Utah Trip

For the past little while I have been in Utah.  Luke was at work (much to Kaelyn and Kamerie's dismay...) so off I went.

Mostly I watched movies, took naps, and ate all of the canned peaches from my mom's food storage while I was there.  But there were a few more things going on as well.

Like:

-Eating at Cafe Rio...multiple times...

-Watching Whitney cheer at a basketball game in Park City.  Yay Union won!

This is when all the cheerleaders attacked their cheer coach.  (Whit is the blurry one. )

-Shopping with my mom.

-Making a fleece blanket for Chewie (baby nickname...Think Star Wars...)

-Playing games with my mom.

-Driving to Provo with my brother Dustin, so I could bring his truck back to my parents house.  It was fun to hang out with him for awhile.

-Shopping for baby clothes with my sister Kerri at the Park City outlets.

-Sleepovers at my parents house with Kerri and her kids and Cassie and her kids.

-Making a quilt top...with the cutest fabric ever!  (I think anyway...)

Yes,  know it's not even...

-Hanging out with Slinky (my sister's dog) because my swollen feet wouldn't fit in my church shoes :(

-Helping my dad with his computer... (mostly iTunes support)

-Watching my dad go feed the horses and leave to feed the cows every morning.

-Shopping in Park City (again) with Whit and her friend.

-Watching Kerri be awesome.

It's even an "action" shot!  And that blanket is for Chewie!  Yay!

-Watching my nieces (Kaelyn and Kenleigh) play basketball.

-Having Kam tie my shoes.

-Feeding the horses apples.

Snoopy

Gypsy

-Having a last minute baby shower.  (Thanks Laura!!! and Colleen!)

-Getting awesome baby gifts...for example, this one from Kara and Whit:

And the reason baby's nickname is Chewie is because Luke's nickname is Skywalker (thanks to Kara and her kids), so when I told her we were having a boy they said we should name him Han Solo.  I suggested Chewbacca...Chewie for short.  And it stuck.

But you just got here!

We took my parents to the airport around noon, and then we took Wendi (whose flight didn't leave until 11 p.m.) to Girdwood, AK...home of Alyeska Resort.

We ate lunch at The Bake Shop.

We all had BLT's which were delicious.  (But I've really got to try other things on their menu sometime...I've been there twice.  And had a BLT there twice.  Lame!)

After lunch, we drove around and showed Wendi the sights from the car.  (We might have been more adventurous had it not been raining...)

We found the church were LDS sacrament services are held.

We drove by the restaurant we've heard was really good (but have yet to try) called The Double Musky.

We stopped in at the Alaska Candle Factory and got some candles with the coupons from the Northern Lights coupon book that I had.

The owner of the candle factory is really friendly!

Then we drove back to downtown Anchorage where we promptly found a chocolate lounge and had delicious drinking chocolate.

Perfect for a rainy day!

They had all sorts of chocolate-y things in the store.  Very unique chocolate-y things!  We tried smoked salmon dark chocolate (which actually was good), and we shared a delicious chili chocolate chip cookie (which made me want to make up an experimental recipe for...or google it sometime.)

After that we went to a photo gallery.  The photographer's name is John Schwieder, and I really like his work.

It was fun to walk around Anchorage in the rain.

Eventually we left downtown, and made our way south.  Back towards the airport.  We had dinner at the Bear Tooth Grill. (their garlic cilantro fries are delicious!)

We wanted to see a movie too (it's a fancy place where you can watch a movie and eat your dinner) but there wasn't anything good playing.

And then it was time to take Wendi to the airport.

Good thing they all promised to come back and visit again soon!  YAY!

Winter Clearance

New slippers courtesy of the REI winter clearance sale.

(FYI...REI winter clearance in Alaska is the Best. Thing. Ever.  We still have months of winter left and now we can get the warm stuff we need for less.  Brilliant!  Finally a sale that makes sense!)

Exploring Anchorage

Today I went to my first Alaskan Yoga class.  It wasn't too different from Colorado yoga classes, but in my mind if I add "Alaskan" to everything, it sounds cooler...  Don't you think??  :)  Anyway, I went to Anchorage Yoga studio.  (I actually really miss Core Power yoga in Colorado--where I practiced for over 3 years-- but I am excited that there is a yoga studio here that is similar.  One of the instructors I met today did her teacher training at Core Power in Ft. Collins, Colorado, so I am sure I will be just fine.

Adjusting.  That's what yoga life is all about.

This is the studio:

We went to 5th Avenue Mall this afternoon.  Luke had to get some business casual clothes for work.  The mall isn't very big, but it's very tall!  And they have a Nordstrom which I am extremely happy about.

Yay for Nordstrom!  The mall is kind of funny shaped...it's on both sides of the road...  

And from the mall you can see downtown Anchorage...

What do you mean it's not as big as you though it would be??   :)

And the cold continues...  Especially in Eagle River-where we are buying a house.

Speaking of buying a house...we are having a hard time finding joy in the process...  We will be so excited/relieved to finally have all the papers signed and a place to call our own before Luke starts work on Monday.  It seems like there are so many hurdles and things to do, and we just want it to be over...yesterday.  I don't know why I'm complaining...Luke has done almost everything...I just don't want him to have to worry about it anymore.  (Give the man some peace of mind already!!!)

Ok.  Now I'm done.