What it looks like...

We watched the first game at the Harding's apartment. There's another game tonight! Go BYU!

the madness of march madness

The title of this post should really come as no surprise. College sports are kind of a big deal in our household as I'm sure you know by now. Johnny did bring our BYU flag to work today, and he is wearing a BYU hat and a BYU blue shirt despite it being St. Patrick's Day.

Although, he did just inform me that he read that the original color for St. Patrick's Day was blue and not green. How did he of all people stumble upon this piece of information?

I did happen to take a little stroll up to the St. Patrick's Day Parade during my lunch break.

St. Patrick's Day doesn't excite me too much. I was much more excited about the weather outside (63 degrees and sunny!!).

That little boy up there was just watching the parade from his window. . . what a life.

In other news, Johnny and I took a Zipcar to New Jersey last night to go to Walmart. It was the most stressful thing of my life. We only had the car for three hours, so we were in a rush the whole time. Plus, driving in Manhattan is the most stressful thing ever. And then at the store, I was so stressed out about making sure we did not forget a single item because going to Walmart is such a rare experience. Hahaha. Finally on our way home, once we realized it was all almost over, we both just laughed at how stressed we both were. There was minimal talking until that moment. But now our apartment is stocked full of goodness!

Also, since we've been back from Vegas, Persie has not let us out of her sight. I've done most of my work with the keyboard in my lap and the mouse on the window sill because the following has been happening every day this week:

i can haz sleep here?

Las Vegas to Utah to Home

Johnny's asleep on the bed right now. Our flight arrived at 6:00am this morning, and we got home at around 8:00am. And then we got up at 9:30am for work. We're pretty exhausted at this moment.

BUT, we had a great trip! We arrived in Las Vegas late Wednesday night, and then we met up with Rick and Will Thursday morning and went to the first two games.

Then we headed to the hotel, dropped off our stuff, got some dinner, and went and watched more basketball! (I brought my kindle to those games.)

this year's hotel was Excalibur

the boys in the hotel room being weird

BYU at the beginning of the first game

in a huddle before the second game

Jimmer surrounded by media after scoring 52 points

us before the championship game

We got to the championship game about an hour early and went up to our seats in the upper bowl. Then, a nice man came and gave us four tickets in the lower bowl!

our seats before the nice man came

our seats after!

We were sad to lose the third game, but it was all such a fun time. Johnny and Rick were both hoarse by the end of it all. After the game, we drove straight back to Utah. Sunday and Monday we were able to see three of my older siblings and Johnny's family.

Thankfully, Johnny's sister Sarah thought to take pictures.

Violet and Johnny

Caitlin, Violet, Bella, me

the goal was to keep Bella's attention by making funny faces... :)

It was such a fun trip! We still haven't even unpacked!

BYU vs SDSU and Scrabble

So this weekend was great.

I wish it weren't over. On Saturday Johnny woke up bright and early in anticipation of the BYU vs SDSU game. He said he felt as excited as Christmas morning. Oh boy. We watched the game with our friends the Hardings and the Laidlaws, and Angie fixed us delicious barbecue sandwiches and mac and cheese for lunch. We were so nervous/excited about the game. And then we won!!! All of us were very happy people (especially the husbands).
 

I forgot to take a picture of the Laidlaws.

Johnny and I wore the shirts he made!!

Sunday was another fun, relaxing day. On Sunday night Johnny and I decided to play a friendly game of Scrabble, and Persie insisted on being a part of the fun.

 Hahaha. I really don't think she knows she's a cat.

We Win!!

Last night will be a night for remembering. Our BYU boys (#9) played SDSU (#4). I felt like the whole day was leading up to the game that night, which didn't start until 10:00 our time. This was the scene at our little apartment:

a little bit of this...

and a LOT of this

We won by 13 points and our boy Jimmer scored 43!!! It all turned out better than I ever could have imagined. The Hardings had family at the game, and Johnny and I had family at the game, and we were all jealous of the amazing atmosphere they were a part of. After we won, there was hugging, high-fiving, and some strange hand slaps between Johnny and Klane. Those two were high on Jimmer.

Meanwhile, it was looking like this outside:

The poor Hardings had to go home at 1:00 in the morning a snowstorm! I have NO IDEA how they made it home, but I've heard from Angie today, so at least I know they're alive and well. I'm so glad they were willing to trudge over to our place for such a great night!!

Brrr!

How is it already nighttime?? This day has flown by, and I still have so many things to get done. I gotta make this quick because I promised myself I'd have the apartment clean before Johnny gets home from work.

