Hope

Today has been all about this:

I'm not supposed to get my hopes up. But I can't help it. 

in transition.

I think this title kind of sums up where I am right now with my blog. I'm trying to find a look I like, but nothing is the way I like it...... ugh. Plus it keeps doing weird things with my pictures, so if you can't see them or if they are weirdly huge, I apologize.  I guess it's one of those days.

David comes back from Dallas tonight! I never knew I was such a baby on my own, but after not really having to be apart, I really miss it.  But his trip to Dallas went well, so I guess I'm okay with missing him for a night.

His plane gets in at 9 which means I get to go walk around the mall (specifically the new H&M!) and buy Christmas presents.  Also. I bought a bathing suit today from Jcrew. Normally $104, I got the top and bottom for $10. I love good deals.

Also.
David just told me he was hungry.
So I told him to go eat. Except my phone decided to tell him go war!
haha!

11.11.11

Today is LAURA's birthday!!

Tonight we are heading up to dinner in Salt Lake, staying the night at a cabin in Solitude and partying all night long.

I wanted to show you the cake I made for her. I don't remember what I asked for when I was turning 12, but my mom gave me cake decorating lessons for my birthday. It was the Wilton classes at the local Michaels. Definitely fun, but I don't think I fully appreciated it as a 12 year old. I learned a lot there about icing and using different tips, etc., but this was my first time making fondant. I had a blast. Definitely not professional quality, but it was exciting seeing that I can make stuff like this. And I'd had this picture pinned for months so I was excited to finally do something off of pinterest.

Because of my lack of professional materials, we decided to make the bottom in a 9x9 and the top in one of my pyrex dishes. The hardest part was figuring out how much time to bake them for because those pans are not listed on the back of the cake mix.

Here are the few pictures I remembered to take:

We ended up making 2 of the little round cakes just to use up cake batter and just in case the other mini one had an accident.

Covering the cakes. Little is definitely easier. And it is surprisingly hard to get it smooth. 

Ignore the fact that they are not all smooth.....

The mostly finished cake! I attached the giraffe pieces (like how I told you what the pattern was supposed to be so you wouldn't have to guess wrong? yeah, me too!) using a small brush and water. The hardest part was trying to do it before the other pieces started to dry

My artsy shot - with stuff in the background. Clearly, I need to work on my photography skills. But right now, I'm pretty proud of my beginner cake decorating skills.

This was my inspiration:

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Maybe I should go see if I can find a blue giraffe or a pretty flower laying around. Or I can go clean my house.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

♪ All I want for Christmas is you ♪

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is pretty straightforward - lots of traditional food (turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, etc.....), but everyone's Christmas wish lists are different. We all want things that make us happy (or that we think will make us happy).

All I really want for Christmas is to have a good internship set up for David for next summer and to spend some quality time with the people I love (and to quit my job and just craft and sew all day long, but that is just a daydream).

But since half the fun of Christmas is making a list, here are some of my wants (which, Christmas or not, I will probably end up going to buy them for myself). (in no particular order....)

1. This bed frame. It is actually plans for you to build your own. I want one to build one in black to  match our dresser. Like really really really want to build one. (We just don't happen to have some of the tools that are necessary......)

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2. Speaking of beds, I want new bedding. Just to change up what is on our bed to give it a new look. I'm looking for something bright and fun. Kind of like these: 

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3. A magazine rack, because all of our lids are just in a cupboard right now and sometimes it drives me crazy.

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4. This haircut! (And I apologize, but I can't find the original source from Pinterest. I end up at twitter every time.) I want to keep my hair long, but I am getting antsy for something different.

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5.  Juniors cheesecake. ooooh. Cheesecake. Why are you so bad for me? Remember this post? My parents brought me one over the summer when Will got married. I died a little. It was wonderful. Definitely on my list of what to eat on our NYC trip.

6. New make-up! Don't tell anyone but I've been using some stuff for 2+ years. I'm amazed that it is actually still going, but I definitely need new ones.  I've looooved my bareminerals make up. Definitely on my list to get again. (I'm in the "medium beige" category for foundation, and I am always pleased with how it evens out my coloring. Plus their eyeshadow comes in colors that I love.)

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7. Toms. The regular kind. and I wish I could get some of their ballet flats too! All images from here.

8. This skirt/shoes. Maybe you have seen this on pinterest, but I WANT this outfit. I am thisclose to just going out and buying material to make my own skirt. Red is kind of colorful for me. So I haven't yet. But what a perfect Christmas skirt!

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9. A vacation with David! Did you know he and I have never been on a vacation by ourselves?! Shocking, I know. We've always talked about places we are someday going to go, but I'm thinking a post-graduation vacation should be in the works. Here are places I think would be amazing/incredible/wonderful/fantastic to visit:

Can't find the source of the picture, but this is in the Atlantis in Dubai.

Again, no source. Thanks pinterest. But this is in Santorini, Greece.

Paris! via

10. Scissors. To make my sewing experience a lot easier. I don't think kitchen scissors are quite making it.

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11. A Clarisonic face washing brush.  I've had my eye on this for awhile now. Just have yet to go and get me one.

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12. One of these. HA. Just kidding. It's $4,410. A little too pricey to ever get. But look how pretty it is. LOVE.

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13. This headband!

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14. A nice nice camera. which David said is so unreal of a Christmas list. I'm not allowed to put a picture up.

That's all I can think of right now.

But really. All I want is an internship we love. 

What is on your must-have list?!

11.10.11

1. Sometimes I have trouble communicating what is in my head. Does this make me crazy? Perhaps.

I just have all these thoughts and ideas and images and i just can't seem to get them down on paper/on the computer. There are days that I feel like I have all these ideas bursting to get out of my head. And then days like today.

2. Did you know it takes me quite awhile to write one of these posts? like almost a whole day. I actually started this yesterday afternoon.

3. I made fondant for the first time. It was mostly successful. Except where it says to add 3/4 of the powdered sugar. And I only added 3/4 c. Yeah. WENT GREAT, except I couldn't get my fingers apart because of all the marshmallow on my hands. 

4. Sometimes I have really weird dreams. Like last night, this old lady kept calling me on the phone and telling me I was doing everything all wrong. And I wanted to fight back but non-confrontational me couldn't do it. Even in a dream. Sad.

5. I have have considered buying multiple things today. And have struck out on ALL of them that I actually put in my basket/called about. 

And I really want this bathing suit. I have it bad for ruffles.

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6. Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away!

7. POLL time: Which city is better/cheaper/more fun/awesome/etc? 

AND WHY? tell me! I love hearing opinions!!

Chicago

Dallas

San Francisco

Seattle

Atlanta

Richmond

New York

Friends!

It is funny to me the little coincidences that occur in life.

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Like having our car break right when we got home, instead of me driving to/from work.
The unexpected help right when you need it.
The check that comes through exactly when you think you are at your breaking point.
People that come into your life and change it.

I've been thinking about people in my life.
and I can remember back to when I was in elementary school and the friends I've had throughout the years that have been exactly who and what I needed.
There were lots of friends throughout the years, but some people made a HUGE difference.
In kindergarten/1st/2nd grade, it was a little boy named Stephen - although I'm sure my family remembers a different boy's name being used to tease me about my "crush" - which I did NOT have - and him being the apple hanging in the tree.
Then we moved to Houston partway through 2nd.
 One of the very first things I can remember about living there was not going to school right away and swimming in our pool. When we finally did go to school, I remember some of the kids making comments about how I was wearing shorts in October. BUT we moved from UTAH to HOUSTON. IT WAS HOT.
I remember a small group of girls through the rest of elementary school to 7th grade. A few moved in and out, but mostly we stayed the same. My 3 closest friends had names that started with an S. I was not like the others.
Moved to NY. Kind of had to figure out who I was again. (*I definitely consider moving to NY a huge influence in who I am today)
8th grade school year, I had people I sat with at lunch, but LINDSAY and I definitely were friends after being the only 8th graders in a 7th grade French class. (HA. so much fun.)
I went through a whole school year of sitting by Babetta in church, but we weren't really friends until girls camp. Then we were. Makes you wonder why you don't talk to people the first time. I was devastated when her family moved to Utah during high school. (And I can't find any pictures of the two of us on my computer here.. sad day.)
For the rest of high school, I had (and still HAVE) AMAZING friends. L'BAGHS was And I have so many good memories of everything. Oh man. I loved high school. Definitely get nostalgic for it sometimes.

graduation for the older 6.

Before Hannah went to Africa

Most recent of all of us! - summer of 2008

(can you tell when we all got facebook? that's where most of these pictures are from...)

Then I moved back to Utah for college. Originally it was me in one room with another girl who was never there. I didn't like it at all. One week later, I moved into an apartment of girls who changed my life.

2007

2007

2008

2009

2008

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And in looking at the two pictures above, I realized we are standing in almost the same exact order.

