replenishing the earth

I changed my side profile under Mrs.

I was reading it to Derek, and in a concerned voice he said "Creating babies with the Mr? Is that really what you put?" when I read the part that said babies, creating, and the Mr. are what she loves most.

I was dying. I think I might switch around the things that I love so others don't get confused as well.

Also, I had a dream last night that I had a baby. It was the craziest and coolest thing. Makes me excited to have a baby. Only I hope that Derek can be there and hope that I can bring my baby home unlike my dream. It was a little weird.

Happy Conferencing!

blog name generator

I've been trying to think of blog names. You all know how bipolar I am with headers and titles.

Well, for fun I found a blog name generator.

It suggests that our blog be titled...

SEXY COLUMN

What do you guys think? Should we go for it? Kidding. But we did get a good little giggle out of that.

My need list

I'm noticing a pattern. And I don't love it.

I feel like I always have something on my "need"(want) list. I think that once I get that, I'll be happy, life will be better, and my need list will be empty for a while. But I'm noticing the list somehow always has something new on it. I need face moisturizer, I need a nicer camera, we just need one more couch cause one isn't enough if anyone else is here, life will be easier when D is done with school, life will be easier when we have a house, once we have a sweet little baby life will be bliss, I need a smaller purse cause mine was too big, etc.

Well guess what. I got the purse. Now I need a bigger one cause my purse is too small.

May I ask if any of you feel this way?

Will the list ever end? Probably not. So instead I think I need an attitude change. I think it's ok to want things, as long as we're happy in the now. We need to live in the now and enjoy it. We can't win this time back! I'm in New York City for crying' out loud! So many people would kill to be here, to have their husbands so close to finishing school, and to have a husband as hot as mine. ;) So much of this adventure is trying, overwhelming, and exhausting. Yet so much is beautiful, wonderful, and "once in a lifetime".

So live it up we shall and enjoy the now we will.

Also, I just read this book and LOVED it. It's about running a business. Sounds BORING right? It totally rocks. If you like photography, sewing, designing, software, finance, ANYTHING, this book is for you.

Need more tonights

Tonight was a good night. We read books by the river, jogged to the other end of the island, I made dinner, we watched biggest loser. These productive evenings are rare, and shouldn't be, because they feel so great.

Also, proactiv is now a part of our lives and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Anyone have experience with proactiv?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree

I love spring. The flowers, the smell, and motivation to get fit for summer. It's my second favorite season. Fall is my first. What's yours?

Oh yeah, and I went to Utah for the weekend to see my best friend get married. She was so lovely. And I was extremely productive so it made for a well worth while trip.

PS...for those of you I promised a design. Don't give up on me. I'm still waiting for my adobe programs. But when they show up, I'll get on that ASAP. Promise.

XOXO,
Mandy

So much love

NYC loves us. We've totally lived it up in New York this last week. We're having such a great time with my lovely cousin and her hubs. We've been to empire, the museum of natural history, hit up some israeli, Thai, and pizza restaurants, canal street shopping, 9/11 memorial, late night movies, and taking pictures galore. We sure love them. And this place.

And to the many who have requested design...things have been so crazy with family here. Please be patient. And still love me. Xoxo

Oh yeah, and if you're wondering how the cockroaches are doing, they're surviving just fine and multiplying and replenishing the earth unbelievably well! Me? TICKED. It's really gettin old, and they're gettin on my bad side. Don't mess. Oh wait, they already did. Watch out management. I'm comin for you.

One of those days

I don't want pitty, just to vent. I'm having one of those days where I feel like I just need to cry.

I know you know what I'm talking about. We all have them. And sometimes we don't know why. Or we come up with every small thing to justify the feeling. My reasons are all completely legitimate though I'm sure. ;)

Tonight I'm going to make the best of it by eating our untouched ice cream in the fridge and watching HGTV.

After I do the laundry, and do a daily apt run through collecting dead and alive cockroaches. Mostly babies. You can see all the babies in the picture below. They are not as gross as the big suckers thank goodness, but they mean we've got nests(mucho problemo). It's been an adventure. But I'm feeling grateful its not mice. :)

Intern Walker

The Mr got a sweet internship. It was a very competitive position. And he blew them all away with his creativity. Today is his first day on the job. I can't wait to see him tonight and hear how it went.

We got color on our canvases! Now we're just trying to decide if we should do a second coat or leave it streaky... We haven't decided yet. I have a hard time waiting so we may be ripping the tape off and leaving it be. I can't wait! PS...I highly recommend painting. Its so fun, especially with your favorite person.

My bestie

Weekends are SO good. Better than they've ever been. I love them here. There is never ending fun and they are so relaxing. I have a million different things to write about. But I won't ramble. We have a favorite restaurant picked out, The Riverwalk. It's so yummy, conveniently on the island, and not too expensive! But we also love our Thai places... Mmmm.

Guess who I saw tonight!!!! Kaitlin!!! It was so great seeing her. Gosh I love that girl. We went and found her at a fireside she was at in Queens. :)

We started our canvases! I'm so excited. But kind of nervous. But mostly excited. We also got a killer deal on a beautiful big gray shag rug. We're in love.Our place is very simple but looking pretty good! Ill have to give you a tour when it's more complete!

The weather in incredible. And two of our favorite people are coming to stay this week! Can't wait!

Opinions please!

So a couple comments from my last post lead me to thinking more about what I should get. I can choose between a lot of different adobe software. I love designing headers, invitations, cards, things like that. I also want to get into photography when I have a nicer camera someday.

What programs have you experienced and what would you recommend?

I can choose from the following...

Illustrator
Acrobat Pro
Photoshop Elements
Premiere Elements

I would love some feedback because I only get to choose one and I have to let her know ASAP! Thank you!!

Sidenote: we are having a safari birthday for little Jack today. Here's a peek at what is all over today.

We

both wear glasses

always go to bed at the same time...ALWAYS later than planned

love our shows

enjoy designing

love NYC

like dreaming big

AND....

are so thankful to Mary Shaw for getting us Adobe Photoshop for practically free!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

This is SUCH a blessing. I have wanted it forEVER! I now need it for work but was having a hard time wanting to pay for it when we have SO many things to pay for right now, "like such as" education, surgery, flying back and forth all the time, and living in a crazy expensive city. We could never thank her enough!!!

This also means...I can design all of those headers for you guys with something more advanced than Picnik!! Did I really just admit that I use that for everything? Yeah, lame. But I am forever grateful to Picnik. I will miss them. I can't wait to get my Photoshop in the mail!!

Enjoying it

First off I want clarify that I don't "let" Derek post, I beg him to post. I enjoy his posts.

We totally lived it up last weekend. Friday, we met up after my work for a hot date. We headed to the Museum of Modern Art. It was lovely. Interesting, weird, fabulous, and lovely. And YES, we saw the real Vincent Van Gogh art piece. Uh-mazing! We also walked candy lined walkways. People really just walk through, pick up a piece, eat it, and then throw their garbage on the ground. It was so cool. Then we went to get some delicious pizza at Pizza Arte or something like that. It was seriously incredible.

Saturday we lounged like crazy until 4:00. We did some Kenpo in our little living room having to move and adjust so we didn't kick each other, and then sped off to the salon to get Derek's hair(s) cut and to check out an eye place for me to get my eyes checked.

Sunday was church. Our ward feels more like a Utah ward than our Salt Lake Ward did. Our SL ward was the bomb. Seriously. Free bagels for the ward and homeless people after church, the coolest stained glass windows, a time capsul including Gordon B Hinckley, parents on the floor with their children during sacrament, every race imagineable, nearly-dead and newlywed, and we never felt like people were judging us or others. It was totally awesome. Here, the talk of church is how amazing Lone Peak basketball is (I admit, I am a proud alumni), people are talking about their Highland, Provo, South Jordan wards, everyone looks the same. Caucasian, long hair, honker high heels, cliquey or no talking at all, etc. But people do have a great sense of fashion. We love the bishop. We love the sense of adventure. But we haven't met anyone. Everyone kinda keeps to themselves, their phones, or their besties. It's kinda cool cause it totally follows the NY lifestyle. People know how to get things done. I think the ward will grow on us. I like everyone, I just don't know any of them. :) but they all seem like lovely people. Especially the lady who snores as loud as snoring gets in the back of Sunday School every week. HILARIOUS. I'll have to take a picture of the outside of our building. You'd never know a church was there!

I, with the help of Derek, have made some yummy recipes lately. The other day we had these chewiest and yummiest coconut cookies. If you like coconut you have to try. Last night we had this Vegetable Stew. It was very yummy and very healthy. I have hard feelings towards it now though, cause I got sick soon after. Derek didnt' get sick so I know it has nothing to do with the stew, but they now are associated in my mind. Bummer.

Today... Today I am home sick. I was up all night with a fever and stomach flu. So I am going back to bed. But this weekend we're painting our canvases. I'm SO excited. We're making a stop motion video of it to share with you.

Also, I'm a proud weight loser of 7 pounds. Woo! I feel good. I've been eating healthier than I have my whole life. I still crave pizza, cereal, and fatty foods, but I'm hoping that craving goes away with time???

Have a good week everyone!

Also, if you requested a header, make sure to email me at amandawalker90@gmail.com with what you want on it! I got a lot of requests, and i'm gone all day working, so don't expect them extremely soon. I apologize. But they ARE on your way! Also, THANK YOU for giving me confidence in myself by trusting me to design a blog header for you. It really means a lot. xoxo

Oh yeah, look what I woke up to. My sweetie woke up early, walked in the freezing cold to the market, and got me this along with some Chicken Noodle Soup. Gosh I scored myself a good doctor and lover!

a shout out to christian rock

Hey guys

So... What's up? Amanda finally let me do a blog post today. NYC has been awesome. My classes are sweet and the class sizes are really small which is something I have never experienced before.

I have been working on some building designs lately, and when I do so, it is important that I get in the "zone." This means big headphones and loud music. It is like a total escape for me.

So today I was listening to the band "run kid run," a christian band, when I paused to think about all the great Christian rock bands that have influenced my life.

This first and foremost is MXPX. The very first album I ever bought was MXPX's Let it Happen. I will never forget the first time listening through it when I was 11 years old. I was amazed at how every single song sounded the same. Of course it grew on me overtime and since then I have purchased every single album MXPX has put out (nearly 20).

Some other greats include Waking Ashland, Anberlin, Copeland, Mae, mewithoutYou, Emery, Underoath, and Relient K. Most great Christian rock bands are under the label Tooth and Nail.

Most people don't realize that a lot of these bands are with Christian rock labels. It's just one of those little known facts that I happen to know.

Anyways, I thought it was a good opportunity to give a shout out to Christian rock and personally thank them for what they have done for me, my listening pleasure, and my salvation.

Love,

Derek