A Reason to Celebrate: William and Kate...

Ever since three weeks ago when I had the most realistic dream that I saved William and Kate’s life in an airplane crash and they invited me to the royal wedding, I’ve been a little bit obsessed with the whole affair. Kate was just so classy and sweet and William was a bit of a dream boat, so I honestly felt like they are my new besties. Unfortunately, my imaginary invite must have gotten lost in the mail so luckily mom came to the rescue and had a British tea with my cousins so I could say cheerio one last time before we leave...

Good food, friends, and family. Three things that can make me feel as lucky as a queen!

Like always, my mom left no detail untouched. Check out these sweet (no pun intended:) sugar cubes she so meticulously crafted....

Raising a spot of tea to the happy couple

Of course we went paparazzi like we were part of the wedding party...

Sisters with Grandma

So Audrey Hepburn!

The Queen Mum herself...of the tea party anyway. My mom must be young at heart since she was the only one of us who stayed awake to witness the noble nuptials live.

Now this is what happens when it is after ten o'clock and the remaining party guests have had too much tea. We spontaneously decided to re-enact the royal wedding dance.

Here is the video. My dancing is less than to be desired b/c I could barely zip my wedding dress thanks to my new birthing hips. It was hard enough to breathe let alone shake it. But it was still a blast to make.

I love a good love story and a cause for us commoners to celebrate and forget life's stresses. Thanks for the tea and crumpets mom! And to all my fabulous cousins... You better get your royal behinds blogging so I can relive all future tea parties from my pc:)

(What inspired our wedding dance off)

Holla, to hallowed grounds...

I think anything dedicated to the lord whether it is a song, a painting, or a place of worship has a special spirit that surrounds it. And the temple by our house is no exception. It has such an awe inspiring aura, and I am going to miss our bike rides to it's sacred grounds so much.

Here is one more thing I am going to miss and want to reminisce about. Our bike rides through Draper to my mom’s house. They just extended the Porter Rockwell bike path to pretty much my mom’s front door. And I am so sad we’ve only had this past month to utilize it. Without the temple and Nana’s to ride our bikes to we are going to have to find new destination, since I only like to pedal if I have a purpose:)

This place doesn't hold a special place in my heart, but check out this balcony my brother and his friend built with their bare hands. (That just reminded of this summer when my 8yr old nephew, Drew, caught a fish with his bare hands and his younger brother Isaac said, “Drew, stop telling everyone you caught it with your "bear" hands. You don’t have bear hands, you have people hands:).”) Ha ha. Anyway, I was pretty impressed that they designed this themselves and built it from scratch. Who knew my bro was such an Iron Man?!

Well I guess I better get studying for our sailing course. I just found out last night that our certification might be a bigger dealio than I thought and saying we might have overextended ourselves is an understatement. Yup, I have boat loads to do, and I just want to pack up James and pedal to these places. Hmmph...I think I will do my to-do's tomorrow... B/c it is a beautiful day, and for now, my family is only a bike ride away.

The Only Thing I Know About Thermodynamics ....

Is that it makes me hot for my honey...

John presented his final project and passed with flying colors on Friday. The meaning of what he was saying lost me at two phase flow. But I must admit, I was completely mesmerized by his beautiful mind the moment he pulled out his laser pointer. Yup, I've never been a mathematical girl, but a man who can calculate heat and other such things has me at hello...

I wanted to post pictures of him standing in front of his board of professors looking all presidential, but when I asked him if I could bring my camera he replied, please don’t. Soooo, here is an excerpt from his report instead. I just prettied it up a bit in Picnik...b/c in my humble opinion, Thermodynamics needs a little somethin' somethin' to catch my attention:)

John impressed his graduate committee so much that they asked him to come back and be a guest speaker on his subject. I am so proud. And we must really be one as a couple because I kind of feel like I am graduating too. I have a hopeful, excited, spring time-ish feeling. Like when I graduated highs school and college.

