Catching Up on Pictures

Here is our Christmas tree. It is just about the teeniest tree you can imagine--but I love the Christmas cheer it brings to the house.

(for an alternate view, see Kyle's blog)

This is the turkey we made. I never put up a picture of it. I just wish I'd gotten a picture of it before Kyle started carving it!

We had so much fun with these guys over Thanksgiving break! It was impossible to get one picture with ALL of us smiling normal...that silly Emma.

Amanda's bridal shower was Most Fun. Cool people and sweet presents! I think it went very well. There were a ton of people there, most of whom I had never met before! The only good pictures I got were of the pom pom decorations that I made with Katy and Kyle. I think they're neat. Thank you, Martha Stewart. After the cleanup crew (us) pulled them

down from the ceiling, we couldn't resist playing with them.

Kyle came over to help us clean up. Alan came strictly to eat our leftovers. He also played.

Now The Biggest Loser is on so I have to go!

Best. Day. Ever.

In the last ten minutes, I:
--not only SAW Keith Johnson, but HE saw ME first and said HI!! KEITH JOHNSON RECOGNIZED ME AS A HUMAN BEING!!!!
--discovered that there is in existence Christmas time CADBURY MINI EGGS!! They are DELICIOUS and I am consuming them RIGHT NOW.


I feel radiant and exuberant and...yes, I feel EFFULGENT.



(Keith Johnson is not a secret lover, do not fret. He is the English professor that I have reverenced for the last 3 years. Ours is a hero worship/vague recognition relationship.)

Sick and Welshy

I was so sick yesterday. As Katy (and actually, I) would say, sickubus. Losing 4 lbs. is the silver lining. It was awful, of course, but I did get to watch all 4 hours of North and South--a very fun BBC miniseries. I'm all better now--except for the exhaustion and soreness. That's okay though, I don't have to do anything really awful today--just learn the Welsh language. Which is kind of fun, actually.

Katy and I are working in the LRC until our class in 4 hours. It's great except the space key on this keyboard squeaks everytime I hit it. ANNOYING. I'm wearing headphones, but the folks around me must hate me. Oh well.

I'm at work. I thought that if I worked hard, time would go by quickly--but unfortunately, that is not the case. It's always harder to stay at work when I'm stressed/excited for things. I just have a lot to do today, and sitting here isn't getting it done. BUT it's giving me money so I'll still do it. I'm just antsy to get a move on! The things I have to do aren't terrible--just necessary to get done TODAY. Making pies, making cupcakes, buying things from different locations, etc., and then just mapping out what I have to do tomorrow morning, making a schedule, etc. It'll be great though. I get a lot of pleasure/stress out of being a hostess.

In other news, I'm done with all of Kyle's presents, so I'm officially done with Christmas shopping. I'm almost sad, because it's so fun to do! We won't be eating for the rest of the month to make up for all the presents we got for our family (don't feel guilty, guys, you know I love it--giving presents is one of my truest joys). Of course, we'll eat great once we get to California!

Oh man, eating...I forgot about that. Dang I'm hungry. Now I REALLY want to leave work!

Pantrucas

This is Kyle with a scrumptious bit of fried cauliflower. Actually to me it looks disgusting--but Kyle loves it, and it is very Chilean apparently. We had a blast at Pantrucas last night. The owners are SO NICE. The man was our "waiter", although it felt more like we were buddies. He came and sat with us and told us about the menu. He said everything in Spanish to Kyle and then repeated it to me in English--although I could understand him, I told him I didn't really speak Spanish because I didn't want to have to try to actually respond in Spanish. I'm a wuss. He was really cool. As we were about to leave his wife came out, and let me tell you she is GORGEOUS! I loved her, and her voice. Kyle says she looks very Chilean. I'm amazed he didn't end up marrying one if they look like that! The place was tiny, and we were the only people in there. You know how once you go to a place that looks like it might be struggling, it automatically becomes YOUR responsibility to take care of it and keep it afloat? Is that just me? Anyways, we're definitely going back there. I got a ham and cheese sandwich that wasn't special except for the delicious homemade Chilean bread it was on. Kyle got a tasty empanada. Next time we'll get pastel de choclo (it takes a while to make and we didn't feel like we had time) and the Torta de Mil Hojas--a "cake" pastry thing that sounds SO GOOD. I'm glad Kyle knows about these sorts of things so I don't miss out on anything delicious. I'm also glad that Kyle is such a fluent Spanish speaker, because this week I'm reading a Spanish play and I have really needed his help! I try to read it, and I get most of it, but I can tell that I'm losing a lot of the subtle things. So then Kyle reads it to me so I can really understand--it's very sweet. And attractive.

Last night we also celebrated with Dairy Queen! I couldn't help but remember my family's St. Johns trip over the summer--we went to DQ every day, and one day we went twice. Andersons on vacation.

School is almost over! This is the last full week of classes--and it's almost Friday! I can't believe how fast it's gone. I also can't believe how soon Amanda's bridal shower is! Yikes! I'm going to spend a lot of time in the next couple of days baking, and making decorations, and pie-ing, and frosting....yeah it'll be fun!

HOW long has it been?

Today is the 200th day of our marriage! And no, we don't keep track of the days we've been married. Kyle's phone told us last night that this was coming up, and hey, you may as well celebrate every chance you get! And let me tell you, the last 200 days are worth celebrating. But, too much talk of delirious love and happiness gets old, so I'll just let it be. I'm excited for our 200th day celebration. We're going to try out a Chilean restaurant that I discovered yesterday. Kyle always talks about pastel de choclo, and now I will finally get to try it!

Last night we had some fun campus activities. There was a Navidad fiesta for some of the Spanish classes, which was fun PLUS I got a hefty amount of extra credit for singing The Little Drummer Boy (en español, of course). Immediately after was Katy's orchestra concert! I love going to Katy's concerts. In all of her years at BYU, I have only missed one--and that was NOT my fault, because I was in Amarillo. Kyle is so fun to go to concerts with, and we definitely had a blast. The music was great! Afterwards we took Katy home with us and delighted in hot chocolate and Good Eats.

All last night I had Nazi dreams. I HATE Nazi dreams. And these weren't even "Oh, Nazis are bad, poor Jews" dreams--I WAS the Jew, and I WAS hunted. Kyle and I were on the run for ages. It was very scary :( Luckily, Grandma Joyce took pity on us and gave us shelter--until we got caught again.

Happy December!

Do you ever have days where it seems like every single person you pass is staring at you incredulously? And you have no idea why, and after checking yourself out in the mirror you confirm that you look fine, so why the heck are all those people so weird? Yeah like today.

Some Thanksgiving highlights:

• The delicious pie I made that we ate over the course of several days.
• Seeing Twilight with Nancy and the Dowse girls (hilariously delightful)
• Thanksgiving dinner with my second cousins and the Scott/Nancy fam
• Hanging out with Katy P.
• Seeing Australia (very Baz Luhrmann, which to me = amazing)
• Amanda's official engagement (finally!)
• Gallivanting through Provo in the middle of the night while hand-delivering a bunch of bridal shower invitations
• Chili's chips and queso
• Black Friday shopping, even though we didn't buy anything
• Babysitting for my cousins
• Burger Supreme
• Dinner with Council Bluffs and Emily--for the first time, Kyle and I made turkey, gravy, and stuffing
• TONS of Christmas shopping and bridal shower planning!

We've been listening to Christmas music nonstop, and this week I hope to get some Christmas decorations up. I want to feel the holiday spirit as much as possible, even though I won't be at home with the family until just before Christmas. I can't believe there's only like 3 weeks of school left. The semester has flown by, hallelujah. Just a couple of obstacles left!

I was postponing publishing this post because I have some pictures, but they just won't load. Oh well.

I am done with ALL of my Christmas shopping. Yes. It is December 2nd and I am declaring myself DONE. (Except for, you know, my dear husband. I have no clue what to do about that)

Happy birthday Dad!!