Tony and Britt

Halloween

2010-11-07T20:41:00.004-07:00

We went to Boise this year to spend time with the family and to enjoy Halloween with our nieces and nephews. It was also Colby's 30 birthday. We took the kiddos to Grayson's neighborhood who had some fun Halloween events then went to dinner with the fam to celebrate Colby's 30th. Some of the adults went clubbing afterwards and had a good time. Here are some of the pics :)

Family time

2010-10-11T19:39:00.001-06:00

What's been new?

2010-06-10T21:27:00.002-06:00

Nothing really.. We haven't been doing too much. I'm still on my eating healthy kick and I've been feeling better than ever. I have moved on from P90X to Insanity and I love the Insanity workouts even more! I've been a true member of the "Eat Clean Diet" and I have been LOVING every second of it. It's amazing what eating healthy can do for your body.

On to fun news, it was Tony's b-day and we recently had our 3 year wedding anniversary! What an amazing 3 years it's been with Tony! Here are some recent pics. Hope everyone is doing well.

I made it

2010-03-27T19:00:00.003-06:00

I have loved reading my new magazine Oxygen, it is one of the best fitness magazines that I have found! It's motivating and plus it has super "fit" women in it. I am sooo sick of seeing weight loss magazines like Women's Health! I used to be a avid reader of WH but I got soo sick of seeing skinny actresses who either have anorexia or who haven't even graduated high school. Insert Miley Cryus here! I'm sorry but I could care less about a 17 year old who says they eat whatever they want. It's sooo not motivating to read! Oxygen has real women who are crazy about eating healthy, who have children, and who work their butts off to look good! Not only do they put out a killer mag every month they also have a great website with tips! I love their training portion of the site! How motivating!

http://www.oxygenmag.com/training

In this months issue they had a column about rewarding yourself for lost weight! I have always been brought up that rewards are with dessert and I will not be passing this reward on to my children! It's a hard habit to break! Anyways along those lines whenever something good happened in my life I have always awarded myself with an expensive dinner or dessert. Since I am really trying to eat healthy and to change my "Life Style" I thought the tip was written just for me!! The tip was to reward your weight loss goals with fun things! For example every 10 pounds you lose buy yourself something to motivate you to lose the next 10 pounds. Well I am now down 11.5 pounds and every 10 pounds I am rewarding myself with something awesome!! Today we went shopping and this is what I got to motivate me for my next 10 pounds!!

This is what I bought:
A new training mat
New weights 3 and 5 pounds
Weight gloves
A 5 pound weighted ball
A new excersie ball (a smaller version of the one I already have)

I have to say I am thrilled with my purchase and this will only bring more fun to this weeks workouts!

Anyways off for my daily run! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

the good with the bad

2010-03-23T13:33:00.004-06:00

Its been a long time since I have written. Mostly for dumb reasons but I'm doing it now so that's all that matters..

I have been off work for 2 weeks because I got my tousles out. It's been a good/bad thing because sometimes the stress of work gets to me and I find myself being too tired to care about the house cleaning and about getting things done. I was alone most of the 2 weeks which gave me time to think about a new me! Things that I want to do with myself and things that I just want to get done.

1. I want to lose weight. I'm sick of feeling chubby, and I'm sick of the way I feel in my t-shirts! I rarely wear shirts that are tight, and I always cover up my stomach with a sweater or sweatshirt. I'm sick of seeing old pictures of me when I was 120-130 pounds and wishing that I could weigh that again! I'm sick of growing out of my clothes, and having to buy larger ones! That's it, I'm just sick of it, and with the way I have been .. It's time for a change!

Welcome to the new me! The me that has already lost 8 pounds from surgery! The me that will meet my goal and be down to 130 by June, and the old me that will fit into my clothes again!!

Who would have thought that having surgery could really end up being a good thing instead of a bad thing?

2. I want to blog more, more about my life my struggles, and my weight lose goal!
3. I want a stress-free life! I have had time to ponder the important things:

Tony: My man is insanely in love with me. After my surgery he took care of me, brought me flowers to make my day better, cleaned, took Bear out twice a day everyday, and has keep a smile on his face. He keeps me in check when I'm moody, but knows the right things to say when I'm lonely and home sick. He truly is my better half and my best friend.

Bear: He has been sooo stinking cute this whole time I have been home. After Tony takes him for his walk in the morning and kisses me goodbye Bear jumps on the bed to snuggle. He curls up in a ball to fit perfectly around my folded legs. He protects me throughout the day by growling at every person who walks by our place (which he totally does not do when Tony is home). He's been going easy on me when I take him for short walks. With his wet nose he sniffs my nose to wake me up which I happen to think is the cutest thing in the world! He's been such a sweetie

Family and Friends: I'm so blessed to have such a great family to call and check on me even though they knew I couldn't talk for the first week. They sent emails, text, and cards just to make sure I was doing ok. My friend Cheryl came into town to stay with me while Tony worked, my friends Nick and Tracie came over during the day while Tony was busy to keep me company and to watch countless movies with me! My friend Krystal who has texted me almost everyday to keep me sane! It's little acts of kindness that mean the world to me!

4. I want to move home, and to start my own family. That's right I said it, I want my own family! :)

5. Mostly I just want to be happy! The end

We have been busy with PUPPIES!!

2009-11-02T20:21:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that we foster puppies! We have been doing it like crazy! Here are some pics of the cuties we have had at our place!

Families are Forever

2009-11-02T20:12:00.007-07:00

I'm finally learning photoshop. It's a work in progress, but hey I'm trying.

Bridal Pics

2009-08-30T20:57:00.001-06:00

Kaila got her pictures back. Here are a couple pics of the girls

CAWS -- Community Animal Welfare Society

2009-08-16T15:37:00.006-06:00

A couple of days ago on my day off I took Bear to Pets Smart to get his yearly shots. While I was there I met a wonder lady name Margo. Margo is a part of CAWS. They are a society that comes together to help animals in need and have a strict "no kill" policy. They help find animals families. I love animals, and it would be a dream to have a huge house with tons and tons of animals. While I know right now we can't get any more animals, this didn't stop me from trying. :) Margo told me the importance of being a "foster mommy" to puppies when they need homes. Of course I jumped right on that! Tony and I decided that every weekend when we are home that we will bring a puppy home, and be their foster parents for a weekend. We had this cute lil gem this weekend. We named him JR because he is a mini me version of Bear. After spending 2 days with this sweet puppy it was hard to give him back, but I truly feel he will be placed in a good home, and I feel blessed to be a part of this program. I can't wait to see the next puppy we get! So expect to see lots of pics of the puppies we foster!

Lunch with Kendra

2009-08-16T15:33:00.004-06:00

Kendra and her family came to Utah for a weekend, and I was able to sneak in a quick lunch with them! Kendra and I used to get into sooo much trouble together! We finally grew out of that and have families. It's been 2 years since I saw her last! Her kids are stinking cute, and I'm so happy that after all these years we are still friends! Thanks for saving some time for us!

Nicks Wedding

2009-08-16T15:21:00.003-06:00

I have known my friend Nick for years, and I'm so thrilled that Tony and I could be a part of his special day! You guys finally did it!

The Gutter

2009-08-09T14:21:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we went to Boise to vistit Cheryl and Don for his birthday! We feel very blessed to finally get to see them more throughout the year! It's about time! Here are the only pics we took while we were there. LAME I KNOW

We love our Family

2009-08-09T14:11:00.004-06:00

We had a chance to go to the Stark Family Reunion. These will be memories I will never forget! Here's a funny pic of the boys doing a YMCA preformace for us

Here are some pics of my cute nieces and nephew. I love and miss you kiddos!

Audry - Ian's daughter

Katy -- Colby's daughter

Davi -- Ian's daughter

Lil P (Preston) -- Colby's son

V-E-G-A-S!!

2009-08-08T18:15:00.011-06:00

Ya you are seeing right-- We hit Vegas again! This time we had 5 couples meet us in Vegas! It serious was a blast and I recommend EVERY going with 5 couples! We met my Best friend Cheryl and her husband Don in Vegas for a 5 day vacation. Cher and Don live in Spokane so we rarely get to see each other so we planned a trip to play! We also invited our good friends Chris and Rachelle. About a week before we left Grayson, Mike, and her friends Jeff and Alley and Barrett also decided to go. It was so much fun! We will do this again for sure! Next stop Disney World in Jan! Tonys good friends Miller, and Shantay who live in Vegas met us for the Carrot Top show and dinner at ESPN

One of my fave girls-- Rachelle and I rocking the white shades
Pretending to Gamble with my Bff Cher

Tony, Me, Cher, Don

Swimming at MGM

YAY we made our first trip together in YEARS!!

So happy to finally see each other after almost a YEAR!

Striking a pose, and looking different places haha

where has all the time gone??

2009-06-09T18:18:00.007-06:00

I can't believe that May is already over! SOO Sad! We had a very eventful month hence why I haven't been blogging at all! We were gone every weekend but one in May! Here's a high light of what we have been doing!

Trip to Boise # 1

Lagoon with Ash and Steve

Boise Trip #2 Visiting Twin Falls with Chris and Rachelle

Celebrating Memorial day with Tony's mom, and remembering Tony's dad Lee

Sweet embraces

Celebrating our loved ones one day at a time

My little sisters wedding.. SAD she's my baby sister all grown up

Oh ya they made it!

Sisters

Kaila and Drew

My brothers Kailas bachelorette party -- LIMO time

Lake Powell Boating trip

Cliff Jumping -- this is about as crazy as Tony gets

Waking boarding in Powell

Bear rolled in the dirt and this is what we got. A black and Orange dog! :)

Changes

2009-04-25T12:25:00.004-06:00

I GOT BRACES!!

