Two Thousand Eleven in Review

Dear 2011, 


You've marked the craziest year of our lives. Here's to our top moments of 2011.


January


One class closer to an elementary teaching license for me.  Another hill skied for Justin.

February


Randi and I hosted the first bunco night.  We were too excited/busy that we didn't take a single photo, but here we are prepping for the big night.  Thanks to our new Our Best Bites purchase, we were set for a great Valentine's Day theme.

March


Cat skiing in British Columbia for the original Casperson crew, ski school for the new one.

April


Weekend getaway to the Grand

May


Couples trip to Park City

June


Celebrated our one year anniversary

July


Skied on the fourth of July.

We flew to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for my best friend's wedding.

August


Hall/Casperson reunion in the Sawtooths

September


LOTOJA.  206 miles, 3 states, 10,000 feet gained, 13 hours...check!

We flew to Lubbock, Texas to visit our best friends for my birthday weekend.

October


Ran the Ragnar Relay with friends in Vegas...Riley and Tyson pretty much sum up our feelings on the last leg of the race.

November


Casperson thanksgiving trip to Kauai.

We announced that baby Casperson would be joining us in May!

December


Dallin left on his mission to Salta, Argentina.

2012, you have some pretty big shoes to fill.

Quarter

On Thursday I celebrated my 25th birthday. That's right...a quarter of a century.  So i'm old.  I am coming to grips with it.

To ease my aging mind, Justin treated me with my favorite cake, Jere Cake.  This isn't just a cake in a box, it's quite the process--but well worth it!  He went to the store and bought round cake pans and all.  When I walked in from school there it was on a cake stand and looked fabulous!  Friends and neighbors came over to help us eat it.

On my actual birthday, I flew to Lubbock, Texas to spend the weekend with Randi and Tyson.  {Post to come}

My birthday was great and a day that I will never forget!  I so am excited to see what this next year has in store...  Thank you friends, family, and students for making my quarter turn not seem so bad.

Wilson Philips

.Wilson Philips.

A couple of weeks ago, the Salt Lake County Fair brought the 90's out of us.  Wilson Philips was the guest of the night.  Chels and I have been jamming to their songs with our moms since we were just kiddos.  The guys, on the other hand....enjoyed our dance moves and their footlong corn dogs.  In case you don't remember the ladies of Wilson Philips, let me bring you back to memory lane.

Perhaps this song will ring a bell?

Thanks for the tickets, Chels!

Hace Calor

In July we dusted off our passports and headed to Mexico for Pashley's wedding.  It was nice to be with our amigos where technology and time never mattered.

We spent the week:

- watching two love birds tie the knot

- eating fish tacos--which were heavenly

- playing a lot of Yahtzee 

- pool games--categories with Britney Spears songs, chicken fights, handstand contests, etc.

- catching some waves

- sharing a room with Jackson and Jill--where we witnessed the invention of the breathe right nose strip

- lighting lanterns

- scooter-ing around

- an attempted fishing trip

- being eaten by mosquitos--22 on just my left leg--are you impressed?

...and...

sweating.

{"Hace calor!" was frequently used.}

We stayed in a little beach town called Salyuita.  Ash and Pat got married in a gorgeous villa overlooking the ocean--we're talkin' Bachelor fantasy suites beautiful.  We are so happy for the Giles and are grateful for the invite.  

Thanks friends, for a great trip!  Let's do it again sometime...perhaps to Asia?

Weekend Getaway

A few weekends ago...

...5 couples...

packed up the cars and headed to Park City for a weekend getaway.

We ate a week's worth of food in 48 hours. We made sure that we took advantage of different restaurants and ate a lot of pizza, ice cream, hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, chips...the list goes on and on.

Burned a hole in the wallet...

Note:  The buffet table was purchased at Pier 1 Imports for 80% off!!!

After a long, hard day of shopping and eating we played a game of "Would You Rather?" and soaked in the hot tub.

The next day we took a stroll downtown before we headed home.

Weekend getaways are always so nice!  Can't wait for our next one...

A Grand Weekend

We had a GRAND weekend!  I am one lucky girl to have the people I do in my life.  This weekend was a perfect one full of friends, favorite things, surprises, and spoiled-ness.

We kicked off the weekend in Brigham City to meet up with some of my favorite people, Chels and Em.  I miss those two, and many others, like crazy and wish we still lived on the same block!  We've come a long way since our days in Kampus Korner...ones that will never be forgotten.

The dates

The girls

Justin planned a little getaway to Salt Lake on Saturday.  I had no idea we were going anywhere until Friday night.  I was so surprised when he told me that we were going to the Grand America.  I have always wanted to stay there.  This hotel is overwhelmingly gorgeous!

On Saturday morning we woke up and headed down to Park City to start the day with a little shopping at the famous PC outlets.  He totally gets me.  I spent the majority of my time grabbing adorable spring clothes in the J Crew Outlet, while Justin opted for biking gear at Pearl Izumi.  You can guess who spent more. Hint: white bag.

After an afternoon of shopping we headed to Salt Lake and checked in to the Grand America Hotel.  So gorgeous!  We checked out the place then headed to Zupa's for dinner.  He scored points all weekend!  When we got back there was an amazing jazz band that was playing near the lobby which we enjoyed for a while.  I wanted to get up and slow dance but there was no chance of that with this guy.  

The Grand America pool was probably the most glamourous pool I've ever been to.  When have you ever seen chandeliers in the pool area?  I felt like I should have worn an elaborate bathing suit or something. 

We came back to our room with chocolate gifts and a turned down bed.  Royal treatment, I tell ya!

Sunday morning at the Grand America = Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch is SO delicious!  We filled ourselves with crepes, omelets, fruit tarts, crab legs, shrimp, sushi, french toast, croissants, cheesecake.  Let's just say we ate all the calories allowed for the day by 11:00 am.  SO worth it though.  I can't wait to go back!

The view from our balcony.  I didn't want to leave.  Our stay at the Grand America was so fun!

Grand America Lobby.  The perfect finish to a great weekend!  I have always wanted to stay at the Grand America, it reminds me of the New York Plaza.  A definite place to stay on my bucket list.  We had so much fun just hanging out together.  Thanks to my wonderful husband who filled this weekend with my favorite things!

Wait, is it really Monday tomorrow?

Food, Glorious Food

Just finished an episode of Chopped: All Stars this evening.  If you know what this means then we've got something in common.

A love for food.

I've always been a lover of food and when I was introduced to this blog a couple of months ago...well let's just say it's replaced the Facebook time. {Good thing or bad thing?}  I LOVE it!  The pictures, recipes, crafts, tutorials, blog layout are great.  If you haven't browsed the site before, give one recipe a try.  I promise you'll be hooked!

So thank you Sara Wells and Kate Jones for making Randi and I two very happy girls today!

I never thought I would get this excited about a cookbook but it is well worth the grin.  Let the cooking/baking/eating...begin!

She did it!

It's one of the worst feelings in the world when someone tells you that something is wrong.  This past summer one of my best friends received some terrible news.  As a friend, I didn't know how to help her, but she was strong and never complained.  Here's to a girl who I've always admired.  She did it!

Randi Dawn

After some seriously disappointing news...

8 months of treatment

Hundreds of miles traveling

 2 doctors

Many tubes of blood drawn

Plenty of tears

Countless prayers

...beat cancer...