Celebrate Matt & Kate

Congratulations to my brother, Matthew and his new lovely wife, Kate. Brandon and I were so pleased to get to participate in their wedding events. They are an exceptional couple and I admire their love of life and eachother. I am so excited for them. I love them both very much and am excited for their future together. My brother, Matt is one of my role models. I was so proud to have the opportunity to introduce him to the group at the luncheon, I was also so nervous! My nerves only came from the fear of not adequately painting a picture of how amazing my brother is and how blessed I am to have him in my life. Kate is everything beautiful. She's in the details of what makes something charming. I'm so excited she's apart of our family and look forward to spending more time with her and hopefully someday accompanying them on a trip to Disneyland.

Here's some memories from their special day:

Mount Oquirrh Temple

One of my personal favorites, We considered getting married here.

 

 

 

 Brandon and Jared Chugging Sodas for Cans on Car :)

 End of a long day, I only include this picture because I love looking at Mr. Finch.



Congratulations Matt & Kate!

Birthday Blooms Again!

I'm very lucky to have wonderful in-laws that helped me celebrate my birthday again this past Sunday. It was wonderful to spend time with them and it was a lovely evening.

Cindy, my mother-in-law made everything look so fresh and ready for Spring. I'm definitely ready for it, i'm waiting excitedly for little pops of color.

The table was dressed with pale yellow. It was perfect, just the day before I had confessed to Brandon that I was developing a new interest in pale yellows. It was such a fun treat to have an evening anchored in fresh yellows.

Dinner was delightful as always. Cindy had prepared pink lemonade, broccoli (my personal favorite vegetable), fluffy rolls and panko encrusted chicken cordon bleu. Oh! Lets not forget the delicious personal assorted fruit dishes with yogurt dipping sauce. It all tasted so delicious. Thank you Cindy for all the preparation!

Cindy and Greg gifted me some gorgeous butterfly stationery (I love stationery), my first ever i-tunes gift card, and the yummiest lemon tree candle (yellow again:)

The Beyer Family, who bless their souls trekked over for dinner despite colds, gave me some fabulous milk glass dishes. Thank you! I'm so excited to have them out on display! They're darling.

It was a lovely evening and was topped off with Cindy sending me home with the daisies from the table. They've made themselves right at home on my nightstand.

The flowers, candle and milk glass were the perfect additions to my small spring i've had out since January. I'm just ready for sunshine!

Big thanks for such a wonderful birthday! I'm truly blessed with amazing family. It feels good to be loved and to love so many.

I Heart You Day

 Happy Valentines Day

Brandon was "in charge" of valentines day this year - meaning he could pick whatever he wanted to do to celebrate and he decided to spoil me and pick things that he knew i'd really enjoy!
We started out the day by playing tennis. It seemed fitting seeing how 'love' is apart of the scoring. We got ready and Brandon took me to Spark in Provo. It's a restaurant/lounge that features a menu of non-alcoholic drinks. It's a fun place and was such a wonderful treat! 

We ordered some fun drinks. They were delicious, there's so many options and i'd love to see the presentation of some of them!


I chose: Simply Citrus - fresh OJ, lemon, lime, grenadine, seltzer, passionfruit-mango foam


Brandon chose: Stripped Pina Colada -  unblended pineapple juice, coconut milk, and seltzer, real whipped cream

Brandon had a Kobe Beef Hamburger and Seasoned Fries: 

Southwest, melted pepperjack, made-to-order guacamole, 

crunchy red corn tortilla strips, chipotle aioli, butter lettuce.

I had the three course lunch special: 

Tomato Parmesan Soup

Ham & turkey club, bacon, avocado, butter lettuce, sundries aioli, side salad 

Raspberry Sorbet

 Interiors of the Restaurant

My Valentine: Mr. Finch

I asked him to be my valentine wearing a paper mustache. 

"I Mustache you a question. Will you be my Valentine?"

He said Yes.  

Me, pleasantly enjoying the day. 

Following our meal, Brandon drove me to the Gateway to select a new iPod nano. (I recently washed mine in the washing machine :( I really did take care of it, well besides that time)

It was so sweet. We spent the evening relaxing, home grilled burgers and chocolate covered strawberries for dinner and the jazz game for entertainment. The players weren't getting much love from us. We lost...again. 

Overall Mr. Finch and I won. He made it a wonderful day. 

I love my Valentine.  

 

Happy Birthday to Me

One year older and hopefully a little wiser than I was last year. It's been a wonderful year with the highlight being marrying Brandon in July. Birthdays are always celebrated with enthusiasm at my parents home, it was kinda fun being home for one last birthday. Some things changed, like my family didn't surround my bed singing happy birthday to wake me up, that duty was left to the Mister. The birthday boy or girl always gets to pick the menu for the entire day and any activity they'd desire. My birthday fell on Sunday this year and I actually really loved it. No one had to work, it was quiet, a little enlightenment at church, and a relaxing afternoon. It was perfect. 

Brandon and I celebrated on our own Saturday. He helped me have an amazing day. 
We started off the day by playing tennis. I've really come to enjoy playing tennis, especially with the hubby. 

My activity for the day was a trip to the Alice Lane Home Store in Orem. I follow the store's blog religiously and had never made my way into the store.
 

The store was beautiful and we fell in love with a sofa on display. It was so comfortable. Someday maybe...

After the store Brandon surprised me with dinner out! We headed over to Outback SteakHouse were we feasted! I had a lovely steak and coconut shrimp. It was such a fun surprise. I felt so special. Brandon truly made sure that I had a wonderful day. Love Him.

Sunday was made up of mostly food. Is that bad that I chose to celebrate all day by eating food? I didn't think so either. It was all divine. I think I enjoy birthday meals so much because it means everyone's seated together, talking, laughing, and creating memories. 

My family has a tradition of creating signs, like the one below, that let the birthday individual know all the ways we love them. Sometimes sweet, usually funny, these signs are a hoot!

Breakfast Sandwiches, Orange Juice and Fruit

 Dinner Menu:

Homemade Artisan Bread

Potato and Broccoli Soup

Grilled Lemon & Rosemary Chicken

My Dessert of Choice:

Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae

 

My family was wonderful in giving beautiful gifts-they know me so well and made me feel so special! Woven placemats, electronic food scale, silver bird wall art, dance party coupons, t-shirts, nail care kit, tortilla holder, and Brandon's huge surprise of new running shoes. We'll put some miles on them this year!

Happy Birthday to me! What an exciting year its already set out to be!

Wedding Memories

Just in time for our upcoming 6 month anniversary I thought I'd post a selection of wedding pics. We actually have so many that we like, by like they just recall such funny memories of that day. We were so blessed to have beautiful weather at the temple and have the weather hold out for us in the evening, all the surrounding areas had rain during the reception. We are so blessed with the amount of family, friends and support we received all day. It's funny to look back on a day that went by so quickly yet so dramatically changed our lives together. My brother Jared gifted us all our photography. Visit his portfolio at http://jaredjaynesphoto.com or his pictureline & flickr accounts. Most pictures are just the raw image so some are dark etc and there not in a particular order. Here's just a sampling of our beautiful day....