Hailey and Steven Evans

UM Commercial

2010-04-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I got to spend the afternoon pretending to be the mom of the most adorable little baby named Jack in a commercial University of Miami's continuing education program. Wow- nothing like a sweet, well-behaved model baby to make me ever more baby hungry than I already was! The commercial is showing on TV now and I managed to find it on youtube. I'm only in it for a couple of seconds, at :43.

Review

2010-01-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Okay....so perhaps blogging isn't my thing. I have been very neglectful. The longer it's been since I've posted anything, the more I've felt overwhelmed by how much I would need to do to catch up, which made me postpone even more. So I decided my only options were to a) take down my blog, since it's so outdated it's embarrassing; or b) not worry about catching up on everything that's happened in the past six months and just start up again with the present. And since I'm writing now, I guess that means I went with option b. But since the past six months have been really eventful, I'll just include some highlights:

Steve and I moved to Miami and love it! Especially the weather :) It took almost a week long road trip to get here, which was actually cool since we got to see the country (loved Nashville and South Carolina, hated the boring drive across Kansas). We live in a cute little townhouse that's right by campus and about 15 minutes from the beach.

Steve just finished his first semester of law school at the University of Miami, and it was hard work! I really admire him for studying so hard and putting so much work into this goal. I'm working in the Faculty Senate Office at UM, which had been really nice, because Steve and I get to carpool everyday, and have lunch together. I don't know if I would have seen him much last semester if we weren't going to the same place everyday, so I feel really lucky.

We added a new member to our little family- our new puppy Charlie Brown. He is kind of a troublemaker, but really cute, and he and Snoopi are such good friends and love to play together. In some ways it's easier having two dogs, because they get worn out playing together.

Steve and I haven't had too much time to explore Miami, but we're hoping this summer we can get out a little more. We have managed to do a few cool things since we've been here though. For our anniversary we went to a nice dinner and spent the night at a beautiful golf resort in Doral. We went to several University of Miami football games, a Dolphins game, and a Marlins game. And last weekend we went on a 2-night cruise, but that will get it's own post, because I don't have the pictures downloaded yet.

We've loved having people come visit us in Miami (so everyone please make your travel plans now!) My brother Parker and his girlfriend Lyndsey came for Labor Day weekend, and it was so fun! We hung out at South Beach, saw alligators in the Everglades, sang Journey songs at a piano bar, and ate a lot of sweet potato fries. Then in November my mom and Aunt Brentz came to visit, which was great! Steve was so busy with school then, so I was really glad to have some company. We played lots of games, went to brunch and the beach on Key Biscayne, and played at the pool. Thanks to everyone who came to visit, we love you! We also have enjoyed going home to Colorado and Utah to see our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but next year we think everyone should come here, where it's not freezing!

So there's a quick 6-months in review, and I'll try not to let it go so long next time. To sum it all up, even though these huge life changes have been a little stressful at times, I am really so happy with where Steve and I are right now, and feel very blessed to have him as my partner in all this.

Under the Tuscan Sun

2009-07-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

In Tuscany I got the Italian experience I had been hoping for, it was so beautiful and romantic, I wanted to rent a villa and stay for a month! We stayed in Florence, which I loved. We started the day off by visiting Michelangelo's David, which was so beautiful and awesome. It's kind of dumb, they have him in a different museum than all the other good art, but I guess it's a good way for them to make money off the tourists. After that we went to the Duomo, but the line was long so we didn't go in, just looked at it from the outside. Next we went to the Uffizi gallery, which I think was probably my favorite museum of the trip (and that's saying a lot considering the other amazing museums we visited like the Louvre and the Prado). It didn't have as many paintings as the Louvre, but I think there were a higher percentage of paintings that I really loved, like the Birth of Venus, and some more great Carravagio paintings. Right outside the Uffizi is the Piazza della Signoria, where we sat and enjoyed some.... you guessed it, gelato. Then we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and climbed up to the Piazza Michelangelo, which has amazing views of the city.

The next day we took the train to Pisa, where we jumped off just long enough to see the leaning tower, and then ran back to the train station and headed to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is really beautiful.... we spent some time on the beach there and a little bit of time wandering through the city before heading back to Florence. That night we had maybe the best meal of the trip (tied with Switzerland, in my mind). We read a recommendation in a guide book for this little Trattoria, that was kind of underground and tiny with tables packed in. It was VERY authentic, a lot of the people eating there were locals, which is a good sign. They sat us at a table with about 8 other people, which was different, but cool. The food was amazing!

The Tuscany area was quite possibly the most beautiful, romantic place I have ever been, and I was sad to leave. To see all our pics, click HERE.

When in Rome

2009-07-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Our first stop in Italy was Rome, which was really different from what I expected. I don't know why, but I guess I was picturing something kind of rustic and romantic. Rome is crazy! Granted, we were there just a couple of days before the European soccer championships, so I think that added to the craziness. But everywhere we went there were giant crowds of tourists. It was hard to move without bumping into someone taking a picture, or someone trying to sell something. So a little too touristy for me, but still very cool to see such amazing historical sites.

Our first stop was the Colosseum, which really was amazing to see, even with Steve chanting "Maximus, Maximus" in my ear ;) After that we explored some Roman ruins and Piazzas and monuments. It was so, so, so hot, and with no trees anywere for shade, so we were forced to get some gelato to cool down ;) Actually, we were forced to get gelato every day in Italy, sometimes twice a day. It really is so good! I was so excited to discover that there are Italian gelato places near our new apartment in Miami, because I have been missing it! Steve remembered where his favorite gelato place was from his last European trip, right near the Trevi fountain. So we visited the fountain and threw our coins in, and then got our giant 4 flavor cones.

Next we headed over to the Spanish steps and the Villa Borghese park, which was my favorite spot in Rome, with a beautiful view of the city. Finally the romantic Rome I had been looking for! Steve bought me a rose from a vendor in the Piazza del Popolo, and we ended the night with, of course, Italian food for dinner.

The next day we got up early to try and beat the crowds at St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. It worked at St. Peter's, we got in with no line and were able to spend some time admiring the amazing cathedral, including Michelangelo's Pieta. By the time we left, the line was already long for the Vatican, so we had to wait out in the hot sun with our 3 euro cans of soda :( It was worth it though, the museum had a really great collection, and of course, the Sistine Chapel was a must see.

After we left we had an awful Italian lunch....win some, lose some... and while wandering kind of aimlessly we happened to come across the changing of the guard outside the palace! We were so glad we got to see it since we hadn't heard anything about it, it was really cool. They had a band playing the National anthem and two military groups exchanging the post, it was a fun thing to watch. Then we went to the Pantheon, which we had seen from the outside the day before but not the inside. Next we walked over to the Saint Angelo castle, and then had some dinner and went back to the Trevi fountain to see it at night and get gelato for dessert.

We had been planning on spending a third day in Rome, but since it was so crowded and crazy there, and since we had already seen most of the main sights, we decided to head north the next morning to give us a little time in Switzerland at the end of the trip. To see all of our Rome pics, click HERE.

We Love Spain!

2009-07-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Steve and I were both surprised to discover that out of all the amazing places we visited, Spain was our favorite! Especially Barcelona, it is such a nice, beautiful city. Our first night in Barcelona we went to a flamenco show at Tablao de Carmen in the Poble Espanyol. It was so amazing, and a perfect Spanish experience to begin our time in Spain. The dancers were so much fun to watch, and we got a dinner of Spanish tapas to enjoy during the show.

The next day we explored the giant Montjuic Park, including the Montjuic castle. We went to the Olympic Village and soccer stadium, and then found a great outdoor cafe to have lunch way up on a cliff with a view of the city and ocean. After lunch we headed to the main street, Las Ramblas, which was filled with vendors and street performers. Then we wandered around the Gothic Quarter, which is full of really interesting architecture. As it got closer to dinner time (which doesn't even begin until 8:00 in Spain), we were seeing TONS of restaurants, most of them pretty empty, and then we came upon this long line of people outside a building. Since I always assume if people are lining up for something it must be good and I need to join them, we checked it out and discovered that they were all lining up for a restaurant that wasn't even opening for 20 more minutes. So of course, we got in line too! And we were so glad we did! The restaurant is called La Fonda (if you ever go to Barcelona, go here!) and it's right off of Las Ramblas in the Gothic Quarter. It is very fancy, upscale dining, but the price was maybe the cheapest we paid anywhere on our trip! I guess it's run by a culinary school or something like that, which is how they cut costs, but it absolutely had the feel (and taste) of a very expensive restaurant. We were really happy to have stumbled upon such a good find!

