretty and the honeymoon was exactly like I pictured it in my head. I know that there has been a lot of controversy about the drinking of the blood and the bloody birth scene, but none of that bothered me. It was pretty much exactly like the book. It was all pretty much what I expected. Except poor Rosalie looked like a tranny the whole movie too. Poor girl. She looked much better in Eclipse. I just can't wait for the Hunger Games movie!

11.11.11 Adventures

2011-11-11T10:50:00.000-08:00

I just HAD to do a post on 11.11.11! What a crazy day. I'll never get another 11.11.11 again! Today I texted David at 11:11 on 11.11.11. It was cool. On to the post...

David and I are super excited because we have a cruise coming up. Neither of us have ever been on one, so we are looking forward to it. So, if any of you cruise goers have any tips for us, feel free to leave them in the comments. We'd appreciate them!

After much research, we decided on Celebrity Cruises and in the near future we will fly to Puerto Rico (which we've always wanted to go to...and thank goodness for airline miles) and depart for a 7 night cruise to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas in the south Caribbean. Have I mentioned we're excited? Especially since we'll be knee deep in snow in Omaha by then.

Due to the tropical nature of our cruise, I have been on the lookout for some new swimwear. I love the suit I have, but I've had it forever and wanted to branch out. Also, it's a one piece, which is awesome because it's nearly impossible for my long torso to find a one piece that fits and looks good, but is a pain sometimes when it comes to taking it on and off so I've been on the lookout for tankinis.

I've always loved the idea of the tankini, but as I've said, I have a long torso so I've had many problems finding tankini tops that are long enough to cover me. Enter Hapari. Through some blogs and Pinterest I found Hapari which advertises cute, modest swimwear. I was skeptical because I'm always skeptical when it comes to swimsuits, but they are having an amazing fall sale right now so I bought a bunch to try. They came in the mail the other day and I LOVE them.

I started off ordering these high waisted bottoms. They trim your waist, don't cause the busted can of biscuits look, and add more coverage so you don't flash people when being active or bending over. I paired them with...

this tankini top. Now, I'm not nearly as well endowed as this woman so the deeper V isn't so PG-13 on me. She's wearing the exact look I bought though.

I also got this tankini top which I loved because it's a little longer even than the one above. The pattern looks a little wild here, but it's actually really cute and looks good with the blue bottoms. I also love that these tops are halter in style which I've found looks the best with my body type.

Beside swimwear, Hapari sells these little tops which they call shores. They provide perfect, comfortable coverage for wearing under things like deep V necks and tank top style tops and dresses. I bought them in black, brown and off white (they were out of my size in white). Seriously, so nice to have.

As I said, they are having a huge fall sale over there right now. Just enter code fall60 when you checkout and get like over 50% off! I got everything I wanted for so cheap!

B of M Adventures

2011-11-07T09:41:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago my friend Jen (who also does my hair) talked to me and my mother in law (Beccy) about doing a Book of Mormon reading marathon. We were intrigued and decided to do it! Read the whole Book of Mormon marathon style!

Well, almost. We decided to break up the reading into 2 different 8 hour sessions. Our first 8 hour reading night was on October 21st. We started reading out loud, each person reading 1 chapter, at 6pm and read until 2am with 10 minute breaks (for getting food and using the bathroom) at the end of each hour. It went really well although we only made it through about a third of the B of M (almost through Mosiah). We all decided to read through to the end of Alma on our own at home so that when we reconvened in 2 weeks for our second 8 hour reading night (on November 4th) we could read from Helaman to the end.

Me, Jen and Beccy each invited a few people to join us (sorry no kids allowed) and we ended up with about 15 people there the first night and about 10 the second time. We held it at Beccy's house because she has a lot of couches and chairs and a big room for everyone to fit in. Here is our group on the second night of reading.

Everyone brought a snack to share. We had a lot of good food to keep us going.

I was super excited to read the B of M this way for 2 reasons.

Reason #1 - I had never read the B of M this fast before and was excited to see what I got out of it in doing so. As it turns out, I learned a TON. It was super amazing. It was so easy to follow the story through all 531 pages and really understand what was going on. I thought that maybe I would be tired or lose interest when others were reading, but I didn't. It was such an amazing experience reading with all the other women there. Everything was so clear and simple (except for the 2 Nephi Isaiah chapters, those are never simple) and easy to follow and see.

Reason #2 - One of my Young Women (who I love and has never read the B of M all the way through from cover to cover) came with me. I was so glad that she agreed to do this with all of us "old" ladies. The value project for virtue in the YW Personal Progress program is to read the B of M all the way through. We decided this would be a good way for her to accomplish that project and not be overwhelmed by it. Reading 531 pages of scripture on your own can be a daunting task for a 16 year old. So she came with me the first 8 hour night, read the rest of Mosiah and Alma with me (every night I went to her house and made her read with me so she could actually get it done) over the 2 week break, and came the 2nd 8 hour night and finished the B of M for the first time.

