the last days of christmas

is it so bad that the 7th-12th days of christmas have all become a blur?  i know i served and i know things were great, but separating all the individual events of the season is becoming difficult in my holiday-induced lethargy.

to keep it simple and understandable i'll just hit you with some photos.

christmas is the best.  at home is the best.  best friends is the best.  husbands is the best.  being back and living real life is harder than the best.  when is christmas again?

more days of christmas

on the third day of christmas:  we sent out christmas cards--don't feel bad if you don't get one.  they were few and far between.  but very cute, to be sure.  and by we i mean i.  brenton was completely useless in this area.
fourth day:  i did everything in my power to track down a girl in forever 21 who wanted to buy the sweater (the last one) that i had in my hands.  i didn't find her, but i did ask the guys working there if they'd announce over the intercom that it was waiting at the counter for her.  they wouldn't do it and they thought i was weird but i didn't care because i was sacrificing and serving at the same time which doesn't leave a lot of room for self-consciousness.  it was a really cute sweater.  brenton judged a scooter competition that day...which doesn't count as service when you get a month's worth of scooting at the indoor park for free, but whatever.
fifth day:  i think we must have taken a break from service this day...it's hard to say.
sixth day:  i took a bunch of clothes to di.

man, things get busy this time of year.  service keeps me in the right mind.

high to lower class dining

a couple months ago for my birthday, brenton took me downtown to an upscale place called christophers.  expensive food, fancy seating, the whole experience.  i had an mouth-wateringly delicious steak and we paid out the nose for a side of asparagus.

this week was brenton's birthday (OLD), and he chose some place a little different.  we had quadruple the food for a quarter of the price and he got free cake and ice cream.  had there been more than one waiter in the place, they would have sung him happy birthday.  he loved it.

ihop.  mhm.  and a new oregon hat!

anyway, somewhere in between there, we also went to hatch family chocolates...you know, the little chocolatiers?  we indulged in hot chocolate (that was much like drinking a melted candy bar), and lots and lots of chewable chocolates--salted peanut butter and caramel, almonds, a haystack, orange and chocolate cream.

at some point, i'll let you see a decent picture of me.  i promise, there's one somewhere.

i almost passed out.  felt like i was so dehydrated i was going to shrivel.  but it was worth it.  apparently so worth it that we went again the next night with kami and joseph.  only that time, the line was an hour long wait out the door in the brain-numbing freeze out alongside 30,000 college students who were all screaming and laughing so loud we wanted to punch them.  and then at one point, quite suddenly, a great hush fell over the crowd.  i thought maybe someone died.  but no, apparently young utahns such as these have never seen little people before and therefore when one walks in the door, their mouths drop open and lose the use of their vocal cords and eye-averting logic.  awkward.  but at least they were quiet long enough for us to enjoy our beverages and get the heck out.

ps.  we've started our 12 days of service project.  day 1:  scrape windshields and do other people's christmas shopping.  day 2: redeem the dead.  it's gonna be huge.

homeful

ignore the parking lot...it was the forest!!

we went and got our christmas tree last weekend.  the conditions were fairly idyllic--it was cold but there was a slight and beautiful flurry of snow in the air.  we were late to the ... uh ... forest, but they let us in to pay anyway.  we're not rich but we afforded it just fine.  we bought some pretty decorations and it didn't stretch us too far.  our apartment is small but our little tree fits perfectly.  it makes it so much more home-like and cozy, which is the best thing i could ever ask for.    i even made a wreath to hang on the front door.  i was feeling pretty good about it all.

and then i went to the homeless shelter with some women from my relief society last night and started feeling entirely different about it.  it was a great experience.  it felt good to serve dinner and play with the kids.  i wasn't feeling pretty good about my little apartment, cute christmas tree and bank account anymore.  i was feeling incredibly ungrateful and embarrassed for how much i take advantage of in my life.  sometimes it's frustrating having a little apartment with only one bedroom and not a lot of personal space.  well, at least i have a bedroom instead of a bed set up in the middle of the building and 100 other homeless families.  i have my own bathroom, a walk-in closet, lots of shoes in that closet, healthy food whenever i want it, a couch and, for heaven's sakes, a door to hang my pretty little wreath on.

i saw a quote on pinterest the other day--something about "what if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you gave thanks for tonight?"  i made sure to express my gratitude today for sure.

now i'm realizing how i basically swim in the lap-pool of luxury day in and day out.  and i'm feeling pretty dang superfantastically amazing about it.

plenty

not sure if this quote is cliche in any world but the blogging one these days but i still love the principle.  we've been terrible about doing our thankful thoughts this year and i think documenting those kinds of things helps us truly recognize and appreciate them in our lives.  here's a few from our list:

blessings that come from paying tithing.
the best family in the infinities and beyond.
a working car.
the second year of marriage.
two steady jobs.
the priesthood and the scriptures.
our talents.
air fresheners that smell like frosting.

that last one is mine--brenton has taken to complaining about it lately but, like i said, writing it down makes you really understand how good you've got it.  :)

i'm also grateful for a place to freely express my thoughts, creativity, and boring life ramblings where others can casually follow along (or not, and i'd never know the difference...).  thanks for being here--it means a lot!

pros and cons & breaking dawn

there are some things i hate about living in the city.  example--wasting 17 minutes of my precious life driving less than 6 blocks?  not my favorite thing.  not even on the list of maybe's.  but there are some perks here and there too.  a new h&m opening across the street from my work?  perk.  living less than 3 minutes from a super target?  perk.  hanging out with these folks on a friday night?

recognize any of them?  (click on their pics to check yourself!

well...a night on the red carpet in the freezing cold with girls screaming about cute boys and getting in fights with old ladies who also wanted to be close to cute boys while my toes blackened with frostbite and my shoulder fell off from the purse/camera bag weight?  ...  um, perk?

ghosts and creepers

i don't know how we ever did things in a normal time frame when i was a kid.  there were a million of us with a trillion different things going on, but we still managed to do the musts for every holiday--gingerbread houses for christmas, jack-o-lanterns for halloween, even flower baskets for may day!  but jeez, there's only two of us and we can't find the time for any of it.  we finally squeezed in carving pumpkins the saturday before halloween, partially because it was one of few things that allowed me to sit the whole time.  (please, no comments on my radiant beauty below--it's hard to look as good as i do when you've been up since 4 and ran a half marathon that day.  trust me.)

gutting.

radiating.

roasting.

showing.

creeping.

haunting.

after eating lots of pumpkin seeds, we watched a movie called devil.  it was dumb.  but also disturbing a little.  we had to watch some friends afterwards.  on real halloween though, we stayed home and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.  i'm going to start a rule:  no one over the age of 12 gets treats.  you're done.  aren't you supposed to be like, too cool, or something by then anyway?  i don't know.  but regardless, we enjoyed hanging out as wendy and ronald typically do.  pretty chill hallows eve.

oh, and i made a delectable dinner of acorn squash and halloween mac 'n cheese.  very gourmet.  very tasty.

happy belated halloween!