When Jake said he was planning a festive dinner I imagined Lucky Charms....

This was soo much better!

road trip with the padres

This past weekend Jake's parents gave us a pleasant suprise with a phone call late Friday night that said they were heading to St Geezy the next morning to stay at a sweet resort, ant that we could stay in the second bedroom if we wanted. . . . . After making several phone calls to get subs for both mine and Jake's church classes, we accepted their invitation. We had such a great time. Our room was so nice and it was so great to just relax with the Hoyts and not worry about work or school. A couple of the highlights were shopping at the outlet malls, hiking in snow canyon, relaxing in the hot tub, and best of all was mine and Jake's first massages. The Hoyts said they had a suprise for us down there, and wow it was a suprise. we loved the massage and can't say enough about how our Russian Masseuse Ulga (ha ha ha) relaxed and made our bodies into Jello!

lopee's temporary home

"Lopee" *short for Antelope* is the name of Jake's antelope that was shot in the fall of 2008:


Lopee was finally mounted this last week-i think that is what you call it- and he is currently sticking out of my wall staring into my soul 24/7. I jump every time I walk into that room and am greeted with his marble eyes. I am glad he is only a temporary roommate.

this husband of mine...

Meet Jake. My best friend.

He's smart, good lookin', and is the biggest sweetheart. I am so incredibly lucky to be his wife, he is simply amazing! For Valentines Jake planned a romantic weekend getaway to the Zermatt Resort in Midway and after a long week of midterms and sickness it was a much needed "mini vacation"...

You can't each lunch at the train (aka Dairy Keen)without receiving your fortune...

At the resort there was a giant ice castle-gotta love ice art:)

We made a trip to the hot pots...

Thanks bicho for a fun weekend devoid of any responsibility and full of lots of love. You are the best! I love you Jake!

The Twilight Zone

"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

As per a conversation Jake and I had a while back on the Tower of Terror ride at MGM I have wanted to see what the whole twilight zone is for myself...and finally that is becoming a reality. With access to old episodes online I have officially entered...(cue creepy music)...the twilight zone.

Feliz Ano Nuevo

"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
--Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Phantom's Gift

...so Jake is quite the romantic...When I woke up Christmas morning Jake had a "special" present that I was supposed to open before all other presents...I opened it to find our old cd player with a picture of the Phantom of the Opera on it that said to plug the player in and turn it to number 5 before opening the next gift. I followed the instructions and listened to the theme of the phantom of the opera as opened my next gift which was the DVD. Inside the movie was a certificate to a weekend get away to the Anniversary Inn in the Phantom of the Opera room for the following day. The phantom of the opera has some sentimental value since we first saw it when it came out at a date dance in high school and then I played it on the piano for Jake the night before he went on his mission....so it was really thoughtful! Thanks Honey for being so cute!

a little bit of christmas...

We had a wonderful christmas full of cheer and goodness. We are blessed to have both our families live one minute apart so we can go back and forth and not miss a single party! Here are a couple pictures from our holiday...





Merry Christmas!

DINNER and a MOVIE

We took Kay and Tommy with us on our date last Friday. We ate pizza, saw Ice Age 3, and had a great night full of laughter!! We love ALL our fun nieces and nephews!!

HGTV "Wannabe"

It has been five months since we've moved into our town house and we absolutely love it!! When we first arrived we got cable and instantly became addicted to HGTV and therefore over the last 5-ish months we have dedicated several weekends to the betterment of our home. Painting and decorating has been a fun process especially when Jake has more of an opinion than I do. Its a little sad that we are basically done and we already miss the Home Depot.

One of our favorite projects was our extra bedroom now referred to as our "homework" room. Jake installed the bead board and chair rail and we had a blast painting the walls and furniture. Here is how it turned out...

Before...

.....

and AFTER!!!


Here are some more before/after pics of our house:

family room & dining room:

Our bedroom:

La Cucina...

and the downstairs bath: