Christopher & Amber

We made it to Virginia

2011-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

It should be noted that I do not enjoy doing "catch up" blogging. So, after leaving Nebraska we went to Nauvoo, Ill. for two nights and camped one night in Indiana. At any rate, we enjoyed our trip across the country, we got to see the mid west and the drastic difference when we hit West Virginia. Once in Virginia we moved in with our friends while we went apartment shopping, job hunting and waited for Chris's school to start. We had plenty of spare time at this point in our lives so we:Worked on being manly:

Worked on being artsy:

Mastered Angry Birds:

We played with Logan a lot (our friend's baby):

Played A&A:

Went to the National Zoo:

And... We visited friends in Maryland and in NYC. We are definitely enjoying it out here.

Memories and A&A

2011-09-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

We spent the rest of the day going through some of Chris's items that have been stored at his mothers home. This time we primarily went through his memory boxes to reorganize them and to see if there was any down sizing we could do. Once again, this let me see more of Chris's life, we went through his childhood possessions, mission pictures & the famous Chris shrine.

The next day Brett came to visit us, every time we go to the Midwest we meet up with Brett and an Axis and Allies game is normally played. After an afternoon of catching up over A&A we finished off the day with some Halo.

After a good meal, we ended our night playing games with Susan and Tom - the next morning - we began driving again.

Calming Nebraska

2011-09-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

Neither my Mother or Grandmother have had the chance to visit Nebraska before, so for the morning before they left we treated them to the best part of Nebraska:

Susan and Tom's peaceful home. We gave them the grand tour of the land around the home, then introduced them to the porch - which has a new addition, the hammock.

This short time gave them a glimpse into the main reason why we go to Nebraska so often, it is so calming and Susan and Tom are great company. After we unloaded all of our things out of my mom's car, they headed back to Utah. On their way back (even though we tried to time it) they hit one big storm, luckily this one did not include golf ball size hail but it did force them to stop under an underpass for some time. It was great having them come to Nebraska with us, it was nice to have them see a big part of our lives - road trips & the Midwest.

On the road again

2011-09-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

On our way to Nebraska, as previously mentioned, my mother and grandmother accompanied us. Near the Wyoming and Nebraska boarder violent storms are frequent, thus each time we drive to NE we plan our trips around the storms. Before we left Utah we informed my mother and grandmother of this, they said okay.. not knowing how crazy these storms really get. So, we kissed my family goodbye and off we went.

We did not make many pit stops on this leg of our journey because we were working on outrunning and staying behind storms - luckily Chris is a very good storm tracker, thanks to his upbringing in Kansas. For hours across WY we watched a storm forming in the distance, then we watched it progress over the mountains. Luckily we missed it and at the next rest stop we found out what it had produced: Golf Ball size hail

It was pretty cool, that was the first time I had seen hail that large and it was very good that we missed the storm. We continued on our journey, while Chris carefully watched another storm that we were attempting to miss.

It produced some interesting clouds, and plenty of rain, but thanks to a strategically placed dinner stop, we missed this storm as well. We got into Nebraska around ten o'clock that night, giving us enough time to show my mother and grandmother Susan & Tom's beautiful home and to have a small conversation before heading to bed.

Back in Utah

2011-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Our first night back in Utah we spent in Logan, it was a rather somber night thinking that it was going to be our last night there. We both love Logan, we've had many great memories and have loved our time there. After a good nights rest we attempted to pack our car with our final items we'd left at Jason and Sarah's house. With our fantastic packing skills, we were able to fit most of it in - I had to drive since the drivers seat had to be close to the steering wheel and Chris had to sit on blankets, but hey, we fit.

Sadly, once we got it all in we made our final drive through the beautiful Logan canyon. The next task set out for us was to enjoy time with my family in Bountiful, the first night back we had a big Barnett (my mother's side of the family) dinner party. I grew up having these at least once a month, majority of my childhood memories came from my grandparents home during a family party. It was great to have (most) of the family back together so we could see them all before we left. After some good laughs we called it a night, and returned to my parents home. We spent the night talking and then playing Halo with my brother - which is something we do every time we go to Bountiful.

