tis the season.

Probably one of my favorite times of the year is of that leading up to Christmas. The unusually nice people. The excitement. The celebrations. The chaos. The lights. We had such a wonderful Christmas and Christmas season this year.  From double dating with Steph. To seeing our new nieces for the first time. To my mom's amazing Christmas food. It was a hit. All of it. And I hope we never forget. The reason for the season. 

thanksgiving 2011.

Thanksgiving this year was great. Low key. But great nonetheless. I ran a 5k early in the morning and Scottie played with the guys in the church turkey bowl. For turkey dinner we met my mom and Nate over at Carol's house. Scott had to work that evening all the way until the following afternoon. So I got a couple friends together and we braved the cold at 3am in the Sport's Authority Line. The first 80 people in line got giftcards. And all who know me. Know that passing up some sleep for free money ain't no thang. We then went to a few other stores and got some great deals{50% off Adidas socks and a doorbuster Christmas Tree. Eeek!} Husband and I finished our holiday with putting up our new Christmas tree. She's a beauty. We're so thankful for our Lord, family, friends, health, and our pups. Oh. And a Cafe Rio burrito on a cold day.  

fall boutique time.

Hope to see you all there. I'll have some awesome deals.

fall festivities.

I love fall. I think it's my favorite season. Especially here in Utah with the beautiful scenery and weather. Nothing completes the season like friends, pumpkins, the outdoors, and a good lookin' pair of boots. 

Oh. And Red Butte Gardens. We went to Night out in the Garden with Brandon and Kels. Followed with Chili's for a late late dinner. Might have to make that into a yearly tradition.





my very own van gogh.

Hubs is so talented. He just finished this canvas painting. And look how good it is! I so wish I had this talent to make something so awesome from nothing. He wants to sell it. But I said nope. I have already found a home for it. So it's staying. The end.

cupcake.

It's the little things. Mother got this for me today and it made my day that much better. A little red velvet love. My absolute favorite.

meet francis.

While we were in Cali for Spirit West Coast earlier this Summer. We felt lead to sponsor a child through the Christian Foundation. Compassion International. We chose Francis. He is an adorable four year old from Ghana. We received our first letter from him last week. Totally makes your heart happy. 

david crowder band.

David Crowder Band is my fave Christian band. Their music is quirky, lyrics are awesome, and I could listen to his songs on repeat. Quite often. I knew this Summer was their last tour ever so I decided to see where their closest concert would be. Salt Lake City. Seriously?! I was in shock.  And even better, we got a great deal on tickets and were in the fourteenth row. It was at the Utah State Fair. And yes. We did get a ginormous funnel cake.

labor day weekend. anniversary. goodness.

We had a fun filled labor day weekend. Not only was it fun to have so many things going on. But we also got to celebrate our second anniversary.

On Friday. My dearest and oldest friend Steph. Not by age. But because we have known each other since we pooped in diapers. Came into town to visit. Her parent's had a bbq and we had a great evening filled with margaritas, food, talking, staying up too late, and our famous game of sherades.

Onto Saturday. I made my mom a piece of canvas artwork for her birthday. That took up most of the day and making her a pistachio bundt cake. For the festivities we went to Hogs Wallow Pub. It was a fun time and the cake was a hit.

Sunday was Godly filled with church in the morning. I then had to rush home to make my red velvet cake brownies and cream cheese frosting for our church small group bbq later that evening. We took the dogs to the park for some sun and fun. And then headed off to Raine's house. It was a blast. And chatting for hours never got old.

Anniversary day. Two years. Holy crap time flies. We kept it more low key this year. Which was totally fine with us. Scott had to work the morning so he suprised me with Jamba Juice for breakfast and a red rose. We then decided to do a lot of our favorite things. We went and played tennis, went to Cafe Rio for dinner, went to a movie, and got Marble Slab Creamery for dessert. But. My favorite thing from this day was the paragraph Scott posted on his facebook that morning:

"They say the first 2 years of marriage are the hardest, well if thats the case then I am in for a long, fun, blessed and loving life. As each minute passes we die a little more and I am happy to be spending those minutes with my beautiful bride Brooklyn Foster. Happy anniversary baby!"

