dave and kirst

2011-12-05T21:27:00.001-08:00

what a week. picture taking, mullets and my boy discovers his hand.

how cold is it here friends??? oh my. we're so freezing right now! how i'm wishing for warmer 40s and 50s weather.

last saturday i was able to take some fun pictures of my brother and his adorable family, below is one of my favorites. their little girl's face, marty, makes this photo for me! adorable little munchkin....

here are a few pictures of Ro. the first three were taken back in october... yes, i haven't posted them yet. look at that mullet! it's gotten a little less mullet-y since then but it's still pretty much there. my little old man.

so after looking adorable, this week Ro discovered his hand... and kept discovering it and kept discovering it... had to take some pics to remember this momentous occasion ;)

Little Boy also got his 4 month old shots today :( oh how i hate that!! he cried and cried after he woke up from his nap. he measured about a 45% average on everything: weight, height, and head circumference. nice job being average my son ;)

and that's about all we've been up to. oh i did get my nativity up (finally!) and my wonderful fresh pine tree. my home smells of pine, christmas, and the great outdoors. life is good! thanks for reading.

2011-12-01T10:06:00.001-08:00

KAUAI PART 2

Siiiigh. Oh how I wish I were back there! Sorry it's been so long between part 1 and part 2 but with the holidays and my laziness and all, time just got away from me ;) The above picture was taken on a hike around our hotel, pretty no? I love looking for crabs on the coral beaches in Hawaii.

Hawaii would not be complete without a stop (or two or three) at a shaved ice place. We went to this place last time we went to Kauai and think it's pretty awesome. I made Dave try his with macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom- aaaaamaaazing! Can you tell how much Dave loved it?

Mine was so delicious as well - macadamia nut ice cream with pineapple and coconut shaved ice, welcome to the islands....

This is my mom canoodling with Ro, as he tries to devour his hands, he's really into that lately. He also likes to stare at his hands while moving them and cooing, it's kind of adorable (and he mostly does it with his left hand which makes me think he's gonna take after me and be left handed). He also will do this thing where when he's laying on his back he holds up his left arm with his fist tight - it reminds me of "Black Power" and makes me laugh. Look at those eyes...

Look at those abs... who is that guy??! Oh wait...

that's my man! Hello handsome... ;) We had a BLAST boogie boarding at Poipu Beach. The waves were just perfect for it. We could have stayed out there forever, except when you get rocked because you took the wave a little too early or a little late...not that that happened to me...several times. You walk out of there caked with sand that you keep finding days later... but it was so worth it!

Dave and I were lucky enough to get to go on a catamaran ride. The boat stopped off on our way up the Na Pali coast to snorkel (see Dave's pick below) aaaaand I spotted a huge sea turtle, which was the only thing Dave really wanted to see so he was happy. There was tons of brightly colored fish in the area that they took us to, the best snorkeling experience I've ever had.

Please make fun of Dave's cheesy face in this pic... ;)

Oh and I thought you might like to see me steller pedicure that I got to show off on the catamaran since they don't allow shoes... (the color was coral in case you were all wondering... and I know you were)

There were dozens of little dolphins that rode alongside the boat with us. This one was a mommy and her wee little baby... so awesome.

So the sweet lady who asked to take take our picture... missed the whole reason we wanted the picture, like those awesome cliffs in the background? Yep. So I took the picture of Dave, below (while he wasn't looking ;) to get the shot. The Na Pali coast was one of the coolest things I've ever seen, it was absolutely breathtaking and other-wordly. There were so many movies that were filmed there as well which was kind of fun to find out. The waves were crazy heading up the coast and we got soaked heading up there. On the way back the waves are always calmer apparently but for Dave and I the damage was already done, both sea sick. HOWEVER... we saw TWO humpback whales on the way back! I didn't take pics because my camera was in the bottom of the boat and I was too sick to go get it! We saw a yearling and it totally jumped out of the water landing on it's back. About 20 minutes later we saw what we thought was it's mother and she hit the water 14 times with her tale. It. Was. Amazing.

More Na Pali amazingness... you can't really get to it from the roads on the island, you have to boat out to it so most people don't really get a chance to see it. Some of the beaches are sacred to the old Hawaiian natives so you still have to have special permission to even land on them, like the one in the pic below.

And that ends it. I took this last picture as we were heading to the airport... and yes, there was a rainbow.

Ahhh love that place.

Until next time Hawaii...

2011-11-20T17:28:00.001-08:00

KAUAI: PART 1
Beware, this post has loooads of pictures :)
We were lucky enough to go visit Kauai with my parents this year. My parents like to visit every few years with the conventions my dad goes to as an optometrist. We've been with them before to this same convention but we have to say, we'll go any year we're invited! It was heaven. We took little Ro with us and just had a ball (not to mention built in babysitters...). I took the picture above on a catamaran cruise while my parents lovingly babysat - thank you Mom and Dad!

Here's my pops watching Ro while we got ready for the day. He's sitting on our balcony of the hotel room that overlooked the ocean... I miss it... sniff, sniff.

Mom babysitting while Dave and I floated down the lazy river at the hotel. It's kind of hard to bring a baby to Hawaii that can't get in the sun and can't wear sunscreen but if you have grandparents then you're golden.

This is one of my FAVORITE places to eat breakfast, Roy's Poipu Bar and Grill. I have been craving their banana macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup for several years (since we last had them), and me and my mom shared them again. I was not disappointed!

I actually bought some coconut syrup as a souvenir and will be trying it out soon... oh it's making me salivate!

We saw this sweet sign as we started a little hike by the hotel. Sigh... Hawaii = Romance.

This picture was taken on our hike, pretty sweet huh?

First time in the Baby Bjorn and the kid popped off to sleep immediately. Dave, on the other hand, was DYING from heat. He said that's the hottest he's ever been in his entire life - I'd say so too, I married a stud ;)

Another sign we came across on another hike/walk by the hotel. These are fruits off of a tree, I forget what it's called. But they TOTALLY look like candy corn no?

My dad is like a professional tour guide when it comes to Hawaii. So when he gets behind the wheel he'll take you all over to places he's been from long ago and tell you all about it. He also likes to take the occasional side road to just check out if it leads you somewhere cool, and 90% of the time it totally does. The other 10% of the time you're trying to keep from screaming "I'm bored Dad! And you don't even know where you're going!" But you don't, and usually you end up in some local's bay that has awesome surfing and you're glad you kept that little thought to yourself ;)

These trees are at the very end of the road that leads past Princeville and Hanalei, it's as far north as you can go on the island from the east side heading up north. I guess it has an amazing 12 hour hike that ends up right there at the bay, it's super dangerous and muddy and Dave and I totally want to do it someday. I just can't be nursing a wee babe at the time ;) These trees grow right on the coast with all their roots exposed and sea lions sleep under them, we saw two while we were there. They just hang out while the tourist mill around them sun bathing. I love Hawaii, it's so laid back even the tourist aren't so surprised when awesome wildlife is hanging out right next to them.

We even saw a mermaid while there, she was pretty chill, had awesome sea shells.

This was taken at the "local's bay" my dad happened to find. He remembered seeing surfers here from years ago and was happy he found the same bay again. The sun was setting and it was gorgeous.

Ro even took a dip in the ocean (or his tootsies did). His first ocean experience! which he will remember forever... well I will and I'll have pictures to prove it ;)

You can see by his face how much he enjoyed it - a little freaked out but mostly totally excited, as we all were to be in such a be-a-utiful place.

2011-11-17T15:35:00.001-08:00

a halloween back east... so beautiful

Dave's family was super nice and took us back east to their town home in Nauvoo and a visit to Springfield, IL to see Abe Lincoln's house. It was so fun and the foliage was absolutely divine, I was in love with all the trees and their fall colors! We went to many of the historical places while we were out there, Carthage and some of the pioneer homes. Dave and I had been to most of them before sine we'd both done a semester at BYU Nauvoo, but I haven't been back there in almost 8 years (my! how time flies!) We also took a horse ride in Nauvoo and both Dave and my sweet baby fell asleep, I snapped a picture and Dave woke up (angry ;)

There is a big celebration in Nauvoo for Halloween and I've never seen so many people there! They have hundreds and hundreds of carved pumpkins lining main street and you can go into every little old shop and trick-or-treat. They had a little costume parade, free food, live bands, a haunted house and some awesome costumes.

We both got pretty into it :)

Oooh look at my little sweet baby, such a doll.

Roman got to enjoy some time with his cousins, Kelty and Teagan and had a blast.

We did a session and some sealings at the beautiful temple.

We headed over to Springfield, IL where Abraham Lincoln his first home with his wife. They've preserved the home as well as several homes surrounding it so you can walk around the little village and do tours. On this particular day they also invited kids to come and "meet" historical figures and go trick-or-treating. We took our chubby pumpkin and headed out for candy (mostly for me to eat).

Cousins as Rapunzel twins.

This last picture is of Dave and his sis, Jaimie, that I just loved and had to throw in. Jaimie helped us out a lot with Ro - thanks again Jaimie!

Posting soon.... Kauai pictures! Sad to be home...

2011-10-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is the Place over UEA

This weekend I met up with my friend Jasmyn and her two kiddos and we went to This is the Place park. I haven't been there in years! We couldn't have picked a better day either, the weather was beyond perfect and the leaves were beautifully golden and red. Also, it was trick-or-treating for the kids so mixed with the people in their pioneer outfits you'll see little princesses, super heroes and pirates. You might also see a little frog mixed in there :)

On the left was a little Elmo feeding sheep and pigs. And there there was mom who was a little to old for trick-or-treating. I don't think that the outfit quite fit either...

And here is a hint as to what Dave and I were for our Halloween party over the weekend, and here was our frog prince :) Pictures to follow.

2011-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

the binky detox: be still my breaking heart...

who in their right mind would ever want to detox this sweet little creature?? me. i do. i'm desperate. oh he's such a sweet boy. what an angel in this picture right? he really is a wonderful baby, however; i can't keep getting up 5-10 times per night to put his binky back in. i just can't :( dave asked if we could just let it slide since it's his only vice... but when i said "ok then you get up with him to put the binky back in," he stopped asking. letting him 'cry it out' is one of the hardest things i've ever done! it seriously breaks my heart. we were up last night for an hour and fifteen minutes of tears and i wanted to cry too. if his binky only popped out a few times in the night i wouldn't mind but it's verging on ridiculous. it not only messes with my sleep but Roman hasn't been sleeping well either, his naps have been super short making him more frustrated. sooo i decided to give it a go for a few days. please pray for me to last! from what i've read many mothers have said "it was the best thing i ever did." their babies are sleeping through the night and their naps are better so their child is more happy over all, as are the mothers. while roman was crying before his nap today i looked over longingly at his binkyjust sitting on my night stand teasing me... sigh. wish me luck! (he only cried for about 5 minutes before his nap but while he was half in and out of sleep he kept moving his lips as they pretended to suck a binky:(

the picture above was taken like two months ago now - i'm so behind on my blogging! this was back when we gave him soothies, he has since moved on to 'mams.' i also realized we never posted about his baby blessing which we did when he was six weeks old so here are a few pictures.

these sweet baby booties were dave's from his blessing so, so, so many years ago (i like to make fun of dave's age since he's six years older than me ;) aren't they adorable? some sweet old lady in their ward in alaska made them for him. they're light, light blue and white striped.

these are some super good friends all pretending to be super cheesy happy, like an overdone baby ad or something... oh we're so funny, or think we are ;)

this is some of my immediate family. my brothers tyler and jed and their families weren't in the pic. that's seven more peeps we're missing. our family is getting ginormous! oh and this is our silly picture, we don't all normally look that creepy (well the kids kind of do actually - they're always pulling faces).

below is dave's immediate family. i'm really diggin the plywood in the background... please disregard ;)

this is ro six weeks ago just watching some really good (apparently) tv. we're getting him addicted at a young age.

after an exhausting but great day. the one drawback about having your baby blessing so soon after having the baby - you still have the extra weight and you're taking lots of pictures! please disregard the extra lbs as well :)

so what else have we been up to you might ask?

1) well dave is attempting to restore one of these:

a 1965 mustang. his dad has one in pretty bad shape. they already had the engine completely redone so he's trying his hand at fixing the exterior... my vote is black. what do you think?

2) most days i'm trying to finish decorating, DIing and cleaning the house, the never ending struggle. i'm also baking and cooking a lot more and loving it. i need to share some recipes on here! soups have been my latest craze. so easy, filling and sets the tone for fall no?

3) we've been watching some new fall shows: terra nova (meh), broke girls (meh), new girl (loving it)

and we've been watching some old favorites... vampire diaries anyone? my guilty pleasure ;), modern family (love), community and parks and rec

4) i've been frantically trying to get all our costumes ready for our annual Wahlstrom Halloween party this saturday! everything i ordered should be here by friday... cross your fingers! can't wait to show pics.

5) and lastly: we've been gearing up for our two big ol trips and the end of this month and beginning of next!

first trip: Nauvoo and Springfield, IL

we're doing this one over Halloween which should be a blast. they have some awesome Halloween traditions out there which should really get us in the mood. i did a semester out at nauvoo during the fall and they go all out for their Halloween celebration.

second trip: Kauai, Hawaii

enough said :) this will hit the spot while the weather is cold here in utah!

we're so looking forward to both of our trips - we're taking baby... so once again, wish us luck! we'll see how he does on an airplane...

2011-10-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

This is my boy.
He has many, many nicknames. Here's a few:

Little Boy
Ro Ro
Romeo
Rome
Lovey
Honey Pie
Sugar Pie

Isn't he a doll??

Oh, and I call him Doll Face (is that a femine term? I think it's fine for a baby yes?)

Today Roman:

Had a blowout, I changed him and he pooped again while I was changing him. Then 2 minutes after I changed him he had another blowout. Later, while I was nursing him, I all of a sudden felt warmth spread across my belly and run down my side. Roman had peed on me. It had leaked out the top of his diaper and down the side. Then he gave me the biggest smile I'd seen all day. What a doll. And what a pill! ;) The picture above was taken after the 2nd blowout.

We take him in tomorrow for his 8 week check up (even though he'll be 10 weeks old tomorrow, I couldn't get in due to my work schedule). I've heard this is one of the worst ones because of all the shots they get :( Last time they did his PKU shots and squeezed the blood out of his poor little foot I just stood there holding him and sweating because I was feeling so bad for him! Poor boy. At least he won't remember all this stuff.

Today Roman was just a stellar baby while I returned/exchanged some stuff to Target, returned a bunch of stuff I really didn't need that I bought at Girl's Night Out during the Priesthood session of conference. He also was an amazing baby while I ran to Home Depot and picked up some epoxy that Dave and I had bought on Saturday and both left in our cart on our way out - we're so awesome, and sleep deprived. ;)

Later on today I did a bunch of stuff I needed to check off my check list, which is so fulfilling. I topped it off with watching several DVRed episodes of my new obsession - The Nate Berkus Show, and a long walk with my baby and hubby.

All in all, it was a fantastic first work-free day. Did I tell you I'm done with work?? And sleeping sooo much bettter at night knowing I don't have to wake up and go to work in the morning?? (That, and my little guy is sleeping a little bit better at night, I'm still waiting for the 9 hours of sleep per night... ahhhh that would be amazing...).

2011-09-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

i am making these tonight.... oooooh i am so making these tonight.

it's on.

you too can join me in s'more heaven. just click here.

2011-09-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

it's my very last week of woooooooork!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's all i'm gonna say in this post. i think that's all i need to say. it's been over 2 1/2 years of drudgery, and it's finally ending. now i'll get to stay at home with my sweet little baby and make crafts and food.... sounds good to me.

it sounds sooooo good to me :)

2011-08-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

the cutest little birth mark

in. the. world.

at the smith household we have been:
(not doing much of anything actually, but if you really want to know...)

I've been looking desperately for a BOB jogging stroller on KSL in my budget (because I desperately want to lose this baby weight!), so if any of you know anyone selling one or want to get rid of your own... I'm your girl, as long as it's in my budget ;)

I bought a breast pump, those things are pricey! And yes, I bought it off my good friend KSL.

I've been fattening up my son, little by little, feeding by feeding (does he sound like a vampire or do I sound like the witch from Hansel and Gretel?). He was 8 lbs 4 oz last Friday, gaining 9 ounces in a week! What a superstar son I have :) We are weighing him again on Friday and I'm hoping he gains another 6-9 oz. After that I don't think I'll have to go in and weigh him everyweek.

I've been getting prepared for Roman's baby blessing on Sunday! If you're in the area you are welcome to come - 9am! Got him the sweetest little white romper that came with a newsboy cap that is like 17 times too big for the boy. We'll see if he can pull it off.

I've been trying to eat healthier, like I had a huge plate of salad today for lunch and it was delish! If only I had stopped at that and not eaten the ice cream...

I cleaned up sweet Roman's second 'blow-out' to date - right after giving him a nice bath and swaddling him in a white clean outfit and blanket. So since I hadn't thrown out the bath water yet, I doused him in it again, and we were both much happier.

Lastly, I have been to Target more times than I care to count this week. I went to get some cheap work-out clothes and of course didn't want to take the time to try them on. When I tried them on at home I was pretty humiliated to learn that all of them, bought in my normal size, were too small. I got them for the sole purpose of losing weight but when buying them forgot all the weight that I'd gained... had to go exchange them all. Sigh...

I'm off to gnaw on a carrot stick now.

2011-08-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

this guy is over three weeks old. and yes, he sometimes sleeps with his mouth wiiiide open. which is really kind of adorable.

Other than getting little to no sleep lately... I've been re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while nursing the boy, finished today. I remembered that I seriously LOVE Harry Potter aaaand I might have teared up almost every time I picked up the book (could it be the hormones? I'm not ruling them out ;)

I'm also trying to make myself feel productive since I stay home almost all day now. So yesterday I made raspberry freezer jam (my favorite kind). Oh it's so delicious.

I just used Sure-Jell's quick and easy recipe, totally recommend it.

And that's about all I've been up to. If anyone has any tips on how to nap on command, like when your baby naps, please let me know! I'm not a 'napper' so this is quite the adjustment for me. I can fall asleep at night at the drop of the hat but napping is a totally different matter.

2011-08-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

the birth story, his cousin, and the nursery.

the story:

On Tuesday morning, July 26th, at about 7:15 am I woke up to my water breaking. For me it was kind of a small gush (for those who don't care if I get too personal ;), and I jumped right out of bed and went to the bathroom. While draining ;), I kept thinking, "how am I going to tell Dave...?" See the back story to that is that Dave had actually prayed about when the baby was going to be born (even though I told him not to so we'd be surprised...) and he was feeling like Tuesday would really be the day. I didn't really want to believe him, especially since Tuesday was my last day of work and I had a few things I wanted to get done prior to the baby coming. If he came on Tuesday he was going to be two weeks early and I just wasn't quite prepared for him. Anyways, I woke Dave up, who jumped out of bed faster then I've ever seen him in our 6 1/2 years of marriage, and we decided if we should wait or go to the hospital. Since I wasn't having contractions just yet I decided that we could just shower and get ready. By the time I was doing my hair I was having painful contractions about 5 minutes apart so we headed off to the hospital. We arrived there at like 9:10 am and my contractions had sped up to about 3 minutes apart. The nurses told me that when your water breaks your contractions hurt even more and I could totally attest to that! They were extremely painful. Since I have a herniated disc in my back, I was already planning on getting an epidural. So when they asked if I wanted one and my contractions were killing I totally said said "yes!" And that was the best decision I made that day :) It was amazing - like 10 minutes later and I felt like I was on cloud 9 - literally I couldn't feel a thing. I kept saying "I feel sooo relaxed!" Oh so when we arrived at the hospital they checked me and I was dilated to a 3 1/2. An hour after getting the epidural they checked me again and I was the same. So then they decided to put me on petosin on a level 2. At 1 pm they came in to check me again, thinking that I wouldn't be that far along, and the nurses exclaimed "you're a nine and a half! you're ready to go!" So we quickly called my mom in Heber and all she said to Dave was "what?! I'm not going to make it!" and she hung up ;) The doctor was actually doing a delivery in the room next door so he came in at about 1:15 pm, I pushed for about 45 minutes and at 2:01 pm little Roman came into this world! My mom arrived about 10 minutes after. All in all I've heard that for a first delivery 7 hours isn't bad! I'm worried about not getting to the hospital in time to get an epidural for my other babies now. We were super blessed with how quick and easy everything went, couldn't have asked for it to go better.

Last Saturday Roman had a visit from his cousin, Zuzu, Jed and Emma's baby girl. She is about five months old and pretty much dwarfs our boy!

I think that Zuzu sat on his foot in this picture....

Oh never mind, he was just yawning. But just thinking about it makes my foot hurt ;)
But speaking of weight gain, our boy is kind of having a hard time getting his birth weight back :( He was 7 lbs, 10 oz at birth, he lost a pound and when we took him in today he's only back up to 7.3 lbs. The doctor isn't extremely worried about it yet but I'm feeding him more often and for longer in the hopes that he'll gain weight quicker. I also have to take him in to get weighed once a week for a little while just to be safe. Pray for him to get fat! I love fat babies, I don't know about Zuzu fat but... fat is adorable, on babies, only ;) Speaking of baby fat... how do I lose mine? Anyone?? I did lose 27 pounds two weeks after having the baby. I'm pretty sure that most of that was in my legs and feet. Buuut I still have a bit more to lose. How long does it take till I'm back to pre-baby weight? Let me know you mothers out there... give me hope.

Ok so on to the nursery! I have NO IDEA why the quality in my pictures isn't very good - they were when I looked at them before. Ugh! That's why I don't blog... technology eludes and confounds me! But hopefully you can still tell how cute it is (at least how cute I think it is).

2011-08-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

what a difference a week makes! little roman turned on week old yesterday. we've been parents for one whole week. craziness.

it's been a whole week of changes for the smith household.

first off, how wonderful are these two women??!

the grandmas. they have helped dave and i immensely over the past week. each one sleeping over and taking care of the babe during the night and handing him off to me when he was hungry. it helped me get just a little bit more sleep every night which was soooo helpful, as any new mom can tell you :)

roman's first bath, not his happiest moment...

dave's little buddy. my friend says she loves this stage - she calls it the 'tree frog' when they cuddle up like that.

we sold 'the golden oldie' (a.k.a. our POS Saturn). dave hadn't even finished putting it up on KSL with all the pictures and he had 4 phone calls in 5 minutes. people kept calling all night long and then in the morning someone even showed up on our doorstep asking to see the car. it was crazy. we sold it for like $500 more than we thought we would! we were told that cars that sell for as little as ours are in high in demand since 'cash for clunkers.' hurray for us!

oh look at that cute boy! just had to slide that picture in there.

because dave sold our car for more than we thought... he bought a motorcycle and is now going to sell his beloved scooter (below). so if you know anyone is in the market... it gets 75 miles to the gallon! we've loved it, and saved bukoos of money on gas... just sayin...

ok, one last picture of the baby. poor kid, we took him on his first walk and the stroller was a little too big for him. so we strapped him in and i just had to laugh and laugh. the kid is going to hate me when he's older for what i did to him ;) oh this boy has stolen our hearts.

we sure love him!

2011-07-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

well hello there, perfection.

welcome to the planet.

7 lbs. 10 oz. --- 19 1/2 inches long

born july 26, 2011

2011-07-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

stretchy pants and stretch marks {on my feet...}

do these feet look like the feet of a four hundred pounder? i'll answer that for you. yes, they do. but thankfully i didn't gain that much weight while pregnant ;) just take off a zero and you'd be closer to the truth. anywaaays... enough about weight gain. my sister, who worked as a nurse with OBGYNs told my mom that my feet were "the worst pregnancy feet she'd ever seen" and i have to agree with her. for all you moms or pregnant ladies - no, i do not have toxemia, yet ;) my blood pressure has been super low and the protein in my urine has been fine, though they have checked it several times to make sure...

i'm to the point where the only things that fit now are dresses and stretchy pants:

"Chancho. When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun."

(or when you're pregnant you wear them all the time and it's not so fun)

but eating off your own customized table sure is fun.

this guy sure is fun as well. and who couldn't love that cat?? i dare you not to love her. dave and i definitely have a love/hate relationship with this animal. just look at her! she melts our little hearts.

this is one of those love/hate moments... i found this adorable animal sleeping in our baby bassinet... (which we plan to clean so don't you germa-phobes worry), just look how sweet she is!

and here are the unfortunate stretchy pants in action, me looking my best at 'Harry Potter 7.2' - {NOT my best picture, actually probably the worst prego pic thus far...}

here's me and my 'gut-twin' (my bro, Jed) on a 3 or 4 mile hike over the 4th of July. i made it to the top! however i almost died doing it, it was so bloody hot!

and now onto the nursery. talk about 'nesting'! i've been trying to get this nursery together as well as making sure i have all the right products and things so i'm as prepared as i can be (although i'm told you can never be prepared, and i'm sure that's right). i've kind of been obsessed with making sure i have everything and reading reviews on all the strollers and best breast pumps, and baby carriers, and everything else i could think of. after several wonderful showers and dave and i exchanging things and buying things off eBay, i think we're set now ;) this week the nursery will be 95% complete. the most adorable elephant hamper that i bought at the end of may, yes - may, won't be here until the end of august. it's on back order. but most everything else will be here. so below are a few 'teaser' pics :)

dave and i sit in the nursery now and just are amazed at how much time and energy went into that cute, but small, room. but it'll be worth it in the end.... right?

we made that pelmet box on the left- pretty cute huh? oh and that 'R'? that's for Roman, what we decided to name the little guy, pretty cute too huh (no middle name yet so don't ask ;)?

more on the nursery and baby showers later. aren't you proud of me for blogging at all?? hopefully i'll be able to blog about the rest later this week since tuesday is my last day at work - waaaahooooo! then i'll be able to put up my feet all day and hopefully they won't look like miss piggy's feet too much anymore...

2011-05-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

What did I do for Memorial Day weekend? Well while my sweet hubby left me... for several days... and hiked the Grand Canyon with my family, I hung out with my sister and her kids, while her husband was off gallivanting with mine. And it was a blast! We did our own hike - Memorial Hill in Midway, that only amounted to 1 mile up and 1 mile down (please remember I'm almost 7 1/2 months prego so I think that's good enough for me!)

