I shouldn't be able to....

…see my breath when I’m getting ready in the morning. Yet this is what happens when the heater is broken.



You may be thinking, “It’s Arizona! It doesn’t get cold there!” Au contraire! We may not get snowstorms, or little blizzards, or even swirling snowflakes, but we do get temperatures below 40 degrees. That means it is cold inside the house regardless of the clear skies outside.

Because of the lack of heat, Will and I have a newfound appreciation for blankets, hot chocolate, and cuddling. (Oh, and the thermals that we never thought we’d use are coming in handy as well :)

 

mmmm!

An Official Notice

It is official: Christmas is my favorite holiday.



I am only now realizing it because the first thing I do when I get home is turn on all my Christmas lights and light my delicious holiday-scented candles and because I can’t seem to turn off FM 99.9 ‘The Holiday Station’ (lest we offend someone by calling it the Christmas station) and because I can’t get enough peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks and because I made a calendar of all the local concerts or performances that I would love to attend and because I bought an extra string of lights because it was a good deal and I’m sure I will find a place to use them even though I don’t need them and because, when I’m not listening to the radio, I’m humming the last Christmas song that got stuck in my head and because I’m going to sing in the choir since they will be doing Christmas songs for stake conference even though I don’t like singing and because I can watch a myriad of Christmas movies and because I can put ‘For Unto Us A Child Is Born’ on repeat and try to hold back the tears while pretending to conduct Handel’s choir and because I get to cook yummy things with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves and because I get to go see the lights at the temple whether in Utah or Arizona (both this year!) and because I get to wear small poinsettias in my hair and because I can just sit and play amazing piano arrangements of Christmas songs and....


(inhale)


Anyone else feel the same way about Christmas?

hello

i'm afraid i have fallen deep into the i-have-nothing-noteworthy-to-blog-about trap, and here i sit with nothing noteworthy to write about. still, i find myself needing to post at least something for those who have hinted, prodded, and all-out begged.

in an effort to have something to blog about, i have composed a list of some things i've done since my last post (eh hem, a couple months ago):

• coordinated a blood drive where i reached 167% of my donation goal
• won a raffle and got 2 tickets to the Grand Canyon Railway
• learned how to swim (although i still hate being in the water)
• made my first pizza (whichwasamazingbytheway!!) and delicious desserts like caramel apple cake and lemon pudding cake
• started composing my first hymn arrangement
• successfully ran a candy drive for children at my work for Halloween
• made some new friends and fallen head-over-heels-in-love with my ward
• grew a real bicep that's visible when i flex :)

that's about it these days. oh, and here is my latest haircut:

the polls are in...

well, thanks to everyone for helping us decide the names of our little friends. the polls have come to a conclusion and it's time to name our pets.

our fish will be called Ray*; the frog, Webster.

they are quite the little rascals, especially Webster. he is such a character!

*as a sidenote, we have two more fish to add to our tiny school. they were found a few days ago frantically swimming away from the mama fish in an attempt to not be eaten. after netting them and taking extra care to keep them alive (do you know how much it takes to keep a 1/4'' long animal alive?!), they both are doing well and are about double their size now. their names are Bart & Dart. Bart likes to float comfortably at the bottom of the net while Dart won't stay still for even a moment. we can tell them apart by their coloring. they really are adorable. anyway, the point of this asterisk is that the poll names were chosen based on inaccurate knowledge, and while we have since learned that our fish is a female, we have kept Ray as the name although we understand it is quite masculine :)

New Additions

Well, we've decided it was time to add to our family. Yay for new additions!! Meet our new friends:

-frog-

-fish-

However, we need some help with their names. There are 2 polls on the side of the blog so you can vote for a name. If you have other suggestions, add them as comments to this post. Thanks for your help!

Medical terminology: Doctor & Covenants

We were trying to get through the flashcards as quickly as possible during piano lessons last week when one of my students came across this flashcard and said the most hilarious thing instead of just 'Middle C & D':

"D & C. Oh! Like Doctor & Covenants! Or Covenants & Doctor since it's C & D."

It was the cutest thing I'd heard in a long time. Kids say the darndest things.

*the Doctrine & Covenants is a book of scripture we use in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Our new abode

Here are some pics of my favorite things about my home:

so many cabinets and storage space


our enormous tub


plenty of counter space to cook all i want


7 of these in my kitchen...no more shuffling of the appliances

Mostly I just love my kitchen. It's the best ever.

She's gone nuts

Have you ever been driving, and then all-of-a-sudden you don't know where you are? Or where you're going? Or if you're supposed to go straight or turn? I have. And it's bizarre and freakishly scary. It went something like this:

Will and I are driving along...dee dee dee dee dee...still driving along...and I pull up behind a car to turn right. I have my blinker on, too. It's a long light and the driver ahead is going straight instead of right, so we're chatting. Then the driver ahead starts going.

Next, from me came, "WHERE AM I GOING?! WHY IS MY BLINKER ON? AM I SUPPOSED TO BE TURNING RIGHT?!?!"

