Home Sweet Home!

Yes, everyone, we are finally in our new home! We moved in last Friday, and we were able to get settled just in time for Christmas. We had a lot of help moving- and we are so grateful for all those who pitched in! Thank you so much Rob and Tammy, Mom and Dad, Brandy and Dave, Thatcher and Chris. We chose a pretty rotten day to move, but we just didn't want to postpone it... We were too excited to get in! It went pretty smoothly, but we did get the U-Haul stuck once. We love it here, and have been having so much fun putting things away, and decorating our walls. We can't thank Rob and Tammy enough for letting us invade their home while we were in between homes. They are so good to us and we love them so much. Here are some pictures of our new place...

We'll post more pictures when I get everything else put together.

Jared and I had such a nice Christmas. We spent a lot of time with our families, which is one of my favorite things. We had a progressive dinner with my dad's side of the family on the 23rd, which has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. I made a molded jello for the salad course of the meal, and let's just say that it didn't turn out right. I was so concerned that it wouldn't, and it actually looked alright when I took it out of the mold at my mom's house- whew- but within just a few minutes, it started to liquify before my very eyes. Sorry, no picture, I was too embarrassed to document...

On Christmas eve, we always go over to my parent's house and have pizza. For the past couple of years, we've been eating The Pie pizza, which is the best pizza in the world! After dinner we always read the Christmas story in the scriptures, and as a new event this year, we had a nativity. I thought it was so fun to see my nieces and nephews dressed up in robes and towels.

On Christmas morning, Jared and I opened our gifts from each other and then got ready to go to my grandma's house. We got there eventually, after digging ourselves out of very deep snow on our street. After breakfast at my grandma's house, we headed over to the Olsen home to open more gifts, eat some lunch, play some rock band, and visit with each other. We had a lovely time, and love spending time with Rob and Tammy and Brandy and Dave.

At the end of the night, we made our way home in terrible weather, and were really worried about making it home. No plows had been in our neighborhood that morning, and we had gotten stuck then- and it snowed almost all day long! When we got to our neighborhood, we realized that one street had been plowed, but the street in front of our house and behind our house had been missed. We decided to go for it, and ended up immobile just about 15 feet away from our garage. The next hour and a half was spent shoveling and digging, pushing and slipping. We would never had made it if some of our neighbors hadn't come to help. They were stuck as well, but knew there was no way they could get out of their predicament, so they came to our aid. Boy were we grateful! We made it in our garage, and we were both dripping wet and freezing cold. What a fun Christmas night! Plows finally made it today at 12:00pm- Which meant Jared got to stay home from work. We had a snow day!

Sorry for the length of this post, there was just so much for me to tell you about! I love Christmas, spending time with family and thinking about the Savior and his birth. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and we are so grateful for friends and family like you.

Movie Trivia

Jared has a pretty fun job. He gets to do something he's really interested in, and he gets to enjoy movies and food on a regular basis- what a lucky guy! These pictures are from some of Jared's orientation and training presentations. They are a pretty good way to entertain the new teenage employees during a long meeting. Can you identify any of the movies that these pictures are from? It's pretty hard without having the familiar faces of the actors in the image!

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Graham Cracker Houses

Last Sunday we had our monthly family dinner, and afterwards the little ones got to decorate graham cracker houses. They had so much fun putting candy and chocolate on their houses and licking their fingers. I spent much of my time repairing the houses that I accidentally broke though-Sorry kids! I just have bad luck with fragile things sometimes.

I love experiencing the holidays with my nieces and nephews, because it reminds me of how exciting and magical this time can be. Look at how cute these houses came out!

What a Nice Weekend!

Oh how I love Thanksgiving! We had such a nice holiday weekend, spending time with our families and with each other. On Thanksgiving day, we helped prepare a delicious meal, and watched a movie with the Olsen family. We visited my family later on in the day, and watched another movie. It was so nice to spend time with all of the people we love, and really think about the many blessings Jared and I have in our lives. I often feel overwhelmed when I think about the good things in my life and how lucky and blessed I am, and I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me these wonderful things to be joyful about.

