The Valenzuela's

Called to Serve!!

2012-01-24T08:56:00.001-08:00

My little sister Laur Laur has decided to serve a mission!!! So AWESOME! We are so excited for her and proud of her. It was such a fun night. She practically had the entire university of Utah and then some at our house supporting her in opening her call. Gabe was actually flying home from Houston in the airport so we face timed him. Wes and Ash and the kids were on skype so we could all see her. It was so fun. And where is she headed??!!!!!............BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA!!! Seriously! I am so jealous! What a fun place to go. The food, the people, the culture! I would love to experience that! She leaves for the MTC on March 7. She is going to be an awesome missionary. Those people are so lucky to have her. We love you Laur and are so so excited for you!!!

(Do you love the balloons? They're from the baby shower the night before. A blog post about that coming soon too :) )

Christmas Festivities...

2012-01-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! I think I could sit here for days and type about all the fun things we did. Instead, I'm just going to do a picture overload. And mind you, I didn't even get half the pictures I should have. We were having so much fun I guess, my camera never really left my purse. But here are a few...

These are from the awesome party we had with our friends at our place about a week before we left for Utah. We did dinner and games and a white elephant exchange... Along with the awesome ugly sweaters. So fun. We are so lucky to have such great friends here in Arizona!

We had the Yates 'n' Mates family Christmas Party a few days before Christmas. This has always been one of my most favorite Christmas traditions and I was so glad we were able to make it this year (We've missed the last 2!) We did the nativity, exchanged gift cards and played the infamous dice game. We loved it!

We braved the bitter cold to go see the zoo lights with my parents. It turned out to be a really fun night, especially after we filled our tummies with hot coco.

We definitely are not used to the cold. And had to take extreme caution when taking Tex on his nightly walk.

We had the most delicious food. My mom and Gabe's mom were amazing.

This is Christmas morning on our way to church. I decided after this pic that I wasn't too fond of prego pics anymore and my camera went in the purse for good. ;)

Like I said, I should have gotten way way more pics! I feel bad. I didn't get any with Laur Laur, all my girl friends I went to lunch with or the Valenzuela's. I seriously didn't even think about my camera after the first three days. It was an awesome Christmas though. We were up in Utah for 3 weeks and it was amazing to see everyone and spend the quality time that we missed. Next time I'll be a little better at documenting. :)

My thoughts at 38 weeks...

2012-01-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

38. 38 Weeks today. I never even thought I would say that. We are so close. But yet, having never done this, I feel like I might be pregnant forever. Babies do like to come out of their warm cocoon right? Although, if she did come today, would I be ready? I'm not really sure. Are you ever ready for your first baby? Ok so yes, her nursery is completely done and SO cute. I'll put pics up soon. Gabe has had school off for the last two weeks that we've been home from Utah and all we've done is baby prep. Our room is rearranged and clean, the house is clean, the laundry is done. All of her clothes are washed and put away. Her many blankets folded and tucked away. My body feels like it is ready to pop. (And looks like it too) Not only my tummy, but my feet, my hands, my face... the whole bit. To top it off, my immune system is a no go. I've had an awesome head cold since we've been home from Utah, going on 2 weeks now. Last Tuesday I had the stomach flu. I haven't had the stomach flu since I was 10 maybe. Let me tell you though, it was not fun having a baby sit on top of your sick belly. I thought for sure she would want out that day. She loves her water bed though. I'm feeling a little better now, hoping to kick this cold completely by D-day. A lot of rest the doc tells me... and I laugh. I hope someday in the future to have a complete nights sleep. I'm told that won't happen for a long while. Oh well. I guess I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. Now I'm playing that waiting game that I've never been good at.

As the days go by I get more and more anxious. More and more excited. I've been picturing for 9 months what she'll look like, her little toes and fingers, her eye color, hoping she'll have Gabe's smile, maybe my nose. I can't wait until she gets here. I feel like this is sort of surreal. Sometimes I sit at the Dr's office, waiting for him to come in, thinking, "am I really here? Am I really here checking on my baby?" Crazy feeling. We are so so so excited for her to come though. Even though I'm so nervous, I hope she knows how excited I am. I hope she's excited to come to us. I've been thinking a lot lately about what she's doing right at this very moment, ya know, up in heaven. I've been wondering about who she is spending time with, her family, her favorite friends. I wonder if she's excited to come to us, maybe nervous. Maybe she's feeling just like I am. Excited and nervous all at the same time. I've had this discussion with a lot of my friends and family. I've asked them their opinion on when her spirit is with her body. Is she there in my tummy right now? Or does she come when she takes that first breath of air? I don't really know. I know everyone has their own opinion and I'm not one to say who is right or wrong. I do feel her little spirit though. I had an interesting conversation over thanksgiving with my family about feeling "homesick". I can't stop thinking about this conversation. Do you ever get that feeling in your stomach like your "homesick"? Even if you're home? I get it every once in a while. And I get it all of a sudden, not even when thinking about it. Its not even a feeling like you miss your family or your house, like I said, sometimes I get it even at home. But it's usually in my stomach, that aching for "home". Over Thanksgiving while we were eating breakfast one morning my sister said she had that "homesick" feeling. I told her that I get it too, relieved that someone else has felt that feeling. My mom told us that she gets the feeling too, but she loves it. She thinks it is a feeling of longing for "home". Our real home in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. And it reminds her where she came from. I've thought about it a lot since then because I get that feeling so much more with Londyn in my tummy. I used to get it a lot when I was younger. It sort of faded to every once in a while and since I've been pregnant, I get it a lot more. A lot of times when I feel it is when she is moving around in there. Its like she hits the "homesick" button. But since that conversation, I've had a different perspective. I love it when I feel "homesick". I personally feel like she is up in Heaven, waiting to come here to earth to join our family. But I know her little spirit is close to us. And when I feel "homesick" I feel close to home with her. I wonder what that is like up there, leaving family and friends to come to us. I'm excited for her. I wish she could tell us all about it. I can't wait to meet her.

Just my own thoughts. I didn't even really intend to share but as I get closer to her coming, that is something I want to remember.

Alright. I am ready... I think. Ready or not she's coming right?! We can't wait. I'll update more pics and such from our vacation up in Utah. It's on the list of things to do before her grand entrance. Maybe tomorrow? We'll see.

3 years...

2011-12-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Gabe and I celebrated 3 years together as Husband and Wife. I love this picture of us on our wedding day. Look at our smiles. We were sure excited to be married. Today I smile way bigger. I am married to the man of my dreams. He makes me happier than I could have ever imagined. Last night he wrote me a letter about all the adventures we've been on and how much he loves me. It took me a while to read it through all my tears... I'm such a baby. Such a sweetheart I married. He makes life fun and exciting. He makes everyday happy. I love being his girl. Happy Anniversary Babe! Yesterday was perfect, I loved reminiscing with you about our fun wedding day. I love you so so much. Can't wait to spend forevers with you!

A Christmas Tradition...

2011-12-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, we made the trek out to Mesa to see the Mesa temple christmas lights with The Blands. We went last year at about the same time and decided this year to keep the tradition going. We started the night out with a little Cafe Rio (the only one in the state) and then hit the temple to see the lights. It was awesome. It had actually been raining all night. We questioned whether or not we should actually drive the 45 minutes out there, but we couldn't mess with tradition. :) It rained the whole time we were driving and the whole time we were at dinner. Then as soon as we got to the temple, it stopped. It was a beautiful night! Well, Gabe was freezing. I on the other hand was perfectly content with my little toaster baby keeping me warm. And... nobody was there. It was awesome. We could take all the pics we wanted without any random eddies in the background. Loved it.

The lights were BEAUTIFUL! Where else can you get a lighted orange tree other than AZ?!

The manger scene with that awesome star.

The classic "red lit" tree

Seriously. How beautiful is the Mesa temple?

Meg and I

And our baby bellies... We've grown a little bit since last year!

Thank you Blands for the fun fun night. I think it was the end of our tradition at the Mesa temple lights. This next year will be a big year for both our little families and will probably take us away from Arizona. But we'll never forget our amazing friends The Blands and our fun dinners and outings! Love you guys!

A look back at our little tradition...

We came in 2009 with Kreig and Brittany Lewis, looking for a house and getting excited to move to Arizona!

Last year in 2010 we came with the Blands. Meg and I were then running buddies, running up to 15 miles on the weekends. Gabe and I were deciding on MBA school.

And this year, 2011 with the Blands. Meg and I, no longer running, just baking little babies in our bellies. And Gabe and I loving our life in Arizona. Looking forward to 2012... Baby Londyn Bell, Graduating, and moving forward with the next steps of life. We're so blessed!

What a fun tradition we've started!

Thankful for Family....

2011-12-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed. We had so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. And what an awesome Thanksgiving it was! My parents planned a trip out to Cali to see Wes and Ash and the kids and invited us along for the ride. It was so so so fun to spend the holiday with my fam. Since Wes and I don't live in Utah, we only get to be with the whole fam about once a year. It breaks my heart to know that my little niece and nephew are growing big without me! We usually are in Utah for a family get together so it was such a treat to go on vacation to California. I know for Wes and Ash it is there home town, but my parents splurged and took us all to San Diego to "get away" for a couple of days. We started the trip with a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at Weston's in-laws. What amazing food! Shauna was so gracious to host everybody.

(P.s.... get ready for picture overload... it was so much easier to just load them on then to put them into collages)

Then we headed to Orange county to spend the night at the Ayres Hotel. It was so nice! And it was so fun to drive through the neighborhood that Gabe and I used to live in and where Wes and Ash live now. Seriously. I forget how BEAUTIFUL it is where we used to live. It was amazing. And my favorite part... with the fresh flowers, the palm trees, and the smell of the ocean so close... it smells like Disney Land. Now who wouldn't want to live there?!

In fron of the Ayers Hotel

The next morning we headed to Weston's house, picked 'em up and drove down to San Diego for the rest of the weekend.

Laur got my best belly pic of the pregnancy so far. :)

We got to San Diego, checked in the Hotel and hit Sea World. It was awesome. I haven't been since I was little and we loved it. It was so fun to be with the kids and watch their faces as the dolphins and whales flipped out of the water. Gabe and I are still talking about how in the world you would even start training a whale.

The cute kiddos and Ash waiting for the whales... In the "splash zone"

Wes, Dad, Gabe and I opted for a "dryer" area.

Then Gabe and my mama took the kids on the twisty "barf-a-rama" ride. I tell ya, this guy is going to be the best dad. He and Colty were best buddies the whole trip.

The crew, (and the other guy to my right...??) waiting for Gabe, Mom, Colty and Hays to finish the ride.

And do I not have the CUTEST niece and nephew on the planet?!!! Ah, it kills me that we don't live close. I can't get enough of these two!

Here is the BEAUTIFUL hotel we checked into. Gabe and I got a "sweet" suite in the tower. The rest of the fam were in the bigger suites down below. Such a fun night. We ordered pizza, watched Elf and gave the kids Christmas presents from Gabe and I. It was so fun to see them open their presents. We're never around to see them open what we get them, I always send. SOOO fun to watch a kid open a present. Brings back the magic of Christmas.

The view from our room.

The next morning we played at the pool. Everyone loved the slides. Colton was a little hesitant until Uncle Gabe rode with him. The whole gang tried it out. And I took the pics ;)

Then after a bit, he braved it by himself!

This is my favorite pic of my dad with his feet... classic.

Laur tried out the paddle boards. It looked so fun. Wish I could have given it a try. Next time... when I'm a little less top heavy.

We spent the rest of the day doing a little shopping and checking out the dental office that my bro works in in La Jolla. This is JUST down the street from his office. Can you believe how beautiful. Yes, I will be getting my teeth drilled here from now on. :)

And one last family pic. Such a fun fun trip. It went by WAY too fast!!! Thank you so so much mamma and dad for the trip. We can't wait to be all together again soon! And we'll add Londyn Bell to the mix! My fam is so awesome. I am so Thankful for them!

Almost 31 weeks...

2011-11-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am 7 months along! I am 2 weeks and 2 days into my third trimester! Only 68 days left! And I am almost 31 weeks!!!! Not that I'm counting or anything....

I seriously have an issue with keeping track of this pregnancy. I am counting down the days till this little gal gets here. I've set myself up an account on babycenter.com and every monday it tells me how many weeks I am along. On monday I will say that I am 30 weeks (or what ever week I am on) but as soon as Tuesday hits, I will tell people that I am ALMOST 31 weeks... (or what ever the next week is). I don't know why I think that helps me to pass the time... but it does.

So... How's it going? This whole pregnancy thing at this point in time? How am I feeling? I get asked these questions on a daily basis, so I thought, maybe I should document it, for my self. And seeing as how I don't keep a journal, this is the next best thing. To be honest... I really cannot complain about my pregnancy. I think that I could write the book on the most average pregnancy in the history of all pregnancies. I swear things happen to the day that they are supposed to. On baby center.com they send me emails of things I should be expecting at that point in my pregnancy. Yep. They are dead on. Every time. About 3 days after we found out we were expecting, morning sickness and fatigue set in. But not excessive... average. About 2 days after I hit the second trimester, I felt like a million bucks. I got my energy back... I hear thats normal. And the day that my third trimester hit... swollen feet. Lovely. The only thing I was hoping to dodge in pregnancy. Sausage feet. But, lo and behold, I am average. It's really cute when I wear my Toms (ok, knock off Toms) and my feet plump up over the edge. I'm also getting restless leg syndrome at night. I sit on the couch and kick my legs like I'm riding a invisible bike. I'm sure its really entertaining to watch. My fingers are starting to swell a bit. I'm appreciating my wedding ring and hoping I can wear it for a few more weeks :) How am I sleeping? Reasonable. Its not bad yet. I hear it gets bad. I have lost all tact though in asking my cute husband to move over and forget about snuggling for the next couple months. My nesting is kicking in a little bit. I have this urge to get all my Christmas shopping done weeks and weeks in advance, like back in October. Of course my problem with procrastination hasn't been wiped out with pregnancy. Her room isn't done yet. We finished her cute changing table and have the crib set up. But now the room is bombarded with christmas boxes. That was a task, getting out all my Christmas decor. I'm dreading putting it all away when I'm twice as big. I'm hoping the elves do that. Clumsiness? Yes. While putting up the tree, the whole thing fell right on top of me. I am always stumbling over things and at all meals I look down and have crumbs on my belly... like a 4 year old. Gabe says I'm getting mommy powers. Or in other words, I'm a bit more feisty and I don't take people's crap like I used to. I'm not sure that's a good thing. I'm really not mean though. Still sweet... I think. The scale is crawling up. That's really fun, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I am feeling huge. Like elephant big, but I guess I'm not excessive. I am a little nervous though for the next couple of months. Oh well... You're only big and pregnant once plus three more times right? I am getting more and more excited about her coming, yet I still feel like its surreal. I don't think it has hit me that I'm actually going to have a baby... a real life baby!! I can feel her kicking though all the time, and occasionally I'll feel her little hard foot from the outside. I can't even wait until she is on the outside of me and not on the inside. But stay in there Little Londyn! We want you to finish cooking! I just can't wait to hug and kiss her and love her. She's going to be so cute! We try and imagine what she'll look like and act like. What a fun thing it is to have your first baby, and I really am cherishing this. She is such a blessing to us. We are getting close! Only 9 and a little bit more weeks!

For my Grandpa

2011-11-27T21:39:00.001-08:00

Claron Chipman Spencer

1930 ~ 2011

On November 15, my Grandpa Spencer returned home to our Heavenly Father and was reunited with my grandma. What a happy day it was. I was filled with feelings of gratitude for the knowledge I had of Heavenly Father's plan for us. I knew that he was home with his family. I knew that on the night that he passed that he was free from his pain and welcomed to a better place.

I flew home a couple of days later to go to the funeral. Unfortunately Gabe couldn't be with me due to school. It was good to be with my family and to see my cousins and aunts and uncles. It was an amazing funeral. My grandpa was always a teacher, always a missionary. Even in his passing, he taught me about the gospel and the plan of salvation. He taught me to pray everyday. He taught me to read the Book of Mormon everyday. He taught me to attend the temple. And he taught me that if I have a relationship with my Savior, everything else will fall into place. Thank you Grandpa for your example. Until we meet again...

The Pallbearers

The fam on a beautiful Salt Lake Saturday

After my grandma passed eight years ago, my grandpa's siblings came and put chimes up in the trees above her grave. They still chime today :)

Chimes for my grandparents

A little more about my grandpa:

Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Claron Chipman Spencer, died November 15, 2011 in Salt Lake City. He was born March 26, 1930 in Salt Lake City, the eldest of five children born to Claron Ostler and Bertha Chipman Spencer. Claron married Joan Blackhurst on September 10, 1952 and they moved to Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter, where he earned his law degree from George Washington University and they became the parents of five children. Upon returning to Salt Lake City to live, Claron introduced the family to skiing and every Saturday morning provided a ride to Alta to catch the first lift. Missionary work was always Claron's greatest passion, and he and Joan went on to serve three missions together, first in Florida, Tallahassee, as a mission president, then as missionaries in East Malaysia and New Zealand. In their last years together, they served as temple workers at the Washington D.C. temple. Claron's second wife was Virginia Taylor, and they served a mission together in London, England. After Virginia's passing, Claron married Bonnie Evans and they were very active together working at the Salt Lake Temple and Conference Center. Bonnie provided love and care during Claron's later years. Claron was a respected attorney and active member of the Utah State Bar from 1966 until 1993. He is survived by his wife Bonnie; children Claron B. (Chip)(Caroline), Salt Lake City, Shauna, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Stephen B. (Wendy), Salt Lake City, Timothy B., Munich, Germany, Mary Jane Snyder (Michael), Salt Lake City; 11 grandchildren, Weston (Ashley), Abigail (Gabe), Max, Lauren, Sam, Daniel, Wolfgang, Truman, Tao, Roxanna and Alicia; two great-grandchildren Hailey and Colton; sisters Drew Timpson and Claudia Sadler and brother Edward C. Spencer. Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 19, 2011, 12 noon at the Forestview Ward, 1111 East Charlton (2818 South). Friends and family may call at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 East 1300 South, Friday evening from 6-8 pm and at 11:00 am, one hour prior to services at the ward. Interment at Salt Lake City Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the family atwww.larkincares.com.

Caught on Camera!

2011-11-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

We just got back from the Doctor's office! Maybe the best appointment yet! Here's our little gummy bear caught on camera. She was a little bit of a stinker in the way that she never moved her little hand away from her face. Its ok though, I loved seeing her little fingers. And the tongue shot... Love it! Grandmas... Eat your hearts out! The tech said she's dainty. Gabe said that she gets that from him. :) When the doc came in, he said it was the cutest baby he'd seen all morning. I'm pretty sure he says that to every patient, but I gave him cookies anyway. I love my doctor!

As cute as she is as a little orange blob... I can't wait to see her in real life! The doctor said everything is perfect. Her heart rate is perfect. Right now she weighs 2 pounds and 5 ounces. Everything is measuring out right on time. My due date is still Feb. 6 and we're counting down the days! I'm start seeing my doc every 2 weeks now, and then every week starting in January. I'm hoping with the holidays coming that time will fly. I try to imagine our life with our little baby. It'll be awesome. But I am also enjoying every day I get with Gabe, just the two of us. We're so blessed, we have such a wonderful little life.

Alright, here she is...

Presenting our Little Gummy Bear!

Her First Package!

2011-11-07T14:42:00.001-08:00

Baby Londyn got her first package in the mail today!!! My cute and bestest friend Teddy sent Londyn this darling blanket she made. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING! She showed it off on her blog a couple of weeks ago and I was blown away then at the detail of this blanket. I can't believe she sent it to ME!! The detail is even more amazing in person! Teddy, I so am not deserving of your hours and hours at the sewing machine, but baby Londyn and I are so so grateful!!! Thank you thank you my darling friend!! I can't wait to snuggle her in it!

A pic of the front and the back. You can't see it on here, but up close you can see all the detail. Gabe calls Teddy the master sewer.

Love love love the owls!

And the back... amazing.

Did I mention we are naming her Londyn? At least that's what it is for now. We love it though. I think that name's a keeper.

Utah Fans Are We!

2011-11-06T15:46:00.001-08:00

How long has it been, seriously, since Gabe and I have been to a Utah game. We were talking about it this morning and we couldn't remember... which is sad. Since we've been in school, it hasn't really been in the cards to make it to a Utah game. We still keep up with our Utes though and were ecstatic when they became part of the Pac 12. It meant that whether or not it was ASU or UofA... We'd see a game in Arizona! Last night, we were finally able to see our Utes in real life!!! Not only that, they looked larger than life on the second row of the UofA stadium! They were awesome seats... well would've been a bit more awesome if our boys weren't so tall and we could see over them, but standing during the game is way more fun anyway right?!! I think so! We were able to go to the game with our good friends Landon and Marianne and Gabe's brother Matt even drove down to Tuscon with his buddies. It was fun to be able to spend some time with him. The game was awesome and it sure is nice to drive home to Phoenix with a win! Gabe and I layed in bed this morning and talked about how fun our Saturday was. We sure do miss Utah football games. Hopefully there will be a lot more for us in the future.... As much as we love school... we love care free Saturdays way more!

Right before we took this pic, Gabe said, "We've gotta document Baby's first Utah game!" She loved it.

Our awesome 2nd row seats. Man those boys are way bigger in real life!

The classic Gabby game day pose.

Out to dinner with Matt. So fun to have him in our town!

And this is strictly for Teddy. She asked me when we chatted last for a belly shot. Seriously in the last month I have gone from just feeling way chubby to pregnant! She sure shot out in the belly department! This is about 6 days past 6 months! Crazy huh? I'm not too too fond of the belly pics but I'm told I'll be glad I have them when I'm done. 3 more months.... crazy. We can't wait for our little teeny tiny Ute!!

A Utah Autumn...

2011-10-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

A couple weekends ago, Gabe had a big career conference in California. I was planning on going with him, but after reading his insane schedule (up at 5 am... gone till past midnight...), I decided to pack up Tex and I and head to Utah. The two of us made the 11 1/2 hour drive, listening to old Tim Mcgraw and Faith Hill CD's and trying not to stop every 12 minutes to pee. Thank you baby in my belly :) It was worth the drive though! I got to spend a fun weekend with the fam! We jam packed the weekend full of yummy food, the new movie footloose, visiting in laws and grandparents, watching my cute cousin play little league football, and my dad was nice enough to babysit tex for the night while just us girls went to Park City. It was so fun to spend so much time with Laur. Usually she has a packed schedule full of friends and dates, but I told her she MUST clear her schedule for me. Ha, ha... It was so fun to have her all to myself! and Ah, It was so refreshing to see the leaves changing colors, one of the biggest things I miss living in the desert! The weekend went by way to fast! Thank you Mama and Dad and Laur for all the fun!

Here are a few pics from the trip. I am so sad... I can't find my camera charger. I seriously pride myself on always being able to find EVERYTHING! As my belly is growing bigger, I swear my mind is getting smaller. I can't remember ANYTHING!!!! So... here are some pics from the phone and stolen from my mom...

Our cute little matching cars!

The Beautiful leaves of Park City!

At Main Street Pizza and Noodles with the gals... such a fun night!

Cheering on cute Blake at his football game

And Tex... Not real super excited for the 11 hour drive ahead of him.

Such a fun trip!!! And Gabe's trip was a success! He rocked the career conference and set up a bunch of job interviews for post graduation. He's so awesome!

Phoenix FINALLY got the memo...

2011-10-04T08:45:00.001-07:00

IT'S FALL!!!!! WAHOO!

We have been anticipating, waiting, counting down the days until Autumn! I hated the phone calls I would make to family and friends back in Utah, bragging about their boots and their sweaters. Hearing about the Utah leaves especially tugged at my little heart strings. Last year I didn't even decorate for fall. With the temperatures outside hitting 105, I figured it just wasn't even worth it. This year, I have been especially anxious and missing the fall weather. It was a long, hot summer here. So, a couple Saturdays ago, Gabe and I were sitting on the couch watching football, and I said, "I've had ENOUGH of this summer business!" I pulled out all my fall decorations, turned the a.c. really high, made some chili, and with the help of pinterest.... (which I love.... Thank you again ASH!)... I brought fall to phoenix. It was still 105 outside but it didn't matter. I can make this house cold fast with all my fans and a.c. cranked up!

Then finally! Yesterday!!!! Fall came for real! People are actually wearing jackets! Now I wouldn't go as far as to put on a jacket right now, we're still in the high 70's. But we're getting there! It came right in time for General Conference. What an amazing weekend. I melted my new pumpkin spice scentsy, painted a little pumpkin and heard the words of the prophet. We loved it.

And... speaking of that. Here in Phoenix, they are starting the mormon.org ads on t.v. We saw 5 of the commercials during Dancing with the Stars. It was awesome. To see some more inspiring stories, and learn more about the amazing church we belong to, go here: here. I will warn you though, have a box of tissues handy.

Anywho... here's to fall! Or at least how fall looks at our house.

An idea from Pinterest... Love that place.

Our little witch we brought home from Prague. We love her! I am so glad I got her. She cackles and shakes her legs and her hair and eyes light up when we clap. I get a total kick out of her.

The cute wreath I made from last year. I think it was my first craft... in my whole life... ever... that looked decent.

The leaves don't fall here in phoenix. Well unless they are palm tree leaves, blown off by a wind storm... Otherwise known as a Haboob.

Bad pic taken with my phone, but loving the fall colors in my house!!!

I found this little gem at the D.I. a couple weeks ago.

Added a little paint and spruced him up a bit. I had no idea what to use as a stem. Until I was "sitting" one day... Toilet paper roll... pure genius I am!

Our little entry table. Thank you again pinterest for the free subway art and for making me into a crafter that otherwise would not be. I love mooching off of others craftiness.

Our life as of late...

2011-09-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

First....

And most importantly!!!!!

Announcing our baby girl!

Baby Girl Valenzuela

Due date: February 6, 2012.

We can't even wait!!!

Here she is! Our little gummy bear caught on camera! I am loving ultra sounds! And my doctor is so awesome! I begged him on an early appointment to let us find out the sex. He said, "Of course! Let's find out today!" There she was. Since, she has been a little camera shy and won't show us her little face, just her back and bum. I'm sure she'll grow out of that the second she makes her big debut!

Here's a little snapshot of my journey with the little gal. The pic in the middle is the day that Gabe and I found out. Such an awesome and crazy day. We were in Rome, Italy. We searched all day for a pharmacy, paid WAY to much for a pee stick, and then waited for two pink lines. They showed up right away and we went out for pizza. The morning sickness soon followed and my longing for home got greater. We didn't tell any of our friends on the trip. I had to keep it a secret for about 3 weeks until we could finally tell our fam. The pic in the top left is my first belly pic, Aug 27, 2011, week 16. Ok, so not much of a belly. I just look a little chubbed out. I blame her. She's just "cushioning her ride". The pic in the top right is Sept. 9, at week 18. That night I got asked for the first time if I was pregnant. SO Happy I was! The bottom right is the day we found out she was a gal. We decided we would have potatoes and eggs, a mountain man breakfast if it was a boy and crepes if it was a girl. Crepes it was. That was after I cried in the parking lot over the excitement of bows and easter dresses. We are so excited. And Gabe is so so cute when he talks about "his little girl". The bottom left was just a little scare at work. I passed out a couple of times at work. Gabe took me to the hospital and they ran a bunch of tests. They couldn't find anything wrong and the baby is just fine. They are going to do more blood work but everything should be good. It was crazy though. It was the first time I really felt like a mom, like she was mine and I worried about her. I cannot wait to meet her. To kiss her and rock her and sing to her. I can't wait to see what she looks like and to meet her little personality. Time can't pass fast enough!

