Little Us

Just in case there is anyone who actually checks our blog, I thought I would finally add some new stuff. And because I don't have anything new to post about (and I won't for a while), I thought you might want to see some pics of us when we were miniature.

PS - I had a boy cut, I hope it's not too confusing :)

Enjoy!

check out that awesome gut!

SEATTLE - MLS Championship 2009

I don't even know where to begin. We just concluded the best weekend ever!

We decided to fly up to Seattle to watch Real Salt Lake play the LA Galaxy for the MLS Cup. We just couldn't let the opportunity pass us by. And not only was the game AMAZING but the entire weekend. I have a lot more pictures to come, but I thought I would give you all a taste of the weekend's awesomeness.

We flew in after work on Friday and stayed with my Aunt who has a condo in Seattle that she uses when she visits her adorable grandkids. Luckily she was already there visiting, so we got to spend a little time this weekend with her and my cousins.

Saturday we went in to town and hit up Pike's Place, the Aquarium, and the Space Needle.

Can you tell which Octopus is real and which is not?

One of the coolest things about being in Seattle this weekend was how littered it was with Real fans. Everywhere we looked there were people decked out in RSL gear, and of course we were immediately all best friends. We would give and receive smiles, cheers and high fives everywhere we went.

After a day of sight-seeing, we decided to splurge on some seafood at the Crab Pot. They just dump the food on your table, how awesome is that?


After dinner we headed over to FX McRory's, a bar that was basically designated as RSL headquarters. The place was packed with Real fans, all chanting and cheering and singing and dancing. A great way to get up for tomorrow's game.

Bottom Left: that is me with Rafael Cox (one of our players). Isn't he the cutest?

And now for the important part....

We took the bus back in to town a couple hours before the game on Sunday, to make sure we didn't miss out on any of the festivities. The March to the Match was definitely dominated by Real fans. Hundreds of us paraded down the streets of Seattle to Qwest field, where even more fans were there to show their support.

Our seats we way up in the nose bleeds, but we were with a great crowd, and had a great view of the field. The first half was not our best performance, but we certainly dominated in the entire second half and overtime.


During half time we met up with one of my good friend's from high school, Megan, who lives in Seattle. It was great to see her again, and we made it back to our seats just in time to see Robbie Findley score the tying goal. The whole stadium went nuts.

After an EXTREMELY intense second half, seven minutes of stoppage time, and 30 minutes of overtime, we headed into another shoot out.

And this was the result:

Such a great game, such a dramatic finish, and a better than imaginable ending to another memorable season for Real. I am so happy we were there to witness it.

This weekend definitely makes my list of top 10 coolest things I have ever done.

Not over yet....

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving

We decided to kickstart the holiday season this year with a friend's Thanksgiving dinner party. Apart from the gravy fiasco, I think it all turned out pretty well.

I definitely failed at taking pictures, however. This is the only one I took.

I think we all had a great time, and the food turned out well; but... I don't know if the food is worth all of the trouble. Maybe next time we will just order a pizza ;)

Kurt's New Haircut

Stage 1 ---------- Stage 2 ---------- Stage 3

What d'ya think?

The Season Continues

I can't help but announce how happy I am.

Because we beat Colorado by 3 on Saturday, and everything else fell into place, the season will live on for at least another two games. On to the playoffs :)


Kate chose not to be pictured.

Mmmmm.......

I am not a big fan of Halloween. Well, that is ever since I was sixteen and too old to trick-or-treat (yes, I trick-or-treated until I was sixteen). I don't love dressing up, I think candy corn is gross, and I don't even get to miss a day of work for it.

So, I decided this weekend that I would at least enjoy some of the seasonal gourd.

Friday: Pumkin Pie


Saturday: Pumpkin Soup


Sunday: Pumpkin Cookies

For those of you who are bored....

....because I obviously was.

