Memorial Day Weekend

What better way to spend the holiday weekend than with the ones you love.

Saturday night Austin & I had a little date night playing mini golf. When we first started dating Austin took me to play putt putt at Boondocks. I was trashing him up until the very end when I stopped trying, thinking we were done competing and just goofing around. Ever since that time Austin never let me live it down that he "supposedly" won. Well we went to a small miniature golf course we discovered a few blocks from our house and needless to say, this time Austin kicked my trash. 45 to 57 was the final score.... it was an off night for me.

Look at that concentration haha

Pretty legit with the pencil over the ear

Sunday we went to church and discovered that the calling we were original called to, substitute primary teachers, was changed to actual teachers. We are now the team teachers of the primary 8 year olds haha it should be interesting. We then had Austin's family over for dinner and games. It's so fun to have a big house where everyone can come and hang out.

Today we decided that it would be fun to celebrate Memorial Day with a picnic at Memory Grove Park. It was a beautiful day and was a great time bonding with family. It's sad to think that we will only have a few more months of this before Austin & I move to Arizona. I guess that just means we will need lots of family visits ;D

Happy Memorial Day & God Bless America!

Movin' On Up!

So it's official. Come July 24th Austin & I will be packing up one of these..

and moving here...

so Austin can go here...

Thursday we found out that there was an opening in the apartment complex we wanted to live at. The apartment was available for July 22nd so after much excitement, second thoughts, prayers and smiles we got the paperwork signed and set off. Everything seems so much more official knowing that we officially have an apartment in Arizona! Yay for starting a new phase of our lives come July!

As Requested

Sunday night I made a sweet pulled pork salad with Cafe Rio dressing. It turned out pretty well :D I thought I would share it with everyone. If you use it, let me know what you think!

Pulled Pork:

4 lbs. Pork Shoulder

Rub Pork with:

2 tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

2 tsp. Cummin

2. tsp Paprika

Put into a crock pot with:

Sliced Onion (I put in 3/4 of an onion)

2 Cloves Minced Garlic

1 cup Chicken Broth

1 can Coke

Simmer on low for 8 hours. After 8 hours, drain 3/4 of juice and add:

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 tsp. Paprika

(If desired add more coke)

Build into a salad:

Tortilla, Rice, Beans, Lettuce, Pork, Guacamole, Cheese, Chips & Cilantro

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing:

2 Cloves Garlic (minced)

3 Tomatillos

1 pkg. Ranch Dressing Seasoning

1 cup Cilantro (1/2 bunch leafs only)

1/3 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes / Regular Pepper

Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Enjoy!

Thoughts On Lost...

Last night was the end of Lost. It is crazy to think that it’s all over. I still remember sitting in my dorm room freshman year, spending all day trying to catch up on the seasons I had missed. I found the way Lost ended to be somewhat intriguing. After years of unsettlement and confusion they all found peace. It’s what everyone is searching for. The peace to know what will happen after death, and that they will be reunited with friends, family, and all those they loved while in this life.

A quote from Damon Lindelof, one of the executive producers, “...our desire to find meaning and yes, answers to life’s mysteries through our respective faiths is a big part of what we try to put into the show.”

To be honest, the season finale of Lost brought me peace, not because it was over and I had figured everything out, but peace in the fact that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that I know where I am going after this life. I know I will be with my husband, my family and my friends again. I don’t have to keep searching for the truth or find the answers to life’s mysteries because I am content with the knowledge that I have. So thank you Lost for reminding me of this.

A Horrocks Week

Last Saturday Austin’s family made a trip down to South Jordan to see the house we are living in and to celebrate Jason’s birthday! That night we all went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. While we were waiting for a table, I saw a picture with the Texas flag and the Texas pledge of allegiance. I just had to tell Austin’s family that while attending school in Texas, students are asked to pledge allegiance to the American flag first and the Texas flag second. They could not believe we Texans actually do that! haha They just don’t understand what it means to have Texas pride. In order to celebrate Jason’s birthday each of us made sure to mention the news to the waitress. Lucky for Jason, he got to celebrate the big day, Cowboy style haha

Since last Monday I have been interning at Rain, a small digital agency in American Fork http://www.mediarain.com/. On Thursday I was upgraded to my own desk area making me feel pretty legit! Now I am next to a big window so it’s nice to have the sun shining down on me throughout the day.

The view from my window.

My cubical

What I do at work haha Only sometimes...

Thursday night Austin & I met up with Ashley and her friend Adam for a double date to Robin Hood. While waiting for Ashley and Adam to get to the movie theater we had some fun of our own.

Can you find me?!

To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed with the movie. Austin of course liked it so at least one of us got our money’s worth haha

Friday was a nice quiet night at home with my husband. Then today we had a little day date to the Draper Temple. It was a great way to go back and remember what was said to us on our wedding day, since I was crying the whole way through and didn’t hear half of what the sealer said to us haha You know you are married when a fun Saturday afternoon includes a trip to the temple, Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and Target haha

Tomorrow I will be trying out a Cafe Rio pork salad recipe on Austin, Ashley and Madison for Sunday dinner so if it turns out to be delicious I will have to share it with my fellow blog friends and family.

I Feel So Grown Up!

When we moved into my cousin's house we were in desperate need of a dresser. After the honeymoon, we went out on a search for a bedroom dresser and came back with a whole bedroom set! Well the set was finally delivered Friday night. I must say, buying furniture really makes me feel legit. I couldn't be happier with the set we found at the price we paid. This just makes me even more excited to get down to Phoenix where we will have our own place to decorate and make our home :D

The bed set!

The dresser!

Texas Open House Weekend

On Thursday Austin and I headed down to Texas to spend some time with the fam and also have a wedding open house for all our Texas friends. Boy was it hot! I’m pretty sure it was hotter in Texas than it was in Cancun.

Friday night my dad bought tickets for all of us to go to a Rangers baseball game. Before we hit up the ballpark we had to stop off at my favorite place to eat, On The Border! It just wouldn’t be a trip to Texas without eating there. We then had a fun family bonding night while watching the Rangers destroy Kansas.

Jessica even showed us her new favorite treat at the ballpark, a Ranger’s ice cream sunday in a little Ranger’s hat.

Saturday was the open house. Of course my mom was up bright and early getting all prepped for the party. The open house was beautiful. My mom and all her friends did such a great job of putting the whole thing together. It was great to see all of our Texas friends and show off my cute new husband :D

After standing in a reception line most of the day, I had to help my sister Lexi do her make up for the prom. Yes that’s right she had prom after a full day of open house festivities.

Once she was off to prom we opened some of the wedding presents, stayed up chatting with my friend Brittany and then crashed from exhaustion.

Sunday we were back to Utah in order to get ready for work and to start internship the next day. Now that all the wedding festivities are over I guess it’s on to the rest of our lives as husband and wife!

What a week! (Part 1)

How can so much happen in just two weeks?! I feel like some of the most important parts of my life were packed into a 2 week period haha Lets start from the beginning.

April 17th.

My family flew into Salt Lake the night before and met Austin & me in Logan. That next day many of my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles met us at the Logan Temple to be there while I went through for the first time. What an awesome experience being surrounded by family and feeling the love that is felt in the temple. It will definitely be an experience I will never forget!

April 19th-22nd.

The week before our wedding was spent packing, moving, cleaning oh yeah and trying to finish all my finals. While I didn’t put as much effort into my finals as I should have.. I ended up doing pretty well!

April 23rd.

It was cold and rainy but at 8:00 that morning I walked across the HFAC stage where I received my “sample” diploma. I won’t get my real diploma until I finish my summer internship, but it was still a bitter sweet moment realizing that I am done with BYU! I am now a BYU alumni and I couldn’t be happier with that under my belt. As soon as the graduation was over I loaded, literally loaded up the baby bug and Austin helped me finished moving all my crap, I mean stuff into my cousin’s house :D

We then cleaned ourselves up so we could be at the baby blessing of our new niece Brooklyn Horrocks! She is such a cutie!

After the blessing Austin’s family and my family had their first meeting over a Rumbi dinner. (Everyone was pretty much exhausted so we picked something quick). After that it was back to the hotel so I could get some rest before the big day!

April 24th.

It was finally the day. The day we had be counting down since August 15th. There were times when we never thought this day would come but it did, and it was more than we could have ever asked for! Our sealing ceremony was at 9:40 so I was up early getting all primped and ready. Walking into that room filled with all our family and friends was an emotional overload. I don’t consider myself much of a crier but man was I a wreck. Austin was as well so I didn’t feel so bad. Afterwards Austin’s uncle said that men are only allowed to be that emotional once in their life so apparently that was his day haha The love that filled that room was amazing.

After the marriage we added the final touches and went out to meet the rest of our friends and family. When we walked out I felt like a celebrity being attacked by the paparazzi with all the cameras snapping pictures haha.

It was the most gorgeous day anyone could have asked for and we were so happy to see everyone. Austin & I spent a couple of hours taking tons and tons of pictures before finally making it to our wedding luncheon. Like I said, it was more than we could have ever asked for and better than I ever imagined. My mom and her sister Jenny put so much time and effort into making every little detail look amazing and totally paid off. Lunch was awesome, the speeches were heart felt, the video was cute and the cake was amazing!

Cutting the cake

Everything about the day was perfect. Once the lunch was over, Austin & I headed down to the Grand America Hotel where Bryan & Jenny (my uncle & aunt) booked us a night for our wedding present. It was incredible. We were both exhausted so we crashed early.

I guess I will end with quote from Jon & Kate Plus 8 (I know.. bad source but a good quote) “It’s a crazy life, but it’s our life” and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

By the way. More wedding pics will come once we get them back from the photographer :D