A Holly Jolly Christmas

This Christmas was the best (and worst) I've had in a long time.
It was the best because I got to be with my family and just share in the joy of the season.
It was the worst for reasons I don't want to go into. If you need to know, you already do.

Christmas was always the best growing up!
We would wake up super early,
Dump out our stockings,
Eat breakfast hours later when mom and dad woke up,
Hastily wash all the dishes,
The OPEN PRESENTS!

It's funny how as the years go on your priorities change.
Now, we always sleep until about eight.
We lazily look through our stockings.
We eat breakfast and throw away paper plates, cups, and plastic forks (we're all sick of dishes).
Then we sit down and delegate who gets to dig for presents.

Christmas is especially fun because we've got Gwen and Phoebe keeping us on our toes now.
If we're not careful, Gwen will rip all the paper off all our gifts! (It only happened once this year).
It sure is a treat seeing what we all thought to get for each other for our sibling gifts.
This year we bought for the person younger than us, so I got Maci.
I had this gift planned for months.

This is 1/4 of her gift. It's a set of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of peas.

The others were an old fashioned telephone,

A chick and egg shell,

and a pair of shoes. (All salt and pepper shakers)

I thought they were really cute.

This was my sibling gift, courtesy of Brendan.

Toy Story 3 and The Book of Awesome.

For those of you who don't know, 

the guy who wrote that book also writes a blog

called 1000 Awesome Things.

Check it out.

It is AWESOME!

I also got a couple of scarves,

And an illustrated book of Christmas carols (the same one I got for Kenna),

A digital picture frame,

7 Pounds (the movie...and unfortunately, the real thing too ;),

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season 9,

A JC Penney gift card,

A Costa Vida gift card,

and Pure Seduction, possibly the best scent Victoria's Secret has ever invented.

Sometimes it's hard to remember the true meaning of Christmas, but it's my prayer that we all stopped for a minute to remember our Savior. Without Him, none of this would have ever happened!

Okay, one last memory.

There we were, sitting in church. Gwen was laying across my lap and had rested her head on Mom's lap. The second speaker got up and began her talk. She started with a story that contained the sentence, "There is no Santa Claus." Gwen said, "No Santa Claus?!" and sat bolt upright with a horrified look on her face. It was so cute!!!

I have achieved the impossible!

Mystie told me that she doesn't get emotional or excited for Christmas presents. Ever.

I had this shirt made for Mystie.

The back says My Stomach is Smiling.

She has been telling Kenna and I she wants to make

this shirt for a long time, so I thought she would appreciate it.

She almost cried! 

No joke :)

Another birthday and a warning!o

Happy birthday to Maci Lynn!

Here are a few things that remind me of Maci:

M: Missed the boat. This is a term meaning Late. Maci is definitely one to take her time getting ready.

A: Absent-minded. I know I used this for Ryan...but everyone knows it applies to Maci as well. What exactly is half of two-thirds, Maci?

C: Cheerful. Maci is one of the happiest people on the planet. She is always happy and peppy.

I: Ingenious. Some things that Maci comes up with are silly, but lots of them are simply ingenious. Like eating a chocolate bar and stuffing peanuts in your mouth.

Maci turned 16 yesterday, which was a shock to all of us I think. This is also the part of my post where the warning comes in:

She may be 16, but she is still my little sister. If any boy even comes close to breaking her heart I will be just as close to smacking you upside the face. Kapeesh?

Anyway...she had a nice birthday. This is the first year in a long time that Maci didn't make her own birthday cake.

This is a phone cover for her cell phone. She picked it out.

This is a new cartridge for her Cricut. It's got lots of pretty letters.

This one is from me. I passed that frame in Ross like 5 times before I finally decided it was to Maci-like to pass up. Seriously, it's pink. It has pink ZEBRA PRINT and RHINESTONES!

I love this girl more than words can express. I can't believe she's getting so old! Honestly, where does the time go?

Wanna hear the best news I've heard all day?

1) Finals are OVER!

2) I am heading home tomorrow!

