{cm2}

just because... flowers

2012-01-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

(above... flowers from the husband-o, just because.)

My super nice, and handsome husband brought these me these pretty flowers a few weeks ago. I am still enjoying what is left of them. (Sorry for the cell phone pics.)

(above... flowers from the husband-o, just because.)

This was in August of 2011, but I had forgotten the funny note, and had to post.

Love to have flowers every so often.

Love them when it is a surprise.

Love all the colors.

Love my husband more.

Black and White Party 2012 { MLK Day }

2012-01-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

This was the invite for our little Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.

Cruz was a huge help in getting everything set up and ready to go. I love to have a party, but he kind of gets stuck doing some of the grunt work. Thanks Love.

Our little gathering. Such a fun group... lots of laughing.

Cruz and I tried to get everything we could in a black or white serving bowl.

The food included: black bean soup, baked chicken with white creamy sauce, cilantro rice, strawberry spinach salad, black and white corn chips with white queso, and homemade oreos... all fabulous.

Everything was so yummy, and we got very full.

The table worked out perfect, I had just enough dishes for the group. The food looked pretty and tasted good too.

Mustaches and milk.

2012's black and white party was festive, and fancy... two of my favorite things.

Planning MLK day!

2012-01-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Monday is Martin Luther King day, it is also the day we usually do a BLACK & WHITE party. We usually only invite a few people over for dinner. We require them to wear black and white. We eat, we chat and play some games. This year I am thinking to do the same. I may just do a dessert bar, and not dinner... only time will tell. It is tricky since I have to work that day. :)

See ideas i am thinking about.... here.
{Don't you just love pinterest? i do.}

See 2011... here.

See 2010... here.

Christmas Memories { 2011 }

2012-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season went so fast this year, but I loved it all the same. I love that it involves tradition, family and friends.

This year Alan's family was heading to San Diego for Christmas so we did a little Pre-Christmas party in the early part of December. My parents have continued with their tradition of giving nut-crackers for Christmas. This year we got a adorable Santa one.

Cruz is a HUGE fan of hot chocolate. We have at least one HOT CHOCOLATE party during the holiday season.

A fantastic Christmas indeed.

We had the biggest Christmas tree that I have ever had in my life.

We got our Christmas cards done, and put in the mail.

We visited with family all Christmas day, and learned that JJ really LOVES Cruz.

We had time off of work, 3 extra days was pure bliss.

We ate traditional Venezuelan food, and talked via skype to our family in Venezuela.

We played wii games, and laughed at ourselves.

We sang Christmas songs, even though we don't sing that well.

We went to Church with my parents, and heard their ward choir sing like angels.

We gave yummy treats to friends and neighbors.

We loved every second.

My highlight of Christmas was on Christmas Eve, when we were at my parents home. At 7 pm, the neighborhood lighted Chinese lanterns for a lovely lady, a wonderful friend; who has cancer. She has been given 3-6 months to live. We (about 13 families) gathered outside her house, and then lit about a dozen of the lanterns into the air. (I guess, they do it in the movie tangled.) It is well wishes, good fortune and longevity. It was really simple, but such an overwhelming spirit of LOVE, friendship was there. It was seriously amazing. I believe it was a surprise for the family. Lots of hugs and well wishing took place. Something I hope not to ever forget.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

And for new years... we went to our neighbors house played a bunch of games, and laughed our guts out. Then toasted the new year with styrofoam cups with a little peach sparkling cider. Not fancy, but all good. Oh, and the peach flavor sparkling cider is super yummy. The sad part we didn't even take one picture.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS...

2012-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

{ i am excited, and a little worried about #7. }

. . .

Oh, and did you know that the pantone color of the year is...

Tangerine Tango.

{Read more about it here.}

i love it.

(i really like the name.)

2011 goal feedback

2012-01-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

It is day THREE of the new year. I haven't even made my new years resolutions, yet. I plan on working on it tonight. I actually take them seriously, and not so seriously at times. :)

I do think they are a good thing.
I do think if I put focus on them, I do accomplish them.
I do think they are positive.

Here is feedback on last years goals. 2011, I chose 11 things to focus on.

I would say I had a total success at: #3, #4, #7, #8, and #11.

Be Healthy: I did this well at points and NOT so well at others. In the end, not great.
Pray More: I found that when I made this a goal, it up-ed my morning prayers. YAY.
Be Clean: Done and done.
Travel More: Not only did we do a trip of a life time in EUROPE, we went to Vegas more than once, and to California too.
Be Nice: I think i did pretty good on this, I guess to get the truth ask my husband. LOL.
Listen more: I also think I became a better listener this year. I did miss out on the spirit telling me to transfer my pictures to our other hard drive, big loss there. I did however, listen to a friend and was able to surprise her with a fun gift.
Be Giving: I think i did do better on this. :)
Party More: HELLO, we for sure did this! May have caused the fail with #1. LOL.
Be Brave: yes, I did try some new things in 2011. Go me!!!!!
Read More: a little.
Be Happy: I really have never felt SO BLESSED!!

What a great year 2011 was. I welcome 2012, with excitement. I will be posting new 2012 resolutions this week.

How did your 2011 year go?

Any thing you are working towards for 2012...?

Any fantastic resolution ideas for me?

Jan and Feb Subway art { F R E E D O W N L O A D }

2011-12-29T10:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it is almost time to count the new year in. How did that happen?

Not sure, but I must say that I have had a great year. I am loving the last week, soaked up lots of time with the husband-o, hope to soak up a little more too. ;)

I need to get thinking about NEW YEARS resolutions.

I need to post pics of thanksgiving and Christmas.

I need to print out my JANUARY SUBWAY art.

and...

I thought why go to the photo lab twice, so I'll need to print February's SUBWAY art as well.

Oh, and if you didn't print March's SUBWAY art out from last year do that too. (Get March art link through my post here.)

January 26th is my birthday... so for me, I included "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in my subway art. If you have a birthday in January feel free to use this version.

Click HERE.

OR... for those who don't have a January Birthday like me then... Click HERE.

AND... for those who want to print these subway prints and KEEP them for years to come, I have this design that doesn't have the year on it. :) Click HERE, for this design.

Oh, and don't forget Valentines day. February's Subway art.

Click HERE for art.

WHOA, that is a lot of subway art.

enjoy.

© Christina Marcano. For personal use only. :)

my other subway art here.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas was fantastic! We are enjoying time off of work until Thursday. It is pure HEAVEN.

Here is the Christmas card for 2011!

(. . . and we even sent them out in the mail.)

Hope your Christmas was relaxing and full of the spirit of the season.

Brussels 2011

2011-12-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

Second Stop was BRUSSELS: (Europe trip continues...)

Day three: Brussels was a very short visit just about a 20 hour visit. It took a long time to get here. But the views along the way were fantastic. We first took a ferry across the channel, which was fun. Then it was time to meet up with our official tour director and tour group. Our tour director was Ilka, and she is seriously one smarty pants. I felt like she new everything about Europe. Our group that we were with ended up being really great too. Lucky us, I guess. Ok, so when we pulled into the hotel parking lot in Brussels it was so beautiful, there were all these flags and a windmill thing, and green grass with lots of trees. We got checked into the hotel, and then we were off again for a historical tour of the city. It's a small place so we got to see lots of the highlights in a short time.
We then went to the town square. I love that place. I loved to cobble stone streets, and all the cute little shops that were filled with yummy chocolate, and other fun treasures.

