It's beginning to look a lot like....CHRISTMAS!!!

First I must say when there are this many candles on a cake... no need to celebrate!
I had to have Cade help me blow them out..his lungs are younger ;)

What a fun wedding gift!! I couldn't bear to leave him out in the cold and wet..

Let it SNOW..

and by the window their stockings hung with care...

THE TREE.. no christmas red and green for me...

Wishing you all a "joyous" holiday!

Star or Angel or.... Sparkles!!!!




We hope you all have or had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Minha sobrinha.. Sabrina

For those of you non Portuguese speakers... My niece Sabrina.. Drica and Madson welcomed Sabrina Rodrigues into their family in Dec. 16 (my birthday) and I am so excited!!

Drica was my favorite companion and has remained one of my closest friends (despite the distance) since we have come home!

I don't know about you but don't you think Latino babies look so much older with all of their hair?!? Nevertheless I think she is BEAUTIFUL

and to answer your question NO this does not make me baby hungry ;)

Queria dizer a Sabrina que vc e linda e tao abencoada nascer nessa familia eterna.. Eu te amo como amo sua mae e estou animada para o dia que posso conhece-la!! Estou feliz que compartilhmos o mesmo aniversario para que sempre possa lembrar te mandar muitos presentes!!!
Beijos,
Tia Jess

"Groovy Holidays" Love the Rowes!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow!!

So I know that this is totally cliche.. Get married and cut your hair...But to be honest when I started growing my hair out 2 years ago I never planned on keeping it forever.. In fact, the original plan was to donate as soon as I had the 8 inches required.. (this is just a view from the front.. don't mind the scrounge outfit)

Soooo....

(Don't you love my self portraits? I had to make do with the hubby already gone for the day)

I made an appointment with Jen my Hair Stylist (who does a fabulous job by-the-way)

<<<<<>>>>>

( Please note these pictures were taken after a LONG day at work so please excuse my somewhat tired face)
vwah-lah...

I am sure my high school crew are having flashbacks of all my high school years right now..

It's just what I wanted and all the gross hair on the ends is gone and I have healthy, shiny hair once again!! What do you think of it?!?

Besides having had quite a few people who are close to me suffer from cancer and lose their hair-I thought it was the least I could do to give my hair for someone's wig!!

FYI: Locks of Love charges for their wigs so if anyone is considering donating their hair I would research for an organization that donates their wigs.. there are plenty of them out there!:)

Give Thanks!

So I have posted sooo much about myself and my life that I wanted to just say how grateful I am for all the I have.. here are a few more specific things that I am grateful for...
My Cute Husband

He is sooo good to me and makes me laugh and tickles my back and plays with my hair and...so many other things!

(This is what he looked like when we met)

My parents.. they are such great examples to me and always do SO much for me!!

My Sistas... It's so fun having your best friends in your family. My sisters are all so loving and supportive. I really enjoy the relationship I have with each of them!!

My Savior- I can't imagine my life without knowing that it will all be o.k. because of Christ's atonement that compensates for all my imperfections....

A country where I can choose what I want to believe in and where the opportunities are endless if you just put in the effort.. Also for all those fighting for our country to preserve those freedoms!


The gospel on the earth today, I love knowing we have a prophet who leads and guides us.



Temples for their beauty and sacred ordinances!

The BEST friends who are so loyal and supportive and freakin fun!!

As much as I will miss my husband in January I know my girls will be great substitutes ;)

(maybe not 100% substitutes though!!)

Smutty T.V. shows that keep me entertained on those rare nights I am bored.. I just wish they weren't so addicting!!

MAC Makeup... (I know this list is going down-hill quickly but...) seriously makeup is important to a girl!!

I am sure this list could go on on because everyday I find myself feeling gratitude for more and more. I feel truly blessed to have a home to live in, a good job, food on the table, prayers that are answered, and people who I love and that love me that make everything worthwhile.. May you all find yourselves feeling so blessed this holiday season...

HaPPyThANkSgIVinG!!!

More Pics

I guess I didn't even realize that the pictures I have posted have had somewhat serious faces but neither jesse nor I are really serious people... Here are a few other pictures that show just how excited we are to be married.. I feel like the luckiest girl!! Thanks again to Kami for all the great pics.... She was so fun to work with-- I highly recommend her for babies, families or weddings!!!

We're Back!!!!!!!!

So we had the most amazing day last thursday.. For those of you who may be confused- the reception is THIS thursday.. we just got married last week!! I highly recommend it- it was the most wonderful day.. I slept in- caught up on my tivo'd shows, took a really long shower and then went to the temple!! Afterwards we headed to Stein Erikson for a few days... It was long enough for me- but it was wonderful staying in a place like this.......

