It's a Special Day!

It is Scotty's 25th Birthday! 

It's a big birthday year...he can finally rent a car for us:)  Feel free to leave a message for the birthday boy!  We'll post later about the festivities...and a picture of the birthday boy. 

Excited for Broadway this Year!

I'm signed up to get emails about shows on Broadway, and I was so excited to see this show opening in March!  I remember watching "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with my older brother David.  He introduced me to so many musicals, and I give him credit that I am cultured in that regard.  Anyways, this show opening in March---anyone want to go?

I also want to see this show-Wonderland!  It's opening sometime in March too.  This one is a new musical, based on Alice and Wonderland with a New York twist.

American Idol is Back!

This is Scott's least favorite time of the year... when American Idol starts up.  It's my favorite though!

I am a little behind in posting about American Idol this year because I wanted to watch a few episodes before.  So I've watched a few weeks of it, and I love it!  I have decided that I really like all the judges.  For those of you out of the American Idol loop there are 2 new judges this year to replace the old.  Randy Jackson is still a judge, and Steven Tyler (from Aerosmith) and Jennifer Lopez are the new judges.  So I may be a little biased because I am a Steven Tyler fan.  Just ask my family about my Steven Tyler impression:)  I think the judges work well together, and I am not missing the judges that left.  I don't even miss Simon Cowell.  So if you decided not to watch this season because of the new judges, start watching!  I need more people to talk about the show with.

I like this season how they seem to be focusing more on the good singers than the bad.  I used to get so sick of hearing all of the bad people so I think that is better.  There have been a few people that have been really good!  Once they get to the Hollywood episodes I'll start listing my predictions.  I like to pick my favorites early on and see how far they go.  I also like to "judge" the contestants myself, so I hope I don't bore you with my reviews as it goes further.

If you can't stand American Idol, I'm sorry just don't read these kinds of posts:)

1 Year Work Anniversary

I have made it 1 year working at my law firm!  Hurray! 

Other good news... Scotty is home!

No Snow Day....

Going to sleep last night I was really hoping for a snow day.  Especially considering that I could hardly sleep because of the noisy snow plows scraping the roads, it sounded worse than nails on a chalkboard.  For those of you in Utah, I know nothing closes because of snow.  Here in New York it's a little different.  When there is significant snow my work closes. Not today though... there was a lot of snow, but I still had to go to work...

Oh well, on the plus side, Scott comes home Saturday-Sunday!

MIA

Sorry we have been MIA on our blog. I've been trying to adjust to change, and I prefer to blog about happier things.  I just wanted to share what I've been going through.

Coming back from Christmas vacation I was very stressed and it was the hardest time coming back so far for me.  It was harder because I knew that when I came back Scott would be starting his year of medical rotations and I wouldn't see him very often.  On top of that his first rotation would be surgery in Stamford Connecticut which meant Scott would be living away from me.  If I didn't have a job I probably would have just stayed in Utah.  But I have a job and responsibilities so I couldn't do that. 

His rotation started at the beginning of January, and I will admit that it has been much harder than I thought it could be.  When Scott has been gone I have felt sort of empty I don't know how to describe it.  I felt like I had taken him for granted while I had him around everyday.  Luckily he has been able to come home at least one day each weekend.  I don't know if it makes it easier though because I have to say goodbye again each time he leaves. 

The good news is that he only has one more week left of living away!  Hurray this rotation is almost over:)  I feel like I have done a lot better than I thought I would.  I feel like I am learning to be more independent and productive.  I have been cleaning, organizing and crafting to occupy my time.  Also, our friends have been amazing and have invited me over for dinners, and to hang out.  It's crazy to think that he is almost done with one rotation.  When he gets back he'll still be really busy depending on which rotation he is on but at least he'll be living here and I'll see him more than I have with this rotation:) I'm kind of glad looking back that I got the worst one out of the way first.  When Scott's finished with this rotation I'll have him post a summary of what he's been up to in Connecticut.

Anyways, when I'm feeling stressed, overwhelmed, I tend to withdraw which is why I haven't blogged.  I'm getting back into it I promise!

Christmas Trip Home

It was so fun to go back to Utah and visit family!  It's also nice to get a break from the city and live a suburban life for a bit.  Here are a few pictures from my phone, and the majority are ones I stole from facebook.  We also spent time with Scott's family, but I don't have any pictures.  I'll be sure to take more pictures next time instead of relying on the pictures of others...

We finally got to meet our niece Jovie!  Of course, we made sure to get a lot of Jovie time.  She was still just a few weeks old when we met her, so it was fun to see a baby so new.

Keller was so fun this trip.  He is so cute and likes to give everyone "loves." 
He also refers to himself in the 3rd person which is very funny. 

Canon looking cool in his new bulldog football sweats.

Taesya is very girly, and totally into princesses/tinkerbell

On Christmas Eve, Scott went with my dad, brothers, and his dad to see Tron.  I chilled with my mom and sis and skipped out on the guy movie.  That afternoon/evening we got together with Scott's family which was fun.  We had good food and played a few fun games.  We slept at my parents that night and opened gifts with them Christmas morning.  We went back to Scott's house for a few hours to open gifts with everyone there.  It was nice to see everyone on Christmas and Christmas Eve.

So for some reason, me and my sister Courtney started singing the "Baby Bottle Pop" commercial song at Thanksgiving.  It got stuck in our heads or something  Scott heard us and asked what a baby bottle pop was.  We explained it, but he had never had one before.  When we were out there for Christmas, we went to the store with my mom, and Court picked one out to give to Scott.  Here's a picture of him it.

While we were in Utah we were able to celebrate my sister Courtney's 16th birthday with her. She got her license which was exciting. We also went bowling for her birthday which Scott and I have never done together. He always said that he was bad and didn't want to go. He ended up doing really well! I ended up doing terrible because I haven't bowled in the last 3 years.  Here are some pictures: 

After bowling, we made homemade pizza, and had strawberry shortcake.  Strawberry shortcake is my birthday dessert of choice but since we moved away I've been having it in New York so Courtney decided she wanted it for hers.  I did not complain---it was so good! 

The birthday girl making her pizza

Everyone making pizzas

My dad making his and my mom's.

My mom getting the strawberry shortcake ready.

Happy 16th Birthday little sis!  (I know that she looks older than me)

When our family gets a box of miscellaneous chocolates our family likes to play what we call, "Chocolate Roulette."  For the game each person has to choose a chocolate and you have to eat it.  We call it roulette because it is a gamble.  There are typically a few very nasty chocolates in the box.  We all went to make our choice and I saw one and said, "I get this one because it looks like a Snickers."  I thought it was a safe pick.  That was until I took a bite.... it had little bits of cherries, and it was the nastiest chocolate I have ever eaten.  See the picture of my reaction below.  If you have never played this game I recommend it, it's hilarious.  Scott lucked out and got all good chocolate.  My brother Cameron did get one that looked worse than mine.  Inside it looked like a fruitcake with various candied bits of fruit and cream.

We packed up our gifts along with our clothes etc. and were worried it wouldn't all fit in our suitcases.  We managed to fit everything and I told Scott it was a Christmas miracle!  On the flight home they asked for volunteers to take a different flight for vouchers.  Of course, we volunteered as we could use some free flights, and went to the gate where our new flight was.  They called us back and told us we could take our original flight and keep the vouchers!  It was our lucky day, getting paid to take our original flight!

It was a very fun trip, and I can't wait to go out again! 

Our 2010 Christmas Letter

Hunt for Cider

Saturday is typically the day that we do laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  This Saturday we decided to put off our chores and responsibilities and go out and have fun in the city. 

We woke up and decided to head to canal street to do some shopping.  It was insane!  I always forget how crazy it gets there with all of the crowds.  Once we found what we went there for, we left as soon as possible. 

We decided to walk toward Union Square where they have little holiday shops.  On the way we saw a lot of Santa Clause's, I guess there was a thing where people dress as Santa and go around to all the bars.  It was funny to see all the Santa's but we kept our distance, since we could tell a bunch of them had already had a few too many drinks.  Union Square was also insane, though it was fun to see the things people make to sell. 

We decided to head home to drop off our purchases and relax for a few hours.  When we got to our neighborhood we decided to stop by Starbucks to buy some of their caramel apple cider since we hadn't had any yet this season.  They told us that they couldn't make it because they didn't have any apple juice.  We went home and decided we would try again later that night at a different location, because it sounded so good. 

We had tickets to Wintuk, a Cirque du Soleil show, so we headed downtown to go to that. The show was a great! They did a lot of crazy circus tricks, and had amazing special effects. At the end there was a snowstorm (tissue paper snowflakes) over the entire office. It was kind of crazy how much "snow" was shot out. There hasn't been a snow storm in New York yet so it was fun to have a fake storm.

This is before the show started:

This is the stage, before the show started:

 Since we were already downtown we decided to check out the Macy's windows.  It was cool how they decorated the scenes, made mostly of paper.  I was impressed by the windows. 

We went into Macy's and saw that they had Starbucks so we decided to try again on our search for caramel apple cider.  We tried the 5th floor, they were out of apple juice, like the one by our apartment.  6th floor-same story, 3rd floor-no luck.  We found one on the 1st floor and thought that we would be lucky this time, but they couldn't make it for us either!  I was giving up, but as we were walking toward the subway stop we saw another Starbucks and decided to try that one.  There was a big line and when we got to the front we asked, not expecting anything, if they had caramel apple cider..... and they did!  We ordered our cider and I told Scott that I wouldn't believe it until I tasted it.  It was oh so good!  As we hunted for our cider it became a game, and was getting pretty funny that we were striking out so much.  It was totally worth the hunt!

It was a really fun day.  It was nice to do some festive things to get us more into the holiday spirit and just to spend the whole day together.  Life is so busy it's fun to  take a break from the things you "have" to do.

Christmas Cards

This Tuesday for Girl's night I thought it would be fun to make Christmas cards.  It was a small turnout--but very fun!  These are the cards I made:)  I decided to do a few different designs so I don't get bored making all of them. 

Remember Jack?

Remember Jack? Sorry Ash...

Cute Picture of Jovie

This morning I saw on facebook that my sister posted this picture of our new niece Jovie on Facebook.  I'm so excited to meet her, she is so cute:)

Ugly Sweaters and Gingerbread Houses

This weekend we got together with our friends the Hansen's and the Thomson's to wear ugly or festive sweaters and decorate "gingerbread" houses.  Scott and I decided to make very festive and ugly sweaters.  I gathered the supplies from Michael's earlier in the day for our creations.  Saturday morning a Christmas movie was on TV and there was a guy wearing a sweater that had a bright green moose on it which is how we got the inspiration for Scott's sweater.  The idea for my sweater came from a few years ago when my roommates and I made some really good ugly sweaters for a party at our apartment.  I tried to recreate it in a way.  See pictures below, along with how-to instructions for you to make your own ugly sweater:)

The front of my sweater:

There are bells and pom poms I used to cover the buttons/buttonholes.  Then I cut strips of those Mardi Gras type beads next to the buttons/buttonholes.  for the bottom of the sweater and the cuffs of the sleeves I used tinsel garland.

The back of my sweater: 

I used felt to make the tree.  I decorated it with pom poms, bells, and beads.  The "presents" under the tree are Christmas buttons.

Scott's sweater: 

Scott made his own sweater with a little guidance from me.  He printed off an outline of a moose, and used that as a template for his moose.  Googly eyes, and a bell were added as well as holly made from pom poms and pipe cleaners.  I think Scott's sweater turned out really well!

We had fun making our ugly sweaters, and are definitely saving them for a future party!  Here is us together at the party in front of the Hansen's beautiful tree, what a great backdrop for a picture:)

Here is the "gingerbread" house we made from graham crackers.  It is a replication of the apartment building we live in, tower 1.  This is while we were still adding a few finishing touches at the decorating table.  Scott was very creative in our tower.  He did the most work on it, I just followed his lead:)  

This picture is when it was all complete at another angle. 

We had such a great weekend, it was fun to do Christmasy things with friends!  I love the holidays!

Welcome Baby Jovie

We have a new niece!  Jovie was born on December 5 at 2:15 am, weighing 9 pounds 10 ounces.  We are so excited to meet her in a few weeks! Congratulations to my sister Amber and her family:)

Creak...Creak...

I'm at work and it is so windy today that I'm afraid this is what I'll be hearing all day---creak....creak...  It kind of makes you feel like you are on a ship getting seasick.  You can't really feel the building move, but the sound tricks you into thinking you can.  I think this is going to drive me a little crazy but I guess that's what you get when you work in a tall building.