Three whole years

Today is my three year wedding anniversary! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful friend to share life's experiences with. We've had so much fun over the years...trading watches in middle school, talking too much in Biology, late night phone calls, countless games of Mancala and Guess Who? He really is one of the big joys in my life!

California Dreams

Jeff and I had a great time in California! We had quite a few things planned, but still had enough free time to sleep in, take our time, and enjoy our long-awaited break.

Our trip began with our flight into LAX. I loved my window seat, especially because I got to watch the beautiful lightning storm going on outside. Jeff was content to listen to his iPod and pretend we weren't really flying. It's funny how different we are. :) Jeff's Aunt Terry came to pick us up at the airport when we got in. She was kind enough to let us stay at her little beach house in Hermosa Beach, wait on us hand and foot, drive her fun convertible, etc. She is wonderful!

Wednesday monring we met up with Jeff's sister, Shallie, who is working in Claremont for part of the summer. After that we went to In-N-Out, which we LOVE! It was funny - the cashier wouldn't take the order from Jeff because he was wearing his Giants jersey (a Barry Bonds jersey no less). He simply looked away and said, "I can't take your order while you're wearing that shirt. You're in the WRONG part of town." No joke! Luckily he took the order from me, even though I wouldn't agree to withhold sharing my chocolate shake with Jeff! After that we made it to the beach for a while before going to...

The Giants/Dodgers game! We planned the whole trip around when the Giants would be in town. The atmosphere was incredible! With the home run record so close to being tied and the Dodgers fans who hate the Giants and hate Barry Bonds even more, it made for a once in a lifetime experience. Although Barry didn't hit a home run that night (except in batting practice), we enjoyed our Dodger Dogs, watching crazy fans get ejected, and cheering for Barry.

The best part was seeing how happy Jeff was. He has been a Giants fan since he was a little kid and he had that 10-year old excitement at the game! In fact, it's still there everytime he talks about it. :) The excitement was only slightly dampened when we had to exit the game amidst the heckling of the Dodger fans. One of them told Jeff he had something on his shirt that he needed to get off!

Can you see the excitement on this kid's face?

Barry and the brutal Dodgers fans, who heckled all night - even after he had been taken out of the game.

Barry at the plate with a few of the MANY camera flashes that went off every time he swung the bat.

Jeff and me, posing with Barry. Can't you see him? He's in between us!

NOTE: I had Jeff proofread all of this. He said it was good, except that he would have put more about the Giants game. So...if you want more details, please talk to Jeff. He LOVES to talk about it!

Thursday we took Shallie back to her camp and drove back to Hermosa Beach for a little shopping. Then Terry took us out to Cheesecake Factory (YUM!) before we left for Hollywood to see Wicked. WOW! What a show! The music and acting were incredible - we were both getting goosebumps all night. Go if you ever get the chance!

Driving Shallie back to Claremont in Terry's convertible. The beach is just beyond the motel in the background.

Pantages Theater in Hollywood where we saw Wicked.

Friday morning we drove to Yorba Linda to see our friends Jason, Chelsi, and their little Brooklyn. We had so much fun with them! We went to Crate & Barrel (we had never been there), Huntington Beach, and rounded out the night with a dip in their jacuzzi, "cliff jumping" into the pool, and a movie. We had so much fun!

Jeff, loving every minute of Crate & Barrel (ha ha)

Huntington Beach

Saturday morning we woke up and went to the happiest place on earth...Disneyland!

It was definitely busy, but Jeff and I were both surprised at how quickly we got through everything. We had planned to stay until close at midnight, but by 9:00pm we had ridden every ride we wanted to (except the Finding Nemo Subs - no way we were going to wait 2 hours for that one) - we had even gone on our favorites (Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean) twice! I guess you go through the park a lot quicker when you don't have a group/family in tow!

Jeff, demonstrating the thrill of Autopia!

This is a classic photo of us on a roller coaster. I'm laughing, smiling, and screaming in enjoyment. Jeff is ducking, enduring, and holding on for dear life in semi-enjoyment. I love it!

Sunday we got to sleep in (AAAAAH!) before going to church with Terry. After that we had some relaxing time back at the beach house. After that we took an evening stroll on the beach and watched the sunset. It was beautiful! We went back to Terry's and were able to catch the fireworks over the pier before we went to bed.

Beautiful sunset!

