V-DAY ... THE 2ND TIME AROUND

I promised.

I delivered.

Valentines Day redone.

I also promised to keep it PG.

I will deliver on that promise too.

WARNING: It's a long one.

DINNER AT ELEMENTS
We usually stick to the mom and pop kinda places, but this was a special day so we hit up one of the fanciest restaurants Logan has to offer. Elements is right up there with Hamilton's (not a fan). Notice how I dressed up for the occasion. Most girls would put on their "little black dress", heels and glitz themselves up with a diamond or 8. Not me. Nosiree. That's not how I roll. I did however wear one of my nicest beanies to cover my hair that hadn't been washed in a day...or two. Clayton deserves better he really does. But I'm pretty sure it had been a day or too since he washed his hair too. Ok enough of my personal hygiene and fashion...let's get back to the Elements experience. We requested a seat next to the fireplace. Done. Unbeknowst to us it also came with a spectacular view of the pawn shop across the street. Lovely. Service was slow which caused us to conversate instead of scarf down our food. Happily Clayton came prepared with his best conversation. On the way to Elements I (naturally) was doing all the talking. I asked why he was being so quiet and he said that it was because he was saving all the good conversations for the restaurant. Food was good. Quantity and price of food not so good. We started with a fillet mignon quesadilla. Probably the best thing we ate all night. It was amazing. I had Salmon and garlic mashed potatoes. When the waitress brought out my Salmon I was confused about why my potatoes weren't on the plate as well. That was when I lifted my Salmon and noticed that the spoonful of potatoes was residing under the Salmon. Very convenient way to conserve plate space Elements. It's not like I had 75% of my average size plate that didn't have food on it. Not big into plate presentation I guess. Clayton had the small ribs which tasted like a beef stew I made a few months ago (yes you read that correctly I. made. food.). Which should be a compliment to the chef because my beef stew was awesome. Don't get me wrong Elements was good, but I thought the price was a little high for the amount of food we got. But then we are big eaters.

BANFF FILM FESTIVAL

After dinner we headed up to USU to check out the Banff Film Festival. Loved watching all the different adventures that we will now be adding to our bucket list. For example, there was one video where about 5 or 6 people were parachuting off of a mountain with skis on their feet. Every once in a while their skis would hit the snow on the mountain and they would ski and then pop back up in the air again. I think this is called speed flying or something and I totally want to do it. There was another film called "Project Megawosh" (click on link to watch) where a German guy set out to perfect the worlds tallest water slide. Hilarious. Not sure if it is fake or not, but is hilarious nonetheless. I guess the night before they showed a guy who road his tandem bike from Alaska to Argentina...or something. Some day the McMurmen (us) are going to do that on our tandem bike.

My beanie, our unwashed hair and our Subaru were the only things that helped us fit in with the crowd watching the films. Other than that we stuck out like a sore thumb. For example, I had recently shaved my armpits and legs, we weren't wearing socks with our chacos, we had recently showered and put on deodorant, we comb our hair, we weren't talking about going green and how great Al Gore is, we didn't reek of herbs and um...pot, and our Subaru didn't have a "Obama/Biden 2008" sticker on it (I detest bumper stickers). We were pretty tired by the end. It isn't everyday that we stay up until 10pm. Sad.

PARFAIT IN BED

Saturday morning Clayton veered from our usual "smoothie-in-bed" and made me a parfait in bed. This is not a picture of the one he made me. Mine was much bigger and better. Best part was that he even did the dishes when we were done. I'm lucky I tell ya, LUCKY!

PEDICURES
Note: Clayton went along because I wanted him too, not because he is a girly man. He is rough and tough and likes to get dirty. However, he also knows that (as my bro-in-law, Nate often says) "A happy wife is a happy life." Clayton is a good sport.

For Christmas Clayton brought me a gift certificate for a pedicure from my favorite work bff Brenda. This was my 2nd pedicure ever. My feet/toes are really torn up from running. Lots of nastiness down there. Nothing Brenda couldn't work her magic on though. I loved her little shop too. The music and lighting were so relaxing. Notice how I am "fake" sleeping in the picture below. Brenda is laughing because she knows I am fake sleeping. I loved every second of it and it was worth every penny.

FAVORITE PEDICURE MOMENTS AND CONVERSATIONS

1. Clayton and Brenda holding me down so she could paint my toenails. Ok it wasn't that bad. But, I'm not a girly-girl. I don't paint my nails. If fact I don't know if they have ever been painted. But it wasn't as bad as I thought.

2. Brenda telling me that I need more protein over and over again. Love ya Muchacha! Thanks for looking out for me.

3. Learning that when you rub different parts of the feet it can "clean out" your insides. Clayton found this to be true.

4. B trying to convince me that NASCAR is cool. still doubtful. very doubtful. But...pick the race and I will give it a shot.

5. Realizing that dogs are in love with my husband. Sometimes I get jealous.

6. Did I mention the foot massage, foot soak, and foot scrub! Thanks Brenda! I owe you a box of cereal:)

VALENTINES DAY the movie
Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
With so many big names in the movie I wasn't expecting much. Boy did this movie deliver. Now if you have seen this movie and are thinking to yourself, "Heidi you have horrific taste in movies" remember that I like, no LOVE movies that are cheesy and full of love. It's just my thing. Oh yeah and even Clayton really liked it. There are very few movies that I can watch more than once. I think this will be one. In fact, I think that I will make it a tradition to watch it every Valentines Day. I think Ashton Kutcher has taken over as my favorite chick-flick guy. He has a way with these romantic comedies. Sorry Mathew McConaughey. One of my favorite lines from the movie is where Ashton is asking George Lopez how come he has such a great marriage and George answers and says something along the lines of "because I married my best friend." As cheesy and corny as that is I TOTALLY AGREE. I am so glad that I was able to marry my best friend.

FROGURT

You probably get tired of my raving about Yogurtland. Sorry but it is just so awesome. Saldy, Utah lacks Yogurtland, but a Yogurtland wannabe has made its way to the state. Frogurt is that wannabe. Their frozen yogurt flavors aren't up to par with Yogurtland, but it will do for now.

Prior to last weekend there were only 2 Frogurts in the state and both were almost 1.5 hours away. However now they have a 3rd location...the ghetto of OGDEN. Saweet. We made the drive down on Saturday and it was glorious. Not all their self serve yogurt machines were open yet so they didn't have a ton of flavors to choose from but there was enough there for me to eat too much and make myself sick! Since Ogden is so much closer than SLC I'm sure we will be making the trek a lot. On a totally unrelated note...look at the size of my nose in the self-portrait picture of Clayton and I. Holy crap it's HUGE.

That's the PG version of our Romantic VD weekend. Ok so I left out most of the romantic stuff. It was a great weekend. KUDOS to all of you who read this extremely long post of all my ramblings.

LOVE DAY...OR NOT

I have been asked several times what we did to celebrate Valentines Day (aka the day of LOVE where you show affection and express your love to your significant other). Hmmm... Do people really think before they ask that question? In my opinion it's like asking someone what they did on their wedding night. I don't want to know your dirty acts of love. Tiger Woods might but I don't (couldn't help myself). So with that being said and knowing that I try to keep this blog somewhat of a PG rating here we go...


"Hey Heidi, what did you and Clayton do to celebrate Valentines Day?"
Ummm...NOTHING.


It's true. we were a very unromantic couple on Valentines Day. Oh wait, I take that back Clayton did make me HEART-shaped biscuits Friday night, right before we immersed ourselves in numerous episodes of "Modern Family." And I did make us breakfast in bed (smoothies) on Saturday morning, but lets be honest smoothies in bed is a regular event on Saturday mornings.


This isn't to say we didn't have a great weekend, cuz we did. It was a fabulous weekend. One to blog about in fact. But not romantic.


