It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...especially in the Burg!

I'm not going to make any more post until Christmas, too much to do, too little time. :) Merry Christmas everyone!

P.S. I'm reading a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It is so good! I totally recommend it. Add a little Christmas music throughout your day, and Christmas will be here in no time.

Isn't this supposed to be fun?

Last night I was so frustrated I couldn't see straight! And to top it all off my no-bake cookies didn't turn out right!
I've been trying to get my homemade Christmas presents done, and I thought I was ahead. I've realized, like always, I've taken on too much and am in over my head.
I was complaining the whole night about the stinkin' presents.
Preston looked over at me and said, "Isn't that supposed to be fun? Making presents for your family?"
At first I was really annoyed.
Then I remembered having a conversation with Andrea, my sister, about how it's not worth doing things if there not fun.
So...I decided to quit.
Then I realized the other part of our conversation, how when things get hard, don't quit! Try harder! Well, at least that's what I got out of our conversation.
Sometimes, life is hard. Being a mother is not always "fun", but you don't quit. You try harder.
I learned a valuable lesson last night.
The only thing that is stopping me from being amazing at anything is...ME!
I can't let myself, ruin myself. :)
Attitude and hard work is what makes your life what you want it to be.
So bah humbug to the Christmas presents, but hurray for the opportunity to grow(OK, so I'm working on the attitude thing).
Thank you fellow bloggers for letting me vent. I feel better.

Will you Marry Me?

Today's the day, many years ago that Preston asked me to marry him.

It was raining, it always rains on important days in my life. Weird huh?

Anyway, Preston and I ran through the rain and he knelt down on both knees (in the mud I might add), and asked me to marry him.

Today I said, "Preston, you should think of something romantic for us to do on this historical day". His reply was, "That's like asking me to lactate, it's not going to happen". (OK, that sounds like he was being mean, but really he was just saying that he doesn't know how to be romantic, or at least he thinks he doesn't. I just wanted to add that in so Preston doesn't receive angry phone calls telling him he should read "The proper care and feeding of wives", if a book like that does exists. :)

Well, whether he's romantic by nature or not I'm so glad I said yes.

Today is also Tanners Birthday (Preston's little Brother)!

I love you Tanner! You crack me up!

And yet again...

I guess some things are better the second time around.
Really, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie Twilight. Maybe I was trying really hard, and maybe it's true that attitude changes everything, even bad movies.

I was lucky enough to wear this awesome shirt and sit beside two people that allowed me to be selfish and feel this way. My shirt says, "I wish Shauna was here". And I really did. She could have snorted and giggled right along with Rose and I.


Rose is the BEST little sister. I could have fun doing just about anything with Rose. With Rose everything is an adventure, a memory always stored away in my heart. We could laugh at anything...and we do.

Here is Rose and I putting our acting skills to use.

Can you guess which part of the movie this is from?
Lets just say it involves a fan and really corny music.

When this happened in the movie Rose leaned over to me and said, "Is this actually happening?"


Can you guess this one?
I even said the line while making the pose.



Watch out, here comes the "scary vampires". That part was hilarious!

Well, I think I've had enough Twilight for now, but boy did I have fun being a part of the madness.

The Christmas Tree

This year was going to be the year for a HUGE, GIGANTIC, Tree. It had to be this year. With our new, nice house, and our extremely tall ceilings, nothing was stopping us.

We decided to make it a Family Home Evening Activity. All of us were really excited.

Preston called around and looked online to see where we could get the BEST Christmas Tree ever.

We never thought we would be walking away with the runt of all Christmas Trees.

According to Everett it was "cute" and he just had to have it. We strapped it to our car, but really we could have just put it in our car and had Lincoln hold it.

"Setting it up" took like 5 seconds, and Preston and I just had to laugh at our insanely "huge" tree.

But with Hot Cocoa and Peanut Butter Blossoms comes enlightenment and you realize that this Christmas is already off to a great start.

Twilight the movie...Janeen and Rose, don't read this!

DON'T read this if you haven't seen Twilight! I don't want to ruin it for anyone....
I'd be ruining it, because that's how lame it really was.

Bad acting, Bad filming, Bad lighting, Bad adaptation of the story.
This is my favorite review of the movie,"...unintentionally funny and quickly forgettable...".

So I totally ditched Rose, Preston, and Janeen to go see it with my friend Michelle. It was so much fun though, the only down side is that now I have to see it again and I don't know if I can stomach it. But for Rose and Janeen I totally will. :)
Thanks Michelle for an awesome night!



