Countdown begins!

Every year...Mama and Papa DeMann along with Big Brother Bryce plan a wonderful trip to Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico! 2011 is no different, we are all planning our flight info and preparing for the trip! Last year was a wonderful experience since it was my first time to Mexico, and now I am married to the man of my dreams! This year, I've decided I need to get into shape! From today, there are 116 days til our flight leaves, and I plan on losing at least 25-30 lbs! With this, I need help! Please give me any guidelines you have; what has worked for you; diet recipes you might have! Anything and everything is welcomed! I know I don't have much time before Disneyland(which is 21 days from today), but I can at least have a good start! So I would appreciate it greatly for help and motivation on this venture I am about to embark on! I plan on starting today by, HOPEFULLY, getting to Costco to get some healthy snacks and weightloss shakes that I really enjoy! Then I'm hoping to do some sort of work out 5 days a week(Taking weekends off of course!) And for those who know me, I LOVE SODA! This is always my hardest thing to give up! But I will try even harder and I will only be drinking Diet Coke and/or Coke Zero(REALLY love it!) when I do drink soda!

A few weeks back, Devin purchased P90X, which neither of us has yet to try! But I think that will be my workout tonight, since he will be at work!

I'm going to keep track of my progress on here, so you can ALL read about my struggles! Today, I am starting out at

• 150 lbs
• between 8-10 pant size
• and WAY to much body fat!

Grandma Lou memories from Feature Films for Families

The other night, Devin and I settled in to watch a movie at home, (which is what most our nights consist of, and we LOVE it!) and we ended up watching "Rigoletto". This is a movie from both our childhoods and I don't know what he was thinking while watching it, but all I wanted to do was build a fort and roast mini mallows over candles while it was playing! This urge came from when we used to spend the night with Grandma Lou and watch movies. Before we would start the show, Rigoletto, the Sparrow and the Buttercream Gang included, we would get ready for bed with all her face creams and masks! (She would ALWAYS make us laugh when we had a mask on!) It got me thinking of all the fun things we used to do with that wonderful lady! Besides roasting mini mallows, building forts and sliding down her stairs in our sleeping bags, we also would cook and bake everything and anything we wanted! I love potato and whole wheat pancakes(with her award winning cherry syrup) cause we would have them almost every morning after sleeping over! And when we weren't cooking actual food, we were making messes on her cookie sheets with flour, water, and food coloring! Then we'd clean up and go sew in her sewing room, or she'd teach us a painting technique! My grandma had so many talents, it amazes me more and more everytime I think about it!

A few years back, Grandma Lou introduced the "Big Red Stretchy Thing" ( I believe that is its actual name...) Now this is some serious fun for all ages! She bought some stretchy material and sewed it together in a HUGE circle! We could spend hours sling shooting each other, or objects at one another, tying little Jeffrey or my cousin Noah up! My family was lucky enough to get this when sorting through all her stuff these past couple of months, and last Sunday my mom brought it out when we went over to my Uncle Dale's house! (A little bit of background...my Uncle Dale and Aunt Becky recently adopted 2 Ukranian teenagers and we were getting to know them a little better) Well Pasha and Lena had a blast with it! They sling shot bocci balls at all of us, and tied Noah up and just had a blast, especially with my dad! (Who is amazing with kids of all ages! Seriously love that man so dang much!) They are having the time of their lives over here and to watch them with my Aunt and Uncle and their other kids, its amazing! The love they already have for each other is awesome! (And yes, I already love them too) Well, after we put the big red stretchy thing away, we sat down to have some pie! My cousin Andraea told me a secret about how her mom suggested a game we all love and hate at the same time!

Another wonderful gift from Grandma Lou! We always played these games ("This is a Spoon" and "Mrs. McGinny") with her whenever all of us got together! Ever wanna play, ask me about them sometime! So I said something outloud about This is a Spoon, and Aunt Becky made us all get in a circle and play, teaching Pasha and Lena this game from Grandma Lou.

I love her still so much and wished she had been able to make it to my wedding! But I know she saw all of it from her front row seat in Heaven, next to Grandpa Lee!

My Family

Well now that Devin and I are finally getting settled into married life, I figured I could update my blog a little bit! We both have started new jobs and are getting used to the routine of not seeing each other some days! This problem came about because I finally got a 8-5 job and Devin is still doing the whole restaurant thing. But he is now managing at Hopper's and working more hours! But because this wonderful man took that position, we now have benefits! Health insurance, vacation time, and our favorite...A MANAGER MEAL CARD! Needless to say, when we don't feel like cooking, we are eating at the local Red Robin or Rudy River! Sometimes Hopper's, if I give into him, cause he always wants to eat there! He's enjoying the position and learing a lot! Being the manager of a restaurant really opens your eyes! As for me, I am now working as the receptionist at Woodside Homes in North Salt Lake, and I'm really liking! The people are really nice and I'm getting a hang of the work that I do! It's nice to be in the grown up world! (Other than bills, but that's life I guess)

Devin has really taking a liking to my little puppers, Bella! Okay, "Like" is not the right term...he absolutely ADORES her!

(Such a little princess on the pillow!)

He does get a little annoyed, cause she tends to follow you EVERYWHERE you go in the house, and sometimes gets too close and her cold little nose bumps into your calf! She spends her time watching tv with us, which usually includes her sitting right on top of one of us, or making a cave in the blanket! He plays tug a war with her, and loves when she brings toys! He would rather do without her rope that she is known to never go without!

(Our family photo shoot! Neither one of them were really happy or willing!)

We went and saw "Cinderella" at the Murray Amphitheater! We went with my mom, GMA B, Stef, and Annie, along with her family (minus Braden)

(Devin LOVED it)

The girls loved it and it definitely brought back memories from watching the 8 mm tape of the original one! Stef and I were able to sing along with most of it! During intermission, they allowed all the little "princes and princesses" to parade on stage and take a bow!

(Kelsey and Stef, then Macy on stage, cutest little prince! Notice the TIARA on his head!)

We've got a big week ahead of us! On Thurday, its the first UTAH game! We got season tickets this year, thanks to my WONDERFUL GMA B! I'm really excited to show him the true and winning school! :) He even bought me these super cool UTES shoes (pictures to come) and a child's UTES jersey (XXL) from Wally World for the games! And then on Saturday, we have the first BYU game...duhn duhn duhn! At these games, there are probably 16-20 DeMann cousins, Uncle's and of course, the one and only Jack DeMann! And yes, even though I bleed RED through and through...I'm a supportive wife and will wear a dreaded BYU t-shirt that his siblings so thoughtfully got for me! (Since I obviously bleed red, and he's blue til he dies, will our kids bleed PURPLE? Weber State anyone?! Ha ha)

In a previous post, I talked about spying on my neighbors...well lo and behold, I still am! We have this gentleman in our complex that we see all the time! And where do we see him you ask? Well, he's always...in his garage/storage space...where he keeps his old Chevy...drinking beer....sitting on stool...alone. His outfit always consists of his floral print swimsuit, no shirt and his sneakers! I laugh everytime we drive by! Only once have we seen someone else in there with him! We've speculated that his wife gave him an ulimatium between her and the car...which would explain why he spends so much time with his beloved!

I swear in the building across from us, its just one big polynesian family living in the whole building! The kids are really cute! (Other than when they are running around screwing up my tv signal!) If I ever truly steal a small brown child, I know he lives in that building, I saw him! Chubby, brown and google eyed! He couldn't be more adorable! Ha ha! But the other day while Devin was outside, he heard shouting from over there. Well one girl was swearing profanities at another and we just passed it off as a love triangle gone wrong, a lovers quarral, or siblings! We sometimes have some really scary looking men walking through the complex and I don't know if they live there or if they are cutting through from trax to State Street. But good thing I've got my 6 pound guard dog who barks and growls from the patio window!

2 in one day! Randomness...

So just trying to get somethings done today, I had some thoughts that maybe I should share...

I wanted to get my name changed and all that jazz done with today, so when I left work, I hurried home to let my dog out and get whatever stuff I would need. There is a social security office close to our house, so I headed right there! Well little did I know...THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE CLOSES AT 4:00 PM!! What makes them think that anybody with a normal job would be able to make it in that time?! And why is this government building only working 7 hours?! I guess its alright....I have time tomorrow since Devin probably won't get home til 10 o'clock!

We needed a few extra groceries, and since I'm the one with nights off, I got to do this. Thinking to myself that "WINCO" is just down the street from us, I would try them. I have heard their prices are really good, and lets face it...as a newly wed couple, we need to find the best prices! So I get there and walk in and my immediate thought is "Wait, did I just enter Costco? If so, where is the greeter to check my Costco card that I don't have?!" Still, I decide to walk around and see what they've got (plus they've got the entrance and exit like Costco, so I had to walk around to get out) So browsing, I notice the bagged frozen chicken I was looking for, except this was 48 oz. and 2 people don't need that much chicken, so I continue on. I never find chicken. So I look for the other things on my list...except it mostly bulk and I don't want to buy bulk for just Devin and I especially since we don't get to eat together a lot. Needless to say, I finally get out of Winco and head to the local Harmons where I feel safe and know where everything is.

While pulling into the Harmon's parking lot, looking for a place to park, I notice a lady and her husband in their car looking for a spot as well. The lady has one of those masks that people wore during the SARS scare and I hope to myself that she decides to stay in her car (I don't believe that those masks keep all their germs to themselves) but lo and behold, walking down the cereal aisle, there they were, mask and all. If this lady was so sick that she needed to wear a mask, why not just stay home and get better? But then again, she could just be a huge germaphob and worry about getting other people's diseases, but with that, stay home as well, cause guess what? The world is a dirty place!! But to each his own!

I love to read! One of my favorite past times!(I'm always looking for new good books! Hint, hint) And Darla, Devin's twin, has given me the pleasure of the reading Jen Lancaster's books! I love these books, I don't know what category you'd put them in, but she tells the story of her and how she went from a high end job, to both her and her boyfriend being unemployed and trying to make things work! (These books were a great comfort to me while I was unemployed) Well in her books, one of her past times is spying on her neighbors, and reporting suspicious activity to whoever it needed to be reported to. (the local police, Homeland Security, whoever) Because of this, I've decided to spy on my neighbors whenever I get the chance! Low, I know, but sometimes its funny! What I've come to find out...

• One time I watched some people in the building next to us, dye each other's hair...OUTSIDE! No, not on their porch, semi-privately, they did it on the sidewalk between the buildings...crazies!
• I have only seen our true neighbor (the one right next door) once since Devin moved in a month ago and I have to wonder what he's been doing for the past 30 days...
• Someone has been letting their dog poop on the grass in front of our place and not cleaning it up like they should. Then I noticed today that the people below us just let their dog out and close the door, no one goes out with her to watch her or clean up. I know they've done this before because just after Dev moved in, we had to take their dog back to them, cause she was wandering around the parking lot. So I'm assuming its them and that does NOT make me happy!! My dog's poop is smaller than a fun sized candy bar, and I still clean it up! (Unless, of course, we have to clean it up off the floor. We've been having that problem lately...)

The other day, getting ready for the day, Devin and I are in the bathroom getting ready, I have the curling iron in my hand and he decides right then it was a smart idea to mention that there is a spider above me. Luckily, I didn't drop the hot curling iron, but the speed I move is lightning! Good thing I've got my knight in shining armor to wad up the toilet paper and smash the darn thing, something I will never be able to do! Well the next day, as I'm getting ready to shower, I notice ANOTHER one crawling on the floor! So I decide I need to be brave and try smashing it. So, there I am, half naked with the air freshner can in hand! I get as close as I dare and start swinging(he looks like a jumper to me)...either I miss every single time(very likely) or I've got a super fast spidey on my hands (also very likely). In my head, my next idea would end the little buggers life!! So I hop over him and run to the kitchen, turn on the hot water and grab a cup! Yes, my thought was to drowned him in burning hot water cause thats how I kill them in the bathtub! So I get back to the bathroom and he's trying to escape into the closet, well that ain't happening, so I start pouring! Once again, I think "Great! I've got one of those spiders you can't kill" (I know they are out there!) Yes, he can swim, but its slowing him down and his legs aren't working very well! So now I've got to navigate around him AND the puddle on the ground to smash him! So the next item within reach is a Kotenelle container and I start again with the smashing! Little do I know...the bottom of the container is concave and hence, he's not being smashed! So a HALF AN HOUR after I first spotted him...I finally get him smashed and flushed...Retelling the story, I got many more ideas of how I could've killed him faster i.e. a shoe, the vacuum.

2 months after the last post...WE'RE MARRIED!!

So its been a little while since my last post...but a lot has happened! I was able to spend the weekend with Pam, Kylie, Darla and Betsy in sunny St. George for KYLIE JAM(Kylie's birthday) and Mother's Day! It was really nice down there, we were able to do pedicures, lay by the pool(gotta get that tan!) and even shop for RV's! It was a very relaxing weekend and it was nice to spend it with my new sisters! After we got home from that, it was time to take my Bridals! Since living in this wonderful state, where the weather never cooperates with anything, I was worried I'd have to take them in the rain! Luckily, it was just cloudy, windy, and cold...at the beginning of June! But I love the way they turned out, so it's all good!!

(These trees are everywhere)

(Mums are becoming a favorite flower)

(Fields and fields of them!)

(More bridal photos when I figure out photobucket and blogging...)

Well, before we knew it, the wedding was here!! I would say the only time I really felt stressed out was the day before and the day of! But other than that...it was AMAZING!!

(Me and my daddy!)

(Mr. and Mrs. DeMann!!)

(How you get REAL smiles!)

(Me and my beautiful flower girls)

(It's official...Calee and Kalie DeMann!!)

(Such a cute cake!)

I am married to the most wonderful man ever and I can't help but wonder how I got so lucky! He was always so helpful with making the decisions about how we wanted our special day to go, and it turned out great!! The last two weeks have been wonderful! Waking up to him, being elbowed in the face during the night, being made breakfast almost every morning! And watching him with my puppy is the cutest thing ever! Our apartment is taking on a nice "home" feeling and I love it! As of now, married life is totally awesome!! Til next time!! And I will get better at this, I pinky swear promise!!

Just another day in the life...

So it has been a little while since my last post...mostly because I don't know what to write about. We've spent our time doing nothing but watching sports it feels like! If it's not the playoffs, (and yes, we watch almost every game we can, whether its the Jazz, Lakers or Cavs, we are watching it) we are going to his brother's soccer games, which I actually enjoy. His dad coaches the Murray boys soccer team and they are really awesome this year! Number 2 in their region and the beat the number 1 team, but because of some kind of point system they were still behind by one point! It's nice to go to the games because I get to try and figure out what is going on and chat with his sister, Kylie and his mom, Pam. Bryce usually isn't up for talking, unless it deals with the game or really anything sports oriented.

Since my last post, things with the wedding have progressed even more, we had our engagement photos taken and LOVE THEM! Our photographer was really great and after every set of photos she took, she reassured us by telling us "Those are real cute." EVERY TIME!! There was a super AWKWARD photo she took, but it makes us laugh!

Her name is Jourdyn Thomas and her company is In The Moment! She's great! But we had a lot of fun and even ended up spending the rest of the morning in Payson doing a little garage sale shopping! We got these cute nesting cherry wood side tables for $18 and probably the best deal we could've found! I'm really excited to put them in our new place...when we find one!! We've looked a little bit for apartments and found one we could be happy with, but we want to continue looking just to see if we find the "ONE"! But mostly we've been relaxing and just counting down the days! Doing things a little bit at a time, like opening our joint account, looking for furniture, basically getting ready for Our Life As DeMann! :)

4 Months later and Now I'll Tell You About COZUMEL!!

So its the middle of winter(cause in my mind, January is the middle cause it snowed in April this year) and we're just a couple of days away from our half day airplane ride to the most wonderful place on earth! (No, not DISNEYLAND, even though I think its pretty close)

Its 5:00 in the morning and I'm waiting for Devin, he finally gets to my house, so now we can go meet up with Josh DeMann and Phil Stevens(Phil's dad was kind enough to take us from Josh's house to Bryan and Pam's then to the airport that early in the morning) From there, its all a matter of security checks and making sure Grandma and Grandpa DeMann knew where BOTH their carry-on bags were!(We each took turns carrying them so Jack could push Elsa's wheelchair) We finally get on the airplane and since I bought my tickets after everyone, I was sitting in a different aisle than everyone, but Josh, the sweetheart he is, moved so I could sit next to Devin!

Jack DeMann kept the stories flowing the whole trip to Dallas, and he is full of the greatest stories! Once we landed in Dallas, we had enough time to have a bathroom break and try to gulp down a sandwich that Bryce(Devin's oldest brother) had made! It was delicious! Then it was from Dallas to COZUMEL, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO!! The weather was wonderful when we landed and I couldn't wait to get in the ocean! Once we got settled in our BEAUTIFUL condos, we set out to snorkel!

We snorkeled every day and it was GREAT!! The clarity of the water was amazing and seeing the fish was awesome! (Except when I got anxiety and had to get out, usually when the fish got to close!) We even saw a baracuda and some eels!! One night, the boys pulled out their night diving lights and went for a night dive, they say they saw an octupus and lots of lobsters! The next couple of nights, Miki and I went along for the night and can I just say...LOBSTERS ARE CREEPY! Literally screamed under water, and to make it worse, all the boys were trying to pick them up and catch them!!

(In this picture, you can barely see Bryan, for some reason he stood far away from us...)

We ate at some of the greatest places ever! We found "our spot" and "the place" that we liked to frequent but never the same twice in a row!

We went to this lighthouse on PUNTA LONGOSTA, the LONG climb to the top was long, but the view was so worth it! Even Jack made it up, it was awesome! After the lighthouse, we found some "mexican tigers"(a raccoon type animal), a lot of iguana's, and even a crab!

Then we went snorkling again! YAHOO! It was so amazing in this water, I couldn't believe it! The sand here was so soft!

Then Devin, me, Bryce, Mary, the kids, Pam, Bryan, and Jack(Josh and Clayton joined later) went to PUNTA SUR! It was this cool little cove on the south side of the island! They had cliffs(no jumping, unless you want to plunge to your death) shallow water and sand! We found a crab here and Bryce and Devin chased it for some time, then with Bryan's help, they caught it!

Another day, the whole gang(including both sets of grandparents) went to what you could call a water park, it had all sorts of inflatable water toys to climb on and such! SO MUCH FUN!

(No one from our group here)

One of the days, Devin, Mary and I went HORSEBACK RIDING! Fun, but the jungle had more garbage than a junk yard! Our tourguide was nice and showed us some interesting things! Mine and Mary's horses were best friends, but Devin's horse wasn't so friendly...!

Another one of the days, we toured the ruins on the island! Way cool!! And lots of fun! Found a cave that kept our interest for WAY longer than it should've! HA!

The last day, we rented SCOOTERS!! Like vespa's...IT WAS AWESOME! So much fun, we went around the whole island and stopped wherever we pleased! When we stopped for lunch...we definitely picked the WRONG spot, flies everywhere!! It was so gross, but then the beaches on that side of the island were so beautiful! Sand for miles and miles! We played in the ocean like we were little kids! The tide swept to the side, so you had to watch how far you were getting pulled away!

But I would say the most memorable part of the trip would have to be when Devin asked me to marry him! To him, it seemed like nothing was going how he wanted it, and I just saw it as another night! He couldn't have been sweeter with the whole thing and I feel bad that I ruined it! It turned out great though and the view from the pool was AMAZING!! We tell everyone and the responses couldn't be more different, Kitty(Pam's mom) tells us "if we had gotten engaged in December, we would've made it on her calander" but she's way happy for us! And Josh, oh Joshua....ever the sarcastic "uber happy" for us!

But we were happy and thats all I cared about! The only way I was able to communicate with my family was through the internet, so all I got to do was email my dad and let him pass on the good news!

(Can you find JOSHUA?!)

After all the fun and excitement of our ten day trip, it was time to head home! This time, I sat by strangers on the flights home, but I had my books and my iPod to play games, so it wasn't too bad! My wonderful parents picked us up from the airport and we all squished in with our luggage! What a wonderful trip! And they are planning on going 12 days next time!!