Thankful

This year, I'm thankful for...

• Spending my first Thanksgiving with the Morrey family. It was such a nice, long, relaxing weekend. We slept in every day, ate good food (oh, the turkey! And the mashed potatoes! And the cocoa-flavored roasted almonds!), went to see Tangled as a family (which made me tear up three times...definitely the sign of a good Disney movie), watched two Harry Potter movies in an effort to get me caught up to see the new one while it's still in theaters (because I am oh so blasphemous and until a couple of weeks ago had not seen any of the movies), and just generally had good times. Also, John and Michael (John's youngest brother) had a dance-off. Without any music. I sincerely wish I had taken a video, because words cannot describe the joy it brought to all who were lucky enough to witness it.

• John's car passing its safety inspection. Old Greenie rides again...at least for another year.

• Going to the Spectrum to watch the Utah State/Utah basketball game, accompanied by my mom, brother Jason, bestest friend Jessica and John's dad. Games between these two teams always pose a bit of a problem for me, as I grew up a die-hard Ute fan but graduated from USU. My solution was to cheer for both teams. And even though I was glad to see Utah State win, my little heart was sad for my Utes. Such dilemmas I face in life. Although I do have to say that there is no comparison to the atmosphere in the Spectrum. The Aggie student section was truly amazing, as always.
  

• The heroic and miraculous efforts of Brandon Burton to block BYU's field goal with 4 seconds left and win the game for the Utes on Saturday afternoon. John and I were at the game, along with my mom and brother Jason. This was my first time seeing a BYU/Utah football game in person, and what a classic it turned out to be. Sitting for four hours in below freezing temperatures was worth it once the game was over. Final score: 17-16. Aww yeah.

• The purchase of my new winter coat and boots. Logan was FRIGIDLY cold, as was the aforementioned football game, so they definitely came in handy. What also would have come in handy is if somehow the crew at Rice-Eccles Stadium could have removed the BLOCKS OF ICE from underneath the seats before the game started. Even with wool socks and boots, my feet were pretty much frozen solid by the time the game ended. Oh, the things I do for sports.

Things I'm NOT thankful for at the moment? Living on a huge corner lot, with mountains and mountains of snow piled on top of the sidewalks and driveway. With a layer of ice underneath. BOO.

Snowmageddon. Or Snowpocalypse. Whichever you prefer.

John and I have had to change our Thanksgiving travel plans due to The Great Blizzard of 2010 (dun dun DUNNNNNN), so what better way to while away the hours than by updating our fantabulous blog. I figured I better be quick since who knows how long it will be until the power goes out...or the world ends...

We had our first big snowstorm over the weekend and got a foot of snow. (Here is Johnny digging us out so we could drive to church.)

I THOUGHT that storm was bad enough considering what a mild November we were having, but apparently Mother Nature had other ideas and wanted to one-up herself by providing us with this fun blizzard gift tonight (pictures to come. It hasn't quite reached us yet). If Mother Nature would have just been humble and content with the storm she gave us on Saturday night rather than being greedy and prideful, John and I would at this point in time be in Logan. Wonderful, wonderful Logan. Hanging out with our wonderful, wonderful family and maybe even eating some Aggie ice cream. Thanks a lot, Mother Nature. And I tell you what, you will rue the day if you decide to extend the storm into tomorrow and put the playing of the Utah State versus Utah basketball game in jeopardy. I have not been to an Aggie game in TWO YEARS and so help me, I am going to this one.

That is all.

Reason #96 in which we discover that it doesn't take much to make my day.

This morning I was fortunate enough to hear the two most glorious words in the English language:

"No cavities."

Best. Day. Ever.

With a hip hip and a clippity-clop...

Well, I guess I’ll start off by saying happy November. I am extremely proud of myself in the fact that I have already taken down my Halloween decorations and replaced them with my Thanksgiving ones. Granted, the amount of Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations I own in no way rivals the boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations I possess that are not so easily put up or taken down, but still…an accomplishment is an accomplishment.

Now, for the re-telling of our Halloween fun (up until I got food poisoning late Saturday night…but I will spare you the details other than to say that the times I truly know my husband loves me are when I’m sick). I am nothing if not a fan of traditions, so my celebrations throughout the year are largely tradition-based. Hence the following.

My friends and I watch The Watcher in the Woods every year. I don’t even remember for sure how, when or why this tradition started, but suffice it to say that it has been going on for almost 10 years. If you have not seen this movie, wow. FOR SHAME. Early-80s Disney horror at its finest. We’ve gotten to the point where we can quote our favorite parts word-for-word and are even able to bring them up in non-Halloween settings. (Also, the alternate endings for this movie are CLASSIC. Seriously. Look them up on YouTube.) We have progressed over the years to include potluck meals to go along with such fine cinema, because grownups have potlucks, dang it! And usually we treat ourselves to dessert in the form of pumpkin empanadas from the very classy Taco Time. We did not grow up on the West side for nothing, people.

We spent Friday night with Darth Vader, Spiderman and Yoda (AKA my cute, cute nephews) at the annual Stapley/Shegrud Halloween party with my dad’s side of the family, at which we went through a “scary” spook alley, watched the animated version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and had a rollicking eat-the-donut-off-of-the-string competition. We have been enjoying all of these activities every year since I was a little girl, courtesy of my Grandma and Grandpa Stapley (who have both passed away). This was the third viewing of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow this October for me and John, but oh how I love it. We all sing along with Bing Crosby as he tells the tale of Ichabod Crane (kind of odd, but nice just the same). It's kind of funny listening to how upbeat and lighthearted the title song is...and then you hear the line "With a hip-hip and a clippity-clop, he's out lookin' for a top to chop." Yeah. Little morbid. But SO fun. That is the magic of Disney, I guess.

Truthfully, I spent most of the night trying to convince myself that it would not be OK to steal this little one and take him home with me...

Bragging Rights

Remember that one time when one of John’s logos was going to be published in a big-time art magazine?

Allow me to brag about my husband for a moment. Yesterday I was busily working when an e-mail showed up in my inbox from John that went something like this:

“I just found out that one of my logos got accepted to Communication Arts, which is a HUGE resume builder. My company has tried many times to get something accepted, but this is the first time in company history that we have got in. We are going to lunch to celebrate. Looks like my job is secure.”

For those of you that didn’t already know, John is a very talented graphic designer. Getting published in Communication Arts magazine is a BIG DEAL in the graphic design/art/photography industry, so he is understandably excited. Zillions of artists try to get their stuff published and very few get in, so yeah, I’m pretty much married to a rockstar. (Literally. Have I mentioned that John is also in an awesome band? Swoon.) His logo will be appearing in the January 2011 issue of the magazine, but here’s a sneak peek for all of you lucky people.

I am so, so proud of John. He works hard at his job and it is definitely paying off. Plus, he’s just super cute, so bonus for me.

Snow

Well, friends, it had to end sometime…the above average temperatures we have been enjoying have officially come to an end. It snowed today. Our heater is on. I had to bust out the long sleeves. John has finally manually switched the temperature gauge in my ghetto car (with the broken temperature gauge on the dashboard) over to “Heat.” But it’s not all bad. Because the first thing I think of when I think “snow” is Bing Crosby and Danny Kay. If this doesn’t bring a smile to your frozen, snowy face, then you have no soul. Merry 60 days till Christmas!

Happy fall! (And various other ramblings that you may or may not find entertaining.)

First of all, don’t you just love Fall? I have thoroughly been enjoying the MLB Playoffs (go Giants!) and college football games, the Creamy Pumpkin Wallflowers enveloping our house with a yummy, cozy smell, gazing at my cute fall/Halloween decorations in adoration and making all sorts of Halloween plans with friends and family. LOVE this time of year. But without further ado, here are some of my daily musings for your reading enjoyment.

It may be time to cut my hair. Or start wearing it in a ponytail every day. This may sound weird, but I totally get distracted by my split-ends every day at work and waste a good amount of time picking them. (And yet, my hairdresser assures me every time I see her that my hair is very healthy.) Too bad John’s not a fan of the butch-cut, or I’d go all Halle Berry on my hair. (I jest. In truth, I love my long hair and would probably cry every day for a month were I to cut it off. I’m so vain.)

Have any of you seen that Sister Wives show on TLC? I have to admit that it is oddly fascinating. I have polygamy in my family history (hi, great-great-grandpa who had a secret room in your house in which to hide from police), so it’s not really that far removed…but it is still such an odd concept to me. Especially weird to see the husband kissing his “fiancée” as one of his wives is in the hospital getting ready to give birth to his 13th child. As a woman, I do not know how you would be OK with that. Either of those situations. Ick. Yeah, I think I’ll just stick to a monogamous relationship, thank you very much. Oh, and equally as intriguing as the show itself is the fact that the husband (Kody, I believe) walks just like Ted/Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. And has equally as awesome hair.

Call me crazy, but I am in desperate need for Daylight Saving Time to end. I’m not a morning person as it is, but forcing me to get out of my warm, comfy bed when there is not even a single trace of light from the sun visible yet is borderline torture.

We had a late-night/early-morning intruder destroy (as in, EAT) the lovely knock-out roses that were blooming in our just-planted garden up until a few days ago. The very roses that I just hadn’t quite gotten around to photographing yet for an upcoming blog entry. The culprit? Deer. The very same deer that I still get so excited to see roaming around our neighborhood. What can I say, I grew up in the city and led a sheltered, wildlife-free childhood. (Minus the dead duck that we once found in our gutter…and that one time when my brothers accidentally shot a bird with a BB gun. Whoops.)

This particular deer wasn’t wise enough to wipe away his/her hoofprints and left a tell-tale sign of its presence all around the garden. Not the brightest bulb in the light socket, eh? (Ha. I love me a good metaphor.) Good thing we’re getting our fence finished up to keep those pesky deer away so hopefully everything else we’ve planted will survive.

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 shall from hereafter be referred to as the Great Spider Massacre of 2010. A new record was set for the number of spiders killed in our entry way in one fell swoop: 14. Oh, spiders. You should know better by now than to come inside my house and think you can get away with it. For I have the gift of spider-spotting, and John has the gift of spider-killing. You can’t win. GIVE IT UP ALREADY.