Work Christmas Party!

I forgot to post about the fun work Christmas party we had over a week ago. We met at Paula's lovely house. We then had a great time making gingerbread houses. I really liked Elise's and Jeff's house because it was so tall and unique. Our house, well, it left something to be desired, but we had fun making it anyway. Everyone enjoyed cookies and wassail, oh and left over candy from the gingerbread house making (I couldn't stop eating the gumballs I brought...let's hope no cavities are coming my way!) Here's a group shot of everyone except Wade, Paula's husband:

We were stumped. We were trying to figure out how to get our house looking snazzy without a lot of frosting left. So I ate more gumballs to get my creative juices flowing.
Still having fun!

We did a white elephant gift exchange. We were lucky enough to choose Paula and Wade's gift: a big old stack of their wedding announcements. Hhmmm....valuable, yes, clever, yes, useful, not really. But I guess white elephant gifts are suppose to be random, and Paula and Wade, you won the randomness contest in this gift exchange. I'll get you back sometime. Watch out!

All we could come up with from around our place was a box of Fruity Pebbles (we don't keep anything random because, well, Brad's a neat freak, thankfully). Well, Braden (Heather's son)lucked out because he picked that gift and no one wanted to steal it from him. Lucky for him, he really liked that cereal so it is something he'll actually use. That doesn't happen too often with white elephant gifts. Maybe if Chris is lucky, Braden will share with him.

We also did a real gift exchange between us five co-workers. Elise totally surprised me with a nice silver spoon rest and some really soft, comfy socks. I was very happy with this gift. Thanks Elise! You listen well! The funny thing is that I got the exact same silver spoon rest for Betsy! Betsy had told us about it at work and then eventually it clicked that that was what I wanted to get for her. After I had bought that for Betsy, I decided that I wanted one too. I came into work the next day saying how much I wanted Brad to get me a silver spoon rest for Christmas. Little did I know, Elise had already gotten it for me! She didn't even need my extra hints. I must say that you did a good job of keeping a straight face, Elise. No more messy counters, spoon rests for everyone!

Thanks for hosting such a fun party, Paula. We had a fun time. I think the boys had even more fun since they got their video game fix! I feel blessed to have such fun, friendly, and caring co-workers. We all seem to get along so well, and that is hard to come by in most workplaces. I've never had a job where I've felt so comfortable. Yes, it does feel like work sometimes, but other times, it just feels like I'm having fun hanging out with friends. Thank goodness for downtime! It helps us stay sane. Anyway, I think we should all hang out more, you know, besides the 40 hours a week we are together (I guess we're not all together that long, but you get the idea). Before we know it, one of us will be gone and it just won't be the same anymore. I'll make it happen. I'll invite all of you to our itty bitty apartment and we can party some more. Sounds like fun, huh!? Okay I'll stop rambling.

Happy shopping everyone! Hope the spirit of Christmas is bringing you peace, love, and charity.

Life Around Here!

Every year my company provides us with tickets to a Utah Jazz game or two. Our turn came around last Thursday (on very short notice), but it's always a lot of fun so we decided to change our plans and go to the game. We love it because we get to sit up in the company's box suite, which provides a great veiw of the court. We also get spoiled with good food, drinks, and goodies. Let's just say that Brad goes a little overboard when there is free soda and delicious guacamole available. He suffered from a tummy ache all night long. I must admit, I probably ate twice as much as I should have and did have a slight stomach ache. There's just something about free good food that makes it hard not to splurge. We both recovered quickly, but we've decided to have a little better restraint at the next game. Anyway, it was fun to be there with some of my co-workers and see them outside of work. It was a very entertaining game. They were playing the Trailblazers from Oregon. The Jazz seemed to be playing very well (to me, who doesn't know much about basketball). They must have done something right because they had a strong win. I can't remember what the final score was, but we won and that's what counts. The mascot was especially entertaining and the half-time show was pretty neat. It was a one man show. He did some cool juggling tricks, then some balancing tricks, and combinations of both, all while dancing around. He also got up on the tallest unicycle I've ever seen. He road it around the court for a while and then attempted to shoot basketballs into the hoop. Not much luck with that, but I was amazed he didn't fall off. Anyway, because it was a late game, we didn't get home until 12:15 am. Needless to say most of us were a little tired at work on Friday. But we were all glad that we went. Memories! There are some great perks to working for Nutraceutical, this being one of them. My husband enjoys it even more than I do, I think! I stole the top pic off of Elise's blog (thanks!) and I'm going to get another one from her that she took of us. I'll post it later.

