Halloween!

The last three years, Bryan and I have always celebrated Halloween with other people. This year, it was just the two of us. We still had a great time, but we miss all of our friends!

We got to pumpkin carving a little late this year (only two days before Halloween), but later found out that this was probably a good thing. After 3 days, our poor little pumpkin was shriveled and smelly. It was just too warm for it to last very long!


We named him Petey. :)

Halloween itself was pretty laid back for us. We don't have any kids to take around and we live in a community full of old people. So, we kicked back, watched a movie (Lady in the Water) and welcomed in the holiday season.

Visitors!

My parents came this last week to visit us. We had a great time showing them around our part of AZ. Good food, good entertainment, great company, what else could you ask for? I wish I had pictures to post from their visit, but we didn't do anything too exciting. I took them around to the touristy stuff while Bryan was at work, and when he got home, we ate dinner and relaxed. We watched a couple of good movies and ate at Outback Steakhouse...mmmm. :)

One of the things I did take them to go see was the fountain that our town is named for. I didn't get a picture of my mom and dad there, but here is a picture of when Bryan and I visited it for the first time.

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Okay, maybe I won't post a picture of that. (Man, I have really got to get my photos all in one place so I can find them when I need to.)

So...here is a generic picture of the fountain! :)


It's really tall. It's actually so tall that we can see it from our balcony!

Daniel

Daniel Harris Taylor was born on September 19. Congrats Liz and PJ! We're so happy for you guys!

Isn't he adorable? The first of the next generation on my side of the family. He is also our first nephew! (Bryan's brother has two little girls.)

Can't wait to meet you Daniel!

Still don't have internet

So, we don't have internet at our new apartment yet. :) Until then, we have to trek down to the library to use it. It's not too long of a walk (about 20 minutes one way) but the heat is killer. I can't wait to post a long entry on here, but internet at the library is timed. Ugh. So, I am counting down the minutes until it kicks me off. Can't wait until we get internet set up at our apartment! :)

On a brighter note, we are loving it down here in AZ. The weather is...well...hot, but we're getting used to it. The area we live in is beautiful and the community is great. I'm looking forward to being able to upload some new pictures of our apartment and things we have done.

So bear with me for a few more weeks and I'll be able to update you completely on our adventures here in AZ. :)

Way too long

So, I know that it's been way too long since I updated. Things have been way crazy lately and as soon as things calm down a little, I'll probably go on an update frenzy.

Until then...stay happy :)

Drum Roll Please...

We're moving to Arizona! Bryan just got offered a job at the Mayo Clinic down in Scottsdale, so we're headed down there at the end of summer! I'll write more when I know what's going to happen. :)Guess I'm going to have to get used these things:

Trip to Sac

Well, I know that it's been a while since I have written anything. Life has been crazy!

Memorial Day weekend, I was able to fly out and see my family before my little brother left on the plan for Brazil, where he will be living for the next two years. It was great to be able to see them and it was too bad that Bryan had to stay in Provo so he could work. :(

While I was in Sacramento, I just hung out with the fam. Mom and I had a girls night and we had fun getting my hair cut and doing some highlights at home (they turned out really good!). On saturday I went out to lunch with an old friend (a friend I've had for a long time, not a friend who is old he he). It was great to be able to catch up with Emily. We went to Chipotle...mmmm....I haven't eaten that if forever, so it was time. :)

On Sunday Kyle gave a great talk in church and a lot of people came to support him. Emily and her family came, here's a picture:

(I wish I wasn't wearing glasses, but my last pair of contacts ripped the first day I was there, ugh).

Sunday night, we went over to family friend's house to eat authentic Brazilian food. It was way good!

On monday, we went to go see the most recent Shrek movie as a family. I loved it :) After that we went to the store and tried to go to the park that we always go to, but it was closed. So, instead, we went to the jr. high school fields and tried to fly kite there. The only problem was that there was almost no wind to speak of and we ended up running around with the kites only a couple of feet above our heads for most of the time. We had a great time!

(On the left: Kyle actually got his kite up for a few minutes...before it came crashing down :] On the right, my Dad trying to get my kite up, which never made it up in the air BTW)



Monday night, my parents made a special dinner for us, STEAK! It's one of our favorite things to eat, even if we don't get to have it very often. (Man, talking about all the food I ate is making me hungry.)

On Tuesday, Kyle was set apart as a missionary and we drove him to the airport. It was sad to see him go, but I know that he is going to help the Lord's work progress. I know that he is going to be a great missionary. A few hours after that, I had to go back to the airport to catch my plane.

Overall, a great weekend! I wish Bryan had been there too, but I'm glad that I was able to see Kyle one more time before he left.

Funny Thing

When I was walking to graduation in April, I walked past this:
Yes, that is the duck pond, and yes, those are several pieces of furniture floating in it.