I'm so incredibly proud of her. It was amazing to see a young person read, process and understand the B of M. Reading it so fast helped us both remember what was going on and understand it. She really got it. It was such a neat experience to see her testimony of the B of M grow and see her learn. I remember reading the B of M as a teenager and I didn't understand any of it! It wasn't until I read it in my early 20s that I really "got it". It was good for my testimony as well because I was able to explain things to her that were harder to understand and witness of it's truthfulness to her.

Here she is following along on our 2nd 8 hour night.

Due to the late hour, we did get a little silly.

All of us read a chapter at a time except for the very last chapter which we all split up and read about 3 verses each. It was a great experience hearing everyone read a part of that last chapter knowing we had accomplished our goal together.

Thanks to Beccy for letting us hold this at her house and to Jen for wanting to actually do it! I learned a TON and loved it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it!

PS - For anyone who wants to do this, it takes about 24 hours to read the B of M aloud with 10 minute breaks each hour. We didn't know for sure how long it would take so we only scheduled the two 8 hour sessions. Really it would take three 8 hour sessions.

Haircut Adventures

2011-11-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

Once every few years David gets sick of his hair and has me shave it off. I don't mind because he looks good either way. I guess we both have a talent for pulling off many hair lengths. He just looks so different with a shaved head! See for yourself.

Before (he told me to take this picture close up as to not show his "man boobs")

After

I think he looks a lot younger with a shaved head. He also has a tendency of looking like a scary convict if he's not smiling. Love you hun!

Lolly Jane Adventures

2011-11-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you Lolly Jane for re-posting my Pinterest artwork and using it in your post today.

Happy Halloween Adventures

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Nothing planned for me but work tonight, but have a fun Halloween everyone!

I haven't done a selfy in awhile, so here ya go. Taken yesterday before church (which was the primary program of which David and I played a small part in by sining the first 2 verses of Beautiful Savior while the kids joined in on the 3rd verse). Good times.

Trunk or Treat Adventures

2011-10-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our branch Trunk or Treat. It was kind of a big deal only because the Young Men and Young Women were in charge of it so the pressure was on! Just kidding. It was fun, not hard.

For food we had a chili, corn bread and dessert cook-off with fabulous prizes for the winner of each category. Here is the spread!

On Wednesday the Young Women and I picked up the fabulous prizes for the winners.

We had the missionaries judge because no one can be mad at the missionaries. They're pretty impartial too.

At first we didn't have too many people, but then this...

...turned into this! This is like 4x the amount of people we actually get to Sacrament Meeting!

2 of my Young Women came as zombie brides! So not planned either!

After the food it was time for the Trunk or Treat. The monster that lives in my trunk came out to celebrate!

And David's too!

Seriously, the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to decorate your trunk for a trunk or treat. Scissors, tape and some white poster board, done! Alas, I can not claim the credit for this brilliant idea. I got the idea on Pinterest, of course!

It was a super huge hit with the kids. I had the candy dumped on the inside of the trunk and told the kids they had to steal a piece before the trunk monster chomped them up. I stood next to the trunk and would push down on it just a little and it would scare them so bad. It was a riot. I had one little boy come back like 13 times and fight the trunk monster with his glow stick sword to retrieve candy. He LOVED it. Here is some YW demonstrating how you get candy out of the monster trunk!

I have to work on Halloween night so this will probably be my only Halloween post, so Happy Halloween!

32 Adventures

2011-10-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

My 32nd birthday was Saturday. I can't believe I'm well into my 30's now! So weird. Anyway, here is what happened.

Thursday night David let me open the 2 presents he got for me (He was too excited to give them to me and didn't make me wait until Saturday). I told him not to get me anything, but of course he did. He thought of these things all on his own too! He is so good.

You may or may not be familiar with the Missoni for Target line that debuted a little while ago and crashed the Target website due to all the orders they got. You also may or may not know that Missoni uses a lot of the chevron pattern in their designs. You also may or may not know that I LOVE the chevron pattern, hence, I love Missoni, hence I was sad when all I could get from Target when the Missoni line came out was a tie for David. Everything just sold out too fast and was picked over at all the stores! Well, enter David and his birthday presents to me. My amazing husband went on Ebay, found Missoni for Target items and bought me these 2 pairs of shoes, which he picked out all by himself which are adorable and I love.

These heels I wore to church today with some fuchsia tights (brown skirt and black shirt). So cute.

I also got to order my 3rd blog book (posts 201-300) from Blog2Print. I'm super excited to get it since I'm almost to 400 posts and will need a 4th book soon!

Back to what I did on my birthday. My birthday celebration began at midnight on Friday. I was at a function at my in laws house (of which I will post about in another couple weeks when we complete what the function was for) and at midnight they brought a birthday cake out for me. So nice.

