o l d r o y d

The Upside (and 6 months of blogging)

2012-01-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Matt and I are excited to finally be over with 2011 and on with 2012! I have been so busy the past few months that I haven't had time to blog. I feel like anyone who reads our blog knows what's going on in our lives anyway, so what's the point of blogging, right?

Anyway, here's a recap of the end of 2011 for the Oldroyds. We had a lot of ups, but mostly downs this year (it seemed like). But even during the downs we seemed to find the upside, or at least we did our best to. So here are some pictures from the year...enjoy?

So after finally settling in as best as we could and being in LA for a month we went home to Provo to visit. We left Friday after school/work and drove all through the night (Literally! We left at 4:30 pm and arrived at 8:15 am thanks to a huge accident right outside of Primm. Never doing that again). Matt had a check up with his doctors while we were visiting and that's when we found out the cancer came back. We found out the day we were returning to LA and it was one looong drive home. Once we returned we met with doctors at USC and within the week Matt was scheduled for surgery.

Here he is all prepped. Look at the smile on his face. Matt has been such a trooper through all of this; it's amazing what a good attitude he has had. I think I still have a lot to learn from him.

The procedure took about 4 hours. While he was in recovery his doctor updated me informing me it was a tough surgery and really unusual for this type of cancer...not really comforting. He also informed me they found the cancer had spread to one of his lungs. Oh, great!

It was definitely one long day that wouldn't end!

Before Matt's surgery I was a little stressed about driving him to and from the hospital all while he was in pain, groggy from the drugs, and not knowing the LA roads Fortunately, I have the BEST cousin, Keao, and he was a lifesaver! I should have thought of calling him sooner, but we were just so busy and overwhelmed the days leading up that I forgot until just before.

Anyway, after Matt was released from the hospital Keao picked us up and drove us home. On top of that, he had gone to Trader Joes and bought all of these groceries for us so I wouldn't have to go out alone and could stay home and take care of Matt. How thoughtful! Thanks Keao!

Following Matt's surgery and recovery we had many, many more appointments. It was decided Matt would have to do 3 rounds of chemo. Of course, we wondered if he would lose his hair...and he did!
After the first round hair started falling out. At first it was hardly noticeable, but then it started coming out in clumps! If you know Matt, he is all hair! JK, not all, but he normally needs his hair cut every other week and shaves every day! So the upside? Matt LOVED not having to shave everyday, and I LOVED not having to clean it up all the tiny little hairs around the sink. Something we will both miss!

Over the next three months Matt spent a lot of time sleeping! Sleeping in the hospital, at home, in the car and if we were out too long I'd find in him odd places sleeping. So, we didn't really get out too much.

Thankfully, Matt was able to take time off from work during his treatment and his benefits kicked in just in time, which was nice. But, the upside? We got to spend A LOT of time together. Although there were some really tough days, there were days when Matt wasn't so sick and we enjoyed every minute together.

It was nice to know our families were thinking of us through all of this. And it was even nicer when our moms came out to help! My mom came out for a week, then Matt's mom came out for a week. We both LOVED having our moms stay with us and take care of us ;) Their visits were definitely an upside to this experience and something we both looked forward to.

(With mom in Little Tokyo)

While my mom was in town she helped me organize my house. We were still living out of boxes and with everything going on this was the last thing I had time for!

We bought bookshelves and used the bottom half for storage and covered it with our new couch! I think I got about 3 months of work done in a week with her help.

While I was at school mom would unpack our boxes and find places to store things. I loved it!

This a dresser Matt spotted at DI for $35! I was looking for a TV stand and knew I wanted it to be a low/oldish dresser and this was perfect! I sanded, repainted and added new hardware. (Top: After; Bottom: Before)

I recently finished another home project. I love tufted headboards and I found some pretty nice ones online. But, of course, the one I really liked was from Neiman Marcus and $4,500! So I decided to make one and I really like the way it turned out...all for $50! Since we are in a small apartment we put risers under our bed to use the space as storage. With the leftover fabric I made a bedskirt to hide all the junk. My sister also sent me the cutest duvet set and it goes nicely with our new headboard and skirt. Next on my list is to paint our nightstands and I have my eye on 2 really cute mercury glass lamps at HomeGoods. Here are Matt's contributions to our home improvement ;)

Matt had many wonderful nurses at USC to care for him and they LOVED him! He was their youngest patient so they all really liked him.

Since Matt was out of commission I had to drive everywhere. So, the upside? I have become a PRO at driving in LA. I know my way around town now which Matt appreciates since he doesn't have to drive me everywhere, especially when shopping.

In November, I had family come in from Hawaii. We wanted to go with them to Disneyland but we knew it would be too tiring for Matt to walk all around the park so we decided not to go. But, if you know Matt, he convinced me he was well enough to go the morning of. So we went and Matt made it through the entire day thanks to the wheelchair Amy rented for us. And the upside? We got to cut to the front of ALL the lines and we had a blast!

Don't you love the Wheelchair sign in the corner?

We Love DISNEYLAND

Following the week of Disneyland, Matt's sister Shannon and her family invited us to the Miller's beach house in Monterey. It was such a nice treat to get out of town and be with family.

Todd took Matt out for a round of golf and I spent the days with Shan and the girls.

Matt with Kate and Jane

It was a weekend of pampering, which we both needed! Shannon scheduled mani-pedis and massages for us at the Pebble Beach Spa, and we enjoyed eating at all the fancy restaurants with yummy desserts (notice the giant martini glass sundae and pie-sized doughnut).

So, many of you know we moved here for Matt's new job. But I haven't said what I'm up to. I'm a little bashful to share, but my family wants to see what I'm doing, so here it is. Well, a little of it.

But first, an explanation (i told you it would be a lot of reading!). Right now I am in the Fashion Design program at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising). When Matt accepted his offer in LA, I immediately thought of applying to this program. I wanted to attend a school like FIDM, FIT or Parsons after high school, but moving to New York or LA right out of high school was a little too adventurous for me, so I put it on hold. Fast forward 8 years, I suddenly had this opportunity. I thought long and hard about it and decided to take the leap of faith (Who knew I would eventually end up in LA, so I had to take it as a sign). Random, you might think? Not really. I learned to sew in 2nd grade, construct my first pattern in 4th grade and have been making my own patterns since and I love it! I love the whole process. I find it challenging, frustrating, but also rewarding. So, here I am and it’s been a great experience, but one where I feel overwhelmed at times. Especially in an industry not at all family oriented. All of my teachers (but one) are divorced and the idea of starting a family is unheard of! So sometimes I wonder, what am I doing here? Nonetheless, I am happy about my decision. I've already learned so much about the industry. It's neither glamorous, nor easy but I think I'm up to it…even when I take a break to start a family;) And as a side note, I don't claim to be fashionable. So it's nice to find comfort in some of the most brilliant designers who walk out after a show in mismatched, ill-fitting clothes and hair all out of place.

The organza skirt project which was to create a garment inspired by a something of volume so my inspiration was a double helix. I also made a bias cut dress creating a chevron print down the center seam, and a knit top in the style of Isabel Toledo with 1 seam throughout.

Since I've been sewing for so long, my sketching classes have been the most challenging for me thus far.

That's my outlining pencil...that should give you an idea how many I've drawn! Here are a couple of my sketches from last quarter.

Christmas Break finally came and we were more than excited to come home for the holidays. I hadn't seen my sister or brother in 6 months and I was so excited to see them and their kids. Luckily, my sister was in Las Vegas visiting her in-laws so I spent a week with her. After, we continued on to Utah. Of course, our alternator had to go out on the drive.

I thought this was such a cute picture. Matt and Kai. Two baldies.

These kids are growing up way too fast!

As you can see, we all really missed each other! Haha!

Happy New Year! We kept our evening pretty low key (sorry, the only picture we took. as you can see, Matt's facial hair is already coming back in full force!).

A month after Matt completed chemotherapy, he went in for a check up and he is in the clear! Now we will go in for surveillance checkups every 3 months. 2012, please be good to us!

I know, I know...

2012-01-13T12:13:00.001-08:00

I need to blog. I started to on Monday, but our poor laptop has seen better days. The "Blue Screen of Death" appeared and I could not even get it to turn off so I had to unplug the cord and let it die. Now, hopefully, I am going to try and turn it on when I get home. Wish me luck!

The Move

2011-10-14T08:55:00.001-07:00

I must be pretty busy if it's taken almost 4 months for me to make this post. But, it's better late than never, right?

At the end of June Matt and I packed up and said goodbye to Provo.

But first, we had to sort then pack. What a nightmare, but we got it done! My mom helped me pack and sort though all of my old bins in storage.
We found the shirt I wore home from the hospital when I was a baby. It says Happy Baby (in Navajo).

My dad's wedding shoes! Haha, I had to laugh when I saw these, they were definitely married in the 70s.

And my brother's hat from the early 90s that he would always wear.

Anyway, we had to rent a Penske since we had so many things.

Who knew we had so much stuff!

We said our goodbyes and hit the road and drove 13 hours to Los Angeles!

I followed Matt in our car as he drove the big rental truck.

Thankfully, we had my family to help with the packing in Provo, then a couple days later when we arrived in LA Matt's parents flew out to help us unpack and settle in. It felt like they were dropping us off at college for the first time since they took us to buy supplies for our apartment ;)

Our living room with all of our boxes.

Taking a break in Downtown LA to find a place to eat...
We ended up at a nice Italian restaurant where I ordered this HUGE calzone. Yum.

Our kitchen. It's the first thing I set up.

Here are the "glamour" shots of our apartment complex (you know, the ones they have on their website to make people want to live there showing off their best features...)

The Gym

The pool...which sadly, I still haven't used!

And this is a picture my cousin (who helped us apartment hunt) took of Matt and I as we were signing our lease. I had to include this since we've never had to "rent" until now.

The first few weeks were a little rough. Unpacking, learning to navigate the busy streets (because we're scared of the mean LA cops, or as they call themselves "Peace" Officers) and just getting used to LA in general was a little tough. We were both a bit home sick. Luckily, we found the nearest Cafe Rio and drove 20 minutes to it in Manhattan Beach. It did the trick, we felt like we were at home for a bit.

One of the Provo employees now works/manages this location and he recognized Matt when we went in and gave us a free meal! As you can imagine, this totally made Matt's...week!

You can see Matt in line for 2nds.

Of course, the drive home reminded us we weren't in Provo anymore with all the traffic! Why does it have to take an hour to drive 12 miles?

Oh Hawaii

2011-08-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Matt and I have been SO busy the last couple of months, I finally have a minute to update the blog. In May we went to Hawaii for a few weeks. It was so nice I wish we were there right now!

