2010.

happy new year, friends!

i hope we can stay up late enough to ring it in.
i have some sparklers that i've been saving since july. can't wait!!

{image}

she's not too sure about the snow.

i tried to sit her down in the snow... she would have none of it! she sure looked cute in her new snow gear though :)

i'm loving the winter wonderland here in utah!

now what?

i got this lovely sewing machine for christmas.

i asked for it. i helped pick it out.

but now what?

i have not touched a sewing machine since eighth grade home ec!

i got out the manual to see what i could learn, but none of the sewing jargon makes any sense to me. i sit and stare at it, and have no clue what to do with it. it's pretty. i like it. but i need help!

mother dear, please help!

p.s. do you have a sewing machine? and do you actually use it? {please say yes.}

p.p.s. serena is still a sleeping fool. 12 hours again last night!

growth spurt?

my daughter has wanted to do nothing but sleep for the past few days. her 2 naps per day have turned into 3 and she has slept for 12 hours straight the last couple of nights!

let's hope it's a growth spurt and not an on-coming cold :(

christmas 2009.

blogging about christmas just isn't going to happen. there is too much to blog about, so i am relieving myself of that burden.

but it was lovely. christmas eve with my family, christmas day with sean's. we had a very happy week. i'm just glad i spent it with these two.

hope your holidays were merry!

totally unrelated to christmas.

for movie night tonight, we watched teen wolf. classic 80's movie with classic 80's clothing and music. and classic 80's editing! fast forward to 1:45 and check out the guy on the top of the bleachers with his fly down. he notices it, tries to cover it up, and then zips it... all during the climax of the movie! and they seriously left it in there. amazing.

love,
sean, ariel & serena

perfection.

yesterday before we headed out on our anniversary date, we went to our work christmas party. and as it turns out, my little buddy has very nice timing! in our christmas gift basket, we got a brand new camera :) {the kind with the window on the front so you can take self portraits!} we {me especially} were very excited about it.

for our date, we drove up to lava hot springs in the blizzard that was happening in northern utah. the roads weren't that bad, but due to bad drivers and slide-offs, it took a little longer than usual to get up there! it was so fun to soak in the pools with the snow falling on us. loved it. after soaking for a while and a massage for me, we headed back down to brigham city to have maddox for dinner.




it was lovely. we spent our first night away from this baby doll and we missed her!

12.22.05

four years ago today, on an unseasonably warm december day, sean and i were married in the salt lake temple.

four things i loved about 12.22.05:

holding hands with my fiance, waiting to be brought into the sealing room where our family and friends were waiting for us. we sat there holding hands, calming each others nerves {ok mostly him calming my nerves} and making little promises to each other. like "i'll try my best to not be stubborn when we argue" and "i'll love you forever".

my jacket, made by my aunt barbra. with rabbit fur trim and a lovely glittery clasp. i love that jacket. i wish i had an excuse to wear it again.

lunch with my new husband. we decided to forgo the whole luncheon deal, so sean and i drove to the macaroni grill and had lunch. it was kind of hilarious. everyone around us was having a normal day and in our heads we were screaming "we just got married like an hour ago!!!!!!!!!!". it was weird and normal and fun.

the anticipation of things to come. our whole lives and all of eternity ahead of us. hawaii in the near future. a new home. a family someday. what a beautiful and exciting day!

four things i have loved about the four years since:

lots and lots of laughter. sean keeps me laughing all the time.

traveling together. apparently i married into a family that loves to travel! we have had lots of adventures and have so many fun memories. i would say my favorite was hawaii last year. even though i slept half the time {first trimester}, it was so so much fun! and the highlight of the trip was this walk we took early one morning on the beach. it was pretty much the most beautiful place i've ever been.

growing up together. i was just a baby {20} when we got married. and although sean was 25, let's face it, he was a baby too :) we have done lots of maturing as individuals and as a couple, and in my eyes, we finally became adults when:

our beautiful daughter was born. pregnancy is fun and scary and exciting for the first time {i assume it's not quite the same after your first} and it was so fun to experience that with sean. and of course the end product is now the center of our lives and the apple of our eyes. we ♥ her.

happy anniversary, sean!
here's to four more years of fun, and then four more after that, and four more after that, and so on.

