welcome to the treehouse

Around here, we name our homes.

Our first home was the lovenest, and it was pretty awesome for a lovenest. Small, furnished entirely with secondhand items donated by relatives, our first newlywed home together. We did all the important newlywed firsts there - the first time we forgot to get the mail for several days, the first time I burned dinner for us, the first time we slept right through church :)

This weekend, we moved to a new place. We made a trip over there the night before we moved in, with the express purpose of deciding what we would call it. (Also, it was that or keep packing, so, yeah.) We felt the carpet beneath our bare feet, we snapped these pictures, we laid on the hardwood floor, we tested the sound of the doorbell.

And then we looked out the window. A few gigantic old trees are outside, and from our vantage point on the third floor, we could see the tops of the branches and leaves. Coming from a basement apartment, where the only thing you can see is the top of the small shrubbery by the sidewalk, we felt like we were flying.

^^ blurry, I know, but still, Jason's becoming quite the photo snapper ^^

And so we decided our new home will be the treehouse.
So welcome to the treehouse!
I have a feeling this will be an awesome home for us.
Maybe I'll take more pictures if I ever get these boxes unpacked.

Does anyone else name their homes?

in the interest of full disclosure

In the interest of full disclosure: we love having Jason around, but it can also be kind of fun when he's gone (he's visiting his family for a few days). We bought a new bed for our currently non-existent new apartment, and it's sitting down the hall in our spare room. Last night we acted like mature adults.... until midnight rolled around and it was blasted hot in our apartment. At that point, we found ourselves running down the hall in our pajamas, squealing and jumping on the bed. That's how you truly test out a new bed :) Our new bed's softness and jumping-upon ability was reaffirmed, and I can't remember having laughed so hard in a while.

These pictures have nothing to do with anything, but, you know. Blogs. I wasn't planning on taking pictures of myself that day, but when I'm hanging out with my family for Sunday dinner and realize I have my camera in my bag, anything can happen. I'm not a fashion blogger (where's the lipstick? where's the statement necklace??), but thanks for scrolling through this baby anyway!

Linking up to Plane Pretty and the Pleated Poppy.

our cabin getaway

Fact: I'm on spring break, and Sam isn't. This is a problem because (fact:) I'm so impatient, and want everyone to party with me when I'm partying, work with me when I'm working. The compromise: we couldn't get away to St. George or any other equally warm destination, but Sam was able to spare a few hours from Monday night to Tuesday morning.

We spent the night at my favorite cabin in Hobble Creek. It's beautiful, and I have so many memories spending summers there. When we pulled in, a raggedy yearling was staring at us, and he hung out near the cabin the whole night and into the next morning.

Sam built a fire, we had dinner, and we cuddled in a mountain of blankets known as the original lovenest. The next morning it was rainy (yesssss), so we stayed in bed and listened to the sound of the rain on the roof for a few seconds minutes hours. When it stopped, we ventured outside (with a hat on to not get wet - what kind of Oregonian am I?), smelled that after-rain smell and looked for our deer.

And then, wham-bam, we got Sam back to campus in time for his afternoon classes.


Gushy but semi-important side note: On the first of April 2011, Sam got down on one knee on that unusually warm evening and engaged me. On the first of April 2013, he put on his power tie and got hired for a job that he's excited about. Our night at the cabin was a double celebration. I'm proud of that crazy guy who closes his eyes during pictures and builds awesome fires.

What's your ideal getaway?

Hawaii would be nice, but we sure loved the cabin .

a video I'll never share and a one-year-old birthday

Last night, Sam and I were out for dinner with my uncle. We were talking about our friend's little baby who just turned one. We had a mini-party for her, in which we set a cake down in front of her, and she proceeded to look around at us all, wondering why we kept staring at her and what on earth this thing was doing in front of her. Eventually she got into the cake eating, and our good friend Mark helped her smash it, but it was quite funny nonetheless.

At dinner, Sam and I were talking about how much we'd love to smash a cake and get all messy and how fun that would be. And then our wings came and Sam picked up a fork to eat them with. We looked at each other and kind of laughed, because if we can't even eat wings without a fork, how are we supposed to be spontaneous and fun and messy?

Although actually, here's a backstory that involves smashing cake:

On our one-year anniversary, we thawed the top layer of our wedding cake from the back corner of the freezer, where it had been sitting. We went outside, set up a blanket, and had a good old-fashioned cake smashing session. On our actual wedding day, we were very nice to each other with the cake. This time around, we were not so nice or dainty. It was sunny and lovely and the cake was in my hair and down my shirt and smooshed into the cracks of my wedding ring. We even filmed it from multiple angles, and put a song to it. I love how it turned out.

The thing is, it turned out so wonderfully that I don't really want to share it on here? I want to keep it our little secret, our tiny two and a half minutes of warm sunny day that will be just between us.

So I guess Sam and I can be spontaneous and messy and fun, just not in a restaurant on a Tuesday night. :)

Someone validate me.

Do you have things that are too perfect to share with the blogging world?

And where's that line between sharing  your life with hundreds of people

and the things you choose not to share?

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Today's feature is Veronica from Passion, Pink & Pearls. I don't know where to start with this girl! I guess I'll start, like all good stories, with her love story, which you can find here. Also, she's doing a fun newlywed link-up now, which you can check out here. Veronica has one of the all-time coolest degrees in interior design (you can see some of her sample work here). Most of all though, Veronica's such a sweetheart! She's a faithful commenter and reply-er (it's a word now, didn't you hear?), and always has something nice to say about everything. Go leave Veronica some love, and please tell her I sent ya :)

Phantom of the Opera!

First things first, I finally bought a domain name (woot!). SO much easier than I thought. I was done in three minutes. Everything should automatically redirect you, but just in case - it's silverliningtheblog.com now, so double check that your blog reader makes the change. 


Second thing - I saw BYU's Phantom of the Opera last night. Of course nothing can compare to when I saw it in London, but boy do I love that music! The special effects, costumes, and sets impressed me the most though. I've never seen BYU spend this much money on something! And needless to say, I've been singing it nonstop since we got home last night (for either way we chooooooose we cannot wiiiiiiiiin!). Little did you know I'm a closet opera singer. Also, it was weird being away from Jason for three hours and not having a way to call or check in (we don't have a home phone). We went with John and Trisha, and boy did they get tons of attention for being dressed up as the Phantom and Christine!

 

 

Date night has taken on a whole different meaning now that we're parents. I mean, we've always had date night, but since we do everything together anyway, it was a continuation of our normal routine. But now that we're leaving an 11-year-old at home, time with just us is becoming much more valuable. We stay in the car until it gets cold, talking (mostly about how cold it's getting, and how we really should go inside).

It would have been awesome to have some super sparkly jewelry to go with me to the opera. I mean, Trish (above) had an entire top full of sparkles! Something from this boutique (which has some gorgeous items, by the way), would be awesome.

Thank you grandma and grandpa for the Phantom tickets! We loved it!

Have you ever seen Phantom of the Opera?

Did anyone else go to BYU's production? 

how we really are

Ours was a last-minute photo shoot. We weren't decided that Sam would come until a few minutes before, and then it was a mad dash to grab coats and blankets on the way out the door. Poor Sam is still getting over that blasted cold, so after about five minutes of pictures he was coughing and needed to go back inside.

That's what I love most about these pictures. They weren't planned in advance, with coordinating outfits and pinteresty props. It's just how we are, on a regular old Saturday, when we dash out into the cold for five minutes. Too often I get focused on those picture-perfect shots, but that's not really who we are. We're really just like this - with no matching to speak of and squinting in the sun. And that's why I love these.

Yup, I like this kid. More pictures to come :)

What do you think? Pros and cons of planned photo shoots?

Are your favorite pics planned or spontaneous?

