our Christmas

was awesome! We had a fun party-filled week leading up to it, a magical Christmas day, and even a lovely day-after party.

Clint and I are sort of clinging onto our newly-wed tradition of moving out mattress into the family room and sleeping by our tree. We love it so we figured we will keep it up as long as possible! :)

We woke up early Christmas morning to go to church early (about 8:15) where I sang in three choir numbers and Clint sat by himself in the congregation. It was a great meeting and we sang some of my favorite songs including "O Come O Come Emmanual" and "The First Noel." I felt like ending with "Joy to the World" but I was fine with the classic closing song choice "Silent Night."

Then we came home and promptly changed into pajamas again for our gift ravaging session. Clint and I have come up with a way to make the gifting session last as long as possible while enjoying every minute. We take turns picking out a gift for the other one to open, and watch each other open it.

Among other things, I received some nice cold weather gear, jewelry, a laminator, a nice weight set, and these ultra cozy slippers which I am wearing right now.

Clint thought this was a funny picture of me trying to remember what things were in each of Clint's gifts as I tried to decide what he should open next.

Clint received some nice, dressy casual shoes, running shoes, a new gym bag and lock, ties, jeans, and lots of chocolate. :)

Santa also brought us a few new movies and.... (drum roll) dum dum de dum! A new laptop! I was super surprised and excited to open up that little nugget. Of course we will both have convenient uses for a laptop, but I especially am salivating at the prospect of taking my work en plein air. That is, having freedom to work from wherever and also testing out my creative writing powers under various natural settings.

And so in conclusion I must say: Clint is a fabulous gift giver. As are my parents, his parents, and our siblings. We have been inundated with blessings.

We also refuse to follow in the steps of the local radio stations and pretend that Christmas is just a day that comes and then goes. So we still happily play Christmas music at our house in the evenings while sitting next to our tree and admiring our stacks of opened presents.

Hope your holiday season continues to be magical as well. :)

Happy New Year!

downtown days of christmas

Clint and I traveled downtown 3 days in a row last week.

And we feel like we don't need to do it again for a very, very long time.

Each time it took us at least twice as long as it normally would because of extra Christmas traffic, including accidents on the freeway each night. We were travelling in the evenings on days that I can only assume the rest of the valley was heading downtown for the same events that we were. I also decided that some people who were heading toward these Christmas-related activities are people who do not normally drive on the freeway, and during busy conditions.

How else can I possibly account for all of the accidents on the freeway between the south end of the valley and downtown? It wasn't as busy as rush hour, nor have we had any snow to serve as people's excuse for driving poorly.

Anyway. Once we made it downtown, we had a great time going to one performance of Pioneer Theater's "Annie", the Utah Symphony's surprising spectacular of "Cirque de la Symphonie", and Clint's office party.

Just in case you've been wondering what we're up to.

Sam: now a Christmas candy maker!

Oh yes. It is official.

I am the candy-making queen!!

(Well, at least with the help of some more experience candy makers.)

I had the jolliest time last week making these chocolate mints with my mom (not my own picture but exactly like our same process):

...which look and taste just as good or better than these wonderful babies:

And then on another day I made these with my mom-in-law:

I made enough of both to give away some gifts to a few of our luckiest neighbors but am finding it extraordinarily difficult to give them up... even though I am withholding some for me and Clint! They've been sitting in wrapped bundles in my basement for about a week now. I think I just need to do it!

Anyway, this has got to turn into an annual tradition. I love the home-made candy. However, my exercise routine does not - the two are currently fighting to the death and they appear to be in stalemate. 

Mmm!

I guess I'm fighting the "Christmas war"

The Salt Lake Trib had this provocative cartoon in Sunday's paper yesterday:

It's right on the money.

I've been thinking about Christmas topics a lot lately. And yes, I will speak of my faith for just a moment.

This is a busy week for me. I have a Young Women activity on Wednesday, the theater on Thursday, the symphony on Friday, an office party on Saturday, an extended family dinner on Sunday which I have to preparer something edible for, and I am also giving the Christmas lesson this Sunday to the combined Young Women classes. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I have to send out greeting cards, neighbor gifts, and squeeze in more Christmas shopping.

I'm booked solid, even though it's mostly with fun Christmas stuff. It's easy to see why we get caught up in the stress of Christmas and forget what it REALLY is about.

And, surprisingly enough, Christmas is not actually about what the media is telling us that it is about: that Christmas is about "giving." While generosity and consideration for your fellow men are worthy  principles that we should be following all year round, they are NOT all Christmas is about. Not really. Actually, they're by-products of the true meaning.

The media will do anything to take Christ out of Christmas and appeal to a larger shopping and money-spending demographic.

Christmas... really... is about Christ. The Savior and Light of the world. Christmas is a Christian holiday, whatever the media says.

I've been making a point of wishing strangers "Merry Christmas" instead of just "Happy Holidays." The best gift we Christians can give  is the simple reminder of what this life is all about, and we can share Christ's love with others. I think I'll challenge my Young Women on Sunday to be eager to wish people a "Merry Christmas" this season.

I love Christmas, I love Santa, I love the songs, the trees, the lights, the gifts... and the giving, of course! I really don't think any of these celebrations are bad. But most of all, I love the way that all of these secular symbols are really just that - symbols to turn our hearts toward the birth of Christ and what that really means to us.

So on that note... Merry Christmas! May it be magical. :)

Here, have some Christmas spirit!

This could be the most magical 5 minutes you spend today. Promise. :)

Drumroll... and now for an online bookclub!

Right now it's called: Sam's Magical Book Club; and it will be fabulous. Always.

By the show of comments and/or votes, how many of you would like to join my new book club? (It will be found on my writing blog - you may also click the tab above or on the sidebar.)

Everything will be done online, from choosing books to reviewing them to sharing ideas and handing around virtual biscuits and jam and sparkling lemonade slushies. (Okay, so maybe not the food.) the point is - you get to be a full-fledged member just by reading my blog and commenting.

So far it has one member: me.  But a bunch of people have said they're interested, so I am afraid that positions of V.P., Secretary, Miss Bookworm, Book Club Greeter, and Miss Betsy-Bo Bookish McGoo will be granted on a first-come, first-serve basis. (I can come up with as many as positions as there are people who want them...)

So... let's get this thing started!

Reasons why you should join my book club:

1. You don't have to leave home to go to book club meetings (but you can if you want... more details later.)

2. You can read the books on your own time - about 1 book a month.

3. You do NOT have to cheat on your old book club. You can join both at the same time.  And if you have too many books to read - suggest a book that you're reading in another book club and we'll do the same one!  One book; two places to talk about it.

4. You get to suggest and choose books you want to read.  We'll pick books ranging from Paranormal Young Adult to classic literature to New York Time Bestseller list books. You choose what you want to read and what you don't want to read. 

5. You can read my review of the book each month on Sam's Magical Book Club website and post your own reviews.

6. I'll update the site throughout the month to talk about developments in the book and you can too.

7. You will never be kicked out.  Take a month off if you want.  That's why it's called Magical, my friends.

8. You really don't have to do anything besides read the book and then make as many comments as you want online.  I'll manage pretty much everything else.

9. IT'S ALREADY STARTED!!!  December's read is Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  This fits the Young Adult category and the NY Times Bestselling category. 

Sorry for the sort of late notice - we will extend the reading time for the Uglies series into January.  If you've already read Uglies or if you think you can read it a lot faster than one month, feel free to go on in the series (with Pretties, Specials, and Extras).  

Then at the end of January we'll talk about the series and meanwhile be deciding on the next book!

Yarn crafts

Just wanted to share this clever little idea cause I'm pretty proud of myself. I made these bookmarks for my Beehive class using:

• an ordinary handout idea that I printed at home and had to cut out by hand,
• 2 yarn colors that match the handout,
• scissors,
• paper hole punch, and
• clear contact paper.

