Jason & Aimee

Yoga Fit Free Training

2010-09-11T22:06:00.001-06:00

Has anyone heard of Yoga ? LOL -- Beth Shaw of YogaFit is giving away a few FREE Yoga Training DVD Downloads. These are full DVD's and nobody even asked me to buy anything. I think someone forgot... LOL

P.S. The free downloads are kinda hidden look on the left for "Free Yoga Training"

Yoga Fit Training

2010-09-11T22:02:00.000-06:00

Yoga Teacher Training

Halloween 2009

2009-12-04T10:28:00.007-07:00

I know it's late, but here are the pics we had taken for Halloween. I have to post them because then everyone can see how stinkin' cute Bell was in her costume!!

Annabella's Baby Announcement

2009-11-27T14:42:00.001-07:00

I know it's a bit late, but with moving and hosting Thanksgiving.... well.... better late than never!

Also, more to come with a big ol' update soon!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T23:14:00.004-07:00

Another year has passed and everybody is wondering what we were for Halloween this year. Having taken a number of parties by storm as the sexy Roman Goddess and Soldier. We decided to take things in a different direction this year. Aimee had a fantastic idea to be the Addams family. I was to be...not Fester but Gomez. Fester was to obvious. Aimee was Morticia and Annabella was Wednesday Addams. Clever. we even won best couple at a costume party! Fantastic.

Baby Blessing 10-10-09

2009-11-01T22:34:00.011-07:00

So we are a little late with this post and everything else lately. QLTM Having a new baby takes some additional time getting out the door on time. Anyways enjoy the photos of Annabella Capri McDaniel's baby blessing. My mom made the dress. It has 130 flowers hand stitched on and 5 yards of Satin alone.

New Photos of Annabella

2009-10-01T17:29:00.010-06:00

So we just got our latest photos of Annabella today. They look amazing!! We are so excited to share them. Our friend PattyAnne took them - and did a fantastic job!! Take a look - here are just a few of them:

We totally forgot to post the images that we had taken a couple days before. These were taken by JC Penney:

Our Soon to be Home

2009-09-15T12:00:00.008-06:00

Ok so for about 6 months Aimee and I have been following the developement process of our new home from scratch. It has been a very educational experience and we have learned alot. Seeing as though our new home will be done within the next 2 weeks and there isn't much more to be done on it other than fix the things we tell them need fixing I have put together a slide show of the land, the house, the people. This is Aimee and Jason's house.. behind the scene. Enjoy..

First Two Weeks home

2009-09-15T00:02:00.020-06:00

So its been very nice to have so much time off from work to enjoy with the newest member of the family. Annabella has been such a perfect little girl. She hardly ever cries, and is generally content with how Aimee and I are doing. Thank goodness. :) Other than the sleeping schedule being a bit weird its been so easy. Not to much has changed. I don't know exactly what I expected, I guess I was fully prepared to have a baby that was a real challenge. Well I'm hoping that it just gets better from here. So the the day after we got out of the hospital we had to get Ellie's (this is a nickname we gave her because of the "ella" in Annabella) Biliruben test because her amounts were high. When they proved to be even higher the next day the doctor ordered Lights for the home and had them delivered. We had to keep her in it anytime she was not feeding for two days. It was kinda sad but we were glad she was going to be getting rid of her jaundice. I'll tell you the little light box was like the night light from hell!! It lit up the whole room with a bright blue glow.

Annabella Suntanning in the light box.

Anyways, Aimee and I had a bit of a scare with Annabella, when she was 7 days old we had to take her to the emergency room because she was becoming really lathargic and wouldn't even take a bottle. She was dehydrated and they said it was good that we came in when we did because babies don't have a reserve like everybody else. When babies start to go they go fast they said. It was very scary.

Her poor little hand. They gave her an IV and 60 CC's of fluids. After 2 hours or so at the ER in the middle of the night she crashed and so did we

Spending time at home with Aimee and little Annabella has been so much fun. I love it! Here is a picture of her right before her first sponge bath at home.

She is soo adorable. She has a cute tush and big bright eyes.

Another activity that we have enjoyed doing is being on her schedule for a few days. Sleeping every 3 hours and then eating.

Here are my two beautiful girls!

Nap time... again! I know, I know, I'm hairy! But so is she. She has this fine premie down all over her. They said that the white little hairs are common with premies and will go away.

One thing that is always fun to watch and never gets old is when we unswaddle Ellie she loves to stretch. not just once, not just twice, but over and over again in different ways. One is what we call the starfish. We havn't been able to get a picture of it but its just as it sounds. All stretched out in ever direction. The other is called the Super man with both legs stretched our and either one arm or both straight above her head. She loves to arch her back as well in between and then one of my favorites is that she likes to do what I call the Rag Doll. For this one she stretches out all the way and then goes completely limp. Its soooo funny.

The Rag Doll.

I also like to think that Annabella already has a great sense of humor. She makes us laugh all the time. Just check her our below.

What is that face about? LOL

Smiles. She thought it was funny too.

We just had her two week check-up today and she is doing really well. Aside from not gaining anything her first week home she has since put on an entire pound in one week. The doctor said this is common for premies, sometimes they "catch-up" quickly. She also grew 3/4 of an inch as well. Aimee and I were both bummed we were like, "I don't want her to grow up that fast." We are enjoying every minute that we can with her and love her to death.

Please Welcome Annabella Capri McDaniel into the world

2009-08-30T14:05:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, August 29, 2009 at 10:27 AM, Annabella Capri McDaniel was born at Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Utah. She was 6 lbs and 3 oz. and 19 inches long. She has blond hair and an adorable squeak. I still can't believe that she is here. She is nearly 4 weeks early but perfect. I never thought that someone could steal my heart so quickly.

Its been an interesting weekend. Aimee and I were able to just barely finish everything we needed to do to be ready for Annabella to come. We both had a feeling and to be honest really wanted her to come early. This has happened about 2 weeks before our new house closes. They are just now starting to put some of the finishing touches on it. We are going to head out there in the next few days to take some pictures and see how the progress is coming.

ok ok so the story.. Friday night we got together with some great friends (Jeremy and Alisha Sorensen) and got some really spicy Hooters wings. Man those things are soooo good! :) The next morning at 1:30 am Aimee went to the bathroom and her water broke! I coulnd't have asked for a better place for it to go. LOL. So we got all our bags together and let Aimee's parents know we were going. The drive there was effortless. We didn't have to speed or run any lights. Aimee was doing great, her contractions started as soon as her water broke. When we got to the hospital they confirmed that it was time and they gave Aimee the Epidural. Worked like a charm, At this point it was abt 4:30 am Saturday August 29, 2009. We were both really tired so now being numb and out of pain Aimee fell asleep and so did I. Man that was the worst Chair ever! It was like the Chair from hell! Anyways, we woke up and her contractions started to get stronger. We started pushing around 9:30ish for 20 minutes. Then waited for the doctor to get there. I could already see Annabella's head! The nurse was like, "There is her head" and I'm thinking to myself, "that does not look like any head I've ever seen!" It was all scrunched up (apparently normal) so after waiting for 20 minutes for the doctor to get there he did. We started pushing again and after like 2 sets of pushes she was out. It was amazing!! I couldn't believe it. The next two days we were in the hospital was great although the days all seemed to mesh together. But it was soo nice to finally get to see her face and spend time with my little family.

Annabella even took her carseat and the ride home very well! We expected her to cry or something I guess.

We are home now after 3 days in the hospital. I rearranged the basement to accomodate Annabella and us better. It stressed Aimee a bit but she is glad I did it. We should only be with Aimee's parents in their basement for the next week and a half. Then when our house is done, I will call in all my favors and get everyone to move us. Its so nice to have things keep moving. Love you all, thanks for all your support. I'm sure Aimee will want to post something soon.

-Jason

33 Weeks

2009-08-05T15:37:00.004-06:00

So, I am starting to feel really big and moving is becoming pretty challenging. I try to walk regularly, but even that is getting tough. I know it will be worth it in the end, though! :)

33 Weeks

So, we didn't go out to the house this past weekend because we had been out there so much we decided to save on gas! But, we were told that they have started sheet rock this week, so I am excited to go out this weekend!

We did, however, do stuff for the baby room this weekend. I chose a font that I liked, we found some wood and dusted off my mom's old scroll saw. Jason is quite the natural!! Check out what he did:
Hard at work...