BRUSSELS favorites and facts:

French Fries are really from Belgium, not France. You can get them everywhere!
Mussels are the MUST HAVE Belgian cuisine. (Cruz ordered this for dinner, it was a huge pot filled with peppers, onions an delicious mussels.)
Belgium Waffles are so amazing! There is a reason why they are Belgium Waffles. Mine was topped with chocolate and fresh strawberries. YUM! I need to go back to Belgium just to get another one... they are that good.
Town square is fun at night, they had color changing lights on the town building. Plus Music to go with. It reminded me of Christmas kind-of. ;)
The Picture above that is on the bottom right: shows all the highlights of Brussels, Manneken Pis (Peeing boy) See his story here, he is eating a Belgium waffle, and then a chocolate store, and also featured in the store is the Smurfs (The Smurf comic strips are by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo.)!!! Well Belgium is also known for it's beer, but since I don't drink I didn't care about it.

We were able to meet up with our friends who live in Belgium, which was so fun and a huge plus. We had waffles with them, and we got a little bonus tour hanging out with them. We got to see the Atomium, and also the university there. Thank you Roman and Ani! We loved visiting with you.

to be continued...

i am happy. 12.01.2011 edition

2011-12-01T13:16:00.001-08:00

Today talking with a friend I was reminded how good my life has been, and how blessed I am. I am happy with the way things have gone, and the way they are going. We do have a choice to be happy or not. I completely believe that.

So, today I bring out another I AM HAPPY post. I haven't posted for almost a year. But I've been happy the last year... no need to worry.

(I also brought out the cute owl again, with a little christmas holly this time.)

1st time owl here. :)

* * *

What do you love about yourself and the life you live?

Christmas SUBWAY art { FREE DOWNLOAD }

2011-11-30T13:07:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that December is tomorrow. Wow, this year has gone by so fast. We had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family. Though, I didn't take many pictures... and the ones I did take are still on the camera. For Black Friday, I did very little shopping, though I did do some.

I've been designing Christmas cards for people. Always fun, and if you want one let me know. ($25 for the design. You print them at your local photoshop.) Last year I designed about 5 cards for myself and never sent one out, this year I plan on doing better on getting one printed. LOL. (If I had sent one out last year 2010, this was my fav.) The picture was when we were in Venezuela. A simple layout.
But my favorite one was done in 2009. I thought that the design was really unique and fun.

Currently, we are in the process of getting our tree up and ready. We have a FRESH tree this year. (Thanks to Cruz's very nice co-worker, who went to the mountains and got one for us.) It is unique, and smells fantastic. It is 12 feet tall!!!! I love it... but not loving how long it takes us to get the lights to work and be on the tree. We hope to finish today. :)

Here is the SUBWAY art for CHRISTMAS, as promised.

Download your own here.

{ Don't use this one above, go to the link for a high res. file!!! }

I hope that you are decking your halls with Christmas love.

I am waiting for December 1st to put mine in it's frame, but it is all printed and ready to go.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T08:20:00.001-08:00

Are you doing something festive for 11.11.11?
At the very least I will making a wish and giving my love a kiss at the pm hour, since we are both at work we can't do the am one. ;)

Today is already fantastic. My cute husband that couldn't sleep made me a yummy breakfast before we both headed out to work. It was delicious, and warmed me up.
also...
I am grateful for those who have served and are currently serving for our country. So that we can enjoy all the freedoms that we have. I don't want to forget their families for their sacrifices; so a huge thank you to you too. I am lucky to live in a free and safe land. THANK YOU.

Happy 11.11.11!!

London 2011

2011-11-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

For our 3rd anniversary we went to Europe!
It was amazing, a trip of a life time.
We loved every second.
I am still morning the loss of our pictures. They were on our laptop and the hard-drive went bad. We didn't back it up, we tried to have it recovered with nothing working. A sad lesson to learn with pictures that you can't re-take. My handsome husband tells me "well we will just have to go back so we can take new pictures." I am still very sad. I am thankful that they are on facebook; well, some of them are. They are now low res, and if we printed them... they would be blurry, but at least we can see them.

First Stop was LONDON: (a long, post.)

(Top left: Piccadilly street, Top right: London street, with double decker bus in background, bottom left: in front of london bridge, bottom right: on the river cruise.)

Oh, how we loved London.
First adventure started when we got off the plane and Cruz was almost deported. Long story... and kind of a funny one now that it is over. He is from Venezuela and so he has a Venezuelan passport, which he just renewed and it is valid for one more year. However, when they renewed it he didn't get a new booklet; he just got a stamp thing that says that it is valid for another year. Venezuelans do not need a visa to go to Europe unless... they have the old style of passport. (Like my husband did.) The kind that doesn't have a chip in it. So, he was detained for 2 hours, when we checked on this before we planned our trip the embassy told us Venezuelans don't need visas to go to England or Europe. So... while I was sent into the air-port to wait his fate. I was so sad. They gave me NO hope that he'd be let into the country. They made me feel like he was going to be sent home. I cried as I walked to the baggage claim. I had to pick up my baggage and enter into the regular part of the airport on my own, I met our tour director and he was really nice and positive. I talked to the information desk and they gave me no hope telling me about the common area where I could say good-bye to my husband before he was sent on a plane back to the states. This is not what I had planned for our 3rd year anniversary trip. I had to sit waiting for the next hour wondering what would happen. Holding back the tears, I waited.
Meanwhile....
Cruz was being questioned, and the people were all very nice. They basically did a application for a visa right then and there. They let him in the country with a warning, and after some paperwork was filled out they offered him sandwiches and soda/drinks while he and his new friend Peter (a worker in the detainment office) watched a soccer game. Finally he was able to call me, and give me the news.
I was so relieved, and excited for the real trip to begin.

Our hotel in England was very nice, and had a modern design. It was also very close to the tube station which allowed us to go anywhere we wanted with out much trouble. We stayed at the Novetel, I would stay their again.

The first night we arrived we went on a optional excursion with our tour. We took a cruise on the River Thames that included dinner at a traditional english pub. I ate fish and chips for dinner... not really that impressed. Cruz had a English beef pie, it was very flavorful. The night cruise on the river was fantastic, colder than I had expected but we got the history of the area and a view of most of the main tourist attractions.

Day two: we enjoyed the fantastic breakfast buffet at our hotel, and it filled us up until the evening. In the morning we went to big ben, westminster abbey and rode the london eye. It was really fun to go on the London eye... a view of the entire city. We walked the streets for a while until we headed back to the hotel to catch the bus to take us to Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is The Queen's official London residence, though I am sure she wasn't there at the time. I believe that it is only open to the public in Aug and Sept. so we were lucky to have gone during this time. We walked the halls and got to see Kate's wedding dress, and also their cake. I loved every second of it. I loved all the fancy details in every room. I wished that we could have taken pictures, but they weren't allowed. As part of the tour we also got to see The Royal Mews houses the State vehicles, both horse-drawn carriages and motor car are stored there. Cruz was very impressed by the carriage that was 4 tons of gold. We also went to piccadilly street which was lots of fun, with street performers and fun little pubs and cafes. We had a yummy dinner, we sort of shared our food. A sausage dish with mash (potatoes) and another english pie. For dessert we stopped at an adorable little bakery. We continued walking the streets of london until late into the night stopping at every tourist spot we felt important. London was great, the people were friendly for the most part. The lines weren't long and we felt like we had a great taste of London for only being there 2 days. We hope to go back one day. :)

Day three: We woke up ate breakfast, and we were on a bus that took us on a last little tour of England. We were headed to the ferry to cross the channel and eventually would end up in Brussels, Belgium.

to be continued...

November SUBWAY art. { FREE PRINTABLE }

2011-11-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of my most favorite months. It is the month I think that people think more about GIVING, and being thankful.

The other day I read this quote on pintrest.

"It is not happy people who are thankful. It is the thankful people who are happy."

I think it is so important to look at what great things life has given you. What your blessings are. I think when I do that, I notice that I am more blessed then I realized. So, I hope that I can have more gratitude this month. I love the wonderful holiday of THANKSGIVING. It is a great holiday filled with food, family and thankful hearts. I love all the traditions that go with it.

And here is the NOVEMBER subway art that I promised. (printed size is 8x10)

To download your copy click here.

enjoy! I am going to put mine in a frame today. :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun and festive HALLOWEEN this year!!!!

Friday was the party me and my friend Camie have been planning for all month.

We had a great turn-out, and most everything came together with out any issue. I loved how the chip dip turned out with the sour cream spider web. The cup-cakes looked great, and the popcorn cones were better than expected. Everyone loved the soda labels. The witch hats looked cute, the ice cream was kinda tricky... but it was a great party. Thanks to all those who came, and brought yummies to share.

We were parting until 2:30 am. So, I am guessing people were having fun. ;) Everyone was festive and came in costume. I was impressed at all the creative things people came up with.

My family had a party on Sunday. It was also very festive. The little kids stole the show, like always. Kevin wore Tyler's (who is serving an LDS mission) batman suit, which was awesome. Little David also liked the batman mask. Emma liked the little pumpkin, and kept showing us where the eyes, nose and mouth were. The taco soup turned out yummy, and the chips, cheese, sour cream made it downright heavenly. We had lots of yummy desserts and treats. Thanks family for joining in on the festive-ness.

Halloween soda labels... Free download printable

2011-10-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've been working on these for a while during my lunch breaks at work... they took me longer than expected. I did have fun creating them. I debated on how the should look. Spooky or cute.... or something else. Here is what I ended up with.

Here they are!! I love the ZOMBIE VIRUS the best. (Sorry not a great pic. it was dark outside, so it had yellow lighting. Also I fixed the spelling error in the Jack-o Lantern image. )

new DOWNLOAD printable files HERE!!!

This label would look great on Mountain Dew, or Sprite/7-up, as well as any other green bottle.

This label looks fantastic on 7-up's mixed berry (it's purple) soda. But also any green soda bottle matches.

This label would looks fun on fruit punch or any red drink!

This label would looks good with orange drink!

This one is for any cola soda... which ever one is your favorite. ;) Wondering why you don't see this one in my pic...? Well, my husband drank the soda. LOL. So, I never printed it. We will see if it happens this year.

I am not actually a HUGE soda fan, but I do ~~like~~ love these spooky wrappers.
They are 14 inches long, so they have to be printed on legal sized papers or take them to your copy store and print them.

FINAL FILE SIZE should be 14.25 x 5.35

Halloween Cupcake Toppers (F R E E printable)

2011-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am loving these cupcake toppers. I can't wait to use them on FRIDAY! Saturday the husband-o was sick so I spend the entire day designing these... well, and taking care of him. ;) Love the patterns. Hope that you love them too.

FYI... I plan to cut the ones without the scalloped design built into the circle with scallop scissors. We will see how it goes. Seriously, if you have any issue getting these to work email me/or comment below. I will send you a PDF. I want these things to be used up, because I am in love with them. My favorite is either the pumpkin or the cat. Which one do you like best? Would love to hear your comments!

happy, happy halloween!

I plan to have more halloween free printables this week, for spooky soda labels. Stay tuned. ;)

Halloween Party Sneak Peek

2011-10-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

My friend and I have been very busy creating things for our upcoming halloween party.

I am super excited. I really couldn't wait to share some pics... Love this fun stuff.

Things we've been working on include:

1. Super tiny witch hats (my favorite)

2. Subway art (free download here.)

3. Spider long legs tag holder

4. Mummy tea light holders

5. Happy Halloween banner

6. Flying bats

7. Creepy soda labels

The best part is that these things were all handmade by us.

(Things made on the computer are handmade, if you ask me.)

Don't you just LOVE halloween?

Thai Pineapple Curry F R E E recipe card

2011-10-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

So, both my husband and I LOVE Thai food. We often found ourselves going to Thai restaurants around town. We almost always both get curry, usually we do get different kinds. We love the spice, the veggies, and it feels "Oh, so good" on a cold day. Well, fall weather has already began here in Utah. So bring on the warm foods.
I thought I would give a Thai curry recipe a try. It was good, but it missed something. I found yellow curry was better than the super spicy red and I changed up some of the veggies. MMM! It is a new favorite recipe. We have made this twice already and the second time we doubled the batch. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

{ Download and print your own recipe card by clicking the file. Size 4x6 }

h a l l o w e e n {free download}

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you are excited for HALLOWEEN! I love this silly holiday. I love the decor. It is crazy and a little weird sometimes, but overall I like it.
Here is a fun printable for HALLOWEEN! I LOVE subway art, remember St. Patty's Day subway art.
Here is what ya do...

Download this file
Take it to your local photo store to print it.
Then stick it in a 8x10 frame.

So easy, and cute don't you think?

Plus, it is only $1.50 to print a 8x10 at Costco. Also you can pick up a simple black frame at the crazy Walmart for something around $3!!! Then you can use it (the frame) throughout the year for cute SUBWAY art. I do.
I am going to put mind in a frame today. So excited.

PS... I already have some ready for November and December!!
You might as well get your frame now. :)
Would love to hear your feedback as well.

MIRROR LAKE CAMPING

2011-09-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

We had to get a camping trip in before we went on our big Europe trip. So the weekend before we left we went to mirror lake. Due to serious lack of planning it was just me and Cruz (we literally just said let's go camping, and we grabbed our stuff and went.) Oh, but what fun we had. We were not totally prepared to go, but we still had a BLAST! I love floating in the lake, and roasting things over a fire... especially bread sticks. Yum!

Dinner was hotdogs over the fire with breadsticks... oh, and smores.

My Dad told me that my Aunt Carol and Uncle Blaine gave these rafts to our family something like 20 years ago as a Christmas gift. I bet they didn't think we'd still be using in 2011! (I love these things.) What a great gift.

The sun was out most of the time, but when it was behind the cloud it was a little bit chilly. There were lots of people fishing around the lake. My favorite comment when we were getting in the lake was a little boy who said "I think they are going to get their bums wet." He was right though... LOL.

Cruz was excited that we got to use his new camping stove, and I have to say it was really nice. We made breakfast burritos with the yummiest tortillas. I am liking this little stove, and hope to use it more. Cruz brought hot chocolate, and it was so good to drink in the morning.

We went up a little farther and found that the walk around mirror lake was so pretty. It was a simple little walk but totally worth every step, I loved that we got to walk around the entire lake.

I don't really want to say good bye to summer... but I am excited for Fall and the leaves to change. I do enjoy living in 4 season climate.

Summer Saturday

2011-08-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

July 17. 2011

So, one Saturday we didn't have much going on... so we pretended we went to Italy.

Started out by going to an early lunch at Caffé Molise, and the patio seating was so lovely. It was perfect weather, and they have a nice covered shade area... it felt like a vacation. Oh, and the food was great too. They told us that on Friday nights they have live music, I think we shall return before it gets too cold.

Check out their website here. Seriously I loved this place! It would make a great place for a date night.

After that we went and had some goodies at Les Madeleines, I loved the button Madeleines and the Kouming Aman (It is their specialty). Some of the treats were just so... so.

After all of that we went to Tony Caputo's Market, and for a little while it kind of did feel like we were in Italy. Ah, I can't wait for the real thing in a few weeks.

1st half of JULY 2011

2011-08-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

Summer is too much fun. Plus we skip our lunches at my work and go home at noon on Friday. Since I mostly blog during the lunch break hour, I haven't been updating the blog very much. :( However, I am enjoying the summer. I really don't want it to end.

Seriously, this summer has been a little GO.... Go....go! Oh, and I am loving it. We are also going to Europe in just 2 weeks.... I am getting so excited.

What have you been doing this summer?

June 2011

2011-07-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time this JUNE. I've been busy, and haven't blogged any of this... so here is the list.

June 4th: drove to vernal, ut... just because we could. Went to the dino park, had dinner and came home.
June 8th: Celebrated the day we got engaged 3 years ago; dinner and a walk from timp park to bridal veil falls.
June 11th: Celebrated OREM FEST, watched the fireworks from the back porch.
June 19th: Celebrated FATHER'S DAY! (I am so lucky to have a great husband and a wonderful Dad!!!!)
June 25th: Iceland days in Spanish Fork.
June 30th: Cruz's Birthday= Dinner, surprise, and a camping trip. (Maybe I'll post more on that later.)

We are loving the summer! We don't want it to end. Wish we could spend more time outside playing, but we will take what we have. ;)

will you marry me?

2011-06-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

(pics are from our engagement photo session.)

3 years ago today (June 08.2008), my handsome husband asked me to marry him.

I said yes! Read the full story here...

And... a little love note for the hubby...

I Love you so much. I love being together.

You know how to cheer me up, and you know how to calm me down.

You take care of me. I love being with you!

Happy ENGAGEMENT anniversary.

I plan to have a festive evening.

LOVE YOU!!!!

-chris

End of April and Most of May 2011

2011-06-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

it has felt like a long time since I blogged. I've been busy, and also sick. Not the best combos. But I have still managed to do some fun things....

This was in APRIL (25th, I believe). We celebrated Joel's Birthday by going to dinner at Zuppa's and then headed to the Provo Beach. Felt like summer just a bit. :)

My family were all kinda crazy busy over easter weekend, with a new baby, birthdays, trips, etc... we didn't have a chance to get together for Easter... and Brenda's birthday. So at the end of the week, we finally managed to get almost the whole group together for dinner at the outback. We all had a good time, and emma really enjoyed the camera she took lots of pictures... none were all that great, but she did push the button of the one of Alan and my Dad. No to shabby for a 18 mo. old.

I ran my 1st 5k ever. It was something I'd hope to be more ready for... I'd been training well, and then I got a cold and it just kinda stopped. But I decided, ready or not, I would do it. Cruz was a sweet heart and ran with me the whole time. I have never felt more love, as he helped me make it to the finish line.

It took 44 minutes.

I know I am slow.

But I finished.

YAY!!

I was actually thinking it took me a lot longer, so I was surprised when I finished and saw the clock.

We celebrated Mother's day on Saturday the day before the actual day. We didn't really take that many pictures. Mostly just of the little kids. :) But we had a good time, with good food!! Mother's day for me included lots of flowers, some from my parents, the ward, and Cruz too. My Mom is amazing, and is always willing to do anything she can for you. Like I said, I've been sick lately, and even though I am an adult my Mom still took care of me lots and lots. Love ya mom! (and dad.)

And for Memorial Day, we ate, and ate... and didn't take ONE picture the entire weekend. How sad is that. Here is to June, I hope it is a healthy month.

cinco de mayo...

2011-05-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Cinco de mayo... i think it could just be, one of my favorite holidays!

Why we waited until the day before to plan a party, I am not sure... but it was fantastic none the less.

What is not to love... good food, good friends. You can't beat it.

We had yummy taco salad with the works.

{ Romaine lettuce, taco meat, cilantro rice, mango salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, chips, black beans, and a little ranch to top it off. }

To drink... margarita mock-tails.

For dessert... tres leches cake with strawberries!

We even got out the sombrero.

Had a blast with games and fantastic friends.

I think we'll do it again next year.

What did you do to celebrate cinco de mayo this year?

Mother's Day Tag

2011-05-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

(Me and my Mom)

I have a fantastic Mother, do you?
I plan to give her something she'll love for Mother's day.
I will wrap it with love and a little tag too.
Download your own... for your mom's gift.
Don't have a gift yet... you could put one of these in a little frame.

There are 3 choices of color schemes (flower, beach and garden).

:) ENJOY! Tags are 4x4 originally.

© Christina Marcano. For personal use only.

{ Flower }

{ Beach }

{ Garden }

{ Click images to see them bigger, and for downloading. }

easter 2011

2011-04-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Easter is always such a great holiday. I love everything about it. I love thinking about the blessings of my Savior Jesus Christ. I love that spring is in the air. I love all the cute kids at church in their Easter outfits. I love eggs! I love being with friends and family. What is there not to LOVE!

Cruz and I started Easter morning with a yummy breakfast. Scrambled egg omelet. And yummy warm french bread.

I made Cruz a little easter surprise.

I wrote a love note.

He was happy. When I brought it out to him the first thing he said was, awe... but I didn't get you anything.

I said, "I made one for me too!"

(Easter baskets are kinda American... and so I guessed he wouldn't think about it.)

We also took one of these over to my Mom and Dad for Easter. My Dad was at church, but my Mom was home... since she is sick. She was so surprised! She loved it. It was actually the best part of Easter.

We planned a little Easter dinner with our friends, and served up pulled pork sandwiches, with garlic green beans and almonds. We also had....

Strawberry spinach salad, and deviled eggs.

It was my first time to MAKE deviled eggs. Turned out pretty good. Not as good as my Mom's, that we had the night before... but still pretty good. ;)

We made these little bundle of treats for our guests.

We had a blast playing games!

and coloring eggs.

I am always amazed at the creative people out there.

good times!

We hope that you all had a fantastic Easter and that it was very festive.

This pic is almost as silly as the one from last years Easter's post....see here.... at the very end.

baby jj

2011-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

on APRIL 19th at 4:16 pm this little guy was born.

8 lbs 6 oz, 22 inches long... and lots of cute hair.

When I looked at little jj... I thought he looked just like his big brother david did as a new born.

Nichole is such an amazing Mom, she and Gerald are so happy to have another little boy in their cute family!

I am happy to have another little nephew!!

I hope we get to play lots and lots.

Carl Bloch

2011-04-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

The other day we finally made it to the CARL BLOCH show at BYU's MoA.

I have been wanting to go for some time now. I did a few (book, music cd, & calendar) projects at work (See here) with his art. So, I was very familiar with it. I literally have spent hours upon hours looking at it.

It was great to go to the exhibit and see them in person, and not just on the computer screen.

This painting is one that I LOVE. It is very common for LDS viewers, since it's often in church meeting houses. But the reason that I love this painting so much is, because of an experience that I had at the LDS Humanitarian Center. We went the for a RS activity, in my singles ward (a long time ago)... and went for a tour. They have a HUGE print of it hanging right as you walk into the building. The spirit hit me so strong as I looked at this painting, and thought of all the things that happen at that building. So, much need in the world for service. There is always more to do, and always those who need it. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He loves all of us, no matter where we are in our lives. I felt such great love as I saw this painting. It will be something I won't forget.

Many of Carl Bloch's art is in the Frederiksborg castle is a castle in Hillerød, Denmark. My Parents got to go there when they first got to their mission. (They served in Iceland, but it's part of the Denmark Mission) I was a little jealous when they wrote home about it. I was excited to learn that BYU was going to showcase many of his paintings. It was a real treat. :)

Easy Paper Flowers!

