TV disaster follow up

Here are the promised pictures of our tv mishap. I know you were dying to see them. Normally our table is clutter free, but we were re-arranging things in the kitchen, thus the appliances and cereal boxes. Note the brown things on the floor. Those are the cocoa pebbles Aaron was eating when the tv came crashing down and he tried to catch it. Our Kix box took the brunt of the fall and will never be the same.

These are the lovely holes in our wall. An anchor and a screw is still stuck in the wall. That should be fun to get out!

Go Padres

Courtesy of Sandy, Aaron and I had fantastic seats to a recent Padres game. Unfortunately they lost to the Cardinals, but we had fun hob nobbing with all the people who actually have money and buy seats close enough to see the detail on the players shoes. He's blocked in this picture, but sitting two rows in front of us was a Padres alumni, the man who's picture was on the tickets we were holding. Aaron tried to get an autograph, but apparently 5 rows back is the rif raf section and he was quickly shooed away. On a side note, having those tickets helped me see just how elitist new stadiums are. Before everyone went in the same entrance and used the same stairs. Not any more. New entrance, new stairs, separate restrooms and restaurants. I digress. We had a good time. Thanks, Sandy!

i just love my jelly jars

i'm not exactly sure when i became obsessed with these delightful jars, but i did. maybe it was in a dream and the idea stuck in my head. perhaps being fearful of a larger commitment, i had my eye on the 4 oz jars. i just knew i had to have them. but, being very cheap, i knew i did not need to have them at the crazy price Von's was charging. after much research on the internet i learned you could get them for a song from Ball's website, but the shipping was as much as the jars. i was not to be deterred. more searching ensued and i found the golden hawk. ace hardware's website sold them and would ship them for FREE to a local store! nothing beats free. i quickly ordered them and picked them up a week later. (btw, i heartily recommend ace hardware for ordering and picking up in store.)

i stared at them for a minute when i picked them up, so the guy behind the counter must have sense a problem and asked if everything was ok. i replied, 'oh everything is wonderful. i am just so excited. you made my day'. what a nerd. anyway, avocados are on sale this week. i can't wait to make guacamole and hand out little yummy summer gifts.

has it really been two weeks

since my last post? i guess i can start measuring how time flies by how frequent my posts are. or maybe it means we have nothing exciting going on in our lives.

my dad called me yesterday to chat and noted how he checks our blog daily and hasn't seen anything new lately. i thought that was really cute. thanks for watching, dad. i'll step up my game.

fate, or our tv, must have heard my father's request because last night when aaron was turning on the tv it fell off the wall. and landed on our kitchen table. oh, and took a bunch of the wall with it. awesome. we documented the debacle for our blog and i should be posting pictures shortly. don't worry dad, i don't blame this on you. i blame this on our ghetto walls and our unfounded optimism that the wall could hold it in the first place.

I love friends who have lived a thousand lives and share with you their stories and lessons learned. I think to really learn about humility and forgiveness it has to come to you from the most unexpected sources.

Universal Studios

We went with Aaron's family to Universal Studios on Saturday. While looking back through the pictures I realized I didn't get a shot of everyone, but oh well. Here are a lot of pictures of our adventures. None of us had ever been so we didn't know what to expect.We are too small to tell in this picture, but Aaron is sporting a freshly shorn head with a Mr. T style mini-mohawk. I was not amused. See what happens when the temple closes for two weeks?This was a posted warning for the Mummy Returns ride. Yikes. Do people really have to be so graphic? Can't they just say may cause dizziness?


We went to a show where they explained the 3-D effects behind many movies and I randomly decided to volunteer. I never do stuff like that, but I think I just wanted to get out of line and I was able to bring all of Aaron's family with me. They shrunk me down and I had to fight a huge cat, I was in a scene from the Mummy Returns and above shows me eating chicken with the Norberts. It was interesting to see how they make things happen.

As a throw back to my old lady status, of course my favorite ride was the tram that takes you to the Universal Studio backlot. I thought it was so cool to see where movies and TV shows are filmed. They have some great sets.

This is the set from the movie, The Great Outdoors. I LOVE this movie. A classic with John Candy and Dan Ackroyd.

Oddly enough, they had real deer wandering the set. I didn't know deer roamed in LA.

This is the crash scene from War of the Worlds. Never seen it but the set was amazing. Did they start with real houses and a plane and blow it up or build it like this?

The Bates Motel from Psycho with Norman Bates carrying a dead body to the trunk of his car...

From the Jim Carrey remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

We couldn't get a very clear shot of this but it is Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives. Don't watch the show, but I really want to live in those charming houses. There were cars everywhere because it is a live set (meaning they currently film on it during the week).

The small seaside village in Jaws.

Don't mind Aaron's dad's head, but this was an old Mexican village we stopped at and they simulated a flash flood. It was really interesting to watch "rain" begin to come off the rooftops and then a huge amount of water came rushing down the street.

We all had a good time. I just wish you didn't have to drive to LA to go there...

S'more Maker

I had seen this s'more maker on a blog and pointed it out to my friend at work because I thought it was hilarious. Who would think of such a thing? When you read the product description it is very detailed about how the water (you add water below the white lid in the back) evenly distributes heat in the microwave ensuring a perfectly melted s'more, how the arms provide the exact amount of pressure needed to coagulate the ingredients, etc... We totally cracked up about it. When my birthday rolled around, the s'more maker arrived on my desk. What's even better about it is that Aaron and I don't have a microwave at home. Kind of like the cheeseburger phone I just had to have, but we don't have a land line.

But, when Aaron's family was in town recently we used the microwave in their hotel room to give my s'more maker a trial run.

Before, with Aaron's thumb showing approval.

Fresh out of the microwave. The instructions note the chocolate will not look melted, but it is. Glad they said that or I would have unnecessarily cooked it longer. Check out the beautiful melt below.

Verdict? The s'more maker delivers on it's promises and all ingredients were perfectly melted. Personally, I miss the toasty marshmallow taste and texture that come with fire roasting, but this will do in a snap and is probably perfect for kids. Thanks Jenna!!

early riser

many times there are not enough hours in the afternoon/evening to get everything done. i consistently feel like my after work activities consist of running from one task to another on my to do list and i just can't get it all done. especially with working in the temple on saturday mornings because a day that used to be made up of errands in the morning and fun in the afternoon had the morning errand time nixed.
my solution? get up early! some of the things i've gotten up early to do include grocery shopping, cleaning the house, laundry (which means going somewhere to do my laundy. i haven't had the luxury of a washer/dryer in years), and dying my hair. all this before work at 8:30am. i think this idea came about when i was in college working full time and going to school full time. those were busy days. is that odd? does anyone else do this?

Yosemite, part two

I'm sorry I haven't posted these sooner. Aaron's family is in town right now and work is crazy, so...

We went rafting (more like floating) down the Merced river on Sunday and this is a picture while passing under a stone bridge. While going down the river we saw Half Dome, Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Glacier Point, deer, and many other beautiful things.

This church has been in Yosemite Valley for 130 years. I think the different congregations take turns holding church services there and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints had a spot at 1pm on Sunday. It was kind of odd to see a really big cross on the wall, but it was so quaint inside with it's old thin windows and creaky wooden floors. The chapel is located in a wonderful spot by the river.

I love Yosemite and seriously miss it every day, but the bear locker situation is annoying. It's a price I gladly pay to stay there (it means I need to be more organized next time I go and know exactly where everything is), but it's rough. You can't even leave hand sanitizer in your car. I have little bottles of hand sanitizer all over my car! Oh well. I didn't want a bear to do that to my car door, so I locked it all up each night.

My brother and nephews came to visit Aaron and I on Saturday. We weren't as full of life as we wished we had been seeing as how we could barely walk the day after Half Dome, but we had a blast with them. From the top: Spencer, Ryan, Parker, and me. I'm not trying to strike a cute sideways pose, but my butt wouldn't fit in between the rocks without some manuvering.

Ah, innocence. The day before we hiked Half Dome, I wanted my picture by the beast and I was all smiles.
On our way out on Monday, we visited the giant Sequoias in Mariposa Grove. We were tired, had a long drive in front of us, so it was totally amatuer hour and we came unprepared. It was so hot and dusty and we didn't bring any water with us. We hiked to the nearest tree (not this one) on the trail and turned back to the bus. While driving back to our car we realized 50 more yards would have taken us to the Clothespin tree that you can walk through, which is what we really wanted to see! Next time.

There will be a next time. I really am planning how I can move there one day.

What a guy.

Last night while I was driving home, Aaron agreed to read the 7th Harry Potter book to me. I was so tired of the radio and wanted something to pass the time. He read from north of Pasadena all the way home and kept me sane through LA traffic. That was over 2 hours and he didn't even try to turn on Power 106 while going through LA. That's huge for him! (He has always resisted reading those books, but I think I may have lit a small fire under him. Time will tell...) He even did the voices and read by a small light in the dark! What a hero. Thanks!

we're home, but i want to go back

Last night we returned home from a fabulous trip to Yosemite. I had forgotten how wonderful that place is. I was really sad the day we went home and contemplated picking up a job application so I could stay forever. There were too many pictures for me to choose from late last night, so I've posted pictures of our hike to Half Dome and will post other trip pictures later this week.

Half Dome

This post is going to have A LOT of pictures, but i'm darn proud of this accomplishment. Pride aside, we saw some amazingly beautiful stuff that needs to be shared.

This is the view we had of Half Dome while driving to Yosemite Valley. Made me wonder, again, what I had gotten us into.


We started on the trail at 6am and this was the first mile marker. I must have been tired because I'm displaying Glacier Point and not Half Dome.


We decided to take the Mist Trail up because I'd heard about the beautiful waterfalls you would get to see and we were not disappointed. Behind us is Vernal Falls. All the rock steps are wet becuase of the mist from the falls and it actually feels like it's raining. A welcome change from the heat. This part of the trail was my favorite. Words like beautiful and amazing don't quite describe it. It was nice to walk past it so early in the morning when it was still and quiet. On the way back those steps were swarming with tourists in flip flops who didn't hold on to their screaming children. Not a good idea.
The next waterfall on the trail is Nevada Falls. This one is also amazing, but not as close to the trail. The rock steps on this section of the trail were a only a little sampling of what was to come. Note: all these waterfalls are fed by the Merced River which basically runs through the valley. During the hike we filled up our water bottles from the river and went rafting on it later in the week.
This is at the top of Nevada Falls where the Mist Trail ends and joins the Muir Trail. My tired little smile showing we only have 4.5 miles left to go.

We were lucky enough to see some deer along the way. They were eating in the brush next to us and decided to cross the trail in front of us.

This is the sign at the base of Sub-Dome, which leads to Half Dome (ignore my totally tired mug). In all my research on Half Dome, not once did anyone mention the evil that is Sub-Dome. Well, I'm going to mention it here. It was unbelievably difficult. Some serious switchback steps carved into the granite at a really high altitude, after hiking 7 miles, do not make for a good time.
This picture is at an angle so look sideways until the tree is straight. See the steps next to it? That's what we went up on Sub-Dome. Apparently whoever carved the steps grew tired of doing so because about 3/4 of the way up Sub-Dome the steps stop and you have to make your own way up the steep granite.
Ah, the cables. This view is from the top of Sub-Dome. See the little lines and tiny people in the middle of the rock? Those are the cables you pull yourself up to get to the top of Half Dome. I didn't want to stop at the top of Sub-Dome, but rather just hit the cables right away because I knew I would get freaked out. After Sub-Dome I could barely walk and knew I had to rest before I could pull myself up a mountain. Of course, by the time I rested I was properly freaked out. I would have been so mad at myself if I had gotten that far and not finished, so I said a prayer, instructed Aaron to not talk to me unless he was in mortal danger, and started the climb. It was not fun, but we made it.

So tired at the top.

This was my favorite view from the top. The mountains seem to go on forever.

Not sure why I struck that pose, but I guess I deserve to do whatever the heck I want at that point.
I wanted to get down the cables ASAP, but Aaron decided to get out his camera and snap some shots. I was a little mad that he decided to be Ansel Adams at that point, but I'm glad to have the pictures now. I basically did some controlled granite surfing on the way down, but we made it.

The 7 mile hike back is agony on your muscles. We both decided we have no need to do that hike again. We were glad we did it, but once was enough. After two days of soreness, Aaron changed his mind and thinks he would do it again. I stand firm with my decision.

what a prayer

Sunday was my birthday. Those who know me know i like a LOW KEY birthday (so much so that i would never normally write a post that mentioned my birthday) and do not enjoy being the center of attention. Aaron and i were asked to give the prayers in church just before Sacrament Meeting started. While listening to Aaron's closing prayer i heard a him say something along the lines of, "bless all the people having birthdays today", and he continued with his prayer without skipping a beat. As soon as he said "amen" i gave him dagger eyes while he was sitting on the stand, smiling like he just won the lotto.

My hope among hopes was that it would end there and people would simply think Aaron is a nut. But, i guess not every birthday wish comes true. I knew the Bishop knew it was my birthday because he had wished me a happy birthday a few minutes before the meeting began. I turned my attention to him, who was laughing, and i saw him whispering with the man who was conducting the meeting. He then got up to close the meeting and noted the birthday line in the prayer and explained to the congregation that it was my birthday, thus the odd request for birthday blessings. He proceeded to ask everyone to wish me a happy birthday when they saw me.

Although my head was down and my eyes were closed because i didn't want people to catch the death stare i had been giving Aaron, i could hear bones creaking while bodies turned to check out the birthday girl. Needless to say, i had many birthday wishes from snickering ward members that day. Ahhh, being married to a littler jokester is great.

So Groovy

An online article was showing kitchens featured in the magazine House Beautiful through each decade since the 50's and included commentary from the issue the kitchen was featured in. I just couldn't resist looking at them and wistfully imagining myself in each one. Some of them were slightly terrible and I didn't wish to be in those. These were two that I just had to share.This one is from the 50's and the article from that decade boasted "When you can get a complete kitchen, laundry and a place to eat into a space only about 12 feet square, it’s a real achievement". Laundry and cooking in one room? You'd never leave. I love the use of bright colors and how they weren't afraid to draw your attention to something like a cookie jar. Although, some times they did go overboard...

such as the beauty you see here. This one is delightfully tacky! Not one, but two matching phones on the wall, that blend with the wall paper. The lamp, the stoools, the phones, the bowls, the serving and eatingware; it's all matchy-matchy. If you spent too long in there I'm sure you'd see those flowers when you close your eyes to go to sleep.

I'm sure in about 20 years we'll look back and wonder what the heck we were thinking with our current interior design.

Happy Birthday, America!

I love America and every thing the 4th of July represents. I'm not a crazy patriotic person, but I am so thankful to live here and enjoy all the freedoms I have. I cannot deal with people who talk badly about this nation in front of me. I may not agree with who is running it at various times and the decisions elected officials make, but the fact that I get to elect someone is pretty darn great. If you don't like it, MOVE! Stepping off the soapbox now...

My family met in Brigham City at my Grandma's house and had a great weekend together. A few of us ran in the local (and extremely casual) Firecracker 5k and then a few of us hiked the mountain outside my Grandma's front door. We made homemade ice cream, bar-b-que'd, and relaxed amid the cousin chaos. We also went to the huge fireworks display that Brigham City puts on. They have the best fireworks soundtrack, which included "Welcome to America" by Neil Diamond this year. Couldn't ask for more.

Cute little Ava who I just couldn't get enough of.

Of course, Aaron gets along swimmingly with my nephews and played outside all weekend with them. I know it looks like he is throwing Parker to the ground, but really he is picking him up to put him on the slip n slide. Promise.