Christmas Planning!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know we did! We spent it with my family - for the first time since Jeff and I started dating. Dinner was yummy ... and then we saw Four Christmases. It was really cute and funny!

Now we can officially move on to ... CHRISTMAS!! YAY! I can't even tell you how excited I am. Most everyone knows I love to be organized ... so in the spirit of Christmas organization I made this:


Impressive, I know. I actually stole the idea from a friend. But I think it turned out pretty cute!

So now I am busily planning gift lists, Christmas card lists, party plans, etc.

Let the season ... and the planning, decorating, SHOPPING, wrapping and singing begin!

We are Thankful ...

My friend Missy had a great idea ... she is posting something she is thankful for each day until Thanksgiving. I think this is a fantastic idea! With the world being crazy ... and us being busy ... taking time to be grateful is more than important. Since I am starting this a week and a half before Thanksgiving ... we have some thankin' to catch up on! I will try to be brief ...

1. Each other ... makes life complete
2. Our families ... always there ... no matter what
3. Great friends ... keep us laughing
4. The Gospel ... something to keep us centered on what really matters
5. Jobs ... especially in these scary times
6. Our home ... my favorite place ... a total haven
7. Our health ... something I always worry about
8. Temples ... we have so many so close ... and the only place I don't worry about anything else.
9. Ellie ... seriously ... she loves us so much ... and it makes me feel loved!
10. Our callings ... I am especially lucky to work with our wonderful YW
11. Gas prices falling ... I really didn't think this would happen for a long time!
12. Vacation ... I love planning them ... looking forward to them ... going on them!
13. Good books ... I love losing myself in a great one
14. Food ... the homemade kind ... and my favorite restaurants!
15. Cell phones ... silly? nope ... Jeff and I spend a lot of time apart ... this is a connection
16. Snuggling on the couch ... it makes me feel loved and close!
17. Weekends ... I look forward to them so much!
18. Sales ... shopping is a favorite past time ... these make it possible
19. Dark Chocolate and foot rubs... they can make any day better
20. Laughter ... Jeff can always make me laugh ... and I love it
21. Great Music ... when the words tell another person exactly how you feel
22. Date Night ... best part of the week!
23. That Jeff and I started dating 4 years ago today ...
24. Crisp fall days ... the kind that make you forget how hot summer was and how cold winter will be
25. Memories ... that make us smile, or that remind us of how blessed we are
26. Flowers ... I love the way the smell and the happy feeling associated with them...
27. Thanksgiving!
28. Black Friday SHOPPING! ... it's a family tradition ... gets me right into the Christmas spirit
29. A helpful hubby ... he cooks ... he cleans ... and he does LAUNDRY! Amazing...
30. The opportunity to make a thankful list ... it was exactly what I needed this month!

Wow! Is our Thankful-month already almost over?!

19 Minutes

While in the airport waiting to get on a plane home from Baltimore, I picked up a book. I didn't know if it would be any good, but it was the best they had to offer. It ended up being really riveting.

It's the story of a town where nothing ever happens - until a teenager walks into high school one morning and starts shooting ... killing 10 of his classmates before being stopped. On the surface it looks like a clear cut case (and parts of it are), but it's interesting to see how much more there is behind every story.

The main character was bullied all growing up. Bullied beyond what I could imagine happens right in front of teachers and parents. Justification for taking lives? Never. But there were a few times (one in particular) that brought me to tears. Kids can be so cruel ... for no other reason than someone is a little dorky, or different.

And then there are parents. When his mom heard there was shooting at the high school, she panicked. She had already lost a child in a car accident and was thinking about how she couldn't imaging losing another. Only to find out her son was the one behind it all. Someone loves the killer too...

And then there is a girl involved. His former best friend that blossomed into the popular girl and left him behind. A whole other side to the story.

I don't want to ruin it ... since a few people have said they want to read it. But it was heart wrenching and riveting all at the same time. Especially during his trial.

When I was in high school I lived about 20 minutes away from Columbine High School. I was a junior when the shooting happened. It's so interesting to read this story now, and now I wonder what those parents went through, and the other kids whose lives would never be the same.

I recommend this one a lot.

Oh My Gosh

We just filled up the Envoy for $39 ... and it was EMPTY!

It's about time ...

Lost in the Corn

Halloween was so fun! I love seeing all the costumes. But I can't believe it's already over for another year.

So Jeff mentioned that he hadn't ever been to a corn maze ... weird, I know. So we decided to go to one. The day after Halloween. A little anti-climatic ... but we had a fun time!

We went to Cornbellies up at Thanksgiving Point. The actual maze was pretty lame. It may have been because we could see over more than half of the stalks, or maybe because they give you "clues" that don't actually take you anywhere ... but overall it was kindof dumb. I happened to see the exit when I went to the bathroom, so when we were bored (which took all of 10 min) we just headed that direction ... and voila ... there was the exit!

Everything else was pretty cute. We shot corn cannons ... and bounced on the giant blow-up pillow. SO fun! And then we rode down some slides and on the cow train. I'm pretty sure the cars weren't made for adults considering it was a stretch to get us to fit ... but we rode it anyways.

Overall it was lots of fun. They have a lot of fun stuff - even a gigantic rocker. I am not even sure what the point was ... but naturally we had to get a picture on it!