1,2,3.....Mexico!

Last week we hopped on a plane for our first vacation out of the country...we didn't prepare much besides booking the flight and hotel and packing our bags. Truthfully we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into at all.

I loved that scene in Sex and the City when Charlotte 'Picoopsy'd' in her pants because she accidentally swallowed some of the Mexican water. But the water was the least of our problems...our rude awakening was that not only did our cell phones cost an arm and a leg to use but when we got to our room we had no wireless internet and 2 double beds. We were shocked for a while as we stood on the freezing cold tile floor of our room...can we do this? No facebook, no phones, no email, no tivo, should we push the beds together?

The good thing about Cozumel is that these worldly things are quickly forgotten. No joke this place was amazing. There is no concept of time, an abundance of food, bikini bars, great new friends, and gorgeous views of the ocean. We pretty much laid around getting tan while trying to learn Spanish with, get this, absolutely no worries about anything. This was a much needed relaxing trip for the both of us.
Some quotes/things that I want to remember from our trip.
Imagine the following with a strong Spanish accent:
"Tequila is for la cabeza, comprende?" the guy that made us really strong margaritas right when we first arrived...
"Honeymooners?" everyone's first question for us :)
"Hola, skinny-mini," a girl downtown trying to compliment me so I would buy jewelry.
"Okie-Dokie & Skake it, Shake it but don't break it," quotes from our favorite bartender at the bikini bar. Read more...

Oh 4/15 where are you?

April may be the cruelest month...(well and January, February, and March...) Busy season is really kicking my butt this time around. I spend endless hours staring at the computer doing endless amounts of work! Help! I love it when I think I am wrapping up and I am told I have to do JUST one more thing before I leave and its already 9 p.m.!! That 1 hour a night I spend on my couch just isn't satisfying me anymore. No joke when I get home sometimes this is my night: late dinner, then plop on the couch because I am so exhausted, then I climb into bed to wake up to do it all over again.

I'm missing out on all those simple pleasures in life...like 2-day weekends, watching LOST, doing the laundry once a week, leaving the office when its light outside, putting my relationships first, homecooked meals, yoga class (okay so I never went to yoga class but if I wanted to I wouldn't have time).

I literally had to sell my soul yesterday to leave at 5:30 to go to a Nationals baseball game. Tanner really wanted me to go with him and it wasn't until about 5 p.m. that my fate was finally decided and we found out Tanner would not be going stag. By the way I am really lucky to have such an understanding husband...It was such an amazing night even though the Nats didn't win. It was perfect weather for a baseball game and I made sure to really enjoy every minute.

The good news is April 15th lies just around the corner and soon there will be many more wonderful nights like these. Sometimes I need to step back and realize that yes my job is tasking on me and my personal life at certain times of the year. But also realize that I am lucky to have a job during these tough times when others do not, I am getting great experiences and I am building an outstanding resume even if it does come with a few tear-stained late nights. Read more...

American Idol: Rolling Stones week

Tanner and I have been really into American Idol this year. We watch every single episode religiously and analyze all of the contestants and of course cast our votes (when we remember since we can't text in until Utah is done watching with our 435 cell phones). Its a fun thing to do together that we really enjoy especially since I have a limited amount of time at home these days because of tax season.

I would have to say that Rolling Stones week had some of the most memorable performances. I wanted to post videos of our two favorite contestants: Lee Dewyze and Didi Benami. They are awesome! Enjoy.

Lee Dewyze - Beast of Burden


Didi Benami - Play with Fire
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Did you know....?

Did everyone except me know that there is a real name for those little fuzzies that collect on your blankets and clothing sometimes? There is also an official name for that crazy jigga-jagga stuff on the side of the highway that vibrates your entire car and body from the inside out to warn you when you are going off the side of the road. My friend Jen lead me to the following websites in order to prove to me there are actual names for these two words.

Pilling - http://missourifamilies.org/quick/materialqa/material13.htm

Rumble Strip - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_strip

I guess you learn something new everyday. Read more...

It's 2010!

I know its like March 2010 but never got around to posting anything from New Year's Eve until now...better late than never I guess.

We usually ride the Metro when we know the city is going to be crazy and we might have a tough time finding parking. But this is my public announcement stating that I will no longer be a passenger on the Metro. Maybe I'm getting a bit too extreme, I'll lay out the case.

6:30 p.m. We are pulling out of the driveway, dressed to the nines and stoked for the New Year's Eve events that are about to transpire. Mind you, we have 30 miles to travel in total.

7:00 p.m. We arrive at the Metro station and are at a dead sprint as soon as we get out of the car. (Our new practice at the station, since it seems we usually get to the landing as the train is pulling away.)

7:17 p.m. And we wait...for 17 minutes until the train merrily screeches to a halt and we jump on from the bitter cold landing that is outside. Since there is so many people trying to get into the city I thought that they would run on the rush hour schedule. Absolutely not.

