So for tonight, be thankful

What a great Thanksgiving break we had! It all started Tuesday. I got off work early and picked Tyler up from class. We drove straight down to Spring City to have an early Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family. It was so fun to see everyone! We ate tons and had a great time visiting. We spent the night there in Spring City and then drove up with my family the next morning. We went to Salt Lake and saw Kim and Caleb's apartment. It's so cute! We said goodbye to the Westons and Bakers and went to Welfare Square and took a tour. Exciting, I know! It actually was really cool. We made our way back down south to meet up with Tyler's family. We went and saw "The Blindside" that night with the Juergens and Wright families. It was a great movie! Seriously, one of those feel-good, clean, want to be better type of movies. I definitely recommend it. It might have my vote for best movie of the year.

Thursday (Thanksgiving!!) the boys went to Salt Lake to play football. I went up to Aunt Sheila's house in Salt Lake with the Juergens girls, Aunt Dana, and Gabby. The rest of the day was filled with food, football, and family fun! That's a lot of F's. :) We really did have a great time though. We ended up at the Wright's house that night, playing Charades and laughing constantly until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday we ate breakfast at Magleby's Fresh (can you say all-you-can-eat french toast? It was amazing-- and I think I could drink their syrup). After stuffing ourselves to the max (again... you'd think after two Thanksgiving dinners we would be through stuffing ourselves) we went to Kiwanis Park and played tennis with Austin and Giselle! It was SO much fun. We hadn't played tennis in too long! We loved playing with Austin and Giselle too-- they're awesome. After playing, we came home and showered, then joined the Juergens fam at FatCats for some bowling! Another thing we hadn't done in a while. My family came by the alley to say goodbye, and then left to drive back down to Texas. :( It's always sad to see family go. After bowling, Tyler and I went to the mall and had probably one of the least successful shopping trips. EVER. You'd think that it wouldn't be so bad on Black Friday, but it was! Oh well. Serves us right for not going to Park City. We met back at Aunt Dana's for dinner (she made her chili, which is for sure my favorite meal of hers! yum) and then went to the BYU b-ball game. We sat with Garrett, Mitchell, and Andrew (and randomly sat behind my Lewis cousins-- total coincidence!) and were "obnoxious fans" and had so much fun. Luckily, they won. :) We celebrated at the Malt Shoppe afterward and then chatted at the Wright's again. They were so sweet for letting us bombard their house this week! We love being with them.

Saturday we played tennis with Austin and Giselle again! So much fun. After a match, we decided to switch up teams and play boys vs. girls. Giselle and I both played in high school and we didn't think it would be a problem, but they won! They beat us in a tiebreaker in the first set. We didn't play a second because we were so tired! I am still so embarrassed. :) In the afternoon I got lots done-- some Christmas shopping, laundry, and a little bit of cleaning. I got a Christmas tree at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that is going to look so cute in our little apartment! It's only 5 feet tall, so nothing huge, but it will be nice. We met the fam at Jason's Deli after they got out of the football game (by the way-- SO proud of the football team! Way to go Cougs!!), and I really think I had the best chili I'd ever tasted. I'm definitely going back! It was seriously amazing. We went back the Wright's and watched "CNN Heroes" until the Juergens fam had to leave for Salt Lake. They flew out this morning, so we said goodbye! We loved being with family so much. What a blessing they are in our lives.

Today's been a nice, relaxing day. I spent the morning sleeping in and reading. Church was really good-- we learned about the Church's new familysearch website! I'm so excited to try it out. We spent the evening doing Tyler's home teaching and eating-- do we ever stop?!? We haven't yet! I even made cookies tonight and I can't stop eating them. I'm currently watching White Christmas, waiting for Tyler to finish his reading so we can put up our Christmas tree! I love Thanksgiving, but Christmas is what I look forward to most! I seriously get giddy like a kid. I start listening to Christmas music in October, and it took everything I had to wait to put up the tree until after Thanksgiving! I just love being with family and all the traditions that come with Christmas.

