A Wyoming weekend

For Thanksgiving we headed up to Wyoming where Mike is from. If I ever feel the need to see my husband in his happiest moment, all I have to do is suggest a trip up there. His bags are packed and usually in the trunk of the car before I even begin to decide what to bring. And by the time we're back home again, he acts like he's punished and doomed to remain in the city for the rest of his life. We had a good time with his family. I had my first experience of actually going to the mountains to pick out our Christmas tree and cutting it down, instead of going to a grocery store parking lot and finding one, or even pulling out the old fake one from the basement. It was freezing cold, (which is why I didn't bother with a camera) and as soon as I found one that would fit the part that thing was chopped down and in the back of the pickup before I knew it. We also cut off the boughs from the bottom of the tree, so I'm going to attempt making my own wreath for the front door. I'll post pictures if it turns out halfway decent! I should add one more thing to my thankful list: Wyoming- for making my husband SO happy.

Thankful

Lately, I see a lot of people who've been 'tagged' and post random things about themselves that people may or may not know about them. Well, I'm putting my own little twist on that idea, and I'm going to talk about a few random things that I'm thankful for. And if you feeling like doing the same thing, consider yourself tagged.

1. Dick's bakery bread. There is a small grocery store up the street from where I live in Bountiful. Their bakery bread is amazing. They bake it fresh in the store, and slice it up and put it in their own little bread bags. I don't think I will every be able to go back to WonderBread, or any other brand. Someday, when Mike and I leave our Bountiful home, this is one thing that will devastate me leaving behind.

2. Healthy cars! Its a record! We bought both of our used cars 2 years ago (Mike's going on 18yrs), and we've gone 2 years without a single problem, and without a single experience of being stranded on the side of the road. With my luck, 2 years is a miracle. Thank you Toyota.

3. Slippers. I hate walking barefoot. I hate the feeling of a cold hard floor, crums, or even the feeling of carpet beneath my feet. I love my slippers and I pack them for roadtrips and vacations. Where ever I go, they go.

4. I'm thankful I "jumped". For our first date, Mike called me up and asked me to go snowshoeing. We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake and he showed me how to hike with showshoes. As we were hiking, we came to a cliff probably 20 feet high. Mike ran past me, flew off the cliff, and slid the whole way down and landed a soft landing at the bottom. Afterwards, he looked up at me and spread his arms out and said "JUMP!" I remember thinking to myself "is he INSANE?" I was scared to death and I really didn't want to jump. But, after a few minutes gathering up enough courage, I jumped. (and made a fool of myself to go with it). Weeks later after we were seriously dating, Mike told me his standard 1st date was snowshoeing, and he never took a girl out again who wouldn't jump because he wanted someone he could have fun with. I'm grateful I married someone I could have fun with. He's made my life better than I could ever have imagined.

I LOVE house projects

One of my favorite things about owning a house is the projects. I remember all too well the ugly brown carpet, and the plain-white walls of our old apartment and wishing SO bad I could tear out the carpet and splash a little color on the walls. But of course I couldn't because it wasn't mine to change. This weekend, Mike and I finally finished our latest project on our house...the front door! Because of our busy schedules, it took us about 2 months total to finish about a 2 days job. But we finally put the hinges back on the door for the last time. I know our house isn't the newest by any means, in fact it was built in 1955, but there's something about taking something thats a little outdated, and not in the best of shape, then fixing it up and taking a step back and admiring your work. I know I may not have these thoughts forever, but I am honestly grateful that I have a older home, because what fun would a brand new home be without any projects to work on?

I took this picture this summer, our front door had a storm door on it that I couldn't stand. It wouldn't open up all the way, and it would always slam into your butt on your way in. (Especially when you're carrying groceries)

I know the door frame looks finished in the picture, but I was actually putting on the 2nd of 3 coats of paint on it.

Finished product. This is actually the same old door that was hidden behind the storm door. It just needed a little paint and a new doorknob and voila'. Its amazing how something so simple can give the whole house a facelift. Now we just have to decide what we're going to do next....?

Yo hablo Espanol

We had a fabulous time in Mexico. We went on a cruise and stopped in 4 cities along the Mexican Riviera. Acapulco, Zihuantenajo, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. What an eye opener! I have never been out of the US before, and it was amazing the difference our two countries are. Mexico is BEAUTIFUL in nature, but horribly ugly in buildings, stores, streets, ect. Everyone drives insane, and all the cars are a hunk of junk. The mexican food was awesome, and thats suprised me because I'm not a huge fan of Americanized Mexican food. Mike loved speaking spanish with the locals. And I think they were relieved to find an American that they could communicate with. (Most of them being because they could sell their stuff easier). Here are a few pictures to show of some of the highlights.

This is us on the beach in Cabo San Lucas. I have never been in ocean water so warm before! We went snorkeling, which made us both sick to our stomachs, and Mike actually lost his breakfast over. The water that day was really choppy, which made our bodies (stomachs) move up and down with the motion of the waves. I think the next time I go snorkeling its going to have to be in a quiet little bay.

On the Beach in Acapulco. You can see our cruise ship in the background.

Looking at the ocean on the ship.

We went zip lining in Puerto Vallarta. There were 10 lines. The highest being 500 feet up, the longest being almost 1/2 mile long. Knowing me, I was a little wary at first, thinking "Okay we are in Mexico, how reliable are these lines?" But it was awesome and no one got hurt. :)

One of Acapulco's famous sight-seeing stop's is the Acapulco divers. They dive 135 feet into the ocean. Here's a picture with them.
Here's a video to give you an idea of what they did. CRAZY.