Wedding Planning: The Luncheon

We decided to keep our wedding small and intimate. I am so glad that we did. IT was so nice to just have the people we really cared about there in the temple with us and to get to spend some time with them after.

For years I have wanted to get married in the Manhattan Temple. I don’t know why... ok I DO! I just LOVE that temple, love new York, love everything about it. When looking at our budget we thought about a destination wedding. I mean with SUCH short notice we didn't really expect anyone to make it to our wedding. & IT HEN  thought we could use our budget for like six million other things (like a king size bed, new suits, tickets to visit the US, our honeymoon, immigration legal fees) if we got married in Utah.

We decided to wed in the Provo Temple- which has been my temple for the last almost decade. 

I immediately thought of SPARK for our luncheon. It has an urban feeling, needed NO decorations, and I love their food.

So we called Blake Ballard over at SPARK(fb) and set up a meeting. They have done other Private events in the past and were amazing to work with. We were planning in such a short time, it was awesome to work with so many vendors who were accommodating. 

Just a week later we had an appointment set for Our TASTING. IT  was amazing! My sisters, mom and BFF Kristen were there, to try and help me decide what we would serve.

We were delighted with a myriad of tastes- 8 different appetizers, 5 different entrées, 4 different desserts and all the specialty drinks we wanted to try. It was a DELIGHT. It was like a party in my mouth every single bite.  

All the different options made it so hard to decide. Especially since we were doing a lunch in early fall. We wanted the meal to feel appropriate and not too heavy.

We eventually went with a lunch option that was a trio platter: their famous grilled cheese, creamy tomato soup, and a petite Kobe jack burger. We served endless herb-ed fries….yummmmmm.It was  all American which was fun for our guest and Adam loved it.

We planned 3 different passed  hor dourves (while adam and I took pictures after the sealing) and Shirley temples!

Other highlights of SPARK as a venue:

• They will CALL all your guests to GET an RSVP: they have found people are more honest when its the venue calling than when its the brides mom.  
• Their servers dress in all black and look super classy + they are all good looking 
• BLAKE is super easy to work with, his chef is amazing and they can work up just about anything you can dream of. 
• There is plenty of FREE parking at the Provo Wells Fargo Building, making it super nice. 
• It photographs SUPER nicely...more of the Wedding pics to come. 
• I love that we can go back and eat there and remember our wedding day!
• As far as planning goes Blake helped us set up like 5 different seating layouts. They did all the set up-even the extra's we added like the photo op at the check in station. 
• They let our cake lady in when ever she wanted
• I did 99% of my follow up VIA email which I LOVE!

I would Highly recommend it as a Provo/UTAH county venue! Or for a fun 23course lunch...or a nice dinner. We are planning on several in the coming months...we just bought $25 gift cards for Half off. THANK YOU black Friday!

It was the perfect venue for our 60 guest sit down luncheon. We LOVED every minute of it. THANK you SPARK! you made all my wedding dreams come true.

♥ the MRS.

---

 

thirty.

my camera: its ability to help capture so many memories.

blogger: for making it easy for me to [share/record/remember] them

my faith: for reminding me what is really important in this life.

my parents: for donating furniture to get our first home started.for supporting our marriage. for being so beyond generous I am constantly amazed. for their love and support over the years.

my job: for paying my bills

our lawyer: who is helping to facilitate our immigration process

our landlord: who pays all the utilities on our little place

Paul Morrell: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I met my sweetie. I feel in Love. I made amazing friends. 

my nieces: for making me laugh and smile and remember the magic of being a child

Brookey: who came through big time as a sister during my rushed wedding planning/wedding day and who works tirelessly to help keep all the siblings connected.

Michael: for being a big brother when I really need one

Morgs: who is mature beyond her years and has always been the family mascot

Grantie: said granny who spend 4 years defending my freedoms

Jess: who paved the way as the first in-law and has been a good sister and friend.

Tyler: that has gone out of his way to make Adam feel welcome in our family. He really appreciates it.

KSL: for making second hand shopping easy.

blog friends: for nice comments when I really need them. For encouraging words at the right time. For listening to me complain. for laughing with me. For being my outlet.

Movies: for a few hours to escape from this life and imagine a new one.

The picture of Adam with President Obama: that makes me smile whenever I sit at my desk.

Our upstairs neighbors: for being so quiet we think we live alone in this house.

The Provo Bakery: and their yummy bread and treats. I am glad we live so close.

For Carolyn: who gave me the confidence to come to Ethiopia with her. Who drove me around. Listened to me cry. Helped me adjust. Taught me the ropes and became one of my best friends.

BSLADE: who taught me to live the gospel not just believe in it.

For my Savior: who forgives me time and time again.

The Previous tenants: who left tons of cleaning supplies. Awesome thanks.

Coupons: and their money saving power.

Google: and all the wonderful people it has lead to my blog. My little piece of the internet.

Music: I love you. you make me happy. You help me understand myself.

♥ the MRS.

---

 

THANKSgiving

So one of the things I hate about Thanksgiving is that people forget about is the whole being thankful part of it. It is nice to be with family and to eat a good traditional meal, but are we really thankful?

Of that I am not so sure.

This was Adam’s first thanksgiving

I wanted him to have the entire authentic experience.

So each night when we said out nightly prayers we talked about one thing we were grateful for that day. I shared mine here on a daily post. It helped us to really think about the reason for thanksgiving.

Then we shared it with my family and some of our friends. 

Our family has some weird foods we serve at thanksgiving: ravioli in Bolognese sauce from my Grandmother Yolanda Giampoletti Peralta. And Mexican rice with real chorizo and all from my Grandfather the Pilipino who had a mother that was raised by Mexicans.

This year we had the Davis family over and they brought some of their dishes: pinwheels which are like a bagel bite and a potato skin in ONE = yummy, frog eye salad, cowboy caviar and stuffed mushrooms. It was an overall feast. 

After we survived the food coma we played pool, foosball, talked and looked at black Friday ads.

It was a super fun night.

Especially when I had a recap that night with Adam to find out he didn’t like stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy or most of the other “traditional” foods.

So next year we might take a different approach to the whole thanksgiving meal.

Friends of mine at work admitted either families eat

1. Crab

2. Steak & lobster

3. Roasted chicken

We may be serving tibs, shiro wat and some doro just for good measure.

♥ the MRS.

twenty nine.

a husband who willingly does all the dishes.

cooks a few nights a week.

compliments me all the time as a wife.

vacuums.sweeps.mops.

and makes it really easy for me to be a working wife.

he makes me laugh.

he makes me smile.

he snuggles me whenever I want.

he takes out the trash whenever it is full.

he opens my car door.

he is the best.

oh and he shovels the walkway/my car when it snows without me having to ask. LOOK at him.

I {HEART} him.

♥ the MRS.

Tell your story in {ONE} sentence

Can you?

This website is full of one line stories.

Here are a few of my recent faves:

·         Seeing the red “REJECTED” splattered across our paperwork gave me an instant heart attack & motivation to start working on a backup plan.

·         I don’t know why but sometimes throwing the laundry all over the family room really makes me feel better.

·         There are 4 holes in the wall we need to patch after we realized we lived in a WWII bunker and our walls are completely cement.

·         I felt bad when all four of us got up and walked out but honestly I couldn’t make it through.

·         Now I wish I lived northbound just so I could leave work a few hours early.

♥ the MRS.

twenty eight.

COSTCO.

&all the essentials I can buy in bulk that keep our family running. 

♥ the MRS.

Rewind: trip to the {STG}

Before we were married. Adam and I took a quick trip to St. George to visit my siblings there. It was the first time that Adam met my Sister Brooke & her husband Tyler as well as my Older Brother Michael, his wife Jessica and their three little girls.

IT was an important meeting of sorts. We drove down and got in Late one night. The next day we went out to lunch with Brooke, Tyler & Grant at 5 Guys! Adam is on a burger tour. This was a good stop on the tour!

My Dad’s cousin Sandy came out to spend a month in Ethiopia. She said she was on a bread pudding tour that had lasted several years. She is constantly looking for the world’s best bread pudding. So Adam is on a burger tour. We have hit a LOT of stops.

