Yakisoba!

David served a two-year mission for our church to Kobe, Japan. This country and the people will always have a special place in David's heart and it just makes me so excited to visit someday. Because I hardly know anything about this country, David attempts to culture me. We have watched Memoirs of a Geisha, which was filmed in his mission (although he doesn't really like that movie), eaten out at a couple of Japanese Restaurants, and finally he made me a homemade Japanese meal!

It is called Yakisoba and is a Japanese noodle dish that was really delicious. We didn't plan on making it until we passed the real 'authentic' noodles that they have in Japan while grocery shopping at Smith's.  It was a surprise for David because he never knew they had the noodles there. The rest of the shopping trip was based around what we needed for the yakisoba. 

We cooked up a ton of vegetables (my favorite):

And then added the noodles and the cooked meat (we had cow)

 Here is my cute husband cooking away!

It was so delicious and almost has a nutmegy, Christmas flavor going on. It's hard to explain, but you should try it! Thanks David :)

The Final Countdown

Well, we are almost adults! I mean, graduated adults. In 7 weeks and 1 day from now, David and I will be graduating from BYU! I cannot believe how fast college seemed to fly by, and I am proud to say we will both have graduated in four years (besides David's two-year mission for our church to Japan). We can hardly wait to start the next chapter of our lives. Until then, I keep thinking of the last time I get to do certain things. For example, we went to the last home BYU basketball game of our college careers:

 We even got to the Marriott Center an hour and a half early! The game was against Gonzaga (#2 in the nation at the time) and we almost beat them, which made for a great game. I am going to miss this place:

It will be surreal when it is all over, but are so excited to move up to Salt Lake! BTW, if anyone has any housing suggestions or recommendations for living in SLC please let us know.

Lately...

It has been awhile since I last posted! The winter has been busy, fun, and full of lots of travel! Some of our highlights have been skiing, going to Colorado, driving ALL the way to Kansas City (17 hours) and back, and THIS:

Well, a highlight for me! This was my birthday gift from my parents, and I was THRILLED to finally have one. You see, every person in my family has one so I was feeling left out. Especially since my sister, Carrie, and her family are living in London. I was not able to text, see photos, or facetime them so now I can and it is so nice to video chat them anytime! They even face-timed me yesterday outside of the BYU London Centre, so I could see it again. It made me miss living in London! This is the best phone ever and I was surprised and so excited. Thanks mom and dad :)

For MLK Weekend in January, we went to Colorado with my cousin Geoff (Phatty), his wife Laura, and their cute little guy Jackson. We had so much fun with them! Here is a photo of us on the slopes at Keystone:

We felt so bad because Saturday on that weekend was probably the busiest day I have ever seen at the resort. That resulted in lots of long lines and waiting:

This line took around 45 minutes. Sorry Geoff and Laura!

This is their cute little guy! He is such a flirt and we just loved hanging with him in the backseat of the car.

When we got back to Utah, we spent a day at The Canyons Resort! David and I went to the Warren Miller movie last semester, and with each movie ticket purchased you get a free day pass to this ski resort. It is the best deal ever, and we hope they keep it up in the future! Here we are skipping classes and work:

You probably think we just keep putting up the same pictures, huh? #skiclothes

We returned back to Colorado in early February to ski with my family and celebrate my birthday! This is when I got the fabulous iPhone 5. We ate a ton of food at some great restaurants as well as delicious chocolate birthday cake, and also played lots of Settler's of Catan (we are huge nerds). It was so fun to be with my family and we just love skiing with them. This is the only picture we took of the weekend:

Well, besides this one:

I thought my sister, Aimee, and I looked better in the first.

David and I celebrated my birthday back in Provo by eating out at Black Sheep Cafe and watching Wreck It Ralph in 3-D at the dollar theatre! If you haven't tried Black Sheep Cafe, you should. It has delicious southwestern food, and we loved the Navajo Tacos. Also, the movie was super cute and creative! 

On Valentine's Day, David surprised me with a bouquet of roses at work! It was such a great surprise to see them waiting for me on my desk:

 And I came home to this: 

If you are wondering what is on the plate, it is chocolate covered raspberries. He knows me so well!

So in return, I made a romantic dinner including Tilapia, which was yummy.

The next weekend, which was President's Day, we headed out to Overland Park, Kansas. David's sister got married in december and his family wanted to throw a reception out in Kansas for all the friends there. It was so fun and great to be with all the family! David and I drove out (in my tiny Toyota Corolla) with his sister, Jessie, and her boyfriend Scott. Here we are partying in the car:

Here is a weird optical illusion on a truck. It was freaking us out for a little (that's what you do when you are looking at the same stretch of road all day)

 Here are Jessie and Scott watching Friend's episodes. We were so glad she brought all the seasons, I forgot how funny the show is!

Random fact: I can make a really delicious Barbecue chicken pizza! Since I am not a cook and most of the time a terrible wife when it comes to making dinner, I was really proud of this:

 Also, David works for Kaplan. Every time he has to do Skype trainings, he destroys our living room. Yes that is the coffee table on the couch. I laugh every time I walk into this:

A highlight of this week! I got to go out to eat and reconnect with some of my best friends from freshman year! Stephanie lives in Canada, so I have not seen her for three years. She was back in town and it was so great to get the four of us back together! I missed these girls and am so grateful to have them in my life! 

That was long. Hopefully not too boring! Thanks for catching up with me and I hope you are enjoying the Oscars right now like I am. Wasn't the Les Miserables musical number amazing? I wished they would keep singing! Happy Sunday! 

Christmas and our exciting news!

Isn't is so sad? I always hate when the holidays are over and we have to face the next few months of dark, cold days. And homework. But we are so looking forward to the changes of 2013 and excited to see what the year brings!

Before we left Utah we went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert, which was outstanding! It is always really neat, but this year they brought the Candy Bomber from WWII as well as Alfie Boe who is a world class tenor (and has also played Jean Valjean in Les Mis). The concert was incredible and made us so excited to celebrate Christmas!

Here we are at the concert

And here we are in front of the Christmas lights at Temple Square

After we left, we got to spend a lot of time with our families. It was the perfect way to celebrate Christ and the coming new year. First, we went to Kansas and spent a few days with David's family. His siblings were scattered about so we hung out with his parents and had a blast! One of our highlights was going to the New Theatre Restaurant to see a murder mystery over delicious food. I love that place.

After a few days at home, we drove out with my dad and sister, Aimee to Colorado. Shortly after, the rest of my family joined and we had so much fun. We spent a lot of time skiing (and even more time sitting in the lodge by the fireplace)! 

 Our nephew, Ty, LOVES technology! My sister Aimee gave him an old phone and it was his favorite gift, even if all he does is chew on it. Haha this picture makes me laugh!

I just love seeing my husband play with our nephew. It makes me so excited to see him with our own kids.

Christmas Eve! So glad to spend the holidays with this boy, rather than 2,000 miles apart like last year.

This is the view from our bedroom Christmas morning! I love having a white Christmas! Also, if it seems kind of dark, it is only because Ty woke us up at 7am

Here are all the kids on the stairs waiting to go down for Christmas:

And cute boy wanted to escape up the stairs

We also got to video chat David's brother, Daniel on Christmas day! It was so neat that we could all chat from 5 different computers...thank you Google Plus! Isn't technology the greatest?!

Another highlight of the trip was this:

My mom has the complete third season, so us girls spent many days watching all the episodes (while the boys watched sports)! This season is amazing and you should watch it!

We also spent many days on the mountain! Here is the whole family outside of the lodge. I love them so much and we are so grateful for such an amazing Christmas! 

And guess what?! 

Well, we finally decided on where to go to dental school! David will be attending the University of Utah as part of the 20 students in their inaugural class. After lots of consideration and prayer, we are very excited to start the next stage of life together in Salt Lake! And although we are sad to call ourselves Utes (don't worry...we will always be Cougars at heart), we are so glad to continue being close to our family and friends here in Utah! 

Happy 2013 everyone! 

Wedding Weekend

Wedding weekends are my favorite kind of weekends. Basically, I was wishing it was my wedding all over again. BUT, it was so fun to celebrate another family member's wedding and be able to sit back to enjoy it with everyone. David's sister, Jen, got married this weekend to Phe (Christopher) Brooks. It was a nonstop party and we had such a good time. Plus, they were just stunning. We are so happy for them!

First off, let me start with Thursday night when we went out to eat with David's family at Guru's. The boys were having a great time with the hair extensions, and it was hilarious. 

My Father-in-law, Dana. 

David.

Like father, like son. Disgusting, huh?

So here's the start of all the wedding festivities:

Friday, we went to Tucanos for lunch with the Drake side of the family. It was so fun (and so delicious). This was the "kids" table:

Stole the Instagram from David's cousin. Thanks Lindsay!

We then went through the temple that afternoon with Jen and Phe and it was amazing. I love the temple! After the session, there was a family dinner that night that Phe's parents threw. It was so delicious and beautiful. Here are the bride and groom giving their speeches/toasts

Again, stole this from David's cousin. Thanks Jessie!

Then it was finally the wedding day! They got married in the Salt Lake Temple and it was just amazing. The sealer that married us also sealed them, so it was such a special ceremony for us all. Salt Lake also looked gorgeous with a dusting of snow. Here we are in front of the temple:

Here they are after the temple ceremony!

 And here they are with some snowy pictures

And the best photographer's assistant ever:

Then it was back to Orem for the reception. It was at a golf course named Sleepy Ridge, and it was stunning! I could not get over the draping on that chandelier.

 And the cake table was beautiful as well. 

 Great food...

...and great company. 

 It was an amazing wedding and reception! We had a blast and it was the perfect excuse to not study for finals...speaking of which, I should probably start studying. Congratulations Jen and Phe, we wish you guys all the best :)

6 Months

Yesterday was our 6-month mark since we've been married! It has seriously been the best 6 months of my life, and every day gets better. I didn't know it was possible, but I love this boy so much more than I did the day I married him. Love you, David!

A snapshot from Jen and Phe's wedding. More to come!

Also, I need to brag. David got accepted to four dental schools last week! He is amazing! We are so excited, but still have a big decision to make. Pray that we make the right one! 

Thanksgiving

David and I are extremely lucky. Our moms were college roommates so our families are good friends. Last year when we were dating, we invited David's family to celebrate Thanksgiving with us at our condo in Colorado. It was such a blast that we decided to do it again this year! There were a ton of us and we had so much fun. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but the camera guys at the top of the mountain are always available and ready with their cameras, which is perfect for me. So here are a few of the photos we took on the mountain

David, Me, Mom (Kelly), Aimee, Carrie and Andrew

Ryan, Jessica, Aimee, David, Me, Dad (Mark), Carrie and Andrew

Again on the ground:

Aimee, Jessie, David, Me, Jen, Phe, Kelly, Mark, Trevor and Garrett

Basically it was a party and there were so many friends and family with us! We are so Thankful for all of them and for the opportunity to go skiing. There are a thousand more things we are thankful for, but especially for all of David's dental school interviews at this time. Tomorrow is the first day they will be releasing any information about whether or not someone is accepted to any dental schools! We are so excited to hear! I am so proud of David and his accomplishments and cannot wait to see what the future brings. I love you, future dentist :)