Steve & Dane

It is always fun to see how Little Dane loves being held by Steve, or maybe Steve loves holding him? I think Steve held Dane 80% of the time on Thanksgiving Day when we were down in Arizona. Steve & I still joke about the nose kisses Dane gives.
So cute!
We love you Dane!

freezing during finals

My frozen face couldn't help but laugh when I checked the weather on my phone while walking to campus today.

It said 0 degrees.

I laughed all the way to class, and cursed the frigid weather while I was at it.

On a lighter note, Steve and I are hoping to survive finals this semester. It's going to be a close call though. Steve has been writing, and writing and writing and writing and I've been working and working and working and working. I forgot how crazy December is at Lugano Restaurant!

Hope all is well wherever you are! And everyone is enjoying this holiday season for us :)

These photos are from the BYU vs. Utah game a few weeks back, great game if you missed it, and don't let that sun fool you - it was freezing, but worth it to watch BYU win!

thanksgiving '09

Happy Thanksgiving to you wherever you are! We are spending the holiday in Arizona with my family. Yesterday and today have been filled with time with the nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, and in the perfect 78 degree whether. Steve and I have enjoyed the relaxing break with shopping, swimming, eating and too many football games today.

I am thankful for many things in my life: for Steve, our families, good friends, and this holiday season that is about to begin

snail mail

I need to get back on the blog bus. There have been so many moments lately I've thought "Oh, I should blog about that," but I just haven't had the time, so maybe if I just focus on one day at a time I'll finally get caught up!

Big news here at the Pierce household happened on Tuesday between when I left for work at 11 a.m. and when I came home from work at 6 p.m. I was driving to work and Benny and the Jets came on my iPod. My question is, who doesn't love Elton John? It's nearly impossible to not LOVE that man. I was reminded that he and Billy Joel are coming to Salt Lake next Friday, the 20th. Steve is a huge fan and we've talked many times about going, but it's hard to rationalize $100 per ticket, right? Well, that day I had no problem rationalizing the expense, because we will probably never see them again. The first thing I did when I got to work was go on ksl.com and see if there were any tickets. Of course there were, but at what price!? Next I texted Steve and asked him if I could "borrow" $200 from our savings account we have been diligently working on. He said yes, and asked what for. I told him not to worry. He was very confused by this, but knew a surprise was coming. I found some pretty alright seats for $100 each from a guy in Salt Lake. In a matter of minutes I went to the bank, and met the man downtown at his work and made the purchase. I could not WAIT for the end of work to come so I could get back to Provo and surprise Steve. Needless to say he was very surprised, and excited for the concert next weekend! Lesson learned: maybe a 45-minute drive each way to work isn't the best idea -- it often gets my mind wandering and that is when impulse purchases happen...

BIGGER NEWS here at the Pierce household was that Steve and I received the most adorable, cutest, funniest, darling picture from our little niece Halle this week in the mail. She is in kindergarten in North Carolina, and is clearly an aspiring artist! She is the cutest little curly-haired girl (well, all our nieces are the cutest). The best was Heather said to notice the phonetic spelling next to the red person (which was me). Don't worry, it is now on our refrigerator right next to a similar drawing we got from Madelin, Halle and Meagan on our wedding day! We got a good laugh, and love when we get surprises like this from all the little girls!

gameday in provo, utah!

Saturday morning Steve was up at 6am putting up a 25-foot dinosaur on top of the paleontology museum in the stadium parking lot (long story), a few hours later he was busy with a few other people he works with getting a parade float of two dinosaur skeletons onto ESPN's College Gameday! It didn't really happen, but he did get backstage passes out of the deal. I got over to the stadium just after 8 a.m., just in time for the show! It was interesting to be "backstage," even though it was really the front side of the show! The best part of the show was when, out of no where, Cosmo jumped up on-stage, stole one of the analysts stat sheets, wrote a big "TCU" on it and ripped it up, then jumped off-stage! All the analyst could say was "Uh, I think I needed that!" It was hilarious for everyone but the director, who looked like he was going to start chasing Cosmo off stage if he didn't get off himself! Another highlight of the show was the last few minutes, check it out here.

