Merry Christmas from sunny LA!

Doug and I hope you all had a wonderful and happy Christmas. We had a wonderful and much needed break. Doug finally finished school and we had our own small little Christmas in Minneapolis before we took of for California. I some how got through the plane ride and we arrived in sunny and warm LA. Ahhh, it was so good to be home. Doug and I were able to stay at my dad's house, and we managed to keep his dog out of our room the entire time, which is saying a lot considering that dog runs the show over there. The moment we got there the weather was amazing! We took walks every morning while there. Shorts and a t-shirt on Christmas eve is a wonderful thing!

 On our walk

 My dad and his dog, Sawyer 

On Christmas Eve we all had a private Salsa dancing lesson. We learned Salsa and the Bachata. Doug was a great dancer! We learned some good steps so if we ever find ourselves on a cruise ship or salsa club, we are well prepared. 

 Doug dancing with my Aunt Kristy

 All of us, including the dog, learning the Salsa moves

 Doug and I doing a spin! He had a smile on his face the entire time!

After dancing lessons we had a Mexican feast prepared by my dad's wife, Ivonne. We had pasole (not sure how to spell it) tamales and guacamole. It was sooo good! After we ate our traditional Mexican Christmas Eve dinner we all passed out. Dancing and eating can really take a lot out of you!

Before the night was over I made some gingerbread cookies for Santa. These lasted barely until morning. They really are delicious! 

 The next morning my dad got up bright and early to make Doug and I a juice drink. He took a whole bunch of veggies and fruits and juiced them all. I don't think Doug has consumed so many vegetables all at once. He loved it though, so when we got back we bought ourselves a juicer and we drink our veggies every morning! 

 Christmas morning we opened presents and spent time together. Ivonne got these silly hats, I couldn't resist! 

 The day after Christmas we went to the beach for some lunch. The wait was 2 hours, so we got some good beach time in. It was beautiful, and I was actually really hot! My dad was so generous to get us all Wicked tickets, so that night after the beach we went to see Wicked! It was really good! The understudy played Galinda, so it wasn't quite the same as I had seen in the past, but it was still really great, and I loved watching Doug watch it. 

Finally, on our last day, we got up early and went to Disneyland. We left at 9 am and didn't get into the park until 1 pm. Traffic and all the lines were crazy. The park was up to 92% capacity when we got there at 9am and the parks were just completely packed. We stayed at the park all day long and only got to ride two rides. The two rides we did ride on were lots of fun though. I will be honest, I felt like an old maid at Disneyland. I was so tired the entire time, and I just wanted to sit on a bench and wait for everyone to be done with the park. I am glad we went, and I really did have a good time, but I felt so old. It wasn't how I remembered Disneyland as a kid. The next time Doug and I go we will probably had kids old enough to appreciate and remember the experience, and it for sure will not be during Christmas. At least I got to spend time with my family and get a delicious Disneyland Ice cream cone! We woke up the next morning early and headed to the airport for Minneapolis. Our trip was perfect, just what I needed. I didn't want to come back! Thank you to my dad for all the fun! We can't wait to see you again!

Catch up....

It has been a while, and I have slacked on my blogging, but a few things have happened in the last month that I thought I would catch everyone up on. After Thanksgiving I found out that the Mall of America called me back offering me a job as none other than.... A real live Mall Cop! Though I don't think Kevin James or even Paul Blart for that matter will be present at training, it is exciting to know that I will protect the good people of Minnesota and help create a safe happy shopping environment. I have heard all the jokes, so let me go through a list of what might be going through your head: 

1. No, I do not get to ride a segway, though they do have them at the MOA. 
2. Yes, I did leave my job at Wells Fargo. 
3. Yes, I am getting paid considerably less at this job... but come on, who can say they were a mall cop at the largest mall in the US?
4. No, I won't carry a gun, but I will get to carry pepper spray. 
5. Yes, I have to pass training before I can officially wear the uniform. This means I have to be on my game and pass all training courses with flying colors. This includes getting pepper sprayed and I may or may not study the layout of the mall at night....

Hopefully that answered some of your questions. I am actually excited to start this new adventure. I never thought I would move to Minnesota, let along be a mall cop, but I have always wanted to be in law enforcement. Just ask the academic counselors over the Criminal Justice program at UVU, the Chief of Provo Police, and the director of Forensics at Weber State College. I have contacted all of these people at some point in my life to possibly start a program here, or maybe get a job there. I have dipped my toe in some branch of law/crime and have been too scared to just jump in and do it. Now that I am in a new environment, I figure it is the perfect opportunity to actually do what I have always been scared to do....and while being a mall cop was never on my list of things to do in life, it will certainly give me a good glance into the world of law enforcement and possibly be a stepping stone for my ultimate dream job... Homicide Detective! Until I get my detective badge though, I will settle for the Mall Cop badge :) 

In other news, Doug has finished his 1st semester in Graduate School!!! Yay! He gets a huge break and doesn't have to go back to school until January 17th. Once he gets back into school he will be taking Compensation benefits, labor relations and collective bargaining, Personnel Economics, Organizational Theory and Organizational Behavior. He is going to be one busy boy! From there we are hoping he gets a bomb internship for the summer. Time is passing quickly and we feel very blessed for all the opportunities we have here in Minnesota. 

Finally, Doug is ready for broom ball, a popular sport here in Minnesota where people basically run around on ice, pushing a ball with a push broom. Sounds like a singles ward FHE night activity, but there are actual community leagues and people are hard core out here. The first practice will be while we are in LA for Christmas break, but Doug will have games starting in January when we get back. Though the recruiting efforts of the team captain were commendable, only Doug will be representing the Robinson family. You can take the Sunny Southern California girl out of California, but you can't force her to like or participate in Winter sports. Sorry! 

Our first tree!

Doug and I had a great weekend. Saturday morning I got early, (sadly not by choice, I am accustomed to waking up early for work) so I decided to make Doug some bacon, eggs and pancakes before he woke up. I started the eggs and cracked them all, neglecting to save two eggs for the pancakes, so we ended up just having the eggs and bacon. It was still delicious. After breakfast, we headed to the gym, worked off all the eggs and bacon, and then headed to the dollar movie theater which is just down the street from our apartment. The theater is just one screen, and has about 1,000 seats. Literally. It is a huge theater, but only has one screen, so you are left with only one show time to choose from for whatever movie you are wanting to see. Also, since the theater is so big, there is a lot of audience noise which includes soda sipping, popcorn ruffling, and candy box shaking. Despite all that, the movie we saw was terrific. Midnight in Paris was a fantastic film and we really enjoyed watching it on a Saturday afternoon. On the way out, we saw a Christmas Tree lot and decided it was a great time to get a tree! We saw the cutest little tree, but decided to pass since we were not sure if our apartment would allow real trees in the building. So to play it safe, we decided to get a fake tree at Target! We got a 6 foot fake tree, stocked up on ornaments, and I even bought a pine tree candle to burn to give the feeling like the tree is real :)

 Here is our first Christmas tree, all bare

 This is what makes our tree "real". Smells JUST like a real tree!

 We got strands of beads and ornaments to decorate the tree

 Doug is actually really good at decorating the tree. I am sure he had a ton of practice growing up!

Here is the finished product! Just missing the star on top!

So Doug and I have our first tree! Not too bad! We got ornaments to decorate this tree, but we decided to start a tradition of getting a new ornament every year to add to our family Christmas tree. This year we will just have one, but after 30 years we will have enough to fill a whole tree! Getting married has been such a blessing, especially when we can create our own traditions and make lasting memories! 

Turkey Day!

So this post is all about Thanksgiving, but most ladies out there know, that Thanksgiving Day prep starts way before that long Thursday morning. Earlier in the week Doug and I went grocery shopping for the big day. It was just going to be us and a friend from Church, Barrett, so we didn't need a ton of food, but Doug picked a 15 lb turkey. Oh Doug. The whole week up until Thursday I have been looking up recipes, planning out the schedule for each dish, and slightly stressing since this would be my first real Thanksgiving all by myself, with me creating the meal. I knew I had to get some things cooked before Thursday in order to get everything done, so Wednesday after work I was planning on making rolls and the mashed potatoes. Knowing this would take up my whole night, I figured Doug and I would just have an easy bowl of cereal for dinner, and really treat ourselves the next day to a good meal. Well, to my surprise, Doug's mom ordered Pizza Luce for us... from California! They delivered the pizza to our apartment! She got a Papa size Pepperoni for Doug and a Mama size combination for me, PLUS a caesar salad! It was such a surprise and perfect since I knew I wouldn't be able to cook for us that night. Thank you Lenny for being so awesome!

Our delicious dinner Wednesday night!

 So after I made the roll dough and mashed potatoes, we went to bed late. I woke up at 7 am and threw the dough into the oven, and got the Turkey ready. I felt like I was molesting the Turkey. I got the giblets out, and pulled the skin up so I could get the butter under the skin. I really didn't have the option to get squirmy with the raw turkey, so I just rolled up my sleeves and got the job done. I put lots of parsley and onions all over the turkey and hoped for the best. It actually turned out really well! It tasted delicious, but it certainly took longer to cook than the plastic it was wrapped in said to cook it. We had mashed potatoes, gravy, home made rolls, sugared asparagus, brown sugar beans with bacon, sparkling cider, and of course... TURKEY!

 So proud of my turkey

 yummm... it was all so good. Doug loved the beans. Yes, he ate something green!

 Doug carving the turkey. He did pretty good for his first time. We will have many more years of practice! 

