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.