Our Italy Adventures: Part I: New York

We're back!!! Italy was amazing!! I would love to tell you all about it, if you would like to know!

So, I have to admit that one of the things I missed the most while on our trip was my blog! In fact, I had planned out exactly how I wanted to blog about our trip as well a few other things. It kept me busy on the many kinds of transportation that we had to take.

I decided to tell you about it in parts so that 1) You won't be bored by reading it all in one piece, and 2) So that I can take the time to really tell you about it instead of skimming through our month long trip!

The parts are separated into cities because days would still be too much! Enjoy!

Part I: New York City

We got to New York without a problem. We had left really late the night before so we didn't go to bed that night, we just got started on our day in New York! We were a little tired but it wasn't too bad. We started off with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was such a cool museum!! We really enjoyed it and were glad that we weren't in a hurry so that we could take the time to enjoy it!

Afterwards we got to go on a food tour! It was really fun! We met with the guide and she took us around to about 5 or so places to eat to try some food that was popular in New York. We started with pizza, then had cupcakes, halal food, some weird stuff I can't remember what it was called, and ended with cheesecake. It was really fun and cool to try a bunch of things that I never would have otherwise. We really enjoyed it!

It was really awesome to be in New York around Christmas! I had been feeling like Salt Lake was really missing a lot of Christmas things this year and being in New York made up for it! They had lots of lights and cool window displays! We got to go and see the Rockefeller tree and we went up to the top of the Rockefeller center tower and saw the city from up high! It was such a fun night!

The next day we went to see the Empire State Building as well as Ground Zero. It was really cool to see that. The actual area was blocked off so that we couldn't really see it because they are doing construction for the new tower. We got to see the new plans for the tower and how they are going to honor the old ones and the people who died. It is a really awesome plan!! It was really touching to see pictures and be reminded of the story again.

That day we also saw the Statue of Liberty, from a distance, and went to the American Museum of Natural History. It was really fun. It is completely different from the movie, but it was still pretty cool. Our favorite part was an exhibit they had with a bunch of frogs! They had a lot of different kinds including the awesome colorful ones! It was fantastic!!

Our plane left for Paris that evening so we headed to the airport more than 2 hours before our plane left. We got there to check in only to find out that we had not read the time right and that our plane was flying away at that very moment. We were stunned! We went to talk to someone to see what we could do. But since it was just over a week before Christmas things were really busy. They told us that they could get us standby tickets for the next flight, but the seats would not be together and would not be guaranteed. We were freaking out! We went to talk to the guy who had told us our plane was leaving so we could check our bags and he went back and was able to get us 2 seats together for the next flight at no extra cost! It was amazing! We were so relieved!!

New York was great! We really loved it and had a great time!

And that is the end of part one!! Hope you enjoyed it!

Random Thoughts of an Excited Girl

Wow! We're leaving on our trip in 6 days! Less than a week! We have been planning this trip for 2 years and it's finally here! I can't even believe it!! Jon was telling me about what Christmas is like in Italy and it just made my heart glow! I'm so excited to see it! It sounds like it's more special there, bigger and brighter! I can't wait! We've been driving around at night a few times this week and it makes me sad. There are so few houses that even have lights on them this year, I wonder why that is... Jon is excited to put lights on our home, when we have one. He has it all planned. He loves doing stuff like that and I am thrilled that he does! I think it's awesome!

We got a new camera lens for our awesome camera! It's a zoom lens and it's pretty much amazing! I can't wait to use it on our trip!! I am feeling the need for taking pictures lately! Especially with all of the snow! Gosh I love the snow! I couldn't believe how much it snowed today! AWESOME! We hurried so we could leave the house to run our errands while it was still snowing. That's another thing that I enjoy about my darling husband, he LOVES driving in the snow! That means I don't have to. I love being in the snow, but I can't be in the drivers seat, too scary!

Anyway, I've thought of a lot of things that I want to start doing. Most of them have to do with myself, things I don't like about myself and want to improve. I want to be a better friend, I want to be less irritable, I want to be better at giving Jon gifts (I really suck at that), I want to be more crafty, I want to be more spiritual.... I just want to make things better in my life. Not that they aren't wonderful because they are! I love my life! I just want to make it even better, not only for me but for my husband and my future family as well.

Oh, and I have been baby crazy lately!! I think it's because for a while we were planning to start trying for a baby when we went on this trip and then things changed.... It's hard sometimes when I am so anxious, but I think it will be better for us in the end. Less stress. It'll be nice to not have to worry about moving while I'm pregnant, so that's a good thing. It sure doesn't change the fact that I get all sappy when I see anything that has to do with a baby.

