Neil and Sarah Voss

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T14:55:00.001-07:00

From our little "family"

Squash Creme Brulee

2011-10-30T15:23:00.000-06:00

One of the best parts about moving back to Iowa has been being able to spend time with my best friend from high school, Elyse. We have had a lot of fun adventures already. Last Saturday we took trip to Des Moines to go to the "big" mall here in Iowa to go shopping and see a movie. We have found some great places to eat in Cedar Rapids, too, but because that isn't enough, we have also been baking up a storm. Earlier in the month we had an apple baking day and made caramel apple tarts and baked apples. This weekend, however, we decided to try our hand at squash creme brulee to try out Elyse's new creme brulee kit, small blow torch included :)

Go Hawkeyes!

2011-10-16T21:01:00.000-06:00

Neil and I went to our first ever Big Ten football game last night, courtesy of some free tickets from Neil's MBA program. We had so much fun and were thrilled that Iowa beat Northwestern!

So I basically missed the entire summer . . .

2011-09-10T18:33:00.000-06:00

But, we had lots of fun.

We went to Iowa for my cousin's wedding in June. The only picture I took was this one of Neil eating a fresh donut in Kalona. My parents took us up to the cheese factory there and we couldn't resist going to the town bakery.

The wedding was beautiful and it was good to see extended family. I was super sick, no surprises there, and so pictures were not so much a priority. It was a low-key trip, especially compared to our last visit in April, but that was just perfect.

Over the 4th of July weekend, Emily's friend Heather came to visit from Colorado. We went up to Park City and rode the longest gondola ever (I kid you not), went shopping, and watched the fireworks at Sugar House park. We also ate way too much and watched approximately a million old episodes of Project Runway. Here we all are at the Riverwoods after going to see Midnight in Paris and before going out for sushi.

Towards the end of July we took a road trip to the Grand Canyon and then Zion's. Our friend Dave drove down to the Grand Canyon with us and it was seriously the most fun I have had in a long time. We just spent one day at Grand Canyon before meeting the rest of our group in St. George. With everyone together, we hiked the narrows at Zion, which was an absolute blast, and so beautiful. It was good to have one last hurrah with everyone before we each went our own way for school.

And then it was August. Neil's brother Joel came to visit us to help us pack up and drive to Iowa. Neil took Joel and I to a Real Salt Lake game since both Neil and Joel have recently become very interested in soccer. Everyone at the stadium was really into it, so it was fun to watch.

My parents also flew to Utah straight from Omaha to help us drive both our cars plus the moving truck. And why were they in Nebraska? Well, my sister was in the National Czech-Slovak pageant there representing Utah. She did awesome and was 2nd runner up. Here she is in her kroi.

Anyway, we had so much help cleaning and loading the truck and driving. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The drive to Iowa was a lot less traumatic than anticipated. The cats were amazing and didn't even need their sedatives. We are really all settled in now and everything is going well. Neil loves his classes and classmates, and I am really loving being with my family, immediate and extended.

Finally, last week Neil celebrated his 29th birthday. He requested a banana cake and Red Lobster, so that's what we did. He got a new soccer jersey and lots of nice, new dress clothes from both of our parents. A good birthday, all in all.

April

2011-05-01T22:08:00.001-06:00

April has been a busy, busy month!

We celebrated Amy's birthday with a fun dinner and chocolate fudge cake.

We celebrated Easter as our little Utah family: Neil, Emily, and I

Before we leave Utah, Neil and I want to see all the sights. We drove down to Moab for a few days to go to beautiful Arches National Park.

And drove another 45 minutes to go to the Monticello, Utah temple because we are also trying to visit all of the Utah temples, too. We have a long way to go.

This weekend we went to Iowa for a very (too) short trip for Tippie MBA Advance weekend. We met some new friends and started our housing search in Iowa City. Ofcourse we had to visit the Dairy Queen up the street from my house for some cherry cones.

Hopefully the next 3 months will go just as fast!

Weekend Fun

2011-03-21T09:18:00.001-06:00

Last weekend Neil took a little trip to Las Vegas with his buddies to go to the Mountain West Conference championship. He did fun things like watch basketball at the stadium, watch basketball on tv, and watch basketball at the ESPN zone in his own private lounging chair (picture courtesy of Ryan). Basically a perfect weekend for Neil.

Meanwhile, I made my sister come over for the weekend and stay with me so I wouldn't have to be alone. We painted our toe nails,went shoe shopping, paid a visit to Les Madeleines in SLC to get macaroons, ate those macaroons while watching Coco Before Chanel, attended a pilates class (that ended up being a yoga class), made breakfast strata, tried out Pizzeria 712 (way too cool for us), and ended with the cazookie at The Chocolate. A very successful girls' weekend if I do say so myself.

Pretty Kitty

2011-02-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Every morning while I put makeup on, Callie sits right by me on the bathroom counter, stares at me, and tries to steal my brushes. Today I was using some hot pink MAC pigment on my lips and while I was applying it with my brush a little bit fell on the counter. Callie took full advantage of this and decided that we would match today. She dipped her face into the small amount of pigment with remarkable aim and this was the result . . . .

So preeeeetty

Weekend Trip

2011-01-10T22:34:00.001-07:00

I flew down to Arizona Thursday to spend the weekend with my friend and roommate from BYU, Alex. We had so much fun and it was so nice to escape the cold for a few days! Here are some pictures of us courtesy of Alex:

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-12T21:22:00.003-07:00

My entire week has been devoted to making Christmas cookies: Sugar cookies, gingerbread men, candy cane cookies, peanut butter balls, and Russian tea cakes. I am so done.

Thank you to Emily and Amy for helping! (and Neil for eating)

Happy holidays everyone!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-12T20:42:00.011-07:00

My parents visited over Thanksgiving and it was GREAT!

We went to the Salt Lake Temple

Celebrated my Dad's birthday with gourmet pizza and a chocolate and white chocolate mousse cake

We made Thanksgiving dinner and sat down together as a family

Then we put up our Christmas tree

My mom, my sister, and I went shopping on Black Friday. We were at the mall at 4 am! It's crazy, but it's our tradition.

We went and saw Tangled together. So cute!

My Dad and I completed two puzzles

Best of all, we took family pictures. (There are more on my facebook)

Then before my mom left, we made candy wreaths

And went to church together

The end.

Things I Missed

2010-11-28T09:18:00.007-07:00

I am the worst blogger ever (obviously). Looking back at my posts, here are a few things I missed:

Emily turned 21. I bought her a little white cake with white frosting (per her specifications) and we went out to Communal in Provo with her friend Heather, who was visiting from Colorado. We loved Communal- highly recommend.

We watched General Conference and made pumpkin pancakes. Our apartment looks pretty bare, huh? Well, that's because we just moved to a new place in Pleasant Grove. We miss Alpine tons, but sadly, it was time to go. We do enjoy the extra space in this apartment, though.

Halloween! I am not a huge fan. We watched a not-scary movie and then carved a pumpkin.

And lastly, Neil turned 28. We went to Tucano's and then ate ice cream cake- the traditional Neil birthday. Neil bought himself a new, much bigger TV for his football-watching pleasure.

Now we are caught up :)

Hello Family, Goodbye Friends

2010-11-07T20:32:00.002-07:00

Neil has been accepted to the University of Iowa's MBA program for fall 2011. We will be moving to Iowa in August. I am very excited to be moving back so close to my family, but we are sorry to leave all our friends! . . . but it is 9 months away. Anyway, I am so very proud of Neil. Go Hawkeyes!! (first a buckeye, then a cougar, then a hawkeye, as Neil says)

Girls Weekend

2010-10-17T21:12:00.005-06:00

Emily and I had a fun-filled girls weekend.

We made cookie dough cupcakes.

We ran approximately 1000 errands and then went out to Olive Garden because we needed more carbs. Obviously. And then ate more cupcakes with ice cream while watching movies.

And gave each other pedicures.

Reminisced about our trips to Paris and made chocolate banana crepes.

Basically Emily made herself at home and we had lots of girl chats.

It was a good weekend :)

Paris Day 8 Pantheon, Fauchon, Tuileries

2010-09-26T17:44:00.006-06:00

Paris Day 7 the Strike, Palais Garnier, and Galeries Lafayette

2010-09-23T14:36:00.011-06:00

Paris Day 6 Invalides

2010-09-22T09:50:00.004-06:00

Paris Day 5 Versailles

2010-09-22T09:41:00.008-06:00

Paris Day 4 Basilicas St. Denis and Sacre Couer

2010-09-20T14:47:00.008-06:00

Paris Day 3 The Louvre

2010-09-19T10:25:00.006-06:00

Paris Day 2

2010-09-19T03:02:00.005-06:00

Notre Dame and Musee D'Orsay

Paris Day 1

2010-09-18T00:55:00.005-06:00

We were supposed to be in St. George this weekend . . .

2010-08-08T00:00:00.008-06:00

But instead we did this:
That would be our second bedroom, gutted. I got home from work Friday night ready to throw our bags in the car and head out, but I smelled something awful as soon as I opened the door. I quickly figured out that the scent was from moldy water-soaked carpet in our second bedroom. This happened in April and was supposedly fixed. Apparently not. Instead of taking a weekend trip, we spent Saturday moving all of our stuff out, tearing up the stinky, disgusting carpet, and attempting to air out the place from the combined smells of mildew and the bleach we tried to clean it with. It sucked. Actually, it sucks. Still a problem.

But what better to make you feel good than 9 1/2 pounds of Ben and Jerry's ice cream? We went up to the Gateway Saturday night with my sister Emily and her date/bf/whatever? Joe and shared a Vermonster. We seriously didn't even finish half of it, but we had fun.

In other news, Emily and I hosted a little dinner party last month and made gourmet pizzas. It was amazing.
Yeah, I seriously love having my sister here. And I am glad that Neil put up with me today. It was a rough one.

We leave for Paris next month. Happy thoughts . . .

My Sister is Here!

2010-06-27T20:30:00.005-06:00

Actually, my dad brought her out here a couple weeks ago. I am behind on blogging (no surprise there). My dad didn't get to stay out here very long, but I took a couple days off of work and we packed in alot of fun in a short time. We spent one day moving my sister in and then touring UVU ( where she is going to school) since none of us had ever seen the campus before. I have to admit that it is a pretty nice campus and I think that it is the perfect place for her. Also that day, my dad asked my sister and I to take him shopping for some new shorts and we had an absolute blast making my dad try on pretty much every cargo short in the store. We spent the next day hiking in the canyons. Let's just say that it was an adventure. Below are some pictures of us towards the beginning of our hike, before we became cold, wet, and covered in mud. Memories, right?

We also spent a lot of time playing games and hanging out. I got to make some of my favorite new recipes for my dad and also take him out for an early Father's Day brunch. It was so hard for my sister and I to drop Dad off at the airport, but atleast this time I wasn't left totally alone.

It's been fun having Em out here. Neil and I took her to the farmer's market in Salt Lake yesterday and had a great time sampling from all the vendors and getting some great produce and homemade goods. Family is the best.

Nothing New

2010-05-02T14:58:00.006-06:00

Nothing new has happened in our lives. However, I am excited because we have so much to look forward to in the coming months. Instead of what we've been doing, this is what we will be doing-

#1- May - Our 3rd Anniversary. I know, have we seriously been married that long? It's true. Another landmark.

#2 - June - my sister moves to Utah!!!!!! I am just a little excited to have some family here and I have already mentally planned out so many adventures. The last couple weeks whenever I go shopping or cook a new meal I think how much more fun it will be with Emily.

#3- July or August- my parents are coming to visit. I miss them so much. Always a favorite.

#4- September- Paris and London! Yes, we are really doing it and we can hardly wait. It will definitely be an adventure. We've got to do it while we are young and before we have kids, right?

And hopefully by then I will have a real reason to blog.

Jan-Feb

2010-02-21T21:16:00.009-07:00

In January Neil and I went to Iowa to visit my family. It was a miracle that our plane even landed in Cedar Rapids the day we were supposed to get in, 2+ hour delay notwithstanding, because there was such a huge storm. Neil says that we will never fly to Iowa again in the winter, from now on out all our visits will be during the summer. But anyway, we had a great time. We got to see all my extended family, we went to a movie and to Osaka's Japanese Steakhouse (our tradition for our Iowa visits), celebrated my mom's birthday, and mostly just had a lot of fun relaxing playing games, and ofcourse doing puzzles with Dad. We also had the opportunity to have someone from my parents ward take family pictures which was really fun.

We had a great Valentine's Day last week. I was proud of myself for thinking up something good to give to Neil (because Mike and Ikes and beef jerky just isn't very romantic). I ordered the cutest cookies from Dippidee and they did a great job wrapping them all up.

Neil got me another amazing heart-shaped box of chocolates from See's. We went out to dinner Saturday night and then on Sunday we had some of our friends over and broke out the chocolate fountain for Valentine's Day.

Other than that, Blue and Gold banquet is coming up for our ward, so I have been busy doing cub scouts, cub scouts, and more cub scouts. I will definitely be glad when this week is over. Today I made not one, but two arrows of light. Never again.

And also, you will all be excited to know that Yemi turned one year old. We may or may not have had a private birthday party.

Christmas and New Year's

2010-01-03T17:11:00.009-07:00

Neil and I had Christmas just the two of us again this year. Christmas Eve my manager from work was nice enough to invite us over to her home to celebrate with her family and open Christmas pajamas, which was really fun. Christmas day we were our own party. I got up early to make brunch and then we opened presents from each other as soon as Neil woke up. (We are having Christmas from my family when we visit)

And because we are loser cat people we got our babies some presents, too. Yemi found his stocking a little early this year.

New Year's Eve I told Neil I would honor his tradition of having steak and lobster since I didn't make a Christmas dinner. So here is Neil with his feast:

This will be one very short-lived tradition.

Birthday!!

2009-12-17T22:55:00.007-07:00

Today was my 23rd birthday. Seriously, when did I get old.

Highlights included:

1) Neil got me a new outfit so I could look cute for my birthday
2) I bought myself these black glitter toms that I've been obsessing over

and . . .
3) Neil took me out to dinner to Mimi's Cafe and I got an amazing salad and we shared this dessert (that actually kind of sucked, but whatever)

In other news, I found these cat slippers and decided that they were hilarious and I had to have them. Neil is totally embarrassed of me.

And my once beautiful Christmas tree has succumbed to this:

. . . and this:
I really don't even know how she can haul her fat butt up there, but it's driving me crazy.

Christmas Baking

2009-12-17T22:45:00.006-07:00

We've been busy preparing for Christmas for the last couple weeks and one of my favorite things to do every year is bake Christmas cookies. For the last 3 years I have made Neil help me decorate sugar cookies (thank you Lex!) and, while he absolutely loves sugar cookies, he would rather eat them than spend hours frosting them. This year I got smart and I decided to have my friend Amy over and we made the cookies together. It took us 6 hours, but we made 4 batches of sugar cookies and two batches of candy cane twist cookies that turned out just adorable! I had so much fun spending the afternoon together chatting and baking! Here are some pictures of our accomplishments :)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T08:59:00.007-07:00

Neil and I decided to do our own little Thanksgiving again this year. Yes we are pathetic, but we really, honestly prefer hanging out at home all day and I totally don't mind the cooking. Anyway, here's Neil doing his job and carving the turkey.

After we ate we decided that we would put up all our Christmas decorations a day early. I have been so super excited to put up our tree that I could not even wait. Neil let me put the tree topper on. . . . And here is a picture of my little helper who already loves Christmas more than anything and has successfully removed all the decorations from the bottom foot and a half of the tree.

In other news, I actually made an attempt to decorate our front room. Shocking, I know. I put this up:

I hated my life the entire month and a half I worked on getting the pictures in the right sizes, finding ribbon, and figuring out how to hang the dang thing up. I made Neil help me, and then he hated his life even more. But, we did get it finished and now we don't have a huge, totally empty wall anymore. However, there will be no more decorating for a while unless I can find things totally pre-made and ready-to-go.

Visit from my Mom

2009-10-29T09:17:00.004-06:00

My Mom came to visit last week and stayed with us for about 5 days. We just had the best time hanging out together. Every morning we went on a long walk through the neighborhood and then went to the temple together- which was so special. We went shopping, made pumpkin cheesecake, put together a puzzle, and drank many cups of dark chocolate hot cocoa over many long chats. It was so sad when I woke up on Tuesday morning and I couldn't go to the guest bedroom to snuggle with my Mom. I am so thankful that she was able to come visit. The picture is from Friday night when we decided to take Neil out to Market Street Grill because we all love seafood.

Neil's Birthday

2009-09-20T14:57:00.003-06:00

Neil turned 27 on Labor Day. I know, I can't believe it either.

For his birthday, we made the traditional trip to Tucano's for dinner and then Neil decided this year he really, really wanted a DQ cake and so we went home and had ice cream cake.

Neil also got himself a PS3 for his birthday. I hate it, but I'm not allowed to say anything. I got Neil another pair of jeans- his new obsession- and I think they look nice on him if I do say so myself.

Until next year . . . here's the birthday picture

Still looking good :)

Visit to Ohio

2009-08-23T20:11:00.008-06:00

Last week Sarah and I went to Columbus to visit my family and welcome my younger brother Joel home from his mission (He was serving in Denver). The first day we got in I drove down to see the Youngs down in Cincinnati (Sarah was sick from flying all day). It was great to see Andrew and Erika and was a nice trip down memory lane as I passed the Reds stadium on the way to their home. When I was younger my dad would take me to see them play, and then they starting getting horrible and we starting going north to see the Indians play instead! Now I just don't bother with baseball altogether, because they are both horrible.

The following day Joel flew in. In the picture is me, my mom, and him, with my niece Madelyn. And yes, we are aware of how similar we look!

