these are a few of my favorite things

When he goes running with me.

When we watch our favorite tv shows together and laugh at the same things.

When we cook dinner together.

When he helps me around the house.

When he watches my favorite movies with me when I know he would rather be watching something else.

When he lets Abbi snuggle up in his arms, and Briggs snuggle up on his lap.

When he kisses my forehead.

When he says ‘I love you’ first before we hang up on the phone.

When I get butterflies in my stomach because I'm so excited to see him.

When he changes the words to songs to make them about me (or makes up his own songs).

When he knows I’m upset about something and won’t let me talk about it unless he’s holding me.

I’m so glad he is apart of so many of my favorite things...

they wouldn't be my favorites without him.

it couldn't last forever

But I really wanted to make this decision on my own. Instead I’m being forced (okay, not really, but it sure feels like it).

Yesterday my stake had a special sacrament meeting for all the student married wards. Knowing about this meeting for the past few weeks had caused a lot of us to speculate. Our speculations were right.

We were asked to go to our home/residential wards. These wards are lacking members and they need us there to strengthen them.

I knew this time would come…that we would need to take this step and begin going to our residential ward. I just thought it would be when we had a kid. And we made the choice.

Technically we are making the choice (oh the joys of free agency). And because we know our church is true, and we felt the Sprit so strongly in the meeting that this was the right thing for us to do, we are doing it.

And with that I am praying for faith and courage.

I can’t describe the feeling of loss I have leaving my ward. I know we went to this ward for a reason. My testimony has never been stronger. It has been strengthened by each member of my ward. I love each of them so much. I never thought in a million years I would have such a connection like this. They are my family. I will miss interacting with them each Sunday. Learning from them. Being uplifted by them. Following their examples. I have been blessed beyond measure by this ward.

To be honest, I’m dreading this next Sunday. I’m nervous. Afraid of getting a calling that very first day. In the Primary.

So yes, I’m praying for faith and courage.

And an attitude change.

I have had some hard feelings toward my home ward.

They have been a bit pushy.

If you push me, I push back.

They asked us to host a ward function. When we weren’t in the ward.

They also told us they had callings for us. When we weren’t in the ward.

It’s almost like they treated us like we were inactive.

Nope, we’re very active in the very same church you are.

So maybe those hard feelings are still there…

Oh, this is going to be so hard for me!

I think he’s trying to steal my side kick spot.

And because he’s just so dang cute, I just might let him.

Briggs follows Gordon everywhere.

And has separation anxiety when he’s gone.

We can’t do anything without him. I tried to take him on a walk while Gordon was working on his Cruiser and Briggs wasn’t having it. I think he’s afraid he won’t be there when we get back. But he always is.

So naturally when Gordon decided to ride my bike around our neighborhood, Briggs was right there with him. Running along side and keeping up the best he could.

He’s adorable. And I love him very much (and Gordon too).

Abbi got a little jealous of the freedom we gave Briggs to run around unleashed.

So I decided to trust her a bit and let her go too.

She followed the two of them for about 2 seconds.

Then she looked back at me as to say “sucker” and took off in the other direction.

She’ll be the one in the bike basket when I get one.

earth day every day

That’s what my t-shirt says. I wore it today in honor of Earth Day. It’s made out of organic cotton. Fancy right? It’s one of my favorite t-shirts. Because it’s true, Earth Day is every day.

Today is a good day to make some changes. Here are a few suggestions and pledges of my own to help take better care of our Earth.

I will take shorter showers…

I will continue to use a reusable water bottle…

and I will eliminate individual bottles of water from my life, my house, and possibly from the hands of my loved ones...

I will ride my bike or walk around my city instead of drive…

I will continue to use my reusable tote bags (and use them everywhere I go)…

I will continue the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)…

I will plant a tree and lots of flowers this year...

I will continue to replace the light bulbs in my house (once they have gone out) to the energy efficient ones…

I will have an organic garden…

I will continue to pay my bills online instead of receiving bills in the mail....

I will use environmentally friendly cleaning products (you can make your own and they work great)....

I will buy foods (especially fruits & veggies) locally as to lower the emissions created from transporting goods cross country…

I will pick up litter while on walks and hikes…


Doing something to help the Earth is better than nothing. It’s too beautiful to waste.

I think I’ll call her Murray or maybe Blue Bonnet.

I can’t wait to take her to Bear Lake this summer. Cruise the beach on my beach cruiser.

And go cruising with Jenny, my soon to be sister-in-law. She has two cruisers and she’s promised me we’d go riding together.

Best $20 I’ve spent in a long time. With a little TLC and a bike basket for the pooches we’ll be cruising together in no time.

to celebrate we went to Tonyburgers

doesn't it just look natural to have these old bikes on the back of the Cruiser..

we thought so too (thanks Matt & Jenny for buying awesome bikes too).

more wiser than older

It’s my Step-Dad’s birthday!

Here are 5 reasons I love Tim.

1. He has taken me in as one of his own. I don’t consider him my Step-Dad. He’s my Dad. He does all of the things Dads do: priesthood blessings, helps me move, works on my car, gives great advice…you know, those sort of things.

2. He loves my Mom. And takes great care of her. And makes her very happy.

3. He is a Beatles fan. Huge fan actually. He is a huge fan of music in general. Especially the old stuff. And I love old music. He encourages me to love it, and lets me listen to all his sweet records, tapes, and cds. And watch his music documentary videos too.

4. He eased me into camping. And four-wheeling. I had never done those things before. And although now I realize camping in a trailer with a fireplace really isn’t camping, it was for me. And I love to camp now (real camp in a tent).

5. He makes road-trips fun. We blast Beatles music and sing-a-long (he won’t admit it, but he sings along with us). We stop at random places (that are out of the way of where we’re going) that are so called “historical” and he’ll tell us the story behind the place. It may take us much longer to get to our destination, but that’s what road trips are all about right.

Happy Birthday Tim! We love you especially little Abbi!

i just want to spend my days playing, not working.

Sometimes being a responsible adult really sucks!

we like italian ice.

so much that we'll eat it right out of the massive bucket it came in.

we don't normally eat it like this. 

when we get it it's in much smaller amounts and mixed with frozen custard.

this was left overs from our ward activity.

we ate it right out of the container. 

we didn't want to have to dirty any bowls.

i never thought i would say running is easy

but after last night's bike ride running is a breeze.

i love Gordon's work building.  old brick buildings have so much character. 

this one has been renovated and is amazing inside and out (although we're in the back of the building which doesn't do it justice)

Since Gordon works so close to work, he's been considering biking instead of driving (doing his part to save the planet...or so he doesn't have to workout once he's home).  Last night during a break from the rain we went on a bike ride in search of the perfect route for him to take.  Naturally, he wants to stay off busy roads as much as possible.  Lucky for him we live super close to a parkway trail which just so happens to take him from our house to his work.  We live on a hill, and the trail starts at the mouth of the canyon we live by.  He has to back track a little to get to the beginning of the trail and to avoid the busy canyon road.  Back tracking means going up hill.  We went off roading a bit (which I don't love), got a little muddy and sweaty, but once we hit the trail it was smooth sailing.  Coming home was not.  We live on a hill.  We had to go up hill to get home.  Up very steap hills.  I was determined not to get off my bike and walk up, and I didn't, even while my legs were shaking and I thought I was going to fall off my bike because I was going so slow but pedaling so fast.

We were gone for an hour and twenty minutes (no, it won't take Gordon that long to get to work and back...we were route searching and exploring so it took us a bit longer).  We burnt a lot of calories.  Way more than I do running.  But sitting is really uncomfortable today.

au naturale

I have a love/hate relationship with my natural curly hair. Most people who know me would never guess I have curly hair. I either straighten it or only let it go 'half' curly (which is just wavy).

