It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Well, minus the look part. North Carolina Christmas time is nothing like the white, cold and snowy winter I know from Utah. It has been a very nice change ;)I hear about the crazy winds and freezing temperatures back home, and realize how lucky I am to be blogging outside while its 65 degrees and sunny. Now, it’s not a California Christmas, it still gets in the 20’s at night, but warms right back up during the day. Can’t complain. Despite the warmer temperatures, I am still getting into the Christmas spirit. We have had a lot of fun Christmasy activities going on at the Waller house. We decorated the tree while blaring Christmas music and Hannah rocked the footsie pajamas :)



Each kidlet got their own little Christmas tree to go in there room. They all did a great job decorating them!! As you can tell, Christian was very proud of his!!


I even got my own little tree. I named it Pinky. It’s not hard to guess why...


Liz hung the cute monogrammed stockings with care {I am happy to announce that there is a letter "A" for Autum hung with the rest of family, I feel so special!) and decorated the house ADOREable!! Later, we built a fire in the outdoor fire place, played Christmas music, drank hot coca and ate pizza and donuts. Yum Yum Yum!!



Then on Tuesday night we went to Mcadenville which is THE Christmas Town, USA. Seriously Google it.



It’s an entire community that goes all out with Christmas lights that you can drive through. It was AWESOME!!! We opened up the back of the Escalade for the older kids, Londyn stood out the sun roof & Christian sat on my lap.




It set the mood for Christmas, which is coming up faster than I can say Fa la la!! Can’t wait to see the fam!! & I must admit, I really hope we get a good dose of the fluffy white stuff for Christmas. Then I can leave it behind after Christmas :D

Happy Birthday Jayson!!

December 5th was Jayson’s Birthday so I have to give a late birthday shoutout to the hardest worker I know! I hope you had a great birthday! Enjoy your new year being one year old and wiser to! Happy Birthday to you!!



All his employee’s took his Birthday as a chance to get revenge on him by plastering him with Shaving cream! Well done ISI!!

A Tennessee Thanksgiving

I got to spend Thanksgiving in the beautiful Smoky Mountains!! How lucky am I? Our original plan had been to go to Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, & believe me when I say I was so so so excited to go. BUT when they started booking the trip, we realized that you have to have passports to stay there. But that didn’t stop us, even with the limited time left; we went to work getting our passports. I could seriously write an entire post on our adventures in trying to get passports. But I’ll just skip to the ending… we didn’t get them. Well mostly, just not mine. Stupid “Not sealed” Birth certificate. Anywho, we settled with renting a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It definitely wasn’t the Bahamas, but it was actually pretty fun. The cabin was HUGE!! We went with the Klink’s, who are the Waller’s good friends, and their kids. We each could have had our own rooms with space to spare, but the younger kids all shared. Me and Hannah shared a level, each with our own big rooms, with porches on the back, Jacuzzi tubs and TV’s. The cabin had all sorts of fun stuff like an arcade style racing video game, a movie theater, a pool table and a hot tub, so needless to say we were pretty set just hanging out there. But we also spent a lot of time exploring the town, which is pretty much a giant amusement park. It reminded me of a beach town. We did go cart racing, mining our own gemstones, the sky lift {What an awesome view!}, shopping & other amusements throughout the town. & of course ate a lot of good food :) We had a great time!!



The view from the top of the Skylift

*~TwEnTy!!~*

Well, I am no longer a teenager! :/ Pretty sad right?? I turned the big 2-0 on November 22nd. It was also my first birthday away from home. Naturally, I was a little sad that my family couldn’t be there to share my big day with. But between their phone calls, gifts & the Waller’s going ALL out I hardly had time to be homesick. When I say ALL out, I mean it! When I came out of my room, there was a bag outside my door. I opened it, and what was in it you ask? Well socks and sandals of course. What? What? What? Ha ha its kind of an ongoing joke from the Disney Channel show, “So Random”. Pretty Random right? We say it all the time, don’t know why :] So Hannah made a prank out of it and put her stinky sandals and some socks in the bag :] How thoughtful of her!! To make up for it, there was also a ton of candy in the bag! But none of this prepared me for what was downstairs. Streamers, balloons, more streamers, more balloons. A balloon the size of a Christmas tree. A rose cake. Banners. Writing on the door. Writing on the washers & dryers. And top it off with more decorations & you have my birthday at the Waller house.





cRaZy right?? They are too nice. On top of all of it they got me a Victoria’s Secret Pink sweat suit. I love these things!! I have wanted one forever!! They ALSO got me some more cute PINK pink pants :) and a cute VS pink top. They are the best!!! Then I took the girls to school, in the Hummer, with Happy Birthday saying like “Honk it’s my birthday” & “Big 20” written all over it. Embarrassing!! Later in the day we went to the Mooresville Christmas parade that Hannah got to walk in.




Finally, just as I was about to be done for the day, I was splattered in the face with a pie. Here is their warning: I plan revenge.



When I got up to my room & cleaned the rotten milk smell from the pie off me, I opened up the gifts I had received in the mail from the fam back in Utah. I got some good stuff like Glee season 2, a laptop desk, a donut maker, some really cute slippers & some $cash$. I had a terrific twentieth birthday!! Thanks to everyone who made it that way :)

Fall

I had been looking forward to the North Carolina fall all year!! & it finally came… just way to fast!! But it was beautiful while it lasted. I really wanted to take some good pictures, especially of the tree’s on the lake shore that were just breathtaking, but time flew past me and before I knew it, all the leaves had fallen off! :/ Well here are some I just took in the yard. Definitely doesn’t do it justice.

Hello Krista!!!! :D

This post is dedicated to my super fantastic sister{in-law} Krista Lou...

I have been working my toosh off to catch up on my blog. I have all but one post ready && I want to post them all at once. I just can't bring myself to do the last one. I'm blogged out for the day. But I have been thinking about you the whole time I was working, wanting to get it done because I know you usually check it on Monday's & I hate to disappoint you with no post... AGAIN! SOOOO here is a "placeholder" post just for you; An invitation to come back on Tuesday & see my real posts!! I love you girl!! 9 days left & I can hug your guts out!!

Renaissance Festival

I have been looking forward to the Renaissance festival pretty much since I’ve been here. The Waller’s are always talking about it & telling me how much fun it is. & It didn’t disappoint! Lots of yummy food, fun vendors, games & crafts & a lot of interesting people. First thing we did was eat :) I had spinach artichoke dip in a bread bowl. Can you say YUMMY?! The kids all did a great job on the rock wall, Kenzie & Hannah both made it to the top in a jiffy.


Then we went & did this jumpy thing. Either I am getting braver or they just have a way of talking me into things, but I did it. I figured if I could do the sky diving thing, I can do just about anything. + it didn’t look to high from the ground. But it WAS high!! I kept going higher and higher when I got on :/ It must have not been too bad though, because I managed to keep my eyes open the whole time. I kinda felt like a nerd because it was mostly younger kids doing it & none of them were screaming, but I was. What’s new? Apparently even Londyn went higher than me. But I went so that has to count for something.






Then we went & did some more activities with the kids & they did some shooting. We had some giant pickles. Enough said.




Then Hannah made me make a hand wax sculpture. A couples one. Of me & her. So that when I leave I won’t forget her. Hannah, I will have you know that I won’t need a wax hand thing to remember you. We’re like sisters :) But it did turn out pretty cute, & kinda funny. We’re just madly in love :) Here is our materpiece. Don't mind the stuff in the background.




I am so glad I finally got to go, it was awesome!!

Halloween 2011

I absolutely love Halloween! It definitely is on the top of my favorite holiday list. This one was no different!! The first part of the day went as normal, with the exception of a Halloween themed preschool for Londie-lou. When the other girlies got home we made some Bloody bandaid snacks and they decorated the golf cart with streamers and spider webs. It officially became the Halloween-mobile :) Then I made a Halloween themed dinner that consisited of mummy hot dogs, mummy pizza’s and pumpkin shaped quesadillas. As always, they didn’t turn out as cute as I wanted, but oh well, I had fun making them, especially with Kenzie as my assistant.


