........danny, aly, and baby brown

13...12...11...

2012-02-16T20:15:00.001-07:00

Love day

2012-02-15T07:44:00.002-07:00

With the arrival of our baby pending closely, I told Danny I didn't want to do anything for valentine's. I said I'd make him dinner and we could just hang out at home. Honestly he's not a gift-giving man so I figured he'd like this. The day before I told him he could wake up happy and I'd count it as a valentine's gift! (He's pretty cranky in the mornings...)

Well, I took yesterday off to wash baby clothes and get general things done around this place. H grinned at me when his alarm went off (to prove his un-crankiness) and when I got up I found a surprise waiting for me:

I know lots of people don't like vday because men are sort of "required" to buy flowers, but I love it! It was still a surprise because I figured we'd just do a low key dinner and I'd told him a happy wake up would be great. I love that man!

When he got home from work we ate a delicious dinner of salmon, herbed rice, and lemon roasted zucchini. Also I tried a crock pot molten chocolate lava cake. In the words of Danny, it was "too goopy". I agree.

It was a great valentines and I felt very loved by this boy. I can't wait for him to be a dad.

2012-02-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

Future daddy Danny trying on one of the carriers we got.

I tried on the moby with a basketball as the baby.

Something like 19 days! I'm 2.5 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. Lots of weird pains/feelings/pressure in the pelvic region the last few days. Maybe (hopefully) he'll come early! My guess is the 17th and Danny's is the 25th. Can't wait!

Fridays with the Browns

2012-01-27T20:09:00.001-07:00

Hurry home from work/school, I text Danny on Friday night. Then we head to our favorite place.

Every time it's the same order: a little burger with lettuce, tomato, and a condiment; a bacon burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and grilled onions; two drinks (coke and diet coke with lemon); regular fries; and a thing of ketchup and fry sauce.

We eat almost all of it-can anyone finish all those fries???-and go home with happy tummies.

Five guys, we love thee.

35 weeks

2012-01-23T09:56:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I'm posting this picture...I feel like a whale!

-sleeping through the night hasn't happened in months
-I'm peeing constantly, but drinking constantly too
-heartburn from the weirdest things! Like water if I drink it at night!
-never have had weird dreams
-i can eat lots
-I'm getting elbowed and kneed in my guts all day long
-he gets hiccups now
-weight gain was about 17-18 lbs last Tuesday. Not to shabby with 5 weeks to go
-tired
-never cold, never hot
-as terrifying as labor and delivery looks and sounds, I'm definitely getting to the point where getting the baby out sounds great. Also I want to be able to run and to sleep on my stomach

26 years

2012-01-21T22:08:00.001-07:00

My man is 26 today! Close to 30 I keep telling him.

So, here are 26 things about Danny.

1-he loves treats as much as me. We make a batch of cookies about once a week.
2-he is very computer-savvy. Both my family members and his call him for help.
3-he is the smartest person I know. He learns so quickly.
4-along with that, he retains TONS of info. He actually walks out of the testing center with the knowledge he entered with.
5-he learns and solves problems differently that most. He studies a problem for 2-3 minutes and if he can't figure it out, he simply thinks and thinks and thinks until he knows. Without the book or paper or problem in front of him. I used to think he wasn't doing anything, but now I know.
6-he loves BYU basketball and football. We've spent many an hour at and watching games.
7-in the morning, his hair looks like he has devil horns. I love it.
8-he has great blue eyes.
9-he is a good little dancer, but there's no chance he'll let anyone else see his skills.
10-he has become much more outgoing in the last 3 years. He is more comfortable making conversation with people he's unfamiliar with.
11-he is a super helper around the house. He helps do dishes, wash and fold laundry, clean.
12-he is an excellent griller on our little portable grill.
13-he likes playing games with me and friends.
14-unbelievably, tonight he used ALL his blokus pieces. Twice.
15-he is very patient. He balances me nicely.
16-he likes holding hands. Which I like.
17-he likes to read a lot. I can't wait until he's not in school anymore and can read for fun.
18-he loves coke, mountain dew, and code red.
19-he taught himself how to play "come thou fount" on the guitar on his mission-without any help from tabs or other people.
20-he is a meat and potatoes man.
21-he likes adventures. We've taken some fun trips together.
22-he likes to laugh. It takes quite the effort on my part to get him to laugh, but he enjoys funny shows.
23-he wanted a kitchenaid more than me!
24-he is a strong priesthood leader in our home. He does his home teaching, fulfills his callings, takes me to the temple, says prayers and reads scriptures daily with me.
25-he loves his family. He looks forward to spending time with them.
26-he takes great care of me. Buys me sonic when I need a drink, never says no to wendy's if we don't feel like cooking, helps curb spending habits to save money, always asks my opinion on big decisions, and does his part to help us function as a true team.

Happy birthday Danny! Next year we'll have an almost one year old!

Mlk jr day

2012-01-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

Friends + Pizza pie cafe + burp cloth making. It's a wonder what an iron can do for a sewing project!

Where oh where

2012-01-13T19:09:00.001-07:00

Baby brown is pretty obsessed with the right side of my belly. That's where he hangs out all day and all night. It looks like the left side of my tummy is deflated and the right has a balloon under it.

This picture is from 32 or 33 weeks. I can't remember.

He's a growing!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

31 weeks

2011-12-27T16:49:00.003-07:00

boy oh boy are we getting close.

could be 6 weeks, could be 11 really. his movements have become less twitchy and more controlled, and yesterday i'm pretty sure i felt his foot press on my hand as i held it against my belly.

things i will miss once he's here:

watching my belly move

feeling him fight back when i hunch over or wear pants with a tighter waistband

getting woken up by his squirms in the morning

an excuse to buy new clothes because nothing else fits

danny rubbing my belly, feeling baby brown move

the sense of wonder (and weirdness) that comes from watching my body make drastic changes as i actually grow a person

looking pregnant and getting to rub my belly

fabulous hair and nails

hearing his heartbeat at my appointments

things i will not miss once he's here:

sleeping on my stomach!

energy and desire to work out

gradually fitting into my clothes again

having my body back, besides nursing

being able to pop my back by twisting it

being able to bend over

fewer aches and pains

not having to pee all the time

we have finally rearranged our room (since we have just one) and definitely have room for a bassinet, maybe even a mini crib or pack and play and a small changing table/drawer. and i have a corner to decorate for him.

lastly-i know every pregnant girl asks this, but what on earth do i need for my hospital bag? danny's? and when should i pack it? help please!

two years down, eternity to go

2011-12-23T10:52:00.005-07:00

three years ago, over a bowl of

not-for-decoration-only candy corns,

we first spoke.

after a christmas break of non-stop talking,

we did everything together.

it was with him that i enjoyed playing in the snow

for the first time.

we had our first kiss on a sledding date

and i fell fast.

eight months later we were engaged

and a year after our story began,

we were married for time and eternity.

the first year was not without it's difficulties

while we learned patience and teamwork

and how to assume the best in each other

(or maybe it was just me that needed to learn those!).

the second year brought trips to lava and seattle,

basketball and football games.

we have had fun

doing nothing-cleaning, cooking, watching tv.

and we found out that we get to bring a baby

into our little family.

these two years have been the best.

danny is a good, good man and

i hope our son is just like him.

happy anniversary husby!

thank you for putting up with me.

29 weeks

2011-12-12T07:22:00.002-07:00

in the bathroom at church. classy, i know. i seriously do not feel this big at all but apparently i am.

slowly baby brown's impending arrival is becoming more and more real. we shopped at the outlets this weekend with jason and rachel and found this teeny little dinosaur onesie and hat on sale. we died. dinosaurs are our favorite so we had to have it.
we also bought a travel system earlier! it also was on sale (this is how we shop) and assembled most of it.
baby brown LOVES waking up at 545/6 and doing jumping jacks inside of me. which is awesome since my alarm goes off at 7 thus costing me an hour or so of sleep. thank goodness i love him :) and it's so reassuring to feel him move and know that he's doing alright. i'm pretty sure he goes back and forth from laying sideways and his head in my right rib. i can't bend over anymore.

nausea has returned, not in full force, and so has the fatigue. my hair is seriously more awesome than it's ever been (i can go 5 days without washing it and you can't tell!!! a dream!). my pelvis is starting to kill. this kid must be a chub and enjoy pressing on my bones or something.

danny passed the FE, only an 8 hour engineering test the determines if you can get into grad school and probably if you can be an engineer. i'm so proud of him. an 8 hour test would kill me, but he did so well! what a smartie.

28 weeks

2011-12-05T20:17:00.003-07:00

let's compare two consecutive days shall we?

28 weeks

and 28 weeks 1 day

i don't know if it's because the first picture was taken in a dress or if the second was because it was the end of the day after eating and wearing tighter clothes. but i look way more pregnant in the second. although it's probably somewhere in the middle because all i hear is

"you are so TINY! you're barely showing! when are you due again?"

and i remind them the end of feb, so 12 weeks.

"oh my GOSH! blah blah blah"

recently,

-heartburn at night/when i lay down

-more tiredness, maybe because i forget to take my prenatals consistently, or because i wake up 2-3 times a night to pee

-lots of peeing all day long, too

-leg cramps as of today

-a spazzy flaily kid who must be laying sideways because it feels like he's jumping when i lay on my side

-sciatic pain at night only when i lay on my left side. and it wakes me up and it hurts

-more hunger and thirst

-hair and nails growing like crazy

-people are finally asking if i am pregnant! i don't just look like a fatty

-lots of crying emotion

-i forget i'm pregnant until he kicks or dances or (my favorite) i try to fit in a space i used to be able to and get stuck. i am not used to this size yet

i also had the gestational diabetes test on friday. blech. i had to drink the crap after fasting for 3-4 hours so i went at 7am, first thing in the morning. the taste wasn't terrible but that much sugar on an empty stomach is seriously unpleasant. i've heard of some drs just having you eat a candy bar or jelly beans so next go round i'm finding one of them! i haven't heard back yet but lets cross our fingers! i don't want to give up or cut back on carbs.

so far he's measuring right on track. i'm not sure about weight gain because i don't remember what i started at and i've decided until my dr says he's concerned i won't be.

current countdowns:

2.5 weeks till our anniversary

3ish weeks till christmas

4 weeks till new years

9 weeks till full term (37 weeks)

and a mere 12 weeks till my due date

it is getting crazy!

Third Trimester!

2011-11-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

24 weeks

2011-11-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

There he is, our little wiggly boy. He's started to kick almost on a schedule and I love it. It makes me laugh and laugh, especially when he's kicking at Danny but Danny can't feel it.

We did find out that he has choroid plexus cysts on his brain, but all of the research shows no link between the cysts and developmental delays or disabilities. They also are fairly common and professionals estimate that most of us adults also have CPCs and never knew because there weren't ultrasounds when we were in utero. We have the option of a medically necessary 30 week ultrasound if we want it. We'll see if we've met our deductible when it comes time. It's pretty frightening to hear 'cyst' and 'brain' in the same sentence, but I've been feeling more at ease and less panicked.

My appetite seems to have slowed-I'm not famished like I used to be-but my clothes continue to get tighter. Like they should I suppose.

Danny got a surprise half scholarship for next semester which eases the burden of school a lot. We're still quite up in the air about what we'll be doing and where we'll be in 6 months, but we're having faith.

(lower fat) alfredo sauce

2011-10-24T21:28:00.002-06:00

danny and i love this recipe. we've tried store-bought at it is yucky. this is super easy and delicious. c/o cooks.com

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk 0-2 %
3 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper (more or less, to taste)
3 tbsp. dry parsley or 1/2 cup fresh

put everything in a blender and blend till smooth.

tips:

usually we double this-it freezes well, so then you have an even faster dinner for later and you don't have a random half cream cheese.

we also sometimes add flour if needed, but today danny just upped the heat and it thickened well.

if you use neufchatel cheese (the lower fat cream cheese) and skim milk, even better for you.

it's gotta be higher quality parm. the green shakey can just doesn't cut it.

enjoy!

baby brown is a

2011-10-12T18:55:00.004-06:00

cute kid!

AND A BOY!

after some annoyance with insurance, we had to postpone our ultrasound by a day. but everything looks perfect, and he is just so sweet. we are in LOVE and are happy to have something to call the baby besides "it". still due feb 26!

19.4 weeks and some fun stuff

2011-10-06T19:05:00.006-06:00

this is what we got to see today. snow on the mountains.

let me tell you a story.

saturday during general conference i started feeling...funny. flu like? cold like? something was coming on.

sunday was worse. monday was more terrible, and that i night i couldn't sleep. sweet dear danny bought my some vicks vaporub and some other stuff to help.

and apparently i'm allergic to vicks vaporub. see?

awesome. a cold PLUS an itchy hot rash.

so i tried to take some benadryl and this is what happened.

sometimes i feel like crying "why is this happening to me??"

like david after dentist.

anyways. this is what i look like. a little belly is there. at the dr's i've gained 2-3 lbs. i guess that's okay now but it is strange to have your dr WANT you to gain weight.

happy friday tomorrow, friends.

18 weeks

2011-09-24T19:33:00.003-06:00

18 weeks?! 18 is almost 20 and 20 is halfway and after that is the countdown! crazy crazy.

this week i have been told i look pregnant. and i think i do also. my pants are just starting to get tight but my ute (uterus. suck it utah.) is almost at my belly button so my tummy is starting to push out.

we went to the jimmer game thursday with rachel, jason, and tyler. it was a blast. and also cecil o was there! in his front and center seat. i loved it. i wonder what it's like to be jimmer and have people go crazy for you. it would be so weird!
my new pregnancy pillow. i love this thing. so comfy and not too big (i think!).
friday we went to the football game. i was not sure at all about how fun this would be, after last week. somehow they pulled it together and won. only one turnover for us which is a HUGE upgrade from last week's 7.
my emotions are so out of whack. i feel like crying several times a day, and usually for no reason or for a silly reason. i think one reason is my changing body. clothes aren't fitting like they used to (duh) and this has been the first week that i can't suck in my stomach to make it flat. this is for real, yo. and i've had the linea nigra for 10 or so weeks now but it's getting much darker. i really just feel gross under my clothes. i'll get over it, i know, and once the i can feel our baby moving i'll feel better about it i think.

sleep is still a big need, but i can function with [only] 7.5-8 much better now. my appetite has started kicking in even more.

we are so excited to find out what baby brown is in two weeks! we have some names picked out and are looking forward to kissing his or her chubby little cheeks in 5 short months.

we are also thinking about a babymoon before this child comes. any ideas? pretty much all we've thought about is staying in park city for a couple nights and hitting the outlets sometime in december.

16.5 weeks

2011-09-15T19:02:00.004-06:00

we bought a car! it's a 2005 jeep grand cherokee laredo and we are in LOVE. man i wish we could afford two.

me at 16.2 weeks.
my first semblance of a bump. i had just eaten but my shirts are getting tighter. not my pants, though. weird.

weight gain at 16 week appointment: 0 lbs

baby's heart rate: still 160.

now that my baby is getting bigger (the size of my open hand!!) and i can feel my uterus, i've been wanting to sleep on my tummy but it's getting uncomfortable, dang. my nails and hair are growing out of control. i wish i didn't color my hair. but not enough to un-color it.

aubrey and i went in on a produce basket co-op type thing and this was this week's. $20 for pears, apples, corn, tomatoes, a canteloupe, and blackberries. i love fresh produce.

we find out if baby brown is a boy or girl on october 11. vote on the sidebar! i've felt our baby is a boy since i found out i was pregnant. danny wants it to be a boy, and my sister wants a girl. cast your vote!

i lied.

2011-09-07T19:18:00.001-06:00

this is what i get for gloating.

bed at 9, sleep till 7, still tired.

headaches.

exhausted.

hungry all the time.

darn.

15 weeks

2011-09-05T10:40:00.002-06:00

the stories of the second trimester are true! it is glorious!

this week,

danny and i made crockpot lasagna and it was delicious.

was craft day! i made chalkboard tiles
and a tie necklace. check pinterest for it.
and this is what i look like. getting thicker!
symptoms this last week: pretty bad headaches (not from dehydration or needing to eat. thank goodness for tylenol.), tiredness though not exhaustion, a large appetite, more energy for cleaning and cooking, hair and nails growing faster than ever, and i think I THINK the baby has been jumping on my bladder because every now and then i feel the 'oh my i'm going to wet my pants!' for a second then it goes away. hopefully i'll get to feel him or her in the next month!

14 weeks

2011-08-28T20:25:00.002-06:00

still bloat, no baby.

this past week,

-i stayed up past nine!

-i only sucked on a jolly rancher for nausea 2-3 times

-flossing-induced bleeding has decreased miraculously

-i went 4.5 hours without eating during the day. awesome. then i ate a whole gandolfo's.

-a girl at church introduced herself. she's five months preg and barely slightly looking it, dang it!

-one night i only woke up once to pee. then i jinxed it and it's been 4 again.

-i like diet coke again, hallelujah.

-we helped friends move and even if i wasn't a huge help i lifted things and went up and down stairs. a vast improvement from sitting on the couch watching psych and arrested development.

-i watched bachelor pad 1 and 1/2 times.

-i tried to lay out but then it rained.

-i started 'a will of their own' and am liking it waaay more than 'before and after zachariah'.

-a coworker with a cochlear implant told another coworker 'DON'T marry a deaf guy!' hahaha have you seen 'sound and the fury'? maybe that's why she said it...

-my baby is kicking and punching (like we heard on the doppler) but alas i don't get to feel it for awhile.

-i've done dishes and maybe even cooked (i can't remember...)!

baby's first BYU football game this saturday!

first trimester

2011-08-23T20:15:00.004-06:00

who knows when the first trimester ends. some say 12 weeks, some 13, some 14. regardless i'm nearing the end if i'm not finished. let's talk about what the first trimester did to me:

-starving, ravenously hungry, every 2-3 hours. like i'd eat lunch, feel like i wouldn't be hungry till dinner, and *bam* two hours later be starving. must eat now! lay off me, i'm starving style.

-exhaustion. i seriously have never been more tired in my life. not after a week of band camp, not after running, never. asleep by 9pm. !

-nausea. zofran was alright, but the true helpers were my seabands and jolly ranchers. terrible for my teeth but what can you do?

-foggy brain! i haven't felt like myself since we got that positive test. this fogginess was especially bad at the grocery store, talking to parents and trying to think of a specific word, while teaching

relief society (!!), and truly just all the time.

-must. pee. i go 2-4 times a night and a billion times during the day.

-excessive thirst. i thought i used to drink a lot of water. ha. false.

-headache. part of the increased blood flow/decreased blood pressure. thank heavens for tylenol and tylenol pm.

-bloating. self explanatory. i have my regular flatish stomach in the morning and i look pregnant at night.

-boobs. a positive.

right before 7 weeks i was getting so depressed. i couldn't think straight, i felt sick all the time, and i was dead tired. i did not feel like myself. i haven't experienced the joy that comes from growing a child and birthing a child and bringing a child home, so i was stuck in the moment of feeling terrible all the time without an end in sight. i ended up in the er that night because of vomiting everything, even water, and since then it's truly gotten better. the iv and liquid zofran helped a lot, and the best was seeing our baby for the first time. but growing a person is the hardest thing i've ever done.

bring on the second trimester with it's tales of increased energy, lack of nausea, and all around well-being!

birthday recap

2011-08-16T14:53:00.006-06:00

thanks danny for helping my birthday to be the best yet :)

here's what he got me:

flowers

big shiny earrings

five crownsetand lastly, but certainly not least,

a baby!

that's right friends! baby brown due at the end of february 2012, in case you can't read that. i'm 12 weeks 2 days and finally feeling better. today we heard the heartbeat and it was amazing. so incredible! totally strengthens my belief in a loving heavenly father.

that's our news!

happy birthday from uncle milan in the student center

2011-08-15T20:29:00.000-06:00

Milan singing Happy Birthday to Aly from danny b on Vimeo.

july + beginning august 2011

2011-08-04T16:28:00.003-06:00

first, daddy, janet, dillion, kaylee, cameron, and taryn drove up from dallas. we hung out at gmothers and poppy's, went to dinner, and played five crown, of course. then, we drove up to seattle to see jess, jaron, and the babes! washington is a beautiful state.

we snuggled six week old buster (danny couldn't get enough!), went on walks, hiked twin falls, visited the ballard locks, and ate at xxx burger in issaquah. warner loved the fish!
i love that seattle is on the water. it was a nice change from utah, a land-locked state. the locks were really neat to watch. i wish we could have waited there to watch them work.
danny learned to windsurf and we collected smelly sand dollars at dash point beach right before we left.

it was a wonderful trip. 70 degrees, cute babies, great family, amazing scenery, and fun. i think i could live there...my mom would die!

i'm so lucky to have great in-laws. i felt at home at jess and jaron's and i feel like jess could be my sister. she is the kindest person i have ever met! i love my parents and siblings in law. july and the beginning of august were good to us! too bad danny's school starts in a few weeks :(

4th of july, in which i learned of instagram

2011-07-05T15:03:00.004-06:00

i am not an iphone pro. i actually dislike most apple products. but i needed this phone for work. this weekend i discovered instagram and i must say, this has decreased my disliking.

me at the campsite.

danny and jason being manly and chopping up a tree...with a hatchet.

danny looking like a drunk sailor.a field of purple flowers in soda springs.
rachel in the natural hot springs.
danny golfing at our campsite.

six flags over texas

2011-06-25T10:43:00.004-06:00

a couple weekends ago we flew done to dallas for chase's missionary farewell. we got in thursday to 110 degree heat and friday we were off to six flags for a last hurrah. danny had never been on a real roller coaster so this was for him as much for everyone.

we went on every worthwhile ride. no flashback but the line was too long.

sisters!
the heat was fun since we didn't have to stay long, but dang it was hot! utah has been in the 70s so it was nice to be in real summer weather for a bit.

we had a blast! brought a cooler for lunch and spent the whole day in the sun. our feet hurt, our skin hurt, and we were thirsty. it was a blast! i do love my family.

My brother the missionary

2011-06-12T19:29:00.002-06:00

My little brother Chase was called to the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission back in March and is entering the MTC on Wednesday! Today he was set apart as missionary. Thank goodness he was cleared to finish watching the NBA Finals! We love you Chase!! Maybe you'll be an uncle by the time you come back :) that gives us a couple years.

memorial day and some.

2011-06-05T20:40:00.004-06:00

we did sealings with jason and rachel in the salt lake temple and then hit up sugarhouse bbq for dinner. good, but not as good as the smoking apple in lindon.

saturday danny had his first experience with tucanos. delicious.
momma brown has a new job under a facilities manager for the church, and she had training this week in salt lake, so she and bryce came up. pepper and archie were here turning in his final project for his degree. after cafe rio, we did a little hike up rock canyon.
pictures like the following make me feel happy that we live here, and sad that one (soonish) day we'll leave.
and then today, we tried to hike stewart falls, but look! snow :( it's finally warm at 70-80 degrees, but there's still snow up high. sad day.

i have been

2011-05-23T18:03:00.002-06:00

being girly at a very very "oh my gosh i'm gonna die it's so cute!" tea party with some fab friends.

playing with this cute baby that feeds the baby hunger.
making a nautical headband that is sweet.
eating at cafe rio and spotting provo celebs, like this chup from cjane (whom danny recognized!).
and working 45 hour weeks.

hairs

2011-04-21T15:11:00.002-06:00

once upon a time there was a john frieda salt spray
for your hairs.
i loved it.
washing my hair is at the bottom of the "things i like to do" list
and as such i do it
once or twice a week.
in the summers, when
we hit the pool a lot,
then i really frequent the shower once a week.
i like how the chlorine+sun bleach it out,
okay?

[i don't want to hear about how bad it is for my hair.
all i know is i like how it dries and how it looks.]

anyway.
the spray made my hair look like i'd been swimming.
and when applied after the pool,
the waves it dried in were uhmazing.

alas, it is no longer made.
many stores were scoured in search
to no avail.

BUT!
a lady i love is a hairdresser
and she has a blog
[and another one]
AND
she's giving a salt spray away!
maybe it's similar!
can't hurt!

go check it out.

spring break 2011

2011-04-15T13:49:00.005-06:00

my first spring break since high school has been largely successful. i almost feel like i was too productive.

friday-sunday: madre was here! chase went through

the temple and it was a wonderful, beautiful, exciting experience.

just a few months until he leaves for the DR!

monday: autism conference at uvu. why did i decide to work over spring break??

i don't know. but i did learn a few new things.

tuesday: sewing day #2. here is the finished project, the skirt i've

been dying to make for months.

wednesday: well. i love my texas plates, see. and even though

they expired last august and now that my insurance has a utah address,

texas wouldn't renew them.

remember how i drive for my job?

good thing i have become a very very safe driver.

wednesday i took my car in for safety and emissions, all the while

worrying it wouldn't pass.

all it needed was a couple lights. danny's will likely be a different story,

that 1991 lexus.

then i grabbed all the paperwork i needed and went to the dmv.

i'm becoming convinced that texas has the worst dmv system ever.

broken arrow's was empty when danny and i

went two years ago.

and i sat for max 3 minutes before being helped

at the provo one. i was only there for max 10 minutes.

i was nervous they'd ask for my old registration,

but i seriously lucked out.

then i had to take off my texas plates and put on utah ones. barf.

time to get some

BYU and TX stickers.

thursday: sewing day #2! made another skirt with aubs.

zupas for lunch.

the tabernacle for haley's graduation.

[recognize that skirt?!]

then i taught a grandfamilies class for mikael.

friday: a run, a first softball game, and maybe a tan.

almost summer!

addiction

2011-04-04T18:11:00.005-06:00

i. love. sewing!

i love having a sewing machine and

i love that this past weekend as i was listening and

watching general conference i was able to work on some projects.

aubrey has sewed some reusable velcro baggies,

like plastic ziplocs but cloth and velcro.

first was this:

then i hated it so i sucked it up and made my pattern more accurate,

coordinated inner and outer colors,

and thought through the process.

and danny talked me through some design.

sew it this way and that to make the edges smooth.

and then i tried to sew through the velcro

without a heavy duty needle.

whoops.

scratch that idea.

i kind of think these are cute enough

to be "unmentionable" bags.

danny, thanks for being an engineer

and figuring out my sewing machine

and reading the manual when i get sick of it.

one week till skirt making!!

tutorial found here

a project

2011-03-22T22:07:00.003-06:00

the fabrics i got for the skirts we're making over spring break. i'm so excited! especially for the built-in slip part.
my most recent undertaking: a BYU onesie. holy cow, i learned a lot from this teeeny project. like, why the heck is the bobbin thread showing when i sew instead of the top thread? (apparently there's such a thing as thread tension. thanks mom.) why is the thread so tight when i try to pull on it so it doesn't get stuck as i sew??? (i don't need a cap thing to keep the thread on. oh but yes, that cap thing has multiple uses. like keeping thread from getting stuck on the spool. duh apparently.) lots of trial and error.
unfortunately it is such poor quality that i don't know that the intended wearer's mom (lauri) would even dress her baby lucy in it. i may just have to keep it till we have our own 0-3mo.
but lauri, if you aren't embarrassed to have non-straight lines sewed into this byu onesie, you can def have it. perhap only until luce doesn't fit it anymore because who knows if i will make another of these. it took at least two hours. ridiculous. but maybe i'll get better.

anyway. MOM AREN'T YOU SO PROUD? A YEAR AFTER GRADUATING AND GETTING THIS I'M FINALLY SEWING SOMETHING OTHER THAN A SQUARE PILLOW?

that is all my friends.

also, your sewing machine's handbook apparently has use.

is it spring break yet?

2011-03-15T22:30:00.002-06:00

a definite perk of being on alpine school district's basic schedule is that after 4 years of no spring break in college, i get one (in addition to a summer break/fall break/etc) now. a full week off!

and i already have plans.

to make

this

with my dear friend

aubrey

(right aubs?)

and who(m?)ever else wants to join us.

i can't wait to use my sewing machine for something other than a square pillowcase.

four

weeks.

danny's birthday, last month

2011-02-21T21:11:00.003-07:00

the last week or so have thrown a little bit of a curveball at me and danny. i'm a big planner, and honestly i think i'm the most responsible 22 year old i know. not because i necessarily enjoy it or want to be, but because (i know, sob story) i have had to be since i was 8. so of course i've planned out our next few years mentally, not reconciling the fact that every time anyone plans anything, nothing goes to plan. i try to convince myself that i'm not going to have expectations for anything-life, jobs, children, etc-but that is near impossible.

anyway.

stress has come our way, but nothing is set, and as my mom said my grandpa said, "you're paying interest on a debt you don't owe," aka don't cry over spilled milk.

on a less stressful note, danny turned 25!! the cute boy. we did exactly what he wanted to do.

friday: 5 guys after danny got off, then ward temple night at the provo temple. danny opened his presents when we got home-sweet limited edition vans he's been eyeing and snowshoes (thanks mom!), the game rage, vans shirts, and a new ipod touch, since his first generation no longer has apps for it. poor kid.

saturday: slept in, went to the dinosaur museum, saw the tourist, hit up target (my idea. also to pass time), waited a million hours to eat at texas roadhouse, and cuddled on the couch, very full. after stopping at a mcdonalds on the way home to pee. haha.

sunday: went up to salt lake to play with haley, chase, grandmother, and poppy. those guys are fun fun. we played five crown, pop's favorite game. seriously a few years ago when my dad was up here, he and pops stayed up till 1 or 2 playing it. ridiculous.

i think he had a fun birthday weekend, and he got some presents he had been wanting. when it was my birthday, he introduced me to the concept of "birthday month", and i took full advantage of it. he didn't, surprisingly. maybe he just doesn't have clothes he's been checking out for weeks or shoes he's been waiting for to go on sale (like i mentioned last post, i spend a decent amount of time at targets).

today we went to break in the snowshoes, but it's been so warm and sunny on sporadic days that there really wasn't any snow on the ground, so we just hiked. i love lazy weekends. i miss football season, and warm sunny days, but it's nice to just watch psych on netflix all day and cuddle.

this week i'm getting trained in RBI with my coworkers and while it'll be intense, i'm really excited. i have some families i work with that crave more and more ways to help their children progress and i believe that RBI will enable me to help them help themselves. i love my jobs and the friends i've made there. it is such a blessing to a, be employed, and b, have my dream job.

so, wrap up: some stress, a great birthday last month, some snowy days and some sunny and "warm" (as in 40s) days, and a lot of new information i'll be absorbing this week.

not couponing but clearancing

2011-02-09T21:52:00.004-07:00

I have this not-so-secret dream of being a bomb couponer. utahdealdiva literally saves 65% or more of her grocery bill every month by couponing. she has a family if 5 and her MONTHLY grocery budget is $200, and she almost always sticks to it. amazing. unfortunately, i've tried, and while sometimes i'm successful, i truly believe that it takes a stay at home mom to do it. it takes a lot of time, at least to get started, to be good at it. one day, i will be.

however, my job requires lots of driving and i routinely have 15-60 minutes between visits (like when families cancel, or i give myself some extra time to drive in case the previous visit goes over) and there is a beautiful target right in the middle of utah county. dear american fork target, i adore you. anyway. with this lovely not-really-a detour, i have a chance to scour the racks on at least a weekly deal to find good deals. i also find good toys and other things for work, but no matter how many times i tell myself that i will only look at toys or the dollar isle, i always always end up in the clothes clearance section. sometimes i get to check out wally world as well, as an aside.

so here are my most recent finds:

starting with the top left-handed corner:

purple ruffle shoes (technically from target.com): $6.58

grey tank (target): $4.50

zipper shoes (target): $5.58

purple leggings (wally): $3

rhinestone flats (target): $5.58

black bow shoes (target): $5ish

amazing flower flats (target.com): $6.58

floral leggings. awesome (wally): $3

black lace tank (target): $3.48

not combat but riding boots (target): $11.78

purple sweater (target): $5ish

that's like $60 for 11 items of clothing. ELEVEN WARDROBE ADDITIONS FOR LESS THAN A PAIR OF GOOD JEANS!!

conclusion: i don't have time to coupon. however comma i ROCK at clearancing. and i love that hobby of mine...and i believe danny does too.

happy birthday, dear danny!

2011-01-21T14:21:00.003-07:00

creatively 25 reasons why i love my 25-year-old husband:

1. he texts me office quotes. "tube city. you owe me one."

2. he listens to my stories and never judges me.

3. he likes to watch animated movies with me. tangled, despicable me, dragons.

4. he cooks with me, so i don't have to always be in charge of making dinner.

5. he cleans with me. the toilet bowl :), walls, doors, dishes, floors, etc. he was taught well by his daddy.

6. he is always so happy to see me when he gets home or i get home.

7. he likes the same shows as me.

8. he likes trips! yuba, lava hot springs, st george, znp, vegas.

9. he has pretty pretty pretty blue eyes.

10. he is the most patient person i've ever met.

11. he likes eating out and trying new places.

12. byu sports.

13. he holds my hand, just like when we were dating.

14. it's hard to make him laugh with my jokes. but when i do, it's the best.

15. he eats everything i make.

16. he is working so hard in school. he's doing his homework, going to class, going to work...basically just being responsible.

17. he likes adventures, like hiking and snowshoeing.

18. he always drives when we're together.

19. he makes a delicious pizza.

20. he lets me try my hand at decorating our apartment.

21. he doesn't need or want a lot of material things.

22. he likes pinatas.

23. he likes playing games with me, like scrabble.

24. he has cute nicknames for me.

25. and finally....he is great with kids! yay babies.

happy birthday busby! you're my best friend.

who would have predicted i'd enjoy snow activities?

2011-01-16T20:01:00.002-07:00

for our first date, danny took me sledding with amber, his sister, and her boyfriend-now-husband, also danny. this was january 2009, two years ago.

those who knew me freshman year (and sophomore and junior) know that i despise snow activities.

with danny, i surrendered myself to the fact that i'd be around ice, snow, and months of general cold weather. so i better get used to it.

for our sledding date, i bundled myself in windbreaker pants (i'm still so ashamed) over jeans (??) over tights. i had no idea what i was doing. on the top, i put short-sleeved underarmor under a long sleeved shirt under a sweatshirt. for shoes, rainboots.

i knew i looked ridiculous but i didn't have another choice for clothing. i made him promise not to laugh at me before i went to his apartment, and he didn't, surprisingly.

anyway, i must have done something not terribly wrong because that night he kissed me for the first time. and amber got a black eye.

last weekend, after two years of attaining real winter clothing off whiskeymilitia and other similar sites, we went snow shoeing for the third or so time in our relationship with some friends, blake and enji.

blake was proud of me for doing a snow activity since he'd known me since freshman year. last week we were looking for stewart falls but the trail ended, dang it.

2010 in review

2011-01-06T18:40:00.005-07:00

spring: shoe showing, danny turning 24, mom coming up for my graduation!, hot springs, going to april general conference, getting a real job that provides insurance and such as
summer: hikes, hikes, hikes, zion national park, las vegas for our 6th month anniversary, lava hot springs, camping, yuba lake, 5ks, mom coming to visit, jason and rachel's wedding, my 22nd birthday, alicia and derek leaving for their missions
fall: our first nights apart while i was at a conference, chopping the hair, hiking, byu football and basketball, moving to a better apartment and actually making some friends
winter: trips home, talking to derek on christmas, danny getting good grades, our first anniversary at the cheesecake in tulsa, family pictures, delicious food, a head and footboard for our bed

hooray for a fun year! expect big things from the b-rowns this year, such as another bachelor's attained (hopefully) and a 2nd anniversary, among others.

apparently we have some lovely neighbors.

2010-11-30T19:22:00.004-07:00

today, i found this on my car:

here are the things i know:

1. it must have been put there by someone in our apartment complex.

2. everyone in our complex, as long as married and one spouse is a student, is in the same ward. thus, this was more than likely put there by someone in our ward.

3. i parked underground.

4. the underground spots are bigger than the above-ground (and probably too small to be legal) spots.

5. my car is smallll. i do tend to park crooked. however, with a small car, i can park crooked and still be inside the lines.

6. i parked inside the lines.

what i don't know:

1. was this person having a bad day? did they decide to try and take out some anger on me?

2. who put it there? i remember one of the cars i parked next to, but not the other.

3. finally, to try and get a form of payback or not...hmmm...

after googling payback/revenge and asking around for ideas, these are the apparent choices (after figuring out who it was from, of course):

-send a box with a big label of viagra/jockstraps/baldness cure for you/similar things. or put it on their car.

-cut their shoelaces. because what do you hate more than putting new laces in, i guess.

-write in black sharpie "sorry you were so drunk that you couldn't tell my car was inside the lines" and put it back on my car. since drinking is frowned upon in this community.

-spill red wine on their white shirt. duh.

-dog poo on the doorstep

or, i guess just figure out who it was and be exceptionally kind to them. or just forget it all together.

i will be keeping the note to see if i ever have a chance to compare handwritings...

other ideas?

happy thanksgiving, to you and yours.

2010-11-28T20:44:00.004-07:00

november is kind of a 'meh' month, in my opinion. i love thanksgiving, but it's not the same being away from [dallas]home for it. i looked forward so much to being old enough to sit at the "adult" table. once i was there, i never regretted it. alicia, haley, and i would sit and laugh and laugh with our moms and grandma and grandpa. our family is hilarious. i miss that the most.

this november, we've been filling our time with basketball games (nick martineau is our home teacher. last year we were in fhe with noah hartsock, who is from bartlesville ok. the year before i was friends with gavin macgregor. we must be magnets for byu bball players).

we spent thanksgiving with my grandparents in salt lake. haley and bryce came. it was a good time. though we never could find waldo on that last page.

we finished out the football season. i can't wait to get out of utah and away from silly utah fans who literally have never, ever lived out of state. some count their missions. i don't.
we decorated for christmas, early. the sunday before thanksgiving. we got our first tree! it's a baby, but that's all we really have space for. i love it. lights, a couple different nativities, homemade christmas cards=our decorations.
oh hey, guess what?! at my grandparents' i tried on my wedding dress and hey hey, a year later it still fits! awesome.
remember that fake blizzard? well, we finally got some real snow last night and celebrated today by sledding. it was a blast.
we are getting closer to our one year anniversary! less than a month now. in three weeks we'll be in oklahoma for christmas, then dallas for new years, then back up to utah for danny to finish school! the projection is dec 2011 for his undergrad and dec 2012 for his master's. hopefully everything goes to plan so we can get started on having little babes!

2010-11-14T20:15:00.002-07:00

i swear, if one more person says they're pregnant, i'm quitting my birth control.

seriously.

[i wish]

things of late

2010-11-12T17:16:00.002-07:00

a) i drive a lot for my job. probably 400-600 miles a month. i know how utah traffic works, though i still hate hate it. on thursday, i was driving from american fork back to orem, where my office is. i was behind this dude on the highway who was seriously going 50 miles an hour. now realize, utah's [only] highway is under lots of construction, so the speed limit is 55. i respect that. there are people working right next to cars speeding by who have no protection but a helmet. i make sure not to go over 65, which is what the normal speed limit it. however, i have never bought into the "speed limit means as fast as you should go" school of thought. when the speed limit it 55, you should go AT LEAST 55. because people are used to driving 65. so back to the slowpoke. we're both in the right lane and i'm getting ready to exit. i think to myself, do i have time to pass him. deciding i do, i put on my blinker, turn my wheel, and get ready. as i am right beside him, i glance over at him. he is looking down. is he texting? no. is he getting ready to call someone? no. is he noticing an unzipped zipper? no.

guess what he is doing.

READING STAR WARS. WHILE DRIVING. dude, if texting while driving is illegal, reading while driving has got to be. seriously? ugh.

b) one friday a month, several coworkers and i go to lunch together. it is a fabulous and much anticipated day. today, we went to magelby's fresh in lindon. i do love mag's. it is always delicious. my only qualm is that they serve pepsi products only. diet coke is my fav, and i don't like pepsi. at the counter, i told the guy what i wanted and added that i wanted water because i don't like pepsi products, and that's all they had. before i got to the counter, he was talking a lot to the girls in front of my who were ordering. kind of an overly-friendly awkward guy. after i told him i don't like pepsi, he said "oh, wait a second" and went back to the kitchen. he headed for a prep table with shelves under it. on said shelves were two 24-packs of diet coke. he grabs a can and headed back to where i was waiting at the counter. "here you go", he said, handing me a cup for ice. "i love being of service", is what [i thought] he said. graciously thanking him, i headed over to get ice and sit with my friends. i showed them the can and told them what happened. two minutes later, my friend aubrey comes over. "he didn't do that for me", she said. "i asked him if they only had pepsi products and said i didn't like pepsi, but he just gave me a cup." "that's weird", i said. then another friend said "didn't you hear what he said? he said he likes serve-ass." ohhhh. awkward. at least i got a diet coke out of it.

c) nothing else right now. maybe soon.

october

2010-10-23T21:03:00.004-06:00

my friend from work, charity, and i went to kansas city, missouri, for the division of early childhood annual conference. lots of people at work, when they heard we were going to kansas city, made faces and said "ew". but it reminded me so much of home! there is a ton of history, not to mention no mountains (!!), delicious real barbecue (none of that hamburgers/hotdogs crap), beautiful architecture, and great weather. we loved it. we spent most of our time watching tv in our hotel room, but we did venture out and explore some of the city. i totally could see myself living there. charity and i got married on the same day last year, and it was our first time away from our husbands. good for bonding :)

bryce, chase, danny, and i got tickets together for the football games this year. and let me tell you, our seats so far have definitely made up for our seats last year! some of our seats during the 2009 season felt further away than our house. this year, we have had 6th row endzone seats and 4th row endzone seats. totally awesome. it would be better if we were, you know, winning, but it's a building season (everyone says) and i am so not a warm-weather fan. true blue baby! ps. note the snow on the mountains. timp and cascade both are rather snow-capped. good thing i got some sweeeeet snow pants. perhap i learn to snowboard or ski this year. we shall see!
momma brown came up for a weekend and we went on a lovely hike. saw some turkeys, danny ate some wild acorns, and i got possibly the best picture of amber ever! ch-ch-check it out.

