Josh and Mandy

Del Mar Race Tracks

2012-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Kenny & Danielle came down to visit yet again and the six of us decided to go to the race tracks in Del Mar. They are really big here in San Diego for the whole month of August. It was fun to actually be at one. We only wish we would have taken better advantage of them and gone more than once.

August Trip To Utah

2012-02-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

We were able to go to Utah again in August which was a bitter sweet trip. My grandma passed away and we were going home for her funeral which was hard but good at the same time. My whole extended family on that side was there and I got to see several aunts, uncles, and cousins that I hadn't seen in a long time. I wish it would have been a happier reunion but it was good. We also got to be there for Chelsea & Lee's wedding reception so that was good. It was fun to see family and friends again. We even found some time to hit a demolition derby which are always fun.

At Coronado with Berg, Matt & Fam

2012-02-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

Berg & Matt came down for a couple days in August. It was so fun to show them around San Diego. The kids had a great time at Coronado Beach. I think they could have played all day. We saw tons of dolphins that day it was so awesome!

Weekend of Fun!

2011-12-09T22:41:00.000-08:00

Everyone came back for one last summer bash. Kenny & Danielle had already moved away. Clark & Jennifer had been gone for the summer for an internship & came back just long enough to pack up and move back to Utah. Josh & Courtney were getting ready for a 4 week leave for Josh while she went back to Texas. What was such an awesome group of friends still is except they forgot they weren't supposed to leave us in San Diego by ourselves. :( We just love these amazing people and are so grateful to be such good friends with them even though we miss them like crazy! We had a fun weekend of volleyball and BBQ. We even gave Clark & Jen a nice welcome home with a banner and everything ha ha. They loved it of course...(they were a little embarrassed but we didn't care). Then I played hooky from work that Monday so we could go to the the Wild Animal Park. It was so hot but so much better than being at work.

Fun with Family July Trip Home

2011-12-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

We were able to go home for a couple days in July this summer. It had been since Christmas since we had been home so it was really good to see everyone. We got together with friends, the whole Poulsen family was in town, and we got to say bye to friends who were moving. We just adore these little nieces and nephews of ours! It was a great weekend!

Drive In!

2011-12-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

There are far things more enjoyable than a summer drive in movie! Wish they had one in San Diego that wasn't in the ghetto so I could go all year long.

Cassie & Danny's going away party :(

2011-12-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

So glad we were able to be home for this little get together. Cassie and Danny moved to Arizona for medical school and they happened to be having their party the weekend we were in Salt Lake. It was so good to see everyone! We just love love love our friends and miss them everyday. It is always to good to see everyone when we are in town.

Party with the Poulsen's

2011-12-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

Sam & Tyler Poulsen are some of our great friends back in Salt Lake. We just adore them and their kids. We went with them to get Snow Cones when we came home to play this summer.

4th of July

2011-12-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

We went out to Coronado to watch the fireworks in the bay. They had 5 barges in the bay that went off at the same time. They say about 800,000 people come to watch that firework show. We could see all 5 of them from where we were sitting it was so amazing. We had a beautiful view of the city sitting on the beach watching fireworks in a city that is so full of military. It was a really cool experience. It's fun to live in a place that is so close to military bases and ships. We have gotten to know and become friends with some of these awesome people that serve our country. Josh Morris who was there with us is in the Navy and is currently deployed. He and his wife Courtney have become great friends of ours and we are so lucky to know them. This was definitely a 4th of July I will not forget.

Mission Bay Harbor Cruise

2011-12-06T21:11:00.002-08:00

We did an evening cruise in Mission Bay. It was great weather as always and something fun and different to do.

Ocean Kayaking!

2011-12-06T21:11:00.001-08:00

This is probably my favorite thing we have done in San Diego. We went ocean kayaking in La Jolla Cove. We did it with a company that take pictures of you while you are out there which are so fun to have. It is definitely a workout but so fun. We saw dolphins and sea lions. It was a cloudy day so the water was murky but apparently when it's clear you can see pretty far down and there are lots of little sharks out there too. That doesn't make me too excited but I couldn't see anything so I was good. I definitely didn't get in the water though. The hardest part is heading out and coming back in. The waves make things a little difficult. We made it in without tipping over but Kenny and Danielle were not so lucky. It ate them up! Not fun. But Josh took advantage of the ride in on their kayak ha ha. We had such a good time. This would be a fun thing to do when people come to visit for sure!

Sea World with the Eliason's

2011-12-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

Love Sea World! Nothin but a good time.

Father's Day

2011-12-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

We went to our favorite breakfast place "Hash House" downtown. The meal portions are huge, elaborately done as you can see, and so so yummy. Josh and I always get a strawberry, mango, coconut pancake that is the size of a pizza! Best pancake I've ever had. Afterwards we went on a Segway tour of La Jolla which is by far the most beautiful part of San Diego. If I could own a house there someday that would be amazing. This house that I took a picture of would do just fine. :) Super fun, beautiful day! I'm glad my dad was here.

Bike ride on Coronado

2011-12-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

This was a fun day. My parents and my brother came down to visit us and on Saturday June 18th we decided to go for a bike ride with the Eliason's out on Coronado. It was quite the adventure. Kenny and Danielle decided to get a double seater and pull Kayli in the bike trailer. Well... she didn't think that was such a good idea and we didn't get to the end of the street before she started crying. So we decided to see if Danielle could fit in the trailer and ride with her. As you can see it worked and Kayli thought it was great. So not only did kenny have to pull both of them, but he was riding a bike made for two and had to bicycle twice as fast to keep up with the rest of us. I was laughing so hard I couldn't even handle it. The looks we got were priceless. Once people realized Danielle wasn't a kid they just started laughing. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. It definitely made for a fun memory. And we finished it off at our favorite Italian place on Coronado for lunch.

San Diego Scavenger Hunt

2011-12-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

This was back in June the night we did a scavenger hunt of San Diego. Our friend Ari put the whole thing together, thought of all the clues, and hid all the clues. She took us everywhere from Mission Beach to downtown, out to Coronado, and everywhere in between. It was such a fun night! I don't think I have done anything that fun in a long time. Afterwards we went to this yummy pizza place on Coronado that has a view of the city. So pretty. I fall in love with San Diego more and more everyday.

Our Drunken Night Out

2011-12-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

We received some less than awesome news this night and we had to go out to play so we would feel better. If we could have gotten drunk this would have been the night. :) Thank goodness for mini putt putt ha ha. Love Kenny & Danielle and miss them like crazy!

Downtown with the girls

2011-12-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

Heading to farmers market with Danielle and Jen. The flowers in the spring were so pretty. It was definitely a picture moment. Love these girls!

2011-12-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

Beach Volleyball is easily one of our very favorite things!! We will drop almost anything on a Saturday to go play volleyball, and we have played every month of the year. So fun! Mission beach is the best! We can't get enough of it. Here is the VB crew.

Padres Game (or lack there of)

2011-12-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

So we got a really good deal on these tickets for the Padres game back in April. We were super excited because we had good seats and free food. Well... it turned out the food consisted of hot dogs and hamburgers. They were supposed to have snacks and treats as well but their idea of treats was peanuts. So not only was the food not that awesome but it was pooring rain the whole time and the game was delayed for about 2 hours. We stuck it out only for them to delay it again a half hour later. Michelle and I sat there the whole time eating peanuts (which we don't even like). We were so slap happy it wasn't even funny, and I think we downed 4 bags of peanuts because there was nothing else to do. Fun night despite the circumstances. Goes to show with good company you can have fun anywhere.

Weekend with Josh's parents

2011-12-05T21:08:00.001-08:00

Josh's parents came down to visit us back in April. It was a really beautiful weekend, and we had fun showing them the sites. We went to the gorgeous San Diego Temple and to my very favorite beach in La Jolla. Beautiful!

Life for the last six months!

2011-04-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

So I totally thought that I would be better at blogging when I moved.....I'm not! Obviously! So here ya go.... This is the last six months of our life, which has been extremely eventful. I never thought this is where I would be at this point in my life or ever for that matter. I thought I would be a Utah home body forever. However, this has probably been the best experience of our married life. We have become so close and so dependent on each other. We have had to break out of our comfort zone and realize what life is like away from home. We have met amazing people! Josh has really enjoyed learning about law, but the school part of that has been a challenge for sure. He has always been an extremely hard worker but he has never worked harder in his life than he is right now. He literally does school sun up to sun down. We have one car so I drop him off every morning at seven and head up to work. I work at a dermatology office in Encinitas which is about 30 minutes from home. It has been a challenge for me but its gotten better & I enjoy it more every day. I pick Josh up around 4:30 on my way home unless he has a big project due or finals around the corner, then I don't see him until about 8:00. He is extremely dedicated to this decision and I'm so proud of him for putting all his energy into this to provide a good future for us.

Other than work, school, and our lack of funds we are having an absolute blast. We are falling more and more in love with San Diego everyday. It is so beautiful down here and the weather truly is perfect. We have become addicted to the beach. We have been playing beach volleyball almost every Saturday since September and we love it. If it was not so expensive to live down here I don't know if I would ever want to leave. If we don't have money we just go hang out at the beach or the dog park. We have to keep pinching ourselves to remind ourselves that we really do live here. So life as we know it is wonderful. We miss everyone like crazy and wish that we were just a little closer to home, but all in all I think this is where we are meant to be right now, and we are definitely not complaining. We love and miss everyone back home and you are all more than welcome to come play anytime!

Coronado Dog Beach

2011-04-05T21:31:00.001-07:00

Coronado is the best. If I had the money I'm pretty sure we would live there. It has the cutest neighborhoods and it feels so laid back. The beach is beautiful. Dog beach is right down from the Coronado Hotel. Boston could not have been happier. He loves the beach as much as we do, but we have to coerce him into the water with treats. He likes the water he just doesn't like the waves. Our goal is to get him to swim ha ha. I think his favorite thing is chasing all the birds.

Barrister's Ball

2011-04-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

Law schools have a ball or a "law prom" as we like to call it every spring. It was so fun to have an excuse to dress up fancy and go to a dance again. We had so much fun. We were able to pull out some of our country swing dancing moves that we haven't done in forever so that was awesome. It was in the ball room of this hotel down in mission bay which was beautiful. The only bummer was the food totally sucked and they didn't order enough so half the students didn't even get any. But we all had a great time. And I did my own updo which I was very proud of considering that I have never done an updo on myself. Thank you youtube for the tips ha ha.

Vegas

2011-04-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

We of course were due for another Vegas trip and met Dustee, Andy, and Matt there in late January. Best night was Saturday when Dustee and I were at the same black jack table with the same people for over four hours! We didn't win much. It was up and down the whole time. But our money lasted a long time and that is the best. I just like to be able to play.

New Years!

2011-04-05T20:18:00.001-07:00

We decided to have everyone over at my parents house for our new years party. Lots of fun memories in that house, and we had a great time.

Home for Christmas

2011-03-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

It was so fun to come home for Christmas! It was definitely my first year living away from home around the holidays, but it made them that much more enjoyable. I was able to go visit my old office and see all the girls and my doctors which was super fun. We got together for lunch & dinner dates with several friends. And we got to play with all of their adorable little kids who we miss so much. It was such a blast. Not to mention that Christmas itself was wonderful. I wouldn't have had to have anything for Christmas and I would have been just fine. It was gift enough just to be able to come home for a week. And we got to have our snow for Christmas. Boston also enjoyed his play time in the snow. He loves that just as much as the beach. I do love my snow. However it was super nice to come back and be playing volleyball on the beach the first week of January. But I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as we did. It was so good to see all of you!

Christmas time

2011-03-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

It was really hard for me to get in the Christmas spirit this year with no snow and warm weather. It was weird to go to the mall and see Santa Claus sitting outside because all of our malls are out doors. And I always look forward to decorating my big 10 foot Christmas tree but that was just impossible in this little apartment of ours. So we settled for the 6 foot $40 tree from walmart ha ha. I did what I could with decor but I don't have a lot of space to work with.

New Port Beach

2011-03-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

Josh's brother and his family came down to New Port Beach in December and we were able to spend a couple weekends with them up there. It was so much fun. New Port is definitely one of my favorite places ever. And now it is so conveniently located an hour and a half from us! It was so fun to see the kids. This is a picture of us outside of Sprinkles. It is a cupcake place here in Cali and it is to die for. I'm totally not a cupcake person but these are so delicious. We now have one in San Diego which makes me so excited. New port also has a Cafe Rio which we were so thrilled about. We miss our Cafe Rio. But that is Josh and his little mini me Zack in Cafe Rio. It's always good to see Jer and Tal. They live in South Dakota now so it just doesn't happen often enough. Good thing New Port is their favorite place too.

Sea World in December

2011-03-31T20:56:00.001-07:00

This was the first time I have been to Sea World since I was seven and now we practically live down the street. It is about a ten minute drive from our apartment. Josh's parents came down with Holli & Brayden & the boys to spend a couple days at Disneyland. And then they came down our way to go to Sea World for a day. It was fun for us to get to see them for a while and play with those cute boys. We miss our nieces and nephews like crazy. It's hard not to be able to play with them whenever we want. And that cute little Hunter is getting so big. But they had the park decorated for Christmas. There was a big tree in the middle of an ice rink at the entrance. I have never seen people ice skating in shorts before until then. But it was 65 degrees outside. We held star fish and pet sting rays and all that fun stuff that I remember doing with my dad all those years ago. It was a fun trip down memory lane. But now we have Sea World passes so if you want to go come on down!

Home for Thanksgiving!

2011-03-31T20:43:00.001-07:00

Yay for the Holidays! We were so excited to come home for Thanksgiving. I don't think I have ever been as thankful as I was for this season. You don't realize entirely what you have until it is gone. We miss family and friends like crazy. But we are also so so thankful for this opportunity to better our lives with higher education. We just had so much to be thankful for. Especially for the fact that we made it up there with all the crazy snow storms going on! But I definitely enjoyed the snow the few days we were there. However going from 60 degree weather to 6 degrees was not fun at all. We have become extremely spoiled by our weather down here. But we had a fun girls night and we were able to get together with friends. We had wonderful dinners with both of our families. Enjoyed the BYU/Utah game of course. And just enjoyed being with all the people we love. We have such a great life, and such great people in it. So good to be home.

Utah Game in San Diego

2011-03-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

We had to support our home team! This was an awesome game. It was pooring rain which made it that much more exciting. The SDSU fans were talking smack the whole game but we had quite a good crowd of Utah fans to back them up. It was such a close game and the victory was so sweet. It's always funny to watch the opposing fans leave with their tail between their legs after running their mouth the whole game. GO Utah!!

Chargers Game

2011-03-30T21:49:00.001-07:00

We got to go to one Chargers game last season. They were playing against the Titans and it was super fun. We live down the street from the stadium and we knew we needed to go to at least one game before the season ended. And it was the first pro football game we have ever been too.

Halloween

2011-03-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

This was probably the single most crazy night of our life. I can honestly say I have not had a Halloween like this before. We went down town for the law school dance. We decided to all take a taxi van so we didn't have to find parking. And from 10:00 pm to 3:00 pm we managed to all get separated. Some friends lost their wallet, some forgot their ID and had to go back home to get it, some took a taxi home but did not have their house keys on them and were locked out, others of us waited in line trying to figure out what happened to everyone. We finally all made it to the dance. It was super crowded but fun. Then when all was said and done we ended up standing on the side of the street for 2 hours trying to hail a cab because it was so crazy down there. Finally a friend of a friend came to get us and we got home at 3:00 in the morning. Needless to say we were dead tired. We have since tried to avoid downtown. And we will be doing something a little more low key next year ha ha.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for carving. Love Kenny & Danielle they are the best! We have a great time with them.

San Diego Sunsets

2011-03-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

I love beach sunsets! It is interesting because in Utah the sunsets are the best during the summer. But down here I have found that they are better in the winter. I drive down the 5 everyday on my way home from work and watch the beautiful sunset. They are stunning. I love our Utah sunsets with the mountains but these have an entirely different beauty. I just want to be on the beach every night at sunset.

Dog Beach!

