family photos.

Jeff and Marisa surprised everyone by showing up Christmas morning, just flew in from new mexico that morning! it was so fun to spend time with his whole family. i'm lucky to have such kind, thoughtful, and fun in-laws. we even had a photo shoot with TH's family, and discovered the continuous self-timer function.


Created Here

ahhh christmas.

it was the best one i can remember.

beautiful tree.

ahem. let's try that again.

beautiful tree. (so maybe ours died last week. and maybe this is TH's parents beautiful tree.)

family everywhere. friends abound. of course i did not take pictures for i was too busy eating and talking. and even though we didn't go to bed before 2am all weekend and even though we were barely at home, it was such a perfectly relaxing holiday.

and did you notice? TH got me a brand new pretty lens for christmas! and he's toting around a new gee-tar.

merry christmas to everyone! we threw our christmas tree out the window last night, we're referring to it as "the defenestration of the tree". and then i blew a fuse while running the space heater, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, TV, and stereo at the same time (i was asking for it).

i think we're spending new years listening to blue grass at one of our favorite local venues. happy holidays to everyone, and i hope my new york friends are staying cozy in their 2 feet of snow drifts!

xxoo

you are a tricksy one, mr. grapefruit.

via xkcd

disney.

back from disney world and suffering from post-vacation head cold. the week was exhausting and wonderful. my dad completely spoiled everyone and we all had a great time staying up late, watching fireworks show after fireworks show, laughing at the babies, riding scary rides with tanner, riding scary rides with brooklyn and lizzie (4 and 3 yrs) "i don't want to be on this ride anymore" - at the ET ride, and eating entirely too much food. seriously, my pants laugh at me every time i try to button them. but look at all the fun!

lalala- disney world is so magical at night.

brooklyn kept me entertained most of the trip. and she is a hand holder, which makes me infinitely happy.

before mt everest roller coaster, best ride in the whole park!

TH did have his mouse ears but refused to wear them on friday on account of all the roller coaster riding. and don't worry, he had the boy mouse ears.
and we all pretty much felt like this by the end of the week.

lastly, i cannot express how happy giggly girls and fireworks make me. lizzie and brooklyn playing with bubbles before the fireworks show.

apartments.

our apartment is relisted for rent and we have no house to speak of. no future plans for another cute house to live in for a year. no idea if we'll be in a basement dungeon or a weird condo above a smelly neighbor.
but one things for sure - if i don't reupholster the settee that we have, i'll probably just burn it when we move. so first things first, i guess.

send good renters wishes our way! i know we still have plenty of time, but the not-knowing part of it all is really getting to me.

pink walls.

i don't think TH would ever go for this, but wow - pink walls make quite the impact!
images from The Selby, Miss B, and unknown.

Love + Parties.

This weekend I fell in love a little more with TH. It was one of the busiest weekends of life, that basically included 3 parties (what's not to love, really?) and getting ready for Christmas.
White Elephant exchange with the Capitol Hill friends on Friday at Matt and Christina's beautiful home (we have been thinking about that grey couch all weekend!). Saturday was our ward christmas party that we were in charge of throwing, and then Sunday was Cristy's first (annual?) sing-a-long christmas dinner with the gang.

We really loved every bit of this weekend, and seeing all the friends we love. My favorite part of the weekend was when Eli, the 4-year old wunderkind in the ward, begged to sing jingle bells in front of the ward at the christmas party. If you ask me, he totally made the party! Nothing says Merry Christmas like a 4 year standing at the pulpit, shouting the one-note jingle bells into the microphone, complete with fist-pumping and "Hey"!

Second favorite part of the weekend was when TH was explaining how the weight of molecules is owed to their elemental weight, and then ripped open his snap-button shirt to reveal a tshirt with the periodic table. Super-scientist to the rescue!

But TH really did save me from going crazy this weekend. And so I worked on his Christmas stocking, knitting him a little scottie dog for his stocking. Pictures soon, I promise.

What did you do this weekend?

tea run.

today, a quick walk to whole foods for a new tea resulted in this. maybe i went a little crazy in the grocery department, but i did get a few new teas to try. i have high hopes for the honeybush.

