Funky Furniture

My front room is kind of an awkward shape. It's long and skinny, and then makes an "L" into the dining room. I've never really known what to do with the corner of the room, so I've just had a round glass table back there to fill the space. With the purchase of my fireplace, I knew I needed to do something different. I wanted a sitting area by the fireplace so I could actually enjoy it! I went out in search of chaise lounge to fill the space, but couldn't find one that I really liked. Instead, I fell in love with this chair and ottoman in a funky floral pattern. The blue and lime green don't exactly match the rest of the decor in my house, but I thought it was something fun and a little different. It fills the space well and brightens things up a bit. I'm excited to curl up on my chair and read a good book, enjoying the warmth of the fire.

Hitting the Slopes

I think I can count on one hand how many times I've been skiing in my life. I remember going a couple times in elementary or middle school when the school would have ski nights. The last time I went was in 1998. It was night skiing and it was icy and windy and I didn't have the best gear so I was freezing cold. I was so tense as I skied down the mountain that I really didn't enjoy myself at all. Well, unfortunately that one bad experience surfaced in my memory each time I thought about skiing or friends talked about getting a group together to go skiing. Because of that one experience, I decided I wasn't really a winter sport person and never gave skiing (or any other winter sport) another chance.

On the other side of the spectrum, my sisters have been big into the winter sports for years. They both started out skiing and are now into snowboarding. With an entire week off of work, I decided to finally give skiing another try. Beki and I went up to Bogus this morning, got our bunny hill passes and were ready for a day of fun. After a few runs down the hill, I joined a couple of my coworkers for a group skiing lesson. Once the lesson was over, Beki and I got a couple more runs in so I could practice what I had learned.

So after about five hours on the mountain, I am happy to announce that my outlook on skiing has changed! I stayed warm and didn't fall once and actually enjoyed myself the entire time (even though those boots are some of the most uncomfortable things ever!). I don't know that I'll ever be a hard core skier, but I can definitely see myself going up at least a few times each season. If only I could be teleported to the top of the mountain... I really hate driving on those curvy roads - at least they weren't snowy or icy!

Prime Rib, Crab, and Lots of Laughter

What a fun evening! Since Mandi and TJ are having Christmas dinner with TJ's family this year, we decided to do a big Christmas Eve dinner. In my opinion, we only need turkey once a year at Thanksgiving and ham once a year at Easter. Don't get me wrong, I do like turkey and ham, but they aren't on the top of my list of favorite meals. A few weeks ago I texted my mom and said that I thought we should have prime rib or crab legs for Christmas dinner. My mom texted me back, "Mmmmmmm.... or maybe both!" So that's what we had tonight - prime rib AND crab legs with homemade rolls, potato casserole and salad. Let me tell you, it was totally delicious!

After dinner, we continued with tradition by each opening one present. I got volume 1 of the Old Testament Made Easier. I love these books because they have the entire scripture in the book, plus notes, quotes, definitions, and commentary, so you don't need to have more than one book out while you're studying the scriptures. I've got all the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants books, so I was excited to get my first Old Testament book since that's what we'll be studying in Sunday School this year.

After presents, Mom, Dad, Beki, and I went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a visit. Earlier this year, I attended a Simply Fun party where I got some fun, unique games, so I brought a few of them for us to play. We ended up playing games for a couple hours and laughed our heads off. I seriously can't remember the last time I laughed that much. Thanks everyone for a fun and memorable evening!

Hanger Snob

A few years ago, my Aunt Kathy game me a box of black velvet hangers. I have to admit, at the time I thought it was kind of an odd gift (sorry Kathy!) - I had already replaced all metal hangers with plastic hangers and wasn't sure why I needed these "fancy" velvet hangers. Well, sometimes it takes a while for things to grow on you, but I LOVE these hangers now. Here are some of my favorite features:

• They are thin, making more room in your closet - WAY thinner than the plastic hangers... more room for more clothes!
  
• The velvet makes them non-slip, so no worry about tanks or other shirts falling off the hanger.
• I think the clothes just hang nicer on the velvet hangers.

Okay, this might be silly, but I am officially a hanger snob. Last year I bought another box of velvet hangers so I could completely get rid of the plastic hangers in my main closet. The plastic hangers were all moved to my secondary closet where I hang older t-shirts and sweatshirts. The only problem was, when I bought new clothes, I didn't have enough velvet hangers anymore (unless I moved something to my secondary closet or put it in my DI pile)... so a couple weeks ago I went out and bought another box of velvet hangers :-) I now have enough hangers that I can get rid of my plastic hangers all together (except for maybe my front coat closet). Thanks Kathy for introducing me to velvet hangers!

Faux Fur Throws

I remember the first time I went to Jen's house to watch a movie - I curled up on the large leather chair with a Pottery Barn faux fur throw blanket. The blanket was so warm and so soft. I never really imagined having a faux fur blanket, but I fell in love with these. The only problem was that they were expensive, but I have been watching for sales! Last year I got a deal on a small, thin tan blanket, and just this weekend I used a 20% off coupon on an already reduced large brown one (second from the bottom in the picture). I know... you now want to come over and curl up on the couch with one of my blankets. Well, you're welcome any time!

Toasty Warm

When I bought my house almost 6 years ago, the one thing I wanted that the house didn't have was a fireplace. I decided for my Christmas present to myself this year (I don't think there's anything wrong with buying yourself a present!) that I would buy a fireplace! I looked for several months and was discouraged with everything I saw - most were small or the fire looked fake. A few weeks ago, I finally found a brochure with a fireplace I wanted and placed my order immediately. It was delivered and installed today and I love it! It's large and is a beautiful piece of furniture. I'm excited it came before Christmas so I can decorate the mantle and hang stockings!

FEED Bag

Jen mentioned a few weeks ago that she was excited to give me my Christmas present... and yesterday I found out why she was so excited. She gave me the coolest present ever - a FEED bag. I had never heard of or seen a FEED bag before, but I quickly found out the amazing meaning behind the bag. The purchase of my FEED bag feeds a child for an entire year through the UN World Food Program.

According to FEEDprojects.org, over 350 million children go to bed hungry each night. Hunger and malnutrition kill more people than AIDS, malaria, and TB combined. In fact, every five seconds a child dies because he or she is hungry. I think it's exciting that Jen and I can make a difference for one child - the meal that they receive as a result of the purchase of my FEED bag may be the only meal he or she will receive all day. And look what kind of company we are in - celebs such as Jennifer Aniston are helping with the FEED mission too! Thanks Jen - I it's absolutely perfect.

I'm Done!

I bought my last couple Christmas presents yesterday, and everything is wrapped and under the tree. Less than a week until Christmas :-)

2.5 Miles in Leg Warmers

Today was the annual YMCA Christmas Run. This is my favorite race of the year because everyone dresses up in Christmas costumes. I went shopping last night at the Costume Shop to try to fun something fun to wear. I was originally hoping to find some Santa skirts, but was stoked when I found some fuzzy red and black leg warmers, and then found scarves and hats to match. I'm guessing these were Beki's first pair of leg warmers, but it brought me down memory lane... leg warmers, stirrup pants, etc :-) We ran the short course - 2.5 miles, but I was excited to run the entire way without walking. I haven't been running in quite a while, but it actually felt good to be out there. Maybe I'll have to pick it back up again. Here we are at the end, sporting our leg warmers!

Jealous

As a season ticket holder, I got to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets prior to them being available to the general public. As I mentioned before, I can't go to the Fiesta Bowl because it's during a vacation blackout period at work, otherwise I would spend my New Years in sunny Arizona. I ended up getting tickets for a co-worker's brother. They came in the mail this week, and I am more than a little bit jealous. I totally want to be there! I guess just holding the tickets in my hand for a couple minutes and then watching the big game on my projector in my own home will have to suffice.

Every Little Bit Helps

I have started frequenting a sandwich shop in one of the buildings on campus for lunch. This particular shop takes your order on a brown paper lunch sack, and then uses that sack to put your food in. I always felt so wasteful, taking sack after sack, day after day. I had thought about telling them I didn't need a sack, but that's how they keep their orders straight, so that wouldn't work. One day last week my co-worker Mark was telling me how he and another BSU employee were discussing with each other that they should just keep their lunch sacks and bring them back the next day to reuse them. I think they were joking, but I thought it was a great idea! Not only am I reducing my footprint, but I don't have to tell the sandwich shop people every day what I want - it's already written on my bag :-) I figure every little bit helps!

