Happy Anniversary

To the best wife, friend, and mother any guy could ask for...thanks for marrying me two years ago. I'm so glad we get to spend the rest of our lives together, I wouldn't want it any other way.

She even supported my wish to go see the U of U football team in the Suagr Bowl so I haven't made it back home yet and unfortunately, we're not together today on our special day. Because she loves me, she knows how much fun I would have at the football game with my friend and crazed Ute fan Gary(and it was an awesome game if you didn't see the Utes). Thanks sweetheart.

We've had a lot of changes in just two years, some more enjoyable than others. Some have been a little scary. But the wonderful thing is we have each other no matter what happens. What could be better than holding her hand, a hug, a kiss, saying I love you, and just sharing my life with my true love--knowing that's what happiness really is all about. And how lucky we are to have our son Cole (turns 1 this month) enrich our family.

Here's a little tribute to Niki as I remember some of our great times together - she has the most beautiful eyes :) I wish we could spend every day like this, but I'll treasure the ones we get. I love you Nik!

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Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

29 Reasons

It's Brian's birthday! It is so hard to really make sure that he gets recognized and has a special day with it being so close to Christmas, New Years and our anniversary. He is actually at home in Salt Lake right now, working for a few days before he gets to go and spend some time with his best friend/crazed Ute fan Gary in Texas. They are going to drive to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl to most likely see the Utes get stomped on. It's his big birthday present, plus he'll be gone for our anniversary. We had a little mini-party before he took off this afternoon.

I have listed 29 Reasons that I love Brian (there are much more than that). Next year is the big 3-0; we're going to need to have a HUGE party! Get ready for the good, the bad and the ugly because we are nothing but honest in our family!1. He writes me notes and leaves them where I can find them first thing in the morning
2. He does the dishes and changes diapers...without being asked
3. He may not be gracing the cover of GQ anytime soon, but he has eyes that see through to my soul, a smile that melts my heart, and the waistline of most 14 year old girls
4. He says "I Love You" before he hangs up the phone, every time
5. He drives like he’s still in South America-it’s scary, yet he has never been in an accident
6. He is a wonderful daddy7. He does sentimental things. He even wrote everything down-how he felt, what we did, etc when we were dating-and then made me a book for our 6 month anniversary
8. If you have a question…he’ll find the answer. (My dad has really taken advantage of this skill)
9. He reminds me about Family Home Evening
10. He knows EVERYONE. I can’t let him go anywhere in public without realizing that he will inevitably run into someone that he knows
11. He knows that I won’t be happy until everything on “the list” is crossed off
12. He can sleep through a hurricane-and actually has
13. He will do just about anything I ask him to…just not right away
14. He wishes I would just go without clothes-all of the time (I tell him to get a life)
15. He is such a good student, one of his teachers asked him to stop participating so much
16. He writes in his journal faithfully…good thing, because I don’t
17. He got me Jamba Juice anytime I wanted it when I was pregnant
18. He always is up to date on the news-local and national
19. He actually still thinks it was okay to go to Lake Powell, alone, the week before we moved
20. He lets me sleep in on Fridays and Saturdays…he’ll wake up and take care of Cole
21. He prays with me
22. Sometimes I catch him staring at me with this goofy look on his face
23. Every night before he goes to sleep he kisses me and says, “I Love You Sweetie”
24. He watches our wedding video whenever I go out of town
25. He will shop for my unmentionables…without even asking or being coerced
26. If he could water ski for a living, I seriously think he would
27. He would wear the same clothes, every day, and not think twice about it
28. He sends me flowers, for no reason at all
29. He is mine and I am his…forever

Hallelujah!

We made it...to the half-way point!  Brian is officially done with half of his Masters Degree (and with straight A's too may I add).  It's been tough, but only a year and a half to go.  There is light at the end of this tunnel!  He works really hard.  I will be nice to not have homework over Christmas break.  We love you Dad!  We are SO proud of you.

Niki and Cole

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both
2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving Weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? New Year’s
5. Do you like egg nog? You bet. I start drinking it in October!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Cowboy Boots
7. Do you have a nativity scene? I got one in Jerusalem made from olive wood
8. Hardest person to buy for? Brian. He has no opinion or wants
9. Easiest person to buy for? Cristine
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Any present is good with me!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas. A Christmas Story
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything in sight
15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear
16. Favorite Christmas song? A Christmas to Remember; The whole Narada CD
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yep
19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One Christmas Eve, the rest in the morning.
20. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Trying to get everyone to have time off from work and school
21. Favorite ornament theme or color? Right now I really like the funky/lime green. Plus, my mom will tell you I am a sucker for anything that sparkles.
22. Favorite food for Christmas breakfast? Grandpa Bob’s blueberry pancakes-what am I going to do without them this year???
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? I have already got everything. Painted the walls, a new duvet cover and this awesome dress from here that I wore to the Governor’s Christmas Open House.

Can you tell I am totally worn out in this pic? :)
24. Who do you tag? Jess, Carrie, Mand, Kate and anyone else that wants to.
25. Who is least likely to respond to this? Most likely, everyone.

sorry Lissa that it took so long!

Fondue Fun

We had our first official holiday party at the new house. It was SO much fun! We would first like to apoligize to anyone we love that has worn or continues to wear holiday sweaters-no offense!

It is a small world after all....one of my really good friends from high school and one of Brian's really good friends from high school are now neighbors. They SHARE a fence!It's crazy, I know. So we decided to have them over for an evening of adults only.We dedicded to have a tacky Christmas sweater theme. We even had tacky Christmas gifts.Here's Jeff showing off his "homemade" tacky sweater...Carrie is so crafty!I didn't seem to get a pic of Brian's sweater that he chose....it was blue with stripes (not Christmas themed at all). I guess that's what I get when I don't do things myself!

I had a lot of fun decorating using some of my grandmother's entertaining pieces that I inherited. We had a ton of food and a lot of laughs.This is the doilie on the back of Jeff B's vest/sweater. Nice and ugly! My shirt does say, "I'm on Santa's NAUGHTY list". I am still picking glitter up off of the floor. No, I haven't and don't plan on wearing it in public. I wish that you could see all of Jeff C's outfit-it was complete with awful shoes. Thanks again to the Cheney's and the Bean's. We are going to make this a tradition!

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 :)