magic in theaters - don't miss it

You never know you need a flash-back to childhood until something magical & bright & filled with music puts its arms around you and welcomes you back.

Where has this magical world of endless, dream-filled wonder been all these years? Please Disney, don't wait so long for the next animated adventure.

The Office Party

Clint's company hosted an office party at the O.C. Tanner building in downtown SLC this year. It was posh, gorgeous, atmospheric, and the food was eclectic & delicious.

The Christmas music featured in-house pianist whom everyone paid too little attention to. If Clint would have been up for it, I would have loved to dance.

The chandelier dangling down the middle of 3 circling flights of stairs leading to 3 different levels of Christmas-decorated splendor featuring 3 different meal courses. Yeesh.

And us. Can't help feeling like I really wasn't dressed formally enough. Too bad I really didn't hang on to any of my old high school Homecoming dresses. Shucks.

I used to live in an apartment

(I will post pictures when I once again am privileged enough to enjoy internet service in my house.)

THINGS I WILL MISS (& SOME NOT SO MUCH):
*cable & internet (at least included in the rent paymt)
*Ross & TJ Maxx right across the street
*3 flights of stairs to my front door
*the ubiquitous 2-block-long line to the In 'N Out
*the under-floor neighbors' music
*memories galore
*the USPS store down the block
*other newly-wed neighbors who ask me for a spoonful of Mayo or a few drops of red food coloring, & feeling so gratified at being able to supply it
*pounding down my old favorite running trail - it runs along old un-used train tracks, and passes by strangers' back yards - and being nearly non-existent to everyone but the dogs in their back yards and the birds I scare on the trail
*my ward
*my YW girls (*sob*) who gave me the sweetest farewell card & wrote such life-affirming things as "I love you," "you are the hero of my life," and "I look up to you." I think I'm gonna start crying again
*cramming an entire family into the condo for a get-together
*the unbeatable free-way access
*scraping my car on Winter mornings (that's a not-so-much, should one need clueing in)
*a place just small enough to make my decorations seem sufficient
*the club-house and pool. completely free, whenever I felt like it.
*an over-flowing storage closet. Ha.
*white carpets that I was constantly paranoid about staining permanently
*a rent payment that allowed me to also buy shoes! (on sale, of course)
*no landscaping projects, no lawn to mow (however, I am excited to try my hand at yarding & gardening)
*a place just big enough for me & Clint, a place we have fit so neatly into since being married. The same place where we have grown our marriage and lived 2 1/2 magical years together

Many thanks to Shelly for our memorable time in the condo! We loved it.

a house for Christmas

Here are a few recent snapshots of the progression of la maison.

And the back yard here, including the cement patio.
Hmmm...what could one possibly do with these exciting little structural things?
I know! Make a kitchen!

Nothing like carpet to make you feel like you're in a house instead of a wood-planked shell.

And coming soon... STUCCO!

the naked hand

is not the same these days. Ok, so it's only been 2 days, but that's enough.

The story is: one of the tiny accent diamonds disappeared from my band the other day. See that distinct little un-tanned ring around my finger? That means that my engagement/wedding ring is far away right now. Far, far away. In Provo, not on my finger. *sniffle*

The good part is that when it comes back in another 4-5 days, the little diamond will be replaced, the other diamonds tightened, it will be re-sized slightly smaller, and I think it will also be re-plated or whatever you call it. Basically, it will be better than new.

If only I didn't keep panicking every time I realize it's not there.

don't get bored of it yet...

The house is still flying up!

Everything is looking more and more... housey. More... put together... with the dry-wall in the living/family room. Love the vaulted ceilings.
Love our U-turn stairs.

One of the highlights: gas fireplace. Definitely looking forward to that this winter. That and the garage. No scraping frost off the windows for me!

These pictures are actually as of last week, but this weekend was crazy, so... yeah. Will give you the latest updates soon. (I will have pictures soon of interior paint, cabinets, and exterior...)

being a little paranoid?

Personally, I'd call it: smart. All it takes is hearing of 1 or 2 people in my department at work that have been officially diagnosed w/ H1N1 and... DONE. Gloves are going on. End of story.

I am NOT getting sick. I want to hold my nephew after he gets blessed on Sunday! Doy.

In this town of Halloween...

Check out my mom's super cute Halloween town!! This set-up rocks! You can turn it ON, too. Oh yeah, it comes ON. The houses make shrieking, haunting noises... the windows light up like there's candles inside... magical, I tell you.

And I still haven't gotten the Nightmare Before Christmas theme song out of my head:

This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night...

From left to right: Hippie Honey, Shipwreck Sally, and Pocapoochey. (Came up with those names all by myself, too!) Yarrr!

The Huz and myself. I was in my costume all day at work, too; did I mention? And heck no, didn't get sick of the 'stume.

I could be deluderizing myself or something, but... tell me the black hair doesn't work it. I mean, honestly. The sass factor went up like 10 full notches. If only it wasn't so itchy...The Halloween Bash night with the fam was a total hit. I'd like to take a little bit of credit for proposing the idea. Thank you. Super-thrilled to see all my peeps in costume, too.

The men-folk:The sistas:

And then of course, those of us whose trick-or-treating days are still ahead:

Snow White didn't last quite a lot longer than it took to take this picture... She must have thought the Charlie Chaplin nose was a bit more comfortable.
Here is me being scary lady who forces her neice to sit on her lap for a picture. *Sigh.* Actually, I think once the initial shock was over the neices handled my black-bedeckedness really well. Just the photo-shooting part was a little, well... yeah. Happy I got a pic.

Fav nephew. For real.

And what would a Halloween party without stabbing, sawing, guts, gore, and messiness? No kidding - not a party at all, right?

Clint carved the wicked Darth Maul and I did, well... let's call him Mummy Face.

Trick-or-Cheering

Halloween night I actually celebrated with the Utah Football team. Admittedly not my first choice, but since I have no excuse to go trick-or-treating, well then... what better way to bask in the Halloween-ness by going to a stadium filled to the brim with screeching, freaky fans decked out in black? I was even allowed to wear heavy black make-up again. Who's complaining?
Hate to say it, babe, but seriously... you kinda look like you're yawning.

Fun to have a pretty much uncontested victory over the Wyoming hobos.

And quite undeniably another brilliant Halloween weekend. 2 nights in a row of partying and dress-up. Next year's All Hallow's Eve Festivities: Mine & Clint's place. Will be an extravaganza, people. Can't wait.

boom town

That's what our circle feels like. An old fashioned boom town. Structures flying up practically overnight and people milling around during every hour. Good old MJ circle.

Here is what the house looks like as of this afternoon... SURPRISE!!!

Clint standing in the garage.

In front of the will-be kitchen pantry. Laundry/mud room is on the right.

The view from the entry way towards the family room.

View from the entryway to the far corner where the kitchen will be. (To some, this set-up will look somewhat familiar.)

No, the basement will not be finished. Just the stairs.

Vaulted ceilings.

Clint standing in the family room. To give you an idea of the size of things.The window on the left is huge with a fantastic view of the mountains out the back. Totally thrilled about that. Backyard doorway on the right.

Stairwell.

Back of the house.