So, we shipped majority of our items to Virginia to our friends home - yet there were still plenty of things we needed to get across the country, this is where parents come in handy. We decided to have my mom & grandma drive out to Nebraska (12 hr. drive) with us, and from there Chris's parents would take our things out to Virginia. Neither parties complained about the idea so more strategic packing began - in my mothers car.

Surprisingly we fit everything, I was stunned even though Chris said he knew it was possible. The only things we couldn't fit were a few boxes of food storage - which found a new loving home. Bountiful is where I was born and raised, my entire family lives in one valley, I have many fond memories of my childhood and will miss my family dearly. We had a nice time in Bountiful and will look forward to going there again within the next few years.

On the Road to Washington (State)

2011-09-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Jay and Becky live in Washington, over the last year we hadn't gotten a chance to go up and see them - we took the opportunity to after leaving California. We drove on the coast through Oregon and up into Washington - we love this part of the country.

This was the first time we had been to Oregon and Washington together, we had a great drive filled with beautiful scenery. Once in Washington, we went to bed because it was very late. Jay and Becky have a pool, a little dog and a fat cat. It was great to spend time there because we got to relax and enjoy our time. On our first day there we split up, girls and boys - since their friends and family were visiting. The boys went shooting and the girls went shopping, silly. That night we had some great food and played games by the pool - I love summer nights!

The next two days, Jay and Becky were at work during the days, so we got to be lazy by the pool and played with their pets. This is Zoe - Chris secretly loved her.

(There are many more pictures similar to this one)This is Luie, their fat cat, he is very funny to watch.

(Chris didn't seem this white in person - but all of our pictures prove other wise)After three short days, we had to leave Washington to head back to Utah. We enjoyed our time there, it got us thinking more about how we might need a pool in our backyard someday soon.

The Day in Sacramento

2011-09-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

After departing from Truckee we headed to Sacramento to spend our last day with Chris's family. Chris and Grandpa Ron went to the shooting range, first thing in the morning. Chris admires his grandfathers gun collection and his knowledge surrounding the sport, so every time Chris gets a chance to go shooting with him he does.

While Chris was spending the morning with Grandpa, I spent it with the rest of the family preparing to meet up with the extended Houston family, who reside in Sacramento. Chris and Grandpa soon joined us at a local park, we had lunch and caught up with family that we hadn't seen in over a year. It was a nice afternoon with family, after returning we joined in looking through old pictures and watching home video's - this was a blast. I love watching Chris as a kid, and being able to see pictures of this great grandfather and other relatives that I didn't get the privilege to meet.

Final Day in Donner Lake

2011-08-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

After an amazing week, we found our selves on the last day. We decided to have a family photo, since we had every member of the family present - except for one. Somehow I was put to the task of organizing everyone into a lovely group, I am no photographer.

Yet with some group coordination and a nice camera we created some nice pictures:

Once the cabin was cleaned out, Chris and I went on a hike that we have looked forward to for a year. When we visited Donner Lake on our honeymoon, it was May and majority of the hiking trails were still covered in snow.

After a bit of a run around we found the trail head.

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the calm that surrounded us.

That evening was spent at Chris's Aunt's cabin, we enjoyed some final games and roasted marshmallows. The next morning we enjoyed the beautiful sunrise and reflected on our relaxing week with the family.

Donner Lake Part 3

2011-08-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

In the evenings we enjoyed each others company through meals, games and family activities.

One game that was played twice was Axis and Allies.

This epic battle between Chris, his brother Jason and his cousin Kevin, lasted for eight hours, which is a record in A&A history (at least for these three). In the end, the Allies prevailed.

It was enjoyable to learn new games that everyone played in their own homes, it was a lot of fun.

Each day we had a family activity, this night was family history night - it was great to learn about our family history through Susan. She brought our ancestors to life through stories she's learned while being passionate in genealogy.

Another event, we attempted to accomplish, was the traditional walk around the lake. Each year we walk around the lake, it takes roughly 2 1/2 hours to complete with stops on various docks to enjoy the scenery.

