Valentine's Weekend

When I am filthy rich (one can dream) I am going to have a winter home in St George. It's officially on my wish list. Dan and I spent Valentine's weekend down there, in 65 degree weather. It was perfect, and I really never wanted to come home. We went hiking in Zions, played tennis, and went golfing at Southgate...all things I have been wanting to do so badly, but it's been freaking cold here! We stayed at Casa Blanca the first night and at The Crystal Inn the second night. I would totally recommend the Crystal Inn. It was so nice. They served us a full breakfast each morning; I'm talking eggs, sausage, hash browns, fruit, biscuits and gravy, waffles...the whole shebang...free! They also had a heated tub, spa, hot tub, fitness room, and on-site tennis courts. It was seriously the bomb. We spent a lot of time in the pool/hot tub.

Zion's was amazing. So beautiful. I had never been! It was very muddy in some parts though! I thought I was going to lose my shoes a few times. I wish we had, had more time to go back and hike more trails and take the scenic drive. Along the way, we exchanged photo taking services with different couples wanting the same thing. I kept thinking I wish we had our own personal photographer who just followed us around and took endless pics :)



Golfing was fun, but I'm pretty sure we chose the wrong course! Southgate was not for a beginner like myself. There was a pond on seven of the nine holes....needless to mention, I lost a lot of balls. And I can't understand why anyone would build a million dollar home on a golf course...hello! That is just asking for windows to be shattered every other day. This course was also right next to a car dealership and the freeway.... I wonder what Southgate's accident reports look like?? I did par one hole :) Dan played like a pro.

For our Valentine's dinner we went to Outback because we had a gift card. It was busy, so I had a lot of fun with the camera while we waited for our food :) We went all out... I got the ribs and Dan got the 11 oz steak with mushroom/lobster sauce. Even though we had food coming out our ears, we couldn't turn down a "chocolate thunder from down under" to share. 10,000 calories later we were stuffed!


This year I wanted to give Dan a gift that was more sentimental...I am not the sentimental type most of the time, but I made him a jar with "50 wonderful things I love about you" inside. He really liked it, but because he is color blind he had a hard time reading the top of the jar, and couldn't figure out what it said for a minute. It was pretty funny. I love him so much. How he continues to put up with me, I'll never know, but I am glad he finds the strength somehow :) This was our 4th Valentine's together...crazy how time flies.

Hope you all had a fun V-day too! Picture overload is an understatement, right?!

Manti Temple Trip

Last night Dan and I went with Matt, Cathy, Misty, Adam, DJ and Amy to the Manti temple to do an endowment session. It was my first time in a live session! It was really neat. It gave me a new appreciation for temple workers and all they do! Old people are just so cute! After the session the temple President gave us a short tour of the spiral staircase. I cannot believe how beautiful that temple is, and it blows my mind that the pioneers were able to create such beauty with the limited tools they had. Their attention to detail was impeccable. Afterward, we ate at a local pizza place (which I guess used to be owned by the same people who own Fat Jacks in Payson). It was yummy! We saw a few deer on the sides of the highway, but luckily made it home without any messy encounters :)

I Wouldn't Be a Mrs. if it weren't for Miss America

Three years ago this very day (give or take) I walked into Ventana apartment #320 to attend a "Miss America" party, not knowing I would find my future husband. My roommate, Courtney, was dating Tyson Page, and I had heard he had a few single roommates. One of which I had a slight interest in... that person was Daniel, of course. You see, I had seen him around town before, and I knew who he was, but we had never really talked or hung out. All I knew was he was extremely good looking :) But once he came and sat next to me and talked to me, I knew that there was a whole lot of charm to go with those good looks. We hit it off pretty well and decided to hang out soon after. Eventually he asked me out on a romantic date where he made me dinner, and we became inseparable ever since. Although it may seem like a silly reason to get together every year, we still like to have a Miss America Party because it reminds us of when we met and began to fall in love. If it weren't for the Miss America pageant, our lives might have been very different. I am thankful for Daniel, and I love to remember how we got started. Here are some pics of this years party hosted at Tyson and Courtney's house/club house!

The original four Ventana roommates: Dan, Tyson, Ben and Ben

The crew

Don Quixote and Brooke

Lost in the 50's Tonight

Grandpa and Grandma Jensen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last night! In honor of this huge accomplishment, the Jensen family threw them a party. It was a night full of good food, laughter, dancing, and great memories. Since the theme was "lost in the 50's" Dan and I dressed up in 50's bowling attire. The gym was decorated with all things 50's. Dan mom put together awesome center pieces. There was a record in the middle of each table with old coke/orange soda bottles, jacks, and a milk shake cup full of candy that was made in the 50's. Each table also had a picture of Gpa and Gma. I loved looking at all the old photographs, I think they are so neat!

We started the night off eating BBQ ribs and chicken, baked potatoes, BBQ beans, and all kinds of salads; it was delicious! Next off everyone had the chance to give Grandpa and Grandma a toast, and we watched a neat slide show of them over the past 50 years. Sue had their wedding cake re-created with the original cake topper and bride and groom figurines. Gpa and Gma got to cut the cake again, and feed each other a few bites.

Then the real party started! We had a talent show that ended up being more of a comedy show, but they were all tributes to Grandpa and Grandma. The Jensen family has major talent! To finish off the night we had some dance instructors come and teach everyone how to swing dance. We did the twist, the bunny hop, the jive, and many more funky dance moves. You should have seen Daniel boogey. He was quite the ladies man on the dance floor. The family put together a really nice tribute/memory book for Gpa and Gma. It was made like an online scrapbook, and everyone in the family wrote down their favorite memories of Gpa and Gma. It also had lots of cool pictures and details about their wedding and life over the past 50 years together. The whole night was so much fun that Dan and I wished we had already been married 50 years so we could have such a celebration! Only 47 1/2 more to go! I hope that once I am their age people can say
the wonderful things about me that they said about Grandma Jensen.