Merry Christmas to All

Christmas went by like a whirl wind. And today is New Year's Eve. I just can't believe it. I am excited to start a new year!

To summarize our Christmas Break . . .

Dalan and I went to Temple Square with his family. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

We exchanged gifts, we went bowling and we hung out together. Dalan's WHOLE family was able to share the holiday together.
But my favorite was Christmas morning with Dalan. 

Christmas Day Dalan fed the steers at 5:00 and I tried to go back to sleep but I was too excited for Dalan's present. Instead I went to grab his Christmas present. I put a big bow around his neck and we played as we waited for a couple hours for Dalan to hurry back home. Meet our newest addition to our family, Tip. Dalan had been eying this pup for weeks and I finally broke and I bought it. When he saw that it was sold he was so sad, and I wanted to give away my secret that second. But virtual high five for me, I didn't! I waited a week before I picked him up and then he hid out at our awesome neighbor's house (Thanks again for dogsitting and being so good at it!).

 Dalan was really surprised to find his pup in our kitchen when he got home :) It was such a fun morning! Here are pictures of Dalan and his new right hand man.

We were able to go to Kuna to visit my family for a very short but very full and fun trip. I am so happy I was able to hang out with my family and give them their gifts!

My favorite things about Christmas is getting everyone gifts, if we could afford it I would get something for everyone I know. Equally (if not more) I love wrapping presents. I love picking out the paper and the tags. I love making things look pretty.  I am reluctantly taking down the Christmas decorations today.

And today is New Year's Eve! What?! How did this happen? I haven't planned anything yet . . . Any ideas?

I am currently working on my New Years Resolution list. I just love lists.

Happy New Year friends <3 p="p">

VEGAS!

The first week of December we were grateful to escape for 4 days to head to Vegas for the NFR.
We left Wednesday right after I got off of work. It was one of the longest days of work EVER, but I made it through. We grabbed lunch and began our drive. We got to the hotel just in time to watch Duck Dynasty. Because we are fun like that.

Thursday we slept in and took advantage of the continental breakfast. We dropped by the Cowboy Christmas at South Point Casino. Afterwards, we shopped for HOURS at Cowboy Christmas at the convention center. It was a lot of fun to be with Dalan for the whole day, just holding hands and walking looking at all the pretty things.

Friday we walked part of the strip and decided that was enough of that. We ate lunch at Harley Davidson Restaurant where we purchased our one and only picture of the whole trip. Lucky for us it was a good one. Then we ran into another Cowboy Christmas :)

Ignore my lame picture of a picture and the giant glare. I have been trying to get our scanner to work with no luck for weeks! I give up. Here is our picture :)

We went to South Point to watch the Rodeo both nights. We were able to sit by some good friends from our ward, it made it a lot of fun. We walked around the casino, bought some ice cream and lost $1 to the slot machine.

Saturday we started our journey back to real life and real weather. We did it with a couple of pit stops though.
Overall, it was so so nice to spend my days with Dalan, holding hands everywhere we went and relaxing. This break was both deserved and very much needed.

I have to share a story that has made me laugh every time I think of it. . . .


We jump in the car to head back to the hotel and we turn on the GPS to guide us in the right direction. So here we are driving on the highway during a super busy Vegas time and we are in the far right lane. The GPS starts telling us to be in the far left lane and there is nothing we can do about it. But it recalculates fast so we weren’t too worried. And then we are suddenly seeing signs like Limos and Taxis only. We had drifted into the airport. . . . And there was no turning around we were totally stuck. There are hundreds of taxis filed into lanes and here we are in our dark blue Nissan just like yeah, we can be a taxi, sticking out like a sore thumb. I am laughing harder than ever. The taxi men start jumping out of their cars and telling us to go a different way. To say it simply, we were not welcomed as the newest taxi drivers. And with their directions we slowly made our way out of the Taxi/Limo only section. Anyway, Dalan is so chill and such a great sport. He just laughed along with me. It is already a great memory and something to think about if you need a smile.

Materialistic.

Here is a top 5 list of things completely materialistic and pretty and awesome right now to me.
A much happier post. 

 Number One: EOS Lip Balm.

I have been eying this lip balm as I buy groceries for months now. I finally decided to buy it and I love it. Of course it is the packaging that sold me. I love this blue color and I love the egg shape, it's just different, plus it makes it sooo easy to find in my purse. But then I used it and WOW it is great. I felt a little silly at first putting it on like a big glue stick, but that didn't last long.

 Number Two: Baker's Twine.
This year all of my Christmas presents are wrapped in brown paper packages and they are tied up in strings. It is beautiful and simple and yet new. 

 Number Three: Christmas Tags
These tags are perfect for my brown paper packaging tied up with stings. Find them here! http://laurabirney.blogspot.com/2011/12/freebies-holiday-gift-tag-printables.html This site has so many options for tags! I love it!

Number Four: H&M Sweater
I went to City Creek a couple weeks ago with a great friend that I hadn't seen in FOR-EV-ER. And I bought a Christmas sweater from H&M. It fits perfectly, and it is comfy and pretty and perfect for the season. It looks pretty boring in this picture, but I assure you it has little shimmers of gold weaved into it and what is better than that.

Number FIVE: Christmas Bells in my Christmas Tree
P.S Keep posted for our NFR trip! I am waiting for our scanner to work before I post! 

In Memory

 This has been a rough year. After a day of working with his best friend in early December, Murphy was hit by a tractor.

 It really has broken our hearts. He was such a great dog and getting better every day.

 Dalan said the day he died, Murphy was working his best yet and having more fun that he had ever had.

 I truly wish he could have stayed longer. We could have had many more days of moving cattle and having fun. And smiling as he chased my car down the driveway to walk me to the door.

 I think that Pepper and Murphy are in heaven herding cattle every day. Running miles and miles on luscious green grass with thousands of steers to move. When their day is done I think they go and play with our babies and keep them company before they get their turn to be with us.

Whatever they are doing, Murphy is missed dearly and thought about daily. He was brought to us in a time of need and even though his time was cut short he lived a happy life.

Blogger Hiatus

There are times when I have zero desire to blog about my day and I am completely incapable of forcing it. So here I am, blogging again, sorry for the hiatus.

This Thanksgiving has been so great. I was so happy to be going to Kuna to visit with the best people. It was such a fun, relaxing and carefree little vacation. I am so glad that I was able to spend it with my family and have time with them.

I am grateful for the perfect roads and traffic on our drive.

I am grateful for the yummy turkey and pies everyone prepared.

I am grateful for the laughs that we shared.

I am grateful for crafts after our feast while the boys watch football.

I am grateful for the time we had together.

I am grateful for my family.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. 

Yesterday we set up our Christmas Tree. Time to move from one holiday to the next. I'm ready for Christmas music and Christmas shopping!

11.4.12

Today I am thankful for slow Sunday mornings. Thanks for letting me clear my mind and prepare for a week of rushing.

Third.

Today I am excited to be going to Sheree's Scentsy Party in Rexburg! I am so grateful for the support everyone has given me since I started selling Scentsy. You guys are AWESOME! It has been so fun for me to do and so fun to be excited about something. Plus, it eases my internal need to give everyone presents as I deliver their Scentsy products. My bank account thanks me & Scentsy for that. So thanks again to everyone who has come and supported me and given me some confidence and distracted my mind. :)
 

P.s.  This warmer is in closeout! I love it!

ACM Awards

If you are not into the ACM Awards you may want to skip this post of me blabbering on about them.


First of all a confession, Blake and Miranda winning for their song "Over You" totally made me cry. I love that song, and the story behind it as well as their reactions. The combination of it all just sent me over the edge. In the end I was sitting home alone crying and laughing at myself. What a sight.

It might also be this odd idea that I have in my head that me and Miranda are best friends. And that if we ever invited them to double with us on date night they would totally agree and actually have a blast. Maybe even invite us over to their house or something. . . it could happen.

For now though I think I will postpone asking them to double with us, this is a busy time of the year and all. So congratulations to my friends. I think they are the power couple right now.

Another winner I was excited about was Thompson Square. We saw them when they opened for Lady Antebellum this year and they are the real deal! Not to mention another cute couple in the music industry.

Little Big Town has been one of my favorite bands for YEARS now! And it was so fun for one of my favorite songs to get the recognition! Plus they have great hair! I wish I could get my hair that big!

Thanks for reading to the end of my post and putting up with my pathetic favorite thing this week. Sometimes it is just better to stay away from the personal stuff and this week was one of those weeks.

Thank you ACM awards for keeping me laughing and crying.

November 2

Today I am thankful for the safety Dalan has had as he drives the semi-truck thousands of miles and states away. We have been so blessed. He finally got home last night and already I am less stressed. It is exhausting worrying about that darn truck and him being safe from the dangers of the road and of the weather. Not to mention the part about being home alone. That itself takes a lot of mind control.

grateful.

Today, the first of November, I am grateful for tiny miracles in my life. For the people that call to say hi, the people who show a smile, who come to visit and who listen to the spirit. And who act on it unknowing the results or the impact that it will have. Through our hardest trials there are small miracles embedded into them. For me, it is these angels on earth that are lifting me through and reminding me that my Heavenly Father, and my Savior loves me, and knows me and also understands.

Happy November. 

Top 5.

1. Parties!
Can you have too many parties? I don't know? I  am loving all of the parties happening around our house lately! All of the Scentsy Parties have been a blast! If you are interested in having your own party let me know! It has been so fun to get together with everyone, have some snacks and talk, plus it keeps my house in tip top shape! My first order has come and now my second order too! I love handing out all the goodies!

Visit here if you want to see more :)

And then we had a TREK family reunion Thursday. It was so fun. We had some pizza, a caramel apple bar and played the wii. It was good to see everyone again!

2. Going home!
Friday (of last week) I was able to go to Kuna and visit the family! I was so excited! Unfortunately, I had to leave without Dalan, he was bummed, but there was too much going on here on the Ranch to leave.

Of course, I took my Scentsy to Kuna with me, but I went to go through the Boise Temple Open House with the whole family! I was so excited to show everyone what it looked like when I got married! (kinda. . . Reminder: I was married in the Logan Temple, but it was just as beautiful and the meaning is obviously the same) I wish we could have taken a picture with everyone in front of the temple but both times I went we went in the dark . . .

This website here, http://mormontemples.org/eng/boise/interior-photos is a great one to look at if you want to learn more about the temple, what we believe or even just see some pictures. The temple was so beautiful and it was fun showing everyone something that means so much to me.

3. Brothers & Sisters
Below is the cutest picture of my self-declared, "Sales Lady." Josie helped me set up my Scentsy stuff and she sat right next to the table almost the whole time and shared with everyone her favorite scent, Paradise Punch, because it smells like Kool-Aid. How can you say no to that! ha ha

And here she is again cheering on Gracie at her basketball game. She is the best little cheerleader! This piece of paper had Grace's name on it and was originally pinned to Grace's new jersey and was transformed into a poster :) 

Grace did so great at her game! She made a basket and she stole the ball! She was a champ! It was so fun to visit with everyone. I went shoe shopping with Jalia and now I can't stop thinking about her newest boots! Ah! So jealous! Carter showed me his chicken farm and he does such a good job with his business! Brogan was my first family sell when he bought a scent circle for his truck! They are all so fun to be around. I miss them.

4. Photo Shoot
Tuesday I had a little photo shoot with one of our friends daughters. It was so fun and she was a doll! I was so excited to hand the photos over!

5. My favorite conference talk was . . . drum roll anyone? “Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also” By Elder Shayne M. Bowen. Here is the link to watch it.

Never Posted.

So . . . here is my list from last week . . .  totally thought I posted this. oops. I updated a few things.

1. Scentsy Launch Party! This week has been so much fun. I have been taking my Scentsy to Spring Creek with me, so I guess you can say I have been working 2 jobs at once. ;) Tough life, right. But it's a good conversation starter anyway, I don't know many people at the Middle School yet. Back to the Launch Party. It is tomorrow. {The party went sooo well! Thanks everyone for your support! both at Spring Creek and at the Launch Party}

 2. No school Tuesday! Tuesday was so nice, there wasn't any school and so I was able to enjoy a morning of sleeping in a little, some shopping and somewhat of a "recovery" day. However, it blows me away that by the end of the week it felt like my day off was weeks and weeks ago. Hmmm.

3. Missing Dalan. Tonight Dalan is in the semi-truck again. Off to Colorado. and p.s. he was already gone a couple days this week. :( bleh.

4. Fall treats. Burnt Sugar Almonds. Cookies. Reese's Cups.{I had the perfect excuse of a Scentsy Party to make all these yummy treats and they went fast!}

5. Clean ring. I feel like each time I clean my ring I go back to the day, 3 years ago next week, when Dalan proposed to me and I couldn't believe that he was asking me to be with him forever. But really I didn't believe him, until he said something like, " . . . seriously." and he looked at the ring in his hands that I hadn't seen yet. And my heart smiled. I can't believe the fairy tale we live. I love him more than ever. He takes good care of me.

6. What should I watch while Dalan is away that he would never, ever ever watch? Katy Perry: Part of Me. It made me cry. Can you believe that? I am a roller coaster. If there was a Team Katy or Team Russell Brand. I would be on Team Katy. The movie is actually very interesting. But I like stuff like that.

Processing Calves

 

Monday was Murphy's first day of work, or at least work training :) He did great. He is a smart dog, and he wants to work. Here he is taking a look at the steers. He sure pays attention to them.  

  

He got to help with the little round up. 

 I love this one. I can see that my position as the favorite, is fading away.

 Almost in.

 

 And they are in.

 And for the rest of the afternoon Murphy watches from the sidelines. He is so intent on each steer. Just waiting until the boys are done so he can put the steers back in the pens.

After a day working with Dalan, my months of being the favorite are pretty much gone. Dalan is now the fun one. But I don't mind it was fun seeing him work and want to please Dalan.

As the three of us jumped on the 4-wheeler last night Murphy made sure to work his way in between me and Dalan, instead of his usual spot behind me. So much for clean clothes. :)

Calligraphy

Today, as I relaxed from a day off, I played with my chalkboard and found this poem about October by Humbert Wolfe. 

"Listen 

The 

Wind is Rising 

And the air is wild with leaves

We have had our 

Summer Evenings

Now for

October

Eves."

It fits the season well.

My October Bucket List:

Corn Maze

Miniature Golfing in Providence 

Hot Chocolate

 Pumpkins

Halloween

Sweaters

Pumpkin Walk in Logan

Haunted House?? I don't know I am a baby!

I can't believe how much October Festivities we have already done! 

What should I add to my list?

 Happy October!

My Life.

1. Exfoliate. Because my skin is going crazy and quite frankly so am I. So I soaked my feet at night, made a face mask and exfoliated my lips too. My skin is thanking me.

2. Killing flies. I have used every single magazine rolled up into a fly swatter to kill all the dumb flies in our house. Seriously. I need to go on another rampage.

3. 5,500 miles. Dalan drove 5,500 miles this month in the semi. I missed him. Although I did take off work once to truck to Colorado with him, and I liked that.

4. Scentsy. I am now selling Scentsy! I am way excited to start! The holidays are the perfect time to buy new scents! I should be getting my little starter kit in the mail tomorrow :)

5. Work Out. Because I seriously have been making myself this week. I am thinking of going to some classes . . . Ballet Blast just came to Logan . . . want to join?

October!

 The colors are changing around here and it is beautiful!

 

Which means I get to do one of my favorite things  . . . . decorate! Here are some letters I made. Shout out to DIY Crafts over in Tremonton,they have such cute stuff! I got the owl and the gobblin glitter over at TJMaxx.

 

 I made this wreath the other day too. I just bought a skeleton at WalMart and hot glued it all together. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

 And here is the the font porch decor so far. I painted some pumpkins, I need some gold and glitter spray paint still . . .  I put out my scarecrow that I won at our Bingham Family Reunion and we will see what I add or subtract as the month goes by :)

 And here is my accomplice. He is a pretty good one too. 

Happy Halloween Month Everyone!

M.I.A.

 I have been slacking in the blog world for a couple weeks . . . but good news, I am still alive! I have some good highlights to share, but not yet. Maybe I will blog later. That is what I said to myself for the last couple weeks though, so we will see. I thought I would share the two handouts I shared with the Beehives today though. They are good ones :) 

Enjoy Conference!

life is better when you're laughing.

1. The VOICE!
This is ridiculous. I think The Voice is one of the best shows. I have been so excited for it to start up again. It makes me laugh out loud, and literally, not the LOL people put in a text because there is nothing else to say. literally laugh out loud. The banter and competitiveness between Blake and Adam is hilarious. And yeah. We are basically on a first name basis.
                                 
2. Murphy
This might sound silly to some of you but it was a big deal to get Murphy. After losing Pepper we were heartbroken. We didn't want to replace her yet we really needed a friend. Now looking back I am realizing exactly how important it was for us to get him. I'm not going to go into details here but that puppy has really brought comfort to us and let us laugh at life when life life wasn't funny.

This is Murphy on a very hot summer day. I filled his water bowl and he stuck his leg and face right in to cool off.

3. Laughing.
Dalan makes me laugh more than anyone else. It makes my heart happy. I love him more than anything. Life is better when you're laughing.

4. Let it Go
I just finished this book, Let It Go, by Chris Williams. This is an amazing book of forgiveness. It also incorporates following the spirit, the power of prayer and the atonement. I want to tell you all about it but he has written it beautifully and I don't want to ruin it. Instead watch this Mormon Message about his story and feel the spirit yourself. It is such a powerful message. I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter what you believe.
                                                    

5. Sleeping in
Now this is on a much, much lighter note but this weekend has been so nice to me as to let me sleep in a little both Saturday and today. My mind is clear and rested and I am ready to tackle the world.

Laugh Lots.