Flashback: Sleepover and World Cup!

Hooray! Another flashback!

Don't worry, we are getting close to caught up. I only have a couple more things to blog about before I will be able to blog about recent things. I need to get caught up soon though, or else I'm never going to be all caught up. (We had a great 24th of July weekend, and I will blog about it... but first I have to blog about June!) By the way... in recent events, I have found out that I absolutely love water aerobics. It's probably the best thing ever invented.

A-I love the water.

B-I don't like to exercise, but I do like to swim.

C- I like to listen to fun music.

D- I like to hang out with my Aerobics friend, Jenni!

(If anyone wants to join us, just let me know. It is seriously a party!)

Okay.. moving on to todays post. During the World Cup madness (and believe me, it was madness at our house) we had a sleepover party with Davids family at his sister Wendy's house.We had lots of food(Wendy's home-made pizza = delicious), a movie (Snowball Express anyone? Don't ask me why the title is Snowball Express. It doesn't make sense to me. It was, however, a pretty good film.), more food (see delicious chocolate cake below), World Cup madness, games, more food (think lots of movie candy) and an extremely competitive tri-sport tournament.

We started the whole thing off with Pizza and treats. I made a Chocolate Mousse Crunch cake, that almost didn't make it to the party because I about ate the entire thing myself. I had to take pictures because I was so proud:

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE my glass serving tray. I got it for Christmas and I adore it.

Doesn't that look divine? I made everything from scratch. (Except for the Heath bars that are on the top.) Just looking at this makes me want to go home and make another!

While we were eating someone (a couple of the boys I am sure) came up with the great idea of having a tri-sport tournament! (It kind of fit with the whole World Cup craziness that everyone was experiencing. We were really excited.) So the boys got online and made tournament brackets. We played ping-pong, darts, and air hockey. We had a blast!

Daniel and Sue playing Air-hockey. Bruce and Jeff are watching for any sign of weakness to exploit when it was their turn to play the winner.

Amy checking out her score on the dart board.

Sam and Nathan. Sam was definitely the person to beat at ping-pong. He is a master. (You should know that David is amazing at ping-pong as well. He definitely matched Sam stroke for stroke.)

Amy, Bruce and David contemplating just how far they would go to ensure that they would come out as the champion. They look nice and innocent, but these are some of the most conniving people that I know. :)

Jeff and I had an epic battle.

And then Jeff dominated me.

I just got too confident!

It was so fun to have everyone play!

I have no idea who I am playing right here, but you can guess how good I was doing by the fact that my eyes are closed. (That is generally my best technique: close my eyes and hope that I hit something.)

David on the other hand, did an awesome job representing us. He is amazing at just about anything he puts his mind to. Sometimes I think that he must cheat to be so good at everything... but then I remember that he doesn't... he really just is that talented. It makes me sick. (Just teasing David, you know that it makes me love you even more! Except when you won't let me win... ever. Not even a little tiny game. Grr...)

After our tournament, we were all pretty tired and so we all just set up our beds, watched a movie and then went to sleep. The next day we had omelets for breakfast (complements of the two master chefs, Bruce and Sam.), and then got pumped for the World Cup soccer game. I watched with just as much excitement as everyone else (I even wore a soccer jersey to show my enthusiasm), but got pretty bored towards the end. I looked down at my phone and realized that I had missed a call and so I went downstairs to listen to my voice mail. I had just finished listening to my message when all of the sudden I heard jumping and screaming coming from right above me. It sounded like a herd of elephants started jumping up and down and bellowing in victory. I made it upstairs just in time to watch the replay of America's goal. This is why soccer is not my favorite sport, because nothing happens and nothing happens and nothing happens... and then you turn your head for two seconds and you miss the only exciting thing of the entire game! (David uses this as an excuse to not tear his eyes away from the screen for the entire hour and a half that the game is played for.)

Go team go.

We really had a great time hanging out with everyone. Wendy and Sam's new house is awesome and is perfect for big family get-togethers. Their kids (and their kid's friends) are going to love that basement for years and years to come. Thanks so much for having us over!

p.s. If anyone wants the recipe for that cake, it is found HERE.

Also, Get excited for the post about the blessing dress that I made! I am so happy with the way it turned out.

Flashback: Kyle and Chelsea Griffin

Alrighty! Here is another Flashback Post! I am working on getting all of my pictures organized so I can catch up on this blog. Look forward to many more posts. (However, please do not expect them to come in chronological order. I just don't think it's going to happen.)

I am super excited about this post.  Kyle and Chelsea are some really good friends of David and I. David and Kyle grew up together in West Jordan and then were roommates after they got home from their missions. Kyle and Chelsea started dating a couple of months after David and I got married, and we doubled with them for their second or third date. As soon as we met Chelsea, we were impressed with how good of a fit she was with Kyle... and we started taking bets about whether they would get married or not. Luckily we were right, and they got married this last June. Kyle is happier than I have ever seen him and they are one of those couples that seem to be made for each other. 

I had the opportunity to take their engagements and bridal photos for their wedding, and I have been meaning to post them to this blog. I don't know why I haven't yet... but I guess that is why this is a flashback post. So here you go! (I just picked out some of my favorites, but there are still lot!)

Engagements: 

Bridals:

Not many of my pictures from the wedding turned out very good. (I guess that is what happens when you aren't the main photographer. You can't really demand some time with the couple. Haha.) Here are just a few that I liked though.

What do you think? Also, if you are looking for any photos taken you are willing to be my models... I would LOVE to go out with you. I haven't had much opportunity to practice due to school and work... but as a graduated lady I am ready to start devoting some serious time to this!

Congratulations Kyle and Chelsea! We are so happy for you and so glad that we got to be such a big part of your wedding preparations!

When did this happen?

Right now I am sitting at my beloved iMac computer, in my wonderful little apartment, eating a whole wheat bagel with Honey Almond Shmear. As I was making myself the bagel I started wondering "When did I grow up?" I know that might sound totally lame, but I can't help it. For some reason this bagel represents something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I used to be the girl who would eat a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese just because I liked the taste. Fruity kid flavors are always my number one choice. But here I am enjoying this absolutely delicious Honey Almond Whole Wheat breakfast. 

When did I stop running away from something just because it was unfamiliar?

I have a pair of black flats that I adore. I just bought them with a good friend, Megan. (Check out her photo business, she does a great job!) However, there was a time I swore that I would NEVER wear flats. I liked my tennis shoes just fine, thank you very much. 

Over the past couple of weeks I have started carrying a purse around. And it's not a little thing! It's a large black leather bag. 

No, my purse isn't Gucci, it's a great DI find. I found it a couple of years ago and it has been hanging out in my closet because I have this strange habit of buying purses without being able to bring myself to use them. For those who know me well, know that I would just as soon carry my wallet in my hand than have to tote around a purse. But now... I feel so sophisticated walking around with my sleek black bag. 

I am married. 

I live in a house with just one other person. 

I own two computers and a big screen TV.

I am graduated from college.

I have brown hair that is cut into a cute little a-line. 

It is far from the shoulder-length blonde hair that was once all that I knew. 

The other day, I ate the most delicious chicken I have ever had. It was cooked on a grill and covered in fresh tomatoes. I didn't scrape the tomatoes off. I ate them all. Even the ones that were left over when the chicken was gone. 

When did that start happening?

Sometimes I feel like I am the same person I was as a freshman in high school. I don't feel like I have changed all that much. I love the gospel, I love my family, I love to be successful and I love to have fun. But I have changed. I have changed a lot. I realize that most of the things I have mentioned are superficial things... but other things have changed as well. I am more aware of others around me, I have more faith, I know that consequences will come for each of my actions, I love more deeply, I am more confident, I am more willing to try new things and not hold myself to my old likes, dislikes and fears. 

I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and realized that I have come far from where I was. 

Now as I type this, I realize that I have far to go until I am where and who I want to be. 

I hope that I become more willing to help those around me, more willing to put God first in my life. I hope that I can become a kind and gracious mother. I hope to become more confident, more virtuous, more forgiving, and more accepting. 

I realize that there isn't really a point to this post. But I have to wonder... how did I get here... and where am I going. Do you understand what I am talking about? They say that you don't just wake up one day and say "Okay... i'm grown up now!" But you know what? I think I just did.

Flashback to the past! -- Happy anniversary to us!

Okay, so we aren't actually flashing back to the distant past. Just the recent past. Do you remember that I said we forgot Davids camera at Wendy and Sams house? Well we finally got it back! (Thank you Wendy for taking care of it while we were away.) 

Note: There will be several flashback posts. I was planning to do them all together in one big post, but realized I just don't have the time for that. So instead you will be getting "Flashback to the past" posts over the next week or so.

June 5, 2010 = One year of happily wedded bliss + Really old wedding cake

Our marriage turned one! David and I decided to stay close to home for our Anniversary. We are trying to graduate from college debt-free and David is only half-way through his Masters. We decided it would be better to stick close to home now, and be able to graduate debt-free. (And hopefully go on a cruise or something in December.) We went out to lunch at Chick-fil-a and then David surprised me by taking me to the Hale Center Theater to see the Three Musketeers.  I absolutely love seeing plays at the theater and hope to someday have season passes to some showhouse close to where we live. 

Here are some other pictures of us at the play:

(Isn't he so handsome?)

Next up we went to the Gateway to go to the Clarke Planetarium. I'd never been, and we had been talking about going for quite a while. We had a blast!

Learning all about the different planets and such. It was way interesting to see the sizes of all the planets in comparison with earth. 

We even took a trip to Mars!

Spacesuit. 

This was my favorite part of the whole place. It was a huge system that was rigged with a piping system that carried little balls through up to the very top of the roof and then let them roll down, hitting bells and such. It was way fun. (I also loved the pendulum that swings in just one place, but as the earth turns it hits these little metal pieces and makes them fall down.) 

Because we were already at the Gateway, I told David that I really really wanted to go and check out the store "Anthropologie." I had heard a ton about it, but wasn't actually sure what it was. I would always see people (especially on a lot of the blogs that I follow) mention buying shirts, or shoes, or plates, or measuring cups, or laundry baskets there. Sounds a little eclectic right? It totally was. You could pretty much find a little bit of everything there. It was fun to check out, now I feel like I am in the "know." 

We were starving so we decided to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen. Neither of us had been before and it was really good! 

We got a California Club and it was oh, so delicious!

After we were done with all of our fun in Salt Lake, we headed back to Logan where we ate some pretty delicious one-year old wedding cake. David wasn't sure why we had to do it, but I was insistent. Although, I'm not exactly sure what the symbolism is either. I guess it's just a good way to celebrate our first year. 

The lighting was really bad, so these were the only pictures that turned out. The cake wasn't too bad, but I must admit we both took one bite and we were like... "Yum... lets get out the ice cream instead. (David and I are not big cake people. It's too... I don't know. Something.) The best part about eating our cake it that it frees up a large amount of room in our freezer! 

This last picture is from when we went to the temple earlier in the week. We were able to go and do sealings in the Logan Temple and it was wonderful!

This last year has been incredible, and I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing guy! It was fun to celebrate our anniversary and we look forward to celebrating many, many more!

To Kraft or not to Kraft...

When shopping for groceries, you are constantly faced with a choice: Buy the name-brand product for $$$ or buy the off-brand product for much less $. There are some items that don't really matter when bought off-brand. For example: we use off brand cottage cheese, cereal, sour cream, cheese, milk, and other assorted items. However, there are some items that must not be sacrificed in order to save a few cents. Some of these items in the Peaden household include: Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Parmesan Cheese, and Campbell Cream of Chicken Soup.  (There are a few other things, but I can't think of them right now.) 

The biggest dilemma is knowing when it's okay and when the quality will suffer. I'm sure you know what I am talking about! I am always more prone to purchase the off-brand when I will save at least a dollar or so. I usually buy name brand on anything within 25 cents, because the cost doesn't seem worth the risk. 

This last weekend David and I decided to have a little taste test on none other than the fearless college staple, Macaroni and Cheese. 

I don't remember the exact prices, but I think that Kraft was around 85 cents and Western Family was about 30 cents. 

We let the noodles cook for the same amount of time, added the appropriate amounts of milk and butter and had ourselves a little taste test. 

At first I couldn't even tell the difference between the two, but after a short deliberation... both David and I decided that the winner was....

Kraft. It was only a slight difference, but definitely better. However, we still haven't decided whether or not it is worth spending the extra money to get the Kraft Mac and Cheese. I think that quality/cost definitely goes to Western Family.

Is there anything that you have to buy name brand? Or is it worth it for you to save some money?