Kels & Bran

Nesting

2011-03-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Finally getting to some of the MANY projects on my to do list. Somehow I pictured having this to do list all done by April 24th--this will not be happening.

I've always loved gallery walls but had no idea how much time people put into them to make them look perfect! I am not one for perfection, at all, so instead of measuring and leveling and blah blah blah I just threw them up there and crossed my fingers. Many nail holes later I think it semi-turned out. Still have a few blank frames, baby pictures perhaps?

Always trying to make my kitchen look less like an apartment (cheap cabinets, counters and floors tend to give that impression), and more like a NY alley kitchen (hah!!). We decided valences to the ceiling might help emphasize the narrowness and height of the room. Everything else in my house is pretty neutral, so I though why not bring in some blue, pink and orange? Livin' on the wild side, I know. As with all creative projects, I take no credit---my mom comes up with all the ideas and sews everything. I provide entertainment and treats while she works.

I gave up finding affordable chair cushions that fit my chairs and I could stand to look at every day, so we made these! Never in a million years would I have thought orange fabric would look good. I love it though. I've always been scared of color and cling to white (can you tell?!?), my mom on the other hand lives for color, and I'm starting to learn she's always right.

As cute as this couch is, it's incredibly uncomfortable since it's from like the 70's. SO, we (my mom) made a really comfy seat cover over the cushions. Living room is till coming along, it's a hard space to work with since it feels super small, but we're trying to make it cozy.

Picked this cool thing up at the thrift store. It had an awful finish on it. We power washed it (quickest way to antique something!), and it turned out pretty nifty.

Mini Nursery

2011-03-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

The nursery still needs a lot of work. We have all the fabric picked out but still need to sew sheets, bumper pad, and crib skirt. The closet needs some serious organizing (its very tiny, not sure what to do with it... good thing his clothes are ridiculously tiny as well). Also need to get light switch plates, door handles, dumb stuff like that. I finally feel like it's close to finished though! We (always refers to my mom and me, Brandon has zero interest in home decor, phew!) picked out the drape fabric a long long time ago and fell in love with it, but then had to match the entire nursery to it which ended up being really hard! I always wanted a yellow and grey nursery, but the yellow, turquoise and grey in the curtains is somehow the HARDEST shades to match. We brought home fabric after fabric that didn't come close to matching! And then there was the whole white-comes-in-waaaay-too-many-shades debacle. We had bright white trim around the windows, clashing with slightly off-white crib/changing table, clashing with very off-white drapes, clashing with cream chair cover, it was horrible. Somehow it ended up working out.

Duke thinks we are the coolest parents EVER for giving her her very own room. She especially appreciates how all the onsies are at eye level so she can carefully choose which one should be carried around the house (ugh). Naturally this is her new favorite rug to shed on (it is the softest thing I have ever felt).

Meet Mr. Monkey. My crafty (she would hate that I used the word "crafty") mom made him and he is oh so cute. She is in the process of making him an orange "fat friend" with a big old monkey gut. I had to take a picture of his hand---she sewed a bug on one and a leaf on the other because he's eating :) I love it. I'm not sure how she comes up with ideas like this and whips them out in a day with no pattern or previous experience, I'm so untalented.

I'm obsessed with this hot air balloon mobile. Because of the crazy slanted ceilings in this room I couldn't put it over the crib (kept hitting the ceiling and was way too low), but it's pretty cute over the changing table.

3 Weeks 6 Days

2011-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Not that I'm counting or anything. Just DYING to get this baby boy out of me and meet him! I always thought it was weird when people said they couldn't wait to "meet" their baby, but I totally get it now. It's strange being so close (literally) to another human but not even knowing what they look like. Official due date is April 24th, but I'm more than aware that only 3-5% of women actually have their baby on their "due date" (crazy huh?) and most go over with their first, UGH.

Pregnancy has actually been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I hate to admit that because I know a LOT of people have miserable pregnancies and I feel really bad for them and sort of feel like I got "cheated" of the "real" pregnancy experience (but I'm not complaining!). I really was never very nauseous, never had morning sickness, and haven't had trouble sleeping. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been a walk in the park and I can come up with a huge list of my own complaints (soreness, heartburn, feeling fat, extreme exhaustion, etc.), but comparatively I got pretty darn lucky. My biggest cravings have been dairy and fruit. I go through milk like no one's business and I'm ALWAYS up for a bowl of cereal (honey nut cheerios are a favorite!). With fruit starting to come in season (kind of) I've been buying up over priced Strawberries and Watermelon like crazy (which Brandon likes points out is a very expensive not-in-season craving). I could eat Watermelon for every meal, and easily go through one a day. And then of course there's my constant need for sugar! But that's nothing new, everyone who knows me knows I'm a complete candy junkie. I admit I pictured myself eating a little healthier when I was pregnant, like it would be some really good motivation to eat nothing but the best organic veggies and leanest meats...but I have zero self control and I think I'm okay with it.

Below is my pathetic attempt to snap a prego picture in the nursery mirror. Note the oversized sweater and leggings. CANNOT WAIT to never wear leggings EVER again. I was so glad they were "in style" when I got pregnant because they're extremely comfortable and cheap but I am soooo sick of them 8 months later. Squishing into those pre-prego jeans is going to be so wonderful. I think I've stretched out a good 70% of my closet with my refusal to buy maternity clothes...guess I'll have to go shopping, whoops!

Not Rational

2011-01-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

I'm sure all five of you who read this blog are also friends with me on facebook and know by now that yes, I'm pregnant! I know this doesn't excuse me from posting belly pictures, so I promise those will come soon (when I'm on my laptop and not at work). But for now you have to oo and aww over my new favorite obsession: ridiculously overpriced diaper bags.

Inspring the title of the post, this bag is called "Not Rational--Hansel Diaper Bag." With a price point of $598, I'm thankfully not even tempted by this one. It's a beauty, but one that not even I can justify.

I don't know why I'm in love with this bag, but I am. It comes in at a mere $198...is that so wrong? It's amazing how somehow $200 on a diaper bag seems just a-okay to me. But don't worry, I probably won't be owning this (or any of these bags) anytime soon. I married the man who invented the word "budget", and my consumer life has been much too predictable ever since. I miss crazy impulse purchases, but I guess I don't miss the bounced checks and overdraft fees I was famous for pre-marriage.

