New Home Tour!

We've been at our new place here in Lehi for a month now, and I still haven't posted pictures! I finally took some this weekend for your viewing pleasure. So far we have loved it here and have enjoyed all the space, high ceilings and big windows that our previous place didn't have! It's the perfect size to keep clean and deep clean on the weekends, doesn't take long at all. However, we miss hearing baby laughs and kitties running back and forth above us, and we'll miss them even more once they (Eddy, Miken, Pip and the kitties) move to SEATTLE... I'm seriously going to miss them like crazy, but I am excited for them and their new adventure!

In front of our new front door!

Our living space is all on the top level, above three garages. We share only the back wall with our neighbors, which is the wall we are farthest from. It's nice to watch movies and cook without worrying we're making too much noise. It's also nice not having anyone above or below us. We can't hear them, so I doubt they can hear us ever!

View from the front door. To the left is a
coat closet and the door to the garage.

View of the front door from the stairs.

Additional stairs around the corner and
another coat closet at the top!

Little ledge on the way up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs is the dining and living rooms.

Dining room. Door leads to balcony.

The balcony!

The living room.

Other view of stairs and dining room.

Hallway to the bedrooms, guest bathroom
and laundry.

My favorite part... The kitchen!

We have a dishwasher!

And a pantry!

View from corner of kitchen.

Guest bedroom. Still needs some work! Very large closet
behind the door.

Other view of guest bedroom.

Guest bathroom. Huge linen closet
behind the door!

Laundry closet across from the guest
bathroom.

Master bedroom.

My jewelry corner.

Very empty on this side of the bedroom still!

Juliet style balcony in our bedroom.

Master bathroom. Again, another huge
linen closet around the wall corner.

The biggest walk-in closet ever!

Potty room!

Pip and Pumpkins

October was a great month! We got all moved into our new place during General Conference weekend (pictures to come soon), went to the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference with my parents and Geoff's brother Zach, went to Pip's first birthday, carved some pumpkins and went to my Uncle Matt and Aunt Sanny's on Halloween and ate a yummy dinner while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters!

It was great seeing my Aunt Jana and Uncle Alan and cousins while we were at Pipkin's first birthday! It was monster themed, and Miken did an amazing job on all the food and decorations! Pip was spoiled with presents and surrounded by a lot of people that love him lots on his big day.

The night before Halloween, we went with our friends Todd and Amber to Texas Roadhouse and carved pumpkins. Todd and Amber both did faces on theirs while Geoff did a Ninja Turtle and I attempted to carve Cinderella's Castle. I obviously want to go back to Disneyland already!

I Spy Printable - New Design!

My Etsy shop started with a simple I Spy printable to entertain wedding guest during a wedding reception. After a couple years of the same design, I redesigned it with different wording and a more simple yet cute design. I'm in love with them!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Since Geoff was unable to get work off for us to take a drive up to Washington, I decided I still needed a vacation. So invited myself to Disneyland with my mom, Kristen and Kristen's friend Katie! I haven't been there for three years, and I was missing it like crazy! It was a fun-filled week, with three full days spent at Disneyland and California Adventure. The only downside was that by the second day, my feet were already killing me from all the walking I'm not use to doing! I had a couple of annoying blisters as well. But I pushed through and did what I could!

The highlights for me were the new "Paint The Night" parade, the new firework show, Radiator Springs Racers and the Indiana Jones ride! All the colors and technology used during the night parade were unreal. And they went all out on the firework show for their 60th anniversary. I will never get tired of Radiator Springs Racers, and I haven't been on the Indiana Jones Ride since the summer I graduated from high school (7 years ago now... crazy) because it is always closed when I have gone! I definitely want to go back with Geoff when it isn't so hot. At least it wasn't overcrowded when we went, since California has already started school.

Summer Happenings

This summer has been, well, not too eventful! Geoff has classes until the middle of July and we both have been busy working at our jobs as usual. Here are some of the few highlights:

4th of July

We went to the same spot as we went to last year to watch the fireworks, and they were amazing! Seriously you can't beat watching the hundreds of small firework shows in the Utah valley before watching the big firework show the city of Sandy put on. Here is a brief 15 second view of the fireworks during the finale:

Visiting family in Gooding, Idaho

Geoff took a Saturday off in July once his classes ended so we could drive up to his Aunt Lori's house for the weekend. It was fun seeing all of his cousins and how much they have grown since our wedding! Geoff's brother, Zach, now lives in Rexburg so he came up to visit as well. With a family of 9 kids, there's never a dull, quiet moment! We enjoyed playing with them and catching up with Lori and Ray. Ray is an optometrist, so Geoff and I were able to get our eyes checked. I am -1 more blind in each eye, so was able to get new contacts. Geoff finally got a contact (yes, only one!) for his left eye. We both got day and night contacts, and although I was a little skeptical at first (I've worn only day contacts for the past 12 years), I have to say I really like them! It's amazing seeing right when I open my eyes in the morning without having to put glasses on. My glasses were so worn out and pathetic, however, so Ray also hooked me up with a new pair that I love!

Four of Geoff's cousins tackling Geoff!

Lagoon Amusement Park

My work held their summer party at Lagoon. Both Geoff and I had never been there before, but it was so fun! We were wimps when it came to the big roller coasters, so we stuck with the easier rides and the roller coasters that didn't have huge drops. Geoff was such a trooper going on the gondola ride with me, even though he is terrified of heights! I've never seen him so scared before, but he gripped onto the bar for dear life most of the time and we made it to the other side safe and sound.

Geoff and I "under" the gondola ride!

Mikenzie's mission call

On June 30, Geoff's brother, Mikenzie, got his mission call! I drove to Geoff's work after I got work so we could FaceTime with his family as he opened his call. He was called to serve in the Logan, Utah mission! Geoff and I were excited that he would be less than two hours away from us, it's going to be tempting not to drive up and see him! Mikenzie entered the MTC on August 12, and Geoff and I were able to pick him up from the airport on Tuesday and then drive him to the MTC the next day. I'm glad Geoff was able to spend some time with his brother before his mission. Mikenzie was so eager to be a missionary, it reminded me so much of Geoff's mission days!

Mikenzie and Geoff at the Provo Temple minutes before
Mikenzie entered the MTC.

Those are the main highlights of our summer! I can't wait for the days when Geoff in done with school and has a normal job so we can do more fun activities during the summer, such as drive to Washington or go on weekend getaways! With Geoff never having a Saturday off and never getting time off work, it's nearly impossible. We're hoping Geoff gets a new job here in the next month, and he'll be graduating next July from BYU-Idaho. Exciting times ahead!

Speaking of exciting times, a couple months ago, Geoff and I were feeling it might be time to move out of my cousin's basement apartment. Although we love the location and have the best landlords anyone could as for (my cousins!), we were really wanting some more space. We started looking at townhomes in the Lehi area, since they are a little more affordable there compared to the area we live in now. We found one we really liked and applied for it, but unfortunately we didn't get it! However, we feel that the Lord was looking out for us, because the same day we found out we didn't get the townhome we were sure we were going to get, another townhome only a few doors down became available for rent. And it was 100 times better! Newer carpet, newer appliances, newer upgrades, and a washer and dryer came with the place so we didn't have to buy our own. We went and looked at it that evening and applied for it right after. A few days later we found out we were chosen since we had applied for it so fast, and will be moving there at the beginning of October! That was another bonus with this place. We had a couple months to prepare to move, whereas the other place we would have had to move right away. Talk about less stress! 

We are eager to move and have a place with more space. Although I'm not looking forward to my commute.... I will soon have to drive 20 minutes to work instead of 5! But Geoff's work will literally be right behind our new place, so at least he will be able to have a nice commute!

Those are some of our summer highlights!

Wedding Invitation for The McCooks

One of my childhood friends, Marissa, is getting married! I felt honored to be able to design her wedding invitations for her. They are what I enjoy creating the most!

Her colors were baby pink and gold. She gave me a few ideas she had in mind, and this was the end product:

I'm in love with them so much! I hope to be able to design more wedding announcements soon!

Studio C Live Taping

I rarely enter contests, simply because my odds of winning are very unlikely if thousands of other people have already entered. But when a friends of mine on Facebook posted a link to win tickets to a live taping of Studio C, a popular sketch comedy group at BYU, I figured why not enter for the heck of it?

About a month later, I received an email that read "Studio C - June 19th 9 pm show - WINNER!" I was in shock! I had won tickets to a live taping of Studio C! Later on I found out that 132,460 people had entered to win tickets, but only 9,275 won tickets. That is a slim number compared to the people that entered! I felt extremely lucky then.

The day of the show, Geoff and I went about 4 hours before the taping started to get a number to reserve our spots in line. we got #16! I believe there were about 50 numbers total, so I knew we would be able to get good seats once the doors opened. It was nice to go out to dinner and hang out at the Provo mall for a bit before we had to be back at the BYU Broadcasting Center. Long date nights with my husband are the best!

Once we were in our seats and greeted by Studio C cast member Stacey, I knew we were going to have an awesome time. And we did! We laughed so hard during every skit. We were able to watch them tape seven skits total, and even got to see a few they had taped a couple hours prior during their earlier taping. Seeing 14ish skits months before they are published on YouTube is a real treat and makes me feel extra special!

The Studio C cast knows how to have a good time, there's no doubt about that. They would play games with the audience in between skits, and it was so much fun! The best one was when Stacey, Natalie and Mallory did a lip sync battle, and Mallory performed Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson. Seriously the best and funniest lip sync I have ever seen! During the "ugh" parts that Michael Jackson does in between song verses, Mallory would open up her mouth so wide and pretend to do the sound, seriously you had to be there to understand how hilarious it was! I should have video recorded it, even though it wasn't allowed.

Some of the skits we saw being taped were Christmas-related ones for Christmastime, including one that was making fun of the Elf on the Shelf. That thing has always creeped me out with its face, and now I'm not the only one! There was also one that was Star Wars themed, and they had an actual life-sized R2-D2! It had flashing lights and sounds and everything an actual R2-D2 would have. I never thought I would be geeking about about an R2-D2, but it was so cool. The other Star Wars costumes for C3PO and Chewbaka were sweet as well.

It will be neat to see the skits once they are on YouTube and be able to say "Hey! I saw that being taped live a few months back!" I'm grateful we were given this opportunity and hope to be able to go again in the future! I wish we were at the earlier taping... some of my favorite Vloggers were there and also Stuart Edge and The Piano Guys!

Lindsey Stirling Concert

Yesterday, Geoff and I attended The Music Box Tour of Lindsey Stirling at the Red Butte Garden Amphitheater. It was amazing to say the least! Lindsey Stirling sure knows how to keep her fans entertained throughout her entire show. I'm still in awe how she was able to play the violin seamlessly while dancing, kicking, bending, jumping, and doing everything else at the same time. There's no one else that can do what she does!

I love that she performed only a few songs from her new "Shatter Me" album. A lot of songs she performed were classics that made her famous on YouTube, and that I'm familiar with. I love some of her newer songs, and am so happy my favorites were included! Also all the props she used throughout the show were so neat!

Also, who remembers the band Karmin from a few years back? They was Lindsey Stirling's opening act, and although all of their songs were new and ones I'd never heard of, they closed with their one hit wonder (in my opinion) Brokenhearted! I was singing along with them and everyone else in the crowd!

Our view during the show.

Lindsey in her light-up dress. Taken by Deseret News.

"Moon Trance" zombie dance. Taken by Deseret News.