jewkes of hazard having fun

somebody

2012-01-19T01:02:00.000-08:00

beau and i have had this song on repeat for the last few weeks. its just too good not to share. and what's even more amazing is that the music video makes the song 100x better. the lyrics, passion, and artistry of the clip are captivating...dare i say addicting. the only downside is that it isn't longer! so for those of you who haven't heard this song or more importantly seen the video...its worth 4 minutes of your time.

my favorite part is when she shrugs her shoulders

2012-01-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

i genuinely wish there was some sort of surgery to mend an emotionally broken heart......

but alas, these things take time. i guess it was meant to heal this way- no quick fixes.

on a happier note... i am LOVING the 80 degree weather this week in L.A. it is wonderful.

vent

2011-12-01T08:23:00.000-08:00

when i started school down here in l.a. in september a new commute was added to my time of being in the car and i couldn't find new music fast enough to keep me entertained so what did i do??...something i never thought would happen... i started listening to talk radio. (gasp) mainly NPR because the other stations just have too many commercials. i will say that it makes my drive go by faster and is a great way to stay informed of whats going on even if sometimes its depressing.

the first story on the air this morning was about women who are angry because society hasn't educated them that their fertility decreases exponentially with age...HELLO????!!! it interviewed a specific woman who at the age of 41 after a very successful career as a violinist was seeing a fertility specialist with her husband and was shocked when he laid out her fertility prognosis. the reporter mentioned that there is no government organization that pushes education of fertility for women (like this would solve the problem). and this is where i wanted to pick up my phone and call the reporter or the woman being interviewed and give them a piece of my mind. i reevaluated and figured that my blog can be my outlet for now.

it is moments like this, that i am so grateful for my mother and what she taught me about the importance of raising a family and the joy it brings. i am also grateful for a prophet and a church that emphasizes this as well. i don't have to be dependent on a government to tell me that if i i want to have children i shouldn't wait till i'm forty. and although some super women have a very successful career and have children most have to choose and sadly more and more women are choosing to wait till its too late. i could go on and on about what else was talked about in the story but that would be boring. i will end by saying that although i would love to get graduate degrees and have a successful nursing career, i would give up anything to be a mother and raise children. and i don't need a government agency to raise my awareness of this.

(this is not my daughter but my sweet little niece lauren)

i'll get off my soap box now.

jewkes reunion june 2011

ca-razy

2011-11-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

life has been crazy lately.

if i'm not swamped with school projects and work. i'm planning/attending many YW activities (i love my beehives) or rushing to complete my independent study course- which includes lots and lots of reading.

beau has been on a case that has pushed and stretched his physical, mental, emotional abilities like nothing else (he would argue his mission did it more but i wasn't around for that so we'll stick with this). i have spent many nights going to bed alone and waking up at 4 am still alone. beau will come staggering in an hour later and then wake up for a client meeting at 6 am. i don't know how he does it but i guess the junior core at BYU has prepared him with more then an accounting degree. not to mention on fridays after we play i get ready for bed and he goes back to the office to work till the wee hours of the morning..there has literally been no relief.

we have learned to value going to bed together, eating home cooked meals at our apartment. (if beau works past nine which has been every night for the last few months LEK provides funds for dinner which leads to me not cooking and us getting fat and sick of eating out. although we have come up with some creative ways to use the money...i dont know if i should publish those) our mindset has changed to a good night being together before 9 pM and overall since august i have seen very little of my man.

so..... imagine our thrill when last night after one of the final client meetings beau met me at home after work at 530!! we finished a home cooked dinner before 7, walked to starbucks and got some hot chocolate and made our way to barnes and nobles where we read our favorite christmas books. we then went to a friends house to borrow a good christmas flick and went home snuggled and fell asleep. it is amazing how tough times increases your gratitude and appreciation for one another.

we found out that the client bought another 8 WEEKS of work from them! bring it on LEK!

and just for fun...pics of our first date...i can't believe this was 3 years ago this month.

ask anyone that was there and i totally kicked beaus trash in the summo fight

i was MORTIFIED when they made me kiss his cheek for this picture

so much love has come from this one date!

san diego

2011-09-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

this was probably way to long ago to post about but none the less here i go!

we went down to encinitas to visit our good friends the lanshe's (pronouced lan- shee) who were doing an internship and now a job down there. beau and i have both spent pretty much no time down in san diego and didn't really have expectations but it was soooo fun. the area is so beautiful, the beach is perfect and the sleepy beach town was fun to walk around and explore.

we drove down after our mormon night at dodgers stadium and got to the house about 11 pm. i was so tired but we of course stayed up talking with them till who knows when. the next morning we got on our beach stuff and headed down to a restaurant that i dont know the name of. all i remember is it was packed and their pancakes were the size of manholes. but of course..very good. after stuffing our faces we had to get in our bathing suits (it's my favorite thing to do after i've eaten way too much i really have a food baby).

i think it was a holiday weekend because the beach was packed as well (but don't worry we got a good spot). we laid out, boogie boarded and body surfed. i put on sunscreen but apparently not enough as you can see from the pics below. beau didn't put any on, on purpose cause he has very few opportunities to truly soak up the sun since starting his full time job.. i know i know he's asking for it.

we packed up and headed back to the house where we played ping pong, around the world and swam in kristin's parents killer swimming pool equipped with a custom rock slide that is so fun that its borderline dangerous. after cleaning up we headed back out for dinner and a stroll around encinitas. ice cream...mmmm. mexican food....mmmm. i'm starting to feel like homer simpson.

we finished up our saturday night by once again getting in our bathing suits and and wrinkling our fingers in the hot tub while we watched rango on the computer. a perfect ending to a nearly perfect san diego day. ( i say nearly because of course i got fried like a lobster).

i promise we'll come crash at your house again lanshe's...just wait for the knock on the door! oh and thanks for the awesome weekend!

2011-08-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

it's 9:45 on friday night and i'm sitting on my couch while my husband snoozes with his book laying on his chest. what started out as a great night with a picnic up in beverly hills and celebrity mansion hunting suddenly took a turn for the worst when i instigated an argument for him wanting to take me to anthropologie (long story and of course very stupid). in a huff i turned the car around to go home, we then did the dishes in silence and i plopped down on the couch with the computer on my lap. letting my pride fester inside of me i coldly brushed off outreaches of love from him and he eventually resigned to reading catching fire on the couch next to me.

i don't share this store because i'm dying to expose the inner workings of my marriage or what a beast of a wife i am, but as an example to me of why the Lord blesses his children with trials. its not even an hour after beau has fallen asleep and i already see so clearly my foolish pride and unfounded anger at him. i ruined a precious weekend night because of my PRIDE. certain trials we as a family have been facing lately have caused me to ask the forbidden question of "why me?" "why of all hardships did you give this to me/us? " and as i sat here tonight reflecting on my silly behavior it hit me like a ton of bricks. it wasn't any new information but a thought given to me by the Holy Ghost that trials humble us and make us more like the savior if we let them. they get rid of the "stiffneckedness" i perfectly exemplified tonight. they strip our pride and force us to rely on the Lord in all things. in my short life of experiences i have found trials act as a catalyst to my testimony of Jesus Christ. so although i have learned my lesson this time, i am positive i will have to learn it in many new and different ways in the future. that i must look to the Lord in all things including insurmountable odds or agonizing pain and recognize the divine potential and change that takes place in the heart as a result.

getty love

2011-07-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

as much as i would love a baby right now, one perk of being childless is that you can do so many fun things at a moments notice without having to really plan. not that you can't be adventurous with kids...i'm just sayin.

one saturday evening earlier this summer we were sitting around trying to figure out if we were too tired to drive over to the beach and too poor to go see a movie or grab some grub and concluded the affirmative to both. however i did not want to waste a perfectly good saturday sitting in our apt together watching another $1.09 redbox. (i am a huge fan but you have to set a limit). so we decided to take advantage of something free we had heard about in the area.

my blog may start turning into a perpetual advertisement for the city of LA but hey the gots lots to offer. every saturday after 5 pm at the Getty museum parking is free! (the getty museum is always free but parking is $15) so from 5-9 you can bring food and lounge around the beautiful gardens and look at the different exhibits for free! the Getty is a popular attraction in LA but as we discovered on this trip, it lives up to it's reputation. it is so beautiful inside and out. every piece of the architecture, sidewalks, gardens has a very obvious artistic element to it.

we visited cuban photography and french interior design exhibits.

this is beau's impression of what brad womack (the bachelor) would probably do if he was there being filmed.

and just for old times sake.......

2011-07-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

why am i such a bad blogger? is it because i'm lazy, shy, too busy? maybe a combination of several factors contribute to why i allow long lapses between posts and maybe it will never change...we'll see. this summer has been jam packed with lots of fun stuff. so instead of doing a dump of events and information like i usually do, i will tell about things one event at a time.

starting us off:

i would first like to thank becky my amazing mother in law for the twinner Georgia sweatshirts she sent us for our birthdays. they are so comfortable and we usually both end up taking ours when we go out and need a jacket so we look like twins. partners in crime if you will.

a fun aspect we have enjoyed this summer in LA is first friday. LA is known for it's food trucks that drive around town with different gourmet grub. you can follow your favorite truck on twitter or just online to see where they are parked for lunch or dinner. but the first friday of every month, they all gather in a parking lot down in venice beach which attracts all kinds of fun entertainers, booths and interesting people. (especially in venice). needless to say there seems to be no end to the variety of food available at this event. everything from gourmet grilled cheese to sliders, to ice cream sandwhiches to korean bbq to waffles, hamburgers and everything in between that your heart may desire.

our method of attack is to get small portions from many different trucks so we can try all the variety. mmm my mouth is watering just sitting here thinking about it. our favorite and a popular truck is Kogi. we had heard this stop was good and were expecting good but not THAT good. i am hear to bear testimony that it was some of the most amazing food i have ever put into my mouth. so if you live in LA or southern california for that matter or just happen to be around for the first friday of the month, you don't want to miss food truck friday! you will have a party in your mouth.

i love L.A.

2011-06-09T11:37:00.001-07:00

just a peak at some of the fun we've been having in L.A.

baby josephine is in a very cute stage right now and loves attention as you can see in this video.

p.s. you can also hear my dads opinion of the movie tangled if you listen closely

and this is how awesome my mom is at cranium

1 year

2011-06-05T17:16:00.001-07:00

as i mentioned in the previous post, beau and i celebrated our 1 year anniversary 2 days after i got back from tonga (may 26). and how could we not celebrate the end of our separation as well...needless to say beau planned an amazing week for me. i am one lucky girl.

the day we actually celebrated was friday may 28. he had told me multiple times to be ready to walk out the door at 530 in my finest evening attire. he kept saying "i'm takin you for a night on the town baby!" kinda like EVERY TIME we go to a movie he says "we're goin to the silver screen!!" or some variation. well of course this was probably the first day since i've been down here that jobless me was actually busy. i had to do some grocery shopping in the morning, was asked last minute by the Sister missionaries to accompany them to a discussion, and anxiously awaited the arrival of my bestie michelle and her husband to spend the afternoon at the beach. and of course i didn't get back to my apartment to get ready for our "night on the town" till around 5 (straight from the beach). beau was already home getting ready and i played it off like i would be ready in plenty of time to make our reservation. around 600 we strolled up to our fancy little italian restaurant. it was yummy!

our appetizer- antipasta. we were full of just that, it was so good.

