Christmas day 2010

naturally, we woke up at the crack of dawn to open presents before heading over to the jones' for more presents

and skyping elder wesley jones in spain

it was such a fun morning just getting to enjoy exchanging gifts and spending time together.

we hung out at the jones' all morning then stopped by my moms house for a bit.

after that we got ready and headed off to grandma and grandpa chambers' for popcorn balls, burritos and the nativity scene. classic.

(this is where i proved that i can handle video-ing on two cameras at the same time.)

wait...i just remembered that gma&gpa chambers was Christmas eve...

let me start again...

after we got ready we headed off to grandma JONES' house for more presents and yummy mexican food.

THEN we came home and my dad, brother and his girlfriend jayne came over for dinner.

we ate, opened presents, shot off some fireworks yada yada yada...

chris took care of the main dish this year.

smoked turkey.

yes, apparently it is a good sign that it is that black.

chris & jayne

3 middle easterns, 2 white significant others & a partridge in a pear tree

precious.

this is the fireworks part. aka my brother brought a roman candle.

really, we just decided that he looked like harry potter.

now for the good stuff...

mama jones got each set of married kids a food saver, along with the jars and a bunch of chocolate chips and brown sugar...basically AMAZING!!!

aaand then they one upped themselves when they gave all the girls bath & body works goodness and every boy got inception on blu-ray!

my toms from cody.

the most comfortable, sexy, hippie shoe you will ever wear.

::sigh::

my glorious new cookie sheets from cody.

this is just a picture from cody playing with our new camera...

our tree looks like it's on fire...almost.

then i'm sure we just wrapped up the day doing something boring like sticking ourselves in front of the tube for the rest of the night...

must be exciting with those 5 channels we have.

down with cable!

our biggest (first married) Christmas, ever. pt.1

let's just have a quick Christmas breakdown...

i got lots of goodies and i know i got Cody some dang good stuff too.

but, of course, Cody is the reigning Christmas gift champion

and my hero when i unwrapped this beauty:

::cue choirs of angels singing::

and of course every beautiful camera deserves its own beautifully stylish bag.

we decided to pick out a bag together so that it will:

a) look cute for me

and

b) protect the camera enough for him.

we may have a little trouble compromising on a camera bag when naturally, i've got my eye on this beaut...

and Cody shows me something like this online....

::crickets::

do you hear what i hear?

camera bag dreams being shattered.

shatter shatter shatter.

ZZzzzZzzZZz...

in case you were wondering,

this is where we sleep every night.

it is a work in progress.

i am just happy that i at least finished painting the room,

since it spent 2.575 years only half painted from top to bottom.

i've added a few things here and there since this photo

but not having a camera anymore is really jockin' my steez.

either way, it's been really fun designing our little home,

and finally getting to enjoy the house and all the furniture i picked out.

{insert jab at cody for breaking up with me here, har har har. it's okay, he has totally redeemed himself.}

usually cody lets me do whatever i want and only disagrees if he loathes something entirely.

which has happened quite a few times.

which is why i just started sneaking things in and not saying a word.

the fact that it takes him like 3 days to notice something different just adds to my argument: that if he doesn't notice it,

then he can live with it.

i'll just roll with, "if wifey ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

juuuuuust kiddddiiiiinnnnng. i'm not that un-delightful.

but really.

i mean, really?!

now that the semester is over and i'm out of school for a few weeks...

i have more time to waste on worldly things, like shopping, stalking celebs and sleeping in.

i think i might start a new blog segment that includes ridiculous things i see on the web.

lets just continue with celeb trends.

the gyllenhaal and t.swift?!

i mean, really?!

really???!

since i'm pretty sure i loved him first,

ever since since i saw him in movie theatres in October Sky,

::moment of silence::

hello i was like 11 and knew he was pure amazingness.

anyways, pretty sure this one will not last.

hoping she ends it before he does.

because lets face it, i've seen too many of these go down before,

and the last thing we need is to hear her hatin' on jakey with that $11,000 guitar he bought her.

british blurb

anyone else counting down to april 29, 2011???

no? just me?

i love a good story where the girl waits forever for her man and ends up happy.

oh wait....

i am that story.

except i won't be wearing an 18 karat sapphire/diamond ring.

and my wedding didnt cost 6479058926235 dollars.

aaand i won't be england's princess.

but whatevs.

smokin' aces...or pancakes. whatever.

lately it seems like i should rename this blog "tales of a terrible housewife."

but with that said, i'm not a housewife.

i'm a student. and i kind of work. kind of.

so it's not like i have 89 hours during the day to perfect my beef wellington and knit socks.

long story short, i am no good at making pancakes.

i can never control the heat and i always end up with burned critters.

guess this is another item added to cody's cooking list,

{along with scrambled eggs and quesadillas.}

one day i decided,

"today is the day. today i will not burn the pancakes. and i shall be forever a delightful wife!"

that didn't last long.

i did what any logical person would do if their house was filling with smoke and set the pan outside to 'air out'.

well this is somewhat of an acceptable action.

unless you forget about it.

and it stays outside overnight.

and it rains.

and when your husband finds it in the morning he sees that a pancake was removed from the pan and pecked at.

pecked at.

not eaten. not swallowed. not chomped.

even freaking animals think my pancakes are crap.

::sigh::

at least the pan still works?!

cumin...and other things

this weekend we took a trip to north scottsdale for the one and only,

persian room.

mmm.

so good to be with friends and family.

especially to celebrate my gracie graduating asu in 2 weeks!!

and she got a job working for an event company doing scenic design.

i am so proud of my asian!!

naturally, i finished all my food.

cody couldnt quite stomach it.

(we are still warming him up to the persian-ness)

so now we have a box of left overs in the fridge...

and now whenever we open the fridge, it smells funny.

like persians. like too much saffron cologne and bad hairspray.

it's persian, you wouldn't understand...

remember that one time we went to the gilbert temple groundbreaking,

and the sun was so hot that i traced back to my middle eastern roots by wrapping my scarf around to my head

to keep my hair from getting so hot?!

yea. that was awesome.

(p.s. what's with the crazy bags under my eyes?! i'm stinking 22!!)

sun king

since cody has been serving as our ward mission leader he has meetings. lots of meetings.

some meetings require him to be to church before the sun. or right after the moon.

whichever you prefer.

sunday morning he got to church only to find that the meeting had been cancelled, so on his drive home he was gifted with the sight of this beautiful sunrise.

good thing he had his phone with him to document this beautiful occasion.

raise your hand if you love nature. and iPhones!!

honey pie

so i meant to post some super cute and creative picture of us last week when we hit the 6 month mark.

naturally i was buried in school work or wallowing in a pumpkin pie coma and forgot.

so, here is my lame make-up photo...

because, well, only my delightful husband would let me dress him however i want.

happy six months to my one and only.

i really do love you!

Christmas in November

shoes appropriate for an alfafa field

november 13, 2010:

we attended the groundbreaking for the Gilbert Temple...

so excited! Not that the mesa temple is far but AZ needs to get to UT status

with temples on every corner, just sayin'.

many people may oppose this new temple but i for one am grateful.

those people don't even know what they got comin' to em!

talk about more peace, beauty and spirit...boom, blam, pow!

and good thing cody and i planned weeks in advance to wear our boots to the groundbreaking.

i felt so bad for all the women in heels that aerated the land and left with filthy toesies.

we really should wear our boots more often...

life is a beach, i'm just playin' in the saaand!! {pancakes & sunburns}

back in august we had the chance to take a jones family trip to california

as one last hoo-rah before wesley left on his mission to spain.

it was so much fun...pretty sure that dealing with jones boys gas + bathroom humor = official initiation into the family.

thanks mom & dad for a great trip! we love you!

here are some pics to document all the beachy goodness...

this was my view all the way to california...

it was mostly cloudy when we finally got there but the boys were so excited to hit the water and catch some boogie!

jones boys on the beach.

nothin' like a good ol' stack o' flap jacks to start the day off right!

am i going to get in trouble for posting this pic?!

oceanside paddle ball.

we saw the hulk's cousin a few times.

cody & wes on the skim.

love me a good nap on the beach. cody was so disappointed that all i wanted to do was sleep.

kids! missing tyler & kristen and jaimie & sean : (

on the boardwalk do doo do do...

some guy caught and released this thing. pretty much the biggest catch i have ever seen.

so presh.

cute annie and cody digging...to china?

one. of. my. all. time. faves.

papa bear got a little out of control with the stunt kite.

this photo sequence says it all.

can we just have a moment of silence for the amazingness that is the pizza port?! mmm...

loved going to the farmers market...

real sugar cane and avocados the size of your head?! yes please!

rod stewart, is that you?!

this guy had some major pep in his step.

awww wessy, now elder jones!!

this trip brought to you by: mom & dad jones

when the sun goes down...

the boys found an awesome underground skate shop,

complete with a glass case displaying some of cody's all time fave shoes...omg, shoes.

here's a story, it goes a little something like this:

cody and wes found what they thought to be a jellyfish tentacle on the beach.

naturally, wes wondered if the tentacle still held its stinging powers even after being detached from its squiddy body. how might you test this you ask? why by rubbing it on your nipple of course.at least this is what wes did.

long story short, the boy had a burning nip for the rest of the day. case closed.

a sight for sore toes.

i ran into a chair in the rental house.

a big, fat, red, leather chair with big, fat wooden legs.

it came out of nowhere, i swear.

it knocked me right out, onto the ground.

as in, uncontrollable laughter, pain and tears.

pretty sure i broke it that night.

but that was august.

now it's november.

and i still have my baby toe.

so much to be thankful for this thanksgiving, especially baby toes.