Back to the state of road construction!

This was probably the most adventurous and memorable trips to Utah we will ever have.  Our friend Ryan Mullen got married to his sweetie Marissa and we were able to come out and be a part of their special day!  We originally planned on driving out on Wednesday after Woody got off work which he ended up doing but...alone.  I went drove back with my parents the Friday before so I could make it to Faith's bridal shower on Saturday and work more while I was there.  Thursday he threw Ryan a bachelor party and I had a girls night with my old co-workers from Wasatch.  It was a combined double baby shower for Amanda and Lyndsey and a going away party for Holly.  It was so good to see everyone!  Friday was the wedding and it couldn't have been a better day!  The weather was great, the people were great, everything went so well and there is a new Mullen family!  We are so happy for Ryan and Marissa!

Some of the handsome groomsmen! 

JT, John, Roland, Woody, Aaron

 Me and the Best Man

The day after the wedding was super busy!  We woke up and went to the baptism of Brittney's boyfriend Travis.  It was AMAZING!  Woody gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, it was such a spiritual day for Travis and his family.  We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized!  I left the baptism and sped up to Sandy to go to Lexi and Liam's baby shower!

Angie, Lexi, Chana, Liz, Me, and Laura!

I LOVE these girls and always enjoy getting together with them.  Wish more AK alumni could have made it.  It's so nice to still be friends with these girls after 5 years now!  Congrats Lexi and Jake on their baby boy! 

Right after that I sped back down to Provo for another baby shower for Amanda and Jack! So many baby boys coming into the world!
When Tiff and I were driving home from Amanda's shower I called Woody to see if he was done shooting with the boys yet.  He just picked up the phone and said, "Hey honey I accidentally shot an antelope and the sheriff's just pulled up so I'll call you back"  Um OKAY WHAT!?  I was kind of in shock!  Tiffany dropped me off and I walked inside and said, "mom, my husband may be going to jail tonight"  And sure enough...he did.  It was actually pretty humorous.  All of it besides the bail...that wasn't so humorous.  But Nephi, Roland, and Ang came and picked me up and we headed down to Spanish Fork to bail my antelope murderer out of jail.  It was quite unexpected to say the least. 

The next morning we woke up to this cute little hunting sticker on our car!  HAHA!  Well played friends, well played.  I just love this boy and his sense of adventure! Oh and for all you animal lovers.. although he was shooting 10 feet away to try to scare the antelope off, he shot a "perfect" shot right through the heart so there was no suffering.  Imagine trying to tell the officer it was an accident after that shot. :) Love him anyway!

We spent the whole following week in Utah so we could drive down to Hurricane for Ryan and Marissa's second reception.  We stayed in St. George with Roland and Angie and hung out with Brittney and Travis while we were there.  Fun times had by all!  

Family came to Denver

April was almost just as great as March!  The day after I got home from California my mom and dad and Isaac came out to visit us over spring break! We went to a Rockies game, we shopped, ate delicious food, dad biked a lot, we went to Garden of the Gods, the Anasazi ruins, and Wicked!  

 Me and Isaac at the Anasazi Ruins

 Dad and Ike

At Garden of the Gods

 WICKED!! It was amazing!! We all went and since Holly ended up not being able to come with them to Denver we had an extra ticket so Jakey Jake Welch came with us! It was a blast! SUCH A GOOD SHOW! I love my family and they love me!

CALIFORNIA!

The first weekend in April I decided I didn't want my birthday to be over.  SOOO I planned a quicky vaca for the weekend!  The lovely Jo and Ryan Metcalf let me stay with them and play with them all weekend! It was AMAZING!

 Me and Jo Jo at the beach! We ate lunch and walked around the farmers market but then it got super windy so...... 

WE WENT TO DISNEYLAND!

 Saturday the three of us spend the day at Sea World! Jo had never been and Ryan hadn't been for a long time.
 It was magical!

 

It was much too short but such a fun weekend! 

Thanks to Jo and Ryan for letting me come party with them!

March Madness! Best Birth Month EVER!

In the middle of March my wonderful friend Amber (AKA: BAMZ) came out to visit us!  It was SO FUN!  We shopped, ate good food, shopped some more, ate more, and had a great time!  I love her to death!  I flew back to Utah with her for a couple of days and while I was there my friends threw me a wonderful surprise birthday party!  Me and a couple girlfriends planned a girls night the night before I left. So Carissa came and picked me up and we headed to Angie's.  We walked in and there was Tiff and Amanda sitting on the couch playing mario cart and there were streamers and balloons up and then the rest of my amazing friends piled out from behind a wall.  I was so surprised! I have the best friends and family in the world!

 Me and the Mullens! (And beautiful baby Elayna!)

 The Best Girl Friends!! (minus a few)

 Angie and me!

My favorite boys!  Wish Woody could have been there too!

The next day I flew home and Holly came with me!  She stayed to play for about four days and it was SO fun! I love her face!  This is her at Bubba Gump.. the only place she really wanted to go but ended up being totally not worth the money.  But it was still great and we got light up cups!

Holly left and then it was my real birthday!  I seriously had the best birth month I have ever had!  And then my hubby completely spoiled me!  He did such a good job surprising me (sometimes he can't keep secrets).  He got me a sewing machine, a bike, a longboard, a camera, and a cute jacket! (very impressed!) I love him!!!

 oh yeah! And this table! I'm IN LOVE!

Birthday Din Din with my lover!

Thanks to everyone who made my birth month the best ever! I love my life!

