Christmas Card Photo Shoot

"Picnik Show"

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A couple of weeks back we had a little photo shoot so that we could get some pictures for our Christmas Cards (ahem ... that were never sent) and to give our parents because the pictures they had of us were WAY outdated! I thought I'd throw up a little slideshow of our fun little shoot!

Invictus

All the good movies come out around the Holidays! You should all go and see this one... because it's really good...


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Let's Talk Entertainment

As I get older I have found that my taste in movies has evolved from cheesy chick flicks to movies that actually have some type of meaning! Don't get me wrong - I still love a good chick flick or cheesy teenage drama, but lately, I have found myself being drawn to movies that are based more around real life and that elicit real emotional responses from me. Our subscription to Netflix has helped to fuel the fire that has been lit and we are finding ourselves branching out to movies that 5 years ago I never would have considered, because it wasn't a cheesy love story!

This morning, instead of working on Christmas Projects after I took Nate to work, I opted to relax and turn on "Freedom Writers." I originally put this movie on our queue months ago so when I popped it in this morning, I had forgotten what the movie was about, and I was very pleasantly surprised. (If you're looking for a technical critique of the movie, you won't get it here - except that if you have kids, don't let them see it because it is violent and has a couple cuss words).


I am, by default, more of a movie listener than a movie watcher. I can watch the same movie over and over and see something new every time, because I am usually multi-tasking or my mind is not fully concentrating. This movie was different. When I started the movie I had my laptop in place for some photo editing and 5 minutes in my laptop was sitting on our footstool and I was hooked. I do not exaggerate when I say that this movie "had me at hello." Through the course of 2 hours I cried, I laughed, I got angry, and I cheered with triumph and my faith in mankind was restored (however temporarily because I'm off to work with people who sue people for a living), and I am recommending this movie to everyone who reads this blog and I'll be recommending it to people who don't!

(Oh, and for the record, I really do love my job, and I work for the good guys, so they really don't tamper with my faith in mankind!)

Christmas Cards 2009

I had grand designs this year to make and send out all of my Christmas Cards! School ended and my grand designs (for a lot of my clever Christmas plans) got dropped because I didn't want to deal with the stress! I am still mailing out some cards, but not the usual 70ish... this is the card we will be sending via email (which, in my opinion is much more cute than the cards I made) so I thought I'd throw it up here and wish you all a Merry Christmas as well!

We hope that you have a wonderful week and that you get to spend Christmas in the way that your hearts desire! We are so grateful for all of our many blessings and for the birth of our Savior and for all that His birth and His life represent and mean to us. We love you all and wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

It's Officially Christmas

Fall Semester 09 is officially finished! I just took my last final and am now looking forward to a whole month of freedom from homework! Now, I get to give my brain a rest and enjoy this:


(I'm so grateful for such a wonderful husband who supports me and cooks me dinner so that I can focus on studying)


(I'm also grateful for wonderful friends who provide lots of laughs and support and love and joy)


(And Christmas - because it is my favorite time of year! A time to ponder and reflect and show gratitude and be humbled and spend time with family!)

Now I'm off to make Christmas Cards & work on gifts!! Happy Christmas to you all!

Finals Week

... caffeine ... note cards ... late nights ... 7:30 finals ... hiking up old main in 4 degrees ... hot cocoa ... study groups ... selling back textooks ... missing Nate ... finishing finals so that I can see Nate ... boots, gloves, scarves & hats ... blogging breaks

Just a little glimpse of my week this week ... one more to go ... I can do it!

Turkeys, Kids & Late Nights

I know I say this all the time, but "I can't believe" that it is already December! This year has gone by fast! The turkey has already been eaten, the Nativities are up, and the Christmas music is playing! The Holiday's are in swing and I love it!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day and week! Jen & Jess came home for the big dinner day and we had a good time playin' games with the kids, staying up too late playin' cards with the adults, Black Friday Shopping (my first experience - people are seriously crazy), movies (including "New Moon" and a lot, a lot, a lot of good food! We ate a tasty dinner with Nate's family on Thanksgiving Day and enjoyed their company and their cooking skills, then we headed out to my parents house for pie & a little football!

I've got a ton of pictures to post, so I'm just going to get with it!









We are so grateful for all that we have been blessed with. We are happy, we are healthy and we have the best families in the world! We are grateful for the humbling experiences that we have and for the strength that we glean from each other and those around us. We are also grateful for you all and we hope you are all able to have a very enjoyable Holiday Season!

Happy Turkey Day

Just a little somethin' to make you gobble!

Favorites

Because how can you NOT love Taylor Swift?

And this dude, cuz he's a hottie and I love him!

This Weekend:

I get to see these guys,


And these guys,


And this:


And I can't wait! It's going to be a great weekend!

My Weekend in Burley...

...consisted of three wonderful things!

Thing # 1: Crazy Family

I went to Burley with my mom for a family reunion on my mom's side of the family! We left Friday after work and spent two nights at my Aunt Becky's house with my of my crazy aunts and uncles! I had a great time (I was the only niece hanging out at night) and I feel like I was really able to connect with my aunts and my uncles as well! We had some great discussions and even though they are loud and crazy, I am really grateful to belong to such a wonderful family! I did take a lot of pictures, but I don't have any with me in them yet, so as they begin to appear on blogs, I'll throw some up here...

Thing # 2: Long Lost Friends Mentors Family

When I was 11 years old, I had the BEST teachers (Merrie Miss/Sunday School) in the world! I have so many fond memories of them (except for the deer meat incident which caused me, to this day, to never eat red meat again), and I have always felt so grateful that I got to know them. They used to tease me that when they had a baby girl they were going to name her after me, but it turns out, they weren't teasing. They really did. It touches me and flatters me and I want them to know (because I know now that they check my blog) that I have the same affection for them. We lost touch a few years after Nate & I got married and a few months back we realized (through blogging) that they lived by my cousin! I was able to visit with them this weekend and had such a great time! It really made my weekend! (And Julie, if you're reading this, I'll get you copies of these pictures... but they probably won't come until I send your Christmas Card! Love you guys!)




Thing # 3: Pictures... what else?

My adorable cousin Brittany is also an aspiring photographer and it turns out that Burley is a photographer's heaven! There are so many awesome locations! We went out for a bit (a short bit because it was FREEZING) to shoot a few pictures of each other! I had a great time with her and I look forward to shooting with her in the future! I'll fancy up some of the photos and throw them on my photo blog later this week, but here is one of the two of us! And for the record, she has the cutest accessories in the world!!


It was a good weekend and I am grateful that I was able to go!

Chinese Dinner

One our favorite dishes to cook are egg rolls! They take quite a while to make, so when we make them, we tend to go a little crazy! We got together with Nate's family about a week ago to have our Chinese Dinner before Carl & Lynnette head off to New York (because we only do it once a year)! It was tasty as always and we had a great time!

"Chinese Dinner"

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Dating Memories

For some reason I cannot fall asleep tonight! Nate is in bed, snoring away, and my mind just won't shut off! I decided to put a picture for each year we have been together on the side of the blog, and it got me thinking back to our High School dating days!

Most of you know that we have been together since 10th grade! We dated only each other from the time we were 15.5 to, well, now! :) We have had a whole lot of fun together over the past 14 years! Some of my favorite memories include:

- holding hands under pillows at my house so that my parents wouldn't see
- after dating for a while and saying the three little words, we used "BRAT" as code for "I Love You" so that we could say it no matter who was around
- "the cow lies in the hay" and "you have my whole pie" - coded messages that are meant for only Nate & I
- Bryce Canyon & Zions with Nate's family over Spring Break


- going to Nate's soccer games! He looked so hot in his soccer uniform!
- dancing to "Hotel California" at an after game dance, looking into Nate's eyes, and knowing that he was the one that I was meant to be with
- making Gingerbread Houses for Christmas Dance
- our ice cream fight at Macey's, that we have on video, that Nate started
- snuggling through "Tommy Boy" at Lisa's 16th Birthday Party at Anniversary Inn
- snuggling through lots of movies while hanging out at Anniversary Inn (one of my good friend's parents owned the inn while we were in High School - we hung out there a lot)


- Senior Lagoon Day
- our Graduation Trip to Biloxi, Mississippi with Jess & Phuc and sweet little Tyson, including the pickles at Mary Mahoneys
- Dancing on "our" undeveloped hill on Cliffside to "Somebody," and then being proposed to
- "Lizard Breath He-Man Lover" & "Purple Headed Cootie Girl" (don't ask)
- my promise ring that Nate brought back for me from his Band Trip our Senior Year
- hauling our luggage from the London Airport to Kings Cross Train Station in London, specifically the huge stair well that our suitcases pulled us down
- hanging out on our deck in Oregon after the rest of Nate's family went to bed


- the first time Nate held my hand! I was sitting on his lap in the back of April's Geo Metro - we had crowded way too many people in... neither one of us minded
- our first awkward kiss - Merlin Olsen Park, in the sprinklers
- our first real kiss - Merlin Olsen Park, in the sprinklers - for some reason we thought that was a good place for kissing
- "falling asleep" to virtually every movie that we watched while we were dating
- my family reunion at Beaver Mountain - for some reason we thought it would be fun to sing show tunes at the crack of dawn
- many, many trips to stay with Amanda & Obeta in Salt Lake
- our experience with "gangstas" after a school dance - it still kind of freaks me out


These memories are the tip of the iceberg! There are so many more, but it is midnight and my eyes are drooping, so I'll leave you all with these.

And to Nate, the love of my life, the one that I knew at the age of 15 that I wanted to be with forever - I love you! I love that we have so many memories and stories - and pictures to prove them :) You truly are my best friend and I can't imagine sharing a life with anyone but you!

Impromptu Halloween Celebrations

Since our Halloween plans were foiled by Wyoming (yes, I'm blaming the State), we ended up celebrating Halloween here in town!

We attended and thoroughly enjoyed a showing of "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" with Brynn & Eric, and then we ended up grabbing some lunch at the always tasty Iron Gate!



Later that evening we donned our costumes and headed up to Nate's parents house to spend a little time with his family! We had promised our nephews in CO that we would get dressed up, and we spent so much time thinking of the perfect costumes, so we had to put them on for a bit!!



After trick or treating with the kids, we headed over to the Duts where we got to see the Wilkies, eat yummy chocolate cake, relax and have a good time, as usual! We hope you all had an enjoyable holiday as well!

Our Almost Trip to Colorado

Last Friday we got all packed up, stocked up on goodies and headed out! Our intentions were to make it to Colorado Springs to see our sweet nephew get baptized, celebrate Halloween, and enjoy some time with my sisters and their families!

We made great time to Rock Springs! The roads were clear, the skies were cloudy but not producing any rain or snow, but we were directed off of I-80 because it was closed! We ended up spending the next four hours in delirious denial! The roads between Rock Springs and Fort Collins were frozen over! It wasn't snowing, but it was super cold, and they wouldn't thaw! We hung out at Wal-Mart, ate some breakfast at I-HOP, took a little tour of Rock Springs, walked around their not so big mall, and put off making our decision on whether or not to turn around and come home...

After calling the Interstate Hotline numerous times, the road opening kept getting pushed back and in the end, we decided to cut our losses and turn around. We were grateful that we were only three hours into the drive, but we were both bummin' pretty hard. We were sad that we didn't get to make it to Dev's baptism and that we didn't get to hang out with them - but we are grateful that we were able to recognize that we needed to turn around and not try to continue on. We made it back to Logan in good time and, despite the disappointment, managed to have a good weekend and enjoy our time together!

So, in lieu of exciting pictures of our fabulous time in Colorado, here are some pictures of our delirious denial in Rock Springs!!


And to Devin: We love you and we are so proud of you and for the your decision to get baptized!! We are sorry that we couldn't spend the day with you!! Love you buddy!

Brrrr....

It's really cold. I'm not ready for Winter. As much as I love hot chocolate and wassail, I'm not ready for them to become mandatory.

On the plus side, it does look really pretty (and when it comes to thinking of positives for cold, that really does make a difference)...

Distracted

I have less than 48 hours to type an 8 page paper! 4 of the 8 pages are drafted - not perfectly, but at least my ideas are out of my head and typed up, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do the final four... I don't know if it is just lack of interest or super excitement for our trip to Colorado this weekend... either way, it is making it really hard for me to work so that I can have a school free weekend...

If someone has some extra focus, I'd appreciate it if you'd send it my way!

Oh, and since we'll be gone, have a Happy Halloween! We'll be spending the day celebrating our nephew's baptism and hangin' out with some seriously cute kids!!

Halloween Sugar Cookie Extravaganza

A tradition that we have with Nate's family every year around Halloween is to decorate Sugar Cookies! We always make way too many, eat way too much, and have a lot of fun in the process!

We did it a little early this year because Nate & I will be gone over Halloween, but the kiddos brought their costumes for pics and we we had as great a time as always!!

Our Favorites of Fall TV

Well, it's back! I've given it a month or so to settle in and see what shows we "can't live without" - here are our top four (because I know you've been dying to know):

Dollhouse


We are pretty big Joss Whedon fans at our house! We have several of his series on DVD and this one is right up there with the rest of them! If you haven't seen this, we'd highly recommend it!

The Office


This season started out a little slow for us but the last few episodes have drawn us back in! The Wedding Episode - a favorite of mine! And the Mafia episode last week was hilarious!! This show will always be a top 5!

Glee


Our love for this show is almost borderline obsession! I HAD to download the soundtrack (sung by the original cast) and can't get enough of it! I tend to love anything that revolves around music and this show is no exception!

Vampire Diaries


Those of you who know us well will know that we like our Vamps! We are fans of Buffy, Angel, Twilight and have recently added this show to our list!

So there it is! These are the shows that we save room on our TIVO for and that are keeping us entertained this fall!! Anyone got any others they'd recommend?

Fabulous Fall

I had a photo shoot yesterday and I was able to sneak in some of the fall leaves! It is absolutely GORGEOUS right now!

*Oh, and as a side note, did you know that Spring Hollow Campground has a waterfall? How come I have never known this?*