that's not the issue

A week or so ago Aaron and I were looking for a photo of Morgan to show to him to a friend and Aaron went to my blog for one. But he had to scroll through four pages before we found one...FOUR PAGES! I don't know how I let so many posts go by without him being the star.

I am sorry Morgan.

The problem with him being a two year old though is that he is hardly ever standing still.


However that is the only problem because he also comes up with ideas for how water buffaloes kiss (it's by touching horns you make with your fingers on your face).

And then of course, there is that Wyatt face, which when hatted looks like the sweetest babyface,

and when sweater-vested looks like the sweetest 80 year old face.

fever

On Tuesday my co-worker Mason said something about how he and I were the only two in the office who seemed to have eluded a cold/flu virus that was going around. So of course Wednesday I woke up with a nasty cough and continued to feel worse and worse throughout the day.

Consequently, the last two days have looked like this:

I'm not complaining even though all the orifices on my head are doing various gross things cus I don't remember the last time I was snuggled in bed watching movies all day. I just hope the knitting projects for nieces and nephews I'm fitting in between naps don't end up diseased like the smallpox blankets we gave to the Indians.

where no one stands alone

I started watching Justified when it started earlier this year and I was so into it (so into Timothy Olyphant), that I decided it was high time to get around to watching the other great series he was in, HBO's short lived Deadwood.

With my deep affection for both television and all things western it has been the love of my life the past few months. The characters are well written and I love that there are really great female leads (Calamity Jane!). The acting knocks your socks off (Swearengen) and the attention to detail is spectacular. Aaron and I have just started the third and final season and I can't say enough good about it even though it has some some rough stuff (cus brothels) and some of the absolute worst language I've ever heard (so don't watch it Mom).

It's amazing and I'm going to be sad when we finish it up soon, which is why I can't wait for what looks like a truly great Western film for Christmas Day release.


I can't wait cus:
a) cowboys,
b) the Coen Brothers,
c) Jeff Bridges with one eye, and
d) RETRIBUTION

christmas don't be late

Two years ago for Christmas Aaron gave me the best ever Christmas gift of nice speakers. He then went home to California for Christmas and Naomi took off to Montana so I found myself alone in my E Street apartment for a few days. Mostly I switched between listening to Kid Cudi's mix tape and the Rosie Thomas Christmas album louder than I'd listened to anything before and at an amazing sound quality level. It was awesome and A Very Rosie Christmas became a favorite (though of course Amy Grant will still always hold a place in my heart).

The past few weeks I've been trading between it and the latest Black Keys in my car (I guess I always need a Christmas music offset) and while her Christmas Don't Be Late and O Come O Come Emmanuel might be my very favorite versions of both, I can't find youtube videos of them. But her cover of River is also really great and conveniently youtube available.



But in case you want those other two, links below!
Rosie Thomas - O Come O Come Emmanuel
Rosie Thomas - Christmas Don't Be Late

much farther to go

I've been pretty pleased with myself the last two holidays as I've managed to get holiday appropriate decorations put up and put out with enough time to enjoy said holiday decorations. Our apartment was sufficiently spooky at Halloween and there were some nice fall colors scattered throughout the living room and kitchen for Thanksgiving. And if you came over and ate food or treats, the napkins were even holiday coordinated!

For someone who is always late and usually can't remember where I stored stuff the year before, I felt that October and November were quite successful and preparatory for the real domestic test of Christmas decorations. Plus I really do love the Christmas season and have been particularly excited to plan for a first one married to Aaron.

So I had big plans for December including Aaron and me spending an evening putting together a well designed advent calendar. We'd thoughtfully fill it up with nice things to do for each other and start ourselves a nice little family tradition. We'd of course bundle up to buy a live tree for that lovely pine scent, string it up with a million lights and start with new ornaments in a color palette of our (my) choosing for our first ever Sanchez family tree. We'd thoughtfully buy and craft gifts early so I could spend a weekend coordinating and wrapping because I LOVE wrapping presents. And since Christmas on a weekend this year means pre-Christmas time is cut short, I knew I really had to be on the ball.

But then someone backed into my parked car and didn't leave a note over Thanksgiving weekend adding an unexpected $500 deductable to our December budget. And then my phone just up and permanently died requiring a replacement. And then it took me forever to find my decorations. And then suddenly it was Sunday and I'd been so busy with other things that there still wasn't any Christmas anything in our home.

So our tree might just stay this,

and our ornaments might end up just like this,

but eh...you win some you lose some I guess. There are still almost 3 weeks until Christmas which means there is holiday spirit yet to be had. I did get my wreath from last year hanging on the door and I do have festive napkins. And the glow from the lights in the vase feels cozy at night while the ornaments on the table feel nice and cheery.

