Easter 2012

I am a little late I know. And it was a bit dark and I haven't quite figured out my night setting so the pictures aren't all that fabulous. I have always loved Easter, and everything that it celebrates. The freshness of Spring is perfect for celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. I also have always loved decorating Easter eggs, and we made sure to do it even though I didn't know what I was going to do with them afterwards. We didn't get to go Easter camping so I am glad we did something. And I was surprised at how much Jordon got into it. I think his definitely turned out better than mine. 

I will beat him next year!

I use old fashioned food coloring, vinegar, and crayons.

My lightning egg. The crayon was melting on this one.

All of them together.

Jordon dropped food coloring directly onto this one.

Jordon's face egg.

My frog egg.

My yellow egg.

Jordon's Starcraft 2 egg. Haha :P

Picture Preview.

     Hullo everyone! I had Thanksgiving this year with Jordon's family. His dad's side. Which was good because I don't know them as well as his mother's side. It was different having a holiday dinner with people who aren't my family. They aren't yet anyways! 

     The next day we went Black Friday shopping for some furniture. We got a cool little pillow-top couch that feels like marshmallows. :D And a sweet mattress. 

     After that we went out and did engagement photos! Jordon's mom took them. :) It was unfortunately cold and windy, and Jordon definitely didn't see the need to take as many as we did. But he took instruction well. At the beginning when I asked him for his opinion he said he was there to take orders not give them.

     At the end when we were posing up on some rocks he slipped and hurt his arm. He took a moment to get over the pain and then hopped back up. But we didn't go on for much longer after that. I felt really bad for him!

     Anyways, here is a little preview of the pictures. I am saving the really good ones for sending with the invites. :) But I think these ones are fun.

Funny one on the slide at the park.

Me goofing off with messy wind-blown hair.

On a bridge.

And we'll end with a black and white kissing shot.

     Look at that! I managed to only post a few pictures for once! :) I really really love them all. I am working on editing them all.

     And for those of you who don't know I did find a dress. And it's amazing. :D No pictures though because Jordon can't see until I am actually wearing it. 

Beginning of July.

 Hello everyone. :) I have a lot of pictures today. First of all the above is a picture of my mothers grandparents, Nephi and Elaine. It was their 70th anniversary about a week ago, and we went to the party. Aren't they lovely?

I took this sitting on the grass outside the church (where the party took place). It's hard to get a good picture of Cody, because he usually runs from the camera, or does something like this. I kind of like it though.

After we helped clean up we went to my grandpa's house and lit fireworks with Uncle Trenton and Aunt Mel. They came all the way from California! This is Chey with their little boy. 

 Cody and Kota. And iPod.

 My neon orange nails. It's a pretty bright color even for me. Which is why I love it. Unfortunately I have a flip-flop tan from Lake Powell. I hate tanning and I HATE tan-lines! I used an entire bottle of sunscreen, but there is just no avoiding getting burned out on that lake. At least not on a wave-runner, and not when you are as white as me. I do actually tan more easily than burn, which is good. But I try to protect my whiteness.

 Me. I think my camera did pretty well in the dark. I just used auto mode because I haven't figured out the night mode yet. Every time I use it the photos are really bad.

This picture of a firework is pretty cool I think. I made a cool edited version that I posted on Facebook.

For the actual 4th of July wore blue and white clothes and amazing blue and silver makeup. You can't really tell what it looked like from the picture, but oh well. I went to Jordon's house where his family was having a bbq. I ate yummy venison kabobs. Then his family and relative went to watch the fireworks. But Jordon, his cousin Dallon and I decided to stay and watch them from his roof. We could see fireworks from like 5 different places.
Yes I did spend the 4th with my boyfriend and his family and not with my own. But they had good food, haha. Jk. But he is going to be leaving soon (Hopefully. If he can finally get his papers all in.) And then I will be doing everything with my family. Except going to England, which I will be doing with my fabulous friend Kai! As long as Aunt Kris doesn't mind. :D

Well time for homework!

<3 you all!

Mod Watches, and a Merry Christmas

     Do you ever decide to post to your blog just because you are sick of seeing the post at the bottom? Ha, I sometimes do.

