late night ramblings.

this picture makes me wonder why i ever cut bangs. oops.

[i'm wearing a sesame street t-shirt, in case you were wondering. way cool, right?]

it's 12:40. i really should be in bed. i might have stayed up past 5am at least 3 times this week. oops again. i might be sitting on my couch at the moment in a sports bra and running shorts and in dire need of a shower. [don't worry mom, no one can see me]. i might have gone on a 7 mile bike ride today, then played tennis for an hour, then ran 4 miles a little later. yeah, i'm surprised my legs are still attached.

i get to go home in less than a month. little sister's high school graduation, my 21st birthday, shooting my first wedding... it's going to be a fabulous trip.

sometimes utah can make you feel extremely self-defeated. really? i thought i was way cool and i have crazy good kickball skills so why doesn't that cute boy in my apartment complex just ask me out already? as fun as the dating scene can be, i'm a little over it. i would rather not have 5 different boys text me in the same day. i just want 1. [at the moment, there isn't 1 in particular that i would like it to be, in case you were wondering. i'm just starting to wish there was].

but on a less self-pitying note, i seriously love being back in utah most days. i love my roommate, and bike rides, and tennis, and dollar movies, and the fact that i just bought a season pass to the water slide park that is literally two steps away from my apartment. summer tan, here i come.

speaking of which, it is so depressing to drive to class and see everyone outside laying out, swimming, and playing beach volleyball. dang you college students that don't have to work or go to school in the summer! tomorrow you can find me outside studying for my sewing test. in my swimsuit.

i'm taking a sewing class this semester and will be showing you some of the sweet stuff i've made in the very near future. oh yeah, get excited. i love it, but this class is time consuming, let me tell you... the class itself is 12 hours a week, not to mention all the time i spend in open lab to get my stuff done. it's a good thing i don't have a boyfriend, because i would probably see the sewing machine more than i would see him. how's that for optimism?

i need to pull out my list of resolutions for the year, i'm slacking. i mostly want to work on the whole making real meals one. i eat quesadillas every day. sadly, i'm not complaining, but all i watch on tv is the food network and i have a growing list of recipes i want to try. i need to get on it.

i hardly ever watch tv. really. if i'm ever in front of the tv, i'm painting or eating. and it's the food network or the disney channel. BUT, the bachelorette started last week and i wish i had jillian's closet. and i love that so you think you can dance started last week, even though i missed the premier. except i wish kristin was here to watch me reenact all the routines like i usually do.

i really need to add some new awesome music to my playlist, but before i do, is the music annoying? you can tell me the truth, it's ok. i've been debating on deleting it, or at least making it not start automatically as to not annoy any of the fabulous people that find their way over to my little blog.

ok, i'm taking a shower and going to bed. i have a big day of pattern-cutting-out, studying, and sun-soaking  ahead of me.

xoxo.

jana

Woogi World review is a parent resource for the kid popular site Woogi World.  Here is the site, check it out if you have little kids on Woogi World - woogiworldreview.com

love is in the air.

not for me, per se, but definitely for these two that are getting married tomorrow.

please admire my first ever painting of people over the age of 10. i love love love it. 

in fact, i wish i could have kept it at my apartment longer to admire it myself. but unfortunately i am the queen of procrastination, and i finished it up at 3:00 in the morning the day before i was giving it to the groom's sister. i'm hoping the happy couple loves it as much as me and the sister. oh, and i hope they live happily ever too.

the end.

i swear i do fun things.

like ride these bikes.

with this awesome roomie.

to the park to study.


or to play tennis.

or to get hot dogs.

or all the way to sonic to get drinks.


i love provo in the spring.

erin.

shooting these kind of made me wish i was in high school again and could do a re-take on my senior pictures. maybe i'll just have to wait and redeem myself with some awesome pictures when i graduate from college [please be sooner rather than later].

anyway, don't you just love networking? i thought for sure when i moved out to utah i would no longer have anyone to take pictures for. but erin's family knows my sister-in-law, who suggested they have me shoot her senior portraits, and there you have it. i love knowing awesome people.

but enough about me. i can not get over how gorgeous erin looks in these photos! not to mention she was SO fun and easy to work with. i can't wait to finish editing up the rest - graduation is coming up soon!

 

eric + amanda

meet eric and amanda. 

i met amanda at efy 4 years ago, cool huh? she's from california. i forget where eric is from, but i'm pretty sure he likes amanda a lot. they're getting married in june and were nice enough to let me follow them around for an hour with my camera.

these are my 3 favorites. so far.

today i may have eaten nothing but banana cake

with cream cheese frosting.

ok, i had a real lunch. but other than that, it was only banana cake.

try the recipe, and you will understand. don't even worry if you're not a huge banana fan, you will love it anyway. my mom sent it to me - she found online after i told her i needed a banana cake recipe. and i'm going to share it with the blog world because i love you.

cake ingredients:

1 1/2 c. bananas, mashed, ripe

2 t. lemon juice

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. butter, softened

2 1/8 c. sugar

3 large eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

frosting:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1 t. vanilla

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

directions:

1. you should probably start with a clean kitchen. why? because it will end up looking like this, or worse.

so the cleaner you start with, the better.

2. realize that this recipe requires baking with faith. mostly because it's really weird and kind of intense, and you have no idea why you're mixing things the way it says to mix them. but have faith that following the recipe will bring you happiness, and you will be fine.

3. preheat the oven to 275.

4. in a small bowl, mixed mashed banana with lemon juice.

5. in a medium bowl, mix flour baking soda and salt.

6. in a large bowl, cream 3/4 butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

[i have no idea why it's 2 1/8 c. sugar. really, an 1/8 cup? i've never seen that before, ever. but just do it]

7. beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

[want to know why you beat in the eggs one at a time? yeah, me too. it's a mystery. at least to me, anyway]

8. beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk

[i didn't use buttermilk, i just added a little lemon juice to regular milk since i already had lemons on hand. and don't ask why you add them in alternately because i have no idea. just have faith, remember?]

9. stir in banana mixture.

10. taste it. because it's awesome, and the chances of getting salmonella from raw eggs is incredibly rare if you only have a spoonful. or even a few spoonfuls. trust me, i looked it up.

10. butter and flour a 9x13 pan. or 3 9-inch round pans if you want to be cool like me.

11. pour batter into prepared pan, or pans. if you go with the 9x13, bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. the 9-inch cakes baked for 45 minutes even in my oven. the toothpick rule still applies. and here is a picture of them baking in the oven in case you wanted to know how it's supposed to look.

12. remove from oven and place directly in freezer for 45 minutes. 

[ooh ooh, i actually know why you do this one! it makes the cake moist and fabulous!]

13. WARNING: there is only one teeny tiny hiccup with the recipe, and it really only matters if you decided to walk on the wild side and make a 3-layer cake. the cakes don't necessarily come out of the pan super easily, even if you butter and flour the pan like mad. after i took them out of the freezer, i actually used the other side of a spoon to slide under the cake to separate it from the pan. it kind of seems like the cake may fall apart, but if you're really careful it will come out of the pans in mostly one piece. and you cover it in frosting so it really doesn't matter how it looks.

14. for the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

[again, if went the 3-separate cake route. you may want to double or 1 and a half the frosting recipe so you don't have to worry about spreading it too thin]

15. beat in vanilla.

16. add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth

17. spread on cooled cake. don't even bother making it look pretty. ok, you can make it look pretty if you're making it for a party. but if you're planning on cutting a piece out 2 seconds after it's done being frosted - like me - you won't have the patience to make the frosting perfect.

18. eat at least a piece, probably two though. i personally like it without ice cream.

19. after you're satisfied, go to an awesome church conference with your favorite roomie.

[i love camera timers]

20. the next morning, make sure you have a piece for breakfast.

21. and maybe just leave a fork next to the cake so you can take a bite whenever you feel so inclined. which might be every time you walk past the kitchen. i would never do that, but my friend does. ok fine. it's me, not my friend.

22. when you realize you've eaten nothing but cake all day, go play a game of kickball for family home evening with your ward, and tell some people to come over and have a piece before you finish the other half of the cake off yourself.

23. don't hate me if you do finish the other half off yourself.

24. please tell me if you try the recipe - i can't wait to hear how much you love it!

the end.

i'm so happy i can't sleep.

really.

i tried to fall asleep for at least an hour, but my mind has been kind of a mess of thoughts lately. sometimes i don't even bother writing them down anywhere, because i have a feeling that later i won't want to remember all of these thoughts. but i will say that somewhere during that hour of restlessness i daydreamed about happy things and then cried because i was so happy. seriously. i cried.

to be honest, i've been able to go a long time without crying about things that are directly related to me. i'll cry during a movie, or when i read something sweet, but i can't even tell you the last time i cried for myself. at least before this week when i apparently decided to be a head case. oh well, tonight [uh, technically this morning] they were happy tears. and i will take those over upset or sad tears any day.

since i realized i was daydreaming and smiling too big to get any real sleep [i'll talk about why later, maybe], i decided i might as well be productive. so i got out of bed and spent the last few hours browsing some of my grandma's photos.

there actually weren't as many incriminating photos of me as i thought there would be. but of the few that i found, this is definitely my favorite.

yes. in case you were wondering, i have always been a major babe. so much in fact, that i can't even decide which part of my outfit is most attractive. i'm debating between the oversized swishy jacket and the pink shoelaces - i think they really tie the whole outfit together. [no pun intended. that was just an awesome coincidence i noticed later.]

thank you grandma beck, for making sure i never forget what a cool 5-year-old i was. [really, i'm pretty sure i was 5. i think kids were bigger back then].

ok. now i can sleep. 

i love black + white

i wish the treadmill could be my boyfriend.

sometimes.

we first starting spending time together when i was 13 and my dad bought me a gym pass. it's definitely lasted longer than any other relationship i've had. i've loved having a treadmill in my life for 7+ years now. that has to mean something.

the treadmill will spend time with me whenever i feel like spending time with it. it isn't needy or pushy. i'm pretty sure it's just happy to see me whenever i decide to come around. 

it doesn't matter if it's raining, or snowing or 380 degrees outside. it's always there. i like consistency. 

in fact, i never wonder whether or not the treadmill has changed its mind about liking me. i never wonder whether or not the treadmill is going to hurt my feelings. and i never wonder whether or not the treadmill and i are right for each other. 

see, the treadmill is perfect.

sometimes.

but the treadmill can't surprise me. i tell it exactly how fast or slow i want to go. it will never show up at my door, completely unexpected, just because it wanted to see me. 

it can't tell me that i look fantastic or appreciate my amazing chocolate chip cookies.

and when i tell the treadmill i want to stop running, it lets me stop. no questions asked. but sometimes you need someone to tell you to keep running. that they want you to keep running. that they need you to keep running. with them. and if you feel like walking away, they're going to run after you. i suppose treadmills can't do that. 

still, i'm off to spend my friday night at the gym. there is a treadmill there waiting for me.