And the rest of our happenings! Gabe started another trimester at Thunderbird. It has him busy busy busy ALL the time! Its good though. He is on the fast track to graduation. We are counting the days (and months)... We got a new little car! And I love it!!!! I retired the corollas in April after a minor accident. We searched for THE CAR and finally found it! So cute! A perfect little car for two Arizona gals to cruise around in! My mama also came down for a visit and to hook up the little gal with her first wardrobe! We got the cutest stuff!!! Thank you mama! We also went camping, just my boys and I. It was so nice to get out of the heat even for just 24 hours. Payson is so beautiful and we loved being up in the mountains. And last but not least... We watched our Utes crush BYU last week in that awesome game. What a fun night. We got to watch the game with Gabe's parents and celebrate after with pizza and some good facebook gloating. Go UTES!!!

I'm all up to date!!!!! Look at that, in just two posts! Now lets hope its not February before you hear from me again!!!

I'm back!!!

2011-09-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, for the 2 people that may still check this thing... I am back!!!! To be honest, I've been completely overwhelmed by the thought of even trying to document our life for the last 6 months, let alone upload hundreds of pictures onto blogger. But with a lazy day off of work, I decided to tackle the task. Thank heavens for finally figuring out how to put my pics into collages too. Our life for the last 6 months has been CRAZY!!!! But, with the story in a nutshell....

Gabe did a study abroad for his MBA program at Thunderbird School of Global Management. (For those of you who want to know where he lives during the day). He studied in Prague in the Czech Republic for 6 weeks. I was lucky enough to get to tag along for the journey. It started off with a two week cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. That was not part of the studying though. That was just an awesome (and cheaper might I add) way to get from AZ to Europe. LOVED IT!!!!!! I would venture to say it was my favorite part of the whole trip. But How do you compare to two weeks of sun, fun, crazy amounts of yummy food, sleeping in, and visiting the Carribean, spain, Portugal and the Canaries. It was awesome! We finally got to Prague and Gabe started school. It was intense, super long days and all nighters of studying and projects. But somehow we managed to squeeze in a trip to Czesky Crumlov, Rome, and Budapest. The whole experience over seas was amazing. I learned so much about other countries and cultures. I am so grateful we were able to do it together too. Because of some minor details... (aka... a new baby on the way....!!!!) I was so so excited to get back to the U.S. of A.!!!! Love America. We ended the trip with a lay over in New York..... LOVED it!!!!! We were only there for seriously, 12 hours so we rushed around the city like crazies and we were even able to see Wicked!!!! Cross it off my bucket list. Another amazing birthday present from my husband. We loved our adventure and are happy now to be back home in AZ.... cooking my little gummy bear inside me! More to come on that!

Here are a few pics from the trip : (seriously, the cream of the crop from thousands of pics)

Cruisin' the Atlantic

Prague

Rome

NYC

Happy Birthday Baby... 28!

2011-03-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today...

This handsome guy

TURNS 28!!

Happy Birthday My Love!

In March, 3 years ago, I sat in a class room as the most handsome guy I'd ever seen walked through the door. 9 days later, He kissed me. And left for a cruise for his 25th birthday. I sat around giddy for 5 days, wondering if I'd ever hear from Mr. Dreamy again.

I did.

And then I married him.

I can honestly say that life with Gabe gets better and better everyday.

My life is happy because he is in it.

I love who Gabe is. I love that he makes me laugh. I love that he is my very best friend. I love that he is confident. I love that he makes me feel confident. I love how much he loves me. I love that when I leave in the morning, I can't wait to see him again.

Life is good with Gabe.

I sure love you!

HaPpY BiRtHdaY My LoVe!!!

I can't wait for all of our upcoming adventures this year with you!

Enjoy the Ride Sweetie Pie!

Sedona Marathon... I freakin' did it!!!!

2011-02-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It was a month ago. But I had to document. This may have been once in a lifetime. I sure hope it's not, but you never know. If you want to skip the text and go straight for the pics, feel free. Just want to write it our for the record...

I ran the Sedona 2011 Marathon! I did it! I still can't believe that I actually did it. It has been a goal of mine since I was in high school. When I finally created an actual bucket list in college, it went on. And that's where it stayed for six years. Until last August. While enjoying a big ice cold diet coke, relaxing next to the pool, I told my friend Megan about my little bucket list goal. To run a marathon. She said, "I'm in." And before you knew it we were "training". Our first "run" was 2 miles on the treadmill. Ok, one mile, stop for a break and water, and then another. I thought I was going to die. I don't know why we didn't just quit there, but we didn't. We had to run super early to beat the deathly AZ sunshine and to get to work on time. We ran long runs on our days off and spent hours and hours on the pavement, chatting away, sharing secrets and gossip. Meg became one of my best friends. Every run I always said, "I can't believe we are doing this" or "What the hell are we doing" (that one only came out on the twenty miler)... And we always said how excited we were for race day!!!!

We picked a good one. The Sedona Marathon. I lied. I've heard since that this marathon is one of the hardest in the U.S. With half of it up hill. They weren't lying. It was definitely UP! As we were training, everyone asked us what we were thinking. To be honest. I have no idea. I knew it would be hard, I knew it would be a beautiful run. I knew all I had to do was finish, no matter how long it took. It was so so so hard, but so worth it. When it finally came, we were so excited. Meg and I started talking right off the bat and by the time we hit the first hill, we couldn't talk and breath at the same time. And so we went silent. We stayed that way pretty much the rest of the run. With a few, "How ya doin' "s and "how many miles till the next aid station". We actually did awesome, the first half was a breeze. We were smiling the whole time. The second half got tough, but it was invigorating to know that I was actually getting closer to my goal. It was so so beautiful up there. It was actually a spiritual experience, seeing what Heavenly Father created for me, the beautiful mountains and red rock. The warm sunshine and the cool breeze. And a body that can actually run 26.2 miles. As we got closer to the finish, my quads started to cramp up and about mile 24 I thought they might cramp up and fall off. We pushed through... And... We finished!!! We did it!!!! As we rounded the corner and saw the finish line, with our cute hubby's and my awesome mom, tears ran down our cheeks. I have never accomplished something so hard, something that I put so much time and effort into. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. Addicting. I want to run another. We'll see. It was so so fun. I loved every second of it and I'm a little sad its over. A little. :)

Here's a little about the Sedona Marathon:

Race	Distance	Graded Dirt Road	Paved Road	Total Elevation Gain
Full Marathon	42.195 Km	40%	60%	1800 feet

This graph is an approximate depiction of the elevation gain/loss of the overall race course as planned. It cuts off on my blog but its a turn around. You get the idea.

Here's the map of the course:Well, half of it, again, cut off by the blog40% was on a rocky, dirt road. It was just the two of us and the desert. I felt like I was in Fivel Goes West and I was going to see a mirage at any second with the tumble weed rolling through...

Here are some pics from the weekend:

My mom flew into Phoenix on Friday morning. The two of us drove straight up to Sedona while Gabe finished up at school. We had to get our shopping and ice cream eating in. It was fun to be up in Sedona and talk with a few of the other runners. One lady asked if I was running the 5k. I told her no, that I was running the full marathon. She asked how many I had run. I told her this was my first. She said, "You picked THIS as your first marathon?!!! Wow! You're brave!!" Thank you. And so the butterflies began.

We learned about our native neighbors and become one with the Sedonians.

We actually stayed up in Flagstaff for free with our Marriott points, but had to drive into Sedona on Saturday for the race. We woke up BUM CHEEK early to make sure we got there on time. Its a good thing too. I of course forgot a sports bra. Of all the things. And had to find a Walmart at 5 in the morning. Thank you Walmart. For saving me the aches and pains that would have entailed.

After our Wally run. Happy once again and excited for race day!!!

This is why we love Sedona. Yes my friends. That is an Suburu outback. And for one day and one day only, these were my people.

Trying to stay warm in the freezing cold 33 degree weather. At the starting line!

Don't they look freezing and counting down the seconds till they get back in their nice warm car? I love you both! Thank you for supporting me!

See what I mean by beautiful?!!! Such a gorgeous place for a run! 26.2 you ask? I think I might!

With my beautiful mom. I was so grateful she came!

The pre-race stretch. Gotta make sure those legs and bum cheeks are happy.

My private massage guy I hired for the occasion. Just kiddin'. He was passin' out free massages like candy. And of course I never pass up free.

And here we are. Just crossed the starting line. Of course we were dinkin' around and didn't hear them call for the marathoners so when we heard the gun shot we had to push through everyone to get to the start. We're so awesome. We were the last marathoners to start. But not the last to finish. And thats really what matters to me ;)

Here we are. The last shot of our bum cheeks for 5 hours and 57 minutes. They only photos we have on the course are memories.

Running for the finish line. My eyes were so full of tears, I could hardly see it. It was awesome!

Amazing.

My cute husband, waiting for me at the finish. I was so glad to see him.

And my mamma. Thank you for being there!

I was so lucky to have such awesome fans!

Meg. Couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for helping me cross it off the bucket list. Such a fun 6 months.

The beautiful flowers from my fans.

The Marathon Run Down

Months of Training: 6

Approximate miles run with Megan in training: over 250

Approximate miles run on my own: over 70

Amount spent on running shoes: $100

Amount spent on my second pair of running shoes: $77 (half off! Wahoo!)

Amount spent on gu chomps: $50

Amount spent to run the race: $100

Amount of carbs eatin' before each run: tons. I loved it

Amount of In-n-Out double doubles during training: at least 4

Hours spent running the hills of Sedona: 5 hours 57 minutes and 23 seconds

Amount of tears lost when seeing the finish line: who even knows

The feeling I felt when I crossed the finish line:

Priceless, can't explain it. It was amazing.

A December to Remember...

2011-01-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

Could I possibly be the worst blogger ever? Possibly. I'm not going to lie. My new year's resolution is not to be a better blogger. But I will catch up on December. This is a long one.

We had a lot of fun this Christmas season.

SEASONAL COOKING

Gabe and I cooked our own Turkey! There's a first for everything right? The task was extremely daunting to me... but we did it and it was delicious!

TEMPLE LIGHTS

We went and saw the Mesa Temple lights with Meg and Dev. It was so fun and so so warm. (compared to frozen bum cheeks in SLC). The lights were beautiful and started the season out right.

My running buddy meg.

Notice the lovely blurry smudge on all the pictures. I thought my camera was lame-o. But really... It was grease from the turkey we made. I took a rag to the lens and wala... brand new!

It would have been such a cute picture...

We used Meg and Dev's nice camera for this gem...

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY #2!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Gabe and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary on 12/12/10. I can't believe it has already been 2 years! We decided to get out of town and hit up Vegas for the occasion. It was a blast.

We ate at a super fancy shmancy restaurant in the Venetian. Of course. We ordered burgers. They were awesome.

Notice my large side of Ranch to complete the burger...

After lunch we walked around the Venetian and met the Italian statues and such...

Its on my bucket list to someday ride in a gondola in Venice Italy. I didn't want to waste the experience in Vegas, so we watched on the bridge as the others floated the fake river.

The anniversary year #2 gift is cotton. Gabe got me the super cute gray jacket I'd been eyeing. Loved it.

I got Gabe this motorcycle... Just kidding. I did get him a smaller model motorcycle for his office and a cotton polo... But I thought this motorcycle was awesome and pretty ironic that they modeled it after me ;)

I made Gabe go the m&m factory with me. I'd never done the m&m thing in Vegas before. Realized I should have done it when I was eight... but it was fun anyway.

We did go to the Coca Cola Factory. Loved that...Loved it...

We hit my favorite hotel of course, The Bellagio. The Christmas decorations were amazing.

And my absolute favorite part of Vegas... The Fountains.

Can you believe this H&M?!!! It was magnificent. 3 floors of pure clothing goodness. It was a little overwhelming.

Gabe and I stayed in the beautiful Marriott Grand Chateau. Not going to lie, I kind of felt like a big deal...

How could you not?

I loved spending the weekend with my sweetheart to celebrate two years. Two whole years. They've been amazing. Can't wait for a million more.

Love you babe.

THE FORGOTTEN CAROLS

So my amazing friend Kate was the producer of The Forgotten Carols. She is such a Rock star and traveled with the show all over the west coast. They finally landed in Arizona for their last night. Gabe couldn't go with me, he was studying for a test, so I took my self. Kate got me an awesome seat, front and center for all the caroling action. I got to meet the star, Michael Mclean before the show started and he signed my book. That's him in the pic. He look like such great friends. I sound like a mormon groupie right? The show was really amazing and it was so fun to hang out with Kate for the day. Thank you darlin'! Plus I'm pretty sure I made their merchandise goal on my purchases alone.

HOLIDAY DECOR

I loved decorating my house this year. It was definitely a lot more fun than decorating that apartment in California. I actually had a place to put all my crap! And... you can kind of see my cute little house. We rearranged the furniture a bit for our Christmas eve party, but you get the idea.

I love our tree we got this year. It was a black Friday Christmas miracle. It was the last one on the shelf. I'm pretty sure it was meant to shine in our living room.

My favorite nativity I got from Ecuador.

The reason for the season...

My cute kitchen which I love...

And my favorite... the red stars that hang above the island, with little tea lights glowing inside.

CHRISTMAS EVE PAJAMA PARTY

We stayed home in Arizona for Christmas this year. We still wanted to party on Christmas, so we invited friends from school and the ward to our house for a Christmas eve party. I suggested we all wore P.J.'s. Gabe thought it was a little cheesey, but humored me anyway, and it turned out to be really fun.

A picture with the yummy spread...

We played fun games, exchanged white elephant gifts, read the Christmas story from Luke, and...

Lit fireworks... you heard it. Fireworks are officially legal in Arizona.

CHRISTMAS DAY

After a morning of opening gifts, spending the afternoon in the movie theater, and calling all our friends and families, we made our way to Tony and Lindsey's for Christmas dinner.

Lindsey made the most beautiful yule log and let me help her decorate it. It was delish... and gorgeous.

Gabe beat me a checkers so I took a picture. In my defense, it was my first time. I am terrible at checkers!

Tex and Tessy were two spoiled Christmas puppies.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

Gabe and I were asked to ring in 2011 as chapperones at the young men/young women's regional dance. We actually had a great time, dancing the night away, looking a little goofy. I felt so lucky with the cutest date there. The clock struck 12, the baloons dropped, I got a new years kiss, and we headed home to toast to a new year.

Hope your Holidays were happy.

Happy 2011.

Its going to be a good year... I can feel it.

Orange you glad it ain't a lime tree...

2011-01-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

When Gabe and I first bought the house, we were ecstatic that we had a lime tree in our back yard. We anxiously waited during the summer for our limes to fall off the tree and sweeten our diet coke and guacamole. When the limes were finally big and green we pulled them all off the tree. We started to cut them up only to find that they had no taste... none. They were juiceless and disgusting. We pulled what little limes we had left on the tree off and threw them away. Stupid lime tree. We forgot about our little limes until one day, Gabe was working out in the yard and discovered the oranges. Our lime tree is an orange tree! And bloomed just in time to have christmas oranges. They are deliscious and full of juice. We only salvaged about four since we had thrown our all our yucky limes. We have fully enjoyed our Christmas "limes". Can't wait till next year. I'm going to make orange juice.

Gabe told me this was blog worthy... He even took the picture :)

When life gives you limes, make orange juice!

A week of Thanksgiving...

2010-12-05T01:49:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I were able to make it to Utah for a quick trip the weekend before Thanksgiving. It turned out to be just perfect timing. Roman played in the state championship football game and Wes and Ash and the kids drove up for the same weekend to hang out with the Spencer crew. It was three full days of jammed packed fun. We started the weekend at Rice-Eccles stadium to see the Bingham Miners defeat Freamont for the State Championship.

Roman and the Miners doing the haka before the game. Getting the crowd all pumped up.

My brother-in-law Roman is such a stud. For sure one of my most favorite people! It was so fun to watch him out there!

Way to go Miners!

Celebrating after the game.

With the rock star of the night.

Matt also coaches for Bingham. It was so fun to see him out there!

It was so awesome to see Wes and Ash and the kids. I am pretty darn sure I have got the cutest niece and nephew on the planet.

Little Colty rockin' out to Weston's Ipod. I love this kid to pieces. What a little stud.

This picture... awesome. Look at Colty waving to dad.

We got to see the first snowfall of the season... and possibly the last for us. I loved the snow flakes. It finally felt like Christmas.

What I am most thankful for this season:

An amazing family who I love and look up to. For the most amazing parents who love us and support us in everything we do. For two awesome sisters, a brother and for Hailey bug and Colty. And for a place that I grew up in, learned most life lessons in and a place that always feels like coming home.

I am grateful for amazing in-laws who support us and are constantly telling us how much they love us. For three awesome brothers who accepted me as their sister...

And for this guy, my world.

We had a wonderful time in Utah. It was so short and went by way too quickly. But we loved it and can't wait to go back. We love our families!

On the drive back to Arizona we drove through the cutest little towns. I made Gabe stop at this restaurant so we could eat. I wanted to see if she was really in the kitchen making pies! Pretty sure she wasn't. But good sandwiches anyway.

The restaurant was only a few miles from my most favorite place in the world. It made my heart hurt a little. I miss the Powell trips so so much.

I wanted to get out of the car and take a quick dip in the lake. But this is the closest I got to it. A picture over the dam. I'll be back soon.

We got back Monday night and spent Thanksgiving in sunny Arizona with friends.

We woke up Thanksgiving morning and hiked Thunderbird Mountain. It was beautiful.

After a filling turkey dinner with friends, a knife throwing contest, bow and arrow shooting and white elephant gift giving, we made it home early for a little Black Friday Christmas tree shopping. We spent the weekend relaxing, watching movies, hanging out by the fire in the back yard...

And watching the Utes beat BYU with five seconds left. I know, I know... his knee was down. But that kick was sure blocked! Love the Holy war and the fact that anything can happen in that game. Proud to be a UTE!!!

Christmas season is upon us. The tree is up, the lights are hung and excited to see what the New Year brings.

Merry Christmas from our Utah Fam!

Gabe's parents come to visit!

2010-10-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

With my cute mother-in-law Janice

In the life of two Arizonians...

2010-10-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm back.

In case ya'll were wondering if we survived our first summer on the surface of the sun, I mean Arizona... We did. And we lived to blog about it!

Life has been awesome.

We've had some fun.

Gabe is playing intermural softball. I play a valuable role in softball. Hold the water, cheer on the team and chat with gals. Both teams are doing awesome. Here Gabe's up to bat and my cute friend Megan's husband is on 3d base. You'd think we planned that... for picture purposes.

Meg and I have had a couple days where we have the same days off. What a better way to enjoy time off work than in the beautiful AZ sunshine. We're training for the marathon together so after our long run, we relax in the sun.

We finally made it to a football game! One of my cute Young women is in the band at her highschool. She played at half time on the field and asked Gabe and I to come. Of course it didn't take one second to convince Gabe to go to a highschool football game.

There she is, with the drum!

It makes me happy to be under the friday night lights, sitting next to my all star.

I was also able to make a trip to Mesa to go to the temple with my Young Women. What a blessing to live close to such a beautiful temple.

A couple weeks ago Gabe volunteered us to volunteer at a walk for Diabetes.

This little dude was my favorite, passing out water to all the walkers.

Even the Ghost busters came. It was pretty sweet.

AND...

Fall finally made it Arizona. And by fall, I don't mean beautiful red and yellow leaves and the air turning crisp...

I mean rain and hail (the size of Golf balls) FALLING from the sky. I 'm not kidding. I've never seen anything like it. If you look closely you can see our street turning into a river. Don't worry the Corolla was a champ. It only had a few dents in the roof from the hail. I wasn't too upset about it. (ok, I wasn't upset at all, it gives the hoopdy rolla some character!)

The rain gave Meg and I a good opportunity to craft. Something I am so not good at. My cute friend Erica would be so proud of me. She's so good at this stuff.... But not me. It actually turned ok though. I found this cute wreath idea in Women's day Magazine. I would link you to it so you could make it yourself, but I'm not that crafty.

You could google it.

So long sweet Arizona summer. Can't wait for an Arizona winter!!!!!

Just wishing we had a little "real fall" here. Can't explain how much I miss the leaves!

Missing the lights...

2010-09-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Gabe and Abby's favorite past time: Football

Gabe and I love football. Especially Utah Football.

I can't tell you how much I am missing Utah football this year. The lights, the red uniforms, the smell of hot dogs and nachos in the stadium, the Utah fight song you hear as you get closer to the tail gate party, bundling up for a cold october night in the red seats, the excitement in in the stands as our team runs into the end zone... I am missing me some Utah football for sure.

We are yet to see the Utes play this year. (My bottom lip is turning under and quivering...) I blame lack of The Mountain channel not televised on regular Arizona T.V... Really, What's up with that? And blessed monday morning med school tests. Bless Gabe's heart. I know he wishes he was at a football game instead of glued to his office chair with his nose in a book.

Our hearts are with the Utes though. We still bleed red through and through. I wear red to work under my scrubs on game day and talk some good smack to the BYU loving doctors I work with. ( I can't wait 'till I go back to work tomorrow. I love that the U won and the Y took a good loss. Makes my heart smile :) )

My goal is to get to a sports bar one of these Saturdays to try and see some Utah football.

Until then...

"We'll fight for dear ol' crimson for a

UTAH MAN AM I...

GO UTES!"

Some other football we're missing...

And by missing I mean Gabe get's a far away look in his eyes and a sad puppy dog look on Friday nights missing...

Is this dude. Roman is playing football at Bingham his Senior year. Talk about an awesome team. They are number one in Utah, and well deserved. This team is amazing and Roman is a rock star. I wish so bad we could be there to see him every Friday night. We're for sure thinking about him though and hoping we can make it for at least one.

You're awesome Roman!

GO MINERS!

And finally, some football close to home. I've never lived anywhere with a NFL team. I came to Arizona already saying I was for sure a cardinals fan. They already had some awesome things going for them. First off, they wear red. Done... I'm a fan. Secondly, they had Matt Leinart. When I was a freshman in college and Mr. Leinart was playing at USC, I thought he was absolutely dreamy. Major heisman crush on the guy. So it was perfect that he was starting quarterback for the team I was becoming a fan of. Well, I'll tell you what. He is not that dreamy or good looking when he's being sacked or throwing interceptions. Pretty sure I agree with booting him off the team.

Going to be honest. I'm not for sure sold on the Cardinals. Especially since second string quarterback Max Hall thinks I'm classless.

I'll give it some good effort though...

Go Cardinals. Happy to share the great state of Arizona with you.

Happy Football season ya'll!

Welcome, Welcome!

2010-09-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had our first visitors! It was so fun! My parents drove down to see us in Arizona and spent the weekend with us! I cannot thank them enough. For a year and a half, about half of our wedding presents have been in storage. They loaded up Grandpa's Tahoe and drove all the way down. I loved unwrapping all my bowls, platters and dishes. It was so so fun! Then we spent all day Saturday looking for fabric so my mom could sew all my curtains. She is amazing. Thank you so so much mom!!!!! (I need to post some pics of our house!!!! Especially now that I have the cutest curtains!)

They stayed at their friend's beautiful vacation home in Scottsdale. We had a lot of fun hanging out by the pool, relaxing in the sun.

We shopped, ate yummy food, swam, relaxed, ate yogurt and sewed, sewed, sewed. It was so fun to have them down and show them around Phoenix. The weekend went WAY too fast.

Can't wait to have you down again!

Love you!

August Twenty Third...

2010-08-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

August 23, 2008

So glad I said, "YES!"

I'm an aunt! Well... sort of...

2010-08-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, my very best friend in the world had a little baby girl. Jane is her name and what a doll! She is absolutely gorgeous! I still can't believe it, I keep picturing Teddy and I when we were five years old, playing house with our little newborn dollies. And now Teddy's a real mama! I am so happy for her and Scotty, What cute parents. She is such a lucky little lady!

Congrats Tedds and Scotty! Tell her Auntie Abby is dying to meet her!

A Church Going Puppy Dog....

2010-08-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

We woke up Sunday Morning after a long eventful weekend. Gabe said he was too tired to go to church that day. I reminded him how much I loved sitting next to him and holding his hand during meetings. Gabe insisted he was too tired (joking of course...) So I turned to Tex and asked him if he would like to join me at church. He gladly followed me back to the closet where I was going to pick out my outfit. I found a better outfit for Tex.

So... Off to church and Tex and I went.

Just Kidding.

Gabe and I went to church and enjoyed a wonderful Sunday.

Tex stayed at home and chewed his bone... In his sunday best! :)

A trip to Sedona...

2010-08-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sedona, Arizona.

What a beautiful place. Gabe, Texas and I got in the car and drove about an hour and 40 minutes north out of the city. We drove into a the little city Sedona and kept driving through to Ceder Creek Canyon. The original place we wanted to go was a little cold due to the rain, so we decided on an awesome hike.

Texas of course loved it. What an awesome little hiker he is. And he absolutely loved the river!

This is before we got drenched by the rain that down poured the entire time.

We're pretty rugged...

Sedona is beautiful. It is like the Lake Powell Rocks with the trees and bushes of the Rocky Mountains. A perfect combination.

My boys doin' what boys do best... gettin' dirty.

We had so much fun playing in and out of the River and taking in all the beauty.

Tex got so so dirty playing in the water and the dirt. He wore himself out.

And if you know Gabe... You know what a tree hugger he is! Just kidding, far from it. But it made for a good picture.

What a fun day we had, just the two, well the three of us. I love hanging out with my best friend. We laughed and chatted all day long. And it was so nice and cold! We loved it, can't wait to go back!

We made it to Arizona

2010-08-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

As far as life goes here in Arizona, we are loving it! We are pretty much all settled in, with a few pictures left to hang. We have been getting to know a lot of couples in the ward and around the neighborhood and they are all so nice, I feel so blessed to be where we're at. I also got a job! WAHOO! I am working full time at a place called Canyon Vista Dental. I love the people I work with and the Doctors are awesome. And the job comes with benefits which is pretty much like gold to us. You don't find to many dental assisting jobs with benefits. Its also really close to Gabe's school which will be nice if we decide to go to one car... (still deciding).

I also am loving the fact that one of my good girlfriends from Beta lives down here. And Meg and I have been to the pool, made some diet coke and yogurt runs, and have recently decided we are going to run a marathon in February. Wish us luck, we are going to need it. At least I am.

(I stole this pic of Megan's blog...)

All in all, life here in Arizona is wonderful and we are loving it. We are so happy we are here and life down the road a head looks pretty good!

Utah!

2010-08-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Utah trip...

A couple weeks after we moved to the AZ, Gabe and I headed up to Utah for a bit. I had a class I wanted to take to certify to do eyelash extensions and it happened to be the same week as the Yates n Mates family trip... so it all worked out.

It started with some Motorcycle riding...

My dad's awesome bike he rebuilt.

We headed up to the lake with the Yates Fam. We had a blast.

My cute cousins Blake, Ashton and Jordy

The kids riding the water wienie....

It was all fun and games until the rain poured down on us...

We all look like such happy campers.

I think Gabe won the award for most time spent in the frigid cold water...

Ain't he cute?

After boating we headed up to the Spencer Family cabin for some mollow roasting and game playing. It was so good to be back in Oakley. It is one of my most favorite places on earth.

My cute grandparents

Gabe was the fire guy and kept us roasting dogs and mallows

What a stud he is

It was so fun to get to see my whole fam, all my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. We've been doing these summer vacations for as long as I can remember. They all mean the world to me, I'm really glad we were able to be there!

