Inevitable!

Well, the inevitable has happened. My first flu of the season. Every year, I get super sick and there's nothing I can do about it. Nothing! Flu shot. Vitamin C. Orange Juice. Anti-bacterial gel. Nothing! So, 2 weeks ago, we find out one of our tellers caught the swine flu. GREAT!! I knew I was in for it! Thursday I started feeling pretty lethargic which is never a way to feel on your day off. So, I just lounged around and rested. Friday I woke up to get ready for work, jumped in the shower, and then as I came to a coherent, more awake state, I realized that I was in no condition to be in public. How could I tell? Maybe by the fact that I couldn't even stand up and get ready. I was on the floor when Collin came home from school around 8:30am. My head was pounding, I was dizzy, I was coughing like crazy, I was nauseous. It was NO BUENO! So, I called in sick to work and scheduled a dr.'s appt. I got to the Family Practice around 4:10 for my 4:15 appt. Of course I ended up waiting with a sicky mask on! What's a sicky mask, you ask? Oh, the dr's mask they tell you to put on if you have any symptoms: fever, cough, nausea. Anything. So, there I sat in the waiting room, looking like death, or a member of the taliban as Brooke put it. :) Love her. (I'll add the picture later.) Anyway, I met with Dr. Hyldale (I think), who was super nice and diagnosed a mild case of the flu! Since we caught it early, he said it would hopefully remain mild and not progress any worse. And NO SWINE FLU! YAY!!! He gave me a perscription for Tamiflu and sent me on my way. Wahoo. And here I am, Saturday, at the bank, working while I'm still sick, and possibly contageous. Whoops. Too bad noone could cover for me. Hopefully noone else gets sick and the cycle of sickies can be broken.

HELP

AHHH! I am in need of some serious help! My hair is BUGGIN!! I'm so annoyed with it. It doesn't do what I want and it's just plain ugly. The color is ... well, gross. The blonde parts faded, but not enough to hide the root regrowth that goes to my ears. The length is ok. I usually like it shorter and don't want it to get TOO long, cuz then it'll be scraggly, thin and nasty. In other words, I'd love for it to be beautiful and long, but that's never gonna happen with MY hair. I have come up with a few options, which I'm not limited to anything, but this is what I have considered thus far.

...So...

should I

a) just do an overall darker shade

*OR*

b) more highlights blending the lighter parts on bottom to the darker roots

*OR*

c) whack off a few inches and go back to shorter hair

???????

I would love any opinions. PLEASE!!!! Thanks!

***ExCiTiNg StUfF***

There are so many exciting things going on right now! (in no particular order... ok!)

**LoVe**

CaRLy and SpEnCeR are eNgAgED!!!! Spencer went to visit Carly in DC (since she's in her last year at GW law). It was the most ellaborate, beautiful engagement story. I could not be happier for them! It will be such a fantastic wedding in Salt Lake in May! They are spectacular together and I love how well Spencer treats Carly and how she lights up around him. I am excited for them to be married and live in Utah!

**BaBiEs**

eMiLy and AaRoN are having TwInS! 1 boy! 1 girl! (at least thats what the doctors say for now!) We (I) had thought that they were definitely 2 girls, as if I had some sort of communication with them and knew that they were girls. I'm a nerd. Anyway, so far, I stand corrected. But who knows what may happen as they continue to develop! We'll know for sure in a few more weeks. I'm just so excited for twins. From the look of Aydan, Lilia and Asher, Emily and Aaron make some pretty dang adorable kids!

**ViSiToRs**

Speaking of the adorable kids, Em's family came to visit Collin and I in Logan. It was a blast to have some family visit. There isn't a ton to do in Logan, but we found some great places. We took them to Gossner's for some milk and chees, 2 of our fav local eateries (True Aggie Cafe and Angie's), Ryan's Place Park (the most adorable amazing castle playground). Em and Aaron took the pics, so you'll just get a description from me. Oh, we went to Tummi Yummi's too. Its a great little fro yo joint. Fun games. Great flavors. Excellent deco's.