Needless to say I got to bed very late in Friday night/Saturday morning and it was around noon when I woke up so David and I headed to Mimi's Cafe for some birthday breakfast/lunch. Look at all this food! (I was also super happy because it was raining on my birthday and rain is my favorite weather. That was unrelated to Mimi's but oh well).

I hadn't been to Mimi's in forever and I will always love it since it is where I got my first serving job when I was a teenager in California. I love their corn chowder and buttermilk spice muffins. Their breakfasts are the best too.

After Mimi's we walked around some shops and Costco and went home to take a nap. It was a lazy day full of food because when we got up it was practically time for dinner. For dinner we met David's parents at Carrabba's. I don't have any pics, but I got my favorite caesar salad. So good. On our way home from dinner David and I stopped by the Cheesecake Factory for some birthday cheesecake. I just got original and David got pumpkin.

At home we ate cheesecake and finished watching season one of Friday Night Lights (which is so good and we love it and thank you Worth and Paige for giving it to us for Christmas last year!)

What a lazy and delicious birthday. All we did was eat it seems! But that is okay because I have to start a healthy eating and exercise plan on Monday (the 24th which is exactly 1 month until Thanksgiving) to get into shape before the holidays and because David and I are going on a CRUISE! Yea! More details on that later too, but we are super excited because neither of us have ever been on a cruise before.

I would also like to add that David took out the trash and cleaned the kitchen on my birthday too which was of great help to me. I love you David! Thanks for being lazy with me on my birthday. I can't believe I'm 32.

Thanks also to everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes via cards, emails, texts, and facebook. It was good to hear from everyone.

Eyeshadow Adventures

2011-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

In my never ending search to find makeup I like that isn't a million dollars I stumbled across L'Oreal Paris' Studio Secrets One Sweep Eye Shadow. I saw this stuff at my local Walmart/Target/Walgreens/CVS and wondered if it worked. Apply 3 eye shadows all at once and have them blend perfectly? I had my doubts, so i bought this color palette to start with to see if it worked. I figured the neutral colors would be basic and easy. Well, it was. I loved it. It totally works.

Recently I bought this more daring smokey eye palette and it also totally rocks. I can do a smokey eye on my own, but it takes some time to blend shadows together and such. This does it all for you. You just use the crazy foam applicator and sweep back and forth across your lid a few times until it's blended like you want it and bam! Perfect smokey eye.

See! Add some black eyeliner and mascara and done. I love this product. So easy.

Pajama Jeans Update Adventures

2011-10-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Remember my Pajama Jeans post? Well, I had a few readers ask if I could post some pics of me actually wearing the PJ Jeans to get a feel for how they looked on so here ya go!

In these first 2 pics I'm wearing flats.

And these last 2 pics I'm wearing about a 2-3 inch heel.

Not too bad, right? I've washed them a few times too and they haven't really faded. Hopefully they won't. Like I said, they are a little pricey, but sooo comfy. Hope this helps!

The Rest of Courtney's Trip to Omaha Adventures

2011-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Back to my regularly scheduled blogging!

At the beginning of the month (October 3-5th) my friend Courtney came to visit me in Omaha. We went to the Wild Flag show that I already posted about here, but I also had fun showing her around Omaha.

First we went to California Tacos. Yum.

We walked around the Old Market district downtown and stopped in at Homers for some music.

David joined us for dinner at Blue. I love that place.

After Blue we HAD to hit up Donut Stop. I bring every visitor here. The best donuts ever. Never disappoints. Court agrees.

The next day (the day of Wild Flag), we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Remember? The one with the huge dome? Court used to work at the zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah so she's partial to zoos you see. Here we are in the butterfly pavilion.

Click on this for a better look! So cool!

This moth was HUGE! compare to the butterfly above it which is normal size.

This butterfly is huge too! Haha! Just kidding Court.

Me trying to cheer up a gorilla. He seemed really depressed.

After the zoo we ate falafel and doner kabab at Amsterdam in Dundee. Yum. Curry fries.

Later that night we ate at Espana before the Wild Flag show. Tapas are SO good.

Ceviche.

Here Court is about to try carpaccio which is a big deal because Court doesn't eat much beef let alone raw beef!

Good job Court! It wasn't so bad, right?

While we ate 2 of the 4 members of Wild Flag came in and ate there too! Court was dying because one sat right next to us at this table in the background! So cool. After that we went to the show which I already posted about because it was so awesome.

The next day I took Court to the airport, but not before seeing the famous Omaha brick wall. Yea, Omaha!

It was a short trip but we actually did and ate a lot! So good to see you Court!

