People of the world spice up your life

Just in case your didn't know, the title of this post is a line from a SPICE GIRLS song, I recommend you listen to it. It will make you wish that you were 12 again making up rollerblade dances in your parents front yard, or maybe that's just me. Anyway, this week we spiced up our lives and did a few things that we don't often do.

Last Saturday Cassi and Allen invited us to go to the Little Sahara with them to ride four wheelers. I had only done this a couple times before and this was years ago so I was a little freaked out to be driving my own quad. Thanks to the help of good friends and a cute hubs, I didn't injure anyone or get killed myself! Josh did roll his machine and it about gave me a heart attack, luckily he was fine and so was the 4-wheeler. We had fun Cassi and Allen, thank you! Oh, and thanks Angie for letting me borrow your gear, you're the best!

Thumbs up dude!

If you didn't know this was me just this last weekend, how old would you think I was here?

Usually we are pretty boring during the week but we decided to spice things up a bit this Wednesday night. We went to our first Jazz game in a VERY long time, and ate at the delicious Red Iguana. I had never ridden on the Trax before this night so I had to document the historical event.

Yeah, we sat way up high in the nose bleed section.

K, this is my favorite picture of Josh! How geeky does he look? I think it's hilarious. His head actually looks small here and we all know his noggin is massive. Let's hope that our children are born with heads more like their mommy's. No offense babe, you know how much I love your big head.

We took a short walk through the city and passed the "Old Clock" downtown. I absolutely love this clock and had to be photographed with it.

The rest of our week consisted of work, work, work, not working out, and more work. I had a boutique Wednesday, Thursday, two today and I have two tomorrow. I'm pooped.

Josh just said

and I quote, "I can't wait to have four sons so we can hang out and be awesome. We can box all day and they can protect my one daughter who will hopefully be mentally challenged."

Chocolate Goodness

Last night we went to Cocoa Cafe. It is simply delicious. I LOVE hot chocolate and this cozy cafe has mastered the art of hot chocolate making. It is the second best cup of chocolate goodness in the world. The first would have to go to Mr. Max Brenner in NYC, which I will be enjoying in exactly 3 weeks. Oh I can't wait.

sippy sip sip

So, I was telling Tori how great it was to have a shock and water proof camera. Two seconds later I accidentally dropped my "Courtney-proof" camera in my hot Chocolate! That camera was a wise purchase for someone as clumsy as me.

Cocoa Cafe has these charming old board games for their patrons to use. I particularly loved this old game of Clue. I have this weird quirk where I think that old men are cute. It's not like I am attracted to them, I just think they are cute. When I was little I had a wee crush on Sam from the game "Guess Who". Weird I know. I think the old man on the cover of this board game is cute. I also like the chef and the sassy blond in the hot red dress.

Here are our cute, good friends: Joe, Heather, Brett, Tori, and of course my gorgeous husband Joshua Ray.

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Today is my baby brother Patrick's 18th birthday. I can't believe he is officially an adult, it makes me want to cry. Patrick such a stud. Here are some things I love most about him:

• He still gives me a hug EVERY time he sees me. When we go home and stay at my parents house he will give me a hug every morning, when he gets home from school, and before he goes to bed. He is so sweet.
• He has amazing eyebrows and the cutest smile. No wonder all the girls LOVE him.
  
• He has so much confidence if it were tangible it would fill an entire room.
• He is a protective younger brother (like Chris wasn't enough).
• He is very smart.
  
• He loves our family.
• He is such a good little boy, maybe that's why I still feel like he's a baby.
• Patrick is ALWAYS happy! Since the day he was born he has been a happy person. He is always smiling, always laughing, and is always in a good mood. He is just pleasant to be around.
  

Seriously, how cute is this kid?

This picture was taken three years ago, but it shows how happy he always is so I love it.

Sundance, Heaven on earth.

One of my very favorite places on earth is Sundance, Utah. It is calm, rustic, and charming. I love the clean, crisp mountain air, the smells, the architecture, the decor, the food, the trees, and everything else I am forgetting at the moment. My family rents cabins in Sundance every other year and some of my favorite memories are from those weeks. We were able to go eat at the Foundry Grill at on Friday night. Our friend, Veronica, is in town from NYC so we took her to experience the beauty of Sundance.

I wish these photos were in focus. This is my favorite hall way. It is lined with old photos of events that have taken place here. There is one that I particularly love, it is of Robert Redford and his daughter riding a horse together. I love daddy/daughter pictures so I completely adore this one.

I really want this bowl. It is enormous and beautiful. I could bathe in it every day.

Josh enjoying watching me enjoy my favorite raspberry lemonade.

Meet our darling friend Veronica.

We got to see a raccoon. Luckily this one was friendly because they can be mean little buggers.

Happy Birthday to yooooouuuuu!

Josh's birthday was really fun. We spent two days celebrating his birth and life. We started off by going shopping.

Josh on his couch at Anthropologie playing Brick Breaker. I LOVE the pillows behind him.

He really wants a Wii now.

After shopping we went to dinner at Market Street Grill. We had some tasty crab cakes and a yummy meal. Then, Matt and Brooke invited everyone over to their new house, which is sooo cute, to play games and have home-made ice cream.

Sunday was Josh's actual birthday. I woke up and made him yummy waffles and spicy breakfast potatoes for his first birthday meal. We showed up to church 2 hours late because no one told us our meeting schedule had changed. So we had a short day of church and had a nice, relaxing day. We went to Josh's mom's house for dinner with the WHOLE family.

I love this picture of Josh with the Littles. I love the colors of the leaves and how they are all holding hands. The girls wanted him to take them out in the rain and he's a champ so he did. They love their Monkey.

One of the gifts I gave Josh is a rubber band gun. I don't know what I was thinking and I have a strong feeling that I will pay for that choice.

I made Josh's favorite chocolate cake and I think it turned out ok. Brooke is the master cake maker and was kind enough to let me use her recipe.

All in all, I think he had a great 26th birthday.
Happy Birthday Josue! I love you.

Joshua Ray

Today is my husband's 26th birthday. I made a list of some things you may or may not know about Josh. They are all reasons I love him. Some of them drive me bananas, others are just adorable facts but here they are.

Here are 26 things I love about Josh:

1. He loves me even when I'm not having my best day.
   
2. He is very honest (sometimes too honest).
3. He loves his family and would do anything for them.
4. He is very driven and is a very hard worker.
5. He is a born inventor- one day he will make something that we won't be able to live without.
6. He is athletic and competitive...a true mans man.
7. Josh has a great laugh, AMAZING SMILE, and truly adorable dimples.
8. He is big and makes me feel safe. He could destroy any monster or bad guy out there. Don't mess with him.
9. The man is a genius. He is so smart it is scary.
10. He is passionate about living a healthy and balanced life.
11. He respects his mom.
12. He loves and lives the gospel.
13. He looks incredibly sexy with a weeks worth of scruff on his face.
14. He has great hair. I love it when he wears it a little bit longer, I try to push off giving him a hair cut as long as he can stand it.
15. He is very thorough with whatever he is doing be it researching what type of computer to buy, fixing a fence, reading a book, or hanging shelves. The man is a perfectionist. He won't rest until he has everything to his liking. He needs to know everything about everything.
16. He is sweet with our nieces.
17. He is my personal handy man. He can do ANYTHING around the house. He can hang crown molding, install a new deck, hang curtains, wire surround sound, and install flooring.
18. He loves to build things and wants to make furniture when he retires.
19. He loves to figure out how things work. He would take things apart and put them back together all day if he could.
20. He looks great in a business suit, and in his birthday suit.
21. He is gentle and sweet with me. He is very protective and is good at making sure I am comfortable and happy.
    
22. Joshua loves to dress up for Halloween. He likes to be creative and come up with funny things to wear. He gets so into it it becomes contagious.
23. He rarely gets sick. I love that he takes care of his body and is a healthy being. This will most likely make my life a lot easier in the long run.
24. He will be a darling father one day. Hopefully one day comes soon.
25. He gets embarrassed when I tell him how attractive I think he is. I think it's so cute that he is humble and has no idea how good looking he really is.
26. Josh is a good partner. He is the best husband I could ever ask for, this is so cheesy but he really is a dream come true. Josh makes my life easier, he is a light in our home. I know when our time comes he will be an amazing parent. He will raise good, strong, happy children. He is the best person out there for me.
    

Happy Birthday Josh. I love you so much!

Halloweenie

Happy Halloween!

We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Last night we went to go see Daphne and Scooby Doo. The girls were pretty cute in their costumes.
After we spent some time with the littles we went to Allen and Cassi's for pizza and to carve pumpkins. Chloe was a little monster. She was so cute and chubby, I wanted to pinch her.

Cassi and I carved pumpkins,

while the boys talked business (what else is new?).

Cass had the cool house on the street and gave glow bracelets out to trick-or-treaters.

We had to leave their house early because of my crappy dog allergies. We went to Gardner Village when we left. I LOVE Gardner Village. It is so charming and they have great little shops. Sadly, everything was closed but it was still fun to walk around and see all of their Halloween decorations.