Taking Interest

About two weeks ago, Paige and I started a new blog, but not to replace this blog. Since we are both accountants (Paige is a CPA already, and I'm jealous), and we both like personal finance, we decided to write about it. Paige will start contributing in a few weeks when she's done with tax season. I'm going to try to get her to write one good post about taxes before then (while it will still be useful). Anyone who is interested in seeing our new blog is welcome to check it out: takinginterest.blogspot.com.

On a side note, Paige is very happy this evening with the results of the gold medal hockey game. Watching the game reinforced the fact that we aren't cut out for Olympic hockey. Canada won, and Sid the Kid scored the game winning goal. It was a little painful for my American heart, but it was good to see Canada win their sport on home ice. It meant more to them than it would have meant to us.

Happy Valentines Day!

Well, today is Valentines Day and I get to spend it with Steven. I love that Valentines Day fell on a Sunday this year so we can spend some time together. Things have been crazy, as promised, with lots of long work hours, so we take any chance we get to spend together. Some other things we have been up to lately are....

I had a roommate get together with these girls...

We all lived together our first two years at BYU, and it was GREAT to see them again. Our freshman year, we were the girls of "Shipp 112" in Heritage Halls, and then we moved on to the "Riv." We have so many fun memories together.... I think my stomach hurt from laughing after they left last week. Thanks guys!

Steven and I jumped on the bandwagon late and went to see "Avatar" in 3-d. My verdict? The 3-d and graphics were amazing, but the story was kind of weird. I'm not really one for sci-fi movies though. Overall, it was worth seeing.

The Olympics have started and I am so excited. Ever since I was a little girl, I have absolutely loved watching every little bit of the Olympics that I have time for. I'm mostly looking forward to the figure skating and hockey.... I did grow up in Canada after all.

And, when I got home from work yesterday, not only did I find that Steven had done the grocery shopping, cleaned the house, left me flowers and this....

BUT.... my CPA license finally came in the mail. Kind of an anti-climatic finish to a long, hard process, but it feels great. I can now officially say that I am a CPA. Whahoo....

Happy Valentines Day from the Footes!

Wilkboard Art

About a year and a half ago, Steven started to create a replica of Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night." Not just any replica, but a picture entirely created from 3 X 5 cards and Crayola crayons. Finishing the project has been a while in the making, but we took it home for Christmas and with the help of my family (along with many others along the way), here is the final product:

Pretty Awesome, eh?

While the project was finished at Christmas, tonight was the grand unveiling. Steven's whole idea was to put it up on the BYU Wilkinson Center "Wilkboard." For those who don't know, the "Wilkboard" is used by BYU students to sell and advertise. You put up an ad on 3X5 cards, and anybody at BYU that wants to buy your housing contract/sell textbooks/buy a car all go and look at the Wilkboard.

Tonight Steven, Lisa, and I went to put up the art. Steven plans on keeping it there until tomorrow (Feb 1) at about 8 pm. So, if you go to BYU, go check it out!

Life with Steven is always an adventure. I'm continually amazed at how creative, smart, and fun he is. This past year, he has worked running an entire website for the BYU law library, took a full load of Master's degree classes, managed a single-student housing apartment, served in the Young Men's organization, and countless other responsibilities. But, he never let's me forget that life is also for fun. I wonder what he will come up with next?

What Happened to the Daylight?

So, on the way home from work today, Paige made the comment, "I haven't seen daylight since Sunday." This is not entirely unusual in the months of January through April. 'Tis the season for taxes, and Paige has a lot of taxes to do. Since we don't see sunlight anyway, we're considering becoming vampires, because it sure would be cool to be able to climb trees like that.

I'm not sure what it is about being a vampire that allows for such tree-climbing abilities, but I want in on it. I know about these things, because on Saturday we went to the library to get some books, which we don't have much time to read anyway, and I decided to make a deal with Paige. I wanted her to read one of the books I like, and so I said we should pick out books for each other. I chose A Tale of Two Cities for her to read, and guess which book she chose for me. 

By saying we avoid sunlight, I'm not saying that we are vampires. I'm just saying we don't like light, and we have exceptionally pale skin, we are devastatingly beautiful, and we don't seem to age. I'm not saying we are vampires, but I'm not saying we're not.

Zermatt

Last weekend, Steven and I were able to have a weekend getaway at the Zermatt Resort & Spa in Midway. The hotel is a client of my firm and they gave us all free hotel vouchers. The hotel is AMAZING and the scenery is beautiful.

We went swimming in the pool, enjoyed the hot tub with a waterfall, went on a nice walk, relaxed, and just had a great time. It was kind of a "late anniversary/one last chance to relax before work takes over my life" getaway.

Now, we have reached the most-stressful/most-tired/most-money time of the year. Tax season. Any lack of blogging from now until April can be blamed on that.

The Bike

I received an e-mail from my mother-in-law the other day full of a bunch of funny pictures. One, was this....

Well, I jokingly told Steven that I felt like this sometimes about his road bike. He replied, "No Paige, that is not true for two reasons: (1) You don't like getting dirty so we don't go camping, and (2) that bike is a mountain bike."

I THINK he was joking too. But, he is quite attached to that road bike....

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

2 years ago today we were here....

The weather in Utah today is a lot warmer than two years ago when I thought I would freeze in my short-sleeved dress.

Time sure flies when you are having fun. The past two years have honestly been the best of my life. Some things have changed since then. For example, I've graduated, and I bet that we can now both pass for 18 instead of 16. Some things have stayed the same- we are still living in Provo, and I'm proud to say that we haven't gained the married weight that I was so worried about. But, the most important thing that has stayed that same is that we definitely still love each other. Happy Anniversary Steven!