Holidays with the babe...

Christmas time feels so different this year! Not only are we enjoying the amazing Arizona winter (it hung around 70 degrees all week), but we have a new member in our family to enjoy it with! She looked so darling in her little "Christmas dress" yesterday, that I couldn't help but take some pictures. We love you Myla bean!

Notice the smiles... they are getting more and more frequent!

I also finally got some pictures of her amazing stretching yesterday! She loves to stretch... and stretch... and stretch...

Last night we got to go look at the lights at the Mesa temple with some friends! Their baby is just 2 months older than Myla and he is seriously a handsome little man. I love the picture of Chris & Brian - just daddies hanging out with their babies (and it's pretty funny that Cohen looks absolutely terrified while looking at Brian - ha!)!

Sebastian's first Christmas!

Snapped a few more pictures of this handsome little man on his first Christmas! If he looks familiar, it's probably because I got to do my very first photo shoot with him a little while ago :) 

We were lucky enough to have good friends in town that we could share a Christmas brunch with. It was Brian and my first Christmas away from either one of our families and being able to spend time with our friends sure made it better!

Pirate Night!

We had been talking about doing a Pirate night for ages with our friends Suzie, Brian, Kristi, and Scott. Well, we finally did it a few weeks ago- complete with a Pirate movie (the inspiration for the night), pirate food (crackers, anyone?), an excessive amount of "aaaargh" usage, eye patches, stripes, and other pirate booty! Anyway, I just had to post these pictures of Suzie and Brian's cute little boy. I am seriously regretting not getting pictures of everyone.

He has the most pinchable cheeks!! He made the best pirate of all of us, that's for sure.

#13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have

Howdy ho!

Well, I haven't written in a while because I haven't really had too much to write about! I've been working a lot, helping Brian study for the DAT (trying), and trying to get in shape again. Ever heard of "spidermans"? They are killer. If you want a good ab workout, talk to me..

We had a good time on the 4th of July with some friends. We had the biggest burgers I had ever seen at a barbeque and then we watched the fireworks from Rock Canyon Park. While we weren't able to see any really big fireworks because we were far away, we were able to see about 5 different fireworks shows because from where we were at we could see the whole valley. I love fireworks! I am, however, surprised that they even had them this year after a good part of Utah was on fire.

Brian will probably be taking the DAT next Friday. If you have some spare time to pray, please say one on his behalf! He has studied so, so hard. Unfortunately, he is at a big disadvantage because he isn't a biology major and consequently is trying to learn in a month what they learn in a few years. I am so proud of how hard he is working! I am glad the end is in sight and then we can party!

I realized the other day that I never finished up my "30 questions" series. So, on to number thirteen!

13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.

1. Well, I have a weakness for Brian! Hehe... he makes me weak in the knees ;)

2. Sweets. Top three offenders: Ice cream, cookies, and brownies. I could pass on the chips any day of the week, but set a bowl of ice cream in front of me and my self control flies out the window. I'm trying to get better at that one.

3. Procrastination. I think I have gotten better at that one though.

4. I am sad to admit this, but I am not very great at good spiritual habits. I do really good for short spurts, but always go back to, well, not doing good.

5. Texting people back. If you are one of the people I have not texted back, you are not alone. I have a personal goal to get better at it!

For more of the questions, click here.

Cinco de Mayo, grocery deals, baby shower, & question #11

Sorry for the lapse in posting - honestly my mind has been elsewhere! But, I thought it was time for an update and a few photos at least! First of all, price matching at Walmart is way more fun than I thought... we got 10lb blocks of cheese for only $7.50! And not just any cheese... Cache Valley cheese! Mmmmm queso! Along with that we got lots of other fruit (watermelon at 6lbs/99cents and oranges for 5lbs/99cents, strawberries 1lb/99cents (we bought lots and lots and lots of strawberries) and felt pretty good about our deals. Not trying to be boring with a grocery update, but come on, the cheese was a great deal! Oh, and just so you know, if you wash your strawberries in 1 part white vinegar and 10 parts water, rinse them, and dry them well, they won't mold for a long time! The vinegar kills the mold-causing spores and makes your strawberries last :). Either that, or you can just freeze them and use them later for smoothies (which is what we did with all the ones that weren't going to the baby shower).

You can see 1/4 of one of the cheese blocks that was grated by our handy kitchenaid in the corner of the photo. And all those strawberries!

Andrea had her baby shower this weekend (so excited for her!) and I decided I wanted to make this because I was in charge of the fruit:

Fancy, huh?! 

Well, it turned out great (thanks to Brian's efforts) and it was tasty too. The baby shower was lots of fun and Andrea is just the cutest pregnant girl ever. She could have this little girl any day now! 

We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo this weekend and had some friends over for a fiesta. We started the night by making mustaches, ate lots of Mexy Food, and watched Nacho Libre. Good times.

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Oh, and the next question on my 30 questions project is: Describe 10 pet peeves you have
First ones that come to mind:

1. Loud chewing
2. Having to repeat myself more than once
3. Bad driving
4. Dirty dishes left to rot in the sink
5. Spoiled, snotty children
6. No toilet paper in the bathroom
7. Excessive use of the words "Like" and "you know" 
8. Traffic
9. Rude people
10. Getting my pants caught in the back of my shoes

#9. Ten influential people

9. List 10 people who have influenced you and why.

Brian Pearce

He gets the "best husband in the world" award! He helps influence me to be the best "me" I can be and reach for the stars.

