Favorite Item of the Week

Apparently I'm in a very ambitious mood today and have decided on a little undertaking. I often find myself discovering new items that I fall in love with and then want to share with everyone. So, I'm going to try to pick one item each week to share with all of you. This week's favorite item: Yoplait Passionfruit Yogurt. The items that I discover are not necessarily new items - just new to me. I don't know how long Yoplait has had this flavor of yogurt, but I just discovered it and am now in love with it. I usually have a hard time finishing a regular Yoplait size yogurt. The texture and/or taste usually just starts to be overwhelming for the last few bites. Not so with the Passionfruit. I love everything passionfruit and this yogurt is no exception. I didn't get sick of it at all and, in fact, even wanted more when it was all gone. I highly recommend that you give it a try. And feel free to leave your own opinions/feedback on this blog. Another fun tip: while doing a little yoplait google search, I discovered their website which has several recipes that look pretty tasty. I think I might have to try the Greek Quesadillas with Yogurt Dill sauce. Bon appetit!

Slacking, yes, but I have pictures!

It's been a crazy time and, admittedly, I have been slacking with the blog updates. I have been checking other blogs, just not updating mine. I realized that I always get irritated when I check all the blogs and there's nothing new, but me not updating my blog probably contributes to similar irritation in the few who check my blog. So, I'll try to do better. And with all of that said, this post isn't much of an update. Hahaha. Mostly I'm just including the link to our wedding pics on my smugmug site. Here's the link:

http://jenzel.smugmug.com/gallery/4732023_psAN4#280246938_JZvyP

For now the pictures will have to do, but I'll do a real update soon!

Marriage and such

It's been almost a month and a lot has happened in the last few weeks, so this will be a long post. I think I have good reason for taking such a long hiatus, though. I'm a Mrs. now and so far, no regrets. In fact, we're pretty happy. I wish I had lots of pictures to tell the story, but we're still waiting for them, so I'll just have to use my words. And since a picture is worth a thousand words and there were lots of pictures taken, get ready for thousands of words. Okay, I won't write that much, but this could be long. Feel free to skim read, skip sections, whatever - I won't be mad. Mostly this will help me, many years down the road, to remember how everything was and how everything felt. We do have a few pics which I'll post here and when we do get the rest of the pictures, I'll post a link to them so if you do skim read, you can look at the pictures for the whole story.

Wedding week was a little crazy. With all of the families coming into town and all of the wedding preparations going on, we were very busy. I worked through Wednesday, so Thursday (the day before the wedding) was busy with preparations, packing, etc. I was up late getting everything done, so I got little sleep that night. It was about what I expected though. Friday started bright and early. My good friend Turbo (Jessica McDowell) came over at 6:30 am (thanks Turbo - you're awesome!) to do my hair and make up. My hair took only a couple minutes, the make up a little longer, but it all looked great. Turbo also stayed to do Amy's (my maid of honor) hair. Jared's parents and family were meeting us at the temple, so we rode up together with my parents. In the car we had a couple last minute things to take care of and then we were pretty much done. That left us time to really start thinking about what we were doing and that's when I started to get nervous. Needless to say, the last half of that car ride was hell. I don't think Jared was doing too bad, but I was a mess (my mom insisted on taking a picture of us together before we went into the temple. I'm not going to post that here because it's not a pretty sight. I looked about how I felt - not great). I never had second thoughts about what we were doing. I think I just started to realize the enormity of it all and it made me nervous. Once we were in the temple and preparations were underway, I was doing a little better. It was nice when Jared and I finally got to sit for awhile together in the celestial room. I was still nervous, but not like before. When they took us up to the sealing room, I think that's when Jared started to feel it. We were both nervous, but ready. When we finally walked into the sealing room, I was totally overwhelmed at seeing so many people who are so important to me. At that point I totally lost it. Some people say I looked terrified. I wasn't scared. I was nervous and overwhelmed, but never scared. I honestly have no idea what the sealer said for the first five minutes, but after that I collected myself and paid attention. A lot of it is a blur, but I do remember some things he said (if anyone who was there remembers anything specific, please share because it might be something that I forgot). If I could describe the sealing in one word, I would probably say it was intense. It wasn't crazy or anything, but for me, on a personal level, the emotions and thoughts I had during the ceremony were intense. While kneeling at the altar, I kept thinking over and over, "I can still say no, I can still say no!" Of course, I didn't, and when I said yes, everything just felt right.







In comparing the pictures we took before going into the temple to the pictures after we came out, it's a pretty funny contrast. We were so much happier after! We took lots of pictures after the sealing and then headed to Round Table Pizza for our luncheon. After the wedding, with all of my nervousness gone, I was really hungry and ready to eat and the pizza was perfect. We weren't into having a fancy luncheon because there would be so many kids there. We just wanted something that would be easy, tasty (especially for the kids), and wouldn't create any more work for our friends and family. I think the pizza was perfect. After the luncheon, we went home for a few minutes, but then it was off to the reception site to get things ready. And that's when things got crazy. I won't go into detail, but we'll just say that Jared and I were both completely stressed out with trying to get everything and everyone ready to go for the reception. When it all finally started, though, it was fantastic! Everything looked great, the food was great, the people were great - we were so happy with how everything turned out. It was so fun to see so many people that I haven't seen in so long. We loved it!




For the honeymoon, we went to Puerto Vallarta and had an absolute awesome time. With the intensity and busyness of the wedding day, a nice, relaxing vacation in Mexico was exactly what we needed. We had great food (thanks for the restaurant suggestions Kristen and Aaron!), awesome weather, great times swimming with dolphins, riding the zip lines (more thanks to Kristen for the suggestion), and just relaxing in Mexico. Thanks Julie and Terrell for the timeshare! When we got back from Mexico, we made a very quick trip up to Rexburg for the open house up there. It was hard going from the wonderful weather in Mexico to the frozen tundra of Idaho, but we survived (barely!). The open house went well and Jared's mom did a great job with the decorations, food, etc. Most of the time Jared was introducing me to people at that one, but a couple people came through that I actually got to introduce to him. A couple of my aunts and uncles were there and it was so fun to see them. We even went to a session at the Rexburg temple with them the morning before the open house. It was also so fun to see Mary Peterson, who I served with on my mission. After the open house, it was home to California where the craziness continues. My parents leave tomorrow for their 6 month mission to serve in the Nauvoo Temple and we'll be housesitting for them while they're gone. The timing is perfect and it will be great for us to have someplace to stay, rent-free, for 6 months and it will be great for them to have someone taking care of the house. Win-win...win. This last week has been crazy with them packing up, us moving but not unpacking, us trying to stay out of their way and not make a huge mess, and trying to figure out what to do with an extra set of couches (we ended up squeezing them into the house. That's makes for a lot of extra seating. Did someone say party?).

It's been one crazy day after another, but it's all been so great and Jared and I are so happy. Things should finally settle down a little next week, but whatever the circumstances, we're enjoying life!

The Shiz is Hitting the Fan

Things are a little crazy right now - for obvious reasons. There's a lot to do before the wedding on Friday. So, what are you supposed to think when you're getting married in four days? I find it best to not really think about it at all because when I do, I kindof start to freak out. No big deal - it's just eternity in the balance. So, I'll just keep worrying about what needs to be done before Friday, not really think about actually being married, and we'll see where I end up on Saturday. Wait, I'm totally going to end up in MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe I like this getting married business.

Dog Envy and Pushy Salespeople

I have a problem. I covet dogs. Chances are that if you have a dog, I'm jealous of you. I WANT A DOG! I want one real bad. But I can't have one. At least not right now. So, I can only envy the lucky dog owners of the world. And hope that someday, I will have my dream.



Okay, on to pushy salespeople. I prefer to shop without a salesperson on my back constantly trying to persuade me to buy their stuff. I know - I'm crazy! I like watches and I especially like Swatches. The unfortunate thing is that the Swatch store is very small and usually there are no more than a few customers inside the store. Small store with few customers equals bored salespeople who will be all over you like flies on dog crap. I hesitated to go in tonight for that very reason. But, I just wanted to take a peek. Big mistake. I went in, proceeded to look around and very quickly had a salesperson at my side asking if I needed anything. "No thank you, I'm just looking." And by that, I mean go away. That's supposed to be the cue for the salesperson to leave you alone. This lady didn't get that. So she starts asking if I'm looking for myself or someone else and what type of watch am I looking for and what type of style is that person into. All of which is none of her business. Didn't she get that when I said I didn't need help, I meant it? If I want to try on a watch, I'll let you know. Until then, get the hell away from me! With something like a watch, she's not going to persuade me to buy it by telling me all about it. I will be persuaded by what I see because that's what I care about in a watch. I was trying to think of a polite way to just leave, but when she made the mistake of implying that I'm gay, it was over. I had had enough of the crazy lady. I told her that I didn't see anything that I wanted and left.

I also hate those people who work the booths in the middle of the mall. They stop you as you're walking by and try to get you to check their stuff out. If I wanted to check your stuff out, I would walk up and start looking at it. One of the booth ladies asked if she could show me some lotion as I was walking by. I said "no thank you" and kept walking. Then she asked, "Can I ask you something?" So I stopped and said, "yes". Then she said my fingernails looked nice and asked if they are natural. What the hell kind of question is that? It's a hook question, that's what it is. Except it didn't work on me because I don't care about being rude to those booth people. I think they're rude for trying to stop me while I'm walking by. When I said that, yes my fingernails are natural, she said, "oh can I show you something really quick?" So I said, "no, thank you." And I started walking away. And the lady had the most surprised look on her face. Like she really couldn't believe that her little ploy didn't work. All I want is to shop in peace and have the salespeople not be pushy! Is that too much to ask?

Salad Heaven

On Wednesday morning, Jared and I went to get our marriage license. We finished just before lunch and decided to grab something to eat before we went back to work. So we went to Panera and I got a half salad and a half sandwich. The salad was a chicken apple salad which I thought sounded pretty tasty. However, when I started eating it, it was pretty much one of the best salads I've ever had! It was so tasty! Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture online, but here's the menu description for the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad:

All-natural citrus-herb chicken, field greens, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pecans, gorgonzola cheese, apple chips & our white balsamic Fuji apple vinaigrette.

Of course, I got it without the tomatoes and onions because those items quickly ruin a salad for me. But, one of my favorite parts of the salad were the apple chips. Hello - why are apple chips not one of my regular snack foods? They're delicious AND nutritious! Two birds with one stone when you pack those down. I have decided that I need to eat more of those. Sometimes I forget how much I love fruit until I eat it. And I will have to go back to Panera for that salad - so tasty!

I'm it.

Molly tagged me. And because it was Molly, I will participate. I have a theory about blog tagging, though. I think it was first invented by someone who wanted to talk about themself without it looking like they wanted to talk about themself. Let's face it - everyone likes to talk about himself/herself. But, it looks bad. So, if you come up with an activity that requires you to talk about yourself, then you're doing it because you're "supposed to" not because you want to. So, I think somebody wanted to blog about themself one day and came up with this tag business to make it okay. And I'm not trying to say anything about people who participate in tagging (hello, that would obviously include me), I'm just putting forth my theory on its foundation. Okay, on to the six random things about me. And, I will try to make them things that most people don't know.

1. I usually wake up with some sort of music in my head. It's not usually anything I've been listening to recently, either. It's totally random. Yesterday it was "yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me" (yes, I love Pirates of the Carribean - it is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. And yes, Disneyland is one of my all time favorite places to visit). Today it was also something totally random, but I can't remember what.

2. I am not a puker. I can count on one hand the number of times I've thrown up in my whole life. But, one of those times was in front of my whole class in the school library when I was in third grade.

3. When I was about 6 or 7, I thought it would be really awesome to punch someone - you know like I always saw them do in movies (punching is different than hitting. Hitting, no big deal. Punching, that's a different story). So, my brother made me mad once and I punched him in the face. That was a big mistake since he was bigger than me. He slammed me against the wall and I've never thought it would be awesome to punch someone again. I still punch people in the face sometimes (while playing punchface), but that's different. Punchface is a game. I'm talking about punching just for the sake of punching. Sounds fun, but it doesn't always work out.

4. I have two guilty pleasure songs that bring joy to my heart. Guilty pleasure songs are those songs that you really shouldn't love, but you do. Those songs that you are just ashamed to like. But, if you like it, you like it and you have to embrace that. Everybody is entitled to have some guilty pleasure songs and they're very liberating. If you haven't identified your guilty pleasure songs, I encourage you to do so ASAP. Mine are "Lucky" by Britney Spears - so awesome! - and "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston - that is the most awesome song to belt out in the car!

5. I love clouds. This is something that I decided a couple weeks ago. I don't always like what's inside the clouds, but when have you ever seen an ugly cloud? You haven't. That's because there are none. In all of their forms, clouds are wonderful. And when it's foggy, you get to be inside the clouds! Clouds make beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Bright white clouds agains a beautiful blue sky makes a stunning contrast. Even rolling, gray thunderclouds are pretty awesome. Clouds - I love them!

6. When I was about 5 years old, I threw a paper airplane during sacrament meeting at church. My brother made it and gave it to me. And what is a 5 year old kid going to do when they're given a paper airplane? Throw it, of course! And that's what I did and it went flying! Probably one of my best endeavors. Nobody wants to admit it, but everyone loves it when stuff like that happens in church! And, that's one of the main reasons I'm excited to go to a family ward!

Okay. Those are the 6 random things about me. Now, I tag Jessica, Ella, and Amy! Ready. . . go!