Christmas 2009!

This Christmas turned out to be better than we could have hoped for! We had such a fun time spending the entire day with eachother and just being with our friends and family! Sammie slept over on Christmas Adam (The day before Christmas Eve..ha, I'm so funny) after we spent the night with she and Jared. Our sleepovers always turn out to be a good time. Riley woke up on Christmas Eve day to her sleeping on the couch. He went over and stood right above her for a few minutes, obnoxiously clearing his throat trying to wake her up. After several failed attempts, he came back into our room and said, "Well. She's dead..." HA! That morning we went over to Riley's parents house and had breakfast with Jared, Sammie, and Jordan. Breakfast was followed by some Wii Mario and other general festivities. That night we had dinner at Riley's parents house, followed by fondue and games. The highlight of the evening was probably the Nativity that was attempted by the grandbabies. Joseph (Braxton), the shepherd (Boston), and the angel (Novali) all had bottles in their mouths for the pictures. Little Mary (Coral) cooperated the whole time though and looked darling! She stood very quiet and still for all the pictures and was on her best behavior. Despite the lack of togetherness, we got some cute pictures of the four of them!

Christmas morning, Riley and I woke up around 8 and opened our presents that we had gotten for eachother. We got a bunch of new movies from "Santa", and Riley bought me a pair of jeans, some lotions from VS, and a few other goodies! I got him...*drum roll please* an XBox 360 and a game, and a Rubix (Rubiks?? idk..) cube game thing. For some reason he LOVES to solve them, so I figured that would keep him entertained for awhile. I may have gotten myself a silk robe from VS, and Riley MAY have gotten himself some legos. But hey, we deserved them! We then made our way to my parents house for more presents and breakfast. Carter got Riley a banana chair to play his new game system on, and McKenna got us a gift certificate to El Matador. I actually think that gift may have trumped the 360, but I should have the whole "Way to a man's heart is through his stomach thing" down by now. I had been a little bummed about the XBox, because our TV pooped out on us a few weeks ago. We got it for free off of KSL, and got a good months worth of use out of it, but I was still saddened it had died. However, all my sadness was put aside when my dad brought out our final gift! They got us a brand new TV!! YAY!!!! I'm not spilling too many details about it, because we want all our friends to come check it out themselves! I thought Riley was going to cry out of happiness when we watched our first movie on it, and that's saying something! My parents bought Carter and McKenna Rock Band 2, and Lego Rock Band, so we spent a good amount of time fooling around with those games in the afternoon. It was a way fun time spending time with my family and carrying on the Christmas Breakfast tradition.

Later that evening, we headed over to Riley's parents house for the sibling gift exchange. We were way excited for Braxton, Boston, Bethanie, and Neil to open the presents we got for them. The boys got matching outfits and a sled, we got Booey a SNUGGIE (Yep, you heard me right, and she absolutely adores it so get over it), and we gave Neil some barbecue and grilling accessories, since he's into that sorta stuff. Jessie gave us a big bread basket from Great Harvest, and a gift certificate for Pier 1. Way excited about that! His parents also got us gift cards to Blockbuster and Iggy's, which we were also happy about! They also got us a shelf system to put in our second bedroom. Hopefully we'll get that set up here soon so we can bring some organization once again to that room, and maybe actually use it as an office or something. Also, Riley had saved a present for me that had to be opened in front of his whole family. Turns out he got me a LAMINATED copy of the New Moon posted with JACOB on the front. Ballin'. Best. Gift. Ever. I also had him open his last presents from me, including a season of Family Guy, and Season 1 of The Amazing Race!!!

Since Christmas, we've just been enjoying the time together. We've watched a few movies on the new TV, done some shopping, and lots of playing. It has been way fun to start our own Christmas traditions, as well as be able to participate in the ones our families both have as well. We're so grateful to be close to our parents so we can visit as often as we want. We definitely lucked out!

On Monday after work I spent some time with Jocelyn shopping. We went to Downeast, Old Navy, and the mall. I always enjoy hanging out with her! She's such a fun, cute girl, and it's nice to spend some time with the female gender. Don't get me wrong, I adore my husband, but there's just something awesome about a good girls night!

