my project

i have been working on a way fun art project for the past couple of days.

i am taking a history of creativity class this semester to fullfull one of my generals. it has been so fun. i really like studying all of the arts and technology stuff in the past centuries. instead of having a final paper due at the end of the semester, we have a creative project. it isn't due until the end of april, but after i figured out what i wanted to do i just couldn't help myself.

it all started with this (a picture of my cute husband)

which led to all of this

and finally after three days...

BAM!

everytime.

i thought i would enjoy some popcorn tonight... and i burned the popcorn AGAIN! it happens everytime... it really does. i don't know what my problem is. i do not have the ability to microwave popcorn. lame. way lame.

El Paso

This is our fish. El Paso. He is a Fancy Goldfish, at least that's what the little note on the tank said over at Animal Ark. He is the newest addition to our little family.

Here he is... just swimming around...

El Paso

So what's with the name?? I tell you. Last year Jeremy got me a fish for Valentine's Day. I just love fish. Not for food though... sick! just for pets. We named our fish "Reuben the Great" after we went to dinner at Jason's Deli that night and their was a sandwich called "Reuben the Great." We thought it was perfect!

Fast forward to tonight.... Well, Reuben died a while ago and we had an empty fish bowl... time to get a new fish. Yep! So we bought our fish, got him all set up in Reuben's old tank, and went to dinner at sammy's.



It was our first time trying it and we will definitely be going there again. Such a cool place and they have amazing pie shakes where they acutally put a piece of pie in your shake. Delicious! I ordered a Oreo Mint Pie Shake and Jeremy got a Blackberry Cheesecake Pie Shake. Mine was better. :) Try it... soon... (and invite me and Jeremy to come along).

Ok, back to the fish...with our new little guy we decided to keep up the tradition or rather start the tradition of our fish-naming techniques from last V-Day. We thought that it would be appropriate to name the fish after something on the menu at Sammy's. There wasn't a huge selection of burgers and sandwiches with super sweet names (they were still way good), but we saw "El Paso" on the menu (some chicken grilled sandwich with guacamole, etc) and after a quick vote it became the name for our little guy. So El Paso it is.

p.s. El Paso means "the step" in spanish, according to Jeremy

Our LOVE Fern

Almost exactly one year ago, for Valentine's Day of 2008 I got Jeremy a LOVE Fern along with the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." (He got me a pet fish- it died in November, but we are going to get another one soon!) Anyways, this is our LOVE Fern today! We just repotted it a couple of minutes ago... on our One Week Wedding Anniversary. How cute?! haha. Our LOVE has obviously grown just check out how big our LOVE Fern has gotten...

(it was looking way cramped in its original brown ceramic pot... the new one is from IKEA)

PICTURES!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh! hurry......CLICK HERE. I LOVE THEM! My cousin JOSH AND HIS WIFE KRISTY took them and they are so GOOD! They are based out of Seattle and are willing to travel and they love doing weddings.. SO SPREAD THE WORD! Every couple deserves awesome pictures that capture their wedding day PERFECTLY! THANK YOU GUYS!

quasi got married...

a couple days ago.

its really here...

the big day is tomorrow. what big day will it be? it will be the day that i marry jeremy (the super cute boy in the picture below).

everybody talks about the day they will get married and how it will be incredible. it just has to be. we are always looking forward to it even as little 5 year old girls... dreaming about the boy, the dress, the temple, the colors, the party, the dancing. we sometimes have every detail planned out before we meet the boy(not in my case). its kind of weird to think that my big day has arrived. it is happening tomorrow! the day that i have been looking forward to my whole life is actually here. i think i am still a little surprised that i am at this point in my life. but of course i love it! it feels like jeremy and i have been engaged for such a long time. we are definitely not the typical byu couple. we started dating in october of 2007, dated for 9 months, got engaged in july of 2008, engaged for 7 months, and we are getting married in february of 2009. he is so perfect! i am so excited! life is great and...
tomorrow is my big day!

bam!

i took a test today in the testing center (well two actually... school's been crazy!). i finished the test in about 20 minutes and turned in my bubble sheet to one of the many students working there. i made my way down the stairs towards the exit where there is the tv monitor that lists about the last 20 peoples' scores. they are listed by the person's school id number. i made my way to the monitor to see my score and something incredible was there. it read next to my id number: 96% FANTASTIC! i was dumfounded, speechless, in awe. this has never happened to me. i looked and looked again making sure it was indeed my id number. it was. the screen refreshed to show more scores of the students who were trickling down the stairs to the monitor and i got another one: 96% AWESOME! whoa! life is good. i always dream of doing well enough on a test to receive one of those coveted messages... this is the first time i have seen something so happy next to my test score. it sure felt good.

Open House!

i'm running out of blood

jeremy and i went to genetic counseling today to see if our future children will be plagued with all of my genetic issues. i had to get more blood drawn to see if there was anything else wrong with me...and i set a new personal record for number of vials taken at one time:

16

bridal showers are fun...

I Eat

My workout plan has failed...

By this time I should have worked out 6 times... Welcome to reality! I have worked out twice, but this failure has nothing to do with a lack of determination. After working out on Monday, my lovely blood clot leg was killing me. It just ached and reminded me of the limping days back in Iasi, Romania. Although Romania was amazing, the limping days were not so much (my buddies were seriously considering buying me a cane).

Needless to say, I put a stop to my rigorous plan to get toned and have turned to extreme dieting techniques to fit into my wedding dress.

Who am I kidding? I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. Evidence: a doughnut for breakfast yesterday after my bowl of Lucky Charms, two bowls of sugary Fruity Pebbles for breakfast today, corn nuts, popcorn, and candy for snacks throughout the day.

I think I am on my way to looking fabulous!

(at least I don't look malnourished)

fun or too funky?

Alright. I made these earrings today (with fabric button covering kit, fabric, super glue, etc). I would love to wear these the day I get married... I have a feeling that my mom might object.

Do YOU think that the earrings would be a fun touch?

or are they too fun-ky for a wedding?

(i will be wearing my hair down and my colors are orange and blue)

any thoughts?

toned? me neither.

i am getting married in 3 weeks...

it looks like it's about time that i start working out... i haven't really worked out since i was in Romania doing the 30 Day Shred dvd almost every night. those sure were fun times! then i got bombarded with "the blood clot" and haven't really worked out since.

but fitting into a wedding dress is quite intimidating... i want to be able to comfortably move around and breathing would also be a plus on my wedding day

so mark my words (or not), i am going to work out E V E R Y D A Y until February 13th (except Sundays of course). my workouts will consist of the 20 minute workout with the encouraging and incredibly toned Jillian Michaels. it kicks my butt every time! and the blood clot can handle it right? i think so.

wish me luck that i actually get started tonight!

"the laundry fiasco"

last night i did my laundry, just like i had planned.

well kinda...

so i managed to fit my clothes into two washers. i started the washers with my $2 in quarters and then went back to my apartment for 24 minutes. i was trying to find more quarters so i could dry my clothes and things weren't looking good. i had one quarter left, one dollar bill, and about $10 in dimes and nickels. turns out the laundry room doesn't have a change machine... so the dollar bill does me no good, and the dryers ONLY take quarters, so the large amounts of small coins don't help either. so i shoved my clothes into two dryers without started them and i went back to my apartment(not sure what I was really thinking here). i called my mom and told her about my dilemma... she laughed and laughed and told me to go get my clothes and hang them all around my apartment. so like a good, obedient child, i did. jeremy called while i was hanging my laundry up and trying to dry my underwear with my blow dryer (didn't work too well) and he just laughed and laughed, too.
i didn't think it was very funny... i was really frustrated, but everyone thinks i'm so funny when i'm mad. whatever.

back to the laundry...clothes are all over my apartment. a couple shirts dried overnight, my jeans are still pretty wet, and my underwear is drying in my tub.

today NEEDS to be a laundry day

i really hate doing my laundry...

especially when laundry involves:
-sitting on my laundry basket to get the clothes to fit in (i don't do laundry very often)
-rounding up all of the quarters i can find
-going outside (freezing cold!), journeying across the icy parking lot with a huge basket of laundry
-going back outside and across the icy parking lot to put it in the dryer
-going back outside and across the icy parking lot to bring all of my clothes back (its always harder to get them to fit back in the basket after they are washed... weird)
-putting away all of my clothes when all i want is some hot chocolate

it is quite the process...
but it sure is nice to replenish my closet!

(can you tell i am missing my mom and the warmer weather of the desert?)

notice the above date

I AM GETTING MARRIED IN 1 MONTH!
(on Friday, February 13th) I can hardly wait, but I still have lots to do!
and this is my 200th post!

08 to 09

I'm embracing the new year...finally.

Events of 2008
- continued going to school at BYU
- got engaged to Jeremy
- explored Europe with my mom (Austria, Switzerland, France, and Italy)
- went to Romania through BYU to work in the orphanages and hospitals
- developed a blood clot in 3/4 of my left leg and came home early from Romania
- discovered two genetic blood disorders that I have
- I survived it all and I'm still smiling

Upcoming Events of 2009
- getting married in February!
- hopefully having our first baby, too! (HAHA - just kidding - not for a couple of years!)
- little brother, Sam, going on his mission
- continue going to school

Goals of 2009
- read scriptures daily
- eat healthy foods
- exercise often (like 2-3 times a week)
- stay caught up on all of my classes
- be a good person

oranges

every time i start to peel an orange i get a little scared. to me fruit is so unpredictable. i pick it out at the grocery store with a prayer in my heart that i am picking the oranges that are juicy and delicious, but really i have no idea if its going to be good or bad. so when i get to the point of eating one of my oranges i don't know what to expect. it could be just gross and i end up spitting out the first bite and throwing the whole thing away (sad face) or it might be the most perfect, juicy, wonderful orange in the world. it is so suspenseful. well today as i was peeling an orange for a mid morning snack, i was pondering all of this, "will this be a nice, healthy mini meal for me today? or will it end up in the trash in 30 seconds along with the peel?" i cautiously took my first bite and to my delightful surprise it was perfect. success! i ate the whole thing beaming. it felt so nice. i am now vitamin c fortified to fight any sickness that comes my way. what a wonderful day.

The apartment!

Here are some pictures of the apartment I moved into. I am living in married housing and then Jeremy will move in after we get married. My parents helped me get all of my stuff here and then they loaded me up on groceries. They are so great! Thank you mom and dad!

Everything is pretty much unpacked and set up... except for my bedroom.... AAAHHHH!

I will get to that soon.