la vida de RoJo

stupid bili.

2012-02-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

baby lia {12.28.2011}

That's a picture of Roland when he was a little baby. We think she looks a lot like Daddy in this photo. Her skin was so red and blotchy from being under the bili lights at the hospital (in this photo). We are so glad that her newborn jaundice which I know is totally common is done and over with cause it was hard watching her under the lights (I was an emotional wreck that first week). It was even harder when we found out that she still had to be under the lights at home until New Years day but at least we were all at home. She's definitely a little trooper as she had to endure countless blood draws (those made me cry all the time even if I held my tears in until we got to our car) to make sure her bilirubin levels had come down. We started the New Year without phototherapy which made us three really happy!

under the lights at the hospital

at the hospital. spiky hair.

phototherapy at home. glow in the dark baby.

phototherapy by day.

Lia

2012-01-10T12:24:00.003-07:00

Lia Madison Finehout
12/26/2011, 3:34 am
7 lbs 3 oz
19 in

Lia is now 15 days old! I can't believe it. Time is flying by too fast but we are enjoying every second. Its been nice having my Mom here to help too. More pictures to come and our birth story too.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:54:00.002-06:00

Our pumpkin carvings. I carved the one on the right. Roland did a great job on the haunted house.

My 30 week bump in Idaho. We went up for the weekend to visit Roland's brother and wife. His Dad & Step mom came to visit too! We even played a murder mystery game and my favorite dessert were the pumpkin rolls and I loved the roasted vegetables Irene made. Overall, it was a fun pre-Halloween weekend.

Halloween decorations I made.

31 weeks!

Roland at our Halloween ward party a week ago. Every organization decorated a door or two. That's Roland giving out candy. We just used our home decor for our halloween church party.

I bought these and put them on our window next to the front door. It was a super easy decoration.

Roland's the Dark Rider with his missing handkerchief and horse.

We had a blast this Halloween! Can't wait for next year.

25 weeks

2011-09-20T20:32:00.003-06:00

i love feeling our baby girl move around and it happens often. this past weekend while we were in Maryland for a wedding and family reunion i saw my belly actually move and it was the coolest thing ever but kinda freaky too. she loves to kick, punch, elbow and who knows what else. i'm enjoying every moment of it.

hurricane irene: the aftermath

2011-08-30T20:25:00.000-06:00

telephone pole snapped in half (almost). we had an electrical fire that went for most of the night until the power company came out at 6 am. firefighters showed up right after midnight but could only monitor the fire to make sure it was under control cause it was an electrical fire they couldn't put out. it was super windy at times and the rain came down really hard. luckily we are all okay and the house too.

not having power for two days sucked but it was nothing compared to others that still don't have any power. i have to admit that it was a nerve-racking night filled with very little sleep and lots of worries about the unknown. but i'm so happy and relieved that prayer helped a ton. the elders & members from the olney 2nd ward came out to help cut up the branches. i was sad to leave but happy to be back home with roland. i'm looking forward to going out again in two weeks! with the hopes of no hurricane coming our way when we are out there.

baby shower.

2011-08-29T17:43:00.001-06:00

my family threw the cutest handmade baby shower for me on saturday the 27th. hurricane irene was going to make landfall that evening so we put our worries aside and decided to just have fun (and we did!) it was cloudy most of the day with it raining off and on so we had it inside. here are some pictures to document our eventful weekend with as little as 2.5 hours of sleep on Saturday night (more on that later). i didn't do as good of a job taking pics at the shower but here are some.

super cute handmade globes.

love how this tissue paper flower came out.

sweet Barbara came from d.c. I love her cute 'native swiss' accent.

my mom is awesome. she helped so much.

alexis, me, morgan and liz. i love these girls so much. cousins are the best.

liz, mom, me, and tia vicky

morgan's smile

Opening up gifts! We got so many cute things for our baby girl.

I just realized how many pictures I'm missing of the rest of the girls that came and especially of my sister. I would also love to have one of Paula. Paula is my long-distance bestie from our college years. I love that even though we hardly see each other we can just pick right up when we do meet up. It really is the best. I love my friends and family. I'm so grateful for their love and all they do for us.

super. busy.

2011-08-17T18:35:00.001-06:00

Besides being pregnant and wanting to sleep a lot we've also been super busy with lots of things! Back in June we went to San Francisco for our anniversary. It was super fun! Unfortunately we got sunburned on our foreheads when we did a tour of the golden gate bridge. My Mom and sister came out to visit us in June and having their company was really fun. In July we visited my in-laws in western Idaho. I never thought Idaho could be so green and beautiful. I'll have to remember to post pictures of our trips.

Back in June we headed to southern California to visit family and spent even a whole day playing volleyball on the beach in Santa Monica.

my mom and daisy

cousin rafa

uncle moises

cousin moses played in his church clothes

jessica & amanda

cousin mosiah. (thanks for throwing sand in my hair!)

super cute Logan!

logan covered in sticky sand after running to the ocean.

Roland is the 2nd counselor in the YM's presidency while I'm the Primary Secretary. Our callings alone keep us busy. Then there is work, Roland's Navy drill weekends, finally getting the sod installed this week, traveling, and enjoying our pregnancy! A week ago Roland's little sister Whitney had her first baby. River came to the world after 3 days of labor and 4 hours of intense pushing with no medications!

At the end of this month I'm going to Maryland to visit family and attend my brother's farewell as he's going to Marine boot camp. In September we are going back East again to my cousin's Javi's wedding and our family reunion. We can't wait to visit family in Washington state as well in October. Etc, etc, etc. It's going to be quite a busy end of 2011 for us but we like it that way.

I'll post a pic of my baby bump soon. Depending on what I wear I think I look huge some days and smaller on others. Oh well.

i'm gon' party like it's my birthday!

2011-04-20T20:48:00.002-06:00

Actually I wish I could have partied harder but I did as much as my knee allowed me to do. Over my birthday weekend: it was so nice to have breakfast in bed, had fun shooting targets, got some plants and flowers at a local nursery, enjoyed good company, ate yummy food and my rainbow birthday cake rocked! My actual birthday was Sunday the 17th but I was too tired from the day before so we relaxed, slept and went to church. Being at church was surprisingly exhausting for me although it helps that we got a good dose of spiritual enlightenment. Roland was called to be the second counselor in the Young Mens Presidency and Scout Master. He is really excited for his calling and all the future hiking trips involved. Happy Birthday to me! 26 feels good, really good. It'll feel better once I have full mobility back in my leg!

Roland surprised me with broiled grapefruit for breakfast! It was so dang good.

We're really happy with all the cute plants and flowers we got. Thanks to Susan & Peter for the gifts!

Here are some shots of my birthday cake! Thanks Mandy, you're the shiz.biz!

It tasted like a sugar cookie.

Here is my cool birthday poster that Eni made:

I'm Eni's hot tamale! (Eni, I know you'll get a good laugh!) This was the sweetest thing ever but I'm sad I didn't get a picture with her.

My birthday was a blast so thanks to everyone that celebrated it with me--both near and far!

Monkeys, Unicorns, and a Princess or two

2011-04-06T22:34:00.000-06:00

{April 2nd}

Claire turned 2 on April 1st! We hosted her Curious George themed birthday party on Saturday! Even though I was on pain killers I had a great time. All the kids were super cute! The food, music, and company was awesome. We loved having everyone over and it definitely took my mind off my knee. Yay!

birthday table!

curious george birthday cake! Em made the cute monkey cupcakes.

Cute claire and reese. It was so much fun having Joy & George (Em's parents) in town from Maryland for Claire's birthday.

As soon as we started singing Happy Birthday to Claire she started crying. Dane was so cute playing with Tinker Bell.

Dane, Claire, Em, and Celeste

opening her gifts!

David and Scott

makeshift unicorns: Scott & Roland

Roland took all the pictures I posted. We need to learn to use our camera better.

I saved the best pic for last. He wants to be a princess just like Claire. We all laughed pretty hard for awhile!

update

2011-03-29T22:33:00.000-06:00

I know I shouldn't even be blogging. But I promised some that I would let them know how everything went. My knee surgery went well so thanks everyone for your prayers they definitely were heard. I am home now and I'm having to wear this really bulky brace. I had a "nerve block" applied to my leg to stop me from feeling any pain (at least through the night). One of the disadvantages to this is that it feels like a 300 lb. person is sitting on my leg. Needless to say, it feels very uncomfortable. Other than that I am feeling really good.

What I didn't know (but Roland has no problem reminding me) was that after I woke up in the recovery room the first thing I said was, "I want pupusas". I kept telling the nurse that I didn't want any jello or anything like it--all I wanted were pupusas. Supposedly the nurse was laughing and saying, "No, sweetie". (I don't even think she knew what they were but she probably figured they weren't super healthy!)

I don't remember any of this but I think its hilarious. Good times I guess.

knee surgery

2011-03-24T14:17:00.001-06:00

Lately, my much needed knee surgery has been on my mind. (It was supposed to happen today but my doctor is the BYU Basketball team's orthopedic doctor. And of course they are playing a game tonight so it got rescheduled).

About 5 years ago, I was helping my Mom do some yard work. I must have not be standing correctly, cause before I knew it I lost my balance and fell to the ground. It hurt really bad having my knee cap dislocate. Luckily, there was a doctor around that was able to pop it back into place. But less than an hour later, it happened again. Boo. I also never went to the doctor for it cause I thought icing and elevating my leg would make it all better. Let's just say I'll never assume that easily in the future.

