Georgetown

Earlier this week we took a little family date to Georgetown. The weather was just right for a cupcake {or two!}. Two of my wonderful girlfriends took me to Georgetown Cupcake a couple of weeks ago for my birthday for my first time but Jared had yet to try it out, so it was a perfect excuse to drive the 15 min to sweeten up our tummies. After scarfing down our Peanut Butter Chip at Georgetown we decided we still liked Sprinkles more, but needed to be sure.  So we went and each got ourselves another treat. And there's the tale of how we indulged in 2 delectable cupcakes in 20 minutes! {Oh, and Sprinkles wins in our book!}

Isn't Georgetown itself lovely? Each home has so much character and charm. Totally my dream style.

HAPPY WEEKEND!
** oh, and thank you all for your NYC suggestions! I'm so excited! Hotel has been booked.

Free Cheer.

There aren't many places in LA where you can enjoy a quality Christmas experience for free.

The Grove would be one of those free places.

Saturday night we dined at Marmalade Cafe and anxiously awaited the snow fall 

that happens every hour on the hour.

Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" blasts through the speakers as the snowflakes [aka bubbles] start descending from the outdoor rooftops.

It is rather magical seeing all the dad's with kids on their shoulder tops reaching up to grab the snow, while all others stop in their tracks to snag a wintry kiss or grab at the fluff.

It made my Christmas season a little bit brighter.

Hollywood Land

Yes, I saved you all from having to look at my ridiculously disgusting face by replacing it with a loving heart. Much better, no? Jared and I "hiked" the Hollywood sign on Saturday. Quotes are surrounding the verb because I wouldn't really consider it a hike, but rather a gradual winding incline with horse poop infested dirt switchbacks. Nothing really beautiful about it, but we did it in the later afternoon so the sunset was nice. It took us about 30 min to climb to the bottom of the sign, which apparently ends at a neighborhood that we could have driven to and skipped the walking. Oh well. I was kinda disappointed because the closest you can get to the bottom of the sign is by standing a hill away. Helicopters are constantly patrolling the area to make sure no one passes into the restricted zone. You can also climb up the backside of the sign and look down on it by the tower, but we I was too fatigued for that. Perhaps another time. [Trivia for the curious at heart: I just did some googling about the Hollywood sign to see a history of its origins. Hollywood got its name from the wife of the developer who owned the land. Daeida Wilcox gathered the name from a woman she sat beside on the train, who had a summer home she called Hollywood. Wilcox told her husband, who named his subdivision "Hollywood Land." The sign used to read the whole thing, until it was in shambles and Hugh Hefner of all people held an auction in 1977 to restore the sign. Then it just read Hollywood. There you go.]


I celebrated my 24th year of living on this earth last Thursday.
Birthdays were much better when I was in elementary school.

Deal

My fam came down this last weekend to get one last hoo-rah in before the boy leaves us. Although we just had Saturday together, it was good quality time. Emerson, you will be missed.

Ok, so I'm hear to share a deal with you all. If you have not taken part in restaurants.com, you really should take advantage. I didn't think the website was real, but let me assure you that all deals are legit. So basically, you can buy a gift card to a restaurant in your area for cheap. Like a $25 gift card for $10, so you're saving $15. Not bad. But the website constantly has promotions like the one we picked up on - a $25 gift card for $2. Yes, $2! We bought 5 gift cards for the value of $125 for $10! That's a steal. And we've already used 3 coupons here, here and here! On Friday we hit up Bread and Porridge, and it was a fantastic meal, where i carried out leftovers and our $43 bill came to $18 [including tip!]. So seriously, check it out. If you type in the promo code FALL right now, you will receive the $25 for $2 deal. Try it!

Because you're dying to know. Or more so, I'm dying to share!

Well I guess I better sharpen up my crafty skills and load up the bank account because we're having

We are thrilled! Stoked! I thought for sure I was having a boy because all midwives tales told me so, but we're so happy that we have a future babysitter, chore-helper, disher-doer on the way! JK, girls are so much more than help, they are the most fun to dress up! Accessories, here we come!

Oh, the dresses I have to make, the homemade little tights I get to manufacture, the headbands [without the ginormous fake flower] and bows I need to create - creativity is endless! Huzzah!

We went to the Doc on Wed, and he said he THOUGHT it was a girl, but not to facebook it yet [which of course we did!]. But all was confirmed today! And little girl has long long legs... 

I wonder who she got that from ;)

Culturated

I love culture. I love feeling cultured. Especially when I get culturated for FREE! If you haven't figured it out already, I am 1) awesome, 2) an aesthetician [not to be confused with beautician] and 3) a tight-wad. So you will understand my excitement when I found out that I could see Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" in Griffith Park, on a blanket with a picnic, for FREE! Yes, yes, we threw that shindig down last Saturday with our lovely friends, the Webbs. We brought blankets and picnic [ahem... panda express], laid under a tree and laughed our jolly selves away at the play. I had heard of "Much Ado About Nothing" but from the title I inferred that it had much to do about nothing, so it never intrigued me. However, it was one of the most entertaining plays I had been to besides "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which seriously had me roaring. It was the perfect summer evening, with perfect company and the 3 hours of acting were superb. Our only regret is that we didn't go in July when they performed "Othello."





I don't think I ever reported that Jared and I took the GRE 2 weeks ago. We did. I came out of that test knowing 250 words that I previously did not. You would think my vocabulary would have expanded as a result and my dialect would be more astounding, but quite frankly I get intimidated by big words and using them incorrectly. So until I have mastered their context and part of speech, my jargon shall stay the same.

When you wish upon a star...

your wish doesn't come true. That's why I have a husband. I've caught the photography dream! I've been so enamored lately by the creativity that photography allows, so last Monday Jared agreed that I could purchase a digital slr camera from Craigslist! I'm so thrilled about this up and coming hobby of mine. You know what this means, local Santa Monicans [ok, primarily SM 1st ward]? I may be looking for your voluntary services so I can experiment on you or your precious child/ren! Come on, it'll be fun! Completely gratis until I can get a handle on this whole thing. Think about it.

The past two weekends we've been on the road with family. We spent a weekend beach camping in San Clemente with Jared's fam, which was a well-lived adventure with no pictorial evidence. I don't know why I neglected my camera that whole weekend :( Last Thursday we made our back up to Fresno. Jared had a nephew get baptized and my brother went through the temple in preparation for his mission, so it was quite the weekend of ordinances for us.

While on visitation with my family, my siblings were practically begging me to make a video with them. Once they realized how cool it was to be on film on the Oakden blog, they seized the opportunity and insisted we make a music video. [or maybe it was me doing the soliciting to them to make the video] Either way, it was a great way to spend a hot 100 degree afternoon. in the backyard. with 2 adults, 2 teenagers and a 10 year old.

Picture Overload

I'm now using the blog as my main source of picture updating rather than facebook. Oh well. Pictures make for better story-telling sometimes than words.

2 weekends ago we went back to Fresno to visit our families. Somehow out of the 3 days we were there, this is the only photo I managed to snap:

I'm lucky that my husband gets along so well with my brothers.

This past weekend, we decided to yet again take advantage of the freebee stuff in LA, so we tackled the California Science Center. We were thoroughly impressed with the quality of exhibits. The center is exhibiting EGYPT right now and mummies, so there was a whole section dedicated to Egyptian life and excavation, with each section having a hands-on activity for kids - except for the embalming, no hands-on there.The ecosystems hall was by far the most extensive. We watched a kelp forest show, where they had a scuba diver swimming in a tank and talking about the sealife around her and answered people's questions. I thought that was pretty neat. Basically this place is great for kids, but since Jared and I can act like kids when we want, we liked the groove of the place. And outside the museum there's a gorgeous Rose Garden, so we passed part of the afternoon on a park bench and wandered through the maze of rose beds.



