Wednesday, October 13, 2010

BYU Tours

I love my new job. I get to do some pretty fun things. My boss is a professor for a University 101 - Traditions class. I scheduled tours all around campus that the students attend to learn about the various traditions surrounding different places on campus. So far the coolest tours have been of the Marriott Center and of LaVell Edwards Stadium. My favorite part was visiting the team rooms. So sweet to see where the teams meet before and after games, and during halftime. Made me wish I actually made it as college basketball player. Here are pics from our Marriott Center adventure:

The Women's Team Room

The Women's Team Room (If you Look Closely You Can See Maya Moore from UConn when they played each other a couple of years ago)

The Men's Team Room

On the Basketball Court

Home Court

Friday, September 17, 2010

Ben Lomand

On Labor Day we took the challenge to hike up Ben Lomand Peak just north of Ogden, Utah. We went with Ben's Uncle's family, the Smiths. It was quite the hike. It was 8 miles up to an elevation of 9,712 feet and then 8 miles back. But it was definitely worth it and super fun. Here are pics from our adventure.

Yummy Hydration Pack. Definitely became a fan of this innovative backpack on this hike.

The Smith family minus Uncle Chrys...he was too tired to move.

The view from 9,712 feet in the air.

We made it to the Peak!!!!

Happy Trails :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Camping

So Ben and I have gone on two camping trips during the month of July. We both love camping and being outdoors. I grew up camping on the beach multiple times every summer and find that I just feel better nestled in a forest :) Camping in Utah also makes me feel like I'm at home since its the only place you can find trees.Also it doesn't hurt that camping food is super yummy and campfires and pretty much the best. So on the 4th of July we went up Manti Canyon where these pictures of our trip were taken. Enjoy :)





Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!!!

So a month ago was our 2 year anniversary. Yep, Ben has spent a whole mission being married to me. Although he said it went by faster than his actual mission did :) So the weekend before our anniversary Ben surprised me with a trip to Park City for a night. I love Park City. I'm a fan of cute tourist towns. It doesn't hurt that they have the best outlet shopping mall I've ever seen. We went up Saturday morning and walked through main street, checked into our condo, hit the outlet mall for a little bit, and then grabbed some Chinese food. We then we went swimming in our make-shift swim outfits courtesy of wal-mart since we forgot ours and watched a movie. Ben then made me breakfast in the morning and we left to go to church. It was fun to get away even if was only for a little while. My favorite part of the experience was our condo. First of all we couldn't check in because the people at the desk decided to take the day off so we had to call the maintenance people to give us our key. Then our key didn't work and we had to call the maintenance people again. So total it took about an hour to get into our room. Then once we got in there it was supposed to be this huge condo with a kitchen and a jacuzzi bathtub. However, it looked like it was decorated in the 70's with avocado green everywhere, the kitchen was more like a sink and two burners, and the jacuzzi tub was a normal sized bathtub with jets that didn't even work. Although the room wasn't quite what the pictures on the internet made it out to be it was still tons of fun and I'm so glad we got to get away and celebrate :)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Graduation!!!!

So I am finally a college graduate :) Probably one of the best feelings in the world! My family came up and we went to both commencement and my college convocation. It feels so good to graduate as one of the top in my class from a great university. I'm glad my family came up from Washington to share this moment with me. I couldn't have done it without them. I'm also so grateful for Ben and his support and enouragement. Now I just have the world ahead of me. Scary... Anyway, here are some pics from that day :)
My brother Kyle & Me



My Mom & Me

Me & Ben

Thursday, May 20, 2010

24th Birthday

So over a month ago was my 24th birthday. This post has been a little late because we've been on vacation and I've been using all my free time to search for a job. Anyway, my birthday was fun. It was right in the middle of finals which for the first time in 5 years I didn't have to take a final on my birthday, but Ben did. Ben brought me both Kneaders french toast, an einstein bagel with their delicious vanilla almond cream cheese, and fresh strawberries in bed. That was super nice. Then I just hung out for a few hours until he got done taking a final. Then we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some dessert :) The next day my family flew in town for graduation. While they were in town we went up to Park City to the outlets there where I was able to spend some of my birthday money to get some new clothes. It was a really good few days and I was glad to be able to spend it with both Ben and with my family.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Baby Clothes

This is a really random post for me. But I went to a baby shower yesterday. We are good friends of this couple and they are very sporty. He is from Eugene, Oregon where the headquarters of Nike are and he is a huge Nike fan. So in honor of that I bought them Nike onesies. A few months ago a really good friend of mine had a baby girl and we got her Jordan booties. When I go baby clothes shopping I see a trend in what I'm drawn too. I love all the sporty baby clothes. All the Nike, Puma, and Jordan baby clothes are so awesome. Someday when I have a baby I want tons of sporty clothes to dress them in :) Plus, I always find them at Ross or TJ Maxx so there really is no excuse since they are so cheap.

