"Spending Fast"

This week, Chad and I went on a "spending fast". We decided we want to go on a trip to Europe, so in order for that to happen, we need to start saving our pennies. We made a bet with each other that whoever spent money first would have to do whatever the other person wanted. We lasted the whole week without spending any money (besides a couple dollars for some necessities). On Friday, I caved and bought a komodo from Soel. To my defense, they were having a sale and I was able to get 20% off one item... I mean, how can you pass up a deal like that?! Chad was exstatic to hear that I made a purchase. Let's just say he couldn't have been more happy to win a bet ;)

Later that night, I was on Facebook and saw a post from Howies Pizza (they are opening in April in Orem) saying that the first 10 people to call get a free pizza. The post had been posted for an hour, so I figured it had already ended, but I decided to give it a shot. I quickly called and I was caller #10! So we celebrated the last day of our "spending fast" over free pizza :)

We ended the night by having a sleepover in our theater room. We moved a mattress from one of the guest bedrooms and piled on the blankets and pillows. And of course, you can't forget Bruno... :) Happy weekend!!

Temple Time

Today I am grateful for temples. Here is why...

• I am so grateful for the opportunity to escape from the world and go into a peaceful, beautiful, rejuvenating, nonjudgmental world. 
• I love how I simply forget about everything that's going on in life and just focus on how I can personally improve. (I even stopped worrying about Bruno and his poor foot… he had a little procedure done to remove an infected sliver in between his toes. He is stuck wearing the cone of shame).
• There is nothing better than being in the temple with Chad. My love grows everyday for that man. I absolutely love building our relationship, not only together, but with God. It's truly amazing. 

I wish I could say that we were better at going to the temple, but I can promise that we are working on it and it will only get better from here. 

Poor Bruno :(

2 Years Later...

Two years ago today was one of the best days of my life.... it was the day I committed to spend forever with my best friend, and it was the best decision I have ever made. It's crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun. I am so excited to spend many more years with this handsome fella. He brings so much joy and happiness into my life. 

Every year on March 22, we hike Battle Creek Falls to the place Chad proposed. It has been such a fun tradition!

Pictures from March 22, 2012...

St. Patrick's Day

We like to go all out at the DeVore home. So there wasn't even a question that St. Patricks Day was going to be eventful. To start the morning off, I whipped up some mint chocolate chip pancakes...They actually were pretty good, especially with homemade whipping cream! You can find the recipe here.

Since I was in a baking mood, I decided to take advantage of it (doesn't happen very often). I found an amazing Mint M&M Oreo Cookie recipe. It's definitely a keeper!! You can find it here.

Growing up, my mom always made St. Patricks Day so exciting. For every meal, she would dye it green. I absolutely loved it, so I decided to carry on the tradition.

{green omelet, grapes, broccoli, asparagus}

You can't have a holiday without the decorations. This is what you'd find throughout my house...

Happy St. Patricks Day! Hope your day was full of green!

St George Getaway

Chad and I needed some adventure, so we packed our bags and drove to St. George for the weekend. We arrived late Thursday night at our hotel. As we opened the trunk to get our suitcase, it wasn't there. We both stood there laughing at the empty trunk. "How could you forget your luggage?".. You might ask... We asked ourselves the same question many times... We were just so anxious to leave the house, we ran out the door with out suitcase sitting by the door.

I remembered that Kellie, my manager from work, was driving to Vegas on Friday. She was so sweet to pick up our suitcase and bring it to us :) In the meantime, we made a quick stop at a gas station to buy the necessities; toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. On Friday, we improvised and went to a makeup store at the outlets and I used some of the "testers" and a sample a perfume to keep me fresh.. It worked like a gem. 

We spent the day shopping at the outlets/mall and Main Street, grabbed some lunch at Camille's, got a tour of the tabernacle and Jacob Hamblins house, ate some burgers at Marvs (which were amazing) and met up with Kellie, to get our bag. We were seriously so lucky she was able to bring it, she was a life saver. We hiked in the Red Hills until the sun set. We ended the night by getting smoothies at the Orange Peel.

On Saturday, we got up early and hiked Snow Canyon. 70 degrees + amazing views... Doesn't get much better than that!

Later that afternoon, we headed to Las Vegas. Of course, we had to check out the outlets before heading to the Strip. Chad is a good man for putting up with my shopping addictions :) 

Sunday we headed to Zion National Park. We hiked 3 different trails, overall 5 miles. It was so much fun, and the best weather! It was such a great little getaway with my main squeeze :)