Another $198'er. Yes, Angelina Jolie toted this bag throughout India, and yes, that might be the only reason I must get my hands on it. After seeing The Tourist last weekend I finally admitted to Brandon that she is one of the worst possible actresses out there (it took painfully sitting through Wanted, Salt and The Tourist for me to come to terms with this). BUT this does not in any way affect my die-hard obsession with her.

Lastly, the cheapest bag I can find that I love---only $149 :) This will be the last one I show Brandon, and I plan on saying something along the lines of "FINE, I'll resort to this CHEAP-O bag if I can't have the 598 dollar one, hope you're happy!". Look at me, always willing to take one for the team and save a buck.

Prego pics and nursery pics to come....

Well Well Well...

2010-10-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

I almost felt guilty about not posting anything for the past three months, UNTIL I got on here late last night and tried to use this nightmare of a picture up-loader and realized why I had sworn off "The Blogger". I finally got all of these pictures on here, but instead of seeing the preview of the picture all I can see is HTML jibber jabber. SO, you're gonna have to deal with the completely random order of these photos because I can't stand the thought of trying to rearrange them.

Oh, the back corner of the house is always a nice place to start! To the left is the garage which is FILLED with our stuff. We put an offer in on this house in June, didn't close till September 10th (never. buying. a house. again.), couldn't move in till the last week of September because we were getting the floors done, sooo yes I've had a whole month to unpack and decorate, I don't want to talk about it.

Now, this is where you have to use your imagination. I'm envisioning a "courtyard" feel back here, which is currently over-powered by this lovely "white trash" feel. The garage needs painting to match the house, and the lovely rotting siding at the top needs replacing. The previous owners thought it would be nice to leave all the crap they didn't feel like hauling off, in the basement. Yesterday we brought it all up and here it sits until we get that dumpster. I'm sure our neighbors love us. The shed needs a coat of paint but I think it could be really cute with some flower boxes?

These pictures aren't the best, I was in a rush to leave, but this is the side of the house (duh). Even though the yard needs a ton of work (I'm not a fan of the over-sized ugly holly bushes, rhododendrons, etc.), once we get it fenced in it will be a great little space I think. It's hard to find a cheap house, but it's even harder to find a cheap house with a decently sized yard. I would take an old run down house with a yard over a new house without yard any day.

This is the same side of the house taken from the front of the house, kind of. The previous owners had this cute little vegetable garden under those bent pvc pipes. I think the pvc pipes will have to go, but a vegetable garden would be fun!

This is the view from the upstairs bedroom. I rushed to take all these pictures yesterday because it was the only sunny day we've had in a long time. It's been raining and dark for days now (which I love).

This is the "mini-room" upstairs. It would be a perfect office or nursery :) Right now it's the perfect place to throw our crap so we can find some sanity in the rest of the house.

The hallway upstairs. Pretty boring.

This is the room across the hall from the mini-room. All of the rooms in this house are very small! Probably because the whole house is very small! Ideally this will be the guest room for all our lovely guests (come visit!!), but we are yet to be able to get the box-spring for this bed up the stairs (you'll understand when you see the stairway).

Ahh, the mini-stairway!

We had the floors all re-done because they were covered in nasty old carpet, and these stairs turned out to be this orangey wood. I love how rustic they look, although I never expected them to turn out like this!

Parts of the house like this need a bit of work. This is at the end of the kitchen. The door on the left goes outside to the walkway between the garage and the house. To the right is the stairway that goes to the basement (or the dungeon as we call it).

Right side of the kitchen....wait for it...

Left side of the kitchen! Hahah, this is the smallest kitchen in the world. When we were buying the house we'd always laugh about our skinny alley kitchen that is completely inaccessible if a drawer is pulled out or the oven door is open. My mom kept trying to convince me that alley kitchens are really "cool" in like New York and Europe....hmmm I'm pretty sure if I lived in NY or Europe I would think my whole house was really "cool", but this is Oregon City.

This is the dining room. The whole house looks a bit "dead" because we have absolutely nothing on the walls and barely any lighting. That standing light in the corner was left by the owners before us. I really need to decorate. Our dining table is my FAVORITE. My mom and I found it at a thrift store for $50. It had an ugly dark shiny stain on it, but once we refinished it it was perfect! I love the french legs. My grandma bought us the 6 white chairs when she was here visiting a few weeks ago--they are perfect! It's so hard to find wood-colored chairs that match a wood table (that aren't like $200 each), and we thought the painted white wood was really pretty with all the wood! I'm trying to find fabric to make chair cushions. To the left is the front door, to the right is the picture below.

This is what you see when you walk in the house. To the right is our bedroom (which you don't get to see quite yet), straight ahead is the bathroom (yes THE bathroom, there is only one, and it's munchkin-sized), and to the left is the stairway.

Bad picture, but this is the couch that I love! Brandon's grandma gave it, and the matching chair, to us because she didn't use it anymore (love free furniture!). I should probably do something with all those stacked boxes. We bought a bunch of lights to try out around the house week ago, but haven't quite gotten around to opening them.

I love thriftstore finds! This table was found by my mom for 5 bucks! It needs painting. I'm thinking a lacquered robins egg blue? I'm not sure yet.

The matching chair and the side table that Brandon's grandpa made before he died. Our living room is on the small side, and it REALLY needs some decorating love, but I like it. I love the rug but it's way too small for the room (even though the room is really small!), so we're looking for something bigger and more comfy looking.

Moving on to random events as of late! Brandon's other grandma passed away last week, so we went up to Washington for her funeral. It was really nice to be able to re-meet all of Brandon's family. This is Courtney and her sweet little girl Riley. She is soooo stinking cute, I couldn't get enough of her!

Yummy funeral potatoes! We took a ton of pictures but none of them turned out...something about that awful cultural hall lighting.

Daisy Duke cracks us up every day (even though most days I want to kill her). I had just brought our duvet cover out of the dryer and was putting the comforter back in it when I turned around and she was snuggling up in it. When I yelled at her she looked at me like, "What's your deal?! You didn't bring this super warm blanket out of the dryer for ME to lay on!?"

