January in a Nutshell

The best word to describe the month January is BUSY. If we weren't at school, doing school work, at work, or eating, we were organizing our little apartment. I was doing what I could to transform our place into a home. That goal is still in progress even today.

I have close to nothing to account for our first month, but I do remember two very specific events. First off, the Draper Temple was having its open house. We were able to go to that with my family and it was such a good experience. The Draper Temple is so beautiful and especially exciting for my family; my family has lived in Draper since I was 8 years old...so how many years is that? (would rather not do the math right now, even if it is just subtraction)






Another very important event was Jason's 23rd birthday! For his birthday, after going through our usual routine of work and school, we met up with his family for a dinner at Ruby River. That was so fun and so delicious! That weekend I took him to Tucanos for our own private celebration. We had one of those free-meal birthday cards so it worked out perfectly! To anyone who hasn't been to Tucanos, I highly recommend it! Another night that weekend (same night we went to the Draper Temple open house), my family had us over for another special birthday dinner. My mom always makes the most delicious meals and this was no exception. Oh, and I figured it out...that makes 14 years that my family has been living in Draper...give or take :)



Well, that's all I have to account for January. Hopefully next January will be a different story.

Hitting the Slopes

Back in January, we were so lucky to spend the day with Richard Tadje up at Snowbird. He was working there over the winter and was able to get us a great deal on lift passes.





If anyone knows Jason, they know he loves to ski. He is quite impressive if I may say so myself. I do my best to keep up, but needless to say, Jason is very patient with me. He continues to try and convert me to the dark side (skiing rather than snowboarding) but I have yet to give in. I've been there, done that, and don't especially love pie-ing it the whole way down the mountain.

We were able to make it to the slopes one other time this season together and that was with Michael and Kaitlyn Pacada up at Park City. That was very fun and I hope that was the start of a continuing tradition. Going skiing only twice in a season leaves something to be desired, to say the least. We are hoping to get a season pass this winter, however, that may need to wait until next year depending on Jason's school load. We can only hope that things will work out in favor of the snowy mountains.

Our First Apartment

After a wonderful honeymoon, we couldn't waste any time getting our apartment organized and ready for living. We were so lucky to have our family members help out while we were away by moving in all of our things. All of our stuff was there for us by the time we got back Sunday night (just in time for school to start the next morning).

Here is a closer look of the cute sign our families signed for us,
"Welcome Home Mr. and Mrs. Gruber!"

I am so thankful to them and for all they did for us to make the transition into our new "home" such an easy one. I'm STILL working on getting it how I would like it, but it has definitely been a fun and exciting process. Skills in interior design and culinary art had to be quickly acquired to keep up with the married lifestyle. It's been challenging but I have come to love it. Who could have foreseen the day that I would be cooking meals regularly? I know my family couldn't have....I know Jaleah couldn't have...I certainly couldn't have...and I know that Jason is pleasantly surprised to say the least. Here is a peek at dinnertime one of the first weeks moving in:

Yummy salmon withe pineapple salsa!

Bon appetit!

The Honeymoon - Part IV

The final excerpt of our Honeymoon Saga-


The days that we were not hanging out at the pool, on the beach, or on the strip...













...we were taking little excursions. On one of the days, I believe it was Thursday, we took a beautiful catamaran to an island across the ocean from the strip. The name of the island is Isla Mujeres.



One of the cool things about this ride was that it passed right by our hotel; so we were able to see it in all its glory from the ocean. In the middle of the ride to the island, we stopped for a little snorkeling. The water was a lot deeper than I was used to for snorkeling, but the fish were beautiful and it was fun to be floating around on the bobbing water.



We stopped for lunch at our own private beach where they served a big buffet. The food wasn’t great, but it was all you can eat and the scene was beautiful. The water was crystal clear and a vibrant blue-green color.



After lunch, we went further down the island and were able to walk around the city. The city was very small and quaint; a very fun place to visit. We were so glad we decided to take this catamaran. It was money well spent!

The other excursion we went on was to the park called Xel-Ha. This was a very fun place. It was an all inclusive park that served all your meals in a large hut, buffet style.



There were also other areas throughout the park that you could choose to eat at if you preferred something more specialized. Xel-Ha was a huge place that included many activities. The main attraction was the large body of water that the park surrounded. The water was a nice temperature because it was where the fresh water and salt water from the ocean came together (or something like that, I try to put all science aside whilst on vacation). You could go snorkeling in the water or take a tube ride (all equipment was provided by the park).



The tube ride was so fun because you start in what looks like a tunnel of branches. I can’t remember the name of the plant, but the branches were growing out of the water and made a canopy just high and wide enough for you to float through on your tube. You take the tunnel for a little while and then it dumps you out into a different part of the water.



You could ditch your tube at any point to climb the various rocks to do some cliff jumping.



There was also an area where you could do some rope walking. One of my favorite things about the park is that they had a path that went around the whole body of water. Where it connected to the ocean, they had a rocking bridge that you could walk across to continue the path.



They even had an area where you could ride bikes down the path (again, they included the bikes!). Xel-Ha was awesome!



Well, that pretty much sums up the main things that I remember from the honeymoon. Wow, we really were lucky to have been able to take such an amazing trip! It was literally paradise! I look forward to returning there someday (many many many…..many years down the road)!