Are we there yet?

Rich and me with you-know-who at the Ogden Lights

Yes we are here...the end of the semester has finally come! Finals are over, grades are posted, and ITS ABOUT FREAKIN' TIME! I have been a major slacker on the blogging front, but it paid off in the school department. I graduate in May, and if I can keep myself in check I'll get to wear one of those fancy-shmancy cords around my neck with my cap and gown with the smarties (I've really tricked them into thinking I belong in that group!). I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Rich did really well in his classes, too. We are so ready for this break and all it has to offer: St. George for Christmas, a cruise for New Year's (thanks to Shirl and Tony!).

Anyway, hope you're all enjoying time off of school and this wonderful Christmas season! More updating to come.

YES WE CAN!

"To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope." -President Obama

America has a new main man, and his name is Barrack Obama! I watched all of the debates, did research on both candidates, and we both cast our votes for Obama and Biden. Jeremy, Megan and Scott came over to watch the election updates with us, and it was a night we'll never forget. History was made, and I think this is one of those things we will look back on and always remember where we were when this happened. I've been excited about this for awhile. I voted early, and I've been having great discussions with my dad about the whole campaign. We voted for changes that will affect us in the next 4 years: we want to buy a house, I want to get my Masters degree, and maybe start having kids (which would be nice to have health care when it happens!). This is going to affect all of us, and I know that we don't all have the same ideas about who should be President, but that's ok. But I believe this historic event is one that will change our lives for the better, and I'm so excited I got to be a part of it! God bless America!

Birthmonth Present

Last Tuesday, Rachel took me to the Jason Mraz concert for my birthday present. We joke about about how we like our birthdays to last longer than they should, so I consider this to be my birthmonth present. Anyway, her bro Zack scored some tickets from the radio station he works at (THANKS ZACK!) and we had a blast! Jason had such a great stage presence, and he was seriously a million times better in person than he is on cd! How many people can you say that about?! Dancing, singing, and good live music with one of your best friends...who could ask for more?! Thanks, Rach! Next up: NKOTB (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!)

Walking through the parking lot some girls in a
Red Bull truck gave us free drinks...I only had
about 3 sips and I was done. Carbonation...yuck!

These wrist-bands prove that we are of drinking age,
but I promise the only drink I had was the Red Bull.

This girl is the singer of the band from Ireland that opened

for Jason. I was so happy she came out to sing this song
cuz its one of my very favorites!

Here we are just a singin' along!

This was part of his first encore. This was seriously
one of the best concerts I've ever been to! Oh, Jason.

So sad its over, but so freakin' glad we got to go!

Night of the Living Dead...Muah-ah-ah

I was pretty jealous of the height Rachel's

hair got. She's so righteous!

What a lucky guy! Notice how my shoes
totally match my dress. D.I. special!

My cousin Emily...she was a whoopie cushion! Don't get any
crazy ideas mom, it was just a one-night pillow pregnancy.

When you live in a mortuary, there's only one thing to do when Halloween comes around...and that is having a party, of course! Last weekend, along with Marc and Katherine, we threw a costume party. It was awesome. Richard and I are actually on-call Halloween night, so we hadn't been planning to dress up, and the Halloween party was planned with less than a week's notice. I made a list of many possible costumes we could put together at the last minute, but it was my sister Sarah who gave us the idea that took the cake. Richard was a polygamist while myself and my BFF Rachel J were his wives. Funny, right?! Rach and I found our outfits at the D.I. in no time at all, so it was quick, cheap, easy and fun! I was so busy making food for the party that I didn't take many pictures during, but we did snap some before it started. Rich and Marc took people on tours of the mosoleum (creepy building for above ground burials) as kind of a spook alley, we played games and ate lots of treats. Thanks to everyone who came, we had so much fun!

Old Maid?!?

Well, just like every other year, I had a birthday. I'm 23 years old as of October 20th. Its a little weird because it sounds a lot older than it feels. Either way, its true. The night before my birthday, I said something about turning 23, and Richard said, "you're gonna be an old maid!" I'm pretty sure old maids are the ones who are old and don't get married, but either way we laughed. The weekend before my actual birthday we were in St. George with Richard's family, and they helped me celebrate by laser tagging it up, going to a movie and a the park. Liz even made her famous Brownie Pie (she knows the way to my heart)! It was a great weekend! The actual day didn't look like it was going to be much of a birthday because I was in class all morning, I had a meeting in Morgan for my internship with the Health Department, and I had an SI session to run that night. Richard didn't let me down though, he took me out to dinner at my fave Red Robin, and my SWEEEEET family met us there. I even picked up my new jacket at the mall on the way. It really ended up being a great birthday! P.S. the family that pulls faces together, stays together forever!

Here we all are at the table. Dad's eyes are closed,
and Sarah has spoons for ears.

My main men.

Mom's nose, Sarah's good eye, Chelsea's one finger.

This is probably the best picture of Chelsea we have.
Seriously.

Richard and his "old maid."

I'm copping a feel, and Sarah's growing a 'stache.

Rachel sandwich!

I'm only here because of them. Thanks Mom & Dad!

This Old Dawg's Learnin' New Tricks!

After 23 1/2 years of working his way to the top of the ladder at the Standard Examiner, my dad (the best dad in the world!), has a new career! Its a little weird for me because he's been the newspaper guy for my entire life. He started out as a reporter, then went to being a film critic, then a film and TV critic, and then he was made the Editorial Page Editor. There may have been some positions I don't know about, but basically he's done a lot! Editor was a big step up--he got his own office with a "view" and everything! He worked with his BFF Mark Saal, and many other super-tight friends I'm sure he'll have for life. Someone even told me once that my dad was the most influential man in Northern Utah! My family has always been very proud of my dad and his work, and we would NEVER read those other papers in Utah (you know, those ones down in SLC). But my dad is a dad first, and he would read all of the articles about my volleyball team in the other papers, and he would clip the pictures of me (like I said, the best). Anyway, he decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things (and more $$$). He took a position in Public Relations at Questar Gas (the same company my mom works for). Its all brand new stuff he's doing, and he really likes it!
His friends at the Standard threw him a huge going away party the weekend after his last day, and they invited my sisters and I, too! It was a Rolling Stones themed surprise party, of course, with lots of jokes. It was so fun seeing them pay tribute to my dad like that. It was perfect. I love you, Dad!

Here is the main man arriving for the BIG SURPRISE! My mom had it all planned out w/ his friends...he thought they were picking up some people to go to dinner!

Best cake ever! A long time ago, Dad's friend Andytold him he would be on the cover of the his fave Rolling Stone magazine...it happened that night! All of the story lines are about my dad and his friends. The picture is one my dad sent his buddy Mark the day Mark became a grandpa. Hillarious!

This is just me hangin' with GWB (my dad's "favorite" president).

Dad's BFF Mark Saal wrote a medley of songs for and about him. These guys have been best buds for years! Thay play guitars together all the time, and they are even starting to perform! I only had room on my camera for one of the songs he sang, but its a good one!

Dad and Mom cracking up to Mark's songs. His friend Ron read a speech full of
inside jokes, and Andy made some remarks that had everyone laughing.

Dad w/ the very talented Cal Grondahl. Cal does the editorial cartoons, so they worked together a lot. If you look close, you can see my dad at his desk with his feet propped up, a bandana around his forehead, a Stones picture on the wall, music playing, and his phone in the garbage can with Keith Richards in the background. Dad's dream job!

We were on-call at the mortuary (story of our lives!), so Rich couldn't come to the party. But here's my dad with his favorite girls, and biggest fans. We love Papa Don!

The No Names?

That's just Richard melting faces w/ his guitar.

Our friends Rachel & Tyler supporting the band...
cute hair, Rach!

The wives...we're with the band.

Rachel, Michaela & Jeremy rockin' out.

I owe her one bad pic on the blog.

As many of you know, Richard is very musical. He was in a band when I first met him. Actually, the first time we hung out was at his band's first show. Anyway, that band is long gone, but he's in a new one now. Rich's best buddy Jeremy is the drummer, Richard plays lead guitar and sings, our friend Travis is the other lead guitar and vocals, and Rich's pal Russ plays bass. They've been playing together for about 6 months, and they've had two shows. These pictures are from their second show at Mojo's coffee shop in Ogden. They have a lot of fun, and they're really good! There's only one thing...they don't have a name. They have a lot of inside jokes that they think would be funny band names. Believe me, they wouldn't. I have told Richard at least ten times that I would never go see a band called "BearDog"! Our friends Tyler and Rachel made a whole list of possible band names for them (all better than BearDog), but nothing has stuck yet. If anyone has any ideas for a band name, let us know. For now they are the No Name band.

I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. ...

Cheesin' it up w/ Mr. & Mrs. Vandeveer

Looking forward to the honeymoon!

At the beginning of September our good friends Jeremy and Amanda finally tied the knot. We love them both, and are so happy for them. Their reception was awesome (the cheesecake was to die for...it had chunks of chocolate in it!). Richard met Jeremy almost 3 years ago, and they ended up being in a band together. They're still making sweet, sweet music together, and we all have lot of fun hanging out, going to dollar movies and watching Lost (starts in January again, just fyi). Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Vandeveer!

...Big Sky...

Just Married!

Here we are with Tyler and Chelsea.

Chillaxin' in the hammocks.