Ta Da!!! He's pretty good, huh?

I'm impressed! Now we have them almost done being painted. Sweet! I also bought the rest of the fabric for my crib bumper set, but haven't had time to start that just yet. :) I will get to it this week, hopefully! It will be cute... I am sure of that!

4 Weeks to go... and 8 Weeks to go

2009-07-30T15:20:00.007-06:00

Time is moving so fast! ... but also so slow! We found out this past week from the foreman of our house that they are expecting it to be completed in 30 days - HOLY MOLY!!! Here are some new pics:
Windows in the Main Room

Our Garden Tub in the Grand Master Suite (sounds bigger than it is!!)

Us, just hanging out at our future home. :D

Also, being pregnant is starting to be a little uncomfortable, but feeling her move makes it all worth it! Now that I only have 8 weeks left of being pregnant I am afraid of getting impatient. Since we don't have much more than a car seat to bring her home in, I am getting a bit nervous. But, it helps to know that I have more time to get stuff.
31 Weeks

32 Weeks

The last picture was taken yesterday - so I promise that I am now fully up-to-date! BTW, thank you for all your comments! It makes blogging more meaningful and more fun! Also, let me know when you update your blogs 'cause I am really bad at remembering to check them out!

July is HOT!!!

2009-07-20T16:34:00.012-06:00

So, I am now 31 weeks pregnant!! Hooray! The time has been going by quickly enough - especially with our house being built as quickly as this baby! I didn't get a chance to post anything last week, so here are the past two preggo pics:

29 weeks (...blurry 'cause Jason was making fun of me while trying to take it.)

30 weeks (like my dress?!? It's the greatest, lightest dress ever!)

This coming weeks photo will be posted soon... I have to take it first! :)

So, here's our house a week and a half ago:

And now.... you can realize our shock when we went to look at it this past weekend, when....

We have a roof!!! Holy moly!! It's coming along SUPER QUICK! They made a few mistakes in the initial building, but it has proven to be to our benefit: a 9 foot ceiling in the basement, which has given us an 8' garage door. They also gave us a bunch more windows than everyone else will get, but I LOVE IT!!!

This is our sweet garage! 12' ceiling, baby!

Jason's pretty excited about the 8' garage door. :)

Well, I think that's it for these past couple of weeks. Just a house and a tummy growing!

An Update of Our Lives

2009-07-06T21:32:00.019-06:00

So... it's been awhile... :) I just wanted to save up everything to talk about at once!!! :D Well, that and the pressure of posting preggo pictures is getting pretty weighty. lol WARNING: This post is LOADED with pictures... so if you don't like pictures... well, tough.

So, I am now 29 weeks pregnant! Yippee!! Annabella is getting bigger and stronger every day. This part of pregnancy is kinda fun, as long as I don't think about being out of breath all the time and having an impossible set of hips that prevent me from walking! Here are a few pics from the past few weeks:

25 weeks

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

Our house is also getting bigger and starting to show! Here are the last 3 pictures we have taken that show the progress being made (which has all happened within the last 3 weeks.)
Our Lot

Our House Hole!

Our Foundation/Basement

More has been done!

Jason takes control!

A cool drink for a hot day of work!

Something that happened that was super fun this past weekend, was taking my grandpa to Thanksgiving Point Gardens and renting Segways! It was seriously a blast - other than that fact that he scored a pretty gnarly bruise on his calf that swelled up to the size of a small avocado! (He wouldn't let us take pictures of it - but we got some sweet ones of him riding around on the segway!)

For those who don't know, we are currently living in my parents basement. Which, until yesterday, didn't have a bathroom!! My amazing parents and perfect husband, spent a lot of time this last week to make sure that I had one so I no longer have to climb the stairs 3 times a night! It's so amazing!!! Here is what it looks like - I am so thrilled to have one down here that I could cry!! :')

Spike the Plumber

So, some other fun and possibly interesting stuff that has gone on since I last blogged: I made 5 bridesmaid dresses for a neighbor (I designed them from a dress she liked, and sewed them - with the help of my mom and mother-in-law - inside of 6 weeks. It was INSANE!! But, I think they turned out pretty good!!)

This picture of the Homecoming dress I designed for one of my favorite people in the WHOLE WORLD!! The sewing credit goes entirely to Natalie Summerhays - the most amazing seamstress I have ever met. (I just found the photo and thought I would throw it on here.) :)

Other than that, I have been working quite a bit. Jason has been working crazy hours until this past week - which helps me focus on my own work. We haven't been hiking or camping or anything just yet, but we are still planning on getting back to our Alphabet Weekends! I will post again soon! :)

It's a girl! ...and a house!

2009-05-11T17:03:00.006-06:00

I am so bad at updating this! My cute friend Marie called me today and reminded me that I haven't updated it in a while... :)

So... IT'S A GIRL!!! Her name will be Annabella Capri. She's been kicking a lot and even Jason has been able to feel her moving - it's been so much fun! My mom is super excited since this will be her first granddaughter. This photo is how we announced it to her and my dad:

Other than a killer stuffy nose (caused by being pregnant) I am really starting to enjoy pregnancy! It's just really cool. I have to admit that I was pretty freaked out by finding out it was a girl - I was totally expecting it to be a boy! I have no idea what to do with a girl! I guess I'll figure it out!! :)

So, a few weeks ago, Marie's dad took Jason and I to a new development in West Jordan and showed us the model homes that were being built. Now, we are currently building a new home! We are so excited! We have been able to go to the design center and pick out everything from the outside color to kitchen cabinets and carpet. What a blast! But, quite overwhelming when you have a million choices and make decisions like I do...

This is what we were down to at the end... from 10,000,000 other choices!

They say the house will be finished in August, but until then we are moving out of our apartment in a couple of weeks and in with my parents until it's completed. That way we can save up some money to help out at closing. Fun, fun!

We're Expecting!!

2009-04-09T13:35:00.002-06:00

So, now that I am 16 weeks pregnant, we have finally decided to announce it on our blog! :) Hooray! We find out what we are having in about 2 weeks, so that will make it even more fun to start planning! :)

C, D & E

2009-04-09T13:31:00.002-06:00

Well, C and D weekend was a bust. A bunch of miscommunication, then Jason ended up working the ENTIRE weekend! So, instead of Clark Planetarium and a Drive-in, it became "C"atastrophe and "D"isaster weekend! Ha! Take that! :)

Life has been a bit slow since then. Jason was home the following week with a real bad cold, which I got (of course), and am still trying to get over! It's been really yucky. Jason is still getting better, but at least he has been able to get back to work.

E is for "E"aster. We decided that would be best since we're both still sick. So, when we figure out the details of "F", we will post it!

Alphabet Weekend "C" & "D"

2009-03-23T19:57:00.002-06:00

So, Alphabet Weekend "C" was scheduled to be this past weekend, but, due to some miscommunication, it was moved to this coming weekend (and is now something new & improve"d"!):

On this weeks episode (March the 28th) we will be watching as our fun and lovable friends enjoy the atmosphere of the "C"lark Planetarium and the relaxation of a "D"ouble feature at the "D"rive in! Oh yeah, its open now, well the 27th, BUT STILL!!!

Come join us, as we travel first through the galaxy and then to the back seat! Gather your biggest cars, blankets and pillows to conserve body heat and humor this Saturday.

The fun begins at 4 PM at the Clark Planetarium (we can make arrangements for carpooling), afterwhich we will hunt down some food (ideas welcome) and then conclude at the Redwood Drive-in theater at 8 pm, at which time we can all decide what to see.

Come one, come all! Please call or email to join us!

Operation Kids and Collin Raye Join Forces

2009-03-12T11:21:00.006-06:00

This is the big project I have been working on and it just launched yesterday. I am the webmaster for Operation Kids, a local non-profit that focuses on all charities and projects for kids around the nation, and eventually internationally. They give 100% of all donations to specified charities or a project they get involved with. It is always specified by the donor where the funds should go.

Recently, they have teamed up with Collin Raye (who sang at their annual gala last October) to reach out to the public for $5 donations to help families who are dealing with enormous medical expenses. You actually get something in return for this! A free download of a song he wrote for his granddaughter, who has a regressive neurological disease that has yet to be diagnosed after 6 years. The song is beautiful and inspiring. I've heard it.

I helped the project come to light in that I created the flash banner on Collin's site and the donation process you would go through to donate on Operation Kid's site. (If you click on the banner below, it will take you to Operation Kid's website.)

I support the cause and encourage all to consider donating. Look at the websites, read about the cause and make a decision. It's a wonderful cause by wonderful people who want to make a difference to families around the nation.

Alphabet Weekend "B" and the upcoming "C"

2009-03-12T10:39:00.002-06:00

So, it wasn't really done on a weekend, but this past Monday, Jason and I joined our bestest of friends (except Tyler and Destiny.... :( ) and had a "Beauty Night" for the girls and the boys just did "Boys' Night." We really had a blast, but didn't take our camera for proof of the fun.

Us ladies, thank you to the magical and talented Katrina, gave ourselves facials and other girl stuff, topped off with eyebrow waxing. I left feeling like a princess with super smooth skin - which looks even better today!

Da boys, played around with some martial arts and on the Wii. They seemed to have a lot of fun.... I was too busy having my own fun! :)

So, that's "B." Huge "Thank You" to Katrina for hosting and giving us TONS of samples! Now for "C"...

"Couples Cookoff." This is, for now, to be hosted by Kellie. We are each planning on preparing one portion of a meal: Appetizer, Main, Dessert, etc. as a couple while we are all together at Kellie's house. This gives us time to hang out while the food is cooking and getting prepared and will challenge our couple cohesiveness....

I know this was supposed to be an activity for a bunch of people to join, but Kellie offered to host it and I can't invite people to her house.... Next time, guys!

"A"n Evening of "A"mor

2009-03-02T16:44:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I should have posted this blog a while ago... but I have a great excuse why I am just getting to it now! Ha!

So, 5 couples met on the evening of Friday the 13th - the night before Valentine's Day. We had a great time together - so great, in fact, that we forgot to take pictures! We had heart-shaped pizza, which was excellent - along with a divine homemade chocolate mousse (courtesy of Katrina) that was actually made with avocados! Then we had chocolate fondue for dessert (as if we needed more chocolate, huh!) with all the trimmings - strawberries, marshmallows, cinnamon bears, bananas, oreos and a bunch of other stuff. While we sat around the warm fondue pots, we played "Loaded Questions" - which was a load of fun and trouble!

So, anyway, for those who missed.... your loss! Just kidding. We have planned our activity for "B", but because Katrina is our private esthetician and has offered to host it, we have to keep this one a bit private. But, I promise "C" will be open to all and tons of fun!!! It will be planned within the next week so we can give everyone fair notice. Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Alphabet Weekends are about to Begin!

2009-02-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

Dearest family and friends,

This year (now it's gotten started), we decided that everybody needs more adventure in their lives! So, what better way to plan adventures than... ALPHABET WEEKENDS! What does that mean? That means that every few weekends, we will do an activity that will take us through the alphabet. That's 26 weekends of fun! We will give a couple of weeks notice to help everyone prepare (aka: budget and plan). If, for whatever reason you are unable to join us, come up with your very own special alphabet weekend! Some activities may require short travel, others may be concocted in our kitchens!

From Aquariums (though, that's not the first activity... it was our 2nd choice) to Zion's National Park, it's sure to be a wonderfully, unexpected, fantastic voyage of fun through the ABC's.

To catapult us into the beginnings of our on-going adventure, we would like to announce our first activity: "A"n Evening of "A"mor - just for St. Valentine's Day!

Look for our next post, which will include pictures for "A"!

Etsy Shop & MORE!

2009-01-13T23:02:00.004-07:00

So I decided to open an Etsy shop. I am pretty excited about it, but I still have to get a few more things put into it. So far, it's just a few scrapbooking things. I am hoping that it will inspire me to broaded my design skills. Feel free to check it out: aimcreative.etsy.com.

Also, for those people who actually read our blog, I have added a whole bunch of images and stuff from the past year - so you will have to scroll down and see them if you are really interested. :) Cabo, Halloween, St. George - and more!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-12T11:34:00.002-07:00

Ok, Ok, I know that it is the 12th of January... not the first. But, I have been taking this New Year's Resolutions thing seriously. I would like to think that this year will be a better year and that I will be able to end 2009 a better person. I have been thinking about my own goals and what motivates me and I have tried to use those things to make a list of things I want to accomplish THIS year (not in 20 years), and how I want to start directing my life.

Goals I have set for myself:

1) I am dedicating myself more whole-heartedly to working out and improving my body and overall health. This includes running 5-6 days a week, toning my muscles, and doing yoga regularly. Oh, and eating a better diet... no more cookies and brownies for breakfast! Think oatmeal and blueberries...

2) I am striving to improve my mind and spirit. I write in my journal almost daily (at least weekly), read my scriptures daily, and I am going to start reading books again - like one a month. No more Women's Health magazine and SELF - I need real reading material!

3) I am starting to draw and paint again. This really fits under "improving mind and spirit," but it is important enough that I have to list it separately.

4) I am more dedicated to my work and being more creative. I have a bunch of websites on the table and in my head that I need to finish and execute! I have the talent, I am striving for the motivation. I am blessed that I really do have a good spread of genres for my portfolio, as it stands now.

Those are the big ones. The others are big too, but they are more personal. I hope I become a better person (especially a better wife). I hope it shows, too.

Confession & Online File Sharing

2009-01-04T11:58:00.002-07:00

Ok So for those of you who know me, I am a computer junkie. I am for lack of a better word a pack rat with information. My collection of Music, Videos, Games, Software, eBooks, Training materials, Pictures, Etc. Exceed 1 Terabyte of information. I can get my hands on just about anything... I know, I have an issue, I think it stems from my mother and her habit of being a pack rat with Furniture and all kinds of crap! Her house is WAAAAYYY too full. At least mine takes up a DVD holding case and thats it. lol

So Aside from the obvious I found a sweet little widget for our blog that I can host files on that I enjoy. Its to the right with all the rest. I have uploaded a game I find absolutely addicting and love! World Of Goo. I have it for Mac and PC. Try it and you will see what I mean. Also, I was thinking about other files to share and I thought about out wedding video. So I threw it up. Check it out. Its kinda like an interactive DVD on your computer at only 37GB. I had a blast making it and have made a few others. I thought about doing it professionally but I'm not sure yet.

Anyways, keep your eyes on the file sharing widget for other cool files!

2009-01-04T11:39:00.010-07:00

UTAH KICKED ALABAMA'S BUTT!!

I really enjoyed this game. Aimee and I went over to Jeremy and Alisha's house and had a potluck with a number of Alisha's friends. The food was fantastic. Alisha has these meatballs that are amazing! The game was fun to watch too. Utah was so underestimated in this game! Check it out below you can watch the full thing! This is for you Jeremy! LOL

Crafty Me!

2008-12-31T12:03:00.004-07:00

Just thought I would throw this on the blog - pics of the baby blankets that I made for a few friends. I am actually missing a picture of another one I made, but that's ok.

My "Watered-Down" Sketch Pad :(

2008-12-30T23:30:00.007-07:00

I am only posting this because Jason wants me to. I had a sketch book that was kind of my pride and joy - a while ago. It was in the trunk of my car for a bit and my trunk flooded... the sketch book sort of dried, but we had to throw it away. I haven't drawn much since, but the drawings that were in that book were some of my best that I was drawing (or had drawn) for other people. Here are some of those pictures that were in that book:

This image is from a National Geographic photograph. It was my first attempt at drawing with carbon pencils. Before I was able to complete it, the cat walked across it... jerk. :)

These two images are rough drafts of the same project (believe it or not). They are of my best friend who passed away in 2002: Michael Warner. Regretfully, I never completed the project and never gave it to his family.

This image is of the Savior. It was just to get the feel of "painting" with the carbon pencils.

Was going to be a self-portrait.

A portrait of my sister and brother-in-law. It was completed at one time, but they didn't like it and asked me to make a zillion changes. I just never got around to finishing it the second time.

This one is supposed to be a Young Woman looking at the Liahona. I drew it for a boy I had a HUGE crush on just before he left to be a counselor at EFY. I did finish this one, this was just a draft of it.

So, that's just some junk from my sketchbook. It's history, except for these few images. Maybe one day I will pick up the pencil and start sketching again.

Halloween

2008-12-30T23:19:00.012-07:00

So Halloween has be one of the coolest holidays there is. I am finally excited about it after 15 years (since I haven't been able to go trick-or-treating). Lol. What is frustrating about it, though, is trying to decide what to dress up as - which only gets HARDER when you try to do it as a couple costume. We went from He-Man and She-Ra, to X-Men, to Adam and Eve, to 300. We ended up doing a sort of rendition of 300 - Jason's costume was too Roman to be Spartan, but I made mine to look like Queen Gorda's in the movie (except I didn't have time to finish the sleeves).

I threw a party with Becky Beckstrand and Bekah Barnson, and it seemed pretty fun. Here are some pics:

Then, Jason and I went to a party Natalie Summerhays threw - which was awesome! Here's a few pics from that.

Natalie and Jon - Nat's costume was my favorite!

John (the sexy viking!) and Kim (Dolly Parton)

This one I HAVE to post because it won all the costume awards - thank you Michael Phelps! Jaime and her gutsy husband, Burke.

I love Halloween! It's so much fun!

It's Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:58:00.008-07:00

Jason and I spoiled each other today - it was so fun! I got a BUNCH of stuff and bought him a BUNCH of stuff. My favorite gift I got him (well... us) was a walkie-talkie set with 3 handsets. (I've always wanted one! And his old one doesn't really work... well, it might if Jeremy ever used his...)

He bought me the Nike+ iPod attachment that helps you train for running marathons (or the shorter races - which I am more interested in). OK, that's actually not true. I have decided that I am going to run in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back Series this coming June (unless I have a reason not too ;) ). It's June 19th-20th and it's 180 miles that you run with 11 other teammates in 24 hours. The whole idea of it is to raise money for charity and then kick your own butt to get your team to win. It starts in Logan and ends in Park City. Seriously, if anyone is interested in running with me, lemme know. It's going to be SO awesome! Anyway, to help me train for the race, I have placed my Nike + Mini widget on the blog to track how many miles I have run. My goal right now is 30 a month. Not bad, about 8 miles a week. I have really started to enjoy running (I NEVER thought I would say that!). You should all join me in June!

Oh, and we did get Spike a gift. All we needed was one... he LOVES it.

Jason says that I should mention what we've been doing this holiday season: Nothing. Jason works 10 hours a day, but is gone 12 with the commute (Yes, regardless of the hours, he really likes his job). I get to play all day at the gym and on the computer (occasionally I will work :) ). I have been doing a bunch of shopping for the holidays, but that's over as of yesterday - except to return a few things I bought myself. (Dumb shirts from Aeropostale run small!) I can gladly say that I haven't gained any holiday weight - I have actually maintained! That's good for me! But, tomorrow is a new day! Time to get serious! Other than my random babbling, that's about it. If I think of anything else to say I will write more. :) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Visiting Tyler and Destiny (and baby Tyce!)

2008-11-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

While Jason and I were in Cabo, Destiny had her baby! It was a blast! They are just about the coolest friends ever. Here are some pictures of them and Tyce. We drove down to see them while they were staying in St. George. They took us to Zion's Canyon and it was Jason's first time going. It was the perfect time, though. The leaves were changing and it was so perfect! It was one of the best weekends we've had since we got married.

Jason and I.

Tyler, Destiny, and baby Tyce.

'Nuff said.

Just some of the beautiful scenery.

All of us. Just outside of the South Entrance of Zion's National Park.

Day 10 Letter 6 from Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:40:00.002-06:00

Hola... and stuff...

So, it's been a long 10 days and we are ready to come home now....

Today we went jet skiing and then lounged on the beach for about 6 hours. We had 8 strawberry daiquiris between us, a large plate of nachos, and some KILLER JUMBO coconut shrimp - which will be my biggest reason for returning soon. We got the jetskis and $80 to spend at the Baja Cantina for doing the tour yesterday.... VERY WORTH IT. Then we came back to the hotel and watched "Hitch" - (they love Will Smith here - he's been on every channel every day). Then we walked around the marina and bought a bunch of little plastic animals and small packs of gum from the adorable kids walking around pedaling them. We figured it would be a great way to get rid of our change.... they were adorable anyway. :)

Now we are emailing you. :) Karen, thank you for writing back to us and telling us about your days while we've been gone! Mom, Dad... thanks for typing a word or two so we know you are still alive - see you tomorrow night at the airport. We will call you when we are in LA. :)

Anyway, for the pictures: They are mostly just random stuff: Jason. Me. The annoying vendors that plague you on the beach. Some of the cute kids that we bought stuff from. The view from the 2nd room we stayed in. A boat being pulled out of the marina. Jason jet skiing - no Cabo Wabo. The cute way the maid made our bed one day. And, the swimsuit that I fell in love with - it was only $196 - not pesos. Other than that, we will see you soon!

A & J

Here is Jason doing some awesome tricks in the Sea of Cortez right inbetween two GINORMOUS cruise ships. :) Isn't he amazing!

The last day in Cabo, we took one last walk on the marina, most of the people had gone now that the Brisbee tournaments were over and so most of the vendors and street peddlers were gone as well. What remained were a few straglers, We had to bribe them to pose for us, and even then after spending our last few coins on them, they ducked. LOL

Right before our last night out on the town. This is in the Hotel Room.

Oh yeah... She is that ~HOT~!!

Jason on the beach, under an umbrella and on a chaise lounge... nice tan lines!

The Vendors that walked up and down the beach all day in the hot sun with piles and piles of merchandise to move. Its the best way to shop, they come to you LOL

Jason on the beach, under an umbrella and on a shaise lounge, sipping Strawberry Daquries and eating coconut shrimp the size of your fist with an amazing cocunut mango pinapple sauce.

Our Hotel at night looking over the Marina

I couldn't pry Jason away from this scene. He was like, "wow check that out!" They were just taking it out of the water.

Aimee's really expensive Bikini that she wanted until she found out how much it was. $196 USD.

Here is the view from our second room.

Here is the cute way the maid made our bed one day.

Here is a view from the beach, in the distance you can see the peninsula and on it Lover's Beach and the Arch. Truly amazing!

On our way home! The airport in Cabo (Actually San Juan), only has 6 gates - so everyone loads and gets off the planes on the tarmac. I know I am a geek, but I was really excited about this!

Day 9 Letter 5 From Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:33:00.000-06:00

Hi!!!

First, don't forget to pick us up from the airport on
Tuesday night.... k?

We haven't updated you, mom and dad, 'cause you
weren't responding! Gosh! Whatever. :) Karen already
knows this stuff, but here's catchin' yous guys up:

So, nothing's really happened. We have been just
vegging. The other night at about 1:30 AM Jason woke up
shaking uncontrollably and nauseous. He had to get in the
shower and turn on the hot water cause he was so cold and
couldn't stop shaking - he was violently shaking. I
think he was in there for about an hour before he felt
better. Then he threw up a lot and went back to bed. It was
pretty scary for me, but someone today said it sounded like
a bout of sun stroke. Not fun. The next day we just spent
entirely in the hotel room because he had a massive headache
the entire day.

Our older couple friends left yesterday morning, not that
we got to see them much. We bought them drinks and desert
the other night at their resort to pay them back for helping
us out. They still got away with buying us dinner - they
wouldn't let us pay them back. Errgh!

Yesterday, we did go parasailing! That was a blast.... but
also the only thing we did the whole day. We even had
dinner brought to us! You can check out the pictures of the
parasailing. It was fun... but I will be honest.... I
delayed going for a few days 'cause I was TOTALLY
scared! We had a couple of friends tell us that they made
you land on the beach - when we saw that they pulled you
back down onto the boat (and that it was totally painless!)
we were super cool with going. :) AWESOME!!!

Today, we decided to go for a tour through the Cabo Villas
Resort - just so we could get a few free activities. It was
about 2 hours. It was great because we got these to
grandma's who are retired here with their husbands and
just do the tours for fun. They were more concerned with us
coming back with a "baby bump" than selling us
anything. They wanted you all to know that they had your
interests at heart. "Your baby already has two Aunties
in Cabo waiting!" They were cool. One was from Canada
and the other from Scotland. They mentioned that McDaniel
was a very nice Italian name. :) We also went snorkeling
today at Lover's Beach - total disaster, but I don't
think I am capable of leaving a beach without a scar from
coral. A "Cabo Wabo" to go with my "Maui
Owie" - only this one is way worse.... took a chunk out
of the bottom side of my foot.... oh yeah, same foot. And
the antiseptico burns LIKE HELL FIRE!!!!!! But, we did see
one or two fish.... Hurumphhh....

Tomorrow we are to go out on a few Jet Ski's (free for
going through the tour). I am ok with that because there
won't be any coral around..... They are actually
pretty crazy - you can go anywhere with them! And as fast
as you want. :) :O Jason is counting on his own Cabo Wabo! :)

Alright. Time to hit the sack! Love you all! Miss us!

A & J - just like PB & J!!

P.S. The lizard in the picture is not the puny Hawaiian
lizard! He was 6 ft long!!! (ok, ok.... like 10 inches...
but still!) Just enjoy the animal life here - we do!!

The gigantic lizard. :)

Livin' the dream... on the beach.

The arch from the parasailing boat.

Strapped up and ready to go!

Us in the air! Up so high!

Me and the cruise ship.

A view on our way to the pool.

Day 5 Letter 4 from Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:32:00.000-06:00

Ok, So today was pretty basic. Aimee was up late again as
usual reading the Twilight books. She is on the third book
and will finish it Tonight no doubt. I will be watching TV
and playing Saduko. Since we don't drink and party we
are fish out of water at night. The Marina is quite alive at
night though. Maybe one of these nights we will venture out
just to see everything in chaos LOL. Anyways, we went to
Maricado Beach. (I think its called that) It was nice. Aimee
bought a sweet cowboy hat, that looks good on us both! I
feel kinda weird when I wear it though, there is something
perverse about wearing a cowboy hat lol. Just kidding.
Tomorrow we are planning on going Parasailing! That will be
a blast. It looks like it will only cost us $80-$90 bucks.
Should be pretty scary. We also FINALLY found hot fudge! We
have been looking for it since we got here. Dairy Queen was
out of ice cream. Johnny Rockets was out of hot fudge.
Finally it came down to McDonald's. We shared a hot fudge sundae. It was good.
We will talk to you later. We hope everything at home is
going really well. We love you all.

Jason & Aimee McDaniel

Day 4 Letter 3 from Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:16:00.000-06:00

Hi guys,

Sorry we didn't write last night.... we were too tired.
Yesterday we went to Lover's Beach. It's a
beautiful beach. You have to take a boat to get there, but
they take you around the point of the Baja - we got to see
the famous arch. It is so beautiful! We also saw sea lions
and TONS of pelicans. We were dropped off at Lover's
beach and had 4 hours before our boat was to return. The
beach faces the Sea of Cortez on the east, and you can take
a very short walk to the west side - to the Pacific ocean.
The water's waves are MUCH stronger there. They
affectionately call that side Divorce Beach.... It looked
more like Widow's Beach to me... it was pretty crazy!
For the four hours, we just laid around in the shade. We
also went swimming (on the safe side), though Jason had to
swim out and save a couple from being thrown into the rocks.
It was pretty scary, but at least they were able to get
back on their cruise ship later.

After we got back, we showered and got dressed. Then we
went to dinner at Hooters and had the yummiest buffalo
wings! Then we walked back to our room. It was a quiet
evening.

This morning we had breakfast delivered to our room, but in
my opinion it was a waste of money... it didn't taste
very good. Oh well, I will just stick to the box of Trix
that we bought. At 11, we had our massages and facials at
the spa in the resort. IT WAS AMAZING! Totally worth it!
It was a good 3 hours of pampering. Super nice! Then we
had lunch on the marina. Jason was exhausted and took a nap
while I read by the pool. I am halfway through the 3rd
book.... thanks mom.... Those are seriously addicting
books....

After that we went to Dairy Queen for dessert. They were
out of ice cream so we ended up at our 3rd choice, Johnny
Rockets. (Our second choice was closed... :( ) We are
now back at the hotel and pretty pooped... it's tough
laying around!

Well, we just though we'd check in and say
"hi"! Congratulations to Eric for getting a job!
We have been keeping our fingers crossed! Mom... Dad... we
haven't heard from you and we are starting to suspect
that we might be seeing you soon...... BEFORE we get
home.....

Love you all! Take care!

Aimee & Jason

Me. The supermodel. Lol.

Jason. Just adorable!

Divorce Beach (I'm not kidding.) Check out those waves crashing! The Pacific Ocean side is brutal. NO SWIMMING ALLOWED.

On our way to see the arch!

A peek through to the Pacific side.

Look close... it's a pile of sea lions!

The famous arch. It was SO beautiful. Love it!

Us. Taken courtesy of me. :)

Day 2 Letter 2 From Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:12:00.000-06:00

Hi guys! This is Aimee.... :) I figure if I avoid using my
email I can assume its broken so I don't have to see
anything that has to do with work. :)

Thanks for writing back! We were going to call, but this is
cheaper. Plus, we can send you pictures! Check them out.
It is beautiful down here. The people are pretty nice, too
- once you get past all the vultures at the airport.
"Only 90 minutes of your time for $300 dollars"
Yeah, right. I was glad we had Tom and Tina to get us out
of there! They are great people and we will probably hang
with them in the next night or two. Don't worry,
they're not our "replacement older couple",
dad. :) But they were a big help. They are also RCI
members and are staying a couple of blocks from us on the
beach. We haven't seen their place yet, but ours is
absolutely beautiful. Yes, mom, we took pictures of the room
the second we walked in. They are attached. :)

We haven't done much today but get some sun. We are
using serious sunblock and are actually getting tan - not
burned. It's been nice to lay around the pool. I
started the Twilight book half way through the second
flight. I finished it about 2 hours ago and I am so mad!! I
didn't bring the second one!!! It is so good!! Jason
found them on the internet for me and downloaded them so I
keep reading. :) 10 finger discount.

The harbor is beautiful, but we haven't been to the
beach yet. Too lazy to walk there. :) It is a pretty busy
place with the festivals going on. It's fun, though.
The resort is pretty quiet - even during the day when
everyone is surrounding the pool. It's a different
breed of people, though. All they do is drink and smoke....
I don't even think they really eat.

We are planning on going to Lover's Beach tomorrow or
Wednesday. It's where the arch is. We also are planning
on going ATV'ing to a beach at "Land's
End" where the movie Troy was filmed. We hear it's
pretty spectacular to watch the sunset on the Pacific side
of the Baja.

My Spanish sucks. So, its a good thing most everyone speaks
some English. I forgot my Spanish dictionary (even though
there are 3 at home), duh.

Oh well, Jason is going through the Sudoku book at an
alarming rate, so I better end it here. We will write again
tomorrow. :)

We love you, guys. Be safe and enjoy the warm weather.
Don't worry about getting a tan, we'll do that for
you. :)

Love you!! Aimee and Jason

P.S. About the pictures: All of them, except the two with
the darker sky, were taken from or in our room. The other
two show our hotel, the Marina Fiesta Resort, from the other
side of the harbor. The pic of Jason is on our balcony,
eating our first dinner here. PB & J. :) I cooked!

Me and my dorky fetish to take pictures of myself!

Jason enjoying his first meal in Cabo - a PB&J!!!

This is our room. Cute, huh?

The view from our room. (Left side - like a panorama)

The view from our room. (Right side)

View from the roof.

The harbor at dusk.

Day 1, Letter 1 from Cabos San Lucas

2008-10-29T22:09:00.000-06:00

Hey!! Buenos Dias! We are safe in Los Cabos Mexico. Its been
a nice day. We met an older couple from Denver who have a
condo here and are with RCI as well. Their names are Tom and
Tina. They rented a car and offered, within the first 3
minutes of talking to them on the plane, to drive us to our
hotel! That saved us $60-70 bucks. We also may have plans to
go fishing and four wheeling with them. They have also
helped us get settled by letting us go to the grocery store
with them! They are fun. They have been coming here on and
off for 25 years! They also said we picked the perfect week
to come here. It's the big Brisbee tournament! Check
this link out!

http://mexicoloans.blogspot.com/2007/10/lets-go-fishing-los-cabos-bisbee.html

http://www.allaboutcabo.com/marlin-tournament-fishing.html

Anyways, they said it would be like a big fiesta on the
Marina for this whole next week as people real in big
Marlins and they get weighed! We saw one today, it was
huge!! Anyways, another cool thing that we found out was
that they filmed the movie Troy here! They said that we can
rent ATV's and go see it, they even said that the set is
still here! Pretty cool hu!?

http://images.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.troy-movie.stasi.co.uk/troy-movie-film/troy-movie/troyset2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.troy-movie.stasi.co.uk/troy-movie-film/troy-the-movie-pictures.htm&h=233&w=350&sz=85&hl=de&start=2&um=1&usg=__w22eB9x4X7kjzkK69xqcBvpLpIQ=&tbnid=HHYuytFN728NnM:&tbnh=80&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcabos%2Bsan%2Blucas%2Bmovie%2Btroy%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26sa%3DN

Anyways, we took pictures of our room before we moved in,
just like Leslee wanted. LOL. Our balcony is overlooking the
pool and Marina. Its beautiful here and dry in the morning
and afternoon but humid in the evening. The Time Share
people here are vicious! So is everybody that is trying to
sell anything though. The jewelry people, the people trying
to get you to eat at their resturant, etc.

Anyways, we will keep you updated. it looks like the
cheapest rates to call the US will actually be my Cell
phone! 99 cents a minute is the cheapest we can find. Even
to use the room phone to call a local number is 2 bucks a
minute! Please write back so we know that you got this! We
love you both, Hope to talk to you soon.

Cabo San Lucas

2008-10-29T21:36:00.000-06:00

The first point I have to make, is that Jason is way better at this "blogging" thing than me. I am so good at not doing it for a while that I feel like there is so much to catch up on that I get overwhelmed and I never update. It's just like my journal writing... uugggh... Last year's New Year Resolution was to be better about writing in my journal - at least once a week. Look's like it's going to stick around for 2009 - maybe another year will help me get the hang of it. My grandma, who passed away in December 2005, wrote in a journal nearly every day and I have taken the liberty to start transcribing her journal from 1984. I haven't been very good about doing it, but it does inspire me to keep up my journal writing. Blogging is similar enough, I should be able to do it! (Honestly, one thing that kind of "un-inspires" me, is that people very rarely comment on my entries. I know they aren't amazing or anything, but I would just like to know that people are at least somewhat interested... :) That's a hint, guys.)

So, what has happened that I didn't write about. We went to Cabo San Lucas. That was a big deal for us - it was our first vacation by ourselves. I know that sounds silly, but it's not. My parents are usually nice enough to let us tag on to their adventures and we usually invite them when we have fancy plans, but this time we wanted just us. (We still haven't heard the end of how mean we were to not invite them on this one.... )

K, I kinda figure that the easiest way to do this is to post what we emailed home to our parents: So we hope you enjoy!

CheesCloth Ghost Craft

2008-10-13T17:18:00.007-06:00

Ok, with Halloween speedily approaching and not much time left on my Calender, I decided that I was going to do something that I have wanted to do for a number of years. Years ago, my mom had made a ghost out of cheesecloth that was just freakin cool to a 7 year old. Anyways, I was reminded of this craft when I was visiting Roberts and they had a small one out on display that I suppose one of the workers had made. Well I decided that mine was going to be big and kinda scary (or at least cool).

So I bought the necessary supplies.

4 Sheets of Cheesecloth (1yd square each).
A bottle of Fabric stiffiner (its pretty much like glue).
A big foam ball (for the head of my ghost)
Toilet paper or Paper towel rings (the cardboard inside roll)
2 or however many metal hangers you think you need
Hairdryer
Construction paper or some sort of thicker paper
Pencil
Permanent marker

With these supplies I went over to my mothers house to enlist some more hands. Muahahahahaaaa!! I took two metal hangers and made a metal figure out of it to support my ghost head and the arms. We used the cardboard Paper towel rolls to cover the arms so they looked a little more proportionate.

We dumped the entire bottle of fabric stiffener into a bowl and then filled the empty bottle about 1/3 to 1/2 full or water and added that to make it easier to work with (trust me you will want to do that, I tried it the other way and it didn't work worth JACK!).

So as my mom soaked the cheesecloth in the watered down fabric stiffener and then squeezed it out (not hard because the fragile cloth will tear). My brother Eric and I (wearing disposable latex gloves, I did mention that we all wore them right?) and we draped the sheets of cheesecloth over the Foam ball and metal frame we made and positioned the cloth the way we wanted it to fall. We continued to do this until all four sheets of cheesecloth were draped over the figure and it looked awesome!!

We supported the outstretched arm with something underneath, since the wet cheesecloth was heavy, and we got a hairdryer out to help speed up a few crucial spots that support the entire figure. Then we left it to sit for about 12 hours and VIOLA! it was stiff (it can take up to 24 hrs to dry). Once the Ghost is dry simply remove / take out the wireframe and foam ball so the ghost is ... well... a ghost! It will now, with the cheesecloth dry stand on its own. Pretty cool hu?

So then I just drew the shape of eyes I wanted on some cardboard and cut them out and then traced both eyes and then filled them in with permanent marker right on the cheese cloth.

The ghost turned out really good in the end, I look forward to displaying it on Halloween, or helping somebody else with theirs! Pretty neet. I encourage you to try it. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Here you can see the overall form of the Ghost. The outstretched arm was a little tricky but we got it!

Here you can see that we mostly let the cheesecloth fall where it wanted to, except for a few effects we wanted. You have to remember that this base will support your ghost so it has to be strong. Feel free to fold or overlap some cloth, just remember that it has to look natural and ghoolish!

This is the cool part. The ghost when dried and finished weighs close to nothing. It is empty inside and partly see-through depending on how much cheesecloth you have.

Update from Aimee :)

2008-10-07T13:47:00.000-06:00

Hi! I just saw that Jason posted again! He's so cute, huh? :) Anyway, I have been working on getting stuff for our Halloween party up and going - good thing I have help! I just finished sewing a bunch of "leaves" for a dress that I designed. One of my best friends in the whole world is the one responsible for making it come to life. It's for one of our Young Women in our ward, Jackie - she is going to her homecoming dance this Saturday and had asked me in June to design a dress for her. It looks FANTASTIC so far! It is so exciting. I will post pictures when it is done. It's going to be great!!!

Best 80's Cartoon?

2008-10-03T23:55:00.004-06:00

Hey, Everybody! So I have recently undertaken a number of new projects. The first one is the upkeep of this blog. The second is making a Ghost out of cheesecloth for Halloween. Its always been my favorite holiday! Anyways, it's drying right now and as soon as its done I will put a couple of pictures on here to show you how freaking cool it is! It's really simple to make too. Anyways, the third project is more out of curiosity and goes along with the blog. Its a Poll!! Anybody can vote and its completely anonymous. The first one is Which is the best 80's Cartoon? I know there were a ton of them but for the four that are listed please vote! And, if yours wins I will post a video or maybe even an entire episode of it on the blog for everyone to watch! So get voting. Its just right over here -------------------> on the right side of the blog.

I finally finished my online portfolio!

2008-10-02T17:07:00.003-06:00

I am just excited that I finally finished my portfolio - I just have to blog about it! Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think I even had to dive into a bit of scary JavaScript.... that was pretty much the toughest thing I have ever done (not really :) ).

You can check it out here!

Sudoku

2008-10-02T00:04:00.003-06:00

I am just playing around with the blog at this point and seeing what is possible. So, in an effort to keep people checking out our blog, perhaps even when we are not posting, I have posted a Sudoku game on the right side under "Stalker List". I played it and its not bad if I say so myself. So if your bored check us out!

I am soo in.

2008-10-01T22:36:00.002-06:00

Ok everybody I finally added myself to the contributors list. So now when I post something it will say me and not Aimee. Just FYI!

CHATROOM!

2008-10-01T22:33:00.002-06:00

Ok Everybody here is a code based chatroom. It is located in the upper right hand corner of the blog page and is called "McDaniel's Living Room". I figured the blog was not a blog without a chatroom in which anybody on the site could talk to anybody else on the site in real time! Pretty Sweet hu? Well I thought so anyways. Enjoy!

Adventurers...

2008-10-01T20:53:00.008-06:00

Anyways, Aimee and I have decided that we need to spend some time getting to know Utah more. So, last week we decided to be adventurous and go explore two things in Utah that we had never been too. One was the Golden Spike Museum and the other was the Spiral Jetty.

For those of you who don't know what either of these two are. The Golden Spike museum is
located at the spot that the last ceremonial spike was driven to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. This Spike joined the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads together on May 10, 1869.
You know it’s funny how the whole thing transpired. The government offered the company that could build the first transcontinental railroad a lot of money, not to mention that every other mile of railroad that they built they could own ever other square mile of land touching the railroad on both sides. This was great encouragement for the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. Both built like crazy and met in Utah. Actually, neither railroad wanted to join together because that meant that they would not get the complete grant that the government offered, nor as much land as they would if they each built straight to the coast, so they actually passed each other and continued building. Fed up with the fighting, Congress declared where and when they should be joined. Pretty cool hu?!

Anyways we also went to see the Spiral Jetty. It’s a giant spiral built off of the North Coast of the Salt Lake coast. It was built by American sculptor Robert Smithson in 1970 during a drought with black basaltic rock, but after it was built the Salt Lake rose burying it with water for nearly three decades. Everybody just about forgot about it because of this and the death of the artist. Years later in 2004 the Spiral Jetty re-emerged because of a drought and everybody was like, "WTF where did this come from?" I'm sure a couple of loons were like, "Aliens!!" LOL.

It was a cool site. The Salt Lake is still very low, We walked out about 50 Yards to even reach the water. I believe you can walk out to Antelope Island from the South Shore. Which by the way there was an old anchor out there a while ago and I intend to go and get it! :)

Anyways, we plan to continue this tradition of exploring Utah for as many weekends as we possibly can. Its amazing, you live somewhere forever and you never go see anything thats there! We will try to keep everybody posted.

Catch-up...

2008-10-01T20:17:00.012-06:00

Wow a lot has happened since we last updated our blog. First, I want to defend myself and say, we have been too busy. LOL. But if I did I would be lying. Second, I would like to recap what has happened over the last 6 months. I am however, going to break down what has happened into a few sections so that its easier to follow. I will be re-capping everything since I have plenty of time right now.

OOOooo I just remembered all that we are planning for October! We bought 6 Big pumpkins that we are going to carve and design for our Halloween party! Its going to be awesome! Costume Party with friends, with fun games and activities and the classic scary movie going on in the background on our projector. Last year the party was a huge hit! We played all sorts of games and just hung out. Anyways, we just bought some shrunken skull's that grow when they are soaked in water for a few hours. It will be both a great decoration and a great prize! Costumes... Aimee and I couldn't decide what to wear for Halloween so we are leaving our options oh my head feels like its been through a can opener. I actually decided to update the blog because I ran into an old friend's (Brittany) mom at JoAnn's. I felt kinda weird cause its one of those times you feel like crap and you run into people. We bought ourselves skin colored unitards...I have been wanting this for a while. It will be great for my flasher costume HAHAHA. Also we are going to airbrush some muscle definition on them and can use them for our He-Man and She-Ra costumes or our Adam and Eve costumes. Either way it will be great. I was going to be Captain Moroni and Aimee was going to be Rainbow Bright for Halloween this year but I think we will keep those in the bedroom. We decided to go as Adam and Eve. It will be fun. I need to go find a HUGE leaf!! But yeah so that's what's new with us, I think. I always forget something.

So anyways, I know all of you are wondering, "Where have you two been? What have you two been up to? Well that brings me back to my reason for writing this blog today. So here we go in chronological order.

First I left my job at Target. The management there was getting really crappy and I never wanted to work there forever. So I spend the whole next semester (which was my last!) focusing on school and finding a better job. So anyways my last big project in school was to write a full blown business plan for a company that was going to go international.

So my team and I choose to do a timeshare/hotel in Croatia. I believe over the course of the semester and countless hours researching, analyzing and planning we had a polished business plan of around a couple of hundred pages. Research included of course. Needless to say, we aced the class. I finished the semester and instead of walking I decided to take off to Washington D.C.for a week or so to see the sights! I told them to just mail my diploma to me. :)

Throughout the summer Aimee focused on taking care of a few HUGE projects she had going. She was doing a whole website redesign for a Non-Profit Organization called Operation Kids and for a company called RW Smith Brokers, who are a broker's broker.

Operation kids, has been one of the large contributors to the rebuilding and reorganization of schools, parks, community places in New Orleans and elsewhere. They are a fantastic organization and I would recommend them to anybody. Aimee and I have donated money to them as well.

And because of me and Aimee's hard work we have been able to pay off her car and all our debt. We have planned a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico. This will happen October 18th - 28th. Its going to be such a blast, we are going to go para sailing and snorkeling, swimming, scuba diving, dancing, eating..etc.. you name it! I'm going to love it so much!

Creative Streak Saturday... and Beyond

2008-04-10T13:28:00.005-06:00

So, I know its Thursday and the title says Saturday, but I've been a bit busy with Jason's homework... yes, I have been doing his homework - at least for his International Marketing class's trade show. He's in a group of 4 people, and for this assignment, they had to find a product that is/was sold internationally and market it for the US. At first Jason totally hated the product they chose, but now we both want to buy one (considering they are no longer being made, it might prove to be a bit difficult). Introducing the BMW C1 (as displayed by a little of my fancy footwork):

Pretty sweet, huh? I really had a good time doing it. There is also a brochure and some business cards that go with it, but they aren't all that much fancier. This is just the 2' x 3' poster we had printed for the show that was Wednesday.

I also got a call on Sunday to design a flier for the Youth Conference for my ward. It turned out pretty darn cute, if I may say so myself:

It was a great opportunity to me to use my talents for the church. The other project I was asked to do was a small handout for the YW Beauty Night - which was a HUGE success, I might add. I haven't had that much fun with all the girls since Girls' Camp! Here's the cover: (cute, huh? Very Spring-y)

So, at least my week so far, has proven to be productive - and fun!!! Now I am planning on starting my new website design... again. Hopefully I can have it laid out by Monday. I started taking a database class (courtesy of the amazing Nik!) that is helping me with the backend of everything for the site. Yipppeee!! Progress!!

Oh!!! Congratulations to Alyse and Mike - they had their baby boy today!!! Hooray!!!!

Getting Back into Real Life

2008-04-05T00:01:00.006-06:00

Well, we have been back from our Nebraska/Kansas trip for 2 weeks now.... boy, time is flying! Nothing is really new.... though, we really wish we were still on vacation. The funniest thing is this pic of my mother-in-law actually using her sewing machine in the back seat of the car while we were driving! (This is for you Les and Marg!):

The trip was really good for me. It was fantastic to see my sisters-in-law and to get a break from the computer. It was great to step back from my computer and

see that there really is more to life than web design. Like I said before, I am starting to sew and knit. Still working on knitting project #1, but I have sewn an apron and I made a "creative/collage board" thing. Here's some of my stuff from the last 2 weeks:

Practice project #1: It's supposed to be a bag that stands up open, but... it was 7:30 in the morning, and apparently I can't read directions that early in the morning. I didn't even notice that it was all wrong until it was "finished" and Jason ask

ed, "is it supposed to look like that?!?" Doh!!!! I'll try again later....

My Reversible Apron: (cute fabric, huh?)

My pride and joy for putting ideas together:

I am hoping to start using this blog to the benefit of my creative skills. I would like to start posting a new "creation" of some sort every week. That will keep me (hopefully) more motivated and keep my skills up. It might be anything from a new website or graphic to a painting or knitting project. We will just have to see. I have a whole list of things that I would like to do. Its been really nice to get out of my comfort zone and play around a bit. I am lucky to have a husband that really wants me to work on these things and develop my skills. We will just have to see where they take me from here.

To be honest, I have to give away my sources of inspiration for most of my new projects and ventures. The first individual has had the greatest impact on my "new" thinking: Heather Bailey. If you have never heard of her, you need to. She's pretty much amazing in every way. The next is Erin Harris - she's like Martha Stewart only more "home grown". Love it. Martha Stewart, on the other hand, is also becoming a hero of mine. :)

Speaking of Martha, I am designing a website called WannaBeMartha.com. It will be a lot of fun and give more people more opportunities to share their knowledge about anything crafty, home-y, or whatever to people. I am also creating a shopping cart to go with it so there is opportunity for selling homemade stuff: like knitted socks, baby clothes, cheesy reversible aprons, etc. I think it will be fun! I will post a screenshot when the design has been laid out in Photoshop.

I have to go to bed... Prince Charming is getting sleepy. 'Night!!!

Hangin' in Nebraska

2008-03-16T19:51:00.004-06:00

Hey all! It's been a month since I have posted! I am such a bum! :) Well, as the title indicates, Jason and I are hanging out in Nebraska with Jason's sister, Leslie. We have been here for 2 days now and are absolutely loving it. We left Friday night and drove all the way through and got here Saturday morning at 11 - Whew!! We were very happy to FINALLY get here.

Leslie just had a beautiful baby girl and this morning we blessed her: Amelia Elizabeth Marie Terry. She is absolutely beautiful and SO sweet! She is only 6 weeks old and weighs just about nothing! Here's a picture of her:

Isn't she beautiful! She actually looks a lot like Jason... she's definitely got some McDaniel qualities!

Well, I am stepping out of my comfort zone again. Now that I am learning to sew, I figure that I should continue to broaden my horizon... so I am learning how to knit. I NEVER thought I would learn how to knit! But, I am working on my first project ever.... one day I will be as good as Leslie at it, (BTW, she is seriously amazing when it comes to sewing. She made me a pair of socks that are the most comfy EVER!). We will see how it goes. She showed me the coolest website ever for knitters: www.ravelry.com. You should at least check it out - even if you don't knit.

Wednesday we leave for Kansas to see my other sister-in-law, Margie. She also had a baby and I have only seen pictures of her:

Cute, huh! We are really excited to see her! One the way to Kansas we are going to be going through Omaha to see the temple and the Visitor's Center where there is a Walter Rane exhibit. I am pretty stoked about that!

We are having a blast - the vacation have been very needed. While I learn to knit, Jason has been playing his usual computer games. I am really glad that he is relaxing - school and work are playing their toll and we are SO excited for him to graduate this August.

Well, that's all for now! I have got to get back to my knitting!!! Ha ha!!!

Lasik Adventure!

2008-02-15T23:12:00.006-07:00

So, today started out just like any other day. We slept in from being out late with friends and lazily enjoyed the morning as we got things ready for Aimee's Lasik appointment. We ate at Ihop, and had their new omlettes. Oh my gosh they were huge!! I mean it looked like they rolled a puppy in egg and cooked it, thats how big it was! Anyways, we swung by Target to pick up the last minute essentials for the day and were on our way to the Hoopes Vision Center for Aimee's Lasik appointment.

When we got there we were taken back to the Pre-Op room where Aimee was given valium and some numbing drops for her eyes. We were then taken back and Aimee was given a last minute eye exam to make sure that she would get the proper adjustment. I was a little worried when afterwards she said that she was worried because the final setting on the eye machine was more blury than the original eye perscription for her glasses. So we asked the eye doctor about it and they assured us that it was fine. They just didn't want to give too strong of a correction so that test and the one we did when we first went in for a consultation would balance out.

Anyways, Aimee is passed out next to me as I am writting this so I can say whatever I want. :) :P hehehe. LOL. Anyways, we went back and they put some more numbing drops in her eyes and had her close her eyes and rub them with I think detadyne. She looked like a crazy racoon it was great. They then took her in and had her lay down under the IntraLASIK machine. This is the machine that creates a button-sized corneal flap on the surface of the eye. The benefit of this is that there is no blade used. Also the flap is precise and when finished can lay perfectly back on the eye because of the beveled edge made around the corneal flap. Pretty cool hu? Here is the video of it.

During this process they use a suction thingy on the eyeball to ensure the precisness of the laser. When the eyeball is sucked up in this vaccum thing there is a complete loss of vision (you see nothing but black, or so Aimee says. she was kinda freaked out by the whole thing of being blind for like 3 minutes) when the procedure is done with that eye, they do the same to the other eye. For Aimee it took about 2-3 minutes for her vision to come back after being in the suction thingy. When the laser is doing its thing it is creating little pockets of air about a 10th of a milimeter under the corneal tissue. When they are left for a few minutes the tiny bubbles dissapate and essentially connect into one big bubble under the corneal tissue so that a flap is created. Then the laser cuts a beveled edge around it so that it can be lifted up later.

After this process is done they then bring her back out to the observing room and have her sit back with her eyes closed. After the bubbles have dissapated thus creating the flap needed she is taken back into the room and placed under the ALLEGRETTO WAVE™ IQ 400 Excimer "Laser" :) which will then correct her vision by from what I understood cutting away a portion of her corneal tissue under the flap to effectively compensate for the astigmatism she had and the nearsightedness. Below you can see the video of her going through this.

The coolest thing that happened during this process actually happened to me! I was watching the procedure very intently through the ginormous glass windows like a greasy fry fingered kid does on the glass of the McDonalds play area. when a guy came up and stood inbetween me and the window. It took me a second to pry my eyes away from the TV and looked at him as he looked over his sholder at the TV and then back at me and said, "Think you can stomach one of these while watching that?" and then looked down at the big plate full of chocolate chip cookies he had. "Fresh from the oven", he said. Oven? where do they put an oven in here? So I quickly accepted one and then two chocolate chip cookies from the dude and happily ate them as Aimee was finished up.

Afterwards, she was brought out and we were sat in an eye exam room to let her eyes relax until she was checked out and given the ok to go home. We got home and by this time the valium had already done its job and she was out. We got in the house and she barely made it into bed, where she slept for a couple of hours before waking up to eat dinner and socialize a little and go back to bed.

So there is our exciting Lasik adventure in a nutshell. We will be sure to keep you posted. Until then be sure to check out the Hoopes Vision Center Website if you have any questions, comments, concerns.. well the comments you can put here. :) Hoopes is the best in Utah. Did I mention that Dr. Hoopes was actually our doctor? I was kinda suprised, I figured it would be somebody else.

if you have any questions or are curious about who they are. They are the best in Utah!

Sincerely,

Jason McDaniel

Time To Update!

2008-02-10T20:02:00.001-07:00

Now that it has been about 2 weeks since I have written my first post, I figure that I might have enough to write! :) Today is our 2nd anniversary and it has been fantastic! We celebrated yesterday - we went and got massages and then went to dinner at The Melting Pot. After dinner, when we got home, my parents dropped of my little surprise for him. I painted a picture of him as Captain Moroni. He has wanted this picture by Walter Rane of Captain Moroni for 3 years, and I just couldn't convince myself to pay $200 for it. So, I decided to paint one of him. I think it turned out alright. He really likes it.

So, we decided this that week that it would be beneficial for me to proceed with Lasik surgery for my eyes. We had an appointment at the Hoopes Vision Center and the doctor decided that I was a perfect candidate. So we went ahead and scheduled the surgery and setup the financing. So, I go into surgery on the 19th! I am pretty excited and I can finally get rid of my glasses! Hooray!

Other than that, there isn't much going on in my life. OH! My cute sister in law, Leslie, just had her baby on Wednesday! Congratulations to her! They have named her Amelia - I can just call her Milly. :) OK, other than that there isn't much going on. I am just working away and trying to stay upright on my two feet with it all.

Thank you everyone for your comments - I love them!! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! It will be great!

Life is GREAT!!

2008-01-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I am finally convinced that I should start a blog. :) I saw the cutest picture of a little boy on a blog today and... he won my heart. I need to put up cute pictures of my man, too.

Life is great. That's just about all that goes on. Everyday is a new adventure, and I pity the unlucky women who aren't married to someone like Jason - he's amazing! I ran into an old boyfriend tonight at the gym (the one I actually dumped Jason to date... oops....) and I was reminded how grateful I am to have married Jason. I am so in love!

Jason is going to be done with school in August and is majoring in Business Administration at the U. He is currently the newest manager at Target with a future promotion in August. Yipee! He is working hard at school work and takes his much needed breaks by playing video games. Not too bad of a life, but still really busy. Just pray that August comes quickly!

I have been working like crazy on my design work. I finally finished an application to Swiss Days for Candy Jade - they will definitely get accepted! (Keep your fingers crossed!) I just received more work from R.W. Smith to do all there stationary, since we just re branded their company (a HUGE improvement, may I add). And I am working on Candy Jade's new-and-improved website and fighting with the programmer to get my brother's finished site up and actually working. Oh, I got another project too with Thorup Tutoring that is a quickie, but should help pay a bill or two. I spend my mornings at the gym (trying to get my Spartan body), and the rest of the day either working on the computer or re-learning how to draw and paint. I have a list of projects, but Jason said that we can't spend all our money at Home Depot, so I have to wait and save. That's ok. :)

Our anniversary is February 10th and I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY BEEN TWO YEARS! It have been a FANTASTIC 2 years, but sure has gone by quickly! It's just nice to know that I am 16 pounds lighter than I was 2 years ago - only 15 more to go! **No one is allowed to comment on that. :) I AM SPARTAN!! (and a really big geek!).

I hope that I can keep this up! I think the idea of blogging is really cool, but the commitment is another thing for me. I am a bum. :) I hope to check back in soon!