He changed my life!

Today is a big day! It is the 4th anniversary of Adam and I meeting. Now many of you don't know me on a personal basis, but I thought I would share a little bit of that day with you today ... you know ... reminiscing!

I bet you are wondering ... why in the world are they standing in front of IHOP? Well ... here is the story.

April 30, 2005 ... I moved from my apartment in Provo, UT to move back in with my parents. I had been cleaning, packing, and was quite cranky. What single, 24 year old, moving back in with the parents wouldn't be cranky? I just finished my first semester at LDS business college where I was studying Interior Design and was moving home until I heard back from Martha Stewart Magazine in NY as a possible internship for the summer. Things were looking really promising, and I was just waiting for that phone call to move to NY. I got home around 4 pm and my parents talked me into going to dinner with them for my nephew Jacob's birthday. We went to Highland, UT where my sister lived, and when they asked Jacob where he wanted to go to dinner for his birthday, he said IHOP!We all cringed, but decided to go anyway!

Meanwhile, Adam moved to live with his Brother Sean, and Sister-in-Law Sara's house for the summer in Highland, Utah. Sara invited him to go to dinner with her family that evening. They went to a nice Italian restaurant in American Fork, Utah ... but it was over an hour wait. They decided to ask Sara's grandpa where he wanted to go for dinner ... and he said he wanted pancakes. The only place close enough for pancakes was IHOP ... and so they went there.

When I walked into IHOP with my family ... Adam was already sitting down with his group. I saw him and thought ... MAN he is SERIOUSLY HOT! Little did I know ... he was thinking I wasn't too bad looking either. They sat my family at a table that was parallel to his table. My back was facing Adam and he and his brother were checking me out.

Throughout dinner I was making louder than normal comments trying to hint that I was single and available in conversation ... hoping that he would overhear. Little did I know that Sara's brother-in-law was listening intently to the conversation the entire time. Adam decided he needed to find some way to ask me out. He mentioned buying me a drink ... but obviously we weren't at a bar. Then his brother mentioned buying my family's dinner. He was a poor starving college student and couldn't do that but did mention picking up at least my dinner. Little did everyone know that Sara's father was listening the whole time. He finally got fed up with the ideas, and quietly stood up and walked over to my dad. He said ... you don't know me, but I sure would LOVE to purchase your family's dinner, if your daughter would be willing to go out with this young man.

WOW ... I don't think either Adam and I have ever seen each others faces so red! We were so embarrassed ... but flattered at the same time! The two tables talked for a minute or two ... he got my phone number ... and it was history from there.
We only dated 5 weeks and were engaged. Then were married 2 1/2 months later. It was fast, but so right! We had both been in and out of serious relationships ... so we both knew when it was right. We have been so blissfully happy since that day. I am so grateful for the Gardner family and their willingness to buy my dinner ... go out on a limb ... and take a chance. I don't know where I would be without Adam. Love you babe!

Inspired

Often I have people writing me, wanting to interview me, or ask me questions ... but it seems like I often get the question ... what inspires you. So I would like to share a few thoughts with you!

These are a few blogs I check frequently. Not only are these people A-MAZ-ING ... they are all good friends!

First: Cathy Zielske ...
http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/
She makes me laugh, and her design techniques are so beautiful that they make me cry. She used to be the Creative Director for Simple Scrapbooks Magazine. Someday I hope to be as talented as she! Her blog is one that gives me a break when I am stressed. She is an outstanding Graphic Designer, Photographer, Scrapbooker, and mother. Thanks Cathy for being my inspiration!


Next: Becky Kimball ...
http://thekimballfamily.blogspot.com/
Becky and I have been friends since college ... hense this great picture from the good ol' days. She is so talented in decor, organization, scrapbooking, and in the last few years has become an EXTREMELY talented photographer. I enjoy looking at the way she photographs her darling son Max, as well as other people and landscapes. She inspires me to become a better photographer.

My good ol' friend and previous co-worker Nicole Larue
http://nicolelarue.typepad.com/

I worked with Nicole at American Crafts. She is a VERY talented designer and all around genuine person. I learned so much from her by just watching her work, and being involved in creating products for American Crafts with her. She also wrote this idea book for CK. This book has MARVELOUS idea for handmade gifts!

Last, but definitely not least is my Brother-in-Law Sean.
http://colossalhand.blogspot.com/

He is a masters student at University of Washington and is AMAZING at Graphic Designer and Photographer. He and I have great conversations about design and it is so fun to have a great common interest with an in-law. He and his wife Sara are constantly inspiring me to create wonderful things. Here is a blog of some of his awesome designs.

OH and PS ... The picture just shows that the man has quite the hilarious personality. He is one of those people that you love to be around, because he always makes you laugh!

Bored ... or Board?

Well, we definitely aren't bored around this household. Only a few more weeks to go until our little one arrives. I am starting to get in PANIC nesting mode. Cleaning out closets .... and trying to find just a little more space for our new arrival.

Meanwhile, I have had a few projects on the back of my mind and thought ... it is time to get them done. One of which is to use the FANTASTIC vinyl that Quickutz sent me over a month ago to write this scripture on Bryson's magnet board.

I used my sillouette machine and three different colors of vinyl ... brown, navy, and light blue.

It turned out just like I wanted it to ... and I also changed out the pictures to Bryson's new ones I just had taken at Target.I don't like Kiddie Kandid or Sears ... and I am a HUGE fan of Target! SERIOUSLY ... they do an AWESOME job!