I've decided it's time to embrace the curl.  Okay, I had a little push from my friend, Rosie, who suggested I try this product line made for curly hair (she's so kind and is letting me use her product before I buy some of my own).  What really sold me was that this product line, Deva Curl, is the closest hair product you can get to organic without refrigerating it.  And let me tell you, you can tell.  My hair has never felt so amazing after just one use.  The shampoo doesn't lather (they don't call it no-poo for a reason).  Did you know lathering is bad for your hair?!  The shampoo is my favorite.  My hair felt extremely soft after shampooing, instead of feeling like it needed conditioner.

I'm still perfecting my curls (not quite sure how to do my hair curly, as you can tell from the picture).  But I sure am enjoying this new look.

better late than never

Sometimes 5 reasons to love someone is not necessary.

This is one of those times.

I only need 1 reason to love Trevor.

He makes the girl in this picture really, really happy.

Happy belated Birthday Trevor!

Trevor may have felt a little left out that I didn't do a "5 Reason I Love Trevor" post on his birthday last month...

he also may have asked Jodi to ask me why he didn't get one.  I said because he wasn't quite family yet.

Well Trevor, here it is. 

This one's for you.

You're practically family now.

i think i need to reward myself like this every time i run...

but that could get expensive and a little unnecessary.  And I don't think I need to get a pedicure every day.  And I definitely don't need to eat a big fat waffle with real whip cream on top every day either.  That sort of counter acts the effects of running.

But these sorts of things are great to do to celebrate running my first 5K race and my mother-in-law's birthday.

my race time was 34:02.04.  i placed 51st overall, and 10th in my age group.

not bad for a girl with a heart condition and one lung.

i'll take all of those proudly.

and work on getting my mile time to under 10 minutes (9:30 is the goal).

it's our Mom's birthday today!

Here are 5 reasons I love my mother-in-law LeeAnn.

1.  She is an amazing mom.  Being a mom has always been number one in her life and it shows in her family.  Gordon wouldn't be half the man he is today if it wasn't for her.

2.  She is motivated.  She has gone back to school while continuing to work full-time, be a mom, wife, Relief Society teacher, visiting teacher to multiple people in multiple wards, and run her own small business.

3.  She is an active member of our church.  Her testimony of the gospel is unwavering.  And it strengthens mine.

4.  She is a lovely person.  Inside and out.

5.  She is a fun person.  And she comes and has fun with us.  Alpine sliding, 5Ks, pedicures, girl weekends, snowmobiling, hiking, movies...lots of fun stuff!

Happy Birthday Mom!  We love you!

I met the hottest guy skating last night, and we skated together on every couple’s song

Oh boy! I can’t remember how many times I said that when I was in middle school. My friends and I went rollerblading at 7th Street Skating Rink several times a week. All in the name of meeting hot boys. And slapping their hands when it was a ‘just girls’ skating song. And hoping they would ask you to skate with them when it was a couple’s skating song.

Last night brought back all of these fun memories. We had a ward activity at Classic Skating. Not much has changed from the good ol’ skating days. I slapped the hottest boy’s hand on the ‘just girls’ skating songs. And I skated with the hottest boy there on every couple’s song.

I did use rollerskates instead of rollerblades.

And I’m married to the hot boy I skated with.

how many snowboards does one person need?

Currently there are 7 snowboards in our garage. Only one of them is mine. The rest are Gordon’s. He owns 2 of them, and brought home the other 4 from work for ‘work purposes’. This ‘work purpose’ is to test them out on the mountain and report back the pros and cons of each board. His work had a ski day this week specifically for this reason.

Once again, getting paid to do what he loves. He is one happy guy.

Which makes me one happy gal.

isn’t it funny what love will do to you?

It will make you think you love this snowy weather because your husband loves it so much!

I bet I’ll miss the snow when it’s gone…I love the way our city looks all covered in snow.

But I’m willing to take the bet because I’m ready for some nice running weather!

dinner at the boss's house

Doesn’t that just sound fancy? I’ve seen it in movies and on tv and now I’ve lived it. Nothing crazy happened like in the movies or tv, but it was a nice evening.

We were invited for dinner at Gordon’s boss’s house last night. No business, just getting to know each other. The people he works with are amazing. And now I’m even more jealous of him! They all have a passion for the industry they work in, they actually participate in the sports they market, and they are so chill. I’ve decided Oregon people are my kind of people.

Dinner was delicious. His boss is an excellent cook. We had lamb, which I didn’t think I liked but the way she cooked it was melt in your mouth yummy, asparagus, regular & purple potatoes which are my favorite, and strawberry shortcake which is also my favorite.

We talked about cooking and food, and our love of both. And how it is possible to ruin something in a Crockpot. Personal experience has told me that if you don’t have enough juice, the food will shrivel up and although it may smell good and your husband thinks he has the best wife ever for making this delicious dinner only to lift up the lid of the Crockpot to find two little ‘chicken nuggets’ that should have been Swiss steaks and dinner is ruined. Yeah that story killed at dinner. Leave it to me to have a dinner gone wrong story.

There’s talk of doing this whole dinner thing again in the summer. And it will include a movie night outside in their backyard. I can’t wait!

There’s no getting around it. Stubbornness runs in my family.

It takes a lot to get the girls on my Mom’s side of the family to do something they don’t want to do. And I wish I could say I was different but I’m not.

I see a lot of my Mom in me. I see a lot of my Grandma in my Mom. There are a lot of great, amazing, wonderful qualities we all get from each other. And then there are some that others may not view as so great, amazing, or wonderful. This is one of them.

My Grandma’s body is aging. She’s not aging though, just her body. She’ll be the first to tell you that. I have heard her say time and time again that something wasn’t for her because “that is for old people” (she’s 83 by the way).

My Grandma is very spunky. I love that about her, as embarrassing as it can be sometimes. But like I said, her body is aging. And right now she’s in the hospital. If you ask her she’s not staying long. She didn’t want to be there in the first place. As scary as shortness of breath for 2 weeks is, the hospital was the last place she wanted to be. But tests were needed to see why she is storing fluid in her body again.

I'm hoping for the best, but can’t get the worse out of my mind. Praying for her always. And hoping her stubbornness will keep her here longer.

i can't thank my cousin, Missy, enough for calling Grandma's doctor and getting her in sooner than later.

my Grandma has a lot of people that care for her, and now her doctor knows it

he received more than a handful of calls on her behalf all urging him to get her in right away,

my cousin's being the final call

empowered, uplifted, and strengthened

Wasn’t General Conference amazing? It always is.

And isn’t it funny how every talk seems to be written for you?

I felt the Spirit, know without a shadow of doubt that Christ lives, and that families can be together forever.

I can’t wait for the May edition of the Ensign to study each talk more in depth and feel of the Spirit again as my testimony grows stronger.

What comfort I have being a member of this gospel and knowing that it’s true.

hello my name is jessica and i'm a hamburgaholic

Doesn’t this look so delicious? It is. It’s from Tonyburgers.

And I’m not even a meat lover! The majority of the time I eat fake meat, veggie or bean burgers. But hamburgers from Gri-Delis or Tonyburgers are too delicious to pass up.

And apparently I have a problem. I realized this when my work/burger buddy, Teresa, and I used up two punch cards at Tonyburgers in what seemed like 1 month (10 purchases per card and you get a free burger). In my defense…we share a card, get two punches each time we go, and one of the cards was given back to us by mistake and it was completely punched up so we kind of got a free be.

Yes, I’m admitting I have a problem.

No, I am not seeking help for the problem.  I didn't say it was a bad problem.

Don't worry, I am still getting my 5 servings of fruit & veggies each day.

And we don't always get fries.

And I do order a salad every now and again.  They have great salads too.

red lipstick

I am 25 years old. And today for the first time in my life I wore lipstick. Red lipstick.

I was a bit self conscious at first…felt like everyone was staring at my bright juicy red lips (and they were; lots of comments). They weren’t hard to miss on a girl that wears nothing but mascara and a bit of blush.

I have wanted to try lipstick for awhile. So I pick up a red and pink lipstick yesterday and decided to just go for it.

Why not? I’m comfortable in my skin. I love to try new things. I’m always outside of my box because I don’t really have a box.

And you know what...I like it.  Tomorrow I'll try the pink.