The Bachelor

I don’t generally watch TV and I never watch the Bachelor, but somehow last night I ended up wasting two hours of my life in front of the TV watching, you guessed it, The Bachelor.  I don’t understand how they call that reality TV.  I don’t understand how all of those girls are magically in LOVE with this one guy.  How is it that they never have a couple with no chemistry?  I shouldn’t say never because like I said, I don’t watch the show.  And how is it that this guy just so happens to have such strong feeling for ALL of these girls?  Here’s how the show goes.  The bachelor takes a girl on some out of this world romantic yet unrealistic date.  They have a great time, make out, talk about how much they care about each other then go back to the house.  Some girl gets one on one time with the bachelor, but it gets interrupted by another girl saying, “I’m sorry, excuse me, do you have a minute?  So then she tells the bachelor how she needs to know he cares about her.  He assures her he does and she needs to trust him.  They make out and it’s interrupted by yet another girl that needs to know that the bachelor cares about her and on and on and on and on.  How is this reality?  At the end of this, how could anyone possibly say, “I do?”  I’m just saying.  And on a random note, I spent the entire show thinking the bachelor looked a little bit like my husband, only taller and tanner and more fake. 

Now if only I looked like one of these girls

and if only my husband would pick me up in a helicopter and we could fly to Catalina, walk on the ocean floor, lay on a bed in the middle of the beach, cuddle, kiss, talk about how much we love each other, have a romantic picnic, and repel off of buildings in LA.  (sign)

Bottom line... If you:

are gorgeous

have a spray tan

and a boob job

don't have enough drama in your life

are jealous and insecure and like to cry about it

want to meet the love of your life guaranteed (even if he doesn't pick you)

like to share your man

look great in a swimming suit

and want to be on a reality TV show about dating that is nothing like dating in real life you should try out for the next bachelor.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I can honestly say, I have never been so disappointed to have such a green lawn.  The lack of snow didn't stop us from having a great Christmas though.  Traditionally we have a little party at my Mom's house on Christmas Eve.   We had a white elephant gift exchange then Brinley sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

 The other kids had some hidden talents too, like Karson's break dancing.  Who would have thought?

 Then there's my Dad.  He's an amazing guitar player.  I would dare say he plays nearly every day of his life.  Growing up, I remember him sitting on the edge of his bed and he would practice.  The thing is, it takes a lot of convincing to get him to actually play for us and about once a year, he does.  Amazing thing #1, my Dad taught himself to play the guitar.  Amazing thing #2, he usually learns his songs not by reading the music, but buy listening to it.  Amazing thing #3, my Dad was born Deaf in one ear. But when he does play for us, I am always amazed by his talent and wish that I would somehow inherit some of his musical talent.

 We usually spend some time at Grandma and Grandpa Cazier's on Christmas Eve too.  And honestly, one of my very favorite Christmas moments this year was watching Dustin's Grandpa sing Christmas carols.

Brinley had a great Christmas morning,  spoiled as usual!  We were so thankful to be able to spend so much time with our families.



In the Spirit of Christmas

We went to Salt Lake last weekend with my family to take hats and gloves to the homeless shelter.

 The kids took books to the children at Shriners Hospital.

 And we rode the trax to Temple Square to see the lights.

Stayed at Little America and played a funny prank on Jess.  So fun!

Ski Season is Finally Here

We have been so excited to teach Brinley how to ski and we felt like it was finally time for her to learn.  Although it was much harder than we thought to teach her, she did great.  She had a hard time getting the hang of it at first, but then Dustin remembered, she's a gymnast so when he told her to put her legs out like she's going to do the splits she got the hang of it.  It was such a fun day!

Bragging Rights and Incredibly Thankful

I like to do things that are challenging.  I like to push myself.  That being said, I absolutely hate to cook for people.  I'm a perfectionist and my cooking skills are... well, lets just say they are less than perfect.  For Thanksgiving I always get stuck bringing something like celery sticks and it makes me feel stupid.  I feel guilty sitting down to enjoy such fabulous food when all I have contributed is celery sticks.  In fact, this year when we were talking about food assignments my dad even said, "Why don't you bring celery sticks?"  I can't cook, everyone knows it and for years I have been the cooking joke. 

