bryan and jen

.{newborn photographer, tempe arizona}.

2011-10-10T08:57:00.002-07:00

all photos were shot with a canon 60d. lenses: 50mm 1.4 and a 100mm macro.

edits were done in pse: no actions.

.{newborn photographer, tempe arizona}.

2011-10-08T21:45:00.002-07:00

all photos were shot with a canon 60d. lenses: 50mm 1.4 and a 100mm macro.

edits were done in pse: no actions.

.{europe album}.

2011-10-04T20:29:00.002-07:00

So I finally got around to putting together an album for our adventures in Europe this summer. I had purchased a groupon a little while ago for a company called Blurb. My friend Stacey had used it to publish her blog. I bought two. :)
Me being the "lost-her-mind-recently" type forgot about the expiration date. I swore it was in November~but alas, it was in September. November, September... easy to mix up right? I mean hello, they both end in -ber. :) kidding. But really I completely spaced it.
I immediately got on their site and requested to have an extension seeing as I missed it by two days or so. To my surprise they extended all the groupons and coupon codes for another week. GOLDEN! Ha, I can put together an entire album of 14 days of events in Europe in a week while working full time and having family in town. PSHHH... no problem. Ha, yeah right!
I did manage to get it somewhat complete. I did my best to proof read it at 11:30 at night the night of the deadline. I managed to get about 140-something pages in and a spread that sorta made sense. It wasn't what I had pictured in my head, but hey that's ok. It's my own fault. Oh and I ran out of time that I didn't get to create a different inside cover that doesn't thank my parents for the trip {one of the books was for them...shhh they don't know yet and I don't think they read this}.
So here she is. the finished works. Yes, there are a few typos. Again, 11:30 at night. I didn't catch them all. Nor did I give myself enough time to.
I can't wait to make the next album. I took a lot of pictures of the unique doors, hardware, and entries throughout the trip {well... Paris and on...} at the suggestion of my sister and bryan {I think}. So we will have a small coffee table book of those along with landscapes and such. I already have a MooLaLa coupon set up for that and christmas cards!
Enjoy.

.{album}.

p.s. Didn't love the design of the blurb album. took too long to manipulate and their layouts were kind of generic. Again, I didn't leave myself enough time. I've tried Shutterfly and mPix too. So far my favorite has been mPix. I'm going to be trying MixBooks next and MyPublish {recommended by my friend Annie}. Oh and I updated the paper, so we'll see how it turns out. It should be here in a day or two!

p.p.s. I don't know why but when you view the book you can have the option to buy it. Just ignore that :).

.{hilly holbrook}.

2011-09-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

I am in LOVE with The Help. Best movie this summer-hands down. Everyone must read this book and everyone must see this movie! This book has changed me. It is one of those books that makes you want to be a better person after reading it. Outside of the Scriptures and other gospel related works, there are few books that have impacted me.

This past week I have had an unfortunate experience with a Hilly Holbrook type character in my life. As events have transpired I can't help but make connections between this fictional character and someone who embodies her. Do you have a Hilly in your life? What do you do to rise above the way you feel when you are around them? Where do you find the courage to stand up to them? How do you keep them from chipping away at your self worth?

.{project home}.

2011-09-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Since purchasing our new home I have been on the go out how to fill it and decorate it. I have been watching HGTV non-stop since we signed the papers. I have been scouring the internet for photos that capture what I have in my head and for new inspirations. I've been using Pintrest a lot to help me put my ideas into an organized manner. It's been wonderful having it to keep me organized.

I've recently discovered how much I want original pieces in our home. And well let's be honest, we don't have the $$ for custom made furniture. So I'm trying my hand at re-purposing. I did these pieces a while back and then took a break due to the summer heat and just being plain busy with work.

and these two...

Now I find myself going through Craig's List ads on a daily basis. Here when I have five minutes... there when I have ten. I found this desk and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a mustard yellow of some sorts. It'll go next to the stairs in a nook we have by the kitchen and family room.

I also have been going through thrift stores a lot too. My sister and I try to get together a few times a month and hit the local Goodwill, Savers, and other small thrift and consignment stores. I recently found this mirror for $15. It was dusty, but that can be remedied. My plans for this are still in the works. I'm thinking that it might be high gloss white, depending on the wall I choose to put it on.
There is a mirror like this at Ikea. But i think it's just a frame if I'm not mistaken and you have to buy the mirror portion separately.

Last weekend my mom and I went out and shopped around for the house. We hit a model home furniture store, two fabric stores, and every Goodwill between North Phoenix and Chandler. My mom got a bunch of frames (all 50% off) and I found some fabrics that I would like to use in the house. Didn't purchase any yet, but building a style board for the look of each room. I also found some frames for a picture collage for the entry way.

I also found this second desk to anchor our study/den down stairs. This room will double as Bry's study area and a possible place to meet with clients if life ever takes us that way. I found this piece at a Goodwill in Scottsdale. It was in need of some wood glue and nails, but had such great potential in my eyes. I feel in love with the screen in the front and the details. I just LOVE the handing handles too! It was LOVE at first sight. I snatched that right up. Best buy of the day at $40! It's SOLID wood too! The drawers are clean and it has a filing drawer too!

Great tip from the lady from Home Depot. Primer that sticks to everything! Yes and they can tint it for you for free.

Here are a few quick pictures I took before priming. I didn't sand anything down, but I did wipe and clean the piece before painting. The screen seems to be the hardest to paint.

Here are some pieces of the primed desk and drawers. I removed all the hardware and plan on spraying that an off white or soft white. I primed the entire piece in about an hour or so. I can see a few drips here and there that I will need to sand down before putting on the color. I went with a BEHR Premium paint from Home Depot. I like their paint better than Valspar so far.

I went to start to put the color on and the heat was just too much. Everything was drying so quickly before I could smooth it out. So we brought the piece inside to try to keep it from warping like the first piece in the post. We mistakenly left it in the garage and now it's slightly bowed. This piece will have to wait until after the move to be unveiled. Patience. AH!

In the mean time I'm working on some Halloween projects and some individual cupcake stands. They are navy blue. If anyone has any good tips for re-finishing and re-purposing please let me know. I'm obviously new at this and any help would be appreciated.

enjoy.

.{our soon-to-be-home}.

2011-07-12T15:50:00.001-07:00

it is true-we have finally taken the plunge. last week bryan and i signed a contract for our new home. ah. we are growing up. the process began a long time ago, but always sat on the back burner for the longest time due to school, work, life, etc. we'd casually look through listings and make dream lists and such. during the whole process we kept telling ourselves and everyone else that we would NEVER live in the East Valley (i.e. chandler, gilbert, mesa, etc.). and little did we know that that is exactly where we would end up-gilbert.

so we looked and looked. tempe and south scottsdale were our main focus. nada. everything looked great inside (a 1960s home that have been completely redone) but then when i would click to exterior pictures my heart would just sink. ugly. no curb appeal. i could never see myself driving up to the house and saying"yeah, i live here." we thought of re doing the outside, but then we saw the neighbors and their homes were in the same shape. i wasn't feeling like home in any of these places.

and as we drove around the areas i noticed that there were no kids outside playing together or anything green. now i know we don't have kids just yet, but we hope to some day. and i want my kids to have neighbors that are around the same age so they can have play mates. and the whole green thing.... i HATE desert landscaping. rocks and cactus just don't do it for me. sigh. at this point i was becoming super discouraged.

then one day my sister and i went for a walk to some models by her house- just to see what they were like. and BAM there it was. i walked in and loved it. i had to show bry. i knew he would say it was kind of far away from the things and places that we liked to go. and trust me it is. but the home felt like a home to me.

a few weeks later i dragged bry through them on a walk again. and after going through all the other homes, this was the first and only one to this day in which he exclaimed, "i like this one. i really like it." at first we both thought that it was a little large for just the two of us. but then with the wisdom of my sister we realized that we needed to look at it as a place we could grow in. and it was just that. perfect to grow in.

that was about three months ago. we battled with how far it was. and put it on the back burner again and pursued more homes in the areas that we thought we wanted to live. we went out with a realtor, a family friend, and he showed us 5 houses. and then we went back to the house in gilbert and we knew. none of the other houses compared.

sure it was farther from work than we would like, but other than that it was great. its bright. open. great floor plan. great ward (according to my sister), and close to jacks. being close to jackie was just an added bonus in all of it. not a necessity. couples in our same situation were moving into the ward and there were lots of young families. something our very first ward was lacking.

there are parks and green belts, and LOT and LOTS of trees. yes, that is right TREES. in arizona! my childhood home had the same elements of tree lined drives. my sister and i share the same love for the tree lined street leading in from snowcreek to our house in walnut. we loved how the trees changed color in the fall and dropped into the street adorning them with vibrant colors.

now these trees aren't nearly as mature as those trees and i'm not sure if they will ever grow to be that big, but anything is better than desert landscaping. so i am over joyed with the community. we will be in the same ward as my sister and her family. that will be fun. and we will join the ward just as they are changing from 8 am start time to 11 am start time. how perfect.

our house right now is just a dirt lot. it will get started at the end of the month as soon as we go to the design studio to pick our interiors. it'll be a blue house with shutters and cream trim. at least that's the plan for now, we might change our minds.

here is a virtual tour of the model home. .{the farm house}. it worked from this computer. i hope it works. if not let me know. thanks. the count down is on! when we have a more exact date i will get it to you and pictures of where we are going to live!

p.s. a big thank you to my grandparents {grandma lee and grandpa lee} for all your help. and of course my mom and dad too. we couldn't have done it without you. and thank you to robyn and steve for supporting us and we promise not to be strangers, we understand it was farther than we all thought it would be, but it's not THAT far :). and to jackie and brad. we will try not to embarrass you or cramp your style in the ward :) we love you all.

.{charles hudson little}. .{newborn baby photography}.

2011-07-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

there has been a recent addition to the bluth side of the family. courtney and austin had a little baby boy last week. his name is charles hudson little. he was born on july 1st at 4:35 am. he weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces. he was 21 inches long and had a full head of hair. courtney was gracious enough to let me take pictures shortly after he was born and she's been letting me release the shutter ever since. my very first nephew.

bryan and i got a text that court was being admitted to the hospital rough 8 hrs after being "induced." it was just after 9 o'clock at night. we quickly gathered up what we would need to stay the night up at robyn and steve's, jumped in the car, and drove up to the hospital. by the time we got there she was ready for her epidural. court was a trooper. i hope to remain as calm as she was that night when/if it's my turn.

we stuck around until midnight. then retired to the house until it was time for charlie to arrive. at this point he was nameless and the suspense was killing me :). at 3:55 am robyn text me and told me it was time to go! ahhhhh!!!!!! this is really happening. he's coming. finally! those left at the house jumped in the "explosion," thank goodness it started.

as we arrived outside the room a faint cry could be heard. he's here. he is really here. he had the best cry. soft. but noticeable. he had entered the world and let everyone know it without being intrusive or loud. about 10 minutes later we were all invited to see him behind one of those hospital curtains as the dr attended to courtney. austin in the mean time did just as well as courtney. austin isn't one for blood and such and he stayed by her side and didn't faint. :)

thirty minutes later the little bundle of joy was being passed from family member to family member. i have pictures of those as well. i haven't gotten to editing those yet. we stayed for about an hour and then it was time for the Little family to move to a recovery room. for the rest of us, it was IHOP time. when we came back court looked amazing! no make up or hair touch ups. she just had this glow about her. i again, shot some more pictures of the new family. working on those too.

bryan and i took a hiatus from the hospital for a few days. during this time we put an offer on our first home and took in a round of golf on the hottest day on record this summer. it was 118 degrees. wow. lucky for us, not to long after getting started clouds rolled in and we got a small shower and light breezes to cool off the day. we are in the process of countering for our home and more details to come.

yesterday we celebrated the fourth of july with the bluths and the new baby. i talked to court about doing a mini photo shoot with charlie that day in celebration of independence day. it turned into less of a patriotic shoot to just a plain ole cute baby shoot. here are some of the images captured during our time.

to "style" this little mini shoot, i just gathered up whatever i had laying around the house. i used the letters that i painted from the shower. i had just purchased a navy blue tray from ikea for a steal at $7.99 and used that. i had fabric left over from quilting projects for texture (thanks to my mom). the chair i just purchased last week with a desk i am re-doing from craigslist. i wish he was more natural aka naked in the pics. but we are waiting for certain "healing" to take place before taking the nudes. so stay tuned for more pictures.

all the pictures above were taken with a cannon 60D with a 50 mm f/1.4 USM lens. they were all edited (very armature like) in adobe photoshop elements. thank goodness for 30 trials as i work out which program i want to invest in. this is my very first "photo shoot." if i can do it, anyone can. pick up your camera and start taking pictures.

enjoy.

.{the musical}.

2011-06-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

my good friend whit has posted about the book of mormon musical. i'm going to leave it at what she has. and i'm curious about what others think about this musical.

if you have heard

enjoy.

.{preview with instagram}.

2011-06-27T09:28:00.002-07:00

here are a few pictures that were taken on my phone during our 14 day excursion in europe. i am currently sorting through the 2500 picutres that were taken. overwhelmed to say the least. enjoy.

.{leaving atlanta after lunch with whitney and richard}.
.{barcelona here we come}.
.{this is before the BANG TRAGEDY}.

.{taking a stop off the double deacker bus in barcelona}.

.{sagrada familia}.
.{breath taking}.

.{first day in paris, waking up at the intercontinental across from the opera}.

.{along our trek, no filter roughly 8:30pm}.

.{climbing the eiffel tower around 9:30 pm, level 2}.

.{versailles}.

.{late night crepes}.

.{on the rossy bus to the airport}.

.{who do ya love?}.
.{love my dad and love my husband}.
.{always a good time}.

.{best nutella cookie EVER}.
.{cannes, france after a day in monaco}.

.{monte carlo train station}.

.{best pizza in napoli}.

working on the rest. haha. maybe this is my excuse so that if i never get around to posting anything else i can feel like i did something.

thanks MOM and DAD. this trip was A-MAZE-ING!

.{baby shower for the Littles}.

2011-06-22T20:45:00.004-07:00

.{the guest of honor and mother-to-be: courtney}.

this past week was courtney's shower. when i first found out she was pregnant i couldn't wait to throw her a shower. i was itching to throw one. :) courtney is the cuestest pregnant person ever. she's all belly. and i mean that in a good way. from behind you can't even tell she's expecting. and then her perfectly round little bump appears when she turns sideways.

.{original idea}.

.{smaller insert card}.
.{printable coming soon}.

the shower was four days after we got back from europe. my original design for the invites looked something like what you see above and was to be done with a letter press. however, the letter press did not cooperate. i don't have a picture of the actual invite which lexi did. they are so cute. i will try and get a picture up soon.

so i took the idea of ditching a card and giving a book instead from my sister's shower we did a few years ago. it was great. court didn't get multiple books :). it was fun to reminisce through the different titles and such. i can't take credit for the poem as i found it as i searched the web for ideas and inspirations.

my mother-in-law is a party thrower. and she's AMAZING at it. i was a little intimidated in taking the reins on this one since she's so GREAT at what she does. but she exercised confidence in me and my ideas and helped out when i started to get frazzled. which wasn't too often, but enough. i work tuesday, wednesday, and thursday during the week until 5:30 and it makes it difficult to get up to their house to set up and plan, etc.

in the end it came together nicely. here are some pictures from the shindig. the photos were taken with our cannon 60 and a 50mm f/1.4 USM. color curve correction was done with photoshop elements. i'm a amateur, obviously :).

.{sewed the runner. fabric is from hobby lobby}.

.{yummy tomatoes waiting to be filled with bow tie pasta salad by robyn}.

.{the center piece for the whole shower. this was my gift to baby little. it's a diaper, onesie, and wash cloth cake}.

.{hand painted the letters and cut the rest from the cricut}.

.{sugar cookie favors with a onesie cookie cutter}.

.{i made vanilla cupcakes. the green ones have edible buttons and they are filled with Bavarian cream.
the periwinkle ones are plain vanilla}.

.{robyn's delicious bowtie chicken salad}.

.{sewed another runner. again, fabric is from hobby lobby}.

.{dessert bar}.

.{blueberry and peach parfaits}.

.{the table. my mother has been giving me white serving ware since i don't know when and it finally paid off}.

.{vicki's gift. i love the personalized cover!}.

.{getting ready to frost all the cookies}.

.{my kitchen was covered in frosting for two days}.

.{robyn found these great blue cream sodas at bevmo}.

thank you to courtney and austin for having a baby and letting me throw you a shower. thanks to lexi for being a great co-host and helper. robyn you are so great and i hope to learn more from you and the help with the food was much appreciated. and jacks for running errands with me and letting me bounce ideas off you. and of course bry for being patient as our kitchen turned into a blue frosted mess. :)

Feeling lucky

2011-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Looking for a camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag? visit Kelly Moore Bag to see the coolest bags for your camera!

Win one for free from http://momspotted.com/2011/05/kelly-moore-camera-bags-review-giveaway-250-value.html

Do it!

...{she's} going the distance... {she's} going for speed...

2011-05-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

i want to dedicate this post to my AMAZING sister who ran her first half marathon in vegas and put my small accomplishment into perspective. jacks you are my hero (you and dad) and i can't wait to run a half with you and dad. together we gotta bring down the old man. i love you jackie and i'm so proud of you. you did it!!!!

on our way to vegas for the relay

*me a runner? can you believe it? it's probably more like jogger than runner, but it's more than walking that's for sure :). my dad and sister started running a little while ago. and everyone in the fam minues my mom and myself have been doing a few races together.

i ran the 6 mile leg and brad ran the 7.1
bry ran the 6 mile leg and my dad ran the 7.1
my sister ran the whole half {13.1}

i was in complete denial that i could run a mile let alone a 10K since i graduated from highschool. mental block. HUGE mental block for me. running is SO boring. SO boring. bry even promised to make me the best running playlist in the world... still not motivated. i would much rather do something else with my time.

finished just over six miles in 59 minutes

then talk started going around about a half marathon two person relay in las vegas. everyone (my dad, my sister, my bro-in-law, and my husband) were telling me i should do it with them. ha, yeah right!

my dad demolished the 8 minute lead i gave brad. he's unstoppable.

then out of no where came a completely insane idea to my mind that i would do it with them! crazy i know. the race was in three weeks. too late to start training? oh well. here's goes nothing. i put it in my mind i was going to do it, and i did. i went from not running at all to running over six miles.

six tunnels run at the hoover dam

just before starting the race {sorry they are out of order too lazy to fix :)}

it's all mental. whatever clicked in my brain made it possible for my, a sluggish, out of shape, 26 year old body to complete the task and ENJOY it. :) yes that's right i ENJOYED it. by the time i hit mile 6 i'm rearing and ready to go for more. on a side note, i really struggle with miles 1-3-3.5. i want to die during those first few miles. but, after i hit my fourth mile i feel like i can run for days.

after the race. both our relay teams placed in the top 10

i remember on my first six plus mile run... looking up and thanking Heavenly Father. this had to be a blessing from above. being able to run this long and have a smile on my face. i was really feeling like i had one of those movie moments where everything just seems so perfect (i.e. meg ryan's bike ride into town at the end of city of angels, thank you bry for remembering that) and then WHAM... something goes terribly wrong (i.e. being hit by a truck).

pat's run in april 4.2 miles {my number}

i was half expecting that to have one of those horrific things happen to me on my approach home. and i was thinking to myself as a went along... i'm ok with that. i feel so great right now and so grateful to my maker for giving me this opportunity that i wouldn't mind if this was it. RANDOM i know right? well, thankfully that didn't happen. and thankfully i was able to finish the two races without serious injury.

before pat's run. we were in corral number nine
no finish line pictures.
my time was 38 minutes and 42 seconds

i think i may well be addicted to race day. i hate the in between. i hate trying to find time to run after getting home from work. but oh well. it's been a great opportunity to be with my family and spend time together. *bry may disagree with that statement seeing as i don't like to run with him or another person (i.e. it's a mental thing for me... i worry so much about the other person that i can't find my stride or "happy place" because i'm freaking out that i'm responsible for the other person finding their's... i have no idea if that even makes sense).

to bry: kudos to you for running after your knee surgery which can be seen here: surgery. warning the post is kind of graphic.
to my dad: even with your knee gone you still beat me every time! i'm coming for you daddy. look out.

daddy and his girls
thank you for the awesome gift of running shoes

if you have any running tips or great music to listen to while you run please share. i'm really new at this and i'm excited for our next outing as a family.

things i've learned during this process:
one. put your mind to it, trust in the Lord, and you can do anything.
two. shoes make or break my run. i first ran in these and had a so so experience. then switched to these and LOVE it. visit a store that will let you try a shoe for 90 days. it's great. like this one in AZ: RoadRunner.
three. play music that makes you wanna move and makes you happy. i did put an "angry" song on my playlist to push me past all the "haters" i have encountered in my life (no names necessary).
four. smile. when i smile while i run i run better.
five. be grateful.

.{project no. two}.

2011-04-17T19:00:00.003-07:00

we have been super busy the past couple of months. i have been a complete blog slacker. i still have pictures from late last year and events to post. ah. sorry. here is a quick post on the progress i've been slowly making with the great piece we stumbled upon at the d.i.

we've been looking to a dresser to add to our bedroom. no such luck. but instead we found this great piece which we are converting to an entertainment "center." i think we got a great deal on it... one fifty. not too shabby.

we removed a drawer and its track to make space for the blu ray, wii, and cable box.

& the dvds, blu rays, movies, games, etc. fit perfectly with the title up in the drawers! SCORE!

here is where i stopped after the first week. i thought maybe i'd be able to tape off the different trims and such. WRONG. i ended up having to free hand the whole things. sigh. it took me forever.

i really wish i had a camera (at the time) that could capture the intensity and richness of the teal. it's beautiful. i pulled it off the anthropologie pillows we got for xmas. they went on sale the week of christmas. found them on christmas eve. i am so glad that we waited it out. they were more than fifty percent off. :)

making progress. slowly. but progress.

there she be.

knobs. what a nightmare. the last project we did was a piece of cake. the knobs jumped out at us while we were there. i just knew it when i saw them. the knobs in my head now seem to be completely non exisitent. i don't know how many hours i've spent going from place to place and searching on the internet for the perfect knob to finish this thing off. i still haven't found them. so... enter a project to make my own.

painted them with the same paint as the trim.

picked up an orange color at lowes.

and tada. free handed some custom knobs. not sure if they look great. but i loved doing it. i can't wait to make more knobs for each project. i have a screen still waiting for me. and i want to do a project like my talented friend jessica. click here to see her project.

three things i learned during this project:

one. behr paint at home depot is better than valspar paint from lowes. at least in this case. our cream color covered our teal with great ease. it had way better coverage.
two. denatured alcohol is a great way to take off the laquer finish. followed by a light sanding.
three. dont be afraid to take a risk with color choices. i was thinking neutral at first. but glad i went with it. i LOVE it.

.{coupon date}.

2011-03-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

yup, a coupon date. what is a coupon date? well to us, it's a date where everything we did that night had a coupon. i love getting a deal and saving money. one of the things that makes me the most happy is saving more than you spend. i love that feeling. LOVE it.

first stop was rumbi hawaiian grill. sorry no pictures.

second stop. mini golf aka putt putt.

i had four hole in ones!

lastly it was off to nielsen's frozen custard

yummy concretes!

i heart coupons!

.{tostitos bowl}.

2011-03-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

here are some happenings from the new year. yes, i know i'm a little behind. better late than never right?

we started the new year by attending the fiesta bowl. a mom at our school gave the staff fifty tickets to the fiesta bowl and fifty tickets to the insight bowl! we entered to win tickets to each. i was lucky enough to win 4 to each bowl. with some trading we were all golden to go to tostitos!

the whole family came

it was freezing!

bry's chili dog

.{project one}.

2011-02-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

lately i have been absent from the blogging world due to more reasons than i'm sure you care to read about. :) one of the main reasons is that i'm completely losing my mind. quite literally. more to come on that later. here is a project that bryan has been reminding me that we needed to do. in the flood this summer the side dessers i've had since high school were damaged. i know what a shame they were time-less right. ha.

the project included a number of trips to lowe's, home depot, and anthropologie. it was fun though. it was the first "project" bry and i have done together. i already have two more pieces lined up to refinish. wish us luck.

.{before}.

.{coat one}.

.{my molding epiphany}.

.{trying different knobs}.

.{piece one}.

.{piece two}.

.{waiting for me in the garage now}.

.{great find for 70% off}.

.{christmas creations}.

2011-01-30T13:48:00.002-07:00

i was inspired by a book for the trees and the snowmen was a collaboration with my sister. i later saw a magazine that had similar snowmen made from marshmallows.

these were made until the wee hours of the night and are not a result of my finest craftmanship (thus the not so circular eyes and dripping ends on the piping), but they have improved since :)

for next time i'm going to ditch piping them with chocolate and go a food marker instead for better and crisper details.

.{edible winter wonderland}.

.{the christmas tree and snowmen}.

.{oreo truffle snowmen}.

.{sugar cookie christmas trees}.

.{california}.

2011-01-15T23:17:00.002-07:00

here are some pictures from our stint in california this summer.

.:packed the mini:.

.:reunion for the dandy wedding in june:.

.:i started that:.

.:doughnuts and jamba juice with some of my fav people.:

.:followed by a late night boba "taser" run:.

.:cubs vs dodgers with dandy:.

.:cubs vs. dback (in az):.

.:more dodgers vs cubs action:.

.:bry caught a foul ball:.

.:disneyland:.

.:yogurtland after dinner with the palmers and sargents:.

.:new hat from dt la perfect for the beach with the palmers:.

.:shir-lee the best stay-cation:.

.:a lot of just dance:.

.: more disneyland:.

.:which disney character are you?:.

.:ice cream on main street after a late lunch at the blue bayou:.

.:grandpa's 80th:.

.:two rounds of golf:.

.:goose creek & dos lagos:.

.{one year and counting}.

2011-01-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

in november bryan and i celebrated our one year anniversary. yes that's how far behind i am in blogging. i'm even farther behind when i look through our library of pictures. wow. i'm a slacker. our anniversary was on sunday so we went out on saturday. a week later we went to chicago as my gift to bry to go with his b day present (tickets to the u of u vs. norte dame). pictures from that trip are to come as well.

so here's to another year... i LOVE you bry.

click .{here}. for our wedding photos.

.{thanksgiving orginals}.

2010-11-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

so i was walking through Fry's {a local grocery store here} when it hit me! turkey oreo truffles for thanksgiving. i called up jackie and asked for her advice. we figured out what embellishments to use and i walked up and down the aisles.

...then it hit me again. NO TIME. ok... how about home made oreos dressed as turkeys! YES. that was it. and i set to work. and here is how they turned out. i made it up as i went. hope you like 'em. even my dad thought they were cute...

{disclaimer: i know there are a lot of pictures and it's just food... but i'm working on settings with the camera and such}

pre faces

enjoy.

.{b family photographs}.

2010-11-21T16:58:00.001-07:00

here are some photos i messed around with between shots at our family pictures

this past saturday

this his side of the family

.{l}.

.{the girls}.

.{sisterly love}.

.{more of the girls}.

.{me}.

.{c}.

.{scottsdale performing arts center}.

.{working it}.

.{i saw this wall/corner and had to take some shots here...i volunteered court and austin}.

.{yes, i cropped bry out of this one..."why didn't you smile?"}.

.{smelling the poop hand... story for another time?}.

.{the parentals}.

.{the farm}.

2010-11-17T21:27:00.005-07:00

a while back we {as in my side of the family} headed to the local ~schnepf farm~ in queen creek for jackie's birthday. i know i'm a slacker and still need to blog about bryan's birthday which was the day before. i will get to it i promise.

~after giving o a mini photo shoot i look up and see my mom carrying this... and bry can't get enough...~

~kettle corn anyone?~

~we went on a hay ride, fed deer, and walked through the maze. can you spot the creeper?~

~then it was time for mini golf and rally pedal go kart racing~

~and last we ended with picking a baby pumpkin...~

...the hunt is over...

2010-11-03T22:08:00.001-07:00

yes, the hunt for a brown purse is finally over. when did said brown purse hunt begin.... over two years maybe even longer. i have been on the look out for a brown purse since before i met bry. i just couldn't find anything i felt was worth spending money on.... and if i did find something the price tag didn't go with what i had in mind (aka the marc jacobs bag i fell in love with).

... bry said that he would get me one for my birthday, but our lives took a different turn right around then and it was a purchase that could not be justified. so the hunt went on... nada.

well good things do come to those who wait. my wonderful husband surprised me a few weeks ago when i got back from california with a brown box on the table. i was thinking it was something completely different. i opened it to find....

this beauty!

i was so excited! i love the way it smells (the leather), the magnet it has for a closure (just like Hobo International, i got hooked on thanks to becca) he had gone to a few different anthropologies to find the one that looked "the best." i have yet to use it, but it will make it's debut on our "hot anniversary date" (according to b). love ya beave!

...education...

