"just call me Russell Crowe"

when you see this face you know he does NOT want to be taking a picture :)

Once you've been married for awhile, how often do you get to surprise your spouse with a date?!  For us.... that's rare!  I was so excited because I was actually able to surprise Eric with this date!!  We spent the day with Trevor and Alycia (my brother and sis-in-law) and had such a great time!  I'd seen Alycia blog about shooting arrows with Trevor and I knew Eric would love it!  I was right :) 
Shooting arrows is quite the workout!  I was definitely feeling the whole time.  Makes a girl feel pretty weak haha!  But seriously, I loved shooting as well!  I hope this becomes a hobby for the both of us!  The problem is, Eric and I are both right handed, but left eye dominant.  Which means it feels more natural to shoot guns/bow and arrow right handed, but we have to do it left handed.  Well they don't have left handed bows to rent out so needless to say, Eric and I were shooting blind half the time :)  Maybe we'll have to wear eye patches over our left eye?  We'll be pirate-robin hood's :) 
Anyway, we had such a great date!!  Thank you Trevor and Alycia!  (speaking of Trevor and Alycia, no pictures with them :(  I have to be better about taking pictures!)  It was funny, Eric kept telling us "just call me Russell Crowe" then we would all talk about how we didn't really care for that movie.  But let me show you a little secret...

I'm the only one who shot right through the middle x!  Woo woo :)  I'm hoping we get to do this again real soon!  Then you'll be seeing us with our pirate patches on ;)

P.S.  How was the weather for you over the weekend?!  Ours was...

I bet if I had a clue how to edit this could be a really great picture haha

This snow is not my cup of tea.  I'm definitely a desert girl all the way!  Please send some warm, sunshine rays my way :)
P.P.S.  A huge thank you to Lesley at Ireland Ever After for awarding me with the Stylish Blogger Award.  I am definitely feeling the blog love :)  

we love the MacPherson's. bitter/sweet and worth remembering.

Today's post is in memory of one of our best friends.  One year ago today I experienced the most tragic, heart break in all of my life.  Ryan MacPherson was my best friend for a time during high school.  Every memory I have of him is such a good memory!  After high school we drifted apart, naturally, but came together again after we had both gone through some major changes.  He got married, I got married, then he and his wife had a baby. 

We reconnected again and Ryan and Eric got along instantly and his wife, Ashley and I clicked just as fast!  Of course their sweet baby had us wrapped around her fingers!  I remember Eric telling me once, "I want a Lily..."  I told him no :)  We hungout multiple times a week and always had the best time!  We didn't have enough time... 

I have looked at this picture SO many times and am just now seeing those bunny ears Ryan pulled on me!  Seriously!  Payback someday...

February 24, 2010 Ryan passed away.  The main thing I remember feeling then was heart break, helplessness, and confusion.  I've never experienced death up until this point and nothing can prepare you for how much it hurts.  I felt so helpless because I wanted to comfort Ashley, to take it all away.  It was so heart breaking to watch her go through this.  And I was so confused.  Why did it have to be Ryan's time to return to our Heavenly Father?!  He still had a long life to live with the best wife and sweetest baby girl.  My faith had never been tested this way before.  I really struggled with this.  After the longest battle faith finally won.  I believe God has a plan that we just won't understand fully until the next life.  God is not cruel.  He loves us so much, and He gives comfort when we ask/need it.  .  I do know that Ryan is with our Heavenly Father and that he is happy.  I know he is watching over Ash and Lily!  And most importantly, I know that we will see Ryan again and that Ashley and Lily will get to be with him forever!

Ryan we miss you so much!  But I thank you for making our lives happier, for all the wonderful memories, and for bringing your amazing wife and sweet baby into our lives!  Ashley is one of my very best friends and Lily still has us wrapped around her fingers, naturally!  Can't wait to see you again!

Ash and I... sexy bestie's ;) hahaha that was just for you Ash! 



We love Lily so  much! :)

Ashley I look up to you so much!  You are by far one of the strongest women I know!!  You are such an amazing example to me!  You are gorgeous (yes I'm always jealous of your hair), so positive all the time, and the best mommy!  I'm so glad your my  bestie and I love you so much! :)



a little adventure... finally!

Saturday was such a great day!!  I've been itching to get out and go on a little adventure and my friend suggested Park City!  Living in Utah all my life I've never spent time in the actual town so I was way excited about the idea!  I thought I'd have to do some serious convincing to Eric but he said yes before I could finish asking him if he'd like to go there.  Apparently I wasn't the only one ready to get out :)  I checked the weather on Friday (stupid) and it said Park City would be partly sunny/cloudy.  Perfect!  So Saturday we got ready and headed out of town without checking the weather again (stupid!)  Needless to say, it snowed the whole time.  Aside from Eric wearing tennis shoes (his feet got soaked haha) instead of boots we had such a great time!

We did a little shopping!!  I am so lucky I married a man who actually likes shopping with me! 

We ate lunch at Good Thymes (thank you Trevor and Alycia for the Christmas gift certificate...this is where we used it:) it was so yummy!  Eric ordered a Reuben sandwich... how have we never tried this before?!?!  Yum!  Anyway we totally recommend this restaurant, just don't order the pulled pork... weirrrrd flavoring! :)

<< We LOVE sweet potato fries so this was awesome! (Yes, the fries were terrified of Eric's intensity ha) And yes, our dessert was just as yummy as it looks!! :)

I told you it snowed all day :)

Main Street, Park City

Main Street was a lot of fun!  Such cute, quaint buildings!!  If you notcied the sign: F'n Hot in the background of our picture... that was our favorite!  Haha maybe I shouldn't admit that but it's a store full of hot sauce and seasonings that are, well you can guess how hot they are :)

Ha ha ha ha!

Anywayyyy.... I bet you can't tell how much we loved Park City ;)  We're hoping to go back within a month to do some snowboarding!!  And we'd love to go spend a weekend there for a real get away!  And we're planning to go back in the summer for more fun!   

And now for my favorite part of the night:

Watching Eric shake it to Just Dance for the wii!!  :)  SUCH  a fun game!!  I hope you all had an amazing weekend!

P.S.  Words with Friends is my new favorite time waster!  I highly recommend this app :)  And if you want to play with me tell me your username! :)
P.P.S.  I love my Eric!  And he loves me enough to shave for our date (I love me a smooth face ha) but he forgot to trim that hair under his lip.  What do you call that?  Anyway.. after my nagging he trimmed that thing to almost nothing as soon as we got home :)

7 facts about me.. you're dying to know :)

I received a blog award!!  How fun right?!  I actually thought about not doing it because who wants to read about me?  Then I remembered that I don't care, this is my "journal" so why not?!  (Seriously though, do you guys care to read?  Ha ha!)

-Thank Tif for the nomination - Tell you 7 Facts about myself - Nominate 7 other blogs for the award

Really, thank you Tif for the award.. makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside ;)  Seriously though, love you girl and I'm still so excited for you and Joe!  Check out Tif's blog, you won't be disappointed!

Now for my 7 riveting facts ;)
1.  I'm going to become a spin instructor this year!  Seriously, I know it's weird, but I LOVE spin classes and think it would be SO fun to teach!
2.  Shhh... Don't tell anyone but I'm getting more baby hungry.  I'm not sure why, but it's hard for me to admit, maybe because we can't have babies right now?!
3.  I (we) really have thee best friends in the world!!  How does one (two) get so lucky?!  I (we) don't tell my friends enough:  Love you all and Thank you for being SO amazing!
4.  I've been in love more than once.  But this love I have for my husband is the most fulfilling, satistying, longing love I've ever felt.  I will never stop needing him.  I will love him always and forever.  I am the luckiest girl on earth.
5.  I'm really starting to love cooking!  (I never, in a million years, thought I'd be saying this!)  If you have any yummy recipes please share... pretty please?!
6.  I miss playing the piano.  I was really, actually pretty dang good and I just ran out of time to practice. (Lame excuse, I know!)  Now I live far away from my piano.  I miss it soo much but I will start playing again!!
7.  My very favorite thing to do is snuggle up to my man and read a good book!  Oh I just love reading!!  So if you have read any good books lately..share the wealth!  I'm in need of some new books :)

These 7 blogs I'm nominating because I really do want to get to know them better!  I secretly (oh it's not so secret?!) blog stalk and want to be friends with these girls :)
connie - one gorgeous mamma with the cutest family ever
alycia - my amazing sister in law 
melissa - another gorgeous mamma + our hubby's think they are mexican/chilean (so glad mine's not the only one haha)
jessica - love reading about this adorable wifey with "sexy" short hair and her adorable hubby
bret - got to get this girl blogging somehow.. especially when I never get to hear about her life anymore
audrey - beautiful mommy who's hubby posts about his valentine's for her.. cuuute
alexa mae - sweet, sweet family with the most touching posts
Enjoy :)

3 years ago...

3 years ago today Eric made me the happiest girl on earth!!  He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him... best decision he ever made ;)  Best decision I ever made? Saying yes!

This is the only "yay we're engaged" picture I have  because of the whole computer crashing/not having pictures backed up problem.  I had to scan it onto my computer haha..baaad quality but at least I have one! 

happy valentine's day!

Kiss & Tell:

• You burn 26 calories in a one minute kiss.
• The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing.
• Eskimos, Polynesians and Malaysians rub noses instead of kissing.
• Romans kissed each other on the eyes or the mouth as a greeting.
• African tribes pay homage to their Chief by kissing the ground where he has walked.
• The scientific name for kissing is philematology.
• Longest Kiss- 29 hours by contestants in the "Breath Savers Longest Kiss Challenge" in New York on March 24, 1998.  (Eric and I will beat this..NOT!  That doesn't sound like any fun haha)

(I bet you can't tell that I love kissing my man, right?!)

Happy Valentine's Day!  Eric and I have no fun plans today :(  He works all day then has school tonight ha.  So I'll be making him a Valentines's card, a special dinner, and yummy Valentine's treat.  And when Eric gets home from school I'm going to kiss the crap out of him!  (Gross.  Ok I'm not going to kiss the crap out of him but.. you know what I mean! :) 

I can't wait to catch up on my blog stalking and have much happier posts on my blog :)  I was crazy busy working out of town last week and didn't have time to read ANY blogs so prepare for comments this week :)  But since I'm so out of the loop right now.. tell me!  What are you doing for Valentine's Day?!

0 to 60 in under 4 seconds..

Please note: this post is not for sympathy or pity.  It is worth being skipped over :)  I promise my blog will continue to be a happy spot in blog land!

When I look in the mirror I see:  blonde hair with roots that need some serious touch up.  Awkward bangs that are in between the straight across bang and swoop bang length.  Curls that aren't as long as I want.  Shining bright green eyes- this color only appears when I cry.  And nasty red spots and pimples on my face where everyone can see.  Gross.  Seriously gross.
What is wrong with me?  I am not that girl.  I'm not that girl that nit-picks at herself, that can't get over her imperfections, that complains and cries about them constantly, that needs to look perfect to feel pretty, that needs other's confirmations to feel good about herself.  I'm not... but then why am I being this girl?!
How do you go from 0-60 in what feels like less than 4 seconds?  My way of thinking changed that fast.  I am such a happy girl.  I know I have such a blessed life.  I've always been so confident in myself.  I'm 23 years old, I've married a man that couldn't be more perfect for me, I love my job, and my friends and family are the best.  I truely do "have it all".  But why do I feel so awkward and gross and ugly?  I'm supposed to be past all of this aren't I?!
6 months ago I stopped taking birth control (nope, not trying for a baby yet) thinking nothing would change.  I was wrong, it took my body about 4 months to figure out how to be normal again.  The only thing that hasn't gone back to normal is my face.  I'm pretty sure moving to a new place with a different climate doesn't help but every month it seems to get worse and worse.  Breakout after breakout...and the redness. Oh it won't go away!  It's so gross and ugly.  And the sad part is that people probably don't notice it nearly as much as I do but I can't stop thinking about it.  My poor friends hear me complain time and time again (sorry about that!).  I try to turn it into joking but who am I kidding?!  It's not a joke to me and everyone knows it.  I don't let my husband touch or kiss my face.. ew.  And I went to the Buckle with a friend today and we were talking about how awesome it would be to work like an hour a week just to get the discount (haha) and she told me you could work in freight and you go in once a week for a couple hours.  Sweet!  So my friend asks if they're hiring and the girl tells her yes and gets her email to send her the application.  When she's done I tell the girl I would love to do it too and I swear she looked at my like ew.. you think we're going to let you work here over your cute friend?!  How embarassing that I really thought that!  I'm so ashamed. 
Eric is the best to me.  I've been awful and negative and he just tells me he understands and to go see my dermatologist.  I don't want to spend our money on that mostly because I'm stubborn.  Maybe I'm afraid he'll tell me there's no fixing my face? Really I just want my face to be normal like it was before all on it's own.  Then I feel guilty for feeling that way because my life could be so hard.  And I don't want to turn into this ugly person.  I mean ugly on the inside.  Satan sure does know how to play on our weaknesses, and I have been letting him win.  I know that I am a daughter of God and it's time I start acting like one again.  I came across this quote: If happiness is the most attractive accessory a young woman can have, then a smile would have to be the most charming cosmetic. It's time for me to start being happy again and smiling.  Instead of fearing what people will think of me I'm going to be confident again.  I deserve to feel pretty again.  Even if my face never clears up I'm going to be the wife and friend that I should be.  It's not all about me.  I am sorry for all the complaining I've been doing and I promise no more!  I know I am loved and I'm ready to start loving myself again.
I promise I am not posting this for sympathy.  I'm really, actually, quite embarassed by it all, but I want to have this documented.  If our children ever go through this kind of stage in their life I want to show them this, I want them to know that I do understand.  I've gone through this during a time in my life where I never thought I'd have to worry about this again.  I want them to see it's not worth the negativity and the self loathing.  I want them to know that I truely do love them and that I'm not just saying something that a mom's supposed to say.  I know how it feels but it will get better.  That's what I will tell myself everyday.  I will not let Satan win. 

i love my husband(s)

In honor of love month I thought I'd share the personality/looks of the man I love :)  Prepare to be entertained!

my handsome husband (clean cut)

my muscle car loving man with his 69 chevelle he is rebuilding

cowboy ;)

crazy crazy child :)

cheeser!

sexy (wanna-be sexy?) ;)

sporty

my scary little mexi.. don't be alarmed or offended.  this is for real!  Eric thinks its the best to creep me out with his stache.  and that jersey is from Mexico, he speaks spanish and Eric served his mission in Mexico and really does  have a love for the people (so much that he wants to be one ha)

swimsuit model ;) yum!

tough guy (ok so he doesn't look "tough" here and I don't have a good picture but every time we go out in public and Eric wears his tapout shirt, hat on backwards, and spy sunglasses he always gets called "tough guy" ha)

silly dork :)

Do you wish your husband/boyfriend's as versatile as mine?!  :)  These pictures don't do justice but I tried :)  There is never a dull moment when Eric is around!  I love that my man can be crazy and dorky, sexy and good lookin', caring and kind, and most of all I love that he loves me.  He is such a hard worker, so honest, and completely dependable. I am the luckiest girl!  I love you babe. 

happy love month

Since Eric and I are super in love I thought I'd post what I'm loving!  Perfect day for this post right?!  And seriously... we are super in love :)

I'm loving my husband.  He is my rock, my best friend, my lover. 

I'm loving our families.

I'm loving our friends.  We are blessed with the best friends ever.

I'm loving food.  All the time.

I'm loving the bachelor. What can I say?  I'm weak.

I'm loving the gym.  Seriously.  Spin is what I love most but I've never enjoyed the gym as much as I do now.

I'm loving the beach.  April can come a little faster..

I'm loving the sunshine.  I'm made for the sun, not the snow.

I'm loving babies.  Always babies.

I'm loving pink.  Does that surprise anyone?

I'm loving my job.  I love getting paid to make hair pretty, gossip and make friends.

I'm loving that I finally started this blog and can share our life.  I also love meeting people through blog land.  I've pegged some of you as my newest friends even though you don't know it.  Ok.. I've pegged myself as your wanna-be friend.

I'm loving the temple and the peace and comfort it gives me.

I'm loving games.  Can it be game night every night?

I'm loving music.  Music inspires me in so many different aspects of my life.

Update:  How could I forget?!  I'm loving that my husband finally shaved and he finally had me cut his hair.  Woo woo!

What are you loving?!

What are your Valentine traditions?  Eric and I need to start some of our own!