Another Fun Weekend

**WARNING: This post does have a lot of pictures :)***

So I've complained about Utah over and over for years. But recently, we've been having so much fun and have really enjoyed this fall semester so far. I don't know if it's because it's our last year at BYU or if we're finally trying to embrace Utah instead of criticize it. Also, we've been budgeting a little bit better which has required more planning. From my experience, more planning leads to a more exciting and fulfilling life, as well as spending less! We've gone on a ton of fun dates and most of them have been FREE (best part).

This weekend, I had my first test of the semester for Medical Speech Pathology. I studied, took it Friday night and did well! Since that was out of the way, Saturday was packed with tons of activities. Blaine didn't have to work Saturday morning, so we decided to hike the Y (we're really working on that senior year bucket list). Also, we thought it'd be a good workout for Rue. We had such a good time. Not gonna lie, I was struggling the whole time even though I've been running and working out more. It was so embarrassing. I couldn't believe how bad I was panting. I blame it all on the high elevation. My Florida lungs will never get used to it :) Blaine was worried that Rue was going to tire out really fast. She did amazing. We stopped frequently for breaks (more for me than for Rue) and gave her plenty of water. She loved it. When we reached the top, we took a good 20-minute break and had snacks. The view from up there is incredible. I love pointing out all of the spots on campus and in Provo. Right when we were heading down, we saw this HUGE tarantula. It was so creepy and gross. Seeing that made me not want to hike the Y again! But Rue enjoyed it so much that we might have to go back soon or in the spring. 

After the first couple of turns

They beat me to the top!

It looked bigger in person - trust me.  

BYU's campus

After hiking, Blaine went to go play 9 holes of golf with his friend, Matt Larsen. After that, we went on a double date to Chalk the Block - an event at The Shops at the Riverwoods that benefited a local school of kids with autism. It was so cool, and again, free! They had over 100 artists in attendance drawing in the parking lots with chalk. It was so impressive. The only downside about that night was that we could've taken Rue and didn't know! There aren't many places where we can actually take her so we were pretty bummed out when we saw a bunch of dogs and didn't have Rue. 

Blaine's favorite

My favorite!

Anyway, we finished our date with a trip to the Creamery for some ice cream. It was also so good. I had Coconut Joy, which is basically an Almond Joy in ice cream form. Blaine had a Peanut Butter Trail Sundae. The Creamery's flavors are so delicious and unique and they're so much cheaper than Coldstone! Go BYU :) 

Sunday was also a special day. We attended the Brigham City Temple dedication. Even though we didn't actually attend the temple, the Spirit was felt so strongly at the chapel. After the dedication, we had the Stevensons over for dinner. Now that I have a (very sick) pregnant best friend who also happens to be my neighbor, she's been coming over for dinner, lunch, and breakfast or just for snacks! Its so nice to have her so close to help her in whatever way I can. I can't wait to meet Baby Stevenson in March :)

Since this weekend was so busy and full of activities, it went by super fast! This upcoming week is going to be just as busy. It's Blaine's 25th birthday (so excited :]) and we both have several midterms. Here's to another exciting week in Provo!