HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Well folks, I haven't blogged in like 3 months. I could blame my lack of existence in the blogging world on my "crazy busy semester" but it wasn't that bad... matter of fact I really enjoyed this semester! I got to take some classes that were very applicable to my internships and every day I got to wake up and do a bunch of what I really enjoy doing! But more about that later... right now it's Christmas time! Todd and I finished up finals/work last week and we are spending our nice long break in southeastern Idaho this week and northern California next week. So far at my house we have slept in, gone on a few runs, watched TV/random movies, eaten more food that usual, gone shopping, helped out with Christmas-ness for my mom, and I finished the Book of Mormon [woohoo!]. Really, it's been pretty weird just sitting around "relaxing" without homework on the back of my mind 24/7... a.k.a. it's times like this that I wish I had a couple more hobbies ya know. 

Hobbies like Photoshop for example! [transition...] Before we left for Idaho I decided it would be fun to send out a little Christmas card from our little family so I hung out in the library for a couple hours and *threw this little number together [*kinda borrowed the template from this cute mommy blog]. No, I did not put anything about "deck the Halls" but I'm sure I will sometime in the future.

I think I like the top one more... but since I worked so hard to put these together [small Photoshop tasks are quite difficult for me haha] I thought I'd show you both. (: p.s. if you're thinking the pictures might be leftover engagement photos then you're right... thanks Marci!

And here's our little message: 

Dear [your name],

What a year 2011 has been for our new little family! Of everything we have done this year, being sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Temple was by far the most exciting event of the year. Not long after being married we moved into our first apartment in Provo and got our summer going with school, work, and internships. Katelyn spent her summer on campus taking classes and working for the Marriott School of Management as a receptionist while Todd got the "hard worker" award by interning for a local consulting firm while working early morning custodial on campus. We didn't do too many exciting things over the summer but we were able to spend time with family at Park City, run a half marathon, and well... work and work some more!
Fast forward to September... we started our senior year at BYU! Todd is double majoring in Economics and Spanish and hopes to become and analyst while Katelyn is majoring in Exercise & Wellness with a minor in Nutrition and would love to someday run a corporate wellness program. We just finished fall semester and only have one more to go until we graduate in April! Currently Todd is working on the Provo Temple grounds crew [keeping it very beautiful, of course] and Katelyn is interning with BYU and UVU's Wellness Programs [attempting to keep everyone healthy and happy].
We are really diggin' married life and we are so grateful for all of your love and support. We hope you have a delightful holiday season!

With all our love,
Todd & Katelyn Hall

______________________________________________________

Anyways, now that I have so much time on my hands I'm sure I'll post again during the break... but don't count on it. ;)

34] take a visit to the aquarium in Sandy.

Labor day has always been a nice holiday for me... especially in the college scene. It always seems to fall right after the first week of school which is very nice considering that the first week tends to be consistently intimidating.

This year for Labor Day, Todd and I went on a fun date to the Sandy aquarium. We also had a groupon for Tokyo [Japanese Steak House and Bar]. So as lunch approached we decided to go get some sushi and head up to Sandy. [Please notice the order of these events... looking at the fish first and then having to eat them would have been difficult.] 

We pulled up to Tokyo and Todd was worried because it was kind of in a strip mall... but once we got inside and seated things started to look up. Turns out the sushi was delicious. For some reason I get sick to my stomach and all nervous-like before I eat sushi... but then every time I'm never disappointed. After three rolls... one of which may have had fry sauce on it... we headed up to Sandy and had a great time checking out all of the cool fish, petting the sting rays, and learning about superhero animals. I kept thinking to myself, "We need to bring Lucy here." So Courtney... you should take Lucy. (: Speaking of Courtney... she saw this item on my list last winter and gave me and Todd tickets for Christmas. So thanks Courtney, we had a great time!

yum.

That is a penguin... swimming.

That is me and a penguin... or two.

This is how pythons find their prey... aren't we cute.

Basically we had a great time and I would definitely recommend both Tokyo and Living Planet Aquarium.

to do [for fun] this semester... fall 2011.

Fall semester is here again... for the last time. The last time I watch all the trees on campus change to pretty colors, the last time I wake up to the first snow and have to walk to school in it, the last time I spend entire Saturdays totally focused on BYU football instead of homework, the last time I take a flippin' final on my birthday. Some of these things I'll miss and some I'll obviously be fine without. You see both Todd and I graduate in April so we won't be back next year.

So here's the list... on top of homework, tests, assignments, church, internship, life, etc. I'll try to have some extra fun. (:

1] keep running.
2] run 'Barry's Drive-In Supa Mega Half-Marathon' on July 17th. 9th.
3] plant a garden on my front porch.
4] go to Dairy Keen w/ my favorite boy.
5] defeat the Fudrucker's Challenge, then some (yeah right).
6] be awfully original and hike timp in the middle of the night just in time for the sunrise.
7] find those blasted falls up Hobble Creek.
8] get my picture on sammy's wall.
9] throw a sweet party.
10] go on a bike ride up to Bridal Veil... tandum??*
11] practice the piano.
12] fix family search index and get back in the habit.
13] visit the wildlife at Hogle Zoo*
14] successfully have a fire party at Utah Lake.
15] tie-dye t-shirts... or socks.
16] finish reading Princess Bride.
17] make homemade ice cream... and share it with my roommates.
18] get an A++ in my TMA 150 class.
19] learn how to break it down.
20] try not to be a wimp when I get pressured into climbing up a waterfall.
21] get a library card.
22] go to the library and use said card.
23] thirty minutes of scriptureness everyday.
24] make somethings delicious out of a plantain.*
25] get a bike... for free or terribly cheap.
26] swing off a rope into Mona Lake.
27] make banana pancakes.
28] wake up early on a Saturday and get all-you-can-eat waffles.
29] go to an Owlz game.
30] go to The Chocolate and sit in a little booth.
31] take a trip to the sliding rock... and slide on it.
32] make a natty-bowl at color-me-mine.
33] hit up the farmer's market at Pioneer Park.
34] take a visit to the aquarium in Sandy.*
35] go see INCEPTION and understand the whole thing.
36] experience the fine dining of Joe Bandido's Fiestaraunt.
37] run to the Y trail head w/o stopping... a.k.a. get in shape to do so.
38] run to the Y.
39] make my bed every day.
40] go to the temple every week.
41] do every dish that I dirty.
42] build dinosaur suckers.
43] make gnocci soup.*
44] get hot chocolate and ride the ski lift at Sundance.
45] Go see the "UP" house in Herriman.
46] hike up to Stewart Falls.*
47] eat a delicious bass.
48] Write thank you notes to 5 people that have inspired me.*
49] Go golfing or to the driving range.
50] Take a picture a day for a month.
51]
52] Sew something.
53] Collect my 100 favorite quotes. (this one may take years.)
54] Donate blood every 8 weeks.
55] Get a real Christmas tree.
56] Floss every day for two weeks.
57] Be on time for everything for a week.
58] Go Christmas caroling.
59] Eat a tostada to calm my nerves.*
60] Eat vegetarian for a week.
61] Go camping in the snow.
62] Make a 72-hour kit.*
63] Go to the state fair in Blackfoot and eat something deep fried.
64] eat an awful waffle.
65]
66] Keep a daily gratitude journal for a month.
67] Make gingerbread waffles for Christmas.
68] Go to the beach.
69] Read A Christmas Carol.
70] Read Jesus the Christ... or at least start it.
71] Leave a 100% tip for excellent service at a restaurant.
72] Not eat sugar for one week.
73] Listen to every song on my iPod.
74] Can something (fruit, jam, salsa, jalapenos, etc.)*
75] Buy only necessities for one month.
76] Give away a Book of Mormon.*
77] Play all of the board games in the apartment.*
78] pretend like I'm back home and look at the leaves during conference.
79] make 'you are what you eat' cookies.
80] whole-heartedly celebrate every legit holiday.
81] Watch a BYU hockey rugby game. maybe. definitely.
82] play with sparklers... preferably 6 months after the 4th of July.
84] successfully plan a wonderful wedding.
85] purchase and consume an entire King Kong Cone.*
86] conjure a whole wheat twinkie. *
87] witness the Midway Ice Castles
88] Clean out my inbox of 5701 emails.
89] dine at the Cannon Center.
90] Plant something pretty in a take-out box.*
91] Check out EarthFruits and eat something healthy.*
92] Build a variety of kabobs without any meat.*
93] Complete the new value- Virtue -in the Young Women in Excellence program.
94] Pursue Excellence.
95] make a National Geographic poster with Marie.
96] Put all of our new camping gear to use and run around some mountains.
97] help Marie fulfill numba two-hundo and make drumsticks.*
98] support local farmers and buy some rainier cherries.
99] make and complete a summer reading list.
100] adventure around Arches.
101] make Gina's healthy horchata.*
102] bike to Utah Lake and have a picnic.*
103] share a tasty snow cone with my husband.*
104] do the valley a favor and find the best hot dog stand.*
105] bake something banofee.*
106] spend every Saturday in the sunshine.
107] give The Roll Up some business.
108] be cool like my bosses and have a Chobani for lunch.
109] there's a way cool tree next to the marriage license building... find a cute boy named Todd and have a picnic under it with him.
110] build a fruit pizza and share it with someone.
111] make homemade granola bars.
112] crochet a good lookin' hat.
113] help the husband with his root beer cravings and make a root beer cake.
114] clean the sink at Angie's.
115] make cookie bowls and put something yummy in them.
116]

