party time

this stud has a birthday coming up this week.

we celebrated by having cake and ice cream with friends last night.

it was quite the party! (when you squeeze 13 people into a 1 bedroom apartment, there's bound to be some excitement..)

 banners and streamers were a must!

 birds of a feather..

 my first attempt at a taller cake...

plain chocolate was too boring so i brightened it up
 with the sprinkle border!

 our cute friends catching up

 the birthday boy and nick.. probably talking sports.

 not my best angle in this pic.. but the boys look happy for my amateur cake so here it is.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR WILLYYYY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU

 he huffed and he puffed...

23 candles is a lot to blow out.. ;)

 will: "he looks like one of the 7 dwarfs here."

 4 people looking at the camera at once.. that's a record! 

dear birthday boy,
 every day i fall in love with you all over again. you're my best friend, and the most perfect guy for me. i'm so happy i found you and "married up". you deserve the world. happy 23rd birthday! and many many more to come together! 

xoxo,

kari

fashion statement

let me start out by saying, i'm no fashion diva or style genius.

i enjoy picking out clothes and creating a unique style.

i like my style because it's all mine, not identical to a magazine or celebrity (not that there's anything wrong with people who do that).

i don't like putting down aton of money on name brand clothes.

some of my favorite places to shop are Target, Ross, and Forever 21.

i'm a bargain hunter and proud of it!

i love the "mix and match" game i play in my closet each day.

i must have been feeling extra girly in April.. usually i don't wear that many dresses/skirts during the week. 

now you know a little bit more about me. :)

a game.

Game Rules:
1. post these rules.
2. post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

11 Questions For Me From Chelsea

1. what is your secret passion? i love belting out to the radio when i drive. no shame.

2. favorite season: summer here, spring in AZ (they're the same thing..)

3. favorite book: i don't read much.. but i love my cookbooks! :]

4. what did you dream of being as an adult when you were a kid? a singer then a veterinarian

5. least favorite chore: probably sweeping and swiffer-ing (our mop).. i can't ever quite pick everything up!

6. dream vacation: i'd LOVE to go back to hawaii

7. nickname as a child: Mom called me "Susie Q", Dad called me "Sweet Pea", my family still calls me Sue (my middle name)

8. an embarrassing moment? the last one i had was last night after the Jazz game. we were walking to our car and there was a chain rope across the parking lot that Will dared me to limbo under... ya i took the fence down with me when i fell on my butt in front of the long line of cars.

9. if you could do anything for a day what would it be: go back to Havasupai in AZ and hike and swim in the waterfalls with my cutie pie

10. favorite food: mexican mexICAN MEXICAN!

11. least favorite food: yucky pineapple, icky coconut

Questions for anyone feeling up to the challenge:

1. what is your favorite memory as a child?

2. what is your favorite holiday and why?

3. what is your favorite article of clothing? (ex: skirt, pants, shorts...)

4. if you could live anywhere in there world, where would you live?

5. what is your favorite advice you've ever been given?

6. what is the wackiest style you've ever tried? 

7. if you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you take with you?

8. what is your favorite restaurant?

9. what is your favorite disney movie?

10. what is your favorite physical feature about yourself?

11. what is your favorite physical feature about your significant other?

Good luck!

special thanks

here's to you mother-in-law who without fail cooks us a delicious dinner every sunday..

here's to you hilarious nurse that stayed an hour after your shift last night to x-ray Will's chest (he has pneumonia) and fill out the prescriptions for him..

here's to you vt companion who made an extra plate of cookies for little ol' me..

here's to you KSL man who hooked me up with a deal on Jazz tickets for hubby's surprise bday gift..

here's to you cute, little Banks for keeping me entertained while i filled out paper work this morning..

here's to you new boss for being awesome and letting me have the super fun summer job i wanted..

we have been so blessed with great people in our lives and lots of opportunities lately! we're sending cyber hugs to all of you that have been extra awesome to us this past week. :]

for those of you who read my post a few weeks back about quitting my job and focusing on school and helping will at home for awhile.. well its been nice! but after this week of finals, i decided i'm not going to take classes again until the fall so i'd probably go mad from boredom if i didn't fill my time with something else. i applied to do what has always been my favorite summer job: teaching swim lessons. and guess what? i got the job! everything about it makes me happy: working with kids, being out in the sunshine, no shoes.. that last one is the
icing on the cake!

happy monday to you all!

