weekend highlights.

1. going to wall-e with annette & shannon... and running into practically everyone else we know at the gateway.
2. jamming out to some chicago in my mom's mini-van with annette :)
3. a lazy saturday morning: making muffins and watching last comic standing.
4. getting an oreo mcflurry {amazing} and driving up to the temple to walk around with sean.
5. driving with the windows down on saturday night. i looooove summer nights!
6. a great family relations lesson by dave & kirsten, as always. and sean telling his story about wearing a golden cross necklace in elementary school... haha!
7. taking a sunday nap with sean and accidentally sleeping until 5:30... we were supposed to be at my parents house at 5:00 :)
8. spending time with both of our families... and eating lots of good food and yummy treats!

today's favorites.

1. this little guy lives in our backyard {look closely... you'll see him!}. sean went out to water the lawn and the froggy jumped and scared the heck out of him. he's literally like an inch long.
2. this website. she was featured in domino's may issue. i love the baby shoes! and the site is just fun to look at.
3. italian leftovers.
4. reading to kill a mockingbird again. i love atticus.
5. sean getting super excited for the nba draft. he's like a little kid when it comes to this stuff!
6. finally posting some of sean's pictures on the photo blog. italy is next.

hubby tag.

1. What is his name? sean-paul joseph.
2. Who eats more? usually sean.
3. Who said "I love you" first? after 3 months of dating, he did.
4. Who is taller? he is. by maybe 2 inches.
5. Who is smarter? we both have our strengths and weaknesses.
6. Who is more sensitive? me. by maybe A LOT.
7. Who does the laundry? me. unless he is playing basketball 20 times a week and i get tired of washing his stinky bball clothes. then he washes a load.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? looking at the bed, me. is that normal? i like to sleep on the side of the bed that is opposite from the door... just in case there is an intruder.
9. Who pays the bills? always sean.
10. Who cooks more? me.
11. What meals do you cook together? hamburgers: he does the grilling & i do the rest.
12. Who is more stubborn? probably me.
13. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? sean.
14. Who has more siblings? he has 5. i have 3.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? sean would say he does. but i don't like that phrase. we're partners!
16. What do you like to do together? puzzles. go to the movies. walk. ride our bikes. laugh. road trips.
17. Who eats more sweets? definately me.
18. What is his guilty pleasure? oreos. oreos. oreos.
19. How did you meet? my friend invited him to a party so we could meet.
20. Who asked who out first? sean asked me. and i was busy. so he asked me again.
21. Who kissed who first? i think i did. he thinks it was mutual.
22. Who proposed? he did. on the 4th of july. it's almost our 3 year engagement anniversary!
23. His best features? his eyes. his scruff. his smile.
24. What is his greatest quality? his hotness. his sense of humor. his testimony.
25. Tag: anyone who loves their husband :)

my very first time!

Sean finally made me register to vote. I actually registered the week before the vote for/against refferendum 1, but turns out it takes a while to before you are actually registered. But this time I was ready. I felt like such a grown-up. Especially when the nice lady let me wear a sticker that says "I voted" :)

ladies night.

Idol is over, sadly. But we have found a new excuse, however lame it may be, to get together on Tuedsay nights: America's Got Talent. To all of you Foxboro ladies, we're getting together at 7:00pm at Tracy Layne's house tonight. See you there!

get smart.

we loved it! steve carell is my favorite... so it was pretty much a given. and i love anne hathaway. she is so annoyingly beautiful. plus my secret crush the rock is in it :)

weekend highlights.

1. watching several episodes of rob & big with gina & anthony. i guess it's only fair for you guys to get us hooked on a show after we started you on lost & the office!

2. finishing all of the laundry! hooray!

3. reviving the lawn almost to its former green-ness.

4. mini-golf & dinner with our friends.

5. hitting a hole-in-one!
6. at the beginning of sunday school, we played name-that-tv-mom and sean answered super fast when he saw the picture of lorelai gilmore! he claims he only watches it because i like it.... ??

7. coming home from church and watching gilmore girls :)

8. my choir did an awesome job on our performance in sacrament meeting.

9. yummy dinner at my parents house.

10. uno with sean & my sisters.

11. wearing my russian lingerie... HAHA don't freak out... it's just an apron sean bought me in russia. we showed my mom and she asked if it was lingerie... uh awkward!

ahhhhh.

you know that feeling after you have slaved all day doing laundry and every last sock, sheet, towel, shirt, etc. is clean, folded, and put away? ahhhh. that's a good feeling.

good wednesday.

1. sean made me a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch {he is the master}.
2. he also grilled up some delicious teriyaki chicken for dinner... he really played the housewife yesterday, apparently.
3. seth came to visit for the first time since january-ish. we caught him up on all the episodes of the office he missed.
4. we went on our nightly stroll at dusk, and were joined by katie & stephenson. tiff & ryan joined us for about 2 houses :)
5. we broke into the dobson's backyard to check it out {hope you guys don't mind!}.
6. we watched what about bob before bed... hehe I love that movie! DOCTOR! LEO! MARVIN!
7. we procrastinated unpacking sean's luggage for yet another day!

highlights of italy.

The Mediterranean Sea... and NO, it's not a nude beach.
Venice. It was rainy.

Some guy named David.
Some statue at Uffizi.
Ponte Vecchio, Florence.
Lost in a maze in Florence.Pisa.

Pompeii. Check out Sean's fancy photography skills!
Sean has no idea where this was. He thinks this was the 14th chapel. They were headed to the 16th :)
The Vatican.
The Pantheon.
St. Peters Basilica.

The boys at the Colosseum.
The forum.
Trevi Fountain.
Paul taking in the view at the Forum.
The Spanish Steps. Who can find Paul?

More pictures to come on the photo blog... eventually.

a taste of russia.

sean loves museums.

Here is a little preview of Sean's trip to Italy.

reunited.

Sean is home and life is back to normal! hooray! After 30 hours of airports & planes & delays, he finally landed in SLC at 4am yesterday. Pretty much all we did yesterday was sleep & eat. We took a brief break from the sleeping & eating to visit our dads. We didn't actually get to see Paul, though. He was sleeping the day away too :) All of the pictures Sean took of Russia & Italy are on his dad's laptop, but we'll be posting some soon. I'll have to post some pictures of the awesome gifts he got me, too.

I'm sooooo glad to have my husband home! I missed him like crazy. I told him he's not allowed to leave me for that long EVER again.

happy fathers day.

We love our dads :) Hope you both have a wonderful day.

nightmare.

Sean & the other boys missed their connecting flight in New York. He was supposed to be home at 8pm tonight. They got seats on another flight that was supposed to arrive at 11pm tonight. Due to lightning storms, there were HUGE delays at JFK. Sean boarded the plane around 7:00pm and won't be getting off until about 5:00am. Poor boy. I'm trying not to feel sorry for myself and realize what my poor husband has to deal with! I swear... I don't know anyone who has worse luck traveling that we do. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so anxious to see Sean. I don't think I'll be getting a wink tonight, either!

root beer.

I've been watching my nieces for the past few nights while my sister-in-law is in New York and her husband is in Italy with Sean. We've had lots of fun! Kelty is always cracking me up with the random things she remembers {"Ariel, I know we jumped on the trampoline one time at the cabin and it was getting dark outside". "Ariel, you can't sleep downstairs on the floor or you'll get sick". "Ariel, I know that you like to eat fries in your ice cream"}. And Teagan melts my heart when she's being cuddly. Steph, I think she's making progress on my name {she almost always calls me Sean}. She keeps pointing at me and smiling and saying "you're Ariel... I'm Teagan Mae!".

Anyway... Someone {who is a much better person than I am!} has taught the girls that drinking Dr. Pepper {or Diet Dr. Pepper, in my case} is BAD. And I'm.... well.... addicted. Steph had to quit drinking it because Kelty would tell her it was bad. This is a conversation that took place at about 6:00pm today:

Kelty: What are you drinking?

Ariel: Soda.

Kelty: Is it bad?

Ariel: No.

Kelty: Oh, It's root beer.

Ariel: ... yeah... root beer :)

About 30 minutes later we went and got chicken nuggets for dinner and both girls got root beer. On the way into the house, we had a spill and one of their drinks didn't make it.

Kelty: It's ok. Teagan can have some of YOUR root beer.

.

What could I say? "Uh... Kelty... it's not root beer! It's Dr. Pepper..."? And have her thinking I'm BAD??? So I did what any responsible adult would do and gave Teagan some of my "root beer". And BOY was I regretting that come bedtime! Teagan was a little bit hyper :)

That'll teach me to lie to kids.

22 hours and counting.

latest reason to be jealous :)

And a couple more reasons on Steph's blog. I love the one of Paul & the leaning tower :) Classic.

remember this guy?

haha :) Mac has been keeping me company, just like last time. I'm still trying to figure out my new camera. All of my pictures turn out blurry. But I haven't actually tried taking any pictures in the day, in real light. I'm sure that will make a difference. And I'm sure reading the manual will make a difference too :)

positively ageless.

Ok... I know you're all going to think I'm out of my mind... but I have recently become obsessed with wrinkles :) I think it's been a combination of factors:

1. My recent birthday... I'm not getting any younger!
2. I used to go tanning SOOOO much... like REALLY a lot. And then I would lay out in the sun every day. And then go tanning some more.
3. I have begun to notice 3 wrinkles on my forehead... and one between my eyebrows.

I know I'm just paranoid... but I really do think it's about time I started taking good care of my skin and started wearing sunblock {Ariel's skin: "WHAT???? Did she just use the word SUNBLOCK?? I never thought I would see the day. Wait, maybe she meant baby oil... or crisco? No... I really think she said SUNBLOCK. Hooray!"}. I still hate hate being fair-skinned and ghostly white... but I'll just have to settle for the orange glow of self-tanner.

