Walking on Sunshine...

 

When Allison told us she was coming to visit I was over the moon excited.

I just love this girl so much.

I love that when she comes to visit we dont have to have anything on the agenda.

We can simply be us -

and not worry one bit.

I was actually kind of glad I had to work because she and James got to spend a lot of time together.

I could hardly wait for her to see the place we call home.

She and James did a four mile walk -

hitting up Balboa and all of our favorite streets.

I loved getting home at night and hearing about their adventures together as twinzies.

Mostly I was just glad that someone else was adoring the simple things about our life here.

 

Can you even believe this sign?

I think it is fate.

 One of the main reasons Allie came was for our friend Ronnies wedding.

You may remember him from a BYU Weekly story I did awhile back.

The wedding was held about an hour and a half away from Newport in a town called Temecula.

I had little expectations for this town...

and boy was I blown away.

It was the southern California version of St. George.

And I was in love.

Quaint. Beautiful. And less of a city than Orange County.

What can I say - I enjoy a good ranch town.

We drove down with Allie and Leigh.

The girls chatted - James drove - and drummed.

All of James and Allies best friends from college were in town for the big day.

Ronnie and Mikael are an absolutely adorable couple.

While I dont know Ronnie very well I have been inspired by him like many, many others.

Seeing him so happy and in love was so wonderful....

and their garden reception was to die for!

I wish so badly I would have snapped more pictures.

Temechula was nothing short of charming.

 We of course stopped by Fashion Island.

Allison and James visited True Foods one day while I was at work...

and I am happy to report we have another True Foods lover in the fam!
One of the highlights of Allison being here was that we got to go to a 4D ultrasound of Katies little baby boy.

While we spent a lot of the time laughing at the little guy hiding in his Mommys tummy...

I must admit that it was pretty cool to see how the munchkin has already formed.

The little guy was sucking his thumb and made me realize what a miracle life is.

We are so grateful Katie and Vonn invited us to come along.

The day after the wedding we had a little BBQ at one of our favorite parks down by Dana Point - 

over looking the harbor.

The Lanai crew (James college friends) came down from Temecula to join in on the fun.

We grilled up hamburgers and I even tried my hand at grilled sweet potato fries.

They are still a work in progress - but not bad.

The boys ... and girls got in on some football...

and the party must have been a success because the crew is planning to return later in the summer.

That night was the night we headed down to the wedge.

Allison recently got a new camera lens that is amazing - 

so she got in a lot of good practice.

We all had a blast chatting, taking pictures, and watching the surfers.

 

Sunday night we had a big Barker dinner to say goodbye to Allie.

My favorite part of the day Monday was looking at my phone to see a text from James that read...

It is hard to see Allison go.

These two adore each other.

We miss her sunshine around here -

and are already planning her next trip back.

Thanks for visiting our humble abode Allie!  

Come back soon.

The Wedge...

Allison is in town. 

We are in absolute heaven with her here.

We have kept ourselves busy this weekend.

I have lots of things I want to post on...

but I couldn't resist posting these pictures from today.

 

Early evening we went down to our favorite part of the peninsula

and noticed that the waves were INCREDIBLY high.

So we booked it just a few blocks down to what is called the wedge.

It is basically a world famous beach for surfers and body-surfers...

but tonight must have been an exceptionally good night.  

 

There were tons of people out watching -

and clapping.

Mostly I just loved hanging out with my favorite set of twins.

Allison taught me a thing or two about photography while

James threw his football around.

I could chat with Allie all day - 

poor James has to endure chats about everything from dating, clothes, crafts, blogs, photography, design etc. etc.

How lucky am I that marriage nabbed me a husband AND his twin?

 

 It was a picture perfect night...

then again it doesnt surprise me.

June 25th will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Two years ago on this very day I unwillingly met a handsome boy in Laguna Beach.

I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him that night...

and two years later I want absolutely everything to do with him.

Thanks to the Barker twins for letting me join in on their little duo.

Couldn't have asked for a better day.

