Random Things about Chief

I was noticing that I have been much less frequent in my blogging this month (probably due to the craziness of closing the year at work). So in an attempt to get my numbers up for the month, I decided to share with you 25 random things about me (in no particular order).

1. I like stuffed animals way more than I should for my age. We have a chair full of frogs (my favorite) and other animals randomly around our apartment.

2. I love playing board games. I'm constantly asking Rog if we can have people over to play games.

3. I check my email/Facebook/Google Reader millions of times a day.

4. I'm obsessed with wiping out the kitchen sink. The apartment is not clean until that is done.

5. When I go running, my feet sweat more than any other part of my body. I take my shoes off to stretch on the walkway outside our apartment after our morning run and I always leave feet prints.

6. I insist on Rog holding my hand while we fall asleep. Fortunately for him, I can fall asleep almost instantly, so he can steal his hand back.

7. I love to do lists. I always have a master to do list for the week, a list at work of the accounts I have to reconcile, and a list of what we are having for dinner each night of the week.

8. I keep my closet organized by when I last wore something, so I don't wear anything too frequently. In high school, I kept a calendar where I recorded what I wore every day.

9. When I graduated from college I also graduated from sandwiches for lunch. The thought of having a PB & J for lunch disgusts me.

10. I keep all my receipts (and make Rog do the same). I am one of the rare people that actually enjoys doing a budget, balancing my checkbook, etc...

11. I frequently wake up in the middle of the night and think that it's the morning. In high school, it wasn't rare for me to shower and then realize it was 2:00 am!

12. At work I have to have my windows in the right order on the bottom of my screen or I can't get anything done.

13. I love pictures and picture frames. I have to take pictures of every event. If I don't have a picture, it's like it didn't happen. I have pictures all over my apartment and even at work.

14. I have way too many hobbies. I love to scrapbook, blog, sew, make crafts, read, and play with our Wii. And there is never enough time for these things.

15. I absolutely love FRIENDS (the tv show) although I never watched it when it was actually on air. I have all 10 seasons and we watch them in order over and over again.

16. A year isn't complete if I don't visit Disneyland. We didn't go in 2008, so one of the first things I did in 2009 was plan a visit there. We're running the Disneyland 5K in September and we have already booked our hotel and signed up for the race!

17. My birthday might as well be a national holiday. I get more excited about it than I do for any other day.

18. I like to find a book I like and read it over and over again. The same thing goes for movies. I hate wasting my time on a book or movie I might not like.

19. I hate split ends, so I am constantly getting my hair cut. I'm not creative at all with my hair, so I always just get a trim and no one notices. I got a hair cut on Saturday and only one person (other than Rog) has said anything.

20. When I put a jacket on in the morning, it takes me nearly all day to take it off. It's not that I'm cold, it's just that I get comfortable in it and don't want to take it off.

21. I never thought I'd be a cheerleader. I tried out because I wanted to dance, but I didn't want to be on the drill team. That being said, I loved my days as a cheerleader!

22. I always think I'm dying. If I have a random pain or anything that doesn't seem normal, I obsess over what is wrong with me. (It drives Rog crazy!)

23. I never like to go to bed without my apartment perfectly clean and organized.

24. I have always thought that I'm not as cute/pretty/talented/popular as my sister. I always was self-conscious being around her friends because I thought they were judging me for not being as cool as her.

25. I'm like Monica on FRIENDS, if it's not a right angle, it's a wrong angle.

Cutest Husband EVER

I know some of you may think that you have the cutest husband, but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong... Mine is! Earlier this week we got talking about love languages and I mentioned that I like notes. Last night when we got home from my show, I found little sticky notes all over our apartment with cute little notes on them.

For example, in my makeup drawer was a note that said, "You are so beautiful that you don't need anything in this drawer." And on a wedding picture, "You really were the prettiest bride ever." It was so fun trying to find where they all were hidden. And apparently I still have one left to find! As you can see there were quite a few of them...

So sorry to disappoint you all, but I think the evidence speaks for itself. I really do have the cutest husband ever! I love you babe!

What a week!

Today, the last Friday in January, at 5:00 was our deadline for closing the year. I've talked about closing before, so if you need an explanation of what that means, click here. The month started out badly with our Controller going to Cancun for a week. Of course there were other obstacles along the way, so we started the week knowing it would be a rough one.

It was also a busy week after work. I got to drive past the point of the mountain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night.

On Tuesday Rog and I went to the Draper Temple Open House. It was a great experience and we were very glad we went. Although I'm pretty sure it was about the coldest night we could have chosen to go! It was freezing!

On Wednesday I had a dress rehearsal up in Salt Lake and Thursday was my show. I have always had loyal supporters and this show was no exception. My grandpa and grandma on my dad's side came and of course Rog was there (whether he liked it or not). Unfortunately it wasn't my best performance, but that's the way it goes.

Somehow I made it through the week and we did get the year closed. Although we definitely cut it too close for comfort! Thank goodness it's finally the weekend!

At it again

For Christmas my SIL Marti got me a picture frame (my SIL Kenzie actually picked it out). While contemplating what pictures I should put in the frame, I came up with a brilliant idea to make it into a Valentine frame. I added some paper, letters (LOVE), buttons, other embellishments, and got my favorite "lovey" pictures of us printed in black and white. I think it turned out pretty dang cute and it was EASY!

Yay for my first Valentine's Day decoration!

Recent Happenings

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I had to work. BOO!!! We decided to go to Tucanos for lunch because Roger had a free meal there for his birthday. Even though it was no fun working on a holiday, it was fun to get to have lunch with Rog.

I decided to branch out a little and make some cards with my cricut. I'm not very good at it yet, but I'm sure I'll get better with practice.

We have been wanting to use our All Sport Passes more, so we went to the men's volleyball game last night. Roger had never been before and I hadn't been since before we got engaged. It was fun to do something different for our Friday date night.

Introducing...

the Ririe Rockers! After the tap concert my family came over and we played some Rock Band. We were unable to get my dad to play, but don't worry, we will next time!

On Sunday we went up to Salt Lake for dinner at my grandparent's house. Before we left to drive up there, my mom texted me asking if we could bring Rock Band up. We had a great dinner and got to have some more Rock Band fun! I love my family!

Move Those Feet!

Last Saturday was the first of my two tap performances. My parents and brother came up from St. George and my mom's parents came down from Salt Lake. Diana and Jason also came to the show. I was so happy to have them all there to watch me! Roger recorded both of the dances I was in. I attempted 3 times to upload the videos, but they were too big. So if you want to see me tap, you can come to my second show! Or if $12 is out of your price range (I don't blame you), you can come over to my apartment and watch them on my computer. :)

It was so fun to be up on stage performing again! Here I am in my disco costume (I'll have to get a picture in my other costume next time) with my cute Honey Bunches (doesn't he look so handsome!) and my tap buddy, Ashleigh.

Tire-changing Pro

On Monday I got ANOTHER flat tire! Talk about bad luck! This time I knew exactly what to do and changed it in 17 minutes flat. Many people stopped to ask if I needed help, but I confidently turned them all away. Practice makes perfect, I guess. Good thing we got our tires from Les Schwab and they fix flat tires for free!

A new addition...

...to our keychains! All APX employees and spouses of APX employees can have a free membership to the Throwdown gym in Orem. It's a fighting gym, but they also have all the regular stuff you find at a gym. They have free weights, weight machines, treadmills, stationary bikes, etc... And they have classes you can take such as yoga, pilates, cyclying, kickboxing, and many more. When I found out I could have a membership there, it just made me laugh. But after seeing how much APX pays a month for us to be able to work out there ($10,000), I figured I should go. We went tonight for the first time, so y'all better watch out. We're hardcore! Haha!

What weekends are for...

Relaxing! Most weekends I don't feel like I have actually had the chance to relax, but this one was actually very relaxing.

Friday Rog picked me up from work (he had dropped me off so he could do some errands) and we went to pick up our order from Outback. We had ordered online ahead of time because we didn't want to do the whole wait for a table thing. When we got there, we could tell that we would have had to wait a long time, so we were glad we went with that option. They got our order 100% correct and they even gave us bread, so we were impressed.

After eating we went to the BYU Bookstore to exchange a BYU jacket Rog got me for Christmas because it was just a little too small. I really did like the one he picked out, but they didn't have it in a bigger size. So I picked out a different one and I love it! We finished the night by watching Bee Movie which is an excellent movie. I got it for him for his birthday and when he opened it he said, "I was going to get you this!" Are we married or what? Even though it sounds like a kid movie, we really love it and would recommend it to anyone!

Saturday morning I had tap practice. Rog did the laundry while I was gone (He is such a good house husband!) and then we both folded it and put it away when I got home. We did some errands and some jobs around the house. Then we had my good friends Zack and Emily over for dinner. They got married over the break and now live just a few blocks away from us. We are excited to have them as married friends!! We had Hawaiian Haystacks, Navajo Fry Bread and fruit salad. And Zack and Emily brought some amazing brownies and ice cream for dessert. We played Rock Band which was AWESOME!!

The 2nd Sunday of the month is always super busy for us. Roger has a meeting at 7:00 am and then we both have Welfare meeting at 9:00 and our presidency meetings at 11:00. Finally at 1:00 we start church. I also had tons of paperwork to do for Relief Society (rolls, calendar, attendance numbers, etc). So it was a full day of Relief Society.

For dinner I made beef barley stew that was very good. I think Roger's exact words were, "What I like about it is that it looks so gross, but tastes so good." We ended the night by playing a game of Oh Heck with my sister and BIL. It was a very busy day, but when it was over I felt rejuvenated and ready for Monday which I can assure you NEVER happens. Weird.

Tapity, tap, tap!

Last month I mentioned that I had a small performance for my tap company, Foot Poetry. Well, the time for our BIG shows has come! Here is the information for our shows.

Move Those Feet!

January 17, 2009, 7:30 pm

Covey Center for the Arts

425 West Center Street Provo, Utah

Tickets $10 General Admission

(801) 852-7007 or coveycenter.org

Footwork

January 29, 2009, 7:30 pm

Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center

138 West 300 South Salt Lake City, Utah

Tickets $12 General Admission

(801) 355-ARTS or arttix.org

The shows will include Tap, Irish Step Dance, Clogging, and Flamenco. If you need to see a show for a class or just want to enjoy a really good concert, I would definitely recommend one of these shows.

Roger is going to purchase tickets at the Covey Center on Monday during the box office hours (to avoid ticketing fees), so if you would like him to get you a ticket while he is there, just let me know!

Happy Birthday Rog!

(and Kenzie, Grandpa Ririe, Austin, and Aiden!) January 5 is a very popular day in to be born in my family and Roger's family.

This year I wanted to surprise Roger with something that would really make him excited. So I decided to get him Rock Band for the Wii. Being right after Christmas, all of the stores were sold out of said Rock Band, so I searched everywhere and with the help of my brother, we found one at Game Stop in St. George. I had my sister and BIL drive it home and the plan was for them to put it in our living room, so Rog would see it when we got home from dinner at his favorite restaurant, Outback. But like most plans, this one didn't exactly go as I imagined it.

I had texted Roger's brother to see if he thought I should get it for the Wii or for the Playstation 2. So of course he knew what I was getting him and he told all of Roger's family. This would have been fine, but the message didn't get passed along to Kenzie that it was a surprise, so when she called to wish him a happy birthday, she accidentally mentioned that she heard he got Rock Band. It was an honest mistake, so I'm not mad at her at all. It was just unfortunate.

If that wasn't enough, it was snowing like crazy and the roads were a mess... so we decided to just get our groceries (we were completely out of food from being in St. George) and then get dinner at Sonic. Don't worry, we're going to Outback this weekend, so Rog will still get to eat at his favorite restaurant.

Even though things didn't go as planned, I think he still had a good birthday. Happy 24 babe!!

Sunny St. George

To celebrate the New Year, we headed down to sunny St. George after my inventory count on Tuesday. We got a lot of good old fashion relaxing in while we were there. We slept in past 9:00 every morning and then enjoyed a WARM morning run for a change. Rog played video games with my little brother and I scrapbooked. We watched movies and played games. And we went out to eat practically every night!

New Year's Eve we had a fondue party and then played with sparklers and poppers at midnight. My dad actually stayed awake until midnight which was quite the accomplishment for him.

We went to see Seven Pounds at my request. We had heard from a couple in our ward that it was excellent and all the previews had made me very curious. It didn't receive very good reviews from the critics, so I was a little nervous that everyone would hate it and it would be my fault. Fortunately I think everyone liked it for the most part anyway. It was kind of sad, but I really did enjoy it. I would recommend it.

Rog got money for a bike for Christmas, so he got a bike while we were there. My dad and brother have the same bike, so they are now bike buddies. We also bought a bike rack, so we could bring it home (but also because we are planning on taking our bikes on many adventures this summer).

We went to my parent's ward temple night at the St. George temple and got to be the witness couple for the first time which was a great experience.

We had such a good time and neither of us wanted to come back to reality here in Provo where it is FREEZING, we have to go to bed and get up at normal times, Rog has to go to school, and I have to go to work.

Hello 2009!

As we say goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009, it's time to make some resolutions. Here they are.

Mine:
1. Run two half marathons. Cause that's the same as one full one, right?
2. Finish the frog quilt I started last year.
3. Read every Ensign cover-to-cover.

Rog's:
1. Complete a triathlon.
2. Eat more salads.
3. Finish reading the Chronicles of Narnia series.

And finally some we want to accomplish together:
1. Visit Zions, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capital Reef National Parks. We already visited Bryce.
2. Swim in the Great Salt Lake.
3. Go on a hot air balloon ride.
4. Visit the temples in Utah we haven't already visited.