Seussical, the Musical

Thursday night I went to the Round Rock H.S. production of Seussical. It's like a big mixed up stew of Dr. Seuss stories...that is the best way I can describe it. I went with some girlfriends from church. The whole production was so impressive from the live orchestra to the costumes to the singing to the actual performing arts center. One of the young women in our ward, Kaely, was in it...along with her two brothers. She was fabulous. I'm so glad I went.

Liz, Natalie, Jocelyn, Heidi

Liz, Kaely, Natalie

Cool Nesting Dolls

Look how cool this these nesting dolls are for tech-minded people. Not that I am. I found them here.

Women in Art

I just thought this was cool.

Italian Pizza

Ben & Jocelyn

Liz & Reed

Last Saturday the Hansen's invited us to watch the Miss America Scholarship Pageant thingy...and best of all to have REAL Italian pizza. Liz and Reed served their missions in Italy (two different missions) and have practically perfected Italian pizza. Everything was made from scratch and there was pizza after pizza after pizza.

Ben and Jocelyn brought drinks and cookies. Ben served his mission in Uruguay and said he loved the Brazilian food from his mission the best. Jocelyn reminded him that I served in Brazil so they brought a 2 liter of Guaraná Antarctica. It certainly brought back memories for me. Thanks Ben. Hmmm...now I'm not sure if it was Guaraná Antarctica or if it was Guaraná Brasil. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I had been pretty sick but I really wanted to socialize so I look kinda pallid but we had so much fun talking, eating and "discussing" Miss America.

Keane - Crystal Ball

Pretty song but the video makes me so sad.

Fat Joey's Cookies

One of the gifts we received for Christmas last month was cookies. No, not just any cookies ...Fat Joey's Cookies. Plus, these cookies aren't a one time deal. Homemade in Joey's kitchen, a different type of cookie will arrive in our mailbox each month for all of 2008. Justin checked the mail much later than usual and we were surprised to have a treat waiting for us. They're perfectly soft and so good. Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Thanks Joey.

Sunday

Can you guess the Sunday School lesson Justin and I gave on Sunday? We had lots of visuals for this one. It was fun.

Sylvia Singing

I know, I know...it isn't You Tube Tuesday...but I just can't help myself. I'm a proud Auntie. This is my youngest niece, Sylvia, singing Itsy Bitsy Spider. I love how she mixes it with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Too cute!

Toni and Rick

Justin's Aunt Toni and Uncle Rick took a scenic drive around Texas. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, plus smaller places in between. Tonight they took us out to dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse. We really like the food there. Especially the baked sweet potatoes. It was so fun chatting and catching up. We usually see them twice a year if we're lucky.

For dessert Rick ordered the key lime pie and Justin did the same. Nice choice. Not too tart and the crust is made with roasted pecans and graham crackers. Yummy.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You

Shower

Jocelyn (right) and I have gone to 2 baby showers together in the past month. We've got more ahead of us. We don't have babies but we like to talk about babies and we're happy for our friends who are having babies....especially Naomi (middle). She'll have a baby girl in March.

Ladies

These are little wooden finger puppets that I painted. I had no purpose or theme, I just wanted to paint them. I named the one in the middle Diana Petersen after Brian's mom...I didn't mean to make her look like Diana but after I was finished I could only think of Diana when I looked at her.

It has arrived!

On Monday my Janome Magnolia 7330 arrived in perfect condition. I learned how to wind a bobbin and thread the machine. That is a start right? I made two bean bags and have some other project ideas but I'm taking it slow. I need to remember to keep it simple. I can't get overwhelmed or else I'll never want to use the machine. I'll post some of the things I end up sewing...remember that I'm a beginner so don't judge too harshly.

Sigur Rós - Glósóli

If you're going to watch this...watch the WHOLE thing.

Justin's birthday

On Justin's birthday (Jan. 12) we went to Outback Steakhouse, had a nice dinner and then rented and watched a movie. I had to spend part of the afternoon convincing him that he shouldn't paint on his birthday...workaholic. Sunday night we had cake and ice cream...a few friends stopped by and we had fun chatting.

The reason Justin has two 3s on his cake isn't just because that is his age. It is mostly because I was too cheap to buy a second pack of candles. They come in packages of 24 for just over $2. Each "number" candle is only $1 so I spent 1/2 as much this way. Plus, how annoying to place all 33 candles, light all 33 candles AND take all 33 waxy candles out of the cake. Also, I'll be 33 in a couple years and we can reuse the candles. Happy Birthday Justin!

checkin' out the bedrooms

Taylor Hyatt, Heidi Shaw, me, Rachel Cox

For our Mia Maid class activity we went to each other's houses to check out our bedrooms. It was fun to see how everyone decorated. Heidi treated us to shakes afterward.

The Ditty Bops-Wishful Thinking

Nesting Dolls

So, since Justin bought me that painting of the nesting doll for Christmas, I've been thinking about how much I like them. This is the one set I have. My parents bought it for me when we went to Europe as a family back in 1986 or something. I don't know which country we got them in but maybe my parents will remind me if they remember.

Looking up nesting dolls online sure made my fingers itch to make some of my own. I think I will pretty soon here. Some of the sets out there are gorgeous and I would love to start collecting them but that would get a little pricey. I'll have to start with my own and see how that goes.


And look at these cool modern nesting dolls. Back in 2003, The Wurst Gallery had this idea to send several artists a blank set of Russian nesting dolls. Click here to see what happened.

According to a political party quiz...

A Little Background: Founded in 1792 by Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic Party was originally known as "the party of the common man." Jefferson went on to become the first democratic president ever elected.
What They Stand For: Called "the Left" or "liberal" party, the Democrats have been linked to the middle class and receive a large percent of minority vote in elections. They are opposed to corporate tax breaks and focus more on providing public services. Mainly pro-choice, the party has strong support from many feminist groups, like Planned Parenthood and FMLA (Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance). Originally supportive of the war in Iraq, many democrats feel that the time has come to leave the Middle East and rebuild alliances with foreign nations. As for gay marriage, many Democrats are for gay unions--equal rights, but not exactly the same as marriage. The Democrats continue to focus their energy on working class America and hope to strengthen the middle class.

I guess if I'm going off of this "What they stand for" explanation...I DO love Democrats! (:

Regina Spektor-Fidelity

Happy New Year!

photo taken by Bryan Kuntz

Christmas

This year our house was much friendlier than last year...it was pretty empty and lifeless in '06. We'll upgrade to a bigger tree next year.


Justin and I spent the evening together catching up on 'Heroes' episodes and had left over lasagna and hot apple cider throughout the day. As we started our gift opening we heard carolers outside our door. Our friends down the street, Becca and Gabe Black (and his family), came by and brought us homemade bread and jam, plus sang to us in Spanish. I haven't had carolers come to the door since I was in High School at least. It was a nice evening.

Justin and I fill each others stockings each year and Justin wanted me to look inside mine on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning. I found a little piece of paper that sent me on a treasure hunt for my gift. I was so surprised that he got me an original painting by J. Matt Miller. The painting is of one of those nesting Russian dolls. I loved the painting when I first saw it and it is even prettier and more nostalgic in person. I was thrilled...I think secretly Justin wanted it too.

I was very pleased to have gained more Christmas decorations this year. Judy sent us a beautiful nativity that is just my style. Next year I'll have to arrange it more like the official photo on the website (below). And Toni sent us the tile with the words "Wise men still seek him." I'd been wanting one of those since I saw them at other peoples' houses and was excited when she sent it way before Christmas so I could enjoy looking at it. The other little tile is a nativity scene too. It was a gift from the Relief Society Enrichment evening.

After Justin got an art book and an art supply gift card and catalog from his Mom... he just wanted to sit and look at every page.

lightbulb snowmen

I made these two little snowmen ornaments from light bulbs. I wanted to make ornaments as gifts for two special girls I know. They didn't turn out quite as I had imagined but cute nonetheless. I found the idea and directions here.

Gratitude book

For one of our YW activities we made mini paper bag scrapbooks and called them gratitude books. I finally finished mine...notice how the pages get simpler at the end of the book. Even though the pages are small...they still can become time-consuming. I loved putting it together though. I like the different papers, ribbons, beads and flowers...I can see how scrapbooking can become addicting and expensive.

Matt Clayton Photography

www.mattclaytonphotography.com

For those of you who don't know...I have a very talented brother-in-law... no, not you Joey, I'm talking about photography, not cold fusion. Matt is a photographer (among other things) and I am always impressed with is work. Justin and I are on Matt's website in the couples section. Matt took some great couple photos of us last year around Thanksgiving and this is one of my favorites. Lots of his photos can be seen in Square Magazine of which he is editor-in-chief. Check him out...

Halloween

All photos taken by Kristen Duke

CA Coast Trip

This is my favorite painting that Justin painted on our CA Coast Trip.

To see photos of our trip...click here.
To see paintings from the trip go to...www.justinspaintings.com click on September 07

Battery Point Lighthouse (Crescent City, CA)

Justin and I are headed down the CA coast for about 3 weeks. Here we are in Crescent City. It was chilly and overcast but so fun to walk around the lighthouse.