One of the highlights that I actually got pictures of was X-country skiing. I have only been once and this was Clayton's first time putting the sticks on his feet. After the last weekends snowshoeing adventure we decided that Green Canyon is definitely a skiers canyon. So that is where we headed. Thankfully I dressed a little better this time so there was no need to bury my clothes.

Racing downhill...a very slight downhill

Totally fake I tell you. He likes to pose like that.
Have any of you ever put your camera on timer, ski around a fence to the picture taking spot and try to look normal all in 10 seconds? Not to easy. Yes we need a remote. this took several times.

Finally...

OTHER NON-ACTS OF LOVE INCLUDED (but are not limited too)

- getting 4 pairs of Burton snowboarding socks for 60% off at Al's. Score!

- getting my hair done and having more red lowlights put in. I guess since they were red it could be considered Valentines Day festivity

- delicious dinner and company with the Hylton's

- shake at Charlies!!!!!

- falling asleep in Sacrament meeting and having my name said over the pulpit which caused everyone to look and laugh at me. That was awesome.

- keeping warm with my blanket in our igloo of a church house. Blankets in church are not just for babies anymore. Bring on the Cheerios.

- Peanut butter cupcakes. Still need some perfecting.

- Olympic's opening ceremony to which Clayton kept commenting "This is so boring." Crazy Canuks.

- Sunday dinner at the 'rents with more heart shaped biscuits and ICE CREAM (not together). Thanks mom for finally coming through with the ice cream last week.

- samples at Macey's (the food store not the department store)

- Delicious Valentine treats from family and friends who used their culinary skills to celebrate the holiday.

- Interrupting Brandon and Chelsey's romantic birthday/valentine dinner at our house. Sorry again about that guys and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Chelsey.

- Waking up at 4am on Saturday morning and not being able to fall back asleep. I resorted to the next best option...the movie "Wimbledon". high quality flick I tell ya. not really.

So as you can see our weekend lacked ROMANCE. We have decided to have a Valentines DO OVER. It will take place this weekend. Don't worry I will spare you the details...

SNOWSHOEING UP GREEN CANYON

Once upon a time in a cold, snowy land there lived a happily married couple. This couple loved to be outdoors...in the summer. In the winter...not so much. However one Saturday they put on their "big kid pants" and braved the wintry great outdoors.

The destination: Green Canyon.
The activity: Snowshoeing.

Things started off pretty well for the couple. Green Canyon is a single track, packed trail used mostly by cross-country skiers. The couple veered off of the trail into the trees in hope to see a mountain lion (ok not really). Shortly after they started they came to cave where bears were hibernating (ok not really. But FYI I have decided that in my next life I want to be a bear so I can sleep through the winter. How awesome would that be!?!). Back to the cave...the man was brave and scouted out the cave. No bears. Just the remains of a campfire. Sad.
Things continued to go pretty good until the woman's clothes decided that they did not want to stay on her body. Oh and she was getting hot. Tired of pulling her pants up and not wanting to carry the extra layers, or just leave them somewhere to get lost or stolen the man came up with a splendid idea. "Let's bury them!" he said. "Brilliant" said the woman. And so it was. The clothes were buried.

Now you might be wondering to yourself at this point in this very entertaining story...how would they mark where the clothes were buried? With a stick? The woods are full of sticks. This is true, my friend. What to mark the burial with did in fact pose a problem to the couple...until the man came to a solution. "We will mark the burial site with a small snowman".

After all was well for the woman in the clothing department, the couple continued their search for wildlife. (FYI the best thing about snowshoeing NO SNAKES). They spotted numerous dog tracks and possibly some deer tracks, but that was it. Bored with the lack of wildlife they couple decided that jumping off things into the snow was a much better option.

After countless jumps the woman realize that she was getting rather cold and wet. Guess that is what happens when you bury your water proof pants. The couple decided to bring their activity to an end and they started their journey back. Somewhere along the way the woman realized that her cellphone was also buried with the pants. Uh-oh. Woops.