How freakin cute am I? This is my nephew Louis. Soooo adorable you could eat him up huh?

Me and my sis, Mylissa. Forgive my chubby face... blame it on the pregnancy :)

My nephew Jimmy was in a mood all weekend. I asked him to show me his 'scowl' and he misinterpreted and tried to show me is 'scar' on the top of his head. When I said, 'no, your scowl' he gave me this confused look on the right and I said 'never mind, got it.' Confused look/scowl = same difference ;)

Dave came back tonight and said he 'rocked it.' The Grand Canyon was tough but apparently Dave was tougher ;) My parents, my brother in law Wayne, my aunt, her daughter and her daughter's friend went down a day before and hiked from the North to the South rim. Dave, his brother Seth and my nephew Nate met up with them there and my parents and Wayne hiked the 20 miles back to the North rim (yes, you read that right, my parents and Wayne hiked rim to rim, to rim in two days.... they're totally nuts). Dave and his brother had a ball hiking back, it took them 13 hours, lots of water/Gatorade and tons of my dad's corny jokes to keep them going. The first day of the hike my mom, Wayne and cousin Katie got pretty dehydrated. It was 99 degrees at the bottom of the canyon - ugh. Wayne got super nauseous at the end of the first day and was throwing up at the end of the second - can you blame the guy? 44 miles in two days would take it out of you! My parents however, both in their 60s, just kept chugging away and did great. In Dave's words: "they're machines!" Unfortunately Dave didn't take a camera so he didn't come back with any pictures but he said he 'definitely had an adventure this weekend, every minute of it.' Welcome back my sweet!

2011-05-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

millions of tulips, tulips for me

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. Never been before and I fell in love. I don't think I'd go every year ($10 a pop to walk around for an hour and half, it's just not an every year kind of thing), but I seriously loved it. It was like walking around in a lil 'ol Garden of Eden. And it smelled soooo delicious. We thought about getting a golf cart or try out a segway but we're sure glad we didn't, too many people and the walk was good for us pregnant girls anyhow :)

It's over now, Saturday was the last day, but you should go next year and try it out if you haven't! Take the kiddos - they have music, food, amazing man-made waterfalls and millions of beautiful flowers. Enjoy!

2011-05-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

california,

i miss you.

but we've been busy since we left you.

Easter - I got us Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (as awesome as I remember btw).

Ty and Maryanne's baby blessing - congrats baby Marty! I made some delicious, if I do say so myself, and I do, Andes mint cheesecake bars to share.

Lots of surfing the web to find out how cute I want to make my nursery, and with any luck it's going to be oh-so-cute.

Lots of t.v. watching, sorry mom.

Lots of walks, yay! my mom would be so proud.

Lots of acid reflux, thank you Baby Smith, who we still don't have a name for....

And a sinus infection, once again that's hats off to you Baby Smith ;)

the baby bump

2011-04-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of pictures I wanted to post on this blog but for some reason the quality of the pictures didn't translate over very well and I couldn't figure out how to make them go back to the good quality. This picture quality is also low. I can't figure it out! Sigh... technology hates me. So this is the only pic you'll get. If you want to see them you can look on Facebook! I'm getting super lazy with this blog unfortunately... Dave took this picture of my belly unbeknownst to me while being lazy on the beach near Dana Point in southern California. We took one last big trip before the baby comes. I'm 23 weeks in this picture. I'll be 24 on Tuesday. Who's counting right? I totally am. Wish I were 38 weeks right this minute!

Our trip to California included:

driving down to Las Vegas and staying in the uber-nice Trump hotel (Dave's preference)

having a delicious Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity ($10 later.... ouch) staying with Dave's best friend Trent and his wife Lori in Valencia and spending Conference with them - thanks guys!

a day at SeaWorld, just Dave and I- the sea lions are hilarious

a quick trip to Trader Joe's to get a picnic and then off to Crystal Cove where a baby sea lion came to see us, seriously adorable

then two days at Disneyland, MY happiest place on earth :), where I ate everything in sight.... yes, I seriously did

a trip down the Pacific Coast Highway - Laguna, Newport, Huntington, Santa Monica, Dana Point, and on to LA with friends then a 12 hour drive back to Utah

Exhausting but so much fun!

2011-03-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

what we've been up to.

i just bought an awesome deal on SocialLiving.com ($9 for two movie tickets from Fandango! it's still going on for the next 11 hours so you should buy it too)

just realized our cat may not be hating us, which is usually what's going through her mind when she pees on our bed (yes, GROSS), we're almost positive she has a UTI or kidney infection. and since we're cheap we're not going to go to the vet tonight but we'll wait and go tomorrow, sorry Fatty, you'll have to wait :S

but we (and by we i totally mean dave) gave our dog, sophie, a bath tonight and she smells so sweet now, hallelujah

still nauseous. i'm 17 weeks along yo! why in the world am i still nauseous?? i thought it wears off at like 14 weeks. it's not every night, more like every other. ugh. hopefully it will end soon. pray for me in the mean time ;)

watching Modern Family and loving it. Gloria is my fav and Dave loves Phil Dunphy. both favorites.

i'm gathering a list of things i absolutely need to get as a new mother. if you think of anything that you just found essential, please leave me a comment. i'm all ears.

speaking of pregnancy, we're trying to figure out a pre-baby trip. anyone got some cheap trip ideas? we're probably going to end up in sunny Cali, which there is nothing wrong with, we just really would prefer Greece....sigh. maaaaybe. but most likely not.

aaand that's the smith rundown. thanks for reading.

2011-02-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

the joys of being pregnant:

[i know many of you have been waiting for me to write that line for many years (6 to be exact), but it's finally here]

1) i went to the dentist yesterday. several things:

a- i told her i was pregnant, she asked how long i'd been married. i told her 6 years. she asked if we had to take fertility treatments.... natural conclusion in Utah i guess. we didn't, in case you too were wondering. we just took a long time in getting to the baby hungry stage (or mostly just me - dave has been dying to be a father for the last few years)

b- i told her that i've had super sensitive gums. first off, i've been so nauseous that just brushing my teeth without throwing up is a huge accomplishment - flossing? forget about it. but i have been trying to be better in the last few weeks knowing i had this dentist appointment. have you heard of pregnant gingivitis? apparently i have it. because your hormones are changing like mad it messes with your mouth and you're more prone to gingivitis :( so my teeth bled a lot yesterday when normally i'm like their star customer. sigh. oh and since my gums were so sensitive she *lovingly* jabbed at them with several hooks and pokers like she had a vendetta against them! i mean seriously - what does sensitive mean to you? jab harder?? i seriously thought i should have taken a Tylenol before coming to the dentist! my gums were sore for hours.

ok enough of that saga.

2) nasal congestion. my. word. no one told me about this!! maybe i just have it worse than other people? i've never had a sinus infection, then i got two in.a.row. and thought something was wrong. i researched it and found that when you're pregnant and your body has more blood flow it also creates more mucus (yes, gross) and you're more prone to a stuffy nose and therefore more sinus infections! boo! so now if i don't sleep with a humidifier, every night, i feel a sinus infection coming on! ugh.

3) on a happy, happy note - we found out yesterday at our 16 week appointment,

we're having a boy!

wahoo! dave is BEYOND excited for another boy in the family (the cat and dog are both female ;). i'm happy too, though i was kind of hoping for a girl because she would have so many girl cousins her age, but of course i'm still super excited. he was jumping around and around yesterday in my belly, making it hard for us to see his... errm... extremities? he had his little legs folded Indian style underneath him so the doc got a shot from under his bum, exposing all ;) what an awesome moment.

2011-01-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

things i'm trying to do to stay warm in heart, body and soul:

-eating citrus food, makes me feel like it's summer
-filling my house with bright flowers
-surrounding myself with brighter, spring-ish colors
-watching summer/spring movies (think Secret Garden)
-dreaming of taking a vacation to some place exotic and warm before the baby comes (did i mention i'm pregnant on this blog yet? nope? well we are :)
-listening to jack johnson and the beach boys
-focusing on bright and fun things like Valentine's Day (and my upcoming b-day) to take my mind off the inversion
-and finally, counting down the days until spring weather is usually around in SLC (which fyi is around April, but then again it's SLC so you really never know)

these are the things i've found to help me out of the gloom that is january/february.
hope it helps for anyone feeling the winter blues!

2011-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

six years and counting

dec. 29

{this is rather late to post but better late than never}

Dave and I celebrated our six year anniversary on December 29th. I think most people, because we don't have children yet, think that we're newly weds, especially in our new ward, but we're not. Six wonderful years we've been together and loving life.

This last anniversary fell on a Wednesday and Dave and I decided to both take the day off. First experienced our first massages at a place in Orem (we got a smashing deal thanks to Groupon.com!), and had a great time.

Next we decided to go to where it all began, where we met. And that ladies and gentlemen would be the BYU library, yes, that's right. The library. It was kind of a ball walking all around the old campus again. Lots of good memories there. We got some delicious Valentine's candy at the BYU bookstore (yes they were selling it that quickly after Christmas). While we were visiting the business building a storm took us by surprise. It was a crazy storm! We still had to eat dinner in Provo at a little place that I love but we were nervous about the weather. Decided to brave it and go to dinner anyway.

So that leads us to De Mae a delicious little hole in the wall place on Main Street in Provo where I tried sushi for the first time in college (and it's kind of the only place I will eat sushi because I'm not that adventurous). Dave does not like sushi at all, so he decided to get some pimped out ramen soup instead.

After dinner it was still snowing quite a bit so Dave thought we should wait it out. We decided to see the movie True Grit which we quite enjoyed, except for the last 5 minutes, rather depressing ending.

It was a great, relaxing day. The perfect way to spend our sixth year anniversary.

Love you hon! Here's to many more!

2011-01-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

the reception.
le jardin.

at the reception center, Addison trying to get into "the zone" before the reception begins.

obviously having a great time, even before the reception started.

everyone helping to set up the center pieces prior to the reception.
those are pin wheels that i made to put in the vases.

me with the bridesmaid's flowers.

the siblings.

the ONLY picture I got of the couple as they left the reception in a whirlwind.
it all happened too fast! ha. but i kind of like it.

2011-01-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

bre's wedding! {dec. 13, 2010}

the temple.

brother in law, wayne and little jimmy. us at the wedding luncheon.

the sibs.

the happy couple at the wedding luncheon.

{nice cheesy pose addison}

2011-01-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

Who's ready for spring?! Raise yo hand!

I'm sooooooo beyond ready. This cold weather and inversion are killing me. I might already have started watching summer shows so I can imagine myself in warmer weather. Who wants to take a Caribbean cruise with me? I could go tomorrow, I could go tonight. I would leave this instant.

One of my adorable old lady clients was telling me how for 40 years she and her family would go to BYU Hawaii where she would teach during the spring term (jan-march). Some people get all the luck. Maybe I should have become a teacher of sorts and done the same thing. Maybe Dave and I should just move there permanantly because I just can't handle this cold weather anymore. Maybe you all should come visit.

Maybe in another life.... or this one, you never know.

Sigh.... anyone for watching Oklahoma with me? I'm down with another summer movie if you want. Just let the winter end. Please.

2010-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year friends!

This has been a great year, in many, many ways.

This year we had a few cabin excursions, had a wonderful vacation with friends in beautiful Cozumel, Mexico. Dave and I headed over to Cancun for a little alone time and got fried. Finished up my obsession with Lost... sigh. Was in two plays, much to Dave's chagrin (he was a little 'played' out, not anymore though fyi). Ate way too much, sorry for all the food posts... Went to see my favorite comedian Brian Regan, hosted two baby showers, ate some more, read a lot of books, oh, built a house. We spent an amazing few days in Jackson Hole with my fam for the reunion, saw some good movies, went crazy decorating my house, and also had an incredible trip back east with Dave's family. We also went to the Utah State Fair, were Alice and the Mad Hatter for Halloween, aquired a new brother in law!, had many back problems (still unresolved...), and had a very expensive car repair year ($200 only a few days ago for a specific Saturn battery grrr...).

But overall we have quite a lot to be thankful for. I hope next year is going to be just as awesome.

oh. my. ohmyohmyohmyohmy

2010-12-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

Where have we been? Yes, we're still alive. We've just been busy little bees. What a crazy month yo!

Amidst Bre's wedding, family Christmas parties galore, watching our favorite Christmas showes, and trying to sleep in between, it's been a busy month.

Bre's wedding was loads of fun (pictures to come, hopefully...).
Family Christmas parties were awesome, I LOVE my fams.

And Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve, after having to work till 2pm..., we headed up to my parent's house in Heber and the snow was just lovely, really got you in the Christmas mood, since SLC was really lacking in that department. Had a great Christmas Eve evening (can you say that?) with all my siblings and their {very loud, but lovable} kids. Half of the siblings, those without chilluns, slept over and experienced Christmas morning at the parent's. After getting everything our little hearts could desire, we had a delicious breakfast made by my hubby and my little sis. Crepes, fruit, and bacon (guess what was Dave's contribution). After filling up our tummies with Nutella, bananas, and "man-candy," we headed up to the Smith's cabin in Timberlakes and braved the 9 foot tall snow drifts (ok only some of them were, but seriously, tons of snow).

Up at the cabin we just vegged, and vegged, and vegged. I was a little vegged out, I'll be honest. Dave bested everyone at pool, that kid has skills yo! I read a new book, watched Toy Story 3, and ate and ate and ate. I think I'm done with food until 2011, please don't ask me to eat anymore leftover cookies! Bleh. Too much goodness.

Now on to New Year's Eve... I've never been a big New Year's person, probably because I usually fall asleep before midnight. Lame? Yeah, probably, but whatevs ;)

So what are you doing New Year's Eve? (every time I say that I start singing the song...)

2010-12-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

During the 'storm of the century' that wasn't.... my sista Bre came over and I made some delicious Christmas goodies while watching Jim Carey in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it gets funnier with each viewing.

Oh these cookies were good. Love those peppermint Kisses.

Then I finally used up a package of Frrrrrozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity3 and it was goood. Dave had two (because after I made them I realized I had poured four glasses for some reason. Alzheimer's coming early?) But he sure didn't mind.

You all should have a 'snowed in' night sometime, even if we weren't really snowed in and all, just the prospect of it got us in the Christmas mood.

2010-11-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Two wedding and a baby shower later.......... I was pooped.

Cousins Meagan and Alycia at the shower at Alycia's house {sisters}. Alycia, on the left cuts my hair, and Meagan, on the right, is having a baby due on Dave and I's anniversary. My little sister Bre and her hubby are sitting by the fireplace in the background, it was a double shower for Bre and Meagan for the Briggs side of the family.

Then I rushed home to quickly make the most amazing caramel wassail/apple cider in the world, first time wassail/apple cider maker too mind you (we couldn't figure out which it was - wassail or apple cider, if anyone really knows the difference, let me know). It was supposed to simmer for an hour.... more like 20 minutes on high for me, but still delicious. It made my house smell amazing. Then the guests for Bre's 2nd shower started arriving, mostly from the Evans side of the family.
That ginormous poinsettia was a house warming gift from my pseudo family, the Wahlstroms. Thank you guys! And do you see our new rug that FINALLY arrived? Two and a half months later.... and right in the nick of time for the shower. Those bar stools we are painting red FYI, one of the several things I just couldn't get to in time for the shower. This pic was taken after all the hoopla {and 30-40 people} left.

Bre and Addison hung around after the fiesta to watch Modern Family with Dave and I, and I caught them canoodling...

Bre I think most of my pictures of you are with your mouth wide open... you Muppet.
{The Smith family after the shower(s)}

After all the cleaning, the festivities and re-cleaning after the festivities, I pooped out on the couch. Dave and I started Shrek, such a good movie, and I fell asleep at 9 p.m. Yes, 9 o'clock. 9 in the evening. And didn't wake up until 8 a.m. Eleven hours of sleep....I think the last time I fell asleep that early I was 10.

It was a great Saturday. I seriously have The. Best. extended family in the world, on both sides. I'm always so excited to see my cousins, aunts and uncles (and of course all the in-laws, we're huge now) and it's awesome knowing that they're there for you to help out with anything. Food for the shower, done. Everyone pitched in, as they always do, and brought some amazing desserts and appetizers. And I love the company, always fun to talk to. I'm seriously so lucky to have such a great family.

So happy wedding Bre! And Meagan we're so excited for little Samuel to come on Dave and I's special day, hope he makes it before the end of the year!

2010-11-26T21:08:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite things from Thanksgiving 2010:

Miss Lucy-loo, check out those eyes. Adorable child.

And Jimmy, with his pants raised as high as possible {curtesy of his loving and practical joker father, Wayne}
And Jimmy {obviously} loving it, and showing it off with p.r.i.d.e. {and perhaps a little swagger?}

I love family. So grateful for them this holiday season.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

Another new favorite - tried sweet potatoes for the first time, never grew up having them oddly enough, and they were amazing Mylissa! Nice job. I think you'll be asked to make them every year from here on out. I made a delicious, if I do say so myself, old favorite, spinach artichoke dip. Oooh it was heaven.

Family AND food. Can life get better? I submit it cannot.

Love is...

2010-11-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

....letting Kirsten watch a major chick-flick when my favorite team is playing my least favorite team and I REALLY want to watch it!

Love you Kirst!

{written by Dave}

merry christmas to me {early}

2010-11-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

This item has been bugging me on my Amazon wish list for ages; always wanting me to buy it, saying how much I'll like it, saying my home will be beautiful and my life will be fulfilled if I just purchase it. Well... I gave in. Can't wait to get it!

2010-11-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

So I just added this followers section to my blog.

Maybe you all should become a follower.... so it looks like I have more than 3 friends.

Just do it. Make me proud.

Follow me while I post embarrassing insights into Dave and I's life.

And thank you :)

P.S. Anyone else super excited about the royal wedding taking place in Britain?? Go Kate Middleton! Yeah I'm jumpin on that royal bandwagon. And I can't wait to see her wedding dress. Just saw this picture and had to laugh, love the superimposed head ;)

you know what i love about today?

2010-11-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

it was a partial snow day at work.

i got to leave at 3:15.

and i was so happy.

i was going to clean my house with my extra two hours from work, i was going to make cookies, still might, and i was going to dig out my Christmas decor but now i'm watching Bruce Almighty with my sister and hubby.

and it's beautiful outside.

maybe i'll get around to my stuff. maybe.

2010-11-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

first off: it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and i am LOVING it. i woke up to this weather yesterday morning. this pic was taken from my bedroom window. and i immediately started blasting Christmas music, the first time this year. dave was hesitant but how can you not listen to Christmas music when it looks like that outside??

secondly: house updates

the master bathroom flower decale, i like it.

DIY tisssue balls, made for my sister's shower.

family room corner decale in damask print.

the blue body length mirror, used to be a dark brown color (i need to take a picture of the finished product...)

curtains i "hemmed" myself, with a little help from my iron :)

it's all starting to come together, o' little home of mine. bit by bit. just waiting on getting my rug i ordered 2 and a half months ago.... supposedly it's coming this week....

a few more projects in the works that i'm really excited about. hopefully i get a few done this week before my sister's bridal shower. wish me luck!

2010-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Have you ever blanched before? I did today, for the first time. And I so don't recommend it.

Have you ever put your foot in your mouth? I did today, not for the first time. Once again, don't recommend it.

I was even thinking earlier this week about stupid things I've said or done in my life that I totally regret now. Isn't that the worst feeling?

I concluded life really is about living and learning, sometimes painfully. And I have a lot of the later to do, but at least I know it.

Seriously - weird experience blanching. I mean I read about it in books all the time, "So and so blanched when she saw the look of fear in her son's eyes" etc. etc. I looked it up {because when Google is your best friend, you do that with everything} and here is the very interesting definition:

a temporary whitening of the skin due to transient ischemia

and what is that last part? transient ischemia means "a mini-stroke"!

Whaaat? So apparently I had a mini stroke this morning. I probably deserved it.

Sigh........

cats and dogs

2010-11-15T22:05:00.001-08:00

You haven't seen this half of our family in awhile. Look at those glamour shots!

Re-meet Sophie and Lola

{Piglet and The Fatty}

Sophie snorts like a pig, especially when she's super excited, meaning when she wants to eat something, which is pretty much all of the time.

Lola, or Kitty, is lazy as I'll get out {I just learned that phrase btw, who really says "as I'll get out"?} She naps about 8 hours a day. But dang she's so friggin cute. I really have a love/hate relationship with her. She doesn't love me {she's a cat, did I really expect more?}, and so then I hate her. But out of nowhere I'll be reading my book on the couch and this little head will poke out from under my book forcing me to cuddle with her and she turns into the sweetest little critter I've ever seen.

But most of the time she ignores me, aren't cats just the best ;)

2010-11-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

veteran's day rocks. especially when you work at a bank. and you get the day off :]

so i spent the day:

sleeping in till 9:30... ooooh yes

going up to Park City to my pop's business to take pictures of him and the office for his new website {if you're in need of an amazing eye doc, he's the one to see}

freezing while taking pictures outside, not ready for this weather just yet

meeting up with my mom to eat at a new/old favorite {i hadn't been there in years, like 10 or more} Kneaders. go, if you haven't. they're actually going to cater my sis's wedding in December and i can't wait to eat the desserts....

returned a pantry organizer we bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond because we found a better one at Home Depot (yes, HD, weird) and I bought one of these instead which i've been eyeing for quite some time

this weekend i:

"hemmed" my curtains using Bond 'N Seal and it worked like a friggin charm

hung up some hooks in my bathroom that we've been waiting to do for ages

cleaned the entire house

hung up a few more pictures

yelled at a the worst company, Rugs USA. bought a rug from them two months ago and still haven't seen it, apparently it's on back order and i'll get it in a week and half... i'll believe it when i see it amigos

sanded some stools and other furniture that now is waiting for me to paint them (ok to be fair - Dave sanded them)

went to see The Drowsy Chaperon and LOVED it. Aldolpho was my favorite, he played my "husband" when i did Singin' in the Rain. he's hilarious.

watched the worst movie made, Jonah Hex. i know, i know. why did i even go there? couldn't i tell it was dumb from the cover? i know, but i did. and i wasted 88 minutes of my life

made an amazingly delicious pot roast that dave devoured and had three helpings of

longingly looked at home things online that i'll just have to wait to get till after the holidays...

sat around the house in these amazing things

oh and read two great books, The Lost Hero and The Scorch Trials, liked em both and am annoyed i have to wait a whole other year for the sequels...

all in all, a fairly productive weekend for me. i still have many things i'm working on with my home which are keeping me busy. and yes, i'm still waking up thinking about where to hang things and what to put on what wall and i'm going a little mad in the process...

2010-11-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

i love technology, but not as much as you you see. but i still love technology. always and forever.... always and, sniff, forever...

So yesterday I forgot my phone. Wow. Talk about withdrawals! I did the same thing on Friday (okay just to clarify what might seem like a common occurrence, it's NOT, I never forget my phone). I felt nakie. On top of that our computers and the phones at my job didn't work for about half the day. It was the weirdest day. I mean, what was life like before cell phones, texting, email and internet? I can barely remember. Okay I totally remember, but I just don't like to.

Remember when you set up your first email? Remember when you sent your first text? {Dave taught me how to use T9 when we were dating back in our BYU days}. Remember when sending and receiving texts were like 15 cents a pop? Remember when you were in school and used to have to look everything up at the library, in books? My mom actually "bought" a phone number with a PIN that we could use for emergencies at any pay phone, before a cell phone entered my life. Remember when cell phones were for 'emergencies only' (well in my family anyway)? I don't even have a home phone now.

Yesterday I totally felt like an addict being weaned off a drug. No surfing the internet! (not like I do that at work anyway...), not texting, no email, no calling anyone on the drive home. Whew, hope I never have to be without it again. I might just sleep with it tonight.

A side note: why in the world are pillows (or pellows as we say in Utah) so freakin expensive! I really want these pillows from Target but they're like $50 a piece. Are they lined with gold or something? Sigh. Aren't they cute for Christmas? Maybe if I'm a super good girl... no wait, what am I thinking? Even for Christmas I don't think I'd spend that much on pellows.

what we've been up to

2010-11-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

a beautiful sunset on the drive home...
and then Halloween! can you guess who I was?

somebody couldn't get enough of my blond wig.... like seriously ;)

how embarassing dave! you came in the same costume as our host. but you had a good chat about how cool you looked.

speaking of cool.... how cool do these cupcakes look? can you guess what they are? i made them for the party.

enjoying the last of the warm weather out at sugarhouse park and loving the leaves.... absolutely gorgeous.

happy fall, one and all! oh and i bought my first christmas item at the store today. i shouldn't have because i believe in the proper order of things; thanksgiving then christmas... but i couldn't contain my excitement for the season. literally i grabbed dave in the store when i saw the christmas stuff and kind of gave an embarassing girly scream/giggle and then said "let's buy our first christmas item of the season!" he kind of shook his head and moved several feet away from me... i want to say it's because he went to grab one of the said christmas items but i have a sneeking suspicion he might not have wanted to be seen with me right at the moment.

a movie review

2010-11-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

"He who is not busy being born, is busy dying."

That, is what this movie was all about. I went to see it last night at The Broadway Theater in downtown Salt Lake. And I have to say I really enjoyed it, enough to recommend it even. It's a unique story that focuses on a young teenager, facing, what would seem, the regular struggles of our day. Overwhelmed with thoughts of suicide he decides to commit himself. In the adult psychiatric ward he discovers many things about himself while looking through the eyes of those around him.

I thought this material, which could seem very dark and heavy, was realistically displayed, all with a simple and honest sense of humour. It had just the right touch of making the characters real but bearable to watch and laugh with/at. It was touching, simple, and funny, but brings to light many things that we all are struggling with and teaches us how to just "deal" with what life throws at us.

Not like this show didn't have it's pitfalls, a few crude parts that I thought could have been left out, but also not so crude that I wouldn't recommend it.