My mom, dad and Jason came down for the game that evening! I wish it had been a better game considering that Jason stayed in town just for the game (I still wish he had packed Heather and the girls in his bag)! It was still fun, and I'm sure it was fun for Steve to have someone to talk about any and every sport.

The cheering crowds behind the set! People slept out the night before to get good standing spot.

Steve & I with his skeleton parade float

he was born october 23, 1919

This past Friday night, Steve & I joined the Moffat side of the family in Salt Lake for Grandpa Moffat's 90th (SURPRISE) birthday party! You know it is going to be an event when you gather most of the 42 cousins and their spouses, as well as the aunts and uncles together! The past few months have been hard on grandpa due to everything that has been going on with my grandma, so it was fun to surprise him and show him how much he means to the family. I just love my grandpa, and feel fortunate to have the fun memories that I do of him. He has a great memory and an even better sense of humor, so it always makes for interesting stories. Whether it be his stories about how he won all the gold medals at the first summer Olympics ever (in both the men's and women's events) then later during his years as a dentist he melted all the gold medals down to make fillings for his patients, or him telling me that the number of nose hairs you have shows how wise you are (yes, he has a lot of nose hairs). Even though Steve still thinks he doesn't know his name (hence, he always calls him "son"), we enjoy the time we have to spend with him in his old age!

Grandma didn't want to look at the camera.



We missed you, Heather!!

It is always fun to go to family events to see Rachel!

coon skin hats and feather boas

Last week Abbie and Josh came to town for a few days. Highlight: Monday night Family Night at the top of the stairs with Steve & Mckay in coon skins hats, Brookie & I in pink feather boas, and all of us dancing to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. And the umbrella? Tienna said it was "raining" and we all had to be protected so insisted on keeping it open. I can not think of a better Family Night activity. I'm sure my dad thought we were all crazy.



It was fun to see Josh and Abbie and hear their exciting news :) Thank you for making the trip to Utah!

our most recent study break

Last week Steve & I headed up to Salt Lake with a few friends to the Passion Pit concert. As many of you know Steve is a huge concert-goer and I'm not so much, but I'm glad Steve made me go this time:) Despite the fact that they didn't take the stage till close to midnight (and yes, I did have 8am class the next morning), it was well worth the wait! We were standing in the very front, literally, the very front, so we even got to dance a bit with the lead singer, Michael Angelakos, when he made his way into the crowd during a few songs. I would encourage a listen here, here or here for a few of Steve and I's favorite songs of this nerdy East Coast band.

weekend update.

The past few weeks Lugano Restaurant has been slow so I haven't felt bad taking a few weekend nights off.

A few weeks ago we went to the Isaac Russell, formerly known as RuRu, Columbia Records signing party here in Provo at Velour. Yes that is right, the real Columbia Records, the same Columbia that Jason, Taylor and Abbie used to do those scheming CD club memberships with. Isaac is now 17 years old, and would be starting his senior year at Timpanogos High school except for now he has private tutors to keep him up-to-date while traveling all over the place as he finalizes the finishing touches on his newly recorded album, and is preparing to begin touring with John Mayer in February. I guess you get your own private tutors when you sign a 6-album contract with Columbia, or when it is very possible you will become the next Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen or Leonard Cohen. I hope he does well, #1: because he is amazing (listen to him here) and #2: because then I will know a famous person before he is famous. Oh and #3: he is going to be touring with John Mayer, I still can't get over that. (If you don't already follow John Mayer on twitter you might want to start immediately...)

In other news, Steve & I ventured up Provo Canyon last weekend, more specifically up by Sundance to check out the amazingly beautiful fall leaves (before the dreaded snow comes... tomorrow I hear). The highlight of the adventure was when Steve blazed his own trail into the woods. When it was all said and done, it was a fun time :) except for that my camera battery died too early!

september 21st 2005 - 2009

Steve & I celebrate two anniversaries: June 19th (our wedding day, of course) and September 21st. September 21st, 2005, that is. We have both decided that's when we started dating; we were not officially "boyfriend/girlfriend" as of September 21, 2005, but that was the night of our first kiss.

