Granny Square Blanket

Thanks to the amazing Kari, I've been introduced with a new obsession. I NEED this. Well, I'll need it when I have a baby. I think I could decorate an entire nursery around this beauty- for a boy OR girl. Hopefully someone I know knows how to crochet...




found on the red thread

The Nicaraguan

I think my little brother who's on a mission is officially as tan as the natives.



It's good to know he's enjoying himself tho. He was always up for adventure, and I'm pretty sure that's what he's getting. Plus, he knows how to have fun AND work hard.

All natural cleaner + scrub

I'm over bleach. It smells so strong and burns my hands and costs a lot. I've started switching over to some more natural and less harsh but equally effective homemade cleaning products.
A good friend showed me how to make 'natural' cleaning wipes. I don't like to use the Clorox ones because they dry out my hands and have a ton of chemicals on them. She showed me how to use paper towels, vinegar, mint extract and tea tree oil to make homemade cleaning wipes. I love them. I'll do a separate post for those.
This post is about my miracle cleaner: baking soda + liquid soap.
Last weekend I cleaned the fronts of all of my kitchen cabinets (they're slightly beveled painted particle board basically that are impossible to clean), my entire bath tub and all of my doors.
The baking soda gets in the grooves of things and scrubs out the dirt, polishes the faucets AND doesn't smell bad. I'm in love. and I recommend you try it.

2 Tablespoons of baking soda
A squeeze of liquid soap...I used dish soap
A few drops of water
Add a few drops of tea tree oil if you want it to disinfect.
Mix. Use a cloth to scrub it on the surface and wipe it clean.

Merry Christmas!

It's getting closer! I love the holidays. So far we've made 2 gingerbread houses, plus these mini ones to go on our hot chocolate mugs, as well as the traditional Scotch Shortbread cookies (David's favorite).

Pearl Harbor

I was really excited to go to Pearl Harbor- I think because it was a historical location that I actually knew about, it made it even better. I was so surprised that the whole tour and everything were free. It was really refreshing and made the experience even better, I think.

After our tour we headed over to a pier that my uncle suggested to get some fish for lunch. Once we got there we noticed that the restaurant, Nico's, had been featured on DDD (which we love!) David got fish and chips, and I got the furikake- it was a cilantro coated tuna filet with this delicious tartar sauce and rice. So yummy.

Hawaii Part 2- Beaches

Our second day in Hawaii we wanted to just relax on the beach. I had never been to a tropical place before, so swimming in warm water was a huge treat for me. We went to Waimea beach and Pounders.

Here's me at Waimea Falls where we just walked around for a bit.

Above are all at Waimea and below are all at Pounders. David jumped off the rock at Waimea but I didn't take the camera down to the water.


We also went to Haleiwa and ate Thai food and got Matsumotos. It was SO good!

Hawaii Part 1- Laie

We were lucky enough to be able to stay with my Aunt Kelly + Uncle Drew while we were in Hawaii. Our vacation wouldn't have been possible without their hospitality. They just finished building a new house directly across from the beach on the North Shore- and below was the view from their guest room, where we stayed. At night you can hear the waves crash on the beach. We hadn't seen my aunt and uncle and their kids in about 2 1/2 years, so it was really fun to be able to catch up with them. My aunt also had her fourth child (and first girl after 3 boys) back in April, so we got to meet her too. It was a very different experience to stay with my aunt without my immediate family there- it was nice to be able to chat and talk about things we never really had- she got married when I was about 10.

Here's me with my lei on. David bought it for me at the airport when we landed. David lived in Oahu when he went to BYU the semester before he met me so he was able to show us around.
We ate at Hukilau Cafe twice- the first time we went with the french toast made with hawaii sweet bread and banana pancakes. The second trip we decided to attempt a more local favorite and got fried rice with eggs and sausage (we couldn't get the spam, we're not legit enough). Fried rice for breakfast sounds super weird, but it was the best fried rice I've ever had.
Here's the french toast. It was SO good.
In the afternoons the boys would get home from school so we'd hang out at home. Ian loved David, or at least loved to wrestle with him. More than once I came upstairs to find him sitting on or laying against David. It was too cute.
Our last night in Hawaii we went to Turtle Bay for dinner. I cracked up because we went to a nice restaurant, but Ethan didn't wear shoes- no one noticed or cared. I liked it. The sun was setting and we only had David's iphone for pics, so they're not the best. Here are the boys. It was a struggle to keep them all in frame.
Here's me, Aunt Kelly and the baby. Doesn't she look amazing for just having had a baby 6 months before? She's in better shape than I am (I don't even try so it's my own fault.) hahaha.
Me and David at Turtle Bay.
Here's me, Ian and the baby girl in the backyard. He made that face whenever I took a picture of him or if he was embarrassed. It still makes me laugh.
He looks so serious.
Ethan tending to baby girl.
Eli held Kenzie so much while we were there. And she ALWAYS spit up on him. I love her hair here, it looks like a flame.
Attacking Eli's face.
Thanks again to my family for letting us stay in their beautiful and amazing home. We miss you all, already.

My grandma

So, recently my uncles have been posting all of these old photos of my dad and his siblings and parents from the 50's and 60's. There are tons of pictures I'd never seen before and I'm absolutely in love with them. I like pictures anyway, and to hear about my Grandpa taking pictures of my Grandma and their kids makes me happy. I wish he was around still so we could talk about cameras and all that- I never knew him though. My Grandma died when I was in high school, and this past weekend it would have been her birthday I believe, so I decided to post these pictures in her honor. My uncle Jeff says she was the original Scarlett Johannson. I agree.

My Grandma (Dorothy Marcia, called Marci) was THE most lovely, sweet and kind person I've ever known. She had so much love to give and I know she loved and helped and prayed for each one of her children and grandchildren her entire life.

When I was 5 we got to live with her for a few years. It takes a wonderful woman to let her Son and his wife and 3 kids live with her in a tiny condo. She was an amazing example to all of us, and I know for sure her influence helped my family become active in the church.

My dad is # 3 out of 7 children...the first four were boys, then two girls, then a boy. Seeing these makes me want a big family. We'll see if that actually happens...ha. :)

Busy Times

Things have been a little crazy around the house. With David working, going to school and taking an LSAT class 3 times a week we barely see each other, except on weekends. I've been finding things to occupy my time- netflix being one of them. I've also gotten myself back into reading, something I used to LOVE and I'm realizing how much I've missed it.

I've also decided to be more diligent in posting on my Recipe Blog, and invited Kristine and Kari to contribute to it as well to keep things busy. Check it out if you want some cooking ideas. We like good food. A lot.

David takes the LSAT this Saturday and we're getting pretty nervous. Well, him more than me. But he is more stressed right now than I've seen him in all the time I've known him- which makes me uneasy. We'll be happy once it hits about noon this Saturday. Then we'll be on our way to California to see my family, David's family, our nieces and fly to Hawaii for a week!

A new niece

It worked out well with Moonsung delivering this week (a bit early) since we were planning on being in California this weekend anyway- we were able to see our new neice Campbell in the hospital, which was exciting since we weren't able to do that with either of our other nieces. She is beautiful! and we are so excited for Brian + Moonsung and all of the fun they're about to have.

We got a new lens this weekend and it's been fun to play around with. We tried it out with Campbell here: