So James and I have had some pretty fun weekends recently....which is totally the norm, but  here's a post about it anyway.

The weekend of Oct. 18-20 our dear friends Jimmy, Charina, and lil Tyler Willis came into town! Tyler is my fav, but I'm not exactly his. Charina says he prefers men to women, which is why you won't see me holding him in any pictures. :) It was a quick visit, but we squeezed in a Saturday morning breakfast of crepes, a pre-game BBQ at the park, the most amazing football game (BYU vs. UofH), and then dinner at home and some catching up. It went too fast and we wished they lived closer.

First time in an NFL stadium (Reliant). It was large and muy espacioso.

The UofH "coogs" versus the BYU "cougs." Haha. It threw me off to hear the cougar roar...because it was never for us.

Don't worry, that UofH fan giving Tyler bunny ears....we know him.

I'm such an artistic photographer; in this picture Tyler's head looks bigger than James'.

He's pretty cute. I claim him as a nephew.

One of my absolute besties. Also we're wearing the same shirt.

A mighty happy scoreboard.

James has tired eyes...probably from wearing his prescription sunglasses indoors because he forgot his real classes. Hehe.

After the game when we were emotionally exhausted and my vocal chords were suffering.

Chairna and I both married blond boys named James ("Jimmy") and moved to Texas. Her son is cute and ours is nonexistent.

I should probably confess here that before marrying James I hardly knew a thing about football. To be honest, I don't know a ton now, but I am far beyond where I used to be. In college it never appealed to me to give up 4-6 hours of my Saturday to watch a game and fight the crowds to and from the stadium. I went to about 3 games total when I was single and in college. Yes, I know, I am a huge disgrace to all of you die-hard bleed-blue Y fans.

When James and I got married and he started talking about woohoo college football season coming up I thought to myself "self, you're going to lose him for many hours every weekend for several months if you don't learn to enjoy football and watch it with him, because taking it away from him isn't a viable option." So I asked him to teach me. And he did. And I am really liking it. And so is he of course.

The weekend after that we had the ward trunk or treat. After much deliberation, we decided on dressing up as giant grapes by safety pinning balloons to our clothes.. The wind blew the balloons into our faces and off our bodies at times, and when we chased them we popped other balloons and scared all the kids around us. So fun.

Just a couple of grapes.

Hahaha. Notice the lil grapes in the background? Not our offspring. Also, not a very original costume I guess.

We thought this costume was awesome. Baby in an ice cream bucket.

James felt really cool dressed up as a giant wad of grapes.

Best and simplest idea of being double-stuffed Oreos! Brilliant! Their car was cool too.

James lost a few balloons.

Because grapes hug.....??

Super nerds. Loved Andy's fake weight at the bottom of his shirt.

The sisters own orange clothing? I don't even own anything orange, much less did I have it on the mission. We love our missionaries!

So, the weekend after that was....this weekend! It was preceded by the rul Halloween. We decided not to dress up as giant grapes again since we'd popped all our balloons and didn't think it a convenient costume to wear in a crowded party scene, so we quickly thought up a few more ideas. We obviously have to work on our creativity for next year, although I have to admit dressing up like Miranda Sings was a pretty ingenious and inexpensive idea. James is Bronco Mendenhall. Or, as you can see, James is attractive and I am hideous.

I've never actually seen Miranda stand like that. Not sure why I'm doing that.

Working the red lipstick, middle part, fully-buttoned men's shirt, and high-waisted workout pants. James was so thrilled to have that hanging on his arm.

For those of you wondering who the heck Miranda even is, she is a character/girl on YouTube created by actress and comedian Colleen Ballinger to poke fun at people who get on YouTube thinking they're all that and famous...but aren't really. Here are a few to get you hooked on wasting your time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeNXtRk9Wpo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydTGW34R2ms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPwwNu68My8


The people who recognized me thought it was hilarious. The people who didn't just thought...."she buttoned up a shirt and did a poor job putting on super bright lipstick." Those people are missing out on some awesome YouTube videos.

This weekend James and I also went to a work party. It was the same work party I went to with him a year ago when he spontaneously invited me to Houston to spend the weekend with him and paid for my ticket. We had a fancy and delicious dinner at the home of a McKinsey partner, a home previously owned by an NBA player. It has a black chandelier and identical staircases right upon entry that encircle a baby grand piano that looks like it was painted by Picasso. Pool in the backyard in front of a lake with a fountain. There were hor d'oeuvres and everyone but a a few of us sipped wine and then we ate and....we'll skip to dessert because it was the most delicious creme brulee! I got really excited about the food because it reminded me of the Food Network and how everything always looks so perfect. They did introductions of all the newly hired folk. Last year that was James. This year he introduced a few people. He's a big man now.

We took a picture on the couch just like we did last year after the party, but this year it's our couch.

On the way to the dinner James and I noticed he was wearing the same shirt he wore last year! Haha. Now it's tradition.

Last year on this same weekend we also went to a park, so this past Saturday we had a lovely picnic at the same park. It brought back such sweet memories. Crazy to think that was a year ago. The weather felt perfect like last year. At the time I thought "living in Houston wouldn't be so bad." That was before I met summers in Houston. But it really isn't so bad. It's very good, and instead of nearly six months away from marriage and living in different states, this year we are together and happy in Houston, celebrating our 6 month anniversary tomorrow. :).........although technically we are still in different states because I'm in Houston and he's currently in Florida.....haha oh well.

(If you want to see my post about this weekend a year ago you can find it under November 2012)

James and I have had some mega fun recently.....starting with my birthday. I'm 25! Yikes! It was sad when we stopped by the store to grab some candles and the box only held 24. Sad face. And when I say we had mega fun I'm talkin' CHURCH, SPAGHETTI, and a SUNDAY NAP. Oh yeah. We're wild and crazy. For my birthday James surprised me with tickets to two concerts: Imagine Dragons and Joshua Radin/Matt Nathanson!! He's the best. :)

It was around that time (few days before my birthday) that James' last work project ended, so he was home for my birthday weekend....and then for THREE WHOLE WEEKS after that!! Most people might think that's not a big deal. Most people would be wrong. It's a rul big dill in the consulting world. So that was the best of all birthday gifts. When James is between work projects he's "on the beach" (aka working from el sofa). This is what James looks like working on the beach:

Haha....ha.

He would periodically turn up some music and clap his hands together like he was at a concert....by himself. That boy was happy to have some beach time and I was happier to have him around.

The Imagine Dragons concert was in the Woodlands-a gorgeous area north of Houston. We spread out a blanket in the grass and played Uno and fruit ninja until the concert began. James I'm sure would like it if I mentioned that he severely trounced me in both games.

Holy chipotle chicken pasta and garlic bread deliciousness.

At the next concert two weeks later Joshua Radin was AWESOME and Matt Nathanson was not quite as awesome. Also he shook his bum and wiggled his hips like a little girl. James and I were laughing imagining him practicing his moves in front of the mirror.

Joshua Radin

Joshua Radin

Matt Nathanson

Matt Nathanson

Matt Nathanson

Here are some video tidbits: I know it sounds better if you just turn on your ipad, but hey folks-we was there in real life and that was cool. These concerts make concerts number 7 and 8 for me I think. 
(Imgaine Dragons, Joshua Radin, Matt Nathanson)

 

I know I know! Joshua Radin is the best....

Between those two concerts we went to Scottsdale, Arizona for an awesome work retreat. It was PERFECT. It was at a Marriott resort and I've never felt so pampered. It started off with endless guacamole and chips. That alone would have kept me happy all weekend, but on top of that we had a comfy room, endless drinks (in Mormon language that translates to smoothies :)), a pool, fitness center, spa, delicious meals, and some sweet activities.

Just a light breakfast of every kind of fruit, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and a chocolate-filled pastry

And for lunch....yeah, I'll just take some of...EVERYTHING

On Thursday we tried out the gym. The treadmills had their own built-in fans and TVs, refrigerated towels and free headphones. We had a big western dinner and afterwards James rode a mechanical bull and rocked it.

On Friday James and I went on a river float and I got a full body massage. Holy heaven. After dinner and the dessert reception that night we went to the jacuzzi with our friends the Whitlocks and Nelsons.

On Saturday we went repelling. James was braver than me because he went off the big rock. I just went down the shorter rock over and over again, each time getting faster. We definitely could have gotten some cooler pictures, but it's so inconvenient sometimes.

See that tiny yellow speck? Yeah, that's me haha.

I especially like this picture ;)

With our friends Rachel Whitlock and Katrina and Kyle Nelson. Jeff Whitlock was going off the huge rock for the second time so he missed the pic.

Then we tried 9 different smoothies by the poolside. SOOO YUMMY!

 

We had a fancy "white party" Saturday night complete with the strangest entertainment of two guys building a giant ice guitar. Strange but cool. And the music group of four girls that played during dinner apparently played at the London Olympics. They were awesome.

This was called a "s'more." Little bit fancy and flipping fantastic!

Behold the ice guitar

And the music ladies

And everything else that is white...

And all the white people (not a racial slur)

And now we're back to real life again. James is off the beach and flying to Columbus, Ohio each week for a new project and I'm manning the fort at home like I do.....killing the cockroaches like a fearless warrior and making sure everyone gets fed. Everyone=me.