christmas trees

Nothing beats a real Christmas tree.  The way they smell, the way they look...simply enchanting.

Which is why Tim and I bought a fake tree last night.

Wait...what?

Ok, here's the story.

Tim and I had been planning for weeks to buy a real Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving.  We'd imagined where we'd put it and how it would smell and how it would look with all the twinkling lights on it.

Last night, we finally got the chance to go get one.  As we were on our way out the door, our neighbor casually asked us what we were up to.

"Oh, we're just gonna go get a Christmas tree!"

"A fake one or a real one?"

"A real one."

"Oh yeah, we got real ones up until this year, too.  Then last year, we were decorating our tree and a Brown Recluse spider bit me.  I waited a couple of days to go to the hospital, and by the time I did, they said if I'd waited any longer, they would have had to amputate my leg.  But I only had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days."

I almost peed my pants.

My eyes were probably as wide as baseballs.

After we got in our car, Tim and I started squealing at each other.  [No manly noises for Tim where spiders are concerned.]

"Uhh...maybe we should get a fake tree."

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea."

Which is how we ended up with a fake tree from Walmart.

Don't worry, it looks enchanting, too.

And I'm sure the pine air fresheners we're gonna buy will smell just like a real tree and I won't even notice the difference.

[Or so I tell myself.]

pinterest

I know I'm a bit behind the times, but I've finally joined Pinterest.

I'm sure we could turn this into a commentary about how I'm always a little behind the times, but let's not think of too many examples...fashion, technology, blogging, DIY crafts...stop it right now!

Kids, I wore either hiking boots or white cowgirl boots [with fringe] throughout my entire elementary school career.  [Which are probably in now.  What the heck do I know?]  Thankfully, my aunt Ginny keeps me from making too many fashion faux pas, but you can see where I'm going with this.  Behind the times.  Or maybe not with any time at all.

And now that I'm approximately 32 seconds into the boards and the pinning and the following on Pinterest, my eyes are swimming and I am thoroughly and completely confused.  [I suppose I should take comfort in the fact that I felt the same way when I first joined Facebook.  Ok maybe not.]

I think I'm gonna make myself feel better by telling myself that I just have an old soul.

To be honest, I don't really know what that means, but it does make me feel better.

I think that must be it.

p.s.  I got my wedding day pictures back yesterday thanks to this girl.  And oh, how I love them.  Except for how critical I am of myself.  But.  I guess we all do it.  Regardless of insecurities, Chantal is amazing!  I accidentally left them at home, otherwise I would post some now.

p.p.s.  Just because it's been a while:

p^3.s.  Happy Almost-Thanksgiving!  Eat your little foodie hearts out!

p^4.s.  Ok.  Ok bye.

thanksgiving traditions - old and new

I am incredibly lucky.

Wanna know why?

Because I now have two families.  Two incredible, loving families.

And I get to see them both this week.

Wedding Day - thanks to this girl.

First, we get to go to Tim's sister's house and spend Thanksgiving with his family there.  Unfortunately, not all of his siblings will be there, but I guess that's a risk you take when there are ten kids in the family.  [Yes.  Yes, that's right.  Ten.  Yeah, it blew my mind a little, too.]

Family gatherings with the Devey family are a bit of a whirlwind of commotion - in a good way.  There are kids and dogs running all about [including his Mom's chihuahua that scares me to this day - don't judge] and people everywhere.  It's fantastic, and certainly something I'm not really used to yet.  [I used to think Thanksgivings with my family included gargantuan amounts of people and animals, but I was wrong.  I was very wrong.]

Then, we get to go to Prescott and spend a couple of days with my family, too.  You see, my aunt Ginny and I have this tradition.  We go shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving every year that we can possibly manage it.  While you might see this as a shallow - perhaps superficial - tradition, I prefer to see it more as a day to bond and talk about life's deepest mysteries whilst enjoying the finer things of life.  [Namely clothes, food, and Bath and Body Works's famous scents.]

Plus, spending any time at all with my family always gives me the warm fuzzies and getting to see my grandma makes the next couple of months about 289 times better.

Yep, I am incredibly lucky.  Or maybe blessed is a better word for it.

Does anyone have any fantastic Thanksgiving traditions?

panic-induced laughter

On Friday, I left work on a high.  [Not a drug-induced high, mind you, just the feeling-high-on-life kind of high.]

I called my parents and told them how excited I was to see them in a few hours, texted Tim that I was on my way home, and got in my truck.  There was a major event going on in the area, so there were hundreds of cars packed into the tiny streets.

I took a deep breath and turned on some music.

Finally, a break.  Even if it is just for a couple of days, I thought.

I had driven for a couple of minutes when the music started cutting out.

Huh, that's weird.  Maybe the cd is skipping.  That's what I get for losing my iPod.

I tried to turn off the music but watched in confusion as the cd player lights kept flickering on and off.  I pulled up to a red left arrow and waited for the light to turn.  I watched the other side of the intersection turn from yellow to red and prepared to push the gas.  Suddenly all of the lights in the truck started flickering and it started making an odd noise.  Then the engine cut out.

The arrow turned green.  I frantically tried to start the car again, but to no avail.  The engine wouldn't even turn over.  My trembling fingers tried to turn on the hazard lights to let the [very long] line of cars behind me know that my car wasn't working.  They wouldn't work, either.  A car pulled up to my right and a very frustrated-looking man waved his arms at me.  I gave him an apologetic look and tried once again to start the car.

In my moment of panic, I had only two distinct thoughts.  The first was that I needed to call Tim.  And the second was that I couldn't stay in the truck anymore.  I practically fell out of the truck and stumbled onto the road directly in front of a car turning right.  I ran to the side of the road and tried to call Tim.  But my fingers were trembling so badly that nothing was working properly.

"Do you need help pushing your car?"

I realized the voice must be talking to me and turned.  A man on his bike looked at me inquisitively.

"Uh yes.  Yes I do."

Then another man and a policeman appeared and told me to put the truck in neutral.  I almost walked in front of another car as I walked back to the truck and attempted to follow instructions.  I couldn't get the column shift to move at all.  I told the men so, and the policeman instructed one of the men to try, since he couldn't fit behind the wheel with all of his gear.  Eventually, the man succeeded and I got behind the wheel as they waited for the light to turn green again.

Finally the light turned green [again] and we made it across the intersection and into the parking lot.  [The steering had suddenly become very difficult, but we made it notwithstanding.]

I [profusely] thanked the men for their help and called Tim.  He said he would come pick me up as soon as he could.

Here are a few moments of irony at this point in the story [at which I couldn't help but laugh]:

• Tim had some customers come in right as the store was closing and insist that they stay open late.  [This rarely-to-never happens.]
• As I was sitting in the truck waiting for Tim, a man backed into the space next to me and opened his door into the side of the truck.
• I tried to figure out if I could keep the truck in the parking lot overnight, got transferred several times, and eventually was hung up on.
• Tim set the alarm at his work before he left, went to check on a side door, which abruptly opened and set off the alarm, and had to reassure the alarm company and his boss that he was not a burglar and that no one was trying to break in.

Thankfully [with my parents' help] we got the truck towed the next day and have someone working on it now.  I don't really know what's wrong with it, and at this point, I'm not really sure I care.  I'm just grateful that I was safe, that we had so much help, and that I am not currently sitting at that intersection trying to get my car to start.

And I'm grateful for all the moments of irony that provided so much comic relief for me.

Does anyone else panic in situations like that [and then laugh like a crazy person afterward]?  Please tell me I'm not the only one.

the semester slump

I am in an end-of-the-semester slump.

The strange part?  I am actually starting to enjoy my classes.  [You know, minus all the stress and whatnot.]

But I am encountering an all-too-familiar problem in the form of sleep deprivation.

Every morning, my alarm goes off.

Every morning, I reset it for 10 minutes later.

Every morning, I reset it again for 10 minutes later.

2,346 times.

At the beginning of the semester, I was always perfectly on time.  Then mid-semester hit and I was two or three minutes late every day.

Now I'm lucky if I make it at all. 

And if I do make it, you'll probably see me strolling in about 30 minutes late or so.  [But give me a break, my classes are all 3 hours long this semester.]

Does this happen to anyone else?

And now I have a completely unrelated question:

For anyone who has ever had to change their name...was it as daunting a process as I'm making it out to be?  I haven't even tried, because I read about what I have to do online and get way too intimidated.  So...I'm still using my maiden name.  But I would really like to be using my married name.

Any helpful tips?

wedgies

Papers and presentations and tests, oh my!

Thank heavens Thanksgiving is next week.  [Ahaha.  Is it funny to anyone else that I am thankful for Thanksgiving?  ...Yeah.  Maybe my brain is just too fried to know what's funny anymore.]

Want to hear a funny story?  [Now that your faith in my humor is gone...]

My mom came down on Friday just to spend the day with me.  And it was great!  It's the funnest thing when your mom is one of your best friends.

Anyway on the drive down [she lives about two hours away], she bought some KFC.  She still had some potato wedges left by the time she got to our apartment, so she offered them to me:

"I couldn't eat all of my food...would you like some of my wedgies?"

Needless to say, I laughed about that on and off for a few hours.  And I might be laughing about it right now just remembering it.

Why yes, Mom, I would like some of your wedgies...

Friday was an awesome day.  She taught me how to do things like fill the nail holes in our walls and put up new shower rods.  She even took me early Christmas shopping and got me things like throw pillows for our couch and mirrors for our walls.

There is a literally endless list of things I can learn from my mom.  She is a handy gal to have around.

And we both love to laugh about almost everything.  Including KFC and wedgies.

Gotta love wedgies.

the pot that died

Last night, Tim and I got home at around 8:00pm.  Neither of us had eaten dinner yet, so let me tell you folks: we were hungry.

We had some leftovers in our freezer, so we decided to just thaw those since that would be quick and easy.  But I like to be somewhat healthy, so I decided to steam some cauliflower, too.  [Side note: I kept mixing up "cauliflower" and "broccoli" last night.  And I almost just typed broccoli instead of cauliflower.  Special.]

Before I even started thawing our leftovers, I cut up the cauliflower [almost just did it again] and put it in the steamer, which I then set inside a pot.  I put it on the burner, turned on the stove, and started thawing the leftovers.

Once the leftovers were thawed, I checked on the cauliflower, certain it would be almost done.  To my surprise, it didn't look any different.  I checked to see if the burner was on [which it was] and got our drinks ready and the table set.

I checked the cauliflower again.

Still no different.

Suddenly my breath caught in my chest.

I hadn't put any water in the pot.  Which meant the cauliflower wasn't being steamed.  Which meant the bottom of my pot was black as coal.  [This seems an inappropriate time to make a joke about the pot calling the kettle black, eh?]

Kids, I have steamed vegetables dozens...nay, hundreds...of times.  But never have I ever not put water in the pot.

I decided to just let the pot cool down naturally, hoping beyond hope that it would just somehow be 100% ok.

About 10 minutes later, we heard a loud bang which made us think that perhaps our kitchen was exploding.  I checked on our pot and this was the result:

That's right.  The bottom of the pot came off.  I didn't even know that was possible.

I was sad for about five minutes, and then I couldn't help but laugh.  So then I gave Tim a monologue about how our steamer would have to grieve quickly and then soon remarry the other pot that we [thankfully] have.

The other good news is that we got to use our rice cooker/steamer for the first time since getting it as a wedding gift.  Tim is usually the kitchen-gadget guy but I have formed an immediate attachment to this new kitchen appliance.

Hopefully I won't ruin this new favorite appliance by forgetting to put water in the pot.

But if I do, you know dang well I will blog about it.

community

Part of me has always wanted to live in the South.

I have never been there, but from what I have heard and from the books I have read, it sounds like a magical place.

And in my imagination, people are sometimes-quirky but always neighborly.  And there is a strong sense of community.

It seems very likely to me that this really is all in my imagination, since again, I have never been there.  Kind of an important detail.

But regardless, I have found a piece of what the South is like [in my imagination] in our new apartment complex.

Everyone has been so friendly.  I've never experienced that in an apartment complex before.  Like - chatting it up, inviting us over for dinner, and telling us we can borrow toilet paper if we run out - kind of friendly.

And I love it.

It's not even just one neighbor, or even two...it's everyone.

Like the lady who has all the cute little blonde kids who have us her contact card, or the woman with her three pugs who loves to talk, or the couple with the two dogs and two kids who love to be outside.

I hope we get the chance to know them all better.

But if it really is anything like I imagine the South to be, I'm sure we will.

p.s.  If the South is different from what I imagine it to be, and you know it, just keep in mind that old adage, "ignorance is bliss."

p.p.s.  Kloveyoubye.

thankful

Hello there kiddos!

Everyone is talking about things they are thankful for [it is that time of the year, you know], so I thought I'd jump on the thanksgiving bandwagon.

Today I am thankful...

via

...that I am not in high school anymore.

Random?  Possibly.  True?  Definitely.

My high school days were some of the most insecure that I can remember.

I spent so many days worrying about what people thought of me - worrying that my hair looked ok or if my clothes made me look fat or why someone didn't talk to me that day.

Now to be honest, I still worry about those things sometimes.  But it's not a pervasive, think-about-it-all-the-freakin-time kind of worry.

I have come to love myself for who I am.  I feel confident in my own skin.

Do you know what helped me the most?

Gaining a knowledge that I am a daughter of a very loving Heavenly Father who values me and is very involved in my life.

I knew that in high school, but I don't think it had really entered into my heart yet.  And now I know it with my whole heart.

Like I said, I still have those days or those moments of insecurity.

But it only takes me a second to remember who I am.

And don't you forget, either.  

Heavenly Father loves you.  You are important.  You are special.  You are worth it.

Thank goodness there is life after high school, eh?

[lack of] trick-or-treaters

I have a confession, kids:

I did not dress up for Halloween.

This was not for lack of desire, but Tim was at work until late, so I decided to stay home and...study.

My one hope for the night was that I would have at least a few trick-or-treaters come to my door.  I had dreams of seeing all the cute little princesses and pirates and pumpkins and hearing that magic phrase.

But.

I did not have even one trick-or-treater.

My little pumpkin bowl that I bought specifically with the purpose of giving out candy to the kiddos [with all of the Halloween spirit that my little heart could muster]...

remained depressingly full...

and so I decided to eat all of the candy to make up for my loss.

[It worked surprisingly well.]

Happy November 1st!