The Capottage

The Rest of Christmas Break

2012-01-18T11:22:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve:

Tricia cut the pecans for the monkey bread we had on Christmas morning. She's very particular about how she likes her nuts!

Christmas Morning:

We had to split the gifts into two piles. Gifts that were labeled and those that weren't. Both sides of the family had most of their gifts sent from Amazon and they were all addressed to both Damien & me. We didn't know what was in the boxes or who they were for until we opened them. Thus we took turns opening the unlabeled boxes and deciphering whose gift they were. It was fun.

Rita & Tricia got this little onesie for the baby when they were in Little Italy.

My mom got these adorable little tops and leggings for the baby. Baby is going to look adorable!

Our good friends gave us this family heirloom sweater for the baby. It's hand knitted and beautiful!

The Week After Christmas:

We met up with some of Tricia's family at a Turkish restaurant we had never tried. It was a bit tight trying to sit on the floor and eat considering the baby bump is in the way. I managed quite well though!

Dane flew out to meet his girlfriend's family here in Georgia. We got to spend the day with him and Lindsey. We started out by having lunch at our favorite Italian-style pizza place, Antico Napoletana Pizza. It was delicious as usual!

Then we met up with Damien's Uncle Erik, Aunt Minhee, and cousins Spencer and Ella, to visit the World of Coke. (Damien's uncle is the brand manager for Diet Coke so he got us a sweet deal!)

Erik, Minhee, Spencer, and Ella in front of the vault that holds the secret Coke recipe!

Then we got to taste different Coke beverages from around the world. I would say the most memorable was the Beverly. This drink is supposedly popular in Italy. It tasted horrible. Just like the ointment dentists use to numb your gums before they give you shots. Blah. I think the kid in the forefront of this picture must have just tasted it!

Rita, Tricia, me, and Damien at the World of Coke!

We had a great Christmas break! The baby made out like a bandit with gifts and she's not even born! Damien is still trying to adjust to the baby getting more gifts than him. It may take a few years though!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

We were able to enjoy having Christmas in our own house this year for the very first time. My mother-in-law, Rita, and her partner Tricia came to celebrate with us for a week. A lot happened here during that week so I'll start you out with the story of our Christmas tree.

About a week before Christmas we decided to get a real tree. We went to about five different places looking for a tree stand before we found a place that had one. We got our tree and brought it home to set it up, Damien decided the tree stand needed to be hammered onto the tree so the metal prongs would be secure in the tree trunk. While hammering it on, the tree stand cracked in three different places. We didn't know this until we filled the stand with water and it began to leak!

Damien dragged the tree outside and tried super gluing the cracks. The glue wouldn't dry because it was too cold out so he had to drag it back in the house. While the glue was drying some of it managed to leak onto our hardwood floors! (We're still picking it off.) Once dry, we put a small amount of water in it to see if the glue would hold and we didn't see any water leaking out! We put a towel under the stand just to be on the safe side, filled the stand with water, and set the tree up with gifts underneath its branches.

Next we had to get decorations for the tree. I drove around to about seven different places looking for white lights for the tree and had to settle with some dim LED lights because every single place was sold out of the regular white lights. Who knew Atlanta would be sold out of everything you need to have a real tree the week before Christmas? We did finally get the tree decorated though!

On Christmas eve, Damien wanted everyone to open one gift. He started digging through the gifts to find the one he wanted to open and discovered all the packages were wet. So much for the superglue holding. The towel under the tree was soaking wet and many of the gifts were damp. We had to move all the packages out away from the tree to dry overnight. The gifts were still damp in the morning but nothing was ruined!

Two days after Christmas Damien decided he'd had enough of the Christmas tree and coerced me into helping him take the decorations off. He dragged the tree out the door and threw it off the front porch. It's still lying in our front yard with the stand still on. I'm hoping one of these days it will be removed.

My Birthday

2012-01-05T10:50:00.010-05:00

I had an awesome birthday this year even though I feel like 25 sounds a lot older than 24 for some reason.

I started out my birthday week with a prenatal massage. (Thanks Mom & Dad!) Then on the day of my actual birthday, Rita made banana pancakes for breakfast! They were delicious!

I got to open gifts.

Here is one of them. A little preview of the baby bump too!

I spent the afternoon sewing!

While Damien played video games, Tricia played on her tab, and Rita baked.

Damien surprised me by taking us to dinner at Nava. Damien and I have been to Nava once before just for dessert when we first moved to Atlanta. I've been wanting to go back for dinner because the food looked so good.

They serve southwestern style food and it is delicious! They play a lot with interesting flavor combinations like the black bean, feta, and pineapple burrito we tried. Very good food!

All four of us at Nava.

Then we took a stroll around Atlantic Station, an outdoor shopping area. They had it all decorated with lights for Christmas with fake snow falling every hour. The Band Perry was performing while we were there. None of us are big country music fans so we listed for about 2 minutes!

We ended the day by enjoying the amazing chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting that Rita made!

It's a GIRL!!!

2011-11-18T12:59:00.003-05:00

We had our ultrasound this morning and it's a girl. Damien and I both really thought it would be a boy. I guess Damien's dream was right, Alphonse will have to wait his turn to come. He's going to have an older sister first.

The ultrasound was awesome. We got to see her cute little profile, arms, legs, spine, head. She looks healthy which we are very happy about!

She is quite active already. She was in three different positions during the ultrasound! I've knew this already though, because I've been able to feel her for over a week now. She moves around a lot. It's reassuring feeling her moving in there. That means I know she's still doing well. I'm afraid she's going to be quite spunky when she arrives! We're both very excited to meet her!

Damien's Dream

2011-11-12T21:01:00.004-05:00

Damien and I both feel like this baby is a boy. We get to find out in less than a week though!

Last week he had a dream about our baby. We had a little boy and his name was Alphonse. But Alphonse had an older sister. So who knows. Maybe it's a girl. I just can't believe his name was Alphonse. I wonder where he got that idea from. He must be reading too many sci-fi books! Alphonse is not on my okayed baby name list.

Boy or Girl?

2011-10-28T19:06:00.003-04:00

We are expecting a new addition to our family in April! We had our last doctor's appointment on Wednesday and were able to hear the heartbeat a second time. It's amazing how fast it beats! Glad to know it's still doing well. At our next appointment we'll get to find out the sex of the baby! I thought it would be fun to put a poll up to see what everyone's guesses are. You have until November 17th at 11:59PM. Have fun!

More Summer

2011-10-25T14:03:00.009-04:00

In the last post, I briefly mentioned that we spent a week with the Olenslager side of the family. Andrea sent me some fun pictures from our week at the lake and I thought they'd be fun to share!

The Olenslager clan
(Left to right: Damien, Me, Dane, Jarrin, Landon, Andrea, Sofia, Randy, Tyla, & Jon.)

Dane decided to throw me into the lake because I hadn't gotten in the first few days we were there. He was kind enough to put a life jacket on me first!

Landon tried to help Dane get his sunglasses off me before they threw me in.

It didn't work though!

Damien was there too. He loves being in the water!

One of the days we were there, the boys decided to make HUGE water balloons to throw off the top deck at the lake cabin.

Damien getting ready to drop it.

Then Damien and Dane thought it would be so fun to drop it on Dane's head. It's amazing what older brothers can convince younger brothers to do.

Here are the results! I think it hurt a bit, but they did fill it with warm water to help "ease the pain."

We had a great time! Can't wait to see what will happen next time we all get together!

Summer 2011

2011-08-10T11:37:00.007-04:00

We were gone on and off for about a month in July and August but it was fun to get to see most of our families. Here's what we did:

Tyla's (Damien's sister) wedding in Utah
Panama City Beach in Florida with Rita, Tricia, John, and Debbie (It rained almost the whole time we were there! We still had fun though.)

I visited my family for a week in Washington and "ran" an 8k with my parents

Damien joined me for a week with the Olenslagers for his grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary/Olenslager family reunion at Hayden Lake, Idaho

We really enjoyed our time off from responsibility and spending time with our lovely families but it's always nice to be back home. It took us a few days to get used to the Eastern time zone again. Those three hours make a huge difference.

Projects

2011-07-13T09:11:00.010-04:00

I love to sew and I've usually got a project or two in the works! I'll share a few pieces I've made in the last 6 months.

These are some of the samples I've made for the quilt shop I work at.

This is a baby quilt I made for a friend here in Atlanta.

I was asked to test a quilt pattern for a cloth manufacturer. The quilt is hanging up in the quilt shop for the next few months!

My grandmother gave Damien and I this old wicker chair that she had gotten from my great grandma. A bit of the paint is chipping off and the seat cushion has been on there since my great grandma had it. I wanted to update it a bit so I started with recovering the seat cushion! I still need to touch up the paint and make some throw pillows for it, but that's in the works.

Before

After

Close-up of the fabric and piping.

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T14:31:00.003-04:00

This morning we celebrated by renting road bikes and taking a 16.5 mile ride on the Silver Comet Trail. This was the first time I'd been on a road bike and boy was it fun! We were flying down the trail. It was tiring but we had such a great time.

I even got to ride a bike made by my people. (For those who don't know, my maiden name is Bianco. Pretty close to Bianchi. Same country.)

An Accident During the Primary Program

2011-06-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

Here is Damien's embarrassing childhood memory.

When I was little, for some reason I always thought I needed Mom’s permission to go to the bathroom. Whenever I felt the call of nature, I would run and tell Mom, “I have to pee!” or “I have to poop!” And she would usually reply, “Well, go do it, then!” Neither of us is sure why I felt such a need to ask permission/announce my trips to the bathroom.

One Sunday at church we had the Primary Program. All of us children went up to the stand and sat in the choir seats. For a child, any normal Sacrament meeting can seem like a long time. For a child that needs to pee, Sacrament meeting can drag on for eternity.

Some time into the program, I started feeling that familiar pressure down below that means a trip to the restroom is at hand. Unfortunately, I had no idea how much longer the program was going to last. So, I tried to get Mom’s attention, in order to ask for her permission to leave the stand and sprint to the restroom.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to get Mom’s attention. I admit my attempts were feeble. There was no way I was going to wave my hands and make a scene in from of the whole congregation. So, I settled on making pained faces and hoping she would notice.

That wasn’t getting me anywhere and things were starting to get serious. All of my fidgeting was no longer from boredom; it was an attempt to stave off the inevitable. My faces were getting more and more desperate and my agony was playing out in front of the whole church.

Finally, I reached the breaking point. Mom was never going to notice me and my little body couldn’t suffer another minute. So I did the only sensible thing.

I wet my pants.

Fortunately, the choir seat had a nice thick cushion that soaked things up better than a kitchen sponge. I was able to enjoy the rest of the program in warm comfort. Everything was just fine until the program ended. Then I had to get out of my seat and reveal my dirty deed.

I have no recollection of what happened after that. Maybe Mom took me home to change my clothes. Maybe I was forced to wear them for the rest of church as a punishment. Whatever happened, from that point on I made fewer and fewer attempts to ask Mom for permission before going to the bathroom. I was growing up!

On a related note, I feel bad for whoever sat in that chair after me…

An Embarassing Moment from Childhood

2011-06-27T20:53:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting Damien and I to record stories about our lives. We want these stories for two reasons:

1. a way for our posterity to remember us
2. something to look back on and remember all the funny times in our lives

We began this evening by writing about an embarrassing moment from childhood. Here is my story.

In Spokane, one of our neighbors was the Maughan family. They had seven children, including a daughter a year younger than me. Our backyards faced each other and there used to be a slat missing in the fence so we could slide back and forth between yards to play.