Speaking of babies, my good friend Sharelle just had her baby boy!! They named him Brytton and he is SO adorable!! I want to go and see them but with our trip coming up we have been constantly busy and have literally ZERO time for anything!! It's sad. I got to see Zariah the other day though! She is so precious! She was tried and had an ear infection and was still happy and talkative! She is ADORABLE!! Anyway, this is getting long, so I guess I better go! Love you all!

Design Dazzle

I really love this website! I follow it like crazy! It has so many cute ideas! I've been really interested in all sorts of design lately, especially nursery design, yes, I'm still really anxious for a baby! It is so fun to read and follow, I also love how it gets ideas from other blogs, I think that's great and then from it I get even MORE ideas! So much fun!!

Granted, the main reason I am blogging about this it totally selfish, I'm trying to enter a contest, but I am still being totally honest about and it only makes me get to share such a good blog with the wonderful people who read my blog! I love you all!

Please check it out! It really is fabulous!! And it is updated with new posts really often! LOVE IT!

http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/

2 WEEKS!!!

Jon and I are leaving for our Italy trip in 2 weeks from today!!! It is so surreal! It still hasn't really hit me! 2 weeks from right now we'll be waiting for our midnight flight to take us to New York to start our trip!! AHH!! I'm so excited! It's going to be the trip of a lifetime!! We really won't be able to do this again! A month long trip to Europe! Wow! I'm glad we get to do this before we have kids and while we still have the money to do it before medical school starts! I feel so blessed!

I'm so glad that Jon is the man that he is! If he wants something he works for it and makes sure that it happens, even if it takes a while! I really admire him for that and for so many other things! He really is the most amazing person I know!! Gosh I love him.... My life is everything I ever wanted it to be and more and I feel so lucky! I don't know what I did to deserve a man like him! He still gives me butterflies!

Anyway, the point is that I'm SO EXCITED for our trip!! YAY!!!

A Wedding and A Prank

The day after our anniversary, one of Jon's best friends, Matt, got married!! His wife's name is Kim. She is a sweetheart! I like her a lot! The ceremony was beautiful, it was also cool to be able to go to the temple that we were married in so close to our anniversary! They were so cute and happy! After pictures they had a luncheon. This is where our day changed quite a bit!

So, we (Jon, Josh (who is Jon and Matt's other best friend), and I) were trying to figure out what we wanted to do to Matt's car for the reception. Matt LOVES his car and is super protective of it, we would NEVER do anything to cause harm to it, but we HAD to decorate it! Well, as we were talking one of Matt's other friends chimed in and said that we couldn't do anything to the car because Matt had assigned him to hide it during the reception so no one could do anything to it. No matter what we said or did, he just wouldn't help us out. This is when we decided that this just was not going to fly and we had to do something to Matt's car one way or another.

So, after the luncheon we hopped in the car and drove around the entire parking structures of both the conference center and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in order to find Matt's car so that we could get a head start in knowing where it was. Unfortunately, we were unable to find it and decided to drive over to Matt's new home, which is right across the street from the church where they would have their reception. To our joy and surprise, his car was parked in the driveway. We pulled up, with nothing at all to decorate with, and were about to make plans on what to do next when Matt came out of his house. We were caught! Apparently he had gotten there about 20 seconds before we did. So then Matt sat on his car with his huge gun and guarded his car. It was silly.

So we left to go get things to decorate the car with and sometime around an hour later or so, now it was dark, we went back to Matt's house. Luckily, his car was still there. So, we hurried and turned off the lights and were being very quiet as we got ready to get out of the car and walk up the few yards to his car. However, just as we were about ready the carport light came on and Matt walked outside. We hurried and got in the car and drove away, foiled again. We couldn't understand how he had heard us, but come to find out later, he hadn't heard us, nor saw us drive away at that point, it was just a coincidence that he came out right then! Anyway, assuming he had seen us, we decided that the best option would to be to go back immediately, assuming he wouldn't think we would come back so quickly. So we parked down the street and walked up to his house. (I was still wearing a skirt and heels and ended up taking off my shoes so I could walk faster!) We snuck up to the car very quietly, tied a few cans to the back of the car and wrote a few things on the window before running away!! Success!

However, this wasn't really enough for us, but we wanted to make sure it got done in case we didn't get a chance to do it better. So, immediately after decorating his car we drove across the street where there was a little road that ended in a circle where they are probably going to build something but have nothing there yet. We parked there, where we had a perfect view of Matt's carport as well at the church where the reception would be in about an hour and a half or so. We turned off the lights and waited.... We were there for a good 45 to an hour and even that was fun!! We just watched the house waiting for any sign of movement. We watched Matt come out, discover the car, and cut of the cans. It was so funny! (Don't worry, he thought it was funny too, we didn't ruin his day.)

