Good News

Today I got the go ahead from my thesis chair to submit my thesis to my entire committee and schedule a defense date. I am very happy. I am almost done! Yeah!

Halloween Politics

Okay, so I totally stole this off of Erin's blog, but I had to post it too.

Aaaah those Heady Days of Summer

For some reason my computer saw fit to remove my desktop background. Thus, my first priority this morning was to find a suitable replacement. While doing so I came across some pictures from some of our summer adventures and I must say that fall arrived sooner than it should have. By the way if you click on the pic you should get a jumbo version.

Wiiiiiiiiiii

Trav and Kelly having a blast trying to knock each other out.

Getting Ready for Halloween

Caroline has been really excited about Halloween, buying plenty of candy, even though we don't get trick or treaters, and so today we cut pumpkins. Here they are. Any guesses as to whose is whose?

Brad's Birthday!!

Brad had a birthday on Saturday, so we spent the day celebrating. We had a lazy morning and opened birthday presents, we then went and made some purchases and went for a casual hike in the mountains. That evening Brad and I went to PF Changs and ate some delicious food. After which we had some friends over for cake and ice cream and a little wii competition.

Brad owning the soccer field (as usual) the day before his birthday.

That's us on the big day.

Brad's cake. I made a two-layer chocolate cake with a rasberry frosting filling, chocolate frosting everywhere else, and blueberries on top.

A little tribute to my Brad. He is a wonderful person, a great man, and an extraordinary husband and he has so many talents. I am so happy that he married me and puts up with me everyday.

I love you Brad.

For ME

All I want for Christmas is a little kittty like this! Sure it might grow up and eat me, but hey, you have to make some sacrifices in life for what you want most.

What we do on our weekends...prepare for the Revolution!

Last Saturday we Clark's headed up to the hills and shot us some gunzz. Okay we aren't as redneck as that...but we did go shooting, and it was great fun. Here are some pictures from the family outing.

Here is Brad shooting T-rav's AK47.

Here is me shooting T-rav's Ak47 (I just don't look quite as natural with it as the guys do).

Here is Dave Clark (Brad's Dad) shooting the AK (he just looks much more natural and less ackward than I do)...
And here is what T-rav looks like when he is shooting, talking about, thinking about, dreaming about his AK47.

Here's me shooting the Sig

Moral of the story, don't make any of us mad...

Rio Tinto Stadium

This is the new Rio Tinto stadium for the Real Salt Lake soccer team. Brad and I have some great friends that have some great (front row) season tickets to the Real. They have taken us to one other game when they were still playing at the UofU and gave us their tickets once when they were out of town. Props to the Staheli's (who are currently in England). Anyways, we were lucky enough to attend the Inaugural game on Oct 9 against the New York Redbulls. It was great fun, even though the game was a tie at 1-1.

Sadly Brad and I did not take our camera thinking it would be too dark, but boy were we wrong. The lighting in the new stadium is excellent. And there was lots of fun pre-game events because it was the inaugural game- fireworks, a military helicopter fly by, the unveiling of an enormous flag, etc.

While we are not sure that the Real warrants their own stadium, it was sure fun to be a part of the action. We heart the Staheli's for taking us and letting us enjoy the new stadium from the front row!

A couple things about the new stadium. It is much smaller than we expected, the night we went it was a sell out. Every seat is a chair which is very nice and the lighting is excellent (as I mentioned), and it is in a better location for those who live in Provo, because it is now located in Sandy.

Best Ever Blueberry Dessert!

Brad's father has been in town, so this Sunday we had a Thanksgiving dinner at our house because Thanksgiving was celebrated in Canada this Monday. So we figured we would celebrate Sunday night while his Dad was here and the Memmott's could come over too.

Anyway, we had lots of good food, spiral-cut ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, green bean casserole, homemade rolls and more. And to top it off I made this delicious Peach & Blueberry Crisp with Spiced Pecan Topping. It was so good! Click here to get the recipe off my other blog. Seriously, this was GOOD, especially served with some good vanilla-bean ice cream.

Who's in charge here?

Dear Government,

Please quit spending my money.

Thanks,
YOUR BOSS!

Frustrations

How do you deal with frustrations? Brad and I really want to make the move to Italy, the sooner the better, but with the economy as wacked out as it is (stupid goverment) we don't know if and when we will be able to go. Why you ask? Well if buisness's are unable to get loans to build, then they can't build, thus they do not need an architect to design their buildings, thus the draftsman don't have buildings to draw. We are hoping that the architectual business will pick up, although the winter months tend to be a little slower anyways, so that I will continue to have a job drafting. Next frustration, google adsense doesn't want me. Both Brad and I decided to start other blogs and put ads on them to try and earn a little more money. However, I just got an email saying I was not accepted to Adsense. Why? Your guess is as good as mine, I guess I need to do a little more research and see how to be accepted, or try another advertising route. So how do I deal with stress? Keep on trying (and maybe complain, moan, and groan a little bit along the way too)!

Treats I Love

There are lots of treats I love, too many infact. Here are a couple we have had lately. Rice crispie treats and banana bread. Rice crispie treats are great because they are so easy to make. Banana bread is great because you can use those brown bananas on your counter and feel good that you didn't waste food. If you want my recipe for banana bread click here and look for "yummy smells". I just use the one out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I have tried others, but this one just seems to work well for me.

The Alpine Loop...This is the Time

Caroline and I took a wonderful scenic drive on Tuesday. We drove along the alpine loop up to Cascade Springs and back. Now if you read my earlier post about missing the Ferrari, this was the spot. It just makes your heart ache doesn't it?

Caroline gathered up a nice collection of leaves for all of her photographing needs. She almost couldn't part with them and I think she shed a few tears watching them wash away in the stream.

We discovered the scene of a cupid attack.

Hiking the Y and Over the Mountain

Our friends the Zirkers invited us on a little excursion the other day, and by little I mean about 5 hours. We started at the Y trailhead and then hiked over Y mountain and down into the rock canyon and out. It was pretty steep going at first, but once we got to the top of Y mountain it was pretty easy.

At the top we took the recommendation from another hiker who we met on the trail and headed out to an overlook. We paused there to eat our lunch, as part of which Kelly enjoyed a slightly softened Hersey bar.

Then we set out again heading down the hill and discovered that going down it was more like bushwacking, as the trail was very overgrown. We almost lost the trail in a few places and Trav did his best to keep us tromping through the bushes.

Unfortunately, shortly after stared down the mountain a rock leapt up and attacked Kelly. It struck her quite viciously and despite her strength and tenacity she still went down. Being the little mighty mite she is, she hobbled the rest of the way down the mountain. She looked a little like old mother time leaning on a withered branch that Trav had procurred for her. Closer to the bottom it was actually Trav and Caroline that pleaded for a break and Kelly conceded, mumbled something about the old fogies she had to deal with. : )

The scenery was gorgeous and we had a lot of fun. Nothing like good friends, the mountains, fall leaves, and some exercise. Oh and creamy peanutbutter and jam sandwiches with a smiley face on the bag. : )

Did I Just See a Cow Jump Over the Moon?

The last few days work has been crazy for me. Every car company you have ever heard of and many you haven't are flaunting their cars in preparation for the Paris Motor Show, which starts October 2nd. Some are cool and some boring, some have sweet new technology and others are just the same old jive. One thing that really stood out though is the new Lamborghini Estoque Concept.

I never thought I would see the day when Lamborghini made a sedan. Granted it is just a concept and it may or may not see production, but considering how gorgeous it is and the huge response they have had, it is likely to hit the streets. I certainly think that the world would be a more beautiful place with a few of these driving around, especially if I was driving. I mean it is a sedan, so it is family car right? Wouldn't Caroline and I look great with a little Clark in the back seat.

By the way if you want to see more pictures and read about this glorious 'family' car click on the title. Oops, I just drooled a little.

Missing the Moment

Do you ever have a perfect opportunity, but then you realize too late or mess it up. I sure did yesterday. Caroline and I went up into the Canyon, for a drive on the Alpine loop. We had stopped and were taking a few pictures and then decided to set up our tripod to take some pictures of us together. Then it appeared out of no where, a Ferrari F430 Convertible, just casually gliding along. Its yellow blending in beautifully with the golden leaves, the light shining through them, angels singing...and all I could do was gawk. Caroline was stunned that I wasn't firing off pictures and when she said something it snapped me out of my reverie. It was a perfect setup and I could already see in my mind the kind of photo Ferrari marketers dream about. So I pushed the button, but it was still on self-timer and merely started beeping. My brain was still a little fuzzy from the glorious scene, so by the time I got the camera back into regular shooting mode the car was around the corner, its spectacular engine note still taunting me. Aaarg!