Lovely Valentine's Memories

I just love holidays. Really, I do. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise if you have been reading my previous blog posts.

Valentine's Day holds so many precious memories for me. At midnight last night when I was supposed to be asleep, all I could think of were all those wonderful memories from years past. I love writing down memories, so allow me to share just a few of my favorites with you.

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When I was maybe 5 years old, I remember my sweet mother making a ginormous (to my little eyes) heart shaped cookie for my dad. It was as big as a cake! She let us "help" by letting us stand on chairs watching her handy work. Jen and I were SOOO excited! This had to be THE BEST present of all time! Dad was going to be SO excited! I still remember waiting inpatiently for Dad to come home from work. I had to keep checking on the cookie to make sure it still looked good. When Dad finally got home we could barely contain ourselves. Mom had reminded us to keep her secret, since this was her present for him. I think I had to cover my mouth with my hand, I was almost squealing.

Looking back on this event as an adult brings a sweet smile. My sweet parents, poor as dirt, only 25 years old with three tiny kids, teaching us important lessons in loving your spouse and crafting presents when there is no money to buy any. They set such a terrific example for me and how to treat my own husband.

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Besides the usual excitement from the school valentines, as a small child, Valentine's Day in my home consisted of creating beautiful, pink iced sugar cookies and door-bell ditching loved ones. It was almost as exciting as Christmas! We would argue over would be the runner at each house. Then, we would use our best sneaking to run to the door and run like lightening to the car. I'm sure we were caught several times, but nothing could beat that adrenaline! We would watch from the car wtih glee to see the expressions on Grandma's face (who I'm sure knew we were out there) as she found cookies on the mat. :)

Another wonderful lesson in service that lifts my soul. I am so excited to be a parent and share these experiences with my own children and help them discover the joy of serving others anonymously.

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Poor Jen. She honestly got the flu EVERY SINGLE YEAR on Valentine's Day. Without fail. My little heart broke for her. We would lovingly make these beautiful, lace covered boxes the night before and she would wake up with a fever or throwing up. It was inevitable. I would take her box to school with me and ask her teacher to pass out her Valentine's. At the end of the day I carried her full box and presented it to her, trying to make her feel like she hadn't missed anything special (even though everyone knows it was THE BEST day of school. Ever.)  I think this went on from Kindergarten to at least 7th grade for her. I'm not sure exactly when her first Valentine's at school was, but I remember we proclaimed that the curse was broken. 

Looking back, I STILL feel bad for Jen. She must have been so sad to be left at home. My little heart was learning so many lessons in sympathy and empathy. I am grateful for a mother who encouraged us to love and serve each other. My relationship with Jen is still a prized thing for me.

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My first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend was something all girls dream about. I was 22 and had been dating Alexander for 8 months already. I remember the day before Valentine's Day, I wasn't feeling too well. I was exhausted from student teaching and was trying not to get sick. I was lying on his couch after school and he left the room to go get something. Suddenly, from around the corner, this yellow thing came flying at me and landed with a loud "Meh!" I was startled and elated to find that my dear boyfriend had bought me a romantic "Kick the Cheat" stuffed animal from HomestarRunner. I remember thinking "he soo gets me!".  He also presented me with a lovely card and two dozen gorgeous red roses. I was in heaven! Serisouly, what every college girl dreams of. :)

Alexander still "gets me". He treats me constantly with kindnesses, trinkets and little treats filled with inside jokes. I am eternally blessed to have him in my life. There are times when I just sit there staring at him, trying to figure out how it was possible for me to get to be with this awesome guy forever (usually this is when he is doing something he is amazing at, like teaching Gospel Doctrine, or something).


So Happy Valentine's Day to everyone I love! My sweet husband, endearing family and life-long friends, I hope you all have a day that allows you to show how much your loved ones mean to you and that you see how much you are loved in return. :)

A Vintage Valentine's Day

I have a decorating disease. Since I'm not doing weddings anymore the only venue for my artistic sickness is my little home. I also don't like spending money on my "habit" so I try to make do with what I already have around the house. I got pretty lucky with this holiday. I had everything on hand, so in about an hour I whipped it all up.

I made little hand-cut hearts using the grade school method and in addition to the pics below, I also stuck them on picks and put them in my hallway flower arrangement and made a garland for the front door. Using a bit of twine, lace and some vintage looking material I stole from my mom ages ago, the house came together to look pretty cute :)

I like how these don't all match :)

 This vase above is filled with tissue paper pom-poms that I made for my vintage birthday party last summer

I also printed up this word -art and framed it in my word-art corner. Yes, I have a corner, the word-art changes every season/month. I know...I'm just special like that..... You can find this and print it for yourself at http://audzipandesign.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentines-day-subway-art-printable.html

Par-Tay!

2-4-13: I found this post unfinished from July......I decided to finish it now........
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July 17, 2012


So yesterday was my birthday and I turned old. To celebrate I threw myself a party (I know, I'm so thoughtful) ;). It was a semi-vintage theme. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The Invite I created:

 The Table-scape:

We played Bingo! It was a blast! We had all sorts of prizes. We also ate cheese off a chalkboard tray, as you can see from the picture. The lovely bouquet was from Leila who seemed to instinctively know my favorite colors/flowers!!

This was the photo backdrop. Sadly, the lighting wasn't the best, but we had to make do.

Not everyone had their pics taken, but those that did looked awesome!

Sara and Steve:

Kelley:

Gina and Jeff:

The birthday cake didn't get made in time for the party, but I made it for the day. It is tradition after all.

Relief Society University Super Saturday

This past Saturday I put on a rather big event for our Relief Society. It was a kick-off for the Relief Society University Challenge that would help the sister's focus on life-long learning and growth. The day was more of a mini-conference and it went surprisingly well.

Our Program of Events:

9:00 - Welcome; Opening Hymn: Improve the Shining Moments

9:15 - Life-Long Learning: Introduction to RS University by Annalee Strub

9:45 - Journal Creation (taking composition notebooks and covering them in scrapbook paper)

10:00 - Brunch Break (breakfast casserole, make your own parfaits, fruit, mini muffins, cranberry juice)

10:30 - Favorite Books (5 min presentations by various sisters sharing their favorite books)

11:00 - Hymn Study (Two sisters gave 15 min presentations on a favorite hymn)

11:30 - Panel Discussion: Making our Homes into Spiritual Havens Where Learning and Growth can be Facilitated- Led by the RS Presidency

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My presentation went really well and the sisters seemed genuinely interested in learning about dendrite growth and how our brains learn. 

The journals were a hit! Some sisters thought it would be great to bring them back and display them at our graduation ceremony a year from now. Here is a pic of mine that I made the night before as an example:

Brunch was delicious, if I do say so myself...as I made it. On a serious note, those casseroles are the way to go if you are feeding a crowd! Super easy to make!! I made them the night before and then re-heated them the next morning. The make your own parfaits were also a hit, I provided yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and granola. The mini muffins were made from a Krustez box mix, but they were super moist and delicious!

The rest of the morning went really well. The ladies shared some really great books and the hymn presentations were wonderful and really brought the spirit. The panel discussion was totally off-the-cuff but it looked like we planned it ;). 

The Details:

I went with an apple theme (thanks Melissa!), kind of a vintage school look. So I created little apple favors using cupcake liners and ju ju hearts (thank goodness for Valentine candy!). I think they turned out pretty cute. :)

Six Years of Wedded Bliss

On January 5th we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 6 years! 

In honor of the special day, here are 6 things about my wonderful husband that I didn't know on my wedding day:

1. Even though he is allergic to dogs, he loves Godiva.... a lot! The two of them spend a lot of time together and have a cute bond. Alexander is Godiva's go-to person for cuddles. They do this thing where he will sit on the floor with his legs spread apart and she immediately goes and sits 'in his lap'. She claims that spot and if I try to sit there she will literally push between Alexander and me to wedge herself in "her spot". 

2. Little kids love Alexander. I always thought babies and little kids think men with facial hair are scary, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with Alexander. He keeps the kids in front of him highly entertained in church with a series of silly facial expressions. He is very discreet, so people probably don't even realize it's him but watch carefully and you will see him wiggling his nose like a rabbit and moving his eyebrows up and down.

3. Alexander is an amazing teacher! I'm not even saying it because I'm his wife. He has been teaching Gospel Doctrine ever since we moved to KC and I still hear comments every single week about how much people enjoy his lessons. Also, I was privileged to see him give a lecture on Anglo-Saxon and Germanic women at school and it was nothing short of masterful. A perfect combination of interesting stories, good humor and intellectual comments. 

4. He treats everyone with kindness because he has a great deal of empathy. He doesn't want anyone to feel demeaned, left out, embarrassed, etc, because he has felt all those things himself. He goes out of his way to ensure people are treated with respect and kindness, especially if other people are not. He is a favorite of the young men in the ward because he validates them as people, conversing with them about the things they enjoy and are interested in when so many other adults just kind of push by them or try to "get-through" a conversation.

5. Alexander is a fantastic missionary. He is very open with his religion. One of the first things people learn about him is that he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormon. He strives to be a perfect example of his faith so that everyone is left with a good impression of the church and Mormons in general. He is not afraid of what other people will think about him and is always willing to answer any questions without being offended. I also can't think of a better person to ask questions of, he knows all the answers and can phrase them in such a way that people understand. He has deep religious conversations with people online and has become their go-to Mormon. During the 2012 presidential campaign he was kept very busy clearing up misconceptions about our faith.

6. If he thinks something will make me happy, he does it. He never eats the last bite of anything unless he has confirmed with me that I don't want it. He will always defer to my choice of restaurant, movie, etc, insisting that all he wants to do is "make me happy". He makes me lunch when he is not at school. He takes the dog out late at night. He will do all manner of silly things to try and make me laugh. He would rather go without than see me sad. He spoils me rotten!

To celebrate our anniversary we went out to eat at Brio (kinda expensive for pasta but really good) and browsed the shelves at Barnes and Noble. We also found that we bought each other the exact same card! How random is that? It is just another testament to how perfect we are for each other!

Also, as a point to how Alexander spoils me, he bought me a brand new diamond wedding ring to replace the one I lost when we moved to Kansas City. He was very insistent that it be an exact replica but he actually upgraded me to a bigger diamond than I originally had, which is pretty amazing considering my track record...It is a beautiful ring and I feel very undeserving. 

Auf Wiedersehen 2012!

The following is one of my typical, rambling stories. I'm recording it here to remind me of my blessings later.

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On New Year's Eve it snowed. A lot. There was a lot of talk at the office of skipping parties but I was determined we were gonna go to one. We were so excited to be invited to a party! I never get invited to parties, for reals (usually I have to throw the party). I proclaimed that being from Utah, my dad had taught me all about driving in the snow and my car had good tires, so I was ready.

Soon after the snow started, as seen out the break-room window at work.

The snow kept coming down all day but that evening we got all spruced up and headed out. Our complex had been plowed and salted, so it wasn't too bad, however, once we got onto the main road it was a different story. Kansas City is all hills, up and down, and I happen to live at the top of a hill. The road goes down on either side of our complex. This means you can't see the road very far in front of you. As we crested the hill, we immediately saw cars lined up on the side of the road, and not just a few. I soon realized that these cars were either attempting to go up the hill and failing or had not been able to stop going down the hill because the roads were not plowed. Some cars were actually stuck in snow banks on the side of the road. Lovely.

We proceeded ahead with caution and successfully avoided a car who had been trying to drive up a side street but had instead rolled down back into the middle of the road, in my path. In the meantime, my car was fine. No slips or slides or anything. I was feeling pretty okay about it but got an impression that I needed to turn around and go home. I rationed that I was NOT going to miss the party and I was a good driver and I hadn't had any problems so far. Again, the thought persisted. "Yes, you could easily get to the party, but you may not be able to get home, after midnight, on this road, with these people." Hmm, I'm not stupid and this thought pattern made sense. I deflated, my new year's plans crushed, I decided to turn back home.

Once the decision had been made I started to worry about actually getting home, remembering the people on the side of the road who couldn't get up the hill. I was rather concerned that we would have to be towed up or something. In changing our course, instead of actually turning around, I drove in a big square so I came was coming up the road to my house from the opposite direction. As I was sitting at the red light getting ready to give it my all in getting up the road, a plow truck turned onto the road, right in front of me. He plowed the path right to my complex! I felt this lovely, sweet feeling of confirmation that I had done what I was supposed to do and that the Lord had provided a way to help us get home because we listened to him.

I know this might seem like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but at the time I really felt immensely blessed and I knew the Lord was watching out for us.

We arrived back home to a house devoid of much food (we had just gotten home the day before and hadn't had time to hit the store yet) but I made do and decided to try my hand at fried ravioli (using some I had in the freezer). We also chomped on the white chocolate popcorn I had made for the party. It was a dang good batch. I felt bad for everyone at the party who couldn't taste it. We rang in the new year very quietly, just the two of us playing the new board game we got for Christmas (Spontuneous, which is seriously so much fun!!). Being snowed in isn't so bad when your best friend is with you. :)

So much happened in 2012, I'm excited to see what 2013 brings us! :)

Christmas Card and Our Top 10 of 2012!

Since we didn't send out many Christmas cards this year, here is the card and letter we sent out. Enjoy!

Our Top 10 of 2012! (In no particular order)

10. Visiting our family in Utah for 2 weddings and a  farewell (sounds like a movie title!)

9.  Alexander’s parents visiting us in January

8. Giving Annalee’s parents and brother, McKay, the big KC tour of church history sites and BBQ.

7. Participating as tour guides  for the Kansas City Temple Open House

6. Hosting our annual holiday parties for St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween and Christmas

5. Annalee graduating from her calling in the Young Women’s Pres. to a calling in the Relief Society Pres.

4. Dancing in the torrential rain at the Irish Festival and watching the jousting matches at the Renaissance Festival

3. Alexander presenting his paper at the Diastole Conference and receiving a graduate teaching assistantship

2. Being able to attend our beautiful, new temple that’s just 20 minutes away (rather than 3 1/2 hours)

1. Celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary (going on 6 years in Jan 2013!)