Well, I think it's off to bed for me. Watching White Christmas has me a bit depressed. Not because of homesickness or because of wishing that my life were a musical (which sometimes I do), but because of the size of Vera-Ellen's legs. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!? I'm getting up early tomorrow to work out.

Bookworm

This weekend, I finished "The Peacegiver." Ummm... amazing book. Seriously, I will lend you my copy if you haven't read it. It changed my perspective on so many things, and made Sacrament Meeting today that much more inspiring. Tyler and I started to read it together as we were driving to Utah to get married. For those who have read the book, you know how it starts. The first chapter is full of sadness and hate as this man describes his not-so-good marriage and his feelings for his wife. We decided after a few pages that this wasn't the book for us to be reading together on our way to get married! So we put it away and read "The Five Love Languages" instead. Also a good book. However, I couldn't stop thinking about "The Peacegiver," so I decided to give it another shot. I ate it up! It really is an amazing book.

After finishing "The Peacegiver," I decided that I needed something else to read. I hopped on the Barnes & Noble website and checked out their top-rated books, and wrote down some of the ones that looked interesting to me. I'd heard from a friend that "The Time-Traveler's Wife" was a good book, so I decided to try that before I see the movie. I haven't been able to put it down either!

Poor Tyler is finally getting to know Bookworm Camille. She's a totally different person than Tyler's ever known... hopefully he'll survive. Poor guy was starving last night at 8:45 as I was sitting on the couch, reading. These are things I just don't think about when I'm wrapped up in a book!! I need to get better...

The next books on my list (since I'll probably finish "The Time-Traveler's Wife this week):

-The Undaunted
-Three Cups of Tea
-Women of the Old Testament
-My Sister's Keeper (also before I see the movie)

Any other good recommendations? I like to read books that other people have recommended to me, so fire away!

We are party animals!

I'm exhausted from all our partying lately...

-Saturday: Lunch with Randall and Crystal at Cafe Rio, and then Pandemic at their house. Best board game ever!

-Temple Saturday night. Love!

-Movie night at the Wright's Sunday night. I love going over to their house! Feels just like home for me. Plus, we watched "The Emporer's New Groove." Classic!

-Tuesday night we went to the BYU bball game. We ended up buying tickets about an hour before it started, but got there 30 minutes early. They let us in the student section, even though we had purchased the cheap high-altitude tickets. :) Tyler's friend Spencer, who works for BYU Events, gave us passes to sit on the couches! It ended up being us with DJ and his date. It was so much fun! The couches are of course sponsored, so Cosmo came over and they put the camera on us to "get excited" for a few minutes. They turned on music and Cosmo and I swing-danced (swung-danced? I don't know) for a few minutes! It was a really fun night.



-Wednesday Heidi came over after I got off work and picked Ty up. We had tacos and watched "Nights in Rodanthe." Wow-- tear-jerker! It was a good movie. Heidi and I ended up talking until about 1:30. I saw a meteor on the way back from taking her home! I was so surprised and glad I got to see it-- it was beautiful.

-Tonight (Thursday) we went to Shirley and Steve's wedding reception. We're so happy for them! It was so fun to see so many cousins there, and we just couldn't leave. We were there for a while and it was a blast! *Charlotte: I can't even tell you how hard I laughed when I got home and looked through my pile of thank-you cards I have yet to send, and I found... one for you! I felt like Jenet :) So give me your address and I'll send it off finally!*

Who knows what the weekend has in store, but I'm hoping to relax a bit. We're gettin' crazy here in O-town!

Dream job

I wish I was on the show "Glee." Actually, I really just wish my life was a musical. It would make me so happy to dance around and sing like no one was watching or listening. I always get feeling like this whenever I watch a musical/play/Glee. :) Tyler and I just watched Wednesday's episode, and now I want to be a singer. Singing a duet with Lea Michelle would be amazing. Don't worry, this will pass. Reality will hit and I will realize what it takes and that I don't have it. But for now-- just let me dream.

Best weekend on record...

Except probably the weekend we got married! Which was 3 months ago yesterday, in case you're wondering. :) I'm super-sad that this weekend is over... it was fantastic! Tyler worked so hard last week studying for his tests (he had 3 accounting tests-- killer) and I worked a lot to stay busy while he studied. We were both ready to spend some time with each other (and conscious too). Saturday we spent almost the whole day together! I went to Shirley Jacob's bridal shower (so excited for you Shirls!!) with Kim, and it was so fun to see family. I need to throw a cousin party. Bad. There's something about being with family, even if it's not your own, that just feels good. Family is good. Anyway, after the shower Tyler and I ran some errands. We tried to deposit some checks in the bank, but it was closed. We took my ring back to the store to get it polished and dipped again, so that will be ready Wednesday morning! I feel so naked without it. After dropping the ring off, we walked around the mall for a bit. We joked about how I was Tyler's mistress, and I told him I couldn't wait for him to leave his wife any longer. :) We have some different opinions when it comes to clothes, so it was fun trying to convince each other of our knowledge of good style. We've decided that we're going to start watching "What Not to Wear" together so we can determine who is really right. I'm definitely going to win.

After window-shopping for a while at the mall, we met Adam and Aubrey at Winger's, along with Aubrey's little brother, for dinner. We had so much fun! Adam is in Tyler's accounting study group, so it was fun to get out for a bit. After eating way too much at dinner, we tried to go see "Love Happens" and "The Time-Traveler's Wife" but both were sold out. I guess we'll never know if they're good. :) Instead, we went to Adam and Aubrey's apartment and watched "The Guardian. I love that movie! It's one of those movies that I can (and do haha) watch over and over and never tire of it. We ended up staying and talking until 12:30 am! Such a fun couple. We were swapping "can you believe it?" stories for a long time, including scary stories. I came home a bit scared, and made Tyler check every room and closet in the house before I took off my shoes and coat. I'm a fraidy-cat.

Sunday we slept in (I won't admit how late) and went to church at 1. We had tropical smoothies for breakfast-- yum! DJ taught us to put ginger ale in our fruit smoothies for an extra kick, and it's amazing. We love it. I have to admit that I'd never had ginger ale before those smoothies! Who knew it was so good? Church was really good. We go to a Strengthening Marriage class every week for Sunday School, and we both really like it. After Church we ate one of my favorite meals-- lasagna with salad, corn, and garlic bread. And, I made a cake with homemade frosting! We ended up taking the cake over to the Wright's (we missed Gabby's birthday-- happy belated birthday again Gabbs!! We love you). So glad that the whole cake won't be sitting on my thighs alone, like last time. :) I love going over to the Wright's-- it seriously feels like home! I laugh until my stomach muscles hurt and until I cry. Such a great family.

Loved the weekend. Only 5 days 'til the next one....

Another triumph

I have this weird thing about me. Sometimes I subconsciously measure my ability to be a good wife by my ability to make Tyler good meals. Well, for tonight, I am a fantastic wife! I made chicken parmesan for dinner. This was a first for me, and it turned out so well! The only thing I would change was the fact that I had to finish off a can of Ragu before it expired instead of making my marinara sauce... which reminds me-- your mom's so fat her blood type is Ragu! Just kiddin'. :) I tried a recipe off the internet. When I told my mom what was in it, she said it sounded disgusting! It was different than the Lion House cookbook recipe she has used, so I was a little nervous to try it. I also used elbow macaroni because I forgot to get more spaghetti noodles when I was at the store yesterday. Oh well.

It's the best when I hear Tyler say "Mmmm!" without knowing it. He gets so into his meals and scoops the food up as if he hasn't eaten in days. He definitely did that tonight! I'm so glad it was a success. Hopefully my pumpkin cookies will go over just as well tomorrow....

To all of the big shots out there...

Well, all of you who are think you're big shots anyway. You're bugging me. Here's some things you need to learn:

-I will NOT hang up on a customer to answer your call on the other line. Try calling your real assistant for the things you need?

-I don't bus tables. When you spill something while eating lunch, YOU can clean it up.

-Do you have to make everything sound like the end of the world? So what if you have to wait 60 seconds for something to print out?

-You have a trash can in your office. Stop making me come get your garbage to put in my trash can.

-Do you not know how to change your own oil and rotate your own tires?

One last question...

-How did you ever become a "bigshot" without me?

Sincerely,
"The girl at the front desk"

Booo

That's about as much Halloween excitement as you're going to get out of me. I have spent all week trying to care about this Halloween, but I just can't. There are too many reasons that make me not look forward to this holiday:

-The massive amounts of sugar/junk food. I don't need one more reason to justify pigging out... I have enough. :)

-Dressing up. This is fun when you have a brilliant idea and tons of money to spend on a costume, but for the rest of us, it's lame. I had the awesome idea this year to be a Deal or No Deal model, with a little case that had the $1,000,000 sign in it. But they all wear skanky outfits and I couldn't think of something that was modest but that would work. So here I am at work, dressed as a cowgirl. Hey-- at least I am participating.

-Scary stuff. I HATE scary stuff. I had a nightmare a few nights ago from a commercial for a scary movie. I definitely can't handle murder movies and spooky stories. No thank you.

-Dirty stuff. I can't tell you how many girls I saw at Wal-Mart last night who obviously use Halloween to dress as scantily as they want without consequences. Halloween doesn't need to be naughty!

As bad as this all sounds, there are a few good things about this holiday:

-Pumpkin with Oreo shakes at Arctic Circle. They only come around Halloween, and that is something I always look forward to.

-Carving pumpkins. We haven't yet this year-- they're still sitting on our porch right now, but rest assured they will be carved.

-Seeing people at work in a different situation. Today everyone is supposed to dress up... only one person other than me has so far, but I'm sure that more will! If not, I'll just give myself the $50 prize for best costume. HA.

Tyler's second round of tests is next week, so he'll be studying all weekend. Hopefully he can spare a few hours so we can do something fun... at least carve our pumpkins! If not, it will be a good chance to rest from this exhausting week. My throat is starting to hurt, and if I get swine flu, the 5 people at work who have had it so far are going down.

Vermont would be beautiful this time of year... with all that snow

It's snowing!! Right now! I turned around at my desk (there are huge windows across the whole front of AMP-- no walls really) and there it was. Immediately I started singing songs from White Christmas in my head (hence the White Christmas quote)!

I'm really sad that it will be cold all the time now, but the snow is too beautiful for me to be really upset. Plus, now I can pull out my coats! :) Hopefully it won't snow too much... poor Tyler's job on the BYU Grounds crew will get a lot harder once that starts.

*Update: Last night was my first night at Stevens-Henager College and it was great! They gave me a laptop to use, so that buttered me up real quick! :) I'm excited to get more involved there.

Random

-I had a dream the other night that I had a baby and that the baby was sticky from something, so I went to change his diaper and clean him up. For some reason, I turned him over on his stomach (don't worry Mom, I really do know how to change a diaper) to get the diaper off. To my astonishment, the back of the baby was really a bottle of maple syrup, and it had a hole in the bottom. Hence the stickiness.

-I cleaned my house from head to toe in 1.5 hours. Dang it looks good!

-Tiffany and Tyler were in Utah this weekend, so I went to Pizza Factory with them on Saturday. Of course, we went there only because they had Cookie Monsters. Our favorite! It was so fun to see them.

-Babysat on Saturday night for some people I didn't know, but babysat with an old Young Women's leader. Got paid way too much and spent the rest of the night pigging out in celebration (Arctic Circle, of course) with Tyler and Annie.

-Finally finished baking the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough that has been sitting in my fridge for days. Anybody want one?

-Decided that with the money I got paid babysitting on Saturday, I'm going to switch Tyler's Gold's Gym pass into my name. He's not using it, so why shouldn't I? I'm dying to try a spinning class or something. Please get rid of my cottage cheese!

-Had the hardest time waking up this morning. When it's cold outside and warm under the covers, good luck getting me out.

-Said a prayer of gratitude this morning that I live where I live. Fall is beautiful! The leaves are now changed and starting to fall off the trees, and it's so fun to see families raking their yard. Or vacuuming them, in the case of one old man I passed. It is so beautiful here, and I am so happy.