Lime Ricki Instahunt

We found the $80 gift card in Central Park! And by we I mean...my sweet husband. 

We were babysitting and Roxy called and told me about this Lime Ricki Instahunt through Instagram. They hid $80 gift cards in cities throughout the country, one in each city. Manhattan still hadn't been found when she told me about it at 8:30 PM, and we were babysitting right next to Central Park, so I stayed with the sleeping kiddos and sent the husband and dog on their way. I'll be honest, I was shocked he was up for it. He is SO nice. He walked ten blocks south, then braved the night of central park to the center where the fountain sits. 

We were scared for his safety, I tried to give him a knife, he wouldn't take it, we talked the whole way he walked, he ended up feeling totally safe, he updates me every minute on his progress, finally the Bethseda Fountain is in site, I'm freaking out, we're both freaking out, I'm convinced it'll be there, Derek doesn't think it will be, he gets there, there are tons of people for some odd reason, he uses his light to find the bench, he finds it, my heart is pounding, he's searching high and low, and suddenly his hand brushes across an envelope, and voila!!!

It's all ours!!!

I was shocked. I honestly never win giveaways of any kind, so this was a pretty exciting night. Couldn't have done it without my sista Roxo Foxo, and without my sweet husband willing to brave the park at night and go hunt for it. 

Now I'm having the dilemma of what to get in the $80 budget. I want to get Derek this cutest coral suit, but have one that I love too. But if we get both, it's more than $80. He couldn't care less about a suit, I could. He could use it more than me. What do you do?! Being lucky has it's trials too I guess. :p

My Mother-in-law

There are so many reasons I love this lady, but her humor has to be at the top of my list.

She has our tummies achin' from laughter over here!

that's what he said...

hey bloggering buddies-


how's it going? i couldn't resist just going crazy with the font. in an effort to stay trendy, i'm writing in helvetica and not capitalizing anything. 


some background before i jump into a story: i work as an intern for a real estate development and consulting firm here in the city. there are about 8 employees and then two interns. 


us two interns work back in the break room. what words would describe our space? windowless, echo-ee, and windowless. what other words describe it? lots of treats, unlimited in fact, and hanging out with my counterpart, heli. man oh man do we have some partying times back there. the administrative assistant is very good at keeping the snack supply well supplied. the best part is that all of these treats are literally like 3 steps away from my desk. everyone else has to walk down a long hall to get them, but not us!


anyways, my friend heli and i have lots of deep conversations while we are working away. the other day, he asked me what my childhood career dreams were. that is something i haven't thought about in a long time..


the earliest i remember is in first grade when i wrote a book report on neil armstrong. as you may have guessed, i wanted to be an astronaut. the combination of neil armstrong and my love for space ice cream fueled my passion. of course that passion didn't make past second grade, because by that time, my passion became writing stories. i had a series of stories about a boy who lived a second life fighting evil space dudes on various planets through the universe. all he had to do was look in his telescope in his room and he would be zapped up into space.


after my writing phase, i became obsessed with designing basketball and skateboarding shoes. i would literally sit in my room with paper and just design shoes over and over. i had my own brand called "dee's" with its own logo and everything.


designing shoes then carried over into designing skateboards, under the brand "skullz." once i moved to utah (age 10-11 ish), my brand name switched to "blackfip" and at one point i had actually talked to a skateboard manufacturer about starting my brand for real. i never pulled the trigger. what could have been, i wonder.


my love for skateboarding and skiing led me to a passion of filmmaking. my brother and i worked on skiing movies, snowskate movies, trampoline movies, skateboarding movies, and everything in between.


my passions have changed countless times since then, and continue to change all the time today. 


what are your childhood dreams?


love,
derek

A litte decor tour

Holy cow! Blogger has changed, and I'm loving it!

I'm also here to to give a small tour of some of our apartment decor.

***And yes, I did have fun playing around with the new blogger. Don't mind how obnoxious all the colors are ;)

Our pillows.

Our canvases painted by Derek and myself.

Lemon vase.

LOVE orchids.

Love our view of the garden.

Earl the owl.

I have a new love for plants. Maybe someday they'll be real ;)

Our willow tree couple my Father-in-Law gave me on V-day 2 years ago that I love so much.

(2 days after we got engaged)

Our magazine recycled mirror

My sparkly pear.

Got this vase for $2 on amazon.

This glass dice cube thing I found in a garbage bin near central park. Yes, the garbage.

I was desperate to put something in the smallest shadow box. That'll have to do for now.

And best for last, our lovely relax reminder made of newspaper by the Mr. Post about that HERE.

Please ignore the cluttered mess. We're still moving in. And probably will be till it's time to move out.

Also, does THIS make ya excited to have babies?

My surgery may or may not have allowed me to go through some of that, but coming home with NO baby. I choose taking home a baby next time. 

