Sweet November 2011

OK, So obviously I haven't blogged in like almost 6 months, right? Yeah, that's kinda sad, but probably not as sad as my header above that hasn't been changed in over a year, one step at a time (good song). I don't even have a name to my blog so people that just randomly go to my blog have no idea what its about, but then again, who randomly looks at my blog? So, I will be breaking my next 4 or 5 blog posts down month by month so that I actually blog because lets be honest, blogging is SOO overwhelming sometimes...especially with how lame it is to upload pics on this thing, there really should be an easier way. Wow, debbie downer is what I sound like, eh? I'll try not to sound so pish posh attitude like and be more excited to blog. Blogging is like giving a sacrament talk..you think about what you're going to say, how you'll portray your words, your thoughts, it's nerve wrecking, but then once you do it=BAM you feel loads better and spiritually uplifted, ok, I don't know how blogging can spiritually uplift you, but maybe it just depends on what you're talking about? It's also a source of journaling so technically speaking, there's a side of spirituality to it...anyway here we go...

In November, I took two trips, I think..yeah, there were two. Two quick trips, but great ones at that :)

The first trip was to San Diego with my hub bub, he's cute. Oh and it was a fab time. We were actually going to meet up with Nat's fam but her kids got sick so it was just Natty solo. We went to Sea World on Friday-which was a blast-I hadn't been in like 5 years so it was so fun to see all the new updates and rides they had. Patty, Bunner, and I had a blast. Plus, they have this amazing rolling coaster that was like nothing I've ever been on-it's a water ride like the log flume and then it turns into a roller coaster-loved it! On Saturday went to the church history site there-the Mormon Battalion, and then to the temple in the afternoon. The Mormon Battalion was really interesting to learn more about and I've decided I really want to go to more church history sites--they're soo interesting. We couldn't do a lot because it rained all day Saturday but we still had a great time. OH and we ate yum barbecue that was actually on the Food Networks-Man Vs. Food, the pulled pork was amAZing and the onion rings were like nothing else I've ever tried. Sunday we went back home and overall, the trip was really neat and I'm glad I got to go.

We panned for gold there as well! it was soo neat-we got really rich

Bun and I are pioneers :)

Natty just had to have 20 pics of baluga whales because they're her fav..I decided to post just one :)

It looks like we're pointing at nothing but I promise there was a shark coming right at us, pretty scary

I loooove this pic because Natty looks seriously quite hilarious-I don't think I could imitate that face even if I tried

He is just too cool for school

This pic cracked me up because ever since the whole whale killing the human thing at Sea World last year, the trainers can't get in the water, so they just stand on the side and wave to the whales..

This bird lady was just too much..I totally wish I had her job

Or his job...

The next mini trip I took was to St. Louis to see the presh babes of Jamie and Lucas. They were toooooo cute--and I'm soo happy I got to meet and hold them. It's crazy that they're now like 6 months, when I met them they were so little and young! I really want to hold them right this instant. I've got cute pics to post of the nice relaxing weekend there. I always love seeing my St. Louis girls.

Jamie is showing us how the babies were born, Amy was the pretend nurse

This was the day the babes were supposed to be born so she was reenacting the birth, it was great

I'm swaddling Nora in the bobo wrap..or maybe its called something else? I can't remember, but it was cool how you just get them to stay in that wrap and everything! It was way tricky to tie though

Oh they are just tooooo presh, look how happy I am to hold them!

So what else happened in November? Thanksgiving was a blast-Royce and Heather, as well as Rob came into town for Thanksgiving so we spent time with them, and then we also got to spend time with the Terry fam. It was very relaxing and we had a great time.

As of late

so it's been about a month.... so apparently it's that time to blog again, right? A lot has happened lately but not as much as what is about to happen this coming month and the next! I am tre excited for it all! I'm also working on my Christmas cards which has kept me distracted from blogging because its just soo fun!

