christmas thus far

ah yes, i am home for the holidays. and loving just about every minute (there are the inevitable slow moments one incurs when going home. but being with the family by far makes up for any said moments).

i'll describe the trip later. right now it's 2:00 a.m. on christmas eve. my dearest friend just called to tell me she got engaged this evening. i'm beyond thrilled. but also now can't sleep. you can't spring such great news on a girl and expect her to fall immediately back to slumber. but i'm also not coherent enough to write anything grand.

so instead, you get a picture of me. by our tree. standing. it's exciting, i know. i actually really like the second picture with my reflection in the ornament.

merry christmas everyone!

spreading some christmas cheer

last night as i was driving home through my neighborhood i heard a fire truck in the distance. hearing a fire truck is not an uncommon occurence, so i didn't think much of it. after i got home my rommate mentioned to me that she had been hearing the fire truck for what seemed like a really long time.

as we're talking about it, i hear one getting even closer and look out my window to see the truck practically stopped in front of our house. my roommate and i exchange worried looks and went to open the door.

what do we find but a santa sitting on top of the fire truck, waving as he passed by. i thought it was the cutest thing. it was a freezing night, and here were these firefighters, equipped with their very own santa, going around town handing out candy canes to little kids. i must note that the santa looked pretty authentic and i'm slightly convinced that he may have been the real deal.

so naturally, we decide that we need to thank these darling, and pretty cute, firefighters. luckily my roommate had about 600 dozen cookies that we could share (maybe a little less, but when you're trying to not eat sweets a single dozen seems like 100). we quickly packaged some up and went on our hunt around town to find them. we found them on 23rd street and i had my roommate jump out of the car to give them to a surprised firefighter.

the cookies were delivered and merriment was had by all. thank you, firefighters!

the below picture really has nothing to do with the above story, other than the fact that there is a firetruck in the picture. as i was searching for "santa and fire truck" the below image came up. i thought it was hilarious and am shocked that somehow these tiny trucks never caught on...

additonal side note-- this is my 50th post. do i win a prize for that? where are my balloons falling from the ceiling? anybody?

shopping for kids = hard

in my family we draw names for each of the siblings and spouses as to cut down on the amount of gifts we have to purchase. simple enough. i have my sister, which is also relatively simple as we have similar styles. that and she's beyond content with a sephora giftcard should all my other ideas not come to fruition.

but, i do have two adorable nieces and one handsome nephew thanks to my brother derek and his wife lori. i don't have their names this year, but i really wanted to still get something for the kiddos. it stems from fears that one day i'll show up at their house in utah and they won't recognize me and i'll think, if only i had gotten them christmas gifts each year, that would have won a place in their memories... that and the oldest niece maya, seven, is definitely old enough now to remember gifts. i can distinctly remember being that age and getting gifts from my aunt and being so excited. that's who i want to be. the cool aunt that every year the kids are excited to get gifts from.

hence my motivation to quickly run to target tonight to grab something. emphasis being on quickly.

one hour later and i found myself stressed about what to purchase for my two-year-old niece, avery. would she like the stuffed dog or lion better? or should i be buying her a book because that could stimulate her mind? everything cool is for ages 3 +, but she's smart enough, right?

alas, in the end it turns out that avery will soon be the owner of some darling bright pink shoes, kyle some sporty spiderman undies and my favorite item is this skirt below for maya.

i've decided that next year i'm definitely getting a dvd for the whole family...

i have a secret...

...i've never been to california before. i know, it's a travesty given that i spent four years at byu and somehow never graced the soil of this great state. thankfully virgin america decided to put their flights out west on sale to rectify the situation. my dear friend tyler told me of the sale in the first place and initiated going out there.

tyler, justin, and i bought tickets tonight for a long weekend at the end of february. we'll be staying in san fran. i haven't decided yet if i'm more excited to actually visit california or make a cd with california related songs to listen to. you can't really do that unless you are actually visiting the state. and let's be honest, there are a ton of fabulous california related songs. "california love" anyone?

so, i now welcome any suggestions of fun things to do in san fransisco...

wide awake and thinking...

it's 3:45 a.m. and here i sit. wide awake. an unknown man with a 435 area code (southern utah) called me last night and i informed him he had the wrong number. i think this man hoped that one last-ditch effort late at night might produce the person he was looking for, and decided to give me another ring at 3:30 a.m.

as i answered i again informed him that not only did he have the wrong number, but he had called and woken some one up on the east coast. he laughed and said "i'm so sorry. you and your husband are probably trying to get a good night's rest. i promise i won't call again." ha. little did he know that i was in my petite twin-sized bed, sans a husband, and had just taken my upper retainer out to answer the phone in a move characteristic of a 14-year-old.

so here i sit. typing. at my computer. wide awake. alas, thank you 435 man...

new york avec lindsay

i've always heard that new york is wonderful around christmastime and thus the motivation for last weekend's trip up. that and i have a slight obsession with the city that keeps me coming back on a semi-regular basis (thoughts of moving there are increasingly stronger, but alas, that's for another post).

lindsay and i went up friday and came back sunday night. i got spoiled this summer not taking the bus up often, but was reminded on this trip why, in fact, the bus only costs $20. but it's all part of the experience that is the chinatown bus. crazy people, lots of traffic, weird movies, you really can't ask for more. the good thing on this ride up was that i FINALLY got past page 5 in my new book.

our host for the weekend was one of lindsay's mission companions and her husband. nothing like staying with a darling newlywed couple to make you want to give up your single life in a heartbeat. wow, that was one cute couple. luckily, the result of my conversations with them was an increased amount of hope in the fact that people actually do work out and actually do find each other, something that still amazes me everytime i see it.

the weekend highlights include:
*seeing the rockettes. we saw them at 9 a.m. and i loved going early. it was amazing. even from the third mezzanine, on the third row from the back, with lots of kids around me. those girls are fantastic.
*shopping at j.crew at rockefeller center. it's not the actual shopping i liked, but watching the hoards of people that were coming in and out of that store.
*meeting up with dear, dear mary stewart. i haven't seen her since byu days and really have missed her. that and i met her new little abby. she also told me the two secrets to being a mom that i will try to not forget.
*chinatown with kimber. that will never get old for us. and that girl knows chinatown in and out so it's nice to have a guide show you all the good spots (and i have to mention that i finally bought a custard purse. i've been wanting one forever...)
*getting stuck with my luggage trying to go through the roundabout in the subway. i have to admit, that was pretty funny.
*trying to find a bathroom with lindsay = impossible. new york does not like bathrooms i've decided.
*dinner with trevor, seth, adam, jamar, steph, lindsay and two of steph's roommates at city grille.
* a funny awkward scene that ensued after dinner (potentially too awkward to write on a blog, but can be discussed one on one)


contrary to what it looks like, which would be me taking out trash, this is my loot from shopping in chinatown.


yes, we stayed in brooklyn. and yes, it was far.


i LOVED this christmas tree chandelier at radio city. it was H-U-G-E.


mary and cute abby. look how warm abby looks...


my new, dear friend sheryl. she's one of those darling people you always saw at school but somehow never met.

day of thanks

ah, thanksgiving. the day of all out eating and lounging. christmas day comes in a close second, but on christmas i actually feel guilty about eating so much whereas on thanksgiving it's a no-holds bar at eating.

to balance out the food, charlee and i decided to run the turkey trot in the morning. oh man, was it a beautiful day. it felt like spring. perfect weather. my favorite part of the run was when charlee and i stopped halfway through at her car to drop our new shirts off and so i could grab my iPod. which as usual, i hold in my hand and never use. except for listening once to 1,2 step as i crossed the finish line.

this year's dinner was a little different in that dad and carol sadly weren't able to come up. luckily my dear cousin andrea graciously opened her house to us (along with cooking an awesome turkey). charlee and justin tagged along which made for an even more enjoyable time.

i decided on this most important meal of the year to try my hand for the first time at baking pies. half way into baking the first one, i checked in on it to sadly realize that i was in fact cooking it in a bake pan and it was indeed caving in on itself. classic. i also burned my hand trying to get it out. not to worry, i somehow made an analogy out of it for my talk yesterday on forgiveness.

i love eating and vegging. and then eating more. everyone needs a day like this. bring on christmas is what i say...

check out the great dessert my sister made. charlee and my cousin audrey became the best of buds.

i'll admit, i had never done the whole wishbone thing before. my aunt thought this was a disgrace. i think it's a tragedy that on my first try i lost. maybe charlee wished that next time i would win...

here my cousin is describing how to take the neck meat and put it in the gravy. you can tell how i feel about that.

all the men lounging.

dear aunt sanna and the little ones