Pass Alongs, Postcards & Peeps! Oh My!

Our pass along cards arrived and we are very happy with them! The art work was donated by the great artist behind http://www.themodernpolkadot.com/. Go check out her stuff. You can tell she has quite the flair for life just by her designs, we’ve never met but I’m quite enamored with her. She has a swagger I enjoy. Watch the mail loved ones, you should be receiving some soon. We ask that you carry these with you. If the moment is right, share one. If you see a community board, pin one up. Grass roots marketing campaign folks! We also ordered some postcards! See I tend to throw away small cards, but postcards I hold on to forever, something about it being bigger makes me keep it for months and months. I still have Christmas cards on my fridge, it's a problem I know. I’m hoping I’m not the only one with this disease. They look like this:

I love the design on the front. This was also custom made for us. I’ve been overwhelmed by people’s generosity and kindness. Months ago when this was all beginning Josh and I were talking with N.Eve at church about our desire to design t-shirts and do a fundraiser. We chatted about few designs over giddy nursery children and she offered to help us. People, she is amazing! We threw out a ton of random ideas and she designed us this heartwarming image of hope that appeals to everyone. It has become a mantra in our life. I'd really love to get a canvas print made to hang in our home. (Check her out here http://www.etsy.com/shop/nevedobson)

Lastly, I love this time of year. Spring is in full gear! Spring in AZ means 80 -90 degree days, baseball, and our annual Peeps competition. We challenge family and friends to create something using Peeps as their art medium! It is always so fun to see what our tribe comes up with. My mom said she had a dream about what her Peep entry was supposed to be! Challenges are being thrown out right and left. I think it is going to be a hot competition this year! Want to play? Email your entry to us at josh2ellen@gmail.com by April 13th.

Dating and other allergies

Josh and I met at LDS Business College. During his freshman orientation, I was there presenting for the newspaper and there he was, hugging and laughing my co-editor who had been one of Josh’s mission companions. It wasn’t a romantic star crossed lovers moments. In fact, Josh doesn’t even really remember the actual first time we met. He remembers catching up with Elder Gonzo. The only thing that stands out about our very first meeting is that Josh felt really familiar. It felt as though we had known each other for a really long time. Maybe that’s the Shakespearean lovely moment in it all, I feel like I recognized his spirit.

From there it is a series of me putting myself in his way. (I was such a pre-facebook stalker.) His first recollection is a service project our church group did. We were slicing & bagging homemade bread for distribution to less fortunate families. Josh was loading the bread into the slicer, my roommate was loading the bags, I was in charge of the twist tie machine. For the first half of the night he relentlessly flirted with my roomy, who wouldn’t she was gorgeous! And then the twist tie machine got jammed and Josh tried to come to my rescue, which is very sweet in retrospect. However in the moment I was frustrated and I didn’t need to be saved. So I slapped his hand and told him I could handle it. And suddenly I was getting equal flirt time.

I invited him for dinner that Sunday at our apartment and cooked up a big lasagna, salad and magic cookie bars. I’ll email anyone the recipe for these cookies because they are delicious!! Nothing but coconut, chocolate, graham crackers and sugar! Josh is eating along on this gooey heavenly dessert coconut spilling all over the plate when suddenly he says, “These don’t have coconut in them do they? I’m allergic to coconut!” You should have seen the high alert that occurred he had four girls up on their feet anxious and ready to save him. Then he leaned back in his chair and said, “So, which of you girls wants to give me mouth to mouth?”

What can I say…Josh is a smooth operator.