Dec 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!





Dec 23, 2012

Rovalis




had us a good time this last week with our friend's natalie and marcus.  we went down to historic 25th (coupon in hand from indie ogden) and ate at Rovali's


prices were fair, food was delicious
topped with lavender lemonade (yes that's right, super good too)
along with a free cheesecake dessert (well the husband ate it)


we seriously debated about getting out to look at the lights in downtown ogden
it was like 28 degrees, then i remember my little sister hali...
she's in russia and it's -31 degrees





needless to say, we decided to get out and walk


Dec 20, 2012

christmas memories



thinking back to this post...
made me think that i should take some photos of some of my favorite ornaments.
just in case that day of smashing them comes sooner.
and because i feel that ornaments are blog worthy.


we have one from mount rushmore


aiko's first christmas ornament
(grandma says that his eyes remind her of my baby...she kind of does have beady little eyes)


i'm a sucker for the blown glass, so pretty!
(which is all that much easier to smash)


this one i got in columbus ohio with annie.
it's suppose to ward of witches
so
yeah


these have the high honor of being on the garland this year.
last year, they were under my bed.

these are just a few ornaments on my ugly christmas tree.
so excited to see what the next 10 years bring that are ornament worthy!


kolob canyon
(one of our favorite hikes)
nativity scene background brought to you by the husband
he's painted three paintings in his life.
this is one of them
and probably the last three he'll ever paint. 

other posts about kolob and hiking southern utah here and here.

Dec 17, 2012

historic 25th street, not the brothel it used to be




so, my lovely friend alicia, a barista, gave aiko and i a tour of historic 25th street
which...apparently was the brothel district back in the day.
but NO more!
(as far as i know anyway)


she took us to "a good life cafe"
where we dined on soup and a delish sandwich 
topped it off with a fruit smoothie.
i've had a lot of vegetarian sandwiches...and theirs was by far the best.
plus the soup of the day was a curry lentil soup.
YUM.

the shop below the cafe was super hip...and not badly priced
(husband note this.) 
picture is kind of blurry



aiko was a good little raptor and slept most of time.  
she slept, whilst balancing on the pub chairs...


a few things i mentally noted for future reference...
i usually carry an extra outfit, but i didn't and needed
i did actually fill up on wipes right before. 
(10 points for me)
i learned to change her on a chair
she doesn't mind her milk cold
she doesn't mind eating while in her moby
she eats almost 10 ounces 
(which i'm still baffled that comes out of me)
i need business cards
(the husband is creating a website for me...soon to be released)
alicia loves to network


i'm very excited to spend more time on historic 25th street with this lovely lady!

Dec 15, 2012

No Espanol. Zilch, None, Nada part II



the other day i was standing in front of the spice rack debating if i really should buy that much curry, when a mexican grandpa came by.  i shifted to allow him space, since the spice rack is limited on space

he's mumbling in spanish
only i realize he isn't mumbling to himself, 
he is talking to ME.
when i don't respond or even look at him 
he finally speaks english to me.

"don't you speak spanish?" says mexican grandpa
"no, just a tiny bit" says i
"it's good to know two languages." 
"yeah, i bet it is."
"are you mexican?"
"no." a little to loudly i felt
"what are you then?"
"japanese."  

i do enjoy seeing people's faces, it's a look of shock and confusion.  i patiently await the default phrase i know is coming.
"but your eyes are so big." thanks gramps.  i get this ALL the time, Merry Christmas to you too.
"do you speak japanese?"
"no" i say.  "do you?"
"no" he says, then walks away.

that's it. 
sheesh

see previous post 

Dec 14, 2012

such a happy boy




i basically traded my soul...
but it's worth it to see him smile like this. 

Dec 13, 2012

crafty auntie hannah


so we've seen them on pinterest
those super cute onesies
well, auntie hannah made a bunch for aiko
(so weird to put her name there instead of baby! we're making progress)

below we have a line up for you


obviously, she doesn't feel that she "nailed it."
she was probably quite hungry.


if you'll recall, we called her "fetus" for the whole pregnancy.
but no more.



this one was an ode to the kona.
someday, when she can at least hold her own head up,
we'll try riding the kona.


this one is a favorite.

auntie hannah spent quite the time on these.
hand cutting each saying with an exacto knife
then painstakingly painting each letter.

well done auntie
well done.

Dec 12, 2012

"ugly" christmas tree





i was just reading my friend erin's post about her "crappy christmas decorations"
she has four kids and is in despair about her christmas tree. 

she let her kids decorate it

usually, i would just laugh about these kind of things
(no offense erin)
but life has changed (obviously)
i had no idea how drastically though. 

i believe there are two kinds of trees in the world...well maybe three.

1 - pretty trees - you know, the trees that look like they were purchased right from the fancy stores or found on pinterest
2 - charlie brown trees. if you don't know what this is. . . 
shame on you.
3 - ugly trees.  yes, my kind of tree. i have a short poem i wrote last year about it.  i'm not normally the poetic type, but this is the real deal.  plus i made a treasury on etsy about it as well. 

i have what some might call an ugly Christmas tree.

my tree has hundreds of memories.
each ornament has a story you see.
so come, join the challenge of the 
ugly Christmas tree.


the other day i went to my first "play date"
one of the mom's was lamenting about all her smashed ornaments.

(gasp)
smashed ornaments?!?!

apparently, i didn't realize how passionate i was about my ornaments. i don't really care about the placement or anything on the actual tree
but smashing them!?!

if you had read my poem (and deeply contemplated the meaning) you'll understand that each ornament contains a memory.  instead of buying souvenirs, i purchase an ornament on every trip.

i actually stopped and just stared at this mom.
i had never considered that my little raptor would become a godzilla a destroy my memories.



goodness, now i feel the need to run upstairs and take photos of all my favorite ornaments!  now i'm going to have to post about it too.  luckily, i still have one more year before she unleashes terror on my ugly christmas tree.

Dec 11, 2012

indie ogden




i've been going to ogden my entire life
but "going to ogden" included gram's house and the mall.
that's it.
since moving here, i decided it was time to change
come to find out, there is tons to see and do!
one of our first ventures was last friday to the Indie Ogden Awards

so all the local companies brought out their goods to the union station
there were cupcakes, climbers, hawks, artists, sushi...
all sorts of fun things to see.
then there was an awards ceremony thanking all the businesses


come to find out... one of the booths contained a local cedarite.
chris bodily went to college with the husband.


so, i bought this cute print for the babe's room
now just to find a frame!



there was lots of delicious foods (plus coupons!)


cute husband. 


who else wants to join us?

the objective:
support the locals and eat good food!

Dec 10, 2012

obi-wan kenobi




just imagine the force taking control of you while Aiko's cuteness melts your heart into a puddle


we really did like the name "skye"
but really, she would be named skye walker
not cool people



well, kind of cool.

Dec 9, 2012

i still exist


it kind of stinks being replaced by that baby
but this is what happens when she coos at me.
i like her too.
just don't tell anyone


Dec 8, 2012

aiko here




just letting you know that mama keeps me well fed
these cheeks are just crazy

Dec 7, 2012

its kind of a gross picture


this was within the first week we brought her home
notice how she still has arms and a single chin

but after eating, she became a bobble head and then slapped her arm across my belly.
completely drunk with mama's milk


i just couldn't help it.


aiko's first road trip


montana...we went


this is Bozeman Montana


obviously, she loved it
she slept most of the time anyway


we did almost die while sliding down a snowy road near Yellowstone
luckily, we did not
the song "Jesus, take the wheel" 
has a complete new meaning for me.


Dec 6, 2012

best thing about being a mom?




people send you presents for you baby!


like these cute miniature books.
auntie mem sent these books, because they were a family favorite
glad i can continue the tradition!

Dec 4, 2012

something you may not know about me

i am weird
i'll admit it
i just spent the entire last week in Montana
graduating to become a Certified Footzoner
maybe you have heard of it?


no?  
well, let's just say, without footzoning, essential oils, and pretty much vegan meals,
i'm pretty sure my sweet little baby would never existed.

so, you'll probably be hearing about this a lot from me,
you may think it's weird
but you'll get over it. 

what is footzoning?
you have energy signals in your feet for your entire body
and through footzoning, we help balance those signals
so you become who God meant you to be
while helping the body to heal itself

crazy right?

(i know, i am commonly called the witchdoctor, but my name is Harmony.  hippiness here we come!)


so i've been working on graduating for a while
and now it is done!

here are a couple pictures of where you graduate


only seems fitting
being in the middle of nowhere
with the teepees (which had it been summer, i totally would have slept in these)
see the river?  
that's where my teachers would go and move the rocks back and forth, 
just to get some sunshine and exercise 


it's a lovely place
it was very calming (well after passing my tests)


oh, this cat?
well during class he sat down right in front of me and started. . .
uh-hem, cleaning himself

it made things a little awkward.

Nov 21, 2012

our yearly smith and edwards visit


for some reason i didn't get a picture of the sign 
but you can see that here.
the husband's parents came up for the weekend 
and what does one do?

take them to smith and edwards
well, we also drove by the ogden temple and the Brigham temple
but the main purpose was to go to the ole smithy store


there is much to see and not really do there
just go and see.
like this fab horn chair that could probably gore an adult
nonetheless i braved the danger and sat in it.

oh, if you are wondering who's polish dog with saukerkraut that is...
it's mine, i know, only your grandma ate that stuff.

oh and second note, i love my moby
even though it looks slightly strange.

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