If you have the time, go and see it. The acting was surprisingly fantastic and the themes surprisingly poignant. The main boy in it I would totally adopt for my younger brother, what a sweetie. Go here for a summary/analysis if you want to totally spoil it for yourself, I suggest watching it first and then reading it.

2010-10-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Things I forgot, never knew, or wish someone had just told me.

I forgot how good Thriller is. Have you been to see it at the U? Awesome. Thank you to my friend Jenny for hooking us up with tickets. And guess who was there with a stellar performance as a Ghostbuster? Gev from So You Think You Can Dance. And I think he can. After much pushing and pulling on my part, Dave finally consented to go and he loved it. He even wants to go next year.

I forgot how good looking Marlon Brando is. Does anyone remember who he is? He's an oldy but goody actor (think A Street Car Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and Guys and Dolls). What a babe. And On the Waterfront is a good classic btw. Dave also liked that, probably not as much as me however ;)

I forgot how high Oliver's voice is in Oliver! But I also forgot that I love that movie. Love the music. The whole thing makes me want to cry though, I especially hate the battered woman storyline... but the rest of the story is beautiful.

I never knew and wished someone had told me just how easy/delicious/and wonderful tin foil dinners are! I never knew you could make them on a grill either. Dave and I have been on a tin foil dinner kick and loving it. Sooo easy. I had a random craving for it the other night and have been making them the last four nights, yes, FOUR nights. They're perfectly pipping hot for these chilly fall nights. Here's what we found worked great:

Tin Foil Dinners with the Smith's

ground beef or sausage, seasoned with steak seasoning I got from Costco
baby carrots
scalloped potatoes
green peppers, diced
white onions, diced
and here's the best part, a dollop of cream of chicken soup on each serving

Wrap them all up like a burrito in two layers of tin foil, leaving it a little loose so that it can steam. Cook on a preheated grill at about 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then turn over and cook for another 20 minutes. Easy peasy! You can shred some sharp cheddar on top and it's delicious. Enjoy.

Oh I wish someone had told me this years ago. Did you know you can preserve cheap rings so that they don't turn your finger green or turn a copper color? I went to return a ring that started turning my finger green right away and the girl asked me if I'd ever tried putting clear nail polish on it. Say what??? Why has no one told me this before?? I rarely buy expensive jewelry but I do love the costume stuff. I'm always sad when it turns coppery and I can't wear it anymore. Now you all know, I wear the cheap stuff, but now I'll get to wear it longer. And now you all can too.

I never knew how interesting Interview With the Vampire is. Thought I would read it just in time for the Halloween holiday. It wasn't amazing but it was very entertaining and an easy read. My friend has the movie edited so I think I might watch that before Saturday.

Speaking of Halloween... I never knew how much renting a costume could be! My word. We always go to our friend's, the Wahlstrom's, Halloween party and you HAVE to have a costume. They go all out and it's awesome. This year we decided to try renting costumes vs. creating a dumb costume at the last minute. And I think our costumes are going to be fantastic. At least I hope... we shall see come Saturday. Did you know that buying costumes costs about the same as renting? Yes, they do. So we think we'll just buy them on sale after Halloween is over and then we'll have a slew to choose from later, and maybe save a few bucks along the way.

Happy Halloween everyone!

2010-10-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words...so they say. So here they are :]

It's somewhat 'too little too late' but... meh.

The State Fair.

Ahhhh nachos. They were gooood.

Cows eyes. And udders. You don't see those everyday. Nor would I want too...
Pigs in a blanket. Soooo cute. And little.

Cotton candy. The fair is not complete without it.
And now fall. Summer has ended :(

Bre's birthday dinner. At the Blue Plate Diner. If you haven't been there before you are so missin out. Love it everytime. Breakfast all day - try the banana pancakes. Delectable.
Dad is great, he gives us chocolate cake! {Whoever can name what I'm quoting, you will get a gold star, and personally be invited to eat one of my specialty chocolate cakes, when/if in fact I ever create a specialty chocolate cake.}

Happy birthday bird! Now you can legally {not} drink.

Some updates.

2010-10-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

My back. I had a follow up appointment for my back. Apparently I need to start physical therapy again to loosen the muscles and strengthen (not quite sure how that works) around my spine. I'm also in the 'recovery time period' so I'm not supposed to twist and turn too much or lift more than 15 lbs. I can do that I guess.

"Dave can you get this for me? I can't bend over. Dave can you lift this for me? It's too heavy for me." I think I could get used to that. Do I already do that a little? Perhaps.

Our house. We have spiders, in spades. It's creeping me out! Two nights ago I woke up thinking a spider was crawling on my face and I slapped my face. Twice. It might have been funny except for the fact that I thought a spider was crawling. on my face. whilst I slept.... but it's a little funny now. We're going to get the house sprayed. We think that since we're the only house built in the area but there are homes being built around us, disrupting the soil, they are all congregating at our house where the heat is. Partay at the Smith's! We find at least one a night. Ugh spiders are so gross! I make Dave, or my cat, kill them all. I don't know if I've mentioned that our cat rocks at killing, and eating, bugs. Mosquitos, spiders, you name it. If Dave's not around I'll grab the cat and hold her head toward the bug until she sees it and then game on! That cat is on the prowl and I don't even have to touch the bug. That's really why I own a cat. That, and she's fat and fun to cuddle with.

My belly. We're going to The Cheesecake Factory tonight! Wahoo! Pumpkin cheesecake if you please, let my taste buds rejoice! And it's even better when you have a gift certificate and don't have to pay a dime.

Our car. Our beautiful Mazda has said siyanora to us. We had a good run. But all leases have to come to a, crazily expensive, end. Don't ever lease. It's all fun and games until they hit you with the fees at the end. A $400 return fee? What the heck? So in order for me to give the car back I have to pay you?? Forget it. I'll always remember how wonderful it felt to drive a brand new car, but I'll probably never experience it again... sigh.

Our T.V. We finally have our shows back. Community was hilarious last night, I loved the whole ode to Apollo 13, very clever. Dave baffles me. He told me he really liked not having t.v. for that week and half. Really? So I've decided to try and whittle down our t.v. watching time (and by that I mean I'm going to fast forward between commercials even faster so we can get through our shows quicker. I hope Dave notices a difference.)

2010-10-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Lately I've noticed that I've been doing a lot of 'firsts' for me.

1 - I bought a bathrobe. Never had one before and I found an adorable one on sale for $10. I'm liking it! But I feel really old at the same time, like I should be holding my cup of hot chocolate and going out to get the mail and newspaper in the morning while wearing my hair in rollers. Still, a first.

2 - First time going to Tai Pan. I know, I may have told some of you I have been there before but I was really lying. I mean, who hasn't been there right?? Just trying to fit in. I went during 'Girl's Night Out,' BIG mistake. It was crazy crowded and I was totally overwhelmed with so much stuff there! And there aren't aisles or anything, I had to go around in circles wondering if I'd passed that cutesy, antique looking something or other before. A first.

3 - Another overwhelming first, a visit to Hobby Lobby. Wow. I mean, wow. I loved it. It was like Michael's on steroids. Luckily I had a short 15 minute time limit and Dave at my side so I didn't get lost in there, or buy everything in sight. I bought some adorable stuff for our new casa at 50% off. Loved it.

4 - My first hazelnut steamed milk of the season from Starbucks. Ooooh heaven. I think I might get another today....

5 - My first taste of pumpkin pie for the season, courtesy of my lovely mother who made them for 'lil sis's b-day. Happy 21 Bre!

6 - First {and very last} time seeing Bonnie and Clyde. I knew how the story ended, I knew it was depressing but yowzah (yes, I just said that ;) another first, actually). My advice: don't watch it. I know it's a classic and all but it made me feel so sad and depressed afterward.

7 - And finally, I mixed paint at Home Depot for the first time. Forgive my ignorance but I had no idea that's what you had to do. I went to home depot looking for a paint can in the color paint I wanted and I couldn't find it. Luckily I ran into a friend who, after laughing at me (not with me mind you), informed me that you pick out a color and a base and then they mix it for you. Where have I been? I went back to the store with the colors in mind and ordered them at the desk like I knew what I was doing, I felt so grown up and had a slight smirk on my face knowing that I fooled them into thinking that I was a pro. I've got several projects I'm working on that, fingers crossed, will turn out. I'll show 'before and after' pics if they look somewhat decent...

so much to do, so little time

2010-10-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is but I feel empowered during the fall season. There are so many fun and exciting things to do. I typically want to cook lots more, go to events, wear cute fall clothes, redecorate me house, have parties, feel nostalgic, etc. etc. etc. So here's my 'to-do' list:

1) Watch The Village
I have a soft spot in my heart for this show, Dave and I watched it at the 'Y' theatre right after we were married, the one and only time we went there. And I think the love story in it is presh ;)

2) Watch Hocus Pocus
yup. a childhood favorite. although I'm not a S.J.P. fan she is hilarious in this show

3) Make sugared apple-cider donuts
oh I'm drooling right now

4) Have a fall party of some sort

5) Endeavour to make my first pumpkin cheesecake

6) Endeavour to make my first all-berry pie

Are you noticing a food pattern here? Typical.

7) Decorate my new home......

which is a whole list in and of itself

I'm sure I'll think of some more... Love this time of year.

2010-10-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

Cortisone shots into your spine suck.

Just thought you'd want to know.

I got it done yesterday around 4pm. I walk into the x-ray room and there is a sweet lady there ready to do it. In follows my sweet, old nurse. The x-ray lady, let's call her Tawanda, tells me I need to lay on my stomach and lift up my shirt quite aways. Then she says she'll have to shimmy down my pants a little. Next thing I know half of my bum is exposed. Already slightly embarrassed at it's whiteness we proceed to wait for five minutes until the doctor shows up. Apparently when I'm nervous/embarrassed I turn into a chatter box. I turn to Tawanda, with my backside still exposed, and ask her how long she's been working here, if she likes it yada yada. Then the sweet old woman nurse, let's call her Sweet Sue, who is directly behind my bum, starts talking and I have to turn my head to see her forcing me to see a great white blur out of the corner of my eye.

Meanwhile my doctor strolls in.

"Hello Kirsten!" "Hi Doc...." I push my head down in the hole made for breathing on the bed which I swear was actually made for embarrassed patients to hid their shame in. Suddenly my chatter box-iness starts up again and I'm forced to ask the doctor question after question {word vomit} trying to joke while trying to pretend that I'm not exposed and that he's seen more... how should I say this, flabby?, bums than mine. But still hoping that he's keeping his eyes nicely averted.

So other than that red-faced little experience my back and legs are super sore today, a side effect for a few days, and I have a slight fever and flushed face.

On more fun news, I'm LOVING my new house. I'm have a ball decorating it. In our other places we've lived at we tended to not really decorate too much because we knew we wouldn't be staying long and we were just renting etc. etc. But now that we know this is OUR house, I've been going crazy. And I'm addicted to trying to find fun things to re-paint or re-vamp on KSL. I think I could get used to this. Ikea has been our friend for the last little while {their return system is a joke fyi - you have to wait like 30 minutes in line when you're only behind 1 0r 2 people!}.

I'm loving it but the problem is I seriously wake up and go to sleep thinking about designs and colors and where to put things and I can't stop myself. I'm loosing sleep over it! But I'm close to being done. I just have to try my hand at painting and refurnishing furniture. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

Over and out.

~from the white-bummed, shamed-faced girl

weekend news AND the last phase: last the best...

2010-09-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

So we moved on Saturday.

Many, many, many, many thanks to all those who helped. We seriously couldn't have done it without you guys. It went off without a hitch, for the most part. I will post pictures as soon as I'm able. We don't have the internet right now.... or t.v. for that matter... and I think I might just die. It might be good for me (so Dave claims) but a small/big part of my heart thinks he's lying. At least I can still watch movies. But oh to loose t.v. right when my shows are starting up again! (Yes, Gretchen, I'm addicted and it's official. Ummmm since we have no t.v., can we come watch it with you peps? I'll bring treats or something to entice! Pruddy please? Do I sound desperate? I'm not. Well maybe a little). No internet is hard too. Sigh.

Dave wants to do some crazy thing where you hook up your internet to your t.v. so you don't have to pay for cable, save like $50 a month and watch your shows from like Hulu or some such nonesense. Has anyone else ever done this? For the record, I'm against it.

Well folks, since no pictures of our new pad are currently available I will show you our last, glorious day of the trip.

Mount Vernon.

{I want lots and lots of gardens just like you.} This place was breathtaking. I loved every minute of it. I wished it weren't quite so hot but... beggars can't be choosers and all that.

If only I had a home and property like that... oh and about 250 slaves to maintain it like G.W.... ahem.

Dave was kind hot and tired. So when I made him pose for another pic showcasing the Washington's beautiful gardens he gave me this *great* face ;)

a blissful evening, many thanks to Mr. Smith

2010-09-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm stressing out. I'll admit it. Moving s.u.c.k.s., in case you don't know. So Dave and I mapped out what exactly we'll be packing each day to have some order in the chaos which is our home.

Yesterday began with getting up at a the ungodly hour of 5:45 (I know those of you with kids are mocking me right now but hey, you're the one who decided to have kids and get up at that time!), and Dave and I met with a mortgage rep to close on our house. Huzzah! Can you believe it? I really can't. My manager asked me if I was nervous and felt like I was signing my life away. Not really, I'll admit. I think it was so long in coming that I was like "ok grab me the pen and let's start signing before I fall asleep and drool on this nice marble table."

Work was one long glorious day of tedium and disgruntled customers. Don't you love those days? Oh and to top it off we had to stay till 6:45 PM to have a 'call-night.' If you've never had to do one of those, count your blessings children. It's cold-calling. To put it bluntly: sales over the phone. Do I hate that about my job? I despise myself when I have to do that. UGH. 'Nough said.

So when I drove home with the despairing expectation that I still had to pack up the specified rooms in the house I kind of wanted to cry. But 'lo and behold' I came through the door and Dave had packed it all!!! And not only that but he let me complain about work, without complaining about my complaining! It was amazing.

THEN he hugged me and asked if I wanted a back rub. Eschoose me? Yes please mi amore! And with that he rubbed away all my stress. I was a new woman.

And because he did all the work we were supposed to do for the night we were able to watch some obsessions of ours, Glee and Modern Family.

And then (really it does continue), Dave sweetly consented to and watched Gone with the Wind, AND he enjoyed it!!!! When I thought we were done for the night at the half way point, I was not the one who pressed on to continue watching folks.

I think he might have been on drugs last night. Seriously.

But I'll take it :]

My. Husband. Is. The. Best.

Neener, neener ;)

phase 6: the cutest little 'ol town

2010-09-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Williamsburg: I love you.

Dave bought me the 2nd piece of jewelry since he proposed, see that necklace I'm putting on? Love it. I'm not really a jewelry person so when I really liked something I saw at the jewelry shop and kinda said I wanted it, Dave gave me a suprised look, asked if I really did want it and quickly bought it for me. What a sweet guy.

Thanks hon. Wow my face looks like it's made of plastic in that pic, squished up to my honny.

phase 5: SVU, goats, beautiful 'little mountain'

2010-09-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Southern Virginia University, a quaint little uni. Look at those porches! Seth made us stop here to reminisce his old college days...

A stop at Virginia's Natural Bridge...

...where I got attacked by that black and white goat. She was eating every leaf in site and cantered over to me, licked my arm and started in on my sleeve. I {kinda} screamed, she reared back and put her head down ready to attack, then decided I was waay to intimidating ;) and jumped off the rock fence, bringing a big chunk of it down. Random, kinda frightening and totally funny.

Monticello: meaning 'little mountain' in Italian.

It was one of my favorite places. Gorgeous. I now want to read a biography on Thomas Jefferson; what a conflicted, interesting, brilliant man. He really made me want to garden, more than I already do! Someday...

phase 4: the bloodiest battle, the hottest day

2010-09-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

antietam: the bloodiest day of the entire war (not the bloodiest battle, but the bloodiest single day), 22,717 casualties. I didn't take too many pictures of that place except the one below at the visitor's center. The whole group absolutely loved our guide who made the battle come to life - go Keith Snyder!

This bridge was called Burnside's bridge where many, many men were killed and hardly anything or any ground was won from the battle.

Harper's Ferry: the hottest day of the freakin trip. That day was rough. But the town was cute and so much history took place there. So I was glad I got to see it.

I just liked these two pictures. That's all :)

See - cute town.

oy vey

2010-09-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

I found out a little bit more about my back. My MRI showed NO arthritis! Hurray! However, it does show a slipped or herniated disk in my lower back with a tear in it. So that's no fun either. Sooo.... treatment; apparently it's kind of a crap shoot if it ever heals. What he said we're going to try first is a epidural cortisone shot. Sounds fun doesn't it? I'm a tad worried. Because I just went on a long vacation, I'm trying to close on my home, and I've had a few doctor visits, I'm reticent about taking more time off. So I will be getting my cortisone shot and heading straight to work. Apparently I have to have someone else drive me to and from because my legs will be a little numb. So thanks mom and hubby for offering!

Happenings on our new home. We're not moved in yet.... boo!! Although it was nice to be able to have a few extra days to pack, this delay is verging on ridiculous. Apparently now we can't move in this Saturday, due to the underwriters asking for more and more stuff. Now they have all their paperwork and we're just waiting on the appraisal or some such nonsense? Aaarg. Either way, now it looks as though we'll sign Friday which means the home has to have 24 hours to fund and record, then we'll potentially move on Monday. Who moves on a Monday? Geesh.

Instead of moving on Saturday like planned, I'll be packing more, and finally making my way to Wally-world (Wal-Mart for those of you who aren't down with the WT lingo) for groceries that I wasn't going to buy till after we moved but when you are eating solely canned stuff every night it means you've reaching critical mass.

But yay for a new home! Someday...

phase 3: gettysburg

2010-09-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Gettysburg: I fell in love with you.

This town was so quaint and lovely, here's a few pics to get an idea.

Peaches for sale? How adorable. I'm in. Love peaches and nectarines. Both favorites.

A malt shop too? Are you kiddin me? Loving it.

This ball underneath the window was an actual cannonball from the battle at Gettysburg. Crazy.

Lincoln head, "Four score and seven years ago..."

This is the section of the battle from the South's point of view; where the fatal Pickett's charge took place and changed the entire course of the war.

These next few pictures were taken on or around Little Round Top hill where Colonel Chamberlain, played by Jeff Daniels in the movie Gettysburg, solidifies the North's win. LOVED that part in the movie. Watch it if you're going there.

These two pictures were taken on the North's side of Pickett's charge, again, the movie made this part of the battlefield really come to life because you knew some of the stories that made this such an instrumental, horrifying, and touching piece of ground. It was really special to be able to visit that sacred place.

part 2: phili and amish country

2010-09-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia, a huge, wonderful surprise. From my friend, Kaesha, who went to school out there I kind of assumed Phili was the ghetto. Probably just where she went to school was because historic downtown was the cutest and hippest little 'ol place. I wished we'd had more time to spend there, not just in the historic part but out and about.

The liberty bell and us.

Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence was signed) and us.

The best Phili cheese steak I've ever had. Bravo Sonny's!

Us at the former house of Benji Franklin (there really is only a wall left).

Amish country, (Lancaster, Philadelphia), I will see you again soon. Promise. I loved this place. Unfortunately we only got to spend one evening there and didn't really see anything Amish, other than the occasional horse and carriage rushing past with me frantically fiddling with my camera to try and snap a picture. Sadly the best picture I got was from inside the car zooming by.

Dave and I went 'Amish hunting' that night, with not much success. We saw several Amish carriages but my camera just really couldn't get a good one that late at night. Instead we tried to entice the cows with some grass. It wasn't until Dave shocked himself that we realized it wasn't us they were afraid of, but the fence!

Please forgive the rat's nest at the back of my head...

part I: two days in d.c.

2010-09-12T19:19:00.001-07:00

D.C. What a beautiful place! I loved all the architecture out there - so quaint. So... Full House (which I know was not filmed in D.C., but still cute).

The Jefferson Memorial building. Very beautiful place, reminiscent of his home, Monticello.

I don't have a picture of where we went next, The Holocaust Museum; so haunting. But afterward we were starving and the only place to eat that is remotely close was a hot dog stand that charged an arm and a leg ($6). So below is the worst and most expensive hot dog I have ever eaten.

The Washington Monument.

Dave and I at the base. That thing is ginormous!

Part of the crew sitting by the Washington Monument.

Me and my awkward self portrait; trying to get the White House in the background.

I made the boys, Seth and Dave, venture with me into Soho to go to one of my favorite shops, H & M. Thanks for the patience boys! This picture was just on our way there. It reminded me of something from the turn of the century with it's stripey window coverings.

Day 2: the rally and sweets.

I took this picture from atop of the Washington Monument right at 10 a.m., the beginning of the rally. I made Dave wait in line with me for like 45 min. to get a ticket to go to the top. Pretty rad. 555 feet up in the air. Dave could have sworn he felt it swaying.

Us with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. Crazy. TONS of people. I've never seen so many people. And crazy hot! That muggy east-coast weather is not for me! Next time I got out east I'm thinking spring or fall are the only ways to go.

Us at the rally. Dave sleeping, well he was right up until I took this pic, I joined him later. We're both very political if you can't tell ;)

Okay I think I have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone alive. I saw this business featured on the Food Network, one of my favorite channels, like 4 years ago. When we went to D.C. three years ago I made Dave come check it out with me. Pretty dang good. So when I found out our hotel was right next to another location we HAD to go. No exceptions. When in there a cute little black girl and I started window shopping and picking out our favorite sweets. When I was leaning over she grabbed my hair and started smelling it. Confused I asked "does it smell good? or bad?" She responded "who done yo hair??" Then her mom noticed and said "girl, get yo face outta her hair! whattcho doin?" It was so funny. I think she thought I dyed it or something.

Cake Love. Already gotta love the name.

Oooh yes. Delicious. The cupcakes were meh, but my raspberry cake was awesome.

Hopefully I'll get a minute to post the other pictures from our trip. Stay tuned.

a slice of life, in pictures, finally

2010-09-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

a new adorable nephew...
a little sister engaged...
a good time at bear lake...
an evan's family reunion game with a cookie...

Louis

Bre and Addison, the happy couple

a lazy summer day at the beach

a lazy bum on the beach

a game of getting a cookie from your forhead to your mouth without using your hands, you try it! more difficult than it looks!

another quick, but more positive, update

2010-09-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

So we're not going to be able to move this weekend :(

It's looking more and more like the move will take place next weekend. Dave said he's okay with that because he felt a little weird moving on 9/11. For cereal. I feel more okay about it because it means more time to pack - hallelujah! Last night I went through my bathroom and cleaned out all the shelves and drawers. How in the world did I collect so many hotel lotions?? Most things I said good-bye to last night in an effort to de-clutter. It feels so good to de-clutter/DI a house. Did you know that? It's true. But it takes way more time than I thought it would.

Since we aren't sure when exactly we are going to be moving it's been kind of a trip figuring out just what to pack up and what to leave unpacked. And it's kind of sad living in a half boxed up home, I'm just sayin. I'm focusing on packing up things that I rarely use {like bottles and bottles of hotel lotion}; we're packing up our books, and most of the kitchen tonight. What a fun Friday night :)

Tomorrow, since I think we're making good progress on packing, I'll take a break and perhaps head to the Utah State Fair. White trash, fried food and all. Heck yeah!

{On a side note: Vamp Diaries was good last night. What a guilty pleasure that show is for me! And what a nice break from packing.}

a quick, but painful, update {with no pics, once again}

2010-09-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to blog right now :(

'Stress, it's a killer sir.'

Trying to wind down from two wonderful trips, our D.C. trip, and a quick trip to Zion's in southern Utah (pictures may be expected sometime. yup. sometime. I'll get to it when I have a hot minute).

Trying, kind of unsuccessfully, to pack my house.

Wondering if we are going to actually close on the home because we were supposed to on Tuesday but our mortgage broker amended his earlier statement of 'yes, we have everything' to 'oh actually the underwriters haven't received everything from Henry Walker Homes yet.' And Henry Walker Homes replies, 'yes we did send it, will send again since you misplaced it' etc. etc. etc. No fun. Hope we do it before Friday so we can do the move on Saturday...

Went to a specialist for chronic pain in my back, since my high school days. Had x-rays, got an MRI this morning at 7am and consequently erased most of our savings for our new couch, since we haven't reached our deductible. The doc suspects arthritis. Really? I'm only 26. Really doc? That would suck. Especially since it involves steroid injections into my nerve, if the MRI says what he thinks it will (which consequently whittles away more new-home-new-things-fund).

Wondering when life will calm down again. But it will, eventually.

what didn't happen last weekend?

2010-08-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

First, my little sister Breanne got engaged to boyfriend Addison. Date for the wedding: December 13th! That makes all six kids married, in the temple. My mom might just have a heart-attack ;)

Second, my oldest sister Mylissa delivered her fifth, yes fifth, baby boy. Last I checked they were thinking of calling him Louis (or Lewis) Spencer Graham. Nice job Myliss!

Third, my Evans family reunion was awesome. I love family. And I'm so lucky to have such an awesome support system, not just in my immediate family, but the extended family as well. Thanks for the fun time family! The ropes course, accidental six mile hike, and games were tons of fun.

Fourth, we did the final walk-through on our house on Monday (which I'm counting as the weekend), and we're set to close on September 7th, moving on September 11th! Craziness, especially since we're going on a few trips that extend from August 26th-September 6th.... when am I going to pack?? But we're totally excited! It looks beautiful. So sad to leave our awesome ward though, perhaps we can still persuade some of you to join us? Pretty please?!

Pictures to follow... (yes, I know I keep saying this but downloading the pics and getting them all up takes so much time and I have so little with packing, cleaning, getting ready for our trip... yada yada yada. Someday soon you'll have some pictures to feast your eyes on ;)

I feel like a snake...

2010-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

...crawling out of it's dead skin. Oh how I hate sunburns that peel! Because of my fair skin and red-headedness I try to never get burned. It's just so easy for me if I miss a spot with the sunscreen, which is exactly what happened. And now I get to face the consequences; completely uncomfortable itchiness on sensitive, raw skin. Can life get worse? Yes, most definitely. But right now I'm just praying it goes away before our D.C. trip - I do not want to be on an airplane or in a car for several hours itching away...

