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?