Isn't he totally amazing? Love him. Two down. Lots more to go.

posters.signs.framework

Look at my newest design additions to the biz. I now do {Posters.Signs.Framework}. They are awesome...and are such a unique and inexpensive way to decorate any home or office and/or give as gifts at bridal showers, baby showers, anniversaries, and so on! They are usually done in 8X10, 11X14, or 16X20 sizes. Most clients frame them, but you could even have them done as canvas prints. Which look sweet! I can do them for any occasion and with any saying. Here's some of my design examples:
http://thepottedpearl.weebly.com/posterssignsframework.html

spirit west coast.

we received a huge blessing a few weeks ago. we were able to go as youth leader's with our church's youth group to spirit west coast. a huge christian music and worship festival in northern california {monterrey.} we left for the journey super early on a wednesday morning in a huge 15 passenger van and another travel van. it was a long 15 hour drive. but not too bad. this experience was even better bc you camped for the three days you were there. having to wait in long lines for showers and using porta potties the entire time was a little difficult. but the festival definitely made up for it. we saw many amazing concerts. heard many great sermons. and were able to fully connect with our Lord. we were even lead to sponsor a child in africa through compassion international. his name is francis. hopefully we can go back next year!



newsboy's concert. crazy good!





last night. boo!

 



avery scott & alexa drew. 8.5.11

welcome to the world little precious twin nieces! nicole had avery scott and alexa drew last friday. 08.05.11 by csection. avery weighed 5lbs 14 oz and alexa only 3lbs 14 oz. mother and babies are doing well.  alexa will have to stay in the hospital for at least two weeks because of low weight. but we are all so thankful that is the only "problem." can't wait to hold you two! 


avery scott.

alexa drew.

 

pga nationwide tour.

Scott's course is host of the 2011 PGA Nationwide tour.  This is a pretty big deal as it is on the Golf Channel and he is a part of it!  His hours have been nutso this week.  But I'm so proud of his hardwork and his talents.  This will definitely be a good resume addition.  And I can't complain about being able to watch what my husband does everyday on t.v.  Check out the info.

http://www.utahchampionship.com/willow-creek

kristen graduates.

my sister. little sister that is. who i remember wearing diapers. graduated from high school this summer.  my dad flew us out to omaha for the occasion.  those nebraskans really go all out on graduations.  my dad and stepmom held a house party the day before she graduated.  i guess this is a common thing.  to cater in food, rent tables, balloons, sheet cakes.  kinda crazy.  but it was great to see all of that side of my family and to meet a lot of her friends. 



my omaha neighbor friend, laura.  i haven't been able
to see her in three years bc of college and her
teaching job in china.  it was so great to see her.




my sis has an awesome voice. she was allstate choir.
something i wasn't blessed with!

 we were also able to go to some great places to eat. love the cheese frenchy. and my dad took us to the zoo because i haven't been able to go in a few years and i love that place. the omaha zoo is awesome really. like the fourth best zoo in the united states.



ok. this gorilla was so naughty. she is doing something
that we never though we'd see a gorilla do.



dad and sis on the skytram.





this little guy was our favorite. he was so funny
and active.



bellingham.

For my birthday, my mother in law suprised me with tickets to fly to Seattle for Nicole's baby shower.  I was super excited bc I have never been there and I haven't seen Nic for awhile!  First off.  Seattle is beautiful.  If it didn't rain 360 days out of the year.  I'd have us moving there in a second.  After our hour and a half car ride to Bellingham, we suprised Nic with our arrival and it was so great to see her.  My nephews had a baseball tournament the same weekend.  So I finally got to watch both of them play.  They are both so talented. And better send me some extra spending money once they make it to the big league!  The baby shower turned out great.  I wish I could have stayed there longer and spent more time with the Stoddards.  Hopefully we will be up there to visit in a few months once our new nieces arrive. 



always room for mexican food.

@ ben & brayden's baseball tourney.

after nicole's shower.  missing two of the girls.



quarter of a century.

It's fun having both of our birthday's so close.  For the hubs, we had a relaxing day with visits from both mother's.  I woke him up to some homemade coffee cake and fresh fruit.  I got him tickets to the Real soccer game that night.  It poured.  Good thing he is a man and said we should take a tarp just in case.  Afterwards we went to a local sports pub with some friends where we celebrated with amazing pizza and his new favorite drink.  The Dirk. 

twenty five candles.

Geesh.  Do I feel old or what?  I know 25 isn't old.  But for some reason.  This milestone of a birthday feels a lot different.  May 19 2011 was a great day though.  Scott woke me up early to breakfast in bed.  Well sort of.  He attempted to make whole wheat waffles with boysenberry syrup.  They kept sticking to the waffle maker I guess.  But they were sure good.  I still ate the deformed things.  I got tons of phone and facebook loves.  My mother took me out to lunch at our yearly tradition.  Marie Calender's.  Where I ate enough for three.  We were supposed to have a softball game but it got rained out.  Huge bummer.  So Carol stopped by to say hi and then a few friends came over for a little bit. The Crow's made me homemade strawbery mint mojito's and followed it up with Cafe Rio. Great day filled with love and relaxation.  Check out my new lil MJ gold TOMS.  They're from mine truly. xoxo.

Easter. mesquite. vegas

Carol has a time share down in Mesquite, Nevada.  We don't have the opportunity to take many trips due to our jobs and grown up financial burderns.  Lame.  So we took advantage of the opportunity and headed down to Mesquite for Easter weekend.  It was an amazing four days full of sun, food, golf, relaxation, pooltime, and a short Vegas adventure.

Carol got these amazing dough-nuts from Beyond
Glaze.  My favorite was raspberry mango.  Scott loved
the blueberry.



Because of his new job, Scott was able to play 18 holes at Wolf Creek in Mesquite for free! This course is absolutely gorgeous and people come from around the world to play there. Normally it costs 200.00 just to play. He was paired with someone from Canada. Scott didn't have his best game but it was a great experience for him! I got to ride in the cart for support.

This course was crazy.

He made this one.  And there was a snake on the green.



We also drove to Las Vegas and went to the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. We are huge fans of Broadway plays. I always leave amazed. Wishing that I was talented in that area. The stage chandeliers moving through out the audience was probably my favorite part!


Sorry.  Camera phone.  Bad lighting.



hugfest 2011.

Twice a year the LDS Church holds their General Conference where they hear the words of their Prophet and chart the course of their church and their personal lives. It is the highlight of the year for them. Some Christian (and non-Christian) fellows yell, scream, spit, have huge banners, and cause a scene, even with many of the people who attend being young children. The words: prostitute, whores, etc. are thrown around. Sometimes people actually drag the Book of Mormon on the ground in front of the attendees. And it’s not just one group, they are on most of the corners in downtown SLC doing this. So. Our brand new church went down to give out some love. Jesus style. “HUGS not THUGS” were our marching orders. We gave out free hugs right next to those who gave them (and us) an earful. Instead. We gave them an armful. In some parts it was pretty volatile. As we would stand right next to the protestors. They would accuse us of helping these people go to hell. And so on. I definitely do not agree with the LDS doctrine. But it did feel great to step out of our comfort zone and bring some love into Utah. A great way to "reach, teach, and love the world like Jesus."  

Here Scott & I are with our Pastor's kids.  The lady in the back
wasn't with us.  But she was really nice.  We had people
scattered everywhere.  As there were blocks filled with
these protestor's.





Fox 13 News even came and interviewed a couple of us.  We were on the news that night.  Here is the short news article online.  http://downtown.fox13now.com/news/community-spirit/counter-protesters-offer-hugs-temple-square/51136

As Jesus said, "They will know you by your love.  Love your neighbor as yourself."

potty please.

I swear I have the weirdest problems.  A little over three weeks ago I noticed this lump on my lower left side.  I had a small pain there but figured I pulled a muscle.  Or it was something I ate.  Or it would just go away.  I didn't want to go to the Dr. and pay money for them to tell me something stupid.  Well.  Three weeks later came and the lump was extremely hard and rope-like.  It went all the way from the top of my girly part up the left side of my stomach.  The pain got really bad on Sunday.  Scott wanted to take me in but I wanted to wait until Monday to go to my primary physician because it would be a lot cheaper.  So in I went on my Monday lunch break.  After the 20 question game and him doing a pelvic exam and urine tests, guess what it is.  Freaking severe constipation.  Are you kidding me?!?!  He said he had never felt a large intestine so enlarged and un-hollow.  I mean.  Who knew deer pellets weren't normal?  So yesterday I had to drink an entire bottle of magnesium chloride.  I was nervous it wouldn't work and I'd have to do the Dr's next steps.  Enema's.  Or possible surgery.  Oh it worked!  I have since gone to the restroom 11 times over the last 17 hours.  Holy moly.  I guess three weeks of food can be a lot.  We're so thankful it was this and nothing more extensive or severe!

In anticipation of my new home for the night.  Scott
decorated our toilet and wrote a sign that said
 "Reserved for Brooklyn." This is what I came home to.
The entire night was quite humorous to him.  Glad
someone got to enjoy it. :)