Dear Santa

Things I want for Christmas....
I would love this Kate Spade "Upstate Fillipa" Cross-Body bag in Eggplant.

Lush is Lush is Lush is the best!

Essie nail polish, especially J.Crew's colors for this season.


Will I get Flowerbomb in my stocking this year???

Leopard print Sammie flats from Banana Republic. Love them.

What do YOU want for Christmas???

P.S. Thank you Heidi for the inspiration!

Sundance

It is time once again for us Utah locals to register for tickets to the Sundance Film Festival. Do it here.

I know this is unrelated, but I also need to mention that Stephen took the GRE yesterday and got a great score! I am proud of him. He will be applying to 7 grad schools over the next month and a half. Good luck Stev-O.

end of summer fun

the past two and a half months have been really draining on me. since i started working at wells fargo full-time while keeping my part-time job at pottery barn kids i have had no time for rest and relaxation. i was pretty sad thinking that summer was almost over and i will be working full-time the rest of my life. so we decided it was time to take a mini-vacation.

stephen's grandparents have a cabin in bear lake that he hasn't been to since before his mission. (about seven years.) i'll be honest, i was kind of scared to go after hearing stories of an indoor hot-tub, dead animals found around the house, and strange scents. but for me, any vacation is a good vacation. and all the hype about the cabin turned out to be over-exaggerated.

we spent most of our trip outdoors. we went on a couple of hikes, went swimming, and laid out on the beach. at night time we sat on the deck and saw millions of stars, way more than i have seen anywhere else. although we weren't too far from home, it was just the break i needed.

here are some pictures.
here is the view of the lake from the deck of the cabin.


here we are on the deck. i am trying to get stephen to throw away this Schmit house shirt, i hate it!
beautiful bloomington lake. the water was so clear, so fresh.

stephen walking past some wild flowers. they were soooo beautiful and colorful.
"take a picture of me with the wild flowers!"

summer veggies

Today i picked our first cucumber of the season!
We are excited for the many tomatoes, peppers, squashes, and green beans to come.

le cruset

I got my first Le Cruset piece about 2 weeks ago and I love it! I just wish i didn't have such a tiny stove and oven.


I made this yummy braised rosemary pork roast from The Silver Spoon (which Stephen gave me as a "prize" for getting a new job)

Jazz

Stephen's cousin Russell called us last week and asked if we wanted to go to a jazz game with him and his wife Whitney. It was fun! My favorite part of the game was watching a guy sitting on the first row try to distract the players on the other team when they would shoot free-throws.Here he is with the megaphone
Opening and closing an umbrella
Tossing a basket-ball colored disk. The funny thing is I think they made nearly all if not all of the free-throw shots on that side of the court. Boozer slam dunkHere we are with some attentive fans

Lovely Orchids

Stephen surprised me with this beautiful orchid plant for Valentine's Day. I love him!

Holidays + New Years in Photos

Our Apartment

Here are some photos of our little apartment in married student housing. It took us a while to get settled, we were unpacking boxes up until about a week ago. Our apartment is very basic, cinder block walls, linoleum flooring, no a/c, dishwasher, or washer and dryer. But we have come to call it home!

A memorable evening

Last Thursday Stephen took me through the temple for the first time. It was a wonderful experience. I was nervous and scared leading up to the big day, but once I was there I felt peaceful and happy. My active family, Stephen's parents, siblings and sibling-in-laws all tried to make it to the temple, it was every sweet of them. Afterward we had dinner at Setebello, one of our favorite restaurants. It was wonderful.

Friendly Crafting

I totally stole this from Evelyn who stole it from Debra. But it is a great idea!

The first THREE people to comment on this post will get something made by me.
My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. You probably wont... at all. But ill try.
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely creative.

Additional rule added my me
6- I may change the rules at anytime.

Now you must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same deal to 5 of your own lucky blog readers. So, the first 3 people to leave a comment telling me they are in, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

This will be fun! Pass it along!

My grandmother is better than yours!

Daddy Daughter Day

Today my dad and I went to Rehoboth Beach!

Temple Square

Last weekend Stephen's grandparents gave us tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert in the Conference Center at Temple Square. I was feeling pretty sick that day but still enjoyed the concert. Afterward we walked around and looked at the beautiful lights at Temple Square.

Sundance 2009

Registration for Sundance Film Festival tickets begins today! Click Here

An Assignment

Go watch this movie.