SNOW....

It's the days when it takes me 75 minutes to get to work (10 miles away) that I really wonder why I live in Utah...

Here's the view from our porch.....
Here's the 7 day forecast - I'm really excited for Saturday 7* for the high and then Sunday's low -14*, wow it'll be great, let me tell you ...

This is what the freeway seemed like every day this week.

I wish we were here again-

Christmas Fun & Family Gatherings!

I'm glad to announce that this handsome man above me recently celebrated another year of life! If you can't see the resemblance this is my dad Terry. A man that has brought much happiness to my life, and I'm excited to tell you that for all of his hard work he will celebrate something today that most dad's never get! His entire family will be entering the temple today!!! My youngest sister Jamie is getting married in January and so that means everyone will be there together for the 1st Time!!! Congratulations Dad! You are a great example!

Theses two pictures are of us enjoying the Christmas Feast at the Country Club (Rachel's Grandparents) as you can see there is a ton of food and some amazing desserts! Make sure to notice the incredible ice sculpture of The Grinch and His Reindeer!

We also had the chance to attend the Motab Christmas with speical performer Brian Stokes Mitchell. It was absolutely incredible!

And of course we would be remissed if we didn't wish the best to Andy and his wife McKay! They recently got married, you can see the pic with all the cousins as well! It was a great day! And Elder Hafen did their sealing, which was marvelous!

Congrats to Johnny Hatch!

Yesterday Johnny Hatch married Becky Woolstenhulme in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple! Ty & Johnny have been good friends for a few years now and it was great to see him so happy! He's such a great guy and deserves the best so we're glad he and Becky found eachother! It was fun to go their reception and see the happy couple and our other friends we hadn't seen for a while.

Of course Tyler wanted him to be prepared for the honeymoon, so he left a little treat in the limo!

Catching up

So the past few weeks have been adventurous.. Tyler has gone on a few trips doing interviews for jobs (San Jose & Dallas) and law schools (Arizona), Rachel has been working hard (CVB), and we've done some fun things around town and over Thanksgiving Break. We drove down on Wednesday to make it for Mama Joan's BDAY

The day before we left we also had a chance to celebrate Sarah Morris' wedding at the SLC Temple. She looked beautiful and it was so exciting to see another good friend get married!

In Arizona, Tyler was happy golfing everyday, and Rach did some shopping with mom and also got to attend a Suns Game! Unfortunately, no Steve Nash = no Win.

On our drive home we actually met outside of Page, AZ with Rachel's Brother Michael (Who just had to go to Utah to go snowboarding with his buddies over Thanksgiving Break!) A classic pic!

We were driving up to Utah and they were driving back to AZ .. met at mile marker 12.. check out the Dam Bar & Grill in the background!

And last night, we went to the Festival of Tress - Rachel's company had done a tree so we got some discount tickets. It was amazing to see the quantity of trees that people had donated to the event. Our favorite tree is the all blown glass tree you'll see below. It sold for 26k!!! There was also a Twilight tree that had presents for each one of the characters underneath.. very creative.. there was also a rivalry (BYU v Utah) tree. It was a great night!

And of course, we have to congratulate the Utah fans, it was fun being up in the Scholarship Box.. we met the U President, Athletic Director, and spotted multiple Utah celebs (Gov. Huntsman, Orrin Hatch, Bob Bennett, Elder Wirthlin who went out on top!, and others..) Here is a pic of Rach and the grandparents in the SEA of RED. Good times!

Inner Turmoil

So a few weeks ago Rachel's grandparents made my wishes come true!! Nana (Rachel's grandma) called up and told us that she had received a letter from the Crimson Club that some of their most supportive members were receiving a chance to buy tickets. Not just any tickets mind you, but Crimson Club Tickets on the 45 yard line!!!!

Needless to say, I was drueling profusely on news of this opportunity!! To make it even better we found out that we would have the chance to come up to the President's Box for the Pregame Meal and enjoy a beautiful feast... the condition... I would have to wear RED!!! Normally what I would consider an unthinkable task. But i acquiesced and figured even if I had to pretend to be cheering on the outside for the Utes my inner Cougar would rather be at the game then not at all. So pretty much I'm gonna be cheering along with this guy. Amazing picture!!

But really I AM HOPING THAT THIS HAPPENS!!!

GO COUGS!!

Probably the best intersection ever...

So as many of you know, Tyler and I recently left Utah County and now live in Salt Lake County. While it's only 5 miles north of our previous "dwelling" we've had to do some adjusting.

First, BYU fans are not the norm as they were down South. Our aparment complex and ward seem to be split Utah/BYU fans 50/50. We have to be careful what we say, especially since we're speaking in church the day after the big game...

Second, we actually smell smoke on a near daily basis... not something we were used to in Happy Valley.

Third, it's not quite so easy to drive down to Provo/American Fork to go shopping or to eat out. So... we've ventured northward, in the Draper/Sandy areas - and let me tell you, we haven't been dissapointed! Especially with this happenin spot...













Just East of South Towne Mall - there is the BEST selection of quick restaruants in one area I've ever seen!!

The following spots all share the same parking lot:

Paradise Bakery (none in Utah County) - best soups, sandwiches, salads, cookies!
Pei Wei (none in Utah County) - PF Changs to go
Rumbi - Tyler and I went on our first date here!
Costa Vida - Utah Classic
Chipotle (none in Utah County) - Burritos the size of a small child
Five Guys Burgers and Fries (None in Utah County...yet!) - In'N'Out From the East Coast (gone high class) Tyler's dad also happens to be working for these "guys"


Can you say wow?? These are probably my top fast dining spots in the country and they're all together!!


