We play with rocks!

Happy Valentine's Day...

2011-02-16T12:23:00.000-08:00

We started celebrating Valentine's Day over the weekend.

I made Bryan these Easy Gourmet Cupcakes - I found the recipe on Hello my names is Heather's blog.

Bryan got me these beautiful flowers and took me to California Pizza Kitchen. Which is where we had our first date, and wedding proposal.

The Holiday Wrap-up...

2011-01-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

Just a few things that happened over the Holidays.

My work Christmas party was at This is the Place Heritage Park.

There is a train ride around the grounds with a stop half way around. We took it to the top and walked back down.

Of course we stopped at the old family house (Pack house).

They even had reindeer.

Christmas Eve

Yes we are big kids..we moved our mattress into the living room so we could sleep under the Christmas tree.

New Years Eve.

We had a quiet evening at home. I made home-made pizza for Bryan, Heather, my mom, and dad. Then waited for the year new to arrive.

I hope you are all having a great new year!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving weekend...

2010-11-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

On Thursday we went up to Logan for Thanksgiving. My Aunt Annette cooked a great dinner for all of us, and it was really nice hanging out with the family. For pictures from Thanksgiving check out the family blog.

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Saturday we went up into Idaho to cut down a Christmas tre e. The snow was really deep this year, but we all had fun.

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A little after 3am on Black Friday morning Heather picked me up at my house so I could get Bryan his Christmas gift. She really is the best sister. We got to Target at 3:30am, and had to stand in the freezing cold for half an hour. The only words we spoke were "What time is it?" and "We won't do this again."

When we got into Target we got a little ugly. Heather told me "Just go and get it and I'll get a cart." At which point I pushed the very nice man in front of me that I had joked with before the store had opened.

Heather got the cart and used it as a people mover to make her way to the location of Bryan's gift. She finally ditched the cart in the middle of the all the people.
Luckily, I grabbed one of the last gifts available for Bryan and I really was so happy that I felt like crying.

We quickly decided we did not want to do anymore shopping. So I cut-in front of a lady on her cell phone in the check out line, and Heather and I were in and out of Target in 16 minutes.

And yes we were surprised and ashamed at ourselves :-)

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Sugar Cookies.I'm still making Cookies. Here's one of the latest. More to come.

You need: 3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
sugar (for the tops of the cookies)
mix flour, salt and baking powder in one bowl.
mix everything else in another and mix until smooth.
Than mix the two bowls together.
Spoon onto cookies sheet, sprinkle on the sugar and bake for 5 to 7 minutes at 400 degrees.

Cookie time....

2010-11-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is to make cookies. I love trying new ideas and different recipes. This year I tried one of my Grandma's old crowd pleasers...these little turkeys were very time consuming.

So Heather came over to help me with them . To make them you need: Double Stuffed Oreo's, candy corn, Whoppers, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, frosting and a sister that doesn't mind helping. Put it all together and this is what you get.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Happy Halloween....2010

2010-10-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

The decorations are up around the house,

the pumpkins are carved and in their places,

and the costumes have been picked.

Happy Halloween!!!

The Hills are alive...

2010-10-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Bryan and I took his jeep on a drive up into the mountains to see the changing colors.

It was are really beautiful weekend and a nice drive.

Fall at Red Butte...

2010-10-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend Bryan and I had been working on our basement, but on Sunday we took a break to go to Red Butte with my mom, dad, and Heather. We all had a lot of fun walking around and taking pictures.

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These are Bryan's pictures.

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These are my pictures from the day.

Fire Red...

2010-09-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

So I promised Bryan that after the wedding I would dye my hair red. Well after a few tries to go light red, I decided to try a little darker.

It's a little crazy...

Vaughn and Vicky

2010-09-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Vaughn and Vicky are moving to California for an amazing job opportunity. We are so happy for them. But we are going to miss them like crazy.

Thank you for always being there for me and for being such good friends. We wish you all the best. Vaughn, you are going to be great at your new company. Congratulations.

Weekend Adventure...

2010-08-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Heather, Bryan and I decided to go on a little road trip. So we loaded up Heather's car and we were on our way to Yellowstone.

