sayonara 2013

I couldn't let today pass without the obligatory New Year's post. Overall 2013 was a pretty great year. I'm taking a page from my sweet friend Larissa and I'm doing a past year's resolution list, and because I can't blatantly rip her off, I'm making a few tweaks at the end.

So here you go, in no particular order, past year's resolutions:

1. Get engaged!
2. Get married! The best, happiest, hardest thing I have ever done (and planning it in seven weeks was the easy part).
3. Play a bucket-list role (Shelby in Steel Magnolias)
4. Play a wicked Queen
5. Survive an Ice Rain storm
6. Become a Mary Kay consultant and end the fiscal year in the top ten for my Unit. 
7. Have my picture taken with a real-life Iron Man.
8. Have lots of bestie time with Sparky.
9. Help build a 9' Hulk out of Legos. 
10. See lots of plays like The Odd Couple, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Forever Plaid.
11. See Boybandpalooza in Vegas with my two gals Steph and Mel. Let inner 16-year old out. 
12. Participate in a Las Vegas "wedding" 
13.  Experience Steph's first viewing of the 'Red Solo Cup' music video at I love this bar and grill.
14. See lots of concerts like Brad Paisley, Plain White T's, Boybandpalooza (NKOTB, Boyz II Men, 98* Degrees), and P!nk (well, until P!nk rescheduled for January 20) 
15. Sing with the Heritage Carolers 
16. Participate in the first ever Heritage Caroler's World Tour.
17. Get stuck on I-15 for three hours on the way to St George. Witness Ashley try to pee in the snow-and fail. (She succeeded in getting snow in places one shouldn't though!) 
18. Take a six-month break from the stage. 
19. Have an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding shower complete with lip sync-off ala Jimmy Fallon.
20. Have a karoke bachelorette party and sing 'Touch-a touch-a touch me"  
21. See the Famous Idaho Potato Tour.
22. Accept a new position at work and gain the ability to work from home.
23. Make trips to St George to see my family and celebrate niece's birthdays.
24. Watch Chef in the Making's stage debut as Snow White in Into the Woods. 
25. Be able to follow the Spirit and Pay it Forward to a stranger during Christmas.

Every year I say I'm not going to make any resolutions, but every year I do anyway. I try to keep them realistic so I don't get overwhelmed. I usually keep them to myself but this year I decided I needed a little more accountability so I'm posting here.

1. Read 30 new books along with re-reading Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. 
2. Work on my patience. 
3. Finish the #bofm365 challenge
4. Blog more.
5. Visit my first love with my new love on our anniversary. (Disneyland & Mr. Wonderful)
6. Love me for me.
7. Work on being happier-accentuate the positive and stop dwelling on the negative. 
8. Be a better friend/wife/sister/daughter/aunt 

Well friends I hope your 2013 was great and your 2014 is everything you want it to be.

Because there were just too many photos this year (and not at all because I'm obsessed with this app), here is a highlight reel. Thanks Lady Gaga for the music and flipagram for the app! 

whoops!

Because I suck, and thought 30 cards would be PLENTY. (Yeah, it wasn't even close). This is my first year doing this for two so I get a pass, right?

Please accept this electronic card along with our wishes for a joyous holiday season and a safe, and Happy New Year!!

blessed

As I sit waiting for my last pie to bake, enjoying the glorious sounds of my Christmas Pandora station, and wondering how in the world I'm going to get two pies, rolls, and yams to my In-Laws by myself as Mr. Wonderful will be going there straight from work, I decided rather than being overwhelmed by this task to be overwhelmed with gratitude instead. I needed to list the things I am thankful for, because I really am blessed.

• A loving Heavenly Father who blesses me with much more than I deserve. 
• The Guardian Angels He sent to keep my family safe on October 21. You guys. Their accident should have been so much worse than it was, but it wasn't because of Heavenly Father and His angels. God is good, and merciful, and sends angels to keep our loved ones safe. My beloved siblings are proof of that.
• An amazing husband who loves, cares for, and supports me, no matter how crazy the plan or hair-brained the scheme. I know every girl says this about their spouse, but Mr. Wonderful is pretty amazing, and I pretty much have to pinch myself every day because I still can't believe he chose me, the most undeserving of all. 
• My family. I was very blessed to be born into the family I was, and over the last few years my brothers have chosen the best women and as a result I have the best nieces and nephew. We're wild, crazy, and at times dysfunctional, but they are mine and I love them so much. 
• My new In-laws. Even before I married their son and brother they have welcomed me into their family with open arms and have made me a part of their family. 
• Technology. Yes it can be the bane of our existence at times, but it is also a huge blessing. Without it LB2 would have missed our wedding, but because of technology we were able to FaceTime him in from the hospital so he could watch and be a part of the ceremony. 
• Good friends. For fear of forgetting someone I won't name names, but I am so thankful for friends who love, support, lift me up, teach me, forgive when I mess up, and have been my family when I have needed one since mine is so far away. You step in to help with anything I need, big or small, giving of your time, labor, and talents, looking for nothing more than a smile and hug in return. If you're reading this odds are you are on this impossibly long list, and please know just how much I love you.
• Work. It's not all sunshine and roses, but there are a lot of people without work right now, so I know how incredibly blessed I am. 
• A healthy body. After all the health problems I was plagued with last year it made me love and appreciate my healthy body so much more. 
• My talents. Not only have I been blessed with many talents I am also blessed with the ability to share them with others regularly. That is pretty amazing! 
• THIS
• Parents who taught me to stand up for what is right, even if it doesn't make you popular, the value of things, not the cost, and that family is more precious than any thing you can possess. 

This is no where near the complete list, but brevity is the order of the day on this blog. Happy Thanksgivukkah to you all and don't be too gluttonous tonight!!

this is halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but you wouldn't guess it by looking at me this year. Since I was busy planning a wedding (which I will blog about soon-once I can remember stuffs-unless you don't care to read all about it--do you care to read about it?) taking care of my costume was demoted to the bottom of the list. I cut a batman logo out of felt, stitched it to a black T-shirt, dug out an old Witch cape, threw on a batman mask from a Happy Meal, and called it good enough. Because of my lack of effort I felt a little like What's Her Face. Oh well. The wedding seemed to be pretty rad so I think it was a fair trade.

I totally nailed the Blue Steel...

You know you have been busy when your favorite part of your costume is the fabulous shade of red lipstick. Next year it's on like Donkey Kong. Halloween will be my masterpiece once more. 

advent

I have wanted an advent calendar for YEARS. My mother the sewing goddess made a reusable one 20+ years ago and it was always the highlight of Christmas. My siblings and I would always fight over whose turn it was to pull the lovingly hand-embroidered felt pieces each day (candy advents are for suckas.) :). I still ache a little each year knowing my mom is now in St George having all the fun!

Today I did some searching and after looking at scores of ideas-including an ADORABLE nativity one that I loved but worried it was just TOO ambitious-and found this:

Cute huh? Of course I'll tweak it a little and make it my own (mostly because there's no pattern so I'm doing it from scratch), but I also love the buttons--among other things.

Well, here goes. I'm headed to the fabric store tonight.We'll see in a week or so if I've bitten off more than I can chew, because the sewing gene definitely skipped a generation with me...

christmas soap box

I am fortunate enough to know people from all different walks of life. Gay, straight, Jew, Christian, Agnostic, Atheist, liberal, and conservative. We don’t always see eye to eye, but I will always love them.

The other day one of my friends got their knickers in a twist on Facebook about how they felt that the Christ part of Christmas was being shoved down their throat, and saying ‘Happy Holidays’ was the more ‘appropriate’ thing to say. Can I digress for one minute and tell you just how much I hate Facebook soap-boxing? A lot.

I try to be a live and let live type, but this irked me. Just because I choose to celebrate Christmas doesn’t mean I’m shoving a Christian agenda down your throat. It just means I’m wishing you a Merry Christmas because that’s the holiday I observe. It is as impossible to celebrate Christmas without Christ as it is to celebrate your birthday without you.