after dinner the surprise continued because beau would not tell me where we were going next. not till we literally walked up to the will call office did i know what we were going to see. but when i did i was so excited.....

the ballet!

the first guy i asked to take this picture looked at my like i was crazy for 5 seconds and then said "i don't know how to operate that machine"

how presumptuous of me.

it was absolutely beautiful and we had killer seats! 6th row! the whole time i was whispering into beaus ear trying to help him appreciate it a little bit more. he did fall asleep at one point but i can't blame him he had woken up at 430 the morning of for a work phone call.

a present he unveiled during intermission

afterwards we hit up the 711 and found a roller blading crew at a pit stop. you can't really capture the greatness of it in this picture but they were super hard core. i wanna join.

at the end of a wonderful "night on the town" to celebrate one year! i love you beau!

and just for your personal enjoyment purposes. a homeless man standing in front of a freeway entrance talking on his cell phone. anyone seen Yes Man?

malei

2011-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

say hello to a permanent resident of Los Angeles California! hello. i arrived back from tonga on may 24 and am not looking back- except to show you all the wonderful pictures i took while i was in the south pacific. 11 other students, my instructor and her husband and i started the journey in LAX on may 1st and definitely had a blast! The pictures are in reverse because i don't know how to work blogger but it will have to do.

mainly pictures with captions: (what can i say it's just my style)

Whitney and I at the hindu temple in fiji where we stopped for a day on our way back to the U.S.

Me on the beach in paradise..i mean fiji

a boat so rusty it should be at the bottom of th ocean in the tongan harbor

all of us on a boat ride around the main island

the blow holes= some of the biggest waves i've ever seen

andrea and i at the blow holes

sunset from the plane leaving vavau

caves that when you jumped in the water the algae lit up

all of us on a sand bar in the middle of no where and the velvet sand

I loves beau

performing blood pressure screenings on the beach

the woman and baby boy i labored with afrom 1 am to 9 am and helped deliver

teeth brushing

methodist church feast..quite the experience

beautiful sunset on vavau

an undershirt that we could all clearly see up on stage. i had to get a pic. turns out hes a member of the church. perfect.

i got invited to be apart of the kava ceremony at the tongan cultural center. my tongue was numb.

gigantic natural arch. looks way bigger in real life.

andrea and i at the most beautiful cilffs. straight out of pride and prejiduce.

our 8 seater plane we took to the island of eua

most of us together on mothers day. sickness (giardia) plagued 10/12 of us. it was bad news

shelly our instructor on mothers day

at a health fair in the market, Tongatapu

Laurie and I at the beach

Deeeena and me

At viola hospital

Tonga Temple

First day of clinical

Where we stayed at the Liahona school

Just off the plane in fiji

since i've been home (LA) beau and i have been spending a lot of time together and celebrated our 1 year anniversary ..more on that later.

fix-ed

2011-04-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

well, i fixed my blog finally. if any of you three people that may look at this blog were wondering where i went? the question you should have been asking was where did my husband go. because technically he is the reason for my blogging hiatus. so just like the other 95% of my blog, this post is going to be an update on our lives and what has been happening.

on dec 5 to be precise i dropped my companion of 7 months off at the airport where he got on a plane to boston. what was he doing in boston you ask? being taught at a two week training about how to be the best L.E.K. employee he could be. what is LEK you ask? the name of his new job! after the 2 week training in boston he flew out to start his job in the los angeles office. we knew this was coming for a year before when he accepted the job and we also knew that there must be opposition in all things which meant... separation. the common conversation i had with people went something like this:

person: did you say your husband lives in LA?

me:ya

Person: oh so does he go to school down there?

me: no he works

person: where does he work?

me: he works for a strategy consulting firm called LEK consulting

person: (blank stare)

me: ya i didn't know what any of those words meant before i started dating my husband either

person: so you are up here! is that really hard???

me: ya it is but it's ok (i never quite knew how to explain it to people)

person: so how often do you see each other?

me: i go down there about every other weekend

person: wow your really brave.

me: i guess

variations of the conversation above happened at least on a weekly basis reminding me of my "hard" situation. although it WAS very hard, it was also many other things as well. like, confusing, expensive and lonely. but, we did it! aside from the nursing trip i'm taking to tonga for a month starting may 1 we will not have to be apart anymore. hallelujah!

the new question is: was it worth it? was it worth the money (plane flights), tears, not having a social life here or there, spending hours on skype and pleading with him to let me just quit and fly down there right that second? and i can honestly say that it was worth getting my degree. even though i have my last semester that i'm doing down here in LA before i'm done, i can now tell myself that i can do hard things.

on a different note, LA has been such a blast so far, we love our apartment, ward, job, friends, the beach, the shopping and even the traffic (Not) and we both can't wait for what fun things are out there ready to be explored. more on all that later. adios.

(list of famous people seen so far: Dr. Stark on greys anatomy, Jack Black, James Franco, Ernie Hudson, Jamie oliver (naked chef))

clubbing with coworkers

how i feel

2010-12-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

although i will be with "my baby" on actual christmas day, this is how i feel this christmas... it just doesn't feel like christmas without my love.

locks of love

2010-11-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

beaus hair is officially long enough to comfortably fit into a pony tail. let it rage baby!!!!!!

2010-10-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

since getting married i have developed a habit of not shutting the door when i use the bathroom. its so much faster and no need. right? however, this has lead to some very embarrassing close calls in public and semi-public bathrooms. i feel like i'm 4 again.

brandon flowers

2010-09-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

i am now anticipating the arrival of two tickets in the mail to this guys show. my excitement can hardly be contained!

i wish it was the killers but i'll take what i can get. his solo album aint half bad.

what sweeter music

2010-09-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

the new love in my life is the 2nd floor of the library: music section. i've known about this addition to the harold for a while but have never taken the venture down the steps instead of up when finding my way to a study spot. but since i have, my studies have been enriched with classical piano, symphonies, guitar, quartets, choirs, mozart, brahms, bach, rachmoninoff, ralph vaughan williams, debussy and even movie themes. no more pandora for me. this place has the music my clouded brain needs to clear and smell the fresh air of the LIBRARY!

school has sprung??

2010-09-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

School time is here and as much as I have been dreading it, I have to admit that it is a bit exciting. I have begun my last year at BYU...wierd, and I am also married...very wierd. It feels like there are a million more people here this fall and it is kind of driving me crazy. I hate not having my love on campus with me so that will be a transition as well but all in all I am verrry excited to conquer my 17.5 credits...what was i thinking.

p.s. BYU is going independent?? what gives?

p.s.s. a year ago i had just arrived here..

sniff sniff

lesson learned

2010-08-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

this last week beaus mom and sister were in town for Education Week at BYU. it was sooo fun to have them in town and i'll admit that we went out to eat almost every night. it wasn't so hot for beaus "anorexic diet" that he recommits to every 2 weeks for fear of gaining the usual 15 pounds when you get married.

on thursday night we decided to have everyone over to our humble abode for hamburgers and other yummy summery food. it all turned out delicious and we ended up all talking in the living room untill about 10.
after everyone left beau and i started on the dishes (pretty much every dish in our kitchen was used) so after loading a very full dishwasher we were about to start it and a thought popped into my head. "the dishwasher is old and crappy, it is really full right now so maybe a sprinkle of dawn would help get the extra bit of grime off those cherry red plates"
as i begin to drizzle beau at the sink says " amy you shouldn't do that, it's really bad for the dishwasher, trus me i broke one once doing that". i brushed him off with a "oh i didin't put that much in we should be fine"

so we started the dishwasher and kept cleaning up we had jalapenos on our burgers that night and after i had cleaned them off with my hands i picked my nose (yes i'm an animal) and immediately my nose was on FIRE!!! i'm not kidding i have never had that kind of wierd pain before. i laid down on the couch with a wet kleenex up my nose and beau by my side comforting me when all the sudden i hear the dishwasher making a suspicious noise. beau walks over there and all i hear is "oh shoot" .

i scrambled up from the couch and behold suds spilling from the sides of the dishwasher. we quickly turned it off and luckily caught in time that we were able to clean most of the suds and water out into a bucket. after deciding to let it dry over night we go to bed and i look online for a solution to our problem of dawn in the dishwasher. it said to put cooking oil and salt into the dishwasher and run it on a few rinse cycles.

so that is precisely what i did the next morning. but being overly cautious i put in about a half bottle of oil. after the rinse part of a cycle comes the drying part and as i was sitting in my living room i smell something cooking. i knew it couldn't be my sis upstairs cause they were out of town and i look into the kitchen and see smoke filling up and the whole house smelled like one big deep fryer. i quickly turned it off and frantically opened windows so the smoke alarm wouldn't go off. what a disaster!!!!!!! so for now everytime we run the dishwasher it smells like we are frying something but it is slowly disappearing. and i will never forget that dawn and the dishwasher dont' mix. all of you new moms can learn from my stupid ways!

this bottle was full before i drenched the dishwasher in it....

p.s. look how long beaus hair is!!! (hottie biscotti with a naughty body) kickin it at matisyahu (which by the way was not half has good as he was in jerusalem) if i forget you...

la jolla

2010-08-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

last night beau and i decided to check out the new restaurant La Jolla Groves over in the currently demolished riverwoods mall.
we'd heard good things and it is from the creators of chef's table. we were lucky enough to have a FABULOUS server (one of my best friends) and everything we ate was really yummy. plus i'm a sucker for anything with a fun atmosphere. there are lemon trees with fake lemons and even a starry night sky above them...its like your outside or something.
i got chicken and potatoes and beau got chicken stuffed crepes (pronounced creepies) and they were both really good.
so this is my plug for the new restaurant- it's definitely worth a try!

s.u.m.m.e.r. (so far)

2010-07-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

we've been doing so many fun things this summer and usually i don't get any pictures at all or just a few so here is a quick recap of fun things we've done so far this summer.

for beaus friend bryan's birthday a bunch of us went camping and it was sooo fun. one of our first few over-nighter activities with married peeps (+chris ricks)

the married crew
christopher in awe at the wonderful tinfoil dinner i put together for him. ( he is now engaged and miss rachel will be making his deener from now on)
the campfire -danibree can clearly not take the sunlight

the boys i mean....men

the bedroom

our last lunch as besties before michelle zoomed off to the AZ and is now being a wonderful homemaker (literally in a house...sniff...she's all grown up. i miss gopeds)

we went boating at utah lake (sorry guys its the best pic i got)

we watched the fireworks for the fourth of july (my favorite holiday and has no relation to the fact that it is the day before my birthday). we also were champs and camped out at the madhouse that is downtown provo the night of july third. i may or may not have yelled at people who were all up in our bizz.

beau loooooooves seth ( our new brother-in-law) :)

i also took not a first but second trip down to see my sister and her 3 kids in mission viejo california. ...what can i say, i'm obsessed. it was so much fun to be with them and i would go back in a hearbeat already. this is lu lu trying to be scary...and i'm here to tell you folks that the only time she's scary is when you take away her jesse (toy story) doll.

my sister put her in this onesy because we were about to leave the beach.
yes that is my 2 1/2 year old niece in a 3 month old onesy.
yes she really is that skinny and it makes her all the more adorable. her squeaky little pixie voice doesn't help either.

this is the youngest jo and she is the most beautiful baby! sorry caleb i didn't get a pic of you :(

our most recent adventure was a ellertson family anual reunion up in bear lake. my dads side of the family has been doing this beginning of time as i know it and it is always one of the funniest and funnest weekends of the year. not to mention everyone is always fried to a crisp no matter how many times they put on sunscreen. the days consist of playing in the water, the evenings of playing on the vast ammount of green lawn, and the late nights are consumed with texas hold em with jelly belly's (they can't read my poker face :)

these pictures were taken by and stolen from my very talented uncle larry, i brought my camera but was having too much fun to take it out and snap some shots, so thanks l.c.
getting ready to get worked on the water weenie

beau participating in the family games like a champ. of course he cheated and i cheered proudly.

the whole gang in our awesome shirts that my cousin hannah designed.

so now we are headed off to lake powell for a few days to enjoy the sun and some boating on the other end of the state (i know)! be back soon!

buenos dias

2010-07-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

our semi-surprise honeymoon to costa rica was perfect! and when i say perfect that means just enough play and just enough "relaxing". beau was keeping our honeymoon a secret and did a darn well good job until the day of the wedding when my forgetful brother mentioned it during a cheesy siblings picture...oh timmy. but that did not keep me from being like a 5 year old on christmas eve. i couldn't wait to get on a plane headed for a country that close to the equator (bring on the heat). and for those of you who don't know where costa rica is located on a map of central america like we didn't its just north of panama!!! rahrskies!

for a quick synopsis since i don't know how to make posting pictures faster: yes we had a smoothie and ice cream at every meal, yes i went through an entire box of coco crispies by myself, yes the sun is more intense the closer you get to the equator (so wear sunscreen), and yes i would go and relive it in a second. as for now tamarindo, playa conchal and hacienda panilla will have to wait but they are forever calling my name. anywho here are pics of our first vacation as a married pair.

push has come to shove

2010-07-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

due to some demands i am going to blog about REAL stuff that has been happening in my life lately.

so first i will start with our new apartment: we moved into a basement in orem just north of old navey and tj max on university parkway. we've really lucked out because my dad owns the house and my amazing brother, sister in law and their three little monkeys live right above us and i never get enough of them (as is the case with all of my nieces and nephews). perks of living here: we have a yard, a garden, great neighbors, easy access to the freeway and lots of shopping, awesome ward, and cheap rent. the only negatives are: we live in a basement which automatically makes things 20 degrees colder and since i was recently diagnosed with cold blooded disease i am ALWAYS cold. the second is the weird arrangement of the electrical outlets. the kitchen only has one, the living room has 2 on the same wall.....were spending all of our money on extension chords.

and now for your virtual tour:

our bed (beaus really understanding of how girly it is)

kitchen table and chairs from grandma jewkes (free.99 ladies and gents)

the flat screen i won at a raffle- thank you byu business school

creamsicle chair and couch - also from grandma jewkes

the piano my sister left that is allowing me to rake in the cash teaching piano lessons.

this it the room i just can't seem to conquer...why is organizing your entire wardrobe so intimidating?

this is beaus face on basically the first meal i have cooked since we've been married..very encouraging.

stay tuned for updates about our priceless honeymoon to costa rica! (said with a rolled "r")

assalam o alaikum

2010-06-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

i recently finished the book three cups of tea by greg mortensen on our honeymoon. i had seen this new york times best seller around quite a bit and started reading it at the recommendation of my mom. and now i am here to recommend it to all 4 of you who will see this blogpost. GO READ IT! it is an incredible true story, a thrilling story line that will keep you turning those pages and is very educational about an area of the world that has recently come to the forefront of the world stage. and to top it all off.......greg is being honored at this years provo freedom festival for the 4th of july! it could not be more perfect timing...now how do i convince beau that we NEED to spend $50 to attend the gala where he'll be honored??

school

2010-03-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Dear School (BYU college of nursing),
i can appreciate the education that you have given me and i AM grateful, but can i be done now?? i have a big party coming up that needs planning and getting up at 4:45 somedays and all this homework just doesn't seem to be working out.

faithfully,
amy

(plus i want to spend more time with him...if it's even possible)

i have a fy-anc!

2010-02-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

last thursday on feb 11 i got engaged to the most loving person i've ever met! i seriously can't believe how patient and loving he is and now i officially get to blog about him since he's almost mine! :) so..here's the story: on monday of last week (the 8th) i got a text from jeremiah (beau) saying that he had gotten an e-mail from LEK (the firm he has a job with in LA and will be starting this coming dec.) saying that he had training the upcoming weekend and would leave on thursday and come back saturday at 1 pm. when i heard the news i tried to stay positive but seeing as how i had been pestering him about when we were gong to get officially engaged for a while i was so bumbed because i thought for sure it wouldn't happen. when i finally saw him that day (monday) he even showed me the e-mail with LEK letter head and everything so it was l-e-g-i-t. during the rest of the week i kept on with my pestering of when we wer going to get engaged and the only clue he would give me is that we were going on a date on saturday after he got back. so at that point i thought ok for sure then saturday.

thursday rolls around and beau "leaves". he calls me when he "got off the plane" and described to me how his taxi driver was iranian and such. i was totally convinced. that day after a long day at the hospital (clinicals) and work, i stopped by my parents house to get something to eat. i began talking to my mom and asked as i was leaving if beau had even asked my dad. my mom answered me with a convincing no and my heart sank. i was literally (that's for you jess) almost in tears because i knew that beau would not propse without asking my dad and i knew he had to do it in person and he wouldnt have a chance after he got back on saturday at 1 and before our date. so of course i called him to ask what the heck happened. all he could say was "amy just trust me".

a few days earlier michelle (my friend who works up at sundance) texted me to ask if i wanted to go to dinner with her and maddie (my other friend) after she was done with her shift on thurday. that sounded like fun until thursday actually rolled around and i had so much homework and didnt think i was going. but with some persistence from beau i went. maddie and i drove up the canyon to the beautiful resort tucked away in the bosom of mt. timpanogas and i had an inkling that this was no ordinary night.

we got to the foundry grill and the hostess explained that michelle was over at the barn having a consult with her caterer (shes having her reception there in may) and that it would be a second so to meet her up there. we headed over there, maddie fell behind and i came upon a beautful trail of rose petals, candles and notes. each note i picked up and read was accompianied by a squeal and jump of excitement from me. at the end of the trail was my man dressed up surrounded by candles and rose petals. he proposed and i said YES! IT WAS SOOO AWESOME! we talked and cleaned up and went to dinner at the grill.

over dinner he told me that he had dessert planned somewhere else. immediately i thought his cabin up there at sundance but he insisited it wasn't. after dinner we made our way into the mountain above sundance and pulled up to a cabin with lots of cars. it was my friend lauren magleby's super nice cabin and all my close friends and fmaily were waiting inside to celebrate! it was so perfect! i really can't believe that i have a ring on my finger but i am loving the planning and already have a dress :)

At laurens cabin

uccu

2010-02-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

ever since i set up my bank account at uccu years ago i have always avoided going on line and checking my balance. i don't know why but there's something cursed to me about checking how much money you REALLLY have in your account. this morning i cracked and finally checked it after my attitude of non-inhibited-spending in jerusalem and was reminded why i hate it when i saw a mere $225.21 left to my name...what gives??

finale

2009-12-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

well, with 2 days left i look back and hardly believe the semester is over. i'm sure when i get home and fast internet that actually uploads pictures is available i will do more posts. as for now i must bid this wonderful land farewell for a time and thank it for changing my life.

Samuel Ellertson

2009-12-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

My brother Bryan and his wife Suzanne were blessed with a new baby boy, Samuel Ellertson. He was born 11/17/09 and was signed over for their adoption a few days ago. I couldn't be happier for these very deserving parents. they have been so patient through the ups and downs of adoption and are finally blessed with a new addition to their amazing family....i can't wait to meet little sammy!

i'm alive

2009-11-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

don't worry i'm alive. i just spent 11 wonderful days in the galilee and can say that i am a new person. however, i am so happy to be home. :) (in jerusalem) p.s. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Josephine Marolyn Mills

2009-11-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

My amazing sister Lara had her baby on friday and will now be a mother of 3 under 3. what a rockstar! Josephine Marilyn Mills was born on November 6, 2009, 3:10 p.m. 7 lbs. 5 oz. 20 inches. I love her already and I haven't even met her yet!

p.s. she did the whole thing with out any pain meds...like i said rockstar.

cat (ding) i'm a kitty cat

2009-11-05T07:29:00.001-08:00

one thing that i didn't know when i came here was the fact that jeru is infested with cats. including the center. usually stray dogs can be found in bigger cities but not here. it's so bad that we have named some of the regulars including: diseasy, trachy, dr. seus)...and... all of the females have utters. like i said i love everything about this place.

so little time...

2009-11-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

This is my view everyday. A few days ago as we drove back from our field trip in Jordan, we drove over the mount of olives and descended into jerusalem below us. the sun was setting and lit everything up so beautifully and i couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion for this place. it feels like home. i love the huuuge variety of people, the sudden change in weather from dripping sweat to needing a rain jacket, the view from which the center looks out upon perched on the mount of olives, my peers here at the center (who are some of the most christ like people i've ever been around), i love sabbaths here, i love being able to tell exactly which quarter of the old city you are in based on it's cleanliness, i love falafel and gelato, i love how i feel like this place is the center of the world and you can never run out of things to do, i love walking everywhere, i love ben yahuda street, i love the oasis food and eggnog desserts, i love doing the same run everyday, i love how old everything is and makes american history seem like a new born baby, i love my professors and forum speakers, i love brother brown and his scarcely seen smiles,i loooooove the call to prayer and most of all i love the color that has been added to the black and white stories of the scriptures through being here. i never want to leave. (except to see my family) :)

israel

2009-10-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

i finally have a break in school before we cart off to jordan so i figured i could update my blog. literally this week has been non stop, no breaks, no free time. with 3 midterms to study for, a few assignments and classes i have felt very deprived of sleep and...a real life.. anyways we have had some fun stuff lately. we went to yad vashem which is the israeli holocaust museum which was so moving. from the architecture to the videos of survivors testimonials, the whole experience was very sobering and humbling. but it was when we went into the childrens memorial at the end that i felt my eyes start to hurt and couldn't hold back the tears as i put myself in their position. i tried to comprehend the trauma of never seeing my nieces or nephews again and wondering what mass grave their little bodies lay in and the fear must have consumed them before. the setting of the memorial is an almost pitch black room in which you circumambulate around a flame that is reflected on mirrors. while you walk in almost complete darkness, a mans voice very plainly states a victim childs name, home country and age. the whole ambiance and experience was unlike anything i've ever done.

whhhew...on a lighter note we had arab culture night a few nights ago and it was one of the funnest nights we've had here at the center. the night started out with a father and son singing for us the call to prayer. calling for prayer is a tradition that has been in their families for 500 years! it was so beautiful. then they demonstrated for us the prayers that they pray 5 times a day. after the performance we went and had a beautiful banquet that had ethnic palestinian food and dessert(i had two plates don't judge). oh and while the father and son were performing the call to prayer we had sheets of paper with the translation of what they were saying. one thing that i have learned here is how similar christianity and islam really are. this was reaffirmed as they sang and basically bore testimony of allah and mohammad. it's no wonder these people are so devoted to their religion. five times a day they are reminded that there is no other God but allah and that they need to hasten to prayer. that would really keep your faith at the front of your mind. anyways the food was wonderful and then we had the best part. some palestinian folk dancers taught us their dances. i don't know what it is but there is something programed deep in my brain that makes me so happy when i dance. i'm not very good at it but at any kind of dance, i lose my inhibitions (in a good way) and leave feeling very euphoric. so this dancing is basically jumping up and down a bunch but i left doubled over in pain because my abs hurt so bad from laughing and my cramped brain felt so enlightened. so i don't necessarily have the feet but i definitely have the heart for dancing. well i'm off to bed to get ready for sabbath (can't say sunday cause sabbath on a saturday) tomorrow and dream of meeting Elder Holland tomorrow night at his fireside here!

