Boxing Day

My dad's side of the family has a tradition of celebrating Boxing Day. It's an old English holiday that takes place every year the day after Christmas. This year for Boxing Day we had dinner and a potato derby and it was quite exciting!

I didn't make a car, but it was fun to watch the races. Each contestant was given a potato, 4 poker chips for wheels, and 4 nails and could carve the potato into any kind of car they wanted.

The man in charge of the derby was very interesting... actually more like scary. He had about 50 rules that we all had to agree to before anyone could start racing and he was all business. He made sure that we all were aware his track cost $1500 and that he would charge anyone $5 on the spot if they stepped over his track. We thought we were only joking that he was scaring all the little kids because he was so intense... but then the day after Boxing Day my niece said "remember last night at that party if you go without your dad that guy will be mad... he will try and catch you." Oh boy!

Christmas 2009

This year we had not one... not two... but three different times to celebrate Christmas!! My mom woke us up bright and early at 6:30 in the morning to start the day off. We opened some presents at my parents house. I don't have any pictures of myself so I will have to get those from other cameras. But some things I got that I am excited for are my new sewing machine, luggage, Pushing Daisies on dvd, and some cute decorations for my apartment.

Then we headed down to Lori and Todd's house for breakfast. They made an amazing meal of sausage, bacon, egg casserole, sweet rolls from Shirley's, fruit and dip, chocolate milk, orange juice... it was a feast!

The girls got lots of new toys and had fun opening them and playing with them all!

After watching a Tim Hawkins comedy dvd, eating some more, and taking naps, we left for Heidi and Steve's house. There we had a delicious dinner of ham, potatoes, salad, rolls, and pretzel salad (that's the official name... but it's definitely a dessert). And more presents.

We stayed at their house late into the night playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii. It was lots of fun and I don't think I have laughed so much in my life!

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve was memorable this year. My brother and I started off the evening by setting out the luminarias. This is a tradition at my house... we have done it for as long as I can remember.

We use brown paper bags for our luminarias. I think that's a New Mexico thing (my family used to live there)... people in Utah seem to use white bags but brown definitely looks better.

This year we started something new at our house. We decided to act out the nativity story. It ended up being a little unconventional, but it was still fun.

We somehow ended up with a Mexican innkeeper. He even came prepared with rehearsed lines: "Hola Maria. Hola Jose. Hola el burro. Lo siento mucho."

My two nieces, 3 and 4 years old, can sometimes end up being quite competitive against each other. This is why one could not settle for having only a baby Jesus in the manger. She wanted her dolly in the manger too, so for our Christmas story we had twin babies.

Here's the cast:

After the nativity, we had our annual treasure hunt. We usually have it on Christmas day, but this year we did it early so the whole family could get in on the action.

This year's treasures included BYU beanies for the little kids...

and first aid kits for those of us with our own households:

Savior of the World

Two days before Christmas I went with my parents to go see the play "Savior of the World" at the Conference Center Theater.

I was excited to go because it had been a couple of years since I had seen it, and it reminds me of what Christmas really means.

After the play we quickly walked around Temple Square to look at the lights, but it was so cold so we didn't stay long.

The lights were so pretty, but everything was so icy... we saw a guy slip and wipe out flat on his back. I felt like we were ice skating and I was glad to get back into the warm car!

Merry Christmas

The Hunger Games

The other day I got the idea to read A Christmas Carol. I'd never read it before, and thought this would be the perfect time of year to do so. I was at Walmart and thought I'd check to see if they had it by chance (which they didn't), but instead came home with this other book, The Hunger Games. I had heard good things about it, but actually didn't even know what it was about. Well, I bought it on Wednesday night, and I finished the book on Friday night. I couldn't put it down! This is really one of the best books I've read in a long time. The story is seriously so creative and the author paints really clear pictures while she writes. I could imagine it all perfectly in my mind and loved it! I actually heard it's being made into a movie, which I think would be awesome. This is a trilogy, so I'm thinking today I will go buy the second book. I just found out the third book comes out 8/24/2010... it's too long to wait! Maybe I can read A Christmas Carol after that...

Motorcade

This was another oh-so-exciting part of my Thanksgiving week. My sister Heidi and I were driving downtown to go see New Moon (good movie, by the way), and were running late and in a hurry already, but then we got stopped at this intersection. We thought there was an accident, but then everyone started honking their horns, and we realized it was the ReAL team motorcade on their way to the soccer stadium after winning the MLS cup! We joined in on the fun, and here's proof we saw it... it may not seem like much, but wait until the bus comes along and that's pretty much the extent of it :). We thought it was funny that the "motorcade" was so long, because it seemed like they were just in plain ol' cars. So if it weren't for that bus we wouldn't have known what we were seeing!

