Summer Updates

I absolutely love seeing our living room window in the morning! There is a tree right outside our apartment front door and when the sun comes up in the morning the tree gives the coolest shadow design! It may sound really strange but it was almost pretty. The picture I took doesn't do justice!

My friend, Lexi, asked Dallas and I if we wanted to buy two tickets to a REAL Salt Lake soccer game from her that she was trying to get rid of. Of course, I couldn't say no to that! Even though they lost, it was still so much fun because I really can get into a soccer game. It makes me look forward to watching my children's sports games someday! :)

A couple of weeks ago we had a wild rain, hail and thunder storm. Our parking lot was flooded within ten minutes! Our friends also came outside to witness this storm and we all played out in it for a bit. It was definitely one of the most wild storms I have seen in a long time!

This green ratty rag was my comfort blanket when we moved to Utah. Mom never understand why I had it especially once it became ripped and knotted! When Dallas and I got married, he thought it was so funny and weird I had it. Secretly I think he was jealous ;) But he hid it from me and I haven't seen it for eight months until I found it! I realized I have been just fine without it so it will be going to the dumpster soon... as soon as I can let go of it! ;)

Dallas and I really appreciated the couches we were given from his parents when we first got married. But we were getting to the point where our green, floral and ripped couches were not cuttin it anymore. So for awhile we were just browsing around but we came across a deal at RC Willey that we couldn't turn down! We got this rustic brown sectional, storage ottoman and rug all in one deal. We absolutely love our couches!
Dallas and I are doing really well. We are staying busy with work and trying to enjoy the summer before its over. Dallas will be starting school in a few short weeks (but just don't remind him of that). We are also starting to plan our Hawaii trip which is less than a month away! We are getting really excited!

Updates

I decided I am being kind of a hypocrite lately because I check everyone's blogs and when I see they haven't updated for awhile it makes me sad! But I am so bad at updating my blog so I feel like this makes me a hypocrite! So I thought I would get on today to post how we are doing. Things are really crazy for Dallas and I! I feel like our time is so limited for us to even spend a night together just me and him. Dallas got a paid internship at a company called Family Link. I'll explain what he does in a way that I understood! He is the tech guy that fixes computer problems for the business. He really enjoys the internship and it looks like it will turn into a job which he is really happy about! He works there during the day and works at his old job Linx in the evening. Between this and my crazy hours at In N Out, we have had limited time together but that happens to newlyweds right?!
This week I finally had three days off in a row which is very very unusual so I am catching up and just enjoying the time to do whatever the heck I want! When I am home and Dallas is gone I like to try my hand at new recipes for dinner, desserts, etc. This is probably one of my favorite past times. I get a lot of joy when I create things in the kitchen especially a recipe I have never made before. I love the feeling of seeing your finished product and to see how others react to it(like my husband!). Dallas is sharing his website with me and Lindsey so that we can share our experiences in the kitchen. You can check it out at www.dallonharris.com and click on the Whatever Bakes Your Cake section to explore it! I am SO behind on updating the website, however, so there isn't much there just yet.
We celebrated our six month anniversary in May:) It is so crazy how fast the time goes! We have had such great times together and my love for him grows stronger every day! We have been so incredibly blessed as newlyweds! Just last month we were able to pay off Dallas' biggest school loan which was such a big accomplishment for us. We are hoping to finish the last of it by the end of the summer!
We don't have any good pictures to put up, but as soon as I do I will post! Dallas got glasses so I will try to snap one of him :)

Bikes, Colors, and Calories!

Dallas and I decided we were going to treat ourselves to some new bikes for the summer. We figure it will be a good source of exercise for us when the weather finally decides to warm up! We have already gone on several bike rides when the weather allows and we absolutely love it! Dallas got a Schwinn hybrid and I got a Schwinn Cruiser (it has gears don't worry) and my bike even allows a basket to be mounted on it so we are looking for a suitable basket for the time being :) We got them at Walmart but for what we were looking for we felt like Walmart had a lot to offer. Dallas bought a car rack for the bikes so we plan on going on bike rides not just in our area!

Last Saturday Dallas and I attended the annual Festival of Colors at the Hari Krishna temple in Salem, Utah. This is the third year for the both of us so we mostly just went to actually throw the chalk, once we did that we were ready to leave. But it still was just as fun making ourselves pretty! Afterwards we went to the Spaghetti Factory which is a tradition for Dallas and his sisters. Last year I went with Dallas after only dating for a couple of weeks so it feels almost like "our thing". The only bad thing about it is the colors were different this year so it was a little harder to get it out of our clothes and bath tub.

Some more updates about Dallas and I are we are counting our calories. We use a website called Livestrong to track them. You track your food intake and physical activity. So far we have both lost about five pounds! But the biggest benefit has been how we have felt! We both just feel so much healthier especially with our bike rides!

Decorating Cupcakes!

So Dallas let me buy these cake decorating utensils over the weekend. It included the bag to put the frosting in with five different tips to decorate with. Tonight I just thought i would experiment with some cupcakes I made. These were the cupcakes I used to practice my letters. I used the name of my muse for it ;) He definitely thought they were yummy! My other ones looked really strange because I was mostly just seeing what each tip looked like so I left the ghetto ones off! One of these days I am going to have mom show me some techniques!

Honeymoon

This was our hotel in Santa Paula. It was a fun place!

the inside was slightly creepy however haha

We went to Six Flags on Thanksgiving!

Ruby's diner on the pier in Huntington Beach. It was so divine! We went to this area on our senior road trip after we graduated and we ate there a lot because we loved it!

We had a chance to go to the San Diego Temple. It was beautiful inside!

Hotel Del Coronado. The beach was beautiful! Just wish we could've gone swimming!

We hit up Islands for some lunch. Mmm.. chips and salsa with the Hawaiian burger

Mission Beach

Belmont Park. Way to expensive to ride the rides but we bought these sunglasses super cheap! And Dallas bought me some wooden flowers in our wedding colors.

Visiting old friends. Gotta love the Tylers!

Home :)

Feels just like yesterday I was going to Kindergarten for the first day!

Barstow baby!


We had a wonderful honeymoon! It was so fun just hanging out all day, everyday!

Smorz Cupcakes

So I saw on Bakerella's website her Smorz Cupcakes and thought I would give it a try! The top two pictures are my second batch that turned out better. The bottom picture is the first batch that for some reason did not work out so well. The bottom of the cupcake on the first batch for some reason did not cook all the way but the top still tasted yummy! They were a lot of fun to make! I just love cooking and baking and I am trying to decide what to try next :)

Christmas at the Harris's

Santa visited us! :)

Happy with our presents!

My check for temple clothes and a new temple clothes bag with my full stocking!

Dallas got ear phones, a superman shirt, and the new in n out shirt for the year along with a full stocking! We had a wonderful Christmas! We started off by going to see Harry Potter in the afternoon on Christmas Eve using a visa gift card we got for our wedding. It was SO good! I want to see it again way bad but hate to spend the money, its too expensive! After the movie we went back to our apartment to open our pj's we bought for each other. It was so fun buying each other pj's. Dallas got a twister themed robe for me as well, it was fun! We put our pj's on and headed to his parent's house. We had bread bowls with clam chowder. I was kind of iffy about the chowder because I had never had it before but I loved it! I am craving it just thinking about it haha We played some UNO after dinner and watched The Santa Clause in our new pj's which is a tradition in their family. We slept at our house knowing it would be more comfortable in our own bed. We just could not sleep in, we were just too excited! So after opening up our presents by 8, we headed back to his parents for a big breakfast. After the breakfast we spent the rest of the day at my family's place. It was weird to not be with my family the whole time but it was fun to see what the in laws do for Christmas!

Highlights of 2010

So my highlights are starting with the more recent and working its way backwards!

Of course getting married was my number 1 for this year! I was so happy to marry Dallas and to have my whole family together supporting us! My second highlight would definitely being able to attend the temple. It was an experience well worth the wait and struggles!

I had the opportunity to be an All Star when the Centerville In N Out opened up. This was probably the hardest thing I had to endure this whole year. It tested my strength physically, mentally and even spiritually. It was SO hard to be away from Dallas, living in a depressing hotel with no kitchen working 10 to 12 hour days. Finally, when I couldn't handle the stress and loneliness, I stayed the rest of the time with mom and dad and linz and roland. This helped ease everything especially when Dallas came to visit :) One time he came when I was expecting to be off around six, but we got slammed so i ended up staying til 9 but he waited at In N Out that whole time without a fuss! Going through this experience has helped our financial security since we have been married. Everything I earned (which was a lot) has been sitting in savings making us feel at ease right now.

I got to be a support crew for Loren when he road in Lotoja this year. It was such a neat experience watching Loren complete such a hard race with such ease too! I was expecting to see him suffer so much during this but he pulled it off I swear without even breaking a sweat! And Kelly was pro at helping him! She had it down and did so much for him. I can't believe she has done that by herself before!