Lily's Disneyland Surprise Fox and Friends Adventures

2011-10-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the video from the Fox and Friends LIVE interview this morning:

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#/v/1210431880001/little-girls-disney-surprise-goes-viral/?playlist_id=86912

Great job Lily, Katie, and David! Katie called me RIGHT after this interview. She said she was SO nervous, but it was awesome. Lily was so cute and David was a TV rockstar! So crazy!

Lily's Disneyland Surprise Update III Adventures

2011-10-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a bit they did on Fox and Friends this morning about Lily (and Katie and David) coming into the studio tomorrow (Monday morning).

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1209550300001/little-girls-reaction-to-her-birthday-surprise

Back to my regularly scheduled blog soon, I swear!

Lily's Disneyland Surprise Update II Adventures

2011-10-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

I know this is turning into a "Lily's Disneyland Surprise" blog, but it's my best friend and I'm dying! I still can't believe it! Over 1,000,000 views on YouTube! Plus, Katie's blog is private so I have been deemed the updater for everyone who can't reach her blog.

**Update**

FOX contacted the family and is flying them out to New York to be on Fox and Friends LIVE in studio Monday morning. The cool thing is Lily's grandpa lives in NY and they haven't seen him in a long time so now they will finally get to hang out. Also, this will be the families first time in NY ever! What fun!

Don't forget Sunday (tomorrow) morning to watch their Skype interview on Good Morning America.

Lily's Disneyland Surprise Update Adventures

2011-10-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

Lily's Disneyland Surprise is sweeping the nation! I woke up this morning and the YouTube video had over 108,000 views. Katie called me immediately. Her inbox was jammed full! Good Morning America and reps from Disney were among the emails.

The video can now be seen on Perez Hilton's kid site, Perezitos, AOL, local radio and TV sites all over the nation, Twitter, The Huffington Post, and countless other sites and blogs. Google "Lily's Disneyland Surprise" and see for yourself! Crazy!

Katie and Lily did an interview for Good Morning America via Skype this afternoon that will air on Sunday. Set your DVRs!

My little brother, Worth (whose birthday is today, ironically) works as an intern for Disney Interactive and blasted the video out to his office this morning. Now, I'm not saying Worth is the reason Disney contacted Katie today, but I'm sure his blast had a lot to do with it getting around the Disney offices (or world, haha) so fast. Katie talked with a rep and nothing is for sure yet, but the video has a possibility of being part of their new ad campaign entitled "Let the Memories Begin". We'll see what happens! I'll keep you updated as much as I can.

Lily's Disneyland Surprise Adventures

2011-10-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this video yet?

Some of you may know my BFF, Katie who just came to visit me a few weeks ago. Well, after her visit here, her and her husband surprised their daughter, Lily with a trip to Disneyland for her 6th birthday. They don't live in California, so it was a big deal (not to mention Disneyland is Lily's favorite place on the planet). Well, Katie got the surprise on video and posted it on YouTube a few days ago.

The video had 300 views yesterday morning (the 6th) and by the end of the day it had over 10,000 views on YouTube (at 3am this morning it jumped to over 34,000) and over 20,000 views on Tumblr (which she didn't even put the video on Tumblr, someone else did) and it was the most viewed video of the day on Tumblr! And the most watched video today!It was reposted thousands of times and Hayley Williams (the lead singer of Paramore) ended up posting it on her Tumblr too. It's already been on tons of local news and radio shows too including the Huffington Post!

Katie is dying (I am dying!) She had NO idea it would spread like it did. She is so excited and doesn't even know what to think! She called and texted me like a million times yesterday freaking out (in a good way) about it. I told her it's her fault for having super a cute kid! Maybe they'll get on Ellen or get to go to Disneyland for free or something. We live in such a crazy world where things like this can spread so fast. Enjoy the ride Katie! I love you guys!

Wild Flag Adventures

2011-10-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Monday my amazing pal, Courtney came all the way from SLC to visit me in Omaha and to see an awesome band, Wild Flag. Courtney and I became friends working together at AC. Just a little info on how hip Court is, she is a DJ (she hosts Saturday's Afternoon Delight show on 1-4pm) on KRCL 90.9 in Salt Lake and she is a contributing writer (she does music reviews) for SLC's SLUG Magazine. She is also an amazing graphic designer too and has an amazing chef husband. What a life, right? No one I know knows more about music than Courtney. She keeps me hip. If that's even possible. It's a hard job (see this post).

I will post all the other fun things Courtney and I did later, but right now I'm posting about the awesome Wild Flag show we saw last night at the Waiting Room in Omaha. Wild Flag is a newly formed indie punk rock group mostly known for having 2 members of the hugely influential Sleater-Kinney in it, Carrie Brownstein (AMAZING vocals and AMAZING guitar) and Janet Weiss (drums and backup vocals). I LOVE my Sleater-Kinney.

Anyway, here are my pics (with new camera, btw) of the show. Exciting times ahead!

