lifE...

real apple pie

2008-10-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Quinn and i are currently at my sister and brother in law's house with their two little boys. One morning Hendrix (2 1/2) and i were playing with play dough making the usual pizzas and snakes, when he decided he wanted to make a pumpkin pie- I'm guessing it's because of his love for pumpkins, i decided I'd make an apple pie. I started with the crust and added little balls for apples and topped it off with the top crust with slits and all- looking just like a real apple pie- only about an inch in diameter, and the color of about 5 play dough colors smooshed together. Hendrix completely bored with his half made pie was looking at mine with intensity and suggested it was a real apple pie and that we should eat it. I responded by explaining how a real apple pie was made, with real apples, putting it in the oven to bake and so on. After a moment of deep thought he suggested we make a real apple pie and then we should eat that one. So off to the kitchen we went and made a real apple pie, that we really ate.

i even cut out a little apple out of the dough

amused by warning signs

2008-10-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

So i was at work one day (doing one of our temp jobs) at the laundry mat, when i noticed this.... almost gruesome warning sign. i started to notice them everywhere in the shop. i found it amusing and quite frankly hilarious, i just had to photograph them because i knew Quinn would appreciate them, which he did. So time passed and soon we found ourselves in Yellowstone and Quinn showed me a snapshot of a geyser warning sign he took. Yet another sign for us to adore and laugh at. So now we're sharing them with you, we hope they amuse you as they have for us.

Tina, eat the Food!!!

2008-08-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is my most recent accomplishment in the artistic area. If you don't recognize it i hope it's because you are not familiar with the movie Napoleon dynamite, because frankly i'm quite proud of it, not because it's a spectacular piece, but because through out my drawing/art classes in college (and prior) i've dreaded prismacolors and pastels- mainly because i bite at those mediums. But recently at an art walk i saw some awesome portraits done with various shades of one to two colors used with prismacolors, thus i was inspired, so here's my first attempt since the frustrating fruit bowls a few years back.

i'm done- and life goes on.....

2008-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

So i am very happy to announce my 200 hour yoga teachers certification, it was ABSOLUTELY one of the best experiences for me yet! It's amazing how much information can be stuffed down your throat....ears....nose.....basically every pore- in a fairly short amount of time. My Instructor Nancy would constantly repeat how we were sponges soaking it all in, and one day we'd realize the information stayed and we'd find ourselves ringing it all out drip by drip to others, and i am fortunate to have had this exact experience last Tuesday (just yesterday) where i taught my very first volunteer yoga class to a group of girls (and quinn of coarse) i was very pleased. Especially afterwards when the girls were all shocked it was my first time teaching (outside of quinn and my fellow yogi classmates), i decided to make it a regular activity for the girls since they were practically begging.....hmmm ok maybe not begging, but you know.

Aside from all the great yoga business, other details of life have kept us quite busy and entertained. There's so much going on in Bozeman we decided to each grab a hand to join in on the ring around the summer fun. We have been to farmers markets-a farmers market like i have not ever before seen- more like a festival with; food, entertainment, and handmade goods to buy.

lunch on the lawn-where there's a groovy band playing on this wooden stage, an ice cream truck, and then little sun soaked kids with their sponge bob pops melted on their faces and cute summer dresses chasing all the dogs, and the big moose character (which i have yet to connect to anything), mingling adults, all just basically "hangen' out" on the lawn eating their packed lunches.

Art walks-where it all starts at the cultural center (my old school) there's all different artist's art work, and food, and pretty summer chilled drinks that you take along with you all through-out main street where you stop into all of those shops and find more and more art work from all the people in bozeman.

We've been camping with the mosquitoes and fishing with none caught- i always look forward to the roasting of the marshmallows for smores anyways. Swimming- both at the loud, kid trodden pool (where quinn likes to show off all of his misty flips, and double back flips for all the kids- who wouldn't with all of their oohs and awhs- and the glancing back to me making sure i didn't miss it while i'm bathing my bod in the sun. ) and swimming at "bozeman's beach" but really a lake with the lowest grade of "sand" possible- but it serves it's purpose- i sure do love resting a-float the water on our $3.99 fluorescent pink and yellow floaties.