SNOWBIRD WITH THE VALENZUELA'S

The next day we went up to Snowbird with Gabe's fam bam. It was so fun to be up there, and I realized how much I miss the mountains. I seriously was in awe of them the whole time we were there, like I'd never seen them before.

We had a great time...

We did the alpine slide, took the tram, did a ropes course and the zip line.

My personal fav... the mechanical bull...

It was really fun to spend time with Gabe's fam. I know he really loves to talk football with his cute brothers.

Thank you Marc and Janice!

We had so much fun!!!

After 4 fun FILLED days, Gabe left me in Utah to go home to Arizona to pick up Texas. I stayed and did my eyelash class and practised so I could pass it off before I went home.

In between my hours of lash practise, I managed to squeeze in some fun...

TEDDY'S SHOWER

My best friend for forever, Teddy, just happen to be in town the same time as me. The best suprise. We both had no idea the other was going to Utah. I have to say that she is the cutest little pregnant girl I have ever seen.

It was so fun to go to her shower and see her family whom I haven't seen in so long. This is my second family, so I was so excited to see them. It was also so fun to get together with my girlfriends, to just go on a walk and chat way late into the night. I really have the best girlfriends... I miss you chicas!

My second cute mom, Eileen.

Isn't she the cutest?! I can't wait for the little gal to come! I just really wish I could be there... Give her a kiss from Auntie Abby, k Tedds?

THE PAUL MCCARTNY CONCERT

My parents got some awesome tickets to the Paul McCartney concert, so the four of us went. I do have to say, I have been to my good share of good concerts.... Keith Urban, Rascall Flats, N'sync (4 times), BSB, Black Eyed Peas, and U2 are some... but Paul McCartney topped the charts. I have never been to such an awesome concert.

I still can't believe I saw a real beatle in real life... pretty awesome.

Laur and I were pretty excited

What an amazing performer.

It was pretty awesome to see my parents enjoying the Beatles songs. We grew up listening to the Beatles because of my parents. My parents are hippies at heart. I love it...

We had really good floor seats. This scene later turned into a dance floor. All these old folks behind us... had some dance moves you've never seen. It was like they were teenagers again. Great people watching...

And these two guys that sat in front of us... won the people watching award.

They loved the Beatles and knew the words to every song. When Paul started a new song, you would think it was christmas for these two. They were so excited.

Winners.

Seriously. We were that close. Yes, let me remind you.

He is a real Beatle.

I think this is when he was playing, "HEY JUDE"... i love that song. I fell even more in love when he played it and everyone sang along. I decided I wanted to name one of my sons "Jude". Ya, Gabe didn't really go for that... In fact he is completely against it. It looks like there's no hope for little Jude.

Some pretty sweet fireworks goin' on...

"Let it be..."

We had an awesome time! Thank you mom and dad... unforgetable!

The rest of the week I practised putting on eye lashes and meeting up with my girlfriends.

And yes, we went to TOP IT, the frozen yogurt joint down the way, an average of twice a day.

What a fun trip to Utah!

Oh and I passed my eyelash class! If you live in Phoenix and want beautiful eyelash extensions, let me know!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

We loved our first 4th of July in Arizona. In fact we loved the first 4th of July Gabe and I have ever spent together. We have known each other for 3 of them now, but have always been in different places when the 4th rolls around. I have to say, I loved spending it with my husband best of all.

After our own little BBQ, Gabe and I headed up to Wet 'N Wild to see the fireworks. We parked our truck out in the field, sat in the bed of the truck with our pillows and blanket and played cards. I felt like I was in a country song.

I feel like a lucky girl sitting next to this guy.

And nothin' like stealing a kiss under the fireworks.

The next night was the actual 4th of July. We went and saw the fireworks with my cute friend Megan and her husband Devin. Thank you for holdin' a spot for us!

Happy Fourth!

We made it... Home in Arizona!

2010-07-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't been on this thing forever! That's what happens when you move and don't set up the internet for a while! We're still working on that. For now we go to the library and sign up for internet time. I'm actually in Utah right now and had some down time, so I thought I'd share some pics from our move to Arizona...

The whole move from start to finish was quite the process! I still can't believe we got it all done. I am truly amazed at Gabe and I and our skills to pack so so SO much stuff into one little one-bedroom apartment. We had our things stuffed in every nook and cranny of that place. But we got it all out.

We kept Tex entertained by letting him chew up all the cardboard boxes. He had a hay day and later paid when he puked it all up.

We had so much stuff to haul, but Gabe and I had so much help from the Elder's Quorum of both our wards. The truck was loaded and ready to go in 20 min. flat! We were so grateful!

We said goodbye to our little Apt #2k....

Although we joke about how we will NOT miss our little apartment, (which we won't) I'm so so glad we spent the first year and some of our marriage there. We learned so much about life and love in those walls. I won't ever forget our time in beautiful Mission Viejo. We were definately spoiled our first year.... Now on to starving student world! (we can't wait!)

So long Crazy Lady, weird iguana man, broken trees, leash laws, doggie bags, crazy neighbors, high rent, swimming pool full of kids and bacteria, and tow trucks... You may not be missed....

So long beautiful Mission Viejo, Sunny beach days, gorgeous weather, long walks to the park, beautiful drives to San Diego, awesome shopping, super fun six flags, cute little hays and colt, picnics at the beach, fun restaurants, the green belt on Retiro, the amazing dog beach, Dr. Allen's office, our friendly ward, and the four walls that housed our little family and made a home. You will definitely be missed and in our hearts.

Gabe and I, one last shot in front of our own first little place. Don't mind the fact that we look like bum cheeks who have been moving all night.

We did it! Adios California! Our moving truck headed to...

Arizona!

I only looked back once to see this beautiful sunset in my rear view mirror....

Alright so besides the fact that we were so so excited to get to Arizona, I personally counted the seconds that passed till we arrived. You see, my air conditioner broke and I hadn't realized it. I never really needed it while I was living in the most temperate place on the planet. But as soon as we pulled out of Orange County, the heat wave sank into my car....

And Tex was bugged....

The kid was miserable the whole time. I just continued to drown Tex and I in water as we drove through the desert. Bless Gabe's heart. He felt so bad, we would pull over to the side of the road and all sit in the truck to cool down. Needless to say we survived. It really wasn't all that bad, but I think these pictures of Texas are classic.

We finally made it home! Isn't my kitchen adorable? Or can you not see it from all the boxes? I haven't taken pics of the finished project yet. You're just going to have to wait... I know, you're dying from anticipation....

Tex loves the new house! He always running around the back yard with a big smile on his face. He loved the 4th of July too. It's not every day Tex eats hot dogs...

We had to fill up our little house with something... so Gabe and I spent the holiday looking for a couch. We went to all the furniture places and could not find the right couch. Finally we decided we were fatigued and headed to Costco for free samples and a slice of pizza. We didn't get either. But we did go home with a couch for an awesome deal. And we love it!

Here's my amazing handy dandy man. The guy could strap a boat on that truck with just some twine.

We got it all in our truck and all set up at home. We love it! Pics to come! But for the full effect your going to have to try it out... visitors welcome!!!

After a few days, we got pretty much settled in and enjoyed an awesome 3d of July BBQ. We are loving Arizona and our new life in the heat!

More pictures to come!

Mmmm... Burgers...

2010-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I had quite the birthday extravaganza. I turned the ripe old age of 24. Gabe was so sweet and made my birthday really into a birthday season. I couldn't have picked a better way to spend my birthday night than with my cute husband and a burger. I would honestly eat a hamburger everyday for the rest of my life. Problem is that I prefer not to weigh 400 lbs. But oh boy... we found quite the burger joint for my birthday. The Counter, my new favorite "Posh hamburger". Yes, I have different kinds of favorite hamburgers, ie: "Favorite fast food burger": Apollo, "Favorite restaurant burger": Fuddruckers, "Favorite classic burger": Hires, and "Favorite native to Cali burger": In 'n Out... Just to name a few. Anywho... Check out this burger... Happy Birthday to me!

Loving it...

My cutie pie.... and check out his burger... about the size of a small teenager's head.

Thank you to all who made my birthday so special. The cards, the phone calls, the FB posts, and the gifts. Wow. I felt like a rock star! Thank you, Thank you.

I'm going to continue growing old now...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

2010-06-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Warning.... another long one.... but pretty cool stuff.

Wow. This post has been a long time coming. At this point, I still can't believe this is all really happening. This is for those of you who don't know... I'm pretty sure all of you that actually read our blog already know... Now I'm rambling... I'm just going to cut to the chase.... 2 things most super duper exciting...

1. In just 4 short years this handsome guy....

will be known as

Dr. Gabriel Valenzuela

That's right... Gabe got into Med School!!!! Which leads me to #2 on the list...

2. We bought a house and we are moving!

That is right! We are moving to Phoenix Arizona!

And here goes the Story:

When I first met Gabe, he was just finishing up his two degrees at the University of Utah. He had taken the MCAT and started to apply to Medical Schools. In the midst of all that, he was offered and awesome job for Anvil Intl. And we decided to jump on it. We moved our bum cheeks to California and have been loving life. Except that Gabe knew his passion was else where. About last September Gabe starting playing around with the idea of going back to school. One night he called me from an out of town business trip and said, "I'm going to apply to podiatry school." So we got to work. What a project that was. Thank heavens he had already started on the applications a year before... or we would still be filling things out. But alas the application was done and off. And then began the waiting game. Many of you know exactly what I am talking about. Well luckily it didn't last too long before we started to hear from schools. He was offered interviews to every podiatry school. Everyone wanted to meet and interview Gabe... (What a stud I married!) Off to interviews he went...

He visited New York (where he got us those awesome shirts), Pennsylvania, Pomona California, Oakland California and got accepted to every school! (Again... Stud right?) But Arizona was very first on our list. First and foremost, AZ has an awesome podiatry program. It is also pretty close to family, and you can't beat the heat. We are definitely sun bums. But Arizona hadn't called yet. We kept waiting and waiting (impatiently, might I add...) When finally, it CAME!!! The letter came to congratulate Gabe on being accepted to Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona!

We were ecstatic! We only told our family and friends because we were both still working and wanted to keep our jobs until we moved. That was a long time to not talk about all of our adventurous plans! And I was just bursting at the seams to tell everyone about my amazing husband. But we kept working... and on the weekends we began visiting Arizona to look for a place to live... We had been saving every penny in California, thinking that if we were ever going to get into a house in Cali (which seems impossible with the outrageous prices here...) we would need to save, save, save. Well, it paid off. The home prices in Arizona are so awesome right now that we decided to try and buy. And so our house hunting began. Yes, our many random trips to Arizona actually had some purpose behind them. But along the way... We had some fun.

We saw the Mesa Temple lights with Gabe's friend Kreig and his cute wife Britany. Kreig is also going to Podiatry school... only in California (Darn it, we're switching places! I would have loved it if we could have been in the same place!) They then introduced us to his Dad... Our trusty realtor for the next 6 months.

We spent Valentine's Day looking at houses and enjoy a LOVEly weekend together...

We went down on Easter weekend and enjoyed the amazing Easter Pageant at the temple.

(A new Valenzuela Family tradition)

After a few hours of looking at houses, we soaked up the sun next to the pool...

And we looked at house after house after house to try and find our home. We thought there were a couple that were "ours" but turned out not to be... But then we found it!

And we bought it!

And I absolutely love it and cannot wait to get there!

Here it is... Our new home!

Isn't it darling?! I love it! And I love the palm trees!

This was the first night we looked at it.. Funny story. (maybe on another marathon post) But our realtor showed it to us at 10:45 at night. We knew we had to have it.

Some pics of our home's scenery. Like I said, I love the palm trees. A little piece of Cali.
I've already fallen in love with my flowers. I am a terrible gardener though. Lets hope they stay alive.

And here is a picture of Gabe's new second home:

Midwestern University!

I cannot wait for our new and upcoming adventures. And I cannot say enough how proud I am of my husband. He is such an amazing example to me of hard work and perseverance. I know he is going to do awesome in school and will be an amazing Doctor someday!

Wish us luck!

On June 30th, the sun will rise for us here in California,

And set in Arizona!

We are so excited!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! from the valenzuela's!

2010-06-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Beware: This is a long one, but full of pictures, so go on...

Happy Memorial Day! It was quite a full weekend here at the Valenzuela home. It was one event after another. Wes Graduated from Dental School, My parents and Grandparents came into town, we headed to the beach, and ate some yummy yummy food! And yes, I picture documented the entire thing....

For the memorial day occasion, Gabe brought home some Memorial day flowers. It made my whole week... What a sweetheart!

On the Sunday before Memorial Day, My (Really cool) older brother Wes graduated from Dental School. What an awesome accomplishment. We headed up to Loma Linda for the graduation extravaganza.... We had to fill up on Diet Pepsi to sustain us...

My cute Grammy and Grampa Yates made the trek to Cali for the Event. My Grandpa Yates is also a dentist. He is still practising today and is an amazing dentist. My brother pulled some strings and was able to get my Grandpa in the Cap and Gown to award my brother with his Diploma. I love this picture. Following in his footsteps...

Dental Hands at work...

While saving seats for hours... I was able to snap some good shots with the men of the day.

Doctor Yates D.D.S and Doctor Spencer D.D.S

Wes took on the awesome roll of Class President all 4 years of school. His reward? He spoke at graduation and gave an awesome talk.

I absolutely love this picture! It was right after Weston's name was called and My Grandpa gave him his diploma. I didn't even know I captured such an awesome moment. I was too busy being white trash and screaming Weston's name at the top of my lungs...

During the rest of the two hours of name calling, I entertained myself by snapping photos...

Papa Steve...

Gabby...

My cute grammy and mom...

Colty and Gabe...

Gabe was put in charge of entertaining Colton. I'm glad Colty was there to entertain Gabe.

Hays entertained herself as well...

Congrats Dr. Spencer! You did it!