Richard has great biking skills.

My sweet ride.

In the middle of August we made a much anticipated trip up to Richard's old stomping grounds of Bozeman, MT. This is where he graduated from high school, and he absolutely loved living there. He's always told me stories about him and his buddies Tyler, Miles, the triplets, Alonzo, Chase, and his cousin Eric and the fun they would have...and the trouble they'd get in. He's been wanting to take me there since we met, and we finally got to go. His friend Alonzo got married, and we thought that was the perfect reason to make the trip.
We stayed with Susan and Walt Connell, Richard's aunt and uncle. We had big breakfasts every morning, and dessert was the bomb...literally. Our first day there I got the complete tour of Bozeman. Richard was so excited he couldn't even sleep, so he woke me up bright and early and we headed out. He took me on the driving tour of his old neighborhood, showed me his and his friends' houses, and the many other places they used to hang out at. He showed me his high school, and it was actually open so we got to walk through the halls. We drove down Main Street and past the baseball field where he played Bucks baseball. Rich is a wonderful tour guide! That night we met up with his friend Tyler and his wife Chelsea and some of their friends, and we did some tight-rope walking on slackline tied to trees. It was so much fun!
The next day we hung out with Susan and Walt. They took us to the Farmer's Market at the fairgrounds. I felt so inspired to attempt making some new crafts! And there was some jewelery made from recycled bottle glass that was so cool, but pretty pricey. We made our way downtown and walked up and down Main Street. There were so many cool shops and boutiques. The boys were such good sports while Susan and I dragged them into all the clothing, shoe and makeup stores we could find! We had lunch at an awesome Mexican restaurant, and then Walt took us on a drive up Hyalite Canyon. It was beautiful! We had some time to kill before the wedding reception that night, so Rich and I went for a bike ride on some really sweet bikes. There are trails all over the place up there--it was so much fun! When we got home, Susan busted out some camping hammocks for us to relax in. We just laid in the shade, and enjoyed the perfect weather. It was my favorite day of the whole weekend.
The reception was incredible. It was in a gorgeous backyard, with a big canopy, a dance floor, and lights hanging from all the trees. The food was scrumptous, and Alonzo and Ashley looked very happy. Richard was in some of the slideshow pictures, which he was pretty excited about. After the reception is when the party really started, though. We went with Tyler and Chelsea and some other friends to Bozeman Hot Springs! The boys were so funny--they made up so many games and were doing so many tricks. It was hilarious!
Sunday, we went to church and then took off to make the long drive home. It was about an 7 hour drive, but it seemed to fly by because we listened to the book Twilight on cd. Richard loves it, by the way!
We had so much fun, and it was by far one of our favorite parts of the summer. We didn't get to do or see everything we wanted to, though. But that just means we'll have to go back again soon. Thanks Susan, Walt, Tyler and Chelsea. We love you guys!

Sister, Sister!

This summer I decided to start a new tradition...its called Sisters Day. And its awesome. One day a week my sisters Sarah and Chelsea meet me somewhere and we hang out. Pretty basic, but its a big deal. We are all 4 1/2 years apart in age, so when we were little we weren't really that close. We didn't really start bonding and being tight until I moved to SLC for awhile. Then I moved home, and shortly after I got married, so of course things changed. It was weird and stupid and rough, but now we're getting to be super-duper tight again and I LOVE IT! We've missed some weeks, but the days we get together are always spectacular. Usually we eat and watch a movie or episodes of The OC (our very favorite show ever). In these pictures we drew Enrique moles on each others faces, and met our old friend Allie in SLC. This is where Sarah found her "woman of the night dress." Its fierce. I love my sisters' guts, and I just think they're the best things to come out of the 90's. :) Sisters day is pretty much my favorite part of the week, so I'm pretty sure we'll continue doing it forever.

As they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked...

This is Shirl, the hippest grandma around.
She always makes sure we have cake.

Dad and Richard working up a sweat at the
ping-pong table. Sweet action shot!

Kody (with a K) and Chelsea. Don't you love
how they're both making the same face?!

Grandma B. and Georgia on the deck.

Me and my daddy.

So hard core.

Mom and Darren giggling about technology.
They're old.

I almost got everyone in this one!

We love our aunt Dayna!

Tari and Chris...awwwww.

Me and Chels mackin' the wall Indian.

This is before we left. She's a crazy driver.

Happy late Pioneer Day, everyone!!! We went up to a cabin to visit with some family from out of state. We celebrated my mom's and her brother Darren's birthdays with cake and ice cream, of course. My dad and Rich found the ping-pong table and were never heard from again, while I went 4-wheeling with Chelsea and our cousin Christopher and his girlfriend Tari. It was a blast! We decided we definitely want to have a cabin someday.