We're engaged!!!

Ryan and I got engaged on August 2nd! He proposed while we were on a hike up Mt. Olympus in Salt Lake. This picture was taken right after we got back to the car. We are so excited and can't wait for the big day and to be married!!! As of this month, we have been dating a year and look forward to an eternity more :)

Summer Craftin'

School has been out for one month now...  The first week that I was out of school I did this craft to celebrate the start of summer.  It is bright and fun and I love the way it turned out!

I stained the wood on the sides and back. 

The week after that project, I started sewing a bag for all of my swimming and travels.  I used my sewing machine for the first time since I got it in 2002... I love how big it is and the pockets inside.  I've already used it tons. 

The next week I made coasters to match my living room decor.  Angie (my sister in law) told me about some coaster's like this that my cousin's wife made, so I copied the idea!  I just got brown tiles from Home Depot and mod podged some scrapbook paper that I had onto the tiles.  Then I sprayed them with clear acrylic spray and used a spray adhesive to put felt underneath them.  I LOVE them, especially because they ended up being less than 50 cents each!

Six months ago I went to DI and found this beauty.  It was $3 and featured a beautiful yarn flower that some lady had made in 1975 (she actually wrote it on the back of the frame)!  I recognized it's potential but it took me a while to decide what exactly I wanted to do with it.  I thought about making it a mirror, but in the end I decided to make it a magnet board. I finally started this project today.  Here is a before pic:

This is how it looked after I took a power sander to it...
Then I painted it black, sprayed it with clear acrylic spray, and got sheet metal cut to fit it (my roommate works for an AC company and brought home a large scrap piece for me).
Then I made magnets to match it and hung it up.  Ta Da!  

Now I just need to figure out what my next project will be!

Finally!

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for 4 months... Oops! I have been busy doing things, but not blogging about them. So I am FINALLY posting.Here's a quick update.

New Year's Day: I went snowshoeing with Ryan.

I had THE best birthday ever... Elise and Leighton came to my school and surprised me with a big balloon bouquet. I also had students bring cute gifts and balloons. They are so sweet! Later that night Ryan took me to dinner and ice skating at the Galovan Center.

In February and March we went to St. George to go mountain biking.

Also in March, Katie, Carissa and I went to a Jazz game. Go Jazz!

For Spring Break in April I went to Vegas to watch Phantom with my friend Marianne. I spent the rest of the week soaking up the sun with my family in St. George.

Now that summer is almost here, I have started my summer job as a HoneyBee for the Salt Lake Bees baseball team. I love it! It is so fun :)

Top 10 of 2009!

I can't believe that tonight is New Year's Eve already. This year has flown by! I like thinking about the places I've been, the things that I've done, and the people I've met this year. Here is a list of the Top 10 of the year:

Number 10: Dying my hair!

In January I decided to dye my hair dark brown. I loved the way that it looked, but it faded pretty quickly so after a few months I gradually started doing highlights again. Maybe I'll try it again sometime!

Number 9: Decorating Cupcakes!

I've done cakes for just over a year now, but earlier this year a coworker showed me a book called Hello Cupcake that has some cute and easy ways to decorate cupcakes. This has been a lifesaver because it isn't as time consuming as making a cake, and it's pretty fun to do!

Number 8: Scuba Diving!

When I was in Cabo in November I went scuba diving. I'm not certified (yet!) but it was so much fun. Ryan got me a certificate to get scuba certified, so I will start those classes soon!

Number 7: New York for New Years!

I love New York City, and it is so awesome during the winter. I had a lot of fun there!

Number 6: SYTYCD/Hollywood!

I went to So You Think You Can Dance for my second time this summer. I got to shake Sean Kingston's hand this year. We had a great time playing around Hollywood. I can't complain about staying at the Ritz Carlton either!

Number 5: Mexican Riviera Part 1!

Tracy and I went on a cruise in July to the Mexican Riviera. We had a blast! My favorite part was swimming with dolphins in Puerto Vallarta. It was amazing!

Number 4: Mexican Riviera Part 2!

Ryan, Joe, Russ, Cherese, and I went on that same cruise in November. It was great. As mentioned before, scuba diving was my favorite part, but I also loved just hanging out at the beach and soaking up the sun!

Number 3: Puerto Rico!

In April, I went to Puerto Rico with Peng, Josh, Brock, Annie, and Tracy. It was SO SO fun! We chartered a private plane to an island called Culebra (just off of Puerto Rico). It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been! I loved the resort that we stayed at in Puerto Rico also (the Gran Malia Resort).

Number 2: Being a Honeybee!

From April until September I worked for the Salt Lake Bees baseball team as a Honeybee. It may not seem like a summer job should be almost topping my list, but this was so fun! I got to go to baseball games all summer (and get paid for it!). The girls that I met were so fun and I still hang out with a few of them. I can't wait to do it next season!

Number 1: Dating Ryan Sorensen!

I met Ryan in June and we started dating in August. He is amazing and I have a great time with him. We're going snow shoeing today. I've never been before!

Sneak Peek for Angie!

This is the cake that I made for my niece's 3rd birthday party tomorrow. Angie chose the cute theme "Tea Party" so of course the cake had to be a tea cup! Hopefully Carly likes it and has fun on her special day. Here's another view. The handle was SO tricky and doesn't look great... Sorry Angie!

Are you for SCUBA???

Last week I went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with Ryan and some of his friends (Russ, Joe, and Cherese). It was a lot of fun! We went to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. It's the same cruise that Tracy and I went on in July, but this time we went on Norwegian. This was my 6th cruise, but the first one that I did that wasn't on Carnival. I have to say that I prefer Carnival, even though I had a blast on this one. While we were in Cabo, I went scuba diving for my first time. I was kind of nervous because I'm not certified, but the instructor gave me a quick lesson and we headed for the water. Ryan held my hand the whole time and I survived! We saw puffer fish and tons of colorful fish. We swam around a reef and went 50 feet deep. I would love to get certified and do many more dives (unless there are sharks around)!!!


In Mazatlan, we mostly just hung out at the beach by this resort (El Sid). Before we went back to the boat we ate at a restaurant that a local recommended. It was so so good! The best part was that none of us got sick after, ha ha!


In Puerto Vallarta we rode a local bus up to a far away beach. We were some of the only tourists on it, so it was quite an experience. Thankfully we got there safely. We were going to try scuba again, but the visibility in the water was bad. Ryan speaks Spanish and convinced a guy to let us take a kayak out into the bay. It was fun and really beautiful. After the beach, we at dinner at a restaurant that was right on the ocean. Talk about an amazing view! We were there while the sun set. It was beautiful.
Overall I had a great time and it was a great trip. The only part that I would change was the weather the last day/night. The boat was going through huge waves and was moving like crazy. I got kind of sick :( We had a room with an ocean view on the 4th floor. The waves were so big that they were spashing our window! I've never been on a boat with waves that large.

Too much of a good thing???

I have been baking cakes and cupcakes like crazy... About 1 project each week! I think that I may need a little break for a while!
This is the cake that I made tonight for my friend Bobbi's baby shower. She is a 6th grade teacher at my school and is so excited to have her baby! They haven't found out if it's a boy or girl so I tried to make it gender neutral :)


These are some black and white cupcakes that I made for Elise's birthday. They were pretty fun to make! We celebrated her birthday by going to lunch with Kati, Christin, and Elise's daughter Leighton. It was fun to see all the girls.


BYU had a football game against ? (I can't believe I forgot!) a few weeks ago, so I just had to make cupcakes for the game! I melted tootsie rolls to shape into footballs. Ryan appreciated my effort at being a Cougar fan.

90 Years!!!

I've been trying out some new things with my cake decorating lately... I've been using fondant for some of the decorations! I don't like the way it tastes so I haven't tried covering a whole cake with it yet, but I like using it as an accent.
This cake is for my friend Katie's Grandma. She is turning 90 tomorrow and they are having a big family party for her with around 300 people coming. This is the cake that she'll blow out candles on (they have Costco cakes for everyone else to eat).
Here's another view of the cake. I think it turned out okay!
There are only a few more Bees games left this season. I'm sad! It's been really fun working at the stadium as a Honey Bee this season. There are always interesting people there and fun promotions (like this one with Snuggle). I'm not sure if I'm going to do it next year yet, but I still have a few more months to decide. Now I'm just focusing on school starting... It starts on Thursday the 20th. I'm excited to meet my students but will miss summer, of course!

LA and SYTYCD!!!

A couple of weeks ago I went to LA to watch SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) with Peng, Tracy, and Cami. It was so much fun! Last year I was lucky to get tickets to watch it, and was so surprised that I was able to go again this year.
We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Ray and spent some time playing in Hollywood. We also went to Venice Beach and here and there in LA. It was lots of fun, of course! Now I'm just looking forward to my upcoming Mexican vacation. I love being a teacher and having the summer off so that I can travel... My summer hasn't been all fun and games though. I spent 2 weeks of my summer taking 4 graduate-level math credits that will count towards my math endorsement. Other than that, my days have consisted of going to the gym and pool!!!

Taylor Swift Concert!!!

Tuesday night Peng, Annie, and I went to watch Taylor Swift perform at the Energy Solutions Arena.  She was SO amazing.  It was for sure the best concert that I've ever been to.  She sounded great and was a very talented performer.  

My favorite song that she sang was "You're Not Sorry," but she combined it with "What Goes Around" by Justin Timberlake.  It was so good!  Here is a link to her performance on YouTube...  I bet you'll love it too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u5gnVWCLEs

So DONE...

School's almost out (next Friday!). I've worked 60 hours this week and I'm ready for a break!

Puerto Rico was SOOO FUN!!!

Puerto Rico!!!

Tonight I'm flying to Puerto Rico with Tracy, Peng, Josh, Annie, and Brock. We are going to stay in a really nice resort and soak up the sun! I'm excited to go to the rain forest there. We're also going to take a ferry to a nearby island called Culebra that has amazing beaches. So fun!

Don't Get Stung!

I am working as a Honey Bee for the Salt Lake Bees Baseball Team this summer. We had our first game last night. It was lots of fun! Tracy, Cody, and Josh came to watch me in my debut game... I am really looking forward to this season and am sure that it'll be a great way to spend some of my summer! Go Bees!