Vegas Vacation

Thanks to some amazing Southwest ticket prices Mom, Ashley, and I spent a long weekend in Vegas. They haven't seen Karlee since May and were dying to go. It was such a fun weekend. Our agenda included lots of play time with Karlee. She is getting so grown up.

Friday...Supposed to get up way too early to hit the gym. Alarm didn't go off. Woke up in a panic at 6:05. Supposed to leave to airport at 6:20 and not showering/washing my hair was absolutely not an option. Luckily made it to airport. We flew in early so we had the whole day. Went to Chelsea's and played with Karlee before Cafe Rio meal #1. My mom LOVES that place and takes full advantage of being in a town where she can eat it. Spent the rest of the day playing with Karlee, grocery shopping, park with Karlee(she loves it and goes down the big slides by herself), and eating Cafe Rio meal #2(leftovers)

Saturday...Since I didn't make it to the gym Friday I made myself go running Friday and Saturday. Grandpa and Grandma and Malea's whole family came down. We ate a yummy lunch at the house before heading to the Lion King. I loved it, and it was so fun to go with the family.

Sunday...Mom made a yummy breakfast. Play with Karlee. Many unsuccessful attempts to put Karlee's hair in a ponytail with a little braid. Church. Relax. Karlee is such a good little helper and loves unloading the dishwasher. Chelsea(or maybe I should say Jeff) and I made cute fabric covered magnet boards.

Monday...Spent the morning trying to decide what we were going to do that day. Played with Karlee. Successfully got her hair in pigtails with a cute little braid. Went to the strip(Bellagio conservatory-Chinese New Year theme/fountains, M&M store for wedding candy, City Center-Jeff met up with us). Ashley's birthday dinner at Chilis. Finally watched The Proposal.

Tuesday...Last play day with Karlee. She actually let me do her hair again. Hung out at the house. Hit Cafe Rio meal #3 one more time on the way to the airport. Flew home.

The trip was so much fun. It's great knowing we'll all be together again in a couple months for Ashley's wedding.

Lion King

I have been dying to see the Lion King forever. It has been vetoed every time I've been in New York so I was so excited when it came to Vegas. Malea has also been trying to take her family for a while. With Mom and Ashley coming and 1/2 price tickets, we decided to make it a family event. Since our family is spread all over the place, it's rare that many of us do something like this together. Although lots of the family wasn't there, it was a lot of fun to have those of us who were (Malea's whole family, Grandpa and Grandma, Jeff and Chelsea, Mom, Ashley, and me). The show was everything I imagined. The costumes were, as promised, amazing, and young Simba was the cutest little thing. I loved it! I'm so happy I finally got to see it.

my cousins Andrew, Abby, and Austin

group shots after the show

Real World...St. George

Remember MTV's the Real World?!?!? I took a little trip to St. George with some friends last weekend, and the comment was made a few times that we felt like we were
a. on spring break or
b. on the Real World...St.George

We went down to St. George so Brynn and I could run the Painter's 1/2 marathon. We left early Friday afternoon to get down there early and get ready for the race. After 3 stops on the way down(too much diet coke), almost running out of gas, stopping at the rec center for packet pick up and a little shopping at the expo, visit with the grandparents, and the grocery store we finally got to the house. The rest of the group(including a surprise from Heather) got there later.
pre-race

post race. our friends came to the finish line.
The race had a little later start time (9:00) which was so nice, but unfortunately we missed the start by a couple of minutes. The race went really well, and we had perfect weather. I was a little nervous after being sick, not sleeping, eating lots of candy, but I did as well as I wanted.

Chuck a Rama

bowling

We spent the rest of the weekend eating at Chuck a Rama (I know it sounds gross, but it's a race tradition), shopping at TJMaxx, hanging out at the house, bowling, and enjoying the nice St. George weather.

6 people choose to spend the weekend in a house to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. There were a few moments of drama, but mostly the weekend was lots of fun. There was lots of laughter, maybe a few tears, and possibly even a little yelling. Can you blame us for not wanting to come home?

