NaBloPoMo

Last day of NaBloPoMo.  I didn't to too bad.  My life just isn't that interesting to post EVERY day.  But I attempted =)

Happy Wednesday

Already?

I was looking at my calendar today when it hit me...

It's December on Thursday...seriously!?  Where did these last few months go?  Christmas is sooooo soon...

I'm running out of things to post if you can't tell.  Side note, Darren's in Vegas visiting his mama and papa right now.  Just a quick little trip...left this afternoon, will be back tomorrow by dinner.  I hope he has a good visit!

Almost there...

So NaBloPoMo is almost done.  I haven't been perfect with posting, but not too bad either!  All I can say is that I am quickly running out of things to post...I was running out awhile ago!

Christmas is around the corner and I'm thrilled.  I've been listening to Christmas music since October, if not before!  This is our second Christmas in this home, it's fun being able to get at real tree and decorate the house all up.  Yesterday, Darren got out our Christmas bucket.  We put away the Thanksgiving decorations and started putting up the Christmas ones.  Darren also put up our Christmas lights, they look great!  Thanks hubby!  Next week we'll go get our tree from Costco and then it'll really be Christmas!  I even started wrapping presents today =)

Our Christmas Tree set up last year...

I love this time of year...I love everything about it. 

Black Friday/Day After

Thanksgiving was yesterday, it was wonderful!  On our way home from my mom's, Darren and I did some Black Friday shopping at Walmart.  We had the PERFECT plan.  We got there at 9, picked up all our 10 pm items, and by 10 pm, we were camped out next to Darren's blu-ray home theater.  We weren't allowed to touch that till 12 pm.  It was a long night, but we had fun with it.  Darren, of course, became friends with all those around him and was just chatting it up all night while waiting.  At about 11 pm, I headed over to get in line.  The plan was I'd wait in line, when I got to the front, I'd just let people go in front of me till Darren got there at 12 with the blu-ray.  That way...no waiting!  Well, at about 11:30, I was at the front of the line and turned to let others go ahead of me.  Only...it turned out, EVERYONE behind me was ALSO waiting until 12!  They let the electronics out at 11:45, so Darren joined me in line then, but we couldn't check out till 12.  The second midnight hit, we were checking out!  We were to our car by 12:15 =).  Couldn't have gone any more smoother, I don't think.

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I have been confined to the couch.  Last night after kickball, I started to not feel so great.  This head cold has not been fun...but I'm sitting up now so it's a step in the right direction!

How was your day after?  Did you go Black Friday shopping?

Thanksgiving

I feel behind...forgot to post yesterday, even had a post planned out!  So I'll do two tomorrow.  But for today, Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you guys all had a wonderful day filled with food and loved ones.

Darren and I spent today with my family and had a great time.  We had lots of turkey and other yummy foods, then headed over to the park for some annual kickball.  We ended the day with some pie and ice cream.  Now, on to Black Friday Shopping!!!  (or...for most stores, Black Thursday)

Little Seester

(This was Wednesday's post)

In my family, I fall in a hole sort of.  3 years above me is David, and 4 years below me is Sandra.  So I only have one little seester, and she's pretty awesome.  Sandra graduated HS in May and is now at BYU-I, my old stompin grounds!  Anyway, Thanksgiving was yesterday and she came home!

 A few years back during our weekly beach trip, we went to Knotts =)

 Sandra and I go WAAAAAAAAAAAAY back!

 Just hangin around

 While I was up at BYU-I, I made a trip to Boise while my family was there visiting.

In Oceanside, that's why I am so dark.

My little seester is awesome and I love her!  It was fun having her home for Thanksgiving, and she'll be home for good (well, till April) in a few weeks!

Quadding

Or...4 wheeling, your choice.  Either way, we did that!  On Saturday.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, amazing!

Thanks to Steve for letting us borrow his quads

Thanks to Bishop and Sister Gravley for inviting us!  We had a blast with you guys and the Wiltbanks.  It was a wonderful morning!

2 Wonderful Years

Two years ago today...

I married my best friend

I love him :)

2 years have passed, and MANY are ahead of us

Friends

Today, I am grateful for friends.  I have some of the greatest friends out there...and I probably take them for granted.  But right now, I am very grateful for my wonderful friends.

It has been a stressful week for me...there's a lot going on and not much time to do it all in.  Usually it wouldn't bother me, life is generally busy, but now that my doctor put me on this new medicine...I get overwhelmed very easily.  It's pathetic, really.  Marcey, you were RIGHT!   Only it took 3 months to catch up to me! 

Anyway, so I've been a little frazzled and exhausted (my dr refusing to fill my thyroid meds for a few days probably added to the exhaustion).  But me being all frazzled helped me realize what wonderful friends I have :)

A few nights ago I got a text from a friend asking if I was at home.  I wasn't, we were at dinner.  She asked me to stop her house after dinner, so I did.  I get there and what does this FABULOUS friend have?  2 scoops of Water'N'Ice chocolate chip ice cream just for ME (my favorite, she's awesome for remembering that).

Then yesterday evening, another wonderful friend stopped by with a pack of Dr. Pepper and a bag of Twix.  More of my favorites :).  These two friends who have touched my heart this week set a wonderful example as to what it means to be Christlike.  They were thoughtful and loving, they are wonderful and I strive to be a friend like that!

I am grateful that I am blessed with such amazing friends to help me through the stressful days.  I am also grateful for a husband who is patient with a frazzled wife.  He's amazing =)

How awesome are your friends?  Have you thanked them lately?

The Vow

Girls night in February?  I think so!

I'm excited =D

btw...our anniversary is in 4 days

Dreams

I want to live here

Absolutely amazing, right?!  Chances are I'll be living in AZ for a very long time, and this is where our families are, so I don't really want to move to Colorado.  But I wouldn't hate life if I had to ;)

It's like a dream...

Words of Advice

Tangled

Have you seen this movie?

I'm a Tangled junkie.  I LOVE THIS MOVIE!

It can be streamed on Netflix and I can watch it whenever I want.  I probably watch it too much...but it's such a cute movie!

If you haven't seen this yet, you TOTALLY should.  Just sayin ;)

Testimony

I know I didn't post yesterday.

Helping someone else find their testimony really helps strengthen yours.  I guess mine has been needing some strengthening lately because I have been put in a lot of situations these last few days in which I've been the one trying to help others find their testimony.

Curious what I believe?  I'll give you a hint.

 To find out more, visit mormon.org

Pisa

So I'm working on a project right now and I came across this...

Brie, David, and I on the top of Pisa.  I remember counting the steps.  294 of them!

My Ward is Home

I love my calling

I love my ward

I love my girls!

Sisters

I really do have the most amazing sisters in the world.  I am so blessed to call them friends!  And they're stinkin' gorgeous =)

*God made us sisters, life made us friends*

Day 27: A Physical Feature You Love

Eyes

I love them

Especially if their blue

And especially if they belong to him

Perfection

love days like today

I Miss This

I spent 2 winters in Rexburg and I loved every minute of the snow (probably because I never had to drive in it or shovel it..but still)

My little sister is up there in Rexburg right now and winter if starting to hit.  I got a phone call the other night.  She had been down at the Snow building for a choir rehearsal and on her way home, it started to snow like crazy (Rexburg's famous sideways snow).  Sandra was wearing Vans, a hoddie, and jeans.  I guess it wasn't supposed to snow till the next morning, but Rexburg is anything but predictable.

 Yep, that's a sidewalk

LOVE THIS

Where's my mom's room?

Today, we had a family from the ward over.  The mom was helping Darren change his brakes and their 3 year old daughter got to hang out inside with me and watch Sponge Bob.  That little 3 year old cracked me up the whole time she was here!  At one point, I was heading upstairs to get the laundry and she asked me, "What's up there?"  "Rooms"  "Who's rooms?"  "There's my room, and then my brother-in-laws room"  "Where's your moms room?"  Haha, I then realized, this little 3 year old thought I was the same age as her 16 year old sister.  It made me smile =)  I guess I do look like a teenager.  These braces don't help my case much...

Sunlight

I realized something this morning...

You see, a few months ago, Darren put a sheets over our two windows facing East in our room.  The sun was coming up way too early for our liking...  Yesterday, while cleaning up our room, he took those down.  This morning, it was SO much easier to get out of bed with the sunlight streaming in!  Made me feel a lot more refreshed =)

Life is wonderful!  And this weather is perfect!

Day 26: A Childhood Memory

Lets see...my childhood...

For those of you that don't know, I grew up in a little town called Indian Wells.  Usually, I just say Palm Desert or Palm Springs.  But my address was actually Indian Wells.  I have a lot of fond memories from my childhood, but I'll just share a few stories.

When David and I were younger (he's my closest in age sibling - 3 years older than me), we used to think we were SO sneaky.  After we'd be put in bed, we'd wait a little while, then sneak back out and 'spy' on our older siblings, mom, and dad.  This usually meant we'd go sit around the corner to where everyone was and just listen to their conversation until we got too tired or caught.  We'd also use compact mirrors to peer around the corners.  We were THAT legit!

I remember falling asleep to the radio a lot - KPLM 106.1 =).  Every week night, they'd take song requests.  I'd lay in bed thinking "How cool would it be to request a song?"  But I'd NEVER be able to come up with a song to request!  Instead, I'd wait for them to play a song I like, then call in and request it.  I remember hearing Shania Twain's song "Any Man of Mine", then calling in like 2 minutes later to request that song.  They laughed and said, "Uhh...we just played that.  Sorry!"  I don't think I ever did request a song that they then played.  I could never think of one on my own...pathetic!

Last story happened on 10/29/99.  I've always said I was 11 when this happened, but I just went to check the date...and I know for a fact that Halloween was on a Sunday that year so that'd make it 99, making me 10.  Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway...it was a Friday and David, Sandra, Casey Vassios (neighbor/friend) decided we wanted to carve some pumpkins.  We sat on the drive way, carved a little, then got bored and decided to ride bikes instead.  David was on his roller blades hitting a ball with a hockey puck, Casey on my bike, so I took David's bike (which was a little to big for me..).  We started riding around the cul-de-sac and David would hit the ball at our bike.  I didn't have a helmet on and loved to ride without hands.  I went to turn, turned too sharp, and David's bike's pedal hit the street and the bike flipped (so I'm told.)  The last think I remember is getting on the bike and riding down the driveway.

David ran inside the house to tell my mom I was 'bleeding'.  I guess she wasn't too happy because Sandra had just come in minutes prior from a scraped knee or something.  She came outside to find me on the ground in a puddle of blood.  Honestly, I don't know if I was awake or not, I don't remember any of this!  The only memory I have is of sitting in the car about to leave and my mom yelling at David to get her a rag.  Next memory I have is waking up half way to the hospital crying and saying, "why me?  why me?  why me?" over and over.  I ended up getting 2 or 3 stitches.  Then mom had to wake me up ever 2 hours that night and ask "What's your name?  How old are you?  Okay, you can go back to sleep" to make sure I didn't have a concussion.  The reason I know Halloween was on a Sunday that year is because I remember thinking, "Well, I wouldn't have gotten to go trick-or-treating anyway..."

There are a few stories from my childhood.  Sorry, the last one ended up being pretty long.  Kudos if you've made it this far!  Till tomorrow =)

NaBloPoMo Day 2 - Day 26: A Recipe

So here I am... in November.  And almost done with that 30 day challenge I started in March!  I'll for sure finish it this month thanks to NaBloPoMo =)

So Day 26 is a recipe.  Now, I'm not too much of a cook, but I have gotten better in the past few years.  But when I was thinking about this post, 2 recipes come to mind.

When I was in like...4th grade maybe?  My best friend at the time was named Jaime (insert eye roll and chuckle here).  She taught me this snack that a babysitter of hers had taught her.  And growing up, I LOVED making this!  So here's recipe #1: A cup half full of dry oats, a generous amount of brown sugar, and a glob of butter.  Super healthy, right?  You stick it in the microwave until the butter melts, mix it all together, and there you have it!  A super healthy snack ;).

So that's my goofy recipe.  Brought back some memories!  Now here's the for real one:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies!  DELISH!
1 1/2 cup       Flour
1 teaspoon     Salt
1 teaspoon     Soda
1 cup             Shortening
3/4 cup          Brown Sugar (see a trend?  Love brown sugar!)
3/4 cup          Sugar
2                   Eggs
1 teaspoon     Vanilla
2 cups            Chocolate Chips
2 cups            Uncooked Rolled Oats

Sift Flour, Salt and Soda
Cream Shortening and Sugars
Beat in Eggs and Vanilla
Stir in dry (Flour, Salt, Soda), Oats and C. Chips
Drop on ungreased cookie sheets
cook at 350 for 10-12 minutes (I think I did 15)

There you have it!  It makes a lot of cookies and they are to DIE for.

NaBloPoMo

So, I guess November is National Blog Posting Month.  And...I'm going to attempt this!  Lets see if I can post something every day this month.  (Weekends might slip by me, especially if we go to Vegas).

So, yesterday was Halloween!  Our celebrations started last weekend.  On Friday, Darren and I went to an awesome Halloween party at Jenny and Dawson's house.  It was a lot of fun.  They had a mummy contest and Gigi and I totally won!  Just sayin ;)

This year, Darren and I were....drum roll please...

Flo and a Catholic Priest!

Saturday evening was our ward's Trunk or Treat night.  The YW had a cupcake walk booth that turned out to be a hit.  Luckily, we didn't run out of desserts.  I'll admit, I was a little worried!

Our costumes were a hit both nights.  Darren has been called "Father" all weekend long, even at church...hehehe...  And at Trunk or Treat, little kids would stop, point, and say, "Look, it's Flo!".  It made me smile a little bit.  Overall, it was a successful Halloween!

For Halloween Night, Darren and I went over to the Carpenter's home and hung out in their driveway around the fire.  It was an enjoyable time =).  Gigi and Dan are awesome!

Happy Halloween =D