Doughnuts & Apple Cider

This year we went to Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. The day after we got there, we traveled several hours to visit Ryan's relatives in a town called Manson. While there, we actually got to help make Ryan's family's famous "apple cider."

We first went to Ryan's great aunt's house where we made homemade doughnuts. Although I'm not a huge doughnut fan, these doughnuts were AMAZING! After we made the doughnuts, we took them over to a big warehouse where we had a huge "cider making party." It was a little messy but it was a total blast. As expected, the cider was the best apple cider I've ever tried. It's times like those that make me really appreciate having married into a family that has so many cool traditions.

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Two Years and Counting...

It's official!! We are now an old married couple. That's right, today is our 2-year anniversary!! Who knew time could fly by so fast!?!? I never would've guessed that I'd end up marrying the guy who I kissed for the first time outside a porta-potty. I'm pretty sure that neither Ryan or I ever would've guessed that our roadtrip fling would've turned into marriage...but I'm sure glad it did! 

What more can I say...I love you Ry and I can't wait for a lifetime of your crazy antics! Just keep in mind that if you can get through these two years with me, you can get through two more, and two more after that! Happy Anniversary!! ;-)

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Federal Criminal

This morning when I was getting ready for work, I was startled by a loud knock at our door. In my experience, a phone call or knock on the door at 6 in the morning is never a good thing. When I answered the door, I was greeted by two U.S. Marshals. I assumed they wanted to ask us something about our neighbors since there's been problems with them in the past...then they asked to talk with Ryan. My stomach just dropped and my mind started racing wondering what kind of trouble Ryan could've gotten in to. 

When Ryan finally came into the room, they said they wanted to talk to him about a case of identity theft. Apparently, the son of a federal judges' identity had been stolen and Ryan was a suspect in the case. They had a whole file on him - including where he worked, lived (obviously), and even a picture of him. Apparently Ryan's phone number was linked to the case. 

To give you some background, Ryan's phone number was issued to him by Intel when he started working there. Since he received the phone, he's recieved numerous calls and texts from all kinds of people including porn sites and car dealerships. 

The Marshals questioned him as to when he got the phone and soon realized that the guy who had the phone before Ryan was who they were actually looking for. 

As much as we don't like being bothered at 6 in the morning, Ryan and I are pretty pleased by this little occurance. Although Ryan being taken away in handcuff's would've made a great picture for our blog, I'm relieved to hear my husband isn't a federal criminal! ;-)

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It's That Time Again!

Today the radio stations began playing Christmas music and we started our Christmas shopping. We are officially in the Christmas spirit. Let the holiday season begin!!

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Halloween

For Halloween this year, we went to our friends Tiffany and James' house for a bbq. Following the bbq, we hit up the Tempe Marketplace to see 'Hoobstank' perform. (I know, we didn't know they were still around either). The best part about the concert was getting to watch people like this:

and this...

and this...

(Tiffany & James)

(Craig & Brittany)

We were pretty lame this year and didn't dress up. But I think it's pretty safe to say that we got some great ideas for next year's costumes. (Yeah, right...)

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State Fair

On Tuesday night, Ryan and I were finally able to go to the AZ State Fair. One of the things that we were looking forward to the most was the greasy fair food! Although we consider ourselves to have a pretty high tolerance for greasy foods, I have to admit that we totally underestimated the effect of fair food on our bodies. After eating a massive egg roll on a stick and a foot-long corn dog, we were pretty much done for. Who knows, maybe next year we'll actually make it to fried desserts! Watch out obesity, here we come!

1 Foot Long Corn Dog + 1 Massive Egg Roll = $16.00
Admission to the Park + Riding 2 Rides = $48.00
A Night at the Fair w/ My Hubby = Priceless

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A Family Weekend

This past weekend, Ryan's parents came into town to visit. Now that we're done with school and have "real" jobs, we don't get the opportunity to see them nearly as often as we'd like. It's especially fun having them in town since two of Ryan's brothers live down here in AZ as well.

It was fun getting to hang out and eat Ryan's moms' AMAZING food. Every year she makes a Halloween dinner centered around a great dish called "Dinner In A Pumpkin." My family seemed to especially enjoy the jello that looked like a brain and breadsticks that looked like fingers. Thanks for the fun weekend Dan and Mary!

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Trip To Michigan

This last weekend I was able to go and visit my sister Adrienne in Michigan. Her husband was out of town on a hunting trip so we were able to spend a little quality time together. While there, we did some shopping, eating, and just basically hung out. The trip was a blast and went by WAY too quick.

On Sunday morning Adrienne had to leave for a while and left me with her son, Brooklen. When we were playing with a ball, Brooklen was running after it and tripped with his face falling right into the corner of a wall. The fall ended up splitting open his lip. It didn't look that bad from far away, but up close the cut looked pretty deep. Later that afternoon we ended up taking him to the hospital to get 2 stitches. Of course, I felt horrible. To all those people who are always asking me why we haven't had kids yet - I think it's pretty self explanatory.