*are to-dooz that would make a great f.h.e. activity or date night. (:

104] do the valley a favor and find the best hot dog stand: Contestant #5

Alright friends, I'm thinking this is the last contestant of the summer. I have had a lot of hot dogs in the last four months... in and out of the competition and I don't need another until 2015. So... Kranky Franks is our last contestant and hails from Springville, Utah. This little dog shop is run by John and Taffy Dangerfield, two BYU grads. Again we brought Marysa with us and we even had my cousin Tanner on the panel this time... both of them were a little homeless for the time being so we thought we'd take them "sight seeing." 

At Kranky Franks we all got "the danger dog" -a polish dog- with a wide variety of toppings including Chicago relish, Beaver mustard, and their "special sauce." Throughout the duration of our visit we chatted with John and we quickly discovered that Kranky Franks has quite the rivalry with Jdawgs, especially since Jay, Jdawgs owner, is from Springville. Fortunately John was a great sport... and didn't forget to mention that Kranky Franks won "best dog" of the year award in Utah County. So about the actual dog... like lets get down to it...


Pros: the atmosphere was a lot of fun and the fake noodle dogs everywhere were interesting and unique. I also appreciated the Beatles poster on the wall and the encouragement that the bathroom provided. 

As for the food... I always love me some sweet potato fries. Seriously why don't I buy those when I go grocery shopping? Ohhh it's cause Todd doesn't like them, that's okay though cause then they're more of a treat for me. (: The fry sauce that they served with the fries was also pretty good, a lot more spice than Lomito's special fry sauce, I haven't decided if I liked it more though. Lastly I enjoyed the different toppings offered... sweet relish is always a win and Beaver sauce--that Todd LOVED--was also really tasty.

Cons: the bun was less than satisfying, it took too much saliva to break it down. The dog wasn't necessarily a con... but it wasn't amazing. Really that's it though, overall it was a very enjoyable dog.


And that's all folks... we've had our share of dogs and soon we'll reveal the dog of all dogs. So don't go too far.

104] do the valley a favor and find the best hot dog stand: Contestant #4

J dawgs will always have a place in my heart. The first time I went... oh maybe 2 years or so ago... I immediately fell in love with the special sauce. With this love... eh hem, bias... I knew entering J Dawgs into our competition was probably unfair... but why not have another reason to eat a J Dawg?? And so we threw it on the list!

dang shadows.

So last weekend we felt the need for a cheap meal (tuition, books, rent, deposits, etc. are adding up) and so we called up Marysa for extra company and walked on over to the corner of 9th & 8th for a delicious dinner. Marysa hadn't been before (a felony considering she lives at Campus Plaza!) so she got a polish dog. Todd and I also got polish dogs since they are significantly tastier than anything around. We each got a variety of different toppings including pickles, onions, jalapenos, banana peppers, sauerkraut, mustard (spicy brown), ketchup, and of course... special sauce. I got the usual (special sauce, sauerkraut, jalapenos, banana peppers, and a little bit of onions) but I decided that next time I'll go for a cooler option and cut out one of the peppers. Nonetheless the dog was beyond delicious and I'm already looking forward to going again. Cons: too much heat... but that's always preventable; and it's pretty messy... but that doesn't matter too much either since it's almost attractive in Provo to have special sauce all over your face. Pros: it only costs $3... they could totally charge more for the taste their pumpin' out; the buns are baked fresh daily at a local bakery... definitely noticeable; the dog is nothing short than premium... also made locally; and again, the sauce is to die for.