Londyn making some yummy bloody bandaids, check out the face :] * The finsihed result * Kenzie helpiing with the Halloween dinner

Then came the really fun part: Costumes!! I had to rush a little bit with mine, hence the reason you can still see my blonde hair in the pics :)



Me & the cute kids


Christian the Sailor * Minnie & Mickey(aka Jay & Liz) * Londyn the Cheerleader, Carter the boxer & Kenzie the Monster witch



I had to show ya Jayson & Liz's fun costume's from a party they went to earlier in the week. Vampire Flintstones, oh my :) & Jessie & the Gypsy (or is is Hannah & I??)


The Waller’s invited a few friends over & we headed out for the main event: Trick-or treating!! I’m not sure if it is something they do in NC or just this neighborhood, but almost everyone came to the end of their driveways and had canopy’s the adults sat under & gave out candy. In one cul-de-sac they had a buffet set up for those that lived there and then they all sat in lawn chairs in a circle with candy. The kids went around and got one from each of their bowls. Isn’t that a fun idea?? I’m bringing that one home to Utah. We had a ton of fun driving around on the golf cart and running up to houses to get the candy. Jayson, Liz & Christian went home about ½ way through, but the girls, Ashley, (One of the Waller’s friends) her son & I stuck it out to the end. Which was only 8:00  The neighborhood apparently has time limits for trick or treating, lame huh? But it actually worked out pretty well considering it was a school night, we had some young ones with us & + it felt a lot later than it was. So at 8 o’ clock we made our way back home to make some homemade root beer, a Halloween tradition at my house that I couldn’t give up this year. Turns out dry ice isn’t an easy thing to get around here. I got some pretty weird looks when I was asking for it. BUT I did find some & the kid’s thought it was just about the coolest thing ever!! && the root beer was pretty darn good if I do say so myself :) Happy Halloween!!

More pictures from the Wedding

Well I just realized I totally forgot to upload the pictures from my real camera, I just used the ones from my phone. I couldn't not post these, they are too cute :) Who cares if they are a month late :)

Xtreme Skyflyer

So last Saturday, I got the chance to take Hannah & her friend Lexi to Carowinds amusement park on the border of North & South Carolina. It's the equivalent to Lagoon in Utah. This time of year it is changed in to Scareowinds for Halloween! I was super excited, because I had really been wanting to do a Halloween Activity, little did I know I would be doing one of the scariest things of my life, & no, it wasn't a haunted house. It's called x-treme Skyflyer. It's a mixture of bungee jumping and hang gliding. You are taken up 150 in the air than dropped and swing going 70 mph.

Here is a visual.



For anyone that knows me, I don't do stuff like this. I can't even ride the kiddie roller coasters. But apparently, I was either having a brave moment or Hannah & Lexi are very convincing, & I decided to go. I was very hesitant, in fact, Hannah & Lexi had gone first and I was scared just watching them. Then they got done and wanted to go again & somehow talked me into doing it. Here is a crappy video I shot of when they were doing it.


Yeah, Ripley's Believe it or not, I did that! Of course when it was my turn, my camera wouldn't work and my phone was back at the place you got ready at so I have no real proof I went, expect for my being scarred for life. But really, it wasn't THAT bad. I had my eyes closed the whole time going up clear until we were 2 or 3 swings into it and slowed down. I didn't even scream up until that point, but once I started I couldn't stop. I didn't even recognize my own scream. But all in all, I am glad I did it just to say I did. But will I do it again? Probably not.

Birthday's

Well we have had a few Birthday's over the past few weeks that I just have to blog about!

#1. Miss Aydri Shay Rose turned 4!! Can you belive it? I sure can't. I remember the day the little miss was born, it was definatley one of the best day's of my life so far. Much to my dismay, I was not there to celebrate 4 years with her :( I sent her a T-ball set,so you can count on me & her playing as soon as I get home! From what I hear, she had a great day, even without me there. I hope her year as a 4 year old is the best yet! I love you little girl!

Krista sent me this cute pic of the bike she got..




#2. Hannah Bannana transformed into a teenager! CrAzY!! I could swear I have known her since she was little, but I have to keep telling myself I have only known her for a few months. But her turning 13 was still rough on me. Ask her :) I was able to celebrate with her, starting with putting 13 balloons on her bed for her to wake up to. Her loft bed did not make this easy on me. Then I made a pancake "cake" with 3 microwave pancakes, sprinkles and a candle. She isn't much of a breakfast person, so she didn't eat it, but that was expected. It's the thought that counts right? I gave her a white board for her room since she seems to like mine so much, and a subscrption of Girl's Life Magazine. While she was at school & at lunch with her parents, Londyn, Christian & I made cards & decorated with a few streamers. When she came home we ate the Winnie the Pooh cake Liz had made for "Hannah Bear". Then they sent her out to get drinks for everyone & when she came in, Kenzie & Jayson shoved a pie in her face. So that explains the cool whip all over her in the picture. Hope you had an awesome day Hannah!

New Shirt!

Have I ever mentioned that I have an awesome family?? Well this week I got a package to prove it! I absolutely made my week! Thanks Aunite Bobbi for putting it together!!

I have to re-write the sweet note that went along with it.

Autum
Hi Sweetie-
Here is a fun T-shirt for you to know how much we love you. Hope you enjoy. Most of us signed it when we went to North Fork… Aunt Bobbi thought it would be fun for you to have a message of love from us right next to you.. ha ha ha- The other shirt is for underneath- This way we can all be close to your heart like you are ours—If you take pictures in your shirts will you send some or put them on your blog. Hope all is well with you- We are good-
We love you bunches
Aunt Bobbi & Family

Sweet huh? Well as requested, here are the pictures.




I don't think I have ever been so excited to get a new shirt!

I feel like I don’t keep in touch, especially with my extended family as much as I should so I want to take a minute & give a little response to each person who wrote on my shirt.

Ty:
Semper Fi! I love you brother!! I was just thinking about you the other day & how I love talking to you! Since we were the two who got out and left good ol’ Utah, I feel like we can relate so much more. Our talk while I was in town, meant soooo much to me. I truly appreciate you always being there for me. Love You!

Dad: I love your note! So cute & witty, just like you! The more I get out and see the world, the more I realize what an amazing father you are. You are the reason I am so picky when it comes to men. I can only have the best because I was raised by only the best. You are the most wonderful father a girl could ever ask for and I love you more than anything in this whole big world.

Mom:
They always say that you will end up just like your mother. With a mother like you, I don’t mind at all. You are such an outstanding person in every aspect of life. If more people had a trace of you in them, the world would be a better place. I heard this song and thought of you:

People always say I have a laugh
Like my mother does
Guess that makes sense
She taught me how to smile

When things get rough
I've got her spirit, she's always got my back
When I look at her I think
I want to be just like that

When I love I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I feel weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because I see myself
Like my mother does

I've never met a stranger, I can talk to anyone
Like my mother does
I let my temper fly, but she can walk away
When she's had enough

She sees everybody
For who they really are
I'm so thankful for her guidance
She's helped me get this far

When I love I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I feel weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because I see myself
Like my mother does

She's a rock, she is grace, she's an angel,
She's my heart and soul, she does it all

When I love, I give it all I've got
Like my mother does
When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray
Like my mother does

When I feel weak and unpretty
I know I'm beautiful and strong
Because I see myself
Like my mother does

Like my mother does
I hear people saying
I'm starting to look
Like my mother does!

I love & miss you dearly!

Grandma:
Even though I try, I still probably don’t say this enough, so THANK YOU!! For everything! You are the epitome of a perfect grandma! Out of all the grandkids you have, you still take the time to make each and every one of us loved. You have had a major influence in making me the person I am today. Thank you for every trip you have ever taken us on (there are TONS) thank you for every meal & snack you have made for us (there are countless) but most of all thank you for being you. I love & miss you!

Aunt Bobbi:
Thank you for having the shirt made for me! I absolutely love it!! You always have the cutest ideas! I wish you lived closer so we could see each other more often & we could get together & craft. I love & Miss you & your fam! You are an amazing aunt! Thanks again!
P.S – I love the picture of the rose!

Nick:
Pic-Nick! How is my favorite little man?? You are so dang handsome! How is school going? Are all the girls chasing after you? :) Thanks for signing my shirt, I high fived the hand you drew :) Love ya! See ya @ Christmas!

The Pontius’:
I love & miss you all!! Congrats on all the fun stuff that’s been going on for you guys this year! The Year in Review is going to be AWESOME this year!!

Shelby:
I miss you too! I am having fun, thanks! I hope you are to! Feel free to call or text whenever! Love ya!

Tyler, Cami & Jaxson:
I love the handprint, he is getting so big! What a little cutie! I miss you too, but sadly, we don’t get to see each other too often, even when I am living in Utah. I am glad you guys got to go to North Fork! Hope all is good! Keep up the good work in school!

Emma, Elizabeth & Judge I miss you guys soo much! You were so fun to tend! I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again as soon as I get back & we will have a playdate!

The Child’s:
Thanks! I love the sun you drew, too cute! Did you have fun @ North Fork? I am super jealous! But mostly about the food, you always make the best food aunt Laura! Can’t wait to see you all for Christmas!

Marlee:
Hey Hey cutie pie! I miss you so much too! I am still bummed you didn’t get to come to bear lake the whole time! But I guess one day is better than none. I was thinking that you should come down while I am home & me, you & Shelbs should have a sleepover! Lets plan it. Love you & will see you in a few short months! YAY!

Aunt Marcie:
I “Raleigh” miss you too! You freakin crack me up!! I can’t wait to see you soon! I found a picture that had your name written all over it:


Do you want if for X-mas? Haha

Uncle Jack:
Miss you too! You are like the only one in our family who use’s facebook to keep in touch, & I love it! Keep it up :D

Mark & Mir:
Oh how I miss you! I never even watch our shows anymore, because I think of you when I do watch them. You guys are the best ever! I especailly miss being your 3rd wheel :D

Cody:
Autum does miss Cody. I wear your Stegosaurs shirt with pride!! (Well, mostly to bed:) But I love it! You should totally send me a song download & I’ll start spreading the word about Stego here in NC. Oh & I love the squirrel. Awesome!

Wally: You are missed as well :)
By: Autum

Nate:
Hey my big pal!! I miss you & love you to! I gave a high five to the hand you drew on my shirt, so I kind of gave you a high five from 3,000 miles away too :) Cool huh?

I am sure I used the word amazing about a million times, but how could I not when talking to such amazing people like them. I love you all!

Final Blog-a-Thon post & goals for the future

Good News: The blog-a-thon is almost over! I don’t think I can do one more night in a row of staying up late blogging.

Bad News: The blog-a-thon is almost over :/ It has been kinda fun blogging my heart out.

For the last post, I have yet another list. Then I will try to stay away from lists for a while. This list is of my goals for the rest of my time here. They say if you make your goals public, you are more likely to reach them. So thanks in advance for helping me reach my goals!

1. I want to keep up on this blog better. I have lots of fun ideas of things I want to post about. Not saying I am going to post everyday like I did this week {that was A LOT of work!} but I am going to try to post at least once a week.

2. I want to do more activities with the kids. This is my FAVORITE part of babysitting. I think that is why I have always been the favorite of the kids I tend, because I do activities with them. I would literally spend hours planning things for them the day before I was supposed to babysit and often, I would spend more money than I would make on supplies. But it’s why I love it so much. Coming into this, I had such great plans. But then reality set it in, & I realized that with Christian being so little most of my time was going to go to him. And it has. I have done a few activities here and there with the girls, but not even close to how many I would have liked. But I feel now that Christian is becoming a more independent little toddler that I can start doing more activities with the girls. & this makes me happy inside!!! I am going to try to plan fun little activities for him to be doing with us. I still won’t be able to do as many as I would originally have liked, but a few crafts & treats a week is going to make my life & hopefully the girls 10x better! I’ll keep you posted on all the fun stuff!

3. I want to put some effort in to how I look on a daily basis. I never wanted to be that girl who never bothered to put on decent clothes & makeup, but sadly, that is what I am becoming. Working with a toddler is not a clean job, so I obviously don’t want to wear my best clothes, but I am going to put a little more effort forth & limit sweats to a few times a week. As with makeup, a little mascara never hurt anyone right??

4. Start working out in the mornings. Of all my goals this one is the one that is probably the least likely to happen, but maybe since I made it public…. I really need to start getting in shape for our Bahamas’ trip that is coming up very quickly! Plus losing those couple of pounds I’ve put on since I’ve moved here would be nice. Is the freshman 15 applicable here?

5. Keep in touch with siblings more. Like I’ve mentioned before, I talk to my parents every night. But with my siblings, that is so not the case. I play scrabble on my phone with Mir & text them all when I get a chance, but I feel like that is not enough. I really want to call them all at least 1x a week.

6. Start going to church more often. Let’s be honest, when Sunday rolls around, getting up @ 7:30 is not at the top of the list of things I want to do. But sleeping is. But I really want to change that.

7. Make friends. I don’t want to go back to Utah with the Waller's being my only friends here. I was looking at this other girls blog who is a nanny & how many friends she had made & all the things she had done with them. I want that.

8. Take lessons of something. I am on a bettering myself kick & I want to learn something new. I’ll let you know when I know what it is.

9. Read my scriptures nightly. Even when I was taking seminary, I was never good at this. But when I did have a while when I was, I felt so much better about life & had a better outlook. I want that again. 10 minutes can’t be that hard right?

10. Have my future planned. By the time I leave here I want to have figured out what I want out of life, where I am going to school & what I am going to do for a career planned out. Luckily, I already have a pretty good idea of this.

11. Save $10,000. I have money that automatically goes out of my account every paycheck, so if all goes as planned, this goal should be easy. Not taking that money out of savings is the hard part.

Well, that's it. My first offical Blog-a-thon. Good times, right?

P.S~ I found pictures on my phone that I wanted to add to my "Home & Jessica's wedding" post so if you already read it, you might wanna go back & check those out :)

What did the Waller's buy now?!?

So quick funny story: When I first told my brother, Tyler that I was going to nanny in North Carolina, he told me that he had a buddy that lived in NC who told him they have mini horses that live in their houses. So naturally, one of the first things I asked when I got here was if they had mini horses that lived in their houses. Elizabeth’s answer was “maybe in the deep backwoods” but defiantly not in main stream NC. But she took me to a place down the street that had some mini horses (Outside of course) & I got to see them! Cutest things ever!

Fast forward to today & guess what they just bought?? You guess it! Mini horses!!! They are going to board them where the girls take riding lessons, but they can go see them whenever. We just went by to see them tonight. Aren’t they cute?

10 Things I Miss Most About Home

Obviously, there is a lot I miss about home, but I tried to narrow it down to 10. I realized that it depends on the day as to what I miss most.

Here is what I miss most today.

1. My family. Vague, I know. But I truly miss each one of them deeply. This is by far the hardest part of being gone. I feel it every.single.day


2. Family Events. Missing Aydri’s birthday party this weekend has been hard on me. I usually am on the front lines planning her party. Not this year, but next year, watch out!! Briar’s first birthday is also coming up; I’m working on preparing myself for missing that one.

3. Fresh fruits & veggie’s from our garden. I realize this is kinda a silly thing to miss, but the garden is one of my favorite parts about summer @ home. I love being able to go out and pick a fresh cucumber or tomato, grab some salt and eat it up. I doesn’t help that mom & dad brag about it anytime they eat anything from it :}

4. Regularity with family. I miss just doing the normal everyday things with them. When I go home for a week, there are always big things going on, but I really just miss the simple everyday activities with them.

5. My Car. I am very blessed to drive the hummer while I’m living here. But I miss my little red mustang. I guess just because I know she’s all mine & she was my first car. I am a little worried I am going to be claustrophobic going from hummer to mustang though :/

6. Cooking. I was hoping I would be able to cook more out here, but because of reasons like time, & picky eaters, I am limited. I miss just being able to cook whatever I wanted for my parents for dinner and they would eat it & {mostly} love it.

7. I kinda miss those petty arguments I would get in with my family every once in a while. This is probably the weirdest thing I have ever posted, but it’s true. Not saying we fought a lot, we really didn't but I guess just the fact that we could. I love the Waller’s but were not close enough that we can get into an argument & be ok the next day. Come to think of it I don’t know what I would do if I ever got into a fight with them :) So yeah, in a weird way, I do miss having arguments with my family. Does that make any sense? I am just weird.

8. Sunday’s @ Grandmas. I guess it’s just cuz today is Sunday, but I have really been missing just riding over to grandma’s on Sunday night to hang out & play rummy with the whole gang.

9. Having someone my age to do things with. I have really been wanting to go to a haunted house or something else Halloween-y, but that’s not really something you do by yourself. My schedule doesn’t allow for a lot of social time & on Wednesday’s I usually am running errands n’ such, not really doing stuff to meet new people. & I haven’t been going to singles ward a whole lot, but when I did, I still didn’t make many friends. So I tried the local family ward around here this week & I think I am going to like it better & maybe{maybe} meet some new friends there. In the meantime, if anyone wants to fly out here to go to a haunted house, that would be great. :D

10. Hugs. I am a huggy person. I just love them! So that is one of my favorite things to do when I get home. I especially miss my dad’s big bear hugs, Lane’s wrap around hugs & Aydri’s little sweet hugs. I miss just being able to hug whenever I wanted. I can get some out of Hannah, Kenz or Londyn every once in a while, but it just doesn’t fill the need. So who ever fly’s out to go to the haunted house with me, better be a hugger to :]

Confessions

This post is kind of a downer…

It’s all my homesick confessions. But I’m doing it anyway, cuz it’s what I had planned.

In the words of Usher… These are my confessions.

1. I still check the Utah news almost everynight.
2. On the same note, I am always comparing the weather from NC to UT on my iPhone.
3.I hate not being able to say “See ya later” when I talk to my family. I catch myself saying that every time and I have to change it to “Talk to you later” :(
4. I have really only had 2 “Big” cries since I’ve been here.
5. Shopping is my therapy.
6. It makes my day when I get sent a picture of my nieces :) I just got this one today:


Cute. Cute. Cute.


That’s all I got for tonight. I just realized this post is kinda lame. Oh well. The picture of Briar makes the whole thing :]

All about the Waller's

Well I knew I wanted to do this post, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to do it. It could really go a lot of directions, but it’s late so I don’t want it hard or too long. So my idea is to list a bunch of random facts about them. If I would have given myself more time I could have thought of more, but on short notice this is what I can throw out…

1. I don’t think I’ve ever posted about this, but they own an alarm company!! GO ISI!!!



2. It is not uncommon to run the dishwasher more than once a day.

3. It is also not uncommon for the kids to be up at 11 pm. Most of them can run on no sleep!

4. The average weekly grocery bill: $500

5. We have a full fridge outside dedicated to drinks. Need proof?


6. We go through at least 1 roll of paper towels a day.

7. Hannah Loves to leave me notes on my white board. Usually it is the MOST random stuff… Example:

It’s true she does love corn dogs, she eats like 4 at a time! :) And she wrote glue after she came into my room and glued her hands together. Gotta love Hannah!

8. We have a maid service that cleans the house. Not just once, but 3x a week! & I still feel like I’m cleaning up all the time! Guess that’s what you get with four fun kids!

9. They have 3 vehicles: 2 Hummer’s and an Escalade.

10. This might sound cheezy, but they are the greatest! They have totally welcomed me into their lives with love & support, I couldn’t ask for a better “adoptive” family!!

A Day {off} in the Life

Well I did a day in the life post, so for those of you left wondering what I do on my day off… Here ya go!

