Eric & Cindy Walker

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kuck

2012-01-28T19:41:00.000-08:00

On January 14th our little sister Holly got married! She was the last one to go on the Walker side. I knew it would be a beautiful wedding because Holly and Phil are such an amazing pair. Eric and I were able to fly to Utah for a few days to support them. We wouldn't have had it any other way! It was great to spend more time with everyone after our short Christmas visit.

The day before the wedding the girls got mani-pedis! The guys were busy doing "man" stuff at the shooting range.

Holly and Phil were married at the Jordan River Temple. They were kind enough to have the ceremony later in the day so I could get my beauty sleep.

Waiting for the bride and groom after the ceremony.

And finally...Mr. and Mrs. Kuck!!

Doesn't she look beautiful!?

Don't be fooled by the great pictures. It was FREEZING that day. I guess it could have been worse...but there's my two cents :)

After a short break (pictures always take so much longer than anticipated) we headed off to Sleepy Ridge Golf Course for the reception. The decorations were absolutely gorgeous! I was a little jealous haha.

Where's Eric?

Us with the newlywed!

What's a wedding without our adorable nephew, Christian? Lauren and I slipped away to have a little photo shoot.

And how could I forget about Eric?! He was the MC at the reception and did a fantastic job! Many compliments were made about this guy's skills. So proud!

We are so happy for you, Holly and Phil!! We know you will have a wonderful marriage just like ours :)

Christmas, Christmas, and Christmas

2012-01-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

Last year Eric and I had a quiet Christmas at home. I didn't want to bore Eric with goodies and another Criminal Minds marathon, so we decided to spend Christmas with our families this year. Five and a half days and two states later, Eric and I had 3 Christmases under our belts.

We started off by spending a very early Christmas in Provo with Eric's family. Everyone was able to take work off for "Christmas" so it was pretty legit. Eric got an iPod nano watch that he gets compliments on everyday. And me...well I was a little spoiled with a new camera! Now I have lots of pressure to be an awesome photographer. I'll get there one day, I'm sure :) Here are some pics from our Provo Christmas.

Eric sporting his fancy new Christmas PJs.

Holly was obviously shocked to open her new iPad.

We were able to spend time with our nephew Christian who we had only seen once before this.

What could be in this big box?

Classic. Enough said.

The day after "Christmas" was another "Christmas" in West Jordan at my mom's house. My sister Wendy and her family were able to come too! I was excited to spend a Christmas with my favorite little niece, Amora! It was nice to see my family and also my mom's new house.

The parentals were chilling.

Typical Amora face: explaining something to Jeremy.

Eric and I during present opening.

My siblings Jeremy and Wendy!

Haha. Adam was not amused.

And last but not least, the day after our second "Christmas" we hopped on a plane to spend Christmas Eve at my dad's house. My sister Audrey flew in from Florida to spend it with us. For some reason I didn't get many pics in Salem, but we had a great Christmas and an even greater day after Christmas shopping!

Traditional matching Christmas shirts. Yes, the star blinked.

Tis the Season!

2011-12-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Eric and I couldn't wait to set up our new Christmas decorations, so we got to work the day after Thanksgiving. Eric probably would have decorated in October had I let him, but I'm a firm believer in decorating AFTER Thanksgiving. Each holiday needs its own day, after all. I also don't believe in listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but I let that one slide during Thanksgiving week (mainly because it was Eric's birthday and I can't yell at him during his birthday week). I'm pretty sure he's been trying to sing Christmas songs since the summer.

Anyway...like I said in the last post, we got new Christmas decorations! All of our ornaments are brand new. We went with the theme of red, green, and gold. It just jumped out at us when everything we liked happened to be in those colors. We love our new ornaments. Eric especially loves not having pink ornaments anymore. So if anyone is in need of pink ornaments and a star topper that changes colors, they are waiting for a new home!

Eric and I had a plan to get a new specialized ornament every year. I decided that we aren't very good collectors because that basically ended this year (there's still a little time left). However, Eric gets a new nutcracker every year! Here's his first and best one yet! And also his Mexican Christmas decorations that I hate. But I have agreed to give him a Mexican corner so it doesn't mix with my other decor!

This is a pre-Mexican corner picture.

And along with our new Christmas decorations, we found new ornaments and topper for my tiny tree. We got the tree skirt last year that I couldn't resist. You'll see how small it really is in the next pic. I just love when things are miniaturized.

My sister Audrey gave me this tree my first year of college so I could put one in my dorm room!

And here is our beautiful Christmas area! I've always wanted to put garland on a stairway and now I finally can. I think it turned out pretty cute for being on a student budget! It's SO much better than last year if you look at that post.

Christmas corner with the light on.

Please note the tiny Christmas tree on the bottom left. If you can't see it then it's because it's so BRIGHT. Apparently the lights don't come small enough.

And dramatic affect with the lights turned off!

Even if you don't think our Christmas decorations are very impressive, we still do! We love Christmas and all it brings. I can't wait to see our families this year!!

Thank thank thankful

2011-12-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving. What can I say about it? Eric and I have so much to be thankful for--my job, his school, our home, marriage, family and friends, good health, our good looks...haha (not all in that order). But really, it's been a tough year, but we've never been short on blessings.

We've made it a tradition here in Kansas to do Thanksgiving with Karrie and Austin each year. This year Ty, Randii, and their daughter Chloe joined us too! It's nice to be able to spend Thanksgiving with amazing friends when you aren't able to visit family. It was even nicer that we didn't host this year! :) We were able to sleep in and scan through ads rather than working our butts off first thing in the morning.

Happy about our relaxing day!

Karrie and Austin hosted, so they got the lovely turkey duty!

Austin hard at work slicing the turkey.

Randii getting ready to make gravy!

Eric decided that the mashed potatoes needed to be a little snazzier...

Exhibit A.

And finally, with the help of everyone we had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner!

Karrie is so festive with her decor! I love it.

It was a good day full of great food, laughs, and SHOPPING! That's right. Immediately after dinner Eric and I stopped at Michael's before heading home. We took advantage of the great "Black Thursday" sale by stocking up on Christmas decor. Eric always hated our Christmas decorations, but now we are both thrilled with the results!

We hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

26?!

2011-11-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

He did it again! Eric had ANOTHER birthday, and now he is closer to 30 than 20. I made a delicious birthday cake (confetti with butter cream frosting) for Eric. We ate it in less than three days. But in all fairness, Eric had the majority.

My old man with his birthday cake.

Blowing out the curly candles.

Obviously enjoying the cake with a full mouth.

Kisses for the birthday boy!

We had a pretty low key birthday this year. I got off of work a few hours early, went to the grocery store, then came home to bake Eric's cake. I also bought him 2 different types of eggnog for his birthday, which he absolutely LOVED. Yes, those are both gone as well.

Our activity for Eric's birthday was going to Cinema Suites at the movie theater. The chairs were super comfy, and we were served dinner during the movie. It's almost like watching a movie in the comfort of your own home/going out to eat all rolled into one. We saw Breaking Dawn Part 1 and it was so good! The movie wasn't only for me; Eric liked it as well, so don't judge me for taking him.

Hope you had a good birthday, Eric! I LOVE YOU!!

Baby Shower Time

2011-11-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I threw a baby shower with Natalie and Randii for our good friend Karrie. It was the first baby shower I've ever thrown, and I could not have done such a good job without Natalie and Randii's help! Thank you so much you two!

The decorations were so cute and all the food tasted great. Natalie picked up some great decoration ideas from Pinterest that we tried out.

The food table. A little decor in the back corner made out of muffin liners.

The present table. You can't really see it too well, but we made a little pink and purple garland made out of construction paper and ribbon at the top of the picture.

Natalie and I took a stab at making our first diaper cake. I think it turned out pretty dang cute!

Best diaper cake EVER.

And what's a party without games!? We started off guessing the different types of baby food. No one got it all right, so I think it was a success! Then we all guessed the measurement of Karrie's stomach. Someone guessed almost exactly right! It was pretty impressive.

Here, Karrie chose three people to chug water out of a baby bottle with her. The bottles had the smallest hole size, so the girls drank very very slowly despite all their efforts. It was hilarious to watch!

Then everyone sat in a circle and they had to pass around 4 different presents every time Natalie read the words "right" and "left" from a story.

And of course, Karrie opened presents after the games. She received so many cute items!

Thank you to everyone who came to the shower. It was a great turn out and Karrie loved all the gifts!

I almost forgot...

2011-11-12T10:01:00.001-08:00

WE GOT A NEW CAR!!

Eric and I have been wanting to purchase a second car for awhile now, but we just didn't know when the right time would be. Eric has been sick of riding his scooter around since it's like driving in an oven during the summer and it's quite freezing in the fall. We were going to get through this winter and buy a car in Spring, but I get excited and wanted to start looking early so I would be prepared for our "real" car hunting trip.

After looking at some brand new but small cars, we stumbled upon a 2011 Camry for a GREAT deal. It's a certified used car and has a warranty for another 7 years. We couldn't turn down such a deal for a car that we love, so we pulled the trigger!

I was pretty nervous about our decision after we drove it home, mainly because I hadn't had a chance to check out the market for 2011 Camrys. But when I got home and did some research I was pleasantly surprised with our purchase price. My slight panic attacks only lasted a few days and now we are LOVING our new car. It makes our other Camry seem so old :)

Halloween Hustle

2011-10-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

He's at it again! Eric entered another race, only this time he stepped it up and ran a 10k! HOLY COW!!! The Halloween Hustle took place last Saturday morning. Eric didn't invite me to run this one with him, which is a good thing because I would have refused. A 5k is enough (too much actually) for me. I was an excellent cheerleader though :)

This race was much smaller than the last one, but it made for better pictures. It looks like Eric is looking right at the camera, but he's really smiling at me (I was standing behind the camera man). Everyone dressed up for Halloween, so Eric decided to be LeBron James.

Starting the race off.

I was cozy inside playing Scrabble on the iPad while Eric ran 3 miles, then I decided to come outside and snatch some candids of Eric (these aren't my pics, but they were free and much better quality!).

Mid-race action!

I love this picture. Eric looks so victorious with the bell tower in the background!

Eric did fantastic at the race! His goal was to finish under an hour, and he finished in 58 minutes. This is even better because technically this course was .2 miles longer than a real 10k. I think he's crazy for choosing to run 6.2 miles (or in this case 6.4) but I'm so proud of him for finishing. He now qualifies to start at the front of the pack for the Disneyland Half Marathon next September!

Anonymous

2011-10-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

Eric was watching the news today and heard them mention that there would be a pre-screening tonight for the movie Anonymous. Anonymous doesn't come to theaters for another 2 days, but in Kansas City it won't come to theaters until November 4th. Eric was able to go online and get us free tickets to see the movie!

They overbooked the theater so it would be full for the screening, so we arrived early. Eric and I grabbed some Noodles and Company and then sat in line at the theater. I've never been to a pre-screening of a movie before, so I don't know what is normal, but we had some entertainment while in line!

These people were from the local Renaissance Festival.

They juggled for us, taught an old fashioned dance that you see in the movies, and played their "role" the entire time.

I guess I should mention that Anonymous takes place in Shakespeare's time, hence the Renaissance actors. It is a story about Shakespeare not being the actual author of all those plays, but taking the credit. I really enjoyed seeing a different perspective on Shakespeare. The movie made such a compelling argument that Eric and I walked away feeling like Anonymous was the true story behind Shakespeare.

And in other news...

We came back from the movie to see my poor little pumpkin looking like this:

The eye was big to begin with, but not THIS big.

I would be a little stumped on how my pumpkin got ruined, however, last week we came home from the store and discovered Eric's pumpkin looking like this:

You can't really see it, but there are teeth marks in the pumpkin.

And to make matters worse...it was so fresh that the juice hadn't hit the ground yet. That just made the whole scenario even worse!

The squirrels around here are stinkers!! Maybe next Halloween we'll get some squirrel traps. Do they even make those?

Pumpkin Season!

2011-10-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

After letting our pumpkins sit outside for a week, we finally carved them yesterday! We have started a little tradition here in Kansas -- every Halloween we carve pumpkins with Karrie and Austin. It's a lot of fun doing the festivities with another couple. Enjoy the pictures!

As you can see, Austin was hard at work carving their pumpkin.

Karrie taking out all the lovely guts!

I'm not sure...

This was the thickest pumpkin I've ever carved. Just look at the top part right there!

Eric was the only one who didn't trace a picture. I guess his creative juices were flowing!

Look how cute we are!

I love how focused all of us are on our pumpkins.

Traditional "gut" picture. I may have lost my pumpkin's guts...or I forgot to take the picture? You decide.

After much time carving, here are the finished products! From left to right: Eric's, mine, and Karrie and Austin's.

And because Eric's pumpkin just looked like two slits, we had to get some light on the pumpkins.

Pumpkin face and Iron Man.

And of course, here they are on our porch. I love having a porch and being able to put our pumpkins there! I can't wait until we have an actual house.

Johnson Farms Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

I had never been to a pumpkin patch and wasn't really sure what it entailed (besides the obvious pumpkins). But around here, I kept hearing "pumpkin patch" come up. Eric found a 2 for the price of 1 entry fee to the Johnson Farms Pumpkin Patch, so we decided to give it a whirl!

Eric received AMAZING reviews from his friend at school on how great it is to go pick your own produce. Since we'd like to eat healthy, we thought it would be cool to get fresh vegetables.

For awhile, all we were able to pick was what you see in this picture. It is a lot harder than it looks to pick produce! Especially if you have no idea what you are doing.

Eventually we started eavesdropping on people to see where more types of vegetables were. For example, we heard someone tell another member in their party, "There's broccoli over here!" Eric and I immediately started heading over to where they were looking, and we approached a bunch of plants. We didn't see any broccoli. After a little confusion, Eric pushed aside a leaf and looked in the center of one of the plants. What did he find? A bundle of broccoli!! We were so excited about our discovery! The broccoli was a success, but there were still many plants we left without ever finding out what they were for.

After coming to the conclusion that we will never be farmers, Eric admitted that his friend (the one who gave the raving reviews) would have loved to be a farmer himself! Ha. Note to self: Take recommendations from people who have similar interests to your own. Picking our own produce was still fun to try, even though it was a little frustrating!

In addition to the produce, there were many fun things to do (mainly for kids). The kids could play on these barrels of hay, pet animals, go on a hay ride, etc. We didn't do any of those things, but who doesn't love a good picture opportunity?

Eric made a lifelong friend...

while I showed off my love for broccoli.

Then of course we had to pick our pumpkins!!

It was quite the dilemma for Eric to find the "perfect" pumpkin (see it in his face).

There were so many choices!! Eric eventually came to a decision, ending our pumpkin patch adventures! I'm sure we'll go back, but maybe not pay to go inside the farm until we have kiddos to enjoy the activities.

PuMpKiN rUn

2011-10-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Eric and I participated in a 5k Pumpkin Run. Eric's been running constantly over the past couple months, so it was a great way to track his progress. As for me? I haven't ran or done too much physical activity lately...but I've always wanted to do a 5k for some odd reason (even though I hate running with a passion). Consequently, Eric was lucky enough for me to tag along!

There were about 3,500 runners. Eric and I started the race together, but I knew he could go a lot faster so I told him to run ahead of me. He finished the 5k in 26 minutes and 24 seconds!! This put Eric finishing in 276th place out of 3,500 people!! That is an awesome finish by my hubby. Here he is crossing the finish line!

And this is me crossing the finish line, wanting to pass out! Yes, I took so long that Eric went back and finished with me. I was originally going to walk the 5k, but I made the mistake of starting with Eric so I felt a lot of peer pressure to run with everyone else. I ran (aka jogged) and walked off and on. I finished in the middle of the pack in 40 minutes and 18 seconds! Not TOO bad for never running!

Check out the sweet shirts we got for running the race! We also received free adjustments and snacks after we completed the 5k.

We didn't take any pics before, so here we are afterwards. I was EXHAUSTED and Eric was doing fine as he usually does after running. I couldn't even lift my legs for a couple days afterwards. Note to self: At least try to do some sort of cardio before running a 5k.

We were glad that we were able to participate in this community event. It was definitely cool to see what a 5k was like and to do something I don't normally do.

In a couple more weeks Eric will be moving on to run a 10k! I will be the cheerleader at that event :)

And finally...here's a note from ERIC WALKER:

I just wanted to say that I'm so proud of Cindy for running this 5k with me. The course was pretty terrible considering how many up-hill sections. I was very impressed that she finished with such a great time, and on top of that she didn't even do much training! Although she did well, I don't think I can convince her to run the 10k with me in a few weeks, ha!

S'mores and More

2011-09-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Eric and I have been wanting to go camping all summer long. The only problem is it's been freakishly hot here in Kansas for the last 3 months. We got a little break from heat exhaustion status, so I took a day off of work and we went camping.

We drove about an hour to Clinton Lake. We chose the primitive campsite because, let's just face it, the only reason we go camping is for the s'mores.

The campsite was COMPLETELY deserted when we arrived. Apparently we are the only ones who like to rough it. A few trucks drove by throughout the day and a couple people parked and slept in their cars, but no one pitched a tent with us. I didn't mind. But it was a little creepy when people would drive up and you didn't know what they were going to do.

We arrived around noon and pitched our tent. Eric and I found a shovel someone left, so we invented a game called shovel ball. There are these green, round things that fall from the trees the size of baseballs (I have no idea what they are or what they are called) so Eric and I each picked one and took turns throwing them with the shovel. Our goal was to make the ball into a fire pit. Since no one was around, we had tons of fire pits to be our "holes." We ended the game tied!

After shovel ball, we still had a few hours before dinner time so we decided to hike.

There are hiking trails that go on for miles right by the campsite. It was a gorgeous walk, but I don't know how many people really go on it because we hit a few ginormous spider webs. After walking quite a while, we spotted a huge snake. That was that. I turned around and walked as fast as I could back to camp.

Eric chopped the wood into smaller pieces in preparation for his masterpiece.

Look at that teepee style! Can't you tell he was a boy scout?

We have a fire starter in our emergency preparedness kit, so we wanted to see if it actually worked. After a little determination, Eric got some fire on that paper.

For dinner we roasted hot dogs. They tasted delicious!

Then for the main course...S'MORES!!

I created what is now known as the "mega s'more." Rather than having chocolate that won't seem to melt, we decided to put roasted marshmallows on each side of the chocolate bar. It was divine. I recommend the mega s'more to any and every camper.

And for the remainder of our trip, we played games. This was Phase 10 dice. Great game, by the way. And look how much Eric loves me!

I love our annual camping trips, even if they are only for a night!

A celebration is in order

2011-08-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Remember this guy?

This is Eric on his first day of school at Cleveland Chiropractic College ONE YEAR AGO. We now have 2 things to celebrate:

#1: As of today, Eric has officially completed his first year of chiropractic school. I am so proud of him and all his hard work! Only 3 more years to go (hopefully a little less). Keep up the good work hubby!

#2: Eric got a JOB! For the next year he will be a Campus Ambassador at his school. This means Eric will be giving tours to prospective students and possibly take a recruiting trip to BYU in the Spring.

Eric actually beat out quite a few students for the job. I had no doubt that he would be offered the position because he has such a warm personality and is so great at talking to people--a perfect fit for his new job. The best part is, he'll be paid in scholarships! That should help our taxes a smidge :)

All in all, things are looking good for us. We are excited to see what this next year has in store for our little family.

Sporting Kansas City

2011-08-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Eric and I were invited to go to our first Major League Soccer game -- thank you Jimmy and Natalie! I can't say I'm a huge soccer fan or anything, but I was excited to do something different in the Kansas City area. Although I wasn't too stoked for the "soccer" aspect of the event, we ended up really liking it!

The soccer stadium is BRAND spanking new. We had general seating so we chose to sit behind the goal (box?). It was an awesome view when the ball was on our side of the field.

Here we are at our first MLS game!

Eric got really into the game. Who knew he liked soccer so much? I sure didn't. I think it comes from his 2 years in Mexico City.

Speaking of Mexico City...the game was between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City. The guy in the left in blue is Eric's favorite player from Mexico (who now plays for KC) -- Omar Bravo.

Here's little Omar again. What a stud! Eric got a kick out of watching him play. I had a favorite player too, I just can't remember who it was. Maybe next time.

We have now been to 3 Royals games and 1 Sporting KC game. What's our favorite? Sporting KC! I didn't think I'd be a soccer fan, but there is just so much more to look at than at a baseball game. We will be going back for sure.

Wish List

2011-08-06T22:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Eric and I wandered into Best Buy and I found this:

We talked to a worker about it for probably an hour. Now I think about buying this camera and learning how to use it all the time.

So if anyone out there is feeling nice, I would love to see a little surprise on my doorstep one day. Thanks.

Full of Love

2011-08-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

I gotta say, year 3 is my favorite year of being married so far. I had an epiphany on marriage a few weeks ago...it holds true for Eric and me, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate.

The first year of marriage feels like you're playing house. You are still getting to know each other and are so worried about having a "happy" marriage that you try not to get into too many arguments.

In the second year of marriage you're not afraid to get on each other's nerves. I believe this year can make or break a couple. If you can work through misunderstandings and master your art of communication, I think any marriage can be successful.

As for year 3, you know your spouse inside and out and (thanks to year 2) you know exactly what to do to resolve conflict in the household. Things are pretty straight forward. You have the tools to either tick off your spouse or make them happy. It all depends on what you choose to do.

So back to my marriage and why I love year 3...

Last week I got to work and received an e-mail first thing in the morning. The e-mail said I received flowers and needed to pick them up from the mail center. I couldn't think of anyone who would send me flowers except for Eric, but I was also confused as to why he was getting me flowers. I went to pick them up, and as I opened up the box I read a note that said, "Just because."

How cute is that?

Exercise Pays Off

2011-07-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Eric and I have been going on walks almost every night lately. It's nice to get some sort of physical activity when I work at an office job and Eric sits in a classroom all day. Some nights we have been sweaty messes when we get home because it's so freaking hot here this month! But some nights I come home in a happy mood. Yesterday was a happy day because:

#1 It was the first night in a very long time that there was a tiny bit of cool to the breeze.

#2 Eric and I walked past our dumpster and stumbled across this headboard:

It didn't take long before we snatched it up, sanitized it, and put it in our room! (And no, it wasn't actually in the dumpster)

We all know I like free stuff, but even more, I LOVE free stuff that I would actually pay money for. A month or two ago Eric and I went to a garage sale and I really wanted to buy a headboard and footboard that we found for $50. I thought it was a great deal, but Eric reminded me I can't just buy things because I want them. So instead of paying $50 on an impulse buy, I found a FREE headboard at random.

Just thought I'd share my good news! Life is great sometimes :)

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Besides Stadium of Fire, Eric and I had a nice vacation in Utah. On Saturday morning we did a session in the Provo Temple for family names. That afternoon we went to the Freedom Festival with Spencer, Sara, and Drew. It was deathly hot so we only stayed long enough to get a free cinnamon roll and 5 cent water bottles.

On Sunday was the blessing of Mark and Lauren's baby. It was a great blessing! Then we just spent the day hanging out.

Look at this impressive watermelon ice cream that Eric's mom made! Mmmm...I want some of that right now.

I don't remember what Holly was doing, but I think this picture is so funny.

Eric trying to catch the parachute firework!

Sunday night was full of fireworks, junk food, and friends. We love these guys!!

We also discovered Drew's little secret...

Thank you to everyone who came to visit us! It was so good to see ALL of you!!

Stadium of FIRE!

2011-07-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Eric and I went to Utah for 4th of July weekend. We left on Friday after work and came back on Monday. The visit went WAY too fast!

We chose this weekend so we could go to STADIUM OF FIRE. It was my second year going and Eric's 8th, 10th, 15th time going? That's what you get for growing up in Utah, I suppose.

The fam before the show started!

Holly and Phil. So cute. Mark and Lauren were also there but they came a little later so I didn't snatch a photo of them.

At the beginning of the show parachuters launched down to the field. I thought this one got lost or landed in the middle of nowhere, but he was just saving the best for last (flag and all)!

The little dancers made some awesome shapes.

The opening act was David Archuleta. He did about 5 songs and I knew almost all of them. David is great to hear live. You don't get that far on American Idol without having some real talent.

And for the main attraction...Brad Paisley. Can I just say AMAZING?! Brad is such an entertaining performer. His lyrics are hilarious and his electric guitar playing is out of this world. If only I could play that well!! Eric and I loved watching him and listening to his songs.

After watching Brad perform we watched some fireworks. They weren't the greatest this year because the music was pretty lame. But I'm not all that big into fireworks anyway.

I was waiting for this photo opp for the longest time. Eric and I saw the outline of the Statue of Liberty but I thought they would do it at the beginning of Stadium of Fire. Nope! The dancers ended up forming this shape during a patriotic song when the fireworks went off.

I think I get a little more patriotic every year. I've never really had great 4th of Julys growing up, so it's nice to have Eric to share these fun times with. Thanks to his parents for taking us! This was probably my favorite 4th of July ever, and not just because of Stadium of Fire. More to come on the next post...dun dun dun!

City of Art

2011-07-10T14:26:00.001-07:00

Yes! I am finally posting something that happened in June. And since it's already July, I'm still a month off. Dang.

Anyway...I am always hearing about how there are so many art museums around Kansas City, so a few weeks ago Eric and I decided to check out the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Because there is so much to look at, we decided to break up our visit and focus on the statue park behind the museum.

The park is probably most known for these shuttlecocks (Eric's favorite). There are 4 shuttlecocks total, each weighing 5,500 pounds! The artists designed it so that the museum is like a net and the grass is the playing field.

I thought this one was funny because it's supposed to be a "sensual" pose. My first guess was right on!

Again, Eric loved these! This just shows you how tall they are.

There's a great view of the "net" and another shuttlecock.

This statue was my favorite. It's called Ferment aka a state of agitation or turbulent change. I love it because it symbolizes anyone's life, no matter what stage they are in.

We walked through part of the museum on our way back to the car. Eric started pushing me toward this security guard telling me to ask him something (I can't remember what). I only saw him out of the corner of my eye, and if you know me, I always make Eric ask people questions for me. I guess I'm a little shy that way. I kept pushing back on Eric and was starting to get mad until I looked up and saw that he was fake. Haha. Good joke on me. Now they are the best of buds.

We had a good time at the museum. And like most weekends this summer, it was freakishly hot. Luckily our next trip to the museum will be to see the rest of the indoor exhibits. And for anyone who wants to visit, we now have another place to take you!

Short Little Visit

2011-07-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

My mom and little brother, Jeremy, came to visit us for a few days after they toured some church sites. I wanted to make it fun for Jeremy...so the whole trip kind of revolved around baseball.

Jeremy is a Mariner's fan, but we want him to love the Royals so we got him a souvenir. He obviously loves it and thinks he is the coolest thing on the block when he wears it.

Thursday night we all went to the park to play some softball. I definitely was not the worst player out there (sorry Mom), but I was still the one who got hit with the softball -- TWICE! No bueno. But don't worry, I survived.

Jeremy rarely gets to see his siblings so it's always fun watching him and Eric play!

Friday night Eric and I took them to a Royals game. We got cheap tickets through Eric's school that included a free BBQ dinner before the game. It was so tasty!

Sporting our Royals wear! One of these days I'll have more than 1 Royals shirt haha.

Jeremy couldn't take his eyes off the field (except in this pic). He wouldn't even get a drink with us because he needed to see the WHOLE game. It's the first time I've watched a baseball game from beginning to end.

We don't look anything alike do we?!

Our seats weren't too awesome, but we were able to see the entire field.

Like every Friday, there were fireworks after the game. This show wasn't as good as the last one because we couldn't hear the music, but it was still fun!

Yay for baseball!

The next day we went to the Strawberry Festival and mainly drove around. It was freakishly hot outside so Eric and I were EXHAUSTED from the heat. Despite the heat, we had a nice little visit with my mom and Jeremy!

Winter Quarters

2011-07-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

After Jeff's wedding in May, the family and I went next door to Winter Quarters. When the pioneers headed west to Salt Lake Valley, they stopped to camp and take cover for the cold winter ahead of them. Consequently, the pioneers named the place Winter Quarters. Fitting right?

A plague hit the community thanks to a swamp, and many of the pioneers died. Eric's great-great-great grandma was one of those who fell victim -- Eliza Ockey. Those who were buried in this cemetery can be found on this slab. And yes, Eliza's last name is spelt wrong.

This is the statue in the middle of the cemetery.

Us in front of the visitor's center.

There is a visitor's center by the grave sight. Eric and Jeremy were playing with the odometer that the pioneer's used to track the distance they traveled.

We are huge compared to the Salt Lake Temple! :)

One of the sister missionaries put a grave stone together for Eliza's burial spot. It was determined that she was buried under this step.

It was really interesting to visit a place where Eric's ancestor actually lived. Eric and I enjoyed learning about Winter Quarters and had even more fun trying to find the grave lot. Now I feel like I need to work on my genealogy!

Jeff's Wedding!

2011-06-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend my cousin, Jeff, married the love of his life, Mary! Eric and I wouldn't have missed the wedding for anything, but it just so happens that it was in Omaha, Nebraska (less than 3 hours away from us). Eric and I road tripped out there on Friday afternoon and made a mini vacation out of the trip.

Friday night we did a session at the temple. It was great going to a temple that we've never been to before! In less than a year we'll have one in Kansas City.

My mom and little brother flew in late Friday night for the wedding.

Jeff and Mary coming out of the temple!

What a happy couple :)

My cousins Amy and Larissa, and Larissa's new husband Kyle.

My cousin Carin with her baby, Sarah.

The wedding party with 3 of my cousins in it (the groom and the 2 groomsmen on the right). Don't they look sharp?

Most of my cousins with their families.

After the bride and groom took their pics, Eric had to have his own little photo session.

After the wedding, we all ate lunch then headed west a couple hours for the reception. It was fun hanging out with all of my cousins. Kyle and Jeff (Carin's hubby) thought it was funny to stand next to me because I'm so short.

They are really focused on cutting the cake. It's not as easy as it looks! And it's not one of those things you think about when planning a wedding. Haha.

I love this guy (Eric too)! He deserves to be happy more than anyone I know. Congratulations Jeff and Mary!

Heading out after the reception.

We had a blast hanging out with my family. I don't get to see them enough so I love when weddings come around. Too bad the next one won't be for awhile...

Cayman Islands

2011-06-27T20:34:00.001-07:00

This is the final cruise post! I know, the time has finally arrived.

Going back to day 3 of the cruise...we spent our first port day in the Cayman Islands. Like all of the ports, it was beautiful and the weather was excellent. This was also the only day that we splurged on an excursion through the cruise ship. We thought it would be a good idea because we were able to do 3 different activities.

Our first activity was a visit to the turtle farm. If you know Eric, you know he is obsessed with the color green. Consequently, he automatically loves turtle because they are green.

We saw some big turtles that we couldn't touch because they would bite us. Then we saw these medium sized turtles that we got to hold. It was my first time ever touching a turtle. Not as scary as I thought it would be :)

They were actually really funny. When you held them, the turtles would flap their little hands like crazy and smack us. Luckily it didn't hurt. And if you stroked the bottom of the turtle's neck it would calm down.

We got to feel and lift an actual turtle shell. You could see the vertebrae on the inside of the shell--which Eric liked. He's such a nerd like that! But I love it because I know that he'll enjoy his career as a chiropractor!

We even got to hold little tiny turtles. How cute is that!?

Our next stop was Hell. Really. There is an actual town on the Cayman Islands called Hell because of this dead coral in the background. It's just a tiny town.

Tourists like us get suckered into these places. But we enjoyed it! We even sent our moms post cards from Hell for Mother's Day.

I don't think this picture was technically taken this day, but look how cool my husband is! Hehe.

The last stop on our island tour was swimming with the stingrays. We hopped on a boat and rode into the ocean about 20-30 minutes until we came across a sandbar that is home to a TON of stingray. Eric and I think the stingray stay put because they know they will get fed by tourists.

Eric jumped at the opportunity to feed the stingray some squid. He was also the first in the group to hold the stingray. Unfortunately, I have been too lazy to scan all the pics from our water camera. I keep telling myself I will, but it hasn't happened yet!

I was next up to hold the stingray. I was definitely scared to hold it at first because they have a stinger on the end of their tale. Our guides kept saying that we have to hold our arms firm but not lift the stingray up too high or else they might sting us. This made me scared to lift at all, so the first couple times the stingray just slid right through my arms! Eric was a natural, of course.

I was still a little scared of them, but I sucked it up and kissed the stingray. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we did it.

The creepiest part of the day was walking around or just standing in the ocean and feeling something against your leg. You'd look down and there would be stingrays swimming all around your feet. A stingray scared me that way one time, so I started panicking and stepping in place and I almost stepped right on one! I was so scared I'd make a stingray mad and they would sting me. I'm such a baby! :)

Before we boarded the ship there was a water station on the dock. Look at these cool paper cups...they have handles!!

And this sums up many of our evenings on the cruise as well as some of our days at sea:

SCRABBLE!! Oh how I love this game!

Eric and I had a good cruise. As you can see, the Cayman Islands was my favorite day and Mexico was Eric's favorite day. We will probably end up going on another cruise one day...but next time we will be sure to bring friends and family along! I think it's one of those things where the more people there are, the better it is.

The Bahamas

2011-06-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Day 6 of the cruise was another day on the ocean. We definitely needed it because we had 3 days in a row of destination cities (I still need to post my favorite day). I think if we do another cruise, we'll try to split up the port days more. 3 in a row is EXHAUSTING!

We had PERFECT weather the entire cruise. The only problem with that is you get burnt before you realize it. Exhibit A:

We relaxed all day at sea. I had to fit an elevator pic in here somewhere :) It was a little disappointing that there wasn't a mirror on the ceiling.

The next day we stopped at Princess Cays, Bahamas. I've always wanted to go to the Bahamas ever since the Mary Kate and Ashley movie way back when! It was gorgeous as you can see. This was a private little island so we had a beach day.

Eric and I trying to get our tan on. It was a little difficult with our burnt bodies!

One day I'm going to get a really awesome camera (probably when we have some kiddos) and start doing photography. For now, this will have to do. I LOVE the sun peeking through. So pretty.

After a long day in the sun...

We enjoyed the food (enough) on the cruise, but near the end of the week it was all tasting the same. We still liked to try every dessert we could. This night we loaded every dessert up on a plate and brought it back to our room to relax.

Here are our room pics! Obviously this is after we had been in the room awhile. Because every time we left, it would be spotless when we returned. I could get used to that :)

One more cruise post and then time for some other stuff!

Cozumel, Mexico

2011-06-22T17:03:00.001-07:00

Day 5: We stopped in Cozumel, Mexico! This made Eric very happy being back in Mexico (even though it wasn't quite Mexico City).

We purposely didn't plan any excursions in Mexico because we wanted to take in the culture. We were going to go see some ruins, but the good ones were too far away. We'll see them next time we're in Mexico. And at the rate we're going, that should be in 2 years.

I love these human statues. They are crazy still! We gave him some money so we could see him move. I just kept waiting and waiting and then finally he did something (Maybe he waved. I can't remember).

Eric's highlight of the ENTIRE cruise can be summed up by this picture: tacos al pastor. You can't find these tacos very much in the US, so this was one thing Eric was sure to hit up. We found these tacos by asking the taxi driver where to go. It turns out this was pretty much the only place that offered tacos al pastor at that time in the day. And yes, the building is shared with a clothes store! That just makes the tacos THAT much more legit.

One thing I learned thanks to Cozumel: I would be a very ugly Mexican woman.

Eric would be okay as a Mexican. I think I should get him this outfit for church. What do you think?

We had a small photo session in the middle of the shops. I LOVE the background. This is exactly what it's like in Mexico (from what I've seen).

After we were all tired and hot, we went back to the ship, got cleaned up, and ate some dinner.

Then we went to a comedy show and saw Anthony Griffith (not to be confused with Andy Griffith). This guy was pretty funny. It was his audition to be a regular on the cruise line. I think he passed! We even talked to him for a bit in the airport because he was on our flight home.

It was a good day in Mexico. And who knows, maybe we'll end up living there one day. Mission President?

Roatan, Honduras

2011-06-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

I don't have all my pics from day 3 on my computer yet, so I'll get back to that. Day 4 of the cruise we stopped in Roatan. I have always wanted to go zip lining, so when I heard that Roatan had a course, it was a must! Eric didn't share as much enthusiasm for it, but he was still up for it.

Right when we got off the ship we walked around a little. Once we passed the shops, we came across a zip lining course. I am so glad we didn't go through the cruise line, because they wanted to charge 4 times the amount that we paid in Roatan!

We got all our gear on and went on a car ride to the beginning of the course.

The only scary part of the entire course was the first line. As I was approaching the end, the guy who was supposed to catch me acted like I was going way too fast and he couldn't stop me. It made my heart race because I didn't know what to do! It turns out it was just an act and he does it to everyone. It made for an exciting first run.

The other nerve wrecking part of the trip was that we had to hold on to the line on some of the runs (like Eric is doing in this picture). I was the most nervous because our gloves had a couple little holes in them. I didn't want the rope to touch my hand!

Zip lining was very relaxing. I don't think this course was the greatest. The runs were pretty short and very horizontal, so I just took in the beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, the only animal we saw was a pet monkey. We were speaking to another couple that had been before, and they went on a course with a 4 story drop! I would LOVE to do that.

We had a great time getting out and about!

But next time we will check out the course first. I need an adrenaline rush!

The guys were great. They were all so fun and helpful.

We were sweating after zip lining, so we headed over to Mahogany Beach. It is a private beach for all the cruisers! It was beautiful, of course!

2 Years!!

2011-06-18T19:30:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of our cruise was a day at sea. We spent the day laying by the pool and eating. Even better, it was our anniversary! Eric and I have been married for over 2 years now! Time has definitely flown. I feel like I've known Eric my whole life (I also felt that way before we were married). He is such a sweetheart. He is always there for me when I'm sad, he will make dinner for me when he knows I'm super tired (even if it is just taquitos), and he stays up all night studying for tests because he wants us to have a great future. I couldn't have asked for a better hubby!

There are our anniversary balloons. We must have been on anniversary row, because everyone by us seemed to have their anniversary/honeymoon balloons too!

Eric got a special treat -- gelatos! He enjoyed it :)

Our anniversary just so happened to be formal night as well! It was great to get to dress up for our special night.

The restaurant gave us a chocolate cake in celebration of our 2 years! I remember it being pretty tasty, but I was soooo full by the time we got to dessert. That is the problem with free food -- we eat every course.

Yay for anniversaries!

I love you Eric! Happy really belated Anniversary!!

The Moment We've All Been Waiting For...

2011-06-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

CRUISE PICTURES!!

On Saturday, April 30th, Eric and I left for the airport bright and early to catch our flight to Ft. Lauderdale. We were headed on a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean. The trip marked the end of Eric's 2nd trimester, me working at my job for over 6 months without spending a vacation day, and our 2 year anniversary!

Outside the airport in Ft. Lauderdale.

We must have arrived at a good time, because we got on the boat in less than 15 minutes. This is our embarkation.

Walking around the ship for the first time. Eric immediately went to the pizza and ice cream bar, where he continued to go every single day (sometimes twice).

Our favorite activity on the cruise was Movies Under the Stars. We would just lie back in the warm night's air watching a movie with no bugs flying around (a bonus to being in the middle of the ocean). It was perfect! I can't remember what we watched this first night. It's driving me crazy not remembering.

Still watching the movie.

And that's about all we did the first evening: got on the ship, walked around, grabbed some pizza, and watched a movie. It sounds like our every day lives!

The Best Things in Life...

2011-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

are FREE!!!

Back in April (yup, we still haven't made it to May yet) I glanced out the window and saw our neighbor unloading a bunch of stuff from his truck. I told Eric to go help him, so he did. Eric got to talking with the neighbor and discovered "big item pickup day." There are scheduled pickup days in Overland Park for any big items you want to get rid of; your pickup day is determined by the area you live in. Apparently, people go prowl the sidewalks with their trucks and trailers and just collect a whole bunch of stuff--some junk and some pretty good items. Our neighbor invited us to go with him because it happened to be a pickup day for the rich parts of town.

We drove and drove around looking at stuff. I watched our neighbor collect, but I refused to get anything that would only clutter the house. Finally, we passed by a dresser and I knew I wanted it! It didn't quite fit, but it was obvious that I had to have it, so the boys got rid of a random item to make room in the truck.

I forgot to get a good shot of the "before." The only thing that was wrong with the dresser is that the 2nd drawer sunk down. After further investigation we found out it was just missing a piece of wood to go across and act as a support for the drawer.

Being the fixer-uppers we are, Eric and I got to sawing wood (another thing we picked up off the sidewalk).

And we measured to make sure it fit just right. Then I stained the piece of wood (with stain we had already). It was a fairly good match.

We didn't have any carpenter's glue and I was too impatient so we nailed the piece of wood in place. The top piece of wood was the already existing one and the one below it is what we created. Not bad right?!

Here is the final product! The dresser is in great shape, and so far the drawer has held up wonderfully.

Just to get an idea on what we saved from this little project...This dresser costs $259.99 (and it has one less drawer than our dresser).

(Sorry for the tiny pic) This dresser has the same amount of drawers and costs $541.49.

So let's just say we got a great bargain and are thrilled! We literally spent $0 on the dresser just by taking advantage of events in the area and using what we already had to fix it up!

Family Pictures

2011-06-13T19:35:00.001-07:00

Our little family of 2 became a family of 3 for a weekend. So what do we do? Family pictures!!

Here's our hotness.

Then we had to mix it up with a little frolicking. Notice Eric's arm. He is a natural at frolicking! Audrey...not so much. Me...mediocre frolicker.

Sexy-ish picture. Again, Eric's pose is excellent.

Now if you look carefully, it almost looks like Eric is photoshopped into this picture.

Holly will appreciate this picture. Haha. The VAMPIRE picture. I look pretty legit with the wind blowing in my hair. Very vampirish.

Time for some sister pics! And yes, we ARE holding hands.

This is my favorite of us. It wasn't posed; it's just us! Well, actually it might have been posed. I can't really remember. It was 2 months ago!

Still holding hands. We must really love each other!

I hope you enjoyed the awesome family pictures!

Easter 2011

2011-06-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

Like I said in the last post, Audrey joined us for Easter this year. This is the 3rd year Eric and I have spent Easter together, and thanks to Audrey, we've spent it with family each year!

At the plaza the night before Easter.

Thanks to our evening at the plaza the night before, we didn't get around to Easter shopping until after 9. A lesson for all of you: there IS an endless supply of Easter baskets and Easter goodies. But rather than go to another store, we made due with our Easter BAGS. I think it will be a memorable little Easter for us!

Eric hid my Easter bag downstairs while Audrey and I hid upstairs. It was actually really great having 3 people because 1 was able to be the photographer at all times. My bag was hiding underneath clothes in the dryer.

Next up was Eric! He hid downstairs while Audrey and I hid his bag upstairs. He found it fairly fast inside of my old backpack in the 2nd bedroom closet (I still claim Eric heard the closet door open and close...).

Eric also hid Audrey's bag. So we wouldn't hear any doors or closets, Audrey and I waited outside for this one. She searched and searched and searched the ENTIRE upstairs and still didn't find her bag. After her second time around each room, Eric had to direct her to the bathroom. BEST HIDING SPOT EVER!! And now you see why Easter bags rock so much more than Easter baskets--better hiding places! Audrey looked in the shower multiple times but didn't think to look in BETWEEN the shower curtain and curtain liner. Nicely done Eric!

After church I did an Easter egg hunt for the 2 big kiddos. Let me just tell you, that was the most fun part of the day. I didn't think the eggs were that hard to find, but apparently I was wrong! It was hilarious watching them pass the spots and not see the eggs. But hey, I wasn't going to hide the eggs in obvious spots like for 3 year olds. They had to work for their goodies!

We had a grand old Easter. I'm so glad that Eric fits right in with my family. It makes for some fun times!

Audrey's Visit

2011-06-11T20:16:00.001-07:00

Audrey came to Kansas City for Easter weekend! This is basically how it happened.

Me: Hey Audrey, you should fly out this weekend.

Audrey: I can't this weekend. What about next weekend?

And 11 days later she was here! I had planned on shopping for decorations for our place, but Audrey and I can't seem to go a visit without clothes shopping--and that took up our whole day.

Eric reaped some of the rewards, as you can see:

I don't have many pics from our shopping extravaganza, but Audrey was not happy that I was finding more stuff than her. Hehe. It ALWAYS goes the other way around.

And this is what we came out with. It's so nice shopping for clothes with a woman; Eric just doesn't cut it with that kind of thing. We were in a very blue mood. Also, our matching item of this trip was jewelry. It's tradition to get something matching! :)

Saturday night the three of us went out to dinner at the Melting Pot. I've been meaning to take Eric there but haven't yet, so who better to share it with than my sister?

We did all the courses and it was DELICIOUS. I tried not to eat too much because we all know my favorite course is the last one...dessert!

I love miniature items, so the tabasco sauce was a big hit. I can't believe I forgot to take it home! Favorite picture of the trip:

I love having Audrey here! Girl time is a must sometimes. I'm thinking we'll have to have another trip soon because I am in desperate need of summer clothes! I'll talk about our Easter on tomorrow's blog.

It's been too long

2011-06-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

Man oh man, it's been over 2 months since I've written a blog! A lot has happened since then, so I will probably be blogging everyday for the next week or two. My pics are just way too awesome to go to waste!

Let's start with: WORLDS OF FUN.

Eric and I had the opportunity to go to this theme park for SUPER cheap in April! A family in our ward has season passes, and for opening day they could bring a bunch of people for an awesome price. We took advantage and we are really glad we did. Karrie and Austin came along too.

I can't even explain how cold it was that morning. All we brought were sweatshirts (which I was happy about later in the day) but it was FREEZING up until about 12 or 1. I was so cold I didn't really want to do too much on the rides. We mainly walked around and watched all the kiddos have fun.

Yes we went on the go-carts. I'm pretty sure they went a lot faster when I was a kid :) Or maybe it has something to do with me having my license?

Shout out to my heritage!

Our favorite rides were the roller coasters-especially the Mamba. I would have gone on it twice, but I wasn't about to wait in that line again!

During our wandering we stopped for a game. All 4 of us tried to win a care bear by throwing 3 (or 4?) balls and trying to get them to land in a row. Austin was the only one who was successful, but Eric and I came soooo close.

Our last ride of the day was the rafting ride. If we got wet right before heading home, we wouldn't be freezing the rest of the day. Luckily the sun was shining at that point and it wasn't so chilly.

Thanks to the Staggs for letting us tag along! We had a great time :)

Fans

2011-04-08T20:47:00.001-07:00

It happened. Eric and I are now Royals fans. I will tell you why I am near the end of this post. Eric still loves his Red Sox, but he's willing to share the love.

Last Friday we went to a Royals game with some of Eric's friends from school. They were pretty entertaining.

We walked around the stadium so I could last until the end of the game. This is by the fountains that shoot up water at the back of the field.

Eric caught a foul ball!! It looks so much smaller out on the field...

And how can you not fall in love with the Royals when ice cream is sporting them?

This is the view from our seats. We could have easily sat closer. Let's just say the Royals aren't a sold out kind of team.

I'm pretty sure Eric's favorite part of the game was getting to eat a Chicago-style hot dog. Gotta love him :)

I'm not sure why we were making these faces, but I know I told us to look like something...any ideas?

And this brings me to my point on why I am now a Royals fan. It was in the 9th inning, the score was 1 to 1 and the Royals were up to bat. If they didn't score then the game would keep going and going until someone won (I would not be okay with that). All of a sudden...dun dun dun...HOME RUN!! Ahhh it was so cool. Just like that, the game was over with a bang! I love seeing home runs and I love when the team I'm rooting for wins and I love when a baseball game ends.

After the game there was a firework show. It was really fun. The fireworks shot off to various popular songs. My favorite was when they played Katy Perry's Firework song. The fireworks shot off to the lyrics "boom boom boom." It reminded me of Disneyland!

It was a pretty good night. I love any excuse to take pictures :)

Kansas City Temple

2011-04-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

I am definitely behind on the blog! Not that too much has happened that has been blog worthy. A few weeks ago Eric's parents came to visit. We mostly just hung out the entire time (Eric playing on his mom's iPad).

I have been wanting to check out where the Kansas City Temple is being built. Last May they broke ground, so Eric and I thought it would be done in a few years and we had hoped it would be finished in time for us to utilize it. Well, this temple is cruising. It is anticipated to be done at the end of this year or the beginning of 2012.

I like this picture because it reminds me of the completed version underneath--which has been sent around to every LDS family around the area.

It was definitely cool seeing the temple before it is finished. I have never been to one that is in the process of being built.

Eric and his parents. Happy family! He left a space so I could be photoshopped in. How thoughtful my husband is :)

The Angel Moroni was added about a week or two after this picture was taken.

It was a good trip seeing the temple grounds. It's amazing how they already have pictures of what it will look like. It's going to be beautiful! Eric and I can't wait to be able to go to the temple on a regular basis. The 3 1/2 hour drive has not allowed us to go since we've lived in Kansas.

Happy birthday to ME!

2011-03-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

My birthday was on March 3rd. I am now closer to 25 than 20. It's the beginning of the end...haha. I'm getting pretty old, but luckily I got a nice present to ease the pain.

Eric has been wanting me to get a Mac for quite some time, but I insisted that I didn't need one and could use my PC until it died. I didn't last as long as that because my PC is SOOO slow. So the weekend before my birthday I mentioned getting a laptop for my birthday. Eric was ecstatic (he loves any excuse to go to the Apple Store). Of course, we ended up going right away.

Once we were at the Apple Store I was in the mindset of, "Let's do this quick so I don't think about the money we're spending." Like a bandaid--rip it off fast. We looked around for a little bit so I could think it through, but we quickly returned to the Macbook Pros and were ready to buy.

This was the first time I bought something at the Apple Store! The laptop came with a free WIRELESS printer! That definitely helped my decision because our previous printer was having some issues, and now we got one for FREE!

I tried to wait until my birthday to open it...I made it until that evening.

My first Mac!

Look how happy I am :)

Thanks for my present Eric! Even if you just want me on your side in the Mac vs PC war :)

this JUST happened

2011-02-22T18:11:00.001-08:00

Eric and I were walking home from our friends' house tonight and as we were approaching our car he said, "Is that a rat?" I didn't see anything so I thought he was crazy, but he said something went under our car.

Being the investigators we are, Eric turned the light on from his phone and this is what we saw:

At first we did think it was a rat, but if it is, that's the biggest rat in the world. So we decided it's a possum. Eric tapped on the car and made noises, but it wouldn't move. He has a basketball game tonight, so he didn't want to run it over with our car.

Eric turned on the car and it still didn't move. He then backed up slowly, hoping he wouldn't run over it. The last thing we want is road kill in our parking spot. The possum STILL didn't move. However, once the car was completely backed out and the possum realized it was exposed, it ran under our neighbor's truck.

Either the truck wasn't a good enough hiding spot or my camera flashes scared the thing, because he ran out and went onto our neighbor's porch.

And then it kept running and was coming at me, so what was I supposed to do? I didn't want the gross possum to brush against me or be near me, so I screamed and it changed direction. I then ran in the house and Eric continued to take pictures for me :)

And so far, that's as dangerous as it has gotten around here. It got my heart racing! I'm praying that there are no holes big enough for the possum to get into our house, because I would freak out. Hopefully I will never have to see it again.

As Promised:

2011-02-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

Snow Day(s)

2011-02-17T20:15:00.001-08:00

My motivation to blog recently=nonexistent. But I do love stalking other people's blogs, so keep the posts coming!

Accepting a job that was 20 miles away worried me for one reason--I didn't want to drive that far in the snow. I've been in a pretty bad car accident, and since then, I'm pretty much a wuss when it comes to driving dangerously and in dangerous conditions. But I had no reason to worry. Here in Kansas, we have snow days. Ever heard of it? Probably not if you live in Northern Idaho and Utah (where I was before Kansas).

We've probably had 4 snow days so far. By we, I mean Eric. And when he has a snow day then I work from home...so it's almost as good. Right. But I'll take what I can get. One of these snow days I didn't have any work to do, so Eric and I got to play!

I decided it would be a good idea to bring Edward and Bella along for our snow day festivities.

We got all bundled up and ready for the cold! Eric and I went on a wonderful walk. We may have ended up at Arby's to eat some lunch.

Here's our car. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but it gets REALLY cold here during the snow storms. The cold freaks people out more than the actual snow, I think.

The icicles on our car. I LOVE icicles. I think they are so so pretty :)

Eric and me shoveling some snow!

And of course I had to make a snow angel! Eric wouldn't make one with me because he didn't want to get his pants wet. Mine got soaked. But whatever.

And that concludes the first snow storm of the year.

Now for the second (or maybe the third?) snow storm of the year. The news people said this was the biggest snow storm here in over 50 years or maybe ever. Sounds intense right? Day 1 there was freezing rain. Day 2 there was TONS of snow. Day 3 was FREEZING. We were on a blizzard alert and no one was supposed to be on the roads unless it was vital. This is how things looked:

I got 2 days of working from home for this one. Poor little Eric was sick and had to rest the whole time. It was sad that he couldn't have fun on his days off, but we're grateful that it happened during a time when he wouldn't miss classes.

Stay tuned for my next blog:

A Video of Eric!

The End?

2011-01-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday I planned to write a blog about how I am completely done with my training program at work. Well...that didn't quite go as planned. On Wednesday it started snowing A TON. I'm talking, it took me 2 1/2 hours to drive home from work 20 miles away (more exhausting than it sounds). My back window had more than an inch of snow covering it and my windshield wipers were freezing so bad that I was having problems seeing out the front window by the time I got home. Sounds awesome right? The good news is I got a snow day on Thursday with Eric. The not so great news is that Thursday was when I was scheduled to give my final 30 minute presentation--the last piece of my training program. So it turns out I'm not "officially" done. I'm being rescheduled most likely for the beginning of February.

Even though the presentation was delayed, I do have my permanent placement. I will be a buyer on the Technology Order Management team starting tomorrow. So for all of you who are wondering if I will ever use my Supply Chain Management major, the answer is yes--it relates. I am lucky to be staying on the team I have been working with for the last 6 weeks. Every one is super nice, and I am going to be awesome at my job :) You have no idea how glad I am to be done, basically, with training. Three months seems like a really long time, considering my longest job was 6 months. For the record, I plan on staying for longer than that!

Note to self when we own a practice: It's amazing how motivating a decent salary can be.

Recent Projects

2011-01-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

#1: Space in our current dresser is a little tight for the two of us. I found this one at the thrift store and saw some potential, so Eric let me take it home (with a little convincing) :)

This is the before picture. At first I sanded down the top to even out the wood and remove the old pain. It would have been a wonderful plan, but unfortunately, the top has a cardboard layer underneath the wood. It messed up my staining a little, but I have a plan to fix it in the future once it warms up outside.

The dresser was looking pretty grungy, so I spray painted the rest of it. I wasn't about to make the mistake of sanding and staining it again.

We decided the dresser wasn't worth enough to put new handles on it, so I painted them instead. An easy and effective fix!

And here is the finished product! It looks much better. I can't wait to put Eric's clothes in it.

#2: New Year's Eve brought some handiwork. Our laundry room was in need of a shelf. Although we were going to suffer without a shelf for awhile longer, I'm glad we went for it! This is how it looked before.

Eric loves any opportunity to use his tools. Notice the items hanging on his pants?

We also bought a level for our little project. Don't mind the laundry. We didn't think about moving it until we were almost done. We're smart cookies!

I am quite handy with tools myself. It makes me feel powerful.

And little by little our place is turning into a great home. We'll post more inside pics once we're done moving in. It's been a slow process thanks to Christmas and work.

#3: And finally...we got a new chaise for Christmas!! Sometimes (or all the time) getting money as a gift is wonderful :)

Just the Two of Us

2011-01-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

This year Eric and I decided to celebrate Christmas on our own. I only had 4 days for Christmas, and it didn't seem worth it to travel on 2 of those days. We had a very relaxing break, and although we missed our families, it was nice not having to schedule our break around other people. We just did whatever we felt like doing--which mainly consisted of being lazy.

On Christmas Eve Eric and I baked Christmas goodies and watched a Criminal Minds (we're addicted to this show) marathon all day! It was wonderful!

Eric couldn't do Christmas without gingerbread cookies, so that was his task.

I made fudge :)

And here are all the goodies finished! They all turned out pretty great, with the exception of the Swedish Heirloom Cookies. Note to self: don't try a new kind of flour during Christmas.

With moving and everything else that went on in December, we didn't really have time to buy any new decorations. So the tree is basically the same as last year, but we still like it. We DID finally get a tree skirt!

Christmas morning before opening presents.

We want to travel, but we don't know where to go. Luckily, Santa got Eric a book full of ideas!

Eric was not expecting a new phone from his parents. I'm just happy I won't have to hear him complain about his other phone (which I just adopted because my phone died).

My awesome picture clock. I love getting decorations :)

We love playing games, so here are all the games we got for Christmas.

After presents, we had a small photo shoot :)

Thank you everyone for your Christmas cards and gifts. We loved it! We hope you had a great holiday just like we did.

Here comes the bride...

2010-12-31T09:40:00.001-08:00

December has been a pretty crazy month with my sister's wedding, starting a new role at work, moving, getting sick, and Christmas festivities! With everything that's been going on, I haven't felt too motivated to update the blog. But since it's almost a new year...it's time for 2010 updates!

My beautiful sister got married on December 4th in Florida. For all those who voted on the dress before, the one she chose wasn't on there :) But most of you chose the right style. She wanted to be a princess!

Audrey playing with our niece before the wedding. She looked so pretty!!

Audrey and I got our step-mom some new pajamas that would be appropriate to wear in front of her son. I can't think of anything more appropriate than these!

Billy was so tired before the ceremony. I'm surprised he made it down the aisle on two feet!

My brother walking our step-mom to her seat.

The sisters of the bride and the groom's nieces.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Paquette!

Eric is such a good uncle!

My dad gave Derek's dad wooden shoes and told him it's a Dutch tradition for the fathers to wear wooden shoes to the wedding. Derek's dad waited until after the ceremony to put on his shoes. He was sliding everywhere.

Fun at the reception!

My cousin Larissa caught the bouquet and had to let Rob Parker put the garter on her. She was a good sport!

My brother Kevin (in the middle in the white shirt) was not so excited about getting pulled up to dance for everyone. It was my idea :)

The wedding went great and Eric and I are so glad we could be there to support Audrey and Derek. We loved spending time with the family!

THANKSgiving

2010-11-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving Eric and I stayed home and decided to cook for the first time. We really just wanted to have lots of Thanksgiving leftovers. Luckily, all of the food turned out great and we have been reaping the benefits all weekend!! Karrie and Austin joined us and brought a couple dishes. It was an exhausting day, but well worth not having to cook for the next few days.

Eric grew up eating Sweet Potato Souffle, so there was no question about making it! He loves it and that's all that matters!

Eric also had a great time playing with the turkey. I'm not complaining because I am not a fan of touching raw meat. Thanks Eric!!

Eric carving our lovely turkey. I'd say it turned out pretty much perfect. We're a good team.

All four of us sitting down for dinner.

The food that wouldn't fit on the table. We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, rolls, broccoli, sweet potato souffle, jello salad, and chips and dip. So tasty!! Thanks for everyone's help!

Karrie and Austin.

Me and Eric.

I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day!!

Old Man

2010-11-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

It's official. I am married to an old man. Eric's birthday was last Tuesday, November 23rd, and he is now a quarter of a century old!!

The good news is, Eric is growing into a mature and sensible adult...

Us in the car about to have some birthday fun!

While driving, I was very impressed by this building. Its lights made a wreath!! So exciting. You'd probably be just as excited if I could actually get a good picture of it.

We hit up our 5th BBQ joint experience that night at Hayward's. For some reason, there were only old people in the restaurant with us. But Eric enjoyed his meal, so that's all that matters.
After dinner we headed to the theater and watched the new Harry Potter movie. We can't wait for the next one!!

I knew I was going to get Eric the Avatar blu-ray, but at the last minute I found a great deal online. I couldn't not have a present for him to open on his birthday, so I made my own cover and put it on one of our DVDs. Eric didn't quite get it because he tried to take the piece of paper off and look inside the DVD box. What to do? What to do? I still love him though.

Because Eric loves his toy helicopter, I thought it was only appropriate that he got a helicopter cake as well. Don't judge my artwork. I was running out of frosting.

We were so tired after the movie that Eric got an extra day of birthday fun.

And because I was waiting until his actual birthday, Eric's mom got him an ottoman to match our couch. We love it!!

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes and gifts. Eric really appreciated them!

Independence

2010-11-28T18:53:00.001-08:00

2 weekends ago Eric's parents came to town for a visit! They were going to help us move into our new place, but we have yet to sign the lease...so we just had fun the whole weekend instead. On Sunday we were able to visit the Independence, Missouri church site. It was the first time visiting for all of us except Eric's mom.

This is inside the visitor's center with Book of Mormons (or Books of Mormon? I don't know) in tons of different languages.

The printing press to make copies for everyone.

There was a great art exhibit at the visitor's center. It's not always there so we were pretty lucky to see it. This is Eric's favorite. From this angle, the piece focuses in on Jesus. It's awesome in person!

Back then, the houses weren't too tall.

I thought this was a cute picture moment. Eric and his parents walking on the temple site.

Eric was pointing to Mexico City on the giant map.

The crazy upside down snail shell temple (not ours). And might I add, all three of us were wearing a green shirt and blue coat. Not even planned.

It was a fun little visit to see what it was like during the early stages of the Church.

Super Saturday

2010-11-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Super Saturday. There were tons of crafts to do, but knowing that I'm a perfectionist, I knew I'd only have time for a few. Here's a couple of the finished products (Eric said the other one wasn't "blog worthy").

The FHE board is my favorite!! Unfortunately, I decided to leave the tags blank because I don't know our future kids' names yet.

This is the nativity scene. It's a nice addition to our Christmas decorations!

ZOOdles of Fun!

2010-11-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

I started my job last Monday and I think it's pretty dang awesome. I can't wait to get into my real job, but as for now, I'm trying to absorb as much training as I can. It's been a challenge waking up at 6 a.m. every morning, so needless to say, I've been exhausted and am a little behind on the blog.

A couple Saturdays ago Eric and I went to the zoo with Karrie and Austin. Eric's school had a great deal of a $5 admission fee instead of the normal $11.50 per person. It was well worth the cost (the discounted cost)!! I can't remember loving a zoo all that much, but I am now a lover. The 4 of us were so tired after walking around for hours. We were like little kids dragging our feet out of the zoo because we couldn't handle walking any further. Can you say out of shape? Or maybe just the wrong choice of shoes.

FYI, as of last Spring-ish, Eric decided he loves giraffes. We couldn't get an awesome picture with the real thing, so this is his new friend.

He likes to ride hippos, in case you didn't notice.

The craziest thing happened. We went to see the chimps but they were too far away to really see, so we left. All of a sudden we heard the chimps making that monkey noise that they do. We ran to see what was going on, and the chimp on the right was hitting the chimp on the left. We left again thinking it was over, but then we heard all the chimps going crazy. It was so loud like they were dying or something! We booked it back and Eric opened the door just in time for us to see this guy on the right literally pounding on the other one like a punching bag, over and over again. It was an intense fight. Then a baby chimp came to console the one getting hit. So precious! Definite highlight of the day.

I feel sorry for this gorilla. He had no friends in his cage. He was just chilling with his leg crossed, watching the people watch him.

We got to the cheetahs just in time to see them eat. They're the fastest land animals. Did you know that they whip their tail in order to turn while they run? If their tail isn't working properly, then they won't survive in the wild.

Me and Eric!

We hit up the tigers just in time to see them eat too! It was a day of great timing.

Don't mind them. He's just getting his butt cleaned.

I guess Eric doesn't believe in zoom because he was reaching his arm out to take a million pictures of this guy. He almost bit Eric's hand!! It is a pretty cool pic, though.

And yes, we saw the birds just in time for their feeding too! I think this is the first time I've held a bird. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

He probably thought we were going to feed him, but we didn't.

This is Kansas City's main attraction, Nikita. They must have trained her because she kept doing a back flip, swimming in a circle, and repeat.

The zoo is lots of fun! Anyone who visits us next summer just might be coming with us...

cRaFtY

2010-10-22T13:07:00.001-07:00

My awesome mother-in-law sent me a package last week with supplies to make a Halloween wreath. She must have been thinking about how much Eric loves candy corn and how much I love crafts because this wreath has the best of both worlds! If you like it, I'd be more than happy to tell you how to make one of your own!

You'd be surprised at how long it takes to glue the candy corn onto the wreath. Luckily, I am still in my last week of freedom before work so I got started right away. After many hours, here is the finished product:

When Eric saw a picture with only the candy corn, he wasn't too impressed. He thought the wreath needed a little something extra to make it complete. We went to the store and found this little bear. I think he is the cutest little thing (his outfit says BOO)!

I'm glad I got to do this project because our Halloween decor is a little meager. We don't have a door hanger yet, so for now our new wreath has a home on our fireplace.

Changes

2010-10-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

It's true. I finally got a job. Though, it seems kind of weird to say FINALLY. I had only been looking for a few weeks.

Here's how it went:

1. Monday: I contacted our ward's employment specialist and he told me about a couple jobs at the company he works for.

2. Tuesday: I e-mailed him my resume so he could send it to the right people.

3. Friday (the following week): I interviewed for 3 hours (they like to get all the interviews done in one day).

4. Monday: I got a job offer.

5. Tuesday: I accepted the job offer.

I'm a firm believer in things happening the way they are supposed to happen. I had interviewed at other "crap" jobs and just wanted them for the sake of getting a job. This was the only job that I was actually excited about and thought would be a good fit for me. I know that we are so blessed for having this opportunity. Everything worked out so perfectly, there was no way I could have turned down the job.

Starting this Monday I will officially be working my first "big girl job." I will be working for Cerner--an IT and Healthcare company. Yes, I get an actual salary! And yes, I will be getting benefits!!

For 12 weeks I will be part of a training program. Six of those weeks will be in a classroom setting and the rest will be spent working on a company project. At the end of the training program, I will be placed based on what jobs become available along with my skills and interests. If there isn't a good match at the time, I will be put on another 5 week project and then get placed after that.