8:30 p.m. 2 hours, 15 stops, and 30 miles later it was finally time for the amazing part of the night! We arrived a little more than fashionably late to Capital Grille. We had dinner and a few Stoli Oli's with Zimmerman and friends and then headed over to George of Georgetown where my friend was the bartender. Believe me this was a good thing. Click below to read more and to see a few photos from the night.1 a.m. The bottom right photo is the look on mine and Paul's face when Tanner said it was time to go home.

I think I should preface the next few lines with I think the metro has a vendetta against us. Since we rode the metro to DC we obviously planned to ride it home. We climbed on that grumbling metro car only to be hit with the sudden pang to pee. We had ridden for quite a while but we only had four stops left. Could we make it? NOOO! So we decided that we would just jump off at the next stop, pee, and hop back on the next train that came by.

Note to self: NEVER ride the metro again!

2 a.m. This quick little jump off, hop on turned into search for a bathroom, seeing people making out near the bathroom (gross) to keep warm since it was like 5 degrees at the stop, use of the most awful bathroom I have ever seen in real life, running up the broken escalator to simply stand in the cold waiting for nearly an hour for the next train to come by. We were chatting through chattering teeth(me with bare legs and a dress) but trying to make light of the whole situation. I would have to say one of the highlights of this little escapade was when small, teary-eyed Vietnamese man who had earlier offered us a cigarette at the stop secretly was cuddling against Tanner once we got on the overflowing train. Oh yeah and when that girl was throwing up all over the floor and her own hands right near the door, the classic I am asleep standing up guy, and the guy that was laughing and talking while holding up his brother who was passed out drunk. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point. So we just laughed and talked about how this would never happen in Utah.

4:00 a.m. We finally climbed into bed while making our new year's resolution to never ride the metro into the city again. Since it sure doesn't make traveling any sort of a convenience although I have to give it some credit, it does provide for some interesting stories. Happy New Year! Read more...

Shutterfly

One of my favorite things to do is scrapbook. When you think scrapbook you probably think craft room with a table covered in colored papers, stacks of photos, and well in my case a mess. I have tried a couple times in my life to pick up scrapbooking but it never really panned out for me. I would spend hundreds of dollars in scrapbook essentials that got used for a few projects and ended up piling up in a box.

And then one day I fell upon shutterfly.com and I had a complete change of heart. Can I just say, I love shutterfly and I am not kidding. I can finally sit down and put a book together with all of our photos and memories without having to be too creative and without spending all that money on wasted supplies. It's addicting I can promise you that. I wanted my mom and sis to see some of pages from my most recent creation so here ya go :)

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Tanner talks GDE on the District Dish

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Have a H.A.R.T.

We spent the day volunteering for HART (Homeless Animals Rescue Team). As soon as we got to the adoption event we were each handed a leash and sent on our way to try to get our pups adopted. Tanner was given a pitbull/lab mix named Minka. She had quite a powerful bark, that Minka, I got it directly into my ear at one point and I feel like my ear is still ringing. My border collie Jenner, which we decided to call Bruce, was a such a lover. He wanted to greet every dog and every person that he could. It was so adorable.Good news is someone applied to adopt Jenner. It was so exciting to meet the potential adopters and spend the afternoon with them while they got to know Jenner better at the back of Petco. Every once in a while Tanner would walk Minka back to where we were and each time I saw her I felt like she was maturing a little bit. She just needed someone to put their foot down with her but also show her some love. By the end of the day she was hardly barking at all. The three hours spent with these pups was freaking exhauting but so rewarding. Read more...

Be My Valentine

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Good Morning :)

This morning I woke up early and went to Lifetime, which just so happens to be the best gym on the earth sans the outrageous amount of Mariah Carey throwbacks they share with us. I swear I saw Mariah in a bikini in 2 different music videos and also heard her screeching 2 or 3 other times during the course of my morning.

Anyway, I was having this amazing morning. I was so into my workout that I didn't want to stop. Those squats and box jumps were somehow enjoyable today. But when the clock struck 7:15 a.m. I had to go downstairs to shower. And if you know me you know that I for some reason really hate to shower. I do it because its the socially acceptable thing to do but I despise it - I hate being wet and cold, I hate shaving, I hate blow-drying my thick, ridiculous hair - I just flat out hate it. But today was different.

There I was basking in the rain of the shower thinking "Wow, this really is an amazing shower experience. My day is just so wonderf..." and then there goes my razor. Drop. Smack. The head of the razor goes shooting off into the unknown. Shit I really wanted/needed that razor. So, I grab a towel and leave my wonderful shower - with the water streaming full blast - on a hunt. I walk down the aisle of showers in the direction I imagined the razor head would have landed. It is nowhere in sight. I was just about to crouch to get a good look at the floor but then decide against it since I am in the community shower and crouching near the stalls might be awkward and frowned upon. So I stood there helpless, dripping wet and ready to give up. I trudged back to my shower and then I saw it. My razor was gleaming in the fluorescent lights in a shower stall in the opposite direction of where I was searching. Yes!!! I don't know why this was so important to me, but it was, and now I was back to my good morning.

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