Anniversary Part Two...

Just warning you- I forgot our camera at home, so all pictures from this post either come from Google or from my semi-decent camera phone.
Last Friday after work, we packed up the car and headed down to Las Vegas. Of course, the one night we were trying to get out early was the day some guy decided to hit several cars from Layton to Draper, ending up in a huge wreck at the end. Absolutely everywhere was insane with traffic. We ended up taking Redwood Road until it met up with Bangerter. It took us an hour and a half just to get that far!We ended up not getting into Vegas until 12:30,so we decided to just hit hay. Gash kind of neglected to make hotel reservations until the night before, so we ended up staying at this little gem. Don't let the pictures fool you- the room looked nothing like this.








The next morning we went to breakfast at Planet Hollywood. Gash had read that they have the best buffet around. Gash is never one to pass up a buffet, and I had left all the planning up to him so I had no say. It ended up being really pretty good. Of course, the best part was the enormous dessert selection. I felt like such a pig loading up my plate with all sorts of treats. The best part was when the rapper, Fat Joe, walked past our table. Gash didn't believe me it was him until everyone around us started whispering. I'm a huge celeb buff, so the few times I have seen celebrities I kind of freak out. Too bad I was too chicken to go get my picture taken with him.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel so Gash could work on some homework. This is the one downfall of getting married when we did. Our anniversary is always in the middle of the semester. After that we walked over to the Bellagio to get our tickets for Cirque Du Soleil! This is the one thing I knew he had planned that I was so excited for! Gash being the awesome bargaining man that he is was able to get us 25% off. After, we walked around the Bellagio and went through the atrium there. Right now it's set up for Fall and it was so pretty.

Then we headed down to Mandalay Bay to the aquarium. This aquarium was amazing! I loved just sitting on the benches and watching the fish swim all around us. My favorite were the jellyfish. They are just so cool to watch as they float around, knocking into each other.

For dinner, we headed back to Planet Hollywood and ate at a place called Cheeseburger. They were pretty decent burgers. Neither of us were super hungry because of how much we'd eaten at breakfast. We really enjoyed some great people watching while eating. Nothing is better than watching all the hilarious drunk people stumbling around making fools out of themselves. Vegas is the best place for people watching.

We walked around the shops for a while and then spent some more time on the strip before heading back to the Bellagio for "O". This show was definitely the highlight of the trip! If you haven't ever been to a Cirque Du Soleil performance, you must go immediately! "O" is performed on a stage that is actually a giant pool of water. The whole show, performers would be up high in the air doing all sorts of amazing tricks and then finish by flipping from way in the air into the pool. The whole time Gash and I sat in awe of the amazing abilities of these performers. I applaud myself when I'm able to touch my toes, and here were performers that were putting their feet over their back and touching their head! Absolutely amazing, amazing, amazing! Did I mention it was amazing?
The next morning, after checking out of our hotel, we headed back to the Bellagio to have breakfast at their buffet. Like I said, Gash LOVES his buffets! I was not expecting how delicious this place would be. I am a huge breakfast fan, and this place was my heaven. They had stuffed french toast, waffles, blintzes, scrambled eggs and every kind of pastry you could imagine! And of course, an awesome dessert selection also. Delicious! After stuffing ourselves we headed back for Salt Lake. Gash still had a lot of homework to get done.
This was really a great little getaway. I'm very proud of Gash for planning everything on his own. He has come a long way since last years kitchen timer. (If you haven't heard the story, let me know). It was great to spend some good quality time with my hubby away from our normal lives, and just be together. Next year let's hope for Jamaica!! :)

Anniversary Part One...