Wednesdsay Wisdom...

When  I was about ten years old a wonderful beautiful woman came into my life.  Her name was Rose Ashby Andrus, the wife of my first cousin Laron Andrus.  They were both school teachers and loved children.  Rose had a cheerful, fun, upbeat personality, which drew people to her.  Occasionally she would invite me to spend the weekend at their home in St. George.  One of those weekends she asked me if I would like to have a pretty new dress!!!  A pretty NEW dress was almost unheard of to me, so I was absolutely thrilled.  So Rose took one of her discarded dresses made out of a pale pink satin and lace, conjured up a pattern, and made me the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen.  But that was not all.  She took me to a beauty parlor(I had never seen one before) to have Edith Harris "Marcel" my blonde hair (wave curls) then to a photographer to have a picture taken of the new me.  Today it would be called an Extreme Makeover.  The picture above is the result.  Years later, Edith Harris married my husband's cousin, so it was all in the family.  Edith was another wonderful and beautiful lady that was a great example to me.  My mother must have been bursting with pride when Laron and Rose took me home wearing the beautiful dress and shining curled hair, and a puff of face powder to top it all off.   Rose and Laron eventually had two beautiful daughters to love and make pretty dresses for.  How lucky those girls were to have Rose and Laron as parents.  I appreciate women like Rose and Edith who made a lasting impression on me, helping me to develop a desire to be a little like them.  After knowing them I have always been aware of the goodness in the women I have met all over the country. I have always tried to emulate them in some aspect of my life.  Friends chosen carefully can be a priceless treasure.   Thanks Rose, for being the first of that kind of woman in my life.  Love to you all---Grandma Ora

Stay @ home husband

As previously mentioned by my hacker...

James is currently a "stay-at-home husband" until his job starts in a few weeks.

It is absolutely hysterical the things he does while I am gone.

He has been nagging and nagging me to get {or make} a camera case.

He is so worried I am going to break it.

{This is actually a very valid worry as I tend to break/loose everything}

He brought lunch to me at work yesterday 

and exclaimed that if I wasn't going to "get it done" - he would.

I laughed and said, "Oh yeah? Really?  

You are going to sit down at the sewing machine and make me a camera case?"

I tried to explain that sewing is actually quite difficult.

A little miffed that I would doubt him in his current role as house husband 

{if you will}

the stinker set out to prove me wrong.
I swear - the kid is so competitive it makes me sick.
You tell him he cant do something and he will surely set you in your place.

 I came home from an exhausting day and found this...

I truly think we laughed for an hour.

I could not contain myself.

I have no idea how he figured it out.

For James to be able to 

a. find my scrap fabric

b. get a thread even remotely through the machine and in the needle

and c. actually figure out how out how to make a square -

it is an absolute miracle.

I asked him how he threaded the machine.

He said, "I dont know there was just a thread there so I just stepped on the pedal."

The threads dont look anything like stitches -

more like loops.

And he tried to get the whole flip it inside out thing down -

but somehow it went terribly wrong.

Yet, it is still quite impressive.

 I am still laughing just thinking about James up at my sewing machine -

"stepping on it"

as he says.

To put it lightly - his job needs to start...

AND STAT.

{I think no one would agree with this more than James himself}

Side note.

We {finally!} found out James passed his second CPA exam.

 He passed with FLYING colors.

We are still waiting for exam #3 scores.

And he is almost ready for #4.

{Yay for no more flashcards!}

I am so proud of him and all of his hard work.

He is extremely diligent in his studies...

well at least when he isn't sewing.

Congrats James!

Laugh...

After a long hard week at work I finally feel like I am getting somewhere.
I won't hide the fact that the first few days were very difficult.
I am on a huge learning curve.
It is tough and absolutely terrifying.
The first few days I couldn't think about anything but work.
I feared that I was going to be like that forever.
I was going to be that career woman that couldn't do anything at home
because of my job.
James was such a trooper and helped me through -
and by Friday I felt like I had come into my own.
I have big shoes to fill at my office
but everyone is helping form them to my feet
so that I can make them my own.
Tomorrow will be my first day without my trainer -
and I am hoping to hit the ground running in my new working girl shoes.

 

On Friday I felt like I was getting the hang of this full time thing.

I start at 6:30 am which is actually quite nice.

I get home at 3:30 which leaves me plenty of daylight and sunshine.

As soon as I got home on Friday I was able to forget work -

and just have fun with James.

We had a delicious summer BBQ together 

and then James took me to Sprinkles.

I told him it was to celebrate my first week of work.

And he agreed.

We spent the night with Katie and Vonn.

We are attempting to watch all 7 of the Harry Potter movies before the 8th one premieres in July.

Call us nerds.

Call us freaks.

We don't really care.

James has only seen the 7th movie.

And I am a closet HP lover.

So, I have taken it upon myself to show him the ways of the magical world.

However, Katie and Vonn are the absolute experts so I am glad I have their help.

Katie had all types of Harry Potter food prepared for us 

and James enjoyed getting crunked

(as he called it)

on butterbeer.

 

On Saturday I was thrilled to see that June gloom had also taken the day off.

I have a new theory that God invented June gloom to encourage people like me to go to work.

It has been quite gloomy here all week -

making it easy for me to be inside.

But Saturday it was absolutely gorgeous.

I left my overflowing dirty clothes hamper and did what matters most -

spent time with James.

 

 We spent an hour building this beauty!

James insisted we ruin it before we left because if we didnt -

someone else wood.

So we crushed it 

and within minutes a little boy nearly burst into tears when he found the demolished castle.

I felt terrible -- but eventually the little boy and I got over it.

 For some reason neither of us have really done the touristy stuff on Balboa Peninsula.

In fact, I didnt even know the peninsula existed until we moved down here.

I thought it was just the island.

Shows how much I know.

But the area right around the ferry to the island is just darling and I have loved getting familiar with it.

I know all the tourists tend to bug some of the locals -

but as for now I am loving the swarm of summer.

I love that the beaches are filling up with families enjoying their time together.

On Friday there were tons of kids flying kites and I longed to have one.

Maybe next week.

 We came home just in time to do some yardwork on our little patio.

You have no idea how excited I am to have a little tree to water and a few weeds to pull.

College makes you miss those little delights in life like Saturday morning chores with the fam.

That night we went to the wedding of Karly Kimball and David Andrew.

It was a stunning reception right on the water of Backbay.

I have been looking forward to this reception for weeks.

Lots of friends were in town for the weekend and I was happy to see familiar faces.

Despite how beautiful it is here --

I have missed seeing familiar smiling faces.

 

Yesterday marked exactly one year since James put a ring on it.

I cant believe how fast this year has gone by.

We have learned so much.

And continue to learn every day.

This week I found myself laughing about car tiffs.

No one told me about car tiffs.

I feel like its something pretty common in marriage.

You know- the ones where for some reason you get irritated with each other and it has to be in the car so you have no where to go to blow steam.

Wives want to talk it out -

and husbands don't see the need.

These are the little moments that I have learned to love in the last year.

We are still mastering the car tiff.

But I think we have finally learned that the best conversations happen 

when you have a full stomach and a full nights rest.

Without those two factors - a serious conversation is almost certain to flop.

But when all else fails we have learned just to laugh.

What else can we do until we are masters of a good marriage?

This week there has been a lot of laughter as we adjust to our new life.

And I must say that laughter makes hard things a whole heck of a lot easier.

Fathers...

Happy Fathers Day

to the two men who didn't just give us life....

They gave us lives filled with love, learning and laughs.

We love you both more than you know!

May your Fathers Day be as wonderful as you are!

Talk Skype with you later.

Who loves technology on days like these?

HACKED!!!!! ................by a loving husband

This will mark my third official appearance on Karly's blog

and some may wonder why I have stayed so quiet

(especially while my friends and siblings make more contributions than I do to my wife's blog!).

