Candace and Allen

I'm brunette!!

2012-01-27T10:51:00.002-07:00

And thinking about cutting bangs again.....
People have asked to see the new do so here 'tis!

I've been MIA in the blog world lately,

and the good part about it is that I have really enjoyed it!

Lots of changes lately and a move (Salt Lake woot woot!)

Life has been busy busy.

I guess I'm saying two of each word now yeah yeah?

I'm still debating to make my blog private or not ay yi yi....

I know I'm a little late, but HAPPY 2012!!!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Qualtrics Christmas Party/Other Celebrations. . .

2011-12-19T16:00:00.011-07:00

The Qualtrics Christmas party was at the Marriott Hotel in Provo this year.

Wednesday, December 7th.

Stephen Jones was there to perform

along with a great dinner and "speeches" from the To4 (the owners of Qualtrics).

Our Q swag (sweaters and bags) were handed

out at the end along with a Christmas bonus. woot woot!

Don't you love work parties?

I certainly do.

Qualtrics is such a great company to work for...they sure know how to treat their employees well!

I absolutely love the people I work with and have such great friends at Q!!

I will be sad to leave when we move next year.

*Here's a few photos snapped at the end of the night*

(above and below) me & Liz

(above) me & Hailey

me & Lauren

me & sweetheart

Emily Fillerup did such a great job on my hair! I love the braids!

This past weekend the Mr. and I spent celebrating . . . for graduating of course.

The Mrs. choice Thursday night

The Mr.'s choice Saturday night

At the end of each dinner we surprised each other with a graduation gift.

My babe gave me the new iPhone and I gave Allen a new golf club/driver he's been wanting! So worth the hard work in school ;)

Sunday night we had a Christmas party with family at my parent's house in Sandy.

We were lucky to have Rick and Annette from Germany with us and the rest of the Smith family.Love my cousins and aunt/uncle!

Everyone at the party:

Candace+Allen, Laci+Eric with kids Keeli and Crew, Lindsey and Sadie (unfortunately Blake was at home sick with the rest of the girls), Rick+Annette, Steve, mom+dad Jones, Morgan+Michelle and Kyran, Jordan, and Tan man.

me & cute cousin Sadie in our matchy matchy jackets :) (Oh, along with Eric. He was very proud of himself in the background)

mom reading to the kiddies

Tis the season!!

HOLY CONNOLI!!

2011-12-14T19:36:00.002-07:00

I AM A GRADUATED WOMAN!!!!!

Just got done taking my last final.

My heart is beating so fast right now.......

I would post a picture of my excited face,

but due to the bags under my eyes, messy hair, etc. etc.

I better not for your sake!

The Mr. and I have been deciding what to do with the spare bedroom in the apartment

we're moving into next year and have been debating back and forth

between making it a guest bedroom or an office room.

Immediately I told Allen,

"I think we should make it into an office room, because that would be a perfect space for us to do our homework..................."

cricket

Allen comes back and says,

"WHAT HOMEWORK??"

We won't have anymore!!!

No more super late nights drooling over the textbooks

or tedious twenty-page research papers.

All you college peeps know what I am talking about :)

I already feel like an elephant has been lifted off my shoulders....

and that is one GOOD feeling!

Cheers to graduation (even though commencement and walking isn't until April grr)

I am still graduated!!!

Bittersweet. . .

2011-12-08T21:01:00.003-07:00

I did it!

I just finished my last class at BYU tonight.

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier and telling

her that my 4:00 class that lasts for 2 1/2 hours will be my last class on BYU campus

and how excited I was for the moment to arrive!

Then she asked me,

"Aren't you kind of sad too?"

I guess all the excitement of graduating and with today being the last day of classes

took over the thought that it's actually a bittersweet day.

I know that might sound pretty lame to some people,

but I have really enjoyed my time at BYU.

I told my mom I will not miss homework, papers, and exams

but I will miss the learning aspect and social aspect that school has to offer.

I had some great classes, friends, and professors this semester and this chapter of life

flies by and I know I'll look back and realize I miss those college days.

So it's a bittersweet day, but really just more excitement and anticipation for what

lies ahead. Walking off of campus tonight felt weird and I wondered if I'll get those days

where I just want to go and mosey around campus and put on a backpack again and pretend I'm still a student -- or drop in a lecture from one of my favorite religion professors.

But for now...thinking of next week and finishing up finals and then celebrating

is such a great feeling so I'm going to live in the moment and enjoy that thought right now.

-Had an awesome work party last night for Qualtrics and Emily Fillerup was so kind to do my hair and some makeup last minute. Pics to come soon.-
Happy Thursday and almost weekend!

December is Here!

2011-12-04T22:02:00.034-07:00

December 1st we finished putting up the rest of our Christmas decorations in our apartment!

I love December. Everything about it.

Here is a little tour of holiday cheer in our apt!

grand fir tree

wreath: Target

mom and dad Jones over for dinner. Love them so much!

Allen even got into it and enjoyed the Christmas decorating with me!

He didn't give up after the third stop to the store to find the right lights for the Christmas tree :)

I consider myself lucky every day to have him in my life.

And so grateful for amazing parents who I love hanging out with.

Countdown to graduation and our trip to Boston is on!

What are you grateful for this time of year?

So much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving. . .

2011-11-28T11:33:00.004-07:00

"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action." ~W.J. Cameron

I'm sure this is referring to the act of stuffing food in your body.

I think we achieved that in St. George for our Thanksgiving partying.

Nate won the food eating challenge and gained

6.2 pounds, with Allen coming in a close

second gaining 5.8 pounds.

Technically, Nate was disqualified, because you have to keep

the food in your stomach after the competition...

Camille made her traditional homemade pies

{13 this year}

less than her regular pie baking number of 15-20 pies.

I love traditions.

Allen really wants me to carry that tradition on for our family.

We also made the traditional candy turkeys before dinner

and surprisingly no turkey nap for Al and I after the big meal.

Great company, delicious food, no school, no work,

time with family, giving thanks...

ohhh I love the holidays!

And a big thanks to the amazing people who prepared

the feast. We spent the holiday at Allen's grandmas house

who is the most generous person you will ever meet...

not to mention the cutest, most hip grandma you will ever meet.

We spent the Thanksgiving break with these great people:

Lucille, Dave, Camille, Randy, Melanie, Matt, Chels, Lucy, Jenni, Chuck, Becca,

Nate, Bryce, Allen (of course), and Devee and Dave arrived on Saturday.

We all live in different states so when everyone gets the chance to get together

it's a blast! So grateful for all my fam in my life.

The Thanksgiving break ended way too quick and I'm not looking forward

going back to school and work, but the thought of Christmas right around

the corner is enough to keep me going. Can't wait for another break with family again soon!

I failed in the picture taking department over the break and only ended up with a few random ones, so I figured I'd include what we did manage to snap..

first picture on top and third one down: fall crafts I made for our apartment

Bowling with the Kuck fam

speaking of the Kuck fam, Becca {Allen's cousin} just got married a week before Thanksgiving and made a beautiful bride!! She also owns her own photography business and is editing all of her wedding photos. Check out her blog HERE.

Allen golfing with Chuck, Bryce, and Nate

st. george temple and ballerina chelsea

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Randoms. . .

2011-10-28T00:56:00.002-06:00

Have I ever mentioned I love the parade of homes?

And that I love old college "roomy" get-togethers...

Wendy and I at What a Women Wants Expo in Sandy ---->

Jules, Ash, and I at Noodles.

