I Left My Heart in San Francisco

This post is way late, but I still wanted to share. This fall I had an awesome opportunity to attend the PRSSA National Conference! The conference was held in San Francisco and like my title hinted, the theme was, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". 

For anyone that doesn't know, PRSSA stands for Public Relations Student Society of America. I am currently the secretary of the chapter here at BYU-Idaho. PRSSA is a great experience because it is a national society and is the student society for the much larger, Public Relations Society of America. Each year they hold competitions, regional conferences and national conference all for the student members of PRSSA. In addition, all of the chapters across the nation work on public relation campaigns for their communities. 

Anyway, this was the gang! Just the five of us went to San Francisco this year and it was a blast. We got to learn from professionals across the country including Biz Stone (Co-Founder of Twitter), Emma Shiflet (Recruiting Coordinator at Edelman), Tim Westergren (Founder of Pandora), and soo many more! Hearing their messages were inspirational. Biz Stone spoke about making your own success. He related his high school experiences with sports to the founding of Twitter. Tim Westergren explained that the creation of pandora came only after he spent a lifetime as a musician and hanging out with musicians. he simply wanted a way to help them be heard! Lastly, Emma Shiflet and so many representatives from PR firms taught me the most. The main message I received was to be aggressive when it comes to job searching and how to do that. 

The conference was only a few days so unfortunately we could not do everything, but we got to have some fun in San Fran besides learning. 

As you can see, we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge! We went to Ghirradelli Square and ate the most delicious pumkin spice chocolates! And we were able to see China Town. 

Funny story about China Town...we only got to eat there once so we had to pick the best place! Soo, we looked online for the best reviews and found this tiny little restaurant that was tucked away upstairs in this old building. I am so sad because I can't even remember the name, but when we walked in, there was literally a audible pause in conversation as every person in the restaurant looked at us strangely. We were the only white people there and obviously not many of us went to that restaurant. Haha Then when we sat down, the waitress made sure to help everyone that was asian before us, even if they walked in after us! How rude! But other than the discrimination, the food was absolutely delicious! I am glad we were able to find a hole in the wall place in China Town!

Anyway, there you have it! A very brief summary of my first trip to San Francisco. Thanks for reading:)

  

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Since cooking has become my new hobby, I thought I would start sharing my Pinterest masterpieces!! Pinterest is wonderful, yes it has links to all sorts of websites but lets be honest, the best websites are cooking blogs! I don't have a cook book, I just use Pinterest! 

Anyway, Blaze and I have a new favorite. it is super delicious but probably not very nutritious. It is bacon wrapped chicken! I mean how can you go wrong if bacon is involved right.

So here are the ingredients: 

4-6 Boneless skinless tenderloins

4-6 pieces of bacon

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

Simply wrap the chicken in bacon then top with soup and sour cream. Cover with foil and bake at 225 for four hours then uncover and cook at 350 for fifteen minutes! It may not look pretty, but it tastes like heaven! I suggest you try it

 

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Malan's! 

I know I am posting this way after Halloween, but this is the first time I found a moment to sit down and write a post! Anyway, Blaze and I had so much fun this Halloween. We carved pumpkins with Vanessa and Preston and made some delicious homemade caramel apples. Thanks Guys! In case you can't tell, we also dressed up as zombie doctors. We normally don't get so into celebrating Halloween, but after watching The Walking Dead this year we got pretty excited to pretend we were zombies for a night! The Walking Dead is gruesome and intense and I can't believe I like to watch it but I do. Marriage has really changed me! haha The pumpkin face we carved is what my face looks like when I watch it!

I hope you had a happy Halloween this year! Thanks for reading!

The Ward Campout

Love Him!!

Scariest and most rickety bike I have ever been on...but still fun!

Mesa Falls

A couple weekends ago Blaze and I went on the ward campout and it turned out being so much fun. I was worried about going because first of all we didn't have a tent, and second of all we had to miss the cool Rexburg Air show. (I am still a little sad we missed that) But it was well worth it to have the chance to see the forest and meet friends in the ward!

Anyway, the campout was at our Bishop's cabin in Island Park Idaho right next to the Teton national forest and only 20 minutes from Yellowstone National Park. I think that pretty much tells you what a beautiful location it was! The cabin is situated right on a serene and very secluded lake. We were able to kayak and be the only ones on the water. It was so relaxing after a stressful week of school. I have decided having a summer home here rivals having a beach house in california! 

Unfortunately the night was not as relaxing as the daytime kayaking! We had this great idea to sleep under the stars since we had no tent. We did have an inflatable mattress on our hands so we decided to sleep in the bed of the truck. Well, we learned that no matter how many quilts you have on top of you, an air mattress will never warm up underneath you! That's why we woke up at 3 a.m. and used the heater in the truck to warm us up. Lucky we had a heater because it turns out everyone in tents were freezing too. We probably got about three hours of sleep apiece. On the bright side, we saw about five shooting stars in a half hour of star gazing! I have never seen so many stars!

