Happiness is...

Celebrating 3 years with a Cafe Rio picnic up the canyon, frozen yogurt, and American Idol. What more could you want in life?

Coming home from a long day at work to this...The best BBQ Chicken Salad I've ever had. (So proud of him!)
Eating delicious, nutritious food that I didn't have to make while watching more American Idol, (which by the way was fantastic because first of all, the show rocks, and second of all, David Cook won, so I won the bet JD and I had going. He has to run a 10K with me now. HAHA!)
Having a creative idea and finding the best deals EVER!!! My jewelery box that I've had forever finally bit the dust and I've been wanting to find a better way to organize everything so I stop losing all my stuff. So, I took my weekly trip to the discount craft store to find some wire/mesh sheets I'd seen last time cuz I knew I could find a way to hang earrings on it, and what do I find? This awesome black frame for $2!! It was perfect. So, all together, the entire project to up in my closet: $3.50. Now I just need more accessories!!

Happy Birthday Sarah

Hope you are having a wonderful day. You deserve it girl. You are always happy, glowing, up for anything, beautiful, caring, and the list could go on and on! We are so lucky to have you in our family! P.S.- Don't let our competitiveness get to you. I'm sure you and Bryce will be beating all of us in no time. We all just have a couple years experience on ya :). Luv ya. I want to hear all about Wicked.

Happy Anniversary to my Sweetheart

Three years ago today we were married in the San Diego Temple. It was the perfect day. Everything was so amazing and so FUN! Honestly, having all the people we love together in one place partyin it up was the best. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I love JD for so many reasons, and as we go through life together, I keep finding more and more reasons to fall deeper and deeper in love with him. I'll just mention a few that I've been thinking about lately.

This past year has not been the easiest, nor has it been the best year of my life. In fact, I would not hesitate to call it the exact opposite. As I've experienced physical, emotional, hormonal, and spiritual roller coasters, there has been one person who has been my constant, my shoulder to cry on, my strength and reassurance, and my best friend to make me laugh and love me through it all. I've had to rely on my other half like never before for his patience, level-headedness, faith in a plan, and unconditional love. I know there are times I drive him crazy, but he's stuck by me and I love him for that. I feel like our relationship is on such a different level than when we were first married because of the experiences, (good and bad), that we've been through together. I'm so grateful to have JD to share my life with and I look forward to spending forever with him.

*NSYNC

A little Lake Powel teaser... Anybody as anxious as me to get out there?

The Big 3-0!!!

Happy Birthday to my big brother. When I was younger, I always told Eric he wasn't allowed to date my friends. He took it to mean that I thought he was an old man. Well, now I can officially call him an old man! It's ok though because he's still pretty awesome.

What a cute little boy. He was always the nice brother. (Sorry Bryce, it was that way til you got back from your mission :).
Random collage from way back when.
Eric is married to the love of his life and he's such a great example of what a husband and father should be.
He's so good at calling every now and then just to see what's going on and let me know he cares. Life's good when your siblings are your best friends!
Oh ya, did I mention he's a genius? He's an amazing artist, musician, athlete, etc. etc. He's probably the most creative person I know. I love you Eric! Hope you have a wonderful birthday. Have fun skydiving!

We work hard, So we spend money...

Or is it the other way around? We are two hard working nurses, and spending some $ was what we did yesterday. I've missed Kyley so much lately. Finally we both had a day off so she came down to hang out. She is seriously the best. We had fun doing what we normally do on our days off...run errands, etc., but it was way better to have somebody there to say "just buy it!" We both got some cute workout stuff and I got everything I need for our new queen bed in the extra room. So it's ready for visitors!! We also went to Zupas and just chatted about life. I think we're gonna have to make a habit out of this.

Ya, we took plenty of dorky pictures of ourselves. Sadly, I think this is the best one :). I'm so excited that Kyley's gonna be our sub at Megan's Bunco tomorrow. She'll get to meet all the girls and see why we love it so much.

Sorry, I'm into pretty food lately, and I thought our dinner last night was picture worthy. I wish I could eat this every night!

Someday a Mother's Day

I had to work on Mother's day, and I'm not a mother, so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordindary last Sunday. But my cute husband pulled through. When I walked in the door, he was scrambling to do something without me seeing. I soon figured it out. He was putting dinner from Red Butte on plates to make it look like he cooked a gourmet meal. Ha! He cracks me up sometimes. I know he didn't really think I would believe he made the dinner, (especially because I knew he had devoted the day to watching the Jazz playoff game), but I thought it was funny anyway. It was the thought that counted and more importantly the fact that I was starving and there was delicious food ready for me to eat right away!

Of course he had to get two kinds of desserts that we proceeded to eat all of, not really caring that much because we told each other that the diet starts tomorrow :).

The rest of the night consisted of cuddling on the couch, watching a movie and me falling asleep on him like I do every night. I thought I would be less of a zombie now that I'm back to working days, but work has just been wearing me out! I know that being a mom is very tiring too, but I look forward to not having to work full time. I know JD's excited for me to be a mom someday, and I appreciate his confidence in me and all the little ways he shows me he loves me. He's such a good best friend.

Happy Mother's Day

Love You!

Your Visual DNA

It's been alittle slow at work today, so I've been checking out blogs, and I just found this personality test. It's different from most because it uses pictures instead of a questions, and I'm more of a visual person, so I thought it was fun. When you click on the link you'll see my answers. Click the retake button to get your own results. Try it! It says I'm a "Sofisticat." I like the sound of that :).

Sunny Day in the Park

I LOVE that the sun in starting to come out! Last weekend we got to see Kami and Samantha's family when they were all in town for Garreth's graduation. My dad was in town again for work too, so we all got to hang out for a little while at Sam's sister Melissa's house for a BBQ before he had to catch his plane home. It was a much needed little break from work for me. I've worked every day (well, 4 nights, 3 days) the past week and I'm exhausted. I can't wait for my day off tomorrow to sleep in and do something fun. I don't know what yet, (probably go grocery shopping), but anything sounds better than work! Ooooo! Maybe my friend Krista and I will get started planting our garden! (I'll post about that soon.) My job is very interesting, rewarding, and challenging at times, but there are things about it that can be sooo draining! I've been going home so emotionally and physically drained that I can't do anything else. My poor husband has to put up with a cranky, boring wife and has to fend for himself when it comes to food. Thanks to the 6 cartons of yummy Costco tomato soup for providing breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Not really, but honestly that's the only food left in the house!) Anyways, here are some pictures of my little buddy who's getting so big and so smart!

Sam and Kami
Gettin Air. Uncle JD loves Kami!
Chasing the Dog
Beautiful Baby Sharon and Melissa
So Much Personality
Funny little dog that loved being chased. He kept coming up and taunting us. Neither one of us could catch him. He was a quick little bugger.
Who's mouth is bigger? Gotta love the pony.
Giving Luvs to Auntie Adrie
See you in two weeks!

Happy Birthday Mom

The Beautiful Birthday Girl...

Mom,
I hope you had a great birthday. I also hope you know how much I adore you. You are the most amazing mother and woman and I just feel so lucky that you are mine! Thank you for your example, for your support and encouragement, for always listening and being my best friend. I feel like singing you Celine Dion's "I'm Everything I am Because You Loved Me," but that would be way cheesy and you and I both know I can't sing :). But it's true! I Luv you!

Adrie

p.s. You're birthday wishes are going to come true! We'll celebrate when we get to California May 16th!

amazing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sF84pIhP5UM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d08X2lN669k

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vbuvLJnAysM

(you were right Erin, I am obsessed.)

Experimenting with Photoshop

This past weekend was so much fun. We celebrated Jane and Alex's birthdays and Jane and JD's graduation. It was great to hang out with the White's and Barrus's all weekend. I had fun playing with the cutest little baby boy ever! I did a mini photo-shoot with him, mainly just in his carseat. He's so photogenic and just stares at the camera with those big gorgeous eyes. I had fun trying to figure out Photoshop and here's some beginner's work:

Original
Brightness/ Contrast/ Touched up
Black and White
Lots of Contrast
Original

Brightness/ Contrast

Charcoal/ Chalk

Watercolor

Here's just a few pictures from the weekend...

Triathlon

Saturday I did the Telos Timp Triathlon in Orem. It was my first one, and I think I'm hooked. One of my goals this year was to do my first triathlon, so I can check that off. But for any of you who know me, you know how competitive I am, so I've made new goals that involve future races, a better bike, and faster times!

Raelene, me and Amanda before the race.

A little nervous and cold, but excited!

The run.

I'd say this was my strongest part. I'm used to running, so 3 miles was no big deal.

The Bike.

This, on the other hand was frustrating for me. I rode my own bike, which is a hybrid and not made for racing, and let's just say I got passed more than I wanted to by women whizzing by me on road bikes. I didn't like getting passed at all. So next time I'll have the right bike. Also, it was at the bottom of the huge hill that I remembered this was only the first lap and I had another one to go! But I kept thinking positively.

Poor Raelene's bike broke at the bottom of the big hill. The part where the chain goes around snapped off, so she had to carry it up the hill. I can't believe she's still smiling in this picture. She's awesome.

Transition.
The swim.
This is usually done in Utah Lake, but because it's been so cold it was in a pool. By this time I was pretty tired, so I didn't have great form. I just tried to keep a steady pace.
Happy to be finished.
The triathletes :)
I have the best husband in the world. He came for the whole race to take pictures and cheer me on, even though it was freezing and he was in sandals. Mark and Juli, my in-laws also came to support me. It was so great to have them there. They are the best!
The results.