Ready to go in!

The Waiting Room is awesome. Love it. It's not too small, not too big. The music poster decor is great too.

YellowFever opened for Wild Flag. A two person group with lead girl singer and keyboard player (who looks like a character out of a John Hughes film...in a good way) and a guy on drums and backup vocals. Pretty good actually.

After that act, Wild Flag!

Carrie is on the right. She is so rockin'!

Sing it girl!

The other lead singer and guitarist is Mary Timony from Helium. She rocks too.

Love this pic.

Feel the music!

The girl next to us got the set list. She only traveled from Denver so I thought Courtney should have got it since she traveled farther.

After the show (which was A-Mazing btw), Janet came out to help sell merch. And I got a pic of her and Court. Courtney was peeing her pants.

Rebecca (keyboards and backup vocals) also came out. Pictures!

And finally (after much waiting) the famous Carrie appeared and Courtney about lost it. I got one of their stage guys to take our picture. Carrie! Ahhh! Courtney was beside herself with giddiness! So awesome.

I got a CD at the show and got all 4 girls signatures on it. Go me! I thought I got a picture of us with Mary too, but I guess I didn't. Boo. Oh well. It was an amazing show. Hopefully Wild Flag will come back to Omaha soon...or better yet, Sleater-Kinney. Please, please, please!

PS-Not only did we meet the band, but before the show we went to a restaurant (the awesome Espana tapas bar I've blogged about in the past) a block from the venue and Janet and Rebecca were eating there too! Courtney's visit to Omaha was TOTALLY worth it. See people! Omaha delivers! Come visit me and meet awesome indie rock stars!

New Camera Adventures

2011-10-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

A year and a half ago David dropped my camera in the sand in Cancun. Ever since this incident it has gotten progressively worse. Recently when every other picture I took started turning out fuzzy, I decided it was time for a new one.

A girl I know has this camera and I really liked it. My old camera was a Sony Cyber-Shot and I loved how the colors turned out with it, so I opted to go with another. This model is a few years old (hence cheaper in price now too!), but I love all the features and it's WAY better than my old one. It's the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX5V.

My favorite new feature is the panorama shot. This is just a quick one I took of my apartment. I love it. The camera also has a gyroscope and GPS and can shoot 1080i HD movies.

Hopefully I'll get used to it soon. Someday I'd like a nicer camera and not just a point and shoot, but it's good for now and a point and shoot is always handy no matter what.

Pajama Jeans Adventures

2011-09-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

I really don't know how it happened, but somehow I ended up with a pair of Pajama Jeans. Well, that's not entirely true. I do know what happened.

For some reason I found myself at Walmart at one in the morning and the next thing I knew I was perusing the "As seen on TV" isle at the front of the store, then somehow I was in my car driving home with the infamous Pajama Jeans in my car as well as a pack of Cami Secrets. I really should not be allowed at Walmart after midnight without a friend to talk me out of these things.

Anyway, so now I have these PJ Jeans so I decided to try them out. Upon first glance you can't really tell they are PJ Jeans. They look like a pair of dark denim jeans/pants, but if you look closer you can tell they are not actually jeans, but they still don't look as bad as you'd think. Really. And they are really comfortable. Really. I couldn't believe how comfy they actually are.

I am required to wear jeans to work as part of my "uniform" and I hate it. We used to be able to wear whatever pants we wanted so I wore khaki's, but awhile ago they changed it to jeans. I love jeans, I just hate waitressing in them. Sometimes I'm running around like a crazy person and they are not very comfortable when you are hot so last Monday night I decided to test out the PJ Jeans at work and see if anyone noticed. First off, they were soooo much more comfortable to work in that real jeans. Secondly, no one said a thing. Now, granted, I wear a small apron that covers the front a little and it's sort of a dimly light restaurant, but if they were that hideous you'd think SOMEONE would notice, right? Not a one. No comments. And you better believe that if my co-workers caught me wearing PJ Jeans, they would TOTALLY say something and probably ridicule me to no end. But I take that back. I did get one comment that night from one of my managers. She said she really liked my jeans. She had no idea that they were PJ Jeans. She was totally serious. I told her what they were and she couldn't believe it and said she would go clubbing in those bad boys! So funny.

I guess my conclusion about Pajama Jeans in this:

1) They are really WAY too expensive to take seriously. $39.99. I'm not kidding. I told you, I don't know what happened when I bought them. I was possessed by the ghost of Billy Mays I think.

2) They don't look that good...but they don't look that bad either.

3) They actually are really comfortable. And they do actually have pockets, just no button or zipper. You sort of just pull them on over your butt.

4) I may wear them again if I build up enough courage. I think they really would be good for traveling because they are so comfortable and can sort of pass for jeans, maybe. We'll see. I'm not sure. And I'm sort of ashamed. Sort of.

