happy birthday to me

+ i'm declaring this my official birthday "theme song." i'd be dancing to it all day if i wasn't at work.

+ thank you husband for the big, tasty  breakfast you made me at 5:30 am

+ for warming up the car and waiting for the bus with me

+ the love letter was nice too

+ thank you BYU-I for sending me a birthday email, even though i don't plan on joining your alumni association

+ thank you new version of ldsjobs.org for launching successfully today

+ thank you office friends for bringing me birthday cookies and singing to me

+ thank you unknown person for bringing the hummus, greek yogurt dip, and pitas to the office today. i probably ate about half of it.

+ thank you for all the birthday wishes from friends and family

+ thank you husband for having secret birthday activities planned for tonight. i can't wait to see what you've got up your sleeves.


my birthday is a pretty nice day.


DON'T STOP! DON'T STOP! DON'T STOP!

christmas cookies

These are the christmas sugar cookies that Jacob made for our sunbeams class at church. Yeah, Jacob made them, not me--but i helped frost! Sometimes i really think he is more domestic than i am.

The cookies turned out so cute and so tasty. 

our little sunbeams loved them.

christmas time

friends + gingerbread houses + holiday music + Elf = christmas time is here

llama caroling

llama likes a lil' scratch behind his ear

we went caroling for canned food with llamas, just like last year. this time our group got two very grumpy llamas, but they still warmed everyone's hearts. I really thought the 90-year old woman we visited was going to explode with happiness when she saw them on her doorstep.

though our llamas didn't really seem to have the true Christmas spirit (and who can blame them? I mean, they're hindu, right?), they were real troopers going door-to-door caroling with us on a cold, cold night. and they certainly helped us collect a lot of canned food for the needy. i guess even grumpy llamas are cute.

xmas lights

the xmas lights at our house are a bit modest, but we wanted our neighborhood to know that we have christmas spirit too.

best idea

Instead of watching movies/tv last night (which is our usual default activity), Jacob had the idea to take turns singing and playing the guitar for each other. best idea EVER. Consequently, it turned out to be a funny/entertaining/lovely night altogether.

Even after dating for a year + being married for a few months, we are both still shy to sing in front of the other—but that just made it more sweet. Jacob is always especially embarrassed to sing for me (not that he should be—i love it!), so it was a rare treat to hear him bashfully sing a sweet lil' tune with the guitar. So much better than any movie we could've watched.

why don't we do this more often?

p.s.

turn off your TVs, guys!

gettin' tikka wit it

Upon eating our indian food leftovers on sunday afternoon, we soon broke out into this song:

(to the tune of Will Smith's "gettin' jiggy wit it")

"Naan-naan-naan-naan-naan-naan-naan! Naan-naan-naan-naan-naan-naan! 

Gettin' tikka wit it!"

chicken tikka masala + naan

I often find myself breaking into song over things that make me happy.

and indian food certainly makes me happy.

straight

for the first time in forever (probably over a year), I straightened my hair. I kinda look like me in high school. I kinda hate it. Jacob even took up calling me "cheerleader" because of my resemblance to this picture:

(it makes me happy when people have a hard time believing this is me. because i  often feel that way too. Why didn't someone throw away my flat iron and tell me to stop over-plucking my eye brows?)

Without the volume, frizz and curl-city--it's like I don't know who I am anymore. 5 years of college and growing up and finding my identity just disappeared. Is it a little absurd how much my hairstyle can send me into existential crisis?

Still, the ability to slide my fingers through my hair is pretty fantastic. On a normal day, that is almost impossible.

the help

Jacob and I saw this movie at the dollar theater last weekend, and it was like WHOA good.



I laughed. I cried. I didn't fall asleep (which often happens in long movies). I never wanted it to end. Probably the best movie I have seen in a long time--along with Lion King in 3D, of course. If you haven't seen it yet, you know what you need to do. Get on over to your dollar theater. don't walk. RUN.

p.s.

there's some quality about this trailer that makes it look like it might be a chick flick (maybe the music, sassy women, hugging?)--but it's not. Jacob loved it too.

homemade FAIL

With an adventurous heart, I attempted to make delicious homemade flan the other night. And let's just say that Holli's homemade flan = homemade FAIL. Hearts broken. Dreams crushed.

