the holiday wrap-up.

The Holiday season of 2011 was great. But to be honest. It was more stressful than anything. I think we celebrated Thanksgiving twice and Christmas five times. That's right, five. I feel like we are getting farther away from the purpose. I was exhausted. And I think I ended up feeling pretty run down after the whole ordeal. And I felt sick about the amount we had received and spent.  The older I get the more I want to simplify. Especially around the Holidays. I am going to find a way! Even if it's the last thing I do!

Ok... Totally being dramatic. But there is some seriousness to what I am saying.  

Beside the exhaustion of going to all of these crazy events, there was an overall feeling that Jay and I are blessed beyond belief.

Thanksgiving morning. We took some family photos. Millie wanted to be involved. We involved her.

We picked out our tree. It was fun.

 

We lost the battle of "Millie, get out of the tree right now!" I plan to lose every year.

Tree-decorating-pizza-making-night.

Christmas Eve. Millie is ecstatic.

Robot man. And panda girl.

This is what I wore to my family's Christmas dinner. What a lady. A gem. This is how I keep my reputation for being the 'little one' or the 'baby of the family.' Keeps people's expectations low. Just wear a panda hat. People WILL have lower expectations. I promise.

Favorite present from Christmas 2011: Pizza sent from Jayson's cousin Blaine. Not just any pizza. Chicago deep-dish pizza sent frozen and cooked in our oven. FROM Chicago. Yeah, we felt pretty cool. It was not by our own doing. So, thanks for making us feel cool Blaine.

The fair.

During the madness of moving, we managed to go to the fair twice. And it really was madness. We were driving up to the apartment after work, loading up a truckful, taking it to the house, then back up to the apartment. So glad that is over.

Jayson looking extremely cool .

One thing we always do is taking some B&W photobooth pics. So, just ignore that huge 'COLOR' sign in the background. That is both inaccurate and deceiving.

We always eat way too much food. Duh. I love the baked potato. Jayson thinks this is a ridiculous choice when you have more options. I, however, think it is perfect. One bowl. Combo of all things yummy. How can you go wrong?

The second visit we made was with SisterFriend, HeyBrother and my Mom.

Here they are. Kelly Pickler played that night. Of course, she sang "Red High Heels." The best part about this was that Zindi sang along with the song and even point to her 'red high heels' (Reef Sandles) when that part of the song came. Oh, and we watched from outside of the stadium. 
Then it took us an hour to get out of the parking lot. People in cars were getting heated. Lots of cutting other drivers off and yelling of obscenities, which I assure you, we did not take part in. Zindi tried and we didn't let her. We experienced it all and it was well worth the waiting, the sweating, and the gross feelings of being bloated the next morning.

The thing with Sisterfriend and her hair.

I told someone last weekend that Sisterfriend has only gotten her hair cut by a professional once or twice in the past five years. Maybe even longer. That is a true statement. I would know this, because I am her hairdresser. And I am no professsional.

Last weekend was time for her bi-annual haircut.

It was fun. I flipped my sister's head.

 
BEFORE

AFTER

Isn't she so super cute with her young fun hair? She looks 19 again.

She kinda freaked out when I made the first cut. It was funny.

Here is a picture of her when she really was 19. 

See? Super fun cute 19-year-old hair.

Love.

some people's babies...

...are just too adorable.

So Meg & Kyle. They are GREAT friends. The kind of friends we are putting stock in. They are the kind of friends you could live with and still want to hang out on the weekends (oh yeah, we did that). The kind of friends you actually want to help move into their house. The kind of friends to laugh with, drink margaritas with, and have fairly serious conversations with, and just basically, love. Well, anyway, they had a baby. We were so excited. SO excited.

Meghan = super cute pregnant lady.

She even likes Millie. Like I said, great friend.

When I was in Kansas last week, BabyBoy came into the world. First thing, I had to go meet him. Before we pulled up to their house, Jay said, "This better not make you baby crazy. We can't afford one." (And he is right, we can barely afford us)

So, we met him.

And how could this guy NOT make you baby crazy?

I am pretty sure even Jayson is baby crazy now...

Everyday Adventures. ( Lauren )

Today is Wednesday. And Summer is flying by. So quick. Am I doing enough fun things? Am I enjoying my life? Am I choosing to have adventures and new experiences? I hope so.

via

I love this poster. I think I should buy it. One for me and one for my friend Lauren.

Lauren is moving to Kansas in less than a month for grad school. Now, that is an adventure. But guess what?! I am going with her!

Not to gradschool, just to Kansas.

Yipee!

Roadtrip, here we come. We are driving out there, moving her in, and then I am flying back. Of course, my adventure is much smaller than her's. Getting there is only part of her adventure. Her's will continue. Go on. And lead to her future.

Still, I am so glad that I get to be a part of it.

We are going to have so much fun. Really, we always do. 

Adventures are our thing.

Like the time we drove to Portland.

All of our let's-ditch-class beach days.

Disneyland in the rain days.

People asking us if-we-are-sisters days.

Studying all night and acing the test days.

People-watching & name-guessing days.

And, of course, sitting around doing nothing days. (we had a lot of those)

 

Sometimes, we like to over-smile and look the same. (Am I right? We do kinda look the same here.)

Lauren, remember this? In a month, instead of the LA cityscape behind us, it will be flat plains. Is that what you call them? Plains? I don't know.

Anyway, the plans for this trip just got settled yesterday, so I am very excited.
VERY excited.