     Well that's what I am doing today, but also I wanted to show  everyone these nifty watches from Modify Watches. They have a variety of colors in both faces and bands, so you can mix and match. They cost $20 for a face, and $20 for a band, and then $10 for each additional face or band. I want a Mod Watch. :) Someday when I have money to spare (which will probably be never). The only problem would be choosing what colors. I really like the grey band, but then I like candy color combos like green and pink, blue and green, yellow and blue, etc. . .

     And Merry after Christmas everyone! I had a good one. :) My favorite things I got were probably my spiral bound hymn book with my name engraved on it (from Santa). A cloud soft blanket that I am snuggling in right now (also Santa). A Sweet Pea Bath and Bodyworks (one word?) lotion, (from Jordon's mom). An Etsy mousepad with a real artists work on it (from Santa). A metal jewelry stamping kit complete with a set of alphabet stamps, a metal hole puncher, blank metal disks, and a brass plated hammer heavy enough to kill someone with for sure (from my Jordon). Oh, and a bottle-cap necklace with interchangeable caps: one with a "T" on it, one with a snowflake, and one with Jordon's face, haha (from Kota).
     I made a duct tape wallet for each of my brothers, and they are super cool, if I do say so myself. Cody loves his. :) I hope they last a while.
     I also enjoyed eating Christmas goodies, reading Christmas stories (including the one from the Bible of course), and singing/playing Christmas hymns with my piano, while everyone else watched Santa's progress on Google Earth. That guy is fast!

   

Christmas is coming!

     Hurray! It's always hard for me to believe when December actually comes around. And I'm always excited for it. Burdens don't seem so hard to bare in December. In fact this is the season when we take on hectic responsibilities because we want to. It's to make the holiday better! Decorating, looking for gifts, making treats . . .   I am working on making homemade Christmas gifts for my family, which I try to do every year. It's one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Gifts that you carefully think out and make yourself are just special. I think that making them does more for me than it does for the people I give them too. But I want to please the receiver as well, so I hope that everything turns out nicely this year. I do have some good ideas. I will take pictures as I go along and post them after Christmas.
     I can't say a single thing about my gift(s) to Jordon, because I don't want him getting even tiny hints. And you never know, he might decide to read my blog one day.

     I went with his family to get a Christmas tree on Sunday. We use a fake tree and I have never done that before, so it was fun. The snow was pretty deep in some places, as we trudged through it in search of a suitable tree. It was kind of tiring for my legs! I wasn't cold, even though my feet were pretty wet by the end. It was a beautiful day. After the first attempt failed and we came back to the vehicles I got a nice hot cup of coco before continuing to the next spot. I had to go extra slow through the deep spots so that I didn't spill, but it made walking much more pleasant. When the tree was selected, chopped down, and hauled back everyone had some coco and donuts before we headed back to town.
     Once we were back we watched the first presidencies Christmas devotional, then ate dinner. After that we decorated the tree while eating oreo truffles that Jordon's sister made (which my mom introduced to them last year). It was a good day. :)

     If you haven't watched the devotional yet then you need to! Yes, that's an order. :) Just kidding, but you really really should. I watched it again at home for FHE because my family missed it and mom wanted to see it. We watched it on her computer. I can't pick favorites of course and it was all good, but I loved President Uchtdorf's talk, as usual. He has such a wonderful style. I don't think I've ever heard a general authority use the story of the Grinch. The German accent makes it better as well. And I enjoyed the music more than usual.
     Go watch the 2010 First Presidency Christmas Devotional!

   

Computer, peruvian food, and Thanksgiving/Christmas!

Peruvian restaurant

Dallon's food

Jordon's food

My food!

      So I don't exactly know what I want to write about, but I feel like blogging. So we'll just see how it goes.
      I went to Salt Lake on Friday with Jordon and his cousin. We went to the Gateway to get Jordon's laptop fixed (the top wouldn't close straight). It was cold! Who ever decided to build a mall outside!? And then we went to find me a laptop! Yay! I have my own computer now. :) Which I am on right now! Hurray for government student loans!
     Then we had to go eat, so we pulled into the driveway of a gas station that had a Subway in it. But we saw this little Peruvian restaurant across from where we were parked. I don't know who suggested it, but we decided to be adventurous and go check out the menus. None of us had any idea what Peruvian food would be like. And I don't think any of us were really in the mood for Subway. Besides, we have like three Subways at home.
     The food on the menu looked a little weird, and I couldn't say the names of any of it. But we decided to stay. Jordon and Dallon ordered the same thing, except that Dallon ordered like a half a chicken with rice, and Jordon just had 1/4 chicken with fries. Dallons was a huge amount of food. Tons of chicken, three very large scoops of rice, with a separate plate for the salad. Jordon's had quite a lot of chicken too, a large helping of fries, and a salad on the side.
     My chicken was different. And it was so SO good! All of the food was very good. I loved the fries too, and the salad dressing that they make. The only stuff we didn't like were these two salsas that the waitress gave us to try. The first one was red, and was so spicy that it made it so I couldn't taste the rest of my food for a minute. I like spicy food, but I didn't try any more of that. Jordon wouldn't try it, but I had him smell it. It even smelled super spicy. The second one was green, and Dallon and I decided it tasted like play-dough.
     We decided that we are going there again some time. Jordon wants to order what I had, and I will try something totally different. :)

     Also, I passed my math test today. Yay! 

     And it is really starting to look/feel like Winter now. As much as I usually complain about Winter, I have to say that I have been liking it. I don't like the cold, but I like the crispness, and the feelings I get when I think "The Holiday's are coming!". I don't like cold, and I get tired of Winter in January and beyond. But I LOVE Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! I can't wait! But at the same time I like to wait for it, because that's part of the fun. I also like coming up with fun homemade gifts to give my family, and the decorating, and the music, and the food . . . ! And the snow! I get tired of snow after a while, but for the first couple of months I love it. Even as I was driving through it on the highway on my way to church on Sunday. It was totally Pelting my car, and making me wonder if the roads would be slick later one, but I just kept thinking "Wow this is beautiful!". They were big were the big fluffy flakes that cover your car with a blanket really fast when it's parked.
     I was also listening to Jon Schmidt's Christmas cd as I was driving through it, so it made me feel extra jolly. 


     Now I think I'll just sit and dream about food for a while ** * * * * *  *  *  *  *  *  *   *    *

Happy Valentines Day!

It is a beautiful day today! It almost feels like spring! I really can't wait until it's warm enough for me to completely ditch my puffy winter coat.
Yesterday the youth in my ward went to the temple to do baptisms. It's was great of course. It's always a wonderful experience. I especially like to watch some of the younger kids who have never done it, or who haven't done it much. Hehe, I remember my first time. I felt nervous, and paid attention to every single detail, hoping I wouldn't mess anything up. Now I just relax, think of the work that is being done, have a good time with the other teens, and enjoy it. The Manti temple is SO beautiful! Not that all of them aren't. But that is my favorite one.
Then when we got home at about eight, I put on some jeans and headed out the door again. I went to Jordon's house to celebrate the holiday. Jordon's best friend and his girlfriend (who are both my friends too of course) came over too. The boys made us hamburgers and curly fries. After we ate we watched Night at the Museum 2.
And . . . . Jordon gave me these beautiful roses! They are orange because that's my favorite color. Every time I look at them it makes me happy. :) He also gave me a lovely little silver and gold heart necklace. It's prettier and shinier than in the picture. I love it!
So I am feeling pretty content today. Love you all, and hope you're having a great day!

Happy Valentines Day!

December Memories

Here is a poem I had to write in my AP Literature and composition class. Our teacher told us the it had to be about Christmas, or Winter of the Holidays (for those who don't celebrate Christmas). It also had to be blank verse (no rhyming, but still having rhythm) because he didn't want anything to distract from the meaning of the poetry - sometimes some people will tend to focus on finding words that rhyme more than anything else. And he especially stressed the it had to be warm and fuzzy.
So here is the one I wrote. It's not brilliant. But it's just a rough draft, and I got it turned in on time!

December Memories
by Tiffany A. Preston

December may bring snow, or it may not.
But it is always a lovely month.
Each one is different, but the feeling stays unchanged.
I feel full of life,
And memories.

I think of the past, of my child self,
And of Christmas Eve traditions.
My brother and I lay with our heads under the tree,
Looking at the lights,
And at the ornaments.

Mother makes pies, and we all have some cocoa.
Some caroling neighbors stop by.
We all curl up under blankets to read and share stories.
Everyone feels kind.
We'll soon go to bed.

But first I sit down at the piano, and sing.
Slowly my family joins in.
The sweet harmonies sing to our ears,
And to our hearts.
All is well.

Random things

Another random post.... =D First, I just really like this picture of Buddy! It expresses his personality well. And it's Halloween! Just to let y'all know.... . . Here are our Jack-O-lanterns.

This one is mine. I didn't want to carve a pumpkin this year. So I decided to paint it! SO here is my adorable pumpkin. I didn't have to get messy, it was quicker, it was fun, and it will probably last until Thanksgiving! The other painted one is Chey's.

Next random thing: I have been having fun with photo shop. Chey noticed, and wanted me to do one of her, so here it is--- - - -

I did two of me.... .. .

Which one is better? I want one to be my new profile pic.

And Nathan is the only friend I have done so far.

Aren't they amazing!!!

Well, I know that was a pretty boring post. Oh well, sorry. I can think of nothing else to tell at the moment. Sorry.... =D

Happy Halloween!

Independence day-2008

Happy 4th of July everybody! Yeah yeah, I know it's the 6th now, but I didn't get around to it until today. And I might have never done it if I wasn't fasting and trying to get my mind off of how hungry I am. Anyway..... For Independence Day this year we had a dutch oven BBQ in our backyard with two other families. Not relatives, friends. In case you were wondering. Cody. This just happens to be the first picture that was taken.

This is adorable little Spencer (H)[Spencer W. H. actually. Just FYI] ! He had a lot of fun playing in the pool. He kept dropping the net in and wanting people to get it for him. I love all of this family, but I have to say, Spencer is probably the most adorable of them all!

Chey, Spencer, and the other family's little girl Caitlin (W). Also extremely cute, and quite different from Spencer. He is rough and wild, all boy, and not really shy. I hear his brothers are training him to be fearless, and I think they are pretty much doing a good job of it, [they have eight kids in their family, and 5 are boys. Only six came to our house, one is at the MTC right now!]. And Caitlin is shy, delicate, sweet, oh so feminine and girly. Such a cute little pair!

This is Caitlin's little brother Jack, and Kami (H). Kami is ten I think, and a very good friend of mine. Jack had a lot of fun on the trampoline. As is evident by his irresistible smile!

The only picture we got of dad. Unfortunately, after I handed the camera to mom not many pictures were taken. (yes mother, I blame you completely!)

And here she is. Don't be fooled by that friendly smile! (JK, in case you didn't already know that)

Krystel (H), making homemade ice cream in this awesome old ice cream maker that they brought. The ice cream was delicious, and they also made great rootbeer and brought it! I love rootbeer, and homemade is the best kind! Krystel is turning twelve soon, and we will be so glad to steal her away from primary and make her a part of Young Women's! (evil laughter, sorry mom and other primary ladies!)

Krystel, Brendan, and their mom K'Lynn. An amazing lady.

Me! You can't tell, but my necklace is red, white and blue. My nails are red, and I wore blue earrings.

Chey, Kota, Spencer, and Nathan. Nathan is one of the brothers teaching poor Spencer to be fearless. At least he seems to be ok with it.

Justin, looking cool with some play pistols. I don't think he was aware that his picture was being taken. He and Brendan are twins, although they don't look like it.

Caitlin, all wet from the pool. Awww, aren't little girls the cutest ever? She dropped the towel shortly after this, and was wearing only her underwear. No shame! He dad was jokingly calling it a speedo. HAHAHAHA

And, just as we started, here is Cody again. That is the end of the pictures. We did not get any of us (actually it was just Krystel, Kami, Nathan, Brendan, Cody, Chey and Kota, and myself who went) at the park. Or any of us later lighting sparklers and watching fireworks. Or any of us roasting marshmallows and making smores. Sigh.... Oh well, from now on I'll know to take care of the camera myself!



Happy Independence Day!