Murder Mystery (7-22-11)

Where can you find me and Jeff between the hours of 7:30 - 10:00 every night? In our basement enjoying a constant marathon of our new favorite TV show Monk (thanks to Netflix). Thus we have the Monk-inspired date.

There were suspects with stereotypical bad guy masks.

There was a reliable witness named Alfonso, along with the handy Captain eager to provide Jeff with sporadic facts about the case.

There was a carnival and cherry pies good enough to kill for. Nevermind that the second place pie is bigger than the first place pie. I was on a time crunch.

Here's Jeff ready to do some interrogating and investigating.

Hmm...Hey suspect. I thought you said you hadn't driven your truck all summer. So why doesn't the dead grass match up to the truck? We're on to you.

Here's my high of the night -- Jeff looked at my truck art work and said, "Okay, we've got a truck. And it looks like a bunch of chickens have been walking around in his yard."

In case you, too think that looks like a chicken footprint, it's my attempt to signify grass.

Man, solving a murder may be hard, but putting a murder together turned out to be quite the feat.

An entry of my mom's journal reads, "Sarah prepared 3 hours today for a 2-minute talk in primary." I guess I've always been this way. This date probably took me 5 hours to prepare...and it took Jeff a whopping 15 or 20 minutes to solve. Oh well. We didn't mind ending the night with a few episodes of Monk.

Better luck next time, Suspect.

Case solved. Good work, detective.

Jeff high - Solving the case.
Jeff low - I fell asleep early. I'm sensing a recurring theme. But a girl's gotta have her beauty rest.

Sarah high - Bird feet.
Sarah low - The date was much shorter than anticipated.

Wedding Date (7-16-11)

Is there a better date than spending the day watching a good friend get married? I didn't think so. Friday morning we hopped in the car and drove to St. George excited to see Jeff's good friend Will tie the knot.

It was the first wedding I have seen as an outsider. I enjoyed reliving our wedding throughout the day. One of my favorite moments of our wedding day happened just before Jeff and I got married. We were sitting in a little room together, waiting for all our guests to arrive. I told Jeff I was excited or something. Then Jeff told me he wished there was a window in the room so he could escape. He went on and on about his escape plan until the sealer ushered us out of the room. I'm still not completely sure if he was joking that day.

Anyway, back to the Mitchells. Here's the lovely couple coming out of the temple. I loved her dress. She looked so pretty.

Here's the now separated couple. Best. Day. Ever.

It was a hot day in St. George. After an hour of standing in the heat, I figured it was a good time for a milkshake.

Yup. Good idea.

That evening we went to the reception that ended up being kind of like a work party. I worked with Will for almost three years and Will took Jeff's job at AllState after Jeff quit. When it wasn't being a work party, it was being a high school reunion as all Jeff's friends were coming out of the woodwork. Even though there was the high potential for awkwardness associated with a work party and a high school reunion, we still had a fun time catching up with old friends and wishing the new couple a happy marriage.

Sarah high - Losing the wedge in my marriage.
Sarah low - Wrestling Eli at the luncheon. He wanted to be a part of the party. But he always chose to scream at the most emotional and inconvenient moments.

Jeff high - Seeing Will get married.
Jeff low - Leaving the luncheon early because Eli was not cooperating.

An Accountant's Dream Date (7-8-11)

Did I foresee my husband jumping for joy at my date idea to do a paint by numbers? Not exactly. This was my take-it-easy date. I tried very little for this date. So you can imagine my surprise when I found Jeff anxious to rip open our paint kit and get to work!

I think I've underestimated my accountant husband's love for numbers. He couldn't stop telling me what a great date idea I had.

The set-up. Complete with subtle music playing in the background.

Pure concentration. Do not get between an accountant and his numbers.

This is about the time I decided to stop caring about painting inside the lines.

The semi-finished products after three hours:

As we were washing out our paintbrushes Jeff told me he couldn't wait to finish his painting the next day. And that's when I checked this date off as a success! Who knew a $7 kit from Walmart could easily entertain us for 3 hours, provide us with a couple extra decorations and give us a great date night?

Jeff High - Seeing we were doing a paint by number.
Jeff Low - He painted half as much as I did.

Sarah High - Jeff raving about my date idea.
Sarah Low - My back was KILLING me by the end of all that painting.

Independence Date (7-4/5-11)

We said goodbye to Eli for his first overnight stay away from us. I don't think I usually look so creepy when I'm saying goodbye to people. But this picture is making me wonder.

I was freaked. It was such a weird feeling to be babyless. But I was happy to know he was in good hands.

Jeff and I started our date by seeing "Fast Five." This was clearly Jeff's choice. It was completely unrealistic and ridiculous but somehow entertaining. It was exactly what Jeff wanted it to be. Villains who are actually heroes who suddenly team up with the cops that were chasing them down but somehow despite all the machine guns, swords, jumping and diving no one ever even gets a scratch. And also somehow The Rock's arms are always perfectly oiled? Oh sorry, did I just ruin the movie for anyone?

Then I think it was our adrenaline and mindset from getting out of an action movie that allowed us to hunt down a fireworks show just in the nick of time that night.

We went home and slept on an air mattress in our basement. You know. Because if you sleep in your basement it kind of feels like that hotel you can't afford. Whatever, it was fun. We watched our new favorite show Monk as we fell asleep.

Then we woke up at... are you ready for this? ... 10:30!!!! What?!? I haven't slept that long in 2 years it seems like! I finally feel like I've recovered from having a baby after that night's sleep. Hallelujah!

We got ready and made our way to Lagoon.

We got free parking and right before we bought full-price tickets, a lady handed us a coupon. Total savings -- $33! What a deal.

It was an overcast day, a little muggy, but perfect Lagoon (and picture taking) weather.

We quickly discovered weird people flock to amusement parks. Including us? Probably.

We were anxious to return to our precious little baby who didn't seem to have missed us all that much.

He must have been spoiled by his Grandma while we were away. Thanks again for providing us with a little independence on Independence Day, Mom!

We did High Lows several times, but these are the first ones I can remember:

Jeff High: As we were leaving our house for Lagoon I made Jeff put his phone in a ziplock bag in case we got wet. Jeff kind of rolled his eyes but went along with my precautions. At the very end of the day we spotted another husband pulling his phone out of a plastic bag and we both got a good laugh out of it.

Jeff Low: He got a little sick at Lagoon

Sarah High: I just finished reading a book about a doctor, Michael Swango, who was a serial killer. (Don't judge me. It was interesting.) We passed a car with a bumper sticker that said "Twilight" on it. When we passed the car, Jeff said, "Sarah, are you going to put a bumper sticker on your car that says 'Swango?'"

Sarah Low: Rattlesnake Rapids was closed.

Movie Night (7-1-11)

Since our anniversary is right in the middle of one of Jeff's busy seasons, Jeff is taking a day off work next week so we can celebrate. Our anniversary celebration is going to be a big date, so we thought we would each do smaller dates on the Fridays before and after.

To start off, Jeff insisted he cook me dinner. It was so yummy! We had sticky rice and pot stickers.

Here's my handsome husband. We chatted outside after dinner because the weather was so nice!

And then we went in and watched "Just Go With It." We didn't have high expectations for it, but it was actually really good.

Sarah High: The dinner Jeff cooked me.
Sarah Low: Eli went to bed really late so our date was extra short.

Jeff High: How good the movie was.
Jeff Low: I went to bed at 10:30.