Asher Balls and Day Dreamers

In the past two days Josh and I have both been able to view two of our very favorite TV programs ever, the Superbowl and The Bachelor. Oh the difference between men and women.

The only time you'll see my husband make anything other than eggs or a sandwich is on Superbowl day. Josh is known in his group of friends as "Asher". One year he created a recipe for meatballs and brought his concoction to the Superbowl party he attended annually. They were a hit and were automatically named "Asher Balls". It has become a yearly tradition that he makes his meatballs for this party. Here he is at work:

A horrible picture of the final result:

We always watch the game in Brett's theater, the seating is cozy.

Half time was spent playing arcade games.

And everybody was thrilled toward the end of the game when something good happened (that is all I know, maybe Josh should explain what this thing was).

AAAWWWWEEEEE, The Bachelor. I LOVE this show. I know that only one out of ten couples have actually made it, the show is so produced and dramatic, and half the contestants are crazy but I still love it. I wish I could watch it every day. I am so embarrassed at how much I enjoy, and think about, this show. It is pathetic, I know.
This is what my house looks like at 8:00 on Monday nights:

Last night Brooke, Rebecca, Rachel and Seth came over for two hours of pure entertainment. I am so glad that last week Jason finally got rid of Shannon (psycho veneer girl) and Megan (the beast). Last night I was sad to see Stephanie go home. I thought he made the right choice but I was sad for her. I hope she finds someone wonderful who will love her and her little girl. I haven't made up my mind on who I am rooting for. I really like Molly, Jillian, and Melissa. I can't wait to see what happens! See, told you...obsessed.

House Plant

So Chris and I lived together when we were going to college. We were pretty good at keeping our house clean, organized, and well stocked with food...at least that's what I thought. Then one day I found this in our cupboard:

It's a potato tree and it became our house plant for about a week. After a week of people coming to see our potato-turned-moose I decided to dispose of the thing.

Courtney Coug

I was really wanting to wait until our first date 'anniversary' to tell this story but that is still half a year away. It is too good not to tell so here it goes: The story of how I came to be known as Courtney Coug:

About Four years ago I was a student at BYU, living with my brother at the Belmont Condos. I had just gotten out of a rocky year and a half long relationship and was pretty distraught over my situation. I really wanted to move, like that day, somewhere far far away. I was going to be a single woman, living with my best friend in a big city for years to come.

On this night of soaking in self pity my life was going to change forever. I had no clue. For crying out loud I was wearing my brother's sweatpants and a dirty tank top, I hadn't showered in 3 days (remember I was in mourning), and I was overall a complete mess. If I had known this night would seal my fate forever I would have made myself at least look presentable.

My genius brother (he really is a genius) put a full bottle of Martinelli's in the freezer, and yes it exploded. I couldn't count on him cleaning up the mess so I went to work. I'm down on my hands and knees when suddenly there is a knock at the door. I got up figuring it was one of my neighbors. When I open the door I see an image of the Greek God that is Josh standing in front of me (with Staley and Joe on each side of him).

This is what followed:

J: "Hi, my name is Josh and I am a student at the U. I am down for the night with some of my friends for our fraternity's annual 'Catch a Cougar' night, and I'd like to take you on a date."

C: In my head, "Huh? Fraternity...no thanks! Why the heck haven't I showered in the past 3 days??!!!! This guy is freaking hot!" Really I answered, "Oh thanks but no thanks, I haven't showered yet today." If that wasn't obvious as my hair grease was making a puddle on the floor beneath me.

J: "Oh that's ok, how quickly can you get ready?"

C: "I don't even know you. You could take me out in the middle of the desert, have your way with me, and leave me buried where my poor family will never find me."

J: "No I swear I'm a good guy. I am going to college and I served a mission."

C: "Sadly, I know too many returned missionaries to know that that doesn't mean anything. Thank you for the invite but I don't think so."

Just so you know, for 'Catch a Cougar' night the whole fraternity comes down to Provo and has to find random BYU girls to take on dates. They go to apartments and knock doors, go to the library, the mall etc. Mine happened to be the first door Josh knocked on.

We ended up talking for a few minutes and I found out my neighbor girls were going to be going with Joe and Staley. The plan was to go to Pizza Factory and then play games. I felt comfortable enough with that information that I agreed to go on the date as long as my family knew where I was going. He said he'd be back in 30 minutes to pick me up. I rush back to my room to quickly rinse off and get ready when my cousin comes to my house to tell me she is pregnant! This was really exciting news especially for her because she had been struggling to achieve this for some time. So what's a girls to do? Go on a date with a handsome stranger and possibly get murdered, or go celebrate the life growing in her cousin/best friend's womb?