Before we flew to Hawaii we stopped in LA to look for an apartment. It was not a fun experience. Luckily, with my cousin's help we found a nice apartment a few hours before our flight departed! Thanks Keao! This was the only "happy" photo I took while we were in LA. Matt and Charlie, Keao's cute little dog. I think this is a funny picture.

So on to Hawaii. This is our third time going since being married and we love it more and more each time we go. It's our secret goal to move there someday...I guess it's not a secret anymore. Anyway, we had so much fun, food and were able to relax before starting our busy lives in LA! I'm so glad we did.

For Memorial Day we were able to get on to the Kaneohe Marine Base beach with Uncle Darrel. It was SO nice. It's one of my new favorite beaches because it is so secluded and a prime spot.

You can see Matt walking to go boarding. You can't really tell in these pictures, but this beach really is lovely. The best part about this beach was everywhere else was PACKED for the weekend, but it was almost deserted since it is a reserved beach.

The Maris family was able to join us. Noa, their son, is such a cute, happy little boy.

We also had a BBQ at the beach. One of my favorite things is beach bbqs! Eat and swim, eat and swim. It's the best.
Brett, Matt and Chad all served together in the Hiroshima mission. It's always fun when we all get together!

Amy took us to a nice lookout in Hawaii Kai one evening. It was so nice, but scary at the same time. These huge waves come up against the rocks. One was so big a girl was slammed against the rocks. I just held on tight and closed my eyes. There were even some guys surfing next to the ledge since that's where the waves are the biggest. Nuts!

While we were there Megumi and Chad blessed their newborn, Kaiyu. He is a little cutie. We had SO much fun hanging with the Marises. We missed them when they moved from Provo to Hawaii for school. We are happy we'll get to see them every time we visit now!

Laie Temple

When I was little and my family would go to Hawaii there were certain places my dad ALWAYS took us. Even though we went every time we were in Hawaii it was still fun. I decided to take Matt to a couple of the sights and show him some of the things I did with my family.

The first place was the Pali lookout. There's a corner where you can stand and your hair will stand straight up because it's that windy. If you go with sheets and hold them like a cape the wind will pick you up a little. My dad used to throw his hat over the rail down the cliff, wait a few seconds, then it would fly back up!

Left: Pali lookout Right: Punchbowl

After the Pali, we went to the Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery. Here, they have trees with bark that is really soft, soft enough you can punch the trees without it hurting. It was so windy here that day and with all the flags up for Memorial weekend we had some fun pictures.

After, we went to Bubbies. I LOVE Bubbies. They have thee BEST mochi ice cream!

We had a bon fire on the beach one night (another one of my favorite things in Hawaii).

We cooked hotdogs over the fire, sadly, one of the slid off as we were get ready to eat it :(

Before we went to Hawaii I just finished watching all 123 episodes of LOST on Netflix (yes, it is addicting). I had to see what all the hype about the show was for myself. Anyway, Amy took us to the "Lost" beach:

Lost fans, does this beach look familiar?

If you watched Lost, you'll recognize this is Sawyer's tree (the one he's always reading under and has his tent set up next to).

The beautiful sunset

This beach is also called Turtle Beach...I think you can guess why.

Mr. Turtle

We hiked to Maunawili Falls one weekend. It's a fun, medium-length hike. The bonus of this hike is the waterfall at the end.

Can you see Matt jumping in?

Let me explain the following picture. The last time I hiked to Maunawili Falls was the summer after I graduated from high school. Being in Hawaii I wore board shorts and a tank top w/ flip flops. I came back from the hike with so many mosquito bites. I even had repellant on, but it was no match for the deep woods mosquitoes. I was so miserable the rest of my trip I never wanted to do this hike again. Matt really wanted to go this trip, so I had to suck it up and go. I prepared by wearing a t-shirt, yoga pants and tennis shoes. I made sure I had 40% Deet mosquito repellant for deep woods, and I kept spraying myself throughout the hike. I'm happy to say I didn't get one bite, but I'm sure everyone who passed by us was wondering who the weirdo was fully clothed in this humidity! I was seriously drenched (in sweat, gross) but anything to make Matt happy! ;) (also the reason my head is cropped out, I look awful).

More jumping Matt...

Towards the end of our trip it rained a lot! The power went out one evening for a few hours so we had to use a lantern.

These were the roads the next morning, some places were even worse.

Of course, we used some of our Starwood points and stayed at the hotel and cranked the AC to 64 degrees.

We drove to the Dole Plantation then on to Wahiawa (where my dad grew up). My grandpa worked for Dole for many, many years so I needed to take Matt around that side of the island.

Happy Fathers' Day...

2011-06-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

...to such GREAT dads!

Matt and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful, strong, reliable, fun, loving dads.

I'm so grateful for the relationship I have with my dad, and Matt with his. It's such a blessing to have such a strong figure you can always count on.

Bob & Ed sportin' the stach, don't you love it? ;)

Spring: I figured it's time for a quarterly update...

2011-04-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

...so I'll start with the most recent:

Matt graduated from BYU last week! Hip hip hooray! I can't believe he's finished...we're finished and on to the next step in life!
Matt was one cute graduate! ;)

You might be wondering why Matt has a picture in front of the Appeals sign. Well, Matt was "banned" from driving and parking on BYU campus since the beginning of Fall semester. He appealed his ban and it was finally lifted in March. In the meantime, he rented a parking stall from a store which was right by campus. It actually worked out really well since he always had a reserved parking spot and took him 1 minute (he timed it) to walk to the Tanner building!

After graduation Matt and I went up to Salt Lake and ate at

Yummm...the BBQ pork quesadilla and BBQ turkey sandwich are sooo good.

I was able to visit OMAHA with my mom. It was nice to have us three girls together again.

Nahoa and Miya met us at the airport with a sign and flowers. They kept shouting, "Welcome to...Omaha!!!"

Of course, the kids wanted to be with mom nonstop. That's Nahoa's "big" smile.

1 Miya in deep thought?? 2 Before visiting my sister said Miya was into Silly bands...she really is! 3 Miya is Ironman 4 She'll hold this pose and say, "I am Ironman!" 5 Miya just wanted to be babied by my mom. 6 Nahoa wanted to show me his cool trick of touching his head with his foot. 7 Miya got in trouble at the store so she sat like this for a while. 8 Nahoa graduated from his "Scooter bike" to a Razor and goes really fast!

I had so much fun with my mom and sister. I'm going to miss them both so much!

-------------------------
Earlier this month Matt and I attend the Global Management Banquet. Matt received the Global Management Certificate after completing the foreign language requirements and international business experience.

Good job Matt!

In April we also celebrated my birthday! It was fun going out with the Oldroyds and having my mom in town! The last birthday I had with any of my family around was 4 years ago, so this was a real treat. I got the Vibrams I've been eyeing. Thanks Matt!

Also in April, Matt sold my car :( What a sad day. My sister bought this car when she was in college and sold it to me when she got married. This car has been everywhere and has so many memories. We will miss it!

Matt and his brother-in-law Scott went to the BYU/FSU game in New Orleans thanks to Bob.

VFFs

2011-03-25T23:14:00.001-07:00

I was looking at Vibram Five Finger (VFF) shoes online and wanted to compare similar types. I typed "finger shoes" in Google and these pictures came up:

Haha...

...and gross!

So far...

2011-02-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

First off, Happy Valentine's Day!
This year (Matt's idea, of course) we went up to the Wasatch golf course in Midway where Matt proposed to me over 3 years ago!
This just happens to be the same tree where Matt proposed to me. And just like that day, the course was covered in snow!

Next, we exchanged cards...

Then stopped by the Ice Castles in Midway. Pretty cool.

On to other updates...
Last month Matt and I went up to Duck Creek, near Cedar City. It was such a fun weekend. These were the only pictures I took.

As if Matt doesn't have enough on his plate, he received his study manuals for the CPA exam...ugh poor guy.

I've been wanting a food scale for a while, so I finally bought one (w/gift card money...i LOVE gift cards)! And I love it! I'm a little obessed so that means it takes me longer to cook since I refuse to use measureing cups/spoons anymore.

And since I bought a food scale I thought I'd make some homemede caramel...they were delicious, at first, but now they could break my teeth. I think I need to invest in a good candy thermometer next.

Last of all, Matt's surgery in December was successful! After his surgery we went in for more tests and the doctors said the cancer didn't spread. We have a check up in March to see if anything shows up, but we are pretty confident everything will look good! We feel so blessed and happy about these results!

Happenings...

2010-12-31T19:02:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd end 2010 with some updates. I haven't been the best at this blogging thing, it's kinda hard. Anyway, this is how our Fall 2010 went:

I'll start with some good news (and our best news). After lots of prayers and weighing our options between different firms, Matt accepted an offer with...

KPMG in Los Angeles!! We are excited for this new chapter in our lives!

Another exciting "happening," Matt got an internship with the ROC Fund (a real estate investment fund) in SLC as an audit intern and will start in January. This is a perfect match for Matt since he completed his real estate license earlier this year and is very interested in the RE industry. Yay for Matt!

As an early Christmas gift Matt took me to the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular! I was so excited and had been hinting that I wanted to go. Thanks Matt! We had a fun time and it was a great show.

Matt also finished his last semester at BYU (halleluja!) Unfortunately...

The same day Matt finished his last final he had a doctor's appointment and was diagnosed with testicular cancer. We were not expecting this, and it's been a tough couple of weeks, but we are optimistic.

Matt and I want to thank all of our family and friends for the prayers for Matt. Matt had surgery on Tuesday and is doing well. I think this is one of the toughest things we have experienced, especially with all the potential complications this could cause. We are not completely out of the woodwork, but we have faith things will all be ok.

It was good to have both of our families in town for Christmas break. They were a great source of comfort for us. I was thankful to have my parents, brother and sister home for the holidays.

One of Santa's elves (Kono got into the stocking bin)

Christmas Eve at the Oldroyd's

Kono grew this winter squash with mom and we ate is as part of Christmas dinner.

We rolled out of bed to get a picture before everyone hit the road to head home :(

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Birthday

2010-12-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

...to my wonderful, beautiful, amazing mom! She is the best!

Boys only...

2010-11-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

I thought this was so cute and funny. My sister texted me this picture after she told me Nahoa and his friend Scott wouldn't let Miya play with them. Miya left the room feeling sad, but a few minutes later returned all dressed up in Hoa's Spiderman costume. Who needs boys, right? Miya is a little tom-boy and girly-girl at the same time. It's so cute.

