San Fran

Brandon and I had few extra days off work, so we decided to run away to San Fran. Our sweet grandma lives there and we were lucky to stay at her house and spend some quality time with her. In her back yard she has a large bell, it is a tradition to ring it! Yes Brandon and I both followed the tradition! We had to climb up a little because the pull rope broke.

 After the bell ringing we headed off to center of San Fran.

 It was Easter weekend and we came across these "sister" that were going to their church to celebrate.

 Mine, Mine, Mine.....

 The happy kids!

 We came across this cookie shop. We ended up coming back multiple times and buying more cookies because they were SO good.

 One of the days we went on adventures in Oakland and ended up at the Temple. It was so beautiful!

 Our good friends told us few great things to do. One of them was to have breakfast at Light House Cafe. They had amazing food, delicious hot chocolate, and great staff. We ended up going there few times.

 Loving the Hot chocolate.

 My breakfast on of the days, a huge omelet! We will be visiting this cafe again when we are back in San Fran.

 We drove to the Golden Gates Bridge and enjoyed the beautiful views.

 My beverage of choice while on this trip. Grapefruit is my absolute favorite!

 We went to the pier 41 and explored the museum of antique arcade games. It was full of all sorts of cool/ unique games.

 Little legs!

 Had an delicious dinner at Fog City Diner.

Finished off the trip by driving on Lombard street. San Fran was so beautiful and we had the best time! Sorry about iPhone pictures.

Furburbia Pups

 We have been fostering more puppies from Furburbia. It is really a fun thing to do for a day once a week! Here are some of the fur'babies we have had at our home:

-Meet Darius and Otis. These guys were so funny! Both of them were older dogs, but they were the sweetest. I had been asked to take Darius (the black and white pup) and when I went over to pick him up, his little buddy Otis was just following him around. They were so cute together and I couldn't stand separating them.....so Brandon and I ended up having a snaggle tooth gang for a night!

 - Jesse was almost adopted by us! We (mostly me) were smitten by this little guy. He was tiny and so cute! But we are big kids and we know we can't have a dog right now, so we enjoyed every minute with this little pup.

 -Trixie was our last foster. She was the most playful puppy! As you can tell we tired her out. Brandon got to spend most of the morning watching her and they became cute little buds.

 Tuckered out after running around chasing a ball.

Brandon was making funny noises and she kept tilting her head back and forth.

We love fostering little pups! It is so rewarding and we get to totally spoil them with love while they are in our home. We also have learned how much work puppies are, even having they for one night.

I am always happy to see these sweet pups go to a good home. All of the pups have been adopted and it makes our hearts happy that we got to spend some time and get to know these sweet little creatures.  And who knows, with Brandon working from home maybe one of the future fosters will stay permanently :)

Bragging Post- Grow America

I just have to brag for a minute! Brandon has been working so hard on creating some amazing commercials for a few companies. One that he just finished is a commercial that turned out awesome! Brandon is very talented and he has been working very hard on getting his clients what they ask for. Finally all that hard work has paid off. So there we were, on the couch after our long days at work, watching a March Madness game, and all of the sudden, out of no where, his commercial came on! We both did a double take, we were so surprised! It looked great!!! You can watch the full version here: www.GrowAm.com

Here are some screenshots of the commercial:

Happy Birthday Pops!!!

Another year has flown by and March 15h is here again. Happy birthday dad! You are one amazing dad, friend, sidekick, and everything anyone could wish for in a dad!  Thanks for all you do! Happy Birthday dad! We love you lots!

Jaclyn and Mark

Jaclyn, our lovely little sister got her self a fiance! Mark surprised her and proposed at a picnic! Not only is Jaclyn getting an amazing husband (a perfect guy for her), but we also get a pretty cool new brother! We are very excited for these two and their new adventure!

Congratulations, soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Mark Morrison!

Spontaneity

Do you ever get an idea in your head and you just have to do it!? Brandon and I have those moments a lot. I love them, simply because they make our days interesting. Sometimes Brandon has to make cookies in the late evening, I love that because then I have yummy cookies for a treat next day. I sometimes decide to craft at 11 pm the night before I have to be up at 5 am. Silly, I know, but sometimes you just gotta do it.

Last night Brandon and I went out on a date. It was wonderful little break from our stuffy schedule. After great dinner we went to get a red box, and while we were at the store we did some shopping. I got a great idea! I told it to Brandon and he supported it, so I did it!

 Before:

 Add some of this:

After:

Spontaneity paid off. I love it and so does the man of the house!

Frozen Treat

Brandon and I have been enjoying a new treat lately: 

Frozen Hot Chocolate. We used to go to Dairy Queen to get this delicious treat, but after a while it added up in cost. So we decided to make our own. It is Very good and super easy to make! We enjoy it and wanted to share the goodness! Enjoy:

 Ingredients

• 3 ounces best-quality chocolate (or a variety of your favorites)
• 2 teaspoons store bought hot chocolate mix
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 cups ice
• whipped cream and chocolate shavings for garnish (for fancy look)

Directions

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a small heavy saucepan. Stir occasionally until melted. 

Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until blended.

Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk, stirring until smooth. 

Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining 1 cup of milk, the chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Puppies!

Brandon and I are for sure dog lovers. We already know what kind of a dog we want to own one day in the distant future. While owning a dog sounds really fun, we both know that with our busy work schedules the little pup would be really lonely. So we've decided to be puppy fosters! In Park City near to my work there is a dog rescue place called Furburbia. They rescue all sorts of dogs, puppies, cats and kittens. They have adoption days every single day, but during the evenings they like to have puppies to go home with someone. They do that so the puppies will get used to people and also be trained a little bit. With our great landlord (Brandon's uncle) we have been doing puppy fostering one night a week.
Our first one was Brie:

 

she was the sweetest thing! She slept in the car on the way home and followed me around the entire evening! Brandon loved having this little buddy around, especially when she saw her reflection in the mirror and played with "another puppy" for 15 minutes. 

Then there was Colby:

 he was so playful! I took him running with me and he had the greatest time running by my side. We had a hard time giving him back the next day. We actually ended up fostering him few times because he didn't get adopted right a way.
Then there was sweet Emile:

 she stole our hearts! She was Brandon's buddy and would not stop playing with him.
And of course Willie:

 we had to give him a bath because he was so stinky! This little guy was so cuddly and sweet.
Our last one was Baloo:

this little guy was the sweetest one! He was so playful and cuddly. He would sneak in little kisses when ever he could. He was a blast to have around. We haven't had a puppy at our house since Baloo, just because we have been busy. People ask if we have a hard time giving them back to Furburbia the next day, and sometimes its difficult just because these puppies are so sweet and loving. But we always check on Facebook to see who was adopted the following day and cheer for our favorite little fosters. We love helping out because we have such a great time with the puppies in our home and we are constantly learning that owning one would be a lot of work. So if you want to foster a puppy for a night just go see them at Furburbia in the outlet mall.

Happy Birthday!!!

To my big brother!!!!

30 Minutes

Hello year 2012! I'm told by Hollywood that the end of the world is coming sometime this year. So I've decided to get my body in shape, just in case I have to run away from some zombies or something. Just in case. I mean, I will live just as long as I can out run someone else :) that's my plan at least.

Anyways..... it has been difficult to find time in my schedule to actually go and work out. I work 40 hours a week and most evenings I'm not home till it's dark outside. I no longer have a gym pass, thank goodness... I finally got my soul out of the evil grasp of Golds Gym! ( I mean seriously! I'm sure Golds would take my first born if I had one). So being the big grown up I am, I've decided it's time to make time to tone up and I knew exactly what to do. Jillian!!!!

She always kicks my hiney! Since I refuse to run in the dark, she is my best friend on the nights I get home late. Trust me, her work out will make you sweat and burn. 30 minutes each evening and if zombies show up on my door step in 4 weeks, I will be ready!! Plus zombies or no zombies, I will still look great and toned, can't complain about that. Bring it on 2012!

(This is Brandon, and I approve this message.)

Lately...

Lately Pandora has been keeping me sane on my drive to work. I will sometimes listen to NPR or local radio stations, but there is a limit to how many lipo clinic/ hair growth/ hair removal/ online dating/ crap commercials I can handle on my commute. So Pandora saves me from all that gibberish most days. The other night Brandon and I put up our beautiful Christmas tree and while we were decorating we put on some Christmas music: Sufjan Stevens (Holiday)

 Sufjan didn't disappoint as usual, but I did discover something even better! She & Him Christmas is keeping my Christmas cheer on full this December.

 

So now you know what we are listening in our home. Happy December!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we want to express gratitude for our amazing family and friends! Thank you for all you do! We love you!

July 16th

This may be a tad late, but here it is! Brandon and I got married on July 16th and it was the most perfect day! We are so blessed with such amazing family and friends! We had so much fun! We ate delicious food, we laughed so much, and we danced the night away! We want to thank everyone who came and celebrated with us! It was a party!

I truly married the most perfect guy for me. He knows how to make me laugh and cheer me up when I'm having a rough day. He is an amazing cook! Incredible baker! He completes me and I am so blessed to have him by my side for the rest of eternity! I love you B!

Day in Midway

A day at work today in Park City, Brandon got some work done (4 fillings)...

On the way home we spent some time in beautiful Midway. The colors are changing and red's/oranges are popping out.

Icicles are already making their way onto the Park City scene.

The Funicular at Deer Valley, this thing is rad. Definitely worth checking out. It seems like an attraction you'd pay for, but you don't. It's really just a extravagant elevator.

Fanny's Grill at the Homestead, near the crater.

Labor Day With The Fam

This is how Stringham family camps.

Legless........ We Can Fix That!

So B and I got these sweet chairs from the Marriott (Thanks Cynthia). Yes, we don't have any furniture and we are taking what we can get from local hotels.  Best part we get to improve our handy skills in the process. These lovelies came without legs. Add one more completed project to the Home Improvement list!

We made a little Home Depot trip and got these plain things. Boring.

We removed the previous hardware. Set new screws.

Stained the legs, along with our hands.

Added two coats of Semi-gloss and then set them in place.

Violà! We now have two new beauties in our house. Come visit any time!