one last hoo-rah

Our friends Erin and Alonzo were getting married in Manti so we decided to make an end-of-summer trip out of it. We woke up early to be at the temple in time and actually ended up beating the bride and groom there because they were running late. We walked around the temple (got lost trying to get back to our car) and then went inside. It was fun seeing someone else get married even if the room was really crowded and I couldn't technically see them. Curse the fact that I'm short, Jared saw everything. Erin has been telling me about her wedding since January so it was great to see her finally get there. When I hugged her in the temple all she said was "I'm married!" with a huge smile on her face. Congratulations Erin and AJ!


Then it was on to lunch at a fun little malt shop in Ephraim. I love finding places like that. We drove back to Provo and spent some time with Bethany. My feet were hurting from my shoes since I haven't worn anything but flip-flops or tennis shoes all summer. We had to stop at the mall and buy me some new shoes before my feet fell off. I am very happy with my purchase so I guess its okay.
After we had spent a few hours with Beth (Jared napped for about an hour at her apartment) we went to Tucanos for dinner. It had been about 5 years or more since I had been to a Brazilian place for the never-ending meat. It was so good and my favorite was definitely the pineapple. We stuffed ourselves as much as we could without going into a food coma and then headed home.

a fair bit of fat

My job is so interesting. Since I am the lowly intern I get all of the fun jobs. I sat at a fair booth at the Cache county fair promoting health for about 12 hours total. It wouldn't have been that bad if I didn't have two 10 pound slabs of fat on display. It always grossed people out rather than intrigue them to get their BMI measured. I did have a few takers wanting to know their body fat percentage but there's something about holding a fried oreo that makes someone avoid the health booth. I guess it was a good experience; I got to scare little kids into eating their vegetables.

Lake Powell 2010

Since Jared did most of the documenting we had a ton of videos so he made a sneak preview or trailer for the real Lake Powell movie.
Lake Powell definitely lived up to all the hype. It was so fun to just chill with the family. We made one surf/wakeboard run per day and then played, ate, and napped the rest of the day. We went on a few hikes to explore the area. Jared had some hard falls on the wakeboard which caused a few headaches, but he still had the time of his life. He said “its just nice to be back to Lake Powell chillen with the fam, and the best part is to have my best friend/ wife here with me”. The best part of the whole trip was just laughing and joking around with the family. The reason LP is so amazing is due to all of the inside jokes and crazy moments. Like when Gerald threw the eclair at Lindsey or when we all danced like fools for the music video.
Minute-to-win-it was a success thanks to Randy and Tammie. Everyone seemed to enjoy their game and we all learned that Michael (aka MVP) doesn’t need hands to eat Nilla wafers; just place the cookie on his forehead. And I don’t think I will ever get Animal out of my head. “here we go again” ( said in Randy’s singing voice)

our little haven

Our apartment isn't anything too grand but we have made it into a home. It has been so fun decorating and fixing things up and we still have a few things to do. Due to a few requests here are some pictures of the apartment.

Our little kitchen. We're still working on the dining room.

The living room turned out really nice and we're proud of our couch find

The picture in our bedroom was painted by Jared's mom. I love it.

The bathroom is small but its easier to keep clean then, right?

Our second bedroom is used for anything and everything. Storage, love sack, guest room, study... Someday we'll have a small shrine to Harry Potter in here.

honeymoon in vegas

We left for Vegas the morning after our wedding. The long 8 hour drive wasn't too bad and we only made one stop to get gas. Thanks to Gerald and Michelle for their travel food and some left overs from the reception we didn't need a food pit stop. We checked in at The Mandalay Bay and got a room upgrade with a view of the strip for being newlyweds. We were both so tired that we just ate and called it an evening. Why does sitting in a car all day make you so tired? Sunday morning we walked around the strip. We went to the new city center and found Seth's restaurant, where we would be eating on Tuesday, and went to the Bellagio to see the flower display.



Our waitress at Hard Rock was very excited for us and so we got a free ice cream sunday. We were both full but hey, it was free.

Monday we visited Lindsey and got to see her new house and then went to The Lion King that night. Jared was just like a little kid when they started playing all the big African drums. He had never been to a Broadway production before and was astonished by how elaborate all the costumes were. But The Lion King does that to everyone.

Tuesday night we went to Seth's restaurant (well, where he works) Mastro's. It was so fun to get all dressed up and valet park. They treated us so nice there because we knew Seth. The food was amazing and Seth made us the BEST cake I have ever had in my life. I still crave it from time to time. We both agreed that eating there was definitely a highlight of our honeymoon.


Wednesday was our last full day in Vegas and so we rode the roller coaster at New York New York. We had done one at the Stratosphere the day before. We walked around some more and just tried to find some new things to do and see. We went to Cirque du Soleil's Ka that night. It was fantastic. I've seen two other Cirque du Soleil shows and I still have never been disappointed. The stage moved all over the place and even went vertical. We both would recommend it to anyone. It was a great close to our trip.

married

There isn't much more to say than we're married! It was a beautiful day and everything was perfect. Thanks to all our friends and family for all of their help making our big day go so smooth.

a birthday to remember

I don't know if we'll be able to top this birthday for a while. Moving into your first apartment together kinda makes it a big deal. But it wasn't exactly all work and no play. We only actually cleaned and unpacked for about an hour. Jared woke me up at 6:45 with his present (an awesome 2-person sleeping bag and a pearl necklace)and we made pancakes and sausage for breakfast. (I had to help because Jared is still learning all the cooking tricks) After getting our new couches delivered we went to IKEA to buy some inexpensive furnishings. We limited ourselves to $100 and actually only spent $83. So it was quite a good day. We went out to Kim and Michael's new home and I think Jared got a little jealous of how nice it will all be. It's okay, we're (almost) newly weds, right? Then it was dinner at the Mayan and home to set up all our new stuff. We got everything hooked up in time for half a movie before I fell asleep. But all in all, I guess being 22 isn't that bad.