As far as the Cami Secrets go, I'll let you know. I haven't worn them yet, but they were much cheaper so I don't feel like as much of a fool buying them.

Bikram Yoga Adventures

2011-09-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I did Bikram (or hot) yoga for the first time and it was truly an adventure.

For those of you who don't know and are too lazy to click on my link to Wikipedia, "Bikram yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional yoga techniques". The class is 90 minutes long and consists of 26 postures (see below) and 2 breathing exercises done in a room that is 105 degrees.

So what did I think of the class? Well, I'd never done yoga before in my life so it was totally new to me. My friend Jen invited me to go with her (she had just recently started going too) and I had been wanting to try it for awhile so I jumped at the chance.

During the summer I found that I loved running at night when there was no sun but it was still super hot and humid (as most Midwest summer nights are) so you sweat a whole lot. It felt really good to sweat so much. This lead me to wanting to try Bikram Yoga.

Bottom line is...I sweat my butt off in this class and it felt good. Not one inch of me wasn't soaking wet after the class. It was like someone poured a bucket of water over my head. Even the hems of my pant were soaked. And everyone was like that when they left the class.

As far as a workout, it was actually challenging and got my heart rate up a lot. I did feel worked out at the end of the class...and relaxed too! Double score. I have shied away from yoga in the past thinking that it was more for meditation and not the cardio or strength workout I wanted, and maybe other types of yoga are more that way, but this one was a workout. The heat definitely contributes to your heart rate and the workout you get as well as loosing your muscles so they can stretch farther more comfortably. About halfway through I got a little dizzy (which I was told is totally normal for newbies) and thought I'd have to leave the room, but I pushed through it and made it to the end. The isolated positions (which the yogi talks you through so you are doing them properly) did actually work my muscles. The key is drinking tons of water before and after the class because you sweat so much. After I got home from the class I was starving. I ate and then took a nap and had the deepest sleep I've had in a very long time. It must have done something for me!

Overall, I liked it and will definitely do it again (like this coming Thursday). I think it will also be awesome to do during the winter here. It gets so cold it will actually be nice being hot for a whole 90 minutes not to mention the humid atmosphere will be good for my dry winter skin and sinuses. All in all, a good experience!

I went to YogaMed for those in the area that might want to try it. If you do, let me know and I'll go with you! It's $10 a class or $100 a month for unlimited classes. The classes are nice because you don't have to have an appointment, you just drop in and do it and see if you like it, only 10 bucks!

Bee Gees Adventures

2011-09-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

I got this album for David.

The Bee Gees are a hard one to review. There is so much nostalgia and 70's allure attached to them that it is hard to give an unbiased opinion of their actual music quality. Let me begin by saying that no one loves a good disco song more than me. I love period music. That being said, there is much to love about the brother's Gibb, yet there is also much to cringe about.

The Bee Gees are of course known for singing in falsetto. As memorable as that particular vocal technique is, it is not often done well. The same goes for the Bee Gees. Sometimes the falsetto goes with the song they are singing and sounds okay, but in many of their songs it just sounds like a cat dying. Okay, maybe that is a little harsh, but still, you get the point.

The Bee Gees are a slippery slope. On the one hand, you can't have 70's music without them. On the other, technically it's just not that great. I will always love the Bee Gees because of the era they represent, but musically speaking, they are a strange phenomenon. This Greatest album is a good representation of that.

Album highlight: The remixes at the end of disk 2.

Overall: 6.5/10

PS-Funny story about this album of ours. I had the CDs in my car in the stereo (I have a 6-disk changer in the trunk. Yes I'm living in the 90's) and the album case on my console between the 2 front seats. David accidentally left my car unlocked one night and later we found that someone had stolen some stuff out of it. The perpetrator took exactly these items: 5 pairs of sunglasses (I was the most bummed about that), $50 I had hidden in a compartment, some loose change, and this Bee Gees album case. So now I still have the CDs, but not case to put them in and some homeless guy is just goes to sleep every night gazing at pictures of Barry, Robin and Maurice.

PPS-Here is a clip of one of mine and David's favorite SNL skits. So good.

Home Alone Adventures

2011-09-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

David was out of town this weekend so I was home alone.

He went to Utah to play golf and go to the BYU vs Utah game at Lavell Edwards Stadium at BYU. It's the big rivalry game. We HATE each other (right Cindy? Haha!). The game was Saturday night and luckily I was doing other stuff and didn't watch it because BYU got creamed and lost by like 44 points or something. No one loves to hate Utah more than me, so I'm glad I didn't see the game or I just would have been mad. David had fun playing golf all day on Friday and seeing his brother's fam, but he came home totally depressed because of the game. He'll be depressed for pretty much all the season now. So sad.

I, on the other hand, filled my time by working. I also procrastinated all the many projects I have to get done and watched Criminal Minds all of Friday night. So unproductive. I hate TV.

