Live Forward

Another Update

2012-02-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't know wether to post again or not. I don't want to be that "sick" person who complains all the time. A lot of people have been asking about my disease and when I will be done with treatment so I just decided to write a post to explain everything that has happened recently.

In short I have at least 4 more month to go.

The last month has been a rough one. I have been on high doses on antibiotics since Sept 4. We upped my dose at the beginning of January and that is when it all really started. My stomach had been having trouble on and off with the antibiotics.....it is hard on your stomach but when I upped the meds my stomach gave way I couldn't keep anything down. We were going to try to stop the meds for a week or two and then start a different antibiotic but my stomach is shredded and I won't be able to take any antibiotics for a long while.

So we go to step two anti-malayria medication (literally anti fungal meds). It is a lot softer on my tummy but more toxic on my body. I will have to have a liver test once a month and an eye test to make sure my retinas aren't effected. I will get sicker at first but the hope is that it is faster acting than the antibiotics and in a few months I will feel better. If this med works there is a chance I could just stay on it a few times a week for the rest of my life and never have to do treatments again, just keep up with it so my disease won't ever resurface as badly as it is now. So it is all in all good news for the long term future, but frustrating for short term.

Ted and I are doing pretty good. It hasn't been easy I will tell you that! We have had some frustrating days and weeks but we are trying to stay positive because there isn't many other options at this point.

Hope this clarifies some of the questions everyone has been having don't hesitate to ask more I just wanted to help everyone understand a little more of what is happening.

Update

2011-11-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

I went to the Dr. last Wednesday to get an update on my progress and to figure out something to do for my extreme leg pain and cramping. It wan't the best Dr. apt. He said that my disease was a lot worse than we originally thought and that instead of turning a corner in the next few days, I had a least 2 months left before any relief would come. It wasn't the news I wanted to hear the day before Thanksgiving.

I felt bad after my last blog post because everyone says I am so positive. I hope you know there are lots of times I question why me, or if this will ever go away. This weekend I had several nights where I was sad, even devastated that I have to do this for a lot longer than we thought. It will be a total of 4 months before I start climbing out.

I am trying to see it from a positive side that at least I didn't know at the beginning it would take so long, 2 months doesn't seem like that long....so I can do it another 2 months. I know I can, some times it is just hard to take it all in. I really didn't want to be sick for Christmas, but I can't control much of that. So now instead of feeling good for Christmas Ted and I have a new goal of feeling better by my birthday March 5, I think it is doable. I just have to get use to the new idea I guess.

In other news I found a few pics from the last month I wanted to share:

Ted's mom came over and helped me set up our Christmas tree! The 2nd tree in our whole marriage. My first fake tree ever...I grew up in Utah where real Christmas Trees weren't a fire hazard...something I have to get use to here in dry old AZ.

I am making these for the tree...so far only 4 done. They are decoupage ornaments with old book pages on them. I had the idea since Ted's biggest passion is books, I ended up using my grandma's old cooking books (over 50 years old) to incorporate family and of course my love for cooking :) They are turning out pretty cute, I just need more energy to do them all!

Yesterday we got to visit our good friends (who is also Ted's cousin) Roger and Lindsey who just had a new baby Thanksgiving eve! He is adorable! Ted loved holding baby Owen.

Yes that is a chocolate fountain in our fancy grocery store that is near our house. They have a wine cellar, a man's den with club chairs and TV's for the men to watch TV, fruit from all over the world...it is pretty crazy!

I made an apple pie for Thanksgiving.....It turned out cute, but it was really runny...I think I better lay off baking till I feel better, but at least I made something for Thanksgiving!

We got a new member of the family...a TV. We haven't had one since before we left Philly 3 years ago, once we found out I would be in bed longer Ted made sure I had something to do :)

One of my favorite places near our new apartment is an outdoor mall, The Scottsdale Quarter. It has the prettiest outdoor lighting at night complete with a light up splash pad dancing to music.

I had to add this one, Ted manages online faculty for Grand Canyon University and the team he manages dressed up like him for Halloween, how perfect was it that he wore the exact thing that day?

(Ted gets a hard time for wearing a shirt and tie to work every day)

Lola and I spend a lot of time at the pool in the sun trying to get more Vitamin D. Such a hard life....

Hope you have a great day!!!

We are still here!

2011-11-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

I noticed today how long it has been since I posted! OH gosh! Not much has gone on in terms of exciting things so not much to post.

Ted sold his car. He is working like a mad man at Grand Canyon University and is in his last year of course work for his Doctorate at Pepperdine. Almost done with school!

I got my real estate license toward the end of summer and then got the bad news that I was sick again. At first it was just Lyme disease again so we went to a doctor to try to treat it.....that was when he found out I actually have never had Lyme disease but instead have a rare blood diseases that is attacking my white blood cells (a type of a Protozoa).

I started treatment in early September right when we had to move. When you treat a blood disease, you get a lot worse before you get better. Usually the blood disease lays dormant in most your body but when you start treating it the disease starts to fight back, making your body a war zone...literally! I am suppose to get to a point where it is so bad that it kills everything and then I will start feeling better....still waiting for that point. I was suppose to hit the bottom by Thanksgiving time...but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

Here is a picture of my blood test. The blue is the blood, the white film is the disease (it literally makes your blood really thick, it is named for the greek word slime....), the white dots are my white blood cells in cased in the disease.

I have had tons of people asking so I thought I would just try to explain it a little better. I am on huge doses of antibiotics that are trying to fight the disease. The pain I feel is a muscle/joint pain mixed with bone pain. And I have little to no energy. But the best part is we know what it is and we can treat it!

Blood diseases never truly go away fully, but we can track it and maybe every 5-10 years (hopefully longer) treat it again. Those treatments won't be as long or painful as this initial one, especially if we catch it fast.

We are so lucky to be in warm Arizona during this treatment with lots of family and friends helping. It has made these last few months so much easier! The worst part of the whole thing...I can't drive! It really has been worse than the pain some days! Ha ha...how is that for dramatic? I don't have energy to go anywhere anyway...but just knowing I can't drive has been so hard.

Ted has always been so supportive, he is such an amazing guy for working 10-12 hours a day coming home to take care of me and fitting studying in somewhere along the lines. We are just really lucky to be in a great place and we feel so loved! So thank you to everyone!

I am not shy about talking about my disease so ask away. I just don't love to talk about it on Facebook or the blog every day because then I feel like that "sick" person. I will be better before you know it! Here's to being healthy!

Ted's selling his car!

2011-09-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

It's time :( Ted is selling his baby! Come take a look at his car here:
http://1966karmannghia.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

2011-09-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Wow! I need to do this blog sale more often :) Within a day everything in the below post was gone!

I posted on here before craigslist because Ted isn't home much lately and I don't like showing furniture to people I don't know. Plus now all our stuff went to people who we know! Love it!

Moving in 8 days, with 4 days up in Greer.....thanks to Ted's amazing parents we are almost all packed!

Moving Sale :)

2011-08-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right we are moving...again! This is #14 for us! At least this time we are only moving from Mesa, AZ to North Scottsdale, AZ (30 min).

We are selling a few things because we are down sizing. Yes I convinced Ted to get rid of a few books :)

2 Ikea bookshelves. We have them stacked together in the pictures.

$45 for each obo

Another view of the 2 bookshelves.

