Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my love!! Josh's birthday was yesterday (July 14th) - the big 3-0!! Unfortunately, he was sick all day - poor guy!!

Hopefully he'll feel better today so we can do some celebrating. And I know that he doesn't read this blog - but I love him more than I could ever express in words! He is my best friend and my life is so much better with him in it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

So You Think You Can Dance

So, I was going to write about our camping trip last weekend, but I just had to write about this - and I have no idea why, because it's really not a big deal!

I'm a fan of So You Think You Can Dance. I don't know why - but I've always loved watching dancing, and always wished I was that talented. This year, they went Salt Lake, and 3 people from Utah made it into the top 20. Last night, the first of the 3 was cut - Thayne Jasperson.

I never put 2 and 2 together, but when I was watching last night, I noticed that Thayne's dad is one of my old bishops. (In my last singles ward). I saw him and his wife sitting in the audience, and it clicked. I now remember Thayne at a couple of ward activities, but I would have never realized this if I wouldn't have seen the bishop in the audience.

Just makes you realize what a small world it is...

Tagged

Over on my food blog, I get tagged for these things quite often. I've been really bad at answering them lately, but I decided to do this one over here so I could tag some of my family and friends!!

So you all better play along!

1) LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE?
This is really sad, but the only movie I've seen at the theatre since I've been married is Transformers. We keep saying we're going to see Indiana Jones, but it's hard for Josh to sit through a movie with his knee...

2) WHAT BOOK ARE U READING?
I miss reading!! Awhile back, I ready straight through the Harry Potter series again, but I don't think I've read anything since then. Hopefully one day I'll have more time.

3) FAVORITE BOARD GAME?
This is a tough one. If I'm playing with Janell, I love Mad Gab. We play that game really well together!! I like playing card games, too. Uno, Phase 10, and Josh and I really got into playing Gin awhile back, and that was a lot of fun.

4) FAVORITE MAGAZINE?
Every Day with Rachael Ray and Cooking Light

5) FAVORITE SMELLS?
Too many to name!! Like I mentioned before, freshly dug dirt and grass, I love the smell of water on a hot sidewalk, rain, garlic cooking in butter, butter cooking, bread baking. I also love all of the smells of fall - like pumpkin and spice.

6) FAVORITE SOUNDS?
Rain. The birds. The noises my dog makes when he sleeps or just wakes up. The wind blowing through the trees.

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
I'm stealing this one from Katie - Guilt. I don't ever remember really getting punished growing up. Feeling guilty and like I disappointed my parents was punishment enough.

8) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Lately, it's been - please let the clock be wrong so that I still have some time to sleep!

9) FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Probably Wendy's. It's close to our house, cheap, and they are always really fast!

10) FUTURE CHILDS NAME?
I have no idea. Most girls have their favorite names chosen growing up, but I've never been able to decide on any. I used to like Taylor for a girl, but it's becoming too trendy these days.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D......
Sell my house and buy a bigger one in a neighborhood where the neighbors take really good care of their yards. Travel. Help out my family. Retire my parents. Have kids and spend lots of time with my family!!

12) DO U DRIVE FAST?
Not too fast. Fast enough, but not too fast to get pulled over.

13) DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
No.

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY?
Cool. I love the sound of the rain, and I usually think thunderstorms are exciting.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
My grandma's Buick.

16) FAVORITE DRINK?
Water. That's pretty much all I drink these days.

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…
Read, clean my house, cook more often, spend more time doing "fun" things

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Not the whole stem, but probably a couple of inches down.

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
I'd probably keep it brown, just do highlights.

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Farmington, New Mexico
Provo, UT
Orem, UT
Elkridge, UT (temporarily)
Highland, UT (temporarily)
Mesa, AZ (temporarily)

21) FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
I like most sports in person, especially baseball.

22) ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Katie has a wonderful food blog, and she is always so kind!!

23) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Sometimes my dog. That's where he goes when he gets scared, when he's been in trouble, or if he wants a quiet, dark place to sleep.

24) WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN??
Yes.

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Mornings. Definitely mornings.

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP?
Sunny side up

27) FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?
In the Lazy Boy. Or laying in the backyard if it's not too hot.

28) FAVORITE PIE?
All of them!!

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
I love them all, but I'd probably have to say Mint chocolate chip or vanilla would be my favorites.

30) OF ALL THE PEOPLE U HAVE TAGGED, WHO IS THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
I don't know!!

I'm tagging:

Janell
Kacy
Amy
Shannon
Michelle
Kim

Seriously...

So Josh went to get his hair cut yesterday. He tells me that the girl cutting his hair starts flirting with him. This isn't out of the ordinary - girls flirt with him quite often. But he lost his wedding ring a couple months back, so I guess some girls assume he is single when he is not with me since he's not wearing a ring. So as soon as she started flirting, he started talking about his wife. (He's such a good husband!!) She knew he was married at this point. He laughed about it, and after he finished, he called and told me about it. I, too, laughed about it. I'm used to it at this point, and I'm grateful that I am secure in my marriage.

