looking back

2o12.

what a year it was.

i'd have to say this year was one of the biggest turning points in my life.

i learned a lot of new things about myself

some lessons i learned the hard way, but still, i am glad i learned them

they have all shown me different things about who i am

i had 2o12 all planned out,

and none of it happened the way i thought, and i am so glad it didn't

 2o13.

a new start for things to change.

a new chance to be who you want to be and do things you want to do

i have lots of high hopes for this upcoming year

christmas

this post is a few days late, but better late then never.

christmas was a little different this year.

i had to work christmas eve.

jenna and tayten weren't there.

this was the first year i had my boyfriend over.

we had brinley.

and it was also my first christmas i have spent with my brothers.

even with all the changes it was one of the best ones yet.

christmas eve:

i got off work about 4 

it was snowing really hard so i made my brothers come pick me up and of course they hadn't gotten anyone presents yet so we ran to wal mart to get their gifts.

after that we went up to my moms.

if anyone knows my mom, than you know she does everything over and beyond

her house is amazing at christmas (picture below)

we had brinley this year and it was so fun

we ate dinner

and then it was time to open gifts.

brinley was so cute.

she now has an excited face so she would open something, make her face, and giggle.

we were spoiled of course.

dar got me an amazing new stereo for my car

(much needed)

mom went all out and got me lots of cute new clothes

it was so fun to spend time with the people who mean the most to me.

after presents we played a few games, and by a few i mean we were up till 230 playing games.

christmas:

my mom woke me up at 7 to help her make the traditional casserole

i wasn't having it

so i played sleep and didn't get up

but then the excitement of christmas kicked in and i couldn't sleep

i went and woke up dar who had to sleep in taytens toddler bed (such a good sport)

then we went downstairs to finish helping my mom.

while we were sitting there we heard the door open and a voice yell "surprise"

we turned and tayten was standing there

he was so ready for presents.

he ran down and woke up his uncles

and attached his presents.

after we saw what santa brought us we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast

and just spent a little bit of time being lazy.

we then headed out to my dads&tiffs

opened up our gifts, and just spent time together.

and had another amazing meal.

over all it was such a great few days.

i hope everyone had a great holiday!

Tay&Brin with santa$mrs.clause at their school  carnival

brinner got a cell phone

brinners new 4-wheeler

christmas morning

my moms house is so pretty

iphone dump

long posts are always lame.

pictures however are awesome.

so here is a catch up on my life through the lens of my phone.

This guy is amazing! :)

Last weekend we spend the day in Salt Lake doing some Christmas shopping, and ended the night
looking at the temple square lights. So beautiful!

This little guy is turning into quite a handsome kid!

Adorable right?! In the top picture we matched so of  course we needed to document it . And the bottom
one was Sunday, I was trying to wrap presents and she thought they were for her.
So she sat down and I pulled out my phone and thats the face I got. Love her!!

Watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with Dars nieces&nephews

Date night last week!
Mine-left Dars-right...and needs some serious  help

this has to be the funnest time of year.

and i've been soaking it all up

now that most of the christmas shopping is done it allows me to enjoy it that much more.

poor dar i've made him do every christmas activity with me

and we still have more to come.

he is such a great sport.

i can't wait till christmas this year for everyone to open their gifts.

its fun to get old and be the one giving out the gifts rather than receiving.

especially with the little ones 

its so fun to do all the santa activities with them.

to-dos

is there anyone else who feels like the list of to-dos

just keeps growing?

goodness.

lately it seems like i get one thing done and 5 get added.

i've always been the type of person who makes a list of everything.

i love being able to see what i need to do and getting it done,

but now...

its just a reminder that i haven't done anything.

there are things on there that have been there for about 2 weeks now.

failure?

little bit.

theres just so many other things i would rather be doing than

-cleaning the bathroom

-doing the dishes

-vacuuming the apartment

-dusting

i mean come on..who wants to do that when you can

-go on a motorcycle ride

-play with the niece&nephew

-go shopping

-or hey how about just doing nothing

i guess this week i will buckle down and finally get some of my things done.

heres to having a productive week!

happy monday!