Life of Mrs. A

If anyone even remotely knows me, they know I am a dog lover!  Most likely they know I am very biased towards golden retrievers and that I had one growing up named Blue.  They also know that Blue was the BEST dog and still brings tears to my eyes when I think about him, even though its been 11 years.  They probably also know that I will never be able to have a golden retriever because of Tim and his allergies (boo Tim). 

There is also a good chance they know that my parents have a chocolate lab named  Hank.  Hank was my buddy after Blue, and now he is Bruce’s best friend (although I’m pretty sure that is only one-sided, but I’m also pretty sure Hank loves Bruce). 

And then there is Bruce.  Bruce is Tim and I’s adopted pit bull/boxer mix.  He was a stray at the Humane Society of Utah and his chart was listed as “Name: Unknown.”  We just love Bruce and the joy he brings to our life.

ANYWAYS….These are just a few pictures I have grabbed off pinterest that make me smile!  Now I will share them with you!

CUPCAKE WARS AT MICHE!!

This past week my work had Cupcake Wars!  Miche is always having fun events and taking care of the employees…just another reason I really enjoy working there!

The rules for cupcake wars was that the cupcakes had to be home made and would be judged on creativity, taste, and presentation.  Being the baker I am and the decorator my sister is we went to work.  We made minion cupcakes from “Despicable Me.”  We had so much fun baking and decorating them and ended up taking honorable mentions (there was only a prize for 1st place….first place was the shoe cupcake that I have pictured made by Jeanne…they were darling!). 

Nicki has a spiffy cake decorating set and I ended up buying one, smaller than hers, so I can make more cupcakes and cakes and have fun decorating!  I plan on making some more cupcakes this weekend.  The mini ones are my favorite to bake, decorate, and eat!!

I keep telling myself I will get better at blogging specific events instead of every post being an update, but hey, at least I’m posting, right?  Here are just a few things that have been going on…

• Brittany was on the Wheel of Fortune!  She won a trip to Jamaica and some cash, not bad!  Side story for you, I was actually in CA when Brittany filmed the show, and I did get to hang out with her before :)
• Brittany also left on deployment.  She is on a humanitarian mission on the USNS Mercy (the big white ship with the red cross on it) and will be flying in supplies to countries in Southeast Asia.  I am already ready for her to be back home, but September isn’t that far away.
• Tim went to an awards show for the site tablet application he has been working on at his company.  I believe it was the Utah Innovation Awards, but I could be wrong.  They ended up taking second place.  Nice work babe!
• Bruce (Tim) got me tickets to go see Wicked at Capital Theatre for Mother’s Day!  It was a nice surprise and very thoughtful.  We are going the weekend before we leave for Peru.
• I got my mom an array of items for Mother’s Day, but one of the items was a chocolate lab pillow.  It is a regular throw pillow with a chocolate lab face painted on.  Hank loves the pillow; he says “It’s just like looking in the mirror!”
• Cinco de Mayo we had our regular feast of Mexican food with my family(sorry to bounce around in timeline).  Tim made some amazing tacos, pico, salsa, guacamole, rice, and beans; Nicki made her delicious queso.  We were all stuffed, but still had energy for the pinata my parents brought down.  We hung it up in the garage and everyone got a whack at it.  It ended up breaking two of the sticks we used to hit it with…strong pinata.
• One Friday night Tim and I drove up Millcreek Canyon to take a drive.  Neither of us had been up there since the wedding.  It brought back so many memories and kinda makes me wish we could live that day all over again.  They were having some kind of event (I don’t believe a wedding) the night we drove up there.  I took a picture, I just love that place, it will always hold a special place in my heart.  I want to go hiking up Millcreek and take Bruce with us one day soon.
• Work has been going really well for me.  I am so much happier than I was at Overstock so that is a definite plus.  Also, I am becoming a Miche addict.  I just love the bags!  They are so great and fun; I can’t stop shopping.  I am going to Nashville in July for the M-Power Spectacular conference, I’m pretty exciting, but I hear it’s exhausting.
• My parents, Tim, and I went to a Bee’s game.  It was the annual “Pack the Park Pink” and Miche was one of the sponsors.  We loved going to the game and spending time together, but it sure was different watching a minor league game from the majors.  Tim and I are thinking about going to a Rockies game one weekend, plus the hot dogs are way better with MLB :)
• Tim and I went and saw the Avengers!  We went to the VIP theatre at Jordan Commons.  I’m pretty sure I will not be able to watch a movie in a a regular seat (or as we are referring to them now as economy class, haha).  the VIP theatre is the best. Nice leather recliners, blankets, service right to your seat, definitely worth it! Also, Avengers was pretty sweet too!  I just love the actors in there :)

Overall I would say life has been pretty good to us lately.  I signed up for a Half Marathon in Bryce Canyon this year in July and I need to get working on that.  I have been really bad at my gym routine and losing this post-wedding weight.  Hopefully I can get back on track. 

Last but not least, our poor sprinklers.  They burst.  We knew this day was coming. My sweet dad and Tim worked to get everything replaced and fixed.  I honestly don’t know what Tim and I would do without my dad.  He helps us with so much stuff at the house; I hope he knows how much we appreciate it. 

On top of the sprinklers, my yard needs to be landscaped.  My flowerbeds are groomed, but empty.  I think next weekend Tim and I are going to work in the backyard quite a bit and then I can get some flowers planted.  I also hope to clean up the flower beds in the front on the East side of the yard. They are groomed, but could use some more work.  It’s a lot of working owning a home, but I love sharing a home with Tim and building our life here. 

