Valentine's Day....Without Dallin :)

I love Valentine’s Day – even more now having a husband. But this year was a little different than I thought it would be. I found out about two weeks before Valentine’s that Dallin would be leaving for a business trip – yeah, leaving on Valentine’s Day morning. I was really bumbed. I hate when he goes on trips anyways, but it was even worse that I didn't get to spend our first married Valentine’s together. So, we decided to celebrate Valentine’s early: Saturday night we went out to dinner to Dickey's BBQ (so good, they have free ice cream and pickles!) and finished the night watching a movie at Ryan and Jess's new place. Sunday, we had a Valentine’s dinner with my family – so much fun. My mom went all out and decorated the house and we ate on pink plates and everything.

Then came Valentine’s day . . . and there went my husband. Dallin was so sweet and didn't want me to be by myself all day on Valentine’s Day so he and my brother-in-law set up appointments for my mom, grandma, sister, niece, and me to go get manicure and pedicures. It felt so good and was really fun to get together. I was a little sad coming home though, knowing I’d be alone the rest of the night. Then I opened the door and was shocked to see a dozen roses, lots of Valentine’s candy, and a cute handwritten note from Dallin all spread out on our kitchen table. Dallin got Linc to set it all up (thanks Lincoln!) – it was so cute and thoughtful. I totally started crying and called Dallin right then. It just made me miss him so much more. While talking to him on the phone he told me he hid a present for me – it was a special pair of ear rings. (side story: The first gift Dallin ever gave me was a pair of ear rings, and I thought it was a wedding ring at first. Anyways, I lost that pair and was so sad. So Dallin decided to buy the same pair, which I love!) So Valentine’s Day turned out to be pretty great, the only thing that would have made it better was if Dallin was home with me. He sure is a great, thoughtful, loving husband! :) I guess he was worth the wait, as my grandma always tells me. :)

Superbowl Parties

This year we went to 2 Super Bowl parties. The Salmons all got together at Ryan and Jess's almost-finished house. We ate tons of food, and watched the game in their theater room. It was so much fun. We watched the 2nd half at my parents', in time to see the Packers win. :) I ate so much food that I got sick the next morning. It was all worth it though, and it was awesome to spend the day with family.

Just a sample of the food we had. I made some mint brownies -- first time, and not gonna lie -- they were pretty good! I think I ate 5 of them. I also made some meatballs and 'lil smokies, and they ended up pretty good too. :) Dallin loved them so much he wants to do more football parties in the future! It was a great weekend.




Pictures of the theater and family.







The other party was a little smaller but still just as fun.

Jimmer Fever

Dallin and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the sold out UNLV vs BYU game. Jason got Dallin this awesome "Air Jimmer" T-shirt for Christmas -- well I wanted one too so I had to get the one that sparkles. We got to watch a fun game and see the Cougs win again. Go Cougs!

Christmas, Boxing Day, & all that Jazz!

I know this is really past due, but better late then never. This was our 4th Christmas together...but 1st as a married couple! We an awesome time with family, and it was nice having the whole Salmon family together. We didn't take any pictures of us doing our own little Christmas, but here's some pictures from when we got together with the family:







On Boxing Day we went up with the Salmons to a huge cabin in Heber to do some snowmobiling. I'd never been snowmobiling before -- it was really fun! I let Dallin do most the driving, then I finally dared to take the bars when Dallin got us in the middle of a huge meadow. After just a few minutes, I slammed us full-speed into a ravine . . . so yeah, Dallin drove the rest of the day after that. :) The whole day was tons of fun -- thanks Ross and Karen!







During the Christmas break we also took some official Salmon family pictures. I still can't believe we got everyone together--good work Jess! It made me realize how cute all our nieces and nephews are. I feel Dallin and my little family pictures look just like our engagement pictures all over again, but it was still fun. :)








Here's some other random pictures we had on our camera. Some from our visit to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit Gary, Tara, and Sam go cheer on the Cougars to victory at the New Mexico Bowl. Others are from the Jazz game with McKay, Blake, and Kim.










Life has been great. Dallin continues to work full-time, and I cut back hours at work so I can go back to school full-time. I really like all of my classes and enjoy being back at school.

One fish, two fish -- dead fish, new fish

The other morning, Dallin and I woke up and found our beloved betta fish Eddy (short for Oedipus) dead. We had Eddy for almost 3 years, and he was getting old and just didn't swim around like he used to. Dallin would have to tap and shake the bowl to get Eddy to come up to eat -- the last thing Dallin said to Eddy while feeding him in the evening was "You're so lazy Eddy -- I kind of wish you would die." Next morning, we found him dead. Make sure you never get on Dallin's bad side . . . :)




So, the next day Dallin had the great idea to invite some of our nieces to help pick out a new fish, and to say bye to Eddy (they always loved feeding him whenever they came over). We took Haley, Melanee, and Mady to PetSmart with with us, and they loved it! They loved watching the dogs get groomed, and checking out all the lizards, snakes, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, birds, frogs, etc. It's hard to decide what was more fun -- them looking at all the different animals, or Dallin and me watching their faces. :) They especially LOVED seeing all the different fish. We finally convinced them to pick a male beta (first they wanted a girl beta, but when we showed them one they thought the girls were "ugly!"). We picked out the prettiest one, picked out a new fake plant (pink, of course), and then headed home.




On the way home, the girls decided the new fish should be named Max (Mady's idea), short for Maximillion. We held a brief fish funeral (Mady kept saying "I want to flush that fish!", Haley ended up flushing him in the end, and Mel couldn't bare to watch) and then we welcomed Max to his new home. Then we finished the night with Mac & Cheese and a little Disney channel. :) It was a fun night -- we love our new fish Max, but not nearly as much as we love our nieces!

A Wicked time in New York

I've had a life-long dream of going to New York City, and especially seeing a Broadway show on Broadway. 8 months after getting married, my husband made both dreams come true! :) The week before Thanksgiving, Nu Skin held its Investor Day in New York City, and I was lucky enough to come along with Dallin for it. We took a ton of pictures and totally must have looked like the biggest tourists, but it was all worth it. These are some of the fun things we did.

We got to be on the Today Show (got on tv a few times!), and we met Al, Ann, and Meredith. Stayed at the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel. Got to see the huge Christmas Tree and the ice skating rink at Rockefeller center. I got my make up done at Saks 5th Avenue (when I told the lady we were staying at the Waldorf, she perked up cause I think she thought we were rich! lol). Walked up and down Time Square a bunch of times. On Wednesday, while Dallin was in meetings all day, I was brave enough to take the subway by myself to China Town, So Ho, and Canal Street where I did some bartering and shopping -- I took Dallin down there on Friday and showed him the ropes. :)

We also stayed on the top floor (38th) at the Marriott Downtown, which was right next to Ground Zero -- really cool view of the construction going on there, and we also saw the Firemen Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site. We ate a hot dog and rode a rickshaw through Central Park. Walked down Wall Street, passed the New York Stock Exchange, and saw the Merrill Lynch bull. Took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Went to Radio City to see the Rockettes and their Christmas Spectacular. But the BEST part of the whole trip was Dallin surprising me by getting tickets to WICKED!!! I think Dallin almost loved it more than I did! :) It was an awesome trip, and now I can check New York City and seeing a real Broadway show off my bucket list!

Fall Cleaning

I know we haven't posted in forever...sorry. We decided to do some fall cleaning and upload pictures from our camera. The pictures go back to June. Hope you enjoy!