surprise!!!

Kelly is now the big 4-0! Wow! That sounds OLD! We were in Disney Land for his birthday so i planned in advance to throw him a SURPRISE birthday party when we got back! I knew it would have to be something really good! While talking to my friend one day, she came up with the idea of getting a sushi chef to come to our house! I thought that would be perfect concidering Kelly's love of sushi! So the theme arose from that-a Japanese sushi party! I contacted old friends from high school, co-workers, friends in the neighborhood, and family! I found a great sushi chef and sent out invites! It was one of the hardest parties to arrange because it was a surprise and I had to be very sneeky which included lots of lies!!! I would get emails sent to our home address or texts that I thought he might look at. I made up stories galore! I hid decorations, had Bailey lie too, and was a little stressed about invites coming back in the mail that had been sent to old addresses! CRAZY! Well, the day of was a good day because I could finally let go, decorate and embrace the project. I made paper fans, Bailey made oragami cranes, I made two of Kelly's favorite desserts (which i hid at our friend's house in her fridge!) I had friends and family help with food-what a relief! I had our good friends make up a "plan" to keep Kelly away from home till 6:45. It was all arranged! I even had everyone park their cars at our neighbor's house at the top of the hill. Kelly came home, saw his buddy's truck, the fans in our windows, and many of the clues started to fall into place sence. But he was really, really happy that we were all there to surprise him and show just how much we love him! He said he was on a high for two days after! I loved seeing all our wonderful friends all in one place! It was seriously the best party we've had! Kelly is so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family and associates! My friend Erika took polaroid pictures all night to put in a scrap book! It's fun to see all the smiles and read the comments...it was a very memorable night! Oh! And the sushi was amazing!!!!

the cover of rolling stone? vote here!

This is Fictionist. They are a Utah based band with amazing talent! How much talent you ask? Enough to be one of eight bands vying for the cover of Rolling Stones magazine and a record label!!! The lead singer is Stewart Maxfield. He is the son of Kelly's boss and CEO of Access Development. These guys met at BYU and have been together ever since! They play multiple instruments and have some very catchy songs! They are going places! I've heard them in concert once, have their CD's and am looking forward to seeing them this Saturday night in Provo! Join in the vote! http://www.fictionist.com/

http://www.fictionist.com/rollingstone/YPA I love the song titled "Treasure these Moments."

Who says that something ugly can't be beautiful?

I've always been fond of the story of Cinderella, the Ugly Duckling, and the Donkey Prince. I love how someone or something can be transformed from dowdy to beautiful, tacky to chic. Well, this love of transformation rings true in my fetish with thrift store finds. I love how you can walk into the D.I. and see a bunch of junk but then OH! There it is! A treasure and you know it but no one else stops to take it so it's yours!!! Lucky day! Then you take it home and give it a new look! My philosophy? When in doubt, paint it white! So I picture ugly stained wood furniture from the 70's painted white and then I can see it's potential. I have a duvet cover on my bed that I love! It is from Pottery Barn. I found it at the D.I. right out of the package for $5.00! My night stand is a beautiful antique...from the D.I. as well. I have many projects to do and I still keep buying more! I fancy sanding and painting furniture! The best find was Bailey's bed for her new room! It was a consignment find. It was originally dark stained wood. I painted it grey and I am in LOVE! In fact, most everything in Bailey's room is thrift or consignment. These pictures show her love seat (before and after). I am still working on her room. It is a process. I will add more pictures later! So, NEVER underestimate the ugly, the over looked, the tacky. Anything can get a makeover and can be polished into a jewel!

Before

After

Disney Land, round two!

