Everybody's doing it

Seeing as Thanksgiving just passed me by and the Christmas season will officially begin when we get our tree tonight, I figure I should take some time to think about what I'm thankful for.

Starting with iPhone pictures, I'm THANKFUL FOR:

A fun husband willing to play dress up almost every time I ask

Nieces and nephews coming to visit for weddings

Nieces and nephews that live close enough to play with all the time
&
Sleeping boys and cute puppies

Voting in elections and getting stickers


I'm also thankful for

a nice place to live, even if we don't own it

Days/weeks/months without anxiety

A job I don't hate

Two awesome families

Christmas decorations

Buffalo wings

Hot chocolate

Fall weather

There's lots more things I'm thankful for. It's been a rough year and it helps to think of all the blessings we do have. To be honest I'm thankful it's the end of 2011, because I think 2012 is definitely going to be my year :)

Living your Legend

Ok. So I stopped posting for a while. Seriously though, it gets a little depressing to write about your life when it's not going the way you want.

At the Kimball Stake family vacation Mitchell and I went to Brother Gneiting's class called "Living your Legend." And it was way awesome. Part of it was to write down your most secret dream in life. Mine is to live in a foreign country, preferably in Europe, specifically France, obviously Paris. Which is funny, because I don't remember loving Paris when I went after high school. I probably needed more than a day to soak in the awesome.


Recently we watched Midnight in Paris, which only reaffirmed that A: We should move to Paris and 2: The 20's were awesome

In my dream I look like this girl, because Paris makes you glamorous.

We would both love to learn french, and I think it would be cool for our kids to live other places before they get too old for it. That is, when we have kids.

Cool right? This is me putting it out into the universe. Because my mom says that's the first step.



L

Things that are Awesome and also Embarrassing

Guys. Mmm Bop. Hanson is back, and I'm seriously lovin it.

Check out the new song:

It's to the point of ridiculousness how excited I am on Tuesdays to watch this dumb dumb dumb show on Hulu. Really, Bently?

Finding out how much we spend on froyo was the most embarrassing. Also the most awesome.

That is all,
L

Nothingness

Over memorial day weekend I convince my mom to take me to lunch at Liberty Market. Which was delicious. And a really cool atmosphere. If you're into that sort of thing. And I am. Obviously.

Also I convinced her to purchase a Zebra Brownie which was just as delicous as it sounds. (Does it sound delicious?) (It was DELICIOUS)
You should try it.

In other news, this is what I left at home:

Poor guy. He just cuddles with the dog on the couch all day. He's going in for his last post-op today and hopefully can start to feel better soon.

It hurts his nose to smile and/or laugh, so when he thinks something is funny he does this heavy breathing thing. Which I have to imitate. Which makes him laugh for real. Which makes him groan in pain, which makes me laugh, which makes him laugh more. Fun times.

You have no idea.

L

Great News

Mitchell survived surgery!

Bad news is, he currently looks like this:

Now that is the face of serious pain.

It is also the face that causes me to go into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Im not sure he knew what he was getting himself into when he signed up for this surgery. No difficult to chew foods, no swimming for a month, no shower for a few days, and an incredible pain.

Poor guy.

Feel free to bring him some (soft)meals :)


L

PS the thing about surviving surgery was a joke. Obviously it wasn't life threatening.

Crazy

IM FREAKING OUT. Mitchell is going in for surgery right...now. Guess if im there with him or if i have to work?

I haven't heard ONE SINGLE THING. Most likely the worst will happen. (If I fear for it it can't come true, right?)

ughghh
L

Days like these

Sometimes days are just bummer days. You know the ones? Like nothing bad or even uncomfortable is happening yet you feel chocolate ice cream is necessary?

Days like these I wear my cowboy boots even thought it's too warm for them.

Days like these I make M drive out and have lunch with me.

Days like these I contemplate going back to school to counteract my boredom.

Days like these I decide to take art classes at the arts center instead.

Days like these I take time to count my blessings and snap out of it.

Tomorrow's friday! All's right in the world.

L

Ode to husband

In honor of Mitchell's recent collarbone fracture, I would like to dedicate this post to him.

This picture is from a different injury. I think his foot? I told him the rule was if he couldn't walk through walmart he couldn't go biking the next day. I forgot that rules don't apply to him.

The oxycodone M's doc gave him way too much of has made him ambitious. He's promised to take me and Fender on a little hike(walk) around Papago Park this afternoon.

M joined in on a girl's day pool outing, but his fair skin required a towel tent and no actual contact with sunlight. This picture just makes me laugh.

SO! While i am doing my best to keep my fears for his safety bottled inside, he is continually getting injured, and we are dealing with it. He really is the best, broken bones and all. Fun times, yeah?

L

A conversation from last night

L "aghhh my back hurtsssss" (feel sorry for me)

M "OK seriously, you need to start strengthening your core muscles"

L "stop it, i'm not old, and i've never had back pain before"

M "you've also never been 24 before"

L "(scoffs) maybe my purse is too heavy. i think i need a new purse"

M "you need to start doing sit ups every day. you can get a new purse if you do that for a week straight"

L "DONE!" (sucker)

Psh, girrrrl

Yesterday I told Mitchell that I was sorry for being tired all the time. Cuz really, I'm tired all the time. In response he said, "I slept like ALL day today," and giggled. No longer do I feel bad.

L

The One in Which we Sort-of Try and Readily Fail

You guys. Today we started an 11-day meal plan. It's time things get healthy over here. Here's the thing though, it lets you eat like 8 ingredients TOTAL! Total. Can someone please explain to me how cashews and deli sliced turkey counts as a meal?

Breakfast this morning was a hard boiled egg and strawberries. Doable. CHECK.

Here's when I decided that this was outrageous and I was going to starve and I hated this diet

Then, lunch: roast beef slices and cheese sticks. Uhhh, sure I guess that's real food.

Then I get an email from Mitchell saying, "hey you should wait and start the diet thing when you're not sick anymore". Of course I tell him absolutely not, I can do this!
M-"no really, you can cheat if you want"
L-"nope"
M-"...I might have had some pizza for lunch on accident"

And there was the first fail.

Later on in the day I got another message.

M-"so today I was telling my friends in class about the new diet i'm starting and totally grabbed a sucker and started eating it while i was telling them".

Dieting is hard you guys.

We are quitting.

But since we really do want to eat healthier and we just bought tons of healthy food at Sunflower Market, I think we'll chuck the strict daily plan and eat the healthy food however we want.

Because NOBODY TELLS US WHAT TO DO.

The end.

The Clueless Edition

Listen up. I'm reading Emma. Emma is such a classic. And what better than a literary classic to inspire a 90's teen comedy? The problem here is, I obviously saw the movie Clueless before I read Emma. Duh.

So, like, I know what's gonna happen already in the book, right?

Not that Jane Austen is the most suspenseful writer or anything. I mean, she's no Maeve Binchy. (What, Maeve Binchy is too obscure for you?) (Plus Maeve Binchy is also not a suspense writer)

What was this post about?

Oh yeah, I already know how the book ends so it's taking me forever to read it is the point.

Usually my reading time is in my car at lunch. Lately I've been having nap for lunch though. In the backseat of my car.

There is no point to this post turns out.

Except that today I told Mitchell that my shoulder was out of place again and therefore hurting, and he said, "that's it, it's time for us to go to the gym, you're getting older and need to work out your back muscles"

Or something like that.

Guys, I'm TWENTY-FOUR. If I'm already in decline, heaven help us all.

L

Things my dog is afraid of

This is my dog. His name is Fender. He is scared of a lot of things. Here's a list of some of them:

1) plastic bags
2) plastic water bottles
3) vacuums (how weird a word is vacuum? seriously though-vacuum vacuum vacuum)
4) mountain bikes
5) laundry baskets
6) backpacks (camelbacks in particular)
7) noisy clothing
8) bar stools
9) balloons
10)cell phones
11)any new toy
12)birthday hats
13)hot dog costumes
14)reindeer antlers

Okay those last few are sort of understandable because, how embarrassing for us to force those things upon him.

In summary this dog is scared of basically everything. Which is okay with us because it makes for a super well-behaved pet that will never run too far away or chew the tires of your bike.

Also it gives him this sweet personality, which is okay by us too.

Enough about your dog crazy lady.

L

Things I love today

*Going to work in skirt i bought for $4.99 at Goodwill that feels like pajamas

*That it's becoming a ritual for M to tell me I look stylish on my way out the door (even when wearing said pajama skirt)

*Making this. It calls for cooking sherry and made me feel a little rebellious.

*Cooking with Mitchell

*Mexican Coke vs Mexican Pepsi competition

*The overnight hotel stay M planned for me and my two best friends. He forced me to take a vacation! Believe it guys.

*Coming home to a clean house and laundry put away...hopefully. (Mitchell?)

xxOoXoOx
L

Cookie Dough and other Life Lessons

It's no secret that I have anxiety. (Is it a secret?) I've been told recently by a close friend that I don't share my feelings. It was blamed on my sister-less upbringing(what a relief, I thought for a second I was gonna have to take the blame for something). Anyway I have anxiety. And my anxiety is made worse by the unknown and unsure. Read: the future.

Last night M and I figured some stuff out. You know, work stuff, school stuff, budget stuff. As much as I avoid this type of conversation for fear of an attack of the panic variety, maybe they aren't so bad. I feel much better after this planning session than I did before.

And the moral of the story is: make sure to have plenty of cookie dough on hand at all times in case you need to bribe yourself.


Here's some pre-packaged happiness for you to share. As a reward for my self(indulgent?)improvement.

L

A Birthday Party

It turns out that we are the kind of people that throw parties for their dog. And hey, I understand that it's totally ridiculous. But seriously how cute is that dog in a party hat?

Sister-in-law-Stephanie helped me make these cupcakes for the party. I think some of them turned out a little scary but such is life.

Before you make fun of my lameness you should know that I'm a fan of the theme party, and Fender's first birthday was as good excuse as any to invite our friends over and have dinner and some tasty doggy treats.

I told one of the doctors at work about this party, and she told me I needed some kids.

She might be right.

L

Hello, Diana

Guys, I've been having so much fun with my new Diana camera. Here are some pictures:

These are from the park across the street. Yes, those are my wedding converse.

This was an impromptu date to the carnival in the mall parking lot. We took long exposure photos and ate funnel cake. It was one of my favorite nights ever.

Please excuse my amateur-ness. But I love the effect of the old-school film cam and we have fun with it.

I would write more but my head is about to crack in two. Advil here I come.

G'night!

L

Commuter Chronicles

I drive 14.2 miles to and from work . Yes, it takes 30 minutes. Yes, I am very tired of it, thank you.

Lately I've been taking side roads to avoid the nightmare that is the 101 in rush hour.

Here are some of my thoughts from today's drive home:

In the Scottsdale portion of the drive, there are lots of runners. And teenagers riding beach cruisers. And old people walking dogs. Somehow it always makes me feel like I'm missing out on this wondrous time, 6 o'clock. The time when people are home from work but its still light out (what's that like?) so they venture outside. I never cease to be jealous of these people.

At about this point in my journey I pass one of the dozen man-made lakes I see daily and think, just like I thought yesterday and every time before that, I should really bring my camera and take some photos of this lake. With the tall grass. And the pretty trees.

Then I pass one of those signs that tell you how fast you're driving and it flashes angrily 52 !!!

Whoa Leanne, slow down you're 7 miles over speed limit here.

There's a place called Eye Care Animal Hospital on the right. Really?

Oh hey Macayos billboard, you look just as delicious today as the first time I saw you. Yes, it is dinner time. Kinda rude.

Then there was a fantasy about smashing into a photo radar police van and I was home.

Very exciting times here. Very exciting.

L

P.S. Fender was sick but then M took him to the vet and paid $90 and now he's better. magic.

Husband

This morning, as I was dragging myself out the door headed to work, M says to me, "hey you look really cute." Now normally I would make fun of him for using such a girly word. Today however, it made my day.

And that's all there was.

xoxo
L

A Collection of Miscellanity

As I sit here sipping my delicioso QuikTrip hot chocolate, watching my #2 guilty pleasure show, some thoughts have flipped through my head.

It goes something like this:

QT is the best. Is there anyone who does not think so? M and I had a related conversation the other day that went like this:

"I wish there was a QT by our house. OR even better, by my work. Then I could eat there for breakfast AND lunch. Every day."

"You would get so fat."

"At least I would be happy."

Isn't he a dear?

I am grateful for spare keys. If you don't have a spare key to your car you should really get one. I've learned this from experience. This week we've had 2 opportunities to use our spares. Once when I locked my keys in my car and couldn't leave work (subconsciously it was on purpose because I love work so much?) and once today when M locked his in the car at the bottom of a mountain.

It's not that cool to be scared of your neighbors. I sincerely hope the large black man with the baseball bat's wife recovers quickly from the dog bite she sustained from our other neighbor's large pitbull. I also sincerely hope that he never yells at or around my husband with a baseball bat in his hand again.

Waiting is BORRRRING. I'm tired of waiting for stuff. I resolved today to stop waiting for things I can't speed up. Be happy now and all that jazz. How you ask? Beats me. Maybe my new hobby will help me forget about the things I'm waiting on. What hobby is that you ask? You'll see.

:) Happy weekend folks!

L

It's 70 degrees outside. In January!

Guys. Isn't winter supposed to be cold or something? Thank goodness it's not. I became a mountain biker this weekend, making all of Mr. Brown's dreams come true. I came to a few realizations on this bike ride.

One: downhill > uphill.

B) I would do just about anything if it meant being outside in nice weather.

Third-it's near impossible to get your dog to pose for a picture.

Please excuse the butt shot.

Here's a good one, to make it up to you.

Have a great week!

L

Birthday Month!

Happy 24th birthday to me! As should every girl, I had a pink princess birthday dinner courtesy of my fabulous mother. Complete with feather boas and sparkly crowns. (Is that not a real word? Curse you red squiggle line for mocking my poor spelling). Guess what I got for my birthday!!! Stay tuned for some awesome crafts once I learn how to use this thing :)

In other news:
Yesterday half of our office building was evacuated due to a gas leak. Apparently our office was just fine to stay and breathe in the toxic fumes coming from the other side of the not so big building. Anyway, after a close call re: a panic attack on my part and the street being blocked by fire trucks so no patients could get in, I got off work an hour early. We went to the park.

xoxo
L

Better Together

It's official. We made it to the year mark (over a month ago). I thought in honor of this most blessed occasion a top ten list is in order.

Okay! Top ten fav things about our first year as Mr and Mrs:

10) Read-a-thons on the couch. E-books count right?

9) Mitchell's bi-monthly purges on my closet. It usually takes me only a few days to forgive his kind donations to Goodwill on my behalf.

8) TV on DVD marathons. Or, let's be real-Netflix marathons.

7) Birthday coupons for back rubs that I stretch to last all year.

6) Road trips. Mostly to Cali, there's been about 6 or 7 this year alone. We listen to terrible music reminiscent of high school and eat terrible food. Like Yum Yum Donuts outside of Beaumont.

5) Discovering my new passion for hiking, which could also be called my passion for taking my dog cool places that he can explore and run around.

4) Being scared out of my mind at least twice a week. Turns out, my husband finds joy in hiding behind doors and jumping out at me. The first time I fell to the floor in a useless heap. I've since progressed to throwing things and punching.

3) Settling our fights with wrestling matches. I rarely win, but I do know just the right buttons to push to get myself pushed off the bed. And it always amuses me. Plus Mitchell's ticklish. In case anyone needed to find a weakness in his manly exterior.

2) The sickeningly sweet and cheesy nicknames we have for eachother. It's turned into a game. Whoever pauses or repeats a name thats already been said loses.

1) Nightly cuddle sessions on the couch. Wouldn't miss them for the world. Bonus: if we have a blanket Fender gets to come cuddle too.