lovebug humbug.

I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. I mean, I've usually had a significant other to share it with, but it's never really pulled at my heart like say, Christmas, or a birthday, or my favorite, 4th of July. I usually attribute this to the fact that I hate the color red (I know, odd right? but I'm working on it), hate roses (spent all of V-Day last year selling the blasted things- hence the sign), I'm not HUGE on chocolate, and I don't really have an appreciation for the 'heart' shape in general. I prefer angular, geometric shapes if you were wondering.

But regardless, I must say I am immensely grateful for my perma-valentine. He's awesome. And if I could pick anyone to be dis-interested in celebrating a not-so-relevant-to-myself holiday with, it'd be him.  So if anyone wins a prize for causing my Grinchy heart to grow a little bit toward this holiday, it's Andrew.

Last year when I was a bit down in the dumps, and craving to fulfill some of my maternal instincts, he oh so kindly let me adopt puppy number two...

And although said puppy turned out to be a HUGE adjustment (not unlike you human mothers with human babies out there), and even though the pup falls under the category of a "daddy's boy" ...I wouldn't change it for the world. I love that fat, shedding, farty Hippo of mine. And I thank boyfriend for speaking to MY heart, in ways that it loves, rather than feeding it the gamble chocolates. He's a keeper.

So now I share with you a glimpse of what melted my heart just 1 year ago this holiday, on the very day we brought our boy home.

Consider it my gift to you, this Valentine's Day. (;

Cheers!

drum roll.

Well, big news.
HUGE.
GINORMOUS.
We're officially done with Utah. Andrew's been made a pretty amazing job offer... and we're TAKING IT! We actually move in 2 weeks! GAAH! Kinda crazy. Kinda nervous. Lots of anxiety. But mostly extremely excited! Nailing down an apartment that's cool with 2 dogs, that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg would be fabulous.


Where shall we be going you ask? ...hold on to your butts.....


Is the anticipation killing you?


It was brutal on me for the last few months.. I can tell you that.


Like my anxiety was THROUGH THE ROOF with all the 'not knowing' biz.


Ok, here it is....

PS. You can look for Andrew in the Dragon II credits. (;

He's such a stud.

we did it.

Woohooo!
Get out of town, we're college grads now!
A Bachelor of Fine Art from BYU in Computer Animation.
And a certificate from LDS Business College in Interior Design.

Watch out world.
(:

Pillowies.

I've revamped (aka: recovered) most of my throw pillows in the family room, KELSIE YOU'RE AMAZING, thanks for being my seamstress! But I couldn't help myself and made an addition to the bunch along the way. Thanks, CSN!


I've got a Mexi-Nautical vibe going on with the whole bunch, and I'm digging it. The pillows are jiving together and the textures make me giddy. (:
Pretty obsessed to be honest.

PS. In case you couldn't tell, I'm definitely not a photographer, and wont pretend to be either. So you just have to trust me when I tell you that they all look like a million bucks in real life. Because it's true. Maybe someday I'll be awesome enough to have a photographer follow me around everywhere and take photos of my life whenever I want. Haha. YOU want that job. We'd have an awesome time.

..Think about it.

Bakers Twine.

I've got it wrapped around my right thumb.. To remind me not to text while driving. AAAH! I've been drive-text sober for 4 days now. It sucks. I'm having withdrawals. But I'm doing it. Andrew thinks I have a death wish, so I'm doing it for him. Ironically enough this photo is from the drivers seat, but I was parked, so there.


You should do it too, so I don't feel like the only bored commuter.
And yes, I'm aware that my thumb looks like it was smashed, or chopped off at the top. Gotta love my nubbs! No seriously, I love them... thanks, dad!

PS. The polish is Prince Charming, by Orly.

isometric drawings.

Since I'm getting really good at doing tons of homework and zero blogging.. why not combine the two again!? Here was my last big assignment (not HUGE, but big and fun enough to share).

I'm taking perspective drawing to learn how to convey ideas to clients. We started out drawing in isometric, or... drawings with 3-Dimensions. It's essentially the best way to show all 3 planes of an object. Don't worry, there's a butt load of math involved, which isn't my favorite, but wasn't tooo bad. Lots of scaling, angling, and whatnot.. but regardless, I actually really enjoyed it! Aside from the fact that my teacher is pretty intimidating, I've learned that so far I really love drawing! (:

So here they are, with the images that I used as reference..

Inspiration: via Southern Living..

Drawing: My iso rendered in pen..

Inspiration: via ArhZine..

Drawing: My iso rendered in pen..

Now.. to learn how to color render! I love coloring & I love markers, so this should be a killer good time.

Mom asked if Andrew helped me.. but I'm proud to say no he did not! Artist boyfriend let me go for it, and he's pretty proud of his wifey. We're merging worlds and it's fun to talk about the common ground. (: Granted, I can't paint a HUGE scene scape in photoshop, or build intense virtual models, and my artwork isn't in temple/church stained glass windows ((which reminds me, I need to take a picture of the Christ window that went up in American Fork at the Presbyterian church that Andrew designed.. it'll blow your mind)) ...but hey, at least we can talk about different ways to shade things. Haha.

Hawaiian Friends..

Yes, my island dwellers.. my sister Abby will be out there for the next ten days if your interested in watching a good game of soccer! She's notorious for not disappointing on the entertainment factor! Anyway, if you can make it to any of the games.. I'm sure she'd enjoy having a fan section (REALLY! ..even if she doesn't know you!). Below I have listed the games that will be played while they're out there, and sorry I don't have all of the game times. If you want to make it to the BYUH game, I'm sure you can find out what time it will be on campus! Anyway.. be sure to tell her I said hi if you make it out to any. (:

(Abby's a goal keeper, No. 21)

Go Dixie Red Storm!

10/17/2009	*	Chaminade University	Honolulu, HI			Details
10/20/2009	*	Brigham Young University - Hawaii	Laie, HI			Details
10/22/2009	*	Hawaii Pacific University	Kaneohe, HI			Details
10/24/2009	*	University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans	Hilo, HI	3:00 PM

Somebody's Watching Me

It's the money I AM saving with Geico!
YOOHOO!

Like $300 worth of savings! (:
So much goodness right now.

PS. Thanks Ash, for building my love of the Rockwell song (ft. Michael Jackson) loooong ago.
Yep. MJ, sings those very words in case you didn't know.

And yes, it's so easy.. A CAVEMAN COULD DO IT.

Option 1

YOU ALL PICKED IT! YOU WIN! WE WIN!

It's a festivous miracle!
No but seriously, this layout makes so much sense, and offers premium space-usage.

Come hangout with me and you'll see for yourself!

..or just glance over the pictures. That works too.


And can I just say how good I feel having cleaned every nook and cranny of the room and reorganized our under-the-bed items!? YES! Not to mention the couch now offers OPTIMAL sun-spots for Bird to enjoy. (:

Happy Day!

Leap Of Faith

We're such proud parents.. now we need to get her to stop so that she can live till she's 20.

PS. The room has COMPLETELY changed, for the better.. more on that later. (:

Julie & Me

I made Andrew a proud and happy man last night. I decided to cook a full blown meal for the two of us. Now, ever since we've been back I've been much better at making my man his meals. In fact, I've averaged 2 a week for the last couple of weeks, which is HUGE for me. HUGE. So anyway, after seeing Julie & Julia last week (HIGHLY recommend, but plan on leaving starved after).. I was CRAVING Bruschetta (pronounced: Brusketta, I know, I've been saying it wrong all along too until lately). There was a scene where Julie made some for her and her husband, and it looked so good, I was literally salivating intensely. So, this week I made the priority to try it out.. and yesterday accomplished it with flying colors! Here is where I found the recipe, but below I've altered it a little to our taste. "Bon Appetit!"
(Trust me, it's good. I don't even like tomatoes usually, that's how good it is!)

Ingredients:

• 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (I just added a smidgen of pre-minced garlic, instead)
  
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (I actually did about 3 teaspoon squirts from a tube)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation:

1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)

Or if you're us, make it as a side dish, and save the leftovers! They've been good to have the next day! Oh my heaven. It was splendid! PS. They were actually so good and filling, the spaghetti wasn't even necessary.

Best of luck. Pealing tomatoes is actually quite easy, and WELL WORTH IT! Seriously, you should make these. (:

Cheers!

Sunny Anderson,

If I had KNOWN you'd be stopping by, my post would have looked a lot more like this....

OH MY GOODNESS, IS THIS WOMAN HEAVEN SENT!?

I think so.

I mean, her show is divine.. Cooking for Real just so happens to be where I got my love and lust for a glass door refrigerator! (true story, see this post) Not to mention, her creations usually make my mouth water, and make me feel as if I could make that insane dish from scratch.
Now if only my husband wasn't practically vegan, we'd be trying out a lot more of what she has to offer.

I love your stuff, Sunny. And if you want to come cook for us, we'd be ok with that. No, better yet.. I have a little sister (named Alex) who would KILL to have you bake with her. Her dream is to become a pastry chef, and she's already well on her way. If you had her in your kitchen, I think I'd be inducted into the hall of BEST SISTERS EVER. (:

Alright, so I can't tease you guys and not give you some of her goodness.. so here's one I plan to try out someday soon.

French Toast with Caramelized Pecans, Strawberries and Cream

Aka.. New Orleans style french toast. Yes, I have a thing for breakfast foods.

{recipe here, episode here}

We love you, Sunny. Hopefully you'll visit regularly. (:

Beckett..

Beckett James Smith

June 22, 2009 at 1:58am
7lbs. 2oz.
18 3/4 in.


..Sweet boy, I love you so much. It was an honor for me to help your mommy deliver (after 27 hours of laboring in the hospital, we were more than excited to welcome you!). Thank you for coming into our lives and making us all so happy! You are the cutest little thing I've EVER seen.. and I can't wait to hug & kiss you again! Cheers to a life full of splendor, you little bundle of radness, you!

Love you,
Auntie Cuh

PS. Readers, you can blame this adorable little guy for my severe lackage of posting for the next while. (:

Spa Gregories

Did I tell you? Andrew and I are in San Diego till the end of August! How could we refuse the amenities and lifestyle? Precisely, we couldn't. So here we are, living and working. Wait, I wasn't doing the latter, but I am now!

That's right.. I got a job at an AMAZING/OOBER LUXURIOUS/HUGE TO THE N'TH DEGREE! spa. Spa Gregories. It's new, and will open July 1st, and is 1 of 3 locations. It's in the heart of Del Mar, and will keep me down there more often while we're here (woohoo!). We have been training for some of the most DREAMY treatments, I just can't wait! So anyway, I've been all over the place trying to get my licensing in order (which having my NCBTMB already helps things move along like CRAZY).. and it's been pretty exciting. Can't you tell!? I'm super stoked, and can't wait to get started. Everyone is rad, and the owners are such heavenly and humble people.. I just can't wait to work for them!

Wooooo!

So I guess what I'm sayin is, if you want a lavender/tangerine/honey body scrub with acompanying rain bar, or a hydra quench body wrap.. just let me know. (;

My Moon, My Man

See the skatepark.

See Andrew at the skatepark.
See Andrew find a park table.
See Andrew analyze the table's rail.
See those in awe of Andrew committing and shredding the table's rail at the skatepark.

I enjoy watching this boy do his thing. Just as he humors me and sits on the beach while I walk on water. Although, I assure you.. watching him is MUCH more entertaining. He's been having fun because there are about 5 or so skateparks that are new to Andrew, that have been fun to roll around on and investigate the number of stairs, different lengths of rails, and different angled boxes to kickflip over. It's a real hoot, and if you're ever with us.. I'm sure he'll show you a good time. (:


You're good lover, real good.

Seahorse

You may or may not be aware that my mother has been sewing up a STORM! Like really, she's been practically unstoppable for the past 8 months (due to the first official grandbaby that's coming her way). Anyway, she's been making the most adorable 'Monsties' as we like to call them (the kid has so many.. one to match practically each outfit till he's 20 years old! ok.. maybe 18).. and I tell you this because THESE seahorses reminded me of them. I like seahorses, and I think they would make a darling selection for someone that is expecting a girl.
(Yes, Ashley. I know you do not like seahorses.)

{via Etsy}

St. George

Andrew's all time favorite skate park exists in St. George. So for his birthday, we stopped.. and he had a kick butt time for a couple of hours.

As seen below.. (:


Kid's got talent..
More photos coming soon!

Friend

Her name is Brooke. She is the creative one from THIS post. And she's the one that writes THIS blog. Anyway, last weekend we spent Friday together in the Salt Lake sunshine, and it was glorious. That's when I bought THIS perfume. Moving on, she's a pretty rad chick, and today we ventured up once more to see if she's got talent..

..if it were up to me, I'd be like "people, she IS Tru Talent." Seriously, if you don't get some kind of acting/modeling scholarship, then they're weirdies.

The end.
Ps. Brooke, we both know there are more haynis photos of you out there than these. Don't hate me. Haha. Besides, my current occupation as your personal schoeffer entitles me to the rights of posting such photos. :)

Thanks, Mom

Here's a sweet little back story on yours truly that my mother wrote while counting her blessings..
Just thought it'd be fun to share with you all..

Arica Malace Monroe-

"..was born May 18, 1987 by c-section. I was not quite as sick during this pregnancy. There were a few months in the middle that the nausea was less, and for that I was so grateful. Ashley showed signs from about 7 months old that she wanted a play mate, and so I was so happy that our second child was a girl and that my girls would have a sister...something I never had. Arica was such an easy and happy baby for us. Despite her constant sinus infections, she was a delight. Her name was very significant Arica-after her dad, and Malace was my mom's name combined with my grandma's name. The two women in my life that meant the world to me. It seemed like hers from the moment I came up with it. Everyone has loved it, from when they hear it and even more when they know the symbolism. Oh how I am so grateful to have Arica in my life. She is one of my dearest friends. She has grown into such a wonderful women and daughter of our Father in Heaven. How blessed I am to be her mom!"

..love you too, mom!

Internships

So, Andrew has been quite the busy bee lately (go figure right? ..he's such a hard worker!). He has been building the BYU animation program's internship website. Not only did he build the website, but he had to upload ALL of the student's portfolio's and animation reels TO the website. All of this is for the main companies, like Dream Works & Pixar, to be able to have easy & quick access to all of the student's work to see who their interested in taking for their summer internships.
Now the plan was ORIGINALLY for andrew to follow suit, but we have recently decided that it would be in our best interest to stay put for the summer. He IS technically only a sophomore/junior in the program, which would give us the FOLLOWING summer to do an internship if we so choose. Which is sounding like a MUCH better option at this point.
He has learned SOOO much, and is already a Go-To guy for SO many people in the program (even seniors have asked for help!), but we have decided that he would be able to grow leaps and bounds MORE of we stay for the spring semester to get even further ahead.

So another year, another summer dear Dream Works. You'll have more time to salivate over Andrew's potential, and can battle out with other companies of who wants to take him. :)

Cheers.