Mr and Mrs Phillips Day

Can you believe it’s been a whole year already?
We decided since it was our first anniversary, we would stay in the same hotel we stayed at for our Honeymoon, eat in at least one of the same restaurants, and take a walk around Temple Square where we got engaged. (Well, officially anyway. haha) So Saturday night when Matt got off work the plan was to head down and stay at the Radisson, sip some bubbly -non alcoholic of course : ) - and spend the next day on the town.
Well the only problem with this plan was that Friday I got sick, I guess with what you could call the flu. And oh man was I sick. I couldn’t keep anything down, I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t get comfortable. It was looking like this stupid flu was going to ruin our weekend, but luckily Matt was very patient with me. He got home Friday after work and brought me enough 7up, Pepto-Bismol, and bananas for a whole army of “sickies” (his loving pet name for me) Luckily I was feeling well enough Saturday night to be able to go spend the night in Salt Lake and have a great time. We still ended up coming home early Sunday afternoon, but Matt didn’t seem to mind. It just goes to show me how lucky I am to have Matt as my hubby.
The 3 things I love most about him are:
His patience
His sense of humor
How much he cares for me
And he definitely proved these things over and over again this weekend. What a guy.
Love you Matt!

Now here are a bunch of mushy pictures for you all : )
(Beware: Contents may include kissing and other mushy behavior!)

Christmas

Christmas this year was such a blast, and such an adventure. It was our first year as an official married couple, which made it our first christmas for a lot of things. It was the first time we got to put up our own tree, start our own traditions, and the first year we had to split up our time between our two families. I guess that wasn’t something we really thought about doing, but we got pretty lucky with how it turned out this year. We got to spend lots of time with both families, and were able to participate in almost all the traditions on both sides. We’re both really grateful that our families were so flexible with us this year because it made things pretty easy for us.

This year was everyone’s year to be at Matt’s parents house, which meant we got to see all the nieces and nephews get together for the first time. It was such a blast to see them interact with all their different personalities. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to see Brad and Claire and the kids, so we were both really excited for that, especially since we got to meet their newest addition to the family. (Who is even more adorable in person, just in case you were wondering.)
All around it was a really great holiday and we are both glad we were home for Christmas this year. Thanks to everyone for sharing your time and gifts with us! We are very blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives

On our way to my parents house Christmas eve.

I'll put up more mucho fun pictures here soon-

Ruf-Dufus

Well, it's been a while since we've put any pictures up of Rufus's shenanagins, so here we go! These are for you Brandy! :)

Every morning when Matt leaves to work, Rufus steals his spot on the bed, pillow and all. So I wake up to this. "GOOD MORNING SIERRA!" Staring me in the face. It's all I can do to not wet my pants!

Every night Rufus watches out our bedroom window for bad guys like a watch dog. There's a cat in the neighborhood that comes around and terrifies him every time he does, so I wonder what would happen if Rufus ever did see a bad guy.

Busted!

Rufus helping me wrap presents. He LOVES boxes. And photo ops. He is getting good at posing for sure. As soon as I point my phone at him, he hold still until it clicks.

My Boys :) I love that Rufus just lays there like a fur collar haha

Life Lesson

We could all learn something from this man.

"I don't have any hard feelings, I know he did everything he could."
"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," Dong Yun Yoon said. "I know he is one of our treasured for the country."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28156838/?GT1=43001

This article is worth the 5 minutes of your time it will take to read it.
What an example of forgiveness.

