We're Moving Next Week!!

Our closing date is the 22nd of this month. That means we'll be moving next week. Luckily our family will be out here to help and we'll have access to a moving truck before it's used to pack up Sheri and Mckay and take them to Missouri. It will definitely be a stressful week but hopefully by the end of it we'll be all moved in and settled. I can't wait to invite people over! We'll finally have a place big enough to actually entertain company!

We went back one last time to measure a few things and do our final walk through to make sure a few important details checked out. Everything is perfect!

The jetted tub... Christian fits!

Julie's walk in closet... don't worry we'll find a spot for Christian's things.

The hallway... Mom's room is the first door on the left.

Christian's favorite statue... I think we'll all get along nicely!

Bret's Creation

Christian was out of town last weekend on a climbing trip so Bret and I decided to make dinner together. Being that Christian is allergic to shellfish we naturally decided to make something with shrimp. We did a slight variation on Dads famous Lemon Basil Shrimp recipe by adding sun dried tomatoes. We paired it with Aunt Stephanie's delicious asparagus recipe and Voila! The knockout duo was perfection!

Bret and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Growing Up

There comes a time in everyones life when they finally have to grow up. For some this moment happens when they move out of their parents house. For others its finishing college, and if that doesn't do the trick usually getting married ends up sealing the deal. Christian and I have tried as hard as we can to avoid the growing up thing, but alas the time has come. We have decided to embrace the world of adulthood and buy our first house. It's all very nerve racking and oh so scary! Several times we've questioned our decision to become real adults but when an $8,000 tax credit and an insanely low interest rate are dangled in front of you the transition is really quite easy. Especially when you pair that with the ghetto spider infested basement apartment we'd be leaving. Hooray for adulthood!!

After lots of searching we found a place that I think will suit us both very nicely. It's located in Pleasant Grove within a very French inspired community called the Belle Monet. We made an offer last week and it was accepted! Financing is all taken care of and we should be closing in about two weeks. I apologize for the pictures... I pulled them off the Internet so the quality isn't fabulous but it should give you an idea of what it looks like. Also keep in mind that our furniture isn't nearly as fancy and for the first couple of years there might be a few empty corners:)

The Floorplan:

Notice that there are TWO decks, one off the living room and one off the Master Bedroom. There is also a walk in closet and a jetted tub in the Master bath as well!

The Living Room

The Kitchen:

Do you see the granite counter tops? The knotty alder cabinets?

The Master Bedroom

I'm guessing this next bit will ensure that you all stop by for a visit...

Hooray for pools! I LOVE swimming pools and can't wait to relax in the sun at our new place. We'll be sure to host a house warming party for family and friends as soon as we're moved in.

How to shave a Lucifur

As many of you know we have a very fury cat. He's entirely too hairy and every time you pick him up while wearing black you will inevitably get "lulu'd". We've often joked about shaving the cat and I have even called Petsmart to see if they will do it and how much it is. We know some people who have a cat similar to Lucifur and when they shave their cat in the summer months the cat actually seems to enjoy the hairless freedom. Now before you think that this is just another method I use to torture the beast who I am forced to share a home with I want you to all understand that this was Chrstian's idea and it was he who bought the clippers and ultimately did most of the shaving.

Yes we shaved the wretched beast...

No he did not like it... and no he wouldn't hold still which is why he's a bit patchy.

And no he definitely doesn't enjoy his hairless freedom...

He is a cranky cat now who has made it very apparent that he is unhappy in his bald piglet state and abhors the notion that I willingly laugh at his nakedness. He looks like a Tim Burton freaky monster cat.

Anyone know how long it takes for cat hair to grow?

The Pho King

Christian has a new love in his life... Pho. For those of you who don't know, Pho is a Vietnamese noodle dish. Christian's new favorite thing is to create these noodle dishes and put his own spin on them. It's become a favorite of many of his friends and because he's gotten so good at making it they have consequently nick named him the Pho King. Pho is basically a thin rice noodle that is put into a broth with vegetables and meat. The trick is to make the broth really tasty and this is the part that Christian excels at. Our current favorite version has baby bok choy, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts, jalapenos, limes and chicken.

After a full day of climbing we all hang out and let Christian work his magic in the Kitchen.

Bret and I usually help with the chopping.

Delicious!

I Speak For The Trees

I feel like I've been in the land of a Dr. Seuss book for a week. Joshua Trees look like something out of a crazy mutated land of Truffula trees... minus the colored tufts of fur used for making whozits and whatzits of course. Regardless of the fanciful setting Joshua Tree was a beautiful place to visit. We had so much fun running around like Bar-ba-Loots in between J-Trees, Yuccas and cactus plants in the search of the perfect climb. The rock there is incredible! Its called monzogranite and its alot like Yosemite rock but its actually sticky. It seemed like once your shoes were on the wall they were not gonna come off. I was like Spiderman walking up buildings...

a dirty hippie Spiderman who smelled a little funny. but Spiderman none the less. Normally I pride myself on being the clean chic girl fashionably ready for a day of climbing at the crag but by the end of the trip I looked like a desert rat and I probably smelled like one too. The pictures from the trip took a steady decline in proportion to how fantabulously gross we looked. Hats can only hide so much my friends.

Here is an awesome boulder we found. I think it looks like the head of the villain from the Despicable Me movie.

Bar-ba-Loot Christian ready to start a climb

climbing...

During the climb we noticed a group of people below that kept waving at us and taking pictures. After we finished climbing this cute little couple in their late 60's hurried over to us with these huge smiles asking if that had really been us up on the cliff. They wanted to know all about how it worked and what the little gadget doodads hanging from my harness were. They were from Canada and had escaped to the US to avoid the crowds of the Olympics. They were very excited to inform me that they had video taped the whole thing so maybe someday I'll find this couples Canadian blog out there and be able to see Christian and I climbing in J-Tree. We meet the coolest people on our trips!

Bar-ba-Loot Julie...

Yay for hats!

The weather was really nice for most of the trip although a little cool in the mornings and evenings.

More pictures of climbing:

Here is my stud muffin right before he climbed Illusion Dweller.

Christian brought his new Camera and took some really amazing shots of the Joshua Tree Scenery. He is having way too much fun with his new Camera.

We had planned to stay till Tuesday but it turned out that a storm was brewing and it would have left us sitting in our tents and car for two days straight with no climbing. So we returned home a bit early and were able to have dinner with my Mom who was in town. She made the most delicious Fajitas and we had lots of fun spending time with family!

Various Climbing Adventures

This post is a bit late but here it is none the less. We've been doing a lot of travel in the past few weeks between work and responsibilities and such. Some of the climbing has been here in the Utah Valley and some down south when the weather gets cold and snowy. It's always a deilema for me because I love to snowboard and when it snows I'm torn between riding the slopes or heading to the sun warmed rock of St. George. Watching the Olympics has only made things worse by making me want to quit my job and learn to shred the half pipe. But thats not realistic nor am I even close to Olympic standards but also because it means i'd have to quit climbing altogether and I love climbing way too much for that. I also LOVE to cook and invent awesome creations in the kitchen. Sometimes I feel like there is just never enough time to learn how to make the perfect ginger lemon creme cookie (my current cooking obsession). There are just too many adventures in life to follow so I try to find a happy medium and that way I'm able to enjoy as much as possible. Life's pretty fun right now and ultimately I'm a super happy girl:)

Besides if I'm listening to the right song and the snow is just right, what might appear to the casual observer to be only a foot of air as I pop into a jump to me in my fantastical memory was really a 360 board grab over the heads of no less then three punk kids at the terrain park!

Here are several random shots of our various weekends...

Most people enjoyed the Superbowl not too long ago, and we did as well but probably not in the same way. We have a wall in Rock canyon called the Superbowl wall and both Christian and I have several projects that we're both psyched to work on. Christian has completed 3 awesome 12a's and I have finished my first 11b since my tumor baby. Many more projects seem to keep popping up in this area so we might climb here for awhile.

Christian at the beginning of his send fest...

Rejoycing when he finishes!

Me.

Sometimes I get frustrated and make grumplepottamus faces... Bret likes to encourage me with his favorite phrase "Julie you just got to suss it out!"

Then I climb better...

and make happy, yet slightly sinister faces:)

Now if you look really closely just past Bret's face you can see the face of Rock Canyon. This odd shape in the side of the mountain always catches our eye so we took a picture of Bret imitating it. Can you see it?

Bret and I leaving Rock Canyon

Random day of climbing the Great White Icicle in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's 6 pitches of awesome super stellar ice.

Here is our trip to St. George.

Contrary to popular belief making mean faces does in fact make you climb harder.

Bret.

Sometimes we get tired and need a break from climbing so we fly kites...

And shot some guns... we're in Utah it's part of the culture:)

And for evening entertainment Bret taught us how to make Sobe bombs! You drink a Sobe fruit drink and then fill the bottle with gasoline. You then light a fire and set the recapped Sobe bottle in the center of the fire. Stand back and enjoy the show! In both of these shots Bret is the one just to the left of the explosion. The rest of us all stood back much further.

This one is my favorite cause Bret is looking on with such excitement and awe.