It's A Wonderful Life

So last night, Julie, Kristen and I kicked off our Christmas season by going to see Odyssey Dance's version of It's a Wonderful Life. (Sorry for all the pictures, but look at Kristen's cute bangs!)

It was playing at Kingsbury Hall, and there is very minimal leg room there. We're not giants, but we were jammed in there pretty tightly, and there was nowhere to move. So after act 3, Julie had spied some empty seats behind us, and up and moved so that she could stretch out. In her words, it was life changing back there. So I had turned around to ask her something and found this little gem with it's own chair:

Her purse is so large, it needs it's own seat!

Now Kristen had informed Julie and I that we were the only people on the planet, not just in America, who hadn't seen this movie. So sue me--I don't like depressing black and white movies! So poor Kristen had to translate what was going on for us throughout the night. But even if I had seen the movie, I don't know that I would have understood all of the dance filled interpretations of the movie. Maybe it's just me, but I had no idea that people dancing around angrily in trench coats represented the down trodden economy. And when a bunch of 'lil shorties started busting out some whack hip hop moves, that represented today's world that George would have missed had he not been around. But once I figured out what was going on, it was a grand time, and it was a good way to start celebrating the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance,

chaos to order,

confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast,

a house into a home,

a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past,

brings peace for today

and creates a vision for tomorrow."

-Melody Beattie

I love the concept of doing a Gratitude Journal. I learned about it years ago on an episode of Oprah and through the years have done different versions of daily blessings. On this day of thanks . . . here are some of the things that I am grateful for and love . . .

1. Our cute parents. Whenever I call Dad, he is always happy to hear from us and tell us so. He drops anything to help us. Our cute Mom always put a positive spin on any situation. We always say how glad we are that they found each other and that they are our parents.

2. Our family. We have always been good friends with each other and enjoy being together.

3. My little home. You can see in previous posts that I like my little house and I'm grateful that I don't have to have roommates and can control the heating and air conditioning at whatever temperature I would like to pay for.

4. The gospel and my faith. I'm glad for the chance our family has to be together forever. I love the things I learn through callings and service.

And then, some superficial ones from this week . . .

1. In honor of Thanksgiving, the Lifetime channel has been re-running some great mini-series. My absolute favorite, The Thorn Birds, has been on every day this week. Tonight is my favorite episode and I can't wait! Best week ever!

2. V Chocolate's chocolate covered cinnamon bears and Stacy's Pita Chips. Melinda and I needed a treat before our cooking class last week and stopped and got some V Chocolate chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Seriously the best little treat that you have ever tried! And then at Costco I got me a big bag of Stacy's pita chips brushed with yummy sea salt . . . I can't get enough.

3. Harmon's grocery story. We all love this store and my new favorite is the one on Bangerter. It's a beautiful store with everything I could ever want. If I go to another store, inevitably I have to go somewhere else to complete my list. Not at Harmon's - they have it all and even things I didn't know I wanted. They watch the ads for me with competing stores and make sure that they have the lowest prices, plus they always have samples and their customer service can't be beat. Last night as I was in line, a checker was helping a nervous woman cooking for her mother-in-law with instructions for how to cook her first turkey. Then behind me a lone man was asking a checker questions about what he was supposed to buy. The checker took his shopping list and checked off each item to make sure that he had everything on his list. Luckily for him, she realized he was missing the pie crust, and made sure that someone ran and got it for him. You don't get that kind of service from self-checkout. Love this store!

4. Christmas movies. I'm very excited for the upcoming Christmas specials. I got my new magazines this week and have already tabbed some new gems to record that are going to be on the Hallmark Channel and ABC Family. Wahooo!!!

5. The Internet - I love reading blogs to keep up with friends and family. I love the information that is right at my fingertips . . . from a tried and true recipe to tips for my Sunday lesson. And I love that I can shop right from my house. Thanks to websites like http://www.blackfriday.info/, I can sit here at midnight and purchase what I want without getting up early and braving the cold with crazy people who think that's fun. I will be well-rested with surprises showing up on my doorstep. What could be better?

What are you grateful or excited for?

He Smells Fantastic

After doing some food shopping for my Thanksgiving assignment, I found myself with a couple of free hours tonight. So what did I end up doing, you ask? I will tell you. But only if you promise not to judge. Readers, I sniffed Michael Phelps' neck!

Let me explain. I'm a sucker for People magazine's special issues - best and worst dressed, most beautiful people, and this week's cover: the Sexiest Man Alive. So when I saw it in the checkout line of course I had to shell out the money for it.

In recent years they've expanded the magazine to not just one, but 100+ hot men. And this year they added an additional treat - a scratch and sniff feature so you can smell the mens' favorite scents (I wish I were kidding). Even though I was alone in my house, I almost looked around before taking a nose dive into the magazine and sniffing Michael Phelps' cologne (FYI, he smells great). I also sniffed Tyson Beckford.

The worst part could be that while I was doing all this I was watching the Osmonds' 50th anniversary concert on PBS! Seriously, on a scale of 1-10, how much do you wish you'd had my night?? Actually, you know what? Don't answer that.

Napster

This is going to make me sound more lazy than I already do, but there are few things better to me than a Sunday afternoon nap. As a single, I have been relegated to have the dreaded 1:00-4:00 Church slot for the last several years. (Don't get me started on all of the reasons that this isn't fair. I would pay money to get one year on the 11:00-2:00 schedule!) This means that a nap is out of the question--unless you're Kristen, and you take your nap during Sunday School. Ha!:

But two glorious times a year, I get to have a nap. We had Stake Conference today, and were all wrapped up by noon. I could not have been more thrilled. I rushed past all of the old peeps to get home, got in my comfy clothes, and proceeded to take the best 3 hour nap I've had in a long time. That's right, I just admitted that I took a 3 hour nap, and I feel refreshed! And with my newly clear mind, I'm going to start working on how I can get a shot at the 9:00-12:00 schedule!

Happy Birthday Kristen!

Today we celebrate Kristen's day of birth and Melinda and I wanted to share some of the things that we love about Kristen . . .

1. Kristen loves music and is always ahead of the curve with knowing what's out there. She always has numerous things in her Itunes cart ready to purchase. She makes special mixes for us and knows exactly what we like. Melinda likes to call them "Kris-Mixes". When I was driving girls up to camp this summer, Kristen put together a great CD with music that the girls could relate to from So You Think You Can Dance that they are totally into . . . it was a big hit. She provides great road trip music too.

2. Kristen is funny and surprisingly mischievous . . . don't let her innocent look fool you. One time she dared Melinda to say the word "bun" in a church talk . . . it didn't happen.

3. Kristen is honest. She is good to go shopping with because she will give you her honest opinion about things.

4. Kristen is determined (and secretly competitive). She sets goals and always achieves what she sets out to do.

5. Kristen is a hard-worker. She shovels the long driveway you saw in her previous post and always helps us with our various callings.

6. She is a good cook . . . if you don't believe us, ask the 250 people in the ward she serves dinner to once a month.

7. Kristen can move. She has a wicked shimmy that cracks us up and in college she had a move named after her - The Bird - that she was famous for.

8. Kristen NEVER says a mean word about anyone . . . not ever. We try to crack her sometimes, but she doesn't budge.

9. Kristen is an intense reader. She loves reading books and relishes going to the library. She gets so focused in what she's reading that she is oblivious to anything else going on around her.

10. She's a sassy dresser . . . . beads or a necklace are her signature accessory . . . just like our fabulous Grandma Ruth. She always looked pulled together - even in a t-shirt - with her jewels.

Bonus - Kristen is extremely righteous. She tries hard to always do the right. She studies the scriptures and religiously writes in her journal.

Kristen is a great person and we love having her for a sister!
Heart . . . Melinda and Julie

Kristen's House!

Alright, Julie. I'll see your post on 10 things I like about my home. Disclaimer: I'm only renting right now, and in the almost-year I've lived here I've neither changed my address with the post office or hung anything on the walls. That said, there are a lot of things to like:
1. Look how cute it is. My roommates and I refer to it as “the cutest house ever.”







2. It was built in 1926, which gives it automatic character. It has many little fun architectural details, like the rounded arch above the bathtub (which matches Hollie's)



















3. The way sunlight pours into my room in the morning when I'm lying in bed. I never want to get up! And speaking of never wanting to get up...



















4. My bed. It doesn't look like much, folks, but it's the best sleep you'll ever get. It's perfectly molded to my body, and I have never yet found a pillow to match the pure comfort my pillow offers me every single night. It doesn't even ask for anything in return.




















5. I love my sitting area. While my roommate is watching procedural crime dramas downstairs, you'll often find me here watching a movie on my laptop or reading a book. Or, okay, falling asleep while doing either.

6. The location is so great. I live in a quiet neighborhood that's within walking distance of a grocery store. I love going for runs around my neighborhood because the streets are all lined with these mature trees, and there are all these big, interesting houses that I look at as I go by.
7. I have a huuuuge yard. Much of it is untapped potential, but I love the covered patio as well.
8. This is not something I love, but I bet my neighbors love the shower in my bathroom, which has a window rather conveniently placed at chest level. We've put a makeshift shower curtain on the window, but since it's white in color, I don't really know if you can still see through or not. And I'm scared to ask someone to check.

9. The house makes good use of space. There is lots of storage and a few little “hobbit closets” like this one.

10. The last thing I love? That my neighbor has a snowblower. Need I say more?

I Heart Top Chef

I love coming home on Wednesday nights knowing that there is a new episode of this show. The new season takes place in New York this time and started airing last week . . . oh how I've missed it!