Colorado Springs Trip

We finally got a vacation! We were needing it badly, and Mom and Dad were gracious enough to let us tag along with them on their trip to see Kristen's family in Colorado Springs. We were worried about bad weather, but fortunately for us, the only bad weather we experienced was the crazy wind they had goin' on. Other than that it was nice and warm! We did lots of fun things while we were there including:

Visited Garden of the Gods which greatly resembled Southern Utah National Parks. Gotta love the red rock beauty!
And took family pictures there...
We also...
Stood on top of one of the highest peaks in the world at over 14,000 ft.... PIKES PEAK...
Stood in 17 degree cold weather and wind...

Ate green jolly ranchers which caused green tongue on cute little girls...
Rode a cog to get to the top of the peak and seeing so many gorgeous views along the way...
Saw Minnehaha Falls on the way up (it's just a fun name, that's why we took a picture)
And of course took an official picture of the place and height to give proof we were there! We also...
Took a tour of the Olympic Training Center where we saw some Olympic athletes at work training for the next Olympics...
Hung out in the Olympic rings...
And imitated as many statues on the tour as we could.

We did some other fun things such as sleeping in as much as possible, reading books, watching movies, playing games, playing basketball, making s'mores, driving in the country, eating yummy homemade food, and just doing whatever in the world we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. It was a great vacations and we officially love Colorado Springs :) Thanks Kristen for always being a great hostess and making sure we have fun when we visit!

3 Months

I don't know whether I'm in awe of how quickly the past three months has passed, or whether I feel like it's been so much longer? Tomorrow is Rob and my 3 month anniversary. I always thought it was pretty pathetic when people would celebrate every __th month anniversary during their first year of marriage, but now I am a part of the club. Thanks for accepting me!

So yes, the past three months have been amazing, disorganized, challenging, fun, and unlike any other three months of my life. Like every newly wed couple we are learning how to be married and how to combine both of our busy lives and schedules into one. What a challenge! But every day is a wonderful day and we are still as in love as could be.

I stumbled upon this quote from President Monson's Priesthood Session talk in this past General Conference and will never forget it. It is something I will always remind myself of:

"Choose your love, love your choice!"

I am so grateful to have found Rob and to be the girl he chose to marry. I'm grateful for the choice I was given to marry him, and I will forever and always love my choice!

Mmm Mmm Chocolate Cake

I've had so much fun since we've been married finding fun recipes to cook and bake. Now that I'm cooking for more than just myself I find quite a bit more motivation to actually do it and to do it well. One of the treats we made recently is called Chocolate Creme Cake from the Lion House Classics cookbook that I got for Christmas from my sister, Kristen, a few years ago.

It is to die for! Well, maybe not die, but it is delicious. If you're looking for a yummy treat and a fun baking activity, you should make this...

* WARNING: Hazardous for only two to consume. May gain weight if you don't share...


Because I think it is so good, I will share the recipe with you. There is a recipe for the cake, whipped cream, and chocolate frosting, but all three are extremely easy. Easy enough that Rob make the frosting all by himself while I tackled the whipped cream.

Cake: 1 package Devil's food cake mix

Follow package directions to prepare and bake the cake in two 9-inch round layers. Cool and split layers horizontally. (Only three of the four layers are used in this recipe.)
* Rob and I decided the more cake the better- so we used all four layers.
While the cake is baking, prepare chocolate frosting and stabilized whipping cream.

Chocolate Frosting:
4 tablespoons cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In mixing bowl, mix cocoa and powdered sugar. Add softened butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Stabilized Whipping Cream:
1 envelope (1 TBLSP) unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
3 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In small saucepan, combine gelatin with water; let stand until thick. Stir constantly over low heat until just dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly but do not allow to thicken. In large mixing bowl, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until slightly thick. On low speed, gradually add gelatin, then beat on high until cream is thick.

Assembling Cake:
Place one layer of cake on serving plate. Spread evenly with half the whip cream, to within half an inch of edge of cake. Place another cake layer on top of cream; then another layer of cream. Alternate cake and cream for a total of five layers, ending with cake layer. Gently press down on top layer to set layers together. Frost entire cake with frosting. Garnish with chopped walnuts if you desire.
Doesn't it look so YUMMY!!! Well, if it doesn't look yummy, you're wrong, it was. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! But take my warning seriously... share the cake if you don't want an extra pound or two :)

Easter

One of the fun things about being married and starting a life together is developing our own traditions. Easter is the first major holiday that we have shared as a married couple, and it was a good one to start with!

Rob and I talked about traditions that our families had growing up. We also talked about things we liked about them that we wanted to keep in our family, and also things we wanted to add or change. During my childhood my parents never pretended to be the Easter Bunny, or give us Easter baskets. Instead we would go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the annual Easter egg hunt, and that was the extent of the Easter Bunny festivities. Instead, we would get a new Easter Sunday outfit. At first I was disappointed to see all of my friends get fun gifts and have to hunt for their basket, but as I got older I became grateful to my parents for putting more of the emphasis on Sunday and the Savior. Rob's family played the Easter Bunny role and they had to hunt for their baskets on Sunday morning.

As we talked we decided that it would be fun to do Easter baskets, but to do them on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't have time Saturday because of running around to family parties, so it happened Sunday- but in the future, Saturday it is. This will allow us to still have fun with the Eater Bunny, but allow Sunday to focus on the Savior and his resurrection.

It was fun to get stuff for each other! We set a limit of how much we could spend each, and then for FHE we went to target and wandered around giving each other some good ideas of things we'd enjoy.

I ended up getting a yoga mat and weights (The Jillian Michaels workout kit), and lots of yummy candy! I later went and bought the Jillian Michaels DVD that goes along with my kit, and I'm starting the workout tonight! It's called 30 Day Shred. Lets just say after two years of recovering from surgery that I hope I shred some of that weight in the next 30 days! I am an avid Biggest Loser watcher, and even though Jillian would make me cry if I were to work out with her in person, I've come to love her! Plus, I think I'll be able to keep composure if she stays in the T.V. Rob got the movie "Rudy", and a new frisbee, along with lots of candy!

Until we have our own family we will enjoy spending lots of time with our families in SL and joining in on their celebrations. It was a great first holiday for the both of us!

I'm a BYU Graduate

I'm graduated! Well, not technically, but I am officially done with all classes, test, and papers in college! It feels amazing. I still have to complete a 3 month internship to graduate, but that'll be the fun part I've been waiting for for 4 years :) I will of course have to visit the campus occasionally to take part in many wonderful BYU things such as the creamery, people watching, mint brownies, and other great things.

When we got home from all of the graduation festivities I received an extremely pleasant surprise... Rob had gotten me a BYU alumni license plate cover and a Y sticker to stick in my car window. One of the most fun parts about the surprise was all of the Y balloons scattered around the room. He's so sweet! I think he may have been more excited that I'm graduating than I am...

Another personal shot by the BYU sign.
Of course we had to take a picture by the notorious BYU sign. I'm leaving this wonderful place and Rob is entering. He's a lucky duck.
Many of the girls from my program- Recreation Therapy. I took all my classes with them and love them oh so very much. We have the best department in the university!
Kaitlin is a year ahead of me in school, but it was fun to be able to graduate with her and see her at graduation! Her and Jordan are off on an adventure of their own to Texas for the summer. We're going to miss them!
The people who paid for much of my education :) I have the best parents in the world!

Goodbye BYU, hello world. Am I ready to grow up? I'm fighting it for as long as I possibly can. It's beginning to be inevitable.

Summer Bucket List

Every single one of us has a list of things we can't wait to do during our summer break! Me, I'm like everyone else, and have a list of things I can't wait to do! These things include recreation activities, crafts, and more. Here's a little preview:
1. Ride tandom bikes with my hubby

2. Go to Seven Peaks as much as possible with our Pass of all Passes! Tan, here we come :) No more pasty white newlyweds.

3. Make this cute, cute, cute "Family Rules" craft- inspired by my sister, Erin.

(This picture isn't Erin's... Erin's is much cuter)

4. Check off quite a few of the Utah temples in our journey of doing temple work in all of the Utah temples by the end of December 2011. Some of the ones we'll visit this summer are St. George, Manti, Logan, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain.

5. A trip to Moab to go on some amazing hikes!

6. Another fun craft that I don't know how to explain. Pretty much it's two small embroideries framed in homemade modge podge frames. The embroidery quotes are "Come What May and Love It", and "Joy in the Journey". Lets just say I'll post pictures, and they're going to be adorable!

7. Run a 5K. I've been unable to run for almost two years now due to injury, and I can't wait to get running again!

8. Make homemade bread and homemade jam! MMMMMMM...... need I say more?

9. Float the Provo River. 4 years at school in Provo and I STILL haven't done it!

10. Go to a farmer's market

I can't wait to make some amazing memories with my Hubby during our very first summer together :) What's on your bucket list for the summer?

What Do These Things Have in Common?

A visit to the Timpanogos Temple...

Ate some DELICIOUS strawberry frozen yogurt...

Watching "Tangled" with some friends...

Filling up an empty kitchen with yummy food by going grocery shopping for the month...

Cleaning an entire apartment from floor to ceiling which was WAY overdue...

And watching "The Amazing Race" on Sunday night...

What do all of these things have in common? These are all of the things we did this weekend! It is the very FIRST weekend since we've been married (2 months) that we have had no commitments with family and we could stay in Orem in our own little apartment and do whatever we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it! It was spectacular!

Friday: We went to the Timp. Temple to do a session with Matt and Audrey and then went to Golden Spoon afterward for the best frozen yogurt! We're afraid we're going to keep them in business this summer by our purchases alone... yikes it's good!

Saturday: Slept in 'til 9, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, visited with Mom & Dad for a little bit, went grocery shopping and filled our kitchen for the month, got some decorations and storage containers at BB&B, and topped it off with "Tangled" with Kaitlin & Jordan!

Sunday: Went to church, took a nap, made some dinner, enjoyed some brownies given to us by Aunt Mary and Uncle Kevin, watched "The Amazing Race", and layed around for the rest of the night!

It was the best weekend ever, and I needed it!