(the perfect flan I was imagining)

Jacob was still nice enough to eat some and tell me it was kinda good. However, I knew it really tasted like spongy eggs covered in cinnamon and goop. *Huff!* I think next time I have my sweet-Mexican-custard craving, I'll opt for this fool-proof method...

Unless there is a Flansmith out there who is willing to apprentice me,

I am pretty sure this is my one shot at flan redemption.

spirit of thanksgiving

Despite the lovely holiday that it was, I have to admit I was feeling pretty homesick on Thanksgiving. The most homesick I have felt in a long, long time. It was the only time I had not been home for Thanksgiving (besides the time I was in London--when I was going to tea in Kensington Gardens, singing "God Bless the USA" with my london gals, seeing Lion King the Musical in the West End, and having so much fun that it should've been illegal). Needless to say, I was missing my fam, the warm weather, all the nieces and nephews, the traditions, and the memories I felt I was missing out on.

Jacob could sense my odd mix of nostalgia and gloom as I laid and told him all the things I would be doing if I were in Mesa for Thanksgiving. Not long after, he told me he had something that would cheer me up and disappeared to fetch it. I didn't believe him; however, he returned with my macbook to show me this:

On Thanksgiving night, they turn on the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, and my family often goes to see them. As we watched this silly little video of the lights, temple, and cheesey christmas music, I could feel my gloom begin to fade. It warmed my heart to revisit the memories via youtube, but even more that Jacob had been so sweet and thoughtful. Then the spirit of Thanksgiving slapped me in the face. . .

I am so thankful for my husband, for our "little family," and the memories we are making together.

fall leftovers

 sassy lost n found sale

 not your average circus bear

 tiger + vader

 a pic that didn't turn out, but still like

 "i touch you once, i touch you twice, i won't let go at any price"--my love song to pizza

newlywedders

christmas claymation

how would we get into the christmas spirit without those classic claymation movies?
I like to think that these lil' characters flew straight to my mailbox in their little hot air balloon.

thanks netflix!

another mrs. robinson

I remember seeing this painting at the Wallace Collection in London when I was on study abroad, and being absolutely taken with it. It is a rather large portrait by Thomas Gainsborough of a very scandalous woman in the 18th century. Mrs. Mary Robinson was an actress, a poet, a feminist author, and a mistress with many admirers (including the Prince of Wales). The Prince, in fact, commissioned this painting after terminating their relationship. You can find his small, blurred portrait inside the locket she is holding  in her hand.

"You idiot, Your Highness" is jokingly said to be the message of the painting.

Now I didn't actually know anything about her when I saw this painting. But in person, you can almost feel the story radiating from her expression and eyes without knowing anything about her scandalous life. I didn't know what it was, but I knew Gainsborough had captured something intriguing about her. It is still one of the most memorable paintings I have ever seen in person (and for those who were in london with me, you know we saw A LOT of paintings!).

Ironically, she is nicknamed "Perdita" for her most famous role as the Shakespearean heroine. The name means "lost little thing" or "lost little woman." And for the most part--despite her many talents, writings, and infamy--she is mostly forgotten.

trite, but true

I am thankful for. . .

+ a wonderful husband, who I am deeply in love with

+ our "little family"

+ a family and home to miss on the holidays

+ the new muppet movie--that might've been the best part of my whole thanksgiving

+ mine and Jacob's jobs

+ public transportation

+ our healthy bodies

+ our education

+ the simple "newlywed life"

+ good friends

+ beauty all around

+ animals

+ music

+ laughter

+ love

+ luck

+ challenges

+ survival

+ a heavenly father who continually blesses me with all of these things

+ a gospel that makes life a lot easier

+ the joy and happiness I feel every day of my life

Jokkmokk

Jacob working hard at assembling our dining set. I helped too.

