Holiday Fun!

So we have had a pretty crazy past few weeks. With finals ending and everything with the holidays.... we have been super busy...but it's been good times! To start the holiday season off right... we went out and bought our very first Christmas tree! This is our first Christmas married... It was so fun to decorate it together...(actually the night that we started decorating it... Josh was putting the lights on the tree, and we fell asleep before we put any decorations on it, and this was the weekend before finals... so we went for almost a week with just lights on our tree...so when the lights were off, it looked like a "bare" tree.) So we finally got it all decorated and bought something to go on top. We went with a pretty red bow. And we love it. We had to rearrange our furniture just a little to make room for the tree....but it's so worth it!

Pictures below are of our a couple parties. We have had so many, I can't post them all. So here are a few. We had a friends Christmas party that was themed "ugly sweater"...good stuff! And then my side of the family had a Christmas party that was way fun as well. It has been so fun to see family and friends and enjoy this time of the year. We are absolutely loving it! Hope everyone else is having a great holiday season as well!


This is our tree when we first put it up so BEFORE......

And.......... AFTER


So pretty! We love it!!


Ok... so this is a really random picture. Last week we went Josh's work party and it was at this nice restaurant and everything. There was great food and we had a great time. Well, right before we were about to leave.... I needed to go to the bathroom.... So I run in there and this is what I see. It literally scared the crap out of me. It was pretty life-like.... and I was a little scared. I almost didn't make it into the stall because it scared me so bad.haha! Ok that's not true. But I found it really weird to be in the restrooms.


So this is at our friends "Ugly Sweater" Christmas party where we had a "gag" gift exchange. And yes... that is a male unrinal. Enough said. It was halarious!


My sister Savanna opened a gift that was Ronald Mcdonald shoes... they were huge. And along with them came a Mcdonald's bag.... with 2 apple pies from Mcdonalds. People got pretty creative with the gifts.


Here is Josh and I with our "ugly sweaters"... the day before I went to goodwill and picked out the sweater vest for me that was like 4 sizes to big. And.... when I first found Josh's sweater... (It has a picture of duck up in the corner if you can't tell) I thought it was perfect.... ugly right?? Well, that night he put it on.... and it actually looked pretty good on him. He even wore it over to his parents house before our party and his mom complimented him on how nice it looked, and said it looked like he got at Cabellas. We then told her that I picked it up at goodwill for about $2 for our party. Pretty funny!


Janessa, Savanna, Me and cute pregnant Chandra!


The guys started a wrestling match...





At one of our many family Christmas parties. We had a great time. Great food, and a sweet gift exchange where Josh got a Sonic giftcard and I got a giftcard to Costa Vida, and a football! Great game!


All the ladies....(well not all, mom and heather would not get in.) But the rest of us are all there! Lots of gorgeous girls! We have a great time with eachother!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Dogs and Cats

Ok.......So I read this on a friends blog, and could not stop laughing. So I decided to copy it and put it on mine!! Even though I'm not really a dog person or a cat person...........but either way......... I still thought it was halarious!! Enjoy!!

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Excerpts from a Dog's Diary...
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

g

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary…
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
f

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

f

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

g

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Jerks.

g

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage...

g

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

g

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

g
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.........



If any of you watch Family Guy.....The cat reminded me a little of Stewie! Love it!

HaLLoWeeN FuN!!!

So the Halloween weekend was lots of fun! You won't see Josh in any of these pictures tho because he was gone.... hunting allllll weekend long. He did get his deer tho, so that is very exciting!! And it was still a fabulous weekend!
It began Friday evening.... all of my sisters went over to my sister Shasta's house to frost cookies and watch Garfield Halloween. (I'm not sure if any of you ever used to watch Garfield.... well we did when we were younger... and loved it!) The nephews came to and we had a great time!!



Starting the Garfield Halloween! candy, candy, candy, candy....


Shasta and Laci making the cookies! (I'm not a huge fan of sugar cookies...but they were very good!)




And the frosting begins.......


There was Frankenstein, cat, and I think bat cookies!


After all that was done. My 4 younger sisters came back to my our apartment to stay the night with me, so I wouldn't have to be there all by myself. We made up their beds and all of us were out with in a few minutes. We have this round chair... it's called a "papa'sjohn" chair... or something like that... and Jenna called that right away to be her bed.

She got all snuggled up in it.


My other sister Bria was going to try to sleep in our leather recliner.... but after a few minutes..she decided to go down to the floor.


Then Saturday night, I went back over to Shasta's because my little sisters were going trick or treating in her neighborhood. Molly was showing off her cute pajamas....Bria is the lovely green M&M...and Jenna is a sweet little witch. They looked great! And got lots of candy!



After that, I went and met up with our friends who were finishing getting their costumes on. My friend Bobbie is a vampire...and that is her boyfriend Sam who is the Joker.....she kept trying to bight him all night..haha! They looked awesome!!




This is Tara, Bobbie and Me....... I wasn't sure if I was going to dress up til the last minute.. and by that time I didn't have anything.... so I supported the Cardinals for Halloween.haha! (It was simple and not to complicated....which worked for me.)
Overall the weekend was a ton of fun! Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend as well!

Adorable!!

My friend Callie is having a give away on her vinyl sign blog... Valentine Decor!! There are so many signs that are absolutely adorable!! All you have to do is go to her blog, leave a comment and then tell about it on your blog. Fun stuff!! Go check it out! Valentine Decor

Decorating Time!

So after being at our apartment for about 9 months... we finally got some decorating done. Before we had up 1 wedding picture, and 2 signs.....and that was it. I also learned that Josh is a super perfectionist when it comes to putting stuff on the walls... so he's got to measure every angle possible, so it's perfectly equal. And this is great so things don't look crooked on our walls. So..... I had 2 gift cards to the amazing Hobby Lobby.... so shopping I went. (Josh did actually come with me to) and it was lovely! I also went to Ross that same day and picked up a few little things there! Super cheap!

The next few days after that, I was talking to my mother-in-law and found out that she had never been to Hobby Lobby. And If you've seen her house, this is very surprising because her house is decorated AMAZING!!!! So.... we met up one night at Hobby Lobby to experience the amazing! We were supposed to only window shop, but my sweet mother-in-law ended up buying us some more decorations.... to go above our cabinets in our kitchen. Then she came back to our place after wards and helped put it all together. It looks amazing. The first 3 pics are some of the things she bought us. Thanks again mom! We love it!

The next thing I want to work on is our bathroom. And I decided that when we get a bigger place...with 2 bathrooms... I want our second bathroom to be all PARIS stuff. I wanna do it with black/white and pink! We still have a few pics to hang up, but now our walls aren't so bare. Which means yeah!!!!



I love this sign... thanks to my sweet mother-in-law



This is the cutest little trunk!


I got this at Ross for $10... to go in our little "laundry room"...(it's not really a laundry room.. it's more like the "area" where our washer and dryer are... next to the bathroom..haha!)


This I got from my Bridal shower, this was one of the signs we already had it up. I love it tho!

Ross....$5! And it is a true statement.haha!

We got the shelf and candle sticks at Hobby Lobby! Put it above our TV. I love it!

Fun Weekends!!

My family has started a tradition to go camping every year around this time of the year. We usually go the weekend before Labor Day. The last few times we have gone, we go up north.. I'm not sure where exactly, but to a nice little camp spot, we pitch our tents and live it up in the sticks for the weekend. (Well, not entirely, my parents have a motor home that they bring, so it def makes things a bit easier. Example... like not having to squat out in the woods.) Well, this year, my sweet mother-in-law offered their lovely cabin up in Forest Lakes to us for the weekend. My family was so excited. We enjoy the tents...and living out in the wilderness for a few days, but of course we would rather "camp" in a beautiful cabin..with comfortable beds.. and showers! So that's just what we did. Everybody was there except the one sister living up in Provo...Yes.. Savanna was very missed. But we still had a great time! The pics below show that we went shooting, and spent some sweet time around the campfire. We had an amazing weekend!

The following weekend which was Labor Day, we got to go back up to the cabin and spend the weekend with Josh's family. We had a great time.. we went quading.. played games...and....the big news......Josh's sister Janessa got ENGAGED while we were up there!! She has been dating Travis for over a year now... he is an amazing guy. Josh and I have both known him since the beginning years of high school. And we have all remained the greatest of friends. We could not be more excited for them! It will be great to have him officially in to the family! And they are going to be getting married in the San Diego temple around the end of the year...so we are excited to back and visit sweet San Diego.. and maybe go visit sweet Poway!haha!



Relaxing on a log...


Josh showing me how to shoot....


My sweet hubby...being all tough!


Ya....we like to think we are tough! Josh just looks really angry....lol!


Boys love their guns!


Sitting around the campfire!


The adorable newly engaged couple! So cute!


We can't wait for their big day!

Finally......

Well, got through our first week back to school. It was a very busy and crazy week but we got through it. And we ended the week with going up to Josh's family cabin over the weekend with my family. (I'm gonna try and post some pics soon!) We had a great time and it was very relaxing. We also went through all of last week with our poor little apartment a disaster. With starting school and work last week, I had no time to finish getting things unpacked and situated in their places. But finally today...... I spent the entire afternoon doing laundry, organizing, and cleaning the entire apartment. It was driving me crazy! And I can't believe we have been home over a week now and I'm finally finishing unpacking. There are still a few little things here and there that don't have a place, but the bottom line is that it's looking 100% than it was.

Goodbye Cali!!

So the time has come for us to pack our things up and head home. Today I spent all day packing up the apartment. We are heading out early tomorrow morning for sweet AZ! Home sweet home!!! I'm excited to be back at our apartment, see family and friends and go eat some yummy Costa Vida as soon as we get home!! I'm gonna miss Cali.... the amazing weather over here and the gorgeous beaches. We have had an awesome summer! We've met so many sweet people while we've been here and hope to see them all again soon. We have had lots of friends and family come visit us, lots of those people that slept on our floor, many visits to the beach and so many fun times! We looking forward to heading home and getting back into the swing of things. We both start back at school on Monday and are looking forward to the new semester. We have loved being out here and have made so many sweet memories. Peace out for now Cali!! Hope to be back soon!

Sweet Times!!!!

This past weekend my family came over to visit. Friday morning I drove up to Santa Clarita to go to Magic Mountain. The last time I went there was about 3 years ago, and I've always loved it. Well, we go on about 4 rides, and the last one we went on, I walk off of it and I'm feeling so sick. So.... instead of riding the big rides with the rest of the "big girls" I decide to stay with my parents and little sister Jenna to go ride the little rides. I've always loved rollar coasters, and normally I can go all day riding them, but this time was not the case. But I def enjoyed the rest of the afternoon riding the little rides with Jenna. I was able to let my stomach settle, and was feeling much better by the end of the day.
After we left the park, all of my little sisters drove back with me to stay with us for the weekend. We spent time getting some sun at our pool, took the girls to Old Town San Diego, had some wrestling matches, and tickling matches, and spent time at the beach. It was a great weekend to be family, I have missed them so much! We loved seeing everyone, and it was sad to say goodby, but we now only have a month left til we go home... so we will soon be back in AZ! It's been a great summer, and we are loving it out here, but I am def way excited to go back home!! One of my favorite things about being over here.... when we get sweet visitors!!! We've had friends and family come visit us and we have absolutely loved it!!



At sweet Magic Mountain!

Jenna and I got pretty soaked!

Swimming at the pool!!! So nice!

Love the hats!!!

We went and checked out Old Town San Diego!

The girls tickling Josh.... He got dominated!

The girls stayed on our floor... it was pretty cozy!

Josh building a sand castle with Bria and Jenna

Gorgeous gals at the beach

Enjoying the beach!!