One Year!

Wow--365 days of marital bliss. I can hardly believe that it has already been a year since our wedding! There have been so many days where I think about how lucky I am to have Rod and I just want to pinch myself.

Because we were both so busy trying to get out of the office (for our two week trip to Ireland), we celebrated our Anniversary in pieces over a series of days. We started on Friday with dinner at our favorite restaurant: Wahso. The food was (is always) unbelievable! I can't remember the exact menu now, but we started with some fancy app, had banana-wrapped halibut and duck for our entrees. Rather than eating our freezer-burned cake (we didn't even bother saving it), we had our bakery recreate our wedding cake for us. Our waiter was happy to serve it to us for dessert. After all the sake and good food, we wandered around the lively streets of Park City, found a Halloween costume for Rod, and got our picture taken with a moose.

We exchanged gifts that night too. I got a Kindle! Thanks honey! I. LOVE. IT. I got Rod a gift card for an iPhone (the 32 GB) and my promise to switch to AT&T. This may be the (second) biggest committment I have ever made. I have had my number for over a decade. In addition to the disposable electronics, we gave each other sentimental gifts. :) For our paper anniversary, I made him a photobook of our first year and he had one of our wedding invitations framed.

On Saturday, we took Rumba for a hike to Dog Lake. The weather was great; the sky was bluebird blue. All of us were a little sore afterwards. That trail is so much faster on a bike!

Then on Sunday, our actual anniversary, we both had to work during the day. But I surprised Rod with candlelight of his favorite burger place: Five Guys Burger and Fries.

It was a cozy way to end our weekend.

But the fun didn't stop there. The next night, Monday, we went to Utah's best concert venue (Red Butte Gardens) for one of my favorite recent bands: Death Cab for Cutie. It was one of the happiest nights I can remember. We cuddled. We danced. The weather was perfect. I almost started crying when they closed the encore with "Transatlanticism." I was overwhelmed with joy when Rod pulled me close and whispered "I want you so much closer . . . ." Does life get any better?

Independence Day

Call me weird, but the Fourth of July is my absolute favorite holiday. The Fourths of my childhood were filled with getting up early to get a good spot for the parade (and, later in life, competing in the parades); having all day barbeques with my family; heading to the Greenbelt, where you see everyone you know and meet others, all while watching "the best fireworks this side of the Mississippi"; and then heading out with friends to set off our own fireworks, play with sparklers (my favorite), and make s'mores. I love it!

Although it wasn't the Fourth of my childhood, our Fourth of July weekend was jam-packed. Friday night we went with some work friends to the Real Salt Lake v. San Jose Earthquakes game. It was quite tame compared to the last soccer game I watched. :) It is such a strange sport. One of the most important skills seems to be acting. It is also the only sport I know where tieing feels as good as winning. After our victorious tie (coming from behind to even the score during the make up time), we all snuck on the grass for the VIP show, which included David Osmond and other teen pop stars I had never heard of. I was much more impressed by the fireworks show.


On Saturday, the actual Fourth of July, we went to a BBQ at my BFF CarleyAnne's house. Her baby J. is so freakin' adorable and Carley is such a cute mom. I made a strawberry and blueberry trifle to be festive.

After dinner, we headed to Jeremy and Leslie's to watch the Sugarhouse fireworks. The most amusing part of the night was watching the little kids go crazy over sparklers and the little fire crackers in the street.

Happy 60th

Normally I would feel bad about not blogging for more than six weeks, but my computer died, then we were in Ireland, and, quite frankly, we have been having way too much fun to take the time to write. I know you are probably more interested in the present than the past, but so much has happended since my last post that I can't bear to skip it. Please bear with me (or just stop reading for the next week).



The last weekend in June, we celebrated my grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. Because my grandmother has not been feeling well, we decided to make it a family affair. Below is the write-up I wrote for the Post Register:

Sixty-two years ago, Betty Lou Ludlow (Annis) and George Ruben Ellis (LaBelle) met while roller skating at Riverside Gardens in Rigby. After dating for two years, George asked Betty to marry him during a community dance in Ririe. They were married on June 19, 1949, at George’s family’s home. As with every marriage, the Ellises’ marriage had its trials, but their love for each other always pulled them through. And on August X, 1975, the couple made an eternal commitment to each other in the Idaho Falls Temple. During their marriage, the couple raised their five children--Dennis George, Ronnie Lynn, Wade Lewis, Sharilee (Shults), and Ryan Kirk--in a two-bedroom Idaho Falls home until their neighbor offered to trade homes with them. Now, fifty-three years later, the couple’s seventeen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren still enjoy visiting their Grandma and Grandpa Ellis in the same home where the couple raised their children. On Saturday, June 27, 2009, the couple will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary with their family at Ellis Supreme Arabians. George is the founder of Ellis Trucking, which is still operated by his son, and Betty is retired from her position as a bank teller for First Security Bank.

Rod grilled up burgers, and everyone else brought a side dish. After eating and taking family pictures, Larry sang a few songs for my grandparents, and they danced with my grandpa rolling my grandma around in her wheelchair. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

I had such a wonderful weekend celebrating my Grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary with them and the rest of my family. I managed to squeeze in a (belated) father's day dinner with my dad and younger siblings and a visit with my Great Grandma Sauers too.

Mission 24 Challenge: Inspiration

After being in a bit of a photography slump, I felt INSPIRED. After a long day at work and an after work dinner party, I was laying on the lawn. When I looked over and saw how cute my cat, Ani, was with the setting sun backlighting her, I had to get my camera.
22mm, F4, 1/250 sec, 400 ISO (I forgot to reset it). Also, my computer crashed so I have no Photoshop. :(