Home is where the heat is.

  Our Thanksgiving break started Monday since Cory does not have Tuesday classes. So we left our slowly growing colder home here in Utah and spend the week in California. It was such a great week full of not working, surfing, rock climbing, thanksgiving, 50th brithday parties,in-n-out, good mexican food, warm weather,humidity, and most importantly family. 

   Needless to say, I miss California. 

I love how green it is in the winter. these were on the lawn right by Cory's parents house.

Steve's best friend from Utah, J.C.,  came with us to hang out with Steve before his mission. Either that or he used him as an excuse to come to California, either way...it was fun. And yes, Steve is the one holding his shorts like a dress.

There are few places for me that are as beautiful and calming as the beach. I have a new fascination with those little birds who stick their beaks in the sand to get what I am guessing are the sand crabs. 

For those who do not know, Cory and I used to go surfing almost every Saturday before we were engaged so we miss it. While at home Cory went surfing every day. I went three times, this particular picture is of Cory. It was awesome and the water was nowhere near as cold as I thought it would be. It was fun to be in the water again. 

Beginning the week of thanks

     As a little pre thanksgiving gathering, my sisters and I decided to have a girls night at Bethany's house to watch pride and prejudice and make carmel. So on the saturday before thanksgiving we met there, Sara, her roommate Bethany, our sister Bethany and I ( Becky you were definitely in our thoughts) and we made carmel...corn because we didn't have a candy thermometer, and had a grand old time. Thank you Bethany for having us over!

   My adorable niece, Marie. I have never in my life had a desire to pinch a baby's cheeks, nor could I ever figure out why anyone would. But her cheeks are just so big and cute that I almost want to. 

Nana Bev.

   A few weeks ago Cory's Nana Bev passed away. She is Cory's great aunt/stand in Nana when ever anyone is near her in Salt Lake. Though I did not get to spend as much time with her as others, I am very thankful to know her. Her love for everyone is so apparent, I know she is doing good things for us even now. 

   Though it was not the happiest of occasions, it was nice to spend some time with Cory's family and to meet so many members of the extended family that do not have a chance to be in Utah or California that often. They are a very close family and I love that about them.

Just a couple pictures of us with Cory's parents while they were here that weekend.

"Which one which one?"

     The other day my mom called me and asked me what color of kitchen aid I would want if for some odd reason Santa were to just happen to get me one for Christmas. And when I say "I", I do mean we to include Cory, but most of his enjoyment of it will be eating the things I use it to make so he just cares that it works.  Now onto the important question. 

     What color do I really want? We all know I love color, but we have kept most of our kitchen things relatively neutral just to be safe. So my first thought was to just be "safe" and get black.

 But, when we went to our friends, the Bensons, house they had a yellow kitchen aid and I am pretty sure it was love at first sight. So the question is, should I get the yellow one? If so, do I want the "buttercup yellow"

 or the "Majestic Yellow"?

Or should I just get black?

So many choices.......of course, that is if Santa brings us one for Christmas....

Where does bacon come from?

Sunday night we went to have Sunday dinner at my sisters house. During dinner Cory brought up the never ending discussion of politics. Not much was said but the fact of the media having a very biased coverage and how it depicts the candidate they approve of.

A few minutes later as we are all encouraging my almost three year old nephew to eat his bacon (pot roast.) Cory asks him, "William, where does bacon come from?"

William sits there, thinks and replies, "Barak Obama."

Now I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure bacon comes from pigs.

Tagged

I have seen several people do these "tags" but have not actually been tagged until a week or so ago by my friend Zaira. So here it goes.

8 T.V. Shows I watch

  We don't have a T.V. at the moment, but if I could they would be:

 1) Americans Next Top Model

2) The office

3) What not to Wear

4) Greys Anatomy

5) Colbert Report

6, 7, 8........not sure.

8 Restaurants I like

 1) The Melting Pot ( though I have only had dessert there, it was amazing)

2) Some italian place we ate at in Vegas that was amazing but we don't remember the name

3) Kneaders ( great turkey sandwiches)

4) In-n-Out

5) El Taco de Mexico

6) Reds BBQ

7) Johns Bagel Deli

8) Magelby's 

  

8 Things that happened today

1) Our cat decided daylight savings was not for her and made sure to wake us up when she felt it was time. 

