You don't want to miss the fire dancers.

Let's go back in time.


Picture it.  Sicily. 1925.


Hold up, Sofia Patrillo.  I'm telling the story here.  Don't go back that far.


Picture it.  Hawaii. 2008.

We are actually standing in line to go to the luau I speak of in the story.

Lee and I had just spent a lovely day on the beach in Maui and had plans to go to a luau later that day.  The master is going to take a nap and I am in charge of important stuff like calling to pay for tickets to the luau and watching synchronized swimming in the 08' Olympics.


I am on the phone with the travel agent lady and I ask her about paying for the tickets.  She informs me of different prices for different seating areas.  There is a cheaper price for your basic seats and a higher price for some "upgraded" seats.  As I contemplate, a la Rebecca Black, (Which seat should I take? and all that) I ask the agent if she thinks it's worth it for the better seats.  Are they that much better?  Why should I pay more?


And she says, "I would sit up closer, You don't want to miss the fire dancers!"


Fire dancers? This is pretty exciting stuff.  I think about waking Lee up for a second opinion, but decide against it since he is the grumpiest person on the planet for about 15 minutes after waking up.
I buy the upgraded tickets. You know, YOLO!


Lee wakes up, I tell him the story, and the ever-budget-minded man/voice of reason is disappointed with my choice.  I soothe his irritation by telling him it will all be worth it for those wonderful fire dancers.


We drive to the luau.  We wait in line.  We get inside.  We find our seats. Our more expensive, premiere, up close and personal seats, only to discover every seat in the house is basically equal.  There is nowhere that you can see better than anywhere else.  Thanks a lot. Lady.


Herein lies where I was wrong.  Lee was right.  And a tradition is born.  


Every time I am offered something to buy that is upgraded or seems unnecessary, Lee gives me the same sage financial advice and I will share it with you now, for you and your children to benefit from.


"Don't forget.  You don't want to miss the fire dancers."

birthday celebrations

Last week we celebrated the master's birthday

festivities included Texas Roadhouse dinner and going bowling

not sure what was the most exciting part: 

the fact that there was a swat team outside the ghetto bowling alley when we arrived 

or 

going to the restaurant early enough for the old people (early bird) special

I definitely think I planned a better celebration for Lee last year. 

My name is Tiffany and I am not good at birthdays. 

time to repent

the great outdoors

*A good trick for people who look stupid in photos like Lee and I often do, wear sunglasses then no one sees if your eyes look weird.

Every year the master and I take turns planning our anniversary celebration.
This year was my turn.

I took Lee to Park City where we went hiking at the Canyons resort.

We found a weird cabin full of empty beer cans.

Then Lee asked me to take pictures of him to document this special day.
hmmm... not really

We had to ride a gondola to get to our hiking point.

Then we took stupid pictures at the Olympic Park after we rode the zipline and the alpine slide.

No making fun of this butt shot.

Or my shorts; if I intend to sweat like a cup of liquid during any given activity I deem it appropriate for myself to wear work out clothes.

Lee begged me to take a picture of him in front of the cabin.
Not really.

This photo should probably be featured in an art exhibit somewhere.
I will call it:
girl in forest

Other highlights of the trip included:

• Eating delicious steaks, with a side of broccoli covered in the greatest cheese sauce known to man (should have taken a picture of that!)
  
  
• Having a contest in our FREEZING hotel pool to see who could tread water longer
  (you know, like in the movie the guardian)
  but we decided to have a tie after about 5 minutes instead of wearing ourselves out to the point of fainting since we are too competitive.
  
  
• Asking a bunch of different locals where to find a redbox three different times before they actually got it right.
  
  
• Watching "Unstoppable" and then looking up the true story it was based on online and finding out that basically pretty much the only thing that was true is that there was a unmanned train, everything else was totally exaggerated.
  

All in all it was a great time and I hope I get to hang out with Lee for at least 96 more years.

the master

On Saturday, Lee Middle Name Last Name graduated with his Master's Degree. I am so stupidly proud of him that I am going to christen him with a new nickname. It is currently a tie between 'master' and 'the master'; leaning more toward 'the master.' To the master's embarrassment I have informed him that I will be calling him this name in public to enjoy the reactions of bystanders.

I present to you the master.
Not to be confused with any reference to slavery which was sad.
(although some people think marriage is the last legal form of slavery
bringing me to the interesting topic of how awesome it will be when I refer to
the master by his new name at places like the grocery store).
Also not to be confused with any mockery of the hard work he has done.
Just the pure enjoyment I had when reading on the graduation program that the master's name was listed under "Master of Science and Counseling."

I think the master is cute.

Here's the master's family
minus Kim who was taking the photo and Mandi who was playing with the niece
He says, "it wasn't that hard" and the secret to success is, "showing up."
So get out there and show up to the things you want to accomplish.
So proud of you babe!

do whatever it takes to get the moustaches

Last night, it was Lee who said, "Let's just do whatever it takes to get the moustaches."

Best Birthday Celebration Ever

My birthday is on Friday, but we decided to celebrate on Monday. All I told Lee was that I wanted to go on a date. He drove me to Provo in search of a restaurant called, "Tango House." When we got to the address the place no longer existed. Nice. So we drove to Cafe Rio to discover our wallets no longer existed {actually we left them at home}. So we drove home, got our money and went back to Rio. Awesome so far right?

No really, it was awesome.

Pork Salad for me.
Pork burrito for Lee.
Micheal Jackson on the speakers.

More car time
Lots of Kesha on the radio

Then: Nickel Arcades. ---- Guys, I haven't been there since I was 12.
Surprising? Yes.
Disappointing? No.