2009

2010 - also my arm is just weird here.

There were so many more pictures I wanted to put up because the memories are incredible.

And now that we are married, we still are finding amazing new friends! (Hello, other Beans! Also, the 4 of us have exactly 1 picture together. We should work on that.)

2010

I actually think a lot about the people from my past and the experiences I've had that have helped me and it is interesting to me that I still need to surround myself with good people and that I am still being blessed by the people that come into my life. 

I am continually amazed by the caliber of people that have influenced me and I am so grateful for them.

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nov 8

did you know today is our year-and-a-half?!

18 months of marriage

doesn't feel like a long time,

 but every minute has been a blast

ALSO.

I have an amazing sister who brought be back a plate of pure happiness frozen, then frozen in a bag of water, frozen in another bag of water, put in another bag and stuck in a suitcase.

My candlelight(!) wings:

Laura, don't look, but that will be part of your birthday cake!

give thanks: 5,6,7

Days 5 and 6 got skipped because apparently I can't blog from my iphone.
Day 5: it snowed Friday night. I am so grateful for the snow not sticking. And being able to drive down the HUGE hill without dying. But I'm glad it is starting to feel like the holidays are finally coming.  My Christmas wish list is in the works.

Day 6: Daylight Savings, remember? Well, our clocks got turned back 2 hours. We slept  so much yesterday - sleeping in for forever, a nap after we got home, and early bedtime. You'd think I wouldn't be sleepy today, but I am. But I am so happy we got [2] extra hours :)

Day 7, today!: We got to spend the weekend with family and friends (even though I was a party-pooper and fell asleep on the couch. Sorry, Laura!) and as we were leaving, I was sad that we can't just do that all the time. How come school and work and life just get in the way?? I am excited for the upcoming weeks!

ALSO. just got my schedule for Thanksgiving and I actually get the whole weekend off! oh man. Monday is turning out pretty good.

give thanks: day 4!

Guys. This is big. I've made it 4 days in a row of sticking to this series.
I'm on David's computer right now (I'll sign out, babe. I promise!) and he has all of our official engagement/wedding pictures on here. And occasionally, I like to look through them. (All of these were taken by the wonderful Whitney Lewis.)We are not very good photography subjects, so there are a lot that look silly. Here are some of my favorites:

Apparently, we both close our eyes when we laugh.

David claims he doesn't like to dance. I disagree, and this photo is pretty good proof that he does.

This one was actually on purpose, don't worry. We're not THAT bad.

I actually really LOVE this one.

Anyways, this has nothing to do with the pictures, but I'm grateful for the weekend!

give thanks: day 3

for some reason I can't get pictures to work on my touchpad, sorry.

Last night as we drove home, there was a squeaky noise that we heard once or twice. We didn't really think anything of it and decided we would worry about it later. But as I got out of the car,I heard another noise. Dripping, and not just the slow one-drop-at-a-time kind. It was fast and it was coming from our car. NOT what we wanted to spend our night worrying about.
After some investigating and a lot of catching the dripping liquid and pouring it back in and catching it again, etc., we knew it was coolant and that we had a bad leak somewhere, or worst case would be a crack in the engine block.
David's dad is really good with cars and it wouldn't have been very expensive to fix it up at their house. Unfortunately, there was no way our car would even make it up there. So off to a mechanic we go.
Mr. Mechanic tells me what it would cost to fix our leaking/broken water lump (hooray! It's not the engine!). Then tells me what it would cost to additionally fix the thermostat that is usually fixed when the water pump breaks. Just under $1000. Oh man. We'll just go with the water pump, we said. A couple hundred dollars later, our car is back in our coolant-stained driveway.

I am grateful my car is working again and I don't have to miss anymore work because of not having a way to get up there.
And I am grateful for Mr. Mechanic not making it completely unaffordable to fix our much-needed car. And also for balancing my tires for free. Definitely still a fan of your shop.
I am also grateful to David's dad who spent lots of time on the phone with us to help us when we were in trouble.
I think mostly I am grateful for trials that the Lord knows we can overcome. On our drive home, we were discussing our car (after hearing the squeaks) and one of us commented on how this car has been good for us and that it will hopefully last us for a long time. How funny that as soon as we get out if the car, something goes wrong.  It definitely was not a good day for it to happen because we had ToNs going on. But we overcame it, and our day will be just as good, if not better.
Time to go make some chicken pot pie now that I have an unexpected day off and can actually cook dinner. Another blessing in disguise :)