Day 11

What's in your makeup bag?:

I dont know about you but I am not crazy about makeup. I am much more excited about the new Olay skin care line. If you havent tried it, you should go straight to Target and pick yourself up the anti-aging eye roller.

Back to makeup:

1. Bare Minerals eye shadow- for obvious reasons these are great. I wore these 3 colors for our wedding and found they work for everyday too.
2. Bare Minerals blush- again, for obvi reasons.
3. Neutrogena mineral powder and concealer- I really think BM is great, but I could never get the swirl, tap, and sing 'happy birthday' to myself process right.
4. Revlon lucious grow mascara

PS: I am aware I skipped Day 8 -song to match my mood- I was overthinking it and gave up.

Day 10

A photo of your favorite place to eat:

At home!

In our first year of marriage we have had our fare share of eating out. At first, it seemed more cost effective. One would see how that is so when compared to using $10 parm and pricey steaks every night. Once I discovered all the ways to cook chicken (and there are a lot) or how to use a crock pot, things were back in balance (and still delicious!). Now when we eat out its more of a treat and I think thats how it should be.

Day 9

A photo of the item you last purchased:

Let me warn you, there are not mirros in the pajama/work out section at Target. So I had Andrew take a photo of me trying this on. I thought 'oh perfect, a picture for today's post' but then it disappeared mysteriously (aka Andrew deleted it). I'll be honest, the last item I really purchased was an Avocado but this was more picture worthy I think.

Newport

Yesterday we went to the beach for the day, making it our first trip of the summer. It may not look like it, but the weather was so perfect. I brought the tripod to take pictures but I had to take them in the morning so I wouldnt embarass Andrew. It would be so nice if we could make all our Saturdays beach days. I'll let you know how that goes.

The highlight of our day was seeing our niece love. She cried and made me nervous but Andrew calmed her down for me. I don't mind that he brags now about being a baby whisper because secretly I told Scarlett to make him feel really special so that he will want a baby. I'll let you know how that goes too :)

Day 7

Your d r e a m Wedding:

I have been dreading this post. Andrew and I were such polar opposites when it came to our dream wedding.

Andrew's vision: Our wedding exactly.

A string quartet in a vineyard setting and his dream tuxedo was all he asked for.

My vision on the other hand: A whimsical, romantic, intimate wedding with our immediate family. Or as Andrew likes to say, "elope". He kind of says it with an underlying tone of disgust but at least he knows me well :) Growing up I never had a 'dream' wedding in my mind, but I did always have an overall sense of what I wanted to look and feel like. If a picture could capture that exactly it would be this:

Whimsy and flower child-like.

One thing I love about Andrew is that he loves people. He doesnt need to be social, but he likes to share himself with others (it definately complements my introvert qualities). Ultimately that was the reason why it was out of the question to elope. We compromised and had 35 guests -including the bridal party! My favorite part of our wedding was the reception. I had this picture in mind when we chose our venue:

If I had $5,000 more for flowers I would have loved to re-create this gem of a table scape. The vineyard we were married at had the same family style seating in a cozy room, it was perfect

Okay my brain hurts. I would never want to plan a wedding again and I am so glad were married already! I find fantasizing about being married much more fun than getting married.

Day 6

A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet

This is Beethoven. He might go by something else now, but for 3 days he was Beethoven. I was having total baby fever 6 months ago and begged Andrew for a puppy instead -he totally caved. But the moment we got home we realized this was a bad idea...and not just because I rationalized getting a puppy as an alternative to a baby. Chance was not havin' any part of it. So we had no choice but to find a nice home for the little guy. I totally still miss him. Just look at that adorable face!

So, that is my animal I wish I could keep. as a pet.

Day 5

A photo of yourself 2 years ago

Laughlin Summer '09

The light at the end of the tunnel

Last week I recieved the best news ever. But before I can talk about that, about a month ago I received the worst news ever. I applied to the nursing program in March and waited anxiously for 2 months only to hear I was rejected. Talk about bum city. From the very beginning of this process I had such confidence knowing that one of those 30 spots was mine. Not in an 'entitled' way, but a surety from God that this was the next chapter for me (and for my little family of 2). I had my brief moment of hearbreak, but it eventually turned into focus towards work. With the help of my sweet husband, I closed that book and put it away for the next 6 months til it was time to open it again.

Then, it happened.
I was in my last hour of sleep when Andrew burst through the door, jumped on top of me, and repeatedly told me "You got in! You got in!". I couldnt believe it! For whatever reasons several spots opened up on the list and I made the 2nd selection process. My mind was so closed off that I didnt even entertain the thought of something like that happening. Even talking about it again warms my heart that my confidence in Gods plan for me was right. Since we heard the good news it is amazing how much weight is lifted off our shoulders. Andrew and I are so excited for this next chapter, and prayfully he is not far behind me!

Day 4

Your favorite photograph of your best friend

My best friend

This is my favorite photo because the look on his face melts my heart everytime. Plus, I love how ruggedly handsome he looks :)

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day Dads!

Not pictured: Papa Fulkerson. But we sent him tons of love!

Day 3

Your idea of the perfect first date

That one is tough to answer because our first date was nothing like the Bachelorette with an outrageously romantic setting (which is what I imagine most people would probably say is their idea of a 'perfect first date'). Andrew planned a lunch date after church. It was simple and sweet and most important: we got to know eachother in the real world.

Since we are married now I found that dates are an even bigger deal. My favorite dates are when Andrew plans something that makes me feel like I am on vacation. When were on vacation we always do things that we would never do at home. Things like: going to a hotel on a hot day just to order fancy drinks by the pool, renting vespas for a couple hours, and going to a new restaurant in a new area and finding a cute gelato shop.

Here is a photo from our date this weekend:

Day 2

A photo of something you ate today

Yesterday I had an all-of-the-sudden urge to have breakfast at Panera, but considering it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon we postponed 'til the morning. It was pretty good. I would do it again.

Day 1

A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was

me with the Nikon

My day has gone something like this:

-Woke up to hugs and kisses from my hubby & he was out the door and off to work in 30. What a guy.

-Coffee and breakfast alongside Good Morning America (you might be doing the math and realizing that GMA is 2 hours long, but those 2 hours go really fast...)

-Played around with the Nikon F100 pictured above. My MIL gifted us the camera because she's never used it. I was so excited. Did you know Jose Villa only uses film cameras? I'm hoping for this learning experience to go something like this: Me+film camera=Jose Villa-esque pictures.

-Worked on my 1 year scrapbook. I started scrapbooking our relationship when we were dating and it turned out to be this perfect 'story of us' all leading up to the day we were married. So now that I've started this hobby I am too sentimental to stop.

-Lunch with my love! I feel so lucky to be able to have lunch with him everyday.

-When 2:30-4:30 rolls around you can find me in the office. I also feel so lucky to work for my mom because, flexibilty is key with school. You know.

-For our Friday Fun, my parents want to take us out dinner to celebrate me getting into the RN program, isn't that nice?

Have a great weekend!

30 Day Blog Challenge

So clearly I fail at blogging and documenting everyday life happenings -which is truly odd because I love pictures and memories and scrapbooking- and in an attempt to use this creative outlet better I am going to start a 30 Day Blog Challenge! Fun right? I saw this on another blog and with each post I found myself pondering up what I would say. So here it is:

30 Day Blog Challenge:

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past.

stay tuned! :)

Scarlett Riley Reed Brunner

...has arrived!

Tuesday:

3 AM- Carolyn started having contractions but was sent home because she wasnt quite ready to have the baby yet, but the doctor gave them the hope for a baby within the next 24 hours.

12 PM- Hubby came home for lunch and I told him the exciting news. We started to pack an overnight bag, just incase, and then I remembered how much I wanted to bring a Push Present. Carolyn was about a week early so I had yet to prepare something, so Andrew and I left mid-packing to head to Tiffany & co. I must say, an afternoon in that store is lovely. We looked at everything I had been pondering the last couple weeks and finally decided. Whats more exciting than the gift? The Tiffany blue box and bag of course!

2 PM- My brother had been texting my mom updates all day, so when she finally got the message that they were going back to the hospital excitement filled the room.

5 PM- Heading to the hospital!

7 PM- Arrived. We didnt hear anything new at this point so rather than waiting at the hospital we had a Typhoon Punch and Baja Tacos at The Cheescake Factory to entertain ourselves.

830 PM- Typhoon Punch and Baja Tacos can only entertain us for so long so we went to the hospital. It was such perfect timing because when we arrived there was news that Carolyn just started pushing!

28 mins later: Scarlett Riley Reed Brunner is here!

1130 PM- After some quality bonding time we finally got to meet her. She is perfect in every way and we love her so much!

Baby Scarlett Baby Shower

This past weekend was the first of three baby showers for my oh so cute sister in love -and I have to say, I think it was a hit! I had been day dreaming for weeks about the right theme and decorations and FOOD(i say food dramatically because it was not decided until 1:30 am the day of). Here are some photos from the day, enjoy :)

a unique idea: a couples shower! i think something would have been missing if the guys werent there, they really got into the games and even took home some prizes :)
loved making the banners

andrews part in all of this

diaper cake -a game and decoration all in one

i stole this from the Brunners because its the ONLY photo of us, boo!

a cold, a party, and a hotel

My super sweet -and super pregnant- sister in law threw my brother a surprise 25th birthday bash at Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island. We had a ton of fun for many reasons: 1. My brother loooves being around family and friends, so to see him so happy was great :) 2. We were in Newport Beach...enough said 3. I went to my first real pet store...like with puppies for sale and all. 4. I already decided 2 weeks prior that I was getting a Cappuccino and Cheesecake for dinner...and I did. It was called Chris' something something...basically had like 10 layers of brownie, chocolate cake, german chocolate cake filling(coconut pecan stuff) and cheesecake(of course). Sadly I wasnt feeling too hot so I let everyone else eat it.

This is us at Cheesecake, there was a neat elevator behind us that our bodies are completely covering.

Brother about to blow out his candle. I am pretty sure Cheesecake broke the law when they started singing "Happy Birthday" but it was a lot better than one of those embarassing made up songs. It was great, the waiter said "Steve" instead of "Scott". And then someone said it was his 13th Birthday. We had a lot of fun and laughs.

Dont mind Andrew and my face's, we were going through hot flashes and chills the whole night. But brother looks great! He always has a new 'do. I think its hilarious how much we dont look alike.

So if you didnt get it already, we were pretty sick. We planned on driving home that night but there was no way we would make it back alive. Luckily, there was a Mariott right across the street. It would have been pretty romantic any other time, but we watched true story murder shows til we could get sleepy-apparently thats all there is to watch on tv saturday nights. I didnt sleep a wink. We got up early and this was the view from our balcony, pretty! See, romantic any other time.

After a few days of bed rest at home we are functioning again. We havent had colds in a longg time so it was a different kind of animal for us. Clearly I am over that wanting-to-be-sick-so-i-can-miss-school stage. After 7 Netflix movies and all of last weeks episodes from NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV I have no interest in TV anymore.

whirlwind

Lately I have become quite the whirlwind. Just when our life is all settled I get an idea (or five) and unsettle everything. My poor husband. Thankfully he is so sensible and wise or else I would never stay grounded. See, were on this track to get our Nursing degrees and sometimes its really frustrating how lengthy this track is and how patient I have to be. Its discouraging knowing that im doing everything to get there, but still feel like im not being propelled forward. At the same time, I feel like if we pursued all my silly ideas we would be living out of our means. Financially, yes, but more so "purposefully". I have the strongest desires to own a home and have a baby, but I know that isnt our purpose for today. Hopefully in a while, but today no. If we gave into these desires tomorrow we would probably feel like shell people. We'd have all these "things" but there would be no heart in it because it wasnt right for now. So I decided, im going to have to celebrate the little mile markers along the way to get through this time. Thats why I love my husband. He is so good at showing me these truths, but making me feel like they were my own revelations ;)

One great thing we learned from this is that we DO need to start saving for a home. Like, yesterday. If were gunna start doing that, then technically we are now "living out of our means". This super cute condo doesnt serve our new purpose, soooo...we are on the move. Yikes. Currently we have 0 prospects but prayfully some will open up :) Isnt this such a great lesson to learn young? Yay

Here is a picture to interest-ify our post:

Dad's 49th birthday dinner...hes a little grumpy in public :)

loves!

My Mornings

I love my mornings. When I'm older, +4 babies, and working in my profession, I'm going look back at this time with big appreciation.

Its happiness when I get to: sleep while my honey takes Chance for a walk, make breakfast to the sound of Good Morning America, enjoy my 1 cup of coffee to the fullest degree while Andrew eats his 1 egg over medium on a piece of toast, and send my hubby off to work with a kiss, loves, and a "see you later".

The afternoons are a different story...now its 10:04 am, Andrews been at work for a couple hours and all I have managed to do was box up a couple gifts to put in the mail. I guess I got a little distracted over engeneering this box so the goodies inside wont break...Andrew would be proud.

I started a new job at my job with my mom so I dont want you people to think I dont do anything all day. I'm a girl friday, really. My goal though, is to finish up my insurance school by the end of this month so I can get my license and be more of a mon-fri girl ;)

In the mean time, I have a bed to make, floors to vaccuum and bathrooms to clean. Speaking of bathrooms, I was fantasizing about an un-cluttered shower when I saw THIS:

It really makes cleaning a shower more appealing when you dont have to move around all these wet bottles.



loves!

It's been 3 months...

and I would just like to publicly announce that I recognize this blog is bore city. You know, just in case there is anyone out there who actually looks at this page other than me.

loves!