Real bad picture of the front of the house. The house is up a bit on a hill so I can't figure out how to get a decent picture of it. I swear it doesn't look this squished in person.

The DUNGEON! The unfinished basement in this house needs a serious rehaul, but it's a huge amount of space compared to the rest of our house! We plan on gutting it and turning it into a cozy TV/family room.

Manly man ripping out the wall so we can turn it into one big space. He thorougly enjoyed taking his anger out on this wall with a sledgehammer after spending 30 minutes on the phone with Comcast.

The woodpecker knocker. Unfortunately this guy had to go. I didn't have the heart to throw him away after all his days of dutifully knocking...so I "set him free" and relocated him to a nearby tree where he can knock away. I do LOVE having Billy the mailman bring our mail right to the front porch! Pretty darn cool.

Bran and his baby. She lays like this forever, I love it.

My Aunt Erika got to visit for her birthday which was fun! I can't remember what we were all laughing about...but it looks like it was really funny.

Brandon's mom is going to school to get licensed to take x-rays at the dental office she works at. Brandon was a very whiny practice-patient and kept telling her she was doing it wrong. We're so proud of her, she's the best dental assistant around!

Brandon spent a lot of time this summer up at my parent's cabin in Mosier. We went up there one Saturday so he could set up deer stands and tree stands. A few weeks later his dad shot a bear from that tree stand. I so don't approve.

WELL, that took forever! I've learned my lesson--don't save 3 months of pictures for one post! I'm going to go eat my honey nut cheerios now for breakfast. Have a good weekend!

Baby Daisy

2010-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Love these pictures of Baby Daisy and my two favorite sisters. We were going to go to Eagle Creek today and swim in the waterfalls but it's a rainy Oregon day, so we're watching "In her Shoes"---ever seen it? It's not over, but so far it's the worst movie I've seen this year (second to Valentine's Day of course).

Ahhhhhh!

2010-07-30T00:23:00.000-07:00

Well hello blog friends (Amy, Peyton, and on occasion, Brittany...), I'm still alive! Took lots of pictures - can't find camera - found camera but memory card is MIA, you know how it goes. So to sum up the past month and half since we've been in Oregon (and done with Provo since Brandon graduated-yay!), here ya go: Went to the dermatologist two days ago because ever since I moved to Oregon I've had all these zits, blah blah, very boring. Anyways, I paid Doctor whoever-she-was $135 to not prescribe me anything because apparently my insistence that I am suffering from life-altering, extreme, 13-yr-old acne meant nothing to her, and she assured me they would go away and I might "be under an increased amount of stress lately?"

Hmmm, well, as of late:

-We've moved from Utah to Oregon. (Hmm, funny story for a later time on that topic. It involves my car making it to south Salt Lake before it plunkered out and died, which left me stranded on I-15 for 2 hours in the blazing sun.)

-We bought a new car (Rav4, not new of course, but fun!)

-We sold a car (Flames and all!)

-We are in the middle of closing on a new house in Oregon City (which is a million times more stressful than I ever thought it would be!)

-We bought a lab puppy (It pees, it poops, it pukes, it whines, it bites, it licks my face...we might as well have had a baby!!! Have you seen Marley and Me? Watch it, then cry for me.)

-We are yet to unpack any of our boxes because we live in Brandon's Grandma's basement until mid-August (which also means we don't have our own place and are NEVER ALONE). So naturally I can't find ANYTHING and every morning I spend a good chunk of time crying to Brandon that I don't know where any of my clothes are and I'm sick of wearing the same 5 outfits over and over...and over.

-While living at Brandon's Grandma's house we are conveniently located 6 minutes away from my parents and 10 minutes away from his parents. No matter how much I LOVE our families, this is a weeee bit to close.

-Brandon works 9am - 8pm pretty regularly and so I never ever see him.

-I work for my dad, and I just got a new job at a Real Estate company.

-We have taken on the care of 2 horses at my parents property which somehow is way more work than you can imagine.

Okay, now I just sound like the biggest whiner ever. I am very happy, life is fabulous, but for someone who stresses constantly this is not the ideal situation! Isn't it funny how in life we are so quick to look ahead and say "Okay, when this is over I will be happy and able to breathe"? That is exactly how I feel right now.

I'm really trying!

2010-04-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm really trying hard to take more pictures! It's kind of hard when there's only two of you. No adorable babies to photograph, and taking picture of each other kind of gets old. This weekend was fun! We did really boring "married" things like clean, run errands, wash the cars, go grocery shopping, etc., but for some reason when it's WARM out it makes everything a million times better! And sometimes just doing things together is so nice. I can't wait to someday have kids, but I'm sure I'll look back on these times and miss being alone with each other! These pictures are really lame, but they are a good start!

I feel like usually it's the wife who has to be careful not to "nag" and re-do the husband's chores because he can't do anything the "right" way. Well, behold the benefits of being married to someone with a little bit of OCD in their blood. I love it. I spent quite awhile washing these windows myself. As I was admiring my work, Brandon came and grabbed the Windex from me and went outside to "fix" the mess I made and get rid of all my streaks. He said something about being the window washing master...sure enough, 20 minutes later, there were no streaks. Weirdo. He's that way with everything though; it's really funny and really useful. We joke that he's better at cooking, better at cleaning, and better at doing laundry. Truly though, he definitely is!

Brandon is such a better cook than I am. Every time I'm about to make something (french toast for breakfast in this case!) he jumps in and says he'll make it. I would like to think he's just being nice...but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my cooking. I'm getting better though, really!

Ignore the prayer pose, not sure what's going on. I got a pretty good shiner on Friday. The story is more than embarrassing, but it has something to do with my horse, a horse dentist, passing out, a metal pole, and a vet catching me. I hate to relive the story at all, but it's the only picture I got of myself all week.

My hard little worker! Just a shout out to a great guy who someone pulled of 40+ hours/week of work and 19 credits this last semester! He's never not working. Even when he's watching the NBA playoffs he'd tirelessly making calls for work. The best is when he puts people on hold for long periods of time to focus in on the game and yell at me to "come watch this!!" And he still sells them, every time! 3 cheers for Brandon!

For Lack of Anything Better...

2010-04-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

I'm the biggest picture slacker. I love pictures more than the average person, but somehow never bring my camera anywhere! I was skimming my last posts and realizing that my recent cop-out of posting internet picture is really lame. SO, I whipped out Brandon's camera and found some fun old pictures from the past. Bear with me....I will get better at taking pictures. Maybe if I had cuter clothes I'd be more willing to take pictures....geeez Brandon's right....that is my excuse for everything. But really, the lack of cute summer clothes is a serious problem.

When I went home in February to help my parents move into their new house I got to go visit my brother in Eugene! I had never been, which is strange because I've lived in Oregon my entire life and it's only 2 hours away. Anyway, it is an absolutely gorgeous part of Oregon and a really cool city. I brought my little brother with me and we hung out with Ian for the day. This is both of them at some yummy Pizza place we found.

Over Thanksgiving (I warned you these were old pictures, stop judging), Brandon went pheasant hunting with his dad and some friends. No, I don't "like" that he kills things for fun...but there are worse things. We prepared and ate the pheasant meat for our Thanksgiving feast in Park City. Yea, I would not recommend it. Chewy, dry, bland...tastes like blah chicken.

I hate this picture of me. My face was all swollen and I was really sick. BUT it reminds me how much I love that guy. This was taken when we went to Sun River for a week or so last summer when we were in Oregon. His family goes every year and rents a cabin. It's a really neat place, we go tubing down the river, fishing, biking, we lay out, barbecue, watch movies, get ice cream cones every day (nothing makes me happier), eat really yummy food...it's pretty much my favorite.

Most of the pictures on Brandon's camera are from fishing trips he's taken. I just thought this was a cute one of his boat and his dad. Nothing makes Bran happier than fishing with his dad.

Two big ones! I have to look at every one of these pictures when he gets home from a fishing trip. I've spared you all by only posting the "good" ones, the other 200 pictures are individual glamor shots of fish that all look the same, or dead fish, or blood from gutting the fish....boys take the weirdest pictures.

This picture just really makes me miss the Oregon waters! The trees, the mountain (don't laugh if you're from Utah, yes we call those mountains), the boats, the ducks, so pretty!

Brandon would tell you I never want to go fishing, but I know secretly it's just "his thing" and he doesn't want me to go :) because I DO love to go! But it's fine, I think it's good to have things you can do without each other. He has his things (hunting, fishing), I have my things (horses, horses, horses), and it keeps us sane! BUT every once and awhile it's really fun to share in each others favorite hobbies. This past summer we went fishing for the day with his dad on some outlet off the Columbia river.

The first 5 hours were great---really relaxing, beautiful, fun....ok, but really, I don't know how people sit in that small boat all day and wait for a bite. It hit a point where I had had my fun and was ready to gooooo. My first fish was a 32 lb. Salmon. Mitch took this picture on his phone when I was holding onto this fish for dear life. We had it on the line for truly like 30 minutes and it was determined not to be brought in that boat. This picture doesn't do justice to the drama that incured during those 30 minutes. All three of us were literally running around the boat trying to keep this fish on the line. It was exciting when we finally pulled it up, but to this day Brandon still gives me a hard time for not fully appreciating that moment...thus I am no longer invited on fishing trips.

Really Looking Forward To...

2010-04-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Coast!

I have been landlocked in this barren state for FAR too long (5 years!) and cannot wait to enjoy the cold, windy, cloudy Oregon beaches (haha). Yes, the Oregon Coast has a reputation of being miserably cold and nothing like a beach at all, but those who grew up near it will agree that it is still a gorgeous place to be! Seal-watching, whale-watching, crabbing, bonfires, digging for clams, playing at the dunes, eating at Mo's Seafood...can't wait.

Flowers
You know the blossoms on the trees and flowers in the soil are trying HARD to make their spring debut when the daffodils start popping up. They seem to be the most diligent Spring flower (in Utah at least), and are always one of the first to pop out of the ground. Cherry Blossoms are my favorite and I am patiently awaiting their arrival. Stupid Utah "Spring" is sure putting a damper on my mood! This freeeezing and snowing one day and semi-warm and sunny the next crap is gettin' old!

A Puppy!

For Graduation (which will be in June for him), Brandon really wants a white-lab puppy. His family dog growing up was a white-lab and he has many memories with her. Annie, the dog, is still alive but is definitely on the downward hill. He is looking forward to training a new hunting/fishing dog. I'm sure I'll be cursing it's name when shedding, pooping, peeing and ripping up all of my stuff, but in the meantime I'm really excited. I love dogs, but mostly I just love everything in "baby" form right now. You could get me a baby worm and I'd think it's just the cutest thing ever. No, I'm not pregnant.

Brandon plans on turning this future innocent and adorable puppy into a savage bird killer. I'm still coping with this idea...

Fruit Stands

I don't think anyone loves fresh fruit, berry, and veggie stands quite as much as myself. Last summer we found this incredible fruit stand in West Linn and turned into frequent customers in no time. I love that during the summer you can live off fresh fruit for so cheap!

Oh hell, I just looked outside and it's hailing. I really need Summer to be here.

It's Bulls and Blood, It's Dust and Mud, It's the Roar of a Sunday Crowd...They call the thing Rodeo

2010-03-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

Few things ring in the summer quite like the Rodeo. This year I'm going with Nicole and I am so so excited. I can't believe that someone who has owned a horse since she was like 10 has never been to a Rodeo! It's going to be a blast. The St. Paul Rodeo is HUGE in Oregon, and they make it quite the event. Utah produces some pretty amazing rodeos as well, so if you haven't been to one you should make this summer your first! Lehi has a really fun one, and it's the perfect excuse to get decked out in that hot cowgirl get-up you've been dying to whip out.

Squeeky, Dented, Jungle Green, Ford Taurus...oh How I Will Miss You...

2010-03-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Oh the joys of car shopping! After weeks of meeting with, negotiating with and being completely lied to by car salesmen, I am amazed that I married a one! Thankfully I didn't marry a car salesman (they seem to unquestionably be the worst type), but I absolutely married the man that could sell ice to an eskimo. When we were dating I remember being sooo turned off by this "quality" but every once and awhile it does come in handy.