• The above picture is a still-shot of the birthday video we did for our niece Violet who turned one last week. Persie's a really good sport.
• It's been suuupper cold here. I hate cold weather. Yes, hate is a strong word, and I'm still using it. Not sure why, but I still haven't gotten around to buying tights ever since I purged my wardrobe of them after working for the LDS church one summer. Therefore, on the way to church yesterday, I suffered immensely.
• Because of said cold weather, I've been watching more shows. For a while now I've been in love with Parenthood. And then last week they played two Azure Ray songs in one episode, and I became even more obsessed.
• As soon as Johnny gets home, I get the TV turned to Jeopardy!, and last week I was pretty impressed with our skills (except for the category on spiders...stupid).
• I really, really appreciate good friends. My favorite night last week was when I went to Angie's and she fixed us an amazing dinner and, as our husbands whittled away the hours at the office, we watched the fourth HP movie together. Perfect, nerdy, relaxing night.
• This Wednesday is the BYU/SDSU game. I'm freaking out. I can't wait. I'm scared/excited/nervous and whatnot. Weeee!

That's all. Have a happy week!

Third Time's the Charm

Well, it's official: we're headed back to Vegas for the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament in March this year. It'll be our third year to go, and I have a good feeling about it. Johnny's brother Will and my brother, Rick, will join us just like old times. Can't wait!

Winter

Last Friday we had a few inches of snow, which promptly melted, but my view out the window did look like the above picture for a few hours. We are supposed to be getting a rather hefty load of snow tonight. I'm excited---anything to mix up the dullness that is January. Although, so far we have managed to keep things somewhat interesting around here.

• We got a Costco card from Johnny's Grandparents for Christmas, and, feeling extremely ambitious, we decided to take a duffel bag and backpack and make the trek to Costco via bus last week. The thought of the walk and bus ride home left our minds as soon as we entered that magnificent store, and we bought whatever we felt like. Somehow we stuffed almost everything into the backpack and duffel bag, both of which weighed like 50 pounds (not exaggerating), and Johnny carried both. I carried canned cat food, chips, and bread (which was harder than it sounds, people!). We walked the 4 blocks to the bus stop. Waited half an hour for the bus. Rode the bus. Walked the 4 blocks home. It was mind over matter, and Johnny's whisperings of, "Okay, 3 more blocks . . . 2 more blocks . . ." were all that kept me going. I'm sure we were a sight to see. I have never been so happy to arrive home.
• I managed to catch one of our kitchen towels on fire, and Johnny walked into the kitchen to find me precariously transporting a towel all aflame to the sink.
• I'm rereading the Harry Potter books. When I am too engrossed, Johnny gets my attention by reading aloud over my shoulder in a British accent.
• We've been religiously watching/listening to all the BYU basketball games. This is the best I've ever seen our team (ranked 10 in Coach's Poll right now!), and Jimmer is so fun to watch. It gives us something fun to look forward to a couple nights a week.

That's about it. As I write this, I can hear my landlord talking loudly in his office, which shares a wall with our apartment. A couple days ago, I heard him saying, "fuhgeddaboudit, fuhgeddaboudit" and all I could think was, "Huh, people really do say it like that."

Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of Persie, the balancing cat.

Our Trip to Glens Falls, NY

Yesterday afternoon Johnny and I hopped in a rental car and drove up to Glens Falls, NY, for the BYU basketball game. Glens Falls is the hometown of Jimmer Fredette, and he's one of the best players BYU has had in a long time. Johnny and I just couldn't resist going to see our boys play.

 First off, let me say that it was weird to see wide open spaces again. I had kind of forgotten that not everywhere is like Manhattan.

The trip was about 3 1/2 hours, and it was so nice to just be in a car again. We drove by communities and I would say things like, "Look! A mall!" or "Look at all those houses!" It was just so fun. We listened to Christmas music and just enjoyed the drive. I have always loved road trips.

Glens Falls itself was literally in the middle of nowhere. I mean, seriously. It was very rural, with a very small-town feel to it.

It was freezing up in Glens Falls. I think NYC is cold, but up there it was SO COLD. The game started at 7:00, and we got there at 5:30, right when the doors opened.

Aside from the occasional Vermont fan, everyone there was rooting for BYU. It was so neat. Many people had bought BYU gear just for this game. The whole town showed up to watch Jimmer play! Johnny kept commenting on how weird it was to see people wearing BYU gear and holding a beer!

BYU shirt + Budweiser in lap

The game was great. Jimmer played great. All our BYU players played great. When they announced Jimmer at the beginning, everyone gave him a minute-long standing ovation. The same thing happened when he left the game at the end. It was a really fun atmosphere and we won big time!

Johnny and I got back to our apartment at 2:30 in the morning after we stopped at a super Walmart on the way home. I was freaking out at how cheap everything was. I almost loved that part of our trip as much as the game itself :)