Brad loves Groupon.  I benefit a lot from this love of his.  We have been able to go out a lot lately because he stocked up on Groupons from the summer time! Yes. And lately, our weekends have consisted of football, football, food (brought to you by Groupon) and more football.  We have season tickets to the U of A games and that has been a lot of fun.  The past 2 weeks were interesting though.. two weeks ago it was 90 degrees we got bad sunburns, ate snowcones and escaped to the shade for all of half time.  This past Saturday, we froze... (maybe I just froze...) and drank hot cocoa.  Regardless... the games are always a lot of fun to go to especially since Arizona wins now... compared to the last two years. 

One of our Friday night Groupon escapades we went to Downtown Kitchen.  Its this "hip" place where all the liberal old people go. haha just kidding lots of young liberals go there too.  :) But its delicious! Anyways... we were sitting out on the patio and the table next to us was this older couple probably 60-65 ish.  As we finished our meal we somehow engaged in conversation... The man was/is a "coach" for Covey.  They began to give us life lessons on how to keep our young love burning throughout our lives.  He was really sweet he kept saying how your spouse is your JOY.  Don't just put your joy to the side to finish things that seem "important".  They are what is important.  Everything else can wait.  They proceeded to tell us how each year when they were younger up until a few years ago when she became semi-paralyzed from a stroke, they would take turns and suprise each other with an anniversary trip.  They would set a budget, plan it and then let the other spouse know what to pack only ONE HOUR before leaving.  Talk about excitement! I really like this idea. If only I could ever suprise Bradley... Anyways I thought they were really sweet... Brad thought the whole thing was super weird.  haha

We have also been frequenting the swap meets here in town. Brad recently found out that one of them sells papusas (El Salvador deliciousness) so we had to check it out.  Seriously if you have never had papusas... its time to try them.  SOOO good.  Try the ones with zuccini inside them.  Corn tortilla like pouches (much thicker, doughier and crispy at the same time) filled with Cheese and whatever else you want.  Come on now, what's better than a pouch filled with cheese??? Needless to say we will definitely be going back. Except, the swap meets kind of terrify me... I'm convinced that at one of them someone was selling my laptop.  Dang robbers. 

What else is new.. We love our little Rox.  That's for sure.  She's totally a daddy's girl though.  Brad always tells me that "She has chosen her parent".  Great.  She has the funniest personality and has a bedtime routine.  When she was little and couldn't jump on our bed, she had this little pink bear she would put in her mouth and then stand there until Brad picked her up (daddy's girl since the beginning).   Now, she jumps up... lays on Brad's chest for a while... moves and cuddles between the two of us and then goes and sleeps between his feet.  Every morning she wakes him up by jumping on his chest and staring at him.  (yes we let our dog sleep with us... don't worry Brad bathes her once a week... she is very very clean). 

I've probably bored you to death... if anyone still reads this thing anyways! Better get to sleep now... too much to do tomorrow.. oh joy!

Wow its been a long time... I sure have been one busy girl.  Trying to be the homemaker, bread winner and student is still not fun.  I finally quit working Saturdays at Wal-Mart!!! Hallelujah.  Best day of my life.  That was about 2 months ago. What do I do with my Saturdays now? Well I am crafting it up with Meghan! YAY and contrary to what Bradley thought I would be doing every Saturday, I don't think I have taken one Saturday nap yet! I think we are finally settling into our home... although nothing hangs on the walls.. really wierd for me... but we sure do love it here.

Halloween crafting! Meghan and I wanted to do a halloween wreath... So we went to the dollar store (which has super cheap wreaths) bought a few and supplies.. I bought 1 boa, a crow and we shared a roll of ribbon, a package of halloween rings (bats, spiders, etc.) and a package of black cheese cloth.  I found us the B at Joann's for about $3 and the rest is history.  It was sooo easy, fun and CHEAP!!!

We went to Utah for my parents 50th birthday and my mom bought my sister and I some crafts to do from the Wood Connection - So we spent some time painting the Wicked while there.  The K is glittery.  I love glitter!!!

When we got back to Tucson, Meghan and I did a set of bats that I bought from the Wood Connection as well.  Seriously... Check that store out.  It's AWESOME!!!

Pic from Mom and Dad's 50th Birthday!

We also did family pictures.. Notice how my mom is holding a pair of Sean's shoes???

 

 

We've been having fun and working hard... Only a few short months and Bradley and I will both be done with school. (FOREVER??) I hope... What will it be like not to be a student? We shall find out, I'm thinking its going to be absolutely glorious.

 

In other news... A TEMPLE IN TUCSON??? YAHOO! I am so excited for that! What a great general conference it was! We shared our home with lots of people.  There are 4 missionaries serving in our ward and we had them all over Sunday morning.  We ate a delicious breakfast and thanks to one of the Elders, I made (that's right... from scratch) the most delicious CINNAMON SYRUP.  I am never buying syrup again.  The recipe was seriously...

 

1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Brown Sugar

2 T Flour

1 C Water

1 t Vanilla 

1/2 t Cinnamon.

Boil. Simmer. Done.

 

How easy? and Healthy - ier ?? I think most things that you make homemade are healthier than the store bough equivilant, but that's just me.  But seriously you should try to make some cinnamon syrup.  We had a plethora of food... Breakfast casseroles, mini pancakes with cinnamon syrup (can't get enough) strawberries and powdered sugar, bacon and delicious pumpkin donuts that Meghan made.  I love breakfast.  It's the best.  and it's especially the best when general conference and cinnamon syrup are involved. :)  

 

If you want to check out what General Conference is all about, click here. You know you want to. 

Kellyn's Baby Shower

cowBOYD Baby Shower
8/18/2012 

This is just a little late... considering its October.. Oops... and The little Baby Boyd has arrived! He sure is a cutie! But I've posted pictures of the cowBOYD - emphasis on the BOYD... (that's what they named the little guy... get the cowBOYD now??) Anyways.. We found a lot of ideas on pinterest of course... and had such a blast!

Mommy to be! Now a Mommy! 

Entryway....

The party favors were peanut butter filled pretzels! MMM...



One of the games we played was to guess how many peanuts were in the jar...

I squeezed 407 in that baby! 

We also did a photobooth... how do you not have a photobooth at a party these days???

Prizes for the games we played!

The whole group.. almost.

The other game we played was Don't Say Cute Baby Boy.  Everyone got sheriff badge necklaces and lost it if they said any of those words.  The only word that hurt anyone was cute.  Next time we will leave it to that! 

ELDER Sean the Mon

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! today that is how Elder Sean Larson's email began.  Why??? Because some cute un-named girl sent him a letter.  Now I will keep the letters content private, but whoever you are... (since he wouldn't tell me who you are..) just know you made his day.  Don't worry... it was all kept confidential and out of the emails sent to the family! But today was a good day.  Every Monday since I am on the computer all day I try to watch for the second that I receive Sean's email.  And today it finally worked really well!!! As soon as I got his excited email I emailed him right back.  and to my surprise... He emailed me right back! Chatting through emails. IT WAS AWESOME.  I love that little brother of mine.  He is so funny and I miss his silliness and the way he can cheer you up instantly.  So here are the pictures he sent to us this week. The pictures aren't the greatest quality, but you can still kinda tell what's going on...

This is what he wrote me while we were "chatting"...

 Dion, I'm probably going to baptize 11 people this month. its so much fun here. we've had so many people coming to church its such a blessing. we have had 10 people in church 2 weeks in a row. that never happens! we found out how to get the couple divorced that I was telling you about and married to each other. They are gonna get baptized in a couple weeks when it all gets figured out.

This is what he had to say this week to the fam....

i dont really know what to say, but heres some pictures...

 welcome to mexico.....

tell doug and debbie thank you for the package. it was nice to have chocolates.
brad and diondra missed by a couple days. i wont get theres till next week when
the zone leaders go to cuernavaca.

this is my district at tarascos... the best restaurant in mexico.

 this is me and my comp, hes having another allergic reaction or

something again.

 we didnt what fruit this was.... so we picked it off the tree

and ate it. it didnt taste very good.

4 YeArS.

Four Years.  Where does four years of marriage put us? I feel like we are now officially in the ALMOST stage... we are both ALMOST done with school.  We are ALMOST able to buy a home.  We are ALMOST able to start paying off loans.. oh joy.. haha you get the picture.

Anyways, this is a few weeks late, but Brad and I have been married for 4 years now!!! Seriously??? We went out to celebrate the weekend before our anniversary because life is just a little crazy for us.  But we went to this delicious fancy schmancy place called Anthony's in the Catalinas (the Catalinas are the foothills.. I'm telling ya.. it was fancy..) It was amazing though.  I had this delicious pork stuffed with cheese and Brad had what they called a sunfish.  He's adventurous. I'm not.  During dinner we talked about what our absolute favorite THING we have done so far in our marriage was.  Now, I hate deciding on one thing.  Seriously, ONE thing in 4 years? Yeah right.  So we made a compromise and both decided that our anniversary trips have been our favorite things... So in honor of mine and Bradley's favorite trips... here are pictures from each year... boy have we changed and grown up!!!  I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else.  I love this man more than anything in the world and am so happy that he is my hubby forever!!! He truly is so amazing, funny, charming, loving, sweet, my best friend, my everything.  He is such a hardworker and is achieving the goals he set a long time ago in order to support our future family! I can't wait for what this next year will bring and the for the rest of eternity with my Bradley.  

Dating=We were SOOO little! 2007

Engaged 2008

Wedding Day!

Honeymoon 

Honeymoon in Hawaii 2008

First Anniversary Trip to Cali 2009

Cali Trip 2009

2nd Anniversary 2010-Omni Resort Tucson, AZ

3rd Anniversary 2011-Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Marana, AZ 

4th Anniversary Celebration - Anthony's in the Catalinas
(ignore the annoying glare on my glasses.. grrr.) 

Cruise 2012-"Anniversary Trip"

New ward... FIVE nurseries... OH MY GOODNESS!!!! 

Talk about a different ward-I feel like we are in Utah County.. We loved our last ward and if I could have lasted longer in a second floor apartment without a washer and dryer.. there is no question we would have stayed there forever! But going to new wards is fun.. this is our 4th ward that we have been in since we've been married.  I guess you could say we were getting the itch to move... we've never been in one place for too long.  It's fun to meet new people and get to know them.  For example... we have a girl in our ward who is on the Olympic team for the shot puts... yeah pretty awesome and her husband is on the medical team... how cool would that be??? SOO jealous. 

In other news...  Roxy learned to go through the doggy door today at the professor's house... I have mixed feelings about this one because I know it won't be used for anything productive (like going potty outside). Hopefully she doesn't go exploring and get eaten by a coyote or drown in the swimming pool.  

This weekend we ate here.  

THE ABBEY.  Isn't it cute? 

At night they open the garage doors to let the nice cool breeze in! I think that we will be returning because it was super delicious and had a great atmosphere!

HAPPY HOUR

My firm has a happy hour every once in a while and can I just tell you how much I love them?  It's such a great way for everyone to get together after work and just enjoy meeting people and company! I am slowly seeing why people find it soooo strange that we don't drink.  Getting a drink after work is just what people do. It's always a nice ice breaker when I ask for a virgin Lavaflow (my specialty drink).  anyhow... we have our happy hours at this super cool place called the Playground, just right down the street from our office.  (see below for super cool pics)

This place is super awesome and has swings hanging from the ceiling, fire pits and a roof top deck that has the best views they also play black and white films on the building next to them. I love it and I want the designers to design my outside space! We enjoy getting to know clients outside of the office and have a ton of fun every time! I really love my new job and all the perks that come with it! 

You make me melt like a popsicle on the 4th of July

Well the 4th has come and gone.. And today felt like Monday... Weird very weird... Yesterday we threw a party and wanna know how many pics I took??? One..1.. UNO... Oops.. But we had a great turn out there were about 25 of us in all. Sooo many cute three year old boys.. No girls... All of the boys and men swam while the ladies chatted the night away. We love all of the friends we have made here! Too bad I didn't get ANY pics... We tried to watch fireworks from my office, but about 2 minutes into the show one of the people running the fireworks had a heart attack and they had to life flight him/her off the mountain... So that was kind of a bust..Poor person! Oh well theres always next year!!! Brad and I have gone to two bees/padres games we miss our SLC bees!!! We had a lot of fun and had great seats for both games. It is cooling down a lot thanks to the monsoon season.. It's more than wonderful.. Amazing lightning storms, rain smell, and huge storms.. AND people on the news who get swept away in the flash floods.. They shouldn't ignore the signs.. 😄 brad is finally finished with the book he was editing. Thank goodness because he had been working from 8 am to midnight everyday... Blast.. What have I been doing... I've sewn 10 things scrapbooked 20 pages and read 5 books..... HAHAHAHA I wish!!! What have I done??? I have been catching up on sleep that doesn't really need catching up on and being a lazy bum...it will only last for so long until school starts back up. Oh joy! We are going to get delicious shakes and to see what to expect when you're expecting yay summer fun!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY 

I know everyone says this, but I really do have the best dad in the world.  He is a big teddy bear and I love him.   He has taught me a lot about life and his love for the gospel.  He has always been there for me and supported me in everything that I do.  He went to almost every dance event that I had- not many girls can say that and he even knew how to do my hair.  He would always let us surf on his back in the pool and play bucking bronco in the family room.  He has a wonderful spirit and playful attitude about life.  You know how they say you marry a guy just like your father??? Well I sure did and I couldn't be happier.  He always gives my mom the respect that she deserves-opens her door holds her hand in the car.. etc.  He showed me just how a husband should treat his wife.  Thanks dad for being so amazing, loving, kind and happy all the time!  

Anytime I went out with a guy in high school and they met my dad they would tell me how big and scary he was and that he reminded them of a cop.  I'm glad he gave that impression because they were always suprised with how chill he was when they got to know him.  Whenever I would go out on the weekends he would always remind me that I was born to be a queen.  He instilled that concept into my life very early on and ever since I was little I never wanted to disappoint my dad. He wouldn't ever get mad at me when I messed up, but I could definitely see the sadness in his face and that was way worse than him ever getting angry with me.  I hope that I have made up for any disappointing moments!!!

Some silly pictures of my daddy and Bradley

And as for Bradley... It's his first Father's Day! thanks to our little rox.  She loves her daddy so much and he is soooo cute with her!  He's always taking her on walks and giving her belly rubs which she LOVES!  He is such an amazing husband and I know he will make the most amazing father ever!

On a side note... I am happy to report that today is my official 100th post! Yahoo!