(Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post... I am horrible about taking my camera anywhere, which I regret! I'll try to be better in the future)
This past Monday, Labor Day, I celebrated my 26th birthday. The only thing I really wanted for my birthday was to see my family, so I was so excited that they were able to make a trip up from St. George to help celebrate!
My parents and twin brother (yes, I suppose we were celebrating his birthday too) got here on Sunday morning and the first thing we did was head to Salt Lake to have brunch at The Cheesecake Factory. It was sooo yummy! It's probably a good thing it's closer to my house or I might become addicted. We were all so full by the end of our meal that we didn't even get any cheesecake (gasp!) but we had our fair share of cake and whatnot over the course of the next few days so it was alright! After we were all full on delicious food I had a little surprise trip to the Bingham Canyon Mine planned for my dad. He's been saying for years that he wanted to make a trip up there, and since they were offering free admission with a coupon on their website, I figured there was no better time! That place always amazes me at how enormous it is. The trucks at the bottom of the mine look like little matchbox cars, but when you see them up close they are HUGE. Just the tires on them are probably 3 or 4 times as tall as I am. It was really fun looking around the visitor center at all of the displays full of minerals and rocks that they mine, equipment they use, and just what an impact the mine has on our everyday lives. If you are ever in the area, I suggest taking a little time out of your day to go explore :)
Monday, my birthday, was actually pretty relaxing. We didn't really have much planned that day but it was nice to just spend some time catching up with my family. We did make a trip to Cabella's to stock up on some fishing gear for our activities on Tuesday. My dad's birthday was about 2 weeks before mine and I told him that for his birthday I would take him on a little shopping trip. I don't think he's ever been in a sporting goods store that big before so there was a lot to look at! We spent probably an hour and a half looking around at everything and I think he probably could have stay a few more and still been entertained! Monday night for dinner my family planned to meet up with my brother's girlfriend, Kaytlyn's family so they could all meet since the parent's hadn't ever met before. Even though it was a dinner for them to meet and get to know each other, they still surprised me by singing happy birthday, bringing cupcakes, and a little gift! It was really sweet of them! I didn't expect that at all so it was really fun!
Tuesday morning we got up pretty early and started getting everything ready for our fishing trip! My dad loves to stream fish, and since we have the Provo River really close, we try to go up for a little while each time he comes up. I am not the best stream fisher, I'll admit it! I tend to lose my lures in the rocks (I think I lost 3 that day) and didn't catch anything, but it was still fun to be outdoors with my family. Thad and I hadn't been fishing for about a year and it's one of our favorite things to do together so it was nice to be able to find some time to do it again! After we spent the morning fishing we headed up to Park City Mountain Resort for a little fun!
My twin brother has been wanting to go to Park City for a long time and since we were fishing only about 10-15 miles away, we decided it would be the perfect time to head up! While we were there we bought day passes so we could enjoy all of the attractions at the resort. Our first activity was the zipline. I'll admit, I was scared! I usually don't get scared by heights and thrill rides, but I'd never really done anything like the zipline before. So, after the really long ski lift ride to the top of the hill it was time to conquer my fears. My mom and brother went first, then I went down with my dad, and Thad was the last one to make the trip down the mountain. Once the gate opened and we started going, I had a blast! The views were amazing being that high up! I probably would have gone a few more times if I didn't have to pay extra to keep riding! Our next activity was the Alpine coaster. This was my favorite ride of the day! I love rollercoasters so I was pretty excited to ride it. Thad and I shared a car together since they said you go a lot faster with 2 people. It takes you on a slow ride up to the top of the hill, so we took some time to enjoy the nice views of the mountain and valley of Park City. Once we got to the top, we pretty much just let go of the brakes and started careening down the mountain! Honestly, that little coaster was probably on of the most fun rollercoasters I've ever been on! It feels like you are going to fly out of your car in the sharp turns, but I loved it! We ended up riding that a few more times that day because it was so much fun! The last activity was the Alpine Slide. I think of everything we did there, this was my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, I just couldn't get past my fear of flying over the side of the TINY cement wall on the side of my as I was flying down the hill! The little kids that were riding it were a lot more brave than I was, I'll say that! It's a good thing I had a brake so I could control the speed. But, I learned that I enjoy riding things affixed to a track, rather than just being on a little sled while riding down a mountain!
Today before my family left to go back to St. George, we went to lunch at Tucanos, probably my favorite place to eat! I took my brother there a few months ago but my parents had never been before. My dad loved all the meat (even the chicken hearts, EWW) and my mom loved the salad bar and her dessert! I think it's definitely going to be a place we visit regularly when they come up! They were already making plans to go back the next time they come up so they can take some time to enjoy the rest of the shops in the Riverwoods at night when all the lights are on and the fire pits are lit.
