A good recipe

A recipe for the perfect Christmas tree:

1 massive Christmas tree with a baby frog hiding inside waiting for the dog to find in the morning.


3 strands of white Christmas lights. Preferably with Danielle stringing the back half while holding onto the wall to keep from falling into the tree.



Handful of ornaments, most of which include the words "Our first Christmas". Don't forget that your tree will probably look slightly under dressed so have two boxes of candy canes on hand to fill the holes.


If you want to throw in something special, add 5 strands of lights outside.



Toss together, preferably with the one you love. Perfect for family, friends and neighbors.
Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Disneyland!

Last Saturday my parents took James and I to Disneyland. I had not been since my high school grad night and it was so much fun! They had the whole place decked out in Christmas lights and the haunted mansion was completely different with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme. We even saw Santa in the parade. It was a very fun day, even when it rained for a little bit! To top it off we went to Target on the way home. How lucky can a girl get? Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend, we really had fun. Thanks too to our puppy sitters :)

Gobble Gobble!

For some unknown reason, James and I decided that it would be fun to host Thanksgiving this year so I bought the bird and made the fixings. Okay truth was that James and I made the turkey and our family made everything else. But hey the turkey was a massive 22 pounds and it was my first experience cooking with the slimy poultry. Everything went well up until we had to put it in the oven and the oven would not heat up! I was panicking, thinking of what I could come up with instead. Burgers? Mac and Cheese? Cereal? But as luck would have it, okay we both prayed over the oven, it started heating up and we had a cooked bird! Pretty good too.

I have the before and after shots of the turkey, but didn't get the right out of the oven shot. I was too scatter brained to think about the darn camera. Good times by all but I am tired! Next year I plan on showing up at eating time and then going home. Props to all who host Holiday dinners. I don't know how you do it year after year.

Birthday Celebration

So for the actual day of James' birthday we had to work but that night we ordered take out from one of the two restaurants in town and took it back to the house to eat. It was great eating at home and not having to cook! I thought the candles added a classy touch to the take out :) Earlier in the day after Andrea and Brian took us to lunch, I snuck over to James' work with my mom and tied a bunch of balloons to his car. It was a lot of fun and Cocoa enjoyed playing with them, especially after they started to deflate.


That Sunday we had our family over and had cake and ice cream as well as presents! James got a Beebe gun from my parents so he can join in the Christmas festivities of shooting fruit and bad presents in my parents' front yard. We enjoy the white-trash type Christmases. I also made a chocolate cake for the party with chocolate shavings on top. It was chocolate goodness but when James blew out the candles, the chocolate went flying all over! Oops, I will have to save the shavings for non-candle cakes. Anywho it was a great weekend and a lot of fun. Happy Birthday James!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Happy Birthday James! Unfortunately I am at work and do not have access to a picture of my handsome hubby but I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the best husband. You are truly an amazing person and I feel so blessed to be married to you. Hope the day is as great as you are. Love you!

For the Record...

Ladies remember when we were young and wanted to wear makeup and cool clothes to look older? Well apparently I will be stuck in this phase forever. I don’t know what it is with me but people never think I am as old as I am. I am not saying I want people to think I am 60 but come on do I really look under age? Let me relate two stories to prove my point.

One year ago, James and I were at the Salt Lake Airport checking in for our flight to come home for Thanksgiving. Due to some problem with the website, we could only book one ticket at a time so when it was my turn, I went up to the counter by myself and the conversation when like this:

Airport lady: Danielle Mathews?
Me: yes that is me
Airport lady: will you be traveling with a chaperon tonight?
Me: um………no…….(confused look)
Airport lady: (noticing the confused look) I am sorry are you over 18?

Then just to solidify the fact that people think I am younger, last month after a full month as the Laurels advisor plus speaking in church with my husband, the bishop’s wife comes up to me and says “I finally figured out who you are! You are the new Laurels Advisor right?! I thought we had a new Laurel.”

I have a husband, a college degree, a corporate job, and a mortgage, why do people think I am not even old enough to vote! My whole life people have thought that my younger sister was in fact older than I am. Do I need to change my hair? Or is it my clothes? My makeup? What is it!

I know it is not a big deal, but I feel like I need the credibility, especially at work. People tell me that in 20 years I will be grateful of my youthful looks but just for the record, I will be 23 in April and no I do not need a chaperon.

First(ish) Halloween

This was the third Halloween since we have been married but this year felt like the first. Probably because in Utah we never had any kids come searching for candy, and it always seemed like I had a mid-term around that time.

So for the first Halloween in our new house we were very excited about starting new traditions. The Sunday before Halloween we made caramel apples. They turned out great and very tasty! Okay to be honest we have only eaten one each because they were super sweet but they were fun to make :)

Then for family home evening we carved a pumpkin. Since California is so humid, carved pumpkins don't last very long so we bought three pumpkins with the hope that the other two un-carved pumpkins can last until Thanksgiving. So far so good!

