surprise!

let me preface: I love surprises. I'm such a sucker, I think almost anything is better in surprise format.

so husband surprised me with a weekend at the Johnson Mill, a little B&B in Midway, Utah.

he knows me too well. and when we couldn't go last weekend, I didn't even let him tell me about where we were going, you know, to preserve the essence of the surprise.

after two weeks of being cooped up in the house and a long winter, this was the perfect getaway.

best. valentinesday. ever.

with the best valentine, of course.

on a kick.

it's called The Buried Life.

oh, and I'm so on a kick.

it's a show about four friends who make their bucket list, 100 things they want to do before they die, and then...

they do it.

have you ever made your bucket list?

have you ever eliminated anything, because you thought you might not be able to actually do it?

watching this show is incredible because you watch how hard it is to do these things!

try telling a joke on a Late Night Show. these tenacious boys dressed up, got tickets, made billboards, had a plane flown with a banner and in the end, were turned down (and sometimes handcuffed!) by Leno's men, Conans and David Lettermans.

I'm loving this show because in each episode, they find a stranger and try to help them cross something off their own bucket list. the boys have reunited families, flown a Katrina victim to her mother's gravesite and earned money on the street to buy a classroom a new working computer.

I'm inspired by this show, but I'm also slightly discouraged. I'm know I don't have the guts or dedication of the men from The Buried Life.

but maybe I should just start with making my own Bucket List. we'll go from there.

mushy stuff.

husband surprised me with an entire week of love, instead of just one Valentine's day.

it was a little ridiculous, maybe overboard and totally incredible.

love him.

my favorite smoothie in the fridge, lunch at my fave burger place, and a surprise night out, among other things!

oh, you want know about the surprise? ok, ok, I give :)

more coming soooooon!

not to be a tease or anything, but it was a pretty freaking awesome surprise :)

Ah-maze-ing.

BYU has this awesome museum, the Museum of Art, to be exact.

They have this incredible exhibit called the Carl Bloch exhibit, and if you haven't been, you definitely need to go. It is amazing.

Kyle and I went on a date night during opening week, and just yesterday I took my adorable Activity Day Girls, ages 8-11, to see the exhibit. I know I'm kinda a crybaby and all, but Carl Bloch's paintings have touched me each time I have gone.

Beautiful! What an amazing artist.

Carl Bloch is a painter from the 19th century and he painted over 250 paintings in Europe, many of which still stand in the original altars and chapels they were designed for. For this exhibit, BYU had several of these paintings shipped over to be displayed in the MOA for a period of time. Amazing, yes?!

This painting is almost more than life-size in it's original form at the MOA. So gorgeous. I've never, ever seen a painting like this. Here is an angel comforting the Savior as he suffers in the Garden. Such a moving painting.

Even more amazing than that is the paintings themselves. Carl Bloch painted the life of Christ in original, surprising and simply breathtaking ways.

Quite possibly my favorite painting, but I say that at each painting. I love how you can see the grief and despair, but then the rising light as Christ enters the room.

Not so hot of a photo, but all we had was an iPhone! Maybe next time we'll take a cute date pic.

inspired.

what would you tell yourself in a year from now?
what would you tell a loved one?

I just might write myself a letter, for 2012. oh, and husband too.

a monday off. (in the prettiest place on earth)

we're still both pretty ill, stuck in the recovery phase of being sick.

bleh bleh bleh.

but, I had some major cabin (er...basement?) fever, so I convinced Kyle to journey down to Utah Lake with me for some good Family Home Evening.

cute husband. who I can only sometimes get a real smile for the camera :)

so gorgeous. I can't believe I really live here! well, like 15 minutes away. but still. gorgeous.

i'm in love.

reminds me of my own peter pan.

life is great, I'm so happy.

oh ps. a Valentine's Day post coming up! it's a gooooood one, promise :)

custom wedding invitation suite: leah & kyle's!

I can't believe I forgot to post our own wedding invitations! Now that I am currently bedridden (thanks, husband), I have a second to catch up and post about one of my favorite parts of our wedding details!

I designed these stamps with our custom monogram, and we stamped the back of the envelopes.

the entire setup, upon opening. I loved how the double-crossing of white ribbon looked to complete the suite.

the actual invitation!

our story card!

our "story" opened the entire set. this was one of my favorite parts about the whole suite. It was really special to be able to share with all of our loved ones how we met and fell in love and added a personal touch.

an insert card, attached to the story. this was our Utah Reception card, but we also included an AZ reception card, a temple sealing card and/or ring ceremony card.

love the font choices on the invitation.

the back of the card, with our wedding website. I know I've said this, but love the double ribbon!

our engagement photo! taken by Barnaby Wasson...we love it! and I love that it matched our suite so well, without being too matchy-matchy.

the end!

wifely duties.

husband has strep throat, for the second time in two weeks.

rough time.

so, I prepared one of our new favorite recipes, Tomato Basil Soup.

We were both a little skeptical, but it is a big hit in the Aldous home.

it's inexpensive, healthy, super-quick and totally delicious.

(who am I kidding, it has a stick of butter in it. oh and whipping cream. mmm delicious...)

luckily, a three-day weekend is just what the doctor ordered.

Ingredients

• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 18 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add basil and sugar. Reduce heat to low; stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted.

in singles wards a BYU, we do this thing Sunday nights called Ward Prayer. An evening devotional accompanied by these wonderful little things called "Nice Notes."

one of my best friends' husband, and one of my dear friends, wrote me this Nice Note sometime back in November or December 2009, right when Kyle and I had started dated.

it touched me in a way that I'm not sure I can explain...maybe it was that someone was rooting for us or maybe because it was the first time I realized this could maybe, just maybe, be the real, real thing.

either way, it stuck to me and then stuck to my bulletin board until the day I moved out to get married.

I'm feeling a little mushy and lovey and all that,

and I'm feeling pretty lucky I actually got my love story.

thanks jay, for the nice note that became true :)

custom wedding announcements: kourtney & jake

How lucky am I to get to design wedding invites? Pretty dang lucky when you're working with Kourtney and Jake, the cutest engaged couple I've ever met.

I had the opportunity to design custom wedding announcements for my sister-in-law and her fiance! I have to say (after many, many late nights), I'm so happy with the final result!

classy, a little whimsical and unique.

what a fun project!

yes, we totally lined the envelopes. it just adds such a classy, finished look to the entire suite, don't you think?

kourtney's theme was based off of fairytales, princess and prince charming. Once I saw this quote, I knew it would be the perfect opening for the invite!

the invite. a cute, folded card! I loved it.

The finished product! Recognize the pic? It's from our so fun shoot in Zion park :)

Gorgeous couple and so fun working on this project. Thanks guys!

from the newest Mr. & Mrs. Aldous

as promised, Aldous's first family Christmas card,

with our first Christmas picture

(which I am planning on continuing only forever)

shout-out to the husband for cutting these for me :) and overall, putting up with my paper-designing-insanity. love him.

and love the cards, right?

xo.