Sadly after lunch it was time to say goodbye so they could head back home. I had such a great time with my family and I was so glad they were able to come spend some time with me and celebrate my birthday! It was definitely one of the most memorable birthdays I've ever had!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Coming out of hiding
I feel like I say this at the beginning of every blog I do, but I am the world's worst blogger! I always think of things I want to blog about, but I never do. So... I'll just do a big blog about out happenings over the last few months. Sadly I don't really have pictures. (I want to go outside and take some so you can see but its WAY too hot and smokey outside right now - more on that in this post)
Back in April, we decided to finally tear out our ugly planter box that was in our back yard. We've hated that thing ever since we moved in because it was right in the middle of the yard and always full of weeds. I can't grow anything and make it stay alive so I never cared enough about it to want to pull the weeds so I could use it. The project turned into a lot bigger job than we were expecting it to be. (doesn't it always happen that way?) We rented a bobcat to help tear it out and help level the ground so we could put sod in. We also were adding a few feet of grass to create a straight line in between the fence lines on both sides of our house. It was at a diagonal before so we figured we would just make our yard bigger in the process! Most of our siblings and a few neighbors and friends came to help us, which was so gracious of them! After everything was all leveled we put the sod in and it looks so much better! Its crazy how much bigger our yard looks just by taking that out and adding grass!
Another one of the projects we did this spring was add red lava rock to our flower beds outside. A few years ago we bought some red wood chips to put around the house, but seriously within a day most of them had blown away. It was pretty sad! I loved the look of the red so we chose to go with something a little bit heavier and added the lava rock, which, in my opinion, looks amazing! I think it was a really good choice and actually was a lot cheaper than the wood chips.
Our home improvement projects seem never-ending these days, but we're looking onto bigger and better things. And by "things", I mean homes! Yes, Thad and I are going to be selling our current home next spring and getting into one a little bit bigger. We've loved this home but with the market the way it is, we feel we could sell the home we are in and get something bigger and a little nicer for not much more than we are paying now. We haven't decided if we will build or buy used, but we have been brainstorming for months what we want in our new home and are excited to start the process. We've been working hard to get all our debt paid off any by September we should have everything except my car and our house paid off so we can start saving for our down-payment. Its a really good feeling to be getting out of credit card debt and hopefully we can stay on track even after we buy our new house.
Probably the most exciting (that sounds like a horrible word to use in this context but I can't think of a better one) news as of late is this fire burning out here in Saratoga Springs/Eagle Mountain. One of the reasons we wanted to move out to this area is that we love to shoot guns and the open range is only about 10 minutes down the road. Well, since it's been so hot and dry the last few months, so several fires have been started on Lake Mountain, which is about 5 miles from where our house is. The one that started this last Thursday is over 5,000 acres now and thousands have been evacuated from their homes! We are far enough away that we are safe but we know several people that have been evacuated. The pictures online are amazing to look at but makes me scared at the same time because there is another mountain behind my house that is just as dry and could catch fire just as easily. If you haven't seen the pictures, take a look *here*. Yesterday was really smokey outside and was really had to see because of all the smoke in the air, but today seems to look a lot better. Hopefully the winds stay calm today so those that have been evacuated can return to their homes.
And last but certainly not least, tomorrow Thad and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary! It has gone by so fast - I wish it would slow down! I'm still so in love with him and still get butterflies when I'm around him! I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else. We don't have any plans really. Maybe dinner and a movie since we are trying to save our money. I'm just looking forward to being able to spend time together since all of our weekends as of late are spent doing projects on the house. I love you, Thad!
That's all folks! Hopefully there will be another blog post before our 7th anniversary!
Back in April, we decided to finally tear out our ugly planter box that was in our back yard. We've hated that thing ever since we moved in because it was right in the middle of the yard and always full of weeds. I can't grow anything and make it stay alive so I never cared enough about it to want to pull the weeds so I could use it. The project turned into a lot bigger job than we were expecting it to be. (doesn't it always happen that way?) We rented a bobcat to help tear it out and help level the ground so we could put sod in. We also were adding a few feet of grass to create a straight line in between the fence lines on both sides of our house. It was at a diagonal before so we figured we would just make our yard bigger in the process! Most of our siblings and a few neighbors and friends came to help us, which was so gracious of them! After everything was all leveled we put the sod in and it looks so much better! Its crazy how much bigger our yard looks just by taking that out and adding grass!
