Top 10 Reasons Why I Love my Kindle

For a long time I was "anti-Kindle." One of the reasons I loved reading was for the book itself. There is something magical about a book--turning it's pages, the cover art, having it displayed on a bookshelf with all my prized reads, and being able to lend books to friends.

I am not here to convince anyone that a Kindle is better than reading an actual book, but here are the top 10 reasons why I love my Kindle.

10. Delivery Time. If you buy books on Amazon like I do, there is no wait time to have it delivered to you. With a simple click of a button it is wirelessly delivered to your Kindle in seconds.
9. One Single Device. I am able to "carry" as many books with me as I want and quickly interchange between them, picking up right where I left off.
8. Music. The Kindle has a feature where you can listen to music as you read (I like this because I am able to drowned out the "sounds" of the subway or Patrick watching TV).
7. Comfort. Not as difficult to hold as a book. This is really only relevant if you are using public transportation. Often it is hard to have two hands available to hold and turn pages. The Kindle's design allows you to hold with one hand and easily navigate.
6. E-Ink. It's like looking at an actual page of a book. I wouldn't be able to read for any length of time on an iphone or ipad. The E-ink is as easy on they eyes as reading a real book.
5. Sleek and light. I love how I can just slip it in and out of my purse without it weighing me down.
4. Text-to-Speech. My commute to work consists of 10 minutes of walking to the subway, 10-15 minutes subway ride, then another 10 minutes of walking. If I am really engaged in a book and don't want to stop reading while I am walking, I can change it to the "Text-to-Speech" setting. The Kindle then will start reading from the point I am at in my book. Of course it isn't as good as an audio book, because it isn't an actual person reading it, but it serves it purpose.
3. Podcasts. If I don't want to listen to the "Text-to-Speech" setting while I am walking, I can easily switch between the book I am reading to some podcast I downloaded.
2. Space. As much as I love books, they take up space. Space is such an important thing in NYC, as much as I love books you can only hid them in so many places before they start popping out of the seams of your apartment.
1. Menu Functions: When you are reading a book you have many options that are extremely easy to use. You have the ability to quickly look up a word in the dictionary by simply moving the courser in front of the word and it will automatically display the definition. It also allows you to highlight, bookmark (dog-ear), and ad notes to pages and text. Lastly, an interesting feature allows you to see "popular" highlights that other people have highlighted throughout the book you are reading.

2010 Christmas Postcard

Since Pat and I have been married (3 1/2 years already!) we have made Christmas Postcards summing up the year in pictures and words.

It is always an enjoyable process for me because I am able to reflect on the year and everything that has happened. I am always amazed at how many blessings we receive and how all the "puzzle pieces" come together.

I wish we could have sent them to everyone,
but for those that we didn't have the addresses for, here they are!

Inexpensive Gift Ideas {DIY}

I love giving gifts. I love everything about it. I love thinking about the person and what they would really enjoy and appreciate. I love creating or buying the gift. I love the anticipation of giving the gift. And most of all I love the feeling I get when they receive it. Okay, I am a very selfish person because I love giving gifts because of how it makes ME feel! (Horrible!)

However, gift giving is not always so easy when you do not have an unlimited budget (oh, how fun would it be if we did!). Yet, not all is lost. I wanted to share some gifts I received and gifts I gave that didn't cost much, but were appreciated due to the thought and time it took.


Our friends, Casey and Todd, gave us these ADORABLE homemade apple pies in a jar. It was so thoughtful of them to make it for us. I know it must have took a lot of time to make homemade crusts and fillings, but it was so greatly appreciated (THANKS CASEY AND TODD!). It was the perfect dessert. All we had to do was stick it in the oven for 45 minutes, and we had fresh homemade apple pie! It was super delicious.




My best friend, Meghan, and I have been friends since 7th grade. We have experienced a lot together and will forever be friends regardless of how often we talk or see each other. When we graduated high school, Meghan gave me a journal as we went to our separated colleges. We would write in the journal for a few days and then send it to the other person. During this time of keeping this journal, Meghan read the Book of Mormon, was taught by the Mormon Missionaries, and then joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (aka Mormon Church), all in a matter of 6 months.

For Christmas I wanted to give her a piece of the journal to remind her of our friendship and everything we have been through together. So often memories are hid up in a box or bookshelf, so I wanted to create something that could be displayed so these memories would not be forgotten or hidden.

So, what I did was photocopy key pages of the journal and cut out key words/phrases in butterfly shapes. The background is a photocopy of the journal's cover and the one different colored butterfly is the journal's bookmark. I then glued the butterflies in a shadow box, and voila--A framed journal. I was thinking that this could be done with a variety of shapes (such as hearts) and materials, such as letters, pictures, books, etc.


Finally, my co-worker is having a baby and has left me to go on maternity leave. I didn't know what to get her, but decided to make her a portrait of her an her husband. Previously, I had shown my co-worker, Carla, this adorable custom portrait my friend had made for her. She loved it and said she wanted to get one done as well.

I had taken pictures of Carla and her husband a few months ago, so I used one of those as reference along with the custom portrait my friend has. I had most of the supplies on hand, since I once aspired to be an art teacher (even got my degree in Art Education), so I went to work. It didn't take long, and since the style is not to have faces, it made it that much easier.


I was so embarrassed/nervous to give it to Carla, but was pleased that when she opened it she cried a little (I am sure it had NOTHING to do with the fact that she is pregnant). Even if she never puts it up, at least she knows that I cared enough to try, took the time to paint it, and thought of something that she would like.

Plus, it is always fun to be artsy to create something out of nothing.

So...I am interested if anyone else received or made some great gifts this year.
I am always looking for ideas! So please share!

Snow Day

What a great day!
(despite the headache it gave to all those who actually tried to commute and go to work)

It started to snow yesterday around 9am and didn't let up until this morning. During Primary we open the curtains to show the kids the snow, and they went absolutely BERSERK and started screaming and running around the room in circles (no exaggeration). I couldn't blame them though because I wanted to do the same thing.

I went to bed last night with all intentions of going to work (even though all yesterday I kept telling Pat how I wished I had one more vacation day...just ONE). However, I was awoken at 6am to a text from a coworker telling me all the trains were suspended. Could it be? Could I really have my FIRST snow day EVER!? It was too good to be true, or so I thought.

I thought I was going to have to go into work once the trains started running; however, my work sent an email telling me that I didn't need to come in at all. It was official...it was my first SNOW DAY!

Pat and headed out in the city to see the "damage" the storm had brought. In the middle of several streets sat abandoned cars a buses. Very few cars were actually driving causing the pedestrians to use the streets as their sidewalks. Pat was right-on when he said it felt like "Armageddon."

Some cars were completely hidden by the snow.

(There were a lot parents who were taking their kids sledding)

We made our way through the streets then on to Central Park. Before today I had only experienced Central Park in two seasons: Summer and Fall. I was really excited to see Central Park in the Winter snow.

We spent a few hours in Central Park hiking in snow up to our knees. It was so cold and I was exhausted, but EXTREMELY happy. By then end of the 2 hours I felt like my legs were going to give out. I wondered how people were able to hike Mt. Everest (because Central Park and Mt. Everest can definitely be compared).

After we explored snowy Central Park we went to the Le Pain Quotidien Bakery. I have been wanting to go there for ever and today just seemed like THE day. We were a little disappointed when we got their and found out that all their bread and produce was not able to be delivered today because of the snow. This caused the menu to be quite limited. I got porridge (I think my first time ever) and Pat got a Belgium waffle. When the waffle arrived he was extremely disappointed by the size. However, it was the MOST amazing waffle we both have ever had. It was sweet and crunchy, yet chewy. We are definitely going back and BOTH getting waffles.

The rest of the day (it now being 5pm) was spent cuddled up in a warm blanket watching Netflix Instant-Play movies.

I would venture to say this is one of my most favorite days...ever.

Graffiti Wall {Kenny Scharf}

During our stroll through SoHo on Christmas Eve we made a point to visit the Deitch Wall again, located on the corner of Houston and Bowery. This wall changes through out the year, as different artist paint unique "graffiti" murals on the large wall.

Last time, as you might remember, Barry McGee honored
popular graffiti artists by spray painting a mural of their tags in one single color—red.
Apparently, in broad daylight someone came and just started painting over it.
Causing the wall to have to be change sooner than expected.

The artist, Kenny Scharf, recently spent one week completing this particular mural of loony
cartoon faces. I love the bright colors and the silly faces made out of very strange shapes.

I love this wall and how it changes.
I told Pat that I want it to be "our thing" to take pictures next to it every time it changes.

I am always looking for something to be "our thing."
So the next time someone asks us "what we do,"

I will respond:
"We take pictures next to the Deitch Wall."

Christmas Morn'

The presents are all unwrapped and we are now enjoying playing with our new toys. Pat is playing with his new OnLive (a website that allows you to play legit video games) game Batman that his in-laws purchase for him. And me, I am scheming on what books I am going to buy with my Amazon gift card, I got from my brother-in-law David, for my new Kindle, given to me by my wonderful husband.

This Christmas we were both more excited to give than receive (even though we were both really excited to receive). I have been secretly buying gifts for Patrick for months, so this day was highly anticipated for me. While Patrick, bought me some great surprise gifts (Hug Mugs from Max Brenner and a cut headband/ear warmer, that I mentioned I wanted in passing.) I was SOOO excited about all of them.

I got Pat a mixture of things he wanted and needed from bubble bath
(so he wouldn't use dish soap in his baths anymore) to motorcycle mirrors.

I must mention that one of Pat's gifts was this fedora.
He was always trying on fedoras in stores, so I just went ahead and bought him one,
even though we both know he will never wear it.
He says he's "just not one of those guys."

Whatever that means.


Later on the in the afternoon, we schedule a video chat time with our "Storm" family clan.
We had my whole family of video chat and were able to "be together" on Christmas
through the miracle of technology.

Now we are going to go take a Christmas nap. What a great day.

A "Modern" Christmas Story

Christmas Eve

Pat and I have been married for 3 1/2 years and this is our first Christmas by ourselves. Since we have been married we have spent Christmas at my sister Jodi's house in Utah. We were sad that we were not going to be able to make it back there, but were also excited to spend Christmas in the city by ourselves—it's bitter-sweet.

So, today was a good day. It started out with us sleeping and and taking the morning slow (my favorite mornings). Eventually we made our way out in the city with no particular destination. It was so fun because the city was so quiet.

After walking around the Chelsea Market, we stumbled upon a pizza restaurant, Artichoke, that we have heard a lot about. When we walked in we thought it was closed because we were the only ones there—this NEVER happens in the city.

We were not disappointed with their Artichoke pizza. It was like spinach and artichoke dip on a pizza, but better.

After enjoying a quiet and yummy lunch we strolled along the desolate streets of the West Village and SoHo sipping Starbucks' holiday hot chocolates—the peppermint hot chocolate is my favorite. As we walked the streets together, hand-in-hand, on Christmas Eve, I was overcome with pure joy. I made a mental note to always remember that moment, the feeling of total happiness, and being overcome with my love for Pat.

It was also so refreshing to be reminded of the

true meaning of Christmas when we saw a Nativity scene.

Now, Pat and I are enjoying a low key evening watching "The Christmas Story" and "Miracle on 34th Street," while I constantly bug Pat to let us open just one present.

I know this will be a Christmas that we will always look fondly upon as I sit beside our
little tree we bought for $15, decorated with Pat's homemade subway card ornaments.


It, indeed, is a wonderful life.