Nanobeep Frivolities!

Instagram

2012-02-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

Being at Starbucks Helps me pretend that I'm in New York.

My Friend Katie

2012-01-30T13:13:00.001-05:00

My friend Katie is a very talented photographer and she is doing a Photography workshop tour this year. Taking place in Las Vegas, San Antonio, Denver, Seattle, Idaho Falls, and Salt Lake City. She is giving away one spot in her workshop for free! Normally $225, the workshop also includes a copy of her book. Enter at the link below for a chance to win!
Also, I would love to go to her workshop and will probably go sometime this year anyway, but wouldn't it be fun if I won it?! :)

http://kevansphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/key-to-taking-pictures-workshop.html

Also if you are not interested, just ignore this post ;)

New Favorite thing

2012-01-26T15:13:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my friend Julie I found a new favorite thing (besides pinterest).

I loved it so much that I had to share it with you. The site is called Tagxedo
Why yes, that is a squirrel made from words on our blog. :)

This next one is from the talk that President Uchtdorf gave called "Your Happily Ever After."

Making Turtles with Grandpa Tuckett

2012-01-11T13:28:00.001-05:00

Grandpa Tuckett's vanilla Pudding

2011-11-07T20:07:00.001-05:00

I just made my grandpa's pudding for the first time and it was delicious!! And really not complicated. Mmm it was just what I needed on this slightly stormy night. Thanks Traci for sharing the recipe with me!

Grandpa Tuckett's vanilla pudding
2c whole milk
2-4T butter
Heat in pan on stove while combining in seperate bowl:
1c sugar
1/8-1/4 c corn starch -use more for thicker pudding
3 eggs
1/4 pint whipping cream (1/2 cup)
Mix with wisk then add to almost boiling milk.

Stir in figure 8 motion until boils and thickens. Then add:
1/2 tsp vanilla

Enjoy! My favorite is to eat it while it's still hot. If you want chocolate pudding, just stir in milk chocolate chips to the hot pudding.

Conference Weekend

2011-10-28T06:26:00.002-04:00

I couldn't get over how cute little Landon's hair is! Its all fluffy and so blonde I just wanted to rub his head all the time. On Sunday in between conference sessions, Landon and I went outside and sat on blanket in the grass and took pictures. Being in Texas has made me miss the beautiful, soft, green grass that Utah has. So I took advantage of that every chance I could. We had a great time hanging out on the lawn waiting for my friends Rachel and Jason to stop by. I also took this great video of Landon that I had to share.

I love Utah in the fall. The leaves are so pretty and the weather is nice during the day, but it's just starting to get chilly at night. Thanks to my Mom and sister Traci, I was able to use their leftover (going to expire soon) JetBlue credit to get a cheaper flight. I love spending time with my family and friends while back home. Conference weekend (a weekend full of inspired church speakers, check out http://mormon.org if you want more info) is always a fun time to be home around family. It means we get to have girl's night on Saturday and meet back together with the boys for dinner. And Sunday morning means my sweet Dad has made cinnamon rolls for the family. Mmmmm they are so good! I forget how yummy they are when I don't have them for a long time. Which is probably a good thing or I would need them everyday. need.

Natalie was really awesome to make fun conference bags for the boys that included some bubbles. Naturally they had to take them outside and play with the bubbles. Tanner being 5 had no trouble jumping down off the porch with his bubbles open..... Landon was another story. Poor kid jumped down while holding his newly opened bubbles and got drenched in soapy liquid. Well, half of him got drenched in bubbles. I ran inside to find a towel, because Natalie was laughing too hard to do anything, including breathing. :) Luckily being covered in slippery bubbles didn't stop Landon from enjoying them.

I am always really happy to catch up with some of my friends while I'm in Utah. I wish I stayed longer than a week so I could see everyone that I want to. But what do you do? I love any amount of time that I can spend with them, catch up and have fun! This little guy has grown up so much since the last time I saw him. I love his curly hair!

This picture down here is of my former roommate Lindsay. We were roommates in Provo 5 years ago. (whoa that's weird. when did I get old?) We haven't seen each other since before I moved to NYC and she moved to Korea. So it had been like 2 years. And now she lives in California and I live in Texas. Luckily we happened to be in Utah the same week! It was so nice to get together and chat and hang out and go shopping! I love that even though it's been years, we can still just be friends and not be awkward. I also got to go to my other roommate kelly's wedding where I saw our other roommate Talli and her sweet baby. It was a great weekend for reuniting roommates.

I am so grateful for the good friends and wonderful family that I have. Thanks for always making me feel loved. I got to play with other friends and family that apparently I didn't take any pictures of. So know that I still love you guys, and I'm not leaving you out ;)

My abs hurt

2011-10-10T22:50:00.002-04:00

I have the bubons and I think I'm dying, or I have a really nasty cold, either one. My abs hurt from the continuous coughing this past week. I thought I was feeling better today and attempted to go on a little outing to CVS to pick up more medicine. Of course as soon as I walk inside the building, I can't stop coughing. And not the polite cough, but the hacking my lungs out going to pass out kind. I contain myself enough to walk up to the cashier to purchase said medicine and she asks me how I'm doing today. I can barely stop coughing enough to tell her that I've been better. She understandably laughs and tells me to have a better night. If only I could. :) I have spent the last few days lounging about in my pajamas and trying not to die every time I cough. I've neglected everything that can be neglected and instead spend my time curled up in my Ohana bag (similar to a lovesack) watching Harry Potter movies and Project Runway marathons. My diet consists of hot orange juice, water, crackers and cough drops. The positive to all of this is that I have already lost 5 lbs and at least my abs are getting their daily workout.

Also it finally rained here, like a lot! You know how in movies where it seems like the rain is totally fake because it's just too much water at once? yeah, it was like that. Kind of like being under a waterfall...kind of. It was nice to have rain again.

Matt had a birthday!

2011-09-21T19:39:00.001-04:00

I made my very first pie for Matt's birthday! It turned out pretty good and now I know how to make a berry pie. We had a yummy dinner at his mama's house on Sunday (thanks Laura for making it!) We had fun! I love this boy and I'm glad he was born :)

Beach time :)

2011-09-21T19:32:00.000-04:00

Labor day weekend

2011-09-21T19:30:00.000-04:00

Rainbow cupcakes with Emilie

2011-08-22T01:12:00.000-04:00

We had Austin and Emilie come hang out with us this weekend. Matt and Austin had some guy time while Emilie and I baked these cupcakes. They turned out beautiful and tasty! I've wanted to try these ever since I first saw them on ourbestbites.com. We had a lot of fun making these! My favorite part was biting into them and seeing the layers of colors. :)

Allergy Test Results

2011-08-05T19:05:00.000-04:00

Very excited to get these results! If you are closely related to me, then these results might give you an idea of what you *might* also be allergic to.

Here's a list of my top allergies:

- Birch
- Live Oak
- Bahia grass
- Bermuda grass
- Johnson grass
- Timothy grass
- Sage
- Dust mites
- Cats
- Mold (alternaria alternata)

Surprisingly, I'm not allergic to Cedar and am thus immune to Cedar Fever which affects a lot of Texans.

The allergy test was a lot less uncomfortable than it may look! It's true that my back was very itchy during the 15 minutes I had to wait for allergens to react with my skin, but then they came and gave me liquid Zyrtec, and washed my back off with alcohol, and put on anti-itch cream. Then I was pretty much back to normal except my back felt warmer than usual, but not uncomfortable at all. Basically, if you can sit for 15 minutes with an itchy back, you can do an allergy test like this.

I'm looking forward to starting allergen immunotherapy shots next week. Fortunately, the allergy clinic is literally across the street from our apartments, so I will be able to just walk over if I need to for my shots.

Yay modern medicine!

Allergy Test Finally!

2011-08-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Been wanting to find out *exactly* what I'm allergic to! It's totally gross - but now I know!

Parp?!