Monday...the last day. We threw on our swim garbs and set out for the beach. We attempted at body boarding one last time before heading back to beachless Utah, and I finally caught a wave on my last try! Then it was on to packing, the airport, and landing in SLC before 4:00pm. Jeff's Uncle Carl and Aunt Deb were kind enough to pick us up from the airport and feed us dinner before we headed back to Provo. All in all, we had a great trip!

Now all we have to show is pictures and tan lines!

Sunny California

Hooray! Our California vacation is finally here! Jeff and I have been planning this for months. We have a ton of fun stuff planned: the Giants/Dodgers game, Wicked, Disneyland, the beach, seeing friends and family, eating at Cheesecake Factory (hopefully!)...we are pumped! I'll be sure to post pictures and details when we get back.

Happy travels!

Tag - you're it!

I've decided I'm a big fan of tags. I can make a tag much quicker than a full-blown card when I'm crunched for time (which happens to be quite often). Here are a couple of my latest.

I'm also a fan of paper punches (like the flower one Jeff gave me for my birthday). I've heard from a reliable source you can use them on a sheet of labels to make your own stickers. I think I may have to try that.

Bitty Booties™

I finally did it! After months of wanting to try this pattern out, I actually sat down and took the time to make Heather Bailey's Bitty Booties™. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. Plus, the pattern is open for whatever little embellishments you fancy. I barely finished these in time for Kristen and Sophie before they left for Boston.

The soles (don't you just love that fabric?!)



And the pretty tags on the back (the finishing touch)

Do you want to try your hand at Bitty Botties™? Get the free pattern here. You can also learn how to do yo-yos (the flowers) here. Heather Bailey is amazing!

Busy as a bee

My, my! What a busy week its been! Ariel and Paige's showers (not to mention all the time to put their gifts together), putting the finishing touches on the gift I made for Amy (my first customer!), planning and teaching how to make headbands for Enrichment (that was fun), co-ed softball games (summer wouldn't be complete without them), giving Jeff a haircut (long overdue), going to Patio of Fire (we had a blast and won t-shirts! get the full scoop here)...I think I'm ready for a break! Luckily I have the weekend to recoup and get ready for the busy week ahead.

And don't you worry - I have grand plans for a headband tutorial, so you can all enjoy the headband love. You'll also be seeing pictures from the aforementioned projects sometime, too. Have a great weekend!

Balloonies

America

At this very special time of year, I wish I had something profound and inspiring to say. Since my words can't due true justice to the occasion, I'll quote from the Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

“It is for us the living…to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

I hope that amid the parades, barbeques, and fireworks of the 4th of July, we will all feel the weight of what it means to be American - that because so much has been given to us, we indeed have a great responsibility to understand and defend the freedoms many have given their lives for.

I recommend everyone visit this website. It has some great ideas on how we can understand, support, and defend America, the Constitution, and the freedoms we enjoy.

Happy Independence Day!

Saturday it is!

I have so many projects waiting to be done - a bag for Amy, a gift for Ariel, headbands for our Enrichment activity next month...AAH! So much to do! As a result, I hereby dub this Saturday, June 30th as "Super Sewing Saturday." I'm going to wake up early and sew, sew, sew. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of these lingering projects done.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the gifts I made for Jeff's sisters. I love accessories (like these headbands and earrings), and so do they. But I don't love spending a lot of money for them. So what do I do? Make them myself! And who doesn't love fun packaging?

PS - If you want a free headband pattern, go here.

PPS - And speaking of free things, if you want a free Jamba Juice, go here.

Boston

So much to see - so little time! I was in Boston for 3 days, most of which was taken up by the conference I was attending. But, luckily, I was able to see a few things in Beantown. Here are some of the top experiences (in chronological order):

* Going out to dinner on Thursday night at a little kosher restaurant with a BYU vendor who is Jewish and from New York was quite an experience. I had some delicious salmon with butternut squash, along with a very unique pasta dessert.

* Driving around a couple of the many Harvard campuses was really neat (did you know there are over 50 colleges and universities in Boston?). The buildings were so beautiful - red brick, ivy covered, just like you would imagine. I saw the Business and Law Schools.

* On the way back from Harvard, I caught a small glimpse of Fenway Park! The lights were on for the game and I wanted to go SO BAD! I called in to see how much tickets were for the game the next night - $100-$200 a pop. I'll have to plan ahead next time.


