Grill Master

There's just something about the grill.



Impromptu BBQ Saturday night. Brats, Kabobs & BBQ Chicken. Yum.

Being from California, it should be no surprise to anyone that I have been excited for this day for at least a week. An excuse to make guacamole and tacos and celebrate the glorious occasion of Mexican food in this State where they really don't know what REAL Mexican food is? YES PLEASE!

Nickelodeon Universe

When I was younger, the only thing I knew about Minnesota was the Mall of America. Now that I am older, I realize there is a LOT more to Minnesota than a giant mall. However, I can still say that it is a pretty amazing mall and I do know my way around it better than I know the freeways in Minnesota :)

The Mall of America is sometimes the only thing people see or do when they are in Minnesota; I have to admit, it was one of our first dates when I came to visit. However, it wasn't until ConAgra Employee Appreciate day that we finally enjoyed the Amusement Park, Nickelodeon Universe inside the mall.

We had so much fun on Saturday letting the inner-child inside each of us out! We rode the bumper cars, killed ghosts, and rode a few roller coasters. I can't say its as magical as Disneyland, but the lines are short and the rides are legit. All in all, I LOVED IT! Thanks ConAgra!!







Here's me & Dora! (This one's for you, Nicolas & Caidence!)

MY LOVELY LADIES

I am so so blessed to have so many incredible women in my life who I can count as friends. I have moved around a bit over the past few years, and each time I have, I have cherished the friendships that have developed because of my place in life-- I often think of you wonderful women as angels who have lighted my path and given me inspiration in my life. I can not say I would be the woman I am today without you.

This last move to Minnesota was especially difficult for me because I was entering such an unknown place. I moved out far away from family and friends -- with no connections. However, within a short period of time, I have been blessed -- yet again, with the most amazing girl friends. My Heavenly Father sure does take care of me.

We try to get together once a week for a ladies lunch. Its one of my favorite things.

BYU Graduation 2010

Congrats Ashley & Olivia & Lexy & Everyone!

The stats:
# of Graduations attended by Ryan: 4 in the last 5 years (1 of which was his own)
# of Graduations attended by Kiley: 4 in the last 4 years (2 of which were my own)





This one is just so beautiful.


While we were waiting to take photos of Ashley and Olivia at graduation, Ryan ran into a convert from his mission that he baptized! The two were equally happy to see each other, and it was such a fun surprise! Isn't it amazing to see people that you introduced to the church still strong in the gospel 10 years later?









Ashley, you are LOVED!


The Happy Couple (only 5 weeks away!)


Olivia, you are LOVED!


The Happiest Couple :)


Love Love Lexy!


We hosted a celebration dinner for Ash at the Merrills home in Pleasant Grove. Why buy a cake when you can buy a dozen Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes? AMAZING. If you live in Utah, you have to go to this bakery.





Congrats!

I love Plane

I have decided that whether or not I completely agree with the above statement, my actions prove this to be true. Do you want proof?

Trips Taken:

Jan 2010- CA/Utah Christmas/New Years Trip
Jan 2010- San Francisco
Feb 2010- CA for Ashley's Bridal Shower & Anna's wedding
Feb 2010- Del Ray Beach/Boca Raton Florida
March 2010- SF/Walnut Creek
March 2010- Boulder, Colorado
April 2010- Chicago
April 2010- Utah for Ashley & Olivia Graduations

Planned:

May 2010- New York!
June 2010- LA/Bakersfield CA for Ashley's Wedding
July 2010- Seattle/Alaska Cruise!
August 2010- recovering.

Hopefuls for 2010:

Charlottesville, VA - Check out my parents new place.
Albuquerque, New Mexico - Kelsie & her bump/baby.
Phoenix, AZ - Hells Bells, Scott, and all of our AZ Family!
Charlotte, NC - Lexy Lou & Jared are a must.
Hawaii/Cancun/Bahamas - One-year Anniversary Trip?

Summer Road Trips:
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Duluth, Minnesota
Boundary Waters
Nauvoo


... that's as far as we've gotten! Crazy, right? It's a bad sign when the TSA people start to recognize you by your ID.

Chicago

Ryan surprised me with a trip to Chicago!! Well, there was a catch to this trip, but I won't go into those details right now. The important thing is that we spent a beautiful weekend in Chicago and I was BLOWN AWAY by the hundreds of thousands of tulips we saw there! Spring was in full force, and the blossoms on the trees and every single tulip we saw made my heart swoon. Just ask Ryan-- I was gushing over every tulip we saw. We spent some time in the western suburb of Naperville, and also spent some time downtown.