Here are some interesting and not-so-interesting things about us:

25 Things About Kurt:

1. Kurt is the last of 8 children; he has 6 older sisters and 1 older brother.
2. He has never broken a bone.
3. His stomach is a bottomless pit. He can put away so much food it is ridiculous, but we always gets our money’s worth when we order anything ‘all-you-can-eat’.
4. He is a great trivia man. He would definitely be one of my life lines in Millionaire and is always my Trivial Pursuit partner.
5. He lived in Austria for three years growing up. His parents were mission presidents in Vienna.
6. He whistles sucking in instead of blowing out…is that weird?
7. He reads really boring books. I like to be entertained by books, and he likes to learn.
8. He’s not so great with the balancing sports. He is not a good ice skater, roller blader, skate boarder, or water skier. He got new snow skis last Christmas though - hopefully that will work out.
9. Kurt is somewhat of an energy Nazi. He can’t stand it the heat too high, the AC too low, the lights on or the refrigerator open.
10. He hates needles. Lucky for him he isn’t allowed to donate blood because he has lived in Europe for more than 5 years of his life.
11. Kurt has a great memory. He remembers facts and faces like nobody’s business.
12. He's a great basketball player. He beats, nah KILLS, me in shooting contests….while using his left hand!
13. Speaks German fluently.
14. Self taught guitar player.
15. He picks up new sports really fast. I basically taught Kurt how to play tennis and golf and within a few months, he was beating me at both. I hate losing.
16. Does not like it when I yell down the stairs to him. In fact, he ignores me. Can you believe that?
17. He always puts his clothes and shoes away. Unlike me, as soon as he changes out of his clothes they are neatly hung up and put in their place. I hate being the messy one.
18. Knows a lot about sports; sports news, sports history, you name it.
    
19. He could watch movies one after another for days. ~ okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but he really likes movies.
20. He is a master of imitations.
21. He hates snakes, and heights.
22. He can remember all of the words to theme songs of funny shows that we all watched in the 80/90s: Ducktails, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gummy Bears, Anamaniacs, etc.
23. Loves German food.
24. He always does the dishes. Really.
25. He loves trees.

25 Things About Me:

1. I get my hair cut once a year, maybe less.
2. I don’t like chocolate.
3. I received a metal in high school at the regional track meet for the high and long jump – bet none of you knew that.
4. I don’t have a musical bone in my body. I think I inherited that from my parents.
5. I, like many of my friends, loved Jr. High.
6. I like the frosting much more than the cake.
7. I love playing…sports, games, whatever.
8. When I was two I got ran over by our sailboat in the driveway - broke all of the bones in my hip.
9. I am very particular about clean refrigerators.
10. I bore easily. Such a bad thing... I am like a little kid.
11. I love ceramics. Hopefully one day when Kurt makes me a lot of money I can make a career out of it.
12. As a child I hated dolls and barbies. This limited me to stuffed animals, trolls, action figures, legos, etc.
13. I kind of regret not playing soccer in college.
14. One of my life goals is to be fluent in another language. But I can’t decide: German? French? or Spanish?
15. Another life goal is to be more decisive.
16. I snort when I get startled.
17. My first boyfriend was Cameron Ketner. He was my boyfriend from third to sixth grade.
18. I have skied since I was three years old.
19. I once bungee jumped off of a 265 foot bridge in Costa Rica…in a thunder storm.
20. I went to the University of Oregon for my freshman year of college.
21. I want a dog.
22. I can sleep anytime, anywhere.
23. I was born on Christmas… and my mother’s birthday.
24. I can wake up and be ready for work in five minutes flat (that is with vetoing the shower of course).
25. I can say the ABC’s backwards.

25 Things About Us:

1. We love sleeping in.
2. We don’t really drink anything other than water.
3. We try our hardest to buy locally any chance we get.
4. We love sushi.
5. We are Real Salt Lake season ticket holders.
6. We would rather drive all night than stay in a hotel…just to be able to wake up in our own bed.
7. We love gelato.
8. We drive our car super slow and barely accelerate, as not to decrease the average MPG on the Cobalt.
9. We support the legalization of Marijuana (ask us about it sometime).
10. We love cheesecake.
11. We are really good at Doctor Mario.
12. We own 8 bicycles.
13. We find animals hilarious.
14. We are both great sleepers. I didn’t realize that this is a talent until a few years ago.
15. We floss our teeth religiously, every night.
16. We love to travel.
17. We just bought a new furnace. Minus the car and the house, it is now the most expensive thing we own.
18. If money was not an issue we would open a Great Harvest.
19. If money was truly not an issue we would pick up and move to a little town on the coast of Croatia called Rovinja. It’s our favorite.
20. We are Dodger fans, and if they make it to the World Series this year we are definitely going.
21. We have traveled to more countries together than we have US states.
22. We love soccer. Playing it and watching. Kurt keeps up on every league.
    
23. We really like finding new restaurants. Our newest favorite is Navajo Hogans.
24. We do not like the Olive Garden.
25. We want to go somewhere awesome over Kurt's winter break. Any ideas?
    

Ban The Phone Book

I think phone books are ridiculous.
Who of us actually still use them?
Any way, I found this website, and I think you should all go on it and sign the petition to get rid of paper phone books... and save a few million trees.



P.S. Did no one think the cat video below was hilarious?

Labor Day

This Labor Day weekend was the best. It was full of food and fun and friends....and sports.

Friday:
Courtney, Ryan and Westin came into town, and we kicked off the weekend with some pizza at Setabellos. We did get a parking ticket to go along with it, but we were able to get past that pretty quick.

Saturday:
The five of us hit the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, and it was great. We had a great time hanging out with them, and like always, we could not resist buying some goodies. On top of all the samples, we bought waffles, candy, beef jerky, wasabi peas, tacos - and after thinking about it I have decided that this week I think I have to go back for the goat's milk hand soap (don't judge, it smells amazing). Here are the two lame pictures I took.



Westin really wasn't that sad to be held by me I promise.

That evening we went to the world cup qualifier game with Kate and Zach. USA v El Salvador. It was a really fun game to be at and everyone was really into it - including the El Salvadoran fans. Their presence was definitely felt - I would say at least 25% of the fans were rooting for them. We pulled off the big win though. Here are the last of this weekends pictures:





After that game, we ran out of the stadium with our hands over our ears, as to not hear the result of the BYU v Oklahoma game. Luckily some friends had recorded it, so we got to see the whole thing with no spoilers. All I have to say is my husband is a very happy boy.


Sunday and Monday:
Hung out more with the Richs, basked in the weekend's wins, watched some more sports, played some tennis, and didn't do any work :) Can't get much better.

I like this four day work week thing too.

Update

This week:

1) My camera is being stupid so no pictures of anything.

2) Kurt started law school! I have to admit I find myself slightly jealous that he gets to go back to school. However, I am pretty sure that will change once his classes get rolling. So far he likes it... but that could change too.

3) My awesome brother, Alex, is in the Tour of Utah again this year. It is a crazy tough bike race going on all this week. He is literally up against some of the best riders in the world, including at least two guys who were in the Tour de France. Good Luck Al!

Hmmm, I guess that is it. Not much to update you on I guess.

One more thing: someone in a nearby cubicle has started listening to angry loud conservative talk radio this week - and I am about to lose it!!!

All-Star VIPs

Wednesday was amazing. One of the most memorable nights ever.

As some of you know, it was the MLS All-Star game which was held at our very own Rio Tinto Stadium. That in it's self was amazing - being able to go to an All-Star. But it doesn't stop there. Our friend Kate works for the company that was hired by the MLS to put together some of the events for the players -- and totally hooked us up! She got us awesome seats for the game, tickets to the pre-game dinner, and tickets to the AFTER PARTY!!! Yeah, you know, the one that all of the players go to after the game. We are talking about the best players in the country and in some cases the world!! When Kate broke the good news we were so unbelievably gitty - you would have thought we just won the lottery.

Normally I would go in chronological order, but let's start with the most important. THE PARTY! It was up in Park City at The Canyons ski resort (where all the players were staying). As we were walking through the hall we passed this man who said, "hi guys, how are ya?" You should have seen Kurt's face...it was priceless. It was the commissioner of the MLS and Kurt was in awe, he kicked himself though for not stopping him and chatting while he had the chance. After that we walked past Eddie Pope - Kurt immediately stopped and shook his hand (he wasn't going to let another get away).

The rest of the night was full of 'star' sightings. We didn't stop and harass everyone though, just the ones we couldn't resist - as this was their party. This one right here was definitely the most memorable however:

Can you believe that I have a picture with Landon Donovan's arm around my shoulder?! We really just happened to be in the right place at the right time. When he came down the stairs I immediately asked him if he minded a photo. We posed, he grabbed some food, and left. I am pretty sure we are the only ones who even saw him. You can tell by the color of my face that I was excited about this one.

Phil Neville (below) is the captain of the Everton team. It was so funny to see the Everton players because there was a group of about 7 of them that kind of stayed in a pack talking or playing Nintendo. Much more approachable than I imagined.

These two were pretty excited about getting a picture with Kasey Keller (below). He is the keeper for Seattle and is widely regarded as the greatest US keeper of all time.

Keller is such a nice guy. He acted like these two were his buddies... we like him even more now. He actually looked at the camera too :)

Just a few more randoms:

I loved seeing these guys play themselves on FIFA. Kurt was tempted to jump in and show them up.

The only Real Salt Lake player we got to meet was Will Johnson. The rest of them threw their own party in Park City at Harry O's.

So, here are a few pictures of the pre-game events and the game itself. The MLS lost in a shootout after seven shots, but it was such a fun game to watch.

PS - I saw Nermin Sasavaravich at the game too, for those of you who know who I am talking about. Finally Kurt got to meet my old soccer coach that I talk about all the time.

PS - I saw Nermin Sasavaravich at the game too, for those of you who know who I am talking about. Finally Kurt got to meet my old soccer coach that I talk about all the time.

Lagoon: 1, Kurt and Erika: 0

Date: July 20, 2009
Location: Lagoon
Occasion: Our 2nd Anniversary!

Yep, that's right. Two years ago yesterday Kurt and I tied the knot. We also learned that 40 years ago yesterday we landed on the moon. So to celebrate our two years of marriage (and our country's lunar achievements) we took the day off work and went to Lagoon - Kurt hadn't been since he was 11.

The experience turned out to be a little less magical than expected. Now don't get me wrong, Lagoon is great and we actually had a really good time; however, I don't think our stomachs are as strong as they were when we were 11. The park wasn't very crowded and we went on A TON of rides, but after a while they started to take their toll. By the end of the day we were soooooo sick....but we had to do just one more. So it was off to the swings. Bad idea. About half way through the ride I could feel the lump in my throat, and after a couple more times around that was it. Up came lunch. Fortunately for the people below, I held it 'til the ride stopped and then made a b-line for the side railing. Some words of advice, don't swim in that pond.

We were going to go out for dinner after Lagoon but didn't feel up to it. So we drove s..l..o..w..l..y.. home and just laid in bed.

Because of the events listed above, we have decided to celebrate our anniversary all week long. Tonight is dinner at Melting Pot, tomorrow the Himalayan Kitchen, and Thursday we are watching the US soccer team play Honduras.

Lava

We went to Lava Hotsprings last weekend with my extended family. Here are the pictures that my Mom didn't delete from my camera:

Check out that form!

He is a very serious golfer....can't you tell?

Summer

Kurt's sister Melinda and her kids are spending much of their summer vacation this year in Utah. We have had so much fun hanging out with them since they arrived. Here are a few pictures of the fun we've had:

4th Festivities

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.

Thursday night we went to Pats In Your Face BBQ with some friends. If you are a meat-eater you will be in heaven. The pork ribs are highly recommended.

On Friday we had a little BBQ in the backyard with some more friends, and then headed over to the Real Salt Lake game - which is always way too fun. Kurt and I weren't able to stick around for the fireworks afterwards though because we headed down to St. George right after. We rolled in to Kurt's sister's place at about 2:30 am.



We spent the remainder of the weekend in St. George hanging out with Kurt's family. Three of his sisters were there for the weekend so it was really nice to spend time with them. We don't see any of them nearly enough. We did a lot of catching up, swimming, eating, talking, firework-watching, singing, and playing. Then got to top it off with some more driving.



The only thing wrong with the long weekend was it was too short.