Um...what has happened recently..I'm getting my hair done tomorrow--but I guess that hasn't happened yet...let's see, oh yeah, we went to Fredricksburg! It's a small town outside of Austin that is amazingly German! We went down for my g ma's 88th birthday :) It was a fun little weekend trip and since I'm like 25% German, we just had a blast! We ate delish yummy German food which we had to wait an hour for--which was ridic, but other than that, it hit hard to my German taste buds. We went and saw a German movie-ha-yeah right, i wouldn't understand a thing, we did a LOT of shopping-gma found a presh set of lamps that I hope I will inherit when she goes to the Celestial Kingdom, and we ate really good home made pie (I'm not sure if that's a German thing or not but either way it was good) SO as you can see, most of the day consisted of eating and shopping, 2 things I'm very good at and enjoy doing so of course overall it was a blast to the past. OH how can I forgeT!?! We also got to stay at our awesome 2nd cousin's home (Barbara) well..I think she's my 2nd cousin, she's my mom's cousin so whatev that makes her to me...and we went ziplining!!! I was tremendously scared at first because I was the one that everyone made go first-and I was kinda freaked out-not going to lie. Not strapped in or anything, just hangin by the strength of your hands and arms which for me is like a 3 on a scale of 10, but don't worry, I did great--you'll have to see my amazing video below for more fun details on the matter. It was quite hilar to see me go down....SO after everything, we made it home in one piece-thank goodness, my dad didn't drive us off the highway when he was getting tired, and overall had a gay ol' time. I was kinda sad we didn't have any time for museums b/c they had a really cool one there having to do with WWII but lo siento, no tiempo...

This is one of the stuffed peppers I made from a recipe on pinterest--goota have me some pinterest, this recipe is

SOO good, and healthy!!

One our way to Fredricksburg!! lovely pic don't you think? I think grandma is confused

VIDEO AT BOTTOM

There is a hilarious video of me ziplining at the end of this post...omg I obviously didn't hear Barbara screaming "pick up your feet, pick up your feet!" Ths is not how you're supposed to land..

Me and bun in German town!

I don't know what that means..is that bad?

This is really good sausage that bunner orderd..the sourkraut?? groooosss

I got the weinerschneitzel with a mushroom sauce that was sooo to die for..LOVEd it, oh and that cabbage stuff was way good...you can't see the mashed potatoes but they were scrumptious since they had a sweet taste to them

We look sooo happy b/c we FINALLY got our food

This is just the cutest lamp you'll ever see that gma bought for her birthday, can't get enough

One of the sign stores..

yay for German pie! Well..that wasn't one of the flavors

Us in front of the museum we didn't go into..but that's ok, as long as we're happy

OK,

What's next? um...oh yeah! Halloween! duh..Well we didn't do much...I was going to be a loofa again this year since I'm pretty sure that's the only costume I own...BUT I figured I've been that for the past 2 years so I would give it a rest on the winning of costume contests and let someone else win for a chance...jk, there wasn't any costume contest at my work this year, but just wasn't feelin the dress up thang, maybe cuz I didn't have a good costume? But yeah, so no dress up, but we did go to a fall festival thingy of my rents and our cotton candy looked like Harry Potter figures and can I just say how much I LOVE cotton candy..it is truly a delight. We then passed out candy and the kids were too cute. OH we also carved pumpkins that Sunday and I was pretty proud of my cute pump. (pumpkin isn't a good word to abbrev.)

Randall had a cotton candy that looked like the sorting hat from Harty Potter! It was amazing

He tried to put the cotton candy hat on my head..I didn't apprec.

My pump. is so scary but so cute..he actually looks a little worried..like as if someone just hollowed his heart out

Mom has a pumpkin that looks like a baby face

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to my friend Kiara's wedding reception since it was here in The Colony. SO we get there at about 5:20 thinking we wouldn't be the first ones there because it started at 5, right? So we get there and no one else is there and Kiara was sleeping on the couch with her hubby and they weren't ready or anything when we arrived! She's hilar. They go to tell me that it actually doesn't start until 6 pm and i'm thinking "there is no freakin way" but they convince me that it starts at 6 and I feel bad for being early and its actually ok because then we get more time to talk to Kiara and her new family. Then, a lady comes in at 5:45 pm and says "I'm sorry i'm 45 minutes late" I go "what the!? Now I realize I was totally on time!" So-we go to find out that Kiara and her hubby and his family totally thought it started at 6 when it really started at 5 and I wasn't early! We just thought it was funny they were sleeping when their reception started..gotta love my girl Kiara. Anyway, I think that's all for now--see darling pics below..darling isn't the right word since I'm not showing a baby..maybe outstanding pics below?? ;)

Cute Kiara

You've won a new car!!

