Yellowstone Adventure

I've been wanting to go on a day trip for quite some time.  It has finally been getting warm and so I needed to get out of the house!  A week after Nate and I were talking about this, some of our friends invited us to go to Yellowstone Park with them.  It was the perfect adventure!  We headed out late morning.  When we left, it was probably 70 degrees in Rexburg, and beautiful, so we all dressed in light jackets and Nate even wore shorts.  Well, the day would prove to prove us not very smart.  First, Yellowstone is further north than Rexburg and it's much colder.  We did not anticipate this!  There was still snow on the ground.  It also happened to be extremely windy.  When we got to Yellowstone we were disappointed to find it had not yet opened for the season.  We did not even think to check to see when it opened!  The worst part was that our friend, Phillip, was visiting from Germany and he was the main reason we went to Yellowstone.  We had to settle with a picture with the sign since we never actually got to go in.  Somehow, we managed to find stuff around West Yellowstone to do for three hours or so.  It also got a little warmer and less windy so we could walk around outside.  All-in-all, it was a good trip, even though we definitely missed seeing Old Faithful and the hot springs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's Day was the first one we've spent just with each other.  Our first one we were still dating and were on opposite sides of the country.  Last year we spent it in Georgia with Jessica and Chelseanne's families.  This year was just us.  And it was wonderful!

I got Nate his traditional gift...a puzzle of a picture of us with a secret love note written on the back.  This tradition started while we were dating.  I had never had a boyfriend for Valentine's day so I had to do something special.  I don't know how I got the idea, but I purchased a customized puzzle from Walmart of a picture of us and then wrote a message on the back.  To do this, I had to put the puzzle together and then flip it over and write the message.  Last year I did the same thing, just with a picture from our wedding.  This year it was harder to pick a picture because we had so many good ones!  Last year he didn't put the puzzle together until August so we will see how long it takes this time....

Anyways, the Friday before Valentine's Day I had to work in Rexburg until around 3:00.  When I got home I was super tired so I decided to take a nap.  We had originally planned on going to the Idaho Falls temple on Friday after I got home from work but with me being so tired and Nate working on a quiz (and for something in the mail I did not know about) we just decided to go on Saturday.  Nate still wanted to go to Olive Garden for dinner though.  He woke me up from my nap to go out to eat and when I walked into the kitchen there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates.  Isn't he perfect?  It gets better!

I got ready to go to dinner and was going to touch up my make-up but couldn't find my make-up bag in the drawer where it usually was.  I asked Nate if he knew where it was but he didn't.  I thought it was weird but then just didn't think much of it.  We had a great time at Olive Garden.  I ordered a chicken and shrimp carbonara but they forgot the shrimp so they gave the dish to me for free!  Holla!  Even after ordering dessert our bill was only like $25.

We got in the car to come home and Nate drove across the parking lot and parked right in front of a hotel and announced that's where we would be spending the night!  I didn't believe him until he showed me the reservation on his phone haha  He had packed all my stuff and so that's why I couldn't find my make-up bag.  The only things he forgot were a hairbrush, toothpaste (both of which we got from the hotel) and regular clothes for the next day.  He did bring all of our temple stuff and a dress so the important stuff was covered!

On Saturday, we slept in and then went to Smitty's for breakfast/ lunch.  Nate's family used to go there all the time when they'd visit his dad's family in Idaho.  I, however, had never been there.  It was delicious!  Apparently, it used to be a chain store that became Perkin's restaurants, but this one stayed as Smitty's.

Isn't he so cute?!

After lunch we finally made it to the Idaho Falls temple.  It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad we got to go before it shuts down in March for 18 months for renovations and updates.  By the time we got home on Saturday it was almost 5:00.  It was a great Valentine's Day weekend!!!

High School Musical

In some ways I feel like Nate and I have tons of high school memories and then in some ways I feel like we barely have any at all.  Last week we went to the local high school's musical and it brought back all sorts of fun memories!

Fall 2007 The Wizard of Oz - Junior year of high school I was one of the assistant directors for our high school musical and Nate played the part of the Tin Man.  I honestly think this show was where we started to become real friends and not just people that went to church together.  We could laugh and joke around and-- dare I say it-- flirt a little.  Gosh I just thought he was the cutest thing ever.  Sadly, once the show was over and we didn't have an excuse to hang out everyday, we stopped hanging out every day haha  I can't find a picture of us together so this one will have to do.  Ain't he adorable?!

