Tuesday, September 30, 2014

A Splendind Weekend!

For Justin's birthday, clear back in April, I bought him tickets to see Blake Shelton's "Ten Times Crazier Tour' at the Usanna Amphitheater in Salt Lake City. The concert was this last Friday, and oh my! It was a total blast! Before the concert we had dinner at Red Robin.... yummmm. Love that place. We had great service and great food. I had never been to a concert like that before and I honestly had no idea how many people were going to be there, especially crazy drunk people! We really did have a riot. By some weird luck though we kind of ended up surrounded by old people! And you know old people, always good for a story!

The older couple sitting in front of us, I would say probably in their seventies, were hilarious. They were just dancing and rocking out to every song. And during the first love song, the old guy reaches around and pinches his wife's bottom. Justin and I were dying, it was pretty funny. Gotta keep that romance alive right? It was pretty cute- I hope me and Justin are still that "hot" for each other when we are that old haha.

The couple sitting next to us (late sixties I'd guess) were not as fun however. The guy definitely had a potty mouth and he was most definitely NOT a fan of this type of concert. He was very, and I mean VERY upset that he "paid for a GD seat so that I could F-bomb sit in it! That's why I am not on the D grass! Why the H is everyone standing up? Why pay for a GD seat if your not going to GD sit in it?!" It was colorful to say the least. After complaining to everyone around him, and asking the people in front of him to sit down (which didn't last long because then they couldn't see) he and his wife left. I felt bad that it was wasted money and wasted seats, but honestly, what did you expect at a concert of this sort?

Anywho... back to the concert. It was AMAZING! Neil McCoy and The Band Perry were the opening acts for Blake and they were awesome. I fell in love with TBP! They really know how to rock it and they are adorable and funny and I would definitely love to see them in concert again! Blake Shelton was everything you would expect Blake Shelton to be. He called Adam Levine a douche, talked about boobies, embarrassed a young couple on screen, and was of course drinking the entire time. In other words, he was frickin' hilarious! I was surprised at how many older songs he sang, and was even more surprised that I knew all of them. It did rain on us for a while but fortunately it was bearable and didn't last too long. Unfortunately I didn't plan very well and forgot a camera and wasted my phone's battery with GPS. We did manage to get a couple of pictures before our phones died but they aren't the greatest quality.








After the concert we kind of chilled in the parking lot for an hour to let some of the traffic die down. There were people partying and drinking it up in the cars all around us and two cars down a guy dropped his pants right then and there and relieved himself. He was shocked to find the car next to him full of girls and somehow managed to apologize profusely for exposing himself at the same time as shamelessly flirting with them. It was an incredibly awkward and hilarious situation to watch. We finally got out of there and didn't get back to our hotel until after one in the morning. 

So Justin's birthday was the concert and for my birthday we decided to make a weekend of it and get a hotel in SLC and spend the next day in the city. On Saturday morning we slept in, packed up, and hit up Denny's for breakfast. I had heard about a church history display going on at the Church History Library, so we decided to check that out. WOW! I don't really consider myself a history buff, but I really do love church history, so I found this display completely incredible! Some of the things on display are:
Joseph Smith's personal journal
A first edition of the Book of Mormon
A page from the Book of Mormon manuscript that was hand written by Oliver Cowdery
Wilford Woodruff's journal
Handwritten notes from the Relief Society's first meeting
Handwritten notes from the Primary's first meeting
A letter Joseph Smith wrote from Liberty Jail
A first edition of the Hymn book
And lots more!
It was incredible to see these items close up. They are of course in a display case but seeing them like that made it all so real for me. Joseph Smith is probably my very favorite prophet and I love learning about him and about the lives of the early saints. This was such an incredible display and you can feel the spirit so strongly being so close to these things. I would highly encourage everyone to go and check it out, but I think the display closes in October sometime so you gotta hurry!


After the Church History Library we made our way to Famous Footwear (did you know the one in Logan closed?) and the whole family got new shoes. I had to exchange some shoes I got for my birthday. Justin needed new work shoes, and Leland needed new church shoes. Shoe shopping is fun isn't it? I HATE shopping for clothes but I LOVE shopping for shoes. Shoes is definitely my favorite accessory which is weird because usually you can find me in flip flops.... weird... I know. Anyway, after our shoe shopping extravaganza we headed to my aunt's house to pick up Leland (thanks for taking such good care of him guys, he had a blast and was definitely spoiled!). We stopped in at my parents house and they ordered pizza and we ended up watching Dirty Dancing with my mom. After the movie we headed back to Cache Valley.... awwww. Home. 

So on Monday we went apple picking with my MIL and FIL. I feel deprived that I have never done this before. I thought it was going to be boring work but we actually ended up having a lot of fun. Leleand LOVED "helping" us. He loved the dirt and sticks and the throwing of the apples. We got caught in the rain but it presented us with a double rainbow which was utterly stunning. We picked a LOT of apples and then went home and got hamburgers and watched DWTS. 






It was a grand sort of weekend really. Concert, church history, new shoes, family, food, and apple picking. Life is pretty good. 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A New Adventure Awaits!

I am so excited about a new adventure I am pursuing. Have you ever heard of Usborne books? I had seen booths they had at local fairs and shows for a number of years and every time I stop to chat, and I always do, because hello?!....BOOKS! I always walk away thinking to myself, "I should sell Usborne. I think I would like that." But then that little voice of self doubt creeps in and tells me I can't do it so I move on with my life and forget about it. This last Christmas my MIL bought Leland an Usborne book and let me tell ya, he LOVES this book! It is by far his favorite book on his shelf, and being my son, he already has quite the library for a one year old. He carries this book around with him like a security blanket. I read it to him multiple times a day, over and over again. I have seen him sit down with Aunt Cassie and read this book for over an hour! Think about your own kids with their books. Have they ever been entertained by one book for an hour? This is how amazing they are!

So when the Cache County Fair pulled into town I of course bee-lined it to the Usborne booth. After a short conversation I ignored my self doubting little monster and decided to take the plunge once and for all. I am now an official Usborne Books and More consultant. I have my consultant kit (which was AMAZING by the way), I have had my first party, and I have more parties booked already. I am pumped for this adventure.

And now for a little FYI:
- If you book a party with me I can give you DOUBLE free books! You earn FREE books just by having a party with your friends!

-You can shop from me anytime you want to from the comfort of your own home! My website is:
D4538.myubam.com 

-These books are very interactive, educational, fun, and come with a warranty!

-For my friends who live out of state you can have a facebook party!

Starting something new like this is really terrifying for me. As most of you know I am a shy, quiet, introvert kind of person. It takes a while for me to open up to people so starting a business like this is a huge stretch for me. I really hope it helps me grow and become more confident in myself and more outgoing with other people. I am scared. I am excited. I am nervous. I am thrilled.

I AM READY TO HELP PROMOTE LITERACY TO THE WORLD!

If you would like to help me out, you can first and foremost like my facebook page:
facebook.com/kristiubam

You can host a party

You can buy from me

And mostly, you can get others to do the same!

Thank you in advance for all of your love and support! I believe in these books or else I wouldn't be doing this. I know that our children's education is going downhill and I know that these books can help in that fight.

And some food for thought:
Books make great gifts for--
-Christmas
-Baby Showers
-Birthdays
-Special Occasions
-New Learning Experiences (ex: potty training, going to the dentist, learning to read, etc)

If you made it to the end of this, thanks for reading! You're the best!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Sweet Reunion

Have you ever had friends that you meet in your life and you just know instantly that this is a lifelong friendship kind of thing? I have a few of those friends, most of which are former roommates. I had over 30 roommates before I got married. Some of them were amazing. Some of them were rude and annoying. A handful of them were bat shit crazy. But my best roommate group would have to be when I lived in Highlander just off of campus. We had an instant connection. We got along great. We just clicked. It has been four years since living in that apartment and I am so happy to say that we are ALL still friends! Some of us have graduated, some of us have moved away, some of us have gotten married and started families of our own. But tonight, after more than a year of not seeing one another, we met up and had a roommate reunion. And it was fabulous. It was like we had never been apart. These girls, well, I just love em I tell ya! We talk about the deep stuff and the silly stuff and the stuff that makes us laugh so hard we cry. We have seriously different personalities and it makes it so absolutely wonderful. It really is amazing how well we get along. We might not see each other as often as we would like, but I just know that this is a group that will last forever.

Kind of sappy post, I know. But having good friends like these means the world to me! Every good mom and wife need a good entourage of girlfriends to back her up! Here is mine:


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Our Summer in Review

I haven't blogged all summer long, and lots has been going on. We had a great summer! We had trips to Panguitch Lake, Fish Lake, and Bear Lake (obviously we are lake people). We had a great Independence Day and Pioneer Day with all of the usual patriotic goings on. We celebrated Leland's first birthday with a teddy bear picnic. I celebrated my 27'th birthday at the end of summer and Justin celebrated his 29'th birthday at the beginning of it. We took Leland to Willow Park Zoo for the first time and he absolutely loved it, he liked the foxes and the ducks the best. We had a successful garage sale and went to many of them all summer long, cause you know, that's our thing. We played with friends and family, had BBQ's, soaked up some sun, enjoyed fresh veggies from our garden, and just so many little adventures it's hard to keep track of them all. Summer was good to us.

I am in no way ready for it to be over, I don't feel like I quite got enough Bear Lake hours in (but then again I never do), but I do love fall. Fall means HALLOWEEN! Oh my goodness gracious I do love me some Halloween! And I love the changing leaves, our anniversary, General Conference, the pumpkin walk, corn mazes, and all that jazz. Yes, there is a lot to look forward to in the fall. So goodbye summer. See you next year my dearest of friends. Hello fall. And welcome.

The Divine Calling of Motherhood

It's late. I need to be in bed right now, but the pull to write is stronger than the pull of my night time meds, so .... here I am. T...