Really?

So I don't want you to think that I haven't been without internet or that I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to check blogs...because that's not the case. I problably read your blog Apparently I've just been avoiding my own blog. Here is an update.

December:

We bought a house! Here's the only picture I have of the outside. The staircase on the side leads to a small apartment we're renting. I'll (hopefully, don't hold your breath) be updating pretty frequently as we finish each room. It's coming along and we are loving it! It's amazing what a coat of paint does for a room.

We did the untraditional thing this Christmas and went on a cruise Adam won through work. Sorry no picture of us by the Christmas tree, I know you're disappointed. This cruise was the first for both of us. We sailed to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.


I had been dreaming about the day, the day where I would ride a Segway a la GOB from Arrested Development. I have long talked about renting them with some of my A.D. friends but the cost (around here at least) was a little too much. But that's why you go to Mexico! Adam and I went on a Segway tour and it was awesome. They are so much fun to ride. I also somehow managed to get in a Segway accident (no fatalities or major injuries...just a broken but then fixed flip-flop). Some 40 year old dad didn't know how to ride his Segway and completely stopped in the middle of the tour because "his battery died". (Note: he continued with his "dead battery" all the way through the rest of the tour). His stopping caused 4 Segway pile up. It was pretty funny.


January: We spent a week in California and visited Adam's family. I love the California weather! It was beautiful and we loved playing with the kids! Adam and his Dad are crazy and went swimming in the ocean, at night, where the water was maybe 50 degrees. This is a nightly ritual for Adam's dad.



Now we're back home and a trying to work hard on the house. Adam is back at school and busy with work stuff. I'm student teaching in Orem with a cute group of second graders who never cease to make me laugh. I have an informative post on "what your child's teacher hears" coming soon!

Ketchup

So maybe I haven't posted for over a month. I've just been sooo busy. Well I mean I guess I was teaching 6th grade everyday, but really I wasn't that busy. I have no excuses. Well I could create some...like some of the 6th graders whose homework seemed to "disappear". But instead, I will just show you pictures of things we have been doing since the last post.


Okay that's not true. These two pictures are actually from September when Adam's Mom, his sister Melissa and her kids came to visit. I thought they were cute though. Here are more recent pics now.

Don't the kids look thrilled?

Adam and I babysat Ollie and Ava. To ensure that we would be known as "The Best Aunt and Uncle Ever", we took them to Chuck-E-Cheese followed by ice cream. Ollie was content to just run around and watch the games. Ava wanted to ride each ride. Not once. But many times. Also, she tried to steal people's tickets. I'm not sure who told her at the young age of 2 that tickets lead to prizes...but maybe it's just a child's instinct.

Moving along to Halloween. Obviously Adam and I were Hannah Montana and one of the Jonas Brothers. Obviously. We went to a cute little Halloween party at one of Adam's mission companions apartment. Adam and I won the pumpkin carving contest. Also, obviously. We used a drill for part of it. (See Dad, installing cabinets with you has come in handy! I can use a drill for a pumpkin!)

Well, I'll have to a Thanksgiving post next month. Just kidding. Maybe.

Save the Bananas

This picture has nothing to do with this post, except that it's funny.

So I know Adam pretty well. I would say really well. But he has been hiding something from me until very recently...

While talking about the bananas we recently purchased from the store, he mentioned the big scare a few years back about bananas becoming extinct. See here for a refresher. Well, I don't know what I was doing during this time, but apparently I didn't hear about this so-called epidemic. Am I the only one? Does PA just not care about bananas? What was I doing during all of this?

Anyway, back to the story. So Adam tells me about being pretty passionate about making sure the bananas would still be around. AND THEN, he casually mentions that he won "Most Likely To Save the Bananas" for his school. Most Likely to Save the Bananas? I didn't really know what to say. I mostly just laughed for awhile.

But then I started thinking about it. I guess it's a pretty big deal. I mean, I bet he's probably the only person EVER to win Most Likely to Save the Bananas...




Which also reminds me...Anyone remember when Ian MacGregor spelled banana "b-a-n-n-a" in the middle school spelling bee? hahahaha. Boy he never lived that one down.

Cutting It Short

So update: Adam and I are back, together, in Provo...sleeping on a twin air mattress. And we love it! Things I have failed to mention recently.

1. Kristina and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour in SLC. I'm going to be completely honest when I say it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. It was so much fun and even better in person than on the show. I have never even watched the show until this year...but the girls from St. Louis got me hooked on it...among other things. Kristina and I randomly decided to look for tickets on eBay and managed to score 14th row for $15 each, while everyone one else was paying upwards of $80 each! Wahoo!


