Stay-cation {Adventures} - Orange County

Last weekend Kenny and I went on a "stay-cation."  We found out that one of our favorite bands was playing in Orange County (about an hour and a half from where we live) and we knew we wanted to make a trip out of it. We had a GREAT time! Our weekend consisted of taking long drives and walks to explore new places, ravaging through antique and thrift stores, going to farmers markets, eating excellent food, playing arcade games and riding the ferris wheel on the boardwalk, and of course enjoying great music.

Life is great when you are married to your best friend!

CALI-FUN-IA

It has been soooOOOOooooo long since we have updated this thang. We have been here there and everywhere the last few months. Here is a quick update and a lot of pictures. 

Readers digest version of what we have been up to = ENJOYING CALIFORNIA. :] This includes spending time with family, going to the San Diego Zoo with our zoo memberships, going to Padres games, picnicking in the oh so beautiful weather, going to weddings, going whale watching, and being awesome. 

That about sums it up. 

Random Provotian {Adventures}

Do you want to know a funny thing about Kenny? When we had been living in Provo for about a week he decided that it was necessary to come up with a term for all these Provo people around us. The term he so proudly coined was "Provotian." Well, we say it all the time now. One would use this word to describe something that the people of Provo do... "That is so Provotian." or it could be used to describe these crazy driving, walk across the street when I am driving near you, college kid kind of people..."There are so many Provotains on the street." You feel me?

Anyways...since we DO live in Provo, I guess you could even call us Provotian..although at times I am not so sure it is a compliment. :] Long story short, we have been up to some good ol' Provotian fun lately. Here is what we have been up to....

We have gone ethnic with our food intake. You don't realize how big of a deal this is!! Kenny dislikes Chinese food, and slowly but surely I have been changing his mind. (Muahahaha) A couple weekends ago we went on a date to a Chinese restaurant in town, and it was SO GOOD! I am glad that Kenny is changing his mind about some of my favorite foods.

We tortured ourselves by going to the humane society and looking at dogs. I say "torture" because we want a dog so bad, but we can not have one because of the apartment complex we live in. I am almost tempted to send emails of bribery to the landlord just so we can have a cute little 3rd member of the family in our house....however I am not so sure how that is gonna work.  Needless to say, despite the fact that we know we can not have a dog, we enjoy looking at and playing with them anyways.

We stopped to take pictures of the crazy rainbows in the land of Provotia. :] There was even a double rainbow!!! These rainbows occurred while I was waiting for Kenny to pick me up from campus one day; he said that everyone was pulling over and driving ridiculous because of it too. Not surprised. But I guess you could count me in the mix too because I took about 10 photos in the street just to capture this beauty!

We have been indulging in FREE ice cream. It is free because of a gift card my sister gave to us, and we were not complaining when she handed that bad boy over. Have you ever had rocky road ice cream from Coldstone?! It is my favorite! No really...it is my favorite. Although, I am always reminded of my lactose intolerance after I splurge on that dairy....but who cares?! It is dang good ice cream!! 

Moral of the story? We are having fun here in Provotia. :] And I do have to say that it is even more fun having my sister here! She must take after me, because she is a crack up.

Relaxation {Adventures}

Once we got back from Vegas we had two glorious weeks to enjoy before school starts again. (I say "we" because I would like to think that Kenny enjoys my time off as well :] ) In the two weeks I got a lot done, and boy did it feel great! I am actually pretty excited to start school on Monday! 

Here is what we were up to for the last 2 weeks...

Kenny brought back an amp from our Vegas trip. That means that more guitar time for Kenny.

Having the extra time, I was able to make some pretty legit dinners. I made Cuban food...legit right?! 

We had fun being silly. 

Kenny played guitar. A lot.

We went for drives and were "inspired" by YOLO graffiti. (YOLO means "You only live once" its a popular phrase these days) 

I cut myself making dinner. That's what I get for being so domestic! 

We hung out with siblings. ...and Kenny played more guitar.

Other things we did (that were not photographed) include: organizing our closet and all of our important papers (You should give me TWO high fives for this one, I have wanted to get this done for a while now), cleaning the house, celebrating Kenny's birthday with trips to guitar center and fabulous Mexican food, visits with family, attending fabulous fondu parties (thanks roommates for inviting us!), and of course there was some school preparation.

We have had a great two weeks. ...Now bring on the school!!!

Las Vegas {Adventures}

 

This weekend we took a road trip to Las Vegas to meet up with Kenny's parents. Vegas is the half way point between Provo and San Diego, so it was the perfect location for a weekend getaway for everyone. Summer semester ended on Thursday, and so we were itching to get away! We had a great time being with family and even some friends who happened to be in town!  One of our favorite things we did over the weekend, besides spending time with family, was going to a concert. A band that Kenny has been wanting to see perform just happened to be playing in Las Vegas the weekend we were there...AND the venue was just a few blocks from our hotel. It was meant to be!! We sure do love going to concerts! :]

We had a great weekend. Now, back to reality!! I have a two week break before Fall semester starts, and so I want make the most out of those two weeks. Here is to hoping that I am bouku productive!!

("Bouku" is a slang term that Kenny uses, I am trying it on for size lately :] )

Thoughts on Marriage

We have all heard it, "marriage is work." ....But it is true!! Marriage really is about work. Kenny and I work to make our marriage work.

• We work on our communication, because despite what I think sometimes, Kenny still can not read my mind. 
• We work to keep dating. I know that once we have kids, this habit will pay off. 
• We work on finding opportunities to serve each other and to say "thank you."
• We work on forgiving each other and being the first to say "I am sorry." 
• We work to try new things together and encouraging each other to reach new goals.
• We work on overcoming our weaknesses together. 

I know that this work pays off.  Now...if only I could get Kenny to read my mind. :]

Anniversary #1

One year!! I can't believe it has already been ONE YEAR! Since our anniversary was on a Monday this year, (and we both had work and I had class AND a butt-load of homework) we decided to celebrate our anniversary the weekend before the "actual" anniversary. Whatevs, it worked for us! This was a much needed break from school, and it was the perfect "stay-cation" in Salt Lake City.

We headed up to Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel and walked around City Creek Mall. We love City Creek, especially The Red Iguana in the food court! :] They serve some pretty good Mexican food, and if you know Kenny you know that we eat Mexican food all the time. After dinner we went to my favorite Independent Movie theater in SLC that only shows Sundance Independent movies. We sure do love our Indie movies. After the movie we walked around town and wandered back to our hotel room. It was nice not having to worry about homework or chores.

Saturday we slept in, went to a farmers market, did some more walking, went to the Church History Museum, and did some more walking. Kenny had his Fantasy Football draft in the afternoon so we made sure to be back at the hotel for his draft. I was able to get some rest while he was "drafting." ...boys.... Saturday night we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. This was our big "celebratory dinner." Dinner was great, but the cheesecake was even better.

It was a great little trip away from Provo. It was hard to come back to reality. On our actual Anniversary we exchanged "happy anniversary" lovey-dovey stuff, and then I spent the rest of my non-work/school time writing a paper. Hah! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!

We have both learned a lot this past year. The most important lesson we learned this year is that WE ARE AWESOME. :] I can't wait for many, many, many more awesome years.

Date Night - Dinner & A Movie

When it comes to date night for Kenny and I, we seem to be the "dinner and a movie" type of couple. What can I say, we LOVE to watch movies. (That was, in fact, what we did on our first date). So when date night came around, and despite the efforts to try and do something "creative", we found ourselves doing the dinner and a movie routine. (I can't complain....it works for us!) 

We decided last minute to go to a restaurant we had read about in a magazine, it was rated one of the top 5 places to eat in Utah Valley - Milagros. Man oh man, this restaurant does not disappoint. The best part is that Milagros serves Mexican food - which happens to be our favorite. You see, we have been in search of the best Mexican food Provo has to offer. We no longer need to search any farther because we have found Milagros. AMAZING! Even Kenny (the picky eater - especially when it comes to Mexican food) gives it two thumbs up. I am pretty sure I raved about our eating experience here for hours after we left the restaurant. ...It really was that good. After dinner Kenny and I went to go see a movie - The Hunger Games. We debated whether or not we should see it because I am reading the book right now...but I gave in and we saw it anyways. It was a great movie that caught my attention the entire time...talk about suspense! Ironically enough, seeing the movie made me even more excited to finish the book. On our way home from the movie I was raving about how this was one of the best date nights we have been on. Great dinner. Great movie. 

We have many many more date nights in our future to try and get "creative"... but for now, I am grateful for these memories - an amazing dinner and a great movie with the world's best husband. Like I said, "dinner and a movie" works for us. 

Music {Adventures}

Finally, FINALLY, after living in Utah for a few months Kenny and I went to a show at the end of March. We went to go and see the one, the only, William Fitzsimmons. It was only a few weeks after moving to Utah that we bought tickets to this show... & looking back, I am a little surprised that we dished out $30 for some tickets when we were dirt poor (which we still are) and didn't have any jobs. However, now that we both have jobs and a steady income I can say that I am glad we did purchase those tickets. :] 

We turned this event into a pleasant mid-week date. We drove up to Salt Lake City after work, grabbed some grub at Crown Burgers (We had heard about this place many a times on the Travel Chanel, but we were not too impressed...it was good, not great) and watched our show at one of the smallest venues I have been to. A perfect date for the Mr & I. 

This show was one of my favorite shows that we have been to together (and I am glad to say we have quite a few concerts under our belts by now). William Fitzsimmons is one of our FAVs! Kenny loves his quiet voice and the way he plays guitar, but for me, Mr. Willy and I go way back. I used to listen to his album "The Sparrow and the Crow" non-stop my Sophomore and Junior years of college. I was going through a very rough time and his music really resonated with me. That album will forever be engraved in my life. Although Mr. Willy is one of my absolute favorites, I can find it a little hard to listen to at times, only because I am frequently reminded of my dark and dreary days. While we were at the concert I had one of those "moments" as he played some of my favorites where I really thought about where I was/how I felt and how much has changed since then. It was so weird to compare where I was to where I am today. It felt like standing in a juxtaposition of depression and happiness. The music he was singing reminded me of how deeply I was depressed, yet I stood there with my wonderful, kind, patient, and loving husband next to me.  If only I knew then that I was capable of being loved by someone so wonderful as him. I am so grateful for my husband and the pure joy he brings to my life. Yes life is hard, and there are still things that I struggle with, but Kenny makes it all worth it. He motivates me to keep going, simply because he loves me. I couldn't ask for anything more. 

...Needless to say this concert was a beautiful reflective moment for me. One that truly reminds me of how lucky and fortunate I am to have Kenny Norton as mine, all mine.