My 2012 in Review

What's that? You want a re-cap of everything that happened to me this year? Okay!!

Check out highlights of this year after the jump...

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! We are down in Arizona with Matt's family, riling up children like nobody's business and eating way too much food. This is my first holiday as an official spouse, and I'm having a great time! It helps to know your husband's family four years before you're married. No nerves, just fun. There are almost 30 people under one roof, which I love! And we went hiking after Thanksgiving lunch (a first, but it definitely makes room for Thanksgiving dinner). 

We were planning on driving up today to be in our best friends' wedding, but we have had some car trouble. Getting a car repaired on Black Friday looks like it's going to be a daunting task, so we will be staying here for a couple more days instead of driving back up. We are sad to miss our friends' wedding! But at least we get a few more days of family time. 

You guys know I have been all up in Christmas's business since Halloween ended. I still have a few more gift guides scheduled, but today is devoted to things I love. I'm channeling my favey faves, Oprah, and her favorite things. Right now I'm loving on bold pops of red, cuddling weather, and simple decorations. Here you go! 

The art of lighting a Christmas tree.

Have you heard of the sound wave bracelet? You record yourself saying something, send it to the company, and they make a bracelet, representing the sound wave of it.

This website lets you upload any picture and turn it into a coloring page. I wish I could still get away with doing this in church.

I don't know why, but I don't crave baked goods like most people I know. This sounds like the perfect holiday treat to me!

It's almost time to start the official countdown to Christmas! This website has 34 ways to make an advent calendar.

Strange Thanks

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Frogs in His Tummy

My nephew Charlie is the closest experience I have to being a mother. When he was just a few months old, my schedule was free enough that I was able to spend the night at my sister's house one night a week to take care of him the next day while she was at work. He's the reason I don't have crazy magic baby fever like I used to, because I got a teeny tiny taste of how work is involved in having a child. BTW, I had a great time with him, but all babies are work. I still want children badly, and I'll take one when God's ready. 

Matt is so good with children. His aunt pulled me aside at the family reunion and reminded me that I got a catch who would be a great father. I agree! 

2009 Charlie and Kellie!

Anyhwey, I love living a town away from them so that I can do things like meet them at the pet store to check out puppies and cats at an adoption event! They were on their way to a Halloween party, so they came dressed up. Maureen is pregnant with another little Charlie skeleton baby! 

If you are ever itching to get your child out of the house, walk them around the pet store for half an hour. He was absolutely mesmerized by the animals, and even the ceramic fish tank props for sale haha. 

He was really excited to see the frogs, because apparently there is a frog in his tummy. 

"Mom has a baby in her belly, dad has dinner, and I have a frog."

"Charlie, who put the frog in your tummy?"

"Dad."

Makes sense to a 3-year-old...Good enough for me.

Stay-cation

As I mentioned in the last post, we have been stay-cationing a lot lately. If you are like me (obsessed with travel, but the extravagant bucket list in your head exceeds the lifestyle you can afford), stay-cationing is a great way to explore the world around you while staying within budget. I get restless if I don't travel, so I have tried to be a tourist in my own state. Here are a few things I have done to ease that wanderlust on my art teacher salary:

 Re-live past vacations

I feel the wanderlust, but really, we just went on our honeymoon to Mexico four months ago. We stayed at a resort for a week. I got to go to New York for work in February. And I lived in Italy a few years ago for two months. Matt just got home from two years in the Philippines. We've done our share of traveling. I was smart enough to blog about every single day of my study abroad (thank you, past self). Thinking about good memories helps the wanderlust subside.

The old bridge in Florence, Italy where we lived. 

My 20-year-old self at the top of the cathedral in Florence, Italy.

The David at the top of a hill overlooking Florence.

A water taxi ride in Venice, Italy.

On our honeymoon in May 

At Central Park in NY in February

Times Square!

Plan a vacation a year in advance

Ever since we started dating, Matt has wanted to take me to see the California Redwoods. I know, I know...I'm from California, but I've never been there! We are already planning a road trip for next summer. Planning so far in advance means that we can save up every month instead of having to find the money all at once. Plus, the excitement of our upcoming trip will probably keep me happy all winter long. The longer we wait, the more excited I'll be when we get there! We're going to rent a motor home and drive up the coast of California. I can't wait!

Do touristy things in your state

Last weekend, we took a road trip down to St. George and hiked The Narrows at Zion Nat'l Park with some mission friends. We stayed in a hotel the night before (can you say 13 people in 3 rooms??), hiked in for a few hours, and had a bonfire on the red rock that night. It was only 3 hours away, but that's all I needed to get my mind off of work + real life.

Before we left! 

The water was SO COLD! 

We hiked a few miles and turned back.

Take advantage of your town

I hate the question, "What are we going to do tonight?" Usually, it ends up being nothing because we have to spend all night planning! I have started using utahvalley.com and my personal google calendar to flag events up to 6 weeks in advance. I put any activity that sounds fun into my calendar, and when we're bored, we look up what's going on that night! We never use everything I save, but it's nice to have events at our fingertips when we need them.

My roommates and I used to host parties to get to know people in our ward. This party's theme was Cowboys and Alien.

Hiking in Springville! 

Springville Art City Days

Sometimes I go on walks by my house...

and see awesome things like this old house! 

Riverwoods Chalk the Block! 

Daydream on Pinterest

Sometimes just looking at pictures of other places helps me feel better about being stuck at home. I have a Pinterest board devoted to travel, and look at it anytime I need a mental vacation!

What do you do to take a mental vacation?

Confession #2

Guys...I have another confession to make.

Yesterday, Matt found out that he got into BYU. I was thrilled, because we have a life here in Provo, and it would be sad to leave it. Also, he didn't apply anywhere else. Basically, we are two lucky ducks!

As a Facebook friend said, "I love that he got into the only place he applied! It's like betting on yourself and winning!"

He asked me for advice on scheduling classes, and I got SO EXCITED....Like, beyond words excited. I was so visibly excited that he let me do it all by myself.

That's right. I'm the girl who loves planning school schedules more than most things.

In fact, I love basically everything about school. This might just be my post-grad adult self talking, because I'm pretty sure that when I was actually going through college, I kind of had a hard time. I also just think that's my personality, to see the grass on the other side as greener than my own. Since graduation, I have found myself missing school. That's right, I said it. I miss school. 

I'm like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. I love the excitement in the air throughout fall, the bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils.

I love shopping for school supplies and new clothes. I love organizing my schedule and writing in my planner. I love checking homework off of lists, reading and learning new things. I love not knowing what I'll be learning that semester, and the possibility of new ideas. I love bundling up to walk to school in crisp morning air. I love working with my mind. To me, fall time + a new school year always felt like a chance to start over again.

Mostly, I think I love school because I'm good at it. I'm not great at a lot of things, but I've got this school thing down. I'm pretty sure I was built for the structure and set expectations that school brings. I may not be able to hit a baseball farther than 3 feet, wrangle a crowd with my awesomeness, or care about politics, but dang, I have this school thing down.

So I miss it. Almost every day I think about going back. I'll just have to live vicariously through Matt. I guess, for now, that will be enough.