So what is he going to do now after 7 years of enduring classes like Multi-component Mass Transfer and Fluid Mechanics? He is sailing away to the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean. And lucky for James and I, we're tagging along. Our first stop is Houston for a week long sailing certification course (and hopefully find a temporary house for when we have to get back to reality). Then we will leave for our new casa on Cable Beach in the Bahamas. We are throwing caution to the wind and celebrating John's hard work with a month long mini-retirement inspired by Four Hour Work Week (a book that teaches how to maximize your time, travel cheap, and live on less....Not all his philosophies are feasible, but it was still life changing for us) Anyway, we've been dreaming about doing something like this for about four years now and I can't believe we are at a place in our life where we can actually do it. And we have an empty room for any of you who would like to come join us for a sabbatical in the sand.

Now one last shout out to my honey for having lots of true grit to graduate, get a new job, and look dang good doing it. XOXO.

Egg-ceptional Easter Weekend...

(James on the hunt)

This weekend I took a break from my regular photo-ing self. But b/c it was as sweet as the Easter peep I just slid in my mouth...here is a list of loves I plan to keep...

· A girls night of shopping with Jana and Evie and then meeting our

hubbies for a pizza at the Pie. (Where the cheese sticks were amore at first sight I might add!)

· Watching John present his final project to a board of professors and rocking it. More details to come.

· Having a barbecue with Aubrie and Greg and eating the most outstanding cupcakes of my life.

· Attending our church for the last time before we move.L

· Taking a moment to really remember what this holiday is all about.

· Watching James get super excited about hunting for eggs.

· Eating a delicious Easter feast with my whole fam damily.

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Maybe it’s the rain but right now I feel like crying. We are packing up our things and moving to a state I haven’t even stepped foot in in less than three weeks, my hubby has been MIA for pretty much a month now, and my beloved little house isn't exactly selling like hotcakes, which is causing a bit of stress, to say the least ...So to counter act this Debbie Downer doo-dah day, I am taking my personal form of Prozac- which is posting pictures of the things I love...

Spring has finally sprung. At least down on the campus of BYU where they can afford lots of fertilizer to kick start the season. We headed down there Saturday between errands to show James where our little fam all began...

This is cheesy but I always thought I remembered heaven. But now I know it was because my parents would take us to this pretty campus when we were kiddos. Don't get me wrong... It wasn't so angelic when I was a student and was failing American Heritage. But now that time has healed those wounds it is a wonderful place to take a seat and reflect and reminisce our dating days.

I love spring and all the stepping stones of life that often take place during this time. My good friend from high school and skiing buddy, Dustin, tied the knot. What a glowing cute couple they make!

A few more BYU blooms.

And speaking of monumental events. Abbie had her 2nd baby, a girl named Vivianne on Friday. Oh, how this brings a big smile to my face. I can't wait to hold her little bundle! Sorry to go all "Catfish" on you, Abbie and steal this pic but it was too cute! (Sidenote: If you haven't seen the Sundance film Catfish you should!.. Captivating, creepy, and compassionate wrapped up into a cinematic masterpiece... Okay, it wasn't that good, but you still should see it:))

And speaking of masterpieces check out this cake Andy made at school. I love how proud of his work he is in this photo. Andy is so in love (more literally than we would like sometimes;) with his dear teachers. I don't mention enough how truly thankful I am for all they do for my brother and his friends. They are absolute angels who go above and beyond their call of duty and I don't know what our family would do with out them!

James had a sleepover with his cousins. There was lots of Spiderman because James was still recovering from his 18 month old shots - I don't think they minded too much.

James says, "Eli snores:)"

I wish a wonderful little family would buy our home and love and care for her like we do. Yup, I think of my home as a real person with real thoughts and feelings. And I take it personal when perspective buyers put their noses up because of things like an unfinished basement or too many steps. She has been so good to us and it breaks my heart to leave her behind. Note to self: Look into mobile home options in Houston to save myself from heart ache.

The trees down our street are in full bloom

I have lots to be thankful for and I am sure I will find lots to love in the great state of Texas too. So thanks for humoring me, World Wide Web, while this girl tries to turn her frown up-side down. Now back to my baby cakes because before I know it, he is going to be a big kid begging for the car keys.