The ward and our new callings

Derek's been called as Bishop, and I'm Relief Society President.

Ha, gotcha! Thank heavens that's not true. Don't take that in the wrong way.

But we both have new callings. We're excited, nervous, and excited. Oh, and nervous.

I've been called as the Primary Music leader. Yay! It's going to be so much work, but a lot of fun. I went and watched the music leader today and I sure have big shoes to fill. She is DARLING. I hope everyone doesn't miss her too much when I'm the leader. :p

Derek has been called as the Young Men's 1st counselor! He'll be perfect and such a good example to those young men. And he told me they already have so many fun and crazy things planned for mutual, scout camp, etc. He gets to go mini golfing, wake boarding, and do all these fun things with the boys. I'm so jealous! Seriously, so not fair.

The ward: We like it, but we are sure missing our Salt Lake ward lots. Our ward here is like a fashion show every week and everyone seems to be from Utah, Arizona, or California. We had so much more diversity in our SL ward. I love the bishop though. He's the nicest guy and was actually in the same ward as Derek and I when we were little. Derek's dad was his young men's leader. Small world! And his wife is so great and so cute. She is a reporter for Fox news. We like them lots.

Happy Sunday to ya!

Meditation heaven

We truly live on the most perfect little island. I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else in NYC.

"Guys have you seen my guitar anywhere?!" - Derek

Thanks Grandma Walker for the rockin' picnic blanket.

Have you ever tried blueberry yogurt covered pretzels?

OH MY GOSH. I'm not kidding, they are so extremely addicting. I really might say they are my new favorite treat.

What NYC does to your shoes.

Fudge yeah!

I have a crazy love for fudge. If we're ever on a trip and there is a fudge shop, I have to go in and at least check it out. My love for fudge began in Nauvoo when I spent part of the summer there with my family performing in the Nauvoo Pageant. Another favorite fudge shop is in Waterton, Canada.

Well, I have always thought there is some big secret to making fudge.

Anyone else have this same idea?

It's SO easy.

I've put off making it for quite some time, worried that if I learned how, I'd make it all the time. It also takes away some of the excitement of getting it on special occasions. I made it anyways, and holy cow. It's so good. And so extremely unhealthy. I think it might have to just be a Christmas time tradition for our health's sake.

Also, did you notice anything extremely amazing and beautiful and fabulous and practically perfect about the pictures??? :)

We got our camera!! I still get butterflies when I'm taking pictures.

Here is the ultra easy but deliciously unhealthy recipe I used for the fudge.

Found here.

**One little tip I found very helpful. I lined my pan with foil instead of greasing it. I was able to just pull the foil out and lay it flat to cut with a pizza cutter once the fudge had set. MUCH easier and cleaner.

My "easy" life

I got a text from one of my favorite people in the whole world the other day saying...

"You're life is too easy. I hope you get pregnant with triplets. Haha."

I laughed. I laughed because it's funny, because she is funny, and because this last year has been an extremely hard year, but we keep on going with a smile and positive attitude as much as we can.

But how could life be hard? I am married to the man I've always dreamed of marrying, I've graduated college, I have a good job, I live in NYC, I was on TV, I'm healthy, and my blog and Facebook just seem like life couldn't get any better, right?

Well life is GOOD. It really is. It has it's ups and downs, and I'm loving the last few days, but my life isn't perfect, just in case you too thought it was. Nobody's is perfect.

And THAT'S why...

we need to be a friend to everyone. We need to support them, to love them, and to be there for them, even if they don't seem to need it one bit. I promise you they probably do.

How many times have I assumed, or judged someone and their actions, been jealous of their situation, etc? Oh, probably like a million times. Like every day. Like all the time. Like way too much. Boo me, right? I'm so guilty of this. But I'm trying real hard.

Let's try together. :)

Mothers

It seems lately that the topic of motherhood is everywhere. Ann Romney being criticized for never having a "real job", THIS beautiful article that I feel I relate to so much already, my dear mother in town this last week, and of course dreaming of someday being the "perfect" mother.

Being a mother is something that is so dear to me. I am always reading something on parenting. I cannot wait to be a mother. I dream of being the perfect mother. Will I be? Absolutely not, because I'm the queen of making mistakes. But I'm excited to try.

My mother. She is incredible. I don't know what I would do without her. She does more for others than I've ever seen a mother do. She works so hard to help me, love me, and make sure I am doing ok. The last night my family was in town, I spent the night in the bathroom throwing up. I was later woken up to someone else throwing up. It was my mother. I told her I had been throwing up too, and the first thing she says is, "Oh I'm so sorry. You should have woken me up so I could take care of you."

And my mother-in-law. I sure am grateful for her. Because of her, I have two super moms AND dear friends in my life. Love her.

