Thanksgiving in Lubbock

We had the chance to head to Lubbock, Texas, to spend time with our families for Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of time eating food — of course — shopping and watching movies. Love the chance to spend time with family!

After shopping with my brother, Tyler. He was so psyched for new drum gear.

Kourt + Alden = Forever

Once upon a time Kourtney was single. And around the same time Nathaniel and I were getting ready to get married. We reassured Kourt that if she came to Lubbock, we knew a boy that would ask her out in the snap of a finger. She laughed. Six months later we reassured her of the same thing, but she still didn't take us seriously. Soon after Nathaniel and I were married, Alden was at our house, flipping through the contacts on my phone looking for any girl names, then looking up their pictures on Facebook. If they were cute, he'd send them a text from my phone. Kourt texted back. Long story short, Kourt eventually moved to Lubbock, became our roommate, and Alden and her decided to get married.

A year after our second attempt of convincing her to come to Lubbock to meet the love of her life, Mom, Nathaniel, Grandma, Grandad and I, found ourselves spending a day decorating for her and Alden's wedding reception. Funny how life works, eh?

The theme was kind of outdoor/patio/bird-esque...and purple and yellow were the colors. This is what we came up with! 1. Lights and lanterns Nathaniel worked all day to hang. 2. A vintage door as the gift table. A clothes line with photos and birds behind it. 3. Center pieces. 4. Guest book table.

The love birds were married in the LDS Oakland Temple on August 6th, which is beautiful in and of itself, but the weather was wonderful to match!

The LDS Oakland Temple. My parents were married here, too!

I did Kourt's hair and make-up the morning of, and she was as cool as a cucumber.

 The gorgeous bride...she made my job easy. BTW, her hair was really simple...swear.

Job Possibilities

I'm in the middle of the interview process for a job I seriously want. The first part of the interview was just a test -- typing, grammar, writing and editing -- and other than the 98 words per minute I typed, I have no idea how I did. Part of me feels like I won't get the job because I must be competing with my most brilliant peers. I'm sure they performed excellently on the test (okay, maybe not 98 wpm, let's admit it -- I'm awesome). The other part of me is pretty convinced I was the only one taking the test, and the joke is on me. But hey, I guess we'll see what happens!

Since I've been stuck in limbo, hoping to land my first big job, I've been considering what other career paths I could take up if journalism falls through.

The summer I turned 19 I worked two different jobs. One as a food sample lady, and the other as a receptionist for a nail salon. Between a strange woman laying her hands on my belly and "praying over me" while I stood in my apron and hair net, to having Vietnamese women shove delicious egg rolls down my throat at 10 a.m., it's not much of a stretch to say I'd love to re-live my 19th summer every year.

Simple Memories

Sometimes life's moments can't be properly described with words. And I love words, so that's saying a lot. Today's sentimentality called for a trip down memory lane -- in a way that only photographs can properly describe.

My love, the first summer we started dating.

Potatoes, Peas and All Things Green

At the end of our groceries and the end of our paycheck, I made us some dinner the other day that was both cheap and simple: mashed potatoes, frozen peas and chicken nuggets. This is a typical meal for us. Half because it's what we can afford and half because it's what's easiest. As I swirled my lemon-pepper potatoes in with my sweet peas, I thought about how someday I would be able to afford to cook us more elaborate meals.

Dinner.

A House or a Home

I wrapped our books and DVDs with saran wrap to save on boxes. Plus a box full of books justs gets so darn heavy. Thank you, Mom, for the brilliant idea!

Bird Cage Silhouettes

Kourt's reception will be all about birds -- love birds, bird cages, bird houses, bird baths, bird seed, nature-y things, etc. The only problem is some of those things (like metal bird cages) can be a tiny bit pricey. So for her shower, I came up with the cheaper version: paper silhouettes.

The bird cage silhouettes hanging above the dessert table.

Trip to Outerspace

I babysat some boys a few days ago who have some of the most brilliant imaginations.

The Monkey jumping off the "spaceship." Mr. Baseball telling me about the spaceship. And Little Bruiser busy being a space alien.

Believe it or not, we actually took a trip to the moon on Friday night. It was magical.

The boys building a spaceship to take us to the moon.

Dumb.

When my mom was six-years-old she got left on the side of a mountain. Her family was on vacation with another family, and everyone loaded up in the car and took off without her. I guess everyone assumed the others were keeping track of her. Mom did everything wrong, including walking down the road and getting in the car with some strange trucker-man, but that's another story for another day. And just so you know, she's still on good terms with the parental-units that left her behind.

So yesterday me and Nathaniel stranded ourselves on the side of a mountain -- er, I mean, on our driveway in the middle of a heat-wave and drought without keys to get into our house or cars.

These are the texts I sent back and forth with my mom:

Me:

We locked ourselves outside...it's real hot.

A Word to the Wise on Steak and Strangers

The other day, while my husband was away to Boy Scouts camp and I sat around in his shirt and pajamas with dirty hair piled on top of my head, a man knocked on my door.

After peeping through the peep hole and seeing a disheveled looking man slowly walking away, I cracked open the door and slipped my head out to ask if he needed anything.

His question: Do you like steak?

Of course, I thought to myself, I love steak.

Me: Yes...

Him: Would you like to buy some?

Being the naively-too-nice person I am, I asked him what kind of steak.

Him: Let me show you.

The disheveled man, complete with sun-leathered skin and holes in his grungy off-white polo shirt, proceeded to enter my house with boxes of frozen steaks. And then, he shut the door behind him.

A box of said steak.

So there I stood in my pajamas in my tiny little house, in my tiny little entry way and kitchen, alone with a grungy, strange man and piles of frozen steak.

Mr. Bitter

I frequently blog about my own work experiences, but today it's Nathaniel's. He works at a hotel, and as you can imagine he meets a lot of colorful individuals. Today's encounter was one of my favorites:

Nathaniel: Hello sir, how are you today?

Man: Bitter.

Nathaniel: Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, I --

Man: That's my last name.

Nathaniel: Oh...*pause*...sorry about that...

For some weird reason, people frequently walk up to the front desk and announce their last name without stating if they are checking in or looking for a room...some people's communication skills seriously concern me.

Always,

If you want to annoy a journalist...

This should never be a part of a conversation with a journalist:

Me: Is there anything else you'd like to add about the program or anything you feel like I've missed?

Anonymous: No, um, when you do get a draft or something done, if you don't mind just me taking a look at if just to make -- can I do that or not?

Me: Um... *silence* ...I don't know. I'd have to ask my editor.

No, I do know -- of course you can't. You can look at it when it's published. I have a degree in journalism, but you want to ask permission to be my boss and/or do my job for me? I don't think so. Seriously, people, not okay.

Always,

Camp, part 6 -- day 3

Before I got to camp*, and when I first arrived at camp, I must admit I was very concerned with impressing the other leaders. I felt like the underdog. Being older than the girls I was leading by just a few years, and literally decades younger than my fellow leaders, I felt certain the other leaders would view me as a snot-faced-teenager. And not that some of the girls viewed me like that, but I got confused as being a camper more than once -- I felt like that definitely stacked the odds against me for my "peers" as viewing me as such.

As the week went on and I started bonding with my girls, I realized I wasn't there for myself, but I was there to serve my girls. That meant building friendships with them, spending time with them, laughing and joking and being silly with them, not with the older ladies. And by the end of the week, I was seriously impressed by the girls I was leading as well as some of the other girls I had the privilege of meeting.

Of Fleeting Moments, Babies and Documentation

Some days I don't want to record my thoughts. Sometimes they feel sweeter when they are fleeting, brief and only for that moment. 

I don't feel that way about babies though...they need all the documentation they can get. Like this little guy, my handsome nephew, Ethan:

♥ ♥ ♥

Love Letters

Because going to camp was going to be the first time I spent a substantial amount of time away from Nathaniel, I left some hidden notes around the house for every day I was gone. I had no cell phone reception at camp, so my cousin, Kourtney, forwarded my text messages to Nathaniel every day telling him where my cards were. Here they are:

Day one.

Camp, part 5 -- Day 2

Day two of camp* started off with breakfast, followed by a "hike." I went with the second level girls, who were supposed to go on a 5-mile hike. The hike turned into more of a less-than-a-mile-stroll. The only thing that made it difficult was the change in elevation. We did have to take a break so one of our girls could get a serious breather. But all's well that ends well!

After our walk around the campgrounds, the girls had four hours of free time. We had way too much free time on our hands, but it's okay -- we decided to bust out this bad boy: our "water front." Angela and Abby blew it up, and fetched some water from the shower with a scuzzy old bucket that we found in our cabin.

"Swimming" in our "lake" because the camp doesn't have any water. Angela got really into it.

Doodles

Yesterday I sat with 3-year-old, Mia, during church. We drew in the back of my Sunday school class manual to pass the time. I ripped out the pages because I thought they were too cute not to share.

The little figure in the top right corner is me. I'm even wearing a dress -- but I helped with that part. The bigger figure in the bottom left corner is our friend, the "Tongan Terror," Charlie Malolo. Mia sat to the left of Charlie and looked up at him like she was slightly scared when I told her she should draw him. The figure with the spiky hair next to Charlie is Nathaniel. Mia needed some creative inspiration to draw Nathaniel's hair...that's what the little hash marks in the top right corner are. I'm not sure what the giant blob in the center of the paper is.

Camp, part 4 -- Day 1

Dance party! Cassie has the camera, Angela and Dysteny are in the back.

Tuesday morning we loaded up the car for camp*. The girls spent most of the drive sleeping, but once we hit New Mexico I woke them all up by yelling that we had crossed the border. Naturally, we had to have a dance party -- three little Mexican girls and a white lady dancing in the car on the way to a Christian over-night girls camp. Classic.

Kissy Face

When finances are tight, I'm grateful for the ability to draw. It makes for a little something rather than...nothing, for gifts.

Speaking of gratitude, our anniversary-day (we did a nice dinner earlier in the week) consisted of McDonald's and watching X-Men (which was awesome, btdubs) and then Nathaniel had to go to work. Nothing fancy, but I still felt warm and fuzzy and overflowing-out-the-eyeballs grateful and happy. I'm married to my best friend. I don't need anything but him.

So anywho...this is the card I drew for Nathaniel yesterday:

You like, no?

Always,

One Year

Nathaniel,

When we went on our first date, I was taken up by your joy. The look in your eyes was intoxicating, and I wanted to know more.