Viva Bike Vegas

We are in Las Vegas right now. I am up early and Steven (and the rest of the Foote Family) are still sleeping. We are in Las Vegas because yesterday Steven rode in Viva Bike Vegas! Ever since Steven started road biking about 7 years ago, he has wanted to ride in a "century" which is 100 miles in one day. I am so proud of him because he accomplished his goal and then some. Viva Bike Vegas was a 118-mile ride with lots of hills, heat, and hard work.

The race had a 118-mile ride and a 62-mile ride. Steven rode the first 62 miles with his brother, Tyler, and they had a great time riding together. Go team Foote! Dave, Steven's dad, was also able to come ride out the last 30 miles with Steven for moral support. All and all, it was a great day, and something that Steven was grateful he could share with his dad and his brother.I also had a fun time. The Foote family girls made posters for support and we met them at multiple rest stops along the way for encouragement. We also were able to enjoy some of the beautiful weather by hiking out at Red Rock.
I still can't believe that Steven rode so far. 118 miles = a long way. Congrats Steven! We are all so proud of you!

Bonnie

For those of you who don't know my beloved family pet, Bonnie, here is an introduction: Bonnie is a cocker spaniel/American Eskimo cross and she has been in our family since I was 8. Which means that at 15, she is a pretty old dog. However, she still looks like a puppy and she is the cutest dog I have ever seen. Bonnie is definitely a member of the family, and I came across a couple videos of her doing "tricks" about a year ago. For an old dog, she still does pretty well. I sound really annoying, so ignore me, but look at my adorable dog!

Life Lately

Well, as promised, my blogging has been lacking lately. Life has just been crazy. We are getting back into the intense school and work routine, which has been an adjustment after the summer.

This is life right now for Paige....

- I love finally getting paid to work so hard. I miss the flexibility of school, but whenever I start to think about that too much I think, "Oh yeah, now I get paid!" Definitely nice.

- So, another little fun thing about finally being a real "professional" is that my firm gave me business cards. Not just business cards, but probably about 1000 of them. I have been doing recruiting for my firm and so that has been a chance to give away about a 100, but I honestly can't think of what I'll do with the rest. I'm going to start entering all those drawings where you drop your business card into a box. I feel so professional.

- However, I still feel like a student and I will until October 29 when CPA exam #4 takes place. I figure I'll survive somehow until then.

- And, life is not all work and no play. I'm playing intramural soccer, going cycling, finding time for the gym, and I have just realized that I love yoga.

Life for Steven......

- I honestly don't know how Steven handles everything that he does. Currently, he is working 20 hours a week, he is in an intense Master's degree program, he manages a BYU Single student apartment, he is in the Young Men's program, and he still never gets really stressed about anything. I'm hoping some of his laid-back nature will rub off on me.

- Steven is also playing intramural soccer and is training for a 120 mile bike race in Vegas in two weeks.

- Steven is also still the perfect husband. I know that sounds corny, but he cooks, cleans, does dishes, and has even been putting his socks into the laundry lately. I couldn't ask for more.

Even though we haven't had too many exciting things to blog about or take pictures of lately, I missed posting some of the other fun things that we did this summer. Here are some pictures of the rest of our "summer adventures."

Fall is an exciting time of year. I love crunching all the leaves, getting out my sweaters, and getting back into a routine. So, summer may be over, but Happy Fall Y'all!

Books and Computers.....

Well, I am back to work full-time.....
And still trying to do this (aka study for the CPA exam) every spare moment that I have....
Those main things, along with Young Women's, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, gym, etc. are leaving little time for much else. So, if my blogging suffers, I at least have an excuse....

BYU Vs..... Utah?

Well, tonight is an awesome night. BYU just beat Oklahoma 14-13. I am definitely proud to be a BYU Cougar. I have always been a BYU fan. My parents met at BYU and my dad played on the BYU football team. That is why I was shocked to see this.....
Don't worry, it was only for one night. My parents were here to visit and my dad is good friends with the Utah head coach, Kyle Whittingham. They came up for a game because my dad got to be on the sidelines with Kyle. They had a good time, but my mom said she had to go home and put on her BYU sweatshirt because she felt bad.

Anyways, after the BYU game Steven and I went up to BYU campus and participated in the honking and yelling and general festivities. Go BYU!!!

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