Houston with the Cooks

Right after Christmas, Mom and I flew down to Houston to be there for Whitney's wedding! And then to spend New Year's with Joni, Adam, Ethan, Adam, and Whitney Kay.

Whitney's wedding was beautiful and wonderful. I'll let the pictures do the talking - down below. They had the reception at this really cool, old plantation and the owner kind of hung out with us as we brought in the drinks and favors the day before. He was such a cool old man! He had some really neat old family photos on the walls of the plantation, and so he and I got to talking about those. Then the day of the wedding came and we weren't too rushed, really, since Joni had other people there to set up and take down the reception. We went to their sealing at the Houston LDS temple, had a quick lunch at Joni and Adam's house, and then we rushed off to the plantation for pictures, the receiving line (that thankfully I didn't have to stand in), a catered dinner, dancing, cake cutting, and sparklers and fireworks for the get away of the newlyweds.

New Years was spent at home watching the New York Time's Square special, drinking nonalcoholic champaign, eating chips and salsa, and popping crackers. Then everyone went to bed before midnight, but I stayed up watching Netflix so I could text Mike at midnight to wish him a happy New Year. 

2014 Year in Review

Mike and I had a ton of adventures this year! In fact, I became infamous at work for being on vacation nearly every Friday. So I've dubbed this past year as the year of the Weekend Warrior.

Christmas

This year for Christmas, Mike went home with me and it was so fun to have him there. We did the usual that my family does - nice dinner Christmas Eve with Mom, Jill, Mike, Jen, Parker, Chandler, Justin, Amy, Alec, and Andrew; and then Christmas day at Jill and Mike's house. Lucky for me this year, Spencer called a little later in the day so it was fun to see and talk to the missionary! Then the day after Christmas I took Mike up to Idaho City and we went snowshoeing. Thank goodness the Christmas Eve storm put down some fresh snow.

Helping Mom put on her Christmas apron

Christmas Eve dinner at Mom's

Christmas Day at Jill & Mike's talking to Spencer on his mission

Snowshoeing up by Idaho City

I Passed my Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification Exam!

For the past three and a half months I have been studying and preparing to take the Senior Professional in Human Resources certification exam. And yesterday that day I was preparing for came and went. I was so nervous because I had dedicated so much time to it - what if I didn't pass and all that time was wasted?! But thankfully.... I PASSED!! I wanted to cry afterward just for the relief of it finally being done and not hanging over my head anymore.

To celebrate, Mike made me tacos for dinner and bought sparkling cider for us and served it in some margarita glasses! And then he also bought some of my favorite desserty-treats: dark chocolate covered blueberry-flavored acai berries. Yumm!

Mountain Biking in St George

Mike and I took a quick trip to St George to get out of dodge and go mountain biking! We left early Saturday morning and met up with our friends Steve, Tessa, and Joel to ride Bear Claw Poppy and Zen. I'm pleased to report that I wasn't as discouraged after riding Zen this time around because I think I actually did ride a little more than half of it as opposed to walking my bike over all the technical parts.

Then Steve totally surprised me and Mike and let me keep his brand new Santra Cruz Nomad to try out and ride on Sunday since he knows I'm on the hunt for a full-suspension mountain bike. It was heavenly and so fun to ride a full suspension! I was much more confident to do technical spots in the trails. Mike and I rode Barrel Roll and then Prospector and Church Rocks, and then we headed home.

Finished my Chevron Quilt

With my quiet fall, I was able to finish my chevron quilt. I started it in March with the intention of finishing it in time to use on my bed for the summer, but .... well we see how that turned out. But here it is in all it's queen-size glory!

It's Been Quiet Lately

Well, I have only a few, small adventures to report for the past six or so weeks. It's been kind of nice to have a lower-key few weeks. And it's allowed me to get obsessed with family history again! And to finish my quilt top.

This is the one and only pic I took from when Joni and Whitney (and Teri, Mom, and Jill too) were in town to shop for a wedding dress for Whitney. After we finished shopping on Saturday (in the major downpour rainstorm of the century!) we went to the BYU Museum of Art to see their exhibit on the costumes of the cinema. I just couldn't resist taking this picture when all three of them were on their phones, inside waiting out the rain, but just as I took the picture Joni looked up and ruined the pic! :) 

I planted a Gerbera Daisy in one of my pots this year . . . it had a single bloom on it when I bought the plant, and then it didn't bloom again until the fall. So I had to document the later bloom for which I had labored fruitlessly all summer! 

Mike and I went on a long mountain bike ride on October 11 with some friends up around the Fifth Water trail and saw all these beautiful fall colors and this water fall by the Diamond Fork hot springs. 

And then on October 18, Mike and I and one of his friends went mountain biking up Big Springs and Corner Canyon where I got this beauty of a fat lip (and cut gums, and later a very swollen cheek). I just took a small, embarrassingly dumb tumble but my bike must know I'm looking to replace it because it popped me in the kisser with the end of one handlebar.

For Halloween, Mike and I carved these pumpkins. It's my first time breaking out of the triangle-eyes-and-toothy-grin carving job - I did the cat. Then on actual Halloween night, we hung out at my place and I made some pumpkin pie bars and dinner in a pumpkin and we watched a scary flick. I told Mike that if he wasn't going to answer the door to pass out candy to the kids and I was going to do it alone then I wanted to do it at my house where I'd get to see the kids I knew and love! (We spent Halloween at his house last year, and I was the only one answering the door to all these stranger kids I didn't know.) But . . . I bought way too much candy for only about 7 groups of kids. Bah.