Yes I know many of our Christmas traditions originated from Pagan and Druid traditions, but the reason for the season has always remained the same. I don’t celebrate the tradition, I celebrate CHRIST. If you don’t like it, tough.

 I don’t get offended as a Christian when someone wishes me Happy Holidays, or Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah, or whatever it is they believe. I don’t understand why these same people who talk about equality and open-mindedness are usually the first ones to cry foul when people say we need to keep Christ in CHRISTmas. Did I miss something here?

Why is it so hard for so many people to actually practice what they preach? I merely proclaim that I am Christian; I have never shoved my beliefs down anyone’s throat and I understand what anyone else chooses to believe is their choice. It’s annoying to me that for some you’re only allowed to believe what you want-as long as it falls in line with that they themselves believe.

Please know that although I believe Christ needs to be the center of Christmas I am NOT forcing my beliefs on you when I wish you “Merry Christmas”, I am merely wishing you a Merry Christmas because I am Christian and Christmas is what I celebrate.  

Happy Christmas everyone!!

i guess i didn't get the memo

I don't know about you all, but my Halloween was pretty lack luster. So much so that I'm kinda losing faith in the holiday...

I had only four trick-or-treaters-yes you read that right. I said FOUR-and I know I live in an apartment, but come on, it's practically kid central here. Plus I had my cute, fun Halloween wreath up to prove I am TOTALLY legit and everything! Pathetic, yes? Well I can top that...I was one of three people at work who didn't get the memo you don't celebrate Halloween ON Halloween anymore...oh well. At least I looked cute and I got to wear jeans to work on a Monday.

On a happier note my butternut squash and freshly baked rolls were delish...recipe to follow soon after I tweak it a little more.

Side side note...I just looked out the window and it's SNOWING. Yuck. At least we got a little bit of a fall before the Christmas crazies got their way.

it's a major award

Mr. Parker: [unveiling his major award] Would you look at that? Would you look at THAT?
Mother: What is it?
Mr. Parker: It's a leg!
Mother: But what is it?
Mr. Parker: Well, it's... A leg, you know, like a statue.
Mother: Statue?
Mr. Parker: Yeah, statue.
Ralphie: Yeah, statue.
Mother: Ralphie!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] My mother was trying to insinuate herself between us and the statue.  Parker: Holy smokes. Do... Do you know what this is? This is... A lamp!
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] It was indeed a lamp.
Mr. Parker: Isn't that great? What a great lamp.
Mother: I don't know...
Ralphie as Adult: [narrating] The old man's eyes boggled...
Mr. Parker: Oh WOW!

 

Well folks, we're only 10 days into the month of October, but the battle of the leg lamp has officially begun.

For those of you who don't know my favorite Christmas movie is 'A Christmas Story'. If you aren't familiar don't tell me, just go here.

 

Six Christmases ago my parents bestowed upon me the greatest gift ever-they built me a leg lamp-complete with 'FRAGILE' (frag-ee-lay) crate. I love it, Mr. Wonderful hates it. Every year around this time he starts to gripe about it-how it's the ugliest thing he's ever seen, usually as melodramatically as possible. Although it always begins in jest it usually ends in the silent treatment.

 

It's a losing battle for us; I will never get rid of it and he will never like it. I just wonder if we argue about it this much now-what will it be like once we're married? (No, that's not an announcement.) Mr. Wonderful and I agree/can come to a compromise on everything else-except this. To me it's not Christmas unless the leg lamp is in the window and Mr. Wonderful claims his is ruined if it's up. Who knew something so silly and fun could bring out such passion? I now have a better understanding of the tension between Mother and The Old Man because of it.

 





What say ye? Do any of you married folks have things you brought into the marriage that the spouse HATES? Did they bring something you hate? I'm pretty sure Mr. Wonderful and I will have to agree to disagree on this one-he'll make sure the tree is gorgeous, and I'll make sure the lamp where it should be...right next to the tree in all its glory...

 



 

busy but beautiful

Three days, three craft stores, a ton of floral wire, a tacky glue mess, more glitter than a gay club, numb bum from sitting on the floor, and tired, purple fingers I have finished my Halloween wreath. I couldn't be more excited about it.

It probably would have been less stressful-and cheaper-to just buy a ready made wreath-I only had a vague idea of what I wanted it to look like so I bought whatever looked cute-I must admit I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I don't know why, but I think the fact it's busy is what makes it work and I'm super happy with the results.

What say ye?

hallowthanksmas

I remember a time-eleven years to be exact-when I would get weird looks for telling people I was prepping my Halloween costume in August. I was Aurora that year-my mom made the pattern for my (blue) dress from scratch using the patterns for a wedding dress, a little kid's Disney Princess pattern, and her brain to make it work. Yes, my mom is that boss.

My my how things have changed. My friend Liss mentioned on Facebook this week she wanted to make a Halloween wreath. I commented that I would like to make one too-because in this age of zombies and gore it's next to impossible to find a cute, whimsical Halloween anything. We decided to go Tuesday after her class.


 Last night I walked into Michaels and was accosted with Christmas-call me crazy, but we haven't even killed the pumpkins yet-so why in the hell are we already counting down to Christmas?!?!! I am SO against celebrating the next holiday before the previous has past I have known to be bugged to the point of violence- my friend posted a Christmas countdown on FB the other day. She was promptly hidden after I told her how WRONG that was-and THAT was at someone I love. True story. I'm sorry. I digress.

What little Halloween stuff we could find behind the Christmas crap had either been picked clean through, was on 40% sale, or final clearance. An entire MONTH before Halloween. Great deals for me and my friend, but talk about putting the horse before the cart!

The lesson I learned is this: people are WAY too eager to get to Christmas, and waiting until September 27th to look for stuff to make a Halloween wreath may seem reasonable, but it is both unwise and like waiting until Christmas Eve to start your shopping. Looks like I was onto something eleven years ago and will need to start planning for Halloween in August--or better yet-July.

What happened to celebrating each holiday and enjoying what each had to offer? Now we just burn through them in eager anticipation of the next. It's sick I tell you, sick.

(I'm still in the market for a plain Halloween wreath that I can make pretty. I still have to try Hobby Lobby and Joann's, but if you see/know of anything, let me know.)

Apparently some ingenious person sells Hallowthanksmas cards and this is the site where I stole borrowed this creative artwork. http://hallowthanksmas.com/

here we come a' caroling: part deux

Remember this?

I can now put you out of your misery and tell you what's up--and this time it's GOOD news for a change!

Tomorrow.
















I'm kidding, I'm kidding! After a week's delay I auditioned to be a caroler at 'This is the Place Heritage Park" last Thursday.

Last night I still hadn't heard anything so I figured I didn't get it and was going to cut my losses when I received a phone call telling me

I GOT IT.*

There are four sopranos in this group, and I'm now one of them. After the frustrations and doubt I've had about myself this year you have no idea how great this feels! My hard work and perseverance has finally paid off, and it feels great knowing I'm what they want. I'm not the consolation prize winner yet again. The only tears I shed last night were tears of joy.

And it felt GOOD.

You wanna know the best part? (Aside from being able to work with one of my most favorite and talented musical directors and dress in awesome period clothing?) It's a paid gig. I get to do what I love the very very most, and I get to be paid for it. That all on its own is pretty rad in my book.

Be sure to pencil a 'Candlelight Christmas' into your festivities this Christmas and I will let you know more the closer it gets.

*See? I told you it would be anti-climactic, but I'm stoked nonetheless.

here we come a' caroling

I bet you're wondering why in the world I'm talking about Christmas in August?

Well I have some news. Some news I'm VERY excited about, but since I don't want to jinx it (or have to explain my failure later) I'm just gonna whet your appetite a little with a picture and leave it at that:

Now I'm pretty sure it won't start controversy like this one did, but I'm leaving you all with baited breath until next week--hopefully I will have some GREAT news to share...

my new nemesis

Warning-this is yet another long, rambling post. Sorry.

I’m convinced there is a conspiracy between the holiday food people and the gym people and that the conversation went something like this:

HFP: “hey gym people, we have a GREAT idea!”

GP: “ok, Holiday Food People, what’s that?”

HPF: “so the holidays are a big deal for a lot of people. We’re going to do all of this great fatty food that people will gorge on because we’ll only make it available once a year, all the while telling them ‘you deserve it, it’s the holidays. Your mom only makes that sweet potato pie once a year. You can’t pass THAT up! Don’t take just once slice; here have two!’ Then once New Year’s rolls around they’ll feel so bad about themselves they’ll join your gym in a vain attempt to get healthy again!”

GP: “Holy crap that’s brilliant! The fatties will buy gym memberships the first of the year and resolve to get skinny but will tire towards the end of January, stop coming, and we reap all the benefits of a signed contract! Hooray!”

HFP: “They’ll never know what hit them. It’s brilliant, BRILLIANT I tell you!”

GP/HFP: *maniacal laughs*

Ok. I know that’s not how it goes down. But it feels like it-especially yesterday when I stepped on my bathroom scale to do the dreaded post-holiday weight assessment. Although I have never had a super model’s physique I still think I hit the genetic jackpot because I have a somewhat slender figure with little to no work on my part-despite the English and Dutch blood running through my veins. That was until I stepped on that bloody scale yesterday.

I waited anxiously while my scale calculated the damage I had (or hadn’t) caused over the last six weeks. A few seconds later the blue display blinked with the results. 162.7. WTF?!  I had to put my glasses on and weigh myself twice to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I have managed to hold steady at or around (usually below)157 with little to no work on my part for the last few years. Not a great number, but impressive considering I have been in food service for the majority of the last decade.  

In my defense I did manage to lose 10 pounds this summer-due to tap dancing in 100+ degree temps during ‘Bye Bye Birdie’. Thanks to the over-zealous brokers, chefs, and DSRs at work bringing us yummy treats, my inability to say ‘no’, and my hating to see good food go to waste I have gained all ten pounds back plus the 5.7 holiday pounds.  For you non-math whiz’s like me that’s 15.7 pounds in five months. NOT. GOOD.

That being said, here’s my dilemma. In the last ten years I have been a member of four gyms. FOUR. Gyms that I am great at going to at first but then I get discouraged, hate going alone, and slack off. They then turn into a waste of money. Thinking it was a better option for me I have purchased a few at home videos and equipment, but after the set-up required it’s just too easy to rationalize NOT doing it. Although I am ready to make the change (and have been since before my latest revelation), I can’t find the motivation-usually blaming my inability to run or do anything strenuous on my joints since I am the proud owner of two bad knees and a bad ankle a skating accident five years ago bestowed me with.

Mr. Wonderful (being the fitness success story he is 60 lbs and maintaining!) has offered his help, but he’s a gym Nazi and I don’t know if I’m ok with him yelling at me to suck it up and stop being an out-of-shape whiny baby. I AM an out of shape whiny baby who needs a drill sergeant, but I need to start slow so I don’t get frustrated and give up because I can’t KEEP up-AGAIN-giving the gyms more free money. That isn’t the most fiscally savvy strategy since I am a single income household.

I know I have a few success stories who read my blog-paging Riss and Most Happy Girl-What has worked for you? How do you make inconvenient times convenient? I have the time, but the time I do have is intermittent. I don’t want to have to shower, apply or wash makeup off my face, or change my clothes more than once a day. I don’t want to have to come back to work or go on a date with Mr. Wonderful sweaty and gross. I also don’t want to be at the gym two hours a day like Mr. Wonderful. I’m not looking for Biggest Loser loss, I just want to stop feeling like a blob and for my clothes to fit right again. I want to impress people with the fact I have free food thrown at me all day at work yet I still look AWESOME. I want to keep up with Mr. Wonderful. I'm not necessarily ok with the fact he's becoming the pretty one in this relationship.

I’m not worried about the diet-with the exception of recently I’m usually pretty good with my eating habits. It’s the exercise and fitting it into my erratic schedule that’s killing me.

Have you ever let yourself go? How did you come back? What strategy do you recommend for someone who wants to change but gets discouraged easily?

does this make me look fat?

I was going to use this as yesterday's wordless wednesday, but it requires explanation.
This is a picture of peanut brittle, homemade salsa (we ate it ALL) and chips, jam, Cheesecake Factory Godiva Cheesecake, and not one but TWO packages of caramel and chocolate dipped pretzel sticks.
These were all obtained in a four-hour time frame from vendors, customers, and brokers yesterday while I was at work.
Farewell to the 10 lbs I lost during "Bye Bye Birdie". My boss thinks it's funny to joke that he pays us by the pound. He'll see how funny it ISN'T when I hand him the bill. >;D
Anyone want to be my gym buddy?

christmas trees and leg lamps

Last week I bought my Christmas tree—before you judge me for doing it so far in advance--I’ve gotta tell you it’s fake, it will NOT be put up until after Thanksgiving, this being my first Christmas in my new place I needed one, AND it was originally $200 but I got it for $50, so there.
Because it will be going up in a little over a week I haven’t bothered to make room for it in my storage space. Instead I have opted to leave the box where it will be put up to get me used to the idea. Last night Mr. Wonderful and I were watching our new favorite show when I saw the glimmer in his eye. Those of you who have seen “A Christmas Story” know the glimmer I am referring to. Those who don’t it’s the glimmer the old man gets in his eye about a week before Christmas thinking about the turkey he would soon be partaking. This man loves Christmas more than he loves me I’m sure. He’s the type who starts listening to Christmas music November 1, would keep the lights up year round if he could, looks for any reason to celebrate Christmas early, and calls me a Grinch because I believe there’s a time and place for Christmas. Because of this I had been waiting for him to make up a reason for me to put my tree up a whole week and a half early. I braced myself for the inevitable.

He then looked at me and sweetly said, “We should take that out of the box so we can see what it looks like.” Being as I know my sweetheart all too well I saw right through his tactic and replied: “once it comes out of the box it’s staying out until January 2.” Upon hearing this he got a twinkle in his eye and a sneaky grin on his face. In my attempt to dissuade him I had clearly given him the answer he was looking for. Once I saw the glimmer and his advance toward the box-the man is worse than my little brother was with presents growing up, I quickly added; “and if the tree comes out my leg lamp is right behind it.” You heard me right. A leg lamp. Cue the Hallelujah Chorus and heavenly beams.
That stopped him cold. Mr. Wonderful hates my little beauty almost as much as he hates the movie from which it originated. (Blasphemy-I KNOW!) He has had fantasies of having “accidents” with it since he learned of its existence-luckily for me it was a hand made gift from my parents and is protected from such a fate by sentimental value. During the course of our relationship many an argument has been had regarding this beauty-if we get married it will just get worse, I'm sure. He seems to think it’s an eyesore and has no place in the front window next to the tree. I say that’s what makes it funny-the fact it’s in the front room window next to the tree. Like Mom and The Old Man, we’re very much divided on what’s appropriate Christmas décor in the Newman-Fox households.

What say ye?

halloween, symphony, and zombies, oh my!

Of course what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t update you on the weekend’s festivities? Friday was the traditional “dress up for work” day. My co-worker Andrea and I decided to go as Mario and Luigi. We didn’t have a costume contest, but I’m pretty sure we would have won if there had been one:

Along with the costumes each department entered a“haunted” gingerbread house into the competition. Although ours looked great on paper, it didn’t turn out so great in reality. I learned that Royal Icing is NOT a medium I prefer or excel in:

Scott and I were given tickets to the symphony on Saturday night, so rather than spend it waiting for the non-existent trick-or-treaters (P.S- I had THREE) we spent the evening with Haydn's Symphony No. 1, Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter playing Beethoven's First Piano Concerto, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6. Although it was enjoyable we learned we are NOT Symphony goers. Our favorite piece of the evening was definitely Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6. Throw in the spectacle of parking in Downtown Salt Lake and the Freak Show that was Halloween made for a pretty interesting evening.

Our Halloween weekend wrapped up with Scott coercing me into watching ‘Walking Dead’ on AMC. It's definitely an adult show, not everyone's cup o'tea, and should be viewed with discrection. It's based on the graphic novel of the same name, and I’m not going to lie; it was good. So good it’s probably a series I’ll watch from now on. I love that it's not full of the cheap scream tricks most horror movies rely on now, in large part because it’s on basic cable so they actually have to write a smart script that isn't reliant on blood, guts, gore, and nudity to cause fear or tell the story. Most of you know how I feel about horror movies so you probably also know I’m LOVING the fact that I can watch this and not be completely disgusted. I wasn't even creeped out-well until it was time for bed, anyway. I totally had zombie dreams.

Aside from the pros there were a few HUGE cons for me, and they are problems I have with all zombie shows/movies:

1. There's always someone who misses the zombie apocalypse--how do you MISS the zombie apocalypse, let alone SLEEP through it ala our hero in 'Walking Dead', Rick? I would like to think I would NOTICE when my dearly departed started eating my brains.

2. There's always someone who is a late comer to the game-usually the one who SLEPT through everything-and they act as if they don’t know what a zombie is when they start playing said game. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW!? If I woke up to nothingness, saw a door chained shut that read “DO NOT OPEN DEAD INSIDE”, and something was trying to get through those doors; wouldn’t you put two and two together? I sure would. I would be looking for a weapon-blunt object, knife, gun-ANYTHING that I could kill zombies with. ESPECIALLY when I see half of a zombie trying to pull it self towards me when I come across it heading home.

3. Why do they always head to the large, populated cities (here it's Atlanta) under the guise that there is some sort of Mecca waiting there for them? Wouldn't logic lead one to believe that you are safest where there WEREN'T large concentrations of people? Because my logic leads me to believe that NATURALLY those people have most likely become what you're trying to avoid.

I would love nothing more than to see a smart protagonist in a zombie movie-to see the signs, immediately put two and two together, commence being a bad-ass, instead of playing the clueless, confused, and bumbling characters this genre is full of. The moral of the story is this: I will live through the zombie apocalypse-will you?

I'll be home for Christmas

So I'm cheating and changing the dates on this, but you all love me so you're just gonna deal. :)
Every year since 2005 I've been able to go home for Christmas. For those of you who don't already know, home is now St. George. For everyone but me, anyway. Well-Christmas with my family has changed so much over the years. We've gone from our small little family spending the day together to in-laws and grandkids, sharing the day with everyone. As different as it is, I wouldn't change it for anything. I love my sisters in law and my nieces and nephews so much.

This year is especially neat because Jon and Michelle are expecting their first baby-something I thought wouldn't happen, that's for sure. :) Jon really met his match in Michelle; she puts him in his place and I love to watch them together. He loves her so much and will be such a good dad. He's got a great empathy belly going, as you can see here:

Although Darla and Casey aren't pregnant, Casey needed to throw his hat in the ring:
I think he's pretty impressive...
This Christmas I also spent with a lot of time with my mom. I love her so much, and I am so lucky to have her as my mom. Even though I am grown, she still continues to teach me. For Christmas she gave me the best gift. She made a cook book for each of us with our favorite recipes when we were growing up. Then we made cookies together. I think they turned out great-although my mom's side of the family didn't appreciate them like they should have. My co-workers LOVED them! I think they're cute:

I normally stay the entire weekend, but I cut my trip short for the Vander Linden family Christmas party. Scott and I have been dating a little over a year, and so I decided it was time to introduce him to the family. (actually, my wonderful family was giving me grief and questioning whether or not he was real, so I HAD to call their bluff.)
I spent the weeks leading up to the party telling him about my family-who is married to who, who their kids are, and how they're related to my mom. I also prepped him for the noise. You know how loud I am, and I come by it honestly. Scott comes from a very small family-one sister, and his parents families don't live near by. His mother is from Kentucky, and his dad is a farm boy from Tremonton.
My family on the other hand is like the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". My mom has seven siblings, they're all married, and they all have kids. I have TWENTY FIVE first cousins, and most of them are married with kids of their own. Needless to say my family is HUGE and LOUD. Scott was fantastic. He remembered most everyone, and everyone seemed to really like him. It's always nice when your family likes the person you're dating.
All in all my Holidays were fantastic, but I'm SO ready for spring!!