Category Archives: Personal

Tidbit Tuesday #33

Yesterday was a bad day. I went to Ikea to pick up some wall mounted shelving. Upon reaching Ikea, I learned that although pictures of the shelves exist on the website, they do not exist in real life. Bad day.. I then found some shelves I liked more for less money. Good day. I put up the shelves when I returned home. They fell down immediately. Bad day. I then decided I deserved a pint of toasted almond gelato and the right to lock myself in our room and belt out the entire soundtrack to Wicked. Brought it back like it was 2005. Yes, yesterday was a good day after all. :)

Dearest Heather Potts: Thank you for living here before we moved in. It means I get to enjoy J.Crew, Pottery Barn, and Nordstrom catelogues on a daily basis. Ya know? I feel like we could have been really good friends. P.S. We have mail waiting for you from Germany. Looks important. Was going to read it, but Dylan said that’s illegal..

Four thumbs up for Despicable Me, people! I swear I’m older than I blog, with Toy Story last week and now this.. ;)

HUGE announcement: Dylan and I are now the proud parents of a Netflix account. What’s your favorite show/movie we’ve just GOTTA see?! I wonder if they have Arthur on Netflix. Ya’ll know I’d be down.

I just can’t get over it. People are SO nice here. You see, I come from NY. Where John the hitch-hiker flips you off if you don’t pick him up. Where the car to your right just won’t let you over and won’t let you over and WON’T let you over. But here? People ask you how you are in the elevator and it’s almost like they really want to know! Oh Texas, you inspire me!

Song of the week: On the Mend by the Foo Fighters. So not their typical sound, but it’s totally my new jam. Check it!

Dylan is amazing and handsome and smart and funny and great. :) That’s all I have to say about that! Well, that and the fact that he would make a superb travel agent. That guy has basically scheduled my whole life out for the next year! Next month holds three destination weddings in store. Three weekends. In. A. Row. Come on old luggage, we can do this!!

Rochester, NY peeps! Alyse is comin’ to town! I have a couple of open shoot slots Sunday, August 8th. If interested, send an email to alyse@alysefrenchphotography.com for details and a little something special!

I AM IN LURVE. I just ordered this gaw-geous rug for my office space from Dash and Albert. But this purchase was no easy task. You see, I debated on about 17 rugs for an entire week. But this one quite obviously stole my heart from the beginning. You like?

I leave you with a really sneaky sneak peek of our home. You know, just to hold you over until I get to painting that wall that’s been half finished for about a month now. :)

Happy Tuesday! Remember to come back on Thursday for sweet Rachel and Travis’s engagement!!

July 28, 2010 - 4:02 PM

jessica - you’ll be in Rochester in the 8th!! me too!! wow!!! i must find a moment to drive to you and hug you!!! this is a must! where will you be? details!!!!….oh, and i just plugged your open slots to a friend of mine…will let you know:) hehe…and yay for the sneak peek!!! and if you haven’t already…you should get Lost from Netflix…i did last year and became addicted and it was wonderful! just saying…and i love you!!!!

July 28, 2010 - 12:28 PM

Sara - OMG – I spent THREE hours at Ikea yesterday…also bad day. They had, like, NO associates available to help, and people were lining up at the help desks. Good day was getting home to my pups and just relaxing. :-)

July 28, 2010 - 6:26 AM

Erin - There’s a show on Netflix called the IT Crowd. If you like british humor (and honestly…who doesn’t) you’ll like this show!

July 27, 2010 - 4:37 PM

Mom - That rug will look great under your desk! Like it even better than the other one you showed me

July 27, 2010 - 12:52 PM

Pete - I almost wish I lived in Rochester so I could get a photo shoot.
Is that orange I see in the bottom right corner?!

July 27, 2010 - 11:51 AM

Stephanie Pillsbury - Can. Not. Wait until you post pictures of your home!! Ryan and I started our be affair with Netflix in February of this year! It’s so cool!! So glad you like your new state but we sure do miss you here in NY!!

Making Tradition

In the wee hours of the morning, Dad took his place at the head of our dining room table. And as mom rushed around making sure we kids had brushed our teeth and didn’t have oatmeal in our ears, Dad would read. Bible stories. You know, the kind with pictures. Of Jonah. Of Noah. Of water and wine. Of anything we could visualize and understand through a highly disproportional cartoon Jesus riding on an equally disproportional smiling donkey. And then, we’d pray. For my spelling test, for Lorae’s history project, for Cam’s big head to shrink a little. ;) And for the reality of God’s word and promises to stay with us throughout our day at school.

I don’t recall a single morning my family didn’t gather to pray. Sure, as we got older and could check for vestibular oatmeal ourselves, our prayer time was hurried by homework left until the last minute or crazy bus driver Dan arriving at our house five minutes too early. But still, we prayed.

As I find myself in the middle of grownup-ism (I know I could have said adulthood, but that word’s nowhere near as fun), I’ve started thinking about what traditions I want to start. Not just for when Dylan and I have a family, but for the here and now. So while I’m working on convincing Dylan to bring home ice cream every Thursday night, I want to know..

What are some of your favorite family traditions? Silly, serious, ice cream related, or not – I’d love to hear ‘em! And maybe, just maybe steal them. :)

And because blogs without pictures are dumb, here’s one of my new orchid, Sally. Dylan gave her to me for our one month wedding anniversary. Now that seems like a nice tradition. :) But, maybe not the whole naming-my-plants part.. That’s weird, I’m told.

Happy Thursday!!

July 28, 2010 - 4:10 PM

jessica - ahhh…traditions…family traditions:) well, my most favorite of all time from my growing up family was Christmas morning…we would wake up and were only able to open up our stockings while waiting for all others to join in from their slumber. After this my most favorite time of the whole year ocurred. We would read the story of Jesus birth and then take communion as a family!!! i could cry right now just even thinking of how sweet, powerful and precious this time was and always will be to me…i can say that even though things through the years have been rough and the make-up of how my family is has changed…well, this has always been a constant tradition! it is sooooo powerful!!! after taking communion and pausing to remember Our Lord! we would sing and worship as a family. Again, this memory is my favorite! and this tradition something i will carry on forever!

a few more that Gabe and i have made. well, Friday night is DATE NIGHT!!! him and me and me and him baby!!! this is our date time. it is the most wonderful thing to date him still!! this will never stop!

also, whenever we are leaving one another…whether he runs to the store or i get out of the car in the morning when he drops me off at work…well, we wave “i love you” as our goodbye…you know…in sign language:) it can always be heard!

oh…and if i put lotion on my feet in the morning, Gabe will put lotion on and rub my feet at night…it think this was his initial attempt to get me to just remember to put lotion on my poor overworked feet…but a promise is a promise! my feet have never looked better;)

those are just a few…

July 23, 2010 - 7:55 AM

stephanie - My family has a funny Christmas tradition: My grandparents always put an orange in the toe of our stockings before all the other presents go in. I don’t even know why, that’s just always what we’ve done!

July 22, 2010 - 9:07 PM

Kate W. - Oh yeah, and from the other day: I love the Weepies! Good choice.

July 22, 2010 - 9:04 PM

Kate W. - Alyse, I absolutely love reading your blog. You always make me laugh out loud. I mean, grownup-ism?! Hilarious! And an orchid named Sally? Its so unexpected yet feels so right. If you want to add a Christmas tradition, my family has to search for this pickle ornament on our tree on Christmas morning. http://www.victoriantradingco.com/store/catalogimages/1a/i731.html Whoever finds it opens their present first!

July 22, 2010 - 4:52 PM

Jackalyn Pelcher - Pancake day a day for family to wake up late stay in there pj’s and make an amazing brunch together and laugh and joke and talk about the week. My husband and I moved to florida in 2006 with no friends in the area or extra money to go out we implemented pancake day a sunday event that was always just us and we would make coffee and pancakes and sit together at the table disscusing over lives of the week or silly commics in the sunday paper we spend the morning just us just in our pj’s and slippers sipping coffee and enjoying our time together. Now we have moved back to ny and our lives are more hetic then ever we both work 1 full time job and i have a part time job and he coaches so our weeks are hit and miss but every sunday we sleep till 9 and have a great pancake day filled with laughter love and bowl of fruit and it helps to keep our weeks and our relationship on track. I cant say what the key to happy marriage is but i can tell you the right mixture of pancake batter and quaility time are ingredients i couldent live with out. my sunday tradtion is one i hope to keep within my family. Andrew and I have balanced out some of the most stressful days over a batch of warm fluffy pancakes.

July 22, 2010 - 1:28 PM

Pete - It is a Morrissey tradition to get ice cream on the first
day of summer.

Tidbit Tuesday #32

Dylan and I saw Toy Story 3 on Sunday night. I was told I would cry. But instead, I burst into laughter at a time most inappropriate because I couldn’t believe I was about to cry at an animated movie about toys that talk. :) Also Tuesday-worthy, were two little kids who upon seeing me and Dylan were all, “THEY’RE seeing Toy Story!! They’re so old! HAHAHA!!” Uhh, really? Toy Story is for kids raised in the 90′s. Not noobs like you. Same goes for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Where the Wild Things Are, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Disses to Apple. I’m almost positive they manufacture their chargers to die just when their customers need power the most. I purchased two chargers this past week in hopes that they’ll last me twice as long as my previous one, whose lifespan was a mere 8 months. Boo, Apple. Boo!!

Hollaaa! My half-birthday is in TEN days. Just sayin’! :) Maybe Dylan will get me a baby turtle named Atticus to hold me over until Sullivan comes along. (Hint, hint!!)

No. 31 of my 101 in 1001 list reads: “Try a new hairstyle.” And while there are plenty of tasks on that list I’ve still yet to muster the courage to complete (i.e., No. 37: Drink 8 full glasses of water a day), I can now cross off No. 31. Last Tuesday, I chopped off approximately 10 inches of hair. And.. I didn’t tell Dylan beforehand! I thought about canceling my appointment about seven times before that fateful morning, but I did it! And now, I am a bona fide newly married woman, short hair cut and all.

When life slows down, I want to read more. I am the queen of books half-read. And there are still so many books already on my shelves (yes, we have shelves!) that I want to get through. But I’d love some fresh suggestions! Hit up the comment section with your fave reads!!

So, what’s up with our favorite sitcoms switching up actresses who play the same character? Take Vivian on Fresh Prince and Harriet on Family Matters. Excuse me, Hollywood, but I need some stability when it comes to my TBS mother-figures.

Song of the week: World Spins Madly On by The Weepies. It’s the perfect song for pretending you’re the star in a music video. Tell me I’m not the only one. :)

I leave you with a taste of next week. Meet our new clients and friends, Rachel and Travis, who are engaged to be married in April. :)

July 21, 2010 - 2:32 PM

Noël - Toy story 3 was the best of them all the toy storys
great pic!

July 21, 2010 - 6:58 AM

pam - Toy Story 3 was a little too awesome, I mean Mr. Potato head & the tortilla? Seriously I couldn’t stop laughing through out the movie!

I’m totally on the same page with the half read books, last night I actually went through & separated my books into “haven’t read” & “started to read” piles. Hopefully the started to read pile will get smaller & not grow LOL

The 8 glasses a day isn’t too hard if you just fill up a 20 ounce bottle three times & keep it with you all the time.

Awesome picture!

July 20, 2010 - 7:54 PM

Tammy Rehak - You guys look totally awesome!!!! Love is in the air!

July 20, 2010 - 5:50 PM

Kaylah Howe - I would recommend my favorite book in the world, “The Five People You Meet In Heaven” by Mitch Albom…you CANNOT put it down!! A few other good one from him are “For One More Day”, and “Tuesdays With Morrie” (sp there)…and one of my all time fav books that I read in 7th grade and re-read last christmas is “The Giver” by Lois Lowry!!!

July 20, 2010 - 5:21 PM

Jesslyn - I love reading your blogs! You’re so sweet and down to earth! Love the photo–beautiful!!! But, there’s only one thing missing… I want to see your hair!!!!!!

July 20, 2010 - 2:16 PM

Trevor M. - Books!

-Desiring God by John Piper
-Psalm 119 (I know it’s the Bible, but it will blow ya up!)
-The book I got you two lovely folks for the wedding. Read it together! :-D

Miss you both! Hop on over to my blog sometime. It’s theological and nerdy, but what would you expect from me? http://arguingwithangels.blogspot.com

July 20, 2010 - 12:15 PM

Rachel - Love everything about this picture buuuutttttt, MY FACE!!! lol, not the best of me!

July 20, 2010 - 10:58 AM

Jess - OH and PS- LOVE the picture! I can’t wait to see the full shoot!

July 20, 2010 - 10:52 AM

Jessica Z - 1. I have heard SO many good things about Toy Story 3! I think me and Ryan need to see it! Is it in 3D? Or do you have a choice of non-3D? Because he hates paying $4 more for a movie ticket, just to see the movie in 3D hahaha.

2. I thought I was the ONLY one who gets excited about my half birthday! I should have known to get your opinion on half birthdays though, just like everything else. FIVE DAYS for me!

3. The 8 glasses of water a day… it’s tough. I was (trying) to do it when I was training for a road race. Nearly impossible, but it can be done!

4. I think I’m the princess of half-read books. My shelves are also filled with books that I need to finish, once I have some free time, which STILL doesn’t come that often, despite being done with Newhouse haha.

5. I have been playing “The Wold Spins Madly On” on Pandora for the past month. IN LOVE!!! They’re coming out with a new album at the end of August… if I can remember that facebook ad correctly hahaha.

6. Reading this blog and having the constant thought of “HOW IN THE WORLD is it possible for two people to have the exact same, strange thoughts” makes me miss youuuuu! I hope Houston has been AMAZING so far! One of these days, we’re going to have a Skype date. Miss you lovely lady!

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