Our Tree...

We always pick out and cut down a tree but this year was different. Our apartments don't allow real trees so we have a fake one. We spent an evening putting it together, decorating it, and stringing popcorn as we watched Elf. The popcorn was extra small and hard to string so our tree just has popcorn garland on the top half :)

Patrick getting the star ready.

 

Attaching the star. It kept wanting to fall over.

Each year we pick a new ornament. This is what we chose. We bought it at Bronner's when Patrick's mom was visiting us over the summer. We've had our eyes on it for while.

 Sometimes we pick more than one. We try to pick something to help us remember the year and thought this was fitting.

Our tree!

"Elfed"...

Earlier in the month we thought it would be fun to spread some Christmas cheer in our quad. So we put together a few goodie bags and "elfed" our neighbors. It's just like "ghosting" or "booing" at Halloween. You drop off a snack, poem, and sign for someone. In turn they pass it on by making two goodie bags and dropping them off to two neighbors and put the sign on their door so everyone knows the elf has already visited them.Then it just keeps going around until Christmas Eve.

We put in macaroons, Christmas candy, candy canes, and hot chocolate mix in the goodie bags we dropped off.

 

 The bags ready to go.

Patrick getting ready to drop off the goodie bags.

We randomly picked people to elf. We had fun running around in the dark and hope that our neighbors pass it on.

Thanksgiving in California...

This year we packed up and headed down to California for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving with Patrick's mom. On our way we stopped in St. George to pick up Danielle, Chad, and their dog Rukia.
Danielle and Chad took a ton of pictures but we forgot to get them before we left. So here are a few pictures from the trip we took with our phones.

 Patrick and Chad helped Linda pick out a new computer. Then they set it up for her.

 Danielle loved Linda's dogs, especially Noki. I think she wanted to take Noki home.

 The boys played with the BB guns in the backyard.

 We took a trip to the beach.

The vegetarians decided to eat turkey because it was a holiday. So of course I had to document it.

We had a great time. We had Thanksgiving dinner with Linda, Stephanie, Scott, baby Braden, Patrick's uncle and aunt, a set of sister missionaries, and some other friends of Linda's from the ward.

Christmas is coming...

I listened to Christmas music all day and started to pull out some decorations. The wreath was a little damaged from moving but with a little hot glue it was good to go. I also bought a tree! I can't wait to decorate it this weekend with Patrick!

Surprise from Patrick...

We both always have Fridays off. Patrick typically spends the first half of the day studying with his group in the business building and most of the rest studying solo. He mentioned that his group wanted to get together for lunch with their families this past Friday. I was excited because we haven't done much with his group. Thursday night he told me they still hadn't decided where to eat so he planned on swinging by the apartment to pick me up around noon the next day. So Friday I made sure I was ready and had all of the things around the house done that I wanted to before noon. To my surprise Patrick got home and told me we were going to Park City for the rest of the day! And we'd spend the night! I was so excited!

So we quickly packed a suitcase, grabbed lunch, and headed to Park City. We stayed in The Chateaux Deer Valley Hotel.  Patrick bought an online deal for it earlier in the summer to save as a surprise.

We were not quite sure what to expect but the room was very nice. It had a fireplace!

It also had a frige, microwave, toaster, set of two dishes,and other little touches. We made ourselves hot chocolate and hot apple cider Saturday morning. Although it's not pictured there was a small container housing cotton balls and q tips packaged in little sets together. This is how Patrick knew it was a classy hotel. Don't worry I took a few sets to put in our 72 hour kits.

The heated towel rack was a nice touch. The room also had a big tub with jets :)

We spent some time checking out the downtown area before dinner on Friday.

It was a little cold so we were glad we packed warm and both wore boots.

 We had a hard time picking where to go for dinner. We could go a more practical route or live it up and go to a fancy place since many were having specials. We went big and headed to the Glitretend. This is a picture of the amuse-bouche we were served.

We decided that we should order an appetizer and I had Patrick choose. They split it for us so we each got our own plate. It is braised pork belly. It was served with apple potato pave, cider reduction, and cider air.

Those who have been out to dinner with us before know that we like to split things. This was no exception and we split the main courses. This is kobe pot roast  served with vegetables, creamed potatoes, and horseradish.  It was good and I really liked the potatoes.

 This is double r ranch beef tenderloin with crispy yukon potatoes, baby tomatoes, chimichurri, and balsamic. We both liked this best. The meat was the most tender we have ever had the privilege of eating. It was amazing! We loved our fancy dinner and were glad we splurged on it.

We  spent the whole time just the two of us. No computers or school work for a full 24 hours!

Here I am on our way out. We stopped for breakfast and to walk around an outlet mall before heading back to reality.

It was so nice to have a break and to have such a nice surprise from Patrick. We enjoyed relaxing and loved our time away together.

Being a "Big Girl"

Whenever I do something that I feel like a responsible adult would do I call it being a "big girl" or a "big girl momement". Yes I know I'm 25 and should be used to doing some of this but I still have these moments. And then I tell Patrick about them. And then tell him again.

Around the time that we moved I felt like I was having a lot of them. I was calling our different insurance providers so I could get one last appointment with my dentist, eye doctor, and more. Working in the temple made me feel like a big girl too. With working in a small temple I was able to be involved with many different ordinances and I felt like I learned a lot and got to do what usually only older adults get to do. Then after we moved interviewing for jobs and  then setting up health insurance through my work for the first time felt pretty good. Getting a paycheck where I make a nurses income was a definate big girl moment, only to have it followed up by setting up direct deposit and seeing an overtime check magically appear in our account.

This week I've had another. I can never seem to get out of work on time and have had some complaints about work. Patrick has been patient and willing to hear my every concern and complaint. He suggested that I just start making a list and set up a time to talk with my boss. So after some reminding from him I did it. And I met with her today. Although I see some problems with my work my boss is not one of them. She is very nice and approachable. She happily listened to my list, made suggestions, said she would fix some of the things she could, and is going to follow me around on Thursday so she can give me some advice on how to be more efficient with my time. While I'm not exactly thrilled to have my boss follow me for a day, I'm glad that she is going to and offer me suggestions. I think it will be worth the added stress in the long run.

While I'm not allowed to take pictures of my work  I found a few on the internet so you can imagine me at work better. I work in the new section of the building where the short term patients stay.

 This is not the nursing desk on my floor but it looks pretty similar. Usually you find everyone else but me behind it. I typically have my medication cart parked on one side.

 Here is a typical patient room. It looks pretty nice and is private. It is at least double if not triple the size of what you see here. It also has a bathroom.

 One part of the PT/OT room on my floor. All of the short term patients do rehab here.

Last day of October and guess what I haven't done this month?

Yeah... I haven't done a post this month and as Ashley's goal for me I must. I'm not sure what to share since it's been all school since the last post that Ashley did. Well, I guess the only news I have is that I won't be working at Intel this summer in an operation finance role. I spent 90% of my internship search energies to date working to get that option; so many hours, money, and effort. On the one hand I am happy just to have been selected for an interview out of 50+ other finance students applying for the one spot but I was in it to win it and I really thought I was going to. Bummer. All is not lost though, I will be applying for an internship with a different side of finance at Intel but that process won't begin until Jan/Feb and it's not directly through BYU.

So what's the plan now? I have no idea! Everything is an option now, everything!

Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations.You just read the most boring post, sorry. Seriously that's all I've got.

Traveling...

October has been a traveling month for us. The first weekend of the month we headed to Oregon. Patrick is interested in Amazon which is based in Seattle so he set a lunch meeting with a guy there for Friday. So we drove up to Devin's house and spent time with him and his family. We got there Thursday at dinner time. After eating chicken fajitas I went with Bridget to her friend's house for bead night where I made these.

Pretty cool, right? I was pretty impressed with her bead group. They get together every couple of months and the lady in charge finds a project for them to do, learns how to do it, and then creates little kits with everything you need to make it. Then you go to her house and make your bead project while talking with the other girls and eating whatever delicious dessert she made. Needless to say I want to live closer and join bead group. While I was getting my bead on Patrick got to hang out with Devin and the kids. Krispy Kreme donuts were involved so they had fun.

Friday Patrick drove the 3 1/2  hours to Seattle for his meeting. I stayed with Bridget and the two youngest kids. While Patrick was driving and talking with the Amazon man, I spent my day playing legos, sword fighting, going to the rose garden, walking around the grounds of Pittock Mansion, eating macaroni and cheese, and talking with Bridget.

time.com

Saturday was filled with watching soccer games, eating Del Taco, playing outside, chatting, and eating dinner from the food carts in town. Devin and Patrick went to pick up dinner and we ate sushi,chicken marsala, lemon chicken, pumpkin curry, another curry, a Hawaiian dish, a Thai noodle dish, and more. It was delicious. Later that night we played a few games including pass the pigs and charades. It ended with the kids having a dance party.

Sunday we drove back to Utah. We stopped in Boise to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Hoopes. It was nice to see them and visit for a little while. It was especially nice because Patrick had never met them before. After eating dinner with them we headed back to Provo. Patrick drove almost the entire trip. We got back close to 11pm and went right to sleep because we both got up close to 5am the next day to start the week.

A few weeks later we headed to California for Braden's baby blessing. We left Thursday afternoon and stopped in St. George to visit Danielle and Chad. It was so fun to see them and to their cute apartment. I think their dog Rukia was the most excited of us all. She loves Patrick and they used to play together every Sunday at my parent's house. After catching up a bit we ate mexican food and had ice cream. Then we hung out and talked and watched the show adventure time. We spent the night with them and headed out the next morning.

Friday afternoon we arrived in California. We talked with Linda, picked up Burrianos (pork burritos with a chile rellano inside) and headed to Stephanie's house. We chatted and took turns holding our new nephew.

Saturday was the blessing day. Linda and Stephanie had ordered a cute outfit for Braden to wear but when it arrived in the mail it looked like it was sized for a toddler, not a 8-15 lb baby like it was supposed to be.  So after Linda ran errands and cooked, Patrick studied, and I slept? or ate cookies? we called stores and were on the hunt for a new outfit. We got one at JCPenny's on the way to the Carr house for the blessing. Scott's parents and a couple of his sisters and their families were there. It was neat to be a part of their special day. We had lunch afterwards and Linda, Patrick and I headed to Oak Glen. It was a cool touristy apple orchard dreamland. We sampled cider and apples and had a fun time.

It is nice that we've been able to visit some family on both sides. We have decided that we are going to take a few weeks off  before heading out again.

My morning surprise...

I walked outside today to find this...

 Yes, snow in October. I couldn't believe it. And then I found my car...

...also covered in snow. I actually had to get out my scraper from the trunk to clean it off. It didn't matter though because I planned to make freezer meals today. I've made a few in the past with my mom and decided it was time again. That way Patrick and I don't spend our money eating take out burritos and Chinese food, or worse Totino's frozen pizza when we are short on time. So this afternoon I spent three hours and made:

-Pasta Bake

-Sweet and Sour Meatballs

-Chicken Fajitas

-Shepard's Pie

-Peachy Balsamic Chicken

-Cranberry Dijon Pork

-Cheesy Spinach Burgers

-Orange Chicken

 Here they are in our freezer.

I'm excited to start using them. Especially the recipes that are new. And it's nice because we'll be able to eat multiple meals from all of them.
.

NBMBAA Conference...

This past Wednesday I boarded a plane to Indianapolis. Right about now you might be saying, "What? What business would Patrick have in Indianapolis?" Well, the answer is the National Black MBA Association Conference! And now you might be asking, "what business would Patrick have at a Black MBA conference?" Well my great, great, great... was Adam so I figured what the heck, why not?

BYU actually pushes the diversity conferences pretty hard. A lot of large companies set up booths and both first and second year students can go to talk with the companies their interested in and if selected have a chance to do a first round interview there at the conference. I felt a little weird about the whole thing until I got there and realized that maybe only 40% of the students were black.

The conference was actually pretty fun. I failed completely at the first booth, American Express. I was mechanical and it was a bust. The rest of the morning went pretty well. Unlike most of my peers I was only interested in a handful of the companies; just the ones located in Southern California, Oregon, or Washington. With the exception of Microsoft there wasn't to my knowledge any representing Oregon or Washington.

To the disappointment of me and my peers most of the companies were not there for interns. They often had information about the different internships but weren't interviewing. Bummer. That said, I made some good connections with three companies: Toyota (Torrance, CA), Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA), and Life Technologies (Carlsbad, CA). I really hit it off with Toyota and was invited to their mixer that evening, which I attend for a couple of hours. It was fun and there were about 8ish Toyota employees there and only between 15 and 25 students. So it was nice to be able to chat with them for longer and more intimately than at the conference.

Overall, I had a good time but am glad to be home and with Ashley... for a few days at least.

The week in review...

Patrick came home Saturday night from Portland and by Sunday morning we had no hot water! Patrick called the maintenance number during the day while I was at work and could only leave a message. The emergency number they gave was for the police. So Patrick decided he would just skip a shower that day. Because he is so sweet he warmed up water on the stove for me to use for a bath when I got home from work. Monday morning Patrick went to shower at school and I went to the apartment office to get this water problem solved. A couple hours later a man came and lite the water heater. I showered shortly thereafter and thought all of our problems were solved. He also showed me the numbers we should call for apartment problems in the future. I was glad that if we ever had a problem again we could actually get a hold of them instead of just leaving a message that I'm pretty sure no one listened to. Our refrigerator was also making a loud weird noise that would wake us up at night so that got fixed too. Tuesday came and the water was cold again. So I called the number. The guy came back over and fixed a part. This hot water problem went on all week and poor Patrick had cold showers and was showering at school. But Friday we got a new hot water heater and everything has been good since!

Patrick's super busy with school but things are going good. He went to a information session hosted by Intel and thought it went well. He also was able to practice his elevator pitch several times on Friday at a mock career fair. The second year MBA students represented different companies. I think it's nice that he is able to get practice in before the real deal. Pretty soon Patrick will go to a career fair in the Midwest.

Work for me is interesting. Some days are good and some are bad. I'm still trying to get the hang of things.  I picked up an extra shift on Friday and it was CRAZY!  I was there for 15 hours with no lunch break. I was more than happy to have the weekend off. I came home to Patrick waiting for me with beautiful flowers and pizza.

It was nice to spend some time with Patrick this weekend. I think it is going to take me a while to get used to working every other weekend.  He went up to campus to study and meet with his group until noon. So I slept in, did dishes, and cleaned up a little. When Patrick came home we ate lunch, took a nap (we both have sore throats), and did some grocery shopping.

We met Carolyn for dinner in Provo.We enjoyed catching up with her and as we walked towards our car afterwards it was gone. Yep it had been towed. I'm usually pretty good about reading signs, especially parking signs but Patrick and I both missed this one. We saw that there were rules for parking in the lot but thought it was only during business hours. After a phone call we found out it was going to cost $129 to get the car back and that they only took cash. We drove through the bank and when we got to the impound lot the man said that no it was going to be $229. So we went to a nearby grocery store to get more money. Patrick and I were both upset because they could have put a boot on the car instead of towing it. That would have been cheaper. But the towing man said that that didn't solve the problem so they just tow instead. Although the amount of money we had to pay was ridiculous we are just trying to forget about it and do better reading parking signs. We still went and got ice cream with Carolyn after we got the car back and it was great. We went to the creamery and then back to our place to play quelf.

 

 Today instead of regular church we went to the stake center to watch the Brigham City Temple dedication. Patrick had forgotten all about this and was super excited when we talked about it last night. Everyone in Utah had their normal church cancelled and instead watched the dedication. It was especially nice because you had your choice of three different times to go. We decided to sleep in and go to the noon session. We really enjoyed the dedication.

Although this picture isn't from today we've spent the rest of our day cooking, doing laundry, doing dishes, and Patrick's been studying.  It's been a good Sunday and we've been able to relax a little too.

It will be interesting to see what surprises are in store for us this week!

Crafting...

When Patrick went out of town when we lived in Michigan I would go hang out with my parents and spend the night at their house.  It worked well. I could catch up with my parents, sleep in my old bed or the awesome couch, and not worry about being alone in a dark apartment at night.

Now being in the MBA program Patrick will be gone for the night more frequently. He already had a finance overnight activity and went to Portland to check out Intel for a couple of days. On his first overnight absence I decided that I needed to set up a nice routine for when he's gone so I don't miss him too much. I decided on crafting and mexican food.

There was this awkward space over the stove and so the first time Patrick was gone I decided to tackle that. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to hang there because there was already a nail. I was looking through our pictures then I decided I'd look on my Pinterest boards. I found this and decided to make one.

I put ours behind glass because I thought it could get splattered if it was left open. I was also worried that steam might make the "F" fall off since it is only glued on. So the glass will protect it and keep it in place.  I chose the colors to match our table, kitchen towels, and stand mixer.

I recently decided that I like wreaths and like making them. So I decided I'd make one for Fall when Patrick was in Portland. I'm hoping that in the future I can have a wreath for every season. I guess I'm getting closer. I have one for  spring/summer, fall, and Christmas. I copied one from Pinterest again. I think it looks better in real life than the picture.

Here is what it looks like on our door.