celebrating three

We celebrated three years of marriage with a little weekend getaway to Las Vegas!

Friday afternoon we drove down to Vegas and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Westin resort at Lake Las Vegas. Our room had an awesome view of the lake! We went out for a fun dinner and to a totally different restaurant for dessert. I just love that everything stays open late in Vegas!

Saturday was all about relaxing. We decided to spend the day at the pool before a going out for a night on the town. The pool at the Westin is just gorgeous. There was even a DJ there all day Saturday. It was so great to have lunch poolside, listen to great music and be lazy in the sun!

Saturday night we had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - Maggianno's! We had a great view of the strip while we ate. It was so romantic and just the perfect night!

Happy three years to my adorable husband that I love!

I can't wait for many more years to come!

xo

friends & the fourth

This 4th of July was fabulous! It was one of our all time favorites. It was really nice to have a day off of work in the middle of the week. The night before, Ryan and I had a fun little sleepover in our living room. We stayed up late watching TV and slept in. It was awesome! We had a fun day relaxing, watching the Tour, going out to lunch and enjoying the day.


That night, we went to our friends Dani and Colby's house for a BBQ and homemade firework show. The food was amazing! Dani is quite the little cook and she found tons of ideas on Pinterest that made our BBQ extra cute. She was so sweet to make veggie skewers for us and tons of yummy treats and drinks. After we were stuffed and the sun went down it was time to start the show!


Ryan and Colby drove all the way to Evanston Wyoming a few weeks ago to buy illegal fireworks for the 4th. With all the fires we've been having in Utah, I was a little nervous about the boys using them but it turned out great! Not only did they have the awesome "aerial" fireworks, but they also made their own "cherry bombs" with empty plastic bottles and gun powder. They are quite the little pyros!

We laid comfortably on blankets in the grass while the boys lit up the sky. I lit a roman candle, and my favorite firework a "ladybug" and of course the girls did sparklers. There was a lot of booming and we are semi-deaf, but I'll take a homemade firework show in Utah over a sweaty Arizona show any day! Thanks again to Dani and Colby for the awesome night. We just love you two!

Keane show

A while back Ryan and I saw that Keane, one of our favorite bands, was going on tour and stopping in Salt Lake City. We were so excited because Keane has been on our list of must see concerts forever. Our great friends Chase and Jenna love them just as much as we do, and we knew they would love to come with us. I sent a text to Jenna and Chase letting them know that tickets had gone on sale and we better buy them quick! Jenna texted back saying that they were in, but she planned to surprise Chase with the tickets for father's day which was about a week before the show. She even deleted the text from his phone before he saw it! We had such a hard time keeping this secret! But Chase was really surprised. We all looked forward to the concert for a few months and finally the day came that we got to go!

I was really excited for the show and honestly, it blew my expectations out of the water. It was a moving experience that I'll never forget. The lead singer sounded truly amazing live. I think he sounds better than a recording. The venue was pretty small so we felt really close to the band. It was so fun to be outside on a gorgeous summer night sitting in the grass listening to our favorite music. All the band members said that this was their favorite stop of their tour so far and it was obvious they were having a great time. I truly never wanted it to end. It was like a greatest hits concert. They played all the best old songs as well as my favorites from their newest album.

After the show, we decided to wait by their bus to see if we could meet any of the band members. Each member of the band came out one at a time to sign autographs and take pictures. Since I am short, I just nudged my way up to the front and got to talk with each member of the band while they autographed my tickets. They are all the nicest, cutest guys ever and took time to talk with every person who was waiting. It was the coolest experience to actually meet the people who made some of my favorite music.  For once I wasn't even start struck and had awesome little conversations with each band member. We had such a fun time with our favorites Chase and Jenna and we couldn't imagine having as much fun with anyone else. It was truly a night we'll never forget!

Before the show, we went to dinner at Settebello.

Singing "Bedshaped"

Tom, the lead singer, signing my ticket.

Tim, the pianist.

Hobble Creek

We spent a beautiful summer evening up at Hobble Creek Golf Course with our friends Tanner and Joellen. We decided to walk the course and enjoy the amazing weather we've been having. I have to say, I am starting to really love the game of golf! I decided that if Ryan is going to spend a considerable amount of time in our lifetime golfing, I might as well enjoy it with him. Luckily Ryan is an amazing teacher and has been helping me work on my game. We had a great time walking, talking, laughing and hitting the golf ball too! We always have a great time with Tanner and Joey and we're glad they invited us to play the course!

I hit this shot on a par 3 for the first birdie opportunity of my life. I was really proud of my close shot and ended up making par. Looks like I need to work on my putting skills... :)

friends trip to California

Over Memorial Day weekend we road tripped to Orange County with some of our couple friends! We have become pretty good at these quick weekend getaways and will take any excuse to spend time in the sunshine with our friends. We had an absolute blast!

Thursday night we hopped in the car with Tanner and Joellen. There were a few bumps in the road right off the bat. When we were around Fillmore we realized the car needed more oil. The boys spent a good while checking every single gas station in town trying to find the right type of oil to put in the car. In the meantime, Joellen and I waited at Burger King where we spilled an entire Dr. Pepper on the floor. haha! Once the oil situation was figured out, we were back on the road. We picked up Nicole in St. George and spent the entire drive chatting and listening to music. We were having way too much fun to be sleepy. We snuck into the house in the early morning hours to get a little sleep.

It was so great staying at the Pugmire's beautiful home. We enjoyed amazing home cooked meals, lots of time in the hot tub, and great walks around their neighborhood. Although the weather was a little colder than we would have liked, the sun came out for a perfect afternoon at Newport Beach. When our friends get together, there is never a shortage of conversation. I don't think there is anything better than lounging around with your besties and talking about anything and everything. We talked a lot about babies and loved on Karly and James' brand new Annie and BJ and Ellery's little Ellie. We are all totally obsessed with those little ones! We all played the "pencil trick" to predict how many babies we will have. Every night we stayed up talking. One night we told scary stories and legitimately freaked ourselves out! Honestly it was a perfect weekend! Thanks Dani Bree and Daron for inviting us. We can't wait until we have another excuse to visit California! 

learning to drive

Ryan has been asking me for a while to teach him how to drive stick shift. My car is a stick shift and I actually love it! Driving in stop and go traffic is definitely more annoying, but I feel like I'm driving a race car. It's been a little bit of a nuisance when Ryan couldn't drive my car or move it if he needed to. The other night we decided it was finally time for him to learn! At 25! We started at the church but eventually moved to the parking lot at the Provo Towne Center mall where we could do laps and donuts. It was so fun! I saw visions of teaching our kids how to drive one day. I think all kids should learn how to drive stick in the beginning... We only stalled a few times and by the time we were done Ryan was practically a pro and driving great! Ry was very impressed that I've been driving a stick shift since I was 16... and in heels! We definitely felt like teenagers again for a night.

a little update

Wow... where to start? So much has been going on in our little lives lately!

The most exciting update is Ryan's graduation at the end of April! Woo hoo! No more classes, tests, homework, etc.! It still feels very surreal that we are both college graduates! I don't know when it will finally sink in that we are no longer students. Ryan is now on the hunt for a job and trying to decide what career path he should follow. It is a very exciting time! 

I am still loving my job and enjoy going to work each and every day. I feel so lucky! I work with amazing people and work is truly fun!

We are enjoying the warm weather that finally arrived! Summertime in Utah is truly amazing. Especially after visiting our families in Arizona, I am thankful for the more mild heat that we enjoy up here. We have been spending a lot of time outside! Tennis has become our most recent obsession. Ever since our weekend in Palm Springs, we are out playing almost every day after work. We are also back on our bikes and looking forward to some fun rides this summer!

We had a great Mother's Day! We wish we could have spent the day with our moms and are very grateful for all that they do for us. It was extra special because we got to Skype with our amazing missionary! Cole is doing so well in England. It was really fun to talk with him and see his cute face! I am so proud and impressed with how grown up my little brother is. He is such a great example to me. Ryan predicted that I would bawl like a baby while talking to him and/or afterwards. Honestly, I would have guessed the same thing! But he is doing so great and is so happy that I had no reason to be sad. We know he is right where he is supposed to be and we couldn't be more proud. I have started a blog where I post his weekly letters and photos. You can check it out HERE!

I am also totally obsessing over Downton Abbey. I watched the first season in about a week on Netflix and I'm DYING to watch the second season. It's our family favorite! Anyone else loving the drama at Downton?

 Life is good and we are enjoying the moment. So, that's the (very) random update from the Skousen house! We are very excited for the fun times ahead! Yay for summer!