My non-Holiday, Holiday Post No. 2

After Finishing the last post I realized that I had in fact taken a few pics revolving around Christmas. Mostly they are of tree decorations on the tree at my parents house, but that's still fun.
These are some of my favorite tree ornaments that have been around longer than me, which isn't terribly long, but still, they've been around (except for the madeline head).

 My brother Michael made this bear of pom poms when he was a kid and it's probably one of the goofiest ornaments we have. I clearly remember a Christmas when he made a point to hang it at the top of the tree, in place of a star (and this was probably only a few years ago, when he was in his mid 20s, not when he was young).

 This cow is one of my most favorites we have. There is also a cat and horse that look similar but the blue cow is just the best. I even instagramed it.

 My sister-in-law gave me a cute Madeline ornament and I think in storage the head broke from the body, so now it's just a Madeline head. This year my sister asked my Dad which was his favorite ornament and he pointed to this one. So, despite it being just a head it's still loved.

My good friend and I made a Gingerbread (or graham cracker, if we are being technical) tardis. If you don't know what that is, it's the time machine/space traveling machine from Dr. Who. And if you don't know what Dr. Who is, then I seriously think you need to figure that one out on your own. It's really only the coolest show ever. The main character (the doctor) wear suspenders  and bow ties and fez's and Stetsons and he's cool. We tweeted our creation to him but haven't heard back....

Another exciting event this Christmas was the return of Jeff and Melissa!  They've been in Africa for the past 6ish months and we weren't expecting them to come home until this spring, maybe even summer. They surprised us at a Christmas party and it was the best surprise! I think I probably scared everyone when I screamed so loud once I saw them walk into the room. Also, I cried. I was so surprised and happy to see them! So happy they are back!

I think that's all that I have about Christmas. But I'm working on a  New Years resolution and reflection post.

p.s. every time I typed ornaments I spelled it "ornamets" I don't know what that means. But, it was weird for me.

My non-Holiday, Holiday Post

This year Christmas time was weird. Because of school I wasn't able to really get into the spirit of things until pretty much the week before. I didn't even put up my little table top tree that I bought last year (actually I hadn't realized that I left it at my parents house until about 5 days before Christmas).

Which also means that I didn't take any pictures during the season and I am regretting it most right now, not being able to show you how much fun it actually was.

Well, it was a low key Christmas this year, Boyf and I exchanged gifts on a low budget and we had a nice breakfast together much like last year sans hashbrowns. You can go to my post last year to see some happy Christmas pics including the breakfast we had that included hashbrowns.

I was at such a loss for boyfs gifts this year. I still kind of feel bad about how they turned out, so let me just say that Valentines will be AWESOME, or I'll make it up to you somehow. Anyway, I bought him this print (it did come framed), a new coffee travel mug some instant coffee mixes and boxers. When you think about that seems pretty okay, but then when you compare it what he got for me it's not.

For my gift Boyf got me a DVD player (I have been sans DVD player for over a year), a new necklace, this one to be exact and I was ECSTATIC when I opened it. I had shown it to him on etsy and said you know, if you still need a gift for me.....And then he told me it had sold out. I was actually kind of sad when he told me so I was thrilled when I opened it Christmas morning and have worn it every day since. He also gave me  A Very She and Him Christmas cd which was happy for me and for the biggie, he fixed up his old ibook G4 for me. I was telling someone at work and she had no idea was that even was, and if you too are confused it's an old lappy from apple. Probably from 2006 maybe '07. Anyway, it's old, but I have no lappy and so it's great! I am actually using it right now for blogging.

So that was Christmas for me and Boyf. I hate to see the winter holidays go, I definitely look forward to them all year long.

Of course, Christmas with the fam was a blast as always! My brother and his wife always have a Christmas party and we watch Elf and eat a lot of food and it was so fun this year! Their kids are getting older and I feel like each time I see them they are totally different. It's weird, but I love it and them!

Now if we could only get some snow....

As Far Back as November, But No Less Exciting!

It's been a while since my big sis broke the news, but since I went on a blogging hiatus I never told the world, that my sister is PREGNANT!

I wish I could have recorded the moment that she told my family because my mother was so shocked, I've never seen her quite so speechless. It probably seemed like my mom wasn't excited but trust me, she is! I know for a fact that my mother immediately went out and bought baby things for my sister, and probably not even two weeks after we found out I ended up spending pretty much a WHOLE day shopping at several Carter's across Salt Lake City for baby things with my mother (of course we got things for the other children).


Next month we find out what she is having and it'll be exciting! Also, I think she mentioned that the gender unveiling might involve cake, and if that's true then I'm even more excited.

This is a pretty old picture of my sister and her husband, engagement picture old, but it is a pretty cute one of them both.

Congratulations Christine and Derk!

Weekend Update

This weekend was full of fall fabulousness. On Friday I had this whole big plan for Jason and I to ride the tram at Snowbird and then hike down. Jason ate while I drove (and was paying more attention to the burger than where I was going) and apparently Snowbird is NOT in Park City. I repeat Snowbird is NOT in Park City, so now you know. Instead we rode the chair lift at the Park City resort and then hiked down. It was really beautiful there and last year we didn't go up the canyon to see the fall leaves and I really regretted it.

Jason suddenly became very scowly, and as you can see in the next picture, slouchy.

 I am smiling here, but then Jason decided that he wanted to take billions of pictures of me and then this is eventually what they ended up looking like

There were a lot of squirrels, and at one point Jason and I sat watching one for a few minutes. But after Jason said that we had actually been watching it for an hour but that it only seemed like a few minutes for me.

The next day, Saturday, my family traveled up to Logan and Brigham city. In Logan Zollinger's farm has the BEST apple juice/cider ever. It's pretty much drinking a straight apple. In Brigham city we dined at the fabulous Idle Isle Cafe. If you ever go to Brigham city and need a meal definitely go here. It's pretty much just comfort food, chicken fried steak, BLT's and the like, but their rolls are so good. And don't forget their pie, it's worth it just for the pie. My family loves the Banana Cream and the Idle Berry (there is such a thing as an idle berry). Then we continue on down the road where all the berry stands are and stop at Pettingill's where you'll find the best raspberry shake and delicious fruit and veggies.

What a fun weekend. Next week is Fall Break and we have some fun plans, I'll definitely be posting more then.

Weekend Update

(I like SNL's weekend update, that is what I'm calling my weekend pic posts)

The top picture is an entry in the creative arts section at the Utah State Fair. It would have won our special "worst craft" award except that would be a "special needs category" rule breaker. A very creepy "felted vessel" (felt vase?) with a face at the bottom probably won, no picture though. The second two pics are also from the Fair at Jungle George's booth where you can get a maggot melt (pictured) as well as a chocolate covered cricket (not pictured but shared with Dad) and python and yak and all sorts of crazy things I wish I was brave enough to try. The bottom pictures show my very first plant! Woo! It's a tiny fern that kind of looks like moss but it's very cute and I now have something living in my apartment besides myself and the times when Boyf is there. The last picture is of henna on my hand that I had painted on at the Eid Al-Fitr festival at the Library this past Saturday.

All in all it was a filling weekend and that wasn't even all I did. I had a great first attempt at an ipod dance party (you know the old ipod commercials with the silhouettes dancing awesomely? Well we attempted to have everyone synced up with a play-list and then dance with our ipods, head phones in, it was fun, need to iron out the kinks).

Also on Thursday (which is not a day in the weekend, I know) I had a nasty spill off my bike, RUINED my jeans and definitely ruined my knee. I have a lovely purple bruise all around it as well as a nasty scab and it still hurts to put weight on it. Definitely reminded me I might need a helmet when I bike around.

One on One

Well, really not quite one on one cause it was me, Charlie and Grandma but still kind of. Having nieces and nephews is quite possibly one of the best things that's happened in my adult life; and now that they are getting older spending one on one time with them (as well as collective) is so special.

Charlie is the oldest, he's going to be 6 in October and I can't believe how old that is! He's one of the handsomest and smartest guys I know, and I can't wait for school to start so I can start hearing about all of his girlfriends (he's definitely already had a few girls fawn over him).

Anyway, Charlie and Grandma and I went to the Clark Planetarium and saw the Sea Rex 3D movie. It was pretty cool and we almost got eaten a few times from a scary sea dinosaur. Then we went and had some ice cream and cookies.

Charlie is, I think, less messy at eating ice cream than I am.

After ice cream and cookies we went to the library and read just about every Spider-Man graphic novel on the shelf.

I adore this little guy and can't wait to see him grow up, although I will miss this time in his life.