In the beginning we had majority of the members of the family.. yet they soon turned back around. In the end, only one couple prevailed - us. Sadly, we did not document this momentous occasion, we were a bit tired. But it was great and the tradition of walking around the lake lives on in the Neil family.

Aside from family activities we also had dinner together each night, it was nice to get new recipes and to cook together as a family.

Donner Lake Part Two

2011-08-06T22:20:00.001-07:00

We were at the lake for one week, here are some of the things we enjoyed:

Kayaking, yes that is us on the lake, we went kayaking everyday and enjoyed every minute of it.

Playing at the dock, we enjoyed jumping off the dock, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and laying out.

In the mornings and early evenings, fishing was enjoyed by all ages - especially Andrew and Sarah who got to fish for the first time.

A short distance from the lake there is a great little town called Truckee, it is one of our favorite cities in the world. They have great shops, restaurants and people.

Every time we visit Truckee we stop into this game shop, it is our favorite. It is filled with all the games, toys and knick nacks you could ever want.

We always stop, sit and watch the people around - we are the people watching type.

This year, as a new addition, we attempted to visit the historic jail - sadly it was closed when we went. Instead we enjoyed the nice weather and the small garden behind the jail.

Donner Lake Part One

2011-08-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Donner Lake California. Chris grew up coming here with his family, then introduced it to me while we were dating. This time we traveled to Donner with Chris's family for the first Houston family reunion.

We began our journey from Logan, Utah at 5 in the morning.

After a pleasant 8 hour drive, including plenty of rest stops and car changing we arrived.

Once we all got into the cabin, the fun began.

We started the night off with tin foil dinners and games. In addition, since it was Chris's birthday, we celebrated by making him his annual fort, this year it was Fort Monroe that currently resides in Virginia. In addition we ate delicious pie made by his aunt.

Update

2011-08-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, once Chris got home from China it became crunch time. We had two and a half weeks for Chris to adjust and for us to move out before we hit the road. We started in California for a family reunion, then headed to Washington state to visit Chris's father. We had a great time, here are some pictures to prove it.

Design Change

2011-07-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Finally, you might note the change to the background of the blog. I found this fitting for this week because Christopher is on his way home!

July 2nd

2011-07-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every summer Logan hosts a cruise in around the 4th of July. They showcase a wide variety of amazing classic cars. Even though we have lived in Logan for a while now, we have never been here to see the cruise in, luckily this year I was.

I attended the final cruise in parade, where most of the cars cruise main street. This is the best way to see the cars when you have limited time. I didn't get the best seat, because I went late, thus my pictures are not the best.

It was a fun parade and I was able to check off one more thing on my list of "things to do in Logan" before we leave this summer.

Hot Air Balloon Festival

2011-07-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

After flying back to Utah I traveled to Provo to spend the night with my friend Stacey. Stacey and I met the same summer I met Christopher, she has become one of my best friends. We spent the night eating good food and talking. The next morning we went to the hot air balloon festival that is held near BYU.

It was fun to watch nearly two dozen large hot air balloons fill up and fly into the sky. This year the popular balloon was the Darth Vader balloon which was 86 feet high and 69 feet wide, weighing a whopping 640 pounds.

Another cool balloon was the Coke bottle balloon, it was huge!

So, if you are in the Provo area on the 4th of July, the balloons will be launching again at 6:30 am.

San Francisco & A Caspian Production

2011-07-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

A Caspian Production is a conference creation and execution firm. I have been their intern since last October. This month they had a conference for Endeavor, a high impact entrepreneur firm. Since this was a large conference they asked me to come. I love everything about being part of the production team for conferences. Yet conferences are very busy, the team was working anywhere from 6:30 am to 11:30 pm. Thus I did not get to see much of San Francisco, one of the few major cities in California I haven't seen. This is what I did get to see:

The view from outside my hotel room.

And this street, the one I had to walk up to get to my hotel and down to get to the rail system.

Overall, San Francisco was very enjoyable, I'm glad I was able to go for the conference and look forward to going to another one.

