Saturday, December 27, 2014

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES!


merry christmas! we are so fortunate to spend the holidays surrounded by good food, fun activities, and many loved ones. due to my work schedule this year, we didn't have as much time to hangout. still, we got to participate in many great family traditions including the decker family gingerbread houses, the buhanan christmas songs, the christmas lights caravan, and the traditional reading of the christmas story. 


^^^making edible houses^^^


^^^getting excited about the holidays^^^


even little micky got to celebrate christmas with some new sweaters! in this new little outfit, he looks like an ewok version of little red riding-hood. pretty darn cute.









gifts were opened, carols were sung. and we got to spend time with the ones we love. what a great holiday.

i hope you all had the merriest of christmases! 

Sunday, December 7, 2014

WHATEVER SOULS ARE MADE OF...

whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
-emily bronte




a little over 10 years ago, on an early summer night, i met a random boy around a simple kitchen table and an uneventful board game…or so I thought. it still baffles me how one mundane evening can change your entire life, turning your day to day routine into a fantastical, mystical, nerve-racking journey worthy of a chagall painting or a campfire story fit for peter and the lost boys. the story, this beautiful adventure story, has heartache, it has struggle, and just like any great story, it has conflict. but this is not a tragedy. it’s a love story.

our love story.

how could it be any other kind? because throughout this adventure and adversity, this tale of love and loss, there have been warm golden fall mornings, and summer evenings sunbathing beneath the stars. there have been slow, winding italian trains, crowded korean night clubs, rocky irish shores, and afternoon downpours in tican rainforests.

there have been quiet evenings, where we fell asleep to the rhythmic purring of a new kitten. and loud all night rock and roll festivals where we went to bed with music still ringing in our heads (permanently damaging our hearing). there have been many moments i wish i could remember better, and others i would love to forget. but that's the way with love.

in truth, we found the surreal. 






i don’t know what the future holds, but i know wherever we go, it will be together. because I love you, jared- from here, to there. to everywhere.

happy 10 years together.


Sunday, November 2, 2014

ALL HALLOWS' EVE



we've been having a pretty great halloween season around here. from pumpkin carving, to pumpkin bread, to pumpkin waffles- we are basically smelling, tasting, and loving everything fall. 



^^^the nieces and nephews around here are still a little too young to enjoy cleaning out the pumpkin (or to safely wield a knife), but they were really excited to see the jack-o-lanterns lit, and greet all of the trick-or-treaters at the door.


plus, they looked super cute in their little egg costumes.


we were mario and luigi this year. partly because it was an easy costume we could both wear to work all day, and partly because jared loves few things more than mario and luigi.


i hope everyone had a happy halloween! we can't wait to see all the pictures of your costumes and to check out your fun, festive, fall activities. we love all hallows' eve!


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A TIME FOR AUTUMN

 

this last weekend, jared and i decided to finally embrace the changing of the seasons and go for a beautiful autumn hike and tram ride. we've entered one of the most lovely times of the year here in slc, a tiny little window of warm sunny weather and yellowing leaves...before the snows come. these last few weeks of sandals and sunshine are always a little hard to say goodbye to because, as we all know, autumn is tinged with sadness. the ice and the inversion are lurking around the corner- and autumn is a fair weather friend. i'm totally not ready for the cold season but we are enjoying and embracing this lovely transition to fall.


we made our way up to snowbird, but first we stopped on a trail to wander through the lower aspens. 


after our little hike at the bottom of the canyon, we rode the snowbird tram to the mountain top and did a little bit more hiking. it was pretty nippy up there, with pockets of snow on the ground, but the views were just spectacular. golden valleys. blue skies. snow capped peaks. heck yes.




so it did feel pretty wintery up there. but once we got moving we warmed up pretty quickly.



i know i say it a whole lot, but we live in some incredibly beautiful country. i know lots of people think of utah as a "flyover state," but i must say- they are missing some of the best this country has to offer.


we hope you are all enjoying the beautiful harvest season! love ya lots, sharry & jared

Monday, October 13, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO!!!


between the art, the free music, and the insanely delicious food- san francisco has found a special place in our hearts. at about this time each year, we get the itch to hit the road, drive one billion miles across the dry nevada desert, and watch live music while wandering through one of the most beautiful cities in the world.


this year, we decided to visit the san francisco art institute for the first time. we went to see the huge mural by diego rivera, and eat at the vegetarian cafeteria which has rave reviews, but mostly we liked just wandering the halls, looking at the amazing art and views of the bay, and imaging what it would be like to take some art classes there. maybe someday.


next, we hit the park. one of the greatest things about this city is a free little festival at golden gate park called hardly strictly bluegrass. well, technically the festival is not "little" per say (actually about 1/2 million people attend each year), and technically the festival is not strictly bluegrass, but instead a great mix of folk, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, country, and punk. you might ask yourself, what do robert plant, social distortion, bright eyes, john prine, the aquabats, and emmylou harris have in common? the answer is hardly strictly bluegrass.


so, believe it or not, but it was actually hot and sunny throughout the entire festival- just glorious san francisco blue skies. it was beautiful in the mornings and evenings, but in the middle of the day we would start to bake. after turning red like a lobster the first day, we decided to spend the majority of our time in the shade.


which is why we started hanging out with these people- tree people. most of the stages are surrounded by forested rolling hills, so if you don't mind a few spiders and loads of pine needles in your bum, you can watch most the bands through the trees.


^^^jared enjoying some sweet sweet tunes.^^^


a gorgeous few days at the park.





this trip was some much needed r&r. coming back to the real world was really really hard...and we're still trying our best to keep that mellow california sun in our workdays. it was good to get away...and now i can't stop craving the amazing vegetarian chinese food we ate and the lazy days listening to music in the park. we'll miss you san francisco, hopefully we'll see you again soon.




Monday, October 6, 2014

INTRODUCING OUR NEWEST NIECE, WHITNEY!


^^^we're excited to introduce our new little niece, whitney! ok, so these pictures are a few months old (and she's already growing up so fast!) but i was just looking through some photos from the year, and I realized i hadn't shared these pictures of this cute little bundle of love^^^




^^^and here's my awesome sister and her happy little family. i'm so grateful to have these amazing folks in my life!^^^



^^^some of my favorite people.^^^


^^^ plus, she's already picked her favorite aunt and uncle. love her!^^^

Sunday, September 21, 2014

STRUMMING OUR WAY TO HARDLY STRICTLY



in honor of the upcoming folk and bluegrass festival in san francisco, we pulled out our strings and started strumming some of our favorite tunes. we are still debating whether or not we'll be able to make it out this year, but seeing some awesome and varied performers on this year's lineup totally makes that 12hr drive tempting.


jared bought his banjo while we were dating, played it a lot for a while, and then sorta put it in storage for a few years. over the last year though, he's been picking it back up and we've been having a lot of fun playing and singing songs together.



lola didn't want to be left out, so she had to smell the banjo, walk across the music, and meow during the songs. i'm not complaining though- a long haired cutie, playing the banjo, with a cat on his lap, basically sums up every teenage fantasy i ever had.


i feel so lucky to have found this guy and that we can share our love for folk music, punk concerts, and rock and roll. you're the best, jared.

if you are interested, you can listen to me play one of my favorite regina spector songs, and jared and i playing a silly john prine song (recorded a few years ago). both of these were recorded on our personal computer, so the sound quality is a little rough.