And of course the awesome family shots after the ceremony...

We're so proud of you Wes! And you too Ash! What a cute family you have! Can't wait to hear about all your upcoming adventures! (Hailey looks so happy in this one. Good thing Mckenna is there to liven things up a bit)

For Memorial Day, My parents headed down to Orange County to spend the day with us. We took them to our favorite part of our backyard...

The Beach!

We spent the day relaxing, throwing the football, reading magazines and people watching the other hundreds of people that had the same awesome beach idea as us. It was such a fun day. We are so lucky to have the beach so close!

Afterwards, we freshened up and took them to our favorite restaurant, Tortilla Flats. You really can't beat it. Eating chips and Salsa and looking out from the patio to beautiful Mission Viejo Lake.

We ate good food and enjoyed good company. We even celebrated my birthday a little early with fried ice cream. My favorite...

Thank you Mom and Dad for coming to visit us! It was so fun! (And too short!) We loved having you down!!!!

And I love this guy!

A lot!

Happy Memorial Day Ya'll!

Here comes the sun....

2010-05-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

BRING ON THE BBQ!!!

Actually, the sun here in California shines most of the time, but I thought it a clever title. Really though, according to... Me, summer starts on Memorial day, and that is just around the corner. We thought it would be appropriate to do some Barbecuing with our favorite California residents, my brother Wes, his cute wife Ash, and their little kidlets. We thought we needed to do something fun together before the summer gets too crazy! It was so fun! We brought our large kidlet with us, and Hailey and Texas had a blast! They were like two peas in a pod. Texas followed Hailey wherever she went...

This could be my all time favorite picture....

Texas was a good sport when he became the horse attached to hailey's buggy.

He did get jealous though when Gabe payed more attention to Hailey than to him...

Hailey hurt her foot... So Gabe thought the best way to fix it was to turn the girl upside down. It actually seemed to fix the problem...

Gabe was sittin' back enjoying the sunshine, with a piece of grass in his mouth. (That's the way Cowboys relax in the sunshine...) So Hays saw this and with out words, stuck the grass in her mouth too...

She's a little Cowgirl in training. ( I love the horsie shirt Hays!)

And of Course. Whenever we Spencer girls get anywhere near Hailey, we stick a camera in her face. We've done it since she was born. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the first grandbaby on our side... but I can't seem to kick the habit. So here it is, the many faces of Hailey and Abby:

It was so fun Wes and Ash! Thank you for having us over! As I was going through my pics, I didn't see that I got any of you guys or Colty... I am bummed! But... We can't wait to see you guys on Sunday for Weston's Graduation. I'm sure there will be a few pictures taken on that occasion!

The smile that keeps me together...

2010-05-23T18:53:00.001-07:00

HELLO BLOGGING WORLD!!

This is Gabriel, I don't think we've met but it is definitely a pleasure. I just wanted to take a quick moment of your time to do a little bragging... you see MY WIFE IS TOTALLY AWESOME! (I'm sure you already knew that... but I just like to say it out loud!)

This little post is to congratulate ABBY for EARNING an "A" in her extremely difficult college Biology class. You see Abby is pretty freaking talented, let me explain:

Abby is a ROCKSTAR of a dental assistant... she's California RDA certified and has about 60 years of experience (its kind of a family thing...I think she has the teeth cleaning-whitening-fixing-filling gene. I'm sure they'll discover it soon.)
Abby also is a Cosmetology graduate, she gives some great haircuts and works wonders with hair up-do's... (something I had no idea about...I have all brothers...but she sure keeps me looking nice.)
Now after all that... Abby wants to add to her resume... and maybe you know like...GO TO NURSING SCHOOL. (Prob because every time I go anywhere with the boys I come home bleeding and swollen...ha ha)

So the first step of getting in to Nursing are the required classes, the big BIOLOGY 120...

Honestly, I was a little worried about this one, I know Universities use this class as a "weeder" class to skim the fat off the "health care" wanna-bee class.

It was quite the ordeal, we had to fudge the residency dates, petition to add her to the class (good thing she's super HOTT and had a male professor...), and get the boss lady to let her leave early 2 days a week.

Anyways, she did it all, missed only like one lecture, only cried a couple of times, and really learned the material- (nothing like discussing--in detail--the reproductive cycle with the girl I'll be reproducing with!) jk... that one may have went too far sorry... :D.

!!!!ANYWAYS SHE ACE'D THE CLASS!!!!

Abby is completely legit (new phrase i picked up in the OC) and I think the world should know. She's so freaking talented... there's nothing she can't do, (besides proof read for errors--jk). I'm such a lucky guy...

Here's to you ABBY!

CONGRATS ON YOUR "A!" I love you! You'll always be my sunshine!

Well she just made me an amazing Tilapia-rice-veggie, candle-light dinner.... with a Brownie for an appetizer (my life ROCKS!)

Besos,

GABRIEL

ps. I took that class and only got an A-... she's even smarter than me! (I love this picture... Hailey hurt her foot, Texas is Jealous... I usually hang him upside down... my life is outrageous! jk..)

For the Love of the Game...

2010-05-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night Gabe and I got some Awesome Tickets to the Dodgers game! Thank you Jon and Mckelle!!!! After work, we headed toward the beautiful city of...

We obviously had a lot of time to sit in traffic and make some good conversation...

They call Baseball, "America's Favorite Past time", and for me, that is exactly what baseball means to me. Back in early May of 2008, Gabe and my relationship had just started to really bloom. We had just barely told each other the "L" word, and we really jumped into it, when I invited Gabe and his little brother Roman to join my friends and I on a trip back to Ecuador. We decided to drive to LAX, and since we got there about 12 hours early, we hit up a Dodger's game. We sat at the top of the bleachers, and peered down at the little guys on the field, throwing around what looked like a baseball. I remember sitting next to Gabe and getting all those first butterflies. What an exciting time, falling in love and watching Baseball. Later that year we went to lots of baseball games, and Gabe even proposed on the jumbo tron...

So what did Gabe and I talk about during the 2 hour drive to L.A.?...

Of course I reminisced and Gabe was so sweet to humor me and listen to me point things out that I remembered from our first time together in the Dodger Stadium! We had so much fun! And we were a little closer to the action this time. That's right. Those right there of the bum cheeks of Manny Ramirez. I have never sat close and I was super excited about it.

Now, I'm going to be honest... I'm a little torn. Is it OK to be an Angel's fan and a Dodger's fan? For some reason, as I sat in the stadium and looked around, I felt like I really belonged there. Maybe it was this calling my name....

I love that Fernando Valenzuela played there and that so many people still wear his jersey. Gabe bought this shirt when we went the first time. I accidentally shrunk it (not on purpose) in the dryer. I just get to wear it now...

We loved the game, we talked the whole way home about how much fun we had. I got those excited butterflies again. Only this time, its because not only do I get to sit next to that handsome guy, but the name on the shirt belongs to me!
GO DODGERS!

love,

gabe and abby VALENZUELA

Dear Paula Deen,

2010-05-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Paula Deen,

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and saw Pot Roasts on sale. Of course I picked me up the biggest one and headed home with no recipe in mind. I showed my husband my find. His mouth started to water. He went straight to the trusty internet and googled recipe's for pot roasts. Your picture appeared. We clicked on a video and watched you in all your glory for 5 minutes create the "Harry Connick Jr. Pot Roast". When the movie was over... Gabe turned to me and said, "I'm in love with Paula Deen." Either he was serious, or he just really wanted me to make the recipe. One thing entered my head. "At least he doesn't have very high expectations for the future." Not to be rude or demeaning. I was happy. At least I know that in the future I can gain a few...10, 20, 30 pounds and my husband will still love me, as long as I can cook. Good to know... Then fear entered my head, fear that if I didn't learn to cook, (which I struggle with daily) my husband may just leave me... for you... Paula Deen.

And so... After church I got to work. I rubbed the roast with your special spice, I seared the meat, and I pulled out the secret ingredient from my cupboard. Well, not secret, the Red wine. Gabe was given Red wine for Christmas a couple years ago from a Pipe Hanger Fabrication shop. It has sat in our cupboard since and I had to explain when my mother came to town and gave me the odd look... you see, we're Mormon, and don't even have a cork puller-outer-thingy to open the darn bottle. Don't worry, Gabe asked the girl next door and she glady helped us out with the puller-outer-thingy... I added the rest of the ingredients, well I don't own worcestershire sauce, I'm hoping that's not that big of a deal. I substitued A1... Don't judge me. I'll get it next time... And then I stuck the whole thing in the oven. 3 hours... still waiting. I shouldn't have started so late. When I was done, my husband said, "I'm not in love with Paula Deen, I'm in love with Abby that cooks Paula Deen's recipe's". Sorry for the disappointment, I think I'm gonna hold onto this guy. Just as long as you keep putting your secrets online. Good news is that you might still get him, just not in the same way. He now wishes you were his Grandma. "Imagine the Sunday Dinners", he says. He said that every Christmas would be an "ON YEAR" if you were cooking for Christmas. (I'm gonna give my mom and mother-in-law your christmas recipe book, they'd be mad if they lost us on Christmas... We're really fun.)

Thank you Paula Deen.

Love,

Abby Valenzuela

The Women in Our Lives

2010-05-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late.... but I just wanted to say Happy Mother's day to the wonderful women in our lives.

We love you.

Cars, Keys, cops... and cereal.

2010-05-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

This post is long... And I don't blame you if you don't read it... but I had to write it down. It's too classic of a story not to remember!

Wow... What a day. I am exhausted and here's why:

The day started with loads of potential. I woke up a little later than usual seeing as how my schedule at work has changed. I had until 1 pm to relax, hit up the gym, take our Texas on a walk and leisurely take my time to shower and get ready for the day. Gabe was trying to get everything done before he headed off to Vegas to pick up a big truck he had to drive back for his company. Gabe was at his desk, and even though he was working, it was nice to just have him in the other room. The morning, needless to say was fabulous. Ten o'clock rolled around. Gabe got his final emails in and got all packed up, ready to go. He was going to make some sales calls on the way to the airport. He gave me a big kiss, and headed out... NOT SO FAST. Not with out his keys. He started to look. Not soon after the beginning of his search, he engaged me in the hunt. Within minutes, our house was turned upside down. Looking, Looking, Looking. The keys were no where!!!! NO Where to be found! We knew they were in the house, we had used them the night before to get in. But they were honestly not here. We replayed the entire night, seriously, we acted it out. Then Gabe re-inacted his walk with Texas, hoping maybe they'd fallen out of his sweatshirt. They were gone. What the heck?!!! I've never been so frustrated. And its not like its cheap to get a new key... about the cost of an American Bulldog puppy.... Finally we decided I would have to take him to the airport in the hoopdy... other wise known as the Corolla. Only problem is, my car isn't registered. You see, I actually took it in to the DMV, waited in line, only to find out I don't have the original Title. I only have a copy and California hates copies. So they sent me home, register-less, in search of a TITLE. Of course, its no where to be found in this apartment... (seriously, how do you lose something in a one bedroom apartment?) ((And how do you lose the original and retain a the copy?)) So I had to request a new one, from the Utah DMV, by way of the all American mail system.... I'm still waiting... I cross my fingers every time I get in my car and drive one mile to work every day, hoping my odds are slim of a cop actually catching in that one mile... but now, I had to take Gabe to the airport... 30 minutes away. So about 5 minutes into the drive, we got pulled over... Really? Yes, really. By the police. He said he pulled us over because one of us... was not wearing their seatbelt....and then obviously saw that the car was not registered. We explained the whole bit to him and he actually felt some compassion toward the dorks in the hoopdy. Contrary to popular belief, Nice people still do exist! He only issued us a ticket for the seatbelt... CLICK IT OR TICKET!!! And sent us away. I dropped Gabe at the airport and sat in bumper to bumper traffic the whole way to work. Of course work was anything but usual. Our Air condtioner was out of service, and because the ladies I work with think that ideal working conditions are about Arctic temperatures, we had the Air guy come out. He got on the roof, changed the filter and then charged the doctor a pretty penny. For some reason, Dr. A thinks that I look similar to the Air guy and that next time I could do that filter change in order to save a buck or two... hundred... Really? So she sent me to the roof to see how its done. Last time i checked, this was absolutely not in my job description. I had to climb this insane ladder to the roof, weave my way in and out of gas lines, unscrew the huge box with a drill-a-ma-bobber, and then somehow manuver my way back down the ladder with out breaking my neck. I risked my life in the name of cool air... Never again. By the time I got to Biology, I was exhausted. When I finally got back home, I tore the house apart again, suceeding in nothing. It resulted in me, sitting on the couch, eating Captain Crunch and watching America's next top model. With the sugar running through my veins, I regrouped and was back on the hunt. 3 minutes later... I found the keys, in the shoe hanger-holder thingy.... VICTORY.

Lessons learned. God answers prayers. and I really love cereal.

Thank heavens my day is over and my bed is calling my name.

Life is what happens... when you're not blogging!

2010-04-22T20:04:00.001-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged! Life is just flying by way faster than I can keep up with! It's already been a month since Gabe's birthday... and get this.... It's been a year since Gabe and I moved to beautiful California! Above is a picture of Gabe and I the day we moved down. We were trying to find our way on the map... the map of thousands of confusing roads, streets, and freeways. And here we are a year later... I haven't mastered the map yet, but I know where home is, and that's all that really matters right?

Well, it has been a fun month! It started off with a trip to the San Diego Zoo with my Brother Wes, his cute wife Ash, and the most adorable niece and nephew on the planet! I've wanted to go the zoo since we moved down. But I couldn't convince Gabe to go walk around with huge Cali crowds to look at animals. Thank Heavens my Brother had the same longing to go to the zoo, and invited me down! What a fun Friday!

Sometimes I wish I was a three year old again, still fascinated by everything, and seeing the elephants is really the coolest thing in the world.

