Sunday, October 19, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was wonderful! We actually let it start last Saturday and we went to the Double Musky down in Girdwood for dinner. I was down there for a Chiropractic Convention, so Mike drove down on Saturday night so that the festivities could begin! It is actually known around the country for it's steaks. They are amazing!
Then on my actual birthday Mike suprised me with a Pink auto start for my car! I was so excited!! It's getting cold up here and it's hard to go out in the morning to get my car warmed up and now I don't have to! With the slight push of a button my car will start and the heater and defrost can just start right up! No need to walk in my slippers freezing my hiney off anymore! Mike had to work during the day so I just relaxed. I had to meet some ladies from school to work on a project and then I went to a Creative Memories open house at my friend's house. That was lots of fun! I'm really excited to work on my wedding album. I also bought this software that I'm really excited about because it will keep and organize my photos and I can also create pages with it, so I have no excuse for not having any time! After that Mike was off so we went to the Sourdough Mining Company for dinner. Well techinically we went there so that we could get Korn Fritters, but their entree's are good too! After dinner we just came home and watched Made of Honor. It was very relaxed day, but I enjoyed every bit of it!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Name Change

Well today I officially started the process of changing my name. I would have begun earlier but the Salt Lake County Clerks office put the wrong wedding date, according to them we were married April 13, 2008. So I had to wait for a new and improved license with correct information. So today on my lunch break I made the dreaded trip to the Social Security Department. After going through the metal detecter, because you just never know when a weapon will be necessary to get something accomplished with the government, I headed down the ramp and took a number. I haven't been to a SSD in quite some time but they had four different letters each having their own numbers. So in theory they had 4 different lines. That didn't make sense to me, but I'm sure there's a method to the madness. I drew A33. When I got there they were on A28, I thought "Not Bad." Well the only were calling 'D' numbers. I was afraid I had done something wrong as no A numbers were being called after I had sat there for 20-25 minutes. So, I went and drew another one, can't hurt right? Well they eventually called my A33 after a mere 40 minutes. It took them 5 minutes to take me information and I was outta there. I personally think they need more people working the windows. I mean, you know it's going to be busy every day, may as well staff for it. Now I get to face the DMV so that I can then start changing bank accounts and such. What a journey!!!

German-American Holiday



So, for those FEW of you who are unaware, Monday October 6th was German-American day. Leave it to my husband to find out that there is actually a day set aside to celebrate those who are both German and American. With a name like Fries there's no denying the German, so of course we MUST celebrate! Of course he didn't find out until late in the day that it was German-American day so I had little time to prepare, but I think it turned out nicely. There is a german sausage company down the street from my work that sold Kinder-eggs and Ritter Sports Bars (and if you never had either..it's a must have) that had come straight from Germany. And then to top it off my lovely sister, Liz, gave me a recipe for German Pancakes. It was a wonderful celebration and I wouldn't be suprised if it is a requirement to celebrate every year!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

It's Official...


Winter has begun :(. The day started out with sunshine, which then turned into a tumultuous rainstorm, which then turned into snow. Now I know that snow can be a good thing, in that winter can be a heck of a lot colder without the snow, but I'm just not ready for it! Besides the fact that it is only the first weekend in October, which is pretty standard for the first snowfall in the great state of AK, but more importantly....our summer was horrible! I don't know about the whole state, but I do know for myself that I put up with the cold, extra long, dark winter because the summer makes it worth it. The long days, no darkness, perfect temperature and the scenery of Alaska is the perfect combination. This summer we weren't quite so lucky. It rained daily, especially on weekends. When the sun did shine it happened during the work week and then would turn cloudy right around 5 p.m. So disappointing. So here we are about to embark on another winter. I've found all our coats, scarfs, gloves and hats. I'm sure not ready for it but I guess we're prepared.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Honeymoon!!


We have now been home for almost 2 weeks and we both hit the ground running, so I deeply apologize for the long pause in posts and updates! We still don't have our wedding pictures from our photographer, so although I do have the photos my momma took I'm going to wait to post pictures from the wedding and reception. We had such a FUN trip! The weather was beautiful and sunny and warm, and it was so good to see our families that we hadn't seen in SOOOO long. I got to meet Mike's family, which was great. They are ALL awesome, and I'm glad that they are my new family. It's always fun to see my family and friends, and there were so many that I hadn't seen in way too long. Although we didn't get to visit long, it was nice to see them. It was hard to come back to the arctic! There is always MUST DO items when I come to Utah: eat at Olive Garden and Cafe Rio! I had to fit them in with all the wedding excitement. It may not seem like such a luxury for someone who lives so close to these nice dining experiences, but try moving thousands of miles away and then make your judgement! I also wanted to do some shopping, because well it's cheaper and better selection! Mike had to restrict me some.
There is going to be lots of pictures on this particular post, please enjoy!
This is Mike playing with 2 of my nieces and my nephew on the airplane see-saw!
We spent 4 days in Utah (2 before the wedding, 1 for the wedding and then 1 after the wedding), then we were off to sunny California and DISNEYLAND!! This is Mike's "funny" face while we are waiting in line to park at the fabulous theme park.
Here's a fun fact...he refused to make a funny face when asked to by the photographer at our wedding, but had multiple funny faces when I took the pictures!


Here he is in Goofy's car. If you look close enough you will see that he is pouting. What a whiner! But I LOVE him!


This is us after riding Splash Mountain. We happened to get the first two seats on the log thingy that you ride in and we got SOAKED!


It wouldn't be Disneyland without a picture with Mickey Mouse so were glad we were finally able to find him!

We spent the second day at the California Adventures Park. Neither one of us had been there before so it was quite the adventure (no pun inteded!) The park is fairly new, but they had a BRAND new ride, the Toy Story ride. It's 3-D, hence the fancy-pants glasses! It was the longest line we had to stand in (but it was only 30 minutes, so I would definately suggest going to Disneyland in September when there is no holidays and school is in!), but it was worth it. We had fun and would of rode it again, but we didn't want to stand in line again! Speaking of lines, since the last time I went to Disneyland they have implented a new program called the "Fast Pass". In short, they have specific rides that it works on each day and all you have to do is slide your park access pass into the machine and it pops out another pass with a time on it that you are to return. So in otherwords, in stands in line for you, which gives you the option to go on the other rides while you are in line for that one. Then when your time comes you walk to the front of the line and receive priority in seat. We didn't quite grasp the concept our first day, but figured it out on Splash Moutain (which was our last ride that day) so we had it down for our 2nd day @ California Adventures! So we took advantage and rode the same rollercoaster 3 times! So much fun!

I think Mike's favorite part of our honeymoon was our rental car. If you're gonna be in SoCal, you may as well get a convertable! And that's just what we did...a Mustang Convertable to be exact, and Mike was in heaven. It did a number on my hair, but we had fun while it lasted!






After days of riding rollercoasters, shopping and enjoying ourselves we flew to Sacramento to be with Mike's family. We did more shopping (It's just so much better in the lower 48!) ate at Olive Garden for the 2nd time, Pam (Mike's Mom) and I went to the local Casino, slots weren't lucky for us that night, and had another party! Again, I don't have those pictures, so as soon as I get some I'll get them posted. It was fun to meet ALL of Mike's family, and my parents flew in the rendezvous so it was fun for everyone to meet. Sunday morning we woke up bright and EARLY to drive to San Francisco to begin our return trip. It was a long day. We drove 2 hours to San Fran, flew from San Fran to Denver, had a 4 hour lay over there and then flew 5 hours from Denver to Anchorage. We were so sad to leave our families, but glad our traveling day was over!