So maybe, this year I'll start a Christmas tradition of not stressing out about Christmas decorations...which is a tradition I think can manage to maintain every year.

count your blessings

Aaron and I got very lucky when we moved into our apartment, because our church ward just happens to be thebombdotcom. It's tiny both in members and geographical boundaries but it's diverse and runs like a family and feels like a perfect fit for us. It only got cooler when we found out our bishop is a musician who has recorded with the likes of the one and only Tom Waits.

So a few weeks ago, Aaron came home from a church meeting and asked me if I knew the local group The Lower Lights. I did cus I listen to music other than rap and also Clifford family favorite Paul Jacobsen is a member. They had an upcoming show that I had wanted to go to but it unfortunately overlapped with a previously planned engagement so I didn't think we could make it.

But Aaron informed me that as it turned out, our bishop was also in The Lower Lights. He had gotten tickets for the young men of our ward for an earlier show that had been added to the evening...which meant we could also totally go. I told my family about it and my dad decided to join us as well as Christopher and Tasha and the boys and my mom and her husband too. It was that snowy Saturday before Thanksgiving and as people came into the theater, shaking off the snow from their coats, we noticed that not just the youth were there, but a bunch of grownups and families from church had also come. Before the show started I walked around chatting and showing off Wyatt in a setting outside of church with the people who feel more and more like friends to us rather than just Sunday acquaintances.

And then of course the music was wonderful. I'll talk harmonies and steel guitars any day, but it was especially nice to hear them used to folk up hymns and give a little more volume to songs that are usually played under more conservative constraints.

Plus as someone who firmly believes that there is room in the LDS religion for all kinds of personalities, political beliefs, interests, tastes and appearances it was nice to see the guy at the pulpit also be the guy in the band (he's usually a drummer but was only in picture view when he played the tuba...I know tuba alone doesn't quite scream rock and roll!).

i am part of a large family

Thanksgiving success...hope you had a good one too!

blessa

Yesterday Utah was abuzz with talk of THE WORST BLIZZARD EVER!!! And the WORST BLIZZARD EVER basically amounted to a few hours of snow falling.

Oh.

So, way to freak out everyone who lives in a state that is covered in snow half the year.

And while I work in what seems to have been one of the only offices that didn't shut down in the afternoon, I did manage to sneak out early enough to be home when the snow really started coming down. So I spent the evening with Aaron planning our assigned Thanksgiving dinner dishes, one of us checking the storm outside occasionally out the window. I took a hot shower and spent a decent amount of time after that watching TV on the couch in my bathrobe with my hair wrapped in a towel. And when we went to bed I threw an extra blanket on our bed, not necessarily cus we needed it, but because it felt so cozy.

It's hard this time of year to not sound a little cliched when you say you're thankful for your blessings, but last night I felt particularly aware of mine. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in things that don't matter, but the harsh weather of winter always reminds me that a warm home, food to eat, hot water for washing, and a bed to sleep in are more than enough.

And if in my thoughts I add upon those basic blessings the many other layers of reasons I have to be thankful, from my beliefs to my husband to how lovely the artwork hanging on our living room walls is, then I feel a sense of peace that sometimes gets drowned out by the noise of the world.

Something I'm awesome at always remembering though? How wonderful it is to be an aunt. Nephew Garrett is in town (with his parents of course) so my weekend is full of not only the usual Morgan and Wyatt time, but also cousin nephews giggling time.

I am a lucky girl indeed.

brand new colony

With the weather changing I rounded up all of my scarves in order to neatly organize them in the coat closet.

I hung up as many as I could before I ran out of room, but realized that until Aaron and I are way rich and can build a room for my accessories, the rest are gonna live piled in a basket for now.

And note to self, no more buying scarves (note to others, I will still accept gifted scarves).

two of the lucky ones

Today, Aaron and I have been married for 6 months...proving the theory that time does in fact fly when you're having fun.

However, the past 6 months disproves that thing I've always heard about the first year of marriage being the hardest. Perhaps the hard stuff kicks in on the second half of that first year, so in May I'll let you know, but so far has been pretty great.

And maybe that's cus we'd gotten in arguments before we were married, so arguments big or small now don't worry either of us. Or maybe it's cus we dated for so long in the Mormon world, that getting to live together still feels like such a treat. Or maybe it's cus at the end of the day we both love TV so much and have found common ground in the mindless show category with Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Dirty Jobs, Overhaulin' and as of Saturday, HBO's 24/7.

I guess that when people say marriage is hard that sounds crappy and what Aaron and I have experienced so far feels like life. You get frustrated sometimes when soda cans are left out (me) or cereal boxes not closed (him). You readjust your financial planning when your few weeks househusband turns into your few months househusband. You schedule time to read books to help learn how to better talk to each other. And in general you stumble occasionally when realizing that what has been your life (singular) is now your life (plural).

But most of the time you feel like you're hanging out with your favorite person and having fun, sometimes with a bunch of friends, sometimes at Alberto's, sometimes in the nest you make on your living room floor. You talk about kids and you can't wait (but will wait) cus know you got a gem for your eventual baby daddy and that makes it all seem less scary and totally manageable. You know that a bad day means someone is at home, maybe even with dinner made, ready to rub your feet (me) or rub your shoulders (him) and that is a comfort you hope you never take for granted...but probably will take for granted someday when the babies feel unmanageable and you're frustrated and doing some stumbling. But that is still, a great life.

So tonight we will celebrate with discount coupons at our favorite Thai restaurant and consider ourselves a couple of lucky ducks (filled out lucky ducks cus the saying about putting on weight when you're in love...well we've proved that one 5-10 pounds true for sure).

chain of fools

A few weeks ago my Aunt Julie organized a 5K to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and to honor my other Aunt Barb. It was a lovely event and Aaron and I happened to pull up to it at the same time Christopher and Tasha pulled up. When Tasha asked if we could help get the boys out of the car, Aaron unbuckled Wyatt and since he was outfitted as a baby animal, Aaron decided to hold him like an baby animal...which sent panic through my body.

And in classic boy behavior, even though none of them are boys, upon seeing the baby animal hold, Logan had to try it...which still sent panic through my body.

And then Christopher had to do it...which didn't send so much panic cus hey, his baby.

My grandpa however, resisted trying it. So maybe there won't be reckless behavior train reactions when we're all in our 80s?

pursuit of happiness

I have thought it before, but looking at some of the pictures my mom sent me from when she was young, tells me yet again that I was born in the wrong decade (and my grandpa totally looks like Shia LeBeouf).

Although there is the TV issue...even looking great, I guess I couldn't live in a time without internet television.

halloweenhead

For not being much of a Halloween person, this season was a roaring success. I decorated our apartment and make Halloween sugar cookies! We went to a haunted house! We watched scary movies at a cabin in the mountains! We dressed up and spent 2 nights out at parties!

It was enough to exhaust this old woman so I'm looking forward to the mellower month of November (where I will just overeat).

But being tired is well worth it cus Aaron's Frida was a total hit everywhere we went (he'll have some living up to do next year).

My coordinating costume was also a success.

But kids still always win, cus can anything beat that football player and his Wyatt football?

impossible soul

My aunt Barb lost her battle with Pancreatic Cancer last week. There was a funeral in St. George on Monday and then a service in Logan yesterday where her earthly remains will rest; comforting opportunities for family members and friends to say goodbye.

So I'm sad for my grandparents who buried a child and for Aunt Barb's 3 kids who, though young adults, won't have their mom around anymore. And I'm sad for my own mother and other aunt and two uncles who lost a sibling. But Barb was very sick and really ready to go, so everyone is glad she is somewhere better.

And I'm glad that though funerals are so sad, they are also a chance for family to gather together and express all kinds of emotions and hug each other a little more than usual.

warm night

I am not sure I should admit this to the interwebs, but I put sweatpants on at approximately 7:30 on Saturday night at a cabin in the Uintas and didn't take them off until approximately 8:30 on Monday morning in our apartment.

Gross? Or way awesome?


(way awesome)

variations on a theme

I was going through pictures from our California trip with Aaron's family, and noticed an awesome reoccurring theme (besides my fuzzy documentation of said theme).

uncle-niece teasing

uncle-nephew teasing

niece-nephew-uncle teasing

brother-sister teasing

uncle-uncle-niece teasing

general chaos teasing

arrow

Hi Internet. I didn't forget you again, but I've been in California. And if I could manage to get my cord and camera in the same place ever I would upload and post pictures of Disneyland, Uhh Yeah Dude, and Aaron's seriously adorable nieces and nephew.

In the meantime though, yesterday a friend posted on Facebook a quiz to gauge your empathy quotient. Since I can't resist an internet quiz, I took it...even though internet quizzes also kind of stress me out because what if I mark that I like the city instead of the beach and then that means my true love is Nate Archibald instead of Seth Cohen? So stressful!

But besides that, on more in depth quizzes sometimes some of the ways I know I have to answer specific questions makes me sad.


Sorry Ms. Likes Boring Things, that is a strongly disagree for you (on the flipside, I am waaaay empathetic, so tell me your problems anytime!).

on my way back home

Aaron my sweet, I love you. I love your flat billed baseball caps and teenage style. I love your ambiguously ethnic face. I love that you don't care about movies made before the late 90s, or music at all outside of hip hop and electronic. I love everything about you.

BUT. After Band of Horses last night, I was reminded that a little bit of my heart will always belong to American-made, long haired and/or bearded, rock and roll...preferably from the South.












In another life, in an older decade, I could have been a groupie.



**I know Neil Young is Canadian, but that is like basically American.