All Doctored Up

So, I went to the doctor today and just told him everything that has been bugging me lately, my crunchy jaw that locks every night, my sneaky little cough (also at night), and my achy arm (all day, especially if I sleep on it funny. . . at night).

He is making me do blood tests and get a CT ('cat') scan. I am doing those tomorrow and then Scott and I are playing racquetball. It's a day filled with fun.

Anyway, maybe I'll be all spick-'n-span brand new when he's done with me. Wish me luck!

On a funner note, I finished my painting. I really like how the color brightens up the brick and still looks good with the colors in the brick and the sofa. The color didn't show up well on camera, it's actually a bit greener than that. Kind of a celadon, blueish, robin's egg color.What do you think?


My favorite part are the birdies. They are just sweet! I know birds are so trendy right now, but I've always loved little birds, just ask my mom. :)

Back to School

Scott has officially started graduate school.

He's been attending orientation for two weeks now, but yesterday was the first day of real class. Next week, he'll begin working in one of several labs that he'll rotate between during this first year. It's so nice to live on campus. It's lovely and I really enjoy having Scott come home for lunch. He says he likes class so far, but it's also kind of slow-going. Lots of review, I suppose.

I wrote my hand off yesterday finishing up some thank you notes. Yes, I'm still doing those. I have a pile of several that need only an address and a stamp. If only I could find all the addresses I need! Once I get them, I'm logging them away on our computer where they will be backed up often. If you haven't gotten a thank you note from us yet, just know that we love you, we're grateful, and we're working on it!

Capital Fun

Two weekends ago we visited Washington, D.C. Such a neat place. My favorite things from the trip: getting to see Alan and Lyana and eat their famous fondue again, seeing a panda bear at the zoo, enjoying the American Museum of Art with its gorgeous courtyard, watching Scott get so into watching "Bourne Identity," spending a few more days with my lovely sister.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

Twiggy Fall

Isn't this just lovely? Who knew hoodies could look so good? Check out the rest of Ellembee's floral prints. I think I'd wear just about all of them!

I've been doing some twiggy things of my own. You know, in between the unpacking and organizing. Here's a sneak peek:


It's not finished yet (I have some birdies to add), but I'll show you the whole thing once it's done.

One box at a time

So, I had no idea that today was Thursday. I had to go over the days and what we've done this week several times before I decided that it could—in reality—be Thursday. Happy Thursday!

The latest projects:

Yesterday I had the pleasure of assembling some cheap, but tricky, bookcases. The screws and the holes for the screws didn't all line up really, but once Scott got home and got the drill out, all was well. The backs for these lovely $16 wonders are just cardboard. Not very thick cardboard. I thought I should just back them myself, if all they gave me was flimsy board. So, I busted out the incredibly large grass mats I purchased a few years ago at Savers. These things are twice the length of a large dining table and there are three panels! It felt so good to finally know what to use them for. What do you think? Better than the original? I think so!



Need something tasty? Try these meltaways! Normally I'd post a recipe on Fuzzy Melon Recipes (Lanette posts awesome recipes and lets me put a few favorites up, too), but I was just so proud of these little cookies that I had to put them here first. Look for the recipe on Fuzzy Melon soon.

And Many More

I had a birthday right before we moved. It was definitely the coolest one I can remember!

Laura and I went shopping for shorts, ate at Ottavio's, and had a fabulous D.I. run. I found 2 pairs of jeans that fit me perfectly, a pair of capris, and a few lovely dishes. I will definitely miss D.I. But I don't actually have room for one more dish in my new home, so it's good I will have this forced separation!

Scott was sooo sweet. He got me the most thoughtful gifts: a subscription to Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food. (I've been wanting this for a while!), and a beautiful original photo by a BYU student. We saw this in the Wilk this Spring and I loved it. Scott hunted down the artist and got a print just for me!

(Percephone by Claire Marika.)

That evening, a few friends and family came over for an ice cream party. Since we were in the middle of packing, my new dishes were employed at the toppings bar. VeAnn was wonderful to bring some cute little cupcakes so I could have something for the candle blowing.

My friends were so kind as to play big booty with me. For those of you who didn't go to girl's camp, this is a hilarious group game of concentration and rhythm. You try to move up in the circle to become the Big Booty. We laughed pretty hard.

The rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversation and music video-watching. Thank you everyone for your kind gifts, and especially for coming and making it a birthday to remember!

Cupcake photo courtesy of emma.c
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmacherry/2167575327/

Blogging updates:

I added a new link list of design blogs. Check them out; they're below my list of family and friends. I hope you enjoy them. Mostly, I wanted some of my favorites all in one place, but maybe that will be nice for you too! Scott's mom, Karla, and I were talking about interior design while she helped me go through my sock collection. I told her I would update the blog with a list of pretty spots to visit.

