st. george!

for the week after christmas, paul's brother and sister and their families came down from new mexico and california to visit. we spent some time in st. george where paul's parents have a condo that has enough space for us all to fit with our kids and stuff. we went shopping, ate too many homemade caramels, got pedicures and, my favorite, played games. i'm such a game junkie, too bad i don't have a picture...thanks for a great week debbie and glade!

penny had a great time with her cousins. makayla (the blondie) was constantly doing funny things to make her laugh. paul's mom got them some matching outfits and we tried to take some cousin pictures, they were pretty good sports about it. (penny didn't feel like wearing her matching bow.)


enjoying the warmer (and by warmer i mean 45 degree) st. george weather.


and i know this is totally random but i had to share. we go down to the condo once or twice a year and there's this guy's house on the way with these crazy big wire lawn ornaments, and there's new ones every time we drive down and i think they're so funny and, dare i say, beautiful?...how thoughtful. someone decided to give that bear a little support. hahahaha


this is also random, but i thought it was funny. one time we checked in on penny during a nap and she had her shirt half off which she NEVER does. she just wanted to be comfortable, i guess. ha. and the pic on the right isn't from st. george, it was just before we left, but i had to show how she crosses her legs like a little lady. she always does this, when she's eating or sitting on my lap, i think it's pretty cute.


(p.s. did anyone else notice dick clark's awesome count down? "14, 12, 10, 11..." haha. i know he's super old, but it's still funny.)

christmas!

we had a great christmas with paul's family here in utah. penny was way more into present opening this year and it was fun to watch her react to each present. she didn't like that i kept taking away presents to give her new presents though. i kind of forgot to take pictures of anything else but penny...but it's all about the kids, right?

checking out her stocking + waiting to open a present bigger than she is.

i think the sweetest present-opening moment was when she opened the little piano we bought for her. it was so cute - she saw it and looked up at me and gave the cutest exclamation, something like "ah gaahhh!" she just smiled all huge and plinked away at it daintily with one finger. it was just a little dumb piano but it was so sweet how she just looked up at me and grinned. i can't wait for more moments like that at future christmases! (christmas-ai?)

paul got me the lady gaga cd's (YAY!) and the 500 days of summer dvd (SEE IT!). i got him a passport case that he liked from an etsy shop.

we seriously feel so blessed this year that everyone is healthy in our family, and that we have this new job that paul is happy doing, and that friends and family are close by. we hope you had a great christmas too!

christmas + new apartment = yay!

so we're finally out of L-to-the-Logan and settled in our new apartment. thanks to y'all who helped us move! i love it here already - there's a TARGET only a few blocks away! oh, target, how i've dreamed at shopping at you often...

everything's mostly unpacked and i even put up our (fake) christmas tree and other christmas decorations. i love having no one above us (we're in a one-level duplex with a side neighbor). and i love how quiet and warm our apartment is. it has a new furnace so it's nice and toasty while it's snowing outside. although, we almost cooked penny the other night. it turns out her little room is the warmest in the house and the first night we slept here the heat was on all night and her door was closed and she woke up crying hysterically and drenched in sweat. so, lesson learned. sorry penny!

i'm so excited to watch her open presents! last year she was only 3 months and just about slept through the whole thing. and this year i vow to take more pictures and record some video since i slacked on that last year.

sorry, no pictures this post. my camera is still packed in a box but here's some "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" courteousy of the california raisins.

(paul, mr. marketing expert, just told me that the california raisins are one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever, except they didn't translate well worldwide. apparently, little purple raisins look exactly like little round purple fairies that are bad luck in japan. hahaha.............i think they kind of look like poo.)

have a merry christmas everyone!

things i'll miss about logan, utah

i know i've made it very clear that i'm excited to leave logan, but there are, of course, some things that i'll miss.

i moved here in 2002 to attend utah state university and graduated four years later in english literature. so i'll always have a soft spot for the campus and the great educational experiences i had there. (that just sounded like a utah state testimonial...but it's true.)

such a natural graudate pose...and don't you love how uncomfortable paul is in that kissy pose? that's because my parents were watching. ha.

paul and i were in an english major orientation class together freshman year...but i never realized he was in that class with me until he told me later when we officially met at the student apartment complex we both lived at during my softmore year. i don't think i talked to anybody in that class - i was always late and sat in the front because those were the only seats left. so when paul saw me again, he probably thought "oh, there's that girl with the short black hair who was always late to that one class and didn't talk to anybody."

the apartment complex was named old farm and his boy apartment and my girl apartment hung out alot because they were close together. actually i lived across the parking lot but i had some friends who lived in an apartment close to his and i was at their apartment alot. we were both english majors (at the time) and decided to take an english class together. that's when we got to know each other and started dating.

our english building + the long (and freezing cold walk during the winter) that i took to class every day.


old farm and the college campus were basically where paul and i hung out and did the ol' fall in love thing. sometimes when we go on walks we stroll through the old farm complex and walk by our old apartments and reminisce about random memories we had there. (and i'm sure the students who live there see us and are all like "why is that couple walking through here with their baby?" hel-LO. we're REMINISCING.)

