Pumpkin Carving

We had fun carving our pumpkins tonight.  Nothing quite like turning on Pandora Halloween Radio, listening to a variety of music including: Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney's Haunted Mansion ride soundtrack, Told the Witch Doctor, Devil Went Down to Georgia, Monster Mash, Thriller, among many other classic Halloween songs, and digging out pumpkin guts. I think they turned out pretty cute.  Happy week of Halloween!

International Rose Test Garden

It is still so strange to me that we can drive to downtown Portland in 20 minutes.  After a long week, JD and I went to the International Rose Test Gardens for a change of scenery before he spent the rest of his Saturday studying.  It was overcast and cool, a very welcome change from the 100 degree sunny weather we have had the past week.  We had fun walking around taking pictures, sniffing roses, and looking at the names of all the different roses.  They have everything from Fragrant Cloud to Betty Boop to Ketchup and Mustard.  I was a fan of the Octoberfest Roses (second ones down on the left), and that was even before I knew what they were named.  It was a quick get away and it was fantastic.

07-08-09

Today is our 3 year anniversary!  We have had so much fun together the past three years, it is kind of crazy to think about.  We have been to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, Utah, California, and Idaho.  Disneyland 3 times.  We have gone to 10 National Parks.  We have attended 23 different temples, after this week it will be 24 or 25.  I have graduated three times and JD twice since getting married.  We have graduated from institute.  We have dealt with a pulmonary embolism, and that recovery.  Applications, interviews, and acceptances to pharmacy schools and now we are getting ready to move.

I am so grateful for my best friend that I can adventure with and experience all of these exciting things with. He encourages me in all I set my mind to and is always there to help me.  I like to think that we make each other better.  Happy anniversary!

Archery World Cup 2012

We went and watched part of the compound finals for the Archery World Cup today, it was VERY VERY hot, but fun watching some, now official, 2012 olympic athletes compete for the World Cup gold.  This is probably the last time that the Cup will come to Ogden, we have great memories from all three years that it has been here.

Mesa Falls, Rexburg, & Home

 Unfortunately, vacations wouldn't be vacations if they never ended.  So today we headed home, but we are not into the boring, just drive home idea. One year we drove through Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson, and the Teton Scenic byway, this year we did the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway.  It was SO pretty!  I can't remember being there when it was so sunny to the point that you could see multiple rainbows off of the falls.  We went to Rexburg and explored our favorite stores: Artco & Porter's.  We found some cute deals, stopped at the temple, and then continued on our way home.  We had so much fun!  We relaxed, explored, photographed, napped, read, cooked, stoked fires, hiked, walked, 'hunted' moose, drove, talked, laughed, and had an amazing time.  I am grateful to have such a great kindred spirit for a friend. 

Marigold Hotel

JD & I were invited to go to a movie about India with his grandparents yesterday.  I was under the initial impression that it was going to be something of a documentary on the country.  On our way there, however, JD mentioned it was a flower hotel or something of that nature.  Having been a fan of Masterpiece Classic's Downton Abbey, I suddenly knew exactly what we were about to attend: a coming of age movie for people entering retirement.  JD and I were by far the youngest people present, and what ensued was hilarious.  Any time a character side whispered or said anything, there would be at least two people who would go, "what did they say?!?" followed by a loud translation.  It was just a funny, random experience all around. Movie was...interesting, but it was fun to see its depiction of India.

In a nutshell....

Mahna Mahna

Upon arriving home JD asked me, are you going to blog about what we just saw? I answered yes.

We went to the new Muppet Movie, and I LOVED IT. It was super cute and very true to the Muppets. I loved the cameos, story line, the songs-particularly Am I a Man or a Muppet?-it was just fun. I laughed a lot as did all of the other adults that came to the movie. Seriously I think there was one kid total present the rest were older people, and we did all laugh.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I got a tour of the Barker Fish Farm yesterday and it was SO cool! I felt like a little kid on a field trip. It was fascinating to see him gather the eggs, process them, and to see the result in all of his tanks. Fish farmers now have to sterilize their fish, to do so they take the eggs they have collected and stick them in a hollow tube. Pressure equal to two full size cars is then applied to the eggs changing their chromosomes so that they are trisometric=can not breed. He said the containers in the top right picture contain about 50,000 of these eggs each, so can kind of see them in the clear containers, but the black ones have them too. If you ever have the opportunity to have a tour of a fish farm, I highly recommend it.

Four Way Chess

"It is not just a battle anymore.....It is war!"

It also takes about 2 1/2 hours to finish.

Cooking with Mushrooms

I am not ashamed to say that I absolutely hate cooking. I hate timing things, waiting, making a mess, and then having to clean it all up. This opinion has left me completely clueless on how to make anything 'advanced'=different. I got brave this week and bought some fresh mushrooms at Costco planning on using them in some different dishes until I went to use them and encountered a problem: I have no clue how to prepare or cook fresh mushrooms. I just have to say that I love youtube when such problems arise. I had JD look it up and in a matter of seconds we had a lovely 2 minute tutorial on mushroom preparation such as did you know you shouldn't rinse them under water? I know that now. Youtube has also come in handy in cleaning shower drains and looking up intrathoracic procedures for closing PFO's. So here is to youtube....and fresh mushrooms.

Light and Airy

Have you ever had something happen in which stress that you didn't even know you had, and that was entirely consuming you is suddenly gone and you feel light and airy and happy and calm and peaceful? I have. It's nice. -I PASSED MY RADIATION THERAPY BOARDS!!!!

Salt Lake Day 2

Day 2 began with the Hogle Zoo. I will admit I have always hated this place; I thought the animals were sad. Feeling this way, I don't think I have been there since I was in junior high. It was SO much better! The animals weren't pacing, the compounds were nice, and the 'lands' were fantastic. It was a much better than expected stop.Red Butte gardens were beautiful! We had fun walking around the different themed gardens and enjoying the water features. We spent a lot more time there than what we planned on, and I wouldn't be surprised if we go back, even without a Connect Pass.

We ate lunch at Crown Burger and then went back up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. This activity was 'ok'. I actually do like going to art museums, this one just felt like it was trying too hard. There were a few pieces that stuck out and their current display was from an artist that had a lot of work in the Layton, Ogden, Huntsville areas circa the Great Depression, so that was kind of fun to see buildings I recognized in the art work. On a whole, I probably could have done without this attraction, but it was new and now we know.

Our day ended at the Gateway with a dome film in the Clark Planetarium and a quick walk through of the Discovery Gateway. Just a warning, if you don't have kids, they think you are a threat and you have to hand in your ID before entering. That was kind of strange.

Another fun day, but I am tired, we were going to try to add in a couple more things, but there was no way, maybe if the sun and heat were a little less intense. We did a lot of fun things and saw some fun stuff. The best part was being with JD and not having to worry about O Chem. Day 3 happens today so more to come of our vacation in Utah.

Goodbye O Chem

So JD is officially finished with organic chemistry and what a happy thing it is! He has been working so hard on these two-seven week courses and has done remarkably well. True, there are just a few weeks off at this point and true there will be more fun to come next semester, but this doesn't matter though because these classes are DONE, forever. We have a week planned for playing and spending time together; it has already been fun just going to bed at the same time, going on walks, and doing things other than study. HAPPY DAY!

Archery World Cup 2011

JD and I went to the Archery World Cup finals for Recurve tonight. It was fantastic as always. This year brought a lot more people with it. It was fun to see Brady Ellison and his pink bow shoot once again, he managed 3 gold medals tonight and is amazing to watch. India was also in most of the finals which made JD happy too. If you can, you should definately come out tomorrow night for the Compound events. Lindquist Field in Ogden, 6-10, free admission, free raffle entry with a chance to win a Disneyland vacation. We hope to see you there!