2011-04-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

For my cute cousin's baby shower... I made some super, super easy paper flowers for the package. You too can make them, I got the instructions here. I didn't have hot glue, so I used a glue dot... wasn't the best, but it worked.

I found this super cute (but not too girly) diaper bag, and stuffed it full of diaper bag stuff!

(Diapers, whipes, change of outfit, little blanket, binkies, etc...)

The blanket, clothes, and burp clothes, were all chick print... so I made a little chick card to go with the gifts. Super easy gift to get, and since my family went in together... we could pack it full of fun stuff.

Congrats Melanie! We wish you and your baby chick lots of LOVE.

Secret Recipes Cookbook

2011-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

It has hit the shelves! The next worldwide ward cookbook. :) Gotta love this new comercial. Such a fun series to design.

Worldwide Ward Cookbook: SECRET RECIPES
by Deanna Buxton.
and designed by ME.

my grandma

2011-03-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today would have been my Grandma's (Ashby) 95th birthday. (She passed away February 13, 2006.) So, today I think of her. She was the best Grandma that anyone could have ever hoped for. She was full of LOVE. Anytime you wanted to come visit she'd let you, she'd even let you stay the night.

She'd have a warm cake waiting when you arrived, and would make icing from scratch. yum!

She was a great cook. She made the best scrambled eggs. (I know your thinking... um... those are super easy...but no one made scrambled eggs quite like hers.) One time she even made me green (scrambled) eggs and ham. :)

She was quite the NIGHT OWL, which made me laugh. She'd stay up until one in the morning, and then often sleep until well past ten. She was much like a teenager, with her sleeping patterns. Which made staying at her house fun... she'd play games well into the night.

She was always up for a laugh. She kept a good sense of HUMOR She often said things like you'll just have laugh about it... that is all you can do. We often giggled until we cried.

She had a good IMAGINATION, and also encouraged to let us be very imaginative. There were countless of times we set up Grace's Cafe at her house. We had so much fun. We loved being with her.

There are so may good things to say about this lady. She loved a party. She loved having people over. She celebrated life. She lived the gospel. She served others. She loved everyone. She would listen. She would give great advice.

I am happy she is in heaven. I know she loves it there. I know she is happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY grandma.

love you.

temple + family = forever

2011-03-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

The other weekend (Saturday March 19th 2011) we got to see these fabulous people become a forever family. So, happy for them.

After we joined them for a wedding luncheon. It was extremely yummy. They had Marconi Grill cater, and they even served my favorite... Carmela's Chicken Rigatoni. They had a great looking set up for the lunch, and not sure why... but I didn't take any pictures. I guess I was too focused on the food. :)

I am so happy for them. They are such a cute family. I hope we get together soon.

A Festive St. Patrick's Day!!

2011-03-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Lucky the leprechaun (free download here) made a visit to our house to surprise Cruz. All he had to do was follow the rainbow to find some of Lucky's golden treasure, and lucky charms.

My Mom and Dad made this oh, so yummy Irish dinner. Corn beef and cabbage never tasted so good. We tried Irish soda bread for the first time. It was super yummy. My Mom did such a good job decorating the table in green and white. I didn't really get a picture, but it was very festive.

Cruz was desperate for green... he took a shamrock from the wall to wear to dinner.

Hope you too had a HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!

π (pi) Day

2011-03-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Pi = 3.1415926535…
Did you know this day was celebrated? I didn't. Until the very day... and good ol' facebook informed me. It got me thinking, I should celebrate this obscure holiday.

How did you celebrate March 14, aka π (pi) day?

Well, I don't consider myself to be a "math enthusiast"... really I just used it as an excuse to eat piE. I did look up online on ways to celebrate this little hidden holiday, and found some clever ideas... and some not so clever ideas as well. (all i can say is WOW, people are really crazy about math sometimes.) But you can take a look here.

We went with:

#5 on the list: Eat 'pi' foods. (we had key lime pie, and pizza pie.)
#6 on the list: Do a pi mile run. (needed when you going to have pie, and pizza for dinner.)

All and all it was a good little celebration. I may just do it next year!

Oh, and you got to love the pic of me and cruz in the image above... i'd just finished running, and cruz had been sick all day... even had to stay home from work. (He didn't run a pi.) But it was really the only one of us, so I stuck it in anyway.

Good wishes for Japan

2011-03-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the Christmas card I designed for Christmas 2010. LOL!! I never posted it, nor did I ever send it out. This was one of, and probably my favorite designs that I did. It was simple, it was one of the best pictures that we took while in Venezuela... during the attempted family photo-shoot. Came across this file today, and thought about those in Japan. Probably because I love those people. I served (an LDS mission) in the Japan Hiroshima Mission in 2002-2003. I wish that they didn't have to have an earthquake or a tsunami. I wish them LOVE & JOY, I also wish them STRENGTH & PEACE, and SAFELY & HOPE. Donations can be contributed here. I am shocked at this disaster. Watching the news makes me cry. Seeing homes float and crumble; cars, vans, floating, people waving from roof tops. I love that the Japanese people have stayed true to their kind hearts. Watching the news they told stories of people patiently waiting in line for food, offering crackers to news reporters... even though they only had little food for themselves. There hasn't been looting, and the crime rate hasn't risen. What good examples they are. Please pray for the people in Japan. Please, please.

President's Day 2011

2011-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

This year on PRESIDENT'S DAY Cruz had to work. I had the day off. But I did try to do lots of things in one day. I did cleaning, shopping, organizing, went and got a massage here.

The massage was so relaxing that I even missed my exit off of the freeway. LOL.

I'd planned to have a little President's Day Dinner with Cruz when he got off work. However; everything took a lot longer than planned and we didn't get dinner until late... and it didn't quite go as planned. I couldn't find our American Flag. (I could find a Japanese and a Venezuelan flag...) I had decided to do a recipe that my Mom had made a few weeks prior; with lots of veggies. I'll call it Pres. Thomas Jefferson Veggies since one of his favorite foods were vegtables. (See this fun site telling the US President's favorite foods.) These veggies included beets, carrots, rootabaga, turnips, onions, peppers, etc... cut them all up and season them with garlic, salt and pepper, and Mrs.Dash. They tasted pretty good, just that it took FOREVER to cut them all up, and get them cooked.

We also had grilled lemon pepper fish. Which was a favorite of President Roosevelt. We served a yummy pomegranate on the rocks drink, with little unbrellas. For dessert we had some tasty President George Washinton cherries. All in all after it was done, it was a good dinner.

Happy to have had a day off.

Happy to celebrate living in an amazing country that has been blessed by good leaders.

Loving the goal I made for 2011 of PARTY MORE. It's fun to think of ways to celebrate the little holidays. What did you do for President's Day?

Lucky Little Leprechaun

2011-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Lucky my Little Leprechaun and I are getting ready for Saint Patrick's day!

Download Lucky the Leprechaun for yourself by clicking on him.

Disney has some fun ideas... HERE

(I got my Leprechaun there and colored him in illustrator.)

I also like all the festive things eighteen25 has on her blog... HERE

Other things...

St.P-day love note sayings...
Because you are my sunshine, and I am your Rainbow...
(Cruz, (my hubby) always says Love you Rainbow... when I have said Love you Sunshine.)
Lucky to be in LOVE with you.
You are my LUCKY CHARM.
Kiss me I'm Irish.

Leprechaun Visits...
Turn Milk Green
Green foot prints around the house
Little messes with a shamrock
(Not sure I'd ever do that, since I'd have to clean it up afterwards.)

Treat Ideas From the Store...

Lucky Charms

Skittles

Rollos

Hershey's Treasures

Gold (Almond) Kisses

From the Kitchen...

(I would list links here but seriously google them... there are lots of ideas.)

Irish Soda Bread

(I saw that Kneaders Bakery & Cafe are selling Irish Soda bread)

Rainbow Pancakes

Rainbow layered Jello

Rainbow Cake and or Cupcakes

Root Beer or Cream Soda Ice Cream Floats

I am planing a for a festive St. Patty's day.
(I think I will be festive, and yet simple... since I do work all day and such.)

I hope you are doing the same.

We have no kids, but we celebrate any time we have a chance.

(We even celebrated ∏ (pi) day 3.14.2011. More to come on that later.)

Any great ideas let me know.

Valentine's Day (WEEKEND)

2011-03-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

I know that Valentine's day was almost a month ago... but I finally got my computer to cooperate with me and allow me to get these pictures off of my camera and on to it. :)
However... we had a fantastic Valentine's day or should I say weekend!

Cruz did such an amazing job at making me feel like the most wonderful wife ever on my birthday... I wanted to have some fun with valentine's day. I made a yummy dinner Friday. Then I made breakfast in bed for him the next three days. I tried to keep things budget friendly, and still fun.

We opted for restaurant on Saturday... instead of the actual v-day.

We didn't even have to wait. Perfect idea if you ask me.

Valentine's day can seem commercial. But I really do like having a day that the calendar says "Hey, do something romantic for each other." I like getting flowers, little chocolates... and I also like doing little surprises for Cruz. He is my LOVE, and I loved spending Valentine's day weekend with only HIM!

{Click images to see them larger!}

working on working out

2011-03-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

{download this calendar for yourself by clicking on the image, and then zooming in.}

I am going to run this. (the 5k part)
I have never ran a race before.
I do well when I keep track of my progress.
I was really motivated in January when I signed up for the race.
I made a calendar for February, and it only filled out the first 2 weeks, and the last few days.
I hope to do much better this month.
I have a goal this year to BE HEALTHY. This is part of that.
I made this calendar for March, and thought you may want to keep track of yourself as well.

It's simple...

time = total time exercised

dis = total distance

cal = total calories burned

I plan to fill out this cute little calendar at least 4 days a week.
My goal is to go 3.2 miles (5K) at least 2 times a week.

Wish me the luck of the Irish!

Feel free to download this for yourself, and keep track of all your hard-work.

subway art

2011-02-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is OK to use font's that are not on my APPROVED list. I think this is a good example. Very few of these font's would be graphic designer's approved list. But I do think that it turned out well. Successful lunch break time used wisely, don't ya think?

I made this subway art for my home.

What do you think? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear.

Download this FREE subway art for your Saint Patrick's Day decor HERE!

(Fits 8x10 frame.)

© Christina Marcano. For personal use only.

Oh, and I still have things to post for valentines day. As well as president's day. I was actually planning on saving this post for the first of March, but I accidentally published it. So, enjoy!

H20! (and Downloadable Label)

2011-02-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

Do you know how much water you should drink in ONE day? Do this little quizy and find out... here.

I made this little label for me to remember how much water I need to drink, and how I am doing. I hope to drink 4 bottles of water while I am at work, and then one at home (total of 100 oz). This is possible, but I do have to remember to just do it. This week has been the trial week, and so far I am doing pretty good. Only draw back is that it makes me have to go to the restroom a zillion times. LOL.

{Sorry for these poor pictures... I took them with the cell phone.}

I mark off how much water I drink, to help me keep track. I mark with a pencil, so that I can just erase and start over the next day. I am sure after a while I will need to print a new label... but this has been working good for a while. :) Good idea, don't you think?

{download your own water tracking label,

by clicking on image above, and zoom in.}

Just a little way to BE HEALTHY this year.

the year of the RABBIT

2011-02-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

02.03.2011 was the first day of the Chinese New Year celebration. We had a festive party on the 4th to celebrate. (It's more fun to party on Friday night, than Thursday... since Friday morning you have to get up and go to work.)

I have a lot of Asian decor, since I served my mission in Japan. People will give me stuff that looks Asian, and or that is from Japan. Aren't these little rabbits perfect, my Friend (from Japan) gave them to my Mom as a thank-you. I had to barrow them.

I made these little favors... "Lai See" are small red and gold envelopes containing money and are given at Chinese New Year. The envelopes must be red as these signify prosperity and good luck. I put a chocolate coin inside. (yum!)

I also made these paper lanterns, (the red and gold ones, the white ones are store bought) from this tutorial; here.

I also printed out a little info on everyones Chinese Zodiac sign so we could see what our own sign was all about. My sign is the MONKEY. Cruz's is the PIG. {Click to see them bigger.}

We had some Chinese-ish food. Grilled Shrimp, Fortune Cookies, Mandarin Oranges, Swedish Fish (It's common to serve the entire fish, including the head for CNY, hence we went with candy ones).

We also went with some RABBIT food, since it was the year of the rabbit. Some nice veggies, to round off the snacks.

Origami. We folded paper rabbits. Did you know... It began in China in the first or second century and then spread to Japan sometime during the sixth century. I didn't.

Of course we had to have some Chinese finger traps. People were pretty festive and wore red, black, and gold clothing.

And no new years celebration is complete with out fireworks. We had Sparklers. These photos are us trying to be cool and write the word RABBIT, and take a picture. However, my lack of knowing how to use my camera did not allow for cool pictures. (Thank you Darlene Peterson for answering my plea on facebook and providing the sparklers! Your awesome.)

We had a great time with reading about our Chinese Zodiac, and also watching Kung-fu Panda. It was a great excuse to get together, and have a party. Thanks again everyone for being good sports.

For some reason the guys got into jumping, and throwing paper airplanes all while they were being photographed. Not sure why... but they did have a good time. Maybe they were trying to be really awesome at hopping like a rabbit.... or maybe they are just boys being boys?

I think this is part of fulfilling my 2011 goal of PARTY MORE.

happy LOVE day!

2011-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to be thankful for. I am well loved, by family, friends and an incredible husband.

I wish you the very same!

I really do have the best VALENTINE that I could ask for.

LOVE YOU CRUZ.

Why

do I

love you?

These are a

hundred

answers

and yet

ONLY ONE:

because

I do.

valentine's day decor

2011-02-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

I don't really have any decor for holidays except a few random things for halloween, and of course Christmas. So, I tried to go find something cute for Valentine's day. I didn't really have much luck. I was on a budget. I was hoping for something great for $20. Nothing. (Wasn't really wanting to do anything super crafty.) So, I decided that I would just use what I had. I did get 2 things last year for Valentines day a vase, and the placemat.
Here is what I found...

2 glass cylinder vases, have had these for years!
1 glass cylinder vase that says LOVE on it, in different fonts. Pick up last year from all-a-dollar in orem. (Saw that they had them again this year.)
3 red floating candles
Red bead things... left over from a school project
White beads... got for a Christmas decor thing
Pink placemat... a target find last year for something like $1.59
Black frame with our picture in it (had this)
Japanese bowl with red and silver kisses
"LOVE" hanging plastic letters...made with old scrap-booking stuff that is in my closet

I had originally planned it being for the kitchen table, but instead it ended up looking better on the counter. I like it. It didn't cost a cent... who knew we actually had some valentine's day decor just hanging around.

I am excited for VALENTINE'S DAY, it is a holiday that I love since being married. (: It is fun to have a day to celebrate our relationship. I actually already got Cruz some little things for his gift, I just need something great to top it off with. Good thing I have a just a little less than a week, I'll for sure find something.

Turning the big 3-0!!

