Happy Holidays!

The holidays are among us! A time for sharing, caring, and......EATING! At work we have 12 days of Christmas treats. I signed up for the first Thursday and decided to make my Oreo truffles, same as last year. This platter was full 15 minutes before it was taken! Glad everyone liked them.

We also had Thanksgiving #2/Holiday party with our friends over the weekend. Pretty much everyone but Shane and I along with one other couple are the only ones without kids. So what did Brooke and the other childless adult do? We sat in the play room with the kids and fed them cookies! They were having so much fun that 2 of them decided to sit in a tote. Then they invited one of the other boys over to join them. The whole time they were yelling "Squeeze!" Tons of fun! I will report more after the holidays!

...and that's summer!

Summer came and left before Shane could finish spelling "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Here's a recap of what we've done over the past couple of months:

We cruised around Salt Lake on July 23. The Nova, Firebird and Corvette were cheered for driving along the Days of 47 parade route.

Jessen and Shane have the same thing on their license plates. Its their "car club" name, Accelerate.

We went camping with Shane's family and invited Brooke and Jessen along. Mmm...smores!

Shane finally talked me into getting a new LED flatscreen. The picture is amazing!

Then we decided that we were in need of a new bed. (Ours was Shane's bed that he bought about 8-9 years ago.) The memory foam bed took some adjusting, but I love it now!

Deal of the season: Fossil Stella watch for $34! The band is aqua, maybe not the white or clear one I wanted, but when I saw that it was only $34 at Nordstrom Rack vs. the $85 at Fossil.

There are things I like about fall, like being able to make pumpkin choc. chip cookies all the time. Due to the pumpkin crop devastation last year, there is expected to be a pumpkin shortage this year. So I went a little overboard when I found big cans at Winco. I bought 3 cans and only enough to make one batch. Since one batch is half a big can, I froze the other half. (Pumpkin balance: 2 1/2 cans) Then I saw 3 big cans for $7. I don't think I will run out for a while, with 5 1/2 cans.

State Fair 2010: Delicious foot long corn dogs, ice cream, cotton candy and fried oreos, with a side of seals, booths, and stinky animals.

After the fair, we had to take my car to the Infiniti dealership. The water pump went out and it overheated. There aren't many miles on it, thanks for the cheap part Infiniti. Had we not trailered it there (didn't want to have to stop 15,000 times to let it cool), we wouldn't have found that I desperately needed new tires. But now we are as good as new!

Viva Hot Vegas!

My mom had this wild idea in June that we needed to take a trip to Las Vegas. To the surprise of no one, I said ok. Well, it did take some convincing, but while sitting at work on a random Tuesday morning, I text my mom and booked a room at the Luxor. With Mom and Alli on board, we were set to have 2 nights at the pyramid with an outdoor temp of 105 degrees. It ended up being a fun weekend of sun, shopping, drinks and food.

Now, I'm not one to pass up a time to walk the strip or think its too hot. But it was HOT! Still, enjoyed it. We were able to walk through City Center across from Planet Hollywood. What is there? Another Tiffany and Co.! Can we get just one if Vegas has one in 3 hotels in a row? (That would be City Center, Bellagio and Caesars.) We enjoyed dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, really enjoying the 10 minute wait we had. The waiter commented that he heard it may be faster to drive to Vegas and eat there than wait in line at the Salt Lake location. LOL

This is the new Louis Vuitton store at City Center. The outside just looks like metal, LV stamped siding, but at night it lights up with LEDs that have their own Louis Vuitton pattern show.

Mom, Donny and Marie. She wanted to go to their show, but this is as close as it got. Sorry Mom!

Me outside of the new Tiffany and Co. It was 2 levels and had an entrance inside and outside the mall.

Alli and I outside Caesars having a random picture moment walking down the street.

The second night we had dinner at Cabo Wabo. So delish! Great drinks, great food and AWESOME patio that lets you look out over the Strip and right in front of the Bellagio fountains.

We enjoyed the pool while there. Huge deck and I ended up realizing that my fear of being in a bathing suit in public was ridiculous. No one else seemed to care and its not like I was going to see them again.

I did get some what of a tan while we were laying out the second day. It may have had something to do with the bright sun glare from the hotel that seemed to be right on me. Our room was actually facing the pool, which was better than the last time I stayed there. Shane and I had a great view of the tower next to us. :(

Mandalay Bay was next door. I'm not a huge fan of gold, but this property looks awesome in the desert sun!

Alli and I taking some time for a poolside photo shoot.

I'm such a bad influence on my sister, but who can pass up mini bottles!

Not picured, our wonderful trip to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets. I got some great deals there. A Hurley dress for $15, a Rip Curl plaid shirt for $15, 2 pairs of Fossil Sunglasses for $35 and a yellow Coach scarf for $12. It looks great on my Coach purse. I would have come back with new Fossil sandals for $25 if they would have had my size. But don't worry, Park City Fossil outlet, here I come!

Stay tuned for more from our fun summer!

Its the Start of Summer!

I know that the first day of Summer is really June 21st, but doesn't it feel like Memorial Day is the unofficial start? To start my Memorial Weekend, I went to see Sex and the City 2 with Sonia on Friday night. It was good, not as good as the first or the series, but good. There were definitely some hilarious lines. Saturday Shane and I went to a BBQ with my family for my cousins birthday. While we were there, Shane and my cousin Rusty were talking about Wendover....we all ended up taking a spur of the moment trip out there. We stayed overnight and came home on Sunday. I was supposed to go to Bridal Shower that day, but got sick on the way home from Wendover and was not feeling well enough to go. Monday my mom suggested that we go to the Park City Outlets. We went up there and walked around for awhile, buying a couple of shirts and just looking around. While we were at lunch, I jokingly texted Shane about a purse I saw at Coach. I asked if I found a Coach purse for $85, could I buy it? He responded with sure. After trying to call him, he finally answered and said that he wasn't joking. So back to the store we went. This purse was $358 original retail price, marked down, on clearance for 50% then I got an additional 20% off for their Memorial Day sale. I was stoked!!!!!!! I bought yellow because it is so summer and I need another black or brown purse like I need another hole in my head.


The following Wednesday I got an email about the Grand Opening of the Sephora store at Fashion Place Mall. I had marked my calendar and had been planning on going to the store once it opened. However, when I got the email it said that the first 100 customers in line would get a gift card. The amounts would vary from $10 to the lucky recipient of $500. I got up on Friday and was at the mall around 8am. I was lucky number 84! The picture below was how ridiculous the line was. Not only did it zig zag 5 times here, but then they had to start the line outside the entrance doors to the mall. As we got up to the store, there was an employee handing out the gift cards that had their amount written on them. I GOT $100!!!!!!!! I was stoked! I would have been happy with $10 because I wasn't going there for anything specific, but AWESOME!!!!




This is what I got with my card! I didn't spend all of it because it was super crowded and hot in the store. A Beauty Insider bag (free with my Grand Opening email), a bronzer sampler kit and Pink Sugar perfume.

Since we last spoke...

...I found some more pictures. So here they are!

Alli and I took a goofy picture over Memorial weekend.

I went snowboarding with Alli, Shane and Jessen. Right after this, I fell backwards down the mountain and hit my head REALLY hard!

Shane got his motor rebuilt TWICE and now has his car running and ready for the track.

Buddy cut his paw in our backyard and tracked blood through the house. Isn't his bandage so cute? He acts like he can't do anything with it on.

We dug out part of our lawn and made a bigger driveway. With cement, it looks quite bigger.

I gave a day to get a Disney Day. I volunteered with others from work at Red Butte Gardens.
We cleaned flower pots and transplanted flowers.

Say cheese Jessica!!!!

Life's a Beach card.

Inside says "Those who bring sunshine to the souls of others cannot keep it from themselves."

Griffin came to visit me and Shane. He's such a happy baby!

Alli made a face.

The Tote Gote Club showed up to the Thanksgiving Point Car Show.

It made me want to go to Kanarra for the tote gote.

My Poppys started blooming.

My friend Rachael had her first child, Sophia Elle.

On Shane's birthday, I spent time with my friend Megan's son Collin. His birthday is on May 22nd too! I got him a Spud Lightyear.

I tried to take a picture of myself walking down a hallway in Wendover.

My Creative Bug!

Since I haven't updated the blog in awhile, there has been a lot of stuff that has not been shared. This includes my creative itch that comes from time to time. Its almost like a rash...completely clear for a while, then BAM! and it slowly fades away. Enjoy!

Trick or Treat blocks. Sold these at work.

More blocks that I made to sell at work.

Sold these there too.

Birthday card for my mom.

Paper bouquet I made for my desk.

Get Well Card for Shane's mom.

First paper bouquet I made.

Card I made for my mom's friend. She was having twins.

Inside of "All Hand on Deck" card.

Thank you card for my mom and dad.

They let us borrow their trailer for camping.

Father's Day card for my dad.

Wedding shower bouquet. The cup was filled with

Starburst reds.

Card for Sonia and Derick.

We had a project at work to do something nice for another coworker.

My gifts were all summer themed. I gave her a popsicle set with this card.

This card went with coconut body butter.

Baby girl card for Rachael.

Its a Girl card for Rachael.

Flip flop card for my coworker. I gave her flip flops with it, of course.

Inside of the flip flop card. I found it appropriate since I LOVE flip flops.

Ahhhh.....nothing better than a nice drink in the summer.

Put this along with CapriSun.

Inside of "Ahhhh...." card.

Easter card for my parents.

Easter card for my grandparents.

New Spring blocks for my mantle.