We had no idea how much candy to buy because we have never had trick or treaters before so we thought two bags would be enough. Our first trick-or-treaters were a princess and a ghost, so dang cute. For the next hour and a half we had sixty-five kids come by and yes we kept a running total! We had plenty of candy left over so James took most of it to work. It was a lot of fun and Cocoa did very well with the kids. She was mainly interested in the door bell.

So Halloween is gone, but exciting because Thanksgiving is right around the corner as well as James' birthday and Christmas! Such fun times to be with family and start new traditions in our own home.

Lunch Date

On Weds, James suprised me and took me on a lunch date to In-N-Out. Usually we don't see each other during the day and it was so nice to spend time with him outside of driving to and from work or before we go to sleep. Thanks hun for the suprise it was great! Love ya.

The Beast

At the risk of looking a bit obsessed, here is another post about Cocoa.

First off check out the resemblance of the two creatures. One is our nine month old puppy. The same puppy that passed obedience school and will sit on command. The other a lioness that resides at the local zoo. Both look calm and peaceful while sleeping. Both look like they would not hurt a fly. Both are very different when awake. Let me set the scene...

James and I drive up to our house after a long day at work. We both are tired and happy to be getting home to relax. I walk in the house first and look out the back door, expecting the daily routine of Cocoa standing there excitedly waiting for me to let her in. But Cocoa is nowhere to be seen, and then I spot something out of place. Snow? No wait we moved to California, it can't be snow!

I open the back door and notice Cocoa frolicking amidst what I now recognize as the remains of the pillow that used to reside in her pen. Our darling puppy apparently got bored while we were at work and turned her pillow into a chew toy. When the pillow started emptying itself onto the lawn, the considerate Cocoa decided to share the love and drag it from corner to corner of the yard. Who knew that inside one pillow could exist so much fluff? Cocoa was incredibly proud of herself and obviously had fun. We had fluff almost everywhere and are still finding it.

People say that dogs grow out of this in a couple years. Although she sometimes destroys things, we are enjoying it, and besides it could be worse!

What should we do?

This is what I asked Cocoa when I came home from dropping James off at the airport. He was away on a business trip this weekend so Cocoa and I were left to our devices for three days. To combat loneliness and boredom, I installed handles on the kitchen cabinets, swept the floor, scrubbed the tub, dusted the bedroom, cleaned out the fish tank, changed the light bulbs in the bathrooms and then installed the ipod under the cabinet thing (thanks Dad!) we bought in January but has just been sitting on the counter waiting to be drilled in. I was going to try and mow the lawn, but I figured I probably should not try this for the first time unsupervised and where sharp objects are involved. I guess I sort of got carried away but there is something addictive about being productive and I could not stop myself! The best part about it is that James has no idea! I love surprises and I am sure he will be! Cocoa was very proud.

This is also a great time to introduce our new couch and dresser. The couch came from a ward member who was redecorating and we are so grateful! It is very comfy and the perfect size for James and me to lay out and watch a movie. The dresser matches our bed and James' mom has been very nice to store it for us while we were in Utah and then when we were moving in. Thanks Andrea for the extra storage!

Next week I will attempt to tackle the office and backyard and although it has been great doing things around the house, I can't wait for James to come back. This was only our third separation in two and half years of marriage. I really missed him and am happy he is coming home tomorrow!!

Updates

Cocoa and the House
This year has been very eventful. For those of you that were never told or forgot where we went, we moved to California, got jobs, got a puppy and purchased a house. Until now, no one outside our immediate family has seen the house or the puppy, until now....Prepare yourselves.

This picture is of Cocoa the night we got her. We were so young, so naive about owning a pet. She has taught us many a lesson which will come in handy for kids in the future. She is now 52 pounds and as of Monday a certified trained dog (when you have treats). She is spoiled a little bit but not as bad as our parents are with her. Her favorite activities include chasing her tail, going on walks and cuddling with us. She is also a great hunter. To date she has taken down half a dozen birds, countless bugs and spiders and my slippers. She is a great dog.

The House
We haven't taken a lot of pictures of the house yet, mainly because we are still decorating and unpacking but here are a couple of pictures. It is 3 bedroom 2 bath with an open floor plan which means that the kitchen, living room and dining room are all in the same room. The picture of the inside of the house was taken during our second time seeing the house with parents and realtor.

The stuff is the previous owners' and now there are no white walls in the entire house except the closets....what can I say Home Depot had a sale on paint! We will have updates soon.

Newbies

Well we finally did it, we started a blog. There were many steps leading up to this momentus time including buying a house to store a computer which we had to purchase after setting up the internet. Excuse us while we celebrate this huge accomplishment. Moving on.....

Now we need to figure out how to work this thing, upload pictures and remember to check it. Suggestions and tips are encouraged greatly. Hopefully we can get pics of the new house and puppy on here soon. Maybe one or two of us as well :)