love today.

Jake is so much FUN. we've been married for nine months now and i gotta say that every minute has been a blast. we love every day. anyway, just wanted to give him a little shout out i guess. he makes me happy.

thankful.

i am so grateful that heavenly father sent such a wonderful man to be the prophet on earth during my adolescent years. jake and i truly love president hinckley and we're so grateful for the things we've learned from him-- for his faith, hope, humor, happiness, hard work, diligence, fearlessness... we are such a blessed people to be in the presence of men and women who have nothing but eternal perspectives and a great love for the gospel of jesus christ. he will be greatly missed.

da da daaaaaaa

this is jake and me. we're signing papers on our first purchased home. huge deal and huge blessing. i'm so thankful for jake and how hard he works for our little family. i'm truly amazed at how incredible he is. about two weeks ago, we moved into a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath town home, which we love very very much. out by popular demand, i've posted some pictures of our house. i left out the two other bedrooms and the extra bath because they aren't complete yet... one day, one day. anyway, hope you enjoy. please come and stay with us. we love visitors. i'll even feed you.

the love shack.

our bathroom in our room.

my kitchen.

the family room. i'm waiting for these really great pillow covers from pottery barn to go on sale...then we'll have some more color on these couches. geez. also, i'll be painting this wall behind the couch in the fall. more color people.

this is my all-time favorite purchase. my antique bookshelf. it looks lithuanian to me, which is why i love it so much.

view from the couch.

this is my bench; it's a joy of mine.

the hallway.

downstairs bathroom.

laundry room = happiness.

i know how you all feel about tags, BUT...

i actually thought this tag was fun and interesting (thanks to my dear friend megan niccoli). it's different. i like different. i guess i'm supposed to tag a few people now--isn't that how it works? i tag rachel robbins, katie hillstead, ani taylor, carly carlson and liz jones. HA.

If you were an animal, which would you be? a cheetah. i love to run.

If you were a city, which would you be? hilton head. i think it's a city, county and an island all in one.

If you were a vegetable, which would you be? i know technically a tomato is a fruit or some garbage like that, but i really believe it's a vegetable. i would be a delicious garden grown tomato. and i would love to be refrigerated, cut up and smothered in salt and pepper.

If you were a color, which would you be?

BLUE

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.

Your saturation level is higher than average - You know what you want, but sometimes know not to tell everyone. You value accomplishments and know you can get the job done, so don't be afraid to run out and make things happen.

Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

it's kind of weird that this little color thing really does describe me in a lot of ways.

If you were a fruit, which would you be? i would be a ruby red grapefruit. a cold one.

If you were a season, which would you be? fall, for sure, 100%, no doubt. i love fall more than anything: sweaters, campfires, small chill in the air, football, orange, red, brown, yellow, and bright green leaves....especially crunching the ones that have already fallen on the ground. i love that.

If you were a shoe, which would you be? a nice, comfortable, and simple flat.

If you were a vehicle, which would you be? a 4RUNNER. i heart 4RUNNERs. black. tan leather interior.

If you were an appliance, which would you be? a blender.

If you were a Disney character, which would you be? the magic carpet from aladdin. i've always wanted to be able to fly.

If you were a dessert, which would you be? delicious and refreshing orange sherbet ice cream. i love that stuff more than anything, especially on a hot summer day. yum.

If you were a time of day, which would you be? 4 p.m. i don't know why. i just like to look at the clock at 4 and know i've accomplished a lot and i still have time to accomplish more.

If you were a cereal, which would you be? frosted mini wheats. the best of both worlds.

If you were an instrument, which would you be? cello...even though i play the violin, i still really love the cello the best.

to teach and preach and work!

this is my dear friend jessee goats. she went into the MTC today heading off to sweden and she will be amazing. i love missionary work. i'm so grateful i had the chance to serve a mission. love love love it.

jake found the cord!

finally some new pictures. i've got a lot to update on. i have some pictures from christmas with my family...unfortunately i'm an IDIOT and forgot my camera when we went to seattle. what a moron. luckily my dear lyndsi sent me a few pictures when nicco and kai had the time of their lives on the merry-go-round. ok so there's that. then we have the reunion with my girlfriends, who i LOVE...some were missing and i think it just makes me love and appreciate them even more, ya know? and then the tribute to drew, our little drew face. now that i have the cord back, i'm going to carry my camera more and start taking more pictures. ALSO...pictures of our new house to come.

a very merry christmas.








my mom made me an amazing quilt, along with two others for my sisters. she's a dream.


let me just say that i love the vela family. we had so much fun at their house for christmas. i wish i had more pictures.




love my friends. miss the ones who weren't there. love them too.



drew drew. he's good for our hearts. the more he eats, the more he farts.

this is my all-time favorite picture of drew.

finally, something.

camera cord: still lost. BUT- i stole a few pictures from my sisters-- the first one is of jake and the hillstead/finklea crew. they all went snow-mobiling and apparently had the time of their lives. jake loves this kind of stuff and i love that he loves it. second picture: my family at andrew's (katie's baby) baby blessing last sunday. zach did an amazing job. more to come.

wow.

i'm so sick of my blog. everything about it bores me and if that's happening, then i'm pretty positive it's boring you too. here is the problem: again, can't find the camera cord. you see, we just bought and moved into our town home all in the matter of a month, which means life has been semi-chaotic. we're almost done unpacking and getting pretty settled (yes, yes i'll post pictures soon enough), but i am having a hard time locating certain things. i promise as soon as i find it, i'll update.

new years.

well, i forgot my camera this entire break. i left it in our apartment when we went to seattle for christmas. good one. i left it in our apartment on new years. good one. i stole this picture from my sister's blog--it's the only picture i have of new years 2008. i look like a whale, but nonetheless we had a good time.

good earth.

news for jenna: i was hired at Good Earth today- a health food/wellness/organic grocery store. exciting huh! i'm really into this stuff lately. good interview + good timing = great job.

i'll update more later. just wanted to give you the good news. oh, and happy 2008.