February Life Update

Woo Happy Wednesday! This week I only have two days of classes so today is especially happy right now. So to start, we just got back from our first getaway of 2018. It was a mini one but it was very much needed.

We stopped at 7 Magic Mountains in Nevada on our trip. Here are far too many pictures of that and some random SLC pictures.
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Lyle switched jobs and is no longer doing solar but he is still in sales!

He is splitting time between Texas and Utah right now while I am finishing school in Utah.

I GRADUATE THIS YEAR guys. Praise thaaa Lord.

Bout time right mom and dad? I have the mindset that I don’t need to figure out this whole adulting thing til I’m 30ish.

It’s been a really good mindset guys. I recommend it.

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We are planning to move to Houston at the end of this year and I couldn’t be more excited! We have spent a lot of time down there but never year round so this will be a new experience. We don’t know how long we want to be there but for now I am so excited about the thought of living in a place where we don’t have to clean snow off our cars.

 I love the South/Texas/BBQ food/warm weather/southern accents/Taste of Texas/I could go on

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We have some pretty exciting places on the schedule this year!

My Spring Break is coming up at the end of next month and we have some pretty fun ideas, but for now they are just that, ideas. Locally we are thinking New Orleans and internationally we are thinking Nicaragua or Brazil? I guess we will see.

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We are also planning on Chile! Lyle served his mission for our church down in Chile and he has been waiting for this temple to be built for years (earthquakes delayed it).

 They haven’t officially announced the dates but we are hoping they do soon. It could be anywhere from September to January?

We have always talked about going down for the dedication and I am so excited to meet the people and see the place that for two years helped to shape my husband into the man he is today. I don’t think I have ever been so excited for a trip.

(I am crossing my fingers that Patagonia happens!)

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Finally, our 5 year anniversary is also coming up this year and we have some reallyyyy exciting places in mind.

We are still planning but I’ll give you a hint, it’s not going to be Europe and it’s not going to be South America!

I don’t want to say anything because I don’t know if Chile will change the dates for this but for now we are planning on this happening in the Summer.

We will be back in Maryland at some point because we have an important baptism, hopefully NYC again because…NYC and hopefully some other fun local places.

Murphy wants a brother or sister and we plan on it but with our schedules/life we can’t do the potty training thing right now. Lyle told me I could get any dog I wanted though when the time comes…he even said two! 😉 We are thinking at the end of this year? I want another one so bad if you guys haven’t noticed…

Lyle hopes to buy another house this year, talks about retirement, savings and investments. I try to cram in as much fun and travel as humanly possible, talk about all the dogs we will own and dream about moving to London. I think we make a pretty good pair haha I am glad one of us is realistic.

Our life is pretty unique but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Honestly it can be hard but the blessings outweigh the struggles.

Hope this answers all your questions. We love you guys!

XO Cait

Love day x6

I can not believe this was our 6th Valentines day together! I had to recount several times because I was so surprised. I would love it if time would just slow down! As I have stated a million times over, Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays. I sent my sister a text of all the things I was doing for Lyle’s love week and she sent back a text saying “I’m mad you just said Valentine’s week.” Go big or go home right?! Lyle has always made this day so special for me. From renting a puppy to a lobster dinner on the beach in Cancun to a shopping spree in Park City to a romantic night in New York City and a fun getaway in St George he has always gone above and beyond. This year Lyle took me to Vegas/California for a warm getaway! I wanted to celebrate him every single day so when he fly into town I had decorated our room so cute and put all these sticky notes on our bathroom mirror saying all the things I loved about him. Ya know things such as “you have great taste in women” and “our babies have a shot at green eyes.” Haha I also put serious things but those are some of my funny favorites. IMG_5356

I baked one of his favorite things, my cherry pie! I put a fun spin on it this time and I was so happy with how it turned out. I’ve been baking my way into his heart since 2013 and I think he is pretty happy about that. I think that’s why he married me… 😉IMG_5352

I did a “Treat Yoself” day (if you know you know…Tom and Donna might just be my spirit animals). Anyway I did all his favorite candies and drink inside plus a bunch of other things like a foot massage or a night of Smash and just made the whole day about him and everything he loves. I also did heart shaped pizzas one night and made a special picnic so we could watch the Bachelor and some other fun things!

