Road Trip!

I never posted our road trip home so better late than never right?

Our first stop was Palmyra where we saw The Sacred Grove and The Hill Cumorah. It was an amazing place. After that we headed up to Niagara Falls and snuck Zoe on a trolley ride and up to the observation deck. We got a lot of weird stares but it was worth it.


Our cute missionary tour guide with us in front of the Palmyra temple

Sacred Grove

Hill Cumorah

Niagara Falls


After that, we stopped by the Kirtland temple to take pictures and then headed to Carthage Jail. The feeling we got was indescribable. Seeing these sights, realizing that Joseph Smith stood in the very same spots we were standing, and being in the actual places where everything happened really strengthened our testimonies. (Not to get all preachy :)

Kirtland Temple

Carthage Jail

This is the window Joseph Smith fell through after being shot. You can see a bullet hole on the door if you look close, that's the shot that killed Hyrum.
Our last stop was Nauvoo. The temple is amazing. It is an exact replica of the original temple on the outside with modern designs inside. It's insane that back in 1840 they were able to make such a beautiful, intricate building. It's a wonder how they do it now days, I can't imagine how they did it back then.


This statue of Joseph and Hyrum shows where they overlooked Nauvoo right before they left for Carthage Jail, knowing they would not be back. Joseph Smith said, "This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them." I can't even fathom the courage the saints had to have during that time. I am grateful for them and their faith in the church. I would like to think I would be able to endure the way they did, but I'm highly doubtful. So I am just grateful.

This roadtrip was very fun, spiritual, and educational. I learned so much and if anyone has the opportunity to go to these sights, go. I realized how grateful I am to be alive in this day and age and for the wonderful husband I have.
NOTE: I tried to keep the cheesiness to a minimum but I failed miserably... Don't hate me forever :)

Coupons...

Okay peeps, so my sweetest Morgan recently let me in on a little shopping secret of hers, and this last Wednesday I reaped the benefits!!! The idea is to clip those fabulous coupons and wait for things to go on sale and use your coupons in addition to the sale price... it's AMAZING! This is what I got...

2-boxes of Cheez-Its
2-boxes of Oreos
2-jars Kraft Miracle Whip
2-Palmolive liquid dish soap
4-boxes Swiffer refills
1-40 oz bottle Heinz ketchup
3-Bounce dryer bars
1-Renuzit air freshener
2-boxes Nature Valley granola bars
6-packs DanActiva yogurt
2-packs Danimals yogurt
4-packs Danimals smoothies
4-Pillsbury Grands biscuits
1-box Kellogg's Cinnabon bars
6-boxes Hefty one-zip baggies
4-bags Kroger shredded cheese
1-45 oz Country Crock butter spread
2-64oz Sunny D
10-Kool-Aid packets
4-Totinos pizza

Total Cost: $72.76
Total Savings: $112.09

3-boxes Special K cereal
3-boxes Special K crackers
6-boxes Special K bars

Total Cost: $5.10
Total Savings: $24.10

If any of you are interested in this fabulous find, go to She Shops Smart and it explains it all!

My Brian is taking me to see this tomorrow. I can't wait!

Another Celebrity Sighting!!!

So obviously I haven't blogged in a while, I just haven't had a lot of blog worthy material... until now! My mommy came to visit this last week and we went to the city every day, it was so fun! The most awesome part was right after we got off our first stop, my mom noticed some bright lights down this alley way so we went to check it out. And this is who we saw...

Russell Brand! You may recognize him from comedies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, or Bedtime Stories! However, being the complete idiot I am, I just stared. Star struck again. I managed to get some super good pics though!

We did a lot while she was here, all the touristy stuff on a double decker bus! The best part was Canal street, going in the secret back rooms and bargaining with the chinese peeps. I guess there was a huge bust last year so we had to be sneaky, they had walky talkies and everything. There was even one point where they wouldn't show us anything cuz the cops were out. It was awesome!



Mommy with her bf Craig. He was so patient while we were shopping, I was impressed!

On the LIRR train

The night tour was so sweet

Central Park

Brian was able to come with us one of the days and I'm so glad he did! It was great to have all of us spending time together. This picture makes me laugh cuz he was having the hardest time with his poncho, as you can see, his head is in the sleeve :)

Hamptons Beach Day

Last Sunday was actually sunny (probably the 3rd sunny day of the whole summer) so we took a trip to the West Hamptons Beach. It was a private beach so Brian had to tell the lady our aunt lived down by the elementary school and blah blah blah. Needless to say, we got in. Sometimes it's quite handy having a salesman as a husband :)

Is that Lauren Conrad? Why yes, yes it is.

I'm not ashamed to admit I am a Hills fanatic, as most girls are. So of course Friday, June 19th, 2009 was a big day in my life. It was the day I met Lauren Conrad! She was in Long Island for her book signing (completely sold out by the way) so me and a couple girls from the office went to Barnes and Noble to stand in a ridiculously long line. I don't want to bore you with details but I didn't get to buy her book so we had to pass through and just look at her cuz she was only signing her books. So Paityn (the last one standing with me... the other girls wussed out :) said to Lauren, "We tried to buy your book but it was sold out," and Lauren was like, "Oh, that's okay, thanks for coming anyway," and I was like, "Yeah." I'll admit, I was a little star struck. The girl is gorgeous, even in real life so I was a little taken aback. So thank you Paityn for speaking to her cuz then she looked at me! So the gay workers were pushing everyone through really fast and we couldn't stop to take pictures with her, so I only have pictures of her. And crappy ones at best. Oh well, I met Lauren Conrad!




That stupid lady's hand ruined my picture :(

10k in Central Park!!!

This past Sunday Paityn and I ran a 10k in central park! Can I just say we are hard core runners? About every quarter mile there was a freaking hill! I'm not even exaggerating, it was like 2/3 the race was uphill... you can ask Paityn! It was a good challenge and a good preview for our upcoming 1/2 marathon we want to do in Hobble Creek (yes Paityn, we). The day was super fun, we woke up at 4am to catch our train and rode the subway, good thing that girl knows what she's doin cuz I was lost. We stopped by the FRIENDS fountain and took a pic and then we saw that amptheater from that movie August Rush, pretty exciting I must say.

There were 7,000 runners, all women! It was pretty sweet

The run was great, we didn't walk once or even really slow down. It was a great sense of empowerment cuz we were passing all these runners like speed demons!

There was this awesome lady at the beginning of the race (seriously like an hour before it started) who was jammin out to her ipod while eating her apple slices, she was great! We were pretty drainded my mile 6 but we saw that lady right at the end and she gave us a little bit of energy to sprint the last .2 mile. Her shirt says "I run like a girl!" :)

Brian and Mark came to meet us at the end of the race. I was very grateful because Sunday is their only day to relax and they had to be to their train at 8, not as early as us but still early. Thanks babe for doin' that. This picture is awkward cuz I'm trying to hug him but he's not so much likin' it cuz I'm all sweaty :)

After the race we went to F.A.O. Shwartz and played on the big piano and saw some sweet toys.


This soldier is made entirely of jelly beans!

After the toy store we went to this place called Pop Burger and it was so cute!

The hamburgers were so tiny, I didn't want to eat it cuz it was so adorable! Brian wasn't so reluctant :)

The day was awesome, I almost stole an ipod cord from the Apple store cuz I totally spaced I had it in my hands... it was really scary but other than that it was fabulous! Anyone who wants to come visit you are more than welcome!