she's got talent

I have this aunt that I grew up calling crazy aunt carole

she was the aunt that took me to TGI Friday's every Friday for nacho's and shirley temples

(with extra cherries on the side)

Well she's got talent

She can take anything and make it look amazing

Her basement is filled with a mix of collectibles and junk but it looks and feels like you're stepping into a museum.

For the last few years she's been decorating a tree for the festival of tree.

Here are some pictures of this years, 'that 70's tree'

this is an entire spread

close up of her groovy sign and record border

these are wheels of tires, the flowers are made of melted bottles shaped into flowers

looks like it could be from anthropologie

Carole is my mom's sister but if they were standing next to each other you'd never guess it

but my mom is just as talented and creative

this year her quilting group submitting a quilt to the festival

Isn't it gorgeous!

I wish I would have taken a close up but the colors are wonderful.

And keeping up with tradition my sisters and mom did a tree too.

It's a girly tree

Just about everything is hand made and everything can be worn

the garland is individual necklaces, a very simple/fun craft

the 'ornaments' are hair clips, bracelets or broaches

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such unique and talented women.

They are inspirational and great examples

Christmas part 1 of many(hopefully)

If you haven't noticed I have been putting a lot more effort into keeping my blog more current

however throughout december I neglected to blog about what we were doing

I blogged more about random thoughts and experiences

Today I uploaded a lot of pictures onto the computer

These next few posts will be my attempt to capture the best moments of this December

I will start with my favorite part of entire season.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

It's not because Santa finally came

But we finally get to spend time with just one another and enjoy being home

This was our third year being married on Christmas.

Each year gets more complicated and busy

Friend parties, family parties, work parties, lights, festival of trees, school etc etc

Well let's just say this December didn't let us down one bit!

We've been running all over town and have enjoyed every moment spent with those we love

But by Christmas morning we were so happy to sleep in and be with just each other

Sam always makes me feel so special

I love him so much

Some Christmas morning traditions we've started are breakfast;

either egg sausage casserole(even though I work in cardiology :)) or egg pancakes

we also always play the wii together, Christmas break is when our wii gets some good use

of course we open presents

and talk about Christmas like things, thoughts impressions and feelings from the events of the week.

I will always cherish these years that we have spent Christmas morning alone in our little home

so amazing

yesterday I went to the gym

turned my ipod on

of course it was dead

I was disappointed I just wanted to zone out for at least 30 minutes

a little "me" time, you know?

Well I decided to exercise anyways

it wasn't that big of a deal

But I'm so glad that I did

I started thinking about our bodies and how amazing our bodies are

Think of everything your body does, without you ever thinking about it.

breath in

breath out

heart beating

healing of a scar

telling us we are hungry/full

nails/hair growing

blinking

etc

etc etc

Our bodies are amazing.

I hope you are doing everything in your power to take care of it

Another thought about our bodies is everything it tolerates and how it adapts

A month ago I started being able to run again

I was running so slow... couldn't even say it was run probably

I limit myself to two runs a week so I don't overtrain and re-injure myself

But in a month my body has adapted to running so quickly

I went from barely being able to run 5mph for 10 minutes

Now I can run 5.5-6.5 mph for 30 minutes.

I just think it's such an amazing thing that we are so blessed to have

Working at the hospital I realize what a rare thing it is to have a healthy body

there are so many things that could go wrong

I feel so blessed to be so healthy and things working the way they were designed to.

something that upsets me

No matter how great of a mood I am this will always get under my skin

picture this

You're walking home and approach a crosswalk.

You do what's right and wait for the little walk guy to flip up and the bird to chirp before you cross

As you cross the left hand turners start to turn and they should stop and wait for you to finish crossing.

But do they??

Not usually.

Instead they start to turn and inch closer and closer to you until they are maybe 20 feet from you

I just don't get why they can't wait under the light for you to finish crossing.

Yesterday I saw a right hand turner get mad/irritated at a pedestrian for crossing when he was supposed to and that he had to wait.

I tell you taking public transit to work and walking 2-3 blocks from the station each day has really opened my eyes to pedistrians . . . obviously

**This probably sounds rediculous to you but we all have our corks.

one day, some day...

One day, Some day I will

Have a cooking blog, I love other peoples cooking blogs, love to cook bake experiment and want to center my blog around quick, healthy, easy budget friendly meals for everyone to enjoy

Have a card making business. Not digital cards but good old fashion each one constructed by hand cards. Recently I went to boutique I bought a couple cards, I can't wait to send them in the mail, everyone loves getting a nice card in the mail. Even if I don't sell my cards I want a stash of hand constructed cards at all time.

Attend book group. My neighbor has a book group. Every month I have the goal to attend and every month something comes up. I still love reading the books and love the idea of going. One day I will attend book group regularly.

Learn to repurpose things. Have you seen those blogs where people take old shirts, skirts, sweaters and create them into something wonderful without a pattern. I have attempted and have yet to had a success story.

Host a hot chocolate bar party. Doesn't that sound wonderful?! I saw it on one of the morning shows this week. You have three starter hot chocolates; white chocolate, milk chocolate and steamed milk. Then every station has the toppings for fancy hot chocolate. Peppermint hot chocolate sounded the best, topped with peppermint whip cream. yum!

I'll take amazing pictures. I know so many talented people who have the talent to capture a moment. Right now I blame it on not having a fancy nice camera, but one day I will take fabulous photos!

I'll join a choir. I love to sing, most of you probably didn't know that and I'm not very good. But why not join a choir and get a little better and do what I love.

I'll run a marathon. It's been a goal for awhile and I'm barely starting to run again after my 8th month break due to a knee injury. Yesterday I ran 3 miles and it felt so good to be running again.

I love the world of the internet because there are so many inspiring people around. Thanks for sharing your talents with me and inspiring me to continue exploring mine. I can't wait for the chance to check each one of these things off one by one. If any of them are of interest to you let's do it together!

no control

first of all, thanks for all of you that commented on my last post. I signed on today expecting no comments-maybe one. It made me feel so great to know somebody stops by and reads sometime, so thank you. Thanks for the compliments on the photo, we recently got our pictures taken, i'm trying to figure out how to center that photo, if any of you know let me know, thanks!

NOW the reason for this post
I have no self control what so ever when it comes to sweets!
This is something that has gotten worse throughout my marriage
My sweet teeth controls me.
Yesterday we made a delicious dessert, cream cheese meltaways with a lemon glaze

It was for a baptism afterparty

I ate three before and vowed to not have anymore dessert

Well a cookie, brownie and meltaway later I was finally done

Also I had leftover peppermint candy cane kisses from a YW activity

If you haven't tried these, they are worth any penny and so delicious.

I can't help myself everytime I see them in the kitchen.

So this morning I woke with an extra desire to take control and take a break from sweets

I thought, no sweets until the weekend, I can do that!

It didn't help that one of my patients brought a box of chocolates

Then the next one a plate of brownies and cookies...

don't mind if I do.

countdown

I think I've been counting down the days until the end of finals longer than Sam.

5days 120 hours

3 tests to go

I can't wait for Sam to be done with studying and the stress of school

Last week we were at a Christmas party.

Peter Brienholt was the entertainment, it was so nice to listen to the Christmas music

But we had to leave early so Sam could go study.

See school just ruins everything.... except for the fact that it leads you to a career eventually.:)

Later that night Sam was on call and got called in for his first graveyard.

I have a lot of respect for those of you that spend multiple nights a week away from your husband

He left from the library to work around 11:30PM and didn't come home until 2:30PM

I'm such a paranoid person I worried about him the entire time that I barely slept too

How do Dr.'s and nurses do it, it's pretty amazing??

Anyways, back on subject I just can't wait for it to be done.

This weekend we took a nice break from school and watched Christmas movies under our tree

We were going to go to the lights at temple square but ran out of time due to other more important things

They'll be around for awhile though.

however the interesting thing is, is even though I'm watching Sam go through all the stress of school I am secretly kinda missing being a student and that feeling of accomplishment after finals. This week marks my one year graduation mark and I am enjoying reading and challenging my mind again, even kinda missing the pressure of school...

This quote has stuck with me this week and I'd thought I would share...

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend.

Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else.

Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger.

Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Speak your love and then speak it again.

Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.

Hope your enjoying the start of this wonderful Christmas season

i love that feeling

I love that feeling of finishing a book
When you first pick it up you aren't really sure what to expect
As you read most likely there are parts you predicted
And parts you never could have imagined
Sometimes you laugh out loud, cry, get angry, or chills of happiness
Those last 50 pages you can't seem to get through fast enough
I love that feeling of finishing a book.
I just finished one today and can't wait to start another...

