Thanksgiving weekend of amazingness!

Thanksgiving weekend was so RELAXING and amazing! For Thanksgiving Day, we went up to Baltimore to have dinner with Josh's family. It was so much fun and DELICIOUS!!! here's a slightly blurry pic of everyone:

and the Pipster:

Then on Friday, Neal and I went to see Harry Potter (still annoyed about how boring the second half was--it was so obvious they were just drawing it out to have enough for part 2!) then out to Bertucci's, then to the temple, and then got a Christmas tree and decorated our house for Christmas... it was so fun! If you didn't already know this, I REALLY REALLY love Christmas. The music (except for that WRETCHED Christmas Shoe song), the decorations, the baked goods, the smells, the family time, and of course, the presents. :)

On Saturday we went downtown. For some reason, Neal has REALLY been wanting to go the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. So we went. I wasn't thrilled but I must say, it was pretty awesome.

Now we're relaxing on this beautiful Sunday.... life is GOOD! :) Especially since next weekend we'll be in Delaware spending time with family and making the most delicious truffles of all time. WOOT!

Today I'm grateful for.....

The Melting Pot... Neal and I went there for our 18 month anniversary (I know, cheesy) and it was DELICIOUS as always... AND CHEESY, come to think of it! ;) They even had a card at our table and brought us a candlelit piece of cheesecake.... AMAZING!

My brother Matthias. He's on his mission right now in Florida, and I MISS HIM!!!! I'm so proud of him though. He is one of my favorite people on this earth.

My newest niece-- Lucy Jayne. She is so darling! I can't wait to see her in December! I'm so grateful she's here and healthy. . . I know Kaitie and Logan are going to be great parents (even if it took them a week to name her!!!) ;)

And lastly:

I'm grateful for Thanksgiving! For the holiday, and for the time off of work and with family! WOOT!

I'm grateful for......

Camping with Neal
Gorgeous fall leaves!!!
Breathtaking views
Hikes with Neal
S'MORES!!!! This one was totally cooked to perfection.... YUM!

Giving Thanks

I want to post each week of November about things I'm grateful for, although I've seen it already on about 15 blogs. It is truly a good idea, and Thanksgiving is coming right up.

First of all, I'm grateful for, you guessed it: Neal. He is THE most patient, loving, thoughtful and willing person I have ever met in my entire life. And he's super hot. I'm so grateful I finally convinced him to marry me after 6 long.. months of dating. ;) He is amazing even when I'm grumpy, as you can see. People always tease me about how gaggy my blog is.. well, I just can't help it. Neal is just THAT wonderful. And if you know him, you will surely understand.

Secondly, as materialistic as it is, I'm very grateful for have a new phone! :) :)

More than one person asked me "is that a real phone?"

And now VOILA! Touch screen amazingness. We still didn't spring for internet on our phones, but I LOVE having a cool phone that actually gets service in my house. HOORAY!

Thirdly, I'm grateful for these people:

I LOVE my family!!!! I am so grateful for them. And last but not least, I am grateful for Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, oh how I love them so!

Fun Fall Weekend!

Okay, so we technically didn't carve our pumpkins this weekend, but I'm very proud of our accomplishments: This may be the first year I've made something other than a happy face.. I'm proud of myself! (Mine is the owl)

On Friday night, we invited some friends from Church over to make Haunted Gingerbread Houses. Unlike Taylor, I did not make homemade gingerbread, but instead used graham crackers... which is tricky, because grahams aren't very sturdy. But I think the houses turned out great!

Andrea and Chris
Nina and Cooper

Yours truly. Ours was significantly better than last year, what a relief! Saturday morning, we went to Shenandoah National Park. The fall colors were absolutely gorgeous! We were almost too late though.. next year we'll go up earlier.

We did a little hike (3 miles) to Hawksbill Summit, which is the highest point in the park. It was very enjoyable. Later that night, we had a fabulous cousin get-together, but alas I don't have any pictures of this. Fun weekend!

Current Obsessions

Howdy folks! I haven't done one of these posts in a while (or any posts, but you know)... Here are my current obsessions:

First and foremost:

That's right, my husband is the BOMB! He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Secondly:

I really dig The Script-- and this song in particular. Check it out. NOTE: the music video is pretty lame--- far too literal. Just listen to the words.

Thirdly-- this is some of the leftover chocolate we bought whilst in Switzerland... AMAZING!

*please excuse this GIGANTIC picture, but it insists....*

Clever right? The funny thing is, chocolate chips as we know them don't exist in Europe, so they probably don't fully realize how clever this actually is.

Fourthly--

I LOVED this movie. Neal and I rarely see movies ($$$$) but I'm glad we saw this on Saturday. I'm sure many people will really, really hate it (especially if they know anything about psych wards) but we really enjoyed it. It's funny and uplifting.

Fifthly-- (can you even say fifthly? Oh well)

Smoothies. LOVE THEM! Over the summer I consumed 2 glasses of smoothie a day. Since I started working, it's less because I'm too lazy to make them BUT I am currently sipping one, and guess what? OBSESSED!!!!!

And now... things I'm NOT obsessed with:

First:

Katy Perry. I cannot even express how ANNOYING her songs are!!!!!! Every new Katy Perry song is the new most annoying song I've ever heard..... her songs all song the same and SHE CAN'T SING!!!!!! Hasn't anyone noticed this?!?!?!!?!?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! Okay okay, I'll stop talking about her.

Secondly:

Not whatsherface, but the hippy style headband. I'm sure some of my readers sport this.... as gorgeous as you may be, I still don't like it. And I don't really understand it.... it's just weird.

And Finally:

that's right--annoying children. Now, as a Kindergarten teacher, I am around children ALL DAY LONG. Most of them are lovely, HIGHLY gifted (of course), and darling. However, please realize that as parents, you have the power to make your kid less annoying. So please use it. This will probably involve following through, not placating whining, and giving your child rules.* Thank you.

*I know that some of you are rolling your eyes because I don't have any children yet. Please feel free to call me out on this later if I give into my child's every whim, respond immediately to whining, and act like my child controls me at age 5. Thanks.

So there you have it. I hope everyone is doing well!!!!

My brother, the missionary

May 2009

Summer 2007

Hello folks! It's been a while... I guess this whole working thing keeps me from blogging as regularly as I once did! I want to post a post about my brother. He is leaving in a couple of weeks to serve a 2 year mission for our church in Jacksonville, Florida. Since he's in Utah right now, he'll actually be closer (physically) to us, but we won't be able to phone/text/see him. He will be able to communicate via e-mail once a week. First of all, I must say I AM SO PROUD OF HIM! He will be an AMAZING missionary, I'm just sure of it. As for myself though, I feel so sad!!!!!

Christmas 2006

Matthias is one of my favorite people on this earth. He is thoughtful, talented, smart, and cheerful. He was a class officer in school and has a rather large female following. He is an AWESOME tennis player, and an incredible guitar player/singer. I love him so much!!!! So while I'm proud of him for making this choice, I'm also gonna miss him like crazy! When Matthias was 14, my mom suggested I take him to France with me, since Capucine has a little brother about his same age. Initially, I was totally against the idea (France was MY thing) but I'm so glad that we went together because this created a special bond between us. He is so much fun to be around, and just a really, REALLY good person! I admire him a lot.

2007 Christmas

Christmas 2008

Mexico 2010

I will miss you, little (bigger) brother!