Joshua James

Saturday night Andrew took me on a date to see Joshua James in concert at BYU.  It was beyond amazing. I am of the opinion that a live show can really make or break an artist.  For example.  Many years ago I thought Third Eye Blind was a decent band.  Then I saw them in concert.  The lead singer dropped swear words like a Sailor and wore a pink shirt, was barefoot, and kept doing this strange dance the whole night.  No more Third Eye Blind for me.

Joshua James was incredible.  Mesmerizing.  I don't think I would've appreciated him as much had I not heard him in concert first.  I felt bad for all the opening acts, because he made them all sound really terrible.  Few people can sing so well Live. I can't wait for his next show.

Here was a song he sang.  This performance was NOT the one I saw, which of course was far better, but it's pretty good too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqqNt84_AQc&feature=related

And this one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_LLL5-pa2s&feature=related

Andrew and I think he's brilliant.  He did sing a song about Cheyenne,WY which was music to my ears (literally), because I served in Cheytown for 8 1/2 months on my mission and that place is like home to me.

Lastly, there was a song that was meant to have a swear word, but he didn't say it and at the end some dumb guy in the back yelled, "Holy *&@! that was awesome!" Wow, you're cool man. Not. Joshua James didn't laugh and neither did anyone else. In fact, J.J said in response that he felt it was important to have a little counter culture every now and then and that we needed him just as much as he needed us.  That's respectable.

So if you're into listening to good music that makes you think and is a bit different than the usual tunes you hear on your radio...check him out.

Chunky Monkey

 When most people hear the words "Chunky Monkey" they probably think of this:

 But when I think of Chunky Monkey this is actually what comes to my mind...

It's true.  Look at that belly!!  If anyone ever wonders if our baby is healthy we'll just show this picture which will obviously eliminate any concerns.  Ellie had her 2 month checkup (2 weeks late..) last Friday and sure enough, she's gained almost 7 pounds since she was born and she's grown a few inches so now she measures at 23 inches and nearly 13 pounds.  Surprisingly, her diet is NOT Ben&Jerry's.  We are happy she is SO healthy. 

We borrowed this jumpy thing from my sister in law and I was really excited to put her in it. It didn't turn out exactly as I planned, but who's complaining!

I think the only thing she cared about before she fell asleep was that blue tree frog. When she's a little bigger we're sure she'll love this thing, because she loves music and jumping around. But right now her feet don't even touch the floor so the jumping will have to wait.

 Also her hair just stands up on it's on own..I gave her a bath and this is what it looked like after..

  She's started talking (so she thinks) to us now...it is the sweetest thing.  I could listen to it all day.

                          My 2 Loves...

                                                                        Life is good.

Sleep, baby, sleep

I've recently discovered that nothing soothes Ellie better than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Soon after she was born I would only listen to MTC around her, because she had just come from heaven and well..it just made sense.  I guess the MTC is pretty similar to the angelic, heavenly ones because she goes to sleep almost instantly once I put it on.  I've tried sneaking in a less holy, but mellow song (Jack Johnson) here and there just to see if this love for the choir was all in my head, but sure enough within seconds (no matter how long she's been sleeping) she's awake and not happy.  So I switch back to the choir and she's off to sleep again.  By no means am I complaining! It's great music, I just never realized the power it had on little kids.  I definitely feel the Spirit, (and nostalgia from the mission) when I listen to it and it's amazing to me that my 2 month old can tell the difference between the MTC and other music. 

I love this video. It makes me cry every time I watch it. It reminds me of the Savior.  And how I really can be like him by doing small and simple things. It's never too late to be forgiving. Kind. Less judgmental. Happy.

Good morning SPF...

So I had Sweet Potato Fries for breakfast this morning. I found a recipe to make the southwestern sauce Guru's uses for their fries so I made that too.  It's not exactly the same, but pretty close.  Don't be fooled by the orange colored sauce..there's more to it than just ketchup and mayo.  Recipe is as follows:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 T. ketchup
2 T. bbq sauce
1 t. cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp honey

I think in the future though I will add a tad more seasoning and bbq sauce.  If you're not a fan of Sweet Potato fries I suggest you become one, because they are delicious.

                    I ate these as I watched "Julie and Julia"...I'm sure Julia Child would have approved.

You can't win without Emilio

Last friday night we decided to meet up with some friends to watch a BYU Hockey game.  You can see how excited Ellie was about it.  Andrew was in heaven as he loves anything that isn't sissy, girly stuff.  Hockey at BYU is apparently not much like "real" hockey as everyone is mostly well behaved and only one small fight broke out during the entire game.  I don't know much about Hockey except that if I were a Goalie I'd have killer thigh muscles from being in a lunge position for three hours straight every game.  Also I kept wondering when they were going to do the "Flying V" because that really saved the game in "The Mighty Ducks"...I guess they were waiting for Emilio Estevez to show up and since he didn't, I'm assuming that's why BYU lost.  Still a fun game and we looove our friends.  Shout out to Geoff who spent $5 to throw 5 hockey pucks into a center ring to win a prize. He did win: A 3 Musketeers bar which probably cost 50 cents.  Good times in Utah.

Karoake night at Guru's!

This is Sarah.

She is my workout buddy, a thrift store expert, and the craftiest person I know. For all I know she most likely made that outfit she's wearing in the picture.  Seriously..that's how cool she is.

Sarah is married to Matt.  He also served as a missionary in the Colorado Denver North Mission. He and Andrew are both drummers and like to tell lame jokes.  The most interesting thing we have learned about Matt recently is that he eats at J-Dawgs,( a local hot dog place near BYU campus) 3 times a week. Wow.

So on Saturday night the five of us (Ellie included!) decided to go to Guru's for dinner.  Guru's is a restaurant decorated with really cool modern art and they have a variety of good stuff to choose from.  Their sweet potato fries are THE best and really the main reason we ever go to Guru's although I happen to love everything about it.

  While at dinner, another mission buddy, Geoff (we pronounce it G-off),showed up by surprise with a date. They joined our table and while they were eating their sweet potato fries, some guy made an announcement that there would be karoake that night! We once tried to find a place that did karoake and all we came up with was Applebee's on Tuesday nights. Random. 

Sooo...we were pretty excited and after listening to a guy with a glow stick around his neck sing two or three songs, Andrew, Geoff, and Matt decided to get up there and show everyone how it's done.  I wish I had brought the camera!!  Andrew chose Kelly Clarkson's "Since you been gone" and he and Geoff sang their little hearts out while Matt did some dancing.  When they got on stage they made sure to point to us so that everyone would know we were with them. I don't think any of them will be making it onto American Idol anytime soon.

The next day when Matt and Sarah came over, the first thing that Matt said to Andrew was, "Did you feel like an idiot when you woke up this morning?" hahaha..

Andrew specifically asked me to write about this, because he doesn't want to forget how awesome it was..Guru's karoake night will be seeing us again soon.

http://www.guruscafe.com/     LOVE it!

Adventures in Ikea part 2

Since we moved into this house last August we've been overwhelmed with several different remodeling projects.  Andrew's parents own the house and are SO kind to let us live here. They have allowed us to do whatever we want to make it feel more like home to us.  It's taken a lot of time and work and forgiveness (when we all learned that I am not gifted in choosing good paint colors) haha.  When Andrew's mom Marti and I first found the house we were ecstatic.  It wasn't the brown paneling or outdoor carpet that made us so excited, but the POTENTIAL of what could be..I think we both walked into this house and caught the vision of an opportunity to create within these walls.  It has a really open floor plan which we love and the 4 bedrooms allows us to welcome guests on short notice.  I wish I had pictures of the "before" because the "after" is pretty remarkable.  

So on our date night to Ikea, Andrew and I had a blast picking out new furniture and decor to spice up the house and make it look more like we live here.  At one point I was so tired from walking, I sat down on some cushions that were in between two huge boxes. The cart with Ellie's carseat was in front of me and without realizing it, it was blocking anyone from seeing me.  Andrew had gone off to look at something so I was talking on the phone.  Through the cart I could see this couple walking very, very slowly in front of me and then all of a sudden the woman saw me and said, "Oh! I'm so happy to see you...I was wondering who on earth would leave their baby alone in Ikea!"...glad to know there are such observant people out there that are watching out for my baby! I am also equally relieved that upon seeing no adult nearby, they did not try to kidnap her. I think we all know that would not have gone down well.

Anyway...here are some pics of the house! More will eventually follow as I finish painting and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...

This is the front room...the paintings on the wall were a great Ikea find :) The yellow wall was actually brown paneling that we quickly painted over. The house also has a few really big mirrors..like this one over the fireplace.  We're going to make a frame for it with some dark wood so that it will stand out more.  Usually the couch and rug are spread out more..not sure why they're so close together in this picture.

Here is our dining area although we rarely dine here.  The kitchen is to the right, but it was messy so I didn't take a picture of it.  The white cabinet was also formerly brown..an awful brown that was proof this house lived through the 70's.  My mother in law painted it white and I'm so glad she did because it really brightens up the room.  Also, the chandelier came with the house and was transformed from a rusted, brass disaster into something I'm proud to have hanging over my table.  I think I will take the clock down eventually and put up some family pics in unique frames.

:

BIG thanks to the guys who helped us move this extremely heavy piano, (from a 3rd floor I might add) while I was pregnant.  It's the first thing you see when you walk into our house and we love it! Someday maybe someone will live here that knows how to play it :)

More pictures to come featuring our new Ikea stuff! Love!