I never got braces when I was younger. So now that I'm 25 I thought I would see what I looked like if I was 16 again.
There you have it! I look 16 again! At least in 18 months I'll have straight teeth!

CHURCH CALLINGS:
Tony and I got a church calling this morning! We are now called to go to the temple 2 times a month, help out with family history and ward temple nights. This calling will be a lot better calling then the calling I was thinking! We normally travel too much during the summer to hold down a calling, so this will be PERFECT! The Lord must know us pretty well to give us this blessing in our lives! We have been saying for awhile that we need to go to the temple more, so now its our calling! So we must do it more than we already do!
Tony and I at the SLC Temple in March

We had the chance to go through the Draper temple with our friend Steve! The temple is brand new, and SOOO amazing!

playing hooky

2009-04-25T12:19:00.002-06:00

So most of you know that Tony and myself work together. I haven't posted in awhile to let you also know that I got a promotion! Tony and I now work in the same department! I got a nice raise and now will have less work on my plate! (LESS STRESS!! YAY) Tony and I also work with another couple who got married about a month after we did. We hang out with Chris and Rachelle almost 2-3 times a week! We love them!

Anyways we all played hooky yesterday! It was so nice to just chill and relax! We went to lunch at Ridezo's an all you can eat Brazilian steak house. We then went to the movies and then they came over after wards for some more fun! We love having them over. Rachelle and I are like twins! We have the same likes and LOVES for sweets! I love it! Finally someone who enjoys junk food as much as I do! Here's some pictures of us at lunch

more family and guests

2009-04-24T22:40:00.009-06:00

We had Tony's mom, Colby, Annie and the kiddos in town next. Tony's mom did not stay with us, but we did have a blast going out to dinners and hanging out. We had the best dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory the day before she left. I personally didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked but it was really nice having her in town! (some day she might move here! at least we keep hoping that)

Most of my time was spent hanging with my brother Colby, his wife Annie, and their 2 children Pres, and Katy! OMG I LOVE those 2 kids. We had quite the packed apartment! It was non stop fun when the moment they got into town! I seriously loved having them in town. The main reason they came was for the Britney Spears concert! Annie and I had gotten tickets in December and have been planning this trip for quite some time. Here are some pics from the concert.

Steve's Baptism

2009-04-24T22:36:00.002-06:00

Tony and I had a great missionary experience with our friend Steve. Tony baptized Steve a member of the church in April! Congrats Steve! By the way Ladies-- Steve is a stud and SINGLE!! haha

Guests

2009-04-24T22:17:00.003-06:00

We've had quite a few guest in town since the last time we wrote. Grayson and Mikey came in the middle of March. We had a really good time. We had some well needed girl time! Thank goodness since we haven't seen each other for awhile. Sadly I didn't take any pics while she was here, but I am grateful for her being able to come!
Spencer,Theressa and Jarell were in town a week after. They came for Jarell's spring break. They were here for a week and brought their dog Takara with them so Bear had a friend to play with. We had such a good time with them here! We took them to their first pro-basketball game! Jarelly LOVED D-Will!!

Concert Week-- Rascal Flats, Mc Hammer and Vanilla Ice

2009-02-28T22:03:00.004-07:00

So I have to admit that this week was wayyy to long on the record books. It was the end of the month so I had crazy work to get done! Wayy to much working for my own good might i add! Although the week was long, it was also very eventful! For V-day we decided not to spend money going out to dinner to a nice place, but instead spending it on something fun for the both of us. We bought Rascal Flats and Jessica Simpson concert tickets for me, then a week later bought Mc Hammer and Vanilla Ice concert tickets for Tony's present! It just so happened that the concerts were a day apart. So talk about staying up late and going to work the next :) Rascal Flats put on a great show and I had such a good time. Tony even liked them! Which is awesome because he HATES country! So it was a pleasant surprise that he actually enjoyed himself. We double dated with the Foldmo's. I was really bummed because my camera battery went dead about 2 mins after they took the stage, but here are some of the pics we got.

So Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer put on the Best show!! It seriously was a blast to feel young again. I remember being super young and listening to those guys because of my brothers. Tony also grew up listening to them so it was the coolest thing for him to get to see them as well. The concert started a 9pm and by 12:30 we were soo tired that we called it a night even though they weren't close to finishing the show. I know were a lame old married couple, but we did work that day and were up till about 12:30 the night before with the other concert.

So Mc, and Ice hadn't been on a stage for 18 years, and UVU was the only place that the 2 were playing at. I guess some promoter had called them and asked if they would be willing to do a concert. Who knows how long they pleaded and begged for that. Needless to say the concert was jam packed and had kids everywhere! We did take some pictures and videos. The videos are small so Tony did post them on YouTube. Once they are uploaded I will post the link! That is something you will want to watch I promise! Anyways Hammer still has his moves and sounds great, and Ice well he should stick to his old stuff because I'm not a huge fan of his new music. Overall it was a great ending to a crapy work week! (don't worry I still am VERY grateful for my job)
This was about a hour before the show. Once they hit the stage this room doubled with people!Love my glasses line!

V-day and our big Boise trip

2009-02-21T22:30:00.005-07:00

So I have to brag about Tony for a second here! I have the BEST husband in the world. Tony surprised me on Feb 13th with a beautiful boutique of lilies and Gerber Daisy's. These flowers and exact colors happened to be our wedding flowers! Tony is seriously the sweetest husband in the world, and I am truly grateful for all that he does for me. V-day for me always happened to be a sore subject. I always tended to date the guys who hated that day and never wanted to do anything special. Boy am i glad I married Tony. Because he truly knows how to treat a women!

Our V-day this year was a bit different than the others we had shared. Our first V-day together we got engaged, our second we had a romantic dinner and watched a romantic chick flick. This year was a little bit different than married couples without kids would do. We spent our V-day weekend in Boise with my family. Due to some family matters we felt strongly that we needed to be in town to spend some time with my family. As you can tell I was NOT going to leave my flowers at home for the weekend! So I brought them on the 5 hour drive. (needless to say they were quite annoying to drive with but they survived and smelt great all weekend)

We left on Friday and we stayed with Spencer, Theressa and their son Jarell! Bear and their dog Takara have a blast together! We spent some time shopping, and went to out dinner.

On V-day we actually decided it would be fun to invite all my brothers and sisters to a fun dome for the kids. This way all the adults could talk and enjoy each other while the kids played in the dome. After we got there we realized how much fun that dome really is. Because soon we were jumping around on the toys too! The guys in the fam didn't have as much fun as us girls, but I surely did. Here are some pics of us at the fun dome!

We spent from Friday-Tuesday in Boise! It was sooooo nice to be home, and now I'm horribly homesick to come back! Oh by the way everyone! Makaila and her BF Drew are engaged! Congrads you two! They are thinking about getting married on June 6th! So that means I'm going back to Boise the first weekend in March! YAY!

Why not blog when your sick

2009-01-26T16:51:00.010-07:00

I've been home 4 days in a row with a nasty cold. BUMMER.. Needless to say this weekend was full of sleep and not much more. Last weekend was a blast and I didn't blog about the best part! 4 wheeling in the snow is a BLAST!! I have to admit that I'm not the best 4 wheeler when it comes to snow. I'm a wuss, but at least it was fun! Here are some pics of the events.

Tonight is also my Monday TV night. I have quite an obsession with Gossip Girl, True Beauty, and the Bachelor. I've never followed the bachelor, but this season I am hooked! So you can only guess what I'm doing tonight! haha

Hanging with my hunky husband

2009-01-17T17:06:00.009-07:00

So I've made a goal to blog more. They will be short and to the point I think, but hey at least I'm writing right? So today Tony and I went for a brisk run this morning. I've made it a goal to get healthy and getting healthy starts with eating better and running. Hence I am trying to do both. I have been drinking a lot of this protein. I know most of you are saying nasty, gross I can't believe you drink that crap.. Seriously this stuff has 2 carbs, and 26 grams of protein! That's like a miracle for protein drinks! I've made it a goal to workout at least 4 days a week.. I'm going to start Yoga with Terah tomorrow. I'm going to do Yoga for 30 days in hopes that this gets me ready for Boot Camp. Ok seriously not the boot camp you are thinking. This is a hard core workout boot camp designed to get you into shape, and hopefully to help me build some muscles! (everyone should know I'm weak) So i'll let you know the updates and how the Yoga is going. I'm pretty good at never finishing things I start. It's funny but I feel like the character in "what happens in vegas." If you haven't seen it, the guy in the movie (Aston Kutcher) is known for not finishing things he starts. At the end of the movie he finishes some projects that he has started and wins the girl back. So this year I'm not going to wait till the end of my movie or life as I would like to think. I will finish the goals I start!

Today Tony and I also went to the Utah Auto car show. We are going to get a Honda CRV sometime soon. We wanted to check out all the other mini suv's and awd cars out there. While at the car show Tony found the replacement car for the CRV. It just happens to be a bit out of our budget. Sorry Babe!

Thanks for the great day Honey!

30 days without Soda!!

2009-01-15T21:10:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow marks the 30th day that I have been without Soda!! I hate a LOVE hate relationship with Dr. Pepper. I am proud to say that I have resisted since I started a bet with my co-workers. I was chatting it up with a buddy from work about new years resolutions and thinking about what goals I want to make for 2009. It was Dec.18th, Rob and I decided we were going to start by giving up a vice a bit early. We then decided that this could be a motivation if we made it a bet. (keep in mind that Rob and I are very competitive people). We decided to put 20 bucks on the table for the first person to give in and drink a soda. A few of my other co-workers wanted in on this bet. It went from 20 dollars to 50 bucks that fast! The first 2 weeks were hard, but now it seems like i can forever live without it!

