I know this is how it works every year, and I have no idea why I’m surprised each time this happens, but the second Halloween passes, Christmas preparations are in full swing. I can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed already!
Allen and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart last night and as I made my way to the Halloween section to see what 50% off décor and goodies I could get my hands on, I found myself surrounded by Christmas! Christmas gift baskets, Christmas decorations, Christmas cookie cutters and table cloths, etc! It was everywhere. I’m not ready for this! Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE Christmas. I do. But I have to be in the right mindset to start all the preparations. Decorating, baking, working out schedules to see family, Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, neighbor gifts, Christmas cards…It feels like I just put away my Christmas stuff from last year and now it’s starting all over again.
Again, this happens every year. I have a mini panic attack because I feel as if Christmas ATTACKS after Halloween. But I eventually get into the spirit of it all and go full-steam-ahead to make the holiday season wonderful.
Now for fun:
I’d love to hear the different holiday traditions people have. Pick your favorite and share. :)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A Novel?? Almost....
I seriously cannot believe how long it’s been since my last post. It’s almost embarrassing. Haha! So I figured I’d better post something now. It will be a quick recap.
Let’s see….what’s happened since April? HA, well a lot! I’m going to do my best to remember back that far. Here Goes:
In May we took a wonderful trip, just the two of us, up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. Kind of a revisit to our honeymoon spots. It was gorgeous. And it was definitely different scenery than we had ever experienced while vacationing there. There were WALLS of snow everywhere still. I don’t think I had ever seen so much snow. It was marvelous. We had an absolute blast, as always.
In June we went on our yearly summer trip down to Lake Powell with my family. And as always, it was so much fun. The water was great, the company was fantastic, and the scenery is just so beautiful.
Also in June we celebrated our 3 year anniversary by taking a trip up to Logan to spend the night at the Anniversary Inn. Allen surprised me by not telling me which room we had. It turns out that we had King Arthur’s Court. We had a knight in shining armor in our room, a bottle of sparkling cider, cheesecake, and lots of fun room décor. The next day we were able to enjoy a tour of Logan with our good friend Benson. Overall, it was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary. A nice little getaway.
In July, of course, there are the holidays. But we were also able to go camping to one of our favorite campsites, Upper Stillwater Reservoir. We went with the Castillos and the Grahams. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun. And even though it rained a little, Allen and I loved it! We are total fans of rain and lightning, even when camping. Makes it more of an adventure.
August brought sweltering heat and a grumpy Amanda. Me+Heat+A Swamp Cooler That Refused To Work=A VERY GRUMPY ME! We were finally able to get our maintenance team to fix our swamp cooler, or so we thought. But after a wonderful day at Lagoon with friends, we came home hoping to bask in the cool air that SHOULD have been pumping through our apartment. But this was not the case. Nope. Not even close. It was cooler OUTSIDE at 11pm than it was in our apartment. At that point, I had HAD it. I immediately texted my friend, who had mentioned that her sister was moving and needed a renter for their apartment. I asked if it was still available! And it was. We set up a time to view the apartment the very next day.
After looking through the apartment, figuring out finances(due to a raise in rent), we decided it would work perfectly for us. We were so excited. Long story short, we were able to sign the contract and set a date for move-in. The date for move in was September 19th. We were so blessed to have so much help from friends and family. We were able to get moved in fairly quickly. At least all the big stuff. Over the course of the next week Allen and I were able to move the small stuff over together, and that following Saturday we spent a whopping 10 hours cleaning our old apartment. What a relief it was to have that off our shoulders.
Our new apartment is a split entry, 2 level, triplex condo. It has 2 bedrooms, a laundry/bathroom, lots of storage, and lots of entertaining space. And by “lots” I simply mean, lots more than we are used to having. We are loving it. Oh, and did I mention it has CENTRAL AIR! Yes, that was one of the deciding factors.
After moving into the new place in September, the first weekend of October we spent down in Lake Powell with my family, just for a quick little get away trip on the house boat. Which was nice after all the moving.
