My Favorite Christmas Commercial

I am still a "beginner" blogger and can't figure out how to post the actual video so here is the link to my favorite Christmas commercial.  I especially love the music.  It is Cat Powers singing. Merry Christmas Eve Eve everyone!

Winter Weather + Traveling = Not Good

Our flight to Connecticut was supposed to leave this morning but due to inclement winter weather it was delayed for long enough that we wouldn't be able to make a connecting flight anywhere to then get to Connecticut so we won't be leaving until tomorrow morning. Hopefully try #2 will be successful. Thanks to Grandma Jan for letting us crash at your house, watch lots of sports, and play games! Thanks to Uncle Ben for letting us drive his car to the airport tomorrow at 5:15am so no one else will have to. Forecast for tomorrow morning:

SunDec 21
7 am
18° F
Precip:10%

I think we should be good to go...it shouldn't look like this-

Studying for Finals

I came home for lunch today and found this. It looks like Dan has mastered the art of studying....he is in a horizontal position (highly condusive to effective studying), has M&M'S, has a blanket, and notice the text book under the candy jar. :) Turns out he was taking a break after reviewing Newton's Laws of Motion an the Molecular Model of Matter....who can blame him? He is actually doing very well on his finals and has only one left! And then we get to leave for the holidays tomorrow night!

Christmas Yummies

Tonight has been holiday bakorama. Both Provo sisters, Kim and Erin, came by and it was fun to see them. Dan even helped by crushing up candy canes for me and was very interested in how to make the mint frosting for the mint brownies. I always love holiday baking because I love pretty much anything sweet. But I especially loved baking tonight while using our new KitchenAid, an early Christmas present...it is very sweet as well!

True Birds

A college friend of mine and her twin sister started a business designing hair accessories. Check them out here. Their website looks great!

Sunny Skies, Clear Roads, and Cute Kids

So we went to Grand Junction, Colorado this weekend and.....we did not have sunny skies and clear roads while traveling. We were going there to meet the Chipmans (my sister Stacey's family) to help babysit while they checked out the area. It is supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive from Provo but unfortunately just when we were planning to leave on Saturday a winter storm hit. It took us 2 hours to go 30 miles! The drive there was treacherous until we got to Price. Dan did a great job driving and was a sport as I urged us on. But we made it and had fun with Olivia and Henry, they are such cute kids. Olivia is so excited about Santa Claus coming soon and talked a lot about the trumpet and guitar she asked him for. We played pirates, colored, and oddly enough she was entertained by watching pool (as in billiards) on ESPN for a little while. Henry is only a month old and slept a lot during the day when we had him. But that means he is awake a lot at night much to his parents chagrin. He is so cute though, he half smiles, and has little chubby cheeks. We received some of the "goodness" from the hospital that is trying to get them to move there- a hotel room, a share in the fruit/candy basket, and dinner at two of the doctors' homes. It was fun to get to see Grand Junction with the Chipmans. If only we could have made it home in the 3.5 hours though. It took 5 hours to get home and once again Dan was a very patient and a cautious driver. We forgot our cameras this trip so sorry no pictures.

Winter Songs

This album has my favorite "non traditional" Christmas music this year. It seemed to be cheapest at iTunes. Artists include Sara Bareilles, KT Tunstall, Fiona Apple, and Colby Callait.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

I was on an a coed intramural volleyball team with Erin and some people from her ward. And we won!!!!! That means we got the coveted Intramural Champion T-shirts. Dan wanted me to get a large enough size so he could wear it too. I had so much fun playing and especially with Erin. Go Team Josh Dance!

Wedding Pictures

Next on my "to buy" list is some shelving so we can display some of our wedding pictures. I think I'll get the 75" shelf at Ikea for $30.

Pinboard

I love this.

Sinterklaas

I missed it this year but next year we are celebrating Sinterklaas, a Dutch holiday celebrating St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children (pretty much this is Christmas). But on the evening of December 5th you leave carrots out for St. Nick's horse and your shoes for a little surprise. When you wake up on the morning of December 6th the carrots are gone and your shoes are filled with candy and gifts. Last year my roomate Christina started this tradition with us and I loved it. It was such a pleasant surprise to find treats in my shoe!

'Tis The Season

We got our first Christmas tree! It is fake but we bought a fresh pine candle to make it at least smell real. We didn't have much room at all for a tree and being sort of in the "poor college student" phase we decided to get a fake tree for $20 at Rite Aid that we could use again next year. So last night we decorated it and then up went up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square with our friends Julia and Spencer . There were a lot of people there but it wasn't too cold which we appreciated. Afterwards we ate brownies and hot chocolate and played Uno. We are feeling so jolly. Fa la la la la...la la la la.

Sweet Memories and Sweet Gestures

Thanksgiving Break

We started Thanksgiving day off with playing a little family friendly football. Then we ate our feast at 2 and just about never stopped. The Darrows were such great hosts and we had so much fun visiting them with my sisters Erin and Becky.

We couldn't leave Idaho without shooting some guns...although I can't say I really enjoyed it. Dan loved it. You can't see it in the picture but there were two pumpkins sitting on top of the target which he shot off giving him a boost of virility HaHa I love his feet in the picture!

Oh yeah and my nephew Logan loved Dan more than me. I think they are both so cute. This was also an adorable picture of Logan and Erin. Thanks Erin for being the trip photographer!