After that we went to play with my nieces. They LOVED Adam. They had already met him on SKYPE a few times while I was in St. George during the Ethiopian Elections. Avery even MADE us cards! They were super cute. She was sooooo excited to give them to us. We gave GRACIE her birthday present. She was a little afraid of the black baby doll, but it will grow on her & we need to prepare her for the time Adam & I have a baby. I can’t believe she was born when I was in China and Turned one while I was in Ethiopia. I missed both by a continent. 

The Girls showed Adam How they drove their little car. It was pretty amazing. Ashtynn [can careen around corners/back up/play the radio/watch out for oncoming cars.] PRETTY impressive. Adam was a little sad  that he couldn’t try driving it around. The girls wanted to take Adam to Yogurt that he again LOVED.

 Here we taught Avery a little Amharic.

Avery Speaks Amharic from Single Girl on Vimeo.

That night the siblings all went to Thai food! YUM. Adam LOVED it. He also tried sushi for the first time and it was a hit. 

The Mr. mistakenly at a wasabi ball while telling a story. It was horrible. 

We told him it was hot. We stopped him from eating it once. He tasted a little tiny bit. 

Adam was telling Jessica a story and it was in between his trainer chip sticks. 

DOWN the hatch it went. 

All i saw was the {SCARED} look on my sister in laws face. 

Adam started burning up.

Then Tyler ate one so Adam wouldn’t feel so bad.

It was an overall success.

♥ the MRS.

Things TV almost convinced me I needed:

So Saturday mornings are not PRIME tv time. I woke up early this morning and the MR. was still sleeping. I decided I would blog stalk and watch some tv. My choices…Untamed sports, crappy cartoons (WHAT happened to Saturday morning cartoons?) or infomercials.

I am a sucker for infomercials.So here is a smattering of things I thought I needed..Or might still think I do after channel surfing for a while this morning. 

Resurgence

First. And foremost. I DO want to try this…just when our cash flow is a little better.

Don’t tell my employer, they might get mad. BUT I AM A sucker for face & beauty infomercials.

And who doesn’t trust a celebrity backed product?

The HAMMER driver

Do I golf: NO

Have I ever been golfing: NO

Have I been to the driving range: Oh yeah

DO I NEED THIS: FOR SURE

Why? Because who doesn’t want to add 500 yards to their drive? And I mean for $100 can you really do better for a driver?

Tadd would this work for me?

The NUWAVE oven

You an GRILL a chicken & bake cinnamon rolls at the same time.

SOLD!!!

Slim & Lift

I mean who doesn’t want to lose three dress sized without having to change they way they eat or ever gor for a walk?

ME…and probably every woman out there.

But lets be honest, can you IMMAGINE that thing in the summer?

Or with the G’s?

Sounds horrible.

Curl Confidence

This is another product I want to try. I have CRAZY curly hair. I have found a taming routine that works well. Anyone that has curly hair knows how much fun it can be, but also how annoying it is trying tree million products to find one that works for your curls.

& even if 30 other people SWEAR by this moose or this Gel, it doesn’t mean it will work for your hair. That is why I was intrigues by curl confidence. It looks simple enough. & I am all about simple. 

Anyone out there tried it?

The Fanny Bank

Adam and I are on a tight budget. We decided to start saving all our change as a savings tool. Once we have a GIANT full vase we will turn it in and see how much we saved. When I saw this bad by I thoguth he might like it…ha haa!

Who needs black friday when you can have infomercial saturday?

♥ the MRS.

I am the MRS. and I would gladly accept promotional considerations to use these products in my home and write detailed reviews....just in case any of you have some pull. ;)

twenty seven.

 For a RE-saturday due to the long weekend.

hummor. I LOVE YOU. 

a life where entertainment is abundant. 

a husband who is soooo [kind/sweet/loving/attentive]

Polaroid film.

 vitamins.

TOMS. YEP I want THOSE ones....
the arts.

♥ the MRS.

twenty six.

A1 driving school.

& how brave they are to teach my

lovely how to drive. 

(class starts WAY too soon for my comfort)

it will be so nice when he is legal and able and confident. 

Here is his first attempt:

Oh boy, he's driving? from Single Girl on Vimeo.

♥ the MRS.

the MRS. ≠ a baker

I mean I VOWED to myself to try to be more domestic but it will be a slow process. I have been wanting to bake bread. Sarah Hughes from my home ward is an AMAZING bread baker. When She drops of fresh bread or homemade cinnamon rolls, it makes me WISH I had taken that bread baking class ad DSC while I lived in STG for those few years. Regret numero uno.

But since I didn’t, I figure I better start out simple.

So when this recipe popped up in my google reader I was all about it.

Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/2 c. warm water

1 packet of yeast

3 Tbls. honey

1 tsp of salt

1 Tbls oil (optional- not needed if you eat the bread in one day)

4-5 c. Flour (or as much as needed)

Mix warm water and honey together. Dissolve the yeast until frothy, this usually takes about 15 minutes.

Add oil and dry ingredients. Knead for a few minutes. Roll into a ball, place in a bowl and let rise for an hour. Remove the dough and throw it on the counter, literally chuck it, as hard as you can

Roll the dough into a loaf, or braid it. Place on a cookie sheet, not in a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 30ish minutes.

Megan is a friend I met while at BYU. She now has a classy blog that houses [eating/workout] tips and tricks. I figured WHY not try it out?

So here we go:

It said to dissolve the yeast until it was frothy…Is that frothy enough?

No idea… I waited my time, I think.

Then I followed the instructions.

The first attempt wasn’t perfect. I rolled it out into a ball which I LOVE, but it was a little thick. So it was nice and CRUSTY on the outside, but doughy in the middle.

The nice baked crusty parts were AWESOME.

So later that night I made it again. This time around I was more careful about how I rolled it out. It was HEAVEN.

you should all try it. for several reasons:

1.if I can do it, so can you 

2. it is a NICE hearty bread 

3. nothing is better in the winter than fresh bread & soup for dinner.

I loved it.

The MR. loved it.

This will become a regular in our home.

♥ the MRS.

this will in no way become a food blog, as I am not that clever. 

twenty five.

for thanksgiving.my home.good food&two days off work.

♥ the MRS.

a THROW back

I got a comment on an old post that I wrote, about ALL the things I loved about being SINGLE!

(thank you blogger for the new comment section & emailed comment alerts or I might not have seen it).

So I know it was asked in JEST, but I would answer an emphatic YES! Totally worth giving those silly things up to be married to my sweetie. So I thought I would go through the list and review, to make sure I had made the right decision.

THEN	NOW
1. I don’t have to tell people where I am going, what I am doing or when I will be home.	I like having someone I am accountable to. Adam doesn’t mind If I go out with my friends or with my sister. He encourages me to go out with my friends & mostly I just like to be with him. We are newlyweds.
2. I can go out with one boy, kiss another and still flrtext another	I AM GLAD I am done with this phase of my life. When I wrote about my first kiss with Adam, I knew it would be my LAST FIRST KISS! And It was a good one.
3. I can move whenever and where ever I want.	Adam has nomadic tendencies as well we anticipate moving   SIDENOTE: I never really moved when I was single. I moved from apartment to apartment, but as far as moving somewhere exotic…that was just a dream
4. I can come home to my house, and know that everything is EXACTLY where I want it.	Now I come home and its better. Adam likes things tidy. So USUALLY I come home and the house is way cleaner & more organized then when I left it.
5. I don’t have to fight for control of the Tivo	We don’t have TV, and only basic cable so we don’t fight about TV & we take turns picking which movies to see/watch.
6. I get flowers from a secret admirer delivered at work.	I probably sent them to myself…not really hee hee But once Adam has the whole door opening thing down pat, we will work on the flowers.
7. I get amazing notes like this in my going away card:	Ummm I forgot when I posted this to add the picture…..I think having someone who loves me is better than a note.
8. I don’t fight about money	We don’t now. We have set financial goals and we stay within our budget. Adam is not spendy, so it’s really me we have to keep in check.
9. I don’t have to worry about finding the perfect house	WE DID, it’s a rental and we love it! Come visit.
10. I m not worried about if my husband will ever finish school, get a better job or ever be able to provide	Now I am, but mostly because we are in the middle of the immigration process*
11. I can still talk to old lovers	I got a few email congrats after our nuptials. I emailed back and they never sent another reply. I told Adam about it, he didn’t care.
12. I don’t have to feel bad about blog, myspace or facebook stalking my ex boyfriends. (I am just curious)	Adam stalked them with me when we first got married. He was curious who these men were. SURPRISINGLY since then I don’t even think about them. I thought I would. I wondered how hard it would be to stop thinking about them. In the months we dated I didn’t, and now I still don’t.
13. I get to have lots of random meeting new people experiences.	I still do! Adam attracts all sorts of people. Everywhere we go he makes new friends, gets invites to lunch or dinner. I get to benefit from my popular husband.
14. I am constantly the center of attention when I am with married friends.	My husband it the coolest so this remains true!
15. I don’t have to worry about hormones form switching birth control every five minutes.	I have an IUD Ohhhhh mirena Get one.Caitlyn told me too & I am glad I did. I love it
16. I GET TO BE ME, NO QUESTIONS ASKED!	Adam met the worst version of me- talk emotionally distressed, lost in a foreign land with no makeup and camping clothes. He has been happy with the better married version of me. Because of the circumstance of how we met, I never pretended to be something I wasn’t.

♥ the MRS.

*more on that when we are in a safer place in the process. 

Dear FAKE blizzard,

You were disappointing.

The Mr. was totally looking forward to shoveling the walk and scrapping a foot of snow off my car.

& all those people we sent home early last night to miss the bad weather.
And everyone who asked me if we would “CANCEL” work.
ha ha...I replied, I {PROMISE} we will work tomorrow.

Them: well what if there is sooooo much snow we can't drive in.

Me: at that point, call the sick line and we will figure it out.

WHO is laughing now...me @ work with all the people who hoped

there would be so much snow we would

cancel work for the day.

Oh the hype.
Oh the preparations.


Utah county got a “light dusting”.


It was a disappointment. It was sad.


& now I may never trust the national weather service again.


I hope the rest of winter proves to be this lame (as I hate the snow) and we can just go visit snow in colder places...like apparently salt lake.  


♥ the MRS.

Re-CELEBRATE

For our one month we decided to celebrate in style.

By style we mean a night out that consisted of [dinner/cup cakes/movie]

We should have thawed out our cake topper and eaten a pieced of our wedding cake we never really had, but we didn’t think about it in time.

Maybe next month!

♥ the MRS.

twenty four.

the beauty of the world around me.

I live in one of the prettiest places in the world.
There is so much at my finger tips. I have seen some of the most amazing places in the universe. Honestly I have.

Last year I got SCUBA certified. It was AWESOME. I have been diving a few times since & took my lil sis diving in Kauai.

Then I found this clip:

It makes me WISH I had become a marine biologist- which I wanted to become berifly when I thought marine biologists just trained dolphins for a living…

It makes me want to go diving more.

Take my diving more seriously.

Spend time learning more about marine biology.

And the animals

And the life down there.

New goal. Learn more. Dive more.appreciate nature.

♥ the MRS.

The kind of wife {I AM}

So it’s been over a month. We survived the first 50-ISH days they actually breezed by and I can’t believe it’s been almost two months, I still feel like we are on our honeymoon. Sometimes when I wake up and see Adam

I say: Are we really married?

 He laughs at me, like the crazy person I am.

Then he says: yeah babe we are really married.

Then I giggle and think to myself: I got lucky, my husband is WAY hotter than I am. It’s a good thing I am TOTALLY ok with that.

So I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of a wife I will be. It is a work in progress but I have figures out a few things so far.

I am the kind of wife that says dinner will be ready at 7 and it is. So if you choose to jump in the shower at 6:50, take a 20 minute shower & time getting ready- I will have served it, prayed, eaten my dinner and cleaned up. Your plate will be in the fridge, feel free to reheat it.

We had pasta w/meat sauce and a Salad. And YES we eat them mixed together. It is kind of weird, but we love it and its just kind of the way we eat it now. it started in Ethiopia where the sauce has little to no taste. I would then add some of the fresh tomatoes & chilies from my salad to spice it up. Eventually it became the entire salad. It just stuck.

I am the kind of wife that cooks dinner every night & enjoys it most of the time. If you ever want to stop by here is our food schedule:

Sunday- Favorites

Monday- Quick and Easy

Tuesday- American

Wednesday- Italian Night

Thursday- Traditional Ethiopian

Friday- Pizza night

Sat- Mexican/leftovers or Date night

I am the kind of wife that hates the giant love sac in front of the TV and will move it every time- back to the corner where it belongs. I don’t care how comfortable you made your indent, it goes in the corner after the movie is over. (yeah our TV is midget sized. I didn't own a TV and we got this bad boy free when we bought our mattress. We also got a headboard, two pillows, a sheet set and free delivery = score! So go ahead and keep laughing at out baby TV. If you want to buy us one, we will gladly accept.)

I am the kind of wife that gladly washes all the whites together and the towels, but there are instructions on how to use the washing machine & dryer so I hope you don’t run out of clean clothes.

I am the kind of wife that likes to have things schedule. Not OVERLY scheduled, but I like to know whats coming. I like to plan our meals a week out, know what we will need in bulk & when we have fun weekend plans. So  I am the kind of wife that keeps a calendar on the fridge so we both know whats going on.

I am the kind of wife that comes home OH sooooo excited when I see that my husband has made the bed, or washed the dishes, or vacuumed the family room, or put away the clothes. I light up! &he knows it.

I am the kind of wife that likes to come home for lunch to see my man.

I am the kind of wife that loves to hear about the things Adam is learning in institute- I pretty much make him tell me word for word each night over dinner.

I am the kind of wife that encourages my husband to try new things (like roller roasters), make new friends, find hobbies you enjoy and so on.

I am the kind of wife who drives by the bus stop JUST to make sure my husband made it & if not, offers him a ride for the price of just a few kisses.

I am the kind of wife that is soooo bothered we spend way too much money on redbox. But investing in DVD’s seems like a waste of money at the same time. Maybe we need to get a TV series.

So there you have it, just a few little snippets of the wife I am, or might be. Or at least the kind of wife I am or might be at this exact moment in time.

♥ the MRS.

twenty three.

i have the {WORLDS} best friends.

really i do.

They have been there for me.

Through the good times

And the bad

Through crying nights & [laughing/lunches/vacations]

They have been supportive of all my decisions.

And helped me grow into the person I am.

So thanks for all the good times.

♥ the MRS.

check out our wedding photos here.

We get out, like in public…at least sometimes

Adam & I are on a mission to make the most of our {PROVO} experience. We like to say "Provo = OUR manhattan"

I have a [LOVE/hate] relationship with Provo and kind of had mixed emotions about being back. Mostly I think the PROVO dating scene gets OLD...fast. So I got pretty burned out on it before I left for my Adventure in Ethiopia.

Being back is weird. Being back as a married lady it TOTALLY different. So we are looking for different ways to spend our days & well nights.

This weekend we caught up with some friends for and early evening. Since we are a budget friendly house we went to a late matinee showing of Unstoppable. Which was Good! I totally enjoyed it. We classified this one as a “us movie” * It had just enough suspense and lasted JUST long enough without dragging on. Rotten tomatoes was right a solid 85%, I would even give it a little higher.

*Adam and I take turns picking which movies to watch. A Chick Flick would be a “Mrs. Movie” while my trip to see expendables was defiantly a “Mr. Movie”. Adam did go see Harry Potter with me. I told him he was not obligated to come on my other free ticket. He agreed that he was going to the movie by his own free will and consent**. So that was an “Us Movie”

Matinee then off to get some Pizza @ slab. Which I had heard was AMAZING.

It lived up to expectations. 

I got the Real Hawaiian with SPAM….i LOVE spam.

Sick I know. But fry it up and eat it with rice and YUM you have yourself a meal. So I love any reason to eat SPAM that doesn’t make people instantly disgusted with me.

Adam Tried the BBQ Chicken which Rivaled my own take on the old favorite.

Dareth went for the safety pizza=sausage & Veggies

While Jesse went to Thai Chicken. Which was a peanut butter-y delight.

I am usually not a big food sharer, but this time around it was WELL worth it. I loved being able to try them all. The crust was CRISP and thin and totally yummy. Worth $6 for a GIANT slice and coke? 

for sure.

SLAB is fab.

Check them out here. Happy eating!

Any other places we need to check out?

Ideas for fun weekend nights?

We might get desperate if we don’t get some input….

♥ the MRS.

**that is the same language that the county clerk used when she asked us if we were sure we wanted a marriage license.