Saturday, February 22, 2014

Valentine's Weekend

The week leading up to Valentine's was the craziest week of the semester thus far. I crammed for exams and took 1 exam every day, along with having a lot of other commitments and events I was in charge of. I don't think I saw Eric a single minute outside of our gym time (which I made a priority and sacrificed a lot of sleep for). So needless to say, I was really looking forward to the weekend.

Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday. I absolutely love having an "excuse" to tell all those around me how much I love them, along with all of the romantic festivities of the flowers, candy, valentine's, hearts...the mushy stuff. We had made plans to go down to Arizona for the extra-long weekend, but things didn't end up working out and we both were kind of bummed. Well, we put our heads together and started coming up with all the things we have been wanting to do but haven't had time. 

Eric got up at 5am to go to the gym so we could go out on a real date after my late night class at 6. When I woke-up, he'd left this on the kitchen table!
Yes those are ALL cadburry eggs. I think he knows me well.
Here's the Valentine's breakfast I had waiting him when he got back from the gym. Braised kale with fried eggs and avacados! Yum!
I went into work late so I could sneak into Eric's work and heart attack his car!
Awkward picture, right? My co-worker is a professional masseuse so her valentine to me was a free massage! Incredible!
We kicked off the weekend by dressing up and driving up to the Dodo  (one of our new favorite restaurants) in Salt Lake. Thanks to Uncle Larry (a manager at the Dodo), he put our names on the waiting list before we even left Orem and by the time we got there, we only had a ten minute wait. It was so fun visiting with Larry and eating some yummy food!
After class we got all ready and went up to SLC! Here's my new hair cut and some red RED lipstick...stepping out of my comfort zone sure felt good!


This was the most AMAZING polenta ever!
The best surprise of the day was when I got home from class and found a beardless man with a haircut! Did I say how sexy this guy is?

To top off the fabulous weekend, we got a fun package and new pj's in the mail from my mom (thanks mom)!
Saturday started off with a morning at the gym, followed by a trip to Park City. We attended a couples acroyoga workshop - something that's been on my to-do list for months. It was so relaxing and neat to learn different couples stretches, thai message, and the therapeutic wonders of acroyoga. We will definitely be attending more of these in the future.



After our workshop we walked around Park City and enjoyed a yummy lunch at Dairy Keen in Heber City (they have excellent gluten-free options, by the way). 







Saturday evening consisted of us finally selling our van and watching the USA vs Russia Hockey game and dinner at the Piperato's.

Sunday we drove up to Salt Lake and attended the baby blessing of some of our best friends. Afterwards we drove around the valley and looked at homes and beautiful areas (one of favorite things to do on Sundays).
Baby William! So cute!
I could seriously hold him all day...
Monday was President's Day along with the last day of our extra long weekend. Eric had paid time off so we decided to plan a snow-shoeing trip with our besties! The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the afternoon laughing at each other as we ventured through the snow.



Monday night we went out to dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant (La Jolla) and finished the night with a movie - which turned out to be pretty dumb. But it was still fun to get away and roll our eyes together at the cheesiness of Winter's Tale.


Life happens and never seems to slow down. The next few months will hold a lot of big changes and busyness for the two of us. I'm grateful that we not only had a weekend (finally) to just spend together, but also that Eric supported me in doing a lot of things I wanted to do. He made the weekend incredible and quite memorable for me. Happy Valentine's Day!





Moving On

We DID it! After 6 months of searching and 3 false alarms (including a complete move out and move back in), we finally found a place and moved there to stay. All within 48 hours. We found the cutest little house in Orem that is perfect for us (and our dogs) and we have LOVED every minute here.
Packing is the worst...
Moving in! Thank you EVERYONE who came to my rescue and helped me move so quickly!

I'm so excited to have a garden area!
Our backyard is my favorite part of this house!
The neighbor kids all love our dogs!

Starting to unpack and settle in!

Our first dinner in our new house on our new table!



The first two weeks we were there we had multiple meals and treats brought to us by our neighbors. It's amazing living in a new place and making friends with all our neighbors!

Miracles Happen.



Spooktacular Happenings

Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine. I just am not a fan of the gore, the evil and especially all of the sugar. But marrying Eric has changed my perspective since it is his FAVORITE day of the entire year. I've realized that it doesn't have to be about the gore, the filth, and the creepy factor. Instead, it is a holiday full of spooky music, pumpkin carving, and dressing up. More of an excuse for some entertainment and socializing! The past two Halloweens since we've been married I've gone up and above to make the month of October memorable and special for my sweet hubby. I've loved every minute we have spent the past few Octobers and have treasured seeing the little boy in him light up when we carved pumpkins or watched Halloween movies.

This year we decided to throw our own Halloween party in our backyard. We started planning two weeks before Halloween and found time late at night and early in the mornings to run some errands and get some crafts made. The party ended up being absolutely fantastic and we had a turn out of over 50 friends! What a fun night it was to see everyone's creative costumes, catch up with people we don't see too often, and spend all night laughing. We are so blessed to have so many incredible friends!













The greatest fortune teller that ever lived
Minnie Mouse and the Elephant Man
The photo booth was a success! Sorry I couldn't post all of them on here!

And yes, we even dressed our dogs up.


Happy Halloween!