So maybe I'll try to compare it something.

Consider actress Reese Witherspoon.  

Quick! Off the top of your head, who is her husband?!

After some quick research I learned that she just remarried this past March to Jim (James) Toth

who I, and presumably most of you, had never heard of.  

His face and name may have appeared in articles surrounding their wedding, 

but most likely we will never or rarely hear from/about him again-

and that's probably just how it should be!

Back to Karly and I.

She is the Reese, and I am the Jim.

(The name Jim makes me feel old and bald......ewww)

She is the superstar and I am the superstar's quiet friend and companion.

Quite frankly, I'm thrilled!

 So going forward, know that while Karly is busy blogging away

and posting all sorts of pictures and spending hours crafting her posts,

I will be smiling contently in the background seeing my superstar work on something she loves.

Ok, now on to why I hacked the blog in the first place!

She recently posted about her new job and new life in CA.

She just started that job this week and left me at home all alone

(at least until my job starts in a couple weeks)

and I miss her much more than I thought I would!

I just want to announce how proud of Karly I am.

She is so skilled and talented in so many areas.

She is an amazing wife and homemaker.

She will be an incredible young (and if she chooses, old) professional.

And most importantly she will be a dedicated mother to our future family.

Again, I'm just the old, bald Jim talking and directing all the attention to my superstar wife Karly.

Thank you for the support you give to her and us.

I look forward to seeing what accolades she gets

(She's already nominated for WOY 2011)

(Wife of the Year 2011)

and the journey we have ahead.

Hopefully she keeps me

(Reese let go of her first husband after about 7 years).

Until then, you probably won't hear much of me

but I'll be quietly adoring her all along the way.

Wednesdsay Wisdom...

 Snippets from the life of my beautiful Grandma -   

a chance for you to gain some wisdom -    

and a great way to do genealogy 

As a twelve or thirteen year old living in small farming community I spotting a car now and then.   The freedom of rolling down the dirt roads was so exciting.  I could  hardly wait until I was old enough and rich enough to buy a car.  Dream on Ora.  At that time my brother Wayne was single and working hard to 'take a stand and make a mark' in life.  He was accumulating a few cattle, raising a few turkeys, and buying a piece of property now and then.  To be in this business you  must have a pick-up truck, and so he acquired one.  It was a beautiful sight to behold to our family.  He would let me ride with him often to do do his chores and would give me a little lesson in driving.  I soon picked up the hang of a stick shift, how to use the clutch when shifting so you wouldn't produce a jerky ride and when to shift to a lower gear so as not to strain the engine.  I was so proud to have a big brother who would teach me such wonderful grown up things.  Soon after that the family was having dinner (dinner was lunch) when I suddenly had an idea.  Because I thought in my young mind that I was such a great driver, I should slip out and drive the pick-up around the block to show my family how clever and smart I was.  They were all waiting for me to return, but rather than punish me they all told me what a good driver I was.  Of course I knew I had over stepped my bounds in driving without permission, but it wasn't long until I was driving the small tractor we had, but instead of for fun, it was for work!  It was time to prepare the large parcel of land below our home, so after a few lessons, I was pulling a harrow behind the tractor, turning over the soil so it would be soft and fresh and ready for the next step towards planting a large truck garden, for which we depended on the mature product to sustain us and for much needed cash.  That was my first experience driving solo.  Thanks to my brother Wayne, I have always admired pick-up trucks, and loved cars.  I would love to have an old beautiful restored pick-up, but it is 'a day late and a dollar short.'  I have said I could give up everything but my car, and could even live in it.  So watch out my children and grandchildren, don't try to take my car away from me.  If you do, you will have a fight on your hands.  Instead, take the tires off, sit me in it, and I'll probably be happy.  Love to you all.  Grandma Ora

Coming Home...

 

Thursday James and I headed to Arizona for some family time.

This trip has been planned for quite some time.

It was a celebration to welcome home my nephew from his two year mission for our church.

Doing service for two years is most certainly a reason to celebrate.

And celebrate we did.

Our first stop was a date night with a good friend in Chandler AZ.

One of our best friends and long time roommate of James.

He has just found the woman of his dreams and we were thrilled to meet her.

Friday was full of shopping adventures, food, and lots of driving around town.

It was good for James to be able to drive around and spend some quality time with Michael --

the two of us were inseparable and I thought it was pretty important the two of them get to know each other.

We also got to spend lots of time with my niece Kate.

It is crazy to me that in such a short time she grew up so quickly.

15 is such a fun age and at this point she may as well be 20.

We love having her around because she is always making us laugh. 

More on that later.

Thanks to Dad we enjoyed a Hibachi style dinner.

It was oh so yummy!

And I was sick for days.

But what else is new.

I have loved getting to know my siblings in laws.

My sister Patrice married into the most wonderful family.

We absolutely loved spending time with them this weekend --

and they may not know it but they touched our lives in a very special way.

After dinner we went back to the house for a little chatting.

After all, eating and chatting is what we do best.

We sprawled out on my sisters patio furniture and within moments Kate said her leg was numb.

Welcome to Arizona.

The girl was stung by a scorpion.

I am officially scared to death by those things.

It is a good thing Kate is super flexible so she could ice it properly.

And we learned that an onion is a great natural medicine.

Plus, it is a good excuse for the tears that come with the sting.

Our little Scorpion friend was no where to be seen.

But Sunday morning he returned in the middle of another family chat --

and I am happy to report that he was taken care of by a flip flop.

That little bugger deserved it.

Had me jumping just from the sight of it.

Kate was a trooper.

Numb leg. Lip. Tongue. and all!

Poor thing took it like a champ!

Saturday we woke up early and headed out to Last Chance.

Although our waking up early didnt do us much good - 

as we took a wrong turn and missed the whole wait in line for the doors to open experience.

{Note - please excuse my lack of apostrophes and quotations as that button is broken}

If you havent heard of last chance it is basically the greatest thing that ever happened to me -

{slight exaggeration}

It is where Nordstrom(s)

{The s is for the Adams family}

sends all of their returns --

and then practically gives them away to people like me.

And boy oh boy do people take back some fabulous items.

I may or may not have gone twice this weekend.

All of you full price buyers...

I thank you for your returns.

You are doing a great service.

 We met up with one of our all time favorites --

Casey and Emily {Adams - cant help it} Blais.

And of course Mr. Adam Blais.

They are the Last Chance experts and we were happy to have them join.

I will note that my mom made Emily hold her big bag in this picture --

to hide the evidence of course.

After shopping we cruised down the street to a new restaurant Emily wanted to introduce us to.

We met up with another one of our favorite {newlywed} couples.

Michael and Nikki {Norton - cant help that one either} Orton.

I was so excited to get to see some of our best friends while we were in town.

Over the past week I have realized how very blessed I was to be raised by a small village.

We had such simple lives -

building forts and playing night games.

I would not trade it for the world.

Besides the company -

the food was absolutely incredible.

This is most certainly my new favorite restaurant kitchen.

True Food.

By far the most educated and healthy restaurant I have ever been to.

Everything is simple and fresh.

Very few ingredients - 

yet delicious.

We learned that just to be a waiter you have to take 3 tests about health foods.

If you are a foodie - you will love this place.

If you are a health nut - you will love this place.

And even if you arent - you will love this place!

James ordered a Bison Burger and was in heaven.

He cant get over it.

I had squash spaghetti and shared a delicious salad with my mom.

Ate every bite.

And the best part about it was we learned that their is one at Fashion Island 

just 10 minutes from our house.

{Then I remembered my sister-in-law Katie telling me all about it!}

I am now begging James to take me their for date night this week.That night the Winterhollers hosted an Open House for Michael.

And guess what we did -

Eat!

We did a lot of that this weekend.

But James and I also had the privilege of driving Miss Kate to her friends house to get these puppies.

Check out those morph suits.

Kate is on a pom team at her high school and the entire team wore these and danced around the hotel.

They even snuck them into disneyland -

but were kicked out for taking away from the characters.

They made me miss being a teenager.

I couldnt stop laughing at them.

Hysterical!

 

My niece Beth refused to let me take a picture of her.

But she is as darling as ever.

A little spitfire that one.

I am going to miss her this week.

This little one is one of the in-laws I talked about earlier.

Claire.

She is just too cute for words.

Chris and Patrice were so gracious to let us stay at their house.

We loved being in the thick of things and were so grateful for them.

I am extremely grateful for Michael and his service over the last two years.

And I was happy to be able to be their as he reported his mission.

What a blessing he is in my life!

 

He is heading to our alma mater in the fall and we couldnt be more excited for him.

And yes he is even sporting the shirt.

I am pretty sure he was SO sick of us telling him about how fun it is going to be.

But I will say it again Michael...

it is going to be SO much fun.

Just in case you missed the memo.

We cant wait to hear about all of your adventures!

 James and I were sad to say goodbye and make the 5 hour trek home.

Luckily for us we had some fabulous entertainment.

We spent a good portion of it talking to a few of the Barker family members.

Which is always so much fun.

We also love passing the hundreds - possibly thousands - of windmills that line the highway.

They are a site to be seen.

It is always fun to go on a new road trip and enjoy the beauty mother nature -

or not mother nature in this case -

has to offer.

Perhaps the most important part of our journey was the NBA Finals game.

Since James was driving I had to give him the play by play.

Literally.every.single.move.

Luckily I made things interesting imitating an ESPN announcer 

and putting my ol broadcast skills to good use.

As we got nearer to home James and I both agreed we were sad to leave family 

but oh so ready to be home.

Home.

As we pulled into our little neighborhood it felt comforting.

And for the first time since we moved -

I felt like it changed from a shabby apartment to our home.

I love vacation.

But it is always funny to me that we dream of these lavish vacations in far away places...

Yet nothing feels as good as simply coming home.

Welcome home Elder Winterholler.

We sure are proud of your service.

And glad to have you home!

The 90210

 James planned a little date to Beverly Hills and LA for the two of us.

He is pretty great like that.

 Our first stop was the Getty Museum.

It was an absolute must.

Totally free 

{besides parking of course}

and absolutely gorgeous.

 I will say that my favorite part of the museum isnt necessarily what is inside -

it is more of the atmosphere.

Right now they are featuring a Paris exhibit that I was certain my in laws would just love.

 I could not get over these beautiful flower tree/iron rod thing-a-ma-jigs!

And made a fool out of myself taking pictures of them.

Absolutely beautiful.

 The Getty overlooks the entire valley.

Again, I think the atmosphere is really what makes this place.

James was just thrilled to find a Popsicle that was Karly approved.

Welcome to California.

I am loving the healthy options on every corner.

After the museum we headed out to see some more sites.

We took the PCH down

{or up - I have no idea where anything is in relation to each other - new kid in town}

to Santa Monica pier before we headed over to Beverly Hills 

where we hit bumper to bumper traffic.

James was actually excited.

He wanted me to experience this part of LA.

I told him I believed him when he told me about it.

I did not need proof.

James was absolutely hysterical the whole day.

I don't know what got into him but he really wanted to be a super star for the day.

As soon as we got onto Rodeo Drive I got out my camera to take this picture...

and the second I got it out he said -

put your camera away we need to look like super stars.

And he was dead serious.

He put his shades on and acted like he had some serious swagger.

For someone who thought Prince William was Princess Dianas brother --

this was pretty unusual.

And I must admit I was loving every second of my super star husband.

Nothing beats a day with James just driving around, 

looking at homes, and talking about our life together.

Really - it is one of my favorite things to do.

We finished up the night with dinner at The Ivy.

It was absolutely delicious!

Lobster ravioli and crab cakes never disappoint.

But we are sad to say we did not spot any stars.

Well -- besides James of course.

After all, he was a super star for the day!