Cake?

Over the weekend, Austin and I were heading to our friends house (Jason & Suzanne) and I had brought some cookies with me. As we were waiting for them to let us in, I noticed that the cookie container and the way I wrapped them looked kind of like a cake. I mentioned this to Austin and he broke into this song...

"If I knew you were coming, I'd a baked a cake, baked a cake, baked a cake. Oh, if I knew you were coming, I'd a baked a cake..."

After I got over the initial shock of this random song & dance, I burst out laughing asking him what that was? He then looked at ME like I was crazy because I had never heard that song! I then had him sing the song for Jason and Suzanne who also had never heard that song!

A couple days later we asked a couple of Austin's siblings if they knew the song because I assumed it was a "family song" or something. They didn't know it either so then Austin thought he made it up! Haha! Well, I found the song so if you have heard of this song, I would love for you to tell me about it!

Click Here --> IfIKnewYouWereComing...

EH O CANADA GO

The Olympics are my FAVORITE! I love everything about them! I LOVE the different events. I LOVE all the festivities. I LOVE watching all the athletes compete. I LOVE how so many countries come together to participate. It's so amazing to see. I'm in such awe of those athletes that have worked so hard to be the best they can be in their sport and see the passion that they have. Everytime someone wins a gold medal I tear up because you can see the joy beaming off their faces!

I especially love the Winter Olympics because it feels so close to home and this year the Olympics are at home! I've never been to Vancouver but I am thrilled the Olympics are being hosted there. I'm so excited for everything to begin so I can cheer on my country that I am so proud to be from.

The opening ceremonies last night were amazing! I thought they did such a great job and this poem was my favorite part. Enjoy...

We Are More

by Shane Koyczan

Define Canada

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One

who inspired little number nines

and little number ninety-nines

but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines

off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

and some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you're welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change

with influences that range from a to zed

and yes we say zed instead of zee

we are the brightness of Chinatown and the laughter of Little Italy

we dream so big that there are those

who would call our ambition an industry

we are vineyards of good year after good year

we reforest what we clear

because we believe in generations beyond our own

knowing now that so many of us

have grown past what used to be

we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have

when they say things like "someday"

because we are more

than a laundry list of things to do and places to see

we are more than hills to ski

or countryside ponds to skate

we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait

we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes

a country that is all the ways you choose to live

a nation that can give you variety

because we are choices

we are millions upon millions of voices shouting

" keep exploring... we are more"

we are the surprise the world has in store for you

it's true

Canada is the "what" in "what's new?"

so don't let your luggage define your travels

each life unravels differently

and experiences are what make up

the colours of our tapestry

we are the true north

strong and free

and what's more

is that we didn't just say it

we made it be.

AbOuT TiMe!

My best friend Ashley Costley comes home tomorrow from her mission and I can't even tell you how EXCITED I am!!!!!!!!



I usually feel like time flies when my friends are on missions, but not this time! I had such a hard time with not being able to talk to Ashley on a regular basis and be able to hang out with her. She was one of the girls I met on my very first day at BYU Idaho and were friends for the years to follow. We first lived across the hall from each other and then later became roommates and now I honestly feel like she is part of my family. We have traveled to places like Nauvoo, Tennessee and had many road trips to Canada and Phoenix! We even joined French Choir one semester for extra credit! (So random!) She was there for me whenever I needed her and when I got called to be Relief Society President, you bet I put her as my first counselor and wouldn't have been been able to do my calling otherwise. She was living in Calgary with my family while she was doing her internship and unfortunately it was during a difficult time for my family. She was there when my dad passed away and I could not have survived without her there! I was so glad to have her and Remi there for my wedding and that we were both able to go to Remi's wedding a few months later. She has been gone for 18 LONG months and I am so proud of the work she accomplished on her mission. I was not the best writer, I think because I would get so frustrated having to explain everything in a letter. She has always been such an amazing example to me and she is the funniest, kindest, most amazing person I know! I'm so grateful to have her friendship in my life and again I am SOO excited for her to be home!

New Toy

I love my new camera. More blogging to come...

SYTYCD THOUGHTS

I have been a HUGE fan of So You Think You Can Dance since day 1. Fan might even be too soft of a word. Obsessed would probably be more accurate! Since I have been watching the show since Season 1, I feel my knowledge and terminology for the dance world has increased. I have even become obsessed with certain choreographers and have developed the talent to know who the choreographer is by just watching the dance routine. I watch the contestants beginning at their auditions and follow them through to the performance show at which point, I feel like I know them personally and get emotionally attached to my favorites. I love pointing them out in movies or television shows or even as back-up dancers during performances. (Janet Jackson's tribute to Michael at the VMA's AMAZING and filled with all my favorite choreographers!!) It has been exciting to watch the show get better and better and the talent get stronger and stronger but Season 2 will always be my favorite and Season 6, well, here are my frustrations with Season 6.

The first major change for Season 6 was that it was airing in the Fall instead of the usual Summer broadcast. I'm sure they make more money in the Fall but I think this change caused them to make too many alternatives. One was having three permanent judges. It was bad enough that in Season 3 Mary Murphy was a permanent judge but at least we still had different choreographers come on every week. It was a different perspective and some people I like more than others so it worked out. Now they have Adam Shankman, who I actually used to be a fan of but now it is so lame to watch the same judges every week and give the same comments. I don't like it. (My all time favorite judge to comment...Tyce Diorio)

Another change was how they introduced the Top 20. Before the competition began they had the Top 20 dancers come on and show their talent in their own genre. I actually thought this was an excellent idea because you were able to see the dancers strengths right off the bat. Then, the first two weeks they did the performance show as per usual except because of the MLB Playoffs, the judges had to cut two dancers on the same night as the performance show. This made me mad because it is supposed to be America's Favorite Dancer and the judges just got rid of four people who might not necessarily have been voted out. I guess they did what they could but I didn't like it. Oh and this year they had 3 tap dancers make the Top 20 and no offense to anyone that does tap, but it was kind of annoying to have them on. (Nigel is a tap dancer so he was ecstatic) If they did their solo the music had to change and microphones in the floor were turned on and they weren't very good at anything else. They were gone in the first couple weeks!

The performance studio has definitely been getting nicer as the seasons went on, but this year they added a backdrop screen that can show images or different scenes on it. Originally, I liked it because it looked nice but then I realized it distracted from the dancing way too much! I want to see good dancing and a good performance but it turned too much into...well I actually don't know what it turned into, I just didn't like it.

Mia Michaels, one of the best choreographers on the show (Wade Robson being the other) decided to leave the show at the beginning of Season 6. It is really too bad because her routines were always amazing and I loved when she was a guest judge because she actually knew what she was talking about. It really felt like there was something missing this season, and it was MIA.

Somewhat of a continuation of my previous point, the choreographers didn't seem to be producing that great of routines. Season 2 there were 3 or 4 routines that were nominated for an Emmy and routines that I still search for on YouTube because they were that amazing. (Ramalama-BangBang) This year no routines stuck out to me. My favorite routines have usually been the group routines at the beginning of the results show, and I honestly cannot think of one I remember. Having said that, there has been some really good routines from Travis Wall and Sonya Tayeh the past couple of seasons.

Another change was that this season, they had 6 people in the finale where its usually the Top 4. I really don't know why they had a Top 6, it seems like too many but again I think it is because Christmas is next week so they had to end the show this week. Dumb. Which leads me into my final point...

The last performance show for the finale was WEAK! First off, it was only an hour long and they did have every contestant dance with each other like usual but they did not have an all girls number like usual or an all boys number like usual and they cut out a very important part of the show...the rehearsal footage! This is where you see the choreographer working with the couple and see the falls and actually see the personalities of the contestants! They took this footage out of the Top 10 episode too which I was quite upset about. I was really looking forward to seeing the footage of the cute married couple from Provo during their rehearsals! How adorable is that to be competing on the show with your spouse??? I love it and apparently a little too much. And to make matters worse, the dancers didn't even get a SOLO!!!! Are you kidding me?? How are we supposed to vote (well, I actually can't vote here in Canada but I would if I could) on our favorite dancer if we don't get to see them showcase their individual talent. Oh I was mad! The finale is usually what I live for in the season and I was so disappointed in the performance show and even the results finale was lame too. They tried to fill it with performances of Leona Lewis (who just stood there...hello...its a dance show!) and Mary J Blige. Jennifer Lopez also performed, which I actually really liked BECAUSE, she used previous contestants as her back-up dancers! GREAT idea! Then because there were SIX people in the finale...it took forever to get to the winner, which I was REALLY happy about it! (CONGRATS Russell!) The weird part was though, that Russell injured himself early on in the show and so the remaining dances had to be old footage instead of live performances. The show must go on but kind of weird for a finale???

All things considered, I still love the show and I absolutely LOVE dancing. This just shows how passionate I am about it. Or does it show that I am out of my mind and have too much time on my hands at work?? (I can't believe how long this turned out to be...how embarrassing) Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed getting all of this off my chest as my dear husband is probably grateful that I didn't deliver this rant to him! Thanks for listening!

Great News...

...Austin is officially GRADUATED!!!

I am so happy for him and couldn't be more thrilled that we are both done with school! It took him a little longer then expected because my mom's condition for him to marry me was that I had to finish my schooling! So, after we got married he came down to Idaho for two semesters so I could graduate and this prolonged his timeline for school. I am so grateful that I was able to get my degree and that now he is graduating with his International Business degree. Congrats Austin...I love you and I am so proud of you!!

To the American People

Happy Halloween from President Obama and Sarah Palin...

A Day Well Spent

Austin and I have been feeling pretty stressed with work lately. We are trying to save up for a house by working at jobs that we really don't like or want to do long term. We have both been really busy and our schedules never seem to match up. If I have a morning off; he has to work. If I have to work late; he gets off early. Thanksgiving dinner was our first dinner together in a really long time.

A couple days ago I had a day off and Austin was able to take the day off too!! YEAH!!! We were able to spend the entire day together and it was so nice. We made some plans but didn't really get to them. We had a lot of running around to do to try and catch up with all the errands we had procrastinated and Austin ended up having to deal with some work stuff as well. Usually, I would have been really annoyed that the day didn't quite go according to planned, but I actually was ok with it. We were able to talk about so many things as we drove all over the city and it was just so nice to be with him for an entire day! Austin felt bad that he dragged me all over the place so he let me pick where to eat dinner! Oh how I love him!! I was very excited because I had been wanting to try this new Mexican place called, MuchoBurrito!! So GOOD!!!! I highly recommend it!

Anyway, I was extremely grateful to spend the day with Austin and we had so much fun! It really is too bad that the real world interrupts time spent with spouses or family. I really just need to win the lottery and buy a beautiful house and spend all day with my husband and family! Haha. Ok, maybe not everyday. I hope everyone in Canada had a happy Thanksgiving!!!

Oh Calgary...

It is the beginning of October.
I woke up this morning, and it was snowing.
Did we skip over Fall?
It's time to move south for the Winter.

Summer

This summer was a little different for me. I was working and I wasn't used to being restricted on vacation time which prevented me from going to SMITHFEST (I know, my own family reunion!) and a Gough family trip to San Diego! We still tried to make the best of our summer and started it off with the fabulous CaLgArY StAmPeDe!

It was so fun to dress up western!

The weather wasn't that great and it started pouring when we sat down for the Grandstand Show so we bought these awesome Canadian ponchos to keep us dry. Ironically, the rain stopped as soon as we bought them but at least we got a cute picture!!!

Our next stop was to Shuswap Lake with Jason, Suzanne and Brooklynn to stay at the Lee's cabin for a few days. The weather was AWESOME and it was so nice to lay out in the sun and do nothing.

This is Austin and me jumping off the cliffs which took quite a bit of convincing for me to jump. I've done it before but I always freak myself out!

Austin was into the water sports where I was fine with just hanging out! Thanks Jason & Suzanne for inviting us! We had a blast!!

Every year in Calgary, there is an event called Taste of Calgary where restaurants from all over the city set up booths to try their food. You buy tickets and you can get chinese, ukranian, italian, greek, and other kinds of food plus some tasty desserts! It was only my second year going but its so fun to try all the different types of food and see the different cultures in the city! I highly recommend it to anyone who is in town during the Taste of Calgary to check it out!

Max and Miley love hanging out by the window and checking out what's going on outside.

Miley has a ridiculous amount of hair and our dear friend Suzanne is kind enough, or should I say patient enough to cut her hair for us. Instead of getting hair all over our clothes, I had the idea to use the ponchos we bought to protect ourselves. (See...money well spent) Miley ended up tearing mine apart but it did the trick.

The final part to our summer is moving. We are departing the Hamlet Spot and moving in with my mom for a few months. I really, really, REALLY want a house so we thought this would be a good opportunity to save up some money and spend some quality time with my family. I'm sad to leave the Hamlet and all the friends we have there but we'll see how this goes. I'm grateful my mom is welcoming us in with open arms! Summer was pretty good even though we missed out on some things but we were able to spend a lot of time with each other which is what matters most!