Coach

Chris is my coach. He makes me better at sports and in life in general. Since we've met my confidence and my abilities have increased so much. He really is such a good teacher. Even the first time we went skiing at Sundance and I fell half way down the runs, he was patient and helped me along and told me different techniques to try. I think that's one of the first things I loved about him. Now I can somewhat keep up with the boys on the slopes(they don't have to stop and wait for me anymore) and actually like moguls. They are no longer scary bumps on a really steep hill.

Chris is also my coach in water skiing and tennis. Those ones are coming a little slower. We like to play tennis in the evenings after work and last night after hitting a few warm-up balls and me lobbing one over the fence into the unknown he said, "We need to play with different balls. These ones are too nice." Yup, that shows you where I'm at in my skills. By the end of our session he pulled the nice ones back out so I must have redeemed myself. Thanks coach. :)

Birthday Month!

July is a big month for Chris and I--we both have our birthdays! We are becoming old geezers at 23 and 21.

July 8, 2011

Today was Chris's birthday and he woke up to delicious homemade "cinnabon" cinnamon rolls. 

Unfortuately I had to work but Chris had the day off and went rafting with the boys. That evening we had a delicious dinner at our favorite Tepanyaki Grill, even complete with magic tricks! Afterwards Chris opened presents and blew out the candles on his Coldstone birthday cake.

Chris got some fun gifts including clothes (I think he was most excited about the white linen pants he has been looking for everywhere--leave it to the mall in Missoula to have them!), a camelback for snow skiing, and a new set of scriptures from me. He also got a "birthday suit" and money from my parents and money from his parents. We went to Fresno the next day because I had to take the GRE. After my test was over we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch to get him his favorite dish: Chipotle Chicken Pasta and do a little shopping with his birthday money. That night we went to Transformer's 3 to continue the celebration!

 Happy 23rd Birthday sweetie! I don't know where I would be without such a happy, wonderful, supportive, thoughtful, funny, generous, easy going, kind, loving husband! You bring so much happiness to my life and I can't wait to be apart of the next 23 years of your life! 

July 18, 2011

I had to work on my birthday but Chris got up early and made me crepes with lots of fresh fruit for breakfast. Then he picked me up for lunch and we went to Panera Bread--my favorite :) That afternoon my co-workers at the courthouse surprised me with a small party complete with the same cake Chris had for his birthday from Coldstone! It was so sweet of them considering I'm only a temp there for the summer. The Bell's took me to the Vintage Press for a very nice dinner. Since it was my 21st birthday I got a Pina Colada (without the alcohol of course) to somewhat celebrate what this birthday means to everyone else in America ;). We went straight to the final Harry Potter movie and the Floras met us at the theater. I really loved the movie--it was a good ending to that whole series. The crazy thing was that I started reading those books in the 4th grade and here I am watching the final movie on my 21st birthday! We got home about 10:45 and I opened my presents. Chris let me get my new skis I've been dying for--the 2011 Salomon Geishas with brand new Marker Griffon bindings for a *steal* (like 60% off!) from this seller on ebay back in May and surprised me with the pair of white wedges I've been admiring for the last two months.


*Our camera was dead on my birthday so here the best pictures I could find of my goodies*

 The Bell's gave me a kindle with a cover and my parents sent me a package full goodies including some movies, a Betsey Johnson watch, earrings from Hawaii, candy, and money to buy an iphone! Woo! Now I just need to get it from Montana to avoid paying the 9% sales tax here. Ouch. Another fun surprise was getting a package from my old roommates Melanie, Kellie, and Jessica! They carried on the tradition of making all the crazy signs we used to hang up in our apartment on each others birthdays--they are the sweetest and cutest girls!

Overall I had a great day--it was really disapointing not being able to fly up to Montana for my birthday and join the Anderson family reunion. Sometimes things just don't work out. I'm just thankful for my amazing husband, family, in-laws, and friends who made me feel so special and loved! Thank you everyone!! :)

Fact: Birthdays are BEST.

We celebrated our freedom by water skiing all morning (I got 5 out of 6 buoys on the course!) and barbecuing/pool party with the Flora's. It was a great day was full of delicious food and a ridiculous amounts of fireworks. Things weren't the same without the cabin in Montana, the pancake breakfast, Polson parade and listening to Lee Greenwood but no matter where we are or how we're celebrating it comes down to one thing: our freedom and honoring those who paid the price for it.

 *Ha I think Chris was a little punch-drunk. Happy Fourth!*

* Rob and Sherrie*

 *Chris and I put on a pretty good show for the neighborhood! :)*

***God bless America, my home, sweet home!***

L.A. Baby!!

We had the BEST weekend in L.A.! On Friday we hit up Six Flags with Jeremy and Heather which was a blast--love hanging out with those two. Since we were already down that way we drove another 30 minutes to L.A. to visit Brian and Kym. They were so good for putting us up and feeding us the whole weekend. We packed a lot in and really fell in love with the area. USC or UCLA for dental school are starting to look like some pretty good options. We loved the fun shopping, places like the 3rd street promenade and rodeo drive, perfect weather, and all the people/car watching--very entertaining :). Hopefully we'll be back to live there in a few years...

 *Six Flags*

*Out in Front of Goliath Roller Coaster--One of Our Favorites*

*Chris Snapping A Pic While The Batman Roller Coaster Was Actually Going...Crazy Man*

*D.C. Superheroes!*

*Hollywood Boulevard*

*Shirley Temple's Handprints--Had To Take This One For My Mom*

*Even Hung Out With Leonardo DiCaprio a Bit*

*Venice Beach*

*Chris and His Brother Brian (who built a sand castle on Chris's belly button)*

*Burying Uncle Chris*

*Checkin' Out The Sweet Shades on the Boardwalk (I did actually end up getting that cute hat)*

*Rodeo Drive*

After we got back from Venice Beach we showered and drove to Beverly Hills to check out Rodeo Drive. Such a beautiful street! Most of the stores we went in I felt like I couldn't even touch anything. Chris's favorite part was checking out all the cars (they provided good distraction for him while I went into the stores) and watching me try on some absolutely beautiful evening gowns in BCBGMaxazria (that was my favorite part too!). He's actually gotten more accustomed to shopping with me and even picks out some great stuff for me to try on. I love him so much--he is so patient and good to me :)

*Chris and a Bugatti--aka a 2 million dollar car. Just parked right there on the street along side Ferrari's and a Maserati...um yeah I have never seen so much money on one street.*

*Our Buy From Rodeo Drive--3 Shirts from Lacoste (2 for Chris and 1 for me)*

 

*L.A. Temple Square*
Sunday morning we drove around Beverly Hills a bit and looked at some of the beautiful homes. Afterwards we stopped at the L.A. temple to walk around the grounds and check out the visitors center. It was so peaceful and beautiful there. I wish we would have had time to go through a session while we were visiting. We met up with Brian and Kym to go to their ward and headed out for Tulare right after. I was surprised at how sad I was to leave.



While we were driving home to Tulare Chris said that we're really good at having fun together. I would most definitely agree. :)

Chair Makeover

I found this chair at an estate sale for $2.00. I wanted a fun project to do so I got it to put in our living room. Unfortunately I didn't have time to finish it before we left for California. I only got to the priming stage so the final product with the black coat of paint will come later. I already had all of the materials, including the fabric that was leftover from the wedding so the entire project cost $2.00+.99 can of black spray paint I'll get when we get back to Utah.

Who wouldn't want to be out painting on a night like this?







 I think I may use this fabric a little too much around our apartment (see the table runner...)







Primed Stage--Can't Wait To Put the Final Product in Our Living Room! My first project of thriftyness. Hmmm what's next... :)