Here we are before the show. Unfortunately we were under the impression we couldn't bring in a camera, or else we would have a picture of us with the huge Snuggle bear.


In case you haven't seen this...




I don't know if I love this dance more or the song!?

2. I had a really great birthday! Adam flew in and I got to see him for the whole weekend. He did an excellent job with birthday presents. I was very impressed...he knows me well! We also got to spend time with his family in Spring City. Yay for family nearby! Here is a picture of one of my presents.

This is a Diana F+. It is actually a toy camera but takes really cool photos (like the one in our header that Jonathan took). I love it!

3. I chopped my hair. After having the SAME hair forever, I decided to do something different. My cute preggo friend Jess cut it and she did a most excellent job! My hair was so dang long, I think I may have chopped off half of my hair. But I like it a lot. It's a fun change!



Listen, I don't have any real pictures yet. Only these lame PhotoBooth pictures that I sent to Adam so he could see.



And a classic Bri face in case you've missed it:

Aubergine/Brown Inspiration Board

Morgan emailed me because her cousin is getting married very quickly (one month!) and is trying to figure out her wedding. Her cousin was thinking of purple and Mo asked if I could make an inspiration board for her. Since it will be fall when she gets married, I thought the purples should be different shades of a deep purples with some elements of brown. I learned that the dark purple I was thinking of was called Aubergine (an eggplant color). Now I'll sound reallllly cool in the color world when I use it. (The color world? Is that even real?) I've tried convincing Morgan to have purples and browns for her own wedding someday because I LOVE them together, but she's pretty set on her colors. So this gave me a chance to play around with them!

Adam's Journal Entry

Adam had a very eventful night last night. This is an excerpt from his journal.



21 September 2008 9:01 PM St. Charles, MO

Ok. You are not going to believe what happened. So I go over to this family's house for dinner. They are this super nice family in the ward. They’ve had all of us summer sales kids over before. She makes this delicious roast. Mine is covered in gravy. I cut off a huge chunk and put in my mouth. I chew. It turns out I had cut off a big piece of fat and hard meat. (I didn’t know…it was covered in gravy.) I think, “Shoot, there is no way I can spit this out on my plate. That would be so sick.” So I just swallow it down. I chase it with a little water. My throat then starts making this very loud grumbling noise as air escapes back up and out. Of course the cup is still to my mouth and so my strange quasi-burp gets amplified and echoed. I keep making the noise…uncontrollably. The kids are looking at me; the parents are pretending not to hear me. Then I start choking a little. I lean over my plate. The mom yells, “Are you ok? Can you breathe!?” I shake my head. The dad stands up, comes behind me, and starts doing the Heimlich maneuver! I lean over and throw up water all over my plate and the table! Family dinner…done. I finish exuding fluid, look up and say, “That was really disgusting, I’m really sorry.” Of course they are so nice and tell me not to worry about it. The children, not knowing how to properly respond to someone throwing up all over their dinner table, just stare in disbelief. I stand up again and feel like I’m going to gag. I ask to use their bathroom. To my dismay I discover the pesky portion of roast still lodged in my pipe! Knowing that they had prepared dessert, I figured it best to try and dislodge the fiendish beef piece, so as to avoid further awkwardness in having to explain that their meat, still blocking my esophagus, would prevent the further consumption of any food for the evening. “But you guys go on ahead.” So after about 25-30 minutes of making awful heaving noises in their bathroom, I walked back into their kitchen, ready and cleared for cake! Wow.


I think my favorite part of the story is when Adam went home later and researched the Heimlich, and realized that he wasn't even given the Heimlich properly. I'll have a bunch of posts coming up this week, since I have been M.I.A. lately!

In the Land of Blogs

Image: Jonathan Canlas



So we recently found out that our wedding has made it to the wedding blog world! Woo hoo! I think I would have stumbled upon it myself, even without Jonathan Canlas letting us know about it, as I love The Brides Cafe! You can check it out here.

You should also check out what Jonathan is doing to help out the Nielson family(see post below). You can find out how awesome he is here.

Nie Nie Day

NOTE: Make sure to scroll over these paragraphs because there are plenty of links to click!

I don't know how many of you have heard this story/opportunity, but I thought I would share with you. There is a very popular blog called NieNieDialogues written by Stephanie Nielson. She literally has hundreds of readers. She is a mother, a wife to four, and an extraordinary person. I've never met her, but when I read her blog I either want to be friends with her or just be her. She has impeccable personal style, great design taste, she is a great mom and a genuine person. Stephanie and her husband Christian, who she so obviously adores, were in a small plane crash in Arizona. The pilot lost his life. Stephanie's body was burned over 80% and Christian sustained burns over 30% of his body. Both are in chemically induced comas and will probably remain that way for months. Their recovery is likely to cost into the millions. Their children are staying in Utah with Stephanie's sister, CJane, who also writes brilliantly on her own blog. For some reason, I can't get them off my mind. Everyday I tell Adam an update or something I learned about them and their situation. I'm pretty sure CJane's words have made me cry at least a few times.

This story has affected so many people besides me, that over 275 people are holding auctions on what has been declared "NieNie Day" today. Most of the auctions will go until Sunday and all proceeds will be donated to the Stephanie and Christian Nielson Recovery Fund, dedicated to help with medical expenses as well as keeping their household running. Let me tell you, the stuff being auctioned is fabulous. Art, jewelry, photography sessions, concert tickets, clothing, baby stuff, home decor and so much more. To see what you can bid on by category go here. I'm currently sitting at the airport on my way back to Provo deciding what I want to bid on (thank you Albuquerque airport for the free internet!). There is something for everyone! Even if you aren't planning on bidding, I promise you will be touched and spiritually uplifted by the love and support of the Nielson's family as well as by the hundreds of bloggers out there.

Wifey Wounds

No, I did not brand myself, and no, I am not part of a tribal society. And NO, I am not into self-inflicting wounds. However, I did happen to burn myself with a cookie sheet while taking rolls out of the oven. How did I get 2 burn marks on the crease of my elbow (yes, that picture is of my elbow)? I have no idea. Something about turning my wrist in towards my arm...I really don't know. All I know is it's pretty much the grossest thing. It has puffed up and scabbed over and peeled and gotten red. All the stages of "healing". (Don't worry parents and grandparents, I have been applying Neosporin. Well actually the Target brand because I'm cheap.) Adam kinda likes it...He thinks it is an ode to the St. Louis Arch. But he's probably hoping that my arm will fall off so I can get a cool prosthetic, like a lobster claw. Oh wait, that's his wish for himself. Let's just hope this thing goes away soon so the weird looks can cease...

NorCal

This post title is dedicated to Adam. He hates the terms "NorCal" and "SoCal". I dunno...must be a Californian thing. Anyway, long time no blog. I decided last minute to meet up with my family in Santa Cruz, CA, as a surprise to my siblings and to my Great-Grandma MeMe. Sadly, Adam had to stay in St. Louis and work. This trip was the first time we'd been apart in a LONG time. Before I left St. Louis, we had a goodbye dinner since several people from our office out here were leaving soon. Here we all are, as cute as ever.



My flight got in just a little before my family's flight. Surprising the kids was pretty funny. I casually bumped into Jess, and pulled Tali and Shane from behind. I think they were all pretty excited. We stayed in the infamous Jay's Timberlane Lodge, Cabin 10. It's pretty much the only place to stay around where MeMe and my Grandpa Robb live. Jess's boyfriend Matt came along, which means there were 7 of us in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom log cabin. I have no idea why the picture turned out with a creepy haze...




We decided to take a day trip to San Francisco. I haven't been to San Fran since I was a little kid! We did a lot of the touristy things. First we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. At least we think we did...It was so foggy, you literally couldn't seen past 15 ft. up the bridge.





We went to Pier 39 and walked in and out of some of the shops. We also stopped by Ghirardelli Square. I took Jess's boyfriend Matt to his first In and Out experience. Cyle was disappointed because he hadn't had the In and Out experience either and he missed out! After struggling to find places to shop, I called my expert San Franner, Stina. She directed us to Union Square where we spent the rest of our day. We were deciding on how we wanted to get to Union Square when we were told that there was a limo just down the road that would gladly take us there. We hopped in and for a very low cost, got exactly where we needed to go!



I had a blast seeing MeMe, Grandpa Robb and Charlene (and Biscuit), Auntie JoEllen, Sandy, Jeff, baby Macie plus little baby on the way and of course "The Gang".



I did however miss my hubster while I was gone. I came home to a spotless house and these 2 things. Adam just loves to pretend that I LOVE Hannah Montana and buys me pretty much anything he sees with her on it. It reminds me of another family joke...Hello!Kitty anyone?!?