Fall 2008 The Christmas Carol - Senior year I somehow convinced Nate to try out for the fall play (even though it wasn't a musical).  I still have no idea what I said that got him to go along with it but I'm sure glad he did!  I was cast as the Ghost of Christmas Past and I'm not even sure what exactly his part was called...a village person I guess haha  Well I also was cast as a girl named Caroline who was a poor married woman that Scrooge screws over.  At the time of the first read of the script, the part of my husband hadn't been cast.  Guess who got the part??  You got it!!  Our scene together was literally one page long and it seriously took every fiber of our beings to not crack up each and every time we did it.  Nate and I trying to play a concerned and loving husband and wife??  It was the most hilarious thing I'd ever heard of!  And I secretly LOVED it.  Especially at the end when he would put his arm around me as we walked off stage.  And we would put our heads really close together and just laugh our way off the stage as quietly as we could.

Nate is on the far left wearing the hat.  I am the ghost in the back.

I can still hear Nate say this first line of our scene.  It has been a running joke of ours ever since then.  A friend was being funny and edited this picture shortly after the show and I still love it.

Fall 2012 Beauty and the Beast- After Nate got back from his mission we started hanging out quite a bit.  I asked him to go see Beauty and the Beast with me at the local high school.  It was kind of last minute and we got there maybe 30 minutes before the show started.  It was definitely a popular show because there was a HUGE line for tickets.  We were seriously doubting if we would get into the show and almost left but stuck it out and were literally some of the last five people let in.  Sadly, once we got in, they dimmed the lights (it was already quite a bit past the time they were supposed to start) and there were only single seats available!  There wasn't anywhere for us to sit together.  At the time, I think I just wanted to see the show so I picked two end seats for us that were a few rows apart.  Nate was obviously frustrated we weren't sitting together.  Later, I would learn he was certifiably ticked since he didn't care one bit about the show and was just going to be with me.  Well, 10 minutes into the show the kid next to me threw up and so that family left and Nate was able to come sit by me.  Hooray for sick children!

Fall 2014 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers- I had the urge again this semester to go see a show and so we decided to see the high school musical again.  We showed up an hour early to avoid long lines and easily got into the theater (we were literally some of the first five people this time).  It was nice this time around to be able to hold hands and rub shoulders without feeling awkward ;)  My back was killing me throughout the show though so we left at intermission.  Oh well!

The empty theater and my new boots.  Booya!

The moral of the story is...we have a lot of fun going to shows and I love it!  I'm glad I'm able to share my love of live performances with my very best friend and that we have so many memories together!

The Straw Maze

Friday night date night is my favorite!  Especially when we get to go with friends!  Tonight we went to the Haunted Straw Maze with our friends Brian and Tess.  I have only been to a haunted maze one other time and a haunted house once.  Let me just say, haunted things are not my favorite!  I like adrenaline rushes from things like roller coasters....not crazy, bloody, creepy, scary creatures.  Tess and Brian actually said they were talking ahead of time about how funny it would be to go with us because we'd both be scared but Nate would probably act all tough anyways.  We haven't been friends for that long and they know us so well already :)

We had to wait in line for about an hour and then we were speedy quick through the maze and finished in about 35 minutes.  It actually wasn't too bad...although I did not let Nate get far from me!

Brian and Tess need to work on their scared faces.  We've mastered ours.

Two Dates

Last week was my last week with Nate for the entire summer so we tried taking advantage of it and spending as much time together as we could!  On Thursday (the 17th) he picked me up from work.  He came to IF to get our car's windshield fixed (it's been cracked for an entire year) and then just hung around until I was done.  Sadly, that meant he has a couple of hours to kill because the windshield was fixed at 2:00 and I don't get off work until after 6:00 (and I was rushing to get my stuff done!).

He had already wandered around stores for a few hours but he wasn't hungry so we didn't want to eat quite yet.  We settled on walking around the mall for a bit.  The amazing part of this story is that we didn't buy a single thing!  That's quite an accomplishment for us :)  However, we did walk by some of those massage chairs and splurged a whole $2 a piece on a ten minute massage.  Best $4 we ever spent.

After our massage, we went to Texas Roadhouse and had the best steak we've ever had at a Texas Roadhouse.

On Saturday (the 19th) I was convinced we needed to do something fun because it was the last day we'd have together since I work during the week.  I've always wanted to go to the IF zoo and have never gone so that's what I decided on.  Nate woke up not feeling well so I didn't think we'd have time to go (I had to work at Broulims in the afternoon) but he sucked it up for me, because he loves me!  The zoo was little, but still fun!  I especially loved just listening to all the little kids there talk about the animals.  The monkey's were probably my favorite because they actually did more than just lay around.

There was a little, itty, bitty amusement park outside the zoo and I wanted to go on the ferris wheel but Nate thought it looked too sketchy so we passed.  To his credit, it was pretty old looking.