It turns out you can't sell a salesman and therefore I don't know if we'll ever be buying a car in this lifetime! Brandon will NOT budge on the prices he wants. Even after he gets them down by $1,000's if they are even insisting we pay $300 more than his ideal price he will walk away from the deal. To me this a completely ridiculous waste of time, but to him I am a financial disaster waiting to happen, so we agree to disagree. So, we may not be buying a car in this lifetime, but when it happens we will definitely walk away saving an extra $15 a month on our car payment (again, is this seriously necessary?!).

These are the cars we are deciding between, any suggestions are welcome.

Classic Toyota 4Runner. Of course my top pick. The exterior just says "oh hey, yea I just got back from the mountain and now I'm heading to the lake for some boating and then off to the dessert for some 4-wheeling". So cool. The interior is not my favorite though. And we would obviously buy this car used, it's pretty spendy.

Hyundai Tucson was our first choice. You can get the 2010 model for a very reasonable price. The exterior is a bit small looking (however it does look better in person, this picture makes it look like an alien car) but the interior is incredible.

The Nissan Murano is Brandon's first choice. He thinks it looks "badass" (not my choice of words...). I think the grill looks slightly bizarre, but besides that it's not a bad car at all. It does seem to look better with a European license plate, don't you think? Maybe we should move to Europe....but don't even get me started on that.

We have a WINNER!

2010-02-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce the winner of the Ambrerose Giveaway this month went to....

(Drumroll Please)

Eva-Marie Corcoran!!

A big thank you to everyone who tried! Remember to visit my blog again next month for another cool giveaway!

LOST

2010-02-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

I cannot wait for tonight, the season premier of LOST!! Bran and I are going to our friend's house to make a pizza and junk-food filled premier party out of it and I am counting down the hours. I don't think I've ever been so addicted to a TV show. Usually I get sick of all TV shows after a few seasons because the writing goes down hill and it gets just painful (Grey's Anatomy). Brandon and I rented all the seasons of Lost right after we got married and we watched them all summer until we finished, it was a blast. The writers are absolutely incredible, the plot is so intricate it blows my mind, and best of all Matthew Fox (or Jack) is the sexiest man alive. I'm making Brandon keep his beard at the same scruff level as Jack so I can at least fantasize...

Sundance Night Skiing!

2010-01-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

Brandon and I decided to go night skiing up at Sundance on a whim this Saturday. It was a super fun night with perfect weather and tons of fresh powder. Towards the end though it was just packed. Their runs take like maaaybe 15 minutes, and then you're back in this horrendous line, waiting to get back up to the top. Kinda sucked, but I guess that's why it's so cheap.

Ok ok, really, I just had to show off the new beanie I begged, whined and cried for at Sports Authority earlier that afternoon. It was hard work, but alas, I won. It is the warmest, yummiest beanie I have ever worn.

Gearing up! Ok these gloves were miserably freezing. Big upset of the night was having numb hands. I borrowed them from Bran's sister and now I know what I'm getting her for her Birthday. Thankfully Brandon switched me gloves half-way through....cuz he's the bestest friend ever.

Bridal Veil falls is so purty in the winter. I love the drive through the Provo canyon, it's a gorgeous scenery during any season (which is much more than I can say for the rest of Utah...blech).

An Ambrerose Valentine's Giveaway

2010-01-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

I am hosting another Ambrerose Giveaway this month! How to Enter?

All you have to do is check out Ambrerose and then come back here and leave a comment about one of the items in the shop. Pick one that you like and tell me what you like about it! Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you’re a winner!

For a second chance to win, you can follow this blog and leave a comment saying that you do so (if you already follow me, just leave a comment saying that you already do).

And, lastly, if you have a blog, mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment letting me know with a link to your blog post.

This giveaway ends on January 31st, at noon and the winner will be announced at this post. The winner will also be notified via email and the prize will be shipped out shortly thereafter.

With luck, you could win this lovely gift or make it your own Valentine's treat!

What are you waiting for?

**For U.S. only**

Baby Boy Turns 24

2010-01-20T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure the typical blogging wife would take this opportunity to publicize the top 50 reasons they think their husband is the best husband EVER. But, the thought of doing that, no matter how much I love and adore Brandon, makes me gag. You've gotta draw the line somewhere, and I draw it at unnecessary lovey mushiness that no one cares to read about.

Bran and his friends went paintballing for his birthday. He kindly invited me, and I kindly opted out (I'm sure this was much to his relief). For some reason the thought of being chased around in the dark by 10 testosterone filled, grown men with "guns" sounded slightly terrifying. Before paintballing we went to In'n'Out for dinner with Brandon's good friends Ryan and Leah. Later that night we opened presents, my favorite part!! I loooove buying people presents, especially for someone like Brandon who loves loves surprises more than the average person. His main present was new snowboard boots and bindings:

We have so much to be grateful for

2010-01-17T20:56:00.000-08:00

The caption to this photo: "A woman reacts as bodies are removed from the streets with a bulldozer."

TIME has an incredibly moving gallery of pictures from Haiti's earthquake destruction. This picture is fascinating because it captures so many emotions most of us will (hopefully) never have to experience. I cannot fathom what these people are going through.

#@@)$(!A$@:W#%

2010-01-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Neeever buy an HP computer. After months of dealing with a POS laptop, it took it's final turn for the worst the week of finals. My keyboard decided to systematically start pissing me off...one key at a time. It started off with the "n" going out, followed by the space bar, the "s", the "!", and on and on and on. Every few hours another key would go out and I would call Brandon (who had LEFT me for Oregon because he was sooo cool and finished finals first...classy) cursing his name, because somehow when you get married everything is the other person's fault. WELL I somehow typed like 25+ pages on this crappy keyboard, pounding the crap out of it and swearing up a storm in the meantime. My keyboard still doesn't work, and it is very hard to type this, but I'm playing the role of martyr very well to guilt Brandon into buying me this:

Ohhh I crack myself up, that'll never happen. So in the meantime, I deeply empathize with this angry angry baby:

I've done a bit of research and found that there are indeed other (and perhaps superior) uses for the keys on my keyboard. I'm thinking seriously about taking up this very...very odd craft:

However, I truly think it is unnecessary for her to spell what I'm sure the world already knows about her. And with two 3's? Ok, I won't lie, it took me awhile to figure out what the word was. Tricky tricky.

Ambrerose Etsy Giveaway!

2009-12-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

One of my very good friends, Rose, is a connoisseur of the Etsy world. She is an incredibly creative and talented woman who has mastered the art of jewelry making. Every month I will be hosting an Ambrerose giveaway on my blog to support her work. Check out this month's giveaway, and don't forget to enter the contest!

WIN AmbreRose Jewelry: Charm My Christmas Bracelet from the AmbreRose Jewelry December 3rd, 2009 by Rose.

AmbreRose is hosting a giveaway to thank all our wonderful supporters and customers, as well as give you the opportunity to check out the high-quality handmade art in her shop. This up-cycled bracelet is made from several bits and pieces of jewelry. It’s youthful and modern, but with vintage soul. The charms hang from an eight inch silver plated chain. Vintage beads and a rhinestone rondelle are a great accompaniment to the charms. A great way to keep the joyful spirit with you all holiday long.

There are just two simple things you need to do to enter:

1. Visit Ambrerose Jewelry and take a look around.
2. Make a note of your favorite item in her shop.
3. Come back and leave a comment on this post (look for the comment box or link at the end of this post) telling us your favorite item and you’ll be entered to win. Make sure that you leave an email address so that we may contact you. It’s that simple!

You have until Thursday, December 17th at noon PST to get your entry in, so commence browsing. There’s lots to discover! We’ll randomly draw one winner from the comments posted.

Thanksgiving Recap

2009-12-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

Brandon and I went to Park City for Thanksgiving this year. Brandon's family came to Utah and we all stayed at a cabin for 6 days. It was SUCH a nice break from school, work and Provo. It only snowed a few times, not enough to do much sledding, but it was beautiful! We enjoyed just bumming around the town and not "doing" a whole lot. We watched a lot of movies, went on walks, ate great food, made MANY trips to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (caramel apples..mm.mmm!) and, of course, loved getting almost all our Christmas shopping done on Black Friday!

My hottie sister-in-laws and mother-in-law goofing off and posing for the camera while we were shopping on Main St. I love them!

Happy Turkey Day! Brandon's Grandma is too cute.

I guess something was funny?

There are only 2 things Brandon will literally jump out of bed for at 5 am: Fishing and Hunting. This break he went fly fishing on the Provo river with his dad. No, I was not there at the crack of dawn taking pictures, but he got some pretty good ones!

Countdown!

2009-12-01T02:24:00.000-08:00

4 more days 'till the weekend (I SERIOUSLY don't know if I'll even make it this far...)

10 more days 'till the last day of school

17 more days 'till the last day of finals

17 more days 'till I'm in Oregon for Christmas

18 more days 'till I'm OFFICIALLY graduated whooooo!

25 more days 'till Christmas

31 more days 'till New Years Eve

32 more days till 2010

40 more days 'till Brandon's birthday

Winter

2009-11-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of winter. I completely understand how it is possible for a person to suffer from "seasonal depression." I am certain that this problem must run rampant throughout Utah. The miserable cold, the endless snow, the black ice that tricks me EVERY year, the horrible feeling of a getting in a bitter cold car that you know is NOT going to warm up before you make it to your destination....I could go on and on. This year I am petitioning mother nature for a short, short winter.

Congratulations Robbert

2009-11-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

Through a non-profit organization called Koins for Kenya, I had the opportunity to sponsor a young man named Robbert as he completed his high school years. We are blessed in America to have public schools that are paid for by the government (and our taxes of course). In Kenya going to high school is about as ambitious, difficult and expensive as going to college in America. They have to pass a rigorous exam to even be admitted. Once they are admitted, they are expected to pay fees which are very often impossible for them to pay. Not for a lack of an incredible work ethic, many of these families simply do not have any money to spare for their children to complete school. If they do not complete high school they will most likely be forced to leave their village in order to be street vendors in a bigger city. You can imagine the severity of poverty caused by this cycle.

I am proud to say that Robbert has finally completed his high school years. He has received very good marks which is an enormous accomplishment for anyone at this school. He has applied for 3 jobs and I was just told by the director of Koins for Kenya that he will most likely be hired on to be a teacher in the elementary school. I am so grateful I was able to know this incredible young man, he will do great things for his family and his people.

I am so excited to be able to sponsor my next Secondary student. Her name is Umazi Khadija Sombo. While I have not had the opportunity to meet her, I have heard many wonderful things about her from Brent Hayes who is currently in Kenya touring her school. About her, he said:

"We have one girl there, completing Form 1, she was the top performing girl (scored a 327 on her KCPE) from Bahakwenu last year. Her name is Umazi Khadija Sombo. She was A first term (3 of 86) and B second term (12 of 132!) and she knows she can be an A student. As you’d expect the Headmistress is inspiring (been there for 7 years). The campus is beautifully situated in the hills outside of Voi with the classrooms and dormitories on different terraces amongst the green trees and tall growing shrubs and bright purple flowers. They don’t take any girls less that score less than 300 on their KCPE, and it shows, though old, it really is a model school, clean and well organized. I toured the dormitories. They put 10-12 girls in a large 13x15 cubicle with no complaint. Rooms, showers, toilets, floors and walls are spotless."

If you would be interested in sponsoring a student in Kenya, follow this link: http://koinsforkenya.org/Area/Sponsorship.aspx?Area=Samburu
Rinda and Brent Hayes travel to Kenya twice a year. They hand-select every single student through the help of their teachers. The students keep in contact with their sponsors through letters. It costs $350 a year (less than a dollar a day!).

Dear Ian, on your birthday I'd like to thank you for...

2009-11-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Letting me force-feed you...

Sacrificing your arm so that I could launch you into space in this rocket box...

Playing house/picnic/tea-party with me...

Letting me dress you up like a woman...

Being pushed around in a Tonka truck...