I may be a stereotypical J Dawg worshiping BYU student... and I generally don't like being labelled for doing the things I do... but I'll take it for this one.


Overall I'd say J Dawgs is in a three-way tie for first place. I'll have to give it more thought when the actual final judging takes place. Until then we have a couple more hot dog joints to check out so stay tuned! (:

102] bike to Utah Lake and have a picnic.

A few weeks ago for f.h.e. I got to be in charge of the activity. It was July 11th (7/11) and 7-Eleven was giving out free Slurpees... each 7.11 ounces of course. So I decided that for our activity we would get Slurpees and have a picnic... at the lake! We hopped on our bikes and decided that a refreshing Slurpee on the way back from our 10 mile ride would be more appetizing so we headed down 800 N, avoided the detour, and eventually jumped on the Provo River Trail. We had run the trail a week or so earlier and it was much nicer cruising down it on a bike... except for maybe not the big crack parts that we tried to pop wheelys over... those were a little unfriendly to my posterior. We also learned that unless you have a mud guard thing on your bike you get totally soaked from all of the flooding on the trail. So we took it slow through those parts and got there is about 20 minutes.

Once we arrived the nice young lady at the gate let us in for free since we didn't bring any cash. We decided that she is probably a recreational management major or something and supports healthy stuff like bike rides. (: 

We biked around and came to find out that everything was totally flooded! I mean it makes sense since it's been on the news and everything, but I didn't think it was going to be that bad.  After looking around at the beached fish carcasses we tried to find a place to eat that wasn't infested with lake bugs. Lucky for us there was a little pavilion right by the water that was significantly low in bug count. So we downed our PB&H before the bugs downed us and headed on our way.

On the way back we opted out of getting Slurpee because turns out everyone knew about the national event and decided to go for f.h.e. just like us. If I remember correctly Todd made me a yummy smoothie later on anyways. He's awesome, huh.

The view of the approaching thunderstorm
across the lake was lovely.

104] do the valley a favor and find the best hot dog stand: Contestant #3

If you saw the article in the DU about Hotdog King then you already know that this place is a hit... that is if you read the DU. I read it... sorta... I look at the pictures.

When I saw the picture of this wiener joint I knew it'd end up on our list. Hotdog King can be found on State Street in Orem... right after you come up the hill from Provo (it's on the right). They... well he... specializes in fun and creative dogs that have all sorts of crazy toppings. Charlie Mendes is the owner and creator of all these tasty dogs and to be honest he probably has thee best customer service and salesman skills around. As soon as we walked in the door he was there to help us, ready with every detail about every dog offered. After hearing about the specials for the day we asked about a few others that looked appetizing. Todd ended up getting the Utah Dog and I got the Brazillian Panini Dog.

When Charlie told us about the Utah Dog he basically said he wanted to make something that included everything that the locals love. According to him, the locals (two universities full of foreigners haha) love potatoes, fry sauce, and bacon... and that's basically what was on the dog. The Brazillian Panani Dog, on the other hand, was indeed foreign. Pretty much he cuts the hot dog hot-dog-style (haha) and puts it, along with the toppings, on the bun and grills the whole thing into a flat bread panini! I don't remember all of the toppings but there was definitely bacon, onions, ketchup & sweet relish added by me, and cream cheese... oh the cream cheese! It was definitely the best part! Whatever else on there must have been delicious because the whole thing went together very well. As for the bun and the dog... I wasn't entirely impressed with the dog. It seemed very Oscar Meyer-esque (contradictory to the DU review). And the bun was totally grilled... so I didn't get that fresh bun taste but it was still a fun twist.

Unfortunately, I might have put the dog in 4th place (we've been to another joint since). However, Charlie is tied for first for excellent customer service and for providing a fun dining atmosphere.

This was out back behind the actual joint. We didn't get too close
 'cause there was a cop looking around.

2] run 'Barry's Drive-In Supa Mega Half-Marathon' on July 9th.

Before I tell you about the grueling 13.1 miles that Todd and I ran last month, I'd like to apologize for being so extremely M.I.A. You see... this summer term I took English 312- Persuasive Writing. This class fulfilled my very last GE of advanced writing. I can't even explain how relieved I am to have every single GE completed... it makes graduation in April seem so much more realistic! 

Surprisingly though, the class really wasn't that bad. I mean... ya we were scheduled to me three times a week for two hours each, and maybe there was a paper due almost every time, and maybe I spent like days and days on my final project... but we always got out of class 30 minutes to an hour early, and my professor cancelled about 9 of the 22 class periods, and I got to write that forever long final paper about whatever I wanted! So all in all it was a great class and I learned a lot... there was just lots of writing meaning I certainly didn't have time to blog. Sorry! I mean, it's not like you're heart broken or anything, haha. Anyways... I turned in my final project yesterday (a 30 page pamphlet about promoting healthy advertising in schools) and it barely fit under the door! I haven't decided if that's a good thing yet but I'll find out soon enough.

So now that I have time for you people again there is a lot to catch up on! Especially since July was definitely our party month... minus the half-marathon part 'cause that's not nearly as fun as a good raisin'n'rice pudding party.

I've been wanting to run a half-marathon for years now. Ever since I started cross country my sophomore year of high school I have developed a love for running. [I've also developed a hate... no... dislike for running depending on the time of day, temperature outside, and what I had for dinner. But we won't go into that.] Gaining this appreciation for running wasn't easy though. I remember my first day of practice. It was a summer morning before school started and I had a friend or two on the team. We practiced [or at least started practice] at one of my rival junior highs and basically the coach, Belcher, would put us in groups and assign us times. He sent me on a run with the "slow group" and we ran 12 out. Basically that means we ran in one direction for 12 minutes then turned around and ran back. The faster varsity runners were sent on "30" and "40" runs... I barely made it the first 12 minutes. I seriously thought my calves were going to rip off my legs. After that practice I continued to run with the slow group and I never made it to varsity... heck I never even broke my 24 minute PR. But I didn't care, I had friends, I was in shape, and I developed endurance like I didn't know was possible. After the first season or so my calves stopped hurting for the first couple miles and I was able to really run... and keep running until my body was out of those important energy building nutrients. With this endurance I realized I could run much more than a 5k. So every summer since I have made training schedules for myself and I've planned on running a half-marathon. It wasn't until this summer that I finally did it! ... and I dragged Todd along in the process. 

Pretty much we had a date in mind that we wanted to be ready by [July 16th which changed to the 9th when we somehow got ahead of schedule] and so we started running more and more each Saturday morning. Not the most professional approach but I'm sure it was just fine for our first attempt. Basically we would get up Saturday morning and Todd would go volunteer at the MTC while I did homework... or slept in... and when he got back we'd get our running stuff on, plan out a run on mapmyrun.com, and head out. At the beginning our "shorter run" [6ish miles] was out towards Springville and back... not my favorite 'cause the road was pretty busy... and maybe I tripped and fell on my face. Oh well. The runs gradually got longer and we started to get farther and farther away from home. For two Saturdays we ran out to the Timpanogos High School area and back. For the longest runs, though, we had to get pretty creative. The Provo River Trail proved very useful for the longer these. The longest run we did was a weekend or so before the 13.1 miles. We jumped onto said trail off of 800 N and ran all the way to Utah Lake! I was pretty excited about that one... especially since we had to hop a few fences and cross a railroad track or two to make it back. Don't tell my mother. But even more impressive was the actual half-marathon, the run of all runs, the big kahuna... at least in my sphere. We made a big loop and ran all the way to the mouth of Provo Canyon! We came back on the Provo River Trail and got off continuing down town past Pioneer Park and the Tabernacle. Woah... what a run! I definitely had to use all the endurance that I could to get through the whole thing. I found out that at about 12.5 miles is when those energy building nutrients really start to give up... I'll have to do some more serious training if I want to ever get significantly past 13.1.

At the end we didn't get any cool shirts, or breakfast, or massages... but we did hit up McDonald's! Haha don't worry, I got a Powerade [and Todd got a chocolate shake]. Classy, huh? I also retired my running shoes... they were giving me too many blisters and there were a few holes that my little toes liked to get caught in. Luckily Big5 was having a sale so I got these lovelies for a good $50. They should last me a year or two... at least they better!

Did you notice I have a thing for Saucony's?

Since the big run we have taken it pretty easy and have gone on a number of fun vacations with family. Don't worry, we went on hikes and stuff so we wouldn't get too lazy. 

And now we have about 2.5 weeks until fall semester starts. Todd still has his internship but I am home[work] free so we'll be able to run as much as we want!

p.s. I should explain why we named the marathon "Barry's Drive-In Supa Mega Half-Marathon." To be honest I don't remember the humor behind it... but last summer when Todd and I started dating [woah so like 16ish months ago] we went out to Spanish Fork to get lunch. It was in the middle of finals and Todd had just finished his cleaning check 'cause he was moving up the mountain. We pretty much got the greasiest burgers we could order at Barry's Drive-In and ate them on the grass across the street. It was lots of fun and I'm sure we decided it would take a half-marathon to burn off what we had just eaten... or something like that. So we decided to run one. And surprise surprise we didn't end up doing it until this summer, over a year later. It would have been even classier to skip McDonald's and go back for another greasy burger... but our day was packed and a trip to Spanish Fork didn't quite fit in the agenda. Aaaaand that's roughly the story. (:

It's moments like these that make me wish I had a home with a beautiful garden.

After buying yet another sickly bag of baby carrots I can't help but ask, "Who invented these things?!" Then I pause... give thanks... and reword my question to, "Why did you invent these things??!"

Here's to all of those who are trying to be healthy and are suffering through the process.

Do not be deceived by its baby-of-a-baby-like size... it tasted like death.

91] Check out EarthFruits and eat something healthy.

Last winter semester a friend of mine recommended that I check out EarthFruits. This little frozen yogurt place, located on the corner of University Avenue and Bulldog, is one of about nine (+) in the Provo area. Fortunately this place has a great location just off of campus and they offer exactly what trend-following college students want... a hip and natural kind of frozen yogurt made out of "superfruit." 

As my to-do states, I wanted to get something healthy... so I did! I got a mix of planet pomegranate, peaceful passion fruit, and amazon vanilla. Topped with fruit, yogurt chips, granola, and craisins made for a really tasty and apparently healthy treat.

Todd went for a sweeter treat, of course. He got chocolate karma (also a superfruit) topped with all sorts of chocolateyness that I can't quite identify from this photo.

They also have all sorts of other crazy toppings that I would have never thought of putting on frozen yogurt... stuff like three different flavors of bobas and cereals like fruity pebbles and captain crunch. I guess when your motto is "Fuel your body. Feed your soul." you have to be ready to satisfy everyone's taste buds... and fuel everyone's bodies... and feed everyone's souls... haha sounds sorta religious.

Anyways... everything was quite delightful and both of ours added up to about $7. So if you want to pay for it then I'd definitely recommend it for any occasion. However, I wont be heart broken if I don't go back for a while, especially with all those other treats on my to-do list that I need to get to. (:

46] hike up to Stewart Falls.

Last Monday- the 4th of July -Todd and I decided that we were a little fed up with the heat in Provo. The parade was nice and all of the vendors on Center Street were fun... but after a while I felt like my insides were baking! So we headed off to Aspen Grove, a long lost friend from summer 2010. Up at Aspen Grove (the Aspen Loop really) you can find trail heads for all sorts of hikes- we chose Stewart Falls. (: 

The weather was on the edge of rainfall so the air was cool and fresh... so much nicer than the hot muggy air in Provo. 

I should mention that Todd did this hike once a week last summer with up to 30 6-7 year-old kids... I can't even imagine...

This is from the end of the hike looking down, you can keep going to check out the bottom of the waterfall.

So we did. (:

Then we had to get back up... the hard way of course 'cause we like adventures. As you can see Todd was way ahead of me.

And we made it back up! Just in time for dinner... pb&h and bananas. (:

Todd says I have red hair some days... this was one of them. What do you think??

97] help Marie fulfill numba two-hundo and make drumsticks.

So one day my dear friend Launa Marie made a summer to-do list. She filled it with all sorts of fun ideas and one of them was to make drumsticks. Luckily only about a week prior to discovering her list we got a waffle cone maker and some time after that we inherited an ice cream maker from my parents. This was it, we were totally going to make completely homemade drumsticks. And we did... for the most part. haha. 

The cones took some practicing...

... but eventually we got a hang of it after burning a couple and getting a few floppy ones.

The other mishap was the ice cream. Turns out not every recipe on Allrecipes is legit. We found out about this dud recipe after the ice cream wouldn't settle after about 2 hours in the machine. Apparently you need a lot more than the zero eggs that we used in the mix. Woops. So technically in the end it wasn't quite the type of successful that we were looking for... but after picking up a box of ice cream at Southend we were able to revive the evening and still end up with a tasty treat.

p.s. this is what they were supposed to look like. Next time I think I might follow the instructions a little more closely... 'cause don't they look divine??

111] make homemade granola bars.

Lately, as you have probably noticed, Todd and I have been keeping ourselves entertained with all sorts of random activities. It's not that we're bored... we just have never had this kind of free time before! Sure I work full time and have a class to keep up with... and yeah maybe Todd interns 40 hours a week plus works another 20... but hey, compared to fall and winter semesters we are livin' the life! Todd even mentioned to me the other day that this may be his busiest summer yet, but he is having a lot more fun than previous summers. So what are we doing that is so fun?? Well last week we made homemade granola bars. (: 

Yet again I got the recipe from my good friend Gina. Definitely check out her site, she has loads of fun and healthy recipes that taste great!

This recipe has a lot of ingredients but it's very simple to make. It's also nice because you can add/take out whatever you want! We made the classic mini chocolate chip granola bar and they turned out really well. However next time--if I'm feeling rich--I might just throw in a bag of Crasins. Yum.

After only about 30 minutes of baking and cooling our granola bars were done. Who knew a warm granola bar [not melted and sticking to the wrapper] could taste so good?

p.s. I'm not so sure about this HDR picture setting... it's pretty wild.

84] successfully plan a wonderful wedding.

Wonderful can't even describe the outcome of mine and Todd's wedding day about two and half months ago. Everything panned out exactly like I'd ever dreamed. 


We got married in the Logan Temple on Friday, April 22, 2011. However, before the big day there was of course lots of prep. Besides the actual marriage stuff we spent almost all of the Thursday before just packing, cleaning, and moving out, and finally made our way to Logan that evening to meet up with my family. I'm not really sure what you're supposed to do with your groom-to-be the evening before your wedding... but we had fun watching America's Funniest Home Videos while my sister did my nails. Eventually it was time for Todd head out and he drove out to Preston for the night. I slept on a pull out mattress and like I usually do when I'm excited or anxious, I woke up every hour in fear that I would sleep in and miss my own wedding ceremony. Luckily this didn't happen... and my sisters and I spent the morning doing hair, make up, and all sorts of fun'n'girly things. 

Marysa and Emily were awesome all day.

This is when everything started to work out perfectly. We left for the temple just in time and got the pictures I wanted before the ceremony... a.k.a. this one... (thanks, Autumn, for the cute idea!)

I think he may have liked was he was seein'.

We even got to sit together before the ceremony and enjoy being alone before the hectic day actual started. Better yet, Todd's grandparents has some sort of wardrobe malfunction that let us spend even more time alone before the ceremony. I think they still feel bad about it- haha -but hey, I didn't mind at all! (: After a short wait (in the temple that is) we finally got married! After a 1+ year of courtship we were finally there! The ceremony was wonderful and our sealer gave us some very lovely advise about marriage. Afterwards we met up with all of our family outside the temple in the beautiful sunshine (it stormed and stormed and stormed the day before) to take pictures. We're all accustomed to this part... pictures and more pictures... even if you're just a second cousin to the groom's father. 

Then of course we took bride'n'groom photos... which I really enjoyed. (:

After pictures was the luncheon provided by Todd's parents and the Zipfs. The food was delicious and the company was a lot of fun. 

We then got more time to ourselves as we drove to Pocatello for the reception later that evening. When we arrived my family sat us down and told us to relax while they finished up setting up the reception. I was a little hesitant about this because I am really good at micromanaging and I wanted to go "supervise" the setting up of the decor and such. But that would have been silly... so I didn't! and Todd and I ate pizza and watched basketball until the reception. Awesome, huh? The next item on the agenda was the reception... another much anticipated event. We arrived early for family pictures and so I could check out all the cool decorations that I had been hearing about from my mom and sisters for months. Everything looked wonderful! 

Aren't these silhouettes fun?? Marie did them for us. (: 

Aren't my parents cute? (:

Barfuss Family

Hall Family

No, they're not twins.

It was seriously the cutest little reception that I had ever seen! I couldn't have asked for anything better! Thank you to everyone that helped set up and take down! (: After standing in line for 2 hours- it really wasn't that bad -we finished off the evening with tasty cake (it was also a beautiful cake), bouquet throwing (which apparently I can't do), dancing, cleaning off the car, and Denny's... because we know how to celebrate. (:

A huge thanks to the mystery table that paid for our meal!

And now we're married... and so happy.