On the way to meet Michelle, Preston was reading my shirt. He read, "I like my men cold, dead and spakly?"
"What!" I shouted. I looked closely at my shirt, "Spakly!" I had forgotten the "R". Good thing I had the paint in the car. That would have been embarrassing.
Funny thing is Rose and Michelle didn't even notice that little error when we were making them...or did they.


I had so much fun with Michelle. We had ring pops and candy necklaces, just like when we were twelve, and we were the annoying people that took pictures while in the theatre.


I was soooo hungry that I devoured my necklace and ring pop. I didn't realize how loud I was crunching until I was done and could hear Michelle trying to be quiet while eating hers.


Well, I guess it's true what they say, the movie never is as good as the book, which is really disappointing to me. Does it always have to be that way? All in all I still had a lot of fun, and will be there once again when "New Moon" comes out. Pathetic right?


P.S. Is anyone else getting tired of my bangs or is it just me? Should I say goodbye to them. I think I look like I'm twelve. Maybe the shirts not helping. :)

Jammin' on an Ipod!

Everett loves music! Which is not surprising to me. He is my son and that is something I encourage in our house. We listen to a lot of good music throughout the day. Lately he has been listening to Tarzan on "his" ipod.
We actually had to tell him that he couldn't wear his ipod at the dinner table. I guess the teenage years are starting a little early.

The boys making "music" on pots and pans while sharing a tortilla.

Getting Older, getting wiser

My friend Janeen tagged me, with what I think is an awesome tag. Here is a peek into my life at a year, 3 years, 5, and 10. I decided to do it backwards.


10 years ago...
You know I really can't remember what I was doing ten years ago.
I remember lots of early morning seminary, lots of crushes on boys, lots of cross country practices, lots of writing music, and tons of time enjoying my family and being a kid!

5 years ago...

I was engaged to Preston, and Married! OK, I'm totally making that sound so simple. I feel in love with Preston the moment he held my hand. Which he totally did on our first date. Something I would NEVER do! AND...I totally conned him into kissing me. Long story, maybe for another time.

(I tried putting an engagement picture on, but it wouldn't work. Sorry.)


3 years ago...

I had the best time of my life and did most of my growing up. I was a Head Resident, while being a mom, student, wife, and avid church goer. (I'm always an avid church goer...I thought I would just add that in to make the list seem longer and more difficult:). It was so challenging, but very rewarding!

Here I am with my RA's!



I miss those crazy girls! I've never had so much fun in all my life...


Or worked so hard and laughed so much! I miss it.



And the most important thing that I've ever done all started with this little guy. I can't believe he'll be 4 in March!



1 year ago...

I was faced with one of the most challenging trials of my life, Bell's palsy. I never thought of myself as a vain person, but all of the sudden what I looked like was the only thing I could think of. I took a picture of myself when my Bell's palsy was at it's worst so I could see how far I would come. To be grateful for where I am today. I just can't believe I'm posting it for all the world to see. It is so scary looking and I was so sick, but I have learned so much about myself and the strength I have within.

This is me trying to smile.


But through all that I concurred! I graduated! Bell's palsy and all! Something I thought I would never do.



Thanks Janeen for this tag. It made me realize how blessed I am, and how grateful I am for my life! I know the future will be as wonderful as the past!


I tag Andrea, Shauna, Danielle, and Tiffany! Try and post pictures of 10, 5, 3 and 1. Enjoy a flash from the past!

Here's a little self help for ya.

My BF, Shauna, so kindly recommended this self help book to me. When what she really should have done was first hit me over the head with it and said, "Here, you need this!" Well, I guess best friends are patient with one another and I appreciate her so much.

This is the first self help book I've ever read. I didn't think I would be that much into it, but I LOVE it! I am learning so much about myself. I love learning ways to improve myself. Thanks Shauna!

On other events happening in the Lees household, there is someone reading Twilight and staying up till midnight to read it.

Yes...it's Everett! He is a genius and loves romances. Just kidding, Preston has been bitten by the bug!

It is so much fun having him read it. He is totally coming to the movie, and is man enough to admit that he is intrigued by what will happen. I love that Man!

(Rose and Preston playing Hot hands. Rose said she has never lost. Preston beat her 5 to 1).

