my husband is a ski model

My husband got another publishment! This one is in Powder magazine and is quite a big deal. Its an ad publishment for Mammut, so he is their chosen athlete. Its also in the front of the magazine, and a double page ad- which is prime magazine real estate. Companies pay up to $10,000 for that space!

He also is the picture for this photo contest online!
He also has a publishment in Backcountry magazine, but we have yet to find that darn magazine. So when we do I will put the picture up.

$money-savers$

We try in every way to save money, like every other newlywed couple out there:

We don't have cable, or any tv for that matter
When we go out for date night, the bill must be under $20 (not including tip)
If its not date night but I don't want to make dinner, Its usually a Big Daddy $8 combo pizza (yum!)
For food we only buy what we need, no treats! (oh I brake this rule every now and again)
We have netflix - which is awesome! $8 a month and you have unlimited access to movies
I still use ribbons, bags, and bows from our wedding to wrap presents
I use newspaper (from my parents house) as wrapping paper
Rarely go to a real movie theater, dollar theaters are A O.K.
We rarely spend money on activities, we believe we should be able to have fun for free : hiking, mountain biking, soccer in the park, free camping, etc...
and many more...

But what I am most proud of as of now is our haircut money saving skills.
Kevin bought a $30 haircutting kit a while back and has been cutting his own hair since.
And I never get my hair cut (or dyed). Ok, lets be honest, I don't remember the last time I did this so this wasn't a "being married" thing. I don't trust others with my hair. My hair is nothing special I know but I still don't like other people touching it. And besides, I have a sensitive head. So kevins' new haircutting kit really benefitted me; now I use real hair cutting scissors instead of any scissors within hands reach. But I am not proclaiming any pro-haircutting skills here- I know nothing about cutting hair. And I have yet to learn anything about it. I just cut it. Maybe an inch or two inches every month or so. And sometimes I even get creative and cut layers into my hair (ahh! i know). Good thing I never wear my hair down for people to see what my hair really can do.

boating is where the love is

Since this is my only journal, I need to share more of our love stories...

Going boating, or just being on a boat is where me and Kevin first fell in love with each other. But for each of us, they were different boating trips.
We had only been dating a month or so when Kevin invited me to go boating with him and some friends. I was excited and nervous. I even went out and bought new shorts to wear. I remember going over there and meeting his mom for the first time. She had me make a sandwich for myself just in case I got hungry while boating. I remember thinking Geeze she is so nice!
We went out to Utah lake and this was before I knew Kevin was good at wake-boarding, or anything for that matter. He was very humble while we were dating. He just went out there and did his thing like it was no big deal. I remember thinking who the heck is this kid!!? When he came back into the boat I was so amazed. But he just came to the front of the bow where I was sitting and sat next to me and grabbed my ankle and leg and just asked if I was having fun. I know that sounds funny (how he grabbed my ankle... it was just so cute) but it was just one of those moments where everything felt right. I knew right then that this was going to be different then my past relationships. And I have remembered that moment so clearly ever since.

Another time where I fell more in love with him was when we planned a trip to go to Deer Creek a month or so later. We went up with a bunch of kevins friends, his brother mitchell, and a bunch of his friends. We went up in the evening, boated for an hour then set up camp on a beach. We sat and watched kevin and mitchell set up and use their wench. I remember thinking I would never get bored with this kid. We at hot dogs and s'mores, and hung out by the fire. We then went to bed, don't worry, not in the same sleeping bag - we weren't even in a tent, we were out in the open right next to everyone else... That little clarification was for my parents. They hated me going on little trips like this- and Im sorry I wasn't the best daughter-I kind of did what I wanted. But c'mon! I was falling in love! Anyways, when we woke up in the morning in our sweaters and bed-hair, I remember thinking- I like this. I could get used to this. He is so cute in the morning with his tousled hair and groggly eyes.

Kevin told me after we had gotten engaged, or even married, I am not sure... That he first started falling for me on our first Lake Powell trip with my family. He said this was when he could see the real me; how I acted around my family. He knew that was where I felt the most comfortable. He remembered an actual moment when were were swimming in the lake when he knew this relationship was different, and he could really fall for me.

It wasn't until after we got married that we realized we both fell in love with each other on boats. This clearly means we will need to buy a boat in the future.

Boating with the Larsens & Parker & Mason

For family night, we went boating out to Utah, or how Kevin prefers it to be named, POO-tah lake. We took Kevins old ski racing buddy Luke and his cute wife Amy and little girl Blake. We also had to invite Parker and his friend Mason; Parker is pretty much Kevins brother from another mother-or the replacement for missionary Mitchell.
We were all very impressed with little two-year old Blake. She was quite a trooper. She was perfectly fine for the 4 hours of driving and boating. Her parents taught her how to hold an iphone with one hand so she can sit and watch Baby Einstein in the car all on her own. Some might say this is horrible; I think it is quite genius.
I was quite impressed this boating trip. Kevin of course always bombs everyone out of the water with his skills, but Parker and Luke were right there behind him. It was very entertaining. We had pretty good water right when we got there, but it quickly turned from Utah lake to Poo-tah lake. The stupid tubers dont help either. I mean C'MON! "Hey there is awesome water over there, how about we go over and pull out our TUBE?!" Duh. Tubing is for suckers.
Parker named me Mama Brower on this trip and I think it might stick. All because I had starbursts and cookies in my purse for everyone. Hey, someones got to do it.

Mosque issue

Is the building of an Islam Community Center in the heart of the BUSINESS DISTRICT of New York City completely necessary? When they even have another Mosque 12 blocks away? Oh wait, did I forget to mention Ground Zero? They want to build one two blocks away from Ground Zero. TWO BLOCKS. This is where 3,000 people died due to a Muslim terrorist attack, remember? Obama has seemed to forgotten all about this. I think he is more concerned about the Muslims feeling, rather than the 3,000 lives that were lost and their families that were affected by it. Yes we are a nation that likes to be religiously tolerant. But this is just insensitive. We all know this is an act of provocation by the Muslims. I think Obama needs to forget about his wanting to become friends with the Muslims, and remember he is the President of the United States of America.

whats for dinner

After boating today, This is what were going to make for dinner:

Egg Rolls

14 oz tofu (or you could do 1 lb of any meat)
1 tsp minced ginger
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
1/4 lb bean sprouts
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs Oyster sauce
1 pkg Egg roll wrappers
vegetable oil for deep frying
sweet and sour sauce for dipping

Stir-fry tofu (or meat) and ginger in wide skillet over high heat until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add cabbage, sprouts, carrot and green onions; cook 2 minutes. Use about 2 Tb filling for each egg roll. Folding directions on egg roll package. Deep-fry at 350 degrees, a few at a time, turning occasionally, until golden, 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towel.

But for now, we are going to go get our wake-boarding on.

Bear Lake Fun

I mean isn't the beach fun enough???
It got a bit windy...









Water Wieneeing!
I look like Im 12


Mari surfing away. She was good!


mari going c-r-r-a-z-y!
captain cute hubby

Last weekend we got invited by my good friend Mari to go to Bear Lake with her boyfriend DJ and the Osterloh family. I had been up to Bear Lake with her two times before so I knew I couldn't pass it up. Her family was so hospitable: they let us have our own room (being married is so awesome), they fed us yummy food, they let us take their boat out for the day, and they even let us fly their kites. It doesn't get much better than that. Because it got stormy at night their, it was perfectly windy for kite flying. Us couples were having so much fun we flew those kites for two hours. Maris dad taught us tricks, and I was p-r-e-t-t-y good by the end of the day.
At night we would hang out with Maris sisters and cousins: the Osterloh brothers. We stayed up till 2 a.m. (!) playing murder in the dark. We felt like such cool kids hanging out with the young, single crowd. We couldn't believe how late we stayed up, and Im sure they couldn't either. I didn't really like this game, but I loved watching everyone else play, fight, and construct arguments. I also wasn't very good at it. I would just giggle anytime I had to lie, therefore giving away who I was. I was pretty much killed the first round every time, which was great for me because then I just got to sit and watch the game unravel. On the other hand. Kevin was great at this game. He could just sit and argue his point the whole time. He even had enough nerve to kill me off a few times,
We had a great time and was sorry to leave. We had such a fun time with Mari and DJ. It was fun to see DJ again since we all had gone to high school together. I would love if they got married (hint hint).me running over mari

Blog Wars: Patrick this is for you

I think we have a Blog War on our hands. Patrick brought to Kevin's attention that he has never done a standing back-flip. Kevin could not let Patrick have this victory.

So he easily did the backflip and then did this:

It's on Patrick.

peruvian gulch trail

This morning me and my mom ventured out to hike to the Snowbird tram. It was a beautiful! Nothing is better than being in the Utah mountains.

Lake Powell Trip #568

Growing up, we went to Lake Powell 6 or more times every summer. It was the best. But now that everyone is growing up with having kids (chels and will) and getting married (me and kev) and being too cool for their own family (tyler) and getting old (zoe the dog), it is getting harder and harder to plan trips. Well we finally all agreed on a time to go and went! It was Hadleys first time! And we aren't quite sure if she liked it. For starters it was hot and humid, and then she had to wear a life jacket. Not a good combo. She was up all night the first night crying, screaming, giggling, screaming, talking, screaming, playing, and screaming. It was too hot for her, and she thought it was too much of a party with everyone in one boat to go to sleep. She really just wanted to play. When we all woke up in the morning, we all wanted to dislike Hadley very much. But once you look at her you cant. You cant not like that little girl. Darn her. Well we decided to stay at the marina in a dock (darnit what is it called!) for the next two nights and give Hadley her much needed air conditioning. And after that she was great. She loved swimming in the water (preferably naked) and cheering for Kevin on the wakeboard. It was yet again a successful Lake Powell family vacation.

one year older!

Kevin turned the big 2-6 on August 3rd! We had our daily lunch in the park and I made him some molten chocolate birthday cupcakes. Even though I already had given him his birthday present a few weeks before, I still had to get him something on his birthday! So I got him his ultimate favorite brown sugar beef jerky, and a bunch of his new favorite gum Spry. This gift may seem weird... but he would never buy this for himself. A bag of this beef jerky is around $12, and this is just ridiculous to Kevin. And it really is ridiculous to me too. But I like to make him happy, so this was his birthday gift.
We then went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. And it wasn't as good as I remember...but Kevin still really liked it. It is just too expensive for what you get. Kevin always gets the Chicken Madeira and I usually get the Carmel Chicken. And also our server was boring. I mean they don't have that much to do there. All he did was take our order silently and refill our waters. He didn't even bring our food out. We are probably just an easy couple to serve.
We ended the night with sluuuushees from sonic and the movie Independence Day. I had a free route 44 coupon and we only realized what it was when we ordered it. It was just a HUGE slushee. An XL. It made my large look tiny; how sad.
It sounds like a boring birthday but this is what Kevin likes. Birthdays to me are an excuse to go big. I like to go stay in a nice hotel and eat at a fancy restaurant. This really is unrealistic at the time, but hopefully in the future this can be a tradition.