Friday, March 26, 2010

In honor of March Maddness and the dominance of my Connecticut Huskies I decided to post pictures of when we went to see UConn play BYU about a year and a half ago. Definently one of the highlights of my life. I know, I'm pathetic but I could like worse things. I got to the stadium about 3 hours early. I snuck in after a janitor went in and caught the door before it closed. I was the first spectator there. I got seats in the very first row but then found out they were for ticketed customers and then promptly moved up to the third row behind the UConn bench. I could hear everything that went on and was being said. Geno is a very intense man. It was a blast to see my Huskies in person after having watched them for 13 years on TV. This is half of the reason why I had to get into a major university so I could have the opportunity for this to happen. Anyway, here are some pictures from that night.
Me right in front of Renee Montgomery who is giving a post-game interview


Time Out
Huddle

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Christmas Day!

Yep, finally blogging about Christmas Day :) Well, we had Christmas in our little box in Provo. It wasn't as bad as you would think. Ideally we would have went home to Washington for Christmas but we went home for my sister's wedding at Thanksgiving and couldn't afford to go home for Christmas. So we had our own Christmas. We opened the few presents we had and made a HUGE Christmas breakfast. The night before we went to see a movie, made Moose Munch and my famous fudge and watched the Christmas devotional on TV. I blared Christmas music while enjoying our sweet treats. It was a good Christmas and it was fun for Ben & I to start our own traditions.

Ben with his new cooking stove he got. Now we can go camping :)
Ben's new DC hat I got him. I felt like it was about time he got a new hat.
Me surrounded by presents and wrapping paper
Our Christmas tree on Christmas morning.
My job ever since I was little was to water the tree. Here is me keeping up my lifelong duty






Friday, February 12, 2010

Festival of Trees

Yep, another extremely late posting. Oh well. Ben & I went to this event in Sandy called the Festival of Trees back in December. We both love Christmas trees and felt like this would be the perfect activity for us to celebrate the season in a warehouse full of beautiful Christmas trees. It was also nice that I got discounted tickets from my work. So here is a picture of us and some of our favorite Christmas trees and gingerbread houses that we saw.

An NFL tree....Ben's ideal tree
A campfire themed tree...my personal favorite.
A gingerbread house modeled after the house in the movie UP! Ben LOVED this one
The house from Home Alone in gingerbread form. I loved this one :)





Monday, January 25, 2010

O Christmas Tree

So Ben and I are obsessed with Christmas trees. As soon as December 1 hitI begged him every day if we could please get a Christmas tree. Finally after we got paid Ben agreed and we went and picked out a Christmas tree. I love real trees, it makes the house smell so good. Growing up in Washington it's just not acceptable to have a fake tree. So one Sunday afternoon we took a break from studying for finals and decorated our tree. Here are some pictures from that happy time :)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Shannon's Wedding

Two days after Thanksgiving my sister got married. It was a perfect day with no rain (which is a miracle in Oregon that time of the year). She was absolutely beautiful and her and Will seemed so happy. We were able to go home for the wedding which was so much fun to be part of the festivities and see our families. Here are some pics from that day at the Portland, Oregon temple:

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Turkey Trot & Tri

So at the beginning of November, I participated in what is called the Turkey Trot and Tri, better known as a sprint triathlon. I didn't do this by choice as I am not an avid runner and my knee does not allow me to be. However for my Practicum it was required because we did it with our alternative high school students we were teaching. Luckily my teacher let us do the triathlon as a relay. I did the bike leg of the relay. It was a 10 mile bike ride and I completed it in good time, about 35 minutes. Which considering I didn't do an ounce of training makes me feel pretty good about that time. I would like you to notice my attire. I'm participating in a triahlon wearing my basketball shorts and high school basketball sweatshirt, while riding a mountain bike with road tires, and wearing Ben's longboarding helmet. So random...



I finished!!!
Me approaching the finish line :)
Yep, with my shiny silver helmet you could see me coming from a mile away
Getting reaady to race.