I also founded a walking club with some girl friends from work. We go walking on our breaks and lunch. It's been so nice and actually enjoyable! Since I have started walking at work it gives me more energy through out the day and has helped me to have the strength to run (instead of walk) after work with Bear. Now it's getting to the point where Bear gets tired and tells me he's had enough. I have made it a goal to start working out at least 5 days a week! Terah and I will be joining another yoga class starting on Monday!

I also wanted to thank you Terah! You seriously have been so uplifting and such an inspiration for me! It's been a year since we started hanging out and I wouldn't trade it for the world! It's been awesome to look back and reflect on how much we have grown as friends and how much we have been able to help each other through our trials! Thanks for walking with me 3 times a day and putting up with my complaining haha! Love ya girlee!

Love makes us go around

2009-01-11T20:40:00.010-07:00

Sorry that me and Tony have been so lame. It's been a little weird and crazy busy around here! Were finally back into normal life again and I am quite excited for a day off on Monday! We had a BLAST in Vegas and I can't wait to go back! Tony was so sweet and had the whole thing planned. We saw 2 vegas shows including KA by Cirque du Soleil. It was the most amazing show I have ever seen. A must see if you go! We also went to a variety show at Planet Hollywood. Tony got to be a star! They had him come up on stage with a funny mask on his face. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Tony is in the wrong business for sure!! That weekend went by far to fast! We always have a blast together even if its on a short trip with a 5 hour drive. Here's some pics from our trip. Enjoy!

Of course we had to take pictures by eBay.

After our Vegas trip we headed to Montana for Christmas! We enjoyed Tony's mom and were able to relax for a couple of days!

Were back to work now planning our next big trip. I'm taking Tony somewhere special for his birthday in June. I can't wait.

It's been a little crazy around here

2008-12-09T20:41:00.011-07:00

It's been awhile since we have written! Sorry fam! Things have been crazy busy! First to recap everything that has been happening in our lifes! We played in the turkey bowl in November. We started out on different teams, but I blended with his team to get second place!

Next we had our first snow storm! UGH!! I hate the snow, but sad to say my cute dog loves it! Bear had a blast playing in the snow, and enjoyed every second of it

Next we enjoyed going to Boise for Thanksgiving! Almost everyone from the fam was there expect for Spencer. I am excited that we got to see him before we left tho. We had a great time and I wouldn't have traded it for anything! We had a really good time cooking and enjoying each others company!

So after we got back we had the pleasure of giving Bear a bath. I had to post these pics because he's so dang cute. I couldn't resist!So now we are up to speed with our past month. I'm excited to announce that I FINALLY found out where we are going for my birthday trip. Tony planned a trip to VEGAS!! I'm so excited because I have never been. We leave on Thursday so wish us luck! Be prepared to see lots of pics from our trip!

I also want to tell everyone how much I love my best friend, and husband! This week also marks the 2nd year we have been together. On Dec 5th, 2006 Tony was driving home from a friends wedding in Vegas and we talked the full 5 hours on the phone. He rushed over to my place, and we had "the talk" (just one month after meeting). Not only did we have the "I'm not going to date anyone else talk," but we also had the "I've prayed about it talk and I know you are my future husband talk" I'm so thankful that 2 years ago Tony took a chance on me, and that his mother raised him to take care of a woman! I love my hunk more than anything, and I'm excited to the years to come! Love you hun! Here's a few pics of the beginning!

We went to a haunted house

2008-10-30T21:58:00.004-06:00

We went to a haunted house with our friends the Jewkes. It was a blast! Tony is tougher than I thought because he didn't scream at all!! HAHA love you honey!

Dugans Surprise Party and Apartment Updates

2008-10-25T23:09:00.011-06:00

Last night we went to the Dugans house. Our friend Dawn threw a surprise party for her hubby Andrew. We had so much fun!

Silly string and the big surprise

Terah and I decorated

Me and Tony stealing some alone time

The kissing dip.. It was hot!
Some of Tony's Best Buds

Happy birthday Dugan! It couldn't have been a better night.

Today me and Tony went to Bed Bath and Beyond. We went for a table cloth and came home with 300 bucks of goodies! I don't know how I got away with that??!!?? Tony must have been in a good mood today. We changed our colors in our apartment. We had cream, green and black. Today we took out the green, and put that in our master bedroom. We added maroon! We got a new a new rug, new curtains, new table settings, and new pillows for the couch. It looks so much better! Tony and I got pretty frustrated with each other when we put up the curtains. I had this ideal look in my head of what I wanted them to look like, however I had not the slightest clue how to put them up. We ended up only using part of the curtains instead of everything we bought. The place looks update now.

I got super home sick today when decorating. I would have loved to have my mom and my sisters help me, but i guess when we move to Boise that hey can help decorate our house! I miss you all and can't wait to see everyone! By the way we will be home for Thanksgiving! We are planning on being there for about a week! Hope everyone makes time for us!

just a sunday

2008-10-19T14:36:00.011-06:00

Two of my favorite things to blog about! Tony and Bear! We went to the park today! The weather was perfect today so we went to Murray Park. We go to the park every day to give Bear his walk but today I brought my camera to take a few new pics! This one of Tony and Bear is my fav!

I thought these pictures were cute, and reminded me of being gone. Bear stayed with my parents while we were in the Philippines. He enjoyed 6 full weeks of scaring cats, chasing them, and terrorising them enough to never want to come inside again. Bear is quite harmless, but I guess when you see 90 pounds of dog running full sprint after you I guess someone would think differently. We we got home about 2 weeks ago and couldn't wait to see Bear. Bear sleeps on the side of our bed and as soon as the alarm goes off Bear is there to put his 2 front legs on our bed to snuggle in as close as he can get without getting on the bed. We sure missed that while we were gone. When we got back we were greeted with kisses from Bear. Now that changed! Bear NEVER gives kisses, so that was something new to get used to. I guess Bear missed us so much, and now kisses us everyday and every second he can. (maybe he thinks that if he uses a little tongue that we will never leave again...hahaha)

A part of Tony is sold--
The day we got back we sold Tony's Mazda 3. Were keeping my Mazda 6 but we decided that since we carpool to work, and never drive his car that it was time to drop a car payment. Before we left we bought a little junker car. When I say junker, I don't just mean a slightly older car. I mean a JUNKER! We bought a 87 Camry, that drives like a champ! Now were 280$ richer each month!

Since we sold the car, we realized that we spent wayyy too much on going out to eat and entertainment! We have limited ourselves to going out to 1 movie a month, and one fun dinner a month. So different from the every weekend movie and dinner date! We also started eating all organic food. I know were weird. Tony loves to cook, I GOT LUCKY! So he's been cooking up some great meals lately! I know my hubby ROCKS!

JAZZ GAME

2008-10-12T21:22:00.005-06:00

Me and Tony share quite a few things in common. One of the many loves we share is the love for Basketball! We love going to watch Utah Jazz games. Tony would prefer to watch the game at home on our tv where he can relax and not deal with the traffic, but me on the other hand I LOVE going. Tony will take me when we can! We went to our first game this season. Jazz against the Suns! All I have to say is that SHAQ is HUGE!! We met our friend Terah and her date Dennis for the game!

The end of our Philippines Journey

2008-10-10T22:08:00.018-06:00

I thought I would update this blog with some new pictures. We ended the summer with a 6 aweek trip to the Philippines. I am truly grateful for my life, my husband and my family! It's sooo good to be home, words can't even express! Although it feels a bit weird to come back to normal life, it's wonderful to be back in a place where I understand all the language. Me and Tony got back from the 30 hour flight on Friday Oct. 4th. I haven't had a chance to unpack my bags and settle in just yet, but I'm slowly getting there. Here are a ton of pics. I wasn't the best at updating my blog while I was gone, so here it is! This will highlight the last 2 weeks of our trip, and some pictures of the hotel, and the people, and the cool things we saw along the way!

HOTEL PICS

Day trip!
The last week we were there we got a chance to visit a place called the chocolate hills! We took a 2 hour ferry ride to get there. This place is no doubt going to be named one of the 7 wonders of the world! It's beautiful, and I could spend my whole life exploring that place. The chocolate hills was made from coral deposits.

We also had a chance to meet little monkeys! I can't tell you how cute these little things are!! They sleep with their eyes open so that they can scare away their pray. These little fellas are also on the endangered species list :(

We also had a chance to visit the floating bridge. Now for those who know me best know that I am not afraid to try "high risk" activities. I have to say that this had to be the scariest thing I have ever done! I think back to all those movies that someone fails through the bridge and falls into the water. Now this wouldn't be the end of my life if I had, but who knows whats in that water. The bridge stood about 50 ft above the water and was made of only bamboo. Talk about intense!
The last thing stop on that trip was lunch on a floating boat. It was a blast. The food wasn't my favorite, but it was still cool to be able to experience it!

On our way back to the ferry we had one more stop! The driver told us that this church was the oldest church in all of the Philippines. It was massively huge, and had too many different colors to look at!

The end of the day ended with us taking the ferry back! We couldn't keep out eyes open for most of the way back, so here are the pics of us leaving in the am.

This ended our day trip to the beautiful chocolate hills!

SAILING

I had never been sailing before, and I got a chance to go a week before we left! What a blast that was! I did however almost die when I fell off. I always seem to like to push myself to the limit, so when we started going really really fast, it started sinking. I ended up in the water holding on with one arm. Thank goodness I have arms of steel! I also tried to stand up in the front. HMM maybe not the best option I sometimes forget that I don't have the best balance.