Ok, so I didn't win a car but I always wanted to go on The Price is Right and have Bob Barker say to me " Ms. Crystal--you've won a new car!" but obviously that will never happen in life because I am not going to get my butt to LA and wait in line all night to be on a show that I would probably guess the prices wrong on everything anyway because I never pay full price on anything and I usually use coupons so yeah...enough about Price is Right. I decided since almost all of you were out getting new babies, I would go out and get a new car! Ok, so it's not totally new, it's a 2009 Nissan Altima and I just can't get enough of that push button. I think the push button car was pretty much made for me because I can never find my keys in my Mary Poppins purse anyway so this way I never have to find my keys and life is just good! Oh and I love the color-champagne..even though I don't drink champagne..I definitely enjoy the color on my car. We actually weren't planning on getting a new car or anything recently but the opportunity came up and we decided we better jump on it! It was actually my hubby's idea and my hubby is just amazing, plus we had pretty sweet connections on getting the car so we just couldn't pass this deal up. Also, Any of you looking to buy a 2003 chevy malibu..please let me know. We were deciding between an elantra and an altima and decided on the altima b/c of more space in the back not only b/c we're tall but b/c of future babies that we could possibly have down the road and car seats take up a whole bunch of space. Anyway, enjoy the pics :)

yay!!!

Don't you just love this pose? I actually was going to put my leg up on the car but Randall didn't approve..don't ask what I'm wearing here either...

Summertime must come to an end

It's been so long, I don't even remember how to blog anymore! Haha, jk, like that would ever happen to--mua! I live to blog. Ha..if only that were true. I wish there was an easier way to post pics to my blog..then I would probably post more on it because like I've said in the past..blogs are way more interesting when there are pics posted, no? However, I do have friends that get like 10 comments on their postings without any pics posted so I guess it just depends on how many blog friends you have? Or maybe it depends on how interesting your blog is..right? Yeah..I'm guessing its that one and considering I'm blogging about blogging...we can all see how fascinating my blog is :)

SO...whats first on the posting? Um...oh yeah, my trip to Cali to see Patty's baby blessing. It was fab! I actually went to my cuz's wedding first which was nice to see fam, and then my rents and I went off to Bako to see the sweet babe and also see Hyrum :) I got to stay an extra day and have a girls day with Natty and the kids. It was a short trip but it was good to get a mini trip in before I started work! Her kids are very presh and I love them.

My cuz Eric's wedding

Look at them cute umbrellas!! LOVE them with the dresses..way good idea

Natty and I conversing..it looks like I said "chhhhheeseburger" with the mouth I'm making and Natty is gawking at such an unhealthy food I blurted out

I like this pic of patty and I

Look at the presh little one..she looks a little uncomfortable, no?

I think John's dad really wanted to get in this pic--sorry Bill!

Rachel looks really worried in this pic (she's the baby)

After the trip, some friends of ours-Tyler and Camille-came in one night and stayed the night on their trek back to Utah, it was fun seeing them and spending time with them before they start school back over again. Oh, am I so happy we're done with school..although I really wouldn't mind Utah weather right now and we really did have a blast when we were out there..I guess its just a good life change :) What's next? If only houses weren't so expensive...

Since Randall was reluctantly GONE again for our anniversary-no worries, he couldn't help it (training) we were able to celebrate our 2 year anniversary when he came back by going to the Melting Pot!! OMG, it was a tasty tasty time and I was lovin it! That sentence sounded like a Mcdonalds slogan...um..gross. We got some really yum cheese fondue, a delicious meat selection, and the peanut butter dessert chocolate fondue was a party in your mouth. I should definitely be a food critic, did you see all that amazing lingo? I was so happy we went there to celebrate! See amazing pics below. 2 years baby! Go us! Oh I will definitely be going back to that place.

As you can tell, we are amazing picture takers..I'm so glad we got a good pic of that skewer in the foreground..

I like this one..cute pareja

As you can see..we are VERY happy in this pic..not just cuz it's our anniversary but because we're about to divulge ourselves in one of the best desserts of mankind

What else is new?? Hmm...I got a job at an Autistic Center. I work in the office and am covering for a girl that went on maternity leave. When she gets back, there's a chance that I can stay on and I'm really hoping that I have that opportunity since I really like it there. :) So we'll see and hope and pray for the best!

Oh! Recently, I got my craft on and went to a super saturday..I'm pretty sure it was my first one I've ever been to so I was pretty proud of myself if I do say so myself. i actually did crafts! I know!-Crazy! I'm trying to get more crafty since its kinda fun and that's what girls my age do around here..so ya know...ya do whatcha gotta do. I remember growing up thinking how lame crafts were..and don't get me wrong, that part of me comes out at times still, but overall I enjoy it MUCH more than I did before..that is a true foo. But I actually had a great time and considering I was socializing and crafting at the same time..it took me a little longer than most people..surprise surprise?but I got 2 projects done and I took the materials home to work on the third! Look how cute this stuff is!!

love my pumpkin! One of my first Halloween decorations! Heath would be so ashamed

Yay for Christmas! I'm already excited!

Look how amazing this craft is!!pshhh-- I wish my crafts looked this good--no, I actually have to work on this one..any guesses what it's going to be?! Let's just hope I finish it

SO right now we're dog watching the cutest pup ever. I pretty much fell in love with her the minute I saw her and after that it was just fate. I actually offered to dog watch while our friends went on business trips because she is ador (so ador she looks like a Disney stuffed animal) ..like seriously..like.. i want to dognap her..but that wouldn't really work since they know where we live... They took us up on the watching and now we get to watch her for a week! She's a teacup poodle with a bow in her hair and her name is Hermoine (HP fan I am) and now I really want a puppy.....like SO bad..but that won't be happening until we get a homey home. I definitely want a small puppy though..easy, adorable, don't shed, and ALWAYS look they're a puppy even if they' like 80 people years old...too good to be true. I told someone today that it's almost like having the perfect child..but I guess I really wouldn't know since I don't have kids, eh?

If all human species were as cute as this dog, the word ugly would not exist..I can't believe I"m blogging about someone else's dog..I really need to get one

Recently, I've read some pretty good books..such as "Matched" (a lot like "The Giver" so if you like that book, you should like this one), um..."The Firm" (very good), what else...I finally finished "The Survivors Club" (I think it took me longer because it was a non-fiction but it was VERY good)..and right now I'm reading..wait for it...wait for it..."The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide" (Oh yes, be jealous, its not as interesting as the other books-obvio-but its interesting how it gives the background of the characters and its getting me more and more excited for vampire baby movie in November! "Breaking Dawn" is it? Not that she'll have the baby in this part, but it still looks interesting. I like how I didn't end my parenthesis right there.

I think that's all for now..if you're reading this blog, i probably owe you a phone call... or two...don't worry, it will come..eventually..before you have a baby or have a 2nd or 3rd baby...wow that sentence totally applies to almost every single person that will read this blog post...well except for the older people..that would be a little worrisome and yeah....

St. Louis Happy Times

Everyone should be very proud that I'm actually posting sooner than 3 months after my last blog post! Yay!!I'm actually on a role! Maybe that's what happens when I actually don't have a job...hmm..So yesterday I had a job interview for a job I really hope I get..but I guess we'll see..the job hunt is continuous and not very fun...I'm going to make sure all my kids go into something that they can actually find jobs in b/c public health..um...not so much... Randall started his job and is doing a great job!! Go bun bun! He gets his first pay check Friday and we're gonna go to Vegas and blow it all on the slots, ha, yeah right. Last night I had a dream that all my high school friends got together and we met at Jamie's dad's estate and there were some people that were there that really shouldn't have been there like Chelsea Tucker..um..weird....I wasn't even friends with her and neither was Jamie so it was just plain weird. BUT it was great to see all my friends..LIKE all my high school friends..even the ones I don't even talk to anymore..sad face. Relating to high school friends, I recently went to St. Louis and LOVED it! Barb got married so I of course had to attend and I got to see my amazing St. Louis peeps that I love dearly and "we will still be friends forever" (Vitamin C song) I wish I could belt it for you out loud for ya but most of you have probably already heard me sing for fun so it really isn't necessary, no? Um...oh yeah, so back to St. Louis, I had a blast of course, and wanted to display some of the tre bon pics I got of being there..I should have taken more but I always say that.

Look how happy Barb is-ador, and they make a pretty posh couple, posh?