Photo credit: K

experiencing big cities

"Experiencing" any big city is an ambiguous term. 

On Saturday we spent a few hours in Salt Lake with our friends, wandering around City Creek and seeing the lights at Temple Square and of course sipping {ultrasweet} hot chocolate from Hatch Family Chocolates {a few sips of that stuff is all I can handle!}. We left saying we experienced the city, and we did, but upon further reflection - everything we did was within a few blocks of each other, and it's mostly the popular, touristy section of town. 

Love this building.

Although might I mention that going anywhere, even the "popular" part of Salt Lake, is such an adventure with this cute girl {seriously. her eyelashes. what do I have to do to wake up with eyelashes like that in the next life?}.

Photo credit: Jessa

So here's my question - after the holiday craziness calms down and the lights are down and the Christmas sales are over -- what else should we do in Salt Lake? Our days in this state are numbered, and we want to actually experience Salt Lake, which I think includes the touristy stuff {again, back to the overwhelming sweetness of Hatch Family, which brings me back to those award-winning eyelashes}, as well as the non-touristy stuff.

How does one truly "experience" a city anyway?

Anyone have ideas?

And what if you love architecture in SLC? Any beautiful buildings?

PS I posted here about some of our recent city adventures, including some of our favorite less well-know spots.

Things that leave you speechless: The Festival of Trees 2012

Over the weekend, our awesome friends the Bennetts dragged us to the Festival of Trees. I had never been, and didn't really know what to expect.

I was blown away.

The festival benefits the children's hospital in the area, and people make these elaborate, expensive Christmas tree displays and donate them to the festival. Then, people auction and buy the trees. All money goes towards the hospital, and next to almost every display is a picture of the patient who inspired the display, and you can read their story. It was incredible. There were so many gorgeous and creative displays! It was fun to wander among the hundreds and hundreds of trees and look at them.

Here are a few of my favorite fun trees:

However amazing the trees were, I think the gingerbread houses may have been my favorite! They ranged from jaw-dropping to unique to downright funny. Here are some of my favorites (with titles such as Santa's Chapeau, the Provo Tabernacle, Hobbiton, The Lorax, and Reality).

Awesome, right? It was such a fun way to remember that Christmas is about giving, and also to admire the beautiful and creative work of so many hundreds of people. Not to mention those mouth-watering scones....

Have you been to the Festival of Trees?

Or something like it?

And seriously, how awesome are those gingerbread houses?

football on a Saturday night

First of all, I was totally blown away by all the sweet comments I got on my sick day ranting yesterday. You guys sure do know how to make a girl feel better! This is what the blogging community is all about, you know? 

P.S. I'm feeling a little better today... and I'm going to school! Wish me luck! And I'm not contagious, don't worry.

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Saturday night football is one of my favorite things. It's fun to be out in the cold, cheering on your team, but it's also fun to be in a warm house, eating snacks and hanging out with some of your favorite people. It's also way easier to sleep through the third quarter if you're at home :)

Even though our team didn't exactly win this Saturday, three cheers for football and friends and food!

What's your favorite way to watch football? 

Out in the cold or inside watching a TV?

Parasites are worth it

Days off are glorious.

After a lovely morning of sleeping in and watching Psych and eating popcorn at 10 in the morning, Sam and I headed off to the Mona Rope Swing with some of our very favorite friends and their cute baby.

Mona = small town in the middle of nowhere Utah

Mona Ponds (Burriston Ponds) = random large pond in the middle of the middle of nowhere town. It wasn't terribly dirty, but there was definitely that pond smell. It's fine until you ingest a little bit of it from screaming as you go off the rope swing, and then you feel like gagging and you're sure you have a parasite or two. No big deal.

P.S. Leslie's Family Tree is a great place for lunch, Reese is a great name for a darling baby that comes with you, and dice games + ice cream + friends is the best way to finish off the evening.

Don't you LOVE days off??

What made your Labor Day the best ever?