M.I.A....so sorry

Yes, I know. We have definitely been M.I.A these past couple weeks and we are super sorry about that.
I'll fill you in on a couple things that have been goin' down as of lately.

-My computer took a big, big, big crash on me. Wouldn't turn on, black screens, hard drive failure....the whole sha-bang. Took it to the computer help desk on campus, they told us my computer was having a hard time finding my hard drive & it had to be reformatted. Yes, reformatted. That means everything=gone. Pictures, videos, music, documents...all gone. I posted about my devastation on Facebook, of course, and got a couple reply's on what to do. Turns out there is a little place here in Rexburg that fixed my problem. Well, not my computer problem...but they were able to recover a bunch of my pictures and documents. (Thank you El Genes!) I was able to save everything to USB drives & CD's then BAM....my computer stops working again. In order for me to get it back up and running we have to buy a new hard drive =/ (that should explain the lack of blogging)

-Chris downloaded a Windows 8 Consumer Preview awhile back on his computer. Great program...super fast...but definitely not what his computer needed. Microsoft Office programs aren't compatible with Windows 8 on an XP version computer, and that's a problem for a business major. Even if he did change back to XP, it's not compatible with the school and becomes of the ancientness of the computer, he couldn't even upgrade it to Windows 7. Oh ya, his sound stopped working too. Called Windows and they informed him that there is no turning back. Sorry computer, you are now stuck with Windows 8 f-o-r-e-v-e-r. We had to buy Chris a new laptop that won't be here until late next week some time. (This should also explain the lack of blogging.)

-Spring cleaning took place this week. Everything got a good ol' cleaning....and I mean everything. Baseboards, walls, doors, floors, you name it...it was probably cleaned. It was a tough day, but in the end it was so worth it. Baby gets to come home to a clean house.

-Speaking of baby....22 freaking days. Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday we were telling every body the wonderful news. His little itty bitty clothes are all washed and hung up too!

-We saw the sun! Took a couple walks around the park, ate some frozen yogurt and enjoyed life for a couple  of days before the threatening clouds, rain and wind came in and reminded us that we live in Rexburg, not California.

-I must say, the wind is good for something though, we bought kites. You know, the $1.79 ones from Walmart? Chris got a Blue Angels one and mine is Winnie-the-Pooh. We took those kites to the park and embraced the wind. Go us.

-Chris reffed a couple rugby games. One of which was in Blackfoot. High school boys. Lots of moms came up to me and told me what a great ref Chris was. Ya better believe it!

-I became a master at Monopoly. Ha, just kidding. Definitely not a master but it is a new favorite game. Hubs has a Monopoly app on his i-pod and he lets me play it. I used to be horrible until he gave me some tips and tricks. I now have a strategy. We played the actual board game yesterday (for 3 1/2 hrs by the way) and guess who won? You're lookin' at her (well, not really, but you know what I mean!)

-Guess who will be officially DONE with school in July? CHRIS WILL! That means one more semester to go. He just finished up his internship with a local company and doesn't start school till April 16th. We get to spend lots of time together now and that is definitely okay with me!


As you can see, lots has been going on. I'm not sure we'll be back up and running as usual on here for a little while, (especially with a baby coming) but we'll try our best to keep you updated. & you better believe there will be tons of pictures of our handsome little guy on here once he enters this world.

Date Night: St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody! I hope you're all wearing green today...nobody likes to get pinched. Here at our house, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day yesterday... here's how we did it.

I gave Chris this invite when he got home from work. It explained what we were doing for our date night.

I made dinner while he was in the other room. A simple meal. Chicken Alfredo, salad and ginger ale to drink. I must of stepped away from the kitchen for too long, because the little sneaky leprechauns got to our food and turned it all green! ;) (I added a couple drops of food coloring to the alfredo sauce and rainbow sherbert to the ginger ale)

During the day yesterday I found a couple worksheets online. I'm pretty sure these were made for little kids...but some of them were pretty hard!

Then it came time for Chris to find his surprise. I thought I'd make it more fun and send him on a little scavenger hunt.

I got this idea over here at The Dating Divas. They have printable tags!

After that we watched the ONLY Irish movie we had...Leap Year.

I think it was a pretty fun date night. Chris thought the green food was the best and could not stop laughing at it. He said it was fine because I made it, but if anybody else did he would be a little worried haha.

What are you doing for St. Patrick's Day?

Nike: Just Do It

I have honestly never paid attention to these nutritional labels before on food products... until this week.

I am not a person to be persuaded into exercising and losing weight from the New Years Resolution buzz but I am,  however, persuaded to exercise and lose weight when I reach a certain weight. That weight for me is about 200lbs (90kgs). But for the last 6 months or so I have been hovering around that area with very little fluctuation.

My first 18 years of my life I have been very active. I worked out at the gym, played a lot of rugby, and ran a lot of miles. Needless to say, I was in decent shape and athletic.
Age 19, I went to Las Vegas to do some volunteer work which meant I couldn't continue with my usual athletic activities. In those 24 months I gained a depressing 50lbs. Got back home and shredded off 20 lbs as easy as I gained them.

This week I was tired of being out of shape, so I am deciding to do something about it by training for the Chicago Marathon. Okay, am I really training for the Chicago Marathon? No, but "Nike Running" has a Chicago Marathon Training Program which I am doing. It has given me an outline for what distance I need to run everyday. Starting out as a beginner (even though I have run two triathlons, two half-marathons, and run State in HS), I should be ready to run the marathon distance in 15 weeks. I hope I can keep this up. It's not bad now because I'm doing a relaxed internship but next month I start an intense series of finance courses and my wife will have a little baby boy.


So far this week I have run 6 miles and did Billy Blanks BootCamp Cardio Inferno. This was very tough for me. It's an intense 45 minute cardio workout. I bought this DVD last year when I was in Las Vegas and did some exercise at home. I did it today for the first time in a long while and could not go all the way through it, a couple times I had to take a rest. Tomorrow I will be refereeing a rugby match and on the side of that will be doing a 4 mile run.
My goal eventually is to get back where I use to be - running 10 miles in 60 minutes. Currently I am struggling with 3 miles in 30 minutes. Sad day!

The formula to losing weight is to exercise and eat healthy. I am exercising, but now I'm also diving into the healthy eating lifestyle. Although pizza is delicious and high in calcium, it's also high in calories. Who knew that strawberries has more Vitamin C than an orange. The other day I had a homemade double cheese burger - 1,000 calories!! I have learned that all those rumours about fruits and vegetables being good for you is true. They are low in calories and have a large amount of goodness in them. Life cereal has a substantial amount of Iron in it.
To calculate my calories and all that stuff, I have been using this app called MyFitnessPal. It's actually been quite interesting to me and have enjoyed finding out just exactly what I am eating.

Now enjoy some fun cartoons I have found on the web...

Dallas Exhibition

BYU-Idaho offers exhibitions to various cities in the country. This past week I was able to go to Dallas, TX and visit various companies.


Tuesday evening we left for icy Jackson Hole, WY

Wednesday at 5:30am we were out of the hotels and on our way to the airport. We were very tired and hungry and the journey had just begun.


At the airport there is this arch of deer antlers. My thought, "only in Jackson Hole."
 

 

















With a full flight, we finally landed in Dallas more tired and hungry and right from the we went to our first company, Expeditors International. As a marketer, I wasn't too ecstatic about this because this was a company focused on supply chain management. 

Next we arrived to Game Stop headquarters. This was somewhat awkward. The employees we visited with didn't seem like they had showered in a few days nor was it a professional meeting. Nothing about the meeting was professional and the conversations were way out there. I now know I will never apply for a position at Game Stop. 

Thank Goodness It's Friday's. I say that because that appointment was by far my favourite. We spoke to the CMO of Friday's and their major marketing guys. I felt like I was a chairman of a board and they were pitching their great ideas to us. One of the cool things they mentioned is that after dining you can pay for your bill from your iPhone or Android App which I thought was cool.  I loved their way of branding and the whole culture in the workplace. It was a place I actually wouldn't mind working for. It was a great way to end off the day.


Needless to say, it was a very long day and we didn't get to eat until much later at night.


Thursday morning we were up and ready to go to our first advertising agency, Peterson Ray. Is this a place I would work? No. Did I learn about advertising agency? No. Did I learn how to become a little more successful? Absolutely yes! His steps of progression were great and very insightful.


Commerica Bank was up next. Never heard of it and figured it was a small company that does small work on the side. No, it was nothing like that. It was the largest building I have ever been in.

As you can see I was very wrong. This is a HUGE bank. Not a bank like JP Morgan, Wells Fargo or Bank of America. They don't deal with regular consumers like you and I. It seemed like an amazing place to work but it was all full of finance stuff which isn't really my cup of tea.


Bell Helicopter was the company I was most excited for. It turned out to be nothing but logistics. Super boring to me. There was no life in that company. I loved aviation and I wanted to see the choppers and talk about them. I could careless how many days it takes a part to arrive in Dallas. 

Like some companies I have visited thus far, Dickies was a great visit but not a place I would work. The company didn't suit me. I wasn't passionate about their work which would make me working for them tough. As you can see on the left, we were given some caps which was awesome. Who doesn't like free stuff, right? I picked up this bright orange cap because I think it's like my personality, loud and playful.



A couple years ago I knew this guy, Brad Mayne on a personal level when I was living in Dallas, TX. Little did I know that he so happened to be the President & CEO of the American Airlines Center - home of the Dallas Mavericks (NBA) and Dallas Stars (NHL). When he found out that I was coming to Dallas with some of my colleagues, he offered each of us a free game ticket to the Dallas Stars hockey game against the San Jose Sharks. Before the game, we got to sit down with him and have an informal discussion about event planning so forth and so on. There after he booked us box seats to watch the game. It was a great night!

Friday, Southwest Airlines. All the students came together to Lovefield and enjoyed a tour and discussion of the Southwest headquarters. It was very fascinating. As a company, they really focused on having good times in the headquarters and creating a culture of family love. Their walls were covered with pictures of games and activities they have had over the years. One other thing I enjoyed was the display of all the uniforms Southwest stewardess had worn over the decades.
As TOP STORY, they mentioned to us that they are planning on going international. That's right, their 737's will be taking service to cities in Mexico and other places.


Chili's was the last place we went to. This place looked fun and a colourful environment. We met with president of Chili's, Wyman Roberts. Him and I were able to have a good conversation and talked informally. The conference room was actually the first and original Chili's. They took everything that was from that place and placed it inside the headquarters which I thought was very cool. Below is just a picture I took, a HUGE Chili's sign. After the meeting, Roberts and I were able to talk about his visit to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and his adventures there. A great guy!








The trip was long but wouldn't take anything back. Though I did miss my wife dearly, I loved every minute of it because I learned so much invaluable lessons about careers and being successful. Afterall, I did talk to higher management and "C" level people. A great experience and one for the books. I wish I could write more but I know you readers would be bored to death haha.

It was time to board the plane and fly back home and while on the airplane, the pilot made an announcement of the PA, "Welcome BYU students!" I thought that was a nice touch.

Missing Him

I came across this today & honestly believe it couldn't be more true.

If I didn't do just that, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I wouldn't of met Chris. I wouldn't be married.

I definitely wouldn't be living my own type of fairytale.

Everything happens for a reason...

but sometimes there are things you have to do 

to make the reason become something great. 

Give it a try...

I got in a sword fight with winnie the pooh.
Hubs is trapped in prison with your mom.
& our little guy could be best friends with justin bieber.


What about you?!

simple words

6 simple words. 

one very TRUE statement.

Chris is in Texas on an expedition for school and I miss him so much.

Is it just me or does the feeling of your place being a "home" change once the 

other of you is gone or away?

I hate it.

BYU-Idaho Extravadance

The great thing about events at my school here at BYU-Idaho is that they are normally pretty cheap. About 2-3 times a semester Alyssa and I will attend some kind of activity or event. Last night we attended a dance of some type called, Extravadance. Do I know what that means? Absolutely not. If I had to guess, it would have to do with something about dancing extra long or dancing more. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it. I am not going to lie, I have seen better, but for the most part, it was entertaining.

What was more entertaining was the girl who sat next to us. She came by herself which we thought was unusual. Maybe it's just me but how many people go to events like this by themselves? But I must be honest here, I think she had more fun than Alyssa and I put together. When this one boy-group, N'sync song came on, the junior-high inside of her came screaming out believing she was at a real concert with the hottest guys performing. She was screaming, throwing her hands out there, and dancing to every beat to the song. Here's what it may have looked like.... (compliments of YouTube).

The finale was probably my favourite piece. I'm not sure what the genre is called but it is similar to this type of music, which I thought is really cool. I always wondered how they made that kind of music. Now I know, a really expensive keyboard.

Overall, it was a great event. We ended the night by getting some 99c ice-cream from McDonalds. Alyssa told me that it was for Hudson so "we had to" get it. 

Date Night: Mall Scavenger Hunt

This weekend we went on a double date with one of Chris' really good friends Scott & his fiance Laura. Chris and I planned it. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. (Who doesn't love Texas Roadhouse right?....mmmm those rolls! I think Chris ONLY goes there for the rolls, I don't blame him.) We called an hour ahead, got there on time & still had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. It was the happenin' place to be! 

Scott and Chris both ordered steak, I ordered chicken tenders & Laura got a chicken sandwich. Scott ordered his steak medium-rare & when he cut into it, it was cooked too much. He had the waitress take it back to make a new one. While he was waiting, Laura took a bite out of her chicken sandwich and it was pink!! (she lost her appetite, I would of too) The manager came back to bring Scott his new steak, Scott cut into it and this is what he saw:

Yes....it was still 'moo-ing'. Needless to say, it wasn't the best experience. They did end up taking it off their bill though, which was definitely a good thing. 

We headed over to mall to start our scavenger hunt. Each couple had a list of things they needed to find & take a picture of. The list had almost 60 items & we had one hour. The couple with the most items found would win.

 Some of the items were: a belt with a large belt buckle, studded belt, yellow slippers, perfume in a red bottle, naked mannequin, pink shoes, off white coat, a green necklace,

 Designer store, helicopter, video surveillance camera, something that starts with the letter 'z', smoke detector,  Yankee's hat, Victoria's Secret bag, men's boxers,

 Funny Hallmark card, fire extinguisher, crossword puzzle, comedy dvd, book about a different country, map of Idaho, something Justin Bieber, Monopoly board game,

ATM machine, '2 for 1' sign, shampoo priced over $7.00, a baseball, orange blanket, picture of a stadium, backpack, and a person wearing a jersey.

We had a lot of fun, but we thought it would of been even more fun if there were more people. Next time....