What I didn't know and just found out a couple weeks ago was that I had torn my lateral ligament (and then it over scarred) and my knee cap is not properly aligned. So next Tuesday the 29th I go to get it fixed. I am scared out of my mind cause I've never had surgery before. I know everyone is telling me that its no big deal and that before I know it I'll be out of surgery. Until then I'll focus on other things like reupholstering my bar stools and painting them too.

the white feather

2011-03-23T20:54:00.001-06:00

In Santa Monica we ended up having dinner at Bubba Gump. Their main specialty is shrimp. So we had shrimp prepared five different ways and it was really good. Roland reminded me that some of the Forrest Gump movie scenes were filmed right there at the Santa Monica Pier. So during dinner our waiter asks if we would like to play a trivia game based on the movie. We agreed. Roland answered almost all the questions by himself expect for one that stumped him. Here is the question that stumped him: What shoes did Jenny wear on her wedding day? After waiting for what felt like an eternity for Roland to answer I blurted out, "she WASN'T wearing any shoes, she was a hippie!" Our waiter said, "You're right!" I started laughing really hard cause it wasn't like we were on a real game show. (We didn't even win anything for answering all the questions correctly).
Fast forward to the last question. The waiter asked us what the "floating feather" throughout the movie symbolized? Roland guessed a life's journey and the waiter said he thought that it probably symbolized destiny.

As we were walking down the sidewalk down to the car after dinner Roland says to me, "Hey, look there is a white feather just like in Forrest Gump!" I looked and sure enough floating in the air right in front of us was a white feather! (Even though we should have expected to see feathers since we were at the beach). I still thought it was the coolest thing ever!!

Santa Monica

2011-03-21T22:10:00.001-06:00

{Feb 18th}

These are from when we went to Santa Monica Pier for the day.

On our walk over to the pier we saw these beauties at the park.

All these crosses were out on the beach during President's Day weekend.

The ferris wheel. For some reason I had thought it was way bigger but it wasn't.

the weather was absolutely beautiful this day.

california

2011-02-03T10:52:00.002-07:00

I am really excited about going to California again in 2 weeks! This past weekend i had lots of fun catching up with my cousins and their families. Even though we ate overpriced Chinese food at P.F. Changs I still thought it tasted good. After spending Saturday with Rafa we drove to Downey to visit Wayne and Irene (my in-laws) and I must say they are doing such an amazing job with remodeling their cute house. I love people that DIY everything. I hope they find a buyer soon so they can move to Western Idaho (where they want to retire).

on our way to P.F. Changs with cute logan

We really loved staying at my cousin Rafa's house! Amanda made us a very yummy breakfast and Logan entertained us with his soccer skills and his happy feet dance.

Roland has been working so hard for us and is in the top of his class at A-school. It doesn't surprise me either that they made him squad leader back in November. He aces all of his quizzes and tests! He really is having fun learning so much. We are looking forward for his return early next month. We love spending time together any chance we get cause being apart is hard. He will be back to his job at Jive and drilling once a month in Salt Lake.

My latest hobby has been crocheting everything that I can possibly handle to make cause then my hand starts to really hurt. It is only cause I crochet for long periods of time without stopping. ha! I love making things and enjoy the end result more and more each time. I'll post pictures later. In the meantime, here are some flowers I made--I plan on making different colored ones. I really can't wait for warmer weather.

pretty lights

2011-01-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

{dec 11th at temple square)

christmas dinner

2011-01-07T15:52:00.002-07:00

we had honey-glazed ham, smashed sweet potatoes, au gratin zuchinni & tomato casserole, gravy, rolls and plenty more..

ham & casserole

homemade avocado spread

deviled eggs by em

our christmas dinner buffet

baby claire loves sparkling juice

delicious 5-cup salad

busy bees

claire gave us the gridley's christmas card

we LOVE our kitchen!

We especially loved spending Christmas together!

We love our families + friends + all the good food = good times!

handmade christmas

2011-01-07T13:42:00.003-07:00

I love bunting!

We got our cool Nutcracker at the play in Capitol Theatre.

Handmade modern paper ornaments by me

south african flowers

my favorite: cherry filled chocolates

fun winter days

2011-01-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to attempt to make up for my lack of blogging. So here are some pictures leading up to Christmas here at home in Utah. It was so nice and fun having Roland home for almost two weeks.

These were taken the morning Roland got in from LAX, we had at least 13-14 inches of snow. Needless to say I shoveled a lot that cold morning.

We also got lots of clearance snow gear when we went shopping in Park City, perfect for playing in the snow and snowboarding. We were ready to go for a walk in the snow when we remembered to get a few shots of us in our winter gear. Here we are modeling:

sundance

2010-10-27T23:17:00.000-06:00

with cousins.

virgin margaritas!!

2010-09-08T20:29:00.008-06:00

My close friend Emeline made these yummy virgin margaritas several weeks ago. She decided that we could go the extra mile by salting the glass rims. Bad idea! We realized that the salt was only needed for alcoholic margaritas. But her daughter, Claire loved it!! (the virgin one of course) She made silly faces but loved it so much she practically drank them all! Well..almost.

august 30th

2010-08-30T21:13:00.005-06:00

I'm kind of sad that the end of August is coming so soon. Only two more weeks left for Roland before he leaves to Illinois and then Missouri. My co-worker was teasing me about being so tough and pretending I wouldn't be sad about him leaving for 5 months. My response was that I am going to be a little sad but I don't want to focus on that otherwise 5 months may feel more like 5 years.

In other news, I'm excited about taking 2 online courses at BYU-- American Politics and BOM course. It will definitely be fun to be learning again. And a huge plus is that I can take them at my own pace and they are free!

I am really ready for Thanksgiving to come so I can see my family back East. As soon as Turkey week is over I will be super ready for Christmas, Roland's return, and then our little etsy. Let's just say I'll have a lot of time to get the house organized before next Spring.

End of summer storms (taken last week--I'm really slow at posting)

stewart falls

2010-08-19T17:46:00.002-06:00

We hiked up to Stewart falls a couple weekends ago. It felt so good to get to the falls after being so hot and sweaty on the hike. Roland even got to try out his new hiking boots that we got for a killer steal at the outlets in Park City. He couldn't remember if they were water-proof or not, so he decided to test them to find out.

It was a success! We found out they were water-proof!!

We really had a good time hiking. Next time we will remember to bring more water with us!

red butte gardens

2010-08-16T21:07:00.003-06:00

we spent the day taking pictures of all the pretty flowers and plants at the garden in slc. it was fun to use our camera. here are some shots from that day:

rattlesnakes! actually we didn't see one but if we had that would have been pretty scary.
i really can't wait to go back to the red butte gardens cause we had a lot of fun hiking and taking pictures. After our visit at the gardens we went to Settebello for pizza. It was amazing pizza!

capitol building

2010-07-25T12:58:00.004-06:00

this is one of my personal favorite shots from this summer.

DC Part 2

2010-07-25T12:51:00.001-06:00

we went to chinatown for the first time, it was fun to look at the cool buildings and i really enjoyed eating fresh dumplings in the morning.

we had a really good breakfast in chinatown.

i like this brick sidewalk. we walked several miles this day even though at the end of the day my legs felt like they were going to fall off. it's only cause i'm out of shape.

MD/DC Trip Part 1

2010-07-18T19:13:00.001-06:00

we spent the fourth of july back east this year. it was so much fun hanging out with family and enjoying all the green around us.

patriotic home on capitol hill in DC

and yes, we went to Good Stuff Eatery, the burgers, fries, and shake were really yummy.

we walked around capitol hill before having lunch at Good Stuff Eatery, it was fun enjoying the warm weather and checking out the nice homes.

Being surrounded by all the green was so refreshing. We enjoyed every minute outside except for the one super hot day in College Park.

more pictures to come.

comments

2010-07-01T11:03:00.000-06:00

i personally think they are unnecessary to a certain point. but i've had good friends & family send me emails and say "i want to comment on your blog!!". i used to have them but then something happened in my html. oh well. then i got used to it and gave up on trying to fix it. so here is a new template so i can have the comments back on. especially per hillary's request.

what's left of my tv life

2010-06-23T09:49:00.000-06:00

Anybody that knows me very well, knows that i have loved watching LOST for the past 6 years. I've watched every season, every episode. Just recently, Roland & I decided it was time to get rid of our cable tv, since we hardly watch any tv. We still get some channels but I just don't have the desire to get into a whole other show right yet. So I've been enjoying other things like working on our house projects, photography, reading, and cooking. I still have no idea why Lost had me so hooked. In other news, I've had the worst earache and sore throat but i seem to be getting better.

best barbecue ever!

2010-06-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

Throughout the week Roland & I were craving a barbecue. We finally got together with Emeline & Scott & Claire. We barbecued at a park near our house. It was the perfect weather and we had an amazing dinner at the park. We ate Tri-tip steak, corn on the cob, a yummy bean salad, and potato salad. It was such a fun evening with friends that I totally forgot to grab our camera. Definitely next time since we have so many more barbecues planned this summer. We have been enjoying the warm weather a lot. I look forward to even warmer weather as we head to DC in a couple weeks. I can't wait to go the beach, tube on the potomac river, and go to Good Stuff Eatery. We are even looking forward to the humid climate as we are not so fond of dry Utah.

kitchen makeover

2010-06-09T10:05:00.000-06:00

not at my house. i painted my mom's kitchen cabinets out in maryland when i went in may. the cabinets were a very dark wood. i painted them white and spray painted the cabinet handles black. it definitely brightens up the kitchen. i really love how it turned out and so does my mom.

spring

2010-06-09T09:50:00.002-06:00

flowers galore!

2010-05-20T15:44:00.002-06:00

i love my mom's garden. spring is one of my favorite seasons.

i'm back from dc!!

2010-05-13T10:24:00.002-06:00

i got back sunday night from dc. i had so much fun and miss it so much already. i was super busy helping remodel my mom's kitchen in less than a week and i took tons of pics of all her beautiful flowers. pics to come.

sebastian's birthday

2010-04-29T15:51:00.004-06:00

i went to raul & carla son's birthday party yesterday. here i some shots i took of sebastian. he is such a cute boy.

catch up time..

2010-04-27T09:59:00.014-06:00

i turned 25 on april 17. it was one of the best days of this month so far. i spent the day with good company, ate good food, and best of all i got a new camera. i also got a new haircut. it feels so good.

i got spoiled with lots of thoughtful birthday notes, chocolates, and a tongan scripture bag--handmade.

we've had some beautiful sunny days!! a view from the front of our porch.

roland and i went for a hike near the provo temple.

i loved the trees in bloom.

irene & wayne sent me these beautiful tulips. i love flowers and these made me so happy.

we've also been working really hard on the yard. almost every day. we are sore but very happy how it's turning out. pics to come.

happy easter! feliz pascua!

2010-04-04T17:59:00.023-06:00

these orchids are so pretty in pink. they sure do brighten up our dining room.

for easter dinner we had cajun shrimp w/ mushrooms and asparagus accompanied with white rice. it was way good.

we also drank our fancy grape juice that roland's parents in L.A. gave us for christmas, they gave us several bottles and we are now down to our last two.

general conference was wonderful. i learned so much about our savior & of his atoning sacrifice & of the resurrection. i know that my redeemer lives and that i can have an eternal family. having this knowledge brings so much peace to my life.

in between general conference sessions we went for a nice walk. we woke up to snow this morning but a lot of it had melted by the time we went on our walk. here are some shots that i took on our walk.

i hope spring comes soon and stays till summer. lately, with all of the rain and snow we haven't been able to work on our yard.

perfectly spring

2010-03-25T08:03:00.001-06:00

we are definitely enjoying the beautiful weather! roland and i are so happy that spring is finally here! now that spring is here we are working on our "yard". ha. well our dirt to be more specific. we have been raking the rocks and separating them from our soil. we will add some topsoil to our lot before getting grass in. we have been looking at different options and it looks like we will be putting in hydro seed next month. we've been so sore from all the physical labor. so it's been tiring and fun at the same time. springville city put in some kentucky coffee trees that line with the sidewalk in front of our home. we are excited to get some fruit trees and a vegetable garden in sometime this year or next. pics below (for family and close friends that have requested pics).

before and after on our front yard. there were a lot of rocks. a lot.

our love mugs

2010-02-25T20:20:00.024-07:00

here are some shots of our valentine's day mugs. they came out pretty nice. you would think that i painted the one with all the red but i didn't. roland and i are happy with the end results given the fact that we didn't plan ahead for a design. we'd like to go back again.

i like how the different strokes came through.

way too cute.

this is the inside of my mug. i like the glaze i chose.

our valentine's weekend

2010-02-15T20:01:00.017-07:00

so this year we decided that i would make plans over the weekend for roland as a surprise. roland had been working long hours so it was really fun for me to put together the plans and i got really excited to see roland's reaction as the day progressed. saturday morning we went to the orem rec center and played racquetball, it was really fun to play one on one. we loved the idea of exercising on valentine's day together. we are trying to get better at playing so it was fun to practice. i made steak fajitas with red bell peppers for lunch.

in the afternoon we went to a matinee and saw dear john. i'm glad it wasn't a cheesy romantic movie. roland really liked all the guns and silver coins in the movie, so i'm happy that the movie was a success. after the movie we went to a place called color me mine in provo. you essentially pick out any ceramic item you want, apply a wide variety of glazes to choose from, and then they fire it up in a kiln for you. our oversized mugs turned out pretty good. we ended the evening eating at happy sumo, one of our favorite sushi places. i hate the fact that flowers are so overpriced during valentine's day or week for that matter. i'm super glad roland got me what i've been wanting to get for a while: orchids. but he also surprised me with a boquet of mixed colorful pastel flowers and chocolates. on the other hand, he got an ipod touch. he was so excited and surprised. we had such a loving, fun-filled, relaxing weekend with each other and friends.

i love love love love to love.

catcher in the rye

2010-01-28T13:38:00.009-07:00

[via]

J.D. Salinger died today at 91.

Catcher in the Rye is one of my all time favorite novels- a work of genius.

I want to read it again.

new years

2010-01-11T20:41:00.014-07:00

on our way back from cali we stopped to get lunch and do some shopping in Las Vegas. we went to the strip and had Greek food...it was awesome!!

we then spent the rest of 2009 hanging out, sleeping in, making good food, watching movies, listening to good music and laughing. em & scott & claire came over for new years. it was fun hanging out, my mom having fun with claire, eating the yummy ham, enjoying new years 2010 countdown, and making breakfast the night before. we started the new year eating awesome indian food and watching avatar.

this pic is really bad. my brother Michael hates getting his picture taken so that's why it came out bad. i also need a better camera.

here is my mom and roland. roland and his winter beard.

i can't wait to see what 2010 holds for us!

huntington beach bonfire

2010-01-11T20:33:00.006-07:00

it was one of the biggest bonfire's i've ever seen. but it was way too cold for me that night. then when it finally got too big and too hot we gave it to some rowdy teenagers or young adults. lucky. they didn't even have to do the work to put the wood together to make a bonfire.

too bad i'm not a big fan of smores- i wish we had a bunch of carne asada from my tio moises because then i would have definitely eaten it. it was that GOOD...

laguna beach

2010-01-11T20:27:00.005-07:00

my in-laws in so. california took us to laguna beach. they love to take photographs, so my mom and i went to all the shops-that's what we love to do. here are a couple shots of my mom at laguna beach. it was a pretty chilly day even with the sun out.

we had yummy chinese for lunch

tio moises

2010-01-11T20:03:00.008-07:00

i've only visited with my uncle moises a couple times during my life so far. i enjoy every minute of it. i loved his new house in so. cali and LOVED his carne asada. he gave us lots of tangerines to take back home to utah. he also gave us two pink flowering plants that i love seeing by our kitchen window everyday. thank you so much tio.

my mom and uncle moises

uncle moises and baby logan

richie's diner & carne asada

2010-01-11T19:55:00.009-07:00

we went to california during christmas. we spent it southern california visiting with roland's family as well as my family on my mom's side. rafael tooks us to richie's diner in rancho cucamonga- the food was great. then he tooks us to the new balance factory/store. i love new balance's. the rest of the day was spent eating carne asada with good company. good times.

carne asadas with family are the B.O.M.B.

Me, Maribel, Logan, my Mom, Amanda, Rafa, & Mosiah

my mom and mikey visiting us for Christmas and New Years 2010

this is my cousin rigoberto and his family near L.A. we had a good time visiting and enjoying some karaoke.

snow and more!

2009-12-17T17:47:00.006-07:00

we've had several inches of snow fall lately. it's been nice waking up to lots of snow on the ground over the weekend. but when you have to wake up to it during the work week- it sucks big time. earlier this month i threw roland a surprise birthday party. he really enjoyed the company we had over. we put up our christmas tree- it looks super small in our house, maybe next year we'll get a nicer real tree. also my cousin rafa and his wife amanda and their baby logan came to visit yesterday. so far we are having an enjoyable december. we are super excited that my mom and mike are flying in from d.c. next week!!

this is my cousin rafa's wife amanda and their cute baby logan. can you believe he's only 5 months old?!

happy thanksgiving!!

2009-11-30T20:28:00.011-07:00

we spent thanksgiving in our first home in utah. we had roland's brother and sister and their spouses plus chris join us for the long weekend. roland brined the bird before cooking it in the oven. it was super moist and delicious. i'm really impressed how well everything turned out. we definitely need to work on our pie making skills but overall it was great. we went for a nice walk afterwards in our neighborhood, the weather has been great for late november. some fun activities included black friday shopping even though i had to work. we also enjoyed the wii a lot and played several card games too.

candied yams were delicious.

thanks to my mom for the lovely colored tablecloth.

thanks to em & scott, the wii entertained us all.

whitney and sam decided to break in our new island for thanksgiving linner. everyone seemed to have enjoyed all the different dishes. we had candied yams, stuffing, green bean casserole, bread rolls, mash potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, pumpkin pies, chocolate pecan pie, and an apple pie with goji berries (thanks to garth).

sweet november

2009-11-02T21:16:00.014-07:00

i can't believe october is already over with- so fast. today
bella mccully was born. (roland's sister, stephanie had a beautiful baby girl) she is so cute. a great way to start out this month of thanksgiving. i can't wait until thanksgiving week. we are so blessed to host it at our home for the first time. but more importantly i can't wait for thanksgiving cooking and eating. yum. and having family over. fun.

halloween weekend wrap-up

2009-11-01T19:00:00.012-07:00

roland and i went to idaho for halloween. we had fun going to a haunted mill, house of terror, and a corn maze. we enjoyed the great weather and eating kettle corn. yum. adam took us to a great burger place called "big judds". have you ever had a one pound burger? it was fun hanging out with family and going to spooky attractions. i'm glad i went- it was great for being my first time (the haunted attractions part of course).

of course the 3 of us shared the one lb burger

adam, my bil and his crazy blue eyes

(cami, adam, roland, and i)

the owners turned on the smoke machines for us so we could get an eerie effect going but it didn't work. it looks like we were enjoying a burning hay maze.

we finished the "big judds" experience with pumpkin ice cream. yum.

great giveaway

2009-10-28T09:57:00.008-06:00

fancy fritter is having a great giveaway. you could win a pretty apron! my foodie personality would love one of these..

go to their link: http://thefancyfritter.blogspot.com/

happy autumn

2009-10-13T09:33:00.005-06:00

it's a pretty day outside. love the fall colors. i can't wait to go back east to visit family next year. something exciting that we discovered the other day near our house- a pumpkin patch. i love it. autumn is the best- i hope we have more warm, colorful days.

line drying

2009-10-12T15:51:00.026-06:00

line drying is great. i grew up where my mom always line dried our clothes in the back yard- in nice weather. during the winter she would hang dry our clothes inside the house. i really would like to put a clothesline up once we put in our lawn in the spring. we've always used our dryer as little as possible- good thing for foldable laundry racks & shower rods. not only is this a good thing for the environment but for your wallet too.

