Ski, Celebrate, Ski, Celebrate ...

I realize I've been woefully absent recently. I blame that on my general feelings of "what the heck should I blog about these days?!" and the fact that I've been really busy.

What have I been busy doing?...

In early March we spent three days at the Canyons in the Utah. It snowed A TON right before we got there and at the beginning of our trip, so we had AMAZING snow.



We stayed slope-side at the Hyatt Escala (thank you Hyatt points!) and really enjoyed it. Here's the view from our suite.


Then we celebrated St. Patrick's day with a party bus bar crawl with a bunch of USC/Long Beach friends. Ridiculous!

Us:

(Yes, my husband had a beard. Yes, he's shaved now.)

Our crazy crew:


Later in March we celebrated a family friend's wedding in Temecula, CA.


My Dad was a reader at the wedding and did a great job.


The day after the wedding we did a little wine tour around Temecula (South Coast, Thornton, and Callaway) and picked up some yummy white wines.


We finished up March with another ski trip BACK to Utah to celebrate a friend's 30th Birthday.


The snow wasn't as good this time because it was 55 degrees on the slopes (yikes!). But we had a blast anyway.


I started off April with another celebration in San Diego where I got to meet Rachel and her husband for lunch/sightseeing while they were on their Spring Break.


Rachel and I have been blogging, emailing, and gchatting buddies for years, so it was AMAZING to finally meet her in person! She is just as sweet and as cute as she is on her blog. Come back and visit CA soon, Rachel!

So that gets you up to speed. Some more life updates from me will be coming your way soon!

Half-yearly obscure google searches and blog stats

Can you believe 2011 is half over?! I can't.

Given this milestone, I though it would be a good time to look at my 2011 blog stats and most random google searches.

I'll start with the Top 10 most random google searches that lead people to my blog in 2011...

"my entire life is up in the air"
That sounds stressful. I'm unsure about how you thought google could help you with this. Maybe you feel better now that you’ve confessed that to google?

"what do i want for my birthday?"
This proves that google has eliminated the ability of people to think for themselves. Try this… Go on Amazon.com and click around. If you see something you like but don’t have, you can ask for that for your birthday. You’re welcome.

"my dog comes to the bedroom only at night"
Sounds like a question that could be better answered by Caesar Millan. Caesar, any thoughts on this one?

"do we engrave the door knocker with the year we got married?"
Sure! Really the door knocker engraving possibilities are endless. But I’d recommend against just picking a random year to engrave because then people will forever be asking you something like “what happened in 1991?” and that will get annoying quickly.

"where did the hand on hip pose come from?"
I’m not sure if “came” from anywhere. Putting your hand on your hip is rather intuitive and natural. Try it, you’ll see.

"broke both my arms same time."
Jeez louise, how are you even typing? Go the ER already.

"wedding blues support group"
If you’re feeling sad about getting married you don’t need a support group, you need to not get married. Simple.

"I don't like name tessa"
I’m sorry. I kinda like it. I wonder if Tessa was the “mean girl” of your high school? Again, why would you google that? Are you looking for some Tessa-hating chatboard?

"battle star gallactica wedding dresses"
Oh good gracious, I don’t even want to begin to imagine the geekery of a battlestar gallactica themed wedding. I shall probably have nightmares tonight.

"newlywed next store"
It’s newlyweds next DOOR. Not STORE.

Now, the Top 10 blogs that referred people to my blog in 2011...
In This Wonderful Life
Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes
First Comes Love
Chapters
Tales of the Tress
Pineapples and Pickles
Brown Girl Blogs
In No Simple Language
Chic Runner
From L.A. to LA

Thanks for the link love, friends!

