Hello Dolly!

I think one of my favorite things about Houston so far is the rain! The rain that we get here comes down in sheets. Sometimes it is short and sweet other times it hangs out for a while. Usually what we get is an afternoon storm that will roll in, rain really hard for about a half hour and roll out. Usually within a few minutes you will have sunny skies. The humidity that tends to travel with the storm is not that great. Right now we are experiencing something much different than that. We have a lot rain as part of Hurricane Dolly. It has been raining off and on for a couple of days now. We have some storm clouds that have been hanging out for a while. Today I don't think it has really stopped raining. I love it! Hopefully the drive home won't be too bad!

Brides, Horses, and Blake

Wow, what a weekend we experienced. I am afraid we took on quite a bit on Saturday and ended up quite exhausted after it all. The day began with the Bridal Extravaganza! This was a huge show! There were tons of vendors and tons of women. It was great to be exposed to so much information. It has got my mind working in many different ways. I was able to see some dresses up close and see some decorations and other pieces in person. Below are just a couple of pictures of things I liked.

After the show we headed out to the Sam Houston Race Park to enjoy some horse racing and see Blake Shelton in concert. One of the nice perks of Mike's job is that he gets offers for free passes to events every now and again. He was offered tickets to the show which came with free entry to the horse race. Mike and I have gone a couple of times before and we are starting to get the whole betting thing down. I look at information from a couple of different areas to decide on our bets. This weekend proved to be one of my best bets yet. We won $150 on just a one dollar bet! It was really awesome, especially because we just spent that much to get my car fixed! Overall it ended up being a huge winning weekend. I won a free caserole dish at the bridal show, the $150 mentioned above, also I won $25 for a promotion contest they did at the track and we won other smaller bets here and there. It felt good to win!

After the races we headed out to the track infield for the Blake Shelton concert. We were planning on receiving general admission lawn tickets from the girl at the track. No, she gave us seats in row 2! He was close! It was really awesome. He did a great show with many of his old favorites and a few of his new. It was a really great day overall. Below is a picture to show you how close we were.

There is no zoom on this picture at all. It was really great. We took it very easy on Sunday and stuck around the house other than one quick errand out to Target. I think we are starting to get the hang of things here in Houston. I will leave this blog with a great picture that Mike shot as we were driving into downtown this weekend. This puts SLC's downtown to shame. Later!

Let the Planning Begin

So, I have a trip planned back to Salt Lake in just two weeks! I can't wait. You never realize how much you miss everything until it isn't there. I have lots of plans to see friends and family while home. The timing is perfect because my best gal pal Cassandra will be home too! We can get in some trouble together.


One of the major items on the agenda is to get the wedding planning party started. Mike and I are looking at October 10, 2009 as a possible wedding date. We really like this date so my mom and I have decided to try and lock down a reception place quickly so we can keep the date. While I am in Salt Lake we are going to hit about seven or eight reception places. I am really excited to really start diving into the planning details. I of course have been buying bridal magazines like crazy and regularly check out all of the wedding websites, but I haven't been able to put my finger on exactly what I want for my wedding. I am hoping that once we pick a venue it will help all of the other details fall into place.


I will keep you posted on what we find on the trip. I think so far my dreams are a little bigger than the budget right now. I want to make sure that my wedding is nothing like the typical Utah wedding. Those of you from Utah, know exactly what that is. For those of you who are not, let me explain.


Most Utah couples are LDS and therfore get married in a temple. Well, it isn't like a church where anyone can attend. Also, the reception usually isn't too spectacular. Most of the time it is just a receiving line with punch and cookies. You don't usually find dancing and you usually don't find a meal of any kind. You stop by, congratulate the couple, grab your munchies and go.



Mike and I really want our wedding to be a celebration. We want everyone close to us to be able to be a part of our day and kick up their heals. Also, I don't want to have punch and cookies. I really want to offer a decent meal of some kind. I know that a formal dinner is out of the budget but I want something more.


As the planning unfolds, I will document some of the details here. First little bit I will share are the colors. I am thinking about chocolate brown, bright green and bright pink. I put my meager graphic design skills to the test and created a simple monogram that kind of shows the direction I am heading. The monogram is below. Keep in mind, this could all change in the next year or so. Let me know what you think. If you have any ideas or advice, please feel free to share.

The Next Food Network Star?

So, it was a really great weekend. We didn't do anything really great and exciting but we did relax and have a good time. It seems like I have a lot more of those weekends here. I think it is because I don't have family gatherings to run to. Oh, and the fact that I only work one job! That is the best part.

Since I have more time on my hands on the weekend I have found myself taking on a new hobby. I have started becoming a bit of a chef. I blame it all on the Food Network. Before living with Mike, I didn't have cable or satellite. I knew the Food Network existed I just never had the opportunity to watch it. Well, my new obsession is Guy Fierri on Guy's Big Bite. He is this fun guy from California who comes up with recipes that arent' too fancy but are really good. He throws in his Californian Guido touch to food. He comes up with combinations and ideas I know I would never come up. Plus he always throws in a mixed drink as part of the meal and they always seem to be money. (Money is Guy speak for really good.)

So, this weekend I took on the Greek themed meal that aired a couple of weeks ago. It consisted of rolled grape leaves stuffed with rice and ground beef and cous cous and feta stuffed chicken breasts. I know it sounds like a tall order. Well, surprise of all surprises, I pulled it off! The food was good. Mike said he loved the chicken. I don't know if I will do the grape leaves again because they are a lot of work. I would probably go for the chicken again though. If you ever get the chance, you should check out his show and try some of his recipes. This is the third recipe of his that I have tried. So far we have not been disappointed. If you ever come for a visit I might break out the mad cooking skills.

Do you have any recipes that you love? I would love to hear about some tried and true recipes that are sure to please.

Start of Something New

So, it seems like everyone these days has a blog. Ya know, everybody's doing it. I thought I would join the ranks. This is mostly a way for me to keep my friends and family informed of what is new with me. I recently moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to Houston, Texas.

I started here. This is a picture I took last summer when I was up at Snowbird.

And now I am here. I know it is pretty cool to be only 45 minutes away from the coast but I don't get to see this view everyday. I never thought I would miss the mountains, but I actually do. I don't miss the snow yet. I am slowly started to get used to the much different lifestyle here in H-Town.

Also, I will be planning a wedding soon. Right before leaving for TX my honey, Mike, proposed. We have plans to get married in October of 2009. I hope to include details here for everyone involved in my life. That is us on the happy night. I have some major fears that I could turn into a Bridezilla but I hope that all of my friends and family will keep me in check. I don't want to treat anyone close to me like crap.

There may be some other great new adventures that we will report on. Check by every now and again there may some exciting new news.

Thanks for reading!