maybe one day i will post something other than instagram photos, but until then . . . this is what you get!

ps. you can follow me and our really exciting life on instagram @janalaurene

left: boys’ night, right: getting ready for bed.

left: breakfast!, right: a sneak peak of last week’s engagement shoot.

left: spencer making his new wallet (with the duct tape i bought him for christmas), right: there’s a sock in my bun, true story.

left: spencer buys healthy food at the grocery store, right: chocolate-covered craisins are as unhealthy as he gets.

left: i got home from work and spencer had a surprise waiting for me on the table. and then he wanted to take a picture of me with the surprise, right: he’s the best, right?!

left: i love fishes cause they’re so delicious, right: baby etta helping her mama with the laundry.

left: bathtime! right: spencer didn’t want to get marks from him glasses before his headshots.

left: playing dress-up at work. weren’t those rings made for my fingers? right: the best part of zupa’s.

left: do i make my husband take pictures of the back of my head to make sure my hair looks ok? yes, yes i do. and do i wear humongous bows in my hair? yes, yes i do. right: found this photo of my boys having a sleepover at auntie jana’s. miss them like crazy!

left: adding bacon to a chicken caesar salad=best decision ever. right: i found this on the bulletin board at work. apparently my boss was really excited when he saw this, and i didn’t have the heart to tell him that she looks nothing like me.

left: date night part 1 | cafe rio, right: date night part 2 | a redbox and sparkling cider. we are so fancy.

left: spencer lets me drink soda when i visit him at work, right: unpacking means finding shoes that i haven’t seen in 3 years.

now, i realize that the quality of iphone photos is even worse than that of my baby camera, but, i pass instagram photos off as fun and quirky–and it works for me.  follow me! @janalaurene

left: wife, right: husband

left: catching up on project runway all stars (yes our tv stand is a chair from the kitchen table), right: i sneak gummy bears into my purse for church

left: my favorite wedding picture, right: my beautiful wedding ring

left: sunday hair, right: sunday dinner (pasta salad–delicious!)

left: family photo attempt #1, right: family photo attempt #8

left: my husband wears dirty jeans (kinda sexy, right), right: my husband makes me delicious breakfasts (kinda sexy, right?)

left: i really wanted a cheeseburger, right: so he took me for dinner

left: lunchtime with my mom (so maybe i ate half of that pizza in one sitting. so what!), right: a sneak peek of my photography website (!)

left: laundry day (some people might complain about laundromats, but getting 4 loads done in 2 hours is pretty dang awesome in my book), right: my cute laundry helper! (aka, my mom).

left: hair accessories for her, right: hair accessories for him (after i posted this, spencer said i had to get his approval for any photo i posted of him on instagram–can you believe that??)

left: bookshelves before, right: bookshelves after

left: my walk to school, right: finding wedding cards while i organize

left: drinking diet coke while i wait for my husband to finish up with work (they get all the free soda they want!), right: wearing husband’s work shirt to bed

left: project | clean the living room, right: project | save the dates

left: cute baby etta (my niece). my sister says that baths freak her out–ha!, right: etta the baby model

left: yes, i eat caramel apples for breakfast (it’s an apple though, so it’s healthy!), right: it took my mom 5 minutes to divide this piece of cake evenly. ps. i will pay someone good money to get me a copycat recipe for macaroni grill’s lemon cake.

left: pink lipstick day, right: i send my husband pictures while he’s at work so he knows that i get up and shower and get dressed and stuff

left: i don’t know what this is, right: date night!

left: date night! in case you can’t tell, we are both wearing striped sweaters. twinsies!, right: brian regan in salt lake city. we laughed so hard, it was exhausting!

if you have been reading our blog for a while, you know that spencer is an actor in the bible videos that are being released by the LDS church. well, after months of patiently waiting, the first video that spencer appears in was released a few days ago online! spencer got a text message from a fellow actor yesterday during church telling him the news, and we might have ran home in between classes to watch the clip. don’t judge us–we were really excited.

we are so grateful for the opportunity spencer had to be a part of these films, and we are so grateful for how many will be able to learn about the Savior’s life and teachings through this amazing project. i am such a proud wife.

you can watch the story of the widow’s mites (spencer is the only clean-shaven apostle) here, and the rest of the bible videos they have posted here. watch them–they are amazing!

i repeat, this is not a fashion blog.

the other day, i asked spencer if he would run outside with me really quick and take some pictures for the “about me” section of my photography website. i mean, i was already dressed kind of cute, so it seemed like good timing.

well friends, i learned something about myself on monday: i am so so awkward! and i just really don’t get how these fashion bloggers do it. like, do they drive around scouting out locations and think, “this brick building would be a great backdrop for my polka dot dress outfit?” and where do they get those poses from?! “ok, i’m going to smile and spin around really quick while i kind of curtsey with my skirt, so make sure you get a picture from a good angle?”

so ridiculous.

but, i will admit, i look at these blogs sometimes. so does that make me ridiculous? and i don’t know why i look at them either! i never ever look at the little captions that say where their clothing items are from–which is the point, right? and, generally speaking, that information is not even relevant. i mean, why would you even bother telling me that your adorably cute sweater is thrifted? so i can be depressed that i will never be able to have one like it?

for example, i’m not even going to bother telling you that my cheetah-print sweater is from forever 21. because i bought it 3 years ago, so i’m guessing it is no longer available. and even if it were, would you run out to the mall and go buy it because you saw it on me? probably not!

rant over.

so, here is what this little photo shoot went like . . .

spencer: jana, don’t do that. you look cold.
jana: i am cold!

spencer: jana, stop posing.
jana: wait, i thought i was supposed to pose.

then the wind started blowing. and my ring is crooked (spencer usually catches crooked rings).

spencer: jana, just act like yourself.

and this is what i came up with. i guess acting like myself means acting weird.

oh, and in case you were wondering, there is no baby bump hiding under this maxi dress.

the end.

this year, we decided to head up to oregon to spend the holidays with spencer’s (which is now also my) family. i didn’t think i would get very homesick spending my first christmas away from my parents and siblings, but i totally did. thank goodness i have a wonderful husband who noticed that i was feeling a little down and went completely out of his way to make sure i was happy. what a keeper.

two nights before christmas, we celebrated with spencer’s aunt and uncle and the little girls read and performed the nativity for us. it was too sweet.

every christmas eve, spencer’s family has an “arizona christmas.” they lived in arizona for several years (spencer was even born there), so they like to remember their roots by eating mexican food on christmas eve.

christmas morning, we went to church (where my phone’s rooster alarm went off for a full minute before i could silence it–so embarrassing!).

the rule for gifts was that we could only spend $5-10 on gifts for each family member.  i ended up with a 6 lb. bag of gummy bears, an apron, and mike and ikes (among other things). my in-laws know me so well. spencer sent me on a hunt for my christmas present (just like always) and i ended up at a kitchen cabinet where i found my new kindle!

i was a little embarrassed that i bought him duct tape (to make a new wallet) and pens. seriously. hopefully i redeemed myself by knitting spencer a gryffindor scarf on christmas day. now he looks like a real wizard!

all in all, it was a beautiful holiday. we loved spending time with family, and i can’t wait to spend all of my future christmases with this handsome man.