Harry Potter!!!

My family consists of a bunch of die-hard Harry Potter fans! So naturally, we were STOKED for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1" to come out (I even made a little Hedwig pin....and yes, I wore it!)!

We like to go to the Jordan Commons theatre in Sandy because they have some amazing IMAX screens and reserved seating so you are guaranteed a good seat. The seats for opening night were sold out so we missed out on that but we were able to get some awesome seats for the 9:45pm showing on Sat., 11/20/10. It was snowing pretty bad but that didn't stop us!

All I can say about the movie is that..........it was AMAZING! We love lOvE LOVED it! The only thing we are disappointed with is that we have to wait clear until July 15, 2011 for the second half! I'm really glad they did it in two half's though because then they don't miss anything. It was an awesome movie and I recommend it to all (except really little kids cause it does get a bit scary)!

2 whole years

Our anniversary fell on a Monday this year and we were both scheduled to work so we decided to celebrate on Sunday the 7th. That morning when Marcel got home I surprised him with his present! (Notice the awesome door behind Marcel! Oh the joys of an old house!)
Toby wanted to get in on the present opening action!
He was pretty excited because all of his jeans have holes in them so these were very much needed! I then proceeded to show him the delicious cheesecake that I made for us!

(Delicious and so simple! Thanks Ferrin for the recipe!)


After showing him everything, I got in the shower to start getting reading for the day. When I got out of the shower, this is what I saw!

I was SO excited about this gift! I have been in serious need of these things because the blow-dryer and straightener that I have was given to me by my parents when I graduated in '07! Needless to say they weren't working the greatest and my hair could air dry probably faster than that blow-dryer could dry it (slightly exaggerated but you get the idea)! He picked everything out separately by himself and put it all together! He is so good at that stuff! I used my present to do my hair and it was like heaven! I love new hair stuff! :)

After we were both ready we headed north, dropped Toby off with Manuel and then headed up to eat at the new Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Orem. Only problem was that when we pulled up to the restaurant there were no cars in the parking lot and there were big banners saying that the grand opening will be Nov. 15th! Total bummer. We then decided to go to Olive Garden because I've been craving their delicious Lasagna Fritta! We had a really funny waitress who we somewhat rudely nicknamed the "Crazy old Italian Lady"! She was pretty funny but she took awhile to get us our check and everything so we ended up missing the movie we wanted to see (Megamind). It was okay though. She was very nice and made us laugh so we weren't mad! To make up for it we went to Walmart and bought "Toy Story 3" to watch since we hadn't seen it yet! It made me cry....a lot! Marcel admitted that it made him sad but he knew that Disney wouldn't let it be over without a happy ending so he didn't let it get to him. I don't have the luxury of that sort of control over my emotions and tear ducts so I cried! It is a good movie though and we enjoyed it along with some scrumptious cheesecake!

After the movie we got out the whine glasses from our wedding that are etched with our initials, poured some Sparkling Cider and Marcel made a very sweet and heart felt toast that brought tears to my eyes (darn that self control)! He truly is an amazing man!

Many people take trips for their anniversaries or go away for a weekend which would be nice to do but we don't need to. Not necessarily because we can't but because just being together is enough!

Here's a little recap on a wonderful day that happened 2 years ago and the week that followed!

My grandma Westenskow used to design wedding cakes so I was able to go through a TON of her cake decorating books and choose different details I liked. When I was finished I came up with what you see here! I gave the drawing to our cake decorator and she did an amazing job! It looks exactly like my drawing! Also for Marcel's groom's cake, my grandma W. helped me make it! It was fun spending time with her and making such a fun cake! Marcel LOVED it!

For wedding presents, I got Marcel a bow and he finally told me where we were going for our honeymoon (hence the hats)!

After the reception was over we played a big round of Musical Chairs! It was a blast! It got down to Marcel and Pascal and Marcel won by pulling the chair out from under Pascal! Good times!

Now for the Honeymoon (no worries, I kept it G rated)!

We went to Magical Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney.

Then we went to the Kennedy Space Station where we were able to watch the Endeavor take off! It was an incredible experience! Marcel was like a little kid at Christmas here! Space is one of his favorite subjects!
We had a great time and we plan on doing it all again sometime in the future!

A letter to my husband:

Marcel,

Two years have come and gone and they have been great! Sure there have been some hard times but we have stuck together and worked through things the whole way. I love you so much! You are my best friend and the love of my life. You are always there for me and never let me down. I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful man to take care of me and to live my life with. I am so happy that fate brought us together (no matter how odd of a meeting it was)! We have had a wonderful two years together and I can't wait for the many MANY more to come!

Love your Wifey,
Jen

CaTs!

Marcel's 3 younger siblings were all in their schools production of the musical "CATS"! We were able to go to their 2nd performance (11/4/10). They are all so VERY talented! The story was a bit hard to follow but we loved watching them perform!

There was a spot where Manuel got to dance with his cute little girlfriend and we loved watching it because you could see how smitten he is with her even from where we were sitting! So cute!

Also Dani had a solo in the 2nd half and she did fantastic! She is such an amazing dancer! She mesmerizes you with the way she moves and does such a great job at making you know the character! Like I said, AMAZING!

Gaby was so cute! We had a hard time finding her at first because she was in a dance group that was wearing masks but once we did we couldn't take our eyes off her! She is very talented too!

All in all it was a great performance and I wouldn't mind seeing it again! Everyone's costumes and makeup was awesome!

They had some interesting facts about the production on the back of the program:
~Over 100 students tried out to be the Lead Roles (34) in CATS.

~With all groups participating there were 158 youth in the production (10% student body).

~Number of collective hours spent in rehearsal since Sept. 14 for CATS=2941 (*this # doesn't include the many hours spent in preparation by the directors since April).

~Participating: 18 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 21 Sophomores, 23 Freshman, 10 8th graders, 21 7th graders, 19 6th graders, 15 5th graders, 13 4th graders, and 1 parent.

I thought that was pretty interesting!

Also on a side note, when we were all filing out of the auditorium it was extremely loud with flashing cameras everywhere and this kid was managing to sleep through it all! What a goof!

I've been to performances of theirs in the past and I have never been disappointed. They go to a great school (ALA) and I would love for our kids to go there as well someday! We'll see I guess!

Miss Teen Utah USA

My gorgeous sister-in-law Dani had the opportunity to be in the Miss Teen Utah USA pageant this year!

The MAP gala

Interview
Being awarded!

Unfortunately Marcel and I were not able to go and the link to watch it live online wasn't working so we didn't see it :( . But Uli kept us posted and she did GREAT! She won most photogenic,

had the funniest interview answer, and won 2nd Attendant (out of 30 contestants)! We are so proud of her and all of her accomplishments! She said that she had a great time and Uli said it was phenomenal being there. They might be getting a DVD of it so hopefully we will get to see it after all! We love you TONS Dani! You go girl!

Official!

Dani made it in a magazine!! Not just in it, but on the cover! Woot go Dani you B-E-A-Utiful girl you! :)
Make-up: Mindy Hay
Photographer: Matt Spencer
Wardrobe Designer: Sophie St. Claire
Model: Dani Braun

Self Challenge

This comic is so true to life! I laughed so hard when I saw it and had to send it to Marcel who also cracked up at it! It's like they drew this after us! I am always complaining about my weight and the way I look (even if it's in my head) so I'm deciding that instead of just complaining about it without any change, I'm going to do something about it.

A while ago Marcel and I bought this...

We'd watched the infomercials (okay I did) and I talked (begged) Marcel into letting us get it to try. It sells online for like $80-$100 but we found it brand new and unopened on KSL for $50! I started at it and I enjoy the workouts because they kick your butt and Tony (the main man) is hilarious! He also has an awesome saying to really stick by when working out which is "Do your best and forget the rest." I have just become lazy and I can definitely tell the difference. Physically I've just never been in a happy place so I'm going to try....no, I AM going to change that. I'm posting this publicly in a further attempt to hold myself accountable for this goal.
I CAN do this. I don't have an unrealistic goal. I just want to be tight and fit in order to be healthier and feel better about myself. I am tired of feeling limited to activities because of my body. Boating is my most favorite summer activity yet I dread it every year because of my self conciousness. Well no more. It's time to stop talking about it and start doing it.
People do it all the time at every age so I have no excuses. These are the golden years and it's time to let them shine!
I started up this work out program again yesterday and I'm going to do my best to stick to it. I WILL change and it is going to be great!

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year (all the holidays seem to be doing that) so all the towns celebrated it on the Saturday before (10/30/10). Marcel had to work that day so I ended up going over to Moroni to hang out with my family. We had a really great time! We made homemade salsa, Snickerdoodles, and my mom made her heavenly Cheese and Broccoli soup and got the cutest bread bowls to go with it!

We did all of this while watching the Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus"! It's a must watch every year!

After a while of eating and relaxing we decided it was time to dress up so everyone (meaning us kids and Toby) got ready!

After a while of hanging out and handing out candy to little trick-or-treaters (which all seemed to be afraid of my fangs) I headed back over to Nephi to drop in on a friends Halloween party. I showed up towards the end of the party but was able to play a really fun game of Pictionary, guys vs. girls! We were laughing SO hard and had a really good time! I was really bummed that Marcel couldn't be there (and he was bummed to be at work) but I still had fun!


Just a little sidenote: You know that scary monster you always knew was hiding in your closet, under your bed or in the basement?! Well he stood proudly out on Main street across from my house the ENTIRE MONTH of October!! Every time I went outside his creepy eyes watched me. I did not like it one bit! (The picture was taken at night so you can't truly appreciate the scariness of this guy! I couldn't look at him for very long! Seriously, Marcel had to take the picture! Lol!)!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Dress Up

(~Top Left:Kris, Rachel, Angela, Joanna, McKenzie ~Top Right:Amity

~Bottom Left:Wes ~Bottom Right:Michelle, Ferrin, Me)

At work we were allowed to dress up the Friday before Halloween (10/29/10). It was so much fun! There were a lot of people that played along and there was a contest for the best costumes. (~Top Left:Barbara, Karson ~Top Right:Von ~Bottom Left:Amy ~Bottom Right:Lynn, Jill)

As you can see there was quite a variety in the creativity! It was fun seeing every one's costumes and everyone had a good time! (~Left: Wes ~Right: Karson)

I ended up taking 2nd place in the contest for my Vampiress costume which I thought was pretty awesome! I didn't expect to win so it was a nice surprise and I got a $5 Subway card out of it so you can't beat that! :)