My favorite desk :( I have decorated many cakes on this!

Our new place has a built in desk.

$25 obo

Bookshelf. $25 OBO

We are need to have this items gone by the end of next week! Let me know if you want more pictures.

The places we've been

2011-07-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

This site is really cool! It lets you map everywhere you have been! I guess you can tell we drove across the country a few times...and 4 of the states we have actually lived in.

visited 25 states (50%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

This is the world map. I put where Ted and I have both been either together or pre-our cross little family, guess we need to start traveling more! Spain and Portugal are first on our list. We have both been to Brasil just never together so that must be next. Ted has never been to Europe and I haven't been to Asia. We have some work to do!

visited 7 states (3.11%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Get your cakes!

2011-07-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

I took a little break from baking but I am back! Get your cakes and/or cupcakes today for any event or party! I am affordable and the cakes taste even better than they look! YUMMM!!

Visit my bakery site: http://euphoriacakesandpastries.blogspot.com/

Ted's China Trip

2011-05-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Since Ted isn't a blogger he gave me permission to post his latest adventure to China. He went for 12 days and it counted toward a class for his doctorate at Pepperdine.

He had a great time! His two roommates and him were the class clowns! I loved getting emails about their funny stories. His professor kept telling all the Chinese girls that he and his friend were famous americans...they ALL wanted pictures with them!

ENJOY~!

Here is a video of it...or the pictures follow it if you would rather look at those :)

He and his 2 friends hiked to the tallest point of the Great Wall in 45 min.

The top of the wall

I didn't know this but the wall is almost all stairs going up and down mountains!

Olympic Village

This one is for his sister amanda :)

Inside the Olympic Stadium

Ted actually getting a foot massage.....his feet are soooo ticklish I can't even touch them!

Trying not to kick the person giving the pedicure....

Classmates

If you know Ted, you know his obsession with Bonsai Trees...

Ted's professor

They got to visit a lot of corporations and leaders in China for their class

Pearl Factory, showing them how to open an oyster

One of the many pictures these two took as "famous americans"

Another Ted obsession, Koi ponds....

More Bonsai

Shanghai boat tour

More bonsai.....

Shanghai Pepperdine

The Power of Words

2011-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ted showed me this video...it is powerful and makes you think about the words you say every day....

New Photography Blog Post~!

2011-04-21T17:38:00.001-07:00

I did a senior photo shoot a few weeks ago! Check it out on my photography blog:

http://creatinglifeimages.blogspot.com/

Busy week!

2011-04-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ted and I had a busy week!

I got locked in the house! Yep that's right IN Ted and I had to use the window for a day and a half until the repair guy could fix the door...Ted only had to come in and out once....he isn't as nimble as I am :)

But he was a good sport going to work out the window!

My friend and I made cake pops...so good! I sent some to work with Ted for an early easter treat.

One of my prescriptions for my health (actually from a doctor) is to sit in the sun or go tanning it helps with my blood flow...this is such a hard life! Yesterday it was over 90 here!

It gets lonely at the pool by myself so I brought an old friend :) a Libertarian one!

Last night Ted got busy on a whim finishing our back patio doesn't it look great!!??

Fountain and all! I love the sound!

Me distracting Lola from Ted working out back, she hates people out there! She is shaking my hand :)

Ted worked SO hard! And now I have an outside place to hang out in!

Lola would not go potty after we changed the patio sooo much!

I was getting a kick watching Ted try to force her out the door

So funny!

She finally went and today she loves it out there!

April in Arizona

2011-04-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Ok I know you probably already know this...but.... I LOVE ARIZONA!

Just the view as I drive away from working out. Love the dessert!

The view from the window while working out with my trainer Bob.

LOVE IT!

Arizona Sunsets...need I say more? Best ever!

More sunset :)

Loving my Toms and AZ weather! Swim year round!

Made my sister (well her soon to be little girl) a tag blanket

This is against my religion but ohhh sooo good on a sleepy late night

I never make cakes from anything out of a box unless that box has cake flour in it....

Been cooking a lot lately...getting better thanks to my new obsession with Gina @ skinny taste. Ted still counts every calorie and I still hate eating healthy, but this website solves it for us! It is super healthy but tastes so good! Love it!

Check it out! http://www.skinnytaste.com/

On a Sad/Happy news front. Ted's Grandpa had to have eye surgery, it will hopefully restore his eye sight he lost in his left eye! But he had to be face down for 10 days! Ugh! He is a trooper and less than 24 hours to go...you can see here he is on the massage table Ted's parents bought him, so smart!

Been making a lot of my famous carrot cake cupcakes. Have an order for tomorrow so I am about to start grating carrots. Yumm I love when people order these, on of my desserts I actually eat!

Birthday presents that keep giving! A gift card from my sister got me something I have been wanting! I made Ted his favorite Lime Aid in it yesterday!

Well that is April in Arizona for you. Me busy with cakes, cooking, and house work. Ted busy with school and work (crazy busy!) and Lola still lazy as ever :) All in the prettiest place on earth!

P.S. here is Lola, I just woke her up from her nap... :)

Another update :)

2011-03-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been crazy and flown by! Not to mention most of which I was either throwing up or coughing my brains out, but now I am feeling SO much better! Well enough to post an update!~

Ted's work had spirit week, he dressed up every day of the week for the different themes, even twin day when his planned twin got sick and didn't even show up to work and left ted in a funny outfit! ha ha!

Hawian day...all his friends were laughing saying Ted probably even wears a tie to the beach since he is always so dressed up. Well he proved them right!

NCAA day. Ted wore his BYU jersey.

That's right! It is real - Ted's sister played for the BYU girls team and gave Ted one of her jerseys.

Ted needed a car part in a rush and the only place in AZ with the part was in west west phx in the middle of no where. The most amazing place ever! Have you ever seen American pickers!!?? This place topped any of those! And full of just antique VW car parts! This guy knew where all of his parts were he didn't even hesitate to climb over piles and say it is right here. So great!

So many great restored bugs under those tarps! IN LOVE!

My new friend Kevin, I took a secret picture he was SO nice!

It even went out back!

A green ghia like Ted's! I want it~! Convertible too!

It says on the top "give love not drugs," classic!

My earnings from the trip, super cheap and hard finds!

The amazing AZ moon!

Lola and I watched a lot of the March Madness Bball games while I was sick.

(I think she watched trying to get a glimpse of her wanna be boyfriend Butler Blue the bulldog)

Lola and I have been taking lots of walks, here we took a break and she loves to sun bathe! She didn't want to go in. Gotta love the AZ SUN!

Ted went on his 5 day trip to Pepperdine to a few crazy days of 12+ hours of school a day (straight in a class room!) So I did what I do best...BAKED! I made Ted's grandpa a raisin pie. He has always said if I can make that for him I then can be a true baker. I have to admit I didn't think it would be good...a raisin pie??!! But it was pretty good much like an apple pie...

Made 2 cheese cakes. One with raspberries baked in and one with strawberries.

Ted's sister Julie loves cheesecake so I tried them out for her bday. One to taste just to make sure I wasn't giving her crap! Ha ha

And I didn't take a picture of the chocolate applesauce cake I made for myself and ate 3 pieces for dinner on Saturday....yumm!

While Ted was gone I got Lola a new toy she loved

And my mom sent me a gift card through email and she went shopping with me on the phone to buy my very own pair of TOMS! Love them! Thanks mom!

I also started to decorate the front room. Much harder than imagined. I kept the pillows from this picture, took back the rug, it was kinda blah!

I like the pillows though. I will have to take pics I got new drapes and another rug. Now we need a coffee table and big pic for above our bookshelf, but I am getting there! But need a little break....

Ted's uncle came and visited lonely me. He brought Ted a present. Ted loves antique clocks like this and Uncle Wade found one for Ted, we love it!

The END!

Lope cake!

2011-03-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ted has recruited me to make a cake once a month for the monthly birthdays. This is the cake I did yesterday for the March b-days:

The Lopes logo for Grand Canyon University

Now I need help coming up with 11 more ideas for the next 11 months....

Update!

2011-03-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

Finally an update! Here is what we have been up to lately....

Yesterday was my b-day, it was a great day!

Ted re-did a table for me, I have wanted this for some time. He spent his day (that he should have taken to do homework) and did a ton of physical labor for me!

Getting serious about it

Paint all over his hands...using my acetone to take it off

Finished product. The chairs were from our previous table (they are antiques from my great aunt) The round table fits perfectly for the space and it all ties together nicely!

Everyone asked me who makes my bday cake.....Well I make sooo many cakes I like ice cream for my b-day treat, I see waaaayyy too many cakes! Ted made it all fancy for me with andes mints for candles :)

Friday night Ted took me to dinner, I got dressed up and met him on his dinner break. I am showing you my butterfly ring he got me :)

Last night we went out again.

Ted's parents are so thoughtful they lent us their treadmill to make me nice and healthy. It may sound weird but exercise is what keeps me healthy since my blood was compromised.

Loving the treadmill Ted had to move...ha ha it took forever to get it inside our house...but it is here!

Made Ted a Nojito...a Mojito with no alcohol

Been taking care of poor Lola a lot lately. She completely pulled out one of her nails. I am holding her so Ted can wrap her leg...she hates being on her back she just freezes ha ha!

We have seen a lot of this around the house....when she pulls off her bandage

And lots of her sleeping and being sad :(

Enjoying the amazing AZ Sunsets and clear skies!

Love driving across the reservation

Ted looking dapper driving me to church today in the Ghia....he told me after this pic...you take to many pictures!!!

Thank you!

2011-03-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the help with Ted's survey! It was a success! We ended up with a ton of surveys! The best thing about being the wife/research assistant is I just made the survey look pretty and got people to take it....now Ted has to write a paper about it....I love being done with school!!

If we all lived in the same place I would make you all a cake thanking you for helping :)

Here is my latest cake for Ted and I's nephew. It was his first bday cake! The top layer came off to be his own little personal cake!

Not the best pic it is still wet and in the fridge...but you get the idea :)

I was running so late I didn't get a good shot of the cake actually done...

HAPPY BDAY TRUMAN!

Sugar makes me feel better!

2011-02-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Ok I will admit it. This weekend has been ugh! I FINALLY got back my truck back Friday after almost totaling it more than a month ago.

I noticed some small problems with their work, so I was already going to have to take it back Monday, but on Saturday (less than 24 hours after we got it back) we were getting on the freeway and the whole car completley shut down, no power. Great! AAA towed it and so we got into the Ghia.

The trusty girl had some problems later that night the wheel and axel broke and left us stranded on the road once again....AAA!

At this point we were laughing and grateful for friends and family that had bailed us out. We had a good night, Ted finished his grading and I painted my nails.

This morning getting ready for church (waiting for our ride since we have no cars), Lola tripped and got tangled up and tore her nail off her paw! It was SO sad. We have her some benadryl to help her sleep and went to church any way. She has been sleeping and winning all day.

Trip to the vet tomorrow, hope she doesn't have to get surgery again poor girl!

SOOOOO........

To cheer myself up I made a coconut cream pie with a meringue top! Yes please!

Money might not be able to buy me happiness but sugar can cheer me up any day!

All in all, we know we have GREAT friends and family (thanks grandma for having us for dinner! And that sun makes everything much more bearable! This would have been a lot harder in cold dark Philly but the Sun is shining and it is 80 outside in February! That just makes it all seem better some how...

More Cake!

2011-02-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

Yes that is right another cake! And that is just a warm up for the month I have at least one more this month (for Ted and I's nephew that is going to kick you know what!)

I was honored to do this cake for my close friend. She is our hairdresser - the hair DiVinci of hair as I call her! and Ted and I have been lucky enough to get close to her and her daughter the last year. We LOVE them! They are truly family to us.

Katrina's mom had a birthday this weekend. All of Katrina's brothers and sisters flew in from all over to celebrate this bday.

Thanks to Ted's sister Julie and my friend Lindsay for helping with the color scheme

The flowers before

In transport

Chocolate cake with whipped cream filling and buttercream icing.

Valentines Day Love

2011-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

I am never a huge Holiday celebrator. Growing up my little sister always did all the decorating and Ted doesn't get all festive either. But this is going to change! My friend from our time at BYU has the cutest blog, she is SO talented! She has posted a bunch of stuff for valentines day including the 14 days of Valentines (which I am actually doing for Ted, you should be so proud!) Although I am not, and will not EVER be as crafty as Megan, she is a big hep to me in my efforts to get more festive :)

Her blog is here

Last night at about 10:30 pm, Ted still had an hour or two of HW.....so I started on my Valentines day presents for his family: S'more hearts!

Finished product...my camera was out of batteries so these are with my phone...

Love them! They are good too!

Took awhile to get the right technique

Strawberry and Regular marshmallows

This is the best way I found to cut the graham cracker

Watching castle to keep me company :)

Yumm!

Changed up the phrase little since it was for girls :)

More Castle :)

Why can't we just be happy??

2011-02-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

Why is it that we always want the one thing that we don't have? I have thought about this question in the past, it just really hit me today.

I was having (what I thought was) a bad hair day today. It was CAZY frizzy and going all over the place. I don't feel good and I didn't have the energy to tame it down so I just left looking like a frizz ball. I got to the Dr. and on the way out one of the nurses said:
"I love your hair!"
I said: "thanks but it is really crazy today."
She replied "I really like it and am so jealous you have so much curl!"

Wow. Ok it took me back. Maybe life is just about trying to be happy with what we have. It got me to thinking:

It makes me sad I don't have kids and our fertility has been a long struggle, but there are people that tell Ted and I how lucky we are we don't have kids. At first this kinda made me frustrated. But lately I realize we are lucky, and they are lucky to have kids. We get the nights off, we can stay up late and sleep in. We can do things on our own time. Parents don't get that freedom but get the little ones to snuggle in at night and say "I love you!" We don't get constant snuggles like that but we do get to spoil the kids in our life because we don't have to discipline them! :)

Do you see what I am thinking here? Maybe you already know this but it is just making me want to be happy with EVERY area in my life. I am just hoping that some of you feel the same way? I just feel like there is always something we want different:

If you have straight hair you want curly
BUT - people with curly want straight
If you have a big house you want smaller
BUT - people with smaller want bigger
If you live at the beach you want to live or vacation near the trees
BUT - people who live near mountains crave the beach
If you have a two door car you want a bigger one with more cargo room
BBUT - people with SUV's and Trucks want less of the gas guzzler

Maybe it is just time I am happy with who I am! I am a woman who loves her husband and bulldog and is happy with her life without kids, I love to bake and decorate cakes but I can't scrapebook to save my life, I love to exercise and run, but I can't compete in races, I have crazy curly hair that takes a lot of time to do, but I love it, and most of all I have hair, I love to decorate and create wall hangings with my photography but I can't craft a wall hanging that is actually legible , some days I have a lot pain, but that means other days I fell much better, I love to learn, but I am not good at reading....but the main thing is that I LOVE who I am, ok I mean and I am learning to love ME every day.

Ok that's it for now just my thoughts for today. Do you ever feel like this?

P.S. I LOVE my Mac that takes pictures of me when Ted's not home

Thanks MacBook!

Cupcake Decorating, and small visitors :)

2011-02-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Ted's cousins Katie and Beth came over this weekend to decorate cupcakes. We had a ton of fun! We decided to start a craft day once a month...Katie your house is next you better be ready :)

Katie and Beth hard at work!

Lola hard at work....

Messy but very used kitchen

Katie really was amazing at the flowers

Katie and Beth being good sports about pictures

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now eat your hard out Philly friends!

Yes that is right I got to baby sit the little Dobson's Saturday afternoon!

How lucky am I??!!

Tessa isn't a baby any more...so talkative and full of personality!

Lincoln is SO grown up he makes me feel OLD!

He decorated the cutest cupcakes

Lincoln's cupcakes. From left to right: a piece of pizza, tessa's butterfly, a flower Lincoln made just like Katie's :), a tree with clouds, and a blue and pink easter egg.

Lincoln and Tessa watching netfix movies on our bed

Tessa is a ham! I love her! She reminds me a ton of Alyssa!

She drew a picture (that had to be with a pink pen) and step back and squealed: "SO CUTE!!"

I feed them A LOT of popcorn. After the first batch they asked: "can we have more?" At first I said no, but then I realized why did I care? I am the FUN babysitter so I just kept popping more and more! Ha ha best part of not being parents and getting to spoil little kiddos!

Later that night Ted and I went to the Grand Canyon University Bball game! Pictures to come soon!

Black Bottom Cupcakes!

2011-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Ok my new favorite cupcake! YUMMM!

Ted's cousins are coming over tomorrow to decorate and bake cupcakes. I made the first batch tonight so that we will have some cupcakes to decorate while the others bake and cool. Tomorrow we are doing Red Velvet. Tonight I made black bottom cupcakes.

I have had some requests for my cake/cupcake recipes. I never even thought to post them. Here is the first of many I am sure to follow:

Black Bottom Cupcakes from the Joy of Baking: (click on link to find recipe)

These are amazing! They are chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese sugary filling! I almost ate the entire bowl of filling batter and didn't bake the cupcakes....

My usual baking partner asleep in our room on my blanket...

Looks like I am doing this one solo

The kitchen and my most prized possession lately my RED kitchen aid :)

My recipe book....

Sugar, this is going to be a good one!

The trick with the filling is to really cream it up

Make sure you cream the cream cheese for awhile before adding any ingredients

Instead of sifting I always whisk the dry ingredients together

I do it for awhile to make the mixture nice and fluffy

That's right the chocolate cake has no dairy!

Water, viniger, and oil....I was skeptical!

My trick to fill cupcake tins is an ice cream scoop

1/2 already topped with the cream cheese

Ready to go in the oven, hopping they don't over flow at this point...

Baked! Yumm! They are really good!

Decorating/Picture Hanging

2011-02-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

This the first part of this week was spent putting pictures up and decorating our house to look more warm and cozy. My goal was to be done by the end of the week....but a ovarian cyst got in the way of that plan. But it just gives me something to do next week!

I have to pick up some pictures I printed at Costco (best picture printing prices!) today and put them in some new frames I got from Home Goods where I look for all my decorating and kitchen needs, who needs to pay full price?

I am lucky to have married a man with abilities in decorating! It has been so nice, because if you know me, I am not the most creative person, I execute, I don't create. But Ted's new job and his schooling for himself keeps him sooo busy he doesn't get home till at least after 9 every night.....this put a HUGE cramp in my decorating. So I just went ahead and started myself. It is much harder than I realized. Here is my go at it:

My first attempt at trying to get them even = failed attempt

Ted's degree corner, yes four degrees not including two small ones...

That side of our room, the book shelf organized by color

(In Cali Ted made fun of me too much for alphabetizing them so I didn't do it this time...but now he can't find any of the ones he likes....I might be alphabetizing in the near future...)

My degree corner ha ha, one + a little spiral to put pictures on

Yes, this room was suppose to be put together by today...next week's project...

It is also Lola's room

In the same room is my vanity. I LOVE having my own place to get ready

I hung the mirror by MYSELF big step!

Ok first attempt at trying to do a college above the couch

Didn't work....

So I tried again...still hate it....I think I need to just start over on this one

Don't know what to do in the kitchen above the cabinets...

Hung a coat rack

Above our bed beach pictures I took in El Segundo

My little helper. She followed me around and every time the hammer made a sound would run out

The end. More to come on my home decorating learning moments.....

Over coming my cookie trial!

2011-01-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

I gave a talk in our church this week. The topic was about how trials stregthen our lives. I used an example of my little sister asking me to help her bake cupcakes, which made me realize how far I have come in Ted and I's 7 years of marriage. The first few years were rough in terms of cooking and Ted having to choke down a lot of horrible meals and desserts. I am still not there in terms of cooking buy after many burnt, flat and gross final dessert products I mostly make pretty sweet treats :)

After I used this example in my talk to explain how we have to go through the hard times to appreciate and understand the good times, I realized I still HATED and was HORRIBLE at baking cookies. It was the one thing I always avoided at all costs. Mine are always better used as hard frisbees than used as a dessert.

So after church Ted went to work on some homework, and I did too, cookie homework! I decided to make Ted's favorite cookie: Peanut Butter Soft Cookies.

It was scary but I did it. I tried a Mrs. Fields copy cat version. They turned out pretty good for the most part. Some batches turned out a little crispy, but I think the more I try baking cookies the more I will get the hang of it.

I know each of us has some type of "cookie" challenge in our lives in terms of baking, cooking or crafts, let's all try to challenge ourselves in the next few weeks to take it on! Here's to a few more dozen cookies coming your way!

I decided to take some to Ted's family and also to a few friends and people from our church, so I put a cute tool bow on them.

Have a great week! Love you all!

7 years!

2011-01-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

Monday the 24th was Ted and I's 7 year anniversary! Does that make me old?
We had a low key night since Ted had to work till after 8. I made dinner and we went to the hot tub and just relaxed. Ted is taking me next weekend to The Chart House. He is so sweet. He is taking me there because it is across the lake from the resort we had our Arizona reception at 7 years ago. We can look at where we were 7 years ago and have a fancy dinner. I am just excited to be able to get dressed up and wear my red heels!

Here is a walk down memory lane:

1.24.2004

Salt Lake City, UT

17 degrees...

Wow...we were young!

Ted being tuff with his roommates.

Love this one.

First month of marriage.

First family trip with the Cross' to San Diego.

Ted's 1st (of 3) graduation! BYU.

One graduation still to come summer of 2013. Dr Ted!

Our first trip to the east coast

(What was I thinking with dark hair?)

In Philly. Wow. Not looking our best.

Last Sunday in Philly after 2.5 years.

Pictures on UPENN campus to commemorate our east coast stay.

Visiting Utah.

Ted's sister Amanda's wedding Oct 2009

(4 days post major abdominal surgery for me)

Self Portrait after her wedding

The 1st year of Amanda (Ted's sister) and Brannon's now annual Halloween Party

We went as the Amanda and Brannon...

Thanksgiving 2009 in Utah.

2010 Anniversary in Mexico.

2010 Easter.

Our trip to Cali for Ted's interview for his Doctorate program at Pepperdine.

My first time at Sea Wolrd! LOVED IT!

Our first week living in Cali

Our short but amazing time living in Cali.

Sept 2010 at our friends wedding.

Congrats Kurt and Meghan!

In Boston Nov 2010 for a Brazilian wedding!

Thanksgiving 2010 in El Segundo

Dec. 2010. My first degree! Finally!

At my graduation party Ted through me!

This is us. Ted in a sporty classic '66 Karmann Ghia.

I prefer a big '07 Toyota Tacoma

You really can tell a lot about a person when you look at their car :)

Best 7 years of my life! And I don't think any couple has had as many different looks as Ted and I :) Here's to staying active, healthy, spontaneous, and living it up!

Going Ons

2011-01-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hello! Ok here is a little update on our lives in AZ as we are starting to finally settle down (still have a ways to go though...)

Arizona Sunsets! Clear skies!

Something I took for granted the other times we have lived in AZ

Love them! The sky was orange right before I could take this. GORGEOUS!

My new shoes I got at last chance, Lola even likes them!

Made Ted Chicken Madeira(copycat recipe from my FAVORITE restaurant: The Cheese Cake Factory...YUMM! )
It turned out pretty tasty too!

Another thing we missed about AZ: The Abney Family

Jane LOVES Ted!

This night she told me to be a baby so I was laying down and she was giving me a pretend bottle when she looked at Ted and said "this is our baby Ted," I almost fell off the couch laughing soooo hard!

My new favorite workout pants now that I can fit into them again.

Love working out 6 times a week, feel off the band wagon this week...glad the week is almost over.

Baby sat Ted's parents dogs for the weekend it was fun! They are cute little snuggle balls.

Ted is enjoying work and doing LOTS of HW. People ask me how I do it, but they don't realize we have been married 7 years and this is all we know! We LOVE life! Hope all is well with you guys!

Check out this cute blog!

2011-01-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

I am in LOVE with the idea of this new blog! My friend is starting this new project and has some amazing necklaces that inspire us to remember to "shine" every day! Check it out!

Read the most recent post...you might recognize someone in it! :)

The Shine Project:
http://ashlemieux.blogspot.com/

Safari Cake~!

2011-01-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

My good friend (who is also Ted's cousin's wife) Lindsey asked me to help her make some cupcakes and a little cake for her nephew's 1st bday! It was a lot of fun. Lindsey and I baked a lot of cake on Friday and then Linds, her sister, and I decorated cake on Saturday. They had never decorated with fondant before but you couldn't tell they are naturals. It was fun to teach them and also fun to hear creative new ideas.

Here is the process:

Red Velvet, Chocolate, and Vanilla!

55+ cupcakes and a two layer cake

Linds just covered her first cake with fondant!

She did good!

Emily scared but doing good!

Making the cute little Safari animals

Lots of little details

LOTS of Buttercream icing, some of the cupcakes had cream cheese frosting too!

Close up of the finished product.

2011~!

2011-01-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

2011 is here! And it is bringing sooo many new and exciting adventures with it!

Ted made his first trip back to California to start his distance program to finish his Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. He had some intense schooling! 3 days of 13 hours of classes, and the last day only 8 hours....But don't feel too bad for him, he was on the Pepperdine Malibu Campus, here is a picture he sent me from one of his breaks on a balcony near his class room:

While Ted was gone I was able to unpack the house and get everything save the office organized and done, pictures to come of that.

This past Monday January 10th Ted started his new job! Full time faculty at Grand Canyon University. It is a for-profit non-denominational Christian University. Somewhere Ted could work forever....meaning we could be in AZ forever!

The only move we have left is once we buy a house we will move one last time! I am a big fan of even numbers...that would bring our move to 14!

This year also brings the possibilities of new little ones in our family :) We are going to work the next few months to get certified to adopt. We have to transfer over the application from California so it could take awhile, but our goal is to be on the list and waiting for our first little one by the end of the year.

We are excited for this year! I will be 27, Ted 31 and our little Lola will turn 5!

Have a Happy Healthy Year!

New Photography Blog - Life Images

2011-01-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hello! Yes that is right, as many of you know I have always loved photography and have taken many of your family photos. But NOW that I have graduated I am going to get more serious! I am very passionate about photography and also passionate about families and the comfort they are in the storm of life.

http://creatinglifeimages.blogspot.com/

I am really excited to give people photographs to bring up old memories in years to come.

Call or email me for more info!

DONE!!

2010-12-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

I am OFFICIALLY DONE! After 8.5 years, 5 universities, illness, moving 13 times, and lots of lost credits :) I am done!

I am walking in graduation tomorrow...pictures to come! WAHOO! I am officially a Sun Devil Alumn!

Move From El Segunod to Arizona!

2010-12-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Friday December 3 Ted and I made the final decision to move to Arizona from El Segundo, CA. We threw the idea out that Monday as a joke, but it quickly took form when Ted started to receive job opportunities in Arizona. We prayed and sat on it for days before making the decision on Friday. We took no time to figure out we should move the following week when we needed to be in Arizona anyway for Ted to do a presentation and for my graduation (this Friday!).

The week of preparing for the move was full of 6 classes of finals, papers, and coursework for me. Ted had a busy school week with large papers and many hours on campus, and not to mention packing!

Things that kept us going:

Baking...yummm I love it! Ted had been asked weeks before to provide cupcakes for a birthday party at school, I made chocolate cupcakes with a french silk chocolate frosting.

I found an example of these flags online and just created my own, I personilzed them. The Yellow ones were for a classmate of Ted - Carrie and the Redish ones were for his professor Dr. June.

I forgot to take a picture of them in cupcake stand, I tried to get a few on my phone waiting to give them to Ted outside of his class.

Our El Segundo friends, Foti and Sarah took us to dinner our last night in town.

Sarah gave me frame with a picture of us. (the frame is special because El Segundo is known for having blue butterflies, they are on logos for most everything in the city, I have a special connection to butterflies so it was a little town meant for us!) Thanks Sar!

Our last night in our little house. Lola was so SAD :(

Ted finishing homework on our air matress :)

The last stuff to be packed.

The Trip:

We were lucky to find movers to pack the boxes and furniture and drive it to AZ for us.

Ted drove the truck towing his Ghia with lola and I to AZ on Sunday. It only took about 6.5 hours.

Our little detour....we were low on gas stopped at an exit, the only place to get gas was at a raceway were people race their dirt bikes and cars.

The one gas pump with the visible gas tank, I was laughing so hard!

Lola was mad it woke her up

Back on the road we were welcomed to Phx with an amazing AZ sunset!

WE ARE BACK! Tons to do but lots of time to do it with!

Our Black Friday

2010-11-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

This year we have been shopping in the land of recycled. The day we made the desk (below a few posts) and went alley picking, we found a lot of extra wood as well, we have been hoarding wood :)

For Christmas this year, don't be surprised to get something home made and most likely recycled from us. So for our Black Friday we worked on our Christmas present to each other, an ottoman (yea no lines!). We spent about $15-20 on the entire thing, fabric, foam and all.

This is a very multipurpose ottoman, we can use it as a leg rest, we can use it for step ups for our workouts, and it lifts up with lots of storage space underneath (to hide our weights)

What started out as a few pieces of wood

And some tools

Lots of cutting using an impromtu work beanch and me sitting on the wood as a stabilizer (I have to admit I don't love being close cutting objects and I was a little scared as Ted cut it with me sitting on it)

Seeing if the cuts are right

(Ted is lucky to have mini me wife, I am short enough to fit inside the box ha ha)

Using my yoga skills to hold the wood with my feet and screw it to the larger piece of wood

Then I went off to a fabric store I had seen, we have a similar one in Arizona, best prices on fabrics anywhere! They get all the factory leftovers.

I was in fabric heaven! Got the fabric for the ottoman for $10 and it is thick home fabric, they are going to get sick of me at this place!

Then home to sew, and sew and sew some more....

Before the slip cover is on it

Done

Looks pretty nice I think

Relaxing after a long day of building, finally somewhere to put our feet!

Lola is scared of it, she loves the space heater though ;)

The Final Line Up

2010-11-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

Here was the final line up of my 24 hour cooking/baking binge:
(Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, honey butter, apple pie, rolls, bread, monkey bread) It was a lot of fun to make all of it!

Turkey (19lbs!) and Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce, soooo good!

Rolls (first time kneading and making the dough by hand)

(The dough recipe was huge so I made the rolls and the next 2 things all with the same dough!

Bread - Ted couldn't wait for me to take a picture,

he already had a slice at this point :)

Monkey Bread

Apple Pie (my first lattice attempt)

Here are picrtures from our Thanksgiving dinner that we had with our good friend Katrina and her daughter. We are lucky that she moved to Cali from AZ a year ago, she has showed us all the ropes, and now she lives within walking distance of our house!

Stuffing

Place Settings - name tags and all

The food

Katrina and Lexie

Ted and I

Before the meal

After Ted and I fed Lola a thanksgiving meal

(Stuffing, Turkey and Mashed potatoes - just a little)

She LOVED IT! She liked her bowl clean a few times!

I made honey butter for the rolls it was good!

Ted carving the turkey

Katrina cutting the pies

We had a great time! It was fun to have a quiet night last night too after the dinner.

But we did miss our families a lot!

Pre - Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

With a recent trip to Boston, Ted and I decided to stay in our little El Segundo for Thanksgiving. Our friend Katrina and her daughter are going to spend it with us. I am in charge of the Turkey, Stuffing, Rolls, Home made cranberry sauce, and an apple pie.

I love the look of Thanksgiving in my fridge!

I started with the apple pie yesterday

Made some messes trying to peel them with my hands (that don't work)

But easy clean up so oh well!

Some actually did get in the bowl

Apple pie ready to be latticed....where is Ted to teach me basket weaving.

After a few arguments, I finnally understood what he was saying,

Look I did it! Aren't you proud Ted!?

Baked and ready to be eaten!

This morning was an early one, stuffing and Turkey

The bread didn't get crispy enough from leaving it out over night.

I resorted to putting a heater on them, and then broiled them in the oven.

Feewww! It worked!

The goods to put in the stuffing

The bird getting ready. I learned that if you stick butter chunks under the skin it really helps to keep the turkey moist. I just slide my hand all over and put it everywhere. Then I brush the top of the skin with more butter and salt and pepper.

The stuffing hot off the oven

Stuffed Bird, YUMMM!

My Grandmother's stuffing recipe, the best!

More to come with the finished products too!

Ted yesterday while I baked he worked. We have a deal no working today though.

The Boston Brazilian Wedding

2010-11-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

My camera was having some issues. So I didn't get that many pictures. But the wedding was a lot of fun!

Valrie (Ted's mom) and me after the ceremony

The aisle we walked down (after the ceremony)

I LOVED the little flower girls,

the one in the white dress sang, it was so cute!

My new little friends :)

Half of the brides maids on the Brides side

The other half on the groom's side

The whole wedding party

The reception after was very nicely done, great food too!

It was underneath the chapel

The Bride and Groom sat on the stage, probably a nice break to be alone

Isn't she gorgeous!? The Wade, the groom, looking very dapper as well!

The cake

The place settings were really pretty as well!

It was at this point my camera was completely done for the night,

so...I improvised with my phone, not the best but at least something!

Ted and I at our table

Ted's cousin Andy (left) and his new friend who won $1 from Andy

(I loved his little bow tie!)

Jack and Valrie (Ted's parents)

Grandma and Grandpa

Ted's Grandma got to walk her son down the aisle.

Me in my dress afterward in the hotel room.

This dress took a lot of work to fit right, my friend in our church here in El Segundo worked really hard to make it fit nicely and even added some nice adjustments to the little jacket with snaps (poppers) that hooked to my dress. It turned out perfectly, thanks Judy!

Boston Brazilian Style

2010-11-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

Ted and I went to Boston for his uncle, Wade's, wedding. It was fun to see family and to get to see Boston. It was a quick trip but we had a great time!

His new wife, Rosalia, is Brazilian. Ted served his mission for our church in Brazil and now speaks Portuguese. I have gotten to know Rosalia during Easter and Christamas and family get togethers throughout the last year and with my broken spanish (Spanish and Portuguese are very similar) and with Ted's help we got to know each other. We were asked to be in the wedding party and were flattered!

We flew from LAX airport straight to Boston and met Ted's family who flew in from Phx. There were a total of 15 of us!

Rosalia told us we were going on a tour Saturday morning, we came down to find it was a tour in limos!

Ted's grandparents haven't been east of the Mississippi so it was exciting to be in the limo with them and see how much they loved the old buildings and architecture of Boston. It was a lot of fun!

Rosalia didn't come with us, she has some last minute wedding details to tie down, but here she is with Grandma in the limo before the tour.

Grandma seeing the sights, looking out every window, taking it all in.

The limos caravanned through the city of Boston for 2 hours but it seemed like just a few minutes!

Fenway Park. The limo had thick windows so none of those pictures turned out very well.

Grandma, Grandpa and the Groom in our limo.

One side of the other limo

And the other view....

Yes they had the larger hipper limo, but Ted and I are old at heart :)

Ted and his Grandpa

The Bride and Groom just hours before becoming husband and wife!

We were then taking to an authentic Brazilian Restaurant for lunch...YUMM!

Ted and I (it uploaded weird sorry)

We are on the plane now going home, 7 hour flight! Once home I will be able to download the wedding pictures!

Alley Pickin'

2010-11-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today was the start of a new tradition in the Cross home....alley pickin'! We have seen stuff around our neighborhood people have just put on the curb or in the alley for the trash or for others to take (the bennifits to living in a beach town: nice alley give aways!) We decided to go for a Saturday afternoon drive.....good thing we have a truck!

An hour later we ended up with a truck load of wood. You ask what was the best find of the day was? An old carriage house door (at least 50 years old) just sitting in a trash pile. You should have seen Ted trying to direct his side kick (little 5'3'' and a buck o' 5) to load this huge door in to the truck on top of the huge pile of wood already in the bed of the truck.....there might have been some choice words said....

Ted has wanted to make part of the garage into his home office, so we started today! He used the door to make a hug desk.

I forgot to take a true before picture. Here he has already put the legs on (ones we saved when we refurbed a antique table I inherited this last summer from my Grandma) and de-assebled the door as well as scraped it.

Ted painting the table black

(and everything in the garage moved out onto our lawn)

We already had half the paint. Total cost? $5 for the entire desk!

The finished project, it was already dark, so more pictures to come.

Ted posing for a picture and smiling, but saying in his head:

"enough pictures already!"

Other free updates we did today:

Found pictures I had taken of the beach near our house and refurbed some old frames to make a cool collage above our bed.

Took apart awedding picture, printed out one I took from Mexico (on top of the bookshelf) and started to create a "studio" for me :0 YEA! We both get offices!

Made Lola's eating corner better with a few frames (one of her, one of our wedding, and one I made from our Chinese fortunes).

All the food storage from the garage came inside to its new home under the bed. That was my job while Ted was working on his desk. Bad picture but it is organized by variety and kind (my perfectionist coming out....)

Even found the tuna its own home in the legs to our bed: cinder blocks.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our fun packed productive day.

We are going alley pickin' every Saturday now!

Coming soon to an alley near you!

Ted's Class Pepperdine Project: I AM

2010-11-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ted and his class have worked on this video for their program. I think it is turning out amazing. It is neat to see the variety of people in his class. It was fun to watch :) Enjoy!

Our Going Ons

2010-11-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well nothing too exciting here at the Cross home. We have had some busy weeks but nothing much to document mostly just school, school and more school. I am almost done with my school! I graduate on December 17th after 8.5 years of college at 5 different universities....it's about time ha ha!

We were sick around here for awhile. Ted got a virus that gave him cold sores down his throat. The above picture is what his "medication" was. He kept working out straight through the virus. Lola and I are trying to stop him at this point.

Made a few Trader Joe trips for REAL black licorice (it's suppose to heal the cold sores) This car was in the parking lot. I love it. I want it.

Missed the anual Brannon and Amanda Halloween party. Ted's sister throws a great party! Her husband loves Halloween so it is fun to celebrate with them, but we were in Cali this year.

This is the picture from last year's pary, the cross family with baby truman in Julie's (mustard) tummy still. The hosts of the party are Snow White and Prince Charming.

I dressed up like a Pirate to hand out handy to the kids (in hopes of not missing AZ way too much). This is my ARRRRR. Ted was trying to get me to do it right, it never worked.

We gave out all that candy in less than 10 minutes! I hear you have to buy 20+ big bags if you want to last all night. No one warned us!

Ted's contribution was putting the candy in the bowl. He didn't dress up....maybe next year.

It is a little weird since we don't have kiddos yet.....maybe next year on that one too!

Our adoption papers are being filled out as we speak :)

Full shot of the Pirate outfit, it was my little sisters from a few years ago. My mom even sent me huge gold hoop earrings to wear (you can't tell but they are on) thanks mom!

A Taste of Home

2010-10-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

Ted and I have been a little home sick the past month. I haven't felt well, the weather here has been dark and dreary and we were going to visit his family for Halloween (his sister throws a mean Halloween party) but we have to stay here in Cali.

To make Ted feel more at home and honor a cookie request by my friend Sarah I made Ted's moms famous Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am NOT a cookie person, I love to eat them but have NEVER been able to make a decent batch. With some coaching from Ted's mom these turned out pretty good! They are soft and gooey. They are a little on the flat side and not as pretty as Ted's moms but they are as close to home as we can get :)

Ted enjoying his taste of home :)

The finished project. Still have some cookie dough to bake fresh ones today!

Ted

2010-10-12T23:15:00.002-07:00

This post is dedicated to Ted. He wanted a post about his car, but i decided to do a whole post just on Ted.

Ted's new ride

1966 Karmann Ghia

He originally bought one in June before we moved to California. It was in Montana and our friends dad was going to store it for us until September when we could get it (it was an incredible deal) and Ted would restore it. Well long story short, there was a hail storm no more than 1 week after we bought it and by a miracle we had gotten insurance on it. It was totaled.

The insurance covered what we paid for the car, and what they thought it was worth, a whole heck of a lot more than what we paid. Ted was able to buy a new car (one we found in San Diego) and we have enough money left over to adopt!

I think my dad is right by calling Ted's Karmann Ghia the "Baby Ghia" we are hoping to adopt in the next year :)

Our 2 cars now :)

Ted's car. I told him a year ago I told him he would have a Karmann Ghia by his birthday, he didn't believe me. But here he is on his bday! Happy 30th!

Ted and I on a bike ride on the strand. Ted always has been so handy! I love that he can fix my bike when I break it half way through the ride and we can finish!

Ted's first day of school

A view of his school from across the street at the mall

His pants that fit less than a year ago....40 pounds lighter!

Cool surfing shot from this weekend

My hot man!

Ted always being my baking helper, I can't frost well or make the final product look nice, he is my go to man!

When our friends came to visit he was entertaining Kate who is 7, she has a crush on Ted, I can't blame her :)

Ted teaching Jane and Kate the guitar. We had a dance party later, Janes got some moves~!

Ted and his dad in Malibu. Where Ted got all of his many talents from!

This picture is my favorite wedding picture right now, we are constantly laughing at each other lately. We have late nights of watching TV shows, we play jokes on each other, and just are crazy all day long. I'm lucky to be married to a comedian that happens to be my best friend!

While the parents are away...

2010-09-27T16:04:00.002-07:00

Foti and Lola play!
Sorry I know that was corny, but I couldn't resist...

Ted and I made a fast trip to AZ this weekend for our friends wedding, he was in our wedding party almost 7 years ago!

I got this pictures emailed to me that said:
"Foti and Lola square off, and Lola won!"

Our close friends here in El Segundo, came and checked on Lola 3 times a day, we are SO grateful!

We are so happy for Kurt and Meghan. It was a beautiful Wedding Ceremony (Iin the LDS temple), a reception that night in Mesa, AZ, and then a reception the next night in Tucson, AZ. A weekend packed full of fun!

We even got to celebrate Ted's little sister, Amanda's bday! It was fun to see family, even if it was just for a little bit!

Us at the Tucson reception

It was a fancy reception! They had this logo made with their initials on it, it was everywhere!

They even had wooden signs with the logo as you entered the ranch where the reception was.

There were lots of little booths where you can do different things.

This was a huge black board you wrote your note to the Bride and Groom and got your picture near it to make a book for them.

Don't know how I missed getting a picture of the Gelato cart but it was a big hit!

This little girl kept getting more and more cones with Gelato, she was so cute!

Their wedding video, all the little girls loved watching the bride!

Kurt's Grandparents, I love them! So fun!

I collected straws for Kurt's grandpa for months before, he makes art projects out of them.

View of the reception. It had a theme of the "Secret Garden" very cool!

July Visitors!

2010-09-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

In July Ted's sister and her family came to visit us! We were at the end of their 3 week road trip with a 5 month old....they are brave!

We LOVED seeing them and had a great time with them! Despite trying to go to Pinks for hot dogs and the line being way to long, the weekend was great.

Julie, Ted, Baby Truman and I in front of our casa

Truman at the beach watching his dad boogie board.

Family Picture :)

Our family picture after Ted went surfing, yes he went and I am wearing a jacket...COLD!

The boys surfing and boogie boarding they stayed out there for awhile

Mom and snugly Truman watching dad ride a wave!

Truman and I chilling, he is SO cute!

New Recipes

2010-09-18T12:57:00.004-07:00

New Recipes and a Facelift to The Gourmet Economy (my healthy food blog)! Check it out!

Lemon-Lime Chicken and Honey Sweet Potato Fries, ENJOY!
thegourmeteconomy.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Malibu

2010-09-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ted's parents didn't leave until today, we had such a GREAT weekend with them!

Yesterday we were able to take our first trip up to Malibu with them and a close family friend who now lives in El Segundo too :)

It was nice to see the actual full campus of Pepperdine. Ted's campus is nice, although it is a tall sky scraper in LA not so much a traditional "campus." But it is a 10 min drive with no freeways (that's big in LA!) and Ted LOVES his program. I knew we made the right choice from the beginning, but when he came home the first day and was like a little kid about the subjects they were going to cover and had already read at least 50% of the books for the year I knew he is REALLY in the right Doctorate Program.

View from lunch. We ate at the Cove, you drive through Pamela Anderson's trailer court to this little restaurant that has been there since 1940 and you get to look at this!

The restaurant.

The pier, view from looking the other way from The Cove

Katrina, Valrie (Ted's hot mom), and me

Family :)

Beach wheel chair

(Guess you need this at a beach trailer court ha ha)

Can you see Ted and I's dream trailer (a silver bullet) in the trees!

That's a million dollar trailer for you!

View from a study deck at Pepperdine, don't know how much I could study there! Look at that view!

More Visitors! Yea!

2010-09-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ted's parents are in town! We LOVE having them. They came to help us move in but haven't been back since. It is fun for them to see our house a little more settled (although we need to hang more pictures, hopefully Ted's sis Amanda can help with that in the next few months, she's great at that type of stuff!)

They came in Thursday and we didn't waste any time we went to Sea World for the 2nd time with them this summer. Ted even got me to ride on a roller coast, wow I must be feeling better and must love him a lot!

Barely tall enough :)

Valrie showing you the Polar Bear in the Cave he was HUGE!

We went to a show there that featured common household pets. It was AMAZING (pot belly pigs, dogs of all variety, cats, and birds)! They have all been rescued from local shelters and can all do incredible tricks! Jack and Valrie are in front of the show :)

Valrie and I in front of the Penguin exhibit it was cold inside, smelled like fish but SO cool.

Ted and I at the Polar Bears :) My hair is a mess from getting wet on the roller coaster....

Surprise Ted!

2010-09-03T19:53:00.002-07:00

For Ted's big 3-0 birthday I threw him a surprise party (with the help of some great friends) in our new backyard here in El Segundo. Ted had a hard transition to the 30's so I thought we had to celebrate his new wisdom!

Ted being surprised

I am very proud that I kept it a secret and actually snuck around planning the party for so long.

Being a little mad at first :) Ha ha!

Our friend Foti called Ted and had him "help" measure some stuff for their front yard to get him out of the house for 3 hours. In that time we (Me, Sarah, Caitlin, Kelsey and Jamie...thanks!) transitioned the backyard into a fun party, and decorated Ted's cake fewwww! That was a lot to do but well worth it.

We borrowed some white Christmas lights and hung them all over the yard

We had a great turn out and a good variety of people there. My Cousin and his cute wife and boys made an hour drive to come, we had people from the community, church, and our friends here. It was a great time!

Sarah and I preparing (Sarah is on the phone telling her husband to bring Ted home)

Kelsey and her hubby

Sarah and Foti (thanks Foti for helping!)

My "jr" cousin so cute!

My other jr cuz, love him!

Sarah and her mom Barbara(she's fancy:) She lent us all of the white lights!

Sarah and Foti with Grandma (She and Ted have a secret political alliance if you ask her, we love her!)

We did all desserets and a fruit salad. We made the cake and my friend Kelsey made some amazing cookies, and my other friend Caitlin did Ted's favorite treat peanut butter rice crispy treats. (I ate cookies and rice crispy treats for 3 days straight after the party! Yumm!)

The Cake and desserts, it was a moist chololate cake with cherry whipped cream filling and buttercream icing, Ted's favorite.

Best sugar cookies EVER!

Another Cake...

2010-08-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

I was able to do another cake this week. It was really fun! It was for a bridal shower here in El Segundo.

This was my first two layer cake by myself. I think it turned out pretty well :)

The theme was love birds

Visits!

2010-08-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

We have had so many visitors here in California! I would love to think that it is because Ted and I are such fun people to be around! Ha ha! But I think being a mile from the beach helps out a lot! We are glad to have people visiting Philly got really lonely so we welcome all visitors in the coming months!

Our first two sets of visitors I didn't take any pictures. But they did so I am waiting for pictures to be emailed to me. The first set was Ted's cousin Mike and his wife Kristi. We had a great time and enjoyed some authentic Portuguese food where Keith Urban and his wife Nicole Kidman eat yumm!

The next weekend Ted's sister Julie and her husband Rick and 5 month old cute son Truman came. We had a blast! We tried to hit up Pink's but the line was crazy, sorry Rick! But we got some beach time in and hung out and caught up. I cooked a lot and we ate all weekend.

This past weekend we were lucky to be on the end side of our close friends the Abney's Cali trip. They were fun to have as well! They have to little girls, Kate (7) and Jane (2) who were hysterical and fun to be around. We took a walk on the beach and I actually took pictures! We got some great family photos! The sun was setting it was perfect!

The Abney family. Such an amazing family!

We have known them since our first year of marriage in 2004.

Such a fun family!

Another family shot

Mom and the girls. Lindsay is such an amazing mom! I hope to be half as good as she is some day!

Kate who is now 7! I use to babysit for her when she was only 1!

I am getting old!

Kate was a little model that day she is gorgeous! Watch out Austin and Linds for High School!

Austin and Ted were looking over Ted's new Karmann Ghia 1966.

The girls loved playing in it, they are so cute!

The water was going crazy the night we were there! The tide was high and the waves were crashing!

We miss our family and friends here so come and visit!

Our perpetual 3 year old....

2010-07-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Lola, our English Bulldog, who is a perpetual 3 year old who can't talk....came in yesterday after I let her out for her morning potty break, looking like this:

For a white face, it was dirty!

I might have forgotten I let her out and was busy doing something when she ran in like this ha ha!

She was sneezing and going crazy.

The culprit - a backyard hole she furiously dug for at lest 30 minutes

Lola getting in trouble for making Ted come out side to find the hole

Lola loves our backyard, she loves the weather, some days she just lays outside.

But lately she has been smelling things in our yard (cat poop) and occasionally eating it or digging it up....GROSS~!

You Might Be a Mormon If...

2010-07-26T19:53:00.006-07:00