The first thing I have to brag about is my Mom.  I know everyone has Thanksgiving dinner, but not everyone has Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my Mom.  The whole world knows my Mom is a fantastic cook so I don't think I need to say more.  She normally spends days preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  Everything is made from scratch, EVERYTHING, but my Mom has had a very trying year, couple of years actually and I honestly wanted to help her.  I didn't want her to have to spend days cooking so, somehow I got signed up to make  pie.  You have no idea how overwhelming this was for me.  Not only do I have to make  pie, but it has to feed my family , the same family that has grown up eating my Mom's pie.  And I don't even like pie.  How will I know if it's good or not?  My mom suggested buying a pie crust, but I knew that wasn't really acceptable. So I did what I always do and turned to the world wide web for help.  Yes, my mom would have helped me.  Like I said, she is a fantastic cook, but I said nothing about her being a good teacher.  A little of this and a little of that just doesn't work for me.  So,  I went to a trusted website and studied it for days.  I read over and over how to make pie crust.  I realized I needed one of these

I recognized what it was.  Did I have one of those?  Maybe I got one for a wedding gift and it was stored in a tote somewhere.  Or, maybe I gave it away.  Or, maybe I didn't have one and the one I was thinking of was the one I had seen my mom use.  So, I went to the store and I bought a pastry blender. And I made Pie, 2nd bragging right.  I stayed up late and I made 3 pie crusts and two pie fillings.  I'm not bragging that I made the best pie or even mediocre pie, I'm just bragging because I made pie.  Me, I made pie.

And when Dustin went to capture the moment I dumped half the pie filling out of the crust and onto the floor.  Oops!

I love Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year and maybe it's because I have so incredibly much to be thankful for.  I am so thankful for the little girl that changed me and for the love she has filled me with,  for my husband, not because we are perfect together, but because we simply couldn't make it without each other,  because he makes me better, as I do him, for my body the same one I am constantly criticizing and critiquing, I'm healthy and I'm strong I have asked my body to do some really hard things and it always allows me to do those things.  I can carry babies and give birth and run marathons, for my family because each of them have contributed so so much to my life, for our jobs and our success in them,  for my home because it makes me feel just that, at home and because I scribbled I love Dustin on the 2x4's as we built it. and to live in such a beautiful place and for all of the amazing things that surround me.

I absolutely loved spending Thanksgiving weekend with my family!  We did some Christmas shopping.  Didn't get too much sleep, but did get some awesome deals.  And speaking of thankful, on Black Friday we took Brinley to breakfast.  We were sitting there waiting for our food and Brinley peeked through the blinds, stared out the window for a second and said, "I just love this world."  I just love this world too, but sometimes I take it for granted and I'm thankful she reminded me.  We got the 4-wheeler out and continued our tradition of making Gingerbread houses.  Such a great weekend and so much to be thankful for.

Because this day made me laugh

The other day I heard Brinley go outside so I went to see what she was doing and I found her eating snow,  looking like this...

Yes, that coat is about three sizes too small, but I was just impressed that she had enough sense to put a coat and gloves on at all, considering the fact that she is wearing shorts.

Me: "Brinley, what are you doing?  Come get some pants on, you are going to freeze in those shorts."

and her response: "I'm not afraid!" 

Brinley likes to pretend she is a "mean girl"  (sometimes she really is a mean girl).  Here she is walking around saying, "I'm a mean girl!"  And a shot of her mean girl face...

I feel so blessed to have this little girl in my life! 

Disney On Ice

Earlier this month we went to Salt Lake with my sisters and their kids.  We took all of the kids to Disney on Ice.  Brinley loved it and wanted to take Tinkerbell home with her. 

We all had fun swimming

 

and ate way too much late night junk food.

And for some reason Brinley wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter and put it under her pillow.  She couldn't wait to see if the Tooth Fairy left a surprise for her in the morning.   We tried to explain to her that she has to lose a tooth first. 

All in all it was a fun weekend.



If I Knew Then What I Know Now

I miss the days where the stress in my life consisted of stepping on a thorn in the front yard because I was running around without shoes on, or having to dust the railing and vacuum the stairs, or being forced to eat my vegetables, or having to come home from the park because it was time for lunch, or not being able to sleep out on the tramp 19 nights in a row.  (sigh).

Trick-or-Treat

Things in My Life That are Making Me Happy Right Now

* Caramel apples, caramel apples with walnuts, caramel apples with white chocolate and cinnamon & sugar

* Target!  Been there the past two weekends in a row

* Half of my house has been re-painted

* Spinning with Shaeli

* Making fabric flowers with Tami

* No more car repairs!  We bought a new car a few months ago.  No, it's not a Cadillac CTS, but it's a  car... WITH A WARRANTY :)

*  Questions from my husband like, "If I were to make you dinner, and you could have anything, what would you want me to make you?"

* Questions like, "Mom, where does bleed come from?"  Or, "Mom, where is the rest of the moon?  Maybe it feel off."

* Comments like, "I'm going to ask Heavenly Father for my baby sister."  or "Another kiss please."

* My job

* Good Friends

* Great family

* Thinking about Thanksgiving

* Knit boots

* Eating salmon and almost liking it

* Good books