**FaLL!!!**

Logan is gorgeous, did you know that? Seriously, beautiful! The leaves are changing and the frost is coming. Every other day, we've had white covered mountains. It's getting chilly and I'm really hoping that fall doesn't get skipped over. It needs to beautiful recognition it deserves. :) We'll see! This is my first winter in Logan, and I might be a little worried about how cold it'll be. Let's just hope I don't freeze.

**HuSbAnD**

As always, a little plug for my amazing husband (it's still a funny thing to say "my husband")! I Love it!! :) He's doing so well in school and is so busy with everything, but always finds time to make me feel special. For example, the other day, he brought me a cute little package from Needhams (the jewelry store where he works) with a candle, lotion, and a few other things on a pretty plate. For no reason. He just loves me! :) I love the hubs!

6 Months!!!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

We've been married an entire half of a year!  Can you say that? Entire half? Anyway, what a glorious time we have had so far.  Everyone I know says they are married to the most amazing man. Know what I have to say about that? Blah Blah Blah!  Pa-lease...  No one can even compare to Collin.  He rocks at husbandery!  Rocks my world and rocks my socks.  He makes me feel so great and just loves me all the time.  Even when I'm being a confusing chick.  Ok, obviously that doesn't happen very often, but when it does, he takes it with a grain of salt.  What a good man!

He pampers me and spoils me! We laugh. A lot!  We watch snuggle (every once in a while when we watch movies... Collins not huge on cuddling while we sleep... at all).  I respect that now though, I'm pretty much over it.  We love to just hang out.  On our new awesome couch.  While watching ESPN, Glee, and our Netflix of course. He opens my door for me!  Takes me to dinner when he knows I'm not in the mood to cook.  He surprises me ALL the time.  And has since he proposed (ask me if you don't know how he did it).  He kisses me (always in 3's).  He's incredible! I'm so lucky to have him.  He's the best husband I could ever ask for.  He takes me to the temple every week, and reads the scriptures with me every night.  We pray together morning and night and whenever we eat at home.  I am amazed at how great the first half year of our eternity has gone.  Smooth Sailin!  I love my husband! And I love my life!

Happy Anniversary Baes!!!

A few obsessions:

As of late, I have become totally obsessed with a few things.  Ok, so maybe not just recently. Maybe always.  Yep! I've ALWAYS been obsessed with these, with the exception of a few newbies to spice up my life with even more excitement. 

#1  PICKLES! If you know me, or even if you don't, now you know that I LOVE pickles.  There's a special place in my heart and stomach for this wonderful vegetable.  Pickles have been there for me always.  Growing up, Sunday dinners, Grandma always had a dish of pickles. Thats where it all started I think.  And now, I always keep a jar in my fridge.  (Collin said "Only blog about the sweet ones, just the dill ones." He knows me so well!  Anyway, they've been there for me during the highs and lows in life, and even my "comfort food" when I was down or discouraged.  They make me happy.  :) ( I just ate 2 of them for a nice snack!)

#2 SPORTS! Obviously, this has been a big part of my life from the time I was a tiny little one.  One  year I gave my dad a cool framed picture of us laying on the floor watching a tiny 10" tv of sports.  Twenty some odd years later, nothings changed!  Collin and I love watching sports. I definitely married the right guy.  We've loved the US Open, the NL Wild Card race, the beginning of NCAA and NFL football, and just love each other the whole time while we watch what we love. :)  We're even in a pool with some of Collins buddies.  So ESPN is our best friend for sure. Morning, Afternoon and Night!

#3  GLEE!!!!! This is definitely mine and Collins new favorite show! We watched a tiny bit of the sneak peek a few months ago, but we saw enough to know we would give it a fair shot!  AND YESSSSS!!!  We love it.  I'm so happy to know that so amy other friends share the same love as they blog, facebook and tweet about it. Fabulous!  Can't wait for the next one! I love Wednesdays (esp w/ SYTYCD)... and Thursdays too (SYTYCD, Community, The Office AND Jay Leno). Sign me up! :)

     

#4 Our new Couch!  Oh my word! This new piece of our lives is amazing!  One day after going to the temple, Collin mentioned a "once a year furniture sale" at the local U&I Furniture.  So we went by, only to find that they were closing up shop, but were nice enough to let us take a gander.  Thank you! We found the most perfect reclining love seat! It's tan microfiber (matches our lovesac perfectly) and each side reclines separately. I need to take a picture, but my camera is in the car! LUCKILY, Collin's fabulous mac has a built in camera! Perfect!!

#5  Netflix!  We are hooked!  Two of my friends that I went to Mexico with on Study abroad got married and for OUR wedding, they gave us a free month of Netflix.  Amazing gift!  What a great idea.  So, ever since, we've been hooked to netflix!  We've been able to watch the Star Wars in order, Planet Earth (on blueray of course), and a ton of other movies we either hadn't seen in a long time or that we have been dying to see.  If you haven't tried Netflix, you should definitely take advantage of the free month offer they usually have!  Its phenomenal and totally worth the tiny monthy fee (esp if you watch lots of movies like we do).  Definitely recommend it!

So there you have a few of my current favorite obsessions!  Don't knock 'em until you rock 'em!

Wow! I'm BAD at blogging!

Alright! So it's been over 2 months since my last post. I am definitely a blogtard! I just made that up, and its true in every sense of the ... word. I think about things to blog, but I've gotten so bad at taking pictures. I used to carry my camera with me everywhere, but now its definitely a rarity to actually pull it out and take a picture. Although, in coming to realize and admit this major flaw, I've decided to be better. Or at least try to! So, we'll see how I do.

Anyway, a few notable things have happened in the last 2 months. I just need to remember what they are. Oh ya! I have a new job. I think anyone who will actually reads this already know, but I quit my job at Hallmark at the end of July and started training at Chase! Its an amazing job, and exactly what Collin and I needed. Its perfect: benefits, full time, challenging, interesting, valuable and has helped Collin get back into school so he can graduate. I've had a lot of training, so I feel like I'm beginning to do well and hopefully lead to a successful Banker!! So...ya... I love it! :)

Let's see, what else?! I got to hang out with my best friends a few different times, which was awesome. Carly, Kristy and I went to the Fray concert together, which was so great to be together along with our other halves.

A few times, I made it down to Provo to see the Bakkens and their adorable apartment. LOVE it! Brooke has the most creative eye. Collin and I had a double date day with Melissa and Skyler, full of Cheesecake Factory, Croquet and Bocce Ball. Man, I wish I had my camera; good times! I'm so glad for the times that we get together with our friends down south, because I REALLY miss them a lot, living so far. Ok, 2 hours isn't THAT bad, but its enough to miss people. I truly love it here in Logan, so don't think I'm miserable here. I'm excited to spend the next few years here, but I do love friends. A lot! (subtle hidden message: COME VISIT ME before the crazy cold snowy winter!)

We went to Colorado a few times too and down to Layton a bunch for fun days with our family! I love how big our family tree is now! So many nieces and nephews and amazing examples (all our sibs and their spouses). I don't think we could be more blessed with our family! Such a fantastic feeling! LOVE it!

Oh! So, Logan just got Gold's Gym. I had been Anti-Golds for years while living in Provo with my 24 Hour Fitness membership. But, I am SO grateful that a man from Idaho decided to build a Golds in Logan. Hallelujah!!! :) What a blessing! I go work out in the mornings while Collin has his 7:20 math class! Its so great! They have classes, and the raddest cardio machines. You plug your ipod in, have your own tv screen and control what you want to watch or hear when you want it. Genius! AND, to top it off, when you take your ipod home to plug it in the computer, it connects to nikeplus.com. Ya... it tracks your workouts. Are you kidding me? The coolest, most brilliant idea! Now, when I start to get hooked to Sportscenter, CSI and the news in the morning, all at the same time, I get my butt to the gym and hop on the elliptical while I watch. Then switch over to my new tunes during commercial breaks. Thank you, Golds, for becoming a part of my life! :) (haha, i'm a nerd)

Alright, until I get more pictures, my last 2 cents: I'm stoked for College Football. Collin and I are obsessed with football. Ok scratch that, sports in general. We love them! (magical that we got married, isn't it?) Anyway, we're in a NCAA fb pool. So, there are certain picks each week that we pick the winner. And at the end of the season, the 2 losers fund a pizza party for the BCS championships. Pretty sweet deal. Collin and I have resolved to win the whole thing. Just you wait and see! This one's for you, Stevo!

The Fourth in Island Park!

For the Fourth of July, Collin and I were so lucky to get off of work Fri-Mon!! We left early Friday morning for Island Park, Idaho. We tried to get outta here by 7am... We woke up early enough, but since I had to work until 12:30 am (yes, that's right... am. Yay for hallmark! Thank you!). So, since we had some things to do, we got a little bit of a late start, but we didn't let that get in the way of our fabulous weekend. We got to the Rothey Cabin and it was absolutely delightful! The cutest, greatest cabin ever! It was made out of legit logs and was even bigger than I expected! I knew it was going to be a great weekend when Collin got out to the horse shoes. He and the rest of the guys in the fam are super competitive and love some fun games. The weekend was full of horse shoes, frolf (frisbee golf), TTR (family game Ticket To Ride), Wits and Wagers (another fam fav game) and the lake. SO much fun! Even though the weather was a bit wet and gloomy, we still made the most of it. :)

Collin and his brother, Luke, playing horseshoes.

On Saturday the 4th, Collin, Ozz and I ran the Sawtelle Stampede 5k and Luke ran the 1/2 Marathon. This was my first race, and it was such a rad experience. Ozz took 3rd and Collin took 5th (but shaded off last years time by 2 minutes without training). I did way better than I anticipated for being sick and not training either. We have a renewed dedication to get back on the Workout train so that we can kill it next year!!! :)

Us after the Race!!

We went to a fireworks show at the Reservoir too! It was absolutely amazing. Their display was phenomenal and so intimate. I loved every second of it!!!!

One of the days we were hanging out at the cabin, all of the sudden, a massive Moose crossed through our driveway. It was nuts! I had never been so close to a moose. It was awesome! Literally took my breath away.

We also took a mini-trip on Sunday to Yellowstone. It wasn't too far away, and I was SO excited to go. I think I went when I was little, but clearly I didn't retain much memory from that. We went to Old Faithful and Firehole. It was just gorgeous.

The kids eating lunch in the car, waiting for Old Faithful to blow!

The best part of the trip was just hanging out with Collin's family. Luke and Lindsey (his siblings) came up with their families. It was great spending so much time with them, when we usually only get a few hours every couple of Sundays. Collin is SO great with their kids too. Here are a few pictures that show just how adorable he is with them!

Surprises.... GALORE!

My first B-day in Logan, I wasn't expecting a whole lot. I had a feeling Collin would make it special just because that's the type of man that he is. He has been surprising me ever since we got married. It's so nice to live here in Logan with him, rather than having the 4 hour drive round-trip while I lived in Provo.

Anyway, as I was walking home from work on Friday night, I tried calling just about everyone in the family, but to no avail. So, I continued walking to rather short, but beautiful 2.7 block walk home. All of the sudden, a car headed the same direction came to a screeching halt, with crazy people screaming obscenities at me, so I thought. As the scenario unraveled, it was Kristy Denney, Kim Denney and Carly Walton all yelling my name to surprise me in Logan. I hadn't had any visitors in the 3 months I've lived here, excluding my parents and 1 of Collin's brothers. So, it was a fabulous surprise to have them come! Turns out Kristy planned the whole thing, with Collin and even my Mom in on the whole thing. I used to truly hate surprises when I knew they were coming! Collin (and now everyone else) has gotten SO good at keeping secrets. Tricksters! All of you!!! :)

Somehow, they made the sleeping situation work out!!! Hope it wasn't TOO uncomfortable.

So, I took the girls to our place to show them around. That didn't take very long, and we were all hungry for dinner. Collin suggested we go eat at the new restaurant that opened up. The Beehive Grill. It was delicious! Since that weekend was the grand opening, and one of their trademarks is Gelato, they came around with tester samples for everyone. Magnificent. After dinner, we went back home to stay up chatting til all hours of the night. Then, in the morning, Collin left early to go Goldsmith at his store (he's been learning how to actually make the jewelry under one of the head goldsmith's at Needhams). He's getting so good. The rest of us girls went to Angies, "where the locals eat", for some breakfast. SO YUMMY!

Carly had to get back for a family reunion with Spencer, so the girls left to head back down south. What an amazing surprise to have some of my most favorite people in the world come up to Logan for my birthday. These girls are true friends and know exactly what to do to make my day! :) I love you guys!!!

Shortly after the girls left, I texted Collin (upon his request) to let him know they'd left. About 10 minutes later, he comes home and starts dragging me out the door up the stairs. Mind you, I'm on the phone with my parents. Sorry, i had to let them go. :) As my eyes glanced up the stairs from our basement, I saw it! Collin had, yet again, surprised me! That little sneakster got my a cruiser bike for my birthday! AND a new ring. It's a white gold band that is engraved on the inside: "Pretend your birthday is everyday of the year so this ring always applies !Feliz Cumpleanos Mi Amor!" What a doll! (I still need to take pics of my new bike and ring!)

Collin and I at the Summerfest!

The rest of the day was a bit stormy, but it wasn't going to rain on my parade. We still went to the Logan Summerfest and walked around. Then, we drove down to Salt Lake and went shopping for a bit and then met Skyler and Melissa Sanders as well as Jacinth Santistevan and her boyfriend Keiv for dinner at Happy Sumo. For dessert, though, we ventured over to PF Changs. Nothing beats the Great Wall of Chocolate. Oh man! The perfect ending to the evening! I love those places, and I LOVE those people!!! It was so nice of them to meet us in SLC for my birthday dinner!!!

Needless to say, I had a fantastic birthday!

A few other birthday surprises included:

*an amazing birthday get together planned by the Gnomes! These are Collin's good friends from his last singles ward! I love these girls, and they were so great to have a dessert night for my bday! :) thanks girls!

*a cute card in the mail from Emily! She had Aydan, Mya and Peyton sing their version of "Happy birthday" .... ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE! Thanks for sending a piece of home my way!!

*a package from my mom! she'd already given me a present when we were home for jen's wedding, but still wanted to send me a little something! she's the best mom ever!

*another package from the other best mom... Collin's mom, Jeri! She sent me a necklace and bracelet all the way from Uganda, where they're serving their mission! It was absolutely spectacular, and such a surprise to have her send something all the way across the world.

*I had lunch with Val and Brittany this last week too! They met me halfway for a great afternoon. Love these girls! They spoil me with their friendship and love!

All in all, this birthday was a huge success. And I wasn't even that excited to be 25. A Quarter of a Century! Thats kind of a big deal, so I am grateful to those of you who helped me have a great celebratory week! It was amazing!!!! THANK YOU ALL!!! Loves!!

What a day!!!

Last Monday, I had the day off from Hallmark (thank goodness).  It's been nice working there for really only a few reasons: I have a (VERY) little income at $7 whopping ones an hour! I have met some super duper cute girls that I really love to work with.  It gets me out of the house and meeting great strangers. Thats about it.  

Anyway, since I didn't have to work that day, I decided it was the perfect time to go down to Utah County.  First, I met up with Kim and Kristy Denney at Zupas.  They work near each other in American Fork, so we got together to have lunch on their break.  I just adore these girls.  They make life so wonderful; fabulous TRUE friends!  Gems!  I could go on all day long about these incredible girls.  They have changed my life for the better and I am grateful for them in my life.

On my way to Provo, I got a call from my brother saying that Sadie and DeDe had forgotten toothpaste for their Soccer Camp at BYU. I stopped at the grosh and then headed to the dorms.  Talk about Nostalgic.  They were staying in Helaman Halls.  CHIPMAN hall no less!  Many,  many years ago, that is where my BYU legacy began.  What a great place!  I really loved BYU, all the great people I met, and all the memories that I have there.  