2011-02-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

Do you remember last years birthday... when I turned 29? See here.

I was wondering how my fantastic husband would make this birthday just as great...

well... he managed to do just that!

Cruz said that he was thinking "COME ON" when I counted wrong. LOL.

On Friday (01.28.2011) we had some friends over for a little gathering of birthday-ness. It was a lot of fun. We did a chocolate fountain, and everyone brought a treat to dip in the chocolate goodness. Thanks to Ashley who saved the chocolate, and made it all work. :) Good times with good laughs. It was a great birthday.

On Saturday we met up with my family at Malawi's Pizza, and it was oh, so good. Seriously I liked it a lot. Their slogan is "Pizza with a purpose" and donates the cost of a meal for an orphan in the southeast African nation of Malawi every time it rings up your order. We even ordered a few of the dessert pizzas, and they were also yummy. I think I will visit again soon.

I did have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY indeed. I consider a birthday a holiday, it's your own personal holiday. (If only we could have PTO for it.) But this year I did turn 30.

Questions that people asked...

Q: Did you do everything that you wanted to do in your 20's?
A: Yes, I guess so. (Is there some stuff that you CAN do in your 20's that you CAN'T do in your 30's that I would want to do? Is what I was wondering.)
Q: Do you feel like you are now OLD?
A: Not really, I think you feel as OLD as you want to feel. When I am sick, I feel 90ish. On a normal day I feel young. Not like 7 or something but I feel pretty good. It's not like I plan on dying in my 30s.

But, on my very BIRTHDAY I did make this LIST...

30 things to do while I am 30:

~~Go to a foreign country~~ 08.2011 England, France, Italy, Switzerland....
Read an entire book in ONE week
~~Have a garden of some kind~~ Summer 2011, potted plant... it is a start.
~~Go on a road trip~~ 07.24.2011 Weekend Vegas, and on to California.
Give something away on my blog
~~Run a 5k (already signed up for one)~~ 03.2011, my husband made this my best run ever. (not in time, but in LOVE.)
~~Go camping~~ 07.24.2011 Went to payson lakes.
~~Ride a roller-coaster~~ 07.2011 Roosevelt fair grounds
~~Donate to a charity~~ 07.2011 Took 2 big bags of clothing to drop off center.
~~Watch the sunrise~~ 08.2011 in Monaco France... AWESOME
~~Try a NEW food~~ 08.2011 in France we ate frog legs and snails
~~Swim in the ocean~~ 07.24.2011 Long Beach Cali. (08.2011, plus in Monaco France.)
Decorate my home office
Do something out of my comfort zone
~~Give blood or plasma~~ 02.12.2011, plasma
~~Surprise my Husband~~ 06.2011, b-day camping trip
Double my Spanish skills
~~Ride my bike to work~~ 04.2011 Not exactly to my full time job, but to my photoshop class I taught. I would have rode my bike to Covenant, but geneva road is taken over by construction.
Write a letter and send it via snail mail
Make a photo album (not just a digital version)
Buy a fancy dress
~~Make art and sell it (or a craft)~~ 07.2011 Friend asked me to make a family rules subway art for her. It was fun, and she was great to work with.
Learn a new photography skill
~~Give someone a gift just because~~ 10.2011 fun! I'll keep it private.
~~Celebrate a random holiday~~ 02.02.2011 chinese NY
Have a BBQ in our backyard
~~Make something I've never made before~~ 10.07.2011, made Thai curry for the 1st time.
~~Send out Christmas cards (we made them last year, and never printed or sent them)~~ 12.2011, done and in the mail. :) Merry Christmas.
~~Have someone over from our ward for dinner~~ Mckenzie and Greg
~~Get a message~~ 10.01.2011 fantastic.

I am not stressing over this list. It is just for fun. It has somethings that will be a challenge like #3, #6, and #14... but mostly these are good things, fun things... so let's see how many I do, I think I can do most of them sooner rather than later, I guess we will see. :) Cheers to being 30. So far so good.

Friends and Taco Salad

2011-02-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

These are the girls that I grew up with, and happy to say that we are still friends. We are all kinda doing our own thing... but still try to get together at least once or twice a year. We made a yummy taco salad. Which works great to have everyone bring a little something. Hope that we can do it again soon.
HUGS!

MLK Day=Black & White Party!

2011-01-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

At the table.

The Soup turned out YUMMY!

Chicken wasn't my favorite... but still good.

These were HEALTHY stuffed mushrooms... only 9 cal. each. Not bad!

These were COSTCO... but we just added the chocolate.

Cruz was a huge help by making the salad. Thanks LOVE.

These were left-over from Christmas... but they matched the party. :)

Don't they look cute in their B&W clothes.

A fun night.

We had such a great evening! I was so glad that we had our little party, even though I was beginning to wonder if we'd pull it off. :) Things took a little longer to prepare than I thought they would. Next time I will for sure need to do some of the stuff the night before. But all in all it was a good time.

We all dressed in BLACK and WHITE clothing. (Thanks guys for participating.) We ate dinner and we also played the game SMART A**. You should totally get this game... it's fun, and you don't really have to be uber guber smart to play. I made some questions to go with our game that had civil rights/MLK trivia on them. It was a easy way to make the game fit into our B&W party.
These are the cards that I made for the game... we played them first, and then just used the normal game cards.

The food we ate was all new recipes! I couldn't find my recipes that I used last year... but these were pretty yummy.

Needed a little salt sprinkled on the top.

This was the yummiest thing.

Chicken really had a lot of KICK. I would do only 1/2 cup of the Apple Cider Vinegar next time.

Feel free to print the recipes... click to see high resolution file.

{As always if you want to see the pictures bigger than click on them. :)}

black & white dinner party

2011-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

celebrate all things.
So far this year we started off with a good party. (NYE was celebrated at sparks, bringing the party well into the new year.) But as I mentioned in my "goals" for this year I want to party more.
Which means I need to get thinking ahead of time. Even though I do think that I through a great party at the last minute. Parties that are planned ahead are always just a bit more festive if you ask me. :)
Party plans for JANUARY include:

01.01.2011: New Years Day: game night (It was a successes.)
01.16.2011: Orem Girls Party: the girls that i grew up with & their families, we usually get together about twice a year.
01.17.2011: Black & White Dinner Party: all things black & white
01.26.2011: My Birthday: knowing us we'll be celebrating on the weekend after or so... but we will for sure celebrate it. (I turn the big 3.0. !)

So... the most unique parties on this list is the Black & White Dinner Party that we have in the works, as of today. It's a really simple concept. We hold it on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's fitting don't you think? We make a HEALTHY dinner; so we can keep up on the health goal of the new year, and enjoy some times with a few friends. Last year I decided to have this party on the very day we held it. Good thing we had 2 cars back then. It was a little rushed and tossed together. We didn't eat until 8 pm, which helped me have time to get everything ready. It was fun, and a perfect excuse to have a dinner party. We invited only one couple over since it was totally last minute, but I think they enjoyed it.

{Black and White party from last year...2010}

This year... 2011, we have a little more planning time. However, this was a festive party without a lot of crazyness, which is always nice. We may not change it up that much; but we will see.

Here are some ideas that I am thinking about:

Stuff:

penguins
zebra
chalk board
polk-a-dots
damask print
white flowers
white vintage vases
black table cloth

Food Ideas: (These are things I am thinking about... I wouldn't be making all this stuff. )

black bean soup and rosemary chicken (same as last year.)
oven roasted turkey
garlic chicken
spinach salad
spinach stuffed mushrooms
sparkling cider
grape juice

Snacks: (Cruz & I would skip on this since were eating all HEALTHY)

thankyou bags with homemade oreos
chocolate and vinilla treats
popcorn
hugs candy

So... those are things running though my head today...! I hope that everyone finds something fun to celebrate this JANUARY whatever it may be.

Any suggestions or good ideas, let me know?

HAPPY 2011

2011-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

I am excited for a very fun, festive and fantastic 2011!
I hope you feel the same

BE CLEAN

2011-01-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2011.

I have many New Year's resolutions and I plan on blogging about ways to do them.

Here is the fist post. Kinda long. I started with this idea from another website... and adapted it for me.

ONE of my resolutions is to BE CLEAN in my house and in other ways.

I’ve never been a big fan of Saturday’s being a clean-a-thon. Especially since I work full time, Saturday is the only day that is just for Me and Cruz. I like it to be a fabulous day of fun.

A friend asked me once, “now that you have a whole house, do you feel like there is tons of cleaning to do?” I said, “not really.” I think it’s because of 3 things:

1. Cruz and I both like things tidy, we make sure everything has a place.

2. We do a little every day.

3. We don’t have kids (less of a mess, and more free time... so I hear.) I don’t think kids equal an excuse to have a mess though. LOL.

To keep on top of “BE CLEAN” I do(ing) the following:

1) Clean up bed-time have everyone take the last 5 minutes before the bed-time routine and organize yourself, and put the clutter away. This way your house isn’t a mess when you wake up, it will help you feel less overwhelmed.

2) Dishes, Trash and Make the Bed. Do Your Dishes After Every Meal. My Mom is a pro at this, in fact if you came over and they were gone; with the dishes not done, you know something is WRONG. (Like people in the hospital.) By waiting to have enough to fill up the dish-washer, makes this feel like a BIG job, rather than a quick thing. The same goes for take out trash as well. If you need to take the trash out, place it by the door to go out in the morning or dispose of it that night so it’s over and done with. Cruz is a gem at making our bed, makes a world of difference. Pretty much when the bed is made it feels like the room is tidy.

3) Laundry I am super lucky since I have one of those washers with a timer on it, so I can load up the washer, set the timer for 8 hours later to start, then when I walk in the door from work, it’s just finishing the load, and I put it straight into the dryer. We also have a laundry basket that had different compartments, so there isn’t a need for a lot of time sorting out the clothes. (A huge time saver.) I try to keep the laundry down to only 2 loads each time. (For us with no kids, this isn’t too hard.) Often laundry day is also movie or TV night. So I can fold clothes during watching. If need be I will toss in a small load while I do other cleaning, otherwise I do it once a week.

4) Dance It Up and Sing Out loud: If cleaning isn’t really your cup of tea, make it as enjoyable as possible. This is a great chance to turn on pandora, your fancy ipod, or whatever you use to play your music. Have fun while working... and burn some calories too.

5) Be Flexible: Most items on the list below should take no more than 20-30 minutes total, except laundry. But if you don’t do them in order it’s ok. Sometimes I need to do one job sooner than the list says... so I just do it, and cross if off the list, and switch it up. (I do this as little as possible.) Another tricky thing is that I don’t like to CLEAN on Sunday. I try to use that day as a day of REST, so if Sunday lands on the 16th for example, I will swap it with the 15th. Easy switch. On Saturdays I do my best to do the cleaning first thing.

I clean in 20-30 minutes a day —every day— and things just seem to take care of themselves. Here’s a glimpse at the schedule I am using for 2011. (Numbers correspond to date on the calendar.)

{ Click to enlarge. }

our top 10 moments in 2010

2010-12-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Favorite parts of our MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Venezuela trip 2010 highlights

2010-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

I love my family... all of them (my own and cruz's)!! It was so nice to finally meet them, and get to spend time with all of them. They are super nice, and made our trip wonderful.

The beaches were amazing. It rained a lot... and yet we still got time to go to the beach rain or shine, we went. :) Any time it was sunny we literally went to the beach.

We went snorkeling, it was a first for me. This was a HUGE star fish.

We tried to enjoy everyday we could out in the sunshine. We went to a little island off of the island Cruz's family lives on... and spent the day there. It was stunning.

Not only did his family share so many yummy meals with us (Cruz's Mom is an amazing cook) but we got to share a few traditions together as well. Cruz and I brought this gingerbread house kit for them to try. We usually make these little houses in the USA but they'd never made them before. It was fun to share a little Christmas tradition with them.

I loved meeting Cruz's nieces, as well as his little cousins. They would talk to me in Spanish all day long... even though I had no idea what they were saying! LOL.

The food was completely amazing, and all the yummy fruit drinks were to die for. We ate a lot! Cruz was stuffing in all the Venezuelan food he could get in before we left.

Cruz has so many friends and such a large family. It was so nice to meet them! We wish we could have spent more time with everyone.

I loved going to Venezuela. I loved meeting my new family. It was such a good time. In 17 days we did a lot of stuff... and had such a blast. I can't wait until we go back. I loved having 17 full days to spend with Cruz, and it was good to see where he grew up. Cruz posted most of the pics on facebook... so i only put a few here... but we took a ton. A trip I will never forget.

gratitude 11.17.2010

2010-11-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

So today i am thankful for:

wednesday: so much nicer than monday.
v.t.'ing: doing our last visiting teaching appointment today. it's been nice to have a companion that enjoys going. love getting to know the ward better.
sky: this morning when arriving at work, we saw such a pretty sky with a purple/pink stripe.
chap-stick: it saves my dry lips. i like the minty kind best.
family: helpful. nice. and always willing to do what ever they can for you. i am blessed for sure.

Gratitude 11.16.2010

2010-11-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

So today i am thankful for:

orange juice: haven't had it for a while. tasted SO yummy today.
warnings: it is nice to have a little second before something is going to happen no matter what big or small.
kids: watched little em last night. she was completely adorable. she gave us good laughs.
sanitizer: hand sanitizer that sits at my desk, just may be my best friend during the sick season.
health: overall i have been super blessed in the health department during my life, and i know i don't thank it enough. so today i eat health to say thank you body for not having some flu or awful thing.

Gratitude 11.15.2010

2010-11-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

So today i am thankful for:

finished: i have had a goal I've been working at and I did it! i finished it. i didn't give up. it was hard, but i completed it.
dad: he is the best. needed to steel his car today to get around, he didn't mind.
movies: a great way to relax and rest while it is cold outside.
work: it is always satisfying when you work hard and accomplish much.
water: i need it. it is good for me. refreshing.

Gratitude 11.11.2010

2010-11-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

So today i am thankful for:

veterans: thank you for all of your service. thank you for risking your life so that i can live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
friendship: i am so impressed how once a friend always a friend. even if you don't get to see each other that much or at all.
excitement: cruz is like a little kids waiting for christmas. he is so excited for our trip to venezuela... it is adorable. ;)
laughter: always good after a long day. well, actually it's good just about any time.
energy: i have had more lately. i like it. (though today i was wide awake in the morning, and now i am planning a little nap after work. tee heee. he.)

Gratitude 11.10.2010

2010-11-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

So today i am thankful for:

half way: i am working on something, it's a challenge and today I am half way! so happy! excited to do the next half.
phones: i love that my love, can call me whenever and we can chat. (i don't know why, but lately i am in a super lovey dovey mood. i just love my hubs.)
trust: i trust in heavenly father's plan. it makes all the difference.
hot water: love washing my hands in super hot water when it's cold out.
kindness: a little kindness goes a long way. it can change people. it can make yourself be a better person.

Gratitude 11.09.10

2010-11-09T12:02:00.000-08:00