Blogging is hard sometimes

So, I have a lot to catch you up on... Red hair photos... and some other photos that I can't recall right at this moment.

Anyway... there is lots going on around here. Harrison graduates in a couple of days and we have been busting our butts getting the house ready so we don't FREAK anybody out with our grossness. HA.

Thanks to all of those friends and family who have asked if there is anything they can do to help. I don't know right now... HA. But I am sure I can think of something.

Well, I will be sure to get the photos online and things all caught up! I just added BLOGGER to my "text messaging" list... now I can blog via my phone. My phone is amazing... this site is amazing!

MWAH for now!

I'm 25 today! "Hoppy" Easter Birthday to me!

So, you are probably wondering in your mind, "Jaala, do you feel any older or any different now that you are 25 years old?" The answer to this question is kind of complicated. I don't feel any "older" per say, but it is weird to think that I am no longer in my "early twenties". I have now officially crossed the bridge into my "mid twenties". That is strange to me. While I am still a Twenty-Something, there is something inside of me that thinks I am finally starting to "get older".

My birthday weekend has been wonderful. I looked at the calendar last year and realized that my birthday would fall on Easter Sunday for the 2nd time in my life (I also turned 12 on Easter Sunday). I was excited. Why? I don't know. I guess its kind of cool to have your birthday fall on a holiday every once in a while. I have a little brother who gets to have a Thanksgiving birthday when his birthday falls on a Thursday.... anyway....

Since my birthday is today and it is Sunday, I had most of my birthday festivities yesterday. Harrison and I slept in and went to do the grocery shopping. We ate donuts at Krispy Kreme Donuts, which was amazing, and then we went out and did some birthday shopping.

Before I tell you about the things I got yesterday, I want to tell you about what Harrison got me for my birthday. He gave it to me this morning. I woke up only an hour and a half ago (11am) and he had this ready for me.....

A gift certificate to the Trump Spa in Vegas. We are staying at the Trump hotel in Vegas for our anniversary next month. I am really excited about my gift. Did you know that I have NEVER had a full massage before? Well, I will now!

My Dear Lizzie Experience

My department at work were so kind to give me a birthday gift. It was a gift card to a sweet little boutique here in Utah County called Dear Lizzie. I had heard about this AMAZING place from a few people, but I had never had the chance to pop over.
These next few photos of the shop were taken from my iPhone, so they don't look really clear and they don't do the shop justice. The shop was so incredible. The owner of the shop was there and I talked to her for a minute about reading the article about the shop printed in this month's Romantic Homes magazine. She was so nice. She was very excited that I was there for the first time.

This beautiful jeweled bed could have been mine for a mere $4800.00. It was beautiful.




My entire experience at Dear Lizzie was amazing. The sites, sounds, and smells were fabulous. After poking around at the shop for almost an hour (there was so much to see)... I made my final selections for purchase. I asked them to gift wrap it for me since it was for my birthday.... The following picture are photos of what I purchased:

I purchased some jeweled hanging letters for my living room. They read "H & J". I love them. They now hang over my fireplace.

To the common person, buying some velvet ribbon might not seem like any big thing, but to me it is a little slice of heaven right here on Earth. I was able to buy a few colors to put in my stash of crafting notions.

I didn't buy any of this at Dear Lizzie, but I wanted to show off what I have in my mantle. HA

And here hangs my beautiful letters. They are the only things hanging right now, but I have big plans for this space on the wall. So, this is just a start.

I also purchased a box of "everything bird" stickers. I like birds a lot. Not real ones really, but I love vintage photos and drawings of birds, which is exactly what this tin of stickers was all about! AMAZING!

Thank you Jane!

Jane is such a good friend and co-worker of mine. She surprised me with a special edition Somerset magazine entitled "Marie". It is all about Marie Antoinette inspired everything. I love it. The magazine has been sold out but Jane worked her magic (like she always does) and she found a copy and gift wrapped it for me.

I love the little "Craft Star" button she included on the vintage lace bow.

This magazine may not seem like much to some, but this means a lot to me. Jane and I share the same kind of "style" and so this little token of love meant a lot.

What an amazing birthday. I was sent a couple of birthday cards and emails from friends and family. I love birthdays. I love the whole idea of having a special day to celebrate "you".

Thanks to everybody who is reading this and contributed to my wonderful and special day! I love you all!

I think these turned out good. Who knew I had it in me?

So a few weeks ago we went out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and took Harrison's graduation photos. It was kind of weird for me since I am usually the one posing or posing other people and Harrison is the one behind the camera. Well, it was MY turn to shoot the photos. I had fun, but I was kind of scared that none of them would turn out very good. BOY... Was I wrong. I think a few of them turned out pretty good (I took about 100 photos).

