-1 Degrees

This morning when we hopped in the car to go to church at 8:45, the thermometer read -1 degree. By the time we got to church 15 minutes later, it had warmed up (wa-who!) to zero degrees. And with 55 percent humidity and a wind chill factor of who-knows-what...the bishop called the few on-time ward members the "frozen chosen." :)

My question is this: Why would anyone want to live somewhere this cold? Haven't they ever been to Phoenix in the winter?? Or California? I just keep thinking that if I were a pioneer and had thousands of miles to go pulling a handcart, then yes, I'd probably settle for a cold climate. But that is THE ONLY reason! Really now, people have choices these days!

If you ask me, the cost of living in a warmer climate is infinitely worth it.

*Please excuse the rantings and ravings of a native Arizonian.
**The picture (which I was hoping would soften up my bitter tone) was taken at the Provo house, right next to the beautiful mountains.

The Best Life

Ahhh, I love home! I've always been a bit of a homebody. Even when we were little, I didn't do as many sleepovers at our cousins' house as my sister Rachel did--not because I didn't LOVE my cousins but just because I really liked sleeping in my own bed and getting ready in my own bathroom. I guess things haven't changed too much...

When we got home, I was running around our little apartment like a kid on Christmas morning! I love it here. Indiana has been good for us.

We do miss all the family togetherness, though. Thanks to everyone for treating us so well. We were thoroughly spoiled on our vacation!

Now that I'm back to real life, though, it's time to start thinking about some new year's goals. Though I won't share them all on here, I'm happy to make one of them public for the sake of my own accountability. :) I saw an episode of Oprah recently (how I love Oprah) about a book called the Best Life Diet, written by her personal trainer Bob Green. I'm not interested in the diet part of it, but the philosophy is that if you're living your best life, you won't struggle with issues like weight or procrastination or whatever it may be. I want to live MY BEST LIFE this year! Here are a few things I'm going to do to increase my own fulfillment in the upcoming year:

1. Work hard on my business DURING THE DAY.
2. Use the evenings to relax. (Confession: Because I work from home, I often let myself take a few more breaks during the day because I've got all night to finish my work. But that just drags out the work, and in the end, it feels like I really didn't get to relax at all.)
3. Eat healthy and feel good.
4. Drink more water!
5. Think positively. Happy thoughts.

Nothing too earth shattering, but hopefully these things will help me live my best life this year.

Happy New Year!

We've been thoroughly enjoying our marathon vacation. As I mentioned in my previous blog, Christmas with Ryan's family was lovely. Then we drove to Arizona and to Mexico, where we relished spending more time with family. Grandpa and Grandma provided yet another fantastic Mexico family reunion for us. It couldn't have turned out any better, so thank you everyone!


This is us at Mary's house the day after Christmas. Check out our new watches!

Our paradise vacation compound, complete with lots of private rooms and bathrooms for everyone.

I think the window seat was the unanimous favorite place to sit. Who wouldn't love it with a view like that!?

Look at these cuties--my two sisters.

Corey and Sally were wonderful hosts, letting us stay with them even after they'd had company for many, many days!

One day we were at the beach, and 10 hours of driving and one night of rest later, we were on the slopes for my first ski adventure since I was probably seven years old! Ryan, my excellent instructor, took me up to Sundance for an afternoon ski. I snowplowed a whole lot and eventually perfected (well, maybe not perfected...) my turns. There were only a couple of times when I told Ryan he'd have to figure out how to get me down that mountain on his own.... j/k.

Thanks, Launa, for letting me use your beautiful new ski suit. I was the best dressed (and least skilled) skier on those slopes!

Merry Christmas!

We're at Ryan's family's house in Provo for Christmas this year. It has felt so decadently wonderful to be relaxing after such a busy four months in Indiana. And Ryan's family knows how to relax! Thanks, everyone!

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we worked at a nice local restaurant that was putting on dinner for the homeless. It felt great to be doing something meaningful on such a special day. We didn't expect to be serving breadsticks, drinks, salads, meals, and chocolate cakes to their tables (we thought we'd be working in the kitchen), but it was a lot of fun being able to interact with them. My heart went out especially to those who had little kids with them.

Tomorrow we're driving to Arizona for chimmichangas (please bless they saved me one) and more wonderful family! Then on Thursday we're all off to Mexico together for Christmas break adventure #3!

Snow Day!

Church was canceled today. This is the first time in my life I can ever remember church being canceled! With driving conditions that are "dangerous or impossible" according to weather.com, I guess they decided on safety first. It looks white and pristine out there, but the roads must be slick. It must be time to break out the wassail...

Who's ready for Christmas?

All I can ever think to write about these days is how much I want to fly out of here for the holidays! I can't even describe it!

I had to work much too much at Banana this week. But the good news is that I think I won't be there much longer, and it will be wonderful, amazing, indescribable to experience a mall-free weekend for the first time this semester! Plus, both of my other businesses are going very well.

Last night we went to a fancy dinner put on by Ryan's program. It was fun to sit with friends and chat with people we've gotten to know this year (mainly thanks to football games). They had a live jazz band, cocktails, ordures, and a nice dinner. Guess our tuition is getting us a few perks, at least!

Only 17 Days!

Only 17 days--that's two and a half weeks--until we fly to Utah! I can't wait. It hardly feels like Christmas without any family here... If we were staying here I'd invest in a mini-Christmas tree, but since we're not, I invested in a poinsettia (except it's a pink one..). It's bringing a little Christmas cheer to our apartment.

Things I'm looking forward to, among many:

- Long conversations with Ryan's family (Hopefully they'll even let me make some candy cane cookies! I have a feeling they won't mind...)
- Seeing my mom and dad!
- Seeing my mom and grandma's Christmas decorations
- Cafe Rio
- Driving to AZ to see Mary and Corey and their families! The kids have already grown bigger since I last saw them in August. I told them not to, but they didn't listen.
- Singing with my sisters (you too, Sally!)
- Spending time with friends. We have so many friends to see that we've been missing like crazy!
- Mexico!!!! I love the beach so much. Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma, for providing us with so many wonderful memories.

Here's a little flashback to Christmas last year...