2011-08-02T20:52:00.001-04:00

We went to play at the park! Matt loves to play frisbee at the park. Just look at his face, he's happy :) I used to hate frisbee...I was never good at it and often ended up hurting myself on the lame plastic scratchy edges. But this frisbee is the best!! It's easy to throw and catch, and it doesn't hurt me at all! We also had a fun juggling session in the park by the lake. Yes I said juggling. We're cool.
We have been adjusting to living in suburbia again. Groceries are so cheap its kind of ridiculous. It's handy to have a car, but I feel like we are always filling it up with gas. I never realized how pretty Utah grass is in the summer until we moved here and all they have is this terrible, crunchy, brown, dry, weedy stuff. You do not want to walk barefoot in that. Although it has been nice to live close to some of matt's family!
Until my laptop is working again, I can only upload 5 pictures at a time on my phone. So here are today's 5 for your enjoyment. :)

Oh and if you don't understand the title to this post, then you should go check out hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com and read about the party. You won't regret it, or you might. It's hilarious. Just saying. :)

Montreal pics

2011-07-14T16:49:00.000-04:00

Montreal looked so beautiful all lit up at night! Matt and I took this little bike/car buggy thing one night around by the port. It was fun, but pretty rickety. The Notre Dame Basilica was probably my favorite building in Montreal! It's pretty from every angle. :)

2011-07-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

We really enjoyed Montreal! It was like Europe, except not. I loved that everything was in French, but everyone also spoke English. Super convenient for us. And it made us want to learn French :) The people that Matt works with are all super nice and it was fun to meet them. Matt had a few meetings so I went and ventured out by myself on our first day. I was super proud of myself for enjoying the day and finding my way around a foreign country. :) I have more pictures from our trip that will be added at some point....probably when my computer is no longer broken.

Have I mentioned?

2011-06-09T23:29:00.003-04:00

We are moving. Away from this beautiful city that has somehow become home. Yes, I am a little sad about it. Yes I'm in denial that in exactly one week, we will no longer have a New York address. There will be some great things ahead for us, but it's okay for me to admit that I'm sad and that I'm going to miss the city.

It took me a while to adjust to living here, but now that I'm over the adjustment period I love this place! I love all the parks, and the food and the old buildings and the city lights and broadway and the history of this great city! I love our church family here. They have been so welcoming and supportive. I love just wondering around SoHo and finding something to delicious to eat. There is something so wonderful about seeing a cobblestone road in the middle of our modern world. It's great to walk only a few blocks and have the neighborhoods feel so completely different. It's hard to say goodbye. Oh New York. I'll miss you.

On the positive side, we are moving to Austin Texas area and we will be much closer to Matt's family. So that will be fun! And it's very warm/hot there which Matt is really looking forward to, especially in the winter time. It's like a billion times cheaper to live there, which is pretty much amazing. I am looking forward to not spending $6 on a small box of cereal. I have some friends that are living in Houston for the summer, so it'll be great to be closer to them too! I have mixed emotions about having to buy a car. Part of me really likes not having to deal with maintenance and upkeep and buying gasoline. But it'll be great to be able to just hop in my car and drive over to a big grocery store or Target or Costco and get more than I can carry! I am a little worried that I won't be able to resist the prices, and I'll go overboard the first few times I go to the store ;)

Before we head over to the lone star state, we are going to Utah for one of my best friend's wedding!!! Hooray for Kami & Chris! After that we get to go to Montreal!!! I'll finally get a stamp in my passport! Which is pretty exciting! :) Then we will make our way to our new home in Texas. Basically we will have a crazy couple of weeks, but it'll be good!

Family time

2011-06-06T11:21:00.002-04:00

A quick post with some fun family pictures from this past memorial day weekend! It's always nice to go home for a bit. :)

The Bunny

2011-05-02T23:19:00.005-04:00

For Easter Matt only ever wants one thing. A cheap, hollow, chocolate bunny. So that's what he got. And he loved it! It did make me think of this song from Veggietales. It's the best. I love silly songs with Larry. I sometimes make Matt watch them with me on youtube, even though he doesn't appreciate them as much as I do.

I love how creepily Matt is looking at that bunny that he is about to consume.

We just got home from a trip to Texas to see some of Matt's family and we had a lot of fun! And my sister Natalie got to come visit me!! More details coming soon. :)

The best chocolate chip cookies ever

2011-04-11T21:37:00.005-04:00

I know that I've mentioned before how delicious my chocolate chip cookies are. I'm not being overly conceited, they are really that good! Over my lifetime I've made some pretty terrible cookies, so it's nice to have a go-to cookie recipe. I'm basically really excited that I found a recipe that works for me every single time I make it! I've never actually shared the recipe on here before, so here you go, along with my secrets for greatness. I got this from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

I grouped the ingredients together in the order you mix them and with which other ingredients.

Because it makes life easier when you are baking.

3/4 cup butter softened (works best if you set it out for a couple of hours on your counter instead of microwaving it.)

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 12 ounce package of chocolate chips about 2 cups ( I usually add a bit more, because I like chocolate and I have a 72 ounce bag from Costco.)

In a large bowl, mix butter and shortening with an electric mixer on high for 45 seconds.

Add the brown sugar, then mix again for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat until the mixture is combined, scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Put cookie dough in the fridge and let it sit over night. I put mine in a gallon size ziplock bag and hide it from my husband or he'll eat it all before it gets baked. :)

Preheat oven to 370 F. You can set the dough out and let it warm up a bit before you try to form it, or just take it straight from the fridge.

I like small cookies so I just take a chunk slightly bigger than the size of a quarter and roll it in my hands until it forms a little ball. Try and make them all about the same size. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 mins. They won't look completely done when you pull them out, but they finish up on the pan.

*Note that you can bake them right after you make the cookie dough, but they don't turn out as tasty or pretty. The picture of the cookie dough on the pan is actually spooned on right after I finished mixing it. I normally avoid that, but my sweet husband really wanted some cookies right then and he doesn't care.

Happy baking! :)

Tourist season has officially begun!

2011-04-08T20:13:00.004-04:00

My unofficial job as a tour guide has started back up again. I thought I was ready for it to begin, and that I had prepped myself sufficiently. I got my apartment all cleaned, washed the sheets, dusted, thought of meals to prepare, had my list of places to see, but I forgot to prep my body. I am a little ashamed to admit that after going non-stop for a few days, my body was so sore! Clearly I haven't done as much walking around the city as I would normally do in warmer weather. It's been uncharacteristically cold here the last few weeks (although thankfully not snowing like it is back home), so I didn't walk around any more than I absolutely had to. Which is only about 2 miles if I'm just going to the church, or Matt's office and back home. Although I thought I was ready to walk all over NY and visit every touristy place, I was not. Just ask my feet. The funny thing is that I prepped my guests about the amount of walking we would do, more than I prepped my legs. Ahh... what a relief to sit home tonight and not go out.
Me complaining about my sore muscles does not mean that I was not super excited to have a few of my college friends come out here to visit. Because I was! I loved having some fun girl time and just laughing and staying up late and acting like roommates! We had so much fun!!! Two of my friends flew in from Utah, and one took the bus up from DC to spend the weekend together. These girls are great! We had a blast just walking around Central Park and taking all sorts of pictures! Usually with 3 different cameras. By the end of their trip we had the 3 camera rotation down. And can I tell you how much fun I had using my friend's super professional type nikon to take pictures of this beautiful city?!? Yeah, it was amazing!!! Now I want one. Too bad they cost a lot of money and I'm not a professional photographer... Once she gets them edited, I'll post some on here for all to enjoy. Until then you can enjoy my iphone pics instead.
Matt was such a good sport to let me have such a fun girl's week! Thanks for being so awesome boy. In return, I promise to not neglect you again... at least until our next guest comes in a week. ;) I'm excited to see my sister Natalie who will be here next week! I should be all recovered from this cold and my sore legs by then, hopefully.
Oh and one more thing, my sister in law had her baby girl!!! Baby Faith born on March 30. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and I believe she's the smallest baby my sister in law has had. She is such a cute little thing with the chubbiest cheeks! We are excited to meet her! I'm sure I'll have more pictures of her cute self up sometime. But if you so desire, check out my other sister in law's blog post of all the cuteness. :)

Places where some of these pictures were taken: Macy's towers of flowers, the wax museum, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, some park along 8th ave, Wall street area, and a hospital. Why yes, that is a wax figure of Miley Cyrus with my friend Sam, thanks for noticing. :)

