2009: New Year, New Adventures!

Hello one and all! I know I have been slacking at blogging (as many of you, including, Tim, have let me know). My slacking hasn't slowed our life down and I do want to share our adventures (so we have a record, but also for those who are interested). This blog is going to be a catch up blog... I hope you enjoy a little of our history from 2009!

January '09

The start of 2009 brought some changes into our day-to-day life. Tim had a change with his job. He started working at the Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple in South Jordan, Ut.He enjoyed his internship in the facility department at Church headquarters, but this new internship was an even better fit! I loved having him come home excited to share about his day. Tim started before the construction was finished and we both have loved seeing the temple come together. It is a beautiful temple and I know it is truly the Lord's house.

I also started working in January. Sometimes it is hard for me to think of what I do as a "job." I take care of a sweet little girl who has cerebral palsy and help her family by doing some cooking and cleaning too. She is an amazing little girl, her family is wonderful, and I am blessed to be connected to them. I love reading stories with her, painting, and singing songs. It has been the perfect addition for us.

And of course we started new classes. I plunged into one of the most difficult semesters of my college career. On my first day of class I was looking over my weekly schedule, when I guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder. He asked if I the paper was my schedule, and when I told him it was he took one more look at my class list and said,"Wow! Good luck with that!" I took all of the Core 1 classes at the same time, when most people break them up over a couple semesters. And while I am not the only one who did that, I now know why most people don't. In the end it worked out and I am glad to be this much closer to graduation.


In my last blog I mentioned the exciting Christmas surprise Tim gave me... a trip to Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera! Well January 30th was the date and it was a grand adventure! We drove like crazy down to Vegas after my class on Friday. We got there thinking we were cutting it close because we planned on dinner before the show, and the forgotten time change was a relief to us. The extra hour gave us plenty of time to wander around the Venetian, get dinner, and be early to the show!


The Venetian was fun to see with its Italian city streets, painted sky, and real canal.


The highlight of the trip was the show at the Venetian theater designed specifically for Phantom of the Opera!


(Sadly no photography is allowed in the theater.)

We loved every minute of the performance and would highly recommend it to anyone. One of the best things of the night was being moved from the balcony level to orchestra seating, in the "Golden Circle"... right under the chandelier! We had an amazing view of everything and really did feel like we were part of the show!


Another part of the trip we enjoyed was seeing the Bellagio again. This was our first time back since our honeymoon. We liked seeing the changes they had made to the botanical gardens. January 26, 2009, was the Chinese New Year so everything was decorated with cool lanterns, oxen (2009 is the year of the ox), and pandas! I loved the baby panda in the botanical garden.




The hardest part was bringing ourselves to go home and leave the warm sun!




February '09

Of course this year has a lot of firsts for us (obviously because it is our first year of marriage).... One of my favorite firsts happened this month.

On February 3, 2009, Tim made his first dinner!
I had a long day of school and work, it was amazing to come home to a warm dinner! Tim did a great job too! He cooked potatoes and chicken in Cafe Rio ranch I had made the night before, it was delicious! Needless to say it was a happy night for me and I think it was an adventure for Tim.



Cupid came early for me this year. Tim wanted make sure I was surprised so he gave me my valentine on Thursday (the 12th)! The flowers and "train game" (aka Ticket to Ride) were a perfect surprise! As many of you know this game has become one of our favorites! If you haven't played before we would love to introduce you to the fun! When I first heard how to play it seemed a bit intense, but after playing once everything fits makes sense. It's a fun strategy, mixed with luck sort of game!



Valentine's Day was my turn to surprise my love.
Breakfast "in bed" (or the couch because he got up before I was ready) followed by a Disney classic Sleeping Beauty. We have a tradition (started this year) that I get Tim a Disney movie each V-Day... I thought my favorite was a good place to start.



That night we had a candle lit dinner and played...











you guessed it... the Train Game!


My Love- I just wanted to take a second and tell you I love you! I'm your valentine for eternity and am blessed to call you mine!




We had another fun evening in February... I don't know if the entire evening classifies as an "adventure", but the getting ready did. Tim's program held a formal dinner/ dance at the Hinckley Alumni Center on campus. I had work the same evening and got off only 30 min before the dinner started. After getting home I was down to 20 and in a rush to choose an outfit and find something to do with my hair! Tim was actually a huge help and in the end I had him finish my hair... he was a good sport putting the bobbypins where I told him to as I held my hair in place. Sadly we didn't get a picture of the back, he helped me do it in a twist thing I had never tried before. It turned out better than I expected, Tim would describe it as simple yet sophisticated. The night was great, we enjoyed mingling with Tim's classmates and I managed to get Tim on the floor for one dance!




We don't have many pictures from March so it is on to April...


April '09

Welcome to a Utah spring!
April showers bring May flowers... but what does April snow bring?

(Photo take April 16, 2009)


During April we hit the books hard and finished off the winter semester. We decided to stay in Provo for the summer. I took classes spring and summer terms and Tim worked full-time at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

By the end of April we were ready for summer sun, but it proved to be a cooler summer. (Which was actually a blessing for us with a 3rd floor apartment and no central air.)
I think we'll end there tonight and finish the review to date another day.