Natale, in just a few Pictures

New Christmas PJs//MILs beautiful Christmas tree

Kimball, and the Rudolph nose that he fell asleep in//Lee's Mongolian in Ogden

Mark and his darling grandmother//the most comfy Christmas PJs ever

Just the two of us, enjoying a lovely Christmas.

We hope you had the merriest of Christmases!

I'm a fan Friday!

 via Pinterest

Happy Friday! Can you believe that Christmas is just around the corner? Neither can I!  Does anyone else besides me still have Christmas shopping to do? I have some real gems to share with you for this week...

-I'm a fan of this floppy hat. As much as my husband hates them, I'm determined to add one to my wardrobe.

-I'm a fan of this lovely lady's calligraphy. It's beautiful, and I want her to be my personal secretary. And re-write everything I've ever written in my life.

-I'm a fan of listening to Christmas music.

-I'm a fan of my favorite Christmas CD, but I think it's pretty enough to listen to year-round. (Side note: one of my mission companions gave me a copy of this CD during our Christmas together in Bergamo, and I've loved it ever since.)

-I'm a fan of how the Italian nativities come with a baby Jesus that you can take out of the manger. It's meant to be hidden and put inside the manger on Christmas Eve.

-I'm a fan of finding my iPod that I lost 5 months ago. I couldn't believe it when I pulled it out of the depths of the side pocket of my purse.

-I'm a fan of vacation that I'll be enjoying with Mark's family..2 four-day weekends in a row!

-I'm a fan of the lovely poinsettias that decorate our office.

-I'm a fan of zumba. I finally went back after my long-lasting illness, and only a mild hacking cough ensued, so I think it's ok to keep going!

-I'm a fan of when Mark talks about the crazy things he sees as he shadows Audiologists.

-I'm a fan of weekend plans. Not that I have any, but I'm sure that whatever I do it's going to be great.

Happy weekend!

It was foggy this morning.

It was definitely the kind of morning that reminded me of Italy.

In other news...this week has completely wiped. me. out.

And it's only Wednesday.

And I think that the HR person at work can recognize my handwriting 

because I have so many mis-punches and other shenanigans to fix.

Yikes.

Holiday Wish List...the Mark edition

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14

Apparently Mark likes music. And electronics. 

Who knew?

I'm a fan Friday!

Hello lovlies! It's time for another round of "I'm a fan Fridays!"

-I'm a fan of Christmas dinners/luncheons. Today will be numbers 3 & 4 for this week alone!

-I'm a fan of Mormon Messages. Except I have to watch them at home, by myself, because like Gus I'm a sympathetic crier, and it's embarrassing.

-I'm a fan of owls. I think it's an obsession, really.

-I'm a fan of Aveda Control Force firm hold hair spray. It's the only stuff that can tame my wild and thick hair these days.

-I'm a fan of lynda.com's online tutorials...I only like them because I get them for free through BYU.

-I'm a fan of this sweet missionary who carried a sister who fainted (in his arms, practically) all the way here to the Health Clinic.

-I'm a fan of sunny days, especially in December.

-I'm a fan of not having to study for finals. I'm sorry for those that do, but I studied for finals at BYU 13 times just trying to get my undergrad, so I think I'm allowed to be excited.

-I'm a fan of my ear warmers that were lost but are now found.

-I'm a fan of the jokes that my parents send me in e-mails.

-I'm a fan of tender mercies.

What are you a fan of today?

Holiday Wish List

 

1//2//3//4//5//6//7//8//9//10

What's on your Christmas list?

Leave me a comment and link to your list!

A Gift to the World

For those of you who didn't see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, 

this is the video that they showed. 

It really touched my heart.

Weekend.

Hello lovelies! How was your weekend?

Our weekend was pretty grand. 

We went up to Salt Lake on Friday night

and after eating some delicious BBQ at Pat's

we walked outside with every intent of going to Temple Square

only to turn around and come back to Provo.

We decided that the freezing snow pelting us in the face

would not have made for a pleasant experience.

So we came back and chilled with our choice of drinks:

a lemon berry slush for me,

and a Dr. Pepper for the husband.

Saturday morning we woke up to snow and it seemed to me

like the perfect morning for some french toast

from Kneader's.

So I dragged husband out of bed

(I don't think he minded though, once he got a taste of a fresh croissant).

We spent the rest of the day being as lazy as can be

until we went to a Divine Comedy show

with Trevor and Juliet. 

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time-

it was pretty funny.

Sunday morning was filled with coughing

and trying to console my poor lungs.

We followed that up with making a lasagna 

that an Italian would be proud of and

having a cousin dinner party

with Trevor and Juliet. 

We then had a riot of a time playing Rook with 7 people. 

It was hilarious.

This week will be spent trying to be more domestic.

I've already made a Wisconsin Cauliflower soup

and I just pulled some banana bread out of the oven.

What is it about this time of year that gives

me the urge to bake to my heart's content?

Side note - I had a dream the other night that I went to Paris 

and the first thing that I did when I got 

off of the plane was go to Ladurée and get some macarons.

I think it's a sign.

I'm a fan

photo via me and my trip to Venezia.

I saw this idea on another blog today, so I thought I'd give it a whack...

-I'm a fan of Fridays. Who isn't??

-I'm a fan of my husband and best friend....love you 4ever.

-I'm a fan of Le Pen. I'm scouting out some art supply stores this very evening to see who carries them.

-I'm a fan of mint hot chocolate.

-I'm a fan of decorating for Christmas. And I'm a fan of myself for getting it done before December 15th.

-I'm a fan of sending out Christmas cards. If you want one, e-mail me your address.

-I'm a fan of the snow storm that wasn't.

-I'm a fan of Psych.

-I'm a fan of my job.

-I'm a fan of the Missionaries that hurt themselves at the MTC so that I can have a job.

-I'm a fan of Pandoro. Specifically day-old Pandoro.

-I'm a fan of weekend plans. Ours include lights at Temple Square and Pat's BBQ. And sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

-I'm a fan of my family. They're fantastic.

-I'm a fan of my nephew Tommy who gave Mark the cutest smiles on Sunday. Mark can get any baby to smile. Jealous.

-I'm a fan of not having to share a car anymore, thanks to Darth Vader.

-I'm a fan of my work benefits. At a staff meeting the other day, it was mentioned that we are "rich in the benefits that we get working here at BYU." So true.

-I'm a fan of this spell checker thingy, courtesy of google, or else I'd misspell every other word in this post.

-I'm a fan of my co-workers who make my awesome job that much more awesome.

Happy weekend!

Peppermint Tea

I'm currently cozying up to a mug of Peppermint Tea at work.
At the same time I'm doing the math to find out how much
overtime I have this week so that I can see how early I can leave
and not have to use any of my sick time.
How pathetic is that?

I'm pretty much looking forward to clocking out, driving home
and seeing my husband, who I have hardly seen all week long.
I'm also looking forward to getting rid of my cough/head cold
that has decided to take up permanent residency in my body.

I'm guessing that our time together will be spent in bed with the
humidifier on full-blast watching Prison Break
which, coincidentally, is just as addicting the second time around.

L'albero di natale

Can you believe that December is on our doorstep?
I was contemplating that as I decorated the tree tonight.
This year has gone by way too quickly!

Do you have a favorite or cherished Christmas tree ornament
or Christmas decoration?

Mine is my mini story/ornament version of "Martin the Cobbler."
I received it as a gift from my Mission President
and his wife during the Christmas I spent in Italy.
That Christmas was definitely one to remember,
so this ornament has a special little place in my heart.

What's your favorite?

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Did you all have a lovely Thanksgiving? I hope so! Mine was fantastic, despite having brought with me a mega sinus infection from Utah. We had our Thanksgiving at our nearby Church since there were almost 30 of us eating together this year. With that many people and that much food, you can be certain that we'll be eating lots of leftovers. I felt extremely grateful yesterday for all of my blessings. I am so blessed! Blessed with an amazing husband, amazing family, a job, a life, the Gospel, and to live on this beautiful earth. Some highlights of this Thanksgiving included:

-Teaching my grandpa how to play Rook and telling him that we're inside of a Church every time that he said "Damn it!" when he lost a trick.
-Seeing my cute niece and nephew who I don't get to see as often as I'd like
-Delicious food and the promise of yummy leftovers.
-Sleeping with the windows open because the weather is so gosh darn beautiful.
-Spending lots of time with family.

I hope every is having a lovely weekend!!

Snowbird

In August we went to Snowbird for a quick over-nighter with Mark's family.
Highlights included the Alpine Slide, fun with Kimball & Audrey,
taking the lift to the top of the mountain
and discovering that there was too much snow
at the top to do any walking around at all.

We had a blast, just like every time we go up to Snowbird!

Tommy

On Friday, September 23 my sister Keri had an adorable baby boy, Tommy.
We quickly ran over to the hospital after work
and took some photos of him and their new family.

Summer 2011

I was going through some pictures from this past summer
(yeah, I know that was months ago)
and I thought I'd share these gems with you:

My mom and my adorable nephew Kendall
(during our vacay in Cali)

In August we went to The Roof in Salt Lake with some
Italians that were visiting from Ravenna

My niece Audrey was being so silly at Mark's cousin's wedding reception

And this is us at Mark's cousin's wedding reception

First Snowfall

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?”
~J.B. Priestley

Even though the first technical snow fall of the season was a few weeks ago, this was the first substantial snow fall that actually stuck. I snapped this photo from my bedroom window this morning.

A Few (Or More) Things...

*Yeah, I know I'm taking slacker-ness to a whole new extreme with my header up there. I'm thinking that I'll just leave it there until May of 2012, and then I'll just have to add a "2" to it and call it a deal. Kidding. As soon as my back muscles stop spasm-ing every time I move, I'll get right on that.

*Did you hear that Anthropologie now has a kids clothing line? Although their clothes are adorable, I really want to buy this mustache headband:

{via}

*Did you also hear that Zara now ships to the US? Call it baby hunger, or whatever you want, but I'm swooning over this coat, this cape, and these bermudas to put on a little girl. I always told Mark that I want all boys, but Zara's kids clothing line may have changed my mind.

*Who wants to come to Alt Design Summit with me?

*I am addicted to Zumba. Even though I am the most un-coordinated person alive and look like a complete fool while getting my Zumba on (especially when I roll my ankle and fall to the ground in a room full of mirrors), I love love love it.

*After dealing with the frustration/annoyance of not finding a job as an audio engineer (does anyone find a job that directly correlates with their Bachelor's degree anymore?), Mark has decided to go back to school and pursue a doctorate degree in Audiology to be an audiologist. If all goes well and he does well in the leveling courses he's taking in January, he could potentially be in the University of Utah's program in a year!

*My sister Keri gave birth to a most adorable mini-human. He is so cute, has so much dark hair, and is going to be a great boxer with the way he's already moving his arms around. I'm hoping to post some pictures soon!

*I'm all alone at work for a few days. Given my new office set-up, I'm pretty enclosed with no views of the outside world, and no talkative co-worker to fuel my sarcasm and somewhat witty sense of humor, so that makes me rather lonely. And sad. So if anyone wants to come visit me/be sneaked into the MTC Health Clinic just let me know. I drew a picture of me being bored in my office. And if you do decide to be sneaked into my office, you can check out how accurately I drew our fall pumpkin bunting. And yes, in celebration of the accuracy of my drawing, I also drew our new floating chairs. They're so comfy!

*And finally, in conjunction with my last post, I decided to just cut off all of my hair. Well, not all of it, but a healthy amount, and it was enough for my mom to scream out "You cut your hair!" in a rather loud and shrilly voice when I saw her last week. If you're lucky you'll get to see pictures of that too. Although, I can't promise it won't be anything other than a crop of my face from the picture that I drew above:

That is all.

Long Live Ponytails!!!!

Lately, certain people around here
(a.k.a. my husband) have been noticing that I'm sporting
a lot of ponytails lately.
In fact, my hair is in a ponytail right now.
Why so many ponys, you ask?

Well, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair.
Unfortunately, the hate part of this relationship has grown
exponentially over the past month or so.

Sometimes I love my long thick hair, but right now
I hate it. So much.

So what's a girl to do?
Cut if off? I'm about to that point. But if it's all gone, my husband may not look at me again.
Wear it up in all manner of ponytails and braided concoctions?

Yep.

Bergamo, Ti Amo

During my time as a full-time missionary
I spent 6 months in the lovely city of Bergamo.
It is a charming city, and it's a place that's near and dear to my heart.
I also can't wait for the day when I get to ride a train and
arrive back in my Berghie, and go to Bernie's Kebab Shop.
Thoughts like that enter my mind constantly. It's a real problem.

I thought that day was at least a few years out,
but imagine my surprise when I saw this cutie:

(Via)

For. Sale. In. Bergamo.

I need to get myself and my husband to an airport.
Subito.

It's only 3 months late...

But Mark and I finally have some pictures from graduation!
It was a busy busy day since we went to 3 graduations,
but it was so fun to finally put on caps and gowns and shake random people's hands!

Here are some pictures from that day:


Mark, Me, my dad and his wife Bessie

Mark receiving his diploma cover thing:

My sister Keri and me:

My parents and I:

Keri's husband, Scott, his brother Brent and his wife Michelle also
graduated!
L to R: Brent, Michelle, Scott, Me, Mark

Yay!

The End of an Era.

Thanks for the memories.

(photo via)

Sun, Sand & Disneyland

Peace out, Utah.

I've only been looking forward to this vacation for about 7 months, so it's safe to say that I'm pretty excited! I'll be back soon, but not too soon. And hopefully with a new blog design!
(yes, I'm aware that tomorrow is July!)

Photo via.

Traslocare.