Sometimes it's tricky to live here

2011-02-26T23:25:00.001-05:00

Living here in the city sometimes makes serving in our church (LDS) a challenge. I first discovered this after we had been living here for a couple of months. One of the women in our ward had a baby. I didn't know this woman, but I signed up to bring her dinner saying to myself that if I had a baby I would want someone to bring me meals while I recovered. A couple of days before I was supposed to bring dinner, I was trying to decide what to make when it hit me. I didn't have a car. I walk everywhere I need to go. How in the world am I supposed to bring someone else dinner?! Now I started to realize that simple logistics would rule out many of the ideas for dinner that I had come up with, including anything involving a crockpot. I thought about renting a car but I wouldn't be able to park close enough and the thought of driving a car in the city by myself kind of terrified me. And Matt would still be at work during all of this so he wouldn't be able to help to transport it. Thankfully I had a few IKEA bags that would probably work. I decided to make a Chicken and Rice casserole and have the side dishes and dessert all in disposable dishes so she wouldn't have to give it back to me. My only concern was transporting this meal when it was hot. How was I supposed to have it warm when they got it and yet not burn myself or my IKEA bag while trying to carry it. It would take me about 45 mins to an hour just to get from my apartment to hers and by that time it would no longer be warm. I determined that I would just prepare the casserole, but not bake it. Surely she wouldn't mind throwing it in the oven for an hour. I gathered everything together and put it into my trusty IKEA bag that has a zipper and began my trek. It was a lot heavier by the time I got to the subway, than it was when I left my apartment. The train wasn't to crowded which was a miracle since it was right around rush hour. As I was walking through Times Square during this rush hour/tourist season, this bag was clearly in the way. I swear everyone who walked by had to bump it. After pushing my way through the crowds I was quite happy to arrive at the correct address. I was not so happy to realize that it was a five floor walk up. However, when I put the food down in the kitchenette, I realized that I didn't see an oven. What?! no oven?! Who doesn't have an oven? I felt bad that I hadn't baked the casserole yet. They were very sweet and told me not to worry about it, they had a deep fryer and a microwave that they could use. I was immediately thankful that even though my kitchen is super small, at least it has an oven.
The next time I sign up to take someone dinner, I'll order them a pizza.

This past month has been full of planning and carrying out activities and lessons for the Young Women in our ward. Last night we had New Beginnings (it's a meeting for parents and youth to come and be introduced into the program and meet all the leaders). Our original plan for the night involved serving pulled pork sandwiches. Well this hadn't been fully thought out since none of us had ever actually made this dish, and it would take over 8 hours to cook and we would have to transport heavy crockpots from all over the city. Our president was out of the country for 2 weeks, so we had to do this on our own. Luckily we came to our senses earlier this week and made the executive decision to do chicken salad sandwiches instead.
Matt and I went to Costco and bought their pre-made chicken salad and some croissants. I made some of my delicious chocolate chip cookies for dessert. (Yeah I know that sounds a little conceited, but hey they are delicious and exactly how I like them.) The other ladies were in charge of the other sides (fruit, veggie tray, chips, salad) so I didn't have to worry about those. I was really happy that Matt was home and willing to help me bring all of the food things I needed to the church, which is about a 15 min walk and then a 30 min subway ride away. Matt is such a sweet husband. He engineered how to best transport everything in the IKEA bag and offered to carry it, so I could ride my bike and get to the church on time and let everyone else in. He's great! I got there on time and we got everything all set up and it looked great and all the food was delicious! Matt helped me get the dvd player all hooked up and working so that we could watch the video of the girls I had put together. I had planned for way more people than needed, but I would rather have extra. It turned out great! The families of the girls really enjoyed it! I would say it was a success!

I have come to understand a little bit more of how much time and effort my own Young Women leaders put into their callings. It takes a lot of work and effort to come every week and plan activities and make them happen. I had awesome leaders while I was growing up, and I don't know if I every showed my appreciation. In fact when I first got this calling I was totally nervous because I knew how much of an influence leaders can have on the girls. My leaders played a big part in shaping me into the woman that I am today. They always encouraged me to be my best and assured me that I was a Daughter of God. I believe that by completing the Personal Progress program, I learned how to be a good citizen, a kinder person, and how to have self confidence in my abilities, to name a few. So to my past leaders and friends, thank you for helping me be who I am today.
Also, my parents are pretty awesome too!

Sugar cookie fun!

2011-02-11T18:10:00.001-05:00

I made sugar cookies with my fun new supplies that I got for my birthday! I'm going to share them with the young women in our ward tonight at the activity :)

Thoughts from 2010

2011-02-03T00:08:00.012-05:00

Things we've learned in New York this past year.

How to use the subway system

How to not look like a tourist

How to maneuver through the crowds and not bump into anyone.

How to walk like I'm a local, which is very fast.

It's difficult to be living far away from family, but it's kind of awesome to be able to do our own thing.

The phone works both ways, but the person who is far away usually calls home more frequently.

Ordering groceries online is awesome, most of the time.

Walking everywhere makes me able to eat whatever I want and not feel guilty. (not that I used to feel guilty, but still.)

More movies are filmed in New York than anywhere else I've been.

Having a doorman is the best!

Don't try to talk to people on the subway...unless they have a super cute baby and you can't help yourself.

Hand sanitizer is a necessity

The city that never sleeps does eventually slow down a little towards 3 am.

Not having a car generally makes life so much easier and cheaper, but I sometimes miss going for a drive up the canyon.

No one bakes soft delicious rolls like my dad.

Living somewhere cool means you get a lot of people that come to see you (and the city).

We've had 13 guests in 10 months.

It's good to be reminded every so often by our guests that we live somewhere awesome.

Use the restroom whenever there is one available even if you don't really have to go, because you never know when you'll come across another one.

The skyline is lit up the best between the hours of 6-11pm. (when people are awake at home)

I don't love black and white cookies (it's a NY thing)

Most cupcakes are not as yummy as they look.

Pinkberry is better than redmango.

Pizza by the slice is the best meal for under $3.

The citizens of New York love a parade, or any reason.

Guy and Gallard is hands down the best cafe we've found so far.

It's always nice to come home and see the skyline.

2010 was awesome. We are looking forward to what we'll learn in 2011. :)

Frugarookie Pie

2011-01-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

I've finally named my favorite dessert that Crystalyn makes. Frugarookie Pie. It's short for Fruit Sugar Cookie Pie.

live feed tracking

2010-12-09T01:52:00.003-05:00

I know it's a bit irrational, but if I happen upon someone's blog that has one of those live tracker feed things on it, I start panicking and try to close that window as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if I know that person and already follow their blog, or if I was blog surfing and have no idea whose blog I'm reading. There is something about being tracked that totally freaks me out. If I do know the author of the blog that has one of these dreaded trackers, I can usually talk myself out of closing the tab. But if not, I'll close it without delay. It's like I don't want to invade their privacy or something. Yet clearly their blog was a public blog or I wouldn't have been able to see it. The funny thing is that I don't mind when we have random people read my blog. I once thought about putting on of those tracking things on my blog just to see how many visitors we have, but then I didn't want to scare anyone off. :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows NYC Premiere

2010-11-16T00:40:00.002-05:00

Today I went and stood for hours at Lincoln Center to see some of the stars from Harry Potter. I have never really done something like this before. Well I have gone to all the midnight showings of Harry Potter in the past, but they are more subdued...sometimes. It was really exciting to be surrounded by all those crazies like myself! I discovered that I am not nearly as insane and obsessed with the actors and actresses as most of the other people in the crowd. But I sure had fun! Matt was really sweet and brought me a crepe while I waited, and then traded me places so I wouldn't lose my spot while I ate it.

As soon as actors started showing up, the crowd went crazy and everyone was pushing forward and trying to get a good view. So even if you holding your camera steady the masses around you make it very jumpy. So my video quality may not be as awesome as it could have been, but it's all part of the experience right?

This is who showed up tonight:

Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter)
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) who by the way rushed inside without waving to the crowd...lame.
Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort)
Darren Criss (who was a guest on GLEE last week, and plays Harry in the HP Musical)
Liam Neeson
Sarah Jessica Parker with her husband Matthew Broderick and their son (so cute!)
Joey Fatone (from n*sync)

At least those are the people that I caught at least a glimpse of. I'm sure there were plenty more there that didn't let the crowd see them.

Oh and one really annoying thing tonight was the fact that they didn't close down the street in front of the red carpet/tent. So we had some buses and taxis and other cars block our view from time to time. I mean come on, it wouldn't have killed them to block off the street. And it would have been safer for the actors to be closer to the crowd.