Thanksgiving Break

Ok, so now that almost a month has gone by, I guess I should finally post about my Thanksgiving break... this is a long post though, so beware! My school district had a week off, so I was excited to head back home to Utah! I flew out of the Santa Ana airport, and I was so nervous because I'd never been there. I ended up leaving myself WAY too much time, but after changing freeways four times, I made it to the airport safely with several hours to spare! I am slowly getting used to driving here, but it still makes me nervous... there are so many freeways!

Here are some highlights of my Thanksgiving break:

• shopping with my mom
• seeing 2012, New Moon, and The Blind Side... more movies than I've seen in months!
  
• checking out model homes at Daybreak with the girls of the family
• my brother Mike coming home from his mission!
• Thanksgiving day
• pedicures with my sister Heidi
• birthday celebrations
• lunch with my USU friend Rochelle
• family picture
• watching the ReAL big win
• playing with my nieces and my nephew
  

And here's a random assortment of pictures from the week:

Kaitlyn & Michael loved peeling the apples for the apple pies:

I drove down to the airport with my sister and we missed Mike's flight! We technically would have gotten there on time, but his flight was 30 minutes early... when does that happen?!? So I talked to him on the cell phone before I even saw him. I felt so bad. Luckily my parents were there to greet him!

Mike lost about 50 pounds in Argentina. His pants were definitely baggy, but he got hooked up with a bunch of new clothes that fit him!

He brought back some hammocks for us from Argentina. The grandkids loved taking turns swinging in them!

I had a late flight back to California and I was also on the first day of a cold, so I didn't feel very good. But I was lucky and the only empty seat on the plane was next to me! As we were coming in to land, the plane was a couple of seconds away from touching ground and then went back up in the air! A lot of us were starting to get nervous, but then the pilot said there was another plane on the tarmac so we couldn't land. Weird! Then on my drive home, I ended up driving on a toll road without knowing I was going to, and I had no money so I drove on through! I'm still expecting to get some sort of ticket or something, but there was not much I could do, so I kept on going. It was weird night, but I made it back safely, and can't wait to go back to Utah for Christmas in 5 days!

Mary Poppins

For anyone that knows me, they know I LOVE musicals. Tonight I had the chance to see the Mary Poppins broadway show at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, and it didn't disappoint!

For the most part it was similar to the movie, but there were some new scenes and songs added in. The best parts of the show were the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" song, the "Step In Time" song with the tap-dancing chimney sweepers, Bert tap dancing upside down on the ceiling (see the videos below), and Mary Poppins flying out over the audience. I was up in the balcony and she even flew up close to where I was! It was awesome!

This video gives you an idea of where my seat was and what the theater was like:


Here is a clip of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (these videos are the same cast I saw tonight):


And here's "Step In Time" (this one's long, but trust me, you'll like it! Skip ahead to 00:58 for the song and 05:30 to see Bert dance on the ceiling):


If any of you will be in California between now and February 7, you should go see the show. You'll love it!

Family Picture

Wow, it has been over a month since I last updated my blog. The sad thing is that I haven't even been that busy... I've just been lazy and haven't gotten around to doing it! The most exciting thing that happened recently was that I went home to Utah two weeks ago for Thanksgiving. It was so good to be back home and spend lots of time with my family! I already can't wait to go home for Christmas. So tonight, until I sit down to write more about my trip home, I will leave you with this family picture. My younger brother Mike (in the back wearing the black sweater vest) got home from his mission the day before Thanksgiving, so this was the first time my whole family has been together for 2 years.

My weekly drive

My drive to church each Sunday takes me about 25 minutes. This is MUCH longer than any drive I've ever had to make before, so it's an adjustment, but I can't complain. I make my way past many beautiful houses, plenty of orange orchards, and I end up at the Redlands temple (my church shares the parking lot):

I think this temple is so beautiful. Who knew I'd end up back here after this vacation almost a year ago?? Like I said... I can't complain!

Wall collage

Today I finally finished a small project I started a while ago... it's nice to have something else up on my walls! These pictures don't have any sort of theme to them, but they are all good memories from recent years. I got the idea of this wall collage from both of my sisters. They each have similar collages in their houses, and I love the look of them! Definitely don't look too closely... it's not perfect! Let's just say that foamboard is not the easiest thing to cut. Anyway, this is a super easy and cheap way to add a little decoration to your walls!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lately I have found myself in the kitchen much more than usual. I'm not great at cooking, but I am starting to actually enjoy it... I just hate the cleanup afterward. Well tomorrow after church my ward is having a Thanksgiving dinner and I signed up to bring a dessert. So after doing some searching for that "perfect" recipe, here's what I came up with. The recipe can be found here, but I'll also give it to you. They were easy to make and are delicious. Enjoy!

