6 Reasons to Live in Utah

Well, since I already have another "AMAZING husband" post in the works, I thought I would break up the theme with some pictures of our CUTE nieces and nephews. My oldest sister, Rebecca has 3 boys. My next oldest sister has 2 girls, and my next next oldest sister has a cute little baby girl. My next next next sister is hopefully going to be pregnant soon, too! So, pray for my next next next sister because she will be an awesome mom :-) And...not to mention, two of my sister-in-laws are prego and expecting SOON! YAY! So, the Rowles-Wilkinson family is definitely growing. And no, we haven't jumped on the bandwagon.

Well, one of my favorite things about living in Utah is being so close to both of our families. But, one of the very best parts is being close to these cute little kids who are SOO funny sometimes. And, as a tribute to each one of them I will tell you a cute story about them. This first picture is of Whitney, Morgen and Kordin. They are buddies.

Whit-Pit (oldest granddaughter)
One time, when I lived with them, I was lying on the couch and she asked me what was wrong. I told her I had cramps. She said, "Have you tried this?" and then she proceeded to plug her nose and jump on one foot. Then she landed on her butt, crossed her legs and said, "That really helps cramps". Haha....what a kid. I wonder if she thought I meant, "I have water in my ear" because that seemed to match the process I use when I try to get water out of my ear. Well, nonetheless...I didn't jump up and down. I kept lying there. Laughing.

Morg (next oldest)
She is such a little angel. We always thought she looked like Michelle from "Full House" so I would always have her say, "HOWIE!" She did it perfectly.
Well, when my mom had her gall-bladder removed, Morgen and I were in the kitchen coloring. I told Morgen, "Why don't you make a get-well card for Nana?" And she said, "Well, FIRST of all I don't know how to read. And SECOND of all, I don't know how to write." Hahaha. Good point, kid. Good point.
And, my second favorite was this past birthday I asked her what she wanted Brandon and I to get her, she said, "Well...I can't really think of anything. So I guess I'll just go out on a limb and say a Dog." Yeah, definitely going out on a limb.

Kordin (oldest boy!)
He is a kindergartner. And he is sooo cute. He is a singer. I have a message saved on my voicemail from three years ago, when he sang an ENTIRE primary song. I was impressed. He was only 3. And, Brandon and I have been able to babysit for my sister for a few over-nighters, so I have been able to really see how silly little Kordin can get. When we were driving to McDonald's (indoor playground, hours of sitting on a gross sticky McDonalds seat...why not?), Kordin asked me if I could sing like a lady.Not really knowing what he meant, I asked him what that sounded like. Then he proceeded by singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in the highest, most opera-sounding voice I have ever heard. I was impressed. And, the best part? His ending line. "You'll go down in His........to........ry!" And, if only I could have recorded it because he moved octaves. Yes, that's right. He started low and went high. That kid has some pipes. This is a picture of Kordin in his Christmas costume. Such a character.

Karsen (cute little almost three year old)
Well, he is at the cutest stage right now. Hands down. And, Brandon is his buddy. So, since my sister and her husband purchased the XBox game, "Rock Band," Karsen has been obsessed with the "Cowboy" song (a.k.a. "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi). So, before we were on our way to church Karsen told Brandon to play the "air drums" and Karsen would play the "air guitar" and they started to sing the song. It was soo cute. Karsen had his little hands strumming like Van Halen (okay, I'm biased). Well, later...in church...while the sacrament was being passed....Karsen belts out, "I'm a COWBOY! Steeel hose I wide! I Wanted. WAAANDED. Dead or Alive." Oh man...I have never heard a more special musical number in my life. This is Karsy with his "princess" hair. Hahaha. Floss.

Daxon (One year old)
Well, even though it has taken his entire year of his life to like me, it finally started to happen. However, the only way I can hold him for more than one minute is if I take him quickly from his mom (or my mom or my dad or any of my other sisters) He is starting to walk. And, a few weeks ago I had him walk across the living room to his mom. The music was playing in the background, so once a fast beat came on, he stopped dead in his tracks and started dancing. It was hilarious. Once the beat calmed down, he was on his way to his mom. Cute little smiley Daxy.

Sophie (newest baby)
She is sooo cuddly! And, even though I haven't seen her in .....sniffle....two months, I still think she rocks the kazbah. She has this furrowed brow that makes her look like she is always mad at the world. When in reality, she is the HAPPIEST baby. And, here is a cute picture of her in the sweet hat we bought her for Christmas. SOPHIE, COME TO UTAH!





And, just for good measure. Here is a picture of Sophie in all of her happiness-glory.


Well, there you have it. A post that should hold you over until the next amazing story about my husband. Who, by the way, is ALMOST done with his Finals! He only has one more to go. YAY BABY!

Jinxed

I spoke too soon. I just finished washing the Beetle, and noticed that the tire popped.

WHAT IS THE DEAL?!?!?!

Bitter Sweet (The 1/2 Ultimate Post)

So, I am writing this post in pink. And, if you don't know what that means, then I will tell you. Pink is my favorite color. And, so the rule is (new rule, obviously since this is my fifth post ever) whatever I write in pink is a MUST READ(my opinion) because it is one of my most favorite things to write about.

Today's most favorite thing is about cars. I know, I don't seem like the type of girl who would actually devote a post on cars. But, if you know us...you will soon realize that we own three cars. So, yes...we love cars.

Back in 1999 (I won't disclose my age, I don't want to give it away), I had a dream car. Don't you remember that game you used to play in the car on the looong road trips with your siblings? If you drove past a big 18-passenger van you would quickly yell, "Krista, that's your dream car!" Thinking you really "zingged" her with that big insult. Well, anybody who knew me post-1999 knew that anytime a Volkswagen Beetle would drive past me, I would suddenly lose all control. I wouldn't even have to say anything, my knees would just go weak, and I would start to slur my words....and then, you knew there was a VW Beetle somewhere on the road.

Fast forward to 2006 (you there?): I was just nonchalantly telling Brandon about my dream car. Well, once the cat was out of the bag (we had been dating for a year), I felt it was necessary to let my squeamish girl tendencies resurface from 1999. So, by doing that, Brandon would realize just HOW much I loved this car. Well, since my (wonderful) dad bought me a RAV 4, I pretty much felt like the RAV and I would be buddies.....for life. But, once Brandon and I got engaged, he started taking me to VW dealerships for me to look around. (Probably because he didn't want his wife driving the RAV :-). So, a couple of months before we got married, he got me thinking we were going to make this big "dream car" purchase. Girls, you know what that'll do. And if you don't know what that'll do, well...it's okay. I just thought it sounded good.

So, anyway...about two months before we got married, we just suddenly stopped talking about the amazing Beetle. You know how hard that was for me? It was still on my mind, but I didn't want Brandon to know I was stuck-up until after we got married (:-), so I couldn't just say, "Sweetie, remember how we were looking for a Beetle?" "Uhm...did you want to go back to the dealership to look around?"

Well, I pretty much dropped the idea of car-shopping, and we were off to our amazing honeymoon to Florida. We drove around all week in a rental PT Cruiser (no, we are not over 40). Brandon had told me that since he didn't think we would have enough funds, we would have to go back home earlier than he had expected. Yeah, I was bummed. So, we were on our way to the airport to return the rental car, and to talk to our "travel agent". We took a shuttle bus to where our travel agent was. Brandon had me wait in the lobby, while he discussed "going home" plans with our agent. (sidenote: While I was waiting, I seriously sat in the lobby counting all of the coins I had in my purse. Who does that?) Well, he came out and got me so that I could meet our agent, and then he handed me a letter he had written and in the letter it said, "Enjoy being the owner of a Volkswagen Beetle!" Yeah, that sentence is pretty straight-forward, but I was confused. Then, we walked through a glass door onto the airplane hangar and there was a BEAUTIFUL 2002 Black Volkswagen Beetle-Sport with a big pink bow tied around it. Are you serious? Yes, very. So, he handed me the keys and said, "This is your car". And, I said, "Is this a rental car?" (I am a bright person, just not under strenuous circumstances), and he said, "No, it's your car!" (Well, I won't belabor the point, but it took about five days to sink in that it was acutally my car). I was in absolute shock. I couldn't believe it (refer to previous parenthese). So, I just walked around the car for a good twenty minutes saying "Oh my goodness", and a handful of "Are you kidding me's?" Honestly, this car was PERFECT! And, who gets a car on their honeymoon? Let alone their DREAM car since 1999. So, yes....I was absolutely floored. And, my wonderful husband had actually been planning this since even before we were engaged (brave man). He was on eBay and found this car, and the owner of the car (a.k.a. Travel Agent), lived in Sarasota Springs, Florida. So, luckily she was an amazing woman who held the car until July, just so that we could fly out to Florida and surprise ME with the dream car.