Yesterday, I went to lunch and a movie all the girls in Riley's family, including his mom, Carolyn, Shrena, Bethanie, Jessie, his Grandma Wiser, and Coral. We went to the Red Robin and had a fun time chatting. After, we went to the Frog Princess movie at Tinseltown. It was a darling show, but it may be a little scary for small children. There were some pretty intense parts for a Disney movie. I enjoyed it nonetheless. After the movie, I went to the mall with McKenna and my mom for a little post Christmas shopping.

I'm at work typing this up, but as soon as I get the time, pictures will follow. I had to hurry and post so I didn't have any more complaints from Riley's dad about my lack of blogging...So, here's to you, Wes. I got a few books from the library that were recommended by one of the therapist's I work with, so I think I'll get to reading one of those, but stay tuned for posts to come about our New Year's resolutions and such.

Christmas Poem

So the last few days have consisted of me, Jared, Sammie, Riley, and Jordan playing the new Mario game for the Wii for endless hours! We played last night for like three hours straight. Pretty sure Jordan isn't a team player, and kept killing us all because he's better at it. After we got sick of being beaten, we played some Phase 10 and ate this yummy caramel cereal stuff Riley's mom made. I spent the majority of the day yesterday at Riley's house hanging out even after he had left for work. I watched Angels and Demons with his dad, ate dinner with his family, and went to Blockbuster and Starbuck's with Carolyn. Good times.

Highlight of my week, I found out my grades! 3.6. Not bad at all..this whole college thing has been hard...

Here's a Christmas poem I wrote, hope you all enjoy.

Christmas is coming, and I love this time of year!
Friends and family close around, the days are full of cheer.
Despite all the fun and games, I have a few complaints,
as shopping rolled around, it was time to bring out my war paints.

Sammie and I bravely headed to the mall, with gifts to buy in mind,
We planned to wander through store after store, using a game plan we had designed.
We drove around for what seemed like hours, looking for the perfect spot.
The place was packed, we knew it! Not one place in the whole parking lot!

The stores were overflowing with people, running all around,
Thanks to a sign floating above people's heads, the end of the line we found :)
We got what we were looking for, and perhaps a little something for ourselves.
After all the hard work we'd done, we deserved a gift or two from "Santa's little elves".

I was incredibly pleased with the gifts that I had bought,
and I went to my parent's house to wrap them, because peek, Riley must NOT.
I fought with the wrapping paper just like I always do,
I wanted it to be just perfect despite the work I'd have to go through.

Now I'm just patiently waiting, for Christmas to finally get here,
We'll watch some festive movies tonight, to bring in all the cheer.
I wish for it to snow at least ten feet so we'll have to be bundled up tight,
Awaiting for the morning to finally come, on the Eve of Christmas night.

Sorry for the lack of blogging...

But our lives have been super busy the last little bit! We've been running around doing Christmas shopping, playing a ridiculous amount of games, and eating much too much food.

Here's a little recap of the goings-on.

Sunday-Dinner at both my parent's house and at Austin and Shrena's. We had stew at my parents house, and laid around playing the Wii and sleeping until Kylee came by with her AMAZING caramel popcorn! We ate the WHOLE bag between four of us!!! Yum!! Homemade soup at Austin and Shrena's, followed by pie and other goodies.

Saturday-We went shopping with Jared and Sammie. We split up from the boys so we could actually get something done, and were very successful! I'm so excited for Christmas to come so Riley can open up the awesome stuff I got him! Yay for our first Christmas together. I spent a good amount of time at my parent's house wrapping his presents because I knew there's no safe place to hide them from him unwrapped at our house. But while I was there, McKenna's date came to pick her up for the Christmas Dance at Davis. He goes to Viewmont...but he's a cute kid, so I'll let it slide. I'm a traitor myself, and married a Viking, but whatev. That night we went to my friend Amanda's reception! She was a beautiful bride, and we're so excited for her and Mitch! That night we played some serious Phase 10 with Jared and Sammie, and ate fruit pizza Riley's mom made.

Friday-I worked all day, and so did Riley...but AFTER work, I went to my work's Christmas party and had a way fun time! White elephant gift exchange, catered dinner, and raffle makes for a good time! I have way cool co-workers. When I got home, I took a quick nap, but then Riley's mom, Carolyn, and Jessie came over to have us sign the pillowcase they're sending Baker! Riley put an outline of his foot, and his elbow traced on the pillowcase...what a weird kid... We spent the remainder of the night in Hooper at Sammie's playing games at her house! And yes, it's like 40 miles one way! Ridiculous. Note to self: Never move to Hooper. Pretty sure you pass Wendover on your way out...

Thursday night I went to my home ward's relief society Christmas Party with my mom. It was fun to go and catch up with all the cute ladies from the ward. We ate lots of delish food, listened to a Christmas program (well, I did, my mom accompanied a few of the songs), and just had an all around fun time socializing with everyone. One of my absolute favorite Young Women's leaders is expecting a baby and just found out the gender! She's the same lady that made us teh caramel popcorn. I threatened to tell her husband the gender of the baby since she wouldn't give me the recipe..but it was an empty threat, and didn't really work anyway....

WEDNESDAY, I took my very last final, and we went to Riley's work's dinner party at the Cheesecake Factory! Had a fun time messing around with his co-workers and having an enjoyable night. Also got Jordan and Alyssa's wedding invitation that day! We got cornered by members of the Elders Quorum that were visiting our apartment complex after dinner, so we invited them in and spent some time getting to know them.

I'll post some pictures later. We're way excited for Christmas and a break from our jobs! I'll be sure to keep our few readers updated on the goings-on, but here's what we have to look forward to:

Christmas Eve-will probably consist of me playing the piano while his family sings Christmas songs. I've been specifically asked. Pretty sure that's why they let me stay around, because I can play the piano for all the times that specific talent comes in handy...

Christmas Morning at our house! Then followed by making the rounds to our parent's houses, family outings, etc etc.

Coral is also probably going to be spending the night with us sometime soon, too! We owe Austin and Shrena for watching Benny for us when we went to Powell this last summer, PLUS it'll be a blast. Coral is such a funny little girl. She already asked permission last night to bring her pony games and blocks with her when she comes, so that'll be a good time!

Christmas Concert & the weekend!

On Thursday night me, my mom, Carter & McKenna had the opportunity to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir annual Christmas concert at the Conference Center. We trekked down in the freezing temperatures, despite my mom almost giving herself a heart attack on several occasions. She's definitely not as aggressive as I am when it comes to driving, so telling her to merge into a full lane sometimes doesn't go over well. Also, when she accidentally handed Carter two tickets, leaving her with just two others in her hand, she tried to come up with some reason why I was going to have to leave without attending the concert..in a nice way of course. Right. Luckily for me, we realized we DID in fact have four tickets and all of us made it in the building. The cute little ladies checking bags at the door got a kick out of the fact I had a couple pairs of socks in my purse. Not sure why they found that strange? Our tickets ended up being on the seventh row, very middle section. They even had to check our tickets to pull aside the velvet divider thing so we could get to our seats! Sahweet! I guess it pays off to have an aunt who is a personal secretary for President Uchtdorf, and can get us amazing seats to events like that! The concert was incredible. It featured Natalie Cole and David McCullough, and it was great. It was fun to get to spend some time with my family.

I also think you all will enjoy the quote of the night. Here's the context surrounding that quote. The concert had finished and the four of us were waiting at a crosswalk to get to our car. While we're there we see a procession of sorts of black SUV's, and I said something like "Well, there go all the IMPORTANT people." McKenna gets this surprised look on her face and says, "The Jazz players were here?!"

Hahahahahahaha.

Friday night Riley and I spent the evening at our house watching movies in bed. We (well, Riley mostly, because I fell asleep halfway through) watched "Public Enemies". It was really good from what I saw. One day I'll have to see the rest. It was a RedBox, complimentary of the free codes Riley keeps getting magically sent to his phone and e-mail....

Saturday we attended my Uncle Todd's funeral. It was a great service! I was so proud of his little girl for doing such a great job on her talk/tribute and her flute solo. Afterwards, we all went to the Spaghetti Factory for lunch. That night, we also broke into Jordan and Alyssa's new apartment. Sshhh...more details about that to come.

Sunday we went to Tanner's farewell! He's headed to the New Hampshire mission, and he's going to be such a great missionary!! I'm so excited for him. Riley and I promised to send him some good treats while he's in the MTC, but since he's stateside, I guess we can send whatever we want to him through the duration of the mish! Lucky boy! That night we went to Riley's sister Bethanie's house to celebrate Braxton's third birthday. He's such a cute little kid, and he loved singing "Happy Birthday" to himself. It mainly just consisted of him yelling really loud at the first, and tapering off towards the end.




Today I'm back at work, doing the yearly Christmas cards. LDS Family Services sends out what I swear is like a billion cards every year. This year it seems that they've significantly cut down on the number, but there will be at least 1,000. The responsibility of getting the cards stufffed and the envelopes labeled falls on me, so that's what I'll be doing here at my desk for the next week or so in case anyone was wondering!

I finish up the semester this week with my very last final on Wednesday night. I'm so happy the semester is almost over, and I'll have some more free time to get things done around the house and spend time with Riley. Jared has also moved back home to Centerville, so we'll get to see those guys a lot more often, too!

"This, too, shall pass..."

I needed this today. Hopefully it'll help those out there that maybe could use it, too.

"If you learn from your suffering, and really come to understand the lesson you were taught,you might be able to help someone elsewho's now in the phase you may have just completed.Maybe that's what it's all about after all... "
Anonymous

"Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening. But no matter how hard death tries, it can't separate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death."
-Anonymous

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."
-Eskimo Proverb

"Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself, the most comforting words of all; This, too, shall pass. "-Ann Landers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjrWu5K4u8s

My letter to snow this year

Dear Snow,

I hope you take the least amount of offense possible to my following statements. I'm not sure how else to word this, but...I hate you. If it was up to me, you would visit us on Christmas morning, and then evaporate after I'm done with you. I enjoy the occasional sledding day, but only at my convenience should you reside on the ground.

You make driving an absolute nightmare. Because of you, I was over an hour late to work this morning. My normal 10-15 minute drive took me nearly 2 hours, and it's all. your. fault. You caused my car to spin out multiple times and caused countless accidents. Common sense in people goes out the window when you're around. The idea that you can't just slam on your brakes and stop immediately doesn't occur to many drivers. There is no sense of moderation while driving in you. There are two speeds. Fast & stop.

Here's the thing. I know many people enjoy your company for things such as snowboarding and skiing... However I find these activities pointless and retarded. Don't get me wrong, I won't bash on other people's hobbies too much, but travelling at excessive speeds down an icy hill holds NO draw for me.

Also, you're only pretty for about five minutes. Then a dog comes along and pees on you, or cars drive in you and you get all black, slushy, and hideous.

You cause homeless people to sleep my stairwell at work. Which makes for a really awkward conversation when the security guard tells him he can't live there.

I don't like being cold. I don't like being wet. You are both.

Wet socks is also a common occurence when you choose to grace us with your presence. No matter how delicately I put on my shoes/boots to avoid hitting any place on my rug that is wet, I always seem to end up with wet socks. Wet socks=cold feet. Cold feet=aggravated Alyssa.

To further extend my hatred for you, I have to shovel you. Yes. I have to go out of my way, put on a shirt, pants, two pairs of socks, a snow coat, gloves, and a hat just to go outside and move precipitation out of the way of my car/foot path/walking space.

I wonder if anyone else has noticed this strange phenomenon of snow plows. They clutter the roads when it snows about a half an inch, and make driving behind them slow to go. However, when an actual blizzard hits, they're nowhere to be found. Maybe they take the day off, like I wish I could be doing right now. Laying in bed with my husband (who has the day off), sipping either hot chocolate or cider (maybe both at the same time, who knows...) and watching The Office.

Yes, dear snow, that is how I wish I could be spending my day. But no. I'm here at work sitting at my desk, glaring out the window at your ugly self. I'm being forced to plan my whole day around you, a fact that I DO NOT appreciate.

For all these reasons, I do in fact strongly dislike you. Please make yourself go away ASAP, as it would make my life at least a billion times easier.

Best regards,
Me

Countdown to Christmas

Friday night Riley put in his usual time at FedEx. That was going to mean I would be spending the evening alone until he got off work, but turns out my luck changed! Riley's mom called and asked if I would like to come to their ward Christmas party with the rest of his family, and I happily accepted the offer. It was a great alternative to sitting home, watching more countless episode's of The Office, and counting down the minutes until he got off work. I went and enjoyed lots of yummy food, listened to the choir sing Christmas music, and spent the time with his entire family MINUS Riley. I thought it may be strange for me to be there minus my significant other, but it turned out to be a really fun night. I got sent home with tons of leftovers, so Riley didn't have to go hungry that night (and it's kept us sustained for 4 of 5 meals since then, too!).

After the party, Jared and Sammie came over and we attempted to make gingerbread houses. We made a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase the needed supplies, and came home with lots of frosting, candy, and graham crackers. Unfortunately, my house was a huge disappointment...the roof kept caving in, and refused to stand by itself. Everyone else's turned out really well though! Riley's was complete with a roof, and a chimney. Jared's was multi-storied, and managed to stay up the entire night! What the heck? Seriously? And Sammie's...well...hers started out like mine, all crumbly and pathetic, but she had much more patience than I, and ended up forming it into a church-like structure complete with lots of candy for decor. Next year though, mine will be the freaking Taj Mahal. You heard it here first.

Saturday, we went and found our very first Christmas tree! We went with Riley's parents to J & L in Bountiful, and found the perfect REAL tree! I think I'm ready to take on the task of tackling the endless numbers of dropped needles. It was a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the amazing smell of a real pine tree that is already filling our little house. We had a fun time searching out the best trees, and also meandering through the store finding little goodies here and there. Quote of the afternoon: "We're all adults here. We can talk about flocking." This was said by Riley's mother, in reference to the fact that she's a tad bitter about not being allowed to get a flocked tree. It wasn't her year to choose, evidently!

That night, we went to Kohl's to find a cute skirt to put under the tree. We found a darling plaid one, and it looks great with the rest of the decorations. After that, we went to Target with Jordan and Alyssa to pick out some ornaments. We found some fun ones, purchased them, and came back to the house to play games. We ended up playing "Would You Rather" for like 3 hours straight! Riley and I definitely don't agree on many things, and that became evident through our constant bickering and debating. It was a fun evening nonetheless, spent with our friends that will be married in less than a month! How exciting?!

Sunday we went to my parent's house for dinner, and played a Cabela's hunting game on the Wii with Carter. He had bought it a few days ago, and was eager to show it off. Riley played for about 20 minutes, and shot one animal I think. I, however, spent about a half hour with the game, and shot like 20+ plus animals. I'd never hunt in real life, but it was kinda funny to be better at something electronic than Riley. That'll teach him!

After that, we went to Riley's house to watch the LAST EPISODE of the Amazing Race!! Our favorite team won! Go Megan and Cheyne!!! We were SSOOOOO happy that the gay bro's and Team Zebra didn't win. Megan pulled Cheyne through the hard tasks! What a tough chick! Evidence of the fact that Shrena and I will totally cream Austin and Riley when we get on the show. An all girl team has never won before, but that's just because they haven't seen US yet. After a heated debate over that subject, we finished off the night talking about possible million dollar ideas and patents, and Coral and I played the "Princess Jewelry Game". During the game, Coral asked me, "When can I come over to your house and play with your children?" I had to explain to her that we didn't have children yet, which spawned the question of, "Well...when ARE you going to have a little baby in your tummy?". She didn't quite like the answer of "Not for a while! Probably not until you're seven years old at least." This was replied with, "Well..I'm 4 now...so that's not too far away!"

Yikes!!!

It's the thought that counts!

It seems like this week has flown by incredibly fast. Probably because I've stayed pretty busy with work on Monday and Wednesday, and lots of adventures in between. On Wednesday night, I came home from work at about 9:30 to Riley making dinner. Cute. He went out and bought everything he needed for it at the store. He said, "I figure since you always have dinner made and ready by the time I get home, I ought to do that for you once in awhile, too." So needless to say, I had to snap a few pictures, and I'm glad I did. Here's what he made. Chicken patties on buns, complete with curly fries. He even bought Some Dude's Fry Sauce to go with it, or SDFS as it's affectionately referred to in our home.

Anyway, upon removing the tray from the oven, Riley lost a french fry to the depths of the oven. It just HAPPENED to land on the actual burner, and almost caught on fire. Despite my heedings that the fire alarm would go off, he left the oven open while he dished out on food onto our plates.

It DID indeed go off, and I think he felt that his whole making dinner for me experience had been ruined, but it just made me laugh. Way hard, in fact. I'm hoping it doesn't affect his ego to the point where he won't make dinner for me anymore...