Last day...

to enter this awesome giveaway! My sister's NYC blog is giving away one pair of these cute Euro-style sneakers. Head over here to enter! I don't think family can win so at least one of my friends could! :)

Birthday Mexican food and acapella

Justin planned a lovely bday date. Dinner at Red Iguana in SLC. Thanks to Jess and Sam, we finally found good Mexican food in Utah! HAPPY DAY! Then we drove over to Sugarhouse for an acapella concert. Noteworthy from BYU and the Whiffenpoofs from Yale performed. I'm a closet acapella lover and loved every minute of it. Last stop was grabbing bday cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. Perfect!

6 years ago today

I went on my first date with this guy: 

So glad I finally realized the gothic hair look wasn't good for me (thanks Dad!),

 and that I somehow won him over.

p.s. maybe the YW medallion had something to do with winning him over?! 

NYE with friends

New Year's was so fun this year! I got to see so many pals in one night. 

First, Bree called me and said they were at the Canyon's Rail Jam. It was about two feet from our condo so Justin and I ran down to say HI and happy new year! It was freeezing though so we mostly just said that and then let them go warm up in a lodge. So fun to have a surprise visit though. 

Then, one of my Jerusalem BFF texts and says she can hang. We had been trying to get together all week and then it finally happened. I was so excited to meet little Sophie. She did not disappoint. She was smiley and soft and everything I could have hoped for. Also, she was wearing a party dress (gold with sparkles) which was perfect for NYE. I loved seeing Lauren and catching up on the birthing story, the move to Harvard (so glam), and life with a bitty baby. 

The next visitor was a total surprise. We hear a knock at the door and all of a sudden Eric Smith (Ty's bff from BYU) is in our condo! He and his wife stopped by because they were in the area. Eric seriously cracks me up. It made me miss the days of living at the Avenues with Ty and going back and forth between our apartments. Eric always had hilarious stories and interesting dating advice. Wish Ty could have been there to see him! 

Then, finally our actual party guests arrived. We had the Howell's and Trisha and Brent up to party! 

Politics and the Utes are two things Scott and I  don't agree on...

Fireworks crew. Not sure why Utah legalized aerial fireworks this year but these boys took advantage of it

Group photo was taken after I had to head to bed for work. Don't worry though Ash filled in for me :)

The gift that keeps giving

In the middle of finals, Justin started having these terrible back spasms. So terrible that he couldn't walk very far, study, sleep. It was awful. Then, Jim started working on it every few days and worked a miracle. Justin hasn't had the spasms since. It was a huge blessing, especially since stressed Allie was not very good at caring for injured Justin. 


One day while working his magic, Jim mentioned it'd be really nice to have a massage table. Justin jumped on Craigslist and KSL that night. The whole fam pitched in and we got the gift we'll all benefit from! 

We loved celebrating with Jana and Jim! I had to work for a few hours on Christmas Day but luckily my hospital is just down the road from Jana's house. Justin got the inaugural massage on the table. Jim was kind enough to give us all a turn. New Christmas Eve tradition?? 

Marissa the eleven year-old!

This year for Marissa's birthday Justin decided to take her our for a little adventure. First stop was the nickelcade. They won so many tickets I think they bought every prize there. Then, Marissa picked In-n-out for dinner (and we didn't mind it one bit). Finally, for a birthday treat we went to Yogurtland. Justin may or may not have been an influence on that last choice. I was working and only joined in for the last two stops, but it was so fun to spend time with Marissa. She turned eleven this year and we love her tons! 

 

Christmas in PC

Fun thing about having both sides of our families in Utah is doing Christmas twice! The night we got up to Park City, we had our Christmas with the family. Even though Santa didn't bring snow this year, we still skied almost every day. Justin started his MCAT study plan the second week of break, but he still made it out for a few runs most days. Best part of the skiing was definitely the free hot chocolate we get with our season passes (I love free stuff!) and hot tubbing after. 

GB Grizzlies in San Diego

In December, Justin, Jess (Justin's sister), and I made the trek down to San Diego to see the SDSU vs Fresno State football game. Two of Justin's BFFs from high school were playing against each other-- Devon Wylie (FSU) and Miles Burris (SDSU). Lots of GB Grizzlies came to see these two play in their last college football game! And I love grizzlies... 

Two of my favorites. We bonded over crazy days in Student Government and quoting Mean Girls nonstop. These girls are beautiful inside and out. 

Justin with all his BFFs!

Dan (Justin's Dad), Shari, and Makayla met us at the game and hung out with us after

To top it all off, we stopped before the game and got burritos at Chip. Perfect trip!