I'm sooo excited to go and see the movie!!! We got tickets for the 12:01 showing!! I was a little nervous that they would all be sold out, and most of them were. I don't really know why I didn't buy them earlier. I thought about just waiting until we go to Utah to see it, since it would save us some money for the tickets, but I am too excited to wait!

I choose to share the video with Rupert Grint on it, because he was out with the crowd much longer than everyone else and I like him :)

I want to point out that I am not one of the screaming crying girls on this video. Also the crowd is really, really loud...so you might want to turn down your volume before watching it. Just saying. :)

Halloween is for sexy librarians! (and crepes)

2010-10-30T20:27:00.000-04:00

We went to the ward Halloween party and chili cook-off then walked over to Chelsea Market for some dessert! Super good nutella strawberry/banana crepes!

Oh Utah

2010-10-27T16:54:00.016-04:00

Yes I am aware that I have been neglecting this blog. Why? Mostly cause I just didn't feel like blogging. But today I feel like it. Go me!
I recently went out to Utah for a chance to catch up with all my peeps who live out there. Including my family (Yay for family time!) It was really nice to be near the mountains and see the pretty leaves and be a part of some fun things. My wonderful mother picked me up from the airport, which was greatly appreciated. One of my good friends had her beautiful baby the day I flew in!!! I'm so glad that I got to go and hold that precious little guy. Man I love babies. Aren't they the best? I could just sit and hold them and love them and play with them all day. Don't worry, I know I'm crazy baby hungry ;)
I feel like I got to do and see lots of great things while I was there. To make this easier to write and read, I'll just make a list.

I went longboarding down the canyon for the first time with my little sister...and thought I would die.
I got to see my cousin Julia's baby girl who is 4 months old and so adorable!
I ate 4 hot square donuts that were made just for me! I have been craving these for the last few months and no other donut in the world compares to my Dad's. (thanks staesh for making that happen.
Went to one of my best friend's homecoming. She just got back from Spain and is the cutest little returned missionary ever! Her little Spanish accent was adorable!
Met my brother's fiance Eva for the first time and went wedding dress shopping with her and my sister Natalie. She seems really nice by the way.
Held Hye Soo and Eric's baby Lennon on his very first day in the world. So sweet.
Ate Costa Vida!!!! Oh man, New York would be a happier place with one of these around. Chipotle just isn't the as good...or the same. at all.
Went with my brother when they got their engagement pictures done. It's fun to take be there when other people are getting pictures taken!
Spent some good hang out time with my sisters :)
Went to my friend Krista's baby shower! Her baby is due in November.
Met up with a bunch of my other friends and just caught up with them all. I've missed them.
I got to see Beth rehearse for all of her dance performances
Then I got to see her babies who aren't even babies anymore...they can walk around and say a few words now!
We went swimming with Traci and her cute little family at their pool. I'm so glad that they could come down so I could see her boys!!!

There was so much more that I did, but I'll just suffice it to say that I really enjoyed being home for a while. I took so many pictures during the week that I was there, it's ridiculous! So I'll only put on as many as they will let me... or until I get sick of uploading them. I want to thank Matt's mama for letting me use the Buddy Pass in order to make this fun filled trip possible! I'm glad that Matt was so sweet and willing to let me go and leave him behind in NY to fend for himself. I'm also happy that we have Facetime for our phones so that I could see his face when we talked! And thanks family for letting me drive your cars around and/or taking me places! I took this video while we were eating at Cocolitos, our favorite Mexican place in Orem. The twins are so silly! I love it!

Favorite

2010-09-30T17:16:00.000-04:00

Right now this is my favorite treat! We discovered these while we were
on our trip to Boston!
I promise I'll blog about that...just not right now ;)

Laugh until I cry

2010-09-24T00:38:00.000-04:00

This site makes me laugh until I cry! and then I laugh some more! It describes so perfectly the awkwardness that is our lives.
Hyperbole and a Half: The Four Levels of Social Entrapment

Matt and I were laughing for so long it was ridiculous.

Mini caramel apples!

2010-09-15T18:24:00.001-04:00

So I saw the idea for these cute little things on the kraft foods website and had to try them! Unfortunately they didn't work out as well as I had hoped. But I learned a few things along the way.
• I can not properly use a melon baller.
• Melon ballers were not meant for use on apples...they were invented for melons. Hence the name.
• toothpicks for the stick were not such a good idea
• only make as many as you want to eat right then, cause they don't last long.
• the melon baller used on kraft foods was metal and had sharp edges... And mine was plastic...maybe theirs was metal for a reason.

Overall I did have fun making them, even if they weren't perfect! My favorite flavor I did was the apple dipped in white chocolate then rolled in cinnamon sugar. It tasted just like the apple pie apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory! Which made me happy. Maybe one day I'll perfect these cute yummy things and bring them to a party...maybe. :)

Ps isn't my apron adorable?! I got it for Christmas from my sister in law Beth!
Oh and don't you love those cute mini baking cups?! I did. :)

Remembering

2010-09-11T21:44:00.005-04:00

Last night Matt and I were downtown near Wall street, so we decided to take a walk around ground zero. We saw hundreds of bikers lining the streets to attend midnight Mass. That's what this pic is here -->
although you can't really tell what's going on.
And that building with the flag and all lit up is the NY stock exchange building. We thought it looked pretty cool!
They had the lights on at the WTC site and by next year they want to have the memorial finished.
It's pretty amazing to see all the other buildings around the area that survived the fall. It made me think not only of all the people who lost their lives that day, but all those who have kept on living. New Yorkers are very tough, and they bounced back.
9 years ago I didn't even know what the World Trade Center in NY was. Someone had to tell me that it wasn't just an empty building that had been attacked. That people had died and were trapped. All day we just watched the news. It didn't really sink in for a while. Living here in NY has made me realize that I had no idea the impact that day has had. It did pull us together as a country for a while. Prayers were said, donations were sent, tears were shed. I think that we've been better because of it. There are some families in our ward who watched the towers fall from their apartments...now that is real. I think that I'm patriotic, but man I have nothing on the people who survived it and kept on living. Just the logistics of all the rescue workers and volunteers and trying to get the surrounding buildings evacuated is a huge task. It's a miracle that more people did not die. These buildings don't just have a few people inside, we are talking thousands and thousands of people. Maybe it's just me, but I can't comprehend amounts until I see them. Just trying to go against the crowd in downtown right around 5:00 gave me a better understanding of the crazy amount of people who were evacuated and saved. And maybe that's why it has seemed so real this year. I've seen how many people are coming and going all the time here in the city. I'm grateful to those who fight for our freedom everyday!
One of the greatest things we have in our country is freedom. I'm grateful that we have the freedom of religion. I believe that other people also have that right to worship how where or what they may. In regards to building a Muslim community center in downtown New York, I say good! I fully support them. It's blocks away from ground zero and even if it wasn't, it shouldn't even be an issue. Also it's proposed to be built in an old Burlington Coat Factory building, not what I would call sacred. There can be all sorts of stuff within a city block. Like Mayor Bloomberg said on the Daily Show, "There is already a Mosque in use about 4 blocks from the WTC, there are fast food places, seedy places, it's a vibrant community, it's New York." Anyway, I just think we should respect other people and their beliefs. :)

Austin and Erin

2010-09-09T00:05:00.009-04:00

We had our 10 year old nephew Austin, and my mother in law Erin come out and visit us for a week in August. It was a lot of fun to see the city through the eyes of a 10 year old. I realized a few things while he was here.

1- 10 year olds do not want to be mothered in any way, shape or form.

2- leaning over the edge to see the trash on the subway tracks is way more interesting than standing back at a safe distance waiting patiently for the train to arrive.

3- It is impossible not to stare at the homeless, or weirdy

people trying to get attention.

4- All boys, regardless of age, find joy in chasing the pigeons and making them fly away. (even matt)

5- I am so grateful that little boys start out as adorable little babies so mothers and aunts can love them without being completely grossed out. Because boys are gross.

6- The Museum of Natural History is so much more fun to go to with a cute little 10 year old, who couldn't wait to show us every little detail he saw!

Erin and I thoroughly enjoyed going to Carlo's Bakery and seeing some of the cast from TLC's Cake Boss! Even with the huge line and hot temperature outside, it was really fun! I'm grateful that I had my iPhone so Austin could play games on it and not complain about how long it took us to get inside (I won't even tell you how long, just know it was more than an hour.)

It's really fun to watch Austin and Matt interact with each other. They are both such nerds, it's great. I look at Austin and know that Matt must have been very similar when he was 10. And when you have Rich (Matt's dad), Matt, and Austin all in the same place it's like having the same person, but just at differing stages of life. Which is awesome!

We had a great time with them here!!! Austin was such a great sport for being the main subject of our pictures. I'm sure he got so sick of hearing, "Hey Austin look over here and smile", that he could puke. :)

Poughkeepsie

2010-08-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

For our anniversary this year we jumped on a train and headed up the Hudson river. We rode until we found a town that had an available hotel room which turned out to be Poughkeepsie (pronounced by the locals like pah-kip-see). It was nice just to get away from the city and relax in a small town for the weekend. The only real attraction is this awesome pedestrian bridge that goes over the Hudson river. We rented a tandem bike and rode over the mile and a half long bridge. Go team! It was a little difficult for both of us to balance, but we got the hang of it eventually.
These are some highlights from the trip.
Matt sleeping like a crazy person. (this is my favorite picture)
This pretty building is one of the oldest running newspapers in New York.
The view from the bridge.
Matt hanging out down by the water.

Poughkeepsie

2010-08-30T00:10:00.000-04:00

More pictures from our adventure!
'dusty bibles lead to dirty lives' has to be the best sign I've seen in a long time!

Bike Ride in the rain

2010-08-25T15:29:00.000-04:00

Matt got a new toy bike! Well he got a bike that can fold up, but it looks like a little toy. He really likes it!

Two years ago

2010-08-17T14:06:00.008-04:00

Husband-
Remember when it seemed like our wedding day would never come. Months of waiting for the all clear letter seemed like years. Goodnight became a four letter word. I hated it. I struggled watching anyone else get married whenever they wanted. It was difficult to hang on to the hope that we would get the clearance we prayed for. It was a huge deal to finally just pick a date and pray for our miracle. A part of me thought we wouldn't get it. But the other part prayed harder and pleaded more than I've ever done in my life. I knew that we just had to have faith and that it would all work out. One week before the big day, we got the letter saying we had clearance to be sealed together forever! We had gotten our miracle. I cried. Our wedding day passed in a whirlwind. Even though I was anxious that we would be late for our own wedding, I thought that everything else worked out how we had planned! Looking back, I probably would have eaten some more of that yummy cake my dad made.
And now here we are. Two years later and we still love spending as much time together as we can!!! I love you! Your surprise trip up the Hudson Valley was so fun and unexpected! You are so sweet and thoughtful! You knew that I wanted to go and do something special outside of the city. Thanks for working so hard to support our little two person family! I love you so much!

Love,
your wife

random things I've seen

2010-08-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

this note was found in our church building...in the kitchen. gross.

*in case you can't see it very well it says: Please remove all dead mice [and ants] before leaving-thanks!

Anyone want to make something with this extract of anis?

This lady taking her turtle out for a walk on our island. yep. her turtle.

Donna and Oliver

2010-08-05T14:52:00.005-04:00

We had so much fun with Donna and her cute little guy Oliver! He's so adorable it's kind of ridiculous.... I couldn't help taking lots of pictures to help document our fun and his cuteness!
I love how Matt is holding Oliver like a football. He's silly! :)
That's a mango that Donna is eating on the boardwalk at Coney Island.

Thanks for coming out and playing with us Donna! We'll have to come visit you in SF next!

summertime

2010-07-26T19:19:00.003-04:00

Things that make me happy

Spending time with Hye Soo while she's here!

Free movies in the park every Monday night during the summer

Half price Milkshakes during happy hour at Big Daddy's Diner

the weekends

videos and pictures of nephews and nieces
air conditioning
Visits from friends
Limelight Marketplace
Ice Cream and/or Gelato
Sleeping in
Babies (actual babies, not to be confused with that documentary.)
Any time when Matt is home instead of working
Reading a book in the park on a sunny day

Brooklyn Adventure

2010-06-28T21:04:00.007-04:00

We don't spend a whole lot of time in Brooklyn...in fact the only thing we had done in Brooklyn before this weekend was go to Ikea. But that all changed on Saturday. We decided to go walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's pretty amazing that something built so long ago is still being used today! I mean wow, 1875? crazy.

We enjoyed our walk across, although with traffic underneath, it isn't exactly peaceful. I discovered that the camera I have really isn't that great...which makes me a little sad. It was a great deal that I found on black friday last year, which clearly wasn't that 'great'. Once we reached the other side of the bridge, we wandered around for a bit looking for something cool. We walked by the huge line for Grimaldi's pizza (which didn't look worth the wait...such a tourist trap) and found the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! yay! The chocolate chunk ice cream was delicious!
However the boardwalk area didn't have very many benches. So Matt just sat on the ground...and totally started a trend! Soon at least a dozen people were sitting on the ground with us. Which reminded us of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

We randomly found the NYC Food Film Festival, and decided to check it out. It was free, which makes it even more fun! We ate some amazing pizza from Pizza Moto, which is a mobile brick oven pizzeria. yummy! And yes, we did eat dessert first, that's why our lives are so happy! In the midst of the film screenings, we were treated to a fireworks show!!! I love fireworks! They were so pretty! They were being shot off of a barge in the river, so it's even cooler. We didn't really know what they were for, but we didn't complain. Matt got to meet a couple of guys from CHOW that he worked with. They had directed a couple of films that we watched.
Considering that the only part of the night we had planned on was walking the bridge, we totally scored on all the other fun things! Go us!

Memorial Day in the City

2010-06-11T17:53:00.008-04:00

On the Friday before memorial day, I went into the city and brought lunch to Matt and a few of his co-workers. Meaning I picked them up some food at Good Burger... ha ha. I hung out at the office for the rest of the day, cause Matt was supposed to be done working ridiculously early. He wasn't. but it was fine cause I got to be with him, which is better than being home alone. My sister Traci had told me about this chocolate pizza that she saw on the Food Network's 'The best thing I ever ate' and since it's here in NYC, we decided to check it out. Max Brenner's was packed, but we only had to wait like 10 mins before we got a table, so that was pretty awesome! Our dinner wasn't super great...well mine wasn't, Matt's was fine. But man oh man...that chocolate pizza was divine! It was soooo delicious! I can't even describe how good it tasted! The interesting thing was that the crust wasn't sweet. It's just regular pizza crust. Chocolate sauce, chocolate chunks, marshmallows, and drizzled in peanut butter! Yum! I'm posting a pic too. The lighting was super dim, so you can't see it very well, but you get the idea. Thanks for the great suggestion Traci!!!

Then we went and saw the last Shrek movie. It was fun! Although I think 3-D is just another way to make us pay even more for a movie...especially here in NY.
On Saturday, we had a nice walk around the Island and Matt bought me flowers! Yay! I love flowers! And I made that fruit pizza that Matt totally loved! :)
On Monday we slept in and had a nice slow day. I made a couple of pasta salads and suggested that we go for a picnic! So we packed the rest of the yummy lunch into a backpack, jumped on the subway, and headed to Central Park! We wandered around for a while looking for an open spot of grass in the shade. There were sooo many people there. After we ate, we laid out in the sun and relaxed. We walked all around the park enjoying the day! When we finally found the boathouse, we decided to rent a rowboat and go for a ride! Well, I had a boat ride while Matt rowed. He did such a great job of steering and taking us all around the lake! Which was a challenge since the lake was full of rowboats... It started to get all stormy while we were on the lake and I thought it would've been hilarious/distressing to be caught out on the lake in the rain. But the rain held off until we were off the lake and ready to go home.

We had a great weekend just spending time together and enjoying the city! Matt has been super busy with work, and sometimes he works too hard. I think Matt should have every Monday off! It was just what he needed! :)

Matt's eyes are so big here! He has a hard time looking normal for pictures sometimes.
These birds kept swimming right towards us. So I had matt poke them with the oar...to show them who was boss... ;)

I love how Matt was so concentrated that he had his tongue sticking out! :)

Beautiful Fruit Suger-Cookie Pizza

2010-05-29T23:06:00.000-04:00

Crystalyn got all creative today and made this. It's sooo pretty, but
we had some and it tastes even better than it looks! Yum!!!

Today I am missing...

2010-04-21T12:50:00.008-04:00

...these little guys.

These pictures were taken back in February when we were packing. They are so silly! I went to put Aaron's sock before they went home and it was completely soaked! gross. So he went home with just his cute little shoes on :)
And Isaac couldn't get enough of that cardboard! ha ha! My sister and her boys were also there that day helping us move. It was fun to watch the twins and baby Landon interact! Landon loved being bigger than the twins! He is only a couple of months older than them, but it's enough for him. Beth was feeding the twins some Spanish rice for dinner, which they loved. (I love that they eat anything now, it's cute!) Well Landon didn't want to be left out so he crawled over to Beth and wanted some food too. He didn't want it from his mom, only from Beth. I guess the twins looked like they were having so much fun eating it that he had to join in. So Beth was feeding 3 babies at a time! Talk about impressive ;)
And this is a video of Isaac and Landon crawling around. Please ignore all of the crazy things I say in that ridiculous sing-song baby-talk voice...it happens.

The City at night

2010-04-09T18:30:00.001-04:00

I love when all the lights come on at night! It makes everything more
magical. Three of the pictures we took when we went on a wonderful
evening stroll around the island.
The other picture we took when we were on a crepe adventure down by
NYU. I was really excited because I've seen the arch in lots of
movies, but I never knew where in the city it was. But now we do! :)

Poached eggs!

2010-03-30T22:39:00.001-04:00

I wanted poached eggs the other day and so matt looked online and
happened to find these random things called poach pods. They work with
any pan that can hold 2 inches of water and has a lid. This is much
easier than buying a whole new pan devoted to egg poaching. They came
in the mail today and I wanted to try them out! We had homemade egg
sandwiches (similar to mcdonalds but way better!)
I just wanted to share that they totally worked great and the
sandwiches tasted yummy!

my love/hate relationship with NY

2010-03-30T22:31:00.001-04:00

things I hate:

Having zero counter space in my kitchen.

taking out the garbage-including breaking down all the cardboard boxes for recycling.

walking to the subway in the rain.

having to walk everywhere if I want to go anywhere.

ordering groceries online. I'm one of those girls who likes to walk up and down the aisles looking for something for dinner. And finding something totally random that I don't really need, but want to eat anyway.

Expensive everything. I just bought chocolate ice cream for $8.00...and it wasn't even good, and it was small.

AT&T-lamest thing about being in the city, our coverage sucks.

Our kitchen sink doesn't have a disposal.

And it never ever gets cold water. We have to use the bathroom sink for cold drinking water...

Not having matt home all the time.

having to explore on my own.

not having any friends here.

Things I love:

our amazing view!

My husband Matt

skype: thank you for keeping me in contact with my sister and her boys.

That I am unpacked finally.

Having a NY address

I can still talk to my family and friends even if we are in different parts of the country.

reading books on rainy days.

eating my weight in chocolate....well almost ;)

sitting down by the river and just watching all the ships go by.

the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

dancing.

reading blogs of people I know.

finding fun recipes

when I try something new in the kitchen and it tastes fabulous!

finding pretty fabrics that I just can't leave at the store.

not being scared of the subway anymore.

weekends with Matt home with me!

My Adventures this Week

2010-03-28T22:09:00.005-04:00

As part of my desire to feel better about the city, I went out on an adventure!

First, I wanted to show you our new awesome rug! I know this isn't the best picture of it, but whatev. It's huge, and soft, and we love it!

I actually took this picture to help me determine which color worked best for curtains.

My adventure took me down to the Fashion District. Love this area! It's so fun to see so many stores dedicated to fabric and sewing and trimmings and handbags!

I found a fabric store online and wanted to check out their showroom. So I jumped back on the subway and

headed towards the Flatiron district. Which happens to be where Matt's office is. This area is called the Flat iron district because of this building on the right side of the picture.

Because it looks like a flatiron. :)Once I got there, I couldn't find the store. So in order to keep me sane, I went over to the nearest park (Madison square park) and sat on the bench and took a much needed break. It was a beautiful day! I took some pictures of my surroundings.

And I don't know what this building is... but it was pretty! don't judge. ;)

I sat and watched all the pigeons hunt around for crumbs. It was pretty comical because if one bird found something, soon 15 others would fly over to try and find something from the same spot. I have never seen squirrels so fearless as the ones in the city. While I was sitting on the bench eating my snack of yogos, this squirrel jumps up right by me. He just stares at me like he is sizing me up or something. He seriously almost ran right up into my lap, but at the last second, decided to run along the back of the bench instead! So silly!

After all the animal antics, Matt actually came and joined me in the park for his break! It was nice to just sit together for a little bit before he had to go back to work. He even went with me to try and find the elusive fabric store that I sought, but to no avail.

So I went back to the fashion district and wandered around looking for curtain fabric. And this is what I found! I looked around for about an hour before Matt was done work and came to meet me. We had a nice slice of pizza before we headed back home to the island.

Overall, I'd say my adventure was a success. I rode the subway by myself without getting lost, or turned around. I got the fabric for curtains. Plus some that I don't have a purpose for yet, but couldn't leave at the store! And I happened to run

into my sweet husband and share a nice break in the park!

Out walking yesterday

2010-03-20T15:53:00.001-04:00

More walking home :)

2010-03-18T19:14:00.000-04:00

Walking Home From Work

2010-03-18T18:27:00.001-04:00

Beautiful day!

2010-03-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Today has been so warm and wonderful! It is 60 degrees! I couldn't
resist going down to the river and sitting on the bench for a little
bit! And did I mention that I drove to costco yesterday all by
myself?! It's a big deal. Even if it is really close... :)

Such a man!

2010-03-03T02:04:00.000-05:00

Landon will soon be one, and already he loves to use the remote! ;) It
was so cute, he thought he was making it turn on and off, but really
Natalie was helping him. Such a silly boy!

Concrete Jungle

2010-02-17T22:36:00.005-05:00

This is Matt and I at the Lincoln Center, when we went to the ballet.

Right now we are on our way across the country to join the other 8 million people living in New York City. There are a lot of things that I am going to miss, but there will be a lot of experiences that we will never have otherwise. I'm going to miss my cute nephews! It's been so fun to spend time with both Traci's boys and Beth's boys! I love them and it will be hard to not be around them all the time. But that's what blogs and skype are for! :)

We went to NY back in January for the job interview, and the company offered Matt the job! We had a good time that week wandering around and going to the New York City Ballet. I didn't really think that we would be moving there, but once we were in the city, it felt like that was where we should be. So we came back home and then during my birthday week, my mom and I went to look at apartments. I am so glad that my mom came with me! Matt would have been working during the day and he was only too happy to send my mom in his place.

My mom is great! Even though she was way more nervous than I was, she set aside her fears and worries and came to help me! And I was glad that my Dad was sweet enough to let her come, even though it interrupted his birthday! My mom is such a trooper! We walked all over the place and met with people and looked at some gross apartments, and finally found one that would work for us! All in one day! Then we went and did the Empire State Building that night as well. When we finally got back to the hotel, she sat on the bed for a minute and was completely asleep... poor thing. The good thing about doing all of that in one day, meant that the rest of the week could be spent doing the touristy stuff! We even went and saw Wicked on Broadway! So fun! My mom was so excited about it! I'm glad that she enjoyed it! ( and did I mention that we had awesome 9th row seats?!)

Because there is a parking garage that's inexpensive and our apartment is so much cheaper than all of the other ones that we looked at, we get to keep my car! (and by cheap, I mean for NY). Although I know that having a car in the city is kind of dumb, and I won't be using it everyday, it'll be so nice to have when I want to go to Costco, or when we want to go on a weekend trip. Plus I was really sad at the thought of having to get rid of my car, when we hadn't even had it for a year!

I'm excited to have a new place and experience new things! I am nervous though. This is my first time living outside of Utah. crazy. I will keep everyone updated on what exactly I decide to spend my time doing. Matt will have to actually go into the office, which will be weird for both of us. And I'll have some time to do whatever I want. I'm thinking of taking some fun classes like photography, or cake decorating, and a dance class. Or maybe being a nanny while Matt's working... We'll see what happens after we get all settled.

Thanks family for being so supportive of this big move! It really helped me to accept it. Also a big thank you to everyone who helped get us packed up and moved!

I may continue to blog as we drive, but no promises! ;)

Someone Else Likes Moose Tracks!!!

2010-02-03T22:52:00.001-05:00

Christmas time is here!

2009-12-04T03:44:00.000-05:00

Hooray for Christmas season! I've been wanting to decorate all week
long, but unfortunately I have had a nasty cold. Have I mentioned
before how much I hate being sick? Well I do. But matt has been super
sweet and has been taking good care of me. Anyway, back to Christmas.
I'm so excited because this year we have a fireplace! That means an
actual spot to hang stockings! Plus it's fun to cuddle up by the fire!

Twins?

2009-11-06T22:48:00.000-05:00

"Everything's up to date in Kansas City"

2009-10-25T20:53:00.004-04:00

Yes, we sang this song quite frequently as we strolled about Kansas City this last weekend. Our main objective in being in KC was to watch Matt and Rachel finish their marathon! That's right, those two ran a marathon. That's 26.2 miles. Which is a lot, just ask their sore muscles and tired feet.

We are so proud of them for finishing! Here is the video of them crossing the finish line.

There will be more to come concerning all the Kansas City adventures, but not today! :)

Canning peaches

2009-10-05T03:56:00.001-04:00

For Labor Day, I went up to Logan to visit Traci and her family and to can peaches. This was the first time that we did it without my mom there. As a child, I had no idea the amount of work that went into each jar of peaches. I was just there to enjoy eating them, long after the work had been completed. My mother never ceases to amaze me. She didn't just can peaches when I was young, but pears, and grapes for juice, and she made strawberry jam, and homemade salsa. Not only did she can all this yummy food that took hours and hours to finish, but she did it with 5 children running around chasing each other and yelling and screaming "mom she touched me!" or "get out of my room!" or the constant complaining about helping around the house. And that was just at home. She still had to go and work at the Bakery and do her church callings and take dinner to a neighbor, etc. It was hard enough for us to just can peaches.

My sister and I only had her two children to take care of while attempting to can some peaches. Her sweet baby Landon was sick that weekend and was so sad when he wasn't being held. But Tanner did a good job of mostly entertaining himself and his little brother. We did all sorts of things that I'm sure a seasoned canner would never do. We had blanched, peeled and cut our peaches too soon on the first batch so they started to turn brown. We quickly added lemon juice to stop them from turning completely ugly. We had to have the big black canning pot outside on a camp stove because it was too heavy for her glass-top stove. We took quite a few breaks during the process to check online for what to do next, or feed the children who were way past hungry. After we had filled the mason jars with the peaches and solution, our next challenge was to transport them from the kitchen to the big black pot outside, without dropping them or burning ourselves on the warm jars or boiling water. We ended up using lots and lots of towels and the boxes that the new pretty jars came in to move them. We were concerned about the excess of solution pouring out of the jars after they boiled for half an hour, but decided to just let them.

In the end, our jars of peaches looked great to us. We learned a lot about how to can and take care of children at the same time. We also learned that it's much easier to do something after you've done it once. Our second batch went a lot smoother, except for the peeling peaches part...but that wasn't our fault. Traci's husband Rick really helped out by taking Tanner with him when he left the house, and he bought us a much needed jar grabber thing. (to get the jars out of the boiling pot of water)

My mom must have some sort of super-human power. That's the only solution that I can come up with. :)

All in all, it worked out great and now we have lots of yummy peaches to enjoy all year long! Oh and Traci, in case you haven't tried the peaches yet, don't fret, Matt tasted them and they are good! Thanks for letting me come up and take over your kitchen and lives with canning for a couple of days. I enjoyed it!

Birthday Ukulele

2009-09-26T03:57:00.000-04:00

Got a Ukulele for my birthday - yay! I've been practicing the last few days and have learned a few songs. I'm very much a noobie, but am coming along! Sorry for the shaking of the camera - I was balancing it on my knees while recording :P

Pizza!

2009-09-21T21:52:00.001-04:00

We jast got back from a big bike ride up in the canyon and now it's
time for dinner!

Matt's birthday

2009-09-21T19:23:00.000-04:00

To celebrate Matt's birthday, we went to the zoo! We got to see lots
of baby animals including this cute baby elephant, tiger cubs, a snow
leopard baby, and a baby crocodile!

Are you one of the Jayneses?!

2009-09-01T01:44:00.000-04:00

Yes. I was asked this question on Sunday. The conversation went something like this:

10 year-old boy: "Are you one of the Jayneses?!"

Me: "uh... yeah, I've been your teacher for how many months now?"

10 year-old boy: "Well you don't look like Sister Jaynes."

Me: "What do you mean I don't look like Sister Jaynes? Oh wait, I am wearing my contacts today and not my glasses, is that it?"

10 year-old boy: "And your hair is done, and you have makeup on."

Me: "Yes, I guess I do have makeup on today, but I don't look that different."

10 year-old boy: "yes you do."

So there you have it. I apparently look like a completely different person when I wear my contacts and do my hair and have makeup on. Just ask Matt, he'll tell you all about how he didn't even recognize me on our first date. Seriously.

I just have to say that I did get my hair cut this week, and my church is at 9:00 am. They are lucky that I even get out of bed, let alone fix my hair.

The only reason this week was different was because I was singing with my friends in a ward right after mine ended. And I did look pretty all dolled up, so I guess it's okay that the boys in our class didn't recognize me at first...maybe.

One year already?!

2009-08-23T14:57:00.000-04:00

It seems like only last month that Matt and I got married. However it's already been a year! Who knew that time could go that fast? While we were engaged it seemed like we would never be married. The actual planning of the wedding wasn't nearly as stressful as not knowing when we were going to be married. Once we finally decided to just set a date and keep praying for a miracle, the time seemed to go by a little faster. I know that many prayers were offered in our behalf and I am so grateful to have witnessed a miracle. We were able to be sealed together for time and all eternity in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. What a relief to be married. I am grateful everyday for the wonderful man Matt is. Yes, he makes me roll my eyes quite frequently, but he also makes me smile when he tells me I'm beautiful. I love this man I have chosen to marry with all of my heart. He comforts me when I'm distressed and lets me cry when I don't even know why I'm crying. Which happens more than I care to admit ;) He provides for our family and allows me to just enjoy being a housewife. I'm glad that even after a year, I still get goosebumps when I think about him. Thank you Matt, for loving me always!

The Gardens

2009-08-22T03:16:00.001-04:00

The girls in my family (as well as Tanner and Landon) all went to the
gardens at Thanksgiving Point. We had fun seeing all the beautiful
flowers and walkways, even though it was really hot that day. I'll be
posting more pictures from that day later, but decided to post my
absolute favorite one of Tanner right now! Especially because I got
told to update my blog! ;)

New bikes!

2009-07-30T18:20:00.000-04:00

Matt and I got these new beach cruiser bikes this week! We put them
together ourselves, which took more effort than we had originally
anticipated. I love my red bike! I rode alongside of matt when he did
his 5 mile run!
I have a red bicycle, do you have a red bicycle? I have a red bicycle!
(that's a happy hocky family reference, for those of you who didn't
catch it)

Foods?

2009-07-25T02:43:00.001-04:00

We're up in Park City for the weekend and tonight were visited by a
little family of racoons, they were pretty cute, there were some big
ones and then a couple little youngsters - about 6 we counted in all.
Fun wildlife!

Crystalyn watching the twins

2009-07-23T00:03:00.001-04:00

Beth and I went running today and this is how we found Crystalyn and
the babies when we got back :)

Mommy & Isaac

2009-07-21T21:10:00.001-04:00

Aren't they adorable?! I had to double check to make sure I put the right name with the right baby...

Photo Shoot

2009-07-21T18:44:00.000-04:00

Before Laura went back to Texas, she did a really cute photo shoot of Beth, Tyson and their boys. This picture is one of many! :)

Aunt Laura

2009-07-16T16:17:00.001-04:00

We went and hung out with Laura last night while Beth and Tyson went
on a date. This is Laura holding Isaac while he's just relaxing! :)
how cute!

Laura's in town

2009-07-13T04:41:00.000-04:00

We went on a walk sunday evening and when we passed this spot, we had
to take pictures of course! Look how cute Matt and Laura are! What a
fun brother and sister picture!

Aaron & Crystalyn

2009-07-13T02:30:00.001-04:00

This was a cute pic from our walk this evening ;) We love it when Beth
and Tyson come over to play with the little guys! Laura is in town
too, so we had a great time all hanging out!

Little feet!

2009-07-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

Isaac and Aaron came over to play today! Too cute!!!

Homemade Oreos

2009-06-11T20:46:00.001-04:00

Okay I was totally craving these cookies for the past few days. So I looked up a recipe online and found this one on Tangled and True (it's some random blog). Anyway they turned out great! I doubled the recipe shown here so I would have enough for our ward BBQ. I recommend that if you do that just note that you do not need to double the filling. I have way too much extra creamy goodness. I'm going to have to make more cookies to fill! They were a hit at the BBQ and were gone before we got our food and sat down.

This is directly from this website, although the picture to the right is one I took from my batch of cookies!
http://www.tangledandtrue.com/2008/02/homemade-oreo-cookies.html

Quick and Easy way::
1 package devil's food cake mix - Chocolate or German Chocolate (If you are going to use the German chocolate mix be sure to press cookies to slightly flatten then immediately after removing them from the oven - this will insure a perfectly round cookie)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (or butter flavored shortening)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into balls (a little larger than a quarter). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet (until warm). Remove cookies from sheet and place on cooling rack.To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip (you can always use a zip lock bag with a round tip or just use a butter knife)add about a tablesppon of filling into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie similiar in size on top of the filling. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

::Oreo cookie filling::
1 stick butter
1 block of cream cheese (8 ounces)
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar (depending on desired consistency)
1 tsp vanilla extract
*cream butter (about 2 mins). Add cream cheese and mix well. Add confectioner's sugar slowly until you reach your desired consistency.

Twins!

2009-06-10T03:18:00.000-04:00

Beth had her babies on May 21. They have been in the NICU so we only got to see them for about 5 seconds as they were on their way to the NICU. But they got to come home on Sunday! So we've been able to spend some time holding those sweet boys! I did some video of them tonight just to document their little lives!

This is baby Aaron

This is baby Isaac

Cirque du Soleil

2009-06-09T19:04:00.000-04:00

While we were in Vegas, Matt gave me a really happy surprise! He got us tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil performance of "O" at the Bellagio! It was so Amazing!!! I just kept saying Wow and this is so cool! The performers have to be in top physical health, they have to be able to swim and dive, and be acrobats! It was truly crazy just thinking about it! The stage was one of the coolest stages I've ever seen! It has a solid stage to begin, but then the stage begins to disappear under water! They can raise and lower the stage so if they needed shallow water they could have it, or if they needed deep water they got it! It was incredible! One minute it would be solid and the next, there would be a performer diving into it from 100 feet up (not even joking)! So awesome, I loved it! Thanks Matt for such a sweet surprise!!!

Justin's Graduation

2009-06-09T18:53:00.001-04:00

We were able to go down to Vegas for my brother Justin's Graduation from Pharmacy School! He is now a Doctor ( I think) which is way awesome! We are so proud of him for finishing! It took a lot of hard work and he went through so much to get there! We love him!

Seattle Trip

2009-05-24T02:08:00.000-04:00

This is a music video that we made from the clips from our Seattle Trip! :)

The benefits of working from home

2009-05-24T01:23:00.000-04:00

8 Things

2009-05-24T00:05:00.000-04:00

Okay Laura tagged us, so we are going to post our own 8 Things....

8 Things I look forward to:
1. Our Anniversary in August
2. Buying an automatic car (I hate stick shift more than anything.)
3. Going to Europe (no we don't have a planned trip anytime soon.)
4. Holding Beth's two babies
5. Getting a cute cruiser bike
6. Having children
7. Watching my friends get married
8. Owning a couch

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to the Hospital to see Beth and Oma
2. Rachel and I went shopping
3. Ate at the Chocolate Factory :)
4. Woke up slowly
5. Walked around at the shops near our apartment
6. Talked to my Mom on the phone
7. Went to dinner with Rachel and Matt at the Old Spaghetti Factory
8. Enjoyed watching Night at the Museum 2 with sweet Matt and fun Rachel

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Play the Guitar beautifully
2. Own a home
3. Play the Piano
4. Take amazing photographs
5. Go to Disneyland with Matt and have him like it
6. Fly
7. Speak another language
8. Perform again (I miss the stage a bit.)

Shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. Psych
3. Dr. Who (I know total nerd-fest)
4. Designed to Sell
5. Curb Appeal
6. Dog Whisperer
7. I like What Not To Wear, I just never watch it
8. um.. that's about it. We don't have television except online...

Spring time

2009-05-13T03:49:00.000-04:00

This is my sister Traci and her two adorable sons on Mother's Day! Aren't they so precious?! I couldn't resist editing this picture and posting it for everyone to see! I love Tanner's face and I love that Landon's head is still too heavy for him to hold up for very long!

Tanner

2009-04-30T00:05:00.001-04:00

'You please get me down?'

Tanner

2009-04-30T00:03:00.000-04:00

'I climbed up here all by myself!'

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-04-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

These were the easiest cookies I have ever made! I got the recipe from
my home ward cookbook. It was submitted by Julie Mchood, thanks Julie!
Here it is:
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
Beat egg with a fork. Add sugar. Mix well. Add peanut butter stir
until smooth.
Roll into walnut size balls and use a fork for the design on top.
Bake at 350 for 8-10 min.
Voilà! Cookies!

Joan's Website

2009-04-19T04:08:00.000-04:00

I've been working on my aunt Joan's website for the past little while. She's doing a concert on May 9th at 7:00. Her website will have a bunch of her music on it eventually, which is really cool! I think it's great that she has finally done a CD and is putting it out to the public. Anyway, check out her website http://joantuckett.com/ it's pretty awesome!

The view from our apartment today

2009-04-15T17:15:00.000-04:00

Seems a little strange to me, but it's been snowing all day today. In
April. Boy am I glad that we have a fireplace! :)

View from our new patio

2009-04-15T03:03:00.001-04:00

Landon

2009-04-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

Peaceful Landon sleeping all warm and comfy... before Grandma comes along and messes with him. Then he just looks mad. Poor little guy.

Landon Kade Hall

2009-03-23T15:27:00.000-04:00

This cute baby is my brand new nephew! He was born on March 13, 2009.
7 lbs 14 ounces 21 inches long! So fun! We went up to Logan to see him
and hang out with the family!

Fun use of animation

2009-03-14T00:20:00.000-04:00

Background here...

Fun with Picnik.com

2009-03-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

These are some more wedding pictures that I had fun editing!

Wedding Collage

2009-03-04T02:11:00.001-05:00

Matt showed me a fun editing website and this is what I made! Although I was kind of bummed that it wouldnt let me change the colors of the fun background stuff... or maybe it will, but I haven't figured it out yet...

Lindsay!

2009-03-04T02:09:00.000-05:00

My friend Lindsay came to visit the other day and we did all sorts of
fun things like go out to lunch, watch Twilight, and play my guitar! I
love this picture of her, it was too fun to get together with her! I
miss living by her... She's awesome!

Girls love shoes!

2009-03-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

Miss Jayne loves shoes! These are some great birthday shoes that mama
got me! (thanks!) Jayne didn't want to take them off at the store,
that girl has got great taste! They look good on her! ;)

Now that Obama's president, anything can happen...

2009-01-28T17:32:00.001-05:00

Inspirational

2009-01-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

Money in the Microwave

2009-01-27T03:12:00.000-05:00

The kids in my family got my parents a new microwave for Christmas (about time)! Matt and I stayed up really late Christmas Eve waiting for my Mom and Dad to go to sleep, so that we could switch out the old one and replace it with the new one. I tried to move the old one, but it was sooo heavy, so Matt had to move it for me.
Side note: Matt and I used to watch Arrested Development. The family owned a banana stand along with their other business. The Dad always said, "There's money in the banana stand." Which the family always thought it was his way of saying work hard and blah blah blah. Well here's the clip of the episode to help my story along.

Anyways, while Matt and I were moving the heavy old microwave, we were joking about there being money in the microwave. "There's always money in the microwave." We were laughing about it as we took the old one outside to hide in our car. Well Christmas morning comes, and my mom says to my dad, "Oh look at the microwave!" My dad (who's smile had disappeared) says, "Wait a minute. Where's the old one?" Apparently he had put the money for the Bakery cash registers in the microwave!
Who knew that there would actually be money in the microwave!?

La la la la, la la la la Elmo's World

2009-01-27T02:54:00.000-05:00

Tanner shows off his new Elmo slippers for the camera! He really loves them! :)