A Few Of My Favorite Things

Hats & bangs

Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzards

Hanging out with my best friend

Stronger Every Day

This morning I woke up and found this: 

"My... love... for... you... grows... stronger... every... day"

...which led me around the corner to this:

:) :) :) I LOVE that husband of mine!

22 on the 22nd

We celebrated my golden birthday this weekend :) It was absolutely perfect, all thanks to my amazing hubby!

We spent Friday night at the Hard Rock Hotel, lounging by their beach-themed pools. 

Mmm... lovely...

Saturday morning we enjoyed a giant, mouith-watering breakfast at "The Egg & I." I'm sure I've never enjoyed biscuits and gravy quite so much as I did that morning. YUM!

THEN we made our way to Henderson, to partake of the heavenly deliciousness that is Rita's Italian Ice (my favorite treat when we lived in PA)

We made several shopping stops (just to pass the time) on our way to the Venetian...

...where my tedious quest to find some Shock Tarts finally came to an end! This shop is basically like a miniature, pink Willy Wonka factory.

I savored each bite of said candy, while I sat in a state of complete bliss, watching The Phantom of The Opera! 

I'm pretty stinkin' blessed to have such a good life, filled with people that I love. All 22 years have been something worth celebrating, and I suspect that my 23rd year of life may just be my best year yet!

Scanography Freebie!

I've heard it referred to as scan art, scanner photography, or scanography; I don't even know if it is considered to be an official form of art-making, but it should be, because it's sawwweet! We had a "scanography" assignment in one of my classes and I loved it so much that I convinced Ev to buy a fancy little scanner for Christmas! This is part of the first piece I created with it. I pulled this stuff out of my Mom's front yard, arranged it on the scanner glass, and scanned it at some ridiculously high dpi... (then threw in a little bit of creative editing) and voila! Easy peasy. Seriously, you should all try this. It is addicting.

I designed this poster set in two different colors. If you like 'em, you can have 'em! Download your favorite color in an 11x17 poster format, and don't forget to leave some love. Comments and suggestions are always appreciated! 

The Cutest Boy

Disclaimer: I'm not pregnant...

But sometimes when I look at these pictures of Evan...

.... I wish I was. 

Sometimes I seriously can't wait to have a houseful of mini-Evans to love and to look after. And if they grow up to be just like their daddy, I will consider my mothering career a success.

Fun at Tahiti Village

Remember back when this little babe came to visit? Well while she was here, my sister invited us to come float in the lazy river at the resort where they were staying! We had a lovely time, and they were excited to spend some time with their baby, after two whole days apart. Afterwards we all went out to Chili's for dinner and free Oreo molten cake! Yum! It was pretty much the perfect evening.

Car Troubles

Having car troubles seems to be our lot in life.

Last summer, the night before our wedding, the Subaru blew a head gasket, and eighteen-hundred dollars later, (luckily?) we were able to drive it to PA. There, we had more troubles, bringing the total to just over two-thousand dollars.

THIS summer, we spent another twelve hundred when they told us that it needed new struts, as well as rack and pinion. We were hoping that would fix the shuttering problem, but come to find out, what they really need is THOUSAND[S!!] of more dollars to fix the viscus coupling (who even knows what that is) and some clutch problems... and engine mounts... and probably a million other things. 

So... we came up with this brilliant strategy: Ignore it, and maybe it will go away.

We aren't really willing (or able) to pay to get it fixed, so we just let it sit, at home, all neglected and alone and broken. Evan has been driving my car instead; my trusty little Toyota, five years older than the Subaru and still goin' strong. The only grief it's ever given me is a dead battery in the midst of Rexburg's freezing winters. So you can imagine how my heart sank when I got a call from Evan in the airport, telling me that MY trusty little car completely shut down on his way to work. (Insert long, drawn out "Nnnnoooo!!!!")

Watching them tow away my old, faithful friend.

But guess what? One week, one tow, and 150 bucks later, MY car is back in business! Boo-yah!

The moral of the story isn't that Toyota is better than Subaru (you can draw your own conclusions, there). The moral of the story is that maybe you should keep your currently functional cars in your prayers and prepare for unexpected expenses, cause you never know when this kind of stuff might happen to you!

Those Rainy Nights

It was way past our bedtime, but we couldn't resist. We slipped into some sandals and stepped out onto the balcony, watching the lightning set the sky on fire, reminiscing about those rainy nights in Pennsylvania... I shivered as I felt the mist blow in from the waterfall that poured down from an unseen rooftop. Evan wrapped his arms around me and I wished for the rain to never end. I needed some time to soak it all in.

Mid-Summer Sacrifices

During the previously mentioned pillow talk session, Ev and I decided to make some mid-summer sacrifices. He committed to exercising at least three times a week, and I committed to staying off of Facebook for the rest of the summer! Facebook has a few up-sides... but they're far outweighed by the down-sides. I don't know about you guys, but being productive makes me happy! Sometimes Facebook stands in the way; always looming, just a click away, threatening to turn off my brain and steal an hour (or two) of my life away from me.


Thanks to my 15-year-old self for dramatically illustrating this point. (Facebook: shutting down my brain and eating away at my life.)

[Not sure why I never deleted this picture, but now I'm so glad I kept it.] 

Here's the thing. I know that most of you only ever visit this sad little blog when you come across a link to it on Facebook. SO... if by chance, you still want to get updates, you could either join our three little followers over there <---- or you could follow by e-mail over there ---> easy peasy!

So there you have it. You can ALL hold me accountable now! Anyone up to making some mid-summer sacrifices of your own?

