merry christmas to me

santa came early this year, and i couldn't be more excited about my present!
i have 837283 things i want to make with it. you can make dough in this blender, fresh peanut butter, grind wheat, my smoothies will be smoother, my juices jucier, i can make my own almond milk, raw applesauce, and all kinds of juices, ice creams, soups, and sauces... ahhhh yes merry christmas indeed!

giving thanks

thanksgiving this year was great. i mean really great. definitely one of the best. sooo much happened tho that i need i to go day by day here:

tuesday: pack up, clean house, head to airport, meet up with little brother in terminal who just flew in from montana, run into best friend in the airport (it was movie worthy) and it turns out we were on the same flight because my parents just moved to where her parents live so now its like we're from the same place.
read "matched" on flight--i would have loved it if i was 14, arrived in houston, said good-bye to bestie, said hello to dad, drive through the city and out west to almost the country, arrive at parents new house, say hello to mom, go on a tour and oooh and aaaahhh at their beautiful new abode and feel a little jealous.
eat some delicious pineapple pico de gallo and catch up, talk with fam and then goodnight!

wednesday: dad makes delicous breakfast burritos and even uses organic, cage free eggs! then its time for a bike ride around the neighborhood (we can do that because its in the 70s there), then its time for some pool and by pool i mean the kind you play on a table, with balls and sticks, not the water kind although my parents have one of those too now! (and later in the day my little bro and crazy hubs jumped in the chilly pool), after pool we played ping pong, i think that was kyle's favorite part of the whole trip--he looooves ping pong!

then me and my mama headed to the mall and she got me a few new goodies including a navy blue blazer that im def gonna sport at my next job interview (perhaps that will help?) on the way back we stopped at a couple model homes in the neighborhood and they were almost as cute as my parent's house.
then my dad and i shot some bows with arrows in the backyard (for real) then it was time for some din din, and my mama used organic, grass-fed beef in her dish:) then it was time for some games! and then me and kyle used the media room and its humongous screen to watch some soccer (i think this was really kyle's favorite part of the whole trip) then my older bro and his wife got in just before midnight and we all said hi and then went to bed.

turkey day: time to get my cook on! while my mom cooked the free-range, organic turkey, i made the stuffing, cranberries, and green bean casserole. while i was cooking up a storm kyle was up in the media room with the other kids. then it was time to eat! along with the stuff i made we had rolls, and sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli salad and pumpkin chiffon, well everyone else had pumpkin chiffon for dessert, i had straight-up blue bell ice cream. i ate a bowl of blue bell (aka the best ice cream known to man) every singe day i was in texas.
then we all passed into a collective food coma for a while. when we came to, it was time for more archery in the backyard (i sucked and kept getting arrows in the grass, then the fence, then kyle's target and eventually one arrow in my target--you know the one i was actually aiming for the whole time. but kyle was awesome! if we ever had to survive in the wild and kyle had a bow, he could probably shoot our dinner! then my mom and dad and me and kyle (only cuz i begged him) went to see breaking dawn. as kyle said it was about what you'd expect, but i still enjoyed it!

friday: everyone but my little bro got up early and headed into the city, nope not for black friday shopping but to attend a session at the houston temple! the temple was beautiful and it was great to go as a family. once back at home we ate some leftovers, and then it was time for tennis! i loved being outside, in the sun, in the warmth, playing, exercising--i can't wait till we leave utah! being out side all the time while were in texas was the best!! after tennis we hit up the hot tub! yes i love my parents new house. after we were nice and wrinkly from the water it was time for more games and blue bell! we played scattergories, buzz word, speed scrabble, and the bean game! and then i spent some quality time with my pillow. and my pillow rocked by the way, my mom bought new pillows for the beds--they're memory foam and sooo comfortable.

