Movies, Phyllis' birthday, Tyler Golfing, Mani/Pedi, Brittany's farewell dinner

How about that post title? This is a jumble of some of the things that we've been up to. Tyler and I LOVE to go to movies. We go to one almost every week and I just love eating the popcorn too. My favorite is going to Cinemark at the University Mall because they will give you half kettle corn/half regular popcorn. They will split it down the middle with a piece of foil. When you are done eating sweet you switch to savory. When you are done eating savory you switch to sweet. It's simply the best.

We went to dinner at Outback for Drew's birthday then went to see Spiderman. By the time we made it to the theater it was sold out so we went to another theater. I, of course, had to have my kettle corn, so I got the kettle corn at Cinemark then we went to Wynnsong. Rachel was so funny when we walked in because she was nervous that I was going to get to caught. She was like, "Jenica! You need to hide that!" I was laughing so hard. She wanted me to try to hide the giant popcorn tub in my purse. I ended up just walking in with it and they didn't say a thing! Maybe they could sense my kettle corn addiction. It was such a funny night and the movie was really good I thought. 

Ty and I went to see Noah at the dollar theater and I just thought he looked cute walking in with his water bottle in his pocket so I had to take a picture. Enough said there. That movie was really weird we thought. Before the movie we went to my Beehive Amber's choir concert. Their choir teacher sang a solo at the end that was incredible. I wish I had an amazing voice! I guess if you don't practice it ain't gonna happen. 

I went to Kansas City and St. Louis for work. I had never been to Kansas City before. The new receptionist at work just moved from there and she told me that I had to try Oklahoma Joe's BBQ so that's exactly where I went the first night. It's a famous BBQ joint that started in a gas station. That's where I went and I proceeded to wait in line for 45 minutes to get my food! Luckily there was a girl traveling on business by herself right in front of me so we were able to chat and keep each other entertained. The next day I took some customers to lunch then went around the city to stop in to visit my partners. I don't love being a in hotel room by myself so I decided to see the Other Woman and was in the theater all by myself! It was hilarious and kind of awesome. After that I went to dinner at a great restaurant (can't remember the name). That's the one problem with traveling is that you fall in love with delicious places to eat then you can't eat them when you are craving them in the future! The next day I woke up and drove to St. Louis. My partner had an event where I had a booth at the St. Louis zoo. I was able to get to feed some jelly fish! They put a dead fish in between my fingers and I would hold my hand flat under water and the jelly fish would come suck it out of my hand. It scared me! I also got to sit in a massive chair that made me feel really tiny. They sell office supplies including chairs so one of the their vendors sends that when they have big events. I felt like I was on Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

The next morning I woke up and it was Tyler's and my 6-year anniversary! I flew home and met him at his grandma's 90th birthday party. It was a cute party and his aunt had a trivia game all about Phyllis' life. It was fun to learn about some of the details of her life. We took a picture with Phyllis and I didn't want to tower over so I took off one shoe. I didn't know you would be able to see that in the picture...but oh well! Walt smoked some delicious meat for sandwiches. After the party we stopped in to hang out with Oakley and Scott for a bit. 

I like to take pictures when I think things are cute, obviously. I walked over to Tyler watching TV with goldfish on his chest just snacking away. I don't know why but I just thought it was cute. I need to keep track of the cute things that he says and does. One morning I said as I was about to leave for work, "I don't really feel cute today. I don't love this outfit." He peaked out from behind the shower door and said, "Are you wearing your smile? Then you're cute." That definitely made my day! Or last week he got home from a run and I was upstairs working on my computer. He got his dinner and came upstairs to sit on the floor and said, "I wanted to be by you so I came up." I just adore him. Our life isn't perfect and we definitely have our struggles but I really appreciate the happiness that he brings to me. 

Moving on, Tyler's friend Casey snapped the golfing picture of him. He got his first 2 under par! I don't know what that's called but it's good and I thought he looked hot so I had to include that. 

The day before Lindsay graduated we went to get a mani/pedi! Carol texted us that morning and I was able to leave work and join the girls. 

Brittany and Austin Cope moved to Kansas City so went to say goodbye at Malawi's. She looked like a supermodel, per usual. 

And, last but not least I stopped in at Harmon's on a Saturday night and thought it was funny that the watermelon candy was right by the watermelon. I wish it was just as healthy. So random, but I kind of loved it. 

Saturdays

It's no secret that I love Saturdays. I like that I a) don't have to go to work; b) get to hang out with Tyler all day; c) get caught up on things that you couldn't get done during the week; d) spend a lot more time outside; and e) do fun things with friends and family! A few weekends ago Oakley came over after work and we took Scarlett to see Kevin, our giant neighbor pig. She was somewhere between sheer terror and fascination. We had dinner with Oakley and Scott at Rubio's then went to the BYU baseball game. I love the springtime. Nothing makes me happier than the sweet smell of summer air. The next day we worked on our yard (I LOVE shopping for plants, trees, etc), went to the gym, went to Nordstrom to get Tyler's pants hemmed then went to dinner at Wild Zucchini Grill with Steve and my mom. We brought it back and ate on our back porch. After dinner we took a walk on the trail above our house and the sunset was gorgeous. I absolutely LOVE where we live and it will be hard for me to ever move from here. I love the area we live in because it's right next the mountain, our neighbors are awesome, and it feels like you're in the country a little bit with all of the open land and horses nearby. 

Horseback Riding

A few weekends ago we went up to Steve's house to go horseback riding. He lives up in Oakley and it was fun to ride his horses.We had hamburgers for dinner on his patio, then when Jocelyn and her boyfriend left we went on another ride up the road by a bunch of fields. Tyler took Steve's 4-wheeler and my mom, Steve and I each had a horse. It was so peaceful and quiet up there. When we got back we put the horses back in the pasture then played Rook. It was a delightful evening!

Landscaping our House

Our landscaping is in! I was feeling very overwhelmed with this project because I wanted our landscaping to be beautiful and I didn't even know where to start. Tyler and I went to Linden Nursery one Saturday and had a man who worked there talk about different trees, growth rates, etc. and I felt even more overwhelmed because the amount of research and planning to do something we know nothing about was a little daunting! I mentioned this to my friend at work (Adam who is actually Casey, our brother-in-law's, brother) and they had called the Highland Garden Nursery for a landscape designer and they loved her. I decided to call and got in touch with Leslie. She came to the house, walked around the lot with me and we threw around ideas. When we got home from New York she had a plan all drawn up for us. We used a landscaper who helped us put that plan into place after we had purchased all of the plants and we absolutely love how it turned out! I'm excited for all of the plants to grow and develop. Leslie helped us choose plants that are more deer resistant, colors (like purple) that compliment our house, and plants that will stay green all throughout the winter. I would user her over and over again! We are going to finish up the gardening area with little pebbles so we can step around the gardening boxes, and put in pavers and a fire pit in the back corner. The bushes are going to grow to be six feet tall so it will be a little fire pit "room" in the back yard. We can't wait to have parties back there. Hooray for summer!

Garden Club

My ward has a garden club that I started going to! We are planning to meet about once a month I think. Tyler and I are going to plant our first vegetable garden this year in the grow boxes that he made for us so I wanted to get some tips. Melanie, the woman who hosted the club, lives in an amazing house from the 1800's. It's tucked away from the road so you can't see it unless you come into their driveway. I had to snap a few pictures because it was like a secret garden. Tyler and I are excited to develop our green thumbs!

New Orleans and Baton Rouge

One of the perks of my job is that I get to visit places that I normally wouldn’t have a reason to go to. I went to visit 8 of my partners in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. New Orleans was really cool, and I especially liked the French Quarter. They also have great food. On my first day, I visited a partner in the morning and she showed me the view from her 23^rd story office. It was really neat to see such cool buildings. I had an hour to kill before my next appointment so I walked to the French Quarter. It was raining so I bought an umbrella at Walgreens. There are a lot of little shops and it was fun to take see the pretty architecture. That’s always one of my favorite things about traveling – the architecture. Maybe I should have been an architect J My next partner took me to lunch and I had gumbo for the first time as well as swordfish. Delish! I then had to take a drive to see another partner about 45 minutes away. That night I had a great shrimp dish. The only thing I don’t like about these trips is when I go by myself. “Table for one” isn’t my favorite phrase. After dinner I had to try Café du Monde’s famous beignets. They did not disappoint! I’m not sure if any regular old donut is going to measure up after having those.

The next day I drove out to Baton Rouge where I met with 4 partners. Between a couple of the visits I had a few hours so I went to walk around LSU’s campus. What a beautiful campus! The trees are massive. My first stop, of course, was to see Mike the Tiger. He has a great habitat right next to the stadium and all of the students walk by to pay him a visit. Everyone has a lot of team spirit there. I saw backpacks, rings, watches and shirts. The partner I visited that night had only missed one LSU home football game in the last 19 years. The only reason he missed the one game was because his brother-in-law got married. Now that’s a football fan!

After LSU I walked around downtown to see the state capitol. I wish I would have had time to tour one of the plantations! That night my partner took me to a restaurant where the specialty is the “Hallelujah Crab.” It was soft shell crab stuffed with shrimp and deep fried. It’s not every day that you have a meal like that! On my way back to New Orleans I stopped by at an outlet mall and spent the gift card Jocelyn gave me. I got some new shoes and jeans. I also saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen! I snapped a quick picture while I was driving so I couldn’t quite capture it all, but it was unreal.

The next morning I drove to my last partner visit. Their office is right next to a NASA facility. I had no idea NASA was in Louisiana. They said that there are also a lot of movies being made there next door because they have to pay less taxes if they make movies there. Jurassic Park is currently being made which is cool! After my visit I went down to the French Quarter to get some eggs benedict at Oceana. Instead of on an English muffin, it was on fried eggplant. They sure know how to make people fat! And happy J

I walked around a bit then headed to the airport. It was a cool trip and I’d like to go back someday with Tyler.