a day off

Thank goodness for days off work. Especially ones we BOTH have off. Because um, they are the best.

Our cute sister is in town with her kids for a whole week! Sometimes I forget how fun being an aunt is! You get to spoil them rotten, then hand them back when they are stinky or tired. It's pretty much the coolest gig ever.

We decided (or rather, i persuaded) to drive down to Pleasant Grove's "Strawberry Days" Festival. It ended up just be a major teenager hangout. Didn't even kinda hold a candle to Bountiful's Pioneer Day Festival. But we got Costa Vida for dinner and frozen yogurt, so it was totally worth it. 

(Right, Steven?)

Why can't it be summer always??

cuteness overload with a touch of randoms

so tuesday was some maybe-but-more-likely-not-important jazz game. and luckily for me and the hubs, mama and papa collins decided to take us along. now, i've never really been one to sit down and watch sports. but hey, i'm all about free dinner and getting out on a weeknight. And it ended up being really intense until about the second over time. and my bladder couldn't take it anymore.

Elder Uchtdorf ended up being there! it's kinda fun living in utah sometimes. when it's not raining/snowing/hailing/blizzarding.

i've decided that using instagram to edit my photos has got to stop. gosh dang it, i know photoshop. and not using it is just sad. And after editing all these photos... im remembing how much i love it. now if only i could get my real camera to work...

Graham has been officially nicknamed "the poop machine." He is only 7 weeks old, so he is having a hard time grasping the potty training. We are definitely going to have to replace our carpet. If he weren't so darn cute, i would have already sentenced him to living in our backyard. curse you gray puppy-dog eyes.

Tax season is OVER. now instead of trying to not punch someone in the face, i'm just fighting to stay awake. hmm. maybe it's time i start looking for a new job.

ok, so no offense, but what is the deal with Adele? I get that's she's amazing and blah blah but does she have to take up 5 of my 6 radio stations?? And every other song on Pandora? If i hear about settin fire to rain one more time.... i might cry.

midnight movies and mayhem.

It was a pretty exciting weekend over in our neck of the suburbs! First off let us discuss... the hunger games! I've heard all sorts of mixed opinions. Personally, I truly feel as though you have to have read the books in order to fully grasp the entire scope of the story. So if you haven't read the books... you might not like the movie. Alright?? But that's no reason to go hating on a perfectly awesome story.
I thought it was absolutely brilliant. The characters we dead spot on. Like... woah. They could not have been more perfect! Jennifer Lawrence is officially my homegirl. And Josh Hutcherson... oh my.  He completely captured everything I envisioned Peeta to be. And so much more.
I love how it really put you inside Katniss' head. So you saw what she saw, and felt what she felt - just like the book did. I probably cried at least ten times. And did anyone else have a heart attack when the mutt jumped out even though you totally knew it was coming?? Yeah, i think the whole theater was screaming bloody murder.
Anyways, I've heard people complain about a few things that were changed.... well duh! They have to condense a book into a 2 hour and 22 minute story! Bottom line: Suzanne Collins wrote the screenplay. So obviously every change that was made stayed true to the story, and was deemed acceptable by the Queen herself. The only thing I wish had been different was that the camera wasn't so shaky the first twenty minutes.. it gave me a huge headache. So i'd advise not seeing it on the huge IMAX and sitting as far back as possible.
Overall, I guess what it comes down to is: believe the hype. Hunger Games is the bomb. And Suzanne Collins is a storytelling magician. #lastnameawesomeness!

And then it came to pass that on the 24th of March, Steven and I made the commute through the dreaded Utah Valley construction in order to usher in the coming of Spring by throwing colorful chalk into the air. True Story. It was my third year going, and let me tell ya... best year yet! Luckily for us, the Indians don't mind sharing their celebration with a bunch of crazy kids.

Lets cross our fingers that all that chalk throwing did some good, and all the cold storms will stay the heck outta here. *hopin' for sunshine!*

Heart Day

I started out my V-day by sleeping in till 9:36am, and not showering. It was then that I realized all those years of getting up early to curl my hair and look all cutesy for the holiday are over.

Actually, I think my overall concern with appearance has really taken a beating ever since I snagged myself a man.

Got engaged, stopped putting on makeup. Got married, stopped doing my hair.

I'll probably stop showering once I'm pregnant.

I love Valentines Day though! Its the third day a year we can abandon our diets and worries of thunder thighs and stomach flab to over-indulge in anything made of sugar. My work celebrated by moving the peanut M&M's from their hiding spot in the cupboard, onto the counter where we might all enjoy them without any feelings of guilt or shame.

The costco size bag that usual takes a couple weeks to empty, was gone by noon. I guess it goes to show, temptation is much harder to resist when it's chocolately goodness is staring you in the face.

Steven and I decided to head downtown for the night and go to dinner and see "The Vow". Only problem is that was everyone else's idea too. So we decided to get some crisp bean burritos to tie us over through the movie, and get dinner afterwards. It kinda worked. Except that we ended up gorging ourselves on popcorn and diet coke because we were starving. By the time we made it to California Pizza Kitchen at 9pm, we weren't even hungry. But that didn't stop us from eating. Again.

Valentines is the best thing ever.

Is it funny that Steven and I both completely unknowing got each other geeky gifts?

That right there, is true love.

Hope you had as much fun as I did Steven! Thanks for being the sweestest husband of all time, and spoiling me wayyy more then you should. Love you always :) 

Weekending

Did I ever tell you how much I love Saturdays? Especially Saturdays that Steven is home, and not working? I love them. Those days we should probably spend doing the deep cleaning, laundry, dishes, replacing tires, and other boring thing... but we are cool. And like to not do any of them. Instead, we spend the whole day together. And I don't know about you, but I think that's wayyyy better then laundry.

Steven had to take a psychology test up at Weber State in the morning, so Flynn and I decided to tag along. I took Flynn out to play in the sun while we waited and oh my, does that poochie love to run. He spent a good twenty minutes just running full speed up and down the hill. Sometimes I think we should have named him Flash. Or Dash.

Here's the videos I took of him running and playing in the snow!

In the afternoon we went to go see Beauty and the Beast with Aimee. We might have been the only people in the theater without little kids, but who cares right?? It's a classic!

We decided that eating Cold Stone for dinner that night would be more than appropriate. After all of our healthy eating, we deserve a few thousand extra calories of sugar on the weekends. Right?  Especially if those calories are mint chocolate chip and brownies. Steven was so excited.

After "dinner," we headed to Boondocks to use our free bowling passes. We won't talk about how that game turned out. But for the record, my finger grip hole thingy's were much too small. You think they would make a 6 pound ball for adults.

And of course, there was lots of puppy snuggling and watching of The Office. I officially have Steven addicted, and he swore he would never watch it! But now, he thinks it's the funniest show ever. Because it is. It goes to show even the biggest haters can be converted.

Also, I may have watched Justin Bieber's movie on Netflix. Twice. I use to be a major hater, and now I have the fever. I even leave it on for Flynn when we leave.

Good ol' Netflix. It's pretty much changing lives.