Diggity Denver

I am trying to make the very best of our move to Colorado.  So to do so I thought I would list some things I LOVE about the mile high city!

 

NUMBER ONE!  The first is this little gem....

Schlotzsky's is my FAVORITE sandwich joint EVER!  There used to be one in Orem but then one day I woke up and it was Panda Express.  Boy was I peeved.  My mom and I used to go on dates there and I loved the turkey bacon club on rye so much that my mom actually made up a game for my birthday one year called...Turkey bacon club on rye.  Ha, I love her.  I know there is one in South Salt Lake somewhere but honestly how often am I up there?  Well they are EVERYWHERE here!  It make me SO happy!  This is actually the place where I had my first tomato on a sandwich! (see previous post)

NUMBER TWO!

NO CONSTRUCTION!!!!!  It sure is a beauty driving in a place where you know how long it is actually going to take you to get from point A to point B because you aren't going to run into any construction.  I won't lie it was really strange when I first got out here that there were no orange cones ANYWHERE!  But I drove into down town yesterday and saw like 20.... that's it!  It is seriously magical!

 NUMBER THREE!

Cherry Creek State Park!  This lovely state park is RIGHT next to where we live.  There are lovely trails, picnic areas, camp grounds, and a beautiful reservoir! We drove through it today and it made me really excited for warm weather! And boating! and fishing! Can't wait to spend my summer here!

NUMBER FOUR!

Alright I know Sunflower Market is in Utah too but I never lived near it so I never shopped there.  But Colorado is kind of a really healthy state so these are super common and I pass two every day when I take Woody to work.  I have recently learned how fantastic this place is!  Besides their gigantic strawberries, and already prepared meat (I HATE PREPARING MEAT), they really do have great prices!  I like it! And since I am not working or anything right now I have time to buy fresh food every couple of days. YUM!

NUMBER FIVE!

Our apartment!  I seriously love where we live!  I was super nervous because I wasn't able to see anything but some crappy pictures before we signed our lease.  But my wonderful hubs did such a good job deciding where to live!  I love every part of the floor plan, I love the staff, I love our view, I love how many kids are always outside playing and not getting fat, I love the fire place, I love the bay windows in my kitchen, and most importantly I LOVE my garden size tub! (I am slightly obsessed with bubble baths).  AND it is on a main road so it is close to EVERYTHING!  Target, Walmart, movies, bowling, tons of restaurants, the State Park, and more!
We are so blessed to have found such a great place to live in such a beautiful state! Even though I miss the hell out of Utah, I think I will eventually really like it here :) I will post more as I find them!

Tomatoes...Not so scary...

Many of you know of the utter disgust I have (nay, HAD) for tomatoes. They were by far my least favorite food ever! One distinct memory I have of my childhood is one where my dad tried to get me to eat a cherry tomato. The more I refused the more it egged him on. The next thing I remember I was locked out of my house (by my mom) while my dad chased me around the freezing cold outside with a cherry tomato. I think that is the single worst thing my dad ever did to me. Over the past 24 years he just kept telling me that he didn't like tomatoes until he was called on a mission to Italy.. Yeah yeah yeah... Well I don't live in Italy so there was no need for me to eat tomatoes! Well... The other day I went to get lunch at scholozskys deli (one of my favorite things about Denver) and I accidentally forgot to ask for no tomato on my sandwich. I was about to open my sandwich and take it off but then a little voice in my head told me to man up and try the tomato! So I did! I didn't throw up, didn't take it off, and most importantly I didn't hate it! I know most of you Probably think this is something silly to blog about but blogs are made for important events in your life..and this my friends is a milestone! (did I mention I have the greatest husband on earth who happens to be giving me a foot rub right now? That's right.)

Best Job EVER!

I just wanna give a shout out to the best place of employment and Co-workers a girl could ever ask for!  My family at Wasatch Mental Health and particularly The American Fork Family Clinic are some of the best people I will ever know.  I have been a part of Wasatch since I was 15 wee years old when I worked as a summer worker organizing storage rooms and laminating things.  When I graduated from high school I started as a part time receptionist in the Provo Youth Outpatient.  I worked there for about a year then quit to move to Alaska for the summer.  I left knowing that there may not be a job for me when I returned that fall but lo and behold there was!  The full time secretary in American Fork Youth Outpatient had just quit so I applied for her job and got it!  I worked there for about 9 months before I quit to do my cosmotology apprenticeship.  When I started the apprenticeship I needed a night job so I worked at Target for three months before there was an evening receptionist opening in Provo.  So I worked in the Adult Outpatient until I was finished with my apprenticeship.  When I finished I really didn't want to leave but I needed a full time job really bad.  Well  Heavenly Father was seriously on my team because as soon as I finished up there was a full time opening in American Fork which was now the American Fork Family Clinic, serving youth and adults.  Now here I am, almost 24 and have been at AFFC for the last 2 1/2 years.   I have made so many good friends in all the different departments I have worked in.  But over the years this clinic in American Fork became my baby and I have seen it grow from a staff of 5 to about 30.  I have made more memories and friends here than I ever thought possible at one job.  I have been so blessed to be a part of this amazing team of therapists, case managers, secretaries, nurses, and doctors!  I can honestly say that I very rarely, if ever, dreaded going into work.  I felt at home and happy when I was there.  AFFC was my second family and helped me grow so much.  These people's job is to make other peoples' lives better, and I will tell you one thing... they made my life so great!  I admire them and look up to them so much and hope they know how much I appreciate them and miss them!