Entertaining photos for the masses

Holy lapse in blog posts! Sorry, loyal readers!

We've been back in Provo for a couple days, after spending the Memorial Day weekend in California. We were able to attend my sister Morgan's high school graduation.

(Morgan & Dad)

(Morgan & Lisa)

On Friday, it rained for a good part of our drive. We saw a stunning rainbow around Wendover (on the Utah/Nevada border)!

(Wendover rainbow)

We were also able to see Thomas' sister Elizabeth & her sweet family. They braved the curvy roads and came up to my parents' home on Saturday. We had a blast playing with the little ones and chatting with Liz & Saki.

(Mere)

(Glenn)

(Saki & Elizabeth)

(the whole family!)

My dear friend Lanessa made it up there too, and we sat together at the graduation.

(Ken, Lanessa, Lisa)

(Mom, Morgan, Ruth, Glenn, Liz, Lanessa, Dad, Lisa, Thomas... with Saki & Mere in the front)

My aunt Ruth was visiting the Sacramento region, too, and we got to visit with her for a bit. On Sunday, we went to my aunt Lucy's house and chatted with the two of them and my cousins Gail and Terry.

Later in the evening, we visited our old neighbors, the Kings, and saw their married daughter and her two kids.

After such a busy weekend, we are glad to be back at our quiet home!

(he makes me smile!)

Last week, we worked on a little garden patch outside our apartment. We have yet to plant anything. We've got a pretty good crop of rocks, however. We also had our neighbors, the Magnussons, over for dinner. We played Parcheesi afterward, which was fun!

(right outside our living room)

oxox

Hello, world.

This is not a computer program, though (sorry if you don't get it).

But in another usage, we want to thank all those that have visited our sites. Between the bistro, the blog, and the wedding site, we this week hit 200 (two hundred) unique cities from 19 countries and 26 states (plus D.C.). That is over 2000 visits and just short of 5000 pages viewed (until you read this and put it over said number). Feel free to help us out in our effort to be visited by more places around the world!

We don't have any pretty photos this week, unfortunately, due to a misplaced charger. Here's one you can enjoy from our lesson a few weeks ago (no, this is not a live photo, but instead a reenactment):

We got library cards for the Provo Library. We are now officially among the literarily elite in Provo.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches. Those were pretty good. We also went shopping and got MORE food! Some may eventually be featured on the Bradshaw Bistro...

We also finally tried out our blender and sacrificed the contentment of our stomachs for a milkshake. Or so we'll claim a sacrifice.

Thomas has been working on a pollen count widget with his former roommate (yes, they parted on amicable terms). If you have a Mac, we may need beta testers in the future. Let us know...

Lisa has been working. And working. And working. Luckily she found LibriVox, where you can find free public domain audiobooks for download. Coincidentally, they mostly use books from Project Gutenberg, which Thomas is using for another project...

Lisa has created a few free photo books at Hot Prints. They let you make a free book every month from uploaded photos and there aren't any gimmicks. Good deal...check it out. They do include a 4-page advert in the middle of the book, but you can easily pull it off the staples...

Oh, and check out our new wedding photo album on the wedding site by typing "wedding" (unless you're using Internet Explorer, which requires you to click on "Home" at the top of this page and then go the wedding section). These are a few of the photos we've received thus far. If you didn't know about our shortcuts, just type "short". Not in a text box. Just start typing now.

Happy Mothers' Day, Moms!!

Thomas and I have been so very blessed to have truly magnificent mothers. We are grateful to have their influences in our lives. They've taught us both to love reading and to live with integrity. Kathleen Bradshaw and Geneva Paulson are irreplaceable figures in our lives! They bore us and raised us up to be who we are today.

Moms, thank you for your sacrifices, your friendship, and your wisdom!! We love you both very much.

(Kathleen reading with Thomas)

(Geneva holding baby Lisa)

This week felt a little bit crazy! Monday night we went through some of Thomas' old schoolwork and things. It was fun to see his old French school notebooks, spelling tests, and Valentines from classmates.

On Tuesday, I got a call from my sister. It wasn't good news; my cat had passed away. I was extremely distraught. Good ol' Peekaboo had seemed healthy when I was home for the wedding. She came into our family when I was nine years old - she was 4 at the time and named "Pepper". It took a long time for her to warm up to us, but she and I always had a special relationship. We changed her name because "Peekaboo" fit her so much better - especially with the exclamation point markings on her face! She was always low-maintenance and more easy going than our other cats. She used to come to my whistle, and once in a while she'd get a little crazy, playing on her cat tree. Home won't be the same without my "fwend".

(Peekaboo)

(Peekaboo playing)

On Wednesday, Mr. Bradshaw and I did laundry together. We even got some snacks at a local Mexican grocery store.

On Thursday, we went up to Salt Lake and had dinner at Cafe Rio with my dad! He was out here working on my cousin's place again, so it was nice to get to see him again before he headed back home. The three of us also checked out the Gateway Mall to see if we could find some Mothers' Day gifts. We were successful (although... I can't say the mall directories were any help...).

(Lisa & dad Ken showing off his handiwork at his nephew's place)

Friday night, our ward had a Cinco de Mayo potluck. We were not the only ones to bring refried beans, but there were other yummy dishes to enjoy as well.

Saturday, we cleaned our place and had some yummy waffles. Thomas helped with a move-in a couple houses down, and in the afternoon we went to American Fork to attend a session at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. Its quiet beauty was a welcome change of scenery from the very utilitarian (but still pretty) Provo temple. We enjoyed our visit and afterward stopped by the Deseret Industries thrift store.

