The Move

I wish I could snap my fingers and our new apartment would be all moved in, organized, and decorated. As much as I like to think I am Mary Poppins, I do not have her magical snapping powers which is why Patrick is having a grilled cheese and tomato soup picnic in our living room!

We are loving our new place despite the chaos. At night, I have a hard time falling asleep because I can't stop thinking about how I want to arrange and decorate everything. I function best in an orderly (and cute) home and have to remind myself to be patient. It may not all come together overnight but we'll get there. (And you'll know when it does because I'll post a zillion photos!)

We owe lots of thanks to Ma and Pa Jensen for letting us borrow their truck and trailer. Jay came and shared his muscle power. We were hoping to have more help, but it ended up that Jay and Patrick moved all our big and heavy items by themselves. Amazing! Also, thanks to Aubrey and Grant for hanging out with us. Grant kept us all entertained. What would we do without family?!

We went to our new ward on Sunday. This is where we learned our new place is referred to as the "Mormon Four-Plex!" Haha! We can't wait to invite you over soon to see it for yourself!

Sugarhouse: One Last Evening

Last Friday before starting our move to WVC, Patrick and I had one last date night as Sugarhouse residents.  I loved living in Sugarhouse because it was nice being able to step out of our apartment door and have limitless places to see and places to go and eat.

We had been wanting to try the new pizza restaurant on 2100 South, Neapolitan Pizzeria.  Every time we pass it the place is packed so we took that to be a good sign!

We had "his and her" pizzas.  I had a veggie pizza loaded with asparagus, squash, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, and goat cheese.  Soooo delicious!  Patrick's pizza was topped with a spicy chicken sausage, caramelized onions, and ricotta cheese.  I kept stealing bites of it because it was so good!

The pizzeria was quite busy and it took awhile to get our dinner.  We didn't mind but the manager thought we earned a free dessert for waiting.  Good food and good service!  We will definitely be going back.

After dinner we took a quick walk over to the Sprague Library to take a photo and say goodbye to the giant sugar beet.

 Sugarhouse is full of so many happy memories for us.  We are sad to be leaving but luckily we can go back whenever we'd like because it is only a 15 minute drive. And we will go back because we still have several tasty restaurants we need to check out!

Summer Nights

It can get so hot during the day here in Utah, but it is worth it because the summer nights are perfect!  Especially for baseball games!

Last Tuesday Patrick and I got into the Bee's game for FREE using our Pass of all Passes.  Even though we didn't pay for our tickets we landed some awesome seats behind home plate!

 

When it comes to sports, baseball has my heart. Not so much for Patrick.  During the Bee's Game, he kept looking up at the suites behind us to catch a glance at the basketball game playing on the TVs.

 



All year long I await summer nights like these!

 



First Day at Discover

Since we don't have any kiddos like my many of my friends who always seem to have so much to blog about and because I keep forgetting I started this blog to share all my funny stories while being a princess, Patrick has become the main subject of the "Princess Mandi" blog.  He doesn't seem to mind and I am always very excited to take photos of his handsome face. 

Last Monday as Patrick headed out the door for his first day working at Discover, I ran after him shouting for him to wait because I wanted to take a photo.  (You know, kinda like you'd do when a child is off to their first day of school.)  Well, he was sweet and did wait.  Patrick is good sport when it comes to my camera habits.

This week whenever I had a chance to talk to someone from my family one of the first things everyone asked was how Patrick's new job was going.  Well, since he has to endure 14 (!!!) weeks of training, there wasn't too much to share yet.  Just lots of sitting and listening.  However, Patrick took a funny photo of him during a group activity I thought you'd enjoy.  Meet Zlatko...

Patrick and his group were assigned to come up with a new slogan pertaining to their division at Discover, personal loans.  They put together a "commercial" and Patrick was the star!  What a funny and talented husband I have.  Maybe he is the one who should the professional actor. ;)

Our First Apartment

Next Saturday we will be moving into our new apartment.  Yay!  We are looking forward to a bigger space, more convenient location, and a smaller rental fee.  As excited as I am though, I will miss our current apartment.  Sure, the apartment has had its share of problems and such but since it was our first place together, I will always think of it fondly.  And to help me remember it better I (of course) took lots of pictures!

Welcome to our home!



 To the right you will find the living room.

I loved the brown wall and built in cubby. (Remember how we decorated it for Christmas?)

The dining room is to the left.

I don't  know what exactly was behind these walls but it sure was hard to get nails into them.  I was determined though!!!

Patrick and his amazing waffle-making skills at work in the kitchen.

I loved how the Ikea shelves looked in our kitchen. Trust me, this photo doesn't do it justice.  Everyone who came over commented on our set-up.

Our itty-bitty bathroom. (Our new apartment's bathroom is even smaller. Yikes!)

View #1 of our bedroom. The built-in closets and shelves were awesome!

How many owls can spot in our apartment? A little obsessed? Yes.

View #2 of our bedroom.

Goodbye little home! Thanks for the sweet memories!



Together Everything is Fun

Patrick and I have been looking for a new place to live.  Our current apartment has been just fine for starting out, but we have been wishing for a bigger space in a more affordable part of Salt Lake.  We decided to go ahead and put in our month's notice even though we didn't have a new apartment arranged.  This made me slightly nervous because I worried what would happen if the end of June rolled around and we hadn't found anything and settled for a new place that wasn't an improvement over our current situation.

Finding a new apartment was all I had been thinking about ever since we put in our notice.  One day I was starting to feel particularly discouraged about it.  Then I walked into the bathroom and looked up at this little erase board I made for me & Patrick to leave notes for each other. 

"I love you because... eating popsicles & apartment hunting w/ you is the best!"

Each night Patrick and I would apartment search on KSL.com and eat a Dreyer's Fruit Bar.  And you know what, we did have the best time!  I am so glad to have Patrick in my life and for his little reminder that this task didn't to be something to get discouraged about. The day-to-day chores that I do not look forward to doing are so fun when we have the chance to do them together.  And apartment hunting could be fun if we made it that way.

Here's our happy ending...  We did find the *perfect* apartment.  We couldn't be more excited to move in!

G's B-day

Garrett turned 19 years old this past week.  Crazy?!  My baby brother is all grown up.  19 was a fantastic age for me.  I was living in Missoula, which is one of my all time favorite places, had the best group of friends (Amy! Becca! Katie!), and had the opportunity to tour with Missoula Children's Theatre, which was a big goal of mine.  I hope 19 turns out to be an awesome year for Garrett, too!

Garrett is working hard to live a healthier lifestyle.  So instead of a traditional sugar-loaded cake, he had a watermelon instead!  How cool is that?! Happy Birthday Garrett!

What happens in Vegas...

... Does not stay in Vegas!  I want to blog about our fabulous weekend trip!

Patrick's grandparents (Noni and Pete) know how much I love theatre so they thought I'd enjoy seeing one of their favorite shows, Cirque Du Soleil's "O."  And since "O" is performed at the Bellagio in Las Vegas it looked like we'd have to take a little road trip!

Patrick and I drove down to Vegas Friday night after work.  It was our first road-trip together.  You know you married the right person when you love every minute of a seven hour drive together!

Patrick of course was looking forward to seeing "O" but he admitted he was just as excited to stop at Jack In The Box as we passed through St.George.

That's a happy husband right there.

Because we arrived in Las Vegas so late, we didn't get a chance to explore until the morning.  The Bellagio was beautiful.  What a treat to stay there!  There was so much to see and do that we never had to step foot outside of the hotel. (Which was just fine. I didn't have any desire to hang out on The Strip.) 

It was so hard not to take a picture of every little thing (which is why this post is long and has a ton of photos)!  Here are some of my favorite details around the Bellagio...

The ceiling in the lobby was breathtaking. The flowers are all blown glass.

All the tiles were individually placed.  Seriously, I never knew whether to look up or down... I didn't want to miss anything!

I've always thought it would be cute to hang kites in a child's bedroom as decoration.  The Bellagio stole my idea.

This snail has 1,500 flowers on its shell.



Another decorative ceiling idea. Umbrellas.


Saturday we had an early dinner at a restaurant called Fix.  All the food was perfectly delicious. I devoured my mini lobster and mango tacos in record time! Besides the food, I thought ceiling was unique and fun.

We stopped in the "O" store before the show to find a souvenir and try on some masks.

Pete and Noni were right.  This show is worth seeing!  Why is it called "O?"  Patrick says its because that's the shape you mouth makes while watching the incredible feats of these very talented and extremely brave performers!

 

 

The performers dived from the height of 60 feet into a 17 foot deep pool.  Trapeze artists flew above the water.  Synchronized swimmers stayed beneath the water for such long lengths of time that you were surprised when they once again appeared.  It was truly unlike anything I had ever seen before.  Much thanks to Pete and Noni for the opportunity to see "O."  They sure spoil us!

 

Besides the show, which was the highlight of the trip, I loved watching the fountain,

 

 

experiencing room service,

 

 

 

 

watching Patrick race Noni's scooter,

 

 

 

playing Farkle,

 

 

 

and most of all, having three whole days of uninterrupted time with wonderful Patrick. (Cheese.)