Summertime.. it changes all the time

Cupcakes

chocolate with merinque frosting, so easy and delicious. this is what i did yesterday at midnight :) I'm finally back in baking mood and I am actually ready for school! Lately I have been sleeping in and hanging around during the day and working at Target all evening. I don't think we'll be working at the warehouse anymore, which isn't too bad cuz we were expecting to leave at the end of August anyway. School starts on August 31st, a Monday. Normally BYU starts the Tuesday after Labor Day, but not this year, bummer!

Here are pictures from our family visits!! First, Heidi and Mike and the boys came for a couple day visit and we had a barbeque and Uncle Scott and Julie's! We had so much fun :)

Then, My mom and Kayla came to visit for a week, to celebrate Pioneer Day, we went to Seven Peaks-for the first time, Trafalga, we ate and ate and cooked and baked and swam a lot, super fun!

all the while, we still had to work, but hey.. ya gotta do it!

we have been ALL Over the country this summer.. it is always changing!!

Ivan & Melissa

Together Forever

August

the last month of summer.. :(

it's work out month!! go us!!

Ivan got a teaching job at Wasatch Ballet

and I got a job at Target. I really like it

there.

Excited for Young Ambassadors in the fall,

possible trip to Jackson Hole, still working

at Joe Veras... and Eating there!

Lazy Summer Days, basically!

WE had SO much fun last week when Kayla

and my Mom visited and the week before

with the Jannson's visit. Pictures soon to

come :)

xox M

pull down the punch ball!

These are some notes about Melissa and Ivan being pathetic:

so, we live in a lovely townhome in Pleasant Grove. Our home is literally right around the corner from Maceys (a popular Cheap Grocery store in Utah)

we have been working until really late at night, because from 6pm on, we get 10 dollars an hour, so we just crank it until we're about to explode!!! friday night we got home at 2:30 or 3:00AM and we haven't even fed our dog yet. But.. I was an half asleep this morning when i gave Koda barely enough for Meal 1 (He has two meals a day and instead of deciding which of three meals to call it, i just say Meal 1, Meal 2)

So, pathetic as we are, we're too tired to get more food, so we rumage through everywhere to find him some food because he's a puppy and he is STARVING!!!

This was his Meal 2: 2 slices of Roast Beef, a Microwaved hot dog & 2 raw hide treats WOO HOO!!

Secondly, we got a job... In a Sweatshop!! Nah, just kidding! It's so much better.. it's in a warehouse! It sounds a lot worse, but everynight Ivan and I just talk about how much we love this job, serously! Cody Jordan found it online because his friend owrks for ModBod apparel. They had a really big shopment come in so they needed a bunch of temporary workers to print labels, tag shirts, hang them, sort them.. do really simple, mindless work that took hundreds of hours to finish. We had a blast just hanging out with our friend Cody and his awesome Mom Pam. We met some pretty awesome people too. Friday night was insane. Chad Jordan came that night to help tag shirts and it was just us five. When Ivan and Cody get together they are out of control. It was probably one of those "you had to be there" nights, plus we had all been working for 14 hours and our tummys were full of 4pc chicken nuggets with no bbq sauce, just ranch. I cried from laughter and I don't remember the last time I did that. Everything was so funny, and we were in the warehouse way to long, that we just joked and called it a sweatshop. ..psh!.they don't even make those anymore.. well. Let's just say for the children's sake.

3. DRAGON PUNCH!! If you could have any arcade game in your warehouse, you would want the Dragon Ball! Probably because you get so angry or tired or bored that men just wanna punch something!

Here it says the score is 1230, well, one lonely night in the warehouse, it shot up to 8999, because Cody cheated! All you do (to play correctly) is follow the instructions, told to you by some crazy dude on steroids. He says 1. Pull down the punchball, 2. Punch the punching Ball

And then you punch and see your score! Simple as that, but a load of fun. If anyone reads this, and you ever happen to come along a Dragon Punch (yeah right), but if you do. Spend the 25/ 50 cents and get a punch out of it. It's pretty hysterical, or just pathetic :)

i seriously need a back massage

ivan always makes fun of me for the way i sleep. but really, he's entitled to! i just lay on my bed, cuddle up in wherever is comfortable at the time and fall asleep, i don't even move. most of the time my neck is at about 45-90 degree angle over a pillow and my whole body is sideways.