it seems like utah has skipped fall this year. it went from 80 degrees in september to 60 (or less) in october. where is the 70 i ask?

two months till our 1st year of marriage is completed! plus christmas. woooo!

changes

2010-10-02T12:17:00.005-06:00

before:

after:

i am looking forward to hair products lasting 32049823094 billion times longer and the whole showering ordeal being cut in eighth.

buddy walk, etc

2010-09-26T19:36:00.002-06:00

danny and i had a pretty fun weekend. except for the whole byu losing deal.

exhibit a: texas alumni byu BLUEBELL party! i put on my boots and plaid shirt and danny sucked his oklahoma pride up to accompany me to a texas pride party. but really, it was all for the bluebell. i would gladly be bluebell-induced overweight for the rest of my life.

exhibit b: the buddy walk! i work with children who have developmental delays and disabilities and their families. the buddy walk is an event sponsored by the national down syndrome society and utah down syndrome foundation. my work was asked to supply a few volunteers, so me and some girls i work with offered to organize a few little booths of events. we were under the impression that our activities would be among the only things to do there, but (thankfully) they weren't. what i love most about my job was exemplified here: mothers and fathers who have a deep love for their children, because of and in spite of the way they were born. parents and families who have had to deal with the grief that comes when one is given a child that is not exactly what they expected turn around to become the child's greatest advocate. i loved seeing a few moms from our program who were clearly, on some level, in charge of this event. they invest so much time in securing a good present and future for their children. their sweet kids may not understand for a long time how much their mothers and fathers and grandparents and extended family love them-but who of us can? i love, love, love the mothers who reject society's message that a family is not the most important unit in society, that they should not sacrifice their bodies for the creation of children, that they can feel more satisfied in working outside instead of inside the home. these mothers know that their children and their family are truly worthy of their time and effort. they know that "no success can compensate for failure in the home," (david o mckay) and i can't wait to be among them.

exhibit c: byu/nevada game. pretty much sucked. nuff said.

exhibit d: getting to play with our brothers for a few hours! i love family.

exhibit e: church and the general relief society broadcast. today, a speaker said "even though we don't have it all, we have everything." i love that thought. it really made me think. and i'm definitely going to heed president monson's talk and check myself on quick judgments of others.

"The noblest office for a woman is the sacred work of building eternal families, ideally in partnership with her husband." sister silvia h allred.

soon to come: haircuts (i'm chopping it off!!), figuring this dumb tooth out, byu/usu, danny's first test of the year, and, my favorite, general conference.

best parts of the summer

2010-09-14T17:04:00.006-06:00

in no specific order

the marriage of two good friends

vegas for a late honeymoon

our fish who lived for like a week and a half. and left us with a tank, filter, and black pebbles. awesome.

st george, ut. zion's! next time, angel's landing.

the bird i frisbee-killed, who minutes later regained his strength and was the star of a chase/stefan video. more found here

a fun dino!

lovely weekend trips with camping, carbonated springs, hot springs, four-man tubes, and geysers.

neat parks

lake trips with the busb, chase, and stefan. frisbee, hamburger grilling, sunburns, and dead/living birds.

random hikes

having my momma here basically every other month :) and chase and haley moving back up here!

discovering interesting (read:WEIRD) places in slc. ie, gilgal gardens.

watching chase interact with an older brother(-in-law)

dear summer 2010:

you were wonderful. thank you

for helping me fall more in love with my busb and

learn just a fraction of what marriage means,

giving me a tan,

helping me learn how to camp and

weddings become more beautiful,

giving me cool nights for campfires and hikes,

bleaching my 11-inch-long roots a tiny bit,

strengthening my testimony and

as elder holland said, digging my reservoir of faith deeper

so that in times of trial, i know i can reach a little deeper,

making beautiful days for temple-going,

helping us check off a few more

(SLC, Oquirrh, Timp, Vegas, St George, Draper, and soon to be Jordan River),

strengthening our marriage,

and helping us get closer to a year anniversary.

why we are excited for fall:

football games! (please, let's be better)

the colors

having control of our heating :)

cuddling while it snows outside our window

going to colorado for thanksgiving (i think we're invited?)

GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!

hikes in the cool weather (timp, squaw, more maybe?)

making new friends,

and loving life.

a bat in our belfrey (home tour)

2010-08-19T18:33:00.000-06:00

home tour from danny b on Vimeo.

22 things to do in my 22nd year of life (technically 23rd, whatever)

2010-08-07T21:47:00.006-06:00

it's one week before my birthday. a friend suggested making a birthday bucket list and i thought it was a good idea. so after a lot of contemplation, input from others, and deciding i didn't want this to be "resolution" type list, here it is. one year to do 22(ish) things.

1. Finish Utah temple tour: Ogden, Logan, Bountiful, Jordan River, Vernal, Manti, Monticello

2. Hike Timp

3. Paint on a canvas-display worthy quality

4. ~~Grow a baby.~~ I wish.

4. Learn to sew and sew a [wearable] dress.

5. Go to a beach at an ocean

6. Fall more in love with the husb

7. Stick to a budget

8. Be debt-free

9. Complete a triathlon

10. Read the whole Book of Mormon with the husb

11. Grow a vegetable

12. Learn to ski/snowboard

13. Celebrate Hanukkah

14. Put together Family Home Evening kits for future babes

15. Visit the Sacred Grove

16. Do a backpacking/overnight hike

17. Get my Early Intervention credential

18. Celebrate Passover

19. Become competent at Floortime principles and use them with some of the kids on my caseload

20. Cook ribs the RIGHT way…no melting plastic in the oven.

21. Read the New Testament

22. Cook more, eat out less

nobody here can live forever, quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer

2010-07-25T16:41:00.005-06:00

we love summer.

pool, hikes, neat parks, lakes, puzzles, weddings, tans. cheers to never-ending summer.

something down south

2010-07-04T14:58:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from our honeymoon / 6 month anniversary trip to Las Vegas.

This is the view from our hotel room. We could see the Las Vegas temple off in the distance, but our camera doesn't take nice enough pictures to see it here.

the pool

Las Vegas Temple.

It is such an awesome place.

Dinner at Hard Rock.

Free ice cream!

Then we took a drive down to the Hoover Dam where we went on the dam tour.

Our tour guide seemed to think that saying "dam tour" was hilarious.

Power generators

The view from the top of the dam. The bridge is a recent development (still under construction).

A giant fish tank

The sleeping lions of the MGM Grand.

m&m store. They throw m&m logos on everything from socks to volleyballs to silver cuff links.

mmmmm....cheesecake

Chocolate Cake Cheesecake for me, and a Luau Salad for the pretty wife.

Just kidding. I had fettuccine alfredo and we shared the cheesecake.

Then we walked around some hotels. The Bellagio was probably the coolest. Walking through it prompted an Ocean's 11 craving.

And on the way home we stopped in St. George and went to the temple.

memorial weekend, backwards.

2010-06-01T18:59:00.004-06:00

last, we went to Manti and Nephi with Grandmother. Her father is buried in Manti and her mother and stepfather in Nephi. The Manti temple is absolutely beautiful. And we'll be back in a few weeks for the pageant!

Chase and Danny love each other. See?

Some of my beautiful family in front of the temple.

Me and the husb.

At the cemetery, right north of the Manti temple.

My favorite boys!

Ah yes. Gilgal Gardens, Salt Lake. This dude is nuts. He carved tons of things relating to the Bible and Book of Mormon...but they are WEIRD. Like this, a sphynx with the head of Joseph Smith. What the heck?

And firstly. This is my face. Danny dropped me off at the 5k so he could go park somewhere and I was worried I wouldn't be able to find him in the crows. So this is my expression of that worry. He found me. And took this picture before I realized it was him.

What else? We're going to vegas for a real honeymoon in a few weeks. Work is good, for both of us. It was way fun to see my mommy, Chase, Grandmother, and Poppy this weekend. Oh yeah! We got a fishie!

This is dwighty. He is our first pet and we take gooooood care of him.

happy graduation!

2010-05-01T22:11:00.003-06:00

last week, i graduated. from college. apparently a big deal. my momma came up and slept on an air mattress on our floor. we went to diego's, joy luck, tarahumara, magelby's...it was wonderful. i walked across a stage at some point, also. see?
no?
oh. that's because a-i am not a graduation fan at all and b-my mom was the one with the camera and has yet to send the pictures to me. but i did, promise.

in celebration, we hit up joy luck with the gparents and don't worry, i got walnut shrimp and went to sugar heaven. graduation presents included a sewing machine (already made a mini (think barbie) pillow and a real couchie one) and running shoes! so that i can run without a heel knot. we watched lars and the real girl, criminal minds, and forever strong. we took her to see the new oquirrh mountain temple on the way to the airport. and she'll be back up in may! though we might be in moab...

while i was sitting in a chair, waiting for my name to be called and get dumb graduation over with, danny texts me.
"your present is coming next week"

true to his word, he started giving me hints this week.
"it's not in provo"
"it's about 45 minutes away"
"you might want to bring a change of clothes"
"bring your bathing suit"
"it has the word 'little' in it"

by thursday night i had guessed it, and i couldn't wait all friday to go on our little trip! first we went here:

checked in and decided to go to the gateway for dinner:

came back to our room and enjoyed having more than 12 tv channels. then decided to put our swimsuits on and go to the indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub.

went to bed and woke up around 830. because i cannot sleep in and when i wake up, i wake danny up too. by touching him. cuddling close. if those don't work, i poke him. kindly, of course.
then we went to mcdonalds for breakfast where, don't worry, i consumed about 8000 calories in one sitting. good thing i had the diet coke to keep me from going overboard.
next stop-the salt lake temple! we did a session and it was beautiful! i loved the change of scenery from the provo temple and it was fun to do temple work together.

the christmas lights are down by now. it was still beautiful, especially because it was cold and rainy when we got there and by the time we were done (three hours later...)the sun was out! and there were many brides. many many. i think i saw three or four alone in the dressing rooms. that's what happens when school's out.
then we drove back to provo, into more rain and cold. my favorite part of the drive is when you can see basically all the temples in the valley at once: draper, jordan river, and oquirrh mountain. this picture only gets two, but jordan river's pretty close.

thanks husb for a fun trip!!! can't wait till june when we can go on a 6-month late real honeymoon...you're the best. i love you forever.

school's out for the summer

2010-04-15T21:07:00.002-06:00

instead of studying, i am copying someone else's idea and summarizing my favorite ten classes while at byu.

10. marching band. because who doesn't love scholarship money, marching band, and going to vegas three years in a row? not to mention standing next to football players every game.

9. sfl 240:parenting and child guidance. clyde robinson. learned about the main different types of parenting (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive), why making rules with your children helps them follow through and "be good", how it's important to adjust rules with each children because they are different people, and some consequences of the different parenting styles. like permissive parents tend to not let their children make mistakes and therefore the kids grow up scared to challenge themselves and have low expectations of themselves. scaffolding helps kids grow little by little.

8. busm 372:basic entrepreneurship skills. ron lindorf. let me just share some of the wonderful quotes i wrote down during the semester: "everybody else is a fossil" in reference to his high priest quorum, "i just wanted to be elmer fudd", "because they will come and kill you", "i've started going into these crazy health food stores that are really a front for polygamists", "real, true entrepreneurs are sociopathic bankrobbers", "how many of you in here own children", "am i getting close to your soul?", "i was never good at math. you can hire math all day long". "say, 'i'm mormon, i can't'". "i wish byu taught 9 credits on conflict. then mormons would rule the world." and two of the best, "they call it a storm...it's a piece of crap. my wife bought it for me so she could keep track of me" and "she's tall and bodacious and attractive to men (about his sister)". lindorf is a real guy, a funny guy, and just interesting to listen to. his wife has two HUGE rings, one is 10 k of diamonds, the other is 5. hoooolyyy cow. he also took us to pizza factory for the last day of class.

7. rel c 325: the doctrine and covenants, 2nd half. richard walsh. one of my favorite teachers, probably tied with #5's teach and #1's teach. brother walsh is a teacher that is very in tune with the spirit and shares insight that seems bold. most of us, as latter-day saints (and maybe just as humans), try to avoid boldness. think about it if you disagree. anyway, some of the most important things i learned in his class were 1-God's mission is to get as many people into the celestial kingdom as fast as possible. this was a new way for me to hear the plan of salvation, but i agree that it is true. 2-"i the Lord am bound when ye do what i say, but when ye do not what i say, ye have no promise." so what my teacher explained is this is true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the lord won't follow through if i don't-not in everything, of course, but (for example) if i forget to say my prayers at bedtime, i'm not going to be punished necessarily. maybe it's part of repentance and the atonement, but i feel that this relates a lot to parenting. it mirrors authoritative parenting, where the parents and children together set boundaries, rules, limits, and consequences, and when mistakes happen, the parents don't immediately punish the kid but together talk about it and then follow through. when it's reasonable (i was late because i took my friend home who was also uncomfortable with the movie etc), there is an understanding on the parent's part. when it's unreasonable (ie, fifth time in two weeks late for curfew), the consequence is carried out. anyway, i think that the Lord is a perfect authoritative parent. in the end, this class rocked. plus we got some saweet handouts that explained a lot of doctrine. which i've been able to use for talks, etc.

6. eng 218r: creative writing. um so i wrote a short story that began with a true experience of mine and through five or six stages was turned into something that barely resembled what happened to me. my teacher also really liked what i was writing and so in class when he wanted a stage or two read, he'd ask me. and the people in the class got attached to my story because they wanted to know what happened. it was fun to hear different people's poetry and style, and to feel like i accomplished something while writing.

5. rel a 304:writing of isaiah. terry ball. dude, this guy knows his stuff. dean of religious education, pretty much fluent in biblical hebrew, and focused on isaiah for the last ten years. he's written books on it and seriously understands how isaiah writes. danny and i took this together and we loved every second of that class. it's so wonderful to get it! i'm going to keep my notes forever.

4. sfl 331:infant development, chris porter. this class coincides a lot with my internship/job, so it was really neat to learn about how the fetus develops and how that relates to premies, delays and disabilities. dr porter is pretty much awesome. he does infant research at byu, and he's the father of 4 i believe, and he was able to integrate those experiences into the principles in the book. and i just love babies.

3. sfl 399r:sfl internship. got me my job. learned about hydrocephalus, autism and floortime/aba/rdi/teacch, down syndrome, what stacking more than two blocks in a tower indicates, G tubes, compression vests, hyperlexia, dwarfism, a decent amount of ASL!, how to give the HELP assessment and how to measure the different variables, and-oh yeah! got a real-life, grown-up, post-college job. and fell in love with lots of little babes.

2. busm 200:Personal finance with brother marsh. awesome. learned why 401ks are important, buying new vs slightly used cars, the fastest way to get out of debt (powerpay.org), the difference between wealthy and rich people, why it's important to use credit cards instead of debit cards whenever possible...plus he was just an awkward kinda guy.

1. american heritage 100. brother holland, son of elder holland and now president of UVU, taught this class. we got to read real accounts from the founding fathers about how God guided them in writing the declaration of independence, forming the constitution/deciding how the government would be run...these things aren't taught in public schools, but they're real. these men were men of God, this country is promised, and i learned a lot in this class. plus i got an a and that's a good feeling after everyone complains about it.

honorable mention: aerobics, of course. religion in the home (covers orthodox "sects" of catholicism (eastern and roman), islam, and judaism. strengthening marriage and family (four months on the family: a proclamation to the world). intro to advertising because it's good to know how advertisers work, i think. lastly, food prep! where i gained all my confidence in cooking.

now, my four years of school are done, friday i walk, may 1 i start my job and TODAY I GOT BUSINESS CARDS. i'm so legit.

let's go summer.

i don't wanna work, i just wanna bang on this drum all day!

2010-03-30T21:42:00.000-06:00

welp. recently we've had some...up and downs.

up: last monday i interviewed for my dream job. at my internship this year i've discovered what i truly love: children. young children, and especially those with disabilities. i love their happiness, their strength, the love their mothers and fathers have for them, the determination and faith they have. i'd been feeling like i wouldn't get it, even though the interview panel consisted of women who i work closely with who think i would be great for the job. friday, my supervisor called me and told me they wanted to offer me the position. after asking if she was kidding, i told her she made my life. then i fell to my knees and thanked my heavenly father for being so kind, so merciful, so aware of my needs and wants. then i called danny and told him! and then my mom. also, my dad got a job last week too!

down: then, to keep my pride in check, when danny and i walked out of the grocery store saturday afternoon, we discovered a lovely flat tire. remember how much we love those? we had to buy a whole new set of tires on our honeymoon road trip back to utah. in late december. because we got two flats in one day. because a mechanic screwed up our alignment bad. because we had to get a new alternator before marriage day ($700 btw). because meineke is DUMB and lied to me. so we (he...i helped a bit though) changed the tire right there in the parking lot. and drove it to big o. and paid another $700 for alignment, tie rod ends, and tires. hopefully these will last longer than 3 months, right?

up: hot springs day hike with amb and dan! so pretty. some snow too. some pervs making out in a "secluded" pool. on the way back, we got to run some too...trail runs are nice.

down: woke up sunday with weird purple splotches on my cheeks. whaaaa? sulfur burns? steam burns? not sure.

up: picnic sunday! with amb and dan again. shorts, sun, love.

down: still...more...school

up: danny's only taking one class spring semester, and my work has a scheduled week off at the end of june. bear lake anyone?! camping? anything that screams summer, please.

down: danny's homework is getting harder and longer and this means less fun play time on school nights blah.

up: tickets for conference next sunday! whooop!

down: sick nasty air today.

up: three hours of criminal minds most nights.

down: everybody else is pregs.

up: i ran 4 miles yesterday and it was greatttt. nine point one to go.

down: spelled a-s-t-h-m-a. blech. i am tired of it.

up: costco pizza

down: our couch has exactly negative cushioning and our bums hurt after sitting on it for more than ten minutes.

up: engaged friends!

down: no. spring. break.

mostly, though, we have more ups than downs. i get to start full-time in may! and get dental/health insurance (though...is that a benefit anymore?), paid vacation days, and i get to play with babies every day all day. and my classes now really don't matter anymore :) holla

2010-03-25T08:09:00.001-06:00

Steve Young talks about myths and realities of the Church.

neato!

the browns in march

2010-03-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

danny and i are loving married life. it's so fun to go to sleep together, wake up together, eat all meals together (not that that's particularly new...but now all of our food is in one place), go on dates with other couples, say 'my husband', and forget that i'm not a marstella at church anymore.

sorry this is sideways. here is part of our living room...

and the main focus, our wedding pictures over the pea green couch. just kidding. the main focus is jesus over our table.

this is alicia's brady. we went snowshoeing and it was great.

me and the husb on the mountaintop.

and in the background amber my sister (in law) and her husb, also danny.

hmm. maybe i will start calling him that. also danny...

alicia and brady in the background.

danny is working and in school. and is getting As on tests. i am interning and loving it and hoping it turns into a job after i graduate. which, oh yeah, is next month! my mom is coming up to see me walk, and danny's mom and sister(s) are coming also. it's going to be fun, like the pre-wedding activities, but minus all the stress.

This is a talk from elder dallin h oaks given to harvard law. pretty sweet, huh? it's definitely worth a read.

we also set march goals. because i'm not into new year's goals. so for fhe a couple weeks ago we made some lists and so far have been doing decently on them.

my little brother is coming up tomorrow for his spring break and we'll get to take him to our favorite provo spots...five guys, diego's, sammy's pie shakes maybe. shall be fun!

i'll leave you with this amazing picture. danny cut his hair. and in the midst of long and short hair, there was a mullet.

also, one last thing about amber. she is neat. and has pretty hair. and married a danny. and laughs at people. i mean the things they say.

the end.

can i tell you something?

2010-02-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

[i love isaiah]

danny and i are taking an isaiah class together. because a-i've never ever understood him and b-i absolutely love religion classes here and c-we get to sit next to each other for two hours.

our teacher has the most amazing way of teaching. his knowledge is so deep and broad that he helps our little brains to *click* things together and truly understand what on earth isaiah is talking about. because God said his words are important, they're meant for us in the last days, and nephi more or less quotes like seven chapters of isaiah. so. pretty important, right?

our teacher (from here on out 'teach') has told us that some "scholars" think there must have been more than one "isaiah". because they don't believe in revelation. welp. that's what prophets do-prophesy, see, and reveal. teach also says some guh-reat things. like, 'there's nothing that a millenium couldn't solve'...'then God ceases to be God. and we hate when that happens'.

anyway, this last class we read isaiah 24, the beginning of his apocalypse.

v. 5: the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenants.

we discussed what laws were transgressed

law of chastity. people misusing the sacred, holy power to create life.

the sabbath day. used to be a holy day, now a holiday.

integrity. cheating and lying abound and are praised by men.

what ordinances were changed

baptism. the gateway to salvation, the single act that makes the Atonement effective. instead of following Christ's own example, found in Mark 1:8-10, churches formulate their own versions of baptism.

marriage. husband and wife = the basic unit of salvation.

th everlasting covenant

that if we follow God's plan, we become like Him and maximize our joy. also the covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the new covenant, the new and everlasting covenant. but satan has convinced people that our very purpose-to become as God (find me one parent that doesn't hope his child will exceed his own successes) is blasphemous.

how sad, you know? isaiah makes it pretty clear what lies from satan our generation has bought into-and it should be that clear, you know? isaiah literally saw this time right now. and he talks about the destruction of those who refuse to believe, who fight against God, who call good evil and evil good.

and then, so beautifully, is chapter 25, a psalm of praise, a ray of hope for those of us that keep the faith, that hold tight to the rod, that follow the commandments and listen to the Spirit and try with everything we have to follow His plan.

verse 9:and it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

love it. i pretty much started crying a little in class. i've been feeling discouraged. i feel like i try so hard to be good (though i can be better), i try to be kind (but, definitely i can be kinder), i try to love (surely i can love more), but it seems that satan is literally everywhere, and good people have bought into his lies.

but i will hold on. and i will help you hold on. so that when He does come again, we can look to Him and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

now, i must go. because husb (who has babied me all day because i have been sick for a week+ and i think it's getting worse. that's what i get for working with kids under 3 everyday :D) has made his mom's brownies. oh boy.

teaching morality: a parent's job. not the school's. certainly not UN's.

2010-02-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

As a traditional marriage advocate and one who finds happiness in fulfilling traditional gender roles, I receive newsletters from a group called 'Family Watch International'. Admittedly, I do not always take the time to read through all updates, but this time I did [found here http://www.familywatchinternational.org/fwi/newsletter/0406.cfm]. The headline read, "Beware of “Sexuality” Education for Children!" I think this would catch most people's eye.

Basically, a few months ago a committee of the United Nations called UNESCO published The International Guidelines on Sexuality Education. [I think this was a self-appointed position: who told the UN they had the ultimate say on international sexuality? How does this relate to increasing cooperation and a better life for peace-loving nations?] Under these Guidelines, children at 5 years old (let's remember, they are kindergarten-aged. In kindergarten, I learned how to spell my name, how to count to 100, and learned to read.) are taught about masturbation. Nine year olds are taught how to use a condom. Fifteen year olds are taught about their right to abortion. Now, I know that victims of rape did not chose that path. Abortion in those cases is very individualistic and personal, I believe. However, these Guidelines teach extremely inappropriate and explicitly natured things to kids who can't even spell their names, and then provides them with a way out of the consequences to those very things.

This is a one-sided presentation of the issues. The writers believe abstinence-only teachings have failed. Well, I believe there a huge number of people who have managed to wait until marriage for sex. Regardless, there is an appropriate time and way to teach children values. And that is through parents. It is the responsibility of the parents to pass on values and morals to children. Children then can choose to accept and practice those presented, or look elsewhere. It is NOT the reponsibility of the UN or any of its committees to teach children about sexuality. It is also not the responsibility of the state. That is purely, soley, a parent's right.

The forward to the Guidelines states that we must meet the challenge of a world with AIDS--and then they purport to "breaking the trajectory of the epidemic" by teaching children as young as five about sexuality. FIVE. If you put food in front of a child, his chances of eating skyrocket. If you surround a child with toys, she will spend her time playing with them. If you give your kids violent video games and allow them to watch violent movies, their chances of being violent raise exponentially. If you surround little, sweet, innocent, ALREADY CURIOUS-about-everything children with sex, they are going to find a way to participate. How on earth is that going to rid our world of AIDS?

UNFPA is a sector of the UN that was denied funding during the Bush administration because they persecute and force abortions on women in China because of the One-Child Policy. But the Obama administration kicked that bucket and here we are, giving them money. Yeah. That's a huge triumph for "human rights".

A UNFPA leader spoke at a the World Meeting of Families in Mexico last month and said the following:

"the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a “crisis,” is actually a triumph for human rights...In the eyes of conservative forces, these changes mean that the family is in crisis," he said. "In crisis? More than a crisis, we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights."

Let's not forget that before he said this, the meeting "was opened by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who observed that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births were contributing to the rise of violence and crime in Mexico." More on this here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09020312.html.

I'm scared to think that it can't get much worse.

Fox News wrote a report on this, found http://http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543203,00.html.

Family Watch International is found http://www.familywatchinternational.org/fwi/index.cfm.

Just as fyi:
-a study on violence and video games by a not-for-profit organization http://www.jstor.org/pss/40063648
-Stanford's famous "Marshmallow Test" http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/09/psychological-experiments-in-self-control-the-marshmallow-test/
-Success in experimental abstinence program http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_he_me/us_med_abstinence_education
-States like Maryland believe parents forfeit the right to direct what their children are exposed to once they elect to send them to private school. http://www.mcpscurriculum.com/

for anyone worried about our eating:

2010-01-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

don't worry, everyone. we may be poor but we eat gooood. see below:

exhibit a: chicken tacos

exhibit b: tuna salad, with craisins, caramelized almonds, feta cheese, and poppyseed dressing

exhibit c: pioneer woman (aka i wannabe her)'s chicken parmigiani. so, so good.

exhibit d: honey teriyaki chicken, rice, and broc. mmm

exhibit e: homemade coffee cake. contrary to my six-year-old understanding, there is no actual coffee in this. so no reason to throw a fit (sorry mom).
exhibit f, sunday dinner: honey cornbread (courtesy of the neely's) and chili we made up. the chili picture is steamy because it was boiling. but it was delish.

lastly, mama brown's chocolate chip cookies. i went ahead and fourthed the recipe because i don't want to encourage happy/newlywed/etc weight gain and i feel like using four sticks of butter would probably do that:

i hope this warmed your hearts. it sure has warmed our tummies.

ps: danny is 24 on thursday!!! happy almost birthday husband :) i do love you

buenos dias

2010-01-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

today was our first sunday to go to our new ward. our church has a google maps site with the wards associated with your address. a few weeks ago, we typed in ours and looked it up. there were a few options i remember seeing over danny's shoulder: a family ward, a student married ward, and a tongan ward. the student married ward is at 830 am and the family ward is at 1. well, that made our decision for us. we love sleeping in on sundays. we looked this up before the new year and just a few days ago. no times had changed with the dawning of 2010, so i though something would probably be off but at least we'd be at church. we had a lazy morning, making breakfast together and getting ready for church. we got in the car about 15 minutes before 1 (it's only four blocks away but it's FREEZING; in the summer we'll walk) and arrived at church shortly. found a parking spot quickly and walked into the church. following the piano music, we passed a little girl pointing to a water fountain and shouting 'agua!' at her dad. thinking nothing of it, we walked into the chapel. we found a place to sit and climbed over a lady. i said 'excuse us', no response from her. no big. we sat down and started looking around. pretty chapel. i love how even though all churches are the same, there are little variations. i saw a couple that looked around our age, little kids, families. i looked toward the stand and saw the bishopric...then i noticed that most people in this chapel were mexicans. hispanic. whatev. danny leans over to me and whispers 'do you think this is the spanish ward?' oh my. i didn't remember seeing that option on the maps we looked at. i sort of laughed. then i started weighing the options. the entire bishopric was mexican. as were the people sitting on either side of us. yet the hymn books said 'hymns', not 'himnos'. the couple our age was white. the girl of the couple in front of us was also white. but every single child i saw was also mexi. but i recognized the hymns being played as prelude music...then, the member of the bishopric that was conducting stood up.

"buenos dias aplsdfjeie aske lekr"

we looked at each other and started laughing so hard. quietly, of course.

"what do you want to do?" danny asks me.
"probably we should stay for at least sacrament."

i understood maximum 5% of the spanish; danny got all of it. when a stake leader spoke in english (ward conference) i listened.

then i texted my whole family to share with them this wondrous event. my 7 years of french has yet to pay off...

but i know the church is true!

ps: would the tongan ward have been a better accident??

we're married!

2009-12-31T20:57:00.001-07:00

after we got our marriage license: after the temple:

we're married!:

leaving our reception:

the temple is about love. family. forever.

2009-12-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

why here?

because it's forever:

New house!

2009-12-14T17:03:00.001-07:00

New House! from danny b on Vimeo.

december!

2009-12-03T11:08:00.001-07:00

less than three weeks now !!!!

updates

2009-11-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

-we signed contracts and will be moving into this pretty blue house on december 12. half of the basement, to be exact :) bright side:it's barely $100 more than just one of our current contracts. gotta love the cheap. and the blue. you can come play after we move in...the living area is actually pretty big. and on the contract, we're 'daniel and alyssa brown'. how cute :)

-i went home to dallas for some wedding prep/shower/family stuff

-got some towels with our name on them!!! (among other great things. this is just neat that we're going to be a family)

-AND here's one of our three invitations! they are done and should be sent out before thanksgiving! so if you want one and haven't given us your addresses, comment or email us or join our fb group and add it. we want to send you one!

countdowns:

-41 days till christmas

-39 days till we're married

-33 days till we fly to dallas and get our marriage license

-28 days till we can move in

-20 more days of school (plus weekends...)

-11 days till thanksgiving. basically our only days off from school.

-2 more home games, then bowl game invitations

basically this semester has flown by and our paper chain is less than a third of what it was when we started. love it.

and, i love this boy:

go byu. and our newly aquired ghost-like appearances.

43 days!

2009-11-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our first time apart since January 5, 2009. I flew home for a bridal shower, wedding preparations, and, of course, teasing my brothers.

People are so kind, really. My shower was a blast and I was able to see my friend Ana from high school and my best friend Jenn's mom there. I loved being home and seeing people I haven't for awhile and playing with my siblings!! I just miss that Haley wasn't there...I haven't visited home without her there ever.

My aunt Phoebe also really wanted to take bridals. Which I was quite against. But now...looking at these...I am so glad she did! She has a lot of talent, this area was gorgeous, and it was really so much fun. She and my cousin Heather did my hair and makeup, fixed my mom's veil so it looks so much better, and told me what to do for the camera.

Phoebe's daughter Jenna followed me around, holding up the back of my dress so it would stay as clean as possible. I had a few tears in my eyes from staring into the sun. I climbed on top of a wall (with the help of my mom and Heather) and I think they got a good view up my dress. Lucky.

BUT it is so, so great to be back with Danny. We missed each other so much and last night was a lot of fun going through the presents we got and just being with each other. And yes, I know I'm breaking etiquette by posting these where he can see...whatevs. I love that boy.

when it's halloween and you're engaged...

2009-11-01T18:02:00.001-07:00

dressing up and party-hopping sounds like a blast.

or not.

so this is what we did yesterday.

first: experiment with headbands for my bridesmaids. okay, danny didn't, but i did.

next: get a couple prints of invitations. this is just one...we're more than likely going to use the three that oh-so-wonderful caiti made. she is amazingly talented. they're not completely done, but so very close. we can't wait to send them out :)

then: thinking that the south towne mall would be slow as it's afternoon on halloween, we headed to sandy. FALSE. apparently if you're twelve or under and live in the basic proximity of this mall, ie ALL OF UTAH, you come trick-or-treating at the mall. yup. as we tried to go look in stores, we were impeded by woodies, batmans(men?), ninja turtles, obese tourists complete with floral button-ups, fairies, and people much older than twelve who feel entitled to steal joy and chocolate from children. the mall was crazy busy, but the stores weren't. really we were there in search of wedding shoes for me...i don't do heels and i wanted something comfortable...so

sweet huh? i like. it's gonna be hard to wait for...52? more days to wear them. this is how danny felt, though. poor sicky.

finally: the real reason we came to sandy. wear foil, get free 'rittos. best part of halloween. so we foiled each other up and stood in a 50+ line waiting for our free guy. so worth it.

lastly, we drove home, i put jammies on :), and we fell asleep less than fifteen minutes into a scary movie. till roommates came home and were loud. living together will be so wonderful :)

cake balls and pump seeds

2009-10-25T12:37:00.000-06:00

cooking is fun. for me, it can be a real stress relief-especially when i try something i've never done before and it (eventually) works.

i LOVE http://www.bakerella.com/. she is amazing and everything she makes looks sooo delicious. not to mention cute, because usually they're little things.

so, this weekend, i pursued bakerella's cake balls. they didn't look too hard and who doesn't love cake?

First: bake a yellow cake.

Second: crumble it. yes, it feels sacrilegious, but once you get over that...you're 3 again.

third: add in a tub of cream cheese frosting. so if you're looking for something healthy, this is not it. just wait.

next, roll into balls and put on a cookie sheet. freeze (or refrigerate) for awhile. we tried just a few hours in the freezer...no luck, really. freeze overnight. they won't be hard, but they're cold enough. it should make about 48 balls...more if they're smaller. obviously.

last, melt chocolate bark. i tried just chocolate chips, no luck. this part was the trial and error, but i ended up scorching a whole bag of semi-sweet AND one of white chocolate. just do bark. it's actually less expensive per unit than chocolate chips. follow the directions to melt them, and only do 2-3 cubes at a time. chop, microwave, stir. repeat if necessary. i didn't need to microwave any more than a minute. then, one ball at a time, put in the melted chocolate and roll so it's all covered. with a spoon, lift it out and put it on wax paper to dry and harden. and it does so surprisingly fast.

result:

cute huh?!?!

and danny's reaction:

true love.

here's something a little better for you. i love roasting pumpkin seeds, and this time we played with a different recipe.

the bowl on the right is just garlic and regular salt, roasted in the oven with oil on 350 for twentyish minutes, stirring halfway.

the bowl on the left, though, is a sweet and salty (and delicious) mix. it has chili powder, ginger, cinnamon, sugar, and oil. i didn't really measure anything, i just eyeballed it, but they are actually so good. i would recommend this if you feel like trying something new. plus, you can eat them plain, add in a salad, or put on a sandwich.

on a sad note, byu has dropped from the top 25. dumb. but we had fun!

yup. plastic ponchos and painted ys. true blue!

hard core parkour

2009-10-21T19:57:00.000-06:00

toward the end of today, i wanted to ask 'how many more things could possibly go wrong?' but decided against that because i was sure it would get thrown back in my face.

so first, i get up, eat cereal (quite possibly my favorite part of the day) and read scrips, get ready, danny comes over to go to class. realize i left my flash drive on the floor in the tanner building after class yesterday, and don't have time to go get it. crap. later i guess. i grab my packpack and almost my key, but then i remember hey, i don't need my key till after class when i go to my internship. so i leave it on the table where it was. go to classes, come home, grade some papes and then go to grab my key so i can head to lehi. oh wait. where's my key? not on the table where i thought it was. pocket? negative. oh crap. look everywhere, everywhere, no can find. try to find number for swkt computer lab, no can find. call byu's main number. lady connects me. nope, they don't have it. 'maybe our custodial has it?' get number, call them. nope. they have a key, not mine. well this is fab because it's not like lehi is far or anything. just a half hour. call lady i was supposed to meet. no answer. grand. leave message 'hi, s, this is aly, i was supposed to meet you in lehi to observe your visit but i can't find my key anywhere so i will not make it. sorry, and i'll try to coordinate with you later.' well, i still have to go to my internship to do the stuff i'm supposed to do. not to mention we're supposed to see mae in salt lake. look for key more. clean out packpack (big move), check under stuff, nothing. nowhere. oh yeah. danny and i are supposed to go to a concert in slc tonight. and his car is not highway-proof. so. call mom. 'um hi [please don't be mad] um i lost both my car keys i guess and is there a way the dealership can make a copy without a key? like from vin number?' 'both keys? you lost both?' 'um well yes because i thought danny had one but parrently not and the other one is not where i left it this morning, and i'm supposed to go to my internship and we have a concert to go to tonight so...' 'yeah, try calling them'.

find number online. call. they do need my vin number. well convenient since that's INSIDE my car. call mom 'my vin number on insurance card that you have?' look online at insurance site. policy information, no vin numbers. she tells me it from her insurance card, i write it down. call people at dealership. give vin number. 'okay, we can do it. just bring your insurance card or something that has your name and vin number on it and then id.' perfect, still, since my insurance card is inside my car also. grand. '........alright. thanks.'

think think think. oh yeah, i have an automatic car unlocker (button dealie) but, of course, the batteries are dead. screwdriver to find out what size battery? mine don't work. danny's? burst into apt, ask roommates where his tool box is. find screwdriver, get dealie open. call mom back. 'where can i buy a 12v battery? you know?' 'don't do that, call insurance company, see if they'll email a copy of the policy with name and vin to you and you can bring that'. brilliant woman. love her. call insurance people. explain situation. 'i won't have access to email until the morning.' i'm sorry, what? of all days. grand. 'but i can fax it to you.' you tell me how many college students living in an apartment with three roommates have a fax machine. explain that, in nicer terms. 'okay, take a deep breath, alright? call the dealership, get their fax number, and i'll fax it to them'. 'oh. okay, yeah.' hang up. call dealership, for the third time, 'oh, hi, i'm the girl who's lost both her car keys?' 'oh yeah, i'll transfer you.' look, they know me so well. ask dude for fax number. tell him insurance will fax information. be polite and say thanks even though i'm on the verge of tears. mom calls, i tell her what's happening. by now it's 130. danny gets out of class at 2 so i decide might as well pick him up. get him, explain to him why this day has not been fun. he is so nice to me. rubs my back. hugs me. i ask him if i can drop him off at work and take his car to dealership to get key. says yes.

enter another grand part. see, danny's 1991 lexus cannot go on the highway. it sounds like it's dying because of some windshield problems. so i find directions to the dealership that do not involve the highway and therefore take 15 extra minutes. keep in mind it's now 230, i have to drive 30+ minutes each way to dealership, go to internship to do some quick stuff, and pick him up. all by 5. so. follow directions for the first half, until i see the vital turn i need. oh wait. road closed. WHAT? then the road i'm on veers toward price. which, as you may or may not know, is a problem. u turn, take a different street, hoping it will lead me where i need to go. nope. take I-15's business district (yeah, i didn't know that existed either). so finally, 40 minutes after dropping danny off, i get to the place. wait for key to be made. dude comes out with it and explains that it should be something like t3212 but their computer didn't have that so he made a u3212 but it should still work. WHAT? suck. leave, take the highway and proceed to really break danny's windshield sealer thing (grand), don't even have time to go home to test key because i have to get to internship. 345. okay. wow, lots of stuff to do. do everything fast fast fast and perhap come back tomorrow even though i'm only supposed to be there three days a week. cut up more hot dogs. this time i wore gloves. squirted more ketchup into little containers. why the heck to kids like these things so much? hot dogs are quite possibly the worst form of "meat" ever. ONE hot dog, just the kind you buy in packages at the store, has literally 25% of the fat you need in one day. one quarter of saturated fat from something that's like one quarter of an ounce. sick. and so not worth it. at least this time i don't leave with hot dog smell stained on my hands. barf. leave at 445, go get danny. so tired.

get home, try key. it works. oh, finally. something good. besides danny. he says 'we don't have to go to the concert if you don't want to'. which i don't. but i did pay for tickets and we both kind of were looking forward to it...he says 'think about it while i change'. go to my apt, look up venue of concert, find out they don't let you bring cameras in (WHAT? because i want to pay 50 bucks to see a band i can't record memories of???) and that i guess they 'frisk' you when you get there. mm. that's fun. look up redbox next, see what the options are. none. but still, cuddling at home sounds sooo much better than wendy's and driving for 2 hours and being around alcohol and smoke. he comes over and hugs me and says 'let's not go if you don't want to' and i say 'it's not that i don't want to, i'm just so tired'. so we dont go and just go get costa vida, diet coke (for me), chocolate, and watch ANTM and other fabulous shows and do homework.

let me tell you, nothing and no one makes me happier than that boy right there. it really does not matter at all what we do, as long as we're together life is good.

today, in our marriage class, we were taught this:

always give your spouse the benefit of the doubt, assuming he or she did not intend to hurt you.

i am going to be better at this. i am going to not take things so seriously, and if he says or does something hurts my feelings, i will assume it was not intended to and explain that it did.

i love him more than anything.

nine weeks till we are sealed for time and eternity!!!!!!!!! what more could you want than literally forever with the one person who makes you better?

Grand Opening!

2009-10-19T22:41:00.000-06:00

Seeing as how Aly and I will be getting married here in the near future, we have felt it prudent to begin to make our adventures public. We hope you will enjoy any and all future postings! (this is a short one just to get us started)...also, "Brown Fiesta" has little or nothing to do with a 'poo party' as some might mistakenly assume.