Despite our little "mishap," the trip was a total blast! It was great to be able to take a vacation and spend a little 1-on-1 time with my sister. Thanks for the great trip Adrienne!

He loved the numbing solution they had us put on his lips

When mom whips out her mop, so does Brooklen

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Kicking Off the Holiday Season

Ryan and I both agree that October through December is the best time of the year. We love celebrating all of the holidays in any way that we can. This year, to kick off the Halloween season, we decided to have a night of pumpkin carving. As you can see in the picture, we're a little rusty. If it weren't for Ryan and his excellent carving skills, it would've been A LOT worse. Thanks to Lara and John for kicking off the holiday season with us.

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Our Latest Project

It's been a while since we last posted because our free time the last couple of weeks has been completely consumed by our latest project. We decided it was time to turn our extra bedroom into an actual "guest bedroom." Most of you probably already know that we are totally cheap and look for deals on absolutely everything we buy. Rather than buying a brand new bed, we decided we would buy a bed frame off of Craigslist and just refinish it.

In the first picture below you can see the "before" picture from Craigslist and in the second picture you can see our completed bed. $150 bedframe and 30 hours of work later, I think it's pretty safe to say that we will NEVER do a project like that again.

Before

After

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Boys & Girls Weekend

This weekend Ryan went up to the "Roundup" with my Dad and little brother, Hunter. The boys had a fun time wrestling the calves down so they could be branded and castrated. Although Ryan came back sunburned and tired, he's already counting down the days until the next time he gets to play "cowboy."

While Ryan was away, I got to have a night out with the girls. It was so fun getting to catch up with everyone! Of the 7 friends at dinner - 5 are married, 2 are pregnant, 2 have graduated from college, and 2 just bought homes. Talk about a change from 4 and half years ago when we were graduating from high school. It's amazing how we can go so long without seeing each other, but when we finally get together, we're able to pick-up right where we left off. It really makes you appreciate having good friends!

Look how far we've come:

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All In A Day's Work

Last week Ryan went on a business trip to Santa Clara. He spent the first two days in long meetings and the third day at sea. On Thursday, his group spent the day deep sea fishing on the San Fransisco Bay. Ryan was able to fish by Alcatraz and under the Bay Bridge. His proudest moment was when the group caught a leopard shark! Once again, it was weird being without him but I'm glad he had a blast!

The Intel Gang

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Jessica Simpson Concert

Last night, Jessica Simpson had a concert after the Diamondbacks game. Our friends Tiffini and James invited us to go so we figured it would be a good way to change things up. We showed up at the game around the 7th inning to catch the end of the game before Jessica went on (obviously, we're HUGE Diamondbacks fans). After waiting through extra innings for the concert to begin, we realized that she was performing songs off her new country album. Besides not being huge country fans, we were less than impressed by her long stories between each song explaining what each song was about. After the 4th or 5th song we decided we'd had enough Jessica for the night and left. I'm not sure exacty why we went out of our way to see Jessica Simpson perform live, but I think from here on out we'll stick to watching Jessica in reruns of "Newlyweds."

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Rocky Point

This last weekend we celebrated Ryan and my brother Hunter's b-days. To celebrate, we planned a trip to Rocky Point, Mexico.


Ryan and I, along with several of our family and friends, rented a gorgeous condo right on the beach.





While we were there, Hunter and Ryan were able to parasail for their first time. They both had a blast getting to see Mexico from a new perspective.



On Saturday, Hunter turned the big 1-8. I can't believe my little brother is officially an adult! It's weird to think that he'll be graduating from high school this year. They grow up so fast...


Of course, one of the best things about going to Mexico is getting to eat the delicious Mexican food. The food was absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!


The last night we were there, we bought some fireworks and the boys made their own fireworks show. I've gotta say, I'm a little confused by the show since all of the shows I've seen in the past consisted of shooting fireworks into the sky as opposed to AT one another!


I'm so glad we were able to go to Mexico for Ryan's 25th. I can't wait to celebrate another 50+ years of birthdays with Ryan! Happy B-Day Ry! I love you!

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End Of Summer

When we got married, Ryan received a shotgun from some of his friends as his "getting married" gift. After having to deal with me hassling him about not using it for almost 2 years, he was finally able to test it out. To celebrate Labor Day (or the "end of summer" according to our friend Tiffany), we went shooting with some of our friends. After the morning of shooting, we went over to our friends' house for a bbq and more Wii Fit. Although it was WAY too hot to be outside shooting guns, it was fun getting out and practicing our shooting skills. 

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Wii Fit

Our latest obsession has been our new Wii Fit. For those of you who don't know, the "Fit" is a new game that you can buy for the Nintendo Wii which includes a balance board that you stand on as you play the games. The activities you can do with the board range from yoga to snowboarding to our new favorite, "hula hooping." Besides being totally addictive, the game has proven to be very entertaining for large groups because it makes everyone look totally dumb (see the videos and pics below).

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