I feel so blessed to be a women, so that I can be a mother someday and put my children first, and nurture them, love them, worry for them, most likely annoy them at times, laugh with them, and take care of them.

And thank goodness for the great examples of motherhood I have in my life.

Love is in the air!

Here is our one minute of fame on the Love is in the air portion of the abc 20/20 airing last night!

It was so weird watching ourselves on TV!

It's been such a good experience. We truly feel like we're falling in love all over again.

Since the interview we've watched our wedding video and reminisced so much.

Thank you abc 20/20!

The Interview

Our abc 20/20 interview is airing TONIGHT!

10:00 pm New York

9:00 pm in Utah

9:00 pm in Arizona

This has been such a fun opportunity! It was amazing to see how much work goes into a little interview. They had the nicest hotel, so many lights, cameras, people, and it was all such a blast. We loved everyone we got to work with.

They had us walk through central park and it was hilarious. We had people following us and taking pictures. We were cracking up.

Only 5 more hours! I'm nervous. I know that I'm going to overanalyze and pick at every little thing I do. And I hate how my voice sounds. Funny how that happens eh?

Happy watching! We'll be available for autographs immediately following the show. ;)

Or not cause I'm super sick. But if I weren't............heh (awkward laugh)

we're gonna be on TV + the overly excited easter bunny

Ever wanna just kick yourself?!

I just wrote a whole long post and lost it. Darn it all.

We had such a great weekend! The Easter Bunny came! Did he come to your house? The Easter Bunny (possibly myself) was so excited she even set her alarm for 2 AM to wake up, put out treats placed so carefully, and hid 18 eggs throughout the apartment. She was so careful to not wake the sleeping Derek. The bunny even left a cute little note to leave on his nightstand. She hopes the Mr will be so thrilled and happy to see we weren't forgotten. He's a man for goodness sake! A man with allergies! Why would I ever think he'd be so excited to get out of bed to see if the Easter Bunny came and to have to hunt the so carefully hidden eggs when he could be sleeping? I DON'T KNOW. Cause he sure wasn't.

I NEED KIDS...

Terrible picture quality. Sorry!

Doesn't he look so thrilled to be posing for a picture in front of pink blossoms?

I am feeling SO blessed to be here in NYC. This is the chance of a lifetime. It has been a very hard but great experience. One of the things I love most are the views. The fact that I can go jogging and have THIS be my view? I took this picture(below) last night. I jogged to the lighthouse, sat on the stone wall, dangled my feet over the water, and just thought. Thought about my life, my relationship with Derek, and reminded myself that the little things don't matter in life. We are very blessed.

PS...some exciting things are happening! I met with Kimberly Launier from abc 20/20 news this morning. I was given a tour of the studio, and chatted away with cute Kim. She was so fun to talk to. Derek and I are to be filmed sometime this week, with the story airing Friday! So fast and sudden! For those who didn't see on Facebook... Kimberly found our wedding proposal on YouTube and has decided to include us in an airplane romance story. We are so lucky and excited!!

I'm FREAKING out

WE

BOUGHT

A

CAMERA!!!!!!!!!

I'm totally freaking out. I seriously felt like I couldn't breath when I pushed submit. I CAN'T WAIT. I have been begging Derek since like 1900 to let us get one. We finally have decided with some exciting plans in the mix (no, unfortunately not a baby) it's a good time to get one. AND we live in New York City for cryin' out loud! We need to capture it all! Aren't you excited to see the cool and GOOD quality pictures we'll have for you?!

Gosh I'm excited. Be excited for me. This is a BIG deal.

It will be here in 7-9 days...

And I apologize (only a little) for so many caps and !!! Bare with, por favor.

Vogue-us Bogus

How in the world are we ever supposed to keep up! Who ever decided that fake is beautiful. It makes me sick. I wish I could raise my children away from all of it. Away from the idea that you have to have perfect everything to be beautiful. Where perfect doesn't actually exist. I take it back. Where perfect DOES exist, and perfect is real, not fake, has flaws, and doesn't have the perfect body.

I was flipping through the vogue magazine and it was so disturbing. I have like 4 zits, some unwanted hair on my face, larger pores than preferred, weight that I don't love, therefore I must look like an ogre to the world compared to these photoshopped beauties. I don't really feel that way. Just sounds more dramatic. ;)

I wish there were a way to change what culture has decided is beautiful. Is there? There has to be. I'm scared for my children.

We hung our second decoration. I love her. She's eco-friendly, made of magazines, with lovely little gold thread.

Last night I found out that a friend from high school was reported missing. I was sick over it all night. I prayed my little heart out, along with many others. This morning she was found and in the hospital. I don't know details, but I do know that I am so grateful and happy for her and her family that she is back with them. Just another reminder to be grateful for loved ones.