Yesterday we celebrated our 2nd anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 2 years! Looking back I was thinking of everything that's happened over the past couple of years. The first year was SO SO hard- getting used to being married, learning how to compromise, basically starting a new life. I learned so much that first year. The 2nd year has still had its ups and downs, but I can definitely say it has been so much better! I am learning all the things that make our marriage work. I'm still working on the compromising part... I'm still so stubborn. :) I love Gash so much, and my love for him grows more all the time. I always get so excited thinking about our future together!
For my gift to Gash I decided I would attempt to make a Ghanaian meal. I say attempt because I have only made one other Ghanaian dish before, and I didn't make it exactly right. I googled some recipes and decided to make Groundnut Stew and then a Banana Peanut cake for dessert. I couldn't find any recipes for drinks that were non-alcoholic so I decided to make Pina Coladas instead- they're kind of African right? Hahaha! I took the afternoon off from work to dedicate myself to making our feast. I hit up Sunflower Market to get all the fresh produce I would need. Ginger, Tomatoes, Onions, Okra, Eggplant, etc. I got home and got my cooking on. I thought it was turning out ok... and then Gash got home. I think he knew to be worried when he walked in and saw me actually cooking! I explained what I was doing and he just kind of looked at everything and then looked at the recipe. He said, "I've never even heard of Groundnut Stew or Banana Peanut cake. I don't think these are even Ghanaian dishes." Failed! I felt awful, but decided all that really mattered was if it tasted good right? If only! We both took one bite of the stew and decided to head out to a restaurant. I guess I'm just not supposed to be an amazing Ghanaian wife. Maybe that's why God made me white. Gash did surprise me with a beautiful boquet of flowers and a really awesome card. He is really starting to get the hang of gift giving!

This is my attempt at cooking

So, we made reservations at P.F. Chang's and got ready. It may not have been homemade, but it sure was amazing! I got my usual- honey chicken, and Gash got some sort of Lamb dish. Delicious! I was so full by the end that I decided not to get dessert. I sure am thinking about Banana Spring Rolls now and regretting it! We ended the night by just hanging out watching some t.v. together. On Friday we're heading down to Las Vegas for the weekend. Gash is planning the whole thing so I am really excited to see what he's got planned!

At P.F. Chang's- MUCH better than my homemade food!

Thriller

On Tuesday Gash and I went with my friend Sue and her boyfriend, Ike, to see "Thriller" at Kingsbury Hall. I've heard all sorts of good things about this production that's put on by Odyssey Dance Company, so I was really excited to see it for the first time. I was also really excited that Gash actually agreed to go without putting up any kind of fight at all.

Unfortunately, by the end of the show I was so sad! I cannot understand what all the hype is about. I thought the show was incredibly cheesy, and I couldn't help but notice all the flaws in the dancing. There were a lot of times that the dancers weren't in sync at all. Maybe I've been spoiled by watching all the amazing dancers on "So You Think You Can Dance," but I was NOT impressed. Neither were Gash, Sue or Ike. If we wouldn't have paid so much for our tickets we probably would have walked out at intermission. Don't get me wrong, there were a few dances that I really enjoyed. The opening Thriller dance was great! A few others I thought were good, but I really left disappointed. I've really come to enjoy watching great dancers, and it seems like Utah has some really amazing ones. Apparently they have all joined SYTYCD because they definitely weren't performing at Kingsbury Hall.

Whip It

Tonight I had a GNO with one of my oldest friends, Syd. We started the night by going to dinner. After unsuccessfully trying to go to Texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden- we gave up after hearing about the 2 hour wait at both places. I thought we would be safe in Utah County the night of Priesthood session for conference. Apparently all the other women in the UC decided to have a GNO too. We ended up at Pier 49 Pizza. The pizza was ok, the service was terrible!
After dinner we headed next door to the theater in American Fork. We decided to see "Whip It." We both thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It started off a little slow, but by the end we couldn't stop laughing. Syd even shed a few tears. Ellen Page, as always, was wonderful. Drew Barrymore did great being her usual dorky self. I don't know that I would see this one again, but it was good for a laugh.

Utah State Fair

Last night we met up with my sister, Mandi, her boyfriend, Paul, and some of Paul's friends for the Utah State Fair. This has become a tradition for Gash and me since we started dating. I love people watching and Gash loves funnel cakes.

This was our third year going and every year Gash has seen people carrying around these giant turkey legs. Every year Gash has tried his hardest to get a turkey leg of his own, and has always failed. I can't tell you how many booths we've walked past trying to find Gash's treat. Well... third time was the charm! Gash finally got his giant turkey leg. You would have thought he had just found a million dollar check he was so happy. And I was happy that our 3-year search had finally ended in success!

You just can't go to the state fair and not eat every possible food that is as unhealthy as possible, and that is just what we did! Turkey legs, lamb, fried bread, onion blossoms and of course- the funnel cakes! Heavenly! And of course I'm paying for it today, but boy was it worth it.

We had a great time just walking around and looking at all the different booths. We were quite tempted by the freak show attraction- who can resist the temptation of seeing a six-legged cow- but the $3 charge to get in made us think again. Luckily, some of Paul's friends went through and took pictures of each of the "freaks" for us. Needless to say, I think we made the right choice.

And of course, what would the fair be without a little white trash? And it was out in full force last night. It's one of my favorite things to just sit and watch all the awesomeness that walks past you. Boy do I love the fair!

(Sorry, the quality of this picture is awful! I just don't think our camera could handle all the awesomeness of this womans back end!)

500 Days of Summer

Last night I met up Celia to go see 500 Days of Summer. I had seen the preview a couple of times, but didn't really know much about it. I love Zoey Deschanel though, so I figured it would be at least decent. This movie was wonderful! It was funny, quirky, sad and in the end happy. If you don't like strange, independent movies then I wouldn't recommend you go, but if you enjoy something a little different I say- go right now! My favorite part was a strange musical outburst. Haha! I laugh just thinking about it! Afterwards we went to an italian restaurant across from the theater. I can't remember the name, but it was delicious! Very authentic.

It was so great to see Celia. Now that we're both married I don't get to see her nearly enough- definitely not everyday like when we lived together. I miss her so much and it's great to get together to catch up. Hearing all her fun newlywed stories, planning getting pregnant at the same time (one day) and remembering the old days. Then I got to come home to be with my hubby! What a wonderful night!

The joys of living in an apartment!

So, we've been our new apartment for a few weeks now and I've really enjoyed living here... except for one thing. There's a family above us that consists of a woman, her daughter, her daughter's husband and their baby. The daughter and her husband have their bedroom right above ours. They have a huge tv with surround sound in their room. They like to watch tv every night until about 4 in the morning- it's pretty awesome! Every night since we've moved in we've fallen asleep to the sound of their bass booming. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a very light sleeper, so it took me a while to get used to the noise. I've contemplated going up and talking to them, but have stopped each time. I don't want to be the neighbor that complains and plus- they're pretty creepy looking! Last night it was more than I could handle. It was almost midnight and I was trying to read and I couldn't concentrate because the music on their tv was blaring. Once again, I contemplated whether to confront them or not. This time I got the determination and headed up there. After knocking, the mom came to the door. Her small dog was yipping and trying to get out, but instead of picking the dog up she just opens the door a slit. I tried explaining what was going on, but of course she couldn't hear me. Finally she got some sense and came outside. I explained that tonight their tv was just too loud. Her response? "I can't even hear my daughter's tv." Well good for you! Hello lady! Do you know how sound works?! Sound travels down, especially when you've got a subwoofer on the floor! And if you can't hear it, can I come sleep up there? She just stared at me with her mouth open and her 2 teeth that she had in her entire mouth sticking out at me while I continued to tell her that we've heard it every night and normally we just try to ignore it, but tonight it was just a little too loud and politely asked her to ask them to turn it down a little. I told her I didn't want to get off to the wrong start and if she doesn't believe me she can come downstairs and listen for herself. She just stared at me for a few more seconds and said "I'll tell them." I was livid! My hands were shaking and I wanted to punch the few teeth she had right out. If it was me I would have said "Oh I'm so sorry I didn't realize it was so loud. We'll turn it down right now!" How simple would that have been? I stomped back down to our apartment and headed for our room, hoping that at least it would be a little quieter. Nope, it sure wasn't. In fact, they had even turned it up a little. How old are we? This time I could distinctly tell it was The Beatles playing, but it must have been my imagination because the toothless woman upstairs had just told me she couldn't hear it! Being the over analyzer that I am I continued to stew for the next hour or so. What should I do? Should I apologize tomorrow and take them some cookies? Why should I apologize- they're the idiots! Should I see if we can switch apartments? I hate this apartment now, I hate confrontations. I hate them especially because even if I know I'm in the right I always feel guilty afterward. What do you guys think? Was I right for confronting them finally? Should I keep bugging them about it? This entry is way too long, but I just really needed to vent. Thank you!