(and look! i can make my own teas now with all those cardamom pods and nutmeg!)

i am also trying out new salad dressings in an effort to like salad that isn't $7.50 at sweetgreen. so i feel that is worthwhile, don't you think?

update.

the owner took the property off the market and the apartment search is BACK ON.
good, because i don't know what i would do if i couldn't look for apartments all day. i'm not joking at all about that.

cold. like, really cold.

i bought a new coat and every single button has popped off. since it's 20 degrees below zero outside (or so it feels), it doesn't help that my coat does not close. every. single. button. it's almost comical - i have a purse full of brass buttons and i'm freezing.

in other news, we have the apartment if we want it. apparently the owner wants to have a "sit-down" meeting with us before we sign the lease, which worries me since we are signing the lease through a management company. doesn't that seem weird? and the management company also told us this morning before we signed the lease, we should know that the owner (he lives upstairs) gets up really, like really early (3-4AM!) and the kitchen is right above our bedroom. so i can't figure out what he is doing in the kitchen that would wake us up in the morning, but apparently that is a huge concern of his. this is all just weird information that you usually just deal with after you move into a place. so now we have to consider if the good apartment, location and price is worth a potentially crazy neighbor.

do you have any sage wisdom for us?

monday night, family night.

we don't often do a strictly "family night" with mark and me, since it's just the 2 of us. well, last night we lived it up like families do.
1. we looked through wedding pictures and video. yay for our new family!*
2. we drove to target and talked to our families on the way (and my brother was ALSO at target, but in utah. we tend to think alike).
3. purchased christmas decorations and hung them on the tree with care.
4. grocery shopping!
5. we filled out applications for a new apartment and just crossing everything that we get it. it's exactly what we want and the bedroom is a log cabin bedroom, it's so cozy and hilarious. please let me sleep in a lodge bedroom.
6. cuddling and watching Friday Night Lights - we are on the 3rd season and can't get enough. i love that show.

anyway, i feel like we had some great together time for our little family. me, mark, and the christmas tree. we're just all so happy together.

* yesterday marked 9 months that we've been married. i seriously cannot believe this.

the cold snap.

not to be outdone by january, december decided to be a super cold month. does anyone else feel like it kind of came without warning? luckily this now means that snow is a possibility and i am just nearly ready for snow. got my boots, got my hat, but i do need to stock up on gloves and a really warm coat. i'm looking for a really warm mid-length puffer coat here, here, and here but it's so hard to shop online. any suggestions from my fellow cold-weather friends?

off to bal'more

papa mickey!

this weekend i'm a proud daughter. after 30 years of continued persistence, my dad is graduating from college tomorrow! most of his kids will be there to watch him walk across the stage and cheer him on from the stands. congrats, grad dad! we are all so proud of you!!

we're all going to Disneyworld to celebrate.
no really, he's taking all his kids (and grandkids) to celebrate in Disneyworld for Christmas. what a kook. i love my dad!

iceland.

i kind of wish we would have saved up our money for a new years trip to iceland. could you imagine celebrating the new year under the glow of the northern lights?

we saw them when we stayed in iceland last september. we were in a quiet town just south of Reykjavik, with a few clouds overhead, sitting in a geothermal spring hot tub. and the sky just started pulsating, moving, and changing colors. it was one of those moments in life that make the world seem full of magic. those moments are so precious to me.

and maybe once a week or so i look up airfare to iceland. and maybe today i sent mark an apartment listing in Reykjavik. i can't be the only one who does this - where is your dream place?

goodbye warm weather.

it was 62 degrees this morning and now my thermometer tells me it is 42 and dropping. eeks! at times like these, it's fun to reflect on how you get from 62 to 42 in a matter of hours.

it was 62 degrees when i left my house this morning.

right as i came out of the metro, the wind picked up and i honestly could not walk forward for a few steps. i had to drag my umbrella like a heavy dog into a starbucks just to escape the wind. it was madness, i tell you.

i hid out for a few minutes waiting for the wind to die down, then swung the door back open for round two. now i was only a block and a half from my office.

just then, the wind picked back up so i just trudged forward with my umbrella closed unTIL the heavens opened up and the rain started pouring the heaviest rain of my life. WITH the wind still blowing.

I couldn't put up my umbrella so i just ran to work holding the closed umbrella in front of my face (i'm sure i looked like a goon).

i reached my office, and took a look in the mirrored door and saw a lady that looked like a poor little drowned rat with a bad haircut.

what a way to start the day.

hello december, welcome to my life. now if you can just turn that rain into snow, we can start talking business.