Florida

This year to celebrate my birthday I jumped on a plane and flew to England, found platform
3 & 3/4 and took the Hogwarts Express to Hogmeade. It was my most magical birthday yet!

First stop Hogwarts! What a castle, the pictures talked and moved. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all disappeared under the invisibility cloak and then just as easily reappeared. Dumbledore gave us advice and we went on the most amazing flight with Harry.

Then we explored all of the stores in Hogsmeade, just as I imagined them.

Even the Weasleys Joke shop- Zonkos

At the Owl Post we sent our jealous family and friends postcards with the postmark-Hogsmeade!

Lunch of course was at The Three Broomsticks

The Butterbeer was delicous

Of course what would a birthday be without Dr. Seuss- we share a birthday month.

Then we wandered through Jurassic Park

And found some looneytoons

Happy 29th Birthday to Me, Florida I love you!

My favorite Florida memories from 4 years ago, and the 4 years before that were mornings at the Farmers Market, Exploring new towns, shopping, beach days, spotting alligators, seafood, and of course gazing at the ocean. Thanks to the Jefferson Womens Getaway (thanks again dad) I was able to experience all of my favorite Florida memories with my mom and sisters, grandma, 4 aunts, and 15 cousins. Afterwards I decided I rather like vacationing with the girls, as opposed to Brad- Brad knows how to have a travel adventure but only girls know how to shop, lunch, and relax.

The Daytona Farmers Market

I got my favorite Kettle Corn and tested the different types of Oranges

Exploring St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US settled by the Spaniards

Lunch was at the Columbia

New coastal hobby= Lighthouse Spotting

St. Augustine

Daytona

Driving on the Beach in Aunt Tony's fancy ride

Hat buddies

R&R= Pedicures

D.J's for fresh Seafood

Titusville- My Favorite Cafe Chocolate

Alligator Spotting- HUGE and in the wild

Kennedy Space Center- "the 1st line of defense in case invaders- are the gators"

Cape Canaveral- my favorite beach

One last dance in the ocean

The Remodel

Before when you walked into our condo you saw this

It was a cute kitchen but old...

I did love my GE refrigerator and wall oven though,

And now after a lot of this


We are happy to have a new kitchen and bathroom. Wow what a January!

Thank you family and friends who gave us a place to stay for 4 weeks while our water was off, and helped us paint, and fed us meals. Thank you neighbors who provided us with water while we painted our home. Thank you to our cheerful efficient hard working contractor. Thank you to all the good people at Home Depot, Lowes, and Ikea who patiently worked with our novice abilities and helped us learn new skills. A lot of stress and hard work was worth it in the end.

Brad's Memories of January 2012- Breaking down the wall, 2 trips to Lowes in West Valley and whoops there goes the Vanity top" the HeMan moment", reverting back to college with Josh as a roommate, Foosball tournaments, watching Jazz games with Josh and Dad, learning how to "paint"

Mary's Memories of January 2012- Too many trips to IKEA, Home Depot, and Lowes after work, Crazy busy schedule and then oh sure I will accept that new calling in the YW presidency not realizing that life could get more insanely busy- ha ha , a very special blessing, learning more than I ever wanted to know about countertops, cabinets. vanities, ect, "Am I being neurotic?"- Yes", Curse Pars- how do you accidentally ship a vanity top to Portland, walking into Lowes and saying " I need a 60 inch vanity tonight- thankyou Dennis from Lowes, Angie telling me remodeling stages are similar to the grief cycle- then realizing I went through every single one.

Christmas 2011

A change is needed in our lives... so- crazy as we might be- we are joining the pull your hair out stressed group of home remodelers. Starting January our lives will be flipped upside down as well as our home. It's funny when you pack up your entire home (well most of it) and your life is in disarray you realize the things that matter most- loving Brad and laughing with friends and family. I'm grateful for the calming peace and joy the Christmas season brings. We look forward to 2012 and the adventures it will bring.

November 2011

Is November really over? It seems like it just flies by. We will remember November as the emotional roller coaster month of 2011. After 3 1/2 years of marriage there is bound to be an emotional roller coaster month. Lessons continue to be learned, plans we've made are thrown out the window and people are brought into our lives to help us grow. We are liking more and more this time and place in our lives and look forward to a future of all sorts of people to love and experiences to have.

November, Mom and I practiced and performed the Messiah with the Holiday Interfaith Choir. It was an experience of unity and faith I will never forget.

We spent time with the Dennis family over Thanksgiving, Syd and I sang Christmas songs, the boys and I made pizzas with playdough, and we played too many games of Rook.

We enjoyed the lights and cultural nativity(s) at Temple Square with our friends Kenny & Karla. Brad found Arabic and Turkish Nativity paper lanterns- his two languages.

And when we put up Christmas this year my favorite addition was my Nativity... I love it!

Foo Fighters, Witchfest, Costumes, & Donuts

October has been a fun month. It started out with the best concert we have ever been to- Foo Fighters! They played for 3 hours, every song we knew and more. Brad told me I'm the "coolest wife ever." I'm realizing now he says this whenever we go to a rock concert and I suppose it does reinforce the habit. We left with scratchy voices and a slight ringing in our ears-the good kind.


Mom, me and Angie put on our Witch attire and did a photo shoot and Witches Night Out

For Halloween we dressed up as Lucy & Charlie Brown. And the girls at work and I led the Halloween Parade as Beauty Queens- Miss Behave, Miss Take, Miss Hap, and Miss Alaneous

Halloween night we celebrated with Mom and Dad J making home made donuts and watching Hocus Pocus. It was our first time making home made donuts, they turned out great and were lots easier than anticipated. And we made them with Soy Milk so Brad could eat as much as he wanted. The only problem was they were do delicious we ate too much.