What is your PASSION?!

What is your Passion?! Well, for your sake, I hope you could answer this question quickly. I am reading a book right now & one of the characters loves to meet people with a passion & let them talk about it. She said that it didn't matter how boring the subject was because if a person is busy talking about their passion then the happiness rolls off of them & it is contagious and it is fun to see what people get excited about. WHY DID THIS STRIKE ME SO HARD?! I thought to myself, what is my passion? What would people see my face light up about when I talk about it? ...and more importantly...

WHAT makes me HAPPY?... and why am I not spending more time doing it?!

Well, I made a big long list & I got it sorted out into 2 categories.

Things I like to do: Hiking, skiing, friend time, family time, games, cooking, scrapbooking, & nightly walks

Then these are the things that I get excited about if I could go out & do them right now:

1-Decorating (mainly for any party or holiday)

2-Romantic gestures (notes, surprises, massages, etc.)

3-Taking pictures

4-Shopping for new clothes

BUT, which one is my passion?! I've decided that I have so many things I like to do that I spend too much time trying to do them all & they all seem to drown each other out. My goal now is to spend a lot of time doing the things I love & see if any of them can turn into a passion! NOW, what I really want to hear is... WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?

And then I want to make sure & put a prego update: The prego party is OVER! The first 6 months was a breeze, then I've been tired & so sick with indigestion that I can hardly get things done despite trying to repaint my entire house (still happening). Yuck! I'm almost done with month 7 so hopefully it starts to look uphill! Plus I've doubled in size, but I don't have a picture because Vic BROKE MY CAMERA :( So hopefully I'll get a new one soon!

Baby Bump, Shower, and ... a WEDDING!

Okay, I am finally starting to really show so here is my latest baby bump! Here I am a week ago at 22 1/2 weeks (5 months).


I decided to throw my brother-in-law's fiance a surprise baby shower. I figured she probably wasn't expecting one is why I decided to do it a surprise. I wanted to do a totally themed out one, but I decided that my audience wouldn't really appreciate all the time I put into it (that is half the fun when you decorate... hearing the oohs & aahs!) so I just went simple & pink. Here is the table I decorated.

Here is the close up of the wontons I made. This was my first time making them. They were simple enough with my mini muffin pan, but definitely different! I don't think I've even tried a wonton before this, I was just looking for something pink for dessert!

Here's up close of one of the vases of flowers. It was really fun to be able to just pull them out of my flower garden!....and as a DOUBLE surprise Roger decided to crash the baby shower (since all the family was gathered anyway)... and get married right after it was over! I was sure glad I pulled weeds the day before so their marriage setting could be as pretty as possible!

Jessica's best friend that was at the shower ran to the store as soon as they announced that they were getting married in 30 minutes & got a cake for them so we made them do the traditional feeding even though they wanted to be ultra casual!

All I can say is WOW, didn't think I'd ever have a wedding in my backyard! Although I'm flattered they thought it worthy enough! I love my new sister-in-law, but I can already say we have to be opposites in the party department cuz I have to decorate to the 9's for any little thing, especially my wedding!!!

3rd Year Anniversary

3 years with my sweetheart has FLOWN. I LOVE being married to Vic. If any of you know him very well, he is the biggest sweetheart, always thinking of others (especially me), and a true romantic at heart which is hard to find these days. We always give each other the traditional wedding gifts & this year was "LEATHER". I gave Vic a leather baseball book to remind him of the Braves baseball game I let him go to last weekend and he gave me this gorgeous leather purse :) I'm so glad he figured out that it was about the only thing I'd want that was leather!

To CELEBRATE I made Vic his favorite breakfast, banana cream pie and after work had his 1st professional massage booked for him. He loved it, I'm so glad I found someone good! After that we went down by the river then ate at Canyon Crest. It had a great view & the weather was perfect, but I forgot to take a picture! Then we went to LAS VEGAS for the weekend which ended up being twice as fun as I planned! I had looked up a lot of stuff online, but I figured we still have too much time to look around. Not so, there is NEVER ENDING things to do in Vegas! The first night we stayed on the strip & went to the "V ultimate variety show" which was so good. It had comedy, dancing, acrobatics, flying guys, and magic tricks. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile & loved hearing Vic laugh just as hard :) We wanted to see all of the night shows outside of the hotels & didn't end up getting back to our hotel until 2am!

The next day we slept in, had a yummy lunch & Vic unsuccessfully tried his luck at poker while I went shopping for our new BABY BOY! That's right we found out right before we left. Vic is beside himself with excitement! I was hoping for a girl, but a boy will be fun too :) The little guy wouldn't look at the camera, but here is a profile.

Vegas has never ending shopping & I wish I would have had 5 more hours to do more! After shopping we met back up & went to a magic show which was cool, but this guy was such a cheeser (not near as good as the night before). Anyway, we watched that then had just enough time to get down to our next show "The Mentalist". It's the true guy that they've made the show after because he can read people's minds. It is a totally crazy talent & he even had Vic stand up & told him his full name even though there is no way he could have known that! It was so good & I was so tempted to buy his DVD & book! After that show we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner & I wish we had one of those near us. It was so yummy! I love their huge menu.

We then went & checked into the Ritz Carlton & it was so fancy. I'd stay there again every time if I could afford it. They definitely know how to pamper their guests, plus they have the nicest rooms too :) Here is a picture of their cute little shopping village. I felt like I was in the movie Beauty & the Beast.

Here is the Lagoona that we spent a ton of time in after a huge beautiful breakfast. It was so much fun & the sand was the perfect texture.

After that we spent more time playing in the pool. It was everything I love.... little cabana boys going around wiping off people's sweat for them, taking their orders, and hot sun. It was the next best thing to being on the beach!

Here is the view from our room. I planned on renting a boat & playing on the lake, but we ran out of time!

Overall, an AMAZING weekend with my AMAZING husband of three years.

Backyard Makeover

This spring I decided to do a major makeover to our backyard. It all started with the fact that Vic promised me a gazebo with outdoor couches, but I was trying to figure out how to have that, an area to BBQ, & a table in the shade... so this is what we wound up with!

Here is an upclose shot of our wall that took a million loads of dirts, bushes, & plants. You can hardly see the bushes because my flowers are growing so well!

Here is the BEFORE PICTURE taken from the existing deck.

And here is the AFTER PICTURE

Here is how ugly & plain the back of our house looked...
...and the much improved back of the house!
I couldn't play with the backyard & not touch the front so here is the BEFORE

...and here is the AFTER picture.

And last, but not least.... I am so proud to say that the only thing I did for this garden was cut up the grass & put in the retaining wall around the outside. Vic did all of the tilling, planting, & weeding. He loves vegetable gardens & I told him it was all his. I didn't think he'd really do it & he had a late planting start, but it's growing good & I'm so proud of him!

My Pride & Joy

I feel like I've been the busiest bee ever lately trying to finish up a zillion projects & here are a few of them. I started this blanket for Vic's anniversary gift last year & figured I'd better finish it before our next anniversary! It took so much time that I think it will be my first & last pieced together quilt, but Vic was DYING to have a huge levi quilt so I couldn't help but spoil him ;) It's huge & covers my entire front room floor!

This project took MUCH less time & was so much more gratifying! I hated the color of our fireplace so I dyed it the same color as the wood on our couches & it tied the room together nicely. Here is a before & after.

...and here are the little joys in my life. We went to Idaho Falls for the 4th so here I am holding baby Kiersten & Kara is sitting next to me. They were so much fun to be with! (Katie, Becky, & Mom in the background are joys too!)

Here we are doing sparklers. This picture would be perfect if you could see all of tiny Kiersten (on the left) holding a firework! It was so adorable until she set it on her head!

Baby Party

Okay, so I FINALLY got pictures from my mom from the party we had to announce our little baby on the way. Here is the big banner we had hanging up on the back of our house.


Then we ordered this shirt for Vic & he wore it with GREAT pride! He wouldn't even wait for anyone to read the banner... he would just thud his chest & tell people to read it the instant they got to our house! I was wearing a little mommy-to-be button that you can't really see here :)

The theme of our party was watermelon & lady bugs... I guess I should have taken a picture of our invite, they turned out pretty cute... anyway, here is what a cute decorative table I had under our banner.

On the top layer all of the lady bugs had binkys to tie in the baby theme too :)

I had a zillion watermelon dishes thanks to my mom collecting them over the years, but then I made this watermelon jell-o that the kids ate up instantly! There was a bunch of cute smaller slices, but my mom couldn't get a picture of them before they got eaten!

I had a few more creations to put up before the party, but all of the kids were so excited to come (because they knew we were renting a bouncy house) ..so everyone came early & I didn't have time to get all of the decorations up! Oh well, it was still really fun & everyone's side dishes they brought to share were super yummy :)

805 Days later....

We sent this card out on scrapbook paper to all of our family members that couldn't make it to our party last Saturday. Check it out!

And on the inside of the card was this...



We are both SO EXCITED!!!! If you can't tell from this small picture that is our baby's 1st ultrasound picture hanging in that stork bag!

Triathalon Accomplished!

I'm getting lazy in my uploading, but here are a few pictures!
SWIM (as the race was starting)....

BIKE... (Vic entering transition area....to the right of the cones is me pushing my bike too, look very close!)
RUN: Here is Vic's nice long stride

FINISH: 17 miles! It was a fun little mini tri :) Vic is hooked & doing the 33 mile one in August. I'd so do it with him if I could! Last weekend I did my first triathalon!!! Vic did it with me & my main goal was to finish without walking & to pass Vic on the bike part (even though I knew he'd pass me on the running!)
Anyway, I came out of the lake 7 people after Vic, but I could see him so I just kept on going... I passed him on the bike part, which was SO exciting for me! I couldn't wait to get back to the transition area and see the look on my family's face when I strolled in before him, but there is a 200 yard run from where you have to dismount you bike to wear you park it... so Vic having the same idea that I had, wanted to beat me to my fam. I got off my bike & had jello legs & he got off his bike & SPRINTED past me just in time for the transition area! My family was busy cheering him on & taking pictures watching him run away so they barely turned and saw me as I was running past them, but still shocked that I was on his heals! He of course beat me, but I accomplished my goal.... finishing without getting sore muscles & passing him at one point. It was so much fun... I HOPE that I can talk more of you into doing it with me next year! All of our triathalon fans & my aunt are determined to do it next year now that they saw Vic & I do it so I'm glad I've inspired others & can't wait to do it with them next year :)

Easter Weekend

We went to Salt Lake this year for Easter & EVERYONE was there! Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, cousins, & and neices... 19 of us all together! It is crazy how fast a family grows! I can't imagine how it would be in a big family! Here is a picture of me, my neice Kara, sister Katie, Uncle Danny, Cousin Colter & Abby. We ended up with some really pretty eggs this year with foils, beads, and sand!

My grandma always has LOADS of decorations & silly things to play with like this pair of bunny ears. Kiersten filled them out nicely :)

Vic and I love going downtown. We ate at the Garden & walked around Temple square. The tulips & trees were all in perfect bloom. It was SO pretty!
Kara was SO adorable in her Easter hat & gloves. She loves posing for pictures. I love it! haha!

During the little kid hunt. We split it up into 3 categories. Vic & I scored $27 together!

After dinner & our family picture the little kids had this cute pinata to knock out.

Then we played games outside until it was time to leave. The kids, big & little love to play motorboat!