December Happenings

December has been so full of fun activities! I get to attend five different work parties, bake and receive yummy goodies, spend a little more time with Hubs than I'm used to, and enjoy lots of giant mugs full of fruity "teas" while cuddling with Jimmy in front of the T.V. We've probably seen Home Alone too many times. 

Speaking of movies, Jimmy took me to see Frozen the other week, I looooved it! Been listening to the soundtrack, especially this song by Demi Lovato all day today. 

We also saw the new Hobbit movie, whatever its called. Today marks Jimmy's third time seeing it. Three times in four days! Goodness. And to go along with the theme, my living room floor is covered in Lord of the Rings Legos. I'm practicing my patience. ;)

ugly sweater party for work with my sister and oldest brother

one of the boys in my primary brought me this little card and bag of chocolate the other day

and of course I had to do a little decorating the day after Thanksgiving! I actually had a TON of projects lined up but didn't have the time so I told myself to not stress over it and enjoy a little simplicity this year. I made the Santa sleigh garland with my Silhouette machine, it was super easy and quick!

I just had to take a few pictures of my parent's tree, I love it!

And of course my mom set our Thanksgiving table to be so pretty and I had to snap a few photos of that as well.

 This quote has been my favorite for the year, it has helped me so much. I designed this then my Silhouette drew it for me. I think I'm going to make a large one for my house!

Jimmy got us tickets to the "Music and the Spoken Word" this Sunday so we went to that in Salt Lake. The guests were Deborah Voigt (opera singer) and John Rys-Davis (Lord of the Rings actor- *insert Jimmy's excitement here*)  It was SO GOOD. Nothing like I expected. I didn't know they would have so much dancing and acting. The stage was set up to replicate Charles Dickens' town and they did a musical which was titled, "A Dickens Christmas." It was so cool. My favorite was all of the ballerinas and other dancers as well as tumblers doing all kinds of tumbling (back flips, ect.) on stage. It was so fun when Charles and The Ghost of Christmas Present (John Rys-Davis) flew over the town because they flew over the heads of the audience. John Rys-Davis also narrated the scriptures of Christ's birth and Debora Voigt put on a spectacular performance as well as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Symphony. 

We then walked around Temple square for a bit and enjoyed the warm(er) weather before we headed back home for family pictures.

What a fun month it has been so far! I finally finished my Christmas shopping today, now I just need to get it all wrapped up and under the tree! 

a new look, fall, and other things

 

We headed up to Cascade Springs this week for our yearly fall drive and walk. We've been going since we were dating a few years ago and always look forward to it! Hubby has been going since he was a kid with his family and I'm happy to say that we still carry the tradition on.

 

 

I wanted to get some cute photos with Jimmy while we were there, but unfortunately my carsickness kicked into over drive the farther up the trail we walked so we ended up not staying too long. Its not uncommon for me to get slight motion sickness on curvy roads but I assumed that it would go away once in the fresh air. It didn't this time and I'm wondering if it had something to do with the elevation or something I ate previously?

 

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My sister convinced me to take the ponies on a trail ride last Saturday morning. It was a blast! I took my old pony, Sugar Lips, that my parents still use for riding lessons. We went bareback (no saddles) around the dike by the lake. We cantered (horsey ran) a lot and I didn't even fall off! I was sure I would because its been a while since I've done that. Plus we were laughing so hard because we looked so funny on our full speed ponies taking a run for it. I am sure feeling it in my legs and abs this week. But it was so worth it! 

 

 

 

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After our ride, Jimmy convinced me to go rock climbing up the canyon...Yeah, I have NO muscles this week! I really wasn't in the mood and declined to climb for a while because the only rock we could climb was one I was mad at. (I can't get very far up it at all). I finally just went so Jimmy would stop inviting me. I was on the rock for ages and was so irritated that I was struggling so much that I was determined to beat that dang rock. Before I knew it I was sitting at the top looking over the tip of the temple and fall leaves covering the valley! I'm glad my Hubby knows me and pushes me to try new things.

 

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Also, last week my brand new Silhouette Cameo came for me in the mail! Woo hoo! I've been wanting one for a while now and saved up some baby sitting money for it. Whew! I'm still a newbie and just trying to figure things out but I can tell it will be well played with and loved. That last sentence just sounded like someone was talking about a baby or something.

 

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And just one last update for y'all before you get too bored with my looong post. I've been getting migraines and headaches the past couple of weeks. They've been lasting all day and continue to get worse as time goes by. I watch my diet and water intake very closely and knew there were no changes there. I keep trying to figure out what was going on when I noticed I consistently get a headache when looking at any type of screen. Since I work in front of a computer all day and the headaches were getting worse pretty quickly, I made an eye appointment per my hubby's and mom's advice. For a girl who comes from a family that doesn't have any vision problems, I received really weird news. We found out that my right eye is far sighted while my left eye is near sighted. My vision is still pretty good but my eyes are constantly trying to "fight" with each other and adjust, causing headaches. So I was kindly ordered some special little reading/screen glasses to help my head not hurt all day.

I figured I might as well have fun with them if I have to live with them so I tried on like a hundred of funky and fun glasses. The girls at the front desk had a ball helping me try them out and narrow down my options until I picked these ones (and please excuse my awkward face)

 

 

 

 

I LOVE my little cat lenses! And I just noticed I'm wearing a leopard shirt under as well. I guess you could say I'm a sucker for anything leopard print. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney 2013 Recap

Whew! It has been so busy around here. We got back from California and jumped right into work and remodeling our bathroom. It's coming along so well and I am in love already! Can't wait to get that post going up as soon as its done next week.

 

Cali was so so so much fun. We loved every minute of it. It was just me and Jimmy for a while, my parents met up with us on and off. We were lucky enough to be able to tag along with my dad since he had a work conference right next to Disneyland.

 

While we were in California, we spent our first day doing nothing but the beach. It was so perfect to relax! We even found a quiet beach to lay out on.

 

 

 

We also went to Knotts Berry Farm for the first time. If you love thrill rides, head to Knotts! It was a blast and I can't believe some of the rides I went on. And there were hardly any wait times.

 

 

 

 

And of course, Disneyland/California Adventure! We were in the park for a couple of days and got so much done. We rode just about every ride and played around, saw a couple of shows, ate lots of food,

 

(My parents behind me)

 

 

(For my LEGO loving husband's family, and yes those are made out of LEGOS!)

 

 

And tracked down characters. We even got to meet some of the characters who hardly ever come out which was a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun on our vacation, we are already talking about when we can go on another one! Better save our pennies...

 

 

 

the fourth, the outdoors, some food, and a spook.

A little recap of what we've been up to lately. I know, I'm super behind on blogging!

 

We enjoyed the fourth of July..

 

Between the parade with my family, a movie, some BBQ food with hub's family, then a giant water fight and fireworks, we had a great time! Well, don't I say that every year?

 

 (Thanks hubs for the top two photos)

 

 

 

 

I baked and decorated these little patriotic coconut cupcakes for our BBQ. Unfortunately most of the flags didn't make it to the cupcakes in time.

 

 

 

 

Jimmy got a (very nice) used bike for a great deal the other week. Bike rides every evening, alllllll evening....

 

 

 

And we've been having fun in the kitchen of course! Do you think I would update y'all with a post that had no food in it somewhere? Hubby actually made and canned the jams below. Lots of berries from the garden were involved, yum!

 

What did I do while he worked away? I sat on my rear and ate a few cookies. I so kindly offered up my jam taste testing services every now and again too. So much work involved in the process. ;)

 

Sorry for the awful quality photos below but....

 

 

The other night I came home from work, flipped on the bedroom light, and got spooked out of my pants because a man was lying in my bed.

 

After a long second of scared jumping, I laughed and laughed at hubby's little surprise. Yes, those are his clothes, yes hubs drew the face himself, and yes that is a head made out of a well used whoopie cushion laying around the house.

 

 Because every couple needs a whoopie cushion to keep their marriage strong, ya know?