bright lights

This Christmas was great! My whole family was there on Christmas Night! It was fun to have all of my siblings and their kids. We had good food, presents, and games! I love when everyone is there. It can be really loud and a bit crazy but it is fun! I love how Christmas trees are kind of like a big mess. They are an assortment of random things and I love it.

This is all the Grandkids stockings minus the newest addition Gracie.

We had a Nativity enactment on Christmas Eve. We didn't have everyone there at the time hence the few actors!

We aslo had a reindeer contest. Three groups and we had to turn someone into a reindeer using nylons, balloons, wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, and tinsel. It was hilarious. The little reindeer on the left Madi was my groups. Hailey was in the middle and Anthony volunteered to be the reindeer for his group. haha and I got to unwrap him in the end!

The best part probably was Hailey wrapped me up as a present using her reindeer outfit. haha this picture was only halfway wrapped. By the end I couldn't even see I had so much tinsel on me.

Oh and to let you see. This is our new house! Well townhouse and we love it! I'll show inside pics soon!

leap into the wind

Guess what? We bought a Townhouse! YAY! Too bad it has needed tons of fixing up and cleaning! It has been a project for sure. I have been so tired spending every moment washing, cleaning, painting, sanding, etc. So to get my  mind off all the working here are some colors and moments from the past few weeks!

a cloudy blue gray sky always makes me happy

orange pumpkins!

yellow rose petals

burnt orange (sarah's lovely bouquet)

Sarah is beautiful and I couldn't be more happy for her!

I'm so glad she has joined the married world!

Love you Sarah!!

a white temple

a sweet puppy who has fallen in love with Anthony's long board

sunshine and trees

so good after church on sunday

lastly my grandma zelia's journal of when she was around 16 to19. I have been typing it and have felt her joys, pains, and laughed out loud. She will always make me smile.

unbelievably happy :)

WOW! I can't believe we have been married a year! I feel like it has been forever! We have dated for a long time before getting married. We started dating in 2005 and have been together since. However we sure had our hardships along the way. Such as Anthony leaving to go to school and leaving on a mission for two years. We somehow still loved each other through being apart! Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Here is to us through the years!

2005

Anthony's Graduation 2005

Talking on chat while he was at BYU.

We were always at the computer or on the phone.

Anthony's wall in his dorm

My senior prom! (I saved the last dance for Anthony. He is so romantic!)

My graduation! 2006 (hat hair!)

This is me missing Anthony on his mission! Hailey, my niece, drew the cardboard picture of us getting married! haha so cute!

YAY! He came home and it was the best feeling ever!

 Dating all over again was so much fun!

2008

Getting engaged sure was awesome too!

This was my favorite moment on our wedding day! It was our first moment alone and married.

I felt so peaceful and happy to be with Anthony!

 I love him!

HAPPY ONE YEAR TO US! OCT. 25, 2009!

two beagles and a color change

Meet my toy Beagle. When I was little I used to think he could fly with his ears (sometimes I secretly think Tilly can fly when I'm not looking.) Since my toy Beagle (for Beagle was his name) meant so much to me I wanted to introduce him to Tilly.

They became pals right away!

Tilly gave Beagle kisses... 

and chewed on his ear.

Tilly loved Beagle so much that....I had to take him away (she might have eaten him!) haha She was kind of sad her buddy left but to me Tilly is my beagle who came to life! Maybe that is why I loved the story of The Velveteen Rabbit. 

On another note I finally did it! I have always wanted brown hair but been too chicken to go through with it. So look at my progression:

engagement photo...extremely blonde

 Added some brown

and ooh la laa there I am. BROWN. (not the best pic, but you get the point) I've yet to take any decent pictures. I love being brown. Anthony says I'm artificially intelligent now. haha just kidding. It is fun and thanks to Kara (my co-worker, I sit next to all day for 8 hours, my friend, and my hair stylist...she is amazing!)  

a walk to the white shack

One of my favorite places in all the world is home. It's where I spent all of my childhood running up to the barn and playing for hours with no shoes on. That was probably the best part because I hate wearing shoes. By the end of the summer my feet were so hard from rocks & stickers. Melanie and I know the art of running full speed on rocks. We (as in my cousins and I) used to spend our time all day up at the barn playing until the sun started to go down. Every place had a name such as the sandrock, the haybarn, the hill, the tank. I love taking Anthony with me up to the barn and telling him about all the fun times like playing in the hay and playing pirates on the trailers & tractors. Well a couple weekends ago Anthony, Tilly, & I went on a walk to the barn.

The barn & haybarn.

My beautiful Miss Pretty (Pretty Miss Mills) I love her.

The White Shack....well it is not so white anymore. This shack was always a mystery to me because it was off limits. I never knew what was inside until I found out a few years ago.

Opening the lock to find...a place full of old treasures!

See what I mean by treasures? Old books! Love love!

It was a fun walk to the barn! Every time I go home it is always special!

a delightful visit with a lovely lady

Sometimes I wish time would move faster and other times I wish it would slow down. I have had a lot of time to think lately since Anthony started working till 11pm wed-fri(Anyone want to do something let me know!) and on these days I wish time would move faster. When Anthony is home I wish it would slow down and so the thought came into mind while having the most lovely dinner last night. I must say that I had the Greatest 5th Grade Teacher ever! My mom and I went to dinner with Mrs. G! Nina recently moved here and she was incredibly happy to have some friends to go to dinner with! When I first saw her I hardly recognized her because when you haven't seen a person in 10ish years it can be difficult to recognize them. I gave her a big hug and said "I'm bigger than you!" haha kind of a silly thing to say but in 5th grade your teacher is bound to be taller than you. Nina is the sweetest lady and I can't wait for the next visit to see her! She is amazing let me tell you a little about her. She has recently had two brain aneurysms and so her being alive and well is a miracle. She made me realize that we should make the most of our time and to be positive. I remember her class to be challenging and A LOT of memorizing! She is a runner and so she would make the class go running on the track every Friday and we all hated it(well maybe it was just me). She even made us go when there was ice on the ground. I remember having fun in her class and Dana moving there. Dressing up for our Christmas play and reciting our poems. She also pounded the Revolutionary War into our brains and learning the 50 states and capitals! Our dinner also made me realize I can and should be a friend to everyone! I'm grateful for Nina Goodwin and for the lovely lady she is! I had a wonderful time!

the desert is hot

It sometimes is amazing when i stop for a moment just to look around me. i see this everyday at the building next door, but until the other day i had never really looked up.
i wish sometimes i could block out all the cars and buildings(they can be distracting)...i wonder why i live in the city? At least this place has some beautiful skies even if it is 120 degrees!

the other day i discovered what is wrong with me...i thought for awhile i might be crazy but now i know i have what is called cold urticaria or in other words i'm allergic to the cold. Yes that is a real thing! every time i get into cold water i get hives, or if my body gets too cold i get really itchy. so i have decided even though i hate the heat here at least i dont have hives all the time from being cold! YAY i'm not crazy!

beauty all around

going through my old pictures i found these treasures! Europe is amazing i must say.

The canals in Amsterdam.

Berlin

on a train to Holland, i snapped this out the window.

someday i will go back for sure...secretly i wish to live in Holland one day.