Just an F.Y.I. of sorts...

I just wanted to let all my fellow bloggers (those of you who regularly check out my blog) that I have updated my cookie website http://sprinklesnfrosting.blogspot.com/ and you should definitly check it out! Let me know what you think, suggestions, etc. If you want to order some cookies just let me know, my e-mail is brittany513@hotmail.com and my number is 801-369-0729. Thanks!

A little sneak peak...

A night out with the family (at Brick Oven)...what could be better?!

Last night my family (aka my mom, Chelsie & Wes, and Austin...minus Ryan who had to work unfortunately) and I took Matt out to dinner for his upcoming birthday on Oct. 2nd. It was a week early (I know) but with every one's crazy schedule (including the birthday boy himself) last night was the best time for everyone so we decided to jump on it and celebrate! Matt wanted to go to Brick Oven (a pizza/pasta place in Provo, near BYU) and it was delicious! We definitely don't go there enough! It was so nice getting together as family and enjoying some yummy food while celebrating Matt's birthday. He turns the big 3-2 next week and I have some fun things planned for him! (Of course birthday posts and pics to follow!)

(Yea for Brick Oven!)

(The fam just hanging out ready to get some food. We were squished so incredibly tight in this booth it was pretty funny...ok maybe so much as funny as a little claustrophobic...but hey family togetherness is a good thing right?!)

(Matt with his b-day card and loot!)

(Awh...yummy drink...so good...oh brain freeze...the pain!)

(Chels and Wes taking some pizza home to Ryan, how stinkin nice!)

(Me, Chels, & Oz the siblings...except for Ryan, we missed him!)

(Mom and Austin)

(Me and my hubby! I thought some of the photos I took would look cute in black & white and sepia...)

Hiking, Smore's, & The Great Outdoors!

Matt and I just got back from our little cabin get-a-way (in the Boulder Mountains of Southern Utah) this weekend with his brother Aaron and it was amazing! We had a blast and I can't wait to get back down there again to play in the sun!

We took off on our adventure Friday and picked up Aaron for a little lunch at Rubio's. Matt and I LOVE Rubio's so it was perfect way to start the weekend! After lunch we stocked up on some groceries and took off! We arrived at the cabin at about 5pm, unloaded, and then grabbed some dinner at one of the local diner's "The Sunglow Inn and Cafe". They are famous for their Pickle, Pinto Bean, Oatmeal, and Buttermilk Pie...ya it sounds crazy especially the pickle one but we decided we better try them (cause I mean they are pretty famous) and they were pretty tasty! I think I liked the oatmeal one the best.

(Aaron taking in the view)

(We have sort of a tradition of taking a pic of here on this lookout...we couldn't break it this time)

Saturday we slept in and I think that was the best part of the entire trip! Once we did wake up Matt and I prepared breakfast, we had eggs, potatoes, and steak! Delicious! After breakfast we took off to Capitol Reef National Park which is about 20 minutes south east of the cabin. We went out to a couple of the lookout points which was really neat. The land down there is simply beautiful! It reminds me a lot of the area around Arches National Park.

(The DeGriselles boys...well minus a Thom and a Tim)

(Cool looking tree)

(Cheesers!)

(Matt peering down at the "Goosenecks")

(This rock had really cool little holes naturally formed in it, really neat!)

(I took this very amateurish video with my digital camera, which has no sound which really bites! There is a little cameo from Matt (the goof!) and Aaron. This video is at one of the lookouts and though photos and video don't do it justice it will have to work! As for the kind of corny song...long story short I wanted to add some cool Native American flute music but this was the only song that was already downloaded on my computer at work so it will have to do! Enjoy!)

We then ventured out to the visitor center where we learned of a little park where we could have lunch. I was pretty surprised when we got to the park because it was so green and just seemed so odd in the middle of the desert. There was even a little stream where we took a couple of pictures.

(My cute hubby!)

(Just posing at the park)

(Awh...how cute!)

