Winter Wonderland

I'll be the first to admit I hate snow. I don't like being cold and I REALLY hate driving in it. I know, I know, I live in Utah. However, I do love the way it looks after a snow storm. Everything is white and so quite and peaceful. The other day I came out of work and saw the sun setting and loved the way it hit the mountains. It was so beautiful, but by the time I grabbed my camera, the sun had pretty much gone down. I love where I work because it's right next to the mountain and overlooking South Ogden - we have the best view. So, as much as I hate snow, I do love living so close to nature. We're really pretty blessed to be able to see things like this on a daily basis.

Man Tag....Alan

I'm stealing this from Cristel because although I mention Alan in some of my posts, I've never done a "tribute" to him. So, here goes:

1. Where did you meet your husband? At a church dance my first week in California. I had gone with a friend because her boyfriend was going to be there. She told me her boyfriends friends were kind of weird, so I might want to avoid them. So, at first I really didn't want a lot to do with Alan! But, I married him, does that make me weird? Kidding, love you babe!
2. How long have you been married? Eight years in February
3. What does he do that surprises you? It's all the little things he does. He's really great and surprising me with "just because" flowers (which are the best flowers ever)or just picking up my favorite drink when he goes to the store.
4. What's your favorite feature of his? His studly body, of course! Favorite feature would have to be his easygoing nature. It takes a lot to get him going which helps balance me out.
5. What is his best quality? How much he cares about others. Alan's one of the type of people that would do just about anything to help someone out.
6. Does he have a nickname for you? Not anything I can mention here...kidding! Usually babe or bubs.
7. What is his favorite food? Alan loves just about everything, I don't think he really has a favorite food. Well, except ice cream (which he inherits from his family!)
9. When and where did you first kiss? At Donny's house.....it was so romantic. One of those awkward you know he's going to do it, but you've got to kind of hug a while kind of things. Of course all of our friends knew because they were inside waiting for us to come back in. I think we still owe Donny some ice cream!
10.What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Traveling or going to concerts. We've been able to go a lot of cool places while we've been married which is so much fun.
11.Do you have any kids? Yep, a cute little black and white puppy.
12.Does he have any hidden talents? Not a lot of people know that Alan plays the cello and has for years. He's recently really picked it up again which is fun.
13.How old is he? Old....once you're past 30 it doesn't count anymore!
14.Who said I love you first? Hmmm....I think he did
15.What is his favorite music? Anything but country. Alan is a music fanatic, you should see our cd/music collection.
16.What do you admire most about him? His deep love for the gospel and what a great example he is to me.
17.What is his favorite color? Blue
18.Will he read this? Maybe eventually - I blog, Alan facebooks!

I love you babe! You're the bestest!

Fertility Update

I've had some requests for an update on the fertility battle, so I thought I would make a quick post. Sorry, for those of you out there wondering, no special announcements yet! I've had problems actually getting into the doctor for my follicle checks. I was supposed to go in prior to leaving for California but thought it would be pointless as I wouldn't be able to go back in during the time the Clomid was working. After we got back I had to cancel my appointment due to being sick, so as you can see, nothing yet! In February we start another round of drugs and then in March we are going to start trying artificial insemination. I'm hoping if the drugs don't work the insemination will, so cross your fingers and toes! Anyway, thanks to those of you who are thinking of us and interested in our progress. We love ya!

Cali-forni-a

We were able to spend this past week in California catching up with Alan's family and with good friends. It was so much fun to see everyone and spend time with friends we haven't seen in forever. Thanks everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to see us! Sorry Rach about the birthday party and other confusion, but hey, it's me! Special thanks to Bree for letting us bum around with her so much. She probably got so tired of us! Also, special thanks to Alan's parents and his grandma. We ended up staying at his grandmother's house which was nice because we haven't seen that much of her lately. She's such a neat lady and was a very gracious hostess! The only bad thing about coming back from vacation? The lovely work that get's piled up (this was after I semi-organized my desk):



Oh, and the fact that I ended up at the insta-care today with an infection in both ears and a viral infection. But, it was worth it! Sorry I posted so much....I have a feeling this week will be crazy with trying to play catch up and I wanted to get our fun trip on the blog!

Haning out with the Hayes Family

On Monday night we went bowling and to dinner with the Hayes family. We hadn't seen them forever and then were able to catch up with them last year when a mutual friend blessed his baby. It was so much fun to see them again! I wish we lived closer to them, they are such a fun family. Donny is actually one of the people that introduced Alan and I. They have the cutest little kids who are so much fun! Donny was the ultimate champ of the night with Alan trailing behind him. After bowling we went to Mel's Drive-In. For those of you who haven't been to Mel's (it's a California thing) you are totally missing out. They have the BEST cheese fries that go great with ranch. Sounds nasty, but is SOOOO good! When Alan and I were first dating we went to a lot of church dances, hence the address of our blog. After every dance we would end up at Mel's with a bunch of friends and hang out forever. So many memories! It was Donny & Michellyn's anniversary, so it was even more fun that we were able to share in their special day. Thanks so much guys for hanging out with us. We miss you already! Hopefully we'll be able to make it in May!

San Francisco

We decided to head down to San Francisco on Tuesday because we wanted to go to Alcatraz. We really should have looked at the schedule online. By the time we got down there the last tour for the day was done, oh well. We ended up just bumming around the city (I love going to Fisherman's Warf, so we usually end up there) and then driving to Golden Gate Park. I've never been to the park before, so it was pretty cool. It would probably be a lot better during the summer when everything is in bloom. Later we ended up walking on the Golden Gate Bridge which was a blast because neither Alan or I have ever walked on it before. We walked to the middle of the bridge which is where a lot of people jump. Um, no thanks! It's so high (I guess that's the point, though, right?) Later that night we were able to get together with a couple of old friends of Alan's. It was nice to meet them and they had a blast remembering "old times." Can you tell we didn't get a lot of sleep on this trip?

Misc Pics.....sorry Jana, I had to post this!

I had to post this pic of Alan's sister, Jana. They were playing Mario Cart one night and when I went to take the picture, this was the result. Of course I HAD to post it! I think this is the only shot I have of Jordan and he wouldn't look at me. Doesn't he look cute playing with Jameson?

Preston Pics

We were able to spend a lot of time with our nephews, Preston & Jameson. Preston is the funniest little kid! He would always pretend he was a tiger and chase me around growling. One day he decided he was the Gingerbread Man because he had put three stickers down the front of his shirt that look like the buttons on the Gingerbread Man. Alan's siblings drew names for Christmas and this year we had Kenton & Bree. We got some play dough for Preston and all night he made "snakes." When we got out there both boys were sick, but both were little champs and we had a blast with them. Thanks for playing with us!

Dinner at Chevy's

On our last night in California we went out to dinner at Chevy's. Alan manged to get some good shots, but not everyone would turn around for the group pic (Gerald!) It was fun to spend some time with everyone (especially Jana & Jordan as we hardly ever seen them!) and just hang out.

Rockin' Out to Rock Band

The night before we left we went out to dinner and then decided to play Rock Band when we got home. We even got Alan's mom, Marilyn, to play both the guitar and drums. She refused to sing, but did great on the other two. Go Marilyn!

Wwiiiiiii

This was usually our nightly ritual, well, Alan's nightly ritual. He took his Wii out to California and loved that he actually had someone that wanted to play it with him. Kenton (Alan's bro) and he played most of the games we brought and then would play Call of Duty on the x-box until, oh, around one in the morning! But, they had a blast and that's all that matters, right? Don't you love the action shot of Kenton bowling? He probably the craziest Wii player I've ever seen!