Brian and Mandy Porter

BYU vs. St Mary's

2012-01-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

The crowd says it all.

St. Mary's shot 60 free throws. 60. BYU shot 36.

I got to play with my camera some more.

That's about as much as I want to talk about it...

Last Hurrah in San Diego

2012-01-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

Our last trip to San Diego was absolutely beautiful, and it was a great place to try out my Christmas present. This post is really picture heavy because I was so happy about figuring out my new camera, but I always like to look at pictures anyway. We arrived in San Diego just in time to go out to the beach and see the sunset. The tide was low, and the sunset was brilliantly orange.

We then headed over to Sea World for the last time, and took part in their christmas joy. We even had fun frolicking in a human-sized snowglobe.

And we had to come to San Diego to actually get some snow... This snow pavilion at Sea World was one of the most popular venues. It was great to see people so thrilled with a little pile of snow.

We went to the Wild Animal Park our second day. I loved taking pictures of all the colorful and exotic birds, as you can see. There were also a lot of babies...baby antelope, a baby gorilla, and baby elephants. See if you can spot them all...

I love the Meerkats. They were out enjoying the sun and relaxing like couch potatoes...what a carefree life.

We made it out to the beach on Coronado a couple nights as well, and while there weren't clouds during this sunset, it was still absolutely gorgeous. I really had a thing for birds this trip.

Yes, I know. My jumping is pathetic.

The Midway

My camera has a pretty nice panorama assist, and it came with a stitching program. This picture was taken on the ferry over to Coronado. We rode bikes from Old Town, took them on the ferry, and rode around Coronado. This was one my favorite activites.

Farewell San Diego. I hope we come back and visit you again one day.

I am glad you are giving my parents back though.

A Very Porter Christmas

2012-01-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas with the Porters was delightful, despite the fact that some sort of stomach bug made its way swiftly from Emily, to Matt, to Brian, to Jon. I was just waiting to wake up in the middle of the night running to the bathroom, but luckily, it never happened. Despite the sickness, everyone was up bright and early before church, opening presents and enjoying the company. It was so fun to have Jake and Christie up from Arizona and Jonathan and Abby and baby Will here from Vegas.

Deanna cleaned out Brian's closet and framed his map of the Caribbean. Brian loves maps (as you can see by his happy face).

The day after christmas we went to the Leonardo, a unique, but interesting new museum downtown. They had a word wall where you could create your own words and pictures. Brian came up with the sentence below, complete with a light saber and a tribute to Eric on his mission (we all miss your "envibrant" prescence Eric).

This interesting piece of art is also like artificial intelligence. It responds to your prescence with movements and lights, cleans the air, and produces all its own energy. It is also incredible to look at.

We also had fun with the mirrors, a surprisingly simple yet enjoyable display.

And this is what I got for Christmas...a brand new digital superzoom camera that I already LOVE, even though I have no clue how to use it to its full advantage. I am learning, and am so excited to experiment.

Although it wasn't a white Christmas this year, it was still a fun Christmas with the Porters.

Finals are Over and Christmas is on its Way!

2011-12-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is what our Kitchen looked like for the weeks leading up to Brian's finals. Also note our dinner just barely squeezing itself on to the dining table. Dinner went about like this:

Me: "Here is dinner sweetie. I'm going to say a prayer."

(I say a short prayer)

Silence

clink of spoon on bowl

patter of furious fingers on keyboard

clink of spoon on bowl

Me: "So how is the studying?"

Brian: "I hate law school"

Ok. Nice chat.

I just had to get a picture of this...Brian wearing his sweater with his huge books out. Someday I hope it will all be a vague memory.

But THANKFULLY, finals are over (until next spring when Brian will GRADUATE, and then have to take the bar) and Christmas is almost here. Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care (or thumb tacks) and our tiny little tree is at least adorned with a few lights. There are a few presents waiting under the tree, but most importantly.....

There are Christmas TREATS!

These cookies are absolutely delicious. You can find the recipe over at my favorite cooking blog of all time Our Best Bites. I also added some Andes peppermint pieces which I have never seen or used before this year (they are so yummy!). If you like peppermint and chocolate then you will not want to miss these cookies. They are fairly easy and oh so good!

Bring on the pounds, oh Holiday Season, for it wouldn't be the same without them.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Pigeons and Friends

2011-12-04T19:38:00.001-08:00

This is a pigeon.

But I'm assuming you know that.

Pigeons like cities.

They like to annoy people.

And they like warm cozy roofs of schools.

Especially when the tiles on the overhangs blow off in huge windstorms and they can fly up inside and explore the whole empty space including air vents and the like.

I also think think they like the sound of my voice.

Why else would the pigeons congregate in the ceiling in my classroom and spend the first three hours of the schoolday cooing and fluttering and being an incredible distraction to all my students?

I hope Tom (our building manager) can get them all out. Last year he said this happened and he got six pigeons out of the roof and had to chase them down the hallways at the school and out the door. I can only imagine trying to teach a lesson on metaphor while THAT is going on in and or outside the door of my classroom.

On another note, I got together with some of my best friends in the entire world this weekend. Janie, Amanda, Kati, Annie, and I all had a luncheon (which turned into an entire day, evening, and night) at Janie's house. It was so great to talk about anything and everything with such wonderful people. Janie, Amanda, and I stuck around after the lunch (Annie and Kati had other obligations) and sat on the floor of Janie's living room until 9:30. We didn't even eat dinner or do anything really besides talk and play with Isabelle. It was awesome. I'm glad we are all in the same state, even if we don't see each other as often as I would wish. There is just something about friends that you've known since first grade or before that is simply special. Thanks to all my friends out there, but especially those who still love me even though they know WAY too much about me. I love you all.

Happy Birthday Brian

2011-11-27T13:35:00.001-08:00

Brian was born on November 25th, which is appropriate because it sometimes falls on Thanksgiving, and I'm really thankul that Brian was born into this world. So thankful infact, that I did my best to make him the cake that he wanted--which was a cake with nutella frosting with crunchies on top. That was the description.

So this is what I came up with--a chocolate cake with a mousse filling, whipped nutella frosting, and candied walnuts on top. It actually turned out really well and is something I'd definitely make again.

Thanks so all our friends who met us for dinner and cake. Brian and I are grateful to have so many fun friends and family in our life.

Happy Birthday Brian!

The last 28 years have made you into a pretty amazing person.

Happy Anniversary: Two Years and Counting

2011-11-22T19:49:00.001-08:00

Year two goes by even faster than year one, and things only get better. I am grateful for another year with my husband who makes me laugh every day, who surprises me in the little moments with his kindness and his generosity, and who I can always count on for an adventure. I've thrown in a few pictures of our adventures over the past year for fun--though it doesn't do justice to all the fun we've had between working and going to law school full time. Here's to many more adventures!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen Some Like it Hot then I suggest you go find a copy at your local library, or even better, order it off Amazon.com and add it to your collection of DVDs. It is the funniest movie. Ever. I mean, how much funnier does it get than two musicians on the run from deadly mobsters, who cross-dress in order to hide in an all-girls band? Everybody knows (including Shakespeare) that nothing is funnier than cross-dressing and mistaken identies.

You might be wondering what Some Like it Hot has to do with Halloween though. Well, I'll tell you. For lack of a new and original costume, I decided to revive my Marilyn Monroe costume for the Morrison's Halloween Party. That still left Brian without a costume (you see where this is going don't you). We thought about having him wear a suit and part his hair and walk around saying things like "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." A half our before we had to leave I got out my copy of Some Like it Hot to put the finishing touches on my costume and I had an epiphany. Wouldn't it be funny if we dressed as Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) and Daphne (Jack Lemmon) from the movie? How I convinced Brian to go along with my plan I don't know.....but I did.

I wish we would have thought of it sooner so that we could have gotten a hold of a good wig and possibly some large high heels. Putting that aside, though, Brian made a pretty good Daphne. Kati and Jeff were also adorable as the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.

And the food at the party was delicious, and in some cases creepy. If you look closely at the cupcakes it looks like they have shards of glass spearing the blood marks. We had Vulture on Steroids, stuffed with regurgitated owl food (turkey and stuffing), goblin guts in a gourd (stuffing served in a huge squash) and other various disgusting and yet delicious things on the menu.

Overall, it was a fun evening with good friends. We had Pan Am Stewardesses, Rosie the Riveter, Ghosts, Nuns, Jail-Birds, French Gentlemen, Mad Scientists, Dorothea, The Cowardly Lion, and others.

Happy Halloween!

Fall: Come and Gone?

2011-10-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

As I sit on my couch, wrapped in a deliciously large fleece blanket, wearing fuzzy slipper boots and surfing my usual blogs, I wonder if my favorite part of fall is already over. The mountains are dusted with snow, and the lawn out back is soggy as a wet sponge. I'm craving pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. I took the time to make real oatmeal this morning. And while I enjoy fleece blankets, pumpkin and spice, hot oatmeal and even snow...Ican't help missing the few days out of the year when fall has definitely arrived, but it is still warm enough to wear your favorite t-shirt.

Over conference weekend, the boys (Mark, Dave, Jeff, Brian, and Uncle Tenney) headed up to the Uintahs to do real man's work, cutting down trees (literally, cutting them down, and sweetie, I'm glad you weren't crushed under any as apparantly there was a close call) and loading them into Mark's trailer and Tenney's truck. My parents are coming back from San Diego in the dead of an Oakley winter, which often gets cold enough to freeze your nostrils solidly together. My mom usually keeps at least two big woodburning stoves going constantly in the winter in Oakley, and that means a lot of wood.

I spent the afternoon enjoying my favorite kind of fall day--warm, fragrant, and brilliantly colored. It doesn't matter that I have walked the path along the ditch probably thousands of times in my life--it very seldom fails to take my breath away and rejuvinate me. The piles of aspen leaves gather on the water and make a nice contrast to the silky green moss undulating beneath the surface.

And you can't help but stop on your walk and sit on the bridge. Sometimes I'd spend a long time just listening to the water and beng fascinated by its movement.

And when I returned the boys were hard at work cuttingup those logs.

Isn't there just something neat about cattails? I remember when these first showed up in the pond...for some inexplicable reason I thought that was the coolest thing ever. A part of me still does...

Oh, warm fall days, how brief you are...

Oh Cougars....

2011-09-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Brian had a bet with one of his co-workers as to the outcome of the BYU vs. Utah Football game......

Talk about kicking you when you are down

Rubbing salt in an open wound

And adding insult to injury...

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

I took a day off school the weekend of Labor Day, and Brian and I, along with Brian's parents and his siblings Emily and Matt, headed down to San Diego in the suburban. We stayed in Las Vegas with Brian's brother Jon and his wife Abby. They had just had a baby and everybody was so excited to see and hold little Will (now I have two nephews of the same age named William). On our way to San Diego we got stuck in the Cajon Pass fire. It was miserable. It took us five hours to get through what would have been about three miles on the freeway. We thought we would be in San Diego by 2:00 p.m. and didn't get there until 8:30. I was sad that our trip was cut almost an entire day short, but we still made the most of it.

You can tell I am scared of getting wet in this picture...the surf was really high, so we didn't see many seals or sea lions, but we did have fun taking pictures on this rock.

I know this is a disgusting picture, and you are probably a little disturbed right now, but besides the pandas, the feeding of the reptiles drew the biggest crowd at the zoo. It was one of those things that you just can't look away from, even if you want to. We watched this snake devour this entire rat. As a side note, the rat looked exactly like Penny, my pet rat that I raised from a baby. This would have been her fate had she been born at the pet store....

We also went to seaworld. Brian and I have two year passes which is really nice. It was great fun, I hope Brian's mom Deanna still had fun even though I told her that we wouldn't get wet sitting where we were and then she got SOAKED. At least our view was great....

Thumbs up for a fun weekend, despite the fact that we got stuck in a fire, oh, and that Joel and Deanna had their ipad and macbook pro stolen out of the car. I hope everyone else had fun too, even though it turned out to be a much more expensive trip than planned, what with the theft and all. It was great to see my parents, I miss you Mom and Dad.

And the School Year Resumes

2011-08-24T20:44:00.001-07:00

School started today. And yes, I was dreading it for most of the summer, but I watched this video a couple weeks before it started and I was surprised to feel some excitement to start the year again. I taught all but one of the students interviewed in the film and most of them are pretty great. I hope I really am making a difference in at least one student's life or really teaching someone something that they will be grateful for later. If so, I guess it makes it all worth it. I also make a brief cameo appearance in the film. See if you can catch me!

Here's to another year....

I Can Make Clothes!

2011-08-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

A couple things about me: I love clothes. I hate spending money. You see my dillema already don't you. In this battle between the clothes and the money, Brian will tell you that the money always wins. And he will be right. Sometimes Brian BEGS me to buy clothes. How many husbands do you know that beg their wives to go buy clothes? Probably not many. He finally convinced me to buy a new pair of shoes a couple of weeks ago. I took them back the next day. I was finally tired of never haing anything new, so I decided to try making myself some clothes. I took inspiration from my friend Kati who is like a sewing machine (pun intended) and has made some really cute shirts, dresses, and skirts. I didn't have a pattern, but I did have inspiration from places like Shabby Apple and Downeast. I have now successfuly made a skirt and a dress...no patterns and very little sewing ability. I loved this skirt from Shabby Apple, and I had some other ideas of what I wanted in a skirt. I also had some leftover material that I had purchased for pillows, but then it turned out to be just the wrong color from what I wanted. The material cost me 3 dollars. The skirt above cost 52 dollars. Below is the final product:

I also wanted a knit dress that was simple, comfortable, and sort of drapey. I took inspiration from the following dresses from Shabby Apple and Downeast. The dresses from Shabby Apple were close to or over $100 and the one from Downeast was in the $40 range. I bought the material for $10 and the belt for $5.

My version still needs a couple tweaks to make it fit better, but I wore it to church today and figured I might as well take a picture while I had it on. Who knows when I will get around to actually fixing it or blogging about it otherwise. Definitely not quite as cute and certainly not as well tailored (real sewing peolpe would be horrified I'm sure) but I think for the price difference it was worth it. Plus, no matter how bad it looks, I'm still proud of myself for figuring it out on my own.

Antelope Island

2011-08-08T09:45:00.001-07:00

I've lived in Utah all my life (excluding one year) and yet I have only been out to Antelope Island once before. I don't remember how old I was. In fact, the only thing I DO remember is eating a buffalo burger which I threw up later that night. Not a great memory. I've also NEVER been swimming in the Great Salt Lake, and only been out to it maybe twice. This last weekend I found out what I was missing, and while thousands of bugs was one thing that I wouldn't have MINDED missing, everything else was pretty great.

We rode our bikes on some of the mountain biking trails out there and were not disappointed. The trails were sandy and sometimes hard to pedal through, but the views were great. We even ran into one of these guys while we were on the trail. Brain was out ahead and the buffalo stopped and glared at him and started to swing his head and paw the ground. Not a great sign.

Brian turned around and came back to the slower folk until the danger had lumbered slowly away.

They aren't kidding when they say you can float in the Great Salt Lake. You can hardly swim because your feet and legs are pushed up to the surface.
Despite the brine shrimp and the SALTY SALTY water, we enjoyed ourselves. The water is warm and you can bob around like a little bouy.

Brian even ate a couple brine shrimp in order to earn five dollars (which translated to papusas back in SLC later that night)

I think one of my favorite things about the whole trip though (besides dutch oven dinner and dessert) was the sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous and my dinky digital camera just cannot do it justice. There was a warm breeze and the crickets were singing as Kati and I watched the sun sink over the water. It was almost as good as being at the ocean. Thanks Kati and Jeff for joining us on another fun adventure!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-08-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well it was the weekend of never-ending-birthday and I am grateful for all the people who made number 24 a fun and exciting Birthday. Brian's family took us out to dinner Friday night and then Brian took me up to a bed-and-breakfast up Ogden Canyon. It was nice to get away and feel like we were on vacation. Saturday morning (after jumping Brian's car...again) we made it back home, but in the evening headed up to Park City to Bandit's BBQ and Grill where Annie, Todd, Atticus, Kati, Jeff, and Amanda and Adam were there to greet us. It was fun to be together with everyone, and I was especially glad that Amanda could make it up. Thanks for coming everyone!
Brian and I went up to Oakley afterwards and Annie had baked and decorated this delicious and beautiful cake and Kati had made homemade ice-cream. Can it get any better than that?

They also made me a cute little banner. I'm sad we didn't take a picture at dinner with Amanda, but at least we took one of the three girls before the night was over.

As if all this fun wasn't good enough, on Sunday Brian's family put on a dinner and made some delicious desserts for Christie (my sister-inlaw) and me who happen to have the exact same Birthday! Thanks everyone for the fun, and the presents, and the cards and whatnot. I have WONDERFUL people in my life, and I am glad that I've been able to spend another year with all of you!

Armchair Redo

2011-07-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

Brian's Aunt Julie and Uncle Chris gave us this old armchair. They said they had looked into getting them reupholstered, but it was too expensive and not worth it. It would be cheaper to just get new chairs, so they gave one to me and one to my sister-in-law. While the chair wasn't terribly ugly, it wasn't really what I was looking for, and was kind of dirty. It sat unchanged in our bedroom for several months, but one day I decided it was time to try my hand at some serious upholstering. I didn't have a clue what I was doing...but I dove right in and did what I could.

The first thing I did was to get the back off the chair. From there I could see how the whole thing was put together--where it was sewn and where it was stapled. As I took it off piece by piece, I saved the material to use for a future pattern.

Pulling the staples out took HOURS. The whole chair probably took me two weeks to complete, but the fact that I have seriously sewn nothing but a few pillows, and those in the past couple months, it isn't surprising. I made some big mistakes and had to unpick a bunch of stuff, but I muddled through. It was fun to watch it come together though, and to think that I did it all by myself. It definitely doesn't look professional, but that's ok. I spent $16 total on the project, so if I had to do it again in the future, it wouldn't be a huge loss.

Ta da! I'm not sure where to put it, and don't tell anyone, but I still haven't finished the back. I just got too tired and wanted to get the chair out of the front room, so the back is to the wall in our bedroom right now. Whew....what a job. I wonder what I'll try to tackle next? If anyone has furniture...let me know before you throw it out.

I Chopped My Hair

2011-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I finally got so sick of my hair that I chopped it off. Was I sad to see it go? Not at all. After an entire year of pulling it back into a sorry-sight-of-a-bun for school and having it strangle me in the middle of the night, and dreading taking a shower because it took so long to wash and dry I was not sorry at all to see it go. Ahhh.... it feels so much better!

And I can do it curly or straight in about 20 min or less. Much improved from the hour it would take with long hair. So with gladness I say to my hair, "Go, Go. I would not wish you back again."

My Decoupage Table

2011-07-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

While I wasn't able to do anything near as cool as the pieces in my last post, I did figure out HOW to do something that cool in the future. It started out with a little writing desk that I got for $10 off of KSL. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the original, but here it is after I had primed it. The desk was fairly unremarkeable, but I liked the thin and curvey legs. Those are some fine legs on that table...(does that sound weird to anyone else?)Here is it after I had painted and put the glaze on, and used Modge Podge for the top and drawer. The glaze was a little darker than I wanted, but I sanded and distresed some parts since this picture and I think I like it better. I also want to get a nice little piece of hardware for the drawer. I am thinking a crystalt knob or something of the sort. All the paper I used was just from a stack of scrapbook paper. I was going to do a music desk, but honestly I just got too impatient to wait to try and find old unused music in Oakley, so I went ahead and used what I had on hand. While it is not my favorite piece of furniture, I did learn a few things on the way, so hopefully I can do something better next time.

Maybe Someday

2011-06-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

So if ever I gain the skills, time, and/or accessories, I would love to try either of these projects. I am just amazed at some of the creative and talented stuff I see out there in blog-land. The first project I want to share is from Flea Market Trixie. I fell in love with this desk that she redid. I love traveling and the world, and Brian has always had a strange obsession with maps so this desk would be perfect for us. Just look at the transformation.

I also love this little side table from Miss Mustard Seed. She used the same technique of decoupage as the desk above. This would go nicely in my future dream piano/music room.

Sigh.....someday.

London, Paris, New York, MOAB

2011-05-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you a story. This story is about a girl who never does anything physical besides patrol the center aisle in her English classroom, glaring down at students who dare to have the audacity to speak out of turn. This is a story about a girl who used to bike to her friend's house across town, but that was the extent of her biking experience. This is a story about a girl who decided to go with her husband and her friends down to Moab and bike Slickrock--said to be the hardest biking trail in Utah--classified as a black diamond. This is the story of a stupid girl....
Kati, her husband Jeff, Brian, and I all took a break and headed down to Moab for some fun (and some pain, as I will relate to you). The weather was beautiful, the company great, the food amazing (thanks Kati and Jeff for planning, procurring, and preparing our gourmet meals. I mean crepes with fruit and cheese blintz filling for breakfast? Clam sauce spaghetti? Fat juicy brauts? Are we even camping here?) and the scenery breathtaking. The biking, however, while fun, just about did me in.

Here we are on the Poison Spider trail. This trail starts off with a climb up to the top of the plateau. Halfway up the climb I was ready to turn around. With a dramatic and self-sacrificing look on my face I told the others to go on without me....which they did. I sat on a rock and contemplated what a tragic news story it would be when they found me dead of a heart attack. I'm serious. My left arm went numb, my chest felt like it was being squeezed by a vice, and I couldn't get enough air. I finally recovered, walked to the top of the hill and continued my journey. I did finally catchup to everyone else.

After our early morning biking jaunt, we went into arches to do some hiking. This is more up my alley, and despite getting us completely lost in the Fiery Furnace and being incredibly disappointed in myself (Dad--I'm so ashamed) we had a great time.

On Saturday we woke up early to get started on Slickrock. I had no idea what I was in for. I thought I would just do the practice route (about 1.5 miles) but I didn't want to do it alone, so I ended up tagging along with everyone else and doing the 12 mile loop. Bad idea. Slickrock is 90% straight up or straight down big sandstone hills. There was only about 10% that I could actually ride, everything else I had to walk. The uphill was always way too steep for my poor, atrophied legs, and the downhill was way to scary for my faint heart. The views were gorgeous, when I was actually conscious enough to look at them. By the end I was at least half a mile behind everyone else, plodding along--watching the desert tortoises pass me up. Ok, not really, but if there had been any around, I wouldn't have been surprised. I began wondering why in the world I had even brought my bike---it just meant pushing about 30 pounds of extra weight up every hill, and then trying to keep that 30 pounds from pulling me down on my face in the other side. I did make it to the end though, singing in my head "some must push and some must pull" and "pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked and walked......." I was just waiting for the angels to come push me up the last hill. Maybe they did, because for awhile I didn't think I'd make it.

On our last day we hiked up to Delicate Arch in the morning. I was surprisingly not as sore as I had expected. That is always a fun hike, no matter how many times I have done it.

Brian and Kati experimented with some yoga...or something...at Delicate Arch. I think Brian just liked the upside down view.

Brian and I are glad that we have such fun friends to hang out with, and I'm grateful that my friends and my husband make me do hard things. I'm also grateful that they just "go on without me" and don't complain about waiting at the end for me to catch up. Hurray for summer! I can't wait for more adventures!

More Crafts...Can you Believe it?

2011-03-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

See the wreathe hanging on the wall in the picture below? I made it. I went out and gathered sticks and wove them together and....just kidding. I bought that part at a craft store. So I guess the proper phrase would be: I beautified that wreathe. It looks small and off-center in the picture, but it actually looks pretty good in real life. I just wanted to show my rarely set table and my recovered and painted chairs.

So it's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but considering I made it out of a dollar store purchase and leftover scraps I don't think it's too bad.

I also spray painted this little table a few weeks ago. I had extra spray paint that I decided not to use for a previous project and that I knew I would never actually take back to the store because that would entail digging around in my Mary Poppins-style wallet for the receit. I forgot to take a before picture but this thing was UGLY. It had been relgated to the far corner of the "junk room" down here in our apartment. After painting and glazing it I don't think it is too bad. Also, on a totally unrelated note, I got pulled over this morning on my way to work. I will admit it and say that I've had this coming to me for a long time. But before those of you who have been just WAITING for me to be pulled over and WAITING to laugh triumphantly and evily in my face actually do so, know that I did manage to scrape by with only a warning. Whew.....

So...My Dad is a Superhero

2011-03-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

So I googled my dad the other day to try and find anything on the story of little Hilda, which was part of the inspiration for his future humanitarian work. Surprisingly I came across this article which I had no idea even existed. Apparantly my dad is a superhero.... (but of course I already knew that). Click on the following link to check out the article. I was also impressed at the many glowing comments that followed the article.
http://www.squidoo.com/humanitariandentist

Jazz vs. Kings

2011-03-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

So I know the Jazz has been a bit of a disappointment this year, and there have been some pretty big changes with Jerry Sloan's resignation and Deron Williams leaving, but that did not diminish the awesomeness of sitting in third row seats at half court. You could literally see (and in some cases feel) the sweat on the basketball players. Thanks to Mark and Industrial Supply for the great tickets!

Go Jazz

My New Bench!

2011-03-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Remember when I said stay tuned for my coffee table turned bench redo? Well one month later I finally finished it. I could only work on it during the weekends and considering I took the original fabric I was going to use back to the store, bought different fabric, painted the whole thing blue, then painted it over again with white because I didn't like the blue, I think taking only one month actually wasn't that bad. It is nice to have it finished though and I am pretty happy with the final product.

Here is the original. Ugly, right? Viola! Much better I think.

This was my first sewing project, and to tell you the truth, my brother-in-law Mark sewed most of it. He had to show me how to use the sewing machine...that's how pathetic I am. Also, if you know Mark and you have ever wondered if there is something he can't do, the answer is definitely no.

Now that I know how to use (kind of) the sewing machine, I may just make some pillows to go on my new bench!

The Mustache, Legos, New Years, and Burlap.....

2011-02-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, I fully realize that the title of this post seems entirely random. Newsflash--it IS random. But so is life. And these are the semi-noteworthy parts of my life since.....well, since my last post.

Meet the mustache.

This beauty made an appearance for the Porter Family Photos. It was supposed to be a joke, but Brian forgot his razor and we had to wait for him to go to the store, buy a razor, and shave his I'm-a-train-robber-so-stay-out-of-my-way mustache. Not before we took the awesome picture above however. Coincidentaly the pictures were taken at a train station. How appropriate.Over the Christmas break Brian spent his spare time building this Star Wars contraption which his younger brother got for Christmas....last year. Brian was so proud he made everyone look at it and admire it at least a dozen times that day. New Years was a blast with friends up in Oakley. It was especially good to see Amanda, even if just for the night. I miss my friends all the time and love when we can get together and laugh and talk just like old times. Now I know most of you who read this blog probably know me well enough to be shocked that I, Mandy Marie, have of my own accord made something crafty. Whether or not it looks great is not the point. The point is, I actually bought a GLUE GUN and MADE SOMETHING MYSELF. I made this burlap wreath using the tutorial here.Shocker....I didn't stop with the wreath. I have extra burlap, and I had some glass bottles left over from some New Year's Martinelli's so I covered the bottles with the burlap. The green in the bottles just didn't match anything, so I figured hey...why not. Stay tuned for my next project---turning the old clunky coffeetable below into an upholstered bench. I have the material, I have the foam, now all I need are the paint and the time. Hopefully I will aquire these two things in the near future.
And now....time for bed.

Christmas in San Diego

2010-12-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

Brian and I drove down to visit my parents in San Diego for Christmas. Besides the absolute monsoon we had to drive through to get there (it never stopped pouring from Las Vegas to San Diego) and the flooding during the first two days of our stay, it was a great trip. We did a lot of relaxing and it was so great to spend time with my parents. It went by way too fast. Here are some highlights from our trip:

Visiting the San Diego temple--it is gorgeous inside and out.
Watching the sunset at Cabrillo National MonumentDressing up like passengers on the Star of India--and getting seasick even though the boats are all anchored right on the dock. Don't be deceived, they still move.

I love this picture of Brian--it looks like the beginning to an epic adventure.

The Star of India

Just having some fun

This is one of the characters whose story is told at the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center

Can you see the resemblance?

Some more dress-up fun!

The trip was wonderful and the company even better. And if anyone reading this goes to San Diego you CANNOT miss the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center, it is so much fun.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

One Year Down: Eternity to Go

2010-11-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Anniversary! We've made it through the first year with only bumps and bruises...no major injuries. What a crazy year it has been too with Brian in Law School and me teaching my first year of high school English. It hasn't always been fun and games, but it has always been a wonderful year and it has gone by so fast! I'll spare you all the cheesiness and just highlight some of the best things from the past year.

Getting married for time and all eternity would have to be #1. Besides it's what started us on this crazy journey.Eating these leftovers wasn'tbad either....Goung to BYU Basketball games is something we will continue to enjoy Making Brian take part in the annual Christmas pageant at the Ranch.

Going to Florida for our Honeymoon and hanging out at Disneyworld

Going to Florida and freezing our patooties off...

Cuddling close during those cold winter months...

Traveling to Las Vegas with Rich and Maria in the Spring and hiking around Red Rock

Cliff jumping with Rich and Maria at Sand Hallow

Driving to San Francisco to visit my parents and riding bikes down the beach.

Acting like kids again at Sea World

Living here over the summer: the most beautiful place on earth.

Having Brian's family up to the Ranch for a family vacation and playing crazy games.Backpacking in the Uintas with Brian and realizing how out of shape I really am.Traveling to Glacier, Waterton Lakes and Banff with the Porter fam.Being the suppot crew while Brian completed the LOTOJA: his first bike race EVER!
Here's to a wonderful year, full of family, fun, and laughs. I can't wait to start over and see what the next year brings and the next 60 after that!

Boots

2010-10-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

I love the fall, despite the fact that it means the summer is over and with it my break from teaching. I love it despite the fact that it means no more sweet summer corn, grilling outside on the barbeque, staying at the ranch, swimming at the lake or going camping

I love fall because the world turns brilliant shades of yellow orange and gold.

I love fall because you get to play in the trees.....

And I love fall because you get to wear cozy sweaters and cute boots. Particularly these boots....

I bought these boots a couple of years ago and they are still my number one fashion item for comments. I don't think I have EVER worn these boots in public and not received a comment on them. Strangers, friends, mere acquaintances....everyone has something to say about these boots. Besides the general bland comments like "cute" "cool" and "awesome" these boots have been called "gnarly" "radical" "psycadelic" "tripped out" "bombtastic" and "crazy" --and those are only the comments I remember! Thank you fall weather for providing me with the opportunity to see what else people are going to say about these boots. If you want to think up some clever adjectives, go ahead and leave them in the comments.....

LOTOJA: 1 Day * 3 States * 206 Miles

2010-09-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Brian and his dad participated in the LOTOJA this last Saturday. They have been training all summer and I felt like I never saw Brian because he was always biking. They did an amazing job and covered the 206 miles between Logan, Utah and Jackson, Wyoming in a little over 12 hours, including break times. Don't ask me how anyone can stand to be on a bike for 12 hours, but they did it, and Brian was surprisingly chipper after all those miles. I was pretty proud to watch Brian cross the finish line--he worked so hard for this race and did an awesome job! (I'll also be glad to have him home once in awhile). Brian looking good and ready for another 150 miles after the first stop.I was part of the support crew along with my mother-in-law and two brothers-in-law. We provided quick food and drinks at designated stops along the way. Brian and his dad crossed the finish line just before dark. Brian is on the left in the blue jersey (he changed shirts halfway through), and his dad is on the right--crossing the finish line together. Way to go!

Summer Project

2010-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

My sister Jenny gave me her old dining chairs, which she got for free after she got married. As you can see, they weren't very attractive (this picture doesn't even do it's ugliness justice) so I decided that I would re-upholster and paint the five chairs, despite the fact that I have never done anything like that before. I was pretty proud of my results and I learned a lot about what I would do differently if I were going to do it again. View the transformation....

The Notch Mountain Trail

2010-08-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went on an overnighter in the Uintas. I suggested we do the Notch Mountain Loop trail.....backwards. Why I suggested this, I have no idea. I've done the loop before, but generally the trail starts at the Bald Mountain trailhead and travels down to Crystal Lake, with a short but steep ascent up the pass (you can see the pass behind us). I decided that we should do it the other way, not realizing just how much steeper it was going to be. The hike was fun though, and gave us a chance to get some good exercise.

and to see the lovely views.......

and this beautiful moonrise....

and to try out the tent Melanie and Ruben gave us for our wedding....
and to take a freezing cold swim (I didn't get in).....

and lastly, to soak in the wonderfulness that is the High Uinta Mountains Wilderness.

Into the Canadian Rockies

2010-08-21T11:19:00.001-07:00

Glacier National Park in Montana was absolutely stunning. We drove up the "Going to the Sun" road--winding through the mist and fog and trying to out-do one another with our effusions of awe and wonder. Our pit-stop for fresh Huckleberry ice cream was definitely worth it. Who knew that ice cream in cold rain could still be so enjoyable?
There were waterfalls every direction you turned. It was impossible NOT to see waterfall.

Come on Brian---smile for the camera

Skipping rocks at the many lakes we visited became a favorite pastime. I was even able to send off a few good ones. However, skipping rocks did become dangerous at some points, like when Emily received a good whack to the side of her head with a rock.

After a couple of days in Glacier, we made our way to the Canadian side of the park--Waterton Lakes, and then continued on to Banff National Park.

The Canadian Rockies are nothing but impressive.

The wildlife was one of the highlights of the trip for me....
This mama bear and her two cubs were amazing to see! We saw all three of the bears stand on their hind legs on the top of the ridge, and then we drove up a dirt road to get a closer view.....
Our next view was just a little too close to comfort for some (John) but it was amazing to see a bear in the wild up close (and from relative safety of the car)
The view of Waterton Lake is gorgeous. We ate dinner at the little town of Waterton below at this little fried chicken place. Ask Matthew about the kid's meals there sometime.......
This is the Prince of Whales Hotel, built to encourage the construction and use of the Canadian Railway.
On a hike near Lake Louise we saw this porcupine. This picture was taken on the way up, but on the way back down the trail we saw him climbing a tree and snacking on pine needles.

The glaciers in Banff were HUGE! I loved this mountain capped by an enormous glacier.

We had a blast on this trip. The wildlife, awe inspiring peaks and lush forests of the Rocky Mountains were the perfect destination for our end-of-summer vacation. More of our mountain adventures will be chronicled on here as soon as I can get my own computer up and running. Before our Canada trip Brian and I went on a fun (or at least beautiful) overnight backpacking trip in the Uintas. So stay tuned for more adventures!

Sunny San Diego?

2010-06-24T15:13:00.001-07:00

Well, San Diego wasn't necessarily warm or sunny during 90% of our trip, but hanging out with my parents, eating great Mexican food and sea food, riding beach cruisers down to the pier, dressing up like members of the Mormon Battalion, touring a real-life naval sailing ship from Portugal which was built in 1915 and which was on its way to Somalia, seeing Pandas and Koalas at the San Diego Zoo, watching Shamu, dolphins, and sea lions do tricks at Sea World, getting soaking wet on the Atlantis ride (and not having to wait in line because everyone else was smarter in the cold weather), going to Coronado and pretending to me Marylin Monroe in "Some Like it Hot," watching the sea lions and harbor seals bask in the sun (during the one sunny day) on the beach, and going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead were definitely worth it, even if Sunny San Diego wasn't as sunny as we had anticipated. The only thing I could have wished for was a longer stay. I miss you mom and dad!

P.S. For those wondering, the tall tan guy in our pictures is Eric, Brian's younger brother, who we took on the trip with us. Besides sleeping an impressive amount in the car, Eric was the only one prepared with a phone charger and also went to the Padres game with Brian when I wouldn't. He was a lot of fun to have along and we are glad he came!

Uncanny reemblance don't you think?

Thumbs up for such a great trip!

Memorial Day Fun in the Sun

2010-06-02T19:40:00.001-07:00

Finally...something interesting to blog about. After the drudgery of school and work, Brian and I were finally able to make it away for a weekend. Brian and I, along with Rich and his fiance Maria, headed down to Las Vegas for the weekend. Originally we were going to spend Saturday on Lake Mead, but those plans didn't work out. Like the resourcful people we are, we pulled together some other plans that turned out to be just as fun.

On our way back we stopped at Sand Hollow. It is a little lake by St. George, but it has some great cliffs to jump from. Problem is, you have to swim quite a ways to get to this island. It made me realize how out of shape I am. This picture of Brian cracks me up.....

Brian is about to do a back flip here, but the camera man got a little too anxious.

This is what we call synchronized cliff jumping

On Saturday we hiked up a canyon in Red Rock. The day was hot, but had a nice cool breeze. We stopped to do some artistic yoga along the way. We are so zen.

Those Vegas thugs will strip your car in seconds.....Brian never even noticed--he's such a focused driver.

Rich was kind enough to throw a rock into a stagnant pool at just the opportune moment, splattering me with moss--literally from head to toe.

Maria and I clinging for dear life.

We had a great trip--great company, great food (thanks to my wonderful aunt Shelly who waited on us hand and foot, and to my uncle Russ who even made us grilled ribs on the BBQ) and beautiful sights. What more can you ask for? Oh yeah....a pet to bring home. That's right, we collected some tadpoles on our hike and they made the long journey home with us. Brian dubbed ours Buffalo Bill---in honor of his western heritage. And that wraps up our successful memorial day weekend.

How was yours?

Finals

2010-04-25T19:20:00.001-07:00

Brian has been preparing feverishly for finals. I am glad he is being so studious, but dropping your husband off at 7:30 and having him come home at midnight is not very fun. You'd think it might motivate me to use my time wisely and get more done.....you'd think.

Brian did have his final oral argument for one of his classes last week and he did very well, so I am just going to brag a little. He received a score of 98/100 and this is what judge Lisa Freeman had to say about it....

"Great! Your style is impecable, very calm, persuasive style. Your argument on special need was excellent. Overall, fabulous work."

I'm no English teacher (oh wait, yes I am) but I think words like "impecable" and "fabulous" are pretty strong adjectives. Way to go sweetie! Hopefully your finals go just as well.....

Just rememebr, no matter what, I am proud of you.

Dogs, Signs, and Birthday Parties

2010-03-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Brian and I want a dog. We can't have a dog. Solution? Give Brian's parents a dog for Christmas....
This is Oakley, a Black Lab Alaskan Malamute mix from....well, Oakley. I don't know how, but with the help of Emily, Matt, and Eric we convinced Brian's parents to take her.

Who could resist such a face?

Brian and I found this sign downtown. We got a good laugh out of it.

One of my best friends, Kati, had a Birthday this month. As is tradition we went to P.F. Chang's. Jeff, her husband, arranged the whole thing and it was a successful surprise, and so fun to see everyone! The infamous three had to get a picture together of course! Wow, I didn't realize how badly I needed to get out in the sun, I am WHITE.

Brian and I love P.F. Chang's....I'd suggest the Shrimp with Candied Walnuts, it is amazing.

The Brians of the Family

2010-03-22T15:22:00.001-07:00

So we have two Brians in our family, and they are both quite adorable if I do say so myself!

Brian's Many Outfits and Other Random Stuff

2010-03-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

I know that these pictures are a little late since they were taken around Christmas time, but they were just too great to pass up so I thought I'd share. First, Brian shows off his many fashionable looks for the winter season.

First, we have the "Lumberman" look. This unique and manly look is created by an oversized earthy green coat over a pair of tight overalls. Of course, a lumberman will never be found without a good pair of sturdy boots, as we can see. To top it all off we have a bright red woolen cap and an offwhite scarf. Set the model (Brian) in a rustic log cabin, and men everywhere will be clamoring for this winter ensemble.

The next look is titled "Mystery of the Orient" and brings out the mysterious side of the personality. Here we have Brian sporting a silky blue tunic, and although it is hard to see, a pair of puffy purple pants. For this outfit the headwear is essential. A sparkly purple turban topped by a red velvet and bejeweled hat makes the outfit both flashy and regal. Next to Brian you will see me sporting a similar outfit, this one titled "The Sheikh."

This was cetainly Brian's most classic look for the winter season. Brian brings Santa back with this red number, complete with jingle bells and a full length beard. I must say, Santa has never looked so good. And last, we have the "Snow Nerd." This outfit, with its short snap-button jacket, tight pants, ski goggles, and bulky gloves, is both charming and laughable. Add Brian's, I'm-so-excited-to-go-play-in-the-snow-I-don't-care-what-i'm-wearing smile and we have an outift that screams both "cute" and "nerd." I just had to share this picture because it is funny. We found this coat in.....(drumroll).....that's right, my basement. For those of you who don't know, you can find anything you want in the basement, as long as you are not too particular. Many times I have been asked the question "Where did you get that?" and with a sigh I can only reply "I found it in my basement." Anyway, this coat is just a little bit big. In fact, it is so big that Brian could zip me up inside with him.
If you can't tell, I have been writing fashion articles for work during the entire month of February.....

BYU basketball.

2010-03-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

Well everyone this is Brian. You may have logged on expecting some story about something girly like flowers or scrapbooking, or painting....but that's just not going to happen today (actually if you wanted a blog about those things you probably shouldn't have expected Mandy to post about them either. Just saying...)

Well B.Y.U. may have lost to New Mexico, but at least we got the sweet indoor shades that proided us with entertainment prior to the game starting.

At least BYU dominated last night in Utah, which is good news in case you didn't hear. I happened to be on campus, and I saw the score and got really excited. I called one of my friends in Provo and said "I can't believe we're winning by that much!!" only to get 500 angry Utes staring me down as I slowly left the student building with all eyes on me. Sometimes being a BYU fan in Salt Lake can be tough!

Other than that nothing too much else to report. We are enjoying living in the basement of Grandma Joyce's house, and law school is, well its law school. Today we talked talked about defeasible future interests in real property. Sounds exciting right? But oh well my other classes are good and we're both getting excited for the summer which can't come soon enough. Thats all for now.

City Academy

2010-02-17T18:40:00.001-08:00

Well, as promised here is a little vision of City Academy, the charter school where I teach part time. If you watched the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and saw these guys, then you already have a pretty good idea of what my students look like.

While I am enjoying my classes and I like many of my students, it is extremely different than Mountain Ridge Jr. High in Highland where 90% of my students were BYU fans and didn't like homework on Mondays because they have FHE. At City Academy I have two students who have been kicked permanently out of school for smoking and distributing marijuana on school premises (seven students were expelled total in the incident, I happen to have two of them). Another one of my students was kicked out of school for a much more serious felony offense against another one of my students. I have only been teaching for one month.....what will things look like at the end of five months? There are only 190 students in the school and an average of five are suspended each week for different offenses.

Did I mention that we don't give grades? Well, not in the traditional sense. You can receive an initial, reaching, solid, or expanded grade. These are not supposed to translate directly into A,B,C and D grades. They are supposed to be a better indication of a students academic progress. Whether that is true or not I can't say. It still seems like categorizing to me, so what's the difference really?

I feel very out of place at the school, especially as all my coworkers cluster around the espresso machine for their daily cups of fresh brewed coffe and the smell of smoke clings to most of the students and even some staff. It is very different than gathering in the faculty room and discussing the upcoming general conference, or the latest in church news as often happened at Mountain Ridge.

Different doesn't always mean bad, and I am enjoying the experience of teaching in this environment. It will round me out a little I think, and I enjoy all my co-workers who are friendly and welcoming and make me feel a part of the community, even if I am different.

I guess I'll just see where things lead me from here.

Scholastic Updates

2010-02-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Brian managed to survive his first semester at law school, while being engaged, and getting married just a couple of weeks before finals. His friends (and professors I might add) thought he was crazy for getting married in November. Well, Brain showed them what was what by pulling off grades he can be proud of. Congratulations honey!

I finally graduated from BYU in Decemeber, and very unceremoniously received my diploma in the mail. I never was into the fanfare that surrounds graduation, so I don't mind that you don't walk in December. I could always return and walk in Aril, but really, what is the point? No use going through all that when I already have my diploma in hand. I did graduate Magna Cum Laude which is something to be proud of I guess. So, all in all, I have a $20,000 piece of paper that I can shove under the bed to collect dust.

Brian is enjoying his new semester and I am enjoying my part-time teaching job at City Academy. I will certainly have a future post about City Academy--it is an extremely interesting place with some very interesting characters.

The Honeymoon

2010-02-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok. Here is the long awaited honeymoon post. At the beginning of January, right after the fun-filled family holidays, Brian and I headed to Florida for a warm, exotic, magical honeymoon. This is what we got: Record breaking cold temperatures
Wind and Frost
Nightly newscasts full of shocked meteorologists
But....short lines at Disney World
As my father-in-law Joel said, "Al Gore should go to Florida and discover an inconvenient truth he forgot to mention." It was fun just the same though.

Disney World
Disney World was so fun. We spent three days there hopping from one park to the next. We went on all the rides and never waited for more than about 45 minutes. Some we just walked right on!

We even went on Splash Mountain and sat in the very front. As you can see, I was more concerned about protecting myself from the water than I was about looking cool for the picture.

In line for Pirates of the Carribbean! We rode it twice and the second time there was absolutely no line at all!

Epcot
Epcot was one of our favorite places at Disney World. We went there each night for dinner in a different country. The Viking ride in Norway was also pretty fun, and Brian even got to dress up as Eric the Red. If he grew out his red curly hair and his bright red beard he would be a dead ringer. My blonde locks fit in pretty well too!

Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom was one of my favorite parts. The animals were neat, and I just liked the atmosphere of the park. The new Everest ride, which is reminiscent of the Matterhorn in Disneyland was really fun. Out of all the rides it might have been my second favorite after Splash Mountain.

This is a picture in front of the"Tree of Life." I'm glad to say we finally found it! The man who took this picture for us is from Ogden, Brian's hometown. We got talking and it turned out that he had also lived in Coalville and had been to the Oakley rodeo! What a small world. Then again, the Oakley rodeo is pretty famous.

St. Augustine
We drove up north to a town called St. Augustine. This is supposedly the oldest city in America, established by the Spanish in the 1500s. It was extremely cold, but a very interesting place to be. We stopped at a fruit stand on the side of the road on the way up and bought some of the best oranges I have ever had. They also had delicious fresh walnuts.

This is inside the oldest house in America. It was an interesting museum and we got the whole history of the house, which was first built by Spanish settlers, then eventually used by British military, and then American citizens.
This old coastal fortress was really neat. You don't see a lot of these kinds of old structures in the United States. It made it feel more exotic.

Brian ran aground in his little boat. Without oars, that is no surprise.

This is the St. Augustine lighthouse. We climbed all 200 and something stairs to the very top where we had a spectacular, yet chilly, view of the port and surrounding city.

The Beach
Despite the cold, we decided to go to the beach anyway, even if we couldn't swim or even sun ourselves on the beach. This was the coldest part of the trip and we only stayed out for about fifteen minutes, but we still had fun. We gathered some beautiful sea shells. On a regular day the beach would have been picked clean. There was only one other person on the beach and he was flying a kite. It was beautiful, if freezing.

Brian poses for the beach picture.

Wekiwa Springs
Brian and I decided that this was one of our favorite parts of the trip. I had looked up state parks close to Orlanda before we came and found this little park. We weren't sure what to expect but we figured it would be a cheap activity--it ended up being so fun. The park would be really fun in the summer. They have a large natural spring where you can swim. The water is 72 degrees year round, but it was just too cold to go swimming for us. The spring has fish and birds surrounding it and is really large. I wish we could have gone. However, the most exciting part was canoeing down the Wekiva River. For fifteen dollars you could rent a canoe and they shoved you off onto the river with no supervision.

Here I am starting off on our river adventure.

The river was full of huge fish, although you could only see them in the shallow parts.

Turtles also appeared in abundance. We saw a lot of logs like this--lined with turtles basking in the sun.

This was definitely the most exciting part of our river excursion. A mother alligator with two babies on her back was relaxing in the shallow water at the edge of the river. We got a little close for comfort as Brian stopped steering to get a good picture. See that log right in front of the alligator? The front of our canoe (which I was sitting in) ran right into that log. The alligator started hissing at us (yes, they do hiss) and I started yelling at Brian to steer us out of there. I didn't think getting attacked by an angry mother alligator would end our trip well.

All in all it was a wonderful trip--the perfect break from school and job hunting and so forth. Even the cold did not get us down. Brian had to buy a sweater to keep himself warm, and this was the cheapest one we could find. Brian wore it like a man.

The Wedding

2010-01-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Brian and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple on November 21, 2009. The wedding was beautiful and it was wonderful to have all our family and friends with us. Everyone chipped in to help. Brian's mom brought together a beautiful dinner the night before with incredible food and amazing decorations, which she also did for the reception. Abby, my-sister-in-law, made the wedding cake, which turned out perfect, and my sister Jenny set up my hair appointment for me last minute, not to mention everything else that was done--like my mom's endless alterations to my wedding dress which also turned out perfect. Here are a few pictures you might not have seen yet of our wedding day!