Excitement

As I have grown up and gotten older it seems like there are a lot less "events" that I look forward to or get excited about. HOWEVER, this week I've become EXTREMELY excited about 2 events coming in the next few months.

First, lets fast forward to Valentines Day, 2012............

Lady Antebellum is probably my favorite music group of all time (besides my teenage obsession with NSYNC). They are coming to Salt Lake on Valentines Day and I was able to get some AMAZING tickets!

See that little red circle in the middle of the stage?? Ya, I'll be there! Right now the plan is to go with my brother since Thad is not a music person (especially country) but if my brother decides he wants to take a date with him I will have an extra ticket! So, until V-Day I'll just keep singing their songs in my head :)

Fast forward again to March, 2011...........

Probably one of the best books (definitely my favorite series) I've ever read is being made into a movie. They released the official trailer this past Monday and it looks amazing! I've never gotten into the whole Twilight phenomenon (never read any of the books or seen the movies) but I WILL be waiting in line at midnight to see this movie! If anyone wants to go with me just let me know! My family has been reading the books over the past year and therefore has my copy of the first book in the series but when I go down to visit next week for Thanksgiving I am going to track it down and start reading them again so I can be ready! Anyway, if you haven't watched the trailer for the movie yet, go watch it here.

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend, my best friend Denise came up to visit me! She has been my best friend since 3rd grade but I hadn't seen her in over a year so we had a lot of catching up to do. When she first told me she was coming to visit she said we had to visit the "Up!" house. So, we did! And it was AMAZING! Every detail of this house was straight from the movie (minus the downstairs which had a princess room, Andy's room from Toy Story, and a home theater). I am still trying to get Thad to buy it for me... I really want it. I guess for the opening they had tons of balloons attached to the top of the house, which would have been fun to see. But since it was barely above freezing, I don't think balloons would have lasted very long this weekend.

The mailbox is SO cute! I want to make one like this for me and Thad.

Denise and I kept coming back to the kitchen to admire it! I LOVED the blue appliances.

And of course their chairs! Though, my favorite detail of this room is his walker with the tennis balls on the bottom. You can't see them in the picture very well, but his big, thick glasses are sitting on the side table.

The home builder was so nice and even let me and Denise have a seat in the chairs that were roped off

Then there are their pictures in the stairway.

I thought all of his little ties were such a cute detail. All of them were short, just for Carl

This is Andy's room from Toy Story (though the name on the wall says Jack) but I love all the Toy Story details - it is after all one of my favorite movies

And this was in the nursery.

After we visited the Up house we went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and as always it was delicious. We shared the Snickers cheesecake and it was so yummy

Sunday Denise was nice enough to give my hair a much needed make over! She did such a great job with it and I have gotten so many compliments.

Sadly the weekend ended too soon and we had to say our goodbyes since I had to work the next morning and she needed to head home. I was sad she had to leave but I had such a good time. It brought back a lot of memories from back when we were in school when we lived just 2 doors down from each other. Hopefully another year won't go by without visiting each other!

Viva Las Vegas

Wow. What a crazy week it has been! It's only been a week since I got a phone call saying I had won a trip to Las Vegas to attend the IHeartRadio Music Festival. Originally when the tickets went on sale they sold out in less than 10 minutes so tickets were pretty much impossible to come by unless you wanted so shell out a couple hundred/thousand dollars. I was completely shocked! At first I thought maybe it was a hoax and just someone trying to get my information but I looked into it more and it was legitimate. It was Monday and they told me I'd be flying out Friday, but luckily for me I already had some time off scheduled for the end of the week and didn't have any plans. The prize for winning was a free round-trip flight to Las Vegas, airport transfers, 2 night stay at MGM Grand, and 2 tickets for the each night of the music festival. Pretty cool, eh? The first night our hotel room was just a basic room but the second night we were updated to the Celebrity Spa Suite which was AMAZING! It had a HUGE bathroom with spa tub and great views!

So, Friday came around and Thad and I headed off to Vegas. The whole talk of the town was this music festival. From the time we got off the plane, to checking into the hotel

, to everyone walking around on the strip, its all anyone was talking about. It was also advertised everywhere! I couldn't wait! Once we got checked into the hotel we went and picked up our tickets in the "winners suite" and then went to do some sightseeing. We went to Las Vegas on our honeymoon so it was fun to be back. It's amazing ho

w much it has changed in just 5 years!

The music festival was jam packed with the biggest artists! The first night included Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, Jane's Addiction, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, and Jay-Z. The second night had Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson (American Idol), Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Lopez, Sublime with Rome, Lady Gaga, Sting, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Nicki Minaj, and Usher. Ryan Seacrest was also the host. So many guest appearances too (Justin Timberlake anyone?)

Sadly my tickets were in the very top row in the back and with all the lights and smoke pictures were not turning out but I'm sure you can look online and see pics from performances if you want.

It was an amazing trip and I'm sad to be back home but I had a blast! If they have another festival next year I'll definitely try to win tickets to that as well!

My favorite birthday present

Every year as my birthday approaches, I always remember my favorite birthday present.

It was my 18th birthday and a guy I had been talking to for a little while decided he wanted to come down to St. George to help celebrate my birthday.

I had only met him once about 6 months before and that meeting was a bit of a bust. I basically spent 2 hours following behind him and his friend while they tried to find a hotel to stay in for the weekend (mind you it was Spring break so there were no hotel rooms available). They finally gave up and decided to just figure it out later so we went to a movie. I sat between them during the movie and then went home. We hardly said anything to each other the whole night but we had still kept in touch over the next few months.

Back to my birthday... I met him in a parking lot since he didn't know the area and he surprised me with a card and a little bouquet of flowers. It was so sweet of him. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said he had it all planned out and he was going to take me to the "mountains" ("mountains" to me were considered hills to him so he kept making fun of me for this the entire night because I apparently didn't know what a mountain was) and we were going to watch a movie on his projector as we sat in the back of his truck. He said he wanted to experience a "drive-in movie" since I had never been to one before and it was one of his favorite things to do back home. So, we went to Hollywood video and got a free movie since it was my birthday, and headed up to the "mountain" to find a spot to hang a sheet and watch a movie. After driving around for an hour we found the right spot and began to hang the sheet.

We talked non-stop on the drive and joked around as we tried to hang the sheet. Since I am a little on the short side (maybe a lot on the short side) my side of the sheet was no where near as high as it should've been. We both laughed as I struggled to hang it properly but in the end Thad had to hang my side as well.

Once it was hung, we started the movie - The Butterfly Effect. Honestly looking back I don't remember ANYTHING about the movie. We spent the whole night just looking into each others eyes (cheesy as it sounds, its what happened) and after the movie was about over and me secretly hoping he would kiss me, he leaned over and kissed me. And that was that! We were inseperable from that night on.

Since I still lived at home and had a curfew, I had to be home by midnight so once the movie was over we headed back down to the city and said our goodbyes. It was really tough! I didn't want the night to end but I had to get home and he needed to head home to be to work the next morning. So we ended the night with a kiss and headed our serparate ways.

It wasn't 15 minutes after I got home that my phone was ringing. It was Thad. He said he couldn't stop thinking about me and wanted me to stay on the phone with him to keep him awake and so it would feel like I was with him. So we talked for about 3 hours while he drove back up to his house. I knew after that phone call I needed to see him again.

2 days later I was headed up to visit him. We went to a real drive in and went to Lagoon while I was up there. Leaving was one of the hardest things I had to do. But, I had to head back home because I had school the next day. The whole drive home I kept thinking about him and wondered when the next time I would be able to see him.

3 days after I went back home I was greeted with a huge bouquet of roses and a note asking me to be his girlfriend and the rest is history.

It's been 7 years since that day but besides my wedding day it's probably the day I remember most in our relationship. I couldn't be more in love with him and I'm so glad I didn't listen to those people who were more than a little skeptical when I started dating him. Sometimes you just have to follow your heart, even if it is 300 miles away!

When you have a few days off work...

Since I had a few days off of work I decided I would do some projects I've been wanting to do for a while! And in the process of taking pictures for the blog, it turned into some of my favorite new things around my house! It's a bit of a random post but hey, at least I'm posting something, right?

First up is a project I've been wanting to do ever since we bought our house 2 1/2 years ago. My bedroom has NO decorations in it. Its the one room I've kind of neglected. The walls were this color when we moved in and we just happened to find a bedding set that matched the walls and our furniture, so I've just left it how it is. Anyway, this was semi-inspired by Pinterest.com but when I was at Hobby Lobby and found the quote I'd been looking for I just had to buy it!

I love how it turned out and it makes me smile every time I see it.

Next thing was my new washer and dryer! Now that I can actually fit clothes in the washer and dryer, I don't dread doing laundry as bad! Now I really only have to do 3-4 loads of laundry a week instead of 6-7 that I was doing before! It saves so much more time and is so much more convenient! I think my favorite feature is the delay start so I can put soap in and set it to start in any given # of hours- that way on days I work I can have it be done right when I get home so it can go straight into the dryer!

This is on of my little craft projects I've done lately! The little stars are boxes from the craft store with scrapbook paper modge-podged (sp?) on them. The vases were from Tai Pan and probably my favorite part is the cute "S" I found at Hobby Lobby and painted black. I've been looking forever for a cute letter, not just the plain block letters most places usually have.
Next item was a splurge! I don't like to cook that often, but I don't mind baking! The mixer we had before was a pretty weak one and wasn't powerful enough to make bread or cookie dough so I would have to do all the mixing by hand, which usually meant I wasn't about to make anything! But Costco had this baby on a really good sale that also came along with a free ice-cream attachment so we decided we would pick one up! I love making homemade bread and other sweet treats with this and I love all the attachments! I just wish I had more of them so I could start making my own pasta and such!
I can't take credit for this next thing, but ever since Thad gave it to me for the first Valentines Day that we were married, it has been my most favorite thing we have in our house! It is a little hard to tell from the picture, but it's a mosaic of all of our wedding pictures. Most people that come over think it's a puzzle or something, but once you get up close you can really see each individual picture. I love it!
I'll admit I still really don' know how to use my sewing machine, but I would love to learn! I can hem my pants and sew a straight line, but that's really all I have done with it! If anyone wants to come over and teach me how to sew I'd be forever grateful!
This was also I gift from Thad. I pretty much love all the scents of perfume from Victoria's Secret and Im lucky enough to have a husband that surprises me with some new scents every once in a while when he goes to get his cologne. I particularly love the look of this bottle! From the black lace/pink fabric pump to the lace detail backing I think it's freaking cute!
This game and I have a love/hate relationship! Its super fun to do but I am so uncoordinated that I'm sure I look like a fool when I'm working out. It really doesn't feel like a workout though because im just dancing along to the music! Its also nice to be able to do it in my own home and not have to worry about going anywhere to be able to workout.
This little beauty is probably the best birthday present I've ever gotten (besides when I got Thad on my 18th birthday - that post will be coming up shortly). Its an Amazon Kindle. I love reading so it's perfect! So many free books that are really good! If anyone else has one let me know and we can share books!
I know everyone has seen the infomercials for these next two items, but let me tell you, they will change your life! Every vacuum I've had in the past works great for a month or so, but once it gets clogged with dirt, it never works the same again. We bought this vacuum shortly after we moved in and it still works as well as it did the day we got it. And mind you, we have 2 cats we are constantly having to clean up after because they shed like crazy!
This is our new counterpart to go along with the vacuum above. Since we don't have any carpet downstairs we usually just sweep and mop. However, since the cats shed, cat hair can build up in the back corners where you can't really get a broom. This little beauty gets into those places and cleans it right up! Its also nice when you have a few things on the floor but don't want to pull the broom out to sweep it up.
And, last but not least, our collection of board games! We love to play anything but lately our obsession has been Settlers of Catan. We recently bought the cities and knights expansion pack so it adds a whole new dimension to the game that's a lot of fun! We play with our neighbors all the time and they enjoy it as well.

So, there you have it... things I love! What things around your house do YOU love?

Happy Birthday to Me

Ok, so my birthday isn't for another week and a half but I've already been spoiled!

First, on Saturday I went and got eyelash extensions for the first time! I love how they look! I didn't go too crazy with them (I don't think) and I love waking up in the morning and not having to put mascara on, or even clean it off my eyes from the day before! I don't know that it's something I will actually keep up on - probably more of a special treat for special occasions as it's a little pricey but we'll see.

Then on Sunday I was sitting on the couch watching TV and Thad brought down a wrapped birthday present! He told me he didn't want me to be bored while he was playing on his new computer so he gave this little beauty to me early!

Its a Kindle, from Amazon! I love to read so it was the perfect gift! I'm pretty much obsessed with it at the moment. If anyone else has one let me know so we can swap books :) Its nice because in Saratoga Springs we don't really have an established library yet so books there are sparse and going to the bookstore to buy them gets expensive. Amazon has tons of free books and also books that are only a dollar or two which makes it really affordable! I'll also be able to get the new books I want right when they come out and won't have to wait until I can make it to the store to get them!

I am, however, in search of some good books to read! If anyone has suggestions let me know!

I don't know how I feel about turning 25! I don't know what it is about turning 25, but I feel like it's finally the age where you are expected to be an adult. I mean, technically I have been one for years now, and for the most part lived my life like an adult, but once I turn 25 there won't be an excuse! I'm sure it won't be that bad once it actually comes, but until then, I'll just dwell on it!

Our newest addition

A couple weekends ago I woke up and began my Saturday morning routine of starting a load of laundry. As I opened the closet door, I was blasted by some seriously hot air! I thought it was really strange that our laundry closet was so hot so I asked Thad if he had been doing any laundry. Of course he hadn't. After a little investigating, Thad and I discovered that our dryers heating element was kicking on and off, even though the dryer was not turned on. It was getting RED hot and we could see the element lighting up the whole closet. Thad immediately went to unplug the dryer from the wall and the plug was super hot.... no bueno. So... long story short, we headed to Lowes (good thing they were having some amazing 4th of July sales) and bought ourselves a new washer and dryer set. Now, our washer still works fine, but having paid less for the pair of them more than 5 years ago than what we were going to pay for just the washer at Lowes, we figured it was probably due to be retired soon anyway, and since they were on sale, we bit the bullet and bought them.

Our dryer was delivered this past Saturday

Isn't it pretty? I never realized before how long it really took to do a load of laundry, but I was able to do my whole weeks worth of laundry in AT LEAST half the time. I still have to wait a few more weeks for the washer to get here, but it has about 1/3 more capacity than my old one, so I think my laundry time will even be cut shorter! Maybe I wont hate doing laundry so much?? One can hope, right?

Our 5th Anniversary Getaway

Thad and I had our 5th anniversary on Friday and decided to make a weekend of it. We spent Saturday at his brother's house playing games and watching fireworks, spent the night there, and then headed to Logan the next day. We got a room at the Anniversary Inn. I love this place. The rooms are all decorated with a different theme, and they are all really fun. This trip we decided we would stay in the Biker Roadhouse room; and we have no regrets! We got there about an hour before we could check in (though we already had early check-in reserved) but our room was ready and waiting for us anyway! When we walked in, the first room you come too looks like you are outside of a little house with a really nice motorcycle parked out front.

After exploring all the buttons on the motorcycle and Thad telling me about what they all do and how I would attempt to drive the thing, we decided to play a little pinball!

I am not very good at pinball. I have horrible hand-eye coordination, so I tend to hit buttons frantically, instead of concentrating on which ones I should really be hitting. Oh well, we still had fun!

Pool was another story! I'm pretty much a pro! (well maybe not, but Thad has a tendency to scratch on the very last shot trying to get the 8 ball in, so I ended up winning by default a lot. We had a blast wagering bets for the winner of each game! I think we broke about even!

When Thad booked the room, he added some options that don't come standard with the room, such as these champagne flutes filled with Hershey's Kisses that say "Happy Anniversary" on them. They were so cute and came in very handy with the sparkling cider that was provided.

He also had some rose petals scattered around the amazing bathtub! Add those to the "swan" towels, it was a very cute surprise! We did bring our own bubble bath and I think Thad added a bit too much because we probably had bubbles coming up to the top of the tiles on the wall. OOPS!

In the morning we had breakfast delivered to our room and had breakfast in bed! It was so yummy and was a great ending to a great weekend!

And then there are the gifts! I got Thad this watch a couple weeks ago as his anniversary present. I wanted to make it a surprise and give it to him on our anniversary, but I couldn't wait. I told Thad that the room at Anniversary Inn was my gift and that I didn't need anything else, but as always, he surprised me with a few other things! When he came home from work on Friday he had a beautiful bouquet of roses and a box of KitKats (my fave!)

This weekend probably rated among the top 3 for me since we've been together! It was so nice to be able to spend a weekend together without having to worry about housework or errands or even work. Hopefully we don't have to wait until our 10th anniversary to go back because we had such an amazing time.

♥♥♥

5 years

5 years ago I said "I Do" to my amazing husband! It seems crazy to think we've been together for so long. It's gone by way too fast and I wish time would slow down so we could enjoy this time in our relationship even more than we do, but I honestly would not change anything about the last 5 years! I am so in love with Thad and could not ask for a better husband! Here are just a few pictures from 5 years ago!