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (nuts and I don't agree, so I didn't use them)

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm (I baked them at least 15 minutes... could've even gone longer). Makes 2 dozen cookies.

I'm finally a workin' woman

Do I look like a working professional?

Don't mind the picture. I snapped it in a hurry using the self-timer, and then just barely made it to work on time... not a good impression!

Well I think I made it through my first day without too much anxiety. I'll just keep faking it 'til I make it! Here's what I know after today:

-Being a white, blond girl, I am definitely a minority in this high school
-Along those lines, I have never seen so many people of different races/ethnicities at one time
-The school psychologist told me she saw Utah for the first time this summer, as well as hay bales and water towers
-Everyone was bundled up and complaining about the 60 degree weather... but I thought it felt great
-I have never seen so many girls wearing skinny jeans... the '80s are totally coming back and I'm not looking forward to it
-I still don't have an office or really any place to put my stuff
-I have a huge blister from wearing heels all day
-I luckily only have 24 kids on my caseload... but that will probably be doubled after this week
-I will have to get used to walking outside just to get to different parts of the school

I'm sure I will keep learning much more as time goes on, but for now I'm glad I made it through my first day!

Day trip to Oceanside

Yesterday I got the word that my license was FINALLY issued and I am going to start working on Monday!! I am so excited to start... I was definitely running out of things to keep me busy!

I decided to go do something fun and different today for my last weekend of freedom! I drove over to Oceanside this afternoon. I was planning on going to a beach closer to L.A., but then found out there are toll roads that you have to have a prepaid account to drive on... so until I figure that out I am not going to deal with it! The drive to Oceanside was only about an hour, and so pretty once I got off the freeway. The road was winding through hills and produce farms, with avocado and tomato stands along the side of the road.

Funny story... once I got into Oceanside, I had to go to the bathroom SO bad, so I thought I would just pull into a gas station really quickly. I went to 5 gas stations before I found one with restrooms! SERIOUSLY. What gas station doesn't have restrooms! Apparently in Oceanside they don't believe in them. Then after all that hassle, I pulled up to the parking lot by the beach and there was a restroom right there. Just my luck!

So after driving all over Oceanside, I finally found this little beach, but it wasn't much to see so I got back in the car and drove closer to the pier. I have been here twice before, but it was fun to be back. It is so pretty and I love the ocean! It was really windy, and too cold to swim or lay out on the beach, but still felt perfect in shorts and a sweatshirt. And yes, I did take this little excursion by myself because I don't know anyone here yet. But it was still fun and I'm glad I went. And hopefully I will start meeting people tomorrow at church and at work on Monday!

I came across this poor one-footed seagull on the pier... so of course I took a picture:

The temple and a look at my apartment!

Now that I have internet access in my new apartment, I can finally update my blog! This last weekend I headed down to my Grandpa Dahl's house near San Diego. I didn't realize how close he lived, but with no traffic the drive only took about an hour! It was so nice to stay there for the weekend and watch General Conference. On Saturday night Phyllis (my Grandpa's wife) and I drove down to San Diego to see the temple and go to Deseret Book. Well, we got there and the temple grounds were closed, and by the time we got to Deseret Book, they were locking the doors for the night! So it was just a nice drive, since we didn't actually get anything done that we wanted to! But the temple in San Diego is SO pretty, I just love it! I definitely want to go back to San Diego because it is so much more tropical and beautiful than here in Moreno Valley. I will have to spend some more time there! I took this picture there on Saturday:

Okay, so here's a video of my apartment, since some of you have been asking me about it. I apologize in advance that it is kind of shaky... just don't get sick! And my little introduction is really lame, but I didn't want to redo the whole video, so oh well!

I made it!

Well I am now here in Moreno Valley. I drove down with my parents on Friday and we met up with my aunt Paula at a hotel that night. We drove the rest of the way on Saturday and moved all my stuff in. I can now say that I can be the one behind the wheel for 10 hours straight and it doesn't even really bother me! My apartment here is really nice and I really like the area. The big surprise when I got here is that my apartment is actually a two-bedroom and I was expecting a one-bedroom!! So if anyone comes to visit me, you get your own room! No furniture (well, air mattresses), but still your own room! It is VERY dry and desert-y here, but once you get into the neighborhoods they are landscaped really nice and it doesn't feel like the desert. There is definitely a heat wave going on, because on Saturday and Sunday it was probably 100+ degrees. It doesn't feel so hot anymore, so hopefully that kind of weather is gone! I'm really looking forward to the winter here because there will be NO SNOW!!! I can't wait! I went to the singles' ward here and really liked it. It's about 20 minutes away, but the drive is so pretty, so I think I can handle it! I don't have internet in my apartment yet, so I have to use the computers in the main building of my complex. So I won't be online much until I get my own internet, but I just thought I'd post an update for now. More pictures to come!!