We've taken advantage of every possible festival, in-fact we volunteered for the upcoming sweet pea festival doing face painting which was awesome! I especially loved that all the kids i painted wanted hearts and rainbows while all of quinn's kids wanted horses jumping over a sea of mermaids, and batman driving the batmobile....it was great watching quinn's eyes widen and convince that just a rainbow or just a bat might be even cooler. We've even gone to butte's festival where we happened to pick up two hitch hikers alex and kenny who happened to be in a band who happen to know quinn's best friend who is in a band and who also happen to hang out with quinn's other highschool buddy who is also in a band- separate band. (Yeah i was a little confused at first too.)

So my point to All of this is that we really are liking bozeman so we are moving here to stay FOREVER!!!! Ha yeah right it's great but let's be realistic here it's us you're talking about, plans ever changing and new ones evolving- but while we've been here we have thoroughly been enjoying ourselves and the lovely Bozeman Montana- who said there wasn't any thing here anyways?

we're HERE!

2008-06-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

So as you all know we made it to good ol' montana and we are very much enjoying it here, despite the CONSTANT rain since the day after we got here, minus the occasional spurts of sunshine for a few hours-that we have really learned to appreciate. But guess what? We got an apartment and it is our 3rd day in this cute tiny semi-studio apt. We decided it to be the better option paying $475.00+utilities a month having a place of our own, that is just a walk away from down town (where quinn works and my school is) verses paying $490.00-$525.00 a month for a camp spot that is well..... a longer walk away from town......a 7-10 mile walk away.

Since being here at our new pad it has relieved me of hopping from place to place as each one closes finding a spot to stay warm and dry while a place suitable for studying, when quinn is at work. Now when i hear those familiar voices over the intercom informing exactly what i'm trying to ignore,

"the time is now 5 'till 7-8-9 and we will be closing, please bring your items to check out"

i don't sink into my skin with the dread of figuring out where i'll be at next, infact now i'm never there to hear it, i'm at home studying, staying nice and dry...and warm. It's been fun to be in our van for a taste of what's to come after these few months in montana, i think we'll be fine- and even better if it doesn't rain everyday:)

here's our new place, it looks way cooler in person- so i guess if you want to see it, you'll have to come and say hi- we won't even make you stay in Erv- unless you want to of coarse.

CLICK ABOVE TO SEE.

This is my bRittany, nelli!

2008-05-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

What is my new name? nelli, nilla, nilli? It has been interesting trying to re-invent myself at 22 considering just about everyone in my life has known me as brittany, although i did get my NEW name inspired from all those old friends who called me vanilla-wafer, vanilla, and even nilla- (originated from my maiden name VILLANUEVA). Poor quinn has had the hardest time with his introductions- this is britt-errr-nellie, nilla, nilli.... one time he was leaving a message inquiring about an apartment and on the message he said, (with-out even realizing) said "please just call me and my brittany nelli back at 801......) it was quite hilarious. I must admit though, even i find troubles introducing myself because of my indecisiveness of sticking with one name. And now i'm afraid i'm in too deep, as people now have already been introduced to me as nelli, nilli, or nilla depending on my mood. This is going to be interesting for the people in Montana being involved in the mix of my identity crisis! However i did finally decide on introducing myself as Nilli, and then people can choose to call me Nilli, Nilla, or Nel that way i kinda get three names, a name that just so happens to NOT be the name of about 1 in every three girls, and a way to keep my maiden name a part of me:) So hello everyone i am Nilli!

AnderSon fAm.

2008-05-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

He's here! we got our new addition Erv, and the Anderson family (my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew) got theirs baby Avi jude anderson (otherwise known as avi-cado)- and danget i have to admit he's a lot cuter. We were fortunate enough to go to Colorado before arriving to Montana to see the magic of the old family of three turn into the new family of four. Although going to the all the art shops, shows, delicious food joints, and local stores, was entertaining and so much fun, I'd have to say that the most entertainment we experienced was just being there around family especially if your family is Hendrix. He was always so willing to help with any entertainment he felt we might be lacking, by the show of our "boredom" body language through our, sitting down, laying down, or watching a movie, and i must say he picked up on it rather quickly, so to cure our "boredom" he would do things like:

say "come ere, i wan to sow you sumting" as he grabbed for your hand and lured you either to his room as he shut the door behind you, making sure you didn't leave right away, or as he swung open the child-proof gate (if it happened to be left open) and started heading for the basement sliding on his stomach on the bumpy, hairy slide- the stairs. No matter which place he's lead you to, it's quite possible he really didn't have "something" to show you. Well at least not until he's looked around while repeating that same phrase, perhaps to stall a bit until he's found it, the thing he was going to show you. His cars, play-dough, his plastic food, or perhaps a remote control or blanket. Always leading to hours of delight and laughter.

another example might be him rolling up and down the living room, stomach down on a long board and then realizing that after saying that all of the three boards lying around beside him were all his, ultimately meant playing alone, he decided that we could and even NEEDED to use one of HIS boards. He got up and took my hand to the board he had prepared for my to lay on, and as i sat he said "no, like this" as he laid on his tummy and rocked to and fro up and down the hardwood floors, i joined in on the rolling and tried to avoid the bumping into the wall and desk that every time drix "accidentally" bumped would look up eyes wide open and eye brows up saying "oh no, hurts da wall."

These are just two of the many examples Hendrix provided us with while staying in Colorado, we miss him and the fam already! And especially the constant entertainment from drix- and his mommy and daddy (nat and jon -sista and bro-in-law) who we always end up laughing so hard natalia cries or i pee, or natalia does both ha! We are so excited for avi that he has such a great big brother (2 years old) and great mom and dad, and we are especially excited for his own little personality come out even more than all the giggles and smiles and snorting he's already shown us.

click at the top to see the fam.

GRADUATION GOODBYE!

2008-05-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

No more teachers, no more books, no more SCHOOL FOR QUINN HOORAY! As of May 3, 2008 Quinn is now the current owner of a nice and new bachelors degree in graphic design with a business marketing minor.

The event of his graduation felt almost like a big birthday party.....at the fair. We had family, friends, a barbecue, gifts, cards, hugs, even the actual graduation ceremony had dancing,xylophones, slide-shows, singing, and piano, the only thing left out was a lion to tame!Dang, i love it when Quinn graduates-i guess you don't have to do all the hard work for it to really pay off, just know a guy! No but it really was the perfect big bang, before we left to start a new chapter in our lives, and a new journey to set forth on.

For all of this and everything in-between we just want to say Thank You soooooo much to EVERYONE for contributing to so much happiness we've truly been able to obtain in result of the amazing people we are blessed to have in our lives YOU!

Whether it's been your patience through our craziness, flakiness, stubbornness-

your support whether it's been a time of need or just because- by, talking, sharing, feeding, driving, entertaining, loving, giving, sacrificing, encouraging, perhaps at times discouraging when needed, blessing, praying, laughing, crying, being there-

your understanding through all of our crazy ideas and desires, our pride, and mistakes-

or just a call at the exact moment it was needed, your love has been endless and we are forever grateful.

I GUESS THAT BIG CHECK WE WERE LONGING FOR REALLY DID COME AFTER ALL due to all of the generous giving and support we have received from everyone. Thank you so very much for ALL of your support.

WE LOVE YOU!

MEET ERV!

2008-05-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

our newest addition to the fam, isn't he cute?

oh baby!

2008-04-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

SOOOOOooooo...... Quinn and i decided on the "van" idea after taking one for a test drive and realizing how ridiculously AMAZING it would be to have one as our own....yeah kinda like a baby, our first baby, we could take care of it, wash it, name it, take it everywhere we go, and love it! So you can imagine how excited we became about the new addition to our family and started right away on making it happen!

Quinn and i went into the bank to get a loan that we figured would take a couple of days to sort out until we actually got the money from the loan thus, the van. Talking to the very nice lady Mary Jane (who Quinn told shared the same name as his mom, thank goodness i was there to remind him that his mother's name is MARY JEAN not MARY JANE) reassured us that this would take no time at all. As we talked more and she realized that we did not have an account at that bank, don't have much credit built up, and need a co-signer-who subsequently lives in salt lake- the process might not be quite the "in and out" process we had discussed previously. So for the next week we were in and out of the bank getting things "situated" and "worked out" Things were really starting to look up after the second week of all this when she told us we just needed to fax something to the salt lake branch and then finally- we could get the van! So into the bank we went to find that familiar friendly face and name gone! Another agent began to help us and told us that what had been said was wrong "no the co-signer needs to sign the exact documents" so sending them was the only option. Again feeling a bit defeated and frustrated we left but a light was still at the end of the tunnel only because Monday of the next week for sure we were promised all would be well.

Just to be on the safe side we waited to plan everything for Tuesday and not Monday even though we were reassured Monday was the day. Tuesday was the day that we made arrangements with the van owner to meet us, the day we set aside time away from the hectic schedule of finals week from Quinn's last year and last week of college, and it was the day we agreed to have the young girl and her mom, that we're buying our car, drive to cedar from beaver to come pick up our car and take it away..... forever-because we wouldn't need a car anymore of coarse because we'd have our new van! With all of these arrangements at hand, Tuesday came but our money did not, mainly because the documents never went- they were not sent- they were still there on the desk of Mary Jane! Why i have no idea considering that we found that the reason of the familiar face of Mary Jane's previous absence was because she was no longer an employee there! BUMMER! We now had no car considering we had just sold ours and no money to get the new one! A big bundle of aggravation came on- but thankfully was settled once the documents were promised to be over-nighted....and my mom and brother offered to help out with transportation as long as we needed. The next day i went into the bank a bit sceptical and possibly a bit pessimistic, to see if the documents had been sent.....and were they?????YES!!!! FINALLY, Wednesday(almost 3 weeks later)we got our MONEY so we could finally bring home our new BABY!!!

moving-away-give-away!!!

2008-04-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

In the mix of all of our idea popping and plan picking for moving to montana then....arizona?hawaii? colorado? somewhere??? living at the koa? a van? a tent? -after the big day of quinn's graduation (hooray)- we realized that regardless of what our official plan becomes we are in dire need of that green stuff we are so unfamiliar with these days....money!!!

Continuous discussion lead us to a few tricks up our sleeve to get the green to grow...or at least to sprout. One being the idea of, believing so hard that a big check would come in the mail because we attracted it there....after about five days of this we started putting up "yard sale" signs around town because we decided we might as well do this in the meantime of our big check coming along, and of coarse this way we would for sure make "bank".

Saturday came and we put just about EVERYTHING we owned out for sale- with the help of some of the other apartment neighbors who were putting a few things of their own out, and the help of our good next door neighbor friends Rylee and Ashlee (who we can always count when we get home from work and school to knock on our door to ask if we can play or at least use our skateboards.) A lot of people came and we were so excited we were selling things left and right, and we kept bringing more and more stuff out, including some cupcakes and brownies i had made the night before. Things we're great- everyone even had free entertainment with all of Rylees cool tricks and speed racing on his new skateboard we passed down to him (maybe we should have given it to him after the yard sale).

Once we were into the yard sale a little longer, we noticed we we're bringing in more coins than cash and at times it started to feel more like a yard GIVE-AWAY in the hype of the wind, entertainment, and all the people; the old ladies with what seemed to be all their money in their cute little coin purses and old stories to share, the young moms with a kid or two hanging on each limb- we just didn't have the heart to take the chance of something being priced too high, the poor college students-we couldn't take all their money when we know how it is, and then those who didn't speak much english other than "fifty cents." Unfortunately we did not make the thousands of dollars we had predicted, however we do have more than we had before and we are glad to have had the help we had, the entertainment, the company of the other tennants, and to have met so many people and share a piece of who we are with them, while in the mix of it all getting rid of the things we no longer need. So all in all the experience though a lot of work, well worth it. (But we are still determined that our "big check" is still on it's way:)!

we are now bloggers....yay!

2008-01-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

hello,
Quinn and i now have a blog (thanks to nat-sista) so feel free to check us out when ever you're missing us DON'T CALL...ha no that's not what we're trying to say, just another way to keep in touch.

so let's update you on what's been goin' down in 'C' town... ummm Cedar City. Not the most recent event but close enough, if you haven't already heard or seen i did something i thought i wouldn't do for a really, super, extremely long time, if ever.............I CUT MY HAIR, if you don't think that it's a big deal....... you're crazy, it is. I'm diggen' it still (minus my occasional cries when I'm not diggen' it so much.) here's right before i cut it and here's how i liked to style it:)

so actually now it's back to brown but still short i'll update a pic another day.Untill then hasta luego.