Saturday, December 1, 2012

updates on the house


Updates on our old little home:

One night during a storm Michael and I woke up to an incredibly loud crazy noise and we both thought Gwinna's crib had gone to pieces! Nope...just a tree falling on our house! No big deal.
 (It actually was not a big deal we called our lovely landlord and he took care of it;) 

About 4 weeks ago Gwinna and I were watching a movie (probably a silly netflix Christmas one) and we heard a dripping noise. Outside? No...right in our living room!  Michael was taking a bath and I realized that it was about where the tub would be...the ceiling is beginning to crack and water is coming through, hence the bowls above that I raced to get. 

A few other numbers for you...
7 the number of centipedes I've squished in my life. (all in this house)
4 number of wolf spiders down
34,650 the approximate number of box elder bugs we have hugged too tightly
1 MOUSE IN THE HOUSE (too many)

Despite all of these creatures wanting to room with us we still love our home. 
It is cozy and warm.
We have a driveway and yards to play in. 
AND our landlord recently agreed to let me paint our kitchen!!!!!!








I love him


25!

My 25th birthday was THE greatest day ever!!!!!!!!!
(OK maybe not ever, but it was good!)
My sweet husband only had to work for a couple hours and the rest of the day was ours!
We went to breakfast AND dinner...terrible, I know...but so much fun. Oh and we also got Starbucks pumpkin creams;) So good.
We walked around the mall and tried to spend one of our gift cards at Macys...did not happen. 
I need to love things before I buy them...
The minute I was awake Michael made me open my presents. He was too excited to wait;) 
Sushi for dinner!
Oh and then Lil sent gifts for me and Gwinna! A sweet frog singing card for me and a hippie bus onesie for our girl! So cute!
Later at night we made lemon bars together...probably my new birthday "cake." 
Very good.











Thursday, November 29, 2012

Halloweenie


Halloween night we hung out on BYU campus, saw a large tarantula, dressed Gwinna in her hippie onesie, got egg nog and pumpkin spice jambas, maybe stalked someone, came home and Michael convinced me to open one birthday present;) 
A lovely night. 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

GREAT and small

In our last general conference our sweet Prophet, President Monson, suggested that we take inventory of the blessings in our lives GREAT and small...

Where to begin? 

My favorite blessing is my testimony  of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Some people have life-altering experiences....appearances of angels and opera singers in the background as they finally know the Gospel is true. Not me. It has been a gradual growth of knowledge for me. I can honestly say I have never doubted that God existed and that Jesus Christ is my Savior.  They have been real for me forever.

Whisperings of the Holy Ghost throughout my life
-feeling complete joy on my baptism day
-knowing without a doubt I needed to serve a mission
-confirmation that everything I learn in the temple is right, good, true, powerful and perfect!
-knowing as soon as I saw him that Michael was the man I was supposed to marry


A family that I LOVE!

Knowledge that families are FOREVER.

Temporal needs always always provided for. 


I wrote the following list of things I am grateful for during our dark time...thought I would share it today:) 

Sunlight through the clouds…

GOSPEL
FATHER
CHRIST
THE SPIRIT
MICHAEL JOE
          Ability to listen to me and teach me
          His love for me
          Willingness to learn
          Willingness to work hard
          Enthusiasm for life
          Love for truth
          Confidence
          Ability to speak publicly
          His love for humor
          Great strength in the Gospel
JOSEPH SMITH
THE BOOK OF MORMON
TEMPLES
OUR WARD FAMILY
BISHOPRIC 
FAMILIES
LOVE
BEST FRIENDS
LEADERS
KNOWLEDGE
TRUTH
LEARNING
MUSIC
PEACE
YOGA
BREATH
ABILITIES: SEE, HEAR, SMELL, FEEL, SPEAK….FUNCTION
LOANS
TJSL
THE SUN
SEASONS
ART
CREATIVITY
BLOGS
INSPIRING WOMEN & MEN
SAN DIEGO
BEV & JOHNNY
RED PAINT
ABILITY TO EXERCISE
ENDORPHINS
JOURNALS
WATER
FLOSS
CHIROPRACTORS
EXCELLENT AUTHORS
GREAT TEACHERS
LESSONS LEARNED FROM EVERYONE…CONSTANTLY
THE OFFICE
AMAZING FOOD
TOOLS IN THE KITCHEN
PESTO
BEAUTIFUL TREES
TYPE A PERSONALITY PEOPLE (AND ALL OTHER TYPES)
ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
BABIES
LAUGHTER
OWLS
CANDLES
NEW SOCKS
GOOD-SMELLING BODY WASH
PRETTY PAPER
CHEAP FRAMES
TRIALS
COOK BOOKS
DARK CHOCOLATE
UGLY DOLLS
MAIL
MOVIES
HALLOWEEN DÉCOR
GENUINELY GENUINE PEOPLE
COMPASSION
NAIL POLISH
FREE TIME
ABILITY TO WRITE
ABILITY TO READ
E-MAILS
LOVE STORIES
MY WEDDING DRESS
I-PHONES
OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RECEPTION AT HOME
STARS
WILLOW TREES
THE OCEAN
THE BEACH
OVERCAST DAYS (EVERY NOW AND THEN)
THE SMELL OF NEW BOOKS
FEEL OF NEW CLOTHES
LIL’S ART
THUNDERSTORMS
PEOPLE WHO LISTEN
SWEAT PANTS
FREEDOM
OUR MILITARY
TACOS
POPCORN
FROZEN GRAPES

HUMMUS
ARABIAN BREAD

I am grateful for GRATITUDE:) 
I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!!
happy thanksgiving!






NOW A WARNING?!



Yes its true...
That is my hair!
I chopped it all off (October 27)and here is why:
1. I thought it would be a cool thing to do at least once in my life - donate my hair;)
2.  It was falling out...in the masses, filling our trash cans (and floors and shower drain) so I decided to send it to Florida where it will hopefully be put to a much better use! 
3.  Gwinna's little clammy hands always grab hold...even if she does not mean to;) 
4.  I am done with layers.
5.  Change is good...right?:) 


Monday, November 12, 2012

now and then

then...

and now!

Hocus Pocus night;)

we have a baby!
who knew?!




Michael informed me that his is a Michael Joe pumpkin before braces :D

Saturday, November 10, 2012

missing my great grandma...


...and she was GREAT....still is;) 
I miss her enthusiasm for life. 
I miss the way she would eat whatever she wanted whenever & however she wanted.

She did not care what people thought about her. 
I miss hearing her talk about her sweet husband. This woman had a true love story.  Every time she mentioned him she would cry. (in sorrow and in love)  

She knew how to love.
She knew how to be bold when she needed to be. 
And she was...
Often...
She knew how to create!
She was open-minded enough to accept my most cherished book (The Book of Mormon) from my boyfriend (now husband) 
She is feisty, Portuguese, beautiful, wise, somewhat tempermental;), creative, hilarious,a very no-nonsense woman, and she even kissed my husband right on the mouth one day;) 
We miss you Grandma Lial! 

I am sad that our Gwinna will not get the opportunity to meet her in this life.
Grandma taught me that love can be head-over-heels, passionate, true and honest. I always wrote in my journal that I wanted to "be truly, passionately in love" when I married my husband someday.  And I absolutely am.  There was no way I could settle for less.  
She taught me to create until the end and to do it for the ones you love.  In her honor I have learned to crochet this year and tried to create blankets for our Gwinna and little coasters for my Michael Joe. 
She taught me that it is OK to be bold when it needs to be heard. Bold and loving even when it may hurt, and hopefully help.
I hope I can become a smidgen of the woman she is. 
We shall eat caramels and chocolate on the other side together soon Grandma!!!!





Friday, November 9, 2012

just stuff



This past week we received a package with even MORE cute, warm clothes for our Gwinna! She is a spoiled one:) 
Also Tia Stephanie and Tio Brian created this sweet little pig for her at Build a Bear.  
They are best friends already...




from Grandma Flo
Sophia...for some reason I thought of you?!?!;)






Our sweet Natalie babysitter!
We went to see Sleepy Hollow :)






Shopping with Gwinna...is so much fun!!!



In bed...the best part of our day!!!! :) 


this is what it looks like when daddy dresses Gwinna! ;) 


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

funny

I just LOVE this!
that is all.
Oh and vote for Mitt!!!
Mitt Mitt Mitt Mitt!!!!!


Sunday, November 4, 2012

almost forgot



A couple weeks ago Michael Joe came home with these babies! 
We may have eaten them for
BREAKFAST 
LUNCH 
&
DINNER!

NO...thanks for asking;) I DO NOT regret it!

FOOD


I owe it all to PINTEREST! I LOVE making lists and checking things off...pinterest has allowed me to make a food collection and slowly eliminate or add to my recipe collection;) I pretty much loved all of these creations.  They were all so easy too! Just what I need...
Italian chicken bake

our General Conference french toast

Italian stuffed peppers.  really good;) 
roasted pumpkin seeds;) (not a pinterest recipe...just what we ate after gutting our pumpkins)

yum...

Michael actually found this spicy pumpkin soup recipe.
I HATED making it but LOVED eating left overs for days.
very good!



these were a great lunch/dessert!
sweet potatoes are awesome...my husband taught me that;)