Another one of the projects we did this spring was add red lava rock to our flower beds outside. A few years ago we bought some red wood chips to put around the house, but seriously within a day most of them had blown away. It was pretty sad! I loved the look of the red so we chose to go with something a little bit heavier and added the lava rock, which, in my opinion, looks amazing! I think it was a really good choice and actually was a lot cheaper than the wood chips.
Our home improvement projects seem never-ending these days, but we're looking onto bigger and better things. And by "things", I mean homes! Yes, Thad and I are going to be selling our current home next spring and getting into one a little bit bigger. We've loved this home but with the market the way it is, we feel we could sell the home we are in and get something bigger and a little nicer for not much more than we are paying now. We haven't decided if we will build or buy used, but we have been brainstorming for months what we want in our new home and are excited to start the process. We've been working hard to get all our debt paid off any by September we should have everything except my car and our house paid off so we can start saving for our down-payment. Its a really good feeling to be getting out of credit card debt and hopefully we can stay on track even after we buy our new house.
Probably the most exciting (that sounds like a horrible word to use in this context but I can't think of a better one) news as of late is this fire burning out here in Saratoga Springs/Eagle Mountain. One of the reasons we wanted to move out to this area is that we love to shoot guns and the open range is only about 10 minutes down the road. Well, since it's been so hot and dry the last few months, so several fires have been started on Lake Mountain, which is about 5 miles from where our house is. The one that started this last Thursday is over 5,000 acres now and thousands have been evacuated from their homes! We are far enough away that we are safe but we know several people that have been evacuated. The pictures online are amazing to look at but makes me scared at the same time because there is another mountain behind my house that is just as dry and could catch fire just as easily. If you haven't seen the pictures, take a look *here*. Yesterday was really smokey outside and was really had to see because of all the smoke in the air, but today seems to look a lot better. Hopefully the winds stay calm today so those that have been evacuated can return to their homes.
And last but certainly not least, tomorrow Thad and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary! It has gone by so fast - I wish it would slow down! I'm still so in love with him and still get butterflies when I'm around him! I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else. We don't have any plans really. Maybe dinner and a movie since we are trying to save our money. I'm just looking forward to being able to spend time together since all of our weekends as of late are spent doing projects on the house. I love you, Thad!
That's all folks! Hopefully there will be another blog post before our 7th anniversary!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Lady Antebellum
Geez, I am the world's worst blogger. I think the last post I did was about my excitement for the Lady Antebellum concert... Well yesterday was the day!
Since my husband isn't the concert-going type, and doesn't particularly enjoy country music, he was nice enough to let me spend Valentines Day with my brother at the concert. (I'm sure he was relieved I didn't make him go!) TJ and I got there about an hour and a half before the doors were supposed to open because we had "inner circle" tickets and wanted to make sure we got the very best seat. Once the doors opened and we got through security, we hustled down the stairs onto the floor to secure our spots. Before reaching our seats, we were given 3 different wristbands - one for access to the floor, one for access to the general admission on the floor, and one for access into the inner circle! A little overboard if you ask me, but I guess they just want to make sure the right people have access to the right places.
Once we got our wristbands for the inner circle, we were given a piece of paper with specific instructions on what to do while in the inner circle.
Once we had our wristbands and instructions we headed to the designated spot on the floor to have access to the inner circle. We were literally the 5th and 6th people in line for the inner circle, which would mean we could gain front row access once inside.
The inner circle didn't open until right before Lady A came out, so in the meantime we got our spots right on the front row for Thomson Square and Darius Rucker, who were the opening acts.
I have loved Thompson Square since their first song came out so I was really excited to see them. And they didn't disappoint. They are husband and wife so the dynamic they have on stage is something you can't fake! One of the best moments of the entire concert was when Keifer (the male in T.S.) gave Shawna (his wife and the 2nd half of T.S.) a bouquet of roses for Valentine's Day while they were in the middle of singing Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not, which made her teary-eyed!
After Thompson Square, Darius Rucker came out. He was a great entertainer and even did some of his older Hootie and the Blowfish stuff, which was fun!
After Darius, we were finally able to make our way into the inner circle! We were able to score spots right in the center of the front row which gave us a great view of the entire stage.
Being in the inner circle meant we got a lot of interaction with all of the group members and the band.
I think the only downfall to being in the inner circle was that they did have their backs towards us a lot of the time, but I'm not going to complain!
Probably one of the most entertaining parts of the show was when Dave rocked out on the guitar while standing on top of his piano! He played so many different instruments during the show! I was pretty amazed at his talents!
Right as they were walking off the stage after their encore, Dave threw a guitar pick into the crowd, and guess who has it sitting on their desk now?? Yep, that would me me! :)
It was the best concert I've ever been to and I will carry the memories with me forever! If you want to see a few more pictures from the show, you can check out my Facebook here.
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