We had such a fun day. (Could have done with out the snake exhibit though...) And seeing Hays make Colty laugh from wearing the tiger mask made my day. Driving back to Mission Viejo from San Diego was unreal. The traffic was absolutely, positively outrageous... But this face made the whole trip completely worth it.... (I'm talking about Colton's)

Thanks for letting me join in on the zoo fun Wes and Ash! I loved it!

Gabe and I found this awesome little restaurant that serves sandwiches, burgers and pizza's. To be completely honest, I don't even remember the name... I was too busy munching my Cheese-steak sandwich to remember anything. The whole place was decked to the max in Americana stuff!

We had a fabulous Easter Sunday. We listened to the amazing words of the Prophet and felt the love from our Heavenly Father. We also got to see the Easter Pageant in Mesa, Arizona. What an amazing program. I have never seen anything like that before. The life of our Savior came alive on stage. It was fabulous.

In one short year, Gabe and I have become quite the Angel's fans. I especially love baseball season. There is something about the spring air, the smell of hot dogs, the green grass and the roaring stadium. I love it. I always get a nostalgic feeling in a baseball stadium. I can't help but always think back on one of the greatest night's of all time, when "ABIGAIL, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" flashed up on the big screen at the Bee's game. Gabe's so sweet. He takes the time to listen to me relive it every baseball game we go to, while the other men around keep their eyes focused on the field. One of the many reason's I said yes!

We of course had to eat our way through the stadium...

The foot longs and popcorn were especially tasty...

And I made an extra effort to even have Angel's colored flip flops and toes...

Hopefully we'll spend some more beautiful nights in Anaheim, rooting for the Angels!

We've also been enjoying this beautiful spring weather! I found this little nature walk close to our house. Texas and I loved it so much that the next day we brought Gabe along with us. I love all these pictures of Texas on our little hike. He always looks like Eeyore, but here he's smiling! To be honest, I think he's panting because he's lazy and out of shape. But to me, he looks like he's smiling. So I'm gonna go with that!

My most favorite boys!

This is the peace Garden along the path. We had to take the picture fast before Texas starting investigating the area and ruined the peace.

The hike/leisurely walk along the paved path got a little scary.... not really, but we don't look so tired with our eyes wide open like this...

You can't beat a date night with the guy you love, an in-n-out burger, some french fries, a movie (coincidentally named "Date Night"), a tub, yes a tub of popcorn, a large diet coke... double re-fill, the IN-ability to fall asleep due to the double re-fill, watching dateline and 60 minutes into the wee hours of the morning, laughing out loud because you're so tired you can't sleep and then waiting in the parking lot for Coco's to open at 6:30 for breakfast.... mmmm. french toast.

One of my most favorite Dates of all time.

Dear Life,

I love you, but please, Slow Down. Never Mind, I'll just start running.

The Big 2-7 Birthday Celebration!

2010-03-26T07:05:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Handsome, Amazing Husband!!

Last Week marked Gabe's 27th birthday, and it was quite the birthday extravaganza!

Gabe woke up on his birthday with balloons strategically placed all around the house and on his car. (Much to Texas' dismay) Texas thought the balloons were predators and in an effort to protect us, at 5 a.m., barked and growled until the apartment complex all woke up. I'm glad he's here... to protect us from the bad balloons....

After work that day Gabe and I headed down to the beach to eat some German Chocolate cake that I had made, (my first cake ever not from a box! A milestone in my life for sure) And then watched the sunset. We sat on a blanket and drank Martinelli's, and enjoyed the most beautiful perfect sunset.

I'm pretty sure the sunset was made just for Gabe's birthday. It was absolutely amazing. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

We topped the evening off with a dinner fit for a KING. We enjoyed a yummy fish, steak, and lobster dinner out on the patio.

The next day marked St. Patty's day. Gabe said he never liked his birthday right after St. Patrick's day. I like to think that its my lucky day. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be married to him.

To celebrate, we ate sandwiches out on our porch with green chips...

While Texas basked in the sun. Far enough away from the balloons that they wouldn't eat him.

On Thursday after work we made our way through the awesome LA traffic and picked up Gabe's mom from the airport. It was so fun to have her in town! She hasn't been down since we moved, and it was the perfect weekend! The weather was amazing! I wish we would have taken more pictures, but we were too busy shopping, eating at awesome restaurants, playing at the beach and chatting away! It was so fun to have you down Janice!

On Saturday morning, we made our way down to the beautiful San Diego Temple. What a perfect day!

Janice and I (and an old man) in front of the temple.

By the end of her stay, we were in much need of some beach time. Unfortunately the fog rolled in and covered the beach. Texas got to run around for a little bit before we headed home. And I was able to snap this awesome shot, one of my favorites... I love the beach!!! Thanks for coming Janice! It was so fun to spend time with you!!!

I can't believe a year has past since this picture on Gabe's 26th birthday. We have been on quite an adventure since then! It has been an awesome year, and I fall more in love with Gabe everyday. He is such an amazing person. I was going to write 27 things I love about Gabe,I will spare you all the mushy gushy details. He knows I love him more than anything.

I love you Gabe! Happy 27th! Here's to the you, and the next year. I can't wait for all the adventures!

What March looks like to us...

2010-03-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

In regards to our last post... yes. We found something to do with our Saturday. Thank you Teddy for your comment on our last post. We took your advise chica... and we hit the beach. Texas loved it! And he was even playing and fetching sticks in the water. He also made friends with a big loving teddy bear rotwieller named Tyson. All the while Gabe and I ran around with Tex, sat back in our matching beach chairs and buried our feet in the sand.... it was the perfect day.

I can never get sick of hanging out with this handsome guy....

And I certainly can never get enough of this....

And I love hanging out with this little dude

I'm glad these boys have each other.... to tire one another out.

Nothin' beats relaxing with your toes in the sand. (or in Tex's case... your nose in the sand)

This is his guilty face, after he dug a whole underneath my chair until the chair tipped over... Thank you buddy.

And yes my fellow Utah friends... we are officially as cool as you are. We too can stuff our faces with Cafe Rio. And stuff our faces we did. They just opened a Cafe Rio in Lake Forest, just a few minutes from our house. We've been there a couple times now and you really can't beat it. I am forever hooked. Thank You, Cafe Rio, for following Gabe and I to California. We feel as if we can officially call it home, with you Cafe Rio, so close by.

The Opening of Cafe Rio in Lake Forest, CA!!!!

This weekend also marked 2 years since Gabe and I met. I know its silly to keep track of all that little stuff: the first time we met, our first date, the first kiss... but I do keep track. And not the least bit shamed.
On March 4, 2010, Gabe walked into class at the institute at the University of Utah, (lookin' all hott in his red sweatshirt and glasses) and changed my life forever. After class, a quick bite to eat at Hire's Big H and a fun, comfortable conversion was the beginning of something amazing. That night Gabe made me smile, he made me laugh, and he made me feel beautiful. And I couldn't wait to see him again...
Two years later,
He still makes me smile, still makes me laugh, He still makes me feel beautiful,
and I fall more in love with him everyday.
Here's to the last two years... and to the next forever...

(Gabe and Abby, Summer 2008)

The Show Must Go On....

2010-03-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

A little over two months ago, Gabe and I received a new calling in the ward.... Road Show Specialists. When we attended the first meeting they asked everyone to introduce themselves. Gabe stated, "We are the Valenzuela's. We've been called as the Roadshow Specialists and we Specialize in nothing." So True. But we showed up anyway and every Tuesday and Saturday for the last 9 weeks we've been at the church singing and dancing. It has been so fun!!! We were put in charge of a group of 5 boys called they Greek Choir. They were so awesome! I love working with the youth of the church. They always remind me to joke, have fun, and not take life so seriously. After 9 weeks of hard work, the kids from our ward and all the other wards in the stake performed their roadshows. They performed Friday night for the parents and Saturday for all the kids. After the shows were done, they had a huge pizza party and stake dance. It was so fun and so different to me. While growing up in Utah, Stake dances were so NOT cool! But here in California, everyone comes and dances. Gabe and I danced the night away! (well for an hour at least) We had an awesome time, and to be completely honest, I'm a little sad its over. I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves on Saturday afternoons. I'm sure we'll figure something to do.

L.O.V.E.

2010-02-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

HappyValentine's day!!!! I absolutely loved Valentine's day when I was a little girl. What a fun pink and red holiday it was. I loved making sugar cookies with my mom and taking them to my grandparents house to leave on the doormat, doorbell ditch, and think for sure they would never find me. I loved making valentines boxes to take to school for other kids to drop valentines into. I loved trying to pick out the coolest valentine of my boxed cards to give to the boy I had a little crush on that year. I loved getting the valentine from "Guess who", I always knew it was grandma. I loved love day.

As I grew older and into my college years, I experienced a couple Valentine's days as what some would call, "single awareness day". Valentine's day seemed to have lost its sparkle. On Feb. 14,

2008, my sister and I celebrated V-day with Sushi and a facial, boasting about how we didn't need a man on Valentine's day. (That was fun Laur!)

Two weeks later, into my life, walked Gabe Valenzuela, my Forever Valentine. And all of a sudden, the sparkle came back...

This year for valentiene's, Gabe and I took a little trip to the east of Cali and hit the Sunshine in Arizona. Gabe has a lot of Marriott points from all of his travels, so we decided to put some of them to good use. What a nice weekend it was, feeling the sun on my face and holding the hand of the guy I am head over heels in love with.

We dropped Texas off at a little place called "Camp Bow Wow". What a fun place for him. He loved it. There were so many other dogs to play with and playgrounds to play on. And the cool thing is, you could watch him on the internet... (even though we didn't). I felt like a mom, finally getting some time with my husband, with out the kids around... (is that terrible?) We did miss the little guy though... that's him... can you see him on the t.v.?

We finally made it to the Marriott... I love Marriotts by the way. Gabe had them send up Ice Cream and Diet Pepsi. There's nothing better than eating ice cream in a big, clean, white, king sized bed, surrounded by pillows... I love it!

We were loving our treats.

So judging by our last SuperBowl post, you would think I could lay off the food pics. But I couldn't resist. We went to the NUMMIEST resteraunt called Fajitas on Saturday night. (Crashing the wedding didn't work out) ;) The table was so colorful, I had to take a picture. Don't worry, I will spare you the picture at our valentine's lunch the next day after we stuffed ourselves full of Black Angus Steaks...After dinner we went back and enjoyed the hot tub and the robes... another reason why Marriott wins.... The Robes. I don't know what it is about wearing a robe in a hotel. I feel so posh like I need to be in a movie or something. And yes, there are swimsuits under those awesome robes....On Valentine's day, Gabe and I became official Califorinians.... (I'm not sure that's a word.) We'd both been wanting some good flip flops and I found a Rainbow Sandals place near the beach that sells them for an awesome deal. All the "locals" here own a pair of rainbows. I didn't get what the big deal was... until now... Totally Comfy. Pretty sure I haven't taken them off. Gabe said "NO" to the foot picture, claiming he didn't want his Fred Flinstone foot to be posted on the internet. I think his foot is cute and therefore... the posted picture of our new sandals.The Ice bucket and the 10 second timer didn't act as the greatest photographer in the world. But at least we got a pic together on Valentine's day. Gabe looked so handsome. My husband is hott.Gabe bought me a beautiful single red rose. It was perfect.

The whole weekend was simply amazing. And the best part was that I got to spend every second for two whole days with my amazing husband, my sweetheart, my best friend. I feel so lucky to be his valentine. What an amazing man he is. I am so in love.

Hope your Valentine's was filled with love.

Oh...

and Texas wanted to wish you all a

Our awesome weekend....

2010-02-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

What a fun weekend and eventful weekend we had! First off and foremost, I must say that I have got the coolest brother in the world! Let me explain... This last Friday night Weston had his White Coat ceremony at Loma Linda, the dental school he's been attending for the last four years. My mom and dad flew out for the occasion and we got to see Wes recieve his White Coat. What a cool event it was.

As a little sister, I am one of Weston's biggest fans. I've always looked up to Wes, and thought he was just the coolest. Growing up behind him and going to the same schools, older kids along with coaches and teachers would always ask if I was Weston's little sister. When I would proudly say, "Yes", they would always respond with a comment about how great he was, what a great athlete, or how lucky I was to have such a cool older brother. I already knew that. I've always been proud to be his younger sister, but there have been a few moments that I have watched him and thought, "WOW, He is really amazing", and, "That's MY big brother"... First was when he won the 4A state championship football game at Olympus High School. I was only in 7th grade at the time, and ran onto the field, right after Wes had caught an interception in the last few seconds of the game. All of Olympus celebrated with the State Champions, including my brother. I gave him a huge hug in his sweaty football gear, and felt so proud to be his little sister. I bragged out my brother for years... (still bragging). Secondly, when he gave his homecoming talk after he had served a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints to Tokyo, Japan. I listened in awe at the testimony he had gained, the love for the people of Tokyo and how in the world he learned to speak the crazy, insane Japanese language. And now on this night, I watched Wes from the Balcony of the Loma Linda Chapel and watched my older brother, the President of his class, hand out white coats to the rest of his class, and then finally heard the last name read: "President Weston Spencer." Once again those words entered my head: "That's MY big brother!"

Weston handing out the white coats to his class.

After getting his name called,

And putting on his White Coat

Dr. Weston Spencer D.D.S

Congrats Wes! Gabe and I are so proud of you, and so proud to be your little sister!

The next night, Gabe and I busted open the Valentine's gift my mom and dad gave us. An air popcorn popper. We love it and keep popping bowls full of popcorn. Texas loves it too. Some of the pieces don't make it in the bowl and fly onto the floor. Texas is then on clean up duty and loves the extra treats. Thank you mom and dad! It was so good to see you, even for a short little bit!

HAPPY SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!!!

I love the super bowl!!! While growing up, I never really loved football, but my family would always gather at Grammy and Grampa's for a huge food extravaganza! I just loved getting together with everyone and munching on goodies all game. As I got older, my love for football has grown, and now SuperBowl is just Super Fun!!! Since we live 10 hours away from Grammy's, we couldn't spend SuperBowl with the fam, so Gabe and I decided we would have our own little party, just the two of us. As long as your best friend is there, (that would be Gabe) it's bound to be an awesome party.... and Awesome it was!

