Real or Fake?

I have always been a believer in only real, but I am becoming more open minded. There's just something about real though that fake can't beat! Yes, I am talking about Christmas trees. I have never, ever had or even wanted a fake tree. Even in my single days, I would go pick out a tree, make them cut it and tie it to the top of my SUV, then hurry home to get it in water before it sealed again. Now taking it off the top of my SUV, carrying it inside and trying to get it in water was not an easy task on my own, so making it before it sealed up was usually 50/50. Okay fine, more like 20/80? Then there was the task of vacuuming the needles for a month(s), hoping it didn't spontaneously combust and last, getting rid of it at the end of the year. Which reminds me of a few stories...

One year, when I lived in my townhouse in Bountiful with the crazy girl, I had my tree in my bedroom (it was a really big room) so crazy didn't steal it (you think I'm kidding). At the end of the year I didn't want to take the tree down the stairs from my second story room because I thought it would be too much of a mess. So, I had the brilliant idea of shoving it out the window. I thought they were big windows and a 7 foot tree would have no problem sliding right out to my entry way. Weelllll, I was wrong. I had to push that thing as hard as I could to get it to go out the window and after about 20 minutes it finally went, but seriously, 80% of the needles were at the bottom of my window...inside. It honestly ruined my vacuum trying to get them all up. Not to mention all the neighbors who came to watch as I pushed my Christmas tree out the window. Ruth even showed up with her 12 kids. I was the hit of the compound!

Then two years ago, our first year at our house, we read on the internet that our city picks up trees on the curb on certain garbage days. So, we put our tree on the curb. The garbage was picked up, but not our tree. So, we looked for a recycling drop off, put the tree in the back of the truck and off we went. We got on the freeway and about 5 minutes into the drive Zach looks back and says "uh, your tree's gone". We all laugh it off with Zach being the jokester that he is. Unfortunately, he was not kidding. Our freaking tree had blown out of the back of the truck. (why it wasn't tied down, I'm still not sure). Anyway, we were all freaked out because we knew the danger a tree on a dark freeway posed, so we got off on the next exit and retraced our path. Luckily, we saw no trees and no accidents. Coming home later that night, we did find the tree on the side of the road right by our house. Luckily we'd lost it going around a turn well before the freeway. We tied it down after that :)

So this year, I was finally sold on the fake tree. It really was a whole lot easier to put up and the best part...pre-lit baby! I hate doing the lights on the tree so this was a major plus. And we put the pine scent in the scentsy and we were good to go!

Jax still isn't sure....

But I think it turned out great! Other than the fact that it's a 10 foot tree! No tree topper for us :)

From our Family to Yours....

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

Or not...

I came home the other day and saw that Lance wanted some light in our bedroom...kind of. Our curtains are darkening so the room is pretty dark if you don't tie them open. When I do it, I tie the cute purple ribbons evenly around all 3 pannels. Lance really didn't want to be bothered with the cutsie of it all and this is what I found. I don't know why I found it so hilarious and took a picture, but I did.

First pannel-check, second- forget the bow, third-screw it :P

I love you Lance!! Thanks for putting up with all my cutsiness :)

Happy Birthday to Me...

For my Birthday Lance took me to Paris...
The City of Lights... And naked statues...

We also saw Donny and Marie...The view from our Suite...
The inside was well....sweet. (Come on, you knew that was coming!!)

We had a doorbell that they rang whenever they were bringing us something. So great.
Huge, jetted tub.
Okay, so maybe it was just Vegas, but it was as cool as Paris! We planned the trip over my Birthday to go see Ka. Lance booked the hotel and I didn't know he had booked the MGM Signature Suites. So when we got there, we went down this private, gated lane, then the valet came and took the car and our luggage. We checked in in a smoke, casino free lobby and then went to our amazing suite! The weather was beautiful the whole time we were there and got to about 70 degrees. We just played relaxed and had a wonderful time!

When we got home, this is what we saw...

This was on the 3rd garage so I didn't even see it until we started walking around the yard. The light up Santa in a cart (sleigh) and lights in the bushes on the other side of the yard caught my attention right off the bat!

My family is the best!! I knew that shopping cart was good for something other than hauling bricks! The U painted on the side rocks too! There were also plates all across the fence and leading up the walkway. And PINK flamingos!!! I seriously loved it!!

For the weekend we went to dinner at Blue Iguana. Then supposedly Dale and Kristy were going to Keys on Main and invited us to go along. But actually, cute Lance had a surprise birthday party planned for me. And the best part, he had been planning it for over a month! Kudos baby!!!

Dale and Kristy...

Dan and Lori...love them!!

On stage... I kissed a girl...and I liked it. Yes, that was the song they requested for my B-day.

Dan's birthday was on Tuesday so he danced "Like a Virgin"...and he liked it.They played the Utah fight song. Wahoo!!! Go Utes!
The whole night was just wonderful. I had so many good friends show up and we all had a blast singing and dancing. But, the night would not be complete without breakfast so we went to the Belgian Waffle House after with Dan and Lori. That place is bumpin' at 2 am!

My Birthday week was wonderful and Lance was so cute to plan all the surprises. He knows I am a sucker for surprises :) Oh, and before the trip I got the new iPod nano to replace my little 1G which I thought I could never fill up and I love it. Now I'm all really all set! Thanks Babe!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for so many things and it was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love Lance...and kids and they are just so cute and hilarious so that's what I took pictures of!

We went to Lance's dad's in the morning for an early dinner, then went to my mom's in the evening for a late dinner. Lot's of food, but great to see lots of family!

Ryan loves his Jell-o!
Is he seriously not the cutest thing ever?! Mini Adam!And of course, I love my family too. Biff and Annie playing the piano.

Sarah and Adam.

That night Sheila and Sarah asked if I was going to get up early to go shopping with them (it's fabulous, we do it EVERY year :)) and I said maybe. They both were sure that meant no. They know how much I like my sleep...especially at 4am! Well, I proved them both wrong! I sent Biff a text around 5am asking if she'd like a coffee before I got to her house. I think she almost dropped her phone when she got it :) So, we met Sheila at the mall, built a couple of bears, then left to go to Target, ShopKo, etc.

Then we went to my mom's for Popeye Pancakes. They are Hannah's favorite and I honestly think she ate more than any of us!! She wasn't pleased when I took a picture while she was busy eating!

Then I talked her into putting on these smooth glasses. She is just the cutest!
After breakfast Sheila and I hadn't had enough and she wasn't tired enough after being up ALL night, so we went to Costco. It wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. My plan was to go back home and take a nap at some point, but that never happened. After all, that's really not the point of Black Friday!

We don't need a quest....

We just ARE perfect!!! Yes, I am talking about the Utes. How about that game?! I loved it! We went to a little Utah party at Debbie and Richard's and had a fabulous time.

The theme of the party!

Cute Stacey! My favorite part about this picture are the looks everyone is giving me!!!

I absolutely love this dog, Marley. She had her Utah gear on too!

This guy was sad.And let's not forget...the theme at work before the game.

Perfect 12-0

That's all I have to say for right now. What a game, I LOVE IT!!!!

GO UTES!!!

Transiberian Orchestra

Last Thursday nigh the Transiberian Orchestra was in town and they were amazing!!! We had never been before, but it has been a tradition for a few years for Mark and Lisa and Rick and Stacy. This year, they let us know when the pre-sale for tickets was going on so we got some sweet tickets on the floor. Tom and Kristen from Mead and Tiff and Derrick also went. We went to dinner before the concert and had a great time catching up with everyone.

I had heard them before so I thought I knew what to expect. Lance was thinking it was a full on Orchestra performance. He was pleasently surprised! They are extremely heavy metal, have an awesome light show and the performers are absolutely incredible. The girl on the violin was amzing, the pianists were awesome and the guys on the guitar rocked it! Overall it was an awesome show! And it lasted for more than 3 hours so it was well worth the cost of the tickets. We are now making it our tradition each year as well!

Halloween- A little late

It was a great Halloween! I thought about taking the day off work, but knew it would be a fun day in the office. Also, we were having the 2nd Annual Chili cookoff and I wanted to make my yummy white chicken chili. Also, the Relationship Managers were dressing up for the group costume contest.

We all got dressed up and went to the judging....

Mia, the first (woman) on the left had the idea to be the Hazmat crew. She just joined our team from where else, Lance's office :)


The girls, Loe, Megan, Cynthia, Stacey and Carli.
I wasn't real prepared with my shoes, so yes, I was the Hazmat girl in heels!! I worked it though to sway the judges our way! Everyone thought it was hilarious. AND....it worked!! The RM group was decalired the winners of the group costume contest! Wahoo!!!

We hang up our suits when were not on a job...
After the costume contest, it was time for the chili judging. There were a lot of really good chilis/soups and I didn't think I had a chance. They called everyone together for the announcement and I won 2nd! I was quite excited :) I got a Visa gift card and a huge bag of Halloween candy (which came in very handy for the trick-or-treaters at the office later!). When I actually went back to the lunchroom to eat, my chili was gone!!! It was the only one that had been completely eaten. I was flattered, but hungry :)

That night we got dressed up again and went to my dad's for the annual Halloween bonfire.

Hannah was a pirate and absolutely adorable!

Susan and Julio
The hunter and the Penguin...hmmmm.