Family Fun

My family all came into town on Friday afternoon. It is the first time my whole family has been together since our wedding. Well, the whole family minus Jason. Jason was still in Cleveland. Of course the weather did not want to cooperate this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday it seemed to rain most of the time. Well my mom took advantage of having all of us in the same location so on Saturday morning we had fun family pictures. Jason will have to go into the studio when he gets back in town and be photo-shopped into the picture. We than had some lunch, some of us took a nap and went to The Clarke Planiterium. (spelling?)

I think the dogs were a little tired.....
The other dog in the pic is my parents dog, Missy. We watched her at our house since my parents condo did not take dogs. She did NOT like our dogs at all!!

After the Planiterium, my mom, sister, and I had dinner while the boys went to the Priesthood session for General Conference.
Than on Sunday we went up to Park City (where my parents stayed) and rode the Alpine Coaster. We wanted to also ride the Alpine Slide, but they couldn't get the Slide dry enough. I had never been on the Alpine Coaster and it actually was pretty fast and pretty fun. Here are some photos from the slide: (we had an amazing view too!)

view as we got on the Alpine Coaster

more of the view....

My feet were FREEZING as we headed up the mountain...I should have worn shoes...it is October!!

Brady heads down the slide

More view of the beautiful surroundings.

and more view....

Craig zooms by....

On Monday morning, Craig had to head back to school at the school down south (the "Y"), and Mindi had to head back to New Mexico for school. So on Monday my mom, dad, Brady, and I ran some errands. On Tuesday we headed up to Millcreek Canyon for a hike since it was such a beautiful day. Here are some pics from our hike:

The colors of the leaves have started to change

Brady

The trail on our hike


what a view!

Brady, mom, and dad on our hike

Jason finally got home late Tuesday night just in time to see Brady off. Than this morning, Jason and I headed down to Provo and met up with my grandma, Brady, and my mom and dad at the Missionary Training Center to say good-bye to Brady. He will be serving the LDS Church for 2 years in Mexico.

Brady, my dad and mom, and Craig outside the MTC

My dad, Brady, Craig, Grandma, me, and Jason

time to go...

Dad and Brady just inside the MTC

And now that Jason is finally home, it is my turn to leave. Tomorrow morning I leave to go to Albuquerque to visit Cari and see the Balloon Fiesta until Monday morning!! Maybe someday soon my husband and I will be together for more than a few days....

Two weeks down...one to go!

This was another busy week while Jason was gone. I got my hair done last Wednesday--a little shorter than I had wanted, but I love the color. It is a mixture of dark red and dark brown. Than on Saturday I ran my 5k for Bridger Hunt. The race had an alright turnout and I even managed to win a pair of snowboarding pants. They even had a catered breakfast for after the race that was very tasty!! Than that night AB and I headed down to Gateway for some sushi and wine. We couldn't have asked for better weather!!


Than on Sunday after spending two hours at Ikea, I went over to Jamie and Amanda's for Sunday dinner. I may be a little bias, but I think my neices are absolutely adorable!!







Elle



Tori--photo actually taken by Elle



Tori



Sisterly love--Tori and Elle

Well we are two weeks down of Jason being gone--only one more to go!! Also only one more week until I get to go to the 505 and visit my bestest friend Cari and see the Balloon Fiesta. The Balloon Fiesta is the best thing (besides good food) that Albuquerque has to offer. My family will also be coming to town at the end of the week so I have been busy cleaning up the house. My little brother, Brady, leaves for his mission on October 8th, well, he enters the MTC on the 8th. I am not sure when he leaves. Hopefully Jason will be home on the 7th, but we don't even know yet when he will be coming home. Hopefully before I leave for Albuquerque...Life doesn't ever seem to slow down!!

Busy Week!!!!

The past seven days have seemed to be a whirlwind! I dropped Jason off at the airport on Wednesday morning to fly off to Cleveland and than about an hour and a half later I flew off to Denver, well, Westminster, Colorado for a work meeting. So my poor dogs had to go to the kennel for a few days (and Gus had to get some more shots). They seemed to have an alright time though since they were EXHAUSTED when I picked them up on Friday evening. I arrived back late Thursday night after the kennel was closed. Friday and Saturday were spent at the Scrapbooking Expo trying to get caught up on my scrapbooking (we took over 500 photos in New York!) Leslie came over on Sunday afternoon and we got to be bums watching tv and movies and doing a little shopping. I did manage to get some grocery shopping done since there was no real food in the house. And than I have been going non stop at work since Monday morning and than tomorrow I get to go to the lovely city of Logan for a deposition and than get to FINALLY get my hair done tomorrow night!!! I am thinking an all over carmel color or maybe going darker.....or maybe red.....
Than in two days all my favority shows start again....Ugly Betty, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, ER
And on Saturday I am running a 5k for Bridger Hunt. He is the boy in Lehi, Utah that recieved serious injuries when a neighbor's home made firework went off. He spent about 2 months at Primary Children's. All proceed's go to his needed future treatment. If anyone is free, come run with me and Leslie. It will be money well spent and you get breakfast at the end of the race (and it's only 3 miles)

Well we are about one week down of Jason being gone...only 2 more to go!!!





Here are a few photos of my poor dogs that are definetly missing Jason


My lazy dogs on the love sac




This is how I found my dogs this morning...I don't think they wanted me to go to work



Yes Dash I can still see you


"So cozy--don't make me go to my kennel"

3 WEEKS........

So at the beginning of the summer, my husband volunteered to be on Progressive's CAT team. This is our catasrophe team that responds to any incidents around the country that the local offices cannot handle. Well, if you haven't been living in a hole the last week, Texas had one of those this weekend. So my husband leaves tomorrow morning to go to Cleveland, Ohio for three weeks to help with the automobile insurance claims from Hurricane Ike. Why Cleveland you may ask. Well, that is where Progressive's headquarters are. He will be in a call center for the whole time answering phone calls and I bet all the people on the other end will be extremely pleasant. He will also be working 12-15 hour days 6 days a week!!! OVERTIME Baby!! Plus that's three weeks that my house will stay clean! The only two down sides is that my family will all be in town the first week of October to see my brother off on his LDS mission and Jason will not be coming home until the night of the 8th--my brother enters the MTC the morning of the 8th :(. Also, we are having a family photo taken on October 4th so he will have to be photo shopped in. Oh well, hopefully my family will understand. Blame it on Mother Earth!

I finished my first 10k!!!

So this weekend I accomplished a huge goal of mine--running a 10k! I decided to start running about the beginning of June and for those of you that know me--I am NOT a runner nor have I EVER been a big runner. Well-I finished the race-not as fast as I would have liked--but none the less--I finished. The race was held at the University of Utah and the campus is known for its' lengthy and steep hills. The hills just about killed me!! I think one of my favorite parts (besides being done) was AB and Queenie coming back and finishing the last 400 meters with me (probably to make sure that I didn't give up since I probably looked like hell). But crossing that finish line sure felt good. No photos will be posted for 2 reasons: 1. Jason forgot the digital camera and all photos were taken on a disposable and 2. Photos are too incriminating. Call me crazy--but I am already looking for a second race--preferably one WITHOUT hills!!


Well after the morning "jog", AB and I went to the Utes football game against UNLV. GO UTES!!
















We beat the Rebels!! 2-0 BAby!! BCS busters here we go again!!


Well we had taken Guss with us to the run on Saturday morning and by the end of the morning he was BEAT!! I am sure he slept the rest of the day Saturday and even got spoiled enough to sleep with us Saturday night in our bed. This is how I found Gus Sunday morning before heading out for church...

















Did he think he was going to simply blend in???

Old friends, New Memories....

Thank goodness for long weekends filled with old friends and new memories. Jason and Jeff decided to take off to Denver for the long weekend and visit his brother and his dad while I enjoyed a weekend alone. Kristi was in town for the weekend from Vegas. I met up with her and Adriene in Provo on Saturday for some shopping and lunch at CPK. (I forgot my camera). Kristi is 12 weeks pregnant and already showing. I am thinking twins!! Than on Sunday we had a baby shower for Sarah, who was visiting from Montana. She is due October 28th--maybe a Halloween baby!! It was like freshmen year at Gateway Heights at the U all over again. We had a nice little lunch at Olive Garden and than some ice cream at Cold Stone. It's amazing how we can all get together after being apart for so long and nothing seems to have changed. I can't believe we all met 8 years ago!!

Time for presents!!!

Becky and Holly

Sarah and I

Sarah, me, and Jill

Jill and Becky

Sarah, me, and Becky

Family picture at Cold Stone

Jill, Becky, and Sarah at Cold Stone

The Belly Shot

Yard work

This post is a little late....but last weekend we spend Saturday afternoon pulling weeds and grass and planting several dozen tulips and daisy's. We let the dogs stay outside with us while we worked and they played. They definetly enjoyed themselves. They played until their hearts content!! Here are some of the after pics....

