So true... especially while at BYU.

My dear friend and BYU roommate Lindsay sent this to me a few weeks ago, and it cracked me up. This video reminds me so much of BYU- just because the students don't swear doesn't mean they don't have their own made up faux swear words. Truth: My go-to faux swear was freakin-a.

Just another family outing.

One of our family's new year's resolutions is to have a family outing of some sort once each week. You see, Ben and I do a lot of trading off. "You hang out at home with Dylan while I go to the gym" or "You take Dylan to the store with you and I'll go to the other store myself." Lots of things being done, but not much out of house activities done all together. Most of the time, it's much easier that way. Dylan doesn't want to be schlepped all over town. We do realize that our family has been lacking in outings together, which we're working on. 

A few days ago the three of us made a quick jaunt to the new Yogurtland close to our house. I had heard from a coworker that it was even better than Farr's, so we had to try it out. 

{Sidenote: I was actually going to put the real distance (such as .35 miles, etc) between my house and Yogurtland, but I decided not to, as I am constantly in fear that some of my work clients are actually reading this blog on the sly... paranoid much?}

Anyway, we went to Yogurtland for some dessert. All things considered, I don't think I got the best impression of the place- it didn't help that there were 30 really annoying college students just standing around and yacking like a bunch of idiots. Seriously, get out of the way! I'm trying to get to the yogurt and you're just standing there!  

At least the yogurt was cheap and delicious, right?

Currently...

Reading

Girls... this book is hilarious. I'm about 2/3 through the book and I love it. Funny stories about Mindy Kaling and how she came to be an adult, professional writer, actress. 

Painting

I just picked up this happy color on my last Target run. It's Essie's Play Date. The color is  bright without being obnoxious or teeny popper looking. I think the main thing I loved about this color was how it reminded me of springtime. If you haven't noticed, I am officially over winter. 

Listening

I think that this album was released sometime around 2007, but I'm just now discovering the loveliness that is Missy Higgins. Thanks to Pandora internet radio for helping me stumble upon her. 

Eating

A few weeks ago while watching The Biggest Loser they were making a yummy dinner of stuffed peppers. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I finally got around to making them on Wednesday night. They were delicious! I'm still getting used to ground turkey, as I keep thinking that it should taste just like ground beef (newsflash: it doesn't, but that's not a bad thing). The recipe was quick, easy, and healthy to boot. Get the recipe here. 

Coveting

J Crew has the most chic, gorgeous pencil skirts around. I've been dying to purchase one of the No. 2 pencil skirts, but alas, the price tag of  $120 is a lot more than I'm willing to spend. Anyone want to contribute to my pencil skirt fund? I think that I'd be more willing to spend a pretty penny on skirts if I wore them every day for work, but I usually only wear them on Sundays to church, or occasionally to court if the mood strikes me. The price per wear is not low enough to justify.... darn you family budget. 


Alright friends, I've had it with my lame "picture and a little blurb" posts. I promise that I'll be writing something of substance in the near future... or at least something that actually documents the life of me and the fam... or maybe just a legit question/opinion about things? I dunno. 

Welcome winter!

{Dylan's first play in the snow experience}

The title of this post is a little misleading, as I never welcome winter. I prefer that we stick with the seasons spring, summer, and fall. At most, I will tolerate one week of winter weather with 7 days of pretty, fluffy white snow. After that week, it's back to spring. I told this to Ben, and he said that it sounded like I wanted to move to California. Maybe?
Either way, winter has finally descended on Utah- freezing temps and all. One thing that makes me smile little more about winter is Dylan's reaction to it all. He thinks that snow is just so cool and yells, "Snowman!" about 20 times each day. Mind you, he has never built a snowman, but he does seem to understand that you make a snowman with snow.

 

{Chicken Tikka Masala}

Holy delicious. Last night I made this Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner and boy was it amazing. Ben and I both love Indian food, so this dinner was one that we loved. The only modification I made to the recipe was broiling the skewered chicken rather than grilling it, as it was snowing outside and I didn't want to deal with a grill. Plus, our grill is out of propane. Therfore, no grilling last night. The chicken tasted great broiled, but I thik that grilling would make things even better. This recipe required me to buy something I had never bought before- ginger root. Seriously weird looking root, but it was easy to peel with a vegetable peeler, and also easy to mince.

Did you all watch The Bachelor on Monday night? I am excited to say that I was at the Clay Walker concert that was part of Ben and Jennifer's date. I went with some of my favorite girls, Stacey and Jessica, as well as one of Stacey's friends. It was a very odd experience, seeing some behind the scenes Bachelor production. Lots of cameras, everything very choreographed. The crowd was told where Ben and date would be walking, what the crowd would need to do, etc. Poor Clay Walker was just a prop in the date- he practiced the same two songs for about 30 minutes before Ben and Jennifer came down, and then he was finished as soon as Ben and Jennifer left the concert. A very interesting experience that I loved being part of!

Have a great week, lovelies!

Another random post...

1. I have successfully broken all but 4 of my cereal bowls. 8 bowls have perished. Instead of dwelling on my clumsiness, I'm choosing to instead get excited about buying some new cereal bowls. I'm planning on buying these lovelies:

{Anthropologie}

2. A while back Ben and I had a stupendous DYAC moment. I still laugh about it!

{And no, I don't call Ben "daddy." It's connected to a picture of Dylan}


3. I just discovered that I know someone famous! 

This is absolutely ridiculous. For months and months I've heard the Neon Trees song "Animal" on the radio. I think I even downloaded it on iTunes. Great song. While listening to the radio the other day, the DJ said something like, "Utah's own, Neon Trees." This was news to me. I decided to Wikipedia the band, and it turns out that the drummer Elaine is one of my former co-workers! True story! When I worked with her she was drumming for a different band, and we lost touch after graduation in 2007, but for about two years we had the same campus job at BYU.  For the record, she's super cool and nice. Unfortunately, the 5th most embarrassing moment of my life involves her. But that's a different story for a different day. 

4. I am obsessed with these:

Viva paper towels. I love these paper towels so much and I always have them on hand. They work so much better than all of the other brands that I'm willing to pay $10 for a 6-pack. I am also obsessed with paper towels in general, as I refuse to use wet dish rags in my kitchen. I can't stop thinking about the germs that I would be spreading around my kitchen using the same rag over and over. Bleh. That's why I go through rolls and rolls of paper towels every week. Wasteful? Probably. 


 Can you believe that it's already Thursday? I love short work weeks! 
Have a great day, friends! Be nice to people and smile more than usual. I dare you.

Starting off my big plans.

Now that life has settled back into a normal routine, I have renewed my efforts toward decorating our home. My biggest project right now is finding a fabric for kitchen curtains, and I don't really love anything that I've found in stores. I went to fabric.com in search of the perfect fabric, and I'm not sure if I've found it yet. Here is a peek at the samples I ordered, as well as two of my kitchen windows.

 My favorite of the group is the top left, Ben's is the middle middle. I'm not completely sold on either. If you didn't already know this, I am obsessed with chevron. Yes, I know that it's ridiculously trendy right now, but I just love it anyway. Unfortunately, none of these chevrons work. The gray clashes with the greige (gray + beige) wall, the turquoise is just too matchy, and the cerulean (looks royal blue in the picture) one doesn't look right either. Maybe I should start looking for fewer prints and more solids with a great texture, or a fabric with a very subtle pattern?

My kitchen's little dining area. The flowers are a lovely gift from Ben's Aunt Carrie. So nice! I need curtains for these two windows, plus a little window above my sink. I don't want to do panels... I would prefer some type of valence. Any opinions are welcome!

{hello, creepy cat}


I finally got my hair cut and colored this morning. Hooray! I usually go in every 8 weeks, and by the time I hit that 7 or 8 week mark I am itching to get my hair done. My hair girl is moving to Nevada in June, which means that I'll need to find a new hair person after that. Any recommendations on a great stylist in the Provo/Orem area?

I just started reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block, as we have officially reached the difficult toddler stage. Dylan really is a well behaved boy, but about 5% of the time he can be really whiny, tantrumy, etc. I just want to know the best way that I can deal with this as a parent, and hopefully raise a "patient, respectful, cooperative" little Dylan. So far the book makes a lot of sense and has already helped me. 

Have a great weekend, friends!

Life lately.

My life has finally reached the post-holiday slow down, which I am loving. As excited as I am to celebrate the holidays and decorate, I am always ready to take things down too. Here are a few things happening in my life lately...

1. One of my goals for 2012 is to greatly reduce my impulse shopping. Seriously, Ben almost cringes when he hears that I went to Target, because he knows that no matter how long or short my shopping list is, I leave with a cart full of stuff and we are $100 poorer. Must not deviate from the shopping list. 

2. Dylan has been saying the funniest things lately. Yesterday he and Ben were playing and Dylan kept saying, "Good one, Daddy." Melts my heart. Today he was riding his little bike around the house (wearing his fireman's hat and Mr. Potato Head glasses of course) saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Do you think he hears that phrase a lot?

3. I am a complete Reality Steve junkie, and I was so happy to see his announcement of the next Bachelorette. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but take note that I think this girl is just fabulous. Go to Reality Steve to find out more. 


4. I have also become a Pinterest junkie. Here are some of  my favorite pins as of late:

First of the month dinner celebration: January!

I know that I haven't posted about these dinners for a few months, but yes, they are still happening. On January 1 I made an amazing dinner of rib eye, mashed potatoes, honey-glazed carrots, and rolls. I even fancied things up by actually putting down a tablecloth... woo woo! The flowers are from Benjamin for our anniversary a few days prior. After dinner Ben and I made our goals for 2012. We have split our goals into categories: Marriage, parenthood, home, spiritual, financial, physical with two goals per category. We signed our goal contract, in hopes that we'll stick to everything that we discussed. 

 This is my favorite smile. What a handsome husband I have!

 Happy New Year!

And then there's Dylan. Silly boy has been making the funniest faces lately. Of course he didn't eat a bite of the delicious dinner. I think he had something disgusting like Chef Boyardee's ravioli, his absolute favorite. 

Beauty product update.

Good afternoon, friends!

Remember the time when I raved about how amazing and life changing Tresemee dry shampoo was? Well, I have recently discovered a dry shampoo that I love even more, and I am not one to keep an awesome product a secret.

There was nothing really wrong with the TRESemme dry shampoo, but I was starting to feel like it wasn't working as well as it did in the beginning. My hair no longer looked rejuvinated after a few sprays, and I often felt gross with my second day hair. Also, the darn thing would always get clogged. Grrr!

I started looking into some other brands such as Bumble and Bumble and Oscar Blandi for their dry shampoos, but after reading a lot of reviews (as well as seeing the much higher prices) I decided that I wasn't sold on either. As luck would have it, I found something that pointed me in the right direction. I was clicking around the interwebs and I came across a beauty blog (can't remember which one, blast!) that said that the Suave dry shampoo was much better and much cheaper than the other brands.

I didn't need any further persuasion- I went to Target the next day to get myself a bottle. And you know what? I love it! It is powerful, mess-free, and has a yummy grapefruit smell. So that's where I'm at on the dry shampoo front- off team TRESemme, and on team Suave.

And while I'm on the subject of beauty products, can I just give a hats off to my fab husband for getting me the best beauty set for Christmas?

I am in love with the Laura Mercier Mini Edition Lip Glace Set. The colors are all perfect. Seriously, not a dud in the bunch. Perfect amount of shine, perfect amount of pigment. My favorite colors are the two on the right, but really all five are great. If you're in the market for new lip color, check these out.

New Year's Eve with a little one.

This year we had a very low-key New Year's.

Take out from CPK.

Singing, candles, and cake.

Confetti poppers.

Martinelli's.

Bed by 10:30.

That's what happens when you have a little one and become a complete homebody, I suppose. Getting dressed up and going out sounds fun and glamorous, but I prefer a quiet night home with my favorite boys. 

Happy New Year, friends! I know that 2012 is going to be wonderful!

December Birchbox.

I can't believe that I haven't posted about my December Birchbox yet! This month's box had some good and some eh, and I'm happy to tell you all about it. Here's what was in the box:

-L'Oreal Professional Mythic Oil

- Befine gentle cleanser

- EBOOST orange natural energy booster

-Showstoppers fashion tape

-Harvey Prince Yogini perfume

-Jouer pink lip gloss

I loved....

The hair oil- made my hair super shiny and sleek!

The lip gloss- a great color that can be layered for more brightness.

I liked...

The cleanser- it smelled amazing and made my skin feel quite soft, but it was a little more gentle than what I prefer. I like a face wash with a little exfoliation in it.

The energy booster- it tasted alright, but I have no interest in spending money on energy drinks or mixes.

I was so-so...

The fashion tape. I have no use for it, simple as that.

The perfume. It actually smells very nice, but after putting it on I thought, "This smells so familiar. Wait, I smell exactly like my Grandma Bartnett!" Not that it's a bad thing- she's a classy lady who always smells nice... but she's also about 80 years old. Just sayin.

Has it really been seven years?

A few notes about this picture:

1. The reason why we were cracking up is we could not cut the cake, since we were unknowingly trying to cut the plastic layer-divider thing. For a minute I was afraid that we had ordered a cement cake on accident.

2. That cake topper. Oy. It originally belonged to my sister from her wedding, and I couldn't find one that I wanted for my cake. I lost interest in finding an acceptable topper, so we took my sister's topper and we painted the groom's black hair a light orange to match Ben and stuck it on our cake. Seriously, the topper looks like it's from 1993. 

3. Holy cow, we were babies. I got married 20 days after my 20th birthday. Caaaraaaazy. 

About our 7th anniversary:

1. We went to the funeral of Ben's uncle that morning. Nothing like a funeral to put a damper on an anniversary. (This is the second funeral we have attended on our anniversary- his grandpa's on our 1st anniversary)

2. Ben got me flowers, I got him nothing. Bad wife. 

3. After the funeral, approximately 20 of Ben's relatives (some that I know very well and love, some that I had never met prior to that day) ended up at my house. 

4. My wonderful MIL offered to watch Dylan in the midst of the family togetherness so that Ben and I could go out. She didn't have to ask us twice!

Happy 7th Anniversary, Benjamin! I love you more today!

Ay-ay-ay.

The past week and a half has been ridiculously busy and packed with fun and not-so-fun. I want to blog about so many things, but I feel like the task of catching up is quite daunting. I'm planning on posting these things:

-7th wedding anniversary and our full house

- New Year's Eve as the parents of a little one

-New Year's Day/1st of the month dinner

-2012 goals

-2011 reading in review

Whew, it's exhausting just to see the list of things I want to catch up on! My goal is one post per day until I can get caught up. Getting. It. Done. 

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite truths as of late:

Happy Monday, friends!