Lately

Lately we have been.....

Spending time with FAMILY! It's been fun to have Ryan and Laura back in Utah and spending time with their kids.

This is little miss Alex Jane Denney, born on Jan 19th. She's so precious.

Spending time with FRIENDS! A bunch of friends got together this week for Rob Brill's birthday!Traci, Anna, Jayci....I love these girls! I feel like I never see them anymore:) It was nice to visit. By the way, Traci is engaged--getting married next month!!! So of course we had a BRIDAL SHOWER!!!!

The theme of the party was "Fashion and Shopping"

Traci pretending to be a rock star....part of a game we played.

And the fun stuff....woo hoo!

Brett took advantage of the night and planned a halo party with his friends. He was thrilled about his halo date. He hasn't shown the same excitement for any of the recent dates we have been on. Guess he was needing some man-time.

Sunday Cookies

Lately, Sundays have been my day for baking cookies. I've been trying some new recipes too. Last Sunday I made Almond Cookies (got the recipe from Christy, my sister in-law's recipe blog). They were heavenly!

Today I triesd a recipe from Picky Palate: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies. Brett and I can't stop eating them:) If you like oreos and you like chocolate chip cookies, you'll love these.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

1 stick softened butter

6 tbs. sugar

6 tbs. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. chocolate chips

8 crushed oreos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until well mixed. Place flour, soda, and salt in a separate bowl and mix well. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined. With medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes.

There is nothing better than eating warm cookies, drinking a glass of milk, and curling up on the couch to watch a movie on Sunday afternoons. This is our usual routine!!

What a Weekend!

The Sundance Film Festival started this Thursday up in Park City. HP is a sponsor and my company worked on some projects for a few of the films, so I was able to get some tickets. Friday night we went to the premier of the film "September Issue." It's a documentary about Vogue Magazine and the preparation in getting the biggest issue of the year out, the Semptember Issue. The showing was actually in Salt Lake, and there was a little pre-film cocktail party at Pierpont Place downtown. Brett and I didn't quite fit in with the crowd, but we sure enjoyed the orderves and desserts, and had fun people watching:)

Seriously, the desserts were delicious and the presentation was super fun! The tall cone-looking thing in the center is a tower of sugar-glazed cream puffs.

Orderves were Delish......

Saturday night, the party in Salt Lake continued!! I know the owner of Pierpont Place, (we had our company party there so I worked with her a lot) so Friday night at the cocktail party she told Brett and I we had to come back Saturday night for the "Fashion Delirium Tour du Jour." Yeah, i don't know what that means. It is basically a traveling runway party that showcases designers and their newest fashions. Not really our cup of tea, but thought it could be really fun if we went with the right people!! Hence, we invited our good friends Rich and Kellie Knapp, kind of our wild and crazyfriends (don't worry, in a good-way). We knew they would make it fun!

We grabbed dinner on our way up. We wanted to eat at this Italian restaurant in American Fork, La Vigna, but once we saw the average price per plate was $17 we headed to Paradise Bakery instead (and indulged in way too many of their yummy cookies)

Kellie & I Me & my Hubby
Brett & Rich having SO much fun! We dared them to order Shirley Temples from the Bar. Rich finally did and I'm pretty sure the bartdender looked at him like he was crazy.Rich and Kellie Dancin'

These were the models of the fashion show. Kellie and I practiced our walks after the show and thought we could be some serious competition! Ha!

Does this guy look familiar? I don't think he's the innocent, nice guy we know from all of our favorite Mormon movies!! He was a little crazy!The best part of the night was when 3 drag queens walked in to the party! We tried to get pictures but I was too chicken to just go up to them and ask to take their picture, and couldn't take one on the sneak, it would have been too obvious. But we all died laughing when we saw them.

Thanks Rich and Kellie for coming with and making the night fun!

And by the way, the documentary we saw was really interesting. I recommend everyone see it when it comes out. Brett and I are not fashion gurus and know nothing about the fashion industry. Maybe that's what made it so interesting.

7 Whopping Days....Zero Diet Dr. Pepper

It has been 7 LONG, tiring, head-aching, days since I have had any soda. I decided to quit drinking diet dr. pepper, diet coke, ALL soda really. This is one of my new year's resolutions. I have 358 days to go....ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

New Year's Day Tubing & a Wedding

We had a little New Year's Eve Party with our friends, Tami & Coloton Judd. We were up playing games until 2:00 in the morning. Then New Year's Day we did some tubing.

The Judds

Brett being Brett

Friday, Brett's teammate Mitch Payne got married in the Salt Lake Temple. Brett and Mitch use to be roommates before I came along:) We were able to attend their temple sealing and the dinner afterwards. It was beautiful!

Mitch & AlexThe Boys Cory, Brett, & Mitch

I know I've been on a roll with the blogging, but I've had a lot of time on my hands with the holiday break! Don't get too used to it:)

Reflections of 2008

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I feel like the entire year has been a whirlwind. The highlight of course was getting married in March, which is probably what has made the rest of the year a bit of a blurr!! Anyways, here are some of the happenings of 2008......

Brett proposed on New Year's Eve (actually in the afternoon). There couldn't have been a better way to start out the year. I was on cloud 9 for the entire duration of our 2 1/2 month engagement. I was giddy, smiley, and in love. I think Brett was thinkin' "How did this happen again?" New Year's Eve will always be special for us!

Brett and I got married on March 13th, a VERY monumental day for both of us. We were so lucky to have so many of our family and friends there to share the experience with us! I remeber the sealing like it was yesterday. You all know how newly weds are.....which pretty much sums up the rest of our year being giddy, smiley, and so so in love!

I watched more football than I've ever watched in my life. Brett played and watched a lot of football. I learned after the first home game that it is routine to go home and watch the game on tv again, and then watch the other college games that are on. We also followed Brett's brothers' games on tv as much as we could. I think I finally understand the game now. If not, I'd be pretty dense after watching it as much as I do! I love it though. I especially love watching Brett play, I get so excited for him!

Earlier this year, Brett's mom Sheri found out she had breast cancer. It was quite the scare and so unexpected. Thankfully, she is cancer free, after several surgeries, medication, and radiation. With the help and prayers of friends and family, Sheri was able to get through it! And she tells of all the little miracles that happened along the way!

I became a Diet Dr. Pepper addict. I used to enjoy a Diet Coke every now and then, but this year, Diet Dr. Pepper became my vice. Why? And how do I stop?

I started a new job at MarketSplash by HP (formerly known as Logoworks) as an Executive
Assistant/Operations. It's been a great learning experience for me and I've met a lot of new people. It definitely has it's moments of stress but I love it!

While Brett was thrilled to get a suga' momma for a wife and thought he might trick me into keeping it this way, he was not so thrilled to get many "honey do lists" as I have slowly domesticated him this year. I work full-time, he is a full-time student-athlete, so we both cook and clean:) Sometimes it's like pulling teeth though.

I made new friends at work and with some of the other wives of football players. We both got to know our new in-laws much better. We took on new nieces and nephews and it's been so much fun!

Brett started the Business Program at BYU this fall. I don't know how he does it with football, but he always gets good grades.

Faced my biggest fear and taught Gospel Doctrine for the first time. Thank goodness Brett and I team teach. Surprisingly, it has turned out to be really fun when we prepare well. When we don't, I'm a nervous wreck. It's been a neat experience for us to study and teach together.

Okay, maybe the year isn't all a blurr.....I could go on and on now. I'm grateful for all of the people that have helped make 2008 such a great year for us. I'm especially thankful for Brett, he's such a great husband and my best friend! And yes, I'm stilly giddy, smiley, and so so in love:) I think Brett is too!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas in Alamosa

Brett and I spent Christmas with my family in Alamosa, Colorado. It was so much fun to have all of my family home and to spend the week together. Brett and I's gift to each other this year was a new camera. We figured it was a good investment, and we definitely have fun with it! Here are some pics of our week in Alamosa. My 17 month old niece, Gracelyn, was the center of attention all week, and I couldn't help but take lots of pictures of her! She is a wild one. Playin in the Snow!She's a little Amazon woman!

This one is my favorite....so precious. Love the cheekers:)Grandma "Bebbie" & Gracie

Carly and Spencer
Gracie, Ashley, Tyler, and RalphieSurprise visit to Grandma Sally's! Sitting around talking & sippin' cocoa.

It's a tradition to get new pajamas every Christmas Eve. My mom had a hard time finding pjs to fit Brett, so the boys got baskbetball shorts and t-shirts. Get used to it mom! haha!

Las Vegas Bowl

Last Saturday BYU played U of A in the Las Vegas Bowl. Unfortunately, we lost and it wasn't how we'd hoped to end the season. But the overall trip to Vegas was a blast! We stayed at the Planet Hollywood right on the strip. The team had practice, meetings, and film during the day, so it allowed the wives plenty of time for shopping, eating, more shopping, more eating, and more shopping! ha!! But at night, we were able to spend time with our hubbies. Everyone went to the show Stomp Out Loud, which was amazing & very very loud! And a few of us went to Steve Weirick's Magic show another night. There were a few luncheons and dinners that the Bowl put on that we got to attend as well. Here's a sneak peak of our fun week:

The Water Show at the Bellagio....I think this is everyone's favorite thing to see/do.

Outback Steakhouse hosted a dinner for both teams at Freemont Street. Dinner was outside, in the middle of the street! A bit chilly. Our friends Kellen & Sarah Fowler.....we had so much fun with these guys. They took us to the most amazing Creperia at the Paris hotel where we indulged in dinner & dessert crepes.

Me, Sarah, and Lyndsey BaumanThe night before the game the team moved to the Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas Hotel. So Saturday morning before the game, Brett's family and I went to visit him real quick. The hotel was amazing, looked like an Italian Villa. And we just happened to run into Santa outside.

Of course, the one thing that would have made this trip even better would have been for BYU to win. But I'm glad Brett and I were able to have a fun week together. I'm especially glad to have a little break from football, the traveling, and finally having some weekends together again! And then on the other hand....I'm already excited for next season:)

Splash the Halls

Friday night was my work Holiday Party, Splash the Halls, as we called it! Lucky for me, I was in charge of planning it this year! (Special thanks to those who helped, especially Curt & Elizabeth!) The party was at Pierpont Place in Salt Lake. The venue was very urban chic and had such a cozy feel to it! Everyone enjoyed (at least it seemed like they enjoyed) a nice night of dinner, dancing, and prizes. Brett & I won seasons 1-4 of the office (I didn't rig the raffle, I promise). Brett was thrilled. It even came with a Dwight Bobblehead doll! Fantastic huh? It's Monday and we've already watched Season 1....and Brett has finals???
Here are a few pics from the night.

The Venue:

The Buffet:Joe Muscolino's 6 Piece Band.....These guys were amazing!A little bit of Dancin': So relieved everything turned out okay!

Oh Christmas Trees!!!

It just doesn't feel like Christmas without a Christmas Tree! I was so excited for Brett and I to buy, decorate, and have our very first Christmas tree together! He was a little hesistant to buy one since it will only be up for 2 1/2 weeks before we leave for a bowl game, but I insisted! So we went out and bought a real tree from Lowe's. Neither of us had been tree shopping before so we were amazed when we looked at the first tree in the first row of the bunch, looked at it, gave each other the nod, paid for it, and were out of there in 10 minutes! We went and bought some decorations and some lights, and now our little tree is glowing in our living room. Now it feels like Christmas! We didn't get crazy with the decos, but we like it!

We also did something fun for our neighbors and good friends, Chase and Ashleigh Carlson. Ashleigh really wanted a tree but Chase was bein' a scrooge and didn't want to get one this year. And he wasn't budging. So Monday Brett and I went and bought them a tree for Christmas, put a bow on it, and left it on their front step. Then we hid outside until Chase got home (Ash was already inside) We wanted to see their reaction. Ashleigh was thrilled, but I think Chase's exacts words were "You Punks." But within a couple of hours, their tree was fully decorated (much better than ours) and Chase was feeling the spirit of Christmas and happy to have the tree! I won't call him a Scrooge anymore. They invited us over later to see their tree and SURPRISE, there was a gift under it for US! It was a Shark (you know, the dust buster). They are too nice:) Thanks guys! Brett is using it daily, and I'm loving it! It's a toy for him.

We are lucky to have such good friends as our neighbors. What a fun way to start out our Christmas!