Weekend Tunes

Here is some music for the weekend.....a little Christmas spirit in case your still not in the mood, and who doesn't like Coldplay?

ps. Hubby and I are on the mainland for the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates...be patient though, holidays + family = less bloggin and more egg noggin. Loves!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Weekend Tunes

Can't stop tapping my foot to this song. I've been head over heels for Adele ever since I went to her concert almost two years ago in SLC. It was magic. Her voice has a way of seeping into your soul and feeling you with an incredible joy. So in between all your Christmas music this weekend take a listen to this.

DIY Christmas

I especially love cruising the web this time of year to see the many creative ideas people come up with for the holidays. Here are some of the fun Do It Yourself ideas I have seen around lately.

1. Love this non-traditional journal. Easy to make and easy to write in!
2. Homemade hummus! Yes please. Around my house, holiday time=dip time.
3. Already started this one, SO MANY LEAVES. I might finish it by NEXT Christmas.
4. Stamp coasters, need I say more.
5. Anthropologie knock off... you should see all the other sweaters she is embellishing. Fun!

Granny's Part 2

Part two of Thanksgiving at Granny's. I swear that farm has everything you could ever want. Pineapple, banana's, mango, papaya, passion fruit, limes, lemons, avocados, tangerines, grapefruits, and a whole slew of herbs. Sadly a lot of the fruit wasn't in season... but you know what that means, an excuse to go back!

ps. Do you like my new BIG pictures. I am pretty excited about it :) Thank you google for teaching me how.

Gifting

I wanted to do something fun and cheap for neighbor gifts this year so when I saw a case of big juicy red pomogranates at Costco for less than a dollar a piece I knew I had to snatch it up. Then I just made some tags out of craft paper and a free old book we got from the library (ok ok, it is Lord of the Rings Three BUT I just used the index pages, don't worry) and a little twine and voila! Easy peasy... and delicious!

Granny's Mac Nut Farm

For Thanksgiving we got to stay with Alden's Granny on the big island of Hawaii. It was such an enjoyable trip. Granny lives on a mac nut farm so we got to see the entire processes of getting one of those delicious mac nuts. We also got to experience the life of self sustainability, peace, and tranquility. Granny, we will be sure to come back soon!

Check out ALL the awesome pics over here.

For the Beauty of the Earth

It is something of a wonder to be surrounded by so much beauty. Gratitude has filled my soul, and at such a perfect time.

more coy and lily's

Thanksgiving in Paradise

Alden and I jumped on a plane and headed over to the Big Island to spend Thanksgiving with Alden's Granny. She lives on a macadamia nut farm on the top of the hill looking over the island. It is truly paradise here as I sit and type and the only sounds I hear are the soft rain falling and the hum of my computer. Watch for more pictures of our trip coming soon!

*picture is of our room we are staying it. Don't you just love how quaint it is? perfect.

Serene Sabbath

Our Sunday included attending the Laie Temple dedication, a long 2 hour nap (we NEVER take naps.... seriously), a picnic and walk on the beach, putting up some Christmas decorations and then we watched I am Sam. I cried 72.3% of the time in that movie.

Happy (late) Birthday! and more!

*picture by my brother Ry

Happy (late) Birthday to my stylish sister-in-law Chelse! Chelse has a knack for finding treasures at second hand stores (see the suite case above) and also for transforming the bleak into fantastic and unique! Go see her blog here.

In other news, Harry Potter came out last night at midnight.....tickets were sold out so we are going tonight. My excitement is over the top.

And for the BEST news, the Prophet is here today. We are hoping to see him sometime during his stay for the dedication of the Laie temple on Sunday.

Throw back to our dating days

This post is a throw back to our long distance dating days.
Alden being the sweet guy that he is bought me that dress you see above and mailed it in a cute box to me to say thanks for the awesome summer we had and that he was glad he dated me... yadda yadda yadda. SO CUTE right? So I sent him this email thank you of me in my dress. A little over the top, I know. But once you start playing with photobooth you really just can't stop.


So here is where the second picture comes in. All during our dating Alden and I would make homemade waffles because we bought this sweet waffle iron at a garage sale (we are crazy about appliances and garage sales). Well the waffle iron stayed in Utah and Alden was always trying to make waffles but being that he lived with a bunch of guys he never had measuring cups or baking soda. So what did he do? Borrow from the apartment of girls across the way. No way was
I having that... I was falling in love with this guy and I didn't want to loose him to some "girl that lived in the Riv." So long story short I sent him measuring cups and baking soda. I thought it was cute at the time. Now that I think about it he defiantly got the short end of the stick... me a dress, him measuring cups. OH, Ashley. Anyway he sent me this thank you shortly after. I remember at the time being embarrassed because I thought he was making fun of me. But when Alden pulled this picture up yesterday all I could do was laugh my head off. HA! Look how well he mimicked my every move.

My husband is sweet and funny... two of the reasons I married him.

Tis the season!

Tis the season for homemade
Homemade marble brownies in a homemade box
Today was my idea of a perfect afternoon: creativity + cooking

ps. tasted good too :)

Saturday Fun

Went to our favorite beach.
I lost husbands shirt
husband bought a new shirt so we could take pics at sunset
husband bought me a new bag... just because
battery died in camera
no pics at sunset
still a fabulous day

Enjoy the pics we DID get :)

Saturday Fun | Sneak Peek

More coming soon :)

Blog Stalker Dreams....

Lets admit it.... we all blog stalk. And I'm as guilty as the last blogger. I had a dream last night about a blog I stalk. Don't worry the dream didn't include windows, binoculars, murder or even monkeys. Nope. I just felt like she needed a friend so I went over and visited her (I've never actually met her and I don't even know where she lives but you know how dreams are). We hung out and talked and she invited me to come back again and hang out in her Jasauna. Whats a Jasauna you ask? Oh don't worry its just a Jacuzzi and a Sauna put together. Pretty rad. So blog stalk away... its legal, allowed, and I might even say flattering. Anyone blog stalking me? :)

Harry Potter

I don't consider myself to have any obsessions in life. I am no fanatic.
BUT Harry Potter, oh Harry Potter.... is as probably as close as it gets.
Husband and I have been preparing for the release of the final movie.
Last summer we went to the midnight showing. This summer we re-read the seventh book and as of late we have been watching each movie. We just finished movie number 5 and I LOVE that movie. Ah, it was so great. Then, last night, I saw this preview again and I could hardly contain myself. (Go watch it... now! Hurry!). So this year we are going to the midnight premier and we are dressing up and its going to be bliss and love, and I might cry.
But I'm not obsessed.

(cool photo via the www. doesn't it make you just want to be best friends with them?)

old love + new love

The first movie I ever made.
Just some fun with my old love and my new love (our new camera) :)

ps. don't mind that I uploaded the low quality version.... sorry!

Colorstrology

I don't feel like I am much of a color person.
Color feels like too much commitment to me.
Neutral other the other hand is so... well, neutral.
But I am sick of being gray.
I miss the days when my absolute favorite color
in the world was red. Ah, red made me feel so confident
and powerful and I loved it.
Anyway, the next time I get the chance... I think I'll shake
things up a bit. Perhaps I really will go green.

Curious what color you are? Check this neat-o colorstrology
chart out. My color, viridian green. (I told you I was going green)

Celebrate!

Going to town to celebrate Alden's Birthday. Yes, we are partying all weekend long. Thats how we do it around here. We are also celebrating our new camera!

*Picture of our home taken by Alden (Thank you mom for the b-day banner!)

Happy Birthday Alden!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Thank you for making me laugh, smile, and be oh so happy :)

You wanted a duck for you birthday... Maybe when you are older ;)

One day I told you we should make some art for our house, I came home to this. Haha. love you.

You decided to make cookies for me and my roommates.... ha. The amazing thing is somehow you were able to fix it and in the end we ate delicious cookies!

When we decided to take our first trip to Idaho you went out and bought a FULL cowboy outfit. Then you wore it the entire 4 hour drive... even when we left at 10 at night.

You proved yourself worthy to date an "Idaho" girl.

You took me skydiving and held my hand ALMOST the whole time :)

You kissed me on the Grand Canyon

You took me to beautiful Monterey for my Birthday!

You carry me on your back :)

You treat me like a queen!

Happy Birthday Alden. You are the best husband I could have asked for. You make me happier than I ever could have hoped or dreamed to be. Love you.

What's in the Box?

Lets play a game, shall we? Hopefully tomorrow (we are crossing our fingers) we will be getting a splendid package in the mail! So what do you think is in the box that has me giddy like its Christmas eve?A kittenThese fabulous earrings from Anthropologie that are making me want to get my ears piercedA Canon T2i?

Murder, Mystery, and Hippies

Alden and I attended our first murder mystery party.
It was quite fun. Alden was "Pony" the commune rebel.
I was Judy, the bass player in the band Marmalade Skies,
and the recent widow to whose murder we were solving.

It was a night full of slander, cheating, lying and murder!
Oh and great food :)

*Thank you Candace and Beau for Hosting a great party and
Summer and Thad for letting us have it at your house.

Happy Novemeber!

Today starts my favorite time of the year. Bring on the food, family and good times.
So many things to look forward to this month.
Alden's birthday is just three days away (Yippee!)
Laie Hawaii Temple will be dedicated on the 21st. (Along with my brother Garett's birthday and Alden's sister Addie's Birthday)
Alden and I will be flying over to the big island to celebrate Thanksgiving with his Granny.
And much much more!

ps. Just over a year ago Alden told me he loved me for the first time on this very log.

Wild Things

Last years Halloween.... inspired by Where the Wild Things Are. Thank you mom for making full body suits and thank you Hayden and Maddie for letting us steal them.