2010-10-20T22:03:00.002-07:00

Here is an article highlighting the wonderful work of a dedicated teacher... who/whom (don't have the time to think about it) I happen to know! Mrs. Courtney Greene Lee

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50510753-76/kindergarten-extended-program-students.html.csp?page=1

Court... great job with the kids. keep it up. we should exchange lesson plans by the way. :)

The end of the article raised my body temp a little. I was quite take back on what some of these people had to say about children and educating them. Below is my response to the article. I wanted to call both of them small minded and possibly a bigot (ah, sorry for the harsh language). not going to lie. they put a harsh stero-type on children. let it be said that not all at-risk children have parents that are MIA.

kinderteacher says:

I have to say that I taught 1st grade in Utah before moving to AZ. I had little ones come to my in 1st grade unable to write their names and they lacked basic math and reading skills. These children all attended half day kinder.
I currently teach full-day kindergarten (which is state wide in Arizona) and my kindergarteners are performing far beyond what my first graders were doing by the middle of their first grade year.
I'm not saying it's a cure all for everyone. However, our district has more than 90% of it's elementary school that are "Excelling" which includes a variety of SES (Social Econoimic Status). I would like to think it has something to do with full day kinder being the introduction to school.
I also have opinions on whether or not everything we ask a kindergartener to do are developmentally appropriate, but that's another subject :).
A better question is whether or not Kindergarten should be mandatory to attend or not in a lot states. Who cares if kinder is full day or half day if they aren't even require to attend?
To Mr. Bramble: I see your point. However, wouldn't it be better to have children who are "negelected" to be and share an environment with rich meaningful experiences than some second rate day care that calls themselves something different? We are raising a the future. I think it is worthwhile to invest in them, even when their parents may not.
I completely agree that parents aren't as actively involved in their child's educations as they have in the past. Most parents are working two jobs to get by. More children come from homes where they live with only one parents who is doing their best to get by. Who are we to judge them. It's hard to make a blanketed statement when there are so many factors that come into play.
The best thing to do is to stay focused on what matters: the child.
To Mr. Cannon: If you don't pay the price now to take interest in these children while they are young, you will do it later in their lifes as you are supporting them in the justic system as they drop out of high school and get into trouble. If these little ones can't turn to their parents; then who can they turn to to invest in them and let them know they are important? Being a good figure and investing in children and what they have to offer the world is one of the reasons why I became an educator in the first place. If you don't take the time now, you will pay for it later.
Mr. Bramble and Mr. Cannon- I invite you to come to our district, review our test scores, tour our schools, and I am pretty sure your opinon on whether or not full day kindergarten and investing in education has "long term" benefits FOR ALL CHILDREN regardless if they are at-risk, meeting standards, or exceeding them!
At the end of the day, I'm an advocate for all children (whether their parents are invovled or not for whatever reason-it is not my place to judge) and giving them the best future we can and are willing to give them, as a nation, as a state, as a district, as a school, as a community, and as a parent, as a teacher.
P.S. Not all children who are "at-risk" have parents that are MIA, are minorities, or come from low income families.

.:{family photos}:.

2010-07-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

for my mom's birthday bry and i put together a photo shoot with our good friend heather lambert. i used the photos and designed an album for my mom which can be viewed below. here are some shots from heather. you can contact her at: heatherlambert2691{at}hotmail{dot}com. thanks heather for giving me a lot to work with.

{click here}

our house is going to be adorned with photographs (of people). i can't get enough. it will be my life's work to document everything with a photograph.

Strong enough for a man but made for a woman.

2010-06-29T22:58:00.002-07:00

Remember this slogan for that women's deodorant brand? I'm making it my new personal statement. If I cared enough about Facebook I'd even make this my political view... it would make a such a statement. I don't know if it's because my mind works differently than it did 15 years ago or what but this slogan kind of makes me laugh a little. Anywho, I bring this up because of a special experience I had yesterday, an experience that lasted 12 hours too long. Sunday night I caught a flight back to CA and didn't realize until I grabbed a ziploc bag in the security line that I forgot my shave kit. I later found out I forgot my belt and phone charger, too. Burddy. The Bluth 'flake' gene is ever present in me, sorry Jen. I didn't have a tooth brush, hair stuff, or deodorant for the next day. When I got home from the airport it was after midnight but I managed to find a travel tooth brush and some old hair spray that Jen had stashed in the bathroom so I figured I would be okay for the next day. When I got out of the shower the next morning I applied the travel tooth paste on the travel tooth brush and sprayed my down my. Felt good. Kind of felt a little sense of accomplishment. I'll admit, I gave myself the 'job well done smile + head nod combo' in the mirror. Put the spray back in the cabinet and my eyes scanned across a thing of Cucumber Melon deodorant. Pulled it out and I took a whiff, shrugged my shoulders and said to myself, 'hey, its better than nothing.' It wasn't. It was far worse than had I not put on anything at all. All day long, every time I turned my head, swiveled my chair, stood up, sat down, the smell followed. And when it didn't I would try and sneak a sniff to see if it still smelled and it did. I think my boss even caught me once. I didn't want to approach anyone, walk by anybody, or stand next to someone in the stall let alone walk in the men's restroom. I was the first one on the elevators and the last one off. As soon as I got home I jumped in the shower then went to the store for some men's deodorant. Fella's it's true what they say, strong enough for a man but made for a woman. Keep it that way, trust me.

-bry

.:the journey to mazatlan:.

2010-06-13T19:25:00.001-07:00

our next stop was mazatlan. we started the morning with a tour we booked through the ship to deer island.

.:the evolution of my bruise:.

ok the following explanation i tried to put in between pictures. no luck. and i'm not starting over.

so we went to the island. swam a little. then went for a kayaking tour. i have been canoeing before, but not kayaking. it was fun. a work out to say the least. it was for me anyway. we were out for about an hour in the kayaks.

when we got back i hung out under the tent with some people. they were extremely drunk, most of them. it was very entertaining to say the least. They buried one of their friends in the sand- he was still hung over from the night before.

bry played sand volleyball with the other guys and members of the crew. i'm surprised he didn't get more of a sun burn. not sure who won. but they had a good time.

.:gearing up to go back:.

.:us with the crew-bryan really liked them:.

then we did something i'm not sure we're proud of. but i think that we are. we headed back to the ship to change into regular clothes. ken, the activities manager, recommend that we get a couples massage at some local spa. we thought eh why not? we jumped in a cab and asked him to take us to this place. we drove through some barricades and were on our way.

when we got there they were full until the ship left. bummer. we jumped in a cab with another couple to head back to port. oh i almost forgot. on our way there we passed some armed police officers weaving in and out of the surrounding alleys. we thought it was kind of odd. later we found out that there was a shooting a few blocks over while we were winding the streets. ah.

anywho... on our way back the cabbie pointed out another place we could get a massage. he would bring us around after dropping the other couple. we thought it was a little sketchy, but what the heck why not. he pulled into this little shopping center and walked us to the door. they didn't do couples massages because they didn't have a room big enough.

bry negotiated prices and then they lead us each to a room. i got read and waited for the person to come in. i couldn't really hear anything. i will admit that i was a little nervous. and i guess bry was too. while he waited he knocked on the adjoining wall and called my name to make sure i wasn't being violated in any way. i never heard him or answered.

oops. in the end we made it out together and in one piece. we hailed a cab from the street and chalked this one up for experience.

.:check out bry's tan from the day of sand volleyball:.

.:and let's not forget the day of the week shot:.

I make observations.

2010-05-20T21:44:00.002-07:00

Guilty. Some people (my wife) call it staring, because that's what it looks like. I'm really just pondering about what I see. It's rather fascinating. It all started a long time ago when my family was at Disneyland waiting for the light parade to start rolling down Main Street. We had so much fun pointing out the people who we thought looked like so and so's twin or who looked like so ad so 40 years from now. I know I'm not the only one that does this. I remember receiving a wall post once from two friends traveling in Europe that said they saw my identical Asian twin! People watching is great. Making observations is one of the things that I do best.

At a recent physical therapy visit, Jen and I were 'observing' another patient and her three children; infant twins and a toddler. What I saw was a stressful mother worrying about her kids being too loud and distracting the others in the room. What Jen saw was a mother unable to attend to her kids while being treated. What I then observed next was something that I'll never forget.

Jen walked over to the mother and asked if she could hold the crying baby. The mother obliged and Jen worked her magic. Within seconds the baby stopped crying and it was as if this huge weight was lifted off the mother's shoulders. Jen held the baby for the better part of 30 minutes and handed over the child when the mother's treatment was over. It was almost like watching one of those feel good insurance commercials you see on tv, I wanted to go help somebody immediately.

In the six short months that we've been married I've observed on many occasions, instances like this. Thanks, Bun, for being who you are and always reaching out. You're the best observation I've ever made. I love you.

B.

.:ten things i will miss:.

2010-05-11T20:59:00.001-07:00

.:things i'll miss:.

one. family. sunday dinners. baking. crafting. decorating. cards.

two. eateries.

grimaldis.

cracker cafe.

rio nights.

delux burger.

revo burrito.

indulge.

and soooooo many other yummy yummy places to eat.

*bry and i were in california last week... REALLY missing places like this to eat... REALLY missing them

three. less traffic. no picture needed.

four. spring training

five. this face.

six. sedona and adventures with our camping buddies

seven. these faces. they would take all top ten spots. but i decided to be as unbiased as possible.

eight. friends. please don't be offended if i couldn't fit in a picture of you all. i love you all!!!

nine. feeling at home. feeling normalcy.

ten. this face. i love all my family. both new and old. but will miss this one the most. love you jacks. it's been nice to have you so close.

*and yes i am crying now.

.:honeymoon.cabo:.

2010-05-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

the first port we came to after our day at sea. cabo. we disembarked and were instantly bombarded with tour guide after tour guide trying to sell us. we eventually made it into a little skimmer and made it over to lover's beach.

.:headed over:.

after a few hours of sun we headed back to the port. on the way into the boat bry tried to help me in when i was helping myself and BAM! my knee hit the deck and within minutes i had a deep black bruise. pictures of how it evolved to follow.

.:walking the water front:.

.:what shape do you see?:.

.: coming back to shore with my cool pate:.

.:getting ready to leave:.

.:mini golf:.

.:tuesday:.

next stop...mazatlan.

.:California... Here We Come:.

2010-05-03T21:27:00.003-07:00

whether sung by Mates of State of Phantom Planet... California.... here we COME! its true. we are moving to california. we're sad to say "see you later" to az for now. it is time for a california adventure (disney you can thank us later for a plug for you park). it's time for me to return to the "homeland." here we come....

We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for #1
California here we come
Right back where we started from

Hustlers grab your guns
Your shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101
California here we come
Right back where we started from

California!
Here we come!

On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now
California here we come
Right back where we started from
Pedal to the floor
Thinkin' of the roar
Gotta get us to the show
California here we come
Right back where we started from

California!
Here we come!

COME AND VISIT! PLEASE!

... tortellini, italian sausage, and spinach...

2010-04-23T17:04:00.001-07:00

Here is another recipe that we've tried. the original recipe is made for spaghetti with spinach... but bry decided to change it up. this of course was pre op.

1 pkg fresh tortellini
4 table spoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (bryan used italian bread crumbs)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bag of baby spinach (about 6 oz)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 lbs ( 2 1 lb links) spicy italian sausage

1.} cook sausage on medium heat in a skillet. rotate often. cook until almost done.
2.} heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. add bread crumbs to skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. cook until lightly browned.
3.} add half of the garlic and 1/8 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes to skillet; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from skillet and wipe clean.
4.} fill a stock pot with water and cook tortellini according to package. drain and set aside. reserve 1/4-1/8 of cup of the water and return to pot.
5.} on low add remaining 3 tablespoons oil, garlic, and red pepper to skillet. also, add the sausage. cook for about 2 minutes or until garlic is golden. add spinach to skillet and toss until wilted, about 2 minutes.
6.} stir spinach mixture and parmesan cheese into pasta/reserved water. sprinkle with bread crumbs and toss gently.

serve immediately.

...warning graphic...

2010-04-21T18:37:00.001-07:00

Warning: The following post contains graphic material not suitable for queasy stomachs.

Why only let myself and Jen enjoy the first shower and removal of the gause? Behold, the undressing.

Nurse Jen cutting the first layer. My thoughts at this point were, 'wow, there's blood?'

*She wants everyone to know she's in a swim suit under that t shirt.

After seeing this I thought, 'that's really a lot of blood isn't it?' I was not expecting to see any blood at all but when you consider the size of the wound I guess there had to be some.

The back of the dressing. Nasty.

Before the shower

Squeeky Clean. 16 staples. For those of you wondering, the black marking above the job says, "yes!". The last and most important signature before the procedure was for me to write on which knee was to be operated on.

Bing, bang, boom. 1,2,6...game over for this big guy.

...pre op...

2010-04-21T17:33:00.010-07:00

on march 20th bryan was on his over nighter with the scouts in our ward. they were up camping in oak flats. the wind howled all night so he got little sleep. they set out on their hike first thing in the morning. success. or so he thought.

about 5 yards from the road bryan decided to jump down from a boulder. that boulder was higher than he thought. men. he jumped down about 6 or 7 ft and when he landed.... POP! they carried him to the road and they came with the car to drive him back to the camp site.

.:bryan's scouts on a different hike:.

later that night we saw a doctor from his home ward in his living room. he thought for sure bryan had torn his acl and a meniscus. he gave us a prescription for an MRI for monday. the MRI showed that bry had not only torn his acl but he medial and lateral meniscus.

surgery was required. a series of unfortunate events poured out on our household. we decided to move and within 48 hours we found ourselves living in the last place we ever said we would reside-the east valley. my parents own a second home in chandler and they offered it to us to help save money for our future home purchase. how could we pass that up. it couldn't have come at a better time with our lease going up that week. we toyed with the idea of extending our lease and i'm grateful that we decided against it. it truly was a blessing in disguise.

bryan was out of commission for the most part with the move. our families rallied together to help in every effort to get us moved. one family helped one night and the other the next. we were packed and ready to go pretty quickly. bryan did a great job cleaning the place behind us as much as he could. he probably over did it on his knee. but i was grateful for his support in the midst of his injury.

that weekend was also my birthday weekend. it was planned to go differently, but life can change quickly. i'll post some pictures of the birthday soon.

bryan went in last wednesday to have his surgery. originally the surgery was to last about an hour to an hour and a half. i took a few days off of work because we were uncertain of what recovery would entail. but he was told he could be up and walking with crutches in less than a week. so that was nice. back into the same activity routine within 4-6 months. not bad.

.:getting ready for surgery:.

robyn, my mother in law, came to pick me up from the surgical center to go and get some lunch and to pass the time. it was great to just sit and talk about life and have fun. she sat with me when we got back so that was really nice. i couldn't help but wonder what time it was. i think the surgical center knew what they were doing by not posting a clock in the waiting room. it helped to not have a clock there and just staring at it.

.:bryan had to sign his leg to make sure they operated on the right knee:.

i got worried after a while though. it just seemed like it had been a long time. it was going on three hours! i tried not to freak out. every time i heard a noise i would check to see if dr croft was coming to tell us how it went. no such luck. so we waited. the phone rang. the receptionist hung up. we waited. and waited some more.

.:the nurse shaving his leg:.

finally. they called my name and said i could go back and wait for him in recovery. and guess what we did in that room.... waited. i watched the shadows come and go under the door. you could hear the whisper of voices. i strained to hear bryan's voice. but i didn't recognize any of them. bryan has a history of being very silly when coming out of anesthesia. i couldn't wait for this. i even asked the nurse if they had a back door i could him out of. she assured me they did.

.:dr croft initialed the knee:.

robyn and i waited about another half hour or so before scott (bryan's doctor) appeared. he came bearing some not so good news. first he explained all the procedures he performed on bryan. he reconstructed his acl from his own bone fragments and tendon from the front of his leg. he sewed the horizontal tear in his medial meniscus and he shaved the two vertical tears in his lateral meniscus. then came the bad news.

.:bryan wasn't nervous at all. me- i was a wreck:.

bryan had a micro fracture (ala Amar'e Stoudemire) in his articular cartilage. thank goodness for the surgery pictures and dr crofts nice sketch of the injury. i had no idea was he was talking about. but i do now. it most likely happened when the acl snapped and the two bones collided taking a chunk of his cartilage out on impact. he smoothed it out with a drill and then drill up into the femur to create blood flow into the crevice. this simulates stem cells to regrown the cartilage.

.:just before i had to leave him:.

with this said bryan's recovery time went from 1-2 weeks non weight to 6 weeks non weight! bryan was going to be crushed when i gave him that news. i waited to break that to him on the way home. i got to go in first to see him when he was lucid.

.:after getting him into bed. he's still in his happy mood:.

i was greeted with a very loud "HEYYYYYY.... BEAUTIFUL.....i know you...." i just laughed. he proceeded to tell me how beautiful i was and how much more beautiful i was than he remembered etc. he continued to tell his surgeon that he was a miracle worker and blew a kiss at him. "scott you work miracles man. thank you man. miracles..." it was all very funny. very entertaining.

.:the polar ice machine-change ice and water every 4 hours:.

when it came time to take him home bryan became really really nauseous. and after 7 hours at the surgical center we made it into the car and on our way to his parents house which was just a few miles away. his care consisted of getting up every 4 fours for medicine and changing the water and ice in his polar ice machine to keep the pain and swelling down. the block in his leg didn't wear off for almost 24 hours which helped with pain a lot.

needless to say. i'm quite tired. and so is he. here we go on the road to recovery. together.

more pictures to come.

...egg shaped chocolate peanut butter brownie bites...

2010-04-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

MORE EASTER creations. i LOVE to bake and i LOVE any excuse to make something. here are some more pictures. if you want the recipe let me know and i will get it to you.

beware that they appear to look like poop shaped like eggs, but let me assure you they are edible and tasty.

thanks court for helping me dip them.-once again wishing i had my frosting tips and a block of styrofoam.

.:before being put in the freezer and dipped the next day:.

.:dipped:.

needing some decoration. excuse my minimalist-ness.

...CPWCB....

2010-04-05T19:48:00.002-07:00

how to use those extra piece of white cake you have after making english trifle.or tweak the recipe for doing a whole cake batter mix.

court and i were trying to figure out a way to keep from wasting the white cake. she had made some cake pops with her cousin candra a few weeks ago and suggested i make something like that with them. their recipe called for frosting. and with no frosting in sight and with no desire to make some, i opted to blend another recipe from my rebecca.

here is a blend between oreo truffles which rebecca made for my bridal shower and cake pops.

{1} smash up the cake cubes left over in a mixing bowl.

*if you are doing the cubes left over from the english trifle use 4 oz of softened cream cheese.

*if you are doing a cake (13x9) you are going to need at least 8 oz or one block of softened cream cheese. maybe a few oz more.

{2} knead the cream cheese and cake together until well mixed.

{3} roll into balls to whatever size "bite" you would like to make.

{4} cover and freeze over night or for a few hours. they are easier to handle

{5} in a double boiler

(pictured is a billy made by schulte-ufer

it has a different compartment for water to enter so it does not combine with your chocolate-that is a no no when melting chocolate)

{6} on medium heat melt a bag of chocolate chip until smooth.

{7} combine 1/4 cup peanut butter and continue to stir until smooth. i heard a rumor you can put milk in the mixture to make it more runny.

i have a suggestion for those that have a candy temp. so let me know if you do.

{8} dipping into the chocolate/peanut butter mixture can be done in a variety of ways.

it all depends on the result you wish.

if you do not care that one side will dry flat you can use {1} a large serving spoon with slits (check out this video -go to about 2:56 for the dipping part; i have not made this recipe in the video before)

or...{2} toothpicks, {3} bamboo skewers, {4} fingers, and {5} lollipop sticks from a craft store in the baking section place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper. a cold baking sheet would be best, but not necessary.

if you want to have your bites evenly coated and not flat on one side stick the skewers, toothpicks, etc in a block of styrofoam and let them cool.

pop and enjoy.

you can also decorate them in a variety of ways with a frosting tool (or a zip lock bag with the corner clipped off) and different colored white chocolate chips that have been melted the same way as the chocolate. my sister jackie has this mastered. i have not yet.

in that case i would leave out the peanut butter and just melt the chocolate.

...english trifle...

2010-04-05T19:06:00.004-07:00

here is one of the dishes i was responsible for on Easter... and how to make it yourself

{1}Bake two round white cakes. You will only need one box of cake mix. I used a spring form pan to make getting them out easier. Bake according to package.

While those are baking and cooling you can start to prepare the rest of the ingredients:

{2} slice 1-2 packages of strawberries (the plastic containers you find in the produce section)

-if i could have done it differently i would have 2 pkg and not 1. 1 is shown above

...then sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar. put in frig.

{3} slice 3-4 bananas. put slices into a zip lock bag with 1/4 cup of orange juice. put in frig.

{4} wash 2 packages of blue berries. -again i only did one. next time i would do two. put in frig.

{5} mix one 3.4-3.5 oz box of vanilla pudding with 2 cups of milk.

put in frig to set. anywhere from 5 minutes up.

{6} after baking the two rounds cover them with plastic wrap. place on a small cookie sheet. cover with towel and cool in the freezer for a few minutes or frig. this will keep them moist.

{7} cut the round into 1 inch cubes.

{8} place the cubes in the bottom of deep glass dish. the dish above has a pedestal. i had pieces left over. i created something different with them after. so set them aside. also, you do not have to have yours fit like mine. they can just be thrown into the bottom for a layer. this is my a type personality coming out :)

{9} layer half the strawberries

{10} followed by half the blue berries. here you can see that mine are looking kind of sad. i would do one pack in each layer.

{11} followed by half the bananas.

{12} cover with half the batch of pudding. smooth with a silicone spatula.

{13} repeat.

{14} cover and place in frig until ready to serve.
*please ignore the dollop of pudding i forgot to wipe before photographing this step. my mother would be disappointed in my presentations skills. love you mom.

{15} when ready to serve. whip 1 small carton of heavy whipping cream until stiff.

{16} top with maraschino cherries and blanched almonds.

scoop and enjoy.

i can't tell you have it tastes. i actually can't eat this dessert.
but for those i made it for... they said they loved it. i'm hoping they were telling the truth and not lying to keep from hurting my feelings. so if you end up not liking it you can blame them. =)

see white cake bites for how to use those left over pieces of white cake you now find yourself with.

...missing owls...

2010-04-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

after a week of heart break... the owls have been found. let me explain. i took my pillow project to share with my in laws at the family get together for josh's farewell. that was on sunday. i went looking for them on tuesday to work on them to find them MISSING! i could not find them anywhere. my heart dropped into my stomach as i retraced all my steps over the past two days.

to make a long story short we moved within the week. a decision made in 24 hrs and carried out in less than 72 hours. wow. i couldn't find them at all when we were packing up. i thought for sure they would they pop up while packing. no such luck. i had given up hope.

i had even gone to each of the stores i had visited on monday after school asking if they had found a piece of mustard yellow fabric with embrodiered owls on them. i got a lot of strange looks as you can imagine. sigh. we left phoenix for chandler with no owls.

on my birthday i opened up one of the best presents. my mom had been very kind and gracious and unpacked all my clothes and such on my birthday while i was at work from 6 to 6. i hadn't found the time to do it. and in the process she found my project.

she conspired with bryan to have the discovery be unveiled later that night as we ate dinner together as a family and such. i opened the card first. then the bag. and there inside were the owls!!! i was so happy. so happy. more than 12 hours of my time had been devoted to that project. and i was so grateful to have it back.

thanks mom!

in the mean time i have started a few other pillows to go with the owl pillow. more pictures to follow.

...newest cookie creations...

2010-04-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

two weeks ago i made cookies for bryan's cousin's mission farewell (not sure if that is the correct way to punctuate that). here are my creations:

.:peanut butter oreo brownie cookies:.

recipe courtesy of picky palate

.:chocolate chocolate chip mint m&m cookies:.

base recipe from paige with a twist i came up with in college

.: chocolate chip coconut cookies:.

recipe from my sister the baker

i wish i could capture the aroma with a picture. unfortunately that technology hasn't come out yet. maybe some time soon.

...love birds update...

2010-03-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

almost there. almost there. going on 12 hours.

...love birds....

2010-03-19T10:08:00.002-07:00

as of late i have been obsessed with owls. only certain ones though. they had to look a certain way for me to love them. i have been searching high and low for the cutest owl accessories to add to our house. that is in addition to night stands, pictures, decorative pillows. we found some shams on sale at crate and barrel for a solid decorative addition. but nothing else. so...

margit bedding

our bed has some embroidery details all over it. we feel in love with it and this became our first purchase for "our home" just before we got married ( at the time it was agreed that i couldn't sleep with it on the bed until we came back from our honeymoon and slept under it together, boo). i took that and my love for owls and ideas just started brewing in my head. hobby lobby again came to the rescue with perfect matches in solids to the colors in our bedding.

i googled owl images for just the right looking owl to inspire my pillow. bingo. i then drew on the picture that i wanted to create. i tweaked the owls to give it originality. and went to work on the stitching.

my "vision"

before i started i cut the fabric to about the height and length that i want my pillow to be after i have a 1/2 inch border for sewing around the entire piece. i ironed on interfacing to make the cotton fabric stiffer. i also bonded on a piece of cross stitching material to bulk it up the next morning to keep the fabric from gathering around the stitches.

my work after about 2 hours the first night

so far i have used 5 different stitches that i made up (but i'm sure you can find them in some book) from observations of other things that i have seen. and i have worked for more than 6.5 hours on it so far.

here is where i am this morning:

i can't wait to finish it this weekend!!!! this has helped to keep me occupied while bryan studies for the GMAT and is away at scouts.

...spring break flowers...

2010-03-19T09:31:00.001-07:00

i had a goal of cleaning out the condo during spring break. ha. that went to the wind as soon as i got into artsy mode. bryan has been great at letting me just go with it. even though i still need to go through my old clothes in my closet, etc. thanks bry.

it all started with my sister. on monday we put together a shirt for her. we made flowers to go on a v-neck she got at forever 21. i don't have a picture of it. but we're pretty proud of it. she taught me how to make the poof flower and the raised bud. i stumbled upon how to make a rolled flat version of the bud. i winged it and made some flowers from zippers! here are some pictures of the flower making:

this is sadly just the beginning. i think i'm hooked. thanks jacks.watch for a pillow i have brewing in my head. different than the owl pillow.

...its almost Easter....

2010-03-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

and because its almost Easter... its time for Easter decorations. here are some finds at the local hobby lobby my sister and i stumbled upon yesterday. i couldn't find any grass that i liked so jacks came up with the idea of using curling ribbon and creating my own grass. genius.

these are hanging over the bar in our kitchen

egg tower with the curling ribbon grass

...yummy in our tummies...

2010-03-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

bryan and i received an amazing asian cook book in one of our shower gifts from the yeo family. it was packaged with a large wok and all sorts of asian goodies to cook with and serve with. bryan was in heaven. bryan used the book to cook cashew chicken not too long after we got it.

this past week i decided to take on three more dishes: pork lo mein, wonton soup, and bok choy. Here are some pictures. Here is the recipe by picture. its not an exact science so just do what feels right.

first up... pork lo mein. what i learned: season to the taste and julienned carrots take a long time to prepare.

Some of the items you will need not shown: light soy sauce, sesame seed oil, chicken broth, white pepper, and 1/2 cup of finely chopped scallions (green onions)

Marinade the thinly cut pork (i cut mine from 3-4 pork chops) in a freezer bag. combine light soy sauce 1 tbsp, a dash of sesame seed oil and a dash of white pepper. Marinate at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Then prepare everything else:

approximately 1 cup of julienned (i googled the term)

more or less depending on how much you want

1 cup of finely sliced mushrooms

2 tsp of finely chopped garlic

and

1 tsp of finely chopped fresh ginger root

1 green bell pepper sliced thinly

7 oz of bean sprouts trimmed

in a preheated wok or deep pan, heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and stir fry the pork until it has changed color. Remove and set aside (leave in pan so the pork continues to cook slowly)

Cook the noodles (only half of the pack shown) according to the package. When cooked, drain and set aside.

in a clean wok or pan, heat 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger root until fragrant. add carrots and cook for 1 minute. toss in bell pepper and cook for 1 minute more. Add the pork, salt, and chicken stock (broth), and heat through.

Finally, toss in the noodles, followed by the bean sprouts, and stir well. Sprinkle the scallions and serve.

Wonton Soup- pictures

ground pork, shrimp, scallions, light soy sauce, ginger root, shoaxing rice wine, sugar, white pepper, sesame oil, and salt

getting ready to fill the wonton wraps

filled and ready to be cooked

finished product

baby bok choy in an oyster sauce

and our mini 90 calorie cans

... i do not like green eggs and ham i do not like them sam i am...

2010-03-07T14:03:00.002-07:00

happy birthday dr. seuss. i introduced bryan to green eggs and ham (i used bacon) on the morning of march 2nd. he's reaction when he woke up to it: "gasp. what is that?" and after some coaxing he ate it. and liked it! so much for "i do not like them sam i am."

mixing it up

bacon from valentine's day <3

the final product

later that day i made a slightly different version for the little kindergarteners. they loved it. we dressed in our pjs and had a mini read a thon. we read dr seuss books all week and wrote stories about what would happen if the cat in the hat came to our house. the feline himself came for a visit with thing one and thing two. Here are a few pictures:

...bachelor finale...

2010-03-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

well we are awaiting the finale for the bachelor. so as we wait patiently by to see how the "most dramatic finale in bachelor history" ends i decided to plan a themed dinner/evening for the occasion. cheesy i know. i went with the letter "b" mostly.

the banana mixture cooking. smelled so good.

for dinner i made bryan Bananas Foster Belgium Waffles (BF for Bachelor Finale and the added bonus with the b in Belgium, the w for winner). i sadly could not have any. i just had the Belgium waffle. i'm allergic to bananas. sadly its true. whenever i eat them my lips swell up and i give angelina jolie a run for her money with plump lips! my ears and throat itch as well. weird.

the final product. topped off with a dollop of fresh whipped cream

"berry" (minus the straw) milk. thanks paige.

i passed. allergic to strawberries too.

dessert has yet to be served. it will be one of my favorites from when i was younger. now, this dessert doesn't start with a "b" but it will go straight to my BUTT so that's where the "b" comes in.

vienetta (which kind of sounds like vienna) triple chocolate ice cream cake.

here is to the most dramatic finale in bachelor history. hope its a good one.we're hoping its tenley. but heard it may even be alli. boo vienna.

...what we're watching....

2010-02-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

new favorites...

curling, hockey, figure skating, and all sorts of olympic fun

just starting getting into this

if he chooses vienna--he should be castrated

old favorites that we can't let go of...

missed lucas and peyton at first, but not as much anymore

no need for a commentary

our new guilty pleasure especially the marathons on Spike TV...

las vegas

the show we can't wait to come back...

and that is how sue c's it

...valentine's day...

2010-02-20T16:43:00.002-07:00

our celebrating started on saturday this year due to the fact that valentine's day was on a sunday. we started the morning setting up for a golden age luncheon our stake was putting on for the 65 and older. bryan went to work for a little bit and i stayed to help in the kitchen for the luncheon.

coconut chocolate chip cookies

i surprised bry with his new favorite cookies fresh outta the oven when he got home. we dressed to play tennis. i mean what better sport to play on valentine's than one that has LOVE in it. attempted to play tennis. but failed horribly. i was preoccupied about something (not between him and i) and couldn't focus. i will say that i did not lose any balls over the fence in the process though.

we threw in the towel and headed to get ready for dinner. we ate at chelsea's kitchen; a restaurant affiliated with another one of our favs LGO or le grande orange. amazing! we had eaten there once before with my parents and were not disappointed. now i would only eat two or three things that they had listed on their menu (picky eater some might say) but those two or three things i would eat any day any time. our dinner included: chicken nachitos, rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, and sword fish tacos (can you tell who ordered what?) next time we want to sit on the back patio. we heard that is place to dine while you are there.

after we headed to gammage theater at asu. bryan had gotten us tickets to see mary poppins while it was here in town. i had seen it in new york with my family oct of 2008. i couldn't wait for bry to see it and i couldn't wait to see it again. i remember the awesome set and great fun.

i enjoyed it very much. it was how i remembered it. bryan loved it and kept saying that he had forgotten that this song and that song. we both love the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. bryan is commenting that it was favorite part.

i liked the set and mary better in new york. i missed how she rode up the 2nd banister in new york and how the nursery was on the top of the house and how they exposed it when they entered it. but i loved how they engineered the set here and thought michael banks was better here than in new york. thanks bry i LOVED it.

pictures from the ride home:

that night i gave bry his present. it wasn't a basket with homemade sugar cookies on sticks or the themed cubs basket again. its too hard to do stuff like that now that were married and around each other all the time. well at least it was for me. but bry pulled it off magically. i got him FIFA 2010 for the wii in honor of the world cup being this year....

...and bacon. yes bacon. which he opened first. at first he thought it was chocolate. i had wrapped the box and put it in the fridge obviously. he also thought it was my cute way of giving him breakfast in the morning. and it was, but it had a greater purpose. he found this out after he unwrapped the game. the bacon was in honor of his days at the brigham apartments with clay, zach, and jake.... FIIIFF. we have the game and the bacon. here is to the good ole days.

... the next morning we did not have breakfast. we went to see my sister Jackie and brother in law Brad sing at Rebecca's farewell. they had church at 8 o clock in the morning... and its 45 minutes away from our house. so needless to say i did not get up in time to cook breakfast before we left. but i did make bry breakfast monday morning since i had the day off.

later that day bryan unveiled his gift for me. he had been slaving over it for the past two weeks. it was this secretive project he was working on behind closed doors. i wasn't allowed in our second bedroom for the week because he didn't want me snooping around. who me? snopping? never. ha. he finished sometime that afternoon and gave me the card first. it read: I "FELT" like doing something special :) Happy Valentine's Day Jen. Then he had me close my eyes for the unveiling.

....drum roll.... it was a felt flower bouquet that he had made all by himself!!! get it felt. haha.

i was so proud. it was awesome. the bouquet that never dies. they flowers match our decor so they can be out all the time. what a good thinker and planner. i'm so lucky. i LOVE it. LOVE it. excuse my small gallery of pictures to follow i just think he did such an amazing job.

...day at sea...

2010-02-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

catching some sun

we spent the first full day on the ship at sea. making our way down the baja coast. in the morning we walked the track around the 11th deck. the weather was a little cool, but the sky was clear and the sun was out.

the lovely scenery

breakfast was a hoot. bryan was in shock of all the food that was out. they get you with the food. its always there. and trust me we both felt the effects of it afterward. =) just as a side note we did do a pre cruise weigh in and a post cruise weigh in. those numbers we will not be sharing publicly.

YUM.

our friend ken hosting the sexy legs contest poolside

later that day we hit up the savoy theater to play 2 for 1 bingo. let me tell you that bingo has come a LONG way. we bought a package of punch cards. well... there was also the option of purchasing a personal bingo machine. its electronic and plays some 18 cards at a time. all you have to do it look at the screen. it records all the numbers pulled on all the cards at one time. it alerts you when you are one away from a BINGO. it doesn't seem as fun.

this was beave's first bingo game. we came close a few times. bry was a stander (you stand when you are one number away from the BINGO so they know to listen for BINGO. "I have BO." as in the B column and the O column filled up. i came close to the snowball BINGO. but... we were not victorious in the BINGO winnings.

MONDAY

after some more sun and cleaning up it was time for dinner! formal night. pictured below is a man that was wearing more make up than i was. there were a few "characters" on the ship.

the ship also hosted a honeymooners night.

didn't have any cake... so can't tell you about it.

our friend Ken

our room attendant left us a little something to celebrate. one of my favorite moments happened next... j: "what is is b?" b: "it's an octopus." j: "...those are two swans...." b: "oh, and what's this (pointing to the heart in the foreground filled with rose petals)?" j: "...uh that's a heart bry." b: "oh."

tomorrow: cabo san lucas

mission inn and our first day at sea

2010-01-24T17:33:00.003-07:00

bryan and i spent one night at the mission inn in riverside, california. we stayed in the presidential suite over looking the main courtyard. thank you to braden, blake, and brooke for checking us in and the yummy treats. we really appreciate it.

the view from one of the balconies.

us on the balcony before leaving

our "room" was more like a small house on top of the building. we had a complete living quarter that was huge! we ate breakfast in the room in the morning. we pulled a table in front of the doors to one of our balconies and ate while taking in the view of the hotel court yard, etc.

outside making a stop for better lighting

we went by my parents house to say thank you to everyone again. and visit before taking off.

bryan running back from the car

when we gathered up our things i packed my cell phone in my main suit case. this would create a problem when we got to the pier and i couldn't find my phone. we desperately tried calling the hotel, the house, the target we had to make a stop at on the way out, every where, and every one we could think of before setting sail. bryan even ran from the ship back to the car after going through security just to double check that i didn't drop it along the way or in the car. stupid me packed it away and found it later that night after our luggage was delivered to our room. idiot.

our ship left out of san pedro california. we were going on a cruise the mexican riviera. i'd never done that before. however, i had been on our ship before. i had taken this ship, the mariner of the seas, from royal caribbean a few summers ago with my family on one of our cruises through the caribbean. that was neat that bryan had planned a trip for us that i had never been on, but the ship was still familiar. what are the odds? i liked that our destinations were new, but the hotel on waves was new in a different way with bryan. this was bryan's first cruise and my fifth. so excited.

our room was on the 10th floor and had a balcony. that was good for bryan and being a first time cruiser. he wouldn't have to worry about the teeny tiny rooms, just the tiny room. we both get motion sickness so the openness of our room helped out.

we toured the ship and went to the opening show that night. there was a comedian (as always) and a juggler/comedian (www.chuckisfunny.com). bryan's mouth was open almost the entire show in amazement. it was great to watch him just fall in love with the experience.

we had late night dinner seating on this cruise. we ate in one of the three dining rooms. our floor was called rhapsody in blue. our table included us, and 3 guys from canada. one of which was the cruise ship's activities manager. he had all the tips for the cruise.

we told them we were celebrate our honeymoon. they offered us a bottle of champagne to get the party started. we politely declined. that would become the topic of conversation for the remainder of the night. they vowed that they would have us drinking by the end of the cruise. on the contrary it was other way around... shirley temples all around!

waiting for the opening night show to start

we can't forget the detail of the days of the week being in laid into the carpet each day. i think its to help all of those that are intoxicated to remember what day it is. but it really does serve a good purpose when you are out to sea it really does help you keep some track of reality. anywho, we made it into a daily photo shoot. model for the job: bryan bluth.

next day... day at sea
next port of call... cabo san lucas

gotta love sunday down time

2010-01-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

found this. had to publish... love you bry.

Trophy is in MY corner!

at least for the next year :)

"cruises are so much fun."-Annie

2010-01-17T15:19:00.007-07:00

the quote above we will get to later.

most of you know that our honeymoon was a secret to me the entire time we were engaged. bryan made it his mission to make sure that i had no idea where we were going, how we would get there, etc. i was completely clueless. i tired relentlessly to get it out of him. to no avail i came up empty handed with no answer.

i started to get really stressed out about it about a month and a half before the big day. i am an A-type personality. so i love to make a list of things that i pack and things that i need to pick up, etc. i am pretty anal and i usually make a list of each outfit and the different outfit combinations i can make for the trip with the clothes in the suitcase.

not to mention the fact that i didn't know if i should pack for a cold environment or a warm beachy environment. i was going crazy. packing for a cruise for example is different than packing for a resort stay. packing for the mountains is different than the city. sigh. you can see my predicament.

so fast forward day of the wedding. still had no idea where i was going on my first vacation as a wife. we made it all the way until the wedding reception. occasionally a guest here or there would ask where we were going. i covered my ears and sang to myself while bryan shared the destination. i was being good about it.

tess. courtney. annie.

we had found sometime between waves of guest to walk around and chat with some friends. bryan's wonderful friends from utah came all the way down to help celebrate. annie, tess, and courtney. we chatted and exchanged short stories. annie then asked me if i was excited for our honey moon. i said yes. and she replied "cruises are so much fun."

i didn't really know what to say. i had a few things running through my head all at once: "are we going on a cruise? where are we going on a cruise? i wonder if i've cruised there before? do i have the right clothes for a cruise? oh my i don't think i have..." i guess my face gave away all the questions going through my head.

tess,"i don't think she knew." court..."i don't think you were supposed to tell her." oops. it was great =). that was followed by bryan "oh yeah did i mention we're going on a crusie?" we all just laughed. it was great. annie felt bad, but didn't need to. no big deal. i was bound to find out soon enough... he only had a 12 hour time frame by then.

thanks girls for coming down... and easing my anxiety (i repacked my suitcase at my parent's house that night before we left).

according to annie... "cruises are so much fun." and you know what- she is right.

...professional reception pictures...

2009-12-14T23:36:00.003-07:00

these images are copy righted by Bridgette Marie Photography. Please do not use them for any other purpose than your viewing pleasure. thanks.

...profession rings and the cake pictures...

2009-12-14T23:19:00.002-07:00

these images are copy righted by Bridgette Marie Photography. Please do not use them for any other purpose than your viewing pleasure. thanks.

...professional flowers and decor pictures...

2009-12-14T23:11:00.002-07:00

these images are copy righted by Bridgette Marie Photography. Please do not use them for any other purpose than your viewing pleasure. thanks.

decor was done by my wonderful mother.

...professional temple pictures...

2009-12-14T23:03:00.002-07:00

these images are copy righted by Bridgette Marie Photography. Please do not use them for any other purpose than your viewing pleasure. thanks.

...professional balboa pictures...

2009-12-14T22:29:00.002-07:00

these images are copy righted by Bridgette Marie Photography. Please do not use them for any other purpose than your viewing pleasure. thanks.

...balboa island fun...

2009-12-14T22:09:00.001-07:00

...pre wedding and temple pictures...

2009-12-14T21:59:00.002-07:00

...made the blog again...

2009-12-14T21:26:00.002-07:00

check out the newest post from Bridgette. WONDERFUL photographer. and FUN to work with.

Click Here

MORE WEDDING PHOTOS

2009-12-13T22:33:00.001-07:00

Here is a slide show that was put together by our great photographer! We will post more pictures as soon as we can!

Our Wedding Slide Show

...engagement story: hers...

2009-11-27T19:33:00.002-07:00

i know i have been a complete slacker when it came to blogging about how we got engaged! forgive me please. bry's version of this story is much better than me seeing as there is a little background information about events i had no idea about before the engagement. i'll have him blog about it to. and don't worry it will be a great deal shorter than what i write (girl vs. guy).

it was august 13th. about 2:00 pm. the fourth day of the kindergarten year. mary our secretary comes in the room. we are in the middle of a math lesson on using unifix cubes as math tools. i'm teaching one to one correspondence (one cube to one letter in our name). mary nicely let's me that marianne (our principal) would like to see me. apparently i am needed in the office for a parent emergency. she let's me know that it must be solved before the end of the day.

i'm thinking... OMGosh (that's for you bry) what could have possibly gone wrong. its only the fourth day of school and i'm already having parental problems?!?!? i'm new at this school. did i do something wrong? did i yell at someone? did i forget something in the beginning of the year packets?!? AH! "ok kids, play with the unifix cubes. i'll be right back. listen to mrs. mary. and if you are good i will give you class points when i get back."

*****%%*$#$ this is me trying not to freak out on my way to the office. i'm going through every minute of the last four days in my head. i'm telling myself it's really nothing. i'm fine. i haven't done anything wrong. what could this parent possibly be that upset about that it couldn't wait until after school? is marianne just giving me a heads up so when i take the kids out i don't get eaten alive? going through the kids that go to parent pick up. nope no issues yet....

... enter the office. wow that was the longest walk to the office i have ever had. when i get there i'm directed to patty's office. phew, at least its only the assistant principal's office. can't be that bad right? patty is on the phone. i can hear the operator on the other end letting her know that the number she just dialed is no longer in service and to hang up and try again. she let's me know that there has been an issue with the little ones that have heart conditions in our school and that she'll be with me shortly.

i continue to go through every scenario i can in my head. the office seems to be in a hustle every where i look. grace is answering the phones which seem to be ringing off the hook. patty is coming in and out of the office with lorriane the school nurse tracking down emergency cards and health records. i'm not sure what is going on but i'm sweating and getting hot.

after what seemed like forever... mary came back in. she let me know that she is having management problems in my room. knowing my class, i'm not surprised at this point. once again it's only the fourth day of kindergarten. they still get out of their chairs whenever they want, talk out like they are the only other person in the room besides me, amongst many other things. sigh. "i'm coming. patty i'll be back in just a sec."

as we walk back to my room, mary hands me a big blue note and says that i'm going to need this as i walk back. "what?" read the note. duh jen. so i read the note as i walk to my room (i'll have to add a picture of the note later):

"As you return to class, Miss Lee,
Don't be surprised to see,
All your students lined up in a queue,
They have important question for you!"

uh, still confused. i finished the note as i got to the door way. at this point i'm thinking that this is some sort of initiation for the school. they are "family" like so i was thinking that this was something they do to new teacher. boy was i wrong!

when i looked up i saw all my kids holding these giant letters above their heads:

bryan and his family had constructed all these lovely letters during the week. during the week bry had been making excuses about not hanging out. i wasn't sure what was up but i was bugged at the time. he said he was getting stuff for his mom's birthday. i kept offering to help, but he nicely refused all my offers. humph. fine. there was a point during the week in which the surprise was almost blown when i ran into his sister and brother in law at joann's while they were on the hunt for all the supplies to make the letters. i had no idea but bry and his mom were also in the store. they had seen me and hid behind fabric until they could escape unseen.

... back to my room. the little ones were so cute. i saw court standing there helping the little one hold up the "MRS." and there was bry holding the question mark. in the corner was his mom holding the video camera. yes, there is video. at first i had no idea what it said. all i could say was "that is so cute, how cute. oh my gosh how cute." i re-read what they said and i shouted out "YES!" ...about 3 times! haha. feeling really sheepish i realized that bryan hadn't asked me anything yet. way to go jen.

Then bry came over with the question mark and pulled the ring box out of the dot of the questions mark. he asked me if i would marry him and opened up the ring box. there inside was the most perfect ring i have ever seen. he had taken the pictures i had shown him and designed my ring and had it custom made. it was perfect!!!!!!! i said yes of course! how could i refuse such a great guy and the perfect ring? hello. we hugged. i almost cried. i remember being really hot and kind of flustered because everyone was watching.

my kids were so excited! robyn (my mother-in-law) video taped all the kids and asked them some questions. we'll have to post that as soon as we get a chance to breath. it was cute. bry also got all the kids a pair of zoo animal scissors for helping him ask me to marry him. best quote from that part "i've always wanted a collection of scissors." love it. the kids LOVED their scissors.

after bry read them a story and we packed up to go home. perfect way to start the year.

that night we celebrated robyn's birthday at Nick's. yummy italian food. we got engaged on robyn's birthday. courtney and austin (bry's sister and brother-in-law) had gotten engaged on steve's (my father-in-laws) birthday. so it seemed fitting. to be honest it just happened to work out that way. and were happy it did!

...Wedding Pictures...

2009-11-27T14:04:00.001-07:00

here is a taste of some of wedding pictures to come!

Bridgette Marie Photography Blog

...engagements...

2009-10-26T22:11:00.001-07:00

click here

courtesy of bridgette maire photography

...the ring...

2009-10-24T19:28:00.001-07:00

picture is courtesy of bridgette marie photography

our beginning: his

2009-10-13T08:23:00.002-07:00

Here is his version of how we met. It can also be found on our wedding site:
the beginning: his

the beginning: his story

My side of the story…

There I was breaking my neck trying to keep up with all the new names being read over the pulpit. You see, the first Sunday of a new ward is like a squirrel in the fall gathering his winter’s supply of acorns…it’s nuts! Prime scheming time. There had to have been 50 names read that day. For those of you that have ever been in that situation before you know how awkward it can be to be introduced in front of 300 people…inner monologue ‘Smile. Don’t make eye contact with anybody, especially Cute Girl sitting next to Handsome Guy. Hands in the pockets or at my side? In the pockets for sure. Take a quick peek at Cute Girl, check Handsome Guy, sup dude. I wonder if the people behind me have noticed my male patterned baldness. Okay pal read the next name already!’ But how entertaining it is when you’re not the one being introduced! I couldn’t keep up with how many there were. Every guy knows that’s the time to scope out the babes without being too obvious. After about 25 names and feeling like I was center court at Wimbledon, this cute little Asian girl stood up named Lee. With a flower in her hair she smiled, that was it. I didn’t catch her last name but I didn’t care. I knew all I needed to know. Lee was cute and she was the one.

It would take me a few weeks to muster up the courage to talk to her. I remember one night pointing her out to one of my friends, ‘there’s that cute little Asian girl, I think her name is Lee.’ He told me that if I didn’t go talk to her, he would. Something about the thought of approaching her made me nervous. I didn’t want to mess up my chances by saying something stupid. Finding the right opportunity was the hard part. She was always talking to guys, always. Not just one, but two or three at a time.

My ‘right’ opportunity came during a game of knockout. She was towards the back of the line and her arms were full of mixing bowls, if any of you reading this know Jen that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Without even thinking of anything to say after, I stuck out my hand and said ‘Hi. I’m Bryan.’ Now this was stupid for 3 reasons. 1. Her arms were full which made it difficult to shake my hand. 2. Who shakes hands? 3. I was in the middle of an intense game of knockout, nearly lost my place in line, and pretty much just left her hanging as I got back in the game. I know you’re thinking ‘heaven forbid you lose your spot in a knockout line for talking to the girl of your dreams!’ Come on, I’m pretty competitive as Jen can attest. I’m still working on that…Needless to say that didn’t make me feel like I made a good first impression and I drove home that night convinced that I had blown it.

After a few random but seemingly pre-planned sightings I started to regain my confidence in talking to the cute little Asian girl. The brief moments we had let me know that I still had a chance with her. I wanted to ask Jen out and I knew I had to do it quick. The problem was how.

I was under a lot of pressure from the other woman in my life, my mother. It was Christmas time and I wanted to host a dinner party for my friends and the Santa’s Little Helper of their choice. For two weeks straight my mom and I did something every day like working on the menu, decorating, and ironing the table cloths. She goes all out. Putting so much time into party prep I had neglected all social activities and had still not asked Jen to be my little helper. I was warned if I didn’t ask her soon then I might be too late.

I found out Miss Lee was going to a certain Classy Christmas party and thought that would provide a great opportunity to ask her. So I did all could to look classy and headed to the party. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to ask her out and it was making me kind of nervous, especially when I found out she was running late. I just wanted to get it over with! My friends wanted to leave but Jen still hadn’t shown up and I couldn’t let another day go without asking her. Enter Christmas Wish List. On the back wall of the party hung a giant wish list upon which several people had written out there heart’s desires to be wrapped up under the tree. I grabbed a marker and went to town, ‘Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is a date with Jen Lee!’ and included my phone number instead of my name. Suspense! I was quite proud of my wish and anxiously awaited the response.

Merry Christmas! She said yes!

The next six days were a very long six days. Garland strung with lights and cranberries in vases occupied any and all free time. I just wanted to see Jen. I knew she liked to cook so I asked her to come over the night before to help. It was great and only made me more excited for the dinner party. Jen gives great details about the food prep night and the party so I’ll spare you the repetition. The party was fantastic, no detail went unnoticed, and the date…well, let’s just say Christmas came a few days early last year!