Our Classes

We had such a blast going and wouldn't trade this trip for anything. The main reason we went was to train these wonderful people. These are the teams that I spent the last 6 weeks with. These people are truly amazing and I will never forget the fun times Tony and I had teaching!

flying to the Philippines sucks

2008-10-03T17:28:00.004-06:00

I thought since I was bored in the airport that I would write a bit about our long flight. First off I would never ever wish this flight on anyone.. It's really really long! Good thing this trip was free! hehe.. anyways It's been almost 24 hours, and were still not home, we have 2 more stops! Can't wait. I can't wait to see my family, my cute dog, and to get back to normal life at work.. wait everything is changing so theres not going to be anything normal there. anyways were about ready to board the flight, so I'm off.. I never want to get on another airplane in my life..

Sight seeing and more in Cebu!

2008-09-13T18:25:00.024-06:00

Our third weekend in Cebu started with getting home from work at 7am in the morning. We went to the breakfast buffet that we eat at every morning and bumped into a old friend and co-worker who is working the day shift here. Brian and I had gone to the same mission in the Philippines 10 years ago, and luckily enough we are here in Cebu at the same time. He let us know that the morning crew had planned on going out and seeing the sites after breakfast. Now usually it sounds like a good plan, but since we had just got done working the night shift Britt and I had to think long and hard about going with them. Because we felt that it was such a good opportunity we couldn't pass it up and went! The trip started at 12:30pm.

Our first stop on the trip was at a local guitar factory. The Allegre guitar factory is known worldwide for its skilled workmanship. It was amazing to think that all the guitars that we saw are all hand made! Some of the backs of these guitars are also carved out of one piece of wood as well to give them a "rounded" look and a different sound as well. This place had any type of guitar that you could think of, and had a nice classic look to their products as well. Some of their high end guitars had shells embedded in the face of the guitar. How high end do you ask? Their top end was close to 80,000.00 pesos, or around $1,800.00 dollars!

The second stop on our trip was at a old fort in downtown Cebu. This fort was first built by the Spanish back in the 1600's or so. Since Magellan found and landed on Cebu island back in 1521 Cebu was used as a gateway for all Spanish traders and its military in Asia. The fort was built in a very unique way. Instead of building it like a square that we all know of like the Alamo in Texas, the Spanish built this fort in a form of a triangle, since it was easier to defend the points and walls that way. The fort also had relics from an old Spanish trading ship that was sunk by the Dutch back in the 1600s around the island of Luzon. According to our tour guide, back in 1992 our friend "Jacques Cousteau" explored this wreckage and was able to find and retrieve sunken treasures and pieces of this vessel which he then turned over to the Philippine authorites. Although we were not able to take pictures of the things that they found, they did retrieve actual pieces of china bowls and plates that dated back to the 1600s that were hand painted! The workmanship of this type of china is something that people would be thousands of dollars for now, even if they could find it!

As we were shopping at their "tourist trap" stores that they had there we came across quite a unique fellow who sang there. Here is a little video of this unique blind fellow.

Here are a couple more pics from the fort:

Our third stop was at the Taoist temple. This temple is set back in the hills of Cebu city. Ironically Cebu city also has their own "Beverly Hills" as well and yes just like the US it is reserved for the ridiculously rich! Around the Taoist temple there were huge houses that would make people in the States jealous! The journey to the temple was quite an undertaking. You had about 3 to 4 levels of steps to go up before you even got the doorway of the temple.

Once you were finally at the temple the scenery of the city was great! Additionally, the temple's architecture was something out of a sweet old Kung fu movie! There were vibrant colors and the carvings were amazing! Unfortunately we didn't get to see any monks or anything but we did get to see a little piece of the Asian culture that resides here.

After the Taoist temple and step climbing workout we just finished we were all hungry. We went to a upscale traditional Filipino restaraunt for dinner. I got the traditional beef stake that they prepare here, but my lovely wife decided to step outside of her comfort zone and get the "grilled pork belly". Suprisingly, the pork belly was very welled grilled and prepared! There were big pieces of fat connected to the meat but that didn't stop Britt! She savored all of her entree and finished off her meal with one of our favorite drinks, the traditional Mango shake!!

Our last stop took us to the birthplace of the Philippines for the Spanish! We went to visit one of the oldest churches here in the Philippines and also got to see where Magellan erected the first Christian Cross in the Philippines. When we got to the church we did not realize that a Catholic mass was going at the same time, so we were able to some of the church but not as much as we would have liked. However, it did show us how important religion is to the people here, and that after 500+ years they still revere their Christian faith that was brought to them from Spain.

After the church we decided to call it a day. It was about 6:30pm and all of us were tired and ready to go home. Although our co-workers that we accompanied were just as tired we were, Britt and I had been awake for close to 23 hours before we called it a night! Although we were really tired at the end, we were extremely happy that we decided to go!

Stay tuned! More Filipino fun to come!

Our first week in the Philippines

2008-08-31T05:57:00.000-06:00

Sorry this is going to be a long blog! I haven't blogged for awhile so there is going to be some massive writing here!
So many of you know that me and Tony are in the Philippines working! We will be here a total of 43 days! This first week has been quite hard on me. We had to leave our dog Bear (for those who are reading this know that bear bears is our life)!! SAD, but from what I hear he's doing really well at my parents house!