Yes...it was right out of a fairy tale. Absolutely amazing. And perfect. And dreamy. This is picture of my HOT husband putting the bow on. He had his mom send a box to Florida with "Princess" keychains, a Princess seat-cover, a Princess crown, and a long pink ribbon to tie around the car. He is adorable. I know.





So, we spent the last five days of our honeymoon driving home from Florida. The best and not-long-enough road trip I have ever been on!








This is the happy couple, and the very SHOCKED new bride. Yeah, I don't think Brandon got the "Sweepstakes" reaction that he thought he would get. Seriously, who gets the dream car on their honeymoon? Yeah, I couldn't speak. Only smile. Just call me mute.










And, this is us somewhere in Alabama. Note, the KFC restaurant. This was the provider of the deliciously BONED chicken mentioned in the aforementioned post.





So...after freakishly trying to take care of precious little Princess (nickname for the Beauty), in October of '07 (dark month of my life), I took my first snowstorm-stroll down our annoyingly-steep driveway, and ran right into our rock-retaining wall. The consequence? Devastation. A broken c-v something, tire something, and wheel something. And an eternal-hatred for steep driveways. So, ever since my sledding-fiasco, I have been driving our third car (bless the third car). And poor little PLP (Precious little Princess) has been sitting, and I'd like to think CRYING in our garage for the last five months. Seriously, if you ever even brought up the "accident" to me, it would ruin my day, and probably yours too


Well, a couple of weeks ago (sorry...remember how we've been working with Tyranosaurus Laptop?), we were on our way to get some ice cream and Brandon went outside to "fix the hose" while I stayed inside to probably stay warm. And, when I came outside he was about to walk me around to the truck, but then he kept me walking around to the BEETLE! Yes, he fixed it!!!! And it was even cleaner than I have ever seen it. All thanks to my wonderful husband! I felt like we were on our honeymoon all over again....all the way to Iceberg Drive-Inn. We have never been so in love.


Sidenote: If you're wondering how I classify an "ultimate" post= more than three actual pictures of myself in one post.

Stalling

Can you tell I like "The Far Side"? ::insert sheepish grin::


Well...I am one post closer to the ultimate post. And by now, all of my anxious readers have now phased out. But, it's okay. Let this prove who the "True" readers are. And, you might be asking why I am closer? Well, Brandon just bought the new Dell XPS 34219483 ZUTE desktop! And, it is amazing. You can even watch television straight off of the screen. Amazing. And, as if it weren't amazing enough...it records shows. So, if any of you missed "Idol Gives Back" last night, just let me know. You can come and sit in front of our amazing Dell XPS and watch it with us. (And, just for the record: we left for YM/YW last night, and after a two hour activity with the blessed youth in our ward, even after we got back home, "Idol Gives Back" was STILL on). Luckily Dell lets you fast-forward through the commercials.

So, since I'm one post closer (read: I actually have a fast computer to upload my pictures, I just haven't actually done it yet), I thought I would copy my friend Lyndsey (the famous one) and write some letters:

Dear Sister Perry: No, I am not Jamie. Please stop calling me "Jamie". My name is Erica. Jamie is the 13 year old cute little blonde girl in our ward. And although I am hardly flattered, I am almost 24.

Dear Carrabas: Your garlic dish was probably delicious last week when my coworker ordered it. But now that he has reheated it after five days, it smells. Very bad. Please put a Warning Label on your To-Go boxes.

Dear Carrie Underwood: You are beautiful, skinny, sweet, talented, and rich. Please stop that.

Dear Yolanda: Please stop emailing me. I know. You told me many times that I have won the Ukranian lottery. I just don't have time to figure out how many rubels it will be. And I also don't have time to read, and then delete your message.

Dear People: When a girl says she is sick, it doesn't mean that she is automatically pregnant. Please stop asking me. You're making me feel fat.

Dear Weekdays: Why do you go by so slow?

Dear Weekends: Why do you go by so fast?

