Goodbye December...

Hello 2012.

So excited to see what's in store.

Love to all & a Happy New Year.

December so far...

Made a Free Family Edition Guess Who Game for Bryan & Kathleen's family (still kind of a work in progress). Thank you, Pinterest.

Watched the nativity story reenacted my my adorable nieces and nephews. A yearly tradition that I always look forward to.

Became a vegan.... for a week.

Had a wonderful time at the DKO (Dewsnup, King & Olsen) Christmas party. Delicious food, great company (love my boss and co-workers) and I walked away with a $50 American Express Card. Brandon got a digital picture frame and best of all we figured out exactly what to get Gary (Brandon's dad) for Christmas- which is no easy task.

Saw the Christmas Carol with the Free clan at Hale Center Theater.

Had a terrific time at the Roger's Christmas party, playing kazoo's and searching for almonds in rice pudding.

Gas prices dropped below $3.00. Always a reason to celebrate.

Bought a real Christmas tree.

Went downtown with my beautiful Young Women to see the Christmas lights.

Plus, games, dinners and fun with friends.

It's definitely been a very merry season so far.

Still to come?

The return of my brother from another mother! My cousin "Bud" returns home from his mission on Tuesday. So excited.

Cat sitting.
Even more Christmas partying.
Much needed paid time off.
& time with family.
Can't wait.

Happy Christmas!

The Pinterest Way...

The Kyra & Brandon Way...

This veggie turkey was a real crowd pleaser!

Hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

This year I am especially thankful for my family, Brandon, Pinterest, the gospel & soy milk.
Not necessarily in that order! :)

You Betcha

When Brandon and I have a disagreement 9 times out of 10 I'll turn it into a bet.

{I also argue that 9 times out of 10 I win the bet, I'd even bet on it.}

Tonight's bet?

Was Matthew Mcconaughey in Sweet Home Alabama?*

Brandon claimed that he was.

I knew that he wasn't.

{This bet came to be because I started singing "You're So Vain" at Brandon and asked him to name the movie that it was sung in and the actors who sang it.

His answer? Sweet Home Alabama. Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Mcconaughey(whose name we will shorten to "M.M." because he has quite the last name. Google had to help me spell it).

I told him that it was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with Kate Hudson and M.M.

He told me Kate Hudson and Reese are the same person and that M.M. was in both movies.}

Looking back, I should have raised the stakes so much higher.

That said, I won myself a new book (my winnings range anywhere from frozen yogurt to a new article of clothing, whatever strikes my fancy at the time of our ever official handshake).

The boy should never bet against me on a pop culture subject!

But we won't tell him that. :)

*M.M. was not in Sweet Home Alabama. It was that cute guy who looks an awful lot like Ryan Gosling but isn't- Josh Lucas.

Women > Food

Brandon: "do you really think that the $21 we spent at Chubs (slang for El Chubasco's- a delicious Park City resteraunt that for some crazy reason Brandon is not a huge fan of) was really worth it".

Kyra: "Brandon, we both got drinks and you don't have to tip there. It's a pretty great deal. I'm sorry that you don't have good taste."

Brandon: "I have good taste..."

Kyra: [cutting Brandon off] "In women!"

Fortunately for him, good taste in women trumps poor taste in food.

Seriously though, Chubs has a salsa bar and one of those fancy drink machines were I can sample literally every flavor of Diet Coke. What's not to like?

Cure for a bad day...

I typed "cure for a bad day" into Google Images.

It's comforting to know that Google still has all the answers.

Goodbye 70's ...

Hello 50's.

Not excited for the drop in temperature. I've been hanging on to summer for as long as I could but it's time to face the facts....

Winter is on it's way.

View from the 24th Floor...

Best thing about my work day.

It's that time again...

Love love love love October.

It may even be my favorite month of the year. The leaves are changing, my sweaters start moving from the back of my closet to the front, I start craving soup and pumpkin desserts in a big way.

Not to mention that halloween is easily the funnest holiday.

Brandon has again composed the music for the latest Manor Massacre scary movie!

After Footloose it'll be the second most exciting movie to air this weekend!

JK Brandon!

Why we don't have a home phone...

It's just another way to try to get a hold of your spouse on the already long list of methods of contact to try if they aren't picking up their cell phone, responding to text messages, IMs, video chat requests, tweets, e-mails, etc.

Why we should have a home phone....

It's another way to try to get a hold of your spouse on the list of methods of contact to try if they aren't picking up their cell phone, responding to text messages, IMs, video chat requests, tweets, e-mails, etc.

It's a toss up.

& we can add blog posts to that long list of methods of contact.

Brandon, if you see this post please contact your wife. :)

Thanks.

iPod Nano Watches...

These are genius....

An apple expert guy even told me that it's only a matter of time before iphones will be able to communicate with nanos. picture reading a text message on your ipod nano wrist watch. yep. genius.

My New August's Resolution

At 10:50PM yesterday night I walked out my back door into the perfect night air. I plugged in my ipod and was greeted by the soulful voice of Mat Kearney as I started the engine of my car. While driving, I realized just how much I love driving on summer nights with my music up and my windows down. I also realized how many simple things I love that I completely overlook and take for granted every single day. I resolved that tomorrow (or today rather) I would savor those simple things, that I would take note of them.

But today has done it's best to ruin that resolution. The slight ache in the back of my throat last night turned into a full fledged and raging sore throat this morning. Sick, overly tired and peeling from two days of sunburns, my patchy and angry skin took up much of my attention and frustration. I spent the morning trying to sleep off this sudden cold, stressing over my needing to go back to work tomorrow and wallowing in my post-vacation blues.

While I was standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like the millionth time, peeling off yet another section of flaking skin, I remembered my resolution. I took a deep breath amidst my messy bathroom, thought back on my night drive and mentally began making a list of the simple, beautiful things that I took for granted today:

• I spent the morning writing notes to a few of my young women. Wishing them a fun filled week at OakCrest and reminding them of their Heavenly Father's love for them and my own. I'm afraid I don't spend enough time telling others (or myself) that they are amazing, children of God and that they are ever loved. It's a simple thought that seems to get lost in my brain crowded with decision confusion and impatience.
• My wonderful husband. He is truly the best thing that ever happened to me and I am thankful to have found him and to be building a life with him. Tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of our very first date. What a life changer that date turned out to be.
• The half-full bottle of diet coke that happened to be in my fridge. Discovering that bottle was truly a day boosting moment.
• My family. Yes, today was a pretty unfun, overall awful day but I just spent 4 amazing days in Bear Lake with the Free family clan. If one awful day is equal to 4 great ones those are not bad odds.

I need to make savoring the simple moments a habit or else life is going to pass me by and leave me with nothing but memories of gray skies and post vacation blues. I am a completely impatient person. Always trying to run for the next big event life has in store. Continually looking for our next house, a new job, trying to talk baby names with Brandon (even though kids are still at least 2 years away),planning the celebration cruise we'll take in 3ish years when Brandon officially graduates with his bachelors... I am terrible at living in the now. So this is my New August's Resolution: I will savor simple. I will enjoy the now.

Here we go....

Count Down...

1 3-day work-week,

4 5-day work-weeks &

2 4- day work-weeks

until...........

The vacations begin!

I couldn't be more excited.

This is why I hope I have girls...

Because this moment is too cute.

& Because every girl needs a sister.

My sister posted this gem on facebook today, titling it "best friends". I couldn't help but smile, tear up a little and immediately make it my profile picture- only to realize that she had already done the same thing. I love my Leanie Beanie. She truly is my best friend and I am so thankful to have such a fun, outgoing, beautiful little sister.

Yes, Every girl needs a sister.

Homeowner Headaches, Take 1

This week we discovered that a charming pair of birds had decided to nest in our dryer vent. This was discovered and rediscovered the half a million times that I walked out the back door only to have birds fly out of the vent, cutting me off, causing hysteric screams for Brandon to "call the landlord!"

Our new tenants also moved in today and we discovered that we are completely unable to find the floor drain for their washer underneath the thick layer of linoleum and cement that some genius decided to put over the spot where the drain should be. A big thanks goes out to that guy/gal, wherever she/he may be.

Ah, the joys of owning a duplex. How many times have I threatened to sell it today? At least a million. if not more. But truthfully, it's a little bit satisfying to work on a project this big with Brandon (who is the true landlord) I'm glad he's a pretty handy guy. He masterfully fished the bird's nest out of the vent with a hanger while I watched supportively, eating mass amounts of Cheetos in between asking him if we could "go yet?". So thankful for that guy. For his patience and hardworking attitude, for his kindness and willingness to help. I am truly the lucky one in this relationship, but I'm pretty sure that's obvious.

Since we are novices at this homeowner business I'm sure we have quite a few more headaches ahead of us. The birds are probably the least of our worries. To tell you the truth, if they would have been lining their nest with dollar bills (or fives, tens, twenties, etc.) I wouldn't have minded them. I would have considered them our littlest tenants. Little freeloaders.

Time for Tea

Happy Birthday Miss Sariah!

Such a lovely way to spend the afternoon.