Am I alone in this?

Am I the ONLY person who really doesnt care about THIS:

William. Kate. Royal. Wedding. ???

I mean for real. I've never been the person that sits and watches the grammy's, the acadamy awards, etc etc. I personally think its a waste of time!

I dont know William or Kate. I dont live in England. Their getting married doesnt affect me directly.

Why would i get up at, what? 4 in the morning to watch something that is unrelated to me?!

i just DO NOT care.

I will admit however, as i looked at my friend ashley's blog and saw the pictures she posted of the wedding, Kate's dress was beautiful and she looked flawless. of course.

shes a princess.

Did you watch it? Can you please tell me what motivated you to? Why it was so important to you? I'm honestly curious.

Feedback people!

100!

This is my 100th post people!

Not that very many people read this, but for me that is an accomplishment indeed!

I've always kept a journal. By always i mean, I got one when i was 8 from my mom on my baptism day...and over the next 5 years wrote 20 pages.

FAIL.

When my brother came home from his mission my grandfather gave me a beautiful present. I know, it seems wrong that i got a present when he got home, but to be fair my grandpa also gave my brother a laptop. just sayin'.

He gave me a journal with a very special letter to me on the inside. He also gave me a pearl necklace to go with it. He called it my Temple Pearl. He touched on why he gave me the pearl and how special i was, but he also hit on why he gave me the journal. "The prophet commanded us to keep records...",he said.

I resolved to do better at journal writting. "I now at the ripe old age of 15 WILL fill these pages with my dazzeling wit, and charm, my insights, and my dreams", i said.

i DID do better. But i think it still took me 4 years to fill it up.

FAIL.

My mom then got me a journal that i tried to take with me EVERYWHERE. It got quickly filled up and that made me so happy! I felt like i was doing what I needed to, especially after President Hinckley told us that journal keeping was EXTREMELY important.

The Christmas before i turned 22, my best man friend Troy gave me a journal. He put alot of thought into the gift and said that he knew I could fill it.

(insert AWWWWWW here)

SO i made ANOTHER resolution. That at the even riper age of 22 I was going to fill the journal with my secrets, my hopes, my fears, my brilliance, etc. and do it QUICKLY!

AND I DID! I think it took me just over a year this time. and i filled it up! i'm not so sure about filling it with brilliance or anything, but it got filled!

Jace and I had been married for 2 months when Christmas came. And he had bought me a beautiful leather journal with a special note on the inside. I'm still in the process of filling it. But I've been able to be on the computer more which means that anything i've missed out on writting at home, has probably been taken care of on the blog. So i'm hoping to get this printed out and include it with my other journal.

SUCCESS!

yay me.

Color, oh my!

Blog Challenge Day 6: flowers you had and colors you chose!

My wedding was smack dab in the middle of October.
And that generally means pretty reds, oranges, greens, browns....
Well, not if you live in Mesa, AZ.
It was the hottest day of the month on my wedding day.
The grass was dying all around from the heat.
The leaves were still all on the trees.

And so, i didnt want to do the traditional Fall colors. But i also couldnt do bright springy/summer colors either. The flower bill wouldve been astronomical! So i chose a more...traditional winter pallet.

RED. BLACK. WHITE.

Old Hollywood. You know. :)

I wanted Roses and just roses, and how i loved them. My bouquet was HUGE and red. My bridesmaids had white. The groomsmen had white roses, my husband had red. And I had red roses on every table, on top of my wedding cake, i had a topiary tree at the sign in table and i LOVED IT.

My cake was supposed to be white with black piping and red roses on top...when i got to the church i saw it. WHITE WITH RED PIPING AND RED ROSES. good thing the red matched. and good thing i have a good sense of humor. i couldve been real upset.

UM. oh yeah. hai. We bough red and black beta fish to have around too. I'm cool like that.

Engagment/Bridals

Blog Challenge day 5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!

Bridals are going to be first...dont know why. Day before our wedding we did our pictures. Its a genius idea. WAY less stress on your big day! Tami Webb was our photographer and she was wonderful to work with.

One of my very best friends from high school is named Ted. He has an adorable wife named Lauren. Most of you know her as the "BusyBee".
She takes beautiful pictures and asked if she could do our engagements.
We knew we were already going to love them, but wow.
We didnt realize just how much we were going to love them.

Unsupportive

and no i'm not talking about my bra. That baby needs to be supportive.

I'm talking about me. My husband is in a band. Anyone know that?? No? Oh its probably because i'm not the biggest supporter of the band. and dont talk it up. or talk about it...period.

I have major reservations about it.

Now, dont get me wrong here. I support my husband 110%. He is amazing. And the band has 2 of my brother in laws in it, and they are pretty spectacular as well. (and yes seth, randy, mike, and brad rock also)

Their music is great. They are all really talented.

I just wanted everyone to know how proud of my husband i am. and that i love him and his music.

RING-A-DING!

blog challenge day 4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!

When Jace and I were dating we used to talk in hypotheticals.

Like, "So if we got married what kind of cake would you want? IF we were to get married what would our colors be? IF IF IF."
It was safer than actually saying, "You are the one for me. Marry me now and lets ACTUALLY plan our wedding."

Well, one of the hypothetical questions he asked me was what i'd want my ring to look like. What i told him was this: "As long as its white gold and princess cut i dont care."

I showed him a style that was kind of what i wanted...simple, not too flashy. I love me some bling too though...so honestly i wouldve been fine with whatever he chose for me.

He took his SIL Mindy to ::JARED:: and found me a beautiful ring. Simple but has enough bling to satisfy that need for sparkle. I love it!!

The day after he proposed we went back to Jared's to find my band and his (and get my engagement ring sized--it was too big). There werent a ton of "contour" bands and that is the type i needed unless i was doing a custom band. So we picked one out and i LOVE it, but its a bit thick for me (i have short, stubby fingers)

Eventually we'll get a skinnier version.

Jace was working with his family still and doing alot of moving, deliveries, and eventually construction on a new store so we wanted something that was going to hold up well. Jace's only requirement was that it be the comfort fit. We wanted Tungsten because its so durable...but they didnt have any decent ones.

So we got a Titanium ring in which i had engraved with "My Best Thing 10-15-09" He loved it.

However, with all of the labor he did it got really scratched up. So for his bday next month I'm giving him a new band...TUNGSTEN! We went yesterday to get my ring cleaned and they had a whole selection of tungsten rings and Jace found the one he wants! It looks like White Gold, but way more durable! I'll take pictures of it when we get it.

The engagement.

Blog Challenge Day 3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc.

The Proposal.
Dude.
It was, um, interesting.

I was in CA with my big brother Jeff over my bday. Apparently while i was gone, Jace went and talked to my parents and asked for my hand in marriage. My mom then called my brother Jeff (who i was with) and told him on the phone (i was in the car!) that Jace was going to propose when i got home!

I got on a plane the day after my birthday to go back home and got SICK. I mean, real sick.
Jace had called asking to pick me up from the airport. I said "No. I have some of Jeff's luggage and it needs to go to my mom and dad's anyways. So just wait to see me."

He was irritating me by not backing down.

I got off the plane and there were my parents waiting for me. AND JACE.

We got back to my house and it was decorated for my birthday. It was so sweet of my bff Katie, Jace, Troy, Bryan and Eric to decorate my room. Then Jace wanted to go to dinner.
UM, HI. I'M SICK HERE!

So finally he convinces me to go get a frosty from Wendy's. He got me talking about what Jeff and I did for my birthday so i didnt notice where we were until we were on the highway. WEIRD. Seriously.

Finally we reach our destination. FOUNTAIN HILLS! For those of you who dont live in the Valley here this is a very well to do area with a Lake smack dab in the middle of it. And right smack dab in the middle of the lake is a GIANT fountain!
(i love fountains...see our first kiss picture)

We were eating our ice cream, but the fountain wasnt running as late as it was. Bummer, but oh well. Then Jace turns on his phone (for the radio...we did that all the time, and still do) and has "our song" going.

Then he proceeds to tell me that he loves me and that he cant imagine spending any more time apart. And he asks me a question. "Will you marry me?" I said yes and then... THE FOUNTAIN WENT OFF!
no lie.