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The next day I blindfolded him and planned a whole date night just for him! I took him to dinner at Ruby River (where we met and a place he lovesss) and then I went through our love story. We went to the spot he accidentally told me he loved me, the place where he really told me, then I took him to Coldstone because my roommates had a thing where you had to buy the apt ice cream when you kissed a guy. When I told Lyle this he said you better get them something real good, not that generic brand ice cream. So I got the best, Coldstone. After that we went to the temple and I pulled out sparkling cider and and glasses and we just focused on us and it was perfect. Then we went to see Forever my Girl which was not part of the plan but I absolutely love it and Lyle said he wanted to see it (he was lying).

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The funniest part was we were at a stoplight and this man looked over and looked alarmed and then I smiled and he started nodding like he approved and gave me a thumbs up haha. SO AWKWARD. I mean could I have simply driven him there without the blindfold? Yes. But it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. On actual V day I woke up at 5 am to go to the gym. I seriously couldn’t sleep I was so excited (you’d think it was Christmas over here…) and after that I made him this special breakfast. I saw a variation of this on Pinterest and I tried to make it my own and make it well rounded. Also, that is fresh squeezed OJ guys. I had to get on his level this year. I walked in singing  “Happy Valentines Day to you!” to the tune of Happy Birthday and he was so surprised!

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After that I unfortunately had school (ya know, adulting) but Lyle picked me up and had driven to SLC to get my favorite donuts, reeses hearts (all I said I wanted) and a bag of other goodies. I don’t think he understood the whole no presents thing…We spent the evening relaxing and watching Valentines Day (tradition) because we were leaving for our trip the next day!

I didn’t take too many pictures on our trip. I have been seriously slacking with that but the pictures I did take are mostly of food haha so I guess Lyle gave me what I like to do most as my present, eating. The first night we went and saw Black Panther at midnight (this was one of my presents to Ly) and ate at Tacos El Gordo. This place was highly recommended and it was so good.

Eats:

Tacos El Gordo (loved the alpastor one! I have a video not a picture)

Dirt Dog for some amazing elote

-Panera (okay I know this is a chain but I LOVE Panera. We probably went once a week in New Jersey. Their lemonade is so good and I love their bread.)

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Creamberry (not only did they have icecream but these had these fun cookie shots that you could put icecream, hot chocolate or milk inside and top with whipped cream, marshmellow, etc.)

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Sloan’s homemade ice cream in the Venetian (I am sure the ice cream is great but THE COOKIES ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD. I am literally yelling because this cookie was amazing. The main thing with these babies is they are kept on a warmer so when you get your cookie it is soft and warm and gooey. I was craving cookies and we were having a hard time finding them and this will be a place I go back to every time I visit. They reminded us of our all time favorite place in NYC. This was the reeses one but they also had chocolate chip and I think some other flavors too.

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Some other places that I wanted to try were Brunos Taco Bar (for their churros!), Kitchen Table (for amazing brunch) and Sid’s Cafe (for that cinnamon roll omg). We also love Shake Shack, Ghiradelli for yummy treats and Yard House but we can get those in other places so we tried to find places we could only go to in the Vegas area but if you haven’t tried them they are favs.

Also, Pink Box Doughnuts!

In St George…

25Main- Best. Cupcakes. Ever. Before I was a donut connoisseur I was a cupcake one. The only other cupcake place that rivals this one is Molly’s in NYC. These are the softest and freshest cupcakes. I love that they aren’t too sweet either and the flavors are all so so good. I always stop here. My favorite is the Strawberry Shortcake.

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Benja’s Thai and Sushi-it was my first time trying this place and it was amazing. They have such good lettuce wraps and I got shrimp friend rice. Lyle got some type of pad thai. He had been there before and he loves this place.

We also love Anasazi (fav dinner spot here), Bear Paw for brunch, and the bread twists at Pizza Factory which are way bigger than the ones up here!

and last but not least,

CrushedPB in San Diego- For these cinnamon roll pancakes. Game Changers. I live for breakfast food. In the words of Ron Swanson, “there has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast foods.” No truer words.

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We laid on the beach, wandered the walk of fame, explored the strip, ate yummy foods and played with puppies. The weather was not too great on Monday or we would have gone on some hikes but we can’t complain. We kind of just did whatever we wanted each day. I couldn’t ask for a better man who supports me in everything that I do. This basically turned into a food log so sorry about that. Hope all of you had the best love day. Oh and I can’t forget my other valentines. How cute is he?!

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XO Cait