freedom

Finals are over and we are FREE!

I spent my first day of freedom scrubbing our apartment down and throwing out everything from this past semester. It was so relaxing and I love having our apartment back to sparkling clean. Plus there is just something very cathartic about throwing out all your assignments and then scrubbing stuff. It definitely relieved all the tension from this past semester and finals.

winner, winner, chicken dinner

Last week I was procrastinating doing homework and I found a whole bunch of quizzes on a blog I follow, so I started doing them. They were all about fashion/beauty and I had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun to guess. A bunch of the quizzes also enter you into different contests, which I didn't care about, but I figured they would waste my time just as well as the others, so I did them too.

Then yesterday I got an email saying I had won... a designer dress from Saks worth $295!
Crazy huh?

Unfortunately the dress isn't quite modest enough, so I will either sell it or give it away.

Here is a picture - isn't it pretty?

equation

scooter + pouring rain + ride home from campus = 2 very wet people

thoughts

- physical therapists are a weird breed of people that enjoy torturing the innocent

- getting a second opinion on medical treatments may take more time, but it is worth it

- the saws they use to cut off casts CAN cut you, and can cut you deep enough to leave scars

- professors that over-simplify their lectures actually make it harder to understand the material

- eating a lot of chocolate doesn't make the pain in my arm go away nor does it reduce the amount of homework I have

- technology is great when it works, and is the spawn of the devil when it doesn't (my hard drive crashed so I get to try and recreate/find/live without everything that was on there)

- a mandatory lecture on Friday afternoon ruins an otherwise perfectly clear weekend

- the thought of summer and relaxing makes everything seem so much more bearable

one week

I am down to only one more week with my lovely blue friend, mr. cast (I broke my left arm a month ago, story to come when I can type with both hands).

Here are some...

things I will miss:
- not having to do dishes
- not having to clean
- tylenol induced sleep
- sleeping on the couch
- living in t-shirts and sweatshirts

things I look forward to:
- showering
- styling my hair
- not taking 10x as long to do a simple task
- wearing something other than t-shirts and sweatshirts
- yoga and working out

have you...

I was tagged by a friend and thought this would be fun, so here goes. You just copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done...

I got 39 out of 99.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain - does hiking count?
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning - thank you Nacho Mammas
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables - does trying to grow a watermelon in Las Vegas count?
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - in a hot tub, it hurt.
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - I know a few words in Finnish...
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing...done a rock climbing wall thing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - no, but I have had that happen to me
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - I got to ride in one when I was near an explosion of anthrax-like toxic materials (it was a mock disaster that Bountiful City put on to train their cops, medics, etc. and I got to play one of the injured people)
47. Had your portrait painted - thank you Lisa
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - we tried in Hawaii but we weren't very successful
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - I was in a movie we made for a class...
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching - I watched some whales at Sea World...
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter - thanks to Klinton
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone - does having an overgrown second ankle bone broken off during surgery count? Technically, it did get broken...
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - the scooter can speed...
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox - I only got a few pox on my back, but it was enough to keep me from getting it again, sweet huh?
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

8's

I got tagged, so here it is...

8 tv shows I love to watch:
1. The Office - Dwight is my hero!
2. Extreme Makeover Home Edition - it gets cheesy sometimes, but I love hearing about families that are really working hard to change their communities (plus the houses are always gorgeous)
3. Scrubs - I think I'm most like Elliot, but I wish I was like Jordan...
4. What Not to Wear - Stacy and Clinton are brutal, but they have some really good advice
5. Mythbusters - let's face it, that is the coolest job ever
6. Law & Order - the old ones on TNT, not the newer ones
7. Home Improvement - reruns are on TBS every weekday morning from 10-12... i love it!
8. The Apprentice - what could be better than watching business people battle it out for a job with Donald Trump?

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. I had a 4 hour group meeting - lucky me
2. Mike's ultimate frisbee team won their game
3. Made scotch-a-roos for the first time in months, so good
4. Put out our Halloween decoration (yes, that is singular)
5. Killed a huge spider
6. Got the official offer package from KPMG - I'm not excited about reading through it all
7. Became even more frustrated with certain group members that don't ever follow through on things
8. Watched A Painted Veil while working on my presentation for Monday

8 favorite places to eat:
1. Buca di Beppo - love the family style italian food
2. Tucanos/Rodizio Grill - all you can eat meat is a wonderful thing
3. Ottavio's - love the accordion player and their chocolate canollis
4. Goodwood - some good greasy southern food
5. Cheesecake Factory - who wouldn't love a place with a book for a menu?
6. Texas Roadhouse - steak is always good
7. Cafe Rio - pretty much everything there is good, you can't go wrong
8. Pace's Dairy Ann - you can't beat their country-boys (hamburgers, not workers) and the rainbows are pretty amazing

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Graduation
2. Passing the CPA exam
3. Owning a house
4. Having a couple of puppies
5. Having children (these aren't in order... )
6. Being done with the MBA core
7. Interning with KPMG
8. Having all of the family together next summer at Bear Lake

8 things on my wish list:
1. Touring Europe with Mike
2. Scientific discoveries that allow men to have children - it could happen, right?
3. A professional cook to provide Mike and I with healthy and delicious meals every night
4. Having family back in Provo (come on Lisa, you know you want to get a PhD...)
5. I agree with Lisa, 3 month pregnancies (that is, if #2 doesn't come true)
6. A shopping spree to Banana Republic
7. Wymount deciding to let its tenants have puppies
8. Never having to shave again

8 people that I tag: Darylynn, April, Rachel, Alissa, Jessica, Bethany, Katie, Melissa, and anyone else who wants to.

update

I got an offer from KPMG in Salt Lake for a summer internship!

Although this is great news, I am a little disappointed that the recruiting will be over now. Oh how I love the free food, massages, random promotional products, gift cards, etc. - but like all good things the recruiting must eventually come to an end. So sad.

happy birthday mike!

Mikes turned the big 2-5 this past Tuesday - here are some of the things we did that day to celebrate:

- we went to class

- we worked

- we treated ourselves to a quick hamburger
since we had mounds of homework

- we stayed up until 2 a.m. working on a
horrendous "trueblood" case

Unfortunately, I don't think it was the best birthday for Mike, but we have tried to make up for it by getting some celebration in this weekend. Mike had an intramural ultimate frisbee game Friday night, so I bundled up and braved the cold to watch him play. His team finally got all the kinks worked out and beat the other team - hooray! Satruday we had fun watching the BYU football game together and eating amazing Brick Oven pizza, and then Mike spent the rest of the night doing his favorite thing - organizing! He made it so that we can fit almost twice as much stuff in our dressers than we could before, isn't he amazing (and a little odd)?

frank. school. tour. interviews.

So it has been a very long time since I last posted and tons has happened since then...

First off, I got a new bike! We found a Felt F90 from 2006 on sale at Canyon Bicycles in Draper (we highly recommend going there - they have over 2,000 bikes on hand) and it was exactly what I wanted - the right components and more importantly the right color - so we picked it up. This picture was taken after my first official ride on Frank (Frank the Felt).


Secondly, school started! Mike and I are in the MBA core this year, so we get to take classes like finance and organizational behavior. So far our classes have been pretty good, but it definitely sucks not having any "real" classes (a.k.a. accounting classes).

Thirdly, last week Mike did a century tour (100 mile bike ride) in Moab! Mike and his friend from the ward, Steven, have been training for the past couple of months for the tour, and after about 6 hours and 45 minutes on the bike, they finished.

The boys before they started...


After "The Big Nasty" - a 3,000 ft. climb in 7 miles...

Pretty Moab scenery...



Recovering...

The last major thing that has happened in the past month is that we have interviewed for internships. Mike and I "fake" interviewed with Ernst & Young - we didn't really apply for an internship we just wanted the experience of interviewing and they were willing to let us interview, so we did. I also interviewed with KPMG for an internship in Salt Lake. We are still thinking that Denver is where we will end up, but I wanted to make sure that I really didn't want to be in Salt Lake, and it worked out better for us because then we could stay here this summer instead of trying to go to Denver for the summer. I should find out in a couple of weeks whether I got the internship - let's hope they liked me!

happy anniversary!

Yesterday was our 2nd wedding anniversary! Since we already celebrated with a romantic night out in Las Vegas, we didn't do a lot on our actual anniversary, but we did enjoy spending some extra time together last weekend.

Random wedding fact: We never cut or ate our wedding cake. We took pictures before the reception pretending to cut the cake, but we never cut it because we ran out of time. We didn't even get to eat the top of our cake for our 1st anniversary because the cake was in our freezer during the byu-maintenance-unplugged-the-fridge-while-we-were-out-of-town disaster. So in the end we paid a bunch for an amazing chocolate raspberry, key lime, and white chocolate strawberry cake (each tier was a different flavor) that was never actually eaten by anyone. Oh well, it looked pretty and that is all that matters, right?

viva las vegas!

Mike and I had a fun-filled weekend in Las Vegas... here are the highlights:

*Dinner at Brio (an amazing Italian restaurant with the best bruschetta I have ever had) with Bryan, Katya, and Kaio, followed by a trip to the strip to see the Bellagio fountains - such a fun night!

*Lunch at In-N-Out done "animal" style, of course. It was Mike's first time and he definitely is a fan now.

*Dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe with Bryan and crew followed by a romantic walk around the Venetian and the biggest highlight of the trip... The Blue Man Group! We had so much fun at their show - if you are going to see in show in Vegas, they are a must see. They are hilarious, amazing musicians, and incredibly original. We splurged and got 2nd row almost center seats, which put us in the "poncho" zone, aka. the you might get wet zone. It was so cool to be close enough to see their facial expressions and all the little details - like the Cap'n Crunch stuck to their faces. We waited outside after the show and got to meet a Blue Man (I was super excited because he was my favorite Blue Man - the one that seemed to get picked on the most and also the best dancer...

The kiss mark left by the Blue Man...

*Listened to a flute/guitar/accordian trio in the courtyard of the Venetian. They played great classics like "Fly Me to the Moon" and "Starlight" as well as some very impressive jazz flute pieces. They were so fun to watch, and made me think that maybe someday I will do something like that.


*Penn & Teller show at The Rio. They are really entertaining and just when you think their trick is over and wasn't all that amazing, they throw something in that blows your mind. We saw Penn and Teller after the show, which was cool. I never realized that Penn is like 6'7" tall - yikes.

*Dinner at the Top of the World restaurant at the Stratosphere (or space needle, as Mike calls it). This was my second favorite thing of trip. The restaurant is located on the 106th floor and it rotates (very slowly) so that you can see all of Las Vegas while you eat - so cool. The dinner was amazing - we had fillet minion that could be cut with a fork because it was so tender, purple potatoes from Peru that were delicious, balsamic vinegar soaked and grilled baby onions, roasted tomatoes, steamed asparagus, and lobster (I don't know if the lobster was good, I didn't eat it - but Mike loved it). All of that was followed by the most amazing, beautiful, and delicious dessert I have ever had. The dessert was in the shape of the Stratosphere (in the picture it is dismantled because our waiter cut it up before we could take a picture) and it was a Belgian chocolate base, white chocolate stem, dark chocolate and raspberry moose in a Belgian chocolate shell for the top, all topped with a vanilla cream and fudge, caramel, raspberry sauce. So good...


We had so much fun in Las Vegas, but we are both extremely excited to get back to normal life and back into school in a few weeks. I know, we are odd, but we love school. Good thing we have two more years!

happy birthday!

My birthday was last Monday, and we have just barely finished all of our celebrations! The festivities included:

A party with friends including yummy artichoke dip, red velvet cake, and a HD movie projected on our living room wall.

A romantic dinner with Mike at Ottavio's that included sparkling cider, pesto gnocchi, and a delicious chocolate cannoli. We haven't found anything at Ottavio's that we don't love and the atmosphere can't be beat - if you haven't been you are definitely missing out. We followed dinner with the movie 21 - which seemed appropriate since it was my 21st birthday. If only I knew how to count cards...


A delicious dinner with my parents at Z'tejas that included chips with salsa and queso, and an amazing steak burrito.

A birthday lunch at work that ended with a wonderful and very rich chocolate cake from Costco.

And finally, a shopping spree in the Nordstrom's shoe department that yielded a great pair of brown slingbacks and a pair of classic black pumps.

All-in-all it was an amazing birthday and I am so grateful to everyone who sent cards/emails wishing me a happy birthday.

swim. bike. run.

Yesterday Mike participated in the long-awaited and much anticipated Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho. We headed up to Idaho Friday afternoon and spent the night setting up Mike's transitions, eating the customary "carb dinner", and enjoying the cool night on the river front. We had fun camping on the golf course (where the triathlon was being held) Friday night along lots of other triathlon participants.

Mike's heat started at 7:20 so we got up early and had a small breakfast together before he suited up and waited his turn to take a swim in the nice cold Snake River. Kristi watched him take off and then walked down to see his swim to bike transition. After that she went to see his bike to run transition, and then a short while later the crowning moment, the crossing of the finish line! Mike finished in about 20 minutes less than he had been expecting, with a final time of 2 hours 40 minutes, so it was a big success for him. In total Mike traveled 31 miles: he swam 1 mile, biked 24 miles, and ran 6 miles. I (Kristi) am so proud of Mike for achieving his goal of doing a triathlon - he is amazing!

Here are some of the highlights from the event...

before the swim...

during the swim...
(I don't know which one is Mike - they all had the same caps)


crossing the finish line...
(despite much yelling at the guy in the orange he wouldn't move, so you can't see Mike very well, but he is the guy with white shoes crossing the finish line...)


Mike, Canny (the bike), and his Spudman Medal...


the happy couple...

Wait, Wait...

There is a great radio program on NPR called Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. It is on every Saturday at 11 a.m. on KUER 90.1 (in Utah), or you can do it the easy way and subscribe to their podcast on iTunes. Anyway, we love this show because it makes fun of all politicians and world figures, has hilarious unheard news stories, and is always very educational and funny. So if you get a chance, listen to a show!

A day in Park City and Gotham City...

Last Saturday we did our annual Park City trip with Bob and Cassandra, and it was perfect! Mike and Bob mountain biked at Deer Valley while the girls hit the outlets, lunched, and strolled the amazing bookstores and shops on Main Street. After the mountain biking and shopping we did an early dinner at Cafe Sabor in Park City . It was delicious, despite the fact that we were asked to sit on the patio (in 90 degree weather) because the boys were covered in dirt. After dinner we got cleaned up and took Maggie and Sammi, Bob and Cassandra's dogs, to the dog park, which was way fun, and made us want a dog even more.

After the dog park Mike and I went to see The Dark Night at Jordan Commons (we love Jordon Commons because you can reserve your seats, so we showed up 10 min. early and still had great seats!). Seeing The Dark Night was definitely the highlight of the day - it is the best Batman movie by far! Christian Bale is phenomenal (even better than in Batman Begins), and Heath Ledger just blows you away as the Joker. I don't think there was anything that Mike and I didn't like. If you haven't seen it, it is a must see.

Mikes

I know this is a day late, but I didn't get the chance to blog yesterday, so it will have to do.

Happy Father's Day!

I thought I would take this opportunity to share my appreciation for the two most important Mikes in my life. Mike Spuhler, my amazing Dad, and Mike Perley, my amazing husband.

I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful Dad. He has taught me so much and has given me a great example to model my life after. I have always wanted to marry someone just like my dad, and I am so grateful that I was able to.

I also feel incredibly grateful to be married to Mike. He is my best friend, my study buddy, my motivator, my favorite entertainment, but most importantly he is my eternal companion. I look forward to becoming a parent with Mike, and I know he will be an excellent Dad.

I love you Mikes!

Our new pet?

This morning as we left our apartment to go to church we found a quite unusual situation on the landing outside our apartment. A hurt, little pigeon (we suspect it hit a window) was perched on the railing, looking sad and downtrodden. Not wanting to be late for church (and Kristi being scared of the little thing...) Mike tried to scare it away, but it was too hurt to really fly, so it just scurried away. We were so surprised to come home from church and find it perched back up on our railing. This time as we passed it and made noise it didn't even move - apparently we no longer frighten it.

Anyway, since we both really want a pet, maybe little Abe (Kristi named it) can be a temporary pet - even if he is frightening and carrying tons of diseases.

Our big debut...

Ok, so last year we were involved in the taping of a Wifeswap episode that our mcom professor was doing (yes, a BYU professor did Wifeswap), and now the episode is making its tv debut. Anyway, it isn't for sure that we will make it on the show, but it should be pretty good entertainment even without us. The episode is on TONIGHT at 8/7 c. on ABC, so check it out!

P Squared

The pictures above are of Mike and Bob posing in their matching Prodigy Promos shirts. Ever since Mike started working with Prodigy over a year ago, he has taken to only wearing his Prodigy shirts so that on any given day he is a walking advertisement for them. Now that Mike is all Prodigy, he has started giving the shirts out to his friends and "prodigizing" them, as I like to call it, hence the pictures. Oh, and they are making funny faces because Mike put his arm around Bob's waist, like he would with me, instead of the more manly around-the-shoulder side hug.