Result: Cutesy bookmark with yarn pom pom!

Super easy to make.

You can also take the pom pom a step farther by "fuzzing" it up with a wire brush.

I experimented with an extra pom pom but it took a long time so I stopped there. I might make my own fuzzy pom poms for some winter hats, though.

My personal Thanksgiving

This is just a simple but very meaningful tribute to the many things I have to be grateful for.

Here goes.

• My family. Unbeatable parents, wonderful in-laws, enjoyable siblings, delightful nieces and nephews, beautiful times.
• My job. The fact that I have one, and... the miracle of being able to do something that I truly like.
• My husband. Separate category from family because this man is simpy his own category. Clint is the greatest wonder of my life. Best friend, adventure buddy, my source of romance, my number one fan, my defender, partner in all things, my daily dose of joy, my morning hug, my everything.
• Myself. Who I am. I forget to be grateful for myself, but really, someone thought that I was worth making.
• Sunsets. A new and unexpected picture of eternity every night.
• Mountains. Painted in such spectacular grandeur from a distance, and a liberating source of perspective when climbed.
• My faith, my church, my beliefs, my spiritual leaders, my opportunities to serve, my knowledge of what this life is exactly. And where I want to be.
• Utah. I swear, can any place claim to offer such a smorgisbord of adventure as a state that offers everything from snowy mountain tops to dusty red desert formations?
• Art. In all its forms. Music, museums, history, literature, poetry, sculpture, emotions captured with paint or pencil. Nothing quite tugs my heart in the same way.
• My health. And Clint's. I almost published this post without adding this to the list! Just goes to show how valuable being healthy is, and yet we take for granted everything we can do until we suddenly... aren't.
• I could enumerate many more, but those are some of the biggies.

Love to all reading this! :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Freelance writing is hard

Sometimes I wonder how long I can continue to fool myself into thinking that I am self-disciplined enough to do this freelance thing.

I'm a good faker.

I had a... um.... mild breakdown after experiencing another week of slow work. I was caught feeling guilty for not working as hard as Clint, for making even less cash than usual while not cutting back enough on my spending, and wondering whether I had made the wrong decision altogether to do this job. 

I mean, do I need to change career directions again?

There's no clear cut answer most of the time and it seems that I have more growing up to do than I ever thought.  I am NOT patient, I do NOT have nearly enough faith, and I do NOT know what my purpose is in life. 

Sound like the life of a 13-year-old? (It's okay to say yes.  I already have.)

But, to be honest, I am somewhat even less self-assured than many of the13-year-old girls in my darling Beehive class. Sometimes I realize that as a kid with the whole world in front of me, I had a sort of magical confidence that I don't have as an adult.  I mean I could have done anything from painting masterpieces to writing novels to playing professional sports to traveling the world...

Not that I always wanted such glamorous professions, but the point stands: the world was mine for the having. 

And now I'm 27. Graduated from college and still not sure where I'm supposed to "end up."

I'm not really trying to be depressing here. I'm just saying some of the things that have been on my mind.  It's actually a positive reflection, because I can at this point of my life say that I am pursuing a talent that I have always wanted to...

Writing.

I went to a new optometrist today to renew my contact lense prescription and had to fill in my new address and such. Under "occupation," I felt a girlish thrill at my hand spelling out, "Self-empoyed Writer." 

And yes, I used a capital W.  Thank you very much.

I'm lucky to be a writer, and I'm especially lucky to have a husband who is patient and faithful and reassuring of my positive influences, so that he can get me through phases of forgetting how lucky I am to be a writer.

And also so that I can feel silly about myself the next day when I suddenly get a whole bunch of new articles to write. So many articles, in fact, that I will be at this computer again tomorrow morning.

Just... how 'bout that.

the home alone shivers

Okay, so nothing could really ever make me buy one of these.  First of all, who came up with that name?  Snuggie? Really? 

No kid who was ever treated to a bully-induced snuggie in elementary school would think of naming a product that and any geek who grew up to be a business savvy marketing genius would never have let this one slip. 

I can do better.  Pajankie, for one example.  Or how about, Blankajama?

Hahaha.  Man, I am such a comic.

Anyway.

Since working from home, I have noticed a few things:

1. Pandora (internet radio) is an insecure girl like me.  It likes you to click that you like it every once and a while or it will ask you if you're still listening.

2. Cable TV with promotional free movie channels is the devil.  (I'll actually be happy when the promotional period ends and I'm not so tempted to always check and see what's on.)

3. Pajamas in the afternoon are totally acceptable, even encouraged.

4. It is deliriously wonderful to only get phone calls and emails from people that I care about.

5. The house is colder without a husband in it.  I am determined to not make Clint pay for letting me work at home in the form of increasing our heating bill by a gazillion percent.  So while the indoor temperature lingers around 66 degrees, I wear slippers, sweats, and hoodies all day while occasionally drinking hot chocolate at my computer.

In case there is any question in your mind at this point, the slippers-and-hot-chocolate scenario is NOT a bad thing.

At least I will never stoop to Snuggies.

Happy Halloween, Hello November

I am sad Halloween is over.  It was a beautiful day yesterday, on Halloween, and then today storm clouds dumped their grumpy selves all over the place. 

Last night we even got about quadruple the amount of Trick-or-treaters that we got last year.

I made all of the kids say "Trick or treat" if they didn't already say it by themselves.  Is it just me, or do some kids ring your doorball and then shove their candy bags toward you like they are bored of the whole gig?  I am more than happy to hand out free candy to all you kids, but you gotta at least SAY IT.  I mean, come on.

Here is a brief sum-up of the fun Halloween activities we did this past week:

Caramel-apple making with Clint's mom, Kathy

Halloween Party Part 2 with my side of the famdamily

Another pair of amazingly legit jack-o-lanterns carved by myself and Clint

Can you guess who did which?

I have mixed reactions to November today.  Did it have to come with snow, honestly???  I'm just saying, if November was trying to gain my approval, it sure started out on the wrong foot.

But on the other hand, it is still technically Autumn, and I love this time of year. Turkey, stuffing, and Christmas music are all right around the corner, and I have some projects I am getting into this month.

November 1st means I have all of my Halloween decorations to take down, laundry to fold, and my November writing goal of 30 minutes a day.  Which I am actually excited about, given that I can solidify a story outline during the time I will spend. Check out my writing blog if you want to keep updated on my writing endeavors!

Halloween Partay Part 1

Here are the photos from our recent family Halloween party on Friday!  We missed Brian and Shelly.  And Ty, I'm sorry I somehow didn't have any pictures of you.

It was a lot of fun!  Thanks everyone!

Hellboy and Cruella DeVil

Batgirl, an adorable Lion, Red Riding Hood, and a Nice Witch

Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and... a Cow Boy. :)

I think it took the nieces and nephews a few minutes to warm up to their crazy aunt who didn't look like herself! But they did, and we had a great old time.

Reading Halloween books

Introducing a new Halloween party tradition:

Home-made Bingo cards

BINGO with Halloween M&M's

The after-party included a showing of Megamind and the ditching of the wigs.

Tate made my night by loving my Halloween decorations.

Cute, cuddling nephews

Thanks again to everyone for coming and dressing up and bringing food!

Special thanks to my dear man for being so agreeable to wear make-up for his costume.  I'm still kind of surprised I got him to do it.  But it looked freaking awesome.

Wednesday, Sorceress Day

I had a magical Wednesday this week. I think I'm going to make it an annual October event. 

My sister Allison teaches a darling 3rd-grade class and every week she tries to have a volunteer come read to them for 30 minutes before recess.  She asked me if I wanted to read to them on a day in October that hadn't been filled with a parent volunteer.  Uh, heck yeah?!?

So I dressed up as Samantha the Sorceress and brought Halloween candy in a pumpkin cauldron and read Halloween books to the class.  I'm telling you, it was grand. 

Those cute little kids sat wide-eyed on the floor in front of me while I gestured my spell-casting eyeball as a warning to behave.  Never have I ever had such a rapturous audience to reading some of my Mom's favorite Halloween books, including "The Runaway Pupmkin" and the "Ghost-Eye Tree".

At the end, though, they did come to the conclusion that I could not be a real witch because I did not wear gloves to conceal my claws (They had been reading Roald Dahl's The Witches.)

I felt just like a real witch, though.  It was so magic.

Walking through the halls afterward, I got stares and claps and exclamations of "Wow, cool costume!" from other classes. Some kids on their way to recess would ask me, "Are you a real witch?" or "Are you Miss Milne?" (my sister.)  I guess even with my witchy make-up on we look alike!

Autumn in Neff's Canyon

Neff's Canyon is, I think, one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done in the Fall. Clint thinks it's because of the wide variety of trees along the trail that all turn different colors at this time of year. It's true that you see a full spectrum of Autumn colors!

I was loving the backlighting and the glowing colors of the trees. Both great conditions for playing photographer! :)

my grandpa's final fight

It came to an end on Wednesday morning at 6 am.  It was only the morning after I learned from my Mom that he was even close to leaving us.  It was a bit more sudden than anyone expected.

During the past decade he struggled with health problems, including a stroke, heart health, and fluid in his lungs.  He also fought with the frustrations of dementia, and would frequently forget the names and situations of his children and extended family.

But after the funeral today, I learned a few more things about my Grandpa and who he really was.  His kids spoke about him as well as one of his dearest friends. It was extremely precious to hear about his life well-lived.

this is Halloween, this is Halloween...

I am SOOOOO excited for Halloween!!  I love this holiday.  I mean, it is really my favorite; probably more than Christmas. 

Clint has pointed out a few times that we have more Halloween decorations than Christmas decorations.  He said the other day, "So do you think you'll ever reach a point where you don't need to buy any more Halloween decorations because we won't have any places left for them?" 

Duh, no.  :)  There are always more places for Halloween decorations and crafts!

Eventually I want to institute a mini haunted corn maze in my front yard for trick-or-treaters!!  I know, right?  Brilliant!!

I think my love for Halloween is also based on a few other things:
1. my birthday month of October
2. the Autumn season and changing leaves
3. the magicalness of spooky things, like the full moon

Anyway, I couldn't resist doing a few Halloween crafts and wanted to share a few things with you.


Boo blocks

spook pumpkins

Halloween magnets

I cannot wait to see more Fall leaves and other haunted sites.  I will also host some Halloween parties and I will post pics of all the costumes!

My life during the past hour

Do you ever have days where you have a schedule that you're living by, and you've got just enough on your plate and starting to tackle it, when suddenly, somewhere in the cosmos a cord snaps and dumps a pile of extra stuff onto your shoulders that makes everything else seem that much harder?

Well. 

Speaking of today... I already have several extra events blinking on my radar this week. 

Launching new blog: I Write Therefore I Am

This is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time now. My own writing blog. It's officially launched, but it's in the beginning stages, so expect the look and design to be in a continual state of change for at least a while.

This "Clint and Sam" blog will still be open as my "family" blog, of course.

Check out my new blog if you have any interest in writing, want to keep up on my writing ventures, or if you want to tell me what you think I should write.

I Write Therefore I Am: Making time to write: Finally. My very own site for blogging, poetizing, drafting, book reviewing, and even some journaling. It's time to get started. First t...

Return to Sunset Peak

We might just have to make this hike a Fall-time yearly tradition.  Sunset Peak is fairly short, about a mile and a half or two to the top, but still decent exercise.  The biggest reason is that the colors up Big Cottonwood are beautiful!!  Too bad it was just a bit cold and overcast so we couldn't exactly see the sunset from the peak.  But still a good Fall adventure.

I love Autumn leaves!

Mom, Jen, Dad, Clint, and me