{last} Weekend Update

No this is not the Jimmy Fallon/Tina Fey version of Weekend Update, but I do have some good stuff. 

Whew! Last weekend was a blast! We did A LOT. This week we've done a lot. But most importantly, we have pictures of it ---->

Ok so date night with Blake and Spence to Red Rock (yum) and then sommmmebody gets the idea that we need to go check out some new hardware. So we hit up Best Buy, Costco, and finally RC Willey.  Here are the results. 

Shoes Off. Completely Relaxed. He is hilarious!

Then we tried out the massage/anti-gravity chairs...

"Excuse me sir, can I get you a creamie to make your RC Willey experience more enjoyable?" 

 Then, RC Willey, bless their hearts, were giving away free pizza stones that day! Yes! Soooo the next night you can guess what we made for dinner!

Shaina & Jeff- you better watch out! There may have to be a pizza throw-down!!!

Half Margherita, Half Steakhouse with A1 even! Yes, we will be making this again. And again.

Getting ready for church!

PS This is after I cut 5 inches off my hair... I promise. See next picture haha.

 It was a fabulous weekend! We loved every minute of it! 

ANNNND I just realized I never posted about my fun little get-away to Seattle! Sisters weekend!! Mel was on Spring (?) Break, Em had lost Jesse to tax season, Shaina drove down from Grandview, and I came in for a fun weekend to spend with my sisters! 

This whole sister concept is new to me- and can I say that I LOVE it? Don't be fooled by the picture below, this is not two separate families, I am the in-law. However, I do seem to fit right in? Or make Emily fit right in? Haha, either way- I love having sisters!

And for that matter- I love having nephews and niece! Steve, Dan, Jay and Rose- I loved spending time with them because we just don't get to see them as much as we'd like to! Here are the few pics I have :) 

I stole this one from Shaina's blog because it was so cute!

And this one just cracks me up. Church. haha Drool puddle!

This trip was seriously so fun. Girl time, nephew/niece time. Loved every minute of it :) Thanks to all who made that possible!

And most of all I just love this guy.

 

THE bike.

Yes, we finally got THE bike.

The bike that we have looked for in just about every shop in the SL valley.

The bike that they only make 12 of per year.

The bike that accomodates B's large-ness.

*And most importantly, the bike that matches his bike shoes I got him for Christmas :)

Ok maybe that is not the most important, but is never a bad thing to look good!

BEHOLD- The bike!

It really is a thing of beauty, I won't lie. 

2012 Specialized Roubaix Expert, Brand-spanking-new, super nice(fast) Mavic wheels, Ultegra components. Bottom line- Brad got top of the line!! I guess that is a bonus to being so tall. They don't make the crap bikes in tall sizes, only the nicest ones!

And the best part of the bike: The dinky little bell on the handlebars. It instantly takes this perfecly engineered piece of carbon fiber from being a highly respected racing bike--- to a 10 year old girl riding home from school.

And he dings it every chance he gets :) Haha.

The weather was not cooperating for a few weeks after we got it, but since the sun has joined us again, last week we went 5 days in a row! Yes, I even took him on the initiation ride of Emigration Canyon.  And big surprise: He absolutely killed it. Like barely even seemed phased! How annoying! I'm telling you this man was built to ride. He is fast and is only going to get faster. Watch out SLC. Besides his incredibly broad shoulders, he looks like a full-blown cyclist!

However, besides his incredible ability for this sport, we are having a lot of fun TOGETHER.  It is the best to ride together after a full day of work/school! The sun shining, big mama hill climbs, speedy downhills, good times :) What a fantastic hobby for us to do until our legs don't work anymore! But that is far in the future- so for now we he will look something like

THIS

#hellosummer

4 Years.

Well hello fellow bloggers and social media followers. Once again it is Brad. It was suggested by my wonderful wife that I blog about the past little while and since I have nothing to do on a Friday morning- I figured I would whip up a quick update on our lives since you are all dying to know. 

So four whole years ago was a big night in our relationship. I took a huge gamble. To make a good story short, I actually KISSED Dani on Valentines Night. Talk about taking a plunge. Four years (a mission and a year of being in denial) later, we are living happily ever after. So as much as Hallmark Holidays can be kind of cheesy, V-Day is kinda a big deal for us. Here is a picture from this years Valentines Day Dinner.

This year's menu consisted of fancy cheese and bread, expertly seasoned and  seared halibut, roasted brussel sprouts and potatoes and a molten lava cake for dessert. My taste buds were screamin' for joy. Delicious.

 And here is a picture from last years dinner (cracked peppercorn cream sauce with steak, caesar salad, bruchetta, roasted asparagus with parmesan, again, delicious).

As you can see, we like to have cranberry juice in wine glasses.

  Also last year.

 

This is us 4 years ago as best friends just hanging out. Boy do I look 12 years old. How did I get so lucky?