Pizza

2011-06-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

You could say that I enjoy sophisticated pizza - I don't care for anything you can order from Domino's but I love pizzerias that create delightful pizzas. So today I embarked on making my own sophisticated pizza.

I began by sauteing onions, mushrooms and yellow bell pepper in a pan with some extra virgin oil, salt, pepper and oregano. In the oven I placed a lightly seasoned chicken breast to roast. In the mean time I created a great crust...out of a box.(still working on making good pizza dough).. and got it in the oven for it's pre-cooking time. After three minutes, I took it out and topped it with sauce, chicken, sauteed vegetables and sliced tomatoes. After baking it for another 15 minutes, it turned out fantastic! I think I will work on making my own sophisticated pizzas more often.

Calligraphy

2011-06-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Before going to China I studied Mandarin for a year. During that year, four students from Taiwan came for a month to help us with our Chinese New Year celebration. In my class they taught us how to do basic calligraphy, so we could help with the decorations. I loved it, I've always had this secret passion for sketching and design and this outlet helped me use my old passion while incorporating my new love of characters. While in China I learned that my tutor enjoyed calligraphy and that she had been going to calligraphy classes since she was a child. I was delighted and soon asked her to teach me what she knew.

Her gift to me when I was departing the country was a calligraphy set, including some of the pieces from her set so I would remember her every time I painted. Since I have been home, I have tried to continue learning more about calligraphy while working on practicing. I find Chinese characters beautiful and love the feeling of peace I get every time I complete a project.

Summer of road trips

2011-06-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

As I have previously mentioned we are going to have a summer filled with road trips. I have been doing plenty of research on silly things to do in the car and fun places to stop across the U.S. Along the way I have found two great sites that are important if you are going to be taking a road trip this summer:

1) http://www.momsminivan.com/ = a mother of three's website filled with silly / fun things to do in the car.

2) http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ = The website that outlines all of the crazy things to see in America such as the largest ball of string.

While researching through many state's sites I found that no matter how many times we road trip the west coast there will still be more things we want to do and between all the state websites I have looked at, Illinois wins for the most useful site. Happy road tripping!

Childhood Memories

2011-06-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

Even though Chris and I had very different childhoods, one childhood memory we both have include these:

They are fruit pies, filled with plenty of "real fruit", sugar, 20 grams of fat and more sugar. We both remember eating these as children, now as adults we wonder why our parents allowed us to eat them. Growing up my mother and grandmother purchased their bread at a Wonder Bread discount store. Every time I went with them, I was allowed to buy one treat, frequently that treat was a fruit pie.

Today I went to the Willow Park Zoo in Logan with Jason and Sarah. On the way home Sarah suggested we stop at the Wonder Bread discount store, I had no idea we had one in Logan. When I entered a flood of childhood memories came back, naturally one treat needed to be purchased - this time a blackberry fruit pie, 20 calories and all.

Our Summer

2011-06-10T08:18:00.001-07:00

Chris is coming home in 24 days (but who's counting?), once he is home he will only get a few days to get over his jet lag - then our summer adventure will begin. We are going to have a month and a half to attend two family reunions, to travel the west coast to see family and to finish moving. Then we will be heading to Washington D.C. along the way we will be stopping to see family, church history sites and much more. It will be a crazy fun summer!

It is official

2011-04-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today we found out that we will be moving here:

Even though we will miss:

We are very excited to announce that Christopher has been accepted to Missouri State University's Defense and Strategic Studies Department - Which is located in Washington DC. We will be moving to our nation's capital in August!

Silly Christopher

2011-04-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

While we have been apart we frequently talk about the differences in our days, this was Christopher's explanation of his day to me a few days ago:

Chris: No. my life is way cooler than yours.
Chris: I wake up at 6 am to teach the ninos
Chris: every day
Chris: then eat some delcious noodles made with hot water in my room
Chris: and sleep alone on a hard bed every night
Chris: its fantastic

I love this man.

Fresh Bread

2011-04-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

Bread maker, food storage wheat and a wheat grinder - check. I decided to be adventurous and make my own wheat bread with our food storage wheat. So I broke out the wheat grinder, learned how to use it and ground the wheat until my arm said no more.

I found a new half wheat half white bread recipe online - put all the ingredients in the bread maker. Three hours later I got this:

It turned out to be the best bread our bread maker has ever produced! Thank you to both mothers that contributed the essential tools to make this, delicious bread.

The Midwest

2011-04-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone complains about the Midwest, and with a husband from Kansas we hear a lot of jokes about driving through the Midwest and living there. Yet, I love it.

I have loved watching thunder storms since I was a child, while we were dating Chris told me that I had never seen a thunder storm until I had seen one in the Midwest. He was right, every time we go visit Chris's family in Nebraska and Kansas we see a amazing storm, it is wonderful.

Yet the main reason why I love the Midwest is because it is peaceful. Some of our most enjoyable vacations have consisted of visiting Susan and Tom in Nebraska. Their house is beautiful and they have a great porch. Every time we are there we spend as much time as we can out on the porch, relaxing, talking and reading.

Chris and I have decided that we will be willing to live any where from busy Shanghai China to good old Bloomington Nebraska. We are looking forward to visiting the Midwest again soon.

Cheese cake

2011-03-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our friend works at the local cheese factory, he gets all varieties of cheese for a great price, including cream cheese. As a welcome back home gift we received large quantities of cheese. Chris doesn't like cream cheese and I cannot eat much of it.

Our friends were coming over for Sunday dinner, I decided I would try something risky and make cheese cake.

I discovered that make cheese cake is very easy, and am now surprised that people to not make it from scratch more often. This is the simple recipe I used, it turned out great!

Crust: 2-3 c. crushed graham crackers
3/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar, optional.
Mix and pat into bottom of cheesecake pan.

Filling:
3 (8 oz.) pkgs cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 T. fresh lemon juice

Mix filling until very smooth. Pour over crust and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. The center will look soft when you take out of oven. Leave out at room temperature to cool then refrigerate for 24 hours.

The next day I topped it with cherries, everyone loved it.

The best winter in Logan

2011-03-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

This winter, from what I have seen of it, has been the best winter in Logan. Since January we have gotten three large snow storms that lasted up to three days each. Then once the storm is over the sun comes out and highlights the beauty of Logan.

Dishwasher?

2011-02-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

We currently are living in an apartment without a dishwasher, this is the first time I haven't had a dishwasher since my freshman year of college. The main reason why I want a dishwasher, that has currently been decided, is so I never taste soap.

Why is it so impossible to get soap off your dishes, almost every time I eat something I get the faint taste of soap. I rinse, I rinse multiple times, yet this still happens, how do I make it go away? Get a dishwasher, someday, hopefully soon I will have one.

Back in the U.S.A.

2011-01-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

Now that we are back in the states I will start posting on this blog, and Chris is going to take over the other blog. Chris will be going back to China at the end of February while I stay in Logan to finish my degree.

Since we have been in the states we haven't had much luck but we hope it will change soon. We are almost over our jet lag but are still going through culture shock. Some of the things we are noticing that are weird to us now include:

1) How everyone is a big consumer, and everyone has more than they need.
2) There are a lot of over weight people here.
3) Everyone looks like someone we know.
4) Everyone smells good.
5) Almost everything is beautiful and amazing, we are experiencing having emotions again.

Chris's Birthday

2010-08-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Christopher turned 27 on July 22nd. It was an eventful day filled with feeding chickens, reading, watching movies and building a fort. We were in Nebraska for our summer vacation where we were pampered by Chris's parents. The summer Chris and I met I held a large birthday party for all of the July birthday's and one of the main attractions was a brownie fort that was made by one of our friends for Chris. From that birthday on it has now become a tradition to build Chris a fort or castle every year. Last year I made a themed one equip with cowboys and Indians. Sadly this year my castle didn't work out to well, better luck next year. Happy Birthday Chris!

Family reunion

2010-07-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Barnett family reunion finally came. We all met up at Jordenell for a three day reunion filled with games, good food, boating and family.

Our tent was great,it has become our home away from home this summer, it even comes equip with a welcome mat.

On the second day of the reunion we boated as much as we could. It was great, I have missed boating so much and Chris has hardly been boating so he really enjoyed it. Tubing was eventful, filled with Amber being landed on by her dad, Chris surfing with Andrew and Amber, Aaron and Andrew getting the best spill of the day.

We had a fantastic time with the family. It was great for me to see many of my relatives that I haven't seen for a while and for Chris to get to meet them. We are looking forward to the next one in two years!

Living with the Jones

2010-07-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

After our traveling excursions we moved in with my cousin and her husband for a few weeks. They recently installed a putting green so we practiced our putting skills daily. It was my cousins birthday while we were there so I attempted to make a cake for her, I need to take cake decorating classes. One night we broke out the karaoke set, oh the fun and entertainment that we didn't know we were missing. Overall the few weeks we were there were a blast, thanks Heidi and Andrew!

Traveling - Zion and Grand Canyon

2010-07-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

We started our summer off in Zion National park, it was enjoyable but was shorter than planned. Luckily Chris finally got to hold the baton through the tunnel, he has been waiting for this for years. After being in Zion we went to the Grand Canyon, because I had never been there. It was beautiful! We hiked around and watched a beautiful sun set.

Moving

2010-07-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

After the family left and the graduation celebrations were over the harsh reality of moving set in. We packed everything we owned except one car full of items that we needed for the summer. After five car fulls of moving our belongings to Bountiful we were done. After living in Bountiful for a week we moved down to Zion, the car was a bit full, sadly the picture doesn't give a great view of every item carefully placed so everything could fit in.

Raising Money for China

2010-07-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked us if they can assist us with our trip, I found this new Widget that allows people to donate anonymously and easily. Thank you for your help : )

Graduation

2010-07-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am behind in my blogging, luckily spending two weeks in Nebraska gives me plenty of time to catch up!

The day finally came Christopher graduated from Utah State University with a bachelors degree in Political Science. Luckily this now gives people the license to tell him their political opinions. The weeks leading up to the event were very let's say eventful. Chris's gal bladder decided to act up again causing him to miss his last two weeks of school. In addition we were moving and planning on having Chris's entire family in our home.

The day finally came, it was a joyous day. Chris walked across the stage and received the folder for his degree, it was exciting to see five years of work officially end. Sadly Chris will not see his actual degree until we are back from China, but it hasn't stopped anyone from giving us their political advice.

Gallbladder

2010-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Who knew that a small organ could cause so much pain? Chris is suffering from his second Gallbladder attack. This one is worse than his first one that he had a few months ago, it is also harder to deal with this time because it is coming flaring up on the last two weeks of school. After multiple tests the doctor said Chris is fine, if only that were true. We have to wait for him to be screaming in pain until they will do anything to fix it. For now Chris is on a diet of less fat and pear juice. So if your upper right quadrant on your abdomen starts hurting, drink pear juice, it works and it will save you money.

The Public Relations Conference

2010-04-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

The conference was a success, people came to learn, other people came to speak, we learned, networked and ate good food. Sounds so simple when it is listed out like that, either way after months of preparation it was wonderful. Here are some of the speakers main points that taught me something new.

Heather Mason - President of A Caspian Production - A Strategic Planner for Live Events

Events are more than just a fun party, they take time and planning to create an event that is beneficial and successful.

When planning an event you have to ask your client:
1) Quantify & Measure?
2) Who are the Stakeholders?
3) Who's the Audience?
4) What is the ratio?
* Never start with "How much do you want this to cost?"

Heather's suggestions to students looking to be successful in the work force is:
1) Speak properly - control your pitches and vocabulary
2) Email responsively - use bullet points and give a bottom line
3) Be an analytical thinker - people don't want to hear what they already know.

Susan Walton - Professor at BYU - Understanding how to work with different generations.

We've realized it - our generation is different than all the other ones, we know this because it has caused us problems and frustrations.

As Millennial's we:
1) Feel special and unique
2) Consider our parents as our partners in success
3) We openly challenge others
4) We need to know what is expected of us

Why does this cause problems with other generations?
1)They don't think we have respect
2)We act entitled
3)We are impatient to success
4) We are balance many things

What we need to do to work with other generations: Be respectful, Listen, Don't talk about yourself, Write thank you cards and offer your feedback carefully.

There were many other great speakers, however It would take up my whole blog to talk about them all!

Summer Jobs

2010-03-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Every college student deals with the worry of what to do for their summer vacation. For the ones of us that didn't come from a wealthy family, we get to decide where we want to work. We go through agony every spring, dealing with applications, resumes, cover letters and interviews hoping that it will all pay off. I hope employers realizes how this process affects us.

Now that we are married it is even harder to decide what to do for the summer because we are two different people with two different career goals. Right now we are looking at three options, Washington D.C., Salt Lake, or Zion National Park. We hope we will know soon where we're going so we can start preparing. For now we will keep hoping for the best, maybe employers will get back to us soon, or another big offer will come along. Either way - best of luck in your search of what to do for your summer vacation.

Planning events

2010-03-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

Since I was young I've wanted to plan events. This year I've dedicated my extra time to planning events for the clubs and classes I am in. I get the most pleasure out of these events, it is one of the best feelings to stand in an event that you planned. Event coordinators have the best jobs because they get to pull together everyone's talents, put them together and create a spectacular event.

The next two months I'm planning three events. The first one is the PR Conference hosted by USU. Planning this event has given me the opportunity to work with an event coordinator from the event center and I am learning a lot from her. It has been a lot of work but it has given me the most hands on experience.

In April I've got an event with two local businesses and a new tradition for USU. My cap stone PR class requires each group of students to find a client and act as their PR firm. Our client is Campsaver and the Rock Haus. They want to do a promotional event that targets students and the community. We're planning a day event that is going to highlight the great outdoors and the beauty of spring.

Lastly I came up with a new tradition for USU. Senior Celebration Week, basically a week of events that help seniors celebrate their graduation. I'm really excited for this one because it is going to be fun to through a big party for people that deserve it.

I love event planning, even though at times it is stressful I enjoy every bit of it.

Oh Logan

2010-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

School is going well this semester, Chris is taking 9 credits and I'm taking 18. We are trying to finalize our summer plans and our plan to go to China. Logan is a beautiful place, but it is cold, to cold for my liking. This morning it was 6 degrees when I went to school, it is now (3:00) 20 degrees even though it is a beautiful day. I am looking forward to reaching 40 degrees, it will make my day.

The art of cooking for two

2010-01-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

Before marriage I was able to live off of minimal amounts of food, take one pan to cook and dedicate a fraction of my pay check to food. Once I started cooking for two it seems that we are always out of food, there is always a pile of dirty dishes and every month it gets harder to stay in our food budget.

I've found that cooking for two on a budget requires a lot of skill this includes meals that have the same ingredients and leftovers that can be turned into something else. Thanks to many mom blogs and cooking for two cook books, I think I've got it. I believe the trick is to coordinate your meals for two weeks at a time. When I plan things out that work together we seem to have more food and it makes cooking easier. I am still working on why we continually have so many dishes though... good thing we have a dish washer.

Simple Pleasures in Life

2009-07-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Once in a while I tend to get overwhelmed and caught up in things that seem like they are taking over my life. Luckily I realize when they start to get out of control and I take a step back and relax. Recently I have been reflecting on the simple pleasures in life that give me the most amount of joy.

Lavender - I love the smell of lavender, it is very peaceful and calming. The color is a beautiful purple accompanied with a wonderful sent that helps to take all my cares away.
Sunrises - I have made it a goal to watch a sunrise at least once a year. During a sunrise I find that I am able to watch nature go by slowly. It is delightful to sit, reflect on life and watch the day begin.
Flowers - I find flowers absolutely beautiful, if my budget would allow it I would have fresh flowers in my home every week. I enjoy traveling and picking up flowers from around the country. They all have this simple beauty that intrigues me and reminds me that simplicity is a beautiful thing that should be encourporated into our lives more.
Lakes - Last summer I went the whole 4 months with out going to a lake, I hated it. Laying out, floating in water, feeling the sand, listening to giggling children, making memories and looking at all the beauty around me makes me feel more rejuvenated and peaceful than anywhere else I've ever been.
Architecture - I am continually impressed by functional art, recently I have been studying architecture and have been noticing it more and more. Seeing a beautifully structured building makes me inspired and thankful for the people that have taken the time to build an amazing piece of art.

Honeymoon - California

2009-07-15T21:12:00.001-07:00

After finding out that we wouldn't be able to move into our apartment for a month, we decided to take an extra long honeymoon. We started out at Chris's cousin's cabin at Donner Lake California. We stayed there for a week, relaxing, hot tubing, playing axis & allies, watching movies, hiking and shopping. It was fantastic, if our honeymoon ended there we would have been extremely happy. Then we headed north to the redwoods we stayed in Humbolt State Park, home of Avenue of the Giants. The trees we amazing, I had never been there before, I was in awe for the whole drive. We camped, hiked and took a lot of pictures of the beautiful surroundings. After our two day adventure we headed down Highway 1 stopping frequently to take gorgeous pictures of the coast. We camped in Van Damm State Park in Mendocino County. While there we rode the Skunk Train in Fort Bragg which was ranked one of the ten most scenic train rides in North America, we ate at a funny little Chinese restaurant, shopped, went to art galleries, visited a light house, gathered glass at glass beach, ate at the wharf (yum : ), toured the city of Mendocino where we're thinking of living one day (it's adorable), watched the fog roll in and saw a beautiful sun set. Then we went to Sacramento and spent a few days with Chris's grandparents. We toured Old Sacramento, Sutters fort, watched home video's and enjoyed sleeping in a bed. After our four day visit we headed back to Utah looking forward to opening all of our presents. We spent a week and a half there catching up on paper work, presents and relaxed until our apartment was ready. This was the best road trip I've ever been on, we saw amazing sites, had some crazy good times and enjoyed every minute of it.

Wedding Day - May 6th

2009-07-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

May 6th had finally come, the morning started off peaceful. I woke up and went to get my hair done. I came back and the house was in a hustle. My wonderful aunt was doing my sisters hair, my mom was running around making sure we had everything, my dad was following, attempting to help, my brothers were watching and waiting for the next errand that needed to be done. My lovely husband was downstairs sleeping and meditating. After we finally had everything - or so we hoped - Chris and I were headed to Salt Lake city. We finally got to the temple, a little rushed and flustered but the minute we walked in the adorable temple workers calmed us right down, gave us simple instructions and said don't worry we've got it all covered. Once everything was ready we were sealed in front of our family and friends by Elder Hinckley for time and all eternity. It was beautiful and the best day of my life, I couldn't of married a better man. Then we were whisked away to get dressed. I took much longer than Chris did, so he had the opportunity to sit and chat with an adorable old gentleman that told him about his life and gave him his advice. My mother and my mother in law had the wonderful opportunity of stuffing me into my dress and to lace up the back as best as possible. Then we did hair and makeup touch up's and we were good to go. Waiting outside was our adoring families and the pictures began. We took pictures for about two hours, towards the end we thought we were going to pass out, do to our lack of food and water all day. Never the less the pictures turned out amazing, then we relaxed for about an hour, ate and took a nap before the guests started arriving at our reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Over 250 people attended, we received many gifts and warm congratulations. We heard the food was delightful and everything looked perfect. We were getting ready to leave on our honeymoon to California, changed, said our last goodbyes and we were off. The day was wonderful, it was the day I had been dreaming of for the last five month and it turned out better than I could have hoped for.

Bridals

2009-06-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Stacey Pointer knew Christopher and I since the beginning of our relationship, once she found out we were getting married she asked if she could take my bridals (for free). Coming from a great photographer and good friend I couldn't turn her down, here are a few of them that she took.