Autumn!

Autumn is probably one of my most favorite times of year! I've been trying to enjoy every last minute of it before the first "real' snowfall hits Provo.

We've had a pretty busy last month or so, but here are some of the things that we've been up to...

The end-of-the-year Platinum party was mid-October in Salt Lake at the Gateway. We had a great time seeing our friends from Orlando for the first time since we left!

My friends happened to be in Salt Lake from Logan that night as well, and it was so fun to be with them-- they never cease to entertain me!

Nick and his friends, Travis and Dan, decided to go all-out for the BYU homecoming game. ( I told Nick that this is what he's going to look like when he's 60). But despite their Cougar spirit, our team ended up getting killed by TCU. But we all still had a good time :)

Possibly the funniest, and most random, story of the month. We had to take Nick to the ER! He got a really sudden infection in his toe -- which swelled up to probably two to three times its size. It looked pretty scary so we decided to go get it checked out. It turned out the be Cellulitis, but the doctors immediately put him on IVs and gave him x-rays. We were really glad that we didn't wait to go to the hospital!

I'll spare you the up-close picture of the toe, but believe me, it was huge!

When Nick's family heard the news, they decided to come see us for the weekend -- along with their three doggies. It was so fun to have them here, and Nick definitely loved having his dogs in the house!

And last, but not least, some of my favorite Fall pictures! Provo is so beautiful this time of year.

This is the view from the stairs up to our apartment.

Nick and I drove the alpine loop through Sundance. It was the first that either of us had been up there, and it was absolutely breathtaking! It was a great Saturday drive.

Thanks to Lindsey for finding my wedding bouquet on UtahBrideBlog!
(upper left corner)
I was so lucky to work with Studiostems and Blush as a great photographer!

A Few Updates...

Here's what we've been up to the past month

Our first REAL Salt Lake Game

New member in our household....

Great win at the USU game

Along with the family who came to cheer on the Cougars

Followed by watching General Conference from the Press Room to write my articles for the Daily Universe

And luckily my parents found extra tickets so Nick and a friend could come with me :)

6 Months!

Happy SIX months Honey! Can't believe how fast it's gone -- but it's been the best!

1 year ago....

18 months ago...

2 years ago

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fabulous Labor Day weekend with my family in Logan! It was the perfect end to our summer vacation. Super relaxing -- but never a dull moment!

It started off with boating at Willard Bay. It was the first time that Nick and I were on our boat together! Crazy, I know. We were happy to get one last great boating day in before the chilly Autumn temperatures.

Let me just say this: five tramps, 150 high school kids and free Red Bull for all. Quite the party.

Thanks to Aaron and his "connections" his friends, the Red Bull Girls, stopped by Scott's after-football-game party at our house to pass out hundreds of cans of Red Bull. Not to mention that Scottie and the neighborhood boys gathered all of their tramps in our backyard.

I don't know many other parents that would let their 17-year-old have a party like that! haha.

On Saturday, Aaron took Nick, Dad and I on our first off-roading adventure up to the top of Mt. Logan. My neck was a little sore the day after, but the view at the top was totally worth it!

On Monday, Dad gathered up all the bikes and took us to the top of Green Canyon to ride the single-track all the way to the bottom - along with Kona. Green Canyon is so beautiful in the Summertime!

All of us at the top

And at the bottom

Thanks, mom and dad for the great weekend!

The Last of Orlando

Since we've been back in Utah for a few weeks now, I figured it's time to update about our last weeks in Orlando!

Some highlights:

We discovered that Downtown Disney is a great place to go for Sunday night walks- lots to walk around and see, but you don't have to pay to get in!

Probably one of my favorite parts about it was the Mr. Potato Head store. They had every Disney Character imaginable that you could turn your Mr. Potato Head into.

Darth Vadar

Mary Poppins and Mr. Incredible

Little Mermaid and Peter Pan

Dad stopped in for a visit between his trips. He was only there for a day, but we decided to go the "Holy Land Experience," something I never even knew about until I moved to Orlando. Probably not something either of us would do on a vacation, but we're glad we went! It was very educational... and made me realize I need to brush up on my Bible knowledge!

We decided to make use of our spare bedroom and build a fort! I don't think I've done that since about the 5th grade. But hey, why not use the extra bedroom while we have it?

And last of all, our cute apartment. With two bedrooms, two bathrooms, walk-in closets, a huge bathtub and a laundry room, I have to admit that I miss it! It was a great apartment to have lots of visitors!

More family comes to visit!

On the way to southern Florida, Nick's Mom, sister Jessica and her husband Tyler stopped in Orlando to hang out with us over the weekend. We hadn't all been together since Christmas! We decided to hit the theme parks, and all voted on Universal's Islands of Adventure because of their awesome roller coasters, and the fact that it was new for all of them!

Sweet 3D glasses for the Spiderman ride- which is one of my favorites

The Grinch store in Dr. Suess Land. I think Nick's trying to look like the Grinch, but I could be wrong.....

Hot and sweaty with tired feet- can't be at a Florida theme park without it!

Jurassic Park

The next weekend, Nick and I headed down to Naples to see his sibling's new home-front. We had a great Sunday together going to church, eating Becki's traditional "Sunday dinner" and going to the beach.

A Naples sunset complete with lighting, rain clouds, and DOLPHINS! Couldn't be better.

Perks of the Job

I don't know anyone that works harder than my husband... and thanks to him, these lovelies are headed to my doorstep!

One bonus of working in the summer sales business is that they usually have some pretty cool prizes and incentives. I could probably compile a list of all of the things that Nick has won over the past couple years.

Anyway, Nick won a gift card for NikeId to design your own running shoes. Even though I protested, he told me that I was the only one who could use it since I needed new running shoes more than he did. What girl can pass up new shoes?

I love him:)

But luckily for him, he also won a new Apple TV- and although it's not technically a TV, we're still pretty excited about it. Now we just need a real TV to use it with!

My cute mini Nike shoe box that the gift card came in. I love mini things.

I might just keep it forever.

Family in Florida

Another bonus about being in Orlando- it attracts the family members!  My mom, brothers Aaron and Scott, and Scottie's friend Taylor flew down to visit for a few days. Scott and Taylor came mostly for the wakeboarding park, but it was great to see them! We had a fun time watching the boys wakeboard at the park, playing at the beach, shopping, and hanging out with our friends, the Larsens, from Utah who actually live just a few minutes away. I'm sure my dad will make it here eventually- he was working hard, flying to Tokyo and Guam. Tough life. :)

My family tends to take a lot of these pictures.

The last-minute-just-to-prove-we-were-here-all-together kinds of pictures.

And yes, they're always taken just before we go to the airport

And yes, the camera is always on the timer setting. In this case, set on the car door.

But hey, it works!

The boys at the Larsen's house, launching off Scott's water rocket... just before we drove to Port Canaveral to watch the real thing... which we didn't actually get to watch. ha!

The beginnings of our sand castle. When Aaron decides to build a sand castle- he builds a big one! Oh yeah, another bonus about being in Orlando- it's close to the beach!

The final touches before the storm came- hence, no shuttle launch. But the beach time was totally worth the trip!

Scottie and Taylor at OWC

Aaron and I at OWC watching the boys at the "pro" park

Scott was so nice to take us all boating (sans Nicholas- he's such a hard worker). But it was awesome to see all of the HUGE houses along Lake Butler and the other houses in Windermere... including the Temple! Such a great sight to see while boating. 

We got to go through eerie/jurassic-park-looking canals that connect all the lakes

Like I said- HUGE houses

Shaq's house- according to the wikipedia, it's over a football field long. I definitely believe them.

Lead singer of Creed's house

One of Tiger Wood's houses

And last but not least, my "Family" post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my brother-in-law Casey. He moved to Naples just a couple months ago for law school, but comes up to Orlando every Friday to work in the temple. The first weekend he visited was the 4th of July and we spent our after-fireworks party at Joe's Crab Shack. The Potter brothers LOVED their steam pot of crab, shrimp, and most of all- sausage. (Ew. I hate sausage). But they were in heaven- bibs and all. 

The fireworks show in Celebration Town- probably one of my favorite places in Orlando!

Home Sweet {new} Home

4 moves in 4 months- I think I'm getting it down to a science! But life is all about change, right? 

We've been here in Florida for about 3 weeks now and we really love it here! Everything with the move and shipping our car worked out like we hoped, and everyone in the office here is awesome. We've made some great friends! 

The weather is amazing, along with our pool and our complex. It really feels like I'm on vacation everyday- and I hope Nick feels that way too... at least for a few hours during the day when he's not knocking doors!

Our luxurious pool- where I spend a lot of my time. 

Something about palm trees just makes me happy. :)

Our front door. Maybe I'll post some pics of the inside later. But we have a guest bedroom.. and we love visitors!

View from the balcony of the gym

What I see when I walk to the pool...