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