Sundance Night Skiing!

Brandon and I decided to go night skiing up at Sundance on a whim this Saturday. It was a super fun night with perfect weather and tons of fresh powder. Towards the end though it was just packed. Their runs take like maaaybe 15 minutes, and then you're back in this horrendous line, waiting to get back up to the top. Kinda sucked, but I guess that's why it's so cheap.

Ok ok, really, I just had to show off the new beanie I begged, whined and cried for at Sports Authority earlier that afternoon. It was hard work, but alas, I won. It is the warmest, yummiest beanie I have ever worn.

Gearing up! Ok these gloves were miserably freezing. Big upset of the night was having numb hands. I borrowed them from Bran's sister and now I know what I'm getting her for her Birthday. Thankfully Brandon switched me gloves half-way through....cuz he's the bestest friend ever.

Bridal Veil falls is so purty in the winter. I love the drive through the Provo canyon, it's a gorgeous scenery during any season (which is much more than I can say for the rest of Utah...blech).

An Ambrerose Valentine's Giveaway

I am hosting another Ambrerose Giveaway this month! How to Enter?

All you have to do is check out Ambrerose and then come back here and leave a comment about one of the items in the shop. Pick one that you like and tell me what you like about it! Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you’re a winner!

For a second chance to win, you can follow this blog and leave a comment saying that you do so (if you already follow me, just leave a comment saying that you already do).

And, lastly, if you have a blog, mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment letting me know with a link to your blog post.

This giveaway ends on January 31st, at noon and the winner will be announced at this post. The winner will also be notified via email and the prize will be shipped out shortly thereafter.

With luck, you could win this lovely gift or make it your own Valentine's treat!

What are you waiting for?

**For U.S. only**

Baby Boy Turns 24

I'm pretty sure the typical blogging wife would take this opportunity to publicize the top 50 reasons they think their husband is the best husband EVER. But, the thought of doing that, no matter how much I love and adore Brandon, makes me gag. You've gotta draw the line somewhere, and I draw it at unnecessary lovey mushiness that no one cares to read about.

Bran and his friends went paintballing for his birthday. He kindly invited me, and I kindly opted out (I'm sure this was much to his relief). For some reason the thought of being chased around in the dark by 10 testosterone filled, grown men with "guns" sounded slightly terrifying. Before paintballing we went to In'n'Out for dinner with Brandon's good friends Ryan and Leah. Later that night we opened presents, my favorite part!! I loooove buying people presents, especially for someone like Brandon who loves loves surprises more than the average person. His main present was new snowboard boots and bindings:

We have so much to be grateful for

The caption to this photo: "A woman reacts as bodies are removed from the streets with a bulldozer."

TIME has an incredibly moving gallery of pictures from Haiti's earthquake destruction. This picture is fascinating because it captures so many emotions most of us will (hopefully) never have to experience. I cannot fathom what these people are going through.

#@*@)$(*!A$*@:W#*%

Neeever buy an HP computer. After months of dealing with a POS laptop, it took it's final turn for the worst the week of finals. My keyboard decided to systematically start pissing me off...one key at a time. It started off with the "n" going out, followed by the space bar, the "s", the "!", and on and on and on. Every few hours another key would go out and I would call Brandon (who had LEFT me for Oregon because he was sooo cool and finished finals first...classy) cursing his name, because somehow when you get married everything is the other person's fault. WELL I somehow typed like 25+ pages on this crappy keyboard, pounding the crap out of it and swearing up a storm in the meantime. My keyboard still doesn't work, and it is very hard to type this, but I'm playing the role of martyr very well to guilt Brandon into buying me this:

Ohhh I crack myself up, that'll never happen. So in the meantime, I deeply empathize with this angry angry baby:

I've done a bit of research and found that there are indeed other (and perhaps superior) uses for the keys on my keyboard. I'm thinking seriously about taking up this very...very odd craft:

However, I truly think it is unnecessary for her to spell what I'm sure the world already knows about her. And with two 3's? Ok, I won't lie, it took me awhile to figure out what the word was. Tricky tricky.

Ambrerose Etsy Giveaway!

One of my very good friends, Rose, is a connoisseur of the Etsy world. She is an incredibly creative and talented woman who has mastered the art of jewelry making. Every month I will be hosting an Ambrerose giveaway on my blog to support her work. Check out this month's giveaway, and don't forget to enter the contest!

WIN AmbreRose Jewelry: Charm My Christmas Bracelet from the AmbreRose Jewelry December 3rd, 2009 by Rose.

AmbreRose is hosting a giveaway to thank all our wonderful supporters and customers, as well as give you the opportunity to check out the high-quality handmade art in her shop. This up-cycled bracelet is made from several bits and pieces of jewelry. It’s youthful and modern, but with vintage soul. The charms hang from an eight inch silver plated chain. Vintage beads and a rhinestone rondelle are a great accompaniment to the charms. A great way to keep the joyful spirit with you all holiday long.

There are just two simple things you need to do to enter:

1. Visit Ambrerose Jewelry and take a look around.
2. Make a note of your favorite item in her shop.
3. Come back and leave a comment on this post (look for the comment box or link at the end of this post) telling us your favorite item and you’ll be entered to win. Make sure that you leave an email address so that we may contact you. It’s that simple!

You have until Thursday, December 17th at noon PST to get your entry in, so commence browsing. There’s lots to discover! We’ll randomly draw one winner from the comments posted.

Thanksgiving Recap

Brandon and I went to Park City for Thanksgiving this year. Brandon's family came to Utah and we all stayed at a cabin for 6 days. It was SUCH a nice break from school, work and Provo. It only snowed a few times, not enough to do much sledding, but it was beautiful! We enjoyed just bumming around the town and not "doing" a whole lot. We watched a lot of movies, went on walks, ate great food, made MANY trips to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (caramel apples..mm.mmm!) and, of course, loved getting almost all our Christmas shopping done on Black Friday!

My hottie sister-in-laws and mother-in-law goofing off and posing for the camera while we were shopping on Main St. I love them!

Happy Turkey Day! Brandon's Grandma is too cute.

I guess something was funny?

There are only 2 things Brandon will literally jump out of bed for at 5 am: Fishing and Hunting. This break he went fly fishing on the Provo river with his dad. No, I was not there at the crack of dawn taking pictures, but he got some pretty good ones!

Countdown!

4 more days 'till the weekend (I SERIOUSLY don't know if I'll even make it this far...)

10 more days 'till the last day of school

17 more days 'till the last day of finals

17 more days 'till I'm in Oregon for Christmas

18 more days 'till I'm OFFICIALLY graduated whooooo!

25 more days 'till Christmas

31 more days 'till New Years Eve

32 more days till 2010

40 more days 'till Brandon's birthday

Winter

I am not a fan of winter. I completely understand how it is possible for a person to suffer from "seasonal depression." I am certain that this problem must run rampant throughout Utah. The miserable cold, the endless snow, the black ice that tricks me EVERY year, the horrible feeling of a getting in a bitter cold car that you know is NOT going to warm up before you make it to your destination....I could go on and on. This year I am petitioning mother nature for a short, short winter.

Congratulations Robbert

Through a non-profit organization called Koins for Kenya, I had the opportunity to sponsor a young man named Robbert as he completed his high school years. We are blessed in America to have public schools that are paid for by the government (and our taxes of course). In Kenya going to high school is about as ambitious, difficult and expensive as going to college in America. They have to pass a rigorous exam to even be admitted. Once they are admitted, they are expected to pay fees which are very often impossible for them to pay. Not for a lack of an incredible work ethic, many of these families simply do not have any money to spare for their children to complete school. If they do not complete high school they will most likely be forced to leave their village in order to be street vendors in a bigger city. You can imagine the severity of poverty caused by this cycle.

I am proud to say that Robbert has finally completed his high school years. He has received very good marks which is an enormous accomplishment for anyone at this school. He has applied for 3 jobs and I was just told by the director of Koins for Kenya that he will most likely be hired on to be a teacher in the elementary school. I am so grateful I was able to know this incredible young man, he will do great things for his family and his people.

I am so excited to be able to sponsor my next Secondary student. Her name is Umazi Khadija Sombo. While I have not had the opportunity to meet her, I have heard many wonderful things about her from Brent Hayes who is currently in Kenya touring her school. About her, he said:

"We have one girl there, completing Form 1, she was the top performing girl (scored a 327 on her KCPE) from Bahakwenu last year. Her name is Umazi Khadija Sombo. She was A first term (3 of 86) and B second term (12 of 132!) and she knows she can be an A student. As you’d expect the Headmistress is inspiring (been there for 7 years). The campus is beautifully situated in the hills outside of Voi with the classrooms and dormitories on different terraces amongst the green trees and tall growing shrubs and bright purple flowers. They don’t take any girls less that score less than 300 on their KCPE, and it shows, though old, it really is a model school, clean and well organized. I toured the dormitories. They put 10-12 girls in a large 13x15 cubicle with no complaint. Rooms, showers, toilets, floors and walls are spotless."

If you would be interested in sponsoring a student in Kenya, follow this link: http://koinsforkenya.org/Area/Sponsorship.aspx?Area=Samburu
Rinda and Brent Hayes travel to Kenya twice a year. They hand-select every single student through the help of their teachers. The students keep in contact with their sponsors through letters. It costs $350 a year (less than a dollar a day!).