Layne & Kelly Nielsen

 I owe so much to them. Read more about them and their influence on me here.

Dan & Jen 

My partners in crime! I don't know where I'd be without such great siblings :) Greatly thanks to them, I had a great childhood!

Danielle, Megan, & Andrea

My best friends! We've been through a lot together. Even though we don't all live near each other anymore, every time I talk to them it seems like we've never been apart!

Jesus 

My #1 role model who I hope influences my actions every single day!

Lee and Meg Donaldson

Best mission president and mission "mom" in the world! I survived the most difficult 18 months of my life with their help :)

Grandparents

Even though we never lived close to them, I always felt their influence on my life. Such wonderful examples of love, faith, and service!

Whoever invented ice cream. 

Enough said.

Tamara Leese

Probably my most inspirational teacher. She taught me to believe in myself, the good the world has, and in others.

Sister "B" (Bradford)

She inspired me to be an interesting and good person. Best Sunday school teacher ever!

Ok, that's more than ten - but that's 10 groups of people!

For more of the thirty questions, click here

Happy Birthday! (lots of photos...)

Some say that the older you get, the less excited you get about your birthday. 

False.

Or, at least not around here. A birthday is a good reason to celebrate, see good friends, eat delicious food, and... get spoiled a little bit :).

Because I have managed to survive 25 years (truly miraculous when you consider I've been in Utah for the last 5 years or so around all of these crazy drivers...)... Brian decided that he wanted to celebrate the fact that I am now a quarter of a century old. So... he woke me up with this GIGANTIC pile of chocolate chocolate-chip pancakes cut into "quarter" pieces. Yum!

Please ignore the hair doo... I just woke up!

I found a pile of quarters in my car. I was informed that these are to be used on the vending machines at grocery stores so I can buy tattoos to my heart's content!

Later I was sent to the tennis courts ("quarts"), where we play tennis and had to find a little present he left for me there. After I got to plop down on a blanket and read a good book. I am definitely enjoying the extra time I've had to read some books that I actually want to read for a change... and I am absolutely in love with the weather lately. Sunshine!! (Sorry, no picture of the courts, just some of my favorite shoes!)

Next I came home to a quart of ice-cream! Ohhh how I love icecream.

We had a fun party that night and finally busted the piñata we've been hoarding for over a year. It was time for him to go...

Yes, that is definitely a frying pan...

Inspired by one of the best movies ever!

We also had the option of using one of Brian's old crutches or a broomstick.

Hannah finally killed it!

Brian made me the coolest cake! I found it on Pinterest a while ago and told him I wanted it for my birthday. I couldn't believe he remembered!

Check out the colors! It's a rainbow cake!

Lots of things happened last year... got married, graduated, got a job... we'll see what age 25 brings!

our turquoise, pink, and yellow wedding reception

I finally have all of my wedding photos back! That's right... this means that there will be a few photo wedding posts in the near future! This one has loads of photos from our wonderful reception. I just love how the colors came together and I thought the venue was perfect for us! We had an ice cream sundae bar with delicious Creamery ice-cream and loads of toppings. Only downside to your own reception is that you don't have any time to eat the yummy food! 

ice cream sundae bar - yummy!

In LOVE with the centerpieces. We designed them to have floating lemons and candles with my favorite flowers - gerber daisies! They turned out even better than I expected :)

I just loved our cake, too! Brian's cousin, Chad, made it and I thought he did such a wonderful job... and it was seriously so tasty (chocolate with chocolate cream). Brian's aunt Sharlan did the flower arrangement on it. 

Sharlan also made our bouquets! She has talent!

Our rings on the tablecloths. I loved that our venue came with our choice of tablecloths - these were so classy!

Adorable wall-hanging given to us by Megan and Mike Stohl. Love!

Photo sign-in book. It's so fun to go back and read what "advice" everyone wrote! 

Brian's youngest sister, Annette, and niece Addy!

Daddy, Brian, Best Man Russell, and Dad #2

I was SO excited that Megan was able to come out for the wedding. We've known each other since freshman year and were roommates for 3 years and best friends forever!

I love my family!

Dan and Laura - helping to run the show!

Cutting the cake! 

Everyone watching the wedding video/slideshow. It was super fun!

*sigh...*

daddy-daughter dance! 

Ba haha! It looks like I'm going to eat his nose!

...and our first dance as a married couple!

time to get the garter!

guess who caught it? Brian's little cousin, Trevor! 

Best bouquet-catching picture ever!

and guess who caught it? My little cousin, Paige! 

SO happy that my best friends all growing up could come. Dani and 'Lex... we went through all those crazy elementary, middle, and high school years together! I was so lucky to have them.

And what would I do without my BFF Andrea?! She is amazing and I just love her!

mis amigas!!!

time to go on our honeymoon! Sparklers and bubbles along the way.

saying by to my amazing momma

and daddy!

... the beginning of happily forever after!