What are you reading?

Thanksgiving celebrations

I am so grateful to be surrounded by so much family, especially during the holidays. I know that down the road there's a good chance we won't be so lucky, I am really trying to take advantage of all the opportunities to be at family events and really enjoy all the time there

(sometimes it can be overwhelming).

This Thanksgiving season I have so much to be thankful for... so many of my blessings come from the wonderful family that I have. Both the Richards and Peterson's bless our lives so much. We love each of you and are so grateful for the countless blessing you are in our life.

We were fortunate enough to have 4 turkey dinners.

Our first feast was with our Young Men/Women. Our ward has the tradition of the youth making dinner and delivering it for the elderly in the ward. We all gathered together a week before Thanksgiving to make and package dinner and then delivered them. I wish I could have been there, unfortunately I got the sickness of the season and couldn't help, but it was a huge success as we blessed the lives of those around us. I love being in the Young Women's because of all the opportunities I have to serve those around me. As I serve those around me happiness fills my life. It's a kind of happiness that can't be purchased only experienced.

Sunday we went to the Richards Thanksgiving Feast.

Ella, Preston and Luke were our Indians during the program.

Here are some crazy pilgrims

Enjoying the thanksgiving turkey

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we enjoyed a fabulous Cook Thanksgiving dinner at the Willow Creek Country Club, thanks to Rich and Kerri for hosting this wonderful tradition. Every year the Cooks get together for dinner and bowling.

Mark jumped in on our picture, we love hanging out with the aunts and uncles.

I hope I'm as cool as they are one day

Our final Thanksgiving was on Turkey day itself. We joined my family for dinner and games. We love playing banana-grams, Ticket to Ride and Acquire. We spent every night with my family this weekend because my brother was able to join us from Ohio where he's an orthopedic resident. He couldn't be there Thursday so we had another big dinner on Friday. And a final 'get the tree ready for the festival of tree party' on Saturday.

This is a picture of about half my nieces and nephews they are all so cute and so fun. I can't believe how different one is. They are always making us laugh.

These two year olds are my favorite. They have a love/hate relationship.

Of course this weekend brought Turkey bowls, black Friday shopping, family pictures and so much more. I'm not looking forward to sending Sam back to school this week. Friday night we were filling up the car and he decided to clean the windshield. He got the brush from the ice water and started scrubbing down the windshield. He never stopped to think that cleaning it when it was 19 degrees outside wasn't such a great idea. After he froze our windshield he had to get out the scrapper and scrape off the frost. He's so much fun to live with!

Last on Saturday we layered up and headed to the Utah vs. BYU football game. I should have known not to even bother going until the 4th quarter. It always comes down to the last second, literally. Our jaws are still dropped in awe that we won.

Thanksgiving weekend has always been one of my favorites.

I love gathering with loved ones

surrounding yourself with good food and no place to go

I hope that you all enjoyed a nice weekend.

Happy Holidays.

snow?

The buzz at work today was the snow storm that was approaching

Worse storm Utah's seen in a hundred years

Temperature going to drop 20 degrees in 20 minutes

Tonights low 6 degrees

Go home early, stay off the roads

University of Utah classes are cancelled

etc. etc. etc.

Well the storm was supposed to come between 3-6

Our boss told us to leave at 2.

With talks of the power going out I came home and cooked

I made a delicious vegetable soup

along with homemade hummus

Now I'm waiting for the storm.

I didn't want to go to gym in case the storm came while I am there and I'd have to drive home

so I did the wii fit instead.

(can't believe I admitted to doing the wii fit as a form of 'exercise')

Side note, whenever I ask a patient if they exercise regularly and they tell me they do their wii fit everyday I laugh to myself... wii fit is a great form of activity but doesn't compare to going to the gym and taking a class or exercising there.

Anyways, now I am waiting for this storm.... where are you storm??

maybe I'll make some muffins. ..

grateful

I'm grateful that God created the beautiful sky. Every day this week he has blessed us with a gorgeous morning sun rise and sun set. It simply takes my breath away each time and invites peace into my mind and soul. I'm grateful he took the time to create the beauty to the Earth for us to enjoy.

temptations

I am a sucker for a sale.

Have you ever heard of groupon?

Today's deal is a steal.

For 25$ you get 50$ at Nordstrom Rack

It expires December 31st.

Do I need anything from Nordstrom Rack?

No.

But do I want to buy one or two groupon coupons...

of course!

Here's another example.

Sam and I want to go to Europe,

we were thinking of going in between spring and summer semester.

Well this week I found this awesome deal

You have to travel by March(spring break would work)

You fly from NYC to London stay for 3 days

Chunnel to Paris and stay for 3 days

Train to Rome and stay for 3 days

Then fly to NYC

You get your flight, hotel, trains and breakfast for 1200$

What a dilemma... What should we do?

I know that 1200$ isn't pocket change but that's a great price for airfare and hotels.

All we'd have to pay for is food once we were there.

I need some expert advice or a friend to join. :)

Luck of the Irish

We took a quick break from work and school to go to the Notre Dame vs Utah football game this last weekend. Of course it was a total disappointment for our Utes to get creamed again. We are still asking ourselves, "what happened to our Utes??" But the trip was still fun because we got to experience Notre Dame. It's located in a small little place called Southbend Indiana, about 2 hours from Chicago. The school itself has only about 10,000 undergrad and graduate students. But their stadium holds 80,000 and it feels up game after game. They have the oldest band in the nations history, and it's huge, powerful and awesome to watch.
I think there are more band members than football players.
This mural of Christ is right behind one end of the stadium, directly behind one field goal post
It's the famous, "touchdown Jesus"
Here we are in the quarter realizing that the Utes are going to lose again. We are trying to be really sad.
And here we are happy because the game hadn't started yet.
The trip was short but a great experience. We even squeezed in a quick tour of Chicago thanks to my cousing Linsey Rose. I have now added to the long list of places we need to go.

why do we struggle?

In attempt to entertain ourselves on the bus ride from Chicago to Southbend, Indiana for the Utah vs Notre Dame game we tried to get one decent photo of us together.

chin down Sam
Nice rolls Sam
Squinted eyes Sam
"Sam push your chin out a little bit on the next one"
and this is what we got.

Making your bed

A while back I was watching one of the morning shows at work in our cardiac gym. They were giving 6 ways to start your day right. I can only remember one out of six

MAKE YOUR BED

I remember this one because afterwards I had a conversation with a patient about how if you have time to make your bed in the morning it's a sign that you had enough time to do everything else you needed/wanted to do. Which I totally agree with.

Sam typically leaves the house before seven which means it's up to me to make the bed. I love making the bed. It's so rewarding to walk into your room at the end of the day to a nice fluffy bed waiting for you... doesn't get much better.

Today I had an clinical orientation at the hospital. I thought it didn't start until 9 when my co-worker texted me at 8:03 and said it really started at 8. I read the text in my towel with my hair still wet and had just finished my make-up. Making my bed wasn't going to happen. Which definitely was an indicator of how my day was starting. Lucky for me Sam made the bed before I had walked out the door.

**Making my bed is even more rewarding because I just bought the bedding in the picture above, in a gorgeous jade color. (gotta love ebay).

holiday shopping already?

Here's an invitation to one of my favorite holiday boutiques

It's hosted by a former young women leader

It features hand made crafts from people all around

Jewelry, clothing, shoes, cake stands, baby apparel, frames, books etc etc

Perfect for that hard to shop for person

I'll be attending if you'd like to join me, just let me know.

Ever since I was little I have loved re-arranging things. My sister lizzy and I could entertain ourselves for hours taking apart our playmobil houses and putting them back together again. As embarassing as it is I find myself watching my nieces and nephews in the "dollhouse room" setting up a house perfectly just for it to get wrecked minutes later.

Having more than one room to re-arrange has been a dream come true for me. If you have never been to my place than you should know every room is really odd shaped, which doesn't leave much wiggle room for moving stuff around. But, since we've lived here I have frequently moved this to that room and that to this room etc. as much as I could. Now more than two years later I feel like almost everything is in the right place. I worked hard, with Sam's help to get the living room and kitchen just how I liked it, a new couch was the finishing touch. But lately my focus has been our bedroom. The finishing touches are coming together and I couldn't be happier.