You're Gonna Miss This

Well folks, not much has changed since I posted last and I’m glad. We’ve had enough change in the last year of our lives to last me a while. We got married, we’ve moved twice, (3 times if you count living with Matt’s parents while we looked for jobs), I have job hunted 3 times, and finally Matt had to also. We added Rufus to the mix and now we are heading back to school. I think that’s enough changes for one year.
One year ago this week, Matt was just barely home for his post-deployment leave. It was a lot colder, and we had a lot more snow but I can already feel the excitement that is coming up ahead. Christmas is coming, which I love. I thought that would be something I outgrew when I wasn’t a kid anymore, but I think the older I get, the more I appreciate and love the holiday and the joy that comes a long with it. Especially since it is so close to our anniversary. I hope our excitement this time of year is something we never lose. It’s funny but I feel giddy again, like I’m about to be officially proposed to again, and go to the temple for the first time.
This is a great time of year, and a good time for stopping to think about everything you have. I wish I could make a standing appointment with myself monthly, weekly, daily? I don’t know…but to take the time to take stock of everything I have and be glad I’m at this part of my life. And I think that’s something everyone can do, no matter what part of their life they are in. I may not be rich, or have kids, or live on the beach, but I am a newlywed who has a great hubby, a family that I love spending time with, a job I like to go to every day, food to eat and a roof over my head. And Rufus, of course. : ) This year has been the best year of my life so far. And don’t you cynics say it’s because I’m a newlywed! I know it’s a big part of it, but it’s because I’m married not because I’m a newlywed. I’m sure next year I’ll be blogging my guts out again saying that 2009 was the best year of my life so far, and ten years from now I’ll be saying 2018 was the best year of my life so far. I just love being married and having a team mate I can bounce ideas off of, and that my team mate will pick me up when I fall on my face, like I often do. Anywho, guess that about sums it up.
Enjoy the part of life you are at now, before it’s over!

Fall updates...

Well it's been a while since I posted last, but we got some good news this week. Matt was hired on at Les Schwab and he starts next week. We are WAY excited about that. Also, we actually had a fall this year!!! Here it is almost Thanksgiving (where did that year go??) and there's still no snow on the ground! We're loving it. Unfortunately, snow is on it's way here soon. We are still liking our new apartment. I'll have to get pictures up soon. The only bad thing was that we had to declaw Rufus or we couldn't bring him with us. I think that was a lot harder on us and him than we thought it would be. He was not doing good for a while. He was hurting and would not stop picking at his cuts. But finally he is back to his normal hyper self that keeps us awake at night, so we're happy about that. But rest assured my friends, our kitty was pampered... here is the proof....

Pretty much the cutest picture ever taken of Rufus.... I had just unloaded the warm clothes from the dryer and put them on the bed to fold and he buried himself in them.

Matt rubbing Rufus's back paws. Wish someone would rub my feet! haha

Matthew wishing he had a mustache... which is actually Rufus's tail

BIG NEWS

This week, a lot has happened. Sierra started a new job with a company called StaffMedic in Ogden, and she's LOVING it so far. Also this week, we signed on an apartment that we both LOVE. So it's been a good week for us. We'll have to add some pictures of our new place here soon, but we don't have any for you all yet. We'll have to get on that. Also, TOMORROW WE'RE GOING TO METALLICA! YAY! We're a bit excited about that, too. Anywho. Sorry it's a short post, but I do have some fun pictures of pumpkin carving to make up for it. Have a great week everyone!

Matthew and our adorable nephew Ethan the sock monkey

Matt sticking his tongue out in concentration





My Pirate Pumpkin



YARGH!

Mattt's Dracula Pumpkin

And The Hunt Continues....

Well folks, we are still job hunting away. We have found the most fabulous apartment in Clearfield and now we're just waiting until we have jobs so we can sign a lease. It is so great, and Sierra's favorite part is that it's within walking distance of Tai Pan Trading. LOVE that place! Anywho. We've put in a bunch of applications, and we are putting in more and more every day so cross your fingers for us everyone! Every year my mom and I go shopping with all our girlfriends and Saturday was that day. We had a blast. So here's a picture of Ryann and I at Olive Garden. It was her first year coming along and she had so much fun. (mostly because she got spoiled so much haha) Also, Rufus had to be taken to my parents house since he does not get along with Ashley's cat Gus, he just wants to play and he annoys Gus to death. Poor Kitty....

She was excited can you tell?

Let me go! I want to play!

Gus come back.....

The Move

Hello All. We arrived in Utah on Sunday night and were suprised to find snow on the ground. Luckily now it has mostly all melted and there's only a little left on the mountains. It was a long drive but now that we're here it's nice to see everyone and to make plans for tonight rather than for months in advance. If that makes sense. Anywho. We're staying with Matt's parents for now, until we can find jobs and a new place. Here are a few pictures for you....

I guess watching us clean our apartment for the final walk through really wore Rufus out...

I was worried about how we would get Rufus home since neither of us can listen to him whine so he always gets let out in the car. But he rode with me and slept like this pretty much the whole way.

Matt bundling up to go outside

Scaredy Cat

This morning we got the closest thing to rain we've gotten in months. At about 7 we got some wicked thunder, which I don't think we've heard since we've gotten married, and then it decided to drizzle for a few minutes. Rufus was terrified of the thunder. He literally barricaded himself in our basket of blankets and would not come out. Well, since Matt was gone on the field op, this weekend was his 96 so he didn't have to work today. And I don't usually work Mondays either, so we had the day to hang out, pack and then we spent some time down in Solana Beach. Mucho fun! On the way home we had a few things to grab from Target, which is pretty much our second home. While we were inside we saw pet Halloween costumes!! This means there are other people out there that are as big of freaks as we are! We just couldn't resist... and when we got it home and put it on Rufus, he absolutely loved it. Even the hat! We were laughing hysterically. He just strutted around and started purring. He did NOT want us to take it off... Guess Halloween will be pretty interesting this year! Hope you enjoy the pics...

Fog, Flowers and Farewells... well almost.

Well my friends, it is officially two weeks from now that Matt is out of the Marines. It feels like we've been waiting on it forever but now that it's almost here I'm not sure we're ready to leave our lives here yet. It's sad, we're getting close enough that we have to plan out our time here. What day we're packing up, when we can do our last session in the temple down here, when we can have dinner with our friends for the last time... its depressing. We're trying to be home for Sierra's mom's birthday, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully we make it in time. We will be staying with Matt's parents for a while so we're really grateful they're willing to share their space with us for a while until we've got a place of our own. Matt is finally home from his field op (hooray!!) and he brought some chilly weather with him so that made me double-happy. -doubly happy? Not sure that's grammatically correct but anywho, the first night he came home it was cool enough to open the windows in the evenings and it has been that way ever since, so that makes me so glad. The only bad thing about fall here is the fog. It's hard to see when you're driving to work in the mornings, but I'll gladly take a slower speed limit instead of a higher temperature. And of course, a posting would not be complete without a picture of Rufus. I bought some local flowers and arranged them last week, and Rufus couldn't keep his paws out of them. Apparently our cat enjoys the taste of sunflowers and eventually knocked them off the table. But they were pretty while they lasted. Well, that's all for now folks. Enjoy the season!!

My loverly summer flowers + my ensigns. haha

Me and Rufus watching Project Runway while Matt was gone. And yes, he is reaching for the remote on my lap

A Bit of A Hilarious Pick Me Up

Just click the link and enjoy Combover Dude and Busta Rhymes. I wish you all many laughs. Muah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctemZdDG7YA&feature=email

9/11

Even though Matt is gone for now, I just wanted to take a quick second and tell him as well as all members of our military, Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
I can't believe it's been 7 years since 9/11 , but I remember that morning like it was yesterday. Forgive the cliche phrase. 2001 would have put me in 8th grade, which means it took place during the time Matt and I were "going out" for the first time. The news was on in my kitchen and at first it looked like an accident. But I remember our phone kept ringing. I used to walk to school with our friend Josh, and by the time he had walked up the street to pick me up on the way to school, everyone knew it hadn't been an accident. Matt had come out to meet us that day and walked a few blocks with us before he hopped in Doug's land cruiser and went to school, too. I remember them talking about war and that maybe there would be a draft. But what I remember most was Matt saying he would enlist before it came to that, and Josh agreed he would do the same. It might be dumb that part of what I remember most of the actual day of 9/11 is something my crush and one of our best friends said, but it threw the whole day into perspective for me. All over the country kids our age were having the same conversation, and all over the country girls were wondering if their boyfriends would be drafted. Maybe the draft wasn't as big of a discussion as I remember, but I was 13 and don't know if my memory was impaired by my crush at the time, and worrying about if our friends would go to war. All I know for sure is how much enlistment rates jumped; how many men volunteered to leave their families and serve in the military, and how patriotic our nation was at the time. It makes me proud of our country that we came together, if only for a little while. No matter what your political stance or opinion on the war, we should all remember 9/11, and take a quiet moment to think about the firefighters, policemen and civilians who lost their lives that day, and all the military members who have since. "Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day our world was broken.It lives forever in our hearts and our history, a tragedy that unites us in a common memory and a common story ... the day that began like any other and ended as none ever has." -Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

How Many More Days Of This?

So Matt has been gone for 3 days now. How did I do this for 8 months? Oh yeah because we had a wedding to plan and a full time job and school. I'm losing my mind!! This tells me that I need to get myself a hobby. So I am trying my hand at drawing and so far I'm sucking but its fun. So we'll see how that goes. At least I have a job or I'd have gone crazy by now. What a bummer not to have my best friend and best source of entertainment at home with me. He can always crack me up no matter what. But for now it's just me and Rufus, who has taken to pouting and moaping around the house. All he does is lay by the door, or lays on the carpet staring at the door and I know he's just waiting for Matt to come home. As I type he just jumped down from my lap and now has his back to me so he can return to his watch-cat duties. What a goob. He has been very good at watching over me at night though. Usually we put him in the living room with his bed and food for the night because if we don't he jumps up on top of the headboard of our bed -which is large!- and watches us sleep until he falls asleep. Which is adorable until he falls on your head while you're asleep. But since its just us I couldn't lock him out!!! And he's been very well behaved, which makes me happy. He knows when we're going somewhere when we're packing up and he did everything he could to prevent Matt from doing just that... here's some pics. Enjoy! :)

Goobers.

Tag Teaming the Blog.

Tagged

Okay, so I'm probably driving everyone crazy with all these new posts. But Audrey tagged me and she won't let me slack off haha, so voila!

Here are the rules: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag a few people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

3 Joys
1. My Hubby
2. Our great family and friends
3. Rufus

3 Fears
1. I hate being home alone at night
2. RATS!/COCKROACHES!
3. Heights

3 goals
1. Moving into our new apartment by Christmas, with new jobs for both of us
2. Lose 10 pounds!
3. Get my butt back into school

3 obsessions/collections
1. Reading
2. The OFFICE! (hooray for season 4!)
3. Bubble baths

3 facts about me
1. I love the fall. And it's coming!
2. I am gradually learning how to be a good cook
3. I hate field ops.

I tagged: Sharifa, Claire and Ash

That's Amore

Well, much to Rufus's delight we are home from our San Diego Extravaganza. And even though it was only a 2 day trip, we had a ball and are both so glad we went. Our hotel was right smack dab in the middle of Little Italy, which was awesome. We were within walking distance to blocks and blocks of tons of little cafes and shops. So that was kind of a lucky coincidence. The first day we were there, we went to a Padres game. As we walked up to the ticket booth, this nice couple walked up to us and said "hey we have 2 tickets, our friends didn't show up so they're extra. They're yours if you don't mind sitting with us." We said "Heck yes!" and sat with this really nice couple and had a great time. The best part was they were $50 tickets and they were awesome seats. Usually we sit way up in the nosebleeds because the seats are still great at Petco. But I mean, these seats were down in the boxes and right behind home plate. We had a fabulous time. After the game we checked into our hotel, and ate dinner at Mona Lisa. A cute little Italian place my friend Sheree had told me about with candles on each table and FABULOUS ravioli. Later that night we took a trip down to Sea Port village where I tried my first Chocolate Dipped Frozen Banana. And let me just tell you people. Delish!! While we were there, we saw a Fire Juggler/Eater who I am convinced had a death wish, and we also saw a mime painted completely silver doing the robot to a bad 80's song. This morning we went down to the Gaslamp to walk around and do some window shopping. But you can't go to San Diego without getting some Mexican food! So we did. In the end, we came home because we started missing Rufus and he was definitely glad to see us, too. And Voila! That was our trip. I'm glad we got to spend some time just enjoying the area before we moved away. Especially since they snagged Matt for a field op and he'll be gone for 2 weeks.

Us on my birthday last year...

Us at Rubys

Take me with you!!!

I love this picture.... one of Matt's eyes is still on the game. haha.

Mike the fire juggler

Home at last

3 Cheers for Heidi Klum

Okay, so I know I just posted yesterday and I don't really have much to add at the moment... but last night I got some hilarious pics of Rufus that I had to post. Matt is usually pretty tired when he comes home Wednesdays because he has to wake up extra early to PT and by then it's halfway through the week. So Wednesdays he usually goes to bed pretty early, and he got home late from work last night so that made it worse. Which worked out pretty well because that's when Project Runway is on! Yay! (and this way Matt doesn't have to watch it) Well, last night Rufus and I were watching our show and I wasn't ready for bed yet so I decided to stay up and watch Shear Genius. Which, by the way, Rufus LOVES. I know it sounds like I'm crazy but Rufus loves to watch tv, and whenever Jaclyn Smith is on he is absolutely enthralled. I love it. So I'll stop rambling now, here are the pics... :)


Totally absorbed.

Don't touch the remote!

Uh oh I touched it. Okay so he's not yelling at me, he's mid-yawn. But it still looks funny.

That's better.