Quick SLC Trip

So, one day at the beginning of June I was just catching up on some of my favorite band's album releases and such, and I saw that Keane had JUST released their new album Strangeland. So, I thought I'd check if they were touring in the U.S. (A few months earlier, I had checked and it only showed their European tour). Anyway, it just happened to be the day the tickets went on sale for their show in Salt Lake City, so I JUMPED on that quick. After asking Tomás of course! I love love love Keane, so I was listening to them non-stop all month before the show, getting all hyped up.

Finally, the day came around for the trip down! June 26th. Since I have work, We just decided to go down that day, and leave the next day. Just a two-day quick trip. We wanted to make the best out of our time down there, so we set a plan to visit as many friends as possible. It worked out, and we were able to visit many of you many lovelies down in Utah! Sorry for all those who we weren't able to see. Next time around, for sure!



First, we saw Sara (Tomás' sister) in Salt Lake, had some lunch, and saw Moonrise Kingdom at the Broadway Centre Theatre downtown. It's an independent film by Wes Anderson (director of Fantastic Mr. Fox, for those of you who don't know who he is). We love his films. They are so quirky, unique, and 70s like. We loved it! So great. I'd very much recommend it to anyone. Afterwards, we headed to Alyssa & Gideon's, since they were gracious enough to let us stay the night at their place. (Which by the way, is ADORABLE, and so are they.) We had a great time catching up with them that afternoon and evening after the show.

Next: Keane. AH! The doors for the show opened at 6pm, so we got in line around 5:20ish. It was SO hot and sunny the whole time we were down there, which was nice. Time seemed to pass pretty fast until we got in and waited for the opening band to start.





While we were standing our ground in front of the stage, we met a girl named Carly, who was able to go to a meet and greet earlier that day with Keane, and got two signed photographs from them. AND she gave one of them to us! How cool of her, right? Yeah.

Kiev, a band from southern California, opened for Keane, and we loved them. They have a really cool, alternative rock Radiohead kind of sound. They really jammed out, and incorporated many different instruments and sounds. They were on the bluesy side a little bit, with a saxophonist, but I loved them.



After them was KEANE! We were lucky enough to basically be right in front next to the stage for the show. I only had two ladies in front of me, and I was behind them in the middle. The show was AMAZING. First of all, they sound great, and I got some amazing pictures being so close! My iPhone camera isn't an SLR, but it took a few great pictures! Close enough to see Tom's set list too, which was cool. I also recorded "Somewhere only we know" for Tomás. Check it:

The crowd was loving it, and we were super loud. The crowd sang every single word of every song they played. It was crazy! We were so loud, that sometimes it was hard for me to even hear Tom singing. I think it surprised them a little but too, us singing and being as crazy as we were. I guess Mormons really like Keane! LOL. You'll see what I mean in the video. Tom calls us the "Utah State Choir". HAH. Yeah. You can see it here.

As the show was nearing the end, and the crowd was getting a little crazier, people starting reaching their hands toward Tom for him to grab, yanno? I always thought that was a little weird. I mean, he's just another human being. What's the big deal with him touching your hand? Anyway, I thought, what the heck, I'm pretty close so I'll try too. And, he shook my hand! So, it's kind of like I met him, right? haha. That's what I'd like to think. Nice to meet you too!

After the show, I got a Keane shirt, and Tomás got to meet the opening band he really liked. Overall, it was an awesome experience. I've never been that close to an international band before. It was unreal! They were a lot of fun.

The next morning we surprised Tomás' grandparents in Provo with a visit, and also got to see Sara again, his aunt Sonia, which was nice. They are so cute! We also surprised my sister-in-law Aja, and her two kids with a visit, and my brother Jordan while he was at work. After that, we headed back up to SLC to visit our friend Emily Lee at work during her lunch break, and saw my friend Carolee Beckham after that in her home. I got to see her adorable baby finally! And he, is quite the charmer.



Our last stop was grabbing some lunch with Dave & Diane Moncion at City Creek. Man, are they hilarious. It was so great to see some of these friends that I haven't been able to see for much too long. Around 5:30pm we headed back up to Nampa! It was such a great trip!

Life on 11th Avenue

Hey everyone! I realize it's been too long since I blogged about us. Life hasn't been too extraordinary lately, but I'll let you in on a few cool things coming up, and what we've been up to. Mostly, we're STILL getting settled into our home. We finally have the sprinklers up and running well, we bought a few more pieces of furniture to add and use as storage space. Currently, the band equipment is taking up most of the space in the living room. Life has been going well! We try to go on little outings here and there to get to know the area. We headed downtown Boise a while ago just to explore the area, and the next morning hit up the Saturday Market. It's pretty sweet!

We officially heard back from the Nampa School District about Tomás' teaching job for next year, and he's hired back! We kind of hoped/assumed/thought they would hire him back, but he still had to shoot through the hoops and apply and interview just like everyone else. Luckily, they wanted him over everyone else! So, we know he'll be teaching Spanish at Skyview High School for the next school year. Woohoo!

I'm still teaching dance and working at Dairy Queen. Idaho Rhythm just had their last performance hurrah of the season, and my kids did so great! They love me. :)

Tomás is LOVING having the summers off, and is playing music non-stop. We have band practice twice a week, and it's been a lot of fun. We did a benefit concert at Skyview a few weeks ago, and it was a great experience. You can check out the post about that, and lots of other cool stuff on our band blog here.

I'm exciting for the end of this month, because we got concert tickets for Keane in SLC! I'm stoked!! I love love love Keane. It will be my first experience seeing them live, same for Tomás too. In July, we will perform at the Boise Music Festival, and right after that drive to visit Portland! Yay. We also recently both got called into working with the youth at church, so we'll be going together on their Youth Conference as soon as we get back from Portland. Tomás' parents will be visiting us at the beginning of August, and my family will come visit us in the middle of August. It will be a great and adventurous summer, with lots of family!

Cinco de Mayo Housewarming Party

Now that we're finally, and mostly settled into our home, we thought we would throw a housewarming party! Cinco de Mayo was a perfect day for it, so we made some yummy Mexican food, and had a piñata for the kiddies. It was tons of fun, and we had a great turnout. Here are some shots from the party! Thanks again to everyone who came, and all the great housewarming gifts we got!

     

Our New Home!

Hey everyone! I know most of you have heard, but in case you haven't, we bought a new home! It's a cute little two bedroom, one bath 912 square feet home with a small backyard, and shed. We have high hopes for this little home! We are still in the process of getting new furniture (or rather, real furniture) for our home, so pardon the ghetto furniture for now. I think it will still be awhile before we are really, fully settled, but here are some pictures for now! The study is still a mess, so sorry about that. And, I haven't really decorated yet, but once we have a new bed and some new couches, I'll start putting up pictures and what not. Most of our current furniture was cheap cheap cheap, or DI, soooo it's time to upgrade! Especially with a home and all. Let us know what you think!

 Living/dining room...

 Front entryway...

 Master Bedroom...

 Study...

 Tiny bathroom.... :)

 Kitchen...

 Laundry room. Yes, it was a miracle that they fit. The ground is not level in this room.

 Backyard/shed....

 Back porch area...

 Forsythia tree in our backyard!