"it's good to be in love"

2009-09-16T13:38:00.005-06:00

isn't it? i love frou frou's album details. i listen to it all the time.

foodie

2009-09-14T09:15:00.002-06:00

if you don't already know me, you'll know that i have an interest in food and drink. i like it a lot. my recipe books are growing and i love to shop for new and different foods/drinks. i love to cook and watch others cook. and of course i love to eat. yum.

image by jv-foodie

let's not hope though that my family and i get like this because of my foodie personality:

image by delongwine

are you a foodie?

whitney & sam

2009-09-12T08:51:00.004-06:00

roland's little sister, whitney got married to sam on sept 4th. it was such a beautiful wedding. i enjoyed their hawaiian theme, music, food, and company. she looked so beautiful in her wedding dress. it was lovely to see roland's dad, wayne walk her down the aisle to sam. here are some photos i managed to snap while i was there.

wayne (whitney's dad) accidentally stepped on her dress as he went back to his seat

the beautiful bride

whitney's mother, holly and aunt susan watching the photo session

the boys and their bellies

mushaboom

2009-09-10T16:40:00.001-06:00

enjoying this song. "mushaboom" by feist. album: let it die

courtesy of musicremedy

my moon my man

2009-09-01T16:51:00.002-06:00

check this song out by Feist. album: the reminder

[via]

mom & mike in utah

2009-08-31T13:34:00.004-06:00

my mom and mike flew in on the 19th. i hadn't seen them except over a web cam in almost a year. we had a blast having them here. i'm glad we moved into our house two weeks before they came out- as it was a comfortable stay. she made us frijoles con arroz- yum. we went to temple square, park city, spanish fork canyon and all around. it was super hot. we even took them shooting for the first time at spanish fork canyon. my mom is always up for having fun- and it doesn't matter what it is- she has such a great soul.

mike was great at shooting clay pigeons.

we drove up hobble creek canyon where we stopped to take pics and pick wild flowers

mi mama- she's so courageous- she shot all of roland's guns.

at utah state capitol

mi linda mama

temple square gardens

cafe rio was a hit.

my mom and mikey left to maryland yesterday. my mom made sure that we would miss her and my lil' bro. she left behind several house plants- this is great because if you know my mom- she loves gardening. she left us tons of seeds for veggies/plants/flowers for us to plant in the spring. she did so much for us while she was here- home made salvadorian meals, organized our pantry, and even did a couple loads of laundry. my. mom. is. the. best.

fade into you

2009-08-11T16:51:00.003-06:00

i love relaxing to this song by mazzy star. album: so tonight that i might see.

courtesy of muse-ink

closing day

2009-08-04T09:40:00.004-06:00

it's almost official. i'm so happy this process has been made so easy for us. we learned a lot along the way. it happened sooner than we thought- which means that we still have our apartment lease for 2 more months. it will give us an opportunity to move in slowly. we are really excited to make it ours- we have a lot of work ahead of us which is super exciting. i guess we're now official homeowners.

view of the puget sound

2009-07-25T11:16:00.001-06:00

the puget sound in the beautiful northwest is absolutely spectacular.

*roland proposed to me in the beautiful northwest

at the space needle back in '06*

i love seattle. i love big, pretty cities.

independence day

2009-07-06T09:07:00.001-06:00

fireworks are the best. we spent the evening in idaho falls with adam & cami. i've spent most of my life at firework displays in the nation's capitol. but i'd have to say that idaho falls put on a great show.

courtesy of idaho falls

paula

2009-06-15T18:23:00.004-06:00

i miss and love her so much. so many memories being freshman college buddies. i remember the first time we met. i'm so lucky to have a great friend even though i'm far away we still keep in touch when we can. she's beautiful, intelligent, funny, independent and a great girlfriend.

kate nash

2009-06-14T09:58:00.003-06:00

check out kate nash. upbeat music from the uk.

album: foundations

[via]

album: made of bricks

[via]

spring- in all its glory

2009-06-09T11:57:00.002-06:00

we have been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of staying in utah. we love that it is so affordable to live here and that school is close by. we love our jobs being close too. we don't like being so far from family. we wish we were closer to the beach and had warmer weather throughout the year- winters are rough here. but we did officially make an offer and it was accepted on a new house in springville. we like the price, size and place- its perfect for us in every way. we'll see what happens, in the meantime we'll enjoy the spring before it's over.

courtesy of jefflindsay

hotel california

2009-05-11T17:00:00.003-06:00

roland got vip tickets to see the eagles in concert. it is the best concert i have ever been to & we had the best seats in the house. roland agrees. even though it got to be a little cold at night...they definitely put on an amazing show.

light and sound technicians at the concert.

courtesy of open salon

reina

2009-05-04T18:33:00.004-06:00

she's the best cousin any girl could ask for. i love her energy and she makes me laugh all the time. she's smart, hardworking, a role-model mom (to me), funny, beautiful, and lovely in every way. she loves to host and attend parties. she hosted my bridal shower- it turned out great. i wish i lived closer but good thing for planes- i know we won't live in utah forever so i can look forward to hanging with her and the rest of the fam more often once we're back East.

she makes washing dishes look good

twenty-four

2009-04-20T18:53:00.010-06:00

i had a great birthday. even though my knee was swollen

(caution: accidents do occur during sledding sessions) i had a very happy birthday. my mom sent me a gift in the mail and some new indoor flowers. chris had to work but left me a present. $. roland took me to my favorite burger place- JCW's. he also gave me a couple dresses, earrings, and a really nice card. holly (roland's mom) sent me a card. i'm thankful for all the birthday wishes and gifts. we ended up spending the weekend up in idaho. it was fun. adam and cami are always a great couple to hang with.

i'm really into earrings lately.

dc united

2009-04-13T09:34:00.004-06:00

chris, mike and i (roland and garth came along too) went to the dc united vs real salt lake at the rio tinto stadium in sandy.

of course we were confident that dc united would win but they didn't. sad day. although we did wear some sweet parkas to the game.

mike (in the middle) flew in from d.c. to see the game- not to happy about d.c. united losing.

sledding

2009-03-06T18:44:00.002-07:00

the other day roland went to costco and bought us our first sleds. they are awesome. i really like sledding down big hills- it's not as scary as getting on a roller coaster. if you know me, you know i'm afraid of heights. mad phobia- i'm not kidding. anyway, we went sledding with karla and raul near sundance the other day. we had a blast.

view from our condo.

i can't wait till it snows again. i love sledding. it brings out the kid in me. seriously.

feliz cumple

2009-03-02T15:18:00.001-07:00

she's talented. my only favorite sister. super stylish and has a beautiful voice. twenty-two years.

i love you jess.

my valentine

2009-02-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

he has such a good soul. great listener. intelligent. an awesome kisser. patient. an amazing blessing.

so handsome with a hat.

te amo

potomac river

2009-02-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

i miss this lovely river. i went tubing on it with friends and family. i hiked along it many times with those i love. i can't wait to see el rio de potomac again.

taken towards the end of a pretty sunset.

inauguration day

2009-01-20T14:05:00.006-07:00

i wish i were here right now. i miss my hometown. i love d.c. and its surroundings. (wish i were there with all my family & friends- at the inauguration)
i'm proud to be an american.

navidad

2008-12-27T10:50:00.001-07:00

holly, adam & cami came down for x-mas and new years. it was a fun, relaxing week. the guys hung out at hobby shops and us girls hung out at our place and slept. it feels so good to get your zzzz on. we decorated our xmas tree and it turned out pretty nice. we had marinated pork loin, potatoes, and rolls for dinner. we then headed to slc to hang out at temple square. good times.

halloween

2008-11-01T09:30:00.003-06:00

we headed to idaho with chris to visit a&c. they took us to yellowstone nat'l park to see this

"old faithful" courtesy of destination 360

it was the coldest day of my life. but it was neat seeing all that we did. we also carved pumpkins and of course roland's turned out awesome.

adam, roland, and chris attempting to blow up pumpkins near byu-i

inner harbor

2008-10-22T12:41:00.003-06:00

catholic university was a great experience for me. i learned a lot there even though it was only my first year of college. even though it was a short one year- i met tam- a great friend. lots of memories. i drove up to baltimore for the evening the other day to visit her.

at tam's new crib.

tam pulled this out while i visited with her: an old photo of our cua college friends at a dinner trip to a louisiana style buffet in roslyn, virginia

she's in pharmacy school at UMBC. we went to the irish pub & grill (tir na nog) for dinner- it was delicious. we ate outside on the terrace and enjoyed conversation along with the calm breeze from the harbor.

courtesy of one travel

land of mary rocks.

the greatest snow on earth

2008-09-10T14:28:00.002-06:00

we are moving here in a couple weeks. we are excited for whatever comes our way.

i'm looking forward to snow activities, road trips, new restaurants, old friends & new ones.

courtesy of legends of america

a stroll down memory lane

2008-08-21T20:51:00.001-06:00

roland and I met in march '05. our first date was hiking in the mountains near pleasant grove, ut. roland dropped everything after the summer was over in utah and moved to maryland. it's been a very eventful past couple of years and I can't wait for more of it. we've been to delaware, west virginia, connecticut, utah, washington, oregon, nyc, florida, virginia, pennsylvania, north carolina, idaho & the bahamas.

christmas 2005 in rockville

provocity- "El Salvadoreno"

our first LDS conference attendance

moab- summer '05

roland & i love D.C.

hiking in the cacoctin mountains- WV

holly (roland's mom) visiting over turkey weekend ' 06. DC temple.

wedding shots

2008-06-26T13:05:00.001-06:00

6-7-08 was a beautiful day. we had a fun relaxing day with our family and friends. wayne (roland's dad) took amazing shots of our wedding. here are some to check out.

the house of light

2008-05-08T12:45:00.004-06:00

i love light houses. there is something about them- maybe an aura that captures me. wouldn't it be cool to live in one? maybe not.

our summer trip to vashon island (WA) i snapped a pic of this beauty.

i like walt whitman's poem (1888) about a certain lighthouse's location, "i stand as on some mighty eagle's beak, eastward the sea absorbing, viewing (nothing but sea and sky), the tossing waves, the foam, the ships in the distance, the wild unrest, the snowy, curling caps-that inbound urge and urge of waves, the shores forever."

cherry blossoms

2008-04-13T09:39:00.001-06:00

spring is lovely here in maryland. i took several photos of the cherry blossom trees. i wish they were in bloom all year long.

nature's beauty.

new soul

2008-02-23T10:02:00.002-07:00

enjoying this new song 'new soul' by yael naim & david donatien. i'm loving the photographic mural in her music video. nature-loving, artistic, and inspires the interior designer inside me- music video.

courtesy of mog