Getting engaged at Temple Square. Even though he faked proposed that same day, he made up for it and made me the happiest girl in the world :)

Ending the summer with going to Lava Hotsprings for a day with Dallas, Linz, and Roland. It was fun to spend that time with them and I look forward to doing more things with them now that we are a married couple just like them! :) just got to move a little closer....

At the beginning of the summer, In N Out had the family picnic. They took everyone from the stores in Utah to Seven peaks. They paid for absolutely everything and even had a raffle with Ipads, bikes, and all kinds of goodies. Unfortunately I did not win but there is hope for next year!

My roommates and I lost a bet to some of our really good friends Austin and Darren. Whoever lost had to wear nasty outfits like these ones to church. It kind of sucked wearing dresses our grandmothers probably wore but the guys definitely got a kick out of it.

This was the only picture I could find but I was in the Relief Society presidency and this picture is from an activity where we did facials and such. This was such testimony builder. It was hard but I grew so much during this time. I became a better person and I really learned to love our fellow men (or woman in this case). It was fun being able to serve the women in our ward and grow close to them.

Dallas and I went to the festival of colors when we were newly dating. It was really fun to be colorful and throw chalk at others. It made for a colorful shower later and chalk in my year for a couple of days.

Meeting Dallas of course was my huge highlight. If he never had gotten the courage to talk to me in the halls of UVU on March 4 at around 12:15 pm... Kind of a stretch I know but I remember details well... this whole year would have been a lot different. I love him so much and my love for him keeps growing with everyday we are married!

I started off the year with a trip to Park City with some of my closest friends. I have some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for! And I am so glad we have kept in touch even thought we are not in high school or living together anymore. Its weird to think that three of us in this picture are married and one of them soon to be married. We are growing up too fast!

This year has been the best year yet! I had a wonderful year full of love, family(new and the old), friends, and hardships. I have grown so much this past year in so many different ways. This time last year I was a different person with no idea what was in store for me. A lot has changed since 2009 and I look forward to seeing what 2011 has to offer!

Provo Tabernacle Burns this Morning

This picture must have been taken before the roof collapsed

After the roof collapsed

It is a sad day in Provo! Around 2:45 this morning firefighters got a call that the Provo Tabernacle was on fire. Firefighters work from the outside for hours saying it is unsafe to go inside which they are right because after a couple of hours of trying to contain this fire the roof collapsed. This building was so beautiful inside and out. Since I have been living in Provo, my stake conferences have been in that building. It truly is an amazing building with lots of history and it makes me so sad, even teary eyed to see this happen. (could possibly be my birth control hormonal crap kickin in though haha) Anyways they are unsure at this point if it possible to restore or save this building at all. Last I heard it was considered a total loss. Hopefully something will be saved from this tragic accident. For more video and coverage you can go to ksl.com or even youtube.

I Love to See the Temple :)

Words can't describe how I feel right now! Yesterday I had the opportunity to go through the temple with Dallas and some of my family. It was such an amazing experience to be with him. The moment I saw my family inside the temple it made me SO emotional! They all looked so beautiful. Mom actually had the same reaction as I did because I turned around and she was bawling like a baby just like me haha. I know where I get my emotional side from! I feel so happy and peaceful since last night. I love the temple and can't wait to go back so that I am not quite as confused haha more importantly I can't wait to go back on friday :) the countdown is to about 4 and a half days!! three more days and I get to see my family! This week has been and will continue to be the best week of my life :)

Our apartment!!!

I absolutely ADORE our apartment! Dallas moved in last week. They are the Grandview apartments on the border of Orem and Provo. A three minute walk to his work and a two minute drive to mine. His brother moved in with him for the time being so Dallas can have some company. Even though he is preoccupied with his own fiance and dallas his :) His brother is staying the extra bedroom which is acting as our storage room where I plan on turning that closet into a food storage because already from one recipe shower we have five flours, four sugars, three brown sugars, and on and on. And I have a grocery shower on Saturday too! I can already tell the extra bedroom is going to be SO helpful! Our couches are from Dallas's parents. Not going to lie, i am not the biggest fan of the green and floral but hey they were free! Plus they are kind of growing on me :) but maybe we will get some covers eventually. The bottom picture is the master bedroom :) That is Dallas bed he took from home. Its so nice not having to buy furniture! Dallas's flat screen is on a table exactly what Dallas wanted to get from Loren and Kelly. I think it was the same one we were looking at at Target! I am already starting to think of how we can decorate the place. I can't wait! We hang out here so much. We love it! I am slowly moving my stuff in but I can't wait til I am fully moved in! Its making me wish the 19th would come quicker!