Snapshots (4/23/12)

On our lovely ride home, we each got asked a series of questions. It was kind of fun to see if we could guess each other's answers. We expect that some will change and others won't, but it is a fun glimpse of what we NON-college  students (we graduated!) are like at 24.

NATALIE
favorite food: pizza/breakfast burritos
restaurant: Grimaldi's
drinks: route 44 ice water from Sonic(!)
dessert: cheesecake
tv show: Suits/Downton Abbey
movie: Italian Job
hobby: running
candy: red vines
music: Imagine Dragons/Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know"
free time: hanging with the hubs
dream car: currently loving BMW 3 series
dream destination: Maui!


DAVID
favorite food: steak
restaurant: Red Robin
drinks: strawberry snow from Quickly
dessert: ice cream
tv show: Suits
movie: Shawshank Redemption
hobby: golf
candy: snickers
music: Elton John/ The Brocks (and Nat's picks too)
free time: [note: this response was unprompted from me] hanging out with Nat
dream car: Acura TL
dream destination: Rome

LAURA
favorite food: fried chicken
restaurant: Macaroni Grill/ La Jolla Groves
drinks: water
dessert: pudding
tv show: Suits
movie: Captain America
hobby: quilting (and buying fabric)
candy: Reese's
music: The Brocks (and her Spotify)
free time: the internet
dream car: F250/black Escalade with huge rims
dream destination: Australia



ANDREW
favorite food: homemade tacos
restaurant: Cafe Rio
drinks: water with ice
dessert: vanilla ice cream over warm brownie
tv show: Suits
movie: Moneyball/the Batman movies
hobby: twitter
candy: sour patch kids
music: the Brocks
free time: [note: also unprompted - she was asleep when we asked Andrew his questions]  hanging out with Laura
dream car:  (subaru legacy) a Lexus
dream destination: Thailand

Pictures

These are the only two I have on my phone from our trip from my instagram (nataliejbean). The rest are on our camera.
And both, coincidentally, are of water!
One is of Ocean Beach at sunset, the other is from our detour to Tahoe.

San Francisco

Right after the graduation ceremonies on Friday we are taking off on a vacation to San Francisco!
David went there on his mission and I'm so excited to go back with him.
Alcatraz is for sure on our list, and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge.
Also. We plan on eating - a lot. Vacations are always about food in the Bean household. :)

Any other suggestions?

via the black hole that is Pinterest sometimes.

What I've Learned (v2)

Alrighty, folks. I started "consistently" running on February 22 (I signed up for the Provo Half-Marathon January 3rd, started running, and then got sick.) Here's what I've figured out since part one

You still make the time if you really want it.
I've learned to want it for different reasons - not for the "hooray, I exercised! Now I can go eat a cheeseburger and feel justified!!" part, but for the "I'm doing this because this is what I know makes me feel good inside and out."

I absolutely LOVED my run today.
Am I a little embarrassed to admit that? kind of, yes.

I'm one of those people. 

It's not how fast you've run that counts.
I'm better than 12 minute miles now, but not by much.
But, I can go prettttty far with my trusty 12-ish minute miles.
They take me places.

Holy smokes, treadmills are boring after 2 miles.
However! They are really good at getting you to run faster.
If you want to improve pace, just work with a treadmill for a couple days.

Endorphins are still addicting.
Also, I'm happier and I sleep better after I run.

Human bodies are absolutely incredible and a wonderful gift from God.
I have an even stronger testimony of that now than
 I did when I graduated with a degree in Exercise Science. 

I'm achieving a "goal".
It's not just a goal anymore, though.
It's a lifestyle.
And I'm really loving it.

I'll definitely keep going now.

Pictures!

Half the family was here for Easter/baby Charlee's blessing. 

I loved it. And sometimes took pictures to prove it....

This is how Robbie and Christian used to take girls on dates in HS.

Jack and Max in their matching shirts. We never got sick of playing with them!

The whole fam-damily.

After the Easter Bunny came.....

Charlee's blessing day. I hogged her pretty much all morning.
(Who says hogged anymore? Probably just me....)

 

*note to self - start drying your hair. You'd think I would know this, being 24 years old....nope.

 I gave her up right as she started to wake up.

  

We loved it! 

Family, come back!

Graduation

My wonderful, obliging husband kindly let me convince him into doing a pre-graduation photo shoot so we don't have to compete with hordes of people on the big day. Between him and Andrew, we got 160 pictures in an hour. We definitely got some good ones! Now we just need some with everyone that comes for the big day(s)!

The one time I got a burn that looked like a handprint

I woke up during the middle of the night Sunday because my leg was really hot and uncomfortable. It seemed like a bad sunburn right behind my knee. I ignored it and went back to sleep.

Work on Monday was normal. I remember showing a co-worker my leg and saying how I didn't understand how it could be so burned in JUST THAT ONE AREA.

Monday night, I noticed a few blisters forming. Put some after-sun lotion on it, still thinking it was a sunburn. Went to dinner. Noticed TONS of blisters all over the back of my knee -- not the clear kind you get from new shoes. These were some clear, some yellowish.

Made a genius move and went and ran 5 miles. I didn't really notice the pain/anything while running. But, man, it hurt afterwards.

Tuesday morning, woke up. It is still SUPER red. And covered in blisters that make me want to cry every time I bend my leg. Needless to say, I didn't make it to work. David gave me benadryl and I think I slept for 6 or 7 hours? I don't know really.

Wednesday, it's better. Still really bad. All the girls at my work have NO idea what it is.
So I go see one of my doctors on Thursday. She says it looks like a chemical burn. What throws everyone off is that it looks almost like a handprint with fingermarks.
Seriously, I'm still confused. I can't think of anywhere that I sat, or things I might have touched that would cause this.
I'm on a course of steroids (oh, roid rage, you are a pain) and a crazy antibiotic but it is still going away so slowly.

Today, Monday, makes it a week since I noticed anything. And I just barely got all the scabs from blisters to start coming off.

Anyone else have a weird, creepy handprint on the back of their legs that burns?
I'm thinking of starting a club. Victims only, though I should probably stop playing that role. I can walk, I'm not dead..... Yet.

(Sorry for the gross pictures. The white-ish one is from Wednesday. The other one from Saturday.)

Easter

These are the only 2 pictures I have on my phone.

We had so much fun seeing family this past weekend. We had half of the siblings here, my parents, and all of my nephews and niece. It was so great.
I didn't have to work at all while they were here. (Now I'm spoiled and don't want to work anymore haha). We did so much that time went by so fast!

Bean museum
Dinosaur museum
Bowling at BYU
BYU bookstore
Dinner at Goodwood
Lots of playing
Shopping
Ice cream
Dinner at La Jolla
War Horse
Diegos
Playing at the park
Easter egg hunt
Lamb of God performance
Charlee's baby blessing
Little Gus!

It was sad to say goodbye and not know when I'm going to see them next. Hopefully soon!
And hopefully I post my other, way better pictures soon :)

The infamous cake.....

Story time:
I thought I would prove how awesome of a wife I am and surprise David with a red velvet golf ball cake.

I had two half sphere cake pans. And the directions said I would need 4 and 1/2 cups of batter. So of course I fill EACH half-sphere with that amount. Genius, I know.

Put them both in the oven, set the timer, walk away. Easy Peasy.

Until I walk through the kitchen and see a pillar of smoke coming up through the vent opening in the stove. Not a wisp, a full, Thick stream of smoke.

Next genius move: don't bother to close the bedroom door, and just open the oven instead. Let all the smoke in the house. See that the pans are over-flowing. LEAVE them there and just try to scrape up what spilled. I guess I just figured I filled it a little too full and the spilling was a one-time thing. WRONG.

Just repeat the above paragraph three or four times.

It was really bad. I finally gave up, turned off the oven, and went to pick David up. I reeked. Our house had a nice film of smoke by the ceiling despite.

After a grocery store run where we proceeded to buy $10 worth of odor eliminating sprays, and lots of open doors, and containers of baking soda, the smell was gone.

But the story will never be forgotten. Even if I want it to be, David won't let me. :)

Round two was a success though.

Grey/Yellow

Posting this from my phone, hope this works.

LOVED making this blanket. My days are boring now that I don't have this wonderful thing to occupy my time.

And who can resist a mini bear hat?
I submit that all girls will think anything mini is cute.