The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxation, movies, family parties and a Jazz game. Twilight and Quantum of Solace were the movies of choice- and both were pretty good! The Jazz game was especially exciting, because we got tickets with special privileges to go eat dinner and snacks in the VIP room in the Energy Solutions Arena.

Also, we checked out our townhouse, and it is so close to being finished. We are still hoping to be in it the weekend before Christmas, which is only three weeks away! It is painted, and our tile looks so nice. Our cabinets should be in by the end of this week. It has been so much fun to watch our little plot of land grow a house! We really can't wait to start living there.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and hope you have a wonderful Christmas season!

A good way to spend my time

For the past few weekends, I've employed the help of my mom and sister to complete a project for the Festival of Trees. I've been going to the Festival of Trees for as many years as I can remember. It started with my mom. She decorated and donated a few trees when I was younger, and the Festival became a traditional mom and sister outing every year. I loved walking up and down the aisles, listening to Christmas music, smelling cinnamon and scones, and feeling the magic of this charity for Primary Children's Medical Center. When Jared and I were dating, I became involved on the small fry committee thanks to Tammy and Brandy, and the rest is history. While this year we are taking a little bit of a break, I've still been able to donate some of my time to the festival. My mom and I have made several double batches of suckers, we've decorated about 130 really cute plates to be sold at the small fry shop, and I'll be working a shift or two during festival week.

I love the Festival of Trees, and the spirit of giving and love it gives me. If you have the time, make sure you stop by the Southtowne Expo Center and see why so many people are hooked!

Last Christmas

I'm excited to do this tag, because it coordinates with the season so well!

Rules: Go to your picture file and find your fourth picture in the fourth file. Post it, and comment about it.

This picture is from last Christmas. Jared and I were living in our condo, and we didn't have a lot of room for a big Christmas tree. We bought this really cute little tree, and it fit perfectly in our close quarters. We had such a fun first Christmas together, experiencing the season as husband and wife, and enjoying every minute of it. We are definitely looking forward to this upcoming Christmas, hoping that we'll be able to pull out our little tree and set it up in our new house before the 25th!

I tag- anyone who wants to be tagged!

My sweet dog Sydney was put to sleep this week. I got her for my birthday in 1995, and my family fell in love. She was sweet, patient, loving, silly, and just a great dog. She will be missed so much, and we are all feeling an ache in our hearts with her absence. Bye Syd, we sure do love you.

7 Weird and Random Facts

Thanks Brandy for tagging me! This one was fun to think about.

1. I bite my nails. Actually, I chew my nails and the finger around them. It's a bad habit, and I make myself bleed at least once a week. Gross, I know, but I just can't stop.

2. I am very much a homebody. I love to be at home, just hanging out with my family. I would rather be at home watching a movie than anything else.

3. I love the TV show America's Funniest Home Videos. There's just nothing funnier than watching people and animals faint, drool, and get kicked in the you know what. I laugh out loud every time I watch that show. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.

4. I love to wear pajamas. The second I get home from work or church, I head straight to the bedroom and remove all uncomfortable clothing. I cannot lounge at home in work clothes or jeans. I need huge t-shirts and pajama pants.

5. My hair grows unusually fast. I have been able to donate 13-15 inches of my own hair to locks of love twice in the past 7 years or so. That's even with some trimming in between!

6. I have a sweet tooth. I have to have some sort of chocolate every day- even if it means breaking open a bag of chocolate chips to munch on. When I was little I used to drink honey and eat sugar by the spoonful. I'm serious!

7. I have to watch the Today Show every day while getting ready for work. Even if I'm unable to see the TV, I like to have it on with the volume loud so I can hear it from wherever I happen to be. My morning just isn't complete without it!

Ta da! I tag Erika, Leesa, Lindsey, Brittany, Tessa, Meri (you can just e-mail me) and my mom. Have fun!