3) I GOT AN A IN CALCULUS!!!

I worked my butt off for that A and I have never felt more accomplished.
This leads me to another blessing, which I believe is number 32...

The power of prayer.

On Monday before my Calculus final I was finding it hard to breathe because I was so nervous.
Then I went into my bedroom and said a prayer.
I felt awesome afterwards and the results showed on my test.
201/200 baby!

Now I just need to keep praying for an A in Biology!...And speech!

Happy Birthday to...

Ryan!

Okay, so I guess this is kinda the big reveal for those of you who haven't seen my facebook....

So, I've been dating Ryan Bringhurst for...9 days now and he had his birthday on Sunday.

He turned 24, which makes him old ;)

Here are a couple things that remind me of Ryan:

R:Red mustang. No matter how much he tries to deny it, his mustang is his baby. Everyone knows it.

Y: Young...ish. I tease him a lot about being 5 years older than me, but it's his own fault for always saying he looks like a 14 year old!

A: Absent-minded. There's no doubt about it, Ryan is definitely forgetful. He completely forgot our first date. He actually asked me if I had been to the restaurant we went to. Then that night he was talking to Derek and mentioned the fact that they had never watched How to Train Your Dragon together (which is a lie. Derek doubled with us and that's the movie we watched.) I'll never EVER let him live that down.

N: Nice. I gotta say it. Ryan is a very nice person. He's always looking out for my feelings and is way awesome with his younger brothers. 

We went to his parent's house that evening for his party and had an awesome time.

I reached out to shake his grandpa's hand and the next thing I knew I was on my feet 

and he was giving me a hug. It was awesome!

Here are a couple pictures of him opening his presents.

This is a Cocoa-Latte. Can you say hot chocolate? mmmm

He has big dreams of bulking up a little bit...

His grandpa gave him this cool little car from...Hawaii? I think it was Hawaii.

His face lights up every time he sees a car, can you tell?

And finally, a car cover for his baby.

I don't have a picture of this, but I gave him an oil vial because his other one was leaky. It's a neat one with little images of the Christus on it. Little did I know he was going to have the chance to use it so soon! 

I was apparently very stressed and sick (with a cold), so for two nights straight I had really bad nose bleeds. I haven't had a really bad one in awhile. I was hunched over a sink with my hair pulled back and my legs shaking because I had lost so much blood for the second time in two days. I decided that was enough. I had Mystie run downstairs and get Ryan and Derek to give me a blessing. I think I made Ryan a little nervous...but oh well! I've been feeling great ever since. 

I'm grateful for the priesthood!

And men who honor it.

Are you in the mood to laugh?

On the way back home from Boise, we (namely Maci, Brendan, and I) got bored in the back seat and had a little too much fun with the web cam on my computer.

Warning!
Side effects of viewing the following pictures may result in shortness of breath, hysteria, and in rare cases, six pack abs.

Figuring out how to work the web cam

Maci's face makes me laugh!

"What are we going to do today Brain?"

"The same thing we do every day Pinky, try to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

You'll never take me!

Yeah...I started to laugh 

Mystie says this is her favorite of me

Snooty

This one makes me laugh hysterically every time

What would my life be like without my siblings?

BORING!!

Experiment gone RIGHT!

So, sometimes we get a little .... creative when it comes to cooking.

Over a month ago Mystie and I were hungry (go figure).
We decided on chicken, but we wanted to marinate it.
We had nothing.
So this is what we came up with:
Lemon juice
Cinnamon
Nutmeg.


It turned out like this:

To be honest, not bad!

Then, today I was invited down to Apt. 7 for pancakes.

Kyle was reading through the recipe and realized that he had no buttermilk

and I didn't have enough...

So, here were the options:

Milk

Half milk and half buttermilk

Egg nog

Based on my last post, is there any debate about what we picked?

So, Egg Nog pancakes it was!

We were both a little skeptical about how they would turn out,

but the end result was Phenomenal!

I'm thinking that we're gonna have a new Christmas tradition!

My Addictions...

Edge of the seat.

Nail biting.

Intense.

Twisting and Turning.

Addicting.

Thought provoking.

Hilarious.

Do or die.

Doesn't give a crap.

Addicting.

Clean.

Rockin' awesome.

Versatile.

Amazing voice.

Listen 24/7.

Addicting.

Sweet.

Thick.

Creamy.

Christmas.

Mouth watering.

Addicting.

Spicy.

Sweet.

Chili.

Doritos.

'Nuff said.

Addicting.

Loving.

Supportive.

Amazing.

Happy.

Forever.

Eternal.

Addicting.

Blessing number 30

The Forgotten Carols


A few days ago Brendan told me that he had a couple of tickets to The Forgotten Carols that he couldn't use because he had to work. He then told me he would give them to me on one condition: I take a date.

Well, I got a date rounded up and at 4:00 we headed to Idaho Falls to pick up the tickets from Brendan.
We had to be seated by 6:45 and we were there really early, so we went to the mall first to do a little Christmas shopping. Anyway, that part of the story is boring....on to the good stuff!

The first thing you see when the play starts is a bunch of contentious people walking across the stage. Then Michael McLean walks across and starts playing the sweetest melody you have ever heard on a V-shaped flute instrument...thing. I don't know what it is. It was absolutely gorgeous and left me breathless and speechless from the opening notes.

For those of you who don't know, The Forgotten Carols is about an old man who hires a nurse to come help him over the Christmas holiday. She is a little bit of a Scrooge because of things that happened in her past, but this man helps change her demeanor. He tells her that he is nearly 2000 years old and that he was there when Christ was born. The Forgotten Carols are the carols of the lesser thought of characters in the Christmas story.

My favorite song is The Innkeeper. Michael McLean perfectly captured the sorrow of the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary away. When the choir comes in with a nice strong, "Let Him in! Let Him in!" It's almost enough to bring you to tears. I think this is the perfect way to convey to us to let the Savior into our hearts.

When the play was over Ryan and I were waiting in line to meet Michael McLean, then Ryan pulled out a copy of the book for me to have signed. It was a total surprise!

My book!

See that signature in the top left? Yeah, that's MICHAEL MCLEAN'S!!!

I am grateful for the Savior and all He's done for me.

He has had the biggest impact on my life and 

I'm grateful that the Forgotten Carols could help 

me focus on those things.

This month I have learned a lot through this Attitude of Gratitude.

I have learned to love the simply things 

and to always be grateful for them.

But the biggest thing I learned is....

I'm not done yet!

Keep checking back for more blessings!

Blessing number 29

Extra time

So, funny story...

My alarm clock went off today at 7:00

and I woke up.

An HOUR earlier than I usually do.

Then I got ready to go to class.

Then I went to my 9:00 class...

at 8:00.

Seriously, who does that?

Normal people wake up late and run to class

and barely get there on time.

I did that once, but no, not today.

I got to class an hour early...

So anyway, I'm grateful for the extra time that blessed me with.

I was able to catch up on a little bit more homework

and sit back and relax a little.

So even though I was a little

teensy weensy bit ticked off

that I woke up earlier than needed,

I am grateful that I did.

Blessing number 28

Hugs :) (side note: I totally had this post all written up yesterday, but I forgot to push the post button)

Has anyone ever noticed how good a hug can make you feel?

Boy oh boy do I love hugs...

as long as it's from someone you know and not some random creeper.

The best kinds of hugs are the ones you get

when you've just seen someone that you haven't seen 

in a very long time. Like this one:

We were all so happy to have him back!

I also love the hugs that seem to never ever end
and when neither one of you wants it to.

And the ones when you can just tell that
they love you even though they don't say a word.
(Most of these have come from my brothers, so don't get any ideas! I'm still single!)   

Blessing number 27

Home.


"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you." ~Christian Morganstein

I have lived in a lot of places in my life and in a sense I really don't know what town I call home

because I've called all of those places home at one point.

What I do know is that wherever my family is,

That is home.

I surely love this place. It is home.

I know that no matter how bad life gets, I will always have a home to go to.

Even though I don't have my immediate family with me in Pocatello

I have a makeshift family of friends that helps me to call it home.

It may be a strange family, but it's a family nonetheless.

I'm grateful for home.

Even though my family doesn't live here, it too is home.

Blessing number 26

Trials


I have a strong belief in the quote, "If He brings you to it, He'll bring you through it."

I've had a lot of not so fun times in my life,

but I haven't been beat yet!

I love the feeling you get when you come to the end of some trial

and you realize that you had the Big Man Upstairs

was right there the whole time.

I also love this quote by Mother Theresa.

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle.

I just wish he didn't trust me so much."

I have come to know that I can make it through anything

and I am BEYOND grateful for that.

This is my favorite painting by Simon Dewey.

It is titled Abide With Me.

I found the lyrics to this hymn fitting.

I think of these words when I'm having a hard time.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide

The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide

When other helpers fail and comforts flee

Help of the helpless oh, abide with me

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;

Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need thy presence every passing hour.

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?

Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

Blessing number 25

I would definitely have to say that I am grateful for 

FOOD!

It's crazy how much food just happens

to turn up on the Thanksgiving table.

It makes me so grateful for the opportunity

we have to have it

because I know a lot of other people don't.

I love most everything about 

the Thanksgiving meal, 

but my absolute favorite today was 

the new stuffing that Lindsay made.

It was a cornbread stuffing that had 

peppers and other forms of deliciousness in it.

It looked something like this

and tasted even better!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Blessing number 24

Spending Time with my Family

I post about my family...A LOT.

I must love them or something.

While Logan and Rachelle have been here

we've been playing a lot of games.

I'm sure most of the things we find funny

are really only funny to us,

but I'll share them anyway 

and hope it gets a couple chuckles out of you :)

We thought this round of Apples to Apples

was especially memorable.

Baking Cookies was a "Casper Card"

which is a random card you put into the pot

right off of the deck to give you more options.

Truck Stops was the winner of this one.

We laughed forever!

Even the "Casper card" worked for this round!

AIDS was the winner.

Brendan joined us today.

We made a trip to Alco because we were bored

and ended up coming home with

Pass the Pigs.

(A game where you roll two pigs and get points based on the positions they land in)

There is one position where the pig lands

and is propped up on its snout, ear, and a leg.

This particular position is called

A Leaning Jowler

and it's very rare.

You can't see the pig, but it's in perfect

Leaning Jowler position.

Bren leaned down and I said, 

"Is that a leaning jowler I spy?"

We all burst out laughing...

but we're a smidge weird, so you might not.

I'm grateful for these fun times

we've had and I know we'll have 

TONS more!

Blessing number 23

Random Acts of Kindness

I am so grateful for legitimately good people in this world.

Logan and I went to play basketball at the church

with some friends and when we turned into the parking lot

we found ourselves stuck.

I got out to try to push us, but....

Yeah, I definitely wasn't enough.

Then my good friend Mystie

saw us while she was shoveling the sidewalk

and ran over with her shovel to help.

Then Nathan just happened to be driving by

and pulled over to help.

He helped push for a minute, 

then he offered to go get a tow strap to pull 

Logan out of the snow.

We ended up getting Logan out

before Nathan could get back,

but it just made me think about 

how grateful I am for people who don't

always think of themselves.

These are legitimately good people that live here in Soda Springs.

Just so everyone knows, no matter what everyone says about you,

I still think you're rockin' awesome! ;)

Another awesome example of this 

would definitely be the Stoor family.

Last year I spent a weekend with them

in Rexburg and while we were out sledding one day

we must've pushed 6 cars out of the snow.

Photo courtesy of Google.

I can't even remember the number of times 

I heard them say, "Random act of Kindness!" 

and drop whatever they were doing

to go help out those in need.

I sure look up to them!

Thank you to every one of you

for being awesome examples!

I love you all!