We did it...
we made the big move out of our first married apartment.

It was definitely a very surreal experience.
I was very much in denial that we were packing
up everything and leaving our little 550 square feet apartment.

I was also in denial about how much stuff we had accumulated
in our first year of marriage.
I was a little overwhelmed at times,
but with the help of awesome family and friends
the move went pretty smoothly.

We are definitely in love with our new place.
It's almost twice as big as our old apartment.
And it seems that there is a place for everything, which we love!
And we live in the building adjacent to Mark's sister and her
family which we love, too!

I wish I had some pictures, but our living room is still full of boxes!
We're down to the last couple of boxes, but I've been hit with some sort of sickness
(as usual. Working with hundreds of sick missionaries has done quite the number on my immune system),
so I don't really feel like doing much unpacking.
Maybe I'm just hoping that they'll unpack themselves?

On a completely unrelated note, we're going to Disneyland in
20 days! Mark and I are pretty excited. And by pretty excited
I mean really really really excited!

We also saw X-Men: First Class this weekend.
The verdict: Two thumbs up!

Last thing: My brother-in-law Brandon Judd graduated
from basic training today for the Army National Guard!
Congrats, Brandon!
We're all so proud of you!

On the Prowl

I'm searching for some ultra-comfy running/walking/cross training shoes.

My current ones are so old, and they are giving me foot and knee pain when I exercise,
which I hate.

I think it's time I invest in a new pair, and I'm open to suggestions!

I'm also open to receiving this necklace as a gift, in case anyone is interested:



(via here)

If Only...

If this were my job, I'd be in heaven.

(see it all here)

Twenty Four

Somebody's turning 24 today!

Tanti Auguri husband of mine!

I know that the birthday festivities of this year won't top those of last year,
(last year's birthday was spent on a honeymoon cruise in the Bahamas, eating the best raspberry creme brulee we've ever tasted)
but just know that I'm going to do my best!

So happy birthday to the most wonderful, caring, hilarious and adorable
husband a girl could have asked for.

You make me laugh every day,
and I can't wait to see all of the wonderful things that you'll
accomplish in your twenty-fourth year!
Ti amo.

Magnum

My favorite Ice Cream bars are in America!!!
Magnum Bars are a British/Dutch invention,
and I ate them frequently in Italy,
and it made me sad that they don't sell them in America
Mark and I saw this commercial on TV yesterday.
I'm pretty sure this one is in Spanish,
but the one we saw was most definitely in English.
So excited!!!!!

365

This was us, 365 days ago.
I can't believe we've made it a whole year.

To my amore:
You've seen me at my best,
and this year you've definitely seen me at my worst.
(I think going through gall bladder attacks would bring out the worst in anybody)
But you've been with me through it all, and I couldn't ask
for a better marito.

Even though you tickle me mercilessly, I enjoy every minute
of our marriage. You keep me sane, and keep me silly, and
I can't wait to see what the next 365 days will bring to our lives.

Ti amo per sempre, e ti amo di più.

I love you, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day to two of the best moms a girl could have:

To my own mom,
I wouldn't be here today without you.
You've taught me so much in my life here,
especially how to love, and your example has taught me
so much about selfless service.
I love you so much,
you will always be right about everything,
and you will always be my mamacita.

To my mother-in-law Nola,
You are such a classy lady,
and you care so much about so many people.
Thank you for raising a righteous son that could take me to the temple.
I will appreciate that for an eternity.
I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.
I love you!

One of my all-time favorite movies is Amelie or, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain.

If you haven't seen it yet, you absolutely must.

In the movie, Amelie decides to change the lives of those around her
for the better through small and sometime simple acts.

I've been thinking about this a lot, and I've decided
that I want to look for more opportunities to do good.

I don't want to do huge gigantic things to change the entire world all at once,
but small, simple acts of good will suffice for me.

I guess it'll just change my small tiny world for good.

Tuesday Faves

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm returning with some new Tuesday Faves!

Mark and I are in love with tulips right now.
The tulip festival is still going on at Thanksgiving Point,
so I think we're going to have to make a visit there this weekend!

Isn't this a fantastic idea to organize those pesky pot and pan lids?
I don't think our landlord would willingly allow me to do this to our closet door,
so this one may have to wait until we have our own house.

And while we're talking about the above photo, I'm also in love with
Le Creuset cookware. One day I'll have one of everything. One day.

How adorable are these Tiny Toms?
I think my unborn nephew (who's coming Sept. 20th) needs these.
And so do my other nephews.

And these girly ones are just as cute.
My niece turns two in July, and my other niece turns two in November,
and I think that they each need a pair of these.

Have a happy Tuesday!