oh and mom this ones for you: today i went to the israeli museum and saw the isaiah scroll of the dead sea scrolls and i thought of you (obviously)! i'll post an illegal picture later!

likening

2009-10-14T02:59:00.000-07:00

today in my ancient near east class we studied about the relationships of prophets of the old testament to the kings that ruled over israel. how prophets would warn and prophesy against the ancient israelite kings but the kings would choose which prophets to listen to if it was in their favor. right after class i happened upon the talk given by elder oaks just yesterday to byui students about religious freedom, specifically regarding the ruckus surrounding prop 8. my good friend molly here, who's mom teaches at byui, said that this talk was given in response to the speech president obama gave to the homosexual community a few days ago. she then informed me that his talk is the churches official stance on homosexuality. i couldn't help but immediately tie this back to the ancient kingdoms of israel and see what happened to these civilizations who did not hearken to the prophets voice. i also found myself very comforted that our church leaders are not afraid to voice the will of the Lord. what a good example they are of standing firm and not swaying with with winds of change that seem to have swept the nation in the last few years.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom

ketchup

2009-09-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

i feel bad that i haven't blogged in a quite a while so i need to "ketchup". the past few weeks have once again been incredible. i'm starting to feel officially at home here at the center. i constantly look forward to the next meal because the food is so good (which explains why my pants have started to shrink), and i absolutely LOVE everyone who is here with me. everybody is so different but brings such a different dynamic to the table. i'm starting to see why people who come here are obsessed with it and with the friends they make here. so we went to egypt a few weeks ago for a week and it rocked! we never slept more then 2 nights in one hotel and traveled all over the egyptian countryside. one thing that "plagued" my trip were mosquito bites. i wouldn't be surprised if i got west-nile virus west of the nile (literally) . the first few nights we were there a few of us stayed up late talking and i got over 50 bites on each leg! so i learned my lesson and the next time we wanted to stay up and play games outside i wore long pants a zip up jacket and flip flops with socks so they couldn't bite my feet. the next day i found 20 mosquito bites all around my ankles..the only part that was exposed. so now i look like i have leprosy on my legs because i have itched them soooo much. it got so bad one of the days i got benadryl from one of the nurses and spent the day with my head feeling like 100 lbs walking all over the luxor temples it was great. its funny looking back but i wanted to die at the time. so egypt rocked and probably the coolest thing was the pyramids and the nile. it was soooo beautiful! oh! and on the way back we hiked mt. sinai and it has been my most favorite experience so far on the trip. we hiked all through the night starting at 2 am and it was seriously one of the hardest hikes of my life. i had to stay with some people that were bookin it cause i forgot a flash light so at the top my legs felt like jello. reaching the top i was drenched with sweat but we made it in time for sunrise. i sat down put on motab and watched the sun rise over the sinai desert and mountain range. it was indescribable the love that i felt from heavenly father. it's amazing how nature and beholding God's creations of this earth can strengthen your testimony. the last few days i've been cooped up in the center working on papers and studying for tests so nothing to eventful lately but i am still loving it!

2009-09-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

PICTURES

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PICTURES

d.i.v.e.r.s.i.t.y

2009-09-12T08:25:00.001-07:00

the last few days have been very eventful! living here is so crazy you never know whats going to happen. today (saturday) is sabbath here because it is when both of the major religions have their holy day. so last night to welcome "shabbat" we went down to the western (wailing) wall in our black dresses and celebrated with them. when we first got there we danced and sang in circles with jewish girls. it is so cool to see how they approach the sabbath differently, its such a party. so then after seeing probably the best looking guy i have ever seen in real life (seriously took my breath away..and a funny story for another time) i went down to the wall and took my little prayer i had written, carefully rolled up and put it in the wall. some may think it's wierd but it was a very different way of worshiping for me. i've never actually written a prayer down on paper before and as i stuck it into a small crack in the wall, i felt a devotion and love for God. i know that he always here's my prayers but this was a physical manifestation to me of giving it to him. after wandering around the plaza and comparing different jewish outfits for a while, we left. this is not the only eventful thing about the night! on our way down to the wall (yes all 80 white american students in desses/white shirts walked over a mile through palestinian jerusalem 2 by 2 on the sidewalk to get there. talk about out of place)2 swat cars came zooming past us, sirens blaring and we wondered what was going on. we later passed a street leading down to the city of david on the south side of the old city swarmed with police. we finally found out what happened and i guess as we were walking down there, a jewish settler shot 2 palestinians in the legs for assaulting him. crazy! i walk the streets everyday and i don't really think about the conflict cause you cant really tell they hate each other, but it is still stirring. anyways after last night i was thinking about the diversity of religion you find here and how it truly is the center of the world.

today after church we went to the garden tomb which was so beautiful and really peaceful. after looking in the tomb and walking around the garden and singing hymns, we heard what sounded like an african mens chorus singing an accapella song. as we looked over a group of fijian men were loudly singing and clapping a christian song. it was so beautiful and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. these men who were from a different country, different race, different socioeconomic status, different church even, had found faith in Jesus Christ and his resurrection. that was such a testimony to me of the truth of christ's as our savior. if i can i'll post the video of them singing later. ok so i know this is a long post but it has been a very eventful evening. i'm off in the morning to go swim in the Mediterranean at tel aviv :)

Orson Hyde Garden

2009-09-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

sigh....i love this place

new show in town

2009-09-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

i am trying to see if i can upload pictures but so far they've told us that the bandwidth is too little to upload or download anything off the internet so it might not happen. however i wanted to blog about the coolest thing i saw today. after the first day of classes and lunch we were able to go have free time in the city. we were told that in the last week they had uncovered a wall in the city of david (just south of the old city) that dated back to the time of Abraham and Melchizedek! Holy Fire! That's around 4,000 years folks. There is nothing as far as i know in these parts that is that old that has been discovered. The excavation site is obviously still in progress but after much searching and walking we were able to find it and peak our heads in a peep hole and check it out. It was so amazing. Our teacher told us that we are one of the first people to see those walls in 4,000 years. Pretty sweet. you probably don't know (as I didn't) that the Old City of Jerusalem as it stands today is built upon layers of city rubble from being destroyed a plethera of times. so nothing looks like what i thought it would and no one really knows where anything happened so i feel like i've been very misinformed my whole life about what certain events looked like. like the garden tomb and golgotha are RIGHT in the middle of the city. So the actual foundation and stones are not the ones that jesus walked on. there are a few things and churches that date back to that time but the history here is out of control! so anyways the wall was sweet or atleast what we saw of it. the whole time i kept thinking about how my mom would be peeing her pants if she was with me. so mama i'll take you there one day :)

#310

2009-09-03T02:37:00.001-07:00

my new address is room 310 in the jerusalem center. it still hasn't really hit me that i will be here for the next four months, but i've vowed to myself that i wouldn't let a day go by being homesick or anticipating what's coming next. i just want to soak everything in while i can like a sponge. however i have come to realize that i don't think that 4 months here would even come close to satisfying all of the questions that have popped in my brain. we got to the center yesterday after 4 different planes and lots of tylenol p.m. i think we were traveling for 26 hours straight...talk about jet lag. it was interesting to see the plane full of people get more and more diverse with each leg of the trip. by the time we got on our plane bound for tel aviv it was full of many different cultures (and smells). anywho we got here to the center and i'm still picking my jaw up off the floor at the organization and beauty of this place. in a city that is so confused and chaotic at times, this center is like clock-work from the security, to the cooks, to grounds. but what else would you expect from the church right? my roommates are 3 girls all a year younger then i shelly, brooklyn, and amy. we are already rockin this place and having so much fun. last night we took a tour of the center and got all oriented and i surprisingly felt the spirit of the sanctity of this place.

the center here is located on the eastern part of jerusalem more specifically mount scopus (spelling made up). which means that we are nestled among arab neighborhoods. this is especially fun because right now they are in the middle of the month of ramadan. so 5 times a day you can here the prayer calls. for some reason when i heard these last night the total difference of their way of life, religion and culture hit hard. i stood on the balcony watching the sunset and listened to a male baritones voice sing a fluctuating call to faithful muslims of jerusalem. this morning when i heard it at 4 my feelings were pretty different. so anyways this morning we walked into jerusalem and around the old city and i felt sooo much excitement with all of the smells and people and history. i think my group was getting sick of me cause i couldn't stop asking our guide questions. good thing i can go back a bazillion times cause i can't believe all of the stuff i want to see.

so im hoping the fact that i'm in jerusalem hits me before i leave cause i can't believe i'm in a place that is so stinkin old! mmmm...just my cup of tea.

p.s. there's a rumor that elder holland might be coming this way during the semester. :)

enough

2009-08-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

is anyone else sick of hearing about their drama? sheesh! their 8 kids have a rough road ahead of them already and i seriously don't think the scandal could be dragged out anymore. enough with the interviews, t.v. appearances and rebuttals through tabloids.

sytycd

2009-07-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

i have absolutely loved this season of so you think you can dance on fox. i have always had a love and appreciation for dance even if i haven't had the feet and this show gives me just what i need each week. each wednesday night just past 9 i can be found dancing around my kitchen or bedroom wishing my mom wouldn't have let me quit dance lessons despite my tantrums and also wishing i was good enough to be on sytycd. these dances are a must see and can be found if not on the internet then saved on the dvr at my house (call me):

janine and phillip: hip/hop "mad" ne-yo

kayla and kupono: waltz "sweet dreams" jewel

ashley and kupono: crash test dummies

janette and brandon: wade robison jazz "ruby blue"

kayla and kupono: contemporary "gravity" sarah bareilles

(couldn't find a better picture but how could you forget the dance)

janine and jason: contemporary "if it kills me" jason mraz

janette and brandon: argentine tango

melissa and ade: contemporary "this womans work"
(no pics yet sorry)

your favorites?

p.s. ellen is hularious (duh)

a hidden passion

2009-07-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

although i am far from being married or even engaged i have recently developed a hidden passion for all things to do with weddings. my job right now has slowed down and given me time to explore the online wedding world. although most things i love cost far more then i would ever spend on a wedding a girl can dream. so far these are some of my favorites:
blog: greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com
photographer: stephaniewilliamsphotography.com

cakes: sweetandsaucyshop.com

themes and decorations: carnival, parisols,

color schemes: yellow, orange and white; midnight blue, ivory and teal, coral pink and white; tiffany blue black and white; red and aqua

invitations: elumdesigns.com
flowers: peonies, poppies, ranunculus, craspedia pom poms,

first of the first

2009-07-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

i have decided to make a blog. after blindly making my way around the blogosphere i figured out how to make my background and banner look how i wanted and chances are i'll probably change it pretty soon. as of right now no one knows that this little page exists but soon i know it's url will span the globe. the primary reason for creating this page is to update friends and family on my up and coming semester in jerusalem. in one month i'll bein the holy land tearin it up...stay tuned for updates. ...mazel tov.