New Year's resolutions from Jenni Austria Germany

today, i am so excited to have Jenni from Jenni Austria Germany guest posting today! if you haven't heard of her/read her blog before, you should! because seriously, Jenni's blog is an essential part of your daily happiness. Jenni is such a great & hilarious writer! i literally LOL when i read her posts {i kind of hate that acronym but i'm using it to show you how serious i am}. and i'm always finding myself saying, "yes! i feel the same way!" when she tells her stories {example below}.
[except i don't have cool stories about traveling Europe. but that is besides the point.]

so basically, Jenni is my soulmate and i'm in love with her, the end.

now read her great post and fall in love with her too!

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let the record show that i’ve never been good at new year’s resolutions. ages 7-14, my new year’s resolution each year was to fill every page of whatever diary i had just received for from santa. and every year, i’d make it a few days into january before abandoning all journalistic ambitions (seriously, i have a whole drawer full of half-filled lisa frank diaries at my parent’s house…it’s a wonder i’ve managed to stick with blogging for so long?).

and then last year, i decided i’d bring the new year’s resolution back. i made it a goal to email my grandparents every day of 2011. and i was so excited about it! and then, several days into january, what did my grandparents do? they decided they wanted to cut back on expenses and flat-out cancelled their internet service (it’s okay, i happen to love writing letters by hand!).

i’ve decided, though, that 2012 is my year. it has to be. maybe it’s because my 2011 didn’t exactly go exactly as planned or maybe it’s because i felt inspired after megan posted eli’s big plans for the new year . whatever the case, i’m feeling compelled to list a few resolutions of my own. and in keeping with the theme of my blog, they’re all travel related. yay for living in/traveling europe!

here they are:

{above photo: me, trying to find my way to the andy warhol exhibit in london}

all too often, when i visit cities for the first time, i think, “eh, let’s just wing it…i’m sure we can find our way around” and then after walking in circles for 3 hours, i finally decide that glancing over a map might be worth its while. so this year, when i make my travel plans, i’m going to be more intentional about organization and pre-planning, as it really can make all the difference.

{above photo: me, contemplating buying the french version of harry potter at a flea market in paris}

books make long bus rides, train rides and plane rides all the more bearable. i have a few trips in the works right now and i’m already making a list of what books will accompany me.

{above photo: me, buying far too many clothes….a common trend for 2011}

this one needs no explanation. in 2012, i hope to not spend thousands of dollars on impulsive shopping sprees. but i’ll just say right now, that this resolution will most likely be the one i’m quickest to break. ;)

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k, so while reading about Jenni's resolutions weren't you all thinking,
"this is the story of my life! including the Lisa Frank notebooks!"
yep. i thought so!

be sure to check out more of Jenni's awesome stories on her blog
{you will not be sorry!}
and today, she is even having a giveaway so be sure to go check that out and enter right away!

Eli’s New Year’s resolution

cut back on milk intake and pump up his muscles

{note: i in no way encouraged him to start lifting weights. he made that goal all on his own.}
he’s more serious about his resolutions than i am!

am i living in crazy world??

last week, we drove down to Fresno to get a quick dental check-up from Adam’s uncle.
on our way back, there was a cop driving in the lane next to us so Adam decided to be extra cautious to not pass him so we didn’t get a ticket for speeding.

well,
the cop was going really slow so Adam decided what the heck and passed him anyways.
right after he passed him, the cop flashed his lights and pulled us over.

immediately we thought it was for speeding since we ended up passing him but what the cop said next totally surprised us.
“you need to go faster, dude!!”

uh…. say whhhaaaatttt????

he told us we were going too slow and were holding up traffic.
{????}
and that he clocked us at going only 60 mph in a 65 mph zone
{!!!!!}
yes.
he pulled us over for going
5 MILES UNDER THE SPEED LIMIT!

but that’s not even the stupidest part.
the stupidest part is that Adam specifically turned on his cruise control to stay between 65-70 mph.
but the cop said we were going only 60.
“you need to get that think fixed!” was his response when he told us that.