Even those out of Utah should appreciate that...

Number Eight Tag!

Number Eight Tag (Thanks Brittany - sorry it took me a while to respond with it!!)

8 TV shows I Love to watch:
1. The Office
2. LOST
3. Seinfeld
4. American Idol
5. So You Think You Can Dance
6. Extreme Home Makeover
7.
8. (I haven't really had TV at home since May... so that's about it haha we're currently enjoying netflix)

8 Places I Love to eat:

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Melting Pot
3. PF Changs
4. Carrabas
5. Macaroni Grill
6. Paradise Bakery
7. Cafe Rio
8. Outback

8 Things that Happened Yesterday:
1. woke up to discover a winter wonderland outside, it snowed all night!
2. drove to work in the snow, didn't get there til 9 - traffic was terrible!
3. had a really productive day at work
4. Tyler and I went to PF Changs for dinner with Jason, Meradith, and Jay in Provo
5. visited the Jennings family
6. visited Paige
7. cuddled with Tyler
8. turned on the heater for the first time this season

8 Things I love about Fall:
1. My Birthday, then Tyler's 12 days later!
2. Carving Pumpkins
3. Eating Candy Corn
4. Halloween night!
5. Seeing everyone's crazy and creative costumes
6. The leaves changing colors
7. Wearing sweaters
8. And...the fact that it leads up to Christmas!!!

8 Things on my Wish List:

1. To raise a family
2. To continue to act cute with my husband til we're old & gray
3. Have healthy kids
4. Get a raise/bonus at the end of the year....
5. Jim and Pam from the office to get married!!
6. Not as much snow as last year in Utah
7. travel to Europe again :-)
8. Go to Tahiti with my husband on some anniversary in the future

8 People I am tagging:

1. Hillary D.
2. Jill F.
3. Aarean J.
4. Candace F.
5. Annie S.
6. Chelsey E.
7. Ashley S.
8. Whitney L.

Is this fair??

So right now Tyler is here ....

He's at the Suns game with my mom and brothers down in Phoenix!! It's the first home game of the season and he's just there watching MY favorite team!!

And what is Rachel doing?? Well lately I've been looking a little like this ....

























I've just been staying late at work, stressing out because I have a crazy client whose CFO just resigned this week! So I'm trying to work with the 75 year old attorney across the country who doesn't use computers to get their financial statements filed with the SEC. Oh and I'm pretty much by myself becuase my manager is hunting elk and the partner on the job is in China!!!

Well actually I hope you had fun tonight Tyler - you deserved a fun night like this! (I'm a little jealous, but i'll get over it)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

carving day

FHE - decided it was time to carve a pumpkin together.. found out two things:

1. Tyler is skilled with a blade
2. Rachel loves gooey pumpkin juice (Tyler doesn't)

Not pictured, but enjoyable were the pumpkin cookies and pizookies we ate for dessert!!!

We decided that the most appropriate thing to carve into our pumpkin would be the namesakes first letter!! Kind of pathetic.. but we aren't that creative..

GOLF DAY!

So I don't know if anyone in Utah noticed, but the weather was amazing on Saturday!! After the scare we had during Tyler's birthday weekend with the white stuff outside in October (way too early!!!), it was great to have 70 degree temperatures again!! And what better way to spend the afternoon than at the golf course! Ok I can't believe I just said that, I'm typically not the most supportive when Tyler dissapears for hours on a Saturday... but this time was different because it was just the two of us!!

Tyler got a new bag, putter, balls, and glove for his birthday - so he just had to try them out!!

We went to Sleepy Ridge in Orem and it was really pretty! I must admit, most of my time was spent taking action shots of Ty, but I had a good time!

I tried to look like I knew what I was doing, but my running shoes with khaki capris didn't really give me much hope.....

I did a little bit of putting, and didn't do so bad! Tyler wants me to say the following: "Rachel is a natural putter, born to do wonderful things with the flat stick!! I will be taking her on my next four-man scramble." ...whatever that means...

We played nine holes and it actually went by faster than I thought ... maybe next year we'll even do 18?? Ok maybe not, "now don't get crazy" But Tyler is a great golfer!!

I tried to take videos, but as soon as the camera was rolling Ty would mess up or I wouldn't have the timing right... So finally on hole 17 I got a good swing!!

I also gained appreciation for those golf camera guys on TV, how the heck do they follow that ball through the air!!! I tried and I tried but I could never find it haha. So, if you can see the ball in this shot, you're better than me. It went straight though, so it shouldn't be too hard...

Tyler's Birthday!!!

From one birthday to the next!!! Sunday was Tyler's birthday and we had a great time! We actually turned the whole weekend in to a birthday celebration! Friday night we went to Cheesecake Factory and we tried a new kind of cheesecake - Carrot Cake Cheesecake - it was actually reallly good!




Then Saturday Ty went to the BYU game and it didn't snow!! That night we had Jennings family barbeque which turned out to be a crazy dance party. No pictures were taken to protect the innocent...

They got some Cougar Club food before the game - thanks to the hookup from Uncle Sherm!


I love my husband so much, we had a happy birthday together!! Most of his presents centered around golf, which made him happy. He's got a new bag and putter so he'll be ready to hit the links during our winter Arizona get-aways!

New Place and Presenting .......

As promised, here are some pics of the new place....





And as of today ... the Jennings family gets a new brother-in-law!

Jamie Jennings (the youngest Jennings) is getting married to Nick Hansen in January!! We were over at the house when he proposed, so exciting!!