We really do have sheets for the bed--they were in the washer. I don't know who was more tired--Jason or Dash.

Dash was exhausted!!!

My Gus Bus

Up close

fun weekend activities

Jason and I had a very fun filled weekend. Friday night I got to go out alone with AB and some friends. Saturday Jason had his turn working the Saturday shift so Leslie and I were bums out at the pool for a few hours and than did some damage at the mall. That night Jason, me, Leslie, Ben and Ashley and her boyfriend went to Duffy's for an early celebration of Leslie's big birthday. Here are some pictures from Duffy's:

The boys--Jason and Ben

The girls--Leslie, me, and Ashley

Time again for birthday shots--BOTTOMS UP!!

KISSES!!!!

MUAH!!! One for the birthday girl

We can never take a normal photo.....

Than Sunday Jason, me, Leslie, Ben, Tanya, and Dan all headed up to East Canyon for an afternoon of relaxation and jet skiing on the lake. What a spoiled life we have!!

Dan and Tanya hard at work






















Jason was a little tired from the night before





















Ben and Leslie on the beach (Jason still asleep in the back)
















Ben and Leslie head off....

My Pumpkin'

1. What is his name? Jason Curtis Locke

2. Who eats more? Uh, definitely me.

3. Who said "I love you" first? Jason did on Valentine's Day

4. Who is taller? Depends on what shoes I am wearing

5. Who is smarter? Definetly Jason

6. Who is more sensitive? I am usually depending on the time of the month

7. Who does the laundry? We both do. I have only done his laundry on one occassion in the seven years we have been together and that was to keep our trip to New York a secret.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I always do even if we are in a hotel. I cannot sleep on the left side.

9. Who pays the bills? We both make the money, but he pays all the bills. At any one moment I could not tell you how much money we have.

10. Who cooks more? I do solely based on the fact that if I didn't we would have chips, pizza, and beer for dinner every night!

11. Who is more stubborn? I think we both are

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Neither of us. Work in progress

13. Who has more siblings? Exactly even

14. Who wears the pants in this relationship? I would say I do

15. What do you like to do together? Pretty much anything. I think we are both laid back kind of people. I do not like to golf or work out with him though.

16. Who eats more sweets? me by far

17. Guilty pleasures? ice cream and chocolate

18. How did you meet? Working at old navy on 400 South

19. Who asked whom out first? Jason did the asking. I was just looking for a truck to move me out of the dorms and I ended up with a husband

20. Who kissed who first? Jason definetly kissed me first.

21. Who proposed? He did at the happiest place on earth

22. His best features and qualities? Most importantly he can always make me laugh! Also, he is so concerned about always making me happy.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!


On Wednesday, July 30th I turned the big 2-6!! I decided since my birthday was in the middle of the week and we all have "real" jobs that I would do a simple dinner to celebrate the big day. I decided to eat at Macaroni Grill. When we got to the resturant they had sort of forgotten about my reservation that I had made and tried to put us at 2 tables. I simply asked how long for one table and they stated about 15 minutes. I decided to wait for the table. I guess that I came across a little "bitchy" because once we got sat and situated with drinks the manager brought over several appetizers on the house. They wanted to make sure the rest of our dinner went smoothly. I didn't think waiting an additional 15 minutes was that big of deal, but who doesn't enjoy FREE things?!! Dinner was SUCH blast!! I have the best friends ever!! After being stuffed to the brim, I of course had to have some tiramisu, and of course they had to sing to me. Too bad the singer was not good at all. I should have made my husband sing for me instead (in case some of you don't know he use to work at the Macaroni Grill in high school and was the singer). After an amazing dinner, some of us headed over to the Hookah Bar to extend the evening and enjoy some more drinks and hookah. All in all, it was a fantastic evening and am so thankful for my amazing friends and family! Thank you guys--I love you!

Jason and I at dinner

Me and Annabeth

The Progressive girls (well, not all currently)

Me and Leslie

Don't ever give your camera to Steve--this is the end result

Leslie and Ben at the resturant

AB and Adam

I did not want to be sung to.....

Leslie takes a turn at the hose...

me and Steve at the hookah bar

Birthday shots!!!