(Mt. Timpanogos Temple 5.8.2010)

(The Bradshaws at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple)

(Beautiful flowers at the Mt. Timpanogos temple)

Today, we had a nice Sunday School lesson on Deuteronomy. We taught our class of four to "Beware lest [they] Forget" the Lord. It's fun to be in a calling together!

Don't forget to check out the Bradshaw Bistro for some delicious recipes and food reviews!

oxox

Ah, spring...

Spring is here at last, not to stay for long but at least enough to make the searing summer in this sere strange state bearable. As alluded to in the previous post (and the low frequency of them in general), we've been busy. Lisa continues to work hard at her job, and Thomas is working part-time with another job opportunity possibly opening up concurrently, so we've been blessed to be relatively productive. We both have several projects lined up for the summer on the side as well, so you (the reader) will likely hear a bit more about those in the future...

(Lisa enjoying a meal from the Bradshaw Bistro)

We received scores of gifts from both known and unknown admirers (please let us know if you think you're one of these), so thanks again! We hope to thank you more personally in the near future.

Anyway, as for events this week (as always, the order is non-particular)...
We cooked (see the Bradshaw Bistro for more on this)
We saw the Vancouver, BC Temple cultural event
We cleaned (now that we have a vacuum)
Lisa's dad helped repair the Pontiac
We organized our wedding gifts
We went on a walk or two
We taught Sunday School
We watched a movie
We read (past tense)
We ate too much
We laundered
We shopped
We worked
We lived
We etc.

Hmmmm...yeah. Not too exciting on this end. But life is grand.

Oh, and a special note for a few:

Happy Birthday, Saki! (27 April)


Happy Anniversary, Jeff and Kathleen! (27 April)


Happy Anniversary, Robert and Camille! (3 May)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you're waiting for a thank-you card from us and you haven't received one, DON'T PANIC. We haven't sent any yet.

Yesterday, my dad delivered the majority of wedding gifts we received a month ago, but that had been kept at my parents' house in California. Boxes and bags and pretty wrapping paper and bows and envelopes FILLED our living room! We are grateful for the generosity of our many friends.

A few gifts remain unclaimed (there was no card, or the card was separated, so we're not sure who they're from) but the majority have been documented so we can begin writing notes to you all!

oxox

Meeting our Neighbors and some other Items of News

Before writing about the topics mentioned in the title, I'd like to pay tribute to my grandmother, Lillie Lee. She passed away earlier this month at the age of 92. I was unable to attend the funeral, held in Sacramento, but I've had the opportunity to think about some wonderful blessings I've been given. Firstly, because of Lillie, I have my mother. My relatives (especially my mom) always talk about how their friends wished Lillie was their mom - she was kind and welcoming to everyone. Even though because of my grandma's age I didn't get to see a lot of this in her, I know this of her through my mother's example. Next, due to various strange circumstances last summer, I was able to spend a lot of time with and caring for my grandma. This gave me a special opportunity to serve her in ways I'd never served her before and even though it was extremely difficult, I am grateful for the experience. Finally, I am so grateful that grandma was able to attend our wedding reception and to be at the temple to take pictures after our sealing. Due to health concerns there was the possibility that she wouldn't be able to come, but somehow everything - including the timing - worked out. It's sad to see her go, but I'm grateful for the long and productive life she lived and for the beautiful blessings that have come into my life through her. I'm also so thankful to have a strong testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I know that someday, I will see my grandma again.

This past week or so, we've been in contact with some of our neighbors. Last Sunday, we walked to church with our upstairs neighbors, Natalia and Landon. I also managed to snap some photos of our neighbors from across the street:

They're turkey vultures! They fly in every night around 6 or 7 and situate themselves in these large trees. They have wide wingspans and they're really quite large. If you ever want to see some wildlife... stop by!

Yesterday, I cleaned up a bit outside and met the potato bugs, earwigs, and spiders that live in the flowerbed out front. They seem pretty agreeable.

Last Thursday, several of my former roommates came over for a brief get-together. We shared some snacks and talked about whatever it is that girls talk about.

Thomas and I have gone to the Provo temple the past 2 Thursdays. It's nice to be able to go there and feel the spirit together. I'm glad we're making it a pattern in our marriage, and I hope we continue to attend weekly!

One more picture for you, just for fun. Earlier this week we had all of this....

... in our fridge. (There's cream cheese, cottage cheese, 2 types of cheddar cheese, 2 types of swiss cheese, camembert, monterey jack, mozzarella, gouda, and "babybel" sitting on that shelf!!!!)

I have a lot more ideas for writing, but this post is probably too wordy as it is, and we have to get ready to go to a dinner to which a family in our ward invited us.

So... goodbye for now! We'll write more later! (but I'm not sure when "later" is!)

oxox

The Bradshaw Residence (For Two)

With school winding down (or winding up?) there are a lot of projects and such to work on, so blogging has been slow. Apologies to the loyal readers...there are now a few more posts on our Bradshaw Bistro site (Tucanos and Layered Pasta Dish), and we have a few more ideas that we may work into the next week or two.

Anyway, if any of you are in town sometime, we'd love to see you in our new home. We've moved nearly all of our belongings in (amazingly they seem to mostly fit) and have been busy making it look livable. We were blessed to have received many items of furniture from Thomas' grandma, and in addition to a table and bookcase from IKEA, we're almost set. However, if you happen to have a dresser or couch to spare (and/or a way to transport them), feel free to let us know.

Before getting too far, a few interesting graphics to summarize all of our previous posts in both blogs (generated with Wordle). We'll let you figure out which is which (click for larger images):

Before you're too hasty in concluding egocentric notions after noticing that both images have a large "Thomas" in them, remember that it's Lisa that's writing about him. Thomas usually simply mentions "us" and Lisa says "Thomas and I".

Thomas' parents were also in town post-wedding:

And now, some photos of the new place: