Cement

We had a section of our sidewalk that the roots of the trees had pushed up so on Thursday they tore it out and Friday they poured new cement. As would be expected, a small child made it past the barrier (of yellow Caution! tape) and made a last impression. You might think to blame me but here's a shot of my foot above the imprint to prove that my feet are too big to make those marks.

Leafy Trees and Snow

On Monday of this past week we received an unexpected treat: Snow! And since the trees already had a healthy amount of leaves on them their branches just couldn't handle it. Here's a shot of what our Quad looked like.

Park City Getaway

A belated wedding present is always nice. Sara didn't have work on Friday and I decided I didn't have work so Thursday night we took off to Park City. Sara's brother, Blake, works at the Marriott here in Provo and can get his family members a fantastic deal on rooms. For our wedding present he got us a room at the Summit Watch Marriott. The room was about twice as big as our apartment and there was a nice big jacuzzi tub to relax in. We got there at around 5:30, wandered up and down Main Street, drove out of Park City to get some dinner (it's a lot cheaper that way, we found a Kneaders up there that has their bread on sale after 5 so we bought a loaf for later). We had dreams of staying up late and sleeping in because we had zero responsibilities the next day, but as soon as our normal 10:30 bedtime hit we crashed. We did sleep in though!



The next day we took I-84 around the back side of the mountains so that we could drop of the camping gear that we had hoped to us Friday night but the rain canceled those plans for us. It was still a nice drive and we got to see Devil's Slide along the way.



It was nice to stop by at home in Kaysville and wish Mom a happy birthday (even if it was a day late). After being on the road most of the day it was also fantastic to return to our apartment and sit and stare at the wall (that's what I did, Sara is a little too engrossed in her book right now).

I took the picture with the camera on my phone, that's why their so small. We forgot our real one.

Low 'n Slow

So after looking at America's Test Kitchen (ATK) for weeks I decided it was time to attempt grilling a rack for a barbeque with our friends on Saturday. I started by soaking the rack in a pot of salt and sugar water. After that I put on the rub and once the coals were ready I started grilling.

The secret, according to ATK, was to have the coals on one half of the grill with Hickory chips on top of them and the ribs on the side without coals. After 4 hours of smoking and indirect heat they were done.

When mixing up the rub I forgot that it was for 2 racks and I was just doing one so all the extra spices formed a thicker crust than intended but the meat still fell right off the bone and they were delicious. Not too bad for a first go-round of smoking ribs.

quilt

I finally finished the T-shirt quilt I've been wanting to make since high school. Finished is a lose term. I just finished piecing the top. I still have to buy batting and quilt it, but still I think this accomplishment is worth a little reveling in. My favorite part of the picture is Will's feet. He was kind enough to hold the quilt up for the picture. :)

Bookstore Winnings

As mother said a few weeks ago, I participated in the Sloan Showcase for Public Speaking. There's no winner but just for speaking you get $100 to the BYU Bookstore. The big question was what was I going to do with the winnings. My first impression was that I could buy a lot of fudge. Instead I settled for the following objects.

1st Purchase: The BYU Headband.

Here's the deal, the Bookstore was having it's typical end of the semester Storewide 20% off sale. The head was on sale for an additional 25% off. That means the $10 headband was actually $6 (Take off 25% the the 20%).

Purchase #2: Underarmor
I've been jealous that Ann has been getting her's for free but if you really think about it, so was mine. Now this long sleeved logo bearing shirt would normally be $60 but I found it on the 40% off rack, take an additional 20% off that and the grand total is $28.80. Admit it, you're jealous.

Third, and most exciting purchase: Custom Frame for our Commissioned Picture

We have been looking for a picture of the Seattle Temple that we really liked ever since we got married and we just couldn't find one. Lucky for us, my good friend Jeff Hassing has a job drawing temples. We asked him if he'd be willing to draw one for us. He said yes, we showed him the angle of the temple that we wanted and after a few weeks (he had other temples to draw at a better $/hour) of waiting we finally got it. It looks fantastic and we were able to get it framed the next day.

We still have some money left on the card, odds are we'll be using that to purchase the last book in the Hunger Games series that will be coming out this August. All in all, not too bad for spending about 15 minutes thinking about why Batman is better than Superman.

P.S. They still haven't put the videos up at sloanshowcase.byu.edu, I'll let you know when they do.

Nightstands

From the time that we got married until last week Sara was using two crates stacked next to her side of the bed to act as a nightstand. Since we only owned two crates I didn't have anything (don't worry, I was totally fine with that). Well last week we decided to use the last of the gift card that Sara's old office gave her for Christmas and headed off to IKEA to look for nightstands for both us. We found a nice pair that matched our dresser.

I'll be honest, I had no idea what I was missing. I now have a light next to my side of the bed that I can turn on and off at will. I can place a book, my phone or a plate with cake on it (although I would never do that because I hate going to bed without brushing my teeth and if I ate cake right before bed I would have to wait a while before brushing because I think it's disgusting to brush your teeth with so much food left in them). Back on topic... we also brought in a standing lamp for Sara's side of the bed. It's not in the picture to the right but she also placed a stunning photo of yours truly that, although she won't admit it, she'll wake up and stare at in the middle of the night.