dear 2008: why we love you...

• you brought us many trips {mexico, caribbean cruise, california, sister trip to san antonio, northern az, mexico again, chicago, and cross country drive for hubby}
  
• took 2 photography classes
  
• played house with mike and sue
• moved into a bigger room @ the salon
• moved into a new house
• got a new car
  
• ate at La Grande Orange A LOT
• ate thrifty's even more
• played a ton of scrabble
• saw chelsea handler
• got our first christmas tree
• got addicted to Lost
• took up knitting, and about to attempt sewing
• did a lot of crafts, made a lot of cupcakes, tried a lot of cooking
• kissed my handsome prince

      

all in all, a fabulous year! 

2009: don't let us down!

Very Merry

Christmas time is my favorite time of year and definitely the busiest! It kicks off with a Christmas Eve Eve @ the Alders! We gather for a delicious dinner and good company then we showcase our many talents ;) and then the "traditional" Christmas story. We get all dressed up in Cheryl's fabulous fur coats and sequined vests to portray the 3 "pimps", "asses", Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus! And yes, you heard me right, 3 pimps. this is what goes on behind closed doors at the Alders! :)

we also get pj's that night which is such a fun tradition!

Thanks Alder fam for making our Christmas Eve Eve so bright!

Christmas Eve found us with the Candland Clan! Every year we join together and celebrate a different nationality. This year was our Indian Christmas! We devoured Indian Tacos and frybread! It was delish! 

After dinner i read an indian christmas book to the kiddos

then it was time for presents! All of us kids got the parents a "night in". It was such a hit! they got a blanket, dinner and hollywood video gift certificates and a whole truck load of firewood! You should have seen the look on my dad's face! Just like a little kid on Christmas morning! His eyes lit up when he saw all that firewood he gets to burn to his hearts content! 

Later that evening we visited Karen's parents, watched them open up presents and enjoyed each others company!

Christmas morning found us sleeping in till 9am then we headed over to Starbucks for our new christmas tradition of sipping on carmel apple cider while opening presents. Well seeing as only 1 starbucks in the town of Gilbert was open, i had to wait 1/2 hour for our beloved drinks. Hubby wasn't too thrilled but i was adamant about this delicious tradition! he quickly got over it though and we scurried home to open our presents! Hubby did good this year with surprising me with a sewing machine, i got my cherished vintage Holga camera {yes, it is a FILM camera and yes i adore it} and a many other lovely gifts! 

 

    

then its off to the Alders for molasses pancakes and presents. little did i know, hubby had a surprise waiting for me in the Alder's garage. a new {but vintage looking} beach cruiser absolutely won my heart! I have been lusting over this baby for quite some time now and although i thought hubby forgot, like always, he didn't let me down and i couldn't be more thrilled! 

We had a blast opening presents and spending the day with family! Later we went to see Marley and Me and although it was soo good, i definitely wouldn't recommend it to those with puppies {SUE} i cried my eyes out the second we got to the car {i refuse to cry in movie theaters so i wait till i get to the car}! when we got home we had a serious conversation with puppy and made him promise us he will never leave! 

Other then that sad event, we had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope you all did too!

Merry Christmas to all...

and to all a goodnight!

hope santa comes to your house! 

{this little reindeer will be waiting up for him all night!}

{don't worry folks, the crazed look in his eyes is typical when i'm holding a treat}

merry christmas!

     love 

the alders

Anthropologie

you never let me down! 

here are a few of the sweet ornaments i picked up today {along with a new belt and coat} hurray for sales at Anthro! they make it possible for me to be stylish!

merry christmas to me!

Homemade Holiday

This Christmas found me making most of the decor for our humble abode. None of the stores {except the beloved Anthropolgie} could quite get my style right! So i picked up some yarn and put my fingers to work. Martha.....watch out!

Now i'm off to Anthropologie to devour their sweet sale on all the ornaments i've been eyeing all winter long!

Blue Wasabi

they weren't kidding! Deeeelish!!!!

I got such a kick out of this! oh, the little things in life :) 

Photo class...

you have been good to me! 

a week ago was our last day and we had to turn in our final project. We were let loose on this and were able to do whatever we wanted! We just had to make a slideshow of images and put music to it. I knew everyone else was doing a slideshow of portraits and since well, I'm me, I had to be different! I had such a blast doing this project!

