Christmas Recap

Ya ya - it's almost Feb. This is for me, not for you.

Neighbor Treats:
Caramel corn:

Mulling Spices


Opening Presents Christmas Morning:




We Drove To Utah


Farmington, NM.

(Adult video store with billboard in parking lot that says "Jesus is watching you!)

AJ's First Snowman


Snow makes it a little bright - this is as far as she would open her eyes:


Cousins, AJ & Eisley


He has a way with children:


Temple Square



Sledding


AJ & Aunt Cici


Shooting

Noice-canceling earphone, not an ode to Princess Leia


Bowling

AJ & Grandpa Nielsen

AJ & Uncle Paul


The end.

Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago today. Time flies. We are heading here



for dinner tonight to celebrate. Love you honey!

What I Think About Girl Scouts...

and their cookies.

Back Again

I've been out of town again. I seriously just want to be in my own house and not even go outside for a week. That said, we had a good trip. AJ and I went back to Utah for my Grandfather's funeral. Everything went well and we spent some good time with family. But as I am a creature of routine, I was glad to be home. And imagine my glee when I discovered I won the giveaway from Mindi at Word To Your Mother. I can't believe I won. I rarely enter giveaways. Check out my sweet loot!


This girl is CRAZY funny and has some mad blog skills. I'm sure you all read her regularly, but if you don't, get on the wagon now. And empty your bladder before doing it - I speak from experience.

So Sweet

My MIL sent me this cute clip. What's better than a great friend, really?

Word Of The Year - QUALITY

Since I can't keep using Simplify every year (although I am still simplifying more and more) I have decided that my word for this year is QUALITY. I want to be a QUALITY friend, a QUALITY citizen, a QUALITY wife and mother, spend QUALITY time with my husband and daughter, cook QUALITY food, do a QUALITY job when I clean my house, and all around just be a QUALITY person. For this year, I am putting the best of everything I am into everything I do. I believe this results in a QUALITY life, and who doesn't want that?

Happy Tunesday: I'm BAAAA-AAACK

After 11 days in Utah, I am back. We had a great time with family, but are glad to be home sweet home. And it's a new year?! When did that happen? So, since all you flubber-butts (myself not excluded from this elite club) have no doubt made resolutions to start hitting the gym again, here's my latest workout playlist to get the blood pumping, and a little inspiration:

This or this? It's up to you.



(Really, I just wanted to use that picture again - ha!) Happy sweating!


I Don't Care by Fall Out Boy (How can you NOT workout to this song?!)
Womanizer by Britney Spears
You Know My Name by Christ Cornell
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys
Be Yourself by Audioslave
Without You by Hinder
Hot N Cold by Katy Perry
Geek In The Pink by Jason Mraz
Summer Hair = Forever Young by The Academy Is
Single Ladies by Beyonce

Ever Wonder...

what happens when a 3-year-old gets a hold of your lipstick and then your camera?







Now you know.

Stay On Target...

One of my goals for 2008 was to read at least 50 books. As of today I have read 48.

Planning on reading these two before Thursday, so I better get crackin!




You can see my list of books and ratings on Goodreads (I so love that website).

PS - I hate Oprah's bookclub. You find great books and then she gets all the credit. Plus her ugly bookclub stickers ruin the cover.

Merry Christmas!

Hoping all the Christmas cards I sent out were indeed delivered. If not, here you go (thanks again Rochelle):



From our family to yours!

A Baby...

Changes Everything



We are watching this slideshow tonight - filled with gratitude. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Produce Co-Op

Can I just say that I LOVE my produce co-op?! I have been doing it for a couple months now and every two weeks, I get a crate full of organic fruits and veggies like this:


It's forcing us to eat more produce and I have cooked with some stuff I wouldn't normally buy, like eggplant and zucchini (not a big fan, but I am discovering ways to make it better.) And can I just say, the pears? TO DIE FOR!

So do some checking around. If there is an organic co-op available in your area, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Holiday In The Park

Went to Six Flags yesterday. It was fun. Or at least interesting. Friday, someone stole my debit card #. Long story short, we've been getting the run-around from the bank and instead of canceling my card like they said, they cancelled Craig's. (I had already taken mine out of my walet since they said it was canceled.) So when we got to Six Flags and tried to pay for parking ($15?! - do they think they're Disneyland?), his card was declined. So there we were, stranded with no cash and no debit cards. (We stopped carrying credit cards a long time ago.) It's actually kind of a scary feeling being so helpless. So we were going to come home and AJ started crying which broke my heart. She was trying to hold it in but I could tell she was so disappointed, so we decided to do Six Flags for Free. (Our tickets were free "bounceback" tickets from Craig's company party) So we parked a mile away at a nearby hotel, walked into the park, went without buying any food or drinks the whole time (if you knew about my funnel cake problem, you'd know what a big deal that was) and even picked up fish food off the ground that had fallen out of the dispenser to feed the fish in the lake. I'm sure people thought we were hobos, but I must admit, it felt good driving away knowing we hadn't spent any money. Not saying I want to do it anytime again soon, but still felt good.




PS - Whoever steals credit card numbers, or anything for that matter, you are a giant bung-hole! Get a life. (Or at least a job)
PPS - I think Wachovia's #1 customer service rating is hogwash.
PPSS - I think I used "hogwash" twice this week.

Happy Festivus

Here's my gift to all (both) my blogs readers. Merry Christmas!

Australia

Went out with the girls and saw this last night. SOOOOO GOOD!!!! Laugh out loud funny, make you cry, and just straight-up beautiful.



Hugh doesn't hurt either. What is it about a rugged man on a horse!?


It's definetly worth seeing (all three hours) in the theaters. I may even do it again.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We've been using the same fake tree for 12 years. It was starting to look pretty sad. Every year we say "this is the year we will buy a new tree." But then Christmas actually rolls around and we would rather spend the money on gifts and so the tree lives on yet another year. The last few years, we started telling ourselves we would buy one AFTER Christmas, you know, on clearance. But I'm telling you, the last thing you want to spend money on after Christmas is a tree that you can't even use until almost a year later. Brace yourselves folks, this was the year. I am the proud owner of a pre-lit tree and I LOVE IT. And bought all new ornaments to boot! (The burgundy and forest green was feeling a little too dated - not offense if those are your colors). So I went with the most traditional red and green. I figured it never goes out of style and will match nicely with all the tin foil and macaroni ornaments sure to appear in the years to come.



This is the "wreath" I made for this year. It is a giant cardboard letter from JoAnns, wrapped in garland. I added picks and Christmas photos from years past for a little flair.


And this little beauty is the gingerbread bane of my existence.



It took many hours and the "interlocking pieces" is a bunch of hogwash, since none of them stayed together and I ended up having to hot glue every nook and cranny. And the icing on the cake (or should I say the house) is that is has a musical button that plays the absolute most annoying version of Jingle Bells EVER! And there is no off button. Once it's pushed, you have to listen to the whole thing. And it gets pushed at least enough each day to keep me teetering on the edge of insanity. All because of this little face.

The Truth - Sometimes It Hurts

It's FREEZING outside. AJ had school yesterday. She (I) slept in, so we were running late. I had on gym clothes, a beanie and a scarf, no make-up. AJ says to me "Mom, you DO NOT look fabulous."

Ouch.

Happy Tunesday: Oops, I Did It Again

I spent $10 of my (husband's) hard-earned kissel to support the downward spiral that is Britney Spears. I actually like her new album {hanging my head in shame as I type this}.



*DISCLAIMER* I don't listen to this at home or in the car - this is strictly gym music. But I will have you know, my heart rate monitor reported 761 calories burned in 1 hour Monday, so Britney, for that I thank you.

Say Cheese

Wanna good laugh? Check out this site, full of hilarious Santa photos. I have to say, I don't blame the poor kids. Santa is scary looking. Some are REALLY scary. Personally, I love the crying photos. I know it's cruel, but I'm a little disappointed we never got AJ to do a screaming picture. Here are some of my favs:

Double the fun my butt:


Aaaaahhh, he touching me again...


I'd say more suspicious than scared:


Even fake Santa can be scary:


He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake:


Pretty sure I'd be screaming too:


He just told Santa he's in love with Katie Holmes:

Glad I'm Not A Stress Eater...

Or I would look like this:


Thus has been the level of my stress, until today. I am the church choir director. Please don't let this confuse you into thinking I sing. Remember this?

That's me. Only I don't have dorky cuteness. Just dorkyness. Also comin' up shy on the rockin' bod.

Anyway, back to the stress; you see, as our church choir director, I was not only in charge of the Christmas musical numbers, but the WHOLE Christmas program, which was today. This included writing speaking parts, choosing musical numbers and threatening the life of my friends unless they volunteered to sing in the choir. Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch and it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. But boy am I glad it's over. Now I can unwind and enjoy the rest of the Season. Christmas cookies - here I come! (I never said I wasn't a POST-stress eater!) Be on the lookout for me wherever size 42 daisy dukes are sold.

Bummer

Gee, Thanks

Hope nobody got trampled to death over this bargain.

Just Got Back From The Dentist...

And I have NEVER received so much Novocaine in my life. My eye is drooping. Even my ear is numb. Apparently I needed a little extra because one of my cavities was really deep, or as my Korean dentist says "wearry deep".

This is hot, right?

Hmm, it's like I've seen it somewhere before...

Happy Tunesday: Bond, James Bond

In order of best to worst songs (IMHO):

You Know My Name by Chris Cornell
Die Another Day by Madonna
Live And Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings
Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Keyes
Goldeneye by Tina Turner
Man With The Golden Gun by Lulu'
Surrender by K.D. Lang
For Your Eyes Only by Sheena Easton
The World Is Not Enough by Garbage
Tomorrow Never Dies by Sheryl Crow
Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon
License to Kill by Gladys Knight
All Time High by Rita Coolidge
A View To A Kill by Duran Duran
The Living Daylights by A-ha
Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey
From Russia With Love by Matt Monro
Diamonds Are Forever by Shirley Bassey
Moonraker by Shirley Bassey
Thunderball by Tom Jones
You Only Live Twice by Nancy Sinatra

Happy Tunesday: Chillaxin'

If You Wanted A Song... by Mayday Parade
Vulnerable by Secondhand Serenade
Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park
Crush by David Archuleta
Awake by Secondhand Serenade
Waking Life by Schuyler Fisk
Last Train Home by Ryan Star
It's Over by Secondhand Serenade
Come On by Ben Jelen
Flightless Bird... by Iron & Wine