S.G.R.

Sweets and I headed down to the warm SG this past weekend for some R-&-R, running, biking and friends!

 It was a must awaited vacation and the weather couldn't have been any more perfect, with highs of 60 degrees and sunny skies! 

Although I didn't get to train like I wanted due to my AS, I still attempted and joined forces with SDAY, BECKY and 3000 other peeps to run the St. George 1/2 marathon Race. While those awesome chickas completed the 13.1 mile run in perfect time, I ran beside them for 8.2 miles. The best part of my not-run run, was that I was still able to walk after and my legs weren't shooting with pain!  For me, that was an improvement.



Following the race, Sweets and KDAY hit up the Barrel Roll for some mountain biking action. The first one of the season is always hard on the tush, but they blazed through the red rock and had such a good time.  

We all hit up a scenic trial Sunday afternoon to loosen all of our legs up, and to wear the dogs down. Tahoe was so happy to have a fellow 'golden' named Kashi play with him the whole weekend. They ran wild on the trial, and were completely worn out for the drive home!

Thanks for the fun run girls, and thanks to the Days' for the awesome memories...

 

(collage: thanks to kday)

MONDAY GRIND

...back to the DDP trail...

i just love this lil' guy! he is quite the explorer and always seems to put a smile on my face. after taking me on a scenic and intense run, he laid down and waited patiently for me at the top of the hill. if the weather had been warmer (i mean LOTS warmer), i would have joined him on the ice. thanks T for kicking my butt this morning. a few more of these runs and maybe i'll beat ya!

BUILD THE PRESENT

...if you dread tomorrow, 

it's because you don't know how to build the present,

and when you don't know how to build the present,

you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, 

and it's a lost cause anyway

because tomorrow always ends up becoming today...

(the elegance of the hedgehog)

KICK THE BAD HABITS!

This year, my New Year's Resolution is to make Resolutions!

That is not to say that I haven't in the past,

because I make them every year, but they are usually

broken, 

unachieved, 

forgotten about, 

or unattainable. 

The difference this year is that I have learned a little something about myself. I am the type of person that needs gratification. Instant gratification, actually. So instead of making only yearly goals in which I lose sight of starting February 1st, I am making some monthly, quarterly and half yearly goals that I will be able to see
 the outcome of
my time,
and energy,
and feel more confident in myself at an early stage. 
(let's be honest, waiting a whole year for the completion of goals is far too long)
January is "NO SODA" month. Despite having a few cravings early on, I have been successful in letting my DP addiction go. I am sure it will return, but when it does, I hope that I will be able to enjoy it sparingly...
My goal for the Winter Quarter (January, February, March) is to bike 1/2 a century or 50 miles. Sweets is setting up the trainer tonight so I can get started. I am excited to give this a try. 
I am reading the Book of Mormon as my Half-Yearly goal. I pretty much know 1st Nephi by heart and would really like to feel the same about Ether and Moroni! 
My Yearly goals are pretty much monthly goals that last the whole year. Two of them are to attend the temple twice a month (once with my hubby, and once with our ward) and to read 1-2 books a month. 
I hope that you all are making some good, clean fun goals this year!

AFFINITY FOR ELF CULTURE

Last night was the Arnell family Christmas Party and we were the hosts! Every year there is a new Christmas theme to celebrate so we chose our favorite Christmas movie, Elf! It was so much fun decorating, baking, cooking, organizing, and planning this party. Weston did a fabulous job hanging snowflakes all over the house.

It wasn't quite like what Buddy did to the Hobbs' house, but it was a good start! We borrowed the kids tables and chairs from my parents house and used them to sit on during dinner. It was fun to squeeze ourselves onto tiny chairs all crammed together for the feast. We ate:

and

to start.

 We had Jovie's Yuletide Punch (cranberry apple sparkling cider) as well to wash down the hors d'ouevres. Then it was on to:

Kringle Caprese salad

and Impostor Santa lasagna (beef and cheese). 

Following dinner, we gathered all around and watched the beloved show laughing and singing along with the amazing soundtrack. For dessert we had:

 (which look a bit scary, but they were tasty. I'll have to fix this one for next time)

and Candy Cane Forest which was really peppermint ice cream with hot fudge! It was a great success and everyone had a fun time. They all got to take home: 

 

 which also included a snow globe of New York City. 