The Maughans always had things going on at their house and a pool in their backyard. Bean and I accepted every opportunity to play and swim because they were few and far between. The Maughan children were not allowed to play unless their rooms were clean and chores done, which they never were.

One day I was over there swimming, don’t remember if Bean was there or not, and we were taking turns jumping into the pool. They had this old red-painted wooden picnic table and we slid it close to the edge of the pool so we could jump off of it into the deep end. We had taken a couple of turns already and everything had been fine. I got up to jump off again and this time I jumped and the table collapsed underneath me.

Thankfully, I was able to get enough momentum and make it into the pool, but the table was not so lucky. It had had enough and finally the legs gave out. I felt embarrassed about it falling on my turn and the Maughans gave me a bad time about it, only making it worse.

Looking back, the table was quite old and it could have happened to any one of us. That table had been left out in the weather for years and it was just a matter of time before it gave out. It’s too bad that it had to happen on my turn though.

I'll post Damien's next.

Another 5k Down...

2011-06-23T15:38:00.009-04:00

two more to go. Damien signed up to participate in this program at his work. He got a free t-shirt for signing up and now he has to participate in 3 races between June 1 and sometime in September. The first 5k we did in May doesn't even count because it was before the start date. We ran the a 5k last Saturday, so we have two more races to run.

The race last week went quite well. We improved our time by a whole minute and I beat Damien by 5 seconds. We decided to try GU because we had talked to some friends about it and how they really liked it. (Side note: GU is a gel that you eat to help with energy levels during a race. It is mostly for endurance races, but we wanted to try it anyway to see if it made a difference.) We both took a GU 30 minutes before the race and this is how Damien felt by the end.

Yes, he looks ill. He actually threw up moments after crossing the finish line. He looked and felt much better after that.

I only experienced a side ache as a result of the GU and was able to push through it. I was quite satisfied with my race. I was able to sprint past this lady right before the finish line. She wasn't too thrilled about it, but it made my day!

Clark Howard, a consumer advocate who has a radio and television show, was talking to people after the race. Damien listens to him on a regular basis and wanted to talk to him. We were actually filmed during our chat, so we'll let you know if we see it air.

Raspberries

2011-06-17T15:43:00.003-04:00

I just ate a huge handful of raspberries from Costco. Yum, they are so delicious! Definitely one of my favorite fruits! Every time I eat them they remind me of being a kid at my grandparents' house in Utah. They used to have a large raspberry patch in their backyard and every summer when we were there, we'd get to pick raspberries! I remember eating the sun-warmed raspberries right off the plant. Yes, I picked it off the plant first, but I didn't wait to wash them inside first.

Although, it might be a good idea to wash them first. This one time I was out in the patch picking and eating berries, when I was supposed to be collecting them for everyone to enjoy, and I started to chew this one. It was so gross, a little crunchy and very pungent. Yeah, there must have been a bug on that berry. If I would have washed it first, that bug probably wouldn't have been on there. That didn't stop me from eating them right off the plant though. After that, I just double checked to make sure there weren't any bugs on them before I popped them into my mouth.

Does anyone else love raspberries? Damien doesn't love them because of all the seeds. I was telling some girls at work how much I loved raspberries and they couldn't believe anybody actually liked them. Up to that point, I was under the impression that a lot of people like raspberries. I mean they sell them in huge containers at Costco. People have to be buying them for Costco to keep carrying them.

The Big Peach 5k

2011-05-28T11:04:00.000-04:00

Damien and I ran our first 5k of the year. We had a lot of fun running it! The weather started out in the 50's but warmed right up! It was a fairly hilly course, but I think that may have helped our times. We set new personal records of about 26:30. Damien beat me by a few seconds but that's just because he saw the finish line before I did.

After completing the race I felt so good, like I could run another couple of miles. That was a really great feeling. I still remember the first 5k I ran while at BYU. When I finished I felt like I was going to die. I never had plans to run another 5k at that point, but I guess things can change. I'd trained more and had been eating healthier and it made all the difference! I'm even thinking about running a 10k in the fall. We'll see how it goes. Damien told me there is no way he's running it with me. I guess I'll just have a fan to cheer me on then.

Dane

2011-05-21T20:18:00.000-04:00

My brother-in-law, Dane, just got back from a 2-year church mission to Honduras on Thursday. We were really lucky that he had a 3 hour layover here in Atlanta on his way back home! He made it through customs okay, even though he had two machetes in his luggage, and we got to spend about an hour and a half with him.

We got dinner with him at the airport and it was fun hearing him try to speak English again. He was having a hard time staying in English mode. A few words and phrases kept jumping out in Spanish, but we usually knew what he meant.

When we were ordering our food, Dane tried to order the Bella sandwich. He told the order taker "beya" though, because in Spanish, two L's make a y sound. The person taking our order was a little confused. We soon figured it out and were able to translate for him.

We are so glad we got to spend some time with him. He has matured quite a bit since we last saw him, even looks a bit more grown-up, but he's still the Dane we know and love!

San Antonio

2011-05-15T19:02:00.026-04:00

Once a year, Damien's company has an annual general meeting with all of their employees at a resort destination. They invite the employees' families/significant others along for the trip.

This year the destination was San Antonio, Texas. It was a quick trip full of lots of fun activities! Here's what we did:

Saturday
For dinner the company set up a street fair just for us with 15 different food trucks. They had Indian food, cupcakes, BBQ, corn on the cob, deep-fried Oreos, etc.

For entertainment there were men carving ice sculptures with chain saws, a stand where you could get henna tattoos, and men playing African drums. While this was all going on they also had a high school marching band come through and a group of people on Harleys.

Sunday
They held a picnic-style Mother's Day brunch in the morning where we received really nice insulated bags full of food.

That evening they held a black tie dinner for all of the adults outside on the lawn. Following the dinner they had drinks and dancing at a club there at the resort with a DJ and drum set.

The Atlanta project crew

Monday
Continental breakfast in the morning where they had steel-cut oatmeal, which I loved! Damien had meetings until noon, but we got to enjoy the lazy river, pool, and 3 water slides that afternoon.

That evening we enjoyed Texas-style BBQ that was absolutely delicious. They had activities including mechanical bull riding, armadillo races, a live bull, caricature portraits, and the live band Reckless Kelly.

Tuesday
We enjoyed a nice breakfast and headed back to Atlanta.

We had a great time and were able to relax a little bit too!

This Week's Happenings

2011-04-02T20:24:00.003-04:00

A few fun things that happened this past week:

1. Damien baked me my favorite chocolate chip cookies and they were GREAT!

2. We went for a run today outside and the weather was gorgeous!

3. I got my sewing machine cleaned and serviced. It runs like a brand new machine. (You're supposed to get your machine cleaned once a year and I'd never had it done. It had been 8 years since I received my machine as a gift. A little embarrassing!)

4. I played an April Fool's joke on Damien today even though it isn't April first. It's better when he isn't expecting it!

The Atlanta Temple

2011-03-11T08:19:00.006-05:00

The LDS temple here in Atlanta has been under reconstruction for almost two years. Along with updating the temple, they have updated the Beehive Clothing building too. (This is where you can buy white clothing to wear in the temple.) Yesterday I went with my good friend Allyson and we helped Beehive unpack dresses and get the store ready for business. It made me even more excited for the temple to be rededicated.

I've been working on more family history so that we will be ready to take these names through the temple when it's open. Damien and I are excited to give our ancestors the opportunity to accept the Gospel if they choose. I think we have around 26 names so far between our two families! Now we just have to wait for the rededication. The open house will be April 9-23 with the rededication on May 1. Anyone and everyone is invited to come to the open house.

To find out more about why we Mormons do family history work, go here.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

I was reading a friend's blog awhile ago and came across a post about The 14 Days of Valentine's. Basically, you do something special for you spouse each day leading up to and on Valentine's Day. I loved the idea and decided to do it for Damien this year. I think he really enjoyed it. Here's what I did:

One homemade Valentine card
Two shoe trees
Toy Story 3 movie night
Rock climbing date
Ciniminis from Burger King for breakfast (500 calories)
Six GOOD chocolate bars
Seven pieces of Camembert (his favorite French cheese) with fancy crackers in his lunch
Sourdough waffles for breakfast (8 ingredients)
Coupon to have nine items of clothing ironed
Homemade origami box with slips of paper inside listing ten things I love about him
"I love you" written in eleven different languages and posted on the mirror
Homemade crossword puzzle
Bakers dozen of his favorite cookies
Valentine's Day dinner

It was really fun to do for him, especially because he didn't know what was going on until day 2. When I gave him his homemade Valentine card (on day one) he thanked me but the look on his face said, "Where is my gift? Is this all I get?" It was really fun come up with everything and get it all together secretly without him knowing. He almost caught me one day when he came home early. Luckily our door has a lock on the inside that can only be unlocked from inside. It gave me enough time to shove what I was working on into a drawer before opening the door without him being curious!

Christmas in NOLA

2011-02-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

We flew to New Orleans on my birthday and spent two weeks there. Here are some of the highlights.

Picked out a Christmas Tree
This tree was too small.

And this tree had too few branches.

But this one was just right. We just had to get it tied to the car well enough to make it down the block.

Then Damien had to get it in the house.

Celebrate my 24th birthday!
I got some fabulous shoes...had Thai food for dinner...

homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for dessert!

Afterward we decorate the Christmas tree

while Damien fell asleep on the couch because he was sick.

Christmas Eve
The family came over for the gift exchange.

We got to open one gift before bed. Rita and Tricia got me raccoon mittens. They are nice and warm but still freak me out a bit if I actually look at them! (I'm terrified of raccoons after having a few encounters with them.)

Christmas Day
We had a great Christmas despite Damien's expressions in these first two pictures.

My husband likes to wear Indian dresses to dance around in. Bet you never knew that!

Dinner with the family. You have to be young and hot to sit at this table.

A few days later
We gave the Zellers a brief tour of NOLA.

New Year's Eve
Dinner with our friends and...

fireworks and ice hockey. Damien got owned by a girl who's 12!

New Year's Day
Lunch with the Krentels!

Since I last posted, we've...

2011-02-15T12:44:00.014-05:00

tried some new recipes including one for roasted beets. YUM!

(I) made some sample winter pillowcases for the quilt shop

decorated for Christmas (don't worry, they aren't up anymore)

had 2 inches of snow that shut the city down for a week. I haven't had any snow days since the ice storm in Spokane when I was in elementary school! It was pretty fun for the first few days until we got cabin fever and just wanted to go outside. We had a nice little adventure to the grocery store which took us forever to get to because of all the Georgia drivers.

went to New Orleans for my birthday, Christmas, and New Years

had some car troubles that forced us to rent this beaut. (Aka. Cloud the second)

Cirque du Soleil

2010-12-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was Damien's office party. For the celebration they took us to see Cirque du Soleil's performance of Ovo. It was absolutely fabulous!!!

Hand balancer (dragonfly)

We had VIP tickets that included free drinks and appetizers before the show started, third row seats right in the very front of the stage, and dessert during intermission.

Foot jugglers (ants)

Appetizers included orchids with chicken filling, lamb skewers, and crab and lobster nachos. For dessert they served brownies with caramelized bananas on top, strawberry smoothies, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and had small containers which you could fill up with candy for the second half of the show.

Acrosport (fleas)

The costumes and make-up were so elaborate and very creative. The performances were amazing. They had trapeze, acrosport, and trampoline artists along with foot jugglers, a contortionist, and a hand balancer. The acting and story were very clever. At one point they even pulled a few people from the audience to participate in the show!

