California Dreaming

On July 30th, Troy and I celebrated our first anniversary.  We decided to take our honeymoon we never had and went to California.  We stayed at Hotel Huntington Beach for a couple of days.  We had no idea, but this same weekend happened to be the weekend of the US Open Surf Competition.  I have never seen Huntington Beach so busy...but we had a lot of fun!
Our first day, we left Salt Lake and drove down to St. George to stay with my Aunt Wendy.  The next morning we got up early and finished the drive down to California.  We checked into our hotel and immediately headed down to the beach. 

That night, we decided to eat out, and we ended up at this delicious pizza place right off the pier.  All of my California friends should check it out next time you are in Huntington. :)

Our second day, we woke up and headed straight to the Beach.  We had fun laying in the sand, watching some of the surfers, and of course wake boarding.  We decided to hit up Jack-in-the-Box for dinner (HEY...they don't have those in Utah...except in St. George...so we had to get our Breakfast Jacks).  We made a spur-the-moment decision and headed to the Angels game.  They played the Rays...and unfortunately lost. :( ....but it was still a LOT of fun! :)  After the game, the Goo Goo Dolls performed for the crowds.

....and did I mention that we both severely sun-burnt our backsides?!  We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to purchase some Aloe Vera to sooth our pain haha. :)

On Sunday, we made the drive up to Wrightwood.  It felt soooooooo good to be at my home town.  We drove past the home I grew up in, went to church, then had lunch at Inspiration Point.  To my Wrightwood Ward friends and family...it was SOOO great to see all of you guys.  Hopefully we will return soon.  After lunch, we headed to my Grandparent's home in Moreno Valley and enjoyed dinner with my Grandparents, some cousins, and some of my Aunts and Uncles.

...ok...so my house picture I found online...but still...picture it without the snow. ;)

Our last day spent in California was our actual Anniversary.  We decided to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain.  It was the PERFECT day to go!  Most of the lines were so short and we were able to practically walk on to most rides.  Besides the heat...it was an awesome day!  Our first ride we hit was Goliath.  I was proud of Troy....for those who don't know....Goliath has a VERY large drop...and Troy is not a huge fan of heights.  He made it on the ride....and survived!  ;)  We had a lot of fun!!!

Our last day, of course, was spent driving from Huntington Beach back to Salt Lake City.  It was a lot of fun!  The past year has been the best of my life!!  I am so excited to see what our future years will hold.  It is a wonderful joy to know I will be married to my best friend forever!! 
Well, here are our current adventures!  Until next time...we hope your life is filled with joy and happiness! :)  We love you all!

Happy Birthday America!..and Dizz!

A few weeks ago, we spent the week at my Parent's Home in Logan to celebrate Kindsey's 20th Birthday and the 4th of July.  We had fun hanging out in the sun, shooting guns, being around our family, shooting off fireworks, and had a picnic at Bear Lake in the rain (complete with raspberry shakes!)  Here are some pictures to catch you up:

Overall, things are going wonderful!  I hope everyone is having a great summer break!  School is just around the corner.  I will be starting again on August 22nd, and am so excited to be a full-time teacher this year!  What a blessing music has been in life!

For all you busy people out there....

So, my New Year's Resolution has been to be a better cook this year.  For those of you who know me (especially former college roommates), this is a HUGE deal for me.  Before getting married, I worked at all fast-food places....and this was my "reasoning" in eating out all the time.  When Troy and I got married, we decided that we wanted to make sure we have family dinners every night.  Of course, there are times that this doesn't happen, but we are doing our best.  I am proud to say that in the seven months we have been married, we have probably only eaten out about 15 times.  That may be a lot for some families; however, for us this was a big deal! :)  Tonight we had this for dinner: Angel Chicken Pasta, Salad, and Home-made Bread sticks...with some crystal-light lemon aid :D (Ignore all of the ranch...it sort of exploded on my plate).

So, I wanted to share something that I came across on Pinterest this week.  I thought this was a GENIUS idea!  It's called Freezer Cooking.  Basically, you take your ingredients, prep them, bag them, freeze them, and then put them in the crock pot on the morning you are ready to eat them. (If you would like to see more of her recipes, check out this blog...SUPER yummy stuff! http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html)

This is what I put together tonight while dinner was in the oven.  It is a Teriyaki Chicken crock-pot meal.  It is now in the freezer and ready for one of our busy days/nights!

Anyways....until next time, life is going great!  We hope you are all doing well! 

February Already?!

Well, I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I would give some updates as to what we have done.  Christmas came and went SUPER fast...and no we find ourselves in February.  Just last week, we have already been married for six months!  It has been a wonderful six months, and we wouldn't change a thing about it!  So, to catch you up on what you've missed, here are some updates:

 Our newest nephew, Nash Owen Daniels, was born on January 7th.  Although born three weeks early, Mom and Baby are doing great!

 Snapshot of Buddy sleeping...

 Little Easton: SUPER cute kid!

 Our First Christmas morning together :)

 We spent Christmas with the Hackett family, and now welcome Robyn, who will be marrying Trevor in March! :)

 Buddy doesn't like to be left alone, so when I left him on the porch to load the car up, he had to watch my every move...

 Troy and Mark had some "boy bonding" time over Christmas while playing with Kade's new toy

 We spent New-Years with the Hansen Family

 Our Nephew, Kyler Watts, is growing SO Fast!  Love him! :)

 Overall, life has been great to us!  We can't believe how quickly the time has gone!  We have been super happy, and love being married!!  We hope everyone has enjoyed their new year so far!