Look how excited Barb is to see me! This girl to the right apparently thinks she's supposed to be in the pic..ahh...sad

I should get a pic of us in the nursery and compare..we pretty much look the same

My St. Louis girls! So..Barb needs to put her arms around Jamie and as you can see, Jamie and I both have baby bumps..but hers actually has a baby inside..well 2 babies to be exact

Um..it totally looks like Barb and Lucas are a couple here....don't worry, they are very incompatible and I would give that relationship maybe an hour..

So what did we do in St. Louis? Thursday and Friday were wedding festivities. Saturday, we all went to Jamie's for a yummy breakfast brunch that was truly amazing....probably the best thing Jamie has ever made..but then again that may be the only thing I've ever tasted of her making....SO, we had a yum yum breakfast brunch that you can find a truly delish recipe of a breakfast casserole here. Oh and it's really easy to make according to Jamie. After we ate, Barb came over and ate her meal and we chatted before scooting off to Harry Potter!! It was of course fabulous as I expected it should be. However, I did think it was going to be longer AND at the very end, their characters did NOT look 19 years older..pshha, yeah right, maybe Harry, but Hermoine and Ron look like they just got out of college at most! I was a little upset by that. Anyway, after Harry Potter we went to Ame and Connor's to make a great dinner that mainly Amy and Connor cooked as we just helped and then ate and talked for the rest of the night. Later that night we watched a couple episodes of the "Wonder Years" which who can't get enough of that cute Kevin Arnold's face!

The next day we went to church with Jamie and Lucas, ate some of the best Indian food you could ever ask for, and then visited SLAM (St. Louis Art Museum) Just found out those initials....afterward I went back to Jamie and Lucas' house to chill for the afternoon and then was on my way that night. Overall, it was a great trip and I always LOVE going to St. Louis!!!

Our cute new apartment and Swag bucks!

Now that we're in Frisco, it's pretty much ALWAYS hot outside, and not just hot, but REALLY hot, like disgustingly hot, like it makes me even miss the Utah winters kind of hot...but once winter here comes around, I will be happy as a Belle with her beast (my husband is not Beast, he's the prince the Beast turns into)..anyway, we have a cute apartment and I thought I would show some cute pics of it cuz...it pretty much looks like our old apartment cuz it has our same decor but of course its bigga and betta! We now not only have counter tops, but we have central air conditioning AND a washer and dryer!!! I know--amazing! Ok, so most of you already had all these things, but it is a first for us as a married couple and it's awesome!

Our sweet old apartment..tear tear..oh the mems

Our last dinner with Royce and Heather before we left..JBs? yumm, so sad to say goodbye

This is our pool that we love to go swimming in :)

Yay! fun times at the Rangers game! oh HELLO grandma!

Look it's our cute dining area

This is our ador bedroom

Star Bathroom

Much bigger kitchen than before

Our family room

Look we even get a garage and we LOVE it, not all 3 of them, those are our neighbors

One last thing, I normally wouldn't do this, but I feel that most people should know about SWAGBUCKS!! OK, so most of you will already know about Swagbucks because it has been around for a while, but if you haven't, you're really missing out!! SO, if you do have Swagbucks and haven't been using it, you need to start because you can make easy money! :) So, I'll be honest, it is easy money, but it does take a while to accumulate. Swagbucks is a search engine that gives you "bucks" for searching. My husband and I have made about $350 in Amazon and Southwest gift cards in about a year and a half, and we redeem usually 10-20 dollars a month in Amazon gift cards up to today. (you can get other prizes but we think Amazon is the best) Now, of course that really isn't a ton when it all comes down to it, but we really didn't have to do much to use Swagbucks. We used it when we were watching TV or using it as an everyday search engine for internet sites we look up. It's really simple, so if you go on every day you're bound to win about 10-20 "bucks" depending on what you do. Usually when you search, you win about 7-10 in one search but if you win periodically throughout the day (i usually win 2-3 times) then you can get up to 30 just in searching. ALSO, they have videos you can watch, daily polls you can take, and NOSO that gives you bucks. Once you get the bucks, you trade them in for gift cards. It's pretty much amazing. NOW, if you've never used it before, click on this link below and sign up through my hubby Randall. Every time you win any through searches, he'll win the same amount. That's why it's so great because every time you invite someone to do Swagbucks and they win, you'll win what they win as well! :) I LOVE swagbucks--it's easy, free, and you get money for using it. OK, so here's the link, click on it to get started...let me know if you have any questions :)

Swagbucks link