new couch....help!

here is our new couch....the problem is it doesn't match the green we just painted the walls and it doesn't match my very favorite pillows (the ones in the back with paisleys). i LOVE these pillows and i'm not ready to part with them yet. they did not come with the couch so i am worried they don't look right and the styles are not jivin. they look sort of like a tapestry material and the couch is sort of a tweed/burlap kind of stuff. so here are my choices...get rid of the pillows i love (which are only 3 months old) and paint the wall so the greens are not clashing or get rid of the green one in the middle and look like i'm missing a pillow. maybe i can find a brown one to put in place of the middle green one? or maybe i can find another pillow or two to tie in the 2 fabrics? if i put any more pillows, there may not be room to sit, defeating need of the couch! i actually really like the color of the middle green one, but it doesn't match the others very well. i am willing to paint, even though jd does not want to! please help! give me a suggestion! anything! i'm willing to consider any options! i'm pretty sure jd thinks i'm crazy because i act like this is a life changing matter...

on another note, when i got this home and all unpacked it noticed it had a lovely black stain right on the front about 6 inches long. this stain was not visible when we picked it up because it was packed in so much plastic and cardboard. i know you can't see it in this picture, but it's there! why should i pay for a stained couch? i am in the process of arguing this point with them. they refuse to give me a new couch and want me to load it up again, which requires borrowing the truck again, bring it back down to the warehouse on 3200 west and wait for it to be cleaned. seriously? what a joke! lesson learned...don't purchase from ashley furniture. should have stuck with old faithful rc willey...they'll take anything back.

it's wedding season!

my sister allison and i started a wedding business. we do decorations/set-up, cakes, and custom guest books, etc. you can check out our blog here and feel free to post comments and tell everyone you know! wedding season is here and we would love more business! if you know anyone getting married, we would love to help! we also like to refer clients to photographers, hair stylists, etc. we know are great, so if have any suggestions let me know!

my favorite time of year in a little town called chappaqua

this is my absolute favorite time of year in new york. especially in chappaqua (chap a kwa). i only wish i was there now to see everything turning green. these are some pictures from last year when we were there. (i wish i could post pictures from when i lived there by my scanner has issues scanning in pictures) it wasn't quite spring and green hadn't quite returned, but nonetheless i love this place. i could live here for the rest of my life. when everything starts turning green, my favorite flowers, forsythia, come out and they are everywhere there. they seem to just pop up all over and they have this beautiful bright yellow that seems to bring life back after the cold, dark, bleak winter. i wish i was there right now. i miss it so much! while i love nyc, there is lots more to ny than just the city. i love to explore outside the city and see what i can find. i found so many interesting and beautiful things while i was there. i can't wait for my next trip out there! here are somethings i love and miss about ny...

things i love outside the city: michael, susan, and dave, euro pizza in millwood, shopping in mt. kisco, blt's at the chappaqua restaurant where jacque knows everyone, the long island sound, a&p market, gedney park, muscoot farm, croton reservoir, walking trail on 114, gelato in ossinning, west point, the nannies and many, many other things!

things i love to do in the city: go to china town, eat canolis at ferraro's, discover new places in central park, see the bethesda fountain, purse shopping, times square, taking cab rides, trying to blend in and not look like a tourist, find little pizzerias on side streets, eat hot dogs, people watching, and driving in nyc...i love it even though it sounds crazy!

i love this bridge in central park...i have a picture of it in every season

times square...always busy, but i'm a city girl!

this is where i lived and nannied for a year...pretty sweet huh?


view of new jersey from battery park where you board the ferry to ellis island

nyc from the brooklyn bridge

i had so many fun times there and always love to go back. jd is looking at the suny (state university of new york) optometry school there. how exciting! it's on 42nd street right across from the nyc library and bryant park. i would absolutely love that! i have always dreamed of living in the city. i would be in heaven! it's so expensive, but worth it! when i came home from ny i had a hard time adjusting to life back in utah. i wanted to go back to ny so badly because it felt like my home. these were my feelings when i knew i had to leave and could not stay. i know i am not a great poet...

i stand in the pouring rain,

slowly dripping down my face.

in the quiet, dark peace of night,

the sky is illuminated.

i smile as i see you,

but so suddenly it's gone.

i look up to the silver sky,

slowly, silently the rain turns warm.

dripping down my face and burning my cheeks.

i try to run, but my legs are weak,

slower and slower til i fall to my knees.

i beg to see you once more,

to ease the pain and pass the time.

the feeling fades, i can't remember.

i try so hard, but my mind is blank.

i want to remember your beauty and life,

i don't know how to make it through.

as i look back now, i am glad i came home to finish school where i met my best friend ever...jd! i wouldn't change that for the world! and i love my life now! as much as i love ny, it was time to leave and move on with my life. i will forever love you, new york! you hold a special place in my heart forever and always...my second home.

nazila

this is my friend nazila that i work with. she moved here from iran about 2 years ago and she is studying to take her boards to practice cardiology here. she is so cute and i just love her! it was her birthday last week so i decided to make a cake for her. i had all sorts of fabulous ideas for the cake (i even researched farsi a bit - the language they speak in iran), but sunday was so busy and this is what i ended up with. it's not exactly what i was picturing, but she loved it! she was so happy! i asked her if she could even tell what it said and she said my farsi is perfect! i doubt it was very close, but she's too nice to tell me! i even made her write it out so i could see how much i messed it up! she is so much fun to work with and i have learned so much about the iranian culture. she is one of the sweetest people i know and always makes wonderful food that she always shares! and i just love her accent! happy birthday nazila!

my easter

this is what i got for easter! yay! jd was sweet and told me he tried to get me something that wasn't candy because he knew i didn't want any (i'm always trying to be on a "diet"). i love dan in real life! and i LOVE steve carrell. unfortunately i got him the same thing for his birthday :( i guess i'll have to think of something else now! i also love chicago and he remembered that i told him i wanted their greatest hits cd the other day so he got it for me! that was so sweet! i love it! thank you!

birthday buddies

this sunday we celebrated allison and jd's birthdays! allison's was the 12th and jd's is the 27th, hence the birthday buddies! we had a great easter dinner and 2 cakes! i made jd this orange cake and it's so good! allison chose angel food cake with chocolate mousse and strawberries! i just couldn't help myself, i had to try both! i managed to disgust myself with how much sugar i ate! wow! jd ended up getting lots of games from my family for his birthday! we played buzz word last night and i highly recommend it! it was way fun! we all had to do a little treasure hunt to find out easter treats...we all got movie gift cards. we hid easter eggs out in the front yard for my nephew lincoln and he was such a crack up! we were all laughing so hard! my mom filled his eggs with coins and goldfish crackers and he loved it. once he shook the egg and found out there was money in there he was done! he didn't want to look for anymore eggs, he only wanted to put the money in his piggy bank!

i decided to post the recipe if anyone wants to try this cake. it's really easy, but sometimes a little tricky to get out of the pan.

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 c oil

1 1/2 cups apricot nectar

4 eggs

2 t lemon extract (juice)

mix and bake at 350* for 40-45 min, then let it cool for 15 minutes

glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 T softened butter

2 T lemon juice

pour over cake

i can't take the credit for this recipe....my stepsister rochele gave it to me! thanks ro!

our newest addition...

this is the newest addition to our lovely little family! (this addition may not have been what you thought...) i love it! this is what i bought in st. george about a month ago, but couldn't bring home until now! this is my REAL DEAL! how convenient i bought it at real deals! when we move, wherever it is, i want to open a real deals store! for some reason lately i have been really thinking about opening my own home decor store and i talked to the lady at real deals and the franchises are actually reasonable. check out their super deals! go to www.realdeals.net/

and check out their locations. they are only open 2 days a week. how perfect would that be while jd is working away at long and arduous school career?

this lovely little piece of furniture neccesitated a trip to st. george, which we will never turn down! it was pretty nice weather so we decided to get in all the fun we could handle! we went to jimmy johns (my new favorite sandwich place), to see vantage point (which i highly recommend! loved it!), went shopping (i got a new swimsuit and a jacket), and made an improptu trip to mesquite to play bingo where i ALMOST won again! the next day was followed with hiking in zion canyon to the emrald pools, a nap, dinner at the pizza factory (also one of my favorites),and ocean's 13. i had never seen this before, but i loved it! what a great trip! this great trip was brough to a screeching halt when we had to drive home with 2 of these lovely armoirs on a trailer and a dryer in the back of the car. (apparently we are just a regular delivery service these days!) we thought the weather wasn't too bad, but little did we know it was snowing in cedar city! it snowed from cedar city until fillmore and i'm pretty sure i was a disaster the whole time! between the ice, snow, and wind i was a nervous wreck! jd tried to get me to go to sleep, but i was too worried about dying! which infact we almost did! we finally made it home 6 hours later, safe and sound! i'm so glad to have my furniture home! i love it!

dancing til the stars go blue

we agreed to go to a u of u institute dance with collin, jd's friend, becuase he convinced us that there would be other married friends there....there was only one other couple. we didn't know this until we got there. we thought it would be fun to dress up and hang out at the capitol. since we didn't know each other in high school and had never been to a dance we thought, why not? we thought wrong! we were surrounded by "lounge lizards" ,as they are affectionately known, that basially live at the institute and feel the need to call it the 'tute. I pretty much felt like I was in high school again at prom....but with a better date! we got bored after about 15 minutes, but decided to stick it out with collin a little longer. we finally gave up on being embarrased and let it all out! i even did the boot scootin boogy! can you believe it? i don't do that sort of thing! we even had to stop and take the classic picture by the marble column. needless to say, we will not be attending anymore of those! lesson learned! i do think we look pretty good though...i was certainly surprised by some things girls wear to institute dances! yikes! and no offense to anyone out there that likes this kind of thing....just not my cup of tea.

baby conner

last weekend we had a baby shower for my good friend jenny. it was so much fun and so exciting to see all the baby stuff! she is so cute all pregnant and she has baby conner's room all ready. i love it! it's jungle theme and it's darling! i think i went a little overboard buying stuff that fits the theme of the room, but i just can't help myself! i am a very matchy person and apparently i want other to be as well! i also made cupcakes which turned out pretty well...i didn't have any spectacular ideas this time so they are pretty plain. thanks to everyone who came, it was great to see you!

i am fully aware this is a totally awkward picture...i'm not really sure how it ended up this way

my sister

today is my sister allison's 27th birthday. happy birthday! i'm so glad we got to go to lunch! and i am so glad we are good friends. we used to fight a lot when we were little, but we had so much fun together when we were off track! we used to do silly things and make up dumb games. i had fun, but to her i was probably just the annoying little sister! i always wanted to be like her and looked up to her! she has been a good example to me throughout my life and is one of my best friends! i love you! happy birthday!

back to bangs

i haven't had bangs since probably 6th grade. i was in desperate need of a change and since i am tyring to keep the length, this was it! jenny and i decided to get a little crazy while i was at the salon! you can't really tell in this picture, but there is also a little bit of red. i'm a little afraid right now because it looks sort of pinky...i hope it fades! i also really think it looks better in person, but i'll let you decide. let me know what you think! thanks jen!

i love preschool

i have been spending a lot of time in the preschool this semester and i love it! it is so much fun to be in there! i have been thinking a lot about being a preschool teacher and i just can't decide! there are too many things i want to do i.e. preschool teacher, nurse, social worker, cake decorator, wedding designer, and owning my own home decor store. too many choices. i taught in the preschool today....we had a lesson about bugs and they loved it! i let them touch the bugs and look at them with magnifying glasses. it was so much fun! i was totally nervous, but it turned out great! we also went to the duck pond and fed the ducks...which they also loved! i wish i could have stayed all day! what a great way to spend the day! i love seeing things through the eyes of a preschooler because everything is so simple. this class i am taking makes teaching early childhood seem so complex and overwhelming, but it's not! i love it! thanks to all my lovely 4 year olds! you are darling!

my best friend

this post is dedicated to my best friend....jd!
here a few things i love about him...

1. he has a great smile! definitely something i looked for...
2. he has such a funny laugh, it always makes me laugh

3. he is so predicable and i love it! (he hates it though)

4. he loves to do things i love to do and not always because he really loves them...just because he knows i do!

5. even though he doesn't really enjoy shopping, he'll humor me and go and even let me dress him sometimes!

6. he is so unselfish, (read #4 and 5) he always puts me first!

7. when he makes dinner he gets really stressed out and i think it's cute

8. he has a darling tiny little space in his front teeth that i love

9. he is SO kind (even though i have to "get used to a lifetime of teasing"...thanks mom, i'm pretty sure he'll never forget that!)

10. i love how we are so silly together sometimes!

11. i know he would do anything for me

12. we happen to share the same taste in music, movies, and tv shows

13. he has such a great spirit and testimony

14. he is a fabulous example to me
15. he is so hard working...right now he is working away at some nasty chemistry homework

i love you!

on another note....people keep saying we look alike...like brother and sister? anyone else think so? maybe our kids will turn out ok since we look similar

i need some spring

i really needed some spring today so i thought i would add a little to my blog. this background may be a little much, but it's all i could find. i don't anticipate changing it soon because every time i do it deletes my link lists....so until someone teaches me how to not do that, i'm stuck! the brown looked so gloomy...this makes me feel a little better. it was actually sort of warm today, but i can't wait for the days when it's light until 9, you don't need a jacket, and you can wear sandals! i seriously am a victim of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) especially down here in the basement. it's dark 90% of the time. i can't wait to move somewhere with windows and light!yay! next week is spring break...it couldn't come soon enough. we are going to st. george at the end of next week to pick up something i bought and i can't wait! it's going to be so nice! i have nothing else to blog about in our mundane lives which mostly consist of school, work, homework, and very little sleep.