Sweet San Diego... Here We Come!

"Vacation is what you take when you can't take
what you've been taking any longer."

Yes ladies and gentlemen... the day has finally come! The heavens have parted and angels must be on our side because we are FINALLY going on a vacation!

Remember way back when me and Josh had to cancel our Cali trip over the summer at the LAST possible minute? Yes people... now is the time to make up for our heartache... we are leaving for sunny San Diego tomorrow morning!!

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!! Nothing is stopping us this time, that I can be sure of :)

I'm looking forward to....

California breeze
Warmth on my skin
In & Out Burger
Relaxation
Sunglasses
Flip flops
Feeling sand between my toes
Palm trees
Feeling carefree
Summer nostalgia
Taking pictures
Watching the sunsets
Spending time with family
Thanksgiving comfort food
Watching football
Naps with full bellies
Feeling thankful for everything we've overcome
Dare I say..... a tan??

...... and also blogging about everything when we come back!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend! Anyone ready to put up their Christmas tree yet?

.... me either.

Hubby Tag

1. Where did you meet? New Britain Ward in Connecticut... he was on his mission and I was a Mia Maid! lol
2. How long did you date? 2 years.. well after he was off his mission!
3. How long have you you been married? 2 years and 3 months... WOW!
4. Favorite Feature? hmmm... I would have to say his green eyes. And the way they wrinkle when he smiles :)
5. What is your favorite quality of his? He has a very positive attitude about life and he always keeps my spirits up.
6. Does he have a nickname for you? Baby
7.What is his favorite color? I'm going to go with..... blueee?
8. What is his favorite food? His Momma's cookin
9. What is his favorite sport? Football all the way
10. When and Where was your first kiss? It was on our first date at Monique's apartment in Provo I think... on the floor after watching Love Actually. He didn't make a move all night so I went for it... time was of the essence!! And I had been waiting a long time to kiss those lips :)
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Honestly, we're couch potatoes. We are happiest just at home with Sam and a good flick on TV. Lame, but we don't care!
12. Do you have any children? Hell to the NO! We're putting that on hold until we're good and ready.
13. Does he have a hidden talent? He can play piano.
14. How old is he? 26
15. Who said, "I love you first?" I think it was him, and I didn't have to think long to say it back.
16. What is his favorite type of music? Classic rock
17. What do you admire most about him? He is book smart and also street smart, he has taught me so many things about life. I call him a walking encyclopedia.
18. Do you think he will read this? Someday!

I tag: Nicki, Lauren, and Nicole- have fun ladies!

And the winner is....

After much anticipation I finally got to see who won America's Next Top Model.......

and the winner is.....

McKey

... BLAH... can I just say that I totally disagreed with this decision!!! I guess the judges are the professionals here, but they seriously eliminated Annaleigh FIRST out of the 3! I couldn't believe it! Poor Annaleigh didn't do great at the commercial, although she had a good photo shoot but they decided she was too commercial looking and her face wasn't balanced enough- with her big eyes, nose, and lips. Whatever...... Tyra is whacked out of her mind.

So Sam and McKey got to do the runway show... obviously at this point McKey was going to win because she has a better walk. I guess I'm happy for her. This show never ceases to surprise me at the very last minute.

Congrats to the Lurch er, scuse me, MCKEY. You're stuck with a Cover Girl contract while Annaleigh has plenty of designers just waiting to hire her :)

Gibberish

Is everyone glad Monday is over? I sure as hell am. Only 3 more days until the weekend!

Thought I would practice my writing again and asked One Minute Writer for help:

Consider the "WORD VERIFICATION" word at the bottom of your comment window. Create a definition for it, and use it in a sentence.

scrit [scr-IT noun]

definition: the nasty dried up food remains left on your skillet after leaving it on the stove overnight.

"I hope you plan on cleaning up that scrit so I don't have to soak it in hot water for an hour."


lol that was thoroughly entertaining... Now YOU try!

Antique Clocks

Last week my friend Jodi from work invited me and the other office girls to sign up and make these beautiful antique wooden clocks. She has a friend that hosts these clock parties and she brings all of the materials and vinyl lettering. I'm always up for something crafty so I decided to make a big clock to put in our living room, customized with our name and the year we got married.

I chose to make it look extra old with this old world font which I looove. You literally do the whole thing yourself; from the tick marks, to the rub on vinyl, to the spackling and staining, and putting on the hands. I love the way it came out!!

What do you think? I absolutely love how this clock makes my living space personalized. And the best part is you can customize them any way you want, with any saying or quote that you like. They also make great wedding and Christmas gifts.

