jonny's benches at first night.

    

we headed down to the gallivan center last night to see the project that has been keeping my brother up til 4 am every night and forcing him to sleep on my couch because he is too exhausted to drive home. i knew he had been working on two benches, but i didn't know quite what to expect and we were blown away by what we saw. jon is an architecture student at the U and one of the best they've got, because these two benches were chosen over all the other entries from students that were submitted to be featured at the gallivan center for first night. he designed and created them using 600 empty beer bottles and lots of blood, sweat and tears. truly, they are so impressive. if any of you are hitting up first night this weekend, be sure to check them out. so proud of my very talented brother.

i would just like to say.

that it is absolutely ridiculous that i require this many pillows to sleep at night.

can't sleep at all with just one.
i'll struggle with only two.
quite enjoy three,
but four is ideal.

poor husband (he doesn't sleep with any pillows at all).

in other news: doesn't my bed look oh so festive?

baby, it's {muggy &} cold outside.

this morning, i couldn't see the city through my bedroom windows.
a thick layer off fog crowded the air and hid the sights i usually admire.

i ventured into the living room and found a boy asleep on my couch
he was my brother & he was fully clothed with a puffy coat still zipped to his chin.

i made him eggs and packed him a lunch
and after he left, i met his better half at the mall.

i played santa and bought myself a few things
because i've been extra nice this year, and patient, too.

finally, i drove through the snow to my cozy home
and worked on a few christmas surprises with a pup on my lap.

later, g came home and made me spaghetti with italian sausage
as i danced around the kitchen and sang christmas songs.

it was a good day.

christmas time is here!

in case you were wondering, g is no longer doing this 24 hours a day:

 

which means more time to do things like this:

• makayla & mo's dance recitals
• seeing friends
• celebrating boo's wedding
• raclette feast with neighbors
• christmas programs
• time with the fams

this week we are finishing up shopping (yup, we aren't done), wrapping gifts, seeing the downtown lights, baking treats and cleaning our little home before santa arrives. so excited!

lately we've been:

• taking lots and lots of finals (her)
• finishing up the semester (her)
• not studying for the lsat anymore (him)
  
• decorating the christmas tree (much too late, i know)
• baking cookies
• having brunch with old friends (her)
  
• sleeping in (her)
• drinking steamers
  
• working hard for the money (him)
• making christmas lists
  
• buying new snow gear
  
• sleeping all day (them)
• enjoying unemployment (her)
• counting our blessings
• cooking breakfast before church
  
• using the cocomotion
• babysitting littles
  
• blasting christmas music
• planning surprises
• getting ready to spend 4 consecutive weekends at the cabin
• filling up our calendars
• having snowball fights
• building snowmen
  
• and watching movies in bed.

it's the most wonderful time of the year & life is good with this little family.

my brothers are funny.

and i mean, really really funny. which is quite honestly my favorite thing about them. i'm not all that in to twitter, but i do check out my brother ryan's page, simply to chuckle over gems like these:

• My door key isn't working at my parents house anymore. Either the cold has frozen the lock or this is their way of telling me I'm adopted.
• My 4 year old niece told me to "grow up already" when we were playing Barbies. See if I ever bring my Barbies to her house again.
• I don't let my baby watch Barney the Dinosaur because it teaches children it's fine to hug and play with large carnivorous animals.
• Boss just called in sick. He said he was going to lay down for an hour so I shouldn't bother him. Like a good employee I plan to do the same
• My baby just threw my cell phone and hit me in the lip, & she thinks its so funny. I always thought children were innocent until I had one.

and finally, my personal favorite:

• People ask me why I'm not on Facebook. It's simple, I prefer to remember old girlfriends before they got ugly.

touché.

where have i been?

well friends, 2009 has been the hardest year of my life. don't get me wrong here, i am not complaining about it or asking for your sympathy or even saying that it is a bad thing, it's simply a fact.

2009. hardest year of my life.

this year started out with the sadness of losing my sweet grandpa and it is ending with the harsh realities of losing my job. i can't say i didn't see it coming, though, because i did. and in fact, i even told my husband that i was pretty sure i would be laid off by the end of the year the day before it actually happened. for this internal warning and gut feeling, i can only be grateful, because it reminds me that everything happens for a reason.

i have lost a lot in 2009. there have been set-backs, hardships, sad days and sleepless nights and yet, i have gained. i recognize my blessings so much more now, i feel more appreciative of all the goodness in my life, i feel more connected to my Savior and mostly, i feel more capable of facing my trials head on and coming out on top. i feel like i have grown so much.

i am thankful for this hard year and for the lessons i have learned. i am grateful for opposition in all things. i am grateful that everything happens for a reason and i am grateful to know that regardless of what trials come my way, i am never alone. i know that everything happens for a reason and i truly believe that sometimes we just need to be reminded to let go of the wheel in order to end up where we belong.

away.

as you've probably guessed, i won't be blogging for a little while. i have lots to share, but i need to survive this week {and finals} first. i'll be back when life calms down again.

xo.

winter wonderland.

here are a few snapshots from our lovely little thanksgiving weekend at the cabin. because g takes a practice lsat every saturday morning, this is the first time we have been able to spend a whole weekend up there. g decided to ditch the test this week & his slacking off was well worth it, because we had the best time. so, in case you are wondering what one might do at the cabin, please refer to the following pictures...

first, we rode up past our cabin and cut down a real live christmas tree. so magical! i've never done that before & now i see why people do it. because of this experience, i sort of feel like me & g need a real christmas tree this year...thoughts? please know that toby's sweatshirt was specifically chosen in support of the utes. toby is a ute.

our enormous tree had to basically be cut in half in order to fit through the door of our cabin. well worth it.

 

may i please tell you a story about this picture? one night g wore a flannel shirt to a party we had with our friends & the flannel + the scruff made our friends tease him that he looked like a lumberjack. and now he is g, the lumberjack in certain circles. so when i saw this sight i had to take a picture for obvious reasons. please let it be known that i think the lumberjack is hot.

on saturday night, we rode the polar express to the north pole to meet santa clause. and can i just tell you that i was just as excited as makayla for this event. the polar express is one of my all-time favorite christmas books & i couldn't wait to see the train. i think the story is so magical & have so many fond memories of listening to the recording of that book on christmas eve with my family (have you ever heard the recording of the polar express. no? please go buy it immediately. it makes me cry). and, just for the record, "michaela" is not the correct spelling of this little nugget's name. good thing she can't read yet or the elf who wrote it might have gotten a firm, "oh no you didn't!".

i promise the train was much cuter than this picture suggests. we were in the very back.

during the day, we went four wheeling to the TOP OF A MOUNTAIN! and when we got to the top, g was so excited he yelled that exact phrase exactly like ron burgendy does in anchorman.

i asked g to take this picture of me because i wanted to document the coldest i have ever been in my entire life. i am not even kidding you. in. my. life. i had to work really really hard to not be a drama queen and demand that we turn back and go home immediately, because i was an idiot and i didn't bring snow pants to the cabin, so i was wearing my $20 skinny jeans from urban outfitters that are really more like leggings because i have worn them so thin. and i possibly wanted to DIE because i couldn't feel my lower half at all, but it was FUN!

we had a wonderful time at the new cabin and we can't wait to go back soon! and when i say soon, i mean like, tomorrow if possible. seriously, folks, how can we make that happen?
merry early december!!

{rip} little red samsung.

you know what i think is really fun?

put your cell phone in your back pocket and forget about it & then go to the bathroom a few hours later. just wait, because here comes the fun part! as you sit down your phone will most definitely FALL INTO THE TOILET and be broken forever, even if you take it out immediately & google every life-saving trick imaginable.

try it!

i think it's really fun!