Alphabet Weekends are about to Begin!

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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 :(

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

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!

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!)

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.