Will thought I was kidding, but then learned I wasn't: "Yes, turn. TURN NOW!"

I'm sure I freaked Will out. He probably thought I'd gone nuts. I sure felt like it. I became completely disoriented all at once. I had no clue which direction I was going at all. It was so weird. Anyone else have this happen? Or am I really just losing it?

Phoenix NASCAR Race

Will and I got to go to the NASCAR Race at Phoenix International Raceway! It was quite the experience; we thought we were fans by watching religiously on tv, but by going to the race and feeling, hearing, smelling, and experiencing the race live, we solidified our enjoyment of this sport. Yes, it's that amazing. Here are some pictures of the festivities:

The long walk from the 'parking lot' to the stadium

Don't worry, we got ourselves a 'get-out-of-hell-free' card, so we're safe.


with our favorite driver's car

with my close-second favorite driver's car


fun before the race

the cars that take the drivers around the track before the race. no zoom required, we were really that close.

our favorite driver, THE dale jr.



look closely...you can see the checkered flag.

the bright green strings are earplugs. we wouldn't have made it to the end without them. what a great night!

Will's blog will soon have video footage of the race so you can all see and hear a little bit of what we experienced.

Beer Bellies

Stay tuned to see why I saw my fair share of these this weekend:

gee, thanks

you know your driver's license picture is bad when someone asks if it's really you.

"yes, unfortunately, that's me."

"well, you look much better in real life."

gee, thanks.

A Week in My Life

This week I am embarking on a new project called 'A Week in My Life.' I will be taking pictures of my everyday activities as well as jotting down notes, and then blogging about all of it.

I've seen some pretty cute scrapbook ideas revolving around this idea, but since access to my scrapbook supplies is somewhat limited, I thought I would blog my week instead. You may not even be interested in what I do during the week, but at any rate, it's a fun way to document everyday life. Follow my week at

100 & counting

Although I could probably come up with something cute and clever to say about this 100th post, like 100 reasons why I like blogging, or 100 random facts about Will or me, but I'd rather just say it simply:

"Yay for 100"

Purpose of Mormon Temples

thanks to www.ldsmediatalk.com

Lopsided

This is what happens when one does not think twice before grabbing two shoes and bolting out the door. It's a good thing I got a right and a left ... two lefts don't make a right!

{date night}

what constitutes a fun & cheap date night?

soap carving!

the product

the decision

the 'before'

the 'during'

still during...

the remains

the 'after'

I never thought I'd say this...

... but I miss the snow.


It was 87 degrees here the other day, and it was too hot. I saw a picture of snow on tv and I wanted to be in the snow. I wanted to get out of my car and have to step carefully so as to keep my pants slush-free. I wanted to hike up 200 stairs of ice to get to class at 8am. I wanted to drive 15mph under the speed limit to keep my car from fishtailing. I wanted to book-it out of the laundry room so that my clean laundry didn't get all wet and soggy before I got to my apartment.

Ok, maybe I really don't want all of these things for a whole winter, but I would like to spend a weekend in a snowy part of earth.

The Revenge of the Pinky

The latest news regarding my health can be found here.

Sneak Peek:

the "well" hand

que ganga!

Here is my latest great find from Goodwill:

$5

"What a bargain!"

Per Request

Here is a big pic of the little pic off to the side:


And here is one of my favorites from graduation:

It's Autumn Time, It's Autumn Time...

In Arizona, winter doesn't exist. But autumn has finally begun! Here are pictures taken just an hour ago:

Grrr-face

Can I just say that I hate trojan viruses, and sometimes I even hate computers?
{insert angry words and grouchy facial expressions}

Another birthday post!

Well, here's the final family birthday post for my dad and two of my sisters:

I love my dad because, to me, he knows everything about everything, but doesn't flaunt his knowledge. He is very resourceful and knows where to find a good deal. He has taught me about generosity and financial stability, and he reminds me that everything is God's anyway, so don't worry about the material things. Happy belated birthday to my joke-cracking, storytelling, tickle-torturing, deal-finding, dumpster-diving, eternal perspective-seeing, and Christ-loving Dad. I'm glad Heavenly Father let me be your daughter.

I love Mattea because she still considers me a best friend. She makes gifts for me and sends me nice cards. She is sure to update me on all the exciting things in her life and asks me questions because she trusts me. I got to babysit Mattea when she was still tiny, so she taught me about patience with children because I got to change her diapers and clean up her messes. I remember dancing the same Samba step over and over again to keep her asleep. I remember her asking me to 'fly' daily because she loved feeling big as I lifted her a few feet off the ground. Even though we are 12 years apart, we will always be the best of friends.

I love Alyssa because she and I are quite similar. We both came out of the 'A' mold: we both have clean rooms with everything in its place, we both are perfectionists, we both love music and mastering piano pieces, we both feel disappointed about A- grades, we both find the same things funny, and we both have certain routines and ways of doing things. One thing I admire about Alyssa is that she says "I love you" every time she talks to you. I know Alyssa loves me because she tells me. Not once in a while or every so often, but every time we talk. Ditto :)

Happy birthday to you guys!