So finally they left the house and drove to the reception. We followed discretely. We stopped in the parking lot just far enough away that they would not notice us. We watched Matt hand the keys to his friend and then we drove out of the parking lot and parked on the street where we would not be noticed. We watched his friend drive the car away and we followed. We thought for sure we would be caught or something. After all his friend and made a huge point that the hiding spot was good and there was no way we would find it. Well sure enough, the hiding spot was pretty good. Hidden in a dead end road behind another car, hidden from view. But somehow, probably because were not taken seriously, we were not noticed and now knew where the car was!! We were so excited!!

So about halfway through the reception (which was absolutely beautiful! The colors were orange and burgundy, SO PRETTY), we snuck away and decorated the car!! No one had any idea that we had found it, though the subject came up multiple times!! It was amazing! Finally at the end, in order to insure that Matt's friend would not clean up the car first, we decided we had to tell him. Unfortunately, he then told Matt.... it was a little frustrating but in the end the car pulled up to the church completely decorated!! Everyone was surprised we had actually done it after all the secrecy of hiding it! It was wonderful! Matt and Kim thought it was pretty funny! We even gave them the money for a car wash!!

It was SUCH a fun day! To be with such wonderful people and to keep busy like that was so excited and it was great to laugh so much with friends! Thanks for a great day Jon and Josh! And of course to Matt and Kim!! Congrats you two! I hope your marriage is so wonderful, you are so sweet together! We love you!

Two Years Of Marriage

Jonathan and I just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! It's been an absolutely amazing 2 years! We are so blessed. I love Jon even more every day and I am really excited to spend the rest of my life and eternity with someone who lifts me up so much! He is truly an angel!

For our anniversary we went to get my hair cut and colored! Jon recently colored his hair a dark red and my hair turned out the same color, it was not what I thought it would be but I still love it! People keep commenting on how our hair is the same color, no it was not on purpose! Though it is kinda cute! After that we had to hurry to a surprise appointment for something... it was a surprise from Jon. It ended up being a dentist appointment for me! I HATE the dentist! I can't believe he took me there on our anniversary! GOSH! lol! I'm kidding... well, I do hate the dentist but the appointment was easy and such a great surprise. He took me there to get my mold done so that I can get a flipper. For those who don't know, it is similar to a retainer, it will have a fake tooth in the spot where I am missing one, thus covering the space and making it look pretty! Eventually I'll get a permanent implant there but the process takes at least 6 months and we just move too much to make that an option right now! I'm so happy that he did that for me! Thanks baby!

So, his gifts to me was a haircut at an awesome salon and my flipper. I gave him great slippers, which he asked for, and a cookbook from one of his favorite cooking shows! He loved it! Phew, another gift giving occasion over and successful, why is it so hard sometimes? Anyway, after my appointment we went and did a little shopping and then we made sushi together! We had to use his parents kitchen, oh the joys of not having a place to call home, but it turned out to be okay. We didn't make too much since it was just the 2 of us, but it was still so yummy! We also printed out a selection of pictures from this year. Our anniversary traditions include getting or making sushi, watching our wedding video, and printing out pictures from that year and putting them into a photo album. I love it! It's so fun to look back on the year as well as past years!

It was a perfect day! Thank you so much Jonathan for making my life so much better!! It has been the best two years of my life! I love you!

Cruising Through Life

Jon and I just returned from our second cruise of the year! We feel really lucky to be able to do
things like that, especially since, come the time to start medical school, our traveling will be extremely limited.

The cruise was amazing! Even better than the first! We went with Royal Caribbean, much better than Carnival! Everything was better! It was really fun as well because we went with a bunch of people from Pinnacle that we work with! It was awesome to hang out with them!! We spent most of our time with Kevin and Rochele and it was amazing! Gosh I love them! I am so grateful that I got to meet them this summer and become such good friends! I don't what I'd do without Rochele, she's an amazing person and a terrific friend!


The cruise went to Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. Cabo was amazing, even the second time around! The water was even nicer than last time, it was still warm and more refreshing this time, perfect!! Jon and I got henna tattoos. Hehe. His is a lizard and mine is a butterfly. It was so relaxing to hang out on the beach or on the ship. Kevin even entered the Karaoke contest and got into the finals! He did awesome!!! He even danced with Rochele while he sang to her! So cute!! Cruising really is a great way to do a vacation. It may seem expensive but with everything that is included it is actually a great deal, especially if you don't drink alcohol, which is where most people spend their money. It was such a nice vacation!




Now we are back in Utah at my parent's house getting ready for Italy!!! We won't have quite the amount of money that we had hoped for it but it will still be absolutely amazing!!! I can't wait!!



Anyway, I think that's about it for now. I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving!!!

Catching Up

fI feel like I haven't updated my blog in a while. I'm not sure if it's really been longer than usual or if it just feels that way. Of course, some people update their blogs a lot less so I guess this is still okay. ;)

Since I last wrote I did not go to Monterey Bay, though it is still in our plans... eventually. In a twist of events I ended up in Utah 3 weeks earlier than orginally planned. I guess I had a big moment of missing my family and ended up leaving my husband in Cali to work while I went to hang out with them. I guess I felt like I wanted to help, though I don't think there is really anything I can do. I'm not sure me being here is actually helping and, yes, I still feel absolutely, completely, 100% awful about leaving my husband and choosing my family over him... I'm a terrible person, and believe me, it won't happen again.

Granted, I have had a good time with my family, especially my sisters! I also spend a lot of time alone. We've gone to a play, went to take pictures, spent Halloween together, watched lots of movies, watched more TV, and just hung out and played together. It's been pretty fun.

I really miss Jonathan though! For the first few days I felt like it was tearing us apart. We haven't spent more than 4 days apart since we've been married before this, but at the moment, it might bring us closer together. We are really missing each other and spending a lot of time talking and laughing on the phone. It's going to be awesome when I fly to LA this Friday to meet him so we can leave for the cruise on Saturday. We are going to have a lot of fun together!!

By the way, HAPPY NOVEMBER!! Lots of things get to happen this month! Most importantly (for us anyway) is that we have our 2nd year anniversary on the 20th!!!! On the 21st, Jon's (and my) awesome friend Matt is getting married to his sweetheart Kim!!! We are so excited for them!!! Oh, and we are going on a cruise on the 7th!! A free cruise, even better!! It's going to be an awesome month! Yay!!

On another note, this is my 50th post! Yay for blogging, I do love it so!!

If anyone wants to get together while we are still in Utah (until December 14th) let me know and I'll see what I can do!!

The Redwoods and Yosemite

Jon and I have been going on road trips every weekend. We spend Sundays (after church of course) going to places we've never been. Last weekend we went to see the Redwoods and this weekend we went Yosemite.

Both places were amazing!! We love driving, so we don't mind the many hours we have to spend in the car. It gives us time to talk and just enjoy each other. We've also been listening to books on CD. We take a picnic, bring the cats with us, and enjoy being together at some amazing places! The redwoods were awesome! The trees were so pretty and BIG! We didn't get to see some of the biggest and most popular areas because they were too far away, but we still got to see some amazing things! It was so beautiful, calming, relaxing, and it smelled amazing! It really made me want to go camping!!

Yosemite was a ton better than I originally expected. I really didn't know much about Yosemite, so I didn't really know what to expect, but it was so fun!! The fall colors were stunning, which we didn't get to see much of in the redwoods since it's mostly pine trees there, and I'm so glad we got to see the colors, I've been missing that a lot this fall!! The waterfalls were so pretty and the cliffs were stunning!! We had tons of fun and took lots of pictures!! AWESOME!

It's been so nice to be able to go out and do things!! I'm so glad that we don't just sit at home all the time, that we get to see the world! I know that we are really lucky, I'm so blessed. My emotions were high today as I realized just how lucky we are. I LOVE OUR LIFE!! I wouldn't trade it for anything! It's perfect just the way it is!!

Next week: Monterey Bay!!

Time for Working Out

I'm started a workout program, again, and I am really excited for it! I want to look amazing for our upcoming cruise in about a month!! Jon bought me a program called 'Slim in 6'. 6 meaning 6 weeks. It works around slimming your body rather than just building muscle, I really like that! So far so good, I got it about 2 weeks ago and we have 4 weeks til the cruise. I've been working hard but, so far, I'm struggling to see results. The hardest part about working out is waiting for the results. Yuck. But I am trying as hard as I can! I decided to blog about it to try to motivate me. If I tell people that I'm doing it then I have people to answer to when I quit, if I don't tell anyone then no one knows that I'm a loser and a quitter. So, hopefully, I'll be encouraged to see it through to the end!! I currently weigh 129.2 pounds. My ultimate goal is to weigh 119 pounds, but my immediate goal is to weigh 127. I've been weighing myself every morning and for pretty much the whole summer my weight has varied between 131 and 128. I really want to just get down to 127, it'll be a start at least. I'm working super hard to get awesome abs for the cruise. My waist line, which I measured today, is 35 inches. I don't know what the average is... but I definitely want it to go down. Now, I'm not trying to say that I'm overweight or fat. The last thing I want is for people to roll their eyes at me. "Shalay, you're so skinny, what are you whining about?" Jon and I swore that when we got married that we wouldn't gain weight, why is that so hard? I don't get it, but sure enough, we have, and I just want to stop it before it gets out of hand and ends up being harder to lose. Also, I'll be posting my daily weight on the side of my blog for the world to see!! I really need the encouragement! Thanks for listening!! Wish me luck!