After my quick stop at the dorms, I went up to Nordys, naturally.  I still love that place so much.  I have great friends that still work there and it is such a beautiful store.  Puts things into perspective, when I had such a great job there and  now I work at Hallmark!  Definitely grateful for what I had!  I ended up buying some sweet orange peep-toed sling backs for Jens wedding last weekend. And they were on sale.  :)  Can't beat that!  Anna met up with me there, too.  I feel like I hadn't seen her in ages, but really it had only been a few weeks.  I love her.  She's changed my life, too.  We have become so close, especially since we got to live together for a year and a half.  What a precious treasure she is.  I'm so excited for her to go to Italy for the summer and to have so many great experiences there.  

We left Nordys and headed to Red Mango, which is also a delight.  Frozen yogurt with toppings.  There are a ton of places like this in the Provo/Orem area, and I miss them. Healthy and Yummy.  What else can you ask for?  So, we went there for a little treat and Jacinth met up with us too.  We had a great time chatting away about odds and ends of life.  They're having a fabulous summer and fantastic things are happening for both of them.  We have a blast together.  Obviously! :)

As I started my 2 hour trek back to Logan to get back to "mi corazon," I made a quick stop at IKEA!  First of all, what a dream!  That store is a diamond in the rough in terms of shopping available in Utah.  Collin and I fell in love with a bed there a few weeks ago, but of course it was on backorder.  Lame.  So, we've (I've) been checking online every day to check the availability.  Miraculously, the day that I happen to be passing through the Draper area, it was AVAILABLE! With the green light to get it from the husband, I picked it up and hauled it into my car.  Luckily, all the boxes fit in my Subaru. Love that car.  

After everything was loaded, I finished the beautiful trip home to Logan, completely satisfied with the great day off that I had been having.  Even the scattered showers didn't get me down. The only bummer about the whole day was that a few of my friends were out of town so I couldn't see them. Next time though!!

Here is the finished product. Collin put together the bed all by himself while I read him Ensign articles and a few chapters from the Book of Mormon for FHE.  Great Night!  Great Bed!  LOVE!!

Lovin Life

My life is so wonderful!  I love it! I have the best hubby in the world.  We have the cutest place that is just perfect for us.  We have so much fun together, even when we are just sitting at home watching NBA or NHL finals (I married the perfect man for me, dont you think?)!  I guess we're still in that sick, disgusting, 'make you wanna vomit' honeymoon stage.  Eh well, hopefully it never ends.

We're starting to dig into our callings as ward missionaries. I got to teach Gospel Principles Class today, which didn't go as awful as I thought it would.  And we are starting to get to know new people all the time.  

We had dinner up in Layton tonight with a bunch of family! Luke/Nicole, Lindsey/Ozz, Casey and Jodi/Chris all came with their kids.  It was so great to hang out and see everyone.  I wish we lived closer to them, but Logan is SO beautiful this time of year.  Its  so green because of all the moisture.  I wish more people could come visit us, because it really is gorgeous around here.

I'm still in the market for the perfect job, which is obviously  not the best time to be searching for such a thing, but I did have a fantastic interview at the Migrant Headstart.  It was my 3rd interview there, so hopefully "3rd time's a charm."  It would be such a great job for us, so when I find out on Tuesday, hopefully I'll have good news to share.  If not, I still have a few other opportunities in the works. We'll see what happens.

This week, we get to go to Colorado for Jen and Dustin's wedding.  We are so excited to go for the visit, but even more excited that they are getting married.  Feels like just yesterday that we were going to Denver for our own wedding.  I guess it was less than 3 months ago, but still... I do wish we could go on that cruise again!  Maybe for our 1yr anniv next year we'll take a trip to Puerto Rico (I only say that because there was a commercial just on saying that we could do that for cheap... we'll see what life is like in a year).

No fun pics this week because we haven't had a ton to document, but I will definitely have more for next week after the wedding and all.  :)