Our San Francisco Treat!

Ryan had the opportunity to attend The Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, and being the sweet husband that he is, he bought me a plane ticket to go with him!!

I love love love San Francisco and we had such a good time exploring the city again together. Our adventures began with an early flight, and a bit of a sketchy walk to our hotel... I remember thinking "We're not in Minneapolis anymore, hunny!" We quickly found a great little Thai restaurant in Union Square and then hopped on the bus to explore Golden Gate Park.

I had never been to Golden Gate Park before, which is crazy for how many times I've been to SF. We loved exploring the park and trying to find our way to the Japanese Tea Gardens!


[Gorgeous, right?]


[my cute cute husband]


[gorgeous]


[our toe toes]

[just call us riley]

[love those japanese tea gardens]


[this was a pretty tall bridge/ladder. i think he's scared]


[we make these buildings look tiny]


[redwoods in the middle of the city]

After the Park we headed to Fishermans Warf on the cable cars. We went straight to the Food Market to get us some Crab Chowder in a Bread Bowl. It was sooo amazing. We then checked out some freaks on the street and then went to the Bay Aquarium, which was so cool. Another thing I had never done before in SF. Lots of jelly fish, starfish and sharks! Ryan even faced his fears and touched a sting ray!! I was so Proud


[on the cable car]


[yummy. dinner awaits]


[crab chowder.]

[sting ray. his face is so cute]


[doesn't this remind you of finding nemo?]


[awesome.]

The next day was Sunday, and we wanted to go to church, so we had a quick breakfast outside Starbucks (we got cups of hot water there and made our own hot chocolate and ate the yummy homemade cranberry bread I had brought). Such a great breakfast. Church was awesome, what a great downtown ward. After church we had brunch at The Flaming Omlette. So so good. Then Ryan headed to the Fancy Food Show and I hit the stores!! I was officially a personal shopper that weekend for my Mom and my girlfriend Diana. I can say that I was quite successful!! I am seriously considering making this my new Profession. That night we went to a favorite restaurant E&O Company. The corn fritters and banana spring rolls were amazing!


[Can I just say I love love window storefronts. And I love the ballet.]

Monday began with a quick run in the city. I considered taking a picture of us after the run, but we really were wet rats, so I decided to not do that. Then, Ryan went back to work eating a million samples at his Fancy Food Show and I hit up the BART to meet Miss Linds Fife in Walnut Creek/Danville. I loved getting to spend some quality time with my good friend Linds and going into little Antique Shops and Boutiques. We also went to this great little cafe for lunch where I had the most amazing Butternut Squash Raviolli. This is also where I ran into Miss Jen Lloyd What a small world right? Great to see you, Jen.

Monday night included a long walk up a ridiculously high hill to get to this great Cathedral, and then a stroll through Chinatown to remind Ryan of his Mission Days. Of course we concluded the night with some yummy Korean Food and a delicious crepe from a crepery nearby. Let's just say we ate our way through this city!!

[Just look closely at how steep this hill is!!]


[Doors of the Cathedral]


[Chinatown]


[See no evil...]


[us]


[yummy korean food]

Tuesday morning we had to leave ... but not without having breakfast at Specialty Cafe -- a family favorite for breakfast and lunch and especially the cookies!!

Ryan, thank you baby for a fabulous weekend in one of my favorite cities!!

Merrill Family Goal: EMBRACE Winter!

We all know its COLD in Minnesota, so Ryan and I have been trying to embrace the weather and take advantage of some of the winter-only activities. A few weeks ago, we decided to get out on a Saturday and go Cross Country Skiing. I have to admit, I LOVED IT We had such a great time at Elm Creek Park. For $12/each we were able to rent skis and rock the trails all day long. Check out how much fun we had...

[Don't worry -- this is me stuck on a hill. I never said I was good I just said I had fun.]


[I had just gone down a sweet hill.]




[We may or may not have gotten caught on each other's skis going up a hill...]


[Yup, Definitely caught.]

This one's for Karah.

One of my favorite things about being married and working part time right now is that I have time to cook dinner, and experiment with new recipes and ideas. I made this a few weeks ago-- my first attempt at a Chicken Pot Pie. I have to admit, it was pretty much amazing. Ryan licked his plate clean-- which, I think, means success! I will definitely make this again!

Just Call me Smiley Kiley

Things that make me smile: Ryan, The Son, The Sun, coming home to fresh flowers on my mantle, making dinner for my love, finding a really great pair of boots (for my mom!), watching Ryan teach our 9-10 year old church kids, waking up next to Ryan in the middle of the night and saying I love you to him- only to hear him say it back mid-sleep, a great conversation with one of my wonderful friends, funny gchat statuses, coming home to my cute cute home, getting a letter in the mail and especially sending a letter in the mail, the temple, a good hug, anything letter press, Punch Pizza, anything with peanut butter, chocolate, catching a single snowflake, London, making others smile, chocolate chip pancakes, volunteering.

I Know I'm Behind

I promise I'll catch up soon. I've just been so busy loving THIS GUY, that it's taking up all my spare time.

HUNT FAMILY VACA
Here are some sweet pics from Christmas, New Years and Everything in between. Enjoy!


Christmas Eve
The Dream Team of Scrabble:








Christmas Morning
On the phone with Elder Hunt


Caidence is too cute in her sneakers and beanie get up.


I tried to get a good picture of this cute cute family.


She's already figured out how to hold her bags...


Here we are ... not my best picture!


The whole fam in front of the tree.


These girls are sooo cute.


Roby carving the Prime Rib. Yumm.


The Real Vaca started when we got to St. George. First Stop? Dinosaur Tracks!




Nic loves loves Dinosaurs.


Tyrannosaurus Rex Track!!




Zion was my favorite day trip





The kids had never seen snow before--- they were pretty much obsessed with it!






The views were just breathtaking. I love Zion.

A Christmas Miracle!

Since it was our FIRST Christmas together, Ryan and I were planning on spending it here, in Minneapolis, and starting our own Christmas traditions. Soon, I learned it would be my "last" Christmas at home with my family, since my Dad just took a job in Charlottesville, VA. With that change, my amazing husband surprised me and changed our plane tickets so we could be at my home on Christmas Eve. I have the best husband, ever!!

So at 3:30am Christmas Eve morning, we got up and got going. Well, Ryan was really the one that had to get going--- we were in the middle of the biggest snow storm at Christmas Minnesota has seen in a long time, so Ryan got up and shoveled our driveway and our sidewalks before we left. By 5am the taxi was at our house and we hurried out into the snow with our bags. Now, let me tell you, this trip to the airport is a story in and of itself!!

About 8 minutes into our drive, we are on the highway and our Taxi driver announces that his Taxi is breaking down as we speak.

Ryan: "Oh, really? That can't be good ..."
Taxi Driver: "No, I just lost my power steering. I think its the alternator."
Ryan and Kiley: Silence.
Taxi Driver: "I live close to here, is it ok if I drop this car off, and get my other car? This one is not going to make it to the airport."
Ryan and Kiley: "Sure"

So, luckily he really did live close by, we hop in his grand marquee and make our way to the airport. Once we got inside, this is another story. Holy Canoli I have never seen so many people inside an airport. Just the line to drop off our bags (we have already checked in) is at least an hour long. We only have 1.5 hours until our plane starts boarding. This is where we catch our 2nd big break of the morning. A Delta attendant grabs about a hundred of us waiting in line and shows us to the basement baggage drop off. 20 minutes later and we are in the Security line. Too bad this line is again, an hour long wait to get through. This is where we catch our 3rd big break of the day. There is a cute girl in front of us, and a male airport worker walks up to her and asks if she is a frequent traveler. She (and we) all say yes. He informs us that there is a DIAMOND lane security line. WHAT?! Who knew about this? I have traveled MANY a times and have never seen a diamond lane. Sure enough, we find this little black diamond sign for the diamond lane and hop in line. 20 minutes later, we are through security and on our way to our gate! We even had time to grab breakfast at McDonalds.

Now, one would think this is enough miracles for one morning at the airport, right? Well, here's a few more. We board our plane and get all settled in when a Delta stewardess asks if we would change seats. Apparently there was a child sitting in the exit row. Of course we switch and we find that Ryan has all the leg room in the world! Now, I have one happy husband! As we were waiting to take off, we look out the window to all the snow accumulating on the ground. I just keep praying that we will be able to take off into the air and get to CA! Soon, we see 15 --- yes, 15 snow plows plowing the runway for us!! (I apologize for the lack of pictures, Ryan was keeper of the camera that morning and it wasn't easily accessible). It really was a sight to see. So now the runway is clear and we are waiting to take off, when the Pilot gets on the announcer and lets us know that the airplane needs to be towed away from the gate. Yikes. The snow has us stuck. We feel a few jolts, and no real progress and I start to fret that we are stuck in Minnesota for Christmas. However, a few more times, and a 2nd tow truck gets us away from the gate and on our way. We were 45 minutes late taking off, but we got to CA safely and in time for Christmas! YAYYY.

We were so grateful for our morning of miracles that got us home.

Back to Christmas!

I was so excited for our Christmas this year! I bought Ryan's present pretty early and was so excited to give it to him!! I wanted to make the perfect Christmas Dinner, so I decided on Ham, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Green Been Casserole, and Rolls-- all made from scratch by yours truly!! I pulled out our China and we had a feast!!









After dinner we read the story of the Birth of Christ and watched our Favorite Christmas Movie: Mr. Kruegers Christmas. Then we snuggled up by the fire and opened gifts. I love giving gifts, especially to see the responses. I think Ryan was pretty happy with his new phone I got him :) He was so thoughtful, he got me a sweet North Face jacket to survive the cold here, and a beautiful Jewelry Chest that matches our bedroom furniture!! The next morning we opened our stockings before leaving for work and then we got packing for our trip to CA! Such a wonderful first Christmas together.

Note: I am a Fan of Jorge Cruise

This Summer after graduation, I got on the Get Skinny program. Let's just say 6 years straight of college are not good for your body or eating habits!! So I started running every day and took part in Jorge Cruise's program. Let's just say it worked! 15 lbs lighter, I have been quite happy with the results of my hard work this summer.

Jorge just came out with a new book (it's the #1 Weight Loss Book in the country), stating that losing weight isn't about calorie consumption--- its about sugar gram consumption. It makes sense. I haven't bought this new book, but I do swear by the Jorge Cruise 12 second sequence program. Check it out

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

We had a big debate over here regarding REAL vs. FAKE. Eventually REAL won out, and I think it will forever in the future too. That pine smell is just so amazing, it can't be duplicated by a candle-- I don't care what you people say.

Working in Retail during the holidays didn't lend me to much spare time, so one night we just decided we would go get a tree. We found the Christmas Tree lot closest to our house and quickly found a beautiful tree. Its called a Canaan Fir, and its a local tree to Minnesota. Its just perfect in our home, I'm pretty sad to get rid of it, to be honest. Let me know what you think! We also decided that maybe I shouldn't go crazy on Christmas decorations all at once, so we got a few things from Target and some ribbon from Costco and used our Oroville Redenbacher popcorn balls to make the magic happen for our tree! I think it turned out just perfect.

I'm Running a Little Behind

I'm pretty sad that I didn't blog as much as I would have liked over Christmas. I'm pretty sure anyone who knows me, knows how much I love love love Christmas and savoring every second of the Christmas season. I'll definitely be posting about our FIRST Christmas together, but right now I'm going to blog about what I came back to after our Christmas get-a-way.

NEGATIVE degree weather.

Now, to be honest, I don't really mind the cold. Really, I don't. I'm actually having a hard time with the effects of the cold weather.

1. Static-y hair
2. Brittle Nails
3. Dry dry skin

Any tips for me?

Christmas in the Mini Apple

I can't believe how fast this Christmas Season is going by!! I wish I could freeze time and savor it all. Ryan and I had such a great time on Saturday. I finally had a Saturday off, so we went to Downtown Minneapolis. We found ourselves at Macys (its one of those cool old Macys that's 12 stories tall) and saw the Santaland Display on the 8th floor. Its been a Minneapolis holiday tradition since the '60's and this year it was "A Day in the Life of an Elf" it was really cool and at the end of it, we got to sit on Santas Lap!! After Macys we watched the Annual Holidazzle Parade, and then went to dinner at Hells Kitchen. What a great day in the City with my Husband!! I loved it. Merry Christmas!

So it's not quite Rockefeller Center....

I LOVE T & Co.

Who doesn't love the little blue box? Especially at Christmas time, with the exclusive RED ribbon? My story is not about a recent gift ... its about why we should all have a little more love for Tiffany.

My story begins 4 years ago, when my parents gave me a birthday present. They gave me the Tiffany Elsa Peretti "K" key chain. I love the gift and every time I saw it on my keys I thought of how sweet my parents are to give me such a gift. Recently, after moving to Minnesota, I realized that the "K" on my key chain had disappeared!! I was devastated as I knew I would not be able to afford to replace it. I decided I would go into T&Co here in Minnesota and see if anything could be done. There's no hurt in asking, right? So, I walked into T&Co, go straight to Customer Service and plead my case. Their response? "You know, that key chain is discontinued, we don't have one here in our store, but let me find one for you and we'll send you a new one". Wow!! I knew I loved Tiffany! Where else do you find such excellent customer service?!

Oh Tiffany, I knew I loved you for a reason. You are just so classy.