The Gilbert Ohana

Manti Pageant & Taylorsville Dayzz!

2010-06-27T22:08:00.000-06:00

Jordan and I had a wonderful weekend! And I even brought Lydia (my camera) along to document it for your enjoyment. :) Here we go!

We left for Manti at about 4pm on Friday because we wanted to get good seats. When we arrived, we checked in at the Yardley Inn. Such a nice little place! (It had its quirks, but the owner was a sweet little lady that just made my day.) Then we hit the streets of Manti to find some food and get our seats! The local wards put on a turkey dinner as a fundraiser so we stopped in and ate there. We finally made it to the seating!

The only glitch in our plan was that we were there 2.5 hours early. Shoot! Luckily I had packed Jordan's Gameboy (which I left at the Inn), my Kindle (which I left at the Inn), Jordan's Mitt Romney book, and a book for me (that turned out to be a little sketch in the first two pages so I didn't want to read it). That left me with nothing to do but people watch and play with Lydia (who died 15 minutes into my practice session). Needless to say, I got a little bored...

And another...

Then the sun went down and I--of course--got cold. Jordan is a trooper and he put his jacket on so I wouldn't feel silly by myself. :)

The Mormon Miracle Pageant was so fun! I especially liked the live angel Moroni on top of the temple. The spirit was so strong and it was an amazing experience to be surrounded by members of our faith in such a unique setting. Here's a picture after the pageant. (We're the dark blobs on either side of the temple.)

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast at the Yardley Inn. I'm going to say that the carrot cake/pecan waffles were my favorite part. Yumm! Then we packed up and headed to the Manti temple to do a session and some sealings. **Side note: At the beginning of June, Jordan and I decided in Family Home Evening to participate in a session in every temple in Utah over the next year. Manti was first on the list!**

Now for the second half of the weekend...TAYLORSVILLE DAYZZ!!

Jordan grew up in Taylorsville and this yearly celebration has become a family event. We gathered at his parents' house for a BBQ (brats and sauerkraut from Siegfrieds Delicatessen in Salt Lake. Double yumm!) Then we loaded up and walked to the Taylorsville park to enjoy the music of Imagine, a Beatles tribute band. They didn't look a thing like them, but we had a blast dancing around and I was singing at the top of my lungs (at times). We were lucky enough to have Nate and Emily come with us!

Here is a picture of Jordan playing with his dog, Emmy. I think this picture catches a *little* of her spirit!

People watching is one of my favorite pastimes. Here's the group that takes the cake from last night! (Note: the side of Nate's face. He and Emily were our fake picture targets! Lol.) It just doesn't get better than monks eating sno cones!

We ran into Jordan's high school buddy and mission companion, Sam!!

And his incredibly talented wife, Stacy! She was definitely the best (and fastest!) face painter there. :)

And then came the FIREWORKS!! Here are some of my favorites!

Apparently little Henrietta was going crazy with all the noise! Of course, as soon as I put my hand on Emily's tummy to feel, she stopped. Just my luck...

Brittany and Jeremy brought their nephews to see the fireworks with us! Jonas is in there somewhere...

Guess what song they were playing...

After all the excitement we went back to Jordan's house and had ice cream! I think this picture of Ethan (Brit and Jeremy's nephew) sums up how we all felt:

What a wonderful weekend!

Life is good. Love is great!

Write the Future

2010-06-16T15:54:00.000-06:00

I'm not a huge fan of the World Cup. (Hate me if you must, but at least I'm being honest.) However, I do love to see the world uniting around something. Here are a couple of my favorite World Cup net finds. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

First I have to start off with an article that I found pretty hilarious:

North Korean Soccer Fans are Actually Chinese

But in all seriousness, this is the best advertising for the World Cup I've seen. Take the three minutes to watch it, because it's worth it. It almost made me want to play soccer...I mean football. (And yes I realize that the video is far too big. I'm not an HTML wizard, so if someone would like to volunteer to teach me I'd totally be interested.)

The Problem with Matching Toothbrushes

2010-06-15T13:46:00.000-06:00

One thing you should know about Jordan is that he has this thing with toothbrushes. He flips out at even the idea of me using his. Let's be clear: I also think it's disgusting. However, he's taken it to the point of hilarity. With all that in mind, you should also know that Costco had a two-pack of toothbrushes, so we bought them! (And we love them!) They are identical except for small colored rings around the base of the head.

All was fine and dandy until I needed to put my toothbrush on the charger. That's where Jordan usually keeps his. Last night I told him very clearly that I was putting my toothbrush on the charger and moving his to where mine usually is. (I had to be clear because there was a fiasco a couple of months ago and I accidentally used his and he came unglued...) This morning, I grabbed my toothbrush, ran it under the water, put toothpaste on it, and then realized it was actually Jordan's. Well, instead of rinsing it off I put it back in the medicine cabinet because he hadn't brushed his teeth yet. That way, he wouldn't have to put toothpaste on it. It would save him oodles of time! (I'm so incredibly thoughtful/lazy.) A few minutes later I was getting dressed and Jordan went to brush his teeth. I heard him start laughing and he said, "Ummm...have you already brushed your teeth?" I thought he was going to think I used his, so I quickly told him I was just trying to be helpful. He leaned out of the bathroom holding my toothbrush and said, "I did the same thing to yours!" Sure enough, he had put the toothpaste on my toothbrush before he realized he had the wrong one. :)

Luckily, catastrophe was avaoided and we had a pretty good laugh! And that is the problem with matching toothbrushes.

Life is good. Love is great!

It's Been a Year, Folks!

2010-06-07T10:40:00.000-06:00

This weekend Jordan and I celebrated our first anniversary! We can't believe that it's been a year since we packed everyone up and flew to New York! In honor of our wedding, I decided to reminisce about our wedding adventure in Manhattan.

On May 21, 2009, I went through the temple for the first time. It was a fantastic experience! All of our family members (who could be) were there because I went through in Bountiful. After the beautiful enowment session we all drove downtown to a little place called Lamb's Grill Cafe. It is the oldest restaurant in Utah and it has a very "New Yorkish" feeling to it. Other benefits: they gave each guest a choice of four meals and they did everything for us! We were even allowed to bring in our own dessert. I requested doughnuts from Beyond Glaze. If you haven't had a doughnut there, you haven't lived. It's the truth.

Once dinner and all the other exciting festivities were over, we headed home to pack! My Dad, Jordan and I caught the red-eye to New York that night. We had to be there first thing in the morning in order to get our marriage license in time; you have to have it 24 hours in advance. Talk about stress! What if our flight was delayed? What if we couldn't find the courthouse? What if we found the courthouse and the line was ridiculously long? What if we didn't get the marriage license in time and we had 30 people there that had flown out for a wedding that wasn't going to happen? Eek! **Side note: Jordan always tells me that I worry too much. In hindsight, I definitely agree.**

Good news, ladies and gents: Our flight wasn't delayed, and we got right to the courthouse! And that was when we saw one of the most hysterical and slightly depressing things EVER. The courthouse was like a little marriage factory! We walked up to the first counter and they gave us a number. Then we walked down the corridor and found a place to sit down and enjoy the show. There were women in wedding dresses all over the place. Bridesmaids were roaming around. Grooms looked annoyed. (A couple were actually in jeans and baseball caps.) There was even a flower shop! Couples would get called to the desk and get their marriage license. Then they were given another number for their actual ceremony. Romantic, eh?! As one couple came out of one of the courtrooms through the left door another number would be called and the new wedding party would all shuffle in through the right door. Here's the kicker: there wasn't even a good photo op outside the courthouse! It was just a dinky set of stairs with smashed rose petals all over and a dirty payphone off to the side. I'm not seeing the perk to getting married there...especially if you already went to all the trouble of getting the bridesmaids matching dresses. :)

Back to our story...there were TV screens up and down the corridor that would flash the next number they were serving. Our number finally showed up and we walked up to one of the 27 different desks. I was so nervous that we wouldn't have the right paperwork with us, that we had everything. Someone could've literally stolen our entire identity quite easily.

Once we were done there, we got a call from Jordan's Mom (getting ready to fly out from Salt Lake) saying that somehow his older brother's ticket had been fowled up and he didn't have one. UH OH. Luckily, he made the flight and that was the only hitch in our wonderful weekend!

Everyone was in town by Friday evening and we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant Brandon knew of. After dinner, we met back at the hotel for gourmet cupcakes and ice cream. Finally worn out from the day, we all crashed.

I woke up at about 11:00 the next morning. (I thought I would have massive trouble sleeping...guess not!) My Mom was in the room, but everyone else was gone. I sat up and asked where everyone was and she said that my Dad was getting me lunch and the rest of the crew (Jordan, included) was out sightseeing! They wanted to let me sleep. :) **Side note: If you look at the pictures on Jordan's camera, our wedding pictures start out with him on top of the Empire State Building with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. I'm nowhere to be seen. Lol.**

I got up and got ready (did my own hair and makeup, we spent all the money on airfare) and we all headed for the temple.

This post has already become obsenely long, so I'll continue typing up the story some other time. In the mean time, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JORDAN!! I can't believe it's already been a year...eternity is going to be a blast! :)

Life is good. Love is better than ever!

My Blog is Carbon Neutral

2010-05-18T15:45:00.000-06:00

I follow an RSS feed called "Planet Green." It's full of tips and ideas for having a more "green" lifestyle. While I don't claim to be really great at neutralizing my carbon footprint, I am making a difference through a German Organization called "Make It Green!" Read about it here...it won't cost you a cent!

Life is good (and a little greener). Love is great!

