Werner Family

Bowen

2011-01-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

(aka: Bobo, Bowie, The Kid, Baby, and Fussy Guy)

http://www.susanneashby.com/

It's happened. The Cutest Baby In the World has been born. He's perfect in every way. Bowen was born on Thursday, December 30th at 4:45 a.m. after about 8 hours of labor and 15-20 minutes of pushing. Not too bad! And, yes, you better believe that I had me some delicious epidural! I can't imagine doing that without it. Seriously - the most excrutiating pain I've ever been in my entire life. Anyway, he was 7 lbs., 1 oz., and 21" long (although a couple days later when I measured him, he was only 20". I think his head was slightly swollen and cone-shaped when they measured him at birth).

He is just the love of our life, the apple of our eye, and a dream come true. All the pain and discomfort of pregnancy and labor were 110% worth it. I whined and complained so much during the pregnancy, and back then, I couldn't understand how I was ever going to do it all again for my other kids. But now, four weeks later (heck, back at only a week later), I am more than happy to do it again.

My mom came for about a week to be at the hospital with us and to teach us the ropes, and it was so wonderful having her here. (Not to mention, she brought our Christmas presents - yay!) She was a great support (and photographer) in the delivery room with me, and she was a lifesaver when Brett and I were both desperate for a nap after a sleepless night. We had so much fun watching shows on Netflix and playing with Bowen! We miss her. Come back to us, Grammy! Bobo misses you!

Aunt Maddy came for a day at the end of that week, and we took Bobo out to a quilting store in Pacific Grove, right next to my favorite knitting store. Awesome store! I've been wanting to start quilting, and now I really want to! While Maddy was here, she waxed my eyebrows and cleaned our kitchen, both of which were much needed.

Now, I need to talk about Brett for a second. He has been AMAZING. He was my rock during labor, and then for the ten days that he was home from work with us, he was a great baby assistant. We discovered that the only pacifier that Bowen will take is daddy's finger, and only if it's upside down (fingernail on the tongue). If anyone knows of a pacifier with a huge nipple please tell me where to get it! Also, Brett is an amazing cook. The first day, he made some chicken noodle soup from scratch, and it was the best I've ever had. Then, he made his famous veggie lasagna and later, some awesome green enchiladas. Holy smokes, he's good! Plus, he sings the Fussy Guy Song, which Bobo loves.

Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure. You've probably seen these all on Facebook already, but I have more from his newborn portraits coming soon!

I LOVE this shot that my mom got of Brett cutting the cord. Agh. I get teary-eyed looking at it. Look at that baby's face!

Brett and Bowie in the hospital room.

Bobo with Grammy.

Cuteness.

This picture cracks me up. He does this straight-leg thing, and he's done it since he was in the womb!

I took this picture of him with my phone, and it's one of my favorite pictures of him ever.

Cuteness from the side.

Naptime with Daddy. He's done these adorable newborn smiles since day one. I know he doesn't mean anything by them and doesn't know what he's doing with his face, but it still makes me melt. I was lucky to catch this one on camera!

We had to get him these little onsies (size 5-8 lbs) because they were some of the only ones that fit him well for the first couple weeks, and they have the mitten cuffs on them, which he really needed because he was scratching the crap out of his face when he'd get all pissed off. Look how loose it is on him in this picture, at nine days old. He's exactly four weeks old as I type, and he's grown out of these onesies already, and it kills me!

Well, there ya have it, folks. So, what have we learned today?

1) Bowen is The Cutest Baby In the World.

2) Epidural is our friend.

Tangled

2010-12-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

This week, we had a chance for a little date night. We went to Babies 'R' Us (totally romantic, I know. Be jealous.) and used a gift card we were given for our baby shower (thanks, Aunt Karen!) and got our diaper bag. Actually, we got two!

This is the main one:

And this is the smaller one:

The first one is going to be my main diaper bag, you know, the catch-all that will likely turn into my purse which carries some baby stuff. The second one is much smaller, and it'll only have necessities for baby. We like that it matches the big one. The smaller one will kinda be our daddy diaper bag, for Brett. Honestly, I could see myself using the smaller one as much if not more than the bigger one, but we'll see! They weren't super expensive, so if we decide we don't really like either of them and want to try something different, I've got time to save up for my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag that I've been dying for, maybe in time for the next kid! ;-)

After we were done shopping, we went and saw Tangled:

This movie was SO GOOD! Remember back in the old days when there were Disney movies for kids with lighthearted stories, fun annimation, songs, and were completely clean of any adult jokes? Well, this one fits the bill. It was rated PG, but we have no idea why. Maybe the movie people just don't want to put a G rating on anything anymore. But whatever, we will definitely own the DVD when it comes out.

These days, I can't sit for very long anymore. I just can't get comfortable. If I sit still for too long my back and pelvis ache. Church is killer on my back, and we've been playing hooky after Sacrament Meeting as it is, so we were taking a chance on seeing a 90-minute movie. I did pretty well for the first half. I think I only had to cross and un-cross my legs a couple times. Then suddenly, I was completely uncomfortable and felt like if I didn't change possitions RIGHT THEN I would die! After that I spent the last half of the movie getting as creative as I could in the theater seats. Oh, and I REALLY needed to use the bathroom, but I wasn't giving in to that because there was no way I was missing part of the movie! Just a few more weeks to go... Come on, self, you can do it!

51

2010-12-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

That's how old my dad would be today if he was still alive. I miss him so much. It's been six and a half years since he died, and some years, December 8th comes and goes without me even realizing the significance of the day. I'll get to the 9th or 10th and think, "Oh, crap, Dad's birthday was the other day and I didn't even stop to think about him or 'talk' to him." (Sometimes I talk to him in case he can hear me or somehow know my thoughts.) But then again, I don't think that they pay attention to earthly birthdays where he is. I'm sure he's got much more important things to worry about.

I don't usually write about stuff this personal and close to my heart, but today I felt prompted to share some thoughts, in case someone comes across my blog who needs to read these words. I am so greatful for my knowledge of The Plan of Salvation. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father's wonderful Plan of Happiness, I know that I'll see my dad again. I know where he is, and what he's doing. I know that everything happens for a reason, and everything is part of Heavenly Father's plan for me - and you. Families CAN be together forever.

I also know that through the Atonement, I have someone who knows exactly how I feel when I get a little sad about my daddy. When Jesus Christ was suffering in Gethsemane, He not only suffered for each of our sins, but He also suffered - in a very specific way - through all the pains and heartaches we would each encounter in this life. Jesus knows EXACTLY how 18-yr-old Morgan Wilfley felt when her papa left this earth, and because of that, He is able to succor me exactly the way I need it, the way no one else possibly could.

OK ok ok...

2010-12-05T23:23:00.000-08:00

Fine. I'll say it. I'm pregnant. It's a boy. He's due on Jan. 6, 2011, which puts us at 35 1/2 weeks along. Nope, no name yet. Yes, we have two or three options, but we ain't tellin.

Wanna see some proof? Here ya go, and you can click on the picture for more at Susanne Ashby's blog. She did an AMAZING job on these pictures. Seeing these pictures go a long way with helping me to not feel like a total heffer. Actually, Susanne does an AMAZING job on ALL her pictures. She did the pictures that are in my blog header too, and I can't wait for her to do our newborn pictures! Also, my makeup for this shoot was by my sister, at http://www.maddybirdmakeup.com/. She always nails it!

Although, I'm sure most of you reading this have already found out because you:

a) Came to/were invited to my baby shower
b) Are my friend on Facebook and saw my maternity pictures
c) Know my mom or sister (or other close relatives of mine)
d) ARE my mom or sister (or other close relatives of mine)
e) Saw me lookin' a little thick around the middle
f) Noticed my "The Kid" button on this blog and knew it meant something
g) Were on our ever-so-exclusive "Happy 4th of July, love Morgan and Brett and Baby Werner" text message list

(I know that was a lot of choices. That's how easy it is to know about this whole thing before now because I've let it go for so long.)

I know I've been really weird about the whole thing. I just wasn't ready to talk about it. It's not that I wasn't happy about it or anything like that. I guess I just feel like the baby growing in my body is kind of a private, personal thing, and I didn't want to go blasting it on the WWW. You night have noticed that I made no formal announcement on Facebook. It all started out with our first trimester furtiveness. We didn't want to tell anybody until we were clear of the first trimester because of the posibility of losing the pregnancy early on. Then, at I think ten or eleven weeks, (or was it as early as 8 weeks? I can't remember) the doctor heard a really great, strong heartbeat and said that she was confident that the pregnancy would survive, and the chances of miscarriage were next to none, so if we wanted to tell people we could.

But, we still weren't ready to alert the press. First, we needed to wait until we had told all of our family in person, and then we sent out a mass text message. But, even then, I didn't say anything on FB about it. If any comments were made to me on FB, I immediately deleted them from my wall. I think the FB secretiveness was to avoid people going, "OMG! Post some preggo pics! I wanna see your baby bump!" Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhh no. I am not posting the lame, take-a-picture-of-myself-standing-sideways-by-the-bathroom-mirror-to-show-how-big-my-stomach-has-gotten-each-month-photos on FB. I've been taking some for our own personal viewing pleasure, but you ain't gonna see them. Heck no. All the people at work who were constantly rubbing my [still basically flat] stomach back in my second trimester as if it were public domain was enough attention for me. (Word to the wise - ASK before you start feelin' up a pregnant chick!) It's not that I'm ashamed of the way I look. In fact, I'm quite pleased with the way I look so far. I haven't put on a ton of weight, and everyone is telling me how small I am for over 8 months pregnant (although my doc says I measure perfectly, so I'm not worried. Not having cravings, waiting tables and walking around the restaurant for four hours straight, and then finishing the night off with lots of salad and protein will keep that extra baby weight off - let me tell ya! Eating for two is so five minutes ago). Not to mention, my hair and skin are so healthy right now. Nope, no stretch marks - yet. Knock on wood, right?

It felt really weird to say, "I'm pregnant," so I let people find out through the grapevine, except for the people we texted on the 4th of July. Finally, in the second trimester pretty much everyone knew. And now, Blogworld, you know. Enjoy.

It was really easy to keep my mouth shut about it until we were ready to blab. I had my mom to talk to about it, since I told her right when I found out. I couldn't have gone through the whole thing without her support and wisdom from the very beginning. Plus, my best friend/4th cousin once removed (no really, we're 4th cousins), Lissy, knew about it too. I couldn't not tell her! So, for a week I had her to talk to about it. Then, a week after I found out, she found out that she was in the same boat as me, and at the time, based on online due date calculators, we thought she was due a day after I was. (We live two states apart and our cycles are STILL in sync! Ridiculous.) But, her first ultrasound showed that she was actually 11 days behind me. Whatever. Close enough! It's been so nice to have her to talk to and go through this with. We were both totally sick in our first trimester, and there were many a "uuuuuuugh this sucks" text sent between us. She was also pretty quiet about her pregnancy, so we could trust each other to not blab except to our husbands and moms. Plus, that way, our moms could talk to each other about it and not explode.

Wow, I just barfed out a long blog post. I can't believe I just told you all that stuff. I guess I made it to 35.5 weeks keeping my mouth relatively shut, and since my blog is more of a journal than anything else I have, I should start talking, you know, for posterity. Or whatever.

Time for bed now. Hopefully I can sleep tonight. I have a really hard time getting comfortable. I can't lay on my back for more than a few seconds before I get a really weird, achy, almost numbing sensation in my middle to lower back. It's kind of the same feeling as restless leg syndrome, if you know how that feels. Imagine "restless back syndrome" and that's how I feel when I lay on my back. That leaves me with two options - laying on my right side or laying on my left side. Both get old after about five minutes, so I pray for sleep to find me before I have to turn over. And over.

Ooooooh man, I can't wait to sleep on my belly in a few weeks. It'll be heaven.

For the sake of evasiveness...

2010-11-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, there are things that I'm just not ready to talk about. I've got a couple personal projects in the pipeline, and I'll tell ya bout them soon. Some of you know what I'm talking about, some of you don't. But for right now, I'm just gonna be evasive and vague and not address those subjects. So, stop asking! :-P

For the sake of egg nog...

2010-11-08T23:18:00.000-08:00

I freakin' love egg nog. Every October, whenever it appears in the dairy section of the grocery store, I always buy a carton of it. I make sure I always have some in the fridge until January when the store stops carrying it. And the cool part of it is that Brett doesn't really like egg nog, so I get it all to my self all Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Woohoo!

Hmmm... let's see, what else can I ramble on about tonight... Oh! I know! In the year since I last posted, like REALLY posted, a few things have happened to us and for us. This spring, Brett got promoted to General Manager of the Islands here in Monterey! That was pretty awesome. He got that promotion pretty fast, considering he's only been a manager for less than three years now. He's doing so well at it! I'm so proud of him.

Also, my brother, Harrison, left for his mission this last March. He is serving in Uruguay, Montevideo West. He seems to be having a blast down there, and appears to have adjusted pretty well. (Eek, I need to write to him!) I can't wait to hear him speak spanish when he comes back! I just can't imagine my big, football jock little brother speaking another language fluently. It's so funny to see all the pictures of big, white Harrison with all the little, brown Uruguayans. He towers over all of them - even his American companions! He said that when he first got there, the locals thought he was a body builder, because they'd never seen such a big guy before. If you haven't seen Harrison in a while, he's 6'5", a gargantuan. He's got less than 500 days left. No, no, we're not counting down or anything.

Last year, Brett's mom, Judy, taught me how to knit, so I've been having a lot of fun with that. I need to take some pictures of my projects to show you! Right now, my biggest project is a huge, cable-knit blanket. I've been working on it since this summer, and I vowed to finish it by Christmas. I think I can, but it's just so big that I get bored with it easily and start on smaller projects, like baby beanies and scarves and stuff. I have a list as long as my arm of small projects that I want to try. I'll post some pictures of my blanket soon!

Ok, more later... maybe...

For the sake of newness...

2010-10-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been a year since I last posted. I am sooooo lame. I have to finish cleaning the house now, but I'll write more later. I promise. Maybe.

Help a sista out!

2009-10-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

We are getting our pictures done soon. We'll definitely get some beach pictures but I'm hoping to also go to Carmel Mission. What should we wear? Here are my ideas for our outfits. Please leave me some comments and tell me what you think we should wear! Most of you probably know that I am very indecisive. I need some help! I think I want to wear olive green accented by some jewel tones. I'll probably wear my dark-wash botcut jeans from VS Pink. I tried to find you a picture of those online but they don't have a picture of that exact wash.

Top #1: Here's a top at Target that I like {BTW, I've seen this top in Target and it's greener than this picture, more like the color of the shirt below}:

Top #2: Another Target find:

Top #3: Cute! But it doesn't go with my color scheme {Besides, if I wore this shirt, people would probably get our Christmas cards and think I'm pregnant. I'd have to save it for a maternity shirt.}:

Top #4: Me likey!

Top #5: HOW FREAKING CUTE! Although I couldn't wear it with jeans. I'd have to wear it with some khakis or something: American Eagle:

Ok, now I need a jacket or sweater or something... I think I want a khaki or brown safari type jacket. Anybody have any ideas? I just don't know where to look. For this, I am calling on all of you to help me find something!

Accessories:

Gloriousness! But not really the style I have in mind for these pictures. Maybe to go with my Elizabeth Swann dress:

Ok, so I can't find any pictures of what I have in mind. But basically, I want a chunky necklace of colorful beads in jewel tones and browns. Possibly earings to match. I'm going to look around at Target and Claires and see if I can find anything there. I wouldn't mind a scarf and/or beanie to wear too. I have a whole skein of brown wool yarn. Perhaps I'll make myself a set really fast. I have at least five days. I can make a scarf with big needles so that it'll come out holey.

Now on to Brett's outfit.

I think I want him in a dark, cranberry red and/or brown.

Shirt #1: This could work if I accented it with a colored undershirt. I REALLY like this style. They also have it in tan. (But, good grief, $40 on CLEARANCE? What do they think I am? Made of money?) Do you think the gray or tan would look better with a cranberry undershirt?

Top #2: Here's a jacket version of that style. How rugged would Brett look in this? Too bad it's 99 bizzles:

Top #3: Now this is what I'm talking about. Perfect color and style for my hunk!But, it's like $50. I might have to splurge. It's just too good. {EDIT: I have since shown this sweater to B and he has pooh-poohed it. He says it's gay. This makes me unhappy. Someday he'll be my dressable Ken-doll. He'll see!}

I don't know what pants I would want him to wear. He has some chocolate brown, flat-front Dockers-style pants. But I don't think those would look that great with a red sweater. I think he needs to wear jeans, too. I need to find him some cool, distressed jeans. {What about some olive green cargo pants? I must find some.}

Found some! But what's goin' on with the bottom parts of the legs? Are they just a tad tapered? I think so. I'm not a fan. And would I be able to iron out those weird factory-made wrinkles in them?:

Oh my goodness! I cannot forget about shoes! Oh dear, what shall I wear?

Shoes #1: I've been checking these out for a while:

Shoes #2: Or, how about these cuties?:

Shoes for Brett:

Shoes #1: Love these. Once again, the rugged thing. These would look great on him, but OUCH - $90!:

So, where do all of you shop for your husbands? Does anybody have any ideas for either of our outfits? Please, Help A Sista Out.

Glorious to behold! (Brett says I'm gay.)

2009-07-20T23:21:00.001-07:00

Actually, Brett only thinks I'm gay for posting about this. He actually thinks these things I'm about to tell you about are pretty cool.

I am in love. True love. LOOK at these diaper bags. (NO I'm not pregnant. Don't get excited.) I served a table today of two moms and their kids. One mom had a really darling purse up on the ledge, out of the way, and I had to comment on it. She said, "It's not a purse. It's a diaper bag." I said, "No way!" She told me it was by Petunia Pickle Bottom. (So I wrote it down, because I knew I wouldn't remember that name if my life depended on it.) I looked it up tonight, what what did I find on their website? That's right. Millions of AWESOME diaper bags. I told Brett that we needed to have a kid so that I could accessorize it with these awesome bags. Check it out:

(Well, I tried to post pictures but it won't let me upload the pictures from the website and it won't let me right-click and save the pictures, so you'll just have to click on the links.)

Super Cute

Also Super Cute

HELLO! I almost can't handle it!

You guys, they have diaper bags for MEN! Masculine diaper bags for when Daddy has to take the kid somewhere and doesn't want to carry around a chick bag. (Brett didn't think this was gay. He thought it was cool. We shall purchase one for him someday.) Look here.

How cool is this stuff? Freakin' expensive, but totally worth it, right? I'll need a pair of high heels to go with it, you know. Oh yeah, and a baby too.

Sadness.

2009-07-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

My computer is in the shop til who knows when. I miss it so much. No yahoomail, no photo editing, no advertising (!), no Facebook chat and Gmail beesnis meetings. Our Playstation 3 hooks up to the internet so we found a keyboard and mouse to use, and now we can get online minimally. But, not all websites work on this "browser." I can check my Gmail but my Yahoomail doesn't work, and when I get the computer back I'll probably have 5 million emails at Yahoo. I just miss my lappy-top so bad. It's been gone for almost two weeks now, and they quoted me up to 3 weeks til it comes back. I have three sessions to edit and I can't look at them on anything bigger than my camera screen. Well, I guess I could hook the camera up to the TV or stick the memory cards in the PS3 and look at the pictures on the TV screen, but that would just depress me since I can't edit or crop where necessary. I definitely can't blog any of them.

Gayness. Pure gayness.

HAHA

2009-05-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Updated

2009-05-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

My brothers. Click on Harrison.

Ladies and Gentleman

2009-05-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Please tip your servers 15% at the VERY minimum. If you get a discount of some sort on your meal, it is proper to tip based on the original total, not on the discounted total. If you get 50% off of your meal, does that mean that your server worked 50% less? No, they worked the same amount. Servers earn their money through tips, not the minimum wage that they are paid by the restaurant and is depleted by taxes paid on the tips. And, at the end of the night, they have to share a portion of their tips with the busser, bartender, and hostess.

Please tell this to your foreign friends, as they are some of the worst offenders.

Oh, and a lame tip cannot be justified with compliments about how great your server was. You can't pay bills with compliments.

That's all for now.

I like this

2009-05-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

This came in a forwarded email from my Aunt:

American Citizens

April 17, 2009

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.

You are so obsessed with appeasing the European and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America. You are responsible to the citizens of the United States. You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth.

I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century?

Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?

Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia. You don’t show Great Britain, our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia. How dare you, sir! How dare you!

You can’t find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don’t want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey. You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What’s the matter with you?

I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.

You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.

What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members – on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer. You haven’t said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn’t! Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million – not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven’t you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now.

I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Any American or should I say True American

Come see! Come See!

2009-04-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Click this:

I want these things so bad!

2009-03-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

I have always SUCKED at doing my hair. I've always wondered how all the cute girls with cute hairstyles got their hair to do certain things, including being big and volumous. These fabulous little contraptions have given me an answer. I think I'll add these to my little list of things I'm going to do soon as part of my self-makeover. Oh, I don't think I told you - I'm getting a haircut in a couple of weeks! Woohoo!

And yes, I like the "Utah bump." I think it looks cute.

I am sick.

2009-03-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sicker than I've been in years. Yesterday I had my fair share of barfing. Ten times. That's right, I barfed my guts out TEN TIMES yesterday. It was unbelievable. Poor Brett, is all I can say. Oh, and the cats kept sniffing my face. Freaks. I've been extremely dizzy. My equilibrium is all out of whack - just standing up or turning my head causes me to loose my balance. We think it's either just the flu or some knarly food poisoning, although I don't know what I could have eaten that was bad for me. Today I'm much better. My stomach is tollerating crackers and juice and tea. I'm pretty hungry but I don't know if I could/should eat anything substantial yet. Oh man, a Greek salad from Islands with extra feta and calamatas sounds soooooo good right now. Maybe by the time Brett's done with work today I'll be able to eat something. I'll have him bring me a Greek.

And no, I'm not pregnant.

Anyway, I really like me new background. It reminds me of this game that we downloaded onto the PS3.

I love spring. It's practically here. I even spent some time on the beach a few days ago with my friend Ivy and got a little burnt. Winter didn't seem that long this year, and that's fine with me. I only like winter at Christmastime, and after that, I have no other use for it. Hopefully, this spring will bring some opportunities for me businesswise. Maddy and I have a HUGE project coming up and we're having a lot of fun planning it. Keep an eye out on my photography blog for bits and pieces of it. (And, those of you reading this blog who are part of the project, please stay mum on the subject for now. We want to come out with it as a huge suprise. )

Maddy and I REALLY want to go to the NorCal Pirate Festival this year. We are even planning on dressing up. We went to a lot of renaissance and celtic fairs and Scottish Rites festivals growing up. We've always made fun of the people who dress up for them, but at the same time have always wanted to wear cool costumes for them. So, this year, its happening. We are going to make some awesome costumes, try to drag B along with us as well as a few friends and family, and have fun being the nerds that we have been denying all these years. My costume will be reminiscent of an 18th century English lady (think Elizabeth Swann). I tried to convince Maddy to have a similar costume, but NOOOOOOOO, she wants to be a wench. Whatever. She's a freak, I know. We'll blog the progress of our costumes as we make them. For starters, this is the pattern I will be using and altering a bit, just for the corset part. For the dress, I'll use this pattern. And this is my ultimate goal. What do you think? Can I pull it off?

2009-02-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

I am trying really hard to pump myself up to work hard with all three jobs during the next few months. I'm just going to look down and not even look up until my bank account is overflowing with money. I want the bank people to call me and say, "Morgan, we need you to open another account because your old checking account isn't big enough for your $900,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000." I want to actually be able to use my discount here because they have soooooooo many cute clothes right now!!! Agh. It pains me. I miss shopping so bad. And I'm tired of renting.

And I need to spend some money on my appearance, because boy oh boy, I am blah lately!
(The new contact lens sauciness only lasted for a couple days.) I need a makeover! And a diet. Today, I downed one of these all by me self while waiting for Brett to get done with work. It was delicious, and worth it, but by the time you all read this post, I will have done at LEAST 100 crunchies. And tomorrow, I will run. I'll run like a mile. I'm telling you all this because I want you to hold me to it. I want you all to leave harrassing comments if I don't go running and do like a million crunchies - EVERY DAY! (haha, yeah right.) By summertime, I plan on looking like THIS. Yeah yeah yeah, unrealistic, I know. But a girl's gotta dream, right? I gotta have a goal, yes?

Blah blah blah.

2009-02-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

No news, really. Well, actually, I'm starting a new job at California Pizza Kitchen. I know, I know, I swore I would never go back to the restaurant biz, and I forsake my Shoes for Crews and order pad. But then, January hit. Well, actually, my stupidity hit. I don't know what I was thinking, thinking that two stupid, minimum wage retail jobs would cut it. I guess I thought that I would instantly create a huge network of clientelle and have weddings to shoot every weekend and never have to fill out another job application again. Not so. So anyway, I was working what felt like a ton, especially in December. Victoria's Secret and Williams-Sonoma were both really busy, and I never wanted for hours. However, the paychecks were still less-than-satisfactory, since I was just making minimum wage plus some change.

Then comes January.

As soon as Christmas was over, business dropped - big time - in the retail industry. I haven't been scheduled to work at WS in about a month. They do these things called "on-calls," where you have to call two hours before the start of that shift and see if they need you or not. Technically, my position at WS is called a "casual associate," so they can schedule me as little or as much as they want to. Well, all I've gotten is on-calls, and they haven't had me come in for about a month now. VS still scheduled me here and there each week, but they didn't have the hours to give to us, so I was lucky that I got any at all.

Ideally, I'd work at Islands, since I know the menu and everything. But, since Brett's a manager there, and corporate policy says a manager cannot date or be married to an employee, I can't work there. Lame. And since we're sharing a car right now, it makes things a lot easier that we both already work at the mall. Luckily, there are other restaurants at the Del Monte Center. One of Brett's bartenders also works at CPK, and he got me the job. They say that the servers there are making decent money. So yeah. I'm a waitress again. Yippy skippy.

Meg, I loved that post about Britney Spears! May I suggest a replacement? This one dances WAY better, she doesn't embarrass herself publicly, and she actually writes her own music! She is a little liberal politically, but hey, we can't all be perfect, right? haha... Oh yeah, and she can actually sing, and doesn't just breathe and hiccup into the mic. And I love her. And I love this song. It's probably one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard. I like to sing it. Singing along with her songs helps my spanish accent, too. Her hips just don't lie! They never do! Ever! What more of an example could you want than a high-profile girl who is proud of her non-washboard stomach and small boobs? I really just got in the mood for this music video and wanted an excuse to blog about it. Thanks Meg, thanks! Sample this:

Check 'em out!

2009-01-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Morgan Werner Photography

Forget my last post!

2009-01-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

I got it! I love it! Thanks, Jenn!

Attention Cute Bloggers!

2009-01-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

I need your help.

You all keep switchin' up your blog layouts/backgrounds, and they look darling! I REALLY want to change mine, but I'm scared. Last time I tried to change it, MONTHS ago, it erased everything from my blog - all my posts, all my link lists, everything - and I had to start over. I've been scared to try again, now that there is so much stuff on my blog and and I don't want to lose any of it.

How do you girls keep that from happening to your blog when you change your backgrounds?

I can see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Long story short, I lost my glasses. I'm blind. Can't see without lenses of some sort. Some of you know about the mishap inwhich I lost my glasses. I will not elaborate here. I don't want to think about it. Just know that it was traumatic.

Anyway, in order for me to drive, I need to see. Since our life sucked without me doing some driving sometimes, we looked into replacing my specs. I fell in love with some darling, black-rimmed Ralph Lauren frames that cost around $300. We geared up to save up. But then, it occurred to us (him). Contacts are actually cheaper!

So, I got some.

At first, it took me at least 20 minutes to get them in, and I was still pretty conscious of them throughout the day. That was two weeks ago. Now, I can get them in in about 5 minutes, and I forget that I even have them on. I even fell asleep in them one night because I couldn't feel them and forgot about them.

Wearing contacts is just what I needed. I used to not even bother putting on makeup since it couldn't even be seen behind my glasses, but then I felt frumpy all the time. I didn't even do anything with my hair, because it's a waste to flat iron one's hair without a matching face of makeup. Then, if I was ugly above the neck, what was the point in grooming anything below? What was the point in shaving anything? Why should I put the effort into a pedicure or manicure? If I hadn't maintained my pedicure, then there was NO way that I was wearing heels, which therefore means no skirts. Thus began my downward spiral of frumpiness.

So, I am hereby thankful for contacts, for I have gotten my groove back. Watch out, Brett! I'm feeling saucy!

Come see! Come See!

2009-01-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

Morgan Werner Photography

Major holidays stress me out.

2009-01-01T22:33:00.001-08:00

I'm just gonna skip over Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I'm just gonna pretend they didn't happen. I'm working two retail jobs and they both worked wonders at squashing my Christmas spirit into the ground. Next year will be different. And we definitely won't be going to bed at 8 or 9 on New Years Eve, either. Enough of this workaholic crap. I've had enough.

Anyway, moving on.

So I really want a change with my hair. I'll be getting contacts soon, and since I won't be wearing glasses every waking hour anymore, I want to do something else with my hair, like bangs, perhaps. I'm thinking something like.......... this:

or this:

ooooooooor this:

But I think this is my favorite style (just the bangs, not the rest of the haircut):

What y'all think?

Look guys! I did a project!

2008-11-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a real homemaking housewife now!

We finally got a picture of Christ for our house, and we needed a frame. We had an old frame of Brett's that was the perfect size for the matted painting, but it was an ugly, light wood finish (I hate light wood. Blegh). So, I painted the frame black and it was ready to help Jesus look good on my wall! As if Jesus needs any help lookin' good.

Before:

After:

I'm so proud of myself! Those of you who have the pleasure of listening to me complain about money know what a hard time I have with decorating on a budget, so it's nice to put something on my walls now and then. Next will be a picture of the temple. I'll probably just use the one of us standing on the pedestal in front of the temple on our wedding day. I also need to get our marriage certificate from the temple framed along with our Proclamation To the World.

The Perfect Pantry... or so they say

2008-11-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting tonight while I was waiting for the ground beef to thaw out under the faucet. It seems like a useful checklist. Do you agree with it? Do you think that all of these things are necessary? Are you even lucky enough to have a pantry? I sure as heck am not. But still, let's see what I've managed to accumulate.

I actually have all of these:
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
All-Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar

What? Broth? Ha. I don't even know what to use broth for:
Chicken Broth
Beef Broth
Canned tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Can/jar of marinara sauce
Canned beans: white, black, kidney
Tuna

I ALWAYS have spaghetti and sauce, and we happen to have a bunch of rice that Brett bought, but the rest are a negative:
Spaghetti
Linguine
Corkscrew pasta
Penne or other short pasta
Egg noodles
Long-grain white rice
Jasmine or basmati rice
Lentils
Split peas
Dried bread crumbs

I never buy onions. I hate them. But I do have potatoes and garlic!
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic

We have various hot sauces and soy sauce, and rice vinegar:
Distilled white vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Salsa
Hot sauce

Cinnamon, garlic powder and basil? Check!:
Dried basil
Bay leaves
Cayenne
Chili powder
Cumin
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
Oregano
Paprika

Who doesn't always have eggs, milk and butter? But mustard? Yeah, we definitely have about 20 different mustards that Brett "collects." Blegh!:
Eggs
Milk
Butter or margarine
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Parmesan cheese
Other cheese

Ground beef is a-plenty in our freezer, thanks to Uncle Adam and "Chocolate the Cow!" (R.I.P. Chocolate):
Frozen corn
Frozen spinach
Frozen peas
Ground beef
Chicken breasts

So, it looks like I have a little bit of shopping to do. Honestly, I probably have room for most of the things that I'm lacking. I've never felt the need for that many pastas in the pantry. I always have spaghetti and bow-ties, but all the other ones- why? I definitely need a good, comprehensive spice rack. I only buy spices and herbs as I need new ones for recipes. I believe that the first group with the baking supplies should also include baking soda, baking powder, shortening, vanilla extract, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and anything else needed for basic cookies, brownies, and cakes. I also try to always have a stash of chocolate chips in the freezer, and instead of frozen corn and peas, we always have broccoli.

So how 'bout you? How's your pantry?

The rivetting conclusion to the end-of-summer saga! (It's actually pretty boring. I'm mostly just writing it for journaling reasons.)

2008-10-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

I believe I left off at the part about how we got home from an 8+ hour drive from Oregon, unloaded the Jeep and took showers, re-packed and got BACK in the car, right? Well, It is true. We got back to Sacramento in the afternoon, and were only home for about an hour, I think. (Moving was such a long, drawn-out event for us this time that it is all a bit of a blur!) We had to get back on the road and head down to Lompoc (Santa Barbara County), where Brett's family lives, because for the next two-and-a-half weeks, Brett's mom would be SO kindly taking care of our cats for us. Brett had to report to the restaurant hiring site in about a week. (Before the restaurant opens, the managers hire their whole staff at an office somewhere near the restaurant. In this case, Islands is in a mall, so they just used a vacant calendar store as the hiring site for about six weeks before the actual restaurant was open for business.) So, Brett HAD to be here, in Monterey, by a certain date, but our apartment wasn't ready for us to move in until about two-and-a-half-weeks after that date. Sooooooo, Islands was nice enough to put us up in a hotel for that time so that we could be there on time. Since we were in a hotel, we couldn't have the cats with us, so Judy took care of them for us. Thank you, Judy!

Anyway, so we got to Lompoc by about midnight that night, visited with Brett's family for a couple of hours, got the cats settled in at Judy and Larry's, and then we hit the road again!

Here are the not-so-happy cats in their crate on the way to Lompoc. They were so noisy! Apparently, they don't like traveling.

The MUCH happier cats in their bedroom window at Judy's.

Next, we needed to go to San Diego. Brett had a storage unit down there full of his old household items from before he moved to Sacramento, three years ago. Since we had been paying rent for the storage unit, for much too long, and we needed a few things out of the unit, we cleaned out the whole thing and ended our lease. Not to mention, we got rid of lots of old stuff. We all know how good it feels to purge old stuff to make room for the new stuff!

The wonderful traffic between Los Angeles and San Diego.

We stayed in San Deigo for only one night, but we made sure to see a couple of Brett's old friends while we were there. We had some fantastic sushi, walked around an AMAZING mall (every store I could want in one location!) and saw a movie with Misato. Brett's buddy, Trevor, met the three of us at Bennigan's or appetizers. He was so kind as to let us crash on his couch that night. The next day we headed straight to the storage unit and got to work loading up the U-Haul. As soon as the truck was loaded, we got back on the dusty trail, Sacramento bound. We finally got to our apartment at about 6 am. I can't remember when we slept, but I'm sure we took a nap that day at some point. That afternoon and evening, we loaded up the U-Haul with the rest of our apartment. My brothers, Harrison, Houston, and Peyton, and their friend David all helped us. We took the next day off, hanging out with my family. Bright and early the following morning, we headed to Monterey with Uncle Adam. That drive seemed very short compared to the Oregon and San Diego drives! Once we got here, the three of us unloaded the U-Haul into another shorage unit since we were staying in a hotel for the next three weeks.

A couple weeks later, we finally got our apartment! We got to work, packing up both of our cars with stuff and making probably four or five trips to get almost everything to the apartment. We were lucky enough to have a few guys from the Elder's Quorum at church help us move the big furniture with their trucks. That afternoon, Brett's parents came to help us get settled in and bring the cats to us. It was so nice to have them here to keep us company and help us do the basic move-in chores like putting contact paper in all the cupboards and drawers, helping us to shift around all the boxes as we got more things set up and putting together our bed. We loved having them around and were sad when they left, but we were so grateful for the time we had with them that weekend.

So now we're here, in beautiful Monterey! Well, actually, we live in Marina, about eight miles north of Monterey, but it's all part of the same area. We absolutely love it here. The weather is perfect- it hasn't gone below the 70's or gone abobe the mid-80's. Fabulous. Our apartment is litterally just a block or two from the beach. Down the road a mile or two from us is the big Marina State Beach with a parking lot, restrooms and benches where everybody goes with their dogs and kids to play. But our beach is really quiet. To get there you have to go back behind our neighborhood on a really quiet backstreet. You see a little sign saying, "Marina State Beach," and there's room for about three or four cars to park along the street. You have to climb over the sand dune (which is a small trek), but when you get to the top, you see the ocean! Once you get down to the bottom of the dune, you see that the beach is really quite private. I've never seen more than a couple other people there at the same time as me, and they're usually a few hundred yards away anyway. I just love it. There is nothing like being able to just walk to the ocean!

So anyway, we're very happy here. The restaurant is very busy and keeping Brett very busy. Victoria's Secret has its challenges which is nice, and I'm soon starting a job at William Sonoma, so I'll be a busy girl soon! I've never really worked retail, so we'll see how I like it!

That about wraps it up! I'll try to make my next posts a little more interesting... I promise!

Part 2 of our end-of-the-summer adventures

2008-10-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I showed you the horses. For the first day that we were visiting with my Grandma in Oregon, my uncle, Adam, was in town from Sacramento, too. So, before we took him to the airport, we all went and got hotdogs at Roake's. I'd heard my grandpa talk about this place so much when I was a little girl. He loved, and I mean LOVED Roake's Hotdogs. I was excited to finally try one for myself. I'll admit, it wasn't bad! They put a special, secret sauce of some sort on the 'dogs and that makes them extra tasty. Uncle Adam loves them a lot too, and I think he and Grandma went out for hotdogs two or three other times during the weekend that he was in town.

After our hotdog tasting, we took Uncle Adam to the airport to go back home to Sacramento. It was fun to have him there with us for a good part of the day! Next, we went to visit my Aunt Mia and Uncle Lance, my cousin, Jeff, and his new wife, and their darling new baby. In fact, Jeff's wedding that weekend is why Uncle Adam was there. We, unfortunately, missed the wedding by one day! Our jobs and packing up our apartment just wouldn't permit us to leave a day earlier. I was so sad to miss the wedding, but excited that Jeff wasn't leaving on his honeymoon for another week, so I could see him. Here is Aunt Mia and the baby of the hour:

Look at this crying face! So perfectly scrunched up! I can't get enough!

On our way back to Grandma's from Aunt Mia's, we came upon one of the most beautiful rainbows I have ever seen. Both ends of it could be seen, and it was double and triple- arched when you looked at it from certain angles. Very cool! My lens was just wide enough that I could fit the whole thing into some frames. Check this out!

We had so much fun with my grandma. She is one of my favorite people in the whole, wide, world. She is always a pleasure to be around. Never a dull moment!

Our next stop was Astoria, way up at the tip, top corner of western Oregon. This is where they filmed "The Goonies." It is a beautiful, costal town. We stayed there for one night at a KOA campsite. It was a lot of fun roasting hotdogs and playing card games with just the two of us. Here is a picture of our campsite. It looked like a corral. Weird, but whatever, I couldn't complain since I had electricity, a bathroom with showers twenty feet away from us, and a wi-fi connection. I was farting around on the internet while we were camping. Great fun. If you can't tell, I'm not really one for roughing it.

Here's my cute husband tending to dinner:It was soooooo good! I never used to like hotdogs, but I'm starting to like them now!The next morning we hit the road to go down to Bandon in southwestern Oregon. Here's what most of the drive looked like:When we got to Bandon, we were most excited to stop here. This is what we saw there:

One happy kitty

One HUGE set of paws

Lots of these little cuties. They were so little that I could have easily smuggled one out of the park in my purse.

With their mamas

Many funny faces

Eeyore

This is who we played with

This was our campsite in Bandon. So pretty and green. We had some amazing burgers there.

The next morning we headed back down to Sacramento. We unloaded the jeep of our camping gear, took showers, re-packed our suitcases, and jumped right back in the car so we could get to his parents' house in Lompoc (Santa Barbara County) by midnight. We LOVE driving for hours and hours at a time!

Part 3 coming soon!

"Well, as long as you're happy..."

2008-10-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

So I got a job at Victoria's Secret. It's ok. I get an ok discount, but we can't combine it with sale prices, so that's kinda lame. There is a lot of really cute stuff there, and during my whole shift I walk around looking at stuff that I want to blow my paycheck on, so it's kinda dangerous.

Well, today, a co-worker was chatting with me. I need to mention that she is of a hispanic background. She was commenting on my wedding rings and asking how long I've been married, how long we've been together, etc. Then, out of the blue, she asks me what nationality my husband is. I didn't know why she asked, but I told her, "He's white." Then her whole demeanor changed, she kind of got stiff, and she said, "Well, that's nice. As long as you're happy. That's all that matters, right?" Then she suddenly walked away.

Um, ok?

What we've been up to for the last month or so... (Part 1: The Horses)

2008-09-27T11:39:00.001-07:00

We have had a very busy end to our summer. It all started when we had to pack up our apartment on top of the three jobs between us, and the six photo shoots that I had to process. So, we finally got our apartment packed up and we took off to Oregon. First stop on the itinerary: Grandma's House!

When I was a litle girl I used to call this house, "Grandpa's Castle." Grandma and Grandpa built this house themselves. It was originally just the A-frame part that you see on the left side of he house, and then they added the rest of it on years later. It always seemed so big to me. In fact, the whole farm seemed so big to me. I guess it really had been a long time since I'd been there (about ten years, actually), because now that I'm bigger, everything seems so much smaller than I remember.

This is the beautiful forest drive up to the farm.

My favorite part of the farm: the horses!!!! (Please, pay no attention to the ugly girl in the pictures. Not my shining moment as far as looking fabulous was concerned.) This is me (ugh) and ol' Huck. He's a good boy, and he looks pretty good for being in his mid-twenties.

Well, he looked pretty good, except for the Rick James hair. His mane was so tangled and full of burs. I would have combed it out, but we didn't have time. That probably would have taken a good two hours to fix his mane. Maddy and I used to spend hours out in the paddocks with the horses grooming them. Unfortunately, this time, Brett and I had to take off. Someday soon, I will go up there again and give all the horses baths and clean out their hooves and brush them to a show-shine. Heck, I might even braid their manes for old time's sake.

Rick James:

Comet is such a sweetheart.

Horses are not very good at taking turns.

My Strider is a handsome boy. Please excuse my terrible, frumpy posture.

Then I took Huck for a ride. He wassn't very happy about being taken out of retirement, so his ears were back the whole time.

We can't forget about our wonderful Skala girl. She's almost thirty! She is the most well-trained horse I have ever riden. You say, "Skala, turn left," and she turns left! You say, "Walk" and she walks, "trot" and she trots. Its awesome. But, she's just so old I felt bad riding her, so I didn't ride her this time. I would have riden Strider, but last time I got on him he threw me and I broke my arm, so.... yeah. Bad idea.

More of our trip when I get home from work tonight!

Beautiful Monterey

2008-09-14T23:50:00.001-07:00

This is where we live now

Lissy- need I show you more? :-P

Blegh.

2008-09-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Moving sucks. Better post coming in a few days after I get all settled down in Monterey.

Time for an update.

2008-08-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

I realized that it's been a long time since I've filled everybody in on our beeswax so here is the latest scoop on our busy life!

Well, today is August 7th, and we're moving on August 30th, Labor Day weekend, (and my birthday! lame!). It's coming up very quickly. We really only have 3 more weeks to get ready and pack up the apartment, because on the 24th, we are taking a trip up to Oregon to visit my grandma and enjoy the beautiful, green, COOL forrestland. It will probably be my birthday vacation. (It makes me wonder if Brett's got any tricks up his sleeve!) I'm really excited for this trip because I haven't been to my grandma's farm in years. She keeps trying to sell it, so I need to hurry up and take Brett up there so I can show him what was such a huge part of my childhood.

We are about 80% sure that we've found our apartment. It will actually be in Marina, which is right next door to Monterey, and it's right on the beach, which is slightly awesome. Our apartment (if we get it) will be just a few blocks from the beach. The cool thing about Monterey Bay is that Monterey and all the other little towns near it are all right on the bay, so wherever you are, you are no more than ten minutes or so from the beach. The lame thing about Monterey Bay is that because everything is so close to the beach, you pay for it in rent. Even little, dumpy places cost a ton of money to rent, probably because of the beach views and access, so we were having a hard time finding a place. One bedroom apartments generally start at $1100, and two-bedrooms (which we need) start at at least $1200 but most are closer to $1400. Hardly any of the places allow pets, and if they do, they charge you a huge pet deposit and pet rent. We were lucky to come across this little apartment complex in Marina where the two-bedrooms are only $1000, AND they allow pets with a smaller pet deposit. They're not the nicest apartments ever, and they're pretty old, but they're clean and appear safe. And again, its RIGHT BY THE BEACH. Hello! So anyway, keep us in your prayers that the two-bedroom will be available for us when we move!

I'm pretty excited to not work two jobs anymore. Well, at least, I think I won't be working two jobs. Hopefully only one job so that I can put more time and energy into my photography business. The plan is that I'll be able to quit my day job sooner than later and be a full-fledged professional photographer. Aaaaah, it will be so nice to have my own business and not have to answer to a boss or clock in anywhere! I can't wait! Until then, I'm thinking about getting a job at a photography store, because, well, that would be perfect for me. I could learn a lot about photography and maybe get a good discount!

We've seen some pictures of the new Islands where Brett will be working, and we've visited the mall where it will be. It's going to be a REALLY nice restaurant, and its in a really nice, higher-class mall. The restaurant will have a different feel to it than the other Islands', which are really casual. This one's going to fit in with the mall. Brett has met all of his co-managers, and they all seem pretty cool.

I am getting so stressed out just thinking about everything we have to do before we move. And I have to be working 2 jobs during the next three weeks. On top of that, I stuidly took on five, that's right FIVE shoots in the last few weeks, which I've not even had time to barely touch. That just goes to show me how time consuming my business will be, so I'm going to have to work hard to make it lucrative enough that I can quit my day job and only do photography. GAAAAHHHH!! I just try not to think about it. But, I am excited for this big change in our life and the new beginnings that it will bring us! Wish us luck!

What a woman!

2008-08-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Lissy! She's 23 today, which means that I'll be 23 in 27 days. Check out this woman! I took 407 pictures of her a few days ago, and these are a couple of my favorites. Unfortunately, my photography blog will have to wait a few weeks for a post on her shoot as I have four - count them: 4! - other shoots that I'm working on, plus working two jobs and getting ready to move in less than a month. Ugh. Why can't there be like 50 hours per each day rather than a measley 24? Suck!

Anyway, I quite like Lissy. She's been my best friend since I was 6 years old, and we also happen to be (distant) cousins. We've been through thick and thin together, and have many years to come of more thick and thin. Hopefully, though, it will be thick wallets and thin bodies together from here on out! Hehe... Love you, Lis! I hope Dan and the puppy are treating you right today!

Ha! Check it out!

2008-07-27T21:44:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Ancestors - Family reunion

Ah yes.

2008-07-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Morgan and Silk vanilla soy milk are together again. Sooooooooooo much better.

Good Morning.

2008-07-10T09:41:00.001-07:00

Don't buy the Safeway brand of soymilk. It tastes like crap. Not worth saving the 50 cents instead of getting the Silk brand.

Following suit with so many of you girls out there...

2008-07-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

What is his name?
Brett Adam
How long have you been together?
2 years and a couple months
How long did you date?
Hmmm, we dated for almost a year before we got married. About ten months, I think
How old is he?
30 (haha, my husband is over the hill.)
Who eats more?
Who eats more or who SHOULD eat more? I can hold my own, but I'm trying to let him eat more than me so I don't feel like a man.
Who said I love you first?
Him, I think? I remember when we started saying it, but I honestly can't remember which
time was the first. The first few times all felt kinda monumental I guess.
Who's taller?
Brett- He's 6'2" and I'm 5'7"
Who can sing better?
Um, probably me. I don't ever really hear him sing unless he's goofing off or singing in
Sacrament meeting and he actually is familiar with the hymn.
Who is smarter?
Um, definitely Brett. He's really old. He's had more time to gather knowledge than I've had. :-P
Who does the laundry?
Both of us. Whoever's available when the laundry is piled up.
Who pays the bills?
Brett. It's better that way.
Who mows the lawn?
We don't have one. If we had one, um, him. Unless I'm wanting to burn some calories.
Who cooks dinner?
Eh, me, most of the time. But whenever he cooks it's always really good and really healthy too.
Who drives?
Usually Brett.
Who is more stubborn?
I think it's a tie in that area.
Who kissed who first?
Brett kissed me first.
Who proposed?
Brett proposed.
Who has more friends?
Brett. Once again, he's had more lifetime to gather more friends. Haha... (JK Brett, if you're
reading this. You're not old at all! You're still my young buck! Love You...)
Who is more sensitive?
Me. I'm the one with all the frigging estrogen and PMS hormones shooting through my veins.
Who has more siblings?
Me. I have 4 siblings and he has 2.
Who wears the pants?
It depends.

I tag Steph, Meghan, Tara, and Lissy (if she HAD a blog. Lame.)!

News Flash!

2008-07-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

New blog post at Morgan Werner Photography!

Check it out!

2008-06-23T01:13:00.000-07:00

I've got a new blog for my photography stuff... Come see the fruits of my labors!

Move Over, Ansel Adams!

2008-06-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of breaking in my camera this week on a couple of shoots. On Monday, I met up with Maddy and Sarah, and they assisted me with Meg and Kayla's shoot. We took them up to Lincoln and shot on the cute little main street. We got started pretty late, so we lost a lot of daylight, but we still got some good shots. I'm still working on a lot of the pictures, so I'll post those later. Here are a couple pictures from the shoot. Some of them have been processed, some have not. (I know they're out of order, but I'm in a wee bit of a hurry right now. I'll get a more formal post up soon, and I'll probably just start a photography blog and leave our family blog to family matters only.)

Let It Be Known...

2008-06-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

...that all is well, and my new camera is in my possession and safely nestled in my camera bag on the floor next to me. I know that all of you were just at the edge of your seats waiting to hear the conclusion to my camera saga. Well, your minds can be put to rest. Just know that from now on, if you see me with camera in hand and you're within 55-200mm zoom lens distance from me and you look in any way cute, pretty, handsome, or interesting, your photo will be taken.

And I must say, it was broken in pretty nicely last night with the help of some friends. I'll post last night's shoot when I get home.

Look, I'm pretty excited. I'm not gonna lie about it.

Lame.

2008-06-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yeah, forget my last post. I definitely did NOT get my camera last night. Hopefully I'll have it by my brother's graduation this Thursday! We'll see...

AAAAAAAAHHHH! The Excitement!!!!

2008-06-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

I might be getting my fancy-schmancy camera today! I'm so excited I can't even see straight! It's not THE fanciest, $10k one, but it's a start! Check it out!

Why I'm Excited to Move, But Sad to Leave

2008-06-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to move to Monterey Bay, but I'm also pretty sad to leave the Sacramento area.

I'm happy to move because...
...hello! We'll be living by the beach! What more could a girl ask for?
...it will be good for us to be new to a place and ward together, where neither of us will be any more or less familiar with the people or surroundings. Anywhere we go in the Sacramento area, I'm bound to know someone in the ward, or at least someone who knows someone that I know. Poor Brett is still new to the church as a society and culture, let alone newer to the area. I've been here my whole life!
...I will be stepping outside of my confort zone, not knowing anyone or anything. I'm up for the challenge of starting over!
...we'll be closer to Brett's family geographically, so we can see them more often and I can get to know them better.
...we'll get to live in a new apartment (but hopefully a house!) that I will finally have the time (and also hopefully the funds) to properly decorate!
...it will be a great opportunity for Brett to stand out as a manager with Islands, opening a new restaurant and everything. This move is really a beginning to our future!
...lots of things to take pictures of! Be assured that I will be doing a lot of panoramic shots!

I'll be sad to leave Sacramento because...
...first and foremost, my family is here, as well as my friends. I will miss everyone like crazy. I like being here in town with my family and when my friends come home to visit. I'll be seeing everybody familiar to me much less, which makes me sad. I like being able to go over to my mom's whenever I want and eat the cookies that my sister makes all the time. Peyton always welcomes me with a hug, even though he's almost 12 and his brothers are too cool to hug their sisters!
...I won't be able to work at Islands anymore. Don't get me wrong, I hate waiting tables. But, sometimes the money really is there for me. I'll also miss some of the people I work with there, especially the managers. They're great guys to work for! (I won't be allowed to work at Islands in Monterery with Brett as a manager.)
...I do NOT want to have to find a new job out there. I HATE job hunting. Pray that I can get people to pay me to take their pictures for them soon so I don't have to get my own job!

I Signed It.

2008-05-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

You should too.

http://www.lc.org/index.cfm
Scroll down a little bit and you will see it under "Petitions." Click on "Federal Marriage Ammendment Petition."

Sorry DeGeneres, love ya to death, and your show too, but I don't want you to be allowed to marry Portia. To me, it cheapens what I have with my husband. Portia does have a cool name, though.

Now I Feel Silly...

2008-05-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I hope my last post didn't make me sound crazy. I hope I didn't make anybody think that I am against vegetarianism. I just wanted to express my feelings against vegetarians or vegans saying that it is wrong to eat meat.

Ok, I feel better now.

A Soapbox of My Own

2008-05-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Elisse Newey, made me think about a few things today with her vegetarian post. It really made me think in depth about the things that I believe in and how certain councils in the church came about, and I found myself stepping right up onto a soapbox of my own. Poor Elisse, I left her the longest comment on her post, and I decided to post it on my own blog. I had to write it out on a Word doc before I posted it on her blog so that I could more easily edit it, and it turned out to be two pages long on Microsoft Word.

Here it is:

I disagree that eating meat is wrong or entirely bad for you. Heavenly Father agrees with me. I have a very strong testimony in the Word of Wisdom. It says that we should eat meat, but sparingly. Do you really think that Heavenly Father didn't intend for us to eat meat at all? I don’t. In fact, I know he didn’t. D&C 89:12-13 plainly states, “Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.”

When the Word of Wisdom was brought forth, what were the problems and bad habits of that time? Smoking, chewing, and drinking, but not eating habits. Even Joseph Smith liked him a good whiskey. The men were disgusting with their tobacco chewing. They would spit all over the floors, not only outside. In our modern times, we know that wine and beer do have some good qualities to them. One glass of wine, or one bottle of beer will not hurt you or make you an alcoholic. One glass of wine is even good for you, and beer has some good stuff in it too, as well as other liqueurs. You can make a little concoction of whiskey, lemon juice and honey for a child that has a cough. My husband’s family used that remedy, and I guess it works. We were even instructed to use wine in the Sacrament.

But, the idiots out there who have no self control, the ones who get drunk and hurt their bodies for fun are the ones who ruin it for the rest of us. It’s kind of like when you were a kid and your parents would take away a certain privilege or toy from all of you just because one of you couldn’t play nice. The masses were sacrificed because of the few. In the early 19^th century, the drinking and smoking and spitting were getting out of hand. We had to be reminded that tobacco was for bruises and the animals, not for us. (Tobacco helps kill worms and stuff in horses and cows and other beasts of burden. My grandma used to feed tobacco to her horses once in a while.) It was to be used with “judgment and skill.” Because a few of us couldn’t use those things in moderation or in any proper way at all, the rest of us had to suffer and it was “taken away” from us.

As far as food is concerned, back then people were a little better about that kind of stuff. They probably ate as much if not more meat than we do now, but they were up and around working on their farms and doing all kinds of active chores. There were no computers or video games or TV for people to zone out in front of. There were no cars, so people walked if they didn't have a horse and/or wagon/buggy. They probably needed more calories in the winter to help them stay warmer without the heating systems we have today. It wasn't harmful for people to be omnivores because they could afford the extra calories and they didn’t eat processed junk food. Everything they ate was pure. It was all organic back then.

What if the Word of Wisdom was written in these days, when most of the country is obese from eating TOO MUCH crap? Do you think that the Word of Wisdom would be more specific about processed foods, candy, sweets, and all other manner of non-healthy junk food? I sure do. I also think that it would more specifically stress the need for all of us to get a decent amount of exercise. Yes, it is very harmful to your body if you eat too much meat or animal-type, processed products. (Trust me, I know this first hand. Where do you think my dad's heart attack(s) came from?) No, meat and dairy products do not have fiber, but they have protein. We need a little bit of what meat can offer us. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water!

Aside from the health reasons to eat or not eat meat, there are the moral and ethical reasons. Now, keep in mind that I'm not really a steak-eater. I don't eat that much red meat. I don't even like poultry THAT much. Turkey's ok but chicken has a tendency to gross me out lately. I’ll have a burger now and then, or some tri-tip if we go to Lucille’s, but I prefer fish. Fish is VERY good for you. You don't get fat or have cholesterol problems from eating too much fish. Can you eat too much fish? And fish is an animal. God put the animals on the earth for our (responsible) use. That is the natural order of things. That is why our species has dominion over the earth and the beasts thereof. I do NOT believe that there is anything morally wrong with eating animals. I do not agree with that writer when she states that eating meat contributes to poverty and that kind of crap. Buying almost any kind of consumer goods and not growing our own vegetables and raising our own livestock “contributes” to poverty in one way or another. I do, however, believe that animals should be butchered humanely. I don’t like it when people hunt or kill animals just to kill something. I do like it when my uncle (and dad, back in the day) brings home fresh fish or deer or buffalo that he hunted and oversaw the preparation of so that our families didn’t have to buy the over-priced meat came from animals that were given hormones and injected with who knows what.

Well, that’s all I have to say about the war in Vietnam.

So I’m opinionated, so what?

Something

2008-05-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

I need a business of my own.

I need a business of my own so that I can set my own hours, answer to nobody but myself, work as much as I want or as little as I want.

I need my own business to help me feel more self... self... self, uh, something. Self sufficient. If you know what I mean.

I want my own business so that I can make money doing or producing something that I enjoy doing or producing, instead of sitting in front of a computer all day answering phones and getting secretary butt (it's a really serious condition. Symptoms include but are not limited to the widening of the butt area), or waiting tables. I HATE waiting tables. Customer service sucks.

I want my own business so that I can feel the gratification of somebody liking something I made or did so much that they gave me money for it.

I want my own business so that I can still bring in some income when I have babies, because I do not want to have a "real" job when I have kids. I want to be able to spend as much time as I can with them, even if I'm working with a baby on my back or in a little play pen in my [home] office with me.

I want my own business in case something happens to Brett and I need something to fall back on.

I want my own business so that I can work a little extra if there is something that I want to buy for my husband, kids, or myself. My mom and grandma taught me about the importance of a woman having a little "mad money" stashed away for a rainy day. Even when Brett and I have been really strapped, I've tried to keep $10 or so in my sock drawer so that I could go buy myself some lip gloss or a Jamba or something. Shopping really does make me feel better. Always has. I don't know why.

I want my own business so that in addition to being able to blow my own money if I want to, I can also work a little extra to pay off this credit card faster, or pay that bill early, just to get it out of the way.

You know what I mean?

2 Things

2008-05-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

1. My hair is going straight!!!!! I did not straighten this part (see my little finger pointing) at all. This is what my hair does when I just let it dry with no product whatsoever. It used to be insane unless I did something with it. Oh, boy, if it goes completely straight all over I will be throwing a party and you all are invited.

2. I have a nice kitty. I don't have to force her to come sit with me. She walks right up and curls up in my lap.

(Sorry about the lame webcam shots. My digicam needs new batteries.)

Ok, off to the gym!

Woohoo!

2008-04-30T18:02:00.001-07:00

Economic stimulus checks are HERE!!!!! Steak dinner here we come! Oh, don't worry. I'll take pictures. You know I love taking pictures of our food. ;-)

Our Map and Blog Stalking

2008-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

As many of you have on your blogs, we have a map that shows where on the globe people are viewing our blog from. It's really fun to see that people all over the country and even the world are looking at our measley little blog. When I click on our map it gives me a list of the places that have seen our blog and when they saw it.

I know who some of the people are who are checking out our site, such as Meg in Germany, Kayleigh in Ireland, Brit in Florida, Tara or Lis in Ogden, Utah, Jill in Minneapolis, Jen in Oregon, etc. But sometimes I get different ones that I don't recognize. Today, for instance, I have one in Phoenix and one in Portland. Phoenix might be my cousin Emily. I think she told me she moved there kinda recently. Portland might be my grandma, but I didn't think she was the blog-watching type. Maybe she is! Cool!

Then, there are some local ones that I don't know. I get Sacramento, Carmichael, and Rancho Cordova. The only person I can think of, off the top of my head in Carmichael would be Mia, but in Rancho or Sac I have no idea. I do get Orangevale and Citrus Heights, but those are no brainers. Well, I don't know who they are specifically, but we have tons of friends right around here, so those could be anyone.

How does it know where you are when you are looking at someone's blog? Is it based on your IP address or the location of your own blog, or maybe where your internet provider is based out of?

If you are reading our blog, don't be afraid to leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you! It's flattering to know that others are reading my silly little blog. I won't think you're weird for being a blog stalker or anything. I mean, hey! I'm a blog stalker too! There's nothing wrong with it! Why do you think I have links to everyone else's blogs on my blog? So that my readers can see who my friends are? Nope. It's so that I can more easily stalk everyone else! What do you think?? GOSH!

The Important Facts

2008-04-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hello to all of you out there in Blogland! It's been a little while since I've posted an actual update on what's going on in our life. We've been so busy with work that sometimes it seems like nothing new is really going on with us, but in actuality there are a couple, minute updates.

Brett's into I think week 4 of his management training with Islands. We're really glad to be on a set salary rather than hoping that all of his tables during his serving shifts will be kind and tip appropriately. (Now we're just hoping that all MY tables during my serving shifts will be kind and tip appropriately! Good thing I have another job to rely on!) We're also enrolled with insurance benefits now, which is a relief. Contacts for blind Morgan and long-overdue dentist appointments here we come!

During the first two weeks of his training, he was training with the cooks, learning the ins and outs of the kitchen. He didn't mind it so much, but sometimes, when he would make a mistake with something, the cooks would laugh with each other about it and joke about him in Spanish, rather than helping him in English. That was a little irritating for him, but he pulled through it despite the lack of good English-speakers in the kitchen. He's really glad to be out of the kitchen and back into his Hawaiian luau shirts with the rest of the managers! He's more familiar with the front-of-house management, since he's been with the company for so long, so he's doing really well.

The procrastination of Monterey has begun, and it's not even me who's procrastinating! From what Brett and the other managers tell me, whenever Islands opens a new restaurant, it NEVER happens on schedule, usually because of construction issues with the contractors. Openings always get pushed back at least a few weeks, if not a few months. Well, it's already happened with the Monterey opening. It was supposed to open in August, which would mean that we would need to be in Monterey by at least the middle of July. We were really excited to trade some of the hot, Sacramento summer with a cooler, coastal summer. But alas, they have already pushed back the opening, and we don't know how far back. I really wouldn't be surprised if the store doesn't open until October, but we'll see. I guess it's really ok for now, since we haven't found a place to live yet, and we could use a little more time to save up. We'll be hearing more news soon, so we'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, I'm trying to develop a new hobby/talent. Stay tuned to find out what that hobby/talent is! :-)

Here are a few moments in the life of the Werners over the last few weeks:

I made dinner. Like, REAL dinner. Main dish and a side salad and drink. I'm a regular Martha Stewart.

I broke my first glass. It just fell off of the top of the fridge for no reason and shattered behind me while I cooked. I'm pretty sad about it.

We went to BJ's with Meggie and Jeff Dees for Meggie's birthday. This is Brett's bitter [root]beer face. He's such a lightweight. I can't take him anywhere.

Dinah is the cuddly one. Figuero has his moments, but mostly just when he wants to be fed. Typical male. Haha.

Figuero does NOT like it when we vacuum.

This just in from the Wilfley front:

Maddy has finally secured her esthitician license! She is now a professional esthitician! See some of her work on her blog here.

Ok, forget croissants, I never bought any yeast.

2008-04-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

I'll go buy some yeast one of these days and then I'll show you how it turns out. Ok, enough about baking.

CHECK OUT THIS HOUSE!!! Actually, it's a bed and breakfast at a country club that Roof Doctors (my day job) did a real estate vendor fair at. This was the first thing that I saw when I drove into the country club. Instantly, my mind was spirited away to one of my favorite movies, "Under the Tuscan Sun." In that movie, the main character goes through a rough divorce and decides to go on vacation in Tuscany. While she's there, she finds a 300-year-old villa for sale, and decides, what the heck, just buy it and LIVE in fabulous Tuscany. So, she procedes to fix up this villa and make it into basically my dream house, in my dream location.

I'm actually torn between this type of house and an old, southern mansion style home, with the wrap-around porch and everything. Sometimes I even fantasize about a Spanish villa. But right now, I'm dreaming about this type of house. Can you imagine fixing up this baby?

I've looked into real estate in Tuscany just to see what homes like this go for. Believe it or not, they're not THAT expensive. Ok, for those of you in Utah looking at this blog, yeah, they're way more expensive than anything you see in the Salt Lake valley. But, compare them to an average home here in northern California, they're not outrageous. Especially considering the location and sheer FABULOUSNESS of the house. These homes never come without a good chunk of land, by the way. There are often olive orchards or vineyards on the properties, too, because, well, IT'S ITALY! I mean, there's a lot to be said about living in the great US of A, but who wouldn't want to live in the simplicity of Italy? Imagine the photography ops there! Someday I'll be a rich and famous photographer and I can afford to move my family to Europe. I bet my kids would love that. Ha.

For your viewing pleasure:

Tonight, I shall make croissants.

2008-04-15T15:41:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned for the results.

MORE Vogue (If you can even handle that)

2008-04-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of the pictures after Sarah tweaked them a little bit.

This one isn't too much different. She mostly brightened it up, but you can see the difference if you look at it next to the original. There wasn't much that she needed to do, because she really nailed the composition of this one, if you as me.

This one just looks so dang cool with this vintage effect done to it.

Vogue (Beware, LOTS of pictures)

2008-04-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here a "few" of my personal favorites. We took hundreds of pictures. Read the blog entry below this one for an explanation of what this is all about!

Morgan's Modeling Debut!

2008-04-06T14:06:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, I found a photographer named Sarah. She was new to the area, and trying to get her photography business going. She was trying to find someone to do some bridal portraits for so she could put them on her website and have something to show prospective clients. Well, I told her that I'd been married for almost a year, but if she needs someone, I'd do it. I thought it would be a blast to get all done up and wear my dress again. Besides, I haven't had an artistic outlet in a while. I don't have a piano in my house anymore, I don't ever sew anymore, or take a lot of pictures, so I was starving for something to do with a finished product that I can look at and remember.

After many schedulings and postponings, we were finally able to meet with her last week to talk about the ideas that we had and where we wanted to go. Then yesterday, we went up to Auburn for all the old, crumbling gold-rush era buildings, and shot away! We found a little, dilapidated house that was all boarded up with no trespassing signs on it, but it had a front yard of beautiful, tall grass with wild daffodils and dandelions. That made for some good shots, as well as the long, brick wall in the alleyway that we started with. We ended the day in the middle of the street dodging cars. (Wait until you see those!)

My sister, Maddy, is a master esthetician, and did my makeup in a WWII era/pinup style for the first half of the day, and I attempted to do my hair, which I was amazed turned out as good as it did. It was such a blast! We got some amazing pictures, thanks to Sarah's AMAZING talent, and Maddy's flawless makeup. (I just stood or sat there and made a bunch of different faces and put my hands where they told me to!) Sarah's new super-camera put the icing on the cake. We did a couple makeup, jewelry, and shoe changes to add some variety to the shots. (Makeup by Maddy blog coming soon!)

I think I've found a new hobby! I really want to get into photography again. I used to love it in highschool. But, I eventually got frustrated with the developing and printing process, and I didn't like that I HAD to take pictures for a grade in a class. I wanted to just take pictures of whatever, whenever, and do whatever I wanted with the pictures. I really liked what I could do with the computer and learned a thing or two (literally) about Photoshop. I want to learn more about it, and make it a talent. Maybe in the future, if I'm any good at it, I can make a business out of it. I can work with Maddy and do portraits and weddings. I think I've found my niche. Needless to say, I'll be saving up for a nice camera.

Stay tuned for more pictures! Here's one for a peek at what's to come! This isn't even edited yet!

Our Easter

2008-03-25T18:28:00.001-07:00

First we went to church. Then we came home and relaxed for a little bit, ate our leftovers from date night the night before, played some video games and farted around on the computer, you know. We just kicked it live. Then we went to the park on Old Ranch and walked around a bit. Then Brett sat at a picnic table and read a church book and I swang on the swings. Brett told me to be careful not to swing too high. Then we walked around some more.

I thought the trees looked cool against the sky. The light was coming through the leaves really cool with the sky so blue. It was such a beautiful day.

These are some cute flowers.

Our shadow while walking at the park. Aaaaawe, I know, so cute. I think its quite funny how lumpy he looks and how pear shaped I look.

I was wondering what my butt looked like, so Brett volunteered to take a picture of it for me so I could see it in action. This is me walking away. I know, I know, you hate to see me leave, love to watch me go, blah blah blah... Tell me something I don't hear every day.

WATCH OUT!!! That's what I call a close up.

This is everybody eating dinner at the Picketts. That was fun.

This is my cute mom. I love her.

This is what everybody watched after dinner. I love posting these things:

This has nothing to do with Easter, but...

2008-03-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

We Got the Car Back!

2008-03-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to get a call from a police officer today. Our car was found parked along the sidewalk in a nice neighborhood in Fair Oaks. It appears that some punks just took it for a joy ride then dumped it. The neighbors on that street said that the car had been sitting there for a few days. It's in mostly good shape, but the bumper in the back has been pushed in and overlaps a side panel, and the engine is making a very suspicious noise. The tires were very dirty, covered in mud. They looked like the car had been doing donuts and probably ran over something and hit a piece on the underside, probably causing the weird noise. We didn't have much in the car. The stereo was already gone from the last time it was stolen. The punks just cleaned out the center console and threw all of its contents all over the floor. Luckily we had gotten into the habit of taking everything out of the car when we get home so there was nothing to take.

We are just so glad that our prayers were answered. We were worried that it would be our luck that since last time we didn't have full coverage on our cars, and Heavenly Father blessed us with getting the car back last time, that this time, now that we have full coverage to cover the stolen car we wouldn't get it back. This was the answer to our prayers. We are so grateful.

Breaking News for the Werners

2008-03-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning, we discovered that our little 1986 Camry was stolen, yet again, right out of our "gated community" apartment complex. We're praying hard that we'll get it back again in one piece. It wasn't exactly a fancy Lexus or anything, but it was reliable and great on the gas mileage. At least this time we have full coverage on it so we'll get a little money if it isn't recovered, but we really would rather have it back. Keep us in your prayers, as I will be riding my beach cruiser bicycle to work until we figure something else out.

Tonight, we finally were able to tell my mom about our GOOD news, so now we can tell the world. We're moving to Monterey Bay in July (or sooner, not sure yet). As some of you know, Brett is going into management with Islands. He's starting his 10-week training program tomorrow morning. If we wanted to get out of the rutt that we're in right now and progress, maybe start planning a baby or buying a house, we need to make a move. Our only choices were to move to southern California, where there are over 50 Islands, or, move to Monterey and help open the new store there and make more money, make some progress financially, and live in a cooler (in both senses of the word) place.

Well, over the past couple of days, Brett has been in communication with some of the Islands corporate guys negotiating the terms of his management and training, and they're offering him enough to compensate for the 10% higher than Sacramento cost of living, and for us to have some stellar benefits. I'll still be working for Roof Doctors here in Sacramento Mondays through Wednesdays, so I'll be staying with my mom on those days and coming back to Monterey on Wednesday nights or Thursday mornings. The commute will suck for a while, and not seeing Brett will too, but he'll be so busy with the new store for a few months that I wouldn't really be seeing him very much anyway, so I might as well spend some time with my family. The restaurant is opening in August, so at the very latest Brett will need to be there by the middle of July. We're very excited for this change and the experiences that it will bring. Goodbye lame, Citrus Heights apartment complex where we get our cars stolen and broken-into, hello slightly less lame apartment (hopefully house) in the Monterey area near the coast!

Wish us luck!

Our Anniversary Vacation To Monterey

2008-03-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today is our one-year anniversary! It's gone by so fast we can't believe it. For our honeymoon we went to Monterey, as well as a few spots in SoCal, but we just fell in love with Monterey. So, we decided to go there again this year. Here are a few pictures from our trip!

This is my sweet, adorable, sleeping husband in our room after a long, early morning drive. He always drives the whole way, and I am very grateful for that. I usually just end up sleeping through most of our long drives, which makes it go by very quickly for me! I know... I'm a bad wife. Oh well, I'll be doing a lot of driving my self soon...

This was my anniversary gift. He upgraded my wedding band to a new one with more and bigger diamonds. I thought he was only getting my rings cleaned and he surprised me with the new band. It was a great surprise! It is so much more sparkly now!

Everybody's got to have a cliche photobooth shot!

This is the sushi restaurant that we ate at for dinner. Great food! We heard them singing a crazy Japanese birthday song with some cool drums, so we want to go there again for one of our birthdays.

The view from our table. We were looking out to all the boats in the bay at Fisherman's Wharf.

Our drinks. Virgin beer and virgin daquiri. Don't judge us. :-P

Course 2. Edamame (salted soy beans, very nutritous), seaweed salad (it was actually quite tasty. Just tasted like seasoned green beans.), and gyoza (everybody loves pot stickers!) Course 1 was the miso soup, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Course 3. SUSHI!

We ate ALL of it! Some of it was kinda hard for me to stomach. I'm not quite a pro at sushi yet. Some raw fish has a texture like regular meat where you actually have to chew it, but other raw fish just squishes and disolves in your mouth and THAT is the gross stuff. The flavor is all just an aquired taste.

This was our view when it got dark.

Last, but not least, desert. Red bean ice cream and green tea ice cream. Delicious!

This is what Brett says he sees EVERY day. Don't be jealous.

A great picture of us!

Isn't the beach beautiful? Oh yeah, and my OTHER new wedding band is GORGEOUS! We were driving down to Fisherman's Wharf, and he asked me to get some food for him out of the side pocket of his backpack. I reached into the backseat and only found the ring box from when he gave me my other band. I thought to myself, "Why did he bring this? It's empty. He already gave me my new band." But then he said, "Hey what's that? Maybe you should open it..." I opened it and about jumped out of my seatbelt! Another, gorgeous, sparkling band! So, here is the complete set. I wasn't expecting this kind of upgrade until maybe our 5 or 10 year anniversary. This picture doesn't show how sparkly it is, but trust me, look at it in the sunlight and you will be blinded! Not to brag, or anything... :-)

This is just a cool, old boat that we saw. It looked like the Bubba Gump shrimp boat.

Lots of boats! Very cool.

This picture kind of reminds me of the picture of Desmond and Penny on Lost.

A duck swimming with only one foot so it was going in a circle with his face tucked under his wing. I thought it was quite funny.

Fisherman's wharf.

One of these seals was just barkin' away. I don't know what his problem was.

This is the pier at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. We decided to stop there on our way home for some burgers. They weren't very good.

Business Time

2008-03-08T21:51:00.001-08:00

Words cannot express the hilarity.

Tryin' to figure things out...

2008-03-05T20:11:00.001-08:00

Man, this thing isn't exactly myspace, is it! I can't figure out how to add people to my litle list of other people's blogs, and I don't know how to add cool music like other people have on their blogs. All I realy know how to do is add videos and pictures and write posts. Do I just paste in codes in the setup of the profile like on myspace or what? This thing is so weird.

We Love the Band Wagon!

2008-02-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Here I am, jumping on the bandwagon. Brett's gonna think I'm so gay for doing this, but I say, hey! It's the 21st century! Time to get hip with the in crowd.

More to come.