OU Homecoming Parade!

I LOVE Saturdays! Especially this one. Trav and I got to sleep in, and when we woke up we found out that the St. Louis Cards came back and won the game last night, AND I got to go to the OU Homecoming parade. I haven't been to a parade in years, so I was pretty excited…for the candy =). Ha ha, but seriously, it was really fun. It just kept getting better and better as the parade went on: 1) an old lady standing right next to me got nailed in the head with a sucker, 2) a child across the street was flipping out and screaming at the parade-walkers to give him candy or he was going to kill them in their sleep, and 3) the OU alumni band dropped it like it was hot. To understand that last statement, the OU band is notorious for being really risque. Just look it up on youtube and you'll know what I mean. They have like a bajillion hits for it. But apparently, the OU alumni haven't lost their touch because they got pretty into it. I was actually impressed, and thought they were better than the current band. Anyway, here are some shots from the experience.

Couldn't be happier, hot chocolate in one hand, my phone in the other =)

The Alumni Band. I didn't get a good shot of them gettin' jiggy wit it though. 

This car had tons of like naked barbies on it and just other weird stuff. Only in Athens…

Oh, and that tourette boy, he yelled "YOU EMBARASS ME!" to the driver. Ha ha, everyone had a kick out of that. 

Random guy on the roof..

This was SO cute. This little girl kept thinking that my friend Marianne was her mom. Her real mom kept jerking her back (as you can see). 

FYI: OU is now 7-0 in football! GO BOBCATS!!

Fall All Around

Fall is finally here! This is by far my favorite season: beautiful trees, falling leaves, cooler weather, apple cider, pumpkins, and basketball season is just around the corner!

This weekend we went to another OU home football game, which they won, and are now 6-0! Woop Woop! It's pretty fun going to games with tons of fans and watching a team that is actually decent. We come from Willard High School, whose had a losing record for the past, well, forever! Ha ha. I feel like I am starting to become a true Bobcat fan, which gets me super pumped for basketball season to start. November 3rd is their first game, only a couple of weeks away! If you haven't already checked it out, here's the Ohio Bobcat basketball schedule for 2012-2013. 

Ohio Bobcats Basketball

Also, there's an article that talks about the possible games that will be on TV this season. It doesn't give set games or dates, which is dumb =)

OU basketball on TV

Ok, so back to the fall business. On our way to today's morning conference session, Trav and I went and drove around out in the country to see the beautiful scenery. That is one of our favorite things to do, especially on Sundays. The Athens area is a very pretty part of the country, and since it's fall, it keeps getting prettier and prettier. 

Cute right? Gotta love a man willing to take pictures with you =)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so I completely BLEW week one of eating healthy and going hard with my workouts. I started out strong ok, and then I don't know what happened. And along the way I came across this on pinterest and knew I had to post this on here because it is the story of my life right now! 

A Weekend with Auntie Anne!

Since I realize I need to live a much healthier lifestyle (starting tomorrow!) I decided I wanted to go out with a bang! None other, than with my friend Auntie Anne. She makes these AMAZING pretzels. They are to die for. She even gave me her recipe, so I thought I would try making them myself. 

I have always wanted to make them and do the whole fancy twisty thing, and they actually turned out quite nice. But the looks of these were totally deceiving because Trav and I didn't care for them (which is probably a good thing). Because even though I made them out of the official Auntie Anne's Box from Walmart, they don't even compare to the real thing. In fact, the knock-off recipe that I have is actually a lot better. So the only good thing that came out of them was that the box came with a buy one get one free pretzel inside!

If you have a weakness for these babies like I do, click here to use the recipe that I like or just keep reading...

Auntie Anne's Pretzels: Copycat Recipe

2 cups milk

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

6 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda

3 cups warm water

Coarse salt or cinnamon sugar, or BOTH =)

8 tablespoons butter, melted in a shallow dish 

Warm up the milk in the microwave. You only want it lukewarm.  Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Add the butter and sugar. Gradually add the flour and then add the fine salt. Knead for about 5-10 minutes with a stand mixer, or by hand. (I do not have the luxury of having a KitchenAid so I have to do this by hand, but it's not so bad, you just get a good arm workout ha ha). Put it in a greased bowl and cover with greased seran wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 450º. Punch down dough and divide into 12 lumps (I like to divide it in half, then divide each half into three, and then divide each remaining one in half again). Roll them all out as thin as you can. Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes***, then dip in the baking soda water. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. BUT, if you are wanting to make cinnamon pretzels, just skip the sprinkling salt part. Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned. Dip each in the melted butter while hot. Now if you want cinnamon sugar, sprinkle it on AFTER you have dipped them into the butter. Otherwise, serve with cheese sauce. The recipe for the cheese sauce is below. 

***To make them like Auntie Anne's, take the long dough strand and shape them into a big "U" shape, take the ends and cross them over, then cross them again. This gives it the twist look. take the ends bring them towards you, and place them at the bottom of the "U".

For Garlic Cheese Sauce:
(A Yammie original)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
a pinch cayenne pepper
8 oz. block cheddar cheese, shredded

In a saucepan, combine the butter, flour, and garlic over medium heat. Whisk until lightly browned. Whisk in the milk, paprika, and cayenne pepper and continue whisking until thickened. Add the cheese and whisk until melted. Can be reheated in the microwave.

Hocking Hills Indian Run!

Ok so I have been WAY out of the groove when it comes to working out and eating healthy. I used to be super active in sports my whole life and pretty much eat whatever I want and still be thin. So I guess I just assumed that I would magically stay thin after my sports career ended because...well, I don't know why! I just kind of "hoped!" Since that is definitely not the case, I realized I need to get my booty (literally) back into shape! 

It has been two years since I ran in any kind of race and was in any sort of shape. And I remember how fun it was, so I have made it a goal to get back into it. So, last weekend I went and ran in the 5k Indian Race.

Travis was there to support me (and to be my photographer I guess too lol). He got some good shots now let me tell ya...

Since the course was in one big loop, the shorter race distances had to ride on a bus to get to the starting line.
As embarrassing as it is, I was actually nervous to run this.

Coming up the last stretch!

I knew Travis was taking pictures at the end so I tried to keep my composure, but in all reality I was DYING!

 BEST feeling ever!

 Straight to the refreshments table... ha ha just kidding, but seriously.

This was probably my favorite race so far to run in because it was so unique. The majority of the race course was through the woods, which were beautiful. It was great because you pretty much had to watch your every step so it kind of distracted me from wanting to stop and start walking. I know that sounds pathetic but I am getting there!

Ohio!

Ok, so I realize I have not posted ANYTHING for a VERY long time, and since Trav and I have had a lot of changes these past few months, I figured it was time to fill everyone in with what's going on in our lives!

If you've read previous posts, you probably assume that we are in Illinois. But, some major changes happened and now we are in OHIO! We moved to Athens because Travis ended up signing with the Ohio University Bobcats. So far we have been living here for 2 months, and we LOVE it!

We love where we live, we love the town, we love the team and coaching staff, we love our new ward, and we (Well, I guess I should say I) love my new job. We have been truly blessed with everything and are so lucky that everything has worked out for us.

Ohio, atleast Athens, reminds me a lot of Missouri. There are tons of rolling hills, lots of green green trees, rivers, lakes, and all that Missouri-like stuff. It reminds me so much of home which is probably why I'm not as homesick I was when we were living in Utah. They even have some awesome caves around here, which leads me to my next topic.

Last week Travis' mom and sister came to visit us for a few days. Since we don't really know what to do around here yet, some of our friends told us to go to Hocking Hills. There are so many trails and caves to see there, so we chose to see Old Man's Cave. It was so awesome!

Me and Breanne being awesome.

Old Man's Cave was named after the old man that used to live there back in the 1800's.

Please ignore my facial expression I have no clue what I was doing!

This expresses our love (and awkwardness)

This would be pretty if the water wasn't so nasty looking.

Nailed it.

Sophomore Night

Last night was Travis' last home game at Snow College. We barely lost to SLCC...again. It was a tough game to watch because it was such a close game the whole time but we let go at the very end. We have one more shot at them next weekend and I know we are going to put up another fight. I am so proud of Travis though! Wednesday he broke his nose at practice but still played in the game last night like it was nothing. That is another reason why it was so hard to watch, I was so scared someone was going to hit him. 

For those who don't know, the coach from SIU who Travis signed to play for was let go last week. Travis is getting released and now we are trying to decide where we are going to go to school next year. SO, we are back to square one. But, we are excited to see what's in store for us.

I Love Days Off!

Yesterday, Travis and I didn't have work, practice, OR school! It was so nice to have the whole day all to ourselves, especially when our friends took us horseback riding in the mountains.

Anyone who knows me can easily say that I am obsessed, I mean, OBSESSED, with horses. I have been my whole life, and if there was an actual career in riding horses, I would quit school right this minute and pursue it, ha ha. Wait a minute... isn't that called being a jockey? PEACE OUT!


......I wish..

John Wayne II everybody =)

*Manti Temple*

It's kind of small, but I couldn't zoom in any further.

Travis on Cheyenne and me on Alana.

It was kind of scary because neither of us have ever ridden in the mountains or in snow, but these horses were pros. The family that these horses belong to actually train these horses for endurance races. I have never of these kind of races, but its when people race their horses for 100+ miles at a time, it's insane! It was so fun to actually get out and experience something here that we won't be able to do once we leave Utah.

Will You Be My Valentine?

Oh Valentine's Day, some cherish you, some forget you. We have all had our share of Valentine's Day surprises, and Valentine's Day disappointments (I'm specifically talking about not getting voted for having the best Valentine's Box in 2nd grade). But despite its insignificance and notoriously named "Single Awareness Day," it's a pretty fun holiday. This holiday is made especially for us ladies, and we want it to be special. It's not that hard to please us, either. When we say we don't want flowers, it means we really do. Or if you ask us if and where we want to go out for dinner and we say we don't care, that means we really do care and you better take us somewhere nice. It's that simple! 

This year was Trav and mine's first Valentine's Day actually together. So, this one was extra special for us. I came home to this cute little set up and when I saw it I immediately started tearing up. Figuring Travis was still gone at practice, I called him to leave a voice mail. As I was wrapping up my mushy message to him, Travis swung open the closet door behind me and scared the crap out of me. He had been standing there listening and watching me--the.whole.time. Even though we'd been married for a while, I was so embarrassed! Good thing he's so sweet and good lookin'.

Utah JAZZ

This past Friday, me and Travis were able to go to the Utah Jazz/OKC Thunder basketball game in Salt Lake! Even better, we got to watch it from a suite with tons of free FOOD (perks from working at Subway I guess)! It was my first time to watch any type of professional game in person, and even though they lost, I had so much fun. 

Also, we had the chance to meet and take a picture with ex-Jazz player Thurl Bailey. To be quite honest I had no clue who he was, ha ha. Apparently he played professional basketball for like 16 years. When I stood next him he completely towered me, and even made Travis look like a shrimp. The first thing I asked him was how tall he was and he said he was 7'0" tall. WOW. But I know in NBA terms that's probably normal.is a giant! I am a total nerd and also googled Thurl (sweet name). After he retired he became an inspirational public speaker, a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah, an actor, and a singer/song writer. Talented guy!

Me, Thurl Bailey, and Trav

Thurl Bailey back in his prime

Our Beginning

Well, this is where our story begins! At least on here anyway. Ever since Travis and I got married this past August, we have been living in Utah where every single day is a new adventure. We are both super busy with school, work, and of course, basketball. GO Badgers!

Life is amazing and Travis and I are excited for what the new 2012 has to offer us!