Life has been so crazy! I have neglected my blog for far too long! Let's start with Disney Land and back track from there. Reasons why Disney Land was better the second time: 1. We flew into Long Beach and got to DL at 10:00 a.m.!!! (Jet Blue ROCKS!) 2. Jenna can walk by herself (no stroller) and she is no longer a diaper wearer. That should have been #1!!! Hardly any crazy bathroom runs! 3. We knew how to get around! 4. We went on the Indiana Jones ride with fast pass! One of my favorite rides! 5. We discovered the prezel stand that has cream cheese filled prezels!!!! It was the only thing that kept me in the line for Pixie Hallow for an hour!!! AN HOUR!!!! 6. We went on the river rafting ride without rain ponchos on Kelly's BIRTHDAY!!!! (It was chilly outside and I wasn't dressed for the weather as it was. But I did it for Kelly and it was the most fun we had as a family! Lots of laughs!!! 7. We didn't eat any meals in the park-instead we went to Cheese Cake Factory and Bubba Gumps!!!! WAY better and a better value! 8. Trader Joe's snacks all day long! 9. More adventurous children! 10. Jenna at Jedi Training-she said, "Next time I come, I'll tell them that I already have my own light saber and I've been training at home so now I'm a master not a padawan!" She ate it UP!!! No fear in my little girl!!! BTW, we stayed in Ocean Side on the beach for most of our trip. It was bliss! San Diego was a joy as usual! We went whale watching and saw a Fin Whale (second largest whale in the ocean), plenty of Grey whales, Sea Lions, Dolphins, and lastly, whale poop. Yes, I did say whale poop!!! Our guide went bonkers over it! It was very educational!

Food for the soul

It had been one of those long, busy days. Kelly was out of town, I had to race around and try to get everything done before going to a Scout activity with Noah at 6:00 and then straight to the University of Utah for my night class which gets out at 10:00 P.M.!!! I was too busy to eat dinner and was on the brink of passing out when I arrived home that night! Bailey, my sweet babysitter and life saver, greeted me at the door with a hot plate of food. It was probably one of the most enjoyable meals ever! She had made sauted spinach with onions and two over easy eggs on the side. It was done to perfection!!!! I mean perfection! It was as though kelly had made it for me! (He is an excellent cook!) I wanted to cry! I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful, thoughtful, responsible daughter! I love this girl!!!

a BIG day

It always seemed so far in the distant future that i never thought it would sneak up like this. I have a twelve year old child! She is a little lady! A young woman! In 4 years she will be driving a car! In 6 she will be off to college! I think I'm going through something here. You start realizing how fast and furious time sweeps by! I've got to slow it down somehow! A friend of mine just had a baby, her first, a little girl. I am envious! I WANT so bad to go back and hold my first little girl and relive how special that time was! How sweet and cuddly and perfect that baby was! She never wanted to be put down! Or maybe it was me that didn't want to put HER down! But funny thing is that she soon became a very independent, sure, smart, animated, focused, little girl and not much has changed in her personality! My favorite memories are of her singing her Sound of Music tunes day after day at the age of 3 and 4! Well, it's fun to look back. I even held Bailey in my arms and rocked her back and forth and closed my eyes and tried to will her back, but that didn't work only gave us a good laugh!

Bailey had ebelskievers (12) with a candle for breakfast. THey are her favorite breakfast, especially with Nutella in the middle and a dusting of powdered sugar!

We had a shopping day at Gateway where she got her beautiful scarf she is wearing in her pictures! She picked out a cute torquoise hat, & some perfume from Anthro.

We drove over to take pictures in my favorite area "artist's alley" I like to call it! It is right behind a favorite bakery were Kelly had bought us our birthday/anniversary treats.

We went to Red Mango and just happened to drop in on the day they put chocolate on their menu! Chocolate and raspberry side by side...mmmmm!

Iceskating on Saturday and a new room over the garage (undergoing great progress but still needs a few weeks!) are to come!!!

Oh yea, and it was mine and Kelly's 16 year anniversary too!!!! It just keeps getting better! I am so happy where we are and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world! How our lives came together is really just destiny! I love our story and I love how that story has developed! In the end, at least I can say I did THAT right!!!! My plan is to live happily ever after.

This picture means a lot to me because Kelly's wedding ring has been through a lot! It is now somewhere on our hillside where I hope it will be found this spring! We bought his ring in Park City and thought about it as we enjoyed the Sundance Film Fest with the Swagg team! Kelly's mom watched the kids and we had a nice day in a beautiful place with really fun people, celebrities, prizes, and good laughs!!!