there's no place like home

it's been really nice having christmas at my parent's house. mostly, we've all been gushing over the sole grandbaby aspen marie and taking turns holding her. no complaints here!

my parents decided to go big or go home this year with a 24 foot tree. yes!
i feel like i'm living in the nutcracker
disclaimer: it was a flat price for anything over 12 feet


for the first time since i have ever lived in issaquah, we had a white christmas!!
it snowed a lot...many delayed flights in our family (i spent ten hours at the airport). it was a like a movie on christmas morning with big white flakes coming down! we love it.

since the roads were pretty awful, my dad thought it would be "fun" to walk to dinner at red robin, about a mile down the road. we bundled up (looked like obese marshmallows) and walked in the bitter cold. i haven't seen my little sister for awhile...it's been nice to just stay in our pajamas all day and do whatever we please. love vacation.

we hope everyone had a merry christmas! more pictures to come...

celebrity status

you know you've reached celebrity status in your own home when your mom has captain crunch (with crunch berries, naturally)
waiting in the cupboard for you the moment you step in the door.
happy christmas!

final-ly

the treacherous week of bad outfits, messy hair, bleary eyes, library dwelling, eating way too many carbs, and test taking is...done! i think i listened to my two favorite motivation songs...coldplay's viva la vida and natasha bedingfield's unwritten...a lot. i needed lots of motivation this time around. i've got the christmas bug and just cannot focus sometimes!

in other news, a HUGE opportunity just dropped in my lap last week. i interviewed and landed a copyediting job with a marketing design company in pleasant grove. this job opens so many doors for my future editing career! i feel very blessed.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

...but as usual, finals are totally getting in the way of my holiday celebrations and decorating. i am very grateful for school, but sometimes not in december. the month of december should be dedicated solely to christmas activities.

because we are vacating p-town this year for the holidays, we decided that a christmas tree was a no-go. instead, i decorated our topiaries (fake mini trees) with lights. i love how our apartment feels when they are lit up...

and we woke up to an inevitable surprise this morning...SNOW! now it's really looking like christmas. nate and my brothers took advantage of the weather and headed up the mountains for some skiing/boarding.

she's here! she's here!

we have a niece! i cannot stop talking about how beautiful she is. she's so tiny and precious with a lots of dark hair. confession: i want a baby. i don't want to HAVE (go through labor) a baby, i just want to hold aspen all day long. congratulations geoff and akasha!

just like the olden days

it was thursday night and nate and i both had huge, long, big-part-of-your-grade papers due on friday. we tag teamed it - i helped him write a poly sci paper and he was moral support (back rubs) for my loooooong literature research paper.

we stayed at the library until it closed at midnight, then hit up mcdonald's for some power food (we RARELY go there. i am usually anti-mcdonalds). let me tell you...chicken nuggets never tasted so good. from midnight to 4 am, nate stayed up with me while i finished my paper and practiced my oral presentation i was going to be giving in 6 hours.

we finished our papers and got about 4 hours of sleep each! it felt like the old days when we weren't married and stayed up into the late hours of the night. it was so fun! but we don't plan on one of these nights again soon...

the police beat

it's the week before the week before finals. this, for me, means two 8-10 page research papers, a presentation, a smattering of little homework assignments, and another shorter paper are patiently waiting to be turned in...all by friday!

so, i'm taking a study break to give you a surge of pure joy in the form of today's police beat. i LOVE this section of BYU's daily newspaper. guaranteed, i laugh out loud every time i read it.

get this:

Police received a complaint about a man with a rope

on the east side of the library attempting to lasso people as they
walked by. The man was gone when police arrived.

i am picturing dumbledore hair. throwing rope at whatever innocent victim happens to meander on by. don't tell me this isn't funny. picture it.

happy studying!
or not for those of you who are fortunate enough to be decorating christmas trees and drinking hot cocoa at your leisure (my mom).

feeling it already

been making this...

can't get enough of this...

been tying some of these...

and been patiently waiting for a sweet little niece to arrive just in time for christmas!

day of thanks

i tried my hand at some fudge making...and pie making...

nate's favorite thanksgiving day activity...sleep

napping with adorable cousins jaymison and zoe

we had a delicious dinner at uncle jeff and aunt cathy's house.

we are grateful.

happy thanksgiving!

we made it to six!

today marks six months of le marriage for us. yeah! we saw quantum of solace (i miss pierce brosnan's suave, sexy charm. nate likes shoot-em up, stick-out-ears daniel craig) last night and ate yum ice cream.

we checked our mail today and found a treat from nate's grandma marti, who remembered our six month anniversary. wow! we love her.

6 reasons being married to nate is the best:
- by the time eternity is over, i will know every sport in and out
- he always does the meat part of whatever we cook together, and he's good at it
- he makes me laugh everyday
- he cleans the bathroom willingly (YES!)
- he lets me rant and rave and worry over school, then says, "hey, let's just graduate"
- who couldn't love that face?

seasons

i am slowly learning that nate's time divisions of life revolve around sports seasons (only his favorite teams). since his beloved dodgers' season came to an end, nate's been eagerly anticipating his laker boys' return to the court. i'm pretty sure he could tell you every player's stats and more about kobe than you'd ever want to know.

ladies and gentlemen,

lakers season is here. all 82 games of it. lovely.

sometimes, we play a game. nate names a city and i have to name the matching team. i am becoming a champ at naming teams and cities. and we're not just talking basketball. we go through every sport. yes, even hockey.

28 days

...until these people will be gathered together...


...and i get to stare at this while drinking wassail...

i know it's not even thanksgiving yet, but
i'm pretty excited to go home for christmas.

top 5

weekend highlights

1. nate cleaned the WHOLE bathroom

2. BYU won

3. i utterly failed at making a roast (supposedly fail-proof)
...ended up with an inch of char in the bottom of the pot

4. watched a movie, relaxed

5. got my first job interview for chicago

our children WILL speak french

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

i want one. a french little girl, that is.

dear barefoot contessa,

instead of doing my homework, i watched you cook. oh how i wish your kitchen could be mine. and your skills.

i would like to taste those caesar arugula ciabatta sandwiches you made.

thanks.

"dude, she's totally an 8"

i heard these words today on campus as i walked by a couple of guys who positioned themselves oh-so-conveniently in front of a long sidewalk outside of the building that houses the humanities and family-related majors (meaning girls galore).

i'll admit - once upon a time in my freshman days, i was guilty of labeling the opposite sex too. it was a sport...sit in front of a building and rate the guys walking out. shallow, but i spent some good minutes with my pseudo-sister belize practicing this sport.

anyway, i got a good laugh out of listening to that conversation today. "no way man, i'd say that one's a 7." oh, the days of being single.

i love being married to nate.

ten

gratitude is an attitude

...i still have the bookmark with this saying from my twelve-year-old days.
but it's true right?

simple things i am grateful for today

cellphones
sister-in-laws
heat
fuzzy socks
my mom's quilting skills
leftovers
umbrellas (ella..ella..ella)
cookbooks
vacuums
hoodies
memories of paris
byu mint hot chocolate for $1.09
warm mittens

Coach of the Year

So I am pretty pathetic and rarely post on this thing so I have decided to post anything sports related on our blog. We went to BYU's last home football game on Saturday. We killed San Diego State and had a great time sitting in the legacy seats with Jessica's uncle, brother, and cousins (thanks for snaking the seats Matt). Anyway, if you want to help BYU get more scholarship money, go to www.coachoftheyear.com and vote for Bronco Mendenhall. You can vote every day so take a break from work, school, and blogging to vote for Bronco. His name is Bronco, how could you not vote for him?

what to do what to do

can i just first say that nate and i have been incredibly blessed?! and continue to be blessed immensely. our families have totally helped us get settled and make our 70's apartment more "homey." we love love love them and their generosity. special thanks to uncle matt and aunt margaret for this find i am about to discuss: the chaise lounge.

i really have taken a liking to this website. just for fun, and because i actually wanted a professional's opinion, i took a picture of the classy, chic chaise lounge we inherited from my grandmother's antique shop once upon a time. i asked my question, attached the picture, and voila! my "design dilemma" solved! see the post below...

Interior Motives

November 5th, 2008

With Jessica Baucom

Q: I inherited this ancient chaise from my grandmother, who owned an antique shop and loved unusual pieces. I love the style, but the fabric is stained and faded, and in some places, buttons are missing. What do I do: recover it? Add a throw? What are some good fabric choices? — Jessica

A: This is a find! A throw is a decent temporary solution, but because of this chaise’s unique, bulky shape, it may look more like a mysterious creature harboring in your home rather than the cool, granny-chic find that it is.