2010-11-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

I guess it's about time for an update. I made a last minute trip to Omaha to visit my sister. This was my 3rd trip within a year out to Omaha! It was so much fun. We were so busy the entire time! Here are just some of the things we did:
Painted a bedroom
Sewed a costume for Miya
Shopped
Ate yummy food
Visitied Kansas, Missouri and Iowa!
We were going, going, going and by the time I got back to Utah I was tired! (a good tired though)

I love my sister's townhome. She has such great taste. Seriously, who keeps their linen closet this nice all the time?

I just had to point that out. Anyway, here are some highlights of my trip:

Valas Pumpkin Patch

This place was HUGE! I loved it...and since we were in Nebraska they had a giant corn maze too!
Vala's also had a lot of little kiddie shows. I love how hard Miya is tip-toeing to see over the fence.

Hmm...I think Nahoa should be the one behind the sign, not John.

They also had pig races with different types of pigs. It was the cutest thing!

At the end we went on a hay ride and the kids got to pick their own pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch.

One of the main reasons I went to NE was to cheer my sister on in her first Half Marathon. She ran in the Kansas City Marathon and there were THOUSANDS of runners.

She did a GREAT job coming in under 2 hours!

These kids love their mommy!

It was also Nahoa's birthday and I gave him a Batman beenie. Can you tell he likes Batman?

Miya was happy with the box I wrapped it in.

Everytime I go to visit my sister we always have all these projects planned, one of them was making a costume for Miya. We started it together and Pebbles finished it after I left.

Isn't Miya the cutest little witch?

Next stop...Denver!

2010-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

One day after Matt and I returned from Hawaii we hopped in the car and made the 8 hour drive to Denver, CO! Are we crazy? Yes. We thought our vacation in Hawaii was cut short so we needed another week. ;) My sister and her family were in Denver for a few days on their way back to Omaha so we decided to meet them. I'm so glad we did!
..

We hiked...

Garden of the Gods

Thanks for the boost John!

Nahoa's Spiderman pose

John, Miya, Kate (John's sister)

Miya's no longer a baby! She's a little girl. I can't believe how big she's gotten.
.
We toured the Candy Factory...

They gave out cute paper hats.

I think the kids were in heaven.
..

We ate Good BBQ...

We went to JABOS, John's aunt & uncle's restaurant.

These pulled pork sandwiches were delicious & HUGE! I couldn't finish mine. Look how it almost fills the plate. The scones, onion rings, fries and coleslaw were also tasty.
..

We went to a Rockies Baseball Game...

Rockies vs. Brewers (I think)

Nahoa was hungry.

Cute Miya lasted the whole game!

Matt & John wheeled & dealed for our tickets ;)

Matt & Miya. Isn't she getting big?!

We had SO much fun seeing Pebbles & John. Matt was able to book our room at the same hotel as them so we were just down the hall. Thanks for letting us join you on your trip!

Matt tricked me into driving 7 of the 8 hours home. This picture was taken just out of Greenriver.

No question about it...

2010-08-21T20:12:00.001-07:00

Matt is Bob's son...Can you guess who's who?

A while ago I saw this picture of his dad (Bob 20 years ago) and today I found this picture of Matt while I was cleaning my computer. I instantly thought of the middle picture. I know it's only a profile shot of both of them, but it's still funny. I showed Matt my comparison and he even laughed.

I wish everyday was vacation

2010-08-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Matt and I are finally home after a few weeks of vacation. It was lovely! This is going to be a longer post, but I guess it's ok since I haven't really posted anything in a while.

First stop: San Diego/LA

We arrived in San Diego to meet up with Matt's family for a little family time. The last time we took this trip was 3 years ago, and Matt and I weren't even engaged yet!

The fun thing about this trip is we all stayed at the same place so we didn't need to drive too much, we just had to walk to each other's rooms. I love the pools here, too.

It was kind of cloudy the majority of the trip, but when it wasn't we were at the pool.

Matt & Kate, she was showing us her mean swimming skills.

Matt and Hoopes, his mission buddy. We had an okonomiyaki night which they planned, but somehow I ended up showing them how to make the okonomiyaki.

Matt had an office visit in LA with an accounting firm. Look at him all mature and career-oriented.

My cousin lives in LA so I went along with Matt on his trip to visit him. Here are his cute new shih tzu puppies and mommy Minji. Aren't they adorable?

I had SO much fun with Keao. We went to the fabric district and I was in heaven! Thanks again Keao!

We celebrated Matt's 25th birthday while we were with his family at Bruno's. The pizza was yummy and HUGE.

Since we've been running a lot I gave Matt some insoles for his running shoes, and a pre-Hawaii gift, tanning goggles. It was a joke, but he actually used it.

Next stop: Hawaii

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was being filmed in Hawaii so we got to take pictures of the Pirate ship. Too bad we didn't meet Johnny Depp.

The third day of our trip was Matt's 25th birthday.

He started his birthday by golfing with Uncle Darrell at Ko'olau Golf Course...

...Then breakfast at Liliha Bakery. They have THEEE best french toast made with Hawaiian sweet bread...

...then Matt rented his very first car! (After 25 you don't have the pay the extra fee!)

...Then we checked into our hotel in Waikiki. Before we took this trip I told Matt I wanted to stay in a hotel at least one night since I've never stayed in a hotel in Hawaii. It was sooo nice. I love air conditioning. This is the pool view from our room.

We stayed in an ocean view room thanks to our friend Ewa. Doesn't the background look painted?

Here's the Birthday Boy enjoying the view.

I loved the pools at the Sheraton. There was even a little waterslide. You can barely see my head and my feet.

Matt took a turn. It was a pretty small slide so he didn't get much speed but we both thought it was fun.

For birthday dinner we ate at Coco's Curry House, a chain out of Japan. Matt was SO excited to eat here.
Mmmm...Katsu Curry

Happy Birthday Matt!

Amy, Brett and Summer visited us in Waikiki.

We stayed in the cutest plantation-style hotel. I loved it, thanks again Ewa for getting us oceanviews! Isn't this place cute?

Pretending we don't know our picture is being taken

One of the main reasons we went to Hawaii was for Brett and Summer's wedding! Little did we know we were going to help with preparation! This might look like a sweatshop, but we all gathered at Uncle Dean and Auntie Carol's house to sew chair covers. Keao, Summer, Auntie and I were on the sewing machines; Matt and Justin were cutting loose thread; and Brett was ironing. Busy, busy, but fun!

Of course, we hit the BEACH!

Matt only wanted to boogie board, so I just watched. We would alternate calm beaches and rough beaches. I prefer calm.

I stuck to sandsliding. The only downside to this is you know the wave is going to crash down right on top of you.

KCCN Birthday Bash with the cousins.

Keao took us to Crepes No Ka Oi in Kailua. Super good!

Dukes. Yum. Seasoned waffle fries. Yum double um.

Finally, we ate okonomiyaki and I didn't have to make it!

Remember how I mentioned wedding preparation? Here we are preparing coconut shrimp for the reception, all 1,400 of them until 2:30 am! Keao and I made a good team. I can still hear the rhythmic pound Keao made to batter each shrimp.

Summer and Auntie Colleen asked me to make the bouquets. Here's the bride's. (Thanks for the photo Mika!)

Matt and I were stationed at the "sign in" table, but this one was way more techy.

This was a special wedding for us, not only because Brett is my cousin, but because Matt and Brett were mission companions! Congrats Brett & Summer!

Reception clean-up. Matt, Keao, Brett.

We love Amy!

At my wedding Brett helped my mom assemble my wedding cake, which inspired him to make his own! Isn't he nuts? But he did a great job. This picture is for you Shima! (Sorry, it's been disassembled a little).

Matt and I had a North Shore day and rode scooters. So fun, but a little stressful on a narrow road.

I'll never be too cool to wear a helmet. I just wish the helmets were white. It would have been so much cuter.

Waimea Bay

We stopped for shave ice at Matsumotos

Then we ate lunch and shared another one.

More sightseeing stops...

Laie Temple and Matt trying to tan (i.e., no shirt). I made him wear a helmet after I told him all the pros to wearing a helmet. What a good husband. I tend to be extra cautious.

We were introduced to Settlers of Catan, a board game. I think that will be the next board game we purchase.

We had to hit up Liliha's one last time for sweet bread french toast before we flew out. It was the perfect end to a fun trip! We can't wait to go back!

Matt's London Trip (finally!)

2010-07-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

A couple months (could I be any slower?) ago Matt took a trip to London on an Accounting Study Abroad. Unfortunately, I wasn't invited! It was tough being away from him, especially since we could only email each other.

Matt would email me pictures every night of the things he did that day, so here are some of the highlights! (These pictures were taken on his iPhone. His camera broke the first day he was there! So these pictures will have to do.)

Big Ben

The white cliffs of Dover
Matt and a few from the group of accounting students

Trebuchet

Downtown London

Wagamama was Matt's favorite restaurant in London. He ate there every day while in London (sometimes twice!) So he brought back a Wagamama cookbook for me ;) It has some great recipes!

...

Below are a couple of interesting pictures. Matt was able to find the chapel where his 16th great grandpa, John Rogers, was the Vicar in Old London. He helped in the translation of the Bible into English in the 1500s and was burned at the stake for it, which is also right outside of the chapel.

Can you see his name?

This sign is mounted outside the front door of the church.

Changing of the guard.

I thought this was cute, Harry Potter's platform 9 and 3/4 in the London train station.

IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), where the rules for International Accounting are set.

(One of the main reasons Matt went to London in the first place)

London Eye

The London Tower Oxford

Piccadilly Square (the Times Square of London)

Stonehenge

Westminster Abbey

...the end.

2010-05-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

...more to come.

(yes, Matt really bought this)

Two years ago...

2010-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

...Matt and I decided to get married...

...and after two years I still think Matt is so....

...adorable...

...huggable...

...and kissable ;)

Two years later and I still think it's the BEST decision we ever made!

Yes, Matt:

Ayoo iinish ni! Ai shite iru! Chu chu! Hug hug, kees kees.

2010-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Omaha #2

2010-05-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a trip. Matt and I had fun and I loved seeing my sister. There's nothing like hangin' with your big sis! I miss living in the same town...or even state as her! Our trip consisted of lots of eating, golf for the boys, late nights, LOTS of naps, time with my cute nephew and niece, and shopping! My sister can shop! I was worn out everyday. But I wasn't complaining.

We stayed in her lovely home.

Pebbles and John took us to Zio's, a New York Style pizzeria. It was so good! The waitress messed up our order and brought out hamburger/pepperoni pizza. It was SO gross. Who eats hamburger on their pizza? But once our pineapple and pepperoni pizza came out, we were all happy. We even went back the next day for lunch!

Miya got a butterfly balloon while at Zio's. She popped 2 of the wings by the time we left so it might not look like a butterfly in this picture.

We didn't plan on this, but we ended up paying a visit to the hospital. We had to rush (literally) Matt to the emergency room! It was so scary. I thought he was going to have a heart attack since his chest was hurting, his face was going numb and he was ready to faint! He was a little sick before we left and it hit its peak on our second day. Poor guy. But he didn't let it get him down. The doctors said he had a minor respiratory infection and acute pneumonia! Yikes. Luckily no one else got sick. I think we would have stayed home if we knew this was wrong with him! The day before we left we went to the hospital but the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him so they sent him home with Zofran and told him to drink lots of fluids and rest, it would pass in a couple days...yeah right. Another thing that didn’t help the situation was when we arrived to the hospital in Omaha the receptionist had LONG claw-acrylic nails and couldn’t type Matt’s info fast enough. She had to type with her index finger and look at the keyboard as she typed. Aren’t there like 50 WPM requirements when you apply for a job? The nurses were a bunch of downers too. Not fun.

But luckily we had these cute kids to hang out with after. I took Nahoa to the Botanical Gardens while Pebbles was at a Church Leadership meeting (new Primary President) and John and Matt were golfing. He is such a SWEET kid and he has a voice that is so cute. I'll have to post a short clip.

He would pose right on cue everytime I took a picture of him.

Here is his "Flash" picture (he's so fast he's blurry in pictures).

On Saturday night we went to Hiro, a Japanese and sushi restaurant. It was excellent.

Here's little Miss Miya. She is SO cute and we loved seeing her. She reminds me of my sister SO much, it's hiliarious.

We HAD to make a stop at Wheatfields. The last time I visited they had the best cookies. YUM!

We were even on Tornado watch while visiting. The next morning my sister and I were driving to the store and I took this picture on my phone. Luckily it was just a funny shaped cloud (see it in the distance?)

The BIG slides! That's Matt going down.

I also cut my hair while I was there in Downtown Omaha. (Pictures below)

Bowling is always fun. Nahoa LOVEs going to "rolling ball school"

This was a pretty old school alley. Notice in the top 2 pictures the lanes are empty but there are lots of people not bowling? They were having a bowling league tournament on all the lanes but 2, the 2 we were on. It felt like everyone was watching us since they were eating but we were bowling. Embarrassing.

This was a really good restaurant. It's mostly a brewery with adults, but the food is really good. Since we had kids with us the host stuck us in the back corner away from the beer. It was nice.

Pebbles and John with the kids. Don't you love Miya's smile? She does this everytime you tell her to smile for a picture. So funny.

Matt LOVES Miya. It's the cutest thing. On our last day we walked over the Pedestrian Bridge which people call "Bob." Nahoa brought his 'scooter bike' and Matt helped by pushing him.

Now Matt can say he's been to Nebraska and Iowa ;)

Finally!

2010-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

(as in today is finally here!)

Today is a GREAT day.

Matt finished his last final meaning...

He has completed the Accounting Junior Core!!

AND

We are flying to Omaha to see these people today!!!

April 6 mommy, April 6

2010-04-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Don't you love "birthday week"? This is a phrase Matt really lives by, so when my birthday comes around, I like to take advantage of it too.

My parents came up during Conference Weekend and that's when the partying began ;) We spent the ENTIRE day together grocery shopping, craft-shopping/looking (JoAnn, etc) and clothes shopping. It was so fun. I haven’t done this in a while and I usually go by myself. I really miss doing this with my mom and sister. This really made my weekend! It’s so fun to go with someone who I can ask their opinion or questions I have about cooking (my mom’s a pro). Thanks for coming up Mom and Dad and...

...for the Cake Decorating kit! Woohoo! I just need to practice now.

Then on my birthday Matt and I went out with his family to...

Marley's! It is SO good and fun to eat!

Matt and I were supposed to meet the rest of his family at Marley's when Matt called and told me to come outside (he was picking me up on his way back from school). So I did and they (Oldroyds, Millers, Lovejoys) all pulled up in this:

...A limo! I couldn't see inside since the windows were tinted so I was a little hesitant and wasn't sure if the car was for me! But the door opened and I saw Scott and Michelle. I was a little bashful. I don't like too much attention.

What a fun surprise. Thanks Bob!

The whole group (minus Todd).

After we had cake and ice cream at the Oldroyds (I was too slow and didn't get a picture w/ the candles).

Thanks everyone for making this a fun birthday!!!

ps. the title is an inside joke.

We made...

2010-03-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

...crepes! Finally! I bought the pan 5 months ago and finally used it. We had the Maris family over and it was sooo fun....and SO good!

We struggled a litte with the first few.

...

Here's Megumi perfecting the process to make...

...these. Don't they look divine?

____________________________________________

These were also good:

...

Fresh out-of-the-oven pitas to make sandwiches with...SO good.

...and these: doughnut muffins covered in cinnamon sugar.

Weekend Roadtrip

2010-03-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

After a week of tests Matt and I took a quick trip down to St. George then Vegas. It was lovely.

The first thing we did when we got to St. George? SWIM! It was nice and warm!

Matt doing a cool trick at the bottom of the pool ;)

That night we were driving home after dinner and found this old school (ghetto) bowling alley:

(These are phone pics) Notice how you can see the ball roll back to the platform (middle picture).

Now, the grand finale...we mostly drove all the way to Vegas for this: Matt's Mabo Ramen. He was SO excited and happy. The trip was worth it ;)

Now, for me the highlight of the trip was going here:

I saw this bakery featured on Bakerella. The cupcakes all looked SO good so I really wanted to try them.

(The buttercream really is THAT good!)

These are the cupcakes we tried. My favorites were the PB Cup and Chocolate Chip Cookie. The butter cream on PB Cup was SO good. It tasted like peanut butter. Yum!
...
(Below) Here we are enjoying our cupcakes in the parking lot. If you'll notice in this picture there are only 3 cupcakes...but above there are 4. After tasting them we went back and bought another cupcake and more chocolate chip cookies. They were really good.

Now that's a cupcake!

I forgot to post, but...

2010-03-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

...Yeah, we beat it!

Check it...

2010-03-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

Last night, I made Japanese Miso Ramen (no, not Top Ramen).

Matt was impressed! I don't really know how it's supposed to taste, but he said it was good broth (from scratch...sort of...plus miso paste). I know it's nothing like authentic ramen in Japan, but it's pretty good for us Orem-ers. ;)

...and yes, this is the final castle on Wii Mario! Woo Woo!

We made it to the front doors last night. What an accomplishment.

Wii...

2010-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

...are hooked on

Bob (Matt's pops) bought this for Christmas. We gave it a try but it was too hard, so we let it sit for a couple months...until last week. I think we've put in about 8 hours. We've been to his parents' almost every night to play, and last Saturday? This was our date-night activity (3 hours). This is strange for us since neither of us are gamers...at all. But this game is something else ;) I even find myself looking up "cheats and codes" on the internet. What a nerd.

I Heart My Valentine

2010-02-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

It was my turn to plan Valentine's Day this year.

Friday:
We started our weekend out by watching...

Then ate the biggest plate of Nachos at Los Hermanos...Yeah, I felt sick after.

Saturday:

We decided to try out...

Yum! I especially liked the flatbread. It's like tortillas cooked on the grill.

Of course, we had to have dessert after so we had homemade Chilis Paradise Pie (Matt's favorite)...it was pretty close. We both liked it.

Sunday:

I cooked breakfast Sunday morning. I made Matt's favorite: Spam and Eggs. I also made bite-sized King's Hawaiian French Toast....mmm delish.

I needed some heart shaped cookie cutters and Matt gave me a cute set! He's really good at picking up on hints ;)

He also gave me the cutest card. He always says the funniest things in them. I love it.

Of course, I had to make cookies!

...Uhhh a little scary. Anyone have a good *tasting* royal frosting recipe?

Winter Fun...

2010-02-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

Meet Amy, or as I call her, Sweet Amy ;)

Every winter my cousin Amy comes from Hawaii to snowboard.

She is the FUNNEST person you will ever meet and Matt and I were so happy to have her stay with us.

While she was here Matt and I joined her out on the slopes. This was our (me and Matt) first time snowboarding/skiing together. I barely kept up with Matt and Amy, but I made it through the day.

Hmmm...how is it Amy lives in Hawaii and I live in Utah and she's so good and I'm so bad at snowboarding?

(PS. She hates being called Sweet Amy)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T22:04:00.001-08:00

(Photo courtesy of WS)

chit-chat

2010-01-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

Last night I talked to my brother (in AZ) and sister (in NE) at the same time via 3-way calling... I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Don't you love technology?

The expression on Matt's face was priceless. It was half "you're so weird" and half "I wish I could hear what they were saying." Maybe I'll have to get a speaker phone next.

Christmas and New Years

2010-01-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was fun and a little different for me since none of my siblings were here for Christmas. Only my parents were able to make it up to Utah for Christmas.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at the Oldroyds. It didn't make sense for my parents to have a big dinner with just us four, so it was nice being with my parents and Matt's family on Christmas Eve. Mom wanted to bring something to the dinner so we made this:

A fruit bouquet! It was fun! My mom cut the fruit shapes and I arranged.

Matt and I spent Christmas morning with my parents then headed to his house after. Just a few gift highlights:

I thought this mug from Chelsea was cute.
.

Cable for a year for Matt! He was so excited. The morning the Comcast guy came Matt woke up every 10 minutes to look outside and make sure he didn't miss us. (8 am to 10 am!)

Matt's gift to me:

A TANO bag! I was sooo excited! I found this in Omaha when I visited my sister and LOVED it, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it. When I came back I kept talking about it to Matt, in the meantime he had my sister buy it and send it to him. What a surprise! This bag is so cute, and I love that the brand is my name...Tano!
.
Matt and I left for St. George and Las Vegas Christmas evening.

Matt & Chels after lunch at Joe's.

Matt's new show of interest is Pawn Stars on the History Channel. So of course, we had to go to the Pawn Star pawn shop.

While in Vegas Matt and I ate GOOD Japanese Ramen. We also stopped at Yoshinoyas. It's fast food chain in Japan and we found out there were a couple in Vegas. It was so good! When we were in Japan Yoshinoyas was one of my favorite places to eat. Yum!

I was so excited about all the snow when we got back to Provo because I wanted to build this....

...an igloo! It was so fun, but more work than I expected.

My brother and his family were also able to make it up for the week after Christmas.

My cute nephew with his snowman, my igloo and Granite.

Jess, here's the funny picture of Kono trying to lift the box. So cute. Don't you love his face? Lifting with his legs, not his back. Good job.

Cute Kaipo ready for the long ride home!

Where are they now?

2009-12-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

Meet Kevin and Matt:

They've been friends since fourth grade. When I see this picture (above) of them in high school I think, "Aw, how cute"

....So where are they now, you might ask?...

Apparently, walking around sportin' their mustaches.

Rather than "Aw, how cute," "Oh, boy" is what comes to mind now.

_________________________________

Well, Matt went through his mustache phase and this was the end product:

This is 2 months worth of growth. He started growing it on October 1st and finally shaved it on November 25th. That was a good day.

Oh, and just for kicks, this is a good "scary mustache" photo from a cold BYU football game.

Aren't you all glad the stach is gone?

Do do da Dooo!!!

2009-12-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

My sister texted me this cute video. I just had to post it for the family to see... and in case you don't know, Nahoa is a Batman (fan) ...no, Nahoa is Batman.

(turn up the volume!)

(sorry it's sideways)

Happy Birthday...

2009-12-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

...to my sweet Mom!

We love you! Sky.

Pizza! Pizza!

2009-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Quick trivia: Do you know why the old Little Caesars commercials used to say "Pizza! Pizza!"? It was supposed to mean you could get 2 pizzas for the price of 1. Yup, that's one thing I remember from my Entrepreneurial Marketing class!

Anyway, Matt and I love pizza so a couple weeks ago we had Kenz and Ryan over for pizza night!

Here I am with the ingredients (try 4 Pizzas for the price of 1!). One of the biggest perks of "House Sitting" for my parents is my mom's well stocked kitchen. I love it! We used her pizza stone and peel (pizza peel=wooden slider pizza in the oven-thing) which were keys to our pizza making success (i.e., deliciousness). --

Kenz and Ryan working on their pizza...

...and their end product.

Here Matt is with his very own pizza. His looked better than mine (the reason there are no pictures of mine).

Yummmm....

Thanks Ryan and Kenz for coming!

He's soooo...

2009-11-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

...sweet! Matt surprised me with these

and a card that said I still melt his heart. How cute. Matt writes the funniest, cutest things in his cards.

Then he took me to...

(I wanted to go this summer to the new one in Sandy.)

It was SO delish! I had the Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp and Avacado Egg Rolls. Sooo gooood.

We usually wouldn't have done this for a 6 month anniversary, but Tuesday night was the first night in about 2 1/2 weeks where Matt didn't have tons of homework or early class the next morning (even our weekends are full!). It was so nice to spend a relaxing evening with him. I'll be glad when this semester is over! I try to spend as much time with him as I can but he's just so busy.

I've been...

2009-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

...married to this cutie for a year and a half!

Happy half-year anniversary Matt!

Happy Happy Halloween

2009-11-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

This year I didn't dress up. As disappointed as Matt was, I think he really enjoyed dressing up by himself this year.

Can you guess who he is?

Matt had it all down:

Bronzer on his face

Salt & Pepper hair, eyebrows, & mustache

(white spray, but looks silver-Einsteiny in the photos)

His dad's clothes

And shoes

Phone clip on his hip

He fixed his hair like his dads

And grew out his mustache.

When we first met he told me he wanted to be just like his dad...he's doing a pretty good just so far.

O...maha

2009-10-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

I went to...

a couple weeks ago to visit these lovely people:

---
I loved every minute with these cRazy kids

(In the presents I brought for them. Aka: brownie points for Auntie Bahii)

(My extra pair of boots w/ Pebbles' boots entertained Nahoa)

...even when I was squished in-between their throne-like car seats. We had quality bonding time.

While I visited my sister and her family we did a couple Halloween crafts
Ghost truffles...

And of course, Batman sugar cookies with Nahoa.
---

They fattened me up while I was there with GOOD food...
--

Yummmm...

---
And I had the opportunity to see where John spends most of his days: at Creighton University (The Cathedral on campus).

---

I had so much fun and the trip went by way too quickly! I wish I could have stayed a little longer and I wish Matt could have come! There's nothing like chillin' with your sister.

Piece o' Pie

2009-10-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

My sweet mother-in-law gave me this beautiful green pie dish...

and good ol' Dale gave me a couple of these...

so after a few phone calls to my sister (the pie expert) I made this....

(pic from Matt's iPhone, forgot my camera at work)

My first apple pie...YUM!

Why you ask...???

2009-10-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have known Matt for almost 3 years but still, I fail to understand some of the things he does... and/or why I let him do it... For example:
.

1. Coupons: Matt LOVES coupons. His friends call him the "coupon king." I'm not so sure that's a name to be proud of, but using coupons whenever he can makes Matt so happy. Weird? Yeah...But, it makes him happy.

2. Vanillaroma air fresheners (the yellow pine tree one): the first thing I noticed when I sat in Matt's Jeep the first time we hung out was the number of yellow Vanillaroma trees hanging from his rear view mirror. I would say he had a cluster of about 5 or 6. On our 3rd date he stopped at 7-11, ran in and came out with a three pack of Vanillaromas, tore off the plastic on all three and added it to his collection. Odd? Maybe a little. Maybe a little because it's not like he had some horrible odor to mask. He just liked them... and of course, it made him happy.

3. Craigslist: Matt's obsession began about 2 years ago. He checks Craigslist religiously every day. This is his routine: Check his email to see if he received any Craigslist inquiries on any of his items for sell; log on to Craigslist and look at the postings; check the "wanted" section to see if he has any items to sell to the wantee; post any items. He's actually a Craigslist expert and maybe just a little bit obsessive. I sometimes have to compete with Craigslist for Matt's time. BUT, Craigslist definitely makes Matt happy.

4. Monopoly: As of late, McDonalds Monopoly has kept Matt interested and entertained. Every year he gets into this. He pulls up to the drive-through and asks, "Which items have the peelies?" They tell him so he limits himself to that short menu. Who cares if he wants 5 greasy hash browns or not, it has the peelies! Thank goodness McDonalds Monopoly lasts 1 month. By the end of the month he will have a ziplock bag full of peelies. Like Craigslist, he returns home to enter the codes and lets me "roll" the dice for good luck (you click to roll the dice)...apparently I'm not much good luck, we haven't won. BUT...it makes Matt happy and every year he gets excited for Monopoly month.

.
5. Mustache: Last but not definitely not least, Matt has been growing a mustache. Maybe it's not his most attractive feature, and maybe I don't understand why he is so proud of it. BUT...I do know that it makes him so unbelievably happy (you should see the smile on his face as he combs it and looks at it in the mirror). So if any of you wonder why I, his wife, am letting him grow it, it's because I love him and like to see him happy...and yes, like many other things I don't understand ,growing a mustache makes Matt happy.
.
So even though I just don't get the things Matt does, I let him do it anyway and get excited with him because...
.

A Happy Matt = A Happy Tazbaa.

.
I love YOU Matt...
.
XXOOxO
(Hug hug, kees kees, leettle hug, beeg kees
-nacho libre)
.
The end.

October 18th...2007

2009-10-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today Matt and I were engaged!

(ring shot...cheesy? maybe, but oh well, i like it ^3^)

Matt & I were engaged for 7 months and thought our wedding day would NEVER come...but time sure flies!

Fall

2009-10-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today Matt surprised me by bringing home a tandem bike.

Isn't he sweet? I mentioned to him I wanted to rent one so this was a nice surprise.

We rode the bike up the Provo Canyon.

Matt did most of the work while I relaxed ;)

It was freezing in the canyon but we were able to get some nice shots of the beautiful fall colors.

...

Matt's fall portrait...don't you love his left hand placement? (yes...that's a mustache if you're wondering)

Hiroshima Style

2009-10-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Maki came to visit from Japan...so we had another Okonomiyaki night and she made it! It was delicious.

Matt made sure we had all the "authentic" ingredients we needed.

Maki & Matt

Yummm...you really have to try this

Maki & me

We had the Maris family over too with their cute new baby boy Noa (not pictured...sorry).

The End.

Oh how i wish...

2009-10-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

...my shoe closet (ROOM is more like it) looked like this.

...

Doesn't this picture make you want to sing?

It is lovely.

Sooo good...

2009-09-23T09:22:00.001-07:00

Dannon Vanilla Yogurt

Fresh Strawberries
=
delicious...

you should try it

Back to School.

2009-08-31T09:28:00.001-07:00

Today I sent Matt off bright and early for his first day back to school.

Look at him, all grown up.

My Garden

2009-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

I planted a garden in May...

(a very small garden)

...and last weekend I was surprised to see all these tomatoes and cucumbers!

I also planted honeydew...

& cantaloupe. Both weren't quite ready.

I'm sad...

2009-08-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

The countdown is on.

Matt starts school in 4 days!

No more carefree weekends, homework-less nights OR vacations...for a while.

No more bike rides up the canyon, picnics, weekend road trips (maybe...or not), late movie nights (8 am class...boooo), or sleeping in.

Summer is over. I will miss all these things. Most of all I will miss Matt. That makes me sad.

Snapshots...

2009-08-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well August was "Famliy Month" for me. I took lots of pictures and our family did lots of fun stuff. We had Matt & Miya's party, went to St. George, Tuba City for Kaipo's baby blessing, family pictures, lots of golf for the guys and shopping for the girls. Since that would make a really long blog post I am just going to post some of my favorite/highlight pictures. Sorry if I lose you...I'm not into descriptions today. "No one really reads them anyway," says Matt (but I do).

While in Tuba Pebbles and I went for an 8 mile run/jog in the "backcountry" (aka boonies) to Dinosaur Tracks...

...the views were AMAZING!

Gotta love Hot Fries & Peanut Patties...two of the Rez's best kept secrets :)

Family cookout: Mom at the grill...

...while everyone else is eating :s

Kono & Nahoa: "No tacos for you Matt!" (Even they know how much Matt likes his Jack in the Box tacos)

We took a small hike/walk to a monument. The lady with the big, bright umbrella=Mom=easy to find.

The boys just had to sit up front with Grandpa...

...then Grandpa let Nahoa drive (on the dirt road @ 10 mph, don't worry).

M&M Party

2009-08-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to throw Matt his very own birthday party. It just so happened my family would be in town on his birthday too! My sister and her family were in from Nebraska so I thought it would be a grand idea to combine Matt and Miya's (my niece, to be 1 year old in August) birthdays!

It was so fun to have Matt's family over for his b-day. My mom, sisters and I cooked all the food I had been craving (but I was waiting for them to come up and cook for me ;)).

We had mostly Hawaiian kind of food. (Kalbi chicken, ribs, rice, mac salad, sour cream jello, shave ice, etc.)

Jess made good Pani popo...mmmmmm

My mom and I (mostly my mom) made this cute 1 year cake for Miya.

Pebbles and I quickly made this guava cake for Matt.

I also tried this new recipe for Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cream Pie...I was a fan of it. I don't know about anyone else ;)

The birthday boy and girl.

Miya was so cute. We gave her a slice to "dig" into and get messy, but being the girly-girl she is she was a little hesitant and just poked it with her index finger. We finally had to get a fork and feed her.

Happy Birthday to Matt & Miya! Thanks for comin' everyone!

Happy Happy Birthday!

2009-07-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

...to Matt!

Success!

2009-07-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

About three years ago I, along with my cousin Amy and friend Matt, attempted to make Mochi Ice cream. It was a disaster! (See following pictures).

The ice cream balls we rolled by hand (see Matt's hand).

The mochi shell--Amy doesn't approve.

Trying to shape the mochi into balls.

Thumbs down. I think we just left the mochi ice cream in the freezer and they were hard as a rock. Too gross to eat.

But yesterday as I was browsing the interenet I came across a recipe for Mochi Ice cream. It looked pretty easy so I decided to try it last night. The result? Success! And tasty too!

I told my cousin and she was excited. We finally have closure to our mochi disaster.

(For recipe: http://japaneseicecream.blogspot.com/2009/04/japanese-mochi-ice-cream-recipe.html)

Daddy-boy

2009-07-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

This is a little late, but I'm finally getting around to some updates.

This month was my Dad's birthday! I bet you can't guess how old he is...

Since everyone back in Hawaii calls my dad Eddieboy, I used to call him Daddy-boy when I was little.

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you past the sky!

Cause for a Celebration...

2009-07-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

So before Matt submitted his application for the accounting program he said, "If I get in let's go to Tepanyaki." I said, "Oooh, let's go to The Cheesecake Factory or The Melting Pot." So on Wednesday we went to....

Matt won. But I still want fondue. After all, I helped with the application. I deserve a little something, right?

Matt happy he won...

The table to chair ratio is really awkward (and I'm short) so Matt stacked 2 chairs for me to sit on. It was perfect.

Introducing...

2009-07-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

My nephew Kaipo! Isn't he a cutie?

Drum Roll Please....

2009-07-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Matt! He has been accepted to the Marriott School of Accountancy this fall! Hurray! I'm so proud of you honey!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Matt and I had a fun-filled 4th of July.

All of us from the office ran the Freedom Run 5k Saturday morning. We were able to catch Chad & Michele Lewis after for an AIS picture.

Stadium of Fire! Matt and I have been to the Stadium of Fire every year since we started dating and I FINALLY took a picture of us.

The stadium was packed. This year's show wasAMAZING. I thought they did a great job with every part of the show. This was my favoite Stadium of Fire yet!

The Jonas Brothers performed this year. They put on a great show and are so cute! (even if all are younger than me) There were so many young screaming girls!

JoBros

Happy 4th! Yay for FIREWORKS!

Weekend Retreat...

2009-07-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

After a long week we (me & the ladies from the office) all took a weekend retreat to St. George. What a nice, relaxing weekend.

We stayed at a donor's beautiful home on the Entrada Golf Course (This is where they filmed HSM2).

Much better in person, but they had a breathtaking view from their front room.

We also watched the Tuacahn production of Footloose.

...And when Matt and I had time, we snuck away and watched The Proposal. I love Sandra Bullock. I'm determined to buy the Christian Louboutin pumps she wore in this movie. I love them!

...Aaaahhh St. George...

All in a Week's Work

2009-07-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Last week at work we held our annual Celebrity Banquet & Auction and Golf Tournament. Am I glad it's over? Yes! This week consists of looong hours, late nights, early mornings, hot sun, standing all day, confusion, and indigestion from all the junk food we stuff in our faces.

This year was more enjoyable...why? Because Matt was at both events and seeing him always brightens my day!

The Husband Table. They get to nutritious and delicious meal...lucky.

Our entertainment for the evening was Allison Krauss and The Dan Tyminski Band

At the end of the evening I was so happy to see Matt. He's such a cutie.

The following day was the golf shootout. A beautiful view from Hole 7 at Thanksgiving Point.

Here Matt is marking Hole 7 with Closest to the Hole.

The Star of the Day...Matt and his team won 1st place, Matt won the Long-drive competition AND Closest to the Hole. What a good day of golf for Matt. Here he is with his prizes....he's all smiles.

A Few Weeks ago...

2009-07-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Matt and I went down to St. George for the Brown Family Reunion. It was a nice getaway and the weather was perfect! We enjoyed lots of eating, visiting, swimming , golfing, and wave running.

The drive down was beautiful. Everything was so GREEN.

Matt and Brandon

Matt showing off his cool moves.

Matt and I taking our turn...

Cute Little Miss Jane

Matt got stuck blowing up this floaty...luckily someone brought a (manual) pump.

Poor Matt rolled his ankle golfing, but he didn't let it interfere with all the fun!

Cupcakes...

2009-06-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

I recently made guava cupcakes for my co-workers.

I brought this tray of 17 in to work. I had 1 cupcake and let the 3 ladies in that day have the rest. By the end of the day they were gone! They were so yummy!

Japan 2009

2009-06-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our Japan trip was perfect! The weather was perfect and we were there just before the mosquitos started to come out. It was wonderful being with Matt 24/7! It was so much fun being together and being in his old mission areas. I was so glad Matt spoke Japanese and it was so helpful! It definately made our trip run a lot smoother. He did an excellent job planning the trip and I LOVED every minute of it.

(Disclosure:Sorry for such a long post and any typos)

I had to post this picture. Guess which bag is mine? The one on the left! It weighed only 20 pounds! Don't ever call me high maintenance again Granite or Matt. I was perfectly fine with what I packed and didn't forget anything. The weeks leading up to the trip I made a list and even searched on Google how to pack light.

Land of the Rising Sun.

Once we landed in Japan we were anxious to get off the plane after a 13 hour flight...But then health workers came on dressed like this with infrared cameras checking if anyone had "fever." It took an hour and I was getting so anxious to get off the plane!

After getting off the train and walking to our hotel my wheel broke! My bag didn't even make it 1 day. I ended up dragging (then shredding) my bag around the rest of the trip. When we arrived back in Utah we threw it away.

Left: Our hotel the first night in Japan. Right: The view from our room.

The next morning we woke up at 4 am and went to the fish market. The warehouse was HUGE and filled with TONS of fresh fish. The tuna were huge and ran about $7,000 each. Tons of people were gathered to bid on the fish.

Right outside of the fish market there are tons of sushi restaurants with the freshest fish. The shops lined up behind Matt are ALL sushi places.

These restaurant places are sweet. You pay for your meal outside at the phonecard-looking machines, then take you ticket in and the workers prepare your meal.

After Tokyo we rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. We saw Mt. Fugi on the way and I thought all the colorful tiny houses were cute. The oncoming trains passed by so fast and so close.

While in Kyoto we met up with Matt's old companion Tachi. He took us to the Nijojo Castle.

And after he took us to eat Okonomiyaki (it was so good) and then to the Kiyomizudera temple/shrine. It was so beautiful!

Matt and I rung the bell for good luck. Tachi and Matt were able to lift the "sword in the stone" and every clapped when they did.

I spotted this guy at the train station. His shirt says "Navajo" so I just had to take a picture. (All them men sport the Man Purse)

We then Matt's first area--Nishiwaki. The Kunimoto family took us to dinner with a few other couples from the ward. The members were so nice and wonderful. I loved that Matt was able to reconnect with the old members. He seemed to really enjoy himself.

Our next stop was Hiroshima. Our room was so cute--2 (very hard) twin beds and bean bag pillows. We went to eat sushi and Matt cleared about 15 plates! He sure can eat.

While in Hiroshima we went to the Peace Park and A-Bomb Dome Memorial. As part of the memorial people make, string and hang tons of paper cranes as a sign of peace.

This lady was sketching a picture of the dome and was nice enough to let us take a picture.

The Hiroshima Castle.

They have funny English and their stores are over-the-top!

Japanese really know how to do dessert. I LOVED the crepes and the pastries. They had dessert buffets (about $15 a person) and I wanted to go so bad but we didn't have time.

Where's Waldo? Can you spot Matt?

We were able to stop by the mission home in Hiroshima and visit with the APs.

Left: Pachinko! Matt was so excited to try it since he was "forbidden" to try it as a missionary. Pachinko is like a pin-ball version of a slot machine. Right: Purikuras! I loved these photo booths. They were so fun. You can take silly poses with the green-screen behind and draw on on the pictures after. Below are a few of the purikuras we took:

Following Hiroshima we caught a ferry to Miyajima. Miyajima is home of the world's largest rice spoon and is famous for the Itsukushima Shrine (bottom right). At dinner Matt and I met a Buddhist Monk from the Mt. Misen temple. The next day we took the long hike to the top of Mt. Misen for a tour from the monk (top left).

We visited another area of Matt's--Kurakishi. Obata (top left) was so nice and took us to dinner and arranged a room for us at a traditional Japanese hotel. It was so nice and Matt and I had so much fun with her. We toured her husband's music studio and visited the ward house.

The following day Obata and Tongu took us to the Okayama Castle and garden. We were able to dress up and take pictures.

Shopping in Osaka.

I rode my first Ferris wheel in Osaka. The Hep5 Ferris wheel.

We went to the Osaka Aquarium with Matt's mission companion Izui.

As a last minute decision we went to Universal Studios Japan. It was so fun!

For our Anniversary Dinner we ate Yakiniku! It was so delicious! Matt did an excellent job cooking up the meet.

Our waiter gave us two custard filled strawberries for our anniversary.

The Tokyo Temple

While in Tokyo we went to Tokyo Disneyland! We had SO much fun! I love Disneyland with Matt. He's the best vacation planner.

...more Disney....

Matt and I went to the Ueno Zoo. I was a little sad because I was excited to see the pandas Lhinglhing and Whangwhang. I came all the way to Japan to see these pandas and when we arrived a sign was hung that said, "There are no giant pandas at this zoo." It turns out the pandas died 3 years ago! The only giant panda I got to see was the stuffed one I'm sitting on (top left corner).

During our last night in Japan we rode to the top of Tokyo Tower.

While waiting at the airport I decided to wear my mask the flight attendants gave all the passengers. I thought I blended in quite well with everyone else.

I was so tired on the flight home that I poured ranch dressing on my salad...But when I took my fork to eat it I noticed there was Saran wrap still covering it. Oops.

Finally!

2009-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

So...our 1 year anniversary was a couple weeks ago, but the other day I was taking some meat out of the freezer and I remembered...our frozen cake top from our wedding!

Finally! Every time I open the freezer I see this and think 1 year is so far away! But 1 year came and we both forgot about it. I was so excited when I remembered.

We didn't know what flavor the top would be (bottom: chocolate, middle: guava) but we cut it and found it was strawberry! Matt and I ate a few slices of the yummy cake. It was still moist and tasty!

Happy 34th!

2009-05-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today I was rummaging through some old family photos looking for a baby picture. As I dug through the bins of pictures I came across this picture of my parents from 1982!

I love this picture! They both look so young. I love my Dad's sweet suit and my Mom's long hair! Today also happens to be their 34th wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! Sky.

Our First Anniversary!

2009-05-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

Today is our 1st Year Anniversary! What a year! I can't believe how fast is has flown by. Our first year has been full of many great experiences and we are so lucky to have found each other! Matt and I met 6 years ago! I can't believe it's been that long! As we think of these past 6 years it is amazing how we were brought together.

One year ago we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. I'm am so lucky and grateful to have a wonderful husband. I love you Matt!

Our Story

2009-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be nice to write about how Matt and I met. It's going to be quite lengthy but here it goes...

It all started when my family moved from Arizona the Utah. I first started my junior year in high school at Orem High. I attended OHS for about 2 months and just did not like it at all. I was so unhappy and having a hard time adjusting. My parents suggested I transfer to Timpview since my cousin Krysyan also went to that school. By the third month I was a new student at Timpview High School. It was so much easier to adjust and this is where Matt and I first met.

Matt's senior yearbook photo.

My junior yearbook photo.

When I transferred I was enrolled in Step Aerobics. This class was full of girls and a couple of CRAZY boys. When I say crazy I'm not exaggerating. Anyone who knows Jake Christensen and Kevin Tucker knows what I mean. From the first day in class I immediately became their target. They liked to try to get me to react to the things they did (i.e., show up to class in bright orange booty shorts, follow close behind me when we had to run laps, set up their steps on both sides of me or in front and behind my step, etc.) I put up with them as the semester went on not thinking much of it.

During these first few weeks I became friends with Sara. One day I was talking to her in front of the library in between classes. As we were speaking a boy yelled out, "Sara! From Finland!" I glanced behind her to see who it was. I didn't know the boy but I remember thinking, "He's cute. He probably won't talk to me though." So I continued my conversation with Sara as if I hadn't noticed him. He finally approached us and walked right up to me and said, "Hi. I'm Matt. What's your name?" I was a little shocked. I told him my name and he replied, "Are you in my friends' step aerobics class? They're right, you are hot." I don't know if they ever really said that, but once I knew those 2 boys were his friends I thought, "Oh no..." I was sure Matt was just as hyper and crazy as them...and he was.

Soon after Matt asked for my number. We never got around to going out until that summer. I kind of avoided him because I didn't want to ask my dad if I could go out with him. Finally, in June of 2003 we went on our first date/hang out. We watched the Emperor's New Groove at his house and hung out with Kevin. I remember being so shy because he was (still is) so cute and I couldn't look at him without having a huge smile on my face. I looked out of the window in his truck most of the time and he would tease me about it.

We went on a few more dates but nothing really came of it. However, Matt and I clearly remember a conversation we had on one of our dates. He was asking me a million questions and asked, "If you could wish for anything what would it be? And I don't mean like a big house or nice car." I thought about it and said, "I wish I could be taller. What about you?" He replied, "I wish to marry my best friend." In response I asked, "Who's your best friend?" That was a little dumb of me to ask but he said, "Oh I don't know who it is yet." After he said that I remember thinking, "Me!" which I immediately thought was a strange thought after it came to me.

Matt and I went our separate ways. One day I stayed after in my high school English class and in walked Matt. He was a freshman at BYU and had just received his mission call. When he saw me he shook my hand told me he received his call to Hiroshima Japan! I thought, "hmmm...that's where my cousin in." But I didn't tell him that. I just continued to work as he spoke to my teacher.

Almost a year and half later my cousin Amy called me up from Hawaii. She said, "Bahii! Guess who Brett's new companion is?!" I had no idea. She continued, "Matt Oldroyd!" I was shocked! What were the chances of him being my cousin's companion?! Amy continued, "Brett emailed us today and said Matt dated you but your dad and brother did the thing where they act tough to scare their daughter's date and it worked and he wants Brett to put in a good word for him." I was so shocked. It turned out as Brett and Matt were doing their getting-to-know-you session a picture of me turned up. My aunt sent Brett pictures from our last family reunion in Hawaii and I was in one of them...next to roasted pig, making a face, in glasses, after a night of camping on the beach. Still, Matt recognized me from that picture and it seemed to make an impression on him. After hearing about Matt again from Amy I began thinking about Matt again, but once again, pushed my thoughts aside since he still had a ways to go on his mission.

It is almost 2 AM and Matt and I have to leave for Japan in 5 hours! I will put the happy ending on this story when I return! It took some extra help to get us together but I am so happy we finally made it!

Sarah & Sue

2009-05-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Matt and I would like to say Happy Mothers' Day to our wonderful Moms!

We are so BLESSED to have such wonderful Mothers who are both

Kind

Beautiful

Generous

Loving

Talented

Smart

Spiritual

Fun

and much, much more!

We LOVE you!

Weekend Trip

2009-05-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Matt and I took a trip down to Tuba City to visit my family. Pebbles and John are moving before Matt and I get back from Japan so it was the only time we could make this trip.

We had so much fun down in Arizona! We also did so much. Friday was Flea Market day so Matt and I went to check it out. Here he is being "truly rezzed out" (see his Facebook quiz) with his Navajo burger and Pepsi.

We also went to the ranch with my family. My mom lived with the Finicums a couple of years in high school. We all had so much fun at the ranch. It is such a neat ranch with so much to do and so many historic artifacts throughout.

Grandpa and Miya

Can you see how much my nephews love me? Their smiles are so cute!

Jenny's Wedding

2009-05-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to design the flowers for Jenny's wedding! It was so much fun and a great learning experience. I took care of her wedding party, cake and centerpiece flowers. Herae are a few pictures of my (amateur) work.

The bridal bouquet. Pink flowers are so fun to work with.

Jenny's Mini Toss Bouquet

I had fun taking shots of the bridesmaids' bouquets. My mom's canning jars added a nice touch to the photos.

The Groom's Boutonniere

This is Matt's favorite shot of the groomsmen boutonnieres...

...And this is my favorite of the groomsmen boutonnieres.

This was such a fun experience and I am so happy Jenny let me plan her wedding flowers! She was such a great and easy-going bride to work with.

Grandma & Nahoa

2009-04-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

Last week my mom took care of Nahoa for 5 days while my sister and John flew to Nebraska to house hunt.

On the 4th day I noticed this:

In an early morning rush my mom quickly dressed Nahoa. When I came over that evening I noticed his pants were on backwards. How cute.

I was so surprised how well Nahoa did with his parents gone. He is my mom's sidekick. He has officially taken my place. I think it's great how my nephews LOVE their grandma. While my mom was up here in Utah for the week Kono, my other nephew who stayed in Arizona, was crying in his sleep saying, "Grandma, grandma..." because he missed her. How cute. Nahoa is sure going to miss his grandma when he moves this summer.

i Bowling

2009-04-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my aunt and uncle invited us to eat with them for my cousin Brett’s graduation celebration. It was all up to Brett where to eat and this is where he chose:

When we heard we thought...huh? Oh Brett...

But we went and it was actually pretty good. They had quite the selection of fried foods :) and ice cream. It was an enjoyable evening AND I learned the restaurant is called International Buffet...not i Bowling (that's what I thought the sign meant. The "i" looks like a bowling pin.).

Say Hello...

2009-04-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

About 6 weeks ago Matt sold his Tacoma.

So for the last 6 weeks we have been sharing my car. I have a new admiration for couples who can share a car. They are on a much higher sharing level than I am. I had a few things to learn about sharing a car. For instance "real quick" doesn't mean real quick. The second week into sharing my car I was just about to leave our apartment to go for a quick jog at the BYU Outdoor track when Matt walked in and said, "I need the car really quick." I said, "Ok, how long? Ten minutes? Just drop me off if you're gonna be quick." So Matt dropped me off saying he'd be back in ten. The weather was just barely warm enough to be running outside. I started running and about 20 minutes after I texted Matt saying I was just about done. He texted back saying he was almost done. So I just kept running and running around the track. 45 minutes later my ears were hurting from the cold air and Matt pulled up to the track. Never again did I let him drop me off...anywhere.

So 6 weeks have passed and today Matt finished his last final (yay!) and picked up his brand, spankin' new truck.

Say hello to his new Tacoma. Matt is all smiles. What a great day to end the semester right?

It's my biRthday...

2009-04-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

This is all I hear from Matt the week before and the week following his birthday. But today is actually MY birthday! We celebrated my birthday down in St. George this past weekend with his family (and for conference weekend).

While down there, Matt and I found the cutest Japanese/Thai restaurant at Ancestor Square called Benja.

The Musuman Curry was delicious and Matt said he was "pleasantly surprised" when he tasted the sushi. We will definitely have to dine at Benja when we return.

Matt also surprised me with this:

I have been eyeing this camera for quite a while now...what a nice surprise. I'm so excited to use this when we go to Japan in a month! It will capture some great memories!

Matt and I had such a fun time with his family. It was also a nice little break from the cold weather. Bob was with us the first night we were in St. George then flew out early the next morning to Michigan and Texas. We were able to have a little birthday dinner at Outback with him, Sue and Chels. Later Shannon and Todd came with the girls. Kate was so helpful in opening presents and kept saying, "so cute, so cute" to everything. She was especially excited to help me open her present which was a curling iron! I asked Matt for one last month. I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't owned a curling iron for years now! Last night I tried curling my hair and it looks like I need some practice (and my hair to grow out a little more).

If you're ever in the neighborhood...

2009-03-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Right now I am craving Coco Puffs from the Liliha Bakery in Hawaii. If you are ever in the area you can't pass them up. They are soooo good and I wish I had a box of these tastey pastries right now!

While I am on this run of craves for Hawaii's tasty treats, here is a list of my other favorites that I routinely buy when I'm in Hawaii...

1. Coco puffs: I have Aaron E. and Sharlie K. to thank for this find. After Aaron's show in Waikiki they introduced this wonderful delight to me. I've been hooked every since. Not only does Liliha Bakery serve Coco Puffs, but their breakfast is so yummy too...and all their other pastries. But they are most famous for the Coco Puffs.

2. Leonards Malasadas: For this I have Amy and the Windward Mall parking lot to thank. The Malasadamobile has been parked there for years but I never tried it until Amy said, "What?! You never had malasadas?" Then she took me and I tried all the assortments:

Plain, Custard-filled, and Chocolate-Haupia filled (my favorite)

3. Dave's Ice Cream: Thanks to Amy and Crystal M. This ice cream is like none other, and it's only in Hawaii.

The best flavors are Blueberry Cheesecake and Cookies n' Cream

4. Chocolate Haupia Pie: Thanks to Auntie Arlette and Kaneohe Bakery. If you like chocolate pudding pie, you'll LOVE this. It's 50 times better. I once ate 3/4 of the entire 4" tall pie. Brett is my witness.

5. Mochi Ice cream : I have Matt Y. and Kim K.'s minivan in Kauai with no air conditioning to thank for this. Like the Coco Puffs, I've been hooked ever since. Some places on the mainland sell mochi ice cream, but you can buy some much more and so many more flavors in Hawaii (& Japan, but Hawaii's closer).

6. Bubble Drink: Thanks again Amy. This novelty drink is more like an experience drink. I honestly don't remember how it taets. But you have to try it at least once. They are fun to drink.

7. Beard Papa's Cream Puffs: Thanks to my California Tano cousins. There are Beard Papa's on the mainland, but none close enough. These are the best cream puffs I've ever had.

8. And lastly, Amy and Keao are going to hate that this in on my list...but the Curry Monapua from 7-11. Haha. The fact that each one is 99 cents is what makes it even better.

Sunshine Cleaning

2009-03-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this clip from the movie Sunshine Cleaning and thought it was so funny! A little background: these two girls (sisters I believe) are in the business of cleaning up after dead people. I assume this mattress is from the trailer of a dead person. This scene totally reminds me of my sister and I when we were younger (and even now sometimes haha)and had to do chores together. I think I would have been the one to fall on the mattress.

(Once you click the play button pause the clip until it is fully loaded then press play. It's funnier this way.)

Hawaii II

2009-03-08T15:27:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Hawaii was such a good experience. Matt was able to meet my family and they all loved him. He seemed to enjoy himself. Four days is just too short though. We would have liked to stay another week!

What a good boy. Matt brought his homework and did some on the plane ride over.

The first day we were in Hawaii we hiked to the lighthouse. So beautiful!

Mika, Wendy, Amy and I worked on wreathes for the funeral at the New Town stake center...

After I finished working on flowers I had to look for Matt since the boys didn't help with the flowers. I started looking for him and found him outside, on the church lawn doing this....tanning. I have no idea what goes on inside his head sometimes.

Our group "cousin" photo (We're missing a few). It was sooo nice to see all of them. We all live far apart and don't see each other very often, but we are all pretty close even with the huge age range. I am lucky to have such a close-knit family.

A good photo-op with the nice weather.

For Japanese food night the boys made sushi. My cousin in the hat, Dean, taught them how it's done. He's a chef for Turtle Bay (previously) and now the Ihilani Resort.

My cousin Keao treated us to Genki Sushi. Matt LOVED it! I had fun choosing plates from the conveyer belt.

When we stopped at Matsumoto's for shave ice there was a group of Japanese tourists. I noticed Matt inching toward their group while we sat outside eating. My cousin and I we're trying to guess how long it would take for Matt to strike up a conversation with them. It didn't take long. ;)

Miya was so popular. EVERYONE wanted to hold her. She is such a good baby.

Hawaii

2009-02-26T10:22:00.000-08:00

Today Matt and I are flying to Hawaii for my Grandma Tano's funeral. Although we would have hoped our first trip to Hawaii together would be under different circumstances, we are still grateful for this opportunity to reunite with friends and family.

My Grandma was an amazing and inspiring woman. A mother of 8 children, and grandmother to 35 grandchildren, 57 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild. I found this site my cousin created last year. It is a brief biography of Grandma Tano's life. What a legacy she has left.

http://www.et.byu.edu/~btano/bio.html

Flippin Luxury Cars!!!(in 1987)

2009-02-21T21:32:00.000-08:00

Matt bought this car off of Craigslist Thursday evening for $100!

And sold it today for $450!

It is a 1987 Mercedes 190E that runs and has 260,000 miles!

Now we can cover some of of expenses to Hawaii next week :)

Livin' On Luv

2009-02-15T21:07:00.002-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Earlier in the week I bought flowers to make arrangements to give my mom and mother-in-law for V-day. Mom wasn't able to make it up after all so I told her I'd post a picture of the finished arrangement. Y

Peruvian Lilies, Snapdragons, Roses

2009-02-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

This was our first Valentines as a married couple. It was such a fun day for Matt and me. It was his year to plan (our 3rd together) and he planned a wonderful Valentines weekend in Salt Lake!

Matt is such a great husband. He always massages my back when I ask and to help me fall asleep. So for Valentines he treated me to a massage at Massage Envy in Salt Lake. It was WONDERFUL! It went by so fast and Matt was a good sport to wait for me.

For dinner we ate at the Naked Fish restaurant. The food was delicious!

Matt riding Trax in downtown SLC on our way the The Gateway for a little shopping.

Since dinner was so early we ordered pizza once we returned to our hotel.

Pineapple & pepperoni. The pizza was soooo good.

Japan...heRe we coMe!

2009-02-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today Matt and I booked our tickets to JAPAN! It's been nearly 3 years since Matt returned from his mission to Japan so he is pretty excited for this trip (So am I). Yay...

biRthday wiShes

2009-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

...to my beautiful sister(-in-law) Jess!

Okonomiyaki

2009-02-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

Last weekend my cousins Brett & Bryce hosted an okonomiyaki party at their apartment. Matt was sooo excited. Okonomiyaki is like a Japanese pancake made with cabbage, eggs, flour, water, veggies and meat, fish or chicken (pretty much whatever you think will taste good)...yummy!

It is actually very tasty.

Chef Brett was nice enough to cook me and Matt's pieces; and for seconds Bryce (not pictured) cooked us more!

Our friends, the Marises (he is from Matt's mish), joined us too! Matt could hardly wait to eat his okonomiyaki.

Mmmm...yummy ^-^ (Kyuupi mayo: white ~ Okonomiyaki sauce: Red-orange)

I think this was our 3rd serving. We ate a TON...very un-Japanese-like.

We Like FREE...

2009-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

Look what Matt found on Craigslist

The best part? It was FREE!

It will be a great study desk for Matt ;)

Mmmmm Pizza...

2009-02-02T08:36:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Matt and I went to Olive Garden with my cousins who were in from Hawaii. There aren't any Olive Garden restaurants in Hawaii so we had to hit it up over here. Matt and I weren't too excited but we went any and found this:

Tasty Pizza! It was so yummy and surprisingly Matt thought so, too. It wasn't too heavy and the vegetables were fresh tasting and a little crunchy, which I like.

LucKy FiNd

2009-01-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Look what I found...
http://pointedigital.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-05-18T22%3A17%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=10

The link to our wedding videographers and the same day edit from our wedding! I have the entire copy but I was still excited to see it on their blog.

I love the memories this video brings back. Even though it looks so blissful (which it was) it was still tough work. We had to do most scenes (?) twice. It was a pretty warm day too. The part where I run, jump and Matt twirls me was a fun one. The first time I pretty much chest bumped him. It was funny. Try running on the grass in heals with a ten pound dress (probably an exaggeration).

Happy New Year

2009-01-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

The hotel where we stayed.

Matt and I after a little shopping. I love that the malls and other shops were open untill 11 pm.

For New Year's week Matt and I went with his family to the St. George house and Las Vegas for a couple of days. Vegas was so BUSY. It was nice to get out of the cold up here in Provo and go a little more south. Happy 2009!

Our First Christmas

2009-01-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was very special for Matt and I since it was our first as a married couple. We had three Christmases altogether. On Christmas morning we woke up early and had our own little program then headed over to my family's house. That evening we went to Matt's parents' home and shared a Christmas with them. Matt and I both felt very lucky to have both our families nearby so we could spend Christmas with them.

I was able to put up a few Christmas decorations in our apartment which was fun. It was so nice of Sue (Matt's mom) to let me pick out some decorations for our Christmas this year. I love the wreath and ornaments she helped me pick out.

Christmas with my family was a lot of fun this year since my brother, sister and their families were in town. It was also pretty crazy with my nephews and niece. They were all sooo excited.

Nahoa and Kono with their Santa hats and of course, their Superman capes.

Nahoa is stylin' with his little rat tail going on.

See the melt down?

Miya loves Matt...or Matt loves Miya? Either way she's a really good baby and seems to like Matt. I know Matt likes Miya since he always wants to hold her whenever my sister's family is over.

Let's Call it a Wrap...a European Wrap

2009-01-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

My floral design course sadly came to an end in December. I now have certificate of completion from Utah School of Floral Design ;) I really enjoyed exploring the floral world. There are so many creative designers out there! I hope to use my new skill in the near future. I have not yet figured out how, but I'm sure I will think of something.

Our last few weeks of class we learned about funeral/sympathy arrangements. I never realized how expensive and MASSIVE some of these arrangements are. Some of the pieces I worked on were a casket piece (below), set piece, and easel arrangement. By the end of funeral week Matt told me I had to get rid of some flowers. They were everywhere!

This is a casket piece. It's not completely full, but Bonnie and I worked on it to get a feel for the shape and lines of this type of arrangement. Matt came home from school...he didn't really appreciate my use of the TV as a stand.

A funeral wreath. We ran out of flowers so I had to dig some out of the garbage can...some may look a little crushed. I still think the pink flowers are beautiful.

This is a bride's bouquet I made during wedding week.

This is the last arrangement/technique we learned. It is called a European wrap. The technique is in the way the bouquet is wrapped with the paper and cellophane. The wrap creates a sort of temporary vase. Water can be poured on the top of the flowers and the cellophane will hold the water until the bouquet can properly be placed in a vase with water. This was a fun little piece.

Found

2009-01-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

I found my camera! I will be posting shortly...finally.

Neglected...

2008-12-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...It's been a MONTH since my last post. My poor blog. I will update it soon.

2008-11-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Six months married!