2) I went to the dentist with my friend Rosanne to help her with her children

3) Its still the morning so not much else has happened.

4) But last night we went to my sister Bethany's and had dinner

5) That was fun. We played with the children while Stephen played the piano

6) There were children squealing and music and the smell of cinnamon

7) It was nice

8) It felt like home.

8 Things I am looking forward to

1) Starting our family

2) Knowing where we will live and owning a house I can decorate

3) Actually finishing my Bachelors degree and getting my masters

4) The holidays in California

5) My friends wedding in June

6) My brother and his wife having their 5th child!

7) Finding a job that pays more and is something I am good at

8) Someday actually performing and teaching music and getting paid for it. ( not a wish, it will happen)

8 Things on my wish list

1) To perform the role of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. 

2) Surf around New Zealand, Tahiti and Costa Rica

3) Bike through Italy

4) Hike everywhere else

5) Not work while Cory makes enough money for us to live in Carpenteria, or Camarillo.

6) Live in Hawaii for at least a year.

7) Our country to not be Socialized and our Economy to not be lame.

8) To not be nervous about the world my children will be growing up in.

8 people I tag

1) Im pretty sure everyone I know has done this

2) besides I don't even think I know 8 people that blog

3) I guess I could make someone start one and tag them

4) but that would be too much work

5) so I think I will just leave it at this

6) if you have not done this and I know you

7) you probably should because I did so,

8) consider yourself tagged.

Fall Break

     This last weekend I was able to take a couple of days off work (thanks to one of the stylists whose kindness I greatly appreciate) so Cory and I could go to Vegas. We happen to have some free rooms from the whole Monte Carlo thing that happened last year. We had a great weekend. Full of sightseeing, good food and a lot of fun. Oh and we didn't end up going to Vegas.

     Twenty minutes out of good old Orem, Cory had a really bad feeling about going so we turned around and proceeded to have more fun then we could have had in Vegas, all in one day.

We decided it would be fun to go to American Fork canyon to enjoy all the beautiful fall colors.....


and to do some bouldering,



I may look goofy, but Im still learning.

From there we decided why not continue on the "Alpine Loop" which i believe is a loop that goes from American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon. But really, I wouldn't know because we ended up detouring to Cascade springs. Which was absolutely beautiful.


And apparently had fresh water that Cory was determined to drink. Lucky for me it was drinkable......


At that point, nap time with Marzipan seemed like a good idea....



Then we thought to ourselves, there is no better way to end fall break then by going to Thanksgiving Point and seeing the...



llamas? hmm...not quite what we were expecting, but really now, what we meant to finish off with,and did, when we realized that Thanksgiving Point actually has several "points" were the amazing gardens. Complete with more beautiful fall colors and brides running around getting pictures taken.

All in all we had a fabulous break. Oh Utah, though I may n  ot be a big fan of all four seasons, I do enjoy your fall. As long as I can enjoy the colors up close and the snow in the distance I am happy.  

I dreamed a dream ( ok Im on a song quoting kick here)

Cory wakes up this morning, looks at me and says, "I wish we could be together in our dreams." This is why I love him.

"Its the last midnight"

Just posting some pictures from our midnight walk the other night. We went to the school because it is just by our apartment. They have random statues on benches there which we find funny and kind of a waste of bench.

"Snow falls up Charlie Brown, snow falls up!"

   This morning, as I walked out of the gym it was snowing. Not raining, snowing. Two days ago it was 80 degrees....

RLS

  Yes, I am posting a blog at 12:49 am. Why am I up at this time? You may ask, well I will tell you.

Recently, in the past year I have had this horrible sensation in my legs when I sleep at night. Not always, but at random times. This sensation is hard to describe. But basically it is something that makes me feel like i need to be moving my legs constantly and if I do not move them then it is so uncomfortable they start to spasm. Well, this can make sleeping quite difficult, especially when it tends to happen either when I am starting to fall asleep or randomly after I have been sleeping.

   Tonight happens to be one of those random nights that this happened. I had fallen asleep while cory was on the computer. Then got up to brush my teeth and when I went to lay down, my legs went crazy. So what did we do? We looked it up online. It turns out I might have RLS. Restless Leg Syndrome. Im pretty sure that I used to think that was something people said jokingly. But I can tell you first had, this is not funny. It is so uncomfortable and I cannot sleep! It is possible that it might be because I do not have enough iron in my blood, but I cannot know until I go to a doctor. 

   We have tried all we could think of. Massage, some sort of relaxing medication, oils and even went on a midnight walk. Yet here  I am, posting while simultaneously shaking my legs. Seriously, RLS? Who does that? 

   

Change

    What? No! It can't be! Rachel has red hair? But I thought her mom gave her everything but the red hair.....Its true! She does have red hair!

  The other day one of the girls at the salon I work at colored my hair red. I love it! I never would have thought of this color red for me, but its fun because it looks natural. It is amazing how much fun just a change of color can be. Cynthia Garcia is pretty much awesome!

And, speaking of red hair and fun....Cory and I decided to take a walk around BYU campus that night when we stumbled along some random dance behind one of the buildings. After going and dancing we decided to kidnap Stephen from studying and make him come dance with us. On our way to get him we found out that it was a "freshman" dance that some kid put together on facebook. So Cory, Stephen and I crashed a BYU freshman dance. Line dancing and all. Pretty Sweet.

After we danced a little we did what Cory calls "BYU after hours" which is something he and his friends did the summer of their senior year. It just happens to end with "The Wall" where they stand on this certain wall at an intersection and yell and cheer and pose pretty much almost anything to see who will honk at them. It just might be possible that Stephen and his room mates will cary on this tradition for Cory and his friends.
Basically, red hair+freshman facebook dances+ walls = fun for Cory, Rachel and Stephen

Prayers

      A couple days ago there was a train accident not far my home in Simi Valley. Many people were injured and several people lost loved ones in this tragic accident. And most of these people are from where I live. I just want to take a moment to let all those who have lost loved ones know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. My heart pours out to you all. 

Remember

     I know it is now September 12, but I did not have the time to post something yesterday. But I did not want to forget. So here is my post for yesterday.

We are all good at remembering important days from before we can even remember or were even born. D-Day, Pearl Harbor, or even July 4. But it seems we are all too quick to forget, or maybe just think that there is a day seven years ago that should be remembered as well.

I can vividly remember September 11 2001. I was going to Seminary and someone mentioned something had happened. We thought he was crazy and told him so, until after when we heard the news reports proving him right. We could think of nothing else, the whole nation could think of nothing else. It was a terrifying time for everyone. But it also drew us together. All over the country people called loved ones, lit candles, raised their flags and sang patriotic songs. We were the America I believe our Forefathers dreamt of. But now it seems we have all but forgotten what drew us together, and why we choose to live where we do.

      I do not want to forget. Not because I want to bring up sorrow, but because I want to appreciate, to its full extent, what I have and what we all have. I want to thank those who still remember and thus help those who are not here today because of it live on. I am thankful for people like my Dad and the scouts who raised the flags to commemorate those we lost that day and the days after. My neighbor who is not even native to this country, who I am sure lit his candles last night and might have even sang a patriotic song or two. And last but not least my wonderful husband, cousins, friends and all those other men and women who have given up their realities to protect us from "realities" we cannot even imagine.

     Despite what most seem to think of America these days, I choose to remember that day and all other days before and after it, and remember that I am proud. Proud of my country and proud to be a part of it. I am proud to be an American. Thank to all who have made that possible for me.

Serious food....silly prices

     For those of you who are in California,you probably know of Trader Joe's. Since I have been trying to eat better I have really really missed this store because for some odd reason it is not in Utah. Fortunately, just this week, a new store has opened here in Orem just a few blocks from our apartment. It is called Sunflower Farmers Market. I went this morning to check it out and am so happy! It is a good quality health food store, with fresh produce and meats at prices that are not too high. Some things were even cheaper than Walmart. So, for now, I am happy. Though they still do not have Trader Joe's "almost" whole wheat pizza dough, mochi ice cream or wonderful yogurt, everything else is there. Thank you Sunflower Farmers Market.

Oh and if you live in Utah, check this place out. It is pretty sweet, and they give you two free cloth grocery bags!

Life with the Pulsiphers

This last weekend a large part of my family was together in Utah. My parents came to move Stephen into BYU and Sara into BYU Idaho. This meant that I got to see my family for the first time in a couple months and that Cory learned how the Pulsiphers vacation. (try to do at least two of the ten million things that mom has planned into two days that are supposed to be for relaxing)

My mom being, well, my mom the first thing on the agenda was to hike Mt. Timpanogos. Most of us were excited to do this anyway ( maybe we are crazy but that is ok) Sara just might have been a little less excited but she did it anyway, what a trooper!

I would like to point out my lovely sister Bethany in this picture, she actually lives in Utah so she was not quite visiting, I have not mentioned her but she is still oh so important. So important in fact, she got to be in our Mince family portrait. 

                                 The group at the beginning ready to conquer the mountain.

Apparently there used to be an outhouse in the direction the sign was pointing, but now it just points to some nice bushes.




At the end/half way part of the hike since there is still that going back to where you started part. We did not go all the way to the top, due to several factors which were against us. But the view was still amazing and I felt accomplished. All in all, it was great fun.

The next day we piled into the car and went to The Farm. For those who do not know, my Grandma has a farm in Idaho. For as long as I can remember it has always been one of my most favorite places ever. So many amazing memories have been made there. I have spent a lot of time telling Cory about my beloved farm, and he has finally had his first farm experience of what I hope to be many.

Cory has wanted to be a cowboy since he was four, the minute we got there his hat was on and every minute he had he was out with the horses. The best part about this for me? He used to make fun of me for loving horses, and now he loves them.
                                           Who wouldn't enjoy a place as beautiful as this? 


     I know I have three pictures of Cory on here, but the rest of the pictures of everyone else are on other cameras because my camera died. But it was a great trip and scenery was beautiful in these pictures.
    About an hour after I took these there was a crazy dust storm and then it rained, all sorts of fun at the farm. Needless to say that between petting horses, crazy weather, visiting abandoned houses of supposed crazy people and eating great food surrounded by our family we had a great weekend and we can't wait for the next trip to the farm! When I get more pictures I will post them.

And this marks the end of my three month post, I hope you enjoyed it. But really, who wouldn't? What strange person would not want to read random pointless things about what we do with our lives? Obviously everyone does want to. So if you want to read it more then once, feel free, I don't mind. 

06-07-08 to 09-07-08

Today marks three months since Cory and I were married. I know so long right? Now,we know that three months is a really big deal. Probably the only other thing that could top it is the whole fifty year thing. But really, now what is fifty years to three months? Nothing. So we are really pulling out all the stops and celebrating in a big way, Cory is doing homework and I am updating my Blog. We know we know, why didn't you think of it first? Some of us are just a little more clever. Now, even though three month anniversaries do not come along all the time, you can feel free to steal our idea for other, less significant anniversaries like one year or twenty-five years. But in the mean time feel free to read my blog for more clever things. The following posts are part of my big three month celebration. Enjoy! Oh, and if you need any advice on being married just ask, after all we have been married for three months and do know all there is to know about being married.

We love to camp

    At the end of August, our ward had a ward camp out at Rock Canyon Camp ground. We had so much fun! I was sad I had to work the next morning and had to pack up and leave much sooner then we would have chosen. We really enjoy the ward we are in, everyone is so friendly and we have made some great friends. Here are some pictures of our little weekend.

Speaking of great friends, Cory has found a new buddy to grapple with, Austin Peterson. That makes for a very happy Cory, and a happy Rachel because Austin's wife is so much fun to be with as well! ( so if you have not guessed Austin and his daugther are the other people in this picture.)

 The Austin's daughter is one of the cutest little children ever, next to my nieces and nephews of course. She loves Cory very much.



When packing a toothbrush, according to Cory, it is very important not to use the larger zip lock bag that will fit your toothbrush very well but instead use the smaller one and bend your toothbrush. It is more hardcore.