(some of my old roomies: ashlee, meg, ashley, me, julie...all of whom are married and have babies now...except for ashlee's slacking on the baby thing. you best catch up lady!)

and there's the familiar stuff i'll miss. there's a really cute downtown part of logan with little brick shops and old neon signs that i love.

(logan main street cinema + old gas station.)

and, i'll miss the logan temple. it's where paul proposed (with a sign made out of pennies in the temple fountain, if you recall. is it ironic that our first daughter is named penny?...nah) and i love getting a warm fuzzy whenever i drive past it thinking about that day.


and, last but not least, logan is where penny was born! and where we became parents! i think it's pretty cool that our first baby was born in the same town where we went to school together, dated and got engaged. though i guess that's not a very rare story for most young married mormon couples...ha.

thanks for the past 7 1/2 years logan!

PAUL GOT A JOB!!!

needless to say, i am losing my mind i'm so excited. this has been our goal for almost 2 years! paul has been working in a warehouse at an electricial distribution place but he graduated in public relations, and has been working so hard to find a job as a copy writer ever since.

and we finally got one!! the place is called gcommerce solutions and it's located in park city (where sundance is, if you're not familiar) but we're going to live in salt lake and paul's gonna commute 30 minutes because park city is VERY expensive. and i'm definitely looking forward to living in salt lake. since i resigned myself a while ago to the fact that we were going to live and raise our family in utah (not that living in utah is bad, i just miss southern california a little still...), i vowed that i would at least live in my favorite place in utah - salt lake city. i'm by no means an ourdoorsy person so bigger cities are my cup of tea. AND, they have a huge farmer's market and loads of other craft fairs. and when anyone comes through utah, the only show they do seems to be in salt lake, and we'll get to see plays more, which i love, and there's such a larger variety of shopping (forever 21! yippeeee!) and of course, the main reason why we're so glad to move to salt lake: family and friends.

i can't tell you how many times we've driven down to the salt lake area to visit family and friends, probably once or twice a month ever since we've been married. and since logan is 2 hours away, we have to stay the night and bring all this crap (that's mostly for penny) and it's kind of tiring to always have to be spending the night with someone practically twice a month. but no more! we can actually visit someone and then - get this - drive back to our apartment the same night! and we'll have to bring no more than a diaper bag for penny! YES!

and man, i 've lived in logan for 7 1/2 years (including 4 years of college) and i am SO ready to be outta here. it's pretty and familiar, i know where everything is, and it's like the safest town in america but i am definitely ready for a change. both of us are. paul is so excited to be entering his chosen job field and to have an office job where he doesn't wear jeans and a sweatshirt to work.

and people can i just say, INSURANCE. we will all finally be covered with medical, dental and vision insurance and that is one of the biggest blessings out of the new job deal. paul hasn't been covered since we got married because we were students when we got married and had the student health center that was included in our tuition. when we decided to start a family, we just bought an individual select health policy for myself, because paul's job at the warehouse didn't offer insurance. big mistake. turns out because i bought the policy for only myself, and not myself and my husband, it was thereby not a family policy. so when it came time to add penny on when she was born, they denied her addition because paul was not previously on my plan. crazy, right? wait, it gets better. select health also wouldn't cover penny on an individual basis because she had "respiratory distress" upon being born and considered that a pre-existing condition. pre-existing condition?! she didn't exist until she had the "respiratory distress" and she didn't have the "respiratory distress" until she existed! FOR PETE'S SAKE!

so after much appealing and rejection and cursing select health to hades, we applied for medicaid for penny, and she's been covered by that since a few months ago. and that's great and all, but insurance through an employer is definitely preferable. insurance has really been a big source of stress in my life, not to mention worrying every day if paul gets hurt at his job and how we'd pay for it (we'll pretty much be paying for penny's hospital bills for the rest of our lives...thanks select health! you're the best!). so i am very relieved that our little family will finally be covered.

all of these huge blessings in our lives recently have been so amazing and i am so grateful for them. and i am so excited to be moving on and for a change!

so here's to the best early christmas present ever! NEW JOB!

thanksgiving weekend

my folks and little brother brian drove up from california to spend thanksgiving with us all at my aunt margo's home. she is an INSANELY good cook, so of course the food was amazing and we stuffed ourselves accordingly. thanks margo!

before we ate, we made apple cider! margo has this very cool machine where you toss the apples in a grinder on the top and then press the juice out of the mushed up apple bits on the bottom. sooo good.


doing a bit of apple juggling.


my dad doing the honors and my uncle jim with his daughter aubrey.


my grandma balmforth (my dad's mom) playing with penny. i love the pic on the right - they both look so happy!


the whole balmforth clan.


the larsen fam and my brother's wife kjersti with the always adorable katelyn.


feeling victorious after a little black friday shopping. i got so many clothes for penny at half price it was rediculous.


and last but not least, penny and max in the tub. aw, little tub buddies.


(and i took paul to see new moon...and he liked it! yaaaay.)

new moon!

*some spoilers...

i loved it! i saw it with my sister lana this weekend and i can't wait to go see it again with paul this week!

i don't care what the critics say - it was so fun to watch! besides, 1) do you ever notice how the critics mention "i haven't read the books but..." well, DUH. people are only seeing the movies BECAUSE of the books. they don't understand that the books are immensely popular on their own because people love the story and the characters and the movie is just a visual representation of that. and 2) most movie critics are dudes.

how it was better than the first one:
- better hair, makeup, clothing etc. the vampires' eye contacts were so much more vibrant! their white makeup didn't look so chalky and their hair color looked better even though some of their wigs looked kinda fake. alice was so beautiful! her clothes were tons better and her hair wasn't all flipped out like in the first one.

- special effects. i thought the wolves looked pretty good and were horse-sized like in the book. the vampires running was so much better, too. blurry-too-fast-to-see running is infinitely better than stationary-torso-creepy-sped-up-legs running. edward sparkling in the sun was fantastic! it really did look like diamond faceted skin. so awesome. it really shows what a bigger movie budget can buy.
- bella didn't blink her eyes and bite her lips 5 million times like she does in the first one. i thought kristen stewart was more natural in this one.

things i loved:
- the volturi! i loved their BRIGHT red eyes and their tower in italy was perfect. marcus and caius were so perfectly cast but aro was awesome! he was so crazy and perfect with his creepily calm voice. and i loved how dakota fanning looked as jane. "this may hurt just a little..."

- jasper! his flip-out scene at the birthday party was awesome and i loved at the end when they were voting and he said "it'd be nice to not want to kill you all the time." ha! i'm looking forward to his backstory in "eclipse."
- - mike! oh my crap, he was funny. after bella comes to sit with them for the first time in forever, mike is all "glad to see you're eating...gotta get some protein in there" as he pokes her, it's not funny just reading it but how he says is so funny. i love bella's human friends in forks.
- face punch! that fake movie title is hilarious and i loved the dialogue you heard while they were watching: "if you don't put down your gun, i'm gonna punch you in the face! if you BOTH don't put down YOUR guns, i'm gonna punch YOU both in YOUR faces!" ha.
- jacob vs mike! wasn't it so funny how they were sitting on either side of bella with their hands palm up on the armrests? i'm so glad they put that scene in.
- victoria's flaming hair! sooo much prettier than in twilight. (but how come she didn't talk?...)
- and hello, abs much? jacob looked so cut and buff that it looked fake. rediculous.
- the volturi and edward, bella and alice standing in the elevator with generic elevator music in the background. yeah, i imagine that would be a little awkward and tense.
- bella's visions of edward. genius! not only does she hear him like in the book, but she sees him too reprimanding her.

her cliff-dive was cool and i liked how they were side-by-side in the water. and oooh, didn't victoria look scary swimming towards her in the water?
- seeing a glimpse of bella as a vampire! their clothing looked kinda cheesey but seeing them run together and all sparkly was so cute! makes me excited for "breaking dawn"...if they ever announce that they're making it.
- the soundtrack! paul bought it for me before the movie came out and it's really so good. every song was composed or mixed differently specifically for the movie.
- i just thought the whole movie flowed really well and that chris weitz was really faithful to the fans and the book. yay!

things i didn't like:
- um, did anyone notice that edward's nipples looked weird when he took off his shirt in italy? okay movie people, so you can cgi some sparkles onto his skin but you can't color-correct his nipples? that's great. (by the way, did you know edward's abs were painted on? ha. guess taylor lautner beat ya on that one rpatz).
- edward's pink lipstick in the beginning.
- the wolf pack actors were kinda stiff.
- person kicking my chair behind me during the whole movie. i mean, COME ON. how can you be an adult and kick someone's chair for 2 hours and be okay with it? SO RUDE.
- being sad that victoria would be a different actress in "eclipse."
- um, i really can't think of anything else...i just loved it the whole time!

things i still didn't like carried over from the first one:
- rosalie. ha. was it just me or did she have SO MUCH makeup on and her wig was so fake-looking that she kinda looked like a transvestite? oooh, that's mean, i'm sorry. but she really had it caked on more than the rest of them.
- missing out on parts i loved from the book. i know they have to fit it into a 2-hour movie but don't you just wish they could make a 6-hour mini series of each movie? too much? okay, well maybe not 6 hours...but i would've liked to have seen edward and bella on the plane coming back from italy, the cullen reunion in the airport, bella ripping the radio out of her truck after the cullens have left...the list could go on.

i'd love to hear what you guys thought of new moon!