Mindi and David

The Way We Were in 2011

2012-02-25T11:16:00.019-08:00

Can't get better then this, having the whole family together for a photo shoot. Love these memories...

Nana & Papa & The Munchkins.

And then there were four.

The Bevan 5.

Mom & Dad.

Mindi & David.

Our Engagement photo. Same pose/location but 5 years later.

The J.R. Bevan Family.

Steven.

Aly.

The Jones Family...With one on the way in May!

The Grandkids.

One Big Happy Family.

Adriana's Baby Shower

2012-02-25T10:22:00.007-08:00

Adriana and her gifts.

The decor. Spencer's banner and crown covered lanterns.

Good company. And Yummy food.

Too much yummy food.

When: December 31, 2011 @ 11:30am

Where: The Bevan Residence

For: Mom to Be Adriana & baby Spencer

Theme: Knights & Dragons

Hostess's: Becky Blake & Mindi Blake

Glad I could play a special part as hostess during her exciting arrival of her precious prince.

Aly & Steven

2012-02-16T19:34:00.000-08:00

Gas Works Park

The Gum Wall

Ivars on The Pier

Pikes

Loved every minute with you two.

Part One of Aly and Steven's visit to Seattle

2012-01-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

The perfect Seattle shot, Kerry Park.

We found Santa at the top!

Always the photographer but I always had the best view. I loved being with them.

The view. City Skyline. Mt. Rainer.

The Space Needle. Clear, sunny and fairly warm day, perfect. Glad they got to see the view

unobstructed by rain and clouds.

The Troll.

Gas works park. I love this photo. I love the background. I am pleased on how I set this one up. It's perfect to me. I love it.

Maggiano's. Yummy Italian food. What to eat? That is the question here. Don't they look deep in thought? Cracks me up...

Touring Bellevue. At the Bravern. I described it to Aly as a very "posh" shopping center. She asked me if I knew where it came from, I just said it means elegant, swanky or rich. She then informed me of it's true origins, it's from England it means Portside out starboard home. I guess only the very wealthy travelled by boat. She then impressed me with a more detailed reason that you'll have to ask her about. But I found a cool poem from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that I thought she'd like...

O the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me

First cabin and captain's table regal company

Pardon the dust of the upper crust - fetch us a cup of tea

Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh

Blake Family Photos

2012-01-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

I took our photos, with a tri-pod and a self timer, I did ok. Don't know how to avoid the glare on those with glasses. I'm assuming there is a tool for that. Oh well. You get what you pay for. I am grateful for the experience. I will be better prepared next time.
Top Row Left: Kumen, Becky, Jared, Aaron, Zach
Bottom Row Left: David, Me, Ben, Adriana, Tim

Cards & Creations

2012-01-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

My friend, Susan, also from work, who loves ALL THINGS BRITISH. Commissioned me to make 3 collages that she can frame for her sewing room she's re-doing. I can't wait to show these to her tomorrow. I actually love them, would love them more though if they were all things FRENCH! Haha.

You can click on the photos to blow them up so you can see the details...

A banner for Spencer. Adriana's due in March and already knows the name of her baby boy. She wanted a Knights, Castle, dragon themed banner. I'd say she got one. This banner is a little different from my usual. One it's a different pattern and two I got to use Becky's circuit for some of the embellishments. I need a circuit!!!

Dave was very thoughtful this year. He had the idea to build bulletin boards and print photos from our own library for our family members. He made a total of 7 in 4 days, that's impressive. I think we successfully picked out fabric that matched each person perfectly. This was not an easy gift. Nothing like just buying a gift card. But he and I both realized the blessings we received by do this. It was definitely priceless.

A Christmas card for my brother Steve, the Hunter. I had him this year... Enjoy your knife, machete and shot gun belt!!!

A baby boy card included in Adriana's Christmas gift.

A baby girl card included in the group of cards to Adriana for Christmas.

Happy Birthday to my friend, Brooklyn. She's also my visiting teaching companion, and was my visitor teacher just before that. I really think she's great!

Mother-In-Law, Becky's Birthday card. She actually shared her birthday with us here in Bellevue, WA. She made a Birthday weekend out of it, so that her and I could attend the Scrapbook Convention. Lots of fun, Lots of goodies!!!

Thank-You card for Susan. She loves sewing. This card was to thank her for some purses she gave me.

Birthday card for Tate! He had a pirate birthday party. He turned 4 this past year.

Birthday card for Sweet Ashley. She turned 2!

Christmas 2010!

2012-01-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Dave gave me gift cards and good ones too!!! Southwest, Pottery Barn, Lincoln Square Cinemas, and Nordy's.
David's Santa head ornament. I picked it up at Pottery Barn, loved it!

Christmas decor. Love our new pillows!

Christmas 2010. Just found these photos and thought I should post them. Dave and I spent Christmas alone in Bellevue, WA last year. It was a small yet wonderful Christmas. We did something special that year by hand cutting our own tree. We loved that experience and have decided that each Christmas spent alone we will do that. Also Dave and I spent Christmas Eve doing our shopping for each other. We each went our own way at Bellevue Square (The Mall). It was fun. Although the only negative was a lot of things were out of stock, so you really had to be creative. Dave and I have also tried to exchange a Christmas ornament. This year I got a gingerbread man, and Dave got Santa's head. I'm pretty sure he loved it.

Our very first hand cut Christmas tree. Our very first real tree. 8ft, Grand fir and amazingly gorgeous!

David made sure to rope it down real good.

Mt. Creek Christmas Tree Farm, by Mt. Si in Washington. We love this tree farm. Nothing says Christmas like a tree farm and hot coco.

I believe we made 5o Christmas cards that year.

The Cousins

2012-01-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

I will forever remember how crazy cute Ashley was. She was out of control funny and all smiles. I should have had a video camera going. OMG. I love my nieces and nephews.

Cards for Adriana

2012-01-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Part of her Christmas gift. There were two more cards I created after this photo (will add eventually) they were a baby girl and baby boy card. She also got a handmade bulletin board by David just like the one we have.

A Card for Courtney

2012-01-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

Steven's Lovely Lady Courtney. This was included in her Christmas gift.

A Card for Kaleb

2012-01-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry photos loaded backwards...

Aly's Missionary, Kaleb is in Paraguay. We made a very fun card for him.

AZ, Home Sweet Home

2011-11-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Our last lunch at Cafe Rio.

Taking a nice walk around the Riparian.

Hi Bubble Bee!!! I love my little Emmett. Super awesome Halloween Custom.

The Boo Crew!

Dave and Zach or should I say "Zink" made a pumpkin carving great team.

We Celebrated all the October and Novemeber Birthday's. Happy Birthday Kumen. Card made by me.

Happy Birthday Aaron! Wish I got your present. I still need that if anyone is looking for a Christmas present idea for me...

Happy Birthday Ben. He got some video game.

Happy Birthday Time. What a kid, lovin' on his Lego's.

We had a Birthday celebration and pumpkin carving at The Blake's the Sunday night we were there. Super fun!!!

Every one's digg'n in.

Tim and Adriana.

This is Dave's second pumpkin this year. I think he likes Halloween. Or rather his little brother Zach!!!

Love LUKE! Cute big brown eyes. He's almost 1. December 1st!

The Blake family at the Hale Theatre.

The John Bevan Family at the Hale Theatre.

My favorite people in the whole wide world!!! NANA & PAPA. I sure love you. So glad you came down.

The Ryan Bevan Family.

The whole gang! We all went to the Hale Theatre. We had 20 people in attendance. Love it! We had a great mix; The Tutts, The Kumen Blake's, The David Blake's, The John Bevan's, The Ryan Bevan's, Nana and Papa, And Rae!

Yum, Num, YUMMY!!! Joe's BBQ. We had dinner before our 7pm Curtain call for It's A Wonderful Life. Can I just say, PERFECT COMBO! This is my families table.

The Blake's table.

MMM Dave!

The boys hanging out at McCormick Park, in Scottsdale. One of our many adventure's. It was a fun park, full of trains big and small. Great fall weather in AZ.

That's all folks...

AZ + Family = The perfect combination.

2011-11-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Aly. Steven. At my all time favorite place to eat, JOE'S BBQ just before The Hale Theatre for "It's A Wonderful Life."

Radiant Ruth!

We match! Emmett. Me.

Our First Day: We went to AZ over Halloween weekend and had such a great time! The purpose for our trip was to be able to see Steven's last football game. We had to support our #1 quarter back. David even designed our very own football shirts with the #6 on the back to show who we were there for. So we arrived late the night before (Thursday) and this photo above was our very first stop in the morming. IHOP. We met all the Bevan's there and enjoyed the endless pancakes and talk. Later that morning we went to McCormick Park in Scottsdale. It has an actually train with a museum in it, a smaller train that takes you around the park on rides. Lots of fun for the family. We loved being out in the warm sunny weather. David and I met up with his family later for lunch at our traditional spot, Costa Vida. We had a great lunch with Becky, Adriana, Jared and the two of us. Later that night was Senior Night, Steven's Football game and Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate the season. We really packed in a lot our first day in AZ.

Scott. Ryan.

Aly. Sweet Ashley.

Ruth. Mom.

Dad. Tate.

More to come on our trip to AZ...

Celebrating 5 Years!

2011-11-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

Our friend, Ryan offered to take our photos in honor of our 5th Wedding Anniversary. We went to the Washing Park Arboretum. We had such a fun time posing and feeling like we were engaged again, we can't wait to see the rest of the photos. David and I are sure lucky to live in such a beautiful place and to be able to use it as our background. We have had a fun 3 years in Seattle/Bellevue and are looking forward to new adventures next year.

The Farm at Swan's Trail in Snohomish, WA

2011-10-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

The view from the overlook in the corn maze. The corn maze is literally shaped as the State of Washington. It is as big as 12 football fields. And we actually were given a map with freeways, towns, cities and major landmarks to get through it. There was also a fun scavenger hunt on it to help us find our way out. This was a second time coming to this farm and we loved it even more the second time because we found so much more to do that we didn't even see last year. Like a petting zoo, a 3 little pigs show, food, gift shop, several pumpkin patches, and I could go on and on...

Dave and I found Bellevue within the maze. That's were we live :-).

Us on the hay ride over to the maze.

Mark & Brooklyn.

David and Mark with our pumpkins. Ours ended up being $8. There's was $6. Anyways being out there trying to find the perfect pumpkin reminded me of two things. The first wanting to watch It's the "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" And second how I felt trying to find the perfect Christmas tree among all the other ones. Nothing will replace my love for pumpkin patches and tree farms. The feelings and excitement is just so special.

Great view! Fun things. And wonderful company.

October Fun

2011-10-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

Kristen & Brett's pumpkin on the left. Our pumpkin on the right.
You can kinda see us in the background...

This picture is awesome! The pumpkins look so great in the dark. Kristen really did an amazing job on carving hers puts our pumpkin on such an elementary level. She's an expert!

We had FHE together and it was great. Glad we have such good friends.

Aaron's (David's brother) birthday card. Happy 19th!!! Can't wait to see him in 2 days. He's coming to visit. We love having family come to stay. (Sorry this photo is out of order...couldn't fix it without deleting the others)

Us in action. I was doing a horrible job actually at tracing the outline of the owl that Dave told me I could scoop out the insides. Lol.

Brett and Kristen. Such a great couple of people. We were sure glad to get a chance to hang out with you, thanks for fitting us in to your busy lives.

David carving our pumpkin. We have successfully kept this up as a tradition. I love carving pumpkins. I could do it all month. Glad we get a chance to do it with The Blake's when we come down in a week. Can't wait!!!

A Birthday Card for my friend AMY! We celebrated it with a girls night out (Kristen, Brooklyn and I) to yummy Maggianos. Great Italian food and wonderful company.

Happy Birthday Roo! My niece Ruthie turned 6 this month. I made her this card. I had no idea she was having a pink-a-licious cup cake party. It was inspired I guess. She told me she loved it!

We had the missionaries to dinner and David made this Devil's Food Cake from scratch. It was sinful. We had to buy this beautiful cake stand to hold this amazing creation. Needless to say this gave us an excuse to have friends over the next night too to help eat it. So glad David spent the time making something so yummy. I will remember this chocolate cake for a while. Probably will ask him to make it any chance I can get.

My creation for visiting teaching this month. Yummy candy in honor of Halloween and the message. I got the idea off of another blog. Love people who are super creative and share how to do it.

This Just in Today...2 great pieces of news...

1. My sister, Stephanie is pregnant with her 4th due May 14, 2012!!!!! OMG.

2. My sister-in-law, Adriana found out her what's she's having today. (Hopefully you're not too mad that I posted this a day early, plus no one reads my posts that quickly anyways...) But I'm excited to say she is having a baby boy. Who I can't wait to meet. And plan a baby shower for. Anyone have baby shower ideas, suggestions, or must dos?

I am surrounded by baby news. And I love it but David wants to take a break from it... I told him it's only going to get worse...

Ok so this post is a bit random and crazy and has a ton of photos and things in it. Hopefully it wasn't too overwhelming...

5 years! Halloween. Decor. Cards.

2011-10-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Last minute add, because I forgot it down below... Happy Birthday Today Tim!

(my brother in law on David's side) Birthday Card.

October 5th we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I can not believe it's been that long. I've enjoyed every moment. My anniversary spoils were a lovely bouquet of flowers, dinner out to our very favorite Chipotle and finished watching the 3rd season of the Mentalist. I made David's gifts, a card and a scrapbook page. Low budget this year but preserving memories is priceless.
The inside of my card as seen above and a couple photos below.

Mariner's scrapbook page, I never ever scrapbook so I'm trying very hard to start. So this is a huge jester. It's not complete yet, but I guess it could be. Hopefully my scrapbooking skills will improve.

David's card with the bouquet card.

The inside of Ben's birthday card (David's brother) he will turn 12 tomorrow.

The front of Ben's card.

Halloween paper decor. Pinwheels and flowers.

Subway framed art and Halloween paper. It's amazing what a frame will do to a piece of paper. Also it's hard to see but there's a ghost/bat/flower garland up with the lights.

Last years "Eat Candy" banner. Come to think of it, this was the banner that started my banner obsession. This year I created bats flying around the moon with a simple white paper lantern and back paper. I love it. Only thing I'd do different is buy a lantern with an actually light so that at night the moon would light up. I love it though.

A room with a view. So very relaxing a fun. I love my Halloween decor. David thinks we have enough paper decor though, and I think we could really never have enough. What do you think?

Card Creations

2011-10-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Mary from work loves Halloween. Her Birthday is on 9/20. So I did a Birthday/Halloween themed card.

I had an amazing time making this card. It all came together perfectly. And I knew I had to top her Birthday card last year. Since she keeps it up on display at her desk all year round. Now her favorite holiday can make her happy all year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN!!!! His Birthday is also 9/20. My little brother isn't so little anymore. Now an adult, 18! I am so excited for him. He is enjoying his Senior year, varsity quarter back and has so much going for him. I am looking forward to seeing him in OCT for his Senior Night football game. Go Wildcats!

September recap on what we did...

We started the month off with Labor Day and taking advantage of the Holiday going to ALKI Beach in Seattle. What took us so long to visit this lovely beach I have no idea but we were sure glad to be there on the hot summer day. Dave and I walked around and enjoyed watching boats and kayaks take off. Maybe one day we will brave the waters ourselves. Anyways that was probably our highlight this month. Dave also started classes again at Bellevue College. He is taking an economics and math class. We can almost see his associates degree completed. I hosted another book club, read Wurthering Heights or at least the first 7 pages of it. Yuck. Hard to read. So I watched the movie instead. It's so much fun getting together with these ladies each month though that a bad book is worth discussing. I hosted a party for my friend Alissa, she is pregnant with a baby girl (her first is a boy) so I wanted to do something special but non-traditional. So I organized a mani and pedi night followed by dessert after at my place. It was wonderful 7 gals showed up and enjoyed being pampered. Dave and I also did some babysitting for one of my sunbeams and her two brothers. Brooklyn, Marcus and Zachey were darling. I loved reading stories with them and putting them to bed. I think I could handle that. We've also enjoyed September because it's finally time for all our favorite shows to have there premiers, that we've been waiting for all summer long. Some of our favorites our, Modern Family, The Mentalist, Bones, The Office, Parks and Rects, and Glee. We are looking forward to OCTOBER a lot. We will be celebrating our 5 years of marriage! 5 WHOLE YEARS. Wow. I'll post about that. Also we will be going to AZ for a quick trip and Halloween of course. Which I'll be decorating for this weekend. So until the next post...

Where were you 10 years ago?

2011-09-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

I had walked into my parents bedroom and the news was on the tv that had been sitting on top of the file cabinet which was placed next to their desk. I remember watching this particular airplane strike this tower. This image is forever impressed in my memory. I remember people jumping from the windows. I remember how I felt. I still feel it now. Choked up, tears filled my eyes (just like they are now), goose bumps, fear for the people on the plane, the people in the towers, on the streets below. I will never forget these emotions. I hardly understand them now. I can't believe it's been 10 years, for the day is still very clear in my mind. I express my love for those lost, love for those who risked their own lives to help, the families who still live on not knowing exactly were their loved one was lost. I remember visiting ground zero a year after it happened. It was eerie, all the walls of remembrance, the missing person's posters, and the wreck was still very much there. Today it is an amazing memorial in honor of those fallen. We will never forget! God Bless the USA!

Labor Day 2011

2011-09-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

We spent a part of our day at Alki Beach. We were amazed that we waited 3 years to do this. We walked the boardwalk and enjoyed the views. We were brave enough to touch the freezing cold water. It was refreshing though on a very warm Seattle day. We walked away with so many picturesque photos that I can't wait to blow them up and hang them in my home.

David was way more daring than I. He submerged his feet in the freezing cold ocean. I Love how you can see the Space needle in this photo.

The city framed this boat very well I thought. It looks so peaceful out there. But truthfully there were so many kayaks, motorboats, fishing boats and just people in the water. I've done a good job hiding all that.
Fabulous fun!

We also enjoyed hanging out with our friends Kara and Jake. We got to see their new home in Maple Valley. Although it was a long drive, it was a very beautiful country drive at that. We watched the movie Wild Hogs and had some amazing zucchini bread that I've been craving ever since. Dave and I really enjoyed our holiday. We were grateful for the Seattle Sun.

Cards & Cookie Creations

2011-08-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is a plate of three kinds of cookies. From the left we start with peanut butter cookies, in the middle are the amazing butterscotch coconut cookies that were first introduced to me while dating David and on the right our my famous chunky chocolate chip cookies. We decided to make all three batches this afternoon and prepare a plate for our friends. It was only fitting since my sunbeam lesson was on how I can be a friend. We are grateful for our friendships here and are happy to finally feel at home here because of them.

We shared our creations with Brett & Kristen and Mark & Brooklyn.

I guess this month has been a month of thankfulness for my many friendships. This was a card I created for a dear friend Ann. She and I have shared many great times together. She is a widow in my ward whom I've grown very fond of. Initially I thought of her as a grandma figure but she has become my own age over night and we laugh and talk just like two best friends. I am grateful for her example and knowledge on things. She is an amazing lady.
This card is a happy birthday card for my mama. Although it got to her very late I was relieved to finally finish it for her. She is a great mama and I am so thankful to have her anytime I need her. Couldn't go one day without her. And the day wouldn't be complete without being able to talk with her. I am very blessed to have her as my mama. Happy Birthday!

David's brother Zach turned 9 this month. I can't believe he was just 4 when David and I married. He has grown the most since I've known him. I am happy to have more brothers. Can't wait to see him in October.

More Reunion Photos

2011-08-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Our family dressed in Red, White & Blue in honor of the 4th of July and Pioneer day. We took family photos in front of the church we were hanging out at for our family reunion. We had a blast with crafts, letter writing for family members not there, talent shows, family jeopardy game, eating, laughing and catching up. I sure missed not having Stephanine and her family there, My cousin Emily and my Aunt Kath and her family.My family.

The whole famdamily.

Ryan and Sarah and my cute nieces and nephews. LOVE THEM.

I fell in love with this boy. He is totally my favorite. I loved every chance I could get to hold him and just love on him.

"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..."

I had so much fun in UT. But my last two trips were to UT so it's definetly time to go back home to AZ. Next stop AZ in OCT!!!!

I'll probably have at least one more post about the family reunion.

Another Banner

2011-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

My cousin Jessica had her baby girl the day I flew into SLC and she had me make a Welcome banner for her sweet Grace. This is it. Sorry it is a very bad photo, I took it in the dark and like midnight. I needed to take a photo before I gave it away. Let me know what you think. I did different things with this one. Pinwheels and paper flowers.

Bevan Family Reunion

2011-08-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Lagoon. Us at the end of the day. We spent 11 hours there enjoying all the rides and thrills. Ice cream was a great way to end a hot, fun filled day.
Mark (Mork) & Mindi. My cousin born 2 weeks before me. I was suppose to be born first. Oh well... He's always been my favorite. He actually just left to Washington D.C. to study Law. Good luck Mark.

Steven & Spencer. Cousins. They had a great time getting to know each other better.

My cute Mama and cheesier Luke. Love them.

Aunt Cheryl, Mama and sister Sarah. This was the 1st day of the reunion we had just gotten out of the Jordan River Temple. Such an amazing time doing sealings there. This was definitely my favorite part.

Brother Steven & Ryan and cousin Spencer. For some reason I really love this photo.

My wonderful family. We did baptisms and sealings for our ancestors, it was the most peaceful
and spiritual experience...

Pool time at The Wright's. This is my niece Ruthie, after she got over the scariness of the diving board she ended up enjoying that the most.

My nephew Tate jumping off the diving board, he's younger then his sister Ruthie but he did it first. He always jumped just a couple of feet before the end of the board, always made me jump but he cleared it every time.

LUKE! He smiles just like his older sister Ruthie did at that age. I loved hanging around this boy. So cute, he made me happy. And I didn't mind him cuddling on me when he was tired.

I always love coming to Grandma Wrights to swim. Silly me I didn't bring my suit but I enjoyed the conversation with all my sweet aunts. And also being the photographer, only one with a camera.

So I uploaded my photos out of order, 1st it was the pool, 2nd temple, 3rd Lagoon. This was just the 1st and 2nd day of stuff, more to come. But I had a blast. I enjoyed every minute of my vacation but more importantly hanging with my family.

Say Hi to Dave

2011-08-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

So I went on vacation recently and came home to this. He told me on the phone he was going to have his hand looked at because after a basketball game and one hand "popping" sound later his hand just wasn't the same. After three days of TLC, icing it, and taking alive he realized he needed medical care. He went into urgent care and was told that indeed it is broken. He was soft casted and told to schedule an appointment asap with a hand specialist. So he did and now he is currently wearing this hard, hook like cast that is not something you'd want to snuggle with. Luckily Dave's work accommodated his disability and switched him to the saw, so that he wouldn't be forced to take a leave of absence. Dave told me that since trading with a co-worker for that machine and work station he's been told he's faster and produces better work then than other guy. Very impressive Dave to out do a co-worker on a machine you're not normally working and with your left hand! Dave also e-mailed the basketball league for a credit since this was only his second game. So all is well. I'm just glad he didn't need surgery and that he will be ok. I don't think we realize or rather we take for granted our hands, fingers and arms. This disability has really been an eye opener to how easy we have it. Now I have to make dinners, yuck! I will in the future be more appreciative of Dave and all he does. Good life lesson for me I guess.

Our 4th of July 2011

2011-08-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at Ballard Locks, enjoying the wonderful warm sun shining weather. We went with our friends Kara, Jake, and baby Ella and Ryan.
There was a lovely band planning Americana songs. This was unplanned, but sure glad we were there for the concert. It made that day that much more amazing.

We had a picnic in the park while listening to Stars and Stripes Forever. Just perfect.

Just a quick synopsis of our 4th, otherwise it would have never been posted.

Car Repairs

2011-07-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

A while back our rear view mirror on our drivers side popped out of the frame, so we saran wrapped it back together until we could order and receive our new part. Well here's our story...

This is what it looked like.

We had to take apart our entire door panel to get the rear view mirror off, it was definitely a process. Dave was very prepared, he even found a you tube video saved on his iPhone that helped him do it step by step.

We ran in to some troubles with the new part. It looked like the right fit but it had one major
problem, the cord to attach to the door panel so we would be able to move the mirror around was too short! We tried pulling it to make it longer, and calling the customer service line for there advice (they were useless) and well let's just say we tired out all options to make that ordered part work. So desperately I prayed for it to just work, no luck. Dave and I even went back to the original part to see if we could fix that. No luck, and already we had the door panel taken down, and have been working on this for about 4 hours now...

Original part and door panel.

So you can see that we have it fixed, HOW you ask?

I had the idea to go to the dealership to see if maybe there technicians could fix the original mirror because it didn't look like the brackets holding it in were broken, that somehow it just popped out. Within 5 minutes, no joke the technician fixed it and no charge! I couldn't believe we went to buying a new part for $70, to buying tools for a new part $50, to not be able to install the new part due to it being defective, and thinking we'd have to take our Jeep to the maintenance place at the dealership to have it all fixed for $600 to just basically being out $50 for used tools and 4 hours of our time. Needless to say this was a big stress but in the end Dave and I both felt like we had conquered Mt. Everest. We we so proud of our accomplishment. Thankful that my prayers were answered maybe not in the way I thought, like having a miracle be preformed our the dysfunctional part but getting the impression to just ask for help from the dealership. We are so glad to say we made it work.

4th of July Pizza Party!

2011-07-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Had to get a photo documenting our "Sunday Best."

Getting ready for our 4th of July Pizza Party. We invited 9 people. We had a blast! Dave and I ordered 4 large pizza's from Zeek's, bread sticks, made our own Caesar Salad with lemon zest, and had Root Beer from the bottle. I also made up a 4th of July pictionary game, which turned out to be pretty darn exciting. The girls won!!!

Some holiday decor. I had fun making the banner, and creating 4th of July themed frames. I just love my Gerbra Daisie's. Thanks to Dave I had flowers and the miniature flags. I love my new decorations this year!

This one reads "LAND THAT I LOVE"

Becky if your reading this, your birthday money helped me buy my red, white and blue frames. I couldn't have created my new Independence Day decorations without you. I will cherish these for many years...

"Lady Liberty"
" July"

FOREVER my FAVORITE FLOWER

Our Pizza Party Menu

Brett & Kristen are featured in this photo...

2 of our 4 pizza's... YUM.

Featured in this photo Mark & Brooklyn...

My amazing co-host Dave, thanks lovebug!

Top left: Ryan, Baby Ella, Jake, Brett

Middle: Kara, Kristen

Bottom: Mark, Brooklyn, Me & Dave

Our fabulous group of friends. Thanks for coming to our party. And no Kara I was not going to announce that I was pregnant. LOL. But I'll keep a party in mind for the future...

Birthday dinner & Father Days Cards

2011-06-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

My Dads Father's Day Card.

David's Dads Father's Day Card.

My Birthday dinner with my girlfriends @ Earls. Great food, every time.

I have been waiting 1 year to try these... Campfire Smores. You see last year David and I had my Birthday dinner at Earls, and I was so curious when I saw they offered this treat. But since we had a movie planned right after we didn't have the time for dessert. So yes, 1 year later I went back with some girlfriends and enjoyed a long awaited taste of these Campfire Smores. They were definitely worth the wait!

I ordered the Cajun Chicken Cheddar Sandwich, yum!

My friend Brooklyn and I.

My friend Amy and Kristen.

Bad photo taken by our very bad waitress, I swear they hire on looks alone. But this was the only group shot we got. Thanks Kristen for organizing my Birthday dinner and candle. Brooklyn your card was so funny, and I certainly ate those peanut butter m&ms right up! And thanks Amy for getting us a table! You made my birthday this year very special...

Primary Fun! And June Creations!

2011-06-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

My primary lesson on Sunday was on how our bodies can do things. I had so many fun ideas for this. One was to make a necklace out of construction paper, cut out like a person with stuff written on it like; Heavenly Father gave me my body, we can eat well, and help others... We used ribbon and cheerios to make it look great! Also I made glasses for them, told them that every time they put them on they would see immediately what they could do for others. On the glasses it had words on it like LOOK, LISTEN, HELP, helping hands. I loved it. I think the kids look awesome with there glasses and necklaces. I have 6 sunbeams now, missing one in this photo. But I started the year off with only 2. Wow big change. But love love love them, they say the funniest things. They also love me, it feels wonderful to be needed.

From top right: Lily, Luke, Brooklyn,

Bottom right: Ellsie and Mikaela

I loved how three of my girls totally matched! One Sunday I had only 3 girls show up and they were all wearing glittering shoes, like Dorthy on The Wizard of Oz, oh and I was wearing them too, should have taken a photo of that. But our primary president came up to me and asked if that was a qualification to be in Sunbeams, I totally laughed that I matched all my girls...

(above: I had mine up and David had me take it down because it was apparently too early for 4th of july decor )

Freedom Banners. One for me. One for my Aunt Cheryl who just loved the last one she bought from me and wanted another one. They are similar but different, hopefully you like both of them.

Below: Cher's banner

Below: is an anniversary card for my Sister-In-Law Adriana and Tim's 1 year anniversary. Which was on June 4th. I loved creating this card. What am I saying I love creating all my cards! LOL.

Above: my Mom and Dad's anniversary card. 34 years! On June 13th. I am so glad they are my parents. LOVE THEM FOREVER AND ALWAYS.

Above: My Sister-In-Law Sarah's Birthday Card. Happy Birthday Sarah hope it was magical.

Happy BIRTHWHOLEDAY, to ME!

2011-06-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

David's letter with 27 reasons why he loves me...
Fun gifts!

the wrapping disaster

All the cards, letters and nice words from Family and Friends.

New shirt, movies and glue gun from Dave.

Candy for "the" moviegoers.

27 reasons why my 27Th Birthday was just PREFECT...

1. Family phone calls with Birthday Wishes... conference calls with Aly, Mom & Dad

2. FB (facebook) Messages full of love and thoughtfulness

3. Text Messages

4. E-mails & E-Cards

5. Cards & Letters found in Mailbox, perfect timing right on my BDAY!

6. PRESENTS

7. Earrings from Momma (wearing them)

8. 3 new shirts from Dave

9. Scrapbook supplies my favorite brand even, October Afternoon

10. 2 new movies - Just Go With It (Adam Sandler-love him!) & True Grit

11. Candies for going to the Theatre

12. New Shoes

13. Subway gift card (from work)

14. Candle (from work)

15. Picture Frame (from work)

16. Jimmy Johns for lunch with friend Kim

17. Specialty Cafe for dinner with Dave

18. Relaxing on bed listening to good tunes

19. Lincoln Square Cinema (my favorite movie theatre ever!) for a movie, in which Dave successfully got me in the theatre without me knowing which movie I was about to see. Saw MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. In love with this movie, new favorite.

20. Eating my favorite candy, peanut butter M&Ms during the BEST movie ever.

21. JUST SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH DAVE, my lovebug.

22. Getting a sweet letter from Dave on 27 reasons why he loves me. SO DANG CUTE.

23. Being praised all day!

24. Getting the cutest handmade birthday card from my sweet Nephew Orren, who drew multiple # on my card so Dave and I could play tic-tac toe for fun on my Bday. LOVE IT.

25. Leaving the house a complete disaster because of all the fun, evidence of my birthday mess makes me happy!

26. Staying up until midnight to take full advantage of my WHOLE-BIRTHDAY!

27. Feeling so grateful for all the attention, love and thoughts. I have the best FAMILY!!!

Yankees, Nudes, Ghosts OH MY!

2011-05-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Look closely here, what do you see in the center of the pile up....
Hopefully you guessed it. A NAKED FAN! Believe it or not this was Fan #3 (4 fans total) that came running onto the field. But he topped them all because he was wearing only a blue Mariners cap. He got tackled right around short stop in the dirt. These 4 crazy fans were all handcuffed and probably jailed for the night (that's my guess). But they made an already great night even more memorable. I was so thrilled to see this, yes the naked fan. I have never seen a streaker before. And luckily for Dave and I all we saw was the backside. He came from our side of the stands. Just crazy. The police and security guards wrapped him in a towel they got from the Yankees dugouts. Jeesh. These crazy fans missed a great game.

Final Score 5 (Mariners) 4 (Yankees) EXCITING GAME. We went into the 12th inning. Such an exciting game. We were 10 rows up from home plate on the 1st base side. We could almost call the pitches better then the umpire. I just love this photo of Ichiro. Although my setting focused more on the net. Darn. I guess I'm still learning my camera.
JETER! During batting practice.

(above: Front of the Birthday Card for Jared - David's younger brother)

June is one of the busiest months for me a card making.

June 3 Jared's Bday

June 4 Adriana & Tim's Wedding Anniversary

June 7 ME (Of course I don't make me a card, but maybe I should...)

June 9 Orren's Bday (Nephew)

June 13 Sarah's Bday (Sister-In-Law)

June 13 Mom & Dads Wedding Anniversary

June 18 Father's Day

(above: Friend's Bday Card)

(above: Nephew's Bday Card, he calls himself IRONMAN JONES)

Cute story, when his younger brother was still in his moms belly, she asked him what name they should call him, Ironman he said. I certainly hope he still loves Ironman as much. He will be 5 this year. Happy Birthday 'O' Your Aunt loves you lots.

(above: Mother's Day Card for Becky)
More cards to come...

GHOST TOUR at Pike's Place Market.

Just stretching out in Pike's Place Market. Because this never happens. It's usually shoulder to shoulder. The tour guide had me do this to show the visitor's what a difference it is during the day.

We went on the tour with a good friend of mine, Amanda and her boyfriend Aaron. They were in Seattle for the weekend to meet Aaron's parents for the first time. Since they are both living in UT. Amanda and I met in AZ and have known each other since the 5th grade. She and her family are probably our closest family friends. It was so great to catch up with her. And meet her new love.

Dave finally seeing the famous GUM WALL for the very first time. I was shocked I had seen it before him. That's probably my only first over him here in WA.

Pike's Place completely abandoned. We had special privilege's to be there for the tour. For that and that alone the tour was worth it! The tour was old stories about people passed who stick around and haunt the market. But I'm an unbeliever. And really the tour guide was more comical then scary. But it was still neat to hear some real history of The Market. Thanks Amanda and Aaron for finding this tour and letting us tag along. It was great to take out dinner from Serious Pie and eat it in the park. And then go to a really fancy restaurant, Morton's for dessert. I loved that apple pie, Washington really does have some good apples, thanks to Wenatchee, the apple capital of the world. It's always great to have visitors. Who's next???

Today I feel like this!

2011-05-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

I did something WILD today at lunch. Before I tell you what, let me go back a couple of days. So as you all know I'm desperately trying to loose weight. I have change my eating habits (getting better daily on this), started working out at least 5 times a week, etc... Anyways, a couple of days ago I decided to stop taking the elevator. So instead I get to walk up 5 flights of stairs. Knowing that, today it suddenly dawned on me that I could still do more. I don't know if today is different then other days because today WE HAVE SUN! Time will tell I guess... So I was on my 1 hour lunch break and I was going home like normal. Climbed the stairs, arrived at my apartment, cut up my avocado, ate and talked with my sister. 20 minutes later our conversation ended and I had nothing distracting me and I still had 40 minutes left of lunch. Since it was so sunny, warm and refreshing out I decided I'd go for a walk, but I didn't want any stop lights stopping me I turned back to my apartment courtyard and noticed our great stairs, I thought to myself, man, I'll just walk up and down those. Did this for a while then noticed I could see the workout room and no one was in there, oh wait I AM! I did the elliptical in my nice work attire and it felt liberating. It felt so good and didn't care about the sweat, the red face and the fact that I'd be needed back at work. Still didn't care, for now, I was taking care of me. LOVING EVERY MINUTE TOO. And at that moment I felt like Rocky or at least could relate to jumping and arms in the air behavior.

I'm accomplishing my goals. I am now 12.8 pounds down from when I started. Total weight loss since I started 28.6 (April 09). I know it's slow coming off but at least it's coming off the healthy way. No crash diets. Today I made that NORMAL day feel not so normal or mundane. I hope to continue this wild behavior!

Banners, Cards, and Fun, Oh My!

2011-05-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

My co-worked commissioned me to make her a banner. So this one is a Banner for Barb. She just wanted a Celebration banner for anything and everything. I hope she'll love it...

GRADUATION CARDS for David's brother Aaron (High School) and cousin Ryan (College)!

I just love making cards a banners. So glad I married Dave so I could find this passion. THANKS BECKY (mother-in-law).

Basketball Blakes

2011-05-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

(above: David's team, "Indy Phunky Munkys" who came up with that name I have no idea I would have been ok with Benchwarmers or anything else...)

David signed up to play Pudget Sound Basketball every Wednesday nights for the next little while. His first game was on Wednesday, May 11th. It was very fun and exciting getting ready for this. We took a trip to downtown Seattle to NIKE TOWN and got all the essentials. A Nike Elite bag for ball, shoes, extra pair of basketball clothes, a cooler pocket for the Gatorade, even a laptop pocket. The possibilities for this bag are endless... We also purchased a blue and white undershirt (sorta like underarmour) and some Kobe Bryant blue shoes (Dave doesn't really care for Kobe but he had the style, color and type of shoe he was looking for). With this and some other "musts" he was ready for his first game.

Final Score, We WON!
#32 AKA David having a great game, passing the ball and defending.

Did he make it???

David and his friend Andy (from work) signed up together.

We had a great game and we played at the Boys and Girls Club in South Seattle, I was surprised at the facility it was extremely nice and felt brand new. As our game was wrapping up another team was preparing to play but ironically as we were turning over the court there was a power outage we got out of there just in time. I had a great time watching the game and taking over 55 photos, snacking on dark chocolate covered pomegranates and listening to some up beat music while cheering on my favorite player, #32! Can't wait for the next game.

On a side note: Dave and I had a great weekend! We broke out of our normal routine and on Saturday morning we put on our workout gear and got our outdoor basketball, because it was actually sunny and found a park with a basketball court and played for an hour. We had a lot of fun and wondered why we hadn't done this before. By the way I almost beat him in PIG.

More Cards.

2011-05-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

For Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

For Susan. She's a co-worker and was very thoughtful in giving me a few used (but in very good condition) Coach purses. She loves sewing so I designed this card just for her.

A Post For Mama

2011-05-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Boys II Men says it best...

You taught me everything

And everything you've given me

I'll always keep it inside

You're the driving force in my life,yeah

There isn't anything

Or anyone that I can be

And it just wouldn't feel right

If I didn't have you by my side

You were there for me to love and care for me

When skies were grey

Whenever I was down

You were always there

To comfort me

And no one else can be

What you have been to me

You will always be the MOM

In my life for all times

Chorus:

Mama

Mama you know I LOVE YOU

Mama

Mama you're the queen of my heart

Your love is like

Tears from the stars

Mama I just want you to know

Lovin' you is like food to the soul

You're always there for me

Have always been around for me even when I was bad

You showed me right from wrong

And you stood up for me

When everyone was downin' me

You always did understand

You give me strength to go on

There was so many times

Looking back when I was so afraid

And then you come to me

And say

I can face anything

And no one else can do

What you have done for me

You will always be

The MOM in my life

Never gonna go a day without you

Fill's me up just thinking about you

I'll never go a day

Without my Mama

Mama-

Thank you for writing down the precious moments of my childhood, I would have never remembered that when I was happy I use to click my tongue. Thank you for the safe, loving, and happy upbringing. Thank you for being the best example of Motherhood. I hope to measure up to it someday. Thank you for your unconditional love. For your sacrifices so that I could have the things I would need to grow up and understand right from wrong. You are the only MAMA in my life and I will forever LOVE YOU! Wouldn't know what to do without you. YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND.

I LOVE YOU. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

P.S. I hope you got my card.

fun, fun and more FUN.

2011-04-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

They say it's your Birthday

It's my Birthday too, yeah

They say it's your Birthday

We're gonna have a good time

I'm glad it's your Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

-Beatles

Yes we're going to party party...

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY LOVEBUG! We celebrated with a quite night at home. Chipotle take out, March Madness play off game, and just trying to make it feel like a not so normal Monday night. I made Dave some yummy fudge brownies, which we topped off with ice cream. Thank you to those of you who sent David some birthday wishes in the mail, ecards, etc... You made his day that much more special. He is still looking to buy some music off of iTunes, use his McDonald's gift card for lunch during his work day, buy some tools (thanks mom and dad)...

I was commissioned to make a birthday card for a co-worker. This is just another creation...

I was also commissioned to make a Birthday Banner for my Aunt Cheryl. She wanted it for her sweet little angel, who will be turning one this year. I had a lot of fun with this one. Thanks Cher for asking me to do this.

Mariners game! Oh what a night... WE WON! They played against the Toronto Blue Jays. We enjoyed the company of our friends Kristen and Brett Smith who got their hands on some free tickets. We are very grateful they chose to take us. We had the best seats, 1st row right on the 3rd base sideline next to the visitor's dugout and the photographer's pit. You could reach over the railing and pick up fouls balls if they rolled by. They were awesome! Dave and Brett both caught foul balls. David snatched his ball from the hands of the girl sitting next to him but anything goes until it is safely secured in the rightful owner's hands. He leaped up from his seat at the last second like a crocodile waiting to eat a gazelle in African waters and grabbed it from out of her hands. It was a spectacular grab and it made the boy's night. We kept joking that we only needed two more for the girls so each of us could have our own ball. It was a cold night but we stayed warm with our cheering and hot cocoa. The game was 3 hours and 46 minutes. We got home way past our bed times but it was worth it!!! The Mariners were losing 7 to 0 in the 7th inning. The outcome looked very bleak. Everyone headed for the exits except for the large group of Canadians who came to cheer their beloved Blue Jays. It was cold and it was late so we too had thought about leaving early but we were so glad we stayed. We ended up rallying in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to some terrible relief pitching on the Blue Jays part. It was fantastic. We were only down by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Only like 1,000 people stayed. We were one of the few Mariners fans left for this incredible rally because Brett kept getting text messages saying we were on TV three different times. In the bottom of the ninth inning the scoreboard operator put on some Irish leprechaun music with the words Rally Jig. All the Mariner's fans were doing their best Jig to help them pull out the win. It worked! The very first batter hit a lead off double followed by a sacrifice bunt that advanced the tying run to third base. The next batter grounded out but the tying run was still left at third base. After that Ichiro was intentionally walked. Two men on. Ichiro stole second base so a base hit would win the game. Luis Rodriguez a substitute third baseman who took over for the everyday third baseman who left in the third inning with a thumb injury came to the plate with the game on the line. Bottom of the ninth inning, down 1 run, base runners at 3rd and 2nd, and 2 outs. The Rally Jig was on! Rodriguez had a tremendous at-bat. The count was full, 3 balls and 2 strikes, and he kept fouling pitches to keep the game going. A couple of times it looked like he missed and struck out. Very nerve racking. He finally got a ball he could handle and hit a double to right-center field to win the game! All the Mariners fans were cheering and high-fiving everyone on the way out of the stadium. Very cool. Our voices were gone from all of the cheering and our legs hurt walking up the bleachers because they were so cold. David couldn't feel his left foot until the next morning. It was way too cold for baseball. Come to find out the next day that this was the largest deficit in the 7th inning or later that the Mariners have ever come from behind and win! And we were there! Mindi left singing Oh What A Night. We had a very fun time, much more so after the 7th inning.

I should have taken that white jacket off for the photo, it makes me look whiter then I am (at least that's my excuse...).

Our friends Kristen and Brett. Thanks again for taking us out to the ball game!

"Life is Good, REAL Good"

2011-04-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

BETTER. Flossing. Working Out. Eating Right. GOING TO THE MARINER'S GAME TONIGHT!!! LEAVING WORK EARLY!!!

OVERWHELMED.Beware not the usual EVERYTHING is AMAZING POST.

2011-04-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

I had a dentist appointment this morning. I confess I was a little nervous because the last visit I had was to get my very first cavity filled. I was always prideful about never having a cavity and thought I was something special because I was 25 and could brag about it. But now my mouth is tainted by one. So today my concern was that maybe I had another one. Who would have guessed 2 or maybe 3, I was in shock so I didn't really confirm the number. I feel I need to defend my oral hygiene, because I do try. I can admit that my downfall is flossing, I'm horrible at it. I do brush, I even use a special RX tooth paste, tongue scrap, and use the fluoride mouth wash. The dentist did tell me that these were deep cavities where the brush wouldn't even get to, he also mentioned if I changed my diet to protein I wouldn't get any cavities because it doesn't provide the bacteria for these cavities to grow. Or it was something like that. Anyways I guess I should also avoid carbs like the plague. But if I did eat carbs to immediately wash it down with water. Which by the way is always at my side and I try to drink at least 64 oz a day. Yada Yada... Anyways this is were I'm feeling overwhelmed. I KNOW I NEED TO CHANGE MY DIET. I am. I KNOW my cholesterol needs to go down. I am counting calories, staying away from bad foods, working out 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes. I've already lost 9 pounds since January. I have changed my lifestyle. BUT today I feel afraid to eat anything. Fruits have sugars, does that mean I can't eat them. My favorite lunch is triscuits and cottage cheese, but triscuits have carbs in them. What's too much carbs? I seriously don't eat bad. Should I be vegan? Should I just drink water. GOSH. I am so frustrated with weight, oral hygiene, and my self- image. HONESTLY I feel like crap today. I feel like going home and throwing away all my food. I just don't want to eat it anymore. It's making my whole body suffer. ahhgg. SERIOUSLY just stick a permanent IV in me, Food has lost it's luster. It really just makes me sick thinking about it. No I don't have an eating disorder...just yet. Now I should probably go and check my blood pressure, most likely high.

Happy 26th Birthday Dave!

2011-04-04T12:55:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to remember...but I think Dave and I have shared his 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th & now his 26th BIRTHDAY. I can't wait for many more. I love that for 2 months Dave and I are the same age. I hope to make his day special, although it's feeling fairly normal for him since he's working and doing much of the same. I LOVE YOU DAVE!!!

Creative Pursuits

2011-03-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Dads Birthday Card (I so hope he doesn't get on my blog till Friday). Happy Birthday on April 1st!

Messy? Me? Never. Actually this is organized clutter. Needed to find a movie, had to take all of them out to find one of my favorite Nancy Meyer flims, Somethings Gotta Give. Watched as I made David's Birthday Banner. Nothing to me is better then this. Making cards/banners and watching the greatest chick flicks. Banner, EAT CAKE!

{click on the individual photos to get a bigger picture were you can see it more in detail...}

What do you think?

Great Weekend

2011-03-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

David in his new vintage style suns shirt. He was dressed to the "T" and ready for that game!

Me. This weekend, just waiting in my car for Best Buy to open...

My three darling Sunbeams, with our animal puppets we made.

Great weekend. I had two baby showers, watched 4 movies, made "things" (shh it's a Birthday surprise for David), prepared my primary lesson, taught primary, and cleaned the house. Was glad that the time passed quickly because I was a little lonely for David, who's been having the time of his life in AZ, enjoying the warmth, spring training, suns games, family and eating all the Mexican food his stomach will allow.

Creative Causes

2011-03-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

Anniversary Card. For Brother & Sister-In-Law.
Birthday Card. For Sister-In-Law.

Birthday Card. For Sister.

Birthday Card. For other Sister.

Now I can show my cards from February. I really enjoyed making these. I even did something new, by making my own paper flowers. The postage was absurd, but worth every cent. I'll be starting my June Birthday cards soon. Can't wait to share those. For my family, the busiest birthday months are February and June. But the most important Birthday is David's, which is coming up in April! Anyone have fun Birthday ideas? Could sure use some inspiration...

What I've been Up To.

2011-03-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Watching Movies.

Card Making. Banner Making. And daydreaming.

Working out. Eating Healthy. 7 pounds down!

Reading. Loved this book. Can not wait for the movie.

On Death

2011-03-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't really know this man. Other then seeing him at church and exchanging one liners here and there. But today I went to his funereal. I was asked to sing in the choir during his service. I watched as the doors opened with the pallbearers and his flower adorned casket entered, we all stood. My heart started pounding, and water filled my eyes. I remember thinking why am I crying...
I haven't had too many loved ones taken from me. In my 26 years of life those who have passed are still very much alive within my heart and are tender to my soul. My Great Aunt Adele, Amanda's brother Zach, a high school friend Megan, Kari's husband Skylar. Each one of them lives on within me and touches me daily with their individual journey here on earth. I am grateful for each one of them and how they made my life better. "If only my lips could use such words as my heart so casually speaks." (Richard Paul Evans) I am not the best at voicing my thoughts but I wanted to say Thank You to the families of those who've said good bye, for now to those loved ones.
I also got to thinking about what a funereal is. For some reason Huckleberry Finn came to mind. I think it was him, but I remember reading a book in school about him. In that book it had a scene where he hid and listened to his own funereal. I wish all those who passed could attend their own funereal. Then I would understand why Fun is in funereal. Today I became friends with Brother Goodrich. The stories told, the memories shared and the music I sang touched my heart. I only wish I would have said more then one liners to this beloved husband, grandfather, and friend. I believe it a great irony that I learned of life from one dying. I have learned much about loss from their pain. Again I am grateful for the life's of Adele, Zach, Megan, Skylar and now a dear friend in spirit Larry.
My hope is that I can share those memories, stories and the love I feel with those loved ones still living. I know I try. Whenever I talk with my sister, Stephanie at the end of our phone call I always say I LOVE YOU. I know she loves me even if I've never heard her say that to me. When I'm with my Nana I stay up as late as I can with her, because I don't get to see her often, she's 74. I know her years are numbered. But luckily I have young grandparents, and both sets are still very healthy. I'm going to be better with my communication's with loved ones because I live so far away from all of them. And each one of them is an extended part of me.
"When we bury someone we love, we must also bury a part of our heart. But we should not bemoan this loss. Our hearts, perhaps, are all they can take with them." (David Parkin's Diary. January 28, 1934)
Please don't wait for tomorrow to share your thoughts with those dear to you. Share them, show them and live them today.
I LOVE YOU.
P.S. please listen to the song, Yesterday on my playlist. It says what I can't.

Who Knew...

2011-03-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Who knew this could happen when I invited the spirit to be with me today...
I was just checking in a patient the way I always do. But something different happened this time.

Me: Who's the policy holder on your insurance?
Patient: My husband Nephi.
Me: (Already knowing) How did he get his name?
Patient: He's Mormon.
Me: Are you guys active?
Patient: No. I'm not a member. His parents divorced. His Mom isn't anymore, but his Dad is.
Me: You guys should go to church. It's good to have religion in your life.
Patient: I know and we have kids.
Me: I teach the 3 and 4 years old at church and love it. The church has great programs for children.

And that was it. But I felt amazed at how receptive she was to what I said. I only hope someone continues fellowshiping that family...

February Wrapped Up!

2011-03-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Feburary was a great month. I enjoyed hosting a book club; we read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It is an excellent historical fiction book that takes place here in Seattle. It has brought new places to go and see to my attention :-). I've also enjoyed getting back to eating healthy and working out. I am still teaching the 3 and 4 year olds at church. I've enjoyed sending some hand made birthday cards to family members. I also got new glasses, which I love. David still works hard, studies hard and plays basketball on Thursday's nights. I enjoy going to the games to chat with the other wives. In addition we had the missionaries come over for dinner, and it was fun to find a family connection with one of the elders who lives in South Jordan. Dave and I hosted a successful game night with 4 other couples at our apartment. We had fun playing the Newly Wed game as well as Apples to Apples. We've enjoyed a couple outings to the Cinema, we loved the new Adam Sandler movie Just Go With It, which is mighty good. We are also enjoying the new season of American Idol and are really excited about the new judges, especially Steven Tyler. Dave couldn't believe how happy I was that all my favorites made it into the top 12 this past week. He says I acted like I was right there as one of the contestants. I love it when I get that excited about something. We look forward to the upcoming month, especially David since he gets to go home and play in the warm sun!

I am thankful for WATER

2011-03-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

What does WATER mean to you...(just gathering ideas for my primary lesson on Sunday)

My Book Choice for March

2011-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

My thoughts: It is an amazing book that has opened my eyes to my own prejudices. It takes place in Seattle during the time of the Pearl Harbor bombing. It's about the Japanese internment camps. A very bitter-sweet story of a young Chinese boy and a young Japanese girl who form a unlikely friendship. I love reading books that are based on real events but have fictional characters that you just fall in love with.

2011-02-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

More Handmade Birthday Cards...The backside of the red and orange cards, which bytheway are for you Kath.

President's Day Agenda

1. Work out and honor President's with watching a documentary on Thomas Jefferson at the same time.

2. Make 2 Birthday cards for Kathy while watching my all time favorite movie, The Holiday.

3. Make a Birthday card for a friend
4. Return Library books

5. Buy the February and March Co-workers Birthday gifts

(money provided by office)

6. Go to Barnes and Nobel to use gift card on book for Book Club.

(keep in mind 4,5 and 6 I walked to, so more exercise!)

7. Make dinner for David, who wasn't as fortunate and had to work

8. Keep reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet for Book Club, and oh notify book club members of March's book as well as time and date.
9. Finally, RELAX.

All of the above, CHECK!

Just another post.

2011-02-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

"Just Call Me Wendi"

NEW FRAMES+OLD DRESS I NEVER WEAR+ HAIR DONE DIFFERENT=NEW IDENTITY.
It's funny when you change your look. For me I thought it was just my new frames. But today at work I keep getting: I like your new hair cut, is it new? (yah like 10weeks ago) New dress? (like 4 yrs ago). I feel like I'm on one of those makeover shows. From the response of co-workers, I feel completely different. Even my voice sounds new apparently. I tried calling back to one of my doctors to tell him to pick up a line and I gave my name and he kept hearing Wendi. So for today I am Wendi.

What do you do in the dark? This is what we do... SCRABBLE! So Wednesday night I came home to a power outage in our apartment building. At least 238 people, us being one of them, were without power. David was trying to entertain himself with a flashlight and a book. I of course was loosing my mind to boredom. So we decided to play scrabble by flashlight. I was excited to have a distraction from the lack of tv and lights. I was concerned that my favorite tv show, Modern Family would be missed but we still had a few hours to go before that might happen. So scrabble was a great distraction. We had a lot of fun playing on an actual bored game. We usually play Scrabble on our iPhone, it's called Words with Friends but we both were loosing battery power on our phones. It's amazing the difference between playing together and playing it apart (by phones usually when working). And to our pleasent surprise after hours without power at 8:30 our power came back on. We got to watch our show. Needless to say this was a fairly commical night.

What January Was About!

2011-02-06T21:12:00.001-08:00

Mindi- I've had a great month! Hosting a baby shower for my friend Kara. Hand making 12 Birthday/Anniversary cards for family members. Enjoyed the thrill of football. Went to a dinner hosted by drug reps, and learned lots! Is continuing my workout and weight loss program, successfully losing 5 pounds in a week.

David- Had a great time at his be-lated Holiday work party. Scored 150 at bowling. Enjoyed watching the superbowl although the team he rooted for gave away the game. Is loving church basketball. Also is having a great time playing fantasy basketball on-line with his best friend Aaron (who lives in AZ). Is working hard and studying harder.

More on Me!

2011-01-30T14:25:00.000-08:00

{above Scott's Birthday Card- Happy Birthday, February 18th}

This weekend I had one goal in mind. Make family February Birthday cards for: Stephanie, Scott, Adriana, Aly & Susan (from work). Luckily I have no Birthday's in January so I can use this month to get started for the year. I was successful in making 7 cards! I know I mentioned only 5 people above but I also got an anniversary card made for Ryan & Sarah and a Valentine's day card for my lovebug. I can only show two of the cards as not to ruin the surprise for those who would look at my blog. I had so much fun spending all of Saturday coming up with the layouts and design for those special people in my life. I sure do love doing this!

{below Susan's Birthday Card}

{The backs of the cards have other details and a personal message. Which is half the fun but it's personal}

David's company, California Closets finally held there Holiday Work Party. We've been to two parties before this one, and I have to say they have certainly stepped it up. Although last year, Casino Night was very fun. This year they held it at a pretty posh bowling alley called Lucky Strike. I think the other one is in LA. So it caters to the rich and famous. Well for that night we felt famous. David's company rented out a private room. Which I swear was the size of a bowling alley found in a small town. The area had four lanes to bowl on, which lead to a huge theatre screen which played music videos on. It had an open bar, which I would have totally taken advantage of if I drank. But believe me I had 3 glasses of Diet Coke. They had all the bowling, food, and video games you could handle for 3 hours. David found out that this was close to $5G's to rent out. I certainly had a blast. Lots more fun than my Holiday work parties, that's for darn sure.

Dave was in Heaven bowling. He bowled a 150. And said that he wanted to start bowling more. I wouldn't mind.

I have to say watching the music videos was my favorite part. I kept dreaming about how great it would be if I could stand up and karaoke to it and maybe bust out my Michael Jackson moves when his "They Way You Make Me Feel" and "Beat it" songs came on!

Us on the fancy white leather sofas. Just having a wonderful evening.

{below Welcome sign for Kara's Baby Shower}I hosted a baby shower for my friend Kara last weekend. I had a great turn out that night, about 16 girls showed up. They ate my cookies, scotocharoos, banana bars, brownies, and lemon cake. They talked, played games, helped with making a family photo book for Kara's baby. Kara had lots of gifts. I made her this sign and a banner to take home for the baby's nursery.

I loved the tissue balls in the background, my friend Gina made them. I guess Martha Stewarts website can tell me how to make them. I can't wait for that occasion.

Having lots of fun making the family photo book. Turns out an activity is lots more fun than a game. I'll have to remember that for next time...

The best group shot we could get. Minus a couple people. I'm surprised how well my apartment could accommodate this group. I guess it was comfortable enough that they all stayed at least 2 1/2 hours.

{below Celebrate Banner}

The best part about this evening, other then hosting a party, is that David had a man-date with the Father-To-Be, Jake. They went to The Dilemma. Which from what I understand was a fantastic movie. Can't wait to watch it myself. I'm a little bit of a movie fanatic.

What I've been Up To!

2011-01-14T13:08:00.001-08:00

READING

AND MORE READING

AND FLYING to and from UT.

So recently I have been in the mood to read. Heaven knows where this came from. I don't normally read unless it has come highly recommend from my MOM! If that's not strange this is, I've also decided to host a monthly book club. Wow! So I will be trying something new this year. So far I have rather enjoyed it. It makes waiting times easier, plane rides better and leisure time more enjoyable.

I have just returned from a trip to UT to see family. I very much enjoyed that. I will post photos and more on this later...

If anyone has book suggestion's, and I mean really good ones, just let me know!

Christmas Cards and Christmas Photos

2010-12-24T14:21:00.000-08:00

OUR 2010 CHRISTMAS PHOTOS!
Christmas cards. Dave and I started this tradition last year were we start making Christmas cards during Thanksgiving weekend. It's already one of my favorite Holiday traditions. This year we made 50 cards, we were so excited to get them out with photos. We wimped out though on writing a letter with it, maybe next year we'll be better at that. We certainly wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Oh, Christmas tree!

2010-12-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Our handcut, 8ft Grand Fir, with 600 mini-white lights and FIRST real Christmas tree!

It's beyond beautiful!!!

Mt. Creek Christmas Tree Farm

2010-12-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Dave and I sure had fun finding our Grand Fir, cutting it down,

bailing it and tying it to the top of our Jeep.

The tree farm was in this amazing spot, surrounded by Mt. Si, it was so picturesque that we also took our Christmas card photo there. We sure had a good day with no rain, fresh mountain air, and a thermos full of hot coco.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-23T09:15:00.001-08:00

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Cindy Lou Who: Santa, what's the meaning of Christmas?
The Grinch: [bursts through the Christmas tree] VENGEANCE!
[calmly]

The Grinch: I mean...presents, I suppose.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Charlie Brown: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is about?

& Linus Van Pelt: I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

To my dedicated readers...

(aka Kristen Smith, thanks for your comments, and kath!)

here is another Elf quote for you!

"First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat an entire roll of Toll House cookie dough as fast as we can, and then to finish, we'll snuggle!"

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

Buddy: Sounds like someone needs to sing a Christmas Carol

Jovie: No way.

Buddy: The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.

Jovie: Thanks, but I don't sing

Buddy: Oh, well, it's just like talking, except longer and louder, and you move your voice up and down.

Jovie: I *can* sing, I choose *not* to sing. Especially in fron of other people.

Buddy: If you can sing along, you sing in front of people. There's no difference.

Jovie: Actually there's a BIG difference.

Buddy: No there's not. Wait...

[starts singing loud and off-key]

Buddy: I'm singing/I'm singing in a store/and I'm siiiiingsiiiiing/I'm in a store/and I'm siiiiiingiiiing!

Gimbels Manager: HEY! There's no singin' in the North Pole!

Buddy: Yes there is!

Gimbels Manager: No there's not.

Buddy: We sing all the time!

Gimbels Manager: No you don't!

Buddy: Especially when we build toys.

[Back to Jovie]

Buddy: See?

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

"Frosty The Snowman"
Narrator: Now Frost, bein' made of snow was the fastest belly-whopper in the world.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

"It's a Wonderful Life"
Zuzu Bailey: Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

"Home Alone"

Kevin McCallister: Guys, I'm eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

"Miracle on 34th Street"

Doris: Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all other intangibles.

New Seattle Finds

2010-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

This was at the Seattle Art Museum. Otherwise known as SAAM. I thought it was amazing up close.

Picasso!!! Here in town till Jan. And out of Paris for the first time ever. It's making it's stops here in the US and WA was it's first stop. I loved every minute of it. I found two new Picasso favorites of mine, one was of his first wife Olga, and the second was of his first son Paulo.

I found this amazing crown at a antique shop right by Pike's Market. I could seriously spend days in there. It was huge!

I finally found the gum wall. Which is certainly a must see for all my future guests!

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Little Elf Judy: seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing.

and a bonus quote....

Little Elf Judy: Not too hot. Extra Chocolate. Shaken, not stirred.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

"Holiday Inn"

Ted Hanover: [reading] Come out and relax on a farm, music, dancing, home cooking. Open Holidays only. [skeptical]

Ted Handover: Open Holiday's only? Say how many of them are there?

Jim Hardy: [excited] About 15. That gives me 350 days to kick around in!
Ted Hanover: [laughing] You would think of that!

WELCOME BABY BOY BEVAN!!! 12/01/10

2010-12-03T10:31:00.000-08:00

LOVING PARENTS

A VERY HAPPY FAMILY.

CUTE BROTHERS.

LUKE RYAN BEVAN!!!

Born: December 1st 2010

When: 6:14pm

Weight: 8lbs 4oz

Length: 20 inches

PROUD SISTER

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

"White Christmas"

Judy Haynes: We're booked for the Holidays.

Phil Davis: Vermont, huh?

Judy Haynes: Oh, Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow.

Phil Davis: Yeah, you know something. Vermont should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow.

Judy Haynes: That's what I just said.

Phil Davis: We seem to be getting a little mixed up.

Judy Haynes: Maybe it's the music.

Phil Davis: Maybe it isn't only the music.

I love this movie. Such a classic.

Christmas Quote Countdown

2010-12-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

Clark (Christmas Vacation): I dedicate this house to the Griswold Family Christmas.

Christmas Quote Countdown...

2010-12-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Buddy The Elf: We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.

Fall Vacation

2010-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Snoqualmie Falls.
(Didn't know how to attach it to the last photo, without re-starting this post)

Pike's Place Market.

Gas Works Park.

Wonderful views from the Space Needle.

Yum Yum Nummy! Our lunch experience at the Sky City Restaurant atop the Space Needle. David's lunch was Fish & Chips. He must have loved it because he cleaned his plate. My lunch was the Dungess Crab Mac & Cheese. And yes this was amazing. Since being here I've also had Lobster Mac & Cheese and I must say both excellent additions to the classic homemade Mac & Cheese recipe.

Me at Gas Works Park.

Dave at Gas Works Park.

A great view of Seattle from Kite Hill at The Park.

We enjoyed a Hay Ride at The Farm at Snohomish.

The pumpkin patch at the Farm.

We even enjoyed the corn maze. Which happens to be shaped like the state of WA.

This picture doesn't do the Snoqualmie Falls justice but it's not a bad photo of Dave and I.

WARNING Put post together at 3am

2010-10-23T03:16:00.000-07:00

This card was made for my boss Jeanine for her Birthday. The inspiration for the card came from the Birth section of the Webster's Dictionary.

David came out while I was making the card and asked me why I had his dictionary. I said because I needed to rip out the Birth page. He seemed all concerned about what if he needed it one day, and I said just look it up online. I need this for my card! Lol. I did feel sorta bad when he said, "but my Dad gave that to me" I guess he could also remember that his Dad gave him "Birth" also. Anyways at the time it was super funny. Don't know how well I can relay that at 3am.

This card was made for Barb as a THANK-YOU for letting me borrow her wonderful Areo-Bed while Dave's family was in town. This is the supreme of air mattress. In fact when it's up and made up with sheet's and comforter it looks like a real bed. The plus is it actually feels like a real bed. It has definitely proven worthy of being a great night sleep. I in the future will be a purchaser of such an item. It has amazing qualities, it actually plugs into an outlet and comes to life. You can adjust the inflate and deflate levels with just a switch. So if you like it softer you got it but if you like it harder you got it. I should stop there I'm feeling like a late night info commercial...

I had a great time making this card ex specially since I was making it from all my scraps. And it turned out to be a great card. The ribbon was my favorite part, I ended up stapling it on, who would have thought...

Don't know if you remembered but I had talked about making a Halloween Banner. Well I actually did! I was so pleased with the final outcome. I made this out of paper and some embellishments. Dave's idea to hang it up with hooks. It's lovely. But now I've locked myself into also making a year round banner because of the hooks permanently in the wall. Oh well another excuse to go to the scrapbook store, darn.

Just wondering... What would you pay for; The Banner? The Birthday card? & The Thank-You card? I'm trying to get serious about a side business for this. I have a portfolio started already...

Hi

2010-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Last week David and I took vacation from work and also because his family was here to play. We had great weather and tons to do! We enjoyed Seattle like always. Pikes Market, Ivars on the Pier, Shopping, Space Needle for lunch... We also went to a pumpkin patch, which also had a corn maze in the shape of Washington state. We went to some must see spots, seen from Kerry Park and Gas Works Park. We showed them the troll under the bridge. We had a great time viewing the amazing Snoqualmie waterfall. Enjoyed watching Secretariat at our favorite movie theatre Lincoln Square. Enjoyed watching Singing in the Rain at home and making a Holiday banner. Lots of good food and company. Photos will quickly follow or at least that's the plan! But thought I should at least update my blog since it's been a couple weeks. My favorite thing was just not having to worry about the time and what day it was. Had no clue the whole week, such a great feeling!!!

Our Engagement Photo!

2010-10-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

Love actually is all around us!

OCTOBER 5th is a special day...

2010-10-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Irreplaceable LOVE of My Life.

OUR LOVE STORY!

October 5th, 2006 @ 2:15pm we were married in Mesa, AZ. Ever since my life has been AMAZING. David was and continues to be the best decision I ever made. I am grateful every day for the best husband I could have ever had.

Many wedding photos, beware.

But all good ones, I swear!

Didn't realize I downloaded so many kissy ones...sorry!

Some hidden away Engagement photos. Candid and fun. We love having these photos, such great memories.

HAPPY 4th Anniversary LOVE BUG.

These are a few of my favorite things...

2010-09-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

We bought three tv series this weekend, the Office, Modern Family & The Mentalist! I always look forward to watching these funny Comedies during the week, it's such a great break from reality. We have lots of catching up to do from last season. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE COMEDIES AND THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

I can't hardly wait till David's family comes to visit. We have so many things planned and can't wait for the vacation and family togetherness! FAMILY IS MY MOST FAVORITE THINGS!

I just love Halloween Decor! I'm big into banner's right now. I've decided to make something similar to this one here. DECORATING COMES VERY CLOSE TO ONE OF MY MOST FAVORITE THINGS!

Home Projects

2010-09-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, David decided to make frames for some odd size posters I had been collecting of France. We looked into custom framing them but found for two posters we were looking at $300. Eeek, David was so great to do this and he definitely has the skill because they turned out perfect!

Yes, he is using our kitchen table as a work bench, unfortunately not the best "wood working shop" but it's all we had. Hopefully someday Dave will have his own wood working place, with all the tools he could ever imagine...

Just how I pictured it would be...

It really completes our study. I love it!

This is a frame collage found in our bedroom. This past weekend I finally got the photos printed and put into the frames. It is so much better than having the random people that came with the frame hung up on our wall.

The frame collage is in the background but can you notice anything else that's new?

The frames on our dresser are finally with photos of David and I. Both images of our engagement photos and wedding photos. After almost four years we've finally printed them. Wow, and it's good to see them.

We are almost all done with our projects except for finding photos for six more frames and finishing the decor in our second bathroom. I might be looking into making a shower curtain. But might be enlisting the help of my Mother-In-Law to sew it.

Update on the Bug Situation.: We have written a letter demanding compensation, and tonight we have heard back. But before I share, I need to tell David about it first. I will keep you posted on this matter....

LOVE MINDI

Not the usual happy news...

2010-08-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

August: A month of bad news really... Honestly filled with frustration. We've been dealing with this bug issue (to say the least) in our kitchen now since the second week of July. That pretty much sums up our month. We are looking forward to hopefully killing all of these devil bugs before David's family comes to visit. Other bad news this month is David's grandpa whom we dearly love and think about constantly was diagnosed with blood cancer. We love him lots... This coming month we are looking forward to starting up school again.

Home Projects

2010-08-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post what the current home projects are...We need to figure out two photos to put in these two frames which are found in our study. The study has a Paris, France theme...

These four frames our hung in our guest bathroom. We still have to define our colors and theme, we were thinking black, yellow and white. Inspired by The Bee Movie.

Who knows what we'll put in this frame above the tv, that is still a brainstorming process for sure. The colors for the living room are orange, green and brown. Just like our wedding colors. Maybe the frame will end up coming down but for now it's all a work in progress.

These WA images use to hang above our sofa in our old apartment now they are in the hallway that leads to our master bedroom, they look great there I thought.

Some frames that sit on our dresser in our bedroom. We have yet to come up with any ideas for our bedroom. But I'm going with simple elegance.

More frames on our night stand, with new lamp.

A new colleague of frames in our bedroom hallway. I'm thinking sights on WA that we've taken photos of... Space needle, Tulip gardens, Safeco Field, etc...

We finally printed and hung the photos in our colleague from a few posts ago. This is the far right side of the family frame colleague. We forgot to order one more 8x10 photos, oops.

Looking at it from the middle.

More views of the middle.

The left side.

But with the food set back last month, all of our frames remain empty just like our fridge. Which by the way remains empty because the bugs have not died...yet...

July

2010-08-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Glad to say Good-Bye to July. It hasn't been the greatest of all months to be honest. It started off GREAT with the 4Th, good food, ball games, etc... But we've hit a spell of bad luck I guess. It all started with the washer and dryer pooping out on us, luckily the apartment is responsible for the replacements. Next problem was just the beginging of,
The Kitchen Curse! I noticed our freezer wasn't cold enough, dead give away to me was it wasn't making ice anymore and the meats were mushy... oh and the biggest duh "the freezer isn't working" was the soupy ice cream. To me it was obvious we had a problem, and the most depressing thing was we had just went grocery shopping. We called maintenance and they came up with this lame excuse that we were covering the fan in the freezer which would prevent it from cooling, WHAT? Totally wrong. But by now all the freezer stuff was definitely bad and needed to be eaten right away or thrown away. This wasn't the worst part, now the fridge was warmer, dead give away to me was the milk wasn't as cold. Now we had a problem. So by the time maintenance agreed we had a problem all of our food was spoiled. So they decided to replace the fridge with a new one. So again we went grocery shopping. Next part of the story is no walk in the park... We went to Costco and our local grocery store and spent a fortune and then a day later noticed these tiny black bugs, and apparently so tiny that David didn't even believe me. But they were there and maintenance was called yet again. The bug spray people come twice a month and the next day was one of them, I was happy and thought my luck had turned, guess again. They came but the bugs came back in multitudes, apparently the spray didn't help. These bugs were immune against any bug spray out there, this was hard to comprehend but I guess it's true. There is no bug spray in all America that can kill this tiny black bug. These devil bugs aren't going anywhere. I was cleaning the kitchen daily, while Dave just thought I was crazy. Weeks went by but the bugs still resided in the kitchen. After a couple of calls to get the bug people out again they finally told me these bugs were our problem. Somehow we had brought them home from the grocery store in one of our dry food purchases. I guess now we would have to throw out all of our dry food. Which included everything! Bye cereal, flour, sugar, salt, noodles, chips, pop tarts, pasta, spices, cooking oils, peanut butter, syrup, everything must go! So we tossed out our food and fortune. And waited to be free of the devil bugs. Sadly this story doesn't end with a happy ending, as of now we still see the bugs. As I'm cleaning out all plates, tupper ware, crock pots, waffle makers, bowls, I am still finding these bugs. Some dead, others struggling to stay alive. The only thing we are eating right now is frozen food. Which doesn't help with my high Cholesterol which I've just been diagnosed with this month. Anyways, this sad story has more but I don't want to be singing the blues anymore tonight. All I can say is I can see the GOOD in Good-Bye right now. So bye bye July!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

2010-07-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July was wonderful! Complete with an all American meal - hamburgers, watermelon, corn on the cob, and the old fashion bottled coke a cola. Our tradition is to watch the movie The Sandlot, we haven't missed a year yet. We enjoyed fireworks. And of course the 4th of July wouldn't be complete without America's favorite past time BASEBALL!!! Getting ready for the game. Dave had been wanting a Mariners hat for a long time and finally got one for our very first game. He talked me into getting one too.

And you should see how good we looked! :-)
I was sure glad the guy taking this didn't runaway with our expensive camera.I had to get a photo of Dave in front of the entrance of Safeco Field.

I think the photo is worthy of enlarging. I was so happy we got there early enough to get this shot.

My favorite player of the night #51, Ichiro Suzuki.

We had amazing seats! We were 5th row up on the left side of home plate. We saw a good handful of foul balls luckily we weren't hit, but the lady in front of us was. I hope she's ok...

Even though the Mariner's lost, there 5th inning was amazing. It had a home run and two on base. We sure had a fun night. I enjoyed scoring the game. Can't wait to go back...

June

2010-07-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

June was a very busy month. Dave and I both finished up school. We went to AZ for his sister's wedding. Hung out with family. Dave enjoyed watching the NBA finals, I was disappointed that Lakers won, I wanted anyone but them. We celebrated my 26th Birthday with seeing the theater production Forever Plaid. Just a wonderful musical. We also got to see Bill Cosby's show for Father's Day! He carried on for over 2 hours, so funny! I made drapes for our Study. Dave is still very busy hanging out picture frames. We are still loving our new apartment and being able to decorate it. Oh yeah I got a cavity filled, YUCK! I'll never do that again. I watched my Office Managers dog for a week, I'm glad I don't have a dog full-time it was totally throwing off my grove. Dave and I are taking the summer off of school so we can do some more sight seeing around WA. We look forward to more adventures.
P.S My bother Ryan & sister-in-law, Sarah found out today that they are expecting a baby boy the 1st of December!!! I'm SO Excited!!!

Apartment Improvements

2010-06-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

At the request of my aunt, Kathleen and sister-in-law, Sarah. House shots.

Our Master Bedroom. Very simple right now, but thinking of ideas for colors and theme.
Our Family Room. Drapes up, made by David's mom. Colors are orange, green and black. Still putting this room together. Will post more snap shots once frames are hung.

This is the frame collage in it's entirety, at an angle so hard to see. I took left side shot, middle shot, and right side shot...

Right side shot.Middle side shot.

Left side shot.

Eventually will get photos of our family...

The material up close for the drapes I made.Both panels open.

Right panel close up.

We have lots more improvements to do, will keep you updated.

GREAT WEEKEND!

2010-06-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

So on Friday night Dave and I went to Grownups and Chipotle for dinner. We had such a great time. The movie had a wonderful message about families. Anyway, we had such a GREAT time that we decided to do it again on Saturday night. So on Saturday night we went to Knight and Day and Chipotle for dinner. Also a GREAT movie! I'm totally buying it for my collection. Not only did we have so much fun at the movies and dinners but we did other things as well. I made drapes for our study and Dave hung up 15 frames on one wall, it's a pretty sweet collage. We had the missionaries over for dinner on Sunday night, we severed our signature BLAT'S (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Tomato Sandwich). We are so excited to have time to decorate our apartment, get some projects done, and just being together.

Family

2010-06-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

Steven. Me. Mom. Dad. Nana. Having fun with the Jones

Carousel FUN!

Orren & Emmett
Orren's Birthday Celebration at Nana's House, his younger brother Emmett trying to help him blow out his candle.

Steven & I

My handsome brother!Ashley & I

I can't believe how much she's grown up...We had such a great time in AZ! I loved being with my family and just talking with them.

The Wedding Party

2010-06-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Irreplaceable Love of My Life! The Bachelorette PartyGrandma & Grandpa Banning with The Bride & Groom!

Love Them!!!

Proud Grandparents of the First Grand Daughter to Married! "The Pure Happiness and Total Love Shot!

The "WE DID IT" Shot!The Original Six! The First Blake Family Photo with The Newly Weds! Father & Mother of The Bride! The Groomsman! The Back Up Photographer! The Bride!

I loved being home for this. I loved being able to see Adriana so happy and seeing her in the Temple being sealed to Tim. It brought back some amazing and emotional feelings to me about my wedding day. It made me want to be a better wife, have a better relationship with my husband and God. I am so grateful for the blessings of an eternal marriage. I am so glad I did it and am grateful Adriana and Tim did it. Welcome to the family Tim. I hope to get to know you better.

Sweet Home Arizona!

2010-06-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

First I wanted to say... HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!!

Now the trip...

The reason for the trip was to be there for David's sister's wedding. But I decided to make a week long trip out of it, wouldn't you... I was so glad my Nana & Papa were down at the same time. Even though I only got to see them for a day. I was so glad to give them both a hug! I'll be posting more wedding photos and some snap shots soon!

Hi

2010-05-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

My blog has been blah lately... Sorry. I haven't had the time, motivation or creative ideas to post something worth reading. Here's just a written update on Me and my life. School is going great, my introduction to interior design class has really been educational. I have loved learning it's language. I had successfully earned A's on all assignments, exams and have even earned some extra credit too! I love learning about putting a room together so that it has unity and harmony. I am so glad I decided to start school again, it has really given my life some purpose and direction. David and I have been busy with putting together a new apartment. We are having fun printing and hanging new photos with new frames up on the walls. We have multiple walls now! Whahoo. It's super fun to re-design everything. David is busy with being a full time student and an over time employee. I am so glad I married a hard worker. He's not only a hard worker in school and work but for me. He definitely earns many brownie points. This week I am looking forward to hanging out with my cousin who'll be visiting from UT. After her visit I'll be jumping on a plane to AZ to enjoy the festivities for my Sister-in-law's wedding on June 4th. I can't wait to be home. I have been doing ok with my weight loss, at least I am still seeing results, slowly but they are good ones. I am glad that I have a supportive husband who loves me just as I am. I wish I had some photos but I haven't taken any lately. I will definitely have some from my great weekend and up coming week in AZ. My sister Aly graduates this Wednesday I can't believe it's been eight years since I was in High School. She's always been eight years younger than me, but today I feel like she is growing up so fast. I can't believe what an adult she's becoming and it's hard for me to think of her as a little sister. Congrats Aly, I am proud of you!!! Thanks for listening to my ramblings, I hope they make sense. I'm not much of a journalist, that's why I usually use lots of photos. But since I had none I had to do something.

Exciting Stuff!

2010-03-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ENGAGEMENT. CONGRATULATION'S

ADRIANA AND TIM!

My sister-in-law got engaged Saturday and I am so glad she is happy. I can't wait for the wedding! It also gets me down to AZ sooner than I thought. All good things.

Our new apartment come March 29th. We are moving into a two bed room two bath. We are staying at the same apartment complex. We're excited to have more space for a guest bedroom and a study.

Just leaving for my 1st hour of Kung Fu! But I wanted to practice a bit before it...

This is my "Riding Horse" stance.

Beware of my punch!

"Snap Kick!" And Master Jones did say he is impressed with my kick for being a White Belt.

Me. But my Dad calls me, Kung Fu Mindi!
My first night was tuff. I was sore for four days after. I was amazed that I could pull it off. There was knuckle push ups, Tiger Rolls, and group combat. I was in class with all types of belts, the highest being a Black Belt. I've got a lot to learn...

What I've Been Up To

2010-03-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

The back of Grandpa Banning's Get Well card.
The front of the card. It's a road map...
He loves trains so I thought this was prefect for him.
sorry the photos aren't the greatest...

Let me catch you up on what I've been up to. My diet is going great, I'm down 4.2 pounds. I've been training to get into the Kung Fu class and tonight I meet with the Kung Fu Master to see if I can handle it. Wish me luck. I just registered for my 1st class back to College, I'll be taking an Intro into Interior Design. David & I just resigned a lease till next March, but more importantly we upgraded to a 2 Bedroom 2 Bath! So we can have a Study and maybe on the side guest bedroom, WELCOME GUESTS! David's grandpa has been in and out of the hospital so I made him a Get Well card. Still very much into card making. I'll keep you better informed with all our changes up here.

Lose It Update

2010-02-25T08:35:00.001-08:00

I tried Kung Fu Tuesday night and I'm so sore! I know I need to workout despite that, but it's pretty lame when walking up stairs is nearly impossible. But at the same time it feels great to be sore, it reminds me that there's more muscles to me. Ones I never knew existed. It's nice to feel them working. I have lost a pound this week. I'm very relieved that I can still motivate myself to that point. Today I have the whole day off of work and I've got two things on my To Do List. #1 Work Out & #2 Scrapbook. I think I can handle that. I'm so excited to have a day to self indulge and work on me.

A Confession and Lose It Update...

2010-02-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

My Lose It application through my iPhone. This helps we document my exercise and calories.
Tai Chi helps with strengthening weaker muscles and reducing stress. It's the softer side of Kung Fu. And it also helps with breathing. Which I forget to do while working out.

My hope for a new me.

Last year I lost 27 pounds with my Lose It diet. I stopped short of my goal, well to be honest way short of my goal. My goal was to lose so much more than that. However, I felt satisfied with my accomplishment. This year I feel motivated again to start my Lose It diet. Also I wasn't maintaining the weight I lost, because I had slipped away from the things that were helping me. I'm focusing on a goal of 50 pounds. I will once again, track my calorie intake, document my exercise and hold myself accountable to twice a week weigh-ins. This isn't easy. But I want to be healthy and mostly HAPPY with myself. I'm trying a different exercise routine. I'm doing Tai Chi every Monday and Tuesday nights. And I've purchased The Biggest Loser workout videos. This insures that I workout a minimum of 4 days a week. It has a 6 week program that I can do from my home. I'm trying to change up my workouts so as not to plateau or get bored. I bore and lose interest easily if I don't challenge myself with different things. Well here goes all I have. I will be accountable again. I hope I can update you with good news...

Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day Cards...

The classic sign!

Holiday Decor.

David's Valentine's Day Card.

The envelope.

Fun Flowers, which I was given at our Ward Valentine's Day Party. It was so fun!

Flowers David let me buy for my table! Thanks love!

Friday Night: Adult Valentine's Party. It was a 70s theme. We did improve like "Who's Line is it Anyways?" My favorite part was guessing who's feet (all in the same color socks) my husbands were. Of course I knew right away because he came to the curtain and matter of fact just walked away. No fooling around David! I knew without doubt my husband was number 8! Lots of food and fun. Glad we went, although Dave drew the line at the chicken dance.

Saturday: Dinner at Red Robins, watched "He's Just Not That Into You." It's a great Valentine's Day movie.

Sunday: Hosted Valentine's Day dinner with my favorite people. The missionaries, a friend named, Ryan and David! David cooked Chicken Parmesan. Mmmm mmm Good. We all thought so.

I am still enjoying my Valentine's Day weekend with Monday being President's day or rather NO WORK DAY! Whahoo. I've blogged, worked out, done some house work. Nothing better than that! Plus the sun is a shinning! I'm looking forward to a marathon of Chick Flicks and left over Chicken Parmesan!

Sewing Class

2010-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went to a sewing class put on by a sister in my ward. She offers it every Saturday. She taught us how to make pillow cases. I was so excited. Plus I made a really cute Valentine's Day pillow case. It's great to have a free lesson on how to sew. Next Saturday she'll teach us how to make an apron. I look forward to that. I love creating things!