How to Train Your Dragon

Bryan took me to go see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D. I absolutely loved it! It was our first 3D experience and we enjoyed it. There were only 7 people in the theater including us, which was really nice because there weren't any loud babies or teenagers making fun of it.

I think we're going to go see it again when it comes to the dollar theater!

Yes, I liked it that much :)

Graduation!

Last week was graduation! We were both pretty excited to watch Bryan walk, even though he doesn't officially graduate until June. Liz and PJ also came up to visit so that PJ could walk as well. We had a great time spending a little time with them. I got to go shopping with Liz so she could get some good maternity clothes. She has the most adorable baby bump now! :)

After Commencement, Liz and I had planned a small graduation party for Bryan and PJ. Some of our friends and family came to celebrate with us and it turned out pretty well.

Bryan's parents came up for Friday's convocation, and it was fun to see them too. Bryan's convocation took forever though! I think that there were over 1,000 names to read, ahh! But, I would sit through it again for Bryan. :) It was pretty fun to cheer for him when his name was read and he walked across the stage.

So, congrats guys!

Diaper Blowout?

We went to Smith's at like 11 at night. We were both really tired and when we stumbled upon this--

we started laughing really really hard. It's amazing what can be funny when you are tired.

I think that I want to find the employee that wrote this sign and thank them for providing me with some amusement.

Muse

So, in February Bryan bought us tickets to go see Muse live in Salt Lake. Well, after two long months, the concert finally came. :) We had a great time. Muse was just as good live as they are recorded and their stage presence was amazing.

The ECenter

Us before the show...actually during the opening band. They weren't that great. Plus, I don't think they had a filter on their mouths. And obviously they didn't realize the fact that the cheering diminished significantly when the lead singer decided to pull out the f-bomb. We were glad when Muse finally came on.

The light show was amazing. I think Bryan's favorite part was when they showed pictures of DNA, red blood cells, and other science stuff on the big screens. Too bad I couldn't get a picture of that.

We were kind of far away, but we didn't mind. Still had a great time!

And then it decided to snow on our way home. Ugh. It's not supposed to do that in April.

Easter

Hope you guys had a great Easter!  We weren't able to make it up to the fam's house because of work, but we still had a great time together. 

I hope that on this Easter Sabbath, we can all reflect on Christ and what He has done for us.  

It's been a long week :)

Last week was ridiculously crazy! I"m glad it's over.  I had way too much homework to do and ended up getting less that 6 hours a sleep every night.  ugh.  I feel satisfied though; like I have accomplished something worth turning in.  12 page technical paper, 40 minute presentation, 12 page group research paper, 6 page research paper, 4 page persuasive paper, debate presentation, and a conference to attend. Whew! And that was just this last week!  It's been like this for the last few weeks.  Oh well.  :) I'm learning a lot and am loving it.  Hard to believe that there are only a couple weeks of the semester left. 

On friday we went to the dollar theater to go see When in Rome.  It was a fun movie and Bryan and I both laughed our heads off.   (It seems like I post a lot of reviews about movies, maybe I should be hired as a promotional person? =D )

On Saturday night, we went up to Ogden to see my sister-in-law perform in her high school's musical, Les Miserables.  It was AMAZING!  The performers did a really really good job and I thought that the whole production was comparable to Charter's productions.  (For those of you who don't know, I went to a performing and fine arts academy for high school.)  The students were great, the musical is amazing, and Rachel was fun to watch.  Bryan and I enjoyed our favorite musical being performed well. 

The Lovely Bones

So, life has been ridiculously crazy the past week and a half. Unfortunately, the next couple weeks are going to be really busy too. Too much homework! :)

Bryan and I were able to go out last night to dinner and a movie. We had a great time. First, we went to Burger Supreme and had really good burgers and shakes. (Seriously, they have the most amazing shakes there) Then we went to the dollar theater to see The Lovely Bones. When we first saw the trailer for it, we thought it looked interesting, but not great.

It was AMAZING!

At the end of it, all we could say was "wow." Peter Jackson does it again! It's kind of "artsy," but tastefully so. It was emotionally intense and slightly creepy in some parts. When it was over, I felt like I had run a mile. I don't know how to really describe it except to say that I will be thinking about it for a while. It had some intriguing messages in it. Two thumbs up from Jess and Bryan!

Saturday

I’m sitting here at work, bored as heck. Bryan is taking a nap. I’m wishing I could do the same. I also know that I should be doing some homework. Ugh. So, I’m sitting here, procrastinating and avoiding what I really need to do.

We had a three day weekend last weekend. It was nice to have that extra day off and we had a good Valentine’s Day weekend. We went out to dinner at the Brick Oven and watched a movie on Friday. Saturday we had to work early, so we didn’t do much in the evening. On Sunday though, I marinated and cooked a large hunk of meat (steak) and we thoroughly enjoyed it while watching the pairs figure skating for the Olympics. On Monday, we went up to Ogden to visit Bryan’s family. We had a good time talking and playing games.

I liked having the shorter week, especially since we had Monday classes on Tuesday and Monday schedules are my easiest days. Things are starting to get crazy in my classes. Now we’re getting to the point that the professors are saying “okay, now that we have taught you something, write a 12 page paper on it and give a 30 minute presentation on it.” Ugh.

But, life goes on outside of school…I think.

(Dang, I didn't spend quite enough time updating my blog...still have a couple hours to go at work. And Bryan hasn't woken up yet)

Baby!

I’m going to be an aunt! I’m so excited! Liz just told the fam that she is going to have a baby in September. (Sep 19 was the exact date given, though we all know how accurate that can be.)

I’m so happy for Liz and PJ. I know they are going to be great parents. I can’t wait to see them in a few years. I can see a little girl (or boy) with blonde hair, freckles, and cowboy boots giggling madly as she/he runs away from PJ while Liz watches them laughing.

Yes Liz, I have it all planned out for you. (Miss you)

Don’t worry out there my faithful readers. I can reassure all (three) of you that my biological clock is not going haywire (yet). Still have to worry about school before we can welcome a mini-Belt into our lives.

Goin' on a Mission

So, my little brother Kyle just got his mission call to the Vitoria, Brazil mission.

WOW.

It’s hard to believe that he isn’t 8 years old anymore. It’s ridiculous. When people ask me about my little brother, I see my skinny, crazy, little brother bouncing around the house.

He reports to the MTC in Brazil on June 2 and will be learning Portuguese. Hopefully Bryan and I will be able to see him again before he leaves.

New Recipe

So, I got adventurous and tried out a new recipe. It turned out really good, but it was a bit on the more difficult side for my level of cooking mostly because I ended up trying to do everything at once. Don’t do that, it doesn’t work. Trust me. Next time I make it though, I will definitely be more organized and hopefully make a smaller mess (Bryan will appreciate that).

All that being said, we both really liked it and it was very filling. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Balsamic Chicken Noodle Bowl

*Serves 6-8

1 pound linguine
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil (can substitute 1 cup fresh basil)
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups shredded or cubed mozzarella cheese

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until just tender according to package directions. Drain.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. When combined, slowly whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is completely combined.

While the pasta is boiling, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the bell pepper. Cook briefly until crisp-tender. Add the cooked chicken and cook for 1-2 more minutes, until the chicken is heated through.

When the noodles have been drained, add the hot noodles to the skillet with the red pepper and chicken and toss. Add the shredded or cubed mozzarella and toss quickly to combine before the cheese melts. Pour the dressing over the top and toss with tongs to coat all the ingredients with the dressing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Source: from My Kitchen Cafe (www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com)/originally adapted from www.tastykitchen.com

January Blues

By the time I get to the end of January, I am looking forward to spring. Unfortunately for me, spring in Utah doesn't begin until April. It makes for one long winter semester. BUT, on the bright side, it means that it is still cold enough to wear my cute jackets, I can still look forward to the possibility of snow, and I can still enjoy a cup of hot chocolate without getting weird looks.

The semester has been going pretty well. I am enjoying my classes, though I am wishing that I only had to take 5 classes instead of 6. Taking 16 credits is just enough to make me go slightly insane when midterms and finals come.

I’m still getting used to writing/typing 2010 on all of my papers. It’s still kind of surreal to me that I’m 21, married, and graduating in a little over a year. Time flies whether I’m having fun or not! But really, I am happy. Life has been pretty great, if not a little stressful.

One of my professors showed us a quote a few days ago that says: “The man on top of the mountain didn’t just fall there.” I don’t know who said it, but I would like to thank them. When times get tough this semester, I hope I will be able to think about this. It takes hard work to make it anywhere worth going.

Happy Birthday!

Well, the holidays have officially ended now that my birthday has passed. Yes, the holidays do not end until I have celebrated my birthday.

I guess I want to back track a little. New Year's was great. We had an awesome time celebrating with Liz and PJ before they left for SoCal. We actually helped them get their moving truck loaded and their storage unit empty. Definitely a bittersweet moment. It's a good thing for them because PJ got a job, but I'm sure going to miss them. Anyway, we had a great time eating dinner, playing games, and drinking sparkling cider. It's hard to believe that we are already in 2010!

Bryan's family invited us up to Ogden the day before my birthday so they could throw a small birthday party for me. Almost the entire family was there and we had a good time. I'm 21! Crazy, eh? I got some movies and games. Bryan got me a new pair of pants and an i-tunes gift card. I'm pretty excited to use it.

All in all, a great way to start off the new year!