Barcelona

       Here I am in Spain lovin life.  How did I get here?  Well as you know I am a buyer for my families business and one of our designers, Pronovias, is based out of Barcelona and that is where their design house is located.  Once a year they have a huge launch party and invite all of their top stores throughout the world to come and preview their next years designs and to buy for the next year.  That's how I got here.
      The picture above was taken as I was walking into their fashion show (which might I add was the most beautiful runway I have seen to date).  I love how the male model behind me is pulling a Zoolander.  Right before the photo was taken he was getting mad at a lady taking pictures, but he made sure to turn on the charm when they were taken.  Here are some photos from the Pronovias 2011 Fashion Show.

                                          This was the Finale.  I wish I had taken pictures throughout
                                         the whole show, but I was a little distracted
      
                                        Here are picture of my parents and I on the "Red Carpet"

       I took some picture of my parents where the fashion show was held.  It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  I was so sad that TJ wasn't there with me.

                     Then came the real work.  The next day we went to The Arts hotel where all of the dresses were on display and we had to buy.  About four hours later and an interview given to Women's Wear Daily AKA WWD (this is the Bible in the fashion industry) we were finished and left with 26 beautiful new styles for 2011.

    With only two days left it was time for sightseeing.  Get ready for tons of pictures.

                                                          Segrada Familia.  AMAZING

                                                            The Barcelona Cathedral

                                                        Hung out with some street performers

                                                                Flamenco Dancing

After this photo was taken, we were flashed by a man.  Always a great experience to share with your parents
                                                            whether home or abroad.

On the last night we were there we found out it was St. Joans Day.  A celebration to kick off summer.  It was pretty awesome and the streets were PACKED with people doing the same thing as this video below (video coming soon).  This was just a small party.  There were even school marching bands all decked out in their gear having their own little parade down the street!  A great way to end my Barcelona buying trip.

I'm sure this was a shock

         So, when you saw our blog at the top of your list were you shocked?  It has been eight months since I blogged and I thought since we have had some big changes we should probably blog about it.  First things first, TJ got an internship with Walmart's marketing team in Bentonville Arkansas for the summer and so we packed up our stuff and headed out to the Ozarks for three months.  We had a long drive ahead of us and would be driving through states that we may not see again together so we decided to make a trip out of it. 

          We hit up the Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota.  It was really amazing and it will be incredible when it gets finished... if it ever gets finished.  After going to see Crazy Horse we headed over to see Mount Rushmore.

          It a lot smaller that we thought it would be but it was amazing!  It was kinda surreal to be there.  There was a wedding going on at the base of the mountain while we were there... interesting.

    We stopped by the Badlands National Park.  It was so weird because you are driving through these grassy rolling hills with cows everywhere and all of a sudden it looks like you are driving through Lake Powell if it was drained.  We didn't get very good pictures but if you're ever in the area I would suggest stopping by.

                                                         TJ with a hot plastic saloon girl

                                          TJ and me with a hot plastic grandma with a huge cigar

         We then stopped by my Mission and the Visitor Center that I served in.  It was a little strange going back there and not knowing anyone but it felt so good to be back.

Now here are the Lords.  I taught and helped to get them baptized and it was the first time that TJ was able to meet them.  They took us out to an awesome BBQ place down in Lincoln.  I love them so much and it was awesome to be with them again.  We also got to see two other converts of mine while we were there.  I loved bringing TJ around and letting him see another part of who I am.

                                                           We then set off to Nauvoo

This is Sister Nelson.  Her and her husband were one of the senior couples on my mission.  They are now serving their second mission in Nauvoo.

 

                                                          We stopped by Carthage Jail.

               And then we finally made it.  Its actually really great here in Bentonville my only complaint is the humidity.  It was 88 degrees here and with the humidity it feels like 250 degrees.  It going to be really different and really fun and I will keep you updated on whats we are doing while we are here.

The most wonderful time of the year

Does this young man look familiar?

Well if he doesn't maybe this will help

Or this

If you still don't know, you need to keep up on current events.

I love Halloween

 

Fly Like An Eagle

     A couple weeks ago I did something that I have been wanting to do since the first time I did it when I was about five.  I flew with my dad.  Just me and him.  Let me give you a little background.  My dad is a Pilot, not by trade but he has had his Pilots license since he was a teenager.  I remember going flying with him when I was around five years old and getting sick but that was my last memory.  I grew up in a family that traveled a lot so I was never afraid of flying, that is until I got home from my Mission.  It's not like I break out in a cold sweat or anything but I am just not comfortable and turbulence is a major deal breaker.  I don't know if it was from just not being on a plane for a year and a half or maybe I'm just a little more aware of my surroundings but whatever it is, I like to stay on the ground. 
     Well while I was on my Mission, my dad fulfilled one of his dreams by purchasing himself a plane.  A Belanca Super Viking to be exact.  It is only a four seater and it is named the Red Robyn after my mom.  Well long story short I finally summond up enough courage to go flying with my dad.  My sister Ashlee just had a little girl, Scarlett, and my dad and I decided to fly down to Pheonix to suprise them.  I'm not going to lie I was pretty nervous, but once we were up in the air it all went away.  It really was one of the coolest things that I had experienced, being my dad's co-pilot.  Probably one of the funniest things was talking in the headphones and trying to perfect my "Captians Voice" (my dad was extremely impressed).  Anyway I including some pictures that will never do the beauty of flying justice but I'll put them up anyway.  As for my fear of flying?  I feel so much better!  It was very theraputic have my dad teach me everything and seeing how a plane flies.
              This is an experience I will always remember and be grateful for.

A List

Of what has happened since I blogged last. We all know that I'm not very good at this kind of stuff so I thought that since so much has happened I would just make a list. Here it goes:

1. Went to Washington DC for a week for our first Anniversary (we have a thing for history)
2. Bought a house
3. Went to Las Vegas with the Davis Fam
4. Went to Arizona with the Dunn Fam ( we ended up staying in our hotel room for two days barfing our guts up. Long story but let just say that the Honeymoon is officially over!).
5. I showed up on a cover of a magazine (thanks to my wedding photographer...)
6. Went to TJ's 10 year High School Reunion.
7. TJ started school at BYU and will be leaving his job here in the next little while (gulp)
8. I finally sewed those throw pillows that I've been talking about since December
9. I started tennis lessons

Well I think that's all that has happened since last time. I'll try harder this time. Promise.

Rise and Shout!

A picture of TJ and his U of U Rugby friends.


BYU HERE WE COME!!!!





We're actually really excited.

Life Now

Ok it's Alex again and no I'm not going to post anything exciting like what old Dawson's Creek actors are doing now. I'm just going to post about our lives. So a few things have changed since last time I posted. I started working full time at The Perfect Dress and took on the role as Manager. Of course we are in our busy season so I'm kind of a workaholic these days and I'm not able to do my Esthetics anymore, except for waxing at home. No, I haven't been able to sign up for my sewing classes yet because I've been so busy so I just stare at my fabric with my covered sewing machine with longing eyes. TJ is still in the fun process of applying for different MBA programs and working so he's pretty busy too. He just got accepted into the Marriot School of Business down at BYU and so he's starting to swallow his pride a bit. If you know TJ you know that he is one of the biggest Ute fans so this will be quit the experience for him if he ends up going. I'll use this example... if I was ever mad at him, I would wear my BYU shirt just to send him over the edge. Oh how the tables have turned. This month, on the 20th, we have been married a year. A FREAKING YEAR!!! I know some of you are rolling your eyes thinking that one year is nothing, but it has gone by so fast! Anyway this is our life up to date. We'll let you know if anything changes.