Rodeo Time!!

When we first got to Houston everyone told us that the Rodeo is the absolute best thing to do. I was so excited because I love Rodeos. Brent has only been to one in his whole life, and that was with me after we were engaged. The rodeo is every day for about 3 weeks and it is seriously A BIG DEAL! They bring in a popular singer, have a carnival outside, have about any kind of amazing food you can imagine, and have such an awesome rodeo. We were so lucky because Brent's work gave us tickets to go to two different rodeos, Brad Paisley and Jason Aldean. Those are two of our favorite artists so we were so so excited! And, I must say, it definitely lived up to its reputation. They were some of the best things we have done here in Houston. Here's some pictures. 

San Antonio

Brent and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day the weekend before because we were babysitting a family for Valentines week. I told Brent that he could plan our special day, but was a little hesitant to let him plan the whole thing by himself. I didn't care what we did, I just thought a nice dinner would be awesome. He kept saying he he was still trying to decide what to do, but secretly he had planned a fun trip to San Antonio the whole time. So he surprised me by emailing me the weekend plans. I was so excited!! 

I packed up all of our stuff and Brent got off work early so we could leave. It was only about a 3 hour drive. We stayed in a really nice hotel right on the river walk. So beautiful!! 

We took the boat ride through the River Walk. So calm and beautiful!

Stopped to see the Alamo followed by the Alamo movie in the Imax. 

We went back to this restaurant just to get this dessert. It was a bananas foster crepe. SOO YUMMY!!! There was a live band there and they chose Brent and I out of the crowd and dedicated a song just to us. haha so great!

The Guenther House. So good for breakfast!

The best pizza ever... right on the beautiful river walk. 

We were just there for a weekend, but it was so relaxing. The food was delicious. One weekend was the perfect amount of time. We felt like we did everything we wanted to do and still had time to relax. 

Brent is really good about planning fun dates. Last year, Valentines Day was our 2nd date (although we had hung out every day for about 2 or 3 weeks at that point). He took me to pick up Cheesecake Factory to go and we ate it in the back of his car overlooking all of Utah County and snuggling up to some good country music and star gazing. Oh, it was definitely one of the times I knew I really liked this boy. 

I guess he has a lot to live up to next year! :) I love my man!!

San Francisco

Every year for Christmas my family goes to San Francisco. We absolutely LOVE this trip and look forward to it all year long. It was so fun going with my husband for his first time. The best part about San Francisco are all the fun foods and new places to try. We always find new, fun restaurants that are SO good. I think one of my favorites was a Chinese/Mexican mix. Sounds weird, I know, but so delicious. They had burritos with eggs, hash browns, and then some chinese or Korean meat. TO DIE FOR! I wish I had a picture of the restaurant because it was just this small hole in the wall. Here are some pictures of a few of our favorite things. <3 It was also so great to go on a big trip with my family right before we moved to Houston. We are here for just 4 months for Brent's internship with Deloitte. I'll be sure to post pictures of all the fun things we're doing here! 

CHINA TOWN!! Our favorite thing. I love listening to my dad speak mandarin with all the people here and ordering all his mission food he used to eat. We love it. 

Watching the seals!

Alcatraz... a MUST DO in San Fran!

The tour through all of Alcatraz. 

We went to the BYU bowl game while we were there. What perfect timing to have it there during our annual trip. So much fun. We played terrible but it was so much fun to be there! 

We always plan a full day and drive to Oakland and do baptisms at the beautiful temple. We went to a Chinese Dim Sum restaurant for breakfast and it was SO GOOD!!! This picture is at the Dim Sum Restaurant. Afterward, we always go to Fentons to get their amazing ice cream sundaes. So yummy! 

My very very very favorite thing! Sesame balls. I can't describe how good they are. (And they really don't taste like sesame at all, they are actually really sweet on the inside) 

The beautiful temple!

Clearly we all really liked the sundaes!

I had to take this picture! I'm not used to seeing my last name everywhere!! 

We went to the Muir Woods. It was so beautiful and peaceful inside. Wow, those trees are so huge!

Painted Ladies

Crabs are everywhere at the Pier. 

We didn't have much time the last day, but I couldn't go to San Francisco and not ride the Cable Cars. So, Brent and I woke up early and rode to the Pier on the cable cars and had breakfast. So much fun!

Breakfast at Boudins. 

We LOVE chinese breakfasts. This is the main reason we love San Francisco. It wouldn't be San Fran without chinese breakfasts every day! 

The Sunshine State

We spent Thanksgiving with Brent's family in Florida. The best part about the break was just getting a break from school. This last semester about killed both of us. We drove to campus every day at 7:30 or 8 and sometimes didn't come home until 10 or 11 that night. They were really long days, but we survived! Going to school with your sweetheart is the best thing ever. It was so much fun spending every second together between classes, eating lunch together, and just studying together. Anyways, back to Florida. I will say it was a little hard being my first holiday away from home, but we had so much fun and I loved spending the whole break with my husband. Here are pictures of some of the things we did... 

We love Jerry's ice cream. Literally best ever!

I had to take this picture because this is a ripe avocado. They are HUGE in Florida. They are so delicious!

My sweet mother in law made me this yummy breakfast for my birthday!

This sweet guy (along with his mom's help :) haha) made me my very favorite cake for my birthday, chocolate raspberry ganache cake...YUM!!!

This melts my heart. I love seeing Brent with all his nieces and nephews. 

Bren't beautiful backyard

Our favorite thing are boat rides in the lake together. 

more boat rides

Brent and I found a new hobby: riding bikes together. We rode bikes every day and just absolutely loved it. It definitely helps to be able to ride along such a beautiful lake. 

Such a great restaurant. We split the ribs (below) and they were TO DIE FOR!

Brent's friend invited us over and he had just been to the ocean and brought back all these oysters. We had to try them. They were completely raw, not even steamed, and very slimy. But they were fun to try. 

This little shop had the best fresh squeezed orange juice I've EVER had. It was to die for! I'm wanting some right now. 

The day I got married I gained 14 nieces and nephews.  Aren't they just so stinkin cute!

You can barely tell in the picture, but these cinnamon rolls overflowed the pan and were HUGE!... and so delicious. We had the best food while we were in Florida. The trip was so much fun and we loved spending time with Brent's family. I would say I can't wait to go back next year, but it sounds like we might be going to Winnipeg next year because of Brent's parents' mission call. BURR!! So long Florida!