* I stopped by a charming little shop in the South End called Thomas Park. There were so many hip handmade goods - headbands, aprons, handbags, greeting cards, and more. It was fun to talk to the shop owner and see her beautiful work.


* I rode the subway! The public transportation in Boston is amazing. Between shuttles, trolleys, buses, the subway, and walking I was able to get around the city for under $15.

















* Easily the best part of the whole trip was meeting up with Alex and Catherine on Friday night - we had a blast! We went to a very popular Italian restaurant on the North End called Giacomo's Ristorante. The calamari was great! After that, we walked to Faneuil Hall for dessert (peach gelato - yum!). They were so fun to be with and we were able to see quite a bit of the city by foot. It was the highlight of my trip!

























As for the somewhat random pictures - I was looking for good photo ops and just snapped a shot where I could. As the pictures show, Boston is a very clean and classy city. I also LOVED the Bostonian accent! I was called "Kah-la" a couple of times and heard it's expensive to "pah-k" your "cah" there, too! It will be so fun to back and visit someday with Jeff!

Boston and begonias

Well, it's finally here! I'm headed out to Boston later today for a business trip. I'm going to the eBay Live! conference so I can get some pointers on how to improve our eBay listings for BYU (yes - BYU sells stuff on eBay). Two of my goals are to eat some delicious seafood (yum!) and to learn how to catch a taxi. Hopefully I'll be successful at both.

While I'm gone, please enjoy the lovely begonias Jeff gave me for my birthday. Have a great week!

Button? Button? Who's got the button?

We went over to my grandma's house back in May when we were home for Mother's Day. She is an AMAZING seamstress - she sewed almost all of my dresses for high school dances. She and my mom also had a small craft business for a few years, as well. Needless to say, they are excited I am getting into sewing. While we were there, Grandma pulled out this old fruitcake tin, saying I didn't need to feel obligated to take what was inside.

MUCH better than a fruitcake...the tin was filled with buttons! I love buttons and was just thinking I needed to start my own little stash. I was so excited! Since then, I have pulled them out a few times and looked through them. I think I find new favorites every time! The little ducks are very cute, and check out the old Ex-Lax tin the smaller buttons are in!

I've also been reminded of the days when my mom would take us to the craft store as kids - back when I didn't like going. One of my favorite things was going over to the button bin and running my hands through all those buttons. Sometimes my mom would even let us pick one out and she would buy it for us (some kids get candy - we got buttons). I always picked the silver ones with a little bird-type thing on them. I wonder if I still have any kicking around my parent's house...

Anyway, I got an idea for a cute way to put buttons on a headband - I'll try it out and see how it goes. Now... picking the perfect buttons...

PS - It looks like I'm not the only one excited about buttons.

Drink up!

With summer just around the corner, I'm probably not the only one thinking about frozen treats! I found this "authentic" Zuka (now Jamba) Juice recipe in a cookbook my grandma gave me. I'm not promising it's the exact recipe, but it has helped me turn out delicious smoothies!

MANGO-A-GO-GO™ SMOOTHIE (from Jann Denney)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups pineapple sherbet

1 cup passion fruit/mango juice blend from concentrate

1/2 mango

3 ice cubes

1 Tablespoon plain yogurt (optional)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender capable of chopping ice. Blend until ice is completely chopped and sherbet is mixed in well.

This recipe is amazing! I use this recipe as an ingredient/portion guide and then choose my own flavor of sherbet, juice, and fruit. The only type of sherbet I would be wary of is rainbow (that may not turn out very good all mixed together). For the juice, I have used Dole, Hawaii's Own, and Old Orchard brands. For the fruit, I do about a cup of frozen fruit (Western Family has a yummy "Tropical Blend" of strawberry, mango, and pineapple). The smoothie pictured above was made using raspberry sherbet, apple raspberry juice, and the WF Tropical Blend frozen fruit. It was yum!

Another little trick - if you have a favorite at Jamba Juice you want to recreate, go to their website and look up the ingredients for substitutions.

ENJOY!

Good things...

(like this wallet I made for Leslie)

come in small packages

(like this cute little envelope)!

This wallet is the perfect size for credit cards, business cards, even a pack of gum (a little snug - but a fit, nevertheless!). I have one like it in pink and brown and love it!

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