i'm just weird, i wake up moaning.

yesterday, ivan taught dance at the West Valley Hale children's camp :) he'll go back later this week too, just as soon as he can move his legs (j/k) but all day today ivan has struggled to even walk because his quads hurt so bad.. Couples Massage? I've only had one professional massage in my life (which i understand is more that most) and it was really lame. my complaint is that she was way to gentle, i guess I'm just used to screaming for pain in the training room, i've just become accustomed to that. What would really make us feel better is a soak in the hot tub, but last week our hot tub broke down :(, well the Cambria hot tub. It could be ours. Ivan and I are so desperate we started making up songs dedicated to the hot tub.

We're living in the Pleasant Grove townhome now and we love it. But just because neither of us have full-time jobs right now, we spend way to much time here. If anyone is ever as bored as us and wants to pick up a good tv series, ivan and i will testify to HIMYM. They're only $19.99 at Target, which is a lot better than most series, like the Office for $39.99.

Unfortunately, we've finished. Always sad to know that you have to wait until September to find out what happens next! And thanks to Courtney Henderson for introducing this to us last January! Fortunately/ Not, we've moved on and finally plugged in our Wii. Ivan rented an Indiana Jones game, but I'm delaying touching the Wii as long as possible. Back in Georgia, I would actually delay sleep just because I was so obsessed.. Oh beloved city making. My Sims, it's a girl's game. There, I said it.

Ivan and I decided we wanted to gain eternal blessings, so we got ready to go to the temple! Our nearest temple in the Timpanogos Temple now and it is BEAUTIFUL!! We got there at 8:01, and yes, they were closed. It's a pretty bad feeling, where did all the time go? So we're going tomorrow at 9am, hopefully. We're not really morning people. Mornings are the worst time for my allergies, so I blame it on "i'm allergic to the mornings"

Well, now you all know what great big geeks we are, we watch romantic sitcoms, play on our Wii and we have a dog that runs around in circles in the backyard for enjoyment! YeeHaw!

Life Rocks! It really does! I am so so excited for the fall and the rest of the Summer. May I toast to many more comfortable sideways nights!

xoxo

Six Months, We're Rich!

Our Sixth month anniversary, it's pretty much worth celebrating right? The past five, nineteenths of each month were acknowledged and maybe celebrated with a special dessert or something, but sixth months deserved an entire meal! (because we're that awesome)

I was cooking and baking for at least eight hours. The day before I made three mini cheesecakes, we had one a little early though..whoops :/ totally ivan's fault!

I made chicken cordon bleu, asparagus bundles and delicious loaded mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls. Ivan spent all day knocking doors and I spent all day answering phone calls as the OA, but dinner made up for it. It was lovely, as you can see...

The next part of the story..

think about it, chicken cordon cleu, hollandise sauce, loaded potatoes, cheesecake=??

Two Rich People

or Too Rich for People

Basically Ivan and I didn't eat anything the next day, it was ridiculous!

Restaurants, homemade desserts and Koda pictures

Ivan & Melissa <3

At Longhorns in McDonough, Ivan got an entire rack of ribs, delicishhh!!

One Saturday Night, Ivan and I snuck away to a dinner out! It was one of those tepenyaki bars that grilled in front of you. Not as amazing as Yamatos, and we didn't order any sushi to try, but we had a really fun time. We liked GA mainly for the wings and BBQ, but a nice dinner out was lovely and needed!

Cupcakes, AWoo-oo

That was to be sung to the tune of Duck Tales-a woo-oo, at least that's what i came up with in my head

And again, the blacked out tooth thing.. Oh YEAH!!

And Now.. Our Little Koda Bear :)

with his favorite toy.. a dead squirrel, well it just looks weird. Here he is using it for a pillow!

what a cute face, he's showing us his new mancure

sleeping.. so cuke!

making himself comfy on the bed.. No Way Jose, Off, Koda!!

with his Yorkie friend Polo... who is hiding in an empty dog food bag

and finally, bowing down to me.. HIS MASTER!!