This is him hugging my grandma Klayman, and from left to right: Madelyn with the sign she and I made, my grandma's boyfriend John, my sister-in-law Kim, and my mother and I again.

After he flew in we didn't waste any time getting him released and went shopping for new clothes the next day. Sunday morning we were all wondering how he would do on his home coming talk, and after hearing him speak there was no denying the immense progress he had made. It was nice to see the look in my parents eyes as he spoke. They were so proud of him. I guess when I was a missionary I never noticed the progress I had made, but it's night and day from a third party perspective what a mission can do for a young man.

Then the day before we left we went to the Columbus, Ohio Zoo. It is the largest zoo in the US in terms of animals and different species (yes, even bigger than the San Diego Zoo, which is larger in area only), thanks in large part to Jack Hannah. We saw fluffy, who Sarah refused to look at.

Isn't he just the cutest 20 something inch Python you've ever seen? Lastly there was the Leopard, which for obvious reasons was Sarah's favorite.

Salt Lake City

2009-08-01T22:27:00.005-06:00

So basically for the past two months Neil and I have been working and Neil joined NetFlix. That and a few other miscellaneous little things. However, today I was feeling restless and wanted to actually do something and go somewhere so Neil decided that we could go to the Brigham Young Memorial and the Salt Lake City Cemetery to walk around and look at the graves of the prophets and other well-known church members. It was actually really cool since I had never been to either before. We took some pictures at the Brigham Young Memorial because I never take pictures and so that I would have something to post with this.

. . . and also I think this picture is cute so I'm going to post it.

And that's about it.

Callie and Yemi

2009-05-27T21:14:00.005-06:00

And yes, Yemi did finally get to come home. Don't worry, he is best friends with Callie and we absolutely love the little guy.One thing, though. He is the cutest little snuggler, but he is also THE loudest cat ever!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T20:52:00.008-06:00

My family came to visit last weekend to celebrate my parents' 30th anniversary and Neil and my 2nd anniversary. We had an absolute blast and I was so grateful to be able to see them. Some highlights . . .

Saturday morning we went to the Draper Temple. It was a really special experience to be able to be in the temple together as a family, even if it was kind of chaotic getting it all organized.

Later that day we went to American Fork Canyon and hiked some of the trails. It was a beautiful day and we loved taking in all the scenery of the mountains- that's something you definitely don't get in Iowa.
Sunday was a really relaxing day. We took the opportunity to catch up on everything going on back at home and my mom taught me how to make her lasagna. We rested up from all our hiking the previous day and played some family games.

Monday morning we got up early and went back to American Fork Canyon. This time we hiked to Timpanogos caves. We were really grateful we went early on because it was pretty quiet on the trail and our tour at the top wasn't even full. By the time we were heading back down everyone else was starting to head up in droves. The caves were really cool and we were glad we got the opportunity to visit them.

Monday was also our double anniversary. After some shopping time for the girls, we went out for a nice dinner all together. Afterward, we opened cards (my 90-yr old Grandma Samek wrote Neil and I the cutest poem for our anniversary and gave us two $2 bills- just like she did for my parents on their 2nd anniversary) and my dad and and I put together a puzzle- one of our favorite activities.
I'm always so sad to see my family go back home, but we really just had the best weekend together. Good memories to hold me over til next time :)

Happy Birthday Babycat!

2009-04-30T19:35:00.001-06:00

Callie turned one year old today. Our kitten is now a cat. We celebrated with a little tuna "cake." Yes, we are crazy cat people.

No more lazy days at home

2009-04-29T21:26:00.002-06:00

Guess what?! I got a job! I am so excited and I really feel so very blessed. I will be working as an optical assistant in American Fork which means I will be working as a receptionist, imaging and testing eyes, and helping people pick out frames and lenses. And I love the people I work with already. I feel like it couldn't be more perfect. I guess all the waiting and being rejected from school had its purpose.

Why is Ron still on The Biggest Loser??

2009-04-29T16:00:00.003-06:00

He is sneaky and conniving and he doesn't deserve to be there. I am so mad. So is Neil.

RON GO HOME!

Bad News, Good News

2009-04-26T19:35:00.004-06:00

So, the bad news is that I didn't get into the program at the U. Honestly, I felt in my heart that I wouldn't and so it wasn't overly dramatic and traumatizing.

The good news is that Neil felt bad for me, so he bought me this . . .

Could he be cuter? Neil has decided to name him Yemi after Eko's dead priest brother on Lost. I know. Neil wanted something exotic. Anyway, Yemi is a bengal kitten and he will be joining our family on May 17th. We got to meet him and he is just the prettiest, cutest thing ever. And so, life is good.

The grocery stores are conspiring to take my money

2009-04-20T21:31:00.002-06:00

So on Friday I went to the grocery store and they charged me for two red bell peppers instead of one and then today when I got home from a different grocery store I noticed a pack of green tea chewing gum on my receipt that is definitely not something I bought. I am pretty sure that I am cursed. I've lost $5 already, but I would feel stupid going to the two grocery stores to ask for just a couple dollars back. This is what I get for trying to actually have a grocery budget. Geez. Moral of the story- check your receipt before you leave the store!

My family bought plane tickets and they are coming to visit next month!!!

2009-04-18T19:39:00.004-06:00

Could anything be more exciting? Seriously. Neil asked me a couple weeks ago where I would travel to if I had unlimited resources and could go anywhere in the world and the answer is . . . Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And I'm being totally honest. Not that it's a completely fair question because I really don't like to travel that much period, especially when it involves being out of my comfort zone in a completely different culture, but still, I really love my family. A lot.

In other news, Neil and I tried making lamb as part of our sad little Easter celebration with each other and the cat. I didn't want to do a ham again because every time I make one we only eat a fraction of it and then never completely use the leftovers. Waste. My solution was to get just a couple cuts of lamb so that we could enjoy a more reasonable amount of a nice meat. So, here is Neil with his lamb shank. It makes me laugh when I envision a medieval king sitting at a table overlooking his feast with a big leg in his hand. I had a rib chop. It was okay, but not something I think I will probably be making again anytime soon.

We also have been pet-sitting for our neighbors for the last week and a half. The good news is that I have finally talked Neil out of getting a dog someday :)

In the meantime, I am waiting for a letter from the U to tell me whether I am accepted or not into the program I applied to. Supposedly decisions were made by the 15th. I am not too optimistic since they are only accepting 5 people. Not very good odds. I feel like I am waiting to take an ochem final - waiting for something to happen that you know you are going to fail at. Regardless, I think that having this break from work and school has been a blessing and has really helped me to evaluate my life and my priorities and get back on track. I can honestly say that I am okay with whatever happens and I will accept that it is what Heavenly Father wants for me right now. And I think that it has taken the entire 3 mos for me to get to that point.

Next time you see Neil, he will actually see you

2009-03-14T12:20:00.002-06:00

Don't worry, you haven't missed much in the last month or so. My store closed in January right after we got back from Iowa and since then I have been hanging out at home being a good wife and trying to figure out what to do next with me life (hopefully school, we will see). Neil has been working like crazy riding the ups and downs of the stock market. And that's about it. But, here are two newsworthy items:

1) After teaching a 5 year old primary class of all boys and then an 8 year old primary class of all boys, Neil and I have moved on to . . . scouts. How exciting. I am with the 9 year old bear scouts (just as an assistant, really not bad at all because the den leader is a pro. I'm not sure what about me screams "good with little boys," but whatever) and Neil works with the 14-15 year old boy scouts. We have decided that we will have either a) all little boys or b) no little boys in our future family. There must be a purpose. Neil really likes his calling so far, the kids love him. And well, I have my own yellow scouting shirt- with patches on the sleeves- what more could I ask.

2) Neil got contacts. As you probably all know, we are occasionally late because Neil misses his turn-off on I-15. Now we have an explanation. He couldn't see the signs . . . as well as closed captions, game scores on the tv, and the projector at his work. Neil randomly called me up from work one day and told me that he needed to see an eye doctor . . . and that he already took the afternoon off to go. By some miracle I found an optometrist close by that had an opening in the next couple hours. I guess Neil had contacts for a while when he was in high school, but he got tired of putting them in and so he just stopped wearing them after 6 mos. He probably shouldn't have. After the initial testing, the optometrist informed Neil that in truth he should not have been driving. Really. As in it wasn't legal, his vision was 20/60. Well Neil got his contacts and after only a few days of struggling, he can now put them in himself. And, most importantly, Neil can see.

Trip to Iowa

2009-01-23T15:56:00.003-07:00

We went to visit my family back in Iowa the second week in January. Although I definitely missed being with my family over the holidays I must say that traveling was so so so much easier in January. Even Callie came on the plane with us and she didn't even meow once! We took it pretty easy in Iowa. I was so happy to be back with my family and I really just wanted to relax and spend time with them. And we definitely did a lot of relaxing, especially when we got snowed in! We put together a puzzle, went to see Marley and Me (during which my whole family cried . . . except for Neil), and visited my sisters singles ward in Iowa City. My mom also put together a little open house for us one night so that my extended family could come over to see us while we were in town. Also, my mom's birthday was the day we flew out so I made her a special 3-layer chocolate fudge cake.

Callie loved hanging out with my ancient family cat Snowball while we were there, although he really did not reciprocate the feeling at all. He hissed and growled at her every time he saw her, but she never gave up.

Holiday Redux in Photos

2009-01-23T15:49:00.008-07:00

Our First Christmas Tree

2008-12-21T15:41:00.005-07:00

Neil and I have always gone home for Christmas so we've never really put alot of effort into decorating our previous apartments. However, since we will be spending Christmas in Utah this year we decided that this would be the year to buy our first Christmas tree. I was insanely excited about getting to decorate a tree all my own just the way I wanted to. My friend Lex introduced me to Tai Pan Trading Co. in Sandy and we were able to get some gorgeous decorations there for really cheap. We put the tree (and some stockings) up the day after Thanksgiving and have so enjoyed being able to turn the lights of our own Christmas tree on every night ever since.

There's just one little problem . . .

Thanksgiving

2008-12-21T15:36:00.005-07:00

With again no family around, Neil and I opted for a quiet Thanksgiving this year. Thank you to everyone who invited us to dinner, but Neil wanted to have plenty of leftovers for himself and we really didn't want to intrude on anyone's family day. I made Thanksgiving dinner for Neil and then we went up to our neighbors' for dessert ( an assortment of pies). Neil rewarded me for my full day of cooking by taking me to the movie "Twilight."

Las Vegas Trip

2008-11-23T20:33:00.005-07:00

Neil decided a couple months ago that we needed a little getaway, so he took some time off this last week for us to take a trip to Las Vegas. I had actually never been there before and we thought it would be a good trip to accomplish in just a couple days since it isn't too far from where we live ( by not very far I mean within comfortable driving distance). Excluding trips to see our family, we hadn't taken a vacation as a couple since last Thanksgiving, so I guess we were about due to go.

We drove up to Las Vegas Wednesday morning and got there by early afternoon. We stayed at Treasure Island which isn't the nicest hotel, but it is connected to the Fashion Show Mall, and well, you know where our priorities lie. I have to be honest Las Vegas gave me a little anxiety at first- all the people, the smoke, the lights. It was a little much. But, once we settled in and got used to it (and knew where to walk and where not to walk) it was a blast. Wednesday we went to the mall and Neil randomly decided to buy me some hot pink Rock and Republics (which was the highlight of my trip. The next day I wore them while Neil wore his blue ones. I know it was retarded, but it was so funny). Then at night we went to the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere which was absolutely amazing. Seriously that level of body strength and flexibility is um impossibly magnificent.

We spent all of Thursday walking up and down the strip going into each one of the hotels just to check them out and visit all the shopping areas. It was kind of cool to see everything, but our feet definitely got tired. We went to the ESPN zone for lunch just so that Neil could say that he had been there and also the M&M store because that's my favorite candy.

After going our for breakfast Friday morning and doing some last minute shopping we headed for home. It was a fun trip, but we were definitely over Las Vegas and our feet were beyond tired. All in all though, it was so nice to get away to spend some time together and especially to miss work.

Lex's Visit

2008-11-23T20:27:00.003-07:00

The first weekend in November my old roommate and good friend Lex came to stay with us for a couple days for our old roommate's wedding. I hadn't seen her since Neil and I visited her and her husband when we visited Arizona last Thanksgiving and it was SO good to see her! I love her and miss having her here so much! Anyway, we had a fun time visiting our old stomping grounds at Chatham Towne in Provo, getting chocolate milk from the Creamery, visiting Thanksgiving Point, attending Stacey's reception, shopping all over, and doing whatever random things we could think of (aka cleaning our wedding bands). It was such a nice visit, though I know she missed her husband. Hopefully I can visit her next year and keep this tradition going!

What we haven't been doing

2008-10-19T21:10:00.007-06:00

So I've got to be honest, I haven't posted in a month, but we also haven't really done anything in the last month. I've been adjusting to not being in school (hate it. want to go back) and have been spending my time obsessively cleaning the apartment and working out for lack of anything better to do. The upside to this is that 1) our apartment has never been cleaner and 2) I have discovered cardio pump classes and cycle classes (thanks to my friend Kin) which can I say I LOVE!!!!! I never thought I would do the whole gym class thing because I am just so used to doing traditional workouts on my own, but subbing some classes a couple times a week has made all the difference- unfortunately not in my weight, but I think that it has really improved my strength and my attitude. As a side, Neil ran two miles straight this week. I am so proud.

Also, I have been baking everything pumpkin. I am fairly convinced that pumpkin is the best thing about fall. After baking pumpkin pie bars, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, frosted pumpkin bars, and pumpkin muffins, I finally threw out all the sugar so that I couldn't make anything else. But oh, they were good.

Neil is doing great. He still loves his job and is always doing extra research at home. Boy am I glad I took that personal finance class this summer, because Neil loves to tell me what is going on in the financial world and I would not even be able to communicate with him if I hadn't. Also, Neil got his first pair of running shoes a couple weeks ago after blowing the shocks in his basketball shoes. He told me that his feet felt "so light" that he could just keep running. Love it!

So, two more things . . .

My friend Melissa moved up to Holladay. She is from my ward back home in Iowa and I am soooo excited to have her here. She came over for Sunday dinner last week and it was so good to see here! Here she is with the ever-present cat:

Lastly, I cut 14 inches off my hair. Neil saw a picture of Jenny McCarthy with a bob and asked me why I wouldn't try something like that. The logic was that since we are going to be married for a long time, I should try to cut my hair short now so that Neil could decide whether he liked me better with long hair or short hair and then I could just wear my hair that way for the rest of our married lives. And honestly, I also just felt like a change and as long as Neil was suggesting it, why not? I am not totally sold on it, but Neil prefers it. Atleast I know that some little girl will get a nice long wig. That thought comforts me alot.

Happy Birthday, Neil!

2008-09-07T20:46:00.004-06:00

Neil turned 26 years old today. I know, I can't believe he's that old :). Friday night we went out to Tucano's for his birthday dinner (since I had to work Saturday night and Sunday wasn't an option) and he enjoyed all the meat he could possibly eat. Then, last night we picked up some banana ice cream from ColdStone and some white chocolate covered waffle bowls. If you know Neil, you know that that is pretty much as good as it gets- banana and white chocolate are his absolute favorites. We had the ice cream tonight as a substitute for birthday cake. A Sunday birthday really isn't too bad. We've very much enjoyed spending Neil's whole birthday together just relaxing.

No more claws!

2008-09-07T20:33:00.007-06:00

Callie got declawed front and back, spayed, and had her last set of vaccinations on Thursday. We are very happy that she will no longer be able to climb up our legs, but have felt horrible because she felt kind of miserable. She had all four of her feet bandaged for the last couple days and has just been hobbling around the house. We have tried to make it up to her by spoiling her. Thursday night I grilled some salmon for her and gave her a dab of pudding. She got to watch me in the kitchen from her little bed and then ate at her own place setting at the table.

Neil took Friday off so that he could watch Callie while I went to work, so they played football together all day on the Wii.Today, I am happy to report that the bandages came off and she is pretty much back to normal (minus the biting).

Graduation

2008-08-17T13:13:00.005-06:00

After pretty much the longest summer ever, I graduated from BYU on Friday with my BS in Exercise Science. I seriously can't believe that I'm done. 3 years have gone by so quickly and I really don't feel old enough to be a college graduate. In all honesty, I've been kind of depressed about it. With the exception of physics and o-chem, I actually like going to school (when I'm not working full-time). I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do now that I actually have free-time. Neil teases me that I'm going to have to develop some hobbies.

After experiencing Neil's graduation in April, I definitely have to recommend August graduation. It was so much shorter and smoother and Provo was no where near as congested as it was in April. I was also fortunate enough to have last week off of work to take my finals and graduate and it was so nice to have a break from work. My family drove here all the way from Iowa to bring out all of our wedding presents (and yes, it has been 15 mos.) and stay with us for a week. I love my family so much and I was beyond happy that they could spend the week with us. We had so much fun even though we spent most of our time just hanging out and relaxing (because I have been dead and still had finals and my mom is having knee surgery done soon). It's funny because I'm so used to living with my family that I adjust really quickly and just kind of felt like we were all living at home together. I miss them so much now and our apartment feels so quiet. Callie misses all her new playmates and has been obnoxious for the last few days because she got so used to being showered with attention.

Anyway, I promise I really am happy and so relieved to be done with school. It will definitely be an adjustment but I am so looking forward to being able to spend more time with Neil (who has been amazingly supportive and has helped me so much over the past few months). And, I get to gloat to all the kids at work going back to school in a few weeks that I'm ALL DONE!

For those of you sick and tired of hearing about our cat . . .

2008-07-27T11:19:00.002-06:00

As of Friday Neil has passed both of his licensing exams for work. This is a huge relief for him because he would have lost his job if he failed and he has been studying really hard for them since his graduation. Neil will finally have a little break from studying (until he starts studying for the GMAT in a couple weeks)! He did very, very well on both exams and I am so proud of him! To celebrate, we went out to get him a steak and then some banana ice cream on Friday night.