Another project?

As you all know, our townhouse is getting closer and closer to being done, and we are so excited! We took a peek at it yesterday (sorry, I forgot my camera) and we have drywall and mud...The next step is texture for the walls and ceiling, and then paint! Our tentative date to close is on December 18th, and we think it will be right on time with the way they are working right now.

I've been really excited to decorate my new house. When we lived in our condo, I had it decorated just the way I wanted it. It was really small, so it didn't take a lot of work. Our townhouse will be a little bit bigger that our condo, and so while we've been waiting for it to be finished I've been finding projects to keep me busy and to help fill our new home. I think Jared is a little tired of it... Here are some things we've done. We inherited a nice old dining table from a good friend of ours, and I decided that it needed a little "sprucing." Little did I know that to prepare and paint a dining room table and four chairs entails a lot of work (and sore backs and thumbs)! There's sanding, priming, painting, painting, painting, and sealing. It was a few weeks worth of Saturday afternoons. I also had a great idea for a headboard in our bedroom (thanks to walking through a few model homes). We found some great looking closet doors at the DI, and we painted them so they look antique and crackled. We'll put them all together at the top of our bed on the wall. Some people say weird, but I say cool! There have been other projects, one involving an old window, and others involving frames and fabric. Jared's been a great sport, but he won't let me start on my last and most difficult project. Tell me if I'm crazy to want to try it. I want to buy an old chair at the DI or Savers... a sofa chair type chair, and reupholster it. Comfy sofa chairs are so expensive, but at the thrift store they are only 15 bucks! I could recover the chair with some discount fabric and it would be like a new chair, right? Have any of you out there tried something like this? Do you have any tips or advice? Can you help me convince my sweet husband that this would be a fun project? After all, we've had success with all of our other ones so far...

Here is a picture from one of our fun-filled Saturdays!

The Hospital....For Dolls

It all started off as a quick errand with my nieces, sister and mom. Madison and Bailey have some dolls that they adore, but sadly, their hair has become frizzy and sparse. My sister Leesa found the one and only doll hospital left here in the valley, and we all went together to drop the dolls off to be fixed. Boy, were we a little surprised when we saw the "hospital!" It was on state street, and about 28th south. It was covered in vines, and looked like no one had lived there in years. As we walked up to the porch, the windows were covered in dust and dirt, and inside it was dark. Soon, someone came and opened the door for us, and we cautiously entered. To tell you the truth, it was fascinating to see the piles and piles of dolls filling every corner of the house. There were shelves filled with barbies and babies and wax dolls and glass dolls... I'm not kidding, I've never seen so many dolls! The really interesting thing is that my mom remembered bringing her very own dolls to this hospital when she was a little girl. (You know, everyone fixed their dolls back then!) Madison and Bailey were scared to leave their favorite toys there at the beginning, but after choosing some very pretty wigs and making friends with the doggies that scared us, they were okay. I'm excited to see how the dolls look in their new hair, and I'm really glad I experienced the doll hospital...even though it was pretty creepy!

A First For Everything...

The other day while Jared was making his way from school to work, something happened. He was driving on Foothill Drive, when all of a sudden, a police car turned on his lights as he passed. Jared looked at his speedometer, and realized that he was exceeding the speed limit...Only a little bit though. Jared has never gotten a ticket before, (he's actually a good driver, even though I might say he scares me sometimes) so I giggled a little bit when I heard his message on my phone. He sounded so guilty, so embarrassed, so sad... It's okay Jared, there's a first for everything!