With a room like this... (there was a fireplace in the bedroom too- I think I look better in firelight ;))

A view from the room like this.....

A dead sexy husband like this......

And food like this... ( I am not sure my dress will still fit!!)

How could you go wrong?? There was a minor incident when the poor girl came to turn down our bed only to find that we were already in it!! I thought Jesse put the privacy sign up oops ;) ha ha other than that it was wonderful and everything I have always dreamed of... Now it's back to reality...

Hope to see everyone at the reception THIS thursday!!

It's the Final Countdown!!

Well as could be expected our days the last little while have been filled from sun up to sun down.. Between trying to plan a wedding and buy a house.. Now there are just a couple of days left and we are both soo excited and anxious.. I have to say that I am sooo grateful for everyone that has supported me and helped get this all together!! Here's just a preview of our bridals.. they turned out AMAZING.. like I said before I highly recommend Kami Nelson as a photographer.. she did the best job- I couldn't have asked for anything better!!

"The One"

So I have to admit- as much as I hate it that my mom was right.. when you meet "the one" you just know. Things fall into place, there are no games, and you feel peaceful and complete....
I am so glad that I have found that person and as much as we have had to run around and have a million errands to run every day.. I love every minute that I get to spend with him, I love that he registered for "personal items" at Target when I wasn't looking (sorry to my little ward members who may be shocked to see that on our registry) I love that he listens to me and never gets upset even when I complain about things that could make him feel bad, I love that he puts me as numero uno in his life no questions asked, I love that he makes me feel happy and peaceful, and giddy and sexy! I love that it's him that I bought a house with and him that I get to play house with!! I love that I know that with him come rain or shine, bad times or good that I will be loved, taken care of, and 100% happy and content- Just like I look in this picture... I can't wait!!
Two Weeks til the big Day!

Engagements!!

Hey All.. so we got our engagement pictures taken on monday and I LOVE them. I would recommend our photographer to anyone she was so fun to work with and had great ideas, not to mention she got soooo many good shots!!! You can see more of her great pictures at www.kaminelson.blogspot.com - it would be worth it to take a look ;) I really loved the candid moments that she caught.. if you look closely at this one you can see my gum in my mouth!!


I think Jesse's eyes look freakin SEXY in this one....

Just a taste of the apple orchard ones... this was the cutest freakin place!!

So I don't want to spoil all the fun by showing all my pictures.. rest assured there are TONZ more- but I am saving those for the wedding!!!

Only 3 More WeEks!!!

Random Thoughts...

So as expected.. planning a wedding in such a short amount of time has been- CRAZY- for lack of a better word! So many things have just fallen into place and for that I am grateful!! Some other things that I am grateful for...
-A family who has rallied into planning mode and been so helpful
-Sisters who I can turn to when my mom is driving me crazy!
-General Conference this weekend.. I can always use a spiritual boost
-Jesse who loves me more than I could ever hope for and shows me and tells me how much he loves me on a regular basis
-Halloween candy (although I may not be so grateful when my wedding dress doesn't fit ;))
-Temple marriage- I can not wait to spend eternity with Jesse!!
-Elder Holland's talk on "angels" I know I have several "angels" that help me in so many aspects of my life!!

I honestly don't think I deserve all the blessings that I receive on a regular basis.. but I will never reject them when they are sent my way!!

My Own Little FairyTale

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away,
There lived a fun-loving, brown-haired girl who always had plenty to say...

She had finished college and a mission too,

Sports, traveling, and chillen with friends were some of her favorite things to do.

Everywhere she went, someone had "someone she had to meet"

Lots of them sucked, but she kept waiting for someone to sweep her off her feet...

Her family gave them nicknames, Lurch and No-Neck to name a few,

You single girls out there better hope these guys don't show up to go out with you!!

Her life was fun and once or twice she thought she met "MR. RIGHT"

Sometimes it hurt and she was confused when to be with her they wouldn't fight...

Then one day, a girl she didn't even know from work said "I have a brother who's single too"

She avoided the situation as best she could but knew eventually what she would do..

She knew so little about him- he was younger and drove a BIG red truck-

Just some Wrangler wearin cowboy from Hooper would be her luck!

So they made plans for dinner and she worried about what to wear,

But when she opened the door to greet him all she could think was "he has long hair?"

Dinner and bowling were date number one..

Afterwards she wasn't sure how she felt but knew she had a lot of fun :)

Bit by bit more and more time they spent,

With each passing day she knew that he had to be heaven sent.

They'd talked about the future and thought maybe May or June

Then after 10 days apart they thought again and said "maybe we should do this soon?!?"

They picked out rings and made some plans about how and when a family they would start,

And with each passing day this girl knew she had given him her whole heart!

At the end of September they made it official with a ring and all that goes,

With only 7 weeks til the wedding how they will do it, only heaven knows.

The moment had finally come she had waited for her whole life,

To the temple she would go to become someone's eternal wife.

To kneel across the altar and be so deep in LOVE,

Is the greatest blessing that is bestowed from our Father up above.

It's the year of beginnings and ends and the start of a whole new chapter...

And when their story is complete it will say... "They lived happily ever after!"

It was the BEST of times... It was the WORST of times..

I am still overwhelmed by the amount of pictures so here you go... Our little adventure (yes that's the best way to describe it) got off to an interesting start when what looked like a wide-open flight on Friday night got put of weight restriction cuz they but 40,000 lbs. of cargo on the plane which meant we had 24 hours to burn in our nation's capital.. I can think of worse places to sight see.. can't you? Just our luck, however, the day we got to sight see it was raining... pouring would be a more appropriate term and let's just say that my "slippery" flip-flops + the Tennesee marble at the Lincoln Memorial= a most embarassing and painful fall on my a*s!! Shelly and my mom got a good laugh at it and thank goodness I was back on my feet before the tour of 150 asians had time to whip out their cameras to take pictures of the white girl in her bright blue poncho sprawled out on the floor ;) Go ahead and laugh- I most certainly did.. til I cried actually!!

ARE YOU KIDDING?!?

Don't we look HOTT!!

Good ol' Pres. Lincoln and those damn marble floors ;)

We finally were off on Saturday and arrived mid-morning in Brazil!! Drica and her husband and Josiane met us at the airport and kindly took us to their house! Where we got settled in and then headed to a market where there were tonz of hand-made goods for sale.

"The Bedroom" The next day was our first experience with public transportation as we headed to Vanessa's (my first companion) house for lunch...

Our view from the metro-

Some descriptive words... shanty town, low income district... GHETTO

Mom on the bus.. don't be fooled she wasn't having a good time!Sup G?? Doesn't shelly look like a thug ;)Our lunch crew.. Me, Drica, Vanessa, Mom, Jo, and Shelly

Drica and Vanessa.. my 2 favorite companions ;)After we got home that night we just hung around and took some pictures...

Edivaldo and Elsa.. Drica's parents.. they were so cute and fun!!

My Two moms.. I think I look more like the Brazilian.. don't you?? The next day was temple day.. It was such a wonderful experience. I was worried about my mom and the whole language thing but my prayers were answered and there was a couple from the good ol' U.S. of A. that was serving their mission there that helped!! Josiane loved the experience and I can honestly not even express my gratitude at having the opportunity to be there with her and Drica on such a momumentous event... I love them both so much and I feel know that Heavenly Father has a plan and that we were meant to find Jo and teach her about this wonderful gospel.. No Doubt About IT!!

Josiane, me and Adriana (Drica's real name)
What a View!!

Nothing like Brazilian Pizza Hut for an after temple meal.. The pizza was actually the best I have had in a long time!!

Madson, Drica, and Josiane enjoying their "american pizza"

The next day was a trip to the city... Sao Paolo is HUGE so it was a long and interesting day...

I was being a complete dork at this park in the middle of the city and although I wasn't posing I feel like some photographer is saying be the tiger or something like that.. HA HA!!

Just being my normal goofy self.. I was trying to be a model.. Did I do a good job?? Notice Drica rolling her eyes and saying oh gosh you are weird ;)And then as if the top pictures didn't prove how not normal I am there is this picture of Drica and I dancing in the park.. I know I know the moves are incredible!!

Aren't we pretty??

My mamacita and me!!

This park was just begging for us to take tonz of pictures so we gladly accomodated!!

One more... Just Drica and Me

Me, mom and Shell Bell at dinner

A view from the top.. look how big that city is!!

I think this looks like NYC.. anyone else feel the same??

Then it was on to the beach...

This was my little friend Giuliene.. She is 4 and was hilarious the whole way to the beach!! We gave her lots of American candy to make her our friend!

Jo and Drica on the ferry heading over to the island..Our hotel.. The top and bottom floor were ours.. how freakin cute is that?!? And they had yummy breakfast the next day.

Hi mom!!

Drics and I walking along the beach!!Nothin better than friends at the beach!Baywatch babes.. here we come ;)

So the trip was amazing.. difficult at times for sure but totally worth it. Shelly surprised me time and time again by how easy going and willing to try anything she was!! I know that it wasn't the most luxurious vacation but Brazil is like a 2nd home to me and these people are my family... I loved slipping right back into the language and it didn't even hurt my head to go back and forth translating this time!! Thanks to Josiane for breakfast everyday, to Drica and her family for so graciously letting us stay, to Shelly for being my best friend and such a trooper, and to my mom for coming along so we could get cheaper flights!!