There is a little thing Steve does for me each Valentine's Day. The first year he did this (he was on his mission) I thought it was not only the most adorable thing ever, but I also thought he was genius, mostly because he had his Valentine's Day's set for the rest of forever:) I know I've told this story before, but Freshman Year he wrote me a song for Valentine's Day and the last line of the song was something like "here is my Valentine Review, here's my heart, here's to you." The next year I was so excited when I received Valentine Review Volume I in the mail the day before Valentine's Day. Anyway, I'm telling this story because part of Volume I was Steve's side of the first kiss on September 21st. Since I told my side of the first night we met, I thought I'd share his side of this story, which is always more exciting anyway:)

It was a Wednesday night, which meant semi-weekly visiting hours in Helaman Halls. It was also the season premiere of "Lost", which I was pretty excited about. Anyway, on that wonderful Wednesday, Audrey decided to come over and see Justin, Daniel and I. Not that I noticed. My eyes were glued to the television. Soon thereafter, somewhere in the middle of the episode, Moffat, Brubaker and yourself came over. Of course, the television was still on, so I was not very social, but we all sat in Justin's room, while you, Justin, Daniel and the girls talked, I yelled at everyone to shut up so I could hear what was going on. Well, the chaos ended with Audrey going home and you and the girls heading back to Heritage Halls. However, as fate would have it, Brubaker left her book (some strange medieval times book) in Justin's room! Obviously, that would mean that somebody would have to come and get it. Hence, an hour or so later, who should show back up in the May Hall lobby, but Rachel Moffat and Jessie Pollei, looking for some queer book about knights. Anyway, you and I ended up on the couch next to each other (the love seat size, not the big one), with me on the left of course (in your good ear) and we hung out with an array of people -- just whoever happened to walk by and decide to sit down. We were having fun and you and I were flirting like 12-year-olds as usual. After about an hour, Moffat decided to leave. You tried to go with her, but she refused. After several minutes of hushed and hurried conversation outside, you returned and announced that Rachel would walk home alone and you returned to your spot next to me on the couch. We talked some more and flirted a lot. Different friends came in and out, but we remained constant. The majority of my floor knew that I liked you and that I was debating how to make the first move, so they were more than happy to "help" by not-so-sneakily walking by while brandishing a bottle of Martinelli's sparkling cider. (For those who don't know: on Steve's hall freshman year, if a boy kissed a girl they would celebrate once he came back to the hall by drinking Martinelli's and hearing the story.) I was slightly embarrassed, but I (wrongly) assumed you didn't know what it meant. Anyway, after some time and much internal struggle, I finally plucked up the courage to do something I had wanted to do for eleven days: I reached over and (stealthily and smoothly, of course) grabbed your hand. You looked at me and smiled and I don't remember what I said and don't know what kind of look I gave you, but I can only hope I didn't look or sound like a complete doofus, because I was nervous! I had a circus of butterflies in my stomach and I was in completely uncharted waters. Sure, I'd had high school girlfriends, but this was different: those were strictly physical attractions, this was something more. Despite my nervousness and probable awkwardness, you didn't reject me. Your smile was a welcome sign of approval and sent my spirits soaring (as it still does to this day). We sat there for quite awhile longer, talking to friends and holding hands. I was on Cloud Nine. My friends took note of our newfound public display of affection, and the Martinelli's brandishing became more frequent: the pressure was on. Of course, I wanted to kiss you, but I didn't want to risk pushing it too far and going too fast; I didn't want to damage anything that we potentially had going for us. And hence, the battle in my head began. As we left May Hall and I walked you home, the war was raging: should I kiss her, or should I wait? By the time we reached F. Smith Hall, I was still torn. I wanted to kiss you, but naturally, I was nervous and did not want to move too fast. As we sat down on the steps to talk, I still had no earthly idea what I was going to do. As we were talking (I have no recollection of what we talked about -- I was so nervous!), I kept trying to strike up the courage to just do it: to follow my heart instead of my head. I kept looking for an opportunity, for the perfect juncture where you would look at me and I would look back at you and then it would just happen. I waited. And we kept talking. And I waited some more. Then, all at once, it happened: the moment I had been looking for! I don't know what we were talking about, but somewhere past midnight, the conversation hit a lull and you looked over at me and I was staring right back at you. Our eyes met and, just as I had hoped and (to be quite honest) dreamed, I leaned over and, ignoring the butterfly circus doing cartwheels in my stomach, kissed you. ... I don't remember what was said, just like I don't remember much of what was said the rest of the night; maybe you do. However, while I may not remember the exact words I uttered on that momentous occasion, I do recall exactly how I felt: happy. Pure ecstasy. There have been few times in my life where I have been as happy as I was in the early hours of September 21st ... As we parted with one last kiss for the evening and I left to return home, I literally skipped all the way back to May Hall. If I was on Cloud Nine before, I was actually on Cloud Ten or Eleven. I had kissed Jessie Pollei. I had actually found the courage to follow my heart and it had led me straight to you. And in that moment, everything in the world was right. Sure, there was the unabashed male chauvinism of the Martinell's ceremony back at the dorm, but that night was special and I knew it as soon soon as my lips touched yours. My entire world changed in that one moment on September 21st 2005...