Saturday I worked and then went out to eat with my friend Jen and her family for her hubby's bday. He was so nice to invite me since I was all alone. After dinner Jen and I went to see The Help.

I saw this with Katie when she was out here, but Jen wanted to see it so I willingly went again with her. So good. Loved it. Great costumes too and sets. The early 60's. So vintage. Go see it!

Sunday was stake conference which I was 20 minutes late to because the Omaha Marathon happened to blocking every street I needed to go down. Why didn't I know that was going on? So I was late and had to sit on the stage and couldn't hear half of the speakers. Stake conference. So fun.

I picked up a still depressed David at airport and we headed over to his parent's house for dinner. David's grandma (his mom's mom) and uncle from Utah just arrived in town. She is well into her 90's and still going strong. Love you grandma D!

Now I really have to get to all these projects I have to do! Christmas comes too soon!

BFF in Omaha Adventures

2011-09-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my BFF, Katie came to visit me! Woohoo! I was so excited. We had an amazing time.

She came not only to visit me, but to overcome her fear of flying. She hadn't been on a plane in over 6 years! Coming to visit me was the only thing that could get her on that plane and she made it! I was so excited for her. She even flew home on September 11th! On the 10th anniversary! Wow. That is brave.

Anyway, she got in Thursday night September 8th. She was starving so we headed over to M's Pub. One of mine and David's fave places. Here is Katie with her shrimp lettuce wraps.

After that we took her to try Donut Stop, which I have blogged about on more than one occasion because it's da bomb! Here she is sampling the many donuts. She fell in LOVE with the cream cheese danish. Good choice. So much so that we had to go the next night too!

While Katie was here she stayed in the guest suite at our building. Your own bed, bathroom, kitchen and laundry? Who could ask for more? Here we are at breakfast Friday morning in her suite.

Ready to see Omaha!

First stop, the Winter Quarters Temple and the Pioneer Cemetery.

Next, standing in two states at once on the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge over the Missouri River.

Here we are (after a nice lunch at Ingredient) in front of the Dessert Dome at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha! Best zoo ever. Katie saw the dome from the parking lot and said, you can't show me a dome of that magnitude and expect me to not want to go in it!

So we did! Here she is inside the dome! It's the best place to go in the winter because it's always warm!

Later we visited the aquatic center which has this shark walk tunnel. So cool.

After the tour of Omaha we took naps (which she never gets to do at home with her 2 girls) then headed to Blue Sushi for dinner with David.

Mouthwatering.

That's a lot of sushi! Wow. So good. I love Blue. Don't ask me how Omaha ended up with one of the best sushi restaurants ever, but it did.

After dinner we went back to Donut Stop and brought it home. We hung out and talked into the night...and I did hair. Here we are with Lady Gaga inspired hair bows!

Saturday we went straight to the spa for massages and pedi's. We both thought the massages could have been better. Both our girls didn't push hard enough. Come on ladies! We got some knots we need kneaded out! But it was still fun and enjoyable.

After that we said hi to David's parents and then to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Katie's favorite. We got cheesecake to go and walked around Westroads Mall.

Here we are later on the rooftop of my building. Great views of downtown. Katie in Omaha! Weeee!

Red velvet cheesecake in my living room. So good. Katie, David and I finished off your piece that you left in the fridge.

Sunday morning (9/11/11) I dropped Katie off at the airport. She was scared, but did a great job and got home safe. You did it Katie!!!

Katie, thanks for coming to Omaha and hanging out with us. We loved having you. Now we are ready for more visitors! Anyone?

See Katie's blog here for her side of the trip. (even though I think her blog is private so if you care that much you may have to have her approve you, but it is totally worth it! Haha!)

Chicago Adventures

2011-09-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday September 2nd (our anniversary) David and I left Michigan and drove to Chicago. I've been to Chicago many times, but i think this was actually the first time I was able to spend some quality time there. It was really fun.

We stayed in the Hotel Allegro in the Theater District of downtown. The Hotel Allegro is a fun hotel with lots of quirky decor.

The staircase in the entry to the hotel.

Here is our room. Small, but nice.

Tiniest sink ever in the bathroom.

Happy 6th anniversary to us!

One of the first things we did when we got there was go to the Willis Tower observation deck (formerly the Sears Tower) and stand on one of the clear balconies overlooking Chicago. It was weird to step out onto the clear floor, but fun. Here is David with the city below.

We are pretty far up!

David took this from the balcony next to mine.

After the Willis Tower we took the train a little outside the city to eat at The Depot.

The Depot is a dive, hence it being on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the food channel, but it was so good. I got this pot roast sandwich. Yum!

David got the meatloaf sandwich. So good. Our clothes smelled like a diner the rest of the trip, but it was worth it.