and the other stupid part,
there were no cars behind us being “held up” 
and
there was a crash a few yards ahead of us when we finally got back on the road that the cop should’ve been taking care of instead of pulling us over for going “too slow”

yeah.
so so SO stupid.

he only gave us a warning which was good i guess.
we think the real reason he pulled us over was because our license plates were out of state and he wanted a good reason to question us because when he asked for our license and registration, he was all suspicious and saying dumb things.

grrrr.

but oh well, you always need some kind of exciting story to tell while you’re on vacation right??
it makes for a good story i would say.

hope you all have better experiences driving this week!
:)

flashback friday: Hannah Montana

so i’ve actually had this little blog of mine for 4 years!
{crazy right??}
i started it when i was a sophomore in college and used it to document all my adventures as a crazy, young, carefree, college student.

i’m pretty sure no one read my posts way far back
which is a shame because some of those old posts are blogging gold!!
seriously. i used to be pretty hilarious.

so i thought it would be fun to highlight some things i did in the past that are worth remembering every now and then. at least for me, it’s been fun to go back through some old posts and remember some pretty hilarious times.

like seeing Hanna Montana: The Best Of Both Worlds 3D concert
and dressing up like Hanna Montana and Miley Cirus of course!

  

[here’s what i wrote about seeing the Hannah Montana movie back in 2008]

this is how COOL we are.  

this was basically the best movie ever. {mostly} and i'm so glad me and Amy went.
this is why we're roommates and best friends. cause we're this RIDICULOUS. and i'm pretty sure everyone that saw us agreed.

but its ok.
we danced in the aisles, sang all the songs, and debated what kind of scandal young Miley would find herself in when she gets older. we decided since people are into drugs and alcohol these days, she would definitely stay away from that and probably have an eating disorder and some affair with her guitarist.
just wait.

but for the mean time.....
WE LOVE H-MO!!!

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so we pretty much predicted Miley’s future scandalous affair years before it happened.
it’s a gift, truly.

i hope you had as much as fun as i did seeing this little flashback!!
and hopefully you still have some respect for me even though i dressed up as Hannah Montana with the official plastic wig and all
:)

happy friday!

cougars don’t cut corners

4 years ago {yesterday} my Family Home Evening (FHE) group in my young single adult ward made this hilarious video for our ward talent show.

a little background about our group:
in case you didn’t click that link, Family Home Evening (FHE) is something that families hold once a week (usually on Mondays) where they can draw closer together as a family and strengthen their testimonies. since we were in a singles ward and didn’t have a real, traditional family to have FHE each week, they would combine apartments and ask a girl and a boy to be our “mom” and “dad.”

and since we were an awesome FHE group, we decided to make a spoof of The Office
{complete with a wallet stuck in a vending machine}
called The FHE!

there’s a lot of Provo/BYU/Mormon jokes thrown in there {especially about dating & marriage}
but i think it is still really funny even if you don’t live in Provo

so i wanted to share this amazing video with all of you!
and you can see what i was like 4 years ago
:)

a few notes:
1. i’m supposed to be the Kelly Kapoor character that’s why i’m kind of ridiculous
2. i do in fact know the whole High School Musical dance. and i’m not ashamed. i will dance it for you if you ever want to see it in real life :)
3. yes my hair is super short. and i really miss it.
4. at the end when i say, “i think we’re ready to perform in public,” we all rushed the stage at the talent show and performed the dance in front of our whole ward. cause again,
we are awesome like that!

ENJOY!
{i hope it’s as funny to you as i think it is…}

 

favorite quotes:

Ellen: “Provo is more than just a marriage ground. It’s also about education… and faith… and ethnic restaurants. People forget that. You never see married couples in ethnic restaurants these days.”

Frans: “They have to know who their father is. The purpose of FHE is to prepare us for real families—families in which there is a daddy, a mommy, about 24 kids, in an apartment made for 6. It sets the standard.”

Andrew: “Two Truths and a Lie is the best FHE game EVER! The prototype, if you will. Get this: 1. you learn which girls have done crazy things, and 2. you learn which girls are the best liars—two things I look for in a girl. This may sound strange, but I’ve found that the best liars are also the ones who say they’ve enjoyed my dates the most.”

Megan: “Look! Cougars don’t cut corners. Unless they are chasing deer. Cause deer are fast… but even then, the do it right!”

quirky

Elijah is a pretty quirky kid!
it is a lot of fun to see his little personality shining through more and more each day.

here is just a small list of his latest oddities:

1. he has to flip the light switch on & off before we leave his room.
he also will make sure i turn the humidifier off before i even get him out of bed. 
or he will whine & cry.

2. he loves to brush my hair.

3. he loves any kind of “dip” with his food.

4. both side lamps need to be on at a time.
or he will whine & cry. 

5. he has very specific seating requirements when he drinks his morning bottle.

5. he doesn’t like long sleeves and needs his jacket taken off right away when we get home.

6. we have to go outside right away after we put his shoes on.
or he will whine & cry. 

7. he really likes a clean & orderly house.
and after making a big mess, he will go around and make sure i pick everything up right.

8. he can spot balloons & suckers miles away!!
seriously. causes tantrums at the story every time.

9. he will only eat the berries of Cap’n Crunch Berries.

10. he likes his little Vtech bike to sing in Spanish rather than English.
and will whine until we change it. 

 

we love that crazy kid!!!
he definitely makes life interesting.
every day there is something different that he picks up.

so far, i feel like this is my favorite part of being a mom:
watching him learn new things.
it really just makes me beam with pride when i see him start to fold his arms for prayer
or discover how magical the rocking chair is.

i just can’t get enough of him!!
♥

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the winner of the Memories Suite giveaway is….

# 10: Amy!!
CONGRATULATIONS!
i will be emailing your shortly
:)

Halloween with my best friends

on Halloween weekend, my friend Zack and his wife threw an awesome party at their house
it was seriously SOOOOOO FUN!!!!
i’m pretty sure i haven’t laughed that hard in ages!

it had been a very very long time since i had the chance to get together with everyone.
i had hung out with them all back in junior high & high school
{is it really that long ago??}
and they are truly some of my very best friends!!

i can honestly tell you that i don’t know where i would be without their love and friendship

no matter what, they have always been there for me through the good times and the bad.
they have let me cry on their shoulders late at night when i had my first heartbreak.
they helped convince me to go to Provo for school and find my place in life.
they taught me more about faith, love, & happiness.
i have never laughed harder than when i’m with them.
and i have never felt more accepted & loved than when i am around them.

i cannot say enough good things about these people and i feel so honored that we have maintained our close friendship through all these years!!
they always manage to lift my spirits and make me feel special!

i hope everyone has friends like them.
everyone needs friends like them!

i truly didn’t mean to get all mushy before i showed all these pictures.
but looking back on them, it was too hard not to share how i felt!

so without further ado, here are some pictures from our fun night

[Zack the doctor]

 
[Calvin & Hobbes // Circus Dog & Circus Bear]

[Cowboys // The Lawrence Welk Show SNL characters]

Elijah was naturally the life of the party!
he thought it was so funny to get scared by the guys
and surprisingly, if you scared him good, you became his new best friend

  we then played a game called Adverbs.
someone goes out of the room and the rest of the group makes up an adverb [put –ly on the end of a word] to act it out. the person then comes back and has to try and guess what word they are all acting out during a scene.
i’m pretty sure i didn’t explain it right but it is the most hilarious game!

    
[acting out “Elijah-ly”]

[acting out Provo-ly by proposing at the hospital :)]

[Cory and Elijah]
this picture is blurry but i love it! Elijah got very comfortable with everyone :)

  

thanks so much for the fun party, Zack & Marissa!!

good news, bad news

GOOD NEWS:
Elijah knows how to say “Jesus” and will point to all the pictures of Jesus he sees.
[as i type this he is saying “Jesus” over & over :)]

 

BAD NEWS:
he also thinks Aragorn looks like Jesus
[and anyone else who has long brown hair and a beard]

 

silly boy!

:::p.s. last day to enter this giveaway!

tricks

   

big flip…

&
TA-DA!!!!

seriously.
he says TA-DA!

yes. my child is the cutest!

 

 

:::p.s. i’m getting ready to do the 30x30 challenge {with my own twist!} but i have a question. do shoes have to count?? aren’t they more of an accessory?? [please say yes :)]     

Utah Blogger Meet-Up

on Friday i had the amazing opportunity to meet some fabulous local bloggers!

i cannot even begin to describe how much fun i had meeting these lovely ladies! i know it’s totally high-school-style to say this, but it honestly made me feel really special/awesome to be invited to such an event. basically, i felt really cool! :)

after i got married and had Elijah {pretty fast}, i started feeling really distanced from a lot of my girl friends. we were all busy with school and then to top it off i now had a husband and baby to take care of. it was really hard for a long time to not have that regular “girl bonding” anymore.

since i’ve started really pursuing this whole blogging thing, i have met so many wonderful women that i have truly been great examples and friends to me. these women could relate so well to what i was going through, they reached out to me and accepted me for who i am, and every day i felt such a wonderful boost of love and support from their sweet comments and emails.

i was telling my friend, Jessica, about it today and she put it in such a great way:
“not only are you able to bless others [or try to help bless others] with your blog, but your blog is also helping to bless you.”

and that’s exactly how i feel.
blessed.

so when Gentri invited me to attend this awesome blog party, i couldn’t be more excited!! i was so happy to meet some of these women in person and be able to meet new bloggers that were sure to become life-long friends.

anyways!
 enough of this mushy/emotion stuff!
i’m sure you really want to see pictures!

since i pretty much only took pictures of the food
{yes, my priorities may be a little skewed},
i stole borrowed some of these pictures from some other lovely ladies blogs.
[thanks Autumn, Gentri, and Savannah!]

we had the party at Dear Lizzie which i have been dying to go to for a loooooong time.
loved it!
such a cute little boutique!

[Autumn, Meredith, Jenna]
 
[i look so intense right here]
special THANK YOU to my good friend Kelsey who helped curl my hair and pick out my outfit!!



[the brains behind the fabulous party: Gentri, Ashley, and Kelsey C.]
   [Katrina, me, Hayley] 
 
[Savannah, Meredith, Jenna]

[Lauren, Ashley, Kelsey C., Kelsey A.]
 
[Kelsey S., Ally] 

Gentri and Ashley were able to get some local businesses and favorite shops to donate items to raffle off. definitely a big plus! even some sponsors/friends close to my heart donated items to give away: Sebastian Design & Rhi’s Designs.
 

back row: Jenna, Hayley, Ashley
back middle: Meredith, Katrina, Kelsey A., Kelsey S., Lauren 
behind the chairs: Katie, Kylee,  Autumn, Holly, Ally, Jen
sitting: me, Alycia, Savannah, Gentri, Rachel, Sarah, Kelsey C.
[not pictured: Kaycie] 
{i hope i got that all right!}

when you get bloggers together, of course you talk a lot. so after Dear Lizzie closed their doors, a few of us headed over to Kneaders to continue visiting. we ended up being there til past close and definitely had lots of good/interesting/crazy conversations!

 
back row: me, Jenna, Meredith, Kaycie, Autumn
front row: Savannah, Ashley, Alycia, Kylee, Kelsey C., Gentri 
 

it was seriously the most fun i had had in a loooooonnnnnggggg time!!
can’t wait to do it again!
{we will do it again, right? ;)}

new obsession

i’m sure by now you have heard this song
Party Rock

well, Eli is obsessed with it!

Adam played it for the E-man the other night and he went crazy
and then once it stopped, E-Rock started whining for more Party Rock

so now we play it at least 10 times a day
and E-Rock rocks out 10 times a day

witness:

it’s kind of long and he’s doing a lot of the same,
but if you stick with it towards the end the E-Rocker starts busting out his running man
:)

E-rock brag time

first of all, I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!
even when i am at the end of my rope with patience,
he looks right at me, smiles his little smirky, chubby smile,
and my heart completely melts.

he’s so adorable!

now that that’s out of the way, i figured it was due time for a little almost-18-months update on the crazy chubster
{for grandparents & record’s sake}

• he says cheese, teeth, shoes, and Jesus. however, they all sound like “cheese”…. but you can tell the difference because he will point to whichever “cheese” he’s referring to.
  [and for Jesus, he will point to his picture on our wall or in our church books :)]
  
• he also says “ruff ruff” for dogs. actually, for any animal. but mostly dogs!
  
• E-rock likes to eat with his own fork and spoon now and gets frustrated if you try to feed him. he’s a big kid now!
  
• E is totally and completely Adam’s child. {like there was any doubt. have you seen pictures of those two together!} he learned how to open our kitchen drawers and out of all the stuff in our junk drawer, he went for the lighter. then when that was taken away, he found the matches. and now that those are put up, he’s now obsessed with all the candles. and today he found Adam’s butane in the desk in the back room. pretty sure he’ll also burn down a forest someday. next Malan reunion??
  [and before i get judgment on why the lighter/matches/butane was in a reachable place, i can honestly say i totally forgot they were in that drawer until i saw Eli walking around shaking the box of matches like a rattle.  it wasn’t until recently that he learned how to open the drawers so i didn’t worry about it before. they are now permanently removed :)]
  
• Eli looooovvvvveeeeessss suckers!! and if we ever pass a bin in the store, he will let you know that you passed it up without his permission! we have actually started stocking up on them for emergencies [car melt-downs, store melt-downs, everyday melt-downs, etc.]
  
• he still loves his books and actually has stopped trying to rip out every page. PROGRESS!
  
• the chubsters is pretty OCD when it comes to drinking his morning bottle {Adam’s words} [and yes he still has a bottle]. he needs to be sitting on the couch with his blankie and pillow. and if either one falls on the floor, he will stop & whine until i pick it back up [because heaven forbid he has to move!] {he’s already so  demanding!}

• the E-monster has developed a very evil laugh. he busts it out when he’s getting into trouble. it makes me extremely nervous. pretty sure he’s going to be that kid in school that pulls the girls’ pigtails for fun.
  
• speaking of pulling hair, Elijah also loves  pulling my hair. and when i say loves i mean it’s a legit obsession. you can’t get too close!!
  
• also speaking of hair, E-man likes to brush my hair sometimes. it actually feels quite nice :)
  
• E-wrestlemania L.O.V.E.S. to sit on my head. i am not kidding! he climbs up on the couch, climbs on top of me, and plops down on my head. sometimes he’ll even bring food and entertainment to this little session {i.e. blankie, pillows, bottle, crackers, books} it is seriously so annoying! and once i pull him off, he screams and runs back for more. Adam will even try to distract him for me. doesn’t work. he’s a monster i tell you!
  
• even though he doesn’t officially say many words, i LOVE seeing how much he really understands. like when i ask him to bring me something or to go find his blankie for a nap or if he wants to go on a ride. it just makes me burst with pride and joy when i see the little spark in his eye that he is learning new things. seriously love him!!
  

i think that’s all the little quirks of Elijah Adam Robinson that i can think of for today.
he is pretty much the most entertaining kid on earth.
i love it! 
there is never a dull moment around here with our chubby little E-man
:)

family carnival

a few weeks ago, our apartment complex had a little carnival
it was a lot of fun!

me and Eli rode on the little barrel train
{which Eli loved, of course}

they had cookie decorating/eating
{which Eli loved, of course}  

they had a bounce house
{which Eli was scared of but liked to watch the other kids, of course}

and balloons
{which Eli was obsessed over, of course} 

[i love this picture that Adam took]

and after all that fun,
this was the end result
{of course!}

 

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p.s.
i’m really sorry i haven’t announced the winner of the Feed Your Soul Art giveaway yet
it’s been a crazy weekend! 

so here is the winner……

#4: Rachelle

CONGRATULATIONS, RACHELLE!
i will be in contact with you 
:)

a big THANK YOU to all who entered!
and be sure to check out Harmony’s shop here!