This picture pretty much tells the story of our first week!!

Here is a quick summary of our week:
We started our journey with a 28 hour flight! I would have taken pics but boy did I look like a train wreck! It wouldn't have been a good picture.

We lost a day during the flight, and it still feels weird a week later!

When we landed I instantly felt the humidity like I never have before. I thought Washington DC was bad, but boy does DC have nothing on the Philippines!

On the drive from the airport to our hotel I realized I was on a different planet!! I always thought of myself as a crazy driver, but I would die in a heart beat if i tried to drive here. It's not so much that the traffic is bad, it's more or less that the traffic is always moving and people are passing you on the right and the left hand side with little or no room and in the lane of the on coming traffic. There are only about 2 street lights in the city, and most people drive as they please. They don't seem to care about the lines on the road because no one follows them. I'll be taking videos of this soon! It's a site you shouldn't miss!

Our hotel is amazing! Our hotel has it's own private beach.

Out of the 5 days we have been here we have been snorkeling 3 times. It's more or less quite a addiction. (Heck wouldn't it be for you if it was only 6 bucks a day?) Our hotel does a fish feeding every morning. So we have tons and tons of salt water fish that are super close and very friendly.

Our hotel is surround by a garden. This place is sooo green, and every plant is beautiful. Something you would never see in the states!

Lastly the people. From the second we drove into town I have thanked God for putting me in the United States, and always wonder why I was so lucky to live where I do and to have the life I have. The people here are amazing, and so humble. They basically live on next to nothing and live in small hunts for houses. As a group last night we walked the streets to a local market. Along the way we saw some families who didn't have houses to sleep in and slept on the side walks and in the grass. I saw poverty like I ever have before. This journey has opened my eyes, and daily makes me realize how grateful I am for what I have.

I guess this post isn't going to be as long as I thought. I look forward to writing more during this week because this upcoming week we are really going to explore the city instead of our hotel. haha.

Day one without Tony :(

2008-07-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

It's funny how you can miss someone so fast. Most couples would hate doing what me and Tony do everyday. With the exception of this past couple of weeks Tony and myself live, work, and play 24 hours a day with each other. Our day starts with getting ready to go to work at the same time, and then car pooling into work. Usually during the day we try to fit in a well needed break from work and meet up to talk about whats the latest gossip and who is doing what that day. The work day ends with us carpooling home to take Bear for a walk. After our walk we eat dinner and watch our favorite shows together. About 10:00 rolls around and we are off to bed to start yet another day. Now I know most couples couldn't stand to do what me and Tony do, but it seems to work out just fine for us. Heck it's already been a year! To get to my point I miss it! He's been on his well earned month off and it's been hard not to stay in bed every morning to snuggle and to go to bed while he gets to stay up late.

Many of you who know me best know that I HATE to be alone!! Tony left today to go visit with his mom in Big Fork. I hate the fact that I have to be home by myself, but even worse that he took Bear! Not only am I missing my hubby, but the dog too. When Bear and I were just home by ourselves last time Tony was away I would make Bear sleep on the bed with me at night. I know I know it's gross to have a dog sleep in your bed, but hey Bear is a cuddle box so I was not as lonely.

I guess this could turn out to be a good thing because now I will have plenty of time to watch all my favorite shows on Tivo that I have been sadly neglecting!

I got home from work today thinking I'm really tired all I want to do is take off my pants, put on some jammies and I just want to veg! I got a ice bar out of the freezer and popped onto the leather couch that I secretly HATE. After finishing my ice cream bar and my first re-run of Law and Order SVU I got up to wash my face so I could relax even more. Little did I know that my sweet husband had left me a note on my mirror. AWWWW.. What a great way to end my day.

I had started the tradition soon after getting married. It started with a note on his mirror, and now every time I go on a trip without him I would leave a goodbye note on his bathroom mirror or on the computer screen or on his pillow. Tony seems to like the tradition and now has left his first note for me :)

Our life as of now

2008-07-28T18:46:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone who is reading this blog! It's our first post! We decided to start a blog since we will be leaving for the Philippines soon! We wanted to have something up for our family and friends! We want to share our journey with you!

So far me and Tony have been married a little over a year and couldn't be any happier! We got married on May 26. 2007 in the Boise Idaho temple! This year has been crazy and we are enjoying life as it comes! We work for eBay and actually met in a training class. It was love at first site for me, and after our first date I knew Tony was the one I was supposed to marry! About 3 dates later Tony and I set a date to get married. (I don't think Tony knew what he was getting his self into)

We live and work in Murray Utah. Hopefully some day hoping to live a bit closer to family and friends! About 8 months after we were married we adopted a dog who we named Bear! What a sweet heart he is! He loves going to boating and LOVES to chase cats! He is such a sweet dog and our family wouldn't be the same without him!