Chillin with Jammers

Oh how I love vegging out with my little Sammer Jammers.. he is such a cuddle bug! He rarely gets up before me and Josh do... he always digs himself a burrow underneath all of our piles of blankets. It's hard to find him under all of those layers so I usually sing his name in the morning and he'll finally grace us with his presence, after stretching and yawning for a good 15 minutes. Oh what a life it would be to be Sammers. He is my little man. Look how cuuuuute!!

Guilty Pleasure...

Many of you already know that I am slightly obsessed with this show called America's Next Top Model... it's what you would call my guilty pleasure.

I cannot believe how much I get into this show! I've been watching it ever since I was 16 and have watched 10 cycles... currently watching cycle 11. Not only do I love the fashion world and love seeing the backstage hair/makeup, but I like seeing these girls start off as nobodies and grow to try to reach their goal. I take it very seriously!

So I just watched the 2nd to last episode and I was so sad that Marjorie went home! :( I actually cried, no joke. I know I'm a loser, shut up. But anyway, that means next week is the season FINALE! Who will win??

I love Sam, she has amazing photos and has a great fun-loving personality, but she always tends to over act and doesn't look like a model in person. She almost got eliminated last week so I'm pretty sure she's going home... sad but true.

I adore Analeigh! She is always so sweet and has a great attitude about the competition. She struggled with her photos in the beginning but keeps getting better and better, thanks to her ice skater grace. She rocks at commercials and is charming in person. I hope she wins!!

McKey is unique in her beauty and takes probably the best photos, but the ultimate prize is for a Covergirl cosmetics contract, which includes smiling, being girly and doing great in commercials. She is a little too high fashion for that sort of thing, in my opinion, and doesn't do good with commercials. She's one of those just sit there, look pretty and don't speak kind of models.

Next week the girls will battle it out in a Covergirl commercial/photo shoot and one model will be sent home... then it's time for the final 2 to duke it out on the runway for their very last chance to prove they are ANTM! So excited! May the best girl win!!

(Tune in on Wednesday, November 19th at 7:00 pm on the CW!)

One Minute Writer

Happy Wednesday Morning! I was on time for work today- yay for me!!

I was browsing through some blogs that have been highlighted for the week, looking for some inspiration, and finally came across one called One Minute Writer.

What you do is view the posted subject of the day and use 60 seconds to write a response. That's it! It even has a 60 second timer. The point is to show you that you only need 60 seconds a day to practice your writing. You can either comment on the post or write your response on your own blog.

The author of this blog has some really great topics that get your creative juices flowing such as, "If you were on Jeopardy what story would you tell to introduce yourself?" or simple things like, "What is your favorite place to be in your home?"

It reminds me of a creative writing class I took in high school that I really enjoyed. Every day there would be a new topic on the board to journal about for like 5 minutes. I would love to keep using these daily ideas to get better at writing and blogging.

So today I chose to blog about:

"If writing was your career, what would you write about?"

I would definitely write children's books! There are tons of morals and lessons you learn while growing up. I would choose one that I feel passionate about like for example, being yourself or following your heart. I would then draw out some cute and witty animal characters to tell the story and illustrate as well. That would be so fun as a career. How cool would it be to read them to my children some day? My mom always wanted me to be an author/illustrator...

...maybe someday...

Thank heaven for little girls...

Can I just say how much I love my cute little niece? Not only is she the most adorable little girl alive but she is saving me from having baby hunger. I just loving being Auntie Kiki :)

I went up to visit my sister Amber on Saturday to spend time with her and Addyson and Andy-rew. First she wanted me to go check out her new school she is teaching at, which is so awesome and quite the upgrade. I'm so proud of her. Me and Addy played the whole time with a some hide and "BOO!", jumping in the elevator, and lounging in these big comfy bean bag chairs. She is such a doll it's ridiculous.

Then we decided to go to the school's playground and take some pictures. I am in love with my new camera, I'm having a lot of fun playing photographer...

So cute...

Giggling and swinging around the pole...

Going down the slide, her favorite.

Trying to capture a close up...

Jumping up & down!

I can't believe her hair is already in a pony tail!!

Sort of a smile... I take what I can get :)

Playing on the monkey bars with Mommy!
(This girl can really hang on there surprisingly!)

Addy and Mommy all smiles

"Whoa Mom, not so cheeky!!"

Fishy kiss faces

Silly face... always watching Mommy

We grabbed some yummy Farr's ice cream on the way home. I can't help but notice all of Addy's special characteristics. She is so adventurous is always observing, never wanting to sit still and always looking for excitement and fun. She is not shy but friendly and talks to everyone around her. She is also getting so smart! She can already sing part of the ABC's and can count to ten. Did I mention she's not even TWO yet??

She had been mentioning her bike all day and how she can ride it all by herself. I had to see! I think she was getting a bit tired of me following her around with a camera all day... oh well!

Afterward Amber and Andrew cooked us a delicious steak & potatoes dinner and we got to hang out a bit more before I had to leave. I decided I have to visit way more often before this girl grows up too fast on me!

GET OVER IT!

So I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty sick of all the emails going around mocking our new president's race... since when is it OK to make fun of someone because they're black? Didn't we go over this in the Martin Luther King days?? And when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation? Are we over this yet?? And why are these stupid emails coming from white Utah mormons? When is the last time they even saw a black person??

When will white people actually look at a black person and feel equal to them? I say it's gone on long enough... lets get with the times and stop keeping ourselves in the white-washed mind set of our ancestors. Now is the time for CHANGE and that includes ourselves, not just the government.

It angers me that we have reached this milestone in history... electing the first black president ever... and instead of supporting him there are people out there labeling him "DEMOCRAT", not really listening to what he is saying, basing everything off the misleading campaigns, and just coming to the conclusion that since he's not Republican our whole country is in the shits. I wish everyone would just lighten up, start being positive, and change their attitudes.

I believe Barack Obama has the potential to change this country in amazing and positive ways and now is not the time to be creating negative energy. He is representing our country for the next 4 years and there's nothing anyone can do about it so maybe...

get over it... deal with it... and support it!
This is our country after all, let's be proud!!

Rock the Vote!

I voted today!! For the first time ever :) YAY!

I cannot even express how good I felt walking out of my polling location this morning with my "I voted" sticker on. For the first time I felt truly blessed to be a part of this country and to be able to vote and exercise our rights. This year has made me realize the big picture and how important it is to vote. I never used to be into politics, but after listening and following the debates, I realize I can no longer let someone else choose for me. As an American citizen, t is my responsibility to be educated on the issues. And now more than ever is the time to get involved. Because it's not the politicians, it's not the president, it's not the Senate or the House of Representatives that make things happen... WE, as the people of the United States of America, can CHOOSE what happens and we together are the ones that can ultimately change the world.

Wench, Keg & a Can!

happy halloween!!

So me and Josh decided to go with a beer theme this year for Halloween. I was a wench, Josh was a keg, and Sam was a beer can. We haven't dressed up since we've been together... ever! So we decided to throw a fun Halloween party at our house. Josh invited some new friends from work and I invited a few of my friends too.

Then Josh decided to pick up an extra shift that went til 10:30... don't ask me why. So I'm all dressed up in my beer wench costume, looking hot, ready to party.. and just waiting around. Slowly one by one everyone starts to bail on us! I felt like such a loser and by the time Josh got home I was bummed and just wanted to go to bed.

Then he told me I needed to stop pouting and lighten up- we were together after all and that is all that matters. He gave me a pep talk and said we're still having a good time and getting drunk off our asses. Then he decided I needed to drink a flaming Dr. Pepper... ever had one before?

It's strong but it's actually really good. You take a cup and fill it half way with beer. Then pour some Amiretto in a shot glass and on top of that pour a tiny bit of Bacardi 151 (which is flammable). Then you light the shot glass on fire, drop it in your beer, and chug chug chug! Tastes just like a Dr. Pepper and you feel like a total bad ass afterwards!

So after we got our spirits back up we were later invited to a party at our friend's house and had a blast! We don't go out very often but when we do it always ends up being a crazy ass night. I got hit on by this bi-sexual girl, almost got my ass beat by a drunk chick, and saw a real live tarantula!

Here are some pics we took...

Sammy the Bud Light Can.. our perfect side kick!

What a sport!

Josh is a beer keg... not a penis pump LOL!


It really did store your beer and dispensed through the tap!!

"Would you like a beer, sir?"

Blowin kisses


Me trying to be sexy in my messy computer room :)

Hope everyone had a fun night and made some memories! Here's to dressing up, drinkin like a bad ass, and making the most of the night!

New Camera!

So at Josh's work there is this huge wheel you get to spin if you get 4 sales in a row. It has a bunch of prizes on it like a PS3, laptops, free lunch.. etc. Well I've been wanting a new digital camera ever since we lost our old one. I was hoping to get it for Christmas.

So low and behold Josh goes into work last weekend and gets a sale off of a TV ad... gets to spin... and wins this amazing Sony Cybershot camera!!

What luck!

So we have been testing it out and it takes amazing pictures. You can even take them in black & white, sepia, with all different sorts of settings. I'm getting a little excited here because it's been a long time I've gotten anything so nice! And for $Free.99!!

Here are some pictures we took while we were testing it out...

Silly...

Angry...

Serious...

Kissy...

Happy :)

Can you tell I got my hair dyed back to my natural color? There's still some subtle highlights in there but it feels so nice to get back to my natural roots! Thanks Hailey!

Anywho- I'm so excited I get to post more pictures now :) Yay for Josh's job!