JoJo's Smile

2010-12-13T11:10:00.002-07:00

It may be to late to schedule your family Christmas pictures, but you can give the gift of lasting memories with a photo shoot from JoJo Smile Photography! Only $40 buys a gift certificate for a session for your loved one, an $80 value in January! Contact me to place your order today! Merry Christmas!

It is Finally reday!!!

2010-04-14T22:53:00.009-06:00

I have an official website and blog dedicated just to my photography business! JOJOSMILE.COM
For those of you who would like to follow my photography please see me there!
I will still be keeping this blog for my everyday life posts that may or may not be related to the business. I am so excited to be growing in something I truely enjoy and that is making people smile!
I would just like to say a big giant THANK YOU to my good friend, Jeff Rubow, (please visit his website @ jeffrubow.com)who put the website together for me. If you EVER need any graphic design help, for anything, he is definitely the one to call! Please click on his name here to see some of he work. He is a true artist and I am proud to call him my friend!
Well here is to growing to be successful in the things that you love!

The J Family

2010-03-13T10:41:00.004-07:00

This family was so cute and fun! The little girls were totally shy at first and then totally opened up to reveal how beautiful and photogenic they are. We had a great time! Getting to know this family was a real pleasure.

My best friend and her girls

2010-02-27T08:26:00.005-07:00

These are the pictures of all four of them that I promised. They are a very fun and active bunch! My poor M is gong to have her hands full! They sure do love each other though. I miss them so much already. I enjoyed taking their pictures because it allowed me to take them home with me and remember them every day! I hope you enjoy what I captured of my "other" family! ;)

My Best Friends Baby

2010-02-20T21:10:00.004-07:00

During my trip to California I went to see my best friend who just had her new baby girl two weeks earlier. This is her third little girl! I so enjoyed spending time with her and the girls. Here are some of the precious moments I captured of the adorable new one. I took more of all four of them I will post those a little later.
Enjoy!

The W Family Shoot!

2010-02-08T18:15:00.003-07:00

This is the wonderfully, beautiful and fun W family! I have known L&G since our single days! Look at their beautiful family now! We had so much fun getting together down in California. Originally we had planned for another location for the pictures (a local collage) but there was a graduation happening that day, shucks! I think our new location worked out GREAT! It was beautiful, the temp was just right and the kids had fun! (it was at a park) Days like this make me miss California!
Well, I hope you enjoy the pic's as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Modest with Style Magazine Shoot

2010-02-04T22:07:00.004-07:00

This was an awesome shoot! This was for the spring issue of a new and upcoming local fashion magazine called Modest with Style. To get a down loadable copy click here. We had so much fun with the outfit changes, new hair and makeup! Kelly Levesque is the editor of the magazine and she put together all the outfits that our model wore. Haily is a super cute, nice and smart girl! She went to school and church with my oldest daughter. I truely enjoyed capturing her innocence as well as helping her act out a more dangerous side. She was such a good sport even though I know she felt silly at times. They came out great!

The L Family

2009-12-31T13:45:00.004-07:00

This family is so beautiful! We had so much fun with this shoot and I got TONS of really great shots! It was so hard to choose my favorites. After much deliberation and opinions from others I have chosen these to be the favorites. Enjoy!!

B Family

2009-12-30T16:52:00.007-07:00

The B Family was such a pleasure to work with! D was a very busy little boy who was trying so hard to listen and have fun! He makes me smile! Little A is the most serious baby I have ever worked with but, oh boy, she is beautiful and photogenic! I truly enjoyed working with this adorable little family. I hope you enjoy a few of the highlights from the session.

Baby S.S.

2009-12-30T15:40:00.006-07:00

I have finally been able to get these pictures uploaded! YAY!
This baby was just over a week old but he was HUGE!!! I love babies and how naturally cute they are. Capturing the little perfections that make a baby just leave me in aw. This baby was all boy and it was sooo FUN! Here are a few of my favorites.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-19T15:31:00.003-07:00

I just want to apologize to anyone who keeps visiting my blog in hopes of seeing more pictures. I actually have 4 more sessions to post but because of the holidays and because blogger is REALLY SLOW at uploading my pictures I am waiting until next week to post them. Christmas will be done and I will have a week off of work!
Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you enjoy this time with your family and/or loved ones and remember what this season is all about!
If you want to contact me about a photography session and rates for the new year, just message me with your email address. Thanks so much everyone!

The C Family!

2009-12-03T21:44:00.013-07:00

Can I tell you, I just LOVE this family! The girls loved having their picture taken! Little direction was needed and I just love how their personalities came out in these pictures. We had fun! These are a few of my favorites.

The B Family!

2009-11-30T19:04:00.010-07:00

I did this photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. My computer is being really silly right now so I am VERY behind on my edits. I am sooo sorry to all the families who are waiting for their pictures. I am up and running and getting them all done soon.
This family was so fun. The younger brothers really enjoyed getting their pictures taken. I had so much fun and the pictures turned out great!

Support Our Troops!

2009-11-15T21:47:00.004-07:00

I took some pictures for my friend a couple of weeks ago. Her son was leaving to go to Afghanistan with the Army. He was kind enough to agree to get his picture taken for his mom. I know it was really hard for her to say good by, but I hope these pictures are able to keep him close to her heart & clear in her mind until his safe return.

Etended Family

2009-11-15T10:22:00.007-07:00

My friend, after having me take her family pictures, asked me if I would take pictures of her parents and siblings families! I, of course, said I would love to do it. They were so patient with me and so cooperative. I think we got some really AWESOME shots! What do you think?

Halloween Photo Shoot

2009-11-07T16:56:00.015-07:00

This is the best family ever!!! Good friends of mine with beautiful children! Thank you so much for being such wonderful friends, guys.

October Photo Shoot

2009-10-27T21:05:00.016-06:00

I had so much fun on this photo shoot!
I took these pictures this past weekend.

I love working with my friends! They are comfortable with me and I am comfortable with them. It makes for some really great shots! I hope to get some more families to take pictures of. I really love capturing the true and candid expressions of people and especially kids, it really makes me smile! These are some of my favorite shots.

Enjoy!

Halloween Party!!!

2009-10-26T19:26:00.011-06:00

Our friends threw a REALLY FUN Halloween Party this past Friday! I went as Red RidingHood (the alternate ending) :)

Glenn, of course, was the Big Bad Wolf!

We played games like eating donuts on a string. It was a race!

We bobbed for apples!

The ladies were the best!!!

We played a memory game for candy! I sucked!

Glenn had TONS of fun!!!!

I love our friends here in Idaho! They are sooo much fun and like to PARTY as much as I do!!! Yayah! That is what I am talking about!!

My daughters sweet 16

2009-10-18T21:25:00.008-06:00

This has been the day that we have been planning for so long! The anticipation, the preperaton has come to fruition. I started planing for this day years ago telling her all the things she has to look forward to. A head to toe make over, a huge party, and boys (only group dates until she graduates though)! It is all here!

So I started planning the actual party in like June or July. It all stared with "so Marlena, what were you thinking of for your birthday party?" "Well, Mom, what do you think of having everyone come dressed in black and white formals and I am the only one in color?" "Oh! I think that is a GREAT idea!!!" And the rest is all history. I took the bull by the horns and went way above and beyond the call of duty! It was all TOTALLY worth it!
I had one of my good friends come and take some pictures of Marlena for her invitations and to use at her party. I would have done it, but she got a really cool camera before I could. I did some editing on some of the pictures and had Mrlena pick her three favorites. I blew these up to 24x18ish prints and made frames for them to use at the party.

I made 56 invitations, she passed out 50 and I mail the rest to our family. Man those invitations were a lot more work then I thought they would be. I think they turned out pretty awesome though. We bought a black and a clear glass chandelier (what is a formal event without chandeliers, I ask you?) I just went CRAZY and way over budget!

On her birthday, Marlena and I both took the day off so that I could take her to get a head to toe makeover. In the morning I took her to get her hair colored, cut and styled. Then we went to Sephora to get her makeup done. They taught her the tricks of the trade. Then we went to get her an new outfit at Plato's Closet. Since she was all made over and GORGEOUS I took her to the park so that I cold take pictures of her new look. We had tons of fun! Later that evening her dad took her out on her first date. It was cute and they had fun!

The rest of the week was swamped with getting the last minute party stuff put together. I made the cake, the frames, painted branches and so much more! I am sooo happy with how the cake turned out! A whirl wind week but it was all totally worth it. The party turned out just as fabulous as I had imagined. We had a picture station, dancing, an outdoor movie, concession stand, cake, ice cream and karaoke! The guests were so great and we had a wonderful time.
We are done for now, but I have to do this all over again in 2 1/2 years!!!!

Pretty Good Summer!

2009-09-01T21:30:00.009-06:00

We had a pretty eventful summer.

We tried to have a camp out in our backyard with a fire, smores, hotdogs, the whole bit, but the weather did not want to cooperate with us. The wind threatened to blow everything away and then it started to rain. We didn't let that ruin our fun! We brought the camping trip inside the house, tents and all! We had lots of fun!

For the Fourth of July we had a barbecue with some friends and went to watch the fire works in Melba.

We went to California for the funeral of Glenn's aunt Sandra. She was a wonderful lady who the Lord decided that she had been fighting her cancer long enough and took her home. It was a beautiful and very uplifting service. I am so glad that we all got to go and say our last good byes and be there to support our family. Nanny will be missed.

My Mom was able to come and visit me for my birthday! We had so much fun playing games and doing craft projects! I wish she lived closer so that we could do more fun things together.

Now that the girls are back in school, there is no more fun to be had.... J/K J/K

Marlena is turning 16 next month! I have a huge party to plan! I love planning parties!!! YAYAH!! I hope some of my family from Cali will be able to come and visit for the event. 16! Can you believe it!!! I am too young for this. WOW 16! What am I going to do? She is leaving me too soon! I can't take it. I won't think about it anymore.... But wait.... I have a party to plan!!! I have to think about it. ----sigh---- with a little tear---

I am going to be an empty nester in 5 years???? What is that??? I will be barely in my 30's??? Ahhhhh!!!! What am I doing to myself??? Jodie Just STOP!!!

ok I feel better now.

It's our Anniversary!

2009-06-28T18:19:00.005-06:00

Today marks the day of our marriage 6 years ago. It has truly been an adventure! I just want to let everyone know how much I love and appreciate my husband. He might be a little quirky or abrasive at times, but if he wasn't he wouldn't be my Glenn. He is so good at handling my idiosyncrasies. He is so patient with me which shows me that he truly loves me too. That is all I really wished for in a husband and I got it 100%. He is so good at showing me he loves me!
We had a fun anniversary weekend. We stayed the night, Friday night, at the Residence Inn in Boise. Glenn reserved us a King Suite! We got some fun snacks so that we could make a late night of it. We asked the person at the front desk if we could use the pool after hours so that we could be alone for our anniversary. They were so sweat, they said that we could come down and use it when ever we were ready. They pool closed at 10pm, so we went down at 11pm. It was sooo romantic!!! On Saturday we went to the mall because the hotel was right across the street. We treated each other to a gift of their choosing. Glenn got me a cute new outfit and I got him some stylin new shoes! We went to Emilio's @ the Grove for dinner! My honey loves to spoil me and satisfy my need for the occasional gourmet experience. After dinner he took me to see The Proposal. That was a really funny and cute movie. We truly enjoyed ourselves this weekend!
Thank you to my honey for being everything I ever wanted and everything I need.

My Baby Sister's Married!!!!

2009-05-14T20:07:00.002-06:00

I went to Cali from April 25- May 4. While I was there I put together my sisters wedding reception. Now when I say reception I mean the decorations, the food, and the cake! Let me tell you, without the help of my close friends and family there is no way I would have been able to pull that off in a week. Well, I would show you pictures but I was soooo dang busy I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Hopefully I will get some soon from a dear friend of mine who definitely has my back there. She was able to take pictures of everything. Even though it was a very stressful week I think it turned out wonderfully! I just wish I had pictures to post right now!!! AHHHH!!! I am going to go call my friend to see where they are.

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T19:35:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year! The Girls an I died eggs together. They were very creative!

FUN! FUN!

BEAUTIFUL Eggs!

The Girls really enjoyed our Easter Breakfast!

Decadent Stuffed French Toast!

We did an Easter Egg Hunt race. Who ever found the most eggs without dropping them or running into one another won. They were only allowed to find them one at a time, run them to the holder, then they were allowed to go get another. So if there were two in one spot they couldn't grab them both, they had to pick one and drop it off before they could get the other one. It was super fun, they tied. The prize was that the winner got to read the resurrection story from the bible to the family. Since there were two winners we got to hear two accounts. One from Matthew and one from Luke.

Family Pictures! Before Church

Family Pictures! After Church.

My Beautiful Kayla.

And My Gorgeous Marlena!

The Girls.

Sexy Hubby! WooHoo!

We got Chocolate and Giant Coloring books from the Easter Bunny. The girls colored in them while I made dinner. Then we all colored together after dinner while watching a movie on the life of Jesus.

We had guacamole deviled eggs, salad and a potato casserole for dinner. I also made a pineapple walnut upside down cake for dessert.

All in all we had a fabulous time bonding together as a family and reflecting on our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the sacrifice that he made for me, my family and all of us so that it could be possible for us to return to our Heavenly Father someday.

I hope everyone had a wonderfully happy Easter!

Happy Spring!!

2009-03-22T08:44:00.003-06:00

I did get my St. Patricks Day Potato!!!! IT WAS SOOO GOOD!!!

I love spring time. It starts to get warmer, the flowers start to grow. I am so motivated, this year, to get the most out of the warm weather. Yesterday my husband and I started cleaning the garage. After almost two years of living here, in Idaho, we are finally completely unpacked!!!! It felt really good to be able to walk trough our third car portion of our garage. Next weekend we are going to get ready for a yard sale that we will have some time in April.
We will also be starting a vegetable/fruit garden this year. This makes me soo happy!!! I have wanted one since we got married almost six years ago. It is going to be lots of work, but it will get me outside way more this year.
Yea for getting organized, self reliant and healthy!!
I lost 10 lbs in the past 2 months (well it was 12 but then my body didn't like that number) and I plan to keep going. I workout 5-6 days a week and I have been doing this very fun game with a group of friends called "Feel Great in 8". It is a game of points. You get points for eating good food, exercizing, drinking water, and some other good things we should be doing on a day to day basis anyway. We lose points for eating bad foods. It was super fun! My friend Celeste and I were a team, we got third place. I think we would have done better if I hadn't had surgery during the game. It ended March 8th and we are starting another round tomorrow. YAY! Another 8 weeks to try to develope better habbits and have fun doing it.
Happy Spring everyone!!!

Don't Let me forget!!!

2009-03-03T20:31:00.002-07:00

I have forgotten for the past two years!!!! I do not want to forget this year!!! This is the only month that you can get the St Patricks Day potato @ See's candy. I can't forget. I get sooooo upset when I do because I love it soooo much. So when you see me or talk to me remind me that I have to go get my potato @ See's!!! PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

Oh My!!!!

2009-03-01T14:32:00.003-07:00

It's March???? Wow February was a month of emotional roller coasters. I have a feeling that it is not over yet. March on!!
My husband decided that he wants to try to love me again. My little sister got engaged! I am trying to help with planning the wedding, that will be in Cali., from Idaho; not even knowing if I will be able to be there to see how it turns out. I finally had my gallbladder surgery on the 20th. My Mary brought her beautiful baby girls and Alice up, from Cali, to take care of me. Now I am in a new ward at church. It is all a lot to take into one short month. I can't wait to see what March has in store for me.

