Halloween with the Carlson's

I went over to my parents' house tonight to carve pumpkins. Well, let me clarify a little. I think gutting a pumpkin is the most disgusting thing ever, and have since I was a wee one, so my mom or dad ends up cleaning out all the guts out of mine, and just because I am 29 years old, this year was no exception. It was fun to do a holiday activity with just the siblings and the parents, and it was totally typical of all the pumpkin carving we have done as a family throughout the years. We had newspaper down, with markers and knives laid out. Cole did the most artistic pumpkin with little effort, while I struggled to even draw a decent design on mine. When all the pumpkins were carved, Patti and Red lit the pumpkins, turned off all the lights, and took pictures of the "kids" behind them. We have these same posed pictures from last quarter century or so. I also got a few shots of my baby behind the pumpkins.

Ali and Cole being brave and gutting their own pumpkins

The parents in full Halloween mode

This one is blurry, as Patti is still getting used to a digital camera :-) But I think it is still cute!

We were suppose to be silly, or so I thought.

Here we all are being silly

Piper, Halloween 2008

Piper and Aunt Ali

Piper with me doing a piss poor job of trying to hide.

When Annie calls

Today, my phone died while I was at work, so when I got home and charged it I had a voice mail from an unknown caller. I think it was from my friend Hilary's two year old daughter Annie. It was a bad connection, but I am pretty sure we made out the words Piper, and bye. Annie is the most adorable kid you will ever meet. Here is a picture of her at our wedding.

She totally danced for the entire time she was there! She is a doll!

Big Headed Jessi

So, tonight I ran to the store after my dreaded ESL class to get some additional supplies for our Halloween costumes. While, looking for something suitable for a spider to wear on my head, I ran into my 9th grade Geography teacher, Mrs. Black. I recognized her, but wasn't going to say anything, however, she recognized me. I think that is amazing since she was my teacher one period a day 15 years ago (gasp! It has been 15 years since I was in 9th grade!) I only hope I can recognize and remember my former students in 15 years. At least I was a pre-adult at the time, while my students are barely pre-teens, so I can always use that as an excuse. She was so excited that I was a teacher, told me how much she enjoyed teaching me, and how I was such a good kid with a great attitude. It was nice to hear a random and positive compliment!

Also, I had my lesson observation from my math coach today. It went really well, and my coach had so many positive and nice things to say about me, my class, and my teaching methods. So all in all, today was a good day that made my large head grow to an enormous size!

See how much larger my head is than Dalan's....I can only hope his small head plus my large head will lead to children with average sized heads!

Slacky McSlackerson

Since, we have returned from our mini-moon, I have been in major slacking mode. I just am lacking any serious motivation, in fact, I am choosing to blog about my laziness instead of do something about it. Let me tell you about all the things I need to get done.

1. Sew our Halloween costumes. This is one of my favorite things to do, but yet the thought of going upstairs and getting the sewing machine out is not appealing to me.

2. Write two top notch lesson plans for Wednesday. One I need to teach my class while being observed, and the other I need to present to other teachers in my ESL class. I hate my ESL class, so I am blaming my lack of motivation to do either, solely on my ESL class.

3. Write Thank You notes. This is another of my favorite things to do. I love thanking people, I love handwriting a note, and I love sending it in the mail, but yet I have only gotten about a third of these written.

4. Do all our vacation laundry, and clean the upstairs. This is my least favorite thing to do, so it is no surprise that this is not done, but it is driving me nuts. Plus all my favorite clothes are dirty, and I am reduced to wearing my not so favorite ones. Also, Dalan is totally going the whole 10 yards when it comes to household chores, and I am barely doing anything, but making messes. That is not a good way to make a good wife impression!

So, I guess I am asking for some energy. Maybe somebody just needs to hit my reset button, and move me from wedding/honeymoon mode back into regular life mode. Well, I guess I better be going and find something else to do, hopefully, even one of the four things on my list.

Piper's DNA

We received a kit from Becca and Dave for our wedding (most creative gift EVER) to test Piper's DNA, and find out the results of her heritage. We will find out the results in approx. 2 weeks, so in the meantime, I am currently taking bets on which types of breeds you think are included in her DNA. You may pick up to six different breeds, and start at number one with the type of breed she is mostly, and then go down from there. It is a dollar per entry (or free). The person who is most right will be the big winner! Please start sending me your entries now!