And here are the top 10 pages with the most hits in 2011...
The Baby Bucket List
Healthier PW Chicken Spaghetti
2011 Reading Plan
10 Ways to Beat Post-Wedding Blues
I Love USC
My Family
The Zeros Decade in Review
Newlywed Survival Kit
Dream Home Wine Rooms
Our Anniversary Shoot/Trash the Dress Pictures

And finally, where are you, my dear readers? These are the top 10 states that visited blog most frequently in 2011...
California
Texas
Illinois
Florida
Virginia
Georgia
Massachusetts
Washington
North Carolina
New York

Things I'm Loving... Clothing & Blogs Edition

Lately I've been doing a little bit of shopping for spring clothes. I've found a bunch of adorable dresses (like the green one I wore on Mother's Day, the brand is Max & Cleo by the way) and some other fun items.

Here are some my other finds that I am loving right now!

Halogen Cardigans from Nordstrom

I own this cardigan in two colors and I just may have to go back and get more! They are the perfect sweater to wear to work with slacks or skirts in the Spring. And they are really reasonably priced.

Kenneth Cole Reaction Swim-skirt-suit from Lord & Taylor

I hate shopping for swimwear as much as the next girl but I loved this suit from the moment I tried it on. It's perfect for a more "pear-shaped" girl like me. I even got several complements on it from strangers at the pool in Palm Springs last weekend.

Gap ribbed tank tops

I own this tank top in five colors. I loved it so much when I bought it that I went back and bought four more. They are so soft and definitely long enough, even for longer-torsoed girls like me. I pretty much spend my whole weekend in these tops. Running errands, going to yoga, lounging around the house, hanging at the pool, you name it, these tanks work.

Skinny Shirt


I read about Skinny Shirt in a magazine (I think it was Self or Shape). They are collared tank tops made of cotton on top and spandex on the bottom to put under sweaters to make a basic sweater look more professional without the bulk of a button-up.

Check out this demo:


So cool right?!

Anyway, the shirt is not cheap (the Mr. had a heart attack when he found out I spent $70 on a tank top). But as I explained to him this shirt will expand my work wardrobe by making some of my older sweaters look different and classy. I've wore it a couple of times to work now and have really liked the look of it!


Switching to blogs now...

I read SO many great blogs. Some of my favorites are listed on the sidebar and you should definitely check those out. But I wanted to highlight a couple that I have loved lately.

The first, Tips on Triplets

This blog is written by my real-life friend Jeremy. I've been good friends with him and his wife for about 5 years now, ever since we were in the same Life Group at Church. Well he and his wife, Carey, are pregnant with identical spontaneous triplet boys! Jeremy is hilarious both in real life and on his blog. Plus following their journey is fascinating. I can't believe they are going from a family of two to a family of five sometime this summer/fall! I'm so excited to meet their boys!

The second, Long Distance Love and the Magazine that Saved Her Life

{AV} wrote about finding a suspicious mole after comparing it to 2-minute skin cancer test in Glamour. She went to her dermatologist and it turned out to be melanoma. Melanoma is the #1 cancer that kills young women. Yesterday I had two suspicious freckles removed at my dermatologist. Probably nothing, but better to be safe than sorry, especially since both of my parents have had various kind of less-serious skin cancer.

What are you loving right now?

Shameless Plea and a New Giveaway

In the past year The Mr. has gotten really into cycling and next weekend he is participating in his first big bike race - A 60 Mile Race for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure!


He's getting close to hitting his fundraising goal for the race, but he still needs help!

His Tour de Cure Website and Donation Page is here.

Diabetes is close to The Mr.'s heart because his grandfather had diabetes and lost his leg to diabetes. Each mile he rides, and the funds he raises will be used in the fight to prevent and cure diabetes.

Even if you're able to donate only a few dollars, your generous gift will help improve the lives of nearly 24 million Americans who suffer from diabetes.

And seriously, how can you resist this silly guy? :)



Also, I have BRAND new giveaway going that launched on Monday, for another $100 Amazon.com gift card! All you have to do is read about my experience tasting all five "Levels" of Seattle's Best Coffee and then comment on that post about which level you think you'd like. Crazy easy!

I Love a Good Makeover!

If you're reading on Google Reader, c'mon over to NewlywedsNextDoor.com because we got a makeover!

The wonderful Krystyn of Krizzy Designs did a fabulous job again. I love it!

Also be sure to check out the new top and side navigation bars to access some of my favorite posts and topics.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Comeback

To quote an old Counting Crows song, "It's been a long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last."

The last few months have easily been the toughest of my life. The Mr. and I have been through one of the worst things a young couple can experience together. I've been put through the physical and emotional "wringer." And I lived to tell about it.

via

And despite this being the worst of times, in some ways it has yielded the best of things. I love my husband more than ever. I'm closer with my family. I have more faith. God is closer. I am stronger. I see how precious life really is. My priorities are different.

It's a new year and I have faith that 2011 will bring better times.

So consider this my comeback to blogging. I've missed you all dearly and it warms my heart to hear that some of you missed me too. Writing, and now blogging, has always been a passion of mine, and the bonus of connecting with and befriending such amazing people is a huge added bonus. I love you all. Happy 2011.

Blogging Break

Hi friends.

I'm taking a little blogging and twitter break.

I'm dealing with some tough personal stuff right now and I'm just not to the point where I can blog about it. I don't want to continue my happy-go-lucky posts about traveling, decorating, or cooking when I know that's not where my heart is.

Just to squash any rumors...
- My marriage is fine. The Mr. and I are not divorcing (or even close to divorcing :) ).
- I am OK. I don't have cancer. I'm not dying.

I hope to return soon. Thanks for understanding.

Thank You!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone for your sweet comments, beautiful prayers, and kind words about my grandmother and my lack of domestic goddess cooking skills. I'm so lucky to have such amazing bloggy friends. You girls are the best!

I believe that Our God is an Awesome God and I trust that He can bring good out of even the worst situations.


Also, I haven't yet thanked everyone for all of your wonderful comments about my kitchen, dining/living room, and overall condo that I posted as part of Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live Friday". It really reminded me of just how blessed I am to live in Southern California in a home that I love. There are things that I often take for granted: like having a job, or being in good health, or just having the opportunity to live in the time/place that we do.


And just overall, thank you. Thank you for reading my 'lil blog and for sharing your lives with me via your blogs. I've learned so much from so many of you (for example: am I the ONLY girl in America NOT doing Shred?) and truly treasure you all.

With love,

All Grown Up!

It is time for my little blog to grow up -- get a driver's license, go on it's first date, sneak into a bar or two.

That's right, Newlyweds Next Door has it's own URL: http://www.newlywedsnextdoor.com/

Do not worry! You don't have to change anything! You will be automatically redirected to the new url if you click on my blog through Google Reader, your favorites, links, or any subscription program. Same blog, grown up URL.

Ask Me Anything!

It's almost time for my 100th post! Isn't it about time for a Q&A? Yes, it is!

So, put me on the hot seat! If you have any questions you'd like me to answer about anything, now is the time! Leave them in the comment section and when I answer it, I'll link to you. Or, you can email me at newlywedsnextdoor@gmail.com if you'd like to stay anonymous. Lurkers, this means you! Ha!



And just for fun... here we are at a Casino Night Fundraiser for Scholarships that we went to last weekend in Hollywood:

Bad Blogger

Sorry that I've been a really bad blogger lately -- but I've been so stressed out and busy. Between work being really crazy and working on our nightmare taxes, I've had a giant stress headache for days.

I've been trying escape mentally to go to my "happy place"... like Santa Barbara Wine Tasting...



(This is me and my 9 closest friends at my Santa Barbara Bachelorette Party last summer)

Where is your "happy place"?


PS- Last weekend the Mr. and I saw "Watchmen". It was a good movie but sooo dark and kind of disturbing. Did anyone else see it? Did you like it?

I promise to catch up with you all later this week or this weekend!

Happy Daylight Savings and Some Fun Awards!

Happy first day of Daylight Savings! Don't you just love when it gets dark later? It reminds me that summer is just around the corner! Plus, it's so much less depressing to leave work when it's still light outside. The only bad part was having to wake up an hour earlier this morning for Church.

I was super busy last week, so I'm sorry if I was MIA. Thanks for all of your comments about my new blog design and my Trash the Dress inquiry.

Also, some sweet girls gave me some fun awards awards!


Stylish Surburban and Lucky in Love gave me the Kreativ blogger award. Thanks ladies!



Here are the award rules:
List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love!
Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ!

Here are 7 things that I love...(besides the obvious= husband, family, God, friends, blogging...):

1. A good cup of coffee (morning, noon, or night)
2. Snuggling in bed with lots of covers and pillows
3. A fun dinner on the town
4. Lounging around in the warm summer sun
5. Reading a great book
6. Organizing a room, closet, or drawer (pretty much anything)
7. Sunrise or a sunset over a body of water
   
   

I pass this along to:

1. French Kiss
2. Ruby Red Slippers
3. Chic Runner
4. Downtown Southern
5. Living our Own Fairy Tale
6. Newlywed Stilettos
7. First comes love, then comes marriage

(I tried to pick people who have not gotten this, so sorry if you have and I didn't realize)

Also NYC HIT tagged me with another award:

This one comes with a catch though…I have to write five not so cute things about myself. Let’s see how cute you still find me after reading these:

1. I’m super "Type A"
2. I will hit the snooze bar 2-3 times a morning
3. I correct people when they misuse “good” vs “well”
4. I’m always leaving cabinets and doors open around the house – this drives my husband bonkers
5. I sing in my car a lot, which sometimes other drivers looks at me like I’m crazy
   

Hope you all have a great start to your week!

Oh Make Me Over!

Check it out! The Newlyweds Next Door got a MAKEOVER! (The Newlyweds Next Door blog, that is)

What do you think of our new look?!

I love it! It's so much more "us" and so beachy!

I had the wonderful Krystyn of Krizzy Designs do the design makeover. She is fantastic!

Exciting News!

No, I'm not pregnant. However, I did just give birth to a new blog baby....

The founder of this awesome website called "She Just Got Married" asked me to be one of her featured bloggers! How cool is that??!!

Now you read even more from at the "She Just Got Married" blog, Newlywed on the Beach!

Why Newlywed on the Beach? Because we got engaged on the beach, got married at the beach, honeymooned on a beach, and now live by the beach. Also, I'm the only West Coast Blogger on "She Just Got Married", so it seemed fitting.

To check out the amazing blogs on "She Just Got Married" just click here:


You can also always click over here from my side bar as well.


(Speaking of side bars... WTF is up with the new followers side bar? Google, you know it's ugly and fugging up our blogs, please fix it.)

Also, want to give a special thank you for the blog love from Adventures in Newlywed. You are such a sweetheart! You can also read more from her on "She Just Got Married" as she blogs there as Texan Bride. Check her out!

You Rock My World!

I just saw that I now have 100 followers! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for reading my blog! I'm so happy that I've met so many awesome bloggy friends in these past couple of months. I talk to my husband about you all like I "know" you in "real life." But seriously, you guys rock!



I’m so honored that Sweet, Sassy, and Always Classy gave me the “Honest Scrap Award”. As part of this award I have to list at 10 honest things about myself. I tried to pick new fun facts that I didn't list here, here or here. So here goes...

1. I like to cook, but rarely do. Since I travel for work a lot I hardly have a chance to buy fresh food and make meals before I leave town again. Our fridge pretty much only has condiments and beer in it. Sad.
2. After a fairly secular upbringing, I became a follower of Jesus when I was 21-years-old. I now consider my relationship with God the most important thing my life.
3. For the last five years I’ve keep a “Scrapbook Diary” (I’ll post more about this some other time). I fill it with items I cut out of magazines and paste together to express my life/mood at that time. It’s actually a really cathartic thing to do and cool memory to have.
4. I have a great sense of direction. I rarely get lost driving and have the “grid” of Southern California pretty much memorized.
5. In college I lived in my giant 65-girl Sorority house for two years and sometimes I really miss those crazy days.
6. I read “The Economist” weekly since my Husband has a subscription, but I’m always a week behind since he reads the most current week, and I get that one after he’s done.
7. I get really motion-sick, especially in cars. I almost always volunteer to drive when my friends and I go someplace because of this.
8. My parents are both Professors and sometimes I feel a little guilty for not perusing a degree beyond my BA (but I guess there’s still time right?)
9. I’ve seen the movie “Jerry Maguire” at least 30 times. For some reason I became obsessed with it High School, still watch it from time to time, and can often find situations to quote it.
10. I got a sewing machine for Christmas, but I have still not opened up the box it's in. I think I’m kind of scared to start using it my own.

The also received the "This Blog Measures Up" award from Shalay.




Thanks so much girls! You are such sweethearts!

I Love Blogging!

Getting to "know" all of my bloggy friends over the past few months has been so awesome and such a blessing! I may not comment on all of your blogs all the time, but you all are constant source of inspiration, laughs, information and fun!

Speaking of fun... The stars have aligned and three of my ABSOLUTE favorite bloggers, Mrs. Newlywed, Mojito Maven, and Erin are ALL holding awesome giveaways right now. These girls are so sweet and generous!

First up: Mrs. Newlywed @ Misadventures of a Newlywed is doing a Lilly Pullitzer Stationary Giveaway. So fun! Go over to her blog to enter by Feb. 4th!



Next up: Mojito Maven @ Make Mine a Mojito is doing Fat Witch Bakery Valentine's Day giveaway! These look delicious! Check out her blog to enter by Feb. 8th!




Finally: Erin @ Blue-Eyed Bride is doing a Valentine's Day Giveaway of Hanky Panky Panties! Cruise over to her blog to enter by Feb. 9th! Can I just say that I am DYING to win this one. And I'd venture a guess that the Mr. wants me to win too. :-D







Switching gears a bit... I blogged a while back about one of my favorite Bloggers, Kelly and her baby Harper. Sweet Harper is making a miraculously speedy recovery. This story has been such a source of inspiration and joy for me. I was definitely on my knees for this amazing family and it turns out that 30,000 people around the blogosphere and world were too. About two-thousand years ago Jesus said, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20) and early this year God showed the power of coming together in prayer through beautiful baby Harper.

The Hilarity of Google Analytics

I was messing around on Google Analytics the other day and looked at the "keyword" searches that brought people to my wedding blog. HILARIOUS! Why are people do random?

So I created a list of the "Top 10" funniest google searches that took people to wedding blog (with my commentary below in italics)

#10: a good life journey message for the wedding couple on their wedding day
Um, I’d like some clarification on what exactly “a life journey message” is and what would be make it good?

#9: “wedding uplighting uplights kirsten”
Specific, yet random.

#8: “fiesta theme bridesmaid dresses”
Dear gawd, I hope they didn’t find these. Ew.

#7: ingraving on tums
Huh? Does “tum” mean stomach? If so, do not “ingrave” (sic) your stomach. I’d opt for a tattoo.

#6: “are tungsten wedding bands dangerous?”
No. It's a ring, not plutonium

#5) “avg wedding gift for good friends”
I’m guessing that “avg” stands for average. To which I’d respond: if they are really your good friends, I would recommend that you not get them an “average” gift. That’s not cool, bro.

#4) candid bachelorette party photos
Not funny unless you think about what this person was likely really looking for. Pervert.

#3) weird engagement invitations pictures
I’m confused as to which thing is weird? The engagement? The invitations? Are you inviting people to your engagement with a weird picture?

#2) day after wedding brunch stupid
If it is so stupid then why are you googling for it?

#1) “i saw a ring with a turquoise starfish”
Um… cool… good for you? (WTF?!)

Happy Friday everyone!