He slipped the ring on my finger (which i couldnt see because it was dark) and i called my mom, best friend, brother Jeff, and cousin Julie.

The actual fact that he was going to propose wasnt a surprise. We had talked about it before hand, but the timing was a surprise. He was supposed to wait for another month or so. We ended up being engaged for 4 months (the temple was closed down for 3 weeks for cleaning when we wanted to get married) and then were married in October.

There are NO pictures of the proposal or even of us after it. We're lame. but there is a picture of me the day after holding up my all important hand.
:)

He's the one for me!

Blog Challenge day 2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?

When did I know Jace was "The One"?...

Jace and I had been dating for about a week or two when I had a good friend getting married (shout out to Christine Glass!)

Jace was going out to see the new Wolverine movie at midnight with his brothers and their wives, so i knew i wasnt going to see him that day/night if I didnt stop by on my way to the reception. ((sidenote: we had seen each other EVERY day up to that point))

I went over to his parents house all dressed up and he asked where I was going. I replied "to a friends reception". Now seeing as most of my friends from high school had already gotten married, i was the reception queen! I didnt mind it at all and ended up having lots of fun.

When I got up to go, Jace jumped up and said to wait a few minutes. He came back down the stairs dressed in his suit. He said that he couldnt let me go alone. ((insert gasp here))

I told him it was no big deal, but he insisted. So we went. While we were inside a guy named Colin came over and asked me if Jace were my husband or boyfriend. I panicked. Out of those 2 options he was definitely closer to a boyfriend than a husband. So thats what i said...and Jace heard me.

He then spent the next few minutes pestering me with "So, i'm your boyfriend huh?"

When we left and got in my car, he leaned over and kissed my cheek and said this:

"Andrea, I really like you. Like, REALLY like you. And to be honest...I dont want to date any other girls but you."

My heart jumped. I had been waiting a long time for someone to say something that cute to me.

I dropped him off at the movies that night...and in the next few nights Jace told me that he was in love with me.

((insert freak out from me))

He said he knew it was fast, but he did love me. And thats when i knew my heart was toast. It took me awhile to say it back to him, but on his birthday I gave him a card that said, "I give you my heart. Its not much, but its all i have to give. I love you." and on that card i wrote 10 things that i loved about him.

I have since filled up 5 more cards with more 10 things i love about him. and i really do. He was the one for me.

He claims that he knew first, and just needed some more time to convince me.

:)

Blog Challenge Day 1

Jace and I have a very interesting story. Well, at least its interesting to me.

In elementary school I had a friend named Bryan and i swear every year we were in the same class. Well, we ended up going to the same Jr High. However we only saw each other at lunch now. He introduced me to one of his friends Jace. Jace was OBNOXIOUS. and kind of mean. I wasnt a real fan of him. and honestly i don't have very many memories of Jace from back then. I do remember him starting to call me "A&W" (i thought it was for my name) but there was a root beer commercial about being "hard-headed". And the last memory I have of Jace was him calling me a name and getting on the school bus, i told bryan to hit him upside the head for me. And I didnt think about him again for 7 years.

I had been dating this guy for over a year and we were planning our wedding. Bryan emailed me out of the blue,telling me that his long time girlfriend (who i was also friends with) cheated and then was going to study abroad. They broke up. His heart was broken and I felt so bad for my friend. Well, not too long after that my own relationship took a hit. He decided he wasnt ready to get married and wanted to continue to do the long distance dating. My heart couldnt take it. SO we broke up. And bryan and i commiserated together on the phone.

One day he called me SO excited telling me that his friend Jace was getting back from his mission to Idaho.He asked if i remembered him....and i had to search my brain, but i finally did remember him. And i was happy that bryan was going to get his friend back in his life.


I recieved a friend request from Jace Hunt not too long after that. We were friends on facebook for quite some time, neither of us talking to the other. Till one day in April 2009 I got a message from him asking if i'd like to go to dinner to catch up. He was very specific in saying that this was NOT a date.


