Happy Anniversary

This past weekend, Alex and I celebrated our first anniversary as a married couple. It really is hard to believe that a year has already gone by since we tied the knot--the best decision I have ever made. Oh happy day.

We celebrated by going up to Park City for the weekend {...and spending more money than we anticipated...you only celebrate your first anniversary once? Right?} We left Friday evening after Alex got off of work and got pizza delivered to our hotel room, while we watched Lars and the Real Girl. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, so driving up to the valet only entrance of the hotel in our 2001 Ford Taurus behind a bunch of BMWs and Audis made us feel like we were part of a show called, "The Provo Hillbillies make their way to Park City!!" It didn't help that our brakes sort of went out on the way up to Park City... aka any time you even thought about touching the car's brakes, a horrible grinding noise hovered in the air for a good ten seconds. Ugh.

But we didn't care. It was our anniversary. We made it there without our car totally dying on us. We would never see these people again {until maybe next year}. And plus, it was a little funny.

After we ate our pizza, we went to get ice cream on Main Street at a place called Java Cow that we had read about on a food blog. It was way crowded, but definitely worth the wait. Not the best ice cream I have even had in my entire life, but it merited a twenty minute wait.

The net day was packed full of fun. We started the day off by waking up around 6 am {not usually my ideal waking time...} and going on a hot air balloon ride that we had gotten as a gift from Alex's brother and sister in law for our wedding! It was amazing and so beautiful. **Side note: if you ever go on one of these rides, there is no need to dress warm like most people thought would be necessary. They don't call it a hot air balloon for no reason!

Setting up the balloon in the field

Later in the afternoon, Alex surprised me with a one-hour horse back ride. So romantic, right? I love horses and love going horse back riding whenever the opportunity presents itself. He is so thoughtful. We were lucky too because we were the only two riders there at that time. Just me, Alex, and the guide riding through aspen forests and flower-filled meadows.

We ended the night dining at Ruth's Chris--my new favorite restaurant. It might have cost an arm and a leg, but I would give my other arm and leg to eat there again. Perhaps next anniversary. It was probably the best meal of my life. We opted to go with the premium dining selection which included a soup or salad to start, a personal side and your choice of entree, and a desert to top off the meal. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I started with the summer tomato and basil bisque 

This baby was sizzling when it came out...you can see the bubbles around it, it was so hot! So delicious. 

                              

                                    I got the baked potato casserole for my side

Alex got the garlic mashed potatoes. Also buttery and delicious.

Our anniversary desert...extreme chocolate cake. It was like a lava cake with ice cream and strawberries. 

I was pretty ecstatic about the dinner. haha

After dinner, we decided to waddle around Main Street. 

Just someone I met...

The next morning we slept in, and took our time lounging and checking out of our hotel and going back to reality. But reality isn't that bad when you have a husband like Alex who treats you like it's your anniversary every day. {Cue the corny Celine Dion song in the background while I wallow in this sappy moment!}

'Til next time, Park City. 'Til next time Waldorf. You have been an absolute pleasure! ;)

An Easy Snack: Spicy Parmesan Avocado

I saw this on pinterest and thought, "I have to try this!"
Im a big avocado fan.
Plus it was easy.
And fast.
And cheesy.
And spicy.
It took me about 4.2 minutes total and boy was it delicious.

Here's what you do:
1) cut avocado in half and remove nut.
2) poke holes or make slices into the avocado so the flavors can get deep down into the meat of the fruit.
3) dash on some salt and pepper
4) add 1-2 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (I used sriracha aka "rooster sauce")
5) fill the hole where the nut used to be with parmesan cheese
6) broil two minutes
7) put remaining cheese all over and broil another 2 minutes.

Voila! You are done! Happy snacking!! xoxo

Family Vacation {part 2}

Then off to Yellowstone we went! {Although, I did forget to mention that on our last day in The Grand Tetons, we went white water rafting. I don't have any pictures, but it was so much fun. I could do that over and over again. We even saw a bald eagle!} 

In Yellowstone, there were Geisers everywhere, but obviously Old Faithful was the most beautiful and most reliable {in terms of going off and spraying the water high into the air!} It was pretty amazing to see and makes me even more appreciative of God's wonderful creations. 

While they say Yellowstone is the capital of animal life, in all honesty we didn't see all that much. We saw a lot of elk and bison, but besides that we didn't really see much. I thought it would be like snow white--birds and squirrels everywhere! I think I saw maybe five squirrels that whole time we were there. Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed.

Here is a waterfall that was just beautiful--there are several in Yellowstone.

Attractive, Connor!

While in Yellowstone, we did a lot of hiking. One of our hikes was a four-mile roundtrip hike up some steep switchbacks to some spectacular views. When we started this hike, it was windy and overcast...which then quickly turned into a lightning and thunder storm with rain that felt like hail. Sounds miserable, right? Actually, it was quite fun and made for a great memory! In fact, I loved it.

Earlier that day, we went to a place called Mammoth hot springs. Yes, there was a waterfall there, but it is so beautiful because it just looks like white powder all over. I am not sure what it is but it was so beautiful.

Later, we went to the arch, where it has engraved at the top, "For the benefit and enjoyment of the people." Cool, eh?

Like I said, we did a lot of hiking. One contained a million and a half stairs that lead down to a waterfall. It was awesome! Obviously, the stairs were a little tiring {especially coming back up}, but so worth the view!

Then off we went to the Grand Prismatic--the very popular helicopter shot of the spring with all of the magnificent colors was taken here. see link below.

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/fieldtrips/2007/explorations/grand_prismatic/index.html

It rained once while we were there pretty hard {like I said, we were hiking}. But after, we saw a beautiful rainbow. I haven't seen one of these since being in Hawaii, so it was just lovely to see.

We had a great time with both of our families and wished we lived closer to all of them, so it would be more of a regular thing to see them. Thank you for the memories and the great trip--we loved it!