8.21.2012

Anniversary #2


Once upon a time,

This boy


met this girl

 
 and they became friends.

 

While boy served LDS mission,




Girl waited around for him to get home. 
attended 2 Universities and had lots and lots of fun!

Some of the greatest friends! Sadey, Liz and Court
TVT- Our bowling league at SUU
Alternative Spring Break- Guaymas, Mexico
Football game at BYU
Heather's wedding!
Tubing down Provo river with roomies
Hanging with Jenna
After 2 years, boy and girl re-united.


 
 awkwardly.



 Time passed and boy finally mustered up the nerve 
to pop the question...



She said "Yes!"





 
 and they lived happily ever after.

 
For at least 2 years, that is...

And I normally don't like PDA types of things,
but if we're talking anniversary-talk, 
then I'm just gonna say it...
  
I love you, Jake!
Can't wait to see what the next 2 years bring!


8.14.2012

Food love

I wanted to write a post about food.

And love.

But really, mostly food.

My father-in-law lives by the statement,
 "I don't live to eat, I eat to live"

I can--with complete confidence--proclaim to you 
(in all caps) 
that 
"I LIVE TO EAT!"
and feel not one bit ashamed.

And if we're divulging secrets here, then I will also say that I spend an unnatural amount of time looking at food blogs and pinning pics of delectable dishes in an attempt to gather recipes for my next ambitious adventure, or the ever-dreaded un-curbable craving.... 
which I might add, is a regular occurrence in my life. 

How people who don't cook ever satisfy their cravings, 
I will never know.
Late-night grocery runs?
Frantic fits of pleading cries for the husband to 
"PLEASE go buy ice cream"?
An exercise of self-control in which one 
suppresses their overwhelming need for food?
One and two I can relate to.
The third? 
Not so much.

But.
 I would argue that this lack of self discipline is not all bad.

You see... if I had resisted an urge to cook something that looked absolutely delightful, I would have missed out on 
the explosion of flavor which was this

Honey Glazed Salmon with Brown Butter Sauce

Photo by cooking classy

or failed to experience my newest favorite pasta topping 
which was this

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Photo by Our Best Bites

or, even worse, missed out on the buttery, salty, goodness of these 

Hot Buttered Fluffy Pretzels

Photo by Fifteen Spatulas

which turned out looking EXACTLY like the picture promised!!



And what's more, 
I never would have had my first go at a delicious

Strawberry filled lemon shortbread cookie

Photo by evil shenanigans
 or acquired my "go-to" group gathering recipe 
lovingly referred to as

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars


Photo by The Girl Who Ate Everything
or tried my hand at pie making with this

Double Chocolate Silk Cream Pie

Photo by Lauren's Latest

that tastes, if at all possible, even better than it sounds!


Really though.
Who needs self-control when it results in this kind of bliss??

Not me.
Or myself.
Or I.

Now for the love part of the post...
Today, while I was looking through an old USB drive, 
I found a priceless pic



Brown and gold never looked so good!


8.13.2012

Happy thoughts

At this moment in time, 
I am ECSTATIC.
While it is true that life has been quite exciting lately,
my happiness stems from more than just that.
Let me explain.

By nature, I am a less-optimistic person. 
[I like to consider myself a realist. :)]

I often dread the worst, and tend to worry myself to death 
about the "could be's" and "mights"

So back in May when I was looking at the social forecast for the next three months of summer, it looked like a lot of bleak, boring nights, sitting at home alone while my husband was at work and while I sat wishing I was anywhere but in my current location, 
or current stage of life. 

Why am I living in Logan?
Why don't I have more friends?
Why don't we have more money?
Why am I still in school??
Why is our apartment not cleaner/bigger/prettier/more inviting?
Hmmm...And while I'm thinking about it, 
WHY don't we have air conditioning?!
Why does my husband have to work nights??
Why am I having these thoughts?
Why?
Why?
Why?

(I ask myself that question a lot. ha.)

One night while dramatically lamenting to my husband, 
as he patiently sat listening to his ornery wife, 
he gave me the look. 
No, not that look...
 I mean the look that says
 "you are seriously complaining about this again?? 
How many times do I have to tell you 
that it all depends on how you perceive things??" 

That look.

And I realized that I really needed a change.
An attitude change, that is.


While I am not even close to being good at seeing the positive side of things, I really did try to start looking at my current situation 
with a more optimistic perspective. 
I decided to start looking for all the great things that Logan has to offer. I decided to actively start pursuing the art of making new friends. I added a few "homey" touches to the apartment, took a chill pill and relaxed, and just hoped beyond all hopes that my husband would soon find a job where he didn't work nights.

It's amazing how different life is when you take action 
and view it from the positive side of things.

I realized that Logan is actually a great place to live. 
It FINALLY grew on me.
(And I couldn't be happier about this.)

I started hanging out with different people while my husband was at work, and though it was hard at times to put myself out there and really go out of my comfort zone to do new things and hang with new people, I really feel like I've made improvements in this area.

And the best news of all: 
Jake got a new job. 
Where he doesn't work nights!

My intentions are in no way to make it seem 
as if we now have the perfect life.
(because obviously, that is not the case.)

They are, however, to remind everyone out there, 
including myself, 
that a smile and a positive thought
goes a very
very
very
long way.


[So does asking a girl to Senior Prom....]


 Smile.
It could change your life.
:)

7.16.2012

Oh, the wood needs to be dry to start a fire?

