What's happenin' with the Hirst's

As you can see, I am not doing a very good job at updating our blog. We have been extremely busy the past few weeks, so I will fill you in on what's been going on in our lives lately.

Our last home game as members of the MUSS

It was a bittersweet feeling to realize it was our last football game as a U of U students. We had a blast attending all of the games this season. I am definitely going to miss the rowdy members of the MUSS, rushing the field, singing "Utah Man am I," dancing with the Crazy Lady, the 3rd down jump, cheering the Utes on after a touchdown, and screaming until I lose my voice. Oh how we love the football games! Even though we can't be in the MUSS, we are looking forward to next season. After all, we are still die hard Utah fans, no matter what!

Studying for finals

When the semester is drawing to an end, it can only mean that finals are right around the corner. I had a difficult time keeping myself motivated enough to study. Dan had to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam this past fall. Students majoring in Mechanical Engineering are required to pass the exam before they graduate. It's a brutal eight hour long test, but Dan passed it! He is one step closer to becoming an Engineer! We have one more semester to go, then we both graduate! Happy day!

Enjoying the fabulous Disney movie, "A Christmas Carol."

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. I was so excited to see this movie. We absolutely loved it! Of course, it will never come close to my all-time favorite Christmas movie, "The Grinch," also played by Jim Carrey. The movie was pretty intense, and it followed the book by Charles Dickens word for word. It's a great holiday show!


Attending the PCMC's Festival of Trees

Dan and I attended the Festival of Trees with our good friends, the Leaver's. Neither of us had been there before, and we were amazed at how many trees there were. Each was decorated with such detail. We joked about buying one of the Christmas trees at the auction when we are rich enough. Hopefully one day we can :-).


The Temple Square lights

The Christmas lights at Temple Square is always a holiday favorite. We went with my family last week and had a great time. Afterwards we got hot chocolate at 7 Eleven. They have the best hot chocolate ever!


Jon Schmidt Christmas Concert

We absolutely love Jon Schmidt! We attended his Christmas concert at Kingsbury Hall for the 3rd year in a row. It keeps getting better and better. He is extremely talented, plus he went to the same high school as me (little plug in for Highland High). My favorite song of his is "Pachelbel's Canon Meets U2." He has a new song out called "Love Story Meets Viva La Vida." It's a mix of Taylor Swift's "Love Story," and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." If you haven't heard it, you can find the music video on YouTube. It's really cool. We are looking forward to his concert next year.

Dan and I at the Christmas concert.


Hanging out with our families

Here is Dan and his sister Julie with our new niece, Brooklyn.


Snowmobiling in Kamas

One of our favorite pastimes.



And getting ready for Christmas!

Dan setting up our Christmas tree last year.

Me after I had decorated the tree, I was so proud of myself.

My man by the tree.

Together by our very first Christmas Tree.

Our Christmas tree this year!

I am so excited for Christmas!!

Lights out...GAME ON!!

On Halloween night, Dan and I went to the Utah Blackout game with his brother Jim. The MUSS was filled with freaky costumes and crazy masks. Dan wore his creepy skeleton mask for fun. It was a great football game and an unforgettable Halloween!

This picture makes my face look really pale.

Dan and Jim, scary eh?

My hard face, and yes those are fake eyelashes.

The Utes warming up.

HaLLoWeeN MayHeM

Dan really is my Utah Man!

Drew was an old man, and Noelle was his smokin' hot "Trophy" wife.

Us with our good friends, the Wojciechowski's.

Here we are as creepy, scary, dead Utah Fans! We definitely got lots of stares at the party. No one knew who we were. It was kinda fun to be in disguise. Our masks did scare some little kids though, they wouldn't come near us.

They are actually inside their costumes. How cool is that?

At our ward Halloween party, my friend Adrienne and her husband were dice. It was so creative! Loved it!

We are a crazy bunch! There is never a dull moment with these two lovely ladies.

My fabulous coworkers and I dressed up for work. Kayelani was a Colts fan, Brecklyn was a cute pirate and I was a softball player. Brecklyn already changed out of her costume before I took the picture.

My "Scream" pumpkin.

My Dad's pumpkin (in honor of Utah Man Dan).

Lights out!

Me and my sibs.

My bro and sisters.

This Halloween was full of fun activities. My family always carves pumpkins. This picture is of my sisters and I before we begin our pumpkin carving craze. Dan was absent because he had a test to study for that night. But he was there in spirit :-).

False Hopes

I absolutely love the fall!! It's such a fun season! I love the warm sweaters, football games, pumpkin carving, leaves changing colors, the crisp cool air, the smell of hot apple cider, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, costumes, decorations, trick-or-treaters, and yummy treats! Whenever this wonderful season approaches, I always think of Linus from the Peanuts Gang. It always bothered me that he spent every Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin instead of trick-or-treating, and yet the Great Pumpkin never came. His friends always criticized him for believing in that sort of stuff, but Linus never gave up hope. He remained optimistic despite all odds. He always knew the Great Pumpkin was going to bring candy and toys for all the little children. Some may say Linus had unrealistic expectations. But I always had a small kindle of hope that the Great Pumpkin was going to come just for him. Linus is my favorite character in the Peanuts Gang because he always remained positive and looked on the bright side of things. During the fall season I try to be like Linus, because winter is right around the corner...and I am not looking forward to bitter cold months ahead!

Gotta love Utah Football!

What would autumn be like if there was no football?? Pretty boring if you ask me! If you come over to our apartment, I guarantee you we have a football game on TV. Dan and I love going to the Utah football games. This is our last year in the Mighty Utah Student Section (tear), so we are living it up this season! Of course, no football game would be complete without a tailgate party. We are always at the Muss tailgating party as soon as it starts! You could call us die hard Utah fans, but honestly, we just like getting the free food, haha. Our seats are amazing! We are on the 12th row right next to the families of the football players. They always sit down, so we have a clear view of the new and improved football field. Our entire lives are consumed of football during the fall season, but it makes life interesting. I know more about the game of football than I ever have in my entire life, all thanks to Dan :-). All I can say is, I am stoked about the blackout game on Halloween night! It's going to be awesome!! Enjoy these pics of us at the fabulous game against Louisville. Go Utes!!