Slowly But Surely....

I am turning into my mother-and it's not such a bad thing. From her quirks to her love for soft pajamas, it is happening. I have never been the "creative" one in our family. I used to be the smart one...not so sure about that now (I am blaming pregnancy and child birth), but I could never claim artistic as one of my strengths. Now I am going to readily admit that I am still not what you would call artistic, but I have made improvements. I think some of them may have come from watching too much HGTV and Food Network, or maybe I am just a late bloomer. The potential was there.

Monday I baked all day in my lovely, workable kitchen (It felt awesome to be able to do this after years of cramped kitchens). I only did it with a little help from this-our favorite!After the overload of peppermint meltaways, brownies, cream cheese bars and pumpkin roll I delivered the goodies to my neighbors and some relatives that live in the same town.

Tuesday I became crafty-I know, you're thinking to yourself right now, "but Nik, you can't even cut a straight line!" Yes, I failed cutting in kindergarten (and skipping); these projects did not involve cutting straight lines, so it was all good. In our old house I had three nice frames with linen mats and some ocean prints in them. It seemed a waste to throw them out now that the beach theme has gone to the wayside. I had an extra pillow sham from my new bedding set, so I decided to cut it up and put it to good use in those frames.Now and Then. I really like how it turned out. I also painted a shelf that I found in my mom's leftovers and it looks great too!

Wednesday I took pictures to put in our new garden gate/vintage room.The sky was the color of our bedroom walls. I am going to add some pics of the mantle I did a couple of weeks ago because my sister asked for them.With a little inspiration from Nie. Mom saw it and didn't change a thing even though I asked her to.Some of you are thinking, "so what?" I have always needed direction in the crafty department and it always comes from my mom. I didn't call her once. Although I am sure I will continue to call her whenever I am in a bind, crafty or not.

So who is this new person that takes treats to the neighbors and crafts while her baby is sleeping? I'm not sure. What happened to the woman that wore suits and silk shirts and loved going out for sushi? I'm not sure about her either. She's in here somewhere, I was struggling to let go of her...but I think I am growing to like her replacement.

Naked

So after searching far and wide across the Salt Lake valley for the right tree, we found one a couple of miles away. I had already set out all of the decorations and was ready to start. Yet...where are the lights?? In our move it seems that everything except our Christmas lights made it. I looked, Brian looked. We could not find them. You can't start without lights. So here is our tree, standing naked and bare.I had to go out the next day and purchase an entire tree's worth of lights-not an expense we had planned. Brian and I had our annual argument. See here. This year included him actually quitting the lights up process and leaving the room. Yes, I was laughing at his frustration. He came back, and we did it together.Like I have always said, it takes a lot to make Bri mad. He gets over things quickly. Here are some pics of the finished product and "Santa's Little Helper" who is not really allowed into the front room for obvious reasons.

 

Note: We found the lights two days later in the basement, under the stairs. The one place we did not look. We now have two full sets of lights :)

The Birthday Boy

So, I usually ask my family members what song they want me to sing to them when I call on their birthdays. Most request one of the three or four birthday songs I know. Mathis wanted, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Some of you are not surprised.
Mat had to share his birthday with Thanksgiving this year, but at least he got to go hunting with his buddies. I love you Nana! Happy 21...wow you are getting old.

Can You Say Pepto Bismol??

This is Brian.No, he is not dead. Though at times last night he wished he was. I have never seen him this sick and he can not remember the last time that he was this ill. So, let's just say that we did not get much sleep last night and Cole decided to wake up early. I would post a picture of myself, but it would scare you. Hopefully it is just a 24 hour thing so he can at least eat Thanksgiving Dinner.

1. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are the reason we can be thankful-enough said.
2. Good food-I think that was a theme through my "thankfuls", I have a problem. A good home. A good job. Good education.
3. Dad-He's the man. His new favorite phrase is "Word"; yes it is hilarious that he thinks he's a thug.

4. Some really cool decorations I got yesterday (on sale) to deck out my mantle...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
5. Mathis-it's his birthday tomorrow. Hopefully someone makes him a cake. He tends to get bent out of shape if he gets leftover pie with a candle.
6. That the "thankful" posts are done. I am sure you were getting tired of them. I'll go back to my lazy once-or-twice-a-week-if-I'm-lucky style of posting now :)

I had better to get back to taking care of this:Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today I am Thankful For....

1. Pumpkin cheesecake
2.This song...gets me every time
3. No more Emergency Prepardness tips; I can't be held responsible for giving Jess ulcers.

Catch Up

Wow. Yesterday was more than a little busy around here, and yes...Brian is still gloating!

Thankful list:
1. chocolate-we went to the chocolate show yesterday; it was awesome
2. Brian got to go and hang out with his best friend/crazed Ute fan from Texas at the game
3. I got to sell my ticket...Christmas decorations?? Tai Pan here I come!

4. My talk in sacrament meeting is over
5. Mand. I miss her
6. A new cookie recipe (thanks Aunt Cari)

Tip (last one):
Keep emergency cash on hand. Small bills are the best. In an emergency, all card machines will be down and checks will not be taken. Also keep things in your food storage to barter with.

1. e-bay, for allowing me to get my awesome new duvet cover
2. my mom's hand-me-down dryer...wow, it makes my life easier when I don't have to dry towels for 2 1/2 hours!
3. My blue-eyed baby

*Tip of the day*
Be ready to leave at a moments notice (as Brian experienced evacuating 3,000 people tonight)
-Know where your emergency supplies are and have them together in a kit/backpack instead of scattered throughout the house. Know the locations of medications, etc.
-Have an emergency plan for your pets. They also have to leave and will need food, water, etc.
-Have things organized enough that you can gather the essentials and evacuate in ten minutes...even if it is just for the night.

*Saw Twilight. Thoroughly annoyed at the theatre full of giggling girls...the screaming every time Edward came on screen got old pretty quick. It didn't come close to all of the hype, but I didn't think it would. I always prefer the book to the movie. Edward will never live up to the image I have of him in my head. Consider me dazzled. Was it cheesy in places? Yes. But then again, so is the book. All in all; it was okay.