The King of Pop

I don't care what anyone says, but I love Michael Jackson's music. He was an amazing artist/entertainer and I have very fond memories of his music and my Dad.
Tim says he grew up listening to the Beach Boys, but I grew up listening to Michael. My Dad always woke us up every Saturday morning it seemed like to the smell of pancakes and music playing SUPER loud. And Michael's music was one of my favorites. I vividly remember the picture above of Michael on a huge record that was in our house! I also remember dancing in the living room many, many times as a little, little girl with my brother to his music, I remember choreographing dances to his music as a child and pre-teen, and even when I was 2 years old my parents would say, "Do the Michael Jackson face" and I would pucker out my lips like Michael did while he danced. haha (I have pictures of me making that face!) Fun times!

Happy Father's Day!

We love you Daddy!

Trendy Temptation

I caved in...


I have always loved the straight bang look on people, but I never wanted to do it myself for many reasons. First, too high maintenance of a hairdo. You gotta keep the bangs short all the time and trim it about every couple weeks. Too much work. Second, I didn't think it would look good on me. I have a round face and I always thought it looked better on skinny faces. Third, too trendy. I don't want Hollywood to influence my life more than it already has. haha

BUT, I finally got my much needed, long awaited haircut this morning. I usually get side bangs and fun layers, but when it came time to cut my bangs my hairstylist asks me if I wanted it short enough to go straight across my face. I was little hesitant because I didn't think it would look on me, but when she said it would look great I fully trusted her. And good thing I let her because it is so fun and I LOVE it! I can still put my bangs off to the side which is great because I will most likely style my hair that way anyways, but it is nice to have an option and a little fun change in my life! Especially before the baby comes!

31 Weeks

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and once again everything seems to be looking just fine. The doctor told me that she won't be really big which I already knew. When I told him that Marisa was only 6 pounds 9 ounces he said, "That is exactly what we are looking at here." So I don't and never have expected Natalie to be any bigger.

I can't believe I am near the end. This pregnancy has flown by! I'm starting to really feel big now. It is getting harder and harder to move around and do the simple things, hence my relax parenting with Marisa. I just don't care and I basically let her do whatever she wants. haha Sleeping is also getting more and more uncomfortable. I have like a million pillows surrounding me and I'm always tossing and turning. Napping is an absolute must now for me. I'm eating more and more and like my last pregnancy, the weight comes all at the very end! With Marisa I gained 30 pounds, but I kinda hope I don't have to gain that much with Natalie. 25 pounds would be nice...less baby fat to lose once she is here. =o)

I feel pretty prepared as far as having everything in order for Natalie's arrival. I still get a little nervous though thinking about taking care of a newborn again. The first two months I would say are a struggle for me. Babies don't come with personal manuals and labor/delivery/postpartum never happens the way you invision it. And the fact that I'll have two children freaks me out a little! So weird!

But in the end despite it all...I'm still excited!

Ironically, this is exactly how Natalie was positioned at the doctor's office!

At babycenter.com it says: This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Projects

The decor of Marisa's room, or I should say the girls' room, is vintage inspired. I mainly like to copy Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic looks. I LOVE her style. I am not quite there yet as far as how I want their room to look, but that takes time, right? So for right now, my next step in making their room more complete is to make their dresser/bookcase/desk more distressed, weathered, antique looking. When we first got married Tim had this piece of furniture growing up that was going to be ours and just by taking one look at it I didn't want it. It was an ugly wood color and it was ugly. haha But the idea came to me that I can paint it white and use it in Marisa's room. I wish I had a before picture, but here is the after picture.


It looks great and it has been a lovely free addition to her room, but now I'm a little sick of it. It looks too Pottery Barn-ish, too white, and too clean cut to me. I want vintage. So with much time to think and search and gain inspiration of what I want their room to look like, I now want to paint it like a provence blue and distress/weather it so some white shows through and even create some dark spots on the edges. Here is my inspiration for her bookcase...










Now I know the furniture doesn't have unique antique curves or edges like my inspirational photos, but I think I can make it look alright.

Which brings me to my next project...


I found this wooden rocking chair at a garage sale. Ugly, I know, but I bought it knowing that I wanted to take on the challenge to paint it black and give it a distressed look.

So, my question to you all, where do I begin? I mainly have concerns on where to begin for the bookcase and how to go about the whole project. The rocking chair shouldn't be that hard. Does anyone have any experience in this, any great advice, any great references? From my previous experience on painting and from quick current research all I can find is....

Sand - Clean - Prime - Sand - Paint - Seal - Distress

Is that it? Is this the order? I can see how it would work for the rocking chair, but maybe not the bookcase. How do I make sure the white will show through the blue in a few spots? Just by sanding some more? And how do I get those dark edges? Or is it even possible? I want to make sure I do it right so I would love ANY help!

3 year anniversary

A Southern California boy...

And a Southern girl...

=True Love!

Tim and I have been together for 5 1/2 years now and happily married for 3 years! June 2, 2006 was the best day of my life. I was sealed for time and all eternity to the greatest man, the love of my life, my best friend. Happy Anniversary Tim!

I love the first picture of Tim back in his college years. He is puffing out dry ice with his buddies...haha. (I know.) It always makes me smile and laugh though because that is basically when our story began. When I first met Tim that is exactly what he looked like. He had big hair, an oversized sweatshirt, shorts, and flip-flops in the beginning of January in Utah! A true Californian. I vividly remember that my first thought of him was, "What a punk." I also remember thinking that just by judging by what he was wearing he seemed like one of those guys that is genuinely so hilarious and totally fun to hang out with, but he probably plays video games all day. haha I even went as far as thinking, "Watch. I'm going to end up marrying this kid." I was totally joking to myself and I would have never thought in a million years it would have come true! But I'm sure glad it did. ;o)

So, I thought I would start old school and post some pics of us throughout the past 5 years up until our first wedding anniversary because that is when I started this blog. Enjoy!

July 2004: My first year at the annual Hart family beach house!

June 2005: In Sundance on the bridge where Tim proposed on February 4, 2005.

August 2005

August 2005: By Bubba Gump restaurant in Hawaii!

August 2005: Eating Mahi-Mahi in Hawaii!

Halloween 2005: We were cholos. haha

Halloween 2005

March 2006

June 2006: Waving good-bye at the end of our wedding reception!

June 2006: Our honeymoon at the Bahamas!

July 2006: Married for 1 month!

October 2006: Thanksgiving Point

November 2006

December 2006: We just recently found out we were having our first girl!

April 2007: A family picture as two in the hospital right before we became a family of three!

Marisa arrived into our family!

Tim and I got married, had a baby, and both graduated from BYU (Tim with his masters) ALL before our first wedding anniversary!

Now we are anxiously waiting to become a family of four. We will have two little girls to share our love with in a couple of months. I'm looking forward to many, many more major milestones and adventures together in the many years to come!

I just heart us.