live it up & write it down

this cute little "j" notebook is my photography journal where i write down notes, ideas, things i learn & what not relating to photography. i love looking back at the things that i have written down & to see how far i have come in my craft. journals of any kind are such a cool thing, don't you think? they reveal so much about a person! 

as a little girl i kept a diary that i wrote in from time to time. it had a lock & key so that no one would be able to read my deepest secrets. looking back on it now, i wish i wrote down more so that i could remember the important things that were occurring in my life at the time. i love being able to remember such innocent & funny things that i deemed important enough to jot down as a 10 year old.

i like to think that this blog serves the same purpose as my personal diary did then, but i know that i don't share very intimate & personal details about my family's life on here. to me public blogs just aren't the place to completely vent about everything. maybe for some, but not me at this point in my life. but i do love that this blog is a little place to share experiences & thoughts with others, as well as a mild journal of sorts.

// i really wish i would spend a little bit of time writing in a personal journal, though.
journals are great for venting & really fun to look back on. unfortunately, for some reason i find it hard to
find time to want to sit down & write with a pen and paper these days...thanks, technology! //

how much is too much to share on your public blog? do you guys keep a journal other than your blog???
how do you stay motivated to keep writing in it?

another birthday around here

& this time it was the man of the house's big day! 

^^^confused & then excited about the mini wad of cash he recieved

{i might have had sort of a hard time with his gift this year...so, money it was!}^^^

^^^not the cutest candles, but they sparked a bit & it took mark a few attempts at finally getting them all to blow out^^^

mark celebrated his 28th birthday on saturday! he started off his day with a nice long, 4 hour GMAT class which ended around noon. {who wouldn't enjoy that, right?} then he decided it was cake time. this cake wasn't my proudest moment, but when the birthday boy requests funfetti from a box then that's what you make! i wanted to get tall, cute candles but all i could find were these horrid black sparklers. so forgive me for the slanted, creepy candles. :) it was fun watching mark try to blow all of them out, though.

he spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing while i slaved away in the kitchen making a french inspired meal. mark lived in paris for 2 years so i thought it would be fun to have some "french" food. i made a whole roasted chicken, ratatouille and homemade baguettes. totally my idea of what french people eat :) and everything turned out delicious! {recipes to follow!}

around six mark was picked up by some buddies & they headed out to wendover, a mini-ish vegas a few hours away from salt lake, for a late night of gambling! it was his day & i was happy to encourage him to have fun with his friends! although, it had been snowing really badly earlier in the day & i was a bit nervous about their drive. but they arrived safely, had a blast, mark didn't lose any money!, and they got back into town around 4am...crazy boys! & what did i do while he was gone you ask??? well i ate a few more slices of cake & watched back to back lifetime movies, what else? i am too predictable! ;)

it was a hectic day for the both of us, but so much fun!
hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDY, babe.

breakfast at sundance

this morning mark & i met up with our good friends, the saffords, for a late breakfast at the foundry grill at sundance! taylor, kacie & baby liv had spent the night at their family's condo, which is actually a part of the sundance resort, & they thought it would be fun to invite us up for breakfast. the food was amazing & we had so much fun catching up!

^^^i love the rustic cabin feel^^^

^^^liv is getting so big! she is 15 months now & loves to copy anything her dad does^^^

isn't sundance just dreamy?? it is such a fun place to visit. it's only 15 minutes up the canyon, has amazing restaurants & a few runs for local skiers...not to mention it's adorable! we really don't go up there enough, so i'm glad we got to spend a few hours exploring today :)

our day of love

valentine's day was great this year. mark & i kept it really low key, which i was totally happy with.

i spent the morning making a DELICIOUS cake & had some fun decorating it. mark then surprised me around noon with flowers & a few gifts and took me out to lunch. on top of all of that when he came home from work he made dinner for us. i wasn't allowed to help or even look in the general direction of the kitchen while he was preparing everything. sneaky guy! he made such a tasty meal, too!! fresh salmon, rice & bacon wrapped asparagus. pretty impressive, right? after dinner we watched the vow for a little romance & spent the rest of the night just hanging out.

how did you spend your valentine's day//night????

keeping a memory jar

some of you may have notice that i changed my URL & blog name to FIVE FOOT SEVEN! i thought it was about time to give this little blog a slight make over. 

i decided on the name five foot seven because it is a small piece of information about me. this is a lifestyle blog after all, so i figured making it a bit more personal wouldn't hurt! and yes, i am 5'7". :)

over the last year mark & i had a fun little idea to keep a jar full of funny memories throughout the entire year. if something silly, weird or note worthy occured we would quickly write it down and stick it in this little glass jar. our plan was to open it on new years eve and remember all the funny little things that had happened over the year. we were in seattle over new years and totally forgot all about it, but for some reason we were hanging in our office last night and mark suggested we read the notes!

there was only about 15 items but each one made us laugh and remember some of the fun times that we had during the past twelve months. i think this is an awesome tradition, one that may be hard to remember all year long, but something worth giving a shot! i also think i will save the ones from last year and make a little scrap book just for these little memories!