The Great Blizzard of 2010

Remember the post last week about the biggest blizzard to hit Utah in basically forever? Well, I was pretty happy to head home early to make sure we were prepared. Matt and I enjoyed dinner together while we waited for the snow to come. I was excited for Matt to see a big storm. Finally, the snowflakes started to fall. We kept waiting for it to pick up and start coming down more than just in flurries, but it sure took its time. Finally, we decided to make the most of our evening and head to Walmart to make some exchanges. It was great, there was no one out! I guess everything was canceled because of the storm, and everyone was staying home. It was the best shopping trip at Walmart that I've ever experienced; there were NO lines at all!

When we left the store, the snow had stopped. We went home and went to bed, figuring the blizzard was just later than it was supposed to be. When we got up the next morning, I had to take a picture of the results of the storm.

I guess it wasn't quite what everyone was expecting...

Thanksgiving Thankful Things: Wednesday

So I had a hard time thinking of what to write about today. I had a handful of things happen today that made me happy, but none of them really stood out as being "the one." With that said, one thing that made me quite happy was the great customer service of Bed Bath and Beyond...

When we got married, we received some nice towels. I wanted to use them but wasn't sure if I wanted to exchange them for different colors; Matt wanted to keep using our mismatched towels that we both had before we got married and return the new ones (then get nice ones when the others wore out, but everyone knows how cheap we are, the odds of that happening are fairly small...). Well, we could never reach an agreement, so the towels went in a box and into the closet, neither of us getting what we wanted.

Last night, I finally agreed to take the towels back. We didn't have a receipt and were worried they wouldn't accept them (it has been almost two years you know...). However, Bed Bath and Beyond is the best place for taking care of customers. I have never had any issues with them. When I walked in tonight, they took all of the towels back, no questions asked! Who does that? Seriously, in the days of no one wanting to accept returns after 1 day (and you have to have a receipt and can only get store credit), it is so great to have a place actually take care of its customer! They definitely have found a lifer in me! (And who doesn't love the 20% off coupons that always come in the mail? And, I've had them take that one with the other $5 off coupon that comes, taking 2 coupons at once? Yes please!)

Thanksgiving Thankful Things: Tuesday

So I definitely have something to be thankful for today, in preparation for this crazy blizzard with below 0 temps that is supposedly on its way, UW closed early! Can I get a woot, woot? (Matt barely made it back in time to grab his books before all of the students got kicked out of school, they're staying closed (for weather related reasons) until Friday!)

It's 5 o'clock now, and it seems like the only difference in weather is actually blue skies. Maybe the blizzard will come through though making it impossible to get to work tomorrow, hence getting an extra day for Thanksgiving. I'm skeptical, but we'll see.

Thanksgiving Thankful Things: Monday

Today's Thankful Thing is definitely that Matt's memo was completed and turned in this morning. Wahoo! I don't think anyone fully comprehended what a beast that thing would be. It was a 13 page analysis (which the tricky part was not going over the 13 pages) on what the courts would rule in a husband recording his wife's calls scenario. Oh yeah, and it only accounts for 80% of his grade, no biggie. That thing has been taking over matt man's life since the beginning of October, and mine for the past week.

I'm definitely grateful our Friday night "Memo Parties" are no more! (At least until next semester....)

I was going to get a great picture of him with the screen saying it was submitted, but sadly, he forgot this was the plan and exited out before we got the picture. Too bad, that was definitely a milestone worth remembering!

Thanksgiving Thankful Things: Sunday

Ok, so I know this is a day late, but I would thought it would be nice to post something I'm grateful for each day this week leading up to Thanksgiving (and yes, I know the title probably doesn't make any sense, but what do you do!).

So, Sunday's Thankful Thing was have covered parking. We finally woke up to our first snow yesterday morning (though it was a pretty weak storm). as I past all the poor cars covered in snow on my way to church, I was sure glad that mine was tucked safely away in our underground parking garage with no snow that would need to be scraped or turn into ice.

Seriously?

Christmas/Sub for Santa is in full swing at my office already (I know it's early, but we're anticipating 6,000 kids are going to need help this year, that takes some serious planning... If you're interested in sponsoring, let me know). It makes it hard not to be thinking about Christmas. While I'm holding out for post-Thanksgiving, I'm not going to lie, I've been tempted to pull out the decorations.

