It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Hello Everyone!

Brian and I are just about ready to start having lives again.

In other words, we won't be going to school soon for 1 ENTIRE MONTH!

We both still have to take one more final each.

I can honestly say I have never been more excited for anything in my entire life. (However, I'm sure that statement will change in April when Brian graduates!)

We Have been so anxious for Christmas.  I love cuddling up on the couch with the Christmas tree lights on, a blanket and some hot chocolate. Seriously, nothing says Christmas more than that. 

I really love the holiday season. Everyone is running around trying to find the perfect gift that says "I love you." and "You're special to me." I have really been able to see this first hand working in a jewelry store these past few weeks. Those poor guys and what us girls put them through.. They try so hard to find something that we will really love. 

We have had ourselves a few "Christmas Miracles" this past week. Sarah (Brian's sister) and her family moved back to Utah after living in Paris for about 5 months. I think Christmas without children is sad and super weird, So I'm super stoked they are back. Also, my cousins from Hawaii moved back today. They had been living in Hawaii for about a year and a half. They bring such energy and life to our family (to those of you who know my family, you know we aren't really lacking in that department.. we're super loud and fun. But seriously, the more the merrier right?)

Brian and I have literally thrown ourselves into the holidays by participating in a bunch of holiday activities. We put up our tree and decorated TWO WEEKS before Christmas. Yup, not ashamed. We spent countless hours finding the most perfect songs for our grooveshark Christmas playlist. We listen to it almost every day. We threw a Christmas party the other night which was a lot of fun. (Pictures further below.) We have gone ugly Christmas decoration hunting. Taken our awkward Christmas photo as well as made some christmas cards that we have yet to send out. (I should probably get on that...) I painted my nails to look like Candy Canes. Brian also planned a super fun Winter date for us the other night that was incredibly cute and thoughtful. We have a ton more planned for the upcoming weeks, and we still have to get pretty much all of our shopping done... But it's been fun. 

This is my first Christmas away from my parents and brother. My first Christmas since I was 3, not going home to New York. Needless to say, sometimes I get a little down in the dumps and depressed about it. But then I remember that this will be my first Christmas with my husband and that brightens my spirits. 

I hope you guys are being safe and fun this holiday season. Probably won't post again until after Christmas. So until then, enjoy the pictures!

 This is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Bear.
I always tease my dad and say that this stuffed bear looks like him..

Case and Point: I guess I'll be spending Christmas with my dad after all!!!

This is the awkward Christmas card we made for our 2nd Annual Awkward Christmas Party

Some Pictures from our winter date that Brian planned all by himself. It was a blast!

Most of the guests from our party. Some other left before we took this, some got cut out of the picture (Sorry Megan & Adam and Chase & Emily and Ben!!!) and some came afterwards (sorry Karissa and Jewels!)

I should've taken some pictures of the food but I totally forgot. But for those who care (basically just my mother... lol!) I made a pomegranate cranberry punch, chocolate truffles, kettle corn, jalepeno poppers, a feta cheese and dried cherry salad, chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon rolls. There was also a ton of finger foods like pretzels and the like. Anyways, there you go (MOM!)

Thanksgiving two-timers

I don't know what I was thinking but a week before Thanksgiving, I decided it would be a great idea to get my Wisdom Teeth extracted... stupid idea. 

Brian told me I said a lot of funny things coming off the anesthesia. 

I guess I have a lot of angst and hatred towards the Groundhog's Day groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.. Brian said I was like, 

"I hate that guy. He just likes to mess with people and make them think that Winter's going to be over... but you know what?!? It never is! We should just kill him!" 

Just look at that scheming, manipulative and ugly face!!! 

It was kind of frustrating to eat Thanksgiving dinner, but I got to eat everything I wanted to at a slower pace. Luckily, a lot of my favorite Thanksgiving foods are soft anyways. Oh! And they let me keep my teeth. Pretty Cool. 

This Thanksgiving was pretty crazy for us. We have a lot of family here and we want to be sure that we spend time with all of them on the holidays. Families are what is really important after all! We started off our day by going to my brother and sister-in-laws house for a brunch. Afterwards, we came home and made some food preparations and headed over to my cousin's home in Herriman, Utah. They had their Thanksgiving feast at around 2 o'clock. We stayed there for about three hours and than made the drive back to Orem so we could have dinner with Brian's family at 7 o'clock. Needless to say we ate a lot that day. Afterwards, Brian and I came home. Brian had to do some homework and I went right to bed...

Oh, How I used to love Black Friday back in the day when I didn't have to work Black Friday! 

I miss those times. 

This blog is really short, but I just wanted to end by saying a few things that I am grateful for:

1. my loving family.

2. my sweet friends.

3. my opportunity to gain an education.

4. my job.

5. my home. 

6. a loving God that watches over and protects me, my family and friends.

7. my husband. 

who made one of the biggest sacrifices a man could make. he gave into my pleads and ended Mo'vember early. I seriously just couldn't take the beard, or should I say, "little rodent" growing on his face any longer..

Possibly because it reminded me of the groundhog I subconsciencely hate so much???

BEFORE

Imagine having to wake up to the above every morning. 

Have you imagined it?

...

Frightening, wasn't it?

:o

AFTER

There's the man I know and love. He was just being buried alive in ugly beard before. 

He has been shaved saved!! 

8)

I hope this holiday season finds you well. Brian and I have kicked the season off early by decorating our home for Christmas... a week ago. :) Also, Last night we made gingerbread men, drank hot chocolate and watched Home Alone. 

We are so ready. 

"It's a-me, Mario" & Other October Happenings

The month of October was pure chaos.

Lovely.

But.. Yeah Chaotic.

I worked way more than usual. My dad, brother and one of my best friend's from high school came to visit. Midterms and basically just school in general. Parties (in all forms and varieties). Halloween. Anniversary. Oh! And just for good measure, let's throw two weddings in there!

Needless to say, I am exhausted. Instead of finding any solace in the month of November, I just have to repeat it as the holidays are coming up and that is the BUSIEST time of the year for my work. Oh boy! I will not get any rest until the 1st of January.

Oh well.

Here are some pictures, enjoy!

 

On October 14th, Brian took me to work. He was a little late picking me up from work so I was a little ticked. However, when I got in the car, I realized why he was late. On the passenger's seat were balloons in our wedding color, a chocolate bar, flowers and a note. The note said, "Coupon for a night out at the Cheesecake Factory. Only Valid Tonight! Happy 6 month Anniversary!" He is so sweet to me. Oh, and yes the Cheesecake Factory was delicious.

 

 

The Sunday my dad drove into town, we knew he would be coming a little bit later in the evening so we decided to go up to Sundance and take some pictures. We are so glad we did the colors of the leaves were absolutely beautiful!

 

Brian is a little bit more beautiful than the leaves. Obviously.

 

Just as we predicted my dad called us as we were driving to my aunt's house from Sundance to ask us where we were. I was so happy to see him! I gave him a big hug and we hung out for pretty much two days straight. I am so grateful that I have an awesome dad that would drive across the country to bring me a car. I am also grateful that I was allowed a surprise visit from my dad. I really was sad that I might not see him for a while.

 

 

Me and my dad doing what we do best: Being goof balls.

 

I think we all kind of rub off on each other in the goof ball sense...

 

I was so excited that I was able to go to one of my very best friend's bachelorette parties. Her family is so nice and welcoming and we had a great time teasing our little Megan and eating sushi at Happy Sumo.

 

 

One of the most anticipated times of the year for me is October and December.

 

October: Count Chocola Cereal

December: Cap'n Crunch Christmas Cereal

 

Brian and I (mostly Brian) made halloween cookies for the kids in our class. They loved them.

Halloween cookies include: little kids kicking pumpkins, ghost, zombie, vampire, alien and a really weird red haired boy that I named, Anthony.

We had a lot of fun participating in all of the Halloween festivities. We watched a lot of scary movies (new, old, and really old.) We went on a spooky ski lift ride at Sundance at night. It actually was scary for me, not because people jumped out at you, but because I am deathly afraid of heights so I held onto that bar for dear life the entire ride, haha! Since Sarah (Brian's sister) and her family are away, we are really grateful that we teach 4-5 year olds at church. Seriously. The holidays are just way more fun when little kids are there to find the magic in it.

 

Like our pumpkin? I found it on Pinterest. It's an original idea...

 

 

All month I have been telling Brian that for our Halloween dinner I was going to make "Mummy Dawwwgs." He liked them a lot. Probably because instead of hot dogs, we used Brats.

 

Cause we are classy like that.

 

Even classier than most classy people because we get our dessert from a plastic bag.

 

top that.

 

:o

 

 

After dinner we went to a dance. We had gone to a dance the previous weekend with my in-laws Emily and Chase. But we wanted to do something on actual Halloween night. The dance was fun. Everybody loved our costumes.

 

They are my favorite costumes by far.

 

Look at that sweet 'stache

 

This October, chaotic as it was, was very fun.

 

 

But, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I am way beyond ready for Thanksgiving and Turkey.

 

Hahahahaha!

 

Happy November Everyone!!!!!

 

 

 

Seattle Road Trip

Brian and I wanted to make sure that we went on a honeymoon because we have spoken to so many people who had been married for a year, 5 years, 10 years, even 20 years, who had not yet been on a theirs.

But where...?

We are really hoping to visit Brian's sister in Paris next spring, so we didn't want to spend a ton of money, but we knew we definitley wanted to get away. On our wedding night, we drove up to Salt Lake City for a long weekend. It was really nice, but I don't consider a 45 minute drive north a honeymoon.

Brian kept telling me he wanted to go to Seattle and show me all of the places he went on his mission. Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled about that idea. All I knew about Washington was that it rains there

A LOT.

and if you know me (even briefly) you will know that me and rain, do NOT get along.

Rain is just not nice to my hair.

and again if you know me (even briefly) you will know that my hair is my baby and I will do anything to protect it (and its reputation) at all costs.

However, Brian assured me that the week he had planned out for us to go would be one that was filled with sunshiney weather. (A promise he was not sure of completely, until 10 days before our trip. Luckily, he was right and I did not have to kill him.)

Brian: "Phew!"

We Got there on Wednesday night, after a 15 hour drive to Burlington. The drive was long and boring, but totally worth it.

The first day we went to a city called Linden. It was a cute little dutch town with breath taking landscapes. Brian took me to a place that he and his companions would go and get the most delicious, cheapest ice cream ever! It was a dairy called Edaleen dairy. We got an extra large vanilla icecream cone for $1.39! They had 2 gallon cartons of milk for $1.99! My dad (aka "the baby calf") would have loved it there, lol! I told him about it and I think he was a little bit jealous of us.

Afterwards, we stopped at a beach pretty close by. It was beautiful. I had never been to the Pacific Ocean, so I was really excited. I collected some seashells.. but don't tell anyone, because I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to take them out of the park... :x

 

 

 

 

 

Brian and I attempted to take some cool pictures. Some of them worked, and some of them... not so much.

 

 

First I bombed it..

 

Then, Brian bombed it...

 

Then we aced it!



Brian said that Washington has the best terriyaki places. For dinner we went to a cute little place called Apple Terriyaki. He was right! it was so yummy! The owner was super friendly and gave us tons of rice and free soup. We got Brian's favorite Chicken Terriyaki. I had a hard time getting Brian to leave!

The next day, We drove to Anacortes and hopped on a ferry to Friday Harbor. When I say "hopped" I really mean "ran for our lives."

We were running kind of late, and the ferry was leaving in like, three minutes. We ran faster than I have ever run, because if we missed that ferry, we would have to wait three hours for the next one.
Even the ticket guys were like, "Run!" We made it there just in the knick of time, right as they were untying the boat. Yup, I felt pretty super agent like. The boat ride was beautiful. I didn't even know that Washington had islands that people lived on so it was incredible to see all of those beautiful houses.

 

Oh my gosh, I want to go back so bad!!!

 

(Like always, I was being a baby) so I'm holding onto that railing for dear life!

 

Funny Story

 

While Brian and I were on the boat ride to Friday Harbor, there was this man who suddenly pulled out a wooden flute and started playing music to a baby. Brian and I thought it was hilarious because it reminded us of the YouTube video, "the sax man." We didn't catch him on film playing to the baby, but we did get a snippet of him playing the flute to some elderly people sitting and talking. I'll have to figure out how to post a video from my phone on here, but when I do, you will have to watch it!

 

 

Brian took me a place that sold hot sauce, he showed me the hottest hot sauce that they carry, supposedly, the hottest hot sauce in the whole world. If you are brave enough to even put one drop of it on your toungue, the store owner takes a picture of you and it goes on the wall. See if you can spot Brian from when he tried it 3 years ago!

 

 



 

 

Later that night, we left Burlington and headed to Kirkland, a little city outside of Seattle. Upon our arrival, we were very surprised to see that the hotel we were staying at had upgraded our room to a King Spa Suite because it was our honeymoon. We were so happy. It had a beautiful jacuzzi right in the room. I hate going to the jacuzzi's in hotels and having 10 strangers decide they want to go in at the same time as you. It was nice to have a private one. That night we went to down town Kirkland, which is seriously the prettiest and cleanest down town in the United States of America. We ate at this yummy place called the Cactus. I got tortilla soup and a mocktail. Brian got Tacos Al Pastor and Mexican Lemonade.

 

TRY THIS MEXICAN LEMONADE!

 

1 carton simply lemonade juice

2 tbs cilantro chopped

1/2 jalepeno sliced

ice

 

mix together and enjoy!

 

The next morning we went to Pike's Place. It was amazing. Totally not what I was expecting. My mom would love it. We got breakfast at a bakery, and Brian bought me some beautiful flowers for just $5. Seriously. Getting flowers anywhere else, seems like a rip off now!

 

 

I don't have too many pictures from Pike's Place that I am willing to post it was super humid that day.

Yes, Brian was right it did not rain, so therefore I cannot kill him. :)

 

For lunch, we later went to a little diner called Spuds. It is there that I had my very first, Fish & Chips. Yet another thing I would drive up to Washington to have.

 

 

Sadly the next day, we had to go home. I did not want to leave. Brian fulfilled his many duties by checking the tire pressure and filling up the gas and we started out our sad journey back to orem... Blah!

 

 

Last picture of Washington trees.

 

As you can see, I got pretty bored being in the car for so long...

 

Anyways, Our trip was so fun. It was one I'll never forget. I already want to back, and that's how you know it was a good vacation. :)