Holiday

The following is our Christmas tree (minus our two new ornaments that we chose,) for 2011. It was cute, that's all.



This year we got ourselves a yudu for our family Christmas present. Neither of us can wait to use it, but we need to know what we're going to make before we do it.

Jeremy and I gave one another a book that was wanted for a long time. I love mine. Everyone who really knows me knows that I love sugar too much. Doesn't the cover just make you want it too?



My eyes were watery with joy when I started reading the first few pages and some of the recipes it holds. I can't wait to make treats with this book. My dentist brother would probably love it too.

Yvonne

Jeremy made a music video for a little friend named Damien Fairchild. It's very beautiful. I'm happy to be married to such a creative and talented guy.

Decembertime

First off, my sister's husband, SSG Mills, just came home from Iraq today. It was a happy thing. I'm glad for Rachel and her kids to have there husband/dad back with them. I love that he came home before Christmas. Now they can have the whole break from school and stuff together.

Jeremy was cute when he was little, but he's even cuter now. Look at this ornament that he made once upon a time.



Last week, Jeremy and I enjoyed getting some treats in our shoes for St. Nicholas Tag (December 6th). I gave him a Star Wars trivia book. What fun!



The studio where I teach dance had parent showings yesterday and today. My preschool creative dance class and Ballet 1 class were so cute. They danced to "Trim Up the Tree" by Boris Karloff. I'm really proud of my students. They did well. I wish I had taken pictures of the girls yesterday too, but wishing in retrospect is dumb.



Tomorrow, my niece and some of her friends that I teach will be doing their little recital. They're going to be extra cute too.

What a busy week.

Sparse posts

I didn't post much this month. How boring. I wanted to get one more in before the month ended.

Here is a summary of some of the bigger things we did this month:
We wrapped with Dr. Fubalous
Jeremy performed in Divine Comedy's Common Room for BYUTV (to air at a later time)
We gathered more things of mine from my mom's house
Jeremy cleaned the house for my birthday party
I cooked treats for my birthday (yum)
We had a few friends over
Julian Rex is cute (this is a real instant Polaroid that is totally expired)

We gathered a little more from mom's house
We ate at Gourmandise with Charlotte
I got a super cute dress coat
Some good friends got married
Some good friends visited
We had friends' Thanksgiving
The Warners came for Thanksgiving and made the turkey
I made an apple pie
I had a girlfriends slumber party at mom's house
We got a new laptop for Jeremy
I made snowflakes
I made my first student loan payment (boring)
I started choreography in all of my classes; those little girls are all so cute
Jeremy and I feel super creative but not prolific at all.

That is pretty much it for this month. It was a good one, but it was also super busy, or so it seems. It could easily have been busier. Here comes December. This will be fun too.

Johanna's pictures

Below is a picture that Johanna took of me.



Johanna is one of my friends from when I was little. She was best friends with my best girlfriend, HillybeansmithDastrup. She is studying photography at UVU and did a project on me and the cause of my injuries last week. Some of the pictures I let her use are really disturbing at least to me and my family, just so you are warned.

Thanks Jo!
Click on the picture to go to her blog.

pump pump pumkin time!

Jeremy, Greg, and I painted some pumpkins. They're pretty cool. I've never painted pumpkins before but I am proud of them. It was fun. Jeremy already posted them on his brand new website.



Jeremy is working on a production called Dr. Fubalous. It is a web-series starring such notables as Flavor Flav and Danny Trejo and stars of YouTube, Donnivin Jordan and GloZell Green.

dances with hairs

Johanna is a friend from my childhood. She had a photography assignment to take pictures for a cause. So the thought of me because of the whole pedestrian and guy driving under the influence thing. Johanna took some pictures of me yesterday. I was nervous to put a leotard on again and to stand on the corner in Springville, but it all worked out and the best part is that we got to hang out for several hours. I don't think we've played since elementary.
I wanted to look cute so I did my hair in a crown-braid, then I did it again today. I think today's is the prettiest crown-braid that I have done thus far. So I took a picture.



I want to be more like Jordan Ferney and post consistently, even if I do it just once or twice a week. Blogging is Jordan's job. I want mine to be cute. It's supposed to be kind of minimalist, but I should just get over the fact that I'm not actually a minimalist even though I'd love to be.

goals are good

I have been needing a new iPod for when I teach dance. When I was discussing it again with Jeremy, he said, "Why don't you just get an iPad?" So I got an iPad on the 11th. I'm so spoiled sometimes. I really like it. Even though I like new things and new gadgets and stuff, I have a hard time using them in public because I'm too afraid that someone will notice and I don't want to look too posh or anything. Is that a normal thing? I like how it still smells new.

This month I'm going to focus more on becoming organized and cooking good meals at home. I think I may even attempt to organize this blog.

My friend Rinda is so cute. She took a long break from her blog and now has gotten back into it. I want to decorate for holidays like her and be a minimalist, even though it goes against most of everything I do.

onions

I like to bake and I love sweet treats. Baking and cooking are very different. I've found that have a hard time bringing out good flavors when I cook.

This evening, I decided to stick as close to some recipes today as a could and I made a tasty dinner with chicken, zucchini, and latkes. I really liked it. I got the recipes from our Williams & Sonoma chicken and potato cookbooks.

When I was cutting the onions, I cried harder than I ever have in that situation and it's not because I cut my finger (because I didn't) but because of how onioney the onions were. My mascara made defined lines down my cheek. Jeremy said I look like a juggalo. I thought that was funny.

jackson and work

Here are pictures that we took of ourselves at the Lost Creek Ranch in Wyoming. It was fun and the Titans were beautiful. I really like the lense flares. Modern Family went to Lost Creek in one of their episodes. I think it costs something like $14,00 per week per couple. We, of course, weren't actually staying there, Jeremy just took pictures of wealthy city people riding docile horses.

I'm at work. Not very many people have called today. I have had a lot of fun laughing at this and this and this. It is a little embarrassing because I'm sitting by myself and I'm almost laughing hard enough to cry!

I recently started to use pinterest. I guess it is pretty cool. It has been pretty self informative. I have found mostly want things like clothes and want to make treats. Right now I am crochetting a little pink heart garland that I pinned.

forget-me-nots and knives

Forget-me-nots always remind me of the animated feature Thumbelina.

I don't remember ever posting anything particularly religious, but I guess I will today.

My sister Becki invited me to go to the annual Relief Society General Conference with her on Saturday. I had fun hanging out with her. After the meeting, we went shopping for stuff and got some frozen custard. It was so yummy. I got some Wilton stuff from TJ-Maxx and a couple cool Kuhn Rikon knives. I got a blue paring knife and a red serrated knife. Look at all of the colors they come in, they're just like sharpie pens. They're the cutest and best knives I have ever seen or used.

The messages from the meeting that affected me the most were from Sister Julie Beck and Elder Dieter Uchtdorf. I also loved Sisters Allred and Thompson's messages but the dots connect better for me with Sis. Beck and Elder Uchtdorf.

Sister Beck talked about being one of Christ's disciples. I want to follow Christ more. She told us that the inclusion of women in discipleship is part of the restoration of the gospel and that it was part of Christ's and his Apostles' ministries.

Elder Uchtdorf said a new little thing that reminded me of President Hinkley's be's. He said there are 5 petals on forget me nots and 5 things we should remember:

1. forget not to be patient with yourself- everyone has strengths and weaknesses, don't punish yourself for not being perfect. God notices your efforts and accomplishments and recognizes them
2. forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a bad one- do the things that matter most, don't stay up late to embellish something, do stay up late to help a sick child.
3. forget not to be happy now- don't just wait around for your golden ticket, enjoy the chocolate bar too. Don't only think about your wishes and wants, remember all of the things that are good right now. (Enjoy the journey)
4. forget not the why of the gospel- don't get caught up on all the Lord wants you to do, but remember why you do it and it will bring you joy.
5. forget not that the Lord loves you- you are not forgotten and you are loved. Why? Because you are His child.

I know it seems kind of corny, but I must have needed these messages.

friends.

Jeremy and I have really dear friends that have been with us through thick and thin. They have even enjoyed being in glitchy wedding pictures with us. They are true friends.

Today is a sad one. Our good friends Chris Duce and Natalie Neal are moving their little keisters to Los Angeles, California. We will miss them so much and I wish them well with their house and job hunts. They are film makers and photographers and are both very capable. I know they will be fine but we'll miss them here.

Just look how good of friends Jeremy and Chris are.

fancy shoes and fancy cameras

First off, I can't stop listening to this song by College.

I just got a new job. I am the morning receptionist for Wake Up Now. It seems to be a good business that does good things and everyone is very nice. I just need to work on remembering people's names.

I have had a lot of down time so far so since I'm just sitting here between calls and visits, I have time that I can blog and meander through the web. I have found some neat things, like the blue rabbit swing in my previous post.

Since I am at the front desk, I need to always look professional. I have several outfits that I could wear to work, but since I'll be here everyday, I'd like to keep my eye out for possible additions to my wardrobe. Today, I looked at some shoes at Zappos. I'm not going to get these ones, but I like them. It'd be fun to wear them.



Polka dot studded shoes by Belle



Sparkley shoes in black sugar by Rober Clergie

Meanwhile, I was also chatting with Jeremy on Facebook. We have been fantasizing about getting a Red Scarlet for the past few years since it was announced in 2008 (or whenever it was). There has been talk about the camera actually coming out since 2009. I think it may come out sometime soon for reals, so Jeremy are fantasizing even more. Jeremy just sent me a link to this picture:



This diagram compares different resolutions. The little orange space is the size of a regular NTSC DVD's resolution and the blue is HD1080. If we got a scarlet, it would have the resolution of that burnt orange space at 3K, which is pretty big. I didn't realize how large a resolution could be. The giant red space is another product from Red, it is the Red Epic 617 at 28K. That is so extremely ginormous. I don't know very much about camera technology and I don't even pretend to understand it, but I know that would make a giant picture.

swing swing

I found this really cool Hare Swing. It is really expensive but I think it's great. If I had huge amounts of spare money and a yard with a tree, I would totally buy this.

new house

Jeremy and I have moved out of my mother's home. She was so awesome to let us stay with her for very nearly a year. I'm going to miss her and she's going to miss us, but we're only 35 minutes away.

I really like our apartment. It is really big compared to where we've lived before. It's probably two times the size of our last two apartments. Our landlords are really great too. I really like our apartment.

IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeremy is being really silly. He's been doing this for the past 20 minutes. I love my husband. Also, I think my facebook post is really funny. I think I'm funny sometimes.

a year later...

It has been a year and 5 minutes exactly since I was hit by Justin Hicken's car. He was under the influence of heroin at 7:15 in the morning when he hit me. In honor of this year anniversary (and whenever you see this post) do something to fight against drugs and driving under the influence.

I'm happy to be alive and I don't want sympathy for what happened a year ago, but I want everyone to remember that drugs don't only affect the user. It just isn't worth the risks the user takes, no matter what. People make really irrational decisions when they are under the influence. They can hurt someone else like Justin Hicken did or they can hurt themselves. Some nice people died from overdose in my hometown last summer and it was so sad.

DON'T DO DRUGS. DON'T DRIVE DRUNK. DON'T DRIVE WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE EVER.

yummies

I really like treats and sweets. I made these tasty lime meltaways a few weeks ago:

I like the swirl on the top, its cute.

I don't have the recipe for them at the moment but if I remember maybe I'll post it later. They were really good and I'm proud of myself for making them up. I want to make other flavors of meltaways as well.

Jeremy and I are in Jackson, Wyoming for the rest of the week. Jeremy is taking people's pictures at a ranch while I sit here at our friends house alone with the computer. I've developed a cold. I find that I really waste time when I'm home with a cold all alone. I've had fun looking at cool things though. Look at these tasty, cute, fun things. I tracked these down by looking at a post on Jordan Ferney's blog, Oh Happy Day. Now, I'm not a real blogger or blog reader like her so I don't know what is or isn't awesome when it comes to blogs. She really likes Not Martha which is a blog that has been around for a while. Megan, at Not Martha, seems to be a really fun person. She has cute ideas like chocolate Easter egg surprises, which are like little kinder eggs.

From Not Martha, I then went to Omnomicon, which has this cute colorful cake idea that I want to do for the next cakey thing that I make, and the kitchn, where we can learn to make homemade peeps. Yummy yummy yummy!

I hope that I remember these treats when their respective holidays come up again in 2012 cause maybe that will be the last time I'll ever get to make holiday treats (because it's 2012)!

LIGHTNING

There was the most wonderful lightning on Saturday night. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch it. I don't know if I'll ever see such electrical wonders again in my life. I started taking pictures too late so only 7 have any bolts in them, though I took hundreds.




It really was so awesome. The lightning was so crazy that I started to feel scared, even though it is one of my favorite things ever.

After the lightning went behind the mountain, it was still a beautiful night with the moon peeking out of the dispersing clouds.

seriesous

I'm serious. I'm going to start making things in series, one or two months at a time depending on how often I paint, paste, draw, cut, or do any of those digitally. Look what my friend Satomi made out of paper...

She is a really talented and beautiful dancer and is also good at visual art! Anyway, I'd like to try my hand at paper cutting too.

new schedule

So, I've been feeling like I've been in an unproductive rut for a while now. I'd like to do the things I say I'm going to do because that helps fuel my happiness. Jeremy, my mother, and my sister Charlotte (and probably my other sisters) have really been encouraging me to make things, bake things, learn new things, be consistent, and even sell the things I make or like. I just made an etsy account though it is mostly to buy something, maybe I'll have an etsy store of my own someday or even by the end of the year. I should be able to depend on my own success.

These are my new daily goals:
wake up at the same time every day
work out and/or do something particularly healthy for an hour or two
do the things I must do (ie: laundry, shower, get ready for the day, make the bed, eat, etc.)
write down daily or weekly goals in order of priority
make or begin to make something whether it is painting, sewing, crochetting, drawing, choreographing, writing, cook or bake, friends, taking photos and editing them, learn how to use my creative software, etc...
teach my dance classes
write on this blog do document my progress :)

I want to do the things I listed above so badly. I need to make a more concrete schedule otherwise I won't do it all. I ardently want to complete these tasks, that should be enough to make me do it I guess.

Anyway, I hope I can take this motivation to work with me and that it is successful.

Cool stuff that I wish I could have

My sister Charlotte just got back from Greece, Turkey, and France. My sister has a friend named Jordan. She lives in France and has a really cool blog called Oh Happy Day that is so fun to read and look at. Someday I'd like to travel and live abroad. Anyway, while I was browsing things on her blog I happened upon another blog of cute things, here, that led me to a neat website...1stdibs.com. I think it is my new favorite thing and I feel inspired by things they have there. There are so many fancy things I wish I could have or make. Here are a few...

...beautiful dresses...


...cute chairs...


...this fancy leafy lamp...


...and this gorgeous diamond and emerald ring.

Now I want to sew things that I can wear and sell, design furniture and build furniture, and skilfully make beautiful jewelery.

Netflix is going to Latin America

So we entered a video into a contest. It's cool. Watch it here.

Auntie Larae's childhood dreams

My mother has a sister named Helen Larae Free Kerr. She's a really smart lady. She and my mom found some of her old paper dolls from 1952. These dolls are ballerinas so my mother thought I might like to see them. My aunt scanned them in and sent them to me. I want to eventually print them off and give them as gifts or something, unless that's illegal. I guess I might actually forget to do that, but hopefully I wont. They are so beautiful, even though the colors are probably a little faded or warped, I love them the way they are. Here are a few of the dolls.

day 1 of our third year

Today is the first day of our third year of marriange or marriage. Jeremy and I googled marriange yesterday and it is surprising how many people misspell the word, it's quite funny.

We decided that one of our family traditions should be to take an anniversary picture on our anniversary every year.
Anniversary #1:

Anniversary #2 (it is also at the top of the page):

This week I'm going to try to focus most of my time on finishing my incomplete so I can get my diploma and on gathering info about my accident last year.
Jeremy, my sister Rachel, me, and probably some other friends were thinking it'd be cool to celebrate my being alive on the anniversary of being hit by the high Justin Hicken's truck, which will be on the 25th this month. I don't really know what I'll do, but maybe we'll do something fun. If you have any ideas you can post them for me. I don't want it to be an angry party but a fun one. I also don't want it to detract from my brother Zack's wedding to this cute person:

Her name is Annie.