Happy February!!

2009-02-07T13:35:00.002-07:00

Here's to the shortest month of the year!!
With my husband trying to kiss up to me until Valentines Day and me getting surgery, this month should be a fun one!! Here's hoping anyway.
I know times are tuff right now for a lot of people, but try to focus on your blessings and do something nice for your loved ones. I am also speaking to my self because I have been really down and negative lately. If we all try to serve the ones we love it should make us appreciate them more. That's the theory anyway. I am going to try it and hope it picks up my mood. I will let you know how it goes. If anyone has a good experience with it of has any tips I would really like to know.
So everyone just go on LOVIN' this month!!!
Have Fun!

My New Favorite song

2009-01-18T16:40:00.003-07:00

1,2,3,4 by the Plain White T's. You should totally check it out if you haven't heard it yet. Click Here
It is just one of those feel good pick me up songs that makes me want to dance around and be happy. I Love It!!!

My honey's Birthday

2009-01-13T21:29:00.004-07:00

It was my Husbands birthday today. He was sick in bed all day, but the girls and I tried to make the night special anyway. I baked two Dark Chocolate Fudge cakes (it is really hard to do that when you are on a diet where you are not to eat any sugar or chocolate)!

The girls decorated this one for our special night and I did the other in a ganache glaze with white chocolate details for work.

Kayla made Glenn his favorite soup (Campbells tomato) with toasted cheese bread. The girls just wanted Raman with the fabulous cheese bread (oh have I told you I can't have cheese or BREAD on this diet either!!!!) My dinner was wonderful any way. I had steamed salmon and shrimp with brown rice and my Red and Fabulous Dressing. (recipe to follow)
The girls and I took a little shopping trip to Macy's on Saturday to get Glenn his presents. I had a gift card that I had gotten for Christmas. I got Glenn two new white shirts for church, Marlena picked out a trendy zip up sweat shirt and Kayla picked out a stylin plad shirt with a graphic print on the front and back. They had fun choosing clothes for their dad, whom they now have to pick out clothes for because he dresses too "old".

Glenn liked his gifts. While we ate dinner we watched the movie, Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was fun to spend time with my family and celebrate my husband being here with me for another year. I do love my husband.

Red and Fabulous Dressing

By: Jodie Tourville

1 jar roasted red pepper (drained)

1 bunch of cilantro

Zest and Juice of 1 Lime

Pinch of Salt (for my friends out there who hate it when things are measured this way, use 1/4 tsp.)

Put it all in the food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

SOOO yummy, SOOOO easy & SOOOO Healthy!

Use it as a dip for veggies, dressing for salad or warm it up and put it over chicken or fish.

You should definitely try it!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-04T18:48:00.004-07:00

I am coming to realize that I am not so good at this blogging thing. That doesn't mean that I am going to give up though, it just means that I need to try harder. That is what new years resolutions are all about, right?

Here's to starting the new year.
Last year had it's challenges and blessings. The challenges and blessings from last year have inspired my resolution for this year. One of the challenges from last year is that I have been feeling sick for the past 12 months. One of the blessings I have received from last year is the ability to get medical insurance. My new years resolution is to find out what is going on with my body and then fix it. This may be an expensive and emotionally challenging resolution, but I know it will be worth it. With the prayers and support of my family and friends I know that I can accomplish this task.

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Chrismas! Here's hoping for a Happy New Year!

So October is so Over!

2008-11-15T08:27:00.010-07:00

I know, I know, October is so WAYYY over! I have some pictures from October that I never showed you.We rented Marlena a moon bounce for her 15th birthday party!

She had fun! Glenn didn't get any pictures of her jumping with her friends. Sad!!

I had fun dressing the girls up as ROCK STARS for Halloween! Glenn and I have been wearing the same t-shirts for the last three years. The girls didn't want to wear the same costume that they wore for the last two years so I helped them make one up. When I got home from work we only had 15 minutes before the trunk or treat started, so we threw this little number together. Then people were saying that they were to old and they wouldn't give them any candy!!! What is that??? Who cares!!! It's not like they are punk teenagers who are out to take everyones candy! They just wanted to have a little fun' just like everyone else. I know people have strong opinions about stuff like that, but I say, loosen up for heavens sake!!! They are still kids and it is only freakin candy!!!

We had fun anyway. We went home, I ordered Pizza and we watches Ghost Hunters for the rest of the night. We also had some friends stop by and visit for a little bit. That was fun. Kayla also enjoyed handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to the door.
Now it is almost Thanksgiving!!! Crazy!!! We are planning to head on up to Washington to visit some family there. Sounds like fun!!!

Where Did October Go???

2008-10-23T08:44:00.007-06:00

Can you believe that October is almost OVER ALREADY????? That means that the Holidays are upon us!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!! I am sooo not prepared for this. Halloween.....
Thanksgiving!!!!!......
Christmas????.....
What am I going to do? This Christmas I will be staying in Idaho. No Caos?? It's just not Christmas without Family Caos! I am going to have to fill my time. Any suggestions??

Free handbag? Yayah!

2008-10-11T23:35:00.002-06:00

Just For fun!
www.handbagplanet.com

I'm Back!

2008-09-13T19:11:00.002-06:00

I don't mean to neglect all you devoted bloggers out there who take the time to view my blog. I have found a temporary love that has been taking up all of my free time. The Twilight seres. I was afraid to start reading them thinking that they might be too juvenile to spend my precious time on, but my friend insisted that it would be worth it and even is loaning me her books! Well I am hooked! I am half way through the third book out of four though; so I will soon be back to reporting on a not so regular basis. Hey, I'm tryin here. You gotta give a girl that, at least.

Do you think I should go get a tetanus shot? I put a rusty nail through my finger nail today. It is really starting to hurt now that it is 4 hours after the fact. I was removing rusty nails from some wood in my friends back yard so that no one would get hurt. Kind of funny huh?

Well here's to another upcoming busy week. Ready....Set...Here we go!

The pictures I promised

2008-08-31T19:15:00.003-06:00

So here are the pictures we took at Shoshone Falls. Sorry it took so long.

Life has been kind of crazy lately. I have been in a major funk. I haven't been feeling very well either. The girls have started school and seem to be on a good track though. Work has been really good! It is nice to have a source of stability in my life right now.

I made up a new recipe yesterday! It is called chocolate facial cookies. I went to this activity for relief society on homemade spa recipes. There was a recipe for a chocolate facial mask. I tried it and it felt really good, but then.... I tasted it! It was made of all edible ingredients and it was YUMMY! So, I decided to make cookies out of it! All I had to do was add some eggs, flour, and some other essential cookie ingredients and poof! Yummy cookies!

Last weekend.

2008-08-15T10:18:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday (Aug. 9th) was awesome! We took the girls to the Twin Falls Temple open house. It was beautiful! I don't think the girls got as much out of it as I had hoped, but they did like it. The teenage mind, not impressed with much, unless it has to do with fashion or boys. NE way, after the temple we went to have dinner. We don't know the area at all, so we decided to just drive around. Marlena spotted a restaurant that we had mistook for a garden center. It was really nice! Nicer than we had expected to spend money on that evening, but it sure was yummy!
After dinner we went to the Shoshone Falls. Wow! That was beautiful! The girls really started to liven up there because they said it is a good place to remember for when they start dating! OOIIVAY!!!
We had a great time together! I will put up some pics later.

I love to be bugged!!!

2008-08-07T20:07:00.003-06:00

My WONDERFUL boss gave me something to help me achieve my goal to lose weight. It is called the Body Bugg! Click here to learn more.
I think this little bugg is really going to help! All I have to really do is keep moving and keep track of what I am eating and the bugg will help me stay on track!
Wish Me Luck!

Summer Fun In Cali!!!

2008-08-04T21:53:00.010-06:00

We were in California from July 26th-August 2nd.
It was so nice to spend time with family and
friends we hadn't seen in a while. On Saturday we
went out for a late lunch/early dinner (linner)
with Glenns family. We then poked our head in at
my moms house then my dads. At my dads we
had a close encounter with a bear!!!

Monday we went to the Corona Del Mar with
My Best Friend, Mary Rubow, and her two kidos.
Lindsey Watson and her three kidos. My Mom,
Nephew, Niece, and Brother in Law. It was soo
much fun I am sad my Kids had to miss it
because they were at their other moms house.

I went to see my Kate's dance class on Tuesday!
It was so cute to see all these little kids try to
dance.

My Oma is sick and had to go back into the
hospital on Wednesday. That was sad. She is
doing ok now though.

We had an early birthday party for me on Friday
night @ my dads house. It was awesome to be
able to play games with friends then stay up until
the wee hours of the morning talking with my
dad, mom and sister, Jamie.

It was super fun, but I sure am glad to be home!

The Girls Are Home!

2008-07-24T19:00:00.003-06:00

They had a great time, but I am not sure I am ready for them to be home yet. I haven't fully healed from their brutal attacks on my sanity. I guess I have to be ready though. We only have tomorrow to pack and then we are off to Cali.
It should be fun! Our family has practicly every second of our time planned out. I hope we can squeeze it all in. Well I guess this is going to be a short post.

Sooooo it's been a While

2008-07-23T20:21:00.002-06:00

Sorry to all my beloved people who look at my blog. I have been very neglectful. I can not believe that July is almost over already!!!!
My Girls are in Wyoming right now! Thank goodness!!! I love them to death but I REALLY needed a break! They are driving me NUTS! Why are they in Wyoming; you ask? They are doing an authentic pioneer trek for three days. They will be walking and pulling hand carts with only the clothes on their backs (pioneer clothes) and what they could fit in a five gallon bucket (extra pioneer clothes and things to eat with). It is a 17 mile trek. Then on Thursday they will be in Utah to see the temple square and other things there. They will be home Thursday night.
Then on Saturday we are off to Cali for a family Vacation! I am soo excited! It is going to be a trip were every minute of our time is going to be busy. At least we get to stay for a whole week. FUN FUN FUN!

Nothin New!

2008-07-09T20:28:00.014-06:00

Hey, so I haven't been posting as much as I had hoped I would be. I figured I should update you on the nothing that has been going on.

Kayla took some pretty cool pictures of the fireworks on the 4th! I promised I would show you some of those.

We have also been watching our friends two dogs. A Great Dane and a chiwawa. This has been truly fun! Bruno is having the time of his life but he is getting really sore with all the playing that has been going on.

Besides work and the doggies nothing else spectacular has been going on. I promise next week will be better because I get to go grocery shopping this weekend!!! Yea!!!! That means I get to cook real food again!!!! I will let you know how it turns out!!!

2008-07-04T23:22:00.002-06:00

Before I go to bed I just wanted to wish you a happy fourth of July! I hope you all enjoyed celebrating what this country is all about FREEDOM! GOD BLESS AMERICA! I love our country even though it has it's problems. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I will be posting some pictures Kayla took at the fireworks show. I hope you love our country as much as I do.

Anniversary Weekend!

2008-06-30T21:38:00.015-06:00

What a memorable anniversary!

We stayed in a great hotel,

ate fabulous food and had a wonderful time together. We ate at The Tavern on Friday night. Then we went to the hotel and had a soak in the jacuzzi tub and shared our desserts. Saturday morning Glenn presented me with a beautiful necklace. Then we walked down to a little French bistro for breakfast. This restaurant totally gave me all kinds of inspiration for this restaurant that I want to start. Glenn wants me to write it all down. It is going to be a dessert restaurant called Heaven. We would only serve desserts. It would be a gourmet experience with down home touches. I would also feature an extra seasonal menu for the holidays. I want it to feel totally fancy when you walk in but as soon as you sit down you can get comfortable and enjoy yourself. We went over tons of details on how we could accomplish this. It was so fun to have time to dream together.
After breakfast we walked over to the down town Boise farmers market. It was fun to walk together arm in arm looking and admiring all the different booths and shops. Later that evening We had dinner @ Chandlers, the restaurant in our hotel. The food was sooo good!! They gave us dessert on the house for our anniversary. That was sweet of them.
We went back to the hotel room and Glenn made up this game for us to play called Marco Polo "Kiss Me". (I personally think we should come up with a better name for it) it was sooo fun! One person closes their eyes and spins around ten times. In the mean time the other person has to hide somewhere in the room. When the person stops spinning he keeps his eyes closed and says "kiss me", then the other person has to make a kissing sound. The person with their eyes closed tries to find the other person by repeating "kiss me" and the other person making the kissing sound in the same fashion as Marco Polo. When the person with their eyes closed tags the other person their reward is that they get to kiss the person where ever they want. Then the players switch. I didn't know he had it in him to make up such a game. Maybe he read it somewhere. Either way it was totally fun!
We went back home on Sunday to take the Girls to church. All in all it was a great week end to celebrate five fantabulous years!

5 years!

2008-06-26T19:25:00.018-06:00

This weekend is my 5 Year Anniversary!

June 28th, to be exact. As I look back on the person I was 5 years ago there has been lots of changes.

I have grown up tremendously!

I still try to maintain my bubbly personality, but it is much harder to do now a days.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Family, but they can turn my happy face into Angry Mom on the War Path in a heart beat. My marriage has not been what I expected (let's face it we all want it to be a romantic movie everyday), but it has been exactly what I anticipated at the same time. HARD WORK! I truly and deeply know that my husband loves me with ALL of his heart. He tries, to his best ability, to treat me like his queen. He does the laundry while I cook. He runs to the store for me five minutes before we are expecting guests because I forgot one of the ingredients for what I was cooking. Getting up early in the morning to help get the girls ready for the day so I can get an extra hour of sleep. There are so many things that he does to help make my life easier; I truly am thankful for the wonderful man I chose.

We are going to be spending this years anniversary here in Boise @ the Hotel 43. It is "A Stylish Downtown Boise Hotel". Check it out @ hotel43.com. Two wonderful night! Just the two of us! I am VERY Excited!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!

Starting a blog

2008-06-25T20:41:00.007-06:00

I am starting a blog to give myself a hobby or a place to share my hobbies and get some feed back on likes an dislikes of things that I make. It is also a place were I can vent my frustrations and share my joys. I am not the best writer by any means so if I have any writing or spelling errors please keep it to yourself.

I am also starting this to give my family and friends back in Cali an idea of how I am doing.

I am working full time at a small company that does billing for school based medicaid here in Idaho. My husband, Glenn, works with me. We are account administrators and do data entry. Glenn is actually a Network Administrator by profession, but he just does that on the side for now. We love our job!

We have two children, Marlena & Kayla. Marlena is 14 and will turn 15 in October; Kayla just turned 12 on the 21st of this month. You will probably be hearing A LOT about them! I LOVE them to death, but BOY do they know how to push my buttons. "The Girls" (as you will soon find out, this is how I refer to them a lot of the time) are Glenn's from a previous marriage. They are mine now though.My husband and I have not been able to have any children together yet. We have been trying for over 2 years now.

I LOVE to cook and be crafty! I will be posting pictures and ideas of new things that I do. I would love to have feed back on what you think about them. If I ever do have a baby, I would like to be able to start my own business selling things that I make. So I need very honest opinions about if you think I would be able to sell my crafts and goodies.

I am trying to lose weight too. Glenn and I have been going to the gym at least 3 days a week for the past three months. We are trying to eat better, that is the hard part. Glenn is doing great! My progress is moving a lot slower than I hoped. I will keep you posted on that too.
Stay tuned for what I have in store for you. It will be something different every time, I'm sure! This is new for me so be patient as I learn how to do this blogging thing. You will be hearing from me soon! Yayah!