European Adventure--Warwick Castle

The morning after our visit to Chatsworth House, we got to go to Warwick Castle, a real castle from way back in the day. They've revamped a lot of it and put in a bunch of wax people and such to show how people really would have lived back when this castle was in use. They also have a few actors that walk around and take pictures with you and talk to you. Some of them were funny, some were cute, others were down right creepy. The castle would be really awesome for kids to go see, and we did have fun, but it was kind of cheesy. However, they have a real dungeon that we got to go into and see where people were kept. It was too dark to take pictures down there, but it was definitely spooky. I'm glad I won't have to be kept in there for anything. It was icky, in a cool and interesting kind of way. We also got to see a trebuchet (spelling?) be shot off, it flung this giant rock a few football field lengths away. At Warwick they also have a falconry show, a jousting show, and a swordfighting/archery show, but we weren't there long enough to see those (much to Logan's dismay).

This is a ginormous picture frame that is carved out of pine and then completely gold-leafed. It is so intricate and ornate and difficult to make that there are only 5 in the world, and they had two in the same room right there at Warwick.

Logan with Princess Giselle

Plague infested peasant people. They were nice enough to let me hold their baby though!

Logan getting ready to go off to war with Edward, the King Maker. They went to war and helped England win some sort of battle which put some king in the throne. I can't really remember the story, but they had a huge walk through museum thing that told the whole tale, and you got to see actors and wax people performing various tasks around the castle.

This, my friends are a sexy, sexy pair of Medieval Panties. Complete with waist and leg draw strings. Hot, I know.

European Adventure--Chatsworth House

After our little Blackpool adventure, we got to get on with the REAL fun of being in Europe with the love of your life. We took two days to get to London, and did a few site seeing doodahs on the way.

Our first mini stop was to the Preston, England Temple. It was the first clean place we had seen in over a week since Blackpool isn't exactly classy or clean in the slightest. We wanted to just kiss the ground and hug the temple. The temple is one of the smaller ones, and it is right next to the Preston MTC. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous.

In front of the gorgeous temple.

Walking the grounds and absolutely loving all the flowers and trees.

After visiting the temple we stopped at Chatsworth House. This is where the Duke and Duchess of something (I can't remember right now) currently live. The Pride and Prejudice movies were filmed here. I have never seen these movies, but after seeing the grounds, I've been dying to watch them...so if anyone would like to have a movie party, I'll bring treats. I'm just sayin'....

These grounds are AMAZING. Take the Thanksgiving Pointe Gardens and times them by about 14. They are just incredible. We had scheduled about 3 hours to walk around the gardens, but we all ended up staying about 6. The house was amazing too...so ornate. They definitely like to be flashy with their decor. The whole time we were there we kept saying how much we wished we could bring over our whole family to see just this very place. It was just so incredible.

My favorite part of the gardens. They have a sprinkler type thing that looks like a weeping willow. The steel are the branches, and the water is the leaves hanging down. You can run around in it, or just sit and admire. It really is just so gorgeous.

The had a REAL LIFE hedge maze--like in all the movies! They really do exist! Logan and I found our way to the middle pretty easy, it was getting out that was the hard part!

Most gorgeous flowers ever.

Inside the house...this dining room was MASSIVE!! It was to serve all of their guests at their outrageous parties. They had a menu displayed and it was a full ten course meal.

Intricate wood carvings on the walls. This all was one chunk of wood, and they cut out the flowers and made them pop out of the wood. Amazing.

Reason #28372 I wish I could bring the whole family over to this place. Not only would Deana just flip out over the gardens, but they had a big dress up room that you could try on costumes of their era. They also had a big playground for the kids.

European Adventure--Blackpool

Alright, the start of the European Adventure for Team Spence. We were able to go to England and France for three weeks for me to dance with the UVU Ballroom Tour Team. We left very early May 28th and after a flight to JFK, a layover that was supposed to be 1 hour that turned into 4 1/2, and another flight to Manchester, we arrived the next morning. We were so extremely tired, but despite our horrible night sleep on the plane, we stayed up all that day to try to adjust to the 7 hour time change. Our first stop on our tour was to Blackpool, what I affectionately refer to as the armpit of the planet.

It was a very good thing that this was our first stop on the trip, because after London and Paris, it would have killed me to be trapped in this town for 6 days. However, it was at the beginning, and although we were bored during the day, the reason we were there was exciting. We danced in the Formation Team World Championships at Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, and ended up taking 4th place...in the world...so not too shabby in my books. I was in the Standard Medley, which was titled Tres Secret Medley, and was French Themed.