I am still doing basically nothing but school and work. I just keep telling myself that the end is in sight! I am sooooo excited for my family to come in two weeks for my graduation. I love my family!!!!!! It's so nice to be able to have a place that allows us to have them stay with us instead of at a hotel somewhere. Now I just need to make sure I pass my physics class . . . ( sigh!)

Princess Callie

2008-07-27T11:13:00.004-06:00

So I ordered Callie this adorable custom collar that is hot pink velvet ribbon with pink Swarovski crystals and a little crystal crown charm, but unfortunately they didn't size it very well and it is too big for her tiny neck. I am so disappointed! I guess she will have to grow into it. Maybe by the time she gets big enough to wear it she will be more interested in prancing around in it than biting it off. We also learned this week when we went to the vet that calico cats are known for their attitude. We had no idea, but Callie definitely fits the bill and she is our little princess!

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-06T19:47:00.012-06:00

I am writing this post with the help of Callie (who has come to love computers far too much)

Neil and I were really excited for the 4th of July weekend. Not like we had a family bbq (or anything for that matter) to be at or anything, but we were really looking forward to having some extra time off. For me, no Friday classes meant no Friday homework, so I haven't had so much to do this weekend, which has been amazing!

For the 4th we went up to Provo to the Freedom Festival downtown. The highlight was the fact that Neil was able to get an authentic Navajo taco. Neil served part of his mission on the reservation in Arizona for those of you who don't know. He has been looking for years to find fry bread like he had on the reservation, but with no luck (the Canon Center Navajo tacos just didn't quite cut it). Anyway, it was pretty exciting for him to find one. Other than that, there wasn't much to do besides eat (which we did). I'm not too into any sort of crafty things. I tend to throw them away as clutter rather than make/collect them, so we weren't too interested in the vendors, but it was something different to do.

After visiting the festival, we went up to Rock Canyon Park to watch fireworks. Unfortunately we didn't get the memo that they weren't starting until 10:15, so we were waiting there for a couple hours. The fireworks were good, but we definitely underestimated the Miley Cyrus traffic so it took us 2 hours instead of 30 minutes to drive home. Not the best night, but we know now for next year.

Callie is growing like crazy! I just had to post an updated picture. It's like her kitten food is Miracle Grow for cats! She was only 1 lb on the Friday before the 4th when we took her to the vet for her first set of shots, but we're pretty sure she has doubled in weight now. It's a little sad that she's starting to lose her baby kitten look, but we just love her to death. She is very spoiled already because she is the center of attention in our apartment and gets everything she wants.

Our new baby

2008-06-21T23:19:00.006-06:00

A bunch of our friends are pregnant right now, but Neil and I aren't really ready for that yet. However, we have been really wanting to get a baby kitten since both of us grew up with cats. Last week I found a kitten that I fell in love with online. She was a little bit too young for us to pick her up right away, so we just got her tonight. So . . . meet Callie!

Callie is only about 8 weeks old, so she is still very tiny. She LOVES attention and always wants to play. Since she's just a baby, though, she gets worn out really fast and then wants to cuddle and sleep on us. She is a sweetheart! Here are some pictures of her and Neil playing and watching TV.

A little explanation

2008-06-17T08:30:00.007-06:00

Per Lex's reminder last week, I realized that I haven't updated this thing for quite a while. It's not that I decided not to blog anymore, we've just been really busy doing nothing too exciting. We are absolutely loving our apartment, though. Alpine is amazing! It's nice to be somewhere so quiet and our ward has been very friendly to us.

I ended up finding out that I actually received grants for spring/summer, so I decided to go to school full-time for those terms so that I can graduate a year early in August. I basically didn't know if I would be able to drag my butt back to campus this fall, so I wanted to just get it over with. I was also offered a promotion at work at the end of April. I was originally supposed to start mid-June, but they really wanted me to start at the beginning of May and I couldn't refuse a decent paycheck. So basically I have been working full-time management at Abercrombie and going to school full-time. Don't worry about me dropping out of school, though. I will be "terminated" if I don't have my diploma in hand by the end of August. Hence the lack of blog entries.

Neil loves working at Fidelity and is really, really glad that he no longer has to commute up to Salt Lake everyday. He seriously has 3 extra hours a day now that he only has to go to American Fork. Neil has been spending his spare time studying for his licensing so that he can trade stocks (or something like that, investments aren't really my thing). So, we've spent most of our nights together just studying: me for school, Neil for work. Also, last month when I had to renew my gym membership, Neil got a membership with me. Neil has been going with me to the gym every other day. He actually really enjoys it and is getting better and better each time. He can now run 2 miles! I like the days that Neil goes with me alot. It's nice to be able to share something that I love with him and spend some extra time together. And, as you can guess, Neil always has some interesting comments about all the gym rats he sees!

At the end of May I got to go home to Iowa for my little sister Emily's graduation. It was so good to see my family, but I missed Neil alot (he couldn't come because he wasn't allowed to take time off during training). We went out for our anniversary to Happy Sumo when we got back and Neil bought me a white gold band to wear to the gym and around the house so that I always look married!

So here are some pictures from my trip home. I made 200 mini tiffany blue cupcakes for my sister's graduation party (I don't think I will ever eat a cupcake again!), so here is a picture of my sister with some of her cupcakes, my sister and I with our very favorite high school teacher, and a picture of my family at graduation.

Graduation

2008-04-27T14:48:00.007-06:00

This last week was very eventful for the two of us. Neil's graduation ceremonies were Thursday and Friday, so his parents along with his grandma and her boyfriend flew in on Sunday to visit. We had fun hanging out with them shopping, showing them around BYU, and eating our way through Provo. Here are some pictures we took at Neil's graduation and at his celebration dinner at Tucano's:

Also, on Wednesday, Neil's dad came with us to help us pick out a new car. After much deliberation, we ended up with a '07 Camry that Neil will be driving to work.

Ready for some change!

2008-04-20T08:45:00.005-06:00

Sorry guys, no picture this time. There will definately be some from this coming week, though, it being Neil's graduation and all.
So, we've been really busy. I've been super excited to move out of our trashy little south of campus apartment (not my favorite, can you tell?).

I just have to insert a little something here to clear things up because a lot of our friends live south of campus also. I am not talking about south of campus housing in general, it's just our apartment.

Case in point:
#1 Our bathroom floorboards are pretty much rotting

#2 Our kitchen floor is stained beyond repair

#3 So, when we first moved in I dropped something down the side of the kitchen stove and tried to move the stove out in order to remove it so that it wouldn't stay there forever and be disgusting. I moved the stove out and noticed that I must have had a completely and totally unique idea because the entire side of the stove was covered in gross-ness from the like 10 years of college students previously living in our apartment. I was so completely and totally sickened that I could not even touch it. If it was mine it would be one thing, but it is so way beyond gross to clean up someone else's old gunk. Anyway, I have been trying to put it out of my consciousness ever since, but lately I have seriously been having nightmares about it. Yesterday, awakened by a very vivid nightmare, I put on some leftover gloves from my anatomy labs and determinedly moved the stove out to clean the side of it. Upon moving it out, I noticed that the back of the stove, the other wall, and the floor were approximately 10 hundred thousand times worse. I tried not to look at it, cleaned the side, and proceeded to gag for an hour. Later that afternoon I pretty much had an anxiety attack over it and had to leave the apartment. My new sworn enemy- my own kitchen stove. Sorry for the utterly disgusting story, but I think it illustrates my point.

Anyway, back to more pleasant things . . .

The problem is that we A) had to find a new apartment immediately since we already sold our contract for May, and B) have been living in a furnished apartment, so we needed to buy all the furniture for it. Additionally, Neil will be commuting up to Salt Lake for a month and then working in American Fork while I am still going to BYU and working in Orem. So, you guessed it, we also have to buy a second car. This has all been happening concurrently with finals. Basically, we've been flitting around the greater Salt Lake area for the past couple weeks trying to put everything together. The result is that we have a basement apartment in Alpine (which is not really a basement, anyway) and we have acquired a complete bedset and living roomset. We're still working on a car and TV stand, but that's alot of progress for us. I just can't wait for everything to calm down and to be able to settle in!

So the plan is . . .

2008-04-02T21:49:00.003-06:00

As most of you already know, Neil got a job with Fidelity starting at the end of April. He will train in Salt Lake and then work at their new location in American Fork. So, basically we are stuck in Utah for awhile. We're hoping to be able to transfer back east in a couple years since it is a nation-wide company, but we'll just see how it goes. For now, we're just looking at moving out of the chaos and congestion that is the south of campus in Provo.

Staying here is not without its benefits, though. I must admit that the idea of moving all our stuff 20 minutes away to Orem or American Fork is alot more appealing than hauling it across the country and we still have a lot of friends in the area. I also found out that I will receive more grants for summer, so I will be able to go to school full-time spring/summer and graduate in August. It will be really nice just to get school over with. It would definately have been harder to go back for my last semester after having the whole summer off.

Anyway, that is the update on the "job situation."

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T17:12:00.005-06:00

Neil and I don't have any family close enough for us to go visit on holidays, so we have learned to make due on our own. This year we decided to have our own little Easter celebration.
When Neil woke up this morning, he discovered that the Easter bunny had visited him overnight and left him a big white chocolote bunny (Neil absolutely loves white chocolate, as my whole family can attest). Yum! We then went to our church meetings and when we came home we each made phone calls to talk with our families. Then I made a special Easter dinner for Neil: ham, potatoes, and asparagus. Ham is a tradition in Neil's family and my family always has my mom's special potato casserole for Easter, so we combined both of our favorites for our own dinner. After dinner, we went on a nice walk outside since it is absolutely beautiful here and then came home to have some fruit pie. All and all, we have had a wonderful, relaxing Easter Sunday! We miss our families a lot, but we know that we grow closer as a couple when we have to rely on each other.

Bracket Season!

2008-03-22T21:27:00.010-06:00

Neil decided to quit his job at Progrexion in order to have more time to devote to interviewing for jobs and studying for the GMAT. His last day was actually Friday, so he's really excited to have more time off, especially because this allows him to have more time to watch the NCAA tournament. As you can see, Neil is a master multitasker. He may watch basketball all day, but that doesn't keep him from being productive!
Every year Neil prides himself on making an impressive bracket. This year, he fused his knowledge of sport and business to create his own color-coded spreadsheet to help keep better track of the different teams' records. He used the spreadsheet to create his bracket and now updates it after every game. What a guy!

Egg Hunt

2008-03-22T21:19:00.003-06:00

Neil and I decided to have a little Easter egg hunt in our apartment for our "date" tonight. We bought candy, stuffed some plastic eggs, and then hid them all over. It was actually alot of fun to watch each other struggle finding the eggs.

Emily's Weekend in Provo

2008-03-09T14:13:00.007-06:00

Last weekend my sister Emily came out to visit us in Provo. She had never been here before, so it was quite the experience. We had a lot of fun taking her around Provo and Salt Lake City to see all our favorite places and giving her the true "BYU experience." On Saturday morning, Emily and I hiked to the top of Y mountain before we headed up to Salt Lake with Neil. In Salt Lake we toured the Conference Center and Tabernacle, checked out the Gateway, and then had fun at dinner at the Melting Pot. Emily had a really good pumpkin pancake recipe that we made together for Sunday dinner and we spent the rest of Sunday relaxing and chatting. Unfortunately, her short visit ended on Monday. So, after a tour of BYU campus and some adorable cupcakes at Mini' s Cupcakes in Salt Lake City, I had to take her to the airport. We had the best weekend ever and I hope to see her in May for her high school graduation. I was really missing her all last week because I loved the "girl time," so Neil rented a chick flick for us to watch, which he never does. Such a good guy!

Our new blog!

2008-03-08T20:38:00.004-07:00

We have finally decided to start a blog! Here's what we've been up to . . .