One down, Eternity to go!

We have been married a year! Everyone always says how fast the time goes, and it did go fast, but so much happened this year!

We moved 3 times, Amos graduated and got a great job, I changed jobs and am now doing something I love, we went on our Honeymoon to Rome, and learned a lot about one another and laughed a lot in the process!

I still remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. I want to post the lyrics of the song I wrote, modified from a Sawyer Brown song, that my dear friend sang just before we exchanged our rings.

Our day has come, just you and me
Sealed Together for Eternity
Now we are one, both in joy and pain
We'll laugh and smile, come sun and come rain

And with this ring, I promise you
Everything that I have or can do
There's so many roads that love can run
But here in my heart, you're the only one

I've done alright just on my own
But you give me things that I've never known
And here we've come, your sweet hand in mine
To show the world what we have is divine

And with this ring, I promise you
Everything that I have or can do
There's so many roads that love can run
But here in my heart, you're the only one

Here in my heart, you're the only one.


Here's to another great year, and Eternity to follow!

Chalk Throwing Fun

Every year in Utah, at the Hare Krishna temple a traditional 'Festival of Colors' is held - and wow is it colorful! The festival gets a good deal of publicity and is advertised for weeks. This year it was on March 28th. Our friend Jared told us about it, and since Amos was at an Elder's quorum activity playing basketball games and video games on projector screens, I decided to tag along with Jared!

Before

As we arrived, there were people everywhere all in white shirts headed toward the Hare Krishna temple just waiting for the chance to throw chalk and get dirty. There was a stage with people in traditional Hindu clothing singing and dancing and reciting this chant, which is said to "bring about a higher state of consciousness when heard, spoken, meditated upon, or sung out loud":

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

Then, at some point in the afternoon a bonfire gets lit and that starts the chalk-throwing fight! They sell colored and scented bags of chalk powder that people start flinging around like crazy. All you can really see is one big puff of dust when the fight starts. I overheard someone refer to the whole thing as "BYU's version of spring break."

During

After

If you haven't ever been to one of these, definitely put it on the calendar for next year!

The 26th Year

Things I loved about my Birthday this year:

1. When I went to the gym this morning, the lady who logged me in told me "happy birthday"

2. I have a great husband who loves to spoil and surprise me with unexpected presents and activities and who even sung me a Happy Birthday song this morning

3. I got phone calls from my parents (first thing in the morning) friends, and family (and my bro called me all the way from an internet cafe in Spain!)

4. I had a ton of birthday cards to open from my family filled with lots of nice messages.

5. I made my favorite cake in the world (red velvet) and despite it not looking very appealing, it tasted great. (and said husband also offered to do alll the dishes I dirtied while making this cake)

6. I got to go to two restaurant/breweries (Hoppers, and The Bohemian) I've wanted to go to since moving here; one for lunch and one for dinner with Tyler & Christie and their cute little girl.

7. We went out to get marzipan from the chocolate shop (thanks mom and dad!) despite the fact that Amos can't stand to be within 20 yards of the stuff. :)

8. It is 11:59pm and I still can't go to sleep because I'm so excited about what a fun day it was.

Thanks everyone for making my birthday great!

It's so nice outside...

That I stood outside the car while refueling today! Bring on the springtime! please...

All rise for the Jury

Yep, jury duty for me this past Friday. Now call me crazy, but I really enjoyed myself. I know most people try their hardest to get out of jury duty, but I was kind of hoping I'd get to be assigned to the case, which I was.

To start, all 19 potential jurors arrived at the courthouse at 8:30 and were seated in a tiny little room and had to watch a 'here's-what-jury-duty-is-all-about-and-remember-it's-your-civic-duty' video. Then we filled out a profiling questionnaire and got paid $18.50 for our time. After a while of sitting around and waiting they brought us down to the courtroom for jury selection. The judge told us the case was a criminal case involving DWI. She then proceeded to ask all potential jurors a variety of questions to determine any prejudices we might have had that would influence our decision to judge the case fairly. From there, both the plaintiff and the defense lawyers took turns eliminating jurors until they were left with four. Those final four were called to sit up in the jury box, myself included. We got sworn in, which didn't involve putting our hand on the bible, which surprised me. We just had to raise our right hand and attest that we would judge fairly. I was chosen along with an older man, and older woman (both teachers), and another younger guy - also a teacher. One thing I found interesting is that every time the jury came into or left the courtroom, everyone present would stand, out of respect. After all, the jurors are the ones who decide the outcome of any case. Cool, huh?

By that point it was 12:30 and we broke for an hour lunch and then came back and heard the case. It was really interesting listening to the calling and questioning of witnesses, but my favorite part was when one of the lawyers would stand up and yell, "objection, your honor!" Then all the lawyers would approach the bench and they would make the speakers play a static sound so we couldn't hear the conversation.

We got to have a few breaks here and there, but when we were breaking the bailiff led us up to the jury room (stocked with sodas and snacks) and locked us in there. As jurors, until the case is over we are not allowed to discuss with each other any of the details of the case, and we also are not allowed to converse with anyone else who is a part of the case (the judge, lawyers, etc.) which is why they keep us isolated. We even had to wear 'juror' badges around all day so people from the courtroom knew they couldn't talk to us - even when we went to Burger King for lunch we had to keep them visible.

By about 6:45 we'd heard the closing arguments and they took our dinner orders and we got to go back up to the jury room to deliberate. We talked over all the facts for about forty minutes, and came to our conclusion. This is another part I found very interesting; we found the defendant 'not guilty'. I think we all wished we could have called him 'guilty,' but legally we had to assume that he was innocent unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Due to the lack of conclusive evidence that he was over the legal limit, and since we didn't have enough facts to prove otherwise, we had to declare him not guilty. I can now understand why people get away with a lot of things they shouldn't, because of how the laws are set into place. However, we have to remember that if we ever have to stand trial for something we didn't do, we are lucky to be given the benefit of the doubt right from the start.

All in all, this was a great learning experience that I'm glad I got to be a part of. Having said that, I just got another notice in the mail this Saturday that I am called to be a potential juror for a Federal case at the start of March. We'll see what happens with this one, should be exciting!

I'm dreaming of a white.....

Valentine's day! Well, not really, but that's what mother nature wanted to grace us with in Utah - more snow! It seems like every weekend we wake up to white outside, and sidewalk salt up the wazoo! (our apartment complex likes to overdo it a bit) At least we know we'll never slip and fall :)

We have our own traditions for this special commercialized little holiday, which include baking a heart-shaped something-or-other in the morning. (This year it was banana bread)

Then we spend the day together, and maybe order pizza for lunch or dinner. Pizza is a tradition that started last year, and I think we'll keep it going. Other than heart-shaped things and spending some quality time, we don't do the traditional cards/flowers/chocolates thing. I'm fine with being surprised with those things randomly throughout the year instead!

But I did get a nice little surprise this year - my Motorola phone that I inherited from Amos was about one-and-a-half years old, with a battery lifespan comparable to that of a fruit fly. But (surprise!) on the way down to Provo we stopped by the store and got the cute tiny Nokia phone I've had my eye on for ages. It'll last me a long time, and it even comes with Guitar Hero on it, free!
We finished off the afternoon in Provo hanging out with our friends who just found out they are having a baby boy in July. (Congrats guys!) We had a great homemade dinner, and played some fun games. Then for dessert we had some jell-o with whipping cream and "It's a boy!" brownies (mint brownies with the mint flavoring colored blue [for boy] instead of the traditional green.) I made that up a few days ago when I was feeling festive.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Fantastic Weekend!

To start it all off, Amos surprised me and came home early on Friday from California! He wasn't supposed to get into Salt Lake until 9pm, but I was feeling a little down, and he ended up being able to bump his flight up so he got in at about 7. I didn't know about this little surprise until he walked through the door a whole 2 1/2 hours early!