Nghia and Buffett

Nghia came over the other night, so I could help him with his hat for the Jimmy Buffett show in Vegas. He claimed he wanted my input and company, but I think he really just wanted to use me for my glue sticks. Nighia and I love dressing up and making costumes, although Halloween is less than a week away and I have not done a thing to actually complete our costumes. Here is my favorite picture of the night, because this is what I imagined Nghia looking like in 4th grade next to his science project instead of giant hat he uses to drink beer.

Photo Shoots with Piper

I saw this on Hilary's blog....you are suppose to look at your fourth file of pictures, and then post the fourth picture in that file. I checked out my files, and it was a Halloween picture of Piper, so of course I am posting it.....


Here is Piper in her dragon/dinosaur costume from Halloween last year. I put down an orange blanket in order to do one of my dog photo shoots. This probably the best of the bunch. I could never be a professional animal photographer, which is why I am so willing to pay the big bucks to get Piper's picture with Santa each year. Well that, and the fact, that the money goes to help homeless animals. We bought Piper a new sweater last night for her picture. In fact, the Santa pictures are coming up soon. If you are interested in getting your pet's pictures with Santa, here is the link http://utahhumane.org/Home/tabid/379/mid/761/newsid761/333/POSE-THOSE-PAWS-WITH-SANTA-CLAUS/Default.aspx
I have done it every year that I have owned Piper and been very satisfied.

One more time for the cheap seats

Here are some more wedding photos....they will stop.....eventually...

Dalan and VaRonica....

Jan, Jason, and Dalan...what handsome dudes

Ali and McKay....how cute!

The Preacher Man!

Dalan and Dave...I love this photo!

Me and Becca...work life partners for, well, life

Julia, Me, Aub, and Dalan...some of my favorite people ever!

This is the picture frame with all the drawn pictures of our guests! I love this. It is one of my most favorite things we did at the wedding.

My "Just Married" flip flops....

Honeymoon in Vegas

So, Dalan and I had debated over whether or not to take a honeymoon now or later due to it being hard as a teacher to leave for extended periods of time. We settled on a quick little mini-moon to Vegas, and it was fantastic. We got a break from all the wedding chaos, and had a blast.

We were pretty busy the whole time, and did a ton of walking which after being on your feet all day at the wedding was maybe not the best choice, but it was still fun.

We like to pick a theme for all our vacation pictures.

Like in Vancouver it was "sucker punches"

And in Jackson it was "when taxidermy animals attack."

The theme for these pictures is "same picture, different background....."

Here we are as we are about to take a gondola ride. You can see the man in the striped shirt in the background.

Here we are the the shark reef. You can see the belly of the shark behind us.

Again at the shark reef, this time with jelly fish behind us.

Here we are the MnM factory with the green MnM behind us.
Here we are outside of our hotel, with our hotel in the background.

This one breaks from the theme, but how cute is this baby tiger drinking from its bottle?

Here is us kissing in our hotel room...oh la la, with the hotel room in the background.

Here is a famingo (my favorite) behind us at the Flamingo.

Here we are the airport, with slot machines behind us....gotta love Vegas!

Vendor Reviews

Fort Douglas: B+

Overall, I had a good experience working with Fort Douglas. The chapel was beautiful, and everything was set up as I requested. My only compliant is that our coordinator was slow to get back to me, and there were some minor communications errors along the way. However, I would book with them again no questions asked.

Chartwell's Catering: A+

Cristina at Chartwell's was one my favorite vendors to work with throughout the wedding. She was easy to work with, and provided us with a quality meal and services at a terrific price. I would go to them again in a heartbeat for any catering needs.

JABOOM (the band): A+

The band was another vendor that was so easy to work with, and I would hire them again for sure! They were a lot of fun at the reception, and did a great job of setting the tone for the entire night.

Garrett Smith (photos): A (so far)

Garrett was great to work with the day of the wedding. He took a lot of shots, and stuck around all night. We have yet to see our proofs, so the jury is still out on his final grade.

Clark's Tuxedo: B-

Initially, they were very nice and easy to work with. However, when the boys went to pick up the tuxes there were several problems with sizes. Also, the shop was really busy, and they were understaffed to serve everyone's needs in a timely manner. I don't know if I would go through them again with so many other options out there.

