Livin' the Spring Break Life

One GREAT thing about being in school.
Still getting a Spring Break vacation! And not only that but I was lucky enough to get the week off from work. So John and I both were off last week and we HAD to get out of this cold winter weather in Buffalo, so . . . . we escaped down to Florida.
We spent the first few days up near Orlando with my wonderful Aunt Diane, where we enjoyed time at Daytona Beach, soaking up the sun, hanging out at the beach and just relaxing.
Then we were off to Miami on a 5 day cruise visiting Key West and Cozumel! I will not go on and on, but cruises are the BEST, what a great vacation, tons of free food, activities, shows, sun, etc. What more do you want!
John and I had a great time! I will be quiet and let the pictures do the talking!
In front of the Daytona 500 race track, it was HUGE!
At Daytona beach, it was crazy, you could drive and park on the beach!

Bye Bye! We are off on our cruise!


We rented bikes at Key West, and rode all over the island.
The southern most part in the US. Ya, I know you can barely see our heads and there is like four feet of ground beneath us in this photo. Word to the wise, chose carefully who takes your pictures!
In front of Ernest Hemingway's home.

John posing with not only a gorgeous palm tree but a cold ice cream cone!
John and I hit the dance floor a few nights, and some random guy tried to dance up on it!


Welcome to Cozumel!
John and I rented scooters and drove around all day. We loved the beautiful scenery. We also rented snorkel gear and stopped at different places to enjoy the clear water and awesome sea life!

Cool story about this ring. We were out snorkeling and I noticed a little mexican girl floundering pretty far off shore. I could see her struggling to stay above water so I swam over and took her back into shore. She told her dad what happened. Her father insisted that I take this cute ring as a thank you.

Now it is time to get back to reality. Hope everyone has a great Easter.

Where the heck have we been?

Well, for the past two days . . . Our BED! Seriously, John and I have been in our bed practically all day for the past 2 1/2 days. We are close to the bathroom, warm under the covers, easy access to study material and movies. We even have had a snack and beverage supply to avoid having to leave our room too often.

WHY?
Just take a look outside.
This was once our electrical heater box thing, now it is barely visible through the fluffy snow!


Missing: 2001 Maxima. . .

Need I say more. SNOW SNOW SNOW. WIND. COLD. NASTY. ( No church, even).
I would have to guess around 18 inches or so. WOW. I so wish I was in Arizona right now at a park, the sun hitting my feet (in flip flops), sipping lemonade! Whatever.
No, we are out here in Buffalo, sipping hot tea, under the covers, watching the temperature drop and the snow fall, dreaming of the warmth.
Well, now lets think of the positive. Two things:
One- I have had the past few days off from work, so I did not have to drive in the crazy weather. Sleeping in, and not shoveling snow at 6 am is wonderful!
Two- In less than 1 week John and I will be down in Florida, hopefully on a cruise, in bathing suits, soaking up as much Vit D as possible to last the rest of this Buffalo winter.
Don't worry tomorrow we will be forced to come out of hibernation and it's back to work and school!

Bag Tagged by Megan!

Here is my bag. My mom brought this out with her when she came, so it is a new winter purse, notice the white fluffy fur.


Here are the contents. Nothing to surprising.


My wallet- most important, too bad it is empty!
My camera- never want to miss a kandid moment!
My I pod Shuffle- so small, you never know when you will be in a place where you can JAM!
A notebook- John can confirm this, but I NEED this for my numerous lists I make in 1 day!
Gloves- with this weather I never go any place without them, my hands get so dry!
Pens/Pencils- It is the worst needing a pen and not having one!
Chapstick/lipgloss- I am obsessed to say the least!
Reciepts- budgeting??? It's worth an effort!
Movie Stub- from 27 dressess. So good! If anyone wants to go, let me know I am willing to see it again.(PS- I can get tickets for 6 dollars vs. the 8-9 now days)

Well, that is it in my bag, but what is in yours?? Yes, if you are reading this consider yourself tagged!

Thanks for bringing the SUN!

This past week has been filled with family love. My mother and father came in from Arizona, my dad stayed the weekend and my mom stayed for a week. It happened to be perfect timing, I had the week off from work, and John happens to be the busiest ever this week, with tons of tests and practicals, so I had someone to keep me from bothering John. Oh, by the way thanks for bringing the sun with you, now my parents won't believe me when I say Buffalo is gray, gloomy, and depressing. It was sunny the whole time they were here!
The week was filled with tons of fun, we were non-stop busy even without any sightseeing. Here are a few things that kept us busy throughout the past week.
* We showed off where John and I spend our time when not with each other. School at his dental lab station, and me at my hsopital.

* Enjoying yummy food, at the Original Pancake house, Schwabl's- known for it's roast beef, and the delicious Hutch's
Beef on Weck= John renamed it "hypertension on a bun!"
The wonderful Fam at Hutch's. (great place for celebrating, warning: $50 steaks, but oh, so delicious)
* My dad soaked up with weather and the cold days by shoveling snow!

* Enjoyed the wonderful Wegman's- frequent shopping trips, yummy food, and its all so convenient!

* John and I beginning our daily ritual of RELIV. Great products!
*After my dad left, my mom and I enjoyed our mother daughter bonding time.
Tons of movies: The bucket List, and 27 dresses(my new favorite movie, and what a hottie!), Music and Lyrics, and Evan Almighty!

* We finally went out and got my Christmas present, a new sewing machine! yeah, I hemmed some pants, and finally made some headbands!
* We organized my kitchen, and made several freezer meals. It feels so good, after a hard days work I can come home, and enjoy a yummy meal! Thanks mom!


* And how can I forget, some yummy treats too! Our little homemade chocolate cups with fresh fruit!

*Pampering ourselves at home, parafin wax, sugar scrubs, pedicures and manicures! And we also enjoyed massages at the local school! ( Highly recommend the massage school, 35 bucks for an hour!)

* And of course, we did some shopping! Only bargains, so we don't feel bad!
Jackets $68 down to $6.99. Just as an example!

* John and Mom checking for plaque!

I am so thankful for my wonderful family and for the time we spent together this past week. Thank you Mom and Dad for EVERYTHING!

PS- And how can I forget, John's new game! Volleyball Intermurals, his first game they came home with a "W"! Great job!

Valentine's Weekend!

Yes, John and I love each other and are very happy together, but NO we did not celebrate Valentine's day!
We are going on a vacation over Spring break, so that will be our Valentine celebration, plus I had to work on Valentine's day, plus we had a visitor with us for the weekend. Jon Barnes came out from Arizona to interview at the Dental school, so we got to hang out and play all weekend. (we missed his wife Kara, hopefully we will see them next fall)
Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful night out. Our first stop was at the ward valentine party, there were a few games, and a few people! ( yes surprisingly, there were not very many people).
Acting cool at the ward party!
Our next stop was out to dinner with some friends, we had to show some Non-buffalo-ians some yummy wings! So we went to DUFFS.
Outside of DUFF's
We went with our friends Bron and Megan, and another couple Rachel and Doug(who are out here looking for housing for next year- he is going to come here for dental school). The wings were super yummy, and lots of fun!

After enjoying some wings, we went over to Bron and Megan's house and watched Bron WIN on the Price is Right. Not only did he get called up, but he was actually a winner ( a new car, and scooter!) when he was just 18! We had a fun night!
Saturday while I worked, John and Jon hung out and enjoyed Buffalo, and that night we showed off the best grocery store, my favorite. . . . Wegman's. We enjoyed some yummy sub sandwiches and tons of soda that night, and we relaxed in our PJ's.
What a BAR, look at all those bottles!
Sunday the weekend died down, Jon is back off to AZ ( I wish I could go with him), and we are back to life. Lots to do here with FUN work and school! Plus later this week, my mom and dad are coming out to play!!

Facts about US!

Thanks Steph for the Tag! I have included lots of fun pics while John and I dated!

How long have you been together?
We have been married for 2 years, and dated for two years prior to that.

One of our first dates: snowboarding

How long did you date? We dated for two years before we got married, we did have a little break within that two years that John needed some time to grow up or realize that playing games is not the best way to go!

How old is he? 26

How old are you? 23

Dressed up like mexicans at our mexican party!

Who eats more? John. Although if it weren't for me perhaps he wouldn't. John probably eats double!
One of our many trips to the beautiful beaches of San Diego.

Who said I love you first? John did. I remember we were hanging out on my parents bed right before he took me out to Country Thunder. We had been dating for a few months, and I was so happy he said that!

Who is taller? Definitely John. I love that he is tall, a few guys I dated in the past were a little on the shorter side.

Who sings better? John again. I can't carry a tune at all, I practically whisper songs that we sing in RS because my voice is so bad!

Who is smarter? Interesting question. Pure intelligence. John probably has me beat. Actually this is a dumb question, Smarter in what sense? Book smarts, life smarts, street smarts, dental school smarts, cooking smarts, etc. We are both pretty smart!
GO Devils!

Who does the laundry? This is John's chore, but I would have to say I help him out sometimes. I am just thankful he is willing to help out!

Who does the dishes? I must say that is 50/50. I really don't mind doing dishes, but if I cook (which I always do) John feels bad if he doesn't do ANYTHING, so he will do the dishes. Thanks Babe!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Facing the bed, John.
Do you notice John's black hair?

Who pays the bills? I pay the bills, I make the money. When John makes the money I will probably still pay the bills, and spend the money too!

Who mows the lawn? No one. We have no lawn.
At a concert

Who cooks dinner? Me! There are really no exceptions, John might not eat anything but mac n cheese and PB and J sandwiches if it weren't for me! I love to cook so I don't mind. But maybe one day we can enjoy cooking together!

Who is more stubborn? John, although not too bad, he is pretty good at compromising.

Who kissed who first? John kissed me first, although I will admit I wanted him to kiss me earlier than he did, but I did not dare go for it! Needless to say I was so happy when he finally did! After a date, in my kitchen, so HOT huh!

Who asked who out? John asked me out first. One of our first dates, was a trip up to Utah with his friends to go snowboarding. I learned a lot about John and had so much fun! (thanks to my dad who talked me into going on this trip with a guy I had just met)
Getting dirty on ATV's.

Who proposed? John did. He flew me to LA, proposed while the sun set on the beach at Laguna Beach, it was beautiful. Until our huge rock we were sitting on turned into an island(the tide came in), and we got slammed with waves on our way out. Carrying and trying to be careful with my huge bouquet of flowers, my new ring, our camera, we were completely soaked but so in Love!!

Who is more sensitive? Probably me. John is not as sensitive but he is great at communicating feelings, I wish I were as good as him. I just cry sometimes instead of talking.
Another pic of us on the beach enjoying a sunset!

Who has more friends? I think we both do. We share friends. But John definitely keeps in contact with his friends back in AZ, I am not very good at that!

Who has more siblings? John does. He has 1 sister and 1 brother. I just have 1 sister (plus a brother in law and 2 nephews+one on the way). We both come from pretty small families.


Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think we share the pants. We try to give and take equally and everything we do we do together. Remember when you would ask your mom something, and she would say that she needs to talk to your dad and you hated it, yeah, that will probably be us. We gotta be on the same page! Communication is key in our relationship!
On our way to country thunder!

Who are you tagging? my lovely sister Jessika!

Surviving the cold!

During the winter in Buffalo, it is easy to stay inside all day, but it is so nice to have great friends so we can get together often and make it through these long months!
Last Thursday, first Kristen and I began our night and went to a little meal planning class with our ward. It was informative and I came away with great ideas to better plan and organize our yummy meals.

Then it was off to girls night. It was spa night. Christy, a massage therapist spoiled us that night. We learned some tips on how to give a massage, and we were pampered with an easy homemade and Oh, so nice sugar scrub on our feet and hands. And like always the company and chatting was enjoyable, I am so grateful for great friends out here.

(sorry this picture was taken without warning, Rachel is on the table, and we each had a chance to get a little massage from Christy!!)

Friday night after work, I met John at the school for the dental school talent show, John unfortunately did not participate, maybe next year he will. We enjoyed the many talents of the students. It was even more enjoyable because we got in free, I made some cookies(refreshments for after the show) and we got free tickets!

We had a great fast Sunday, several testimonies were shared of our lovely Prophet and his life that will forever be remembered. That afternoon was the superbowl in wonderful Arizona!

I must say it was a pretty good game or least the 4th quarter was entertaining. We had a few people over for the game. All our buddies from Arizona, The Smiths, the Lindman's, The Ashworth's, and Josh W! We had lots of yummy food, including a new brownie banana split pizza I made!