This one is one of my favorites. I love the angle on it and his face. I love this guy. He is pretty sexy.

We both decided that this was our favorite photo. So... with a little PhotoShop.....

VOILA!
Here is the final photo we sent out with the graduation announcements. I think Harrison did an amazing job with the editing. I love it.

After the photo shoot we went up to the trail head leading to the "Y" on the mountain. Harrison was taking photos to put together some HDR photos and so after he was done, we decided to take advantage of the sunset and the remote control for the camera.

We don't show kissing very often!

It was a fun day. I am so glad we went out to do it. I love Harrison a lot and I am so proud of him graduating from BYU. He has worked really hard the last two and a half years. He amazes me everyday with how smart and witty he is. I am so glad that we will be celebrating our 4th anniversary next month! Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Thankful Thursday

Another Thankful Thursday. Today I am thankful for:

My Co-Workers
They all came around my desk this afternoon and sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me such a sweet gift. They are wonderful. I am very lucky to work with the people I do.

Mucinex
Yes. I have had WWIII on my hands this past week... I mean... really bad allergies. The Mucinex has been a life saver. I recommend it to everybody. It may be a bit expensive, but it will save your sinuses.

My Sister Charnae
I have been able to talk to her and text with her the last week and I have loved every minute of it. She is moving back home (to Grand Junction) for the summer (she currently lives in Phoenix) and my entire family is THRILLED. I love that girl. She is coming to stay with me for Harrison's graduation in a couple of weeks. I am SO excited. I love that girl!

My Crafting Abilities
So, I finished my Easter eggs that I posted about a few weeks ago. Here are some photos of the finished batch. I crafted an even dozen. They are darling little things.

I love General Conference

I should be going to bed right about now. But I have had such overwhelming feelings of gratitude and thankfulness for the LDS General Conference sessions the last two days. For those of you who may not be of my faith and are wondering what the crap I am talking about.... General Conference is a 2 day conference (these conferences are held every 6 months... in April and October) where the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints speak to the members of the church all over the world via a televised conference. You may have stumbled across it once or twice in your lives.

Anyway. I enjoyed conference so much! There were so many great messages given and I feel that a few of them were given just for me. I so much enjoyed Elder Hales' talk on Provident Living. The talk was all about being prepared monetarily and to be out of debt. He also told us (I felt like he was talking directly to me) that when we have some extra money and feel like buying something we want but don't really need, we should use it for the good of others. I loved hearing that. I get so caught up with my own WANTS that I forget so often to think of others that may be in need of my help!

I also loved all the talks (there were at least 3) on Temples. Again, for those of you who are not of the LDS faith, Temples are so sacred and special to us. We are able to perform sacred ordinances there for ourselves and for those who have passed on. Anyway, I have a renewed vigor to attend the temple often. I am so spoiled to be here in Utah and have a dozen temples within 100 miles of me.... and even more spoiled to have one less than a mile from me (I could walk if I wanted).

I would like to tell all of you (friends, family, and strangers alike) of my testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I never thought I would broadcast it on my blog, but I have not been able to get these feelings out of my head (nor would I want to. They are feelings of gratitude and of love). I know that this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel to the Earth and it was given to him by God Himself. I know that my Savior died for me. I know that he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for my sins. I know that he knows me. I know that the Lord knows me... by name. I know that The Book of Mormon is the truest book on the face of this Earth. I love it. There are so many great lessons contained in that book. I learn from it each and every time I read it. I know that there is a living prophet on this Earth right now in these modern times. Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet on the Earth today. He is the mouthpiece of the Lord. He receives revelation for us in these times.

Today in the last session of conference President Monson said that he loved us. He meant all of the church... but I felt that love in my heart. It felt like he said it straight to me. I have never felt that before (I mean a love from a prophet so personally).

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to participate in conference this weekend. I so look forward to the next conference in October.

Thanks for listening to me. I felt like I needed to share this with all of you.

-Jaala

New Model... Original Parts

So Harrison and I went to Fast and Furious this afternoon. I begged him to go opening weekend. I loved the first one with Paul Walker and Vin Diesel but I refused to see the second and third instalment because they didn't bring back the original cast. Well, I about peed my pants with happiness when they announced the fourth instalment of the action series with the tag line "NEW MODEL. ORIGINAL PARTS." Fabulous!
So, the movie had terrible acting, far fetched action scenes, and a lot of the "street racing" was really just a video game....but you know what?

I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!

No joke, I may just have to see it for a second time while it is in the theater!

YIPPEE!

Showing the blogging ropes

I am in my living room right now showing my mother in law how to blog. Fun times. Let's post some fun photos shall we?

Crap! This photo was on Kay's laptop. No fair. I want a cute kitty picture! MEOW!