Jem

Whenever I listen to my ipod I get flashbacks from memories associated with particular songs. Tonight I've been listening to Jem, and it brings back such vivid memories of my freshman year at BYU: I would listen to Jem every time I ran (back when I chose to ignore/abuse my already-messed-up knees). Becky Whipple and I would suck in our stomachs and squeeze through the little crack in chain-link fence around the BYU track, then we'd do our weekly run on the track and up and down the bleachers. We'd do a few crunches, stretch, and pledge to run more frequently and eat less at the Cannon Center cafeteria. (Neither of which happened). Turns out, Jem is good running music and good sewing music. I've been sewing for the last four hours, singing along to Jem, and smiling as I think of how things have changed since my late-night runs four years ago. The last Jem song ended, and the next song was "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. Now, that's a laughable flashback. Stake Dances! Ha ha.

Camp Out

Josh is camping with the Scouts this weekend, so Brynlee and I decided to have our own camp-out in the front room. (Until 7:30 pm when one camper was moved to her crib for the night). A sure way to get Brynlee giggly and frisky is to build her a fort! It never gets old.

Way Too Old

Something about this moment just cracked me up.

Bryn's concentration, and little smile. Her fingers "texting" a mile a minute. Her necklaces. Her perch on the kitchen chair. And the low neckline, since her shirt's a little large.

Who does she think she is?

Necklace Queen

Bryn is such a girl. It fascinates me that she naturally gravitates to jewelry, shoes, brushing her hair, looking in the mirror, and cuddling with her stuffed animals. She has cars, a big bus, balls, other more boyish toys, and she does play with them. But not nearly as much as the time she spends doing feminine things. It's cute. Bryn's favorite thing right now is NECKLACES! She wears them all day, putting them on and taking them off, over and over and over. She also finds my headbands and other random things and uses them as "necklaces".

Spinach Mush

We're still making our daily spinach smoothies, and loving it. To make them healthier, I've been adding more and more spinach, to pack in those dark leafy greens. And it still tastes great! Bryn LOVES it, too! Today we gave her spinach smoothie even more substance by pouring in the dry flakes of Gerber whole wheat cereal. It looked completely disgusting (see above picture), but she still went nuts over it. Doesn't it look like we're spooning her pesto or something!?

Date Night

Tonight we went on such a fun date! It had been a while, so it was a great time. We didn't get a babysitter in time, so we took Brynlee along. We used our Chili's gift card and had a delicious meal! (I recommend the Carribbean Salad with grilled chicken. Delish.) Bryn was getting squirmy by the end of it, but she was actually better than I thought, thank goodness. Then we went to Barnes and Noble, our favorite. Bryn was in awe of all the colorful books. She was running from one shelf to the next, doing some pretty crazy babbling and letting out high-pitched screams of excitement. It was too much for her. And then, we finished it off with a little frozen yogurt. (As if we needed anything else in our stomachs!?)

I love going on dates.

I love good food and good reads.

I love my sweet daughter.

And I love love love my cute husband.

Visit from Jae

My older brother Jae visited us for President's Day weekend. It was so so so fun being with him. We went to the beach a few times, did a frisbee golf course, ate my favorite fish tacos, and of course had lots of hilarious coversations.

Thanks for visiting us!

Jae introduced Brynlee to longboarding. (Where are her clothes!?)

Swimsuit Shopping

Last night I went to Target to buy a swimsuit.

I tried on several swimsuits, then headed straight to the fitness section.

And I left the store with a swimsuit and two work-out videos.

They really should sell swimsuit/work-out video combo packs!

Bed Head

Not every picture can be glamorous.

Beach Day

So glad Bryn's out of the eating sand stage! (But now she's in the run-all-over / steal-toys-from- strangers stage.) Such a fun day!

We love February in California.

It's About Time

We are officially a two-car family! After much research and saving, we finally bought a second car: a cute, little 2010 Sentra. Sounds a little impractical, but thanks to a Nissan connection we got a great deal. Definitely a better deal than our previous car-buying disaster. Ha ha. What a blessing to finally have a nice, reliable car! (Knock on wood). Here are a few unforgettable moments from the last few years of having a not-so-nice, completely-unreliable car: -Going into labor while our car was in the shop. My dad drove Josh up to Brandon and Marilee's house and we borrowed one of their cars to drive to me the hospital. Maybe it was the stress of being car-less that put me into labor? No. I was used to car problems by then! -Last summer when our car broke down and our apartment flooded. At the same time. Enter: Uncle Mark! Who let us stay at his place for a week and chauffeured us around. Oh goodness, what a week. -The six month period where every time we drove from Provo to Sandy we would have to stop at least eight times to let the car cool down. We'd have to leave at 4 pm if we wanted to be at my parent's house for dinner at 6 pm. And we'd both be sour and sweaty by the time we got there! -Hot summer drives without air-conditioning. Enough said. -Countless overheating experiences, colorful leaks, blown head gaskets, and a myriad of other problems. I'm pretty sure we replaced every single car part. Twice. We still have our little 96' Acura, and I'm sure it's plan of attack against us isn't over. But hopefully this new car will be on our side!

Valentine's Envelope

I posted about this cute idea from PB kids a few days ago, but I didn't think I'd make one until next year when Bryn was older. But I ended up making one at a Relief Society Project Night. (Thanks Autie!) It would have been better if I could handstitch a straight line (!!!) and if I had a cri-cut machine for the letters, but oh well. Fun project. Can't wait for next year when Bryn will be more excited about getting love notes.

Reading Log

I have read so many great books, but often times I forget what I liked about them. So I decided to keep a reading log, like the one my mom has always kept. When I read I use a notecard as my bookmark, and I jot down notes with the page number of things I want to refer back to. Then, once I've finished the book, I type up the notes, print them, and keep them in a binder. I started this January 2009 and now I've got about twenty five books in my log. It's really fun to look back through and be reminded of the cool things I've read. I write down the title and author, a few sentences about the general plot or the overall message I got from it, and then page references to specific passages. If it's a story book, I jot down the coolest scenes, poignant dialogue, or any parallels or lessons that I like. If it's a historical non-fiction, I write down the interesting facts and history that I'd like to remember. And if it's a religious/philosophy/self-help book then I write down direct quotes or principles I like. A few of my favorite reads from 2009: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe The Histories of my Great Grandma Pitcher and my Great Great Grandma Lee The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley by Sheri Dew Wild Swans by Jung Chang Shepherdess of Elk River Valley by Margaret Duncan Brown

Little Reader

Josh and I LOVE to spy on Brynlee when she reads to herself, alone in her bedroom. Sometimes she stares at each page and quietly turns the pages. Other times she races through book after book, speaking gibberish to herself.

Grateful

Sundays are easily my favorite day of the week. And today was espeically wonderful. A few thoughts, at the close of a beautiful day: -I love my calling in the Relief Society presidency. What an absolute privilege and blessing it is to serve with such remarkable, faithful sisters. -I love our ward. Everything about it. -I am missing my family more than ever. I've never felt more grateful for my parents, siblings, extended family, and the family I married into. (So excited to see Jae this weekend!!) -On the flip side, I am more grateful than ever that I am away from home with my little family of three. We are having invaluable experiences in California, and I am so glad to be here. -I am so grateul to Josh for being completely devoted to the Lord, to me, and to Brynlee. He is my perfect companion. -I love Brynlee more and more each day. My little buddy. She was such a cutie today, bringing such a sweet spirit to our home today. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for all that I have. I am truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a daughter of God. If you want to be humbled, and shed a few tears (who's eager for that?), read this. My heart is with this faith-filled mother and her family. I am once again reminded of how truly blessed I am.

Our Day

These two pictures perfectly describe our day. In fact, our week. Wild hair, lots of silver spoons (Where does she keep getting those!? She must be stowing them away!), climbing on kitchen chairs and other off-limit items.

And finally, her newest trick: undressing herself. We've had many talks about keeping our clothes on, but it hasn't sunk in with Brynlee yet.

Still giggling about this:

Everyone I passed on my walk today kept laughing as they looked at Brynlee. I thought she must have been especially cute or something. Then I realized she had taken her shirt off and was playing with it. Oh gosh.

Still groaning about this:

I was doing housework today while Brynlee was busy playing with toys (so I thought). Then my new neighbor frantically tapped on my window because she saw Brynlee standing on top of the kitchen table. Bryn couldn't have been up there for more than a few seconds, but I couldn't explain myself through the glass. All I could do was snatch up Brynlee and give an embarrassed little smile and wave.

She Speaks

(1) This video is lengthy and not-so-exciting, but it's for my family in Utah.

(2) Please ignore my embarrassing baby voice. (Why am I still doing it??)

Brynlee can only say a handful of words, but she thinks she can talk. This is Brynlee's "talking" that she does all day lately.

Cute Idea

image via Blonde Designs Blog I LOVE this idea to write love notes to your kids leading up to Valentine's Day. Bryn's too young to appreciate it, but I want to do it when she's older! She got the felt envelope from Pottery Barn, but it looks pretty simple to make. (This is one of many cute ideas from Blonde Designs! Love them!)

Bryn's Best Friend

This is Brynlee with her best friend: her stuffed cat. She wants nothing to do with her dolls, but she cuddles this cat all day long. How could a child of mine be a cat person?Brynlee spent much of her Sunday afternoon in her cat's litter-box/bed. I'm glad she's enjoying it because this is the closest thing she'll ever get to a pet. Ha ha.

Cheese

I haven't posted many pictures of myself lately because I've forgotten how to smile with my eyes open. I've ruined about twenty five could-have-been-cute pictures.

Exhibit A. (Bryn takes after me). Exhibit B. (Really excited).

Exhibit C. (Bryn's pulling her arms back because the cheese is scaring her).

Woah. I'm about to eat her.

(Gotta love the Simba pose, though!)

I'm really doing this closed-eye smile in every picture lately. Yikes. If you take my picture anytime soon, please remind me to keep my eyes open and not get too excited.