I am getting really excited about working again and making something of myself. I've had a little too much of the home these past couple months. I'm a little nervous, but I'll finally be at a job where I can use my brain. THANK GOODNESS!

As for some other changes, I dyed my hair all by myself last week. Eric was a great assistant by cleaning up my splatters :) The good news is, it looks pretty dang good. All for 5 bucks!! Gotta love being on a budget!

And in a couple of weeks Eric and I will be moving! We will be happy to say goodbye to this apartment. We like the space, but not our surroundings. No more neighbor who walks outside our window everyday to puke. No more rap music thudding below our bedroom. No more Mexican kids calling out the name Eric all the time. As much fun as all that is...it's time to move on.

Better After

2010-10-14T15:09:00.001-07:00

After our friend, Sara, introduced me to this blog, Eric and I were inspired. We went to the thrift store right away and found a ton of chairs for $5 each. The store was about to close so we made a split second decision and bought this chair:

The chair wasn't very cute when we bought it, but Eric and I saw definite potential. We wanted the makeover to be colorful in order to brighten up our living room. We had always thrown around the idea of buying a purple chair to spice up the room, so we stuck to that initial idea.

After a trip to the fabric and craft store, and a little TLC, this is now what our thrift store chair looks like:

We think it turned out awesome and we are happy with the outcome!!

PuMpKiN sEaSoN

2010-10-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

I had been looking forward to October for weeks so Eric and I could do some fun and festive dates! With a little reminder from the parentals (thanks for the Halloween package!!), I decided it was time to carve pumpkins, even if they'll be rotten by the time Halloween comes.

I made sure to take the traditional Walker pumpkin carving picture.

Our pumpkins weren't too gutsy.

Our friends, Karrie and Austin, came over to carve with us. It was great to hang out with people other than Eric (not that I don't love him).

Eric is obsessed with holidays. I love seeing how excited he gets with holiday activities!! He's like a little boy on Christmas morning :)

These are the finished products.

Eric's pumpkin--Mario. He found a picture on the internet and then carved it without any pattern.

My pumpkin. I was very proud of myself because this is the first pumpkin I've ever carved that isn't a face. I may have accidentally cut the whole web out, but it just made it easier to carve in the end! Luckily it fit back on my pumpkin :)

Austin's pumpkin--Lebron James. I have no idea how this pumpkin turned out so great! You probably won't see anyone more focused than Austin was at carving this lol.

Karrie's pumpkin. She started off writing "BOO" and then ran into the same issue I did (the whole thing coming out). Good thing you can't go wrong with the traditional pumpkin face!

Our front door is too lit up so we had to put the pumpkins on our back deck. I love passing by them, even if we are the only ones who can see them!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

KC Royals

2010-10-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

On September 27th, Eric and I were able to go to a Kansas City Royals game against the Minnesota Twins. Eric got free tickets from his friend from school. Now I'm no baseball fanatic, but I do know that the Royals aren't a great team. So it came as a shock when they beat the Twins (the number one team in their division) 10-8. The close score made the game pretty bearable to watch for so long!

The baseball stadium was actually really pretty! Anytime there was a good play, water would shoot out of fountains. We even got to witness a Royals player hit his first home run in the Major Leagues!!

It was fun to go out and do something outside of the house. Slowly but surely we are hitting all the sites in Kansas.

My Artist

2010-09-27T13:24:00.001-07:00

I've always considered myself crafty and the "artist" of the family (which isn't very hard to accomplish in my family). I even took a little pride in my skills. And then one day I met Eric. We would go to Color Me Mine, and his project would always look better than mine. I eventually forced Eric to do projects WITH me so I wouldn't get jealous of his work and hate my own.

For example: This is the very first painting Eric has EVER done. Amazing right?!!

He is definitely a very talented boy! He painted this while he was on his mission and is now being rewarded for his work 4 years later because WE FINALLY GOT IT FRAMED!! And for anyone who visits us, we will have to tell you a funny little story about the date on this painting :)

I'm so glad I no longer have to look at this rolled up on the floor thinking about how it needs to be framed. And most of all, I'm really glad Eric doesn't suck at painting or else I wouldn't want it hanging up in my house. THANK YOU FOR BEING AMAZING, ERIC!

Which Dress Would YOU Choose?!!!

2010-09-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

My beautiful sister Audrey is getting married on December 4th!! I'm a good little sister so I flew out to Florida last week to help her find a wedding dress (and because it was her birthday). PLEASE give us your opinion and leave a comment with your favorite number. Comments from anyone are welcome!! What dress would you pick if you were her??!!

Audrey and I both got some much needed girl time this visit and decided to go shopping any spare chance we had!! This is our success story:

(Yes we take inventory on everything we buy and Audrey calculates how much money she saves on sales)

Der Bear (or Derek, as some people like to call him) even got to spend some time with us at Arigatos, my FAVORITE restaurant, when he wasn't busy escaping us to watch his boy shows.

The only complaint I have is that the foil boy wasn't the best at wrapping my leftovers. Audrey got a rose (which is appropriate because it's her middle name) and I got...well, I don't really know what it is. It doesn't have arms, feet, or a face. Audrey thinks it's Pikachu. She may be on to something.

It was an awesome trip and I'm excited to go back in December! Audrey is still trying to convince me to move to Florida. If she wins the lottery she is going to buy me a house. That may just be enough to get me there!

Visitors

2010-09-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night we got some company!! Eric's mom, aunt, and grandma stopped by for a short visit while they were road tripping to nearby church sites. The local food was an added bonus, so that night we headed over to Arthur Bryant's BBQ in Kansas City. Food Network said it has awesome BBQ so we HAD to check it out.

Arthur Bryant's is the real deal BBQ place. Forget fancy restaurants. You order super fast and watch them slap on a pound of meat between 2 pieces of bread. It's kind of intimidating. And let me tell you, there is no polite way to eat this food. (I couldn't get everyone in the picture...whoops)

This was Eric's plate. He felt pretty fat for the next 24 hours. I don't think it's healthy to eat that much meat but...what's done is done.
The food was so much better than Jack's Stacks!! But my face felt SOOO greasy after leaving that place. I guess it's a small price to pay for legit BBQ.

Sunday after church we headed out to see some sites. Grandma got sick so she had to stay home. Here we are at Liberty Jail....right?

WRONG!! GPS lied to us. Apparently the little N that stands for north makes a BIG difference. So there we were in Missouri City. It's a ghetto little place that reminds me of Rathdrum, Idaho (where my high school was).

We were not about to stay there so we got out our books and GPS and tried again.

10 miles later and a few cities over WE MADE IT!! It was the very first church site I have ever seen.

It is one thing to hear about Joseph Smith being locked up in jail for 4 1/2 months and then it is another thing to actually see it. I figured, "Yeah, I could do it if I had to." But I don't think so. These men got served worse food than you would find in a dumpster (when they were actually fed), had one blanket each during the coldest parts of winter in a basement, and sat in the dark day in and day out. Talk about miserable.

After the guards fell asleep at night, friends snuck them what little items they could. It's not so easy with 4 feet of brick to pass things through.

I get bored watching TV for too long, so imagine just sitting there numb to death with nothing to do but think! I would drive myself crazy!!

I have a greater respect for the early church members and what they went through. I am extremely blessed with my life and I'm thankful for these little reminders :)

We had a fun little visit and can't wait for more visitors (hint hint).

And then there was one...

2010-09-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today was Eric's first day of school!!! Look how excited he is :)

He's just growing up SO fast!! Starting his doctorate program and everything. I remember when I first met Eric he was doing his undergrad and didn't even have a major. Look how far that boy has come in 2 years! I am an EXCELLENT influence.

Even though today was Eric's first day of classes, he doesn't have any labs this week. So with all that chemistry, anatomy, and cellular something or another, he only had 2 classes today. And the great news is he is still ahead on his work! I'm crossing my fingers that that will continue once he gets actual homework and tests. Eric likes school so far. From his orientation yesterday, he is very happy to finally be taking classes that he is interested in--the body.

So it's just me at home now, and I've actually stayed pretty busy being an awesome housewife. I sent out some job applications but have yet to hear back from anyone. We'll see how it goes in that department and see what it is I'm supposed to do out here in good old Kansas. That's it for the update!

Esta Semana

2010-09-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

When Eric and I visited Kansas in April to go apartment hunting, everyone would tell us to go to a place called The Plaza (not that Eric has any recollection of this ever happening). After being in the house for a couple weeks we decided it was time for us to check out the place where all the locals go.

The Plaza is basically a giant outdoor mall, well, more like a few streets lined with expensive stores and TONS of restaurant. We poor people go there to walk around and get some exercise. One thing I didn't know about Kansas is it has AWESOME architecture and great picture opps like here. Oddly enough, most of the cool buildings here happened to be restaurants and not stores.

Eric in front of a fountain (in the courtyard of a restaurant).

A shot of the little stores lining the street.

Me in front of a cool looking building (also a restaurant).

I'm sure we'll get some cooler pictures when I'm more in the mood for this kind of thing (unlike that day). It's definitely a place I'll be taking our visitors to go shop and eat!

As a side note: I'm working on becoming a better housewife and actually cooking some new recipes rather than what I make up in my head. Thanks to my mother-in-law giving me the recipe, I made some homemade mac and cheese!! Eric loved it :) and it wasn't even because he eats anything and everything; he genuinely liked it! Go me!

Obsessed

2010-09-01T16:48:00.001-07:00

I am obsessed with the new look of my blog! I find myself going to it constantly even though nothing new has happened in the blogging world. The old design really bugged me. It just didn't suit my personality. I think this one suits it pretty well! So all in all, the hours I spent changing it yesterday were worth it. And yes, it took hours. I don't know why everything has to take so much time. It's a wonder how I got anything done when I had a job!! lol.

I've enjoyed these last couple weeks of nothingness. I've been working nights from home for my Utah job and Eric has been watching Harry Potter constantly. Together, we've been trying to get through Lost. I started back in May or maybe June and now we are almost halfway through SEASON 6 (the last season)!! It is so time consuming because the episodes seem to lead no where and new characters are constantly being introduced. I like it, but I am super excited to be done with it. I need a faster paced show like....Grey's Anatomy? Can't wait for my fall shows to start!

Much Anticipated

2010-08-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a few requests to post pics of the new place. Things have been very messy but we FINALLY have half the apartment clean (not decorated). I wish I had one of those cameras that you scan the room and it takes a super long picture, but I'll have to make do!

When you walk in the front door you are walking into a hallway and on the left is the living room entrance. You probably can't tell, but it's super awkward with how much space the fireplace takes up and trying to position the couch with the TV so...we just had to float the couch and make the giant walkway to the dining room a little smaller.

Our little coat closet behind the couch.

Other view of the living room. I love our new couch!! It is SUPER comfy! :)

Turn the corner and there's the dining room, laundry room, and kitchen.

Our laundry room/pantry. Yes the dryer is to the left of the washer. Weird? I think so. Apparently when the builders mirrored the model apartment they mirrored EVERYTHING.

Our brand new dining room table and chairs!! Love it!

View from in the kitchen.

Kitchen. It's surprisingly a pretty good size and there is tons of cupboard space, which is nice!