Fantasy Bridal: A

Found the dress of my dreams, and they altered it in a timely and affordable manner. My only small compliant would be they charged me for a garment bag.

Jen and Gil (flowers): A+

They did a wonderful job on the flowers. They were beautifully put together, and everything I wanted.

Hilary (invitations): A+

She took my ideas and made them real in a unique way. The invitations were everything I wanted.

Nghia (officiant): A+

Nghia wrote most of our beautiful ceremony, and personalized it perfectly. He followed the script, was appropriate, and spoke clearly. He was wonderful.

Harmons (cupcakes): A+

The gourmet cupcakes were pretty, and delicious. The services were easy to arrange, and very affordable. I would use the bakery there again.

Patti (centerpieces): A+

My mom grows awesome wheat grass, and the ceterpieces were beautiful and looked professional. I would have my mom grow me wheat grass anyday.

Nana and company (favors): A+

The bread was so yummy, and everyone loved it. The bows and labels were put on perfectly. I will let my Nana bake for me anytime!

The Wedding

I think the most logical place to start a blog about my life as a married woman is with a wedding recap. Since most of the people reading this blog attended the wedding, I will try to keep it brief, but it was the most magical and memorable day of my life, so it might get a lengthy!

The day started out perfectly, with no rushing around or stress. My mom came and picked me up, and we went to meet Ali and VaRonica at the hair salon. My hair dresser was running a half an hour to 45 minutes ahead of schedule! How lucky is that, usually it is the opposite. VaRonica and Ali then had some extra time to go grab some lunch before setting up for the reception and ceremony. My mom's and my appointments went just as smoothly, so we also had time to grab some food, which is always a good thing, considering how ornery I get when I do not eat.

We then meet up with the girls at the hotel room, and got ready for pictures. Our photographer was so good. He was very personable, and had a lot of creative ideas. I cannot wait to see the proofs. I was also excited to see Dalan in his tux and for him to see me in my dress. It was very magical to be photographed while all dressed up with him. I also was so impressed with his groomsman. They were so helpful, and detailed orientated during the whole wedding. Of course, I was so impressed with Ali and VaRonica too. Anyone who will go up your skirt to fix your bra is a true friend in my book.

After pictures, Dalan and I got a rare ten minutes alone before the wedding. This was also one of the most special parts of the day, just to be alone and get to catch our breaths together. We exchanged gifts with one another during this time. He gave me a beautiful necklace from Tiffany's. I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when he handed me that little blue box. I gave him a pretty kick ass Swiss Army Knife, that has so many features that my dad asked if it actually had a knife!

Then, it was time to meet the wedding party in the lobby. This is the only time of the day I felt nervous. It was a good time to meet, however, and worked out for the best since my mom ended up having to sew a bottom back on Jason's jacket right before the ceremony.

The ceremony was perfect. I thought I would cry, but I was just so happy that I could not stop smiling. I thought I would be so nervous, but it was just the opposite. I guess you never know how you are going to react. I did have trouble reciting the vows, because apparently I was floating too high on cloud nine to remember 6 word phrases. My Nana did an incredible job with her reading, and Rob was really funny during his reading. I got a lot of compliments that the ceremony was "us" which was my ultimate goal, so that meant a lot to me.

Then it was time to party! Again, I think the reception was "us." We had a short cocktail hour, followed by an activity in which all our guests had to draw one another. We then had Cole and VaRonica put all the squares together into a giant picture. Everyone really liked looking at it all night long. Thanks Becca for the awesome idea!


Ali, Jason, Jan, VaRonica, and Nghia all gave touching toasts at the end of dinner. Just further proof that we have the best family and friends! Then, we did our first dances, and the band started. The band was incredible. They had the whole place dancing all night!

I think one of the most bizarre/funny moments of the night was when I did the bouquet toss, and some how tossed it into a small cubbie in the ceiling. It landed perfectly in there. I laughed so hard. Some of the guys came to the rescue, and lifted Nghia up like cheerleaders and he pulled it down for take two. Julia caught the bouquet, and Jason caught the garter, so I am looking forward to weddings 2009!

We had a firework send off at the end of the night, and were greeted by a decorated car, with cans tied to the bumper and all! The wedding party, and parents totally stepped up again and the end of the night and cleaned up like champs.

I just had so much fun dancing with friends, seeing family, and most of all, marrying Dalan!

Here are just a couple of photos: