I love good news!

Monday I went on the best bike ride ever! It was so beautiful and great weather out! They only problem was, it was a bit to chilly for my throat and it was building up some nasty mucuss in it. So, thats how you know winter is defiantly coming. I was so glad I was able to take a ride in the canyon because I got to experience a little bit of fall! I felt like I was back east taking a lovely stroll down the cute old fashioned streets.

I saw lots of leaves falling and some beautiful colored trees! It was wonderful! It made me sad to though in a way, realizing I don't know if there will be any more sunny days out to ride my bike outside. Then I went to Walmart and got a ton of groceries! After talking to Scarlett she inspired me to start making food again. So I got a bunch of food to make breakfast, lunch and dinner!

When I came home I saw mushrooms growing the grass! I got so excited! As a child I would always try and find mushrooms in the grass and pet them. They have such a cool texture.

For dinner tonight we had tacos! I think this is one of the easiest/quickest meals to make, and it tastes so good!For dessert we had carmel turtle brownies! I love brownies! Then we watched some Americas Next Top Model season 9. After we watch episodes we always feel like it was  a waste of time, but for some reason it is so much fun!

Oh yeah, and Jake thought he was a candy corn vampire.

Tuesday I got to talk to an out roommate named Sarah Kirton! I was so excited to talk to her and here some great news from her (she has a boyfriend)! Then I got to go to lunch with another old roommate, Hayley Madsen! It was fantastic seeing her! We went to Guru's and enjoyed an awesome lunch! We sat outside because it was great weather out! After an hour and a half, we got rained out. Its ok though, we had a good time and enjoyed catching up! She is wonderful! Then I went to Target to finish up some last minute Halloween party details! Ah I am getting so excited for Halloween! Then I came home and started working on some decorations for Heathers Bridal shower. The decorations were starting to look a bit ghetto and I was bummed, but once I got everything done, and them all together they look so much better! Thank goodness!


So for the fantastic news.....Jakes work got everyone gym membership passes! This is the best news ever! I was so bummed about not being able to ride my bike with winter rolling in, but now I can go to the gym! It also has a pool so we can train for a triathlon! I am soooo excited! I have never been excited to exercise or have a gym membership pass, but seeing winter is rolling it, it will great to be able to have some activities to do! Now that we have gym memberships, hopefully our TV time will decline!


We also got a late wedding gift in the mail today! I was so excited! I went to get a thank you card out and found 5 cards written and addressed and not sent from when I wrote thank you cards for our wedding back months ago! I am so sorry if you are one of those five people! You will be getting your wedding thank you in the mail this week! I feel SOOO bad! Wow. That is horrible! So sorry.

When Jake got home from work we went on a bike ride! It was awesome! I am counting down the days of our bike riding adventures... After we went and got our favorite...Rubios fish tacos! Yummy!


Wednesday when Jake got home from work, we went to the gym! I thought it was so cute that he is 31 and this is literally his first time to a gym! I was dying! I had no idea! Jake has always been active, but I guess with more out door type of things! So I think this will be fun for both of us to go to the gym together. When we went to the gym we had fun getting a tour of it and seeing all the fun things we could soon take part in! To celebrate our first gym victory, we went to In and Out Burger and ate yummy double double burgers and came home and watched Americas Next Top Model Allstar season! On the show they modeled Michael Jackson clothes. It was awesome!

Today I finished my book I have been reading! I think Kindgom Keepers 3 was the best so far in the series! I want to order the next one and read it asap! But I am excited to start reading my new book from Rick Riordian. All time favorite author!

I think Tuna is looking especially cute today. I had to take a picture of him! 

a bike ride from utah to idaho: my first 50 miles on a bike.

Friday, after a great time at Swiss Days, Jake and I headed to his parents house to meet up with them and get our bikes loaded for our weekend adventure! We stayed the night in Logan, Utah, so when we got there we got to go to the Logan Temple. It is a beautiful Temple! We got to do a session. We were all cracking up at the "Thou Shalt not park here sign." So cute and funny.

After the temple we were all starving, so we went to a place called Angies that we had heard of from "Man vs. Food" because of the Kitchen Sink challenge,which is the ice-cream picture above. We didn't do that challenge because we all wanted food, but next time we will! We saw about ten kids eating this large ice cream and I don't think they were able to finish it. It is big! We all enjoyed our food. Jake ordered a burger melt patty, I got fried fish, and mom and dad got spaghetti and a scone. Jake and I also got a scone to share and I think that was all of our favorite food item that night! I did really like my fried fish though. There is just something so good about tartar sauce! Then we all headed back to our hotel to get ready for our bike ride in the morning and get some rest!

Saturday morning we all woke up early, ate some yummy breakfast and loaded up the bikes and headed to Bear Lake! 

Driving into Bear Lake and seeing it, I think we all were overwhelmed being beginner bikers and seeing how huge the lake was! (except for Jakes dad, he has been biking for years!) Well, we all said, bring it on and got ready to ride our 50 miles!

Here are some pictures during our bike ride! I was surprised that riding 50 miles actually was not to bad at all. My legs didn't get tired, it was my buns and hands that got really tired! I just need to get them used to a no cushion seat!

Jakes dad mapped out a great route for us. We did the longer portion of the ride (28 miles) first and stopped for lunch at a place called "Merlins." (a very needed break!) I got chicken fingers and fries and a brownie cookie dough shake! Yummy! By this time I thought my buns were going to fall off. But surprisingly after some yummy food, I felt like I could conquer the world and for the rest of the ride felt great!

Here is all of us at the end of the ride! Results, 50.4 miles, took us 4 hours, 4 minutes and 7 seconds, our average riding pace was 12.3 miles. This was a great ride! I actually would like to do it again sometime. It is pretty nicely paved through most of it, except for a few parts that are pretty gravelly. Besides that, I would say it was a great trail! A few hills, a ton of flats, and great company! Hopefully someday I will be able to work up some speed riding my bike. For now, 12 miles an hour is great!

After a great bike ride we drove home! We stopped in Brigham City and went to Maddox Family Drive In. It was so crowded a nice family let us sit by them. They said they were from Idaho Falls, and any time they are driving to or from Utah, they always have to stop at Maddox. They were cute. Jake and I got the fried shrimp basket to try! It was great! Jakes parents got the chicken basket, and tried the peach pie and a peach shake! They said it was all really tasty!

Across the street from Maddox was a fruit stand, so we headed over there. Jakes mom really wanted some yummy peaches so she got whole box of them! She shared with us and gave us a bag! Wahoo! Tuna had fun at the fruit market and would like to go again. Then we headed home.

By Jakes parents house, lives a cute Zebra and some animal friends! Zarri was born this last April. I think he enjoys his home and friends! I am glad we got to meet him!

After leaving Jakes parents house, we headed home. On our way home we stopped to get some candy! They had sparkle cherry laffy taffys! That is the best ever!!!!!! I could eat one everyday! Tuna was excited to see Shi Shi. After unloading the car, Jake and I snuggled in our bed reading books. These are the 3 Roald Dahl books I read this week.

"Danny the Champion of the World" was a really cute book. I loved how Danny and his dad had a really good relationship and liked to spend time together and go on adventures. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was different than I remembered. I was so surprised to see that the new movie with Johnny Depp in it is closer related to the book than the original Charlie and the Chocolate factory movie. Examples, Charlie's dad working at a toothpaste factory, and it getting closed down from all the chocolate eating. And a prince wanting a palace out of Chocolate. "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" was weird. I thought I read it as a child, but I didn't remember any of it! So maybe I didn't....It was about Knids, and grandparents turning into babies. Entertaining to read though.

This was a great weekend! I am excited to get out on my bike again and see how it feels....

saturday sales

This has been a great week for Jake and I. While sewing crafts this week I was watching one of my favorite shows called "Man Vs. Food" and we saw the making of a true corn dog at the original corn dog castle called "Cozies." So Jake and I went for corn dogs at Sonic. And a few other things to...Strawberry/Orange Cream slushes are still my all time favorite item on the menu. And I was so disappointed to find out they no longer serve Chicken Finger Dinners.

For dinner Thursday we had a yummy salad and topped it off with a smoothie with granola on top! So, this sounds gross, but let me tell you, it was a great way to get veggies in.....I took frozen shredded zucchini and put two cups of it into the blender with the smoothies and it was delicious! With vanilla yogurt in it to drown out the zucchini taste, it was so good! I am going to do that now with every fruit smoothie. Then Jake and I wasted a night watching an entire season of Americas Next Top Model. We watched all of season 14. Yes a waste of time, but so much fun! It was a splendid night!

Friday was a great day! All our biking goods came in the mail! Jakes dad told us of an awesome online store called "Nasbar" that sells gear and all kinds of biking goodies. We found some goodies and all of our stuff fit great and is working out well! Then Jake and I got to go to the Provo Temple together. That was a fun time!

 After we got the best dinner ever. I always love Hawaiian Haystacks on my birthday, but if I couldn't have that, I would choose this exact meal. Arbys Jalepeno Poppers(the sauce is soo yummy that goes with it), and Betos Carne Asada Burrito.

I want to eat this again just looking at the picture! Then we finished off the night watching The Legend of the Seeker(super cheesy), Save By The Bell (just as awesome as I remembered, maybe even better now), and Signified (always hilarious).

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and got ready for the Main Street Sidewalk Boutique. McDonalds is always a great start in the morning! Mcgriddles are the best with their surrupie buns!

 Jake is always the best helper! He is such a trooper.

 Vinyl Lettering Decor.com

 Kelsey Bang

 Kelsey Bang

 LilllyMae Bags and some home decor items.

My Favorite Pal: Matching Dad and Son Ties. She will be at Swiss Days coming up the first weekend of September! They are really cool zipper pull ties!

Scentsy...I am still dying at how cute these stuffed animals are! I love them! I need to get one! (for Tuna)

There was a cute lady in the back selling jewelry, but her stuff was already pulled down before I got a picture. The sidewalk sale was fun to talk to friends, make new friends and have a good time! Lets just say though...Utah is a tuff crowd.

When we got home from everything we unloaded the car and took a nap and watched Signified till our double date to Outback Steakhouse began! We went and picked up our friends Ruth and her husband Kelly to go to dinner.

 We all got some yummy cheesy fries to split! They were actually really good fries! They were kind of spicy and really tasty with the cheese and bacon.

For Dinner we got my favorite, the victoria cut filet! Yum!

It was fun to play with Ruth and Kelly. We were all laughing and having a good time!

When we got home, Jake and I went for a bike ride! It was my first time ride through intersections and it was kind of scary but not as bad as I thought it would be. I was a little hesitant because the week before a car ran me off the road...but all went well today! I will do it again! We had a lovely bike ride through Provo Canyon. It was perfect temperature out and not crowed at all! Perfection!

 Tuna had a great time on the bike ride! He loves coming along and hanging out in the fannypack.

You would think after having dinner, we would be full, but after a good bike ride, some good food is needed! I guess since we didn't eat lunch, dinner was our lunch and late night dinner was our dinner! Right now at Pizza Hut they are having "the box" deal. We decided to give it a shot! It was great! I loved having the bread sticks and cinnamon bread with the pizza because normally we wouldn't get those extras! Jake and I were really surprised to see how delicious the cinnamon sticks were!

Sunday, Jake made me my favorite breakfast! He was so excited because he used mini chocolate chips in them instead of big chocolate chips! For some reason we think mini chocolate chips taste better than the bigger ones? Don't know why. Jake did a great job on the pancakes! Delicious!

Church today was great. I really enjoyed it. The fire alarm went off and we all played out side  for about 15 minutes! It was really fun! I really loved our Relief Society lesson on the importance of temple work and family history. It makes me think I need to be good about keeping a journal so my family can have my family history.

 When we got home from church I made some sugar cookies for Jakes home teaching families!

I love vibrant frosting! This bright pink is my favorite! For some reason I find frosting things relaxing. Maybe I will start putting bright pink frosting on everything! I am also excited because Marin and I asked Heather if we could throw her a bridal shower and a bacholorette party! I am sooo excited for those! Marin and I are going to start planning asap! I feel like all my friends got married, so I made new friends, then all those friends got married, then I made new friends, then I got married, and now all my friends are getting married. A great cycle of life :)

This evening after eating yummy left over pizza, Jake and I wrote my Grandma love notes and drew pictures. I wrote letters with some of my favorite memories with grandma. It brought back some great thoughts thinking about it all. Last week my grandma had a pretty bad stroke and is a rehabilitation center. I was totally surprised by this because my cute 91 grandma is in good shape, very wise and healthy. I hope she will recover well (and soon)! I hope even more I can go visit her and grandpa in Ohio and watch episodes of our favorite show "I Love Lucy." My grandma is the best at sending mail! Especially birthday cards! Every time I get one it is covered in stickers, so Jake and I made sure to put lots of stickers inside and outside on all of our letters. Now I just need to make a package! I miss my grandparents.

My mom sent me this cute picture of my new niece Lindy! I was dying at how cute she is! Her huge eyes are beautiful! And so much hair! Too cute!

a new BIKE!!!!!!!!!!! the day has finally come!

Today has been the best day ever!! This afternoon I got to hang out with Marin! We went to a fun Antique store in American Fork called Star Mill. It is a gold mine! (It has really odd hours though, Thursday-Saturday noon to 6pm) I got this cool photo off of someones blog I don't know.(www.jefratakespictures.com) But I liked it! Marin got a cool planter box for some flowers at the store. I am so excited because August 27th they are having a Market sale and I will be there selling my crafts! Along with the market and antique furniture vendors, Beatrix Potter readings and fun things for kids to do will be going on! I would highly recommend penciling this into your schedule!

After Marin and I headed to the fabric store to check out there new fabrics! Here are some cute fabrics I got today! Cant wait to make some things out of them! I don't know why buying fresh fabric is so addicting....

 This Riley Blake strawberry fabric was my favorite purchase! Then, great news......THE BIKE STORE CALLED AND MY BIKE WAS DONE AND READY TO PICK UP!

 WAHOO!!! I can't even begin to tell how excited I am for a new awesome bike! I LOVE It! At Bingham Bikes they helped me get the perfect bike! It was a longgggggg road getting there, but it was worth the wait! I am so excited to take it for a spin!

 I am so happy about the matt finish! Love it! If anyone ever wants to go for a bike ride, call me! Now Jake and I have cute matching bikes! Wahoo!

For dinner, I made one of my favorite super easy meals of all time: Costco frozen food! Potstickers, egg rolls and edamame! 

When the weather got nice and cool outside Jake and I went for a bike ride! Our first one! I was a little hesitant about starting straight off with clip in shoes and let me say, I LOVE THEM! They make riding a bike effortless! I felt like I was riding on air tonight! Until my buns started to hurt a little. Oh I am so excited to go on bike rides all the time (I hope)!