Anyway, I was doing something and was thinking about how great it would be to have a certain item. Almost immediately, I had the glorious realization that with Christmas around the corner, it would make a great stocking stuffer. I couldn't help but get a few warm fuzzies and more than a little bit excited. Then I realized, "Wow, I really must be an adult (or according to the blog, 'a big girl') now." What was it that I was so excited for? ... A vegetable scrubber!

Funny how quickly life and priorities change...

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to try and combat our cold apartment by putting plastic up on our windows (a little tacky, don't judge, it's getting cold here...). I'm happy to report that so far, it seems to be working.

The plastic windows have also had another unexpected side effect. Matt and I both happened to make it home for lunch (and it was actually a beautiful, sunny day) and decided to open the blinds. We were shocked and surprised to see a a HUGE amount of fire bugs between the window and the plastic. The good news is, it solved the mystery of what the weird flicking noises we kept hearing was. We spent the rest of our lunch break watching/listening to the bugs stuck and trying to get out. I couldn't believe how many there were, at one point, I counted at least 30 bugs flying around in there. We were just hoping to stay warm, who would of thought that we'd get some pets too!

(Can you guess which one is me and which one is Matt?)

Operation Martha Part 2

Remember how I get these great ideas about being crafty? Well, today was our ward's formerly known as "Super Saturday." I signed up for some cute Christmas crafts that looked simple to make. When the person in charge gave us directions, me and the others girls at the table chatted about how it was our kind of craft, fail proof! We were all were confident we would be able to leave with a great ornament.

We set to work and things went great. We filled some glass ornament balls with glitter and curled ribbon. Then we mounted some pictures of Christ on cute paper that would hang in th center. Everything was looking good until we had to get the pictures in the ornament's small opening. It took some coaxing, and there were some iffy moments, but I finished with ornament with great success. I was pretty excited and rushed home.

I headed out to my car with my hands full. I reached into my pocket to grab my keys, and heard a horrible noise. I dropped my ornament and it shattered in the parking lot! Two steps forward, one step back. I guess its not time to call off Operation Martha yet...

Oh Won't You be my Mentor...

Awhile back, I got asked to help out at Mentors Day at the good ol' comms department. I was happy to agree.

When I arrived, I approached the check-in table and was surprised that no one offered to help. The helpers were chatting together, and even with me standing there, they just kept talking. After a few seconds, I said, "Excuse me, is this where I check in?" They said, "Oh yeah, what time is your appointment and do you know who you're meeting with?" Gotta love looking so young! Despite my anticipation of this occuring and doing my best to dress extra professional and "maturely," the reason they weren't helping me was because they thought I was a students. Oops!

That was the first of a couple of other instances. At least no one referred to me as a "Childbride" (yes, someone once called out to us at the airport 'Sir, bring your childbride on over and take a look at this!')

On another side note, three of the six students who set appointments with me were no shows. Who does that? Not very professional. I'm wondering if I should take it personally...

Happy Halloween!

I know it's a little late, but I still have a few hours until it's officially over!

Happy Halloween!! Although we didn't end up dressing up for anything, we did decorate our apartment (back in Sept. actually, matt thought I was crazy...), carved a pumpkin (affectionately named "Pepper," gotta love her crooked smile) and made Cheesenstein for Sunday's appetizer (so he looked a little funny, we call it character). All in all, I'd say Halloween 2010 was a success!

Matt made me pose with Cheesenstein (and said "we need this for the blog")

Since school started, Matt hasn't been around as much. He leaves early in the morning, comes home later in the evening and occasionally leaves again after dinner. He says he is with Carrol. Should I be worried? Carrol even has the audacity to have a picture of me with her at all times.

I have a hunch things are going to be just fine ;D
Car-rel [kar-uhl]
–noun
1. Also called cubicle, stall, a small recess or enclosed area in a library stack, designed for individual study or reading.

** Each law student is assigned their very own carrel (or corral as we jokingly/lovingly refer to it). They can keep all of their stuff there and even lock it up when they're not around.

Cookin' It Old School

For those who don't know, my dad is an award winning dutch oven cook. Us kiddies have been bothering him for awhile to teach us the skills of the trade, so when we had a three-day weekend with Labor Day, we decided to have a dutch oven cooking/teaching extravaganza.

Who would of thought the hot tub would be such a great cooking prep table?

Good work Russell! If you need to fry something up, just use the lid. Who would of thought? Told you my dad was good...

Caitlyn working on the cornbread under the watchful eye of the master (my dad, definitely not the confused, trying to take it all in girl in the background)

Go Colty go! Way to use those muscles!

Just cooking and turning into something delicious!

40 mile stew, cornbread and cobbler, delish!

Cleaning up. Don't EVER use water in your dutch oven. Water= serious bad news! (and yes, i am a total tongue sticker outer when i concentrate. Another thing I learned from my dad...)

Amber has a gummy bear in there you know...

Oh hey colt and kadey

Well, the mama was behind the camera, so sadly, we have no pictures of her. As with basically every dutch oven meal though, she was there behind the scenes getting everything prepped and ready! She definitely deserves some credit!

Great day, great food and great company, although we were missing erin and abe (as usual). The good news for everyone is if you come camping with me, I know at least have an idea of how to serve you something tasty!

But Trust Me on the Sunscreen...

Well, the Mattster officially graduated last week. That kid is so great he was in the program so many times, you almost couldn't count them all ;) He worked hard to graduate cum laude with a double degree in business and economics.

Matt and the Dean (and someone's wife??)

Jeremy and Matt have been besties for as long as they can remember. Thanks for coming Jeremy!

Matt's family, who came all the way from California

My parents and younger siblings

Congratulations Matty! We're all very proud of you! You'll do great in law school next week.

Travels

In July, Matt's parents graciously took everyone on a cruise to Alaska in celebration of them returning from serving as mission presidents in Mexico. It was really a great trip, lots of fun, great company and incredible scenery. You always hear how beautiful and unique Alaska is, but I was really surprised by how often I found myself in awe of the beauty. We hit up a lumberjack show (great entertainment), humpback whale watching, glacier visiting, train ride through the Yukon among other things. We also saw more humpbacks, some dolphins and orcas from the actual cruise ship. Other wildlife included sea lions, flying fish, salmon and bald eagles (did you know that most Alaskan towns have more bald eagles than people?)

I was pretty proud of myself for not only bringing my camera, but also taking pictures! This was a BIG step for me. The funny thing is, when we got home and were showing my family, they were making fun of me for only taking the amount I did. Oops, at least it's an improvment (i did take 40, that's better than my usual 1-2).

Glacier anyone??

Gotta love my husband...

This picture would be even cooler if you could see all the large salmon swimming in the river

Hurray for the lumberjacks!

Oh little Wesley (or Bobo as he started calling himself), I think it's pretty apparent here that my nephew is the cutest thing ever

Wahoo! My Matt Man's coming home!

He Thinks My Tractor's Sexy...

The Mattster and I decided to make a fairly last-minute Memorial getaway to California.Our trip consisted of some great time being with Matt's siblings while being entertained by the hilarious little wesley (who at one point called me grandma, good thing his real grandma is coming home from her mission in three weeks to help clear things up), a great girls' day, visiting Matt's friends and eating delicious food.

Also, I hadn't really spent much time at the actual farm, so Matt decided it was time for me to get some "Farm Education," so I could actually follow along and keep up with conversations.

I think it's safe to say when I found out Matt grew up on a farm, I thought he was joking. As silly as it seems, it is such a foreign world to me, my first thought was, "People still do that?!" We now joke around that we can have a farm one day if I can have my own pink tractor that I can drive to bring him his lunch, he thinks I'm crazy, but I think it would be great!

Anywho, education started on the first day, with crop identification. Everytime we'd drive into town to meet people, go to church, etc, (yes, we had to drive into town), he would quiz me on the various trees and other things. I am proud to say that I can now successfully distinguish almonds, pistachios, alfalfa, cotton, wheat and corn (i'm not that bad, i knew that one already).

On our actual Farm Education morning, we started out by explaining what the various machines do. It is really quite cool, all of the things the various machines can do. Then it was time to get me on a tractor. Matt said I was a natural, but I don't know if I believe him, when I was driving, we only got up to about 4 m/hr (hey, i'm not dumb, i'm pretty sure it would be a damper on the relationship with the in laws if I bulldozed down their house right before it's time for them to start living in it again...).

This shows you how big this thing is, not going to lie, I was pretty surprised/intimidated, the wheels were bigger than me!

Who doesn't love pictures of Matt? I know I sure do! Apparently he spent a lot of time on this sprayer as a youth. It sounds like they had some adventures together! It doesn't have a brake, so you can use your imagination. We'll just say, I feel bad for his grandma's car...

I really enjoyed seeing where Matt grew up and feeling like I have a least a smaller understanding of where he grew up. Good thing he's such a good teacher. Special thanks to Bob and Becky for helping us get there! And thanks to Mark and Tina, Melanie and Steve, and Dahl and LaRayne for being such good hosts! We're excited to be back in 21 days!

Oldie but Goody

In early April, my sister Erin and her husband Abe came to town. We had a great time with them and wish we got to see them more often. They are both excellent cooks, and Abe served his mission in Japan, so it seems like, lucky for us, they usually end up making us some type of delicious asian cuisine at some point in their visit. This trip was no exception, and they led us in a Family Sushi Night. My family loves sushi (matt and my other bro-in-law russell still haven't seen the light...) and we were excited to try our hands at California Rolls, a delicious roll with crab (and yes, it's cooked), cucumbers, avacado and rice rolled in a seaweed.

Erin showing Caitlyn the ropes.

Despite being a little skeptical, matt even decided it was a fun and tasty evening.

Abe aka Iron Sheff (a play on his last name) enjoys himself while family friend Mandy watches.

Some of the rewards of our labors.

Decisions, decisions...

Lately I've really been wanting one a sewing machine. I think of all the wonderful projects and things I could make like curtains, aprons and a sweet quiet book. I got an email yesterday advertising this pretty baby

I am definitely tempted. It seems to be a great deal. The question is, are these little fantasies of me sewing beautiful things simply that, a fantasy? It's been years since I've sewed anything. Oh boy, decisions...

Dear brenna,

I hate to say it, but we need to talk. You have been neglecting me, and I'm getting awfully lonely. Please remember to pencil me in to your busy schedule.

Love,
Your Blog

Capital

So next week, I'll be headed out to Washington DC for a conference. I went there once before with a high school group and had a great time. It's been a while though, and thought I'd ask, any thoughts where I should spend my couple of evenings? What are the best things to see?

Genius!

So this is my dear, dear friend Rachelle (the one in the grey, not the small child with a tie).

We have been friends since before either of us reached the great height of 4 feet (sadly, that was in 5th grade); I think our lack of size helped us bond. (She's lucky none of my pictures of the two of us growing up are on my computer, we have some real beauts!) She is one amazing girl in basically everything including math (she has a masters in math education and even taught calculus at BYU, all before she was 23, who does that?), making things cute, being mom and is a homemaker extraordinaire.

Since we moved out onto our own, I've been impressed with her ability to cook delicious food and her dedication to cooking complete, cheap and healthy meals instead of just food. While most college students lived off of Ramen, she was always (seriously, like every day!) whipping up tasty things like homemade alfredo.

She recently decided to put her skills to good use by creating one of the best tools for those who are like me and always struggling to come up with more than the same three meals. Everyone should check out her new blog appropriately entitled letmeplandinner.blogspot.com. It's awesome! Not only does she post a new full menu for everyday of the week (minus date night), but she includes a shopping list complete with price per meal. I believe she is also going to add the items she is stocking up on for the week, so it will be easy for you to also shop the sales.

Anyway, I love Rachelle. I think everyone needs a Rachelle. She is truly one of the best people I know. She has always looked out for me and been a great example in all aspects of life. Now, maybe she can influence all of your lives for the better in just a small way that she has done for mine. (Ahhh, talk about cheesy! Pun intended...)

Rice

Way back when I was in 8th grade Foods class, we were taught how to make rice. It wasn't hard. I had always heard from my mother that rice was kind of temperamental, but as long as you did exactly what you were supposed to, you wouldn't have any problems. Once I became a rice cooker (that foods class, oh boy, what skills I learned), I learned rice really wasn't that tricky and never had a problem with it.

Fast forward a few years. Every time I make rice these days, something goes wrong! I don't know what I'm doing differently, but if I cook it enough that it isn't soupy and crunchy, it just boils all over the place and makes a big mess. What's the deal?! I guess I am being punished for my rice cockiness...

In!!!

It's been a big week for Matt. He received an email last week saying the law school dean of admission wanted to meet with him. Now, BYU doesn't do interviews, so he tried to find out what it was about, but the secretary simply told him it would be painless. He asked around to people in law school already, but no one had been asked to come in.

He went in Monday morning and was told that he has been accepted! I guess they try to bring in a small group of people who they are really interested in. That way, they can get an idea of whether or not they're wanting to come and try to convince them if they have other plans.

I'm so proud of Matt. He has worked extremely hard to make sure he has amazing grades and spent a long time studying and preparing for the LSAT (especially since he took it multiple times). But everything paid off, he was even told that he should expect some scholarship money, wahoo!

Looks like we'll be sticking around P-town for at least the next three years.

(Jeremy, Cody, Jewelyn and us celebrating Monday night)

(Me & Matt celebrating at Brick Oven)

(After being initiated into Phi Kappa Phi, meaning he's top 10% of all of BYU)

Check Out My Buns!

So Matt was really craving cheeseburgers the other day. I decided to be a good wife and make them for dinner. I decided to continue my quest to be the ultimate breadmaker and bake some homemade buns.

Last week, I made some delicious homemade breadbowls, but there was a pretty serious problem, I underestimated the amount they would rise, and they turned out barely larger than a normal roll (I insisted on using mine as a breadbowl; my spoon barely fit). This time, I learned my lesson and made the rolls almost the size of a purchased hamburger bun.

Things were going great, but then they stopped rising up and started rising out. They baked beautifully, they were just a little big (we easily fit 2 patties on 1 bun). We each ate one and decided to use the rest of them as breadbowls the next day. I was surprised the things were so big that it was a tiny bit larger than the small burner on my stove.

So now I've done one that is too small, one that is too large, so next up, I'm due for a just right! We'll see how it goes...

Yum Yum! A Poll...

Matt wants me to start a restaurant review blog for places here in Utah County. He's decided to sweeten the deal by informing me we can branch out from our usual places and try all of the new ones (what kind of reviewer would do the same restaurant over and over?). While my love of food and trying new things has me seriously considering this, I do wonder if it would be of any value to people. If so, what is everyone's vote on the name? provorestaurants, where to eat in provo or provo eating are all available (does that limit me to only provo places?). Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions for me?

We had an extremely productive Saturday today. While it is nice to have the occasional day of laziness, it sure feels good to check things off your list

Yum!

I made bread. It turned out pretty darn tasty. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty darn proud. (So what if the bread maker made the dough? I still shaped it and baked it...)

Big Problem

I imagine if you read my blog you know that for my job, I am the editor-in-cheif of UW of Utah County; if something goes out to more than 2 people, they are supposed to run it by me first. This is fine by me. Being the nerd I am, I actually really enjoy grammar and like to occasionally pull out my M Comms book from BYU and look over the rules for fun.

When I got married, I was presented with an interesting dillema: I didn't know how to pluralize my new name. You can imagine the weird feeling of being 23 years old and not be able to spell your name.

At first glance, it seems like Cox's would be correct, but what about when you are saying "from, the Cox's." That is definitely not possesive. My second thought was to just add an "S," but I knew Coxs was far from right, so next I went to Coxes. All of the rules I worked so hard to learn told me this was right, but boy, it sure didn't look right.

For the past 11 months, I've just avoided the whole situation and said "The Cox Family" whenever possible, but it was a constant nagging, annoying thought in the back of my mind.

I decided the only logical choice was Coxes, but sadly, I've been ridiculed by others who think that looks wrong and funny. Finally, I decided I needed to solve the dilemma once and for all and googled it. Sure enough, it is Coxes, I even checked multiple sources. So mystery solved, even though it may look funny and people think I don't know how to spell my name, I am now one of the Coxes. Good thing I figured it out before we hit a year next month!