I am so sad that this party has already come and gone. It was SO much fun and I want to do this whole thing over. I tried to correlate ideas from the movie into the evening to make it more 'real'. Thanks Arnell's, you simply are the best IL family anyone could ask for! I am so lucky to be apart of such an amazing and fun family! Merry Christmas!

 

and I love you sweets! Thanks for all your help...

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY

 Last weekend was a big treat! We were lucky enough to do several fun activities with many of our friends!

THURSDAY night we went to the Mo Tab Christmas Program with our good friends Dave and Lindsey. It was so much fun to hang out with them in the freezing cold, wandering through downtown trying to find a place to eat dinner,  and listening to the beautiful music of the Christmas holiday. As you all know, the one and only David Archuleta was the special guest and he did a good job. It was the opening night and I think he was just a bit nervous because his voice was slightly shaky and he was out of breath, but he did get better as the night went on. It was fun to watch him perform, although I didn't agree with him being chosen for this concert, and see some lights at Temple Square.

I didn't get a pic with the Allen's, but we love you and thanks again for thinking of us!

FRIDAY morning my 2 sisters and I started our "popcorn" fest. It was so much fun to cook up some yummy Carmel Popcorn and chit chat about girlie things. I have been missing just hanging out with them and goofing off as sisters.  Kimberly brought the recipe (a friends' secret family recipe so I can't share...sorry) and Susan was kind enough to let us destroy her kitchen making it all. I on the other hand, didn't do much but just showed up and snapped pics, stirred the popcorn and bagged it! Overall, we made about 50 bags!  

I can officially say that I am popcorned out, but BOY it was good!

FRIDAY night was the friends' Christmas Party for Weston's crew. We were in charge this year and had such a blast. With everyone being so busy for the holidays, we couldn't get everyone together, but we did get a good group to celebrate Christmas. We first hit up the Dodo restaurant in Sugarhouse and devoured the honey glazed salmon and Toll house pie, then it was off to Jon Schmidt at Kingsbury Hall.

 

Thank you Cal and Gina, Eric and Kerstin, Mark and Sian and Jarum and Brooke! We sure do appreciate all the friendship year round and look forward to making new and great memories next year with you all. We missed the rest of you, but hopefully next time, February, we will all be together again soon!

SURVIVAL MODE...

Sweets and I have been sick with the "cold" for the past week. We keep thinking it will go away, but it slowly gets worse! Thankfully mine is not too bad this year, but my poor sweets has been through the ringer with the loss of voice for 2 days. Hopefully we will be back on our feet by this weekend!

We have been living on throat lasengaes, head cold pills (day and night), and tissues. After work we put on the sweats, grab the blankets and lounge out. I am not complaining about this, for I just love cuddling up with sweets and Tahoe by the fire watching TV.

Last night, I thought I would try the ol' remedy of Chicken noodle soup! I couldn't just open a can, so I made my own. Although I can't say for sure that I feel better today, I can however breathe out of my nose so that's an improvement. This is a simple and yet very satisfying soup for those that want the recipe:

(actually there is no recipe, i just put it together, but here is what I did and it was scrumptious) 

boil 4 chicken breasts in water until done. then cube
boil 2 quarts chicken broth with 2 celery stalks sliced, 8 carrots sliced, 1 onion diced, ( or as many veggies as you want) until tender.
add 1 or 2 (depending on your preference of thickness, i used 2) cans cream of chicken soup
cook noodles separately ( i used wide egg noodles) as package describes 
add chicken, frozen peas and corn into veggie broth and simmer 3 minutes
add noodles, salt, pepper, basil, and lemon juice (i always put lemon juice in my soup but you don't have to) for 2 minutes
Enjoy!

FEELING FONDUE?

It was that time of year again! I can't believe just how fast time flies. 

I hold a fondue/dessert party every year for my family and it just took place on Sunday. It was an amazing success (even if everyone couldn't make it), with great company and yummy treats. I just love fondue and I love the spirit of Christmas!  

Sweets and I cooked up cheese fondue with cubed ham, broccoli, carrots, french bread, apples and shrimp for dippers! It was so scrumptious!!! I have to say, this cheese fondue was SO yummy!

Then we had chocolate fondue with apples, strawberries, pineapples, bananas, donut holes and marshmallows as dippers! It truly was a D-lish meal!

The kiddies just loved the idea of dipping food! Fondue is always such a hit! We all had such a great time talking and eating around the fire and christmas tree. It was such a huge success, we finished up just about every piece of food!

You can't see it, but my shirt is probably the best Christmas shirt EVER! I'll post about it later for those that are interested in super funny Christmas movie quotes!

Along with the fondue, we had other treats set out, and they were devoured! I made these simple Oreo Brownies and they were the HIT of the party! (check out pick-palate)

Holiday Oreos dipped in brownie mix and baked in a muffin tin for 12-15 minutes.

VOILA!

Thanks family for the great support of this years Fondue/Dessert Party! We sure do appreciate all the love and kindness, and the willingness to make the trek ;)

xoxo

VIVA...LAS VEGAS!

W and I spent a few days in Vegas last week for the NFR (national finals rodeo), and it was amazing!

 YEE-HAW! 

We flew down on Wednesday with my parents and then met up with his parents for some fun. It is so wonderful that both families share common interests and get along with one another. It makes "family" trips that much more fun! 

Anyway, we were able to go to the rodeo twice and sit on the front row both times! 

WOW! 

During our short stay we walked around the shops, went to Cowboy Christmas, hit up Trader Joes, saw the strip, ate super yummy food and had a blast! This definitely is a trip that will always be remembered!

 We stayed in the new City Center on the strip at the Vdara! it was so incredible! This is only a snippet of the desserts that they had in their cafe...YUM! We ate gelato everynight and boy, was it good!

I mean, really! You would think they would all give up after getting bucked off but they don't. They get right back on the horse. Truly impressive!

 We were lucky enough to sit on the front row, but even more lucky to sit 4 people away from the aisle. After a guy, I can't remember who it was, got bucked off the saddle bronc, his horse went crazy. They have 2 members of the NFR on the dirt to help both the horse and the rider. When the horse was having one of its moments and the member couldn't get the strap undone off its flanks, the horse bolted straight for us, charging at us at a fairly good speed. Not thinking too much of this (considering the horses usually stay on the dirt), I was immediately taken by surprise when the horse tried to jump the rails and into the aisle!!!! (remember we are sitting right there) The front 2 hooves made it over but the body of the horse slammed into the rail which made him fall backwards on the dirt. At this point, I am trying to catch my breath and clean up my seat when the team members cornered the horse and were able to free the strap! I am SO glad I was not sitting any closer, but never in our lives have we seen such a thing at a rodeo!!! 

Kelli is from Utah, like a lot of the riders in the NFR, so it was so fun to cheer them on and show support. She came in 2nd Thursday night. I am pretty sure, my children will be doing all this rodeo stuff. Weston grew up riding and roping, and I grew up riding, so we think its only fitting that our kiddies grow up the same way. Hopefully one of them makes it to the NFR! That would be a dream!

Sweets and I remembering our allergy/cold/dirt-flying/poop-smelling/dust-filled front row adventure!

 Sweets looking like a stud in his Cowboy hat. Apparently this hat is specific for the tie-down/team rope! Who new they made different hats for every event.

Like father, like son! These two men just look Handsome, don't they? Kirk has taught Weston everything he knows about horses, and its ALOT! He started Weston on horses when he a baby and really supported his love for rodeo as a child. Our kiddies will have a great Grandpa in Kirk!

   

Thanks Mom and Dad! You guys are the best! We had such a great time and look forward to it next year! 

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS...

Right down Santa Claus Lane!

Sweets and I finally got some of our Christmas decorations up and we are loving it! We picked out our 11 foot tree down the street from our home on Saturday and put it together in no time. We couldn't hardly wait to get in the door before we started putting lights on it. Thanks to Sweets and his love for manly things like ladders, he hung the lights while I did the ornaments. 

I can't wait for Christmas and the joy that it brings.