LACROSSE

The other day, my friend Kierea invited me to the BYU vs Colorado lacrosse game. It was free since she knows the coach, so I was in! And I found out that I definitely do not know anything about lacrosse. It looks so violent! But it was fun to watch, and at least I could keep track of the ball 90% of the time :) And the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so at least we were able to work on our tan! 

RSL vs TIMBERS

My first ever pro soccer game! A little while ago we had a chance to go to a Real Salt Lake game for free thanks to Qualtrics. We got awesome seats, free concessions, and even got to meet Leo the Lion. They were playing the Timbers, but Brent didn't get to travel to this game which was too bad because it would have been really fun to see him in his soccer element. But we still had a great time cheering on RSL to a 4-0 victory! And I think I even understand most of the rules of the game now :)

Weekend Report

Last weekend we went to a murder mystery dinner and the football game. Somehow I didn't really blog about them probably because I was a little put out by both of them. The murder mystery dinner probably would have been more fun except all of the other couples at our table were over the age of 40 -- not something I was really anticipating since its a BYU event. Also we knew the guy who was acting out the president so I totally didn't believe that he was a murderer (well, he wasn't the murderer anyway, but you know what I mean). Then the football game last weekend against the UI Vandals was soooooo snoozy boring and SOOO freezing cold! At least Owen let us get hot chocolate and we had super sweet seats for the game, which was cool.

Then this weekend we went to a high school play on Friday night. This is not routine for us, but my voice lesson teacher was directing the Children of Eden production at Mt. View High School so it counted for one of my assignments. I was actually pleasantly surprised -- it was one of the best high school productions I've ever seen and it was pretty dang funny. Owen was a little offended by how not-so-doctrinally-sound it was, but I like that they dared through some controversial (not that it was anything obscene) stuff in there. Very fun. Then Saturday I tried to study but just couldn't do it, so we drove up to Salt Lake a little early for my former roommate Jenna's wedding reception, hoping we could stop at the new H&M clothing store up there. Of course I forgot to think, and we spent all our time at GATEWAY mall looking around for it (and freezing) when actually it's at Fashion Place Mall in Murray. Oops. But the reception was great, we had crepes and I caught a picture of them on fire which was fun. I'm so happy for Jenna, she is probably one of the nicest roommates I ever had and I hope that he is a great guy because he is super lucky! Then we made it to H&M on the drive home and had some fun shopping around there. It's not really that different than Forever 21 except that there were WAY more people there and they have a much better selection of men's clothing, which was nice for Owen. Beware though, the men's clothes run super small. But if you go upstairs, the line for the register and dressing rooms is way shorter, so there's a plus. Aaaand we didn't go to the football game even though it was the last of the season because we knew it would be a total blow-out and we would probably die of pneumonia. Good choice I think.

Welp, that's a lot of writing, but it pretty much sums it up! Excited for only two more days this week -- yay!

A Sign

Sorry it's been only about a thousand years since I've posted but it turns out that this school thing somehow takes up a ton of time. Not sure how I forgot about that but these days there is very little that I do besides studying altered cell biology, choral conducting, or pretending to sing. Anyway, I know it is like wayyyyy after the fact, but Owen and I went to That Game last weekend.

This was probably our favorite part -- if you can't tell because that guy's dumb head was in the way of all of my pictures, this is a gigantic flag that the army guys unrolled out on the field while the national anthem was playing. It was sweet! And huge! And they didn't let it touch the ground once! Very impressive.

At this point in the game, we were a little discouraged, but there was still some hope and cheering. Go Cougars!

At this point in the game, we were wondering if we really should have bought a sports pass this season or saved the money to go to Bali or something instead.

And at this point in the game we were languishing in our seats, eyes wet and hearts broken.

I've decided to interpret this event as a sign that I should apply to the University of Utah for pharmacy school.

Fredette About It

You know you have got it made when there is a Wikipedia page about you. (And you didn't make it yourself...)

Photo Source

I am honored to have been a student here at BYU while Jimmer Fredette was here. I know that may sound silly, but I am glad that a guy who has such raw talent and humility was able to unite our school and give BYU a good name across the nation. I have been so impressed by all of the good publicity that our school has received thanks to the team's success this year, and hope that we can continue this tradition of upholding the honor code and sharing our beliefs with others.

I always enjoyed watching him play. I love seeing players who's passion for the game comes out in their every move. Plus, who can help but cheer every time he made a shot from way outside the 3-point line?

And I'll be the first to admit that I am definitely going to miss all of the Jimmer jokes. Plus, what is the Daily Universe going to write articles on now?

Thanks for a great season Jimmer, and I can't wait to watch you play in the NBA!

(Though I really wish the boy had gotten a haircut by the end of the season. Sheesh.)

What a Weekend!

Man, we are exhausted from yesterday! What a weekend. Here's how it went down:

5:45 am- I wake up totally anxious and can't fall back asleep. Decide to start getting ready.
7:00 am- We meet up with my gamelan group in the HFAC and start loading up the instruments. These bad boys are just as heavy as they look, trust me. I was also wearing heels for my presentation, which made things interesting.
7:45 am- The vans are all loaded, so Owen and I head over to the JKB for my research presentation. We drive because we have time and we're lazy and I was wearing heels.
8:00 am- We partake of delicious bagels and BYU chocolate milk. Free meal #1 of the day.
8:25 am- I start freaking out about my presentation. Please please pleeeease don't ask any hard questions. I practice with Owen a question he can ask me if other people start asking really hard ones. He thinks I'm crazy.
8:30 am- My presentation begins. I only say asymmetrical once, catch myself, and then pronounce all of the really long chemical compound names with ease.
8:40 am- Question time. THANKFULLY no one asks me anything about mechanisms, and the questions are actually pretty easy.
8:45 am- We head out and start driving to Riverton High School!
9:15 am- We make it to the high school with plenty of time to spare. I get changed into my uniform, and for some reason don't think to take a picture! Silly silly me. My costume is awesome.
10:00 am- Gamelan concert time! Our concert rocks and all of the percussionists who were there for the Day of Percussion loved it. Here's a little video for you to enjoy (don't mind Owen experimenting with vertical camera angles...):

11:00 am- Concert is over! Sigh of relief. We load up all of the instruments in the most annoying wind ever, and then get to enjoy a free lunch of fabulous sub sandwiches. Free meal #2.
12:00 pm- We decide to stay at the Day of Percussion for a little while and see what else is going on. Learn about jazz improvisation and watch some marimba competitors.
1:00 pm- Head home and then immediately take a nap. Very needed. So glad I decided not to take my test yesterday!
2:00 pm- Study evolutionary biology. Wish I could still be napping.
5:30 pm- Head over to the Hinckley Center to help set up for the Undergraduate Recognition Dinner for the Math Department. The centerpieces were cute little fishbowls with floating gerbera daisies and real fish!
7:00 pm- After all of the guests have arrived, we get to eat too! Sooo good. The lemon cake = heaven. (we might have had some for breakfast today...) Also, free meal #3. Oh the life of a BYU student :)
8:15 pm- BYU Basketball wins! We were keeping track of it on a coworkers phone while everyone else was listening to a super boring math talk. Go Cougars!
9:00 pm- We clean up and head home.
9:45 pm- Psych time. We earned it.

All in all, a very successful weekend. I almost secretly wish I could do it again--I had so much fun at the concert, and all the free meals were pretty awesome too :) And I totally have to give Owen credit. All of our running around yesterday was for crazy activities that I was involved with, and he was so helpful and supportive the whole day. Owen, you're the best.

Better pictures and videos next time, I promise! Does anyone have any tips for taking pictures of people on a lit stage? I was so washed out and white in all of the pictures (you probably can't even see me in them above...) that Owen sort of gave up with the picture taking. Excuse #209 to buy a new camera!!

date night-xtreme version + PP

So for date night last (thanks to CityDeal.com giving us a rockin' deal!) we decided to push our EXTREME skills to the next level and try indoor rock climbing! 

Rock climbing >> paintballing

It was not that easy and I admit that I totally felt like an amateur, but it was pretty fun! The hardest climb I ever did was only a 5.7, but even though it was super hard and my arms were shaking like crazy, it was really cool once you reached the top and felt so accomplished! 

I definitely think that I would have killer arms if I kept up this rock climbing thing!

Owen dear, you look so small down there!

Then to reward ourselves for the kickbutt rock climbing adventure we had, we decided to do another Provo Pizza date night! We headed across the street from The Quarry to Nicolitalia's Pizza.

Provo Pizza: Nicolitalia Pizzeria

Located: 2295 North University Parkway
Provo, UT 84604

Rating: 3/5

We were pretty famished, so we decided to splurge (calorie-wise at least) with an opening appetizer of hot wings. Oh. My. Goodness. These were the BEST THING EVER. It is a really good thing that we ordered the 10-piece because there probably would have been some real tension and dispute if we had only bought 5. 

look at the hot and spicy deliciousness......

I never knew that I loved ribs so much. Also, I know the tshirt is not in my 30 for 30, but I didn't want to get it all gross with the rock climbing. But the rest of my outfit still is, don't worry!

After the ribs, we were totally stoked for the pizza that we had ordered. We ordered The Stallion--mozzarella, pepperoni, steak, spinach and fresh garlic. Sounds delicious, right? 

And it looked delicious too when we ordered it:

But sadly, we were sorely disappointed.

Maybe it was because we had relished the hot wings so much and this just did not live up to the flavor expectations.

Or maybe it was because there was no sauce on this pizza (weird)

Or maybe it was because every other bite, you got a HUGE mouthful of garlic, and I still sort of have remnants of terrible terrible garlic breath right now. Like a whole day later.

We probably ordered the wrong pizza or something, but next time we go to Nicolitalia, we are so only ordering ribs, and we'll probably get 20. At least.

funny names & funny poses

coat: f21, sweater dress thing: thrifted, pants: kohls, shoes: thrifted keds, sunglasses: f21

Man, are these pictures BIG or what? I'm just so proud of the rapid pace at which husband is developing photography skills, plus I just feel like these pants SCREAM to be BIG.

And you thought I would only manage to come up with one outfit for them! Ha! I admit I felt the need to wear the coat because well, it's freezing outside.

I forgot to brag about something the other day while I was busy complaining about my battle wounds. But later that day, we were invited by our friends Jordan and Ashley to go bowling. We tried to go to Fat Cats on a Saturday night (HA!), learned there was an hour wait, and then went on campus. No wait, was also cheaper, and they still had blacklights. Best choice ever. But that's not the good part of the story.

I bowled a turkey! Whaaat? Yeah I have no idea why they came up with such a ridiculous name, but it was pretty awesome that I bowled three strikes in a row. Especially since I've been bowling like four whole times in my life. That Wii bowling must really have trained me well.

Owen: Are you trying to flash me??

Me: Oh my gosh, is that what this looks like?!

day 23- something you crave for a lot

This one is hard. I mean there are of course the normal cravings that everyone has all the time--chocolate, pepperoni pizza, Guacachips, Jones Green Apple soda. But why are the cravings we always think about food? Surely we often have cravings for things that we don't shove in our mouth. I think the two non-food things that I crave the most are 1) Seeing my family and 2) Doing something new and creative.

I love my family and I do not like being 12 hours away from them all the time! I am so glad that they are here right now for the holidays-hopefully they aren't bored out of their minds in our tiny apartment.

We went to the basketball game last night--Go Cougs!!!

Even though I really love my major and think that everything I learn about is really intriguing, sometimes it does get a little boring memorizing cycle after cycle and metabolic process after metabolic process. And so I feel like I need to have a creative outlet. In the past, I've just taken music classes as GEs and taught myself new photoshop skills, but this Christmas break was a chance for me and Owen to do some fun crafty things that I've been looking forward to for a while :)

Here are our finished ornaments!

We also tackled the task of making about a million cake pops, which was quite the adventure! I think by the end of it, we got pretty good at it, but we were also super tired of making them by the end. We were so tired, we tried to trick our friends Ashley and Jordan into finishing off the last few after our dinner at the always marvelous Tucanos... We introduced them to SpeedRacer also, so hopefully it balanced out.

Here are some photos from our process. For only our second time making cake balls and first time w/ the pops, I think they turned out pretty good!

we made a HUGE mess with the sprinkles...

here they are chilling in the fridge

owen decorated some super adorable snowmen :)

Tomorrow is Christmas! YAY!