{Below: All the 22Q girls at Julia's wedding reception 2009}

Winnie, B-Rad, Candy, An, Sareeto

Love Hiking...

and nature...

and Cosmo? Yes, even you count Cosmo.

Love going to the football games with my one and only.

Love Saturdays filled with words like, "Let's do whatever we want to do today!"

Love how simple-minded kids are. The little girl asked if I wanted jam

or butter on my fresh bread -- I told her I'd like a little of both -- and this is what she gave me.

It's the SIMPLE things in life that make me smile the most.

Exciting News!

2011-10-21T17:35:00.001-06:00

About a month ago Allen got an offer

with Goldman Sachs in the GIR (Global Investment Research) department

. . . in Salt Lake!

Allen accepted the offer a couple weeks ago

and we couldn't be more thrilled.

We know it is the right thing for us to be doing and we feel really good about the decision!

He will start in June, which means we will be moving in January or May of next year.

After working in the Salt Lake office for two years they move you

somewhere else, so that means in two years we'll find ourselves

some place new and we're so excited to see

what the future has in store for us.

I honestly admire Allen's hard work so much --

he is always researching and reading and I love how

he teaches me things and tries to make me more business savvy.

He has a passion for finance and the business world

and I know he is going to be amazing at his new job!

Congrats sweetie on your first job offer in the real world.

I'm so proud of you and I've always loved a man in suit and tie

and can't wait for you to get all dressed up everyday looking

handsome and professional.

Here's to the future -- the ups, the downs -- the new adventures
we get to share together!

26.2 Miles . . .

2011-10-17T22:20:00.004-06:00

{don't mind the unfinished blog design, it's under construction for some changes right now}
Allen did it!! He ran his first marathon (St. George Marathon) -- I'm so proud of him!

The race was on Saturday, October 1.

Allen ran a half marathon two years ago

and decided he wanted to train for a full marathon so I told him

I'd support him, but there is no way I'd be joining him.

However, watching all of the runners cross the finish line

is always a very inspiring, emotional thing and m'boy Churchy and the

other runners gave me the courage to want to run at least a half marathon someday.

We stayed at Allen's grandparent's house in St. George

and my parents were so nice to drive down with us to support Allen

and Allen's parents flew in to Utah to see the race as well!

We had a fun weekend all together and loved celebrating

Allen's accomplishment all weekend!

The only downside of the weekend was that right as Allen was

running up to cross the finish line (mind you two minutes under the goal that

he set) I had the camera ready on record to capture the big moment.....

and later found out that it didn't record.

So I had no video and no pictures of him crossing the line. Sniff sniff

I felt so bad... we just had to settle with the pictures and videos

that I took after the race was done.

I think that was the least of Allen's worries though, he was just so happy to be done

with the race and honestly he didn't even look that tired at the end of the 26.2 miles.

How do all these marathoners do it???

I really do admire them, it's amazing to push your body to the limit

and accomplish something that is not comfortable to your body.

There were a couple of runners that collapsed right before the finish line,

their legs just totally gave out, and it was so cool

watching other runners stop and help them across the finish line.

That's what it's all about -- running and struggling together.

Here are some pics of the big day

Right after he finished the race!

Allen said he wasn't that tired after lunch.

This is how I found him an hour after the race :)

Much deserved nap!

For those of you who are interested click here --

Scroll down to where it says Origin and you can

read about how marathons came to be.

It's really interesting.

Here's the first little portion of it:

The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield ofMarathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought),^[3] which took place in August or September, 490 BC.^[4] It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν" (Nenikékamen, 'We have won.') before collapsing and dying.

Good thing people aren't running naked and dying after marathons like

Pheidippides did. I'm sure people feel like they

want to die during the race, but the more power

to them for crossing the finish line.

I'm so proud of my mr. for this big accomplishment!

If our kids get good running genes, they'll know who they get it from :)

Happy Monday!

Absolute Worth. . .

2011-09-26T23:01:00.000-06:00

I just got done reading a couple of talks for my Philosophical and Ethical Issues class. I love that my professor assigns us church talks to read that apply to the principles we are talking about. Here are two talks I read tonight that I highlighted up:
Beware of Pride
Our Divinely Based Worth
"The world tells us that our sense of worth should be based on our appearance and achievements."
"The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of worldly success."
"If we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men's, we will have self-esteem."
"The world would have you believe that you are of worth only if you have money, a certain physical appearance, stylish clothes, or social position. The gospel assures you that your value is not dependent on your looks or material possessions...part of what it means to be a Latter-day Saint is to know within your soul your eternal worth, who you really are, and why you are here on earth."

Those are just a few quotes I highlighted.
Both talks are full of so many great insights!
It's great having the knowledge that eternal worth is far more valuable than worldly worth.

Lake Powell. . .

2011-09-08T22:48:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite vacation spots

growing up as a kid

and I still love it!

Everything about it.

We went the week of August 8th...

I felt like it went by way too fast,

but then again time always does

when you're on a sunny vacae :)

Warning:

Lots of pics ahead!

Love the red rock!

Me n' Danielle

Surfing

Me n' Katherine

Russell n' Brett

My special pop can necklace

RAINBOW BRIDGE

This was before I slipped and fell on a rock HA!

"The Barbie Boat"

Katherine n' Brett

Parker...flying

Allen...Mulan style

Russell...Peter Pan

I haven't gotten pics on Brett's camera of our intense hike

up hole in the rock, but that's a moment I can't forget.

It was so hot, no water, I thought

I was going to die. And on top of that..Parker's mom, Tammy,

was showing us all up! It was a great, challenging hike.

The Solums, the Wests, the Jones, and Churchills
(included all the fams that went)

and we had a blast! Perfect week at the most perfect place.

FB Link to other Powell and random summer pictures:

Lake Powell

I like long weekends.

2011-09-06T16:34:00.004-06:00

BBQ on the deck, fresh corn on the cob, lots of time in the hot tub
Watching the sunset from the deck and relaxing
Tennis match (husband and I vs my brothers Jordan and Tanner)
Boys off to play some golf while I caught up on some homework
Game of pool where I actually beat Allen! (I won't say if that was by default because the 8 ball got knocked in on accident)
Lots of family time! Sleepover at my parent's house. Our vacation away from p-town
Freshly baked cookies from mom. Movies at night, coke and honey by my side ;)
Chipotle for lunch with the fam
Lots of good talks and laughs and simple time to relax
Watched the first BYU football game. Go Cougs!
Fun drives with the windows down, music up. Enjoying the lasting warmth that summer has to offer, but at the same time getting excited for fall
Swiss Days up in Midway. Fresh berries n' cream, squeaky cheese, BBQ dinner. Didn't turn out to be so swiss, but mainly consisted of craft booths. Fun to look around, but I was hoping for a little bit more of a "culture" experience. I have been enjoying the fresh potpourri that we bought!
Played some Spikeball with some friends (Allen and I's first time) and we loved it! We will be purchasing our own set for next summer. It may not look like too fun if you watch it on youtube, but play it yourself and you will love it too!
Ate at Sparks Lounge in Provo (get the coconut rice and veggies everytime...so dang good) on Friday night and enjoyed a good marvel comic movie with my Mr. afterwards
Enjoyed some good Yoga Saturday morning. Always a perfect way to start out the day
Went to the Riverwoods and enjoyed walking around with all the lights and music. Checked out some of the shops, got a caramel apple from RMCF (of course), and enjoyed people watching and seeing the cute lil' kids run through the fountain at night
Working on my new golf swing in my golf class that husband and I are taking together. I've got to give it to all golfers out there that it is not an easy sport, but I'm enjoying it more and more as I keep practicing
Enjoyed a good girls night out meal last week with Jules and Ash at Noodles. Met them both about 4 years ago when we all became roomies -- I'm so glad I know them!
Costa Vida run, BR (baskin robins) run.....this sounds like I eat ALL the time ha
A+ classes this semester, I couldn't have asked for a better schedule. By far one of my favorite semesters yet
Working towards my second monthly bonus at work, working on the second half of my exercise and wellness internship, and getting more and more excited at the thought of graduation this December and the future ahead of us. SO many big decisions coming up!
Perfect weekend with friends and family...enjoyed every second of it! 3 day weekend, please come again soon. Until then, back to the busy schedule, and hopefully I'll get around to the blogger world sooner than I did this last time. Happy 4 day work week!

Park City. . .

2011-08-14T21:45:00.004-06:00

This getaway (which was last weekend) was for the purpose of
celebrating a couple of things:

*Allen completing his last intern week at Goldman Sachs
*For me reaching my first bonus at Qualtrics
*Late anniversary getaway

I forgot how close Park City is to Provo and we are planning
to go more often. It was our first time to Park City as a couple too --
I was surprised when I realized we hadn't been together yet.
The weather was perfect, food divine, and the scenery beautiful as always.
Plus, we lucked out since the art festival was going on as well.
We wandered around historic main street
looking at the many talents.
And what would Park City be like without a stop {or two}
to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory?

One of my favorite parts of our stay was
{renting electric bikes}
it was a total hit!
It is still somewhat of a workout, but it makes
going up hills a heck of a lot easier...and faster..
so we were able to see more with the time that we had.

Fabulous Friday/Saturday spent with husband.

We ate on main street at a place called TALISKER.

Organic, healthy, yummy food.

You bet I'll be back soon.

Loved everything about it!

Allen spoiled me earlier in the week as well by taking me

to Communal for a more formal birthday dinner.

He knows it's my all time fave in Provo -- it never disappoints.

Everything is so clean and fresh tasting.
I'm lucky for a great man who spoils me.

**Lake Powell pics to come soon. We had too much fun in the sun

with a great group of people! Always hard

saying goodbye to LP, but so happy

for the much needed break we got!

2011 minus 1988. . .

2011-08-04T18:02:00.002-06:00

23! Just in case you didn't feel like doing the math ;)

I don't think 23 sounds that much older than 22.

For some reason 24 sounds a lot older than 23 though.

So next year...I better watch out!

We celebrated my birthday on Saturday since Allen had to work all day

on Monday. Not going to lie, I'm one of those people who really, really

likes to celebrate on the exact date, but this year I realized

wow we're really starting to be grown ups when

you know that there are no exceptions to take the day off

of work for a birthday.

Luckily we already planned some days off of work

for a much needed vacae to Lake Powell next week

so that will definitely make up for it!

Birthday celebrations went a little like this:

mani/pedi in the morning, kfc picnic for lunch, shopping at Nords, tucanos, family dinner on Sunday, surprise scoot scoot/moped ride, and of course some birthday cake!

I really wanted to rent a moped on Saturday and drive through the Alpine Loop,

but for the life of us we couldn't find anyone who rents out scooters around here.

Allen did something hilarious and surprised me so he made sure I still got a moped ride.

The night of my birthday he got home late, but when he got home he told me

hurry let's go jump in the car!

We pulled up to some random apartment, knocked on the door, and some guy answered.

I was completely confused.

Well it turns out there was a moped for sale so Allen pretended we were interested

in buying it and really we just test drove it and rode around for a couple blocks --

Al just really wanted to make sure I got my moped ride.

How considerate is that? I couldn't stop laughing. I just love little memories like that.
Earlier that day Camille and Devee came and surprised me at work with balloons and a
gift, which was so sweet and thoughtful of them. I was out to lunch, but apparently if I was there Camille was going to make me wear a pink tiara at work.
Lucky I was out eating ;)

I didn't take a lot of pics of the birthday weekend, but here's a couple:

sunset from my parent's new house in Sandy

lovey dovey

Also, I sent out a facebook link with my survey, but if you have not taken it

(and are interested in taking a health and wellness survey :)

please click on THIS link.

I created this survey for my new job

and to do a study for my health and wellness internship.

Thanks! Happy weekend ahead!

Panguitch Cabin/Bryce Canyon.

2011-07-20T10:32:00.001-06:00

Last time we went to Bryce Canyon was in 2008 when

Allen and I were still dating.

Allen has gone to Panguitch and Bryce Canyon throughout his

whole life, because his grandma has a cabin in Panguitch.

This year we had a great time going with people
we love to be with and enjoyed the quick getaway!
We went with Devee and Dave

and met g-ma/g-pa Mendenhall at the cabin.

The beauty never fails to amaze me.

I really need to quit the habit of the hand on the stomach thing ;)

Dave's "coconut" tree

The FIST rock

2008 Bryce Canyon

2011 Bryce Canyon

Me and Devee 2011

2008

July 8-10 2011

God Bless America. . .

2011-07-11T18:11:00.008-06:00

"land that I love...." I can still remember singing that in an elementary assembly all dressed up in the red, white, and blue. Such a good song. This 4th of July was not as sunny as I anticipated, but the overcast turned out to be a pretty nice thing. Provo parade in the morning, Kneaders for lunch with lots of pastries, local carnival, glitter toes, BBQ with the fam at Mo and Michelle's house, celebrating Po's birthday, fireworks...everything there is to love about the 4th of July!

We ended up going to Stadium of Fire this year (spur of the minute) and got some sweet field seats. This means I also have some news to share. I got a new job with Qualtrics! After a vigorous interview process I got the job and have been so impressed with the organization and structure of the company. Today was my first official day at Qualtrics, but they were gems to still give us tickets to the Studium of Fire on the 2nd. They sponsored the SOF this year so free tickets and my very favorite part were the amazing fireworks at the end of the night! Oh and Brad Paisley was of course good too :)

Happy birthday America! This really is the land I love - so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy.

Helping Ky out with his binki

Allen and I got Po a rock n' roll elmo for his birthday that sings AND moves.
He thought it was awesome. I love how he approached Elmo, almost like he was a real "person"

Washington D.C./Virginia

2011-07-01T12:54:00.004-06:00

We were so happy that what started out

as a small group going to Virginia to see

Matt n' Mel turned into a big group!

They live about 20 minutes out of D.C.

so we did some sightseeing with the

couple of days we had out there and also

celebrated Chelsea's birthday.

Before that, Allen flew out to New York on

June 5th for the Goldman Sachs training.

It worked out perfect, because he met us in Virginia

after he was done, and even though Camille and I

got lost finding his bus station...he was still so kind to give me

flowers when we picked him up :)

We loved the city of Alexandria where Matt n' Mel

live (in VA) and loved seeing D.C.

and being with fam!
It was definitely hot and humid, more than I expected.
It brought me back to the feeling of Miami.

While in D.C. we visited, of course, The White House

and some other historical buildings and

I fell in love with all of the architecture.

The Smithsonian has a lot of different museums and we went to the

museum of natural history and the air and space museum.

We also saw the capitol building, the supreme court, washington monument,

and the jefferson memorial. Hopefully I named the right things :)

We saw a lot in so little time.

