It's the Holiday Season...

And what a great time it has been thus far. Only 5 more days of it until I have to go back to work... I am still hoping for a snow day on Tuesday- after my plane lands of course! But is has been a great time at home-

1) I got to go to a REAL Christmas concert. My cute little nephews and niece. They even acted out the nativity and sang songs that mentioned Christ. So good. So cute.

2) Church on Christmas eve. It was just me and my parents- but fun to see a ton of people I haven't seen in forever- with their gazillion kids and cute wives/ husbands.

3) Christmas Eve at my sisters. We played a little Catch phrase and Loaded Questions. There is nothing quite like a question about bodily functions to get the party started. Good ol' Brian. I love when my Mom laughs sooo hard. Love it!

4) Sleeping in until 8:30 on Christmas day. And then waking up to cute little Addy and Janie. It was fun to open presents with them.

5) Resisting the stores on Boxing Day. I didn't even leave the house- sad but true. I am trying to be better about buying things i don't need... TRYING is the main word.

6) Dinner at my Auntie Shirley's tonight. My cousin mark is 44! 44! I remember when they would come and tickle us when we would sleepover in their living room. 44! Man I am getting old.

7) My semi-annual haircut. Happening tomorrow. Right now I am thinking I will try to grow my hair a little longer- at least until my next haircut. Tomorrow I might be thinking something else. I think I need to move closer to Andrea so I can get my hair cut more often than at Christmas and the summer... we shall see.

8)Organizing my room. I am so grateful that I still have a "room" at my parents. It is more like a storage room that they let me sleep in when I come home. One day I will take all my stuff out- when I live closer to my stylist!! I have so much stuff becuase I can't pass up a deal. If it is on sale- I HAVE to buy it. hence #5. But I am going to have the best stocked kitchen when I live close enough to move all my stuff with me.

9) Seeing Kim. Holy schmolies it has been forever- like 2 1/2 years. She is too cute. And her little Ryker. It was so fun holding him. Thanks for the fun visit Kim. You are great!

10)My family. They are great and I love them. They sure are what is tempting me to move back to Canada. Cute kids, fun sisters, interesting brother-in-laws.

I went to Church today...

without a coat or even a sweater! According to my trusty car "Norm"- it was 16 degrees celcius today! 16 degrees! That is amazing for the 17th of December! I can't believe it. I am SOOOOO ready for snow though. (I am sure everyone is asking why!!) Good thing I will be in the great white north in 2 more sleeps! Yeah!

I FINALLY did it...

I have driven past this store every day- 2 times a day for 2 years now and today was the day that I FINALLY went inside. Pathetic I know!
But I KNEW I would love it- so I stayed away for as long as I could.
It was dangerous.
I wanted to buy EVERYTHING!
But I just had to keep telling myself that I would have to get rid ofit when I move back to Canada as I can only take what will fit in my car- and I am WAY past that limit already!









I couldn't leave without buying SOMETHING... So I bought-

A cool paper towel holder- that is magnetic! So you can stick it to the side of you fridge! love it.








And a space bag... you know the ones that you put a ton of stuff in- suck the air out and you can store 10 times the stuff in the same amount of space...
Well I got a travel one. You just roll it to get the air out. I don't know if I am in love with it but I need all the packing help I can get!



Now I just need to "contain" myself from going back and buying everything else I want!

I am going....

Bananas...
It is quite the adventure being a Home Ec (a.k.a. Family & Consumer Sciences) teacher! One part of the adventure would have to be buying the groceries! Have you ever bought a cart full of groceries... except it is only 5 items... just 25 of each of the 5 items. I had this experience on Wednesday! We made banana bread in my classes on Friday! People look at you like you have something wrong with you...
maybe I just REALLY like bananas.
I had one woman comment about my amount of bananas when I was filling my cart. Once you say "I teach Home Ec" they instantly understand! When I was standing in line with my cart of 40 lbs of bananas and 6 cartons of eggs and older man came up to me and asked what I was going to do "with ALL of those bananas." I told him I was in need of a lot of potassium! Ha ha! He was excited when I told him I taught Home Ec. He even returned a bit later (I was in line for a VERY long time) and told me a story about when he was in Home Ec.
Gotta love the Home Ec stories!
Try it sometime- fill your cart with only a few different items and enjoy the stares and comments! It is great.

p.s. the banana bread was a success- only one group had a weird outcome and I don't know why! They always ask if they get a bad grade for messing up- Nope! The only punishment is they have to eat it!

Yippee!

My camera is fixed! I can't believe it happened so fast! One sad thing... the pictures I took when I was checking to see if my camera was broken... WORKED! So I totally could have taken more pictures in NYC! oh well!

Here are the pics I took BEFORE it broke! There are my yummy fries!! They have 2 tables (it is super cramped but super chic!!) that have holes for your cone-o-fries! And the delicious dill lemon mayo sauce.
Then there is me and Midge (a.k.a. Rachel- my roomie from 10 years ago! Yowza!) She is looking all cute and I am all nasty! I woke up at 5am- rode the bus for 4 hours! That is my bag that I hauled around ALL day! I am pretty impressed that I lived out of that bag for 2 days. I wish those fries beside Rachel were real. how COOL would that be?

