Disneyland Documentation

Every year we take a girl's trip to Disneyland to run the half marathon! We went in September but I never got around to posting much about it. Yesterday I had some spare time though and made a (very amateur) video.

Disneyland is such a magical place, and you can't know me without knowing that I love going there! I'm not much of a thrill seeker and so the 'total experience' centered Disneyland is perfect for me. I'd rather be people watching on a bench in Frontierland than be riding the world's tallest roller coaster, but that's just me. Who doesn't love the smell of baking croissants wafting out of the shops as you walk down Main Street. The gentle chime of music playing in the background, and the sight of Sleeping Beauty's Castle up ahead? I'm a real sucker for that kind of cheesy stuff.

3rd Anniversary

Happy 3rd (what the heck) Anniversary to my main squeeze, Nathan Hartshorn.

I'll start out by cliche-ly saying I have no clue how the time has flown so fast because frankly it has been going by at lightning speed.

I remember when I first saw you at the BYU-Idaho country dance and thought you were so handsome and wished that you would ask me to dance.

Then you did, and the rest is history as they say.

You are tall, handsome (and getting more handsome every day in my humble opinion), and amazingly smart. You are hardworking, thoughtful and you always let me do whatever I want, and I'm very grateful for that.

I'm proud of you for becoming a diesel mechanic, and I am so happy to see your own dreams coming true.

Thanks for reading Harry Potter finally so that we can discuss it and laugh and Fred and George together.

Thanks for scraping the ice off the car every morning, and for fixing the washer. Those little things mean a lot to me.

And finally, thank you for putting up with me and my quirks because heaven knows I have a lot of them.

You are my best bud forever.

23 and Christmas Trees

 People, today marks my first school-free, stress-free, test-free, assignment-free day and it is absolutely beautiful. Hallelujah, thank you Christmas!

Somehow I managed to complete my very first year of nursing school, and assuming I pass my state boards in a couple weeks I will officially a NURSE! Which I find absolutely awesome but also terrifying. For those of you who don't know how the hierarchy of nursing works, after one year you can choose to take your NCLEX - PN, which will license you to work as a practical nurse, and then after another year you can become an registered nurse or RN. So my nursing school journey is not yet over, but I feel pretty good about completing my practical nursing program to begin with.

Nathan and I went with my family to see the MoTab Christmas Concert on Saturday, which was an absolute delight.

AND guess what I turned 23. AH! 23. That is such an old number, I am practically ancient. We had a gingerbread house making party yesterday to celebrate, per tradition, however I did not snap any photos. But it did happen, I promise.

This month has been jam packed full of awesomeness and I love it. December is the best, hands down. I love the smell of oranges and peppermint and the sight of a glowing Christmas tree and the feel of wrapping paper and the sound Bing Crosby's White Christmas playing in the background.

I take issue with those who do not enjoy Christmas, so if you have anything bad to say about it then let's fight!

Kidding.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Christmas Cheer

Currently my Christmas spirit far exceeds my nursing school spirit which is a major issue considering next week I am going into finals and following that taking my state practical nursing licensure exam (the dreaded NCLEX, ah).

For example last night I put on Home Alone with the good intentions of 'just having it on in the background' while studying. Uh yeah, no. There was no background anything going on. That movie was front and center, and studying got the boot.

My cat loves tinsel and seriously sat in this tinsel nest she made for like 3+ hours without moving. Awesome.

Annnddd.... here's Nathan and I's fantastic Wal-Mart Christmas tree that we absolutely love. Best $25 dollars I ever spent. I decided to go with brown paper wrapping and fancy ribbons this year again. Something about 'brown paper packages tied up with strings' that I just cannot get away from. Maybe next year I'll go back to traditional Christmas wrapping.

We went to Temple Square with some friends this last weekend and it was quite enjoyable. A traditional Christmas activity that must be done at least once a season by all Utahns.

OK my grandma is the most hilarious human. My grandpa asked her if she would come 'help' rake leaves and this is what she did. Stood on the tarp while reading her kindle. Classic.

Here she is again, insisting on dressing her reindeer in their Christmas outfits. I love my grandma.

I've posted about my grandma's Christmas "shelves" on here before but felt the need to document this year's set up. Instead of a traditional Christmas tree, with you know....green branches and other tree like qualities, she has Christmas 'shelves'. This IS her tree, guys, and I get the privilege of setting it up each year. I say privilege in the sense that yes I do enjoy setting up her Christmas decorations each year but these shelves are truly a pain in the butt. I have to thumbtack each piece of tinsel and lights on every square inch of this bad boy and by the time I'm all done I'm shocked I even have a thumb anymore. But listening to the Carpenter's Christmas album while I set it all up seems to make it a pleasant enough experience that I keep coming back every year.

The finished form. Nativities and all.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and the best of luck to all of you with finals!