I had a heck of a time trying to download my video though, so it takes a few minutes to download now. So if you have a few, sit back, turn up your sound & click here

{then click on the arrow pointing down on the right hand side} 

Next Up:

Independent study in Art Photography

Cant hardly wait!

Thank you, hubby

for taking me to see the most hilarious, 

Chelsea Handler

and for a delicious dinner beforehand @ 

Radio Milano

{and for being the best scrabble partner 

a girl could ask for,

and for always letting me win}

Christmas is HERE!

and i put up the tree ALL by myself!

{i will post the finished masterpiece later}

then we treated ourselves to hot carmel apple cider {my obsession this time of year} and temple lights!

hubby likes to....

take puppy and i on a picnic in the park

oh what a lovely hubby i have

Turkey Day

was a success!

our bellies were filled to the max @ my parent's

the sweet potatoes made my day (thanks Nat!)

a sweet little bike ride was had on their street

and a fun little movie played for all the kids

sister's were bonding in the playroom

while boys slept all over the place

a fine tree was purchased at a very fine price

some good company & good pie @ the in-laws

while a cool little thunderstorm rolled into town

a trip to the theater to watch a little James Bond

accompanied by some Jr. Mints and some popcorn

and to top off the night, we even got some snuggling in by the fire! 

a success indeed!

i am thankful for.....

*my hubby

he is my favorite person, we are best friends, i love him

*Dodger's snoring

fills our quiet little house

*family

makes me laugh, love 'em with all my heart

*slippers

my feet are always cold {i think there is something wrong?}

*burt's bees chapstick

addicted. if it's not in my pocket at all times, small panic attacks occur

*our nightly tradition

me falling asleep on hubby's lap while he watches his shows and puppy snores. it makes me happy

*scrabble

our most favorite game and a weekly occurance around the Alder  abode 

*pita jungle

most delicious and fills our bellies pretty much once a week

*my apron

most delightful. makes me feel like i know what i'm doing 

*ice cream

cant get enough of it

*scarfs

my favorite accessory

*snuggling

 i just love it

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

what we do @ midnight around here...

wait for Twilight to start with hundreds of screaming girls....

what else would we be doing?

{don't let the empty seats behind us fool you, we got first dibs on front row but soon after came those screaming girls I was talking about}

thrifty's

just isn't the same without you, Sue

we miss you guys!

b picked up a camera

and here's what she can do

Birthday Bonanza!

Thanks to ALL that made my birthday so fun! 

Thanks for all the 

texts

phone calls

& beautifully sung "happy birthdays"

presents

kisses

& good company

What a wonderful WEEK it was!

First up of the birthday festivities:

{monday night}

A delicious wing-a-thon @ LONG WONG's with my 3rd favorite fam, the Daniels {no pics to prove it, but i swear it happened!}

Second round:

{tuesday night}

Dinner with the Alders @ Liberty Market {definitely a new fave}

Third event:

{thursday}

Lunch with my two favorite boys @ The Farm 

{most definitely a fave AND tradition for the past few b-days} 

{also a big day for my boots! They finally got to see sunshine & helped me shop till I dropped, whew what a day!}

Last but certainly not least:

{thursday night}

The most fantastic, the most delicious, the most FAVE of them all....La Grande Orange

with the company of the most fantastic, delicious, and fave friends.....Karen & David!

 

And to top off the night, we headed over to the Sugar Bowl for a sweet ice cream treat and a rousing game of Rock, Paper, Scissors {and to no surprise my hubby won. I think he should enter a tournament or something, he's THAT good}

dear rain boots

i promise to wear you with 

every single outfit

i own, matching or not,

EVEN if it is not raining out

 

maybe I once said I hated mushrooms and now I cant get enough of them

maybe I once said I was becoming a vegan but only lasted a month

maybe I once said I would never in my life start a blog, in fact I relentlessly made fun of those that did

maybe now I am "biting my tongue"

moral of the story?

don't bite your tongue too hard, it hurts.

I have officially entered the blogging world and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. But here I go anyway, wish me luck!