Surprises, Old Friends, and Mother's Day

2010-05-10T08:48:00.000-06:00

For those of you who happen to know my husband, you may or may not know that he spoils me. A lot. You may also know that he LOVES surprising me. A lot. A couple of weeks ago I told him that my friend Lauren (who lives near San Fran) was going to randomly be in Salt Lake visiting family with her husband and that she was having a baby shower. He asked when it was and I said, "May 7. It's a Friday." He got all quiet and asked me what time it was at and how long baby showers usually take. I told him and he was quiet for a minute and asked me if I could just go for a little bit and then leave. That's when I started to get mad. I could tell that he had something planned so I told him to just reschedule it. When he told me that he couldn't and that he had been planning it for months, I calmed down. He told me that he knew how much Lauren meant to me and that he would move it or reschedule it if he could, but he couldn't. Well, I called Lauren and planned another time to see her on her trip. I have spent the last two weeks trying to get Jordan to tell me what the surprise was, to no avail. So I started teasing him and saying, "Your surprise better be amazing because if it sucks and you made me miss Lauren's baby shower, you'll never hear the end of it!" :)

Well, Friday night rolled around and he drove me to Ruby Tuesday's in Salt Lake where we met my parents for dinner. After a wonderful meal (with HORRID) service, we walked across the street to Hale Center Theater to see The Three Musketeers!! Before the show started, Jordan leaned over and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" Oh he's a definite keeper. :) The Three Musketeers is the first book I made Jordan read while we were dating. He loved it and decided that he wanted to take me to it last December when he saw the HCT schedule. The show was so well done and my friend Jeff was Aramis, so that made it extra fun to watch!

Saturday morning we drove to Taylorsville/West Jordan to see Lauren and Brad. (We were supposed to take them out to breakfast but somehow it turned into them making breakfast for us. I'm still not sure how that happened...) We got all caught up on life and Jordan and Brad talked about how they went to the same junior high and knew some of the same people. It was wonderful to see Lauren again and hear about all their exciting plans for the future! She told me Ross was 17 now and I almost choked to death. :)

After our little get together with the Hardcastles, we stopped by Jordan's house for a bit and then headed back to Bountiful for my hair appointment! I can't even tell you how excited I was! I felt bad because it took almost an hour longer then I told Jordan it would...whoops! But it's great and wonderful and blonde and I love it!

From my hair appointent, we headed straight to Rio Tinto stadium for the Real game. I had never been to one and Jordan hadn't been since they moved into Rio Tinto so we were both pumped. We were also looking forward to seeing Megan and Joel (one of Jordan's best friends and his wife). Megan got four tickets from her boss and they invited us to go with them. While we were trying to find a place to park, we decided just to park at Jordan Commons. There was a police officer posted at each entrance to make sure you weren't parking for the game. We pulled up and the officer said, "Game or movie?" to which Jordan responded, "Jordan Commons." I was starving to death, so we figured that we could run inside and grab something and go to the game. No lies there! We had to pay $10 for a teeny tiny pizza so I definitely don't feel bad! :) The tickets were eight rows up on the midfield line and it was a BLAST! We got there at halftime and still saw them score twice. I consider that a successful soccer game. Not as fun as lax, but still fun.

To avoid traffic, Jordan and I took 13th east all the way to South Temple in Salt Lake. It took quite a while, but we discovered that his dentist and my dermatologist are on the same street...about 50 blocks apart. Lol. We got back to my house at about 5:00pm and relaxed for a while and then headed out to dinner at Mo' Bettah Steaks. It's a local Hawaiian grill and Jordan knows the owner from his mission. By the time we were done, I could feel my cholesterol rising. It was mm mmm good. :) We made a quick stop to pick up Mother's Day cards on the way home and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed to Jordan's home ward to hear his sister, Noel, speak. She gave a short talk about how much she loved her Mom and read a couple of poems. Jordan and I ditched Sunday School and took a walk around his neighborhood in order to enjoy the sun. (We went back for EQ/RS.) After church we sat at his house and I read out in the backyard, further enjoying the sun. (And his cat and dog running all over me...although I didn't enjoy that was much...) Then we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert. Each visit to their home is highlighted by his grandfather's carvings. He is CRAZY good. He recently carved a baby bear that looked real just sitting there. It also made me want a baby bear because it looked so cuddly, but that's a different story.

We wrapped up the evening by heading to Teppanyaki for a celebratory Mother's Day dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Larabee. Great food. Ridiculous prices. I caught my shrimp. That's all there is to say about that. After dinner we headed back to Jordan's house to wait around for Corey to call. I finished my book and Corey called around 8:45pm. After the phone call was done, Jordan gave me a gift bag and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" I definitely wasn't expecting anything because Friday night had been so special. Well, he's outdone himself again. An iTunes gift card and (drumroll...) a necklace and apron from Anthropologie! Give the man a round of applause!! It turns out that he went shopping during my hair appointment on Saturday. He said he felt super awkward because all the men in the store were sitting on a couch at the front waiting for their wives, and he was in the store looking at aprons. :) But he did an excellent job because the apron matches the gloves he got me for Graduation! He said that the necklace was the shiniest one he could find because he knows I like bling. I most certainly have the best husband in the world!

And that's a wrap. Phew! What a weekend!

Life is good. Love is GREAT!

Gradu-ma-cation and Going Green

2010-05-05T10:41:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago I graduated from BYU. After long, amazing years I finally did it! :) It was such a wonderful experience to have my family there to support me! I must admit I got teary-eyed several times during the two day ordeal. Especially when I was marching into the tunnel outside the Marriott Center and looked up to see my Dad snapping a million and one pictures of me. And when they announced we were officially graduates. And when I saw my Dad after. And when I thought about the fact that I was moving on from such a huge phase of my life. And...Well, you get the idea. Jordan doesn't tease me about my waterworks abilities for nothing!

Part of the reason that I haven't written about graduation is because my celebrations and festivities didn't end until Tuesday night. The day of commencement all my family went to dinner at La Dolce Vita. Although it was very noisy I had a wonderful time being the center of attention. Lol. The Gilberts gave me a Kindle (YAY!) and the grandparents gave me money which will be carefully spent during my upcoming shopping spree. After convocation the following day Jordan gave me his gift(s). New dishwashing gloves (they actually make doing dishes fun. See them here.), a night in Park City, an ENTIRE day of shopping with him (what a trooper), and tickets to The Lion King!!! Wow. Is he a great gift-giver or what?!

Finally, I was able to go to The Roof for a celebratory dinner with my parents, Matt, Tiff, and Jordan on Tuesday night. The Roof has always been a special place for my family. Only the biggest occasions warrant a meal there. At our table, my Dad had a flower arrangement delivered and the staff had a congratualtions sign on the table. Before we started eating my parents gave me my graduation gift: a gorgeous Mikimoto pearl necklace! After I put it on, I couldn't stop playing with it! It's perfect and I love it to pieces! I got home and just wanted to wear it to bed. (Partly because I didn't want to take it off and partly because I didn't know how. Very complex.)

In other news, I got a job! I started the Monday after graduation. I am the Alumni Relations Program Manager at Utah Valley University. It is an amazing job that is perfect for me. I am in charge of all the events and student programming. The best of both worlds. :) Every so often, someone teases me about bleeding blue and how I need to wear more green. In my interview I told them that it wouldn't be a problem because I look great in green! It's been a new and exciting change. This is where I work.

Meanwhile, Jordan is studying 30+ hours a week for the MCAT and taking one class. He still gets up every morning and makes me breakfast and packs a lunch for me. I leave for work and he walks to campus and studies until I come pick him up after work. I amazed at how hard he works!

We recently got a Netflix membership and have been watching an episode of Leverage every night. Jordan says he uses that as his reward and motivation to get through his long days of studying. :) Last night we watched Public Enemies (ah, the joys of a Clear Play DVD player). It was so interesting to watch the story of John Dillinger. It also didn't hurt that the movie had Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in it!

One of these days I'm going to actually post pictures because we take so many of them...I just need to take the time to get them all here! In the mean time,

Life is good. Love is great!

Crackberry and the Provo City Police

2010-02-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Jordan was shadowing a doctor at UVRMC. He had his Blackberry in his pocket. While he was busy following the doctor around and learning everything he could, his phone was busy calling 911. In response to the emergency call, the Provo City Police Department called back...four times. Jordan didn't recognize the number, so he didn't answer. When the police couldn't get in touch with Jordan they called his home phone number. His younger sister answered the phone and the police asked her if she had a brother named Jordan. She said yes. They asked, "Is he ok?". (Like that's not scary.) She then called me. I was in a meeting and missed the phone call. Finally, the police got in touch with Jordan on the fifth phone call. He apologized and felt exceedingly guilty because of the new commercials about what happens when you call 911 and it isn't an emergency. (I'll be able to tease him for years about it!) The lesson to be learned: if you get five calls in a row from a number you don't recognize, pick it up. It's probably the police.

Inner Tube Water Polo, Bad Dreams, and THE OLYMPICS!!

2010-02-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Jordan and some other people from our ward are playing on an intermural inner tube water polo team. At first Joordan felt like a disgrace to his sport when he played. Now he realizes that the only similarities between water polo and what he's playing is the ball and the fact that it's in the water! Our team was down two players last Tuesday and they outplayed the other team. Unfortunately, we still lost. :( I was busy taking pictures of our players when I was informed that cameras are not allowed because "some people don't like having their pictures taken in their swimsuits." WHAT??! I was under the impression that if people were that uncomfortable in swimsuits, they wouldn't be in the pool in the first place. Oh well. At least I got a couple before Lydia was banished.

And here they are in action!

On Thursday morning, I woke up in a panic. My whole body was tensed up and my mouth was dry. Most {stressful} dream ever. I had a dream that I was forced to play basketball for the BYU women's team. I have nothing against basketball. I have nothing against BYU women. But there is not enough money in the world to make me play for them. I was terrified. They forced me into a uniform and all of the sudden, I was in the middle of a game in the Marriott Center! They were calling plays out and I had no idea what was going on. It was awful. Finally, I heard the buzzer that signaled half-time. Salvation. I turned to walk off the court and the whole team was already gone! I spent the rest of my terrible dream lost in the bowels of the Marriott Center looking for the team. Every time I opened a new door, something crazy was behind it: a chemistry lab, a creepy deserted playground, a Shakespearean play rehearsal. I woke up as the buzzer rang to start the second half.

I told Jordan all about the whole ordeal and his response was, "Don't worry, sweetie. You graduate in April and the season is almost over. There's no way they're going to make you play." lol! Isn't it great that his response wasn't, "It was just a dream." I love him!!

The Olympics are here!! As you may know, I love to celebrate everything. Everything. So, Jordan and I hosted an Opening Ceremonies party at our apartment last night. We wanted to get to know more people in our building so we just invited the whole building. Ironically enough, only the couples we spend time with regularly came. We tried. :) We will have a Canadian flag on the door until the Closing Ceremonies, fyi. I've always loved the Opening Ceremonies, but I almost cried last night when Catriona LeMay Doan didn't get to light the torch. :( But here is the cake I made!
Let's test your Olympic knowledge. Here's the trivia quiz everyone took:

Where are the 2010 Olympics being held?
The medals are made from recycled __________.
Name the mascots!
How many medals did the U.S. win in 2006?
Name three winter olympic events.
What year were the Olympics held in Salt Lake City?
List three Canadians.
List three Olympians.
What event killed an athlete on Friday morning?
What is your favorite event?
Who is known as the Flying Tomato?

Ok, ok. Some of the questions are ridiculously difficult and the rest of them are gimmes, but I thought it was fun! :)

Life is good, love is great!

My Husband is the { BEST }

2010-02-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Because Jordan never looks at our blog, I'm taking the opportunity to praise him! (That'll teach him...) Jordan is simply the hardest worker I have ever met. He is up at 6:30am every morning and he is practically running until 10:30pm. Even then he takes time to read a book before he goes to sleep. He is always looking for ways to serve others and stay busy. Sometimes I get tired just watching him!! :) Jordan is also amazingly good with people. He can walk up, introduce himself, and have a genuine conversation with anyone! When we were on our cruise over Christmas I came out of the cabin and found Jordan talking up a storm with our steward! I went back into the cabin and he didn't come back in for about 10 minutes. When he did, he had all sorts of fascinating facts about working on a cruise ship. He even knew when our steward's next opportunity to go home was, that he has a six year old son, and how long he had been working on the ship. Ah-mazing. :) I would also like to add that Jordan makes me breakfast every morning because he knows I struggle to wake up. (I'm getting better!) Let me tell you, there's nothing better than waking up to the smell of breakfast and a kiss from your sweetie! So here's a little shout out to my handsome husband who amazes me every day!! I love you! **Side note: Today marks the day that Jordan and I met two years ago and it may or may not be his half-birthday as well. Time to celebrate! :) **

Life is good, love is great!

You Know You're Bad at Blogging When...

2010-01-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

It's been an entire semester since the last blog. Oh geez! I"m going to start out by recapping our Christmas vacation because it was wonderful!

Jordan and I finished finals and headed up to Salt Lake for the Jon Schmidt concert. Every Christmas (two years running!) Aunt Jody gets us tickets to the concert for Christmas. It was the third Jon Schmidt concert I have seen in two years and I'm still amazed by his talent. WOW. I also love that he involves his dad as a stand up comedian. One of the jokes he told this year still makes me laugh: President Obama walked into a nursing home and approached an old lady sitting in a chair. He said, "Do you know who I am?" The little lady looked up at him and said, "No, sonny. But if you ask the nice people at the front desk, they'll tell you!" I enjoyed that. :)
Immediately after the concert Jordan and I swung by Costco to pick up our Christmas cards. Talk about a steal of a deal!! I highly recommend Costco for all your printing needs. After we picked up the cards we headed off to the annual Perkins family Christmas party in Lehi. It only took us about 45 minutes to find the church...and it was wonderful! We did an ornament exchange and got calendars from Grandma. She always works so hard on them and they are so fun to look through!
The following day we were able to attend the sacrament meeting Christmas program in Jordan's ward. Every year they have a choir come and perform. It was so moving; the music was beautiful and the Spirit was touching. We spent the rest of the day with the Gilberts. Later that night we finished packing for our cruise.
We flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Monday and we got on the ship Tuesday morning. We headed to the southern Caribbean for the holidays! Jordan and I had an inside cabin which proved to be very beneficial for sleeping. When we closed the door and turned the lights off, you couldn't see anything! The set up wasn't great when it came to waking up though. We could have slept until 4pm and never known. Lol. We had a wonderful time spending time with our family. A typical day at sea consisted of mini-golf, reading, eating, eating, eating, and a movie all jammed in one cabin.
Our first port was St. Maarten on Christmas Day. In order to keep with the holiday spirit, we each played rock paper scissors to determine who was going to buy a gift for who. Then we each got $20 to buy gifts for each other in St. Maarten. Because it was Christmas, the shopping options were slim, so we expanded the shopping to include all the ports! Because it was so windy that day, we just took a bus tour around the island instead of snubaing like we had originally planned.
The next day we pulled into St. Lucia which was definitely our favorite island. The family split into two groups (those with long legs and those with shorter legs) to go on two different zip line tours. In case I need to clarify the groups: Mom, Jordan and I were in the short let group and Tiff, Matt, and Dad made up the long leg group. :) The zip line(s) were so fun! The one we went on consisted of 11 different lines and platforms. They would hook you in at one platform and then you'd go zooming through the trees to the next platform. Sometimes there was hiking in between the platforms too. We also learned that the island of St. Lucia is obsessed with bananas...we even tried banana ketchup!
Our last port was St. Kitts. It was originally named St. Christophers after Christopher Columbus...I thought that was interesting. :) We hurried off the ship because we had caught wind that there was an LDS branch that met on the island. We found a taxi and gave him the address of the building. When we got there, the gates were closed and the parking lot was empty. The driver told us that he knew someone who went to that church and that he would call him and find out what was going on. He finally got in touch with his friend and unfortunately, the branch had met earlier that morning and was already over. :( So we headed back to the port and Jordan and I did some last minute shopping for his family. Then we got back on the ship and enjoyed the rest of our day!
After three more days at sea, we returned to Ft. Lauderdale. When we got into the port, we found out that Grandma and Grandpa Erickson had been in a serious car accident two days before. That wasn't fun information to find out on vacation. :( The good news is that they are both doing well now! (A month later...I'm only a little bit behind...) We had quite a while before we had to be at the airport for our flight, so we all went on an airboat tour of the Everglades! It was so fun and the scenery was beautiful. We had an awesome redneck woman as our tour guide. She gator skin boots and her airboat was her pride and joy! She told us about being in the water with the gators and could name every species of every animal we saw. We finally got to the airport and returned to Salt Lake without any excitement.
After getting home, we crashed for the night at my parents' house in Bountiful and then headed to Taylorsville to spend time with the Gilberts! They absolutely spoiled us!! Jordan and I opened the gifts we had bought for each other and all the gifts our family had bought us. It was so fun! Then we had dinner and a little party when Grandma and Grandpa Larabee (and Coco, of course), and the Bezzants came over. :) It's so fun to play with their kids! Andrea and Brandon gave Jordan and I a beautiful little nativity as a wedding/Christmas gift that I can't wait to put up next Christmas!
For the next couple of days, we just relaxed and enjoyed our time with the Gilberts. We watched some movies, and celebrated the New Year! We were also able to visit Grandpa while he was in the ICU at IMC. He was giving all the nurses a run for their money and enjoying every minute of it!
Finally, we headed back to Provo to settle in for the new semester. I had my last first day of school! Right now, Jordan and I are keeping busy. Very busy. We have classes and two jobs each, Jordan is volunteering at the hospital, playing inner-tube water polo, shadowing doctors, and studying for the MCAT in May. I'm still volunteering for the Student Alumni Association, worrying about finding a job when I graduate, and I was just called to be a member of the Relief Society Presidency. Somehow, Jordan and I are still finding time to try new restaurants, watch new movies, listen to new music, and play new games together.

Life is good, love is great!

School's Back in Swing!

2009-09-21T10:23:00.000-06:00

Wow! What an exciting couple of weeks this has been. Jordan and I are back to working and going to school full time. On top of that, Jordan is still volunteering twice a week at the hospital and helping plan a campus wide event called Y-Days. It's a week long celebration of service at BYU. It starts next week and I'm sure he'll be a little relieved when it is over.

I'm busy working away in the BYUSA office and with the Student Alumni Association. Steven and I have our program directors in place and they are working away. Ahh, the joys of delegation. :) Somewhere in all the chaos, Jordan and I still find time to have dinner together every night. Sometimes it's only frozen burritos, but hey! At least it's dinner.

Jordan has revealed his inner obsession with college football over the past couple of weeks. There was a lot of hype over the BYU vs. Oklahoma game and he was one of the biggest culprits! What a great game though! We were able to watch the game--with hundreds of other fans--in the WSC Ballroom on campus. It was incredible! Everyone was so pumped. When BYU won, there was rioting in Provo. Seriously. Fireworks. Mosh pits in the intersections. Honking for hours. There was even a rally for the football team at the airport to welcome them home. Fast forward two weeks. We played Florida State (unranked) on Saturday and we were hammered. Now Jordan has settled into his regular attitude about football. He's really excited for the games, but maybe now we won't be watching highlights and forecasts all week. :) It has been really fun to share our love for BYU since the season started.

We finally gave our "new in the ward" talks two weeks ago. It went really well. We were asked to speak on service. That's it, just service. I was overwhelmed by the possibilities! I decided to write my talk from the perspective of a geographer. I addressed why we are commanded to serve and how we should serve. I even got some laughs out of the congregation. (Which is saying something.) I also had the privilege of introducing Jordan and me. That was weird. I have always thought that the new married couples were so old and sophisticated. Now I realize that they aren't. I shared the story of us deciding to get married in New York, which is always entertaining. When Jordan stood to speak, organ music started playing throughout the chapel! Everyone looked at the organist (who wasn't even sitting at the organ) trying to figure out what was going on. It was loud enough that Jordan wasn't able to speak. Then we heard a voice say, "From the shadow of the everlasting hills..." Everyone was laughing so hard as our bishopric scrambled to turn the mic off and fix the problem. Jordan was just standing there and lifted his hands like, "What can I say?" :) Finally, they just turned the mic off and Jordan got to give a real live sermon. It was so wonderful to hear him bear his testimony of the gospel and especially the atonement.

I think those are the biggest highlights of the last two weeks. I finally got our wedding pictures from New York off of the CDs so hopefully I will find some time to post them here.

Life is good. Love is great. Sayanora.

The End of Summer

2009-08-31T10:32:00.000-06:00

I was worried that the end of our summer would be anticlimactic (I've always thought the word should be "anticlimaxtic"...think about it...) because Jordan had surgery and was supposed to be laid up for the entire break. Luckily for us, he recovered very quickly and we have had a bang up end to the summer!

We were able to go to the Foundations of Leadership conference at Aspen Grove last week. We went as members of the "Ops Team" (read: work horses). It was such a wonderful experience! We got to stay up in the beautiful mountains for free, eat for free and play around with a bunch of incoming freshman. We also got to drive all the way back to Provo to get a girl's inhaler. That was fun. Overall, we had a great time just being together and relaxing!

On Saturday we went hiking and fishing in the Uintas with my mom, dad and grandpa. It was so much fun! We started out at Trial Lake and then off-roaded for a million years to Star Lake. It was beautiful!! I was lucky enough to have grandpa teach me how to fish. On my second time casting, I got my first strike! Unfortunately, I didn't have a hook because I was just practicing... After putting the fly on and casting three or four more times, I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH!!! He (I'm assuming) was about 13" long and I named him Rocky because Dad said he was a fighter. I think I was a little noisier than mountain etiquette recommends, but I was so excited! After we released Rocky (you just can't keep and eat a fish you name!) back into the lake I started getting bored. I hiked over to Jordan and spent some time with him. He was having so much fun because he hadn't been fishing in quite a while. However, I think he was a bit jealous that I'd already caught a fish. :) After spending some time with him, I decided to try fishing again. I cast about three times and guess what?!? I CAUGHT MY SECOND FISH!!! Granted, this one was itsy bitsy, but still! I named him (again, I'm assuming) Spot. I bet you can't guess what he looked like.

After a wonderful meal, we hiked back to Trial Lake and finished up our trip. I played navigator and I discovered that Jordan is really good at finding the easiest path down the mountain. He was totally in his element. It was so fun!

We made it back to Provo in one tired, hungry piece. For dinner, I invented a new meal. *Drumroll...* Taco burgers! I just put taco seasoning on the hamburger patties before I broiled them, and then topped it off with cheese, tomato, onion and salsa. Mmmmm...Ideally I would like to put guacamole and sour cream on it, but again, I need to go grocery shopping!

Yesterday was very relaxing. We went to sacrament meeting to hear our dear friend, Dallin, speak. He got the congregation laughing, which is quite a feat! Then we drove to Bountiful to give Jordan a haircut. It didn't go so well. I'm not sure what my problem was...but he now looks like a marine recruit and has a couple of "scars" above his left ear. Oops! I guess he got what he paid for. :)

Then we were able to attend Noel getting her patriarchal blessing. What a wonderful opportunity it is to be able to receive that kind of revelation! It reminded me of all the wonderful things I have been promised in my blessing. I now have a renewed strength and source of the spirit.

Then we were able to go back the the Gilbert's and have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Larabee, their new little puppy Cocoa (darling!!), Blake, Michele, Noel, Minnie (Jordan's friend from high school), Kevin (her husband) and Brody (their new baby - also adorable!). It was a long night of conversation and food which is always a great combination! We also spent some time working on our Thank You cards. Such a long process, but we're almost done!!! We got home really late and collapsed into bed...just in time to wake up for the first day of school! (Or so it seemed.)

As of today, school has officially started! Jordan and I are up on campus working away. We had a great start to the morning which included: no milk for cereal, no bread for toast, no time for omelets and of course, first day of school pictures! (Side note: maybe I should go grocery shopping?)

Jordan dropped me off and I hustled to my first class of the semester: Public Land Conservation. Now, I should note that I have no real interest in the conservation of our public lands (I should) but the Geography department is not offering very many classes this semester that fit my schedule. So I will now learn about conservation. I kind of laughed to myself when I looked at my class for this afternoon: Urban Environments. If I escape this semester without becoming an environmentalist who chains myself to trees, it will be amazing. ;)

Jordan has his first class (New Testament) with his old roommate/brother, David. He's really looking forward to this semester. He will be a TA for the reading strategies class and working in the library as well. I am still working in the Student Leadership office as an assistant and I will also be volunteering as the VP of Programs for the Student Alumni Association this year.

All in all, our lives are busy! We still make sure to take time to have fun though!

Life is good. Love is great! Hasta luego.

Lazy Days

2009-07-13T13:31:00.000-06:00

We were finally able to sleep in on Saturday morning and it was wonderful! We decided to spend our day watching a bunch of episodes from the first season of Alias. We've both seen the first season but I can't remember what happens so I was pretty much hooked all day. Jordan humored me and watched them all with me. Such a great guy! :)

Then we decided to go to Seven Peaks for the last hour it was open. It was our first chance to use the season passes we got!! We went around the lazy river (very cold and very lazy) and then went to the wave pool because it's my favorite. While we were waiting for the waves to start, Jordan taught me the "more efficient way" to tread water. I could only do it backwards...which doesn't work. Hmph. I'll work on that!

Sunday was lazy as well. We had great lessons in church and then went to the Gilbert's for dinner and to do laundry. After dinner we watched "Over the Hedge" and it was hilarious! Seriously...if you're ever looking for some good clean fun check out any of the Dreamworks or Pixar movies. Steve Carrell is the voice of the squirrel in the movie and he is a genius. (Surprise.) We got home late with a ton of extra food. (Our parents are so good to us!)

Now we're up and running for the rest of the week!

Life is good. Love is great. Ta ta!

To be completely honest...

2009-07-10T17:36:00.001-06:00

I kind of forgot I had created this blog...hence the abandonment. But now that I remember it exists, maybe we'll get some regularity going!

Jordan and I were married on May 23, 2009 in the Manhattan Temple. It was a fairytale! You think I'm kidding...well wait until I post the pictures! It was so fun to be surrounded by friends and family. Unfortunately, we don't have the pictures yet so I'll wait on those to give you the full run down of all the festivities.

In the mean time, Jordan and I are food snobs. I never thought of myself as a food snob until I met Jordan and spent some time with his family. They are wonderfully picky about the food they eat. :) So, Jordan and I have started trying one new restaurant every week and critiquing it. I thought it would be fun to share our findings here!

Each post will be Zagat styled (although you may contest the quality of the critiquing...) and be based on Food, Decor, Service and Cost. We'll also let you know what we ordered because we know you'll be just that curious. If nothing else, Jordan and I will be able to reference this years down the road and remember where those amazing cheese enchiladas were. (Los Caporales)

And while we're on the restaurant kick, we'll probably throw in movies, board games and anything else we feel like.

Life is good. Love is great. Cheerio!

It's Official!

2009-02-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I can finally start writing here! Jordan and I got engaged on February 14, 2009 at 6:01pm. (And yes, I LOVE that I know what time.) It was a fantastic day that I will never forget. He showed up that morning with a bouquet of gladiolus flowers and we made breakfast together for each other and my roommates. One of them even said, "Who needs a valentine when we have you two?" That made me laugh. After we had breakfast we just relaxed for a while. Then I got ready because he told me we had to be somewhere at 1pm. When we got in the car, he said that he needed to run up to the BYUSA office before we went anywhere because he had to get his music he had left there. We headed up to the office and when we got there I waited at my desk as he wandered around the office trying to find his music. He finally found it and said, "Tommy is here. You should go say hi!" I walked back to Tommy's desk and saw that there was a table set up with wax and a double boiler. Jordan grabbed a dozen roses that he had hidden and told me that we were going to dip roses together! (Last week we had an activity called Knight Games that had rose dipping at it. You dip the rose bud in the wax and it preserves it. It was super popular so I didn't get a chance to do it. I was really sad. So Jordan arranged to do it on Valentine's Day!) After a few minutes Adam and his girlfriend Cristy showed up and then Chance and Annie came. We all dipped roses and had lunch in the office!
After that, Jordan took me to see Confessions of a Shopaholic because I was dying to see it. Isn't he sweet?! :) When the movie was over, we drove to Deer Creek because we had gone there on our first date. Everything was so pretty because it had just snowed. No one else was there. We just walked out into the middle of all the snow and started taking pictures of the reservoir and the sunset. It was FREEZING!!! I looked over and Jordan wasn't wearing his coat so I told him to put it on. He said that it wasn't that cold and I thought that was odd. A couple minutes later, he said, "Actually, I do have a couple of surprises for you." He unwrapped his coat and it had two boxes inside it. One was heart shaped with a big bow and the other was the size of a book. He laid his coat down on the snow so I could put my camera down. He held up the heart shaped box and said, "This is just a box of chocolates because I know you hate chocolate and you hate Valentine's Day and well, I just had to get you chocolates." Then he tossed the box onto his coat. Then he gave me the other box and told me to open it. I did and it was an AMAZING necklace that he had picked out. He then spent the next three minutes making sure that I actually liked it. Looking back, he was really talking the necklace up so that I had NO idea what was coming next...
After I had convinced him that I LOVED the necklace, we talked for a couple more minutes and then he asked me how I felt about new traditions. I told him I thought they were great and he said,"Well I think we should start a tradition of eating chocolates together on Valentine's Day. I know you don't really like chocolate, but will you please share one with me?" I, of course, told him I would. I opened the heart shaped box and, you guessed it, there was a ring box inside. He reached in, grabbed it, and said, "I'll take this one." I was in shock and was crying before he was on his knee. (I have a "0" to crying speed that is unbelievable.) He opened the the ring box (which I didn't even look at) and asked me to marry him!!! I said, "Of course!" so I guess he'll never be able to tell people that I said yes. :) I had him put the ring on me and I stared at it for a while. Then I had him put the ring back in the box and kneel down again so I could take a picture!
After we got back to the car, we started calling our family members to share the news. We headed back down the canyon and went to dinner at Los Hermanos because that's where we went to eat on our first date. I was distracted all through dinner because I kept staring at my ring. :) When we got back to my apartment, he noticed that the flowers he had brought me that morning weren't there and asked me where they were. I figured one of my roommates had cleaned up and just put them in my room so I went to find them. On my bed were rose petals, a framed picture of us and a gorgeous picture of the Manhattan Temple! (Don't worry, he had my roommates set it all up so he didn't break the Honor Code. Lol!)
And that's our story! I guess with that, I should probably mention that the reason it was a picture of the Manhattan Temple was because that's where we are getting married! May 23, 2009! I can hardly wait! Details on the wedding are sure to follow, so stay tuned!