Halloween

Ironically enough Everett's favorite part of Halloween was giving the treats not receiving them. Which was great! He had a lot of fun being the very hungry caterpillar and I was happy that people knew what he was. When you make a costume with no pattern, I think you're just really hoping that people will know what you were trying to pull off, and it definitely was a success. Everett loved wearing it and it kept him nice and toasty!

Teenagers, I swear you just can't live without them. Some teenagers played a prank on us and stole our pumpkin. We are forever grateful to them. It needed to be stolen. Preston and I really didn't want to dispose of it. We had carved it early, and knew that it would be nice and moldy by Halloween, and sure enough it was. Thanks to those crazy teenagers who probably contracted some sort of disease from handling it, Preston and I don't have to deal with it. Hurray!


All in all Halloween was a success. I love Halloween! Rarely do you get to witness Dorthy beating up on the scarecrow and winning.

Or a witch hugging a pop star. I guess it's true what they say...

Halloween really does bring those with differences together, or it gives them a good reason to hash things out. Either way, what a night!

Just Silly Stuff Really

Ok, since my last post is depressing everyone, here is a little randomness for ya...and really it is so random.

Everett was having a blast with our camera. I kept on telling him it was upside down, but he didn't care.

Another picture, courtesy of Everettino.

My little sister Rose was invited to a Birthday Party where all the girls were assigned a certain Barbie they had to dress up as. Rose was assigned Malibu Barbie. I had fun helping her get ready! Wouldn't it be fun to be a Barbie for a night!

Lincoln fell asleep on my bed and all I could see was his little toes. So sweet!

Anyway, I hope that cheers everyone up. I know I feel better. :)

I feel depressed!

After finishing "Jane Eyre", which p.s. I didn't like, and now reading "The secret life of bees" I am officially depressed...well not really, but seriously I need a happy book. My shoulders are slumping while I'm typing.

To top off my "finding a good book" problems, my skin is breaking out...A LOT. Sad news, but I think it's my "awesome" Bare Minerals makeup that's the culprit.

Oh how I hate trying to be beautiful.

I think I'm going to wear sweats, not fix my hair, and read only "happy" books, like a weird insane hermit.

The sad thing is if there is yummy food involved, it doesn't sound that bad. :)

On a happier note: Look how amazing Lincoln is? He is going to be walking in no time!

And he will be a big help with Laundry. If only I can teach him to put the clothes in the drawer with his mouth, instead of pulling the out.

An ode to Fall!

Don't you just love Halloween or Fall for that matter? I love this time of year! All my favorite holidays are right around the corner.

(Everett and I put cobwebs everywhere! He loves the spider hanging from the chandelier).

Don't you just love the color orange! I do! It's my favorite. And I love pumpkins that are HUGE and that you don't have to pay for.

I love the crisp air of Fall. Well, in the Burg it's more like frigid, but we do what we can.

Black cats, Bats, and full moons!

The best part about any holiday is the cookies!

Do you know how hard it is to make black icing?


We had a great Family Home Evening. After all our hard work we ate our Halloween cookies and watched Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter!

Ahh, the joys of Fall!

The season of possibilities!

The House!

Here is the AWESOME house that Preston built and that we are so fortunate to live in. However as I was taking these pictures I realized that I have not decorated at all since we moved in. So sorry. It looks very bare, but hopefully soon I will hang pictures, curtains, etc.


I took this picture so I could show you how it looked with the Wayne's coat and the blue. It turned out awesome and I love the contrast of the dark hardwood floors.

I love having the Fireplace. It will be great for this winter. Again, Preston did an awesome job. And above the fireplace is a little something that Preston bought for himself for all his hard work. He totally deserved it!

P.S. We still have to do all the wiring for the TV so that is not what it will always look like...well hopefully not. :)

Here is the Kitchen. And there is the builder himself. We are so proud of him. This experience of building and finishing our own home was so long, annoying and exhausting, but in the end we are very pleased. We saved a lot of money which is always worth it!

Look under the Micro hood. See that little faucet? Out of everything in our house people seem to like that the best. It's a pot filler. It was Preston's idea and I love it!


We have an Ice Maker! Hurray! That is my favorite thing. All the water and Ice I can possibly want!


I wish I could get a better picture of this. This is the shower that Preston just had to have. Of course he did it. I LOVE the tile. I picked out the pebbly rock thingies.

Even the turtle got a new home.


We feel so blessed and are grateful for this experience. It has taught us so much!