blog's new address

My blog has moved! Come visit it's new home at lovenwarren.com

Thanks for following!

rekindling the fire

I've been MIA from this blog lately, mostly in part because I have been unhappy with the look/feel of my blog. I don't feel like it's really portraying my style, whatever that is. But also because I have felt like I don't have anything of much importance to talk about. My life is pretty ordinary and low key right now. Until I realized the other night that that is my life right now and although it may be mundane, it's exactly what I need to write about during this stage of  life.

So I am currently working on my blog look and design and have rekindled my blogging passion. You will be seeing much more of me on here!

In the meantime, here is a little video of us taking Leo on a walk with our nieces. I sent it in to AFV, I'm just waiting for them to highlight it on their next animal episode. Enjoy!

Well hello there!

Hello blog! It's good to be back! It's been a while and a LOT has happened over the past 3 months. Courtney reminded me the other day that I hadn't blogged in a while, so this is for you Court, my loyal reader! (And Dad!)  I'll try to sum it up real fast.

• First we went to Kauai with the Warrens. It was a blast, January is the perfect time to get away and get a nice tan (too bad I lost it within the first 2 weeks of being home. I miss you Sun!) We had a great time with Brad, LuAnn, Matt and Sarah. We really missed you Scott & Dani, and Dave & Lauren!

• Courtney turned 14 while we were in Kauai. She had a really cute Rapunzel party (She is the queen of parties!) I wish I could have been there for her awesome party.
• When I got back from Kauai I had an interview at a Law firm in Walnut Creek and got hired! I've been working here since February 8th and am really enjoying it! Our law firm does Wills, Trusts and Estates. I am a legal secretary. It's a much better fit for me than what I was doing at the Mortgage company, although I am very grateful for that job and for being employed during those 7 months.
• For Valentine's Day Mark gave me a box full of kitten supplies and said we could get a kitten!! So on Saturday we went to find the perfect one to join our family...however, there weren't ANY! Not a single one. It wasn't kitten season :( But the next weekend, while I was helping Taylor manuever around with one foot, Mark called and said he found a kitten! He went over to the shelter to check out the little kitten . He was the first one there and there was only one kitten! We decided to adopt him and he is so much fun! We named him Leo. He is a little rascal and plays hard and he makes us laugh. Thanks Mark for the BEST Valentine's gift ever!

  

• Like I said briefly above, Taylor had surgery on her foot and was a trooper. We had an interesting time figuring out how to get her places on one foot with her healing foot in the air!
• After Taylor, Dad had surgery to remove skin cancer from his face! He had 8 stitches and was awake during the procedure!
• A couple days later was my 24th birthday. (I like being an even number!) It was fun to be around family for my birthday after being away the past 5 years! The Warren's were having a big March birthday party but unfortunately we missed it because Mark had the flu. On my actual birthday Mark was feeling a little better and we went out to dinner with my family at Sauced in downtown Livermore. We were quite a site to see with one girl on crutches and dad with a big patch of gauze on his face. Dinner was really fun and after we were going to my parent's for dessert and gifts but Mark and I had to stop at home for him to change and drop off one of our cars and pick up Leo. As we left, we locked ourselves out of the house (probably my fault, I thought Mark had grabbed the keys and he thought I had them). We couldn't break in, which makes me feel safe that we won't get robbed but we had to call a locksmith. We waited outside for 40 minutes, with Leo, in the cold, before the locksmith arrived. Then he wasn't able to unlock the front door and had to try the back door. Luckily he finally got in but charged us for 2 doors. The money we spent on the locksmith could have been a REALLY nice birthday gift :( We learned a lesson and I went and got 2 spare keys made.

Locked out of the house, pissed. Leo had the time of his life exploring outside though!

   

• Tomorrow is Rachel's birthday and she will be 21! She's patiently anxiously awaiting her mission call! We all have guesses on a poster board. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see where she will be going!

• Next Wednesday is Mark's birthday! He's not much into birthdays. Almost every year I've thrown a little party for his birthday and decorated his/our apartment but I think it mostly embarrasses him and makes him feel stressed because it is "clutter" to him hah! So I'm not sure what I'm going to do for him this year, but hopefully he is happy on his birthday.