So Thanksgiving was a success. After we ate, the boys were on the couch watching football. Once the food settled in our tummies I made some ice cream and we broke out the Pumpkin Pie that Barrett so graciously purchased for us. It was a great way to cap off the night. As things came to a close I realized some things through this experience of my first Thanksgiving as a married adult. Here we go:

Days of Prep before Turkey Day: 2

Number of hours to prepare all the food: 8

On a scale of 1-10 how bad my back hurt mid Thursday morning: 11

Days our left overs will last: 5

How many minutes it took to eat a meal that took hours to make: 35

How many minutes it took me to clean the kitchen after the big meal: 45

Will I be making Thanksgiving Dinner for my future family?: Wouldn't want it any other way. 

So I am not gonna lie, Thanksgiving Dinner is a lot of work and is over in a blink of an eye, but it was so worth it. The memories made on days like these are priceless. I am sad we are not with our families but it was fun to have our very own Thanksgiving. Here is to next year! 

Nauvoo get-a-way

This weekend Doug and I decided to take a trip down to Nauvoo, Illinois since I had Friday off of work. We woke up at 5 am and hit the road, and Doug was doing everything possible to shave off as much time on the ride. I had to practically beg him to let us stop for a potty break, so he agreed to stop at some McDonalds in who knows where. It was the nicest McDonalds I think I have ever been in. I had to take a picture of the sink. It also was 100% employed by people over 80. That was kinda weird to see all the old people making burgers in the back. Anyway, we drove through Iowa, and had to stop on some bridge for a barge traveling on the Mississippi to pass through. I have never seen a bridge move into place, it was crazy. Once we crossed over the bridge we drove into Illinois!

 The barge chuggin its way down the Mississippi

 Once we got into Nauvoo, we drove up to the temple. It was so beautiful! It is built after the original temple built in 1846, which was later burnt down by those who drove the Saints out of Illinois. This temple was finished in 2002, and it is simply breath taking. There are so many details to the temple, and Doug and I learned a ton about the history and how the temple was built. Nauvoo is very small, and the main street consists of a few small hotels, a few tourist shops, and the temple. So we went into the local shops, talked to the owners and learned some cool things about the town. I absolutely loved the small town feel, even if it took us 20 minutes to walk up and down the main street and saw basically everything the little town of Nauvoo had to offer. We were able to take some pictures, but sadly the temple was closed for cleaning, so we will just have to return in the Summer to do a temple session. 

 Sunset over the Mighty Mississippi 

 skipping rocks 

 The LDS Saints were forced to leave their homes in February, dead of winter, and traveled in hand carts  and wagons just like this one!

 Doug served his LDS mission in the Peoria, Illinois mission, and he has a photo of himself as a missionary sitting just like this in his suit. I wish I had his original photo, but I don't, so just imagine Doug as a spry young man with a tie and name tag. 

 My attempt to be cool and copy Doug

 As the sun went down Friday night Doug and I found the headstones of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma. We didn't really know what to do in front of headstones, so we just smiled for the camera, ha. 

The next day was by far the best day ever. We got up early and found the stone bridge arch which is where Joseph kisses Emma for the first time in the Joseph Smith movie (for those of you who know what I am talking about) It was not really what I expected since the pictures and movies show something much more beautiful and lush than what we saw, but it was still fun to go and see. After we saw the arch, we then went through Old Nauvoo and went to the homes and shops that are still there from back in 1840's. We saw Joseph Smiths home which had a gorgeous view of the Mississippi. We went to the blacksmith shop and saw a nice man make us a horse shoe, and we also learned about how bricks were made. I loved being transported back into the 1800's and learning about an industrious and hard working people who loved God. My testimony grew tremendously and I have great respect for those who suffered and sacrificed so much so that I can have the Gospel in my life today. 

 After Nauvoo we went to a city called Carthage. This is where the prophet Joseph Smith was killed. It was amazing to see where he was, be in the actual room, see the very window he fell out of, and touch the actual hole that shot through the door and killed Hyrum. It was a very spiritual experience for me, and I really enjoyed learning new things about a story I have heard over and over again.

 The window that Joseph fell from after he was shot 

 Finally, after Carthage, we headed to Quincy, Doug's first area in his mission. He was so excited to go! He took me to see his old apartment, the park where he used to jog, his favorite look out spot where him and his companion would get a pizza and just eat it while looking out over the Mississippi River. I was happy to see him so happy and remember good times on his mission. We stopped by the local TCBY and got a treat, and then we headed to see Doug's favorite family, The Stillwells! It was fun to surprise them and come say hi to their family. The best part was when one of the children heard Doug being called by his first name and the little boy said, "Wait, your name is DOUG?!" haha, they only knew him as Elder Robinson, so it was pretty funny to see his little wheels turning as he made the connection that Doug = Elder Robinson. We had to head out to catch a show in Nauvoo that night but we had to turn around and get a picture of the Stillwells. Doug had a great time and we felt so welcomed in their home. Thank you Stillwells!

It was a wonderful trip and we loved spending time together. Our six month mark of our marriage was happily celebrated with the good people of Illinois and we can't wait to go back!