In other news, basketball is nearing its end. During halftime recently, the Utah Jazz Dunk team visited and put on a show. I sure wish I could have seen it but Dani took a video for me. What you don't know is I don't need a trampoline to do these tricks.

Well, life is great. Enough said, right?

Busy Little Bees

Well it has been a while...

That is because we have been running around like crazy! 2012 has flown.  Crazy! It is already February and I can't even believe it.  Let's play a little catch up here.  I started my internship working for the Church.  What a whirlwind of an experience! I work closely with the Meetinghouse Technologies department.  So any technology that is in the meetinghouse- that is us! It's been over a month now, and I have to say I've been involved in some pretty cool projects already. Not to mention an article I wrote was published in the Church News (Whhatttt?)!

Along with working, Brad and I also started school.  My LAST semester of school I might add.  Forever.  Never again.  No more tuition.  No more finals, studying or freaking school group projects.  Dunzo. 

Unless it is culinary school. Just saying.

But I'm {almost} done! WAHOO! Words cannot describe...!

But yeah, we started school.  For a math lover hater, Brad is being baptized by fire.  His first stats class AND first Calc class-same semester.  Yikes! But he is being very diligent and really catching on quickly, I'm so proud! He might even start loving Excel if he hangs around me any longer!

Basketball is also in full swing.  It's been an interesting season, to say the least.  We won't mentioned the 12 hour bus rides to Montana, or the endless Subway sandwiches as of recently.  But we will mention that the team is home 3/4 weekends in February! Double yay from me! I love home games because I love watching Brad play, but also because it is a perfect excuse to invite friends to come watch! Like this picture for example. 

And bonus- it was Curtis' bday the next day, and we went over to celebrate! 2 days in a row!! YES! But really though, I love when our friends come to B's games.  SO fun to catch up and watch a little bball.  More pictures to come after the next 3/4 weekends :)

Well what else has been going on? We are just getting used to being super busy again.  We usually go 12 hrs in between seeing each other every day... Not exactly ideal.  But we are still finding time to have fun together. And maybe even when we aren't together! Last weekend I went to a cooking class while Brad was out of town! A wonderful and extremely thoughtful Christmas gift from cute Brad.  It was really fun and I was totally in my element... Fresh Pasta this time.  Ravioli anyone?

Beet red fresh pasta with a ricotta, spinach filling topped with a brown butter and sage sauce.  Winner. Along with a Spinach pasta with Butternut squash filling and a seafood bisque sauce.  Also favorite, but not as much.

Blake and I were stellar students! Monica in the cooking class on FRIENDS anyone?

 Thanks for the really fun Christmas gift Brad! (Also- we really missed you Kenz!) We are already scoping out our next one. 

Well that is a pretty good sum of what has been going on! Brad and I are also having lots of  "super-secret-planning-sessions" to plan a certain graduation trip... :)  If you are a Brown Sibling, then you know all about these super-secret-planning-sessions!

Until next time! (PS-that class session was well spent)

This is the Life

Hello once again fellow bloggers and blogging community, it's the husband- Brad. Don't ask me what inspired the urge to blog tonight because even I don't know. Anyway, happy 2012! It has been a great year already and I just wanted to type a few words about it.

As we were sitting down to dinner tonight enjoying succulent teriyaki chicken, I realized that this is the life. Many times the world gets caught up in the 'wouldn't that be the life' nonsense and cannot seem to realize the great life they have going on all around them. Yes, it took some absolutely delicious teriyaki chicken to make me realize this this time but all the same, the is the good life. Family, friends, food, education, life is great.

Anyway, now for some pictures...

The week before Christmas we spent a couple days in Seattle and visited our favorite spot- Pikes Place Fish Market where they throw fish and you get tons of samples of everything from smoked salmon, fruit, cheese, hand lotion, etc

Christmas Eve was the famous Schaap Family Sushi Night. Dani made countless sushi rolls, I stuffed countless fried tofu bags with rice, Rick cut endless pounds of beautiful fish, and everyone ate what seemed like 100 pounds and played games until almost Christmas morning. Extremely fun.

We went over to our good friends the Hankins for New Years Eve and had the brown family favorite Special Drinks to ring in the new year.

 On the 3rd, we got some great seats to the Jazz game where one of my best friends and teammates from high school, Jon Leuer, plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. It was great to see him play as he is doing really well as an NBA player (the short guy in the picture is Sheldon Carlson, another high school teammate who, like me, is not in the NBA but also went to watch Jon).

 All in all- Life is great. Can I say more?

December 2011

Lots has been happening around here! 

Another semester is in the books!! And it went pretty well for both Brad and I! There may have been some A's and class high scores mixed in there somewhere :) 

We had a blast a few weeks ago when a bunch of our friends drove down from Logan to go to Brad's game.  Jordan, Megan and I went shopping before the game and then we all went out to dinner after.  Very fun and we are so grateful for such fun friends!

 In between all the basketball games and things, we have been busy in the kitchen.  With cookies of course, but also with one of Brad and I's favorite meals- Risotto! It is quickly becoming our specialty as we are getting quite good at it.  Dare I say we've mastered it?? This one was a sun-dried tomato basil risotto with a herb-crusted, pan seared Halibut.  Haha. Doesn't everyone have that for dinner? I like to cook :)

uh- yum!

We went to Seattle! Well technically Bellevue, which we absolutely love! It was so much fun to be with Charley, Meri and Mel! Continuously munching on cookies (why do I not have a picture of this), went to Mel's games (yes she plays both JV AND Varsity-woo woo!), went to visit Cam and Erin & their 3 boys who are adorable, I went on a trail run with Charley which was really awesome and fun! (and by fun I mean the thinking your heart might beat out of your chest kind of fun- I loved it!), ate to our stomach's content at a Brazilian steakhouse, had early Christmas presents, and relaxed!  What a fun trip!

I know it is hard to see but that is really Brad and Charley in the Smartcar.  It can be done people!

Pike's Place! We love it!! Cioppino, lots of samples, smoked salmon, the cheese factory, farmer's market, all the yummy, yummy fruit! Who doesn't love Pike's place??

French Pastry Shop on the Pier

And sadly, we missed Jeff, Shaina, Jay and Rose by one day!! Dang it!! We came home to have Christmas with the Schaaps! This includes my favorite: Christmas Eve Sushi Night!!! I absolutely love this tradition we've had in my family for MANY years.  I love rolling sushi, and I try to pick up a few new tricks every year.  This year was a complete success! And I'm a little worried that the student might become the master! Brad tried rolling one and was a pro! He's so Japanese- I'm so proud!

 And on to Christmas day!
We were able to talk to Robbie on the phone for an hour and it was sooooo much fun to hear his voice! We had both Grandparents there to say hi and he just sounded so happy to hear our voices.  It is getting to that point in his mission where we are just ready for him to come home!! 6 more months! We can make it!

We went to church to hear my mom play flawlessly in the choir program.  What a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas by listening to Beautiful Christmas music in the Lord's house.

The very familiar Charlie Brown Christmas Shirt.  If any of you have seen Brad in this month of December, he was most likely wearing this shirt. Haha gotta love it.

 For any of you who know my dad, you know the DeWalt shirt.  Haha. Brad and I thought we would be SOOOO funny and make him his own for Christmas.  We designed and ordered this shirt a few months ago and have been bursting at the seams for him to open it.  It is Hilarious!!! On the Front: StEVE on the back: GUARANTEED TOUGH.

So Funny! We were all laughing SO hard when he opened it.  The best part about it is that he looks totally normal wearing it because we are so used to him wearing the similar dewalt shirt. Hilarious. What is with our family and wearing shirts a lot? haha

We had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying our break! Hope everyone had a great Holiday!!  

Lyssa's Wedding and Christmas Time!

 Well the day finally came that these two got married.  Alyssa and I have been good friends for a while and also wrote missionaries at the same time.  It's our sad little bonding saga.  Haha.  Just kidding.  Lys and I were roommates at Utah State and she's one of my very best friends! Let's just say that through it all- her and Jake have been a long time coming.  They were married in the Draper Temple on December 3 and it was a beautiful day!!

Mr. and Mrs. Poulson

(stole this off Felicia's facebook- thanks!)

Keep in mind it was FREEZING this day. Oh. my it was cold. She's in short sleeves!

 Congrats Lys!! It was also really fun to see a bunch of friends we haven't seen for a while! Wedding receptions are great for that reason! 

Also....
Brad and I got our first Christmas Tree!! Woohoo!! We found this cute little guy and knew it was perfect :) Nothing better than the smell of that tree when you walk in your house!
(Cough, Cough BLAKELY!) haha 

 And tada! Now it feels like the Christmas season :)

 AND (this is a post with a lot of great things in it) 

AND we got to go to the First Presidency Devotional last weekend! We were lucky enough to get the invite from our great friends (Curtis & Lindsey and Tim & Tim's date Ali) who we never get to see anymore! So we were very excited to go!

 And yes, Brad and I were freezing so we came all bundled up!

 So much fun! We had a blast!

Sidenote- Brad and I came to the First Presidency Devotional 4 YEARS AGO!! Crazy.  We were not dating then, but I think we both wanted to be :) Here's some throwback pics for the fun of it... 

Haha this picture sums it up- Crazy-eyed Matt and Tai in the background!

How young do we (by we I mean Brad) look? Haha this in 2007, if we only knew...

Now B & I are 5 finals and 3 days away from Christmas break :) Bring it on!