Well, it's that time again....

I confess:

         

•          Sometimes, when shopping, if I see a really cute baby outfit I will buy it....for our future children.
•          NO I'M NOT PREGNANT! .
•          I got so sick of people at work asking me if I was pregnant or if I was "feeling fat because of the baby" that I had the Charge Nurse put in the beginning of the shift safety briefing that, I WAS NOT and to PLEASE stop asking me.
•          I got my first pair of leggings this week....UM I LOVE THEM. You can eat a huge meal and not get the 'my pants are too tight' feeling. =)
•          I kind of am obsessed with the tv show "Toddlers and Tiaras"....Its like a train wreck you can't look away from. 
•          I am having a hard time getting Christmas put away...as in, I haven't even started. 
•          I don't think I will even think of getting it put away for another week....
•          I really LOVE the snow and I am so happy that it has been dumping the snow for the last few days!

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment....Have a great weekend!

Christmas Festivites

*Sigh* December was such a deliciously busy month.

It was full of SHOPPING and LIGHTS and FAMILY and FOOD and PRESENTS!

Here are some HIGHLIGHTS:

Jeff and I met my parents and my niece and nephew at Temple Square. 

Little Rylie was so CUTE! She just wanted to stay and look at the Baby Jesus all night.

She really had a great time looking at all the Christmas lights.

On Christmas Eve, we had a great Norwegian Christmas at my parents house. 

We ate great food and had fun opening presents. 

Later that night we went to Jeff's nieces birthday party. Addy and Lizzy turned 4!

Christmas morning came bright and early at 10:45 am. Yep, we slept in. SO NICE.

We opened all our presents and Jeff totally spoiled me! 

He was very sneaky about it too!

The rest of that day was full of more presents and food at both of our parent's homes.

Such a wonderful Christmas. Too bad it was over so fast.

Looks like NEW

I finished my antique table! 

Recently, while watching the show Color Splash on the HGTV channel, I got the idea to paint an antique piece of furniture a bright color. It makes your antique hand-me-downs instantly NEW!
Of course you don't have to paint them bright colors, any coat of new paint will do the trick, but bright colors are HAPPY!

So, I guess you could say, I have successfully taken on a new hobby.

I saw this on another blog and thought, 'FUN!'

I confess:

•       I am in love with Dreyer's Loaded Butterfinger ice cream.... IN LOVE!
•        I have a huge potty mouth when driving.
•        I drink WAY more Diet Coke than I do water. Seriously.
•        I pretty much only drink water when I am at work.
•        I adore working with sick babies. The parents....not so much.
•        This past summer I picked up the horrible habit of ...picking my nose. YIKES! I know, but I hate booger scabs.
•       I have totally gone overboard on Christmas presents for Jeff. I can't help it! I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it makes me want to buy EVERYTHING! Plus he is super easy to shop for...and I like dressing him.
•     When I am at stop lights I check FB on my iPhone.... Addict? Maybe.
•       I thinking shopping for clothes should count as a work out.
•       When I was dating, Harry Potter was my go-to make-out movie....

I think that will do for now....don't want to confess everything at once. ;-)

Christmas Time!

So, I got a little excited and put the tree up several days before Thanksgiving. 

IT FELT GREAT! 

I really think that next year I will get it up even earlier so we can enjoy it for most of November.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

It is by far my favorite time of year!

Finding Gratitude

Sometimes it feels like nothing goes right. Whenever this happens in my life, which seems to be pretty often this past year, my mom always reminds me to look for the little things to be grateful for. 

Several years ago when I was teaching RS in the singles ward, the 1st counselors wife made a comment in class about how she keeps a gratitude journal. She said that every day she writes 5 things she is grateful for.

I decided to do the same. Every night I wrote in my journal I would add a gratitude list to the bottom. 

Surprisingly,  I was always able to come up with 5 things to be grateful for. 

Here are some things I am grateful for right now:

Having a job.... that I LOVE!

Being married to my best friend and the most PATIENT person ever!

Having a GREAT family!

 

Breakfast at Mimi's

Dt. Coke 

 

Friends

Halloween Kumla

So, over Halloween weekend my dad and I decided to make the infamous Kumla. 

This is a delightful Norwegian dish that is basically a salty potato dumpling. It is served with salt pork, ham, bacon, melted butter, etc. All the good stuff!

It is mmm mmmm good!

An ultimate comfort food....assuming you don't suffer from kidney problems or high blood pressure...

We have had this several times on our visits to Norway and and after this last visit we swore we would learn to make it ourselves. So, out came the trusty Norwegian cookbook. 

We decided to stuff our Kumla with ham and serve it with salt pork on the side. 

A major SUCCESS!

How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence

~ Benjamin Disraeli

I finally got the rest of my spring bulbs planted. It took me 2 hrs and I loved every minute of it! I have found that gardening sooths my soul.

I planted some of these:

and these...

and these...

and these...

and some of these...



and of course some of these...

I can't wait for spring!!!

Colorful Life

I LOVE COLOR!!!!!

I have found that the more bright colors there are around me the happier I feel....

not really too surprising. 

So, I have decided to add more color to my life.

Our living room and kitchen already have 

fuchsia, olive green, and teal...I just need more of it!

Here is my inspiration board....

I also super duper LOVE this look...

So, my first step toward more color is to do this

to my pedestal accent table...

  

but in this color....

Then I am going to take some old chairs I have

that I need to refinish as extra 

chairs for my dining room and

do something like this....

 But in a color scheme like this...

Or this...

So I know the olive green and floral chairs 

would be much more colorful, BUT

that dark espresso and robin egg damask

is just plain sexy!  

What say you?

Christmas Came Early!!!

So, my wonderful parents found out how bald my tires were. They quickly stepped up to the plate and provided us with an early Christmas present; high performance tires. 

I LOVE MY NEW TIRES! 

There is nothing better than a set of brand spanking new tires that ride smooth and hug the road. 

THANKS MOM AND DAD, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

KISS

We went to the KISS concert last night. IT WAS AWESOME!!! 

I would like to give a special thanks to all the crazies that dressed up and provided me with many laughs.

I would also like to thank my dear butt rocker SIL that bought us the tickets.

ROCK ON!!!

This past weekend Jeff and I took a road trip to San Diego. The first day of the trip we stopped in Las Vegas to stay the night.

I love Vegas!

We ate at a tasty buffet in the Paris hotel and then we took a trip up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I had never done this before and it was awesome.

 We had the most amazing view of Las Vegas at night. Just stunning...and very romantic...that is, assuming you can look beyond all the crazy foreign tourists shoving you out of the way so they can see what you are looking at.... ;-) 

The next day we were up early and on the road so we could get to San Diego. We spent that first night in San Diego playing in Coronado with my favorite Amelia. I had to show Jeff and Amelia my favorite hotel, Hotel Del. This is the hotel that was in the movie, Some Like It Hot. I LOVE this hotel....I told Jeff that he could feel free to plan one of our anniversaries there. =)

And finally, we had the wonderful opportunity to be at my friend Kristina's sealing in the San Diego temple. It was a perfect day. The weather was lovely and the sealing was beautiful. Later that evening we  were able to party it up with Kristina and the gang on a sunset dinner cruise. It was so much fun! Way to go Kristina for planning a way fun wedding celebration and inviting us!!! 

Amelia and I waiting to go in for the sealing.

Jeff being all GQ

The happy couple coming out to meet us.

Kristina looked so beautiful and happy!

The happy family on the boat after their ring ceremony.

 The first dance.

And they lived happily-ever-forever.