Summer 2014!

This past month has been an absolute whirlwind. I’ve wanted to catch up on our blog for weeks and literally haven’t found a single second. I don’t even watch TV anymore! What has my life come to? ;) I think the older I get, the more there is to be done. It’s important to step back and just enjoy it all because life flies by. Currently I’m on a flight to San Antonio for work so I have about 2 hours to catch up. Thank goodness! I even got upgraded to first class which I certainly don’t mind at all.

A few weeks ago my mom and went to this new restaurant in Lindon called Masa after we went to the gym. I got a discount through work so we decided to try it. We had some fancy tacos and shared all 4 varieties. We were too full to order dessert, so the owner made us some because he insisted on us trying it. We had plantain over almond butter with goat cheese and agave drizzled over the top. I would have never thought in a million years it would be as delicious as it was! The following day I went to the first of four bridal showers for Lindsay. Yes, four. Lindsay’s wedding weeks were a blast ;) I brought some toppings to put on top of lettuce wraps and the table was decorated beautifully. Connie Ricks held the shower at her home and my mom was at this one. The next day I met Oakley, Brooke and Brittany for dinner at Blue Lemon. It was great to catch up with Brittany and Brooke since they don’t live in Utah any more. Oak and I stayed for a little bit after they had to leave for a cookie and some best friend chatting. I love her and I think if you have even one incredible friend like her in your life, that’s all you need. I’m lucky to have a handful of incredible friends who are really there for me when I need them. Girl time is blast! After I left dinner, I called Tyler and he was at the Ford dealership. We have been talking about getting a truck but a couple weeks before were disappointed that another dealership we had planned to get the truck at was going to give us basically nothing for Tyler’s BMW. Tyler found another dealership and the stars aligned so I met him at the dealership at 10:30 pm to purchase a new Ford F-150! Ty has wanted it for a long time so I’m happy he got what he wanted. He is as happy as a clam and says that he got his “man card” back. On Friday we went up to Steve’s house in Kamas and he took us out to this incredible rope swing near his house. It was SO GORGEOUS and the air smelled like pine. I couldn’t stop taking in deep breaths of the mountain air and Tyler and I swore we would do something out in the mountains every weekend until winter comes. I didn’t go on the porch swing because I didn’t want to be freezing since the sun was going down, plus the swing was reallllly high. I got some cool pictures of the boys going off of it, though! After they were done, we went back over to Steve’s house to build a fire and cook Dutch oven food. It was really tasty. He cooked pork and we had potatoes, carrots and onions with it as well. I told my mom that it was my favorite night of summer so far! I can still smell the fresh air and pine which I claim cleanses and refreshes the soul. Seriously, though. 

The next morning I went to Lindsay’s second shower at La Jolla Groves. The bridesmaids put this one on, and the lunch was tasty. We went to the Parcell’s afterward so they could try on their bridesmaids outfits. Tyler went shooting with the boys in the family. That night we went to Happy Sumo for dinner then saw a movie at Thanksgiving Point. On Sunday Tyler and I drove the Alpine Loop and it was too gorgeous for words. It was drizzling rain which we think made it all the more beautiful. We stopped to take some pictures, and also stopped to walk around Sundance for a little while. After I drive we headed over to my grandma’s house for dinner. It’s always a great night eating grandma’s cooking and chatting with the family. Oakley’s birthday was on the 5^th (so was Courtney’s!) so on the way up to Lindsay’s third shower I dropped off her present and gave her a birthday squeeze. Lindsay’s family shower was at Joyce’s house. The following night was Lindsay’s fourth and final shower at the Campbell’s beautiful house across from the Parcell’s house in Stonegate. It was a beautiful evening sitting outside eating fruit and cake. The weather was absolutely perfect. The next day at work we threw a little shower for my friend Jen who is having a baby boy in about a week. We went to La Costa for lunch. That evening we had the Parcell fam over for roasting hot dogs, salad, chips and s'mores. I made cute little bags with the fixings for s'mores on the outside it said "L+J Every Day I Love You S'More." On Saturday we met everyone at the Provo temple for Lindsay’s endowments. We went to dinner at Brick Oven afterward. Rachel and Drew had the family over on Sunday night for an engagement party for Lindsay and Jay. Rachel did such an amazing job setting up a beautiful dinner. The table was absolutely stunning with fresh flowers, candles, and gorgeous table settings. She ordered a cake from the Chocolate which never fails to impress. On Monday morning  I was so lucky to be able to go on Good Things Utah on Monday morning to share my tasty Almond  Coconut KIND Bar Copycat recipe. I was, of course, a bit nervous to be on the show because I had never been on before and didn't know what to expect. And a live 5 minute segment?! Everyone on the show was so incredibly nice and made me feel right at home. It's fun to see my hard work on A Slice of Style pay off! It was really neat to see behind the scenes for each set. Click here is a link to the segment. Thanks to my amazing cousin Annie for helping me get on the show! Her friend is one of the producer's friends and she recommended me.

 Monday evening was Lindsay’s wedding dinner at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. They played their wedding video and I always cry when I see Jay’s reaction of seeing Lindsay for the first time in her wedding dress! Tyler and Drew spoke and gave Jay a funny “groom’s survival kit.” Some of the things included socks so he didn’t get cold feet that night, Junior Mints because they were “mint” to be together, and toothpicks so they he would pick out the best qualities in Lindsay. It was adorable and funny. Tyler got teary-eyed as he closed it out talking about he suggests they need to include Heavenly Father in their marriage. I love him. 

The next day was the big day as Lindsay and Jay were sealed in the Salt Lake temple. It was a wonderful sealing filled with great advice. The room was completely packed. They brought in 6 extra benches and many people still had to stand. We took pictures afterward on the temple steps. Tyler and I went to lunch at Pizzeria Limone on our way back to Provo. Well, he got a Freebird’s burrito and brought it over to eat with me at Pizzeria Limone J It’s my new favorite pizza place! We went to the Parcell’s house afterward to change into our clothes for the night. Lindsay got her hair retouched by Darcy and her makeup retouched by Jade (who is an incredible makeup artist) and we all went to the pool area to take pictures. They got a life-size standup of Katelin so she could be there too. The only said thing about their wedding was the fact that Katelin had to miss it. I can only imagine how hard that must be! They are so close so my heart went out to poor Katelin who is across the world and unable to spend the day her sister. I know that she is where she needs to be but it’s still heartbreaking to think of her across the world when all of us are together celebrating Lindsay and Jay.

The reception was beautiful and they hired We Are The Strike (seriously, one of my favorite bands of all time) to play. They will go big someday because they are incredible. It rained for about 45 minutes right in the middle of the reception so the band had to stop playing and we had to move the cake under the covered area so it wouldn’t get ruined. The band finally moved up and they were able to start playing again as well. When the rain finally stopped they had the dancing. Tyler had me rolling with his dance moves. That man can dance! It makes me laugh so hard and makes life so fun. I adore him. Lindsay threw her bouquet and Jay threw the garter. He said, “let’s see how bad you really want this!” and threw it in the pool followed by about 10 groomsmen jumping after it in the pool! It was hysterical! Then Jay ran and jumped on them and body-surfed across the pool until they let him off on the other side where he got out not wet at all. It was so funny! Tyler lit off fireworks and everyone had sparklers and Lindsay and Jay went through them then got in his car and sped off. What a great night! I got to take home some of the gorgeous blooms to put in my house and my desk at work. They made my entire house smell amazing.

On Thursday night we went over to Jenni and Mitch Miller’s parent’s house for a little party for their darling daughter Ellery who turned one. We had cake and ice cream and pizza then went outside to hang out and chat. They moved to Hawaii for a few months then just moved back to Parowan so Mitch can finish school. The next night Tyler and I went to pick up his dad’s jet ski that was being fixed in Salt Lake then met up with Oak and Scott and Jenni and Mitch and went to this food truck festival by Oakley and Scott’s house. We got dinner then went back to their house to sit on the porch swing and chat. On Saturday morning, Tyler and I took the jet ski out onto Utah Lake to test it out and make sure it wasn’t still broken (it is) but we had a fun time cruising on the lake because it was really smooth and there was hardly anyone on it. We went back to the house and packed up the boat and met my family to go up to Deer Creek. My mom, Steve, Jocelyn, Leigh, Katelyn and Steve’s daughter Jeslie had a great time out on the lake. We had a little scare when we first got it on the water because the battery wasn’t attached so it wouldn’t start but Tyler fixed it right away and we all went surfing for a few hours. After that, we dropped the boat off at Tyler’s grandma’s house and drove up to Kamas to go to a high school football game that Steve had to go to since he’s the principal. When we were done we went to Steve’s house and grilled some chicken and zucchini and had a salad, baked potatoes and ice cream for dessert. It was a great day and I seriously can’t get enough of summer.

And that leaves me to today! I am on my way to San Antonio for a work conference that starts tomorrow. It ends on Wednesday then I’ll take a client to lunch then drive to Dallas where I’ll pick my mom up at the DFW airport! I have a few meetings with clients and have to take one to the RSL/FC Dallas soccer game on Friday. When I’m not working I’ll be hanging out with her and I get to see some great friends! It’s going to be a great week but I’m already missing Tyler desperately. He puts the sunshine in my life. We definitely have problems and our lives are not perfect by any means, but he sure does make my life better and more positive. He woke up a couple days ago and the first thing I heard him say was, “Yay! Another day!” And I thought to myself, “man, I’m doing this wrong!”  I need to have joy and excitement like that when I wake up. We’re here on this earth to have joy and he is such a great example to me of that. He makes my life so happy. Just a few examples from recently:

1) He is vacuuming the stairs and every time I try to get around him he moves his butt right in front of me so I can’t pass. He had me giggling.

2) He always brushes up against me like we there isn’t enough room wherever we are at, rather it be in our big kitchen or our master bathroom. He slides against me and says, “Man, I wish our house was bigger so we had room for both of us here.”

3) When I am sitting in bed and he is brushing his teeth, it’s the perfect view for him to stick out his butt so I can see that and nothing else. It’s hilarious.

4) He was walking up the stairs the other day then dropped to the floor and crawled the rest of the way so that I couldn’t see him to try to scare me.

5) He’ll crouch down then jump into bed and say “boing!” and it reminds me of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

6) When I am feeling down or sad he says, “come here, you need a big hug” and makes me take 3 deep breaths.

7) I texted him the other day that I was grateful for him and how positive he is, and he wrote back, “I love you and we are perfect for each other. I will always lift you up if you are feeling down. Put a smile it. It’s an order”

8) I desperately need my sleep because when I don’t I get stressed out and exhausted so I asked him to help me get in bed on time. He does this so well and will come get me at my computer or next me and say, “it’s past your bedtime.”

9) I met him somewhere the other day, and he got there a few minutes before me. He just got his new truck so he was sitting there in his dress clothes on the bed of the truck waiting for me because he knew it would make me smile.

10) He gets just as excited as I do when our tomatoes and other plants are growing in our first garden together.

11) He sends me the cutest texts. He sent me one last Saturday that had lots of emojis together that made a huge flower (he found an app that has cool texts) and he said “Morning my sunshine girl, have a good day J” I had already gotten up for the day and he was still in bed so this is how I knew he was awake.

12) I texted him that I was sorry about something last week and he text back and said, “You’re the best. Yes, we make mistakes but we can make it through anything TOGETHER. Every day I’m thankful for you in my life.” Another text a different day said, “I love you sweetie, you’re the best. Thanks for being the best wife.”  Another one said, “You’re the best wife anyone could ask for.”

13) He texted me after he got his truck and said, “Don’t worry love, I still love you more than my truck. Now you know I love you a lot and run to see you every day.” HA HA! He is so funny. The next morning after he bought his truck he went down to see it right after he woke up and he had previously told me that he just wanted to run out and see his truck and drive it around.

14) Another text said, “Sweet stuff. I’m excited to play this weekend. Adventures here we come” then sent a cute picture of a truck made through text.  

15) I had a girl’s dinner with friends during a stressful week and I texted him that I wouldn’t be too long and he said, “No big deal. I want you to have fun tonight. It’s an order.”

I’m going to try and keep track of the amazing man that he is more often. I’m so lucky to have him. I think it’s easy to look for the negative things in others but he has shown me by example to look for the best in your spouse. Just a few months ago we were in a little fight driving somewhere. I asked him if there are some things that he would like me to change or improve and he said, “Nothing. I think you’re perfect.” He never dwells on the past and never dwells on my short-comings. He constantly looks for the good in me and sees me for the best side of myself. What a lucky person I am to have a spouse who lifts me up constantly, and who knows just what to say to ease my worried mind. I love him.