2011-03-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

There is nothing Boston loves more than dog beach. And we absolutely love to take him there. It is so much fun to watch all the dogs play and run into the ocean. He races around like you wouldn't believe. The first time we let him off the leash I thought we would never get him back because he just took off. But after he runs around for a while he looks around for us and comes running right back. We are trying to get him used to the water but he is still a little afraid of it. We found out the other day that he can swim. He just doesn't care for it much ha ha. But he loves the beach. It is one of our favorite things about San Diego.

Sunday Dinner

2011-03-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

The weirdest thing about being away from home is Sunday dinner. We are so used to being at both of our families houses on Sunday and that was kind of a tough pill to swallow when it hit us that that wasn't going to happen for quite awhile. But Sunday dinner traditions went on just the same. This was my birthday dinner. Funeral potatoes are my very fav. I think it turned out pretty yummy if I do say so myself.

Vegas in September

2011-03-30T19:59:00.001-07:00

Love our Vegas trips! Perfect weekend get away. We had a lot of fun with Dustee & Andy on this trip. I was good to see a familiar face after just moving away from home.

Beach Days and Baseball games

2011-03-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the fall we went to a few of the Padres games. They tickets were cheap and who doesn't love a good old baseball game from time to time. They have the biggest and best hot dogs ever as you can see! Don't worry Josh's monster was $12.00! But very delicious. I still can't believe we paid that much for a hot dog. I think it was more than his ticket into the game ha ha. But we had a great time at the games. This was also our first little visit to the beach after moving here. We went with our new found friends Kenny and Danielle and had a great time.

My Birthday!

2010-09-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Josh planned out such a fun day for my birthday. We went to breakfast at this place called the Hash House and it was amazing. I have never seen more food in my life! These pictures don't even do it justice. That plate was the size of a large pizza and the pancake was the size of a medium pizza. It was at least a foot in diameter! We had a mango, strawberry, and coconut pancake, and meatloaf hash. It was to die for! One of our favorite places in San Diego for sure! Way fun atmosphere too! We then went to farmers market which is a weekly occurrence for us. We love farmers market! Every Saturday we go get our fresh green beans, tomatoes and anything else that looks good for that week! I like to go just to have samples of everything. It's like Costco but way better! After that we went down to mission beach and rented beach cruisers. For those of you who don't know what that is its just a bike with no gears, and they are so fun! We spent about 3 hours just riding around down by the beach, shopping, and laying out. It was a beautiful day! Then that night we went to this fancy Italian restaurant downtown which we still regret to this day. It was a cute little place but it would have been a lot more fun if we had money to spend on weird food. We didn't even know what half of the things on the menu were but we ate there anyways, and then decided afterwards that we should have gone to Olive Garden ha ha. Maybe when we are done with law school we will be more adventurous in our choice of restaurants but not while we are poor. It was great food just a little too pricy and fancy for our taste. But we had such a great day! I have the best husband in the whole world! He is always spoiling me. I don't know what I would do without him!

The Big Move!

2010-09-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

So it pretty much took us all day Monday to pack. We didn't get out of Utah until about 4:30 in the afternoon. We drove down to Vegas and then continued on to Cali the next day. Everything was going well and we were making great time. About an hour out of San Diego Josh made a mad dash off the freeway and I was right behind him. We were in the middle lane and luckily no one was next to him because our truck pulled him off the road. The wheel came completely detatched and we are lucky he didn't roll. It could have been a disaster. But we had to sit and wait for the tow truck for over two hours. We were so close and yet so far. We weren't able to get our truck back until Thursday afternoon and it turns out they gave it back still broken!! So we could have died yet again! The rod that holds the two front tires together was broken and they didn't fix it before we took it back to unpack our things. Needless to say we got 50% of our money back and they are lucky no one got hurt or they would have had a big law suit on their hands. Just fyi the tow truck guy told us that ours was the second Penske truck he had towed for that same reason. So if you are moving do not go through Penske. Pay a little extra money to make sure you get there safe!!

Other than that our trip was good. Between my interviews and Josh's orientation we were able to get all moved in, show my parents around San Diego, and take a segway tour of the city which was so much fun! My parents were so great to help us move in. It was a bigger job than I thought it was going to be. You would be surprised how much stuff fits in a one bedroom apartment. I was able to find a job that week and started work on Monday the same day Josh started school, and we were back to the grind all over again. It was a blessing though because we wouldn't survive if I didn't have a job. I work at a dermatology office up in Encinitas which is about 30 minutes north of where we live. It is a little bit of a commute but I'm getting used to it. We have to be there by 7:30 so I get up pretty early. But then I get off at 4:00 which is really nice. Most of the time I miss traffic which is also a plus because it is awful down here. Josh is busy studying away but we have managed to have fun in between all the craziness. We actually see each other more now than we did before. He was always working the night shifts to accommodate his school schedule and we didn't see each other until ten at night a lot of times. But he gets home about six and that has been so nice. So we are hangin in there. It's still weird that this is home. There are some days that I could like to just come home but it gets better and easier everyday. It will be nice when we can come back and visit.

Summer fun!

2010-09-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well what can I say we have the greatest friends on the planet! Moving away from home was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It's so hard to leave your life behind and start over brand new. Josh and I talk about all of you all the time. We miss you like crazy everyday. We have so many fun memories with so many amazing friends. From high school to college to Josh's mission to ward friends and work friends and everyone in between. We could not be more blessed! Thank you thank you thank you for everything you have done for us, and for being there for us when we needed you. We love you all!! Can't wait for you to come and visit! It truely is amazing down here. We live in a permanent vacation (minus work and school and endless studying and all those responsible things we still have to do down here). But it is such a fun city.

These were the last couple days before we left. I think every night the week before we left we were with different friends hanging out and saying our goodbyes. We didn't stop until we got in the moving truck and drove away. It was probably the craziest week ever! I think I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep, crazy emotions, and moving in general. But we had some great times this summer. It was way fun.

Hurray for Dustee and Andy's wedding! I dreaded and looked forward to this day all summer. I couldn't wait for them to get married, but that meant that we moved a week later which was not such a fun thought. But it was a great day and we couldn't be happier for them!!

We went to a Peter Breinholt concert with Hayley. It was super fun. We love Peter B. that took us back to high school days before Josh left on his mission.

Good old 4th of July! Such a fun Holiday. We look forward to it every year. Our nephews are so dang cute I love them.

Ok so ya I'm super bad at updating my blog and these pictures were from a while ago but I still wanted to post them. This was right after Josh's graduation. We went down to Vegas for a couple days and then kept on going to Anaheim to spend some time with Josh's family at Disneyland. It was a fun little trip. And these kids are our little pals. We miss them like crazy now that we aren't around to see them every week.

Crazy couple of months!

2010-04-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't made a post for quite awhile because my life has been so completely crazy. I don't even know where to start. In March we moved out of our wonderful Herriman home to save money and pay off debt before law school. It was so hard to leave such a fun neighborhood and so many wonderful friends. We have been out in Herriman for 3 years now so it was quite the change. At the beginning of February we put the house up for rent and by mid March we were moving out. As much as I hate so say it, it was a huge blessing for all of us. We needed to get out as soon as possible. Jer and Tal needed to find renters so they weren't losing money after we left, and the people that ended up renting needed to move in quickly. So it all worked out for the best even though I never wanted to leave. We were so spoiled to live in such a beautiful home. It all happened so fast it was just insane. We moved out the second week in March, the weekend after that we went to Omaha Nebraska to check out a law school there, and the weekend after that we were in San Diego to check out another law school. So basically the whole month of March was just a blur for us.

Since that time we have received rejection letters from Utah and BYU, which was kind of hard to swallow even though we both feel it was supposed to happen that way. San Diego is officially going to be our new home for the next four years. We had our hearts set on a school called California Western. It is a little private law school in downtown San Diego. However, a few weeks ago the University of San Diego sent him an acceptance letter. This is the best school he got into so it was really exciting. We will not be getting any scholarships there so that was kind of hard to swallow but after many discussions and research we decided that was the better option. So it is offical. We are going down in another couple of weeks to finalize housing, and I am not coming home until I have a place to live. It is such an exciting but scary time right now. Four years of school in a different state is hard to wrap your head around. I know it is what we are supposed to be doing for whatever reason but that doesn't make it any easier to leave my home and everyone we know and love. So we are down to about 7 weeks until the big move. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I try not to have too many panic attacks throughout the week. I am just ready to get settled so I can stop thinking and worrying about it.

Aside from law school Josh has graduated from UVU with his bachelor's degree. We took a Vegas vacation to celebrate the last four years of accomplishments. I am growing my photography business which has been exciting, except for the fact that I am moving and will have to start all over again in a new city. But life is good and completely crazy. Sorry my blog is so boring. The only blog I have time to update is my photography blog. I feel like I have two full time jobs right now. But that is our life in a nut shell hope you enjoyed it!

Here is our cute Herriman home that we miss so much! That was such a fun place to live. Also Josh's graduation pictures. Too bad that wasn't his law school graduation ha ha.

Valentines Day flowers

2010-02-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

These are the beautiful flowers Josh gave me for Valentines Day. He is the best! Believe it or not these flowers came in a box. They were so beautiful!

2010-02-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

For Josh's birthday we went out to Wendover for a night and it was such a blast! I think we were in the same casino for about 4 hours at least. The drive home was a little scary due to the fog and the lack of sleep but we had so much fun. We didn't win much but our money lasted us a long time which is all we care about because we just like to play. The festivities continued through the weekend with family dinners and get togethers. Hope you had a fun birthday Joshua!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!

2010-01-31T19:37:00.000-08:00

Today is the big 25! I can't believe it! I wanted to put together a few pictures that best describe my husband, and I think I did a pretty good job! Pictures say a thousand words. I think everyone would agree with me when I say that he is probably one of the most fun people to be around! He is always the life of the party, and I love that about him! He is always making me laugh. There really is never a dull moment at our house. He is the best husband I could ever ask for. (And he will admit that too with complete confidence ha ha) But really he treats me better than I could have ever dreamed. He is so motivated in everything that he does. I'm so proud of him for wanting to further his education to provide a good living for our future family. He really does love his life, and lives it to the fullest. He makes friends every where he goes. He always has a new story from work about how he met someone and gave them a good deal on a jersey, and they game him a free pair of jazz tickets or something crazy. I have no doubt that he will be successful. He is such a people person, and he is the best friend anyone could have. He loves all of his friends and family so much, and is always wishing the best for all of you. You all know what an amazing person he is but I wanted him to know how amazing I think he is. We have had so much fun together. I have been laughing with him for seven years now, and he just continues to make me smile. I just wanted him to know how much I love him! I can't wait to see what the next 25 years will bring! I hope you have a wonderful birthday Joshua!

Christmas 09

2010-01-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yes I know Christmas is over but as you all know I am really slow! So here it is we had a great one as always! We had Santa come to visit on Christmas Eve at the Poulsen's. Then we had the kids act out the manger scene which is always a good time. Clarky as you can see was a great angel. Then we slept at my parents house and had Christmas over there that morning which is always a good time! I love Christmas morning. We have now had Boston for over a year which I can hardly believe! He is so big! I don't know what we would do without him he is our little baby seriously ha ha! The week after Christmas was fun too. Jer and Tal were able to come for the week and that is always a blast. We just love to see their family! Then after New Years, Josh and I headed down to Vegas for a little weekend getaway for our anniversary. I can't believe it's been three years! Time goes by so fast it's crazy. But it has definitely been a fun filled three years for the two of us, and we have loved every minute of it!

St George Marathon

2009-12-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

In October we got to go down and see Talli run the St George Marathon. It was so good to see their family we just don't see them enough! The whole family was able to go thanks to Jer! So it was a fun little getaway for the Poulsen Family. And man I have a new found respect for all those runners there is no way I could do what they did! Mostly because I lack the motivation to run haha!

Halloween 09

2009-12-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks before Halloween we went to a Masquerade Ball and it was so fun! It was pretty much the only dressing up we really did this year unfortunately but we had a blast! On Halloween we just hung out with a bunch of people a played Mafia probably 7 times it was awesome! We were just having too much fun to stop.

My Birthday in Vegas!

2009-12-22T21:22:00.000-08:00

So Josh totally surprised me with a Vegas weekend getaway back in Sept. for my birthday! He is the best husband ever and I had no idea he was even planning anything! I thought we were going camping that weekend and then he surprised me with all these tickets and fun things for our Vegas getaway. He woke me up with breakfast in bed and one of those big huge cards that plays music, and in the card was my little package of fun! We went to drop Boston off at my moms only to come outside and find Andy and Dustee in my back seat all packed and ready to go with us! That was once again another surprise. I only wish more people could have joined us because it was such a blast! Josh got us tickets to go see Phantom which was so good! Then we went to a comedy show one day, and the next day we went to the Mirage to see the dolphin and lion exhibit which were both so much fun. Those animals are so fun to watch they were all so active and playful it was the best. We spent the remainder of our time going to random casino's to get their free players cards so that we could have free slot play. We all ended up winning at at least one of the casino's we went to it was so hilarious! We also paid a visit to good old Freemont Street which was a crazy adventure in and of itself! Dust and I became very familiar with black jack for the first time, and we also became very big fans of the game! Good thing we have self control and know when to walk away. We definitely both walked away with money! It was a blast! Best birthday ever! Who says your 23rd birthday is a boring one, mine sure wasn't!

New York Trip

2009-09-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

So I know I'm totally horrible at updating my blog but here is the other half of our Boston trip. After Boston we went to the big apple and did everything our feet would let us do. It was a lot of walking. But we went on this 6 hour walking tour that was given by a local and he just had so much knowledge of New York it was unbelievable he was so fun to listen to. We went to some fun restaurants, hung out in times square, and did some shopping of course. The highlight for me was probably Wicked! It was so amazing I only wish we could have seen more than one broadway show while we were there because it was so worth it! Then of course the Statue of Liberty was awesome. We did the audio tour on Liberty Island and it was fun to hear more about her history and the history of our early settlers in the US. My only advice about New York is don't go in the summer!! I don't handle humidity very well and it was so hot and humid I really thought I was going to die! Especially down underground in the subways you really feel like you are going to suffocate its not very fun! So go in the fall or spring you will be happier that way!

Boston Trip!!

2009-09-08T20:33:00.001-07:00

Josh's dream vacation finally came true and we got to go to Boston to see the Red Sox play! I have never seen someone be so in love with something in my life! He was on cloud nine and I could hardly get him away from that stadium! It was so fun to be there at Fenway. We got to take a tour of the stadium and go up on the Green Monster and watch batting practice and everything it was awesome. We of course spent a lot of time at the store on Yawkey Way and bought some fun merchandise. And then of course we stayed for the game it was amazing to be there. Boston is such a fun city too we got to take a segway tour of the city and it was probably the most fun thing I have ever done! If you ever go on vacation and they have segway tours where you are going do it! Those are such a blast and it was so fun to learn the history of Boston. There is so much cool history back east!

Julia's Bridals

2009-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Love this girl! She is just too fun we had such a good time! It was a little stressful we did her photo shoot the night before I left for New York and then she got married 3 days after I got back. So I was an editing machine and she was able to get same day prints from Costco so it all worked out but man it was cutting it was close! She is so beautiful and I absolutely loved the shoes! Thanks cute girl for letting me come have fun with you!

Chelsi's pregnant pictures

2009-08-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

These are our cute friends Austin and Chelsi. We did there pictures a couple weeks ago and she is due any day now I'm so excited! I just love how these pictures turned out I'm so happy with them and they are such a beautiful couple! I'm so glad they let me do their pictures. Their little Brody is going to be one beautiful baby!

Casch's 1 yr pictures!

2009-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is Casch he is the little beauty of our good friends Casey and Nicole. I just can't get enough of him! He is my little pal. I was so excited when she asked me to take his 1 yr pictures and it was so fun. He cracks me up he just thought he was so funny every time he touched his cake. But he wasn't quite sure at first how much he liked it. He didn't like the texture of the cake. And he also doesn't like to be messy and could not figure out why he had frosting all over his hands. He just cracks me up. He is such a beautiful baby it was so fun to photograph him! They are great I just love them!

24th of July

2009-08-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

On the 24th of July we went golfing with my family which was fun even though I suck at it! My mom and I just pick up our ball and start over if we don't like our swing its great! And I definitely ran over some guys ball with our golf cart because it was on our green and I didn't even see it! He was not very happy with me. I think people just take this game was too seriously ha ha! But then we had a BBQ with the fam and finished off the night with some fireworks at the pool and sparklers and fireworks in our front yard! Dave and Car and Dustee and Andy came to join us it was way fun!

Lagoon with the Poulsen Clan!

2009-08-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

So about a month ago on July 18th we went to Lagoon with the Poulsen family. I know I'm horrible at updating my blog but I have been so busy! But it was so fun! It was definitely the hottest day of the year we were dying! And the bumper cars were the best part of the whole day! These kids crack me up they are too fun! We of course could not leave Lagoon without going on the Jet Star! I have never laughed to hard, we went with all the girls and man that ride whips you around like crazy! It was awesome! Good old Lagoon.

Vintage Fox Boutique shoot

2009-07-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ok sorry about this one it is a really long post but I can never decide on just one I have so many favorites. This was the photo shoot I went on with my friend Jen who is the owner of Vintage Fox Boutique. We went to do a fashion shoot for her store. She has awesome clothes but I don't have her exact address so you will have to call me if you want to go check it out but it is SOJO Salon and Boutique on 106th . We got a lot of good shots I was really happy with it. We were all dying of heat by the time we were done but it was fun. We just went downtown on a Saturday morning and it happened to be the hottest day in July to date so we didn't plan very well but what do you do. It still turned out great! Thanks Jen for letting me come do pictures for ya!

Chelsea Allred's baby shower

2009-07-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

So I'm working on getting a blog started for my photos but until then I am just going to post them on here. So my cute friend Chelsea Allred invited me to her shower and she asked me to take some pictures for her and it was so much fun. Her and her mom are both florists at Thanksgiving Point so this of course was the cutest shower I've ever been too. All they do all day is decorate for weddings so I could only imagine how cute this was going to be! It was so fun to take pictures of. And if you need a decorator for anything I can hook you up this family is amazing! I just love ya Chels thanks so much for letting me take pics for ya!

4th of July

2009-07-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

So this is kind of a long post but we had so much fun on the 4th that I just had all these pictures to post. We started out the day with a breakfast at the park and then we had a BBQ at Josh's parents house. The kids, and the dogs for that matter, had a fun time playing in the water and I was able to get some fun pictures of them having a water fight. We were also able to spend some time with our cute friends Casey and Nicole and their cute little Cashe. That afternoon we went swimming up at our club house. It was a perfect activity for such a beautiful day. Then we headed over to Riverton park to the carnival. We could have watched those kids ride those rides all day long it was priceless. The babies were less than enthused, and mostly terrified on every ride. We also road the Gravitron for those of you who were fans of the 49 St Galleria growing up you will know what ride I am talking about! However I remember it being much more fun when I was little, I didn't so much want to vomit back then, but it was an experience none the less. Then we had fun watching fireworks with our wonderful friends and family. It was quite the fun filled day. Love this holiday!!

Casee's Bridal's

2009-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago I was able to go with my friend Jan to take bridal's of her cousin Casee. It was seriously so much fun. She was such a cute girl, totally up for anything. She was just so fun to photograph. She has such a cute personality. It was fun to do some funky, different pictures with her. I had so many that I liked so I just put them all up there are quite a few. It was hard to go back to my desk job after this photo shoot. This is where I want to be. Thanks cute Jan for letting me join you on this shoot! Love you to pieces!

Thank goodness for Blogs!

2009-07-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm having kind of a melow day today at work, which never happens! So I have been catching up on everyones lives with everyones blogs and I just love it. I'm so glad we all have blogs so that we can keep up on each others lives. Sometimes I wish I was still in highschool where I used to see and play with everyone every day, and I always new what everyone was up to. I miss that sometimes but I really would never go back there, it was fun while it lasted but life is great right now. But I do love catching up on all of your lives since I don't see you all the time anymore. I love all your cute new babies, houses, apartments, jobs and everything else that is going on in your life. Thanks so much for sharing with all of us its so fun! Ashley and Brekke I hope all is well with your cute new babies I love the pictures! And to all of you who are prego good luck with all that! You can let me know how it goes! I swear we have like 10 friends that are pregnant right now it is crazy! As for me I am so not ready for that stage of life yet so I will just enjoy all of your babies and stories ha ha.
Anyways Josh and I are just hanging out right now. He has been crazy busy this summer. Poor guy all he does is work and study. He is so motivated though I'm always so proud of him and everything he does to make a better life for us. He is studying frantically for the LSAT right now. That is our next adventure in life. He will be taking the test this fall and then applying for schools, kind of a scary but fun at the same time. Who knows where we will be. I am still out at my little clinic working full time. I am taking a break from school this summer which has been so nice. I am also trying to get more involved with photography this summer. It's been hard because I have such little time to do it working full time and everything, but I just love it it is truely is my passion. Hopefully it will become a full time thing for me in the near future. But we are loving life its just so great. We love our cute little puppy Boston, he just brings so much joy into our little home. We also love living in Herriman it is the greatest place ever! Everyone should move out here with us ha ha. We just have met some of the greatest people out here and we love them all too pieces. Our neighborhood is so fun. But thanks for listening to me go on and on here I just had to tell you all hello and let you know how much I love and miss all of you. Josh and I are lucky to have such fun wonderful friends. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer! Good luck with everything! Love ya!

Fresno June 09

2009-06-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

We just recently went to Fresno to visit Josh's brother and his family. We got away with having a little vacation because we went down to sell food storage. It was definitely a nice break away from work for me and pretty relaxing for Josh as well which was nice because he has been working his butt off lately. Right now he is working for his Dad, selling food storage, and studying everyday for the LSAT that he takes this fall. It has been a jam packed summer for him. So seeing the family and taking a break from all that rain was so nice for us. It is always so fun to see Jer and Tal we just don't see there family enough. I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I would have but I had a fun photo shoot with their kids that I wanted to post because they are so dang cute. Zack is our little Abercrombie model, Abby is just gorgeous, Megan is our little sassy one, and Macie is just all smiles they are so much fun.

Vegas in May 09

2009-06-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

So once again I have not updated in forever sorry I really am terrible at this but life is so crazy. Anyways... so we decided to start the summer off with a little Vegas weekend getaway because Josh's summer was going to be so crazy. So we went down the first week of May with Dust and Andy and it was such a fun trip. So many good laughs and inside jokes wow fun memories! But we got down there on a Thursday night and went to Chilli's for dinner. We stayed at South Point which is the nicest, best hotel in Vegas if you ask me. It has everything including $1 bowling at midnight which we thoroughly enjoyed that night. I have never seen so many weird people bowling in my life good times ha ha. Friday we enjoyed watching Wolverine in the comfort of our own hotel movie theater, in our pj's at 11:00 am it was awesome. We spent a little time at the pool and then watched Josh and Andy play black jack. That night of course we paid a visit to the good old strip. Saturday Dust and I both dropped about $200 at H&M on clothes. Definitely didn't have the money and definitely did it anyway it was a great shopping trip! We spent a little more time at the pool, watched some more gambling, and soaked up every minute of it. It was a blast and much needed as usual. When is a vacation ever not needed lets be honest. And then it was back home and off to a crazy summer!

Spring break San Francisco

2009-04-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

For spring break we went to Fresno to visit Jer and Tal and then spent a day in San Francisco. It was really fun. We didn't get to go to Alcatraz which made me sad because that is my favorite part of San Francisco but we did take a boat tour that went under the Golden Gate bridge and then around the island so that was fun. It was freezing but fun. Then we just hung out, did a little shopping went to pier 39 and saw the sea lions which were so funny to watch. They look like they are going to fall off these docks any second its great. We of course road the trolley and finished out the night at a piano bar. It was so fun I love San Fran!

Boston 4 months

2009-04-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

How can you not love this face?!! I know I put a ton of pictures of Boston up but he is such a sweetheart I just can't get enough of him! He is about four months old here. He is getting so big!

Mc Hammer, Vanilla Ice Concert

2009-04-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well once again I have waited for like a month to update my blog so sorry! I just never want to take the time to sit down and do this because I stare at a computer all day long! But anyways this was when we went to the MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice concert. Unfortunately it was not as good as we thought it would be but we still rocked the 80's clothes and had fun! We saw Julie and her boy there and that was fun I haven't seen her in forever I love that girl!!

Mandy's quote for the day

2009-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

So I was just looking up good quotes today and I found this one, "So long as we are loved by others I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend." - Robert Louis Stevenson I'm just so grateful for all of you and I can't tell you how grateful Josh and I are for all of our amazing friends. There are so many horrible things that we run into on a daily basis in this corrupt world we live in and its always just a breath of fresh air when we get to see and hang out with all of you! Friends are truly one of the greatest blessings we have in this life and we are so blessed! If there is ever anything we can do for any of you don't hesitate to ask we love you more than anything! We are always thinking of you and hoping your life is everything you want it to be! We hope you all had a good Sunday! Love you lots!

Nieces and Nephews Birthday pics 02/09

2009-03-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of the birthday pictures I took of my cute nieces and nephews. They are so much fun and they all just make me laugh. You have about two seconds to get a good picture and then they walk away and say "I done." It is definitely a challenge but its my favorite thing because they are all so cute! We did Clarky's 3 year pics, Kinslee's 4 year pics, and Gavin and Quinn's 2 year pics. I can't believe they are all getting so old it makes me so sad! They are all mine and Joshy's little pals!

Boston 3 months

2009-03-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

This was Boston at the beginning of February. This was right before we took him in for his first hair cut. He was our little lion seriously he was so fluffy we had to take pictures because it was so cute! I just want to eat him everytime I look at him he is so much fun we just love him to pieces! How can you not just look at him!

Josh's Birthday

2009-03-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Josh had his 24th birthday on Feb 1st we of course went to Laser Quest which was so fun haven't done that since high school! Then we came back to the house for some cake and ice cream its always fun to have a party! And we are good at it if I do say so myself!

Snowboarding 01/09

2009-03-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

We went snowboarding at the end of January it was so fun! It was such a snowy day so powdery and just fun! I wish we could have gone more but it is just so gosh dang expensive I'm just glad we got to go once! Love it!

January 09

2009-03-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry again to everyone who looks at my blog I know I don't update it often enough but I just seriously do not have time! Then I get so far behind that it is such a big job to catch up but I promise I will try to be better. Anyway these pics are from January it was a fun month. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 12th and went to Park City for dinner and to do a little shopping it was just simple but fun so this is us sitting at Main St Pizza. Then I got to go to Arizona for my cousins wedding which was way fun! It was a nice break from the cold she was so beautiful I'm so glad I was able to go I just don't see her enough. Josh then met me in Vegas for the rest of the weekend and that is always a blast. We got to see the lions at the MGM hotel and that was way cool. And yes they were that close to us! Literally on the other side of the glass it was crazy! They were fun to watch!

Boston

2009-01-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

Our cute little Boston! We just love him!