Later that night we finished off our anniversary by having dessert at 312, the restaurant attached to our hotel. Cheesecake and flour-less chocolate cake.

The next day was Saturday and the start of college football. David was excited to watch football ALL day. He did, but found some time amidst all the football to go eat with me. No matter how much you like football you have to eat, right?

We ended up eating at Grahamwich, which is one of Graham Elliot's restaurants in Chicago. Graham Elliot is a judge on Master Chef (on FOX) along side Gordon Ramsay. Here is David in the cute little eatery. Nice logo.

They make super yummy sandwiches, popcorn, soda (yes they make their own) and soft serve treats there. Here is David's caramel apple pie soft serve. Soooo good.

Busy at work.

David got the grilled cheese and I got the pork BBQ sandwich in the foreground. Popcorn and soda.

After we ate our Grahamwiches we headed up to Sprinkles Cupcakes. On our way there we ran across this platform 9 and 3/4 in the subway. Nice try people, but this won't get you to Hogwarts unless you are in London.

I thought it was funny though.

Cupcakes!

Me waiting for my cupcakes.

I got coconut (the best), milk chocolate, strawberry (for David), and red velvet. They were so dense and yummy.

We ended up switching rooms at the hotel because there were some really rowdy wedding partyers in the room across the hall from us. Our new room was a little bigger (thank goodness) and actually had a fun view of the train and buildings.

David liked the train and public transport of all types.

For dinner on Saturday we headed out for some real Chicago deep dish at Lou Malnati's.

This salad we ordered was so good. I think I liked it better than the pizza actually.

Chicago deep dish. This was really good. It was. I guess I'm just a NY pizza lover though, because nothing can top Grimaldi's Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge for me. I dream about that pizza.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then we ventured out to the Chicago suburbs to find another one of my old house's that I lived in and here it is! I was born in Elmhurst and lived in this house in Villa Park until I was 7. It really hasn't changed too much.

It looks like they enclosed our old porch and they there is an above ground pool in the backyard, but I didn't get a picture of that.

A view of our neighbors garage. I remember listening to "Danger Zone" in that garage just after Top Gun had come out with my sister and one of the girls who lived here. I didn't see the movie of course, but I thought the song was awesome!

The trees are a bit bigger!

This brick building kitty corner to the house used to be a school.

I'm pretty sure it's apartments now.

I rode my big wheel down this sidewalk so many times on the way to a girl named Jenny's house.

and here is her house at the end of the block.

Her garage.

And backyard that my sister and I used to play in. She had a fun swing set. I remember wearing jelly shoes back then while playing back here.

Near our old house was this path and it's still here looking the same as ever with it's while gravel. The prairie path!

Another view.

The path goes right by the main street in Villa Park and this old train station turned museum.

The old Dairy Queen we would walk to is still there. Walk up window and everything.

On our way back into the city we stopped by Oak Park to see Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House. We got there at 5pm exactly when tours of the house's interior close. Poop. But we walked all around it and I peaked in a few windows. So cool.

Love the stained glass.

View through the window.

And another window.

Here is me out front!

The front yard is so pretty.

Robie House!

It was hard to take a good pic of these statues. They are pretty cool, right mom?

Studio next to the Robie House.

After we got back into town we walked from our hotel to Millennium Park. David took this on our way there.

The Bean! Or Cloud Gate if you want to get technical.

Our reflections in The Bean.

What it looks like to walk under The Bean. Trippy.

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Millennium Park is way cool. Lots to look at and do.

Here is me walking down by Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan.

David is all smiles!

The famous Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. Pretty at night.

We happened to be in Chicago during the Jazz festival and taste of Chicago so there were people out everywhere. It was fun.

We headed home on Monday (Labor Day), but not before stopping by a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

We only stayed a few innings because we had to drive home, but it was neat.

Chicago dogs at the ballpark! Classic.

This was really good.

On our walk back to our car to leave the city and drive home we walked by a Garrett's Popcorn store and almost died because the smell was soooo good. We ducked inside to get some and the place was packed. I didn't realize at the time how popular Garrett's is. I know now, and for good reason. With some help from the lady in front of us (she lives in St. Louis and drives 5 hours to Chicago just to get this popcorn, seriously) we decided to get a bag of caramel and a bag of Chicago mix (pic below) which is the caramel and cheese mixed.

Now, popcorn in tins usually doesn't get me going. It's not usually a snack I crave and want, but this stuff was A M A Z I N G. As soon as we took the first bite we were both hooked. Like crack hooked. Ridiculous hooked. This stuff is so good I can't even tell you. We both got sick from eating too much, but we had to just keep eating it! We ate pretty much all of it on the drive home. We will be ordering this stuff through the mail (which I hear it's still really fresh and good when ordered too).

A great end to a great trip. So many nostalgic memories for me throughout our whole trip. I loved it! Happy anniversary David!