Dallin and Ashley Bradley

Never in a Million..

2012-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

Dallin and I were watching a show earlier and it showed a family swimming with stingrays down in Stingray City. The family looked happy, ecstatic, as if it was the best thing in the world. I asked Dallin if he would ever do that..."sure, why not". Gag, I'll tell you why not...if they can kill Steve Irwin they can kill me. Ok ya, I know it was a different incident but I'd rather take my chances doing something else. This turned into a discussion of why I would never do that...but first, I have to preface this with a little incident that I like to call "Attack of the Octopus".
My sister took me to Hawaii when I was 12, it was amazing! One of the things I was so excited about doing (I couldn't WAIT) was snorkel with all the crazy fish, of which was promised to be some real cool ones. We were dropped off at a reef and swam with some amazing fish and animals. Towards the end of the snorkel adventure, I went off by myself a little ways and found myself surrounded by a school of fish, totally not scared that I was swimming with them. The school got tighter and tighter around me (which freaked me out) and then I felt some sort of bite around me ankle!!!!! I start freaking out thinking the worst has happened. My stupid 12 year old mind goes straight to pirhanas and I frantically try to get away back towards our boat. As I'm flopping back I see a bright red and orange octopus following me, it literally chased me all the way back!!! I swear I made it back in the boat within inches of my life. Needless to say it wasn't all that big of a deal but it has scarred my memory enough so that if I see fish in the water where I swim, I panic just a little. Before this, the thought of swimming in the ocean with all sorts of things was a thrill...not anymore.

This is what the killer looked like.

Even snorkeling with Dallin's family for the first time was a trip. I didn't tell anyone about my octopus incident till after the fact, it is kind of ridiculous. Once the boat dropped us off, I swallowed my fear and jumped. Of course the fish followed me and got too close for comfort, which led me to literally flopping in the water to try to scare them away from me. Dallin seriously thought something was wrong with me. I've told him my story since then and he still thinks I'm a pansy. I don't think pansy is a good word, because obviously I went snorkeling again and I do swim in oceans and lakes.
But back to the stingrays...there is nothing that sounds worse than those beasts crawling up my back with their death spear tail centimeters away from killing me.

After swmming in the ocean in Mexico...totally chill

Death by stingray...I doubt he got away.

And if Dallin thinks I'm a pansy, you should see what a little girl he is if he sees a snake...I'm done.

Four Years?! Really?

2012-01-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, December 17 -
Dal and I do Saturday morning cleaning together then chill at about 2pm. At 4pm he tells me to get ready and to pack an overnight bag with a couple clothing options. Huh, I wonder what he's got in store...We leave the house at about 6pm and he takes me to the Lodge Restaurant to eat, great conversation, great atmosphere, and GREAT chocolate cake! We head to downtown Reno and show up at the Peppermill, which happens to be a little away from the strip and is also one of the nicer hotels here. He surprised me with a weekend getaway to dowtown Reno for our anniversary! After we hung out in our room for a little we decided to wander the casino and hotel, there was lots to see!

Our weekend included swimming outside in 40 degree weather, the pool was heated so it was perfect, lots of eating, relaxing, exploring, etc. It was such a perfect weekend, I couldn't have planned it better myself. We also remembered our wedding day and the funny stories...

1. It was 5:30 in the morning when I got up to get ready. After doing the initial stuff I sat down in the living room just thinking about what I was about to do later that day when all of a sudden the back door opens and in walks Whitney with a McDonald's breakfast for me, what a doll! All the girls walked in with her to start helping me get ready, talk about good friends.
2. We just got to the reception hall when I realized I didn't have my bouquet and hadn't had it all day! Celine and the girls to the rescue! They ran over to the temple where the florist had dropped it off earlier that day and requested a temple worker to grab it from the fridge that sat by the entrance, which was just for bridal bouquets. For some reason or another they wouldn't get it for them so Celine runs past them into the temple, grabs my bouquet from the fridge and they book it out of there before anyone knows what happened!
3. On the way to the temple with Mom and Dad, Dad jokes around that we could still skip out if I wanted to..half serious half joking :)
4. Dallin went to sleep the night before the wedding with a couple people in his hotel room and woke up the next morning to about 10 people including a girl sleeping on his floor.

I can't believe it's been four years already, the best four years. I don't remember why I was ever scared in the first place to get married, but it's been the most fun, exciting, loving, BEST time ever. Love ya Dallin!

Our room, first morning room service breakfast!

Dal and I racing each other

I won :)

Dallin in the "Hot Seat"

It was shocking him so bad, but he wouldn't let go! So stubborn..

Comin Home Baby

2011-12-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was spent in AZ this year, and man was I spoiled with nine days there.
On the airplane down I got to sit next to a guy that I'm almost positive was drunk, so in went the headphones from the beginning. IPhone shuffle - The Format! How perfect...nothing says AZ to me like The Format does, GREAT beginning to my trip.
Although most of my time there was spent solely with my parents (which was PERFECT) I did get to see family and friends. Mom and I spent a lot of our time over at Dorine's with her family, playing cards, talking, eating, etc.

The first night at about 9, Mom decides we need ice cream. I am so down. She and I jump in the car, housecoats/pjs, and head to Dorine's to grab her. After our ice cream fix we of course HAD to watch a scary movie together. We started out claiming separate ends of Dorine's couches and by the first 20 minutes of the movie I jumped in the middle of them, there was no extra space between us. What can I say, we love our scary movies...I admit I am the biggest baby between us three during movies, but once we all get scared you can't tell the difference between our squeals. The only thing missing was our other sister Deena.

