Elyse's Visit.

ELYSE! What a good friend she is. We talk every day- good day or bad, it doesn't matter. She's on the other side of the country, literally, but she is one of the closest people to my heart. She surprised me with a visit the week before Christmas, and around my work schedule (stupid), we made the best of every minute together.

I was a HAPPY lady to have this chick by my side for a full week and 2 days. Its the longest we've seen each other in a really long time and the only time we've seen each other since May. I'll have to get her out here again when I can request some time off work so we can do more like see the grand canyon and go for a hike or two. I think she really enjoyed Arizona and I definitely enjoyed having here in Arizona.
It never feels like enough time.
Thanks again for the Christmas surprise!
You're the best!

A Birthday Boy & Christmas Surprise

When it comes to the Christmas season, for the last few years I've been feeling rather scrooge-like. In my head, I would love for Christmas to mean everyone is nice to one another and doesn't care about buying things for other people and enjoys It's A Wonderful Life at home with a cup of cocoa. In my head, I don't care too much about rushing around and seeing everyone and playing Santa, I just like sleeping in and staying in my pj's and carrying a blanket around the house with me... maybe take a nap or overindulge in holiday candy. As much as I want to do these things, I know that seeing my family and friends for the holidays is what's important to them, and I love them dearly so I am going to do that rushing around thing I was talking about a minute ago. So to prove my commitment to the holidays, I will upload photos of my Christmas decorations.

 

...and that's it. I haven't accumulated very many decorations yet. 

In other news, last Saturday Dugan and I drove down to Phoenix Saturday morning to pick up his "grandpa" from the airport . When we got to the airport, the person we picked up was not his grandpa it was Elyse! My dear friend is so thoughtful- she surprised me with a visit from New York. I thought she wasn't visiting until next month and was only going to stay for 3 days. All lies. This month. A week and a half. I love my life. So, around my work schedule (sadly) I've been trying to keep up with showing Elyse the sites of Arizona and doing fun activities. So far, we've only taken her downtown a bit, made a quick trip to Sedona, and decorated some holiday cookies. 

There will definitely more on this later. More photos, more scenery, more fun. Stay tuned.

One more thing to touch on is Dugan's birthday. My handsome guy turned 23 last Thursday. We celebrated by eating some delicious sushi and a lot of it. Afterwards, we took a drive around the city to look at all the pretty holidays lights and decorations, some german chocolate cake I made, and then some hanging out at home with some close friends. We stayed up too late and woke up too early the next day. It was great. I think he had himself a good birthday.

 Finished the sushi boat. Well, 2 of them (12 rolls) between 4 of us.

Birthday boy.

Seth is coming to visit tonight so that will be fun. Im sad to be working tomorrow while Seth and Elyse will be here, but I won't complain about the hours.

Final...ly

There hasn't been much new and exciting activity going on up here but there are a few new things I can talk about. The last few weeks have been filled with job hunting, classes, interviews, lots of hot cocoa and some baking with Rachel. Made pumpkin pie for thanksgiving and then Rachel made some amazing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies last week. It's nice having a baking buddy.

So, here are a few new things going on. They're not a big deal but its just bits and pieces from my every day life.

1. Put up the Christmas Tree

You know the drill. Got george (that's its name) out of the box, and put it up. It looks festive in here. Dugan wishes it was real. La di da.

2. Got some job offers

In the last week I got two job offers- one at Olive Garden and one at Harkins Theatres. I think Olive Garden would've been the better choice in environment and working career, but they wouldn't work with me on my finals week and they seemed a little less flexible with hours so i chose Harkins. It's easy and It's something I know and it's a good simple job for the winter especially since the theatre is located directly behind my apartment complex so I can walk there and Dugan can take the car with him to work and school. If I hate it, i'll re-apply for the summer or look for something better. The spring time is better for job hunting anyway. If I like it at Harkins, i'll stay and make easy money for the next couple years. Nothing is permanent. After school, we'll be headed for Oregon anyway.

3. Finals week!

First semester for us is almost over! Im confident that the finals this week will go just fine for me. I have some essay work to do for ENG101 and then my PSY and Math final will be pie. I'm not worried. I think next semester I'll try out the nutrition class. Keep things interesting.

Last week two of my lovely sisters in law and their handsome guys came and stayed with us for a night. We didnt do much but we had some pizza and watched movies and played some bored games. These are three things we are really good at incidentally. I had planned on making vegetable lasagna buuut then my oven broke and that plan was blown.

All in all, things are going alright. I am really happy it hasn't snowed yet. I really don't like the cold. I like a cool breeze every once and awhile but I hate the feeling of being freezing. I like my limbs. I don't like not being able to feel them. I also like driving without ice on the roads. 

Dugan's 23rd birthday is next week and I'll be making him some german chocolate cake- his favorite. I don't know what Christmas will look like. I will be most likely working so who knows if we will have room to drive home. I hope it all works out.

Happy December all. I'll check back in next week!

xo

Brace-Face

Made a big change this morning. I'll be adjusting for a long time im sure. I took a before and after photo so you can get the whole impact of how hideous they are.

I'll probably get used to these puppies about the same time it's time to get them removed. Oh well. Here's my new smile for the next 17-20 months of my life.

Family, Photos, FUN!

Hello Friends & Family of cyber-world!

As most of you already know because you were either with me or heard me rave about it nonstop for the last few weeks of my life, we got a visit from my sisters from Virginia and their family- bringing my whole family together. This is a rare thing to happen, since there are just so many of us. It's truly a blessing to see everyone at the same time. I sure love my family.

Halloween Morning, I met my mama and my Hillary at crosswinds restaurant for some unhealthy, greasy, and delicious breakfast. Julia and baby Elias joined us. A nice walk in the fall colored wilderness followed breakfast. 

Brooke, Hillary and my mom got together and took the kiddos trunk or treating on Halloween. That was as fun as Halloween could be I guess. It's just not my favorite holiday, but i make what I can out of it.

After Halloween, we celebrated Hillary's 26th Birthday together with a yummy breakfast at  my favorite family owned restaurant, The Randall House. It was perfect. I so wish I had some photos of all us girls (my sisters & my mama),  but I have yet to snag those from anyone. 

Saturday we went to Tonto Basin to Celebrate my Grandfather's 80th birthday! It was really fun for me to show off my handsome husband to all of my extended family and to see lots of relatives I haven't seen in years. Some of them have a handful of kids now- my big family is just going to keep getting bigger. Again, I don't have any photos of my Grandpa's birthday party, but I have lots of fun pictures of my family before my grandpa's party.

 All the Grand kids- so far. Athan, Damen, Gwendalyn, Emma, Calvin, Charles, Andrew, and Scott

 Silly Faces!

 My sisters <3

 Brothers.

 ...with a spoonful of photobombs

This is about as good as a photo of Seth can get...

The WHOLE gang. I love these photos. 

I love this family. 

I am so happy to have spent some needed quality time with my family. 

Everyone who I didn't get a chance to see or spend any time with while I was in town, so so sorry. I promise to make time for you on my next visit. You know there is a place for you in my life- just sometime's it gets a little crowded. I mean... look at the size of my family :)

Happy November Everyone. Stay warm out there and stay away from getting sick- I know we're struggling with it in my house right now!

xo

Foxy Brown

From the minute my dear friend Julia told me she was going to be a mom, I didn't know how to feel. Since we were 14, we've been a couple of giddy, mistake-making, boy crazy teenage girls without a direction in the world. Now, we're both married adults with our own universes.
I got a call in the middle of the night Sunday night that Julia was on her way to the hospital so I jumped up out of bed and drove to Payson to be by her side- one of my many best friend duties. When I got there she had already given birth to a beautiful baby boy. A little while later, he was given a name: Elias Fox Nielsen. I am in love with this baby boy. He couldn't be any more perfect. 

It still feels weird. It feels ground breaking. Our world of being lost little girls is over and my best friend is a mama now. It all feels new but still very natural. Julia is so very important to me. My life has been changed because of this girl. She's seen me at my worst and at my very best. We've had our struggles, but man i'm glad we did. She is my insides. I am so proud of her and I just cant take my eyes off the little man she and R.d. brought into this world.

 Congrarulations Julia and R.d. for becoming parents this week on Monday October 22nd, 2012
Love you guys. I am so happy to have a new nephew.

Staying Warm...

Woke up this morning to a very cold house and couldn't manage to get warm at all! I needed to do homework and it's tough to do homework under a pile of blankets so I needed to find another option. Hey! We have a fireplace!

Now this is happening...

Done.