Letters to Juliet

I want to see this movie SO bad! It doesn't come out until May 2010. Until then, I will enjoy the trailer.

Law School Finals

This is the most recent photo I have of Stuart (taken at Thanksgiving at my parents' house...with an injured knee from that morning's football escapades...delirious and drugged because I slipped him Tylenol PM to make him "sleep it off") and the most accurate depiction of his current state.


He has been studying like a maniac. I've barely seen him except to make sure he is eating enough. And right now he is in his first final of Law School. I know, Saturday morning, what??? Then he has one on Monday morning, Wednesday morning, and Friday morning of this coming week. I know he'll do well, but my stomach still has butterflies in it since last night when I went to bed. Ugh.

I Wish...

... that I had the energy to wrap all of our presents this pretty. I found the pic on one of my favorite blogs.


this is actually what I do.


I got the idea from Real Simple a few years back. I thought it was so classic and pretty to have white paper and red ribbon. Just gets a little boring. I'm loving all the colors in the first picture.

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

This year I decided against buying a Christmas tree. We are going home for 2 weeks at Christmas so I didn't feel like it was worth the hassle of hauling it up 3 flights of stairs to enjoy it for such a short time and then have to take it back down again. No thanks! (Even though, technically, I would be doing hardly any of the lifting-Stuart is a pack mule.) Anyway, please enjoy my Christmas "Tree" Wreath hanging on our circa 1995-esque fireplace. I will be putting our presents underneath it this year.

While You Wait for Paint to Dry...

...You do other projects. I was inspired by this some time ago on a blog somewhere... I'm bad at remembering who to give the credit to.

and so I did my own.

I told you. My life has been consumed.

The Project: Waiting for Paint to Dry. Seriously.

Some may know, others probably not, but this project has been consuming my life for the last month and a half. I started just before Halloween, and I finally finished 2 days ago. The complex we live in does not allow us to paint the walls and so we live in a matte white walled-khaki carpeted-college dorm room-of an apartment. I decided to liven it up with color by painting my dining table and chairs. Definitely an undertaking. I had everything covered in plastic and we were eating Indian style on the floor for a little while, but now I'm done! I think they'll make a fantastic playroom table and chairs when we move to our "real" house. Someday... Until then, we're happy in our apartment.

Just Like Everyone Else I'm Sure

We went to see the "Jacob Black Abs" movie... Oh, wait I'm sorry "New Moon"... this past week. But let's be honest, it screamed "Team Jacob".

Anyway, Stuart bought premiere tickets with some other nice husbands and they all surprised us with them and took us. It was a night of screaming girls and "Twilight" chanting, but it was a lot of fun! Even with Bella's awkward moments :)

Utah

I went to Utah this past weekend and the only thing that I have to show for it is this picture of candlesticks that I bought. I stayed at my friend Jenna's house (THANK YOU!) and she introduced me to the cutest shop... "Finder's Keepers"... right??? Anyway, I had been searching for candlesticks and these were so much cuter than anything I had been looking at and they matched my house EXACTLY. I couldn't pass them up. I also got to see my friend, Lauren (briefly). It was a whirlwind of a trip but it was a lot of fun. Plus, Quinn is cute. I gotta say the only downer is that it snowed the day I left.... not a fan.

National Cupcake Day

I think I will "cheat" today and have a cupcake. It's worth it. Especially if it's pretty.

Play On

I. Love. Carrie Underwood. I just got her new album today and I LOVE all the new songs. She's just my favorite. *Thank you iTunes gift card* Get it. Immediately.

Technically Our 1st Halloween

Stuart is a little bit anti-Halloween... Examples: 1. when we were engaged we went to dinner and a movie on Halloween 2. last year *our 1st Halloween when we were married* we also went to dinner and a movie... this year I decided I would be in charge. We went out with some friends *instead of a movie and dinner* and "dressed up". The most I could get him to wear was an eye patch, but he was convinced that made him a pirate.

