2010 recap.

 i feel like 2010 was the year of trips.

we were so freaking lucky to have gone on so many in one year. 

(i'm still waiting for that piano to fall out of the sky)

but i'm so thankful. oh so thankful.

some of the things we were able to see this year still has left me shaking my head in unbelief.

(i'm still deciding if the shaking of the head is from the incredible things we've been able to see or how fast money can fly out of our hands)

so i thought i'd take a brief recap of all the fun trips we were able to go on this year....

being a little trip or a big one.. we still considered them trips.

wyoming to see les and her new babe

st. george with the elders to check out the indian writing.

boys II men in wendover with scott and em.

vegas with the smiths.

london, england

paris, france

rome, italy

girls camp with my young woman for a week

canada with jax and mike.

kauai, hawaii with the weidner clan.

we have a very fortunate life.  

sometimes i forget that and whine and complain.  

one of my new goals for this year is to be more grateful in all dynamics of my life. 

because i know one day mine and brads life won't be this luxurious to be able to 

pick up and go whenever we want. 

i've treasured this year, and i hope we're always able to travel like this together.  

he's been the best/most fun traveling partner a girl could ask for.


HERE'S TO 2011!!!!!!!!!
I HOPE THIS ONE IS JUST AS FUN!

the weather makes me tired.

poor brad.  the most excitement he gets is taking pictures of me while i sleep.
me and brad both have had these last 3 days off from work and school.  its been bliss.  the weather makes us want to do nothing but stay in and watch movies (or play the old school mario brothers that we bought for christmas).

we've watched more movies than we can count and have taken more naps than we need. we did squeeze in some temple time and dinner with friends.  but for the most part, we've been pretty lazy over here.

we ate at eggs in the city (must try) and had the nicest waiter. we were loving him. and then it hit me, it's rare when people are so nice.  like genuinely nice. me and brad both were talking about how we need to be nicer people.  it's sad to me how it's more surprising to have a complete stranger smile at you than it is to have someone glare at you. after that conversation with brad, it kind of changed the feel of the day. i liked it.


p.s. we saw tangled this last weekend.  me and her have identical hair (at the end). i can't get over it.

let bygons be bygons.

 me and brad doubled for some lunch with jax and her new man. we got on the topic of pedicures and how wonderful of a thing they are.  we decided last minute we should get one across the street. brad and tyson never experienced the heavenly bliss of a pedicure so they were down. unfortunately i didn't get one. i spent the wonderful hour getting my face waxed in agony in the back room while jax, brad and tyson were getting rubbed.

brad was obsessed with it.

monkey pajamas. what the crap else would you need in life to be happy?

stace, where the heck were you when we were taking pictures before the pyramid? i hate that you're not in them with me and jax.  and while your looking at the pyramid picture, yours and jax's arms look like reeses legs. hilarious.
sorry, some of them are really crappy-they were taken from the phone.

.........and just like that it's over.

welp, now what? 

christmas is over, and now you can't help but feel large and depressed. 

all the family is gone, every one's back to their normal routines,

and all that you have to look forward to now is losing 32 pounds.

christmas was so fantastic this year. 

all the traditions were the exact same (that's what we want) 

and just as fun as we remembered. 

it really is the most wonderful time of year!

and i'm not lying when i say, 

i stayed in those monkey pj's for 2 days straight. 

having brad not complain about my stench was my christmas present.

i hope you all enjoyed your christmas.  

i can't wait to blog stalk everyone to see just how wonderful yours was!

we're off for christmas!

on behalf of me and brad....

have yourself a merry little christmas.

tis the seasn to feel hungry!

 these are just a few random pictures from the weekend/week so far. 

we are officially preparing ourselves for christmas!

deciding what houses to sleep at with the families, where to eat,

what to eat and what music to dance too (most important). 

i love it. i can't get enough of all this.

i feel like all i've felt this christmas season is pure hunger. 

i can't tell if it's the weather, or the fact that every. single. freaking place i look there is sugar pouring from the sky.

but aside from eating like a freak on a leash....

the temple lights are still as gorgeous as ever, the snow is still as peaceful as ever,

and the addiction i have with 

bright eyes/maria taylor christmas cd is still just satisfying as ever.  

i love christmas parties so much.

 i've always been obsessed with going to brads grams and gramps elders house. it's a cabin like house that feels like your in the woods.  mmmm, i love it so much. soo cozy.

i love brads extended family on both sides so much. promise i consider all of them a blessing. 

and i can't quite explain to you the feeling a crowded room full of family or friends does to me. it's a feeling that i crave and live for.  i just love family chaos.  it's a priceless chaos to me.  everyone catching up, laughing, eating, playing with all the kids...gosh i could go on and on what i love about this kind of chaos. 

it was a wonderful night, and his grandparents are just wonderful, wholesome people that i want to be like when i grow up.

these pictures make me a happy girl.

 sometimes when i'm bored at work, i'll browse through

my pictures of reese and coop.
and then i find myself doing it over and over again because
i can't stop thinking of how cute they are.

one day i'm going to have a little girl, i'm going to name her reese,

i'm going to dye her hair pitch blonde, and i'm going to force her to be the spunkiest human alive,
and then we'll be best friends.

and judging from that first picture, all i want for christmas is teeth whitener.

sunday night fog

snapped a few pictures of the fog on sunday.  it was mystical to drive in. 

i want it to be foggy every day in the winter to cover up the hideous in-between-snow stages where it looks drab.

welp, i'm officially addicted to cutting my hair.

i did it again! i promise right before vanessa started cutting, 

my body felt like i was about to go sky diving. i was so freaking nervous/excited. 

i told her to just go as short as possible without calling it a pixie cut. and she did.  

and now my hair is the shortest it's ever been. 

the tom boy look is starting to grow on me. 

my favorite part of this whole process was after she was done, 

me and vanessa were looking in the mirror at the overall cut, 

and we both couldn't stop laughing, and then she goes, "you look like peter pan". 

i wanted to hug her i was so obsessed with her in that moment for that comment.

all i know is that my hair can't go any shorter, so my "cutting shorter and shorter" days are over...

we're getting boring.

we're starting to have hard core repeat dates.  and lately our favorite one has been going to spaghetti factory strictly for the mizithra cheese, and finishing the night in our underwear watching a movie.  this time we picked forest gump.  i cried in it about 3 times. for some reason i feel dumb admitting that. sorry about the fuzz in that picture, but yes, i actually did sit on santa's lap at trolley square and loved it.

you guys, i have the worlds biggest itch to cut my hair even shorter.  i'm talking like...super short.  so don't be alarmed if i all of a sudden look like a boy. because im on the verge...

a thank you note

our family is the suckiest of all sucks when it

comes to accepting compliments. 

i don't know who, why, what, how, and where it came from,

but it's weird and i don't like it.

but i feel like i need to say thank you

for all your incredibly nice comments about the pictures.

i can't tell you how heart warming it was to read them. 

and i also want to say thank you to all the comments

that are always left, even if it's just one.

i for sure don't blog for the comments,

but it's always an unexpected present when someone leaves one.

so from the bottom of my heart, thanks for reading the blog,

and thank you for your nice comments.