Our hotel we stayed at was called the Ascot Hotel, and a man named Ian owned it. He was so incredibly sweet, and his hotel was so cute. If I ever HAD to stay in Blackpool again, I would totally go back to this place. Our days consisted of me going to rehearsals (held in a tiny church's activity room...like a cultural hall only smaller) very early in the morning, rehearsing for about an hour, and then rushing back to the hotel to shower before the latin girls could get home and take all the hot water. Logan and I would get ready for the day, and then about an hour and a half after I got home from rehearsal, we'd head down to the common room for a "full english breakfast" which I think I could live my whole life without eating another one, but it was nice to not have to worry about buying another meal during the day. A full english breakfast is a heart attack on a plate....We'd start of with some really yummy cereal (my favorite was Crunchy Nut, which is a cross between honeynut cherrios and honey bunches of oats), yogurt, and grapefruit segments. And then they'd bring out the cardiac arrest platters--baked beans (not even joking), fried eggs, "bacon" which is a huge slab of hammy/bacon type meat, hashbrowns, fry bread (deep fried pieces of toast, I never ate mine, but Logan did the first day and described it as soggy and sick at the same time), racks of regular toast, and fried tomatoes. Not gourmet, but it was a meal we didn't have to pay for, so we ate it.

After breakfast, we were free to explore the town as we chose. Blackpool is like a washed up carnival that came to town and never really left. There were two piers with carnival type things. The night that the girls had to get ready for the competitions with tanning lotions and stuff like that, Logan and two of the other husbands on the trip went and gambled a little at one of them...they lost everything...all like 25 pence. The town was right on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean, so we walked around there a few times. There was an indoor water park that we went to with the largest indoor water slide roller coaster in the world. Claim to fame, peeps. There was a decent shopping mall that we went to and tried on clothes we could never afford.

Wednesday, June 2, we competed the Standard Medley, and that Friday they competed the Michael Jackson themed Latin Medley (they took 5th, but they truly got robbed and should have taken 3rd, seriously). Here are some pictures from our Blackpool adventure...

Logan, Me, and Dane on the Flight to JFK

The Ascot Hotel, where we stayed

The Standard Team at Band Call, the morning before we competed. I'm the first girl from the left, with my partner Nick.

Yeah, this basically sums up Blackpool

Us on the beach, kissing because we love each other.

Logan and Me at the Winter Gardens Ballroom after the competition. There were three VERY FULL balconies all the way around the room watching us compete...talk about nerve racking!

I had to dye my hair dark brown for the competition. It washed out mostly...some spots in my hair was tinted red for a few days after the competition.

Me and my honey. And I love our hats we got to wear.

The team all in costume. I'm the 4th girl from the left. It was hard to tell us all apart with matching hair, makeup, dresses, hats, and even nails...we all had to have super long red nails for the competition. We also had red lacy garters under our dresses that we showed off when we did kicks and stuff, mostly in the finale.

We survived Europe, I swear.

Logan and I have now been back from Europe for over a week, so I can't say I was just at the Eiffel Tower just last week anymore...sniff...

But we have oodles of pictures and I swear that I will post them soon. I'm not sure how soon. I am currently at UVU's Library, where I'm SUPPOSED to be studying and researching for a paper I have to write for Dance History, the bane of my degree and sole reason I sometimes consider just getting pregnant so I can drop out (kidding, most of the time). This class is insane, and me doing it in 7 weeks instead of 16 is also insane. So, as I periodically have mental breakdowns and burst into hysterical tears for the remainder of my summer, I'll try my best to remind myself that I ASKED FOR THIS and THIS IS A GOOD THING SO I CAN JUST FOCUS ON THIS ONE CLASS. But I will still inevitably whine I am sure. And I apologize in advance.

Pictures to come. I promise.

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum

As a newlywed, I'm always on the look out for easy, delicious recipes to make for my cutie patootie husband. You see, he's kind of a WAY better person than I am, and I know this, so I have to keep him hooked somehow...and he likes food...so I try to even the playing field by cooking for him.

Enter the most delicious soup I have EVER made in my entire life. I know this is kind of geeky to put a recipe up here...but I made it on Sunday, and just finished off the last of the left overs and it really was just so incredibly delicious, I think you should all try it. I got it in a Pampered Chef recipe book thing that Alicia gave me after she went to a Pampered Chef bridal shower and we watched her kids.

Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

3 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs)
3 1/2 C milk, divided
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T butter
2-3 green onions with tops (1/4 C)
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t coarsely ground black pepper
Option toppings such as chopped cooked bacon, sour cream, or steamed broccoli florets (We added broccoli and corn and it was splendid)

1. Slice Potatoes in half lengthwise, place in Deep Covered Baker (or any other microwavable casserole-type dish). Pour 1/2 cup of the milk over the potatoes. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 11 minutes. Remove baker from microwave. Move center potatoes to ends of baker and outer potatoes to center. Cover; microwave on HIGH 8-11 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Remove from microwave. Coarsely mash potatoes.

This is where I had to change the recipe to fit our needs in the tiny-ness of the love shack...I'll put what the recipe says, and then say what I ended up doing.

(Pampered Chef version)
2. Meanwhile,whisk cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add remaining 3 cups milk, whisking until smooth. Add cream cheese mixture and butter to baker. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 3-5 minutes until mixture is hot. Slice green onions.

3. Carefully remove baker from microwave. Grate cheddar cheese over chowder; add green onions, salt, black pepper, and mix until cheese is melted, serve with toppings, if desired.

(Camille version)

2. Whisk together cream cheese and milk like above, but instead of adding milk to baker, transfer potatoes to biggish soup pot and add cream cheese mixture. Heat on stove at medium until hot.

3. While the soup mixture is heating up, add salt and pepper, green onions, as well as broccoli, frozen corn, or any other things you think might sound delicious. We also added a little Hidden Valley Ranch because Logan is OBSESSED with it. The veggies cooked while the soup was heating up quite nicely. At the very end, add the cheese and stir until melted. It was a little thin at first, but after taking it off the heat, it thickened up.

Yield: 6 servings (8 cups)


It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and it turned out so delicious! I'm going to have to go buy more potatoes and make this one again really soon! We just loved it! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!

Tennis Lessons

I have decided to take advantage of having a personal tennis coach as a roommate/best friend/husband. Mind you, I am NOT sporty at all, and my hand eye coordination is crap, but today for FHE I suggested I cook us some dinner (delicious avocado ranch burgers, salad, and some watermelon) and afterwards we go out and play a little tennis. Logan looked at me like I was nuts...I'd cook him dinner AND play his favorite sport with him?!?! He was excited none the less.

Dude, I really did have so much fun though. I'm not very good, but Logan was so cute and patient with me. He worked on me with my swing and trying to put spin on, which I think is way over my head because I'm still having a hard time following through with my swing, but I really did enjoy myself. I know I still have a long ways to go. Max and Logan just make it look so easy when I go and watch them play!! I think Logan had a lot of fun too, he was talking about going home and watching pros play so I could watch their swing. I wouldn't mind if I had to watch Roger Federer (my tennis boyfriend). He's a cutie patootie.

At the end of my lesson, Logan helped me work on my Kick Serve...where you throw the ball in the air and arch your back and whack it hard. Logan's got a good kick serve. Camille needs work. Lots and lots of work. I don't think Logan would mind too much, he'd get to play more often, even if it was klutzy me.

Also, Logan looks so incredibly hot doing a kick serve. But then again, I do have the hottest tennis coach out there.

The Love Shack

This is The Love Shack. Not just any Love Shack, the Spence Love Shack. Yes, do you see this teensy, weensy box of an apartment? This is where we live. Don't let your eyes fool you into thinking maybe it's bigger than it appears. It is most definitely as small as it looks. And we love it here.

Through the front door is our kitchen/living room/laundry room all rolled into one. One step down the hall is the bathroom...with a tiny shower and a toilet you have to slide into like a desk with the sink right over your lap. One more step down the hall, and you reach the bedroom. Our bed is so long we can't ever shut the bedroom door. We've had to get really creative with our storage situation, and it looks like a bomb went off if you set just one thing down, but we're making it work. It has gorgeous wood floors and beautiful cabinets. The bathroom was remodeled right before we moved in and the shower has pretty tiles in it. There are tons of windows all over that we love to open and feel the breeze come through our home. Our landlords are awesome people, and let us have free access to their hot tub, fire pit, and grill, which we are loving now that it's not snowy anymore. Our neighbors are fantastic. The ward is great. And we really just love it. As the words from my favorite song go....The Love Shack is a little place where we can get together, yeah. Well, except we can't fit more than 4 adults in the place. But we still have couple dinner parties as often as we can. I love having my own place to entertain in!

We moved in last June, after everything had bloomed and this spring has been so gorgeous seeing all of the trees covered in flowers. My favorite is the tree right next to our front porch. It smells fantastic and has beautiful pink blossoms all over it. Anyone know what tree it is just by looking at it? I told Logan we have to get one when we are grown up and have our own house.


Aren't these just gorgeous? They smell so wonderful too! This tree makes me smile everytime I go outside of our little home. It's just the best tree ever. I'm quite attached.