I called Josh and bailed on him. Little did I know that could have been the end of it for me. I could have ended up with some freak because of my loyalty to my cousin. He pretended to be disappointed and told me to call him after we went to get dessert, maybe we could meet up then. In the mean time he found another girl to take on the date. I can not believe I did this in my fragile state, but when I got back from celebrating with Rachel I called Josh to let him know we were done. He had already left to go back to SLC. We talked for a few minutes and he said he would call me and take me out another time. I didn't believe him. Why would he need to call me? He lives in Salt Lake and he obviously doesn't have a hard time getting dates.

Sure enough, two weeks later I was in a movie with my other cousin Rebecca, and I get a voicemail from Joshua Ray. I listened to it after the movie and pretended it was too late to call him back. Really I was buying time. I wasn't sure if I was ready to go on a date. I hadn't been on a first date in almost two years. Did I even know how to flirt anymore? Oh gosh, what do I do?! So I called him the next day to tell him I could only go if my cousin could come with us. I pretended I had already promised my night to her. He said he would find a date for Rebecca and we'd make it a double. Crap, now I have to call Becca and beg her to come out with me and some guys I don't know at all. Luckily she was a good sport and supported her loser cousin. We knew we were going disco skating and hot tubing so off to DI we headed to get some tie die shirts and we headed to SL for our group date.

I had been stressing all day about what to wear, how to do my hair, etc. I don't think I ate more than a bite of food all day I was so nervous. When we met up with Josh he had just woken up from a nap, was wearing sweatpants with a button down collared shirt, and flip flops. Good thing I stressed all day huh?

We then met up with Dusty and a few other couples. Everyone gets changed, and what do Josh and Dustin put on? Daisy Dukes. Again, good thing I stressed so much.

We were on our way to Classic Skating and somehow kissing got brought up. Josh and Dustin found out I had only kissed 4 guys in my life. They laughed and said, "yeah we've only kissed 4 people too." Right then I was thinking, oh great I'm out with a sleaze ball! Disco skating was so much fun. I was surprised at how relaxed and natural things were for me and Josh. This was all going too well.

After Disco skating we went hot tubing and after that, we watched a movie. Our first date lasted ten hours. We talked and laughed, and played. We shared a bowl of cereal and enjoyed each other. We had our second date and first kiss three days later, and the rest is history.

After we had been dating I was in Josh's phone book for some reason. I noticed that all the girls had first names but instead of last names they had descriptions. A few examples might be: Katie Las Vegas, Megan Yellow Shirt Crimson Nights, Kelly Hot Dog Rush. He would have to put key words next to these girls to remember who they were and where he was when he met them. It was then confirmed to me that my husband did in fact like to kiss girls in his single days. So many in fact that he couldn't remember all their names, therefore they received a description. I saw my name, Courtney Coug. I was the BYU Cougar from his 'Catch a Cougar' night and that was my description for how we met so he could remember who I was. That is what I have been in his phone book since and what I am proud to always be.

Last week we found pictures from our first date, enjoy:

Rainbow Bright

This past week Josh and I have been making over our office/craft room. We have been trying to blend our wants/needs into an organized work space that functions as a place we can both be productive. We aren't quite done but we are certainly getting there. We have rearranged furniture, built organizers and put new finishes on sad looking old pieces. This is a ribbon hanger that Josh made for me. Before this lovely dowel hanger was built, my ribbon was EVERYWHERE! Now it is nicely displayed on a wall for all to enjoy. It makes me happy.

I was trying to decide between yellow and blue for my ribbon display. Yellow wouldn't provide enough contrast next to our warm walls so it was a no-go. I chose a lovely shade of aqua because I wanted something summer-bright to cheer me up on dreary, gray winter days. The inspiration came form the water we sailed on on our way to Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Don't mind me, I just got back from the gym.

I'm so thankful I have a handyman husband who can whip things like this up like it's no body's business. It doesn't hurt that he looks sexy with his marking pencil tucked behind his ear while he's doing it.

Salsa de Josue

I made this salsa last night and my husband LOVED it. Since he was so happy about my creation and I love him so much I decided to name this tasty treat after him. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 C cherry or grape tomatoes choppety-chopped
  
• 1 handful of fresh chopped cilantro
• corn of one fresh ear
• 4 green onions chopped (if you want more color use a red onion)
• 1 avocado cubed
• 3/4 C black beans
• juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 T Italian dressing
• 1 sereno chile chopped
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

I didn't measure the ingredients out when I made this, so these measurements aren't completely accurate. If you love something, add more of it. If you don't love it, don't add as much, make it your own. We love to eat these with "Food Should Taste Good"'s multigrain cracker chips and highly recommend them.

It Snows in Utah

Joshua Ray and I went up Bog Cottonwood Canyon for a little outdoor adventure. I was so happy to see a sunny sky a few days ago so out we went. We decided on snowshoeing for our activity. We got to try our fancy new camera for the first time. Here's what happened:

Josh was a gentleman and waited up for slow-poke me.

Josh looked H-O-T, what else is new?

I toppled over a few times.

We were surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Josh tried our new camera out. I learned that when you have a good quality picture taken of yourself it's best to wear some makeup, which I did not do.

Josh told me to watch out for bears and made me extremely paranoid. My imagination made me keep seeing them off in the distance, that part wasn't so fun. I don't want to be mauled to death by an animal, remember?

The end.

MMMM California...beautiful

Well, unfortunately all things must come to an end. We are back from our much needed trip to California. Josh and I had the best time with my family. I miss them all so much already. I also miss the gorgeous weather Southern California provides. When we were about to take off on our return flight, the pilot announced that it was "currently 7 degrees above zero in Salt Lake City." Seven degrees, are you freaking kidding me? Needless to say, I haven't been thrilled to be back in freezing cold Utah. I really have to try to have a good attitude about living in Utah during the bitter winter months. Anyway, our trip to CA was amazing. We got to see family and friends, go to shows, eat yummy food, celebrate two holidays, and relax. I was able to go to my best friend Ashley's Pilates class. She is an awesome instructor and got me soooo sore!

This is the view from my parent's back yard, not bad.

Oh how I wish we could afford to live in this neighborhood!

We love taking walks around the lake. The weather was between 65 and 70 degrees the whole time we were there. It was absolutely perfect!

Me and my cute Mama

There were several 'important' games on while we were down there. This was not an uncommon scene in my parents' living room:

We went out to King's Seafood in Calabassas with Chris and Mari, and Kevin and Lindsay Ten Eyck. We love them all and wish we could play with them more often!

On Saturday we went to Santa Barbara again, this time the whole family came. We rented Segways and beach cruisers. The boys all want Segways now. Too bad they are about $5000 each!

The weather was beautiful. The sun was out and it was warm with a light breeze. It couldn't have been a better day.
Me, Mares, Mom

The men and their toys:
Chris, Patrick, Daddy, Josh, Luke

The Segways were a little awkward to ride at first but after a minute they felt completely natural. To go, you just lean forward, and to stop you lean back as if you were going to sit in a chair. They are completely stable and you actually feel really safe riding them.

My mom couldn't figure out how to turn around for the picture.

Thank you Mama and Daddy for such a wonderful trip. We enjoyed every second of it and we can't wait for the next time we get to make our way out there. Hawaii can't come soon enough, we are eager to see you all again!

This week Josh's brother and sister had birthdays. Happy birthday Dan and Rebecca!

Here are some things we love about Dan:

• Dan is very funny. He thoroughly enjoys potty humor and so do we.
• He is a very unique gift giver. You never know what you are going to get when he gives you a gift. It could be a Tom Jones greatest hit collection, a massager, a prosthetic leg, or a box of Cheez-its. No matter what it is, it will almost always make you laugh.
  
• He is a good dad to beautiful Abigail. She adores him.
• He laughs a lot, and his laugh is contagious.
  
• He has really good hair
• I don't know if I love this but he looks like my husband. One time I almost put the moves on him thinking he was Josh, that would have been interesting.
  

Here are some things we love about Becca:

• She is a very good aunt. She loves to play with her nieces and nephews.
• She is a hard working school teacher.
• She is naturally thin and beautiful, and her legs are 8 feet long.
  
• She is very considerate and thinking of others.
• She is a very good gift giver. Josh ALWAYS loves the cards Becca picks out for him.
• She understands good dry humor.
• Becca is very loyal to her family and friends.
  

Is it really already 2009?

I can't believe another year has already come and gone. For us, 2008 flew by. We had a very busy and productive year. We moved to New York and back, vacationed in Boston, Cancun, California, and in New York. We ran races, started new jobs, went on road trips, and have spent countless hours on planes. We have created wonderful memories with family and friends. We have seen life lost and new life begin. Most importantly we have grown in love. We have had another year together where we experienced both happiness and struggles.

We are excited for the fresh start the new year brings. The world needs a new start. I hope this year we will all find a little more peace, a little more stability, and more love throughout the world. This year will bring with it a new President of the United States. We have a lot to look forward to. This year we will be visiting Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, California, and Las Vegas. Hopefully I will be able to persuade my husband he is ready to become a daddy. We got road bikes and will be participating in at least one triathlon this year. We are both still in the process of coming up with our goals for this new year. There are so many things we want to accomplish and improve it is hard to decide which ones we should focus on. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, we hope you all had a wonderful Holiday. We also hope that you have a fabulous and happy 2009!

On New Year's Eve my parents took us to "Smokey Joe's Cafe" in Hollywood. As soon as we walked in we felt we were a little out of place. We were the youngest people there by about 40 years. The average age in this place was about 70. The show was interesting but we had a good time.

After the show they gave everyone blowers and hats. We couldn't resist.

We got home just in time for the clock to strike twelve.

First kisses of the new year.

On the way home we stopped by BJ's and picked up pizookies for everyone.