The next day we headed to the beach. It was a little overcast, but Barcelona has a great beach area, better than the French Riviera in my opinion. The beach is set away from any main streets, and has a large boardwalk area with cafes, bathrooms with showers, etc. Just a really good set up. We hung out for several hours. The only thing that took away from the experience were the multitudes of people trying to sell stuff! It seemed like every 2 minutes we had someone in our face trying to sell us henna tattoos, or beers, or the worst, massages. Seriously, these asian women walking up and down the beach offering massages for 5 euros were so aggresive it was scary. And it was constant, as soon as one walked away, another one was right there. But other than that, it was a nice day at the beach ;)

We waited in line for a long time that afternoon before finally getting into Barcelona's cathedral, La Sagrada Família. I have to be honest, I think if I had known what I was in for, I wouldn't have waited. I knew it was still under construction, but I didn't realize how far from complete is really was. Basically we paid 12 euros a piece to walk around a construction site. The outside is cool to see though, I don't really personally like the style of the cathedral, but it is really elaborate and worth checking out. For our last Barcelona activity, we finally found the Gaudi building Steve had been looking for the whole time we were there! Glad we didn't miss it!

We only had one day in Madrid, and would have liked to spend more time there. It is a really pretty city also, much greener than I expected. It was a rainy day when we were there, but we still had fun exploring. First we went to the Plaza Major, and then the cathedral and palace. We spent most of the day at the Prado Museum, which was a really amazing museum! It had a lot of works by Velázquez and Caravaggio, who I really like, and a lot of crazy Goya stuff.

We definitely hope to return to Spain someday. When we got home, we even started looking for internships Steve could do for law school to spend a few months there! To see all of our Spain pictures, click HERE.

Ooh La La - The French Riviera

2009-07-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Oh I am an awful blogger, I've waited so long to finish posting about our Europe trip and now it's hard to remember everything! After Paris we went down to the South of France. We stayed in Aix-en-Provence, which we picked because it seemed like it would be a central location, but it turned out to be really inconvenient because we had to take a train into Marseille in order to get anywhere. It was still a really cute little town though, and I'm glad we got to see it.

By the time we found our hotel the first day we didn't have much time, so we decided to just explore Marseille. It's not the nicest city, has a real industrial feel to it, and we definitely didn't want to be there after dark. The only thing we really wanted to do there was go to the major cathedral, which was WAY up on a hill, so you can see the whole city and out on the water and stuff. So, we took the metro to what looked like the nearest stop, and figured that everyone must just walk from there.

We were wrong. People don't walk, they take the bus that goes right up there. After hiking uphill for what seemed like forever, we started to realize this probably wasn't the best way, but we had already come so far we didn't want to turn around. Then we came upon this giant sheer rock face, straight up, and the cathedral was at the top. At this point Steve was like, no way, we are not going up there. We were already sweaty from walking up all the steep streets to get to this point, and it really did look ridiculously daunting. So I did my best Jillian Michaels impression to motivate us to keep going ;) We went around to the other side where there were lots of winding stairs to get up the hill.... and finally made it! Right before sunset, so we got to enjoy a beautiful view, and then hurry all the way back to the metro to try to get out of the city before it got too dark and scary.

The next day we took the train to Cannes. The film festival was going on, so it was really crazy there, but fun. They had all these tents along the beach for VIPs and music playing out on the beach, and we kept seeing paparazzi following people, but they must have been European stars because we didn't recognize anyone. We did check out the theater and the red carpet, but mostly we just enjoyed time on a really beautiful beach!

The next morning we went to Monaco, which was really, really pretty. They were setting up for the Grand Prix, so we got to see some of that excitement. We went to the casino first, but it wasn't open yet, so we went on a tour of the palace. Then we just wandered around for a little bit and hopped back on the bus returning to Nice. We really only spent like 20 total minutes in Nice, we just walked down to the beach, walked up and down it for a minute, and decided we'd rather be back in Cannes. I think Nice is probably a cool city, but the beach was totally unappealing, all rocks! So we took the train back to Cannes and enjoyed a little more beach time for our last day in France.

To see all our French Riviera pics, click HERE.

Paris in the Springtime

2009-06-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! Just got back from 18 days in Europe, which somehow seemed like both a long time and not long enough. I think it's a good thing we didn't take Snoopi with us, because if we had her we might have been tempted to just never come back. It was amazing! We took almost 500 pics, obviously I won't put them all on here, but if there's anyone who wants to see them all (i.e. our moms), I'll include links. We left Salt Lake on a Wednesday morning and arrived in Paris Thursday morning. It was too early to check into our hotel, so we spent our first day exploring a little worn out and ragged looking, but it was still amazing. First stop was the Notre Dame cathedral, but much to our delight, just outside we discovered tents set up for the Fete du Pain. Steve later corrected himself to tell me the real translation was Bread Festival, but I preferred his original translation, Bread Party. Nothing better to start a visit in a new city than a bread party with free samples! Yum! Fitting for the trip, too, since for the rest of our time in Paris I ate pastries for pretty much every meal. Now that we're back home I'm still having major cravings for croissants and gelato (which I ate every day in Italy....how do Europeans stay so thin?). After Notre Dame we headed over to the Louvre, where we spent 4 hours, and probably would have stayed longer if we weren't so tired. It's a little overwhelming, but in a good way, it's hard to believe we were arm's length away from some of the greatest masterpieces in the world's history. We checked into our hotel room (tiny, but clean and cozy) and our little nap before dinner turned into a full night's sleep. The next morning we went to the Sacre Coeur cathedral, which was cool because it's high on a hill with great views. Then Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, where we waited in line for a while to ride an elevator to the top. As amazing as it was to be on top of the Eiffel Tower, it was a little hard to enjoy because I was SO COLD! I had not been anticipating the cold weather in Paris, and hadn't packed for it at all, so while other people were bundled up in winter coats and boots, I was in a light cardigan and flip flops, and the wind on the top of the tower was chilling! I bought a scarf from a street vendor when we got down, but could not warm back up. So we went to the indoor venue of Les Invalides, home of Napolean's Tomb. There was a French war museum there, and Steve was in heaven, so we stayed for a while. As a reward to myself for the time in the war museum, the next stop was shopping ;) I found an H&M and bought myself a coat and some leggings to pull on under my dress. Much better! Then we walked along the Seine River and back to Notre Dame (in the hopes that the Bread Party would still be there, it wasn't). Once again, we went back to our hotel room to get ready for dinner and...fell asleep at 9:00. All that walking is really tiring. On our last day, we woke up early (easier to do when you're going to bed at 9) and took a train out to Versaille. The palace is a really good symbol of the opulence of the French royalty at the time, kind of ridiculous, but cool to see. Then we came back to Paris and hung out for a while on the Champs-Élysées (where we got crepes for lunch-yum!) and saw all the cool shopping and car showrooms, and then just wandered around the sitting taking in all the sights we could. That night we FINALLY made it out for a night on the town in Paris....unfortunately, we went out a little late, thinking that since it was a Saturday night the city would be bustling late into the night. Not true. So many places were closed! You can find open restaurants in Provo, Utah at 10:00, but not in Paris- crazy! So we got ourselves lost looking for a restaurant, it was raining, and we wandered around these empty neighborhoods full of closed restaurants until finally, close to midnight, I broke down and hailed a cab and had him take us back to the Champs-Élysées, where we found this nice French-Alsace restaurant and had a great dinner. It was a fun last evening in Paris, and Paris was a great place to begin our trip! So chic and cosmopolitan, and such a good example of a very European city, I'm really glad we had a few days to spend there, but I'd love to go back for more! To see all our Paris pics, click HERE.

Steve's Graduation

2009-05-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

So it's 1:00 in the morning and in less than five hours we will be heading to the airport to fly to Paris, and I am sitting here writing a new blog post. But I know that when we get back we will have tons of new pictures and stories, and I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to share the exciting news that Steve is a college graduate! Graduation at the University of Utah was last Friday, so Steve and I and his parents attended the ceremonies and went to lunch at Red Robin to celebrate. I'm very proud of my husband and excited for him to start the next phase of his scholastic journey at the University of Miami :)

Also, a few weeks ago, I ran my first half marathon! Running the Salt Lake City Half Marathon was definitely an accomplishment for me, expecially since six weeks earlier I was hardly running at all, and I decided to do the race just one week before it took place. I probably would have been a lot less sore the next day if I had trained more, but it was still really cool to know that I was able to accomplish that. Now I'm looking at doing my first full marathon, possibly in Miami in January.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of fun Easters, but this year had to be one of my favorites! Steve and I spent the night before dyeing eggs in our pjs while watching movies, which was pretty silly, but fun (which is the phrase that could describe most of our holiday). The next morning we hid each other's eggs and hunted for them, again, silly, but fun. I had Snoopi the Easter Beagle wake Steve up in her lovely bunny costume to come down for the egg hunt and to enjoy our baskets full of goodies. The Easter Bunny even slipped some new shoes in my basket! Very cute, Italian, and yes, he picked them himself and they were a surprise! I have a great husband :) Then we went to a pre-church Easter Brunch at the Marriott, which was sooooo good! Ate way too much, of course, and got our picture taken with the Easter Bunny (yes, we are dorks). We had a delicious dinner with the Evans family, and spent the rest of the night being lazy with our bellies full of all the food and candy we stuffed ourselves with. Now that's a good holiday!

Valentines, Birthday, and St. Pattys

2009-03-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

February was a fun month for me, because I had Valentine's Day and my birthday to celebrate. And Valentine's Day was the day before our 6-month anniversary, so we did a little overnight trip to Wendover to cover both occasions. I know Wendover might sound like a weird place to spend a romantic holiday, but it was actually really great! We were late to the Kansas concert we had tickets for, but at lease we were there in time for Carry On My Wayward Son :) Then we went back to our hotel...our room there was so nice! I didn't even know they had rooms that nice in Wendover.... I was a little shocked. We had a suite with a big jacuzzi in the room and plasma TV, it was awesome. We had dinner at the hotel and did some gambling (too bad neither of us did too well at the tables). The next morning we had brunch at the buffet before driving home. Other than the service being TERRIBLE (which we expected, hard to find good people to work in Wendover I would guess), everything was really nice. Great hotel, decent food, fun cheap blackjack tables - that spells romance! Plus I got some really pretty roses from my hubby :)

My birthday was so much fun, it was like a two week long celebration. The Sunday before we had cake and ice cream at my Aunt Brentz and Uncle Paul's with my grandparents and cousins, and the day after that Steve and I went out for a birthday lunch with my grandparents and Brentz. Then on my birthday Steve was so sweet! First he went and got me my favorite breakfast (biscuits and gravy) while I was getting ready for work. Then that night he picked up takeout from Olive Garden and we watched American Idol and a pirated copy of Twilight - what a perfect night! He even baked me brownies and put candles in them and sang to me. It was the best birthday to get to relax and hang out with my favorite person. And for my present, he got me tickets to Rascal Flatts the next night, which was a great concert! Then that weekend my mom came in town, and just having her come was a great present, but she really spoiled me by taking me birthday shopping and taking Steve and I out to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Then the next week my girlfriends took me out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse for a joint birthday celebration for me and my friend Torrey. I love spending time with all my girlfriends, it was so fun! And then that weekend (yes, it's still going) we celebrated at Steve's parents house with dinner and cake and presents, which was so nice of them! So thank you so much to everyone for making my birthday so wonderful... I love you all! It was so great it even took my mind off of how old I'm getting! ;)

One last note, I had to include this funny picture of Snoopi on St. Patrick's Day. I love having a dog as a replacement for a child so I have someone to dress up...haha. I also dressed up myself and Steve, and made Shepherd's Pie and Bread Pudding for dinner. I'm so festive ;) I'm lucky my husband thinks it's cute when I'm kind of a dork.

The Big Apple

2009-02-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Steve and I joined my family on a trip to New York City to celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary and to see my brother compete in a track meet. I hadn't been to New York in over ten years, and Steve had only ever been there on a layover, so we had a lot to see! We did all the typical tourist stuff - Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Central Park, etc. - and ate so much good food like giant corned beef sandwiches from the delis, New York style pizza, and lots of cheesecake. Luckily we did a lot of walking to combat all those delicious calories ;) One of my very favorite parts of the trip was going to see the musical Wicked on Broadway. It was a great show...I hadn't read the book or heard any of the music before, so it was all a surprise to me, but it was very well done and really fun to watch. The first night there we also went to a comedy club, which was an interesting experience. There were 6 or 7 comics, and they were all pretty funny, except for the last guy who was AWFUL! It was like he wasn't even trying to be funny, he was just trying to say the most disgusting things he could think of. Kind of awkward. But it was still a fun night, our favorite comedians were Judah Friedlander (from 30 Rock and Best Week Ever) and a guy named Godfrey (who I just found out is the 7-up spokesperson in their 7-up yours campaign! haha) who was so so funny. And seeing Parker vault at his meet was cool too, he is always so impressive. The best part was just getting to spend time with the fam and spend a few days doing something different. We came back to some good news also, Steve has his first law school acceptance! He's only heard back from one school so far, University of Miami, and he was accepted! It is really exciting, Miami is top tier law school with a good international program, so it's definitely a good option. And it's really cool that they accepted him so quickly, obviously they really liked what they saw, because it's only been a few weeks since he applied. I am really, really proud of my very smart and amazing husband, and so excited to know that he's for sure going to law school next year!

Happy Holidays!

2009-01-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am officially a horrible blogger. January is almost over and I haven't written anything since November. I'll try harder. I have a little bit of an excuse- the past couple months have been so busy for us! In a good way. Spending the holidays with my new husband was wonderful! We were in Denver for a big, crazy Thanksgiving, and then back again for Christmas. My Nanny and Dano came up from St. George to spend Christmas with us, which was fun. We all went out to dinner on Christmas Eve at Outback Steakhouse (family tradition), and spent all day Christmas hanging out in our matching pajamas playing xbox and wii. The weekend involved lots of eating and shopping- always a winning combination! We also got to celebrate Christmas twice with Steve's side of the family, once at the big family Christmas party in December, and then again when we got back from Denver and got to go eat dinner and open presents with Steve's parents. What a great way to make the holidays last! Steve and I also had people over to our house for a little Christmas get-together, we all went and saw the lights at Temple Square, and then came back to our house for soup and Rock Band. It was really fun to have all our friends come to our house to celebrate the season. For New Year's Eve, we went to a party at Tucanos with my cousin Vicki and her husband Mike. We ate a big Brazilian buffet and then danced in the new year. We were unaware when we bought our tickets that this party was a predominanty ethnic event. Most of the music was in Portuguese, and everyone there seemed to know line dances to all the songs. We felt a little silly, but it was still fun to get dressed up and go out with our friends.

It was nice to get to spend some time relaxing over the holidays, because there hasn't been much time for that in January. My very smart husband got his LSAT scores back right after Christmas, and this month has been a crazy blur of getting law school applications sent out. They are FINALLY done, as of this week, and now we just have to wait. He applied to a big variety of schools all over the country, so I really have no idea where we might end up. There are things that would be cool about every place he applied, so it will be a very tough choice when it comes down to picking one. I know I could drive myself crazy thinking about it the next couple of months while we wait for acceptances, so I will try not to worry, because I know wherever we go it will be great.

Luckily I've had some distractions. I'm just finishing Week 4 of my fitness bootcamp. I've been getting up at 5 every morning and going to this really intense fitness class to try and get back in shape after the holidays. It has been so hard to get up so early and push myself physically harder than I ever have, but it feels really good that I've made it through! Steve and I want to start our own at plan at home once I'm finished with this to keep the good results going. And my most exciting news is that last week Steve and I booked tickets to go to Europe this Spring! We're leaving right after his graduation in May, and I am so, so excited! It will be the perfect way to celebrate his graduation, and planning the trip will be a great way to keep our minds off waiting to hear back from law schools. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe how wonderful my life is.... I really have everything I could ever want, and more, and I just feel so thankful and happy every day.

Oh, one last thing, I never posted all the cute pictures that my friend Kristin took of Steve and Snoopi and I for our Christmas cards! She did such a good job, so you can click HERE if you want to see how adorable we are ;)

Happiness is a Warm Puppy

2008-11-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Just in case I ever needed more proof that my husband really loves me, he gave me the perfect early Christmas present: an 8-week old beagle puppy. We got our new baby Snoopi almost two weeks ago, and she is so fun and cute! Even Steve, who had to be persuasively talked into the idea of a dog, has found her too adorable to resist. He's started taking her on walks, which at first really terrified her, but now she's starting to like them (especially if they run into other people who will fuss over how cute she is - she's such a show off). We brought her to a puppy playdate with Steve's brother Dave and his wife Aspen and their two dogs. She loved Dave and Aspen but was a little timid around Bart and Ruby. She starts puppy obedience classes tomorrow morning though, so hopefully that will help her feel more comfortable around other dogs. She seems to be really smart and easy to train. She's been pretty good with housetraining, and she likes to sleep in her crate. Her favorite toy is a little squeeky stuffed raccoon that I bought her because I want her to start practicing scaring away the raccoons we sometimes see in our yard (they terrify me!). You can tell she has a beagle's hunting instincts because she definitely treats her toy like it's prey. She will do this funny army crawl under our coffee table and lie there for a minute before jumping out and pouncing on it, and then she'll violently shake it back and forth in her mouth. She uses the same hide and attack method on our shoes as we walk by the table, especially my furry slippers, so we need to figure out how to teach her the difference between shoes and animals. But her very favorite thing to do is snuggle up with us on the couch. She's really sweet and affectionate, and we think we definitely picked the right pup for our family.

Honeymoon #2 - Mexico

2008-10-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

We had such an amazing time in Mexico! It really was the perfect honeymoon- beautiful beaches, wonderful resort, and plenty of time to relax and enjoy being newlyweds. We stayed in the Sandos Playacar Riviera resort, which is the new addition (just completed this spring) of a larger resort. It's an all-inclusive resort, which was so perfect for a honeymoon, because we didn't have to worrry about a thing the whole time we were there. The beaches in Playa del Carmen are AMAZING, and our resort was the last one down the beach in a whole row of resorts, so if we walked down the beach south from our resort it was totally isolated with nothing but the beach and the jungle. One day Steve and I walked pretty far away from the resort down the beach and it started pouring rain. We had left our towels and bags and everything back in front of the resort, and there were no buildings anywhere near us, so there was nothing we could do but just enjoy walking in the rain. The first two days we were there it was sunny in the mornings, but rained all afternoon. After those first couple of days though, we enjoyed nice weather for the rest of the trip. The ocean was too rough to do any snorkeling or anything like that, but we still played in the water some almost every day, and spent A LOT of time just hanging out on the beach (my now peeling sunburn is evidence of this). Steve taught me how to play chess on the giant poolside chess set, which was fun, even though I could never beat him. The resort also had shows at night, which were kind of entertaining, and a dance club. One crazy thing about being in the middle of the jungle were the strange animals we saw wandering around the resort grounds. There were lots of really big iguanas, but then some other animals that we had no idea what they were -- one looked like a gigantic rat with a long nose and short stumpy tail, and another looked sort of like a ring tailed lemur, with a super long tail that pointed straight up. It was a little spooky to be walking down to dinner at night and see one of these mystery creatures just a few yards away, but it added to the Mexican experience. Speaking of the Mexican experience, I was SOOOOO happy to have my spanish speaking husband there! I thought that the resort would probably be mainly English speaking since its catering to tourists, but that was not the case. Steve spoke in Spanish to everyone there, plus he was able to figure out things like bus schedules. The food was great; there were a bunch of buffets for all meals, plus four reservations-only restaurants for dinner. We tried out a different one every night- Brazilian, Asian, French, and Steakhouse. Our room was really nice- it was a large suite with a plasma TV and big jetted tub in the room, which was nice to relax in on the rainy days. On our last day there we went to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. They were really cool to see, totally unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They also made for great photo opportunities, so if you want to see more of our pics, click HERE. Then that night we went to Casino night at the club where we played blackjack and craps and won a hat and a fanny pack (such great prizes...lol). It really was one of my best vacations ever - everything I could imagine a honeymon being - and I am so appreciative of my wonderful husband for taking me on such a great trip!