When I came home for lunch that day, Josh tells me that he is going to put the receipt in on the desk for me. A couple seconds later, he comes out with the receipt, laughing. He shows me the receipt, and there at the top, the girl had written her name and phone number. She knew he was married - do people seriously have no respect for the sanctity of marriage???

I'm just glad that I know that my husband loves me and would never stray - so I really got a laugh out of it. And as much as I wanted to leave her whole phone number in the picture to pay her back for hitting on my husband, (maybe she'd get some calls from the crazy people out there), but I decided to be nice and black out part of the phone number...

Smells of Spring & Summer

Image from www.greenviewblog.com

As I was walking into work this morning, the landscaping people were outside mowing the grass around my office building. As I walked past one of them on a lawnmower, my senses were filled with the smell of fresh cut grass. And it made me smile.

There are many smells of the Spring and Summer that just make me so happy, and the smell of grass is one of them. You might think I'm crazy, but I also love the smell of freshly dug dirt. It always reminds me of when I was growing up. My dad would rototill the garden and other parts of the yard, and us kids would walk behind him with bare feet, feeling the soft, overturned earth under our feet and in between our toes. I'm not quite sure why we loved it so much, but that is such a happy memory from my childhood, and the smell of dirt always reminds me of that.

I have tales of New York to write about, but I am still working on getting all of my pictures together. It may not be very exciting, but I need to get it all down soon before I forget everything. So stay tuned!!

Start Spreading the News

We're leaving.....TOMORROW!!! I can't tell you how excited I am right now. We will be up at the crack of dawn to make sure everything is packed and drop off Max at the in-laws before we head for the BIG APPLE!! Our flight leaves just after 8am, so we will be in New York just after 2pm to start our adventure. But the only bad thing is that rain is predicted the whole time we are there. Great. I'm fine with it, as long as the Yankees game doesn't get rained out. The biggest thing that disappoints me is that this is Josh's first time to NYC, and I'll be sad if it is too rainy and cloudy to do the Empire State Building.

So to prepare for our trip, I started thinking that I don't have a comfortable pair of shoes to wear around, and seeing that we'll be walking as much as Josh's knee will take, comfortable shoes are a must. Well, I wear shoes to work everyday that are not so comfy for walking around all day. I sit at a desk most of the day, so I wear heels almost every day. And as much as I'd love to look as stylish as those girls from Sex and the City (but more modest, of course!) with some stylish clothes, going around NYC in some killer stilletos. But let's be realistic here - I would last maybe an hour in heels walking around the city. And maybe I'm being silly, but I look horrible when I wear tennis shoes with jeans. I just feel like I look very frumpy, and my feet look like Ronald McDonald feet. Some people can pull it off - I'm not one of those.

So I started thinking about getting a new pair of shoes. My first thoughts went to Crocs. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I think the original Crocs are kind of ugly. And I'm sure no one wears them because they are fashionable - it's because they are comfortable. But when I got on their website, I discovered that there are now many different styles. I found these - the Croc Celeste - and thought they were actually quite cute.
But I started my search a little too late, and I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for shipping to get them here in time. So earlier this week, I stopped at Macy's on my way home to see if they carried them. No luck. They hardly had any at all (any style) and none in my size, even the ugly ones. I didn't even know where else they sold Crocs, so I looked through the other shoes that they had, and found these Skechers:

I they actually look quite similar, but they are super comfy and they were on sale for cheaper than the Crocs! So now I'm set - maybe I won't be a fashionista, but at least I'll be comfortable!!

I Love the Spring!!

OK, so I don't post for 2 months, and then 2 posts in a row. I'm quite unpredictable, aren't I!?! Actually, I hate posting without a picture, and I didn't have any pictures to post before, so maybe that had something to do with it...

I just have to say that I love the Spring. Each of the seasons has something good about them, but there is nothing better than the flowers blooming after a cold winter, and the leaves on the trees returning. And the weather is perfect.

There are good things and bad things about being a homeowner:

Good - you get to have a yard
Bad - you get to take care of a yard

Front yard grass and flowers

Yes, it is a lot of work, and we really have so much more to do to our yard. But I can say with complete certainty that we have the best looking grass for at least a mile in any direction of us. Josh has a complete green thumb. I only wish I had a picture of the grass when we bought our house 2 years ago. In the front yard, the grass was SUPER long and mostly dead and full of weeds. The grass in the backyard was a very sad sight - I'm actually quite surprised that Josh was able to bring it back from the dead. But Josh knows just how much to water it, when to fertilize, when to mow - I really think it is his pride and joy!

Backyard grass. Josh mows perfect lines!!

The flowers are gorgeous right now. The spring flowers are my favorite - all of the tulips bring a smile to my face! I get sad that they don't last longer than they do. But I love the colors of tulips that I planted - they really are much different than anyone around us. There is pink and purple and white and a really dark purple that is my favorite. I'm planning on planting even more this fall!!

My favorite tulips

Besides the grass and the tulips, our yard still needs a lot of work. I'm planning on posting our progress with both the house and the yard here - and also to get some opinions on different things. So be prepared to comment!!