It's Moving Time

I can't believe it's already here! Time has gone by so slow this summer because I haven't been working, yet at the same time it has flown by. I am leaving tomorrow at about noon and driving to CALIFORNIA to start a new chapter in my life!!! Wish me luck!!

Happy Birthday Mike & Jon!!!

I have the best twin brothers anyone could ask for! Today they turn 21 years old. We are almost exactly 3 years apart, which I think is fun now, but when we were younger it was never fun having to share my birthday with my little brothers! They aren't so little anymore... they tower over me, both being over 6 feet tall. I can't wait to see Mike again after two years of his mission. He'll be home in about 2 months. I'm sad to be moving to California because I won't be able to spend as much time with Jon as we have been lately. I love them both, and Thanksgiving break will be so fun with all of us together again!
Happy Birthday you guys!!!

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Here's Mike (on the left) with his companion:

Here's Jon with his girlfriend Emilee:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Birthday Festivities

Friday September 18 was my birthday... I am now 24 years old! I completely spaced taking any pictures that day, so I'm kind of bummed about that, but oh well. I spent the day with my sister Heidi and her family. To start the day off, I got my hair trimmed and got the color touched up... I always love a good haircut! We spent the rest of our day going out to eat at Red Robin, being lazy at home because we were so stuffed from lunch, and then going to see "Love Happens." We both loved the movie... I would definitely recommend it! It was a fun day and a good birthday!

Today (Sunday) was the big birthday celebration. September in my family is fun because my birthday is on the 18th, and my brothers Mike and Jon have their birthdays on the 21st. Three birthdays in three days makes for a big family party! My whole family headed back up to Heidi & Steve's house to watch my niece Kaitlyn in her primary program. She did such a great job and was so cute! Then we headed back home and had dinner, cake, ice cream, opened presents... all the makings for a birthday party! We just wish Mike could have been there too. He will be getting home from his mission in Argentina around Thanksgiving time. Here are some pictures and videos from the night. Mike, these are mostly for you to enjoy... know that we were celebrating your birthday as much as mine and Jon's tonight!
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Here's Jon and his girlfriend Emilee:
Of course, no birthday party would be complete without princess dresses:
Did you notice those huge frosting balloons on the cake? Well Jon decided to eat pretty much a whole one in one bite. I definitely gagged a little while watching him do this...
Savannah loved this box and was entertained with it for quite a while!
And finally... this cracks me up so I had to get it on video! In the song, just listen for the "five golden rings" phrase on each verse and I hope you get a kick out of little Michael's singing skills!

More excitement in the neighborhood!

On Tuesday night (Sept. 8), we looked outside to the park across the street and saw a ton of smoke and heard lots of sirens. Apparently a house a few streets away had an SUV that caught on fire, which then caught the garage on fire. It is sad that this happened, but the circumstances of it all were kind of funny. From the things that I have read and heard, a neighbor ran over when he saw the flames and was banging on their front and back doors yelling "FIRE!" Finally someone answered but only opened the door just a crack and shut it again. So while this neighbor was calling 911 for the fire, at the same time someone from inside the house was calling the police saying there was a Chinese man at their door with a gun. Now, I know this neighbor and he is probably around 6'4" and does not look Chinese! And he did have a cell phone up to his ear, but definitely no gun! By the time I got to the house, the flames were put out, but we could see the damage done. Probably about 10-20 minutes after the fire was out, the people inside finally came walking out of the house. It's all a little suspicious, if you ask me! There have been rumors around the neighborhood of some questionable things going on at this house... why didn't they come out when they knew there was a fire? We all think they were busy hiding something, but hopefully the truth will come out soon! This is what saw when I walked over there... sorry for the bad quality of the pictures.

GPS cover

The other day I was bold and made a cover for my new GPS I recently bought for my move to Cali. My sister Lori sent me a link to a tutorial over at Make It and Love It. Mine is similar, but with some variations. I love it because now I can put it away without it getting scratched up. I'm not great at sewing, so I am very impressed with myself that I finished this project! If I'm up for it, I also want to try to make a couple of skirts before I move... we'll see!

Graduation Announcement

Ok, so I've been meaning to post this, but completely forgot! And I know I graduated a while ago now, so the information is kind of out of date, but here is my graduation announcement I made a while back. I sent some out to family members, but for those of you who haven't seen it... here you go!

(You can click on it to see it bigger...)

Latest Project

Since I am pretty much just waiting to move, I have been looking for things to fill my time. My latest project was refinishing my parents' dresser (with some help from my mom). After a few days of working in the hot garage, I was ready to be done! But it was a good feeling to accomplish this big project. These pictures aren't great, but you can get a feel for what the dresser looks like now.

Before:

After: