7.28.2007

Baseball, Friends, and Beach!

This week John and I invited a new couple that moved into our apartment complex to a Buffalo Bisons Game. The Buffalo Bisons are a triple A baseball team here in Buffalo. Garrett and Jamie will be first year dental students, (well actually just Garrett) they live really close to us, are in our ward, and are newly married just like us, (yes, I know its been over a year and a half but we are still newly weds, right??). My hospital hooked me up with free bison tickets, and free hot dog and soda tickets, so it was a pretty cheap date. It was a good game, I think. . . We chatted most of the time, so it was hard to pay attention, but it was fun. They even had a great firework show at the end. We could not end our night without enjoying a yummy cone from Anderson's.
John and I hosted the missionaries for dinner Wednesday night, I made some yummy orange cashew chicken stir fry, and ended the night with a fun game of Bocce Ball. Okay, the missionaries have beat us twice now!! That is not a good sign, we thought they would be an easy team to beat!
John and I also enjoyed a fun game night at our friends house. We went over to Kristen and Aaron's house,they have been in Colorado most of the summer, so it was great to see them and their growing boy! Chase is so cute! We invited Garrett and Jamie too. It was fun playing Would you Rather, Apples to Apples, snacking and chatting until the early morning!!

We also enjoyed an afternoon at Crystal beach with friends! It is always fun to soak up the sun! We played some volleyball and of course enjoyed some yummy food, all the ladies out here are such great cooks! I am always impressed! (not a real pic, sorry)

We are now looking forward to our upcoming vacations. For John it is Arizona and California, and for me it is just California!(the sacrifices I make as a working woman) We are so excited!

7.22.2007

Taylor Fun in BUFF

MaryAnne and Jordan Taylor (John's mom and brother) came out to spend some time with us in Buffalo. First of all, they were lucky to have some nice weather. We moved here last year at this same time and it was humid, hot, and nasty. This year its been so nice and cool and not too humid! I will try and recap a few of the many fun things we did!
(remember how I mentioned I love to plan vacations and fun things to do, well we did maybe half! Surprise surprise)

* Palmyra pagenant- A beautiful night to enjoy such a wonderful pagenant. It truly is amazing, the story that is portrayed and the spirit felt.




* Amish Town- Bonnets, jam, rugs, chairs, cheese, all handmade! It was quite an experience! Several horse and buggies were seen! The amish were very nice, and they made some beautiful rugs, for a reasonable price too!



* Crystal Beach- It was a Beautiful day, the warm sun, cool breeze, even sand volleyball and a picnic. We enjoyed hanging out on the beach with family!




* A few days in Toronto!- A yummy high class tappenyaki restaurant! They had flames tricks and the whole shebang!

Not the mention the food was absolutely fantastic! We spent our time enjoying the city. A harbor boat tour out to the islands, walks down to the water, St Lawerance marketplace, the CN tower and Rogers Center!




* Yummy food- Original Pancake House, Duff's wings, and El Palenque! Not to mention the cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, chocolate peanut butter bars, rice krispy's homemade fruit salsa, and homemade hummus that I made! ( wow, time to get back to the gym after those treats!)

* Guitar Hero- The one video game I enjoy playing and watching! I love it! We had tons of fun, competitions and everything!



*Playing games together, having a sleepover under the huge fort we made, and just spending time together!!

I can't believe the summer is about over. I am so not ready to have John gone all day! Time to soak up our time together. And enjoy our last vacation coming up soon to San Diego before the start of Dental school for John!

7.10.2007

My Blue Collar Worker

A list of John's prior jobs:
* valet
* test driver for volkswagon
* telephone interpreter
*dental lab boy
* gymastics coach
( we can't forget the first job at Taco bell, or pizza delivery boy)
Notice the lack of manual labor skilled jobs in John's resume.
Since John has not been too busy these last few weeks with no school and me still having to work,
he has sunk to a new low. . . . MANUAL LABOR.
John has complained about a sore back, muscle aches, and look at those ankles.
Is that a nice farmers tan or is he just really dirty?
Yep, that is right, John comes home after a long day of roofing in the hot sun, with those sexy ankles. I send him straight to the shower! I have been calling him my blue collar worker. John is glad he is going to school so he will never have to rely on Manual Labor!

7.06.2007

America the Beautiful

Happy 4th of July to Everyone! When I think of July 4th, I think of great food, BBQ's, nice sunny weather, family and friends, fireworks, and a great patriotic feeling! Well, this fourth of july was a little different but I was able to enjoy a few of those traditions.
I was kind of nervous because my first day back to work was on the 4th of July, after 5 days off, so I was kinda dreading it. But it was a surprisingly nice day, kinda slow and quiet, plus getting paid time and a half, allowed me to be okay about being there. John enjoyed a nice BBQ with friends. Since I was not able to make it, I supplied some treats, some cute little mini cupcakes. They look a little cuter than they tasted, I am struggling to find a homemade cupcake recipe that is really moist! If you can help, let me know!

Throughout the day it was gray, gloomy skies and rainy, all day long, I was thinking that the fireworks were cancelled, but amazingly they did not cancel the shows, so no sunny hot days here on the 4th, but cool and gray ones!
After work, John and I met up with some friends for a firework production over a small lake near campus. It was very fun to hang out with family (John's cousins) and friends! We enjoyed the cool night and lovely firework production. The show featured several new types of fireworks that I hadn't seen before. I tried to take a few pics, but the pics do not give justice to the great show.

After the show, it already being quite late, being that it is still light here at 9:30pm, we came home, not to go to bed, but to pull out some fireworks that we had stashed. Yes, fireworks are illegal, but that didn't seem to stop John. We lit off a few, and hid, to watch them explode.
Happy Fourth of July to All!!

7.03.2007

Camping with Racoons a.k.a.- Racoon Ranch


Monday afternoon after we got back home from the temple we decided to pack up and go camping. Since it was not a planned trip we gathered up what little camping stuff we have, and headed out. We were on our way to Allegany state park, it is about an hour and a half drive. I was so exicted, I love to camp, and to hang out with John out in the beautiful park and camp would be awesome. We made it there, and picked out the perfect spot. First, I must say Allegany is so beautful. There is a pretty lake, with people fishing and boating, a large picnic area with courts, and grills.
What beautiful trees, Huh! This is the view from our campsite.
I know it looks crazy, John got an energy drink, and I had to taste!! Needless to say, we were high on caffeine all night!
There are also cabins to rent and of course camping. The green trees and cool breeze made me even more excited. Our campsite was pretty secluded, trees surrounded us, which was a good thing, because we slept under the stars. That is right, no tent for us. We really were roughing it! People had campers, tents, even DISH network, but us, nothing but some blankets, and each other. Let's just say we were in survival mode. not only did we survive, but we had a blast. That night, we took a little hike, and started the fire.
John gettting the fire started!
We had packed some nice tin foil dinners, that we threw in the fire. Isn't it weird how things seem to taste better when you are camping? . Enjoying chicken with some veggies around a warm fire, John said it was a highlight! We also brought some stuff to make Smores. We enjoyed our night chatting under the stars, keeping warm by the fire.
I know, it doesn't look to appetizing, but it tasted so much better than it looked!
John enjoying his Smore!
I forgot to mention as we were checking in, there were signs, notifying us of black bear sightings in the park, and warnings and what not. I was getting a little nervous, since we had no tent. When it came time for bed, we buddled up in all the blankets we brought. It was pretty chilly and John did not pack a sweatshirt so I pretty much had to swaddle him. We were awakened several times during the night, thankfully no black bears, but several raccoons. They came right into our camp site. It was crazy cause these little guys were rummaging all around the camp, climbing up on the picnic table and checking out the ashes from the fire. we even heard one jiggle the door handle on our maxima. John woke up once to one sniffing his head! Weird huh! So needless to say, our night sleep was not the best. We woke up, started a fire, warmed up some water for some hot cider, had breakfast and just relaxed.
In the morning, tending to the fire, sipping some hot apple cider!
On our way out we stopped by the lake for some gorgeous views, the park had numerous biking and hiking paths. John and I had a great experience camping, I want to go back already, maybe next time we will bring a tent. We recommend Allegany park to anyone for camping or a nice picnic!
John and I LUV 2 CAMP!
When we go home, we first showered off, you know that camping smell when you have been out in the wild, and then took a little nap to make up for our lack of sleep!

7.02.2007

I'm the winner!

Okay so Sunday night we got together with a few couples and had a BYOM BBQ and game night. BYOM = bring your own meat to BBQ. We had some yummy food, chatted, and then pulled out the fabulous game . . . . PIT! Yes, the game from the early 1900's, we love it. And I love it even more because I won! Yes, that is me, the winner! It was a fun night!


Monday we spent the morning and afternoon down in Palmyra enjoying the temple. It was great to go back, it had been a few months. John and I were able to do some sealings. On Hill Cumorah they are getting ready for the pagenant, I am excited to see it. Before went left, we had to stop at a yummy little burger joint. It was called Chill N Grill. We had a burger and some yummy homemade ice cream.
What a beautiful day!
John and I after some sealings!

7.01.2007

Saturday in the Park

I must say I am now seeing, a little glimpse as to why people actually live in Buffalo.The weather is absolutely gorgeous, I am saying this now, it may change shortly. The days are cool, and even cooler nights, a nice breeze and sunshine. So perfect. John and I took advantage and head into downtown Buffalo, to Delaware Park. It is a huge park, with a golf course, a zoo, tennis, and basketball courts, lots of trails and trees, perfect for a picnic and a walk. And that is what we did. We packed a little bag and set out a blanket and relaxed under a huge shade tree, and had a little lunch. ( I don't think you could do something like that in Arizona, unless it was near a pool you were about to jump into.) It was so fun.
John resting in the park!

After the park, John played tennis with Dave and I hung out with his wife Briste. It feels like everyone is doing their own thing over the summer, I am sure glad John and I have been able to spend time together! We came home and it feels so much earlier than it really is. Since its summer it doesn't get dark until at least 9 o clock! We made our famous fort, and played a quick glame of Would You Rather before we fell asleep.
Today was a great day, Fast sunday's are always great. Our Primary class was pretty good today. They are so cute. After Church we enjoyed a few web chats with friends and family. So if anyone is interested in chatting go out and get yourself a web cam, they are so fun!! Since fourth of July is coming up, I had to make something festive, I wanted to make a nice Red White and Blue Tart, but I backed down, and dipped some pretzels in red white and blue chocolate. They are still yummy but not quite the presentation I was looking for, but for John and I its works!

I better go, so I can continue to enjoy the cool weather, with the windows and door open!

Followers