Manna from Heaven

This upcoming fall and spring semesters are looking up and up, especially after the news that I (Mike) received a scholarship from the Clegg Memorial Foundation to the University of Utah yesterday. Both Alyssa and I were pretty surprised to find out that a scholarship that I applied for back in January finally let us know that I got it. I guess that's what happens when you move and never change your address with the post office. The funny thing about the scholarship is that it was from at a $4.3 million estate which was left to students of the University of Utah, but the creator of the scholarship grew up in Fresno, California and never lived here. Awesome for us!

I think this Geico thing is still funny...

We were kind of worried about the financial arena that we would be entering since I'm not sure that SkinCareRx.com is going to hire me on after my internship and Alyssa isn't going to have much working time with a full school schedule. Yes, it will go back to us not seeing each other that much because of our crazy and busy lifestyles, but its only for 2 more semesters, right?

As for the past 3 previous posts, I would like to clear up some things: Alyssa is right about everything. Charlize Theron is one pretty lady, Ben Folds is amazing, and getting food poisoning on your anniversary night sucks! (But having a wife that cares and is willing to do things for you while you are on your deathbed is pretty dang cool too...)

anniversary weekend.

Our first year anniversary was Friday, the 25th.

Hubby and I decided this was his year to plan things (like Valentine's Day and the anniversary) and we would trade off the planning every other year.

I woke up to a ton of beautiful yellow flowers and the smell of waffles. We jump started our weekend as soon as I got off work. He took me to the Cheesecake Factory (one of my favvvs) and we delighted in avocado eggrolls, delish entrees and got a shared raspberry lemon creme cheesecake.

We kept gifts simple and bought a fun Fujifilm xp10 Camera.

It's waterproof-shockproof-freezeproof...

basically it's Mike and Alyssa proof. We love it.

After dinner he whisked me away to a hotel and we spent much needed (ahem)... romantic time.

The night was wonderful.

Then in the middle of the night things took a turn for the worst.

His constant bathroom visits + stomach ache + fever = our belief he got food poisoning.

He was miserable for about 24 hours. Per the request of a man who thought he was dying, I made 2 separate trips to the grocery store... once for Powerade and the second for a Redbox dvd.

For better or worse, right?

Happy one year babe!

Just purchased tickets to see this guy in concert (with the Utah Symphony) next month at Deer Valley...

Ben Folds, here we come!!!

and we don't mind one bit that they're general admission/lawn tickets.

Bring on the blankets, great friends and good music.

naomi.

If you know Mike well, you know he has a favorite actress. He sometimes refers to her as his "girlfriend". Charlize Theron. He carried a picture of her around with him everyday on his mission. I want to call him childish for having a celebrity crush but I just can't. C'mon, look at her... beautiful!

Another thing he really digs are women with British or Australian accents. A few times he as tried to get me to talk with a fake Aussie accent.. "The waiter doesn't really know. Just pretend"... it's hilarious how truly pathetic I am at pretending.

So imagine my fright when I heard the gorgeous Naomi Watts speak on a television interview.

She's a bombshell like Charlize but WITH an accent. She was born in England and moved to Australia when she was 14. I just can't compete.

Luckily, she's a little older than Mike would care for.

And she probably will never come to Salt Lake City.

I think I might be able to keep my husband.

**note: yes, when I first did this post I said it was Scarlett Johansson. I think I got confused since she's basically MY celebrity crush

WHY?

Anytime Mike and I are having "baby cravings" we remind ourselves (and yes- I do mean WE-it's not just me) of the Why Game.

If you've ever spent more than five minutes around a three or four year old you know what I'm talking about.

Just the other day, we had our four year old nephew, Blake, stay overnight and we got very familiar with the Why Game.

Blake: What are you doing on your phone?

Alyssa: I'm sending someone a text message.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Because they were asking me a question.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Because I know the answer.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: I just do... I'm smart.

Blake: Why?

Alyssa: Miiiiiiiike. Help me!

I'm still not so good. Thank goodness I don't have any kids yet. I've got plenty to learn beforehand- like how to dodge those verbal bullets.

fab weekend.

I say "fab" -partly sarcastic and partly sincere. This weekend was pretty good though...

Friday after work we met up with Taylor and Becca Duncan at the temple. It was great to feel so close to my husband in the temple and to spend time with friends doing great work there. I was good to see an old friend, McKensie Wilkinson, too! Mike, Taylor, Becca and I tried Litza's Pizza on 4th south for dinner and I think I'd be safe to say that we all really enjoyed it. Becca and I started out with waters but ended up with some caffeine by the end of dinner. And I don't feel one bit guilty about it.

Now, an interesting Saturday. Mike and I had a few things planned for Saturday.

First on the list, Lagoon.

If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about... it's an amusement park north of Salt Lake that's like a small Six Flags-only more ghetto.

Before meeting up with our fun friends, Parker and Bekah, I was eager to buy a camera (ours has been MIA for 3 months now and I've given up the search) so we stopped by Kmart to see what options they had. If you're in the market for anything electronic, I'll save you some time. Don't go to Kmart. They are years behind. Mike and I are still sans camera. Disappointing. (How are they still in business??)

Continuing on, the party of four went up to Lagoon, despite the high wind warnings and monsoon-like weather. We entered the park and stayed a whole two hours before my whining finally annoyed everyone enough to leave. We find the car and Parker... doesn't find his keys. We're locked out of the car and left in the cold. Waiting for our dad (Gary) to pick us all up felt a little like middle school but we still had fun together. (Right guys?)

Later that night, Mike and I met up with some favorites, Cody and Jade, at the Mandarin restaurant in Bountiful. We picked delish sounding dishes.... only for 3 out of 4 to be mediocre. (The ginger beef is excellent though!) Then we went back to our place and played a brand new card game they introduced us to, hand and foot. It is SWEET. Mike and I want to play it again stat. Like tomorrow. Or the next day.

Sunday, we slept in until NINE. That's huge for me... ate delightful scones for breakfast and went to a missionary homecoming. Simple Sunday.

Good life, huh?

summer.

i've been thinking all day about how much i LOVE the summer.

(p.s.- i'm feeling kind of lazy today and i'm not going to capitalize at all.)

i thought it deserved its own blog post.

i'm one of those people whose mood is affected by the weather.

i'm not the most pleasant person when it's a snowy day.

in fact, when i see snow in the forecast at all, i get slightly depressed....

BUT lately i've been loving this!

mike and i have enjoyed so much time outside on walks, runs, picnics and BBQs.

speaking of BBQs... we had one on saturday night at sugarhouse park with several of our good friends from the Village and it was a BLAST.

i love those people. mike and i already miss our 25th ward like crazy.

anyway. back to summer. it's great.

plus, we all look better with a little vitamin D.

this summer we have plans to:

-go to lagoon this weekend

-lose some weight (i swore i wouldn't gain weight once i got married... haha. surprise surprise.)

-decorate our cute basement apartment

-go on an anniversary trip to LA (knotts berry farm AND universal studios!)

-go somewhere delish and new for our 1st year anniversary this month!

-eat lots of fruits and spinach salads

-have several picnics at local parks

-attend a few weddings (yay!)

-go camping at least 3 times (we need to use all our new camping gear)

compliments

I've realized that they go a far way. Just the other day at the hotel a handsome businessman, about 3o years old, came to the front desk to check out. I handed him his final statement and he walked away. Once he got to the revolving door he did a 180 and came back to the front desk. I said to me with a smile, "I just wanted to let you know you're amazingly beautiful." ...waited for no response and walked off.

Wow. I must have been having a good hair day.

That compliment made me so happy. (I told Mike this story and he rebutted that he tells me this all the time... It's true. BUT it's just nice to hear it from other people because once you get married-- if you're anything like me-- you start to convince yourself that your husband is the only one who thinks so.)

Anyway, I thought about it some more and it makes me JUST as happy when someone compliments my earrings or shoes. Anything really. It can turn a blah day into a good one.

There is a cute girl in the ward we just moved out of that would make comments so often like "You're so fashionable. I just love your top".. "You're so funny, Alyssa"... and so on. I laughed her words off but she never had any idea how much her words really lifted me up. They meant so much to me.

I want to make others feel good by making simple remarks.

From now on, I resolve to be that person.