Old-fashioned adventure

My mom and I happen to work in the same office.

We also happen to enjoy going on adventures together.

So when she saw an ad for Blickenstaff's in a Utah Valley magazine, we spontaneously left work and drove up to check it out. No worries, I worked overtime last week, we can afford it.

Blickenstaff's has a lot of fun things - and a lot of old-fashioned things, including games, toys aaaaaannnnnddd candy...

Like these, for example: 

We also enjoyed one of these, and I figured out how to make a moaning sound by blowing into a bottle... And I saved some for Ryan. He was happy :)

 And bought a gumball from a gumball machine that was taller than me...

Definitely more fun than working :)

Blickenstaff's is located in Riverwoods in Provo, sort of kitty-corner from the Provo Beach Resort. Definitely worth visiting, especially if you like old-fashioned candy!

New beginnings!

Guess what, blogging world, I'm still alive!

(Okay, to all TWO of you who ever occasionally read my blog, you knew I was alive).

New last name, new apartment, new set of favorites about life, new packet of challenges, and more new and amazing experiences than I could ever imagine!

I love Ryan. I made the best decision of my entire life when I married him. Our story is one that's full of love. And I love it.

For everyone interested - our story is continuing at http://sommerfeldts.blogspot.com/. This blog, Viva la Vida, will continue to remain as my personal outlet for my random thoughts, experiences, goals, mumblings, etc. Anything official about our family will go on our family blog. So hey, follow both of them, if you're lucky you might just hear from me twice as often :D hahaha if only, if only... no, but really, it'll be good. There's already pictures and stuff.

Okay. Viva la Vida, everyone. Life is simply too amazing to miss a single moment!

Tuesday is the new Friday

After all, Monday is so long that you pretty much need a weekend by the time you stagger, gasping, to the end of Tuesday. Wednesday? Pffff.... overrated.... :)

Last night Ryan and I silently and mutually decided that Tuesday night needed to be extra special. After all, it's going to be a long, rainy week.
So we went for a walk.
And we split a J-Dawg. It was my very first J-Dawg. I do not like the special sauce. It was not special. But the experience (and the person I was with) were extra-special. So that made up for the non-specialness of the special sauce.
And we got frozen yogurt with crazy toppings, and we even managed to not pay all of our arms and legs and only half of our firstborn children for it.
And then we sat on a hill and enjoyed each other's company and froze to death while eating the yogurt (well, I did anyway) and we probably made all the people coming out of the building opposite us feel awkward, what with the yogurt-eating couple staring at them as they walk down the sidewalk.
And then we watched PSYCH and finished season 2.
All in all, it was an excellent Friday night date. Actually, Tuesday night date. We've heard it both ways. :)

Day Zero #13 - Run in an official race/event

Kokopelli.

That's a fun word to say. It happened Saturday down in St George. Friday we (me, Ryan, Ryans' brother and sister and brother's brother-in-law and his parents) packed up and went down to St. George. After checking in and getting our numbers written all over us in Sharpie (NOT my favorite part of running in a triathlon!) we went out to eat, all ordered too much food (apparently because we were about to run a race we all thought we could eat more? go figure) and then went to bed.

We all woke up bright and early (correction: I was already awake, having had nightmares about oversleeping and missing the entire thing and losing my shoes - who knows where that came from) and we headed down to the state park. There were like half a bazillion people there, it was crazy. We set everything up and got all ready.

The swim was first, and I was the first of our group to start, since I was doing the sprint distance instead of the regular Olympic length. I was super nervous... but when I jumped in the water, I got really excited, especially since my wetsuit was practically keeping me afloat, and keeping all the water out. The wetsuit practically pushed me the whole time, and sand hollow reservoir is PERFECT for swimming in! I loved it. I finished the swim in the middle of my group - 24 minutes. Not great, but it's a personal best.

Getting out of the water after the swim

The bike and run were after that... nothing too exciting, the bike course was insane, there was this GIANT hill that wanted to kill everyone, curse whoever decided the race course should be over that hill... but I made it, and then the run wasn't too hard. However, at the end you had to run up this hill. Then at the top, people start cheering for you, just because they're nice like that. So me, being excited and all, decide to sprint to the finish. But unfortunately, I started my sprint WAY too soon... and had to take it back a few notches before I actually crossed the line.