Lucky for her all was safe and dry. They made it home happy, a little cold and safe. An thus ends the story. It was a good day.

RANDOM TIDBIT totally un relating to the story above. So today I had a 10 minute conversation with a guy to used the phrase "my buddy or my buddies" at least 63 times. Do the math. That is about 6.3 "my buddy/my buddies" every minute. Wow. That is more than some vampire loving-mall shopping-short skirt wearing teenage girls use the word "like".

SISTER

An unexpected delivery came Wednesday

All the note said was

"Love ya"

no signature

nothin'

I knew it wasn't from Clayton.

He always says, "I love you."

not

"love ya"

I knew pretty much right away who they were from

Dear Sister,

Love ya too. You knew that I had a bad day and you knew how to make me feel better.

From day 1 you have been one of my best friends. Everyone knows it isn't cool to let your little sister hang out with you and your friends, but for some reason you still invited me to have sleepovers in the tent with your friends. Planning our next toilet papering victims. Telling me on my first day of kindergarten that if the boys are mean to me that you will tell the teacher. Getting up early in the morning to practice the BYU fight song (rise and shout, baby). Figuring out who my crush was on the ski lift and keeping it a secret. Going skiing with me on my birthday. Rotating the baby doll dress each Sunday. Telling me countless times "you are not fat". BYU basketball camp. BYU football camp. Hours upon endless hours on the treadmills talking. Playing the piano and singing together (not quite sure you liked this activity, but you did it anyway). Cleaning dorms up at USU. Consoling me when I didn't make the basketball team...twice. Proof reading many of my papers. Always being willing to help me register even though I was a big girl. Remember when I was going through a particularly bad time and you gave me a picture and wrote a letter on the back? I do. Countless invites to SV basketball games (again lil' sis hanging out with friends shouldn't be cool). USU softball intramural champs. Young Women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Sharing clothes (ok probably not always the best of memories;). Flowers on many birthdays. Poking my boobs with your pencil in our Athletic Injuries class at USU to see if they existed (btw they don't). Helping me with boy problems. Laughing with me about the idiot boys I dated. Realizing before I did how I felt about Clayton. Helping me shop for a wedding dress. Helping me get "on the ball" to plan our wedding (i've always been kinda a procrastinator). Always taking time to talk to me on the phone even though you have your own family to care for. The list could go on and on and on and on...

I sure do love you. I know I don't show it or tell you it enough. I doubt I would be where I am today with out the loving support of a great sister. You always made time for me. You always took the time to listen to me and my ramblings. I truly believe that God knew that I would need a sister like you. But, he didn't just give me a sister...he gave me a best friend.

Love ya,

Heidi

ps you still owe me my nut clusters;)

BIRTHDAY AND OTHER STUFF

In January I had a birthday.
It was a good week.

Since I turned 29 I will list 18 things that made my birthday great! (I know 18 & 29 have no correlation whatsoever)

1. Back rubs and/or foot rubs everyday for a week. saweet.

2. Since my family decided that Heidi's bday=vacation ('rents in Bahamas, Rachel 'n Nate in Greece) Clayton decided to take me on a vacation too...to LAKE POWELL! ok so Anniversary Inn not the real place. Just as nice and thoughful though.
3. Hai Rod from Clayton. I have been coveting this for months. Thanks Clayton and Nana for searching hai (hahah...ok that was a lame play on words) and lo.

4. Also a new black beanie from Clayton. My collection is getting Guinness Book worthy.
5. Flowers and gift cards from the Boss. Only reason I still work at ICON.
6. My favorite sweet treat from my good gal-pal Brenda.

7. Calls and texts from lots of friends and family members.
8. Cold Stone Baby!
9. Indian Oven with they Hyltons
10. Ummm...NOT WORKING!
11. Ummm...Clayton not working.
12. Spending time with Clayton and doing whatever the crap we wanted to.
13. Making my favorite enchilada's with pepper jack cheese.
14. Watching Chick-Flicks...not just that but Chick Flick of my choosing.
15. Birthday dinner with mi familia...once they decided to grace us with their presence post vacation. Birthday dinner was a combined thing for both Clayton's and Tydon's birthdays as well.

16. one loud and annoying, but oddly beautiful round of "Happy Birthday" sung by the fam. The Andrew version of "Happy Birthday" is quite an experience.

17. Clayton peeling me an orange and cutting up fruit for me on my bday. This is special because he hates...HATES to peel oranges.

18. Many hugs and kisses and "I love you's"

A big thank you to everyone ... especially Clayton for making turing 29 a little easier.

LAST WEEKEND we ...

...went swimming and hot tubbing. Yes parents we were the perv's with the camera in the pool. Innocent I promise. FYI swimming laps is hard. I can swim, but I'm not a strong lap swimmer, but i'm trying to become one. Wish me luck and an extra lung.
We also saw this movie

perdictable and cheesy.

Two things I love about Chick Flicks.

Loved it!

HOW LATE IS TOO LATE?

January 23, 2010

The day the Christmas Tree came down.

We cried.

January 30, 2010

The day we dressed up as ninja's and dropped the tree off in some not-so-random person's yard.

We laughed.

FOOD DEAL-O's

INDIAN OVEN

Everyone of our friends have raved about this place. Salt Lake Magazine says this about it, "The menu is a list of the Indian dishes we’ve all become accustomed to; the surprise comes in the attention-grabbing taste of the tikkas, biryanis and kormas. Their vividness makes you realize that a lot of Indian food you’ve eaten seems like an echo of flavor: this is the real thing."

Ummm...Yep.

We made the 2 mile drive a few weeks ago and met Mike and Jess for the lunch buffet. For $6.99 can't go wrong.

Food = awesome (I didn't even come out smelling like curry)

Service = great

Atmosphere = not to shabby

Seriously if you live in or near Logan and haven't been here...you must. We also hear that the Tandori (sp?) Oven is something to rave about as well. Knowing that it is in a gas station makes me wonder, but then I recall that in Hawaii all the best musabi's (in our opinion) are made in the 7-11.

Mike and the very cute Jess

Thanks for taking us!

Where are we going next?

SMOKIN' BLUES BBQ

Do any of you remember Kate's Kitchen (RIP)? Since the KK owner up and moved to Vegas a new and much needed restaurant has taken over the building and the servers don't wear all sorts of annoying hats. Logan was in need off a non-chain-restaurant BBQ place.

The food? good...really, really good. However, it was not as good as Pat's BBQ in SLC, but nothing beats Pat's.

The price? Not to sure on. Here's why. They had a special for a sample platter (BBQ chicken, Ribs, Pulled Pork, & Brisket) for $17.99. For that price we thought we would get a lot of food. Nada on the "A LOT" part. It was enough for one person, not two. Okay maybe two girls, not one guy and one girl who eats like a guy. So I'm thinking because it was a special and a sample platter that was the reason it was expensive. I didn't really look at the rest of the menu or the prices because as soon as I saw what was on the sample platter I knew it was the winner. So we need to go back and check out the other entrees. Oh yeah and the corn bread they give you before your meal comes out...to-die-for! Dare I say that it is better (waaaay better) than the corn rolls from Maddox. Oh and all the different BBQ sauces...see pic below. Nuf said.

The Atmoshere? Really cool. If your meal time isn't between 4-5pm like ours and all the other old people who frequent the Sizzler at that time then go around 7 pm when the band is playing. Sadly 7pm is like a midnight snack for us. They also have this wall (see pic below) where you can write whatever you want. It wasn't eat off the floor clean, but it was definitely impress your date clean.

The Service? Also excellent. Clayton thought our waitress was overly ambitious, but I liked the attention. By attention I mean asking how our meal was and keeping our glasses full constantly, not sitting down with us to chat about our day.

So Clayton thinks we should start a food blog of all the places we eat.
I think he might be on to something.
We do like to try new places.
What do you think?
Yay or Nay?