My minion

Robert with the Despicable Me minions

I would like to take some time to dedicate a post to my dear husband, Robert Shawn Thorn. (I promise that wedding pictures will be forthcoming. I just have to put them in a lower resolution so they can be loaded properly.)

You may recall my goal and slogan for the beginning of the year "More Men in 2010" and my plan to date more. Turns out I didn't need more men- just one quality man, who I met on February 13, 2010 after a couple of weeks of emails. How grateful I am that I accepted the suggestion of a fellow temple worker to contact Robert and get to know him. 

Robert makes me laugh all the time. Just look at his face in this picture - how can you not laugh? For such a serious person intellectual, he sure can be a silly guy. Which works well since I'm very silly myself sometimes.

He can also drive me crazy sometimes - for example here is a conversation we had last week. I got home from work and he was sitting on the couch grading papers. I said, "how was your day?" to which he replied "okay". Then I asked another question about how his grading was going and he replied "okay". By the time he replied to my third question with "okay" I was done. I said something about how he must not have had much of a day if everything was just "okay". He said that the questions I was asking him did not require quantitative answers. Augh!!! My annoying little math man. I went to the bedroom to gather laundry and when he asked from the other room how my day was I yelled out "okay". 

I love that we can talk about anything - even if that means saying that the other person is being annoying (as I told Robert after our conversation above). I love that Robert writes me letters and poems and cards. He is so romantic. My wedding present was a cherry pitter that we registered for. Let me clarify, I saw the cherry pitter and didn't register for it because Robert doesn't like cherries. He saw it and registered for it because he knew I did. Then he bought it and left it with a card at the apartment on our wedding day.

I'll be introducing many of Robert's wonderful talents, quirks, interests on this blog as the new year progresses. Stay tuned for a new blog name in January!

We leave shortly for San Diego and I can't wait. SeaWorld, Disneyland, Safari Park, Zoo, & the San Diego Temple are all places we're going to visit. So excited.

My love to all of you as this year comes to an end. 2010 truly has been my year and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for his blessings.


Amanda is in love with her husband!

Contemplation while sitting on my couch

Does anyone remember my goal for 2010? I believe my post referred to it as "More Men in 2010"  because I wanted to get out there and date more. I set a goal and prayed and worked hard and it paid off.

I married my true love, Robert Shawn Thorn, on December 3, 2010 in the Jordan River Temple for time and all eternity.

So what's next? Well first things first I need to think of a new name for my blog as it will now be about Robert & I. I was leaning towards something like "The Thorns in Your Side". Something with a play on our last name. Any suggestions?

I promise I'll post pictures just as soon as I have them. Thanks to everyone who came to our sealing, reception, and to all who wished us well. It is wonderful to realize how many dear friends and family we are blessed with.

I guess this will be the last "Amanda is" post so I better make it count (blog address will stay same though).

Amanda is the happiest she's ever been in her whole life.

Robert & Amanda's Oregon Trip (August 2010)

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog about our trip to Oregon. It was so nice to be able to spend time with Scott, Lisa, and my little nieces Sage & Livi. Poor Robert had to deal with me being sick for most of the time. In fact the day we were leaving he had to come and pick me up from work because I was too sick to make it through the day. Then our flight was delayed so we got to hang out in the airport while I was fighting a major fever. Good times! I'm so lucky to have Robert. He was so sweet and patient while I was sick. Poor Scott happened to be sick while we were there too so it was a pretty quiet vacation - a lot of time spent on the couch resting. However we did make it to the beach one day. We also visited Newport and had some delicious seafood. On our last day we explored the rose gardens in Portland. Such a beautiful place. Sick or not it was wonderful to spend time with so many people that I love.

It was so windy! We had sand stuck everywhere.

The sea lions were so funny. They were all over the Newport docks.

My favorite pictures of Robert. The bumper stickers say "I got crabs in Newport, OR"

My beautiful niece, Sage. I can't help but smile when I see this picture.

Sage with her birthday gift from me. Check out Robert's expression!

Sage kept trying to pull off rose petals. She grabbed all the petals on the ground she could hold.

Another favorite picture - I love how Robert looks like he's lurking.

Sage, Lisa & a squirmy Livi

Livi looking adorable

Robert being silly! He's wearing Sage's hat on top of his own.

Amanda is so lucky to have wonderful friends and family.

The Ring

It is so hard to take a picture of a diamond ring. They are so sparkly! My ring is certainly no exception. The pictures don't do it justice.Sorry for those of you who can't see it in person. It is beautiful!


Amanda is so blessed to be engaged to Robert Thorn. He is the love of my life!

Utah State Fair

For as long as I've lived in Utah, I have been coming to the state fair with friends and roommates and even my father a couple of years ago. This was the first time I went to the fair with my fiancee. Aside from driving around forever to find parking and the fact that I left our discounted fair tickets in my wallet back home the evening was pretty great. There is nothing like people watching at the state fair. You get people from ALL walks of life. Old, young, middle class, poor, white trash, you name it. It has always been about the food for me and this year was no exception. New at the fair this year were fried pickles and fried, chocolate covered bacon. Gross! We chose not to try either of those interesting treats.

Amanda is full of fair food. Good thing it only comes once a year!

A pig smoker! It must be the Arkansan in me - I want one.

Giant Meatball sub from Moochie's

Robert with the Butter Cows

Fried Oreos! What will they fry next?

Taking my first bite

They were soft in the middle. I didn't expect that.

  


                                         

Fun stuff I've been doing

I know I posted some pictures from our trip to the zoo on my Facebook page. However, I realize I need to give equal time to the blog. Plus I have some other fun pictures of food I've made this month and from our visit last weekend to the International Peace Gardens.

First of all we had our annual luau and I made a tropical trifle (layers of angel food cake, whipped topping mixed w/white chocolate pudding, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, & toasted coconut). It was delicious!

Two Saturdays past  I packed a picnic dinner for Robert and I which we enjoyed in Jordan Park. Then we strolled around the International Peace Gardens. It was such a beautiful place. There were lots of people in the park having family reunions and parties. We played a couple of games of Scooby Doo Uno (like regular Uno but with Scooby Doo on the cards). I think we both won a game. I hadn't played Uno in ages. It reminds me of my childhood and the hours my best friend and I would spend playing. A funny story about the food - I made homemade turnovers and I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar. I had some mixed in an old lemon pepper container. Here's a tip - don't store your new lemon pepper spice right next to the cinnamon sugar in the lemon pepper container. I sprinkled lemon pepper on one of the turnovers but fortunately I smelled it and realized what had happened. Too funny!

Almond chicken salad on sun-dried tomato bread, fresh berries, veggies, chips & apple raspberry turnovers.

I love Robert's expression in this picture.

Who needs roses? I'm engaged to a Thorn!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write this post. I feel like I have been so busy of late with work and school and wedding plans. For all of you who have been patiently waiting - I hope enjoy reading the story as much I as enjoyed living it.

Let me start from the beginning. Robert and I were both off on Friday, July 23rd for Pioneer Day. (Gotta love Utah holidays!) Our plans for the day were to attend a session at the Jordan River Temple and then go ring shopping later that day. Well after the session as we were walking out of the temple, Robert suggested we sit down on one of the benches outside. Then he told me he had written a poem for me.

At this point you would think I might have some clue of what was about to happen. Nope! I had no idea. I believe my thoughts were something like "Oh sure, we can sit down" and "You wrote me a poem? How sweet!" Then he started reading the poem and the further he got into it the more emotional I became. When he reached the end of the poem I was totally in tears. It was so sweet and sincere and from the heart. It took me a minute to calm down before I was able to say yes.


In fact (Robert seems to find this part very amusing) I actually hit him and said "You dork, you made me cry". Then I told him that I would marry him. He was so cute and then handed me the rest of the poem (I'm not posting the whole poem here but I will share the piece he handed me after I said yes).

"I am so stoked that you will be my wife
Since we will be together for eternity and the rest of our lives."

We sat outside the temple for a bit longer and then went to Madeline's Steakhouse for lunch. Super yummy food! Oh and a funny thing, I asked the waitress for a frozen hot chocolate. When she tried to make it, the machine sort of blew up on her and she came out covered in chocolate. We were all laughing about that! After lunch we went ring shopping. Four hours later, poor Robert was exhausted (and so was I). We found a ring that I really liked so we put it on hold at the jewelery store. Robert has an uncle out of state who works for a jewelry company so we wanted to talk to him before we purchased a ring. Looks like he'll be able to get us a deal so hooray! Here's a picture of what the band will probably look like (I am a big fan of this semi-bezel style).The plan is to get the diamond from his uncle's company and then have it mounted in a band we buy out here.

I've gotten two of the most important things taken care of. We have the Jordan River temple booked for Friday, December 3rd. We're having our reception the next day (Sat 12/4) at a church in my stake. Fingers crossed that no one dies and wants to have a funeral that day. (Church policy is that anything scheduled can get bumped for a funeral). Who knew? LOL. Life is wonderful and I am so blessed to have Robert as my husband to be.

Amanda is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert's Birthday

Robert's 33rd birthday was this Monday. Of course I had to do something to mark the occasion. So Sunday night I made a special meal (salad, sweet potato fries, & meatball sandwiches). By the way if anyone needs a good meatball recipe, let me know. This one was fantastic!

Robert had requested a devil's food cake for his birthday. I made a 3 layer devil's food cake with fluffy boiled icing (it has a marshmallow-like texture and tastes delicious). As you can see from the pictures, this was one huge cake. Fortunately my roommates were all too happy to help us devour the cake. I sent a big chunk of it home with Robert and then last night offered the rest to the roomies. (After all, I just finished up a diet and I didn't want to regain the 12 lbs I've lost so far). I did try some of course- there are limits to my willpower.

You might  notice that the candles are a little girly (pink & white). I really thought I was buying red & white candles but when I opened up the package they were pink. Robert managed to blow them out in one try.  Pretty good lung capacity for an old man! Ha ha ha.

We also went out to dinner & a movie (Despicable Me) on his actual birthday. That was the cutest movie and I have the cutest boyfriend and life is wonderful. It was so nice to be able to share Robert's special day together.

Amanda is in love. Sigh!

Sage & Livi

I hadn't seen my nieces since November of last year and I can't believe how big they've gotten. I usually go out to Oregon in February but this year for some reason I didn't feel like it was the time to go visit. Good thing I guess, since Robert and I started dating mid-February. LOL. Anyway it was so fun to see the girls and to have Scott & Lisa meet Robert. Sage's expression in these pictures just cracks me up. She is such a little ham. Livi looks so serious in the last picture. I just love them bunches!!

Amanda is wishing I lived closer to Oregon.

So many pictures!

I decided I didn't want to put all my pictures in one post so they'll be broken up into a few posts. First here are the pictures of Robert and I at the Living Planet Aquarium on Memorial Day. Plus a picture of one of the Gentoo penguins. It was hard to get pictures of the penguins as they were moving around so fast. I wish I could swim like that - and hop straight up out of the water. I'm pretty sure those penguins would give Michael Phelps a run for his money.

Amanda is wondering Robert is listening for.

I'm having a great summer so far

Now that the cold weather has stopped it finally feels like summer here in Utah. We've gotten quite a bit of rain lately but I don't mind that so much. It just reminds me of being home in Arkansas (or visiting Oregon). It is thundering and lightening as I'm writing this post.

I've been having a lot of fun over the past few weeks. I got to spend time with my dear friends Scott & Lisa Russell and my little nieces who were visiting from Oregon. I can't believe how big they are getting. Robert and I have gone on all sorts of fun dates. We checked out Cabela's and I had the most delicious prime rib sandwich. (I wanted a buffalo burger but they had run out). We went to the Living Planet Aquarium and saw the penguins. I love penguins. They are the James Bond of the animal world. So stylish!  This past weekend was the opening of the Farmer's Market (one of my favorite summer activities). It rained a little on us but it was worth it. I bought fresh dill and beautiful orange and red tomatoes from Wyoming. Then we hit the Utah Asian Festival. I'm addicted to photo booths so of course we had to try theirs. We look a little lost in the first picture since we were trying to figure out where the camera was.

I've been so busy lately between school and work and dating (that's the fun part). Oh and to top it all off I decided to go back on the detox diet I did last year. You might recall it is a six week process. A little tough but totally worth it. I'm starting week 3 today and I'm already down 9 pounds. I even managed to find a new swimsuit that I look cute in. Now that's an accomplishment. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about here.

I should also mention that I have made 4 batches of freezer jam. The strawberries were so beautiful and I got such a good deal that I didn't want them to go to waste. So I made strawberry citrus, strawberry kiwi, mixed berry and plain strawberry jam. I had a freezer full of jam but then I started giving it away to roommates, co-workers, and friends. Now it looks like I need to make some more for me!

 Robert & I are both blissfully unaware of the danger behind us!

Pucker up, baby!

The mighty hunter!

Amanda is still happy!

What I've Been Up To

 My parents came to visit last week (5/19 - 5/26). I hadn't seen them since December so it was wonderful to see them. For the most part we just visited and spent time together. I took 3 1/2 days off while they were here. Since weekdays are at a premium for me I also had to cram in some other stuff. I got my hair cut and highlighted and also had my teeth cleaned. This past Monday I took my mom to the spa for her Mother's Day gift. We got facials, manicures, & pedicures. It was wonderful to be pampered!

We also toured Welfare Square. Talk about a small world! There was another family touring with us and it turns out they lived in Arkansas (in our stake) and their daughter and I realized we knew each other. Then one of the sister missionaries knew the man who was bishop in Sacramento when my mother was baptized. 

Oh and of course my parents got to meet Robert. We went out to a very authentic Mexican restaurant (El Paisa Grill). The food was fantastic. They had live entertainment - which was good but also very loud. Fortunately my parents and Robert came over for dinner on Sunday night and we could actually talk without shouting. We played a super fun card game called Quiddler. Basically you have letter cards and you're trying to make words. My parents totally beat Robert & I. Good times! They left on Wednesday morning to tour Wyoming and South Dakota.

Here's a cute picture of Robert & I before we went to the temple this past Thursday. This weekend I spent a lot of time on the road (well more than I normally would). Robert was house-sitting so I drove up to Layton on Saturday and Sunday to see him. It was a pretty relaxing weekend. I enjoyed the rain - except when I was driving home last night. It was a bit difficult to see the lines on the road with all the standing water. Oh well it was totally worth it. Ah, the things we do for love!

Cooking updates - I made some very tasty chocolate brownies. They have a layer of marshmallow on top and then a fudge/marshmallow frosting. Delicious! I also made a strawberry pie for tonight's FHE bakeoff. Don't they look tasty?

Amanda is happy!