Next, we decided to stop by Mesa Falls since it was on the scenic route home! I would highly suggest Mesa Falls for anyone who is on their way to Yellowstone or just wants to see something beautiful. It is  a set of waterfalls from 85-110 feet tall. It is also home to a historical restored lodge where travellers would stop as early as 1915. 

Blaze is such a cutie

Perfect Rainbow!

Alright, well that concludes our most recent outings. Thanks for listening!

The Week before school starts...

Okay, so Blaze and I arrived in Rexburg around the beginning of April, right before spring break. I figured we would have fun decorating the apartment but I didn't realize how much free time we would have on our hands! After being busy with school and work it is hard to sit around! Everyone in the neighboring apartments seemed to be moving out or out of town so we pretty much had to entertain ourselves. Turns out, we not only decorated we painted, we cooked, and we watched a TON of movies!

First, we learned to cook a few things! This Easter was the first holiday I ever made a meal by myself and I am not gonna lie, I was pretty proud! Our Easter consisted of all the essentials, Ham, Cheesy potatoes, rolls, deviled eggs, salad, and green beans! Besides the fact that the first batch of rolls burned, the egg shells hardly came off the eggs, and the ham was a little overcooked I would say it was a good start to cooking! hahaha

After Easter was when the boredom really hit! So I decided to try to paint some furniture. I made Blaze help too! This was risky because the last time I tried to paint my bedroom furniture it was a disaster! Anyway, I wanted to paint a side table red to add some color to our living room. I had some doubts about doing red, but I think it turned out really good! We sanded it down first...NOTE: Sanding by hand is not very fun.

Next, we painted. I used Kensington brand from Ace that had the primer mixed in. Lastly, Blaze got out his Dremel and we distressed the edges to give it that cottage look. It turned out bright, but it was exactly what the Living room needed! We love it!

Alright, the final adventure of our week was...wait for it...meatloaf!! Unlike my family, Blazes family loves meatloaf, or maybe it is just Blaze. Either way, I decided to try to make it. For anyone who has never made meatloaf beware the mixing! Okay I am exaggerating, but mixing the raw meat by hand was pretty gross!

After making the meatloaf, I would say it was one of the better things we have made! 

So there you have it! That completes the chronicle of our week before school starts! We are on our way to cooking gourmet!! Haha almost, we will see if we keep it up when school starts! Thanks for listening!

JUST MARRIED!!

   January 6th, 2012 was the perfect day for a wedding!! Blaze and I were married in the Mesa, Arizona Temple at 12:00 noon. The day was jam-packed with activities. But before I get to that...let me tell you about the night before!
    The night before our marriage Blazes family threw him a "Tool Shower" where everyone showers the groom with tools! It was so fun and Blaze got so many tools! Some of our favorites were the barbecue set, tool box, dremel, tool set, shower head, and more! Thanks everyone! That night Blaze took what he thought was a sleeping pill and that is where things got interesting! Blaze started acting very weird and pretty soon the guys got a video camera! Geesh! Blaze called me later and I could tell something wasn't right! The night before our wedding and suddenly Blaze is out of it. He told me the same story twice in a row...and I won't mention what the story was about! Lets just say, that night I started getting really really really anxious!!
   The next morning was a rush! I was beautified by some amazing girls; Metzli and Jenny did my makeup and hair and I am soo grateful for their work! I think the best part of being a bride is feeling beautiful and they helped me do that! Metzli works for Mac makeup and she used these amazing fake eyelashes on me. They had to be glued on individually so it was quite a process. Next Jenny did my hair from a picture I found and she was under harsh time constraints! She is amazing!
   I was so nervous that morning. Not only was Blaze's pill fiasco on my mind, but I was getting Married that day too! My dad and sister were witnesses of my craziness. I was scrambling and stressed, I was rambling and rash! Once I saw Blaze however, the day turned around. It was a dream. We took pictures before going into the temple and then we had a beautiful ceremony with so many of our family and friends able to attend! What a blessing! And luckily Blaze had recovered from the sleeping/anxiety pill he took!
   After the ceremony we had a luncheon. Our parents gave speeches as well as the Best Man and Maid of Honor and we were soo appreciative! The speeches almost made me cry! Finally, we moed to our reception where we had a bigger turnout than I could have ever hoped!! Everything seemed to come together at the last minute and after all the stress of the months we were able to chat, dance, and enjoy! I love our families and friends and all the support they give us!

   As for now, we are back from the Honeymoon (which I will have to write about later) and we are loving married life. Who knew life could be this good!