To me, my day off starts as soon as I get off on Tuesday night & although usually never planned, I always stay up SUPER late (3 am this time) I really need to stop doing that. I just got doing a bunch of stuff & then looked at my clock and crap! It was 3 am. Anyway, that will explain why I slept in the next morning..

11:15- Wake up

11:20-12:30 Eat breakfast, Shower, Start a load of my laundry & get ready for the day

12:30-2:00 Driving. It usually doesn’t take me this long to get to where I was going (next entry) but I wasn’t paying attention & drove right past the interstate entrance ramp that I usually take. My GPS didn’t say to make a U-turn so I figured it would still get me where I needed to go, just in a different route. So I follow it & nothing looks familiar. I end up on these tiny that Hummer’s are NOT meant to go on. It’s telling me to turn left in 500 feet. When in 500 feet is a dead end. In the midst of being lost I found a post office, I needed to go there anyway, so I decided to take a break & run in and mail off a few things. By the time I got out, the GPS had repositioned itself & FINALLY got me to the right place.

2:00- 5:00- Volunteer @ Habitat for Humanity. I decided that I was spending way too much money on my days off. I wanted to get out of the house and do something, but that always involved spending money that I needed to be saving. So I decided that volunteering was the perfect solution to my problem. I emailed a few places, but Habitat just seemed like the best choice. I just do random stuff around the office. This time I went, I called people to notify them if they had one a raffle prize from a fundraising event, then I researched places to get stadium cups for a future fundraising event. The bulk of my time I spent working on a bulletin board, I never knew those things took so long. So far I really like volunteering there, the people are super nice and I feel like I am making a difference in the community, and saving some money in the process.

5:00- 5:30 Driving towards home. No getting lost this time.

5:30- 6:30- Target. I can’t think of a week since I’ve been here that I haven’t gone to Target. I guess its cuz I would usually just run to the store whenever, but since I can’t do that here, I build my list up all week and make 1 trip. I love Target!

6:30-7:00 Dinner with self at Panera bread. Yup you read that right. I am not afraid to eat dinner in a restaurant by myself. It’s actually quite relaxing, just me, my tomato mozzarella Panini, mango smoothie and a book. Nerdy.

7:15 I finally get home unload my stuff & eat the piece of cake I bought at target. It wasn’t the best so I shared with Hannah. hehe

7:30 Jayson gets home from his Detroit trip seeing the Lions and Tigers play. He brought a ton of souvenirs as always. He got me a cute Tigers shirt. Thanks Jayson!

8:00-9:00 Folding/ Putting away my laundry & talking to Krista, but mostly talking to Krista. Have I ever mentioned how I am not a good multi-tasker when it comes to talking on the phone? Well now you know.

9:00 Bath & talking to mom & dad. The normal.

9:30 Remaking bed and finishing putting away laundry- Putting away target stuff

10:00-11:15 Blogging. I feel weird putting this as I am blogging.

11:15- 11:45 Do some more research for Habitat for Humanity events.

11:45-12:30 Computer time: Blog post, email & pinterest

12:45 Sleepy time {the BEST}

Sometimes my days off are more eventful, sometimes I just hang out at home & sometimes they consist of sleeping most of the day. (Those are my favorites:) But for the majority of the time it’s something like listed above. There you have it.

I'm coming out...

....As a vegetarian!! This week has not only been my 6 months anniversary as a nanny, but has also been my 1 year anniversary as a vegetarian! So I thought I would make my official statement :] It started out as something I thought I would just try for a while and turned into being one of the best decisions of my entire life! I have always loved animals, but never truly realized how many are used each year for human taste buds (10 Billion- not including fish!!!) & how horrible they are treated. Pau McCartney once said “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” I did some research and looked behind the “glass wall” and did not like what I seen, so I decided to do something about it. When I first stopped eating meat, I thought I was going to miss it, little did I know that a year down the road I would feel that people who eat meat are missing out on how great it feels not to eat it! I feel so much healthier & happier knowing that an animal does not need to be killed to give me a delicious meal. Well, I did not post this as a soapbox for why everyone should be a vegetarian, so I won’t babble to long :) But I would love to offer support for anyone wanting to make this wonderful life changing decision :D