You can't really tell my hair is darker...can you? I tried to get a picture of it today because one of my classes talked about how my hair looked so cute today (but I couldn't get one where the rest of me looked decent)! it was rather amusing. I actually get a lot of compliments on it... but it is by the trouble maker boys that are wanting to suck up for various reasons.

Christmas Tag...

I was tagged by Andrea for this Christmas Meme.
Let's see:
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I would have to say Hot Chocolate... but only like once a year! I wish I liked Egg Nog though- because everyone loves it and talks about how much they love it!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They are always wrapped... but I am waiting for him to give me a car- and am assuming that won't be wrapped! ha ha!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Right now- neither! My roommate is in charge and she hasn't done anything!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No! We did once at BYU-I. And there is a guy in my ward that has a mistletoe party! Yikes. I made that mistake last year.
5. When do you put your decorations up? If I had any here- I would have started at LEAST 3 weeks ago! I have been listening to Christmas music for about a month now!!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I am going to have to say my Mom's stuffing as well. Just thinking about it makes me drool!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Let's see.... I loved that we got a small box of cereal in our stocking and would eat it for breakfast! And open our stockings on Mom and Dad's bed! And even though it was totally awkward standing there listening to them sing (especially if you were the only one home)- I LOVED when the Dahl's came caroling and sang "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains."
8. How and When did you learn the truth about Santa? I was trying to remember... I am sure my sisters ruined it for me. They ruin everything good. ha ha!
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? It used to be pajamas... maybe I will have to start buying myself pajamas to open.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I actually haven't decorated one in a REALLY long time since I am never home in time to do it and my roommates and I never do it. My roommate set up our tree last year but didn't want to decorate it (I still don't understand...) so I am going to ask her this year if I can decorate it... so I need to come up with something cheap and easy. My mission was probably the last time I decorated a tree- the Relief Society in my last area asked my companion and I to decorate a tree for the RS room. It was SOOO cute. We cut out doves, hearts and stars from construction paper and wrote on them- respectively- peace, love and joy! And added raffia for a little touch of class. Ha ha! Long story for a short question. Sorry!
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT! And wish we had it! I am watching the news right now and they are talking about snow everywhere but here! Sheesh! I think part of the reason I really want it is for a snow day- you talk about snow here and EVERYTHING shuts down! Plus it just isn't Christmas without snow! Good thing I will be home in 19 days! Yippee!
12. Can you ice skate? I think so... it has been FOREVER since I last tried so I don't know if I still can!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I remember I got a teddy bear that had a radio in it! That was the coolest thing EVER! I LOVE every gift I get!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spreading Christmas Cheer, by singing loud for all to hear! LOL! Name that movie... Seriously though- I love spreading Christmas cheer- not by singing though- and being with my fam!
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? So many choices... I don't know if this is really a dessert but I LOVE the caramel popcorn my Mom makes. I have been craving it for 11 months now!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We only have a few traditions- and I like them all- pizza on Christmas Eve, open stockings before breakfast, tea ring for Breakfast, open presents one by one! Delivering popcorn (mentioned above) to different families. I would like to start the tradition of doing the 12 Days for Christmas- but I am never in the same place for the 12 days before Christmas... one day!
17. What tops your tree? Nothing yet- but if I decorate it, I will post a picture (if I get my camera back!)
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I like giving!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I have ALOT-
* God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen- by the Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLaughlan (& BYUI Men's chorus)
* O Holy Night
* It's the Holiday Season- by Andy Williams
* Ave Maria
* Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains
* Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey- I heard this song last year on the radio and it is HILARIOUS! You need to hear it if you haven't!
* Okay pretty much if it is a Christmas song- I LOVE it... and have been listening to it for a month now!
20. What is your favorite Christmas story? I can't think of anything specific but I LOVE the stories that President Monson tells about Christmas miracles.

Wow! That took a lot longer than I thought! Thanks for reading it all! Umm... I will tag anyone who wants to do it- pretty much Kim and Mikaela are the only other ones who read this that haven't already been tagged!!! Yeah- another reader- Emily Kate is officially tagged too!

NYC= Food

I'm back from NYC... and NO pictures to share! Why you ask? My camera broke- AGAIN! I am so sad. I think it happened sometime on Wednesday as I hauled my bag around the WHOLE city the WHOLE day! I actually did take 2 pictures at Pommes Frites- this awesome fry shop- but I have no way to get them off!! The fries were great. They fry them right in front of you and you have like 30 sauces to choose from! And you can sample all you want! I went for the dill lemon mayo! Yummy! The parade was fun... even though it was cold, wet and windy! We didn't last long! I was sad when I took out my camera to take a picture of the Super Grover balloon- and that is when I discovered it was broken! A guy in my friends ward is a chef and made Thanksgiving dinner for a bunch of people- SOO good! Yummy! Friday, before heading home we stopped at Rice to Riches- the cutest place. It serves rice pudding and only rice pudding! Also provides samples- as if that helps to make up your mind!! I went for the cookies and cream! So good! They give it to you in a cute dish with a funky spoon! A must try! So as you can tell the highlight of my trip was the food!! But isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Good thing we walked for 2 days straight to burn it all off!

Bigger & better

So a package I ordered came today!!! And my good ol' mailman didn't let me down with his package hiding. ha ha! Love it. I almost didn't even know it was there! HA!