Brad and I were asked to speak last Sunday (two days ago). We spent quite a bit of time over the weekend working on our talks. I get really really nervous about preparing and giving talks. It's one of the scariest things for me. Brad doesn't get quite as nervous as I do, but he doesn't really like public speaking that much either. Well, after the long and drawn out process of getting my talk just right, I gave it, it went fine (although I know I sounded really nervous), and I didn't faint up on the stand. I felt pretty good about it. I hope that with more practice, it won't be so hard for me. Brad did a great job and took the topic in a different direction than me. It wasn't exactly the best time for him to speak, because he has five finals this week that he needs to be preparing for. But he prepared his talk in a timely manner and without complaining and it will all work out. He just called and told me that he finished his first final, which was a doozy, and he felt good about it. One down, four to go. I'm so lucky to have a husband that doesn't stress out as much as me. He handles stress quite well and he helps me stay grounded and keep things in perspective. This is probably one of the things that drew me to him. He helps calm me down and teaches me to not sweat the small stuff. There's so much I could learn from him. Hopefully his calmness and contentment will rub off on me.

We had a fun break!

Me and my Honey in Island Park!

4-wheeling with the fam!

My sister's cute little family: The Arfmann's

We went to Island Park with my parents and the Arfmann's (Ryan, Julie (my sis!), Maylie, Brianna, and Ashlie) for Thanksgiving break. We were able to get away and meet them in Island Park last Wednesday. We stayed in some condos because my parents have a timeshare there. We had a fun time swimming, 4-wheeling, eating, watching movies, making ginger bread houses, and playing games. It was very relaxing and Thanksgiving dinner was great. Brad's apple pie turned out excellent! My only complaint is that the toilet was flooding when I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Oh, and I caught a nasty cold. Despite that, it was a nice little getaway.

On Saturday morning we headed back to Idaho Falls. We got to talk to Brian, Natalie, Kennedy, and Nathan using my parents webcam. It was good to see all of them. Little Nathan is soooo cute! I've only seen pictures of him so this was the first time I had seen him in action. We're thankful that he is feeling better. That night we went to see the movie Twilight. I've read the series and, for the most part, I enjoyed them. I thought the movie was entertaining and well done. It could have been just a little longer in my opinion (which I usually don't say), but it was good anyway. Brad even liked it! We both thought it was better than we expected. I can't wait for the next one, whenever it comes out. We stayed at my parents house that night, went to church with them the next day, and headed home Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed spending time with family and kicking back. It's so fun to watch Maylie, Brianna, and Ashlie grow up. They each have such fun unique personalities. I must say, I am jealous of Brad because Ashlie prefers him over me. I think it's because she likes it when he chases all of them around. I'm just not quite as much fun as him. I really enjoy seeing them play and laugh and learn. I can't wait to have my own set of cute little kids. Anyway, I've been meaning to post some pictures from the trip all week long and now that it's almost the weekend, I'm finally doing it. Better late than never, right?!

Thankful Tag

My cousin Amy tagged me with a Thankful Tag. This entails writing something for which you are thankful for each letter of your name. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it is nice to take a step back and contemplate the goodness in our lives. These are just a few of the things I am thankful for:

Sisters

Home

Autumn weather

Nice Customers

Nieces and Nephew

Amazing husband

I'm getting excited for the break. I'm looking forward to good food, spending time with family, and relaxing. And of course contemplating the many blessings in my life for which I am thankful. I can't wait to make a great new recipe for a Sweet Potato Souffle (thanks to Heather)! I also can't wait to taste Brad's fabulous apple pie that he volunteered to make. He insists that he loves cooking and baking, so now I'm ready to see just how good he is at baking. I'm sure I'll be impressed. I tag Paula, Heather, Elise, Betsy, Shelley, Allison, and Julie. You don't have to, just if you want to. Have a great holiday everyone!

Another Tag!

My friend Amy Lambert tagged me awhile back and I'm finally going to complete it. It's Friday evening and I have about 1/2 hour left at work. Yeah! I'm really looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend.

