California Paradise

This past weekend was spent with Michael, Savanna, Jon, Chad and Rachel in the beauty of southern California. We left Utah on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Irvine around midnight (I think... I may or may not have failed at my companion-duties about an hour before we hit our destination!). We had a wonderful little sleep then woke up bright and early to go spend the day at DISNEYLAND!!! We have all been looking forward to the opening of Ariel's Undersea Adventure and the re-opening of Star Tours so the opening of the park gates could not come fast enough!!

So excited for Star Tours!!! It was awesome!! There are like 50-something different sequences that you can go through in the ride now. It will still make you motion sick but at least it's a different sick every time!! We were all really impressed by the improvements.

Savanna and I made our own seashell bras and headbands in preparation for Ariel and they couldn't have been any more perfect!! People asked us like 500 times where we had purchased them. They may not look like something that you would want to wear every day but with the rose colored glasses of Ariel's Undersea Adventure glued to your face... You would have asked too.

The ride couldn't have been more perfect!!! A lot of rides take the liberty of enhancing what was actually presented in the movies from which they are derived but Ariel did not and I LOVED IT!! Every single room was STRAIGHT out of a scene from the movie and it looked AMAZING!!! It helped too that the animatronics (sp?) were awesome and the music was darling.

Then Michael rode the Tron bike...

The whole family!! So happy!!!

I don't know how to turn this picture... But I was invited up on stage during Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. It was so funny! I think that the guy heard Savanna screaming and thought it was me so he came down in the audience and got me. I'll have to post the video later. I laughed so hard. They even gave me this personalized packed of Parmesan cheese!!

Traditional picture with the indian! I think he may need a name. Suggestions?

Petting zoo. I know, I know... this goat looks elated to be choked by random seashell girl for a picture that he will never get to see. Must be hard being beautiful.

This one looks even happier

Michael wanted to take a turn wearing our headbands...

BEST LUNCH EVER!!! We went to the all you can eat BBQ in Frontierland and it was incredible. We had to rent 6 wheelchairs afterward just to get around.


After Disneyland we all came home exhausted and Michael and I spent some time in the hot tub to wind down. It was so so nice. We slept in a bit on Saturday then started the day by spending some time at the flower district then proceeded to the garment district and Venice Beach.

I <3 hydrangeas!! Hint hint long lost husband!! ;-)

This picture was taken just seconds before the store owner grabbed Michael's arm and called him an F***ing cheapskate in Spanish because he decided not to buy them... she didn't realize he spent two years in the Dominican Republic hablando Espanol.


The two-headed turtle displayed in front of the Freak Show at Venice Beach. Back me up here Savvy... if you could go back would you see the Freak Show?? That's my only regret of the weekend.

The boys played lots of fun football while the rest of us bundled up and chatted

So hott

I can't wait to go back and see my honey/move to socal for the rest of my life!!!!

The Intern Widow Takes Control

Michael is going to be in Culver City, CA living the high life at an internship with Sony from now until August 19th. This could be a potentially very sad eight weeks without the love of my life/live in BFF so I have decided to make a to-do list that only a mad woman could conquer. I'm letting you in on it so that when I tell you that I have spent yet another 46 hours stripping wall paper or something that you know why. I've also found that love = joy and goals = overwhelming happiness... so I'm definitely going to set myself up for success here. Also keep in mind that I have been sworn to a $71 budget since that is the amount we currently have in Home Depot gift cards...

Around the house:
-Re-do the guest bedroom. Strip the wallpaper off of the one wall it's on (I'm not sure who decided that the accent wall should accent the ugly closet), paint the top half of the room, then learn how to install bead board.
-Have the 2nd half of our blinds installed
-Replace the bathroom mirrors and repaint the master bathroom
-Decorate kitchen
-Refinish kitchen cabinets
-Install new stair rails
-Put together our travel wall that we've been talking about for at least 2 years
-Decide what the living room is missing
-Decorate wall above bed in master and find night stands
-Replace the bathroom mirrors
-Secret office project

Personal:
-Come up with at least 10 light staple-dinners
-Ride my bike 3 times a week
-say kneeling prayers (I've had a hard time with this one - I swear my 3rd grade teacher is still living under my bed just waiting to grab me. Call me crazy but she is there... Mrs. Galusha...)

Along with goals, I have several exciting guest visits and trips planned!!
June 24th Dani gets back in town
July 1-7 My Padres are coming from California
July 15-17 I'm going to go visit Michael
July 21-24 Joyce is coming
August 2-5 I'm going to Girl's Camp with my Beehives
August 5-7 I'm going to visit Michael again!
August 19th Michael comes home!

I will miss my Michael but I am feeling good about the wonderful friends and family that has been so eager to spend time with me... and all of the planned commotion that will take our minds off of the distance! He is world's most wonderful husband and I'm excited to keep you updated on the things he is doing down in paradise!

Jon, Savanna and I went to drop him off in CA this past weekend. More details to come on our awesome trip but here is a sneak peek of the happy couple at (creepy and freezing, yet fun) Venice beach:

Alight - A short animated film

This is a film that was recently finished by several BYU animation students. Michael did the compositing and fx on it (basically like a beautiful top coat that adds and enhances detail). I have my own theories as to its meaning but I would love to hear what you get out of Alight:

Alight from Jason Keyser on Vimeo.

Disneyland TOMORROW!!

Are you ready for some MAGIC!?!? I AM!!! Disneyland HERE WE COOOOOOOOMMMEEE!!!!

Cha Ching!

My dad shared a beautiful quote with me today:

"I believe the recipe for happiness to be just enough money to pay the monthly bills you acquire, a little surplus to give you confidence, a little too much work each day, enthusiasm for your work, a substantial share of good health, a couple of real friends and a wife/husband and children to share life's beauty with you."

-- J. Kenfield Morley

And on that note... A couple of things that make me happy:


My hot husband and his facial hair... and green feet...

My family... Especially when I give my dad a reason to make this face. This says, "Brittany!? I think I was pretty clear about you not being allowed to drive the rental car... Especially when we're still in the car lot!" But he doesn't really mean it. He was dying for me to set all the radio stations to all his favorite rappers.

Double date nights with Savanna and Jon... the boys are there somewhere, we probably just forgot about them for a sec.

Girlfriends. This is Ashley, Merrick, Me, and Margo.

Babies!!! This is Benson, my favorite god son, with his beautiful mother Merrick.

Disneyland. Where we will be visiting again in just TWO DAYS!!! Be sure to check out Michael's awesome DISNEY BLOG!!

The Food Pyramid

There are some foods that are just GOOOOOD! For example:
frozen yogurt
graham crackers
mandarin oranges
yams
marshmallows
pears
dinner rolls

There are others that are just NAAAAASTY:
olives
pickles
beef jerky
cottage cheese (I want to like it so bad... but its gross so I can't)
cucumbers
ketchup
doughnuts

And some that have gotten better over the years:
grapefruit
french fries
nuts of all kinds

You're not sure why you needed to know this?? 'They' will probably redo the food guide pyramid again soon and I want to make sure that it doesn't distort your understanding of what is good and what is not good.

The Spring Travel Trilogy Part 3: Phoenix

All of the family that could be there to support!

I know we're a bit delayed here but that's ok! Over Memorial Day weekend Michael and I took the FUNNEST TRIP EVER to Arizona for Stephie's baptism (Michael's sister). The drive there was fun as we stopped in Beaver, UT on the way down to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Murdock at Wendy's for dinner. It was a quick stop but SO GOOD to see them. The rest of the drive was... really long! We are used to maxing out our road trip time at the 9 hours it takes to get from American Fork to Irvine, CA so adding an extra 2 just about killed us. Either way, we arrived safely and were welcomed with open arms! Chad and Rachel (Michael's Murdock padres) had waited up and were anxious to show us around Stephie's new Arizona house. Apparently little Zoye (our niece) had waited up until 30 mins before we got there at 1:30am to try and see us but just couldn't make it. So cute!!


