Looks Like We Made It . . .

Today is our one year anniversary! Yay to us! It's cliche, but I honestly can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It seems just like yesterday that we were getting everything ready for our big day. I love Rich so much and am so grateful to him for putting up with me for an entire year--fingers crossed he keeps it up!
Rich surprised me with a plan to get away from everything for a bit and picked me up from work on Friday for our weekend of fun. He didn't tell me where we were going, so I was really surprised when we pulled into this run-down neighborhood in Ogden. Seriously. I was super nervous. I remember asking Rich if he'd looked at the pictures online. He was nervous too, thinking he'd made a big mistake on the planning. But apparently there's a "Canyon Rd" in Ogden, and a road called "Ogden Canyon." Thankfully we were just in the wrong place! But that was an exciting start to the night! We eventually made our way to The Alaskan Inn, which has these super cute little cabins all decorated fun with different Alaskan themes. It was so nice! And our cabin was super cute. We were in "Old Ketchikan," which was decorated with some fishing stuff. The furniture is all log and it's just a cozy little place. The canyon was beautiful too, and the leaves were changing. It was a perfect destination! Rich got an "A+" for this plan!

On Saturday morning we got breakfast in bed, which made me feel super rich! Room service is fun. Then I made Rich pose for some pics. (I tried to email myself the pics so I could add them, but apparently I am lame and this didn't work. I'll post them later. I promise. This time, I promise.)

After this we made our way to the Ogden Temple. Neither of us had been to this temple before, and I loved that it wasn't super busy so we could just be alone. Rich is so great and planned a wonderful getaway for us. He even bought me a new outfit! Super cute!

To celebrate on our actual day (today) I planned dinner at home. My parents flew in from the Philippines on Friday, so my mom was there to help. Thanks! I was brave and attempted cooking salmon for the first time. Rich did a great job manning the grill, and the fish turned out perfectly--even if I was a bit grossed out by the scales. I also made rosemary potatoes, some wonderful brussels sprouts, and rolls. Then for dessert I made an anniversary carrot cake. (This is my try at making the carrot cake seem fancy.) I was feeling bad because I didn't save the top of our wedding cake. Right after we got married my mom offered to put it in the freezer for us. I told her I would do it. I never did. I ended up having to throw the top away. I'm so lazy! Anyway, I felt really awful for my lack of following what tradition demands, so I decided to make a new cake top that wasn't in danger of having freezer burn. Our original topper was carrot cake. So I searched the Internets for a great recipe that would be worthy for us to eat on our year anniversary, and came across a really fattening recipe. With 3 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar, I knew this recipe had to be a winner. I was nervous, since it fell when cooking. And then stuck to the bottom of the pans, but the end result turned out semi-pretty and VERY tasty!

All in all our weekend celebration was wonderful. But not as wonderful as the past year has been. I love Rich and am so glad I found him. And that he chose me! I'm so excited for the future, because I know it can only get better when you have as amazing a husband as I do! Love you Rich! One year down, infinity to go!!

Zucchini Mush

Last night was a zucchini disaster. I thought I could keep my domestic skills going since the night before I'd made raspberry-plum jam all by myself--no help from my mom! Well, I did have to call her with one teensy question, but still, all by myself.

We have SO MUCH zucchini. Remember that baby little plant we started with back in June? Now it's the mama of the whole wee garden. And really, I don't think anything grows faster than a zucchini, well, other than the freak show that is Renesmee. We have tons and tons of zucchini. Large zucchinis (sometimes I forget to check in on the garden). And I don't like when they get all big--when they get to be a big as my arm, they're only good for shredding and the occasional soup addition--so I thought I would freeze some up to use when the winter months take the garden away. I read on the USU Extension Web site that I needed to blanch the zucchini before freezing, and since apparently the extension is THE WORD when it comes to the home arts, I dutifully followed their suggestion to blanch the shredded zucchini for 3 minutes. Wrong. This does not blanch the zucchini so much as cook it into oblivion. I thought this seemed like a long time for blanching, but hey, what do I know? When it came time to blanch the sliced zucchini, I put it in for just about a minute, and it turned out beautifully. But I still have the shredded mush. I was going to just call it a loss and throw it away, I mean, is this really going to be usable in cookies or bread? But that felt wasteful, so I measured it out into the freezer bags, which I may end up throwing away in a few months. But I feel that this is less wasteful:)

Moral of the story, sad night in the domestic games.

**Okay, so I re-checked the extension Web site. And I may not have remembered the instructions quite clearly. Apparently you're not supposed to blanch shredded zucchini for 3 mintues. Rather you're supposed to steam blanch it for 1-2 mintues. It's the sliced zucchini that should be blanched for 3 mintues. So apparently I've messed it all up. I guess the real moral of the story is sad night in Brianne reading the instructions.

The Healing Has Begun

You know those moments in your life where you feel that you sort of got the shaft? I do. One of my deepest scars from childhood comes when everyone else got their very own framed shark's teeth. I did not. I even sacrificed my life to have my picture taken in a tub overhanging a cliff and I still didn't get any teeth! Okay. I was 5 when this all went down. And clearly this was a dramatic event back then. Though I did kind of feel bad for the past 20 years that I didn't have any shark's teeth. This weekend, the healing process began.

How was all that for intense beginnings? Are you confused yet? Remember how I got Friday off for throwing the department party of the year? Well, where else would I go to relax than Tropic! My cousin (ish) got married over the weekend so Rich and I and my sister, Dawn, and her family headed down for the celebration. The weather was perfect, even if I did get a bit sunburned. I just love Tropic at this time of year! Rich and I got down there Friday night and enjoyed the quietness of a small town. We livened things up a bit though by playing some Yahtzee. That's right. We're totally crazy. Rich will probably like me to mention that he rolls Yahtzee every game. Not kidding. He's so freaking lucky.

Saturday we all decided to take a hike, and because I hadn't been to the bathtubs since I was 5, and Dawn wasn't with the family back then, we headed up there. I'll stop here and give some background. The bathtubs are called this because there's a flat area up on a hill in Tropic where the rocks have indents and look like bathtubs. The area used to all be covered by Lake Bonneville, so the hill is sandy and has little shells, fossils, and the all important shark's teeth. You can't really go up there in the summer because it's too hot and the rattlesnakes are out. And since that's the only time we're really in Tropic, we really wanted to take advantage of this trip and head on up. Gwen said that since everyone's been going up there for so long we might not find any shark's teeth, but we decided to give it a try anyway. Gwen directed us to the correct hills--and let me tell you, even with the directions, we still got lost. Not because it was hard to find, but because apparently things seem a lot cooler and bigger when you're 5. We totally walked right past the bathtubs and kept on going up the mountain. For real. I just couldn't believe that the indent we passed on the rock was the bathtub. I remember being placed in this tub that overhung the cliff and thinking I was going to die. I must have been really dramatic back then.

Anyway, after our extra little jaunt up the mountain, we came back down and chilled in the tubs and then went to searching for prehistoric loot. And! I found the first teeth!! I was so excited. I totally should have been an archeologist. How cool would that be? Conner, my nephew, found the biggest tooth! It's probably like an inch long. (Sorry I don't have a pic.) Gwen said it was the biggest tooth she'd ever seen from up there! Rich was a little miffed that Conner found such a treasure and made sure we knew "it was much harder to find the small teeth." We searched around for a bit and found quite a few teeth. Enough to make Conner, Nicholas, and myself little frames of shark's teeth. That's right. My childhood dream is coming true!

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. We hit up the reception, and Kyler and Stephenie looked super cute together! It was great to see some family and friends, though I'm super sad that I only got to talk to Cody for like 1 minute. And coming home is always depressing for me. I just hate driving away! (Apparently I'm still a little dramatic.)

And we're back!

So, for the past few weeks I've just been blah. Blah. I have been super lazy and just cranky. I'm not sure why. It's not a pleasant side of me, but I have been trying to have a more positive attitude. I didn't feel like blogging my negativity, so with this brief mention on the reason for my hiatus, here we go a-blogging again!

I may have been a teensy bit stressed because I was in charge of this summer party at work. Seriously, who puts a 25 year old in charge! I was really nervous because it was for the whole department and their spouses, plus some General Authorities and their wives. I was under a lot of pressure to make sure the whole thing was up to snuff. We had about 150 attend, and Costa Vida catered. We had a fiesta theme, and the committee members in charge of the decorations did amazing! Seriously, I wish I'd had a camera! It was all bright and fun and had sombreros and maracas and hot tamales. So fun.

Our musical entertainment was Michael McLean. I'll admit, I was nervous; I mean, I haven't seen McLean perform anything but the Forgotten Carols in a long time. But Michael did a great job! A nice blend of funny and inspirational. He did a great job and kept people entertained. He also pulled out his adoption song, which brought tears to some women's eyes. I think everyone felt the emotional journey was well worth it:) Though I was worried since my specific instructions from the department director was to "not have everyone leaving all sad and depressed." It all ended okay though because Michael reminded us that "we are not alone."

After Michael's set, Elder Perry and Elder Holland got up to make some remarks (they are on the Missionary Executive Council, therefore assigned to our department). It was great because things are always funnier when GAs say them. Elder Perry walked past Elder Holland and said "Come up with me. I AM NOT ALONE." Good quip E. Perry! They were both just so sweet and wrapped up the evening well. Elder Holland spoke after Elder Perry and it was great because he's like "I have to follow you? I mean, I WILL follow you. Always. Wherever you go. I just meant I have to follow 'that'?" So great. (I'm sure this is not interesting at all since you weren't there. But I promise, it was hilarity personified.)

Now comes the bragging part. Well, not really, but I feel that it will come across like that. But really, I'm just relieved that everyone had fun. I've only received positive comments, which makes me feel great! I'm glad that it all went smoothly and that the food choice (we've had Famous Dave's BBQ for 4 years straight and I was all about changing things up) went over well, because I was really worried about this. The department director told me I "did a really, really, really good job" and that he "was proud of me." And really, his opinion was the one I was most worried about. So score there! The night also offered a great journal entry anecdote because Steve told me that Elder Perry leaned over while I was up front and asked who I was because I was doing so great. Apparently I was a hit:) Though I'm not sure having a General Authority know my name is a good thing. . . Anyway, the night went well. Everyone is happy. And I'm done. Done! Which is really the most important part of the party. And as a special treat, I got Friday off! But I'll give you those details later. For now, this chica is mucho content with not having to worry any longer if the caterer is going to show up!