I believe...

We just arrived home from an

 *Amazing 

*Alaskan 

*Adventure. 

If any of you have doubts about the validity of Mr. Kris Kringle, let me put them to rest. 

I have met the REAL 

Santa Claus. 

And I have the pictures to prove it. 

It all began with a 6 hour drive north, to: 

Santa Claus house:

Here we are with the ol' man himself:

The kids were simply awe struck. 

I was so pleased to see that right next to Santa was this GORGEOUS display:

The kids took a minute to soak it up before we did a little shopping,

then headed outside. 

This is a big deal because it was -20 degrees. 

Santa's reindeer are protected by a double layer fence, which makes it hard to take good pictures. 

Scott got some awesome pictures of the fence:

(I have to rub this in because I like to feel good knowing that I'm not THE worst photographer in the world, there will always be Scott to take that place)

This was the only reindeer that felt friendly, and we didn't bother to try to hard because our faces were burning and turning black. (okay, not really turning black, but it felt like it)

But don't worry, we actually saw wild caribou on our drive home, which was...

totally awesome! 

*I'll show you those pictures in another post.*

What can I say?

I can't believe it's been SO long since I blogged. 

Usually my life is surrounded by thoughts like,

"What can I do today that would be fun to blog about?"

Lately though, my brain has been overwhelmed with memorizing exercise routines and getting a small and totally awesome boutique off the ground. 

(aside from my usual taking care of the family, paying bills, etc. gig)

The business has definitely taken it's toll on my home, my family, and my body. 

I'm growing purple bags under my eyes.

I have a split on the side of my lip which I always get when I'm stressed. 

My body feels tired and achy. 

I have this totally POSH and terrifical friend (you know I'm talking about you miss HR) who always has these awesome self portraits on her blog. 

I thought, "Gee, why don't I ever do that?"

Then I remembered.

 "Oh! It's because I always look like this":

And feel like this:

But while I'm at it I might as well throw in the usual "kissy face":

Okay, don't worry. I won't be posting self portraits any time soon again. 

But on a lighter note, my dear Henry always seems to brighten my day in some way or another. 

Today it was this small incident: 

He got himself stuck in Gracie's bed. 

**SMILE**

My halls are decked

At my sister's request, I am posting some pictures of my Christmas decor. 

It's nothing to rave about, but it feels homey and pretty. 

(please ignore my fallen pictures stashed behind the piano. I can't get them to stay on my wall)

Just imagine: white blinds...someday.

I should have lit the fireplace. It would have looked much more comforting. 

Don't the tissue poms look gorgeous? My super model business partner, Marianne made those to go with our Twigs & Twirl display. I thought I'd just leave them up instead of storing them in a box. :)

The twigs are also part of our display, they are naked now, but look stunning draped in our sparkly necklaces!

A weekend to remember

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. 

My sweet friend, Robyn, opened her BRAND, spankin', NEW home to us and a few of our crazy friends. 

(I say a few because the other half of our friends ditched us and went to Hawaii for the holiday. P'shaw!)

Here I am.

I practiced this face for hours and I think Brooke got the image just right. 

Great food, great friends, and a blizzard outside. You can't get more happy than this. 

Oh, but dinner was not where our holiday ended. 

My girls and I went Black Friday shopping. 

The entire day before we spent at a table mapping out our route and making our lists.

I'm not lying when I tell you my heart was racing as we prepared for these moments!

Here we are waiting in line to storm Target. We were 15 minutes late and still had to wait in line!

Merm and I were in love with Target's Black Friday commercials so we decided to do a little of our own "shopping fitness training". 

I had my heart completely set on getting an awesome T.V. deal at Best Buy. 

My awesome friend, Robyn sat next to the t.v. I wanted to make sure no one took the last one while I waited in line. 

Isn't she the BEST!?

I felt like we spent half our lifetime waiting in those lines. 

Sheesh!

Our shopping extravaganza was a huge success!

By way of public announcement:

You have NO idea how excited I am to announce this. 

*squeeee!*

My friend Marianne and I have put together a little "boutique" for your shopping pleasure!

Let me introduce you to: 

Our first open house will be at my house. 

Saturday, November 27th

10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Hey, all you Alaskans!

Spread the word! Bring your friends! Shop for yourself and for Christmas presents!

