Christmas Eve

Mom, Dad, Rach, Brandon and Bryan. Steve and Heather arrived later on that night.

Christmas Eve dinner...lasagna! Mmm!

Bryan with his "Bunny Suicides" Calendar for his 13th b-day. I love that kid!
I remember when he was born! :)

Cheesing it up for the camera, me and Rach.

Gingerbread House Extravaganza

run, run as fast as you can. you can't catch me, i'm the gingerbread man!
some of the gingerbread architects
tyra, tommie, natalie
chad's upside down/chinese house
brennon, beth, and chad
Me and my roommie, Cara. Love that girl.
me, katie, cara
katie and kristen
a few more of the creators

we had so much fun!

Rocky Road Goodness

just the right amount of

peanuts,

marshmallows,

chocolate

equals

the bestest/tastiest christmas treat

EVER!

{the pic seriously doesn't do it justice}

Here's how to make your very own:

Rocky Road

6 oz. milk chocolate chips
2 tbs. margarine
8 oz. dry roasted peanuts
6 oz. semi-sweet chips
10 oz. tiny marshmallows
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Combine chips, milk, and margarine. Heat until chocolate is melted. Fold in marshmallows and peanuts. Spread in a 9x13 pan lined with waxed paper or foil. Chill for 2 hours. Cut in squares.

Side note: I use 100% semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 milk chocolate.

Christmas Tag

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Can I just say, "I heart Christmas!"

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? definitely wrapping paper...i love tearing it off
2. Real tree or Artificial? i love the real trees. this year i'm sporting the rosemary bush cut in the shape of a tree. love it!
3. When do you put up the tree? shortly after turkey day
4. When do you take the tree down? new years-ish
5. Do you like eggnog? usually one cup a year does the trick
6. Favorite gift received as a child? my purple bike with pink tires. i always had something that was AWESOME.COM. thanks santa! wink! wink! i always loved getting presents from my siblings though, too. remember when bry got us all gifts from the dollar store? and they were so us?
7. Hardest person to buy for? for sure, the parentals
8. Easiest person to buy for? prolly ratch
9. Do you have a nativity scene? sure do, just got one!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? snail mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? hmmm! toilet paper (white elephant gift exchange)12. Favorite Christmas Movie? elf
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?after thanksgiving...i'll probably still be shopping 'til Christmas Eve...searching for the "perfect" gift
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? can't say i have.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? rocky road, hands down...and homemade cinnamon rolls christmas a.m.
16. Lights on the tree? definitely...i love clear ones!
17. Favorite Christmas song? do i seriously have to choose? i love christmas songs
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? i love being at home with the entire fam
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? rudolph, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, blitzen...i think there's more
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?christmas morning, for sure. i love the anticipation.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? dreaming about having a "white" christmas and then waking up christmas morning and having it still be 70 degrees. don't get me wrong i "heart" the sun mucho, but it just seems like christmas should have snow.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? clear lights with lotsa red-ness
24. Favorite time for Christmas dinner? whenever it's ready...early afternoon is the tradish
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? to have the best Christmas E-VER with the family, cinnamon rolls, to talk to hermana em, and to have a greater testimony of the Savior-his birth, his life, and the atonement!

Merry Christmas, all y'all!

I tag Megaroni and anyone else!

My New Car's First Bath

Here's some pics of my car's very first bath:
I guess I'm turning into a {mommy blogger}, of sorts. :P

Isn't she purty?

Any ideas on names?

Awesome Week Coming My Way!

1. Gonna eat some Rocky Road and other Christmas treats 'til my heart's content
2. Pay day
3. Christmas Festivities
4. Date to see Polar Express Imax style
5. 7 days closer to seeing the fam (only 10 more days)
6. Enjoy Christmas decorations
7. Attend another White Elephant (the third this year) :)
8. Finish my Christmas shopping
9. Finish reading the 4th {vampire} book aka Breaking Dawn
10. Remember the reason for the season...Christ

Claus Inc.

Here's a little on how the economy is effecting Santa...

http://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/a-message-from-claus-inc/

{You can listen and/or read.}

Hermana Em's Christmas!

The Christmas package with the 12 Days of Christmas to my favorite Hermanita.

I miss that girl! I can't wait for her to come back...February 19th isn't coming soon enough!

I love having an hermanita in the missionary field sharing the gospel, but...

just can't wait to have her back!

Woot!

My New Ride

My car salesman/buddy Jimmie and me.

{I took this for Rachel's sake.}

I'm the proud new owner of a 2009 Honda Civic!

Love it!

Some Call Me Bruiser!

As Promised...

Here's the pix of my large bruise from shooting at the gun range!

P.S. I think the gun won! :)

{Excuse the "Relief Society arm"/flabbiness.} Shortly after the "occurence."

Sporting the bruise...later that night

Day 2


Day 3



Day 4

Day 5

Palin-ing It at the Shooting Range

once upon a time
{friday morning to exact},
on a much needed day off,
i went with my friend tom
who only has to work 3 days a week
{can i just say i'm jealous?}
to the outdoor shooting range.

good times were had by us all.

i shot a very large
20 gage
{i think that's what is was}
and some other large gun.
as you can tell,
i don't know a darned thing
about guns.
but that doesn't mean that i didn't have fun
and that i didn't hit any of the clay pigeons.

i've only shot guns one other time
and they were small pistols.
this time the guns were just as tall as
i am.
i'm defintitely an amateur
and i'm such a GIRL!

long story short,
my right arm and the large gun
didn't get along so well.

the kick back hit my arm and i have a
HUGE
very icky looking
bruise.

apparently, i needed a little more instruction
on how to hold the gun,
but if truth be told
i think my instructor
{i won't mention any name}
was a little
DISTRACTED!
:)

though my arm wasn't and isn't
very HAPPY!
it made my heart very happy.
and now i have an
awesome battle wound.

i still catch myself looking down
and being surprised that there's
a {large grape juice stain} on my arm
or i catch a glimpse in the mirror
and get a little queasy...
now it looks worse than it feels, but...

Pow! Pow!

Bang! Bang!

I promise to post the pics of the aftermath!

Wanna Be Promotion

Many of you already know, but I recently got a

WANNA BE PROMOTION

slash

lateral move

at work.

I am now working as attorney represented claims rep.

My job role is essentially the same.

I still investigate and determine liability

and then

work to resolve bodily injury claims

caused by the at fault driver...

I used to work with the people DIRECTLY.

Now I work with their ATTORNEYS.

The attorneys send me their demands

in a nice little package with everything that I need.

I no longer have to spend countless hours

tracking down

medical reports

and bills.

The sad part is

that I don't have to meet with people

{at their home or work}

any more

to obtain their info...

which means I never get to leave the office.

Bye! Bye! Out-of-office freedom!

Hello, Cubicle!

I am now offically an office cubicle junky!

Bye, bye, company car

slash

cheap insurance

slash

company gas card...

BUMMER.COM!

No worries...

I'm getting some different experience

and will be able to promote

{for real}

in the near future

which EQUALS

more MONEY in my pocket!

Hello, opportunity!

WOOT!

5s

I've Been Tagged

What was I doing 5 years ago?
1. Living the missionary life in T.H.E. {Texas Houston East} Mission
2. Loving the peeps.
3. Tracting over 10 hours a week
4. Eating pecans with nearly every meal
5. Wearing "OFF" like it was perfume
{Does it have to stop at 5? I could go on for ever...How about just a few more?}
6. Wearing frumpy jumpers, knee highs, and clunky shoes
7. Running to the mailbox everyday...receiving snail mail was the highlight of any day.
8. Giving away Book of Mormons like there was no tomorrow.
9. Speaking Spanglish and using the phrase "Como se dice..."
10. Hearing people pray for the first time E-V-E-R {one of my favorite things E-V-E-R}

GOD bless Texas!

{Oh, to be a missionary again! The best days of my life! A day doesn't go by that I don't remember something from those days}

What are 5 things are my to-do list today?
1. Breakfast Date: Eat pumpkin pancakes at IHOP. Check.
2. Run my little heart out in 75-ish degree weather. Check.
3. Post pics of my oversized bruise from shooting at the gun range yesterday
4. Wipe down the bano. {that may just have to wait 'til Monday}
5. Go to a Dutch Oven Dessert Night in the desert.
{Guess I better get working, eh?}

What are 5 of my favorite snacks?
1. Peanut M&Ms {can't seem to live without 'em}
2. String cheese
3. Apples
4. Homemade cookies
5. Chocolate Fiber One bars {Don't let the fiber part scare ya, they're actually really yummy}

What are 5 things I would do if I were a millionaire?
1. Pay off my house.
2. Buy a car with cash
3. Travel the world
4. Give a little
5. Save a little

5 places I have lived:
1. The O.C., CA
2. The Burg, Idaho
3. Provo, Utah
4. Houston, Texas
5. Valley of the Sun (more specifically Gilbert, Arizona)

5 Jobs that I've Had:
1. Recreation Leader at Oeste Park
2. Customer Service Rep (health insurance)
3. Bio 100 T.A.
4. Law Office Receptionist
5. Liability Claims Rep

Demolition Derby: AZ State Fair

John, Kirsten, Jennica, and Jon

Demolition Derby {D.D.}

The before...

...The aftermath
I couldn't believe my eyes!

Who would ever think of "suping" up old junkers and deliberately ramming them into each other? And the last car to remain moving wins!

Quite entertaining...

{I must admit}

2 thumbs up

Fried foods galore
{As if Oreos aren't enough calories by themselves}

The best spectacular at the fair

5 tickets:

2 freakishly tall men and me

Worth every ticket!

Some of my peeps!

Have a SPAMTASTIC day!

The End!

Dancing with the Stars

LAUGH OUT LOUD!

Halloween Par-Tay

Last night I went to a Halloween Party.

I dressed up as my fav creature...

a REDDLadybug!

and my good friend Katie

was a black widow

In this pic she's "eating" me...LOL

Our friend Chad is in the background...sporting his red neck teeth.

Picture Tag

[[what are the rules of picture tagging? open up your pictures. then your 3rd file of pictures. then add your 3rd picture in that file.]]

This pic is of my bro Steve

being "Steve"

with all his fashion sense

and his sense of humor!

We were up late the night before heading to Rach and Brandon's wedding and were being silly (as all Redds are when we get together)

and lucky for this post I caught the moment on camera!

Yup! That's right! He had a toothbrush behind his ear.

Believe it or not Steve is now a studious law student in No Cal.

Love ya, Steve!

I tag anyone that wants to post a pic!

Visit with an Old Friend

Last week my high school friend Anna Pepper came to visit.

Anna and I grew up in California and after high school she moved to Arizona. Several years later I, too, moved to Arizona and ironically enough we ended up in adjoining cities. What a small world!

Anyway, it was great to visit with her and get all caught up. She even has a couple of kids and it's fun to see her play the mommy role.

It's Fall!

It's 70-some-odd degrees outside today and I'm LOVING it! I don't feel like I have to run to an air conditioned haven before I melt away in the scorching heat!


Today is the first day in several months that I left my front door open and opened the windows! While I was out and about today even rolled down the windows! So refreshing! I hope it's here to stay at least for a little while! Life couldn't be better!


This morning after my run, I ventured out to the local Lowe's and bought a shovel and rake. I have a great rock collection and weed garden that I'd like to replace with a "real" garden. How 'bout that? I knew the dry Arizona desert heat would be good for something! It killed the weeds! So, I put the new tools to use and started cleaning up the yard. One day it won't be such an eye sore! :)


With the temperatures dropping I'm getting anxious to start eating some yummy fall foods like apple crisp {Rach's fav}, soup, all kinds of pumpkin goodness, and chili! :)

I love this time of year!

Rejuvenation

I love, love LDS General Conference!

Here's some of my thoughts...

Inspiration.
Motivation.
Inspiration.
Reminders.
Encouragement.
Personal commitments to be and do better
Hearing the word of God.
Jammies
Yummy breakfasts.
Listening to the kids choir.
Missionary work.
Angels...mortal and immortal.
5 new temples to be built.
Pray always.
Marriage...I'm a wise shopper...still looking long and hard for quality and durability, not just a bargain.
Scriptures.
Gratitude.
Service.
I can do hard things...in the strength of the Lord.
Unity.
Laugh.
I am a daughter of God.
Seek for the eternal.
Hope.
Girl's Nights.
Missionary work.
I-poding up the messages.
Answers to prayers.
Christ lives.
He hears and answers my sincere prayers...always.
He is my friend. Our friend.
There is happiness in living the truth.

Can't wait until April.

More Pix from CA

My married sis and me

My dad and me

My mom and me

Cup Full O' Goodness

I eat my ice cream in a [cup], not a [bowl].


My mom used to serve us ice cream in [cup] .
It was just easier that way.
Portion control? Maybe?
Now that I'm now an [adult], I carry on the [tradition] and still eat my ice cream in a [cup].
It's just [better] that way.
Habit, I suppose.
My friends think I'm crazy cuz I serve them ice cream in cups, too!

Pictured here:

Blue Bell's Original [Moo-llenium Crunch],
of course, IN A CUP
Ice cream goodness in its fullest
Cream: straight from the udder
Nuts: Walnuts, Almonds, and Pecans
Caramel chunks
Chocolate chunks
Melts in your mouth
Mmm! Mmm! Good!
So happy that The Valley of the Sun sells this Texas Delicacy...oh the memories!

Ice cream is a food group in my {food pyramid}

How do you savor your ice cream?

Visita a California

Huntington Beach-loving the sand, the sea breeze, and the crashing waves

We marked our spot...our rememberance on 9-11

The parentals and me

My nana and me

Nikki and all her FUN bridesmaids

Brandon, Rach, Nana, Mom, Dad and Me

My {little bro} Bryan and me

Bryan captured my debut as a world renowned pianist

Things I wish I had pics of:

Chowing down on pizookies with Ryanne and her boy Eric.

Me running 3 miles a couple of mornings without the help of a treadmill {the best part was that it was COOL enough to run outside and not in 110 degrees}

Eating at In-N-Out

Being cultured...I went to a nice French restaurant and then to the symphony with a cute/funny boy

Lotsa yummy food

Lotsa laughs {I love when Dad has an audience}

Car shopping

Inviting the inactive car salesman back to Church

Party at the park

Visiting with chums at church