We may decide to stay...

Haha! I suppose we would at least have to venture back to get all our belonging but I'll tell you... right now I am happy to have NO SNOW! Haha! It's unseasonably cool right now in Newport but it's still MUCH warmer than Salt Lake! So who knows.... may be we'll just stay here. :)

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! I know we did! It was wonderful for me to be home with family... especially since we had an early Christmas Celebration with Troy's family before we left Utah. 2 Christmas's are always better than one!

We have been having a great holiday season and a wonderful vacation.... photos to come soon!

For now... I am off to play some more Rock Band. Rock on!

I am no longer dating a college student!!

Yeah!!!! The LAST paper was just turned in!! Now we just pray for good grades! :) And offer thanks that its OVER!!

I am soooooo very proud of you Troy! Love you!

Winter has arrived!

I think its been below freezing for 3 or 4 days now... haha! And the snow has arrived in piles! It looks really pretty as long as you are inside a warm house and not trying to drive in it. :) Actually... its not so bad...

These pictures are from the last storm a few days ago... much more snow now, but you get the general idea...

Tomorrow we start all our Christmas festivities!! We are going to the Nutcracker Ballet tomorrow evening and then to the Christmas Spirituals (Symphony) concert on Saturday! I have never seen the Nutcracker so I am very excited for that! Also, the Christmas Spirituals concert is supposed to be really cool - I have been looking forward to it for weeks!

Hopefully somewhere in there we can squeeze in the ZOO LIGHTS! We were going to go tonight, but Troy's last paper was more important.... maybe Saturday evening before the Symphony...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

A life of leisure...

OK... it's not really a life of leisure when you are looking for a job, getting up to speed on coaching curriculum for your contracting job, stressed about money, and praying constantly that Troy passes all his classes..... BUT - I am enjoying sleeping in! :) Haha!

Getting laid off from any job isn't really any fun, but it especially sucks when it was a job that you loved. I have sort of been in mourning for the last 2 weeks... but I think I am finally snapping out of it.

I am still doing some consulting for the company, and I am working to get up to speed so that I can work as a "Money for Life Coach" when we get back from the holiday. The Money for Life Coaching Program is a program based on the books that I was the Editor for, and all the curriculum is taken from the books or from other articles that I either wrote or helped with so... getting up to speed hasn't been to bad. Haha! Hopefully come January the Coaching will keep me pretty busy, but I am still keeping my options open and looking for other jobs as well.

In fact... Troy and I have both decided that we should look for jobs in Salt Lake, but also in the other cities that we have talked about possibly moving to... so.... we'll see what happens. We are planning to explore all our options and spend lots of time in prayer to see where the Lord wants us to be. Leaving Salt Lake would make me sad in many ways (we would miss Troy's family and all of the work that we are doing in the Arts Community) but at the same time, the idea of moving back to the beach (and being closer to my family and old friends) sounds very appealing... so... we shall see...

Hopefully, in the meantime, I can complete my Non-Profit Academy Certificate Program before I get too busy again!

P.S. TROY WILL BE DONE WITH SCHOOL TOMORROW EVENING!!!!! HOORAY!!!!

Asparagus bread sticks...

OK.... the bread sticks... shamelessly stolen from Rachel Ray -

Items you need:
Frozen Puff Pastry Dough
Fresh Asparagus
Grated cheese (I prefer a mixture of various Italian cheeses, but Parmesan works too)

1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough - thaw out and cut into segments about a 1/2 or 3/4 inches wide and 3-4 inches long. Wash and cut ends off the Asparagus. Sprinkle the pastry dough with grated cheese (the recipe called for Parmesan but I prefer an 'Italian mix'). Wrap one piece of dough around each piece of asparagus. I usually sprinkle a little more cheese on the top, but that's your call. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. I like them best right out of the oven but they are still very yummy at room temp also (or even cold).

RWDC Holiday Party and a little catching up also..

This week RWDC is performing a show called Interiors. Troy and I are finally getting to see the show tonight and I cannot wait! Last night and Thursday night both were at the theatre hosting the Holiday Receptions and everyone has been telling us how wonderful the show is... so tonight we finally get to see it!! Yeah!!

The receptions have been a lot of work, but lots of fun too! We have been serving cookies, cupcakes, etc from THE SWEET TOOTH FAIRY (Megan Faulkner's Bakery) and everybody has been loving them. Thursday after the show we also had our annual Board Christmas Party in conjunction with the reception after the show. The party was very fun and everybody had a great time. Several members of the Board of Advisors were there, as well as the Board of Trustees. Both Joan and Shirley were there as well (the Company Founders) and all of the dancers. We had a great time!

And since my hair isn't curly very often... here's some photographic proof. Haha! The YUMMY Asparagus Bread Sticks that I made for the RWDC Christmas Party that we had on Thursday night.. THEY WERE SOOO GOOD! And are sooooo easy to make! :)
And these are WAY overdue but I thought I'd post them anyway...
Our niece Avery helping Grandma Colleen make Halloween cookies. :)

National Philanthropy Day

December 4th was National Philanthropy Day. Here in Salt Lake there was a big luncheon where several people were honored with awards for their contributions, volunteer efforts, etc. Troy and I were invited by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company to attend the luncheon and they gave us a Heart and Hands Award. We felt very honored! We were a little embarrassed that we had to walk up in front of the whole room, but luckily all the honorees were walking up at once so we didn't feel quite so singled out. Haha! Troy and I both like to be a little more in the background, but at the same time we felt that it was very sweet of them to honor us with this award. Thank you Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company!

Here we are at the luncheon... And here we are with some of the key members of the company - Joan Woodbury (Founder, Choreographer and Artistic Director for many years), Troy, Jen, Teresa Bok (from the Board of Trustees), and David Pace (the Director of Development). We have really enjoyed getting to know all of these people and more... we really feel like part of the RWDC Family!

Deck the Halls...

I think I am going to forego a tree this year since we will be out of town for so long, but I have managed to decorate up the rest of the place with lots of bells! :)

Thanksgiving

Troy and I spent Thanksgiving this year with his whole family... it was a house full! Last time we were in Salt Lake for Thanksgiving was 2 years ago and I think we also had everyone in town for that one as well. While it seemed like a larger crowd, we only had one new addition - little Henry. He was a total trooper that day and didn't seem to mind being passed around between all the Aunts, Uncles and Grandma.

We continued the tradition of going around the table with everyone saying what they were most thankful for this year... for me is was my health and family.. both Troy's and mine. Love you all! For Troy it was being almost done with school! Haha! I agreed whole-heartedly that was a big thing! I am thankful for that too!

Here's a few more photos...

Troy, Jen and Henry (Daniel in the background)

Emma and Henry

Avery

TJ, Joe and Avery

Matthew...

Emma and Avery are so cute when they play together...

Daniel and TJ (With Henry and myself in the forefront... me looking quite goofy! Haha!)

Joe

Darren with Hannah and Sarah

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Outreach Program

In October I had a chance to sneak out of the office for a few minutes and see our Dance Company's Education Program in action - IT WAS SO COOL! The dancer's go out into the elementary schools and teach the children a variety of dance techniques. It's a free program for the schools and is funded by very generous donors, and some government grants as well I believe.

The dancers are really great with the kids, and it was such a privledge for me to see the program in action. The kids were so great and it was so fun to see them just out there dancing... no embarrasment, no self-consciousness... it was awesome!

Here are a few photos...

catching up... fall football...

I realized the other day that I had never posted the photos from TJ's last Football game of the season, so here they are. On October 25th (the same day as the charity halloween party) Troy and I (and Colleen) were lucky enough to attend TJ's football game. It was a gorgeous and warm fall day and we all enjoyed it thoroughly! And to top it all off, the Cyprus Pirates WON!

Uncle Troy is VERY serious about football....

Happy Birthday Carly!

Hope you have a great day! Do lots of fun things to celebrate!

Quick Update...

Ok... I should have a computer by Monday, and I promise the regular BLOG posts will resume shortly after. :) In the meantime I am trying to get up to speed on the Coaching Curriculum for my "new job" and very much enjoying sleeping in!! :) I have missed that so much! hahaa!

This week will be crazy insane for Troy with school, but there are less than 2 weeks left which makes us both so very happy!! Then it's off to Cali for close to 2 weeks! Wahoo! We arrive at about lunch time on the 22nd... so.. no fun until then!!! And we are staying until the 3rd... it will be a nice long visit! :)

Tonight we are off to the Hansen Family Christmas Party with all of Troy's family, cousins, etc... should be lots of fun! :) This week we also have our Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Holiday Party and the Interiors show... It will be busy, but lots of fun! Next week the Nutcracker Ballet and the Christmas Spirituals Symphony. What a great holiday season!

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa -
I have been a very good girl this year, and Troy is doing the best he can! Haha! ;) With job changes, tuition/books, a broken vacuum, and the car breaking down we are feeling a little strapped for cash, so our wish list this year is pretty short..... CASH! :) Well, it doesn't have to literally be cash I suppose... A Gift Card to Target would be great too! And Troy needs some new dressy clothes for job interviews so a Gift Card to Nordstrom (or a plain blue dress shirt with french cuffs in a size 17 - 35) would be helpful too!

A couple other ideas... just in case...
Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book (Recipe Book)
Vacuum
Flannel PJs - I love the ones at Victoria Secret (and they have some realy cute Mocha Brown Stripe ones!)
Pannini Grill
Tickets for Disneyland... we'd LOVE to go while we are visiting!!

And the last item is really just a dream... but it never hurts to ask... A HOUSE IN NEWPORT so that we can get out of the SNOW! Buurrrrr!! We even found a "fixer-upper" townhome we could suggest...

Thanks Santa!! You are the best!!
XOXO
-Jen & Troy

P.S. Almost forgot - Issey Miyake Perfume! :)

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Panda!! Hope you have an awesome day with TONS of celebrating!!


Happy Birthday Jim! Sorry we missed seeing you when you were here a couple weeks ago... but we hope you had a great visit and that you have a wonderful birthday today!

Happy Birthday Janice!!

Hope you have a great BDay with lots of fun celebrating! Have a great day! Love you!

Tag, You're IT!

1. What is your occupation right now? "Ruler of the Universe" Haha!
2. What color are your socks right now? Socks? I try to avoid wearing socks unless there is snow on the ground… :) No socks today!
3. What are you listening to right now? Christmas Music… Vanessa Williams singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, to be precise.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Parmesan Goldfish Crackers
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes.. I think so. I assume its kind of like riding a bike – you never forget how?
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Troy
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes!
8. How old are you today? 1 day older than I was yesterday
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? There are sports on TV?
10. What is your favorite drink? Coke, preferably from Mexico! It’s yummy! But I have recently switched to Diet Coke… Don’t like it as much but oh well!
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? For several years now…. It’s fun to pick out different colors! :) At the moment its sort of a burgundy color. What should I do next?
12. Favorite food? Type of Food – Italian Food item – Grilled Cheese Sandwich
13. What is the last movie you watched? Kung Fu Panda! It was GREAT!
14. Favorite day of the year? February 4th – the day I met Troy… totally cheesy, but true!
15. How do you vent anger? Go to Tae Kwon Do and spar?? Talk about it to whoever will listen – usually Troy.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Holly Hobbi Easy Bake Oven? Strawberry Shortcake Doll? I have no idea… haha!
17. What is your favorite season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Yes – or post on their blogs! :)
20. Who is the most likely to respond? No clue
21. Who is least likely to respond? No Clue
22. Living arrangements? Townhome
23. When was the last time you cried? Just a minute ago… a goldfish crumb went down the wrong pipe… coughed so much I was practically balling my eyes out.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? Carpet. And shoes shelves and shoe boxes! And a hamper.
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? I am not sure who is reading my blog these days… if Tammy is, than it would be her. We met when we were 8 years old.
26. What did you do last night? Made dinner, watched a little TV, gave some advice to a friend running a food drive, and looked at some old photo albums.
27. What are you most afraid of? Loosing someone I love
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese! Preferably with Avocado and Bacon too!
29. Favorite dog breed? That’s tough…. I love both Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies of course, but I also have a total weak spot for Bull Dogs.
30. Favorite day of the week? Saturday… I love sleeping in!!
31. How many states have you lived in? 2
32. Diamonds or pearls? BOTH!
33. What is your favorite flower? Calla Lilly… lately I am really loving them in orange or burgundy

You know the drill… I am tagging everyone who reads this! :) Haha!

Happy Birthday...

Happy Birthday to NITA!!

And Happy Birthday to STEVE!!


So many November BDays... so little time....

Happy Birthday Michelle!!

Hope you have a wonderful day my friend! :) Thanks for being such a great friend all these years!! I love that we are still so close! :)

And Troy says Happy BDay too!

Reminiscing...

Wow… never thought I would care about rain sensing wipers and a back up camera, but they just happened to be on the car that was in the color I wanted so… we have them! Have been using them lots in the last 2 days, and boy are they awesome features! :) Love them!

Anyway… I was reminiscing last night about the adventures we have had in the Volvo and I thought of one story that most of you have probably not heard… Troy tells it better than I do but here goes anyway…

Just a couple months after Troy and I met and had started dating (in April of 2006), I was going camping in Virgin, Utah with a bunch of friends for the weekend. Troy really doesn’t like camping and wasn’t planning to come… but I begged and pleaded and said it wouldn’t be nearly as fun for me if he wasn’t there. He was still hesitant but said he would think about it. It wouldn’t be easy for him - he had the girls that weekend, his car wasn’t running very well, he had no sleeping bag, wasn’t sure he could get off work, etc. I said I would pack an extra sleeping bag and extra food just in case, and I left the keys to my car so that he could drive it down if he decided to come. I even printed out the directions to our super secret camp site and headed off…. With the hope that he would come join us the next day.

We sent texts back and forth while Erica, Ethan and I were driving down there, and the next day when the whole group headed off to Sardine Canyon (There is very limited cell service at the campsite). We talked a few times and it was sounding like he wasn’t going to make it. I was very sad and when we got back to the campsite that afternoon I was totally bummed as he and I had gotten cut off on the phone when I went into a dead zone.

Our friend Buck was talking with me when I got back to the campsite and was helping me carry stuff back to the tent. He was rambling (or so I thought) trying to distract me from how sad I was, and mentioned something about hippopotamuses… I didn’t blink and eye and started telling the story Shelly had told me about the Rhino’s in Africa hanging out in the shade of the tents. I bend down to put my things in the tent and than stand back up. Then I paused because I realized that I had seen a large pair of shoes sitting on my sleeping bag, and they were obviously not mine… I lift up the tent door to see Troy in the tent. I screamed and literally dove into the tent to hug and kiss him. I was so very excited! And he said that my reaction made the torture of camping well worth it! :) Haha!

Little did I know that Hippopotamus was the “code word” Buck was using to tell Troy we were on our way to the tent…. And I hadn’t even noticed my car sitting off in the trees just a little ways down… Haha!! It was the BEST surprise! :) I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day… Possibly the rest of the trip! (Thank you Colleen for encouraging him to come! And for watching the dogs!)

And here is Troy with his "super" side kick Buck.... the silly things we do while camping.... Haha! P.S.
Yikes... someone told me today that Christmas is 6 weeks away.... I had better get busy with my shopping!!

" I am holding Henry :) "

I was so surprised and excited yesterday when Troy sent me a text that said, "I am holding Henry :)" Henry and Tanya came to Salt Lake yesterday for a very quick visit... we were all so happy to meet little Henry and to have the chance to hold him for a little bit. He's such a little cutie! And with the longest little fingers... which apparently Troy and I both commented on... and several of the nurses as well. Haha! Can't wait until we all get to spend some more time with him over Thanksgiving weekend!

Good-bye Volvo...

Troy and I both were both very sad as we said good-bye to the Volvo last night..... Despite the many repairs, I really did LOVE that car! And over the 8 1/2 years that I had it... it had kept me safe and sound on many a snowy day. We will miss it very much..... I actually teared up at one point... silly I know... but 8 1/2 years is a long time....
We are very excited to welcome the newest member of our family though...Come visit... we'll go for a ride. :)

OK.... I THINK this is the winner....

but things may still change.... haha! The color is called Truffle Mica and it looks a little grey in some light but has a nice brown tint to it, especially in the sun. :) The interior is a light tan color with brown wood. Very pretty. I think it will serve us well. :)

Our new dream car...

Wow... what an adventure the test drive of this car was!! We have a very good friend who works for Porsche and may be able to get us a Cayenne for less than a Toyota or a Lexus... haha! How would that be?!?! Haha! I think the Lexus is still probably what we will end up with, but the Cayenne sure would be fun! And the Macadamia color is just my dream.... it is so gorgeous! (the picture above does NOT do it justice! It's a gorgeous dark metallic brown.)

Bryan took us on one wild test drive!! We tested out the stability on some hair pin turns at very high speeds, we tested out the brakes from a rather high speed to a stop, all in about 10 feet... AMAZING! We tested out the traction with a little off-roading and went over some wild bumps..... so much fun! And we were both car sick at the end! Haha! But we felt VERY GOOD about the safety of that car!

Maybe someday.....

Happy Birthday Bradley Boy!

Hope you have a wonderful day, little brother! :) Love you!

How about a Nissan?

I looked at the Toyotas but the Forerunner (sp?) is a little too large and missing some of the features I really want, and the Rav4 is closer to the size I want, but missing several of the features. Which led us to Nissan... Here is one of the cars in the running.... the Nissan Murano. Depending on availability, pricing, etc.... but I really like these. Unfortunately Troy isn't really a fan, but I am working on that part. :) I can even get a double panel sunroof.... but that may be too pricey... but I LOVE them!

Then there is a Buick Enclave... more expensive but a very nice car. Troy hates these too... haha! But look at that gorgeous color! :)
Another car we are considering is the Acura MDX - but I am really not happy with the color choices they have so that is holding me up a bit. But its a great car with lots of the features I like but still quite affordable so... we'll see.... Thoughts??