I agreed. We set up a day for dinner and i told him that he needed to pick me up. i didnt care if it was a date or not! I was on the phone with my brother in CA and i was telling him about the last time i remember seeing Jace and Ididnt really like him. Jeff asked why i was doing this and I said i that i didnt know but it was dinner and i like dinner.


Jace came to pick me up and BOY had he grown up. He was quite cute...and shy! We went to Outback and were just chatting away...(apparently i dont have a problem in that area). I told him that I had been in love before and we were pretty dang serious and that really surprised him. As we were finishing up dinner he asked me if i had other plans that night or if i wanted to do something else.The friend date was turning into a real date!


Both of us were so comfortable all through dinner because it WASNT supposed to be a date. We were just totally casual.We ended up trying to do various activities (which fell through; and is now a "trademark" of ours) and ended up seeing The Soloist in theaters.


He held my hand **tingles!** and when he took me home, he walked me to the door and kissed me! ( i normally never kiss on thefirst date...but something came over me!) It was very short, but sweet.


The next day he called me and asked to do something that night as well. I agreed. and apparently he cancled a date with another girl to go out with me again. (oh yeah i'm that cool and btw sorry to the other girl. you missed out). And from there we saw each other every day with the exception of a 5 day break when i went to visit my brother over my bday.


We dated 2 months and he proposed and 4 months after that we were married!



This was the first picture we had taken of us together. We took my little brother out for ice cream on Mill Ave. I saw a fountain (i LOVE fountains) and had to go over there. Joe took this picture for us.

Dear Mom:

Dear Mom,

Remember how I told you that your "signature signoff" on the phone was "Thank you much"??

Remember how I chuckled and said that it was so you.

Well, today while I was answering the phone at work, when I was ending the conversation I found myself saying "Thank you much, bye."

I am so your daughter.

Wardrobe FAIL

I feel so completely lame.

Seriously.

My brother found a wardrobe on sale at IKEA. Its called "Dombas". No lie. Jace couldnt stop giggling. Well, its supposed to be a pretty good size and it was only $50! So I had him pick one up for us since we seriously LACK on storage space.

Last night J and I were putting it together. And we are mentally challenged. We put the whole thing together fairly fast (considering NOTHING was labled) but seriously underestimated how LARGE this wardrobe was. The ceiling in our hallway is quite lower than that in all of the other rooms. Lets just say that we "scraped" by. LITERALLY.

Then we underestimated how stupid and sharp the corners are in our apartment. We had to take the door off to our bedroom and after lots and LOTS of wiggling, we got it in. Yes, we realized that we shouldve put it together in the room we were going to put in, but AFTER the fact. Live and learn.

Basically we accomplished 3 things.

#1. We had to completely RE-ARRANGE our entire bedroom to fit this ONE piece.

#2. We took a brand new piece of furniture and dropped it (cracking it in some places) and scuffing it up when we wiggled it into our room.

#3. We scuffed up the paint on the door frame leading into our bedroom.

I'm not too worried about #3, I can fix anything up in this apartment and it will be WAY better than what they did to it before we moved in. But the other two...gosh dang it. Oh well, right?? Also, now i'm really sore. FAIL.

Blog Challenge

My friend Amanda is quite amazing! She and I havent seen each other (in person) since the 6th grade. And my friends, that was over a decade ago. yeesh.

We have taken different paths in life for sure. Shes a mommy to 3 little adorable kids! Can you see that i'm a bit jealous? She has a home of her own, a sweet husband (from what i read), makes adroable headbands, and shes beautiful to boot.

Well, i was reading her blog and she is doing this challenge...and I thought that it was something that i'd like to do as well. So, thanks Amanda!

DAYS:

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.

2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?

3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc.

4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!

5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!

6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used

7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?

8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?

9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?

10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!

11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!

12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.

13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good? ;) haha...jk.

14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?

15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!

16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?

17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

Sewing

I've never really been a seamstress. Actually I've never really sewed much. PERIOD.

I own a machine...dont know how to use it.

I have sewed on buttons. But guess what i've found that I have sewn the most since we've been married??

This thing we got 2 Christmas' ago.

Apparently even without children, J and I are pretty hard on furniture.

Geez.

Ladies and Gents...

The time has come.

Know what time??

FOR ME TO DO SOME UPDATING IN OUR APARTMENT!

so stinking excited.

I have just been ITCHING to do something lately. Call it the spring cleaning vibe, but everything has just been driving me absolutely batty!

I decided to tackle our second bedroom. Basically it looked like the inside of one of those storage containers that you rent. you know...where you cant move and its floor to ceiling boxes...and you probably have a hobo living in there?

yeah, it was dark and scary and i have nightmares just thinking about it.

I wish with all my heart i had taken a picture of it to show you the before...but then again...maybe you are all better off without that image.

I went through and did some MAJOR decluttering and throwing away and reorganizing boxes. Let me tell you it was awful! I, at one point, had been swallowed up by boxes and J couldnt even see where i was when he tried to step into the room.

key word: TRIED.

We have 2 loveseats, a lovesac, and a recliner in there(along with a gazillion boxes)...so i decided to remove the recliner and put it into our family room. We have been using the lovesac so thats not in there either. (at the moment)

Eventually it will go back in there and when we have our neices and nephew over we can put the laptop in there so they can watch movies and snuggle on the lovesac.

I set up our card table for my scrapbooking or so jace could use it for work (yeah right)...and put up shelves on the wall to hold all of my hair coloring product.

SQUEE!!! i sometimes go in there just to look at that shelving. no lie.

There is so much more to do, but already i feel lighter.

NOW. on to the family room.

We got a sturdy and well-loved coffee table at a friends garage sale for a few dollars. I went out last night and bought stain and paint and will post pictures of the end product!

I also was getting tired of everyone in the world being able to see my dirty kitchen (and a sink full of dishes) everytime we had a dinner party! or just in general....SO i went out and got super cheap curtain rods and 3 panels of chocolate, sheer curtains. they add JUST enough privacy that you cant see the mess but are still sheer enough that it doesnt totally close off the space.

LOVE IT.

since i'm at work, i'll post the pictures when i get home.

But let me tell you this. Spring is here...and i'm catching the cleaning and organizing bug. Its gonna be awesome!

Not a mom, yet.

So, I may not get to be a mommy...yet. BUT i do get to be an aunt.

I had one of the most amazing aunts. She didn't have children of her own so she would treat her nieces and nephews as her children. I found this especially true about my brothers and I. We lived around the corner and were in the same ward.

On our birthdays she would take us out for a special date.

I LOVED IT!

and so, since I'm not a mom, but i am an aunt i decided to be just like my aunt Kathy!

Grace's birthday was a month ago. (yes i am that late in posting about it) and we went and had a bounce-r-iffic day! At Riverview there is a place called Jump and Shout.

DUDE. so awesome!

We went and spent a couple of hours and then went and got lunch. Um, yeah. Want to know what Grace said when i asked what she wanted for lunch?

"Um, Cafe Rio."

If i could just convince her of Costa Vida's amazing-ness then it would have been the PERFECT day.

Enjoy the pictures! (these are mostly for you Jen!)

((sorry everything is backwards...its been one of those days and i'm too tired to fix it.))

??

Does anyone remember ever getting sick from jumping on the trampoline??

Coolest b-day present ever! was for my nephew Corbin. His grandparents gave him a tramp! and all of us adults were super excited for it, especially my husband and i.

Well, i was talking to my SIL Jamie, and Corbin has been sick, but its always after the trampoline. shes wondering if he has motion sickness! and yesterday my cute neice Grace took me out back to show me the trampoline and her "spit". Which apparently is throw up.

She and i were bouncing around for about 2 minutes when i watched her eyes go wide and her hands cover her mouth. I asked if she was okay and she said I'm trying not to spit. YIKES! needless to say we got off the tramp.

Now, it cant be just these two kids getting sick off of play equipment like this, but honestly...I cant ever remember getting sick on the trampoline! and it makes me sad to think that, at least for the moment, they are getting sick by it!

also, interesting fact for you. My husband who was so excited for this trampoline?? Apparently he got on it and then realized his body has gotten old and didn't agree with bouncing around. Hahaha. His words to me? "I remember it being cooler and hurting less."