Sunday Morning - 4th of July! One of my favorites. Our church was postponed from 10am to 1pm, due to a city parade, so we had the whole morning to ourselves. Jared and I read Elder Oak's talk "The Divinely Inspired Constitution," and then we watched "A More Perfect Union". We were geared up for the day! We bbq'd with my grandparents and in the evening we roasted smores on our propane hibatchi grill and watched the fireworks... on tv. Sad, sad, I know! But Santa Monica doesnt do fireworks on the 4th, so we resorted to watching NY live, which was pretty awesome too.

Whew, so Monday came around. It was cloudy and a bit misty. What to do? Go for a hike! We ventured up to the Malibu hillsides and did a 2.5 mile hike up Solstice Canyon. We were flabbergasted at the scenery. There were amber waves of grain on the hillsides, rolling mountains, burnt trees, green trees, waterfalls - it was quite an escape from the city. So this trail passed through an old home built in the 1950's that burned down in the 80's. The house is tucked away in a hillside, surrounded by trees and a babbling brook. The foundation and walls are still intact, and it's not eerie in any way, but definitely thrilling. We played around in the house for a bit before we headed back home to do some surf-watching, thrift store shopping and GRE studying. If you live in LA, you should most DEFINITELY try this hike. There are 2 ways to get to the dilapidated house - one takes you through the hillside, but the other is just a paved road that used to be the driveway to the home - so kids can easily do the hike!

Alot of this happened this past weekend

Where most people fear the damage of the sun's rays and frantically re-apply sunscreen every 30 minutes, I lather myself up with pure baby oil and enjoy my sun-kissed skin.

Much happened over this great memorial weekend, but let's keep it brief

partied hardy on Friday for JO's 24th!
gourmet hamburgers at THE COUNTER
redboxed New Moon
beach action
laundry
hamburger bbq with family
reboxed Monsters vs Aliens
CHURCH
made German Chocolate Cake
ate German Chocolate Cake
watched EXPELLED with friends
Hollywood with sister and bro-in-law
beach action
Abbot's pizza
mariachi band for friend's going away party
GRE study time
EXHAUSTED

Also, Jared and I are at a loss of what to do on Thursday nights, now that Community, The Office and 30 ROCK have ended their seasons.

So Happy Together.

Jared and I are very fortunate to be together. We have a bucket-load of fun. I believe it was Saturday morning when Jared and I were snuggling before rolling out of bed, and I asked him if he had any good dreams. Yes, he dreamed that we were in London. That put a smile on my face. That same morning Jared scheduled me for a 1 hr massage at the EXHALE spa, which was heavenly. I'm always surprised by the things that I like, and I guess having a stranger rub oil on my naked back is one of them. Afterward, I met Jared on his lunch break, where we tried to chase down a taco truck, but failed. Regardless, it made me happy that I could see him for those brief 20 min.

That afternoon we made a trip to the dollar store and guess what we picked up? 1 pack of fresh strawberries and 2 packages of refrigerated nestle tollhouse mini-chocolate chip cookies! All for $3! Talk about luck. That made me very very happy! That evening we went to Flemings, where Jared and I entertained ourselves the whole evening with our frugality. [Check prior post for the whole experience] We like to laugh at ourselves.

Sunday is always a happy day. We got to sleep in, eat Raisin Bran and attend church. Our little primary class makes us INTENSELY happy. Those 4 year-olds say the darnedest things! The lesson was about prayer. We were talking about times when we might get scared and we can pray to heavenly father, like maybe we had a bad dream. Wow, did that open up a topic. Everyone shared their most scary dreams from a dark shadow to an alligator eating a cat and then biting off her arm. It's times like those that Jared and I feel so lucky to teach these youngins and witness the wonder of a child's brain.

Speaking of children that we love, Jared and I adore our friends' 2 little girls who we would love to steal away! Shauna and Josh having incredible daughters. We went out to dinner with them the other week and Josh I guess mentioned to Jared that they could try to get a sitter. No sir, bring those girls with you - we need some little girl lovin! Both Shauna and Josh served their missions in Korea, so we were up for an asian adventure and went with them to a Korean BBQ in Korea Town. I have never had Korean food before. The only slight taste I had was when we were at their house playing a game and I lost, so my consequence was to take a bite of kimchi, which I almost gagged on. So going to this restaurant with that being the only Korean experience I had backing me up, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. By golly, was I introduced to the most glorious food! I ate and ate and ate!

CHEAP-O

Last Sunday Jared and I received a prize in the mail. Even though it was junk mail-looking, I decided to open it regardless. It was a $50 gift card to Flemings Steakhouse. I didn't get too excited, there had to be a catch. [Last week we also received a voucher for a free cruise for 2, but the catch was that you had to be 30 or older - not really much of a catch, we just happen to not be that old.] So I held on to it. Later that night I pulled up the website, entered the code on the back and it asked for a reservation date. I put us in for 6:30 on Saturday May 15th at LA Live. Done! Jared and I were rather stoked that we received this free $50 gift card, but still being a bit leery, we called and they confirmed it was legit. So yesterday afternoon we saved our appetites for our big meal! We looked up their menu before going. The prices weren't on the website, but after reading some reviews on YELP, we determined the average meal was between $18-$25 - perfectly covered by the gift card!

So we arrived at Flemings on time and we were seated promptly. Then the feeling of unbelongingness sunk in. The hostess asked us if we wanted black napkins. Uh, my mind was confused so I naively asked why would we want black napkins in comparison to the white ones already on the table? She said something, but I didnt hear so it was best that I just took it to avoid looking like a fool. Jared didnt hear what she said either, but he took one as well. After she left, we together concluded that the black napkins must be for the dark meats? In case you spill dark meat juice on you?? Oh well, that was done with.

We opened our menus. My stomach turned. The CHEAPEST entree was $25.50! And that did not include a side, that was strictly the meat. I think we both started to sweat a bit. We discussed what we would do if this $50 gift card didn't work, how Jared would complain to the manager and tell them there was NO WAY we could afford this meal and they would have to accept the $50 redeemable card. So next the waitress came. She asked if we wanted any wine. NO. First sign to her that we were cheap. Were we ready to order? Yes. Jared got the Pork Chops while I went with the LITE filet mignon, the ONLY dish that came with a side of mashed potatoes. We ordered one side of macaroni and cheese for $9.50! The waitress asked if we wanted a veggie or side salad with our orders? Nope! Second sign that we were cheap - no additional sides. We had a laugh at how unhealthy our meals were. No vegetables. Nothing but pure meat, potatoes and mac and cheese. Not to mention that by this time we had already downed 2 loaves of bread and 2 cream cheese spreads they kept refilling. We were STARVING.

While we were waiting, another table got their meal. I saw this lady with the smallest portion of meat. I scoffed at Jared about the small portion size. He looked at me like I was crazy, and then told me my meat was going to smaller than that. WHY, I asked. "Did you not see what you ordered? You ordered the LITE PETITE filet mignon! That's the smallest filet there is!"..."Oh," i replied. "I thought LITE meant it was the least FATTY of all the meats." Jared then informed me that in beef, lite means poundage, not fattage. To that I responded "Oh no, i'm going to be so hungry!" We would so much rather have been at Pancho's Tacos where we can get a wet burrito for $5.25 and leave feeling satisfied physically and financially.

After 20 min, our food arrived. Jared's pork chop was a decent size. My filet mignon? I think it had a 3 inch diameter. SO DINKY! And the side of potatoes? 3 spoonfuls!! I was in misery. Atleast the filet was exceptional. The mac and cheese was crusty and dry. The time came for the dessert menu, to which we declined - third sign of cheap. We asked for our bill. $73.50! Can you believe that?! We were outraged! I can't believe people pay full price for this stuff! Jared whipped out the $50 gift card. We reasoned that Fleming's probably did not get the result they wanted by sending us the voucher. Flemings desired result: for us to spend more money on alcohol or full entree with side. Our desired result: to get 2 meals for free. Jared and I were rolling with laughter when we put that gift card in the black credit card booklet. We have to be the biggest cheap-os in Flemings history. When the waitress came to pick up the check, I had to break it to her. I told her "You're going to find out how cheap we are when you open that book!" She laughed, opened it up, and told us that was fine. It's part of the economic times, she said. Wow, did that make us feel better! She came back with a box of chocolates for Jared's upcoming birthday. We ended on a good note with Flemings. We only paid $20 for both a filet mignon and a pork chop. However, we will not be coming back, no matter how many free cards we receive! Ok, maybe we'll be back if we receive 2 or more free $50 gift cards. 

No Title.

So this morning Jared asked me what i was going to have for breakfast. My first response: Scrambled eggs with a protein shake and banana. OOO... wait, that might be too much protein. So I changed my answer. I told him scrambled eggs with a 1/4 slice bagel and a banana. NNooppee. That sounded good, but not as good as a shake and banana. Hmm. So I asked Jared what I should have. I think he answered me by saying get down the toaster. So I did. I guess that meant that I was going to have the bagel with eggs and no protein shake. Part of me was sad that I wasn't going to have my shake. The other part of me was glad that I was going to eat a carb for breakfast. For a moment I battled it out in my head. Until I realized that it was just breakfast. What a dimwit. I can make HUGE decisions with the greatest ease and confidence, but the most minute things I struggle with. Like this past weekend, Jared asked if we should take the toll road. After thinking about it for a moment, I reasoned that no we shouldn't. That is, until we approached the toll, my mind blurted out for him to take the toll road and he jetted across 6 lanes to make the on-ramp. I think I make his life a headache sometimes.

Since the last post: Jared and I met with a recruiter from a possible grad school in London. It's just a POSSIBILITY and we're not putting all of our eggs in that basket, but... come on - 3 cheers for LONDON! Jared's finishing up his junior year here in the next 2 weeks, so we're preparing for the GRE and a slew of grad school apps to start in the fall. I'm excited, to say the least! 95% of the schools we're looking at are located on the east coast. I've been dreaming of weekend trips to NYC, fall trips to the Appalachian hillsides to go apple picking and spending the 4th of July in the heart of America. Nostalgic for Virginia, can you tell? So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'll be happy anywhere!... so long as its New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachussetts, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia OR London.

But in the mean time, we're living the life of a SoCalifornian. This past weekend my family came down for my cousin's farewell. I'm glad that both our families live relatively close. I think my favorite part of this weekend was my father's confession - the other day Jared posted on his facebook "I'm excited to get some pazookie tonight!" I don't know where my dad's mind was, but his first thought was, "oh, is that what kids call it these days?!" No dad, kids dont call "it" a pazookie, THIS is what we call a pazookie. Us and 2 other couples downed it in no time. It felt good.

Oh, and this weekend we were introduced to FRICKLES!! Frickles are probably our new favorite thing. They're fried dill pickle slices. MMMmmm it's the perfect combo of salty and deep fried!

Excuse my confession.. and a life update

Jared asked me the other day if I had blogged about our Easter festivities. No, I had not yet done so. Mostly because of the lack thereof. I DID have great ambitions for this year - perfectly Martha Stewart'ed eggs, carefully crafted decorations, and a grandifolis Easter morn breakfast [grandifolius is latin for big {grandi} leaves {folia}. While I did not quite want big leaves for breakfast, I did want to use a word to describe my high ambitions for Easter brunch, and grandifolis sounded grand, but even better than grand actually, so I used it right now under a false pretense. You wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you...]. But alas, my desire for great achievement was cheated out by laziness. We ended up with the 99cent egg dying packet as our only celebratory gesture.Oh, and the Easter Bunny came Sunday morning with a bag of Reeses and mini-cadbury eggs. Easter wasn't quite the same this year, knowing that I was the bunny... Maybe next year our little Oakden clan will have a baby tike to help make the festivities more outlandish???

Is it just me, or was a majority of General Conference about motherhood? I C O U L D N O T S T O P T H I N K I N G A B O U T B A B I E S ! I know, please excuse my confession, but Anyone have any suggestions to stop this baby hunger madness that I eat, pray and live for? The day will come, I need some distractions. That's why we're going to Palm Springs this weekend!

Jared and I called it out - we need a break from this warm... beachside.. abode place we live in.. I know, sounds awful right? Why did we even choose to live in Santa Monica? I can't believe we're actually traveling INLAND for a vacation, AWAY from the beach that is 2 miles from our home. Sometimes you just need to switch things up. We're looking forward to our high end stay at the Ramada Inn, equipped with a pool, hot tub and continental breakfast [which we all know boils down to a travel box of frosted flakes, a English muffin and Denny's restaurant packages of jam.] Neither of us have ever been to Palm Springs. Any suggestions? Laying out by the pool and tanning is #1. Have a great weekend!

Get a load of this Beaut!

Last night I came home to this surprise!Jared and I have been wanting bikes for quite some time. It seems that if you live in Santa Monica, you must be the owner of a 2 wheeler. Jared recently acquired the most incredible red retro bike from his Dad, and I was still without my pair of wheels until last night! Isn't it dandy? Jared spotted it on Sunday all by himself and brought it home to surprise me. I have visions of myself putting a basket in the front and morphing into the typical LA eco-friendly citizen and peddling my way to Trader Joes. Or to the beach. But there's only one problem I have with this bike thing. I feel like I need to wear a helmet. My whole childhood, my dad made sure that I always wore a helmet, so it just seems like I need one. And I kinda want one. Just in case for protection. But I'm pretty sure that a beach cruiser with a helmet do not go together.

LA just got more awesome

We had heard a rumor that Cafe Rio opened up at a location near us. We were unbelievers. I personally felt that if this was true, then they would have announced it over the pulpit. But truth be told, it was true. Cafe Rio is now in California. The nearest location is 20 min away from our home. We ate there last night. Proof:

Preparing for the GRE + Great Find

How am I supposed to remember how to do that, seeing that the only math I’ve had since 11th grade was one semester of on-line Stats? Any highschoolers want to help out? This test is going to slaughter me on the arithmetic portion. Let’s just forget that when my boss orders food delivery and the guy needs change for $100 that I have to whip out my calculator, and let’s move on to happier, more promising areas of acceleration for me like… cooking!

I think I have found my new favorite past-time. I love when the weekend comes around and it’s time for grocery shopping so I can pull out a new recipe and give it a whirl. We had some pretty good ones last week, and this week is looking on the upside as well. I can see how addicting it must have been for Julie to imitate Julia. I find myself imitating Martha Stewart, and not just with her cooking. You should check out her tutorials on how to spice up your curtains.

Also, take a look at this GREAT FIND. How many times have you walked by a bowling alley and wished you could afford just one game? Just wished that you could put on those long-toed, putrid colored shoes that someone else’s smelly feet have been in and just slide around in them for an hour or two? And what about picking out your personal shiny greasy neon ball that will be solely yours for the next 60 + minutes, along with the stuffy smell and 80’s music blaring? Well, my friends, you can have all that and more by signing up on amf.com for their e-club. When you register on-line as a member of AMF bowling club, they email you a coupon for 10 FREE GAMES! Si, 10 free games. The catch: You have to use within 30 days and all games have to be used on the same game. Therefore, make a league out of it and get 10 friends together, and each week/month have a different person sign up for the club and tada – bottomless games at AMF for 10 friends! [you still have to pay for shoes though] If you don’t have any friends, you can just go by yourself or with your one-and-only, like JO and I did! Except we are lucky and we do have 1 set of friends that came along with us. Nevermind the other 4 couples we invited – they were busy with prior engagements or didn’t like bowling, not dislike us, right JO? We’ll keep you posted on next month’s tournament. 

A Welcomed Addition

We LOVE it! I’ve been begging Jared for an iMac for a while. I’ve had an itch to edit some of our adventure videos and burn them to a dvd for quite some time, but our hp laptop wasn’t up for the job. So now, my editing options are endless! I’ve watched 80% of the tutorials, so I feel well-equipped. Be prepared for some major video uploading in the near future!

This past weekend my family came for a quick visit. Friday night we went to the BYU vs UCLA volleyball game. Cougars lost. The next morning we fancied them with Trader Joe’s pumpkin pancakes – MMmmm! We made a quick stop at Venice beach to watch the skateboarders and then the fam headed home. It’s nice living where we are – only 3 hours a way from home makes it easy for the family to visit us or us to visit them yet we still can do our own thing.

Sunday was great! We both LOVE our CTR A class. They are our favorite part of Sunday. Our afternoon was spent reading and playing on the new toy. Is anyone else as in love with the Gospel Principles manual as I am? I’m LOVING it! We topped off the evening with some TollHouse Chocolate Chip Walnut ready-to-bake cookies – our fav! I think we were both shocked to look down and realize that we just ate 12 cookies in 5 minutes. They were the mini’s, so 6 each isn’t bad, right? Plus, it was Sunday – my anything goes day!

TANGENT - This blog post title,“A Welcomed Addition,” holds dual meaning. One, Jared and I welcome the iMac into our home. Secondly, it holds reference to a creepy random BYU boy who asked my BFF Emiley if she wore perfume. She said no. He told her that perfume would be “a welcomed addition.” That’s almost as weird as a text I received from a boy I met on campus. He texted me to see if I was going to a party, which I replied I was. He then shot back the text “I’m going to try to dress to impress you. Do you think I can?” No response was remitted. Where was he going with that? BYU boys are weird but are great for comic relief.

One Year Down.

Well, folks, we've hit our one year mark. No more of this newly-wed nonsense, we are head deep in this marriage deal. We have fully enjoyed the life of his and hers, Mr and Mrs and mostly sharing bank accounts. We have both felt incredibly blessed during our first wedded year. ONE YEAR LUCK: We moved to Santa Monica, I landed an incredible job, Jared has completed a year of school (one more year to go!), we became pink-slip owners for a Honda Accord, Jared got a part-time job valeting a this hotel, traveled to Belize and Guatemala and we're both still loving each other! Huzzah! Here's looking at you, kid.

One Year Ago...

First Wedding Card! I look nervous...December 20, 2008

Mean Girls

Last week Jared and I received an invitation from a friend to an Ugly Sweater Party on Sunday evening. When we read "Ugly Sweater Party" that indicated that the attire for the evening was to be a hideous knitted piece of apparel. So Saturday night, after a long day of errands, we were settling in for the evening when it dawned on us that we didn't have anything to wear the next night. We raced over to the Salvation Army and picked out some prime sweaters. Sunday afternoon we rummaged through our closets both trying to find a pair of light colored jeans, tube socks and tennis shoes that could best accompany our sweaters. After some time of putting together a make-shift outfit, we headed over to our friend's apartment. Jared had forgotten a very critical part of his ensemble - his hair. It need to be slicked down, parted and wet. Dipping his hands into the complex pool, I helped him smooth his hair into "creeper" position. Perfect! As we were making our way up the stairs, our friend came out to direct us to his apartment. I noticed that he was not wearing an ugly sweater. Jared, being the astute man that he his, recognized the same and whispered to me, "I think we just pulled a Mean Girls." Upon walking into the party, laughter ensued as we were the only ones dressed not only in ugly sweaters but in any sweater at all. We definitely pulled a Cady Heron. Luckily our friends are cool and still talked and laughed with (maybe at) us the whole night.

A Roll of Film is Like A Box of Chocolates...

You NEVER know what you're gonna get!

Thank goodness for digital cameras!