wk 4.

in our backyard. 

on the chair katie gave me.

i WILL refinish it...

july 3-4th.

i know this is late. here is how we spent the fourth of july weekend.

rode Nephi's fixie. fixxy? phyquesie?

gawked at nephi's muscles. 

ate at BXMBURGER!!
ha.
new little burger joint on main street in huntington beach.

decorated our bikes for the occasion. 

celebrated america. 

dressed accordingly. 

loved each other. lots. 

snoogled. 

wore star stickers and took unflattering pictures that made my arm look bigger than my body.

seriously loved and appreciated america. 
(NO i didn't cry during the parade)
(also, worked on our picture smiles)

enjoyed the parade from our usual spot

got face paint from little kids in the parade. cutie!!

had fun together!

were reborn in the swimming pool. 

sacrilegiously walked on water. 

waved a lot. 
(don't know why jon ruined this picture i was talking of nephi in the pool..ss)

baked festive fun cupcakes!
(worked on jon's picture smile. see how good he's doing?)

hung out as twins. 

smiled big big big. walked to the fireworks on the beach.

watched the fireworks.
they were shot off the pier. this is the finale. Ruby's is on the right of the picture.


it was a fabulous weekend! we loved spending time with amanda and nephi, as always. 
i love america so much! i am so grateful to be able to do such fun things all the time.
it's always so fun to celebrate a holiday as a nation and celebrate our freedom. 
GOD bless america!

bear.

LOOK at this kitten. 

he's officially ours.

we've been thinking and talking about getting a kitten for awhile.

i want to have a little companion here while jon is gone, and i just love cats.

he finally decided to let me get one!

he's allergic, so i wanted to make sure that jon was here when i got the kitten so he could get used to him.

we fell in love with him as soon as we saw him. 

this is us on our drive home.

i'm making that face because he has his buried in my arm. he was so drowsy all day. 

looking out the window on the drive home.

holding him while letting him look out the window. 

!!

my nails...i know.

but he fell asleep like this and it was soo cute. 

when we got home, he went right under the couch and passed out for hours. 

when he woke up, we showed him his food and the litter box.

after jon helped him, he started eating himself. then he made his way to the litter box and used it.

fabulous. 

i love him. he has such a pretty coat and it just so cute. 

jon doesn't like cats and didn't want to get one.

he is so sweet for letting me get bear and being so good to him.

they are SO cute together!!!!

wk 3.

first day with Bear. 

bedroom.

we finally got our drapes put up!

we got the drapes right after we got married but didn't have a curtain rod.

we keep getting wedding mail (its SO nice.)and last night we got a wal-mart card.

we looked through the entire store and couldn't find anything.

(it didn't help that it was in a really sketchy neighborhood...)

we finally decided on a curtain rod. its not my favorite, it'll definitely do for now though. 

i knew i wanted something darker than the bed, and you can't see the lamp, but the base has stacked balls so the lamp and curtain rod actually go really well together.

the panels are pretty nice. they're velvet and they're already lined.

i didn't know that until we got them out last night and i was so happy!

i also figured out how to take those hideous blinds down. 

oh and we put our mirror together.

that mirror is so old, i don't even know why my dad had it. then katie had it for awhile.

it's been in our basement for years though and my dad said we could take it along with everything else. 

i thought about refinishing or painting it...but it looks kind of cute and has character. 

we're making progress!

that boy.

i've been organizing my blog. 

i've read every blog from the first time i wrote from new york on january 11, 2008

up until january 31, 2009 when chase had six months left.

it was a landmark and a break through. 

it was a blog about how much i loved chase. 

at the time i didn't realize it, but i think thats when i was getting over it.

i remember praying about what i should do about that one.

i wanted to ask if i should write him off.

before i even knelt down i just felt sick to my stomach.

i knew i should. i didn't want to. i didn't.

four days after writing that blog, i got a call.

yes, my blog said that i was settling with myself and school and wasn't dating.

well, that was fine.

because when i answered, it was jon. jonathan from second grade, jonathan from recess, jonathan with a mullet, jon from jr high who'd moved back from texas looking grown up with a hair cut, jon from seminary,  jon. who i saw and talked to, knew who he was dating but never really heard about. jon who i always had a crush on. 

he called me. he called me and said he was driving by my house and wanted to see if i wanted to go to dinner. 

i remember looking at my piles of homework. thinking about how i'd set this night aside to finish it. 

i said yes.

we went to noodles and company. 

he had sent off a missionary too, we were both taken. 

dinner turned into a drive down to provo, just him and i. 

we had a blast. we met up with my roommates at some gymnastics place. 

that night he hugged me. for a long time. 

from then on, we were inseparable. 

three months later, we turned into more than "just friends".

three months after that, chase and jon both came home. 

three months later i was engaged.

6 months later married. 

and i couldn't be happier. 

here is our first few weeks of marriage.

i LOVE that boy. 

wk 2.

figuring out how to use this. 

old mirror next to our bed.