Thursday, June 30, 2011

I WON AN 89 CENT TACO!

That's right. When my mom and I were at Taco Bell, I pushed my dime into a slot on a container, caught the dime on the bottom ledge marked with "Winner" and won a crunchy taco (I exchanged it for cinnamon twists). It was AWESOME. I kind of started to scream, but then Mom stopped me. Anyway, yum!

So for the past two days, Brandon and I have been enjoying all sorts of fun things together. On Tuesday night, we went over to his parents' house and talked for a few hours. After that we went to  IHOP and ate.... FUNNEL CAKE! It was so good. I'm totally into it.

Yesterday, we spent most of our time at that local water park I have been talking about and bought some pizza from Pizza Hut. I secretly ordered it with olives created into the shape of a heart. We also went to my best girl friend's endowment session. It was truly amazing! I love the temple.

And today... well, we are going to Coney's. Cannot wait.


Natalie's parent unit and fiance.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

Okay, so maybe when we were in Idaho we didn't watch (or play?) Battlestar Galactica, but we sure saw TONS of bears over at Bear World (as well as sampled the delicious fudge available). My adventurous mom even ate Great Aunt Nikki's pickled beets. Personally, I think that the only thing that should be pickled are pickles . . . or cucumbers. But anyway, at least Nikki knows how to store food. She has an awesome room full of food storage and normal storage. I have about a two-foot storage space next to my heater. Yeah, my heater. Sometimes I pray that the apartment won't burn down while I'm at school. 


At Bear World, there were also other animals like an ALBINO elk. There were some deer and pigs, too. Here are the pictures:


Cute baby deer!

The famous white elk.

This is also an elk, but just because he isn't white doesn't mean he isn't cool. :)

My favorite bear at the park. I named him Honey.

A playful black bear. Right after I took this picture, he licked his paw.

This bear was super sleepy.

A couple of wolves.

Two young bucks, I believe.

Black bear cub. So cute! I think this one's name is Havoc and he sure was wild.

A peacock standing on a roof.


One of the things I love most about visiting Idaho is the country! I love spending tons of time outdoors watching birds, playing with the new kittens (not this time), enjoying the pond, and going to Bear World. My great aunt's house is perfect for this type of relaxation. It has an amazing front and back garden, with little grass trails, a pond, and a hidden playground. It's kind of like a mini Stourhead in Wiltshire, England (miss that!) Someday I would like to take a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and/or Yellowstone Park. The only time I have been to either was when I was very young. 


As a child, my favorite park of Aunt Nikki's great garden was this huge teeter-totter that also swung around in a circle. We would have one of our second cousins (my mother's age) push the teeter-totter so that we would swing in a circle while pushing up and down. Now I know why I love thrill rides so much! Anyway, I took some pictures with me and the girls on it.


From left to right: Me, Julie, Jessica, and Jessica's friend (Lauren)
Brandon in front of Nikki's house.





Lately, I have also been getting into some major family history. I mean major. A couple months ago I was searching through my grandma's line (mother's side) and hit on a jackpot. Every Sunday I sit for a few hours in the morning and just enter in names and reserve temple ordinances. Brandon and I try to get to the temple at least once a week, but even at that rate we can't get all the names done. We actually have to enlist the ward to help. Crazy! Anyway, since we were in Idaho, we went to Rigby and took a quick picture of my great-grandma's house. Here it is:


Pretty sad picture of my great-grandma Lucille's house.
Justin and I used to catch locusts here.

Lastly, one of the best reasons to go to Idaho is to eat at Shari's. It's definitely not the best restaurant in town (Olive Garden was across the street), but my family and I used to eat there all of the time when we lived in Oregon.



I can't take very good pictures by myself. 

Jessica and Lauren

Nikki and Mom (and Jessica's bunny ears)
I liked this crazy picture of Julie so much that I didn't take another one.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Roses and Fish

So about a week ago, Brandon came home with my favorite chicken (lemon rotisserie) and a dozen peach colored roses (favorite!) There are at least three reasons why I love roses:

1. Roses are beautiful.
2. Beauty and the Beast contains a rose.
3. Jazlyn is a derivative of Jasmine, which is a type of rose.

Since the roses began to wilt, I decided to play with them before throwing them away.
A Princess Beatrice-inspired hat.
Hawaii. Kinda?

Almost wore a flower in my hair to
school, but I look dumb in buns.
Yeah, so I think I got the most out of those roses.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011:


On Tuesday, I decided to add to my thrill-mazing summer by working out on the local university track with the college athletes. Basically, I sort of ran with a small amount of gymnasts, sprinted a couple 100 m's and impressed a 200 m track athlete with my long jump. Don't worry, I flashed my ring at him.

I've been super sore since.

My awesome upper arm muscles which are 11 inches in circumference. I realize that may not be a good thing... ;)


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

So on Wednesday, I was supposed to go to that water park with my sisters again, but they cancelled on me. Instead, I decided to try carving a fish out of soap. It's hard to tell with the pictures, but I think I did a pretty good job for my first try! I hope to do a lion soon for Brandon. It's his favorite animal. After that, I'm thinking a hippo.

P.S. I named the fish Stanley.



Wednesday night, Brandon and I also played Super Smash Brothers and I totally won twice! Anyway, it was such a rare occasion that I decided to take a picture of the television screen. I rock at being Samus.

Notice in this picture that Brandon got fourth place.
Hahaha, who is the video game genius now?!

As you can see, I've been taking many pictures. I like pictures, I guess, and it seems that people like to look at them. I think I like writing more, but if I only wrote on my blog, that would be kind of selfish, you know? Nobody wants to read paragraphs and paragraphs about my feelings and day-to-day schedule.

So anyway, I finally have a treat for all of you! The long awaited honeymoon pictures! Here you go, kids!


Brandon and all of his awesome Christmas presents!

We both got pajama pants courtesy of the in-laws from Aeropostale.

I'm not sure what Brandon is doing here, but I think it's great. :)


Cozumel, Mexico
Also, I found some after-honeymoon photos, which are also awesome.

A cute note Brandon left for me with our fish salt and pepper shakers kissing.


We made the Plan of Salvation out of Play-Doh for FHE one night. 

Brandon + Jazlyn = Forever

Monday, June 20, 2011

Saturday, June 18 - Sunday, June 19 - Monday, June 20

All right! I finally get to write on this blog. Yes, I am finished with Spring Term, but no, I am not finished with school yet. One more class! (P.S. I got all A's last term, although I don't think I can attribute them to just myself. There were plenty of prayers sent up to heaven during that time).

Okay, so some of you might not know that my friend, Natalie, is marrying her fiance at the beginning of July. In honor of her wedding, I threw her a small bridal shower on Saturday and spent hours and plenty of cake mix making a bridal Barbie cake, complete with edible pearls. Here is a picture of it and of other decorations we had at the party:

Regina, the Barbie. I felt weird that she looked more like me than Natalie, but oh well!

Regina looks much better from far away, although for the first time ever trying to decorate a cake, I felt I did an okay job.

Not all the decorations were up yet, but I felt really proud of my balloon, sunflower, and yellow ribboned garland.

Had fun with some frosting tips.


I think Natalie had fun and that's what's important!

Sunday was obviously Father's Day. I made the big boo-boo of not wishing Brandon a Happy Future Father's Day before he left for meetings on Sunday, but that's okay. I remembered when I got back. While he was gone at his meetings, I decided to pull out my old American Girl Felicity Cook Book and made a batch of almond tarts. At first I thought they were going to turn out nasty, but they were actually pretty good! I think I will make them again especially since I noticed Brandon devoured four of them in less than 24 hours.

Yeah, so I have kind of got in a cooking craze lately. It's not that I always make food that tastes good. Actually, that never happens. I just want to eat things that are not made out of a box! I am so sick of it. So I've been pulling all of the recipe books off the shelves, finding what I think might taste good.

Today I made my first stir-fry. It used chicken, lemon, asparagus, carrots, chicken broth, soy sauce, and rice. I liked it! So I guess stir-fry is pretty elementary, but it is a beginning. I think that tomorrow I will be making veal balls (kinda like meatballs), mashed potatoes from a package (I'm still a poor college student), and whipped syllabub. Okay, so the whipped syllabub thing came from my American Girl cookbook again. It's made out of heavy whipping cream, lemons, an orange, sugar, and sparkling white grape juice, so it's basically a bubbly drink. Oooh, I cannot wait until that gets into my mouth!

So today kind of started my 60 days of a Thrill-mazing Summer. I was going to carve soap with Brandon and work on a book that I thought of, but instead I ended up falling asleep on my bed (that happens when you get up early in the morning to clean college football weight rooms and the like). Anyway, I was woken up by a loud knocking noise on the front door. Half asleep, I opened it to find my youngest sister, Julie. Anyway, to make a long story short, I ended up accompanying her, my other sister, Jessica, and her big-time crush, C****. I had so much fun! But I got sooo burnt. My arms are almost as red as the peppers in the fridge.

Anyway, hopefully I will find some more cool things to do tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma,

I made you this video and I was going to put it on Facebook, but it wouldn't let me. So check it out! It's for you! It's kind of pixelated. Sorry! Oh and I am also definitely slouching. Sorry about that, too! :) Love, Jazlyn

Saturday, June 11, 2011

On Seemingly Insignificant Events

I know it's not summer yet, but I wrote this Montaigne-like essay for my class and I thoroughly enjoyed it:


During the summer, I often peruse the metal picnic tables, not only for observing the passing clouds and contemplating but also for the enjoyment of food. Where better to lay a checkered, plastic table cloth, interrupt the red squares with clear Tupperware and paper plates and cups, and adorn such things with bounteous amounts of food: steaming grilled chicken bespeckled with salt, pink raspberry lemonade with ice, a side of Grandma's chunky mashed potatoes, and watermelon.
            Out of all the foods listed above, I dislike watermelon the most. You might ask if it is because of the hard shell I must crack in order to get to the red fruit. Or maybe it’s the taste of water itself that has got me shying away, but really, watermelons just have the most despicable seeds to sort through. I hate them and they look like deer ticks. (It is then fortunate that science has gone so far as to pluck these seeds out of the very bellies of this fruit).
            You see, no matter how insignificant watermelon seeds may seem, they wreak havoc on the inner sulci of my brain. I dislike chomping down on each and every one as I try to eat and I also think it looks very ridiculous when people spend their whole sunny picnic popping them out of their mouths.
However, I must face the fact that without these dark, tiny seeds, a source of my enjoyment and pleasure (that of consuming seedless watermelon) would be entirely squashed. For if you must know, inside these seeds reside a whole network of systems. At the center of the seed, an actual embryo is connected through tissue to the endosperm, which supplies nutrients to the fetal fruit. It is this system that allows the watermelon to grow and become an edible melon.
            Like these seeds, many imperceptible events occur around us daily. For example, one morning I woke up, hastily dressed to go to work, came home and slept. I failed to notice the packed lunch, straightened bedclothes, and empty sink that were all in chaotic order before leaving. I also did not perceive my metabolism speed up as I scurried out of bed and began sweeping and mopping at the local university. Nor did I notice that by accidentally keeping my work key, the person who does my job at night had no access to important doors and rooms.
            Beggars often go by unnoticed by the crowds of people who swarm by them to shop at outdoor malls, but the beggars notice the hunger pangs in their stomach and the emotional wretchedness that not many eyes have the capability of seeing.
            Roses bloom suddenly and we realize we never saw them in bud. Pet kittens soon enlarge into lazy cats, like our children who just graduated high school last week. The tide comes in and before we know it, we're backed to the rocky wall with only fifteen feet to spare. Zits just seem to pop up out of nowhere and so do our cavities and backaches.
            If we do not appreciate these seemingly insignificant moments of our lives, then we miss out. Suddenly, everything just happens to us without our realizing that it was ever occurring in the first place. We are plunged headlong into life without knowing where we are headed. But if we step back and look at the big picture and then step forward and look at the small picture, we won't miss anything.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Finals and then SUMMER!

Okay, so next week I have finals and then that Friday... SUMMER FINALLY STARTS! (for me, at least).

So here is the deal. It's not like I'm giving up working part-time (at 4 am!) or reading scriptures or being responsible and stuff... It's just that I want to have some fun. I mean, I'm married now and practically a grown-up, so I've got to hurry and start making a habit of having fun while doing responsible stuff.

This is another reason why it would be nice to be a full-time mom. Maybe you do have to clean, but if you want to go outside, you don't have to worry about persuading your kids! Anyway, beats being stuck smelling Nitrile gloves all day.

So I have a huge list I've got to get through. Maybe I won't finish, but I hope I do!

Love,
Jaz