the Holidays

Christmas for us was wonderful (& busy) this year! My parents came out from NC for 2 whole weeks during the Christmas break and we had a great time together. They stayed at my sister's house in West Jordan so Justin and I were making daily trips up there to hang out with everyone. We played the wii, decorated gingerbread houses, saw a couple movies, had a great Christmas Eve together and spent the night that night for Christmas day. Justin and I woke up around 6 a.m. and waited a little while before waking everyone else up. There were so many presents under the tree and having so many of our family members there it took quite a while to open all our presents! Justin's got his big gift, a blu-ray player (though he's been using it since Thanksgiving), brown shoes, shirts, emergency preparedness supplies, some movies...and a few other things. Justin got me a beautiful right-hand pearl/diamond ring & a black jacket, I also got some exercise pants, really cute ugg boots, jeans, and some other things. It was a great (& white) Christmas and we were truly blessed with how many blessings we enjoyed over the Holidays.

After Christms, my oldest sister and her family drove out West and we were able to spend New Year's Eve with them in West Jordan. We played games and had food but Justin and I left to come home in time to see the ball drop and sip some sparkling cider in the comforts of our own home. So Happy 2009 everyone! Sorry it's so late!

Since then Justin has started back at the ol' job routine and I have begun my Student Teaching at Draper Elementary in 3rd grade. Commuting there so far has been a pretty hairy situation. On a clear day the drive would take around 30 minutes but because of winter weather and accidents the drive has taken around 1.5 hrs-2 hrs. Ah! My day is much longer now than it usually is. But so far I am loving working with these 3rd graders (though they could pass as 6th graders in my book). I can't wait to be a college grad and teaching full-time!

The snow has been so much fun (though hard to drive in!) and so beautiful. Tuesday night Justin went out to scrape his car off for the next morning and recruited me in the effort. There had to be over a foot of snow on his car! A snowball fight insued then came the desire to make a snowman. I began to make one and Justin decided to help, however after he smashed my perfectly round snowball I strongly encouraged him to make his own snowman while I made mine...haha. Here are the end products!:

Mine:
Justin's:


Last night Justin and I went on a triple date to Salt Lake for dinner at Stone Ground then ice skating downtown. We had so much fun with our friends and chasing each other around the rink. I'm proud to admit that neither of us fell, though I did some pro-skating manuevers while I was in the process of nearly falling. Justin was impressed ;-)

Anyway, that's whats been going on in our lives lately! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break!

Finisio!

I don't think that's actually a word but in any case...I'm finished with classes and finals!

Now I have one week to finish Christmas shopping (well...just Justin's presents...) and really get into the Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Weekend fun

Justin and I had a full and fun Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Friday was fun too...got some Christmas shopping done! But Saturday we spray-painted my candle holders from DI (pictures to come!) and went to the BYU vs. USU basketball game in Salt Lake at the Energy Solutions Arena. (Thanks Grandpa Allred and Uncle Ruel for the tickets!). The game was a lot of fun and although USU students were there in great numbers ... well let's just say the best team won! I know this kills Justin since USU lost in the football game against BYU also but what can ya do? He's a good sport about it!


Final score of the game: 63-68

After the game we walked around the Gateway and had dinner. Overall it was a very enjoyable evening :-)


Then on Sunday, we headed up to my sister's house after church. We had dinner with them then went downtown again for the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional. For the first time probably ever we made it to the Conference center in plenty of time! The Devotional was wonderful as was the Tabernacle Choir. I realized that this is my 3rd year in a row going to this Devotional-such a blessing! Justin esspecially loves this Devotional because he feels like it really kicks of the Season. I agree. Anyway, it was another very fun double date with Heather and Josh! Here are some pics from last night.

Pardon Me While I RANT

I am posting this right after the Christmas tree post. Why? This post isn't going to be as nice and I didn't want to detract from the wonderful post devoted to my dear Christmas tree. Here it goes.

My newest and (quickly becoming) biggest pet peeve is people that cut lines! (Butt lines, cut lines, break in line...however you say it). These people stink! Perhaps it is the holiday season that is bringing it out in people or maybe it is a common occurrence and only because I'm shopping more now am I vulnerable to the situation. Whatever the case, there have been at least 3 distinct scenarios within the last couple of weeks that have brought out the red-headed temper in me.

First time: the phone store. Justin was quite excited to see the new blackberry phone the day it premiered... I think it is called the Storm? Anyway... the phone store only had 2 Storms on display and they were both being occupied. So I stand behind one of the men toying around on the phone. Clearly behind him. Clearly I was waiting for our turn with the beloved Storm. What happens? I look away for ONE SECOND and a man in baggy gray sweatpants sneaks his way in and hops on the phone that had just so happened to become free the one second I looked away. You might think, hey it's your fault for looking away, but don't forget-I was clearly standing behind the man waiting for our turn. I was livid. What did I do? Whisper a little to Justin of my frustrations and....that's it. Baggy sweatpant-wearing guy if you are reading this: I don't appreciate your line cutting.

Second time: Adidas Outlet store in Naperville. Kristen, Justin and I had been waiting patiently in a forever long ling that was creeping along at snail like speeds. We had been in like for perhaps 30 minutes or so when we could finally see the cash registers. What else did we see? A youngish 20 something man who appeared at of nowhere was now by our side. Mind you he was NOT in line but standing by the side of Kristen, who clearly was IN line. We began to very quietly whisper that we think we might have a code cutter on our hands. Kristen did her best to box this guy out but what happens? We approach the registers, there is one on both sides of us. He cuts in front of us to go to the register to the right and was out of the store before we had made it to the register. Justin says perhaps the guy was European and he heard that in Europe people don't stand in straight lines but huddle around registers. That was nice of him to try and lessen the crime of this guy. But I've been to Europe and I saw lines formed.

Third time: I know...you are probably tired of reading about my rantings. I'll try to make this one fast. Tonight I realized that I am getting a sore throat. What sounded better than a drink from Orange Julius. I made my way over to the counter with anticipating, seeing that there were not customers = no wait!, but then out of no where a group of young teeny boppers swooped in to the counter. The order was: a girl from their group, me, and the rest of that girls friends. Tell me this-just because your friend makes it to the counter first, does that mean you and the rest of your friends get to join her at the front??? You might that does sound kinda fair, well in my eyes it is not! So I semi-politely waited for the entire group of kids to order their drinks. Justin came up and asked if I was in line, I replied (quite loudly) "I was!". I thought Justin shooshed me...sometimes I can act in a way that embarrasses him...understandbly so. I asked him about it a bit later and he said he didn't shoosh me... he was trying to get me to nudge my way more in line.

After all this ranting this is my point. People cut in front of me. It infuriates me. What do I do? Get mad, maybe whisper to Justin, give glares and thats it. Have you ever been in such a situation? What did you do? What do you suggest I do?? I don't want to be a push over but I don't want to sound like a sqaure saying "You cut in line!" (Sidenote: The people in San Francisco have NO qualms about saying when you cut in line. I apparently cut in the Trolley line (completely unbeknownst) and all of the people waiting YELLED in unison "HEY the lines back here!" .. I apologized and was quite embarrassed. Kinda a funny story eh?).

I am definately going to teach all my elementary school students the importance of not cutting in line. That will not be taken lightly in my class! Perhaps everyone in these malls and stores were not taught that it is RUDE to cut in front of others. gracious.

P.S. Thanks for all the cooking advice! I'm happy to report that last night I cooked a yummy dinner despite my small amount of ingredients.

O Christmas Tree!

Here she is in all her glory. Yes, she might be all glowing and beautiful now, but wow... I never knew the effort that it takes to make a Noble fir evergreen into a Christmas tree.

Lessons learned: 1. Christmas trees are expensive (or more money than I'd like to pay but that's okay, it's worth it.) 2. Make sure the bottom end of the tree's stump is long enough to reach the water that is in the tree stand. 3. Spend whatever money is needed to get a nice tree stand, granted they aren't very expensive. I learned this lesson because I bought a tree stand from DI for $3 thinking I was getting a steal. Turns out it was a cheapo and we ended up not being able to use it. 4. Do whatever it takes to make the bottom of the branches level, the more level they are the more level the tree will stand. 5. 25 ft of ribbon does not go very far! 6. I learned (from Justin) if you squint your eyes and look at your lit tree you can see the dark places where more lights are needed. I didn't care so much about the dark spots, I was so excited to see how much prettier my tree looked when I squinted! Is that odd?

Umm... if you can't tell by now, Justin and I sure put some hard work into this tree. I feel half bad for all the abuse we put our tree through...sorry we're first time Christmas-tree-putter-uppers! Buying our first Christmas tree together was so much fun! Decorating our tree with all of Justin's ornaments was also very fun! I'm so glad Mom Blackham gave Justin ornaments each Christmas, without his special ornaments our tree would not have so much character. We're pretty proud of our tree. And the Christmas presents that are already under the tree...that's right, we're trying to be on top of the shopping this year! I am still in the process of decorating
the rest of our apartment. Tomorrow I plan to spray-paint some brass Christmas themed candles I bought from DI. I want to hang some garland around the place too...gotta buy it first though! I think Justin might be a little worn out with all the Christmas decorating. But he loves it too :-)

Burnt chicken anyone??

