2012

2012 in photos and journal snippets:

January:  "I somehow ended up at school without my backpack yesterday.  How the heck does that still happen to me?  So, yesterday turned into a stay-at-home day."

February: "Today I accompanied Scott (Bruening) in his district solo festival.  He did well, and almost fell down the stairs on the way out."

March: "After getting offers from all three of my top choices, I accepted the offer with Tax Hawk.  I'm beyond excited."  "Church went well.  My class wasn't too out of control despite the fact that the lesson was about animals."

April: "I did not expect our final WIB event to be so...validating.  I feel like I really did make a difference out there.  I'm so grateful to have met so many of these people over the past 3 years.  I will miss it."

May: "It's my final day at IBC.  Things I will miss include seeing my dad so often, talking to Alvin & Kryzstof, learning about chemistry, and reading books at work.  Things I will not miss include mosquito season, babysitting the ICP when it decides to be temperamental, smelling con HCL, and safety meetings.  Actually, who am I kidding, I loved those meetings."

June

July: "Scott just got a new job offer, which I think he'll be taking.  This means we'll be moving soon.  It's exciting." 

August: "We're watching a little bit of the Justin Bieber movie right now.  Arnold was right, it's pretty good.  Haha."

September: "Scott and I had a fun weekend filled with the Comcast man, BYU football, and yes, you guessed it: painting outside." 

October: "Tonight for our Halloween festivities, we'll probably just hand out candy and watch FNL.  We didn't get pumpkins this year, so at least we won't have smashed pumpkins in our yard this year (punks)!  Come to think of it, we haven't done a single Halloween thing this year...besides buying overpriced candy to feed the neighbors." 

November: "We went to Grandma Bruening’s on Friday to play games.  I played one of the funniest Loaded Questions games of my life.  Playing with Connor and Scott (husband) is hilarious.  Ironically their answers were often along the same lines."

December

Les Miserables Review

We saw Les Miz.  Being the super fan of the play that I am, I have a long list of complaints.

The first one being, Hugh Jackman bore a disturbing resemblance to the dad on Little House on the Prairie.  Am I right?

It's the hair.  Anyway, I had a hard time getting past that.

I won't bore you with all of my other complaints, but I will say that Liam Neeson is still the best.  Stick with that movie for your Les Miserables needs, and then pick and choose the best tracks from the various recordings to listen to the music.  Or just go see a quality version of the play.  I have a copy of AF High's if you want it.  Haha.

It is your birthday.

I may or may not have put my pajamas back on after I got ready for the day today.  This is because today is a really good day.  When you get the day off during your busy season, it's like the equivalent of two regular work days.  These days are meant to be spent in pajamas.

Anyway, today is special for another reason as well.  It is my favorite person's birthday.  Therefore a sappy blog post is in order.  Wouldn't you agree?  Here's a random list of reasons why Scott is the best.

This one time, Scott helped me figure out the DC Low Income Credit problem I was having at work.  No one in their right mind would look at how to calculate that credit...unless they wanted to claim it, so this was substantial.

We laugh a lot around here because Scott is very funny.  He's constantly searching "the Pinterest" for hilarious things to show me or asking "the Google" about things I'll find funny.

Early one morning, I was not happy about waking up.  Scott, knowing I needed help getting out of bed, started the following conversation:
     S: "Do you need help?"
     Me (sounding mad about getting up): "With what?"  
     S: "Staying in bed or going back to sleep?"
     Scott is quick to make me smile.

Never, has Scott gotten upset with me.  This is either because I'm super awesome or because he's extremely patient and kind.

This boy of mine is oh-so-handsome.

You may or may not know this, but Scott has a really good Texan accent, and he will use it for hours on end.

Nearly everything Scott does, he does well.  (I would say "everything" instead of "nearly everything," but I need to start this sentence with "N.")  He's really good at his job. He's been at his new company for 4 months, and he's already secured over a million dollars worth of contracts.  And he acts like this is no big deal.  He's also really good at his calling, and he often saves me from mine when the sunbeams are especially mean.

I often find happy/funny things he's left around the house.  Like "the book" or the addition of strange things on my grocery list.

Now that we've been married for a little while, Scott's adopted many things that I like.  It's common to hear him singing Adele around the house or requesting movies like While You Were Sleeping.  By the way, he thought the chorus to "Rumor Has It" actually said, "Who's Your Daddy?" instead.  Just had to throw that in there.  Haha.

Every day with Scott is the new best day.  Seriously.  Except for last Monday when Scott had the flu.  That was not our new best day.  Luckily we've had 4 since then.

*Scott is 29, but in his mind that is really more like 46.  Please do not bring this up.

Oceans 2012

We returned from our trip to Wendover today.  Yes, Scott and I took a road trip to Wendover, Nevada.  To answer a few of your questions about Wendover:  (1) No, there is nothing to do there besides gamble, and (2) No, they don't even have a Denny's to eat breakfast at.

So, why Nevada, you may ask?  Every year, Scott's company invites all of the employees to come eat dinner and spend the night at the hotel/casino: Montego Bay.  It was quite a contrast from my work party which involved tons of kids and a reptile show.  Anyway, we joined with LCG at the casino and had a fun night.

This was my first casino experience, so I feel like it's worth mentioning the strange things I noticed.

Such as...

You would not believe how many old grannies were there with their fanny packs full of quarters trying to work the slots!

Everyone on the slot machines looked like zombies.  So I decided to try to look like one of them, pretty much just so I could blog this photo. Haha.  No, I did not try to win anything.

Also, there was a lot of teal and purple going on in the entire hotel (Mardi Gras theme?) in addition to a million mirrors and shimmery ceiling tiles.

(Steer clear of this room if you are prone to seizures....or headaches.)

Also, apparently you can smoke in a casino, no problem.  (So it smelled like you might expect it to under those conditions.)

Also, people went crazy over the free drink cards.

Also, the workers really do wear red suit coats, vests, and bow ties.  It was like being in Oceans Eleven minus George Clooney.

So, in conclusion, we had a really great time talking with all of Scott's co-workers and eating delicious food, but the casino part we could have done without.

Survival and the Christmas Wreath

This weekend Scott got sick...so I went into survival mode.  Literally.  I made 36 freezer tortillas, scones, zucchini bread, and rolls.  All to survive...and fill my time with something.

Anyway, it was a long, sober weekend since I didn't get all the attention I usually get.  Poor Scott was so sick he didn't even have the strength to scratch my back every night.  It really was quite horrible.

On the plus side, I finished my Christmas wreath.  It turned out pretty great.   There are shreds of burlap all over the house, but it was a fun project. :)

We also finally took our Christmas card photo and ordered the cards!  Now to write something clever for the insert about how much of the year was spent painting our darn house all the awesome things we did this year.

Black Friday

This weekend we learned that we are just not cut out for Black Friday sales.  I never intended to go to any of them (or at least wait until later in the day when no one else is out), but then I got that fateful Shoe Carnival ad in the mail.  They knew I wanted new boots.  So, I convinced Scott to go to this store at midnight with me on Thursday.  Because after all, it probably won't be too crowded and I could get several pairs of boots if I wanted, right?

Well, there were a few issues with this plan.  The main one being, we haven't seen midnight in months.  We go to bed at 10:00 typically and on the weekends I usually fall asleep even before that.  So, this was going to be a challenge.  (The night before the sale, Scott thought we should do a practice-stay-up-late.  I was asleep at 9:30.)

Anyway, we found out what the other issues were when we arrived at Shoe Carnival at 11:45 the night of the sale.  There was a massive line and not a single parking stall was vacant.  So, you can bet we turned right around and headed home and drank hot chocolate in our bed.

I feel really good about NOT waiting in that line. 

Unfortunately, now we're headed to the DMV where we'll be forced to wait in an even worse line.

Happy Black Friday.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

We put up our tree that we bought last year!  I've been asking Scott if I can put it up for several weeks now, and after we came out of our Thanksgiving food coma, he finally let me.

That tree is a huge source of joy in my house.  Second only to...Scott of course. :)

My favorite ornaments.

Matching Thanksgiving outfits?

I've already wrapped many presents.  Scott couldn't make me wait to do that.

No, the house is not in flames

Stay tuned for our Black Friday tales.  They will no doubt be interesting.

Helping

Scott is the best because he's always volunteering to help me.  Sometimes he goes a little overboard like when he tries to help me do dishes, which consists of him standing behind me and moving my arms for me in scrubbing motions.  Or when he tries to help me walk up stairs, which consists of him picking up each of my legs and setting them on the next step.


This week he's been helping even more than normal with some unique chores. :)

Exhibit A: Making a wreath.

My arms got tired of wrapping yarn around my wreath, so Scott volunteered to help.  I should mention that he was in bed watching a women's soccer game while doing so.  I think he secretly loved this craft.


Exhibit B: Putting on our fitted sheets...from the inside.

I said it couldn't be done, but he proved me wrong.  He got the entire fitted sheet on while remaining inside the sheet.  ...At least he's helping.


#1 Husband Award goes to Scott yet again for making me laugh and also lending a hand.

Leaves and Other Fall Things

We took a trip up the canyon and posed with nearly-dead trees.  It was fun.

Geez Louise, that boy is adorable.

Our maple tree has about 6.8 billion leaves that fall off at any given second. 

Giant piles of leaves are not as much fun as they once were. :)

Scott, looking mature in his new glasses, and me looking...more and more like a little kid...  #BenjaminButton 
[There are probably laws against putting hashtags in blogs.  I apologize.]

Must-Haves

Well, folks, I'm about to tell you about some of our must-haves this season.  Take a gander at some of our current favorite things.  We like them a lot.

1. The bed warmer.

I can't even tell you what brand ours is or where it came from (somewhere in TX), but what I can tell you is you can warm your entire bed to various temperatures!  What else is there to say about this other than we are spoiled brats...?

2. Rice Wok.

This is our take-out Chinese restaurant of choice.  They have the best Lo Mein, which is something I still haven't figured out how to make myself, so we still rely on this place.  Side Story: We called in an order last weekend, and the lady could not understand Scott when he tried to tell her his name.  He spelled it out twice, yet when we got there, the only available order was for a "Dodge."  Yes, that was our order, and yes she only got one of the letters right and apparently guessed on the rest.  Dodge?

3. Audio books.

Scott and I are in an audio book club that we made up.  We spend a lot of time in the car going to and from our jobs, so we go to the library a lot and listen to a lot of books.  We've covered a lot of ground so far, and soon the library won't have much we're interested in.  But for now, it is pretty great.

4. Halloween Oreos.

heidisrecipes.com

On November 1, 2011, I found the sale of all sales.  Leftover Halloween Oreos for 98 cents!  Are you kidding me?  Unfortunately, at the time, these still didn't make it into my planned-out shopping list, so I didn't buy them.  Well, flash forward a year, and you can bet we've been talking about getting those Oreos for the past 12 months.  This year, it was going to happen.  So I rush to Macey's on November 1, 2012, and it turns out there are no Halloween Oreos.  I guess they learned to manage their inventory better.  I returned home empty handed.  Maybe next year.

The Most Beautiful Carport in the World

This weekend we finally finished that "project" that took us all summer (plus half of the fall).  I'm fairly confident that painting old wood that's entirely above your head is what people end up doing in Outer Darkness.  It was h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. but now that we're done, we're glad we did it.

Before

After

Looks much better, right?  I think we have the most beautiful carport in the world.  It's too bad it's a carport, and we'd rather have a garage... 

End of Summer Photo Reel

This year, most of our summer looked something like this:

But when we weren't standing on dangerous ladders...

We were eating delicious things made by me.

And sometimes throwing away disgusting things also made by me.

And occasionally being athletic and getting a lot of blisters.

And making our debut on byutv in the Studio C studio audience.

 

And watching the Bees game get delayed for two hours due to rain. (I probably enjoyed the tarp removal process more than the game--the workers got to run around with a giant parachute.  Does anyone remember playing Sharks and Lifeguards at Shelley Elementary!?)

 And eating our weight in taffy in our comfy box seats, while everyone else got soaked.

 And taking pictures of Sean and Ais who were definitely not drinking that beer in front of them...

And catching Scott sneaking a glimpse of the football game during our date to Iceberg.  The poor thing just can't help himself. ;)

 And, I should probably mention that we've spent a lot of time working this summer and are both enjoying our jobs.

 Happy Fall, friends.

"Wanna See Me Dance Israel?"

Today we spent part of our afternoon with this gem:

In addition to the Israeli dancing, our little friend also said some pretty hilarious things.

Friend: "I'm not allowed to watch Star Wars yet, but I've seen part of it."
Christie: "When will you be allowed to see it?"
Friend: "When I'm like 13...  Actually, I can when I'm 5."

Friend: "Loooord of the Bean!  Looord of the Bean!"  (We don't know what that was about, either.)

Friend: "These are my cowboy boots." (Puts on snow boots.)
Christie: "Are they made of snakeskin?"
Friend: "No...  Actually, yes.  Rattlesnake skin!"

Friend: "If I ever run into someone tricky, I'm going to punch them in their you know, private parts.  Can I show you how hard I'd punch them?"
Scott: "...No."

Football vs. Crafting

Things got ultra domestic at our house this weekend.  I made a wreath.  It doesn't get more homemaker than that.  I took like 35 pictures of the wreath because I really am proud of it. I'll only make you look at one.

 Ok, two.

I would crop this picture, but I'm afraid of what I look like up close on a Saturday filled with house work.

So, as you can see, I've been busy with a new crafting hobby.  Now let me tell you why this hobby of mine even exists: BYU football season has begun.  I've only cried due to lack of constant attention whined because of it like once so far.  (In other words, this crafting thing will be good for everyone involved.*)

Scott likes to talk football a lot, so this week I decided to try to talk about my new crafting hobbies as much as he talks about football.  It was hard.  There's only so much you can say about a wreath.  Soon I'll add more projects to my 2012 crafting season, and then I think I'll have more to discuss. 

*mainly Scott

I Can Be a Friend

The following sunbeam conversation happened during the "I can be a friend" lesson.

***

Me: "Do you guys know who my best friend is?"

Kids: "Umm, us?"

Me: "No, it's Brother Foley."

Kids: "Huh?/What?/Weird." (They still think Brother Foley is my dad.)

Rhyor: "Brother Foley is my very very very very best friend."

Rest of Sunbeams: "Brother Foley is my best friend too."  (They think they are hilarious.)

Me: "Ok, when Brother Foley comes to pick me up, I'm going to tell him that you guys are his best friends."  (Big threat.)

Elizabeth: (looking panicked)  "Brother Foley is not my best friend."

Barely Made It

I sometimes try to start a post with a winner sentence in mind.  Unfortunately many of the one-liners I think up in my head don't work for full posts because I can't think of anything beyond that one sentence.

So, here are some random thoughts I've had that almost didn't make it onto the blog:

***

"There are two things I never thought I'd do.  (1) Wear skinny jeans and (2) Part my hair in the middle.  Oddly enough I am doing both right now, and I think I look pretty cool."

"If only I had a dollar for every time someone told me I looked like a little kid."

"Before I married Scott and started eating spicy things, I thought toothpaste was spicy."

"So far we have somehow burned two things in our dishwasher.  The wooden spoon that fell on the heating coil made our entire house smell like bacon, and the plastic spoon that fell smelled of raw salmon..." (I should have known that would NEVER be its own post.)

"We've been really busy lately.  Those 2 hours per day of mandatory snuggling have really been taking their toll."

"It may be wrong, but I fully support implementing more confusing tax laws, because for me, that equals job security."

"You know you are getting old and boring when you think buying mulch is fun."

"I looked at Scott's recent Amazon viewings and saw that he'd been looking at books on how to improve one's memory.  I asked him about it, and he said he doesn't remember looking at it..."

How Convenient

Lately, Scott and I have been noticing a lot of “convenient coincidences.” 

It began with another trip to Sonic to pick up a chocolate malt (after 8 and at half price of course). We’ve been at least six times this summer, and only once have they remembered to charge us the half price. Of course, we remind them once they claim the malt costs anything over $2, and they say, “Oh yeah, sorry--I forgot.” I am suspicious about this because guess what--the half-off deal has been going on all summer, and it is August...

Here's another: I sold the speakers I won at the Marriott School to some woman who came all the way from Spanish Fork to pick them up.  When she got to my house she told me that the bank would only give her $70 instead of the $75 we'd agreed to over the phone.  How convenient. By the way, If your bank is only willing to give you 70 bucks, I don't think you should be buying Bose speakers...  

Another: Whenever I ask Scott to do something, about 90% of the time, he says he needs to go to the bathroom first.  It's happened too many times to be coincidence.  In his defense, I am guilty of making excuses also.  The last five times Scott has asked if I wanted to do p90x, I happened to have a really bad toothache...which prevents me from doing just about anything I don't want to do.

Firsts

We've had a lot of firsts around here lately.  It's been fun...and sometimes scary...and often ridiculous....

We decided to switch things up with our dinner date-night, and we went for Vietnamese.  The iphone told us to do it.  What the iphone didn't tell us is that only hipsters and people of actual oriental descent like pho (however you pronounce that).  It was fun to eat with chopsticks and porcelain spoons, but I prefer a cheeseburger any day.  Blech.

Scott had his first week at his new job.  Now he spends a lot of time commuting and also learns a lot of new things.  Because of this, we wake up reeeeaaaally early, which means we also go to bed reeeeeaaaally early.  So don't ask us to do anything on a weeknight, like...ever again.

I mentioned Scott's new iphone, which is definitely a first for us.  (Let's be honest, I was functioning on a Nokia flip phone until about two months ago, so cell phone technology clearly doesn't matter much to us.)  It's pretty cool to be married to someone with Instagram capabilities though.

I participated in my first ever TH ping pong tournament.  I was paired up with pretty much the only person I've never talked to in the whole company, so it was awkward to initiate an unscheduled yet mandatory match with a stranger. (My email went something like this: "Hey there, if you want to beat me in ping pong sometime today, let me know.  I may or may not know what you look like, so sorry I didn't ask you five minutes ago at the company birthday party...")  I lost by the way.  And my opponent was playing with his left hand.

I learned how to mow a lawn.  I haven't actually mowed yet, but Scott showed me how to turn it on.

I gave Scott a haircut.  My very first time doing anything like that (except for an occasional bangs-trim back in the day).  I think we did a pretty good job, and it was actually kind of fun.

I inherited some clothes from my cute cousins who are still doing that growing thing I used to do.  Being the oldest girl, I've never really gotten hand-me-downs, so this was a new and exciting thing.  Thanks for the cute skirt and other stuff, Arnold & Erin.  And next time you go shopping, remember I'm a 4-short in jeans. ;)