Hope I inspired you to do a fun vinyl project ... and if you are wondering about the silhouette ... it is one of my favorite toys and CHANGED MY LIFE!

Wicked!

So last Halloween I got tickets for my family to go and see the Broadway musical WICKED in Salt Lake City. It just happened that this weekend was our weekend to go!

We all pitched in and gave my parents the tickets for Christmas ... this was their reaction. If you have ever seen Wicked, the reaction suits them well. It was so awesome. I was the only one in the group who had seen it before. Although I felt the Glinda in Chicago was MUCH better, it was still just as good and so fun to enjoy it with the family.

We saw a matinee at 2:00 pm and went the the Cheesecake Factory following. It was all of us but my brother and sister-in-law that went. They had already seen it and decided to not spend the extra cash at Christmas time. I am thinking they were wishing they saw it again :)

What a great weekend we had!

I looked out my window ...

and what did I see?


Too bad we are traveling to Provo today to this! They got 12" overnight! Can you say crazy? Oh I can't tell you how bad I want to go skiing right now!

Adam and I are traveling to SLC on Saturday with my family to see the Broadway musical WICKED!!! I saw it a few years ago in Chicago, but none of my family has seen it! We are SO excited. I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Easter

We had an incredible Easter! Hope that you did too. Usually we head up to my families house to celebrate with them, but this year we are going to Orem the weekend after Easter to see WICKED! As much as I missed being with my family, our easter activities were relaxed and so much fun. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

The Easter Bunny brought Bryson some bubbles. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, so we headed outside to enjoy the sunshine. Bryson wasn't sure what to think at first, but soon loved to reach out and pop the bubbles.
Next was pulling out a few eggs to find them. Bryson seemed to like our own private egg hunt, rather than the cold blustery one at the park.
Last, Bryson also got a kite. It was a bit breezy as the sun was going down, so we drove down to the park to show Bryson how to fly a kite. I think Mommy and Daddy had more fun than he did. Isn't the lighting just awesome in this picture?


I haven't had a chance to write about it, but last weekend in Salt Lake City was held a General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. These are held twice a year. Oh what a wonderful conference weekend it was. I wanted to share with you, since it is Easter and all, a talk that changed my life. It is a talk that any Christian would love!
Enjoy!

THE HUNT

It all started at 5 minutes before 10:00 am at the city baseball fields. The wind blew, Bryson was cranky because it was nap time ... and it was just a bit chilly. BUT IT WAS AN EASTER EGG HUNT ... and we WEREN'T going to miss it!
It lasted 10 minutes, and we were in the car, heading home. At least I got a few pictures, right?

Peek-a-Boo

Can you get a cuter boy? I don't think so ... well I may have to call it a tie on June 9th ... we'll just have to see.
Bryson has been SO cute lately. Maybe it is because I abandoned him for a solid week to go to Hawaii. Either way, he has decided Peek-A-Boo is his new favorite game. He doesn't realize he is cheating ... but I just don't have the heart to tell him differently. Would you?

Weddings

I LOVE weddings! EVERYTHING about them. I love to help people plan, and I have to say that I LOVED my own wedding. In the June issue of CK there is a page using lots of photos from my wedding ... so stay tuned!

I had a reader, Jamie, ask if I had any good ideas for wedding centerpieces. I thought I would attach a picture of what I did for my wedding. My mom did all of the centerpieces ... even arranged all the flowers in the centers of all the tables. She is the REAL talented one in the family.
Congratulations Jamie ... and good luck with your wedding plans.

While we are on the subject of weddings, My sister-in-law's sister is getting married and she is making her sign in book. I thought I would include some pictures of the sign-in book that I made for our wedding, while I take a small trip down memory lane.
I chose to use an 11" x 8.5" Album made by American Crafts. Sad to say, they have discontinued it ... but it still goes down as my favorite album. The paper I used in the album is hands down the most beautiful scrapbook paper ever created by Scenic Route. It actually was the thing that inspired my selection of my wedding colors! (Red, Orange, & Yellow) Hope you enjoy ... and feel free to comment if you have any questions. I would be happy to help you out if you are creating your own. Not only did I create my own sign in book, but I have created many for friends and family.

Knitting

So I have this friend. Her name is Lain Ehmann.

She sent me this DARLING little throw when I had Bryson. She is SO talented. She wrote this HILARIOUS book that EVERY scrapper should read. And she inspired me to start a new hobby of Knitting (like I needed another one right?)

So I have another friend named Kelli. She offered to come and teach me and the Young Women's group I am over how to knit. I made this cute scripture bagwhich in reality looks TERRIBLE ... but it is my first project, so give me a little credit!

Now I have started my second project. It is a baby blanket for my new little one. Lets just hope I can finish it before he arrives!

Tile pictures

So I had a reader ask "How do you post pictures to your blog in a tile form? " I thought I would share the answer with all of you. (see the picture of Bryson's first birthday below)

First ... I do it in photoshop. I create a new document that is 6" x 6" and has a resolution of 150 dpi.

Then I open all of the pictures I want to use and crop them to 2" x 2" with a resolution of 150 dpi.

Next I drag all of the mini pictures into the blank 6 x 6 document leaving equal space inbetween each picture.

Last AND MOST IMPORTANT ... when I am done arranging my photos I go to the menu "layers" and go to flatten object. This allows me to save it as a JPEG and attach it to my blog.

TIPS: You can also do this with a 4x6 document like the photo below and make the pictures 3" x 4" or any other size you want. I usually resize my pictures to 150 dpi so they don't take so long to upload to my blog! (example below)


Hope that answers your question Shannon!
M