Well my good and/or edible dinner streak finally ended last night. It lasted 6 1/2 months (plus if you count all the pre-marriage dinners I made..) so I guess I was due for a little bad luck in the kitchen. Can I just say that I feel like everything I have touched lately has broken, spilled, or made a mess? Maybe I should just stop touching anything in our home until I get over this unlucky spell.

A recap of the disaster that was last night:

I had been busy working on school work all day. I knew our leftovers were finished off the night before so I needed to make something for dinner. It was nearing 5 o'clock and I usually like to have something started by then so Justin and I can eat soon after he gets home from work. Well that wasn't happening because of the assignments I was trying to finish. So Justin gets home around 5:30 and I'm still working, 6 o'clock rolls around and I decide I should probably try to whip something up for dinner. Usually I have veggies, chicken, rice etc to make a good meal but not last night. When I went grocery shopping Monday I apparently got all the essentials and left out all the extras needed to make a recipe. So after looking aimlessly around my kitchen I decided we could have green beans, baked potatoes and chicken marinated in a marinade I got off the Worcestershire sauce (worcestershire sauce + balsamic vinegar + lemon juice + salt)-sounds not half bad right? Well the chicken didn't get a long time in the marinade before it got put on the grill (George Foreman grill that is). Justin was keeping an eye on the chicken while I was trying to cook the potatoes in the microwave. I also had the green beans in a skillet, sauteing with eevo and garlic (these were the only things that turned out edible). After microwaving the potatoes several times on several sides, the suckers were still not getting very soft on the inside. BUT the chicken was already getting burned (I think George needs to create a grill that has controllable temperatures, and if he already has then I need to get one because this one burns everything!). In a last attempt to salvage the potatoes, I pulled out the semi-cooked insides and plopped them in a bowl, adding sour cream, butter, garlic and salt to make mashed potatoes. Lesson learned: nothing can be made from semi-cooked potatoes. A sample taste of the chicken proved that it was pretty bland. At this point Justin and I looked at each other and said 'where do you want to go eat'?

I feel like a failure! Anyone who reads this, any advice? I don't have tons of time to make dinners at night...any quick dinner suggestions? How do you quickly cook your potatoes??

And to my husband, I am sorry I did not feel your stomach full of good home cooking last night. Let's hope my unlucky spell with anything I touch ends soon....

Thanksgiving in Chicago!

Justin and I left Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving with the Blackhams! I won't give an hour by hour replay but I will touch on the highlights :)

Thursday: Thanksgiving bowling games then the dinner in the evening. It was a yummy dinner! We had a great time visiting with family and relaxing after eating so much!


Friday: We did the Black Friday shopping! This was my first year going out on Black Friday. I've always dreaded shopping in super crowded places but it wasn't really all that bad. We didn't go out till around 11 a.m. and we took Kristen (Justin's little sis) shopping so she could get some of her Christmas shopping done. We went to the mall, Target (great deals on dvd's!) and the Outlet malls. I think since Justin and I weren't shopping for anything on our lists it made the experience more pleasant and less stressful. Justin did end up getting a big ticket item for his Christmas. I won't reveal it until he officially opens it on Christmas :-) A few more highlights from Friday... eating lunch at Portillo's....yuuummm, walking downtown Naperville and looking at all the pretty lights, and seeing Twilight with the whole fam. Dad Blackham was a trooper! We all liked the movie, I'm more interested in reading the books now! (I know, gasp, I haven't read the books and I saw the movie)
Saturday: Justin and I went downtown Chicago pretty much all day. We walked to Millenial Park then up to the Magnificant Mile then went up the John Hancock building then walked over to the Oriental Theatre and saw the Marshall Field's window displays. It was such a fun day in the city! We definitely walked off our Turkey dinner that day! That night we went out to eat with the DeMille's for a farewell dinner.

Can you find us??

We got back in town Sunday and decided to get out all of our Christmas decoration. Turns out I don't have nearly as much decoration as I thought I did! Soooo... Justin and I went shopping at JoAnn's tonight for some decorations. They had all their Christmas stuff 60% off! I don't understand why they put their stuff on such a sale before Christmas but I sure love it! Now we just have to get a tree this weekend and trim it :-) orrr put decorations on it. I'm excited because we already have a lot of presents to put under our tree! I just wish our place was a little bigger so we could fit a nice size tree in it instead of the midget one I'm sure we're going to have to get. Oh well.. maybe next year we'll be in a bigger place! We're sooo excited for Christmas! Next Thursday (I think) is my last day of class, I can't believe it's so soon! But this time of year is sooo fun....just hope it snows soon!