Colyar Chronicles

Gnawing Away

2011-08-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

There is nothing that Truman won't put in in his mouth. His favorite item is his socks because he has fun pulling them and then putting them in his mouth. It's a loosing battle to put them back on since he will just pull them off again, Dan still tries though.
Well, at least they are clean, right.

Solids

2011-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Truman was having a difficult time taking the bottle so we were eager to start solids. We started with the usual: rice cereal. Truman was eager at first but it waned big time. We went on to oatmeal. Still not a super fan, so we quickly branched out to Cheerios. He absolutely loved them. We continued to introduce all kinds of different fruits and vegetables. So far he is taken to it all. He loves to feed himself and is working hard on the pincer grasp.

Rice cereal=not delish

What a face

Gnawing on some cucumbers

The prep

Trying to catch up.... again

2011-08-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well, its been since January since I blogged and there are some many things that have happened since. So the plan is to catch up a little bit every day till I'm caught. Sounds great on paper we will see how this materializes. :)

Going back to work was harder than I thought. I found myself day dreaming quite a bit and being less than productive. Eight months later I'm finally getting out of this funk.

Truman love is exersaucer.

Daddy is in charge of bath time. He does such wonderful job cleaning Truman's 10,000 parts.

My little guy.

Ready to brave the Minnesota cold

Truman's 1st bank statement. Hopefully by the time he needs it it will have plenty of money.

"Working in the Coal Mine"

2011-01-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

After being home with Truman for 5 wonderful months I've returned to work. I decided that it would be best for my sanity to return on a Thursday to have a short work week. It was very difficult to say the least.

We were able to find someone we feel good about that is close to our home. Dan was gracious enough to drop him off while I waited in the car. I did get quite veklemped. At work everyone was glad to see me again. I'm still with Progresso and thank goodness. It would have been difficult to start on a new business.

One of my fears at day care is that he wouldn't get enough attention because he is such a placid boy. Ms. Debbie tells me there are 2 little girls that love Truman and ask for him when he's not there. I'm told they sing to him, pick up his toys when he drops them, and entertain him all day long.

Truman is such a special little boy and being a mom has changed my look on life like I never imagined. No kidding even though he was an amazing baby I would turn to Dan and ask "what the heck did we do". It just such a life changing experience... for the better. I can't believe how much this little person has my heart.

The Catch Up Game

2011-01-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

A new year brings all kinds of "would've, could've, should'ves". In my case it is the fact that I've been absolutely lousy in keeping up with my blog. Well a new leaf has been turned... at least momentarily and I will try to post more consistently.

It's been 5 months since Truman has joined our family and we have never been happier. He is such a wonderful and amazing little boy. He has grown so much and what a big boy he is. His little wrists and thighs have rolls on them. Sometimes I really do want to eat him up.

1st bath

Daddy and Truman

Big stretch!!

Mommy and Truman

At Apple Jack's Orchard

Truman and Big O'le bear

Trying out tummy time

I'm a big boy - 2 month appt

Truman loves Sophie

My mom and sister visited us and Truman loved spending time with his mama and titi. We we went to to the Mall of America and could've been there all day.

Mama and Truman

Titi

We were able to visit Dan's family in Orem during Thanksgiving where he received his baby blessing. It was so awesome having all 4 of Dan's brothers, his dad, and my dad be part of it. Plus Truman loved meeting all his uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Grandpa, Daddy, Abuelito, and Truman

Great Grandma Colyar and Truman

Baby blessing

Delish Thanksgiving dinner

My cousin Austin... he's taller but I'm heavier

Daddy wanted to go ATV'ing but mommy didn't let me go

My 1st photo shoot

Dan's blessing outfit... unfortunately Truman was too big for it

Abuelito Harry and Me

Pic from my photo shoot

We spent a quiet time in MN for Christmas. It was quite snowy and Dan got plenty of practice shoveling it all. This year Truman was loving the paper. I expect that next year he'll be into the boxes, and the 3rd year he'll finally be interested in the gifts. Dan and I cooked an awesome some breakfast... we went all out. We had french toast, Dan's Kick A syrup, an egg bake, orange juice, apple juice, bacon, and sausage.

Mrs. Clause at the ITQ Family Christmas Party

I rock at tummy time now

Shoveling and more shoveling

The snow on the deck

Santa and Truman

Christmas Day

Truman couldn't get enough of the wrapping paper

At the Mall of America trying to find mommy and coat

Truman Malavé Colyar

2010-08-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Truman Malavé Colyar

8/7/10

10:26am

19.5 inches

7lbs 6oz

Our family

Tom Petty Concert

2010-07-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my Division had a drawing to win Tom Petty Tickets.

Ever since I've known Dan he's been a fan so I entered and won them. I was a little leery of the atmosphere but it turned out to be a great concert, there were only a few whiffs of illicit substances every once in awhile. I'm glad we brought our ear plugs, it was super loud. So loud in fact that my ear plugs needed ear plugs. Am I getting old???

So glad we went. Trying to get all the last "hurrahs" before Mr. Magoo enters the picture. Can't really take babies to concerts now can we. ;)

All about Dan

2010-06-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Even though the baby is not quite out yet, I was excited to celebrate Father's Day for the 1st time with Dan this year. It was low key but a great day overall. I decided to make my own card, I'm sure they'll be many to come, and got some things that Dan has been wanting/needing.

Dan had been eyeing this particular "Live Strong" helmet and luckily I was able to buy the last one available. I also got him gift cert to get a massage. In my state I'm not giving massages as frequently and as long as I used to could and with Dan ramping up his exercise he can use it.

Dan on Father's Day (awesome card)

Dan is registered to participate in 2 events that he has been preparing for. The most daunting will be Lotoja a road bike race that will take him from Logan to Jackon Hole (get the name). A grueling feat that will have him traveling 206 miles in one day, yes one day.

The Lotoja Road Course

This is no Sunday bike ride, not only does he have to deal with distance but there are some wicked elevation changes. Approximately from mile 37 to mile 65 he will have to deal with a 3000ft climb. I really don't envy the man and I'm a little afraid what condition he'll return to me in. The good news is that he has been training and will be somewhat prepared for it.

He has also entered in Ragnar. This running 12-man relay will be over 24-hrs, go for 192 miles, and take him from Wisconsin to Minneapolis, MN. The race will be divided evenly between the 12 men with Dan doing 3 legs totalling approx 18 miles or so. My hope is that his legs don't run overnight.

All I have to say is Dan has been amazing in his training. He is waking up on most days at 5:00 to 5:30 am and is up to running 3x/week, cycling 3x/week, and doing core work as well. My reward is a happy and fit Dan and if I'm lucky a six-pack on the man. ;)

April/May Goings on

2010-06-03T15:07:00.001-07:00

In May we celebrated my 1st Mother's Day ever. My mom, being the absolutely wonderful mom that she is herself, sent me an edible bouquet, a bear and a balloon that to this day is still floating in our kitchen. The fruit absolutely delicious... you can never go wrong with chocolate. As a bonus I didn't have to teach the CTR 4 class and actually got to attend Relief Society.

A little gift that my beautiful amazing mom sent

Since about 2-3 seasons ago General Mills has partnered with Biggest Loser to promote General Mills products including Yoplait, Muir Glen, and others and promote the "Pound for Pound Challenge". Where viewers pledge to loose weight and in turn Gen Mills their weight loss in food to local food shelters. Who can forget, I know I can't, when Bob came last year to speak to some employees about BL, and losing weight.

Hunky trainer Bob Harper at last years Gen Mills/BL event

This year we had 2 contestants come visit, Sunshine and O'neil. They are from Minnesota and won one of the challenges, a year worth of food from Gen Mills. When Sunshine walked in I didn't even recognize her. She looked absolutely Fabulous. Dan and I took the opportunity to take a pic. I was wearing my "Larabar" shirt and Sunshine commented how she loved it. Dan, the thoughtful man that he is went back to his lab and retrieved a grocery bag full.

Dan, Sunshine, O'neil, and me

Needless to say she was absolutely surprised and gave Dan a big hug. I'm was amazed how grateful she was to receive them and you can see how happy Dan is. He hasn't missed an episode in 3 seasons.

Sunshine and Dan

We've been busy getting everything ready for Mr. Magoo (the baby) including some assembling. I, being a 1st time mom, have a lot of urges to get things that are new for the baby. You know... only the best for my child kinda thing. I've been able to calm down some of those urges but have given into only 1 so far... the stroller. The reason I gave in was that 1st I only plan to have one, 2nd the following kids (if we ever get to those) will use it, 3rd it is a multi-tasker by doubling as a jogging stroller (heaven knows I need to lose some weight after the birth) and the last thing I want is to be annoyed by a stroller that is rickety and bumpy while I'm exerting myself.

Dan assembling our amazing stroller

Here is another installment of our closet being turned in to the office. Dan put the shelves up and even added trim to them. I think it looks amazing. Next step is to put all the stuff in and buy some organizational pieces (baskets, in-box, out box etc) to finish it out.

Catching up

2010-05-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile...yes I know so I will try to catch every one up. Dan and I have been busy preparing for our baby boy. Yes, a boy. I really wanted a girl but there are other plans for our family. It took me a little while to get used to it. I still, every now and then, look at little girl's clothes. I just can't help myself. Maybe one day (cross fingers).

Dan and I have also been taking birthing classes. This has been an eye opener. At times I feel ready for the task at other times I want to back out of the whole deal all together. But that alas, it is impossible unless they can teleport him from my tummy to the bassinet. I'm going in with the goal of not having an epidural. (Every one thinks I'm crazy) I really feel it be best for me to be able to move around (they don't have walking epidurals at my hospital) to progress. I have to be committed to this other wise at the first wave of pain I will be begging for it.

I'm an info junkie and to that end I've been reading up a storm on every topic of Dan and mine pending adventure...everything from breast feeding, to baby care, baby name books, natural child birth, meditation, etc. So glad that Dan has been so helpful in giving me time to read.

Dan actually has been amazing. He's been busy converting our office to a guest bedroom/office. We've decided that it would be best to move our office to the closet. I was a little nervous about Dan's undertaking of this endeavor. I even made him hand in plans. I know I'm terrible ;)

Dan the Tool Man Colyar

The shelves have been hung but there is a few finishing touches left before we can close the book and this project. I will post pictures when its all done.

My parents came for a short visit. We took the time to go through all the clothes that my sister Iris had given me. It took quite a bit of work and I'm so glad that my mom and Dan were there to help me. We ended up with quite a loot. Iris gave us high chair, a crib, a changing table, a swing, an exersaucer, a play mat, a pack and play, a papasan, a Baby Bjorn carrier and as I mentioned before tons and tons of clothes. We have so many clothes that I don't believe that he will need any clothing for almost the 1st year. In just PJs alone we have 21 in size 0-3 months, the same number in 0-6 months. Thanks Iris... you've saved us a lot of money.

Bins and Bins of clothes from 0 to 4t

We've been a 1-car family for almost 2 years. and I'm happy to say that we have bought another car. We really love it. It is so nice not to have to arrange who's going to take the car when or ask co-workers for a ride. Plus we have A/C... we haven't A/C for nearly 3 years. We still love Buddy (Dan's Car) but it is good to have flexibility of 2 cars.

As of yesterday I was 30 weeks along...10-11 weeks to go. It's becoming more real. You'd think this giant belly and wide backside would be enough. For the most part I've had a really good pregnancy. I got about 5 episodes of morning sickness that were mild, I've been able to sleep and even with my big belly I'm still able to sleep. I do have to get up multiple times during the night to got to the restroom but I'm able to fall right back asleep.

Work is going great. My bosses has been extremely supportive and I've been given a light work duties ( no pilot plant work) so I don't feel stressed. I will be taking 6 month maternity leave and I'm looking forward to staying at home for awhile.

Inconclusive

2010-03-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

Dan and I have been wanting to know the gender of the baby. I kept having a re-occurring dream about it so I'm glad that the day had finally arrived. Went into the ultrasound and after they had taken pictures of the baby in 1000 different ways the technician asked "Do you have any more questions?" Well yes, "Can you tell us the sex of the baby?" She moved the wand a up, down, in, out, and diagonal and finally came to the conclusion that there wasn't a conclusion.

Aaarghh!!! I was disappointed, I want to get to planning and buying but Dan was even more upset than I was. Oh well, we go back in 2 weeks to take additional pics. Hopefully it will be more definitive.

And Baby Makes III

2010-02-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Dan and I are expecting. I guess its been a long time coming, if you consider my age, but good things come to those who wait. I am 17 weeks along and I really don't feel I'm pregnant but I guess that is good. I had morning sickness a few times, it was not severe nor did it last long.

My biggest complaint is that I'm getting wide. Well really what should I expect it's going to happen. But still not pleasant. Going to have to buy some big pants and tent-like shirts. I'm not a clothes-buyer to begin with so it makes it doubly hard. I always fight Dan when we go shopping...he wants me to buy more and I come out with one item if he's lucky. Iris and my mom know this well.

This child will be the 7th grandchild for both sides. There hasn't been a baby born on my side since our beautiful niece Eva was born about 3 yrs ago. On Dan's side they'll be a cousin born about a month before ours.

I'm hoping for a girl. That's really all I know, girls...I only have sisters. My mom only has sisters. Dan's side has the opposite story. Dan's father only has brothers, 4, Dan only has brothers, 4, and Dan only has nephews, 5. We are grateful for our energetic niece Savannah who was adopted and provides great balance to the Colyar cousins. We hope to provide her a cousin that she can do girl-things with. Dan doesn't really have a preference. We will know mid March which genes are stronger.

Lights! Camera! Action!

2009-10-22T20:30:00.001-07:00

Our 1st day of production was a slow whirlwind. Dan and I were so excited/nervous that we didn't sleep very well. The assistants showed up around 7:30am to start the preliminary work or laying down tarps and bringing a lot of equipment in. The camera man showed up a little after 8am and started shooting the preliminary shots. He ended up being so hilarious. Between takes he would talk in funny accent voices and sing. His "Southern Russian Hillbilly" was classic.

In demo we ripped out the mirror, the lights, the vanity, the shower, toilet and the tub surround. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be and at the end it of course looked terrible. We wrapped up around 5:30pm and we were exhausted. Tomorrow is the next shoot and we are looking forward to it and only 4 days later will be the 3rd and final shoot and we will have a beautiful and stylish master bathroom.

After the destruction

Our hunky contractor, producer on the left and the designer on right

Our bare-boned shower

Director's view

Between takes Matt, the host and Dan

The "do" and outfit

Our very crowded production room, aka our bedroom. We hosted the producer's assistant, the sound guy, the contractor, the contractor's assistant, the designer, the producer, the host, and the camera guy

Dan getting mic'ed. He could clip it, I had to tape it to my chest.

Bathtastic!

2009-10-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

Not sure how many have heard but Dan and I will be featured on an episode of DIY network's "Bathtastic". After the 1001 hour of Dan and I watching this network I turned to Dan and said "Let's be part of it" So after some researching and email sending we are "IN"!!!! They even came out and did a video audition. They wanted energetic and we gave them energetic. The producer, designer, and contractor have been out to measure and chat about the design.

Some of their work!

As far as the design we've tried to reconcile our styles. It's not easy, there are so many choices, amazing choices out there. Bonnie, the designer has been amazing through it all. Some of our requests included new sinks, countertop, flooring, faucets, tile backplash for the tub, organized storage, multiple shower heads and/or body sprays, and new and more lighting, seat for the shower etc. Can you see now the opportunity she's has to be amazing.

This what they have to work with.

The tub

Our water closet

Vanity

As you can see it is very vanilla. So far the design looks great but its pushing some comfort boundaries. For example the bronze hammered sinks. (http://www.waveplumbing.com/store/images/CIMG6828.jpg)

We will be begin shooting the episode on Oct 12thn (Demo)...Yeah in a week, 15th (Projects) and 23rd (Final shoot). Just 3 shooting days. Can't believe than in less that a month it will be all done!

First Home Project

2009-10-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well its been forever and a day since I have blogged. Things are going well and we are continuing to settle in to our home. Dan has taken charge of our first home project: Taping, mudding, and painting the garage. It hasn't been easy but we are definitely getting our feet wet. You can't imagine how Lowe's has become our best friend. It's worst than going to Costco where you can't help but drop a couple of $$hundred$$ dollars every time you go there.

The garage still needs a coat of paint and we can mark it complete and off the long list of items we want to tackle.

Mi Casa es su Casa

2009-06-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since we moved in to our new house and thought it be time to write a blog. So far we really like the house. We love our small back yard and we get a few visitors every now and then: duck, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. The master bathroom has 2 sinks and we don't have to share!! I've been able to cook so much more and Dan is appreciating it.

Our visitor

Dan mowing the lawn for the 1st time

Right out of the box

The move

Our home

T-wolves

2009-05-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Dan must be a lucky guy, he got me didn't he... ;) That aside Dan also won tickets to sit in the Executive Box at the last Timberwolves game. I had been there before during a visit to GM before my internship but it was Dan's 1st time. It was fun and I enjoyed the game a bit more than the hockey game due to the fact I knew what was going on. The atmosphere at the hockey game in the Excel Center (St. Paul) was still better.

Dan all I have to say is keep winning those tickets... we still need to see the Twins and the Vikings

From the box

Dan enjoying the view at mid-court

T-wolves mural

Minnesota Wild

2009-04-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Dan, through work, won some awesome tickets to a Minnesota Wild game. It was my first official NHL game. Dan was an old pro, a month into his new job he got to sit in the General Mills Executive Box. He really had a tough time adjusting to the seats. All through the night he couldn't help but compare the seats to the box. Even though the were awesome seats there were not comfy seats, free catering, and a desert cart with 4x layer carrot cake (Dan's favorite).

Hockey is very big here and it seems all the kids play. Instead of seeing boys carrying pads for football they carry hockey sticks and huge hockey bags.

The atmosphere in the arena was crazy and extremely loud. The Xcel center is the newest arena in the state and has all the amenities one would want. We sat next to one of Dan's coworkers. We both didn't understand much and spent most of the time talking.

Go Wild!!

They ended up loosing in the last 5 min of the game. It was a great game and I could definitely get used these kind of perks.

FATSO (FTO) Gene

2009-03-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

At my new job I'm afforded some great and unusual opportunities. One that arrised a few weeks ago was genetic testing for the obesity gene which test your disposition to be heavier than the average population. I was naturally curious to know whether I was "doomed" or not and I debated whether I even wanted to know or not. My co-workers were also hedging on the decision. The gene is named FTO but goes by FaTsO gene. (How comforting).

Genetic Lesson

If you know a little about genetics it is understood that your genes are comprised of half coming from dad and half from mom. Both of my parents, if they were recessive FTO carriers, could have not passed on any kind of predisposition to me or if they were dominant FTO then I didn't have a chance in heck to begin with.

Well, to make a long story short it looks like I won the lottery, I have inherited the gene from both my parents. Great!? Of course my parents deny it :) I can only guess that at the very least they are both recessive FTO carriers and I just happened to receive the FTO gene for both of them. Now what do I do with this information? Should I call up Ben and Jerry and drown my sorrows? Don't get me wrong I was bummed when I opened the envelope but what can be done, my genes are my genes and I have to do the best I can with what I was given. All in all I'm glad I found out so I can be aware of my predisposition.

The Chicago Caper - Murder Mystery

2009-02-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

Dan and I received an invitation to a mystery diner from some friends of friends. Dan played Eddie "Socks" R. Gyle a smooth, fashionable, and clever who is an avid golfer and owns a gaming house. Dan's costume called for a bow tie but he just wouldn't have it...oh well. I played Malissa F. Orthought, a reporter for the local paper with a shady past. It was fun getting to know other couples in the area that don't attend our ward.

S. Treighton Harrow and Anna Maria Carlotta Sassine "Torchy"

Ernie "Bet a Million"G. Ambler and "Silky" M. Adam

Our hosts. Billy "The Kid" Thrower and Molly M. Awbsterr

Psycho Suzi

2009-02-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

After what seemed 100th episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives we decided that our next adventure had to be a Dive Adventure. Thanks to Guy Fieri, we locked down on Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge. It was a truly unique experience. We were accompanied by fellow foodies Anna and Garth. We met during our internships at General Mills. She now works full time in Pillsbury. Coincidentally, she also lives in the same apartments that we do. We ordered deep fried cheese curds and pizza. Both were absolutely delicious. We then bowled 2 games at Tonka Lanes. The 1st game was the high scoring game. The 2nd game was riddled with gutter balls, thumb injuries, and a wicked hang nail. Stay tune for our next Dive adventure.

Featured in Food Network's Dives, Drive-Ins and Dives

Amazing form

Psycho Suzy's herself

MLK Breakfast

2009-01-31T06:33:00.001-08:00

General Mills makes it a priority to be involved in the community. Along with the United Negro College Fund they host an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. This year's speaker was General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State. Once that that got out, tickets were flying out like hot cakes. The Meals Division, composed of Progresso, Green Giant, Hamburger Helper and Old El Paso, was able to secure a table. I was lucky enough to get a ticket and be 4 tables away from Powell. It was very exciting. He was a great speaker, funny, thoughtful, and a bit inspiring without being preachy. They also recognized 3 people that belonged to the community that through their service represented MLK's vision. It was a great event.

Bob

2009-01-22T19:25:00.001-08:00

General Mills is partnering with "Pound for Pound", Feeding America and Biggest Loser for a campaign. People can log on to pfpchallenge.com and for every pound they pledge of weight to loose General Mills will donate a pound of food to a food bank. As a result we had a special guest at Headquarters, Bob Harper. He gave an inspirational speech and divulge some interesting information about The Biggest Loser. It was a total blast, I went with a coworker and we both squealed like girls, which is ok for me because I am a girl but maybe not for him. Bob is a very handsome man and unbelievably fit for being 40-something. I couldn't help but try to get a pic with him.

Snowboarding

2009-01-07T16:38:00.001-08:00

Before I left Utah in August I informed everyone that I wanted to go snowboarding. Now mind you I had gone skiing several times before but never snowboarding. I decided that it was another activity that I had to cross off my bucket list (it's never to early to start one really). I didn't want time to pass by, get too old, too scared, or miss the opportunity. We (Brothers, Sisters, Sister-in-laws, and Brothers-in-laws) gathered at Sports Authority on the 26th to rent our equipment so we could head to Sundance the following day.

We took snowboarding lessons for the 1st 1/2 of the day then went on our own. I would say the lesson was invaluable. I learned more and by the end of the day I felt I was pretty proficient. (My falling leaf is awesome) Most of us had a hard time with S turns but to give credit to us we did that last and our thighs were burning. It was like doing a roman chair all the way down the mountain, the thighs were on fire.

After the lesson we felt we were doing pretty good and decided to go up further on the lift. This is when got too big for our britches. The "Maverick", a blue run, had Dan and several of us nervous. Basically if you didn't stay on the path you were going to tumble down the mountain. It was prayer time. We survived unscathed but had a scare when Iris fell down and hurt her knee. Both Jeffery and Dan had to unclip and go up the mountain to see if she was ok and she was though she felt that knee for a while. I had scare myself, what I'm calling a small self diagnosed concussion. Soon after my head got acquainted with the floor my vision got weird, had a huge headache, and started to get nausea. Looking back on it I should stopped but we had paid for an all day pass, lessons, and rentals. I didn't want to quit to early.

Picking up our gear

I kept hitting this sign. Don't know why, other that I knew I didn't want to hit which made me gravitate to it.

Dan, Iris, and I.

Shredding the slopes

Dan "Shaun White" Colyar

Me, Kirsti, Dan, and our instructor, Eli, riding the lift

Taking a break

It was a beautiful day to snowboard.

Chad, Kirsti, Kristi, Me Dan, Iris, and Jeffery

Christmas

2009-01-07T16:04:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day was amazing. The previous day my mom, Zaida, had flown in from Florida as a surprise and was able to spend a week with us. On Christmas Eve we stayed at Iris' house so we could wake up w/ the nieces and nephew and celebrate all that Santa had brought. He brought some really fun games including a DVD Dance, Dance Revolution game (courtesy of Zaida) and a Hannah Montana Guitar Hero. You see Dan with it here but I was absolutely in love with it. Not that I'm a HM fan but I love Guitar hero and with only 3 frets how could I go wrong. Samson, the Wiseman's great dane, was not left out and got the biggest bone I've ever seen for Christmas. I guess he was a good pup this year.

Mom and Garret DDR'ing away

Santa also dropped off a bone for Samson. He's up to 160 now.

Dan chanelling a great dane

Everyone getting into DDR

Iris and Dan

Our nieces and nephew (Garrett, Eva, and Alexandra)

Drums and Cymbals, what is Santa thinking?!?!

Dan and Alexandra

My 2 best friends

At the original Colyar's (Dan's parents)

Dan diving for presents

Dan loving Hannah Montana Guitar Hero

Winter Games

2009-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

We had tons of snow and I decided to cross off building a snowman from my bucket list. Even thought there is no proof I did help shape the snowman, Dan helped out the base, I did the shaping and got the decorations together. We also discovered the game Sequence. It had been a game that I had seen around for years at Dan's parents house but never played. It ended up being really fun and we played a lot during the winter break. My mom liked it so much that she bought it and brought it back to Florida to play it with my nephews.

Dan building the bottom of the snowman

Playing Sequence

My angel ;)

Brothers Back Together Again

2008-12-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Dan is the 3rd of 5 brothers. Dan's youngest brother came home from his mission to Melbourne, Australia this August and all the brothers were gathered for Christmas for the 1st time in a long time. All served foreign mission to and in order of age: Craig went to Spain, Chad to England, Dan to Japan, Kevin to Hong Kong and Casey to Australia.

Dan's brothers and all the grandchildren

The Colyar Family

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-29T09:08:00.001-08:00

We are spending the Christmas holidays in Utah and didn't expect the snow to be worse than it was is Minnesota but it was. That 1st morning we had to dig out Dan's parents house so visitors could park. Even with our best efforts at least 5 cars had to be helped out and pushed before they could go on their merry way.

We were fortunate enough to meet with some friends, Joie and Adam Madison. (See Madison blog) They are currently having their adventures in San Francisco and adventures they are having.

Adam and Iris (my sister) helping Dan out. Shouldn't Iris be driving and Dan pushing?

Monty (Dan's Dad) and Dan plowing

Getting my winter exercise

Nativity Display

2008-12-17T21:16:00.001-08:00

In our stake they have a wonderful tradition of gathering nativity sets from members, setting them up and inviting the community. It takes quite a bit of organization. They collected over 400 nativity sets, also know as cresh displays, trees, extension cords, lights, and table cloths. Nativity sets come from all over the world. It was so neat to see the birth of Christ portrayed in different ways. Members volunteer in greeting guests, taking coats and informing guests about displays. They also invited school and other church groups to participate and share their musical talents. The logistics must be quite a challenge. For all the work it was featured in the paper. It was great publicity for the church.

Dan and I attended on Sunday and it was a packed house. "Missionary" Jessica invited 2 co-workers to attend. I wanted to invite more but I was worried about the exact guidelines for that sort of stuff knowing that our "Secret Santa" is called "Secret Snowflake" because of sensitivities at work. Next year I will build on what I did this year. I also want to try to get a unique set so I could loan it to the cause.

Dan really liked this one. It looks like its from Japan.

I thought of Kristi when I saw this one. Looks like Klinkits to me.

From Mongolia

Thanksgiving

2008-12-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

My parents were able to fly from Florida to visit us in Minnesota for Thankgiving. In retrospect we should have visited them to get away from the cold but it was nice to show them around Minneapolis. My parents had a nice flight on the Monday before Thanksgiving and when I saw them I couldn't help but run to them and hug the life out of them. It hadn't been too long since I've seen my mom, our Hawaii trip was only 3 months ago, but it's been since February since I've seen my Dad. It was great to spend some time together.

My mom was excited to visit the Mall of America. With over 500 stores we broke it up over 2 days. On the 1st day we did the amusement park. That was a blast. By the 3-4 ride I was spent, I'm getting old. We also headed down to Owatanna, south of Minneapolis, to visit some snowbird couple friends of my parents that make Deltona their home during the harsh Minnesota winter.

In Owattana w/ Darlene and Dale

The boys needed a massage chair break from all the walking at the Mall of America.

The Wii experience made a stop at Mall of America and I had to show my parents what it was all about. My dad played doubles tennis w/ Dan and I. I challenged my mom to the joust and she ended up beating me. Dan then challenged her and she still beat him. A guy was standing by and he also challenged her and she still beat him. It was pretty hilarious.

My mom kicking butt at the joust

Dad and Dan playing tennis

Roller coaster Dan

Dan volunteered to sit with this little boy since he was too short to go unchaperoned. Who's having more fun?

My mom being scared out of her mind. She closed her eyes through 95% of the ride.

Dan's beautiful brined turkey. It was so tender and delicious.

Enjoying Thanksgiving feast with my parents Harry and Zaida.

Are we officially Minnesotans now?

2008-11-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Jessica has been harping on me to post this, so even though it has been a while since it happened I changed the oil in our car "buddy" and got him some new 10,000 lakes Minnesota license plates. Looks pretty good I think.

Vineland Trip

2008-11-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I attended Thermal Process School in Vineland NJ. The most convenient airport to fly into is Philadelphia and then we take a car to NJ. I had to drag 2 of my coworkers, they didn't seem like the planning type, so I set in motion some events so we could get into Philly early and visit the city. I had been to Philly once before with my manager but I barely got him to stop for a Philly before we headed to the plant. Since I was the "lead" on this trip I took it upon myself to do some fun things before going to the plant.

Since the 1st "National Treasure" included scenes from Independence Hall I wanted to take a tour and it being the day of elections I thought it was appropriate to visit where the declaration was signed. In my research I also found that Masaharu Morimoto, Iron Chef extraordinaire, had a restaurant not even 3 blocks from there so I had to go visit.

Independence Hall. Towards the end of National Treasure Nicolas Cage's character climbs up to the bell tower and goes across the roof to retrieve Benjamin Franklin's glasses from a brick that is on the chimney. (upper right hand)

Where the declaration was signed!

The day was soggy wet and a bit cold

At Morimoto's the food was delicious. So delicious in fact that I had 2 desserts. Yeah, I know a bit excessive especially since we had appetizers and then a big meal but you only live once right!?!? Let me also explain that in our company there's a fair amount of business drinking, and we are not talking "Shirley Temples". I kinda feel left out as far as employees spending $$$ on their dining experience. I decided that my dining experience is deserts so I ordered 2. It wasn't the 1st time I did it and it won't be the last and since the "General" pays for everything I say "why the heck not".

The man himself, Masaharu Morimoto, Iron Chef

The decor was amazing. The glow changes to other colors blue, shown above, purple, green, etc. We had been sitting for 20min or so till we noticed. We were seated in the middle right.

Our appetizers. Also my point, my coworker is having a beer tasting w/ his meal.

My meal-Seafood 'Toban Yaki": King crab, shrimp, scallops, New Zealand mussels, shanghai greens oyster mushrooms w/ citrus butter.

1st dessert - Chocolate Pot de creme - Chocolate custard, caramelized banana, whipped cream. Doesn't that sound amazing, now you can see why I couldn't just choose one.

2nd dessert- Yuzu meringue tart. This one was my favorite. The meringue was sinful and the yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) was refreshing.

Progresso Plant in Vineland, NJ

Can you believe how cheap the gas was in Vineland NJ a week ago. Now its even less. I thought I would never see it be less than $3 let alone less that $2. They tell me that the gas here doesn't have as many taxes on it. Dan and I are pleasantly surprised that the gas in Minneapolis is also a lot less than the national average. Currently the cheapest gas here is $1.87 and the national average is $2.18

On the way back from the airpot we visited Philly's Chinatown. I had peking duck for the 1st time and it was yummy! I wished that Kevin could have been there to translate. There was all this great food but didn't really know what it was.

Gates of Philadelphia's Chinatown

Ducks and Chickens

Crazy huge cabbage or sofa pillow!

You might be thinking...now was this a vacation or a business trip. I'll assure you it was both but the "General" is amazing when it comes to travel. So we did have plenty of fun but we did plenty of learning as well.

Progresso Spirit Event

2008-11-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Last week our group played hooky and visited an orchard, that's big around here. It was an opportunity to know my co-workers a little bit better. The orchard provided lunch and we had all-things apple: brats and hamburgers soaked in apple cider, onion/apple relish, 2 types of apple pie, potato-apple salad, and apple cider. Delicious.

Chuga-Chuga-Choo-Choo

I'm a farm girl now

Last week I did my first formulations and ran them in the pilot plant. I was a bit nervous and I didn't do everything a 100% but good enough to have my cans judge by my team and for them to be deemed worthy to be judge by the bigger Progresso team. Unfortunately I will be in NJ when the larger team meets. Hopefully no one will think its awful. So everybody cross their fingers and hope that they pass. If so my formulation will be the new formulation used on 100 of thousands of cans. How exciting!

Not being left out

2008-10-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

So we are on the 4th week of work and I'm adjusting well to life at Progresso. My co-workers are great, they have welcomed me, and are helping me learn all I have to learn and its a lot.

Not to be left out I have received my first business trip. I will be going to Vineland, NJ, where one of our plants is located. I will be going to Thermal Process School. Basically learning how food is heat processed safely in retorts (so no one gets sick or the plant doesn't blow up). I will be flying into Philadelphia w/ a fellow coworker and hope to have a real philly cheese steak and stop and see some "National Treasure" sites...maybe the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall. I'll have to do some research but as anybody knows I'm all about finding information when it comes to destinations.

Earth's Bounty

2008-10-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to go out and explore our new home state. A coworker recommended we go to a farm and pick some apples. Lucky enough that the farm we went to also had fall raspberries. We picked 4 pints of raspberries. Picking one raspberry at a time was a little laboring but we had fun. I was really tempted to eat and pick as a I went but we would definitely would have gotten no where. This orchard was not even 25 min from us and I bet we will be going back since by Tuesday morning they were all gone. Though it will have to wait till next weekend since Dan will be gone again to Denver this weekend to do some consumer insight on the product that he is working on. He came back yesterday from Seattle after visiting the "Cascadian Farm". He was there with his team learning about the organic business and thought that the drive up to the farm was beautiful.

The Orchard

Yummy raspberries!!!

Our loot

The biggest chicken I've seen in a while. If the Colonel was still alive he would be salivating. Look at those drumsticks.

A quaint farm house on the way to the orchard.

First Week of Work

2008-10-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

At Stephanie's request let me update all on my first week of work. In one word..."overwhelming". The first day was good, we went to the main offices and talked about all the benefits that GM has and they are many including fitness center, amazing cafeteria (sushi yeah!!!), inhouse doctor, dentist, dermatologist, eye doctor, salon, massage, automotive service center, and daycare, personal shoppers that go to walmart and target, a bank (GM credit union), employee thrift grocery store, dry cleaning, employee club, etc. etc.

Through out the week things got a bit more complicated including a lot a lot of training. I was even in time to make it to the Progresso 3rd Quarter business meeting. Making soup in mass amounts is more complicated than you can imagine and I got little taste of the undertaking. By then end of the week I received my first assignment and I'm a little nervous, I even got a deadline. By the end of the month I may be going to NJ. Details to come.

Dan will be going to Seattle tomorrow. He will be visiting the Cascadian Farm. I never knew it was actual place. He will be there for about 28hrs so no stopping at Space Needle.

Casey is Home, Great Danes, Moving

2008-09-28T08:01:00.001-07:00

In a small space of time we have had some big events go on. First our move to Minneapolis, then Casey, Dan's youngest brother, came back from his 2 year mission in Melbourne, Australia, and getting jobs w/ real responsibility.

I'm the most nervous about the latter. I know that I have earned my degree, taken all the classes, and had some previous experiences but I don't want to let my team down or anyone down for that matter. I have worked w/ this product before and know some of the people so that's positive and negative. Positive because I'm familiar w/ soup production, the formulas, and the programs but negative because my chance for a new 1st impression has been taken away. Dan reminds me that obviously my 1st impression must have been good since they requested me to be back in the same group, which I hear is unusual. I just have to be confident right.!?!?

At the airport w/ all of Dan's Family.

Since Casey's gotten back a few people have made remarks how he is looking and even having some mannerisms like Danny.

Casey teaching how to throw the boomerang.

Dan trying to throw the boomerang.

The last saturday we were in Utah I had the opportunity to go to Great Dane Day. It's a local club of great dane owners that get together 2x a year. I tagged along w/ Iris and Jefferey and had a great time. This one was one of the best, there were contests and plenty of doggie treats. When the Danes started to play you definitely had to give them their room. They are a powerful breed but really puppies at heart.
Iris, Jefferey, and their Dane Samson. He placed 1st as best wagger, 2nd as most obedient, and 2nd as best barker and came home w/ some awesome toys. This is their 2nd Dane. Bo passed away less than 2 years ago from cancer and Samson is such a great dog, big, slobbery, clumsy, but great.

Imagine how tall this dog is. It's coming out of Iris' arm pit. He was such a sweetheart.

Puppy Great Dane, isn't he cute. You got to enjoy the time that you still can carry them.

For awhile and even now I'm in denial about being in Minnesota. We lived here for 3 mo last summer while Dan and I were doing our internship w/ General Mills. So coming back here again and now it is somehow permanent is surreal to me. We moved in to our apartment and its a slow process getting everything where it should be, where we want it to be and into storage. We opted to have a 2bd/2ba apartment and thank goodness we did. There are certain perks w/ having 2 bathrooms and I will enjoy them thoroughly.

Here we are in the moving truck that came to take our stuff away. It was quite a jigsaw puzzle to get the boxes to fit just right so there was a wall. Thank goodness Dan nor I had any part in that.

Entering the great state of Minnesota!!!

Dan did most of the driving of the 1300+ miles. It was done in about 23 hrs w/ stopping. Not my favorite trip but it saved us some money by not flying. We rolled out of Orem at 3:45 am and drove all the way to Des Moines, IA. We were not planning to drive that long, construction areas littered I-80, and I do not like driving at night in unfamiliar areas but it ended up being allright.
With moving its requisite that you must buy new furniture that comes in about a billion parts. Dan hesitated at me taking on this challenge but I was insistent. I told him that it was all part of the experience, you know....follow the 30 page 55+ step-by-step directions, put a part in backwards, get mad, expletive (optional), calm down and try again.

Coldplay

2008-09-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

I've never been into music. By that I mean that I never had any kind of CD collection. I don't really now why, probably because I wanted to spend money on other things and not CDs. I just listened to the radio and I was happy with that.

Lately though I've been collecting music, thanks to my bro-in-law Jefferey (Iris' husband) and I have found Coldplay. I love their new single "Viva La Vida". It's on my current playlist on this blog. Have a listen to it and fall in love. Also, it doesn't hurt that the lead singer is "click clack".

General Mills and Moving

2008-09-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

For all those who are not aware Dan and I will be moving to Minneapolis, MN in about a week. We have both accepted positions with General Mills as "Research Scientist". Dan will be working for the Small Planet Division which is GM's organic line. They have a diversified line making everything from canned tomatoes, soup, spaghetti sauce etc (Muir Glen) to cereal, granola bars, frozen goods, fruit jams and jellies (Cascadian Farms).

I will be working for Progresso. They do make more than soup. Beans, bread crumbs, and canned tomato products make up their line. We are both looking forward to it even though I do hate moving. Luckily our offers includes people coming in to pack what little we do have.

Knitting and Graduation

2008-09-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

Now that I have more time on my hands (no babysitting, Hawaii, or School) I've decided to pick up my knitting needles again. My sister, Iris, started a scarf about a year ago and she gave it to me awhile ago to finish. So I finally got to it and finished it in a day. It's not the best, I decided to improvise because I didn't have a pattern and had to become creative with the hat since I didn't have enough of the purple yarn to finish. I hope she likes it. I like the scarf the best. I look forward to posting my continuing knitting works.

As I type Dan is printing the copies of his thesis and bringing them to the library. I'm so proud of him and his last push to finish his Master's. He did absolutely amazing on his presentation a few weeks ago.

Below is my reluctant but dashingly handsome model. He definitely works the garment. Don't you think so?

Maui - Kayaking Trip

2008-09-05T16:58:00.001-07:00

We ended up staying in Maui for 3 days. Before we left we took a Kayaking trip on the southern coast. It took a bit to get the hang of kayaking, turning, and paddling. We chose Maui Eco Tours and they were great. We chose one of their longer excursions with 3 snorkeling stops. We ended up being the last ones to each stop and that was ok, we were taking it all in.

We had the opportunity to swim with the sea turtles. I was just casually looking at one which was about 10-15 feet away when one swam right under me. It was crazy. They are so graceful swimming so fluidly through water. We must of seen at least 15 of them at different times. As we went snorkeling we tried to see and identify all the characters from "Finding Nemo". With the sea turtles we saw "Crush", "Gil" the moorish idol, "Bloat" the porcupine fish, and "Bubbles" the yellow tang. We thought we saw "Nemo" but it was another fish and thank heavens we didn't see "Bruce", "Anchor", or "Chum".

Makena Beach

View from our condo

"Crush" the sea turtle

Maui - Trilogy Catamaran trip to Lanai

2008-09-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

While in Maui we went on a sailing/snorkeling all-day trip to Lanai. The snorkeling was awesome we saw tons of fish and going out to Lanai on a catamaran was different.

Trilogy catamaran

Sailing the seven seas, aarrghh

Plumeria

Breathtaking sunset

Pulling up of the sail

Hawaii Continued then on to Maui

2008-09-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

We were able to get on awesome deal at a Waikiki hotel and stayed 3 blocks from the beach. The view was so beautiful. I loved looking at Diamond head from the beach.

Diamond head from Waikiki

On my way to Maui on the smallest plane, 8 seater Cessna, that I've been in on. My mom was quite nervous but it turned out to be a short plane ride only 45 minutes to Maui.

The view from the Cessna, Hanauma Bay which we visited earlier that week and Diamond Head.

Surf School

2008-09-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Aug 26th, we hung ten on the big waves. Well they weren't that big but it was so much fun. I wished we had gone again. The instructors were absolutely amazing and gave us all the tips we needed to get up. Let me tell you though its a whole lot of work. First you have to get your self to the waves so that means a whole lot of paddling, then you have to catch a wave, this is where the instructors came in, they were out there with us and judge the waves and gave us a push while we paddle to hang on to the wave. I hope when Dan and I go back we will set a side at least 2 days of surfing.

The girls in our surfing gear. I think we look pretty darn good.

The group of novices and our surf instructors.

Instructional portion of the land lesson.

Me with the surf board. It was heavy.

You saw it right here, me surfing.

PCC

2008-08-26T03:16:00.001-07:00

On Monday after Matsumoto we went to the temple and then on to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). We got there right as they opened so we could see as much as we could. We went to most villages and participated in dancing, music, some ceremonies, and taste testing. There was so much to learn that we hope to get back on Wednesday so Iris can take some Hukelali lessons. The night show was great as well.

Music lessons in Fiji

Poi ball dancing lessons in New Zealand. It was so fun even though I hit myself right on the head with them. Iris was quite good.

Poi tasting in the village of Hawaii

Coconut shucking and milk extraction in the village of Samoa. He also did the fire dance in the night show.

Zaida, Iris and I next to a replica of the statues at Easter Island

Hawaii - Arizona Memorial, Dole Plantation, North Shore

2008-08-26T02:56:00.000-07:00

So we are finally in Hawaii. It took about 6hrs to get there from Utah. It went pretty fast granted that I'm reading "Twilight". The following day we went to Pearl Harbor and Dole Plantation. The Arizona Memorial was moving, about 2000 people lost their lives that day. I got a bit teary-eyed at a few portions of the tour. They needed to be giving out tissues. We then headed of to the Dole Plantation to find out all about the Ananas Comusus, better known as the pineapple. We rode a train, had a pineapple demo, shopped, planted a pineapple, ate some pineapple and had a great time.

The next day we headed to the North Shore to get the famous Matsumoto Shave Ice. It was good and my mom even tried it with Azuki beans (Japanese Sweet Beans) I was proud of her.

Inside the Memorial

Arizona Memorial - Pearl Harbor

Dole Plantation, we had just finished planting some pineapples. They say one person could plant as many as 10,000/day. That seems pretty incredulous to me.

At Matsumoto Shave Ice on the North Shore

Laie Temple

Dan's a Maniac

2008-08-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

This summer has been the the summer of triathlons and biking events for Dan. He's completed 4 triathlons and a century ride (100 miles). He's been training hard for them and has done very well for being the first summer that he has done them. He has not done it alone, Chad and Craig, Dan's brothers have joined as well.

Tour de Park City Century Ride

Open water swim in St. George. It end it up being cancelled because it was deemed unsafe. Triathletes that swam in the prior heat had to be rescued by boat because it was so choppy.

Transition area

Telos Tri

Up, what I think is a killer hill

Dan "Michael Phelps" Colyar doing the swim at the Pleasant Grove Tri

Aloha

2008-08-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's one week till I leave for Hawaii. I will be going with Iris, my sister, and my Mom, Zaida. This was all Dan's idea. Dan thought it be great to take my Mom to Hawaii after I finish school and the time that I started work at General Mills. Mom has been wanting to go to Hawaii as long as I can remember and I've always wanted to take her because she's been such a great mom. Iris and I were racking our brain how to tell her. I wanted to be creative. We decided to make a movie and posted on You Tube. Check it out below. Iris and I aren't exactly thespians but my mom was so surprised. We have scheduled some adventures and I am looking forward to our trip and of course blogging about it.

I think I can...I think I can

2008-08-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm getting closer and closer to meeting all the requirements necessary to graduate on time. Along with writing my thesis there are so many signatures that I have to collect from the dean, my professors (3), the graduate chair, and my committee professor. Making sure that my professors are there to get all the paper work signed, make sure their respective secretaries are there so they can input what the professors, graduate coordinator, dean and chair just signed is a full time job.

After I got my thesis back from the dean (shown below) I had to go make 4 copies of it. I thought, "Making copies, that shouldn't be hard". Boy was I wrong. I tried and tried and couldn't make it happen. It's not like I don't have any experience. I did work in the Tanner building copy center for 2 semesters about 8 years ago. Ok ok maybe I'm rusty collating, stappling, and printing a 1 sided to 2 sided on bond paper. But what I was doing was not rocket science. I finally gave up and took it to Cougar Creations. It was done in a jiffy. Tomorrow I will be taking my copies to the library and then bringing the final paper work to the Graduate Studies office.

Dr. Brown, the Life Sciences Dean, handing me my thesis after approving it. (Do you see how thick that puppy is!!)

The Olympics Live!!!

2008-08-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

It's Olympic time. I must say that I am an absolute fanatic when it comes to the Olympics. I guess I'm a sentimental about the whole world getting together in competition and hearing the stories of the athletes around the world, their struggle and their triumph. I get teary-eyed about it.

NBC has so much Olympic coverage that I have hardly moved from the couch in fear that I would miss something. Since the opening ceremonies that started on Friday night I have seen the following events: tennis (men and women singles), beach volleyball (men and women doubles), badminton (singles) , indoor volleyball (men and women), basketball (men), fencing (women's sabre), swimming (different events), gymnastics (men), road race (men and women), boxing, handball (women), rowing (skull, 2, 4, men and women), weightlifting (women), Judo (men), and soccer (men and women). Believe it or not I have missed some competitions including water polo, shooting, and field hockey. There's only so much time you know ;).

Like I mentioned before this is only possible because of online coverage. Online I'm able to see 4 events at a time plus the 5 channels that are covering it. It's a good thing that the summer Olympics are only every 4 years. (Just saw some water polo)

Dan understands my obsession and has been supporting me by bringing our desktop from the back to the front so it can get internet. He's also let me monopolize the laptop so I can keep up with news, results, programming, and athlete profiles (He's so great). I wished school was over so I could devote more time but I do have to go to school this week, finish my thesis and hand it in by Friday.

Camping with Alexandra and Garrett

2008-08-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

In mid July the extended Colyar Clan got together for some camping fun in the Uinta's. Dan and I took the opportunity to take our niece and nephew, Alexandra and Garrett, ATV'ing and camping we all had a blast.

Alex and Garrett loved the four wheeler. They wanted to ride it all the time.

One of the days we headed up to Provo River Falls. It was so beautiful.

Garrett and Alexandra with Uncle Dan

Alexandra and Garrett at Mirror Lake. Amazingly enough there was still snow up there and we had an impromptu snowball fight.

After 2 days the kids were very tired and so was Dan and I.

Out on the Bayou (New Orleans)

2008-07-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

In late June, Dan and I went to New Orleans, Lousiana for the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT, our professional association) convention. It was held there the same year that Hurricance Katrina struck so it was interesting to see the post Katrina New Orleans.

We competed in college bowl and got 3rd out of 8 teams. After the meeting we went on a small fishing trip. We were able to stay at a camp right on the bayou. Dan caught a big one. I caught a guppy. Such is life. We tried our first raw oysters. We had a blast and want to go back.

As the VP of Membership experiences, I was in charge of the IFT student association booth. Met tons of students from around the country that are food science majors.

Had the opportunity to go to Emeril's restaurant. I loved the attention from the staff. This is a picture of us at GW Fins. We had been here last time we were in NO and had to go back again. They have the best creme brulee. Dan's having a lava cake. Yum Yum!

Dan ran in the IFTSA 5k to raise money for scholarships. It was so humid he was sweaty before even starting the race.

Us at the camp. Right on the bayou.

The big catch. It weighed about 38 lbs. Dan could hardly lifted because it was so slippery.

Here's my little catfish. How pathetic!!!

This is called 3rd degree sunburn from being out on the boat.

This is a our cajun feast. We had crawfish, shrimp, crab, gumbo, potatoes, corn, fried gator and duck, fried vegetables, raw oysters, grilled oysters. I should have put my stretchy pants on!

Part of the graduation hoops

2008-07-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's one week till I give my thesis defense. It's basically a 2 hr event. The 1st hour I get up in front of the Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science Department and give a power point presentation of what I've been up to for the last 2 years, and we are not talking all the vacations I've taken. I talk about my project, give the methods, the statistics I used, the panels, the products, the data crunching, my results and conclusion. Then the professors and/or graduates students grill me on "Why I did.... or Did you think about.... or well, you should've done it like this." Depending on the project the questions aren't bad but about 2 defences ago a Nutrition master's student was shot with question, and mind you this is after she gave her whole presentation, "What was the point??". Let me tell you that is not a question you want to be asked. It pretty much means your project is lame and if you were at any other university you would not earn your degree.

The 2nd hour the professors in my committee go through my written thesis. My thesis is about 120 pages or so. Sounds impressive but most of its the data that was crunched. So all you out there on Aug. 1st at 1pm MST think of me and wish me luck!

What has been happening for the last year

2008-07-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-laws, Kristi and Kirsti.

Can you see the brontosaurus in this picture?

The facilities before Porcupine Trail.

"Birthing Rock" If you look closely you see a figure of a person with something coming out. Interesting.

Dan taking on the road

In April we headed to Moab again to take out "Junya" our yellow fourwheeler to do some ATV'ing. Most of the Colyar clan was there.

The BYU College Bowl Team

Dan the tree hugger

In April we went to southern California to compete in the IFTSA college bowl. Basically Jeopardy of food science. We competed against 4 other universities. We won!!!!

The other side of the White House

Supreme Court

The White House

Washington Memorial

Dan with Lincoln.

In the same month, March, I was asked to speak at the National Agricultural Research Education, Extension, Economics advisory board to the USDA in Washington D.C. We where there for 3 days and tried to cram in everything we could.

At the architecture park in the freezing cold.

Frozen waterfall

In March 2008, we were invited to go back to General Mills for a "Revisit Weekend". It was awesome. We got to stay in this great hotel, take chartered transportation, eat out, and have a great time with future GM employees.

In Feb 2008, we headed to Moab to go to Dan's cousin's reception. We also took the opportunity to go to Arches.

At a do-it-yourself pancake house at Deleon springs, Florida.

Dan getting down with some P.R. music and feeling the Christmas spirit!

Picking a papaya in my parent's backyard.

My GQ man!!! Roar!!

Went on a paddling boat. Harry & Zaida, you look sea worthy!

For Christmas 2007, Dan and I visited my parents in Florida.

Feeling the tropical breezes!

My relatives on my Mom's side.

In November, for Thanksgiving, I went to the motherland (Puerto Rico) with my parents.

The bathroom I had to use at the school.

Conducting the test. The children had to try about 13 types of cookies in three sessions.

At the school that we did the study at. We tested cookies with fortified with calcium.

Me and a tribe leader at a community meeting.

In October of 2007 I had the opportunity to go to Bolivia to do a study on fortified indigenous grains. It was very eye opening to say the least and humbling.

My parents trying to figure out the "EL"

My parents and I at Wrigley Field (Cubs vs. Mets)

Dan and I in front of the famous "Married with Children" fountains.

Eating Chicago style pizza (delicious!!!)

After being in Minneapolis we headed to Chicago for the national IFT (Institute of Food Technologist) meeting. Harry and Zaida (my parents) were able to meet us there and have some great fun. We ate and played a lot.

In front of the Daibutsu in Kamakura. It weighs They specialize in sweet potatoes

Last August we got the opportunity to go to Japan. Dan served his mission in the Tokyo South Mission. This pic is from Kyoto in front of Kinkakuji Temple. Its actually covered in gold leaf. I absolutely loved it and we are planning to go back.

On the wagon

2008-07-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I need to publish our lives for our loved ones to see. Especially since we will be going to Minneapolis and will be far from everyone. I'm going to recap our lives for the past year so it looks like I've been blogging forever ;). Hold on it'll be a whirlwind.

Web Photo Album Link

2008-06-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Jessica and I haven't had much time to start this up. But we will at least put up a link to our online webalbums.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jmcolyar
http://picasaweb.google.com/dancolyar