I don't keep up with the NFL, so I didn't really have a valid opinion on who to root for, so I went with the COLTS, for one reason only. My Uncle Todd is a HUGE Colts fan. I remember the last time the colts won the Super Bowl. Todd showed up with his Colts shirt on and his Colts hat, and waved his huge Colt's Blanket every time the Colts scored a Touch down. So I joined my uncle Todd this SuperBowl and rooted for the Colts. I changed my mind in the last quarter when the Colts weren't going to win... and rooted for the Saints. See, you can tell how much I cared about the outcome. It didn't matter to me, spending the night cooking and eating at our own little SuperBowl Party turned out to be one of the best Super bowls yet!

One of the best things about the night... I got to finally use my football platter that my cute mother-in-law, Janice, gave me for Christmas. I absolutely love this thing and have been dying to pull it out of my cuboard and use it.

We marinated the Chicken legs over night in our own special citrus caribbean marinade. They were the best chicken legs I've ever tasted. The bad thing is that I don't even remember everything we threw in there. I don't know how to make them again!

We had so much fun getting ready for the Super bowl! We started cooking after church and cooked right up until kick off. Our kitchen is BINSY so it looked like a tornado had hit it... but the Tastiness was well worth the clean up!

Gabe glazing the chicken

The MOST delicious Carribbean Chicken Legs you'll ever taste!

Gabe made his own version of Fried Chicken legs and they were YUMMY!!! We also had what we call, "Grandpa Jack Potatoes" meaning FRIED! We weren't, by any means, skimping on the calories this SuperBowl Sunday!

"The final Spread" We got it all out on the table right as The Colts Kicked off to the Saints. It was perfect timing. Our Super Bowl EXTRAVAGANZA consisted of Brats with Onions and Mustard, 7-Layer dip and Chips, Chicken Legs: Fried and Caribbean, Cheesey Potatoe Skins, and "Grandpa Jack Potatoes". Oh, And Pepsi One... only One Calorie. (We're watching our weight)

I think our eyes were a whole lot bigger than our tummies. We ended up putting way more than half of that in the fridge for left overs... looks like it'll be a superbowl dinner all week!

Congrats to the New Orleans Saints! Oh and the Dorito commercials... amazing, my favorite!

Our Christmas...

2010-01-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.... way past due. But I thought I should at least put them on here. I wrote about our Christmas a few posts back. I could put a link here to direct you to that post, but I'm not that blog savvy... so you'll have to do the scrolling if you want to read about it. But since I only really look at pictures anyway, here are a few fun ones from Christmas. I didn't take a whole lot while we were there, I wish I had. We had so much fun though and loved spending time with our family!

Our Christmas 2009! We got awesome Utah shirts!

Can you tell how excited Eeyore, I mean Texas, is for his first Christmas?

The Spencer Girls on Christmas morning.

Christmas night at Grandpa Jack's house

Gabe made Arepas... So delish!

My husband is an awesome cook, I got so lucky!

My new career goal is to be the face of PAN... what do you think?

My love

After a night of dancing, Grandpa Jack made us fried Halibut and potatoes, SO YUMMY!

To the people of Haiti...

2010-01-22T07:32:00.001-08:00

May God bless you and be with you in this time of disaster and devastation. Our hearts and prayers are with you.

Rain, Rain Go Away....

2010-01-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

Come Again.... Never!

Wow! What a week it has been! Most of you have probably heard about the storms we've been hit by in Southern California. It has been crazy! I have never seen rain like this! Granted, I've been caught in a few crazy snow storms, but this rain was out of this world! It started to rain on Tuesday morning and by mid afternoon, it was hitting hard. Gabe called me at work that afternoon and told me that they had issued a tornado warning along the coast, from Laguna Beach heading towards Dana Point and we were right in its path. Obviously I wasn't swept away and lived to tell the story of my first tornado warning, Thank Heavens. But the tornado did do damage to a lot of cars and boats swept up in its path and dumped on harbors and roads. Meanwhile, the rain never stopped and in La Canada it began destroying hillsides causing major mud slides. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes and still waiting to go home. Cars have been stuck in roads that have now become rivers and crews are working around the clock to clean up the mess. Up in the Mountains, Big Bear has gotten a ton of snow, making me wish I had my skiis! (I never thought I needed them living so close to the beach!) We took Texas to the park yesterday during a small calm in the storm, and he ran and ran in what used to be a soccer field and is now a muddy lake of water. He came home covered in mud and happy to not be cooped up anymore.
And here I sit, Friday Morning, looking out the window at somewhat blue skies, and clouds waiting for the next storm to roll through. I'm not sure if it will be storm #5 or #6. On the radio and news they've been keeping count. It just seems like one big mother rain storm to me. All I know is that I'm ready for this rain to be over and get back out into the sunshine. For now, my goal for today is the Laundry Mat and Grocery shopping, be it rain or no rain.... (i'm crossing my fingers for no rain). But i just watched the morning news... Today's Forecast... RAIN!

Trying to maneuver through the streets of Long Beach

After the tornado hit Huntington Beach

This is how it's felt for the last four days.

Trying to stay dry. "Trying" being the key word here.

Crews working around the clock to get the mud out and people back in their houses.

A calm in the storm, for a little while anyway, at Huntington.

This is the dog beach where he take Texas at Huntington. It is so beautiful, and we're ready to go back!

A little reminder of God's love.

Happy New Years 2010

2010-01-03T19:43:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year's 2010! We had a great New Year's weekend! Here's our New Year's check list:

-New Year's eve: NO WORK! Went on a run. (much needed after a Holiday binge in Utah!) Went into work anyway to finish some unfinished business. Went to the gym for 20 minutes... who knew they closed early? Got all showered and dressed up for an early night out on the town. By early I mean we were dining with old people. We ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant in which we had bought a coupon for at restaurants.com. Good food, great deal. Bought tickets for a stupid movie. We were the only people in the theater under age 50, and the only ones not laughing. I'm sure it was a funny movie... we'll try it again in 25 years. Twenty minutes into the movie, snuck into a different theater room to see Sherlock Holmes... awesome! Went to Albertson's for some Martinelli's and rootbeer floats. It's not as easy to find non-alcoholic bubbly in Cali as it is in Utah...found it in the kid's juice department. Cuddled up with Rootbeer floats in our sweats and flipped through channels until we watched the ball drop. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1... HAPPY NEW YEAR! New Year's kiss, sip of kid's bubbly, off to bed. Asleep by 12:08.

New Year's Day: Sleep in! By sleep in I mean 8 am. Take the dog on a hike in the huge canyon behind our house. Try our Texas' new cool doggie back pack that he got for Christmas. Get all sorts of scratched up trying to find the river. Mission accomplished. Texas braved the running water, a long time goal for Gabe and I. Took a few New Year's pics. Never mind the just woken up look. Made our way home for left over Mexican food. New Year's nap time. Much needed from our "CRAZY" night out.... Hit the mall for some New Year's deals. I of course found many things that I absolutley "NEEDED", while Gabe was there for good support. Came home with a watch that fits, a bracelet with a "G" on it to stand for my one and only, and a cheetah shirt. (the much needed item.) Took back the red boxes we had forgotten about for a week and rented a new one. A dollar, you can't beat it! Then headed off to an ASIA BUFFET. That's right an Asia Buffet! Gabe was determined to get his money's worth so we sat and ate until we couldn't eat any more sushi, any more wontons, egg rolls, orange chicken, kung pao chicken, coco nut shrimp, and everything else Asian you can imagine. Came home with our redbox and cuddled up ice cream.

Jan. 2: The weekend continues: Only today we decided to start with part one of our New Year's Resolution: get organized. We spent the whole day pulling everything out of our closets, hampers, bins, corners, and drawers and organized, organized, organized. We gathered two huge black garbage sacks full of clothes for the D.I. It felt so good to actually know where things are stored in our little apartment. Got ready and made our way into Newport. Went to the beautiful Newport temple, followed by Pizza and Dateline:48 hours, a special on a kidnapping in Mexico. Decided that our plan to drive my little beat up Corolla as far into Mexico as we can until it blows up and ride a bus back to the U.S. is now a NO GO. I prefer not to be kidnapped by the Mexican Cartel. Fell asleep early with Texas at the foot of our bed. Last night he graduated from the crate to the carpet. A big step for our American bull dog puppy.

Jan. 3-Woke up early due to the change in time for church. 9 am. Yawned through all our meetings. Home for nap time, had to catch up from the early wake up call. Left over Pizza, reading and blogging. Hopefully we'll be in bed early.

Tomorrow- Back to reality!

Hope your New Years was Fantastic! We have so much to look forward to in the year 2010! Best wishes for your 2010!

Our Christmas run down

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We hope you had a Merry Christmas! Its crazy how we spend all of December preparing for this one day and it is all over so quickly! I especially loved the Christmas season this year. All the lights around the city went up, we decorated our little apartment, listened to Christmas music and I truly felt the spirit of Christmas. I am so grateful for the the reason of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. I hope you all felt his love this Christmas as we did.
We spent our Christmas in Utah with our family... here's a little run down of the trip... (pictures to come later)

-Packed our car to the roof of presents and luggage for a 3 day trip to Utah
-Piled Gabe and I, the dog Texas, Gabe's cousin Chelsey, and her dog buster into the car wiggled in between the presents.
-Left 70 degree weather for 7 degree weather.
-Had awesome Cafe Rio for Christmas eve lunch with Gabe's mom and brothers and spent the day with the other last minute crazy shoppers.
-Enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Turkey dinner with my fam and grandparents.
-Woke up to a crazy Christmas day. Ping ponging from one family to the next. Presents at Gabe's parents house, breakfast and presents with Grandparents Yates at my parents house, lunch with the Spencer Clan, Lunch at Grandma Janet's with the Valenzuela crew, followed by turkey and dessert with the Hendricksen's with Grandpa Jack! It was so good to see everybody and spend the day together! Thank you to all for all the gifts! Our car was more full on the way home!!!
-Post Christmas day: Shopping with mom, lunch with friends, a trip to the Mexican grocery store for some good Venezuelan cooking! (Thank you Gabe! The arepas were DELISH!)
-Dancing with Grandpa Jack at the Murray Arts center with the rest of the retired community of Salt Lake. SO FUN! Grandpa Jack taught me how to waltz and Gabe got to dance with some nice old ladies! Not to mention dancing with my husband is my favorite.
-Dancing was followed by a late night dinner at Grandpa Jack's! Can't beat fried Halibut and potatoes!
-next day: SLEEP IN!!! We needed it for the 10 hour car ride home! Made sure to stop for our last chance for Cafe Rio! Arrived back home to warm weather and a much needed sleep recovery!

Our Christmas was wonderful! WE loved spending it with the people that we love!

Happy ONE year to us!!

2009-12-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

We did it! Yesterday marked one year since Gabe and I sealed the deal. On 12/12 of '08 Gabe and I got married for forevers in the Salt Lake Temple. The day of our wedding was absolutely beautiful (beautiful for a December day in Salt Lake). We woke up the next morning, (the morning of our reception) to a unbelievable snow blizzard. I loved it. The wedding was beautiful. What an amazing day! I can't believe a year has gone by. It has been a wonderful year. We have done so much. We moved to California, got new jobs, traveled all over, and became best friends through it all. I am so grateful to have Gabe in my life and I love him so much. Happy one year babe!

What a fun anniversary we had!

We got all dressed up for dinner and Gabe bought me these beautiful roses. I love, love, love getting all dressed up. I feel like I'm going to prom... only way better.

Aren't they the most beautiful red roses?!

We went to dinner at this great little Italian place called Tannin's in San Juan Capistrano. The food was fantastic. And we definitely stuffed our selves.

Then we headed down to San Diego. We stayed in the Marriott in La Jolla. It was beautiful. And Gabe worked his magic and got us into the suite.

This is a horrible picture, I know, but this was the view from our balcony. That lighted building in the background is the beautiful San Diego Temple. You can see it a little better in the lighted picture from the morning.

The awesome view from the balcony.

Just "hanging out" in our room.

OK. This is my most favorite part of all. Most of you have probably seen this famous picture. It is absolutely my favorite picture. I always said (before I was married) that some day I was going to find some body who would kiss me like this. Well.... I found him...

A few months ago, Gabe had to go down to San Diego for a work thing. He found this huge statue and immediately thought of me... He's so cute. He kept it a secret until our anniversary. The morning of our actual anniversary, 12/12, we drove from our hotel to San Diego. Gabe said he had a surprise for me. He told me we were going to take a picture. As we were driving, I was looking for what he would possibly want to take a picture by. As we pulled in.. I saw it. I immediately took a huge gasp of breath. I couldn't believe it. The picture! The huge statue! I was blown away! I loved it! We hopped out of the car, in the pouring pouring rain mind you, and asked a guy walking by if he would take our picture. I must say....It was

PICTURE PERFECT!

The most perfect anniversary present!

Afterwards, we drove back to Mission Viejo, went and had a yummy breakfast at Coco's, and went back to our warm house. Since it was still pouring rain and cold outside, we rented some movies, got back in our jammies, and snuggled in front of the T.V. for the rest of the day.

It was perfect. What a wonderful first year anniversary. Here's to one year with my sweetheart and many more to come!

A little weekend get away...

2009-12-13T15:38:00.001-08:00

Gabe and I took off last weekend for a little trip to Arizona. Arizona isn't too far from us, so we packed up and took off. We met up with one of Gabe's mission companions Kreg and is wife Brittany Lewis. It was so fun to get together and go see the lights at the Mesa Temple. I do have to clear up one thing though... Contrary to popular belief.... Arizona IS cold during the winter time! We did have a blast though and loved the weekend in Arizona!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Love,

The Valenzuela's