Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since we blogged! We are officially blogging losers!
I guess maybe its the belief that I have to have an amazing topic in order to post.

Jared and I have been really busy with the restaurant. It takes a lot of work to make a business run smoothly! But I'm having a blast doing it! (I'm sure Jared is too, but I'm not going to speak for him) Oh wait, I just asked him. He said he's having lots of fun, and that I can speak for him anytime I want. So he also said that I am going to be getting a whole new wardrobe just for being such a wonderful wife. He's such a sweet husband. It is so nice to really enjoy being at work. I love the girls that I work with, they are all such neat people.

It has been such a beautiful fall. Jared and I went for a canyon cruise a couple of weeks ago and took some amazing pictures. (The picture at the top and bottom are from that drive) Sometimes I hate Utah weather so much. Mostly in the winter. But fall makes me remember how much I would miss living here. I love the changes in the seasons. The smells. The colors. So amazing.

Finally a blog!

Jared and I have been up to a lot in the last month! We are now both working full FULL time at the Smoke house, which has been really fun. It's about time we worked together again since that's how we met! We went to Bear Lake at the beginning of August which was WONDERFUL. Bear Lake is such a magical place.

This picture was taken on the way there, it was such a beautiful day. We left Saturday morning to make a really quick trip. We were meeting Jared's family there to cram as much fun as possible into a short weekend.










I really loved the yellow grass against the sky. There are about 50 pictures just like this on my camera from various places along the way there.










This was on the way as well.










This is a really neat kite Jared bought for our last trip to Bear Lake. It's really neat. It's such a huge kite it lifts you off the ground sometimes.













These are some pictures I took at the lake. I just love the color of the water!


































We had so much fun. It was so nice to get to know Jared's parents and his sister and her family a little bit better. They are such wonderful people.

At the end of August we went on our yearly concert road trips to Morrison, CO to the Red Rock Amphitheater. We left Friday morning to get there Friday night. Saturday night was the first concert. It was Bob Weir and Ratdog and The Allman Brothers. WOW such an amazing concert! They played so well and played all of our favorites! Sunday night we went back for the second concert. That night was Umphries Magee( They were pretty cool) and Gov't Mule. We always love seeing Gov't Mule. This night was especially good, they played the best songs. They covered-The Doors, Greatful Dead, The Beatles, and played a bunch of their songs too. It was our first time to Red Rocks. It was such a beautiful place. The whole place was surrounded with red rocks. For the second year in a row we saw a Rainbow during the Gov't Mule concert. I always love rainbows- especially when I have a camera.


















This was our view at the concert. Denver is in the background.



































On the drive home we saw an amazing sunset. It was the perfect end to a great trip. We drove through Wyoming on the way home and stopped in Cheyenne where Jared lived when he was a kid. It was really fun to see where he played when he was a little boy. We also stopped and visited his brother Josh. It was really nice to see him. I love going on road trips with just me and Jared. I can't wait to start planning our next trip. We always have the most fun of our lives .

Busy busy busy!

We just finished a really really long week at the smokehouse. I have been neglecting my blogging duties because of it. I actually have 3 blogs in mind and ready to blog- but I can't seem to find the time or motivation to do it. I will though. I promise. I think tomorrow. Maybe. I might sleep all day............Joni

Yet again

My turn to blog and I've totally dropped the ball. But we are heading to Bear Lake this weekend so I will have something to blog about on Monday. I'm going to take lots of pictures too. Bear Lake is the most magical, beautiful lake on earth. We are really excited!

hmm... JT's Smokehouse... future is fun

Wow, how do I even begin...
So my latest obsession has been smoked meats and grilled goodness. I've read this book my hunny got me for Christmas "peace love and bbq" and have scanned the internet and watched show after show on the past, present, future (and everywhere in between) on smokin' and bbqn', trying to learn everything I can (the best things I've learned so far come in the form of little clues and hints). I've been daydreaming of having my own place one day, just a little place that Joni and I could run somewhere in a small town. I love the thought of friends and family comin' in with smiles and hugs and tummies ready for delicious food, then leavin' with full bellies and a happy memory.
I started building a smoker out of a 55 gallon barrel (I got for free from a customer I deliver materials to in Castle Dale, Utah). I've started making bbq sauce and rubs out of my favorite bbq book and I'm trying to add and take away stuff here and there to come up with something liplickin delicious.
My plan was to get pretty good at smokin some ribs and pork butts and shoulders and give most of it away here and there and try to work up some catering jobs and friendly customers and try to get some word of mouth goin' round for the next few years, and see where that would take us.
The other day I was sitting at the Smokehouse in Orem ( a decent bbq joint that smokes their meat). I hadn't made a lunch and I was also curious to taste their brisket with no bbq sauce, just to do some taste buddin' (that's my own invention of words). I saw a email address while I was sittin there eating... I decided right then I'm gonna write to this address and tell them how I feel and maybe I'll get a job making 9 bucks but at least I'll be smokin meat and getting some real experience.
Well, I'm just gonna copy and paste our conversation, it went like this:

Hello Jon or whomever is reading this email.

I want to work with you. I love bbq. I love good food and good family. I currently am working on a bbq sause and a rub for smoking or grilling meats. I've tried all kinds of recipes and usually invent something different each week or so. Lately our favorite has been bbq corn on the cob with a mayo/mazzerella/magicdust finish, very tasty. I only have experience with grilling and cooking on a stove and in the oven but I'm working on converting a 55 gallon drum into a smoker, and I've been studying from the greats like Mike Mills and other masters so I'll be ready when I start.

I live in Provo, 32 years old, and have been happily married for a little over a year. I cook on the grill at least everyother day. I drive a truck for a construction supply company and make a meager blahblah blah a year. I dont know if thats a salary you pay people, and I dont even know if youre hiring, but I have a dream to open my own bbq joint one day and if youre hiring I'd like to come and spend my sweat and talents doing what I love doing. And what I love doing is cooking food that makes people smile and say "mmm mmm thats good".

Thanks for your time,

Jared Terry

If you have a minute please let me know if youre interested in my help.

And Reply:

Jared,

I like your enthusiasm.

I have been financing / licensing out my Orem and Spanish Fork restaurants to my general managers on 10 year loans and might want to do the same with the Provo location at some point.

Tell you what, let's meet and see if this would be a good match. If so, I will make you the general manager in Provo for 6 months at your current pay (blah blah a month).

If I like the job you are doing, I would sell Provo to you on the same deal as I have done with my other managers. If not, no big deal-- you would have more experience and be able to get another job as an electrician or restaurant manager elsewhere-- and the next six months would be a good test for you and you can try out your dream.

When can you meet?

Jon

So... Last night Joni and I had a double date with Jon and his wife Jen. We spent about 4 1/2 hours talking laughing getting to know each other and walking around the establishment being introduced to everyone as This is Jared and Joni they are the new owners. Jon and Jen are classy fun and very nice down to earth people. We really liked them. And they gave us the opportunity to manage and eventually own if want.
This has been a miracle so far. A dream coming into fruition. But most of all a blessing from the Lord. Maybe he's blessing us because Joni means so much to him (i could understand that), because I know I don't deserve it, but without a doubt Heavenly Father has placed his hands on our heads and smiled on us.
I'm so grateful. I also feel a little overwhelmed and nervous, but I like to be in the drivers seat, and that's how this feels cause the potential is all up to us. It's gonna rock I tell you what.
Were gonna thank the Lord and make this a good experience for us and for the whole population of the world who will eventually have a tummy full of smoked and bbq'd yummy goodness.

The 4th of July (a week later)

I am an incredibly unmotivated and lazy person. I have been putting off writing about the 4th of July all week. But I was kindly reminded this morning by my awesome husband that it was my turn to blog AND it had been a week(or longer) since our last blog. So here I am. The sad thing is that I really love the idea of blogging. I have 100 ideas that I would love to blog about. But when it comes down to it I have a really hard time with the delivery. I think I slept through english writing. I don't write well. I have a terrible time putting my thoughts to words. So hang in there with me- I think the more I do it the better I will be.

We started our independence day by getting up at 6:30am to go to a flag raising ceremony. It took place at a good friend of Jareds. He was in the army for years and years, has since retired and he does this ceremony every year. It was a different experience for me, but it was wonderful. There was a bunch of songs performed and a couple of talks and then a little breakfast right after. It was a nice way to get in the mood for a day with family and friends to celebrate our independence. After that we went to Mom and Pop Terrys to get the ingredients we needed to cook for the BBQ later that day. Jared was in charge of making some yummy baked beans that we got from his bbq book. They were delicious! In the process of cooking those we discovered that our oven doesn't really work very well. After 45 minutes in the oven they were barely even warm. Fortunately we had started cooking early enough just in case something like that happened. So we threw them in the crockpot and headed back to the Terrys to eat some good food.


Jared was also in charge of grilling the corn. He found a really cool way to do it. You grill the corn and then put mayo, mozzarella, and magic dust(spices) on it. We found the more cheese the better. I'm not sure they are very good for my diet, but I was a good sport and ate them anyway. Ok, so no one really had to twist my arm. What can I say- corn is really good that way. And it was a holiday. So I'm good. Right?

After a few hours of eating and having a wonderful time visiting with the family we headed over to Mom and Dad Martins for the Stadium of fireworks. Their front yard is perfect for watching them. Even though we were totally stuffed we couldn't resist the cookies and other goodies my parents had out for everyone.

Overall I would say it was one of the best 4ths I've had. We had a really nice time with our wonderful families and each other.

Bob said...
Sounds like a fun time. I've never heard of Government Mule (or is it Govt Mule?), but I'm sure they're a fun group to listen to.

Jared replies...

Gov't Mule is their name, but it's spoken the same and the meaning is the same, referring to the 40 acres and a mule that were given out to the head of enslaved families (bless their souls) after the civil war.

It was tons of fun, half way through they busted out with "After Midnight" (Clapton) and they played it for hours it seemed, actually it was about 11 min but it was so sweet. I love jam bands cause they give you time to laugh and dance for a while then get to the heart of the song with you fully involved. Plus I just love getting into a good groove and letting it go.

You know those songs that you love, but when they end you think "dang I wish they would keep going with that tune."? I always feel that way, even after hearing Grateful Dead play Dark Star for an hour I don't want it to stop. It feels too good. Let the good love flow untapped.

Great Concert

On Tuesday Jared and I went and saw Bob Weir and Ratdog and Gov't Mule at The Depot in Salt Lake City. For those of you who aren't familiar- Bob Weir was the rhythm guitarist and other vocalist for The Grateful Dead, and Ratdog are friends to him. They mostly play Grateful Dead tunes, but they have some original stuff too. It was incredible. Somehow we managed to get front and (almost) center for the entire show. We had so much fun dancing and singing and enjoying the music and our surroundings.

We are going to Colorado to see them again in August at Red Rocks- except this time it's 2 days worth AND The Allman Brothers will be joining them. We are counting down the days until we get to enjoy it all over again.

My stomach hurts from laughing....

This post is about Jared. Jared is quite possibly the funniest person I've ever met. This is a VERY good example of how much fun he is. I knew that this situation would be really funny when we first started talking about it when we were at Lagoon on Saturday. (My parents sent us for mine and my brothers birthdays- Thanks Mom and Dad, it was really really fun) I had no idea how funny they would actually turn out. Jared went above and beyond and pulled incredibly funny faces in every picture.

This is one of the greatest examples of how silly and fun Jared can get. I was recently writing back and forth to his little sister Julie and mentioned something about how funny Jared is and her response was too funny not to share. I'm going to post it as she wrote it because the story is so much better from her perspective.

"Isn't it great? Life was never boring growing up. I always loved it when Jared was around. Have you heard that Swamp Thing story? Josh (7) and I (5) were watching it, and we were really scared. So we're in the middle of this scary movie, and Jared comes home. He saw we were scared and what we were watching and acted like he was the monster from the movie. He got this crazy look in his eye, then he collapsed into a heap on the floor. Then he slowly stood up with a scary voice saying, "I'm the swamp thing!" Josh screamed and ran into the bathroom. He locked the door, and Jared stood at it for a few minutes pounding on the door with Josh shrieking on the other side, "You're just Jared!" I just sat there, too scared to move. Jared collapsed again on the floor and when he got back up he acted as though he had no idea what he had just done! It was awesome!"

This story is not the first that I have heard of him doing things like this. It seems like every time I'm alone with one of his sibling they have something wonderful and usually funny to say about him.

I could go on much longer about all the things that I love about my husband, but I have to get ready for work.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Pop Terry

I know my Dad loves me. I think that's my favorite thing about my Dad. He was born in Washington, lived in Alaska for a while and eventually lived in Oregon, a little town called Sweethome where he and mom met.
This is a picture of him when he was a little guy.
Like all his kids, he has always been really athletic, although when he was young he broke his leg and polio made his athletics a lot tougher. Even with polio he played sports and in high school, he was one of the quarter backs for his football team. He's quite the champion when it comes to his passion for playing and his love of the game and life burying the struggles that polio has brought.
One thing about my Dad engrained in my memory is watching him run, he has a pretty good limp, and always has and I dont know how many times he's had surgery on his foot but he still cannot use the muscle that brings your toes into your shin. But Ive seen him run and run and run. He's a determined, hard working man. Like I said, he's a Champion.
This is a picture of him and me when I was a little guy.
My Mother grew up L.D.S. and told my Dad one day that she was going to marry someone inside an L.D.S. temple, so my Dad decided he had better find out more about this religion. He read the Book of Mormon and had missionaries come and answer his questions and teach him the gospel. He was baptized when he was 19. They were married when they were 21. (In the Oakland Temple which was closest then) .
He studied at Oregon State, then came to Provo to get his P.H.D. in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at BYU. I remember one time I think we were living in Kansas ( actually I'm pretty sure it was Wyoming) when we all gathered around the T.V. cause Dad was supposed to be on the news talking about fusion or fission or oil or something, but that wasn't the important part to us, he was on T.V.! We were Rich! Well, not really, but that's what we always used to say when we'd see someone we knew or a place we knew on T.V. The Terry family went in a circle around the USA until we ended up in Utah and my Dad started teaching at BYU. He's currently still a professor there.
I love my Dad. He's a good person. I've never once heard him yell at my Mom, they've disagreed but I've never heard them yell at each other. He's a person that believes in, loves, and tries to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ.
Growing up, we had a night every week that we'd spend as a family doing stuff and having a gospel lesson (family home evening), on Sundays we would go to church and do Sabbath day things, we even studied the scriptures in the morning for some years, but my favorite was our family prayer every night before we went to bed.
Pop would call on whoever to say the prayer and right after the prayer was over we'd start tackling Dad, well at least we'd all dog pile on his back, we could never tackle him, it was the funnest time ever. He would pull us down from his back one at a time (or 2) and tickle us unmercifully. Then we'd get away and jump right on his back. I remember laughing and laughing till tears would come and my stomach would hurt. Funnest time ever. Those family prayers wrestling with pop are my favorite childhood memories.
Cheers for good Fathers!
Cheers for good Pops!
Cheers for good Dads!

Cheers to you Pop!

books and stuff

Hey yall, because of all the changes in the US penny, this last winter was really slow for us at work. So I'm gonna list all the books I read. Really enjoyable books if you like fantasy or science fiction.

Also, that last picture of Joni was so sweet that I thought I'd add the full dialog of pictures when I took them.

This first series of Books by R.A Salvatore Ive read before, there are 18 in the series plus 6 tangent ones. Very good books.

R.A Salvatore
-The Crystal Shard
-Streams of Silver
-The Halflings Gem
-The Legacy
-Starless Night
-Siege of Darkness
Orson Scott Card
-Ender's Game
-Speaker For The Dead
M.W. Bonanno
-Stranger's From The Sky (nice Star Trek Book)
R.A. Salvatore
-Promise of the Witch King
-Road of the Patriarch
Joane Bertin
-The Last Dragonlord
Weis and Hickman
-Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Piers Anthony
-Split Infinity (currently reading, for 2nd time, good one too)

I might be missing a few but most of these I loved.

Yesterday

Ha picture of the week... Sorry about that. I was all gungho on that idea, but I have too many ideas to keep track of and to keep up to date.

So I'll try to post more often but I'm not making any promises. (oh yeah this is Jared)

Yesterday was a most beautiful day, it felt so good. The weather was exactly perfect. So we opened the door, turned on the grill, and turned on some Grateful Dead. We came to a good decision, I think, that we need to live in a climate that stays relatively the same most of the year. I guess my soul has always related pretty close to the weather and the natural environment around me. Sometimes thats not the funnest place to be but yesterday it was joyful and happy. And I had my best friend with me to share it with.

So if anyone has ideas on a pretty area of land somewhere not too populated, and whose temp. stays around 70ish most of the year, let us know. Oregon, near the coast is our number 1 so far.

Peace