Tim, Bruce, and I went to Southern Utah for a warm, weekend get-a-way.  We went camping in our usual spot in the Beaver Damn Slope.  The weather was in the 80’s all weekend, compared the high 40’s/low 50’s in Salt Lake. 

We didn’t leave until about 7:15pm Friday night; I worked late, we still needed to pack, and we wanted to miss rush hour.  Unfortunately, leaving that late at night means we don’t get down to our camp until midnight.  Once we got down there, we set up camp, had a midnight snack (my weakness), and watched the stars/listened for night migrants, and then we went to bed. 

We didn’t put the rainfly up on our tent, which means that 3/4 walls are mesh.  So beautiful that you can see the stars and moons.  However, Bruce was not a fan.  After sitting home all day while we were at work, then sitting in the car, he was a little restless and creeped out by the fact he could see outside.  He refused to lay down, and I don’t think anyone slept more than 2-3 hours. 

Around 3am the wind started to pick up.  It got a little chilly when the wind was blowing, and it only added to Bruce’s restlessness.  I finally got some sleep, but when we woke up there was a group of people getting ready to go four-wheeling right next to us.  There is SO————-O much land where we camp that it is nearly impossible to run into anyone, and of course people decided to stop by us this morning, I was not a fan.  They finally left so we got out of bed and got ready for the day.  We went over to Lytle and walked the river bed.  Bruce loved every minute, running thru the river, exploring, and just being free.  After we had lunch, went to a few parks, and then came home and hiked Welcome Springs.

After setting up camp, I laid down with Bruce in the tent; he was exhausted.  His feet were a little sore from all the running and rocks.  For dinner we made my favorite, hot dogs!  I don’t just like hot dogs for camping or baseball games; I will eat them any time.  After dinner, we hung out for a little bit, then got ready for bed, and watchedThe Big Yearon the iPad in in the tent.  Bruce fell right asleep, and after the movie Tim and I both got a good night’s sleep.

Sunday morning we woke up rather early and headed back down to Lytle.  Tim went in the orchard for a little bit while Bruce and I hung out (dogs are not allowed in the orchard).  Sadly, there were cows at the river, so we splashed in some ponds, and then went for a walk up the road.  Bruce got in some cactus and it was not fun pulling them out of his paws.  They bled a tiny bit when I pulled them out, so we went back to the pond. 

We made a few stops on the way home, and Bruce slept the whole way.  Let’s be honest, I slept some of the way too.  This was our first weekend trip of the year, and we only hope to plan quite a few more before the end of the year.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

So it’s been a few weeks and I’ve been busy and sick.  Here are some pictures of whats been going on….

Spring arrived!  My tulips bloomed!  It has been anywhere from 65-75 for the high and anywhere from 25-50 for the low.  Yes you read that right.  We have had gorgeous hot, bring out your flipflops, weather and terrible, freezing cold, snow.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  I do live in Utah and spring here is unpredictable.  We had such a mild winter that I don’t even know what to expect anymore! Bruce has finally become such a good boy that we can leave him out of his kennel during the day and all he does is sleep in the sun and flip his bed.

Before I started my new job at Miche I had two weeks off from work. Let me correct that; I had two, PAID weeks off.  I was not the least bit sad to say goodbye to Overstock.  They treated me poorly.  I was the Associate Buyer, doing the job of the Buyer (there had no been no buyer in my department for five months), getting paid less than my assistant (for the previous six months).  I had multiple conversations about this and how I only wanted to be paid a fair salary that made sense in the hierarchy of my team and the work I was doing.  I only asked for $3,000 more and they said absolutely not because they just didn’t have the money (however, I should note that all executives got a 20% raise - bare minimum of $50,000 increase.  Their raise was more than my salary).  After working my tail off, putting in late hours and growing the diamond and wedding jewelry business I was ready to move on.  So I did.  To Miche.  As the International Product Planner.  And I couldn’t be happier.

My office is the same distance from my house as Overstock (just about 7 miles), but I’m heading the opposite direction …. to South Jordan.  There is so much by my work, it’s just off 10600 South.  I love the building I’m in…there is a picture form the lobby in the pictures above, and I love the people I work with.  I’m definitely much happier here than I was at Overstock and happiness is what matters.  On my first day of work I had come down with a terrible cold and was on my deathbed for about 10 days.  Thank goodness I am recovering and about 95% (three weeks later). 

Katie and I went to see Titanic 3D in theatres.  I loved seeing it again (15 years later).  It was one of my favorite movies and I already want to see it again. 

Things have been pretty good. Tim took me to see Hunger Games in the VIP theatre at Jordan Commons.  The theatre has leather reclines and is simply wonderful.  Hunger Games was really good.  I loved the books and the move was good, but it was no Harry Potter book and move just the same wonderfulness.  By far, Hunger Games book was better. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter.  This is the first year ever that Tim and I have been in Salt Lake for Easter.  Usually we go camping (one year we were in Seattle), but the weather just wasn’t cooperating this year. 

Do you have any fun Easter plans?

I have been told that there is no where to leave a comment or respond to my posts, so I added a comments section.  Just click on “COMMENTS” at the top and it will take you to a new screen.  From there you can submit whatever you would like and then I believe it gives me a chance to read/respond and then post it on the blog.  If you want to keep your comment private just let me know and I can make sure it doesn’t go public. 

Also, make sure you leave me your name if you don’t have a Tumblr account so I know who you are.

ENJOY and give my blog some love!

PS - I have made it easy with screen shots so you have no excuses :)