Lifesaver

After I got married, ALL I wanted was my very own ranch mixer.  I have ranch running through my veins instead of blood and I can't survive on the store bought stuff - it HAS to be home made.  

However.  Have you noticed how 

they don't sell Hidden Valley ranch mixers 

in the store anymore?  Nope.  No where to be found.  I was withering away for weeks without my ranch fix, when I came home to one of the best surprises from my hubby yet:

Yet another reason why I know I married the perfect man for me.

Utah @ BYU

Final Score: 54-10

It's actually really nice to have this stressful game out of the way already... and even nicer to have totally DOMINATED BYU!!!  We went to the University Mall earlier in the day sporting our red and were completely surrounded by zoobies.  After seeing all their obnoxious "Rise Up" shirts, I was really hoping we'd crush them.

So anywayyyy... the first half was a real teeth clencher and I was expecting it to be close the whole time.  I'm alright with how things turned out though, even if I was pretty surprised. Once we were up by 4 touchdowns I was able to relax and take some great pics!

My favorite older brother getting some playing time, whoop whoop!

We squished 22 people into 15 seats, NBD

Fully converted fan, sure love him

I was borderline obnoxiously cheering this game, according to Dawson.  I'm going to tone it down from now on, but even if I don't I know I'll have Helen cheering right along side me.

We had to wait til my Dad was done with his interviews til we could leave.  The only place open after midnight was...

In and Out!!!

An animal style cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry shake never tasted so good!  I love my family and love that we all come out to the football games to support.  We're a very unique group but I wouldn't trade them for anyone else!

Alex's Mission Call

Alex got his mission call!  We're so excited for him, he leaves on October 26th for Auckland, New Zealand.  We're realllly  hoping that we can work it out with the family to go over there and pick him up in two years (as long as I can survive the 16 hour flight).

It's the perfect place for him and I know he is going to love it.  He already thinks he's part poly so he's going to fit in very nicely.  We found out the average weight gain for the mission is 40 lbs, so we're expecting Alex to try to set a new record and come back 300+ lbs.

By the way, when did missionaries get so young!?  Growing up the missionaries seemed so old and grown up, but now I see my baby brother and his friends going and they seem so little.  So proud of him for being so studly and brave, because let's be honest, there's no way I could be!

Utah @ USC

Final Score: 23-14

We flew out to Cali on Friday and got to our hotel by about 5pm, just enough time to go out to dinner with all the girls!  We went to CPK and had great food, which tasted extra good because it was all on my dad's tab (thanks pops).  I personally think our coaches married the best wives in the world... they are all so darling and so fun to be with.  I secretly want to be all of them combined into one.

I had made a goal to take pics during the game, but as it turned out, that didn't happen.  The game was high anxiety from the very beginning, since we went down 10-0 in the first quarter.  We had the worst possible seats in the corner of the Coliseum, right next to the most obnoxious band in America.  They had speakers blasting right in front of our faces, with one of their cheerleaders saying "Beat the Yewtssss" into the microphone with a one-of-a-kind, monotone voice with a lisp.  Did you know that was possible?  I didn't until I heard this guy.  "1-2-3 First down Tah-roganssss".  Over. And over.  And then my ears started bleeding.

Anyway.  Our defense fought hard and got some crucial turnovers, but it wasn't quite enough.  On the last drive of the game, where I lost 5 years off my life expectancy, we had some bizarre calls and replays that gave us a spark of hope, but it wasn't enough.  They blocked our freaking field goal to tie it on the last play of the game and that was that.  Goodbye to beating our first Pac-12 team and hello to being 1-1.

Rachel & Kylie at the Tailgate Party

Their beautiful hair, courtesy of yours truly

The Coliseum with my sweetheart

Not quite domestic

So I had to work a 12-hr shift today and decided to be a super sweet wife and put together a crock pot dinner so loverboy had something to eat for dinner while i was gone.  

Adorable, right?  

I found a recipe for White Chili and I had about 80% of the ingredients it called for, so I just threw in a few random items to make up for what was missing.  I was totally feeling like Rachel Ray and just flying around the kitchen like a natural born chef.  

When I got home from my shift at like 8pm, Dawson had been a dear and waited for me to eat (he even set the table, what a stud)!  He said "Your soup is making the house smell like apple cider" and I did notice the smell wasn't what I was expecting.  I mean, the main ingredients were chicken and beans, I was hoping for a more Mexican vibe, not apple cider.

We started eating and he was pretending to enjoy it but it literally tasted like chili mixed with potpourri and I couldn't stand not saying something.  After about 5 bites:  

WHY IN THE HECK DOES THIS CHILI TASTE LIKE CINNAMON?!  

Then I had a revelation.  Went over to my spices, and low and behold - Chili Powder was right next to Cinnamon, and go figure, they are somewhat similar colors... In my mad rush and trying to be creative (it didn't call for chili powder... I mean chili powder is RED and it's WHITE chili, but I just figured since it had chili in the name it would work instead of cumin. Wrong), I had accidentally put the wrong seasoning in. 

Oopsie... 

Husband was so sweet and we decided to just put lots of chips, cheese and sour cream in and you could barely taste the cinnamon.  We both finished but there was a lot of laughing throughout the rest of dinner.  Dawson asked "Should I be expecting a lot of dinners like this?"  

I'm sorry love, but the answer is unfortunately YES.

Girls Night

While I am absolutely obsessed with my husband, I still love getting together with my GF's whenever we get the chance since everyone has crazy busy schedules.

Fro Yo with Britt and Caitlin

Stella's with Kristi and Ashlyn

Kristi just moved to LA, and although I already miss her, I'm ok with it because she is bound to become my most famous friend and I'm sure she'll be rich enough to fly me out to visit her soon.

Sushi with Ash and Katie

If you can't tell, food is a very important part of all get-togethers. Patio dining has been fabulous and I'm so sad that winter is coming and we'll now have to eat inside to get away from the soon-to-be frigid temperature.

Honeymooners

Our honeymoon was epic.

Dawson planned the honeymoon and did quite well I might say.  We both have the same favorite place in the world (Hawaii) but since we went there 2 weeks before we got married, he had to brainstorm.  I'm so glad he picked Belize, a place that we had both never been, because it made the adventure that much more fun for both of us. We left 2 days after we got married, and let me tell you- being done with stupid wedding planning and going off to an exotic place with your best friend was the best thing EVER.  Whoever invented honeymoons was pure genius.  Afterwards I decided that we should go on a honeymoon every month, and I'm still confused as to why this hasn't been happening.

Anyway, here is a basic rundown of our unBELIZEable honeymoon:

Day 1:

Record breaking security line = almost missing our 6 am flight

Taking an 8 seater Belizean plane to our resort

Overcoming a panic attack 

Making ourselves at home in our cottage on the beach

Finding "our spot" for our nightly walks

Day 2:

Zip lining in the jungle

Going on a jungle adventure with our authentic Belizean guide

Cave tubing

Overcoming another fear of getting eaten by something lurking in the water of a dark cave

Day 3:

Snorkeling at the world's 2nd largest barrier reef

Breaking the underwater camera on the way to the barrier reef

Spending the afternoon on a secluded island in the middle of the ocean

Bike ride into town

Meeting the crazy hemp lady who lived in a bus

Day 4:

Kayaking in amazing 80 degree ocean water

Working on our killer tans

Reading on the beach

Hammock love

Waking up to a midnight storm with the loudest thunder I've ever heard

Day 5:

Visting Mayan ruins

Surviving sweltering heat

Facing Dawson's fear of heights

Not ashamed of our white trash outfits

Eating at an authentic Belizean restaurant

Not puking after eating at an authentic Belizean restaurant

Day 6:

Taking a "strenuous" hike up to a waterfall

Seeing animals we'd only seen on Animal Planet

Dawson teasing me about my hiking skills

Dawson getting a good dose of karma and falling in the stream after teasing me

Day 7:

Taking the 8-seater plane back

Overcoming another panic attack

AMERICAN FOOD!!!

Being a little sad the honeymoon is over

Being more excited to be coming back as MR. and MRS.!

Thank you again Daws for our amazing honeymoon, MUAH!