Pillow Talk

Evan and I had a major pillow talk session last night (love him)! For hours, we discussed a variety of random things that have been on our minds. We laughed... I cried... and, eventually, we fell asleep.

Not to get all serious on you or anything, but I thought I might blog about one of the things we discussed: 


Friendship.


You know those people who just emit energy and awesomeness? It's like they have some kind of giant magnetic force-field around them that sucks people in? They are always happy and bubbly, and oh, so nice? Everybody wants to be their best friend? 


Well... I am not one of those people.


Here I sit, almost 22 years old, and the only CLOSE friends I have are the ones I am related to and the one I am married to! Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "woe is me, the friendless loser." I mean, according to Facebook, I have plenty of friends! ;) I am grateful for those people, but I wish that I had more of those really deep, meaningful relationships, the ones that last even when it's no longer convenient. Unfortunately, I feel like I am the socially-awkward type, and I can't seem to establish (and sustain) REAL friendships. Ev and I tossed some ideas back and forth to try and figure out why that is. Eventually, we came to this conclusion:

I am a perfectionist. I would have the world believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with me (ha...ha)! For that reason, I tend to be cautious when I interact with others. It's difficult to loosen up, let go of my fear, and be myself. I'm afraid that if I show my weird, quirky, dorky side that people will judge me and won't want to be my friend anymore. Silly, right? I know deep down that exactly the OPPOSITE is true! Great friendships are forged when you get to know and see someone as they really are (flaws, quirks and all) and still love them. Of course, not everyone is going to like me, and not everyone is going to be a "kindred spirit" and forever friend, but how would ever I find out if they were unless I put myself out there a little? 


So, to those of you who I have closed myself off to, I'm sorry. Chances are I've observed your awesomeness and thought to myself: "I wish I could get to know her better...maybe we would be really good friends..." I'm sorry that I kept to myself, and denied us both the opportunity to start what could have been an amazing friendship. I hope that someday I'll get another chance.


FYI: Tara is responsible for the picture above. She is amazing, and a link to her blog can be found right over there -->

Lucky Me

Apparently, someone like this guy...

...lives in the apartment above us.

I wake up, almost daily now, to the sound of his voice, seeping through our bedroom ceiling. It begins with a little off-key blaring, followed by his daily screamo exercises. And when he's done with this solo rehearsal, he cranks up some death metal on his over-sized speakers, for all to enjoy.

Ahhh, the joys of apartment living.

A Little Piece of Heaven

This weekend, Jon and Ashlee introduced us to Mt. Charleston...

...a little piece of heaven, right next to a big chunk of "Hades" (aka Vegas).

The 30 degree temperature drop and the smell of pines and campfire dinners was well worth the 45 minute drive. I am already planning our next trip to this new found haven of ours. Can't wait!

Something Good

Evan took me out to see this lovely little park he discovered.

Hmm...maybe it isn't impossible to find something good in Vegas, after all.

Mr. Chapman

Evan and I are reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I've known about the book for quite some time but have never actually read it, so I borrowed a copy from my Mom when I went home to visit.
The second chapter is titled "Keeping the Love Tank Full." And in it, Mr. Chapman explains:

"At the heart of mankind's existence is the desire to be intimate and to be loved by another. Marriage is designed to meet that need for intimacy and love." 

He then introduces the "love tank" idea, explaining that marriages that are full of withdrawal, misbehavior, harsh words and a critical spirit may simply be the result of an empty love tank, waiting to be filled. He said:

"I'm convinced that keeping the emotional love tank full is as important to a marriage as maintaining the proper oil level is to an automobile"

The rest of the book (though we haven't read it yet) supposedly centers around this idea, explaining that there are five basic love languages, and when we speak the language of our spouse, we will be able to fill their emotional love tank and improve the quality of our marriage.


Ev and I have only been married for a year (+2 months!) but I think it's safe to say we're past twitterpation. We're not strangers to some of the "hard stuff" in marriage and the whole love tank idea struck a chord with us. You might as well know now that we are suckers for this kind of thing. We have always been quite open with each other. We are not "too cool" to share our feelings. We are both sensitive and emotional, and though it may be both a blessing and a curse, I love it! And frankly, I think that is a huge part of the reason I fell in love with Evan. He is one in a million.


SO. We decided to make our own little love tanks to hang on the frig! :)

Cute, right? Or maybe just corny. Oh well, I love it. And I think Mr. Chapman would be proud ;)

Rainy 4th

It rained in Vegas! It was the first rain we've seen since we moved here in April. And of course, it just happened to be on the fourth of July.

Before the rain, we all went to the Summerlin Parade. 

During the rain, we went to Cafe Rio for lunch, played games, watched a movie, and took a couple of naps. 

After the rain, we went on base to see the fireworks, and Jon showed us the F16!

Unfortunately I only brought a camera along for the after-rain-festivities. 

It really wasn't bad, overall. I mean, it definitely seemed bizarre to spend the majority of the fourth indoors, but how can you complain about rain in a place like Vegas?

Home = Heavan

I can't believe how quickly my time in Utah flew by. Ten days felt like two, and I found myself on an airplane, glaring down at Vegas, willing the plane to turn around and take me back home again. But when Evan picked me up at the airport, I had to admit that being with him feels more like home than anything else. And I was content.

As a side note, the flight from SLC to Vegas was saaaweet! We were only in the air for 45 minutes, I got pretzels and a drink, AND my whole row was empty, so I moved from my assigned aisle seat to the window seat to enjoy the view :) Not bad. Not bad at all.