Here's some of the fun:

The birthday girl, Chels

Chels, me, and Devee

capitol building

The Library of Congress

The White House

Josh, Stacey, and Cam. We got to have some good q.t. with them, because we got lost on the way back to our car. We valet parked in the morning and for some completely unknown reason the valet paper had their headquarter address listed instead of the parking garage address where we actually parked. This meant the car was about half hour walk away, but we ended up walking for a good 2 hours (and we had already been walking all day in the heat so it was time to be done ha). Did I mention D.C. is really hot and humid? My chacos were giving my feet blisters from rubbing up against my feet so we took a CVS stop and bought treats and drinks...and I bought myself some black and turquoise water shoes that look like the ones below. hot stuff! We finally made it to the real parking garage and were puzzled why they didn't have the correct address on the paper and told them to let their manager know. We found out we actually walked right past the correct parking garage at one point, but since we didn't have the right address we just walked right past it and kept walking and walking and walking. We were late to Chelsea's birthday party, but were so glad to finally sit down!

the water shoes looked similar to these...mm hmm lookin stylish on the streets of D.C.

This lady protests right by the white house and has been there for 30 years. Her poster (see below) says she is there 24 hours a day. where does she use the potty? We were with Allen's cousin Josh and his wife Stacey (she had her little boy Cam in a stroller) and this protest lady (we'll call her Helga because she just looks like a Helga to me) came up and said, "move the stroller, it's blocking my posters and message." We couldn't understand her too well, but she kept mumbling things then finally she took a huge poster and stuck it right in front of Cam's stroller. Rude. She does not own that property and therefore has no say where people can walk their strollers. Ok, enough of that...moving on now.

Chels and Lily

Washington Monument

air and space museum

Me n' the Wright brothers

Olivia birthday cake that Dani and Melanie made

Yeah, I already know I look lovely in this picture..but the purpose of it is b/c Cam is in it. We became good buds and hung out at the birthday party all night. bright blue eyes and red hair. the red hair from his mama and blue eyes from his dad. cutie pie!

Sorry Matt, but I had to post this picture of Lucy playing in Al's suitcase.

Churchill Fam June 2011

Sorry for such a long post, but it's my online journal :)

Happy 4th of July weekend!!!

Blasted Allergies. . .

2011-06-29T15:05:00.008-06:00

As pretty as Spring and Summer can be, and as much as I love the popcorn trees....

I dread allergies!

Today I had an allergy attack...the worst one of the year by far.

It seems like every year my allergies continue to get worse and worse.

Lucky for guys they can get a quick shot that soothes the symptoms.

On the other hand, girls who plan to get pregnant in the future are

recommended to not get the shot. boo hoo hoo.

Zyrtec, you just aren't doing anything for me!

Allegra, you did nothing either.

Zicam helps out with the itchy nose, but I always feel awkward sniffing it

up my nose in public....so I usually just save that medication for home.

Lately I have been running outside since it's been great weather

and haven't had a terrible time with allergies up until today.

Half way through my run...I felt my throat swelling up.

My eyes were watering uncontrollably. I'm sure it looked like

to everyone else around me that I was bawling!

My nose was itching terribly -- I was constantly nudging it.
I think I sneezed more than I thought was possible.

By the time I got home my throat, ears, nose, and eyes

were not happy with me.

I ran my face under cold water and drank as much water as I could.

Still did not make it all the way better.

I might have to think twice before I go running outside again with the high pollen count.

On a non-related allergy note.....the 4TH OF JULY is coming up!!

And I couldn't be happier, because it is my second favorite holiday!!

Sunny Bright. . .

2011-06-23T08:26:00.004-06:00

Could you imagine if that was my name?

Well, my friends, it almost was.

I believe the words from my dad were,

"your mom went through a little phase..."

and lo and behold Sunny Bright

was the name she wanted...badly.

Just to clarify --

Sunny being the first name,

and Bright being my middle name.

Sunny Bright Jones.

Don't you think it has a little ring to it?

Ok so truth be told I'm glad they settled on the name Candace.

I am glad my dad took action and talked
my mom out of the Sunny Bright idea.

He must have been pretty persuasive, because she loved the name!

I guess since I am the only girl in the family, my mom was trying

to be as creative as she could with names :)

The other names that were in the line-up as well:

Kaitlyn

Aubrey

My mom said Sunny Bright was the first choice for a while.

And no, I promise my mom was not a hippie.

Just a woman with the most perfect and kind heart of anyone you'd ever meet.

So I guess that makes a little more sense why Sunny Bright

sounded so sweet and happy to her!

But thank you mom..

for going with the name Candace.

I think it goes a lot better with the last name of Churchill.

Not that a Sunny Bright "Church Hill"

doesn't sound fabulous as well...

but...just thank you...for my name.

Utah Bride Blog

2011-06-16T17:46:00.001-06:00

Ciara Richardson

made me so happy with this

photo session.

Need I say more?

She is simply amazing!

Check out her photography site

and you will most definitely fall in love.

She knows how to capture the moment perfectly!

We had such a blast with her!

And thanks to Emily Fillerup for doing

such an amazing job with my

hair and make up!

Today, the session is featured on

Utah Bride Blog.

Wahoo!

Click the link above to check it out.

Thank You for the Laugh. . .

2011-06-14T21:14:00.025-06:00

Finals week.

A dreaded word where anyone

in college knows what that means.

And since I have senioritis

it's even worse.

We just got back from a fun Churchill fam reunion trip in

Virginia/Washington D.C. (more to come on that soon).

I had the fun weekend getaway,

so now I keep telling myself buckle down

Thursday will be here before you know it and finals will be over!

Today while I was studying I got a good laugh.

Here's the reason--------->

In my religion class I'm taking from Bro Bott (who is awesome)

several -- and I mean several people have been sending

out mass emails asking for notes from days they have missed class.

I have felt like my email has been spammed with continuous

emails like this one:

Hey guys, I had a presentation on Wednesday and kind of got thrown under the bus by my partner, so I had to miss class to prepare for it. If any of you could send me the notes from that day I would really appreciate it! ...And if you think your notes are good enough to merit cookies, let me know and I'll totally make you some. I know it's a bit trouble to send stuff like this out.

I don't mind helping people out, because there have been times in
my life where I have needed

to borrow notes when I had to miss class as well, but when it's the same

people every exam asking for notes....or masses of students

from the class sending out emails then oh. my. stop!

This is where it got funny in the email threads...

An email a couple hours later said:

Just gotta ask.

Why has everybody's ability to take notes in Mission Prep suddenly and drastically decreased in the last week or so? Was there some massive party that I missed or something?

And then another one:

Hey everybody,

I have only been able to make one day of class, and despite all my attempts to make a friend to give me their notes, students here are just so mean and uninviting.

So here I am, the final due tomorrow, with no notes and no friend to give me their notes.

I would rather my grade not reflect my inability to make friends, because it is supposed to be a mission preparation class, not a friend-making class.

Is there anyone who would possibly be willing to send me all of their notes from the entire semester?

I would like to thank you in advance, because I am certain there are many kind and generous people who are willing to share their ability to get good grades with others.

Really? I mean, it is BYU so maybe he could have been serious...

but I thought to myself no way is he being serious right now. ha.
I was happy people were starting to joke around about it
to make the point that the mass emails are getting pretty old.

Here's the next email:

Subject line ------> I HAVE ALL THE NOTES

Dear Friends,

I have collected all the notes from mission prep, and then I saved them all onto a thumb drive. Just so you know I have gotten A's on all of the celebrations so these notes are golden.

