A Few Pictures

Took some time out today to relax in the park and take pictures. It's cooling down quite a bit but still nice enough for wandering around! Jared got off work early today so we got to spend extra time together! The week is starting out great and I feel like it's all going to keep getting better! Hope you're all having a great day!

Wandering Elko

I went exploring Elko today! I thought I'd share some photos of some of the places we've been so far.

Biltoki is a Basque restaurant that we ate at with some friends last week. Basque dining is interesting. It's 'family style' but each person picks their entree. So it begins with bread and butter, then they bring out a salad with what tastes like mayonnaise dressing :/ it's weird haha. Next they fill the table with bowls of spaghetti, beans, french fries, canned peas and carrots, and mashed potatoes. Maybe it was just this restaurant but it was all pretty tasteless and mushy... Then came the entree that we all ordered. Jared and I order lamb (I'd never had it and don't like the idea of eating a baby anything... but heck, I'll try it once). It was supposed to be well done and it was bloody mushy haha so Jared ate it. It was kind of the most hilarious meal I'd ever eaten! Fun times with friends though :)

This is our post office. Gorgeous building right?! I love walking in here, so I go at least every other day, even though we don't get that much mail haha It's just so pretty!

 I found this building today and am so glad I did! Apparently this is the #1 place to go in America for cowboy poetry and therefore, they get thousands of poets, writers, and artists through here sharing their work and having shows. I'm so excited! I was so nervous about moving here because I would miss the artsy feel of Cedar City. But luckily there is a lot of it here too! Yay! I talked to Deb there and she gave me a tour of the place. There are a lot of awesome products in their gift shop! It's a really neat place!

This is the theatre we go to most. There are two movie theatres here and this one is the older one but ironically it shows all the newer movies. It's a cute little theatre and we got to see a couple movies where we were the only ones there! <Yes, we saw Pitch Perfect. And yes, we were alone. And yes, we laughed so loud the people in the next theatre could probably hear us! Such a good movie.>

My walk was really fun, and I only covered 2 city blocks! It's going to take me awhile to get acquainted with the whole town but we'll be here for a while so I'm looking forward to it!

Busy Busy!

I feel like I've been so busy lately, but when I look back on my day, I didn't really accomplish anything huge... I do get all the things done that need to be taken care of so at least I have that!

We are putting an offer down on a house today!! Or tomorrow... depending on schedules. We are soooo excited! In some ways, we feel like we haven't been looking very long (only a month or so), but we have walked through at least 25 houses! And we absolutely adore this one! You want to know the greatest part? We could move in and not have to do anything! There are no absolute renovations or things to be fixed. Yes, we want to remodel the kitchen and change the downstairs ceiling. But other than that, it's perfect. We're so stoked!

It is kind of scary though. It's a huge commitment to a house, a neighborhood, a lifestyle, and there's no going back. Well, I guess in like 10 years we could sell it and move somewhere else but you know what I mean. We really love this house though, and the neighborhood. Aw it's just so exciting!

We've been waiting for things to come together in our life before we even started thinking about kids, but that dream is slowly becoming a reality and 2013 might just be our year :) We'll see though haha it's just so exciting to finally feel our age and get to move on with our lives, away from college life! It is snowing already here! gasp! I know! But that's ok, once we have a cozy home it'll feel just wonderful :)

Here are some pictures I've taken over the last week or so. It's been fun exploring this new city and eating at new places. I haven't taken many food pictures because 1) most of the restaurants we've been to have really dim lighting, why is that? and 2) I've only liked a couple things I've eaten! I have decided that Basque food is just not for me. It is so bland! But I'll talk on that more in another post.

My super warm snowy day outfit :) 

Yes, I am an Elko County Library card holder, big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Walking in the crunchiness of our possible future back yard

I'll post one of the house when it's more final, because there are all sorts of things that go on when buying a house apparently. I'm so green to this it's ridiculous! But fun at the same time! Well, that's my update! I'd love to hear from anyone who reads this. I'll be posting more now that I have something exciting to write about! Yay! Have a splendid day!

Fall has hit Elko!

I love the fall season! The air starts getting crisp, the sweaters come out of storage, everything is made of pumpkins and I get to snuggle my hubby more and more! It's such a happy time for me! Especially since we met in October (5 years ago) so it always brings up those happy memories :) Anyways, we have officially moved to Elko! It's exciting, liberating, weird and scary all at the same time! The hubs is loving his new job and it couldn't make me happier! 

We are looking at buying a house so we are currently living in a hotel room. Right? I was pretty nervous about it before we got here but it's actually bigger than the first apartment Mr. Tanner and I had! It's only been a few days but I am beginning to get used to hearing cars revving up outside our window at all hours of the day, and night. It's great to have a place to stay while we find a house though, so we're grateful.

I've been having grand dreams of designing my own stationary, writing a children's book, doing fine art photography, basically just stretching the 'ole creativity muscle. But I've been in school so long, doing projects where I had an assignment to fill, that I am having a hard time creating whatever I want. I'm waiting for someone to tell me what to draw, design, photograph, write etc. It's frustrating! Has anyone else encountered this after graduating from college?

This post is a little random, I'm still getting in Elko's groove so it should be interesting!I'll post soon with my explorations of my new city! And I'm sure it will be filled with Basque food, apparently there is a whole Basque culture here, who knew?!

Have a splendid day!

In My Absence...

I have been floating, trying to find inspiration and drive. We were in a weird temporary situation for a while and it was difficult for me to plan or feel inspired when I was in someone else's house... but that's all going to change! Jared got a job in NV so we'll be moving in a few weeks! Yay!

I haven't been totally unproductive though. I have read ALOT, trying to be inspired by all the wonderful words and making myself realize that I can write like these people. It's somewhat working, I just haven't found my story yet. At the beginning of the year I made a goal to read 30 books by the end of the year, since I would be graduating and would have time to read what I wanted to. And let me tell you what, it has been a blast!! I am at 24 now so I think once I hit 30 I will up the goal to 50. We'll see! Here's what I've been reading...

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Aspire by Kevin Hall
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Peter and the Star Catchers by Dave Barry
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear
I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Little Foxes
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
13 Rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro

Now I am currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and am loving it! My top 5 that I've read so far are probably... The I Am Number Four series, Stargirl, Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Aspire, and These is My Words. It has been so much fun reading so many different genres and about so many topics!

Hopefully with this move, lots of things will change and I'll be able to find inspiration and do something productive with my brain! Wish us luck!