Tonight when I got home from work around 6 p.m., Steve surprised me with flowers and was making dinner! We ate then decided to go to Park City for the evening. We went to the outlets and came across a few good finds. Then we came home, and now I'm blogging while Steve is playing his PS3 College Football game (his anniversary gift). It has been a wonderful day together!! Here's to year five...:)

the beginning of a new year!

The beginning of a new school year is always exciting:) We are finally getting used to the semester now that we're a couple of weeks in. It's going to be a crazy one! I always feel like I never know how I'm going to survive a semester, but then somehow it always comes to an end and didn't seem so bad after all.

First day of school - of course we took a picture Mom!

The first weekend of school was Labor Day weekend. Steve and I decided to visit Josh & Abbie and Taylor & Amber over the long weekend -- we hadn't seen Tienna, Zoe or Dane in too long! The highlight of the weekend was the BYU-OU game! Go Cougars! The second best part of the weekend was Tienna repeatedly saying "Go Dawgs!" during the Washington-LSU game. Steve is training her to cheer for his teams. :)

Another favorite was Tienna pretending to drive the car while Steve and I were in "buckled in our car seats in the backseat." Made for some laughs just before we got ready to head back!

Thank you again Abbie and Josh for letting us crash at your place for the weekend, and we love your new place Taylor and Amber! (Also, thanks for the meds.) We hope to see you all soon!

I and Love and You

This time of year is a special time for Steve and I. Besides the fact that fall in Provo has really grown on me over the past four years, it was this weekend four years ago we met at Freshman Orientation and began to spend time together. On September 21st it will be four years since we officially started dating:) This time of year is always a fun time of full reminiscing and laughs for us, whether that be during the two years apart of a mission or the times we have been together.

August 26, 2009 - Freshman Orientation weekend. We had successfully avoid our group leaders all weekend, which had been quite a chore might I add. My roommates (high school friends) and I weren't too wild about all the different activities that weekend, but just wanted to spend time together celebrating our newly found freedom at Heritage Halls. Like I said we had been successful. That success ended on this particular Saturday night (the 26th). As I remember, all us girls were hanging out in our apartment and we heard a knock on the door, just before the night's festivities of field games at Helaman Field were supposed to begin. We turned off our music, got quiet real quick to hear the two group leaders outside the door. All panicked they would find us, we stood huddled in the hallway for some reason. The next thing we know we hear one of the counselors say "I see your feet, girls!!" They told us they'd be back in another half hour to escort us to the field games. Begrudgingly, we went. Then during the field games a kid won a date with some girl because he drove a mini-van in high school (later to find out, that was Daniel Anderson.)

At the end of the night we were done with the Freshman Orientation event, we were gathering to leave and this weird kid with a weird accent walked up to Rachel Steffensen and Allison Hatch asking them if they wanted any water bottles. (They already had some in their hands). They said no, but for some reason kept talking to this kid (Justin Fillmore). Before we knew it we were all gathered, 6 of us, and about 12 of them... standing on boy and girl sides respectively of the circle, talking about whatever freshmen talk about. We soon learned they were all from Texas, with a few exceptions, and there was a kid who was from Texas but claimed "Colorado" as his hometown (Steve).

Being the trusting, naive, innocent and young BYU Freshman we were, we decided to invite them back to our apartment where we were going to make brownies and watch my John Mayer live in concert DVD. The night continued on, we learned more about them, like their last names, where they lived at BYU, etc, etc. And I distinctly remember learning that this one kid had been to 5 *NSYNC Concerts... his name was Steve Pierce:)

That night was a fun one, one of the most fun nights I've had since I've been at BYU. I remember being in awe that we had just met these kids, felt comfortable enough to invite them over and were all of a sudden best friends. We were blind to the fact that this was the beginning to a year-long friendship, entitled JARRR & Texas.

A few days passed and Allison Hatch (my roommate) came home from Healthy Living class to inform me that that Steve kid was in her class, and she was going to sit by him but she was scared to. By this point I was secretly interested in him so what did I do next? I added the same Healthy Living section, of course!

A few more days passed, we tried to call the boys to hang out again, but they failed to return our calls, but granted we only had Justin's phone number. After a few more tries we all but gave up, thinking these boys were jerks.

Then came the first weekend of the school year, the Fall Fest Dance. Everyone was there, especially any freshmen that didn't have cars. Allison and I went into the restroom inside the WILK, and as we were walking back out to the dance at Brigham Square, who did we run into? Steve & Daniel. We talked to them for a bit, it was mildly awkward because they had avoided our calls for a few days. The next few moments is a whirl-wind, but all of a sudden Steve & I were out dancing to "Collide" by Howie Day. The dance ended, the boys had plans with other people, and we went our own ways. Then later than same evening we all surprisingly ended up at the same party in Heritage Halls (they had friends who lived in the area). I knew that evening wasn't going to end without Brubaker or Allison making me get Steve's number, or them making Steve get my number. The night ended, we exchanged numbers, and went on our way.

That week we sat next to each other in Healthy Living, hung out after class each day, and seemingly began to be more comfortable with each other.

September 10, 2009 - It was a Saturday night. We were trying to find something fun to do, we sat around at our apartment in Heritage Halls for a while, then made our way down to Helaman hoping to find something more fun. It was getting late and nothing was going on. For some reason I was the only girl, I think all my girlfriends ditched out and left me at Helaman Halls in their attempts to get Steve & I to spend some time alone. Well it worked:) That night everyone was calling it a night and going home. Steve, being the gentleman he was, asked if he could walk me back up to my apartment (about a 10 minute walk). We started making way up to my apartment, just talking and talking. The night ended about five hours later (4 am), when he finally walked me back to my apartment. We had spent the night walking around all of BYU campus at least three times over, talking about our families, our friends, hometowns, etc. etc. That night I came home, couldn't go to sleep because a) Facebook was just starting the photo album capabilities and b) I knew there was something special about Steve. I knew there was something special between us.

A few weeks passed, and we officially started dating September 21, 2006 :)
A few pictures of Freshman Year...
The first picture we took together. After a night of intramural games.


For anyone still reading...
Hope all is well wherever you are!!

Trip to Texas

Last week we joined the other Pierce family in Texas for a weekend:) Besides the flight at 6:40am we had a fun weekend. Between dinner for Lance's 51st birthday, dinner at Babe's, Erica's volleyball game, the stockyards, bowling, swimming and -- a favorite of Steve and I -- a trip to Chipotle, we were always busy and had fun! Thanks again to Lance & Caryn for letting us come! We are excited for Erica as she starts high school & Kristen as she's off to BYU-I.


We're back in Provo now, getting ready to start a new semester, and looking forward to Labor Day in Arizona with family!
Hope all is well wherever you are! Including for Mom and Dad in Europe!

Why Steve loves being Uncle Steve (and me, Aunt Jessie)

I got an email from my sister today:

"Hey! So I have a funny story for you... This morning I was changing Tienna's diaper and I asked her who loves her. Typically she says Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Jesus, etc. Today it was Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Steve. Just to let you know your hubby's made Tienna's top 5 list of people who love her - above jesus! hope things are going well for you guys, we miss you!"

This is why we love Uncle Steve, and this is why I love my sister, and my neices.
Good to know Tienna doesn't only like Steve when he's giving her fruit snacks:)

Oquirrh Mountain

Last Saturday morning Steve & I along with Mckay, Brooke & my mom went to the Oquirrh Temple open house. Steve doesn't see the importance of going to open houses anymore because we can go now when it opens, but I think the funny run-in with Mckay's area authority from his mission made the whole trip worth it. But in all seriousness, it was beautiful, it was a fun morning, and fun company:)


As you can tell. Steve & Mckay thoroughly enjoyed the open house:)

One month and counting:)

We have been married one month today! I can't believe how fast time is flying by - It seems like this was just yesterday...
Hope all is well wherever you are! We love you!

New shoes, per Steve's request.

I have a pair of shoes that Steve absolutely loathes. He hates everything about them, and isn't too thrilled when I come home at the end of the day wearing them. They are a little (correction: a lot) smelly, and subsequently make my feet smell. Whenever I walk in the house wearing them he makes me take them off outside the door, then go straight to the bathtub to wash my feet. I love these shoes. They are the kind of shoe that if I had known I would wear them everyday, with any outfit, then I would have bought another pair when I purchased them for $20 at the Banana Republic Outlet in Las Vegas last summer.
Steve put his foot down almost 2 weeks ago now and told me I couldn't wear them again. He told me I was going to have to throw them away, I told him that wasn't an option. He then gave me the option to buy a new pair of shoes to replace them to help ease the pain of throwing them away. I looked and looked to find a pair exactly like them but wasn't successful. As pathetic as I am, I would not let him throw them away until I found a new pair of shoes. After days and days of searching I didn't find anything similar, so I decided on a different pair of shoes.
I decided to OK my new purchase of shoes with Steve because they were pricey: $50. When I told Steve why I wanted a pair of Toms (for every pair you buy, they give a pair to someone in a Third World country), he agreed they were a good purchase, direct words were something about "you're pulling at my liberal heartstrings."
Needless to say, the red pair of Toms were a good purchase. I love them. Not quite as versatile as my Banana Republic favorites, but I figure good pairs of shoes will come and go (and I might get emotionally attached as I did this last time!) Hopefully next time I'm smart enough to buy two pairs!

4th of july and the JoBros

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, hands down. Steve & I had a fun day starting at 6:30 am. We went to the hot air balloon festivities at the Provo High Field. Then, of course, we came home and went right back to sleep! When it was time for normal people to wake up on a holiday we woke up again, made a wonderful breakfast together, then went out and did some shopping for a few things for our apartment (which is coming together very nicely might I add). Then went up to my parent's house for a BBQ. After the amazing hamburgers we came back to Provo and went to LaVell Edwards stadium, to either see the Jonas Brothers for $40 or to sit outside the stadium and enjoy the firework show. Thanks to Steve's great scalping skills (much improved since the San Francisco Giants game experience) we got $55 tickets each for $20 each. Pretty good seats too! The Stadium of Fire was entertaining, and the fireworks were amazing, as always.

We hope you all enjoyed your holiday where ever you are!!

San Francisco sourdough

Our honeymoon in San Francisco was amazing. Between Wicked, the SF Giants vs. Texas Rangers game, shopping on Market Street, Fisherman's Wharf, exploring the city and Steve's heaven on earth - Amoeba Music on Haight street there was always something to do, but we still found time to relax and enjoy each other's company.

Father's Day breakfast at the Boudin Sourdough factory on Fisherman's Wharf

I could have left Steve in Amoeba Music for the rest of the vacation and he would have found a way to sleep and eat in the place.
Oh his love for vinyl records, I don't quite understand, but I think it is awfully cute:)

Last minute ticket purchase to Wicked was well worth it the entertainment-

Especially with 10th row and center seats!