Rooftop

on Friday evening, bear and i went out on a date. an actual hand holding, he pays for my dinner, fireworks at the end of the night (literally) kind of a date.... and it was terrific. 

i had been hearing so many good things about this new restaurant, cubbys. So for our dinner date we tried it, and it was amazingly delicious. i had a chicken sandwich and bear had the famous tri-trip. a highly recommended place if you are ever in the provo area. 

after dinner, we headed to the rooftop concert. it was perfect weather, we got a semi good seat, and the line up of singers for the tom petty tribute concert looked great. we (bear) are huge fans of tom petty so we were pretty excited about the concert. we rocked out under the stars, sang our heart out, and enjoyed the evening. 

plus, the night ended with a firework show and a kiss from the one i love. oh, and a refreshing ice cream shake.

how much more romantic can you get? 

Moab, Ut

alright, here are some more photos from our stop in Moab. it's definitely a beautiful location. the rock formations and the bright shades of red and orange are surreal. my camera couldn't do the surroundings justice.

we had a great time hiking around and exploring some of the different locations right on the outskirts of Moab before heading over to Arches National Park. it started to get pretty windy once we got the park, so we spent a lot of time oohing and awing from the car. bear and i both agree that we need to go back and spend an entire weekend camping and hiking.

however, for the short time we did spend in Moab, it was great. a perfect and beautiful stop before heading into Colorado.

sometimes you just need to take a road trip

we just got back from our joyous road trip. 

it was so nice to get out of town and free our mind of work and research. 

although the wind never seemed to die down (notice the picture with our hair blown back. two seconds after that picture was taken Bear's hat and sunglasses blew off his head and the wind gust was so hard that it was impossible to stand in one spot) we had so much fun together. 

we explored/hiked around Moab, visited and spent time with family, 

ate at some delicious restaurants, and celebrated Memorial Day in beautiful Colorado.
i have a lot more pictures to share with you all, but for now enjoy some of my phone pics. 

a couple photos from our week with Ryan

One of the hardest things about moving to Utah has been that we have not been able to see our friends as often. Most of them live in the D.C area, and were easily accessible when we lived in NJ. 

Secretively, we hope that they all take their vacations to Utah. We can offer great skiing! 

When Ryan called us up to inform us that he would be coming to visit,

 both Bear and I counted down the weeks, days, and then hours. 

We were super excited! 

The time went by quickly, but we had a wonderful week with Ryan. 

It was filled with great conversations, good food, amazing skiing (done by Bear and Ryan), 

and nice weather. We could not of asked for better. 

Thank you Ryan for taking the time out of your busy life to come visit us. 

We needed a little time with our best friend. 

over the weekend

 hope your weekend was just lovely. 

Ours was filled with lots of celebrating, enjoying each others company,

and eating lots of good food. 

Some highlights were: 

going for a walk; but it turned out to be way too cold, 

so we decided to go eat a delicious fruit tart at la jolla bakery instead.  

we bought some house plants to bring color to our home,

 we stuffed ourselves with indian food, 

and then cuddled on the couch and watched some law and order. 

yeah, it was a great weekend. 

now onto a wonderful week! 

our new home on e street

our house is coming along nicely. 

the walls have been painted, the carpet has been cleaned, and the kitchen has been scrubbed.

 we owe a HUGE thanks to both of our parents for helping/doing a lot of the work.

 we will be loading up the u-haul and moving all of our stuff tomorrow. 

let the craziness of un-packing and decorating begin! 

and lastly, no this pictures has nothing to do with moving, provo, or even bear and i. it was taken in park city of some random donkeys that i thought were cute! 

Road Island Diner

Awhile back Bear and I took a drive to Oakley to visit the Road Island Diner. 

It's an actual old streamlined art deco diner car that was moved here from Elizabeth, NJ. 

Now you see why we had to visit! It has ties to NJ.

The car is filled with bright colored seats, neon signs, a jukebox,

 and of course the curved aluminum ceiling. The waiter even wore a hat replicating 

the ones that were worn in the 1930's by waiters. 

We had chocolate malts and boy were they tasty (and huge), we should of shared.. 

Everything on their menu looked good, but the breakfast looked especially yummy. 

I think we will be visiting again soon to try out the breakfast. 

Cascade Springs Drive

A couple weekends ago we took a drive with Bear's parents up to Sundance and back around through Cascade Springs and into Midway (personally, I think that this is the prettiest drive to take to see the fall leaves).  It was breathtaking. The bright reds on the tree leaves were covering patches all over the mountains. And yellow was just starting to peek through. This is truly my favorite time of year. And taking drives through the Utah mountains is something that I am grateful that we get to do now that we are back. 

the great outdoors

we took a birthday camping trip with the Brooks many weeks ago. i apologize for feeling lazy about uploading these photographs until now. the trip was wonderful, beside the fact that Bear got sick the first night and we ended up making the trek home every night to sleep in an actual bed. we were still able to enjoy the outdoors (and family) by relaxing by the river, fishing, eating yummy food, and celebrating my sister-in-laws birthday. do you see the hammock picture? that is where the campsite was. isn't it beautiful?

the music weekend

we spent our weekend going to two amazing concerts. Friday night we cuddled under the stars and listened to  Joshua James. have you ever heard this man sing live? His voice is incredible and listening to him really hits you deep into the soul. the concert venue was great. held on top of a parking deck that looked out over the valley made for a beautiful setting! after the concert, bear and i decided that shakes were in order, and headed over to the famous malt shop for some delicious ice cream shakes and order of fries (i just could not resist).  Saturday we spent a good portion of our day up on the hill side of the Canyons Resort awaiting the musical bunch The Infamous String Dusters. this band has been a favorite for awhile. when we first moved to New Jersey Bear's aunt and uncle gave use tickets to go see them perform at a small venue. it was our first real outing (traveling to a different city) while still getting settled. Now in Utah, still getting settled into life here we went and saw them perform. they are going to become our welcome to a new state (and home) band! One of my favorite things about going and seeing a band is watching them up close, and we were sure able to do that Saturday night. We danced right up in front listening to them perform and watching their amazing talent. Both nights were great and full of wonderful music, perfect weather, and good food!

 

 

 

 

Taco Date Night

hello August! I can't believe that you are already here. 

the summer has gone by so quick that I feel like we haven't even had a summer. I guess the stress of moving has taken up a lot of our time. 

we were able to enjoy a little family camping trip this past weekend. Bear got to go fishing, 

we roasted  marshmallows, 

and really enjoyed being around family. 

and last week, Bear took me on a taco date night. the tacos were amazing 

and the company of my hubby was even better. 

Things in Utah have been good. 

There are times when the thought of New Jersey comes into mind 

and I start missing friends, our routine, our favorite restaurants, and local spots.

 However, we still think this move was a good choice. 

and once we get our life squared away, I know we  will enjoy being here even more. 

we went for a picnic

the farm land

I have been feeling a little bit discourage lately, and a little bit useless too. It could be because everything we own is packed away in boxes and that gets frustrating when i need something.  Or maybe it is because i keep waking up in the middle of the night tossing and turning for what seems like hours. Whatever the case may be, I am trying my best to snap out of this mood. 

See the beautiful scenery above, i get to call this place home. That is amazing! Plus, my in-laws and parents have been so loving and encouraging towards this new step that Bear and i are taking. and right now, i am listening to the rain drops outside while cuddling with my puppy. 

that makes me smile. 

i am already feeling better. thank you for listening.

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

it seems as if this past month was played out in fast motion. 

it was a whirlwind of events. 

we failed to really document our trip out west, besides some measly phone pictures. 

but being that it was our 4th time driving across country; we knew the scenery, had already gotten souvenir post cards from each state, and the excitement factor faded after the 2nd across country trip.

here are those measly phone pictures documenting our life this past month. 

 

 

here we are, driving across the plains of Kansas

Entering Colorado and the beautiful mountains. 

Shento enjoying a little fresh air before getting back into the cramped u-haul

we spent a couple days with Bear's Aunt and Uncle in Ridgway Co. 

we enjoyed the small town festivals for the 4th of July.

and watched the traditional fire hose fights (above). 

i was also lucky enough to celebrate my birthday 3 different time. 

thanks to everyone who made me feel very loved and special. 

and lastly, while house searching in salt lake, bear and i tried the new smash burger. 

the selection of buns are impressive and it was nice to be able to sit outside. 

one thing that we have really loved about being in Utah is all the outdoor

 activities, scenery, and fresh air. 

waking up to the beautiful mountains 

and crisp lake every morning 

is a refreshing change from New Jersey. 

Utah, as of lately

The settling in process has begun. We have filled a storage unit that contains our stuff until we find permanent residents. We have started job searching, and we have looked through many different areas and houses around Salt Lake City. The housing search has been tedious, but we have narrowed it down to the area that we would like to call home. So we are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that a house comes up that we adore.

As for now, we are settled in at my in-laws house, enjoying the company of our families, the delicious dinners, and the fact that we are blessed enough to have this opportunity to stay at their house and not have to rush into any quick decisions about home buying/renting, and jobs.

In other news, Shento seemed to be affected by the move the worst. His schedule was all mixes up which caused him to go into a slight panic mode. His tummy was bothering him, he was extremely needy, and he was not acting like himself. I realize that this is a dog that I am talking about. However, he is part of our family and we were worried! I am happy to announce that as of a couple days ago, he is back on track and seems to be doing lots better. Shento loves that he has a non-stop play date with one the cutest boxers ever, Ali (my in-laws dog), he is crazy about his swims in the near by lake, and there are a ton of people around here that give him loads of attention. I would say that he is living the good ‘doggy’ life.

Everything around here is going good. And we are happy to be in Utah surrounded by everything that we love. Here’s to Utah and the adventure that awaits us.