Perfect Time

Mr. Brown, could you be any more adorable?

This is a letter for YOU, Vancey Poo. From your wife who loves you dearly.

Dear Vance,

Remember the first time you played me our song? We were seriously dating at the time, and were driving home from Salt Lake. You said this song reminded you of me, of US. Of what you had to do to get me. And then you played me "Perfect Time" by We Shot the Moon.

I had never before heard this song, and instantly loved it. I listened to each word so carefully, and by the time the song was done, I had to hurry and wipe a few tears away before you could see what you had done to me. I looked over at you, and you were doing the exact same thing, faking allergies and what-not.

You then said that when we got married, having this song as our first dance as husband and wife was your only request. How could I refuse such a beautiful request?

Our wedding day came, and we danced to this song. I am a very self conscious fool, and hate having all eyes on me, but you put me at ease, singing the words of the song in my ear, as if it was written specifically for me. Your voice cracked just a little bit when you sang "And I love you, for who you are. I love you, stay who you are." It was a magical moment, Mr. Brown.

8 months later (just last week), Mr. Jonathan Jones of We Shot the Moon performed a concert right here in Provo. The minute we found out he'd be here, we made sure of it that we went to his show. And oh, what an evening it was :) We woke up for this day like little kids on Christmas morning :)

We were first in line, waiting outside in the hot summer heat, and Jonathan Jones came right over to us and shook our hands. "Thanks so much for coming to my show guys! Glad you could make it!"

You were instantly star struck and so excited! It was so adorable. You talked to each other as if you had been great buddies for years. And honestly, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you were. Then he paid you a compliment. "That is an awesome shirt, man. Where did you get it? That's exactly the kind of shirt I'd want to be wearing if I wasn't performing tonight."

Oh sweetie, you were just glowing. He continued to ask us what songs we would like to hear him play for the evening. We definitely had a few requests, but above all, I wanted to hear him play "Perfect Time". You explained to him how we just got married and danced to that song on our wedding night.

And sure enough, he performed it! Once the show started, and he'd played a few of his songs, new and old, he said "I have a couple in the crowd tonight who just got married and danced to this song on there wedding night. Where are you guys?" We couldn't help but jump up and down and raise our hands like giddy teenagers. "Congrats you two! This song is for you." And then he played our song. He dedicated Perfect Time to US! Can you believe it?

You held me so close and sang in my ear again. Your voice cracked at the exact same parts, and it was oh so magical.

I love you, Vance. I hope you don't mind me posting this up here. Thank you so much for choosing me to be your wifey. We have too much fun together to not be meant for each other.

Love,
Anni Baby

        Just waiting outside before the show :)
                                              

        Just a picture with our dear pal Jon :)

   The Velour stage set up before show-time. I love this venue.
                                

                   My happy man :)

Mr. Jones doing what he does best: singing his heart out

Weezer! (the alternative lyrics to a John Mayer ditty)

Vultures, by John Mayer.

If you have never listened to this bluesy little treasure, I highly recommend that you do. In fact, do so right now, as it will make a lot more sense if you do when you read this post.

My little Vancey, ah...he's so silly. Like me, he makes up funny little words to songs. One Saturday evening, as we were heading out the door, we both decided to start singing Vultures. However, when it comes to the part where Johnny Boy sings "Wheels up! I got to leave this evening.....", Vance started singing "Weezer! I got to leave this evening," instead.

And let me tell you, boy was he proud of himself for coming up with this one. Neither of us could stop singing these alternate lyrics nor stop giggling the whole drive to wherever it was we were going. And of course, this painted a picture in both of our heads:

John Mayer is hanging out in his bachelor pad in NYC. He's singing with the radio and looking classy as ever. Just as he is about to exit his bedroom, he exclaims to his favorite band, the band who just so happens to be plastered on his wall, " Weezer! I got to leave this evening! (I can't seem to shake these vultures off of my trail.....) " He winks, does a sexy little nod that's full of confidence as he straightens his tie in the mirror, and heads out to break some hearts in the city.

With a little help from my dear friend Photoshop, this particular scene looks a little something like this:

Nice room, eh? 

(play the intro to Vultures in your head as you view this masterpiece)

Until next time!

Take That and Rewind it Back (to 2004)

Remember this?

If you were a hormonally crazed, music loving, teenage girl senior year of high school like I was (and even if you weren't), you may look at this picture and be flooded with nostalgia and happy, care free memories of what life was like before reality hit and its daily consequences truly existed.

And if you are at all like me, you may look at this picture and shout "YEAH!!!", weakly attempt a sexy white girl dance (there may not be such a thing), all the while searching your ipod for the liquid goodness titled "Yeah!" by Usher and his gang of friends.  Then you'll crank the tunes whilst doing unimaginable chores (laundry, gag) that the 2004 version of yourself would have never, for one second considered doing. (The laundry, that is..)

"Yeah!" came on the radio on my ride home from work last week. I absolutely love music and the ability songs have to bookmark memories into your brain. Hence when "Yeah!" played it was as if  I opened my journal to 17 year old Annika.

I thought about Wasatch High School senior year. I thought about the summer that followed graduation. I thought about my best friends, and all of the silly things we used to do. I thought about getting in a car with the windows rolled down with the music blaring, and driving as fast and as far as possible just for the sake of it. I thought of the Midway hot pots, floating the canal on a daily basis, my love for watching music videos until the wee hours of the morning, and daily trips to the Dairy Keen for onion rings and milk shakes when I wasn't on shift working there. I thought about my excitement for college and the total and sheer excitement of not quite knowing what was in store for me. This was 7 years ago.

Where does the time go? 7 years ago, I had no idea that my life was only just beginning.

1 college, 2 universities, 11 moves, 21 roommates, a couple broken hearts, 1 car accident, 9 part time jobs, a faux hawk, 1 college bachelors degree in art, Michael Jackson's funeral, 1 crazy summer in Europe, 3 nephews, 1 niece, and innumerable lifelong friendships later, life's journey has somehow managed to direct to where I am today; happily married for nearly 8 months and working as a graphic designer for a plush animal toy company.

As the 4 minute song that lead me down memory lane came to an end, I pulled into the parking lot, and decided to snap back into reality. I then locked the car, checked the mailbox, and headed upstairs into my cozy 1 bedroom apartment, where I was greeted by my loving husband with a hug and a kiss. Who'd have thought life would be so great?

Take that and rewind it back ;)

Breaking Summer in ;)

So........yes, this blog may be a little bit delayed (we've been home from our cruise for 3 weeks already) but at least I am finally getting around to it. Our mid-May Carnival cruise was so much fun, and the perfect way to break in our first married summer. We went with my little (and taller) sister Alison, and her husband  Travis. They were our next door neighbors on the ship, and we couldn't have asked for better traveling companions.

The minute our feet entered the cruise ship, we all ran right to the buffet line and began our 4 day feast. When we weren't eating, we were sailing with the dolphins in Catalina Island, cooking in Mexico, negotiating prices with the local people of Ensenada, enjoying comedy shows on the ship, or sipping lemonade from the deck whilst we bathed in the sun. It was fantastic, and a great escape from the real world. I have since had a few cruising dreams, one in which my very own brother was a talking dolphin :) 

Below are a just few pictures so you can get a taste of what we did and saw on our mini getaway. 

    Catalina Island was love at first sight :)

 View of our ship 

 seeee-stars :)

 Just a little slice of heaven

The Jarrett's and the Brown's setting out for a wild dolphin adventure

 Dolphins!!! Maybe I shall name one of them Scott in memory of my dream ;)

 Mr. and Mrs. Awesome getting our formal on

 Enjoying a little comedy to start the evening out right

 The stair shot 

 The Mango Mango in Ensenada, Mexico

 Our cooking buddies

 guacamole salsa, anyone?

 Glad I caught this moment on camera :)

 The setting sun

Our awesome waitor German. He made our evenings so much fun!  

If I can figure it out, I will post a video of the hundreds of dolphins we sailed with! This was a definite highlight of the vacation and a memory we will never forget.