Last Christmas...

So crazy it was only last Christmas that my knight got down on one knee and said he wanted to have me for the rest of his life.

All the smells and decorations and the snow remind me of that nerve-racking and exciting night. And I breathe a sigh of relief for saying yes because if I had said no...yikes, Christmas would be horrible. But I said yes so everything's good. Phew.

Just thought I'd give a sigh of relief on that one.

"A Christmas Miracle"

The Provo Tabernacle went up in flames this week. Many were heartbroken and I can't help but feel a loss when I look at that old building and know that now it is in shambles. It was a beautiful building with a lot of history.



But there is something that amazes me.
This picture of Christ was saved from the wreckage:



When a friend at work first told me about a picture of Jesus that wasn't burned I thought it was just a rumor.
Yet, there it is, with many people calling it a "Christmas Miracle".
And I can't help but think it is.

It was just a reminder to me that things are temporal and Christmas is really not about stuff....even if the stuff is beautiful and wonderful.
It's so easy to get caught up in getting new things and giving great, awesome gifts but in the end those things really won't matter at all. What will matter is the love you show others and the service you do and what kind of heart you have. This was a good reminder for me about what really counts and hopefully will be able to look back on my life with joy, and not the regret of caring about things that don't last.

Merry Christmas!

Footsie's

I was reminded of an embarrassing moment the other day and decided it's time to just laugh about it.

The setting is: sunday evening- game/chatting time after dinner. We are all sitting on the couch with me in the middle of Jay and my father-in-law.

I playfully started nudging Jay's foot.

All of a sudden Garr busts out laughing and I am so confused.

Until I realize both Jay and Garr have black socks on.
The foot in which I was footsie-ing was indeed my father-in-laws.


My face was a deep shade of red as I nervously laughed along with everyone else.
So embarrassing.

Santa

This is cute.

Christmas Toilet Paper Tree

Who says you can't make christmas tree ornaments with toilet paper rolls and a little bit of tissue paper?

It turned out lovely.

My new favorite pastime is sitting on the futon and staring at our christmas tree.

First Snow

We finally get home at 1 in the morning from a weekend in Provo after getting lost because we took a wrong turn- it was hard to see with it snowing.

We step out of the car onto our driveway and the snow is perfect. The moon is shining, the snow is glowing and the world is quiet. It was one of those moments where you feel like you are the only ones on the planet, it was so peaceful.

Jay suggested we should build a snowman. We threw caution to the wind and bundled up and built a snow...woman. (The whole man thing just wasn't working out with the huge behind so we added some things and put twig hair on her head and she was perfect. )

I realized something that night. I realized that sometimes it may not be the most ideal time and it may be a little irresponsible (we had church at nine the next morning) but it's so worth it. To do something crazy and unplanned and spontaneous. I loved it!

22

The Jensens are awesome!
They had a surprise dinner for me with chicken alfredo pasta. Then Nancy and Mandi made up a song for me to the tune of Pretty Woman. The title was Tooele Woman. It was pretty good actually.


Mandi got me some hot coco mug and some cds-I love it. And Nancy but together all these recipes! I am so excited to get cookin'.

Then I got the famous birthday banner that is used for everyone's b-days!
And I got a famous Garrett random card that said

happy birthday cereal.

with a little stick figure apparently eating the birthday cereal....
I was confused but apparently that's what he does all the time for everyone's b-days - so I'm pretty much part of the family now.

Then I bought some new cds- one of which is taylor swift's amazingness. Then I got a new chain to go with my necklace pieces!

And I felt so loved because all these people wrote on my facebook wall, which might sound funny but I just loved that all these people remembered me on my day!!!

Later that week I was able to go down and see my family for another spectacular celebration- My dad bought us tickets to see HP7P1 (Harry Potter) which I was so stoked about! We took pictures by Harry with some straws- even my dad got into it. ha ha ha!



Then we went shopping!!!


Then my sister-in-law who lives in Montana sent me a present which was the cutest thing ever. She found out what colors my kitchen and bathroom were and made some red magnents for my fridge and some yellow light-socket-covers with turquoise buttons for the light switches in the bathroom. They are adorable.

Thanks everyone for an amazing b-day week!

Me? A Junkie?

I have a confession. I am a sweepstakes junkie.
I know, I know. I would have told you but it's
one of those things you hear about other people
being. It's never you, right?
And maybe I'm actually not.
Maybe it's just a phase....


It all started with the McDonald's monopoly thing.
Jay got the one piece for the million dollar Parkway.
I laughed thinking, "How ridiculous!" But later found
myself talking to people about it, making plans to
split the money if they ended up with the second
piece.

Then came The Office with a special code word that
comes up during the commercial break. You then
enter it on the website. Balla-bing balla-boong.
I could win 10,000 buckaroos.

Then Wally world told me that I could win 1,000 greens
to complete a survey. So guess what I found myself
doing this morning? Pathetic.

I'm not becoming one of those crazy people who thinks
I'm going to win big. Really....

But what is that smell?

A new car perhaps?

Am I the only one who does this?
Please tell me you....
Ha wait! If I am the only one, the more chances
I will win!
I hope you all think it's crazy to enter! ha ha!
You all think I'm crazy right?!
Good.

Best Halloween Ever

For those of you who just want a little glimpse
at our fantabulous weekend, here is the summary
of events:

1. Caramel Apples
2. Carving Pumpkins
3. The Drowsy Chaperone
4. Lagoon's Frightmare

Fun Yay!

And now for the long-winded awesome version:

1.Caramel Apples.

First attempt at making soft chewy caramel apples= disaster.
Fun disaster.
It was so messy and caramel became so hard that
our teeth were afraid of becoming dust.
Yum it was good.


Garr was so excited to have sugar. You can't beat that face.



2.Carving Pumpkins.

Garrett did the guy with dreadlocks-It looked way awesome in real life-I just couldn't capture the essence of it- you will just have to take my word for it.

Jay did the man fishing on the moon -he totally made
up his pattern- very impressive eh?

And I did the lovely eyes with the lips and curls- I know it's
a bit girlie.



Don't worry, next year my pumpkin will scare you
so bad you will beg for girlie.



3.The Drowsy Chaperone!



This is one of those broadway plays you probably haven't heard of.

It's different than other musicals you have probably seen.
It was AMAZING.
I even cried (big surprise)because the one of the actors was
so convincing in his melancholy.
And not one soul didn't have tears from laughing so hard.

I wish we could go to one every month!

4.Frightmare at Lagoon.

Jay got some free tickets from his work and we debated
using them on saturday because the the rainy weather.
I told Jay to decide and the crazy man whipped me off
to Ogden.



I didn't bring my good camera inside but I wish I would have.
Everyone was dressed up and there were those painted
boards where you stick your head in and become the
character on the board. What are those things called?
(There is Jay in one of them above.)

We hit the haunted houses and the haunted roller coaster
rides. Of course we went on Wicked and the Colossous which
we figured out makes us old people a little woozy.

So we took a break and ended the night at the hypnotist show.

It was hilarious- one guy jumped off the stage and landed smack on his belly. He was told that we was a gibberish rap star and was performing for us when he tried to stage dive...yah, there was nobody there to catch him. It was pretty funny (he was okay guys- I wouldn't have said it was so funny if he had gotten hurt).



Awesome Halloween.

Crappy day

I don't know why but I woke up and felt good.
I felt really really good. I even thought to myself
what a marvelous day it was going to be.

I even cranked up the tunes and danced my
heart out before I went to work. I felt so good.

Everyone was nice, the day was beautiful.

Then....nothing. Nothing even happened.
I just feel really crappy.

Why does that happen?

Park City

Finally a weekend AWAY!


Jay and I were invited to go with my family up to Park City for the weekend and we got to stay in this cute roomy condominium.


It was amazingly beautiful and well equipped to fit your every need and want.
The upstairs portion even had a private hot tub which we enjoyed until the wee hours of the night.



We went window shopping on Main, there are so many places to find beautiful and unique art. You need quite a few greens to even think about owning any of them. It was very cool to see though.

I finally got to try some pistachio flavored gelato, which lived up to everything I've ever heard of gelato: amazingly delish.

After shopping at the less expensive outlet stores we played this new game we just discovered called Word on The Street (fun game) and watched Rear Window and Sixth Sense and got no sleep at all.

It was a fun little vaca!

Fall

I love fall because:

1. It's hot chocolate time again.
I could stop right there...

2. There are clouds in the sky!

3. Pumpkins.

4. Getting close with my long lost
friend sweater and jacket again.

5. Cuddling to stay warm.

6. Using the oven and not worrying
that it's going to make the house
too hot.

7. It reminds me when I first
started falling for Jay.

8. Walks in the afternoon.

9. Vibrant hues in the changing
leaves.

10. Energy that seems to be filling
the air all around me.

I LOVE IT!!!!

I just Died.

Well, technically my car did.
And if you are thinking "Oh poor Aubrey, she loved her
car so much that when it died, she died."

HA! I laugh at you for thinking that. Or with you. HA ha!




I mean, I was attached to my 1990 Honda Accord.
I mean I guess I was...in a way. The way anyone would be
attached to some old, rusty and temperamental thing that
got you where you needed to go... most of the time.

But that is not why I died.


I died because of

This:





And check out the backside.




I'm going to die. Oh yeah, I told you I already died huh?
Well I lied a little.
I am still breathing, but really fast and there's drool involved.

I'm freaking out.

A New Hair Story

I have been terrified to cut Jay's hair.
He says he never wants to pay for
another hair cut and I say I am too
scared. So we just let it grow and grow.
I am pretty sure he has only cut it once
since we were married.

Jay's hair was getting a little out of hand.
Sometimes it looked good:


Other times...well....


Yeah....

So after knowing nothing could be worse than
my previous post I took a leap of faith.
snip
snip
snip
and viola:
A dashing prince!



Dashing, sexy, same thing.

Every girl's worst ever nightmare

In case you didn't know I am a bargain shopper now.
I needed some new round brushes to help my hair
have that va va voom and body that we as women love.
So naturally I decided I would get some nice cheap round-
brushes from the dollar store...yes...the dollar store...
And If you read the title of this blog and are a somewhat
intelligent person, which I am assuming you are, you will
have guessed by now what the ending to this story will be.

All I can say is that I bawled.


I didn't know cutting your hair could be so painful


You may be asking, "Why? Why didn't you try harder? Were you
that impatient that you couldn't just take each strand one by
one and get it undone?"

Well I am here to tell you I tugged and pulled. I had Jay hold the
roots of my hair while I pulled. I grabbed the peanut butter (it
works for gum, it might have made it slippery). I considered
calling my new boss on the second day of work and telling them
"I can't make it in today because I got a brush stuck in my hair
and I have to get it out."

I tried the singling out one strand at a time and slowly start to ease
it out but it was too late. It was too tangled and it broke. I knew what
must be done and I found the scissors and took one snip. It was too
much. I fell on the floor in agony. (Really I know you must be in
tears by now from this detailed description-be strong.)



For the brave here are the pictures (if you are in tears I would suggest
giving yourself five minutes before looking):











Just five years to get it all the same length again. I will be 27 by then.

Now I can't end on that note:
Here are the positives:
1. I still have some hair left.
2. Because my hair is thick I can part it on the other side and camouflage it...
for the most part.
3. I have a hilarious story to make anyone laugh at any given moment.

So now you know everything.

Moral of the story:
Dollar store is great...just not for your hair.

Montana Vacation

We finally got a break from school, work and just regular life and decided to take our short and precious summer break in St. Ignatius, MT.

Nicole, Andrew and Sterling were ready to have fun and feed us till our tummies hurt and we couldn't walk. Nicole made us lasagna, enchiladas, twice-baked potatoes, etc. I ate soooo much.

A little flu bug made its way to Sterling, Nicole, Andrew, then Austin. Luckily Jay and I escaped the epidemic.

We had so much fun!
Boating

Getting up for the first time on the wake-board!


Ok so Jay is already a Pro!

Going for a nice evening stroll.

Hanging out with Sterling! He is such a cutie!




Jay wrecked on Andrew's motorcycle! Big battle wounds!


Kind of disgusting...Poor Jay.

Then the carousel!





Thanks Andrew and Nicole! We had a BLAST!

Gifts

So Jay is not the type of guy who likes to buy flowers.

He plays his guitar for me. And serenades me while playing.

And these aren't your famous love songs you hear on the
radio everyday that guys learn to make girls fall for them.

He MAKES THEM UP-

About me and him and our personal
experiences together.

I melt.

I couldn't ask for better gifts from him.

I wanted so badly to do something for him, but quickly found out
song-writing was not my thing, so I did something different for him.



I didn't know I could do that.

Goodbye Applebee's

I GOT A NEW JOB!!!!
Ya baby!
And it's not just any old job, well
it may be to you, but to me it is
heaven sent.
I finally decided what I want to be
when I grow up: A Physical Therapist.
I think that job would be so much
fun. I've wanted to be a nurse before
but all the stuff they have to do with
bodily fluids and stuff just freaks me
out a little.

So I went to the hospital in hopes of
getting some volunteer hours. And guess
what they said? "We can't do that here, but
we could pay you."

Wha wha wha what?! Ok I guess I'm fine with
that.

Pay me!!!
So I am going to get a job in the field I
want to go into!!!

And my new boss is so cool, he said he
teach me what he knows and work with me
as I'm going to school and give me the hours
I need because he's been through the school
thing and knows how hard it can be.

I start this week! It feels good to have direction
and know that I am going to school for something.
I have changed my major so many times and
kept going to school in hopes I would figure it out
and meet a man to marry (done that). So now
school actually means I am going into something
that will be my career.


I am nervous and excited to start, I hope I like it as much as
I think I will. Cross your fingers for me.

Farewell Brother

I was so glad to spend the weekend with my family,
especially considering it was Wayne's last weekend
before he goes to the MTC! So crazy that my little
brother is old enough to be going on a mission!
He will be serving in the Vina del Mar, Chile mission!

Wayne has always been the one to make people laugh.
When there is tension in the house, he's the peace maker.
He is such a great example and such a funny guy. When I
would get upset with him it could never really last very
long because he would just make you laugh.
He's such a great brother and friend.
He is going to be one heck of a missionary!
He's going to be gone for TWO years! That is still a long
time in my book. But as my Grandma said, "I know he is
doing the Lord's work, so I will permit it".



Oh and did a mention that he is a huge dork?
Ha ha
Forrest Wayne, you will be missed.

Fishing Trip

Fishing for the 24th was so much fun with my family!
I think I caught two fish that were about half the size
of the screen you are reading this on. They were itty
bitty ones.

Then Jay's fishing pole went down so far like he caught
a whale or something....we spent the next 20 minutes
rowing backwards and untangling his fishing line from
this monterous forest of seaweed. ha ha.


It was funny because we went out into the middle of the
lake and are all sitting there with our fishing poles and
getting no bites, just nothing and Bethany is getting one
EVERY time she casts out. Was it 12 in a row? Or 13? I can't
remember. That was pretty funny.


We took some silly pictures:

Trapped!

I'm taking a class where I have to exercise for an hour
3 times a week. It's hard, especially because now my
gym pass has expired. So I go and play tennis with Nancy
sometimes, then sometimes I find exercises on Youtube
but yesterday I decided I wanted to go on a bike ride.

I enter the garage from my house and find my bike and
I'm all ready to go and.... I can't find the button!
The button to open the garage. Isn't just a big white
button that is just there, just right....there? Fine,
I'll just go back through the house and open the garage
using the code on the outside.

The door is locked.


Wait, so there has got to be a button. NO, there isn't!!!
I'm looking and looking and wondering why I didn't bring my
phone in the garage with me.
Should I scream?
Should I bang on the door and hope someone hears me?
No, wait, there is another door!!!!
Halleluja!
After pulling and pushing a million boxes out of the way I was
able to squeeze myself out of the cobweb filled door that hasn't
been opened in who knows how long.

Quite the adventure.

Nutrition Shmishon

I love my nutrition class, don't get me wrong.
Jay and I are learning so many things that will help us stay strong and healthy.
Having good nutrition and taking care of your body is so good right? I mean you have more energy, your skin and hair and nails look good, you feel better, you lessen your risk of diseases and cancer, and the list goes on.

But it makes me feel like I can't eat anything these days.
Too much sodium,
too much modified food starch,
too much saturated fat,
not enough fruits and veggies,
oh and did I mention that cooking your vegetables
kills the vitamins?

Nutrition is overwhelming but I am going to start making
goals each week to improve my nutrition.
Goal for this week:
Buy fresh fruit and place in fruit bowl out in open (make it easily accessible)

Homemade Cafe Rio

This was so much work but man it was good. I had planned for it to be our meal on Tuesday night and it was done on Friday. It was the pork that took forever- two days to thaw out in the fridge, one night to marinate, and basically a day to cook. So by the time it was ready we weren't going to be home at the same time because of our work schedules so we took pictures and viola! WE had a great dinner "together".

Looks good eh?


Jay loved the spicey sauce.


The sauce was a little hot for me.


Jay's second plate-
Overall verdict: SATISFACTION

If you want to try it I got the recipe from this amazing blog.
check it out here: favfamilyrecipes.com