february weddings

scott and i had two weddings to go to in february. two of my really good guy friends got married: neal and craig...not to each other. ;-) they both got married to awesome ladies and both weddings were a lot of fun! here are a few pictures from both of their weddings.

all dressed up at neal's wedding

craig and laura-just a week away from their wedding

the four of us

the venue-Historic Dubsdread. This venue was beautiful-the picture does not do it justice.

craig and laura's first dance-love this picture

old roomies!

how hot does scott look? i picked out his outfit and i must say it's one of my favorites!

me, michaela, and jen

our first picture with the newly married couple

love these cake toppers! :-)

paul

those of you who have known me for a long time know that i lost my best friend paul many years ago. last sunday marked 18 years since he has been gone. seriously? how has it been 18 years already? sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday and i can still remember every detail of the day i found out and the days to follow. i always think of him when march 14th comes around, but for some reason or another, it hit me hard this year. i know it's just part of the healing process. i had a rough night a couple of days before his anniversary. i am sad that i can't really remember what his voice sounds like. and the selfish part of me just wishes that i could have him back. he was my first love and there will always be a special place in my heart for him. i am thankful that god allowed him to be in my life in such a huge way. and i am so lucky that god placed him in my life and i wouldn't take it back for anything. can't wait to see you paul!

this is one of my favorite pictures of him. he took it for me and said that he tried to look like a model for me. :-) enscribed on the back of it, it says, "To my one and only!"

reese witherspoon as june carter

so each month, my dept does a "themed friday" on the 2nd friday of each month. this month it was a "hollywood" theme. so i thought about who i wanted to dress up as. i really like reese witherspoon and think she's adorable, but hello, i have black hair; a far cry from her blond locks. but then a brilliant idea popped into my head...i would dress up as her from walk the line! so i went to work in assembling my "june carter" look. my inspiration came from this picture that i found online.

(the pictures aren't the greatest-i took them with my p&s). i borrowed some cowboy boots from a friend and wore a silver "poofy" skirt with a purple shirt with some beading around the neck. i had to work with what i had on hand. and then i tried to replicate the makeup and hair. so what do you think? do i look like her?


i took a half day this day because scott's mom was in town and all three of us were going to go out to lunch and then shopping. i had changed my clothes, but still had the same hair and makeup. we went out to eat and at the end of our meal, our waitress proceeds to tell me that i look just like reese witherspoon from walk the line!!! hey, i guess it worked. :-)

10th monthiversary

yesterday was 10 months for scott and i. whoot!! what a great 10 months it has been. it feels like we've been together forever, but at the same time it seems like we just started dating yesterday. so here are 10 things in no particular order that i love about mr. scott.

1. he's got the coolest eyes ever. they change from light green to light blue depending on what he's wearing. i'm thankful that they don't change to red when he wears red, but he sure looks good in red.
2. he's got the best smile in the world-makes my heart melt.
3. if you haven't noticed he's tall. if you didn't know, i LIKE that about him. he was born to stand out.
4. this might sound weird, but he smells soooo good. i don't know how he does it(he doesn't wear cologne) but he's just got the most amazing smell about him and it's so comforting to me.
5. he's got the greatest hands in the world. i could stare at them all day. and i love how they envelope my tiny hands. i feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast when she puts her hand in the Beast's hand. considering that that movie is my favorite disney movie, it tells me that we are meant to be.
6. his laugh moves me. it lights me up and i'll do anything to get him to laugh.
7. his voice is quite and gentle, never angers or gets loud. i need that in my life.
8. he looks stinkin good with facial hair and without it. there are certain days that i tell him to be "lazy" and to not shave because i want another day with "facial hair scott". and then he looks great with a smooth face too. i'm lucky that he looks well both ways. variety is good folks.
9. he is the best thing to cuddle up to on the couch. there is nothing more warm or cuddley than him. he's got anyone beat in this area; i'm just sure of it.
10. and last but not least....we fit like a puzzle piece. i'm just sure we were made for each other.


thanks for making it a great 10 months baby!

what is it with people? or me for that matter....

i've noticed it more this week, but lately it seems that whenever i ask someone how they are doing in passing or tell them "thanks" for holding the door, all i get is silence. seriously? did you not hear me? i know i spoke loud enough. what is your problem? is this the norm now? i would never just ignore someone and keep walking. is it because the majority of the people don't like me? do they just hate interacting with others? are they just being rude on purpose? i don't get it; they just go about on their merry way as if i never had said anything in the first place. i just don't get people these days.

on a lighter note, scott and i are headed to a little concert tomorrow night. a band called "gungor" is playing at the lovely plaza theatre in o-town. i just stumbled across them a couple of weeks ago (while i was blog stalking)and they sounded pretty cool. tickets were only $8, so i figured we'd check it out. have you ever heard of them?

and yes, i am a total blog stalker these days. it's so addicting and each blog leads from one to another and it never stops! i am majorly addicted here people!! i mostly follow photographers blogs and some crafty ones with diy projects. i never knew it could be so much fun looking at people's blogs from all over the country. there are some SERIOUSLY wicked talented people out there. i love getting inspiration and ideas from other people's creative minds. so a BIG thank you to those who are ridiculously creative and talented-you make my heart happy!

Disney with the Rents

a couple of weeks ago scott and i went to epcot with my parents. while scott and i have annual passes, my parents do not. my friends, rob and melinda, have access to get anyone in at anytime and graciously let my parents in for FREE! we had a great day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! here's a few pics from the day:

we spent some time in the norway store, since we are norwegian. it was pretty fun. here scott and my dad are trying on these ultra winter hats that cost $50!

posing with the troll with some viking hats. i think it looks better on scott than me.

my parents rockin it out with the troll

one last picture before we leave.

v-day

scott knows that i love to be surprised, so he kept our plans a secret this year. all i knew was that i was suppposed to dress up and that he was taking me out to eat somewhere friday night. so i got all fancied up in a new black dress, some nice pearls, shiny black heals, and my red-hot tights! besides surprises, i also love getting dressed up. he took me to the Grand Floridian~simply beautiful! it was my first time there. we got there a little before our reservation for dinner, so we walked around and listened to a live band that was playing there. it was so fun! i didn't have my nikon with me, so some of these pictures look a little crapy. sat we went to disney for a few hours and then sunday night we went out for dinner and to see Valentine's Day. he surprised me with some really nice gifts too! it was a really fun weekend and a great 1st Valentine's Day.

here we are listening to the music

the band-they were really good!

the lobby at the Grand Floridian

me

a nice women offered to take our picture~thank you nice lady.

my handsome man-you could see the castle(at Magic Kingdom)from our seats. it was right behind scott!

it was a seriously nice restaurant-thanks babe!

enjoying some chocolate mousse and berries for dessert. yum!

hope you had a great v-day too!!

Lady Track Shack 5k

my mom and dad are visting here for the winter and my mom decided she wanted to do a 5k. so i told her that i would do one with her and we decided on the Lady Track Shack 5k. my mom isn't a runner so we decided that we would walk, run, walk, run. i pushed her pretty hard :-) it was a lot of fun to do this event with my mom and she was so excited to accomplish her first one! thanks to my dad and scott for getting up early to come and support us! here are a few pictures...


before the race-it started out cold, but turned into a beautiful morning

they used these nifty things instead of timing chips

almost there!

crossing the finish line!

mod podge magnets

i made my own magnets recently and it went successfully; not that it was really hard to begin with, but i'm kind of new at doing all these DIY projects. i really enjoy it and i went shopping last week to get all of my basic supplies. (more mod podge, paint, paint brushes, spray adhesive, hot glue gun, magnets, etc.) it was super fun walking through the aisles at JoAnn's. i could spend hours there. so here's what you need to make the magnets:

mod podge, magnets (they only had the adhesive kind), scraps of scrapbook paper, paint brush, coffee sleeves (from Panera or Starbucks), and a circular paper punch (i used 1 1/4 size)
punch out circles from the coffee sleeves and your scraps and then glue them with mod podge and paint over the top to seal it in.


here's the back of it after you glue it on

let them dry and then apply the magnet to the back and that's it!

i tested them out on my fridge with a picture of my niece. i love them!

homemade applesauce

so i got a food processor for christmas and was thrilled to start using it. i decided my first project was to make some homemade applesauce. this was my first attempt at doing something like this. i got the idea from this fun blog that i follow and pretty much followed her recipe. if you have a food processor and enjoy applesauce then you should definitely try this recipe.


i used 10 granny smith apples and added two peaches

my new food processor :-)

i washed all the fruit

then peeled away

the finished product

it was so yummy and very fresh. you could also add cinnamon and/or red hots to give it a little flavor.

8 months of happiness

so, this week marked our 8th *monthiversary*. yes, you heard me correctly. we like to celebrate our relationship each month and we call it our monthiversary. i think it should be a real word. so in honor of 8 months together, i will leave you with 8 wonderful things that i love about our relationship.

1. i've never been treated so well by anyone in my life

2. he not only lets me be crazy and silly, but he embraces that part about me

3. being with him is EASY

4. he supports and encourages me in everything i set out to achieve

5. we both love being next to one another and would pick that over anything else

6. i'm convinced that he would do absolutely anything in the world for me

7. he makes me feel like i'm the most beautiful person in the world

8. he loves me to pieces and isn't afraid to tell me

happy 8 months babe....thanks for making them the best ones yet!

thinking....

lately it's seems that there is a lot going on with those that are close to me in one way or another. some good, some bad, and some great. it's got me thinking about my life and the fact if i'm truly content with where i'm at in life. and what is God up to in each of these individuals lives? from a friend getting engaged, to watching a friend lose his mother to cancer, my best friend finding out that she's getting a baby boy through adoption, two friends getting married this next month, watching a dear friend find out that she really doesn't have cancer, only to find out weeks later that she does and that she has to go through chemo. i feel like everywhere i turn, another person has cancer. i hate seeing people go through sickness and death, who doesn't? but i LOVE rejoicing in the good things and seeing my friends happiness. who doesn't love to see a new life enter into this world and to see a realationship develop into marriage?

i find myself at times wishing and hoping for the things that i DON'T have in my life instead of being truly happy with what i have. i love this quote from elisabeth elliot-"We accept and thank God for what is given, not allowing the not-given to spoil it." this is what i'm striving for these days. i have so much to be thankful for and i don't want to take away all the goodness because i don't have what i want...yet. how can i be dissatisfied with my life when i hear about my friend having to battle cancer? i have a healthy body that allows me to do so much. and why do i get mad at god for not giving me what i want (in my timing) when someone else is grieving over their loss of a family member? it definitely puts things into perspective and god politely slaps me in face and reminds me of all i have and all he has chosen to give to me. see, that's the thing-every single thing that i have or don't have has been chosen by god. he goes before me and knows best for my life. and i know that god is in all of these situations. he is a good and just god. he will bring goodness out of every situation if we allow him.

and how do i know this? well, lets just say that i've been there before. i've been through my own personal tradedies in the past and god has gotten me through each and every one of them. and by his grace he has turned me into this amazing, new creation that never existed before. he makes all things beautiful in his timing...and he will with each one of my friends too...i'm glad i can have hope in him.

frEEzing at Disney

scott and i decided to use our disney annual passes last week (thanks again babe). and we figured with the "colder" temperatures, it would keep people away so we wouldn't have wait in long lines. well, our plan worked, but we pretty much froze our butts off. the high for the day was 33! despite the cold, we had a great time and i can't wait to go again! here are a few pics.....


waiting for the monorail to come and get us to take us to the magic kingdom

the castle at magic kingdom. makes me smile :-)

in front of the castle on our way out

part 2 of my favorite pictures from 2009

a view of long beach in CA, on the Queen Mary

shadow kiss

visiting Dana Point in CA

so peaceful

i LOVE sail boats....one day, i'll get on one

at sea world with scott

celebrating our 6th monthiversary

this was taken at dragoncon in sept...what can i say, we take good pictures :-)