You know that old mantra, "Utah: The best snow on Earth"...? 
well to that, I would add, "and in the summer, those mountains can show a pretty dayung good time as well!"
Seriously though.
Every time I go into the mountains, whether it be a hike, or a camping trip, or a Sunday drive through the trees, I wonder to myself  
WHY do I not spend more of my time here???
The mountains are bliss. Pure bliss.
So once the idea of a spur-of-the-moment camping trip up at Bear Lake found itself in my complicated brain, I knew there was no turning back. 
The decision was made.
And convincing the husband wasn't all that hard either... 
Have you met Jake? Ha.

Next thing we knew, we were here.

  
That's how spontaneity happens. 
You're thinking it, and next thing you know, you're there.
I love it.

We started off our trip with a walk around Tony Grove Lake. 
Beautiful! 




The rest of the night was somewhat of a funny joke.
We found the campsite and all that, 
(Don't mind the fact that our sleeping bags live at our parents' house at this moment in time)


 which was pretty uneventful, but then it came time to make a fire.


Oh, that fire.

Here, let me draw a picture for you...

Man + wife plan out details of camping trip.
Man + wife buy wet firewood.
The end.

Literally though. 
That was the end.
As in, the fire WOULD. NOT. START.

And I'm almost positive I heard the expert with the blazing flames in the campsite next to us, grumbling to his wife something about "the idiocy of that young couple... what are they doing?!" 
Okay, maybe it was the wind. 
But if he hadn't already been thinking it, 
there's no doubt that those thoughts crossed his mind 
after the girl with a necklace, curly hair and sandals 
(remember how we were camping?) 
walked over and timidly asked,
"Ummm... sir? Do you have any kindling we can ummm.. borrow?"
He informed me that it was my lucky day, because he was just about to throw away the last of the paper he had brought. (He was so prepared, he had packed EXTRA! You know you can always trust the ones with the 1960 campers...)

Ahh yeahhh.

Well after burning right through that, without as much as a spark of a good flame, (thanks anyway, dude!) we turned to nature. That was also a funny joke, as it had rained the night before (hence the wet firewood). But we were not giving up! 
I blindly (Jake had our one and only flashlight) made my way through the trees, feeling around for sticks that were even the slightest bit dry. 
A little while later, 
we joined up to show each other what we'd found.

You can imagine the scene of our efforts if I tell you that this event was followed by an, "umm... maybe we could look in the car to see what we can find in there...?"

Unfortunately, the old cardboard box, the easter basket ready to go to the D.I., the Wendy's bag and the handful of shopping and to-do lists didn't quite cut it, either.

At this point, I'm positive the man next-door was watching us, because he came over and offered yet another thing he'd thought to pack. 
"That fire still won't start for you, huh? (That's a nice way of putting it.) Well here... I've got this extra candle you can have...good luck." 

A candle. We really must have looked dumb.

Eventually a few flames started, and we really gave it a good effort to enjoy our so-called "fire," but something about the fact that I sat shivering, with thick clouds of billowy smoke blowing in my face made this experience less than enjoyable. 
  Hmm.

In my opinion, taking ridiculous, 
but oh-so-necessary cheesy tent pictures is way more fun. 





So is spending a day at the beach.
Which is exactly what we did to top off this less-than-24-hour adventure.


 
Please tell me you will all come spend a day at Bear Lake,
and call us when you're here!

We'll let you bring the firewood... :)



7.08.2012

"Since you've been gone!" -Kelly

Dear readers, (though you may be few and far between...)
COME BAAAACK!
I know I have been unfaithful to you, but...
my reasoning is fair.
You see, I have made it a goal to be less involved in the cyber world.
Among a lengthy list of justifications behind  this idea, 
the one that is first and foremost, stems from the fact that lately I have felt like I've only given a partial effort 
to anything and everything I've been doing.
I mean really... it is July 8 and I have only read 1 and 1/2 books, made 1 and 1/2 crafts, and baked 1 and 1/2 dozen cookies... 
(it would have been two, 
but I ate six cookies worth of dough before it was baked....)
I have t-minus let's-not-count-how-many days, to finish my half-read book, consume at least two others on my line-up, finish the half-completed wreath that has now been nestled nicely next to my couch for an indecent amount of time, and finally start that "repaint the dresser" project that I've had on my list of to-dos since the first day it began housing my wardrobe.

When it comes down to it, I really just need more time in my day.
But... since that is one wish I know that my birthday wishing
 will never be able to induce,
I've had to come up with something else.
Hence the goal.

Here's what I've been up to since I've been gone... 
(Mind you, I do work, too. Don't be fooled by all the pics!)

We ran the dirty dash (again)... and won! 
Well, okay, our costumes won. 
But still, first place in any category? I'll take it! 


The very next week we ran the 
Bear Lake half-marathon.
Crazy?
Ummm. Yes.



One hour after running, 
we got in the car to drive to the sunny state of California.
Even crazier?
YES!
(Why do we do this to ourselves?!)

Really though,
we were only a little bit tired...


Especially when two days after the big race, we ran 4-miles
 for the annual Heaton family 5K (or in this case, not-so-5K).
Oh, did I say we?
I meant, Jake.
I walked.
 And feel completely okay with this fact!









Of course we hit up Mama's while we were in San Francisco.
And you should, too, the next time you're there,
or you'll regret it til the day you die!





After California,
Our Scottish friend, Trisha, came to visit!



 We love you, Trish!

And if that isn't enough of a picture overload for you,
I wanted to add another picture.
Because I couldn't resist sharing this  
thai peanut noodle dish I made the other night.
Absolute win.



Ohhhh yeahhhh







6.17.2012

We're Cool....

.... Literally



We just caved and bought our first "air conditioning" unit.
Best decision we've made thus far!

Let's just say we won't miss sleeping 
with wet wash cloths plastered across our faces...

6.07.2012

Picnicking in the park


Among other things the husband has mastered, 
gourmet sandwich making is near the top of the list.


Picnic, anyone?