After Yellowstone we made our way to the Grand Tetons.

This is the very beautiful Jenny Lake by the Tetons. We got there at sunset.

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We saw all the sites and the total round trip time was 24 hours. We got a lot of great pictures and we had a lot of fun.

Our Wedding - Part 2....

2010-07-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

The day started out windy and partly cloudy. Which turned into windy and very cloudy. Followed by very windy and very rainy. I had decided in the morning to move the wedding inside so we wouldn't have to deal with the wind.

My Mom and Dad

My Girls: Jennifer, Brenda, Jessica, (Me), Heather and Samantha.

Still the best sister and Maid of Honor ever!!! She was running around making sure that everything was just the way I wanted it. I did not have to worry about anything because she was on it.

The Guys: Jens, Adam, Bryan, Derek, Baby Jack, and Pete.

My aunt Annette, Lauryn and Erin did the music for the ceremony. They did an amazing job and it really meant so much to us.

Jack took his job very seriously. There was no way he was dropping the pillow with the rings. He was a great little ring bearer.

The Orangerie was beautiful and we got married under two Palm trees. Everything was perfect, even if it was a quick change of location. During our beautiful ceremony, the rain stopped and the clouds parted.

Our Family and close Friends.

All of my family.

All of Bryan's family.

My Family

Bryan's family

All the wedding Party.

Honeymoon...

2010-06-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

For our honeymoon Bryan took me to Kauai, Hawaii and it was beautiful. We stayed 6 nights and 7 days on the North shore of the island. We explored the whole island by land and by sea. At the end of the trip we went on a snorkeling boat trip. The snorkeling was amazing and so much fun.

Just off the plane.

Old tracks in Kapaa.

Beaches between Kapaa and Kealis on our way up to Princeville on our first day.

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End of a perfect first day.
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Hanalei River Valley overlook.

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This was at a beach that we started calling the River beach, because it has a big river flowing into the ocean at one end of it. (The Picture at the top of this post is from this beach also.)

River meets the ocean.
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The town of Hanalei.

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Us at Anini Beach. We snorkeled and made friends with a little chick while sitting on the beach.
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Sunset over Hanalei bay.

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This is on the West Shore. We were on our way into Waimea Canyon.

Waimea Canyon is called the grand canyon of Hawaii. We stopped at all the overlooks. It was so beautiful.

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Salt Pond Beach.
The waves come over the rocks and then on to the beach forming ponds.

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Spouting Horn.
The rocky beaches of the South Shore were beautiful and the sea turtles seemed to love this side of the island.

Us at the Spouting Horn.
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Found this just driving around. We still don't really know what it is.

Waliua Falls

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Opaekaa Falls.

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Kilauea Lighthouse and wildlife Refuge.

These are Monk Seals there are only 24 left.

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Us watching the sunset over Hanalei Bay.

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Tunnels Beach.

We spent all day snorkeling and relaxing in the sun.
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Waterfalls in the mountains above the town of Hanalei. Bryan and I loved Hanalei. It's a cute little town. It's like Kauai's Park City. It has small and artsy shops.

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This is at the Smith's Family Tropical Paradise Luau.
There are 30 acres of botanical gardens that we explored.

This is a pine tree that grows on the island.

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Our last sunset on the Kauai (for now).

Our Wedding Day... Part 1

2010-06-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Bryan and I are finally married... After about 8 months of planning we are now very happily wed! Staci from Lindsay Jane Studios was our photographer and she took some amazing pictures. These are from her Blog.

As soon as we get more pictures I will post them. We would like to thank everyone for coming it really was an amazing day!

Fun with Heather & Erika...

2010-06-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

So about 3 months ago Heather asked if I wanted to do the Little Red Ride with her as our last crazy stunt before I got married. I thought it would be fun to spend that time together. So it was last Saturday (the weekend before my wedding) Bryan and Derek drove Heather and I up to Lewiston (By the Idaho border), and we biked 33 miles. It was a lot of fun, even with the sore tushies.

Before

During

After

The route was so much fun!

Bridal Shower With Bryan's Side of the Family

2010-06-02T10:25:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Bryan's cousin's wife Alice and his aunt Chirs threw me a Bridal shower. Is was so great to get to know them. I love his family. Everyone is so sweet and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone better. The Bridal shower was so much fun and I got a lot of great cooking and kitchen things. I can't wait to use all of them!

My Bridal Shower...

2010-05-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I have the best maid-of-honor (she just so happens to be the best sister too). Heather threw me a bridal shower on Saturday. She did an amazing job. I can't thank her enough. Thanks to everyone for coming and for all the great gifts. It was a great day, and I had so much fun. Thanks mom, Heather, Jessica, Jeanette, Jennifer, Annette, Samantha, baby Jack, Erin, Vicki, Vaughan, Holly and Carol. Oh and a special shout-out to Lauryn. I'm so greatful to have such amazing ladies in my life (and Vaughan).

Welcome Spring...Maybe

2010-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's spring in Utah...Which means really nice warm weather one day and snow the next.

Bryan and I found a lot of bulbs last year as we were working in the garden, but this is our first spring in this house and we had no idea what they were going to bloom into.

It's been really fun to see them grow!

Google yourself...

2010-03-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my boss the other day and he said that he was looking up pottery on the internet and he found some of mine on flicker. So I Googled myself and found what he was talking about. There are pictures of my bud vases that I made and donated to the Canine Casino Night and Silent Auction. Over the past few years I've donated some of my pieces to two different silent auctions and they sold but it's nice to know people really like my art. The lady that bought them took some very nice pictures, and I'm so happy that she is enjoying them.

I can see that now...

2010-02-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

I've known for quite awhile that my eyesight wasn't what it once was. So last week I went to the eye doctor. Turns out my eyes aren't 20/20 anymore....or even close to that! Heather and I went that night and picked out glasses. I think I dig them!

After trying on at least a million I went with these.

Cupid Came In Person...

2010-02-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

On Friday Bryan brought these beautiful flowers in to my work on his lunch hour. It was a great way to start Valentine's weekend. Thanks Bryan I love them, almost as much as I love you.

So today I made Bryan cupcakes for Valentine's Day. I think he liked them.

Happy Valentine's Day.

India... Part 2

2010-01-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

For the last part of the trip we went to Bhuj. This is where we stayed and had a 3 day field trip around in the state of Kutch. Bhuj is a smaller town and not touristy.

Day 5

We had been working with Dr. Biswas who has done a lot of work in Kutch. We also worked with a geologist named Dr. Tucker from the Kachchh University. The university had a welcome and lecture, then

they hosted a dinner for us back at our hotel.

Day 6

The first day in the field was great. I loved seeing all the things that I had been studying the last year.

The people were so beautiful. So many times we would be in what felt like the middle of nowhere and this beautiful woman would just come walking down the road, with wood or pots on their heads.

In the morning of the first day in the field we hiked our way up to the highest point in Kutch.

The highest point just so happened to be 25 Km from the Pakistan border.

There was a cute little village at the top.

After lunch we went to the lowest point in Kutch, which is the Bay of Kutch.

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9
It was just Rasoul, Sudeep, Dr. Biswas, our driver and I. We were going to see the oldest civilization in India and Asia. It was a long drive but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

This little boy was so sweet. We had stopped at a tea shop, Rasoul and I took pictures of him because he liked looking at the pictures on the back of our cameras.

This is Sudeep and I in the little Runn of Kutch. The salt flats felt like home.

For lunch we stopped at a hotel.

This woman is making one of my favorite Indian foods. It's called naan bread.

These are the rooms.

The ancient site at Dholavira

This is one of Dr. Biswas's friends that we just happened upon as we were driving back for the night.

I told you this boy was sweet. He had changed his clothes and dressed up for us coming back through his town.

So I'll end this trip with someone famous. This is Parvin Dabas from Monsoon Wedding. It's a very good movie. Parvin was staying our hotel and left on the same day too. I took this picture in the Bhuj airport.

From Bhuj we flew to Mumbai, then Sudeep and I flew to Delhi then I flew back to the US. The last 2 days, I spent on a plane, or in an airport. It was so much fun and I will never forget this trip. I still can't believe that my bosses took me with them, but I'm so thankful that they did.

India... Part 1

2009-12-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

I'm Back... I left for India on the 2nd of December and came back on the 14th. It was a working trip, but I got to do a lot of touristy things too. India is a beautiful place and the people are also so beautiful. I took almost a 1000 pictures so I'm splitting the trip into 2 blogs. This one is the first half of the trip.

Day 1

The first day we did some site-seeing around Delhi.

This is Rasoul, Sudeep and I in front of our hotel.

First day's breakfast.

Streets of Delhi.

Tea Shop in Delhi.

Elephant in Delhi

Old Fort

Old Fort in Delhi was way cool. It was built in the 16 th Century. The Fort walls are octagonally shaped and extend about a 1.5 miles and are 110 feet height.

Red Fort

Emperor Shah Jahan built the Red Fort after he shifted the capital from Agra to Delhi in 1638. It was called Red Fort because it's surrounded by red sandstone.

This was the main gate to Red Fort.

This is Rasoul, Sudeep and I in front of the thrown in the Red Fort.

The Diwan-i-Khas in the Red Fort.

Door

The women's bath house.

A pond that is just off the side of the women's bath house.

In front of the Moti Majid in the Red Fort

Gate of India

Day 2

This was on the way to Mathura and Agra.

Tea shop on the side of the road. They had great tea and good food.

Mustard flowers field.

Mathura the holy city

The temple in Mathura the Birthplace of Lord Krishna.

Bahori of Mathura

Holy Cows

Agra

Akbar Tomb

Taj Mahal

There are 3 main gates to the Taj Mahal that all lead to this gate.

You can't walk on the marble.

Our tour guide.

Mumtaz Maha tomb.

Mosque to the left side of the Taj Mahal.

Day 3

Mumbai India

From Delhi we took a flight to Mumbai.

Our hotel.

The first time we got to see the Deccan Traps (a flood basalt).

Day 4

This is us getting ready for the meeting. This was another hotel that most if not all the other companies were staying at. It was really nice.

For all my Pictures of my trip you can go to my Web Album.

Happy Holidays 2009...

2009-12-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Pre-Thanksgiving.

In November we had the Gleim Family Turkey Pick at Heather's house. I helped her cooking and setting up.

The Domino Tournament came down to Bryan and my dad. Bryan was the 2009 champion!

It was a very fun day...

Thanksgiving

Bryan and I went to his parents house for Thanksgiving. I got to meet more of his family. They were all very nice and I especially love Bryan's grandma, she is so sweet. Its nice being welcomed into such a nice family.

Cutting Down The Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving we went into Idaho to cut down Christmas Trees. This was Bryan's first year going with us and I think we got a really great tree.

It was so much fun having all the Colledges with us this year.

Christmas

So I made it home for Christmas. I was in India from December 2nd to the 14th. I was so happy to be home. I love Christmas because I get to spend so much time with my family and this year I got to have my first Christmas with Bryan.

It was a fun Christmas and I even got a cool laptop from Bryan, a big mirror for my house, movies and a tent. Oh and the All Star Cheer Squad for my Wii, thanks Heather it's so funny!

P.S. My India Pictures are coming.

Moved...and Halloween...

2009-11-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Moving In...I moved in with Bryan a little over 4 weeks ago, and I love living with him. The month before I was going to move in flew by because I was so busy at work. But things settled down at work just in time for me to start packing. So Heather and I packed our cars and started the big move.

The day Bryan signed the offer on our house.

Our first snow storm.

Heather and I have lived together for close to 2 years. We've had so many good times in the Foothill house. Heather is my best friend and I'm so glad we got to share those experiences together. I'll miss living with Heather but I'm looking forward to starting my life with Bryan. And who knows maybe I'll get Heather to move to Bountiful so she's closer to us. Anyway thanks for putting up with me for so long Heather.

January 2008, first night in the Foothill house.

September 2009, the day I moved out.

Happy Halloween....
Bryan and I had our first Halloween together in our house. So we got to decorate and pass out candy to all the neighbor kids. Of course I dressed up as a witch. Bryan didn't want to dress-up but I did get him to put on my cape. We had a lot of fun passing out the candy, and we had a pretty steady stream of kids all night.
Happy Halloween!