Our second bathroom aka Eric's bathroom. I'm sad that he gets our cute shower curtain but there isn't a tub in the master bath. I guess I'll live with it.

And that's all you get to see. All you're missing out on is a bathroom and two bedrooms. By the way, our bedroom is HUGE! But not too necessary cuz we keep all our crap in the second room.

This place is a nice size for us, but I don't want to do too much decorating because...we're going to move again hopefully SOON!! I hate moving just as much as anyone so that's why I want to do it asap. We're on a waiting list to get into little townhomes and join our new friends. People at church call it Mormon Village because it's filled with young mormon families, chiropractic students, and (random) old Russian peeps. It's like a little mini Utah minus the Russians!!

We absolutely love it here! The ward is so welcoming and we've already made a few friends (which isn't the easiest thing for me). So if I think it's a welcoming ward, then it is. It's a very different dynamic from Utah. People actually care that you're new and want to get to know you. I LOVE IT!!

A Love/Hate Relationship

2010-08-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

As we've been in Kansas I have noticed a few things that drive me nuts:

5. The awkward layout of our living room.

4. The taste of the faucet water.

3. I get tired after 30 seconds of being outside because it's so hot.

2. There is so much freeway construction that our second and third back-up routes are also under construction. It takes so long to get to other cities.

1. Outside of our balcony are pretty trees, however, we can't relax out there because of the annoying chirping/buzzing sound of the critters. It's the most annoying sound I have ever heard. (I'll post a video of it later)

And this is a list of the things I love about OP:

5. There are green trees EVERYWHERE! It reminds me of Oregon :)

4. I finally have a pool again!! We haven't gone yet, but I have my pool toy all ready.

3. Our bedroom is huge and there is quite a bit of space in the rest of our apartment.

2. Every store we would ever need to go to is on Metcalf (about a block away from the complex). As long as I can get to that street, I can get anywhere aka I don't have to understand all these freeways quite yet because everything I need is in Overland Park.

1. We are one step closer towards Eric being done with school!

On a side note, I want to thank everyone who sacrificed their time to help us move. We are so grateful for you!! We seriously couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much and we love each and every one of you!!

The Yellow Brick Road

2010-08-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day in Kansas since the move. But before we moved we had to do one last thing in Utah...

We visited the Hatch Family Chocolate Store! For those of you who don't know, it's the place that the Little Chocolatiers own (the show on TLC). We spent $8.09 on mediocre chocolate and not too much of it. We didn't get to see little people or get on tv because they weren't taping. A little disappointing? Yes. But I WILL keep going back until I see little people.

On Tuesday morning we started our drive to Kansas.

It was a very exciting drive. Here are some of the highlights:

There were miles and miles of these windmills. They were HUGE. We loved the change in scenery that they offered us.

There were lots of OZ signs. Hurray for Dorothy and Toto in Kansas.

Last but not least I saw signs for Ellsworth, Kansas. This was very exciting to me because I love that song by Rascal Flatts. One day we'll go. There's probably nothing there, but I don't care.

Today was a very productive day. Eric and I bought a dining room table, dresser, couch, and mattress. It was our first time buying those items so we took awhile and probably drove the sales people NUTS. I'm exhausted and glad that it's over now. We did, however, see the biggest furniture store in North America.

Driving up to this store gave a very similar feeling as driving up to Disneyland. It's like this huge magic kingdom full of furniture.

This is no mall; it's one store and it's way bigger than IKEA. Who would've thought that it'd be in Kansas?!

After shopping we were tired and STARVING. One of our sales peeps told us about a really popular BBQ joint in Overland Park, Jack Stack. It was our first time ever having real BBQ food.

Since Kansas is known for its BBQ, we had pretty high expectations. Our ribs didn't have very much meat on it and I don't think we're used to our meat being so well cooked. Maybe it's something that you have to grow up with to think it's the best. We liked it and all, but it wasn't the greatest thing we've ever tasted. Of course we'll keep on going to different restaurants. I'm sure we'll have a favorite in no time, whether it's the awesome Japanese Steakhouse we went to last night or not. Gotta love having nothing in the apartment and going out to eat!!

...had a very shiny nose...

2010-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

It starts with a little inspiration:

Then you CUT:

And SAND:

And STAIN:

And PAINT:

And WAA LAAAAA!!!

Two new and improved reindeer!!
Mine's cuter. But shhhh...don't tell Eric.

One week...

2010-08-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

We are moving in 7 days!! Well, technically sooner than that because we plan on starting the drive early Tuesday morning. Kansas is coming up fast but Eric and I are so excited to get to our new place and check out the town. I'm definitely excited to spend 3 weeks with my husband before I'm a single woman for the next 3 1/2 years. It's kinda scary that we are gonna start fresh with our lives. Eric is up for the challenge for sure because he is great at making new friends, and me...well, I think I'm up to the challenge. Crossing my fingers! I know we'll love it though, even if Eric is my only friend.

7 days and counting!

Owlzzzzzz

2010-08-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

You guessed it! We got free tickets to go to the Owlz game last Tuesday and we took Sara, Spencer, and Drew along with us! It was a not-so-intense game against the WY Ghosts, but it was funny to watch #5 get angry every time he sucked it up.

I think Drew enjoyed his first baseball game EVER! He even got to wear an outfit to match the occasion. How cute is that!?

It was a beautiful night and I didn't get one mosquito bite!! But we didn't win Bingo either so that was a little disappointing. Maybe next time, if there ever is a next time. Go Owlz!

I had a dream...

2010-07-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

that I got 4 comments on my camping blog post. No joke. I actually dreamed about this. I guess some things just have to stay a dream.

Camping

2010-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Eric and I went camping with his family on Friday night. It was nice to spend time with the family somewhere outside of the house that I just can't seem to get enough of. Our bonding experience started with playing in the creek and ended with all of us getting sick off eating too much sugar, but we loved every second of it! I highly recommend buying the jumbo marshmallows--they make the regular sized campfire marshmallows seem like the tiny ones, and you can make 3 s'mores with 1 marshmallow!

Now that I've taken 2 showers and the smell of campfire is completely out of my hair, I'm ready to post some pics. Enjoy!

P.S. I love comments.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-10T16:26:00.001-07:00

4th of July weekend was a blast. Eric and I started it off by going to the Festival on Center Street with our friends Spencer and Sara on Saturday. We sat by the water balloon throwing game and just watched people get hit for hours. It was great.

Then we had dinner with the fam and it was time for...

This was our view of the stage. We were RIGHT in front of the stage...and across the football field. But it was the perfect view for the fireworks.

Carrie Underwood was the main attraction and the whole reason I wanted to go. I didn't even really know what Stadium of Fire entailed until I went. This was as good of a picture as I could get :( Sad. But still fun. Carrie Underwood has the most amazing voice ever and sounds just as perfect in person as she does on her CD. She has some real talent! But the true disappointment was not meeting the Osmond 2nd Generation in person.

Eric and I after it was all said and done.

My sister came into town for the weekend but Sunday was the only day we had time to see her and her family. The only thing we captured on camera was, yes you guessed it, Amora! She is growing up so fast and has quite the attitude. This is her fake smile.

She had a blast having Wendy bounce her on the ball. Oh how fun the simple things are to little kids.

She also liked the hideous hair bow I made. I'll have to make her some cute ones, and I'll need to make 2 so she'll actually have one for both sides of her pigtails.

On Monday we went to Park City and spent money. Well, I spent money and everyone else watched. The best 4th yet and I know it's just gonna keep getting better. Maybe one of these years I'll get to shoot off some fireworks.

EcLiPsE

2010-07-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Eric and I saw Eclipse last night. I'm a fan, but I'm not a die hard fan that waits in a line for 5 hours because I have to get a good seat on opening night. That just wasn't worth it to me. Two days later was good enough for me and we didn't even have to wait in a line!

The movies just get better and better!! I love watching them because it reminds me how much I love reading the books. Stephenie Meyer has a way of putting you in the character's shoes. So...I think I'm just going to have to read the 4th book again. I know the Twilight epidemic is cheesy and the books are a simple read, but that's precisely why they are so nice to read. I highly recommend it!

Vacay

2010-06-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went on a weekend getaway to Zion's National Park. I've lived in Utah for 4 years and Eric has lived here almost his entire life and the both of us had never been before. People apparently travel across the country to see Zion's so we thought we should go before we moved away.

Zion's had lots of different hikes to go on but we were limited on time so we stuck to Angels Landing.

There were little crevices to hide in on the hike we went on. I discovered this one :) The people behind us thought we were cool so then they copied me.

Eric had quite a bit of energy on the way up the mountain. He came across a falling tree and pushed it back up so people could walk on the trail without any problems. What a nice boy.

Pretty view huh?

That other view apparently wasn't good enough. We had to keep climbing the mountain and we made it to the very tip top! If you look closely you'll see a bus down there on the road. That's how high up we were. Look how tiny the road is!

In order to get to the very top you need to do a bit of rock climbing.

Luckily the chains were there to help us or I think Eric might have been a little too scared.

Once we got down from the mountain exhausted and about to collapse we came across this sign:

Good thing we started bright and early (at noon), brought plenty of water (2 bottles), and work out on a regular basis (every other month). I guess it's a good thing we didn't know what to expect or else we might have chickened out. What an accomplishment!

The day before Zion's we went to Kolob Canyons.

This picture didn't require a long and strenuous hike. All it took was a nice leisurely drive. Just our style!

We did start on a little trail but Eric made us turn back early. He wasn't in the mood for an adventure.

The good news is we did see a cactus with flowers, growing in a tree stump. How cool is that?!

Eric and I loved our little mini vacation. The mountains all ended up looking the same in the end but it was a great experience. Without this vacation we would have never learned just how much we like vacationing in an all inclusive resort. Thank you Zion's National Park!

New Addition!

2010-06-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

My cousin Carin had her baby girl today so Eric and I were able to visit them at the hospital! Of course, I had to blog about it :)

This is Carin and her daughter Sarah. Sarah is one of the cutest newborns I've ever seen! She came out with a little pixie hair do.

I get in creative moods sometimes and make things. One day I made flower clips so I gave some to Sarah. She cried at first but I think she was eventually okay with it. It looked darn cute!

Congratulations Greenland family!

Round 2

2010-06-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last semester one of my classes was assigned to write a complaint letter to a company we had a bad experience with. I was fully reimbursed with a promise for a future discount.

Just recently, Eric and I got a check from our old apartment complex. We moved out early so we could save more money, but the check ended up being over $125 less than we were expecting. I was pretty upset. I was venting to Eric when he didn't really want to hear it, so he told me to write a complaint letter while I was heated up.

The letter I wrote was a full page and pretty dang awesome if you ask me! I pulled out some legal terms from my old business law book and may have even threatened the apartment owners to take them to court, although I would never actually take it that far. I just wanted to see if anything would come from my letter. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, after all.

As I was coming home from work last night Eric was sitting on the front porch and handed me an envelope. I opened it up and there was nothing but a check inside for $125. SUCCESS! (He opened it first because he didn't want me to be in a bad mood all night if there was no money)

Whoever said complaining doesn't get you anywhere was completely wrong. If I've learned one useful thing from my college education, it's that businesses don't want a bad reputation and are usually willing to reimburse you for a bad experience. So start complaining!!