Small Town Carnivals

So, we thought it was about time...after being here in Utah County for the past 7 years...that we actually went to one of the small town carnivals that happen in the surrounding cities of Provo. We drove past the Springville Art City Days last month and I tried to convince the hubby to go...but because I mentioned "Art City Days," he somehow figured it was an art show and refused to go. But this time for Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days, I made sure to tell Jack that it was a CARNIVAL and that there would be CARNIVAL TREATS and rides and all the good stuff that come with small town carnivals. So together we went to discover Strawberry Days. First off, I have to say I was kind of surprised at the lack of strawberry memorabilia at this function. However, there were funnel cakes, and strawberries and cream! YUM! Jack wanted to try some of the rides...I don't do rides since I've gotten sick from the Stampede in the old days...so now that I'm older and wiser, I just know to stay away from those kinds of things. :o) Anyhow, we were horrified to see how much everything cost! Jack was saying he remembered carnivals as a kid where things were free and you could just go on everything and enjoy the day on rides and good food. Even the food though...WOW! The funnel cakes cost as much as they do at Disney World...DISNEY WORLD! And they weren't nearly as good. :o( But hey, how often do we get funnel cakes, right? So, all in all, I think we enjoyed our carnival experience...especially seeing the "real carnies", but I don't think we'll go to another one. It's just far too expensive to actually "enjoy" it...unless you're willing to spend the money on the food and rides, or the rodeo and such...there's really not much to do at those things. But at least we can say we've been. :o)

First Camping Trip of the Season!

One of the best things about warmer weather here in good ole Utah is the fabulous canyons we have so close by that we can go camping pretty much any free weekend and just drive about 20 minutes outside of town and be good to go. Jack and I quite enjoy being in the great outdoors and we LOOOOVE campfire food. It's amazing how much better tinfoil dinner elements (potatoes, ground beef, carrots, etc.) just taste sooooo much better enjoyed around a campfire. Actually, anything you eat when camping seems to taste just a little better. Why is that exactly? Whatever the reason, we love it!
So, last weekend we headed up Provo Canyon with the Paynes and set up tent for an overnighter. Everything about it was just sooooo perfect. We had perfect weather, perfect fire wood that gave us perfect coals and perfect meals and perfect s'mores.
Jack really liked warming up his backside by the fire...ok, to be honest, it seemed like all of us were making this pose at one point or another around the fire. Our front sides would get all toasty so we'd have to switch it up. ;o) It was seriously fabulous. I can't wait to go again.

Blogging Drought

Ok, so after posting my last blog entry, I discovered that I have not been very good at keeping up with my blogging since the last post before that was way early in May. So, I'm posting again to make up for it.
Just a couple of fun things to catch everyone up on... Jack and I got to go up to The Roof at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building early in the month to celebrate Jack's mom's graduation from her master's program. It was a wonderful meal and it was great to share the evening with the majority of Jack's siblings. Oh, and it was fun to get all dressed up...which leads me to a SIDE NOTE: So, the night we ended up going was also a prom night for some high school here in the Wasatch front. I have to say...WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NICE CLASSIC FORMALS? Honestly, I saw some HIDEOUS dresses...I mean, can you imagine a neon rainbow shmeared formal dress with black velvet accents? Oh, and we can't forget the fanny pack that one girl wore with her dress! I couldn't believe it. The 80's are soooo back in such a huge way and it's definitely showing in prom dress styles too.
Sorry, back to the real blog now...
Daddy was in town last week and it was great fun to have him around and it was even better to have a great excuse to see the family like EVERYDAY! I totally love hanging out with my family. They're the BEST!
We got to hang out in Salt Lake City and have dinner, walk around the gateway and then see an amazing hand bells show that was seriously cool. I think they had like 50 hand bells going all at once. Very neat.
And best of all I got to hang out with my nieces...seriously, I take so many pictures of them you would think they're my own kids! ;o) But here are some cute ones of Rachel and her adorable smile.

IKEA Grand Opening!

I have been waiting a LIFETIME for an IKEA to finally make it's way out here to Utah. I'd been hearing rumors for quite some time that we were going to get one in Draper, Utah, but I didn't believe it until I saw the beautiful blue building along the I-15. IKEA has a soft spot in my heart because it reminds me so much of home and of my family. When we were little, it used to be the "fun" Saturday activity to go. All of the kids would play in the balls room for a little bit, then go and buy a little something that we had saved up enough money for. Then as we got older, we would go and have their fabulous 99 cent breakfast in the mornings and just walk around and dream of how our homes would look someday. Bottom line, I LOVE IKEA! It's one of those things that I can think about it all the time and it brings an automatic smile to my face. :o) Ok, now you can all roll your eyes and say, yes, Bernice is an IKEA nerd!! :o)











So, in honor of the grand opening of the new IKEA out here in Utah, I convinced my little sister "Duck" to go out the night before and camp out with me and I planned about two months in advance to take the grand opening day off from work so that I could enjoy IKEA for the entire day. The first 100 people were going to receive a free chair, and I honestly thought that I would be one of the first 100 since it was a Tuesday night that we were camping out and I really didn't think there were that many hardcore IKEA fans like me that would miss a day of work and actually camp out for the grand opening. To my surprise and disappointment, I was sooooo wrong. Worst part was that my sister and I were like 125 or something in line...in the line that kind of switched back and forth, we were facing the 100th person!!... sooooo close, yet sooooo far away. :o( "Duck" and I were counting on the "mystery cards" to make up for it, because IKEA was giving away 2500 gift cards to the first 2500 people there and 1500 of them were actually money cards, while only 1000 of them were buy one get one free food items. So again, I was thinking our odds were pretty good, right? Wrong again!! My other sister met up with us in the morning and between all THREE of us, NONE of us got one of the money cards!!! Unbelievable, eh? So, basically, I slept out at IKEA just to show my love and support to the company...which is ok I guess. I just really wish that they would have at least tried to make it so that there were money cards for the people who had spent the night. But, I guess it should have just been expected. I am sooooo not lucky and have never really been with things like that. Well, one exciting thing though was that "Duck" and I got our picture on ksl.com.
Not the best pic, but hey, it captures the memory of our premier IKEA trip out here in Utah. :o) I'm in the green hat btw...and you see those people in the yellow shirts...they were in the first 100...see how close we were?!?!?! But all in all, some wonderful memories of camping out and hey, it's still IKEA, so I got some great deals and enjoyed a fab day off of work with my sisters. :o)

How to Spoil Your Wife for her Birthday!

I have the most fabulous husband in the world! Really, I do. You'll see what I mean after you read my account of my wonderful birthday!
And I also have to add thanks to everyone else that helped make my birthday oh so memorable and totally wonderful. Thank you to everyone that called, emailed, etc. to send me well wishes. It was so great to hear from so many of you!
Ok, to start off my fabulous May 3rd day, Jack of course made me breakfast and he made a really yummy omelette and of course there was bacon. :o)
Then, my cute assistants at work all surprised me with cards, balloons, flowers, and chocolates. I really do have some great employees! :o) So, though the weather was kind of blue and dreary, everyone was helping to make my day bright and cheery. ;o) So, now for the wonderful husband part...Jack picked me up from work and when I got home, he had laid out a little trail of hearts (which he said he spent hours cutting out) to little different hiding places around the apartment where he had hid my fabulous presents.
He even had little love notes at each hiding place telling me how much and why he loved me! Seriously! It was amazing! And that wasn't all! Jack picked out the BEST presents any girl could want!
I got clothes, hair stuff, jewelry, make up! And of course my capstone present--A beautiful watch! I mean, does it honestly get any better than that?! And he picked out EVERYTHING all by himself, and his choices were WONDERFUL! I couldn't believe that he had picked out everything without any help at all! If any guy wants some pointers on how to super impress his wife/girlfriend/significant woman in their life, just ask Jack cause wow, he knows what to do to make his wife a happy camper! :o)
It was great to show off everything right after I opened everything too when Cami stopped by to say hi. Her present was also fabulous and she's so great at knowing what to get for me. :o)
Jack and I ended off our day with a nice dinner at the Macaroni Grill (soooo yummy), a nice walk outside and I got even more spoiled with a back rub! It was such a wonderful day and I am sooooo lucky to have such a fabulous husband who cares so much to do soooo much to make my day awesome special for me. Definitely takes off the edge of getting another year older, eh?