Trampoline (grasshoppers)

If you ever get the chance to see Cirque du Soleil I would recommend going to see it. It was so entertaining and fun. Thank you Fast for such a nice treat, we felt like we were famous for the evening!

Contortionist (spider)

Sewing

2010-12-03T17:09:00.011-05:00

I've finished a few sewing projects and thought I would share them with y'all.

I finally finished the baby girl quilt! It turned out so pretty. I am very happy with it. Two of my good friends here in Atlanta quilted it for me for free and they did a great job!

Front

On the single fabric blocks, I had them quilt the words that are on the fabric on the back of the quilt. (see below)

The back.

Working at the quilt shop is a great outlet for my creativity! I have the opportunity to make samples of various patterns for the shop, which I get to keep afterward. My first sample was this Oliver + S pajama pattern.

Isn't it the cutest little outfit you've ever seen? It's still on display at Intown Quilters!

Thanksgiving Atlanta Style

2010-11-27T11:05:00.006-05:00

Thanksgiving was fabulous! We were invited over to one of Damien's co-worker's homes with a few other co-workers. They prepared two turkeys. One was deep fried and the other was smoked in a Green Egg. I had never seen a Green Egg before, but apparently you can cook, smoke, and BBQ in them. I want one now.

Deep frying a turkey is quite a process. First, you get a huge vat of oil and heat it. Once heated you strategically lower the turkey in it and cook it. You have to be extra careful not to burn yourself or have any incidences with the hot oil. Then you have to find somewhere to dispose of all that used oil (like the neighbor's back yard). This is what the set-up looks like.

While the turkeys were finishing up we sat out on the enclosed porch, had appetizers, drinks, and enjoyed the 75 degree weather. That's right, it was 75 degrees here on Thanksgiving. I love the weather here!

The smoked turkey was really good. I would like to eat that all the time. It had a really nice smoked flavor to it. The deep fried turkey didn't have any particular flavor (besides turkey), but it was nice and moist as well. Damien and I both ate way too much food, but it was delicious!

A Few Updates

2010-11-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

We added a few more items to our apartment! Damien and I picked out some fabric and made curtains for some of our windows so we could have a little privacy.

The fabric has a paisley print on it. Here's the close-up.

My favorite addition is this beautiful piece of art. Damien took a trip to France, Belgium, and Italy right before we got engaged. While in Paris, he picked up this beautiful silk scarf. It has a detail of the famous Gustav Klimt painting "The Kiss" which I love. I refused to wear it because I didn't want to get it dirty and I wanted to be able to see the beautiful image on it. I decided I wanted it framed so we could all enjoy it. It turned out fabulous and is the perfect center piece!

Here is the full Klimt painting.

Halloween

2010-11-09T09:30:00.000-05:00

Not sure why Damien's face looks green in this picture.

We dressed up for our ward's Halloween Party as Indians again. I love getting to wear my beautiful sari and it makes me laugh every time Damien pulls the pants out for his outfit. (I think it's called a kurta.) The pants are made to fit most sizes; that's why the waist is 44 inches wide and made to cinch up as small as needed.

We had a great time and were lucky enough to run into a family from Sri Lanka who we hadn't met before because they're in the other ward. The daughter was very helpful and offered to show me how to properly wrap my sari. That's why it looks so good in the pictures! Also, Rita let me borrow some of her beautiful Indian jewelry to complete the look! Thanks.

The Finished Product

2010-11-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

I'm sure y'all want to see how the apartment looks now that we are all unpacked. We still have a bit of work to do but here you go!

Entry

Kitchen

Kitchen & dining area

Dining area

Living room

Office area and TV

Laundry room

Bedroom

Walk-in closet

It was a hot mess,

2010-11-04T10:37:00.011-04:00

but we are finally all moved in! (A side note: "hot mess" is a southern saying meaning in a state of disarray.) Our stuff arrived on a huge semi on October 14. They unloaded everything and we were still missing three boxes. The truck driver was able to retrieve two of them from their previous delivery, but we are still missing one.

The day of delivery, Damien got work off to help me unpack. We had boxes and stuff everywhere. Our goal was to get the basics set up like the bed, shower curtain, kitchen table, and dishes that day so we could survive until everything was unpacked. Goal accomplished.

As the men were bringing in the boxes I noticed this one. I started laughing really hard. Clothes is spelled wrong and I'm still not sure what our pee blankee is.

The semi all our stuff came in. It was huge and they were trying to maneuver it around in the small parking lot and gate area. I was glad no ones car was damaged in the process.

We made it to the end of the day getting a lot unpacked! We still had a ton more boxes to go through. It took us a few weeks to get everything organized. We are now completely moved in!

Christmas in October

2010-10-08T15:53:00.001-04:00

Our stuff is scheduled to arrive on Thursday and we are so excited! It will be like Christmas in October!

New Job

2010-10-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

I got a job and it's my dream job. I am working at Intown Quilters here in Atlanta. It is a really cute shop that sells lots of bright colored fabric and other supplies to make quilts and patterns! I started Monday and am still trying to figure everything out so that I can be a great employee. I love it already!

Damien is happy that I have a job too. He's just a bit worried that I'll spend all the money I make on fabric. He told me I could work there as long as a have a budget so that I actually end up making some money. ;)

Damien

2010-10-06T19:22:00.005-04:00

informed me yesterday that his favorite part of the day is when he gets back to the hotel and stashes the shampoo, conditioner, and soap in his suitcase. I'm glad he is so excited about living in a hotel!

For this to make sense, I must inform you that last Thursday we were kind of kicked out of our apartment. We had been living in our apartment through Marriott ExecuStay while we were here temporarily. That means that they furnished the apartment for us since our stuff was in storage in Salt Lake.

Last Thursday was the last day of Marriott's contract for the apartment, so they came and removed everything from the apartment. It was a crazy day! Marriott came in the morning and removed the linens and kitchen appliances. In the afternoon, the furniture company came and removed all the furniture. While they were there, the guy came to pick up the washer and dryer. Everyone finally left at around 3 pm and I was there in an empty apartment minus some of our clothes.

In the meantime, the company Damien works for is paying for us to stay in a hotel. This is great because we have a bed to sleep on and a kitchen to cook in. The only problem is that there were no hotels available in Atlanta because of some conventions going on. Thus we are staying in Smyrna, which is about a 45 minute commute to Damien's work and our apartment.

Our stuff was loaded onto the truck in Salt Lake City on Tuesday and should be arriving sometime between the 10th and 20th. Let's pray that it arrives closer to the 10th!

This morning...

2010-10-01T08:45:00.003-04:00

on my way to drop Damien off at work it was 59 degrees out. A bit cooler than it's been so far. We saw a mom with her little boy waiting to cross the street. The boy was wearing a beanie, mittens, and snow coat with the hood up. He looked like he was ready for a blizzard. Who knows what he'll be wearing when it gets even colder here!

Our Apartment

2010-09-29T16:59:00.003-04:00

The apartment we have been living in during our "temporary" stay in Atlanta has been very nice. We love the view of the pool, proximity to the club house, and smaller size of the building it's in. When we found out that we are staying here on a more permanent basis we decided we wanted to try and rent out this same apartment.

We found out yesterday that Marriott will end their lease tomorrow so that we can rent it starting the first of October. We are very excited that we get to stay! Now we have to figure out when Marriott is coming to remove their furnishings and when ours will arrive.

I asked Damien what he is most excited to get back from storage and he said his PS3, TV, and sound system. Of course, all of the electronics! I am most excited to get my Kitchen Aid and all of my cooking/baking equipment! I have so many recipes I've been wanting to try!

Great News

2010-09-22T08:59:00.005-04:00

We found out yesterday that we will be staying in Atlanta for about the next two years! Damien's boss liked the work Damien was doing so much that he called corporate and asked if they could leave us here on a more permanent basis. They said yes! Damien's company just signed a new contract with the state of Georgia for two more years worth of work so we should be here for somewhere around that!

We are very excited because we really like living here in Atlanta and have made quite a few friends. The weather has still been nice and hot, low 90's in the day and 70's in the evenings, so we can still go swimming! Now we will be looking for an apartment so the moving company can send us our stuff!

Great Start to the Day

2010-08-05T11:06:00.003-04:00

Our apartment complex is one of those gated communities. I know they have the gates so that we are "more secure". How am I supposed to feel secure when I've seen people jump the gate and let their friends in or drive through the gate right behind someone who lives here?

This morning as I was taking Damien to work the best thing happened. We were sitting waiting for the exit gate to open when we saw TWO cars sneak in behind someone entering the complex. The "resident" car stopped and out stepped one of the apartment managers. She wagged her finger at them and gave them both a talking to. That was the wrong car to follow in I would say!

GPS

2010-08-03T15:16:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago I was talking to a woman from the Atlanta area about getting around town and how confusing it is because there are no main roads. She told me that although she has grown up here, she uses a GP System to get around. It took me a few moments to realize that she was referring to her GPS.

The differences from Western talk to Southern talk are manifesting themselves everywhere.

Rock Climbing

2010-07-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

Damien loves to rock climb and has been wanting to go for a while now. I wasn't sure if I would like it because I've never really been. He set up a basic lesson for us at an indoor rock climbing place just a few miles from where we live.

We had our lesson this past Saturday. It was pretty fun! I was a bit nervous at first because the walls were so high (60 ft.). After a while I got used to being way up there and it was pretty fun. I am even able to belay Damien without coming off the ground too much.

My favorite part was when I was belaying Damien and the top of the rope was secured on an overhang. Damien hadn't reached the overhang yet and he fell and came swinging out from the wall and hit a guy standing next to me who was belaying someone else. There was nothing I could do about it except push him back to the wall so he could hang on again for me to lower him to the ground. It was pretty funny though!

Now Damien is begging me to go back this week. We'll have to see. My body is still trying to recuperate from this first time.

Dessert

2010-07-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

We are always looking for good desserts. Damien heard a friend talking about the banana enchiladas at Nava and how they were his favorite dessert. We decided we to try them because we've never had dessert enchiladas before.

Damien ordered the banana enchiladas. I ordered the mud pie. Both were delicious! Now we want to go back and see what dinner is like there. The menu looked pretty good.

Mom's Visit to Atlanta

2010-07-22T11:13:00.000-04:00

My mom came to visit me a month ago while Damien went to training in Denver for his job. We had a fabulous time. A few of the fun activities we did:

1. Found an authentic Italian pizzeria Antico-pizza Napoletana and had a delicious capricciosa pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, prosciutto, and fresh basil) which is my favorite! This restaurant is very cool because they have communal seating right there in the kitchen area. You can watch them make the pizzas right in front of your eyes!

2. Spent 2 hours by the pool and my mom was burnt crispy! I found this very comical because every time we go somewhere warm she always gets sun burned!

3. Went to Alon's Bakery which is delicious, except this midnight cake we got wasn't too hot.

4. Drove around quite a bit.

5. Went to the farmers market.

6. Went to the Atlanta Aquarium where we:

- pet sting rays and sharks

- saw some cool fish
- walked through one of those tunnels where you can see all of the fish swimming around you.

That huge shark you see in the picture below is a whale shark. They had four of them in this tank and they were all HUGE. (Side Note: Damien's boss went scuba diving in this tank with those huge sharks a couple of weeks ago.)

Hello Hotlanta

2010-06-17T08:52:00.000-04:00

We have been in Atlanta for three weeks now and we quite enjoy it! The weather is nice and warm and there is a lot of culture and interesting people to watch. We really like our apartment and it is only about 2 miles from Damien's work. Here are some pictures of where we live.

An apartment building.

Our entry way looking past the kitchen counter and into the living room.

The living room with our wall of windows. I like these windows a lot because I can watch all of the happenings in the pool and BBQ areas.

Our bedroom with a walk-in closet! Yes, this apartment has a bedroom unlike our last and I really like it!

The gym.

My favorite amenity, the pool!

My mom is coming to visit tomorrow while Damien goes for a week of training in Denver. I'm very excited to explore more of Atlanta with her!

Goodbye Provo

2010-06-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

It's been sad to leave Provo behind; the place where Damien and I met and lived for our first few years of marriage. We enjoyed our time there and took a few pictures of special locations before we left!

The building we spent most of our college careers in.

The BEST cupcakes in Provo, The Sweet Tooth Fairy. We had to have one last one right before we left.

The apartment I lived in when Damien and I met.

Damien's apartment that year.

Our landlord's beautiful house!

The backyard where we had our New Orleans party and weenie roast.

Our first apartment = 292 sq. feet.

The inside of our apartment with all of our belongings out.

The best landlords we could have asked for, Gene and Argie.

Goodbye...we will be back some day.

The Farmers Market

2010-06-09T12:14:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Damien and I had the chance to go to the Dekalb Farmers Market and it was huge! They are open everyday of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas day. They have everything and anything you can imagine. All sorts of fruit and vegetables I have never seen before! Spices, pasta, foreign cheeses, and a meat market.

The meat market was quite interesting. The butchers were working there right in front of you cutting up fish and other pieces of meat. I was okay, although the smell of fish was strong, until we got around to the beef. As I was peering into the glass case as we walked by I was greeted be a large tub, and I mean LARGE tub, of these...

Yes, they are cow tongues. I lost my appetite for lunch at this point.

But it was a fun experience and I plan on returning soon. I have enjoyed some kiwi, blackberries, blueberries, and baguettes from here. All have been delicious!

We Graduated!

2010-06-04T09:06:00.001-04:00

Damien and I have both graduated from college! I finished in December and Damien in April. Eden, Damien's sister, graduated last April from BYU Idaho. Eden and I both love the fact that we graduated before Damien. Thus the picture above showing our order of graduation!

Damien and I got to walk together in April. All of the family was there for the event and we had a great time! It feels so good to have us both done with school!

My parents
Rita and Tricia

The Oly clan
Wahoo!!!

There is Nothing Like a Crumbs' Cupcake

2010-06-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

On our trip to NYC we found the best cupcake place called Crumbs. They have the most delicious cupcakes and they come in a million flavors! I've been thinking about them ever since our trip, along with those New York bagels from Murray's. Yesterday I was greeted at my door by a box of those delicious cupcakes!!! Rita had a box of cupcakes sent to us from Crumbs. It was a fabulous surprise and will help us continue getting settled in here in Atlanta.

We may or may not have eaten two already!

New York City - Part 3

2010-05-21T11:37:00.000-04:00

DAY 5

We did some shopping and only tried on the finest accessories!

We got to see Wicked and we had THE best seats in the house. The play was awesome. The actors and actresses were so good and the props and special effects were amazing!

DAY 6

We saw the Statue of Liberty.

Look how big the bolts are in the statue!

Seeing Lady Liberty made me so proud to be an American and have the freedom we have today.

On a side note, the man who built the inside supporting structure for the statue is the same made who built the Eiffel Tower.

And we went to Ellis Island.

This is called the Registry Room and has been restored to what it looked like when my ancestors came over. It was so cool to be able to stand in that same spot my great and great great grandparents stood in about 90 years ago. I am so thankful they made the tough and long journey to America!

Wall Street

And of course if you go to Wall Street, you have to see the bull although it isn't located on Wall Street anymore.

DAY 7

We saw the Empire State Building.

Had the most delicious cupcakes at Crumbs bakery.

Soup dumplings again for lunch and this time we were professionals at eating them correctly.

We had a delicious dinner at Mexicana Mama's in the Village and wore some of our new atire!

DAY 8

It was Rita's birthday and she chose Cafe Reggio for breakfast. Very European in both decoration and ambiance.

And for a walk at Washington Square.

New York City - Part 2

2010-05-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

DAY 2

We went to the Met and got to see this old Egyptian temple. I think this was my favorite exhibit we saw.

We saw the armor and swords exhibit, modern art, Picasso, and some old European art.

Damien's old roommate Brandon and his wife Annie happened to be in NYC the same time we were. We were able to meet up and have dinner in Times Square. (Note: This was the evening before the bomb was discovered there.)

Dinner with the Zellers.

We visited the M&M store in Times Square. Three floors of M&Ms memorabilia and we got to try pretzel M&Ms. They weren't too shabby.

DAY 3

We had bagels for breakfast a couple of mornings at Murray's. They were so good! I've been craving some of those bagels since we've been back.

My great great grandmother died at the Ellis Island hospital about a month after she arrived in the US. She is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Queens. We had the opportunity to go see the cemetery although we were unable to find her grave. We think it is an unmarked grave considering her circumstances.

This is the area we think she is buried in. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

I had to have a New York hot dog. It was delicious!

Damien sporting his new sunglasses.

We ate soup dumplings in China Town. Damien made us watch a video on how to eat soup dumplings. There is a correct way to eat them so that you avoid the humiliation of burning your mouth.

Here you can see what the dumplings look like. I'm trying to show correct technique here too.

DAY 4

We went to little Italy and ate some authentic New York-style pizza at Lombardi's.

We had a cannoli from the Cannoli King. I don't like cannolis at all, but I actually liked this one a lot!

New York City - Part 1

2010-05-17T17:27:00.001-04:00

While in the mist of our chaotic move we spent a week in the Big Apple to celebrate graduation for both Damien and me. Here are some of the fun things we did while we were there.

DAY 1

We rented an apartment in the village and met Rita and Tricia there to begin our adventures.

My first time on the subway.

Times Square

FAO Schwarz

We got quite the laugh out of this Barbie runway.

The Diamond District. Exactly what it sounds like, lots and lots of diamonds!

Dylan's Candybar

Dinner at Isabella's. It was delicious!

Our apartment was on the second floor and there were two night clubs down below. This meant lots of people watching.

Just Kidding

2010-05-13T20:54:00.000-04:00

We have been planning on moving to Santa Fe for a few weeks now, but got news before we left on our trip to NYC that plans were up in the air. After the sudden passing of a project manager in Little Rock, Arkansas and a bit of shuffling we have been reassigned to Atlanta, Georgia!

This will be a temporary move so we should be there for somewhere in the ballpark of 3-9 months and definitely less than a year. After that they will give us a more permanent assignment.

This past week we:

1. Moved all of our things to my grandma's for the movers
2. Cleaned and left the only apartment we have ever lived in since being married
3. Completed the walk through with the moving company
4. Finished my last week of work

We have yet to find out more about the housing situation since it is a temporary move. Once we know that we can decide when we will fly out and when we will send the movers with all of our belongings.

I am so sad to say good-bye to all of my wonderful friends here in Utah, but am excited for a new adventure. I'm sure where ever we end up will be a good experience. I am a bit worried about all of that delicious southern food though. YUM!

We are moving to...

2010-04-21T01:09:00.001-04:00

Santa Fe, New Mexico! We are really excited and think it will be a fun place to live. Now we need to research as much as we can about it before we move in the middle of May.

No Update

2010-04-19T23:56:00.000-04:00

As of right now, we have not heard where we are going. We are hoping that tomorrow will be the day we find out.

Damien's Job

2010-04-12T17:48:00.000-04:00

The company Damien will be working for is deciding which locations all of their new hires will go to THIS FRIDAY. We should find out sometime next week where we are moving, so we thought it would be fun to have you take a guess at where we are going. I put up a poll on the right side of my blog with all of the possible locations we could be sent to.

We can't wait to see what you think!

Easter Traditions

2010-03-18T15:29:00.001-04:00

Easter is coming up here soon and so Damien and I have been talking about Easter traditions.

My family would always dye eggs the day before Easter for the "Easter bunny' to hide that night while we were asleep. The Easter bunny would also bring us each our own Easter basket which contained a chocolate bunny, a few Cadbury eggs (my favorite), Peeps, some malt-ball eggs and other small candies, and a little something we wanted like a CD or t-shirt.

A couple of of years we went to my grandparents' house in Bountiful for Easter. It seems like every time we went my grandma would be the one to hide the eggs. Whenever she would hide them, we would always end up not being able to find at least one egg because she had hid them so well. It must have been all of those years of practice. When we would ask here where else to look she wouldn't be able to remember where else she hid them. For the next day or so we would still be looking for that one egg we couldn't find the day before. I think we always found the missing eggs eventually.

In Damien's family, the girls would get Easter dresses and the boys would get new ties along with some of their favorite Easter candy. They would usually do an Easter egg hunt outside on Easter with the plastic eggs filled with candy and coins.

As many of you know, Damien's mom Rita lives in New Orleans. There is a candy company called Elmer Chocolate there that makes special Easter candy that is only sold down in that part of the country or online now. Each year a little before Easter she sends us a package of this amazing candy. I look forward to that package every year. Especially because she always puts some Cadbury eggs in with the other candy!

Damien and I have been wanting to start some Easter traditions of our own and are wondering what some of your favorite Easter traditions are.

What does your family do every year to celebrate Easter?

Our Calling

2010-03-16T14:14:00.000-04:00

I have forgot to mention that our "new" calling (as of October or November of last year) is family history consultants. At first when we got our calling, Damien and I didn't know that much about doing genealogy work, but we have been learning.

I am so excited because I have been able to find information on 38 family members so far! It is so exciting to find out information about your family and where you came from. It is so interesting to me and I love doing the research. I feel like I am solving a mystery every time I am searching for a new person and their family.

One of the best sites I've found for finding historical records like Census records and immigration records is Ancestry.com. It is a paid site, but if you live close to BYU you can access Ancestry for free on-campus in the library. You can also search EllisIsland.org for free if your ancestors immigrated through New York.

Damien has also found some information on his family and I think he is enjoying a bit too!

New Goal

2010-03-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

My new goal is to try at least one new recipe a week until the week we move. (No, we still don't know where we are moving. Hopefully we will know by the end of April.) I started last week by trying three new recipes from my first issue of Clean Eating magazine. My in-laws got me a subscription for Christmas. I really like the magazine. They have a lot of healthy recipes that make you feel good after you eat them and the taste delicious.

I tried Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms, Lemon-Grilled Chicken & Bulgar Salad, and New Potatoes with Parsley & Chives. All three were very delicious! Here is my version of the Steamed Potatoes recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. small potatoes (I used small red potatoes and quartered them)
1 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped (I used fresh Italian parsley)
1 tsp. dried chives or you can use 3 fresh chives
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
salt
ground black pepper (optional)

1. Fill a pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Place quartered potatoes into the boiling water, cover, and cook until potatoes are tender. About 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Add parsley, chives, oil, salt and pepper to taste and toss gently. Serve hot.

**You can change the amount of parsley and chives to fit your taste. The amounts given in the recipe are approximate. Also, you could always try other spices if you don't have parsley or chives on hand.

Enjoy!

For access to Clean Eating recipes, click here.

Picture Update - Winter

2010-01-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

Damien decided to change the light bulb like this.

We decorated our apartment for Christmas. This is our Christmas tree.

We visited Damien's family in Everson and my family in Spokane. My mom made dinner one night and this is what happened.

I got the most beautiful Kitchen Aid for my graduation gift. I have made many delicious items in it!

Damien likes to clean the beater for me!

I got a haircut.

And so did Damien.

I made quiche for dinner the other night.

And our King Cake arrived today. I have already had two pieces! YUM

Picture Update - Fall

2010-01-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

We were back in Provo towards the end of summer and beginning of fall. We decided to throw a New Orleans party for our friends. We made red beans and rice, corn bread, and bananas foster.
Damien even helped me cut the sausage for the red beans and rice.

Becki, Alisa, and Karly.

Damien and Bre.

Adam, Nate, Damien, Travis, and Rachel.

We did another hike to Stewart falls.

Damien had a birthday! I confiscated almost all of his packages and so he thought everyone had forgotten about his birthday. The morning of his birthday I grabbed all of his packages out of their hiding spots while he was in the shower. He was very surprised to see this when he came out.

In his birthday attire.

We celebrated by going to dinner.

Damien had sushi.

I had delicious chicken!

And we finished it off with chocolate cake.

We had a few apple off the apple tree outside our tree house.

We bought a pumpkin from the farmer's market, but never got around to carving it.

The leaves were beautiful around our apartment.

We decided to do a hot dog roast with out friends. Our landlords have a fire pit in the backyard so we used that.

Picture Update - Summer

2010-01-27T22:30:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, we lived in New Orleans over the summer. I forgot to post some of the last pictures from our stay there, so here they are:

I started knitting scarves. This is the first scarf I made and it was for Damien.

Damien loved using the goggles we found by the pool on our vacation in Florida, so I surprised him with these!

They starting rebuilding the house next door. This was the big machine that was knocking pylons into the ground and it was shaking the whole house.

We made stencils and painted these birds on our shirts.

I found the cutest yarn shop in the French Quarter! This is how they wrapped my yarn up for me to take home.

Our 2nd anniversary! We went out to dinner and of course finished it off with:

DESSERT

Then we drove back to Provo and it was a long drive,

Damien and I were happy to be back, but our apartment seemed so small. And our stuff was everywhere while we tried to find places for everything to go.

New Orleans was a blast though and I can't wait for our next trip there!

Good News

2010-01-21T23:36:00.000-05:00

Good news, I am officially a full-time employee of BYU Broadcasting! I filled out the final paperwork yesterday and now I just have to wait four days to get my new "Employee" BYU ID!

And, I received an email today saying my diploma is in the mail.

Surprise!

2010-01-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

Damien is horrible at keeping a surprise from me and usually he tells me that he has a surprise and so it is no longer a surprise. This time he actually did keep a surprise from me. I got home from work the other day and there was a little package in the mail. It had my name on it, but I didn't recognize the return address. When I opened it I found an iPod exercise arm-band. I couldn't believe it. It was just what I needed.

Damien and I have been trying to get back into the habit of running every other day or so and we like to take our iPods to listen to when we run. I have an arm-band that I have been using, but it has been falling apart. I have had to use superglue on it a number of times and I wasn't sure how much longer it would last. But I do not have to fear any longer, because now I have a really cool, durable arm-band. I can't wait to try it out!

Dinner Last Night

2009-11-25T22:16:00.001-05:00

We are in New Orleans for Thanksgiving and went out to dinner last night. While at dinner, I shot by straw wrapper at Damien and hit him right in the chest. When he tried to shoot me with his straw wrapper it hit me and then bounced up and over the divider between the tables and hit someone at the other table. Then all of a sudden this head popped up from the other table and it was a Catholic priest. Damien hit a priest with his straw wrapper. We were laughing so hard!

Job Offer

2009-11-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

Damien got a great job offer yesterday with Fast Enterprises!!!

We went to the Idea Pitch final at BYU yesterday, which was fun to watch the top four teams give their business idea pitches. While we were waiting for it to start, Damien got a call from the company letting him know that they had just sent him an offer. We were both very excited because he has had quite a few interviews with no job offers. Of course, we still need to decide whether or not we are going to take it for sure.

I also finished my business plan this week and my group presented it to my professor, an angel investor, another professor, and our class. It went pretty well, especially because we were one of the first groups to present. I am so glad it is over. If you want to see the really cool homepage Damien made for my business plan you can click here.

Overall we had a great week! We celebrated by having dinner at P.F. Chang's last night! Yum!

Next week we will be in New Orleans visiting family for Thanksgiving and we are really excited to see them!

To Grandma's House We Went

2009-10-12T21:38:00.000-04:00

Two weekends ago Damien and I went up to my grandma's house in Bountiful to spend the weekend with her. While we were up there we got to help her pick nuts off her walnut trees. If you don't know how walnuts grow or how to get them to the form we usually see at the grocery store than you would find it quite interesting. I never would have known if it weren't for my grandma.

Walnuts grow on large trees as green spheres. When ripe, the green outer fleshy shell has to dry and crack off or you have to peel it off. If the green shell gets moist inside before it falls off then the green shell turns a dark brown and becomes very moist. The oils from this will stain your fingers a brown color so sometimes you have to wear gloves when handling them. Once you get the green shell off then you are left with the hard brown shelled walnut like you see at the grocery store. You have to crack the brown shell off and pull the nut out to let it dry. When you pull the nut out it is still very moist and pliable and not ready to eat. Once the nuts are dried they are ready to eat or freeze for later use. I absolutely love the fresh walnuts from my grandma's trees! Damien and I helped pull nuts out of shells while Grandma cracked the shells open for us. And of course she sent us with a bag full of them. I absolutely love the walnuts from Grandma's trees!

Another funny thing happened that weekend too. We took our laundry to my grandma's as well and Damien decided he wanted to be helpful so he went inside and switched a load from the washer to the dryer and put a new load in the washer. I came downstairs a bit latter and Damien said, "I need to show you something." He walked me over to the washer and lifted the lid. I looked in and all I could see was pink. He had thrown our red rug into the washer with our towels and a pair of his underwear. The rug had never been washed before so the red dye turned everything a pink color. I just laughed. It was nice of Damien to try and help!

October 1

2009-10-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, October 1, was Damien's 25th birthday! He had a very enjoyable birthday, but the best part was the surprise I pulled on him.

Weeks before his birthday, Rita emailed me to get some gift ideas for Damien because he was refusing to send her any. He said he didn't need any birthday gifts because they are flying us out to visit for Thanksgiving. So I sent her a few a list of things he wanted. We continued our secret emails back and forth. She order a few gifts and had them sent to the house. As most of you know, we live above our landlords' garage and so we use the same address as them. This worked out wonderfully because I had them put all packages that came to the house in a closet inside their back door. That way Damien had no idea that I was having all of the gifts held back!

One day Damien came to get me from school to go to yoga and informed me that Rita had given him Mexican Train for his birthday. One of the packages slipped through and was set out on the back bench when Damien got home from school. And of course he opened it minutes after getting home. He asked me how his mom knew that he wanted Mexican Train. I had to lie and pretend like I didn't know anything about it.

All of the rest of the packages were held though and so the few days before his birthday I went and got the gifts from the closet and hid them in our apartment. The morning of his birthday he woke up and went and got in the shower. He thought I was still asleep, but I jumped out of bed and took all of the boxes out of their hiding places and had them all set up on the table. When he came out of the bathroom he was so surprised to see all of these gifts waiting for him. He had a huge smile on his face! The days before his birthday he was sad nothing came in the mail for him because he thought everyone had forgotten his birthday. Little did he know I was being sneaky and hiding them so he couldn't open them before his birthday!

Damien and I will continue his birthday celebration with sushi tonight for dinner (while I enjoy some teriyaki chicken or something a little more normal) and next weekend we are going rock climbing at the Quarry.

Yoga & The Farmers Market

2009-09-15T23:27:00.000-04:00

Damien and I are taking a yoga class together at BYU right now! The class is good because it sets time aside for us to practice yoga three times a week. We have it Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We have a different teacher on Saturdays then on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is a good thing. I like Amy, the Saturdays teacher's style of teaching better. We talked to Amy after class last Saturday and found out that she grew up around New Orleans. What a surprise! We haven't met very people from the south here at school, let alone New Orleans. It was fun talking to her about the culture down there. It is hard for us westerners to understand the southern culture because it varies so much from ours. But it is fun to be a part of the friendly, easy-going culture in the south. And I might end up being the TA for that Saturday yoga class which would be fun!

On another note, go to your farmers market if you have one. Damien and I have been to the one at Pioneer Park here in Provo the past two weeks. They have quite a few more vendors than they had last year. We have gotten some delicious yellow squash, peaches and grass-fed beef from there. The way I have been preparing the squash has been so good! Here is what I've done.

Steamed Yellow Squash and Onions

1. Slice the squash into medium sized slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Roughly chop a small onion or half of a large onion.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan on medium heat.
4. Place a layer of squash down in the pan. Sprinkle with some salt and then spread about half of the chopped onion on top of the squash.
5. Repeat with another layer of squash, salt, and onion.
6. Place a lid over your pan and let vegetables cook. Stir every few minutes. Let it cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash are tender or done to your liking.

A Quick Update

2009-09-08T13:03:00.001-04:00

We made it back to Provo safely and got all rearranged in our apartment. School started last week and I can't wait for it to be over! Damien and I are taking a yoga class at BYU and it started last week. We had a great 3 day weekend, but I will have to post about that later!

Two Years

2009-08-11T10:50:00.000-04:00

Damien and I have been married two years today! I can't believe it has been two years already because the time has flown by. We have enjoyed the past two years and I couldn't be any happier.

It's always fun to look back at pictures from the courtship. This is the evening we got engaged.
For those of you who don't know the story I will give you a shorter version.

I was leaving the next day for Sacramento to go to one of my best friend's weddings! I really wanted to be engaged before I went so I could show Val my ring! Damien told me earlier that day that he didn't want to propose that day because he wanted it to be a surprise, although I already knew we were going to get engaged soon. He told me we needed to talk and looked all sad as we drove to Manito Park (one of our favorite parks in Spokane to walk around). He sat me down on a rock and said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't like where our relationship is at right now." I am freaking out thinking he is going to break up with me when he says "I don't want you to be my girlfriend. I would rather you be my wife." And he whips out the ring and asks me to marry him.

It was pretty crazy because one minute I am thinking he is going to break up with me and the next moment he proposes. He thought it was the best thing ever that I was freaking out. It all worked out though.

While getting our bridal pictures our photographer had us put our foreheads together for the picture and Damien came in really fast and bonked my forehead. This is the aftermath picture! Silly boy!

Thank you for a wonderful two years. I look forward to many more fun times. I love you Damien!

Blue Mountain Beach

2009-08-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

Damien informed me that my last post was too long and people wouldn't read it because it was so long. Thus I will be doing a couple smaller posts to get all of our latest adventures in. This post is about our long weekend trip to Florida.

We took a long weekend and drove about 4 hours to the beautiful Florida coast. We were able to rent a condo with Rita and Tricia, and our good friends John and Debbie. The weather was nice and sunny most of the time and the beach was great! I didn't know that some of Florida's beaches were so nice. The sand was really fine and soft and the water was a beautiful clear blue-green. Off the beach, the water was pretty shallow for a ways out there so we could go pretty far out.

We arrived in Blue Mountain Beach on Thursday afternoon after a stop at the gas station, Krispy Kreme, and Wendy's.

Damien and I spent quite a bit of time at the beach. It was especially fun because we found a pair of goggles at the pool and took them down to the beach with us. We were able to see all kinds of ocean life in the shallow water with the goggles. Damien was like a little fish and we couldn't get him to get out of the water because he was searching for little creatures and fish. While we were out there these little white fish followed us around swarming our legs and nibbling at them. We also saw some small schools of dark fish darting around, some long skinny fish with long noses (not sure what you call that on a fish), and some white fish with yellow fins. Damien also found a few hermit crabs and sand dollars.

With the child-sized goggles on.

Damien looking for creatures.

We had to get a bit of sun!

The BIG hermit crab.

Little baby hermit crab.

Pretty little sand dollar.

One of the mornings we were able to rent bicycles and take a ride to this place that has delicious muffins in Seaside were The Truman Show was filmed. The muffins were delicious and it was a fun town to walk around!

Debbie and John ready for the ride.

I'm getting ready to go and not sure what Damien is doing.

Riding to the Starbucks and then the muffin store.

Seaside, Florida

Enjoying our muffins! Yum

We stopped at a little gallery/craft store on the way out of town. Damien was enjoying the little chair hammock.

Another morning we went to IHOP because Damien had been wanting to go really bad. We thought we knew where it was but ended up passing it by about 10 miles and had to turn around to find it. Breakfast was good and they forgot to bring our drinks right away so we had free orange juice that morning!

And they just happened to have a shopping outlet mall close by so we did a little shopping there. I found this fabulous Kenneth Cole leather purse that was originally $265 and I got it for $45. I don't mean to brag, it was just a really good find and I am always looking for a good deal!

Our trip was a nice break and we enjoyed our time at the beach. If you are ever down in Florida rent a condo (we used this website to look for a condo) and stay somewhere along the beach between Destin and Panama City because those are supposed to be the nicest beaches, but I hear that Pensacola is also nice!

Mom

2009-07-21T11:20:00.000-04:00

My mom flew down here and spent the past week with us. We had so much fun! Here are some of the things we did while she was here.

1. My mom and I did some shopping on Magazine Street where they have lots of fun boutiques. We went into one store selling Vera Wang wedding dresses just to look at them. They were beautiful. We also stopped by Sucre and had a chocolate!

2. We walked around the French Quarter and of course we stopped at Cafe Du Monde and had a few beignets! My mom loved them!

Mom enjoying her first beignet.

Rita and Tricia enjoying their beignets and coffee.

This guy sang us a song by James Brown while walking along the Mississippi River walk.

3. We had dinner at Maximo's in the Quarter with Maw Maw and Paw Paw. It took an hour and a half for our dinner to arrive so the manager said the whole meal including dessert was on him! While there, my mom got to try crawfish.

The crew (left to right): Me, Damien, Rita, Tricia, Maw Maw, Paw Paw, and Mom.

Our chocolate covered gelato dessert!!!

4. My mom and I walked a few mornings and we got to take her to the New Orleans Athletic Club to work out.

The yoga room.

The swimming pool and stretching/boxing area is up above on the second level.
5. We took a tour of the plantation Houmas House. We took a little detour on the way there and ended up on a tiny little road wide enough for one car to barely drive on it. The detour made for a fun trip though and on the way home we barely missed hitting a rabbit crossing the road.

It was pouring rain when we got there so we all had our hoods on.

The chandeliers were beautiful and the ceiling and walls were hand-painted by the gardener.

The map on the wall in this picture is a map of all of the plantations in the state of Louisiana right before the Civil War. The map was found under some of the floor boards in the Houmas House. They think that it was hid there at the beginning of the Civil War so that the Yankees wouldn't find it. Most other maps like this were probably burned because there aren't many left today.

Here our tour guide Judy played and sang a song on the Steinway piano. It was one of the few pianos of that brand actually manufactured in Germany.

The music box still plays and the company that made it is still around today. They now make machines to manufacture chocolate.

Some of the beautiful silverware.

The spiral staircase.

The kitchen with lots of old kitchen gadgets.

The gardens were huge and very well kept.

6. We ate a lot of different places while my mom was here! We had Indian, Thai, Italian, Southern, American food and lots of dessert!

Mom, Me, Damien, and Tricia at the Creole Creamery. They are known for having unique flavors of ice cream like lavender basil and avocado. They also have really good "normal" flavors too including my favorite which is caramel chicory chocolate. They are also known for their $22 Tchoupitoulas challenge. The Tchoupitoulas has 8 scoops of ice cream and 8 toppings. If you finish it on your own then you get your name on the plaque. A few missionaries in the area have their names on the plaque!

7. We had a party with all of our friends and family so that they could meet my mom. It was a blast! We played ping pong and had a pinata.

Appearantly our pinata is a Backyardigan. Damien picked it out. He loved moving the pinata up and down while I was swinging at it! I got a few good hits on it though.

We were pooped after the party! Lots of preperation and enjoyment.

8. We took a ferry ride across from the city of New Orleans to Algiers and back. The view of the city was beautiful!

9. While walking down Royal street in the Quarter we were able to witness an interesting little scene. A police car had its lights on following this car. The lady driving the car was trying to pull it over to the side of the road but was so drunk that she ran into this pole on the sidewalk with the front of the car, managing to slide the side of the car around the pole, and then backed up into the pole. She finally stopped the car and this very feminine, hip police officer gets out and tells the guy in the car that he will not allow that lady to drive the car. It was hard to take the police officer seriously because of his high pitched voice, stylish glasses, and neatly styled hair.

Hummus

2009-07-10T14:38:00.000-04:00

There is a restaurant down here in New Orleans called Zeas and they have the best garlic hummus. I was sad thinking about not being able to have some when we return to Provo, until I found this artichoke hummus recipe on one of the food blogs I follow. I made it for the first time this afternoon and it was delicious. I used a food processor first like the directions said, but couldn't get the hummus creamy enough. It still had small chunks. I then scooped the hummus out into a bowl and tried a hand blender. The hand blender worked perfectly. It smoothed it to the perfect consistancy! We had it with whole wheat pita bread that had been heated in the oven! Oh was it good! If you like hummus, I would recommend trying this recipe because it tastes great!

Tetrazzini

2009-07-07T17:29:00.000-04:00

Today I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make a few meals this week including tetrazzini. While checking out at the grocery store, the cashier asked to see my license. I thought this was strange because I was using my debit card. I then realized that the cashier wanted to see my driver's license because I was buying some dry white wine for the tetrazzini recipe. This is the first time I have ever been carded since I don't drink alcohol so I never buy it. It made me laugh though and when I shared this story with Damien he said, "you got carded because you look like you are 15." He is such a little tease!

New Orleans and My Wonderful In-Laws

2009-07-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

Today marks the two-year anniversary of my first visit to New Orleans to meet my new family, Rita and Tricia. I remember the day well. I was so nervous to meet the family because I wanted them to like me since I was engaged to their son. We flew in, I was warmly greeted by Rita and Tricia and I met the hot summer humidity upon exiting the airport. We were whisked off with a quick stop at Taco Bell to the house to drop off our luggage. Then we went over the Bobby and Lynn's to meet the family and friends. We had a delicious BBQ and shot off fireworks! The rest is history.

Rita and Tricia have been so kind to Damien and I over the past year with flights to visit them here in New Orleans and now letting us live with them for the summer. We have enjoyed all of the fun memories with the both of them and look forward to the new ones to come!

Happy 4th of July!

More Nola

2009-07-04T11:43:00.000-04:00

Here is a little update on the most recent happenings.

1. We are still playing Wii and we have the most fun when the whole family is involved!

2. We spent a Saturday in the French Quarter.

We woke up early so that we could make it to Petunia's for breakfast in the French Quarter. When we arrived at Petunia's, a guy greeted us and told us they had moved locations. He led us to a bar on Bourbon street, but we didn't believe him. (Later we found out it was a scam. Petunia's has closed its doors for good and that guy was just trying to get us to eat at his bar.) We made our way over to the Rib Room for breakfast that morning instead. Breakfast there was delicious!

We stopped to listen to some street performers. They were great!

And we stopped at an art gallery with this poster in front of their shop.

We saw these oysters in the window of a restaurant as we were passing by.

We saw the movie Up in 3-D!

3. We had Grandma Judy over for dinner and played card games one evening.

4. I've been sewing away! I made another quilt and a little baby dress! (No, I am not pregnant but have lots of pregnant friends and so I thought I would make a few pieces for gifts.)

5. Father's Day

Damien and I made strawberry pie early that morning.

That afternoon Damien and I went to our very first crawfish boil! The crawfish were delicious! You just have to get past seeing the little creatures looking at you, the guts, and peeling the shells off. I prefer my crawfish already peeled and cooked.

We celebrated at Bobby and Lynn's (Tricia's brother and his wife) with a BBQ and swimming.

Their dog had her puppies and they were only a week old. They still hadn't opened their eyes and they were adorable! Here is Christopher (Tricia's brother) with one of the puppies.

Paw Paw got a boom box for Father's Day. This is how he plans on listening to it:

6. I have tried a few things I normally wouldn't eat while down here. I tried King Crab, which I thought was gross. I really didn't like the fishy flavor. I tried edamame. I didn't like it, but I didn't dislike it. It was okay. And I tried Speckled Trout at a fish fry we went to. Some of Rita and Tricia's friends just bought a boat and went fishing that day. The trout wasn't too bad. It was covered in a tasty batter and fried. It was pretty good!

7. All of us have been regularly attending our jivamukti yoga class on Thursdays. Damien likes it so much that he practices at home.

8. So You Think You Can Dance held auditions here in New Orleans and so we drove by to see everyone waiting to try out while we were out for lunch. We love watching that show. They have some strange choreographers on that show though!

9. Although they have the concrete slab cleared next door and the land flattened, they haven't started construction yet. They did put the construction company's sign out, but it was in our yard. Damien was kind enough to put it back on the neighbors property and hammer it into the ground with this huge wooden hammer.

Yesterday

2009-06-25T17:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of the craziest days ever! My stomach started to ache after dinner on Tuesday night but I didn't think much of it since I have digestive issues and stomach pain quite often. Since it was my half birthday (June 23) I wanted to celebrate a bit. Damien took me to get ice cream from the Creole Creamery and it was delicious. I had peanut butter chocolate which tasted just like a creamy Reese peanut butter cup! I went to bed that night and didn't sleep well at all. I tossed and turned because my stomach was in so much pain. Finally I got up around 2:10 am because I felt like I was going to throw up. And I finally did at 2:30. I haven't thrown up for quite a while. In fact, I don't remember the last time I threw up. I felt better after that though! I went back to bed but woke up around 7 am because my stomach hurt started to hurt again and Damien had to get up to get ready for an early meeting.

Rita and Tricia are putting an apartment in the basement for us to stay in and other when they come to visit. So the guys putting up the drywall also arrived at 7 am and began their drilling and banging. As if the loud noise wasn't enough, next door there was a concrete slab left from the house that was demolished after Katrina. Apparently they are getting ready to build a new house over there because they demolished the slab that same day.

It stared out with a huge machine drilling holes into the platform everywhere. Then followed by the large orange beast of a demolition machine with a large scooper on the front that dug chunks of concrete up and grabbed the pieces to load into the back of the dump truck. I don't know if you have ever been a matter of feet from one of these machines while sick on your stomach laying in your bed watching them out of your window, but it is quite scary. Especially when the big demolition truck thing is slowly tipping over while trying to rip off a too heavy of a chunk of concrete and getting closer to your window by the second. As if this wasn't scary enough, while fearing the demolition beast is going to come through your window and squash you to death, the ground has been shaking for hours as if in an ongoing earthquake. The light fixture and mirror were shaking like crazy and I thought they might drop to the floor from the rumble.

This is kind of what the demolition machine looked like except it was orange.

And they demolition crew didn't finish yesterday. They were back at it early this morning. Finishing the clean-up of the concrete and then they used a bulldozer to plow down all of the dirt that was left at the demolition site. After one hundred sweeps across the dirt and the dishes in the house shaking like made they have finished for the day. I am sure that the next little bit will be great when they start pouring the new foundation next door and building the house!

P.S. I am finally feeling better today and even ate breakfast this morning!

Father's Day

2009-06-23T11:54:00.001-04:00

I know Father's Day was a few days ago, but I have been thinking about some of the fun times we have had with my dad. My family was able to take quite a few trips when we were growing up and I was remembering one trip that was especially fun and memorable so I thought I would share it.

It was winter 1996, I was in 4th grade and Bean was in 2nd grade. My parents had secretly planned a family trip to Disney World in Florida. The night before we were to leave on our trip was the beginning of the Spokane ice storm. Things had started to melt in previous days but temperatures dramatically fell and everything froze. Snow fell on top of the ice and tree branches and power lines were down everywhere. Our power went out the night before we were to leave.

The day of our trip, which would have been a school day, but all the schools were closed because of the ice storm, my parents woke us up early. They asked us if we wanted to go to Disney World that day. I thought they were just saying that to try and get us out of bed. But no, they were telling the truth. We packed our suitcases and left for the airport that morning. Our plane made it out of Spokane even though the airport was running on a generator and the runway was all icy.

Once we made it to our hotel in Florida, a guy trying to sell my parents a time share approached us. My dad wanted to get rid of him and so he agreed to get a free breakfast the next morning and listen to his presentation. When the guy asked for our room number so they could give us a wake-up call my dad gave him the wrong room number on purpose. I feel bad for whoever was in that room because they had an early wake-up call!

The first night in our hotel room my mom woke up during the night to go to the bathroom and stepped into a couple inches of water. Our condo was flooded. We had to pack up everything really quickly and go to the front desk to get a new room. This all took place at about 4 am.

While we were driving around looking for dinner, which is always stressful because we all can't decide on one place to eat, my dad suggested that we go through the Taco Bell drive thru naked! How gross would that be! (My family has a fascination with suggesting we go places naked.) But sometime after that trip, we came across an article about some guy who really did go through the Taco Bell drive thru naked and I think the workers called the police on him or refused him service. My family had a good laugh about that!

The whole time while we were in Florida enjoying ourselves, the power to our house had been off. I think it came back on a day or two before we arrived back. We didn't miss much school either because it had been canceled for a while because of the ice storm. And our plane landed safely on the runway and they barely got the door gate out to our plane, but we made it safely home. It was the perfect time for a trip!

Pictures from Nola

2009-06-14T19:41:00.000-04:00

I copied some pictures from Rita and Tricia's camera onto my computer from the summer thus far and so I thought I should post a few of them. And talk a little bit more about what we have been up to.

When we arrived in New Orleans, Eden was still visiting so we got to spend some time with her! In the picture below, the three of us were helping out by doing some of the dishes. We had all just gotten out of bed that's why our hair looks so nice.

Tricia took Eden and I each on a motorcycle ride. Damien is still waiting for his ride.

Damien trying to catch a lizard on the back fence. They are too fast for him though.

Here I am on my motorcycle ride with Tricia.

We went to The Palace Cafe for Mother's Day to celebrate. For dessert Damien and I shared banana's foster, which they made table side.

And here is Eden with her dessert. I think she had something like chocolate mudslide cake. She let me have a bite and it was delicious!

Damien and me with our banana's foster. Yum ;)

Here is the group. From left to right: Paw Paw, Maw Maw, Tricia, Rita, Grandma Judy, Eden, me, and Damien.

Another group shot on the staircase.

Maw Maw bowling on the Wii. She was really concentrating so she could get a strike.

Paw Paw taking his turn bowling.

Eden, Rita, and I went to the River Walk and did a little shopping. Here Eden and I are out by the river.

And here we are again by the rainbow colored Volkswagen bus.

Damien wanted a haircut so I was trimming it up.

I always miss a few hairs and so I trim them when Damien finds them.

A typical morning.

He found another long hair that I missed.

Rita and Tricia have Wii Fit so every morning we wake up and take a body test to see how much damage was done the night before at dinner.

We got to go to the Greek Festival and Damien decided to model Rita's hat. He looks like a country bumpkin.

If you look behind us you can see the lambs roasting on a spit.

Rita, Damien, and I walking around at Greek Fest.

We got two boxes full of delicious Greek desserts including baklava. The one Damien is trying here tasted just like baklava with the syrupy walnut filling, but instead of the phyllo dough, it was wrapped in stuff that had the texture of shredded wheat.

The Hellenic dancers.

We also took a tour of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral there at Greek Fest. These pictures are from inside the cathedral.

Me, Damien, and Tricia outside of the cathedral.

Damien's face looks very ridiculous in this picture so I have to explain who he is imitating. We watched the last few episodes of American Idol in New Orleans and Rita and Tricia always said that Chris Allen looked like he had monkey lips when he sang. From then on we referred to Chris as Monkey Lips. While we were at Pupuseria eating lunch one day, yes it was the most authentic Mexican food you can get in the United States, we were talking about American Idol and Damien and Tricia were imitating him. Here is the picture of Damien.

Don't the faces look similar?

We have also been to the World Market. They sell some cool household decorations, food, and hats. Here is Damien modeling one of the hats!

The World Market also had this bacon chocolate bar. It looked disgusting.

While being down here in Nola we have also had the privilege of trying many delicious restaurants. One of them is called La Thai and they have really good food. As you can see in the picture, Damien is very excited to try the pineapple fried rice.

Here is one more picture from our swamp tour. We thought the boats weren't going to be covered so we brought our hats. The boat ended up being covered though so it wasn't too hot!

Coldplay Concert

2009-06-10T13:13:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at the Coldplay concert! Howling Bells started off the concert, with the amazing Snow Patrol following them, and then of course...COLDPLAY! Here are some pictures from the concert.

The New Orleans Arena

Howling Bells

Snow Patrol: They were great!

Before Coldplay got on the stage these four guys climbed up this tiny rope latter and then had to crawl across the metal to lower themselves in these chairs. In the picture below you can see the one guy climbing towards his chair. There were two of them on each side and they were so high in the air. They stayed up their for the entire Coldplay performance.

Also while they were getting the stage ready for Coldplay a worker that was sweeping the stage started to break dance to the music and one of the spotlights was on him. He was quite good!

COLDPLAY: The picture behind them was really pretty.

For part of the show they had these lasers shining out into the audience.

A better view of the gorgeous picture behind the band.

Chris Martin came out on the end of the stage! He was jumping and running around the whole concert without very many breaks.

During the song Yellow they threw all of these huge yellow balloons out over the audience and when they popped they flung yellow confetti everywhere.

They had these huge balls that lowered down from the ceiling and had pictures on them. At some points during the concert, they were live video of the group members singing.

Chris Martin playing the piano for us.

They had a mini band set-up on our side of the stage and they performed a few songs over there.

Coldplay also crossed the audience and went into the back of the audience and performed there. It was great. Will (the drummer) played the guitar for a few songs and Chris also played the harmonica. It was a great performance!

During Lovers in Japan the crepe paper butterflies came drifting down from the ceiling just like in their music video!

And that is why my Coldplay tee shirt has butterflies all over it. Damien and I with our Coldplay tee shirts on!

Coldplay is giving away a free CD album. Just follow this link to get to it!

Cockroach Tales Continued

2009-06-10T12:08:00.001-04:00

Before I even post about the AMAZING Coldplay concert we went to last night I must tell you about after we got back.

I was getting ready for bed and was walking out of the bathroom when I saw another cockroach in our trash walking around. They freak me out because they are so huge and they crawl very quickly. I have been so lucky as to not have one fly at me yet, but I still hate them. After begging Damien to either remove the trash can from the bathroom or kill the roach he went in and couldn't find it so he shoved his flip flop around in the trash to "smash it down." I told him to hand me my pillow because I was not sleeping anywhere close to that thing (the bathroom has a door that leads into the bedroom).

He finally went back into the bathroom, picked up the trash can and set it outside in the hall. He nonchalantly walks back into our bedroom, grabs his flip flop off the ground, walks into the bathroom, and I hear a smack. He then comes back in the room to report that when he had picked up the trash can, the roach had crawled onto his shorts and was on his shorts when he came back into our bedroom to grab his shoe! blah He went back into the bathroom brushed it off and killed it, leaving me to deal with a roach that was still moving and roach guts everywhere.

After that, I made him check himself for any other bugs that may be on him and then we laid down to go to sleep. I am pretty sure I laid there for quite a while trying to fall asleep thinking about where all of the roaches could be crawling up the bed or silently flying towards my face. I finally fell asleep, but have been paranoid ever since that I am going to see another one in the house soon.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha...

2009-06-09T10:51:00.000-04:00

I'm going to update y'all on the latest happenings here in New Orleans.

1. I was getting ready to take a shower yesterday when I went to turn the shower on and
noticed a shadow of something fall a bit on the other side of the shower curtain. When I
examined it more closely I realized it was the shadow of a large roach. I had to hurry and put
some clothes on so that I could go get Damien to come and kill the roach. He did and it was
gross. I am glad I noticed the roach before I was in the shower because then I probably would
have had a heart attack!

2. I have been working on a quilt for Damien and I finished it yesterday!

Most of you have been to our tiny apartment in Provo and know there isn't much space to work on a quilt. It has been so nice to have a nice large area on the island in the kitchen to work on it. So I had to take a picture of my work area.

3. Cats are so cute when they curl up and sleep the afternoon away by the window.

This is Magoo, Rita and Tricia's cat. When he isn't sleeping he is begging us for more food.

4. They have crazy afternoon thunderstorms down here. The other day Rita and I decided to
go run a few errands which included making a stop at the grocery store. Just when we decided
to leave the house it started to pour rain. When we were leaving the grocery store, I waited
with the cart while Rita pulled the car up next to the curb. Well, we couldn't get the back
doors open on the car or the hatch on the back. Finally we realized the doors were locked and
got them unlocked and loaded the groceries. We were soaked by this point, but it wasn't our
last stop. We stopped at Frosty's to get some bubble teas. I was wearing flip flops and jeans
that day and when I stepped out into Frosty's parking lot. Almost my whole foot was covered
in water. I wanted to show y'all how much it was raining that day so I took a picture of my
sweatshirt when we got home. Here is the damage:

Swamp Tour

2009-06-05T17:20:00.000-04:00

On June 1 we were able to go on a swamp tour with Rita and Tricia. Here are some pictures from our adventure!

Damien doing a little dance because he was so excited to go see some alligators!

Here he is in the car. We brought hats because we thought the boat wouldn't be covered. Damien decided to try my hat on and make this really cute face.

Here we are on the boat with Captain Jack. He was hilarious and talked with a thick accent very quickly so a lot of the time we had no idea what he was saying.

Captain Jack fed this alligator a hot dog. She (the alligator) was about 10 feet long. She was a big one.

Captain showing us the crawfish trap.

This is what the boat looked like that we were in.

We saw quite a few blue heron while we were there. They are huge birds.

The swimming dock. Yes, they really do go swimming down there with the gators.

Lily pads in full bloom.

My artistic photo for the trip. A dragonfly resting on the lily pad.

Water snake.

The beautiful swamp. It was a great day for our trip. It was nice and sunny without being too hot.

I thought this little house was painted such a fun color.

These guys were having a crawfish boil. The guy in the picture is stirring a huge pot of them.

A nice place to take a bath. (That's a bathtub tied to the tree.)

The Sugar Shack!

The funniest thing of all, these people are transporting a refrigerator to their house in the swamp. The only way to get anything down to some of these homes is by boat.

We had a great time!

New Orleans Update

2009-06-05T11:58:00.000-04:00

I still haven't found a job, although I haven't really been looking because I have been enjoying not having to work. In the meantime, I have been going on daily bike rides and working on a quilt for Damien. I am almost done with his quilt! I am still working on hand-stitching the edges of the quilt and then I will be done and post pictures for everyone to see it!

On another note, we have a gym membership to a great club down here and so we have been working out pretty regularly. Last Friday I went to my first yoga class with Rita, my mother-in-law, and yesterday to my second class. Damien and Tricia even came to yesterday's class with Rita and myself! It was such a good workout and I got to try some yoga moves I have never done before in the two classes. One of the poses is called bird of paradise. To give you some visuals, this is the pose preparing you for the final pose:

And this is the final bird of paradise pose:

We also did 500 downward facing dog poses and it was tough. I have also been able to try the headstand pose. I still need some practice before I get this one down though. For those who aren't into yoga, this is what the headstand pose looks like:

I forgot my temple recommend at home so Argie, our landlord, is sending it to me. We are planning on going to the temple in Baton Rouge soon. I haven't been to too many temples so this should be fun!

And the best news of all...my mom is coming to visit us in July! I am really excited for her to come and visit and show her around!

And, I have been having bubble teas like crazy! The taro coconut with soy milk and tapioca pearls are delicious! yum

P.S. We are going to see Coldplay and Snow Patrol in concert on Tuesday!

New Orleans

2009-05-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

As most of you probably know we are in New Orleans for the summer. Damien is doing an internship down here and I am still looking for a job/enjoying the fact that I have not found a job yet. We went to the roller derby the other night and that was a blast. We saw some of the most interesting people there. If you have never been, you should go just to experience it!

We also got a gym membership for the time we will be here and so we have been working out there. It is in a really old building down in the French Quarter. It used to be a men's club back in the day and they have turned it into a gym. It is a really neat building!

And of course we have eaten at quite a few really good restaurants. The other night we had some of the best Italian food ever! It is some family owned restaurant that isn't too fancy, but has great food! I'll try and keep y'all posted about what we are up to and how we are doing!

Adventures in Moab, UT

2009-05-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

Damien and I have enjoyed our summer so far and this is only the beginning! We went to Moab, UT with Nate and Alisa and hiked around in Arches National Park and Canyonlands. We ended up having a really great time, but it was definitely the most memorable trip to Moab we have ever been on.

When we got into Moab we found out that there was a classic car show going on that weekend, so there were lots of people in town. We drove around for probably about three hours trying to find a campsite. When we were about ready to leave town and head for home we stopped at one last place. It is one of those camping places where they cram a million tents and campers into a really small space. So we had a fence behind our tent that separated us from the tent behind us. We had tents on both sides of ours and more right across the dirt road. The guy across the way from us drove up on his Harley very late and was very drunk. He must have brought some lady back with him because Damien, Nate, and Alisa all heard them getting busy that night. Apparently it happened three times and finally the third time Damien yelled "Shut Up!" That is what woke me up because I slept through the whole thing thankfully. The picture below is a picture of their campsite.

Nate and Damien at one of the arches.

Damien and I with Delicate Arch in the background to the left.

Nate and Alisa enjoying the ride through Arches!

We saw this big horned sheep on our drive into Canyonlands.

The view in Canyonlands.

The second day in Moab we found a new campsite since the car show had ended. It was really windy that day though so we put almost everything we brought with us in our tent including our cooler and some large rocks we found before we left our site to go hiking. When we got back to our campsite that evening, this is what we came back to.

Thankfully our cooler didn't open and we got everything out, flipped the tent back over, and then put everything back in.

And we roasted some marshmallows and had these really good desserts that Alisa made for all of us with bananas, chocolate chips, and marshmallows! Yum!

I tripped on our first hike of the day in Moab scrapped my knee up. This is what it looked like when we took the band aid off.

Damien and I at Balanced Rock.

Nate and Damien at Sand Dune Arch.

Overall, we had a great time and Alisa did great being 8 almost 9 months pregnant!

Family

2009-04-17T23:22:00.001-04:00

Right before finals we had all three families visit us. My mom came down for two weeks, Damien's step-mom, dad, and all of his siblings were in town for three days, and then Damien's mom and Tricia were in town for four days. It was fun to see everyone, but a little hectic trying to get all of our homework and projects done while everyone was here. We only took pictures while Rita and Tricia were here so you can see those. We took them up to see Bridal Veil Falls and up Provo Canyon to show them where Damien likes to go rock climbing. They really enjoyed being in Provo and just missed the big snow storm thank goodness!

While we were out hiking around in Provo Canyon, Damien saw this cave and ran up to look in. He said it was only about 10 feet deep, but it had a blow-up mattress, some dishes, and a fire pit in it. Someone must be living in the cave! What a creepy place to live unless you are homeless, then it might be okay.

Finals

2009-04-17T23:09:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted on here for awhile because its finals week. And I don't even really have any finals. I have 3 projects (1 of which is done and another that is almost done) and a take-home test that I can consult whoever I want while taking. It won't be too bad it is just making myself sit down and do it. There are many other things I would rather be doing right now like catching up on Biggest Loser or eating some ice cream or a bubble tea.

And I am getting so excited because I get my hair cut and highlighted one last time before we leave Provo for the summer and we are going camping in Moab next weekend. Damien and I have now been to camping on Moab each spring for the past two years. It is a tradition now and I am really looking forward to being outdoors and hiking around in the warm sun.

Speaking of sun, it is finally supposed to be warm next week (60's & 70's), but Thursday we woke up to snow everywhere. The beautiful cherry tree had all of its blossoms on it and they were covered in snow. I took some pictures so those who aren't here in Provo can see what it looked like. Also, the snow was so heavy that it broke a large branch off of one of the trees in our backyard area.

Survey

2009-04-02T15:55:00.001-04:00

I'm working on a marketing audit for one of my classes and was wondering if any of you would be able to take this short survey for me. It's only about 10 questions and it would really help out. Here's the link: https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_cAdUoXA3PcibQpK&SVID=Prod

Thanks you!

Cooking Taste Right Cafe Review

2009-03-16T15:40:00.001-04:00

Damien and I finally went to Cooking Taste Right Cafe (CTR) on Saturday to try out their Boba drinks. We got our favorite flavor, taro root mixed with coconut. This Boba drink was way better than the one that we had at Dew. The frothy texture was just right and the flavor was great. The tapioca balls were much better, but I felt they were a little too soft for my liking, but way better than the firmer tapioca balls we had in our Boba drink at Dews.

My recommendations if you are trying a Boba drink for the first time is to get one from Cooking Taste Right Cafe if you live here in the Provo area, get a flavor you know you already like, and only get half of the tapioca balls.

The first time I had a Boba drink I thought the tapioca balls were kind of gross because there were so many in my drink. They are kind of an acquired taste/texture and so that is why you should start with half the amount to get used to them.

Also, start with a flavor you know you like and probably not taro root. The first time I tried taro, it wasn't my favorite. It isn't a flavor we taste very often here in the US and so it is also more of an acquired flavor. But you should definitely try it sometime because it is a milky sweet flavor that tastes great with coconut!

Tagged

2009-03-11T17:00:00.001-04:00

I have never filled one of these things out but thought it might be kind of fun. Here we go:

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago:
Playing French Horn in the high school wind ensemble.

Driving the green machine.

Taking a family vacation to Hawaii.

Dressing up for church dances. We used to have themes that we would make up for each dance and then we would spend forever getting all dolled up.

Quilting.

5 Things on my to do list for today:
Analyze other teams and figure out what my team is going to do the next round in our simulation.

Make dinner.

Pick Damien up from school.

Read 35 pages for class on Friday.

Work on a homework assignment that was sent out today and is due on Friday.

5 Things I would do with a million dollars:
Get a brand new wardrobe.

Move into a bigger apartment. One with a bedroom separate from the rest of the apartment would be nice.

Save some for a down payment on a house.

Take a vacation to France and Italy.

Save the rest.

5 Places I have lived:
Denver, CO

Bountiful & Provo, UT

San Luis Obispo, CA

Spokane, WA

New Orleans, LA (will have lived there after this summer)

5 Jobs I have held:
JoAnn's Fabric and Craft

Mountain Bloom

Park and Restroom Structures, Inc

BYU Broadcasting

I have only had 4.

5 Things I want to be doing in 5 Years:

Having children.

Being a stay-at-home mom.

Quilting on a regular basis.

Living in a warm place.

Owning a house.

5 People I tag (Or anyone else who has the inner desire to do this):

Val

Katie

Carissa

Bri

Alisa

Valentine's Day Weekend

2009-02-23T13:51:00.001-05:00

Damien and I started our weekend off on Friday by going to dinner at Carrabba's. I love Italian food and the homemade pasta of Carrabba's is wonderful. On Saturday we drove to Brigham City to spend the day with Damien's aunt and uncle. We were able to go to Maddox for lunch and see the Golden Spike. We drove up there in the middle of a blizzard and of course it started to snow again when we went to see the Golden Spike. It was so nice though because Damien drove back from the Golden Spike and I took a nap the whole way.

That evening we watched Damien's two little cousins while his aunt and uncle went out to dinner. The little boys had so much energy and were running around the whole evening. We ended the evening with some pina coladas. His uncle has worked on perfecting the recipe for the pina coladas for a while and they were delicious!

Sunday morning we drove down to Bountiful to visit my grandma. We headed back down to Provo on Monday afternoon so Damien could get back for a group project. And I finished the long weekend off by watching The Bachelor and True Beauty. Both are great shows and I can't wait to see the finales! Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's weekend too!

AND Damien got me a box of Godiva chocolates which are my favorite! They are some of the best chocolate we have here in the US.

Dew's Boba Drink Review

2009-02-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

Damien and I did go to Dew last night and had a taro coconut boba tea. The flavor was good, but it definitely wasn't as good as the ones we have had in New Orleans. They didn't use fresh fruit at all, and the one in New Orleans always uses fresh fruit. When we get the taro coconut it has real taro root in it because you can feel the small chunks of it in the drink. Also, the tapioca balls weren't soaked well enough because they were a bit harder in the middle then when we have them in New Orleans. Also, the girl that helped us was very strange and made very little conversation with us and wasn't very friendly.

In conclusion, Dew's boba drinks are okay. If you haven't had one for a while they are fine, but they aren't the best and if you haven't ever tried a boba drink this isn't the place to try them.

Damien and I still want to attend the Cooking Taste Right Cafe to see if theirs are any better. I will let you know how their boba drinks compare with the amazing ones we have had in New Orleans and Dew's boba drinks.

Boba Drinks/Bubble Teas

2009-02-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

Boba drinks or bubble teas are one of the best drinks ever! They are known as boba drinks here in Provo and bubble teas in New Orleans. These drinks are fruit flavored smoothie with black tapioca pearls mixed in the drink. Every time Damien and I go to New Orleans to visit Rita and Tricia, we always get at least one bubble tea. Damien introduced my to the taro root and coconut version which is my absolute favorite now. Damien read an article in the Daily Universe today that said they have the boba drinks at two restaurants here in the Provo, Orem area: Dew and Cooking Taste Right Cafe. Damien and I are going to try a boba drink tonight at Dew. I will let you know how it compares to the amazing bubble teas in New Orleans.