I have secured the thumb drive near the Joseph Smith statue in the JSB building. The memory card is safely taped to his right foot. I know these measures seem extreme, but I had to take these precautions to make sure only the "true of heart" could find them.

That was enough to make my day!

Well, that and the A.A. (alcoholics anonymous) meeting I had to go to tonight.

Oh. Let me clarify...not for me, for my class ;)

Viva Las Vegas...

2011-06-02T16:56:00.006-06:00

Memorial Weekend means long weekend,

which means road trip!

We wanted to get out of the rain.

Sunshine = Las Vegas.

My cousin lives there and

we love visiting her so any excuse is great!

We said goodbye to the rain on Thursday

and enjoyed the long weekend way too much

and didn't want to come back.

Hey, but the sun has been out in Utah for a couple days

so that gives me reason to smile :)

Blueman Group was a cool show! We thought the tickets were

overpriced for the quality of the show, but then again what

is not overpriced on the strip?

The Venetian

It was really windy a couple of the days we were there....but we still busted out the golf clubs

and went to a driving range. We'll just say the wind made it interesting :)
We took Em and went and saw Water for Elephants, which turned out better than we expected.
We had some din din at Table 34, which was yum!

On Monday, we went and played some tennis then celebrated my cousie Sydni's sweet 16th

and had a pool party/bbq in the backyard.

Me and Em...who has totally outgrown me!

Me and my Aunt Kris. She is so much fun!

Me n' Jenny. Ok all of these cousies are so fun. Everyone is so loud

and always laughter going on. Never a dull moment!

Cousies Becki and Shelbs! ♥ them. Haha I feel like there are a lot of love

shout outs going on right now, but I just can't help it :)

Me n' Jodi (whose house we stayed at). She is the oldest cousin on the Seare

side {but you would NEVER know it because she's so hip and young!} She has
always felt like my second mama growing up. She is amazing, I look up to her so much!!

Allen and Jodi's bf, Keith

Uncle Jack flexing his guns for the camera.

Allen

Candace

Emyli

Sydni

**********************************************************************************

It was the perfect getaway because life has been so busy lately

and we lucked out, because a bunch of fam

was around so it was great catching up with some of my
favorite peoples!!

Monday we came home to some exciting events...because it's official my parents

have arrived to Utah and are here to stay!! :)

Ice Skates. . .

2011-05-22T22:45:00.002-06:00

Some of us lately.

Pro skaters. Ok so actually this has a funny story. For quite some time I have told

Allen that I really want to go ice skating. Allen wasn't too excited about the

idea and we sort of forgot about it and months passed by. I guess I should

preface that part of the reason Allen didn't want to go is because he says he

doesn't pick up ice skating fast. He picks up other sports fast and is very

athletic so it bugs him that he can't just be good at ice skating...the first time.

Of course I had to tease him, because hello!

Ice skating is hard and not like basketball...at all.

Soo this past weekend Allen tells me he has a surprise date night for Friday.

I'm in a love/hate relationship with surprises and was trying to guess and

ask as many questions as he'd let me.

We were heading in the area toward the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo

and all the sudden it struck me! He's finally

caving in and taking

me ice skating.

I was right! However, the funny thing is he only told me to bring a

light jacket and nothing else.

So we had to turn around and go get warm, thick socks and

big jackets and I grabbed

a scarf and gloves as well :)

I got to try skating "kiddy style"

We had such a good time giggling and the whole time I kept thinking

my man is so dang cute, I'm such a lucky girl!

I'm not saying any names of anyone who did this, but there may have

been two ice cream stops on one Friday.

I won't say any places, but Sub Zero and the BYU Creamery on Ninth sound familiar.

We topped off the fun date night with the movie Limitless.

It was a great Friday night with the man I love!

Since the sun has been out...

nothing better than trips to the temple on Sundays to read, relax, and talk.

I love braids so I followed Abby's tutorial and walah (yes, that is a word:) created

braids for the day.

Since my mom wasn't in town for mother's day :( but Porter and Maike were, we had a sibling dinner. Um and can my nephews get any cuter? I submit they cannot. Haha really though, I just love this picture with them staring at Elmo on the screen and sucking their binkis.

Tears started to come when Kyran started stealing Po's binki and wouldn't stop.

I wish my biggest problem of the day was having a binki stolen.

We thought of mom Churchill and mom Jones on mother's day and admire

how amazing they are!!

Look at that bow tie and grin :)

and last, but not least, flowers!! I know they say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but can't flowers be a girl's best friend too??

Allen brought home these b-e-a-utiful roses to me on our anniversary

with such a sweet love note!

We celebrated and went to SL and ate at

Christopher's Steak house

(which was delicioso) and ran into some of our other friends there

by coincidence that have their anniversary on May 9th as well...

So I will have some pictures to come once I get them from her :)

The manager was so nice that he even gave us $50 to come back again!

Ok so that was after he found out our steak was not cooked right...

but still! We were not asking for money or a refund,

but he felt so bad that he gave us $50 to come back.

Since the sun was out yesterday we took a beautiful drive up Provo Canyon!

We wanted to hike Stewart Falls, but we were told

there is still snow that would go up

to our knees sooo that wasn't gonna happen.

We went golfing after, because Allen loves to golf

and is teaching me the ropes. It is so much harder than

it looks! THe more we go, the more I like it though.

He ice skates for me, I golf for him :)

Happy weekend!!

Happy Anniversary!!

2011-05-11T09:44:00.002-06:00

May 9, 2009

was a perfect day spent together!!!

My babe looked so handsome.

The weather was perfect.

Having all of our loved ones at the temple was amazing.

I couldn't stop smiling.

Everything felt peaceful.

I got to spend the whole day by the man I love.

It was the first day that I gave my forever to my best friend.

The past 2 years have been filled with so many adventures!!

I can't wait to see what else the future has to hold for us.

I LOVE:

how you can always make me laugh
how hard you work and how motivated you are
your handsomeness :)
your testimony and knowledge of the gospel
how you will give me a back massage no matter how tired you are
your notes and improv poems :)
how you love to cuddle with me
your hugs at the end of a long day
how you make other people feel comfortable
your smile
that you like to cook and bake with me (your sisters will be so proud!)
how funny you are and that you know how to calm me when I'm stressed
being best friends with someone amazing like you

I love you! Happy 2 years babe!!

Memories. . .

2011-05-04T16:12:00.004-06:00

I LOVE looking at old photos.

I had a bunch of my photos in storage at

my brother's house and decided

it was time to make them digital.

It took me much longer than I wanted to get them

all scanned onto my computer, but it is so dang worth

it so I don't care!

One time my friend asked me

"if your house was on fire what would be the first things you'd grab?"

I said

"my photo albums!!"

Ok so obviously I'd make sure my loved ones were safe first

but I definitely hold my photos with great value.

I honestly forget so many things and then I pop out the pictures

and memories just come flooding back.

Allen is such a good sport and whenever I start again and say

"OH and this picture has a story..."

he listens and smiles and pretends to like all the stories :)

Haha no we actually both love telling stories from

memory lane.

One of my favorite of Allen's is this one.

His mom asks him what he wants for christmas in his young teens

and he responds dead serious...

"I want a silk robe and a gold chain."

Must be a Seattle thing?! ;)
It cracks me up every time I hear the story that he really had his heart
set on a silk robe and gold chain!

Ok so here's a couple of the links from Facebook with a

*WARNING* Old photos

Some of you may even be in the albums...just because you weren't tagged

doesn't mean you won't appear...

Hooray for photos and memories!!

LINK 1

LINK 2

Graduation. . .

2011-05-03T20:02:00.002-06:00

The beauty of finals being over!

For Spring semester, I am taking missionary prep from

Brother Bott (which I love so far)

and I'm taking Substance Use and Addictive Behavior

and love that one already too!

Independent study class..nothing too exciting and

my other credits are for my Spring/Summer

internship at Baysport, which has been

going great so far!

I'm already liking this semester better than last.

I was in a funk towards the end of last semester and knew that

a new change would get me out.

And exciting news...the hubby and I

made it official. We are walking in August!!

We will be officially graduated and done with classes this December (woot)

but we'll be walking in August since they do not have graduation

ceremonies in December anymore.

Cap n' gown ordered. One step closer!

Speaking of caps n gowns, Jordan (my older bro)

graduated from Weber a couple weeks ago!

He has been studying for the dreaded MCAT

and took the big exam this past weekend.

Another brother that is a great example to me of hard work

and dedication!

(Jo and mom n' dad)

(JJ making a goofy smile and Allen being captivated by it hee hee)

(and us being goofy on the car ride to the ceremony)

I'm allowed to announce now that it is official

my parents are moving back to Utah!!!!!

I am spoiled and have always been used to them

living in the same state until a couple of years ago when they

moved to Albuquerque...I have missed them

and am so glad we get to have them back!!!

They will be back in June and my cute mom

keeps saying "we'll be coming home in June!"

Home sweet home.

I just got really excited!

2011-04-17T09:22:00.001-06:00

It's SMORE SEASON!!!!

ooey gooey marshmallows

melted chocolateee

crunchy graham cracker

the smell of a campfire

I love it all!!!

The other weekend we bought a lil' Smokey Grill and tested

it out last night and it got me so excited

for trips up the canyon in the summer!

Well, it's official 3 finals down and 3 more to go before the semester

is over!!

Then Spring semester comes haha and I have 9 credits so that means classes start again.

Finals end Thurs this week and Spring classes start Mon so not much of a break,

but Summer semester no classes

so lots of smores then!

Last week we went to a dinner banquet at the Hinckley building

on campus for the Global Management certificate which m'boy Al received!

Did I mention that he's a hunk and works so hard!?!

We had another dinner banquet last week at the

Marriott Hotel in Provo, which was the

closing social for the

marriott school of business management

and none other than Stephen Jones himself

was there to conduct :D

We also caught some Humor U last weekend where Stephen Jones

ended the night and he's the best - naturally funny

without even trying.

Lots of laughs or LOL...really though some

of the beginner stand ups were funny stuff!

Going backwards again a couple weekends ago we drove up to SL to the

Pioneer Theatre at the U of U to see

The Diary of Anne Frank.

This usually happens after a play or movie where I become intrigued with the story

and want to research

more info about the story afterwards so I couldn't

sleep that night so duh, I decided to get online and read more about Anne Frank

then that turned into buying the book on the Kindle haha

Oh and CAKE POPS! ashley ann anderson introduced me to

the beauties and it was love at first bite oh to die for!

I also got some inspiration from Bakerella, even though I didn't

go all out like her designs, we had a blast making them!

sucker sticks and melting chocolate at Michael's.

Buy a styrofoam block and festive tissue paper

and wa la cake pops!

Red velvet cake in the middle and pink chocolate coating for

Devee's birthday:

and some candles to top it all off!

happy birfday Dev! like the pic? :) i don't think she's been on my blog

(besides wedding pics) so to introduce this is Al's awesome

lil sis who just got back from her mission in Argentina in Dec.

and now we are sisses too.. right! ;)

Played some tennis yesterday ohhhh yahoo, because the sun was too amazing to miss out on!

I am a sunshine girl and go crazy without it so double likey to a beautiful, warm day!

And I, well we, have a new weakness. JCW's.

We drove by it a few times and both laughed and said they prob won't

do too good because in n' out and five guys so close..

but it looks like they've been busy so far so we

wanted to try it out and yes it's so good!

and the inside is clean big bonus.

We may or may not have gone 2 times this week.

*a couple goodies on my playlist right now*

Be Be Your love (Rachael Yamagata)

If God Made You (Five For Fighting)

Happy Sunday!~

Happy News. . .

2011-04-06T22:58:00.004-06:00

The past couple weeks have felt like a whirlwind with a million things to do for school.

I feel so relieved getting a bunch of big projects outta the way!

Now it's time to focus on studying for finals.

Conference weekend was amazing and I feel like I needed it more than ever

this month. It came at the most perfect time for me

and gave me a lot of comfort.

Last month the mr. and I both found out awesome news!!

We both got accepted to the internships we interviewed for and couldn't be more

excited and feel very blessed!

The Mr :

Goldman Sachs in SLC

I'm gonna get on a soapbox here and brag about him a little ;)

I am so proud of him and he has been working extremely hard

doing all of his research

and going to interview after interview to make it happen!!

There are four different rounds of interviews

and each time he drove up to SL to

interview, several different interviews were held

in the same day. It sounded intense

and stressful, but he never gets stressed

and is always positive about things...which helps

me since I do stress out about things haha

He knows how to calm me on down =)

I was crossing my fingers he wouldn't have

to move out of state for a summer internship since

we just got done moving - so Goldman Sachs in SL

never sounded better to me when he told me the news!!

The Mrs :

Novell Fitness Center (Baysport)

UVU Wellness Center

I am so happy about both of them! After researching several different

internships these were the two I had my eyes on.

After interviewing with both of them they told me

they had several people to interview over the course of 2-3 weeks

and would let me know as soon as they could.

I knew there were limited spots at each place

so I was crossing my fingers they liked me, because I really

wanted both internships!

When I found out I got accepted to both of them I felt like things were

falling into place and I'm relieved that the researching for internships is over!

I start the Baysport internship the end of this month

and the UVU internship in the fall!

The mr. and I celebrated for both us by each choosing our favorite place to eat.

I, of course, had no hard time with that and chose

Communal.

BY FAR my favorite restaurant in Provo.

I love everything about it.

Al chose Ruby River, another one of our faves.

We get the exact same thing every time

and satisfy our taste buds every time.

Can you imagine that?

Also GREAT news is that Matt got a job in D.C. and so Matt n' Mel (Al's sis)

and Chels and Lucy will be moving to Virginia this week.

We are so happy for them!

More news, then I promise I'm done...

Porter (my big bro) and Maike and lil' Po are moving to Sao Paulo, Brazil!

Porter has accomplished so much

and graduated med school at the U and got his MBA at Harvard

and is now going out in the real world!

He is a great example to me of hard work and when you want something,

work hard and you can accomplish it!

Here's Al when he got his offer letter in the mail from Goldman Sachs, ninja style..I guess?

Happy Wednesday! Almost Thursday now.

Might as well end the night with a little

Modern Family

and big bowl of popcorn =)

Life is better when you share it. . .

2011-03-25T17:24:00.007-06:00

Green day has always been a fun day in our fam, because it's my dad's b.day! My g.ma has hosted parties for ages and does a fantastic job and would always throw a green party dinner for his b.day when they lived in Utah. In honor of my pops I made green clover sugar cookies, green veggie/fruit platter, and Al made another green cafe rio salad that was delish! We had BJ and Jules over to watch the BYU game with us and we won...but I'm still teary about the loss last night against Florida ;(

We had lots of more treats later that night at Laci and Eric's St. Patty's Day party. I don't like jello, especially green jello -- but I do like jello cake (it's all in the topping) and had lots of it!

Happy Birthday to the 2nd man in my life who has always been there to support me in everything! I've always been a daddy's girl and am the only girl in the fam and loved being his pal growing up. He holds a very special place in my heart and I'm so grateful for his constant hard work and continual love and encouragement in my life. My parents took me to NY for my senior trip and he surprised us with a Yanks game. I REFUSE to watch baseball on TV...only exception for me is a live game. I love you daddyo!

BYU vs U of U gymnastics meet. Last home gymnastics meet of the season so I told Al I haaad to go. HOW do these girls do those beyond crazy moves on the beam and bars? Their legs are incredibly buff and it makes me feel weak. I love watching power tumbling since I tumbled growing up....but I'm already feeling old. Last time we went tumbling I hurt my elbow doing a back handspring and it still hasn't healed all the way :( Brittle Bones? Bahahah

We doubled with Brit and Eric last weekend and they came to our apartamento to watch the game and the Cougs played uh-mazing! Al and Eric both got way into and I couldn't resist a picture.

Then it was dinner at Iggy's Sports Grill.

Brit was my roommate at Branbury and we were known for the two who talk loud. :) I'm proud to say I've worked on my voice volume now that we have neighbors below.

And they wanted me to let everyone know they will be naming their first child........

Haha! I would never. I couldn't, I wouldn't. I do not want our secret child names disclosed either.

I don't think I have ever been more happy that today is FRIDAY!! The past two weeks have been hard and overwhelming and I am glad they are over. Like my g.pa used to say Thank heavens for a new tomorrow. And that means weeks too. So here's to the weekend and doing some celebrating for some exciting news that I'll be sharing soon. I feel like I'm forced to say now that.. no I am not pregnant. Why is that the first thing that pops into everyone's minds when the phrase exciting news appears? :)

Oh and...

Founder of Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg himself was at BYU today with Orrin Hatch. It was a great forum and I know Orrin Hatch convinced him to donate 1 million dollars to our school. Of course, Zuckerberg showed up in a hoodie and sneakers -- classic.

The Giant Cupcake. . .

2011-03-13T20:02:00.005-06:00

It was Ky Ky's 1st birthday party and his mama surprised him with

a giant cupcake to dig into!

I love this pic and his frosted face! As you can see, he really didn't eat too much, but he

did a good job at getting it in his hair.

Wish I could have tried the giant cupcake...but we all know that baby slobber and hand prints all over is not the most appetizing thing in the world.

Michelle was kind enough to make everyone else their own cuppy cakes!

Opening up the present me and Al gave him. Hey and he looks legitimately excited!

Has anyone seen the movie life as we know it? We were going for the same pic. hah

Look at what else Ky got surprised with for his b-day!! Is she not the cutest things you've ever seen?!? Her name is Sophie and I really wanted to kidnap her.

I want a puppy...a lot. Unfortunately, we can't keep any pets in our apt. so we'll have to wait until next year when we move -- but when we do you bet I'll be keeping my eye on a malti-poo :)

Maltese/tea cup poodle mix. I absolutely love the combination!

I had to share this one, because this picture actually makes Sophie look semi big, when really she is tiny! She'll only get up to 4 lbs. Did I mention I want to kidnap her?

Happy Birthday Ky! We love you! {I guess I should mention his real name is Kyran}

Ultimately, these are the same photos except the top one doesn't have a glaring knife in the photo, but hey at Tucanos the knife is an important aspect to the meal :)

Al's aunt and uncle (Chuck and Jenni) were in town and took all of the cousins on Al's side of the fam out to Tucanos. They are so giving and take everyone out to dinner when they are in town!

I forgot to post this pic from our last outing to Italian Village when my dad was in town. My g-ma and Russ came as well and we celebrated with a #19 as always* Haha and I just realized Jo's mouth looks like it's still stuffed with pizza!

And I can't go on without featuring the delicious salad my man made! Not just any salad, but a sweet pork salad recipe from Cafe Rio. This was all his idea and he made everything from scratch and spent hours in the kitchen. If that isn't dedication to make a wifey happy, I don't know what is...it turned out so yummy and he thinks the second time around making it will go a lot quicker so now we can cut our budget @ Rio and make it ourselves!

And at last, we whooped New Mexico and Jimmer made 52 points. Incredible!!! No MW conference champ title, but c'mon we all really know who's the best (best 2 outta 3 against SDSU).

Welp, time to buckle down again with lots of exams coming up this week.

Loving every second of this warm weather -- I don't know if that'll make studying easier or harder, but nonetheless my face will still be best friends with my textbooks this week.

*About one more month of the semester left......and very excited about that!

RaNdOmS. . .

2011-03-05T00:34:00.012-07:00

☀ Finally caved in and bought those things that are called Toms. Anyone heard of them? Probably not, because I'll probably be the only one wearing them around campus. Ok, so even though they are extremely trendy and everyone will own a pair by 2012....I have to confess they are really comfy! My first day wearing them, I made googly eyes with them all day long.

Since I have been blessed with huge bunions on my feet (AH!) ever since high school, I have a hard time finding shoes that feel good. It can be a frustrating experience when I find the must have pair of shoes and then try them on and find they hurt like the dickens...because of my bunions. I always thought bunions were for grandmas ya know? After I had surgery in high school I thought they would be gone for good. But as the doc warned me they might grow back -- that's exactly what happened {sniff}. I blame them on tumbling or dance from back in the days, but can't be too sure about that.

Point is, even though Toms may be everywhere, I simply don't care...because they will rock my world this Spring/Summer walking around campus!

*Note -- If you have time to fly to Argentina you can pick up a pair of Toms for $2-3. Al served in Argentina and had a pair for a whoppin $2 and was surprised with the price they are sold here hahah...

☂ Also caved in and bought Uggs for the Winter season and once I did I swear I never took them off on cold days. I wore them like permanent slippers -- so for those of you who have contemplated buying Uggs and spending the money for them, unfortunately I would say yes, go spend the extra money...you won't be sorry you did. :)

☁ Recently enjoyed Italian Village (pizza) with the peeps that I love. #19 will always be a family tradition for as long as we live. My dad flew into Utah and it was so great being able to see him! Love him and have always been a daddy's girl :)

☞ Enjoyed a successful shopping trip with the Mr. today at the University Mall and got overly excited for WARM weather to be here!!!!!! I live for warm weather.

✄ Right now...adoring solid pastel nail polish and any nail polish that is bright! Also trying to stay away from the MAC makeup counter at Nordstrom or only visit when my wallet isn't with me. Their makeup never fails to make me use the word quality after using it. I'm sure my sweetie gets sick of me talking about makeup and nail polish I like, but that stuff is part of being a girl and that's why I have no problemo talking sports with him anytime he likes.

✒ A current want on the wish list - Sperry Top-Sider shoe at Nordstom - another perfect shoe for walking all over campus. Love boat shoes.

✏ HAPPY with the BYU win today, but sad it was the last home game. Having an all sports pass is the way to do it, considering the fact that one ticket alone for the game today was $74 and up. Sadly we got there too late and they weren't accepting sports passes anymore so we couldn't go to the game, but so happy they killed Wyoming.

☑ An exam crossed off my list for this past week and 2 more to come this week. And good news! I found out I got accepted for a Spring/Summer internship that I was waiting to hear back on. More to come on that later!

♡ Had a most pleasant surprise tonight from mine truly. He did all of the grocery shopping and it was amazing! He spent some time online finding new recipes this past week and still won't tell me what he will be making...normally I do the cooking and he will help out, but he says this week the meals are on him and I have to say I am elated! He also surprised me with haagen-dazs chocolate ice cream (my fave) and samoa cookies. This will be a good movie/cuddle night for sure*

☃ One of my favorito treats right now... home popped popcorn with just a little butter and salt. Popcorn is whole grain and sometimes I like to eat it plain for a healthy snack, but the just the right touch of butter and salt is a must for the special times.

☢ We're waiting to hear back on Al's internships for this Summer. He has had final interviews with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and will hopefully hear back this week from them! I'm so proud of all of his hard work and fascinated with his love for business. He is constantly keeping up to date in the business world and loves to wake up early to hear the bell ring.

♣ I've enjoyed the most recent snowfall we had. What you ask? When we were driving back from Miami the end of December I told Al how much I'd miss the warm weather, but how excited I was to see some fresh snow! Every snowfall in January and February I got very excited about and people couldn't fathom that I was excited to see snow when everyone else was wishing it away. For once, I don't have the Winter blahs this year -- but that doesn't mean I can't wait for some sunshine and playing outdoors soon!

✈ Goal for this weekend: to take my husband ice skating -- hopefully to the outdoor rink in SL. There is a story for why I want to do this, which I won't bore you with right now....but we have never been ice skating together before so I'm trying to make it happen.

● Song on my playlist right now: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri.

* Happy Weekend *

I LOVE, LOVE. . .

2011-02-20T21:45:00.004-07:00

Even though most of our v-day celebrations were on Saturday, you can't let the real designated love day go by without doing something special and

writing sappy love letters.
Al sent me BEAUTIFUL roses to our apt. while I was doing some homework during the day. What a babe. He knows I love love flowers and especially roses and each bouquet he gets is different, but one he knows I'll love!!
He also sent me a love email every hour just with a little something to let me know he was thinking of me. What a sweetie:)
V-day night we of course went to Mimi's since that is where the first love spark was ignited.
3 years since -part of our first date- was there (at 10 pm mind you) and 2 years since he proposed to me..not at Mimi's -- but it's a special spot and it's tradition to eat there on Valentines day. And always delish!
After dinner I sent Al on a scavenger hunt and he may or may not have become

a little giddy boy...
I had no idea he liked scavenger hunts so much and I will definitely be doing

more of them for him in the future!
It was really cute watching his excitement as he got each new clue and moved onto the next one to reach the final surprise!! Which of course included a sappy love note -- a note filled with mems and inside jokes and things I love about my man!
I have always loved Valentines day and always will. Flowers, love letters, pink, festive dinners, heart shaped sugar cookies, romantic movies, lovey dovey words, love it all:)

Mimi's ♥

scavenger hunt

Another thing I love, girls night out that includes the Cheesecake Factory!

I only became obsessed in Miami so you could say this is a semi new obsession of mine.

Ironic enough, I'm not a big cheesecake fan, but I love the food there..

however, I have been slowly accepting cheesecake and last night

tried a new one that I am already craving again!

Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake

AMAZING.

It was so much fun meeting up with Noel for a girls night with some shopping, delish food, and great company! We go back to jr. high buddies and I love this girl!! Not only is she beautiful on the inside and out, but she is one of the kindest people I have ever met and we always have a good time together!

Also this weekend the Mr. and I went to the Courgarette concert at the Covey Center. They always do a fantastic job!

*Had a great Sunday lesson today, one that I needed to hear.

*Had fun having Sunday dinner at the Harper's house with my cous Laci, her husband Eric, and adorable girl Keeli, and newborn Crew. I'm so glad Laci said anytime I'm feeling that baby hunger urge and need a baby fix to come on over. I'm sure I'll be taking her
up on that offer :)

Holiday tomorrow, what a relief. Last night we stayed up playing the would you rather game until 2 in the morning, laughing our heads off and melting all the stress away from the week -- so that means another late night won't hurt since no classes tomorrow. Can I get a hallelujah?! Happy long weekend!

Mindy Gledhill. . .

2011-02-13T22:20:00.001-07:00

Love is in the air, it's v-day weekend!

We did some of our celebrating

Saturday night and

enjoyed a night in downtown Provo

at Velour.

Mindy Gledhill had a fun night

set up with a bunch of her

flirty, pop songs...

Unfortunately she walked out on the stage with some bad news. ;(

Her voice was practically gone.

How can you have a concert without the singer's voice?

It pretty much became a sing-a-long, so it's a good thing I knew the words

to her album Anchor and it's a good thing Al knew some of the words, but chose to only sing them in his head. It ended up turning into a room full of girls singing with Mindy and turned out to be really fun!

I was still bummed out though, because I love Mindy's voice and was looking forward to hearing her live!! Between songs she experimented drinking jamba juice, to good ol' fashioned water, to sipping olive oil. Sadly, not much worked so she tried to squeak out all she could and was really

positive about the situation. I don't think I could have been that positive

if I was holding a concert and had no voice, but more power to her!

She flipped a crappy situation into a fun one.

Ok, but now I want my $$ back.

Just kidding.

It was a lovely evening nonetheless. And the free cupcake from the

Sweet Tooth Fairy was fantastic too. Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, my fave!!

And I got a pic with her, yip yip! I ♥ her voice, a lot!

I couldn't resist buying some of her sheet music after the concert. I learned two of her songs on the piano when I got home Anchor and All About Your Heart.

Oh and a shout out for the Cougs defeating the Utes yesterday!!!

I feel like I need to say something about Jimmer too so Jimmer, you are amazing!

(Blah, I can't even find a dark blue in my color palette)

Friday night we had a fun girls night out in SL @ Cafe Trio. It's not a typo for Cafe Rio...if you've never tried Cafe Trio oh please do, very delish.


The girlies! Anna and me on the left, Megs and Winnie on the right. Your face is great Megs...I love how she caught us off guard in every picture. Such a fun night seeing all of you!!!


Didn't know we'd have a 5th wheel in the picture?! hahah

Haven't updated since school has been consuming my life, but thank goodness for weekends to breathe and put down the textbooks.

It's been fun being back in Utah and catching up and having some fun girl lunches, seeing my fam, and having my mother dearest in town. Hey and we finally had a fam dinner and introduced Al to Crown Burger in SL...it was a success. He approved :)

We also saw Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband and White Ivory
perform at the Y last month.

Some guys from good ol' Layton High have a band and opened

for Ryan Shupe, which was very exciting! They did an awesome job.

Valentines tomorrow so that means heart shaped sugar cookies!

An excuse to eat a lot of sugar, I'll take it.

Happy v-day, mañana!

p.s. WHY DOES FISH HAVE TO SMELL SO FISHY?? Goal is to eat more fish and less red meat, but I don't want the awful fishy smell in our apt. afterward. Sorry wall flowers, but you just don't cut it. If anyone knows of a magical way to get rid of the fishy smell, I'd love to know!

Exams. . .

2011-02-09T19:20:00.012-07:00

NOTHING but exam after exam

after exam this week.

4 exams in one week,

How am I supposed to pace myself?

Don't forget assignments, going to classes, and

taking quizzes
in between that too.

Weekend, I need you desperately and

you are taking forever to get here.

My brain feels like mush right now.

Hopefully a real post will

be coming soon

with some updates.

For now, onto more studying...frowny face.

*This is a little bit how I feel this week. Completely exhausted..