24 Years of Lauren!

Today is Lauren’s 24th birthday, since she has been so good to me I am going to take this opportunity to talk about her best traits that I have observed in the 4+ years that I have known her. I think one of my favorite things about Lauren is that she is such a happy person that she is always brightening other people’s days. I know she certainly brightened my life when she came into it. One of the things that I never give Lauren enough credit for is how accepting she has been of my friends and how much fun that has made our relationship. Lauren is always willing to meet new people and usually becomes better friends with my friends than I am. This goes back to the fact that Lauren is one of the most thoughtful people that I know. She is constantly thinking of little things that she can do for others and is always keeping up on what is going on (a euphemism for cyber-stalking). She has a way of letting people know that she genuinely empathizes with what is happening in their lives.
Without taking up too much time, I just wanted to say to Lauren that she is an amazing woman and that I am so lucky to have her in my life. While her hair cut and color may have changed dramatically over the time that I have known her, her most defining feature, her heart, has not.

Love you babe!

-Mike

In the spirit of Mardi Gras... our NOLA trip, FINALLY!

So I have been meaning to write about our great trip down to New Orleans for the Sugarbowl and New Years but I have been a total slacker about going through the pictures. Well, finally I had a chance to go through them, so here they finally are.

We had an amazing time and this was by far our best trip down there yet. We are so blessed to have Chris and Matt as friends and have truly enjoyed discovering New Orleans and making some great friends down there with them. This trip was our longest we have been able to take and so this time we took it really easy and relaxed a lot more than we have on prior trips down there. It was nice to be able to go at a slower pace and really take in the spirit of the city.

Our room was in the slave quarters, which is typically a building behind a large home in which the slaves used to live in. They have restored it and it's beautiful.

The sign Lisa made us upon our arrival.
The view from our roomWhile we took it a little easier we still did a lot of fabulous things. It was so nice outside that after breakfast the first day we decided to go for a long walk and enjoy the beauty of the city. We walked around the ginormous Audubon park that was a lot like Sugarhouse park and happened to see an alligator just lounging out with a bunch of turtles. It was cool to see all the different wildlife the park provided a home to and it was a great way to start the trip.

The Audubon Park

A great placque!Mike, Matt and Chris The ducks were just this side of menacing.
I hope that gator doesn't get hungry!!! New Years down there was so different that Utah and we had a great time. We went to a wonderful dinner at The Court of Two Sisters and were able to watch a proposal, which I LOVED! I thourougly enjoy watching people commit their lives to one another and I was so happy for them. After dinner we headed to Pat O's for some hurricanes and then people watched on Bourbon. If you like to people watch than Bourbon is the place for you. You will see some of the craziest people or sites you have ever seen in your life. Around 11 we headed back to the hotel so we could watch the river fireworks from the best spot in town. Lisa, the manager let us watch the fireworks from the roof of our hotel and it was awesome. They were unlike any fireworks I had ever seen and I couldn't have imagined a better way to bring in the New Year.

Here is Bourbon for you!
Ahh Bourbon Street Matt and Mike enjoying Hurricanes at Pat O's
Mike and I on New Years The day of the game we decided to go to the new insectarium where we ate BUGS; yes BUGS!!! I even ate them, which I never thought I would do! We ate Millworms in Apricot chutney, millworms in Banana's Foster and wax worms that tasted like spicy cheetoes. They were't that bad but I don't know if I will be doing that again soon. The insectarium was really cool and my favorite part was the butterfly room. They had a room that had hundreds of butterflies just flying around. If you ever make it down to NOLA, I suggest either the insectarium or the acquarium because they are both flawlessly done and are so educational yet entertaining at the same time.

The butterflies were gorgeous!

We did so many other great things like go on a swamp tour and see lots of gators, discover some new yummy eateries, explore St. Charles and look at the beautiful homes, go to a jazz mass, eat beneighs, drink lots of hurricanes, see some friends, gorge ourselves on delicious food and just spend time with people we love. It was a great trip with some of our dearest friends and we are so blessed to continue making memories such as these with them. We love you Chris and Matt! Thanks again for including us and showing us your beloved city.

The Cathedral The RiverMike holding a baby gatorMe holding a baby gatorA swamp gator SNAP!!!
A gator smile!Who knew a swamp could be so gorgeous!On the swamp tour!

I am going to post a separate entry about the Sugar Bowl because I think it deserves it's own, it was just that amazing.

The bump...

I really enjoy looking at both The Knot and The Nest. The Knot is a wedding website that was super helpful when Mike and I were engaged and The Nest is a website for newlyweds. Well the other day, I ran across their sister website called The Bump. I started playing on it a bit to see if I should tell Aubree about it and as I was navigating through I found this Chinese Gender Chart. Apparently it’s supposed to be 90% accurate in determining the sex of your baby. Normally I don’t believe in horoscopes, numerology or any of that stuff but as I started to plug in a few of my friend’s information and it was right 90% of the time. I just thought I would share it for a bit of fun on a Friday. I couldn’t copy the one from the website so here is the link.

Chinese Gender Chart

Either way, this is a fun website for all moms, those trying to get pregnant and those who currently are and I definitely think it’s worth trying out. Let me know if it was right for you. Liz, I especially want to know what it says for you since you are finding out what you are having soon! Have a good weekend!

Best News of the Day!

In-N-Out is coming to Draper this summer. I have been dying to have one come to Salt Lake for years and it's finally happening! Can't wait to have this amazing burger joint grace the Wasatch front, although their arrival is not going to help my diet. Oh well, they are worth it.

Oh and for all those that don't know, a Nordstrom Rack is coming to Sandy. Can't tell you how excited I am for that! I have been waiting 6 years to have a Noodles and Company, Bed Bath and Beyond, a sushi restaurant, a place to get a good burger and a Cafe Rio nearby and in the past year they have all come to Sandy. The Nordstrom Rack is just the icing on the cake. I think Mike and I are going to have to house hunt in Sandy since it has all of my favorite things. That or I am going to have to continue working here so I can continue to enjoy all these new additions to the city.

I probably need to have a baby or something so my best news of the day can be about something other than the coming of an In-N-Out. I will start working on that. "wink wink"

My best gift yet!

Since Mike won’t be reading this blog anytime soon and by the time he does read it, Valentine’s Day will have passed; I thought I would share my gift to him with you.

Gifts is my primary love language and consequently I am a GINORMOUS gift person. I love to give them, love to receive them, love to put a lot of thought into them and see the reaction one has when they open it. This has always been a part of me, sometimes to a fault, but I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Well, Mike unfortunately doesn’t share my love of gifts and absolutely HATES it when I spend a lot of money on him. It has taken me 5 Christmases, 4 birthdays, 4 Valentines Days, 1 anniversary and many other celebrations to comprehend that he really doesn’t like extravagant gifts and that I need to tone it down.

Well, this Valentine’s Day I think I finally got it into my thick skull not to spend a lot of money but rather get him something truly meaningful and that comes from my heart. When I was browsing Barnes and Noble for books to read on our upcoming trip I ran across this little book, What I Love About You by Kate and David Marshall.

Now, I have looked at those couple journals before and thought they were cheesy but I decided see what it was all about and I was pleasantly surprised. I felt it was a more grown up version of a love journal and immediately I was answering the questions in my head about Mike and our relationship. Then it clicked, this was a perfect Valentine’s Day gift and I knew I had to get it for him.

I have spent the past week and a half filling it out and it has been a wonderful reminder of the love I have for him, the memories we have shared and the amazing husband that he is. I can’t wait to give it to him and remind him of things he forgot, show him how I view him and the man he is in words rather than actions and relive the memories together. If you haven’t thought of anything to get your spouse for Valentine’s Day yet, I highly recommend it. There are a few cheesy questions throughout it but for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got just as much filling it out as I am sure Mike will and it will be something we have forever. I just thought it was a creative and fun way to document my feelings for him, where we are in life now and how our relationship has evolved over the past 4 years of being together. I really think this is my best gift to him yet and only cost $14.00 and some time!

UPDATE: I meant to get this posted BEFORE I left to Jamaica but ran out of time. Mike absoulutely loved it and we spent a few hours on Valentines Day sipping champagne and reading about the life we have together. It was by far my most successful gift to him yet and it reminded us why we love one another.

The Doors are Already Opening!

As the saying goes, one door closes and another opens. Yesterday Mike was offered a job position as lead engineer for a new tool ATK is developing. He interviewed for it a week ago and he starts this 9-12 month project at the end of the month. This is a great opportunity for him, as it will introduce him to different people in the company, teach him new things and will be unlike anything he has been doing for the past 5 years. Plus, it offers more job security and comes with a possible trip or two to Brazil, since that is where the client is based. I am really hoping I can finagle a trip down there with him but we will have to wait and see how everything pans out. The only downside to it is that the new position is in Clearfield so he will be waking up earlier, coming home later and working more but I am really proud of him and I am excited to see where this new position will take him. It’s amazing to see him grow in his career and become such a valuable part of ATK and the tooling department. Congrats babe, you deserve it and I am so honored to call such a talented and intelligent man my husband.