Laughing at my jokes...

Making sure my overalls were on correctly...

And lastly, for always taking care of me.

2009-11-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Peyton and I both religiously pseudo-online shop on Anthropologie.com. Neither of us have money, both of us have stingy husbands (whom we love!) and so we never actually buy anything. But pretending we will own these things one day is almost as satisfying. This ad made me realize that everyone should be able to lounge in beautiful Anthropologie attire, on ridiculously expensive throw-pillows, while reading sheet music and playing the trombone (??) in the freshly fallen snow. What a life. I'm being ripped off.

Owwwww

2009-11-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

Nicole insisted that the first fall be documented. In fact, I think she was far more concerned about taking pictures than asking me if I was okay. I'm not really sure what happened...something to do with the spooky night, a big gust of wind, a saddle cover flying through the air and a huge buck. It hurt way more than I thought it would!

Honey was incredibly concerned and wanted me to get up. It kind of "weirds" horses out when you lay on the ground. Amira was just glad I was off of her...she really couldn't care less about my well-being.

Honey is doing great at jumping!(that's nicole)

Meet our New Family Member...

2009-11-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well...I'm trying to convince Brandon that if I can take care of a Betta fish, I can take care of a baby. It's not going so well. Fish are boring as it is, but Parker is particularly boring.

I can't get him to do anything exciting and I'm quickly losing interest in his survival. Consider this a warning Parker!

Sicky

2009-10-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

I stole this from a website titled, "Where the Swine Flu Came From". It's pretty much the most disgusting thing I've ever seen...but adorably cute at the same time. I've had the flu since Monday and it hasn't been fun. There are, however, some serious "upsides" of being sick:
1 - No school
2 - No work
3 - No cleaning
4 - No cooking
5 - You're allowed to live off popsicles, jello, fruit snacks and capri suns.
6 - You discover all sorts of idiotic TV shows to pass the time, and gain an entirely new level of respect for shows such as Desperate Housewives, Degrassi, True Life, World's Strictest Parents, Divorce Court, etc.

Sugar Cookies!!

2009-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

By far, my favorite thing to do around every holiday is to make sugar cookies! I was hoping we could find cookie-cutters of ghosts, pumpkins and witches...but the only ones left were the tombstone, cat and skull. Kind of morbid. They turned out alright, the dough was a bit strange (always the recipe's fault, never mine) but they tasted yummy. Brandon decided he doesn't like sugar cookies which is wonderful news for me because if he does like something it's gone before morning.

Oh heavens Brandon. Why mix the red dye with frosting when you can just squirt it right on the cookie?

The crucial moment right before I dropped my favorite cookie (the kitty) and broke it's ear off.

I believe he called this the spineless fish.

No, how do you really feel about me?

A few of our favorites. Brandon quickly noticed only one of his cookies was on the display tray...shoot.

Probably my favorite picture. Only when he's concentrating REALLY hard does he stick his tongue out like this. It's usually when he's playing tennis, or about to win a video game, or working on a math problem....but hey, drawing perfectly symmetrical dots on either side of a squiggly line is a stressful process for some of us.

2009-10-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, yes I am bragging, but I've been coveting these boots for months now so I'm allowed to. Not only do I wear them everywhere, but I also sleep with them lying next to me on my bedside table. I am definitely not a shoe person, I think everyone who knows me would agree that I hate shoes. I'd much rather be barefoot. But for these I'm willing to make an exception.

Thank you Bran.

Zion's

2009-10-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is an older picture that I found the other day. It's from this last August when we went to Zion's National Park for a day. If I look tired and ticked that I'm hiking this crazy steep mountain in this ridiculous heat then you're right on. Brandon NEVER looks tired or ticked, he has this amazing (and extremely annoying) ability to absolutely never be in a foul mood. I have never met anyone quite as happy and satisfied as he is, it's a great quality but makes me feel like the biggest grump in the world! His shirt says, "Any problem can be solved with dancing"--James Brown. A perfect motto for him.

Calvin & Hobbes

2009-10-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

When Wants Become Needs...

2009-10-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's terribly difficult to convince Brandon that $115 rubber boots are crucial to my happiness.

Purty

2009-10-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Autumn in Utah is truly beautiful. It's the only time of year I'm not wishing I was in Oregon. Brandon and I went up to Squaw Peak last weekend to enjoy the colors of the changing trees before the inevitable and dreaded first frost. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and messing around with them after wards. Brandon just got "photo shop" for me so my picture editing is only going to get more annoying from here on out!

For Dad.

For Ian.

For Mom. I don't know, reminded me of something she'd paint.

ShaalAmira

2009-10-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

Autumn Trail Rides

2009-10-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Nicole and I go on trailrides as often as we can - which isn't very often. This is a grassy spot we stop at to let the horses rest, they are exhausted by the time we hit this point. The entire trail is uphill as it winds up the foothills of the mountain. We hadn't rested long before the horses went crazy. They heard something coming down the mountain long before we heard anything (hence Honey's frozen expression below), they were determined to get out of there and it took forever to calm them down. It was just two horseback riders.

Our Dandy Little Apartment

2009-09-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Our homely little apartment needs much TLC that we refuse to give it. We'd rather save money to get the heck out of Provo!

Brandon's pride and joy is his oversized tv. We've come leaps and bounds with his attachment to it...last week we painfully peeled off the clear, protective tape that they put around the edges.

It's interesting when guy's decorate. Brandon went to Ikea all by himself to buy this print of Amsterdam. I'm still a bit confused why this happened. But he's happy with it...he particularly enjoys the red bike (I hear this almost daily).

There are some things about Provo student housing that you truly can never escape from. Hideous, blue, living room furniture never ceases to amaze me when it shows up yet again.

I don't think anyone fully appreciates how hard it was to hang those Chinese lanterns with dental floss.

I must say the kitchen turned out quite cute.

I have nothing to say about the bathroom counter.

Brandon's mom took us shopping for a few things to "spruce" up our apartment. This shower curtain was one of them and I love it. Funny story: Brandon's Grandma's sister (Great Aunt Corinne) stopped by the other day, went to use our bathroom, thought the shower curtain was a wall (?????) and fell completely into the tub, pulling the curtain down with her. Some stories are just priceless.

Summertime

2009-09-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Seriously Brandon?? Seriously!?

He his standing on an itty bitty ledge...not even funny.

Lake Powell!

"Over Here Honeymooners!"

2009-09-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

At the markets in Cancun we were bombarded by shopkeepers that would call to us, "Over here honeymooners!" "Buy something for your wife over here!" Tricky, but not that tricky...Brandon's parents sent us to Cancun for 9 days, it was such a fun getaway! We thought it would be fun to play up the "tourist" role and give in to every trip, tour and package offered. We usually would never do that, so it was really fun! We got to take a boat out to Isla de Mujeres and play on the beach, we took a boat out to Playa del Carmen to see the the sites, and we took a boat to Cozumel to go snorkeling in the reefs. My favorite was a place called Xcaret where we went to a traditional play/musical, saw tons of beautiful animals, watched dolphins do tricks, and swam in the ocean. We spent most of the time just relaxing by the pool and sipping Pina Coladas. I must say we are two very good vacationers.

View of the city from our hotel.

View of the ocean from our hotel during a huge storm. I played with the saturation a little too much on this picture, but the colors that night truly were this amazing pink and purple.

If I had to wear any costume, this would be the one.

Hotel Monaco

2009-09-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to take a second to brag about our wedding night hotel. My parents' wedding present was a night in the Grand Hotel Monaco in the heart of down town Portland. I had NO idea a hotel room could be this incredible, I seriously think I could live there! Thanks again mom and dad!

Our pretty honeymoon suite!

It's Like Rain on your Wedding Day

2009-09-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

My mom arranged the flowers - my bouquet turned out exactly how I pictured.

We got married on June 20, 2009 in the Portland, Oregon Temple. Everything about the day was beautiful, even the Oregon rain that poured down on our outdoor reception. Luckily everyone really stepped up to the plate and despite the craziness of it all, it was truly an unforgettable day.

Brandon's incredibly photogenic sisters. The three of them together is a riot.

Only Oregonians would come so prepared.

My grandma made my wedding cake.

I'm impressed that our photographer got the prettiest hand at the wedding dipping into the strawberry lemonade. That has to be Diane Evershed's perfect little hand/jewelry/sweater combo.

Best part of the whole day was driving off :)

Pre-Wedding Madness!

2009-09-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

Rinda, Diane, Mindy and Mary threw me the perfect bridal shower. Mary bought this cake and put a picture of us on it, pretty cool!

Ok really, how can you pretend to be excited after the fourth crockpot? Yaaaay.

Rehearsal Dinner thrown by Mitch and Michele. It was a fun night and I am so grateful to them for planning such a great party.

I love this picture. All of my best friends!

Engagement Pictures

2009-09-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

All of these photos were taken by Rob Sunderledge. He was nice enough to run out to Soltaire Lake with us on last minute's notice and take these. He also wrote "Smiths" in the sand...cute.

My favorite.

Jambo!

2009-09-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Indian Ocean - Mombasa, Kenya

This May I acted on this crazy idea that it would be fun to go to Kenya for a month before I got married. Luckily, I have wonderful family and friends who I could literally dump the rest of the wedding plans on as I packed up and left for a month to a place void of technology that would permit communication. (Ok, I did make Brandon pay an arm and a leg to call me a few times towards the end when I was about at my wits end with being isolated).

Unfortunately for you, I am blog-handicapped and cannot figure out for the life of me how to get these in any order or how to make that stupid camel picture come AFTER the text...so there it will sit above the rest. Sorry.

School Classroom at Nyeri (I think...) Primary School. This school is very undeveloped compared the school Koins for Kenya has been working with Bahakwenu. The lack of desks, supplies, space, teachers seems to have zero effect on their motivation and excitement for learning.

This sweet boy invents musical instruments such as this one which, I kid you not, make beautiful music. I swear there is a deep-rooted talent for music/dance/rhythm/art in every Kenyan. Listening to him play was one of my favorite past times when we were at the school. He was very happy and I think surprised to see us taking pictures.

People and animals suffer side-by-side during this drought. We watched these elephants (there is a long line of them that you can't see) trek for miles to reach this pathetic watering hole. I was with a local Kenyan, Joseph, as I watched this and I wonder how it made him feel to watch this, I wonder if he could relate to the unquenchable thirst and weariness of these elephants. They took turns covering themselves in mud, it was adorable watching the mothers soak their babies in water and mud to protect them from the sun.

You can't come across these colors anywhere else!

I love this picture because it is just two women chatting and shopping to make dinner. It cracks me up that they are "feeling" vegetables to find the best ones just like we do every time we buy groceries. My mom would like this picture.

At Bahakwenu primary school they are very fortunate to get one meal a day that is provided by the government. Just last year they had to go without this meal because of the extreme drought and lack of food throughout the country. This is very often their only meal for the day.

Boys being silly and making faces at me while they eat their lunch under a tree.

I keep a few Africa pictures in my kitchen to slap me in the face when I start whining about cleaning, cooking, doing homework, or being a poor newlywed :) This is one of them, she cheers me no matter what.

This is another one I keep on my wall to remind me how lazy I am! This hill they are walking up is LONG and those buckets on their head are filled with water and HEAVY! Oh, and they're barefoot and the African sun is beating down on them in the middle of the day. Wow.

Oh hi, go ahead.

This is the 3rd picture I keep in my kitchen. It took him a few tries to lift this heavy bucket of water onto the back of his bike, and then he had a long ride uphill before he was home. This is water he spent hours collecting from a very muddy looking puddle.

There are not words to describe how precious Salama is.

This picture looks posed but I swear it's not! Afia helped me sort through thousands of books. We put them in piles according to reading level. More often than not she was distracted. These kids have never seen or read any book outside of their classroom study books (which are picture-less and boring). My project while I was there was to implement two school libraries.

Hanging the laundry out to dry. We wore these Kangas every day.

This canal ran through the village....Just kidding, we stopped in Amsterdam on the way to Kenya. I want to go back and spend more time there, it is one of the prettiest places I've ever seen.

Cool fishing boat. Blurry picture. Sorry.