The Marriage Partnership

2010-07-29T17:27:00.002-06:00

"If I be in charge of making sure we never run out of money, can you be in charge of making sure we never run out of ketchup*?"

*must be Heinz

The New Baby

2010-07-23T09:55:00.011-06:00

Surprise! Kevin and I have neglected to announce a new little addition to the family. I think we just wanted to get used to the idea. But without further ado, the newest addition to our family:
Kevin has taken quite the interest in photography lately, and our computer is getting more and more full of pictures that he's taken on our recent adventures. Here are some of my favorites:

Along with online albums here and here. And the new banner on our blog! (for those of you reading this with google reader, take a look!)

And, of course, one of the most important reasons we got a new camera is for the real new addition to the family, set to debut sometime around Thanksgiving!

20 weeks!

Silver Lake

Peanut Buttery Family Reunion

2010-06-28T19:58:00.004-06:00

After much debate about the varying qualities of peanut butter, we put two experts to the blind taste test: my cousin Janel and my mom. They each tasted Jif, Skippy, and Western Family peanut butter brands. Much to their surprise, they chose Western Family as tasting the best and thought that it was Jif. Way to go, WF against the big boys!

The rest of these pictures are taken by our resident photographer, Kevin. I wouldn't have any pictures if it wasn't for him! I think they turned out so nice and I like showcasing my family. It was a fun little reunion at Cherry Hill in Kaysville, Utah, and I'm sad it's already over!

And I just wanted to brag for a minute about the hooded towel my cousin designed and made. She has her own little business called RubaDub Buddies and sells these adorable towels. I was lucky enough to win this penguin in the Bingo game!

One good thing about Utah

2010-06-06T19:09:00.018-06:00

One good thing about Utah is that we really are just minutes away from pristine mountains. We are surrounded by great places to hike and camp and just go and enjoy. I am reminded of this everyday on my way to work and school as I marvel at just how beautiful Mt. Timanogous is. One of these days I will make it to the top. I got pretty close yesterday. Tess and I went on a short little hike to Battle Creek Falls, which is at the base of Timp. To get there you just drive on 200 South in Pleasant Grove and the road dead ends into the trail head. It is a short 15 minute walk or so to the falls.

The falls were really pretty and the rocks had some really neat patterns in them--reminiscent of Rock Canyon, but a little less spectacular.

When we got there, we were talking to this fellow who had continued up the trail and was now on his way back down. I asked him what there was up ahead on the trail. He said there were some bridges accross the stream, some beautiful views of the valley and if we continue on for another 4 or 5 more hours we would make it to the top of Timp. So we were pretty close.

There was a pretty good place to take pictures at the end of the hike. Sadly, its hard to take a picture of us both.

Watch this. You'll thank me.

2010-05-10T20:08:00.001-06:00

I'm pretty sure I am most like the little girl with big glasses in the middle with a disappointed look on her face and her arms tightly crossed. Love it.

Life and MREs

2010-05-06T19:45:00.004-06:00

I bought some Life cereal a few weeks ago and noticed an interesting dichotomy between the boxes for original and maple and brown sugar. You'll have to ask Kevin about his experience as a missionary in Houston when he innocently asked a black woman at the store if they had any brown sugar for some cookies he wanted to make...

Also, we scan slides. Quite a few of them. We just passed the 20,000 mark as a matter of fact. I can usually predict that a set of someone's slides will have one or more of the following events in them: Weddings, Babies, Disneyland, Grand Canyon/any national park, Graduation, Europe. I guess that's pretty much what we take pictures of too. It's just funny to see soooooo many pictures of Disneyland over the years. We have met some interesting people these past few months while doing this. The most interesting so far was this last weekend, when an older gentleman offered to pay us with MREs.

He left us one to sample so that we could decide if that's what we wanted. Anyone want to come to our house for dinner? We can make it really quickly!

New Hobby

2010-04-27T21:35:00.005-06:00

Just for a quick history on my cell phone as background: I got one when I was 20 that didn't even have voicemail. After my mission, I got the same phone back and about six months later, got voicemail added...what a lifesaver. That kept me pretty content until I started missing events and notices because I didn't have text messaging. Fast forward to the last three weeks, I am now nearly as text-savvy as they come. I often joke that I don't know how I got married without the convenience of text messaging. It really is handy, and I've had the most fun texting my family back and forth. So here's the age old question: What is proper texting etiquette? I was at a get-together on Saturday with 2 other couples and we were playing a game. While I was waiting for my turn, I replied to a text from my brother and another one from my mom. Was that rude? I felt like it was ok because it was a pretty casual event, but maybe I won't have real friends any more if I'm too connected. I always got frustrated in one-on-one conversations when people would text another person and supposedly be listening to me at the same time. I don't want to become one of those. Thoughts?

Jordan River

2010-04-19T20:18:00.003-06:00

We got to go to the Jordan River Temple with my brother Scott, and it was absolutely beautiful! Just when I thought we were making progress on our goal to go to all of the temples in Utah, President Monson announced another temple to be built in Utah, in the city of Payson! Luckily that one will be close so we shouldn't have a tough time making it there. But that makes the current Utah temple count FIFTEEN! We've been to seven (Provo, Salt Lake, Timpanogos, Draper, Manti, St. George, and Jordan River).

My brother Scott visiting from BYU-I

Clarification

2010-04-07T21:14:00.004-06:00

First thing's first. I would LOVE to take credit for that beautiful piece of art that is our new quilt; however, I cannot. But I CAN claim to be related to the one that pieced it together: my wonderful mom did it as a Christmas gift for us. We were waiting for it to get quilted and it has been delivered. I feel like such a princess sleeping with it on top of me. Thank you, mom! My parents and brother came to visit us last week and we had a great time!

Dad, Mom, Nathan, and us at Brick Oven

What's that? You say my hair looks shorter? Well it is! I had a great experience as a first time customer at the Paul Mitchell beauty school. She took her own before/after pictures for her portfolio! I felt so honored. Here are my own before/after shots:

Showing off my birthday cake...Mississippi Mud a la Kevin

AND, I am so excited to announce that I am an official CHAMPION. That's right, my church basketball team WON the championship game 2 weeks ago. I practically LIVE in my new shirt. I love basketball so much and wish I could play it more. Here's our team with our supportive husbands after the big win.

The validation is really nice...although if I think about it, I only scored one basket in the championship game. Overall it was just a whole lot of fun!

THE QUILT!

2010-04-04T19:29:00.001-06:00

Three Words

2010-02-27T15:50:00.006-07:00

To sum up pretty much the whole month of February, I only need three words: Olympics, slides, and family. The first two things had a lot of overlap, too. I have always enjoyed watching the Olympics. I grew up watching Nancy Kerrigan figure skate and adored her, so I thought of her a lot when I saw the figure skating. I enjoyed watching Apolo Ohno in 2002. I missed out on the winter Olympics in 2006 since I was on a mission in Romania. We missed the summer Olympics completely since they began on August 8, 2008, which was the day we got married. So it's good to be back, watching the games! I am quite touched by the performance of Joannie Rochette, skating after her mother passed away on Sunday.
I cannot imagine what she's going through, or worse, what awaits her after all the fanfare has calmed down and she returns home. What a beautiful tribute to her mother that she not only skated so well, but that she took home the bronze medal. Life is so fragile.

The highlight of my month was getting these two cuties for an overnight stay at my house!

Jesse didn't want to be in the picture. But at least Kylee is happy!

I had planned and planned for my niece and nephew to come and was thinking about what fun things we could do. They got to my house around noon and by 3:00 pm, we had done everything! So I had to improvise, hence the grocery cart ride. What an ingenious idea to make riding in the cart fun for kids. Kylee was upset when I went to the checkout after picking up two things. I asked if they still wanted to ride around--the question that turned into us staying at the store for another 20 minutes, scouring for empty aisles so that I could run down them. They laughed and laughed. These two were quite easy to please. Sunday evening after they left was quite dreary and dreadfully quiet. Monday was even more quiet and lonely. I am so glad they got to come and can't wait to have them back! Just for fun, here's a video of Jesse back at Thanksgiving. The best is Ollie Octopus.

And last but certainly not least, I crocheted this little hat for my darling niece Alexa. I had a lot of fun doing it and can't wait to make more!

