shabu shabu date night!

last week... for once, we got to go out on a nice date and it was the best.  we got shabu shabu.  look how delicious and beautiful those veggies and noodles look!

and i am so lucky to have this handsome, 6-ft-4 redhead to cling to for warmth in a cold movie theater.  we saw the magnificent seven.  heart-breakingly good.  

our thanksgiving weekend.

we had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend with john's family.  we all congregated in idaho falls and had just a blast!  leslie made an amazing meal, and i am happy to report that all the delicious food we ate over the weekend got me caught up on my pregnancy weight gain.  (i was previously a few pounds behind.... ;)

we also watched wreck-it-ralph, which was funny and cute, went on atv rides {not me, obviously}, played a lot of zombies {john + other boys}, and did some black friday shopping.

it was tons of fun!  thanks george and leslie for hosting all of us in your beautiful home!

while john was in new york....

while john was in new york, i caught up on some much-needed girlfriend time.  mady, lauren, and i went to the twilight movie {is it kinda sad that i loved it?}, got breakfast with lauren's soon-to-be husband, ate chinese food, and caught up on what's been going on in each other's lives!  this is us at over-the-counter, east millcreek's secret hole-in-the-wall breakfast diner that makes amazing home fries.

california.

we spent a wonderful weekend in california for a friends reunion. we got to hang out with friends that we hadn't seen in over a year! we saw the new batman movie(a must-see), played on the beach, and made a special trip to olvera street for taquitos. we all had a great time. i can't wait for the friends reunion next year!

hunger games and joe's crab shack with friends.

an ebelskiver and shabu shabu saturday.

our saturday was filled with the normal cleaning and studying that it always is.  we made a delicious breakfast of dutch pancakes, {as usual.} but, since we are getting new carpet in the next few weeks, we got to rip out the old carpet to the basement. and what a wonderfully messy job it was!  after john finished studying and a mediocre movie, we sought nourishment at shabu shabu.  let me tell you, it was a very fun and delicious meal.

friday night date.

the best pizza in the world, 

the best frozen yogurt in the world, 

the coolest panda in the world.

ultimately, we had a lot of laughs and a great time.  

a little note.

dearest john,

thanks for taking me to go see that new movie last night.

somewhere between dinner and dessert i fell in love with you all over again.

love, paige

p.s. i think cake batter is my new favorite

our weekend, in a nutshell....

on friday night, after some much-needed nourishment,

we experienced THOR in 3D.

we loved it!

{but we are nerds like that.}

we woke up saturday, 

{john at 9 for his class, me at 11 when he got home from it....}

and decided, "hey! we have lots of yardwork to do.  let's go out into the blazing hot sun and over-exert ourselves.  that sounds like fun!"  {for those of you who don't know me personally, i am a thoroughly sarcastic person}  this is the flower bed i weeded whilst john edged the lawn.  and it was actually was fun.  {correction:  the only part that was fun was the part where we sat in the shade and compared battle-wounds.  hurrah!}

we went to the most delicious pizza place in the world....

and then came home and watched about 4.5 hours of jack bower kickin terrorist bootay.  

on sunday we spent time at church and with family.

and wished this wonderful woman a happy mother's day!

we hope your weekend was just grand.

my loves:

last night, we were in turkey-bacon-burger/cheese-fries heaven.

we also inhaled some strawberry shortcake. {thanks, muti}

and watched episodes of 24 until far too late.

it's days like these that remind me how terribly important john is to me, {like seriously, life without john would just be bland, boring, tragic, and all-around unlivable....} and that since we've been married i have been the happiest i have ever been in my whole entire life.  although we make mistakes and sometimes hurt one-another, each day our life together only gets better.  neither of us are perfect, but we are perfect together.  and that's what matters.  dear john:  thanks for loving me, taking care of me, humoring me, forgiving me, and taking me out for burgers and cheese fries.  i love you the most.

entertaining.

on the phone:
me:  how was the new movie unknown?
mom:  i wasn't crazy about it, but you know, i was entertained.

to my husband:
me:  well, we could go see unknown tonight.  my mom said she liked it.  she didn't love it, but she said it was entertaining.

after the movie, the couple next to us:
him: well, that was good.  you know, it was entertaining.
her:  yeah i agree.

i just laughed.  entertainment:  that's why i go to movies, after all.

mmmmm..... pho......

pho, is actually pronounced "phuh".

like "phun" or "phu-philling".

well, dinner last night was "pho-nomenal".

i just can't stop thinking about that pho.

after dinner, we watched many modern family episodes.

{they're kind of addicting you know}

thanks george and leslie, for spending valentines-day eve with john and i.

{i can't think of two people not of my own flesh and blood that i love more than you two!}

little date.

sometimes, john and i go on little dates.

a lot of the time, actually.

and they usually include food, ice cream, and a movie.

they actually all the time do.

so last night, we used this:

and had the most delicious {and fattening} dinner ever.

then we rented despicable me,

and watched it while snuggling on the couch.

thanks for the little date, my darling husband.

friday date.

 on friday night, john surprised me by coming home early,

so that we could make a quick trip to the temple before it closed.

he's a great husband like that.

 afterwards, we got shakes and snuck them into the movie theatre.

{the king's speech was the movie of choice and it was so good!}

i love little dates with my husband.  

happy happy weekend.

weekends are the best.
i wish it were the weekend all the time.  
no homework, no classes, no tests, no stress.
on the weekend, you get to do thrilling things, like:
1)  catch up on sleep
2)  eat delicioius food
3)  spend quality time with your husband
4)  go to see the green hornet
{i'm not kidding when i tell you it was entertaining.  i LOVED it.}
5)  eat at "milagros" {miracle in español}


i am also not kidding when i say the weekends are the best.
i actually may or may not be depressed that i have school tomorrow....

we have a new nephew!

baby Colter Henrie was born today!
7 pounds, 10 ounces, and completely adorable.

i was getting texts about the safe delivery during narnia.
which, was a pretty good movie by the way.
here's a picture of the crazies before the show.

i hate zombies.

i hate zombies. in stark contrast: john seems to love them.
allow me to explain.
last night, john and sam forced me to watch three and a half hours of The Walking Dead.
if you like feeling safe at night, {like i used to}, getting a full nights rest, {like i used to}, and being free from nightmares that involve the undead surrounding you and tearing you to pieces, {like I used to} -- then i wouldn't recommend it.
if you like your mind to be miserably poisoned, then The Walking Dead is for you.
needless to say, i had a very restless night last night.
i listened to David Archuletta and other happy, anti-zombie music on my new iPhone for about 3 hours, finally drifting off to sleep sometime after 4:30am.
it wasn't john's fault of course.
i wanted to watch it initially.
and i am a pansy.
but by the time I had the thought: maybe i shouldn't be watching this.....
i was already hooked.
and also too afraid to walk from the family room to the bedroom.
now john and his friends, {ryan, john crespo, and nat harward} are in the living room playing
a video game.
a ZOMBIE video game.

on a glass half-full kinda note,
my Christmas was the best yet, despite the zombie movie.
i have the best husband in the world.
and my family {on both the brunt and neff sides!} are the kindest, most loving, and most generous people i know. i am so lucky so have them.
oh, and zombies aren't real.

finals! {and the way i will reward myself when they are done.}

every semester, i find that it is excruciatingly painful to force yourself to take five comprehensive finals in the course of three days.  especially after the promise of jingle-bells, gingerbread houses, decorations, mistletoe, shopping, jack frost nipping at your nose, yule-tide carols, candy-canes, sugar-plums, chex mix, movies, and family has been eating away at you for the past three weeks.  the only thing that gets me through it - is the reward that i know will be waiting when john and i can finally bunk at my parent's house for a week or so.... and that i can have not a care in the world, knowing that all my homework is in, finals are over, grades are being calculated.  after that, nothing is in my hands.  and it's time to enjoy my holiday doing the things that i love most with my family.

my mom has promised me hot cheese dip and this:

while we watch this:

to be perfectly brunt: thanksgiving edition

thanksgiving with the brunts went far beyond exceeding my expectations!

leslie, ashley, and erin totally outdid themselves.  the company was wonderful, the food delicious.  

luke and weston practically mowed me over when we got to the henrie's house.  

they were actually excited to see their new aunt!  it warmed my heart.

thanksgiving day we played soccer, ate DELICIOUS food {of course!}

and spent some quality time napping.

on black friday we saw tangled, which i highly recommend, 

unless you're a ball-baby like me, 

in which case you should bring a box of kleenexes and mascara to re-apply after the show.

but seriously, it was darling.

we also went shopping,

and i have now learned that janessa has a weakness for H&M.

and leslie has a weakness for nordstrom rack.

but don't we all?

we played BANG today,

a game that i still believe is way over my head.

but extremely entertaining nonetheless.

{good thing i had a husband to back me up for the last two games}

ah i just love my in-laws.  i couldn't have asked for a better family to marry into.

they are so accommodating and will just do things for each other.  

no self-serving motives necessary.

i'd like to be more like that.