Portland

Last week I was so lucky to go with my family on a road trip up to Portland. My sister and her husband recently moved there for his new job with Intel. Although I hate that we live far apart now, it was fun to be able to visit her in a new place and show us around. Thursday and Friday were fall break for my family, so it was a short but fun trip. We were able to cram a ton of things in.

Wednesday night we began the car ride. We spent the night in Boise and continued on early in the morning. The puppies came with us.

As we neared Portland, the scenery was unbelievable. We were able to stop at a waterfall and look around for one of our rest stops. Apparently Oregon is known for their many waterfalls.

We arrived at Lauren and Spencer's home around 4:00 pm on Thursday. It was so fun to see them and their cute pup Pippa. Their town-home is so adorable, I'm super jealous. After catching up for a while, we headed downtown to eat at the original Old Spaghetti Factory. We got a table overlooking the river where a lit up river boat floated by.

We then went on the tram, which hangs above the city. It was a great way to see the city at night. I wish I had pictures of our next adventure, we went to this house that is famous for their Halloween decor. The owners made their whole front yard into a scary cemetery. The decorations were unbelievable!

Friday we did our country visit. Lauren and Spencer actually live very close to the beautiful country. We stopped at a little shop where I took all these beautiful pictures.

We then went to a Christmas Tree farm where you could pick out your tree and reserve it for Christmas. They had a shop with everything imaginable in Christmas decor.

We also stopped by a vintage fair where we found so many beautiful things, if only we had room in the car..

Next up was an apple orchard. We bought fresh apple cider, apples, caramel apples, and jam. It was a perfect fall day.

We then left the country and drove to the coast. Again, the drive was incredible. It is always interesting to see how different a "forest" looks in different areas of the country. We first stopped by the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We were able to watch the process of cutting and packaging the cheese. My favorite part was testing the different types of cheeses. And of course, we had some delicious ice cream as well.

After the factory, we drove to the beach. The Oregon coast is enchanting. It was so peaceful and beautiful. We stayed at the beach a while taking lots of pictures. The party ended, however, when a huge wave suddenly came all the way to the top of the shore getting all our shoes and coats wet.

On Saturday Chito, Spencer, Allison, and I started our day early at the REI  garage sale. I got a Camelbak and Allison scored with some ski boats (originally $300 for only $25). We then met the rest of the family downtown at Voodoo Doughnuts. The boys were nice enough to wait in the hour long line while the rest of us looked around the market.

There were lots of fun buildings downtown. I wish I could have spent longer looking there.

Later that day, the boys were able to go to the Nike employee store where everything is around 50% off. The girls made a visit to the mall. Needless to say it was a good shopping day. We then went to Spencer's family's house for dinner.

Sunday morning we left early to start the 12 hour drive back home. It was sad to leave such a short trip, but fortunately Lauren decided to come with us! Spencer had some training in Arizona all week, so it was great timing for Lauren to visit home. It was lots of fun to visit Portland and I'm excited to visit again!

Two Years

Two years down, eternity to go

Yesterday was my two year anniversary of being married to my best friend. Crazy huh?! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. It really has been an incredible two years. Some people say the first few years are the hardest, others say they are the easiest. Either way, sure, we have had our ups and our downs, but that is what makes marriage so special. We have been able to really get to know each other; learned each other's strengths and weaknesses, shared joys and heartache, help each other in ways we didn't realize we were helping. I cherish these early years of marriage where we can be completely devoted to one another, and can't wait for the infinite more years to come. I love you Chito, you are my everything.

Moving away from the mushy gushy stuff, in celebration of our anniversary we went on a date last night. We are trying to save up for Peru still, so keeping things low key. I came home from work to find Chito dressed in a sports coat with a bouquet of roses and a Sonic cherry limeade (our fav). He then proceeded to kneel down on one knee and renew his proposal to me with some very romantic words. We then went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant and saw the new movie Romeo & Juliet. Let me tell you, if you plan on watching that movie, don't wear mascara. I cried almost the whole last half of the movie (I'm a bit emotional I know). Finally as the movie starts to wrap up, I wipe away my tears and pull myself together so those in the theater wouldn't see how much I cried. Then it happened. The last scene. The final 30 seconds of the movie just pulled at my heart, tears wouldn't stop running down my face. Needless to say I walked out of the theater with my face buried in my coat. Really though. I loved the movie and suggest you see it, without makeup.

Happy two year anniversary to us! 

The Perfect Dress

My friend Deidre and I had the amazing opportunity of going to The Perfect Dress' open house. Read about Deidre's experience below.

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"A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of attending an open house at The Perfect Dress at their new location. I've been to The Perfect Dress a few times at their old location as I shopped for my wedding gown and my best friend shopped for her gown. About 4 months ago they moved up to a new shop in Holliday, and let me tell you. The shop is stunning. Absolutely beautiful. Imagine all white and all bright, a beautiful jewelry counter, gowns lining all the walls except one, and on that one there is exposed white washed brick. It was seriously beautiful. The second I walked in I wished I had a reason to go wedding dress shopping again. 

Look at those jewels and those store front gowns! How could you walk into that store and not feel absolutely bridal? Beyond just a beautiful store, the store owner has a beautiful event set up for all of the woman in attendance. Perrier bottles, macaroons, swag bags full of girly goodies, and models showing off all her new designs."

Read the full post, view more gorgeous dresses, and learn some bridal tips over on Love, The Skinnys

My Job

In case you are curious as to what I do...

I work for Round House Racing, we are an events company that puts on races. Our main race is the 5k Foam Fest. It is a FUNcore obstacle foam and mud run. Watch the video on our website to see what it's all about.

I hold the position of Event Manager. I scout venues, create contracts, book travel, negotiate pricing, rent equipment, hire labor, create itineraries, manage the staging area, and perform quality control. These events occur all over the country. In 2013 we had 24 races, with our last two in Kansas City and Austin this month. We have 37+ planned for 2014!

In 2013, I was in charge of the Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake races. I also helped with Orlando and Jacksonville. We were just assigned next year's locations, which I'm pretty excited about. I will be over:

Baton Rouge

San Jose

Charleston

Louisville

Philadelphia

Baltimore

Portland

Minnesota 

If any of you have ever been/lived in these areas, I would love any advice on sites to hit up. I don't get much time to site see, in fact, none, but I can arrange to come a day earlier or stay a day later if I want to.

Putting these races together is a lot of work...but I enjoy it. It is fun to visit new places and get out of the office every once in a while.

Some favorite obstacles: 

Death Drop

Slip n Slide

Cargo Net

It was fun holding a race in my hometown so friends and family could come.  

My hubby ran the race and then helped clean up.
He didn't know what he was getting himself into by staying but I'm so glad he did! 

Orabrush tongue, my bestie, my fam, and Brooks (from the Bachelorette) 

My Mountain Man

On Monday, Sept. 23rd it was Chito's birthday! He is a quarter of a century old! Crazy! Because he had class all day until 11:00pm (boooo), we mostly celebrated over the weekend. Chito has become my mountain man. He LOVES everything outdoorsie. We have slowly been stocking up on our emergency preparedness and camping supplies, as well as getting ready for Peru. This means we are constantly checking Steep and Cheap, reading reviews, and drafting strategic game plans for the next REI garage sale.

So for Chito's birthday weekend we went camping. We just went up Wasatch, but it was the PERFECT weekend to go. The leaves were so beautiful! Lots of vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows.

We set up camp and tested out our new pocket rocket stove with our Mountain House meals-that's my kind of cooking.

Saturday morning we went fly fishing and then Chito headed off to a golf tournament with his friends.

Sunday we spent time with his family and I made a big birthday dinner of breakfast foods and a cake.

On Monday Chito got his birthday present from me-a new backpacking tent and sleeping pad. He is really excited to use them this weekend on his big backpacking trip with his UVU backpacking class. I hope he doesn't freeze with this cold weather!!

Tuesday we celebrated Chito's and Christina's (even though she is on a mission) birthday with my family at Texas Road House. He was such a good sport and even rode the saddle :)

It was a fun weekend and I'm glad we got to spend so much time together. As I'm sure with all of you, this time of year is really busy and its hard to find time in our schedules where we can both just play.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband that I can grow old with. I love you sweetheart!