Nothing Much to Write About...

Tonight, Trevor said, "You need to make a new post." So here I am. I'm going to type some things for you to read if you get that bored! :) Let's see... what to write about? Hmm... well currently Trevor is sitting on the sofa eating a quesadilla and watching the old version of Anaconda (or some similar old movie with a very large animatronic snake). As for me, it's 11:39 PM and I have work at 9 in the morning so I should be going to bed rather than posting a blog post. I don't even have any pictures to put up! Wow! How boring!

But, I do have one thing to report on! Today, Trevor and I had the opportunity to attend Shawn and Jana Porter's sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos temple! It was amazing how powerful the Spirit felt as the sealer pronounced blessing after blessing upon their union. He was also a very humorous man and made all of us laugh quite a few times. He really had a way of evoking the emotion of everyone in the room. The experience was wonderful, and it was nice to be reminded of our own special day when we were sealed in the temple!

After, we went out on the grounds to take pictures. Since I was only a friend of the bride and groom, I didn't have to stand in the heat too long. However, it was fun when Shawn's dad asked me to use his camera to take pictures along side the professional photographer. It was a pretty nice camera, and it really was a TON of fun to look through the viewfinder (which was the better option than the digital screen in the noon sun) and shoot pictures of the bride and groom. I really do enjoy photography. When I told Trevor how much fun I had, he told me I should become a photographer. I laughed and said, "Yeah... I'd love to... but it's really hard to get started!" Well, I guess it's not a fruitless hobby because I know at least ONE person who just has natural talent with a camera and is very successful in her hobby (coughMeghancough). Well... that's about all I can think of to write at the moment. I'm sure I'll think of more later.

Sorry I don't have pictures. Maybe I'll dig into the wedding file and pick one to post....
Hmmmm... let's see.....well it's not one of both of us, but it's a pretty contemporary bridal shot!
My photographer was Julie Parker and you can see all of our pictures if you go to www.julieparkerphotography.com and click on "Proofing" at the bottom and then enter the password "Trevor and Alex" with the spaces and capitalization. Have fun! :)

Car Insurance?

So Trevor and I are searching for an insurance company that will treat us wonderfully but also give us a low quote. We've looked at State Farm, Farmers, and Geico. Geico gave us the lowest quote... which is wonderful, but we were wondering if anybody had used Geico and found that they had any pitfalls or things to worry about? We don't want to jump head first into a low quote and not receive the service we need! Thanks! :)


Oh.. and here's a fun picture for you to enjoy!

My New "Hobby"

Ever since I've been married, I've found that feeding a man is a very difficult job... He eats at least twice as much as I do, so it's like preparing food for 3 "me"s.! Regardless, cooking has now become a hobby of mine and I try to make it as colorful and experimental as possible! And now I'm discovering that it's fun to try new things! So a few nights ago I made tacos... nothing really special, I know, but what was the most fun was using my new dishes for a fun presentation! So here's a picture so you can see. I was pretty proud of how nice it looked. And yes, I do get overly excited about the little things in life!The next few pictures are from a kitchen escapade last night! We had a package of pudding and thought we'd make a chocolate pudding pie. Okay! Easy! I can do that! Fortunately, I had a pie crust leftover from the package I bought to make a quiche the other night. Soooo I stuck the pie in the fridge (my sparse little fridge - just the way I like it! Don't buy more than you'll make!):
So then, while the pie was chilling, I remembered I had some heavy whipping cream leftover from that quiche as well and I thought to myself... well I think I'll make some whipped topping for my pie! So I got on the lovely, convenient internet and looked up a simple recipe: 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla. I was so happy when I realized that I had everything to make it! SOOO I began to whip my cream with a whisk. What seemed like forever later because my wrist was going to fall off, it was still runny. So, I thought I'd add the sugar and vanilla to see if that would help in the thickening process. Nope. Not with the whisk. So I broke out my grandmother's old egg beater that I've had for a couple years and haven't used yet! And it was a miracle from heaven! Right before my eyes formed some whippy, light, and DELICIOUS whipped topping for my pie. I was so excited! I'm very much a canned- or frozen-dinner kinda girl, so making something by scratch, which I would normally buy in a tub, made me incredibly happy. Like I said, I overly delight in very simple things! :) But here's a picture of the finished produ Trevor was so excited when the pie was finally chilled and I brought it out for us to eat! Can you tell? Haha...
A typical shot of my pie with a piece missing and the piece on a dish right next to it. I'm a dork. Indeed. And I really was excited :)
Well...we ate the entire pie last night. Just the two of us. We're disgusting :)

I'm just glad that I have turned something that could be a "chore" into something I enjoy!

Mazal Tov!

Just a Few of my Favorite Wedding Pictures

So I really don't have much more to blog about... other than my wedding, since it's the only thing where pictures were taken in a long time.... so here are some of my favorites!

This first one is of the whole Shipp side. I was happy that everyone was looking at the camera! And almost everybody is smiling! Almost.... :)

This second one is my favorite of Trevor and his best friends! They all look so happy and you can see all of their personalities in it as well!
The third one is the bridesmaids shot of course! Well, I guess all of them except Christina were brides matrons haha! Well at least I found out she's probably getting engaged in the next couple weeks and she'll be married by the end of August! But shhh... don't tell :)

I love this next one! It's currently my desktop background!
But my most favorite of ALL of these pictures is probably this one, where he's hugging me in front of the temple. It was a candid shot, I'm sure, because he just hugged me like this all day! So I really like it because it's real, and not posed, and it shows real emotion! :)
Well... I'm trying to think of other things to do with my life. I'm still working on sending out thank-you cards for everyone for their gifts... it's really tedious. Also, I don't have addresses for any of the Shipp side people so I'm going to have to ask for a list from Jill I think. Some people probably won't get their thank-yous until months after the wedding! Is that bad??? I feel like a slacker! :)

I'm also enjoying my internship at the Buckle, but I'm still getting used to everything and sometimes I feel like I'm not doing a very good job. But then I have to remind myself that it's only my second week!

Oh! I also got a traffic ticket about a week ago. It was really dumb. I wasn't even speeding this time! Haha. I had just pulled out of the post office and had driven two blocks. I was pulling up to a light to turn right and the light was turning red, so I had to stop really fast (first mistake). When I looked to my left, there was a cop at the intersection waiting to go straight and I knew I didn't have my seatbelt on, so I started to put it on (second mistake). So I turned right onto Freedom and a few blocks later, I see a cop car behind me and then it turns on its lights and makes a couple little noises with the siren and I'm thinking "ME? What did I do?" I was surprisingly calm given the situation as I pulled into the Smith's parking lot. I always thought I'd start crying as soon as I was pulled over, but I didn't. So he comes up to my window and I asked what was going on. He told me he pulled me over for stopping in front of the stop line and not having my seat belt on. I tried the excuses like "I had just left the post office" and "Sorry, the light was yellow and then red, so I had to stop really fast", but he wasn't really interested. So he went back to his car and was there a while... so I knew I was doomed. The best part about this story is that he only wrote me up for not wearing a seatbelt, so I wasn't written up for the moving violation. That means I just have to pay a fine and go on my way instead of going to traffic school to avoid getting points on my license. Whew! I guess he was "nice" but I still left in a bad mood! My first ticket ever! Blah! So today I get to go to the building and pay my fine. Well, I guess it could be worse, right? :)

And finally, I've been thinking about making a recipe box or something. I got a lot of recipes from my bridal shower in NC, and I want to organize them into something that I can add to. I was thinking note cards and one of those note boxes... but SOME of you (cough cough Meghan) are more creative than I am and would probably have some really cute ideas! So send them my way! Thank you :)

Also, you still need to get Facebook :) www.facebook.com and click sign up... it's that easy! :)

Love you!