St. George

this weekend we took a little vacation to St. George, UT. 

the red rocks and desert landscaping reminded me so much of Arizona!

we had loads of fun in the sun and enjoyed staying in a nice King Suite, complete with jet tub! we felt like royalty!

our vacation according to my iPhone:

we could watch t.v. from the jacuzzi!

ahh we meet again Mr. Sunshine..

pool life= shades and strawberries

tried out 2 local Mexican restaurants, it was a dream come true!
muchos yummy!

finally got my form down, and found out i'm not half bad!

my hubby is a pro!

enjoying the temple, it's so white and beautiful!

i threw in a little treat.. a hit single sung by muah!
excuse the off-key parts.. :)

blessing in disguise.

so we had a little fiasco happen to our car this week.

i was not a happy camper when that little air pressure light turned on.

day 1: yesterday i took our car to the trusty Action Auto men to check it out.. sure enough there was a nail in the tire!

they started to patch it and in the mean time accidentally broke the sensor in the tire that turns the light on to warn us pressure is low. boo... (it turns out our Action guys aren't always so "trusty".) they told me they ordered the part and to bring the car back in today.

day 2: will dropped me off and the sensor was put in but for some reason it wouldn't connect right to the car's brain.. aka computer stuff. Action told me to take it to the dealer and gave me a free oil change card (since they said the dealer would probably charge me to do the work). Well.. not only did the dealership NOT charge me anything, but neither did Action. AND i got a free oil change out of it!

so there ya have it folks! lesson learned: sometimes blessings come in disguises as ugly as a flat tire, and it always pays off to be nice and flash a smile. :]

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

anyone catch that old school song reference in my title? :]

last night, our buddy colton threw a dance party for our close friends. colton and his little sister taught me some new moves and line dances, the boys had a rap battle, will broke it down on the dance floor with me, and i drank 2 whole bottles of water! it was so much fun! here are our before shots:

one of my favorite things about moving to my hubby's home state, is that i've been "adopted" into his group of friends. and now that almost all of them have a girlfriend, fiancé, or wife, i'm building up a good group of girl friends too! they are all friendly, outgoing, and love to be active, so we fit together like a puzzle. our gang has already had so many adventures together, and i'm looking forward to many more in the future (especially with summer coming up!)

bonus material:

cooking up a storm

one of the things i remember most about growing up was all of the yummy meals my mom made for us kids. it was a rare occasion when we didn't wake up to a delicious breakfast or come home to a nice dinner. no matter how busy my mom was, she always made cooking a priority. i really admired that about her and decided that learning to cook and doing it often would be one of my New Year's goals this year.

here are some pictures of what i've made lately:

spicy chili and i cheated on the corn bread..homemade pizza, crust and all!

oreos yum!

southwestern beef burritos

shout out to mom: thanks for being such a great role model! i love you!

the story of Banks

seeing that Banks is a big part of our family and practically our child,

i figured it was time he got his very own post.

The Biography of Banks:

It all started a year ago last February with Will spilling the beans that he had wanted to get me a puppy for my birthday but after researching the cost of buying one, vet visits, shots, and all the little things that go into raising a dog decided it would probably be better to wait until later down the road... maybe he shouldn't have told me this, because it sparked a fire inside of me. the idea of starting out our marriage with a puppy sounded like sooo much fun! i daydreamed about the walks we would all take together, the cuddling, and playing fetch in the summer time.. i was sold on the idea! i secretly kept checking the pets section of Craigslist to see which dogs were the cutest and in a decent price range. one night me and my friends Kelsie and Metzli found an ad on Craigslist for the most adorable chihuhua puppies for a smokin deal (keep in mind this was a few days before my wedding.. but i just couldn't resist!) we called the lady and they said they already had the parents of the puppies and the grandma doggy and just couldn't keep any more dogs. they had already given them their first shots and sold most of the litter except two. the next night we met up with the family and they brought out their last two puppies, i immediately fell in love with our little Banks and Kelsie was crazy about the brother puppy. it was a done deal!

will was surprised when i showed him Banks but couldn't stop cuddling and loving on the little guy so i knew he was okay with my spur of the moment decision. he had lots of time to bond with the puppy while i got my nails and hair done for our wedding. Metzli babysat him during the couple days before and throughout our big day, then my sister Cheeri and her family watched him while we were honeymooning in Hawaii. when we got back, we all moved on up to Utah and have been having fun with him ever since! he completes our little family, and is just so darn cute! enjoy the pictures below. :]

he was a big star on our wedding day.

moving up to Utah (Banks slept almost the whole time!)

trapped!

kisses, Banks' favorite thing to do.

Superdog!

the cone of shame..

sun-bathing.

P.S. curious about where his name came from?

i named him after a super cool Nixon watch (my hubs loves that brand).

Old McDonald had a farm ee ii ee ii oo

my parents are in town for a whole week (my dad had a dental course in Provo yesterday and today) and we've been living it up, yeehaw! today's adventure was to Wheeler Historic Farm here in Salt Lake. mom and i met up with my brother, his sweet wife, and little munchkins a little before noon and were ready to roll. we got to see, feed, and pet everything from a goose to a miniature horse. the kids especially loved all the baby animals that were out in the nice spring weather. after we ran our legs into the ground, we took a tractor ride around the fields and trails we had missed. then we finished with Arby's, fresh fruit, and kool-aid around the playground area. it was fun to be a kid again! :]

feeding the geese

plowing the fields

checking out the goats

baa rammm youuu! (anyone seen the movie Babe?)

matthew having a hay-day.. literally.