Christmas is finally complete. My dear friend Erin asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a Nativity scene. We looked in quite a few places and they all seemed very expensive... I was about to change my mind, but she wanted to go look in Deseret Book, so I gave it one more shot.
They had quite a few different ones. Some really pricey and others in a rang I could actually look at without feeling like a huge jerk. I didn't want to Erin to buy me a super expensive one. Lucky for me, one of the cheaper ones was perfect!
I present to you, the Celtic Nativity!
This nativity is a replica of the stone figures that monks used to tell bible stories with. (the story about it is on the inner side of lid) So my first Nativity is like some of the first ever used to tell of Christ's Birth. Go figure! I LOVE IT! If anyone knows me, this wont seem too far fetched for me. I seemed to like things that aren't quite the norm. I showed the baby Jesus to my little niece Phynix, and asked her if she knew who it was... All she could say is that she thought it was creepy. LOL! After a good laugh I explained who they all were. Without a second thought she started trying to set it up on the arm of the couch, like my parent's Nativity on the table right near by. I guess, to her, Mary is supposed to stand on baby Jesus. Ha ha! So I explained the basic set up of the nativity to her. After it was all set up, she then put them back in the box. I think she thought the pieces were supposed to click in so she started to push them down hard in the box. (Can you tell, there was a lot of explaining in this adventure)
I'm so happy to have one now. Everyone needs a reminder sometimes of what this season is really supposed to be about. It's interesting to see how different parts of the world view it. They all look so different. Thank you Erin for getting this one for me.
This year I have tried quite a few things that I never have before. Such as: made my first Cherry Pie, finished my first quilt, and became a crazy crafter.
As for the new year. I have two goals, as of right now, that I have begun already. It's impossible to accomplish either in a year, but I'm starting them.... now. Ha ha! First off, you need some background on my thought process in attempting these goals. I have really enjoyed learning the new things I have this year and I plan to continue doing those things too. But I needed to start something that wont take me such a short time to learn. Once you know how to do something, it's just doing it after that. So.... My goals...
First off....
JAPANESE!
Yeah, totally nuts right..? I'm not in school so I can't just choose any language. I have a wonderful friend, Jessica Smith, who went on her mission to Japan. She offered to teach me awhile ago and I was not so sure I could ever figure it out. She said it's a beast to learn. I feel that if I really practice and take it seriously, it would be a BIG accomplishment to learn a new language, and who better to learn from than a friend that's crazy good at it. The other reason I decided to attempt this is that as of late I have been hearing Japanese about everyday. Houston has been watching a Japanese cartoon (anime) for a long time and he said I could give it a watch... Well... I really liked it. :) I'll give you taste with this video of one of my favortie characters....
Byakuya
Enjoy
Yeah, I'm a SUPER DORK, but I take that title gladly. :)
There's my first goal.
Second Goal
YOGA!
I'm not taking a class or anything, which probably a dumb idea, but we have a video of some pretty serious yoga. The reason I want to start this up is because I really want to get fit and let me tell you, from the very small amount of time I've spent doing it. It does the job very well. Ha ha! I want to be more flexible as well and it has that covered too. I think the most important is that my joints really start to hurt if I do weight lifting or running, this is easy on the joints. So, in a nut shell, it completes the TRIFECTA! I'm planning on doing it three times a week. I can't do the whole video (it's WAY too intense) so I just do as much as I can. Hopefully I will be able to do most of the video by this time next year. Not only that, do it well. The pose above isn't as easy as she makes it look. Not for me anyway.
I don't plan on those being my only two goals for next year, but it's a start.
Anyone else know some of their own New Years resolutions for next year..?
We made it to December 1st! I put out what little Christmas stuff we have. I really like the stuff we have, it's just not very much. So, to the treeless thing... We had a real tree last year. If we do get one it will probably be a little Charlie Brown tree. I don't really want to buy one. We don't want a fake tree either because I don't want another giant box crowding the basement with the rest of the boxes.
So! With that being said, I will show you our make sift tree as well as some of the other decorations we have.
This is our tree! It's actually a photo tree that I bought for our wedding. I didn't use it there, but it's been kicking around ever since. I just got all the ornaments we had from last year and attached to each clip. The little angel down by the countdown blocks is the only nativity we have as of yet. We will get a better one someday, but I figure it will do for now.
We can't put our stockings over the fireplace. It gets WAY too hot!
I found this stocking hanger last year at Target and LOVED it. I'm so proud, I felt like showing it off. :)
My mom bought this sign for us last year when we were in California.
The tree is Houston's stocking hanger and the polar bear and raccoon were something I bought along time ago when I worked at Roberts Crafts. They have little tea light holders inside, so when lit, the stars all light up.
That's about it. I do have a pine candle, so we can pretend there is a tree somewhere down there. I must say though that I decorated my parent's and Houston's parent's tree's so I have down my duty. :)
So some friends of mine wanted to learn how to make french memo boards. So we had a craft party so I could teach them how. I didn't really need another board, but I had this really crazy idea for another one so I gathered my supplies. One of my favorite movies of all time is JAWS. I've been watching it since I was little, little. So I decided to make a board to pay homage to it. The party was last Saturday and we all came with different fabrics and such. I was excited to see what everyone was going to bring. Of course they were all different, and fit the maker perfectly. Well we got started but I was only able to get as far as getting the bating and fabric on. I was having trouble... I decided that instead of ribbon I wanted to use fisherman's rope. Yeah, ropes a bit harder to staple on then ribbon. So I just decided to save it for when I could really focus on a solution. I think it actually worked out better because I could help anyone who needed it. The party was so much fun! Of course I didn't think to take pictures... Sorry ladies. Everyone's turned out awesome anyway!
So, back to my dilemma... I just left it sitting my car until today. I went to my parent's house, like every Tuesday and Wednesday. I got there and no one was home at the time. So I decided to take another stab at getting that blasted rope to stay. I think it must have been divine intervention! The thought came to me to fray the rope at the points where it would be stapled. Low and behold it was flat enough to staple! YAY! So I finish it. This one was much more difficult than my first one, but I thought it turned out quite well considering.
As the embellishment over the crisscross points I was able to buy real fossilized shark teeth!
The rope is the fisherman's rope. Not expensive and looks exactly like I wanted it to.
The diamond patterns are not perfect but I think it looks like a well used fish net (magnified), so I think it actually adds to the over all look. As for the fabric. I wanted to find just the perfect design. I LOVE this fabric. I pretty much wasted the rest of the yard I bought because I wanted that dark spot right in the middle. I think it looks very ominous and foreboding. Who knows what lurking under there... (very JAWS-sque, I thought)
I was so happy to help everyone learn how to make them. Super easy once you know how. I was also glad to get mine how I wanted it to look, even though it was not on Saturday night. JAWS is a wonderful movie, and this board inspired by it will be great to use as my summer time board. (Even though I've already got an invitation attached to it for a Christmas party... Shhh! Don't tell... :)
So, I might be weird but I don't really like advent calendars (in regards to Christmas anyway). I have tried to find a way of doing one that I liked that nothing was really working out. I still wanted something to countdown to those exciting holidays. I found something that I really liked (Pictured below) and was going to make a set like it for Halloween.
When I went to Robert's to find the scrapbook paper for it, I couldn't find anything that I really liked. (They didn't have a very good selection of Halloween or even black and white for that matter.) So, I decided to do a set for Christmas instead. The plus, I decided, was that I could actually use them this year. I didn't discover this project until October had already started. (In my brain that is just too late) Can I just say that they are not hard to make once you have all the supplies. I tried to find somewhere to buy the blocks but was unsuccessful. Luck was with me, I guess, because my parent's fence post busted and they had to replace it. The post they bought was almost a foot too tall so I was able to keep the part that was sawed off. Then for the base my dad actually had a board that was the right size (2x6).
This is the end result....
I'm so excited to use them! I even watched Christmas movies while I made them.... I felt justified! Houston says I can't use them until December 1st! He really tries to give every holiday it's due month. Since we've been married I have come be the same way. I'm still planning on making Halloween ones, but I think this was a good start.
Can I just say... I LOVE Halloween! Brynn, Erin, and I did a Halloween party last night. The theme was "Unhappily Ever After". It was so much fun. We, of course, had way too much food but that was okay with me. Brynn's house was decorated so well. (Done by Brynn) and Erin made some super awesome cupcakes. We played some games and even had a costume contest. We wanted somewhere to take everyone's picture so we made a backdrop. LOL! Sorta reminded me of those backdrops they had for high school dances. We like to watch a movie at the end of the party. We watched Hocus Pocus this year. Anyway, here are the pictures of everyone and some funny ones through out the party. (P.S. the pumpkin above is the one carved for this year.)
Houston as Jack, from Jack and Jill.
Brynn as Little Miss Muffet. Those bloody spots are sporting spiders. Yum!
Erin as Cannibal Gretel. Yeah, Hanzel is in the basket.
Houston and I as Jack and Jill. So painful!
Melissa as a Thug. She was the winner of our costume contest! It was so cool! I don't like Tupac but that shirt is freaking awesome!
Jared as a Lumberjack. He didn't have his axe but that's okay.
Quinn and Aubrey as Ron and Hermione.
During the lap games these two sat on each others lap about the whole game.
Erin and Brynn. Such good costumes!
This is the picture of the party! So awesome!
Poor Erin. LOL!
Yeah, I got to hold the Thug!
Us... Yeah, it's hard to take pictures of yourself as well as another person.
Houston took this picture. LOL! I believe I was trying to act out the Salem Witch Trials.
So, concert going has been apart of our relationship from the beginning. We love going to see our favorite bands. Lucky for us most of them are not so well known so the shows are smaller and we can actually get by the stage if we want. We have been to some interesting places and seen very interesting people. Ha ha! That's 1/2 the fun, just watching people.
With that said, I would like to pay my respect to those people who travel around for who knows how long to pass on their musical gift. Here are some photo's from some the the shows we have been to. (Not all but a fair few)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, we have seen them 3 times. This is from the first. We don't remember when our first "date" was so I always say it's this show. ;)
The Sounds, They were good, until the fight.
Wolfmother, This is us with the lead singer Andrew Stockdale. That was a great show!
The Dead Weather, last year, One of 3 bands including Jack White. We were right by the stage, it was so cool! My favorite member is the guy second from the right. His name is Jack LJ Lawrence. He is an awesome Bass player. We can also say that we were right by Jack White (the guy on the right) He's the most famous...If you like the White Stripes anyway. LOL! We saw The Raconteurs as well but I can't find the pictures. I believe that show was in 2008.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. This is the third time we saw them. This is one of our favorite people, Peter Hayes. We flew to Seattle to see them because their tour didn't come through Utah. It was all good though. It was in a great city. We love Seattle!
Franz Ferdinand 2009. Crappy picture, great show! This is where we were introduced to the Born Ruffians which we saw last night (Oct 18, 2010)
Just us! Too many crazy people to get good pictures. It was awesome anyway.
I'm pretty sad that I don't have the photos from the other shows we went to, but we have been to a lot. If your brave you can check out these 2 videos I took at the Wolfmother show and The Sounds show. They are great videos. :)
I have found a new pass time. Playing with my adorable niece Phynix. She is so stinking smart! Our first adventure, with weird things, was funding out the Potato bugs are nice. She wouldn't hold it at first, once I convinced her it was safe she held her hand out with a serious look of caution on her face. It climbed onto her hand and she was okay for a few seconds until it start to move. It tickled her hand. Once she learned this, she wanted to hold it again but it had probably landed in Colorado somewhere, courtesy of her panic.
*Sorry no photo's of this. I'm sure there will be more chances soon enough*
We have also found fun in making hats out of paper. She loves her Indian Head dress and her crown, but what she loves best are the stapler, Elmer's glue, and scissors. She is so good about using them right. Her scissors are safety scissors of course, just in case. ;) The best part of it all was when she started accidentally cutting triangles of paper all by herself. She was so proud of herself. She kept saying, "I did it! I did it!" All of her triangle pieces made it onto the crown as jewels. From what I hear, she still has both pieces at home.
Phynix and her Head dress
Her and her scissors. Look at how well she uses them!
Her crown
Yesterday I was weeding my parent's flower bed and I came across a huge worm. I showed it to her and the first thing she did was held her hand and said, "Let me hold it". No fear whatsoever. After we had put the worm back in the dirt she walked into the garage and came back with a little tea light candle lantern. She walked up to the dirt and called, "Worm.....WORM!" I asked her if the lantern was a Fairy house. (Like the one in Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue) She said no. So I asked what it was, as she still called for her worm and she said, "It's a worm house" We spent the rest of the afternoon weeding, replanting bulbs, and searching for worms. Relocating to the dirt filled lantern.
Not to mention she LOVES puppies. Julie's dogs had puppies and Julie brought 2 of them down to Utah with her last weekend. Phynix keeps saying "Oooh! They are so cute!" (About as high pitched as she can go.)
What better way to spend the day than with a curious, funny, and fearless explorer.
Houston has always done this funny thing. When we are driving or walking and see ducks, he quacks. Ha ha! It's so funny. I have always thought ducks were cute but I had never really looked into them. Well.... I did. Come to find out they are a lot more useful then just swimming around in a pond and quacking at the park. I didn't know that people actually keep them for eggs. Obviously for meat, if you like duck. But the best thing of all is that they are excellent bug control. You can even let them into your garden during certain times to eat the bugs that normally do a lot of damage to crops.
Cayuga Ducklings
One day I want ducks. I'm not sure if I want them for eggs or not, I would have to try one. (If anyone knows where I could get some, let me know) I don't think I could ever kill one for meat either. I think it would be for fun family pets that would keep the pesky bugs away. I bought a book about taking care of them and the different breeds and their best uses. My favorite breed at the moment is the Cayuga Duck. (Pictured in the post.) They only come in the one color but they are relatively quiet and I think their plumage is SO pretty. It's black with an iridescent beetle green as an adult
Well, that my duck thought for today. Even if I don't end up ever getting any, I still think they are adorable. And you read it HERE! Ha ha!
For those of you who weren't there or aren't family. I was honored to attend my uncle, Doug Pehrson's induction into the Skyview High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Doug went to Skyview from 1967-1970. He was a starter on the varsity Football and Basketball teams his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year. He was All State, All Region, and All American in football as a Full Back. All State, All Region, and Honorable Mention All American in basketball. He also ran in track and was region Champion in the high hurdles his senior year. He received a full ride scholarship to Utah State University. He was inducted along with his football coach Earl Lindley.
I may only be his niece, but my family and I are so proud of him. What a great guy!
My Uncle Doug and Aunt Luie!
Doug and his coach. He looks so proud to have played for him