We slept like rocks until the next morning when we woke up bright and early for Stephie's baptism. We helped get the kids dressed and ready, Zachy all the while wondering why he was being forced to shower with this strange lady as he wasn't quite used to us again yet, then skipped off to the chapel. Stephie is such a sweet person. She has touched my heart so deeply and I am grateful to have her as a sister. She is proof to me that the stronger you are, the more you will be asked to face and has strengthened my testimony of the fact that a person will never be asked to take on more than they are able to. She is a terrific woman and mother, and has worked to become such. I loved seeing the peace in Stephie's face the day of her baptism. She had kids running every which way around her, 2 million people crammed into her home, food waiting to be piled on the table and still seemed to handle the situation with composure. I am so grateful that when I am a mother that I will have Stephie to answer questions.

At her actual baptism I was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost, which I felt good about giving and I think it went well. She is so ready for all of the blessings that the Lord has in store for her! After my talk and a talk by Chad on baptism I went with her to help her get into the font. You may have gathered from the pictures of Stephie that she was blessed with two beautiful legs - one is original and one came to her after a bout with cancer at age 7. Well we got through the doors and Stephie had her eye on the prize. Without thinking twice she started for the water. I stopped her and asked if she was planning on wearing her prosthesis in the water, as I knew I wasn't supposed to get wet! She laughed and unhooked her leg so that I could pull it down out of the leg of her jumpsuit. Well, Stephie is TINY TINY TINY. She is 33 and wore a 'child's large' sized jumpsuit. As the thigh of her prosthesis got to the ankle of the jumpsuit it was clear that the opening would not be big enough. We weighed the pros and cons and decided that trying to pull it through would be a good idea. We pulled and pulled and should've stopped pulling but we didn't... until her leg was wedged into that pant leg so tight that my fingernail wouldn't even fit between the two. We considered cutting the pant leg but were able to work it down far enough to break the leg free and bring it up through the top of the jumpsuit. It felt like an hour but Michael said it only took 3-4 minutes and ended up being a really sweet, and sisterly funny, experience.



Once zipped and ready, Stephie made her way down into the font and faced me as she stood beside Chad. I was overwhelmed by the greatness of the situation as I watched her listen to Chad's words and baptize her a member of the church. Stephie came up and got dressed before going out to see her friends and family. Michael confirmed her a member of the church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a beautiful blessing. After her confirmation the bishop of her ward welcomed her into the ward family and asked her to stand up and look around at the people that were there to support her. Stephie cried as she thanked everyone for being there and the spirit was so strong.

I am so happy to have Stephie, her kids, and her mother in my life. They have a huge part of my heart and I'm so grateful for them.

Little Zachy Buns!!

The Cone of Shame Chapter 2

I know this has turned into a Ruby shrine these last couple of days but I just couldn't leave this sitting on my desktop... Ruby's new eating technique!!

Ruby Update

"Cone of Shame"

Poor girl!! She now has staples in her tummy and has to wear the cone of shame for a week! $10 says she figures out a way to get it off by the end of the day.

Ruby

(Please click to enlarge this photo so you can see her smiling - so funny!)


At the end of February this mama decided that it would be a good idea to seek out puppy #2. I thought I was crazy but I couldn't make the urge go away! After suppressing it for a couple of weeks Michael and I were over at Jon and Savanna's house and asked them how it was to now have two dogs and they couldn't speak highly enough of the element their newest puppy added to the picture.

We started looking online that same night for a new pup to add to the family, went and visited several litters (and one psycho pug/chihuahua/shitzhu that had an eye that popped out fairly regularly and pottied on me at our first meeting) until we found our sweet Ruby (then named Tayla). We fell in LOVE with her but our limit was $250 and the breeder was asking $300... sadly, we walked away. The next day she called with news that her mind had changed and dropped Ruby off with Michael at the gas station by our house. I know that sounds sketchy... it probably was but oh well!!

Ruby has had her moments of terror but I think she has passed her 'terrible twos' phase and is now working toward her stubborn adolescence, which I love. With maturity, however, a girl's body begins to change and develop... to prevent gross stains on all of our furniture we had her fixed last weekend. They did a bad job. Picture pinching one side of the incision so that it is in a sort of U between your fingers then sewing that to a straight piece of skin. Sounds really professional right? I knew it was not good when I saw her right after her surgery for the first time but figured that it would heal up. Wrong. It got infected and swelled to triple it's size and turned bright red. I called the vet and they told me I would be wasting my money to take her in. Two days later the incision completely popped open and began to bleed and drain cloudy fluid... obviously severely infected. We cleaned it as best we could, applied some neosporin and butterfly bandages, covered it in gauze and wrapped it but it is going to need to be re-stitched. Her appt is tomorrow morning. There will be no cash shelled for the re-stitching... just ask me.

After original surgery


After stitches popped open and wound was cleaned up a bit


Sad puppy!


Overall, I would definitely say... if you're going to get a dog, consider getting two. That may sound crazy but it is wonderful. They play all day long and have so much fun together so that by they time we get home from working all day they are ready to play for about an hour, eat some dinner, then crash. And they are inseparable friends/wrestling partners. It is darling.

Mr. and Mrs. Mountainman

This weekend Michael and I squeezed the very most out of our time! We went out to get some wonderful frozen yogurt and see Super 8 on Friday night (boo super 8 x 2million). Went to a SUPER FUN baby shower for Jessica Draper, stopped in to see sweet Merrick and her very non-chipmunky cheeks (she got her wisdom teeth out on Friday), went to our little cousin's dance recital, enjoyed a couple of hours at Stake Conference then headed for the hills to do some high quality camping with the puppies. We haven't ever taken little Ruby on an overnighter with us so it was really fun to have both puppies running around. (More to come on Ruby soon. She is actually doing pretty poorly right now, sad girl!!)

To make a long story short, the campground we were headed for was full when we arrived so we ended up parking in a non-camping zone, hiking until we found a clearing and pitching a tent... all by the light of the moon.

Hope this isn't too passionate for ya...


Michael roasting a marshmallow with matches on the end of his knife... No campfire = no need for roasting sticks.


Michael cleaning his marshmallowy knife by putting water in his mouth then swishing his knife around in it... I know, I know... super sanitary...


Enjoying the masterpiece


Puppy Love


More puppy love


Bell boy


Tent time!!

Green Burrito

Every family has weird words/phrases/commercials that they embrace, right? Like the fact that my whole family called anything negative 'stuki' (combo of stupid and stinky) for years until a family with the last name of Stuki moved into our ward and we had to stop... And Michael's family calls Family Home Evening Family Hamily (which I can't say out loud without a teensie bit of a snicker in my voice). Anyway, Nick and I loved this commercial and used to sing it all of the time. I just found it online and thought I would grace you with its magnificence. I know, we were such happy, excitable children...

My Savvy Weekend

I know that I absolutely struck gold when I married Michael. I got the love of my life and a new BFF both at the same time. Savanna is Michael's sister and one of my dearest friends. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with her this weekend doing things that were WAY too much fun. She and her sweet husband Jon are one of the reasons that the thought of moving someday breaks my heart a bit!

On Saturday Jon planned an entire day of festivities for Savanna just because. It was absolutely darling. Basically it was a chain of events that just so happened to run together when Savanna would just so happen to bump into another friend right after finishing her activity with the previous. Her day looked something like this: book fair and a drive around the Provo Temple with her honey; running into a friend at the temple that took her to a boutique in Provo then to the mall to buy herself some new nice jeans; running into her favorite sister-in-law for pedicures, hair feathers, and a little shopping; being handed off to her brother to see Kung-Fu Panda 2 in 3D; being picked up by her honey for a walk around the lake with her puppies; returning home to SIL and brother for an INCREDIBLE dinner that Jon had spent all day preparing; alone time ;-). Sounds pretty amazing right? They are darling together. Here are some pics from my Saturday fun with Savanna:






We also spent some time together on Friday night crafting. Savvy had found this awesome idea for Lady Gaga headbands so we went to the dollar store for supplies and came out with these masterpieces:



I absolutely LOVE mine. It may have something to do with the fact that Michael LOATHES it but probably I just love it. I wore it all day Sunday... at home... Michael said no wearing it to church ;-). We also spent some time working on our outfits for our upcoming Disneyland trip where we are going to be riding the revamped Star Tours ride and the new Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Here is what we came up with: