Love these two faces

(Elliot after stuffing his face with yogurt and cottage cheese. My kids love their dairy.)

(Avery brushing her teeth - one of her favorite things to do.)

How can you not?

My favorite outfit

Wednesday has come around again and that means it's time for What are you wearing Wednesday. Niki welcomes everyone to join in, so please do!

I'm really excited to share this outfit because I think it's my favorite right now.
It's so me!

I love the detail, the pattern, and the colors.
The price was pretty good too.

pearl cluster earrings: Forever 21 - $1.50 (full price.)
cardigan - Forever 21 - $16 (sale)
yellow dress - Forever 21 - $12 (sale) I added the lace to the bottom as I often do to dresses just a touch too short.
green belt - thrifted - $1
shoes - I can't remember but I ♥ them.

Aren't great deals the best?! They just make my world.

Rock Climbing

I never got to blog about Andrew's birthday, which is December 1. It was a big year this year because he turned 30! I knew I wanted to plan something special, and that something special didn't include a surprise party.

We needed to do something Andrew would never forget and that's when I thought about rock climbing.

(Andrew reading Harry Potter at Elliot's pre-school his b-day morning.)
Did you know that rock climbing is free on your birthday?

I planned months ago to take Andrew on his birthday and the week before it I looked up pricing and saw the sweet deals they have. Rock climbing is free on your birthday and 20% off anyone you bring with you. Awesome!

I am not novice at rock climbing, but I am also far from pro.
My problem is my fear of heights.
I start off fine and get more nervous the higher up I am.

Andrew isn't afraid of heights but of the possibility of me letting go of him or the equipment being faulty.

Overall, the longer we rock climbed, the more comfortable we were.

We really had so much fun. You should check it out!

Michael Buble

Without a question mine is "Everything".
I love it!

Even more than "Haven't Met You Yet". I was happy to learn that he's going to marry the girl from the music video.
They make a cute couple.
I love happy endings.

On a side note, have you ever done glitter toes? I did mine two weeks ago and picked a pretty green hoping it would last through Christmas but I've already torn all but one toenail off already. I wanted to do it a long time ago and never did and now I know it's not for me. It was fun while it lasted.

Ruth and Angie

I found these pictures of Ruth and Angie
from when I did their hair a year ago.
Such cute girls.

I always tell them it doesn't matter how good or how bad their hair turns out, they would look good anyway.

Angie and the viola

Oh hi! I want you to meet my sister Ruth's best friend Angie. I did her hair for Westwood High School's Winter Formal two weeks ago and seriously - what a babe! Get ready for lots of pictures.









I seriously think she's adorable and they are the cutest best friends ever.

Angie is such a cool girl but do you know what makes her even more awesome?

She plays the viola.

Violists rock!

Below is picture proof that I'm in an orchestra. Excuse the muffin top. Disappointingly this is the only picture Andrew got of me at my last concert. Oh well. Maybe next time will be better.

MCC orchestra is always looking for good musicians. If you're interested message me and I can get you some info.

Grandchild #9

Last week my sister, Julie, found out she's having a girl? After 5 of my sisters, sister-in-laws, and me having boys first, Julie's the first to have a girl first. I'm so happy for her and her husband James -who has been beyond himself in ecstasy over his little girl. Their little girl brings the girl to boy grandchild ratio up to 3:1 with 6 boys and 3 girls.

(going shooting July 2010)

Congrats you two!

Like Father, Like Son

Sheriff Andrew - mid 1980's

Sheriff Elliot - July 2010

What do you think? Do you see the family resemblance?

York and a silly photo

I was looking at old pictures and I came upon these.


photo 1. Ha ha ha! I laugh every time I see this picture. It's my sister, Julie, in the York Minster, York, England. She and another sister, Nora, visited us for Christmas and New Year's Dec. 2006. York is an hour north of Hull, the city we lived in. For some reason the picture went really white so I took the liberty to color Julie's face in :)

photo 2. The better of the two pictures.

photo 3. York Minster. Let me tell you - this building is amazing! This picture doesn't do it justice! I think went to York something like 6 times during the two years I lived in Hull, England, and saw it almost every time. York is a must see city in England!

What I'm grateful for

I said I would catch up and here I am. I missed sharing Thanksgiving photos and things I'm grateful for so I'll do it now.
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I'm grateful for my son! Such a cheeky monkey but he's such a sweetie.

(The day after Thanksgiving hiking the piralta trail.)
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I'm grateful for my daughter. So much character for one so little.

(Thanksgiving morning at grandma and grandpa's.)
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I am so grateful for a healthy body.

(Just before running the Mesa Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I ran it for the fourth time and did it the fastest. 6.2 miles in less than 55 minutes!)
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I'm grateful for my HOT husband. Doesn't he look so striking in this photo?

(Lunch date on my birthday 11/24.)

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I don't have a picture but I am also very grateful for my viola. My orchestra concert was last week and it was so fun. I feel like I have really improved in some ways the past few months and it feels good since I haven't had private lessons for several years now.
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I'm also grateful for babies. I held my friend's baby tonight who is not even a day and a half old and he was so tiny! Newborns have a way of bringing joy and perspective in your life.
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Lastly, I am grateful for clothes. I probably sound shallow but I need to tie in What are You Wearing Wednesday somehow.

granny cardigan - clothing exchange (I seriously wear this all the time with everything! It's so comfy.)
top - Kohl's, (I think they still sell this top)
earrings - Kohl's
belt - Anthropologie
skirt - found at my parent's and added lace to the bottom
nylons - Forever 21, recent purchase
shoes - Payless

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What are you grateful for this joyous season?

Silly photos

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I borrowed my parent's computer and had some fun.
What did you do tonight?

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North and South

I apologize for my long absence from blogging as Andrew and I have been having computer and internet problems which have not yet ceased. Even we I didn't have problems, my other half finds himself in front of the computer most nights catching up on school work, which lessons my computer time.

As it is, I am much behind in posting events from the past two weeks but instead of doing that right now I will write of today.

Today I finished reading the first book I've ever read on a Kindle, or anything digital for that matter. I actually enjoyed it better than I expected.

The book I read was North and South which I completed it for the second time, and then I watched the film.

First of all, incredible book! Second of all, marvelous movie!
Please make them a part of your life soon!

I love how it's not just a love story but a good depiction of what the North and South were like during that time period, especially the North with the factory town. The story resonates with me since I lived in a town similar to Milton - from the novel- where Andrew grew up, which had similar struggles at the same time period.

If I'm not convincing enough watch this trailer of the 2005 film, BBC's North and South, starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe.



P.S. If you have a Kindle the book is FREE to download!

Golden Spoon

My sister, Nora, worked at Golden Spoon for her last time last Saturday, so naturally we had to visit and taste. Sooo goood!

Above is my niece and nephew. It was kind of a family event. Yum.

Showing off

Still playing with my new camera. I take it just about every where I go. Especially if family is there.

This is Andrew and me on Skype with family in England.

This is Carol , Claire, and Rich in England.

I bet you wish you had this camera too.

Just one stop at Costco and you might be so lucky.

New Camera

I got a camera for my birthday/Christmas today so I'm going to bombard you with my favorite pictures of today.

I'm starting to get a hang of close up pictures like these but not so good at regular shots. I'm not sure if it's just this camera or if I need to actually read the manual to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Either way, I'm no longer camera-less!