News at the West Home

So, James and I are just a little bit giddy about our new living room arrangement. It makes us happy in a very silly way. Since we have ghetto couches and I have no talent at decorating whatsoever, when James suggested we should make stadium seating in our living room, I was all for it. Below you see the pictures of our living room in all its glory. Please ignore the laundry on the chair and the crooked pictures. I really stink at decorating. But pay close attention to the fact that the couch in the back is in fact higher than the couch in front. Ta da! Stadium seating a la cinder blocks. It actually makes movie-watching a very enjoyable experience (also, the game was awesome like this). We added the ottomans on Saturday thanks to a friend's garage sale, and voila - seating and foot-restability for everyone.



In other news, and this is about to sound very vain of me, check out my hair!
See how it curls under? How smooth it looks? How it did exactly what I wanted it to? Ok, all this bragging has a purpose. I am about to let you in on a secret. Baking soda. That's right, just the kind you use to bake with... and sometimes clean out a drain or deodorize the trash can. You can also mix two tbsp of baking soda with a cup of water and wash your hair with it for a greener solution. And, I don't know how well it works for others who have tried it, but it makes my hair obey. And for that, I am a believer. Try it!

Pics from BYU vs N.Iowa

Our seats are way up in the North side of the East bleachers... if that makes sense. But we like them a lot. We can see the whole field and have a good view of all the goings-on. We are sitting with Allison and Jordan this year, which is a ton of fun. I am working on my Cougars jean quilt and am pretty excited about taking it along once the weather gets cold (that game was not cold by the way - I got a shoe tan!). GO Cougs!

Happy Birthday Jordan

Here is a picture of the cake we made for our friend Jordan's 24th birthday. We may have transferred some of our own BYU football craze to Jordan, but he loved it anyway. Actually, what we had planned was a little better - Jordan had wanted to watch Batman as his party activity so he asked us to make a Batman cake. Our evil but brilliant but evil plan was to make the carebear cake with the Batman symbol on his cute little tummy. But then Jordan changed his mind about watching Batman and decided to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (awesome movie by the way), and having no Turtle cake pan, we went with this:

Love for Harvey

I love all our BYU players, but this is the one I want to name my child after someday. Little Harvey Bronco. Or Bronco Harvey. We haven't decided. Watching the BYU-Washington game on Saturday, the overall feeling I had was one of extreme nerves and seriously feeling sick to my stomach. It was just too close. But every time they gave the ball to Harvey, my heart just soared. I love that kid. Also Pitta, that guy is just fun to watch. For those of you who didn't watch the game and haven't yet heard, BYU won 28 - 27. Thank you very much, Cougs, for making my day. Never doubted you for a second.

*edit* I thought about it some more, and it really wouldn't be right to post about Saturday's game without giving major kudos (chocolate chip or peanutbutter, whichever he likes better) to Jan Jorgensen, or as James calls him, Jorgy or The Filthy Swede (though his name is spellt the Danish way, I'm going to claim him as a Dane. The Dirty Dane). Thank you, Jorgy, for blocking the kick when it counted. That stupid call has robbed you of a bit of glory - YOU made the block, BYU won the game.

Happy News

We are happy to welcome yet another baby into the family -

Bella Ruth West

,

born to Chauncey and Melanie West on September 2 at 10:15 am

6 pounds 6 ounces

Beautiful!

Modestify Idea

Ok, so I think I've gotten a brilliant idea. I'm doing a giveaway on my other blog (modestify.blogspot.com) and I would like everyone to know about it. So, if you've got a moment, go over and check out today's post and give me some feedback on what you think. Thanks!

Welcome, Eli

We are happy to announce, a bit belatedly, the birth of our newest nephew. :) Here he is:

Elias Dane Johansen

Born: August 21, 2008

Time: 1:14 PM

Weight: 8 lbs, 15.3 oz

Height: 21 inches

The Festivities

So Tuesday and Wednesday, James and I celebrated our one-year anniversary in a-little-over-the-top-style, and we had a great time. First, we got all fancied up and went to dinner at the Chef's table in Provo:



Dinner was delicious, but unfortunately, neither James nor I was very hungry. But we had fun dining in the lavish surroundings, being waited on by the very courteous and kind staff, and discussing important issues (such as who James's favorite actor really is. By the way, it's not Bruce Willis).

Then we went to see a play called "The Hasty Heart"at the Hale theater.

I would highly recommend this play. It was funny, emotional, and meaningful all at once. It was very well acted and lots of fun. James was pretty sleepy though, poor guy.

Next, we went to the bed and breakfast we had chosen - the Hines Mansion in Provo (keeping it local). The dinner and play were all part of a package through them. The best thing about it? Giant jetted tub in the room. Mmmm. Very nice.



The second picture there is the room we stayed in "Winter Dreams." I'd really like to know how they got the third shot of the room from that angle. Standing on the bathtub, I guess. Crazy.

The next day, we had a delicious breakfast and nice chat with the inn owner. After leaving the b & b, we went home to rest up a bit and watch the newest episode of Monk (oh yeah, and clean up our disaster of a house a bit), then we went to the temple in the afternoon. It was all in all a lovely way to celebrate one year of being married to my best friend.

Oh, and I have to brag about the gifts James got me:

He gave me the popcorn popper on Saturday because he just couldn't stand to wait (he thought it would be incredibly useful, and once I got it I would not have wanted to wait either... and well, he was right). It has been so much fun, and I have eaten more popcorn in the last five days than I have in the last year. Delicious. I even learned how to make kettle corn on the stove and that has been the best thing ever. If anyone has been to a football game or a fair with me, you know I am addicted to this stuff. So nice to know how to make it now - I can have it whenever I want AND it's cheap. :)

He gave me these on Monday - you know, our actual anniversary. Aren't they gorgeous?

And he gave me this on Tuesday night, between dinner and the play. Yay! This is a movie I have always loved and am so excited to watch on the projector. Movie night, anyone?

I gave James a cake leveler, cake pan, and cake stand. I tried to surprise him with chocolate covered cinnamon bears on the actual anniversary, but I didn't hide them well and he found them on Sunday. Oh well, he still enjoyed them. Last, I gave him an album with the best pictures from our honeymoon. Ah, sentimental.

Well, it has been an amazing year of being married to my best friend. I have learned a lot about him, about myself, and about life. And about computers. And about robots. :)

Happy James and Charity Day

It's been one year since we began our little family. What are you doing to celebrate?



Suggestions: eat a cake, watch a sappy movie, have a snow cone, play Nintendo, click the picture above to see more wedding pictures of us, or you know, do your typical Monday thing. But I think my suggestions are better.

Camping!

On Friday night we went camping with our ward up at Rock Canyon campground. We had a great time setting up our tent in the windy canyon, then had some smores and tinfoil dinners (yes, in that order) and played a rousing few rounds of uno. For our first camping trip as a married couple, it was quite awesome. Here are some pictures: