Happy Anniversary!

At the end of September Matt and I went to Park City for a few days to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Yes, 5th! I can't believe we have been dating for 5 years already. It's really neat to look back at how much we've accomplished together over the years. Since we've been dating I have moved 4 times. We've each gone through 2 cars. I've changed jobs several times. We both started college. A couple ER trips. Holidays. Birthdays. Trips. It's been quite a ride.
We were only in Park City for three days but it was still fun. We got to see my mom while we were there are we also got to visit my brother Bart, who was in Utah working for a few days. We spent a lot of time shopping and Matt helped me pick out some nice work clothes for winter. It just so happened while we were there Odyssey Dance Theatre was performing Thriller at The Egyptian in Park City. I had seen it before but it was Matt's first time seeing Thriller. After the show was over we drove all over trying to find a place to eat that was open that late. There was nothing. We finally ended up at a bar on Main Street and had burgers. It was quite the adventure to end up back pretty much where we started.
I can't believe it's been five years already. I'm definitely looking forward to the next five years.

Fall Semester 2012

Well, it's that time again. Matt goes back to school tomorrow. Hopefully this semester will not be as hectic as the previous two. He only has classes on Mondays and Wednesdays this time so I'm hoping that will be a little bit easier to handle. He's taking a networking class, Linux class, and another math class. Here we go, good luck!

Second Semester: Complete

Matt completed his second semester of college at the beginning of this month. He ended the semester with two A's and a B. He did very well with his Psychology class all semester long and the final project was a breeze. Databases was a little tougher but I think that was mostly because he wasn't interested in the subject matter. Networking went a little more smoothly but the final was a doozy. He has worked so hard this semester and I am very proud of him and how well he has done so far.
Last week he started taking a summer class (computer repair and maintenance.) He has to take it during the summer because next semester the class falls right into his work schedule. There was another summer class he had signed up for but the college cancelled it because of low enrollment.
Even though he has class I'm still hoping we'll be able to do a summer vacation or two. We've talked about going to Coeur d'alene, Idaho/ Spokane, Washington again and I would really love to do that this summer.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wow! I cannot believe all the wonderful presents I got from Matt this year for Valentine's Day. First he surprised me when I got off work on Sunday afternoon with some beautiful red roses and white daisies. We were going to have dinner that night at the Windbag Saloon (we figured it would be less crowded than going on Tuesday night). Unfortunately they were closed. Monday he gave me a big box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and he bought me some chocolates from the Parrot. Too much candy but oh so good!
Shopko put out the Valentine's Day stuff the day after Christmas. There was a stuffed monkey on display that I fell in love with. Of course, so did everyone else and they sold out right away. Or so I thought. Matt remembered the monkey and bought it weeks ago! I was so surprised that he even remembered that I liked it and even more surprising is that he remembered to buy one before they got sold out completely. I have named my monkey "Flea" and I adore him. What a wonderful Valentine's Day!

KitchenAid Mixer

This year for Christmas I was very blessed and got a gift I have been wanting for years. A KitchenAid mixer. I could not believe it! I even got to go to the store and pick out which color I wanted. It was a tricky decision; I liked the black one but I was worried it would show dust, I liked the white one but the accent color (the knobs) was an icky grayish color, so I decided on the light pink one. I told my mom I was going to put Hello Kitty stickers all over it. (I was hoping to get a little bit of a rise out of her but all she said was, "Okay.") I have been so busy with work and trying to get caught up on projects I'm behind on I haven't gotten a chance to test her out. Until tonight that is! I made one of my all time favorite cookies. They are called, "Butterscotch Scotties." I first had them when my old room mate Shannon made some a few years back. They have butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips and some oatmeal. I can't wait to make more things and try out some new recipes.

Some of the yummy cookies!

More delicious cookies!

My pretty pink mixer!

First Semester is Over!

Matt finished his very first semester of college this month. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked the last few months with work and school. He took 14 credits on his first semester! On top of that he challenged the Introduction to Microsoft Office at the beginning of the semester and passed so he also gets credit for that class. He took an algebra class, programming, webpages, and a college writing class. He struggled with programming all semester and I was really worried that he would have to retake it but he managed to get a C. I couldn't believe he passed seeing how much trouble he had trying to get the assignments to work. I think it was mostly syntax errors and the teacher took that into consideration, thank goodness. He also got an A in webpages and an A in his writing class. He was late getting into the webpages class (because he was in the Intro. to Microsoft Office) so I was pleasantly surprised when he got an A. I hope he does this well in the semesters to follow!

Bret Detar and Nick 13 Show

As many of you know, a few weeks ago Matt and I made a very short trip to Salt Lake City. The lead singer of one of my favorite bands recently came out with a solo album was touring, Salt Lake being one of the stops on the tour. Matt had class and I couldn't afford to miss much work so we drove down on a Friday, went to the concert on Saturday and drove home Sunday to be back at work and school on Monday. I think it was worth it to spend some time with my family and see one of the best performers out there, but three days is just not enough time.
I had never heard of Bret Detar before and I didn't really know what to expect. All the times in the past that I've seen Nick 13 he has been with his band Tiger Army (which is darker and more punk than his solo stuff which is a little more country). They've always played with bands like: Rancid, 12 Step Rebels, The Business, etc. I don't think he could how found a more perfect musician to open for him. Bret Detar came on stage and said his style was "sad bastard music" and he didn't lie about that. I thought to myself that I would not want to be the act before Nick 13 but I think Bret really held his own.
Seeing Nick with a new, country band was definitely different than seeing Tiger Army but it was still a wonderful show. He played my favorite Tiger Army song, "In The Orchard" and my favorite song off his new album, "All Alone". Did I mention my mom came to the show with us? She got to see for herself what I've been talking about for years (without putting up with punk kids and mosh pits). I still love my Tiger Army but I think Nick did a pretty damn good job on his own. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.