Embrace the Camera Day-Pago

One of our favorite things to do is go out to eat.The main factor is that in our {almost} two years of marriage,we have not had a kitchen table.

Yes, you read that right, no table.

When we eat in our teeny apartment it is on our little couch which only fits the two of us.The food goes on the coffee table (if there's room).Sometimes there isn't room because our table looks like this.

I'll admit it's pretty bad in the picture. But we're just busy college students making it by.So if we have a choice to eat at a parent's house or a restaurant, it's pretty obvious that we leave.
One of those random nights that I didn't want to cook in the teeny kitchen, we decided to try Pago.Friends, it was heaven.

The location is easy to access, on 9th and 9th right next to the Children's hour.

Unique food, wonderful ambiance, excellent service, I felt like I was in New York.The restaurant only serves food from local farms which puts my mind at ease.

Hooray for a fun night out with wonderful food!

In our marriage, we live for date nights and love them.I highly recommend this place for a casual date out on the town. 

Embrace the Camera Day-Mindy Gledhill Concert

Over Valentines weekend,

we had a blast going to hear the lovely Mindy Gledhill sing {or sort of sing}.

Sweet Mindy had only a little bit of her voice left from a cold.

That amazing woman got up and said that she would turn a bad situation into a good one. 

And that she did.

She asked that the audience be her voice and sing with her.

We did just that, when she couldn't reach the notes, we did.

There isn't a better confirmation to know if people listen to your music than to ask them sing the words,
as said according to Kevin.

Standing in line while waiting for the concert to start. 

That particular night out was just what the doctor ordered.
A fun trip to Provo to try out SLAB pizza, along with the best cupcakes at the concert.

Believe it or not, Kevin even sang along to his favorite Mindy Gledhill song, Anchor.
On the album she sings it in Spanish {brownie points to Mindy for having it as a bonus track},
I think that's why he loves it.

My favorite song is All About Your Heart.
I hate admitting it, but I have terrible scars on my face from acne.
Photoshop and makeup are my friends. I still have lots of acne too now even though I've been told
it clears as you get older. Um, no, not for me anyway.

While this song was written for my inspiration-NieNie, it has helped me with my own personal image.
I listen to it everyday and it reminds me to worry about more important things such as being a
good friend or even better yet, just being there.


Beauty is definitely about what comes from the heart.

We {heart} you Mindy! Thanks for sharing your stories and music with all of us.
The concert was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better date night.

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. 
~Audrey Hepburn

{don't forget that tomorrow is Joyful Moments and come back later today, 

I'll finally have the post ready for a really great giveaway!}

Kevin's World - You, Me and Trio Make Three

Despite living near Ninth and Ninth in Salt Lake City, Lisa and I have never really immersed ourselves in the trendy vibe that surrounds us.  Sure, we'll occasionally go to the shops in the neighborhood, and Lisa will sometimes do her homework in one of the coffee shops around town, but we have a fairly sizable list of places we would like to go before we move away.  Last weekend, we finally made it to one of those places.

Trio is a little Italian cafe a few blocks from where we live.  It's a nice, open restaurant with a single large dining room and chic, clean full windows facing the abstract iron sculpture on the patio.  I had occasionally heard my friends refer to it, but it remained mostly a mystery to me.  When we finally had a chance to try it, we were not disappointed.

We started out with the antipasto, a flavorful mix of meats, cheeses, artisan bread and fresh olives and peppers.  It didn't take long for me to decide that it was time for us to start being more selective about what we buy.  Usually, I eat food because I am hungry.  That night, I ate for the sheer joy of it.  At the risk of sounding trite, I will admit that Remy from the movie Ratatouille came to mind.  When he eats, he takes time to notice the flavors and absorb every nuance of taste.  Eating at Trio made me want to do just that.  After my chicken alfredo with a creamy pesto sauce and Lisa's spaghetti pomodoro, we unfortunately had to say no to their delectable-looking desserts.  For now, we can cross one item off of our list of Ninth and Ninth activities, but we need to add one more.  Before we move, we simply have to try something from Trio's dessert tray.

Embrace the Camera Day

The other night, we had so much fun.

It was a great "let's go out on a date" to make you smile.

And it worked.

It ended with hot chocolate dunks.

Thanks to my brother-in-law Tyler.

He taught us all about it over Christmas break.

If you haven't heard of this, you're going to love it.

Especially if you LOVE hot chocolate as much as I do! 

Start out with your best UTE jammers.

