It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Brigham City Temple

Before an LDS temple is dedicated, the inside is open to the public. We were invited by Ryan's family to go up to Brigham City and see the new temple.  It was beautiful!  To learn more about temples, click here.

Dennis (Ryan's youngest brother) and his wife, Megan, Trish (Ryan's step-mom) and his Dad, then us

White Out

Ryan's childhood friend (they recently came back into contact after ~15 years!) got us tickets to the opening BYU game.  Their other friend's little brother is the starting safety  (#9) for BYU so it was fun to watch.  It was also fun because it was a "white out".  It was not fun, however, when it was pouring rain right up until the game started.

Son of a Bench

Every year SLC has a "neighborhood cleanup" and everyone puts their junk out on the curb and then in the next few weeks the city comes by and picks it up.  In the meantime, if you find something you want on the curb, you can take it.  We found these sad benches and with a little screw tightening and a little paint, they are back in business!
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After: 

Two Utah National Parks

My brother, Matt, and his wife Erin, are in town from Oregon for a while so we took advantage and went down to Moab.  Erin's parents were gracious enough to watch their boys while we camped and visited Canyonlands and Arches.  We had so much fun!  

Canyonloands

 Balancing Rock

 Delicate Arch

 Me and Erin

We came back to camp to see our tent that got tossed during a storm (we were just glad it didn't end up in the river like someone else's around our camp!)

Out with the Old and in with the New (Chair)

It's a regular occurance for us to stop at the local DI (Deseret Industries) and every now and again we find some real gems (mostly in the form of classic books and additions to Ryan's wardrobe).  But on a recent trip we stumbled across a stunning bright blue, vinyl chair in need of a new home. And with a little bit of paint and some new fabric, it has found its place in our downstairs patiently awaiting a guest who is in need of its services.
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 After:

Farmer's Market Find

Ryan and I rode our bikes downtown to the Farmer's Market this past Saturday and I got these darling earrings.  Pretty cute, no?

Bicycle Love

I recently got a road bike. The ad online said that it was a vintage bicycle for a petite person. It has been that and more!  I have already been following in Ryan's footsteps (or bike tracks) by riding to work for the past week. The five miles (it's really 4.75, but I got laughed at for knowing the exact mileage so from now on I am going to round up) into work is a bit of a climb and everyday I think it might get easier, but everyday it proves me wrong. The trade-off to the morning climb is a fast afternoon commute. I was scared coming home and going fast downhill at first, but I continue to get more comfortable and can't help but smile. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, I wear a helmet...

In other news, I am still a proud owner and rider of my watermelon beach cruiser! I love them both.

My Cute Birthday Boy

My husband still loves me even though I didn't make his birthday cake or have candles...I'm pretty lucky. Who has a birthday on a Tuesday anyway?

P.S. On our scooter ride home from dinner, we noticed a Nickelback concert going on at Energy Solutions. Talk about poor planning.

One Year Anniversary

Instead of trying to recap our first year of wedded bliss, we decided our anniversary trip would be a reasonable place to start. In March of this year, we went to Europe - Brussels, Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Amsterdam. It was much more of an adenture than a vacation and we loved it! How can you beat losing EuRail train passes on the fifth day of a fourteen day trip, paying cash fines to suspicious Czech "police", stumbling upon the views of a particular street in Amsterdam, riding 50 miles on bicycles across the Austrian countryside, bathing with the Hungarian locals, lunching riverside with the Parisians, devouring Belgian waffles (smothered in Belgian chocolate, mind you), eating sausages galore, carrying 30 pound backpacks for miles at a time, and sleeping with strangers in confined train cars??

New Blog!

My dad tenderly pointed out that the description of my previous blog does not accurately describe me anymore, "I am just a vagabond trying to find a home. A squirrel trying to get a nut. A girl trying to become a woman."  I have found a home and my missing puzzle piece, so in this realization I've decided to start a new blog to include Ryan and our current life.  I know what you are thinking, "Miriam, you are ALWAYS blogging...how are you going to adjust to another blog?"  Or more appropriately, "Miriam, you NEVER blog as is, why set yourself up for failure with a new blog?"  The answer to these questions is: we'll see how it goes!