Dad Hobby came to visit for a few days, and we had a blast with him here! He's always very very happy and fun to be around. He can make anyone feel like a million bucks.

We had a lot of family time and then did the usual trip to Deseret Book to check out what's new. Then we went to the Mayan, the theme restaurant where every 15 minutes divers do fancy dives off the really high waterfall cliffs and a girl does some cool fire dancing with a flaming sword. It was definitely an adventure.

25 Random Things about Me:

1. I'm a lefty. Well, I write, eat, play billiards and ping pong with my left hand. Everything else like tennis, baseball, throwing, cutting, etc., I do right-handed.

2. I like scalding hot showers. We have a mini-water heater in this apartment and it only heats enough for one shower, so rather than turn the water slightly cooler, I take a super-fast two minute shower so it can still be really hot and Amos still can have some hot water left when it's his turn.

3. I have an extreme distaste for Blockbuster, Dell, and BestBuy. I think they all got too big too fast and it got to their heads. Netflix and HP are where it's at, and I was sad to see Circuit City go.

4. I can write my name updside-down and backwards (in cursive!) I saw a waitress at a restaurant do this one time and thought it was cool, so I went home and practiced until I could too.

5. I eat yogurt, oatmeal, and pudding with a fork. Their textures bother me, and the fork helps to alleviate the gushy-ness. Jell-O, however, I have no problems with.

6. I LOVE free stuff from insurance agencies, banks, career fairs, and anywhere else. For example, the Wells Fargo in Orem has fresh cookies every Friday. And the one in Provo has soda and popcorn on Fridays. See what I'm saying....I know these things.

7. I love summertime rainstorms and thunderstorms. I actually love anything water-related: waterfalls, sailing, swimming, boating, jetskiing... and when we go to Australia I'm going to go scuba diving!

8. I have a strong addiction to the TV show "Friends." It makes me laugh.

9. I know all the words to the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. It is the only one I have watched more than five times.

10. I own and run my own business. My website is PoshBabyCribs.com. I also write ad-copy for people.

11. My two favorite desserts in the world are Red Velvet Cake and dark chocolate candies filled with marzipan.

12. I'm the opposite of claustrophobic - I actually really enjoy small spaces

13. I am not the least bit scared of heights, in fact, I love climbing up on really high ledges and looking down over. The Angel's Landing hike in Zion's and the Bridal Veil falls hike at Yosemite are awesome for this.

14. I love dogs and can't wait to own one again.

15. Nuts are ok, but I do not like them in my brownies, sweet breads, ice creams, etc.

16. I'm allergic to bee stings. Not deathly allergic, but I still get a reaction that's twice as bad as what others get. Once I was up in the chair lifeguarding and got stung. Not a pretty sight.

17. Chores I Love: Vacuuming, Laundry, and Baking (especially cakes and cookies)

18. Chores I Hate: Cleaning, Dusting, and Dishes

19. My nicknames are Julie bean, Jellybean, and Jules. Sometimes my parents call me the cookie monster (for obvious reasons) :)

20. I became a member of the LDS Church when I was 18.

21. Shows I am watching this season: 24, House, and Lost.

22. I share a birthday with my Grandpa.

23. I was born in Maryland, yet I hate eating crabs, lobster, fish, and anything else that comes from the sea.

24. I love photography and photo editing. However, I will not go buy Photoshop. There are plenty of better options that are cheaper and much easier to use.

25. I have the best family, and the best husband in the world. They are great examples to me and they take great care of me. I'm a very lucky girl!

bye BYU... hello DealerSocket!

Amos graduated and found a wonderful job with a California-based company, called DealerSocket.

He began his first week of work last week just as we returned from England. He flew out to their corporate office in CA to get some training, as well as to receive his new blackberry and computer. It was a short week for him, because it just so happens that the week he started was the week of their corporate retreat in Park City! Lucky...

After a few meetings, he got to spend the weekend snowboarding and getting to know a lot of the people in his new company, who are spread out across the whole US. He is really fortunate to work for a company that is so well-run, down-to-earth, hardworking, and honest. We're looking forward to finding out which territory he is assigned!

Lovely Christmas Break

After our Rome visit we finally made it back to England. I won't go into detail, but I can be pretty sure that if you want to see smoke come out of Amos' ears, mention the Al Italia airline.


We spent some nice time with family relaxing, watching movies, reading, and filling ourselves with all kinds of homemade and chocolate goodies, and not shaving (if you name is Amos). We planned outings to a Reading footy game and to see the Sound of Music at the Palladium which were both tons of fun. And as if that's not enough, we had many other fun times going bowling, shopping, buffet-ing, and seeing Jim Carey's new film, Yes Man.
Amos spent a lot of time playing a new game called Acquire with everyone. Between bowling, Acquire, Monopoly, and Euroracy, he managed to not lose AT ALL* the whole time we were in England. What a heck of a winning streak! We also got to catch up with Tim and Mace, as well as had a fun night of game-playing with Paul, Janelle, Kid, and Zara.

Thanks, friends and fam, for all the great fun!!!

*doesn't include wii games

All Roads Lead to Rome

Well, we are back from all the traveling. It was a well-needed break and we had a fantastic time. Rome was amazing. We got a hotel right at the top of the Spanish steps, and it was fun going down (and up) them every day. Our hotel had a full-length window we could open to see out to the street and watch all the crazy smart cars and scooters try to beat each other around corners, etc. Let me tell you, there are CRAZY drivers in Rome.

Our hotel was really fancy, and our bathroom came equipped with a bidet. I've never seen one of those before. We had great breakfast every morning and I had about 2 pieces of coconut coffee cake each day - yum! I also got to try a whole bunch of cheeses. We had fun learning some Italian so we could speak to the concierge and to our servers at the restaurants. There is a restaurant or 2 along every single block. I know Italians supposedly eat pretty late, but each time we went out to eat we were the only ones in the restaurant. It was quite nice, actually. They all bring you bread - and no butter, so we quickly learned the word for butter so we could ask for some with our bread basket.

We got to see the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Vatican Square, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and my favorite, the Trevi fountain. It's so relaxing just to sit and stare up at it - it's huge.


We did a lot of walking around the cobblestone streets. They are very narrow (about as narrow as an alleyway), and the buildings are very tall, so you don't get too much sun. Also, cars share the streets with you so when they turn down the street you have to move out of the way.

There are also lots of street performers in Rome. They dress up in funny costumes like egyptian mummies or the statue of liberty, and when you put some euros in their cup they bow, or wave, or move in some way. It's really neat.

Another funny thing - since there are churches everywhere they also have shops for priests to get their fancy clothing.
We also had a wonderful time meeting up with some family from Australia. One night we met at the Pantheon and all 12 of us managed to practically fill a little cafe. I ended up ordering a marinara pizza, and it came out with all sauce and no cheese! I had no idea they made pizzas with no cheese, so if you are headed to Italy, be warned. :) The whole family was extremely fun and it was nice to meet all of them. Hopefully we'll all catch up again when we head to Australia in the future. (Unfortunately I don't have any pics of everyone!)

And finally, here are some other cool photographs I took.

New Hair for Winter!

It's not permed, but the hairdresser did it all nice and curly for me. I decided to go a little darker for the wintertime. :)

It's Christmastime!

This Friday was Thrive's 1st annual Christmas Party. We had a great time at the Homestead Resort with a wonderful dinner and entertainment. The Improv group Comedy Sportz came, and they were a riot. There was a pretty sleigh out front where we took a nice Christmas picture!

Well THIS was an especially fun-filled week. We got to spend our Thanksgiving with Seth and Ashley and the kids and had a nice Thanksgiving Dinner. Then that evening Amos, Ashley, and I went to see the new movie Australia, which we really liked. The showing we intended to see was sold out so we decided to see Twilight while we waited. Honestly I never showed much interest in the Twilight series, but after seeing the movie (while Ashley kindly explained to me what exactly was going on) I've decided I should start reading the books. I'll have to grab some for the long flight to England!
Friday and Saturday we did some deal-hunting and ended up with some new jeans, more board games to add to the collection, a Guitar Hero Wii game for me, a new apartment, a sofa, and a vacuum.
Yep, we're moving! BYU kicks us out of married student housing as soon as Amos graduates, so we had to find a place to move into before we leave for the UK. We are moving up to Midvale, which will be a nice change of scenery. We're leaving our cinder block realm for... drumroll please...drywall, a walk-in closet, and plush carpets!

So along came the decision to get a sofa for our living room, along with a vacuum so I can keep things clean. The sectional is extremely comfortable and I've had my eye on it for quite a while. I will probably re-cover the gold pillows with a deep red.
My new vacuum is the James Bond version of a vacuum. It's a Dyson one with the roller ball so it pivots around corners, is really easy to manuever, lightweight, and easy to clean. It's more like a gadget than an actual chore-aid, so I can't wait to use it :)

And finally, to end the shopping, we ate at a quirky little place called Mimi's Cafe, that I've wanted to try for a while. Unfortunately, the menu I looked up online wasn't the one they were using, so I had to struggle to find something interesting. Our meals ended up being pretty good, but they did skimp on portion size. But...the surprise was that if it is your first visit to Mimi's, which it was, they come out at the end and bring you a case of 4 big muffins, free!

Ugly Sweaters a-plenty

I was finally in town for the Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party put on by my friends! This year they rented out a great place in Park City and we all had a great time catching up, eating a variety of soups and desserts, and exchanging some pretty funny white elephant gifts. A great way to start out the Christmas Season!

Saturday of Solace...Quantum of Saturday...

Quantum of Solace, rather! We began our Saturday afternoon of errand-running with a great trip to the brand new Cinemark theater to see the new Bond movie. We had great timing, actually, as the BYU game had just started, and not many people wanted to give up good football for Britain's favorite fast-driving, womanizing, secret agent! The film was very action-packed and we can say we certainly enjoyed it.

Next we hit Costco for some good afternoon snackage, and some good deals. Amos found some breaded Tilapia and thinks he can get me to eat some, we'll see about that... Maybe if he eats some Marzipan in exchange!

Then we finished up our Christmas shopping at both Provo Town Center, and University Mall. We ended up heading to PF Chang's for dinner, and getting takeout. While we were waiting I wandered across the sidewalk and to my amazement found that California Pizza Kitchen has Red Velvet Cake on their dessert menu - fantastic!

After collecting all our takeout goodies, we headed back to our humble abode and enjoyed our meal and watched Step Up 2: The Streets. Cheesy, I know, but I sure wish I could dance like that!

Oh, Red Delight!

Red Velvet Cake, that is. I was SO excited when I stumbled upon it on California Pizza Kitchen's dessert menu this Saturday. This lovely little delicacy is my favorite and is nowhere to be found, except for Cabella's and now CPK, I guess. Last New Years Eve we found and bought a Red Velvet Cake from the grocery store, and much to my disappointment it was not very good. It was just unflavorful cake, dyed red, with sweet sugary frosting - NOT a true red velvet cake. I've been meaning to try the Cabella's version, but haven't made it up there in a while, so finding some TRUE Red Velvet at CPK, so close to us, was like finding a ninja in Utah.

Now, I understand that some may think I am being slightly overdramatic, but if you've ever made one of these cakes, you'd understand. It requires some funny ingredients like cocoa powder and buttermilk, is 3 layers high, and has a cream cheese frosting. It's a lot of work to make, and bless my mother's dear heart, she made it for me (at my request) for every birthday since I was 10! As a matter of fact, one year she made a cake, carefully froze and packaged it, and sent it to me in Utah. Absolutely Amazing!

