NEW BLOG!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys! We've changed our blog!!! We're still keeping this one (in case I lose my mind and decide to come back to this one) but from now on, look for us at the link below...
http://chrisandkarim07.wordpress.com/

Sorry that I'm making you change our wed address link on your pages. Forgive me

A Relaxing Weekend (finally)

This past weekend has been so good because we were able to relax, spend some quality time together, and visit with our friends. Friday night we went to our friends Ben and Katherine's open house. Which reminded me that I never posted about our Texas open house. It's kind of late for that I guess, but let me just say, it was bea-utiful! Jerri (as well as those who helped) did a wonderful job.

Saturday we slept in (a first in a long time!), went out for a Kneaders breakfast(yum) and went to the BYU vs. Eastern Washington football game. We had pretty decent seats, except it snowed, so it was so cold! Speaking of football... we recently sold our 9th row seats for the BYU vs. Utah tickets on ebay (we won't be around for the game unfortunately...so sad) for $390! Not bad! We were pretty excited about it, and are using the money for Christmas gifts.

Saturday night we had our friends Siena and Miles over to our place, and made candied apples and watched "Dragonfly." They're getting married in December and I can hardly wait.

Playing Dress Up

About a month ago, I got a call from a girl who works at Alta Moda Bridal, the store where I bought my wedding dress. Let me just say, they have the most beautiful dresses there ever and the service is amazing. Kimmie (my dress consultant) and I are basically bff's now. Anyway, Utah Brides is doing a special on Alta Moda Bridal, and they called about seven of us to go and model our gowns for a television special that is set to air in December. I was so excited! I drove to Salt Lake pretty early, and at the store, got my hair and makeup done. Since it was a very couture type of feel, my hair and make up was a bit extreme. It was fun nonetheless. I'm so glad I got to wear my gown one more time because it's always fun to play a little dress up :)

I love to eat.

Our weekend seems like it has revolved around food. Friday night, we went over to our friends' Danny and Shalayne's house for an "hors d’oeuvres" party. A bunch of couples were there, so we tried a ton of yummy appetizers. I made my mom's smoked salmon/onions/capers dish which is so good! One of my favorite dishes of the night was the bruschetta. So good. It tasted so authentic. Someone brought caprese as well. It made me want to go back to Italy so badly. That same night, we also played the newlywed game to test how well the couples knew each other. Out of the 8 or so couples there, we won! We were excited.

Saturday night we went over to Christy and Tyson's home to watch the BYU v. UNLV football game. While the boys yelled at the TV, Kristy and I made candied apples. This is a first for me, and lets just say, I'm definitely making this a yearly tradition.

Today we went to Layton for Chris' cousins' baby's blessing. They have an adorable little girl named Allie. After church, we went over to the Snow's home for brunch. Family and food; a great combination.

5 Months!

Today is mine and Chris' 5 month anniversary! That's almost half a year! Crazy. I'm excited because Chris is coming home early today, so I'm making us a yummy meal, and we're going to watch The Office together.

One more thing. Okay, so anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with reality TV. You could put me in front of a reality show about mute rabbits and I'd probably still watch it. My latest discovery is "American Most Smartest Model." It is HILarious! One of my favorite quotations (so many to choose from) was where Ben Stein asks one of the guys if he is a native born American and he responds "No, I'm from California...Northern California actually." The one major disappointment is that there is a Mormon girl on there who apparently "graduated from BYU in 3 1/2 years with honors," (she must've lied- she probably attended UVSC) but got kicked off because she's dumb, and couldn't spell "emaciated." She spelled, "amacidated." Oh boy...

Conference Weekend

We have been looking forward to this weekend, and it has gone by too fast! Not only was it conference weekend, but Chris's parents, sister, and niece came to Utah for a visit. This was our first time meeting our little niece Emerson, and let's just say, it was love at first sight. This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake City for a session of conference, the girls all hung out for some shopping and frozen custard while the boys were at priesthood session, and we just had some great time hanging out with the family. We miss you all already, and can't wait to come to Dallas for Thanksgiving!

Chris and I Saturday Morning Session

The Joneses after Conference

We liked this house because it looks like the haunted Winchester Mansion.
Emmy getting a bath in Granny's sink! She loves baths!

What a cute sleeper!

Emmy and her Aunt Karim

Emerson loves her Uncle Chris

Lindsey, Chris and Emerson

Lindsey, Emmy, and I

Kirtland, Ohio

This past weekend I took off with a couple of fellow history nerds to Kirtland, Ohio for the John Whitmer Historical Association's Annual Conference. I had a great time, was able to meet a lot of new and interesting people, listen to some fantastic papers dealing with various Latter Day Saint traditions, and tour historic Kirtland.

For those of you unfamiliar with JWHA, it is an independent historical society that focuses on the Latter Day Saint (or Restorationist) tradition. JWHA members come from a variety of religious backgrounds, including the Latter-day Saints (Utah Mormons), Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), Church of Christ (Temple Lot), and the Conference of Restoration Branches. In addition, a number of interested historians and scholars of various religions (or no religion at all) participate in the organization.

Among other things, highlights of the trip included conferences in the Lower Court of the Kirtland Temple, meeting two Community of Christ apostles (Andrew Bolton and Dale Luffman), checking out the recently completed Kirtland Temple Visitors and Spiritual Formation Center (maintained by CoC), buying a new book, and of course, discussing obscure but fascinating bits of history. It was a mind-opening experience to discuss commonalities and differences between my faith tradition and that of others from the LDS movement.

With all that said, the best part of the weekend was returning home to my beautiful wife on Sunday. The four days was the longest we'd been apart since we've been married, and I missed her quite a bit. The next conference I plan on attending (and presenting a paper at) isn't until the Mormon History Association Conference in May 2008. I've invited Karim to come along (it's in Sacramento, CA), but she doesn't want to spend an entire weekend listening to historical analysis of Mormonism. So does anyone want to road trip out to California in May to enjoy a great conference with me and/or shopping, sight-seeing, and relaxing in the sun with Karim?