Big Brother

Jared and I may have different styles of TV shows that we prefer.  We do have a few we watch together.  However, one show that Robin watches is Big Brother.  This last season, the second place contestant was in Las Vegas for a conference and chose to hold an informal meet-up at the Rio, to meet fans of the show.  Robin was able to quickly go and meet Dan.

One Year Anniversary

Jared and I have been married for one year now.  I really can't believe its been a year already.

The highlights in this first year include. . .

• We celebrated our marriage, by going to Disneyland.
• Robin graduated college in August.
• We moved to Las Vegas.
• Having the Smith family over for Thanksgiving.
• Spending our first Christmas together by spending time with our friends and seeing Les Miserables.
• New Years was spent with Robin falling asleep and Jared supplying cheesecake and apple cider.

On Saturday, January 5th, we both worked earlier in the day.  After work, Jared and I went to Olive Garden for dinner.  We got one of the waiters to take our picture for us.  We found this idea on pinterest about taking a picture on our first anniversary with us and a wedding picture.  Next year, we will take a picture with us holding this year's picture and so on and so forth.  

Our Picture vs. What it will look like in a few years

We then went to the strip for a scavenger hunt.  It was done by a company called Strayboots.  They send your cell phone clues and then you respond with the answers.  We got to learn some fun things about the central part of the strip.  

Happy New Year!

Hi Everybody,
    Happy New Year! This is Jared typing. I thought I would try my skills at a blog post so here it goes. I hope all of you had a fun and safe holiday season. The New Year looks hopeful and full of surprises for everybody. Lets hope that 2013 is a good year for everybody. I thought I would give a little update on what Jared and Robin did over the holiday season.

    Overall, the holiday season was very relaxing and stress free. To sum up, I would say that for us it was simple and enjoyable. I worked Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas as well as New Years Eve and New Years so we stayed in Las Vegas this year. We weren't entirely alone. Christmas was spent with some really good friends who were also in town for the holidays.

     Here is a brief summary of some of the things Robin and I did when we weren't working or involoved in other activities.

     One night the two of us went to the Bellagio Resort and Casino to see there Christmas exhibit that is displayed in the hotels botanical garden conservatory. There was a really big, massive real tree all decorated. There were other exhibits as well including one behind the front desk of the hotel.

                                                                     The Big Tree

 

                                                                    This is made from real flowers

 

 

                                                  This was the display behind the front desk


   We also went to the rooftop of the observation overlook at the Cosmopolitan. The pool was turned into an ice skating rink. The bar had hot chocolate available and there were fire pits with chairs for people to sit and enjoy the warmth of the fire.

The view of the strip from the obervation deck of the Cosmopolitan

 

We also spent a lot of time watching Christmas shows, reading Christmas books and endulging in the spirit of the season.

 

   On Christmas Day we woke up early, which bytheway I dont really do. My alarm is usually set for 9am. :) We headed over to our friends, the Diesters too see their children open up their presents. The kids, Isaac and Isabell got lots of toys. The big gift Isaac liked was his Cozy Coupe.

Some assembly required. Fun trying to put it together

   Attempting to put the Cozy Coupe together was interesting. Isaac kept getting in it and pushing it across the floor. Also, the youtube instructional videos are totally inaccurate. They make it look so simple. I guess the key to putting a plastic car together is to not have a kid in it during the assembly process. :)

 

   We spent the day with the Diesters socializing and enjoying each others company. In the evening we all gathered for a traditional Christmas turkey dinner. I loved spending the day with the and seeing the kids.

  

   Robin and I did break away, headed back to the house and did our own little christmas. We opened presents. She got me a book I really wanted, Anne of Green Gables movie and a wii gift card to use to download games onto the wii from the wii store. I got her a really nice set of pearls complete with necklace, earrings, and bracelet. We also received a pizza stone. The highlight of the season was Robin and myself seeing Les Miserables Christmas morning. It was amazing.

 

 

 

That about sums up our Holiday Season for Robin and I but before I end this post there is just one more thing I needed to update. For New Years we stayed at home. Robin wasn't really feeling well so we didnt want to go anywhere. She stayed home and I went to Cafe Rio to get us dinner as well as Cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. At midnight, we opened a bottle of sparkling cider and endulged ourselves in cheesecake. :)

 

Well thats it. That is the update from Robin and Jared and our lives in Las Vegas. Be the best you can be this year. Happy 2013!

 









Thanksgiving

This year, we stayed in Vegas and Jared's family came to us.  His parents stayed with us and his sister and her family stayed down the street in a condo.

The family arrived on Wednesday (after I did some shopping) and we went to the pool.

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving by getting catering by Smith's Grocery Store.  They provided a turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, and stuffing.  Amanda made rolls, I made fruit salad and raspberry jello salad, and Jared's dad made pies.

After dinner, we went to the Cactus Botanical Garden and Chocolate Factory.  They decorated the cactus garden with lights and it was surprisingly very beautiful.  The chocolate factory has a free self-guided tour where they give you free chocolate.  The chocolate is delightful.

On Friday, I had to work.  Jared took the niece and nephew to the park.

Friday was a relaxing day for the most part.  Playing the Wii, watching movies, and socializing.

Saturday, Jared and I both had to work.  After we got home, we had homemade pizza and played games.

Sunday, we all attended Sacrament Meeting together for church and then split up.  Jared's family went back to Utah and we went home and to work.

***Raspberry Jello Pudding Recipe***

1 small package raspberry jello

1 small package instant vanilla pudding 

1 small package tapioca pudding

3 cups water

Bring to a coil stirring constantly

Cool and fold in.

1 small container Cool Whip

1 1/2 cups thawed raspberries

Refrigerate until served

Jared's 28th Birthday

Jared turned 28 on Monday.

We started off with going to Chili's for dinner.  Jared got ribs and I got a caribbean salad.

Jared had no idea where we were staying the night (all he knew was that a hotel was involved) so we drove around while Jared was trying to guess where we were going.  We ended up staying at the Golden Nugget.

I got us cheesecake from the cheesecake factory and the same sparkling apple cider we had when we stayed at the Anniversary Inn, when we got married.  It was great to spend time just the two of us.  

For Jared's present, I got him the Nashville Band's Tribute for missionaries.

I wrapped his gift in a cereal box to make it look like the gift was larger than a cd.  Look at how happy he is.

Halloween

Jared and I were supposed to have our first similar day off.  It seems like I have had Monday/Tuesday off and Jared has had Wednesday/Thursday so we were excited to have the same day off.  However, I got called into work with another key holder being sick and I was the only one not working at that time with no kids.

Thankfully, my boss decided I was going to close early so I was out of there around 5:30 pm.  That meant I was able to make it to our trunk or treat with Jared.  We made homemade fudge and funfetti cookies and it seemed like it was a hit.  We had a number of moms taking fudge for their kids and eating it themselves.

Next year I am planning on actually dressing up and being a little bit more festive in decorations.

Here is the recipe for the Funfetti Cookies. (sorry, the fudge recipe is a special gift from an old roommate.  It is her secret family recipe, but she made an exception for my wedding present)

Ingredients
1 pkg. Funfetti cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 can vanilla frosting
Sprinkles

Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit   In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

Step 2
Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Step 3
Spread frosting over warm cookies.  Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting.  Let frosting set before storing.  Store in tightly covered container.

August/September Updates

We have now been living in Las Vegas for just over a month and it has been an adventure.  I just wanted to give a few updates about how life is going for us.  Who knows if any of these items will turn into a full post of it's own soon.

Jared
- He got a job doing catering for Cafe Rio.  He is a supervisor in training so whenever they feel like he is ready, he will be getting a promotion.
-School has started so Jared has been spending a lot of time doing homework.
-His friend, Scott, came to visit for a night on his road trip to Seattle and back to Florida.

Robin
-She had her 24th birthday
-The new job is going well.  Her favorite parts includes working birthday parties and playing with the children during down time.
-She will start a few online classes on Tuesday.  She will be taking accounting I and event management.
-She got new glasses.
-On her birthday, she found out she had the beginnings of an ulcer growing in her eye so she was put on meds and told to not wear contacts over the weekend.  (Update, my eye is now healed because of catching it early and doing a good job taking care of it over my 4 day weekend.)

showing off the new glasses.