Thanks for a great trip, hunny! I love going on adventures.

Downtown Naperville. So cute.


Some pretty tulips downtown.


See what I mean? Amazing!


Just one of the cool buildings in Downtown Naperville. FYI: Naperville was established in 1831!


Chicago Hot Dogs are amazing.


Another shot of Downtown Naperville.


The Riverwalk and eating gelato. yum.


My cute husband in action. I kind of like that this picture turned out blurry.


We don't have these blossoms in Minnesota yet.


Yummy lunch outside by the river.


Now we head downtown Chicago. We went with Ryan's awesome co-worker Suzanne, and her fiance Mark. We had such a blast!! Although I was a little concern when we went to park at the John Hancock building and the parking attending said she had to check the trunk. Intrigued, I asked "Why?" She said, "Oh you know, for dead bodies, bombs, guns, those sorts of things". Oh, right, naturally. Despite that, we had a blast walking the mag mile and going to a great Indian restaurant, India House.



And, let me tell you--- If I thought there were a lot of tulips in Naperville, nothing could prepare me for the tulips I saw on the Mag Mile. It was AMAZING. I was constantly in awe of the magnitude and beauty of these amazing flowers.









Good thing it was dark, or I would have taken lots more photos. Everyone laughed/loved how much I was taken over by the flowers, they told me I should just go lay in the bed of tulips. I couldn't help it, they were so beautiful.



The next day we went to a downtown Chicago ward and then check out downtown Chi-town a little more.

Here's my shot of downtown on a clear day.


We liked the view of the lake:

Let's Ride.

After a crazy week last week, we finally got out on our bikes as part of FHE Monday night! It felt so good to be outside after work --- We ended up going on quite the adventure as we turned a short little bike ride into a pretty legit ride. This picture says it all:



If you have a hard time seeing the picture, you can click on it, and it will bring up a bigger version.

I took a lot of video on this ride and will hopefully get some software that I can use to make cool little videos...until then, you'll just have to trust me that this ride was sooo beautiful! We were on trails the WHOLE time and the trails are starting to be covered in beautiful leaves and blossoms. It was a gorgeous night for a bike ride and we even got to see a cool orange sunset. SO MUCH FUN!

It's my Birthday, Shout HURRAY!

I love Birthdays. Especially when it's mine. And especially when I have a sweet husband who brings me breakfast in bed. Hello, amazing!

It's hard to believe that I am 25 today. 25!! I feel so old, yet so young at the same time. I found this picture from my 5th birthday .... oh how time flies!



I am so grateful to have been born into a wonderful loving family who has constantly shown me their support and outpouring of love over the past 25 years. I am also so grateful to be married to such an incredible man, and marry into a wonderful family who has embraced me and welcomed me with open arms. I have the best friends in the entire world and constantly feel my Heavenly Father's love for me through them and through my family. I am so so lucky and so so grateful for this incredible life I have been given that is full of love and happiness and adventure.


ps. I know my eyes are closed... I'm looking at my cake :)

Here's a toast to 75 years to come of love, happiness and adventure.

Location, Location, Location

Ryan and I were talking on our way home tonight. We live:

35 minutes from the Temple

15 minutes from an Int'l Airport
15 minutes from Downtown Minneapolis
15 minutes from Ryan's work
15 minutes from Church
15 minutes from Lake Minnetonka
15 minutes from The Mall of America

5 minutes from a lake beach
5 seconds from 3 different trail heads
5 seconds from Downtown Hopkins
5 steps from a fantastic park



What more could a person ask for? Our house is perfect.

KOREA

For those of you who don't know -- Ryan served in Korea. Cool, right? I keep begging him to take me there, I can't wait to go. We have heard there is GOOD Korean food here in the twin cities but have yet to check it out. That is, until Saturday.

We drove an extra 30 minutes out of our way to go to KINGS KOREAN FOOD. From the outside, I totally thought it looked sketchy (think run down strip mall with an adult fantasy store next door). But once inside, it was totally legit. I moved out of my comfort zone and tried Kimchi pancakes -- could have been the best thing we ordered! For my entree, I stayed true to what I know and love, Bulgolgi, and Ryan got an old-time favorite, Kimchi Soup.

Kimchi Pancakes:


So much food! My happy man.



The waitress was testing Ryan on his Korean throughout dinner and kept looking at me and telling me how good his Korean is.