kakie

Small Town Dreamin

2012-01-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

The other night I dreamed that Regan and I moved to Monticello, Utah and then that we moved to Manti, Utah. It was like two simultaneous lives, showing how we'd live in each place. I loved it.

In Monticello, we lived in the house my mom grew up in and my grandpa still lives in. (Sorry, grandpa) We had I think 3 kids and we were renovating the whole house but I was weirdly adamant about some things like that no one touch the store room or the garage because they MUST maintain the same smell they'd had my whole life. I wish I could picture the whole new layout because I've thought many times (while awake) about how I could somehow make that house work for me to raise a family in. On a side note, I'd like to know how many of the 50 grandkids would fight me for this honor. Just curious. Anyway, we had a 10-ish-year-old son that was pretty ticked that we moved there. But obviously, I knew he'd be fine after his first summer of baseball. We all would. No idea what Regan did for a living there. Head up a new Design program at the high school? Work remotely from the shed? Endless possibilities, really.

In Manti, I don't remember as many details. Except that I drove some kind of old boxy car and we had a bunch of scraggly kids. We lived in a really old house that had been renovated (sensing a theme here) and we had a huge yard. I just remember driving through town with all the kids in the boxy car and passing other families in similar situations. Basically it felt like the cover of the old Cheaper By the Dozen book but in real life. Here, Regan taught design at Snow College in Ephraim. And sometimes the 6 mile commute annoyed us.

I'm surprised Pinedale, Wyoming wasn't on this list but maybe another night. I'm pretty sure I idealize small towns. I woke up feeling very nostalgic and wishing either of those could somehow be in our near future. Then again, if they were, I might wake up feeling nostalgic about living in a giant city full of people and trains and garbage.

New York Christmas

2012-01-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Mostly I just felt like we couldn't move on here until I proved that we did, in fact, celebrate Christmas. I don't have much else to say except that any grand, romantic ideas you have about a couple's first married Christmas spent in New York City is probably not how it was. Unless you were thinking of movies and puzzles and hot chocolate and walks and naps and never going to the city or waking up very early or over-extending ourselves in any way. Then you're dead on and you should come hang out with us.

Mt Vernon

2011-12-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Maryland this year. We're really glad to have family close enough to spend holidays with. We went to Mt. Vernon while we there and I loved everything about it. Especially the view of the Potomac from the back porch/lawn. I could have stayed there all day but we had Five Guys and leftover pie to get back to.

I had a birthday

2011-11-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm 27. That feels okay I guess.

But you know what feels way better than okay? Talking to lots of family and friends. And singing voicemail messages! We went to dinner at a friend's house and when we left I had 4 of them and they each made me very happy.

Also of note: A perk of marrying a designer- custom/coordinating wrapping on all my gifts. Which is something I truly appreciate. And Regan made his first cake (solo) and it was DELICIOUS. Pear Oatmeal with this gooey coconut/walnut stuff on top. Has he been hiding this skill so as to not step on my baking toes? Secret's out.

We're heading to DC tomorrow after work for a long weekend! Please bless the traffic isn't bad, that I can make the sweet potatoes as good as Linsey did, that our bus has steady wi-fi, and that baby Colette still likes me.

We've been married for 8 months.

just cute things

2011-11-09T16:05:00.001-07:00

- Regan doesn't know how to roll his eyes. How do you get to be 26 without ever rolling your eyes? I think I've been doing that since I was 2.
- We realized the other day that we got married on the 1-year anniversary of our second 1st kiss. We didn't even realize we were doing such a cute thing!
- We're slowly making some real friends here but for the most part, we're still kinda all we have in this city. I'm glad that isn't getting old at all. I was a little nervous that it would, ya know?
- We watch a show and play a board game almost every night. Sometimes we read a book. And make/eat lots of popcorn. Sometimes I get sad that we only have 3-4 hours to hang out each day and then I think about people with kids and/or jobs and I guess we've got it pretty good for now.
- One time (tons of times) I made a list of things I wanted in a husband and "he plays with my hair" was right above "he loves me" (I was young). Point is, Regan LIKES to play with my hair and does it without even noticing that he is. Bonus.
- Gmail keeps yelling at me because I'm running out of storage space and I need to delete things. I didn't know where to start so I just started choosing a person, typing in their name, and deleting all my correspondence with them. Mostly old boyfriends and stuff. Talk about entertaining/depressing. I read through a few things and I do not understand what I was thinking/doing. And I certainly don't know how I ended up married (to such a good person). We talk about that a lot. How being married has not given us any more insight into how people get married. We re-cap our entire courtship about once a month and laugh about how it somehow got us here. It's just a crazy thing that happens. I still agree most with Cousin Rob's theory: "find another person who wants to get married and spend time with them until you want to marry each other." It sounds so unromantic/practical, but it gets more romantic the more I think about it.
- Autumn is in full swing. The trees glow when the sun hits them, it's awesome. I'm trying to let this make up for the fact that it's dark at 5pm. I'll try to get some pictures before it's all gone.

p.s. I'm starting a job at paper source tomorrow. Please bless I like it, and that the discount is good.

Sister Sister

2011-11-04T17:57:00.000-06:00

Shortly after Carrie's departure, my sister came from DC to visit and see New York for the first time. It was nice weather and I think we hit a pretty good foundation of this place. Next time she comes we can take it to the next level. We walked a lot and ate a lot. Here's what I remember: picking her up from the bus (and waldy's pizza), the high line (and doughnut plant), Strand bookstore (and falafel), NY public library (and shake shack), The Met (and those cupcakes from the cute cupcake cart), getting pretty turned around in central park, Brooklyn Bridge (and grimaldis), a fancy haircut (and that pie!), trying to fix our bathroom sink and instead discovering a hole-filled pipe (and take-out thai food), church (and lots of leftovers). We were bummed the Statue of Liberty tours were all sold out because it's closing for a year and we really want to go in that museum inside the base of her! Obviously we loved having her and it felt so nice to know that she's close and can come back again so we weren't stressed about doing every single thing and could just take our time eating and walking.

Boom

2011-11-02T15:59:00.001-06:00

I convinced myself I didn't care about winning. Until we won.

carrie!

2011-10-28T17:54:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, we had our first New York house guest. Carrie came to see us! It was so fun to have a different kind of vacation life than I usually have. And further motivated me to get some friends that live in this city because it was so fun to have someone to do things with. Imagine that! Anyway, we mostly shopped (I think we went in 5 H&Ms) and ate (We're getting a pretty serious list of favorites) and walked and neither of us are picture takers but we've got this one of us not looking like ourselves in a rainy Prospect Park:

And this one of Taylor Swift outside of Macy's to promote her new fragrance. We waited for so long but this is as close as she got. Close enough for us to want her dress and see that she was wearing tons of makeup. Which is pretty good I'd say.

Come back soon, Carrie!

p.s. Regan was so excited for our visitor to come that he accidentally cleaned our whole bathroom in SHOUT! stain remover. I thought that was pretty cute.

Toddlers & Tiaras

2011-10-06T18:01:00.002-06:00

As I watch my 26th episode of Toddlers & Tiaras, I am having these emotions:

Disgust/sadness- Fairly obvious but it really grosses me out to see how many moms will put fake hair, teeth, nails, tans, eyelashes, etc. on their 3-year-olds. Not to mention the physical and psychological stress. These ladies are crazy in so many different ways and they're kids are paying the price. That's really how you want them to think life works?

Smugness- Because 1. my unborn children already have such a better chance at a healthy normal life than any of these kids and 2. any of my nieces or nephews (oh yeah, there are boy divisions in these things) would cream any of the ones on this show without any of that fake junk. Easily.

Confusion- 1. Their names are usually something like Eden, Sparkal, Diamond, Kragen, Angelle, Jaigen, etc. 2. At least half of the kids hate doing it and are completely miserable and rotten to their parents. and 3. They spend crazy amounts of money to go these pageants and the highest cash prize I've ever seen awarded was $750 and that's only for 1 girl. Such a waste! Put them in rec center soccer if you want them to learn some life lessons without ruining them forever and without getting yourself a 3rd part-time job to pay for it.

Fear- Our netflix wedding gift subscription is about up and I am scared 1. no one will ever let us bum off theirs now that they know the trash I watch. 2. I'll never find anything as entertaining to keep me company during my silent, lonely days and 3. once in a while there's a really cute girl that stays natural and actually likes doing the pageants, and then I think it's all really cute.

Loyalties

2011-09-22T14:52:00.000-06:00

We think we're Mets fans/not Yankees fans
We don't think we'll ever be Red Bulls fans cuz their fans are rude

We're forever IKEA fans but that doesn't mean I'm excited to figure out how to turn these and a stack of plywood into a dresser.
So far, definitely fans of autumn weather in New York. Everyone told us and I think everyone was right.

This guy is our #1 fan. He hangs out on our fire escape or in our tree all day long.

Oh, and 6 months of marriage, we're major fans of that.

Fashion Week

2011-09-10T08:36:00.001-06:00

In honor of fashion week happening a few miles away, I've been shifting my netflix viewing to fashion based shows/movies. Here's what I've seen so far:

Sort of a stretch but hey, the mom is a fashion designer.

About the high-fashion modeling industry, I liked this one. Even though it's sad.

This was just meh. But it was sorta a Project Runway movie so I loved that aspect.

I could watch this movie every day. She's so fascinating to watch.

Ditto.

My new nephew is cuter than your new nephew

2011-09-09T22:14:00.000-06:00

Anders is here! He's been here for 11 days and we're all so excited. I can't get over his perfect coloring and round everything. Adoption is a miracle on top of any baby being a miracle. It's just incredible. Anyway, we love him a lot and I can't wait to see him in real life and not just on a computer screen.

(Regan said that post title was too annoying to use so I used it.)

Rockaway Beach Baby

2011-09-06T21:59:00.000-06:00

For Regan's birthday/day off we went to Rockaway Beach (it's to the south/east of us in Queens and about 75 minutes away by subway, not bad at all). It wasn't very hot but I'm sure glad we went when we did cuz it's rain on the forecast for as many days as we can see now. We like the beach for being the beach but, admittedly, our main motivation for choosing Rockaway was this taco stand. And it did not disappoint. We ate there walking to and from the beach. Really the beach in between was more of a technicality. (okay not really. but sorta.) They also had italian ice and a veggie stand and a surf shop. All attached to each other. But we couldn't really be bothered by those when we had tacos to eat.

When we got home we got Thai take-out and ate it on our roof (so new york, right?). It felt so good up there (we don't have AC) that we both accidentally, promptly fell asleep after eating and woke up in a panic that it'd been hours. And anyway, I think it's safe to say that this September 5th, our lives are better than they were last September 5th. Here's to keeping that trend going for about infinity more years!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

2011-09-04T21:12:00.001-06:00

Saturday we wandered around all day. Starting at the farmer's market and ending at an over-priced mexican dinner (but they had the best/teeniest empanada appetizer thing). I'm starting to think everything we eat here will be 'over-priced' and I should just get over it. Our least favorite part was 1800mattress.com store and our favorite part was the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I haven't figured out how to bring a camera everywhere we go so here are 2 phone pictures.

Check these out! I have no idea what they are but they're growing out of the ground and we loved them.

Regan defiling nature for the sake of love

p.s. the brooklyn IKEA is the craziest scene I've ever been a part of. Hopefully that's just cuz it was Labor Day Saturday?

And Now

2011-08-28T12:12:00.000-06:00

The perfect way to spend a very breezy yet peaceful Sunday after a hurricane. Cinnamon waffles with fresh peaches and an entire season of Project Runway. Maybe some unpacking if we get ambitious.

(We woke up a few times in the night to check out the crazy winds/rains but no major damage around here. Just a new giant pond for Prospect Park and a freezer full of frozen water bottles for us. Pretty lucky cuz we still get to say we lived through a hurricane but we haven't actually had to deal with anything unpleasant. Please bless that continues.)

Who's Next?

2011-08-27T19:21:00.001-06:00

Chatting with Baby Milo- best way to pass the time waiting for a hurricane to hit us. Hands down.

The Last Wedding

2011-08-23T16:58:00.001-06:00

I can't believe we're all married. We had 5 weddings in 5 years then none for 7 years then 3 in the last 18 months. It's just crazy that we're all paired up now. I love it. Anyway, here are a million pictures: (mostly of babies. the real ones I stole from Lacey)

Maggie wins this one. Or maybe Will. Or John.

Classic

Not sure why I can't stand normal

3 Cheers at the luncheon

Liza Loo

Charmer

I think these guys should always wear bowties

girl cousins

Only answers to Buckwild

Shaggy Cute Owen

Part of something much greater than this

Maddy always shows Bear a good time

Grandma teaching Anna some moves

Things I'm Learning (part 1, I'm sure)

2011-08-23T15:57:00.002-06:00

I don't care for humidity (silver lining: I don't need any lotion here)
I need an iphone
"Close" is a very relative concept
How to not be freaked out by the fact that there are always going to be lots of people around me
Even "nice" air mattresses aren't that nice
I may have brought too much stuff (still, somehow, even though it's about 50% of what I owned 3 months ago)
I don't own comfortable shoes
I really like parks (in the daylight)
I'm not much of a solo adventurer
It rains a lot in New York in August (but "Just wait for Fall!!" They tell me)
Being a mormon is probably going to really save my life out here

There are so many things I am not believing

2011-08-15T07:18:00.001-06:00

John and Lacey are married.
Our family reunion was awesome but obviously way too short.
I have a husband again!
I live in New York now.
I need to find a job somehow.
Our place is perfect minus the gunk that comes with really old buildings. For example, we have a wooden toilet seat. But we're working on that.
Everyone in our ward is so nice. And mostly from Utah. And everyone has awesome careers.
It's been pouring rain since I got here and I haven't minded at all.
I have no idea how we're going to get our 1600 pounds of stuff up our 4 stories of stairs.
Regan committed me to go on one individual venture today but I don't know if I'm ready for that.
Groceries are expensive and grocery stores are tiny.
Sleeping/living on an air mattress feels a lot like sleeping/living on a water bed. I bet.
So far, I feel like I'm just on vacation.

I'm Living in a Pile of Piles

2011-08-03T09:11:00.000-06:00

To sell to strangers
To sell to family
To pack for wedding/reunion
To pack for New York
To give to family
To give to friends
To give to DI
To store indefinitely

Sure is fun!

Park Slope-original home of the Brooklyn Dodgers

2011-07-30T18:05:00.001-06:00

Just when we'd basically hit our breaking point of a. being apart and b. having basically every part of our life an big unknown right now, Regan found us a place to live! Isn't it amazing how one piece of progress can change everything? Phew. So it's in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, New York. That's probably not how you write that. And I keep calling the subway the metro. I've got a lot to learn. Anyway, Regan knows how to sell me on a place because the first thing he sent me about the area was the "Baseball History" blurb from the wikipedia page. I'm a sucker for baseball. Especially from way back then. Anyway, our street looks like this:

And we have an intercom to buzz people up. And a ceiling fan. And a costco 2.2 miles away. And a Target 1.3 miles away. (Just ya know, for when I need a familiar face.) So I'm sold.

honeymoon

2011-07-23T23:57:00.002-06:00

Did I ever tell you about our honeymoon? No? What kinda blog is this? Let's do it. We stayed a night at the Aria in Vegas (coolest place. mostly because it had a master room controller thing so we could turn so many things on and off without hardly moving. I know they aren't new but I'd never seen one.) Then we flew to San Diego for the week. Mostly we just hung out on our cool deck eating our room service breakfast basking in the fact that this scenario will probably never happen again. (berry french toast. every morning.)

One day we went to the zoo. Turns out flamingos were our favorite. Those swirly necks don't get enough credit.

This giant panda was a close second.

And here's Regan with his best friends. He couldn't get enough of those La Jolla seals. I'm not being sarcastic. Also, it was rainy and windy and cold and we didn't care.

Here's a group shot some lady made us take.

We ate Thrifty ice cream at every opportunity. Hasn't changed in 20 years. And obviously neither have their store graphics.

Sometimes we just went here cuz it was in our parking lot. I debated about the same shoes every time and never bought them. Still think about them. Learn your lesson here, folks.

And here I am with my best friends. The ranuncula fields in Carlsbad. I was SO excited to go and it was pretty disappointing. This one display area was cool but the 55 acres were pretty barren. I guess we were too early to catch them like THIS! I'd probably go back at least 5 times to try to catch that though.

There was a maze you could walk through made of sweet peas. Mom- you would have loved it.

I stole one for the drive to Long Beach because it was the best colors I've ever seen.

Then we hung out with Rory at the airport/flew home/wished it could last forever.

Wyoming + The 4th

2011-07-20T21:34:00.000-06:00

There's just not a better combination.

babies having babies

lady with her awesome bangs

baby cody

never get sick of seeing this out the window

growing too fast

Regan moved to New York today

2011-07-19T17:39:00.001-06:00

It feels really weird. For lots of reasons. Like because I still live here in an apartment with all of our stuff still living here. And because we found out a week ago that this was happening. And because I still don't believe I'm moving there in a month (26 days). I'm nervous about lots of big (finding an apt/paying our bills/finding a job/being lost/homesickness/how should we move all our stuff?) and small (how do you get popsicles home from the store before they melt?) things but I'm trying to focus on the positive things. Like that Regan starts a dream job tomorrow. And how I can just go sit here or here whenever I want. And how someday we're going to spend a weekend in this cabin. And go to baseball games in DC/Boston/NY/NY! And how our friends/family are going to be visiting us all the time. Right guys?

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T14:27:00.000-06:00

The older I get, the more I understand what my dad gave up/put in to be the dad he is to us. (Not to mention the husband he is to my mom and the son he is to his mother and the brother he is to his brothers, and the grandpa he is to the babies, etc.) It's not easy having 8 kids. I wish I would have thought about that for one second as a child. But I guess the fact that I never did is just more proof of my good parents. Good thing we've still got tons of years for me to appreciate him. And isn't it just about the best thing in the world to see brothers/cousins/friends become dads? There's nothing better.

Some Reviews

2011-06-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

Movie to see: Super8

The kids make it all worth it. They're perfect. (And of course, Coach Taylor) Even though I really really really wish they would have kept it more simple and cut out the special effects, crazy unrealistic stuff, politics, and cheesiness. Would have been more suspenseful, more funny, more meaningful, etc. Like Hollywood cares about any of that though, right?

TV show to watch (besides Bachelorette of course): Shark Tank

Seems like I'd hate it because these people are so extreme but I can't get enough. People bring their businesses to these 5 billionaire business sharks and cut deals with them/get torn apart by them. It's so entertaining. And they go through the people fast so it's easy to watch.

Music to listen to: Bon Iver

I know it's not technically out yet but pretty much everyone's been listening to it. (Sorry, Justin) It's really good. Really really good. So pretty. A couple songs sound like Phil Collins which makes Regan mad and makes me happy. So look out for that.

Social Media to try for the 50th time: Twitter

I guess it's okay but I think my real problem is that I need an smart/iphone to really enjoy it.

Ipad Game that still rules so much: Bejeweled

Regan and I tag-team it and we're almost to 2mill on the scoreboard. Just saying. It's what we see when we close our eyes.

While I'm at it, here are some other things I've been enjoying a lot lately that aren't media-related (I got a bit depressed after reading that post): summer softball with friends, the pork burrito at this place, eating pounds of strawberries, finally starting our awesome line-a-day journal, good news about babies all over the place, windows-open weather, etc.

one year ago today

2011-06-14T23:18:00.007-06:00

I flew to Rome all by myself to hang out with my boyfriend for a while. Right about this time we were probably wandering around the train station looking for each other. (Regan told me to meet him at the cow statue at the Rome train station but there were 30 cow statues at the Rome train station. And, I forgot to call him and tell him I'd be 5 hours late. Add in jetlag, exhaustion, heat, and some creepy cab drivers and we were off to a great start.) Although I don't regret it, (Actually, I'm really happy I did it) I don't exactly know how I'm going to explain this one to our teenage daughters.

oh target

2011-06-10T15:26:00.000-06:00

As if they really needed to tighten their hold on me. Especially when it comes to their baby clothes section. It's a good thing these don't come in bigger sizes too or I might maybe have bought 17 (!) of them today.

Remember This?

2011-06-09T22:54:00.001-06:00

Best Day.
(Regan's gone again this week to New York, and I'm out of Say Yes to the Dress episodes.)

If you are ever feeling down on your luck-

2011-06-01T13:23:00.000-06:00

Just know that you are miles ahead of most anyone working and/or patronizing the Beaver, UT Wendy's.

*Can I exclude myself and my family/friends from this even though I've been there a million times?
**I still like small Utah towns, it wasn't that. It was a whole lot of other stuff. I hope.

About Time!

2011-05-24T23:22:00.000-06:00

We hosted our first house guest this weekend. I think it was a success because Justin Bieber, Haagen Dazs, homemade waffles, every store in the valley, fireworks and a baseball game, fruit soup, an entire season of Say Yes to The Dress, triplet laptopping, and way too much sugar were all involved. I don't know how to more clearly define success.

You know what's kind of fun?

2011-05-24T23:18:00.000-06:00

Listening to a LIVE U2 concert in it's entirety, and with pretty good sound, from the comfort of your living room couch. We did it tonight and it was awesome. We could understand all the words. And just shut the window when Bono started talking (blabbing about politics and stuff.) Win-win.

BTW, Win Win the movie is really good. But there are kinda a lot of swears.

Till my daddy takes the T-bird away

2011-05-16T13:24:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's fun to pretend like you're picking out which house you'll live in on every street you go down. Or to make up stories about the mysterious people at the laundromat. Or be really sure you'd be much better parents than that one in front of you at the soccer game. (We would though I swear. These kids were regular Lipnickys) Or have in-depth discussions about kitchen tile and layouts at Ikea. Or try as hard as you can to find some thing, any thing, to spend your Kohl's giftcard money on (who shops there?). Or pretend like your little brother's upcoming wedding is a reason to start looking at wedding blogs again. And it's definitely fun to play catch at the park on a sunny Sunday afternoon. But when your partner in all this throws (catches) his neck out, you might think the fun is all over. But then he builds a really funny pillow bed throne thing so that he can still laptop and boom, it's back!

Moon River/Nevermind

2011-05-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

I came here to write a post about our ridiculous battle to get a humongous water leak in our apartment fixed and had some really good one liners almost worked out in my head (washing my dishes with our neighbor's shower water and wondering if a drywall bath is as beneficial as a mud bath and how it's kinda cool to come home to a huge hole in your bathroom wall with no explanation for it (hadn't worked out the one-liner for that point yet) and stuff) but then someone posted this video and I watched it and then I didn't really care as much. Plus Regan's (thank heavens) finally on a plane back here right now and he got a whole row to himself. So, whatever.

Now a little more about FAST5

2011-05-06T10:33:00.000-06:00

I 100% enjoyed my 2 hours spent with this movie. (proof: I didn't even almost fall asleep. Even with a full stomach of Cinco de Mayo food.) Here are some things I think greatly improved my experience and my advice to anyone going to see this:

- See it at a mall theater. Preferably one with an Abercrombie&Fitch so that you can walk by it before and be properly scented for the experience. (I even woke up the next morning smelling a tiny hint of that stuff and it made me smile.)
- See it in Utah so that you can share the theater with a bunch of 8-year-olds
- Laugh when you want to laugh, gasp when you want to gasp, so NO WAY! when you want to say NO WAY! Trust me, the movie's loud enough to cover most of that up and no one around you will care anyway
- Don't think about all the hundreds of people driving the cars that they're demolishing during their chases/gun fights. It'll ruin it. Just keep saying 'they're just cars, empty cars.'
- Don't worry about anything logistical
- Don't expect any surprises in dialogue/plot/anything
- DO expect to see A LOT of muscle. The Rock & Vin were obviously in a showdown for hugest/oiliest bodies. It's unbelievable.
- Do picture Paul Walker as the Deedle you met him as. Every time he comes on screen.

I think that's it. It really is a no-lose situation.

What'd you expect?

2011-05-06T08:19:00.000-06:00

This is what I'm gonna do if I've been married for a month then my husband goes to new york for a whole week wihout me:
cut my hair
go see Fast5
eat cereal for dinner
fall asleep on the couch every night
not do the dishes/laundry/etc
not do the 80 projects I looked forward to doing
remember what i liked about new york
watch Sweet Home Alabama a few times
be bored
get new tires on my car
talk to myself a lot
try to play Fruit Ninja v. myself
contemplate buying a same-day ticket to new york
realize I'm a baby

How do people do this when they have real lives?

Who doesn't love Ira Glass?

2011-05-05T23:20:00.000-06:00

I know I do. I also love this thing he said:
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
— Ira Glass

Pins now 3/3

2011-05-02T10:56:00.001-06:00

Baked Tomato Pasta with Spinach

Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas

Also, don't look now, but I'm pretty sure I've conquered yeast.

Next up, making something non-edible.

boise

2011-04-27T12:20:00.000-06:00

I blame my indecision about weekend trips on the idea that last minute road trips are always more exciting than planned out ones. Right? Right. Coming home frantically at lunch to pack and all that? It's just more fun. Anyway, we went to Boise this weekend to hang out with Bec/Adam/Maddy and we didn't take a single picture. But we did learn a few things:
-We need a dog and a yard and a hammock
-Reese's eggs come in 5lb size
-Many of the babies already prefer Regan to me (what gives?? I think his name's just fun to say)
-Rain Berry gatorade smells just like those awesome anthropologie volcano candles
-Swedish pancakes can be improved upon (sorry dad)
-Tri-tip can't (for me at least, sorry bec)
-Everything's more fun with Maddy around
-Carting laundry 5 hours is way better than paying $14 to do it
-Regan's High School marching band uniform included a cape (you read all of that right)
-Pizza's still the best thing to eat way too much of
-I'm not a good decorating consultant after all
-We kinda felt like we were home when we got home, so that was nice

Putting my money where my pins are

2011-04-27T11:32:00.000-06:00

Hi guys, I'm pretty obsessed with pinterest (basically tumblr but only for girls with really similar style/interests/etc and more organized). Which doesn't really matter to anyone else. But I'm gonna try really hard to actually make the things I have in there and use it for what it's worth and then I'll let you know if stuff is awesome. Example 1- this bread:

These aren't my pictures because these were already so pretty. But it really does turn out this nice. I recommend making it, even though it was kinda a pain. I don't, however, recommend splitting the entire loaf with only one other person. Oops.

A Month

2011-04-19T22:24:00.002-06:00

So far we've moved into our first apartment together together.
We've watched our first movie on our first joint netflix account (Breaking Away). And we'd probably be watching our 2nd (Catfish) but neither of us want to give up our laptops for the cause.
We've had our first giant water leak in our first apartment together.
We've had our first game of catch as a married couple.
We've had our first million quesadillas as a married couple.
We've done our first laundry at our laundry room together.
We've almost made our first new married friends from the ward together. (almost.)

(Basically life is kinda just the same but way different and way better.)

Chuck-a-rama

2011-04-15T12:18:00.001-06:00

Some mistakes are just too fun to stop making

in between

2011-04-07T01:51:00.001-06:00

Apparently I only know how to fall asleep at 9pm or 3am.
It's now somewhere between those so this is our lives:

Me-
being silently obsessed with Pinterest with some sporadic outbursts of "everyone on the internet already has my style!" and "will you make me this?"

practicing Fruit Ninja because Regan kills me every time

debating if it's too late to go bake some bread (we're out but I keep swearing we never have to buy bread again cuz I'm going to make so much of it.)

Thinking about how nice people are

Staring at Bunny fish and wishing I had her energy and enthusiasm for life

Wondering why on earth the newest Amazing Race episode isn't online yet

Him:
Working hard on his portfolio book (never-ending)

Laughing at my jokes

Singing top40 stuff out loud on accident

Pounding Gatorades

So is it better to write these posts or nothing at all? I'm on the fence.

Reality

2011-04-01T13:37:00.002-06:00

Now we spend all day at work wishing we were at home

flipping through my new cookbooks
organizing things
feeding bunny
writing thank you notes
making a budget
naming imaginary children (we can't help it)
playing sorry
talking about our wedding
baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
talking or not talking for hours
watching a movie
sitting on the couch
cleaning everything

Dreamland

2011-04-01T11:13:00.000-06:00

And there are about 1 million more where those came from.

Best day of my life.

8 days

2011-03-11T12:52:00.002-07:00

Here's hoping today's the day we find a place to live so that we can move into it tomorrow!

The Head and the Heart

2011-03-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

let it be known

2011-03-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Being in a room with most of my best girl friends for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon feels fantastic. (the delicious food and tons of great presents were a bonus after that)

I feel sad right now as I pack up everything I own to move out of this house that I love and away from these people that I love.

It's a really strange feeling to have huge life changes an arm's length away.

I love the rain.

Best One

2011-03-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Hands down

my room is officially a victim of my wedding

2011-02-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

But at least it'll have the company of ALL my house plants

Speaking of weekends

2011-02-25T03:22:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I accidentally treat Thursday like a weekend. Which makes for a really fun Thursday and a really sorry kakie on a really long Friday.

The best kinda way to spend a weekend

2011-02-25T03:15:00.001-07:00

Hanging out with these babies:

And of course the John Boy and of course my Regan and of course mom and dad and siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins and old friends. And of course delicious delicious food everywhere and walking over a cool new dam bridge and of course having a bridal shower and of course wearing summer pants and of course finding the most perfect groom suit and shoes and of course seeing Jill for a second and of course playing 100 games including new Brazilian ones (and seeing my dad laugh himself to tears a few times) and of course the rickety top bunk and of course our master wedding planning meeting (uh, 22 days you guys) and of course being so happy to be exactly where I was. I love it when that happens.

TODAYYYYYYY

2011-02-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

John Boy returns. Can not wait to see that little twerp.

um, i need to tell you something

2011-02-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

I saw Never Say Never last night and legitimately 100% enjoyed it. And fine, I was inspired. I'm officially obsessed with Justin and with Jaden. Oops.

There aren't cuter possible faces!

Let's just make this tradition

2011-02-14T11:58:00.002-07:00

I looked like this one year ago? I miss those babies.

It'd be souper to go to the dance with you

2011-02-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

Some people just wouldn't see the romance in bailing on a fancy, planned Valentine's date to saw and drill and stain a ton of wood for some wedding centerpieces and then going to American Fork Zupa's covered in sawdust and people watching for 2 hours. (There was some type of high school preference dance going on or something. Poor tortured teenage souls! Lucky on-looking us!) Anyway, I think the point is that I'm lucky to have him.

You know what's entertaining?

2011-02-11T01:03:00.001-07:00

The Cosby Show!
A close second: being engaged

who doesn't want to be these people?

2011-02-10T10:00:00.002-07:00

EF - Live The Language - Barcelona from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

See other cities here

This isn't a eulogy but kinda

2011-02-04T16:04:00.003-07:00

We're losing really bad but let's focus on the positive-
Look at all the cool people on the internet that loved us enough to link our thing!:
SeeSaw (on twitter)
Say Yes to Hoboken
You Are My Fave
DesignMom (on twitter)
Abby
Hannah
Jill
Veronica
Emily
struckaxiom

And probably other people and like a ton of people on facebook. So thanks for that! Plus it's not too late to vote (it goes till midnight) so head on over and make us feel less like losers!