saturday: i couldn't sleep in too late tho because i was making breakfast! caramel french toast was on the menu and it was delish. on saturday we were also treated to a full day of heavy houston rain so we weren't able to spend much time outside. so more pool, ping pong, media room...and then we headed to my papa's office, after he showed us his new work digs we headed to papadeaux for a lunch of yummy seafood.

and THEN we went to see model homes. (this might have been my favorite part of the trip) we went to about 8, ranging from a full-out mansion to small affordable starter homes. they were all gorgeous and decorated and soo fun to look at, even the boys got into it! then home for some minute to win it games. i put together a few games that i thought my family would have fun doing (which worked out great with the rain) and we all did them--no real competition but it was a lot of fun watching everyone! then we headed to chipotle for some grub and then i just about passed out at the table, so i knew it was time for me to hit the sack.

sunday: crepes for breakfast, then packing, one last game of ping pong, a few last minute pictures because i realized i hadn't taken ANY the whole trip. luckily my dad took a few that i was able to steal, and one last bowl of blue bell ice cream--that i ate in the car ON THE WAY to the airport, and it was time to say goodbye. we had such a blast over thanksgiving and we can't wait to head back to texas in just TWO weeks to spend some time with kyle's family!!

and a big thanks to my cousins for telling me about making collages on picasa so i didnt have to upload 40 pictures!!

my little brother nik enjoying the good life

hot tuuubb

soooo nice

sitting around eating--we did that a lot

hubby lounging in the great room

can't wait to hang out here in the summer!

ping pong time

the pool table is underneath

kyle's favorite room--look at that huge screen!

the cute room we stayed in

minute to win it games

the one of my mom is my fav

could you keep 3 balloons in the air for one minute??

stack em' babe

unfortunately because my dad took all of these pictures he's not in any of them but he WAS there and having fun with the rest of us!!

its my party, i can post two weeks late if i want to...

i know, i know,  halloween is soooo over. but today i'm posting about mine.
for my birthday i wanted to be surrounded by my friends....and i got my wish!

they came as robbers and cowboys, creeps and death-eaters, some came dressed as themselves, and others came straight from work, but all were equally welcome. everyone was given 5 pieces of candy try to toss in the pumpkin bucket--whoever got the most pieces in at the end of the night won the bucket of sugary treats!

and then there was food. oh boy was there food! we had 7-layer dip and chips, apple slices, cucumber sandwiches, cupcakes, pumpkin cookies, monster munch popcorn, and all sorts of candy. but i think everyone was a little sick of sugar from ward parties and work parties, because all the dip and apples and sandwiches were eaten up and lots of treats remained (too many treats remained! and kyle and i were stuck with eating them for the next week).

then we talked, we listened, we laughed, and when we were all caught up, we played a game: have you learned anything from horror movies? we split into teams and then had to answer....

you car runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere, you can't get any cell service, its growing dark and the only places nearby are an abandoned-looking house, an amusement park, and a seedy looking bar. what do you do?

you have just shot the psycho murderer 3 times in the head, 2 times in the chest, and 1 time in the leg. he appears to be dead. what do you do?

the zombie apocalypse has happened. where is the safest place to hide. (note: you must remain on earth)

we answered about 15 of these questions and it was so funny to hear everyone's answers. i got the idea from a website, that for some reason isn't working today, but it was called ghoulfriday.com.

and then too soon it was late, and the party was ending. but i had the best time and it was so great seeing everyone AND i have pictures! Except i have no idea how to do picture collages. you know, the ones that everyone else who blogs uses, so that pictures don't have to put up one by one on blogger? if you are one of those bloggers, please let me know your secret!

my mad scientist husband and the birthday ballerina!

bank robber and cowboy 

and a dental hygienist!

a death eater and little red riding hood

they were from dr. who

salt and pepper!

my gypsy friend!

if we'd had a costume contest, i think they would have won!

time to blow out the candles on my bithday cupcake!

my husband and andrew doing "the creep" from SNL

my living room--haunted by ghosts, infested by bats!!

cobwebs have taken over...

freshman year friends!

fall behind

wow i have really fallen behind on my bogging this fall. (ha ok that was my attempt at a pun) but for reals i haven't blogged in weeks and i'm sure my 10 followers have just been dying to know what's been going on in my exciting life! well here you go: 

we did a puzzle. a fall puzzle! (told you my life was exciting) if you look closely you can see all the jack-o-lanterns and the people in their costumes. we did this puzzle about a week before halloween. and when i say we, i mean kyle did 10 pieces and i did the rest because he has to do other stuff with his time like homework and study (not me--i get to do puzzles!)

i also turned 24 on all hallows eve! and to celebrate we threw a rockin' party--post on that coming up.

also in honor of my birth me and the hubs had dinner at communal. they use local ingredients and meats for all their dishes and were they ever DELISH! we had cream frache perogies, steak braised w/red wine sauce and chantrelle mushrooms and other fancy ingredients that i can't pronounce, fried buttermilk chicken and grits with goat cheese (i love goat cheese).

and on my birth day i woke up a blonde, in the middle of the day i was a red-head and by evening i was brunette! yep i've gone dark and so far i'm lovin' it. no more ugly roots, no more feeling pale and washed-out. i mean, i'm still pale but now at least i have some color on top of my head to help balance it out.

RED HEAD! they had to re-pigment my hair before they could dye it brown so i took an in-between shot. they asked me if i was sure i didn't want to stay this color. yes. i am sure.

my new hair color! 

make-out point

aka squaw peak. squaw peak has a bad rap as ncmo central. 

(ncmo=non-committal make-out) but i've been there several times with friends, camping, on a picnic/hike, and just by myself to take pictures. and every time i've been its always crowded with a mix of people including kids and families. i've even been late at night like midnight-ish and there were still a ton of people. maybe not so many kids but groups of friends hanging out. but maybe if you go at 3am??

either way i love squaw peak, the drive is stuuunning (especially right now while the leaves are changing) and the views at the top are incredible.

kyle had never been to squaw peak so i thought it was high time i introduced him. so sunday afternoon we headed up the canyon, and squaw peak didn't disappoint. the drive was beautiful and the views were breathtaking. 

we even made-out a little.

and by make-out i mean kissed twice--there were kids around.

and we made it up there just in time. it snowed today and now the mountains are covered.

and yes you read that right. i said TODAY, october 6th, it snowed. it seems that utah has decided to forgo fall this year and skip straight to winter. i am not a fan. i stayed inside today and sipped soup. and when kyle got home early i whipped up some homemade hot chocolate--my chilled husband said it warmed his soul:)

other things we have been up to:

-last friday the city of provo held a bocce ball tournament on center street. kyle and i entered and thanks to our mad ball throwing skills we got 2nd place, and won $100.

-the friday before that we went on a date to pizzeria 712. not only is their food totally delish but they get their ingredients from local farmers so its fresh, nutritious, and environment-friendly. we started off with their complimentary pita bread and hummus, followed by ricotta gnocchi, and then came our perfectly cooked pizza topped with sausage, mozzarella, peppers, tomato sauce, and herbs. we ended our meal with the warm berry cobbler and ice cream. oh it was good.

-soccer games. kyle's team is doing pretty good so far and i've been at every game to support him, until last night, because it was FREEZING.

-dinner with hygiene girls last thursday. it was fun to see everyone and catch up and to find out that even more girls from our class our pregnant. i'm starting to feel a little left out. but i will resist. for now... 

-conference! conference was really good this past weekend. maybe it was just things that i needed to hear, but this was probably the best conference weekend for me ever. as far as talks go. if you missed it you can watch it here http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/10?lang=eng

and sat. night we went to kyle's last mission president's house for dinner after the priesthood sesh. about 10 missionaries came and it was fun to hear them all talk about tahiti and all the different experiences that they had--cockroaches crawling up their legs in the shower, eating raw fish (and loving it!), in the middle of teaching a lesson have a little kid run up to the mom, say teet-a, teet-a, pull down her shirt and start to nurse, and missionaries cutting through/off parts of their fingers while using machetes for EVERYTHING from opening a can of corn, to slicing open a fresh coconut.

-for the past week or so i've been reading david o. mckay and the rise of modern mormonism it is so interesting. it talks about all the scandals at byu with wilkinson, how the polynesian cultural center came to be, the issues of the church/utah with the civil rights movement and giving the priesthood to blacks. also the evolution argument and how there were divides over the issues within the first presidency and quourm of the twelve and how president mckay dealt with TWO unathourized books being publized by apostles-- joseph fielding smith's the origin of man and bruce r. mcconkie's mormon doctrine. so for all lds folk out there if you read either of these 2 books be aware that they are NOT church doctrine and are simply the personal beliefs of the men who wrote them. 

-and entertaining even more hippie ideas for the future such as co-sleeping, cloth diapers, and raising chickens in our backyard. and maybe even a goat.

from squaw peak

you can't really see the view in this pic, but kyle looks so darn yummy!
good thing we're married and i'm allowed to lust after him:)

these are a few of my favorite fall things

i'm just gonna say it: i'm not a big fan of fall. you'd think that i would be because 1) fall is beautiful, all the changing colors and leaves blah blah... 2) all the yummy food that goes along with fall (thanksgiving anyone?), not to mention cute fall clothes and new sweaters and 3) my birthday is on halloween. 

but i LOVE summer and HATE winter. so for me fall just means that summer is over and we're that much closer to winter. so every year around this time when starbucks comes out with its pumpkin caramel whipped frappuccinos, and the leaves turn brilliant shades of oranges and reds, and girls start wearing comfy sweaters and knitted scarves. i'm left grieving for the loss of hot sunny days at the pool, saturday farmers markets, blackcherry-coconut snow cones, breezy dresses, and sun-kissed skin.

but every year no matter how hard i fight it, fall comes anyway. so this time i've decided to embrace it. and here's how:

i made a fall wreath. it pretty much screams "welcome fall!"i even got kyle to make 3 of the little flowers.

halloween costumes.
 not mine. other people have such funny and creative ideas i love seeing what they come up with!

pumpkins! i love carving them them and seeing everyone else's.

mummy pumpkin

apple pie caramel apple from rocky mountain chocolate factory.
this was our fhe treat mon. night.
so good.

caramel stuffed apple cider cookies. you're drooling aren't you?

pumpkin pie white hot chocolate.
confession: i'm a tiny teensy bit excited for it to get just a little colder so i can make this!

as we go on we remember

all the times we had together. as our lives change come whatever we will still be friends forever.

haha i just had to throw in that shout out to vitamin c. anyone else remember singing that song while swaying in a circle and then crying and hugging everyone in junior high?

well one of my good friends left provo this week. staci was my roommate for 2 years, one of my bridesmaids, and one of the funniest girls i know. we had a going away dinner at pf changs and due to my new found food conscience kyle and i ate vegetable spring rolls and vegetable lo mein. and they were both delicious.

staci got me hooked on the bachelor and wearing cardigans. we spent so many late nights laughing in the nook with the other girls and eating cooks (cookies) and tasty morsels (choc. chips) and playing with clark and buttercup (im not gonna explain that one). we spent the best weekend together in california with a bunch of friends (oxnard hotties '09!) and another weekend in wales! (cardiff hotties '09?)  and when i started dating kyle she was always there to talk to and even helped set-up the proposal!

love you stac. good luck with all your new adventures in d.c.!

a few of us from the dinner: andrew, elisa, staci, me, kyle and staci's little bro

at my wedding, from left to right: amanda, lacey, me, staci, elisa and danielle
in just the past year all of these girls (my closest girl friends) have left provo
except for elisa!
luckily my best friend chels is back from her mission and i've made a couple other good friends, but overall i'm feeling a little too old for the provo scene these days.