The Second Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Conference Weekend is here! YAY! I always feel like Conference comes at the perfect time. I think the Lord was inspired to hold it every six months, just so that we could be taught from the Lord's apostles and be reminded of the truths TWICE a year. I always look forward to hearing from Elder Holland, he is my favorite speaker at Conference. Can we have favorites? If you ever get a chance, go to speeches.byu.edu and read ALL of his talks. He was the president of BYU, so he always gave some great/funny/inspiring messages. Oh yeah, I wasn't a student when he was president, I was probably 3 years old. But, you know.

And, this weekend will be especially wonderful because on Saturday afternoon, we get to sustain the new Presidency of the church. It will be bittersweet to not anticipate to hear President Hinckley's closing remarks, but I really am excited to hear from President Monson. It will be different. But amazing. Just another reason why the gospel is true. And, on top of all of that, I get to spend 8 hours cuddling up with my lover, with nowhere to go (except maybe to dreamland...but we try to stay awake :-)! And, the sweet rolls and time with family isn't so bad either.

I hope you all get a chance to tune in to the awesome Conference broadcast this weekend. And, if you don't. Well, just get onto lds.org in four days and it will be online. :-) The Church is ALWAYS finding ways for no excuses.

Move Over Martha

Okay, so since I am still at the mercy of only using Facebook or Google images, I thought I would put up this picture from Facebook and tell you about the story behind it. (Sorry for all of you Facebook friends that feel like these are the only pictures you have ever seen of us!). Because I am STILL working on the ultimate post...(I know, I know...you don't even believe me anymore), I sometimes neglect to blog. But, my good friend and fellow-blogger Lyndsey requested that I write down my thoughts. And, I thought THIS story would be a good one.

This picture was taken of us in the middle-of-nowhere. We were on our way back from our honeymoon, and so to try to be thrifty, we were trying to make lunches/breakfasts so we didn't have to spend anymore money on food. Well, Brandon had this great idea to go and buy the 10 piece KFC bucket for dinner, and then we could use the leftovers for lunch the next day. This picture was us eating lunch. And, well....let's just say I was STILL nervous to be cooking for my new groom. His mom is a really good cook, and my mom is a really good cook. But somewhere in between those two women, I definitely fell short.

Fast forward to the five minutes of preparing the "chicken sandwich" for lunch. I was nervous (weird, I know...I just didn't want him to think I wasn't PERFECT! hahaha. that's funny in retrospect. I'm pretty sure he knows now). We had bread, cheese, pickles, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and the ultimate KFC breaded chicken. So, you're thinking to yourself, "She can't go wrong with this one. It's a sandwich". Oh, how wrong you are! So, I proceeded to make my new husband's yummy chicken sandwich. Loaded it all up with the perfect condiments, and then put one large chicken breast on the sandwich. Are you getting the picture? I still hadn't caught on. Keep reading. Brandon offered the "blessing" on the food and in his prayer, he said, "We're grateful for Erica's efforts to make lunch today". EFFORTS? How about success? Or amazing ability? No, efforts. Well, I thought his choice of words was strange, but I brushed it off. Then, I took the first bite (sidenote: Brandon is so cute, he will always wait for me to take a bite before he starts eating). He sat there. Holding his sandwich. Looking at me. Looking at the sandwich. And then, this happened:

Brandon (in the nicest and most sincere voice): "Uhm. Do you mind if I take the chicken off of the bone?"

Me: "Huh? Sure, if you want." (trying to play it off that I actually MEANT to keep the chicken on the bone..inside of a sandwich".

Brandon: "Is that how your family eats sandwiches?"

Me: "Yeah. Normally." (trying not to expose the fact that I don't think I had ever even HAD KFC chicken sandwiches before, and in my defense, had only ever bought the boneless chicken)

Brandon: "Uhm. Okay" (as he continues to de-bone his chicken breast, so he can have a normal sandwich. I am seriously surprised the guy didn't laugh in my face, or hang his head in shame).

Well, you can imagine that I absolutely kept eating my sandwich with the bone in it. And, then when I finally hit the first bone (mid-way through my second bite) I slyly tried to peel the chicken off of the bone without Brandon noticing. I was being stealth. And, I was trying to act normal. Neither of the aforementioned worked.

Needless to say, Brandon cut the watermelon (featured in the above picture).

What to expect....

Guess WHAT?!?!?
























April Fools :-)