Can't wait to talk about something else soon!

Help Us Help Us!

2011-01-31T07:57:00.001-07:00

Hi, Regan and I entered a contest to win free(!) wedding photography from a really great photographer in Las Vegas. I was feeling a little embarrassed about this before but I've totally moved on to shameless self-promotion mode. Just in time too because now's the time for YOU to vote for US! Just go to this blog right HERE to do it. You can only vote once so the best thing to do would be to just click that right now and get it done, I think. And I won't be mad if you tell all your friends about it. I just think it'd be so cool to win. Right? We've got a week to make it happen!
(You can see our entry here if you want to do your research first.)

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

I forgot how to blog there for a while. So, here's some pictures from the Neon Museum in Las Vegas that we finally finally went to during Thanksgiving break. We loved this place.

2 birds 1 weekend

2011-01-30T00:26:00.002-07:00

Regan's BFA show-check
Engagement pictures-check

I don't know which was a greater success. So that's awesome. Coming up next-winning wedding photography, finding Regan a suit, and remembering how to take tests in college classes (I have my first one in about 3 years this week). But first we're gonna lay around a little and watch some Friday Night Lights and play some Sorry!. You know, the essentials of life.

rollercoaster

2011-01-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

Highlights of my day:
1. O turned 5 and loved the slinky I gave him

2. BYU is deleting their free student file storage network whatever that I totally forgot existed so they told me to get all my stuff off of it! Thank You BYU! So many gems of papers on there. Especially my Preparation for Marriage ones. An excerpt:

Although initially turned off by the idea and name of this little assignment, it wasn’t half bad. I got to ask things that may not come up for a while in normal conversation but that I would like to know. Maybe I’ll pretend this is a weekly assignment. At any rate, I suppose it was a roaring success. I mean, I am meeting him today for sammiches at the wilk. Smells like marriage to me.

I guess I wrote my college papers as if they were just chats with my bff. (I keep wanting to make a joke about no wonder I never graduated but I can't tell if it's funny or not.)

And
Lowlight of my day: nother cold sore (engagement pictures in T- 3 days) (I'm icing it while I type but I just don't have much hope.)

so true it hurts/we live in a weird world

2011-01-27T00:03:00.001-07:00

any news is good news?

2011-01-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Feeling really boring lately. All I can muster:
I like coconut, mushrooms, and mustard now. (not together, gross) but still not onions
Still planning a wedding (where should we take our engagement pictures??)
Watching everything there is on Netflix via Wii
Saw this guy across the street from where I work
It's still sososo cold but at least it's been clear and sunny and deceitful about it?
Watching funny kid movies
My hair's kinda long now

Snoozeville!

To Do in 2011

2011-01-08T14:17:00.002-07:00

Have more faith
Work harder
Be kinder

Never been more true

2011-01-08T01:05:00.002-07:00

I never take off my coat

2011-01-08T01:02:00.001-07:00

Seriously. Best purchase I've made in a long time. And not sure why I bother picking out clothes to wear under it every morning.

wedding planning: day 12

2010-12-30T09:39:00.002-07:00

I'd rather shop for china than for a dress

wedding planning: day 8

2010-12-26T12:52:00.001-07:00

i'm so sick of the internet

i've never blogged from an airplane before!

2010-12-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

I don't even have anything to say, I'm just so excited about this free in- flight wi-fi! And i thought this ipad was only gonna be good for watching While You Were Sleeping. I guess I'll do some online browsing to prepare for my shopping trip with Grandpa. He likes us to be prepared. Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Thursday

2010-12-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

It Already Feels Weird if I Don't Have it On

2010-12-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

I have weird knuckles. But besides that, I can't believe how good life is right now.

I'm in Portland

2010-12-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's raining. Don't worry, I bought a steamed (hazelnut, mmmm) milk to take on the MAX with me so i'd fit in. But then I blew it because I forgot the cup sleeve thing and I kept accidentally singing along with the Taylor Swift in my ears. Matt's first question was 'did you bring some sensible shoes this time?' the answer's always no. My first question was 'WHERE'S THAT BABY?'

Merry Monday

2010-12-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today I'm Thankful For

2010-12-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

sweet sweet new babies
sisters

gimme gimme gimme i need i need i need

2010-12-02T22:44:00.003-07:00

There are too few times when this much sparkle is acceptable. Which is why I want to wear/hold these all at the same time for a month straight. Fine, I'll have their shoes too.

Also, I should watch What About Bob? more often.

Today I'm Thankful For

2010-12-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sunshine
Cheese
Felt
Scissors
Tights
Taylor Swift

Still #1/Broken Record

2010-11-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

I still want a garage for Christmas. Just like I did in 2008 and 2007. Apparently I never get sick of complaining about the same things!

I don't wanna get over you

2010-11-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

If I never take the streamers down then my birthday never ends, right?

Don't tell Matt/all my friends/my own self

2010-11-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

I saw Brandon Flowers last week and enjoyed it more than when I saw Sufjan Stevens 2 weeks prior. Some factors for such a statement:
I didn't have a headcold
I didn't know everyone in the audience
We were closer to the stage
No auto-tune
Stomach full of Sawadee
Sister Sarah as my very excited concert partner
He's from Henderson so we felt cool knowing about things he talked about
I didn't have to miss the World Series to see it
Fran Healy opened for him
He wore suspenders
Free ticket
No expectations

Sorry, Suf, never thought I'd say it either. But it's just how I feel. I mean look at this guy. And he's got a pregnant wife. That's just hard to compete with.

Look how cute we are when we go to Florence

2010-11-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

Today I'm Thankful For

2010-11-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

Salt and Pepper
Fresh tomatoes
Sewing machines
Books
Neosporin
Wheel of Fortune for Wii
(And a boy who will go to semi-extreme lengths to get it in my house for us to play it)

Today I'm Thankful For

2010-11-10T20:50:00.001-07:00

This guy. Far away in Brazil where it's really really hot living a life way harder than mine because he wants to and he knows it's the right thing to do. Happy Birthday, little brother! See you in a couple months!

Today I'm Thankful For

2010-11-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

- Non-smoking bowling alleys
- A working furnace
- Rice cookers
- Sisters who assure me that eating potato chips while my vegetables steam is not as despicable as wearing uggs on an elliptical (real conversation)
- Photographs

When did Harrison Ford become such a terrible actor?

2010-11-09T13:35:00.001-07:00

My kind of weekend

2010-11-07T22:27:00.003-07:00

- House cleaning blitz
- Pumpkin Coconut soup- kinda like this but I added tomatoes, carrots, celery, pineapple, coconut and macadamia nuts. Trust me on this one.
- Wait Until Dark- so much scarier/better than I remembered even!
- Park City-ideal dark jeans for him, ideal fur-trimmed coat for me
- Most glorious fall weather/leaves blowing everywhere
- RSL game
- An extra hour of life
- Lots of sewing
- While listening to lots of this
- All topped off with some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- (And a round of Sorry!, obviously)

red nail polish

2010-11-07T22:24:00.002-07:00

Lady for 1 day, little kid for about 3 weeks:

(they did it!)

2010-11-04T01:04:00.003-06:00

Andersons have been Giants fans for a very long time. As a person without a lot of concrete favorites, it's always been comforting that 'my team' was set out for me long before my birth. Relieves pressure, ya know? And really it only matters when they're in the playoffs or I need to look cool in front of a bunch of guys. Anyway, it's been fun to care about this postseason and have a reason to yell at the TV. My favorite part of everything was that Grandpa Robert (and some uncles) were in attendance at game 5. New life goal-go to a world series game. Even if I'm 80 by the time I make it.

no offense, nellie

2010-11-04T00:55:00.004-06:00

We went to Wyoming last weekend. Cuz why not? Plus we needed to see these mini horses and check up on the pygmy goats. In the end though, we spent most of our time with the mini people. That's how awesome they are. (You should have seen the lego treehouse Jake and Regan built. "Best quiet time" of Jake's life.)

cure for a common head cold

2010-11-04T00:47:00.000-06:00

breakfast in bed for dinner
sorry! marathon

my hair's in a french braid

2010-11-03T09:51:00.000-06:00

Who's mad?

Tonight!

2010-11-01T14:13:00.002-06:00

sufjan sufjan sufjan

everyone thought i was marilyn/sugar crash and burn/i didn't take any pictures/are you done with work yet?/let's go to wyoming

2010-10-29T18:17:00.003-06:00

I was Betty Draper at work today. I guess I don't hate Halloween. Should I do my hair like this for always?

But Really, I Counted

2010-10-27T02:39:00.002-06:00

I want more than 80% of the items in J.Crew's most recent catalog. I'm kinda mad about it because who has that much money for clothes? And why are their stores so outdated and boring and confusing?

you wouldn't believe me if I didn't show you

2010-10-27T01:42:00.005-06:00

This teeny bird and I share a name (partially)

We went to Idaho to see these guys

And they made me go to this place. I think if I didn't hate it so much, I'd have really loved it.

I found a peanut M&M that looked exactly like a lima bean

These puppies cost me a cool $3.50. I hope that at least Josh will make fun of me for wearing them.

This is what our house looked like tonight when we came back from bowling. (I bowled a 136.)

wool socks

2010-10-25T01:48:00.001-06:00

Where have you been all my life?/Perhaps the one time I should have mimicked Nate's fashion choice after all.

that makes 16 bunnies

2010-10-22T13:20:00.002-06:00

The 3rd of 3 baby gells I've been waiting for for 9 months was born this morning. It feels so great to have them all out in the world and teenie (and chubby) and adorable and ready to be best friend cousins. And now I'll spend the remainder of the day talking myself out of making the 13-hour drive to go see her and gasp at every tiny thing she does. It's hard work being an aunt.

without fail

2010-10-20T00:28:00.003-06:00

Every time I don't want to go to the gym, there are tons of close parking spaces. And every time I actually want to go to the gym - not a one. Luckily sometimes when that happens, I have a blueberry donut and a book in my car to keep me company while I wait for one to open up.

God Bless America

2010-10-20T00:23:00.004-06:00

Matt and I were discussing what we would have given to be at the Giants game live in person this sunny afternoon. I chose 1 day of puking. He chose part of his big toe. I don't know why we chose such gross things. But take a look at those fans all being so happy to be there, zooey being adorable and the ocean being the outfield and tell me you don't feel the same way.