Got our first dining set at ikea last weekend. before we were just using some odd table that jacob found at d.i. and two office chairs that he stole from the MTC. It was very charming. However, we decided if we ever wanted to have people over, we probably needed somewhere for them to sit. Luckily, a friend told me about Ikea's jokkmokk set--quite the steal.  we headed out to Ikea to check it out.

Just by our luck, ikea was having a special deal that weekend. If you spent over $100, you could eat in their cafe for FREE. And there was no "catch." No fine print with stipulations to easily miss. We could eat as much as we wanted, just as long as it did not exceed the price of our dining set.

ummm. . . hello, early Ikea thanksgiving???

We pigged out. And I mean, chicken tenders, fries, lingonberry juice, mountain dew, a half rack of ribs, mashed potatoes, cornbread, swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce, and even a slice of chocolate mousse cake to top it all off.  Not gonna lie--we left feeling like sick gluttons, but it was kind of a happy feeling.

and seriously. they just deducted all that food from the price of the table. 

Ikea, why are you so good to me?!?

Selah Sue

a hot european chick who makes reggae/funk/soul music? toured with prince? sang on one of cee-lo's tracks?

I want to BE her.

real robots, real engineer

This is a little robot that Jacob made out of legos for one of his classes. Yeah, my husband makes robots and stuff. I totally support (and am jealous) of all the cool engineering stuff he does--as long as he promises not to create a an evil robot race that will someday take over the planet. That would be so embarrassing!

And what else? He just got the job offer we had been crossing our fingers for. Right next to our house/right across the street from campus/real engineering experience/flexible work hours/great pay. What more could we ask for? My lil' husband is on his way to becoming a real engineer--and I couldn't be more excited for him.

3 months

Two days ago was mine and jacob's 3-month marriage mark. And after being married to my sweet husband for three months, I feel like my heart has grown three sizes. I love him more than I ever thought possible, and it feels like that love only grows by the day.

Maybe we are still in our little "honeymoon" phase? how long does the "honeymoon" last? Will things always be this rosy? The answer to these questions is really of no importance to me. Whatever life brings us, I know that we will always look back on these, our first months and years of being newlyweds, fondly. Every day seems so precious and significant as we create our very own way of life together.

reach for the rainbow

Two of my siblings are in this ol' 90's commercial, which makes me cry with laughter:

'

Tricia is the one in the maroon shirt w/ the white floppy flower hat (so 90s). She is easy to find because she is front-and-center during the most of the dancing segments and the camera loves her.

TJ, on the other hand, is a little bit trickier to find. BUT we finally found him. At the end, you'll see him in the back, wearing black, sporting a stylish bull cut, and in Tricia's words, "doing cabbage patch chugs with his arms and then a high school musical tuck jump."

Can't stop laughing.

Dream Job

Throughout life, you always get asked the question, "what is your dream job?" And I always think, okay, here is my chance to show how cool and ambitious and interesting I am! Yet, for 23 years I haven't had a very cool/ambitious/interesting answer to that question. Finally, after a sublime epiphany, I realized a pursuit that (in my opinion) blows all other dream jobs out of the water--to be "Sorcerer Mickey" in the finale of Disneyland's pyrotechnic/water/light show, Fantasmic.

like so:

I would love to rock out like that every night. I seriously get chills. So magical.


Someone buy me a red, sparkly Snuggie and a wizard hat quick.

he humours me

sundance

Turns out, our friends have some pretty sweet hook-ups for cabin homes up in sundance, and they thought us cool enough to invite for a little weekend getaway in mountain paradise. This is actually our second trip up to sundance with our friends--the first time was a luxury, 5-bedroom cabin with a sauna, indoor pool, hot tub, and bidet (which i wasn't brave enough to use). This time was a little less luxury, but still a cozy 5-bedroom cabin in the mountains. And this time, we had an N64 with Mario Kart and Goldeneye + all the Hot-N-Readies we could handle. Plus, we got to see our friends' band, Archer's Apple, play at the Owl Bar.