So last night Annette & I went to the store and bought ourselves some anti-aging lotion & night cream :) I'm pretty sure that the people shopping in our aisle thought we were insane. But let me tell you, my forehead looked very firm and wrinkle-free this morning! I bought Aveeno's Positively Ageless daily moisturizer. I love all of Aveeno's products. Now, I don't intend to be one of those crazy ladies who pay hundreds of dollars on crazy lotions and products that they think will turn back time... I'm just going to start taking better care of the skin I'll have for the rest of my life!

sean, you'll be proud.

i remembered to take the garbage out this morning! all by myself. i think i deserve a pat on the back.

good weekend.

1. sean stayed in a nice hotel when he got to italy. he finally had internet service and wrote me lots of long emails. hooray!
2. i had so much fun with my girlfriends at our birthday celebration :) both of the birthday girls {myself & kess} got spoiled! it was fun to see alicia's new apartment and her gorgeous wedding pictures.
3. heather & i had a fun sleepover! we did foot baths & painted our nails & all that girly stuff.
4. we watched stardust which is my favorite movie at the moment! SO FUNNY. robert deniro is the best part.
5. my cutie friend erika slept over on thursday {technically not the weekend...}. we baked a cake for kess's birthday and she helped me with my yard work! she's a good friend.
6. jen let us use her house for choir practice even though she was out of town. thanks, jen!
7. heather helped me on saturday & sunday with choir stuff. what would i do without you, heather? i'd be lost.
8. i went to dinner at my parents house yesterday {always delicious}. we were all really tired for some reason... and that means silliness for the sheffield girls :) they make me laugh.
9. kim made copies of some pictures from the cabin retreat. SO CUTE. the one of all the girls & guys is my favorite.
10. i recorded persuasion on masterpiece theatre and watched it late last night and it was gooood.

abc.

Ok... so I've already done this one, but Jaimie & Gina both tagged me. So I'm going to do a little experiment and see if I answer the questions the same way I did the first time. I'm not going to look at the old one until I'm done.

ABC's "getting to know you" TAG. Complete the ABC's of you. Then, each player tags 3 people and posts their names, goes to their blogs and leaves a comment letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

A- Attached or single: attached... and desperately missing sean!
B- Best Friend: ok i totally remember NOT putting Sean's name on this last time and he was way offended... but he really is my best friend! that's a given.
C- Cake or Pie: fruity pies are yummy. but i'd much rather have cheesecake.
D- Day: sunday. i get to hang out with sean ALL day. and i like church. and visiting family & friends. and having choir practice.
E- Essential Item: my purse and all of its contents.
F- Favorite Color: green. turquoise. white.
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: worms. they are more fun to eat. and cinnamon bears!
H- Home town: kaysville.
I- Indulgences: i have a sweet tooth, for sure. i always like to have something sweet after dinner.
J- January or July?: july. sean proposed to me after fireworks on the 4th of july.
K- Kids: 0
L- Life is incomplete without: the gospel. family. friends.
M- Marriage Date: december 22, 2005 {i wonder if i put that last time too.... ?}
N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters.
O- Oranges or Apples: don't really love either... but carmel apples are yummy.
P- Phobias or Fears: spiders! knives. sean dying. any of my loved ones dying.
Q- Quote: "In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Gordon B. Hinckley
R- Reason To Smile: emails from my hubby.
S- Season: i like them all. especially fall.
T- Tag Three: janessa. kathryn. juliann. let's get to know my choir girls better :)
U- Unknown fact about me: i have an orange dot in my right eye that is especially visible in the sun.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: weird question..... that wasn't on my last one! i'm for sure not a vegetarian.
W- Worst Habit: never listening to the messages on my home phone. nobody EVER call that phone if you need to talk to me!
X- Rays or Ultrasounds: i had an ultrasound one time and it was awkward. so i'm going to go with xray.
Hey Gina... what happened to Y?
Z: Zodiac Sign: gemini.

And these were my answers last time.

he's alive!

And I have proof! After 4 days of impatiently waiting, Sean finally emailed me! He's having lots of fun and says he will probably lose 10 lbs on this trip from all the walking they are doing. They have spent lots of time at Red Square the past few days (see below). Brett sent the top picture to Stephanie, and Sean sent me the bottom one. Looking very cool, guys :)

happy birthday!

Kess has been one of my very best buddies since forever! We grew up around the block from each other and hated each other at first {only because my big sister kicked her out of the babysitters club}. But somewhere between 5th & 6th grade, I made a friend that I know I'll have for life! Kess is the sweetest, most genuine person I know. And the funniest. And the prettiest. Love you, Kess! I hope you have a wonderful birthday. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane. I seriously wish I had all of my OLD pictures of us scanned. But this is what I have!
Kess & Ariel, senior year or the summer after.. can't remember
kess & her stinkin' dog. she loves those spoiled rotten dogs!

kess and i went on spring break to antelope island :)

kess as a ninja turtle on halloween.

kess caught the bouquet at erin's wedding... and sure enough, she was the next one to get married!

kess & ryan at our halloween party as jim & pam. i love how ryan is trying to pull a jim face.