Grab the hot chocolate and favorite snowman mugs (thanks Christina).

Then grab the Keebler's Fudge Shoppe Deluxe Grahams

Take a cookie and take a bite on the top of it.

Take another bite on the bottom of the cookie.

Now, here comes the tricky part. Hold the cookie in your mouth and sip like a straw. The hot chocolate will go through the graham cracker.

Then before the rest of the cookie melts, stick it back in your mouth for some chocolate-ty goodness!

It's ohh sooo good.

There are only smiles here!

What a way to end the night. Kevin and I feel very blessed to have each other.

He has been my knight in shining armor many times.

I believe that night topped them all because Kevin brought me lots of light in the middle of darkness.

I was happy. Really happy.

Kevin, I love you more every single day.

In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic, a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts, an enabler rather than a reformer.

~Norman Wright and Gary Oliver 

Smile Date Night

Yesterday, I had a really hard day. I was not happy at all and really stressed out.

I tried laying down and going back to sleep again but nothing was working.

Kevin always calls or texts about lunch time to see how my day is going.

I told him that I was struggling and grumpy but that everything would be okay.

He asked me to e-mail him if I didn't feel better later that afternoon. He was a little concerned because with the holiday, it meant I was supposed to be out shopping and doing something fun.

But instead, I was still in bed and as they say, "When you're in bed, you're dead." 

I was thinking about that while lying there.

Sleep wasn't coming and I had a feeling that I needed to do something, I e-mailed Kevin back.

He left work early and called me the second he left work. He talked to me all the way home and when he came in the door he exclaimed, "We're going out and this day is going to change." 

He held me for a long time which helped my body relax, my best friend was home.

He was right, it was time for my gray cloud to leave.

He took me shopping for new clothes. I ended up with two new cute tops and a skirt. All on sale, which is a miracle in my case. Kevin was so patient while I browsed through stores starting at 9th and 9th to stores at the Gateway. He laughed and smiled the whole way through, like it was meant to be.

From there, Kevin suggested dinner and a movie. We went to our favorite pizza place, Arella's. We got the usual margarita pizza along with raspberry vanilla italian sodas.

The new addition, which is definitely a new favorite, dessert.
I normally skip dessert because I'm too full already but since Arella's pizza is light, I could tackle dessert.
Plus, with a name like "Brownie to the Max" could you really say no?

It was delish.

Kevin and I shared and ate every bite. :)

We went and saw Tangled. It was really funny and we loved the new twist of Rapunzel. 

Not a prince but a thief comes to her tower. That's all I'm going to say because you should see it.

It's Disney's 50th animated movie. That's quite the legacy.

My day changed. I was smiling and laughing all the way through.

I was so grateful that Kevin came home for me.

He brought me so much JOY!

It wasn't a spectacular planned out date or a super expensive date. It was just nice and simple, the way we wanted. It was perfect (as perfect goes).

The more you invest in a marriage, 

the more valuable it becomes.
~Amy Grant

Fireproof

I originally saw a post about this movie from "The Dating Divas." Love those girls and all their fun date ideas! 

Kevin and I love inspirational movies and thought, "why not?" I didn't really know what it was about but I'd seen it at Deseret Book at a high price, so when we saw it at Target for really cheap, we thought we'd get it.

Little did we know, that it would turn out be something really great for us to build on.

The story is a little cheesy at times, but the overall message is perfect. I would recommend taking the time to watch this, because everyones marriage should be fireproof. 

Cornbelly's

Awhile ago when I saw a deal for a corn maze on GroopDealz, I knew I couldn't resist. I bought two season passes knowing that we would only have time to go once, but it would be worth it! Little did I know, that there were so many more activities besides the corn maze.

Don't get lost!

I was actually most impressed of the shape of this year's corn maze.

Happy birthday Boy Scouts! 

Jack-O-Lantern Tree

Charlie Brown and Hello Kitty were my favorites. 

THE CREATURE (it was pretty scary going through it's mouth)

On a hayride

Look how tall we are and my creepy eyes

Pedal Go Karts
Kevin sang, "You'll be the Princess and I'll be a toad. I'll follow behind you on Rainbow Road."

And to top it all off, Magleby's award winning chocolate cake

Lots of fun! 

A night of Settlers and Movies

You're probably thinking, well, you've done a post about Settlers of Catan. It just happens to be our favorite game! Or should I say currently because we love playing games together.

Tonight was no exception because Lexi and Trevor came to join in the fun!

Settlements and Cities. We can't wait till we're able to afford the expansion packs like Seafarers (it adds boats to the game).