Here's a little taste of their music. . .

Despite the fact that our drive down the mountain was almost a catastrophe (SO MUCH ICE!!! we got really lucky. . .) it was a lovely time-- full of friends, pizza, and the gorgeous sundance scenery. it was perfect little holiday.

let's stay together

 Let's Stay Together (Skyler Hale) by ericthesmith

My little brother's band played this tasty version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" at our wedding reception. So glad they decided to do a little recording of it. Love this song. Love those funky keys. Love the soul in Sky's voice.

Love the memories.

bird of paradise

this is probably one the coolest moments in the Planet Earth series. I mean, how does that lil' bird of paradise DO that? It doesn't even look real. also, that female bird looks a bit frightened--but like any proper female species, she is probably just playing coy. It is so fascinating to see all the ways that the male species tries to impress their lady counterparts: fighting, singing, tidying up their mating arenas, dolphins lifiting rocks out of the water to prove their worthiness. Likewise-- monkeys lifting and throwing large rocks to show the lady-monkeys how strong they are. I suppose, we really aren't that different from the animal world after all. But wait a minute...

Jacob, why didn't you do something this cool to impress me?!?

Happy Halloween

Inspired by the Rumours album cover.

Gotta love Fleetwood Mac. 

Gotta love Halloween.

circus bear

Circus Bear made another appearance on saturday night. Those clown pants, bear head, and crushed-velvet chest never stop being funny. I literally die every time I look at this picture. Way cuter than my ghost-bear costume last year.

I love my circus bear. 

MISSING

You guys--I lost Cloudz, my neck pillow. I am super devastated. Commuting almost 100 miles every day on the bus, it's almost unbearable to live without. No one loved a neck pillow like I loved that neck pillow! It's disappearance is still unexplained. As I got out of my car I can still remember seeing it safely attached to my purse. I ran to catch my 6:30 am ride, and right as the bus pulled up, i looked down at my purse and Cloudz was gone.

I had a choice in that moment. I could retrace my steps to find Cloudz/miss my bus OR I could get on the bus, hoping that Cloudz would be somewhere near my car when I got back in the afternoon. I have since regretted my decision of getting on that bus. I even had Jacob go search for it before school, but it was too late. Cloudz had vanished.

I haven't given up hope yet. I am guessing my precious neck pillow is now in the hands of a jogger who needed a makeshift sweat towel, selfish BYU student, or a hobo. If it's the third option, I'm out of luck. But if it's the first two, I'm counting on the honest people of Provo to return the pillow to the BYU Lost and Found and get Cloudz back on my neck, where it belongs.

I know what you're thinking--get a new neck pillow. But seriously, all other neck pillows look like crap compared to Cloudz-- the spandex bottom, the soft microplush top, the snug little button in the front, the thousands of polystyrene beads on the inside that conformed to every sleep position imaginable on a bus! Cloudz was PERFECT.

To be realistic, Cloudz could be anywhere by now. I mean, what if that hobo hitch-hiked to LA?? *Huff!* Still not giving up. Please let me know if you've seen my dear neck pillow.


disclaimer: this post is kind of a joke, but also kind of serious. If you rode the 801 Express every day, you would understand.

high-five a tiger pumpkin

Last night, Jacob and I had our own little pumpkin carving party, and I have to say that we really out-did last year's pumpkins. Pumpkin carving is a delicate art, and this is definitely the most advanced I have ever gone.

Jacob made a Darth Vader pumpkin to keep our Star Wars theme going from last year.

And I made a beautiful tiger! I like to think that he is "Shere Khan" from Jungle Book. I got my stencil from WWF's wildlife pumpkin patterns. Check it out here. That tiger stencil isn't for babies. but I love the way it turned out.

While carving, we watched this 1931 classic horror flick. Supposedly, this is the only horror film to ever win "best picture." It didn't disappoint either. We also baked our pumpkin seeds to munch on-- but i think we baked them a little too long. They were. . . okay. FAIL.

I think these two make a good duo.

At the moment it seems like our lives are constantly flooded with school, work, commuting, tests, projects, to-do lists, and doing it all over again the next day-- Man, things are so BUSY lately! When is there time for ANYTHING?! That said, it was nice to take a night to get into the Halloween spirit, even at the cost of our precious early bedtime (usually 10:00 to 10:30. yeah, we are grandmas). That tiger seriously took me 2 HOURS to carve. Still, the satisfaction I felt seeing that fierce, stripéd, pumpkin-creature staring back at me was so worth it.

late wedding gifts

We got these in the mail from some of Jacob's dear friends. . .

+

SERIOUSLY SO BLESSED!!!

You have know idea how stoked I am about owning these (especially the 2nd one).

I don't know you gals, but thanks SO MUCH.

circus bear + circus poodle

We were invited to an awesome alice in wonderland themed "un-halloween" party on saturday (thrown by our lovely sister-in-law/friend, Megan). We were instructed to dress in our halloween best-- and so we threw this together about an hour before the party.

Last-minute D.I.costume SUCCESS!!

CHEMISTRY RULES!

Last night, Jacob and I celebrated National Chemistry Week by attending BYU's Chemistry Magic Show. Along with the cookies 'n cream liquid nitrogen ice cream they were selling for $1 in the hallway-- it was pretty cool. They did all kinds of crazy experiments, explosions, and even made some kind of green fire tornado-- still can't get over that. it seriously looked like something from Dragon Ball Z.

Leaving, I kinda felt sad about my English major--regretting that I could've gained some serious scientific powers by being a chemistry major--GREEN FIRE TORNADOS!!! I mean, WHHAAA?!?

oh well. English majors are. . . kinda cool!

Seriously though. I think they are doing more of these magic shows this weekend. I urge you to go! fun times for the friends and fam. But if you don't go, here's a recipe for liquid nitrogen ice cream if you are a domesti-chem super-genius.

mormon celebrity sighting

while taking my lunch yesterday, i saw this mormon movie star stroll through temple square:

Albert from 17 Miracles! Jacob and I had only watched this movie the night before (sunday flick), so I was pretty starstruck--and frightened. I mean, the night before he was the inspiring lil' crippled pioneer who died on the trek to zion (spoiler!). Total heart-breaker. 18 hours later, as far as I could tell, he was still the inspiring lil' crippled pioneer who DIED on the trek to zion! At this time, the veil between reality and the magic of mormon film was very thin.

But in reality, he's just an employee who, like me, works at the church office building. And as I was staring at him with dropped jaw-- he was even nice enough to say "hi" to a dork like me.

Guys. Albert from 17 Miracles said "hi" to me.  :O!!!  Almost as cool as the time the Relief Society 1st Presidency visited the office. I'm just crossing my fingers for an apostle/prophet sighting before my internship is over. This place is a mormon celebrity hot-spot.

really though.

Why did i think it was a good idea to wear green tights today? It seemed so hip and fashionable at 5 in the morning. Now i have green legs all day. Why do i have these tights anyway? *cough-thoughtless-london-fashion-purchase-cough* WHY?!?

FAIL.

pumpkin cookies

On saturday I had a potluck/get-together with my london girls. Unfortunately, (after attending the annual lost-n-found sale--aka BYU's "Black Friday") I had no time to actually make anything to bring. Luckily, Jacob agreed to make these cookies for me while I showered and got ready. He's such a good little housewife!

Anyway, this is my favorite recipe for pumpkin cookies. Kind of a twist on the typical chocolate chip ones you get every year. Also, this recipe supposedly belongs to my friend's German grandma, so that's authentic, right?


glazed pumpkin cookies


2 cups flour                                        ½ cup butter, softened
2 tsp. baking powder                           1 cup sugar

½ tsp. salt                                          2 eggs

2 tsp. cinnamon                                  1 cup pumpkin

½ tsp. nutmeg                                    1 cup golden raisins

¼ tsp. ginger

lemon glaze

1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

1 T. grated lemon peel

1 T. lemon juice

directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.      With a whisk, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.