The Drive-In: Part 3

Last Thursday we went to the drive-in again.  On a Thursday?  Yup!!  Nate's Friday classes were cancelled and I didn't have to work (but had to work early on Saturday) so it made more sense for us to do it then.  Instead of the 150+ cars that would be there on a Friday night there were 30, maybe.  It was fantastic!  This time we saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Edge of Tomorrow.  Both were really great movies and I would watch them again!

We just keep talking about how much we love going to the drive-in together.  I decided to compile a list of why the drive-in is the greatest way to watch a movie.

1. It's only $6.50 per ticket and you get to see TWO movies.  So it's $3.25 per movie which is like the dollar movies!
2. It's dollar movie price for the regular theater movies.  This particular drive-in changes the movies almost weekly to whatever the newest movie is.  And they always show the good new movies...not the lame new movies.
3. The food is cheaper.  A large popcorn is $4 instead of $8.  A large drink is $3.25 instead of $7.  Plus you can bring food in so we usually get a pizza or Mexican to eat in the car.
4. The "seats" are more comfortable.  Instead of sitting in an upright seat that a million other people have sat in, I can sit in the back of my car and cuddle with my husband!  It's the best!!

Regarding #4, we keep upgrading the back of our car.  The first time we went we brought pillows and blankets.  The second time we brought the back couch cushions to put behind our backs and our comforter to sit on/ cover up with.  This time we got really smart and brought the bottom couch cushions to sit on as well as the back ones AND pillows and blankets.  I've never been more comfortable!  We both stayed awake for both movies too.

I can't wait to see two more new movies in a few weeks when we decide to go for date night!

The Drive-In

Friday night was date night at the drive-in!  It was so much fun to go see a movie together and enjoy the crisp night air.  We went mainly to see Spiderman 2.  The second show was Captain America but we saw that a few weeks ago with Nate's family so we ended up sleeping through most of it.

Earlier in the week we were going to have pizza for dinner and then I suggested waiting until Friday so we could just eat pizza in the car at the movies.  We went with Pizza Hut and got the big box dinner so we'd have leftovers but it ended up being one of the worst pizza's we've ever had!  It just wasn't fresh at all.  And the side of wings was gross...and the breadsticks were just mediocre.  How disappointing!  We had been looking forward to pizza for so long!

It was great to spend time together and I love being able to lay down (and cuddle!) while watching a movie instead of sitting upright in theater seats.

^ Sitting in the back of the car...sippin' Simply Limeade out of a straw taken from KFC because we forgot cups....

Bahama Breeze

Here's a few pictures from our date night a few weeks ago.  We were down in Atlanta for the week after Valentines Day and decided to take a night (or two hours) to ourselves.  One of Nate's favorite restaurants is Bahama Breeze but they don't have them everywhere so when his family is down south that's where they always go.  It's mostly a seafood place but they have burgers and salads and whatnot as well.  Since we went after 9:00 we got half off our appetizer and our waiter gave us a $10 gift certificate as well!

Our appetizer was firecracker shrimp and it was probably the best shrimp I've had.  Not saying a ton since I don't eat shrimp a lot but I couldn't stop eating them!

With my tilapia, asparagus and rice.

Nate's salmon pasta...his usual.

It was fantastic to get out of the house for a while and leave the kids and noise and spend some time with just ourselves.  We also got some pretty fantastic dessert but I don't think we have a picture....

Concerts and Such

It's no secret that I absolutely love plays, musicals, concerts, and any other type of stage show.  It makes me so happy to see other people perform even though I always get a little jealous.  A few weeks ago, Nate took me to a little theater in Murray, UT.  We went to a show there when we were engaged and loved it!  Last time we saw "The Lone Stranger", based off "The Lone Ranger."  This time we saw "Miracle on 42nd Street" and you can guess what that one was similar to :)  The shows are absolutely HILARIOUS and totally family friendly.  It's a dinner theater so you can order food but we've just eaten the free popcorn each time.

Here's the view from our seats...

And the shows for the year.  Notice the "Utah-ness" of the subheading in ProvoCop "I Hope they Call Me on a Mission"  hahahaha

Then last week we went to A BYU-Idaho Christmas featuring Nathan Pancheco, the newest Josh Groban.  The whole concert was fantastic.  And we don't really look like the picture below...it's the panorama.

This is a picture from FHE quite a while ago.  We went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2.

And today I was lucky enough to see my friend Heather perform in her senior recital.  She and I met our first semester in band here...I played alto sax in the band and she played tenor.  We played together for 2 semesters before I had to stop band due to my job in Admissions.  I just love that I was able to support her after all these years!