One of my favorite additions to our bedroom are these lights on both sides of the bed. Since the room is so long there isn't room for any sort of night stand or table. So we found these sweet lights that are perfect for reading and mounted onto the wall. They are a true luxury.

I love what spray paint can do! I recently painted this dresser to match our bed. I found some simple but really cute knobs that I couldn't be happier with at a hardware store in Holladay. The hardware was the finishing touch and I love how the entire wall turned out.

The bedroom is almost completely done. I've been looking for inspiration for some kind of hanging over the bed... if you have any fabulous ideas please pass them along.

funny.

I thought this picture was funny, sorry the quality isn't the best. It's an ad for getting your flu shot. At the hospital we could opt-out of getting a shot but if we did we had to wear a mask for 3 months anytime we were with a patient. no thanks! so I got mine about a month ago. Man did my arm hurt, and I got sick right after, half of our office did.
Have you gotten one, are you going to?
What do you think about flu shots?

love this

amazing

today I laughed...

Sam and I got off work around the same time and he spoiled me with a ride(I usually take trax the two stops to our house). Earlier he sent me a text telling me he'd forgotten a lunch and was going to buy something... end of the month trying to stay in budget. So here's the conversation.

me: what'd you have for lunch?

S: a mayonaise, turkey, provolone, lettuce sandwich and I even got a salad instead of fries!

me: wow I'm so impressed

S: I knew you would be, I had lettuce, bacon bits, croutons, gold fish, ranch and peas!

me: ha ha that's not a salad that's a snack bag with a side of lettuce

S: it's still better than fries...

I don't know if anyone else will find that funny, but I sure did. I love my husband he makes me laugh. Later he explained that he couldn't get carrots because you pay by weight and carrots are much heavier than croutons which would have meant he spent more money.

I had no idea going out of town for more than a weekend would make me feel so happy! Today I was actually excited to go to work despite all the issues that have been happening there. I feel energized, refreshed and completely gun-hoe about life. I guess I'll be having to go out of town about every third week.

Our trip was fabulous. We spent 5 days on our own in San Francisco. We have been planning this trip since June, which gave us plenty of time to plan and save money so we could enjoy it to the fullest. And we did. Everything was wonderful, the weather, the shopping, the sights, the people, the food, the company and everything in between. Here are the highlights in photos.

walking ALOT................hiking in the redwoods

......breathtaking views.................famous alcatraz

ghirardelli............. riding the trolley

biking the bridge and more

The only downside was me getting sick. Originally we thought the altitude change was just effecting me, but after I used one kleenex box in less than 2 days we decided I was sick. What can I say, I feel like I left part of me there...

I love decorating your house for holidays it's a great way to keep things feeling new, fun and little different from everyday. I'm so grateful for all those bloggers who blog their ideas/crafts and how-tos.

I tried modge-podging craft pumpkins from the dollar store

and making a spider-web garland(thanks to my friend jill).

love it

This week I loved the cool weather. I got out my clothe bins from under the bed and brought out my boots!

I will always love summer and be sad to see it go, but fall is wonderful. I love the crisp-ness in the air, the changing of the leaves, the rain, and the warmth of sun when it touches your skin. I love harvesting, and the plethora of fruits and veggies, so many cobblers and crisps. I love getting together with family and friends for football and gatherings. It brings us together to cheer and share a passion and joy. And I love dressing warm since I'm always cold, I love bundling up in my boots, sweaters and scarfs(even if I get teased). I love taking a hot bath and not feeling guilty since it's actually cold outside.

basically I just love fall.... seriously how can't you.

it's a good year to be a ute!

We love Utah football. When I started dating Sam his passion for Utah football was contagious and soon I became equally as obsessed and avid of a Utah fan. This year has been particularly fun as our team is proving that they are a strong and well rounded team. It's fun living so close to the stadium. Game days start the night before as tail-gaters come spend the night and spend the day eating and getting amped up for the game. I'm sure glad to live close enough that Sam doesn't make us camp out the night before. Here are some pictures of the homecoming 5K from last weekend. Sam ran the race without me(I'm still recovering from a knee injury, if anyone has any instant cures bring them my way!!). My bro-in-law is on the board that runs that race so him and his family were there too. Here are some pictures of my nieces who ran the 1K fun run and hung out with us early that morning.

GO UTES!

Thought I'd share this funny video, I love what people come up with!