'tis the season.

am i the only one in the universe that actually stops at the stop signs in front of grocery stores and strip malls? you know, the ones with big speed bumps and pedestrian crossings painted on the asphalt? because i swear no one does. and i swear i almost got hit by some mean driver who not only ignored the giant STOP sign on the road, but ignored the person {me} crossing the pedestrian crossing.

eeeh driving during the holidays gives me a case of the grumps. i think people are meaner during the holidays. especially when it comes to driving and shopping. thank goodness all of my shopping is done. i think i'll steer clear of any stores from now until um let's say 5am on saturday morning??? :) a little after christmas sale shopping, anyone?

aria was here.

and she oh-so-lovingly tucked serena's baby doll and frog into bed before she left :) i can't wait until serena is in the baby doll phase. right now she just tries to eat her doll's head.

gingerbread houses.

well graham cracker houses to be exact.

last night was our first annual graham cracker house decorating night! seriously, when was the last time you made a gingerbread house? before last night, i'm pretty sure i hadn't made one since elementary school.

my pictures from last night were no good, so you don't get to see aria & gina's masterpiece or anthony's byu house, but have a looksie:

mine:

sean's:

sean and anthony created this modern gingerbread fortress, complete with a fenced balcony and chimney. like the structure? he was not happy with my hot glued houses, so he decided to make his own with frosting. lovely!

before the mess.

{pictures of our gingerbread houses to come.}

R.I.P. little buddy.

my little camera is officially dead. yesterday i took it outside to take a picture of my neighbor's awesome {and kind of scary} snowman. i dropped it. and now the lens is stuck out like that and won't come back in. and i can't turn it on. but we did have a good run. we went to san francisco, bear lake, dc, denver, texas, seattle, chicago, disneyworld and so many other places together. and sean took it to italy & russia! what a well traveled little camera. thanks for all of the blurry pictures. i love them.

on the bright side, serena has a new toy! she is so gadget savvy {hehe... remotes, cell phones, and now cameras!}.

it's a blah kind of day.

serena is sick again {and so am i}. which means she's been whiny all day. and she won't eat. and she's having some tummy troubles. no fun for her or me.

i drove to riverdale to bring a headband order to my sister and didn't realize i had made the wrong thing until i got there and showed her.

tj max is stupid and i don't like it. i found an adorable scarf and decided i needed it and i assumed it would be inexpensive since it's at tj max. . . and then i saw the price tag! what the? calvin klein scarf at tj max for 80 bucks?? no thanks! i get absolutely no satisfaction out of buying some name brand something or other for half its original price when i could buy something similar for full price and still pay less than tj max's dumb price. {sorry if you like it. i don't think you're lame. they do have cute stuff.}

i had half of a giant symphony bar for lunch.

and i feel slightly hideous in my random thrown-on-during-the-one-second-that-serena-was-not-whining outfit.

can't wait for dad to come home and take over :)

eat your veggies, peas.

have you ever noticed the giant clickable picture in my sidebar for eat your veggies, peas? well if you haven't checked it out you should. not only will you learn that i actually do cook once in a blue moon, but you might also find a recipe for dinner. and you might even decide you want to be a chef on the blog! i'm just sayin'.

anywho, check out all of these recipes that i actually made and posted! {i mean wow. . . this is evidence that i cooked dinner maybe 10 times in the last 2 years. . . impressive!}

baked chicken meatballs turkey chili

vanilla cupcakes mini chicken pot pies

strawberry cheesecake dessert chicken bruscetta bake

honey roasted red potatoes apple bread

greek style beef & pasta meatball soup

chicken + red potato foil dinners healthy {er} yellow cake

slow-cooker chicken tortilla soup tuscan flat bread

pinto bean and turkey burritos pumpkin pie

personal pita pizzas parmesan chicken

tamale pie lemon yogurt cake

peanut butter cookies {gretchen's recipe!} lasagna spinach rolls


are you hungry yet?

serena speaks.

"what? it's not my fault that dad was running late and couldn't find his wallet and you were both frantically searching for it. i only threw a fit and added to the chaos because i needed attention immediately. don't you know that i like to be cuddled in the morning? look at this face. you can't be mad at this face."

sounds of the season.

i love christmas music.

i performed the messiah last week with my choir {utah voices} and the salt lake symphony. what an amazing experience. it was so rewarding. all of the hard work put in. and all of the practicing {ok. . . not as much practicing as i probably should have put in. . .}. it was so fun. the music and the message are beautiful. this was my first time singing the messiah. amazing.

the salt lake children's choir had their concert at the cathedral of the madeleine last sunday. it's a family tradition to attend every year and my christmas is not complete without it! it was amazing, as usual.

and last night we attended the tabernacle choir + orchestra at temple square + bells on temple square + natalie cole + david mccullough {whew!} concert. not only was the music beautiful, it was just lovely to look at. they had the stage lit up and decorated so beautifully. it filled me full of christmas spirit! and may i just say that my favorite part of the whole thing was the organ solo?! wow!

so so much good music.

and now back to my personal christmas collection. unless you know of any good concerts coming up?

seven.

{thanks for the fancy dress, grandma!!}

at seven months, serena:

has decided to only eat pears, applesauce, and cereal. she refuses all vegetables and most fruits. {any suggestions would be appreciated! we have tried mixing 1 tsp of veggies with 1/4 cup cereal and she refuses that too!}

sits up by herself. hooray! she will play on the floor for quite a long time.... until she gets herself in some random position that she doesn't like.

loves playing with boxes, bags, ribbon, cell phones, shoes, tupperware, measuring cups & spoons, etc. basically anything that isn't a toy.

goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up around 7am.

has the cutest giggle ever. too bad she doesn't do it very often! mostly she does her panting thing when she's happy or excited.

HATES it when you put her arms through her sleeves, or when you take her shirt off, or when you have to move her arms to put her in the carseat.

claps when we say "yaaaaay!" or when she sees someone else clapping.

makes all kinds of noises. smacks her lips. if she has a toy, she'll hold it in her mouth and shake her head to do the "ba ba ba ba ba ba" noises. she tries to sing when i do. she just makes a long "ahhhhh" sound until i stop. i love it!

still shows no signs of crawling or even interest in being on her tummy EVER. i think she'll be a scooter.

kicks her socks and shoes off the instant we put them on her.

seriously LOVES mickey mouse. she gets so so excited when mickey mouse clubhouse starts. and she's beginning to love charlie and lola {woohoo!}. she mostly loves the song at the beginning and the way lola giggles.

loves playing with her cousins {or letting them entertain her!}.

likes to grab your face, ears, nose or hair and pull your face right up next to hers and attempt to eat it. she's bitten my nose a couple of times. it hurts!

makes us laugh and smile all the time. we love her like crazy.

sketchy santas.

this blog is hilarious.

but the comments are a little more than sketchy. enjoy the pictures, don't read the comments!

{i know you're all curious about the comments now. . . but they are just dumb gross comments from dumb gross people. trust me!}

ode to the onion.

i think i must be related to shrek. in fact, if you look at my costco card photo, you can even see the resemblance.

but apart from my ogre-ish photo, mostly we just share a love of onions.

i ♥ onion rings {possibly the best junk food ever}.
i ♥ a grilled hamburger with a thick slice of red onion.
i ♥ a delicious greek salad with lots of onion.
i ♥ creamed onions {had them on thanksgiving for the first time... amazing!}.
i ♥ fresh salsa with lots of onion.
i ♥ the diced onion that mcdonalds puts on their kids meal hamburgers.

to all of you onion haters:
i don't believe you.
i bet you eat onions all the time and you just don't know they are there.
because they are delicious.
and they give flavor to lots and lots of delicious foods.

respect the onion.

is it ok? {please say yes}

is it ok that i want to see new moon again for the 3rd time?

i don't know what's come over me!

twilight was horrible! HORRIBLE!

and every scene in new moon with edward in it makes me cringe and hide my face because it's unbearabley awkward and cheesy.

but i loved it and i want to see it again.

anyone wanna join?

goals.

i accept the challenge, kim.

five life goals:

{obviously these are just some random goals, not necessarily the most important things i want to accomplish in my lifetime!}

1. road trip along the east and west coasts.

2. get a passport and leave the country. so so so many places i want to see. england. italy. ireland. new zealand. canada. brazil. i'm not so much interested in the tropical island-y sort of getaways.

3. read everything by charles dickens. and everything by shakespeare.

4. take some cooking classes. i was kind of traumatized by my first cooking class experience. {age 11ish. removed a casserole dish full of boiling hot chicken & sauce from the oven and poured it down my leg. eeeeeeh the blisters! and in front of the whole class!} but i think i'm ready to try again :)

5. own a piano. and take lessons again. and get good at it.

bloomers.

it was slightly freezing bitter cold last night when we left my parents' house. we had no hat for the babe, so we put her bloomers on her head.

and then she fell asleep :)

we have a love/hate relationship.

i love winter.

.

snow. boots. sweaters. christmas. scarves. apple cider. christmas tree lots. fireplaces. mittens. snow-capped mountains. gingerbread. lights. delicious citrus.

.

but sometimes it doesn't love me back.

.

dry hair. dry elbows. dry knees. bitter cold, hazy days with no snow in sight. colds. pot holes. and the dreaded chappy lips. every winter i seem to get a never-ending case of chapped lips. and the only thing that makes them feel better is the nasty original chapstick that smells like black licorice mixed with medicine. anything with menthol, which feels good initially, makes them much much worse.

.

please please let the weatherman be right. i desparately need some snow to cure me of my chappy-lip blues.

{image}

a bad mother moment.

serena is rocking her very first goose egg, my friends.

i feel too badly about it to share the details, but we both cried a lot.

being a first-time mommy, i was sure that i had caused permanent brain damage and that she would hate me forever. i made sean call the doctor's office {i was too much of a sobbing mess to call them myself},

and the nurse said, "i'm sure she's fine".

reassuring.

but it didn't make me feel like a better parent.

i'm sure this will be the first of many goose eggs to come {learning to walk... ugh!}, but WOW it was traumatic for me!

good thing my sweet girl was over it in 10 minutes.

is it ok? {please say yes}

is it ok to wear brown and black together?

that rule is so 90's, right?

let's hope.

because if not, my outfit today totally totally clashes.

black dress. black tights. brown boots. tan sweater. brown headband.

i hope i'm not embarrassing myself.

ten.

{i never said it would be ten consecutive days of gratitude!}

let's end it with a bang! we had so much fun over thanksgiving weekend, so here's 10 things i loved about it:

1. laying in bed watching the thanksgiving parade.
2. spending the day with my family, enjoying my mom's delicious cooking.
3. my parents' bigger, better, beautiful family room.
4. serena sleeping during the entire drive to mesquite! {we drove at night}
5. my mom doing my black friday shopping for me :)
6. making headbands for kelty and teagan. and then headbands for their baby dolls. and then headbands for their barbies. they were so cute :)

7. listening to music from glee on the drive to las vegas.
8. the nice workout we got while running down the strip trying to make it to lion king on time.
9. being lazy with sean and serena while the rest of the family was hiking!
10. coming home and sleeping in my own bed.

hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend. . . and now back to real life.

day nine.

eternal families.