The rest of October was spent slowly putting things away and getting our new place organized. We also celebrated Allen’s 26th birthday! That was fun. We celebrated all weekend long. His birthday was actually on Sunday(the 23rd) but the festivities began on Friday. Friday night I took him out to dinner at Red Lobster and he enjoyed a nice large plate of all kinds of seafood(ew. Lol). Then Saturday morning I surprised him with a quick ‘lil trip up to Park City to ride the Alpine Coaster. That was so fun! Although the ride itself was maybe 2 minutes long, I giggled the whole way down, and I’m sure Allen was doing the same. We had a lovely lunch at a pizza place in Park City, then made our way home to prepare for his birthday party with friends. This was our first time hosting in our new apartment and it was so fun! Lots of good friends came. I served up steak and baked potatoes for dinner. And we did a non-traditional birthday cake. Instead of baking a cake in the oven, everyone was able to make their own cake using the waffle iron. Yes, we still used cake batter, but each “mini waffle cake” baked within a minute in the waffle iron and then everyone could dress their cake however they wanted…frosting, fruit, whip cream, ice cream, etc. Allen loved his gifts(including his Batman: Arkham City PS3 video game, random little what-nots, and also his footie pajamas. Yes, I said footie pajamas. They are HILARIOUS!) Overall, he loved his birthday.
Halloween has come and gone, yet again. This year we actually had trick-or-treaters. That was fun! But they literally stopped showing up at 8pm. Which was kind of weird. We had trick-or-treaters non-stop from about 6:45 to 8:00. And then BAM. No one. But that’s ok. Allen and I enjoyed a yummy dinner and a scary movie to top off our Halloween night.
Oh! On another note, Allen’s jobs have been in and out still. I think since April he’s had 2 jobs. The most recent was at a place called Wasatch Minerals. He hated it there but was a hard worker and did his best every day. However, a few weeks ago, on a Monday, his boss told him that they could only hire one of the two temps(Allen obviously being one of them) and that they chose the other gentleman because he had more experience and a few more skills. So that was quite a bummer to hear that. But they gave him until the end of the week before his time there was over. In that week Allen was able to apply to a place called Monogram. This company manufactures parts for airplanes made from carbon fiber and other composite materials, which is what Allen completed some schooling for. Allen had been calling this place on a monthly basis to see if he could at least interview there. Each time he’s called in the past few months they were either “not hiring” or “had just finished hiring.” But the day Allen called happened to be the day they decided to start looking at applications again. Again, long story short: Allen applied that Tuesday, had an interview the following Monday, and was offered the job on Tuesday. Our prayers were answered. Apparently he made a great impression on them because typically all applicants have to go through at least 2 interviews and usually there is a week between the second interview and having a decision made. I was so proud of him. The hours at this new job are great. The pay is better. But most importantly….Allen is so happy to be working there. I’m so proud of him and I’m so happy that he’s happy.
The past couple of months we have felt so blessed. We are so grateful for all of our friends and family who constantly support us. A big thank you to all of you!
Well, the holidays are quickly approaching. Time to get shopping! :)
Let’s see….what’s happened since April? HA, well a lot! I’m going to do my best to remember back that far. Here Goes:
In May we took a wonderful trip, just the two of us, up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. Kind of a revisit to our honeymoon spots. It was gorgeous. And it was definitely different scenery than we had ever experienced while vacationing there. There were WALLS of snow everywhere still. I don’t think I had ever seen so much snow. It was marvelous. We had an absolute blast, as always.
In June we went on our yearly summer trip down to Lake Powell with my family. And as always, it was so much fun. The water was great, the company was fantastic, and the scenery is just so beautiful.
Also in June we celebrated our 3 year anniversary by taking a trip up to Logan to spend the night at the Anniversary Inn. Allen surprised me by not telling me which room we had. It turns out that we had King Arthur’s Court. We had a knight in shining armor in our room, a bottle of sparkling cider, cheesecake, and lots of fun room décor. The next day we were able to enjoy a tour of Logan with our good friend Benson. Overall, it was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary. A nice little getaway.
In July, of course, there are the holidays. But we were also able to go camping to one of our favorite campsites, Upper Stillwater Reservoir. We went with the Castillos and the Grahams. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun. And even though it rained a little, Allen and I loved it! We are total fans of rain and lightning, even when camping. Makes it more of an adventure.
August brought sweltering heat and a grumpy Amanda. Me+Heat+A Swamp Cooler That Refused To Work=A VERY GRUMPY ME! We were finally able to get our maintenance team to fix our swamp cooler, or so we thought. But after a wonderful day at Lagoon with friends, we came home hoping to bask in the cool air that SHOULD have been pumping through our apartment. But this was not the case. Nope. Not even close. It was cooler OUTSIDE at 11pm than it was in our apartment. At that point, I had HAD it. I immediately texted my friend, who had mentioned that her sister was moving and needed a renter for their apartment. I asked if it was still available! And it was. We set up a time to view the apartment the very next day.
After looking through the apartment, figuring out finances(due to a raise in rent), we decided it would work perfectly for us. We were so excited. Long story short, we were able to sign the contract and set a date for move-in. The date for move in was September 19th. We were so blessed to have so much help from friends and family. We were able to get moved in fairly quickly. At least all the big stuff. Over the course of the next week Allen and I were able to move the small stuff over together, and that following Saturday we spent a whopping 10 hours cleaning our old apartment. What a relief it was to have that off our shoulders.
Our new apartment is a split entry, 2 level, triplex condo. It has 2 bedrooms, a laundry/bathroom, lots of storage, and lots of entertaining space. And by “lots” I simply mean, lots more than we are used to having. We are loving it. Oh, and did I mention it has CENTRAL AIR! Yes, that was one of the deciding factors.
After moving into the new place in September, the first weekend of October we spent down in Lake Powell with my family, just for a quick little get away trip on the house boat. Which was nice after all the moving.
The rest of October was spent slowly putting things away and getting our new place organized. We also celebrated Allen’s 26th birthday! That was fun. We celebrated all weekend long. His birthday was actually on Sunday(the 23rd) but the festivities began on Friday. Friday night I took him out to dinner at Red Lobster and he enjoyed a nice large plate of all kinds of seafood(ew. Lol). Then Saturday morning I surprised him with a quick ‘lil trip up to Park City to ride the Alpine Coaster. That was so fun! Although the ride itself was maybe 2 minutes long, I giggled the whole way down, and I’m sure Allen was doing the same. We had a lovely lunch at a pizza place in Park City, then made our way home to prepare for his birthday party with friends. This was our first time hosting in our new apartment and it was so fun! Lots of good friends came. I served up steak and baked potatoes for dinner. And we did a non-traditional birthday cake. Instead of baking a cake in the oven, everyone was able to make their own cake using the waffle iron. Yes, we still used cake batter, but each “mini waffle cake” baked within a minute in the waffle iron and then everyone could dress their cake however they wanted…frosting, fruit, whip cream, ice cream, etc. Allen loved his gifts(including his Batman: Arkham City PS3 video game, random little what-nots, and also his footie pajamas. Yes, I said footie pajamas. They are HILARIOUS!) Overall, he loved his birthday.
Halloween has come and gone, yet again. This year we actually had trick-or-treaters. That was fun! But they literally stopped showing up at 8pm. Which was kind of weird. We had trick-or-treaters non-stop from about 6:45 to 8:00. And then BAM. No one. But that’s ok. Allen and I enjoyed a yummy dinner and a scary movie to top off our Halloween night.
Oh! On another note, Allen’s jobs have been in and out still. I think since April he’s had 2 jobs. The most recent was at a place called Wasatch Minerals. He hated it there but was a hard worker and did his best every day. However, a few weeks ago, on a Monday, his boss told him that they could only hire one of the two temps(Allen obviously being one of them) and that they chose the other gentleman because he had more experience and a few more skills. So that was quite a bummer to hear that. But they gave him until the end of the week before his time there was over. In that week Allen was able to apply to a place called Monogram. This company manufactures parts for airplanes made from carbon fiber and other composite materials, which is what Allen completed some schooling for. Allen had been calling this place on a monthly basis to see if he could at least interview there. Each time he’s called in the past few months they were either “not hiring” or “had just finished hiring.” But the day Allen called happened to be the day they decided to start looking at applications again. Again, long story short: Allen applied that Tuesday, had an interview the following Monday, and was offered the job on Tuesday. Our prayers were answered. Apparently he made a great impression on them because typically all applicants have to go through at least 2 interviews and usually there is a week between the second interview and having a decision made. I was so proud of him. The hours at this new job are great. The pay is better. But most importantly….Allen is so happy to be working there. I’m so proud of him and I’m so happy that he’s happy.
The past couple of months we have felt so blessed. We are so grateful for all of our friends and family who constantly support us. A big thank you to all of you!
Well, the holidays are quickly approaching. Time to get shopping! :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
50 Tips
I know, I know....It's been quite some time since I've blogged. But I'm here now. :)
This past Sunday was Easter. It was such a lovely day spent with my family. Church was wonderful and had such uplifting messages. And then spending time with my husband and family made the day perfect.
As part of a little Easter gift from my mother, each of us children received a little card from Seagull Book or something. Ryan's had a message about the Priesthood. Christopher's was a primary message, etc. Mine and Allen's was entitled "50 Tips for LDS Couples." As I read the tips on this card, I thought it was such simple but very good advice. And most of it is great advice for couples outside of the church as well. I figured I'd share these 50 tips with all of you hopefully give a little inspiration to better all of our marriages, even in the tiniest way.
50 TIPS FOR LDS COUPLES
SIMPLE WAYS TO CREATE A CELESTIAL RELATIONSHIP
1. Be a peacemaker
2. Adopt the pure love of Christ
3. Negotiate differences
4. Create win-win solutions
5. Continually express your love
6. See your loved one as the Savior does
7. Continue the courtship
8. Respond positively
9. Always show kindness, courtesy, and respect
10. Think before you speak
11. Make patience the rule
12. Turn ordinary moments into adventures
13. Be generous with thanks and praise
14. Do as the Savior would do
15. Find areas of agreement
16. Choose happiness over being right
17. Validate each other's feelings
18. Ask lots of questions
19. Repeat what you hear
20. Agree to disagree!
21. End disagreements on a positive tone
22. Look for what's right
23. Overlook the little stuff
24. Attend the temple and church meetings
25. Make positive comments
26. Be thoughtful and helpful
27. Pray together
28. Live the gospel standards
29. Share your talents
30. Read the scriptures together
31. Don't overreact or be critical
32. Create worthy goals together
33. Don't bring anything into your life or home that would offend the Savior
34. Write love notes
35. Put each other first
36. Support each other in church callings
37. Maintain an eternal perspective
38. Be true and faithful
39. Surprise each other
40. Express what you want in a good-natured way
41. Replace complaints with compliments, criticism with courtesy
42. Manage money wisely
43. Seize more opportunities to talk
44. Celebrate your differences
45. Forgive readily
46. Use gospel principles to solve problems
47. Inspire each other
48. Remain upbeat
49. Pay tithing
50. Work hard and have fun
See, aren't those all very simple but sound advice?
I'm going to try to follow these simple tips and see how it improves our marriage. Don't get me wrong, we have a great marriage, and I love Allen through and through...but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. :)
I hope these tips inspire some of you to possibly make some changes in your own marriages to better your relationship with your spouse.
This past Sunday was Easter. It was such a lovely day spent with my family. Church was wonderful and had such uplifting messages. And then spending time with my husband and family made the day perfect.
As part of a little Easter gift from my mother, each of us children received a little card from Seagull Book or something. Ryan's had a message about the Priesthood. Christopher's was a primary message, etc. Mine and Allen's was entitled "50 Tips for LDS Couples." As I read the tips on this card, I thought it was such simple but very good advice. And most of it is great advice for couples outside of the church as well. I figured I'd share these 50 tips with all of you hopefully give a little inspiration to better all of our marriages, even in the tiniest way.
50 TIPS FOR LDS COUPLES
SIMPLE WAYS TO CREATE A CELESTIAL RELATIONSHIP
1. Be a peacemaker
2. Adopt the pure love of Christ
3. Negotiate differences
4. Create win-win solutions
5. Continually express your love
6. See your loved one as the Savior does
7. Continue the courtship
8. Respond positively
9. Always show kindness, courtesy, and respect
10. Think before you speak
11. Make patience the rule
12. Turn ordinary moments into adventures
13. Be generous with thanks and praise
14. Do as the Savior would do
15. Find areas of agreement
16. Choose happiness over being right
17. Validate each other's feelings
18. Ask lots of questions
19. Repeat what you hear
20. Agree to disagree!
21. End disagreements on a positive tone
22. Look for what's right
23. Overlook the little stuff
24. Attend the temple and church meetings
25. Make positive comments
26. Be thoughtful and helpful
27. Pray together
28. Live the gospel standards
29. Share your talents
30. Read the scriptures together
31. Don't overreact or be critical
32. Create worthy goals together
33. Don't bring anything into your life or home that would offend the Savior
34. Write love notes
35. Put each other first
36. Support each other in church callings
37. Maintain an eternal perspective
38. Be true and faithful
39. Surprise each other
40. Express what you want in a good-natured way
41. Replace complaints with compliments, criticism with courtesy
42. Manage money wisely
43. Seize more opportunities to talk
44. Celebrate your differences
45. Forgive readily
46. Use gospel principles to solve problems
47. Inspire each other
48. Remain upbeat
49. Pay tithing
50. Work hard and have fun
See, aren't those all very simple but sound advice?
I'm going to try to follow these simple tips and see how it improves our marriage. Don't get me wrong, we have a great marriage, and I love Allen through and through...but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. :)
I hope these tips inspire some of you to possibly make some changes in your own marriages to better your relationship with your spouse.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Have Patience...
We all have our "down" days. Those are the days when our self confidence is lacking and we don't even want to get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes this lack in self-worth stems from a comment, a look, a pair of jeans not fittin' quite right anymore...whatever it may be, whatever it was that made you feel low, it seems to put a gray cast to everything around you. The past few days for me have been that nasty gray...don't get me wrong, I have plenty of "up" days too. So I don't want anyone to think I'm depressed or anything along those lines. But it's just been a recent thing where I've been hard on myself and mostly due to all of the above reasons I mentioned...a comment, a look, and those damn jeans.
I've been doing some thinking the past few days and I realized something. Since when do I allow someone to dictate how I feel? No matter WHO it is... I've had to ask myself some questions to help me feel better.
*Does my husband love me? YES
*Do I have friends and family that love me and support me? YES
*Am I a strong, independant woman that has overcome trial time and time again? YES
*Am I the type of person to allow someone to make me feel less than I know myself to be???? NOOOOOO
*Am I the type of woman that will take a negative thing and turn it into something positive? ABSOLUTELY
So that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to take these past few days of nasty grey and learn from them. I'm going to make it a positive thing and make myself a better person for it.
I found this quote and I find it to be quite fitting for how I feel and have felt...
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."
~Saint Francis de Sales
Having patience with myself might just be one of my biggest faults. I'm my own worst critic. But all I can do is try to make each day better than the last. :)
I want to express my gratitude to all of my wonderful friends. You are all very dear to me, and in times of that "nasty gray," I know I can count on you to lift me up. You are all beautiful people. Thank you!
I've been doing some thinking the past few days and I realized something. Since when do I allow someone to dictate how I feel? No matter WHO it is... I've had to ask myself some questions to help me feel better.
*Does my husband love me? YES
*Do I have friends and family that love me and support me? YES
*Am I a strong, independant woman that has overcome trial time and time again? YES
*Am I the type of person to allow someone to make me feel less than I know myself to be???? NOOOOOO
*Am I the type of woman that will take a negative thing and turn it into something positive? ABSOLUTELY
So that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to take these past few days of nasty grey and learn from them. I'm going to make it a positive thing and make myself a better person for it.
I found this quote and I find it to be quite fitting for how I feel and have felt...
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."
~Saint Francis de Sales
Having patience with myself might just be one of my biggest faults. I'm my own worst critic. But all I can do is try to make each day better than the last. :)
I want to express my gratitude to all of my wonderful friends. You are all very dear to me, and in times of that "nasty gray," I know I can count on you to lift me up. You are all beautiful people. Thank you!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
tWeNtY-eLeVeN
As I rang in the new year with a kiss from my sweet husband, I got a wonderful feeling that this year is going to be a good one. I feel confident that 2011 holds great things for me and Allen. What those things might be, I'm not sure yet. But I sure am excited to discover what they are. :)
I've decided that this year is going to be different. My New Year Resolutions are going to be different. My goals typically consist of "lose ____ pounds in two months," "work out 6 times a week," do this, do that, don't do this or that....Well...none of those have ever really worked out for me.
So here are a few of my Resolutions for 2011:
1. NO WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: Rather than try to lose lbs. by a certain date and focus on the pounds and inches, I'm going to focus on forming Healthy Habits. I'm going to work on working out 3 times a week. Even if that means I stretch on my yoga mat for 20 minutes. I'm going to teach myself self control and moderation. I want to form habits that can make me feel better each day. I plan on making better decisions for my body. (wish me luck!)
2. HOUSEWORK: This past year was an epic fail on keeping up with my housework. And yes, it's embarassing to admit that. But hey...I HATE cleaning. My goal is to set aside up to 30 minutes each day after work to straightening my apartment. And I will set aside one full day each week for deeper cleaning.
I realized that I don't really have an excuse to have a messy apartment. I get off work at 3pm everyday, so I have plenty of time in the afternoon and evening to straighten up. We don't have kids, it's just the two of us, so I don't have the excuse of "I was chasing kids around all day." And I know I feel better when I'm living in a clean home.
3. PHOTO ALBUMS: Okay, this one may seem silly to some of you, but I want to start putting together photo albums. I take plenty of pictures, but I don't seem to do anything with them. They get uploaded to Facebook and then stay on my memory card in my camera. And Facebook is NOT a legitimate photo album, in my opinion. So my goal is to print off my pictures once a month and add them to albums. I want my children to have easy access to these pictures. I don't want them to have to login to facebook to see them. That sounds a little ridiculous, doesn't it?
Well there ya go. These are a few of the things I plan to work on this year. I have a couple other little goals for this year, but those ones I'm keeping to myself. :)
May all of you have the strength and power to accomplish your goals this year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
End of 2010 Update:
It's been a couple months since I've updated, and boy! There is alot to update.
So I'll make it quick as quick as possible:
*On October 20th we made our way to Disneyland and we had a WONDERFUL TIME! We spent Allen's 25th birthday out there and he had a blast. We loved it!
*Our laughs and giggles on our vacation came to a screeching hault on Sunday(the 24th) when we were involved in a car accident. I hit my head(but no worries, I walked away with a headache and a few sore muscles). Allen was not injured, thank heavens. But our poor little car didn't make it. Long story short, our car was totaled, we had to rent a car to come home in, and then we immediately started a search for a new car. Despite the car accident, our vacation was still wonderful and I'm glad we went.
*In November we were able to find a car that fit us perfectly. It's the perfect size for a small family car, it had incredibly low miles, and the previous owner took such wonderful care of it. All signs pointed to "yes" on this car. So we bought it and we couldn't be happier with our decision.
*November also brought a delicious Thanksgiving dinner spent with my mom's side of the family. It was wonderful to see all the family together.
*December was a busy busy month. As I'm sure it was for all of you as well. Birthdays galore! My sister's birthday, MY birthday, cousins and aunts and uncles' birthdays! Such a wonderful month to celebrate!
*Allen surprised me on my birthday with a trip up to Ogden to IFLY UTAH, aka, Indoor Skydiving. What a rush! It was so much fun to feel like I was flying. We are DEFINITELY planning on doing that again soon! Allen spoiled me with fun gifts, birthday surprises and goodies, and fond memories.
*After the birthday madness, we immediately jumped into Christmas mode. Christmas shopping, wrapping, baking, Christmas music, cleaning, cooking, and so on! Allen worked on Christmas Eve until about 5pm. From there we drove up to Layton to the Christmas Eve party hosted by Grandma Poulsen. It's always such a treat to go up and see the fam. Food was eaten, songs were sung, gifts were exchanged, and The Fat Man himself made a guest appearance for the little ones to visit with. What a great night.
*Christmas morning was wonderful. Allen and I woke up bright and early at 7am and enjoyed watching each other open our gifts, one at a time. I must say, the past 3 Christmas' that Allen and I have spent together as husband and wife have been some of my favorite. Sharing that time with just him in the morning has been so special to me and I will always cherish these fond little moments.
We definitely spoiled each other this year. We got some fun stuff! :)
After presents, we got dressed and drove up to Allen's parent's house. We had a delicious breakfast, exchanged gifts, visited for awhile, then parted ways for the day. We then stopped at my parent's house to say a quick hello and see their fun gifts. Then we drove back to our apartment and relaxed for a bit while we got ready to go to the Family Dinner later that evening.
Christmas Dinner was spent with the Dumas Family at my Gram and Pop's home in Orem. The food was delicious and the holiday spirit was in full swing.
All in all, this Christmas was spectacular. I'm sad it's already over.
*New Year's Eve was spent with good friends, fondue, movies, games, and lots of laughter. I got my New Year's kiss from my sweet husband. Then New Years Day we went out sledding, which probably wasn't the BEST idea for me since I had a cold already. It was still a blast though.
So there ya go...That's the final update from 2010. It was a good year. I learned lots of things. I had ups. I had downs. All of which resulted in a fond memory or a good lesson to be learned. At the end of this year, I'm happy with where I'm at in my life. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, a cute little apartment that I'm happy(and blessed) to call Home, cars that work and get us from A to B, a job that continually blesses our lives, and wonderful friends and family that support us. What more can a girl ask for? :)
So I'll make it quick as quick as possible:
*On October 20th we made our way to Disneyland and we had a WONDERFUL TIME! We spent Allen's 25th birthday out there and he had a blast. We loved it!
*Our laughs and giggles on our vacation came to a screeching hault on Sunday(the 24th) when we were involved in a car accident. I hit my head(but no worries, I walked away with a headache and a few sore muscles). Allen was not injured, thank heavens. But our poor little car didn't make it. Long story short, our car was totaled, we had to rent a car to come home in, and then we immediately started a search for a new car. Despite the car accident, our vacation was still wonderful and I'm glad we went.
*In November we were able to find a car that fit us perfectly. It's the perfect size for a small family car, it had incredibly low miles, and the previous owner took such wonderful care of it. All signs pointed to "yes" on this car. So we bought it and we couldn't be happier with our decision.
*November also brought a delicious Thanksgiving dinner spent with my mom's side of the family. It was wonderful to see all the family together.
*December was a busy busy month. As I'm sure it was for all of you as well. Birthdays galore! My sister's birthday, MY birthday, cousins and aunts and uncles' birthdays! Such a wonderful month to celebrate!
*Allen surprised me on my birthday with a trip up to Ogden to IFLY UTAH, aka, Indoor Skydiving. What a rush! It was so much fun to feel like I was flying. We are DEFINITELY planning on doing that again soon! Allen spoiled me with fun gifts, birthday surprises and goodies, and fond memories.
*After the birthday madness, we immediately jumped into Christmas mode. Christmas shopping, wrapping, baking, Christmas music, cleaning, cooking, and so on! Allen worked on Christmas Eve until about 5pm. From there we drove up to Layton to the Christmas Eve party hosted by Grandma Poulsen. It's always such a treat to go up and see the fam. Food was eaten, songs were sung, gifts were exchanged, and The Fat Man himself made a guest appearance for the little ones to visit with. What a great night.
*Christmas morning was wonderful. Allen and I woke up bright and early at 7am and enjoyed watching each other open our gifts, one at a time. I must say, the past 3 Christmas' that Allen and I have spent together as husband and wife have been some of my favorite. Sharing that time with just him in the morning has been so special to me and I will always cherish these fond little moments.
We definitely spoiled each other this year. We got some fun stuff! :)
After presents, we got dressed and drove up to Allen's parent's house. We had a delicious breakfast, exchanged gifts, visited for awhile, then parted ways for the day. We then stopped at my parent's house to say a quick hello and see their fun gifts. Then we drove back to our apartment and relaxed for a bit while we got ready to go to the Family Dinner later that evening.
Christmas Dinner was spent with the Dumas Family at my Gram and Pop's home in Orem. The food was delicious and the holiday spirit was in full swing.
All in all, this Christmas was spectacular. I'm sad it's already over.
*New Year's Eve was spent with good friends, fondue, movies, games, and lots of laughter. I got my New Year's kiss from my sweet husband. Then New Years Day we went out sledding, which probably wasn't the BEST idea for me since I had a cold already. It was still a blast though.
So there ya go...That's the final update from 2010. It was a good year. I learned lots of things. I had ups. I had downs. All of which resulted in a fond memory or a good lesson to be learned. At the end of this year, I'm happy with where I'm at in my life. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, a cute little apartment that I'm happy(and blessed) to call Home, cars that work and get us from A to B, a job that continually blesses our lives, and wonderful friends and family that support us. What more can a girl ask for? :)
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