A Spooky Weekend

This past weekend was filled with Halloween fun! The weather was perfect, and there was so much to do! On Friday night, I went to the annual Witches Night Out at Gardner Village with some of my favorite ladies. We had so much fun eating and chatting at the "Naborhood bakery," and cackling for coupons. It was pretty crowded, but it's always exciting to see so many witches(and sometimes warlocks) dressed in their finest spooky costumes. On Saturday night, Jared and I went to dinner with some friends of ours, Hillary and Tavnir, and then we saw the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. We enjoyed our company, and thought the movie was great. I don't think I've ever seen that movie the whole way through! On Sunday night, we got together with the Olsen family to eat yummy chili (Thanks Brandy!) and carve our pumpkins. Dave's pumpkin definitely turned out the best. While carving, we watched The Burbs, (which is hilarious by the way) and had some good quality family time. Thanks for a great weekend everyone!

I'm it!

Thanks Erika for tagging me! It's always fun to find out about other people, so here's a little about me.

Here are the rules:I have to answer the following questions with one word answers, then I must pass it on to seven others.
The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? downstairs
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? sweet
5. Your father? goofy
6. Your favorite thing? Jared
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. The room you're in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? painting
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? here
14. What you're not? outgoing
15. One of your wish-list items? puppy
16. Where you grew up? West Valley
17. The last thing you did? sneeze
18. What are you wearing? pajamas
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? Sydney
21. Your computer? on
22. Your mood? happy
23. Missing someone? nope
24. Your car? parked
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Downeast
27. Your summer? over:(
28. Love someone? Yes!
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? recently
31. Last time you cried? forgot

I'll tag Leesa, Shannon, Mom, and Tammy.

Picture Day

Well, yesterday was picture day at the school where I work. I love picture day! Seeing all of the little girls with bouncy curls and all of the little boys with gel in their hair makes me smile. I love watching parents straighten ties, comb hair and wipe the faces of their cute children. It went smoothly, just so you know, and we were on schedule most of the morning. As I participated in this picture day, it reminded me of the same day last year, which wasn't a very good day... Let me tell you about it. I woke up, and took special care to make myself look nice for the day, because I had to get my picture taken as well. I walked outside to drive to work and, looking at my regular parking spot, my car wasn't there. hmmmm... I thought maybe my husband had taken it to work, so I started looking for his car. It wasn't there. Then I started to panic! I called Jared, asking "Where is my car?!!, where is my car!!?"


Needless to say, my picture day last year was memorable, but not for good reasons. I did get to work and had my picture taken, and I could tell that my hard work in the morning to look especially nice was in vain. My eyes were still a little swollen from crying and I was still a little pale. Great news, my little green Honda found its way back to me, and with a few repairs was as good as new. I was so glad to have it back! Many thanks to those who carpooled Jared and I around while we were without it!



This picture was taken at the impound when we picked it up. Happy reunion! Those thieves stole my nice wheels though. Grrrr.

A Quick Update

This week as we checked out our townhouse, there were a few new additions that we thought were notable. We have a front door and a back door, our tubs and showers have been installed, and they are working pretty hard on the electrical stuff. We are so happy with the progress that is happening, and just can't wait to move in! Hopefully next week we'll have windows!

Did you mean bowls?

Hello all! Lately Jared and I have been paying visits to local yard sales, the DI, and Savers to find decor for our new house. I love going to these places because you can find little treasures that with a little work become really cool decorations. While we were wandering around the Savers in Midvale today, I stumbled across the plates and bowls...or, should I say bowels? I just had to take a picture and show you how much a bowel will cost you at the local thrift store. He he!

European Vacation

At the end of May, the Olsen family went on a pretty awesome trip to Italy and Greece. We haven't been able to share our pictures with many people, so we thought that a post on our blog could help us tell a little bit about our vacation. We started out in Venice, and we spent a few days there. Venice is awesome, I loved that there were no cars. Even the FedEx delivery guy drives a motorboat! After Venice, we rented a car (Yes, we drove in Italy and it made my heart beat fast!) and drove down to Florence, where we saw the famous "David." After Florence we drove to Pisa, and spent a night there. Pisa was a quiet, charming city and the leaning tower was definitely leaning! I'm surprised it is still standing. Next, we went to Rome. Driving into Rome was quite an experience, and I was glad to say goodbye to the rental! Rome has so many things to see and places to go, and it was so fun and exciting to see such great history and art. We had such a great time in Italy, and even took a day trip to Pompeii. Enjoy the pictures, next time I'll tell you all about Greece. It sure was beautiful!

In the Movies

Since Jared started working at Jordan Commons last January, we've definitely seen our fair share of movies. Going to a movie was a rare occurance before he worked there... We didn't want to spend all the money and risk being dissapointed. Now, we see movies all the time. We go to a movie at least once a week, maybe every other week. Why not when we don't have to pay for it? Here are some of our favorite flicks of the summer, because we saw so many!

The Dark Knight- This was Jared's favorite. He couldn't wait for it to come out, and he was not dissapointed!

Iron Man- Action packed, and also funny. Robert Downey Jr. did a super job!

Kung Fu Panda- For an animated film, we thought it was great. Very funny and very entertaining.

Get Smart- Much better than we thought it would be. We love Steve Carell, and he did a good job as a goofy James Bond wannabe.

Ghost Town- I know this movie isn't technically a "summer" movie, but we had to include it. It was so funny! The whole theatre was roaring during some parts, and I thought Jared was going to have a heart attack!

Wall-E- Pixar films are always enjoyable, and this one wasn't unlike the others...Cute, tender, silly, and the animation was incredible.

As for some of our least favorites...We weren't too fond of The Incredible Hulk or Indiana Jones. I loved the music in Mamma Mia, but the rest of it didn't thrill me. The parts where Pierce Brosnan sang cracked me up though!

What movies did you love this summer?

Under Construction

Hello all! We told you that we would keep you updated on the progress of our townhouse, and we are excited to show these pictures, because it's starting to actually look like a house! Jared and I went to check it out yesterday, and they've been working really hard. It is completely framed, and we've got our roof on. It looks like our next step will be some plumbing. Here is a picture from a few weeks ago, followed by pictures from yesterday.

This Picture was taken on Labor Day. As you can see, we just had a cement slab at that point.

Look at that! They move pretty fast! Our front door is on the left. The windows on the bottom floor look into our living room, and the windows above are the master bedroom and bathroom. Our building will have 6 units in it, so we will have neighbors on both sides. They haven't sold yet, so if you're looking, we would love to have you as neighbors!

In this picture, you are standing in our living room. You can see the kitchen and dining room, garage, half bath and stairs from here.

This is in our master bedroom. I know it doesn't look like much now, but at the end of December, it will be our home sweet home!

Bodyworlds

This past weekend, Jared and I went to the Bodyworlds exhibit at The Leonardo museum. For those of you who don't know what this Bodyworlds is, let me explain it to you... Bodyworlds is an exhibit that displays actual human bodies and body parts for all to see. The bodies and other such items are preserved by a process called plastination. Essentially, plastination is a process where the tissues of a body are filled with a plastic type material, and in turn, the bodies are preserved and last for a looooong time. Jared was kinda nervous to go, he was afraid it would make him queazy, but we were both surprised at how interesting it was-and not gross. The bodies actually look like plastic, so I had to remind myself a few times that they were actual humans. It was really neat to see how our bodies really look and work, and I found it to be a very exciting and fun outing. The exhibit lasts until January, and I highly recommend it!

My Day Off

So, I had the day off today. It was a great day, I got my blood drawn (and I was brave!), I did the safety and emissions on my car, had lunch with Jared, and spent some time with my lovely sister, Shannon. I've been planning on starting a blog for a while, but I haven't really gotten around to it. Shannon decided to give me a little push and a tutorial on starting my very own blog today, and so here I start...

Jared and I have had an exciting summer. We went on a great vacation to Europe, spent a lot of time at family parties, sold our condo and bought a townhome. Our new home should be finished in December, and we are crossing our fingers that it will be done before Christmas. We'll keep you updated on the progress of our new nest, and let you know when we are finally there!