Anchor Ourselves

I have always been horrible at journaling. I remember when I was younger, my mom would sit us down on Sundays to write in our journals. I think I have two completed journals for the first 26 years of my life. Kinda sad. Anyway, not sure why blogging is easier for me. This blog is mainly a record of the things I do on a daily basis. I wanted a place to record things that I didn't necessarily want the world to know, so I last year I started a private blog. I don't post on my private blog much, but when I do it is usually related to personal thoughts or something surrounding my religion/faith. I debated about posting this entry on my private blog, because that's where it "fits", but for some reason I decided to post it here.

Last Sunday I attended a missionary farewell for two wonderful people who will be serving a medical mission in Ghana for the next 18 or so months. They will service 8 missions in Africa, which consists of about 800 missionaries, and will be on call 24/7. I am excited to hear about their adventures (and hope to even get over there to visit)! Anyway, part of the message that was shared at the farewell had to do with a sailboat. Anchoring a sailboat is an important part of boating. You need to anchor the boat just right so that the bow of the boat always points at the anchor, regardless of the wind or the current. The sailboat is like us, with the anchor as Christ. Do we face the Savior, regardless of what is going on in life, regardless of what storms come our way? I appreciated this comparison. I truly want to be like a sailboat - to always have my focus on Christ. I want to be more like Him, to do the things He would want me to do. This is my goal.

The BCS SUX

I heard this on the radio this morning and thought I would post it here as well!

New Friends and Fondue

Not sure how many times I can say this, but I love fondue :-) However, doing an entire fondue meal (cheese, main dish, and dessert) is a lot of work, so I don't do it very often. In fact, I don't think I've done a full fondue meal since January 2008!

Anyway, tonight some of the people I've met through BYP came over for fondue dinner. Camille and Willie, Kimberly and Scott, and Michelle joined me for an evening of dipping and grilling. It was fun to get to know them a little better and I think everyone had a good time. Mmmmmmm. I am SO full right now!

We got to talking a bit about blogging, and I was disappointed I hadn't taken a picture to document the evening. Kimberly suggested I take a picture of my kitchen at the end of the night - I think she might have been joking, but I decided to do just that! Unfortunately this picture doesn't do my kitchen justice :-) With three courses and new dishes for each course, there are dishes piled on every bit of counter space I have. Thank goodness for dishwashers! I just loaded it up and started it, and I have at least one more load once that one finishes. My goal is to do as little hand washing as possible.

Thanks everyone for a fun night... We'll have to get together again!

Going Bowling

Well, we did it again. Boise State is headed to the Fiesta Bowl on January 4th. Hip hip hooray! My sister Mandi gave me the coolest gift tonight to celebrate - Tostitos chips and blue & orange M&Ms :-)

I Am a Popsicle

This morning it was -2 degrees. Tomorrow it's supposed to be warmer... low of 3 degrees, high of 18 degrees. This sucks!

Fireside and Fondue

Tonight was the First Presidency Christmas Fireside... I loved the messages that were shared about remembering the reason for this Christmas season, serving and loving others, and making sure our priorities are straight. The music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square was beautiful.

Following tradition, several friends came over after the fireside for dessert fondue. Just like last year, we talked and laughed for several hours. We even pulled out the leftovers part way through the night for "round two"! I promised them that I would have everyone over soon for a full fondue meal. Have I ever mentioned how much I love fondue? :-)

I Have No Fingernails Left

Oh my goodness, what a game. No, I'm not referring to the somewhat boring 42-7 win over New Mexico State by Boise State (thanks for joining me Candice!). I'm talking about the Texas v. Nebraska game tonight. I was literally screaming at the tv and I can't bite my fingernails any shorter. If Nebraska beat Texas tonight, then Boise State probably wouldn't get a BCS bid. But Texas made a field goal with 1, yes ONE, second left on the clock to pull ahead of Nebraska and pull off the win. Wahoo! I am looking forward to Selection Sunday tomorrow, where Boise State is expected to get a bid to the Fiesta Bowl. I can't head to Arizona because that's a blackout period for vacation at work, but party at my house on Monday, January 4th!

Christmas Toes

So I know it's probably weird to post a picture of my feet on the internet, but I love my latest pedicure. My friend Erin opened a salon last month... I knew that she had a lot of up-front expenses as a part of opening the salon (i.e. purchasing product, a shampoo chair and bowl, etc.), so I pre-paid for 10 pedicures to help out. I figured it was a win-win! Anyway, I decided I wanted fun toes for Christmas, and that's what I got... sparkly red with green jewels. Thanks Erin - I love them :-)