Also, yesterday I updated Heather's blog. Let me know how you like it! And, I'd be more than happy to offer some bling to your blog. Just tell me what you're interested in, and we'll talk!
I'm a big fan of legibility and cuteness. I'm not into those intense blog backgrounds that make it hard to read the text, are you?

The Sweetest Thing

I love having Heather here! Yesterday we toured Hershey's Chocolate World. It was definitely sweet. They get your hopes up with the sound of a "factory tour," but really it's a "factory simulation." It was still really cute, even for the second time. They take you on a ride and you get to watch really cool machines pretend to make chocolate, listen to singing cow puppets, and watch video streams from the real factory. All the while they are practically pumping in the smell of warm chocolate so that by the time your ride is over and they dump you out into their spacious gift shop you pretty much have to buy chocolate. The free sample of chocolate after the ride only worsens the matter. Yesterday they were handing out the new Hershey's Bliss. It is rather close to bliss. it was milk chocolate, but it was actually quite rich and chocolatey with a creamy smooth center. Kinda like a Dove chocolate.

We splurged and got some fancy-schmancy truffles—pomegranate, Mexican, chocolate decadence, and macadamia nut. I'm not even sure these were made by Hershey's actually! But dang, they were good.

Come visit me in Hershey, and we'll have a sweet ol' time!

Success!

Thanks to all of you who commented even though it was tricky. I finally figured out how to fix the comments situation. Yeah for all this free time while I wait for our stuff to get here!

Meanwhile, Heather has arrived! We are having a grand ol' time as she shows us all her cool souvenirs and treasures. She gave me some pretty neat presents, too! I'll take some pictures for you.

Today's fun agenda: get toothbrush head replacements, find or make drapes, and go bowling with Scott's graduate group.

A Whole New World

We're here! We made it to Pennsylvania and we're safe and happy (and tired and disorganized and excited).

Thank you so much to those who helped us get out the door. We couldn't have done it without your muscling, lifting, wrapping, packing, and cleaning help. The company wasn't bad either!

Thursday morning we were on the road before 7 am. Scott drove while I snoozed for the first few hours, and when I was awake, it was beautiful outside! Wyoming and Nebraska are so green and rolling hills and lovely. We made awesome time Thursday and arrived in Iowa City by 1 am their time (12:00 MST). There were some loud frogs nearby, it was quite cool out, and very humid.

Friday morning, after some much needed sleep, we had breakfast and we were off again. We got through over 30 chapters of The Count of Monte Cristo before one of the readers started driving us absolutely nuts (it was a free recording though, so we forgave her. Check out libravox.org for free audio book mp3s). By the time it was dark, we had put in The Broker by John Grisham for some more fast paced entertainment. Listening to books and munching on our plethera of snacks, we made it through Ohio and Pennsylvania's crazy toll road system (known as turnpikes). These were obnoxious roads that sucked up at least $30 and wouldn't let us travel faster than 70 mph. The toll road thing will be something to get used to, I guess.

When we pulled into Hershey it was about 2 am EST. We were pooped. We got our key, loaded our stuff into our apartment, tried not to wake the neighbors with the loud sound from the air pump we used to inflate our mattress, and went to sleep.

Today has been full of errands. Scott got our internet working and we put it to use finding directions to the nearest Target, Costco, and Walmart. Who knew there were so many things we didn't have?!

We got mostly random stuff like a broom, ironing board, lamps, and a rack to keep our drying dishes on. The apartment is quite roomy and comfortable. The front room is pretty big, there is a dining room, and we were really pleased to see that the kitchen isn't entirely boxed off from the rest of the house.

One thing we were missing was lights. There are no overhead lights in this place except for the ones in the bathroom, kitchen, and dining area! The bedrooms and front room aren't even wired for ceiling fixtures, so we started hunting for lamp options. Mostly there are a lot of ugly floor lamps in the world, but we hope to get lucky and have a better idea what we'll need when our stuff gets here.

We love you! We miss you! But we're loving being in our own place!

Photo Shoot: Part 2

Part 2: Abel Family

This one was our first family shoot with more than one kid. And since, we love these kids, it made it less stressful. It was still a lot of work!
Their mom is also a fan of the "urban look," and they knew about this little park in an alley in American Fork. I'd definitely shoot there again, if I could. There is a lovely brick wall, and we got ultra lucky with the lighting—clouds and all.

The big group shots were a little tricky, but as individuals, these guys are practically models.