After lunch we went on a scenic drive which brought us to The Grand Wash hike that went through a major wash in Capitol Reef. The neat/extremely scary thing about this hike are the flash floods that come out of nowhere. They had signs all over saying to be careful and cautious and that flash floods can come even if it's not raining where you are. They said that a storm miles away can produce a flash flood where you are and they can get as high as 15 feet! As we were hiking through the wash the area was pretty breathtaking! Half-way through we came to these "narrows" where we were walking between the rocks and a picture really doesn't do it justice. By the time we got to the end of the hike it started to get dark and really stormy. We all decided to walk back to the cars a little faster then we when started. We all kept a watchful eye ahead of us for any sign that a flash flood was coming. We also made sure wherever we were we could easily get to higher ground. We read on the same sign that if one is coming it sounds like a jet...well as we were walking back to the beginning of the hike I started to hear this nose. I paused for a moment and you guess it, I heard a sound that sounded a whole lot like a jet. We all paused and listened for a moment. It was a little nerve-racking to say the least. The sound slowly died down and we realized that oh wait that was a jet! With relief we booked it out of there and got to our car safe and sound! It was a fun hike but a bit scary at the same time. The hike was utterly beautiful though, I definitely recommend it! (Just make sure it's blue skies all around!)

(Mini arches!)

(There was these holes in the rocks that looked like perfect little chairs)

(When a it rains you can see this turns into a pretty cool waterfall)

(The Narrows)

(Aaron just "popping" in to say hi!)

(funny little lizard that let me get really close to it)

(These are the storm clouds that were making us a little nervous)

After the hike we headed back to the cabin and enjoyed some fire-roasted bratsworth! YUMMY! I had never had Brats before and I was completely satisfied! We made smores while we were cooking a dutch-oven peach cobbler, both were very good! After dinner we hunkered down and watched a little "Pushing Daises" before we called it a day.

(The boys playing with the fire)

(My cute hubby...again!)

(Just roasting my bratworth's)

(And we wonder why he's still a bachelor! J/K we love you Aaron!)

(I think this pic turned out pretty cool)

(The basic building blocks for delicious smore's!)

(Matt testing out the smore's...he gave then an A+!)

(Yummy Peach Cobbler!)

We took off back home Sunday...it was bittersweet as it always is to come back to the real world. Once we got back home Aaron hung out with us for a little bit and had some dinner which was really nice. Overall it was an amazing get away, I can't wait to go back!

We're heading down to our Cabin in less then 24 hours!! YEA!

The Day After Tomorrow...(not the movie)

So I am getting pretty psyched because the day after tomorrow Matt, Aaron (Matt's brother), and myself will be on our way down to the Boulder Mt's of Southern Utah to enjoy a little hiking, four-wheeling, relaxing, and just a beautiful serene weekend and I can't wait!

It's been a bit of a crazy and frustrating week with Matt working overnights (just this week...or so we've been told) and the possibility of moving down to Payson (which is still something we are thinking about...long story short we could save some money moving into my Grandpa's house but we would be wasting a lot of money on gas everyday and wouldn't have the conveniences of where we live now...not sure if the pros out weigh the cons yet). The hardest part is that I like to talk my way through problems and dilemmas and it's really hard when Matt is either working or sleeping and I can't just sit down and talk to him about what's stressing me out.

One of the biggest things stressing me out most right now is Matt's job. I am so grateful that Matt has a job that is stable, has a 401k plan, health insurance, and a lot of other good benefits but on the down side is Matt works CRAZY hours! He gets stressed at work, gets treated poorly to often to count, and it just feels like I never to get see him. It would be so ideal to get Matt a steady 9-5 job where he can go to school, not be over worked, and get the appreciation that he needs. It's hard though because for a job like that it would mean most likely cutting our income in half! Right now with rent, credit card debt, student loans, and a truck payment, it just doesn't feel like we could do that (another reason we thought about moving to Payson and saving money on rent).

I've been really worried about what we should do. I want to make sure Matt is happy where he works more then anything. I also know that if Matt got a better job that didn't pay as much he would be stressing out even more about how to pay for our bills. I decided to instead of letting the stress and worry get to me I am going to put my trust in Matt and I asked him what he thinks will be best. We decided it would probably be best to get through this year as is, focus on paying off our debts, save money as well, and take advantage of the nice bonus Matt should be getting in March. It's not easy but I put my faith in Matt and I know things will be ok.

The one thing getting me through this long (lonely) week is that I know on Friday I get to spend the entire day, and the entire weekend at that, with Matt! I couldn't imagine a better way to spend a weekend! We are planning on eating at our favorite restaurant on Friday (Rubios!) then taking off down south, arriving at the cabin (which is always a good stress-reliever), having some yummy peach cobbler and just enjoying the weekend! I think it's just what Matt and I need right now, relaxation, no stress, and a whole weekend to spend together!