Wednesday's Wrandom Wrambling - Thursday Edition

Holy time time flying by Batman!

Today is my Splenda Daddy's birthday! The yin to my yang, the vanilla to my diet coke, the A-1 sauce to my steak. I am incomplete without him. Gosh! We've been married forever and weathered sunny skies as well as brutal storms. And here is he, another year older, and I am just as in love with him as I was 27 years ago!
How will we celebrate? Prolly low key. I hang out at Wasatch Running tonight so we'll do something another night. The beauty of getting older is that you care less and less about celebrations.
Speaking of Wasatch Running. Loving it! What a fun gig! I am def learning much more about my passion than I ever thought possible, but it's the kind of learning that's enjoyable. That's fun and interesting. The staff there are also very fun to be with. Every last one of them are nice, decent people. But what does one expect from runners? : )
Got hit with a cold bug a couple of days ago. Yesterday, I was pretty sure I was gonna die. This morning, however, I think I turned the corner. Sick sucks.

Been obsessed with Breaking Bad. OB-SESSED! Did a marathon of viewing and finished 3 seasons in about as many days. Now eagerly awaiting some way to watch season 4 so I can be ready for season 5. The series is most def not for everyone, so don't take this as a recommendation, but if you happen to like real and raw - it's a goodie. Forewarned, the DVD's that you can buy are NOT edited. I repeat NOT edited. Must watch on AMC or Netflixx. Damn those boys of mine for getting me hooked.




Christmas is over, so there's that.



2012 looks to be a better year. I have a good feeling about it. I think. Cautiously optimistic. However, thanks to Splenda Daddy, we have a few things on the agenda to look forward to:
1. A cruise to Cabo in February for just me and him
2. A family trip to Disneyland in March

He ain't called the Splenda Daddy for nothing....man has EARNED that name!

Due to my complete and total obsession with the above named series, I have gotten seriously behind in my google reader and staying up to date on all my friends lives and adventures. Catching up and commenting about Christmas seems lame. I'm sorry. I love you.
GOP debates and race is getting old. Tired of hearing the same old, same old.
Debating on whether or not to go back to acrylic nails. I've always had them, then got to a point that I was tired of paying for them and taking the time to get the fills. Now I am missing them and debating whether or not I jump back into that boat.  Thoughts?
We got to Skype my Mom in Sweden on Christmas. What would we ever do without Skype? So weird to think that we are talking to her, seeing her and she is clear across the world.

This is the first New Year's day that I haven't had to be up at the butt crack of dawn to do year end. Thinking I might actually get to go to a party of some kind. Or do a midnight 5k. Options are fun.

Moving to a 9:00am church however is not that fun. I like my sleep in Sunday's. Must come to terms with that in 3 days. Wish me luck.

Remembering......

Rest in Peace Jilli......

Things that are making me happy

As most anyone who is close to me, or has had to be within blog or FB reading distance, knows that I am more than a little blue lately.  Okay, for most of the past year I've slipped into a leeeetle bit of a depression funk.  It's all good, nothing stays the same and I fully expect to kick this to the curb soon.  But for now, I am kinda, sorta letting myself wallow in sadness.  I post this not for sympathy, but to journal the fact that the ever happy mCat had a period in her life where she wasn't quite so happy. 

Each day I am trying to find at least one thing that makes me smile, even if for a minute.  I try to take a pic and then go back and look at it again to feel that "happy" for a sec

Getting a paycheck to do something I love

Lunch with besties (missing you Ree and Ana)

A niece who isn't afraid to demonstrate her newly learned skills on the guitar

Ella's big blue eyes

Ella and Colson exploring the wonder of the Christmas tree

Ella and Splenda's smiles

My cute lil Bird singing with her school choir at our ward party

Biscuits at Ruth's diner

Breakfast with Nicole and Tib

Getting Adam and Nicole to put those lemons in their mouths like that.  I bet their teeth hurt for hours after

A vegan dish that was better than any bacon and eggs

You can tell I hardly liked it

Cleaning under the bed and coming across one of Chloee's socks. 

Having a bestie bring a fun new ornament hoping it'll help me find some Christmas spirit

Happy Mail!!

Love notes!

Yup - all things that brought or still bring a smile to my face.  One small kick of these blues at a time.

SoCal, Chloee and early Christmas fun

Let me start of by saying, I have one fantastic husband.  Books me a flight and sends me to my kids for a week since they can't come home for Christmas.  I packed all of their Christmas, checked an extra bag and headed for sun, warmth and all the lovin I could get!

Warning - a lot of pictures....... you can totally skip this if you want to

Aren't they just the cutest family?  I'm sad that they can't come home, yet it gives them a chance to establish their own traditions.  We had them open our gifts the first night.  We skyped in Splenda and videotaped it all.  So much fun to see them happy!

At the USMC family Holiday Festival (of which I wrote a little bit about here), we noticed that they hung the sign that had been made in October.  Handprints of the children of Marine's.  We found Chloee's right off

We had lazy mornings just snuggling, having "conversations", and playing games

Lunch at McSlop shop is always good

Taking in a movie.....  I loved the Muppet Movie, but Chloee was a little bored.  I think it was really targeted to those of us that grew up watching the show.

Some playing at the park

A burying Mimi in the pillow pets

 

Their ward party was "A night in Bethlehem"  Including a small petting zoo outside at the entrance

Chloee wasn't particularly interested in petting anything.  Not even the bunny.  We tried, but she wanted nothing to do with them

They started the decorations outside with the tiki torches and palm fronds everywhere

The missionaries were stationed at the entrance and gave you your gold coins to enter the town and purchase your food

I have never seen something decorated so nicely and as authentic as you could possibly get within a ward cultural hall.  Almost everyone was in costume (we weren't)

They had a large canopy over the city

And a cobble stone path through town

Families brought their own blankets to spread out and eat on

Lot's of scenery to make you feel like you really were in a different place.  This one was set up so you could pose for pictures if you wanted

In the center of the town was a water well.  You could get fresh water for your drinking glass from there if you wanted.  NGL - pretty cool

At the start of the food line.  Chloee asking for her kids meal : )

It was a nice dinner that many ward members pitched in to provide.  Pulled pork over rice, salad, veggies, fruits, pita bread and hummus and then a variety of desserts to choose from

After we ate, and before the program, Chloee was humming with happiness and silliness!  "Take a picture of me Mimi" was repeated over and over again!

Seriously, aren't those the most gorgeous eyes you have ever seen?

The young men were dressed as the Roman soldiers - nice touch

For the program they played a video depicting the birth of Jesus and then we all sang a few hymns

After that, the kids all lined up in a different area of the building to see Santa!

Chloee found a friend from her Primary class

At home, Chloee had made a Christmas countdown and loved taking a ring off every morning

We tried to build a gingerbread house from a kit

It was fun, but the end result was an EPIC fail!  Chloee didn't care, she still loved it!

My days went by way too fast!  Before I could even blink it was time to take me back to the airport! : (

I'm so glad that Splenda makes it a priority for us to visit.  I'm glad that they are as close as they are (Can you imagine if he got stationed in Japan?)  And I'm more than glad to be able to be a small part of their cute family!

Merry Christmas to my SoCal kids!