Yeah. This is how I felt by the time I was almost to the end.

And then I noticed the photographer right there taking pictures of me. So I smiled, that seemed like the appropriate thing to do. And then it clicked that I had just FINISHED a triathlon and then my smile was for real. Awesome.

Crossing the finish line

It was definitely an experience to remember, and maybe to repeat... We'll see!

Ryan and I after finishing. I'm marrying a triathlete :)

I should be doing homework...

But.... it's not as fun as...

Wedding dress? Check!
Furniture for apartment? Check!
Colors picked? Check!
Food for reception decided upon? Mostly check!

Aaaaand that's about as far as I've gotten. Oh snap. Three months :)

Aaaaaaaaaaannnnd if it's not too much trouble, I'd just like to say that while being engaged has its frustrating times, when you just wish like heck that time would hurry up already... knowing that I'm going to get to spend eternity with the guy I fell in love with nearly four years ago is the most amazing feeling in the world. I'm so lucky, and so happy!

And if you're tired of reading about how head over heels in love I am, you can take a refreshing break and watch this video here:

I think in terms of December...

Typical conversation:

"Are you engaged?!"

"Yep!"
"Oh, congratulations, that's so exciting!"
"Yeah, we're pretty excited!"
"So when's the big day?"
"The 16th."
"Of this month?! Oh my gosh! That's so awesome!"
"Oh... no... not this month, it's the 16th of December."

I keep having to remind myself that not everyone naturally assumes that "the 16th" means December... it's going to be a long semester...

Double chocolate peanut butter awesome

I had a cookie monster moment. It was fast sunday, and I saw the bag of Reeses on my nightstand, and the light went on. Double chocolate peanut butter cup cookies. Brilliant idea.

So here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1/3 cup baking cocoa Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until you can just see little cracks appearing on the edges of the cookie. Don't overcook, it'll make them too chewy.  These were delicious. My official taste tester gets home tonight, so we'll see what he thinks. :)

2 tablespoons milk 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder - I put in 1/2 tsp for extra fluffiness 1 cup chopped Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (I would recommend freezing them a little bit first, so they aren't as messy when you're chopping them up)

English class quotes...

"...because when I say, 'Hey Laren, you look nice today,' I'm really saying, 'Laren, I just want to lick you and I'm so sad that I can't!'"

"I like big numbers and I cannot lie! Those little ones can't deny! When a number walks in and puts the figure in your face!-" - "Whoa whoa whoa, Patrick, stop right there!"

"Oh... oh... oh CUSS!!!"


I love small spring term classes... :)

Wishes

I saw this online today, and it made me laugh... really hard...
(click on picture to enlarge)

Let them eat cake!

New goal on my 101 list (revisions allowed, right? I mean, after all, 1001 days is a long time... and my interests change like... daily... haha) MAKE THESE:






I want to make cakes. Beautiful cakes. I'm sure the first few will be total flops. That's okay. I'll bring the extras to work with me. :)

Anyone know of a good cake-decorating class in the area?

Impatience

Yesterday was a long day. But when I got home, there was a big, fat envelope in the mailbox! And yes, it came from Spain :)

So I tore it open.

And inside were four little packages, wrapped in newspaper, and a card in an envelope.

And it said, "Do not open until your birthday."

My birthday is still six days away. So the little packages are sitting on my desk in my room. Staring at me. Begging me to open them.

*sigh... *

Why I love my job...

Father on phone: "So my daughter wants to go to college in the fall. She's been accepted to five universities, but she wants to go to a college that wants her badly enough to give her a full ride scholarship... but she forgot to apply for university scholarships and she didn't audition for the School of Music, but she'd like to come."

Me: "Well... the auditions were four months ago... and all our scholarships were awarded in March, so at this point there's not very much that we can do, the funds have already been awarded."

(conversation goes on)

Later:

Father: "Well. So. Do you have a music scholarship there?"
Me: "Well, I'm not a music student, but I do have a scholarship for my program."
Father (accusingly): "So how did you get yours?"
Me: "Well, for continuing students it's based off GPA."
Father (still accusingly): "So have you had yours for the whole time you've been here?"
Me: "No... Have you talked to the Financial Aid office yet?"

We love those dear, dear "helicopter" parents...