Recovering this piece will give it new life. Try a nice neutral woven fabric like cotton or linen. Because upholstering can be quite an investment, you want to choose a material that will stand the test of time—not something you will grow tired of in a few years. Instead of a trendy pattern, add a fun lumbar pillow for pop. Here’s a sketch to give you an idea:

Locally, I’ve had good experiences with Wardell Upholstery at 3628 South and 900 East. It’s a family-run business and they’re great to work with. Ask them to show you some upholstery-weight fabrics for this project. They might even half leftovers at a discounted price.

If you’re in need of some poppy throw pillows, try Jonathan Adler, Twinkle Living, Dwell Shop or Anthropologie—just a few favorites. Now, keep us updated on the finished product!

can you visualize the sketch in our house someday (which could be twenty years...houses are not cheap where we're moving!)? i totally can. anyway, i loved the advice and maybe someday we can recover this beauty! also, is it so weird that the designer's name is Jessica Baucom? ironic...

really quick

today was my induction into nursery. loved it. except...i pulled one little girl onto my lap to sing and read books. her skirt and tights were wet. i thought she'd split water on herself from snack time. nope. it was definitely urine, soaked through her beautiful little girl outfit onto my freshly washed dress. note to self: if a child is wet, do not put them in your lap. on sunday. in a dress. or maybe this can just be an excuse to wear a plastic jumpsuit to church? welcome to nursery.

chicago it is

the past few weeks have been grueling for nate as he's gone through the interview process with many companies to determine our future...

and the verdict is: we're heading back to chicago!

we're excited to live in the city and grateful for the job opportunity with aon consulting

please come visit.
tour of the city, place to sleep, great food, and good times are included in the offer

see you in july, chi-town

happy halloween

we had a relaxed, mellow halloween.
no crazy makeup or costumes like years past,

but lots of chili-eating and movie watching with some of our favorite people!

i loved driving down the streets tonight and seeing all the little kiddies out trick-or-treating and all of the pumpkins lit up.
happy halloween

pumpkin carving

if you feel like carving a pumpkin,
but don't want to deal with the
messy guts and seeds,
i highly recommend this

simplicity

recently, i am way into simplicity. hence, the blog change. also feeding this crave for simplicity: i've been reading a lot of henry david thoreau. i really like the guy and i've always really liked his ideas. i'm not sure i want to go build my own shack and live by a pond by myself for months on end, but i do want to try to live simpler.

simplicity attempt #1: easy, good recipes. have i mentioned that i am slightly obsessed with cooking/baking? more baking. anyway, i love a good recipe. but a good, simple recipe? to die for! lately i've been making my own alfredo sauce from scratch and it's oh so simple, plus i make mine minus the usual fat content of restaurant sauces. voila. on a side note, if you have an easy, good recipe - leave a comment! i am all ears.

simplicity attempt #2: less clutter. i feel much less stress when there is no clutter. this is hard, but so worth it.

simplicity attempt #3: someday when nate has a real job, i will subscribe to real simple. love that magazine. thoreau would barf if i ever said this to him. he thinks simplicity is separating ourselves from the institutions of the world. i think, hey thoreau, i like magazines.

my brother chandler took this picture.
i love his photography. he has an eye for beauty.

since we're talking about california...

please vote YES on Prop 8!

hello golden state

it's been about two months since we've seen these guys but we miss them. lucky boy nate headed out to the sunny state to interview for some future careers and gets to see our surfing, prop 8 picketing, heart playing, fun friends. before he left, nate cooked us a yummm dinner. my anti-breakfast eating husband makes one fabulous meal (among others): breakfast burritos! plus, it's kind of nice for a change...sometimes i get home from school and think what's for dinner and who's cooking it...so, thanks to nate for a delish meal.

fallish

one of our favorite things about living in utah is the beautiful fall weather. walking down our street is breathtaking right now with leaves covering the ground and so many colors in the trees.

this weekend was gorgeous, so we took advantage of the weather and ventured into the mountains...

and made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies...

fallish

another glimpse of the mountain colors...

how to have a smashing birthday

ask your husband for a foot rub

ditch the morning exercise - get a ride to school!


smell beautiful roses

dine on exquisite french food with the mister

and have a little looksy here...

thank you for such a happy birthday!

nursery, thanksgiving, you know

a few weeks ago, we got called to be on the activities committee in our ward. yesterday we got another calling: nursery! yeah! this will either make me baby hungry or be a natural birth control. we will see... but, we're pretty excited to play with all four (4) of the nursery kids.

we also celebrated canadian thanksgiving today, because, why not? nate's cute sister jordan came to help us celebrate. notice my 69 cent baby pumpkin. i love love love it. finally, we have a sole halloween decoration!

another win

the byu homecoming game started out semi-cold...and got to freezing. we were champs though, and stayed until the bitter end.

real fans wear this hat

nate and his buddy ladon. we love sitting next to the lindes! this is nate's game face

our sweet view of the field. happy homecoming!
and...it is now snowing outside. really provo? you couldn't wait? the snow is a bit much.

free!

i am all about free. and i'm all about free handbags!

this site
is giving away free handbags.
i'm there.

oh memories

recently, we added a much needed item of technology to our life: an external hard drive. after losing many files this summer when my computer crashed, or maybe just after the complete meltdown i had when said event happened, we decided it was time to give in and back up our files. soooo, while transferring my life's documentation onto this little drive, i came across a few pictures that brought back some good memories...

once upon a time...

during my senior year in high school, i got way into campaigning. i even skipped school and went to a rally for washington state governor candidate dino rossi. and worked in his campaign office. the real deal.

i hopped in the car with belize and drove/rode to california like it was nothing. hello thunder mountain!

i spent all my summer money earned in highschool on a backpacking trip across europe with my childhood friend. i was eighteen and loving life, but not loving how heavy my backpack was in this picture.

i looooved wearing my older brother's hand-me-down clothing. weird? totally.
couldn't get enough of those adidas sweatshirts and soccer shorts. cue in tomboy phase.

i wore my grandmother's sequined, cobalt blue, 80's outfit to a school dance. and loved it.

and finally, once upon a time, i began falling in love with nate. this is that time.
it was spring, we did whatever we pleased, and the weather was fine.

it's not ours

yesterday nate announced that he feels like our blog is turning into "my" blog, though he has had a cameo appearance on this blog about, oh, a grand total of two times. and what did the dear husband write about when he blogged this summer? ding ding ding! nate's third love next to the lord and me: SPORTS.

i like sports, nate. but i also like to tell the world about other things. i also like to bare my soul at times or write whatever is on my mind since my beautiful journal sits empty on my bookshelf for lack of time to actually sit down, like i did in the 90's, and do some real journaling. on that note, i will make an earnest effort to keep the "our" in this blog.

here's what's going on today:

jessica (in this order): check the weather three times before school (just in case), school, cram food into mouth while simultaneously editing four paragraphs of almost incomprehensible english, school again, work, rave to students about studying abroad in paris, home, check email for 8th time, dawdle, think about how good conference was, school, blog about day when actually supposed to be creating a design proposal for print publishing class, missing husband.

nate (in this order): press snooze button more than 3 times, stagger out of bed squinting and blinking, school, meetings, school, delicious leftover baby shower costco food somewhere in between, school, group meeting, call to the wife, schmoozing business dinner in hopes of landing a good job in this rotten economy, missing wife.

okay fine. i added "missing wife." let's hope he does!

lots going on

we've had a great weekend! my parents were in town for some meetings and for conference, which always means fun! my dad got tickets for all of my family to go to the saturday morning session of general conference, but two of the tickets were separate from the rest. nate and i lucked out - we got these tickets...that just so happened to be six rows from the front! the guy next to me leaned over and said, "this is closer than sacrament meeting!" yes, it was awesome.

while the boys were at priesthood, my mom and i threw a baby shower for my beautiful sister-in-law, akasha. we're excited for little aspen marie to be born! in fact, it's really hard to walk past baby clothes...we just want to buy them! i think my vice is baby shoes. i mean, really, how cute are baby shoes?

classic steve story (my dad):

my mom: "look at this cute bear we got for akasha's baby! it matches her bedding"
my dad: "but it doesn't have eyes"
my mom: (rolling her eyes) "just pick two dots!"

akasha's mom is an amazing cake maker. she made a pink masterpiece

we all guessed how big around akasha is...and were all pretty off...

with costco, any party is possible.

it's always fun to see family, especially my aunt and cousins from california.

and last but not least, the other great news of the weekend...

BYU WON.