Games and More Games!

Amos and I love to play games. We just bought the best party game in the world, Apples to Apples, along with one of its expansion packs and love to play it with our friends. However, when it's just the two of us, we usually opt for Speed, Scrabble, or the Wii. Sometimes I can convince Amos to play Friends Scene It, since both of us have watched all 10 seasons of that show... but I still whoop him every time :) Speaking of whooping him, I have to take a chance to gloat each time I do, because it doesn't happen often - but I beat him at Speed tonight!

When we're out we like to stop in game stores to see what's new. I've gotten into the habit of taking pictures of Amos along with some games that fit right along with his personality. Most of them begin with "smart." Take a look...

And it's hard to tell, but this one says "smarty pants" :)

The Golden State...

California! Lucky Amos spent the majority of his time there this week! Two companies flew him out for interviews; one on Monday and one on Friday. On Monday to LA, and the next time to San Francisco. Having wanted to go to San Francisco for the past year and a half, I tried to convince him to pack me in his luggage, (trust me, I fit) to no avail. He ended up meeting about 6 other BYU students that were also interviewing, and they all headed out to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co! While walking along Fisherman's Wharf they enjoyed the nice weather and the music being played along the pier, and even saw a 'just for lefties' store! See... I knew I should have gone!

Because I missed out on all the San Fran fun, Amos decided to spoil me on Saturday. We went to my favorite store in the world, Kohls, and then to the mall -which is now packed with Christmas shoppers. Now I know why Amos is so intent on getting all of our Christmas shopping done by the end of October :)


Then we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory because I've been wanting Spaghetti for a while, and we had a coupon for a free Italian soda with any entree - and you get to keep the collector's glass! If you've never had an Italian soda before, (I hadn't) It's sprite mixed with a fruity flavoring of your choice, and loaded with lots of cream. Delicious. We'll surely have to get some in Italy when we're there. Not only did we get free Italian sodas, but a scoop of spumoni (cherry, chocolate, and pistacio) ice cream comes with the meal, and we got to sit in the trolley!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't have any costumes or parties to go to this year because we both had to work late, but we did carve a pumpkin and have toasted pumpkin seeds! Happy Halloween!

A Resident and a Webmaster!

It was a big week for Amos and I. On Monday he had his interview and acceptance for his Green card. The interviewer was pretty intimidating, and asked a lot of rapid-fire questions, but afterward he was quite friendly. Seriously, though, I haven't been that nervous and 'on-the-spot' for as long as I can remember - and I'm a true-blooded American. I can't imagine what it was like being in Amos' shoes!


This week was shaping out to be a pretty nice week until Saturday. I have been building a website that was all set to launch by Saturday afternoon, and that is when I got locked out. The company I am using for my web builder would not let me log back in until I got a 'go ahead' from one of my former bosses - on Monday! Seeing as my website needed to be published by Monday, this put me in a bad spot. I ended it re-building the WHOLE thing on Saturday, along with creating a blog and writing articles to go along with it. Not the most fun weekend, but it got done, and can't wait to start marketing it! Check it out... PoshBabyCribs.com

Viva La Italia!

That's right, we're headed to Italy! Not yet, but when we go to England to spend time with the Hobbys at Christmastime, we'll take a brief hiatus for our long-awaited honeymoon! Woo hoo!

Amos has been playing a lot of intermural soccer with a new team he was invited to be a part of. He always manages to make the right connections and find teams with at least 1 other foreign 'footy' player. His team plays GREAT together. For the past 2 games the opposing team has had 5+ subs and our team has had NONE! However, we still manage to pass the ball nicely and just keep scoring! Not only that, but one game two players did a true bicycle kick - which is so fun to watch! (Yes, Amos was one of them!)

