friendships...

Dallin says I am picky when it comes to choosing friends. I don't really know why he thinks that and when I asked him to elaborate, his explanation didn't make sense to me. I don't think I am picky--I just happen to have really great friends. My closest girl friends are from all different stages of my life and today I am missing all of you. After having to reschedule a lunch date today I was left feeling a little sorry for myself--lame I know, but let me explain. One friend was the one who had to cancel, my sis was in Logan for the day, two work full time down town, one lives in Provo, one in Texas, one in Idaho, one in California. I called Dallin upset that I "have no friends" and am a "loser," which I know isn't entirely true, but I do miss spending time with my dear friends who seem to be all over these days. Please know sweet friends how much I love you all and I am grateful for the many years we have spent together.

As for lunch, I got food from a drive thru and ate at home with my sweet friend who is always around---Sophie :)

-Jacquelyn

Remember, remember the 5th of November

In 2009 as I was planning my wedding, trying to scrape by in some of my hardest classes at BYU, and working to save money, I started to develop ulcers. The doctor attributed this to excessive stress, too much caffeine, and too much ibuprofen. The cure? Take one prilosec in the morning and one at night and continue drinking way too much Diet Coke and taking ibuprofen as much as needed. This seemed to be okay for a couple months, but once again it all caught up to me and even with the high amounts of prilosec the ulcers started emerging once again. I had no choice but to quit the Diet Coke habit. So, on August 8th 2009 I swore off Diet Coke. It was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done. I had headaches for about two months. I was grouchy and honestly craved Diet Coke every single day for a good 9 months. Finally, it seemed relief came and although I missed my zero calorie treat, life would indeed go on.

Well, after 1 year 2 months and 25 days, I decided I would practice some self control and see if I could once again enjoy my delicious drink in moderation. At a wonderful sushi dinner November 5th I drank my first Diet Coke in so long!!! The first couple sips didn't taste very good, but it did not take long for me to remember my deep love for such a simple thing. It's like I have found a long lost friend...Wish me luck in practicing my self control!! Cheers :)

Another Cougar...

About a week ago we got Dallin's acceptance letter to Brigham Young University!!! We are both very excited that he gets to finish up his schooling there. He is applying to the Media Arts Program in March and will have about 4 semesters of school before he gets his B.A. I am so proud of him!!! He has worked really hard at SLCC to get a stellar GPA and transfer to the only film school in the country he wanted to go to. On Monday we went down to campus to get his ID and a couple of packets he needed to get working on.

It's official!!

Lunch at J-Dawgs--it's his new favorite.

I love my handsome COUGAR :)

Sophie's firsts and favorites...

By no means do I want anyone to feel offended that I see my dog in the same light many of you see your children in at this phase in your lives. Please realize that I do understand that she is not a human, but she is a huge part of our lives and is dependent on us to survive. That in turn makes her much like a child, especially in her puppy stage of life. So here is a post dedicated to my adorable little dog who I have fallen absolutely in love with. (I can't believe I have turned into one of those weird 'dog people')

Her first meal...she was too tired to eat standing up so she laid down and tipped the bowl up.

She fell asleep in her water dish the first day we got her.

Her first bath!

This is honestly how Sophie preferred to drive in the car for about a week--wrapped around my neck! Luckily she quit doing that right around 20 lbs--I don't think I could have had her doing that much heavier!

She loves cramming her quickly growing body in tight spaces--like under this chair

Or under our bed...

Here is a video of her first experience with snow! Did you guys get that storm Sunday night? I couldn't believe the snow when I woke up the next morning!!! She absolutely loved it.

Thanks for indulging me in my love for this little chocolate dog.

-Jacquelyn

Top 10...

My Top 10 Reasons I LOVE Fall...even though Winter is still my favorite :)

10. The changing leaves--so beautiful

9. Busting out all of my cute, warm sweaters I have been missing for months...

8. BOOTS! love them all...

7. Halloween--easily my second favorite holiday

6. Going back to school--this no longer applies to me sadly (but that doesn't stop me from living vicariously through Dallin! I look at his syllabus' and online scores more than he does)

5. Conference weekend

4. APPLES!! They are so good this time of year

3. When it is not quite cold enough to turn on the heat, but the night is crisp and chilly--that's when you spend the evenings reading by the fireplace :)

2. Thanksgiving--what better way to lead into the Christmas season than by showing gratitude surrounded by loved ones. Another great holiday.

1. My number one favorite thing about fall is the memories I have of "warm October nights..." Dallin- I love you and October will always be 'our month' to me. Here's to many more 'fall memories' to come.

Happy Fall to everyone!

-Jacquelyn

puppy love :)

I'm excited to announce the newest addition to the Cerva Family:

Sophia Coco Chanel Cerva

or just Sophie for short :)

We have had her for almost three weeks now and are both absolutely smitten!! She is a lot of work, but I am surprised how quickly I fell in love with this puppy.

We found her on KSL, a little 6 week old puppy in Preston, ID. Her momma is a pure chocolate lab and her dad is half lab/half hound. She came from a litter of 12 other pups!! The family giving the pups away didn't want to spend the money on getting the puppy shots, de-worming, etc...so we adopted this sweet girl. She was much too young to be leaving her mother, but we have tried our hardest to make the transition as easy as possible. She just needed a lot of extra love and attention!

She is growing like a weed!! We are enjoying the puppy days, but D and I are both excited for the day she is big and can run and hike with us...

Our new family!!! Thank you to Alicia for taking such amazing pictures for us!

One Year Down...80 to go :)

We kicked off our one year anniversary with smoothies and oatmeal from here:

Went and got an amazing couples massage from here:

We got home from the massages and took a much needed nap then got ready and headed down to the Salt Lake Temple to do Sealings...

A perfect reminder of our wedding day :) From the temple we went to the Gateway and had an amazing dinner at one of our favorite restaurants:



And for our grand finale we watched this:



Not my favorite love story, but it was worth watching. Overall our Saturday celebration turned out to such a fun and relaxing day. Dallin's birthday is in two weeks and we're trying to plan a last minute weekend get-away to "officially" celebrate our one year and his birthday. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

-Jacquelyn

Graduation, Jazz, and birthdays!

I finally loaded my most recent pictures onto my computer to update the blog! Gear up for a long post... I am proud to say that I have **GRADUATED** from BYU!!! YAY!!! It has been very bittersweet. I thought I would be so burnt out on school that I would feel relieved, and I do feel a bit of that, but mostly I feel I will miss campus and my classes and my major and learning something new every day. Did any of you feel this? Maybe I'm crazy...I'll just have to go back and get my masters in a bit I guess! :)

My freshman year roommates and my dearest friends from school! This was before the big commencement on Thursday--it was supposed to be rainy but turned out beautiful!

p.s. Mom--I'm glad you made me go to the main commencement. I did enjoy it...you were right as usual :)

My amazing hubby!

With the proud parents :)

Friday morning was my college commencement and we weren't as lucky with the weather--we took our pictures indoors so I didn't make it over to take a pic with the Brigham Young statue. I think I will have to go back and do it, mainly because my mom did when she graduated so it would be cool.

Friday night my parents gave us their tickets to game 3 of the playoffs!!! Thank you Scout Camp!

We were eating dinner before the game and Dallin looked up and said "Is that my dad?" I was confused until I looked up at the giant pillar and yes, there was his dad's face. Turns out it was on every pillar throughout the arena--it was taken during playoffs a couple years back. We both got a kick out of his calm, serious face when the crowd around him, all in blue shirts mind you, is screaming and standing and freaking out. You gotta love it!

This seems to be the birthday month, with both my sisters-in-law's birthdays--Hailee on the 24th and Melissa on the 26th and my dear Momma in between on the 25th. We had a lot of fun celebrating Melissa's and Mom's on Sunday and Hailee's with the Cerva's on Monday.

I want to make a shout out to my amazing mother. Many of you know momma Janell and how special she is, but for those of you who don't let me give you a few reasons why I am grateful to have her:

1. She had reusable grocery bags before they were cool--like seriously hers are OLD!

2. She also had UGG boots before they were cool. This women is ahead of the trends.

3. She employs me.

4. She is a stellar listener. She does it all day with her four children and husband.

5. She really loves Dallin and shows it. This has really helped him feel welcome marrying into my family.

6. She is always looking for excuses to buy me things or help me out with money. She is so giving its ridiculous.

7. She is really smart. Really she is probably one of the smartest people I know.

8. She is so strong and has overcome a lot of trials over the past couple years. Even though she is still not 100% she is so positive and faces each day. It amazes me.