On a side note: has anyone ever seen the Flash Flood video of the redheads on the subway in New York with the guy selling sun screen? Love it. You might have to be a redhead to completely appreciate it. Google it ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm off to an Evans family reunion in Hebs, UT! (that's Heber for the locals, well it could be anyway...). Tell you what, I'd LOVE life if I had one of these awesome T's for my reunion. Too fun.

A good deed a day...

2010-08-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Love these. So comfortable. Bought these Toms shoes for our D.C. trip where we'll be running around. And the awesome thing about these shoes is that

for every pair that is bought, one pair will be donated to a kid around the world.

One for one.

So I felt pretty good about my good deed for the day

(albeit it's kind of a selfish deed because I get wear a rockin pair as well.... but really, who's checking?).

Buy one, or two, or three, and help a kid out. Plus you get to look cute at the same time!

It's a win-win.

Where in the world...

2010-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Oh my poor buns and back. They're burnt to a crip. (Not my buns, per se, more like the back of my thighs - still no fun. TMI? Probably.)

So to soothe my buns I had a Merlin's raspberry shake.

Any idea where we went this weekend?

Photos to follow... (but not of the buns ;)

In the absence of my TV, I guess I'll write a post...

2010-07-27T21:38:00.001-07:00

Um I guess I should post something. It's been awhile huh? I just have nothing to tell all two of you that read this! We've been pretty lame all through the end of July. And pretty toasted. Geesh it's been so hot. Well here's a few things to give you insight into our ever-fascinating lives ;)

Our DVR is acting RETARDED! We didn't even get to watch the entire 'Men Tell All - Bachelorrete' because our DVR decided to 1) not fast-forward fast enough and 2) not stop fast-forwarding! After that it was all downhill because now I can't even change the channel or watch any of my other recorded stuff. It's stuck on some show on Starz about a serial killer. Those shows are a no-can-do for wuss-Kirsten. I can't handle 'em.

Oh we did go to Cedar City this weekend with quite a bit of my family. Went to the Shakespeare Festival over the 24th which has kinda become a tradition. (BTW, if you go down the Cedar over the 24th, just know their parade is super lame ;) But make sure to go to the little carnival they have on Main Street because the food there is awesome.) I did not take ONE picture down in Cedar, notta-one. I think I'm just getting lazy. I think all this heat is just making me lazy. Yup.

We saw two awesome plays there, Much Ado About Nothing (and if you haven't seen the Kenneth Branaugh and Emma Thompson version then you need to get yourself to Blockbuster and watch it - or you can borrow it from me), and the stage version of Pride and Prejudice; which surprisingly was hilarious, well-performed, and moved at a great pace. Nice job Shakespeare Festival 2010! We'll be back next year.

Let's see.... just finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol in my preparation for going to D.C. at the end of next month - meh. I kind of had hard time with that book honestly. I thought some parts were good, others unbelievable and over all it was just too much info that he tried to tie in to make it believable. His whole point of the book though - that wisdom from a Higher Power throughout all the ages points to this enlightened idea of letting us mortals know that we do indeed have the potential to become like God, to in fact become Gods ourselves...um did he even study the Mormon religion? That's kind of what what our whole religion is about. Of course that's our mission in life - doesn't that just make sense? That's why we are here; for a higher purpose and the hope that we can constantly continue to progress. Maybe that's why I had a hard time with it, because I kept thinking "duh." It's interesting to note that although he points out that many religions insinuate we can become like God and the power is within us, the Mormon religion is always singled out as radical for that exact belief....

Wow. Sorry for that long tangent. Apparently I did have a lot to say after all :) I'll sign off now and get off my soapbox!

a movie review

2010-07-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

It was awesome. So conceptually awesome. I think I might have to see it again to really work it out in my mind because it was so twisty. Don't see it when you're tired because you'll need your mind to keep up and you can't risk falling asleep (Dave? ahem.)

Wonderful, wonderful cast, amazing affects, and it leaves you wanting more. One of the best I've seen in a long time.

Go see this movie, you won't regret it.

ty's outdoor concert

2010-07-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

I went to my brother Tyler's outdoor concert last Friday and wanted to say - nice job bro! You were fantastic.

Adorable nephew, Henry, who asked me after sitting with me awhile, "are you mom?" To which I replied "haha, no Henry." He sat for a moment and then said, "ooh... you're Kirsten." Then he picked up a bag and asked "can I eat this? What is this?" I said "oh that's dog poop Henry" (it was bagged cotton candy ;). He said, "oooooh.....(pause), do we eat dog poop?" What a funny kid! He's only 2 1/2, give him some slack ;)

Fun summer so far. Don't want it to ever end.

a summer Saturday, as it should be

2010-07-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Dave was a sweetheart and decided to spend a Saturday doing whatever I wanted to do, which was pretty awesome. First we tried out a new place for breakfast called The Original Pancake House in Sugarhouse and it was delectable. The best hot chocolate I've had, hands down. Also the banana pancakes with tropical syrup was awesome. Then we went to a store I've always wanted to visit but never had time, a consignment store called Home Again. It's a tad pricey for me but still gave me good ideas. Next we walked over to Barnes and Noble, to check out some books. After that we spent a few hours reading at one of my favorite places, Sugarhouse Park. We ended the day having a BBQ at my brother's house and playing outdoor games.

A perfect day in my opinion.

Cute chair and rocking horse...

I really liked this chair but Dave thought it was terribly uncomfortable, expensive (which it was) and too girly. Meh... maybe he was right. Maybe not.

I really liked that white basket thing...

Oh I thought this was kind of ironic... the teen books were right next to the expecting mothers section...

This book took the cake. Luche Libre (Family Portraits). Have you seen Nacho Libre? It portrays several Mexican entertainment wrestlers, with their families. Have you visited Awkwardfamilyphotos.com? Mix the two together and you get this book. Awesomeness. You should all check it out on your next BN visit.

a house update

2010-07-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Our house is getting closer and closer to completion, kind of making me nervous/excited. They have most of the insulation up and have started on the sheet rock. Craziness. We're super excited though. When we went to visit we headed over to a little lake nearby with some fields. I decided it would be a fun place to take pictures in the future and made Dave be my model... of which he hated every moment ;)

Couldn't decide which picture I liked more. Opinions? It looks a little swampy but it was very beautiful. Some disgruntled geese and ducks got mad at us as we tried to walk along the path. They were sitting right in our way so we steered clear but they all got up and started quacking and batting their wings, making sure we knew they could take us.

Ta-da! Not bad yeah?

4th of july = summer = happiness

2010-07-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

If I'm not careful this weekend, this could be me..... probably will be. Make no judgements.Dave and I have been going on lots and lots of late night walks almost nightly because it's just so absolutely, beautifully warm. I told Dave the other night that I really want to sleep out on a trampoline like ASAP. He thought we were a little too grown up for that but I say 'what the hay?' let's find some friendly neighbor and become squatters on their trampoline for the night. Who's with me??! We used to do it all the time as kids during those warm summer nights. Granted we usually pooped out around 4 am when we were freezing or when the springlers came on (mom... you were supposed to turn them off for us! ahem.) But fun, fun nights spent talking and looking up at the stars. Can't life be simple like that again please? Can I say I'm soooo excited for this long, wonderful, warm (but not too warm), weekend! It's going to be full of bbq's backyard bands, swimming, FOOD, friends, and family. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot.

Happy Fourth Friends!

hurray!, again

2010-07-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Since we're first time home buyers we were really hoping for that awesome tax credit. But since we're building, our home won't be completed until around the end of August and we would miss it. For the last few weeks Dave and I have been watching with bated breath to see if the House and the Senate were going to put through and extension which would allow us to get an $8,000 tax return. The first time it went through the House but not the senate and we cried a little but got over it. But we just found out this morning that they have finally put through a modified version of it which will still get us 8 grand! Wahoo! Guess that's going to go in our savings for a rainy day or to make our house payments in advance... (nothing like paying for a vacation to Greece or anything Dave?) Awesome, awesome news.

hurray!

2010-07-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

These friends just joined my books shelves yesterday!

I love these books.

Such good summer reads.

{And only $30, including shipping, on Amazon.com (my other bff), what a steal.}

random fun

2010-06-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Remember that peanut butter frosting? I put it on brownies... oh my. Ooooh my.
Look at this adorable baby chair! If only I were prego, if only I had an extra $75 and if only I could have fit it in my car...

Went to my cousin Jessie's wedding and she was absolutely adorable. Look at her cute head veil (which my other super cute cousin, Alycia, made). Gorgeous dress, fun party, good food. I was sold.

(Although I didn't get to eat any of the wedding cake.... and that seriously was hard for me. Seriously. I am a connoisseur of wedding cakes my friends. I mean they cost like what? $400 minimum. Yeah, I'm gonna eat it. I actually love fondant. Don't know many who do? Now you know one ;D)

Ok so I know this picture above is an awkward picture but it showed the detail on her dress and her head veil (I really don't know if that's what you call it but I think you all know what I mean).

Congrats you two!
We love your faces.

a few items

2010-06-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm not really the type of person who watches sports on TV, like ever (unless you count the Olympics or the occasional gymnastics meet), but I have been getting into the World Cup. I think, aside from me actually enjoying playing soccer, I love that like the entire world is watching. I love that the rest of the world is just crazy-insane over this sport. And I love that America is finally getting into it. But most of all, I love how awesome America is doing! We watched the last 15 minutes or so of last night's game and it was seriously awesome! That point scored during the last minute??! Incredible. I don't think we're going to win or even come close but I think America is finally putting a foothold in this game the rest of the world has been playing for years. 'Bout time.

Other awesome news - our home is going to be in the Utah Parade of Homes! Now let me just clarify, it won't be our actual home mind you, but the model home like 5 houses down from ours that is the exact same model - so it's like our home. Got it? Yeah, I think it's still pretty exciting. If you visit those parade homes, like I know many do, it's #10 on the list and our home is right down the street so you can get two for one and walk through our lovely framed home. Hurray!

sad day

2010-06-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

So our Saturn, dubbed 'the golden oldie', is experiencing difficulties... grave, grave, difficulties.

When we bought the hud three years ago (yup. you heard me. the hud.) it didn't have AC. We steamed through an entire summer, drenched in our own sweat; gross but true, and when we finally saved up enough the following summer we got the AC fixed. And joyous day! It worked even better then our newly-leased Mazda ($700 some odd dollars later.... geesh).

However, this last Saturday our AC began to feel like I had a blow dryer inside and it was viciously trying to fry off my face :( Come to find out, after taking it to the dreaded Firestone, they told us that a cruel little rock decided to jump into the AC condenser and ruin our sweet, cool, rockin ride in the golden oldie (something that happens rarely, almost never, I'm told). Oh and the total to get it fixed, nay not fixed - completely replaced, per their recommendation: $860. Whaaa???? It's true.

Needless to say a second opinion from our good, true friends Haugen's in Farmington was in order. I can not sing their praises more highly - they have saved us bukoos of $$ time and again. Why didn't we go to them in the first place? Well they're a tad farther away then we would like when dropping off the car on the way to work. We think that they are THE only honest and true place to go to.

We took it there, he gave it the same diagnosis but instead of replacing the year old AC in it's entirety, he said he could patch it up for $70-90. Um, yes please. Turns out that when he got in there he did end up replacing the whole unit because it would cost about the same with the labor(which hopefully means it will last longer as well). Total: $390. Bleh. Heckuv a lot better then $860 though {still a low blow when we just got it replaced last year...}.

Oh well! That's life and all it's ups and downs I guess. I'm just glad we have someone to go to for car troubles that we can trust.

oh how I want this... the shoes, the hair, the dress...

2010-06-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

happy birthday my love!

2010-06-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

What a cute, studly man my husband is...

My, how time flies!

When I met you you were 25 - now 32

(although you don't look it of course ;)

How lucky I am to have such a sweet, hard-working husband.

I hope you have a fabulous birthday!

I'd rather be poor than fat...

2010-06-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

Can I say that?

I think that keeping up a good diet takes so much time and money for fresh, green food and all the rest.....

C'est la vie.

I say it again: I'd rather be poor than fat ;)

sistas!

2010-06-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got bangs and my sister dyed her hair red people think we're the same person, even family will have to do double takes (and boyfriends almost give hugs to married sisters... awkward! ;) My little sis Breanne and I are #5 and #6 in the family and are about 5 1/2 yrs apart. Both of us love to do plays, sing and guess who all the actors are and what other shows they've been on whenever we watch movies. Since I forced Bre to watch all the same old shows I did growing up (older sister prerogative) we can pretty much quote the same movies. Many times I'll quote a movie no one knows and sigh, "Oh Bre would have known that."

Her show is starting in a week and I invite you all to see it! She's starring in

The Wedding Singer

at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley. She's Julia Gulia. And she's awesome.

It's playing June 15 - July 31st and she's in the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 12:30pm cast.

Come one, come all and support my lil sista!

oh boy

2010-06-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

I made these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes Tuesday night and about died they were so good!! And they were a hit at the birthday party I took them to and at work the next day. Word to the wise, just eat them and don't ask how many calories they are (fyi that means they're amazing ;)

Go to this food blog (of which I'm a cook!) to get the easy recipe.

jackson hole part 2

2010-06-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

We did lots of fun things in Jackson Hole, mostly played games and ate, so obviously I was happy.

I made everyone, everyone being mostly me and Addison, complete this 500 piece puzzle in like and an hour and half.

Played picture scavenger hunt and it was awesome. This is the boys' team doing the 'we all fit in here?' picture.

Went to an awesome ice cream store in downtown Jackson, Moo's. If you haven't been you seriously need to. It was way better than I even imagined, try the cookies and cream and be ready for heaven to slid down your throat right into your happy belly.

We {impromtu} invented a game that had us all laughing hysterically. It involved a table, one piece of popcorn, goalies, no hands and lots of air! Popcorn soccer. Oh we were laughing so hard we couldn't even play! Thanks Myliss for getting those moments on camera, can't wait to watch them at next year's family reunion.

meet the family

2010-06-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend was spent in Jackson Hole with my family, the Briggs. And we had a ball. I took so many pictures that I thought I would do them in increments. These are pictures of us from our hike through Jenny Lake and it was awesome. We took a ferry across the lake and then hiked up to Hidden Falls with the whole family - 23 of us + one boyfriend (that's you Addison). Let me introduce you to my family (well some of them):

Me and sis in law Maryann..

Her cute son on the right, Harrison, and little Jimmy on the left, holding hands for the pic, the only way to make them hold still.

All the nieces and nephews (notice almost allll boys, only two girls).

Jimmy and dad Wayne.

No idea who those cheesy goofs are....

Another pair of cheesy goofs....

The smerf, a.k.a. Lucy.

Jed and Emma (we call them Jemma).

My sis Mylissa and her cute boy Owen.

Owen and my doppelganger (also little sister), Breanne.

Aw, a super awesome couple apparently. Two pictures!

The people who started it all....

mum and dad ;)

Yes it was a chilly hike if you can't tell but we all had a fabulous time. Hikes short enough where all those little boys can make it - my kind of hike :D

More pictures to follow...

lil' Campbell

2010-05-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

So I'm way behind on my posts. Here is a very belated post about a new member of the Dagley family (my sis in law), Campbell. Here's me having a great time holding the new born...

Oh she's starting to get fussy...
Aaand now I'm handing her back....

Ahhh.... right where she should be ;) Thanks for holding her dad. Congrats Steph and Brett!

suprise! surprise!

2010-05-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

We are now the proud owners of that plot of land behind us.

We got the corner lot which means we got a rad backyard

(that's a charter school there in the background).

Some of our colors for our home...

We're building in West Kaysville.

They're breaking ground tomorrow.

It should be done around August.

Huzzah!

ramblings 2

2010-05-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Ooh I forgot to add one last thought I had this weekend and wanted to share:

8) The Grey's Anatomy Finale. Way to suck it up all season and then bust out that incredible finale! Dave even wanted to watch it if that tells you anything. I hope it's a prelude of the next season.

Thank goodness all these shows are over so I can have my life back, my word! No more TV... until So You Think You Can Dance starts...

ramblings

2010-05-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of disjointed thoughts/questions lately that I'd like to write down:

1) Let me apologize for my last blog post. Sometimes you need to just get things out in the open and said, but I fear that I came across as a person full of anger or something but that's not really the case, or at least I hope not. Just tired of customer service ;)

2) I have some Disney VHS movies that I would like to get rid of. Does anyone want them? Gina perhaps?

3) I'd like to make sour dough bread next week. Does anyone have a starter I can borrow?

4) Does anyone want to buy a used Bosch mixer? We're going to try and sell one that was my mom's. I'll post the link soon to eBay so you can see it.

5) Went to my little cousin's wedding shower on Saturday, Jessie, and I'm starting to feel old! She's my little sister's age and cute as a button. Ah it's fun to hang out with cousins and aunts though, makes me think back to my lovely childhood days....

6) Saw the latest Shrek - don't bother with it until you can Redbox it. Have you seen the Christmas show, It's a Wonderful Life? Well that was it in a nutshell.

7) LOST. Amazing! It's taken me like 24 hours to let the finale ruminate and remember scenes and how they correlate in order for me to really be happy about the ending. Sigh, it's finally over... and I'm okay with that. It was fantastic.

let it be known

2010-05-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Following People Have Been Put on Notice:

1. The mean lady customer who informed me today that I "put her over the edge" and that's partly why she's leaving the bank. Please excuse me for asking to call the other person you wanted to add to your account (I can't add them without their permission, because that's my job). She informed me several times the she's (in caps), "A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST." Okay. And what exactly do you want me to do with that information? Try desperately to inform your customers who didn't already know within the first 5 seconds of knowing you what a beast you are and to run for their lives before you make them feel bad enough about themselves in their sessions with you that they'll wish they were dead? I wish I could. But I just don't have the time. (This sentiment, by the way, is a mutual feeling with all my co-workers at the bank).

2. The two people this morning who drove the exact same slow speed on a two lane highway so NO ONE could get past them, thereby making us all that much later for work...

3. _______________ (not for your eyes dear readers, only written down to, shall we say, purge my annoyance/anger? yes, that works)

4. _______________ (ditto on this one)

Sorry if you feel gypped on those last two, but I'll have keep my own counsel on those.

Time for work to be over and the weekend to begin, can you tell?

mizithra cheese

2010-05-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

I made this for dinner this week, so simple and so delicious. Check out my recipe here.

a movie review

2010-05-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

I watched this show this weekend and was pleasantly surprised.

It's bizarre, completely and 100%, but still pretty good.

Go in with an open mind and pretend you're on crack and you'll find you like it ;)

No, but seriously I thought it had a good message and they did a good job of resurrecting the movie even with the death of Heath Ledger

(plus it's got Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell - need I say more?).

i want

2010-05-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

to go picnicing, all summer, all over Utah.

A picnic club might be just the thing. Hmmmm... yes I think so.

oopsy daisy

2010-05-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dave and I couldn't find our remote for like 3 days...

wanna know why?

I washed it.

Twice.

Yup.

In the washing machine.

We found it last night.

And guess what?

It still works!

tonight

2010-05-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am seeing Steel Magnolias the play. I'm excited to see it in play format - I don't know if they can ever top Sally Field's powerful scene at the funeral where I just bawled like a baby though. I hope it's good. My sis's boyfriend is the stage manager for it - go Addison!

Clairee: I've just been to the dedication of the new children's park.
Truvy: Yeah, how did that go?
Clairee: Janice Van Meter got hit with a baseball. It was fabulous.
Truvy: Was she hurt?
Clairee: I doubt it. She got hit in the head.

Love it ;)

Also excited for my guilty pleasure... Vamp Diaries finale tonight (as is Dave, so he doesn't have to watch it for another 5 months).

And my friend Hayley just informed me that Ian Somerhalder, who plays the snarky brother Damon in VD, is going to be Ian O'Shea in The Host movie. I didn't even know they were doing a movie but I think it's going to be awesome. Some Twilight die-hards didn't like that book but I really enjoyed it.

Tune in next time for more media news...

lately

2010-05-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

I've been a little blue... so I've been thinking of a few of my favorite things to raise my spirits (don't worry y'all - it's probably because of this ridiculous weather).

Anyway here's a few:

Mini's Cupcakes in Sugarhouse - so de-lish, but pricey... Loved the Breakfast at Tiffany's in blue and the Pretty in Pink.

Vampire Diaries (I'll admit it, I'm not skeerd ;)

Eating at Joy Luck with my wonderful in-laws - I recommend the lettuce wraps which my sis-in-law Ariel and I both enjoyed.

Looking forward to Iron Man 2 - don't fail me, it better be good!

Not working, I don't mean that I don't have a job (which would be heaven), but the hours in which I'm not at work.

Beautiful pictures, or just beautiful things that inspire.

Good books to read, I mean super good books.

Harry Connick Jr. on American Idol - the first night I kind of thought he was on crack but then the next night he just started cracking me up ;)

My bed. Oh how I love getting into my glorious bed at the end of the day.

A sweet husband who offers to get me ice cream and rub my back when I have a bad day (which I'm still waiting for the back rub hon...).

Speaking of ice cream (or custard), Nielson's Frozen Custard - the concrete with cookie dough.

Oh - and the picture of my cat.... love it. She just might eat you.

Saturday morning breakfast

2010-05-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

If any of you are looking for a place for breakfast that has amazing waffles, Bruges Waffles and Frites downtown is the place. They are true Belgium waffles, not like the ones that we have here in the U.S., they're amazing. Dave and I met some friends there this weekend and I about cried because of it's goodness.

My 'Europe friend' Adam, who is trying to make a sexy face... and failing miserably ;)

It's right next to another of my favorite places, Tony Caputo's Market and Deli. It has amazing real Italian food, by real Italian people :) I took a chocolate taste testing class there with my sweet sis-in-law, Maryann a few months back and it was loads of fun.

I so want to ride that blue bike...

This pic I threw in just for fun - its was taken across the way from Bruges Waffles and Frites in a fun bakery that I can't remember the name of. Ooooh food. Maybe I'll stop blogging about it... maybe. Probably not.

Yeah, nope.

happenings

2010-05-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Went to 5 Guys last night = me in heaven.

Finished watching Slumdog Millionaire for the first time and really liked it, although I had to giggle whenever the Millionaire host kept pronouncing it 'mill-on-air' vs. 'mill-yon-air'. Oooh accents, sometimes they're sexy and sometimes they make me smile.

Watched Glee and think that the kids on that show are way too cruel to Rachel. Lay off her! She may be crazy annoying and bossy but she still is super sweet. I hope she gets her 'just deserts'. {This is a phrase that I must have read somewhere and it popped into my head when I was discussing how unjustly Rachel is being treated. And no, I didn't spell it wrong - it is just one 's'. I looked it up to make sure I was using it properly and this is what it said:

Meaning: That which is deserved. A reward for what has been done - good or bad.
Deserts, in the sense of 'things deserved' has been used in English since at least the 13th century.

Gosh I'm smart; that or I read old books waaay too much. Probably the later.}

Watched Lost last night and thought about crying when some of our main Losties died, but I held it together. Only what? Three shows left??! What will I watch next to take up my time?

Going to see The Three Musketeers tonight at Hale and eating beforehand at Costa Vida in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Huzzah!

my weekend

2010-05-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

so I had plans this wekeend....

things to get done....

stuff to clean....

and I didn't do any of it.

instead I read these three books - the entire weekend. poor dave. but man they were addictive.

in regards to the spring pasta

2010-04-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

So the day after I made that delicious pasta (below) I had left over mozzarella and a green pepper so what did I do? I made some more! But all the past I had left was whole wheat (which Dave would almost rather cut off his own foot than eat, but I used it anyway ;) and to pacify my sweet husband I added bits of bacon. And guess what? He loved it! He actually wanted to make it the night after but I'd had quite enough. So lesson learned; to get Dave to eat something, throw in a little bacon.

...Speaking of bacon, have you ever baked it before? Oh. My. Gosh. Soooo much easier than even microwaving it, and I used to be a die-hard microwave-r of bacon (can I say that? just did I guess). You just line a pan, the ones with edges like a pumpkin roll pan, with tin foil, turn up the oven to 400 degrees and cook for 15-17 minutes. Once done, take the bacon off and place on paper towels, then use paper towels to soak up the extra grease on the pan, ball up the tin foil and voila! No mess! No having to decide where to put the extra, hot, smelly bacon grease. Amazing. It's like a whole new world! A bacon world that is.

a spring pasta

2010-04-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

This pasta is actually from my husband Dave's imagination if you can believe that. He did serve a mission in Italy and all ;)

Ingredients:

1 can of corn (I prefer canned or fresh)
1 'ball' of fresh mozerella cut in cubes
1 green paper also cut in cubes
pasta, bow-tie or shells are what we like
olive oil
salt and peppa
basil (chopped, dry or fresh)

I don't really have exact measurements on these because we kind of just eye-ball it. After cooking the pasta and draining it thoroughly, put in a chilled bowl and mix all together. Coat the pasta with olive oil and add salt, pepper, and basil to taste. Then chill for at least a half an hour.

It's a refreshing, spring pasta that we love, and super easy :)

a sunday drive

2010-04-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

We all had fun on our Sunday drive. I just wish it would be a tad more warm. An no wind. Is that too much to ask? Sooo time for summer.

success!

2010-04-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

The baby shower was a success. Thanks to Jess, Hayley and the rest of the Doxey girls. This is Andi, the prego girl - isn't she too cute? And that's our gift there on her left.

It was so fun to get together with the Doxey family whom we just adore - all four girls, mom and patient, loving Dad. They are one of the funniest families you will ever meet - four girls yelling, laughing, arguing, and crying with their ever-patient dad quietly loving every minute.

Ta da! Our gift, a baby tub - in the shape of a whale, awesomeness.

*

Although I didn't end up making whoopie pies (I'm saving them for another party... want to invite me? I'll bring dessert!), I did make my own concoction and this is a hint:

You can find the recipe here on the best food blog ever.