Cats

There are about seven million reasons why I love cats. I love that they have their own personalilty. I love that they purr. I love that they are so soft etc. But I think one of the biggest reasons why I love cats is because they know you. They know when you are happy and especially when you are sad. Last night I was sad and my cute cat Toby came and layed down next to me and stayed there. He is so sweet!!!! I could tell he just wanted me to be happy again. Cats are the best!!!!

(I can't figure out how to turn the picture. Sorry!!!)

Law and Order

I love Law and Order. For a long time I have enjoyed watching Law and Order, CI and SVU. Lately SVU has been my favorite, but I love them all. I think that my love must have stemmed from my family's love of it. I can remember many times before I was married sitting in the living room with my parents and sisters watching Law and Order. I must admit that sometimes (a lot actually) I get quite scared from the episodes, but for some reason it doesn't stop me from watching. I guess it is just too interesting.

Chadder's

If you are a big fan of In N Out burger and you live in Utah you will be happy to know that there is a pretty good alternative. Ryan and I ventured to American Fork on Saturday to give Chadder's a try. Aside from being a little salty Chadder's is a pretty good copy of In N Out. Everything about the restaurant was very similar. The menu, the restaurant style even down to the font on their name. If you are craving In N Out and don't mind a little bit of a drive I would definitely recommend going to Chadder's. As a side note, Chadder's was actually sued by In N Out because of how similar they are. In N Out claims that Chadder's stole their recipes.

Snowed in

Because today is a national holiday I got the day off of work. I was planning on driving up to Park City to go clothes shopping, but was very disappointed to find out there was a huge snow storm this morning. Needless to say Ryan told me I shouldn't go and I had to agree. I have been stuck watching TV all morning not looking forward to going to the dentist later. I think I might still going shopping after the dentist just not to Park City. Oh well, I guess I will go another day.

Cruize: Cozumel

I thought it was time that I started to write about our Cruise mostly so I would have something to do with these pictures and so I wouldn't forget any stories about out trip. In an earlier blog I wrote about the Cruise that Ryan and I went on in December. Our first stop was Cozumel Mexico. This is a picture of the beach that we go to go snorkeling from. Isn't that beautiful? the water really is that color too!!!

Ryan is probably going to kill me for posting this picture,
but I still haven't shown him how to attach pictures so he
doesn't know how to take it off!!! This is a picture of both of
us underwater while we were snorkeling in Cozumel. Funny
huh???
We had a really cool opportunity to see a Mayan temple on Cozumel. I know they told us a lot about it, but truly the only thing I can remember is the it is so small because of hurricanes. It honestly was so cool to see.
While we were at the site of the Mayan Ruins I spotted an older
gentlemen wearing a pink fishnet shirt. I couldn't help but take
a picture. Pink Fishnet really???

We got to stand about 5 feet away from a wild Crocodile! I was really scared it could have jumped up on the deck that we were standing on
and ate us.
And last but not least we got to go see a lighthouse. I am pretty sure this was the first lighthouse I have ever seen. It was really cool. I wish we had taken a picture of the actual lighthouse, but we got one of us from the top. We had to climb I think it was like 136 steps to get to the top. My thighs were killing me by the end, but it was a beautiful view and an opportunity I don't know that I will ever get again.

Work work work work

Busy season. A wonderful time of year to be an accounting nerd. Wonderful if you like to work a lot, that is. But I don't really want to work all that much right now. I would rather be spending more time with my wife, working on making my home nicer, playing and studying for the cpa exam. However, the bonus that comes from working all of those extra hours is nice. I just need to find a way to get the big bonus without actually working for it. If anyone can tell me how to do that, I would really appreciate it. In the meantime, I will probably be working late in the evenings and on Saturdays while I miss my sweet, pretty wife.

Finally a real Bed

Ryan and I have talked for a long time about buying a bed frame, but we have never found anything that we really like. Well today I found an add for a bed on sale that I liked. It turns out through after we went to see it we didn't like it, but that led us to Ikea where we found this beauty!!! It is black and pretty low to the ground, but the thing that sold it to us was an extra piece it is a table on wheels that comes across the bed from the bottom. That doesn't describe it very well, but it is cool. We just have to measure a few things and then we are going to purchase it. Hooray for a new bed. I love getting new furniture!

Movie Review: Juno

While I am no connoisseur of movies I decided that I want to start review the ones that I do see. The last movie that I saw in a theater was Juno. I enjoyed this movie and would probably give it 3 and a half stars out of four. It was refreshing to see a new kind of movie with fresh new ideas and new humor. I must admit the first part of the movie was hard to watch, but if you can get past teen pregnancy and all that comes with it I think a lot of people would enjot it. All in all it was a fun movie to see. I think the acting was fantastic especially Ellen Page. I think she could be a big star someday. I must admit of the things that first drove to see the movie was the Jason Bateman and Michael Cera were in it. They are in a TV show that I like to watch called Arrested Development.

Friends

I don't think anyone should ever underestimate the power of a good friend. I have been lucky most of my life to always have friends. I find it especially good to have friends at work. They always make your day better. They are there to help you when you are having a bad day and even when it isn't a bad day they make you feel good. The best thing for me is when I need a little boost that you can go talk to a friend and they always notice the little things like when you do your hair different or when you have new clothes on. These might seem like dumb little things to some, but it usually makes my day 10 times better.

I have to mention the best friend of all... that is my husband. There aren't words to discribe what he means to me accept that he truly is my best friend.

Family

We had the opportunity this weekend to spend time with both of our families. We had my family over for dinner and games on Saturday. We haven't done it in a while and I had almost forgotten how much fun it can be. We also had the opportunity to go to Ryan's parents house today and have dinner and family home evening. It was a lot of fun to see everyone.

Thinking about our families just make me feel so much gratitude for how lucky we are to have them. The are all such wonderful people that play such a big role in our lives. The care so much about us and about making sure that we are doing well.

When our family reads this I just want them to know how much I love each and everyone of them. My life would not be complete or nearly as fun without you.

(I would like to note that I was going to show Ryan how to post pictures, but since he wanted to post one of me I decided against it.)

Good news, I found the lyrics to the Mr Belvedere song

Streaks on the china, never mattered before, who cares.
When you dropped kicked your jacket
As you came through the door,
No one glared.
But sometimes things get turned around and no one's spared.
All hands look out below, there's a change in the status quo.
Gonna need all the help that we can get.
According to our new arrival life is more than mere survival
We just might live the good life yet.

Let me tell you about my wife

Mindi is my wife and best friend. She is such a wonderful, beautiful person. I have not met anyone that is as caring and compassionate as she is. She is so good at relating to others and putting other people before herself. She cares so much about all living things, and takes such good care of me and the kitties. She is so much fun to be around and has such a great sense of humor. She works so hard at everything she does and takes such wonderful care of me and the house. I am so proud of her and so proud to call her my wife! I really wish I knew how to post a picture because she is so beautiful, but I am kind of dense so you will have to look at the pictures in the first post for now.

I am sure I will write a lot more about her as time goes by because she is my world and the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. I just adore her and love her so much! It has been a wonderful almost four years with her and will be an even better eternity.

Our Cruise

Ryan and I decided a while ago that we wanted to take a big trip together while we still didn't have any kids. So last summer we booked a cruise!!! So on December 14, 2007 we flew to Florida to go a on an 8 day 7 night cruise to the Western Carribean.

We had 4 stops on our cruise Cozumel Mexico, Belize, Roatan Hondurus and Freeport Bahamas. Our cruize was aboard the ship Carnival Glory. This ship held about 2,500 people and was the newest in the carnival fleet. I have to say that ship was really big and really hard to find your way around. We were lucky enought to be upgraded to a room with a private balcony (I would definitely recommend it)! Our first 2 days of the cruise were at sea on our way to Cozumel. I asked a lot of people about cruises and if you get sick on them before we left and all of them said you can't tell at all the the ship is moving. Ryan and I were lucky enough to go when it was extremely windy and the ship was extreemly rocky (this was not luck at all) and so for the first day I felt pretty sick, Ryan however handled the waves very well. After the first 2 days things started to calm down and I started to get used to it.

My Husband

I am married to one of the smartest, cutest, most loving men I have ever met. I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend eternity with. This is a picture of Ryan on the balcony of our first cruise. This happened to be the first day (I think it might have been right after we got into our room).

I had some free time at work today and I started to read emails that Ryan sent me when we first started dating. I must admit we were a little cheezy back then, but it was so much fun to be so in love. As I was reading the emails I came across an email Ryan sent to me on my birthday and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with the world (or whoever reads this blog) a side of Ryan that most people aren't aware of. Ryan is among many things a wonderful writer. The following is a poem he wrote for me:

Silent and still, she steals my heart in Spring—
As green gives way to gold, purple and red,
With my return to life when all seemed dead.
Sneaking unseen, she stretches for that thing,
That heart which knows not what this thief will bring;
This lovely thief, as she flees it’s my dread—
Now her beauty shall stick inside my head
And I am left to feel this lover’s sting.
Yet fate heals and now she returns again,
Just like that Spring when Noah found that Dove
That marked the end of forty days of rain—
She lingers and my heart forgets it’s pain.
Welcome, my thief, my gift, my girl above,
Stay and steal me and be my only love.

As I look back at my life before Ryan I often wonder how I survived. I say that because Ryan is my world. He means everything to me. I thank my heavenly father everyday for Ryan and what an amazing man he is and that he is MY HUSBAND!

Last Day of April???

You may be wondering why the name of our blog is Last Day of April. Well, I will tell you. That is the first day that we met (well, really met) April 30, 2004. The best day of both of our lives to that point. Our lives would, of course, never be the same after that day. For the better that is. We fell in love and, well, almost four years later here we are. We have been happily married for 2 1/2 years. Mindi graduated from the University of Utah in August of 2006 in Consumer and Community Studies and Ryan graduated with his Bachelors in December 2005 in Accounting and his Masters in Accounting in December 2006 both from the University of Utah. GO UTES!!! We bought a house in West Jordan, Utah in April of 2007. We live here with our two cats Toby and Jeeves.

So here we are! Standing on the beacon of a new horizon....er, not. This blog is a new crazy thing for us. We are laying it all on the line for all the world to see (at least those who happen to google "last day of April" for some reason). It is a whole new adventure, like taking a road trip a long way from home. We are out here before the interweb without a safety net, kind of like a hockey team pulling the goalie at the end to go for the win. We are going for the win. Or at least a lot of words and some fun. We hope it's fun for you too!

Pictures!