Newlyweds

2008-10-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't written anything for a while, I thought I should catch up on everything we've been up to for the past couple months before writing about our latest vacation. Being married is so much fun! Steve and I both keep saying that it's even better than we thought it would be. It's been really nice settling into our home together and adjusting to being roommates ;) We went on a Labor Day trip to Colorado to hang out with my family and celebrate my mom's birthday, which was very fun. The picture on the right is Steve and I in front of the John Elway statue at the Denver ESPN Zone where we went to watch the Utah game. We also visited the CU campus in Boulder since Steve is thinking about applying to law school there. I would love to live by my family for a few years, but it would be hard to move away from our home and Steve's family. There are so many things to consider, but I think wherever we end up it will be a fun adventure for us to share together and grow from. Steve has been very busy with school and studying for the LSAT. He takes it the first weekend in December, and even though I know he's nervous, he has been doing a lot of preparing so I know he'll do well. It hasn't been all work and studying though, we've been up to a lot of fun things as newlyweds also. We've gone on a couple of fun double dates, to Biaggi's with our friends Mark and Torrey, and to the Melting Pot with my cousin Vicki and her husband Mike ("Where's Ben Wade?"). Steve's birthday was especially fun! First we celebrated with the fam with a delicious dinner at the Evans house the Sunday before. Then on his birthday, I took the afternoon off work and we went to the Sanctuary Day Spa to use our gift certificate for a couple's massage that my boss gave us as a wedding gift. It was sooooo nice and relaxing! Any couples living around Salt Lake should definitely check it out for a special occasion, it is a really nice package- after the massages you get to relax in a big tub with refreshments....it was very fun. Then that night we went to dinner at Flemings, which is where this picture was taken. Neither of us had been there before, but we would highly recommend it now- delicious! Then we went home to open presents and other birthday surprises. I gave Steve half-season Jazz tickets, which is kind of a present to me too because we have so much fun at the games. We went to the first one last night (preseason) and are excited to be there the rest of the season.... Go Jazz!

Honeymoon #1 - Our weekend in San Francisco

2008-08-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Steve and I had so much fun in San Francisco! Our first day there we went to Golden Gate Park, and ate way too much at an amazing Sunday Brunch at the Park Chalet. Needing to burn off some of those brunch calories, we rented bikes and rode all over through the park. It was a great way to see the whole park. We also rode down to the beach and went along the coast a little ways, which was nice, but it was pretty cold being so near the water with the ocean breeze. After the park, we went to Chinatown, where we shopped around for a little while before having some dim sum at a little Chinese restaurant.

The next day we took a cable car to Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. After walking down Lombard, we headed to Fisherman's Wharf. We bought some clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls from a street vendor, and found a park bench on the bay to sit and enjoy a very San Francisco lunch.

On our way to Pier 39, we saw a special exhibit of a World War II submarine that had been restored to look just like it did during the war, and of course Steve couldn't pass up going on the tour. I have to admit even I thought it was pretty interesting, although it was tricky maneuvering around down there when we were sharing a set of headphones for the audio tour since we were too cheap to rent more than one ;)

After the tour we made it to Pier 39, where we had fun hanging out in all the weird shops and seeing the street vendors perform. We have a bunch of silly pictures of us trying on hats at one store on the pier that you can see in our photo album. Next we went to Ghiradelli Square for some amazing hot fudge sundaes, and we shopped at the Cannery for a little while before going on a cruise of the bay that took us under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz.

We ended the day at a seafood restaurant with candlelight and a beautiful view of the bay. On our last day, we went back to the wharf, and decided to go through the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. There was a lot of freaky stuff, but it was pretty entertaining. All in all, it was a wonderful honeymoon and a great way to start out married life! To see all the pics, click HERE.

Our Wedding 8-15-2008

2008-08-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Steve and I were married on August 15th, 2008. It was such a wonderful day! We had a beautiful garden ceremony at the Magnolia Grove Reception Center in South Jordan, Utah. Other than a strong breeze that kept blowing up my veil, and a moment of panic when we couldn't find the rings, the ceremony went off without a hitch. My Uncle, Brent Smith, was able to officiate, and did a great job!

After the ceremony, we enjoyed dinner and dancing at Magnolia Grove with our family and close friends. My colors were pink and gold. After we cut the cake, there were a few toasts, which was one of my favorite parts of the night. It was so fun to hear from the people we love and receive the congratulations and support of our family.

Steve and I danced our first dance to Tim McGraw's "My Best Friend", which we love because we have always been each other's best friends. Then my dad and I danced to Ray Charles "You are My Sunshine". I chose that song because my parents sang it to me when I was a little girl. It was so special to me to share that moment with my dad, who I love so much. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun dancing was! I had been afraid that no one would get out on the dance floor, but our guests were having a great time showing off their moves. It was really great to let loose and enjoy the company of our friends and family.

At the end of the night we tossed the bouquet and garter (seeing Steve's brother Clint fight for the garter was so funny!), and departed the reception hall through a tunnel of sparklers to ride off in a stretch limousine. All in all, it was truly a fairytale evening. It was everything I had ever imagined my wedding being, only even better, because I married a man who's better than I could have ever imagined. I am so excited to be Mrs. Steven Evans!

For more wedding pictures, please click HERE. I will keep uploading them as people send me more.