3.      In large bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy.

4.      At low speed, beat in pumpkin. Then stir in the flour mixture and beat with the mixer just until combined.

5.      Stir in the raisins.

6.      Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets.

7.      Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and place on paper towels. Glaze while still warm.


I have a peculiar memory with these cookies. When Jacob and I had just started dating last year, a friend gave us one cookie to share--hardly enough to satisfy. The cookie was SO tasty, but we politely took turns taking one bite at a time. Finally, as the cookie began to get smaller, Jacob took one colossal-sized bite to finish it off. I watched in horror, thinking 'that could've been like THREE more bites!' I couldn't believe he just shoved the whole thing in his mouth right before my eyes! It was seriously like a stubborn three year-old being  introduced to the concept of sharing for the first time. After being single for so long, I realized that I never had to share much with anyone else. I had my own schedule. I made my own plans. for the most part, I did what I wanted when I felt like it. AND i certainly ate my own cookies.

It sounds so silly now, but in moment, as I resentfully watched Jacob wolf down my precious cookie-- I was enlightened. 'So this is dating. . . you have to, like, share your cookies and stuff.' I looked at my dreamy boyfriend again and decided, 'Well, i guess he's worth it.'

A lot has changed since then. We are really good at sharing now, and not just cookies either. We share EVERYTHING--our time, energy, abilities, and devotion (as you can see so perfectly from the picture above).

three new albums

three lovely ladies.

my current rotation as of late. 

squash lover

my baby blue hubbard squash.

Isn't it the cutest little squash you ever saw? I guess because I don't have babies yet, I dote on things like sugar pumpkins and colorful winter squash. Ask Jacob-- he has even seen me caressing and talking to them adoringly. kinda creepy, i know. Really though, something happens to me the moment October comes. I've got pumpkins dancing in my head; I crave the creamy, nutty flavor of butternut squash; I long to visit the farmer's market; and it takes everything inside of me not to buy a pumpkin smash smoothie every time I pass a jamba juice.

How could i refuse this precious little hubbard, with its cute name and bluish-gray skin? And not only is it cute, but it made a tasty tasty squash soup. I used this recipe. the flavor wasn't too different from the classic butternut (my favorite food when i was a kid), but I think hubbard has something more "pumpkin" about it. In fact, a farmer at the Provo farmer's market told me that they actually use a lot of hubbard squash for pumpkin foods because it is generally sweeter, but still has that "pumpkin" taste.

Along with my hubbard squash soup, this month I've made yellow squash, a tasty butternut pasta sauce, and stuffed golden zucchini. By the way, i highly recommend the farmer's market for your squash necessities. My zucchini was HUGE, cheap, delicious, and what? there's such thing as a GOLDEN zuchinni?! There is at the farmer's market! I also bought a little sugar pumpkin at the store the other day, and i'm trying to decide what the heck I should make with it. so many possibilities.

Okay, I really don't know if this is of interest to anyone. I'm no chef or food connoisseur-- i just really like squash. that's all.


p.s. let me know if you have any good recipes I should try!

view from the office

I work on the seventh floor of the Church Office Building in a little corner known as “intern alley.” No windows or fancy cubicles for the interns, but often as I am meandering through the office, I get a glimpse of this. . .

It takes me by surprise every time.  This pic was taken last Thursday when it was insanely cold and drizzly all day, but the temple still looked strikingly beautiful under an overcast sky.  (and if you look closely you can see a wedding party coming out of the temple, despite the rain and cold)  Before the weather shifted so dramatically, I would always go outside and eat my lunch on a little bench facing the temple. I loved to look at all the flowers and people scurrying through temple square—especially the brides and grooms posing for their pictures.  But even now that I am tucked away from the cold weather, I always awe at the peaceful feeling in the presence of the Salt Lake temple. It’s always there. It never changes. I feel lucky to be able to work so close to this temple every day—even if it’s only a glimpse from the office windows. I mean, how many people have an office view like that?

weeper

If it is not apparent from this  and this post, Jacob and I basically have the same taste in movies as a five year-old.  The last time we went to D.I. we picked the following VHS tapes: The Rescuers Down Under, The Land Before Time, Just Like Dad, and The Babysitter’s Club. And if that is not bad enough, both of us are weepers—particularly in movies involving anthropomorphized cartoon animals in distress.

 I already told my story about watching Dumbo, and a few weeks ago there was an incident with Land Before Time when that sweet little brontosaurus’s mom dies—seriously, the depression never ends in that movie! Do they really make these for kids? I was falling apart.

Anyway, it wasn’t too long ago when I realized that Jacob has the same tendency. We were watching An American Tail, the story of Fievel Mousekewitz, the little Russian emigrant mouse who is separated from his family on the way to America. In his journey, Fievel has many setbacks including: being kidnapped, being put to work in a sweatshop, escaping evil cats, and continually losing hope that he’ll ever find his family. Pretty hard times for a young mouse.

Finally, at the end of the film Fievel is reunited with his father. It is a touching moment between Father and Son Mousekewitz, and the happy emigrant family is reunited!  At this point in the movie, I look over at Jacob, and what do I see?  TEARS. Tears welling in his eyes.  I couldn’t believe it! He was just like me! At this discovery, he quickly became embarrassed and hid his face so I couldn’t see him. But I wasn’t gonna let this go. . .

H: “Awww. . . Honey! You’re crying! I didn’t realize this movie would affect you so much!”  [lots of laughing and teasingly comforting Jacob]

J: [Becoming more embarrassed and defensive—as more tears escape] “Well, it’s just REALLY touching!! Okay?? I can’t help it!”

I hope this doesn’t embarrass you, Jacob. I just love this moment so much, and I wanted to write it down before I forgot about it. It makes me happy to have someone so tender-hearted. We can always be weepers together.

revisiting childhood favs

I am so glad I married someone who will use his netflix one-month free trial to order Homeward Bound, watch the whole movie with me, and love it just as much as I do. so heartwarming.

cuddling with husband + this movie + bowl of graham canyon ice cream = perfect tuesday night

our first house guest

we love you, kari. 

come and visit us again. 

you can sleep on our futon whenever you like.

love her

wedding day: the reception

When I walked into the Val Vista Lakes Clubhouse, I had no idea what it was going to look like. A few months earlier, I basically met with our decorator, told her my colors and some flowers that I like, and just hoped it would all turn out something like I had wanted. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined.

I loved my reception. Sometimes I wish I could go back and freeze time, so I could just walk around and look at all the beautiful flowers and decorations again, eat more of that delicious food, and say hi to every single person there. It all went so fast. Thanks to my wonderful photographer (camitakesphotos.com), I've got the closest thing to that dream in these lovely photos.

The cake was beautiful. I wanted it to look both traditional and modern, and I think it really worked out. The best part about it was that our cake decorator made it out of real whipped cream instead of fondant, so it actually looked pretty and tasted good!

 

Our lovely rings, both in rose gold.

I believe this is Megan (best friend/sister-in-law) modeling them for us.

my bouquet

Some of Jacob's friends who traveled to be at the reception.

My lovely grandma, Gloria.

I really think some of the most stunning photos were of the wedding cake. so lovely.

the band. they look so perfect in their matching getup.

+ courtney cotter, their lovely and talented guest pianist

Jacob's lovely grandma

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During the band's first song, we got up and danced with all the kiddies

  

the daddy-daughter + mom and son dance



mine and Jacob's first dance as a married couple.

we danced to the band's rendition of "at last" by etta james.

baby crew

jacob gets some last-minute advice from alex. . .

The whole night was so perfect. I never wanted it to end. In preparation for the wedding day, a lot of people told me, "just be prepared for something to go wrong. don't let it ruin your day, but something will go wrong." I took this advice to heart, but surprisingly, I think everything went right. It all seemed so perfect, and I loved every moment. I will always think fondly of my wedding day and cherish the memories. Thank you, everyone who shared it with us. Love you lots.