However in the meantime, it's always great to have friends over for a little competition.

There were also pumpkin chocolate chip cookies involved and some frosted sugar cookies, both were just too good to appear right here. We ate them all before we could get a picture. :)

The evening's entertainment ended with the beginning of "Fiddler on the Roof." We were all singing "Tradition! Tradition!"

Yay for a fun game, friends, cookies, and movie!

Birthday Months Part II

I turned 25!

Wow, I can't believe how time flies. But we all say that, don't we?

25 is really important to me because when I was 18, most of my college friends were 25. They gave me a lot of advice about life and where I should be. I think I'll

take a moment to reflect.

My goals were:

1. serve a mission

2. get married

3. have kids

4. graduate

Well, the top two accomplished. The last two, are on their way. All I can say is that yes, I did learn from those really good friends. Too many of the girls I knew, told me that they hadn't done anything with their life when they were my age. They hadn't graduated yet, and we're waiting for Mr. Right to come around. That made me think that I wanted to experience life as much as possible and not just wait. I figure Mr. Right would come around at the right time! And he did!

I feel like I have done a lot since I was 18 and have grown as well.

I'm happy to say, I'm right on track with my ultimate goals.

For my birthday, I did a little bit of shopping. Kristen has introduced me to a wonderful makeup store. I love makeup and all the fun colors. But it's so hard for me to choose, so when I found this, it was perfect.

I love it. Now, if I feel like wearing blue one day and brown the next, not a problem. I also got a pedicure, decided to be just a little pampered.

After Kevin came home from work, we went to the BEST restaurant, Ghidotti's. It's up in Park City, in the Red Rock shopping center. Everything was perfect. The food, the atmosphere, our waiter and of course, the company.

fancy water

our appetizer (cheese and meats, including duck prosciutto)

It was so good that I forgot to take pictures of our actual meals. Kevin had a mushroom ravioli and I had Veal Marsala.

We also had Creme Brulee for dessert, you can see the remains of it.

When we came home, it was officially time to sing happy birthday!

Red Velvet cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy

Thanks Kevin for spoiling me! It was a great day.

Dolcetti Gelato

This place is amazing! The best gelato place in SLC just opened on 9th and 9th which is right around the corner from where we live. Oh sooo good.

Plus, they have the coolest chandelier piece. I want something like it. I talk about it every time we go there. I love living in such a hip part of town.

Next time we go, I'm taking a pictures.

This picture happens to be from my amazing friend Kelsey's wedding (oh yeah they cater too). Like I said oh sooo good.

Chinese Night

It's not very often that Kevin and I have a night that's open. When we do, it usually gets filled up by one of our families or a friend's wedding. Otherwise, we're usually sitting down to a pile of textbooks and paper trying to do homework. Such is the life of a student.

Sad to say, we've pretty much given up on the concept of a "planned" date night.

However, when talking to Kevin between classes, we realized that we had no homework and no where to rush off to. Kevin thought that a movie at the dollar theater would be a great break from the rush and I agreed.

We ended up seeing the new Karate Kid movie with Jaden Smith.

It was actually really good and didn't follow the original story line from the first Karate Kid. It was more about Kung Fu. I was pretty excited because I love Jaden in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness." I was glad to see that his acting career is continuing as he grows up.

Chinese night happened to be an accident because while we were watching the movie, they happen to eat stir fry noodles. I was pretty hungry and started to crave Chinese food. There's a Panda Express near the dollar theater and I told Kevin about my craving. He laughed and we ate there only because it was getting to be pretty late. I know it's not very authentic, but it handled the craving in the meantime.

It ended up just being Chinese night. Oh soo good are the moments when we can escape from the daily hectic of life.

El Pollo Loco

Whenever I think of foods that I ate too much of on my mission, the first thing to come to mind is always chicken. Lots and lots of chicken. There was one restaurant, however, where I enjoyed eating chicken. El Pollo Loco has the best Mexican grilled chicken that I have found. Needless to say, I was excited when I first saw the franchise that opened up in Utah County.

Tonight, Lisa and I went to try it out. I was not disappointed. Even though it is fairly Americanized (it is in Utah County, after all), it still had the juicy chicken and flavorful salsa I remembered from Monterrey. Good chicken with good memories. At this time when there is so much hardship in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, it's good to have some warm, happy thoughts of time spent there. Que Dios bendiga la gente que sufra del diluvio y de la maldad en Monterrey y Tamaulipas.