Weekend B4 Halloween

We've been married for more than three years now, and every October we lightly discuss the great potential for our Halloween costumes. I'd say we're both buttoned-down people who can be counted on to follow-through on our word, except when it comes to this. The month always sneaks right past us and we're left with a half-eaten bucket of candy that never saw a real trick-or-treater.

We never let the weekend BEFORE Halloween slip away without some fun, however, and this year (following through on our second-annual tradition), we saw the Odyssey Dance Theater's production of Thriller at Kingsbury Hall...

 
...AND enjoyed our first east-view win with the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. I felt so grown up sitting with fellow alumni/season-ticket holders in the "real seats." We also didn't have to squint the whole first half waiting for the sun to go down--quite a luxury.

I must admit, Matty built a darling last-minute costume with the help of Deseret Industries that he'll strut for his colleagues tomorrow. (You'll have to stay tuned to see that beauty.) In the meantime, don't be surprised to find us disguised as Rapunzel for our niece Brooklyn's "Tangled" birthday party today. Yep, I meant to say us.

Time 2 Blaaawg

We recently discussed why we haven't blogged in over a year. Here's how the conversation went:

Amanda: Why have we not been blogging?
Matty: I don't know. Because we have nothing to say?
Amanda: (Type, type, type)
Matty: That doesn't make me sound very nice.
Amanda: (Erase, erase, erase)
Matty: What are YOU gonna blog about?
Amanda: I just want to blaaawg.

And so we're back, with no direction of thought. Just sharing what's on our minds and hoping our little icon will vault to the top of your "blog list." Thinking if we post frequently enough, you might stop by for a visit.

We love comments, too, so feel free to share your thoughts with us, even if you think you have nothing to say (we'll make you feel right at home).

~Matty and Amanda

Stewart Falls

This past weekend we went to Stewart Falls with Jeff, Kristin, Michael and Brooklyn.


Stewart Falls really is a hidden gem and not many people know about it. You have to have a secret code to get it. I'm serious. It's a great little hike and the scenery this time of year was pretty great.


Manda was our guide.


Not sure how Kristin did it. The lady is 7 months pregnant! She's awesome.


Michael was so great on the hike. He kept everyone together and if anyone got too far ahead he would say, "Hey! Wait for me!"


Brooky was all smiles. As usual.


We made it to the waterfall!


She likes me. :)


Splashing water in the background does make for a good picture, I must say.

Fun in the Canyun

Our 24th-of-July weekend was so much fun this year. I ran the Deseret News 10k, Matty played golf at Red Ledges in Park City and we took a trip up Millcreek Canyon to cool off and celebrate all the July birthdays with my side of the fam.


Matty is so cute with Ashy and Hayden. They love him.




Hayden wore himself out trying to race Ashlyn up the hill. Guess we forgot to warn him she's the daughter of two ELITES.




Still newlyweds.




Matty and Zshaumee (Sammy) have a special bond.




Sammy playing with Aunt Brooke.




...Haaappy Birrrrthday dear Mom, Kyle, Stef and Maaaatty...




Papa Ute.




Aunt AD...born to entertain.




No words.




Speechless. I am without speech.




Thanks to the hard-working women who made it all possible...haha.

La la la Lately* Part I

A couple days ago I had a fun get-together with some good friends (sometimes referred to as "my old Zions friends"--pathetic, I know, but it's true) and after several conversations about blogging (my old Zions friends are blog-connoisseurs, you see) I decided it is finally time for an update from Mrs.-Sanchez-Thoughts.

A lot has happened in the past few months, especially in regards to traveling. I'm at the point in my life where, when people ask what I've been up to, my answer is inevitably, "Oh, ya know. Same old." I finished school one year ago and have been working at the same place for two years. As I've discovered, once you've finished school, there's a lot more of the "routine" and a lot less of the "unknown." Luckily I have a great job that keeps things interesting and a husband with an exciting career path offering endless opportunities (I'm often more inspired by his future than my own, but you'll get to hear about HIS recent adventures in another post).

And so (back to me and my traveling), since March, I've been to New York City for work, Illinois for Dr. Brooke's med-school graduation, San Francisco for work, Paris for...Dr. Brooke's med-school graduation CELEBRATION, Spanish Fork, UT for various family gatherings (didn't want to leave anything out) and I'm currently planning another New York trip for work in the fall.

Here are a few stills of some of my favorite moments along the way:


















Bubba Gump's in Times Square.
Is that a pizookie?
























Little girls just want to have fun...boring graduation ceremonies make them sleepy.



















It's official: Dr. Brooke (Non-Dr. Dad trying to take credit by wearing her cap)



















Flew into SF a day early to spend some time with family. Brooke and I rode the BART into town.



















Hanging out with Hayday at the Park. My favorite part is AD playing on the spring car in the background. Ha.



















An early morning-news segment with Mornings on 2 at Pier39.



















Can you guess who my client is? I'm sure I don't have to explain why they're one of my favorites.



















Afternoon performance at Yerba Buena Gardens. Such a beautiful venue.



















A good turnout at our free evening performance at Pier39.



















I don't have a photo to prove it, but this is where I became part of their Ohana.



















Had just enough time left to see a bit of the city.



















We had good weather until the day we left. Luckily it didn't spoil our performances.


Since I've MAYBE intrigued you, here are a few more photos of our publicity tour in Salt Lake City. After our SF tour, we came to UT for two days and the dancers were well-received. The whole production was a lot of work and required many long hours and late nights at the office to pull it all off, but it was worth it. I had a great time and felt so blessed to be part of the driving force behind it.


















Filming 2News This Morning with Casey Scott



















Performing on FOX13's Good Day Utah



















Giving back to the Polynesian students at Hunter High School.



















Bringing the "Spirit of Aloha" to Utah at our final performance at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley.



















The show was a huge hit (the UCCC's first sold-out performance EVER--they had to turn away hundreds of people). You can see a few of the late-comers here trying to catch a peek.


That's all for now, friends. Paris warrants its own post, so, until next time...

















*Title Credits: My dear Abby DeGraff :)

Summer In The City

For those that don't know, I will be living in New York City for the summer (June-August). I landed an internship with MTV and it's too good an opportunity to pass up.

The bad news: I have to leave my sweetheart wife in Utah. Manda has an amazing job and it's not worth her quitting for a 10-week stint in NYC. It's going to be way sad to not have her with me but I know it will go by fast.

The fact that i got the internship is random, but I applied and had a series of lengthy phone interviews and I guess they liked what they heard!

I will be working in many facets of the network. Working with live events and production, screening music videos and reality shows before they air, ensuring the quality of content, dealing with First Amendment rights, and I'm sure much more.

I'm sure some of you are thinking..."Is this kids just going to be a career intern?" The answer is, no. The reality is, I need to make myself as valuable as possible for my future career, whatever that may be, and internships are where you get experience that puts you on top.

Furthermore, I will take the opportunity I have in New York to network and hopefully do some cool jobs on the side.

It will be an amazing, fun, bittersweet summer and it's a chance I have to take.

New York...Here I come!

Random...

Resistance Bands Upgrade Kit - P90X® Equipment

Up next, my star on the Hollywood Walk-of-Fame! :)

A Little Something I Like to Call...Manners

Just yesterday I visited my favorite health food restaurant (Subway). It was at about 2 in the afternoon so the place was like a ghost town and only had one person working.

As I walked near the door, this short and rather portly fellow, with a horrible mustache walked in front of me, beating me inside. I didn't mind much seeing we were the only customers in the store.

We stood next to each other for a minute waiting for the nice lady to greet us. I just remember he kept letting out these loud exhales. The kind my mom does when she is annoyed at somebody/something...

"Seafood isn't a five dollar one anymore?!" he brutely exclaimed. She shook her head.

"Oh wow! Ok, fine, give me the black forest ham!"

"Now, I want the mustard on the bottom slice of bread..." She gladly puts the mustard on.

"Well, that's the top bread! I said bottom!" She sadly smiled at him and scraped the mustard off.

After he demanded all his veggies he took out his subway points card and then demanded that she add points to it. "I want you to put points on this, ok!!?"

It was finally my turn to be helped. So I thought...

"Do you guys have freshly-sliced lemon wedges??!!" She shook her head.

"Are you serious?!?" he said.

She finally got to start on my sub. Just a simple turkey on wheat with lettuce, green peppers , tomatoes and banana peppers. (The perfect sub if you ask me.)

"Oh, wait, your Diet Coke is out!!" he yelled. She ran to the back to check.

"Oh, wait, maybe not. Let me taste it. Eh, it's decent I guess. Every other drink is bad tasting!"

The worst part about this whole scene is he would look at me every time he said something. I'll admit, a dirty look or two escaped my face in his direction. The dirtiest being the Diet Coke thing. I just wanted my sub and wanted to get out of there.

The moral of this story...don't be a jerk.

A Lesson We Can All Learn From

The other day Manda and I were having a discussion and for some reason I uttered the phrase, "Open Sesame!" Manda replied, "Did you just say sesame??" I nodded and gave her a curious look. She gave me the same curious look. "It's open says me...," she said.

I had a good laugh and was obliged to tell her she was wrong. She didn't believe me, stating the word "sesame" didn't make sense when wanting something open. She didn't believe me until I found this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Baba

It's actually quite entertaining to read but all you need to know about Ali Baba is...

"The young Ali Baba works collecting and cutting firewood (a valuable commodity) in the forest, and one day he happens to overhear a group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store in the forest. The treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic. It opens on the words "Open, Simsim" (commonly written as "Open Sesame" in English), and seals itself on the words "Close, Simsim" ("Close Sesame"). When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself, and takes some of the treasure home."

There ya have it.

Love you Manda Bear!

Just For Laughs

Here's a couple videos that make me laugh really hard.

The first one is apparently a phenomenon in of itself but I just saw it for the first time today and can't stop laughing!

Enjoy!