Change of Heart

2010-02-18T22:22:00.002-07:00

The other day while in the car, this song came on . . .

and not only did I not change the station, I turned it up.

Kevin was shocked.

I knew it was inevitable that I would start liking her when my nieces were singing her songs and idolizing her. Heck, one of them even told me that I look like her. Yes, she said that I have "tangly hair, like Taylor Swift." (I'm sure she was remembering the first half of that video where it's crazy and unkempt, not the normal well-coiffed Taylor Swift that we're all familiar with.)

I'm still not ok with pretty girls being put in glasses for their "ugly" phase, and then suddenly no glasses = pretty. Whatever.

IN Utah, but definitely not OF Utah

2010-02-17T19:23:00.005-07:00

I got an email at work yesterday that made my eye twitch almost as bad as when I see your in place of you're. Are you sitting down?

"Sorry about that, I sent it to the wrong person. Fills like a Monday."

Neat Trick

2010-02-14T16:40:00.002-07:00

Did I mention the good news?

2010-02-09T20:52:00.002-07:00

For the last seven months (June - December), I've been sitting here as the receptionist:

As of the first of the year, I got promoted and now I sit here:

Of course this isn't my dream job or anything, but it's a nice change of pace. I cannot even believe the difference in my job now compared to a year ago. One thing's for certain, I didn't have a window! I also have made some very dear friends since working here. My dad had a job in insurance over 30 years ago . . . never thought I'd be following in his footsteps like this! He also decided to go back to school to get his Master's degree, and subsequently met my mom.

In other random news, basketball season is back in swing and I'm really enjoying it! I'm not very good, but I sure love to play. Sadly my left ring finger got scratched pretty deep just below the middle knuckle. It bled a bit when it happened and has been raw ever since. I can't put my wedding ring back on, so I'm wearing it on my right hand. Kinda throwing me off! Oh, and for all the avid watchers out there, the ping pong ball has been securely back on the other side of the picture frame for the past week.

A Public Service Announcement

2010-01-27T22:11:00.003-07:00

When I go to see my sweet niece at her dance recital . . .

PLEASE TAKE OFF YOUR GINORMOUS HAT SO I CAN SEE HER!

Seriously.

New Year, New Sports

2010-01-24T15:16:00.003-07:00

OK, so table tennis isn't actually a new sport for us, but we sure are enjoying having a ping pong table in our front room. It usually only gets put away when guests are coming over. It just stays out and we play nearly every day. It's been quite fun. I've gotten a lot better, but I still have a long way to go before I can compete with Kevin. One of the balls got broken and now is used as the honorary crown of the table champ: it goes on the side of the picture frame of the current winner. It's been like this for a while now (on Kevin's side):

Until last night.

How fortuitous to win on our last set on a Saturday night. That means I get bragging rights at least until Monday!!!

The other fun sport that I got introduced to is one that Kevin has loved since he was 13: cross country skiing. While up in Idaho for New Year's, we went with his sister Kristin. They were pros! I'm glad they were so patient with me. I had a really great time, even if I went down hills like this: (Kristin is in the red coat, I'm in the purple)

I did eventually conquer that hill. But I went down it more often on my rump than not. There's a park near Kevin's parents' house in Soda Springs that had trails that we could go on. We went out twice and had a great time!

Te astept diseara!

2009-12-17T20:28:00.005-07:00

Is it possible to feel homesick for a place that wasn't your home that long? Maybe nostalgic is a better word. Whatever you want to call it, I miss Romania! Last night I was watching the most adorable little singer: Cleopatra. I hope I have a little red-headed girl someday so I can teach her this song and dress her up like this. Or you know, any color hair would do. But let's hope I get at least one girl right, because a son might have issues filling in.

Also, in case you haven't heard, Amazon is giving away one Christmas song per day until Christmas! Don't worry, you can still download the ones for the days that have already passed. I don't necessarily like all of these, but I'm really enjoying having at least some Christmas music to my name! I like Silent Night by House of Heroes; Kevin plays Mr. Heatmiser when we're in the car. Only one more week to enjoy them . . . how is it almost Christmas already?!

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-14T21:03:00.008-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to think of not only what to write on here, but also how to write it. A few times I have been brave enough to comment on someone's blog who didn't know me or didn't know I was reading their blog just to say "hello, I'm reading and enjoying!" It's hard to put myself out there and delurk myself; but the transition to becoming online friends is worth it. After commenting on this blog, the author came and visited my blog and has commented a few times and it makes me so happy. I feel like she is my friend as she shares her life through her blog and I am glad she can put a face to anonymous readers and feel appreciated for writing. So if you're reading my blog and you don't think I know you or that you are reading, you should comment so I know and can say hello back!

In honor of this post, here are five things that are going on with us:

1) We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Colorado this year. Even though Frontier STINKS and charges for luggage. I'm a Southwest girl through and through. It was fun, however, to fly on a propeller plane: there was one on each wing. Fun, but probably not worth walking through the recesses of DIA to get to our gate or walking out on the cold tarmac. I shouldn't complain; I am thankful that we could fly and didn't have to drive the 8 hours. While in Colorado, my dad made sukiyaki for us and it was very tasty.

We also opened Christmas presents early and my mom made us this amazing quilt!

This is the top of it; we're patiently waiting for it to be machine quilted and personally delivered to us this spring. I am SO excited about this. The fabrics she chose are so perfect and I have been complaining that I wanted a new comforter set for the longest time, so I'm excited that this will come with shams too!

2) This is the first real tree I've ever had!

I watched a youtube video about how to make a bow and attempted to do it for the top of our tree. How did I EVER survive pre-internet? How did anyone ever do anything?!? We have an awesome home teacher that gave us a box of candy canes, which make for great ornaments. I also put some on there from my childhood, and we made some more out of applesauce and cinnamon. I am very diligent about watering her. (I named her Glinda much to Kevin's chagrin.)

3) We taught Gospel Principles last Sunday. Any ideas as to how to make more people want to attend our class when we are practically inundated with Sunday School options (2 classes of Gospel Doctrine, Marriage and Family Relations, Teacher Development, Personal Finance, and Family History) would be greatly appreciated. It's fun to prepare them; I liked how the topic of Work and Personal Responsibility fit in so nicely with President Uchtdorf's last conference talk Two Principles for Any Economy.

4) My company had our Christmas Dinner at Chef's Table. It was very fancy; I was so excited I accidentally used the wrong fork! We've driven by this place a number of times and always wanted to try it, so we were glad to have a chance to try it for free! I actually have no idea how much it costs, but maybe someday we'll go back. It even had a nice view of the Provo Temple, which made me happy.

5) Finally, our place is rather chilly, so we tried to put plastic on our windows. We'll see if it makes a difference or not. We did 3 windows, and with each one we got progressively better with our method. Thanks to Melissa for the idea! I don't even know if you can tell in this picture or not, it is clear after all. I had never even heard of such a thing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with this and the space heater we have on a 50-foot extension cord we use to tote it around with us from room to room, we'll survive the winter.

So, what are five things going on in your life?

Never a dull moment

2009-11-21T18:11:00.005-07:00

Good news: Orem has an In-N-Out! We are fans, for sure, but probably not as die hard as they come. We've been eyeing the joint as it's been built, just waiting for the doors to open. It was quite fortuitous that I found out it had been opened (a coworker had it for lunch one day this week) and Kevin still didn't know. So, I sneakily thought that I would ask Kevin on a date for Friday night and take him there. Perfect, right? Well, we happened to be in a waiting room with a television on Thursday evening and the news was on. Of course, in the five minutes of us being there, they talk about all the people sleeping outside waiting for it to open. This was our conversation when we saw that on the tv:

Kev: Wow, cool, In-N-Out is open!

Me: Yeah. Look at that. (scowls)

My plan was foiled! We decide to go there anyways, but unfortunately the line was way too long and we were way too hungry. So we shall go another day that's not opening weekend. Instead, we decided to try this place in Provo:

This is a cute little place with the most amazing fry sauce I've ever had. The fries were perfect, too! Kevin's burger had guacamole . . . yum! It was fun to try something new. They have you order and pay when you walk in and then you sit around a bar. The workers come out when your burger is cooked and put the toppings on it right in front of you. They have polaroids all over the walls with people that have been there. They even took our picture. We wanted to put it next to Benton Paul, one of our favorite singers, but there wasn't room. This place did not disappoint. (And I'm sure they won't mind that I borrowed their picture with such a glowing review.)

When we got home, we decided to watch Kung Fu Panda. The plot was definitely lacking, but there were some really funny parts and the animation was quite impressive, so it was well worth it.

I feel like this is the fight Kevin and I have for the last bite of ice cream when we finally do break down and buy it.

Sometimes I feel domestic

2009-11-11T11:21:00.002-07:00

Last night Kevin's jeans ripped in the knee. He begged me to fix them, but I refused since they are quite old and ragged anyway, not to mention the ever growing hole in the back pocket that was sure to rip wide enough so his wallet would eventually fall out. So we went to Kohl's since we had a $10 coupon (domestic point +1: coupon collecting; domestic point -1: refusal to patch pants).

We hadn't eaten dinner yet since we were out of cheese (dp -2 for not having cheese and for not thinking of something to make without cheese). So after successful jean acquisition, we ate at The Grill Mex, famous for their $1 tacos. This food was quite good and we're pleased with the find. We stopped at Albertson's and got 10 lbs of chicken for 1.29 per pound (dp +1 for stocking up). Then we came home and I divided up the chicken in freezer bags, even cutting some up in strips and adding a marinade, and boiled the rest and shredded it, also to go in the freezer (dp +2 for bagging and shredding). I also went to bed with a clean kitchen after all that (dp +1).

I guess it's good that I ended up in the positive last night. Because today both Kevin and I have peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. Pretty sure that starts me out with -5 dp's. I might even end the week with a bang if we can win Kevin's Elder's Quorum Bake Off. I think I should practice tonight . . .

On my mind tonight...

2009-10-21T21:25:00.010-06:00

Scanning slides has led to some interesting discoveries; some that I am proud of:

Mamma's girl

...and some that I'm not so proud of:

why was I crying?

Summing up my thoughts of today: Should I be mad at the woman that came into my office to pay her bill only told me after I took the check from her hand that she has the swine flu? How long should I have to write the forwarding address on the previous occupants' mail before I just start throwing it away? How is it that my visiting teacher knew exactly what I needed to hear today when she came over?

In other updates, we got a calling at church! We're gospel essentials teachers and will be teaching every other week. Ask and ye shall receive! Also, after being 220th in line at the library to read Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, my sister-in-law sent me a copy so I can read it now. I don't even know how I have the patience to write this blog post because I really just want to be reading it. Another good book I just finished was The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. There is an absolutely beautiful brother-sister relationship in that book that brought tears to my eyes. Please recommend good books to me!

the ABC’S of me

2009-10-16T15:38:00.003-06:00

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do.

A – ADVOCATE FOR: children! Helping them learn but also protecting their innocence. A difficult balance.

B – BEST FEATURE: my hair. I think it's also my nemesis. But it has the potential to look really good if I try.

C – COULD DO WITHOUT: unclean bathrooms. Yuck. I would rather do laundry or dishes any day than clean the bathroom.

D – DREAMS & DESIRES: to be a good mom, to grow old with Kevin, to travel, to see my family happy.

E – ESSENTIAL ITEMS: cherry chapstick. can't live without it!

F – FAVORITE PAST TIME: hiking, reading, blogging, and more recently, running.

G – GOOD AT: multitasking, talking to strangers, being an aunt

H – HAVE NEVER TRIED: sushi. I know, how could this be possible? It's not that I won't try it, I've just never had the opportunity.

I – IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I'd keep dying my hair red. :) No, really I would love to go on a big family vacation with everyone. I would also save it for retirement so Kevin and I could serve missions. I'd get a personal trainer. And a house. And cars. Not fancy cars or a fancy house, but good ones that will last.

J – JUNKIE FOR: Peanut Butter M&Ms.

K – KINDRED SPIRIT: Too many to list! My best friend, confidant, and love of my life Kevin. He understands me in a way that no one else can. I've also been truly blessed with great friends that have come into my life right when I need them: Meghan, who always let me wear the pink dress when we played dress up; Tawnya, who made high school not only bearable, but fun; Aubrey, who helped me transition from home life to mission life and then back again; Marcy, my dear friend and long lost sister who could listen to me talk about Kevin forever (I'm not even kidding: she knew almost everything from our first date to our wedding day); my mom, who always thinks the world of me even when I really don't deserve it.

L – LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: In fifth grade I was Simba in our elementary school play The Lion King. I try not to tell people that might have access to my parents' old home videos because my nickname from then on was "Stephanie Spielburg." I'm not going to elaborate on why. (Kevin hasn't even seen the video yet...and I'm pretty sure that if he had seen it pre-marriage, I'd be single. Or mercilessly teased.)

M – MEMORABLE MOMENT: Kevin surprising me; I had no idea that a person could be so thoughtful. When we were dating, he brought me soup and Reece's Pieces when I was sick, brought me flowers on my birthday, left notes for me on my car. Such happy memories.

N – NEVER AGAIN WILL I: not ask doctors more questions before doing what they say. I was so naive when I had a kidney stone. That lesson cost me $250, but I'll pass it along free of charge.

O – OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Seinfeld. That show is hilarious.

P – PROFESSION: wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, visiting teacher. I also answer phones and send faxes for a bi-monthly paycheck.

Q – QUOTE: Never suppress a generous thought!

R – REASON TO SMILE: I get to see Harry Potter 6 tonight with Kevin! Been waiting forever!!!

S – SORRY ABOUT: I love my brothers, I just wish I could've had a sister too.

T - THINGS THAT ARE WORRYING YOU RIGHT NOW: Why don't I have a calling in church yet?

U – UNINTERESTED IN: science-fiction stuff...Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.

V – VERY SCARED OF: spiders. I have nightmares about them.

W – WORST HABITS: road rage. This has softened quite a bit since getting married, but I still could be more patient on the road.

X – X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Cancun, Europe, New York, Toronto, China, Montana.

Y – YUMMIEST DESSERT: Mississippi Mud. Kevin and I have decided that dessert is our only hope of drawing people to come to our house, and have subsequently made it a secret family recipe. But I might give it to you if persuaded.

Z – ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces.

Mysteries Revealed!

2009-10-13T21:06:00.005-06:00

**Warning: Dad, if you happen to look at our blog, don't read this post. I know you might be tempted, but it'll be better if you don't.**

Thanks for participating in my little guessing game!

The correct answers are:

A) Antelope Island

B) The Bean Museum

C) Teton National Park

D) Point of the Mountain

E) Slide Canyon and Rock Canyon (overlooking Provo; this is where the trail to the Y goes if you continue past the Y on the mountain and loop around the back to come out at Rock Canyon)

The winners were our moms and Amy! They emailed me their answers. Some of you were really close! And just so you know, Amanda, Kevin has been oogling pictures of Banff since you guessed that--he wants to go up there next summer!

We've been a bit delayed in posting answers for the following reason:

Well, I was actually working on it alone. And I gave up before finishing because we were missing so many pieces. I guess you get what you pay for: we bought that puzzle at DI for $1.50.

Kevin, on the other hand, has been busy building a Web site: ScanMySlides. We bought a 35mm slide scanner and have been scanning my dad's mission slides (unbeknown to him--it's a Christmas gift, so don't tell). Additionally, we want to do this as a side business. So check out the site and if you know anyone that might be interested, refer them on over! The site also has a picture of little Kevin.

Hoopes clan circa 1986 or 1987; Kevin's the baby

Guessing Game

2009-09-28T21:05:00.012-06:00

The past few weekends have been fun adventures for us. In honor of this post, I will post pictures of five places we went and then you can guess where we were. I will send some sort of prize to the winner . . . be VERY excited. ;) Let the game begin!

Location A:

this guy was about 3 feet from our car. no, I didn't touch it.

Location B:

yes that is a real snake. no, I didn't touch it.

Location C:

yes that is a real moose. no I didn't touch it.

Location D:

Location E:

You can only imagine the miles we've added to our car . . .

DISCLAIMER: Kevin will be the ultimate judge as to the most correct answers. The more accurate you are, the greater chance you have at winning!