Lately

I have been pretty busy with some projects. I have been taking pictures as I go, but the projects are going to take a little more time. Until then here are some pictures I've taken lately... Stuart and I are not in them. What else is new?

A few weeks ago we found this cute little cafe a few miles from us and it had such yummy food. It was called "Urban Solace". The best part about it though was how cute the actual building was. So of course I took a picture. I'm a sucker for rod iron work on anything.


Then later that week we went to dinner with some of Stuart's family and had dessert at a place called "Extraordinary Desserts" (apparently this post is completely about food? oh well.) and split the most amazing piece of chocolate cake EVER! It was almost too pretty to eat.. but don't worry we did.


Anyway, I just found these pictures on my camera and decided to share. I kind of want that piece of chocolate cake now...

Visit to Huntington Beach

My great-grandma (Beema) lives in Huntington Beach and today Stuart and I went up to spend the afternoon with her. She was so much fun to talk to and it had been so long since I'd seen her that I felt like the time just flew! Love her.

Attempting to Be Crafty

Saw these pictures on a blog a little while ago... which I now cannot find. But I would give credit if I could figure it out!


So I decided to recreate them. Here are my creations. It was so fast and easy, I highly recommend this if you are looking for a decoration update for Fall.



I added white pumpkins to the basket because I wanted the contrast and I ended up loving them the most I think.

New Show: Community

Oh my gosh it is so hilarious. If you have not watched it yet, you should. Chevy Chase is in it, as is Joel McHale who I love! The Soup on E! is one of my favorites and I always laugh so hard. Anyway, you should watch it. It's on the same night as The Office.

Going Home

Stuart and I are going home for the weekend and I'm SO excited. Maybe I'll take some pictures for the first time in several weeks... that might be nice to have proof that we are alive and well. Anyway, I'm excited! That's all.

Tragedy?

These magazines came today. Time for Stuart, Us Weekly for me. Embarrassing? Maybe. Stuart reads Us Weekly before I even get to it, though. Anyway, here's my thought: What kind of a world do we live in? On the cover of Time the story is "The Tragedy of Detroit"... On the cover of Us Weekly the story is "Heartbreak And a New Tragedy".

Really?

I'm looking up the exact definition of "tragedy". I wonder which mag is closer... ha

The Lost Symbol

Stuart read it before me in something like a day and a half. I, however, wanted the enjoyment to last longer than that so I have only been reading a few chapters a night since Monday. But I'm hooked. I find myself really looking forward to my reading time, and staying up later and later every night. I haven't finished it yet, but I really recommend it. It's addictive!

I Want My Closet to Have Hangers Like This

I looked at one of my favorite online stores today, TOAST, and this was its home page image. I seriously want my closet to look like this. Suddenly my plastic hangers are not my favorite.

VMA's

Maybe no one watched these besides me, Stuart's studying, I'm a loser. But I can't stand Kanye West. He's such an idiot. He complete dissed Taylor Swift after she beat out Beyonce for the Best Female Video Award. She was giving her speech, he climbed on stage took the microphone from her and said "Taylor, congratulations, I'll let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best music video's of all time. Sorry." Hands the microphone back to her, shrugs his shoulders and climbs off the stage. Not that I loved either music video more, but seriously? That is the rudest thing I've seen on that show. Anyway, I'm done ranting.

iPhoto Booth

Stuart and I were just sitting on the couch watching tv tonight and I decided it would be funny to take some pictures on my computer. When I opened up the program, what I found was way better. I don't know when they had a hold of my computer but these made us smile tonight.

New Idol Judge Announcement

Did anyone else hear this?

NEW IDOL JUDGE

Ellen DeGeneres is going to be the new American Idol judge. I am not sure how I feel about it yet. I mean, anything will be better than Paula. She can be SO annoying. But I also feel like Paula is a staple in that show! It's going to be so strange not having her at that desk. And I'm still not sure how I feel about Kara. I'm a little afraid the show is falling apart.

Maybe no one cares about this, but I have been a loyal follower since Kelly Clarkson, Season One. So this news is sorta huge to me.

Labor Day Weekend

My brother, Blake, my sister, Lauren and some of their friends came to see us this last weekend and to play at the beach. It was so much fun to have them here. I didn't take a lot of pictures, unfortunately, but we did have a good time and have some nice suntans now.

I Guess Now It's Official

We have California plates and California licenses... looks like we're here for a while!

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

You make the dock on my Mac look better and I love the new look of the organization folders. Also, you take up 9GB less space than your predecessor "Leopard." That leaves much more room for things like music and pictures. Thank you for joining my at-home team.

One of the Reasons

That I LOVE When Summer Changes Into Fall...

My September magazines come to me and they are HUGE! The postman had to give me the key to the bigger mail box. I love when that happens. I don't know why. They will be my faithful treadmill companions for several weeks to come and I'm pretty excited. I was getting a little bit bored with my current iPod running mixes and these will keep my mind off that for a while.

Making a new mix (that will keep me motivated for a full hour) can wait. Hallelujah.

Dear Smokers That Live Below Us,

One of the perks of living in California is that you rarely have to use your air conditioner, you just leave your windows open and have fans going. I would like it if I were not on your smoke break schedule having to run around closing doors and windows so that I don't have to smell your DISGUSTING habit. It makes my house smell AWFUL if I have gone away and you've taken one of your habitual breaks. I am burning my Volcano candle way more than usual and those are not cheap, my friend. Also, I am up at 1:30 because I have the nose of a blood hound and your STUPID cancer causing habit made me wake up and have to close everything up for the 4th time since dinner. Seriously?!?! Also, you make Stuart in a bad mood. Which rarely happens. And that's no fun for anyone. I'm going back to bed now. Please let your next nicotine craving not hit you until at least 8am. I'm begging you. It's Saturday.

Sincerely,

"Live Smoke Free" Campaigners Living Above You

I.Love.This.Picture.

This picture is just so amazing to me. I just had it sent to me by my Grandma and it immediately became my screen saver, I thought I'd share. The incredibly fashion-conscious woman on the left is my great-grandmother Betsy "Beema" Barry. She is still alive and well living in Huntington Beach, just a little way away from us. She is NINETY-EIGHT years old and still quick-as-a-whip, she can re-call her favorite memories of when she was 6 years old and she is just so fun to listen to! The woman on the right is my great-great-grandmother "Nanu". The great thing about this picture is that this was very typical, they were always dressed up (fur coat, red lipstick, hat, and corsage...) and ready for anything. (As I write this I am wearing a questionably large t-shirt and Stuart's basketball shorts. Awesome.) The white suit is Chanel {sigh} I really just can't get enough of this picture.

This is my random thought with my random picture.

This Kid...

leaves tomorrow. I'm so excited for him, but it's been a pretty emotional day. And getting Scott ready to leave is on top of having Stuart be in San Diego while I'm here in Mesa :(. Stuart had his first day of law school today and so yesterday after Scott's "farewell" talk he drove back home while I stayed here to go with my family to the airport and drop him off. He'll be in Brazil for the next two years spreading the gospel and I am just so proud of him. He'll be so missed: his amazing impressions, his witty banter, our text message conversations, just about everything. I just love him.

Wicked!

We went and saw Wicked the other night at the San Diego Civic Theatre. I've never seen it before and it was ama-a-a-zing! I cried. Anyway it was our first "explore the city" rendezvous and we had a really fun night. The ladies that took this picture of us had asked us to take their picture first and said that the 3 people they had asked prior to us had left out the "Wicked" sign... which was the whole point! They were so grateful for my photography skills and I think they took a pretty good picture of us.

Two Completely Different Ends of the Spectrum

These movies are not even in the same categories but I want to see both of them.

Wedding in Vegas

Our friends got married yesterday! Brian Scurr to Ashton Hawker. We set them up not too long ago and all I can say is that I'm so happy for them! I didn't really have time to go to Vegas for a long weekend so we only went for a day, we also didn't want to buy expensive plane tickets last minute so we drove. Needless to say, it was a whirlwind. We left at 5am for the 5 hour drive to make their 11am ceremony. Then we hung out with our friends Dan and Katie all day and went to the dinner that night at 7. Stayed for 2 hours-made the 5 hour trek back. We're so glad we went and they are just darling together!


After their ceremony waiting for them to come out of the temple.



The happy couple.


If we look washed out and tired... that's because we are.


Typical.

I wish that I had taken more pictures, but of course I didn't. They had their dinner at this "swanky" place called Vintner Grill (*since I didn't take pictures here is the web address: http://www.vglasvegas.com/). Everything was done so pretty and she had this peacock theme going. Loved it.

First 7 Days in San Diego

Our Last Day in Provo:


Packed up and ready to leave.

1st day in San Diego: We had so much help moving into our new apartment and we are so grateful. A lot of Stuart's family was in town for his Papa's 80th birthday and they came to help us unload our U-haul. It was empty in 25 minutes, not kidding. I was seriously so happy that they were there. It made things so much easier.


Days 2-7:

*Papa's 80th birthday pizza party celebration.
*In-n-Out twice... that will have to change immediately.
*Went grocery shopping because of excessive In-n-Out, had to use Garmin to get to grocery store, because I don't know where I am in this city.
*Ikea twice and I don't even love Ikea... but it's down the street and I don't get lost driving there. Thank you for braving the maze with me Abby.
*Costco 3 times: once to buy our bed (where Scott and Stuart made me lay on it in the middle of the aisle to make sure I liked it, I was so embarrassed), once to buy groceries and a fan, once to buy a second fan identical to the one we bought the day before, it was sold out, will have to go again when they've re-stocked.
*Discovered "Happy Berry", their coconut frozen yogurt is SOOOOO good. I've been craving it every day since we had it.
*Dinner at Chart House with Scott, Abby, Kate and Stephanie. Amazing. Thank you!
*Worked on projects late into the night:


The "Petersons" sign is a wedding gift from my sweet Belmont ward bishop and I decided to repaint it. The flatware holders are the result of moving in and discovering that the drawers in my kitchen are 9" wide and I didn't want to use 3 drawers for my silverware.
*Went to Body Worlds at the San Diego Natural History Museum with Kate. Not sure how Stuart liked it but Kate and I did! It was my 2nd time. The 1st time I went was when the exhibit was in Phoenix and my mom and I decided to go.


Also discovered the BIGGEST. TREE. EVER.


Then of course there is always playing at the pool (and the beach, but I'm sure there will be plenty of those pictures over the next few years).


Here's to our new adventure in our new city!

All I want to do is cook...

Saw "Julie and Julia" last night. So good! But it made us so hungry to watch it. Now all I want to do is buy Julia Child's cookbook and learn how to do all of those recipes. Seriously.

I Laughed Really Hard

So I just watched this with my friend Kenna... and we were both laughing really hard. Sorry if you've seen it before. Watch it all the way through!

The wedding party were SUPER good sports!

Wedding Dance

My House Right Now

Currently my house is a fort of boxes. Whenever, I take a break for things like a shower or making dinner Stuart takes a break and plays Halo (as pictured). Ugh.

Lake Powell

So I couldn't handle the fact that we were at Lake Powell and had so much packing to do. Someone that was part of the group ended up needing to come home early to catch a plane and we offered to drive him back to Provo. So we were only there for half the trip, but that's ok, it was still great and we got some fun pictures!



Before they went up they decided that it was "maybe 30 feet up, possibly 35, LET'S GO!" but then they actually hiked up and when it was nearly 50 feet and they were a little more hesitant.


As they were talking about it, Stuart decided to just go and I almost wasn't ready for the picture. He said he couldn't talk about it anymore or he'd freak out!


Just after he "survived the jump"


One of our friends that invited us on the fun trip!



Maybe they won't be too sad that we left early and had enough fun with us for the few days that they will invite us back next year :)