9. She is not judgemental. Really, she's not at all.

10. Although there are many more amazing things about her, to finish off this post I feel her friend Clair put it perfectly: "Janell makes everything and everyone around her better."

Here's to you Mom! I love you!

-Jacquelyn

Giveaway!

I have so much to blog about from the last week it is overwhelming! But before I get around to updating you about my life, let me share with you a little giveaway going on at one of my favorite blogs! The Frosted Gardner is a local company that refinishes furniture, making the old and outdated become fresh and new. Dallin and I got a dresser from them in February that we use as a TV stand and absolutely love! Head on over to their blog and check out their amazing talent...oh and the giveaway! Look at these beauties:

Hope everyone has a lovely Monday and I promise I will update soon....

-Jacquelyn

Happy Birthday Dear Caroline!

Sweet Caroline,
You are my favorite older sister, my dearest friend and confidant, and I am grateful for you in my life. I hope you know how much you bless everyone around you. You are seriously the funnest person I know--there is never a dull moment when we are together. Thank you for your kindness, your listening ear, and your example. I love you!

-Jacquelyn

Lady Danburry

After receiving many compliments on the dress I wore to Clint's wedding I meant to do a post on where it came from a long time ago...better late than never! Lady Danburry is the sweetest girl with an adorable little shop on University Avenue. She has her own clothing line which she sells and also does custom clothing. Here are some of my favorites (courtesy of her blog http://ladydanburrysews.blogspot.com )

Below is the dress I had her custom make in black to my measurements. I had bought a dress that I loved but couldn't get over the price tag--when I found out she would make me this gorgeous piece for $80 I couldn't pass it up.

If you have any special occasions coming up or are just looking for your own unique clothing check out her blog and her cute shop. The dress she made for me was worth every penny--it is flawless. The girl has talent! Enjoy :)

-Jacquelyn

Happy Birthday!!!

On this beautiful Monday, the 22nd of March, I am excited to wish my little sister a very happy birthday!!! I love her so much---she brings so much happiness to my life. I am grateful to have such an amazing sister and have loved getting to know her these past 17 years. Some favorite memories and things I love about Kate:

She used to wear this Gap sweatshirt EVERY day. I'm not kidding--every day. It was quite simple for her to get ready in the mornings. I think she went through 2 or 3 of this exact same sweatshirt. The girl knew what she liked and stuck with it!

From the time she was 5 she LOVED chihuahuas. She used to make lists of what she would name her 101 chihuahuas! Well, she never did get 101, but she did get Tito for Christmas all snuggled up in a basket and left on the doorstep with a note from Santa--she bawled.

Kate and I were the only kids at home for two years until I went to college, and after two years of college I decided to move home and commute to school. We had so much fun just being "us two" all that time together.

I love this picture!!! During the time I was living in Provo she came and slept over at my apartment--she partied hard and conked out on the couch.

We have hundreds of pictures that look like this--us goofing off. We always have fun together.

I love that she wears the slippers my Grandma gave her--they seriously have holes in the bottom from her wearing them so much! They are so old ladyish and Kate just loves them.

I love that we both have green eyes :)


I love to watch Kate dance. She has a dancers body and is absolutely amazing!

I love that Kate continues to ski despite all of my pressure to try to get her snowboarding. Hey--as long as she goes with me I can't complain.

I love that Kate rocks at piano and isn't afraid to sing and play and perform for anyone who will listen.

I love that she likes to scrapbook with me :)


For her 15th birthday she let me embarrass her at Build-A-Bear--they stopped everyone in the store and she had to ring the birthday bell and we all chanted some cheesy birthday saying. It was great. :)
She is always there to support me through the big moments in my life.

She knows just how to cheer me up.

And its pretty cool that she looks ridiculously like Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies.

Kate I love you and hope you have a great birthday! Here's to another great year of memories.

-Jacquelyn