The Easy Way

I keep asking myself "why can't I ever do things the easy way?" Here are a few examples.

Brynn and I have been in a very crafty mood lately. We saw some really cute silver glitter pine cone trees at TJ Maxx for $14. Why would we pay $14 for something we can "easily" make ourselves? After 3 rounds of crafting, several trips to the store and maybe a little frustration, luckily the finished product turned out really cute. Don't ask me the final cost!

We also had a cute idea for neighbor/friend gifts. Some people have a traditional treat they make, but not me. That would be way too easy. After searching the internet for recipes and brownie pans, I finally made these.

This picture doesn't really do them justice. They looked like cute little ornaments all wrapped up in cellophane. I think I will make these for the next few holidays.

Chelsea and Jeff are decorating their playroom. I found these rugs at IKEA for $4.99, but they only had 2 colors Chelsea wanted. My "easy" solution was buy a white rug and die it the color she wanted-purple. I've used RIT dye

successfully several times, but the only purple thing so far is
my hands, and yes, I am halfway in the washer trying to get this project to work. I have concluded that I just don't have it in me to do things the easy way.

Holidays=Friends

The holidays involved lots of get togethers with friends. I loved it. It's funny how it sometimes takes the out of towners coming to town to get the rest of us together.

with the marrieds at Cafe Rio

Turnberry reunion at Paradise. good thing Nicole comes to town often.

it took Maggie and Brandon being in town to see Jana and James
It's great having friends from so many different eras of my life and being able to see them all whenever we can.

FREE

I LOVE free stuff! I love good deals. I hate knowing I could have gotten something for less. Here are the great deals I've gotten this last month.

http://www.seehere.com/ I only paid $3 shipping for 50 Christmas cards. The website was sort of a pain in the rear, and I'm not entirely sure it was worth it.

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/studio3.aspx?pf_id=147&combo=7082.91.1.67122|67122,67112|137|0&uei=87130&icparts=yes&ag=true&combo_id=41669&ssc=1&filter=9:10013||1,14:10024||1,14:10025||1,3:10023||1,4294937929:4294937831:4294937825||2&xnav=previews&xnid=button&rd=3&referer=http://www.vistaprint.com/return-address-label/christmas/gallery.aspx%3fpg%3d4%26filter%3d4294937929%253a4294937831%253a4294937825%257c%257c2%252c9%253a10013%257c%257c1%252c14%253a10024%257c%257c1%252c14%253a10025%257c%257c1%252c3%253a10023%257c%257c1%26page%3d9%26pagesize%3d24%26sort%3dp_TO!desc%26xnav%3dpagenav%26xnid%3dbottomAgain I only paid shipping for these cute holiday labels. I used this website again http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/studio3.aspx?ref=1&page=1&pf_id=243&combo_id=205967&filter=4:10003||1,4:10004||1,9:10013||1,29:10099||1,41:10156||1,3:10093||1&ssc=1&orig_combo1=113044.142.1.148905|148905,67396|137|0&orig_combo2=113040.142.1.148900|148900|137|0&click=0&num_req_imgs=1&icparts=yes&ow=yes&combo1=113044.142.1.148905|148905,67396|137|0&combo2=113040.142.1.148900|148900|137|0&uei=199513&ag=true&redir=3&rd=4when I ran out of cards. I got 10 more holiday cards for the price of shipping only. I like Vistaprint much better than See Here. It is easier to use, and I think the selection is a little better.

I also got tons of free birthday stuff. http://www.utahdealdiva.com/2009/08/celebrate-with-free-birthday-offers.html UtahDealDiva tells about all the free stuff you can sign up for the month of your birthday.

I haven't quite embraced the couponing craze, but I do love a good deal. Anything else out there I should know about?

For Rachel

I just got off the phone with one of my college BFFs, Rachel. We go way back to before freshman year really even started, and that's just the beginning. Without Rachel I never would have worked here or lived here or probably even survived this. What started out as a bunch of crazy freshman has turned into big girls with grown up lives and families.

all of a sudden this

has turned into this

In a few days, Rachel and her little family are headed off to a great new adventure in Australia. I just had to talk to her on the phone one more time before she and her family are off to the other end of the earth. I'm going to miss you like crazy. I might have even cried a little, but I'm so excited for what's ahead. Thank goodness for Facebook and blogs and internet and skype. I can't wait for you to get all settled so I can come visit. I Love You Rach!

Friday Lunches

About a year and a half ago some of us at work decided to start going to lunch once a month. There are so many places in Utah County we see as we drive around everyday. Each month we pick a new place. Everyone is invited. Sometimes a lot of people come and sometimes just a few. We went to Pirate Island for the December lunch. We had no idea what kind of place it was, but I'm a fan. It's a fun atmosphere with yummy food.

Christmas in Vegas

I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. It is so much more fun with kids. We went down to the Bellagio on Christmas Eve. Traffic was out of control. It probably won't be a new family tradition, but it was something fun to do this year. We met up with Chelsea and Jeff's friends. The inside was really cool. Karlee loved it.


Karlee and her little friend. She's not too into smiling for the camera.
After the Bellagio, we found a house that had a light show set to music on the radio. It was pretty cool. We came home and had chili for dinner and opened our traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.
Karlee's Grandma V made her some PJs
Christmas morning was really fun. Karlee got a ton of stuff. She get really into opening her presents but also wanted to play with all her new toys. It was definitely fun watching her.

The Big 3-0

I've sort of been dreading turning 30 for a while (maybe even a few years), but like it or not, the big day came. I started the birthday celebration the night before with the annual too close to Christmas crappy December birthdays party. Even though we have birthdays right before/after the holidays, we had lots of friends come and celebrate with us.

My actual birthday was a great day. I woke up early and went to spinning at the gym. I loved starting out the day with a good workout. I pretty much finished my 30 by 30 list. Chelsea hacked my blog to post this. I flew to Vegas in the early afternoon. Chelsea and I got pedicures. We went to dinner at Chilis with a friend, my college roommate Eleisha.

She gave me some pretty flowers and a box of 30 funny memories over the years. I got lots of phone calls, texts, emails, and facebook messages.

It was a great day.

My friend was in Vegas for the BYU game. When plans to meet up didn't work out, she surprised me the next day with

Even though I have a too close to Christmas crappy December birthday, and I'm no longer in my 20s, so far the big 3-0 isn't as bad as I've always feared. We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

Happy Birthday Aubrey!!

Aubrey turns the BIG 3-0 Today! Don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday!! She is such a good big sister, aunt, and friend! Hope you have a great day Aubrey!! Love, Chels

Work Party

I love my job! Our staff Christmas party consisted of eating yummy catered food, watching Polynesian dancers (including some staff participation), staff gifts, and a visit from Santa all during the paid workday. In case you're wondering, this is part of the reason why I commute. I love this place!

SPARKLE

After 4 years of annual ugly Christmas sweater parties, we decided to add a new twist this year...a sparkle theme. Who doesn't love sparkles?!? The party was lots of fun. We had a lot of people here-some in ugly sweaters, some in sparkles, and some in regular clothes. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season.

lots of great sparkles and ugly sweaters

More Showers

My team at work is exploding with things to celebrate...weddings, babies, etc. So, what do you do? Have a combined baby/wedding shower. Melinda is getting married this month, and Alyssa is having a baby next month. It's always fun socializing outside of work. Thanks Gaby for always hosting these fun parties.

Thanksgiving with Karlee

Once there is a kid, everything naturally revolves around the kid. I spent Thanksgiving weekend with Karlee (and Jeff and Chelsea and some extended family). She is as cute as ever.

swinging at grandma's house before dinner. due to grandpa not getting the turkey in the oven on time (little spat between the grandparents), dinner was an hour late so we took karlee outside to play.

chelsea ordered some new bows including this ginormous flower. of course she always wants this big one in her hair.

jeff found this fanny pack. karlee wanted it off immediately.

she loves all the christmas decorations.

she looks so big eating her sandwich.