Something else that makes me excited is Lauren just started her own blog about her Kansas adventure. Interested? check it out.

This day.

I am getting excited. Only 4 days until I travel up to Washington for Michelle's Wedding! So excited to celebrate this special day with my friends. So excited to see these crazy girls and hang out!

This weekend will be spent doing laundry, packing, and getting ready for the trip.

Also, this weekend, I am going to my good friend Kaylah's graduation get-together. She graduates TODAY.

Congratulations Kaylah!!!!

These pictures were taken at our highschool graduation in 2006. HAHA!!! So funny.

People, this is not what we look like anymore. We have blossomed into beautiful young women with good heads on our shoulders. These photos were taken when we 18. And silly. Do not judge us. Please.

Anyway, Kaylah. So proud of you, friend!

Saturday Showers.

Today is Shower Day!!! That's right. My friend, Michelle, you know the one I mean, she is having her first bridal shower! She is one lucky girl. 

Anyway, I truly wish that I could be there to celebrate with her. However, due to the fact that she is two states away, it couldn't happen.

I wanted to send a little surprise her way to help her celebrate. SOOOOO, I made her some fabric banners with her & Sterling's initials and wedding date! I sent them up to bridal-shower-planner Erin, who is putting the whole shower together.

 
 Hopefully, the banners fit into the decorations and are a fun little addition to the day. I hope the shower was a success, full of joy, and made bridesy feel so special. 

Can't wait to hear all about it!

A Spring Weekend. {Continued}

Hi friends. I had a lovely weekend. With lovely people. It was filled with LOTS of activities and fun. 

Lauren came to stay. She is one of those life friends I was telling you about here. When I met her in college, we became friends instantly. I would say it is because we have the same sense of humor. And we had the same major in college. People would ask me, "Do you know anybody in your classes?" HA! Not only do I know someone, but she is also one of the best friends I have!
She is no-nonsense kind-of girl and the BEST study-buddy around. Also, she is the best beach-buddy around. So, basically she is just the best-buddy all around. Seriously, we have so much fun together and laugh/giggle constantly. Lauren, I am SO glad you came! 

Lauren got into a master's program for Speech Pathology at the University of Kansas. {Congrats!!!} She is leaving in August. I am going to miss having her in California. When she leaves, it officially means that almost all of my friends live out of state. Sheesh.

ANYWAY, here are some highlights from the weekend.

1. Lauren and I went to Sequoia's and got sandwiches downtown. 

I bought this cookie. Yum.

2. We made a visit to 'In Your Wildest Dreams' {the most amazing vintage store} and had some fun looking around.

3. One of the treasures we found was this HUGE tile table with matching print. Bizarre? I would say so.

See. Weird, right? 
Why is there that hugh table featured in front of a cityscape? 


4. We might have made a quick trip to Rosemary's for ice cream. Sisterfriend might have come. But just maybe. Don't hold us accountable to that or anything.


5. We went on the Kern River Trail hike. Yep, this time we found it. And it was such a beautiful day.

 Sisterfriend and HeyBrother came.

6. I got rejected again. {Not all highlights are good} The only grad programs I am waiting on are Fresno State & Portland State. I need to work on Plan B.


7. We finished off the weekend with bowling and grilling. And a nice breeze. It was great.

A Spring Weekend.

Hi friends. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am. My friend Lauren is here and we are having a great time. Just stopping in to say hi. Today, we went to an awesome place and we saw things like this:

 or these:

 or even these:

 Want to know where we saw these awesome treasures? I will tell you later. 

After I am done having fun with my friend.

Got to get back to it!

{Michelle}

In college, I made some good friends. Life friends. Real friends. The kind of friends that you are honest with. Who know the real you. They know my flaws and yet they still accept me. They tell me when I am wrong. And that makes me a better person. It is a wonderful thing.

One of these amazing people is Michelle, but we call her Meeshies. Or Meeshie-butt. Whatever you prefer.

Meesh is a great friend to have. She is one of the most laid-back, chill people you will meet. Well, most of the time. She is down to earth. Loyal. She has a sweet, adventurous spirit. She travels, here and there; across the globe. She loves fried eggs and coffee.

she has these beautiful brown curls. I have always been jealous of them. She is indecisive. VERY indecisive. She eats rolled tacos. She dances. He has a great laugh. She is a procrastinator and not a morning person. She loves lint-rollers.

 She is SO fun to hang out with. I could tell you many stories about Michelle adventures. Like all of the rolled taco runs, dance parties, or the time Michelle told all of her roommates that she was going to Arizona for Spring Break 2 hours before she left. Or the time we had a Rum & Big Lebowski party in our room for hours without any of our roommates knowing(as seen below)

As I asked for Michelle's permission to write about her on Blogsters, I learned that she is a blog hog. Ever since I asked, she has been texting daily to know why have I not written about her? She loves to text. It's true. Sorry for the wait Meesh.

Also, Michelle is getting married. 

This June actually. I am so excited for her! And she couldn't have picked a better guy. Really.

Last week, I got something in the mail. It was this:

An invitation to Meeshies little bridal shower! So fun.

Even though I am far away (and can't make it to the shower) I feel so blessed to have such good friends in my life. Distance hasn't seemed to affect our friendship. These friends were so supportive of my marriage/wedding last June and I can't wait to share in the same joy for little Meeshies. 

I will end this post with something that Meesh would say in a text:

'Love you girl.'

HAHAHA.