My 25 Things....

Well, I sat down to write a post about our awesome Las Vegas weekend vacation, but I realized that I don't have my camera and it would be nothing without pictures! So, since I have been "tagged" by Fallon to share 25 things about me, I'll do that instead and Vegas will just have to wait...

1. I love to read, but sometimes I'm slightly embarrassed of the things I like to read. Like currently, I'm reading all of the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" books by Sophie Kinsella. However, I also check the stock market and read almost the entire Wall Street Journal daily. That makes me feel a little better.

2. My mom is one of my best friends and I'm proud when people always tell me I'm a lot like her.

3. Vegetables are probably my favorite thing to eat (ok, ok... except when I am craving chocolate). But really, I love vegetables. Asparagus, zuccini, brocolli, etc. I love them.

4. I'm not good at being teased, and even though I know that I'm just being teased, I still get defensive. Because of this, teasing me is one of my dad's favorite thing to do.

5. Steven makes me laugh more, and makes me happier than I ever thought possible. We really are perfect for each other.

6. One of my favoite things to do is clean our whole apartment, put everything exactly in place, and then look at it. Steven thinks I'm crazy, but I like to have everthing "look nice."

7. I love to go shopping, but I'm a real bargain hunter. I get really excited when I find good deals.

8. Sometimes I like when people tell me that Steven and I look really young, but sometimes it actually bugs me. I'm sure I'll like it more as we get older, but I get sick of it right now.

9. I can't wait to have a dishwasher/air-conditioning/shower that has water pressure/toilet that flushes better, etc. I will miss a lot of things about BYU and Provo once Steven graduates, but the dumpy Provo student housing will not make the list.

10. I like to exercise, and I especially love that lung burning feeling you get when you exercise. Soccer, cycling, and running are my favorite.

11. I actually (its a shocker to most people) love tax accounting and I'm happy I picked a profession that suits me. I like figuring out hard problems, but my favorite part about it is helping people. That really motivates me.

12. I'm very non-confrontational and more agreeable than I sometimes should be. I like to make other people happy, but sometimes I say yes to something and then think, "How am I going to do that?"

13. I love pink.

14. I like to watch HGTV. I really like decorating and seeing how people decorate.

15. I'm really excited to be a mom. More than anything.

16. I enjoy taking multiple choice tests.

17. I worry about things more than I should.

18. I love working with the Young Women in our church. I had a lot of leaders that made a big difference in my life. Sometimes when I am teaching and the girls are giggling/talking/drawing pictures, I wonder if I'm making a difference at all. But, then I remember that I did the same thing and I still was listening.

19. I hate being dirty. That sounds really prissy and girly, but its true.

20. I love to travel. Now that I have seen Paris and Germany, which were the two biggest places on my list, I want to see Australia and New York City. And Brazil. If they will let us in the country.

21.I don't like not getting enough sleep. It makes me grumpy.

22. My favorite part of the week is Saturday night when Steven and I go out for dinner on our date night.

23. I am proud to be a Canadian. I'm also proud to be an American. And with that, I love having two passports. It makes me feel like I'm in the Bourne Identity.

24. I'm terrified of cats. Terrified. When I was five, I was bit by an alley cat, and I have honestly been scarred for life.

25. I love my family :)

Well, now I am supposed to pick 10 people to "tag" as well. But... I don't like putting pressure on people. Maybe that can be Item #26. So, feel free to fill this out if you haven't already. I would love to read!

Our vacation to....

Europe! We just got back from an amazing, fun-filled vacation to Europe, but that was not what we had planned. We were actually planning on going to Brazil.....We had been planning our trip to Brazil for months and we were originally going to leave in May. Since Brazil requires a visa for all American travelers, we applied and received them back in April. However, our trip got changed to August and since the Visas said that they were good for 5 years, we all thought that everything was great.

Well, we packed our bags, Steven's parents came in to town, and we headed off to the airport. We got up to the check-in line when we found out that while our visas were good for five years, there was some crazy requirement that the FIRST entry into the country had to be made within 90 days. Since we were going to leave in May, nobody mentioned that to us, but once our trip was changed, we ended up missing the deadline by about 3 weeks. We were all pretty upset. We tried and tried to work with the Brazilian Embassy to see if they would do anything for us. We were even going to fly to LA the next day and visit them in person. But, it was all to no avail. They were not going to help us. So at this point, we were way sad. But then...

Dave and Chris (Dad and Mom Foote) are amazing and since we had the vacation already planned and our bags already packed, they decided that we were going to go on a vacation anyways. So, within 24 hours we were on a plane to Paris..... and here is the story of our wonderful European vacation!

We visited France, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. We did so many fun things that I could never talk about them all, and so here are the highlights of the trip and a fun slide show at the end that tells the story of our vacation (Click on the slide show and it will bring up a window to watch!):

The Sights of Paris
Going to Paris has always been a dream for me, and it was a dream that was just as good in the fulfillment as in the dreaming. My favorite part was definitely the Eiffel Tower, but we also saw all the other main attractions of Paris and enjoyed our baguettes and patisseries while we were at it.
Grenoble and the French Countryside
After spending three days in Paris, we took our journey on the road and first visited Grenoble, France and a bunch of tiny towns in the French countryside. The architecture and buildings in every tiny town were incredible. I think that my favorite part here was when we took a cable car up a mountain and had a view of the city all lit up at night.
Biking and Berries in Switzerland
We rented bikes and rode around the lake in Neuchatel, Switzerland. We had a great time and found fresh berries to pick on the way. Switzerland is very clean and parts of it really reminded me of my home back in Canada.
Germany and the Black Forest
My family on my mom's side come from Germany, and learning about my German heritage has always been a big part of my life. I think Germany overall, maybe because of that, was my favorite part of the trip. We took a scenic drive through the black forest, and hiked up to a waterfall. It was slightly raining when we did it, which made the whole thing seem like a fairytale to me. And... Steven managed to eat 5 bratwurst sausages in less than a 24 hour period. As for the rest of us, we loved the apple strudel....
Our new "European Looks"
In Paris, Steven and I both got some new European clothes. We even managed to get Steven a new suit for only 35 Euros. Compared to how expensive everything else was in Europe, that was a steal.Well, we did SO many other things, but I feel like this is already way too long. We found Belgium waffles. I loved how clean and modern Luxembourg was. We ate more than we should have. I found out that you have to pay to use public restrooms in Europe. We became good at using the Paris Metro. We visited the lake where they rode part of the Tour de France. We took a cool boat ride around Strasburg. Well....I'll stop now. Thanks Mom and Dad Foote, we had an amazing trip!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

REAL Awesome

Last night Paige and I, with a group of friends, went to the Real Salt Lake game (vs. FC Dallas) to celebrate the 24th of July. Because we think pioneers probably loved soccer. Well, it was a little disappointing to see two goals scored within the first 20 minutes of the game, both of them by the other team, and both due to bad defense on the home team. However, the second half was all Real Salt Lake. They scored four goals and the keeper stopped a PK. Amazing.

After the game there was an awesome fireworks show. Paige and I got to sit on the Rio Tinto field together to watch the fireworks (which were more impressive than Stadium of Fire, we thought).

It started raining right when we got to the car to drive home. What luck. Now, pictures!

My biggest weakness

One of my favorite parts about going home is visiting my favorite clothing stores, especially Jacob and RW & Co. Normally, my accountant side comes out and I am very frugal. Steven often has to tell me that it is ok to spend money on even essential things like milk and gas. However, buying clothes is by far my biggest weakness. Here's a peek of some outfits from above said favorite stores, and if anybody else loves to look at clothes their websites are http://www.jacob.ca and http://www.rw-co.com.
I was very lucky to have birthday money to spend, and I got some great new classic pieces. However, after coming home and realizing that once again my closet was WAY to full to cram in anything else, I spent the evening cleaning out my closet and accumulating a nice big pile of clothing to donate to Deseret Industries.
Now my closet is clean and organized again and I feel great. I am making a goal that for every new item I buy, I will donate one. That helps me feel a little bit better about my biggest weakness....

Stampeders

We are now home from Calgary and we had a fantastic trip. We did so many fun things. One great thing that we did was go to a Stampeders Football game. For all of my American friends, the Calgary Stampeders are in the "CFL" or Canadian Football League. This is like the NFL for Canada. My dad played on the "Stamps" for 9 years while I was growing up, and so going to games has always been a big part of my life that I was excited to finally share with Steven.

The weather was beautiful, we had great seats, and the Stamps demolished the Toronto Argonauts. A perfect football game.

For a hobby when he is not a lawyer, my dad is now the color commentator for the Stampeders games on the radio. At the game, we were able to spend the second half watching him. I am always amazed at how quickly he thinks on his feet and what a great job he does.
And, just for fun, here is an old-school picture of my dad when he played on the Stampeders and they won the championship (he is in the middle).

Oh Canada

We safely arrived in Calgary on Thursday night and yesterday was our first fun-filled day at home. And boy was it a fun day. We started off the day going to the Stampede. We.....

Road the train and it was PACKED
Went to a bunch of shows including break dancers, Superdogs, Crazy high divers, and a hypnotist.
Met "Yellowstone," the 2500 pound cow. I'm not kidding, he was honestly the largest cow I have ever seen.AND..... WENT TO KENNY CHESNEY!!! My mom and I went to the show together and we absolutely loved it. In fact, I am even proud to admit that we danced and sang along to every word. I can barely talk this morning.
I know that not everybody is a country music fan, but his music is good. He is definitely my favorite and I fulfilled a dream by going. I changed my playlist below and the first song is mine and Steven's wedding song, "Me and You." I was thrilled that he sang it last night. He said it was the first time in 6 years he has sang it live and so I felt lucky.

Birthday Fun

Well, I was informed that my blog is in need of a serious update. I have many excuses, but I figured out that one of the main culprits is I am always forgetting my camera. We are actually having a very busy summer, but I think that just me writing can be boring and so I don't like to post something without pictures. However, yesterday was my 23rd birthday, and of course we took some pictures there. The day was great and I felt very loved. Steven made and decorated a birthday cake for me, I got lots of phone calls and gifts, and I am just a lucky girl. We went out to Chili's for dinner and then we had Fallon & Brice, and Jeremy & Kedra over for some birthday festivities at night. Pictures below:

Now, we are off tomorrow morning at 4 AM for our 14 hour road trip back home to Calgary, Canada. I am so excited. The car is clean, the apartment is clean, and the packing will hopefully get done sometime soon. We have lots of fun in store back there including seeing my family, a Kenny Chesney concert, the Calgary Stampede, a Stampeders football game, swimming at my grandparents, bike riding, Steven's summer leadership program, and of course shopping. I sure miss all my favorite stores. More to come on the Canadian adventures soon....