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Hey friends! I'm Tess Frame, The Framed Lady. I'm a twenty-something wife (and soon-to-be mother). Together, my husband and I make a super-ambitious team. We live in San Diego, California, in one of the most pleasantly weathered cities our green earth offers. We're always working on business endeavors, investments, inventions, and opportunities to forward ourselves and learn everything we can. My husband, Conrad, who you'll hear about a lot, is a geotechnical Civil Engineer, and he's an avid web programmer. He's built apps, websites, and businesses for himself and for clients. You can read my "Becoming a Millionaire" series right here.
I'm a homemaker. I love bringing beauty into my home with creativity. It took me a couple years of marriage to hone my domestic skills, but now, everywhere you look I've got a project I've just finished, one I'm working on, and one I want to start. You'll see lots of blog posts on those projects.
My current favorites
Shows: Sherlock, Arrested Development, Pretty Little Liars, Supernatural
Food: any kind of sandwich, ratatouille
Colors: peach, white, turquoise
Clothes: maxi skirts and sandals (hey, I'm pregnant, after all!)
Other favorites: museums and art shows, boating, beach days, concerts, crafting, blogging, spending time with family.
What I believe
A common question I receive is what I believe in. I'm a Mormon, but I'm also much more than a cultural Mormon. I believe in eternal families. In fact, that may be the the single largest reason I choose to practice that religion. I believe that Christ died for our sins so we could return to heaven. I have faith in prayer and in kindness and in hard work. I think that people can achieve anything with those three things. I don't drink alcohol or dress immodestly or do various other things that are harmful or disrespectful to my body. However, I'm also a normal person. I wear two-piece bathing suits. I eat coffee ice-cream, but don't drink coffee. I don't have tattoos or have my ears pierced (the ear thing is more of a personal-style choice, not a religious guideline). Any other questions? Check out my Mormon.org profile, or send me an email and I'll try my best to answer!
Me and Conrad, and our love story
The first time Conrad saw me, he was sitting behind me in church. He thought my hair was pretty and my textured tights were stylish.
The first time we spoke, we were giving talks in church. We were sitting up on the stand together, and we laughed about how short our talks were, and how much extra time there would be when we were done. I thought he was nice and weird. And that his nose was gloriously huge.
The first time we spent time together, it was horribly awkward. He was my home teacher, and his companion was our friend. We hung out and I talked about myself all night like the self-centered eighteen-year-old I was. I wouldn’t see him again for a few months while I was attending BYU-Idaho.
On our first date, I was back in town between semesters. He took me rock climbing and then out to dinner. The whole thing was, again, horribly awkward. The harness situation at the rock climbing hangar… The disgusting buffalo chicken I accidentally ordered, but ate anyway to avoid seeming picky… The moment at the end of the date where I thought he was about to kiss me and I gracelessly avoided it. Needless to say, I had no intention of going out with him again.
I went back for my second semester at BYU-I, thought of him a few times, and came back in July for my off track. We started hanging out over the summer, and each occasion was fraught with awkwardness. He made me help him move his couch. HIS PULL-OUT BED COUCH. The thing weighed 400 pounds.
After many weird hang-outs and a few uncomfortable ultimatums, we were dating.
The first time we kissed, we were in our friends apartment. We had just had “the conversation,” and defined our relationship. We sat there in silence for a minute. I was waiting for him to make a move. He was just sitting there obliviously. So I leaned in and got it over with. And at the time, it was weird (that seems to be the defining word of our relationship). That was my last first kiss. And I’m so glad it was with him.
The kissing just got better and better. So did the conversation. Six weeks after that last first kiss, we were engaged. We were in the car. We just decided together that we wanted to be married. I didn’t tell my parents. He spoke with them the next day and got their approval, then a day or two later we told them we were engaged.
Five months later, we were married for eternity.
And the kissing still keeps getting better.
Our family
We're currently awaiting the arrival of our first son. Here's his picture. He's due August 17, 2013, and I imagine that he'll come out with long legs and a bald head. He gets hiccups all the time, and is attached to me via cord and placenta. Other than that, I don't really know much about him.
We also share a home with our chinchilla, Ninners, who is one of my favorite animals ever. He has various positions which we fondly refer to as "The Rattigan," "The Hunchback," "The Vixen," and "The Dead Rat," among many others. He squeaks and barks like he owns the place, and his area around his cage is always covered in fur and Ninner-poop. He's overly confident and trusting in me because I never mistreat him, which result in escape attempts and accidental fingernail nibbles. I'm a major animal lover - Conrad, not so much. Once, I put a little towel over Nin's head so it looked like he was wearing a hood, and he very closely resembled one of the Kia Soul Hamsters.
Our home
We bought our condo in May 2011 and have been working on making it our home ever since. It's a two bedroom, two bathroom condo overlooking our pool. We feel like we got the best property in the whole complex, and sometimes, when the pool glows blue at night, we feel like we're living at a resort. I often post updates on our house and all our projects.
Read about when we moved in.
Why I blog
The Businesses
Conrad and I have worked together on various business endeavors since we got married. Some of them dwindled, but many of them ended up being successful, even if it was just small successes. Here are some of the things we (mostly Conrad) have done in the last four years.
Conrad:
Sendrecurring - A free recurring/reminder email service
Review Civil PE - A resource and study blog for civil engineers
Daypage - A daily online journal and log
BusyBaby App - A baby timer and activity tracker
Menuflick - A menu and dish rating app
Me:
Selling wreaths
Eyelash extensions
Blogging
Writing
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me! Come on over and introduce yourself! If you would like to contact me, go here.
Our family
We're currently awaiting the arrival of our first son. Here's his picture. He's due August 17, 2013, and I imagine that he'll come out with long legs and a bald head. He gets hiccups all the time, and is attached to me via cord and placenta. Other than that, I don't really know much about him.
We also share a home with our chinchilla, Ninners, who is one of my favorite animals ever. He has various positions which we fondly refer to as "The Rattigan," "The Hunchback," "The Vixen," and "The Dead Rat," among many others. He squeaks and barks like he owns the place, and his area around his cage is always covered in fur and Ninner-poop. He's overly confident and trusting in me because I never mistreat him, which result in escape attempts and accidental fingernail nibbles. I'm a major animal lover - Conrad, not so much. Once, I put a little towel over Nin's head so it looked like he was wearing a hood, and he very closely resembled one of the Kia Soul Hamsters.
Our home
We bought our condo in May 2011 and have been working on making it our home ever since. It's a two bedroom, two bathroom condo overlooking our pool. We feel like we got the best property in the whole complex, and sometimes, when the pool glows blue at night, we feel like we're living at a resort. I often post updates on our house and all our projects.
Read about when we moved in.
Why I blog
I started blogging about four years ago. My brother was in a skateboarding accident that caused a cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), and I decided I needed to start documenting my life and the things that matter to me. That day, I saw how potentially fragile everything was, and how much I would wish I had written down my experiences in a few years. So here I am, a few years later, and boy, am I glad I started this awesome journey! He was fine, by the way.
My blog has kind of changed directions since I started. I've taken on a lot of networking, and have been working to make connections with other bloggers and reach out more. I've met some amazing people through blogging, and I'm definitely going to keep going!
I used to set goals like "reach 5000 followers in 5 years" but now am more concerned with actually making a difference. I love receiving heartfelt emails and comments from my readers more than I like seeing my numbers rise. But let's be honest. We all like seeing our numbers rise.
The Businesses
Conrad and I have worked together on various business endeavors since we got married. Some of them dwindled, but many of them ended up being successful, even if it was just small successes. Here are some of the things we (mostly Conrad) have done in the last four years.
Conrad:
Sendrecurring - A free recurring/reminder email service
Review Civil PE - A resource and study blog for civil engineers
Daypage - A daily online journal and log
BusyBaby App - A baby timer and activity tracker
Menuflick - A menu and dish rating app
Me:
Selling wreaths
Eyelash extensions
Blogging
Writing
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me! Come on over and introduce yourself! If you would like to contact me, go here.