Part of the best time there was seeing my nieces and nephews, it's always the best being able to spend time with them and catch up. I had to run errands one day and decided to take my cute Lily baby with me.
Lily is probably the most happy child I have EVER come in contact with. She's about 5 and is amazingly happy and sweet. Whenever she sees me she calls out, "My Favorite Auntie Ashley!!!" Melts my heart everytime and makes me want to give her whatever she wants.
Anyway, she ran errands with me, by dinner time I decided we both deserved Cafe Rio tacos. Once we finally got them it literally took her 15 minutes to eat one taco! Funny story, in the middle of her dinner she tells me she needs to go to the bathroom, so I let her go by herself. She's in there for about 5 minutes before I get up and see if she's ok. The bathroom is packed with people as I'm trying to find her. She finally yells out that she's ok, but then she says, "There are no magazines in here! Where are they all?! I can't go without a magazine!" Yes, she really said that. Everyone just looks at me...luckily most had a good sense of humor and just laughed and winked at me like I was doing a great mothering job...nice.

Beautiful Lily baby

I canNOT wait till the next AZ trip, I'm feeling like it'll be sooner than later :)

Cheers to Four Years ...and many, many more

2011-12-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

Dal and I are coming in on our 4th anniversary the 18th of this month. I can't believe it's already been this long...time flies :).
For each anniversary before, we've made somewhat of a plan and it has ALWAYS gone down the drain. Our first was spent stuck in Vegas trying to get to AZ because of a freak snow storm. The second was finals in the library for Dallin. The third was Dallin's graduation date! This year we will be closing on our house (cross those fingers) on the 16th which will probably translate to the 18th. No complaints here though! It's a great anniversary gift!
Which brings me to my next thought.
I've always been a tradition kind of gal, so from the first anniversary, I did the traditional gifts each year. 1st - paper: I gave him a VERY sweet card! (don't feel bad for him I gave him cologne too). 2nd - cotton: a beautiful blue cuff link shirt. 3rd - leather: some black driving gloves to go with the Porsche he loved. And now here we are at the 4th. It's flowers/fruit. Wow, What am I going to do?! I'll let ya know once I figure it out though! Cheers to four years. And many, MANY more.

Newest Chapters

2011-09-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here in a Pennzoil station waiting for our car to get an oil change. I'll be here for another hour (I've been here already for 45 minutes) before I can leave. Not just leave the station, but leave Hailey, ID. For good.
Dallin got his dream job at Microsoft. The offer was extended about a week ago and we've been in surreal land the entire time.
I don't know if I've told anyone about what the past nine months have been like for us, but it's truly been an eye opener, a testimony builder, a life changer, and let's not forget the fun.
I'm truly grateful for the things that have happened, and I'm so excited to start the next chapter of our lives in Reno.
It's amazing what time (and a few happenings) can do to the perspective.

Talk to ya in Reno.

Goodbye Summer 2011

2011-09-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Coming from the land of continual summers (Mesa, Arizona), I am actually intrigued by the changes in seasons. The colors are amazing (the temperatures are not).
I'm sitting here watching the biggest, blackest storm come over the mountains towards us and I am getting so excited hearing the thunder. When you grow up in Arizona you tend to get extremely pumped when it rains and storms. These times come few and far between for Arizonans, it's almost an adrenaline rush for me.

The best part of summer in AZ is monsoon season, I think it's everyone's favorite.
I remember having all my nieces and nephews at the house swimming all day and playing in the rain, then at night having to get out because the storms got so bad. We'd set all the patio chairs in a row together and watch the fantastic lightening and thunder show, the thunder even got so loud you could feel it rumble in your chest (I hope that makes sense.)

Valley monsoon storms may tie with watching storms from the porch of our cabin in Strawberry, AZ. The cabin overlooked a valley and mountains, you could see everything including lightening. There was just something shaking about the thunder up there...

It is safe to say I get more excited about a rainy day than I EVER have about a sunny one. Nothing is more invigorating to me than to sit on a patio and watch a storm, smell the rain, and hear the thunder.

roll out

2011-09-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

The way to Dallin's heart is simple. Give him something with an engine that he can ride ( if it's a car, it had better be fast) and he'll be happy for days.With that said, Bryce bought a quad a couple months ago and needless to say, Dallin is in love. I'll admit I LOVE quads, I grew up going out with my sister to Sycamore Creek (you'll understand this Arizonans) and riding like crazy.
Dallin and Bryce talk on the phone at LEAST twice a day, they are worse than girls, so because of this they constantly plan little quad outings. It's pretty simple, we go to Rexburg to play and Bryce finds a quad for us to use for the weekend, it's great!
This last weekend we took a typical trip to Rexburg which turned into SO much fun!

Lots of fun dune riding, plus night riding which I love (this included a dance party in Julie's car, just us, as we drove out)

Julie thinking she knows how to Dougie

The Earls

The Sorensens

Us, about to adventure the dunes

The Girls

We also did a "must" lay out at Rigby Lake and a trip to Pack Saddle where we convinced Julie to walk out on a tree limb and jump in the lake...haha she actually fell/slid into the lake instead.

Bryce and Dal

Beautiful Tetons

Julie about to fall in the lake!

The Group!

But an even better surprise was that Colin and Whit came riding with us! They even got their hands on two more quads for us to play with from Colin's boss, nice (trusting) guy.
To top off a blast of a weekend, we went to one of my favorites, Chiz's! Yum, their homemade ranch dressing is amazing.

(Dallin is actually trying to talk me into going with him to Rexburg this Tuesday night so he and Bryce can go play on Wednesday on their day off...haha these boys..)

What Once Was

2011-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am a very nostalgic person. Almost to a fault because I do remember everything. Dallin and I even have this game where he will ask me what I wore for a certain day during my lifetime and 9 times out of 10 I can remember. If I was a cheater (which I am not) I could easily make something up, but where is the fun in that? This is a very strange thing to remember but I do, I don't even plan my outfits...This was just an example of my ridiculous memory...anyway...

I miss playing tennis everyday for at least 3 hours. It was some of the most fun I had in highschool. A group of us were a part of a tennis "academy" that happened Monday-Friday from about 4-7 pm, not including tennis practices during the season. While going to the academy I made amazing friends (Love ya Tula), how could you not spending that much time with people. It was normally more fun to be there than not, I really took being in shape for granted. Oh Ace Academy...with love :)

I miss washing my car - the miata to be exact. I used to be a FANATIC about washing my car, even in college. I'd make my friends go with me once a week to the car wash, not just the drive-thru, but the legit put-your-quarters-in-before-the-time-runs-out wash where you had to do it all yourself. It was fun. I'm not such a nazi anymore, maybe because I don't have a go-cart to wash or maybe it's because my present car hides dirt well (gross).

let's play the memory game :)

Getting back to the Pullens

2011-08-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

It is always a blast when Dad and Mom Pullen are able to come hang out with us for a while. But this time, my sister Susanna was able to take a vacation and meet up with us too! Susanna lives in Santa Barbara with her family where she owns her own law practice so needless to say finding any time to leave the coast comes few and far between for her. So we were all ecstatic to hear that she was able to fly out and spend a few days.
During our "Pullen Week" we went on a major hike, unfortunately I ate a huge breakfast burrito before this hike and thought I was going to die a few times. I literally had to stop and go off the edge a little in case I was going to lose my breakfast...not cool. (Side note: Dal and I just went on this hike this last Saturday and it was WAY more awesome) At the end of the hike we ate lunch at the "Roundhouse Rest." on top of the mountain and took the gondolas back down. If you ever go to Sun Valley, this is a must.

We also went mountain biking (my new favorite sport), hung out and biked in Ketchum and Sun Valley, and of course had amazing food.
The only down part about the week was Dallin having to work from 9 am - 7:30 pm every day. Unfortunately he was doing a little "renovating" in the employee department and didn't have anyone to cover shifts. BUT he didn't miss dinners.
But some of the best parts of the trip were just hanging out together and playing games.
My family is amazing, pure amazing. We're very lucky to have such great families on both sides...

In more recent news, after Dallin's and my hike on Saturday we saw "The Help". Four huge thumbs up from us. Go see it!

The Future Back???

2011-08-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ok guys...I've got a question and I need some answers. I overheard some 14 year old whining about how her mom has a "Mom Butt". I was seriously restraining myself from turning around to maybe catch a glimpse of her mother to see what the heck a Mom Butt is.
Call me sheltered maybe. I've heard the term before but I truly don't know what one looks like.
Now, please don't mistake this is as some quirky way of me announcing a pregnancy. I'm NOT prego people, so don't go there. I just want to know what to look forward to. Any thoughts?

Cat and Me

2011-06-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here we are on the couch. Cat and me loving the lazy life. I adore having a creature of the same nature as me.

Hailey has been good. I got a job working for an audiologist = hearing aids = LOTS of elderly, excuse me "older adults". Apparantly it is no longer politically correct to refer to the older generation as elderly, they take it offensively.

That was just a side note for all you who are sensitive to the ridiculous, politically correct terms that run rampant in this overly sensitive country. Not going on that rant, I don't want to kill my calm buzz.

It's pretty fun working here though, naturally the only people that come in for hearing aids are the older generation, and they all happen to be filthy rich people who have retired to Sun Valley. I get to sit and talk with all these cool older people...today I talked to a guy who used to be the Jack Bauer of the 1960's, Bruce Willis's next door neighbor (who happened to give me some very graphic info on why Bruce and Demi got a divorce which I will not be sharing on here because old man got GRAPHIC. If you'd like to know then we'll chat I'm sure), world renown architect.

Oh the people you'll meet!

Mom and Dad are coming up in a couple weeks. Stoked!

Ps....I'm obsessed (and have been) with this amazingly slam packed tasty treat. Try it, you can't put the bag down, I promise. You're welcome.

Pss - you can feel proud of yourself for eating "smartfood". I think that's the opposite of dumb food, like slim jims or cheez wiz (at least that's what I think of).

We fell off the face of the earth, and now we're back

2011-06-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

So, for the past few months have kind of been a big blur for us. In January we moved out to Reno in hopes of Dallin getting an amazing job while I was able to transfer in my company down there. For one reason or another, things did not pan out the way they should have, despite having some pretty strong feelings otherwise. So from January till the beginning of May we lived with Dallin's amazing parents. Your first thought might be "...oh man, living with the in-laws, good luck!" But no, I'm so lucky to have such fun, kind, loving in-laws that if anything, is was a great experience in getting to know them even better. Wouldn't trade that time for anything looking back on it. Some of the perks were GREAT food from Dwan, sharing recipes (meaning taking all hers), fun family time, getting ADDICTED to American Idol, etc.

But where are we now? Great question, we are in...

HAILEY, IDAHO!

I can't believe I'm back in Idaho...Dallin was offered a great management position with his old company Spring wireless with an option to get his MBA, so we jumped at that opportunity, free schooling, heck yes!

This part of Idaho is probably something of the prettiest country I've ever seen. The little town is right between mountains and is about 10 minutes away from the beautiful Sun Valley resort. We've already explored by hiking the mountains in our backyard, visiting Sun Valley (GORGEOUS), eating at some of the most amazing food places EVER, and of course we had to make a couple trips to Rexburg for the fun of it. Couldn't keep us away forever :)

So right now, I am a stay-at-home mom to Xena (yes we got her back) while Dallin is loving work. I actually have a few job ideas right now and just waiting for the ball to kind of start rolling.
But, I really can't get over what a beautiful place we're living in and how blessed we are to be here especially at the beginning of summer. It's such a small picturesque place and it's a perfect time to take a little while in our lives to live somewhere we will probably never get the chance to live in again. My only wish is that we had friends here. It's a VERY small community with no kids our age...HOWEVER one of the cool things is that this is the place that Bruce Willis, Demi Moore/Ashton Kutcher live. And they just so happen to live a few streets away from us. Haven't seen them yet but I hear they make appearances quite often, maybe Demi and I will become hiking buddies. Or better yet, me and Ashton.

So if anyone wants to visit the great outdoors of this beautiful area, don't be a stranger!

Wishin it was summer again!

2011-01-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

Summer '10 was so big for us, so exciting and action packed! Two of the greatest things though were Ang's wedding and the Bradley Family cruise.
Ang's wedding was beautiful, in every aspect of the word. It was not only great to have a little girls reunion, but it was amazing to see our Ang so happy in starting her own family. It's funny though...whenever our girls go to San Fran...something crazy always happens to us! Stopping traffic on the Freeway, almost dying downtown, the list goes on :)

Our girls with beautiful Angela

They got pretty crazy with that cake!

How grateful we were to be able to have such a fun family trip this summer! Dallin's parents were so sweet to take us all on a cruise to Mexico! It was my first and will definitely not be my last!

Climbing

On Our way to Cabo!

Mazatlan! My fav by far!

Disco night with the Village people and all

Time to go back...esp right now

Citrus Lovers Everywhere!!!! Listen! GOURMET ORCHARDS

2010-11-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

Personally, my favorite fruit is any kind of citrus. I think this love was contributed to by the amazing citrus that we have in Arizona. Now that I'm in Idaho though, I don't have that option of walking outside and picking lemons off my trees. BUT thankfully one of my good friends from home has started a very cool website offering all the amazing citrus AND nuts (chocolate/toffy peanuts and others!)to be sent right to your home. The prices are perfect, and what's better than fresh made lemonade or a juicy, red grapefruit for breakfast?!

I know this sounds like an info-mercial but honestly, the lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, etc from Arizona are better than any I've ever had. The grapefruits alone are my absolute favorite!

You should definitely try it if you love citrus or nuts!
http://www.gourmetorchards.com/

Bad BAD BAD!

2010-10-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

I have been a terrible blogger lately, TERRIBLE! I have sooo much to catch up on and no time to do it right now, but I feel like I have to do something right now. So here's a preview of some exciting things/stories to come....:)

Wedding of 2010

Bradley Family Cruise

Our newest family addition

Mom and Dad came to play - pictures to come, haven't downloaded them yet.

PLUS - for all you citrus loving people out there, one of my good friends has an amazing business to send you the amazing, Arizona, sun-kissed, citrus we all love. This one is definitely something you want to look into, because if you've ever had citrus from AZ, you know it's the best! More info to come!

ps...

We finally got callings...as the MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATION TEACHERS! I can't believe they think we are equipped to teach this, we've only been married for almost three years. We don't even have children, how are we supposed to teach about family relations when we're missing half of that? Well I guess it's true when they say "you're called to a calling to better yourself", or something like that...

Home is Where...?

2010-07-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been traveling a lot for work, well I don't know if I'd say a lot...Two weeks ago I went to Kennewick for a week and I just got back this weekend from another week in Salt Lake City. Never in my life have I been so happy to JUST BE HOME. Don't get me wrong, I do love hotel rooms, dinners out, and traveling and sightseeing, but it's just not the same without someone. Espeicially someone like Dal. But I'm home now, not sure when or if I'll leave again, but I'm home for now.

Which leads me to my next thought. I am seriously losing touch with some of my AZ roots, which is so dang depressing. While I was in Salt Lake, it was a lot hotter than it normally is in Idaho, I'd say probably 85-90 degrees. Anyway I was almost dying, it was to the point where I was getting a little irritated from the heat. I don't think I could've ever said that before! It's a little depressing to me that I have become acclimated to this ridiculously cold, Idaho weather in 5 years. Even one of our good friends who served in Russia has said that Rexburg is colder than Russia hands down. I don't know how true that is but I'll take it. I haven't been home for a good old AZ summer in almost three years, I think it's about time to head back to the valley....