*Slowly* we are getting some pictures of our merchandise up on our blog. 

Go check it out HERE

One of my ALL time favorite movies

In case some of you haven't heard. 

I hope some of you will:

Because that is where we'll be moving come July. 

Yesterday

This is a day I wish would never have happened. 

Let me tell you why. 

1. Someone hacked into my Google account. There were several random emails sent out with a link on them. I didn't open the link, I have no idea what it was to, but if you got a weird email from me, DO NOT OPEN IT!

2. Scott got a phone call from the Air Force. 

"Congratulations!" They say, 

"You are moving to Scott Air Force Base in July!" 

(St. Louis, Missouri)

WHAT!!??!! 

We were told we would not be moving from AK until December 2011. 

Scott threw a little fit. 

So they said, "Fine. You can take it, or you can wait. Make a decision by Monday."

No No No No No No No

Didn't he tell them that was worse? Now I have to make a decision!?

So now what? My first reaction is NO WAY!! But just what if?

What if St. Louis is where we're supposed to be?

What if this is where Scott will find the best civilian job when we get out of our contract?

What if? WHAT IF?

My brain may explode. 

3. Scott and I go on a nice date. It's only the second date since he's been home from Cuba. 

We splurge at a pricey restaurant. Buy our friends dinner as well. 

It was an enjoyable time. 

Until we walked to our car: 

Yes.

That is our rear window that has been shattered. 

No. Nothing was stolen, even my beautiful ipod touch sitting in the front seat. 

A blessing, no?

Some mean people just thought it would be funny to shoot out windows of cars in the parking garage with a Bebe gun. 

How do we know it was a Bebe gun? 

It was the security officer's guess when he saw the little silver flecks that are also freckling our back door:

(where was said security officer when all this was going on? I'd like to know)

So, you see. 

Yesterday is a day that I wish I had never lived. 

Calgone, take me away!

Kiddie update

I am currently working on a BIG project. 

Something VERY exciting! 

I can't wait to share it with you all, but I can't just yet. 

Hopefully by next week I'll be ready to let you all in the loop. 

So, until then I will be fulfilling grandparent requests. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I give you...

My baby:

Homer

While Scott's dad was visiting back in October we drove down to Homer, AK for the day and Scott ran a half marathon. 

This was the finish line. 

Our great friends, the Coombs, came as well. Cathie is hard core and she ran the race as well! They both were amazing! It was a lot of fun to be able to support my hubby and my great friend. 

I may not be a good runner, but I sure am an AWESOME cheerleader! 

I'm, like, super good at being bubbly, and jumping, and yelling, "Go Team!"; and stuff. 

(giggle, giggle)

After the race we ate lunch and then walked down to the beach. 

The kids enjoyed tempting the tide...and losing. 

Throwing rocks. 

An inborn manly trait. 

Scott & his dad. 

I think Ron, Scott's dad, was so proud to watch Scott kick everyones butts at this race; and I think it made Scott feel very proud to have his dad there to cheer him on. Running is a big thing these two have in common. Ron has always been Scott's #1 track fan.  It was a great day!

I absolutely fell in love with Homer that day. 

I don't think I could ever grow tired of this majestic and breathtaking landscape. 

Pictures really don't do it justice. 

Especially MY pictures. 

When we are millionaires (haha...right), we will have a beautiful beach house up on the hill in Homer, AK. 

Well...

I suppose I otta blog. 

My blogging supply bins in my brain seem to be draining. 

Mostly because I have been piling more and more activity onto my plate and my brain is a bit frazzled. 

I'm a horrible decision maker. That's the worst part. 

If I can just make the decision, my life would be so much better.

So, in the mean time, I'll show you what our Halloween looked like:

(Tinker Bell, Nana, Wendy, Peter Pan, Captain Hook)

This is the one and only picture that turned out okay from that night. 

A picture on a timer sitting on my kitchen counter. 

Don't ask me why...I may have been high on sugar. 

Anyway, think of this as a preview to Lydia's birthday party next month. 

My brain is going wild and crazy and I can't wait to pull it all together!

Too cute not to share...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Witches Night Out

My friend Marianne and I threw a Witches Party. 

I'm not much in the mood for commentating tonight. 

But I will say it was a wickedly good time!