 Well I think that is everything that has been going on with us! I couldn't be happier with life right now. I love being close to our families (I know I say that all the time and it's probably annoying but I really mean it.) We love our ward and the friends we have made. I feel very blessed.

Oh the Places You'll Go...like the Rose Parade/Bowl

For Christmas my awesome dad gave me and Mark tickets to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl! It was on New Years day so on New Years Eve day we drove down to Southern California and stayed with my cute grandparents. We ate dinner and watched a little of Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve with them.We couldn't find any channel that showed the ball drop in New York at 9 :( We were already tired and figured it would be smart to go to bed since we had to be up so early the next morning to get to the festivities! So we said Happy New Year and were in bed by 9:30 pm...party animals! It was a good effort but neither of us could sleep. It seemed like every time I was about to fall asleep Mark would roll over or cough or fireworks would go off.
We woke up bright and early at 4:30am and were out the door by 5:30! We were very lucky and didn't hit any traffic until we were in Pasadena and we were able to find away around it all and got a great parking spot thanks to advice from Mark's brother. We made it to the bleacher and were in our seats with krispy kreme doughnuts and hot chocolate 40 minutes before the parade started! We didn't know the floats were already lined up and we could have walked right by each of them, I would have loved to do that and look at the detail on all the floats...oh well! We loved the parade, especially the Bomber fly over, the Carsland float, and the military home coming (the wife and little son had no idea their husband/dad was home and in the parade!) I cried :) I don't really like watching parades on TV but they are so worth it in person. Yes, I did just say that the parade was worth waking up at 4:30 am for.

After the parade we followed the masses to the Rose Bowl Stadium for the Tailgate Party. Is it sad to say that the tailgate may have been our favorite thing of the whole day? All you can eat BBQ (I got a chicken apple sausage and my life will never be the same! AMAZING!), salads, wings, drinks, fruit, cookies, you name it, they had it! We sat in the huge tent eating ourselves fat and happy. Then we lounged in there for about an hour people watching!

 

Once we were full and it got too crowded in there we headed across the parking lot to the Stadium. We wandered and took our time. We finally got to our seats and the pre-game festivities started. The bowl game was Stanford vs. Wisconsin. It started with another fly over by the Bomber, which is amazing. Then both school's bands went out and performed. Wisconsin's was amazing and made the Stanford band look like the amateurs they are. They are so embarrassing and make me not want to root for Stanford. I can't even count how many people were in the band but didn't have an instrument...
Anyways, they game started off looking like it was going to be a blowout by Stanford but ended up being a close and exciting game! We had a blast (except for the frat boys sitting behind us spilling their beer all over us. I think between the 3 guys they had about 21 beers...they didn't even know what game they were at or what the score was.) Other than that we had such a great day, it was the perfect way to start off 2013! Thanks for the experience dad and all the awesome tickets!

It's a wrap!

I love New Years because it is the perfect time to look back and reflect on all the past year brought. Mark and I did a little reminiscing on our drive to and from Pasadena for the Rose parade/bowl game (more on that later).
2012 was definitely one we will never forget. So much happened and we are extremely grateful. Last year I did a year in review via pictures (see here) and really enjoyed it, so I decided I would continue the tradition.

Here is what 2012 looked like for us.


January-Went tot the Kraft Hunger Bowl with my Parents.

February-Took Mark to a BYU game

March-Celebrated our 23rd birthdays by building a fort and watching movies



April-Went to D.C. with my family

May-Highlight of our year was our trip to Europe. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful for a loving husband who helps me fulfill my dreams. I had the time of my life and wouldn't trade that experience with Mark for anything.

June-Came "home" to California!

July-Sister time at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I also got a new job and car!

August-Celebrated our 2nd anniversary in Monterey 

Although this was hands down the worst experience of my life, my trip to the hospital with Staph infection has shown me how extremely grateful I am for my health and life. You take it for granted until all your organs are failing and you can't take a breath.

September-Cal football game with Mark and my sisters

October-Taylor went to Homecoming and let me come over and do her hair/makeup. Every big sisters dream!
In October we also began making some really great friends at church. We are grateful for the people God puts in our lives :)

November-I had the privilege of going to one of my best friends' wedding! Congratulations Melissa and Lynn!

Our biggest moment of the year was when we bought our little condo! Home sweet home!



December-we bought our first Christmas Tree! We loved spending the holidays with our family and not having to fly or drive 12 hours! We could get use to this!

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

One of the things I loved most about Rexburg was the small town community where everyone knew each other and helped each other out. People were always extending a hand to their neighbor and lending them things. I knew I was going to miss that about Idaho but I didn't expect the Bay Area feel like a small town, and much to my surprise it has been that way.

Mark and I both grew up here in the East Bay Area, we knew what to expect when we were moving back but it has surpassed all our expectations. Through out this move we weren't sure if we were playing the right cards, for instance we didn't know if we should rent or buy but we decided to buy and it has been the best decision we have ever made. It has already led us to amazing friends and people surrounding us...and we've technically only been moved in for a couple weeks! So many people have contacted us and offered to help us paint, move in, give us picture frames, shelves and even their personal discount on appliances! All of these kind acts, big and small alike, have made me feel so loved and that we are where we are suppose to be. It's been a sense of validation for us.
Last night as I was driving home I was thinking about all these wonderful people in my life and couldn't help but let a few tears out as I realized that God really does care about me and knows what I need, and through all of these hands of wonderful family friends He has touched my life.

Thank you to each and every one of you. You have made this post-college transition so much easier for us.


I started this post last night and can't end it without taking a moment to reflect on the horrific tragedy that struck a Connecticut Elementary School this morning. A gunman went to the Elementary School where his mother worked and killed her along with 20 innocent children and 5 other adults. This senseless act broke my heart. Those poor children, teachers and families. I couldn't help but think about my mom today as she works at our Elementary School. No words can express the pain that these families are going through but my heart and prayers go out to them.

All I could think about was the lyrics to the Christmas song "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day."
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

I know that those sweet children are in Christ's arms and were too good for this Earth. May we all hold our loved ones a little closer as we remember those families who lost their baby today.

RAK

I was just reading a new post from a blog I follow. She is an amazing woman with a heart-retching story (see her story here.) Despite the hard things she has been through she is truly inspiring and always is serving others. In her most recent post she talked a little about "RAK: Random Acts of Kindness" (you can also find it with a Christmas twist here.)
It is such a simple and easy way to brighten someone's day and pay it forward. You can choose how you want to participate and how much you want to spend. So I'm going to get myself and Mark to do this as a date night! {and probably drag some friends to do it with us :) any volunteers?!}

I hope this is a tradition that we can start now and continue with our children in the future.

Turkey and Trees

Since my last post some big things have happened. The first big event was Thanksgiving! This year we decided to go down to Southern California to visit my grandparents. I haven't been there for Thanksgiving since my Sophomore year of college so it was great to go down with Mark and my family and see my Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and cousins, some of who met Mark for the first time this trip! Funny story, the night before we were suppose to head down to SoCal we went over to our new place to finish painting and as I was walking to our front door I realized my car was still on. I thought to myself, "whoa, dumb blonde moment" but then I looked in my hand and I was holding my keys?! My engine was running even though my car was in park and I pulled the keys out of the ignition! How crazy is that? It just wouldn't turn off! I called the VW service center and they had no idea what to tell me so they asked me to get in my car and drive it over immediately (lucky it was about 5 minutes up the road.) They ended up giving me a loaner car and let me drive it down to SoCal! No miles added to our cars :) After about 4 or 5 days I got to pick up my car, they replaced the relays (I thought that was a track and field event..) and said it was good to go. Keeping our fingers crossed it was just a freak thing and nothing else will happen!
Anyway, Thanksgiving was really fun, except for the 8 hours that it took to drive there with all the traffic!
When we got back we got a Uhal and with the help of our wonderful in-laws we were able to get everything moved over in under a couple of hours!
Since then we have been spending all our spare time trying to convert this condo into a home. The first priority on our list was a Christmas Tree, of course :) We have also been working hard to get our pictures hung, things organized and boxes in the trash! It's coming together and I think is looking pretty good.

Grandpa and Mom cooking Thanksgiving dinner

Mark and Grandpa napping after all that Turkey

Scott and Dani, Paige, Emma, and Colton came to visit! (Yes, that is my little sister-in-law in front of me, not a niece!)

Getting our very first Christmas Tree!

Cute Mark touching up the paint

Collage wall in the living room with my Europe pictures

Needless to say Mark never wants to hang another frame ever again!