So We're back in Utah

For A while, I didn't blog because there wasn't much new going on in Atlanta, and then we had a huge turn around and I didn't even have time to blog because we were moving. But we are finally settled back in the Utah Valley.We got to move into our cozy new town home in Pleasant Grove!!! We love it and we're so excited for the many adventures we will have in our new home! Most of all, I am excited that we will be here for longer than a semester, hopefully a year! It will be good to be in a place, get to know the ward, our neighbors, so far our experience has been AWESOME!!!

Livin' the Southern Life!

Oh Sweet Georgia!

We have been here five days now and I have just loved it. The humidity feels great on my skin and a definite relief from Utah's dry as heck atmosphere! We LOVE our apartment! It is a huge sigh of relief and comfort compared to our falling apart basement apartment in Provo. We have definitely taken a step up!! Our closet is huge, we have a dishwasher!!! (that's not human) and a washer and dryer soon to come!!! Living in the apartment has proven difficult to live in with a dog, but we had loads of fun with Koda today! Ivan doesn't have his correlation meeting until Noon M-F, so we have lots of time in the mornings to be together as a familyyyy :D It's nice to actually have time to eat a big breakfast and make a lunch!! today before Ivan left we went on a walk!

Correction: Koda is almost five months and he weighs 22.7 pounds.. wooot go Puppy go!!

Also, mainly because my mom has been asking for them.. Here are pictures of our apartment a few days ago.. since then I have put up more pictures... I've gotten very good at command hooks, mounting tape and hanging up frames without making holes in the walls :)

Things I Love About Georgia So Far:

The People! Folks Have been so nice to me so far, everywhere I go!!

Low/ Regular Altitude Baking!! Holy Cow, I grew up in California and baked all the time and as soon as I hit Utah, I became distraught and utterly distressed when I baked.. to make just normal choc. chips there, you have to add water to the dough and put in less sugar.. just so they'll have a good consistency, which is lame cuz then they taste worse..Boo! Anyway, I've had some delicious ones that other Utah Mommies have made, but I could never pull off anything remotely tasty. I made Chocolate Chip Cookies when Ivan came home last night and I made the dough super fluffy with my Kitchen Aid ;) the dough.. first of all was completely addicting.. haha, right after dinner Ivan went to the bowl and said, Alright now I'm going to have a spoonful of this dough.. I turn around to see a heaping 1/3 cup at least piled on his spoon!! Plus, the cookies were perfect! Hallelujah!!!!! Crispy on the edges, Gooey in the Middle! MmmmMm

 

P.S. Just an F.Y.I. about this photo... If you know Ivan, you know that if taking a picture around a meal table, he'll take something dark and put in in his front teeth right before the shot, so yeah.. this is what we did.. I can't tell you how many great family/ friends shots have this little beauty in them! Which is perfect, because, growing up, this was our family joke everytime we ate brownies! Therefore, Here we present The Hoffmans: Cookie Dough Night!!!

See the shirt? Go APX

Can't Wait to Come Back to Nauvoo

"My first recollection of a place of worship was in Nauvoo. It was in a little grove of trees near the site of the temple. In company with my mother I listened here to such men as Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, the Prophet Joseph and the Patriarch Hyrum. I remember quite well attending one meeting in this grove, that a wagon had been drawn up in front of the audience and the Prophet Joseph stood in the box speaking, when it began to rain. Some one or two persons got up and held umbrellas over him, to shield him from the wet. Many of the people had no umbrellas, and it was very annoying and disagreeable to sit there, but I remember very well, though but a little boy, that there was no one went away from the ground while he spoke." President James E. Faust

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=e200b5658af22110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Our only day in Nauvoo, it was pouring rain, you can see it on the sidewalks of the pictures, the City Building in Old Nauvoo had a flooded basement! Yes, it was a bit "annoying and disagreeable" and we were all huddled under umbrellas but we were all so eager and excited to go see all of the sites! Our favorites were the Blacksmith Shop and The Family Living Center.  The most spiritual experience we had was visiting Carthidge Jail. 

The Visitors Center is also really big and interesting. The next day, we got to go to the Visitor's Center in Independence, Missouri, Liberty Jail, and Adam-ondi-Ahman.

We loved learning about these sights and all that will happen here! Adam-ondi-Ahman is a song in the hymn book pg. 49, if anyone wants to learn more about it! We have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! What awesome church history we have!!

When we went to Hoffman Street!

Somewhere over near Gresham, Wisconsin, (which is somewhere over near Wasau, Wisconsin) is a little church building on Hoffman Street! There were Hoffman restaurants, Hoffman real estate agencies, Hoffman PEOPLE, so many Hoffmans, WOOHOO, which was pretty exciting until the Kodak moments ran out. Now, what brings us over to this little city in this out of the way state..??  (no offense, i really loved Wisconsin actually).... None other than...

BYU Dancers' Company Tour

The your was done in this little guy of a drive... Le Bus! Driven by none other than the great Fred Moseby, our new great friend. We were blessed to meet so many great people like Fred!

SO, the Hoffman St. stop was about the middle of tour, Let me start from the beginning.

The first day was spent driving and the second night in a Super 8 in Ogallala, Nebraska. Funny that I thought, such a random place why would I ever be here again. Little did I know that exactly 3 weeks later, Ivan and I stayed the night in Ogallala, in the exact same hotel- it was en route to Georgia. So, the second day- driving, and this driving brought us to Des Moines, Iowa., Where the next day we went shopping for trinkets, ate goodies and then the first show at Upland High School in Des Moines. We stayed in a beautiful house, just us, in an awesome basement all to ourselves! Some point within these first days, we stopped at the Winter Quaters Temple and Visitors Center! I am so glad that there is a temple there and that there were great sister missionaries to teach us new things about the pioneer's journey!

Ivan and I got to try out pulling a handcart :)

Our bus drove us onward to three days in Minneapolis, Minnesota!

Our Favorite Things About Minneapolis:

1. Mall of Freakin America!!!

There was a Nickelodean Themepark in the middle of a mall! And a ginormus movie theatre, which we watched Wolverine in.. which was AMAZING!! We both loved it :)

There is also an aquarium and ever store you could ever think of.. in this mall. The Hoffmans are going back. There were tons of other gorgeous and interesting sights we saw in Minneapolis, and I know ever local will think of me as absurd to only mention the MOA, but we were kind of complainers and only really cared about the mall... oops. But seriously, it was lovely!!

We arrived in Wasau on a Sunday afternoon, ready for a fireside! Ivan picked out all the songs we sang and helped conduct and prepare us for the fireside. Our fireside was about 1 hr. 15 min. long. Holly Petty conducted it and four company members gave talks. We sang two group numbers, one boys, one ladies and there were two duets.. one just me and Ivan :)

Our host family in Wasau was the Lefferts. We got to know them the most of all our host families and we got to stay with them for three nights. The performance in Wasau was at the Grand Theatre and it was absolutely lovely! The stake was phenomonal hosts and so many people came to the show! While in Wasau performing LecDems, we ate lunch at the schools cafeterias.. Ivan or I have never eaten at an indoor cafeteria like that.. with trays and cafeteria ladies to serve you pasta, or literal salad bars. It was a big culture shock. But everyone thought we were all weird coming from outdoor schools, especially mine where they only served Pizza Hut, Pick Up Stix, or Subway :) Anyway, what great experiences!

So, after kodaking in front of Hoffman St. We spent the night in Appleton, WI. for a show the next day.. meaning.. we get to sleep in!!! But I also got sick. Good thing we stayed at a nicer hotel this night.. I slept from 5:00 pm until 10:00 am. woo hoo! 

After another beautiful host home and family in Appleton, we went to South Bend, Indiana for another show. Our host family actually lived in Michigan, because South Bend is very northern Indiana, it's right on the border. Weird that South bend is North, huh!

The next day was Saturday, the free day we have all been waiting for...

CHICAGO!!!

Yes, we saw Mary Poppins, original Broadway cast, yes we had deep dish pizza, walked through Millennium Park, saw all the world famous artwork in the Art Institute of Chicago, and so much more, we did it in one day and we loved it! We also did some hardcore shopping.. especially at the biggest forever 21 we've ever seen, we came out wearing what we bought, it was like a movie.. Conclusion: We are Such City People!!!

Grand Rapids, Michigan

This is what the beach looks like on the Northern coast!! Awesome huh? As a company we came to this lighthouse and learned all about how sailors use it and its comparisons to he gospel. Our host dad was a coast guard in Grand Rapids for twenty some years and taught us all there is to know about Grand Rapids, Michigan. Again, another lovely theater, host family and home and so much to do and learn!!

After Grand Rapids, it was off to Detroit, where we went to yet another museum, the last of about 8 or so on this tour. Our friend Kate Bailey came to see the show with her mum! She's in MDT at BYU with us and will be in Young Ambassadors with us next year, she's lovely!

also in Detroit, we went to a stake center and our hosts, the heads of the BYU Alum in that chapter made us the most delicious barbeque in the rain, mind you! Oh so so good! After staying in a MANSION, literally we stayed in the most beautiful king size bed and bath, right next to a game room, spare kitchen, gym and indoor theatre!! Anyways, we were off to the Nauvoo Villas where we stayed for two nights. The next day was such an amazing spiritual experience and we loved being amongst the old restored village of our pioneers!

So Long Beach...

We LOVE the Beach!

After finals, Ivan and I escaped to sunny California! We scored a deal and traded our beat-up Honda Civic, with my Mom's Suburban, she had a new car and is selling the suburban after the summer. We moved out of our basement apartment in Utah and filled the sub with everything we needed for Georgia! But for now, we were excited to be with family and see the SUN!!

P.S. Ivan and I actually went in the ocean water... it was April 24th.

My Sister Kayla, rockin it in the beach wind.. on top of Pointe Dume.

My Brother Mike.. 

This should be his graduation photo! I say I caught him at a Hugh Jackman moment, He just got back from rock climbing

Me and My Mommy!! Happy Mother's Day!!

We also went to Universal Studios! Ivan's first time!! He took a TON of photos, way to many to post on this blog, the next installment, will be our never ending supply of tour photos and journaling, and the lists of annoyances from Koda, whose indoor pee/poo count is over 20 by now, and we've had him for a week! Yeah for the poop mister! Anyways, California is great :)

Koda's first Walk

Well, Koda had a great time, but for Melissa, it was a little different.... can't wait till we get some puppy training :)

walk, walk, stop, sniff, squat, dance in a circle, jump, walk, walk in a diagonal in front of Melissa, get caught in my lease.. HELP! receive help, do a funky leap, walk, walk in a diagonal in back of Melissa, stop linger, sniff, pick up food scrap, eat, spit out, walk, trip Melissa with my lease, HULT! continue, linger, linger, tug, push, pull, walk, run, sniff... I'm one Cr@zy dog!!

 

HIGHLIGHTS of Our Winter Wonderland

~~~

My attempt to condense a semester into one post! But it will probably be easy, because my camera was forgotten on several occasions. New Things: Our First Apartment, Our first semester as husband and wife, Dancers' Company for Ivan, and I wanted to go on tour so they taught me how to do some tech work backstage! I shared my birthday with Sarah on a Sunday this year, so no big party, but the night before, Ivan took me to The Roof. The buffet restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith building with a view of the temple! It was amazing and so delicious!!

February we rehearsed and performed another MDT Showcase

The opener was part Fosse (which Ivan danced in) and part 80s, which I danced in

and The Womack  family came to visit :) Personally, I LOVE being on stage, or just in the same production as Ivan. I sang the solo Climbing Uphill during "The Mock Audition" part of the show and Ivan sang "If I Sing.." in a quartet of male power ballads and also Good Morning. The show was all about the life of a performer and we loved performing it! It was different and funny and everyone seemed to enjoy participating or watching it! The weekend is when the party began! There wasn't much snow this winter, yeah it was cold and we felt lazy and wanted to sleep in and rent movies every weekend, but it was a fabulous semester. The weekend my family came into town was amazing weather!! The first day was pleasant sweater weather where the grass was visible, but Saturday the snow came down!!! Perfect for sledding and snowball fights!

and of course... we had contests and guess who was the winner...

And All During this Same Weekend.. Ivan's best friend Cody came home from his mission and the rest of the semester was filled with friends, laughter, late nights at the laundramat, Ivan working at Joe Vera's, homemade bread and Hoffman Oreo Treats!!

Our apartment was dinky, too cold, then too hot, our days were busy but it went out with a bang and we were SO HAPPY to be done with this school year!

We are spending the summer in Atlanta, GA selling with APX Home Security! Ivan , the hard worker is gunna knock em dead. We're happy to live in a nice new apartment this summer and we Loved Tour!! Pictures soon to come...