knit head bands

I think everyone needs to have one of these:





I have searched high and low for one of these knit head bands.... only to be disappointed so many times. I was getting close to giving up when suddenly, I found them at the most unexpected place: Tai Pan Trading.

I came across one when I was looking at these Coca Cola glasses (that I also want)


Suddenly, I looked to the side and there was one head band just sitting there in a bin next to the glasses!! I thought, "strange... why is there only one here? Could there possibly be more???" I wandered to the front of the store and low and behold, there were HUNDREDS of them! Of course, I had to get one and I love it! Words cannot express how delighted I am.

You can also buy them here. I am not sure if it's the same person who makes them but they seem exactly the same to me.

Thank you for letting me share my excitement with you, I hope you enjoyed my story.

Peanut m&m's

I love these little guys. Any type of m&m really will do.

But lately,

I am beginning to think the fellows in the yellow bag don't love me back.

I eat a few of them and I feel like this:



Like my heart is going to come out of me...
and yet, I continue to eat them.

The other m&m's don't treat me like this.

It's a Holiday!

Christmas time is a wonderful time of year; from Christmas music playing on the FM100 starting November 1st to trying to persuade Annie to drink Eggnog (one of my new favorite traditions). Here are a few highlights from our Christmas celebrations.

Setting up the Christmas tree

Annual Tea-party

Paige enjoying the Martinelli's....a lot...

Christmas with Crackers


Gilmore Girls


Talking with Sister Katherine!


Muse tickets!! Don't worry, they're legit.

and of course....

Reindeer glasses.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I did it.

I did it. I took the plunge and dyed my hair!!! My friend who is in beauty school did it for me and I think she did a pretty good job. I just look even whiter than I did before.




I'm sorry I look so grumpy in this picture. I'm not sure why I do...

It's OVER!

Finals are OVER!!! I finished my last final last night and this semester is officially over!! (although, steven has a few more days to go.)

To celebrate the semester being over, I thought I ought to post a few pictures.

We put up our first christmas tree this weekend.





What a precious little tree. We are excited for our first christmas together as a married couple.


What plans do we have for the holiday season?? eating, sleeping, partying, new hair styles, and painting dining room chairs.

Finals

I'm sorry, I know you heard me whine about homework in my last post, but I really need to whine about finals. Finals week is technically next week, but I swear all my teachers conspired against me and decided to make almost everything due this FRIDAY!!! This is what my finals schedule looks like:

Friday, Dec. 11th

- Final project for Children's Lit. due. I have already written 11 pages and I am still not finished. I get to rewrite Cinderella! kinda fun... kinda not.

- Final paper for Middle Childhood Development due. Haven't even started and this need to be 6-7 pages

-short socioemotional online post due also for Middle Childhood. only 150 words, thank goodness.

- 1-2 page socioemotional paper due ALSO for Middle Childhood. ugh.

- Final test for History of Rock n' Roll. Sound fun? they are actually some of the hardest tests I have ever taken. Sample Question: Who was David Bowie's first rockabilly influence? let me know if you know the answer.

Monday the 14th - Final for Middle Childhood available online until the 15th. I'm sure I'll wait till the last minute.

Tuesday the 15th - Final paper for Adolescent Development due. 8 pages in length... supposed to be based on a book I'm supposed to be reading right now... too bad I ordered it on amazon a week and a half ago and it still isn't here yet.


why all the papers?? I've never had this many papers due at the end of the semester!!! I'm probably going to have to put my hand in a cast after this week from all the typing I'm doing.

Ok. That was my rant about finals. I hope your finals go well for you!!

Make me do my homework.

Finals are coming up... I have a draft of a final paper due on Friday... and I just can't bring myself do it.


Why do we even have finals?


I don't know why.

I just want to go Christmas shopping.

Help!

I need help! So, my mom is in charge of her family's christmas party this year and we are trying to come up with ideas that would be fun for the party.... We have been doing white elephants forEVER and really, after the year I got a hamster, they just aren't fun anymore. We are trying to find some sort of service project we could do instead of gift exchanges. An ideal project would be something that included shopping before the party (which would be mainly me and my mom) and then having everyone come to help giftwrap or organize the gifts... I am having THE hardest time finding an organization though!!! Our party isn't until the 19th of December so part of the problem is that we're cuttin' it close to christmas.

Do any of you have any ideas?? I would love any suggestions! thanks!

Thanksgiving "Thankful" list

This week for one of my classes I had to make a list... a list of whatever we wanted, just as long as it was list. I decided that since Thanksgiving was coming up, I would write a list of what I am thankful for (cliche, I know.) so I thought I would do the same thing here!

Thankful list:

1. Steven.
2. All of my family and friends.
3. This chocolate mousse I am eating right now...
4. Pottery Barn
5. Christmas
6. Music
7. Broadway Musicals
8. Yoplait Yogurt
9. the church!
10. funeral potatoes
11. books
12. Target
13. Shabby Apple
14. My mom's cake
15. harry potter
16. Lord of the rings
17. spider killer spray
18. my honda civic
19. Doris Brunatti (best voice teacher EVER, and my therapist at times)
20. Dr. Napoles (for getting me into the music program at the U, and for putting me in Women's Chorus)
21. The snow outside!!!! yay!
22. animals
23. all of my YWs leaders.
24. our 54" table that was given to us for free.... except... I'm sure who gave it to us...
25. my job. It's rough at times, but at least I have one I suppose
26. Tums

If Grandpa Was Black

Nothing else needs to be said

Halloween!

Last night we had some friends over for Halloween. I didn't realize how small our place is until we put 11 people in here. Space was limited, but we still had lots of fun and ate really good food! We ate chili, cupcakes, finger sugar cookies, chips and salsa (thanks heather!) and lots of candy. Holly made Pumpkin Black Bean Soup and Russell brought Pumpkin bread bowls for the soup and chili. It was all very delicious and we had lots of fun!

yum.

russ

heather

a hot dog and annie

and holl doll.

CHAIRS!

We have REAL dining chairs at last!!! no more folding chairs for us! I found these at a really cute antique and consignment shop in the avenues, and they were only $20!


Before.....



and now!!!!!

We will probably paint them all the same color eventually... once I work up the energy to do so.

When Parents Visit

It's always a pleasure when parents visit the kids. On this night, Dad was getting a little restless. He couldn't sit still while on the couch, fidgeting with his legs and struggling to stay alert. A few minutes later he slumped off the couch, turned over, and stayed like this for just under one hour.
God Bless Him!

hair cut!!!

I did it! I finally cut my hair after wanting to for months!! I always go back and forth about whether or not I want to cut my hair or grow it out some more. I usually end up cutting it. It wasn't TOO dramatic of a change but it feels SO nice to have just those extra 3 inches of hair GONE.

Where did the inspiration come for this hair cut?? I am so glad you asked.
I got it from none other than the famous Alice Cullen from Twilight!

Ok... so mine doesn't look EXACTLY like this, I am not so good when it comes to styling. But I still love the cut. one of the best things about this cut is that it was only $12! I went to the Paul Mitchell Hair School to have it done because a mom from work gets hers done there and her hair always turns out really cute. So, I was extremely nervous, but I gave it a go, and I'm SO glad I did. It took nearly two hours to do, but the girl who cut my hair was really nice and she was an advanced student so she knew what she was doing. Hurray for cute hair cuts!!

On a side note... is anyone else as excited for New Moon as I am?!?!? If any of you are Edward fans I would ignore this next paragraph..
Edward really drove me crazy in the books. Like REALLY crazy. But Jacob on the other hand... how adorable is he?!??! Ok, sometimes he is really stupid, but I loved him in New Moon. There he was picking up the pieces for Bella after Edward left... then Bella just runs back to Edward without even thinking about poor Jacob!

Ok.... so really... maybe it's Bella who annoys me more here. I don't know. I just think Jacob is a gem. Poor, poor Jacob. Maybe it's out of pity that I like him more?

Either way, I am still stoked for this movie. And I plan on seeing it as soon as it comes out.

yum.

this is what our dinner consisted of tonight:





- pumpkin pancakes

with...

- fried apples

and....

- maple flavored sausage.



Oh. My. Gosh. Pumpkin pancakes. If you haven't had them yet, I encourage you to visit this site and make this recipe. It was the perfect fall dinner (I enjoy having breakfast for dinner at times) and the apples were perfect with them. I just fried the apples in melted butter, then added a little water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. They were really yummy.

Holly is fabulous

And this is why...









Holly is one of my BEST friends and she is such a talented photographer and artist. She took these pictures of us before Katherine left on her mission. Check out her blog here.

Thanks so much for doing these Holly!!!! We love them!!

Boulder

Sorry, this is a blurry picture. But I thought the colors were so pretty.



We had a lovely time in Boulder last weekend for conference. I honestly think I could live there. It's so cute and cozy and it really feels like a home more than a getaway. Here are some pictures:
This is the room we sleep in. Comfiest. Bed. Ever.
Love the kitchen.
And the antique dishes.

Well, we did have one downside to our trip; we hit a deer on the way there. :( That's what you get for driving there after dark I suppose... We were driving my dad's car too. :( Although, if it had been one of ours the damage would've been MUCH worse.

It was tragic. We didn't even see it because it was so dark. We drove back to move it off the road and there were a whole bunch of others running around. What's funny about it is that my dad called us a few minutes before to tell us to watch out for black cows in the road because they had almost hit one earlier. So... at least we didn't hit a cow? Right?