I haven't posted on this blog in a while, and every weekend that goes by without one makes me feel guilty - so I'm going to try a little harder! We haven't had too much going on except for work and school. The fall weather has been faboulus. It is the best time of the year for sure! Campfires, crisp air, football games, intermural soccer and red leaves!

*Sniff Sniff* *Ahh-CHOO* *Cough* *Sniff Sniff*

So that's pretty much what living in the Hobby household has been like this week!

I've found myself with pretty bad allergies, and Amos came down with the fall bug that's going around. We've pretty much just been like little vampires this weekend - keeping it extra dark with curtains closed and watching TBS movies most of the day! Being sick is never fun, but sometimes it's nice to take a weekend to just relax and rest.

Since Amos is the one who really needs the sleep, and I'm not truly "sick" I decided to go antiquing on Saturday afternoon. Now, I NEVER thought I would go antiquing by my own will, but sometimes I surprise myself. I used to go with my mom when I was little and she would always buy me cool things like hats, earrings, broaches and marbles. Lately I've been on the lookout for a hand crank music box. They are little and round, and you have to constantly turn the crank for them to play. My grandma had 2 I used to play with when I was little and I just love them. If anyone knows where to find some, let me know!

Amos started intramural soccer this week! He is excited about his team - they seem like they're real good. He has a friend, Mike, on his team who also grew up playing 'footy' in England, so they play well together. I enjoy going to watch all of the games, and it's fun to meet and chat with the other Soccer WAGs (wives and girlfriends) who are there.

Waterfall Garden Paradise

Amos gets Saturdays off work from now on!! This means we can plan a whole bunch of day trips now. Since I haven't yet successfully convinced him to come to Oktoberfest up at Snowbird, we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point Gardens instead!


I've been wanting to go there for a long time because I found out they have some huge man-made waterfalls (the largest in North America). I knew the waterfalls would be cool, but the rest of the gardens were much more exciting than we expected. I really never thought I'd say a garden was 'exciting' but honestly, it was. It was almost maze-ish and there were 15 different themed gardens with winding paths, rivers and bridges, a rose garden, a garden shaped like a butterfly, an Italian garden with a 20-level cascading fountain, a secret garden (probably my favorite), and a duck pond (complete with a frog on a lillypad)! There was more, but my explanation can't do it justice, and neither can the picture above!

They even give you the option to ride around in a golf kart, which Amos petitioned for unsuccessfully! We compromised and took some shortcuts by walking through the perfectly manicured grass (don't worry, it's allowed!) It really did seem paradisaical there. If I was a bug, that is DEFINITELY where I'd live. All in all, well-spent fall afternoon!

Zions Adventure

We had an amazing weekend in Zions with family and friends! On Thursday morning we headed down with Seth & Ashley and fam, and Paul & Alice and fam. Kids these days are SO lucky that they can watch movies in the car. Man I wish we had that when we were making the 10 hour treck to South Carolina when I was little! And adults are lucky too, because they don't even have to hear the movies - everyone who wants to watch gets their own wireless headset. Technology rocks.

So we made it down to our hotel in the early evening and then got all settled and took a dip in the pool. Everyone got a kick out of the 'pool towels' that were literally about the size of a hand towel, but it was fun!

The next day we hiked "The Canyon" which is a pretty flat hike because it goes along a river. When you get to the end of the path you can keep going; you just walk through the water and along the rock deposits. It's supposed to turn into a pretty narrow slot canyon, but it takes a while to get there. The guys and I left the group behind to try and see how long it would take to get to the narrow part, but it was another 1 1/2 miles up the river so we decided to call it quits. On the way back I managed to walk myself into a deep hole and got SOAKED. Then, when I thought I'd had my embarassment for the day I tripped and practically face planted into the water for another soaking. Needless to say, the guys got their entertainment for the day!!

Saturday was our last day at Zions so we decided to do an easy, short hike up to the lower Emerald Pool. It was a very scenic hike and by time we'd gotten to the lower pool (that you can't really swim in) we decided to keep on going up to the next one. We got to that one, and it was pretty cool so we thought..."eh, that wasnt too hard, let's keep going." The hike up to the top one seemed pretty long, and wasn't as easy as the others, but we finally all made it. There was a nice pond up there that we could swim in, and I even caught a tadpole! I do realize that I am not a 10 year old but I just wanted to see if I could do it! And I could :)

Then we headed back down for some delicious ice cream at the Lodge before heading out. A 30-min hike turned out to be about 3 hours but everyone had a nice time on our last day there and was nice and tuckered out for the drive home.

It was our first time since being married that we actually got to 'get away' for a few days and we had such a great time. Good hiking, good food, and good company!

Family Festivities!

The Hobby's came to visit all the way from England and we had a TON of fun! We packed an awful lot into those 2 weeks. Caleb and Jesse came down to Provo for EFY and seemed to have really enjoyed themselves. The girls got a kick out of their accents and both of them came home with about 20+ phone numbers each! Yep, we can definitely tell they are Hobbys!! They had tons of fun stories to tell, and anyone who hasn't heard Caleb and his "one star" and Jesse and his "westside sprinkler" is really missing out!

Meanwhile, while they were at EFY the rest of us headed off to the Cheesecake Factory! They FINALLY built one in Utah and Amos and I hadn't been yet. I love that place, with their 20 page menu and delicious cheesecake! Not to mention they have the best brown bread anywhere. And that's saying a lot coming from someone who doesn't like to get within 5 feet of wheat bread! I know it's healthier but I still have taste buds! haha.

One Saturday we decided we'd all head up to the Park City outlets for some good shopping, and that it was! Afterward in the afternoon the plan was to head up to the ski resort to do some ziplining and alpine sliding. Not the best timing because right as we got up there it started to thunderstorm and hail. We tried to wait it out but those rides were closed. The only one that wasn't was the Alpine coaster, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

I was wondering how we were going to make it because it was pouring down cold rain, but sure enough everyone is a great sport (even the little ones). Eliza was toughing it out better than I was! This was the only ride I have ever been on where the operators told you about ten times to "go as FAST as you can, don't slow down!" So you get into a little cart where they strap you in and it hauls you for about 10 minutes to the top of the mountain, then, as soon as you get up there you have to push forward the handles to make you go fast, and off you go through spirals and around curves and over jumps. It was SO fast I really thought we were going to fly out. I was seriously scared and Eliza took it like a champ! I haven't been that scared in a long time, so it was awesome! Definitely need to go do it again :)

Pioneer Day: July 4th, Round 2

In Utah the 24th of July is just about as big as July 4th is for the rest of the US! It's the day the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley and it is celebrated with parades, 5k runs, fireworks, and the day off work (for some!)

Amos and I both had to work, but when he had a break we celebrated with a quick trip to the BYU creamery for some delicious raspberry cheesecake swirl ice cream. Since I've been living in Provo I haven't been there for ice cream yet so that was a nice treat. It reminds me of a grocery store in the 50's - every cashier is friendly, and wears a name tag that says where they're from. We brought the carton and some spoons back to the shade at the MTC field and practically ate the whole thing!

On Wednesday we saw Batman: The Dark Knight, which we've both been anxious to see. We really liked it! It's a long movie, so if you haven't seen it yet, don't go hungry. Thanks to my purse and McDonalds' dollar menu, we sure didn't! All the actors did a great job, and Amos has been having fun acting like the joker and creeping me out! He's really good at it, so when they make another one with the joker in it, i'm nominating him! In real life he's much more like Batman, seeing as this movie quote embodies him quite nicely:

"Know your limits Master Wayne"
"Batman has no limits"
"But you do, sir"
"Well, can't afford to know them!"

That's Amos! Always very ambitious and knowing no limits; a great example for those around him!