Moab for the long weekend

I have been a horrible blogger lately! I guess I haven't been doing many exciting things to want to write home about!
We did get to take a short trip down to Moab over President's Day weekend. It was nice to relax, catch up on some reading and do a little hiking.
We decided to try to hike Corona in the cold, luckily the snow had melted on most of the hike but there were still a few slippery spots!

Our first view of the arch!

Kell and Al contemplating life under the arch

Then we decided to try some yoga poses under the arch:

Warrior II

Tree pose

Warrior I

As we were leaving a man in a "super Dell" type flying machiene (A parachute with a seat and a large fan propelling him) flew down from nowhere and started circling the arch then finally flew right through the middle of the arch. It was hilarious to watch!

You can barely see the parachute in the picture but it was pretty loud with his fan/motor running.

We really love our quick weekend trips and it was nice to get some warm weather. I am gearing up for spring!

SURPRISE!!!

I have been feeling guilty about not updating my blog more regularly. I couldn't think of anything to post about, but then I got out my camera for my roommates birthday to snap some pictures and found some shots from Dec. so I thought "what the heck!"
These first two are aprons that I made for my mom and sister-in-law for Christmas. They were a big hit and super easy, (especially thanks to my roommate's mom and Kelly-my sewing partner/model) I loved this fabric with the bright yellow and red ruffle, sooo fun!

Now on to the big surprise. We went to our annual girls dinner at the Mandarin during the winter break then over to visit Em's new house. I love getting together with these girls and especially catching up with everyone.

Lyndsi had some shocking updates. At dinner she informed us that she had gotten married...a month earlier!

Here are our reactions to the news-

Lyndsi: all smiles!

Em- jaw-dropping news

Me- WOW! Congratulations!

Al- shock and awe

Kell- wide-eyed surprise

We were super happy for Lyndsi and Ryan and so glad she found a great guy. Secretly I think she was just trying to show me up, her on the second husband and I still haven't even found one yet!!!

New Year, New Post (with a hint of Chocolate)

Since it has been nearly a month since I have posted I thought it would be a great time to update. We had a great Christmas. Nate, Hill and the girls got to come out to Utah the week before Christmas and we loved having them here. The weekend before they came was our 6th annual chocolateering. *See below! My brother Nick and his new wife Lindsey spent Christmas Eve with us at my parents along with my sister Al and my other brother Jake. We had a good time and enjoyed watching movies and playing games. On Christmas day we went to Sherlock Holmes (excellent!) and had a delicious dinner.
We spent New Year's Eve up at a house in Huntsville watching North and South, and Wives and Daughters curled up by a roaring fire with enough treats to make us sick. We enjoyed it so much we went home for dinner on New Years (and to get our annual Carter Christmas/New Years Stockings) then drove back up to Huntsville.
I really did have a great holiday and it's been rough getting back in to real life, (and the gym!) But 11 of my friends and I are going to the Southern Caribbean for Spring Break so no more diet starts Monday. But in fond rememberance of better days, here are some of the chocolates from '09. It was one of our best years for appearance, but not so great for getting along. 3 straight days of slaving over sugar will get the best of anyone.

This was a new one for this year. It's homemade caramel with a layer of crushed almonds topped with chocolate. Then we put this edible transfer on top. Adoreable if I do say so myself.

My personal favorites...snowballs. A white chocolate ganache center mixed with macademia nuts. Dipped in white chocolate then rolled in coconut.

Presented in super cute red polka dot papers.

The Chocolateers: (Al had to leave a bit early so I didn't get a picture, but she helped I swear!)

Kelly scrubbing away at all the pots and pans.

Me transfering finished product to cooling racks.

Carlee doing the same.

A couple of parts of the end count

We really do have a good time making these and we especially enjoy giving them to people!! They sure don't last long.

Jazz vs. Pacers

Alyson got some great tickets to the Jazz game a few weeks ago. We got a sponsored dinner followed by desserts from Schmidt's bakery. Then we got to walk to our seats through the portal the players come through. We walked in with Frank Layden (he commented that we should be in beauty pageants, etc. Thanks FRANK!)
We were sitting by Daron Williams wife and baby (you should have seen the bling on her watch!) and spent a lot of the game watching the players on the injured bench just below us (especially Kyle Korver!!!)

It was an especially good games because it was close but the Jazz pulled out the victory.

After the game we went up to Hires for hot chocolate with our friends Amy and Ashley from Florida. It worked out perfectly that they were in town for a family reunion and had to kill a few hours waiting for their Mom's flight. It was a great night of basketball and chatting with friends we don't get to see too often.

We did get to plan a trip to Chicago for the summer so if you'd like to join us in July let me know!!

So You Think You Can Dance

We are big fans of the TV show So You Think You Can Dance and have been to the tour two years now. It was back in November but I'm just not getting around to posting about it. Life, huh!
Anyway, we had a great time going to dinner and then watching some of our favorite dances. It's always better in person, and this year did not disappoint. Here I am with Kelly in a grainy view from our seats. Sorry about the lighting in this pic, hard to get the flash with the bright lights in the background.

Lyndsi and Kelly

Me and Carlee

Kirsten and Al

The whole crew...
Watching these dancers and hearing the music blaring seriously makes you want to get up and dance.

We are loving some of the dancers from Season 6 and can't wait for another tour! If you don't watch it, you should start. Seriously some amazing dancers and choreographers.

Halloween '09

We had a fun Halloween weekend. On Friday night we went to a party at a friends house. On the way there I was having a hard time finding the turn for the house so I was driving really slow down the median and u-turned about 3 times before I was finally pulled over for drunk driving! So 2 officers come up on both sides of the car and shine their lights in at a fallen angel, a pirate, and a cat. Yeah it was embarrassing! He let us go after some explanation of where the turn was without even a warning. Good Night!
Here we are with Kirsten as Garth from Wayne's World, Al as a fallen angel, Kell the pirate wench, Me the cat, and Jenny as a masquerade person. On Halloween I went with the girls to a club for some dancing. Here are some single shots...

And here are a couple more...

We had a great time dancing, (even though I did see a former student there and it made me feel old!) I hope you had a great Halloween too!

2nd Annual Witches Brew Tea

We had another great Witches Brew hosted by Kell this year. She really outdid herself with the invites...(It's a ceramic finger if you couldn't tell.) Kelly does a great job with the decor and really makes her place SPOOKY! (She even caught one of the candles on fire a few days later while we were getting ready for Halloween! That's how dedicated she is!)

I always have a gret time when I get together with some of my best girls, we were sad some couldn't attend this year but can't wait for them to come again next year.

Great time for dress up, good friends, and delicious food. Three things I love best!