10 YEARS AGO I WAS....

• 14 years old
• in the 8th grade
• a cheerleader for the boys basketball team
• excited to get my first round of braces off
• boy crazy

5 THINGS ON TODAY'S "TO DO" LIST

1. Lift weights (check)
2. Walk during my lunch break (check)
3. Go to a reception
4. Clean out the dishwasher (we'll see....)
5. Fold the laundry that's sitting in the dryer (tomorrow? hey it's a Friday night!)

SNACKS I ENJOY

• Soy yogurt (just tried this and it fulfills my yogurt cravings)
• Bananas with Adam's Peanut Butter
• Hummus with carrots, green peppers, and cucumbers as dippers
• Almonds and fruit

5 PLACES I'VE LIVED (STARTING FROM BIRTH)

1. Idaho Falls, ID
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Cambridge, MA
4. Orem, UT
5. That's all folks

JOBS I'VE HAD

• Custodian at my dad's office
• Tennis Instructor
• Teacher's Aid for a professor
• Health Care Supervisor and Logistics Manager for the Tennis Camps at Harvard
• Jamba Juice employee
• Hostess at EIRMC
• Education Specialist for Nutraceutical
• Foot Solutions employee

PEOPLE I TAG

• Heather Olsen
• Julie Arfmann

Halloween Pics

Brad and I went to our ward's Trunk or Treat on Halloween. I was already dressed in my gypsy costume from work and Brad got creative with some Smarties. As you can kind of see in the top picture, Brad taped Smarties to his pants all the way down. Do you get it? He's a "Smartie pants"! How did he ever come up with that? Oh wait, I did. But he did all the work. Anyway, we had fun eating and seeing all the fun costumes. Some of the trunks were decorated really well. Very creative. One woman had her trunk decorated with the Twilight Series as the theme. She had previews for the upcoming movie playing on a screen and all kinds of vampirish things. Well, I think due to this activity and due to the fact that the entrance to our apartment is on the side of the house, we did not have one single trick-or-treater. Poor Brad has to eat that 5 lb. bag of candy all by himself. I think that was his plan all along! We also had fun watching part of a movie on our neighbor's lawn on their big blow-up screen. Fun times.

Seven Things

My good friend Kasi tagged me a few days ago. I've been tagged several times this week, but don't worry, I'll spread them out so it's not a super long post. And so you have time to read every word, right?! By the way, I didn't list these in any particular order, so number 1 is not necessarily more important than number 7.

7 Things I plan to do before I die…
1. Go on a really nice long luxurious cruise (at least once)
2. Go to Europe with Brad
3. Have children and grandchildren
5. Serve a mission or two
6. Become a patient, kind, charitable, thoughtful person
7. Become really good at something....piano, decorating, cooking, tennis, naturopathy...I don't care what it is, just find a passion for something and enjoy the process of becoming skillful at it.

7 Things I can do…
1. Cook and eat good food (I'm especially good at the eating part)
2. Give good massages
3. Play piano
4. Sing
5. Sew (some help needed)
6. Dance
7. Play tennis

7 Things I cannot do…
1. Read about stuff that doesn't interest me at all, my mind wanders the whole time
2. Live without chocolate (okay I probably would survive, but I would be kind of grumpy)
3. Multi-task (I sure try, but in reality, I'm just better at doing one thing at a time)
4. See the forest for all the trees are in my way
5. Eat dairy foods (sometimes I try, and then I pay for it later)
6. Write my posts quickly
7. Live without Brad (don't worry Brad, you come before chocolate!)

7 Things That Attract Me To Brad…
1. His thoughtfulness
2. His blue eyes
3. His ability to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time
4. He's tall (to me), dark, and handsome
5. His ability to relax and not stress out
6. He's athletic
7. He's hard-working

7 Things I say most often…
1. I need a nap
2. Have a nice day. Mmbye.
3. Nutritional Product Helpline, this is Shanna, how may I help you?
4. Seriously
5. I'm sorry
6. I love you (to Brad of course)
7. I should....

7 Favorite Celebs...
1. Tom Hanks
2. Reese Witherspoon
3. Will Smith
4. Taylor Swift
5. Matthew McConaughey
6. Jerry Seinfeld
7. David Archuletta

7 Favorite Foods...
1. Hot fudge brownie sundaes
2. Cinnamon rolls
3. Italian food
4. Mexican food
5. Homemade bread
6. Chocolate
7. Peanut butter