spring break in st. george

for spring break, travis and i drove to st george
to stay with my grandparents.

it was a much needed vacation.

we hiked snow canyon.

yes. it was necessary for him to even take video of this beaut.

-we spent time with my family, played hand and foot with the senior citizens from my grandparents retirement community, went to the st. george temple, and ate so much food! we went to an art exhibit, had a romantic bike ride at sunset, and went house hunting for travis's dad.

-we also learned that the extremely thin walls at my grandparents' weren't a newlywed's best pal.

-we laughed nonstop for the whole week. if there is something travis and i have going for us, it's our ability to be silly with each other, tease each other, and find humor in everything. driving down, i saw this huge, black, flapping shape on the side of the freeway. i thought it was an enormous bird, and pointed, saying, "WOW!" really loud. then i looked at travis to see what he thought about it, and he had this look on his face, like i was crazy. turns out the dark shape was a garbage bag. travis looks over to see his wife freaking out over a trash bag on the side of the road.

the rest of the trip he would periodically screech, "ka kaw ka kaw!" (bird sounds.)

marriage = hilarious.

garden wombs

it's march. which means...

my garden is blooming!

i have been having dreams all winter that the flowers bloom and are as big as my head and a little alice in wonderland-esque. they aren't quite that big yet, but travis and i peek outside several times a day, checking to see what else has popped up.

also, yesterday i was getting dressed, put on a shirt i hadn't worn in a while, and it seemed a bit tight around the midsection. the scale says i'm not gaining weight, but the shirt disagrees. so of course i freaked out, thinking i had to be pregnant. i took a pregnancy test that is supposed to take three minutes to decide, and it declared my womb empty after about 2 seconds. poof! red minus sign before the pee even had a chance to cool. ...(sorry...)

so basically the garden outside is blooming while the garden in my uterus is pretty boring. :)

ehem.

blooming in the womb- alan schwartz

sunshine, winning, and fat wieners

so i had a good moment on sunday, involving sunshine, winning, and fat wieners.

ok, before you click the red X at the top right, let me explain. i bet you will laugh at least a little.

after church on sunday, travis and i decided we needed to go outside and play. we had a new game, some kind of horseshoes thing, that needed breaking in, plus it was a gorgeous sunny day. we picked up travis's family on the way and headed to the park a few blocks from our house. we got to the park and set up the game and tossed the football around for a bit, just enjoying the day and the playful banter from the family.

well this guy is out walking his dogs, right, these two dachshunds who look a lot like this:

just the average looking, healthy dachshund, yes?

well as they walk by and are clear across the park at the other end, i tell my brother in law, kellen, "you have to see these fat dachshunds who live in our neighborhood!" and i start telling him all about how their bellies hang to the ground and when travis and i drive by, we drive by 3 or 4 times just to keep looking and travis finally has to drag me away because the owner has waved 3 times now and is looking suspicious.

the fat ones look like this, i promise

so anyway, i am telling kellen all about the dogs and how unbelievably fat they are, when the guy walking his thin dogs clear across the park turns around and yells at me, "are you talking about my wieners?!"

how in the great hell did he hear me from all the way across the park??

i yell back, "no, no sir your wieners look fantastic! i was not talking about your wieners at all because they look fit and nice!"

and then i realize that travis's family and the entire park has just heard me yell at a complete stranger how great his wieners are.

the intense and sappy love post

no matter how many times it happens, i am still amazed at how with the right attitude, we can take something terrible and make it into something great. our neighbor committed suicide almost two weeks ago. this was someone who travis always looked up to, as he was a firefighter for salt lake city. it was a painful, terrible thing for travis (and everyone else of course) to go through, especially because when travis was young his foster brother committed suicide. but in all this pain and sadness, God presents us with possibilities for growth and for good. because of this travis and i have grown closer and trusted each other with so much more. i honestly keep thinking, "how can i ever get any happier and feel closer to this man?" and then the next day comes and i literally can't believe how happy we are.

it's been amazing to be married and to trust each other on this level i never knew existed. tonight when i left the fire station and was waving goodbye to travis, i got tears in my eyes because i was sad to leave him. good grief, he'll be home in a day, but the thought of my best friend being separated from me for even a day was enough to make me cry. ha! i never thought this would happen to me. :)

when you're close enough to someone to marry them, you think you have some small idea of what loving them feels like. i had no idea it would ever feel like this, and i can only imagine how intense it will be in even another year. a tangible measure of this growth is in the story of our little bed. when we first got married, sharing a full sized bed was only a little short of torture. neither of us slept well and we were constantly fighting for space and covers. now, we smash together and have the best sleep of our lives. when we stayed at anniversary inn, the queen sized bed was way too big and we were happy to get back to our full. i wish i could express the joy and fulfillment i find in being married to travis, but words are pretty limited.

i just never knew i had the capacity to love someone so much and accept that kind of love in return.

ok, ok this is getting wayyy to serious. :) love you and hope you have a great night!

and if any of you think you need to make some remark about "just wait until you have kids" please keep it to yourself. im enjoying the time i have to be just with my husband :)

this old house (kitchen edition)

welcome to our home!
(new back door and molding)

amazing ksl classified finds

above is the afore mentioned fine china
and thanks to the many people
who give us their old things
like this beautiful hutch

BEFORE

i know you can't tell from the picture
but this kitchen was FILTHY!
we scraped the grease from the cabinets
and had to use oven cleaner to clean the walls.
pretty sad that the boydells, the previous owners
lived in this mess.

AFTER

we lucked out with the laminate floors in here
and the big windows. like the red chairs?
took forEVER! and travis's garage has
red paint all over. oops.
the curtains are vintage from my
grandmother's basement. :) my mom sewed the black part.

new countertop, sink, stove top, and backsplash.
my handihusband intalled everything!
with the help of his family of course.
but i was very proud that he figured out
the sink and countertop without much help at all.

BEFORE

AFTER

can't wait for the new windows :)

this old house

BEFORE

whenever anyone asks me what has been
going on lately? i tell them this:

lucky for us, underneath the green shag carpet
was a beautiful surprise: hardwood floors
that had never seen the light of day.
so travis and our brother-in-law josh
and of course randy, the best father-in-law ever
refinished them :)

i try to keep up with all the construction helping, but
let's face it, the guys don't let me do much.
so i did most of the cleaning, painting, and decorating!
this lovely find came straight from D.I. for $20

that map above my beautiful baldwin hamilton
was originally wrapping paper from a wedding gift.
the loveseat and coffee table came from an estate sale.
(along with a butt ton of free fine china from japan!)
i am planning to get a rug, maybe something that
looks like a persian rug? red perhaps?
and the paint color appears blue in these
pictures, but is really more of a green.

mostly old clutter i have had, plus that crown from ross.
it always confuses men who come over
(ha not that i have "men" over! that didn't sound right.
men = family, friends, home teachers, etc.)
but when women see it, they're like oh i love that.
kind of like how most guys who are over are like,
"that couch looks pretty old." but the gals love it.

can you believe people lived with this carpet? ^

i much prefer this. :)

this room's improvements were:

6 can lights
refinished floors
patching the many holes in the wall
new primer
fresh new paint
new (ish) furniture and such
new baseboards and crown molding
and soon a new front door!

buying a fixer upper has been soooooooooooo much work
but it is starting to pay off.

mighty fine cookin' and the mouse in the house

last night travis and i cooked

the easiest, most delicious dinner.
and because i am (provo girl voice) "super nice"
and mostly a showoff
i thought i would share it with you!

yukon gold potatoes, or yellow potatoes, are delicious. they are the common potato in europe and south america and have a very sweet taste. so you cut those bad boys up, throw em in a pot with olive oil and of course a bit 'o' butter, salt and pepper, parsley and other country spices, and a bit of paprika. then you stir them up, put the lid on top, and wait.

pork roast in the crock pot. probably the easiest thing in the entire world, yes? so in the morning, put the entire frozen slab 'o' meat in the crockpot. add lipton onion soup mix, some garlic cloves, onion, thyme, fennel, (again some red pepper for a little kick) and then a cup and a half to two cups of water on top of it all. don't forget to turn the crockpot on :)

asparagus is so cheap right now and we have been loving it. not much beats fresh asparagus. you can steam or do what we did here with a pan. add some water and let it cook with the lid on. then drain the water, and over the heat add butter (my feeling on veggies is that if at least you're eating them it's just fine to slather on the butter.) salt, pepper.

then! you have a home cooked feast!
so glad travis talked me into the white dishes.
after the saleslady told us they were bone china
travis took the bowl and stood on top of it
to see if she was right about them being strong.

and this may or may not have been right before i screamed to travis that there was a mouse in the front room. (there wasn't a mouse, but now i know exactly how terrified of mice he really is.) he started saying "where?! i am not sleeping here tonight! where did he go?!" and i felt so bad that i started laughing hysterically and told him the truth, at which point he may or may not have called me an ass.

sometimes he's right. :)

happy cooking!

girlfrands :)

He who knows all the answers has not yet been asked all the questions.

- Author unknown

after a weekend of talking to some smart women,
liana and alyssa, i am ready to take on
the next week with a better attitude.

this week will be filled with optimism,
creativity, service, and excitement.
enough with the negativity.

thank goodness for these dear friends
who are real women with sass
who make me feel better about life.

happy end of february!

time to kill and gifts from mother nature

it's friday morning. i don't have school fridays. i slept in until 9 today and i have done absolutely nothing except watch ugly betty and shop online for rugs. and bistro sets for the patio. don't worry. i haven't spent any money. so this is why i am posting yet another silly sonreir piece.

*side note: the name of my blog, sonreir, has special meaning to me. sonreir is a spanish verb meaning 'to smile'. i have kept this word on the banner of my phone (you know how some phones give you the option to keep a word in the middle of the screen) for the past four years. :) it reminds me not to take life too seriously and to smile.

so after that crazy man on trax, i have been thinking about all the funny things that happen to me. it seems that i am always put in situations that are awkward and silly. i don't know if i just capitalize on them more than other people or if they really do happen all the time. either way, i was remembering some of the great moments from last year and thought i would share one of my favorites.

treadmill farts

so i work out at gold's gym. for those of you who don't, they have a room called cardio cinema. this room has a butt ton of cardio equipment like treadmills, stationary bicycles, ellipticals, etc. and then there's the huge movie screen in front. there are dim lights on the walls, much like a movie theater has. it's a great place to hide in the dark and work up a good man-sweat. (some women have the luxury of "glistening" but i am not one of these fortunate. i sweat like my dad.)



so the gym, like any other public place, has a set of unspoken rules. you know, like clean up your equipment when you're finished, give people appropriate space, mop up your man-sweat with a clean towel, clean the machine when you're done, don't stare for too long at someone's nice body parts i.e. backside, abs, **fake cleavage, etc. you know the drill.

**i take no issue with fake boobs. i plan to get some myself when im forty and things aren't so perky.

so in the cardio cinema there are the same kinds of unspoken rules, but the added twist is that movie theater rules also apply, say don't talk to your neighbor during the movie. well, one morning im going to town on the elliptical and an older, bigger man gets on the one next to me. even though there are clearly 64 empty ones not so close to me. he gets on and starts going and immediately turns to me and says, "oh i love this movie! it's so funny! what's it called? what's it about again?"

the movie playing was how to lose a guy in ten days, one of my all time favs. (lol) and if this guy loves the movie so damn much, how come he has to ask me what it's about. so i quietly give him the title of the movie and then pointedly look back at the screen. he does not take the hint and keeps talking to me about the movie and i notice he is staring at my bod. in a not so subtle way. this room is dark and this man is creeping me out. so after ten more minutes of this, i decide to take matters into my own hands.

during the middle of his comment to me about the movie, i let out a fart. not a "testing the waters fart" but a full blown, rumbler. it's so loud that he stops talking. wait, did she just...?

oh yes middle aged creeper. she did.

and then, luckily for me, my "wind" so to speak, was not only loud, but was accompanied with an offensive odor. clear-the-room offensive. i watched as the smell wafted his way and in the dim light could see him stiffen and his face wrinkle in disgust. then, for good measure, i let out another. it was even louder. and the smell was in full force. he kept looking at me in disbelief as i let out seriously half a dozen more.

then without any warning, he got off the elliptical even though he had a good five minutes left on his workout. and i was in that dark room giggling all alone.

thank you mother nature, for sending me the finest weapon at the right moment.

the charles-bodtcher valentine's

good morning and happy valentine's day!

i did what i could on limited budget and time.
the red chairs have worked very well for themed
christmas and valentine's meals.

the valentine's breakfast i was too excited for.
it worked out perfectly because sunday night
travis and i were talking on the phone
"i forgot my house key. could you unlock the door
in the morning?"
and i pretended to be a grump.
"ill be asleep! travis why didn't you
remember your key? i guess i can
let you in."

ha! and then he got home and breakfast was
frying up and i was wide awake :)

that night travis cooked me a romantic valentine's feast

isn't he a looker!?

garlic sauted shrimp on a bed of fettuccine
with a white cream and red pepper sauce, fresh steamed asparagus,
and a butter and garlic reduction on a crispy french bread.

(i may or may not watch too much "chopped")

i have developed a love of house plants.
so travis found a beautiful jade plant.
in his words,
"you can not water them and they won't die!"

thanks for the faith there, honey. :)

after dinner we treated ourselves to some spoon me.


all in all a very honest and heartfelt valentine's at our place :)

the first valentine's i have been really excited for

(HAWT)
(just go to icanhascheeseburger.com)

this was a wild weekend! keeping busy makes it so much easier to go without seeing travis for 48 hours. (i sound ridiculous; seriously can't a girl go without her man for two days?!) but yes, i kept very busy this weekend and it flew by. included in my weekend to do were:

-6 loads of laundry (part of trav's valentine's present. lame? i don't think he thinks so.)

-clean the house. extra clean.

-transcribing. bleh.

-learning the east asian countries, capitals, rivers, and islands. for school. yes. i wanted to spend ten hours of my weekend doing this.

-grocery shopping and date with my sister (!) liana wu bodtcher.

-baking cookies and planning sunday school lesson.

-singing the lord is my shepherd at the swahili branch in sugarhouse. (!)

- getting travis's valentine's day surprise ready!

ok im going to stop with the list. you get the idea and probably don't care about all my menial tasks.
but seriously i am so excited for valentines! i have always been that girl who is like me? i don't care about the big V day. (heh sorry when i think of V day for some reason i think of vaginas, but i digress...) but i have this whole breakfast surprise ready for travis when he gets home at 730 tomorrow morning. i baked his favorite pastry tonight, have all the ingredients for the special eggs and sausage he loves, and his favorite juice and hot chocolate and sweets, and candles and im going to wear something sexy and there are all these cheesy paper hearts taped up and you get the idea. ill have to post pictures of it all. well, almost all of it anyway. :) i just love that man so darn much!

so today at the swahili branch, a man was speaking, a man from rawanda who had to escape with his mother and brothers from the genocide and he ended up living in refuge camps and losing his mother, amazing story, but he said something that i really liked.

"smooth seas do not make seasoned sailors." (african proverb)

what an example that this man could stand up and have positive things to say after experiencing so much pain. i am so blessed and have the world at my fingertips. this man has seen things i would never even imagine. i need to be more thankful for my life and my savior Jesus Christ. how wonderful that He can bring people of such different backgrounds together.

also. i had to write something for my gender studies class. the assignment was to rewrite a fairy tale and use some of the topics we have been discussing. this is what i came up with tonight.

deep, deep far under the sea

in a place men above never venture

lived a woman of power, prestige, and will

and the kind of beauty nothing can measure.

how she longed for her freedom

to explore the wide world

though her power and kingdom were vast

all the beauty and speed could never be enough

if at the base of your body fins are cast.

so the fair maiden set a snare

high up in the shallows

to discover the far world above

she would learn more of

humans, their dancing, their daring,

and possibly something of love.

she watched her snare day by day

those who came close to capture

and she fell so in love with a man up above

his dark hair, sword, and voice brought her rapture.

deep, deep far under the sea

she felt the snare tug late one night

rushing up to the surface she saw he was hers,

and knew he would soon share her delight.

the man flailed and fought her snare

not knowing she had such fine plans

she called to him, sang to him, tried to soothe him

but could do nothing to calm the great man.

left with no other choices

she pulled him down deep

never realizing her snare

caused his never ending sleep.

deep, deep, far under the sea

in a place men above never venture

lived a woman of power, prestige, and will

and the kind of pain nothing can measure.

(i know it's kind of dark and morbid, but it's supposed to be metaphorical of how appearances are limited, being a woman has disadvantages in our society, etc.)

happy valentine's day :) hope you all get some :)

the undercover covered in blood doctor

he looked a lot like this

this morning, on my way home from my waste-of-time psych 2010 class, i met the craziest man alive.

i was sitting at gallivan plaza, waiting for the sandy train, and freezing my cheeks off. since i have to leave the house at 630 am, i hadn't showered, made anything up, or groomed at all, and i was feeling less than friendly. i sat quietly and stared at the ground, praying for the wind to stop. an obviously homeless man with huge duffel bags and a grizzly beard walked up to the seats. avoid eye contact avert your gaze look away! i thought frantically, but the man put his stuff down on the metal seat next to me, even though there were at least five other seats available and said, "mind if i sit next you?" before i could answer, he stood in front of me, let half his body slump and dragged his back foot saying, "i'm a zombie! undead!" then looked expectantly at my face for a laugh. well, it was a little funny, so i chuckled in a polite way.

the man sat down next to me and began telling jokes. "so did you see the news this morning? yeah, they discovered noah's ark!" i looked incredulously at him as he continued. "no really! and they found the remnants of two worms inside of an apple. god didn't say to come in apples. he said to come in pears!"

ha ha.

and the jokes continued. im always a sucker for this kind of thing. this happens to me all the time, homeless, or any kind of people really, talk to me, tell me their problems, and i usually enjoy it. i like people and i like stories, so im usually friendly to anyone who wants to talk. so as im waiting for the sandy train, listening to this lonely old man's jokes, i laugh and joke back, thinking the train will come and ill get on and he'll stay here.

well the train pulls up and i say goodbye and he says, "no wait! this is my train too! i have to go to sandy to see a doctor! i can finish the joke now!"

oh dear.

we board the train and i scan the seats, looking for someone to sit close to in case this man goes crazier, and to my dismay the train is almost empty. i sit down and the man quickly takes the seat right next to me, before i can put my purse down or anything. he continues telling the jokes and im still being polite, but not laughing quite so much anymore. this is where the crazy begins.

the man tells me he is a government agent. he points to a random object outside the window. "i invented that for the government. it helps with the power." i nod and say, "oh. uh huh. sure." then he points to a mcdonalds. "they kicked me out of there this morning. they don't know im the one who built all the missions in this city for the homeless. im on my way to see a doctor." then he rolls up his sleeve. open sores are festering on his arms and i notice for the first time that his hands are covered in dried blood." gulp. "yeah i have four terminal diseases. im dying. that's why i like to tell jokes. it distracts me from my misery and makes people smile."

i asked him what he is dying of and he won't say. all he says is that he has a few months to live and that he's looking for a cure. then he starts telling me that he is a doctor. "i have studied medicine since i was three years old." he claims. " and now i need to tell you the real reason i needed to talk to you today." "oh really?" i ask. "why's that?" "well," he says, "you have dark rings around your irises. this could indicate a number of diseases. you could be dying." i thank him for letting me know and he says, "i spend my life helping people, giving medical advice, and it's my calling from the government." i tell him that it's very generous. he replies with, "see i just saved your life and i didn't even try to have sex with you."

at this point i get nervous. i have never felt nervous on trax before, even when there are people screaming at each other or creepy guys staring at me, but this man is making me nervous. i start looking around, seeing where i could move to or who could help me if this man tries anything. there is a guy around my age who keeps looking over at us uneasily. i catch his eye and give him the 'help me' look. he looks worried.

meanwhile, the man is still talking. he's going on and on about adam and eve, and how he knows that women endure suffering, more than men even. although he did say that men going to war = women giving birth. then he tells me, "i was poisoned by a woman when i was young. i bled from my intestines for seven days, so i know what you women deal with when you have your periods. actually, did you know that it is prophesied that one day a man will be born who will understand women? i am that man."

then he motions to my hand, asking me to show him my left hand. if this man puts his bloody hands on me, im going to lose it. he points at my fingernail. "you have a heart condition. i can tell."

i start thinking, ok i really need to move, but his bags were blocking my escape and i was afraid that he would try to put his bloody hands on me if i made sudden moves. my stop was coming up, so i just stayed still and tried not to breathe in the smell of him.

my stop finally came and i stood up. "oh is this you?" he asked. "well it was sure nice meeting you." "yup." i said, standing in front of the doors waiting. the doors wouldn't open. something was wrong. "oh sorry about my bad breath!" the man called. "they won't let me have dental hygiene." the doors finally opened and i practically run to my car, laughing and at the same time feeling afraid he was going to somehow follow me home.

the craziest man i have ever met. even crazier than the man in hawaii who told me he smears lamb's blood on his forehead to cleanse himself from sin.

from now on, im wearing dark glasses and an angry scowl.