AZ I love you

"Nobody likes you when you're 23"

2010-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

So, on April 28 I turned 23. I know this doesn't sound very eventful, but it's almost been bothering me lately. Don't get me wrong, I had a great birthday mostly because of my overly sweet husband spoiling me with a new purse, perfume, phone, and other litle trinkets...seriously don't deserve it. But, I can't help but feel that I am getting so stinking old now. I know this sounds retarded, I feel retarded saying it, but it's gotta be said. I just can't get the thought out of my head that I'm just going to get older from here, and also the stupid Blink-182 song keeps popping in me head which doesn't help my situation either. You know the one...."Nobody likes you when you're 23".
It didn't help at all after I told my boss either, because he sang that stupid song at me (I won't say "to me" because it wasn't really a nice gesture, now, was it) for the rest of the day.
So for the rest of you 23 year olds...NO ONE LIKES YOU EITHER!

Simplicity at it's BEST

2010-03-28T21:11:00.001-07:00

There is just something about Sundays...
Especially when everything is just, well, simple!

The three hour service is of course the best part of the day, but the little things surrounding it definitely make the perfect "Sunday" for me. Here is my list, in no particular order.

*First, a nice long morning with no alarm clock :)
*And for some reason, one of my all time favorite things is to take my time getting ready. I'm talking do a little here, go do something else, and come back and finish getting ready.
*A few Swedish pancakes with Lingonberries and whipped cream for breakfast, snack, and lunch :)

*A nap somewhere in there with TONS of pillows... mmm...
*Some good reading time, which normally turns into that nap.
*Dinner, today of which included filet mignon with a shallot sauce, yum.
*A nightly movie with Dal.

Could sundays get anymore relaxing? And I think it's safe to say that the day definitely revolves around food for me.

Ugh...

2010-03-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

I haven't cut my hair since Nov. '08 (don't judge me). It is now March '10. My hair has only grown a couple inches...Dallin on the other hand cut his hair late January of this year (super short) and ALREADY needs another cut because it's growing over his ears and past his neck line. Fast-growing hair is wasted on the ungrateful.

-
Slowly waiting for hair...to grow at all.

Vivaaaaa Las Vegas!!! Happy Birthday Dallin guy!

2010-02-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Every time I think of Vegas, Elvis Presley's song runs through my mind for just a second. That's the song that was playing in my head the whole weekend of Dallin's birthday, 'cause guess where we went. VIVAAAAAAAAAA LAS VEGAS! Let's all sing it now.

Off subject claim-to-fame...the one and only, King of Rock and Roll, Elvis, is my great-great (maybe another great) cousin, which explains why my whole mother's side of the family is extraordinarily musically inclined. Too bad I didn't get the voice talent...

Can you see the family resemblance? Ya, I can't either! BUT in highschool, some friends said my older brother looked exactly like him. HA!

It started off as a surprise though. About a month or two before his birthday I was scrambling for ideas to make his quarter of a century birthday (25th) an amazing one. The only thing I could think about was the one place he constantly talks about, sin city. Love that name. So started the process. I let all his best guys know so that they could take the time off to come if they could, booked the ridiculously cheap flights, and with Jenny's help (Dallin's foster sister), we booked an amazing hotel. Love that gal. Got time off work for me, and got work off for him (without him knowing what was going on, so sly). Can I just say how amazing it was that EVERYONE around us knew about this surprise and KEPT IT FROM HIM!? FOR A WHOLE MONTH!
The weekend of the birthday came around and Dane and McCall "invited" us to go to dinner in Idaho Falls, where we were secretly flying out of. So with the bags secretly packed, off we went. After dinner, Dane took the "wrong way home", or so Dallin said. It wasn't until I softly sang "Happy Birthday" to him that he realized what might be happening, but it didn't quite hit him until we stood in line at the ticket counter and he read "Las Vegas" on our tickets.
Finally made it to Las Vegas, THE NEXT MORNING, because the fog was too heavy in IF. Since when do pilots NOT learn how to fly in light fog? Sooo maddening! But one good thing came out of it! We saw one of my good friends, Taralynn and her guy! Very fun and random.

We're finally there...and surprised by a few of his closest friends! This made for a great time there, full of gambling :), eating, laughing, a show, walking the strip, and of course my all time favorite - PEOPLE WATCHING!

Going out on the strip!

Dal's Birthday Dinner

High five blue guy

It was sad to go home...

Are you drunk??? No, we're Mormon!

2009-12-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

So, as I've said previous, My Whitty is getting married, in fact in a couple weeks now! We are all so excited for her to become the cute little wife we know she'll be! And with this, all of us girls decided she needed a nice long weekend to break her into...some things ;) just kidding. So that's just what we did! Last weekend Ang, Kimmy, Whit and I drove down to meet Celine, Lauren and Kiraface at our hotel in SLC. We stayed up way too late each night with tons of girl talk, laughing (screaming), and music. I really hope we didn't have any neighbors to our two adjoining rooms...

By this time we're dying!

So we spend Saturday shopping, eating, messin around, shopping, eating, hot tubbing, and finally a crazy night at a piano place. I guess it's called a piano bar where there are two dualing pianos. They play absolutely ANYTHING anyone can request and it was so much fun! We happen to sit at the owner's table and make friends, she requests us a bunch of songs and gets the pianists to throw Whit on stage to embarrass her! So amazing! We got a little carried away and became "the life of the party" (according to the players) in the midst of drunks...who knew that was possible! Just goes to show you definitely don't need any alcohol with these girls to have some fun!

Whit's gettin down onstage!

Now everyone needed a little spot light

The beautiful bride to be and me!

All of us

Lunch!

It's always such a great time with these girls and always very needed! Love them and love the times! Once again...to my Whitney!

Steve Nash, House on Haunted Hill, and a few cute monsters

2009-11-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

I'm talking about the one time of year I can watch the scariest movies ever and Dallin can't say a word about it to me. That's right, Halloween! I loooooove it! Maybe it's the fact that I LOVE getting scared, but on the other hand I hate being scared. Anyway, it's everything. The cute decorations, the scary movies featured on TV, the most adorable little kids in their costumes, and that feeling that fall is definitely here no matter if we like it or not. Which in my case, it's a love-hate relationship.
I unfortuately had to work during the day, but that didn't keep me from getting ready, I bought a HUGE bag of candy...which I ate a lot of. As soon as I walked in the door from work our doorbell started going crazy. I did not have time to get scary so I threw on my NASH jersey, let my hair down with a SUNS hat over it = Steve Nash during season (with his gross hair, I don't think mine was that bad, but it was effective).

And oooohhhhhhh mmy gosh, this was my first year passing out candy being in the house and since we're in an actual neighborhood, the CUTEST kids came!
My favorite was a darling little Super Woman. As soon as I open the door, "Trick or Treat" and she runs in the house towards me! She stayed for like a minute and started crying when mom took her away....aw.
Dal and I rounded up the night with a pizza, candy, and the old black and white movie "House on Haunted Hill". Such a fun year! Despite not getting dressed and going out, this year was one of my favorites so far!

Some Random Sunday Thoughts

2009-10-11T20:11:00.001-07:00

Sunday always is a time for random thinking for me...it's nice to have the time to let my mind wander on things, for example...

1. What EXACTLY is annointing....it's said all the time but how sad is it that I am not quite sure the extent of it...this weeks study thought.
2. How lucky am I to have my Dallin guy! wow is all I can say!
3. I can't believe I've turned into some sap about love, this was never me.
4. Why doesn't NiQuil knock me out when it says it will...LIAR (I need to go to sleep really bad)
5. Why is it that I always want what I can't have? I never used to be a dessert person but now that I shouldn't have it, it's all I want. ughhhhh
6. I am way to lazy to try to be a domestic house wife. BUT I am trying. I stained a crappy desk and made it look amazing, thanks to my amazing cuz Janine for enlightening me on this.
7. What the heck kind of dress am I going to get for Whit's wedding.
8. My nephew Forrest just asked a girl to his first Homecoming...I didn't even know he was old enough. Soooo out of the loop.

Dad and his twin...?

2009-09-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

Whenever I'm feeling kind of home sick or even simply missing being around my parents I have weird tendencies. Some of which.....listening to Elvis Presley and watching his stupid movies if I can find them, listening to motown, UB40 (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE WHITE....THEY SING REGGAE!!!), etc. But probably the strangest one of all is watching the O'Reilly Factor. I love O'Reilly, and if anyone has ever spent a late afternoon with my family, you'd understand. Not only does the show remind me of my parents, he actually literally reminds me of my dad! Granted his face is a little slimmer, but I think there is a slight resemblance. He talks like him and makes the same kind of dumb jokes. Although, my dad will substitute "pinhead" for "idiot". Ironic. Topic of the night for Bill? The "pinhead" judge who gave a child molestor a sentence of only probation....aaaand allowing illegals access to health insurance. Hm....Both of which I am STRONGLY against. I hate the latter subject, I'm already getting mad thinking about it. LET'S BUILD A BIG WALL! (kidding...in a way)

A Pre-Ode to my Whitty

2009-09-08T19:06:00.001-07:00

I almost forgot!!! That is not ALL in our lives right now!!!!
One of my closest, nearest and dearest friends, who I feel so lucky to call one of my oldest and best friends is getting married!!!!! ahhhhhhhhHHHH! I'm so excited for her! We went and looked at rings together, looked at wedding dresses, thought about flowers, and all the fun stuff that comes with planning a wedding. She's such an amazing girl and I love her so much. She is marrying a great guy named Colin who is from Twin Falls and he is the country boy she has always wanted :). They are so cute together.
She and I have known each other since early elementary and have been together since then through awkward junior high where WHO knew what we were doing, to dramatic highschool with our hearts that "could never be mended from ex bfs" (haha so dumb), and to college together where the parties never ended, and to now! So take that to that one boy who never thought we would still be friends after all these years! To my Whitty, my NiNi, love you so much and I'm so excited for you to have an amazing life with your sweetheart.

Me and Whit

Santa Barbara vs Rexburg....is there EVEN a vs?

2009-09-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Dall and I were able to finally take a MUCH needed vacation this past week, which turned out to be sooooooo fun. We went out to Santa Barbara to visit my sister Susanna and her family. Thankfully she was able to take time out of her crazy busy schedule to have some fun with us. Our first day there we all went out to a little city called Solvang. It's a cool little Danish/Scandinavian town, one of my favorites. By trolly we traveled up and down State St which had a million fun little shops, we went on an amazing sunset sail and saw the sun set into the ocean, so fun. Took many a walk on the beach and actually found a dead sea lion! We weren't sure if it was dead or not so I walked up to it, jumped at it and finally left it alone. But the MOST amazing part about the vacation was probably the food...hands down. Jennifer cooked such amazing meals, and there was the BEST seafood on the harbor and now I'm going through withdrawls being back in Rexburg...cause I could REALLY go for a shrimp cocktail or clam chowder right now. It really was so fun to see Sue, Jennifer, and our cute nieces Cassidy and Ella who are soooo big now! Cassidy is ten and Ella is 5 starting Kindergarten and she has the most attitude I have ever seen a 5 year old possess (sp?), she is so much fun.
It really was great to finally spend some time with my amazing sister and her family, it was much needed.
So now after such a great vacation we are back in Rexburg and wanting even more to leave....even though we know we will miss Rexburg like crazy when it's all said and done.
So Dallin is starting back to school in a couple days, and once again I am so jealous! And he is still an amazing guy...I am lucky.
So other than our amazing vacation, nothing else is really new...so that's it for right now.

Dallin and me in Solvang

Sue, Cassidy, Ella, and me

The dead sea lion

Dallin and I exploring State

Amazing Dal

Cass and me LOVING our yogurtland yogurt...yum!

My Thoughts? How about a penny for them....

2009-07-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

I know random title but nothing else came to mind. The quote came from the "olden" days when postage was just a penny, so it was only a penny for your thoughts, cute huh. At least that's what my mom told me, the things you learn when your parents are the age your grandparents should be :)
So as of late I've been ridiculously homesick which is so strange for me. I've never been homesick in my life. But I miss the beautiful Arizona desert even though it's a beauty only a true Arizonan would love. I miss the 120 degree heat and my pool. Most of all I'm missing my family. My sweet little neices and nephews are getting too big and I'm not there to harrass them. And worst of all, no one is keeping my parents on their toes anymore!
The closer Dallin gets done with school, the more I start looking in to moving down there...I don't know if he knows this or not. He should though.
Also...I don't know if this is my homesick-ness or not...BUT I WANT A KITTEN! Even though Dallin has said no, I'm not letting this stop me. After all, I let him have a bullet bike which is pretty much a death trap...I RISKED my husband dying every day he had it! right...? right! So I have my arguments all planned out, I just have to present them to him in a logical manner, since that's the only way he'll listen to things like this.
Who knows, maybe in a month or so we'll have a new addition to the Bradley family, and NO THAT DOES NOT MEAN A BABY, SORRY JANINE.

For now, Kitten-less and Ancy in Rexburg

Life and the Times of Dashley

2009-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Exciting times for the Bradley's right here, I'll tell you what. We just recently moved into Dallin's (excuse me, OUR :)) rental house here in Rexburg. The stupid renters decided to up and bail on us in the middle of their agreement so of course we had to come to the rescue and move into the house. I know, it's just a hit we have to take :). Thankfully our apartment lease is up and we're renting out the house basement to three guy friends. I'm pretty much a pimp. Let me just say I was not made for apartment living, not this girl. I have been very spoiled living in the house and it's going to be hard to live anywhere else. With that said I'm in the middle of trying to break my feng shui through into my decorating. I'm not very good at it either, well that and the fact that I hate wasting money on decorations/decorative furniture. We will see, pictures to follow when everything's all said and done.
So I'm currently working for PCCI as a donor processor, don't ask it what that is cause I won't tell you, it sounds cooler than it really is. Dallin is working for Big Dog Satellite as an installer, he's really good at what he does. It's really impressive having my cute husband be able to do so many things, he's quite the renaissance man. But in a couple weeks he's going back to school full time and I am SO JEALOUS! I miss being a free spirited college student...I've been thinking about this for a while now (and talking to Dad about it too) and I think I might go back and get a second degree before graduate school...options are....accounting, hospital administration, or my first love - astronomy (shut up don't say a word). Dad is all for accounting which was his. I like this idea especially since that was my first route in college. We will see. This is of course all contingent on Dallin's graduation date, which is still yet to be decided...yes.
Second order of business. My beloved Blackie (my miata) is up for sale. Although I think she's worth much more than what we're asking. Which could be because of all our amazing memories together. She will be missed. Hopefully we'll get a better, upgraded version later in life, I'm so sad it's pathetic.
This afternoon I had a little family chat with Mom, Dad, and my nieces and nephew, Skyris, London and Jaiden. They are the cutest kids EVER. Although my little nephew London is quite the little instigator. I'll share a story about him. He's always had problems paying attention in school, he's not the sit down and be quiet type. He's extremely high spirited and fiesty. One day he and his teacher were having typical problems with him listening. She told him to go to another room and think about how he should listen and obey the things she tells him. After this stupid little quiet time he comes back to her with what looks to be an apology card. Although on the front of it, it says, "Whatever you do, DON'T OPEN!" Of course his teacher opens it only to read his writing saying, "See you don't listen very well either" hahahaha I love this kid...

Me and London

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

2009-01-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

So...I have finally reached that un-reachable goal, I graduated from BYUI. yesssssssss! As exciting as it is it's still kinda sad. Considering this has been my life for what...16 years? And now I'm being thrown into the work force, granted it's Rexburg's work force, which means even though I have my four year degree I will still be working next to people who have NOT graduated but still get paid the same amount...that's great. But it will still be a great experience, mmhmm. Dallin is still in school for a couple more semesters...we're both getting fed up with Rexburg and weighing our options on moving somewhere else, I don't know where we would go, but we will see. Mom and Dad have been pushing for us to come back to AZ and for Dallin to go to ASU, he's not to keen on that one though. Although the non freezing temperatures are definitely a reason to go back there...Which leads me to something else! So my stupid little Miata is under an estimated 2-3 feet of snow back in Rexburg! Anyone want to sign up to dig it out? Ya, not me. I'm tempted to just leave it as it is for the winter, like it's actually going to move around in the snow right? On the other hand it is a complete blast to do 360's in in fresh snow.

Me and Dallin at Graduation!

Family afterwards

Exciting!!! Dallin and I just celebrated our first year of being married! Wooooo way to go to us! Huge milestone I know. This is sweet...a few months ago Dallin made reservations for our anniversary at the Scottsdale Princess Resort, which is where we stayed on our wedding night. He had everything completely planned to perfection. However, we had to cancel everything....we got stranded in stupid Las Vegas on our way to AZ because of snow! Since when has it ever snowed (that much?) in Vegas!!?!?! Haha, whatever...Our anniversary was still sweet. We got to eat the top layer of our cake too (my mom kept it frozen for us). Haha, it wasn't quite as good as it was the previous year though.

Anniversary

Not as good as it once was....

The Holidays have been great for us too this year...we spent Thanksgiving with his and Christmas with mine. Both were a lot of fun! New Years was spent with Aunt Iva and cousin Janine's family which was as always, lots of fun. We are very blessed to have such great families and all the support they continually show us. Happy New Year!

In order for one to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.

2008-09-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand...my third post. Thank you. McCall, I hope business class is going well for you right now. Tell Jim hi for me today, and if you go to McDonalds without me again you're both dead.
So if you recall from earlier, we were debating on our car issues. From this we decided we had really no use for Dallin's Mazda...since we have his little work truck and my ever fabulous Miata. So...a dealership in utah offered us exactly what we wanted for the car. We make a weekend of it and go down. When we get there, they get this team of "searchers" to investigate our car. Come to find out, the car had been in a HUGE wreck before Dallin paid for it. To our loss, this wreck never showed up into any reports and apparantly the dealership never has to tell the buyer anything, oh and that's a rule in Utah, one more reason for me to hate the state, thank you Larry H. Miller. So after we find this out, the dealership refused to even take our car. We went to a couple other places playing dumb and they found the same thing. Even though this car is in great condition, who cares if it's in a wreck, YOU could never tell. Guaranteed. So if any of you out there want an amazing car, boy do we have a deal for you.
Thank goodness though for Kira and Matt, they made our weekend an amazing one. We got to spend the rest of our time with them in their adorable new house. It's not really new, but to me it is, let's just say they put tons of work into it and it looks ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Props to Kira and Matty, we miss you. Oh and Kira...I sure missed our Sunday naps, good blast from the past.
We're back in Rexburg...working, school, fun....yes.

Dear, I fear we're facing a problem...boredom

2008-08-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ok I know this is my second post for the day but I'm bored. Dallin is next to me sleeping and I already cleaned the apartment. So through my new found blogging experience I found a lot of new and exciting things! One of which I found off of Tamara Oborn's page, I'm stealing it :) hope you don't mind!

My Husband...What is his name? Dallin Paul Bradley
How long have you been together? Unofficially since April 2007
How long did you date? Well that's a question...it's kind of confusing. We never wanted to admit we were dating each other. But we secretly really liked each other pretty much since the first day we met, or so.
How old is he? 23
Who eats more? It really depends. Sometimes I do, sometimes he does.
Who said I love you first? Definitely Dal, I've always been very old fashioned with that
Who is taller? Have you seen us? Dallin...
Who sings better? Him of course, from what I've heard he got his mothers great voice
Who is smarter? I'm better at studying than he is...He's very logical and is very smart when thrown into situations.
Whose temper is worse? Mine hands down, unless I've already pushed him over his limit (which is really really hard to do)
Who does the laundry? Normally that's mine
Who does the dishes? We both do, cute.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does
Who pays the bills? Online - Him, Mail - Both
Who mows the lawn? I wish we had a lawn...
Who cooks dinner? McDonalds, haha just kidding. Me.
Who drives when you are together? Normally Dallin
Who is more stubborn? Oooh hard to say. He's extremely stubborn but I might say me...
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Dallin, he is very good at that
Whose parents do you see the most? I'd say we see both a pretty equal amount
Who kissed who first? Dallin haha
Who asked who out? Dallin asked me out summer 2006 to his family's Lake trip, but I didn't go :) but then about a couple weeks later we went out on quads, very fun.
Who proposed? He did
Who is more sensitive? I think me
Who has more friends? We're about the same
Who has more siblings? Exactly the same, 2 brothers and 3 sisters.
Who wears the pants in the family? It depends on the situation :)

Aaaaaand he's still not awake...

Summer of loooooooooove!

2008-08-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

So we're still in Rexburg. But we have definitely been having some excitement lately. On July 25th our friends Brooke and Nick tied the knot, a week later our other friends Kim and Jason followed suit, then five days later my cousin Jessica and hers were married. Since there were only five days between the last two weddings I decided to stay in Utah and hang out with all the family that had traveled there. It was probably one of the most fun weeks ever. From my 70 year old aunts and mom dancing around the table to the Mama Mia soundtrack, to cousin wrestling and football matches and 2 am Big Mac runs. mmmmmm. Definitely miss seeing everyone so often. But now we're back in Idaho, yes. I think the next big thing for us is changing cars. Maybe a truck...maybe another miata...? haha

Our girls at Kim's Wedding

My cousin! and no that's not the groom, that's her grandpa

Dal and me at Jess's wedding