Jake's Work Party

Several weeks ago Jake and I went to his work party. It was probably the coolest party we will ever go to. Every year his boss rents out Chase Stadium and holds a wicked awesome party. We got to see some famous people like Muhammad Ali, Melissa Peterman (who plays Barbara Jean in the show Reba), and of course Danika Patrick. There was live music, a comedian, a delicious buffet, cash giveaways, and fireworks! The only downside was that we didn't know anyone! Thousands of people and Jake and I just sat at our table all alone. It really was just great to be a part of it though. Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Danika's sweet cars!

The Temptations

Muhammad Ali! We felt like such losers taking his picture but couldn't pass up the chance.

Jake and his boss

Thanksgiving Weekend

My family came to AZ for Thanksgiving this year. It was so much fun! We spent most of the day hanging out and eating with Jake's family, and then we went to Tucson for the weekend to visit my cousins down there. I love having my family in my home, and I love all the crazy games we play and the inside jokes we have. I didn't get any pictures from Thanksgiving dinner but here are some highlights from the rest of the week.

This was my dad's first time playing Mario Kart Wii. He did really well! I love Jack's face in this picture. And Carson is so talented that he can play and text at the same time :)

My momma and baby Kate.

We visited this really cool old mission south of Tucson called Tumacacori.

Yes, we're sisters.

Remember that cool game where the fish spin around and open and close their mouths and you try to catch them? Well we played it. And I was pretty much awful. Krista won but she totally cheated!

My favorite part of the weekend was going on a walk one morning with my parents and my aunt Clarinda. My dad and I were wearing shorts and t-shirts, we passed an old couple who were adorned in coats, hats, and gloves. They thought we were from Alaska :)

I love these trees! I call them Dr. Seuss trees because they are so crazy and fun, they look like they came out a Dr. Seuss book. They look fuzzy and charming from far away but they're actually pretty spiky, they might be some sort of cactus. Every time I go to Tucson I want to take a picture of these guys and I finally did. My parents were fascinated by some of the desert plants we have down here, especially the huge Saguaro cacti.

Growing Old Together

Ok I've been meaning to write about this for a while so I'm doing it now before I forget! A couple weeks ago at work there was this old man who just made my day. I work as a receptionist/sales rep for a vacation membership club. Customers come in and we give them a presentation about our company. There are a number of qualifications people have to meet in able to see the presentation, for example, we aren't allowed to tour single males. That's where the old man comes in. He was alone, so we couldn't tour him, and we had to turn him away. One of the managers explained our regulations and sent him on his way. About 5 minutes later he comes back in and walks up to the front desk. I thought he was going to yell at me (which is a pretty common occurrence) but he just started talking. He was pretty offended that he couldn't see the presentation only because he was single. He told me how his wife had died of cancer earlier this year, and showed me pictures of them dancing on their 50th wedding anniversary. He told me about how they met (on a blind date), he could even remember what she was wearing. He gave such lovely descriptions of her. You could hear in his voice how much he missed her. I wish I could have talked to him longer but I was really busy and my boss was rushing me to get things done. Before he left he told me a joke/pick up line that I love. He asked me, "are my eyes blue?" and I answered yes. Then he said, "That is so weird. They only turn blue when I'm looking as something pretty." Isn't that so precious? Haha I have a point to all this I promise.
Sometimes I am terrified of getting old. Like.... dentures? They freak me out. So does having to get glasses, hearing aids, and having back/knee/any kind of joint trouble. It scares me. But that old man helped me see a little bit of the sweeter side of old age. Spending all those years with someone you love. Nothing could be better. Our hair will turn gray, our skin will get loose and wrinkly, our bodies will weaken, and our senses will dim, but love will always stay strong. Even after death. I'm in no rush to reach old age, but I am excited about all of the life Jake and I get to live before we get there. I am so grateful for him and most especially that I get to keep him forever! This isn't nearly as eloquent as it sounded in my head. In a nut shell, life is precious! Enjoy every bit of it!

New Apartment!!

A quick shout out to Mom and Dad Rucker for letting us live with them for a couple months. They helped us out so much, we will be forever in their debt! And again thanks to Jesse and Mallory for storing our stuff all summer. Seriously. Thank you!

Well, Jake and I are really picky (or maybe it's just me...) but once we found our apartment we fell in love! So here are some pictures of our new place. We're on the third floor which is sometimes a bummer but we get a good workout! And I feel safer on the third floor when I'm home alone.

My favorite room! I love love love this kitchen. Our last two kitchens (in Mesa and CA) were so small! Absolutely no counter space. But this one is marvelous!

Dining room. Out table looks tiny in this picture. All of the walls are so blank. We need some cool art to cover them and bring in some color!!

Bathroom!

The bedroom is pretty boring. Just a bed, a side table, and a lamp. There is a sliding door in the bedroom, which is another reason I'm glad we're on the third floor. Sliding door+bedroom+1st floor=scariness. So we'll move onto the wicked awesome closet! We don't have a dresser so it's pretty packed in there.

Family room! Wahoo! And that concludes our tour.

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

So I was reading a friend's blog yesterday and saw that she had drawn some dress designs for a contest by Shabby Apple dresses. I've always loved their dresses and since I love drawing I figured I'd sketch something fast (since the contest ends today!) and post it. So here is my dress design. I couldn't decide which color I liked better so I did both. Wish me luck!

Yellow is by far my favorite spring color, and I always have the hardest time finding a fun, modest spring dress. The main part of the dress would be a strech cotton, with white sleeves overlayed with a sheer fabric (Sorry, I don't know much about fabric and their specific names). The sheer fabric is also ruffled along the neckline and toward the hem, which ends just below the knee. A light flowery/paisley pattern in a darker yellow fades in and out sparadically throughout the dress. This dress is designed to be light, airy, and is sure to turn quite a few heads.Alghouth dark blue is rarely seen as a spring color, the stark contrast with the sleeves and waistband still maintain the fun and flirty aspects of the yellow version of the dress. The type of fabric used would be the same, the only difference is the striped wasteband verses the buttons on the yellow dress, and this dress is a solid color (no flowery designs).

Phoenix Symphony

On Saturday Jake and I went to the Phoenix Symphony! A friend of ours has a friend that was able to score us some sweet tickets! And it was amazing. Jake picked me up after the Relief Society conference (which was great), and we made our way to Phoenix. I had never been in that part of the city before and I loved it. There really is some great architecture in Phoenix. We'll have to go back one day and go through some museums or just walk around.

Alondra de la Parra was the conductor, and Adam Golka was a guest pianist. Both are in their 20s. It was great to be able to see such young, talented, successful people. My favorite piece was the Sinfonia India, composed by Carlos Chavez. Parts of it made me feel like I was suddenly in The Lord of the Rings or some other fantasy book. Next was the Concerto No.2 in G minor by Sergei Prokofiev. This is where Golka preformed. He was brilliant. We were lucky enough to be seated on the side of the concert hall that allowed us to see his hands. At some points they were moving so fast everything was a blur! And he played without any sheet music. A-maz-ing. Last was Symphony No. 8 in G major by Antonin Dvorak. The whole experience was wonderful. I'm always amazed at the feelings and emotions that music can invoke.

Art Take 2

So I've been working on a few things (not nearly as much as I should) and I thought I'd share! It's hard for me to be motivated to do art projects without an art teacher and a due date. I start a lot of things but don't finish them. But since I'm unemployed and with Jake now starting his new job I have a lot of free time. Jake is pushing me and his mom to start a mural business, where we'd paint murals and little flourishes in peoples homes. It'd be an awesome job but I need some practice! So I'm determined to sketch AT LEAST once a day, and paint something a few times a week.

This is called The Girl with the Blue Sucker. It's my sister Sydney when she was little. She is my favorite person to draw/paint. Not really happy with the shirt. I get impatient with oils after a while, since I haven't had much practice with them. So as soon as the face was done I scrambled through the rest.

Mesa Temple! This was commissioned by my father in law. It took me FOREVER! I'd probably rather draw hands all day (which I hate) than draw buildings. It's crazy hard to get all the angles right and there is so much detail. But it's nice to broaden my horizons and work on something different. It was a really neat project. My mom wants one in water color, and I think I'm going to do a big drawing/painting of the Bountiful Temple whenever I can afford to get it framed.

Sorry this one is so dark! I couldn't figure out the scanner so I had to take a picture. I did this today as my daily sketch. It's called Rain Dance. I want to do more with it, it'd look really sweet done in watercolor, and I think it has the makings of a cute book. Anyone want to write a story?

Labor Day Weekend

We drove up to Utah again for Labor day. The drive was pretty uneventful, except we did get to see how construction is going on the new bridge at Hoover Dam. We drove by it last Christmas and were impressed. It's a HUGE bridge.

Sydney was visiting from Tucson this weekend too, but we went a day early to surprise my family. We pulled into the driveway and no cars were there. The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in, but there was no one home! We drive 13 hours and there is no one to suprise. What a bummer!
Some highlights of the week include, going to the Music and the Spoken word on Sunday, visiting my niece Emery, playing tennis with the fam, visiting grandparents, my parents buying a Cadillac (haha!), eating delicious peaches, seeing my brother Rory and his wife Rebecca (hadn't seen them since Christmas!) feeling the first touches of fall, and the 2 year anniversary of our first date/kiss! It was such a wonderful weekend!

Carson drew on Jake's neck with a permanent marker. So Jake tackled Carson and did this :)

The Orchestra and the bells were there. It was amazing!

2 Years from our first date/kiss at Temple Square

Emery! She's getting so big! And she has hair!

Tippie toes! She can stand on her own pretty well and can walk a little bit when she has her toy cart thing.

Yellow watermelon. I kid you not.

Pretty Zaugg farm

I've always loved this sign. I think it'd look really neat all cleaned up and in someones laundry room or something.

Tucson

My little Sister Sydney moved to Tucson last month to live with my cousin Amber. Originally she was going to nanny for a family down there but they changed their mind once she got down there. But Syd loves being with my cousin and helping her take care of her kids. It's been great for Sydney, teaching her more responsibility and patience. She's always been amazing with kids. She isn't sure how long she'll be down there but I like having her so close! I've visited her twice, once when Jake was still in CA and then again when Jake came home. Here are some cute pictures from the trips!

Syd and baby Kate

We forgot her hat when we went to the pool. Amber's was too big so we fashioned one out of my tank top.

Amber and Jack

Jack's pre-birthday presents :)

Jali on her first day of school

Rain dance

Well since she wasn't soaked enough, she decided to sit in a tub of water.

Jake's reaction whenever I make him hold a baby

The Incredible Indestructable Blackberry

Sorry it's been FOREVER since the last post. I've had tons to blog about, and plenty of time to do it, I'm just extremely forgetful. So apologies all around. Today I'd like the tell the story of Jake's extremely tough Blackberry. We got it a few days after our wedding, and since then it has undergone some harsh treatment, such as.... falling onto concrete or a hard surface dozens (and dozens) of times, falling into a milk shake, falling into water multiple times, falling on the beach and getting sand stuck in the little ball scroller thing, and.... getting run over by a truck!! No joke! Here is the picture to prove it.

Jake was out with a friend offroading and hiking and somehow his phone fell out of his pocket. When they were half way down the mountain he realized his phone was missing so they drove back to find it. Jake found it implanted in the ground with tire marks on it. And it still works! What an amazing phone!
We're back in Arizona, living with Jake's parents and uncertain about the future. We'd been thinking of moving to Utah at the end of the year but I doubt that is going to happen now. So we're just gunna wing it and see where jobs take us. Jake's had some interviews at Go Daddy and is hoping to get a call back soon.
Our last days in CA were pretty fun. I'd moved back to AZ a week or so before to start job hunting but went back to CA to clean our apartment and haul the rest of our stuff home. We drove down through San Diego on or way home because Jake wanted to go swimming with sharks, like my sister and I did last summer with my cousin Krista. So we drove to La Jolla and had a blast snorkeling with leopard sharks! They are completely harmless and pretty small so now worries! We did see a sting ray though and that kinda freaked me out. I miss our friends from CA and the nice weather but it's good to be home.

Ode to Madi's Magnificent Bag

Oh my beautiful Argentinian companion. How I weep for thee. Our six years together have seemed but a moment, and the thought of life without you torments my heart. You have been by my side everyday. Walked where I have walked, cried where I have cried. You were there, a gentle presence, for every important occasion in my teen and adult life. No school day passed without your beauty. No track meet occurred without your colorful threads. No date was allowed without you as my chaperon. Each time my feet stepped out into the world I felt safe with your soft pressure on my shoulders.

You've been the receiver of countless compliments given by unknown passersby. You bend and twist to hold whatever I desire. Your strings have snapped carrying my burdens, and still you thrive; despite my meager attempts of mending. You are a precious gift, brought by a beloved brother over thousands of miles, to serve a small girl of fifteen. I thank you now for your tireless efforts, and give you the respite you deserve. Although you will no longer travel with me each day, I will always remember our time together, and miss you eternally.

OK so this might seem a little over the top, but for those of you who have known me for several years you know that this bag goes EVERYWHERE I do. I have never been a purse person, and I love this bag so much because it's a backpack and I don't have to carry it or worry about it falling off my shoulder. It's perfect for every occasion except one. And that occasion is job interviews. The last few interviews I went to I felt pretty ridiculous dressed up in my awesome suit pants and blouse, carrying a brightly colored, shabby backpack. So I decided I needed something a little more mature. And boring. So I made Jake help me pick out a purse that looks professional but still retains a lot of functions that I like in my old bag. I have never liked the way I look wearing a purse so Jake was great at giving me his opinions and we found one we liked! I'm sure I will still use my backpack all the time, but for normal day to day stuff I have a new "grown up" bag. So farewell my sweet Argentine accessory!

Birthday Boy

We went back to AZ again for Jake's birthday. It was great to see family and relax for the weekend! We especially had fun playing with Jake's twin nieces Sadie and Grace. They are pretty much the only thing I took pictures of the whole weekend.

Oh BONUS! I got see my wonderful friend Sarah, who just moved to Mesa. I wasn't planing on visiting her but Jake and I needed to go to the distribution center and when we walked in, there she was! She was busy working but it was so nice to visit with her for a while!

Sadie and Jake, Grace and Madi

Jake and the girls were playing with jitters, crawling around and barking at her. I think Sadie kept meowing though...

The girls had so much fun digging in the backyard with their new gardening gloves! And Grace found Jessy's hat and glasses and turned into a gangster :)

Jake + Wings =
:)

Creepy Jake. Creepy Madi.