By this time next week.....

I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it! I can't believe it's been 11 years since I've been home from Chile. Next week at this time, my parents and I will be in Valparaiso, Chile, then getting on a cruise to go down south to Patagonia and around Cape Horn, ending up Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first couple of nights we'll be in Santiago and it works out great because one of the girls I taught when I was on my mission, is now at the University in Santiago, crazy!! and we're planning on meeting up w/her to get a tour of the city. I can't wait to see old friends from my mission and to also explore new places that I wasn't able to go to while I was on my mish and can't wait to see my parents impression of one of the most beautiful, friendliest countries on earth, but of course I'm partial :) For Argentina, have to say, even though I'm excited to see the sights, can't wait to see the Tango dancers! If any look remotely like him, then sign me up :)

Christmas is coming....

 
 
 
 

So this week my friend Maria from my ward invited me to this party that a friend of her who lives in Westwood was throwing at her house. Apparently this lady has been throwing this party for the last 20 years or so to showcase all her decorations and by decorations, I mean her entire house was converted to a little Christmas village. It was amazing, seriously every little nook and cranny had something Christmassy and every Christmas item had a theme, so yes in the laundry room, she had figurines of Santa and his elves ironing, etc... In the bedroom, she had Santa sleeping, etc... It carried on all the way outside where she had an entire Santa surf theme. I really don't know how they live in their house or where they store the stuff when they're not using it, but it was pretty cool. They live in this beautiful mansion and had valet parking and a little catered dinner. All that we had to do was bring a children's book that they donated in our honor. Very generous and such a fun tradition.

A Thanksgiving to Remember......

I just got back from a quick visit home for Thanksgiving, it's never long enough! We had such a great Thanksgiving, everyone except for Mitch and Beck and their fam's were there and they were really missed! Because there were so many of us, we ended up reserving the chapel for our festivities and it actually ended up being perfect. We had a very yummy dinner, played some basketball, played "turkey" bowling, actually it was a cornish game hen, and a mighty thawed one by the end of the round, gross!, did a little dancing and topped off the night w/Sardine's, a family fav and have to say a little bit creepy in the chapel. I really can't even begin to say how thankful I am for my amazing family and friends, I know I really lucked out in that department. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Edible Turkeys

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone!!! So, thought I would share this cute T. giving idea that my sis. in law, Ali shared w/our fam forever ago and made these for place settings. Seriously, I still can't get over how creative Ali is. I've now adopted making these w/the kids I work w/every year. It's hilarious! It cracks me up, how no matter the age Preschool to Jr. High, they all seem to have fun making them. This year, me and my friend Youmna, a speech therapist at one of my school's did a group w/some of our jr. high kids and made these.

Here's what you need:

Ingredients:
2 gingersnaps
2 chocolate Chips
1 red hot candy
3 candy corn
1 choc. covered cherry (or similar shaped candy, i buy these b/c they're really cheap and hold less than zero temptation for me :)
and choc. frosting

gobble! gobble!

Am, duh? why didn't i think of this before? :)

Twilight!!

So, I thought I would update everyone has to the content of my weekend....aside from reading about vampires, werewolves, etc..., not much. Let me backtrack, I was initially referred to these books by Kim Pee. She was reluctant to recommend it b/c of the whole vampire theme and since neither of us are big into sci fi, but after hearing her rave about it, I thought I would check it out. So, I read Twilight and liked it, but think I read it during a busy time, so didn't fully appreciate it. Well, after hearing about the movie out this weekend and being surrounded by huge Twilight fans in my roomies, decided to give it another read. Fortunately, my roommate Stacy has all the books, so no need to wait and go out and buy the next edition. So, I started Fri. night with the reading, 2 days later and midway through the 3rd book, I'm hooked and very sleep deprived! I still haven't seen the movie, am planning on seeing it tomorrow, so hope it lives up to my expectations, but according to Stacy and Erin, 2 of my roomies, it's definitely worth seeing. Here was the scene around my apt. today:

Happy Veteran's Day!!

So, I'll be honest while I am grateful for our veteran's, most of the time I just enjoy having the day off and don't take the time to really reflect about all of the sacrifices people in the military have made past and present. I love history and when I read stories about these men and women who risk everything for the well being of our country, it makes me so proud to be an American. Today I saw a story on T.V. of a really cute couple who had been married for 10 years, the husband was deployed to Iraq last year and while on the roof of a house guarding the street, was hit by a bomb, barely surviving, suffering a severe traumatic brain injury. He has just relearned to talk and when asked he said "he knew he was making a difference and felt it was right for him to be there". What a great example! In one of my favorite books, " The Greatest Generation", it tells the story of a man who lied about his age, enlisting at 16 years old! (one of many) and then went on to fight for several years, earning various medals of honor for his bravery, but never telling anyone of his remarkable past. I can't imagine anyone being so willing to serve and humble of his successes. Just wanted to say Thank You!! to all the people in the military for your courage and sacrifices!

School's in session

Wow! I am way overdue on posting. Scary how quick time flies! I just have to say if anyone ever has doubts about their worth, all you need to do is work w/kids, they are the instant confidence booster. Too funny, today I went into this Kinder class to do a group w/some kiddies on upper body strengthening and some exercises to prep them for positioning their pencils. So, I'm passing out play-doh to all of the kids when this one little girl says "I like you". So, I smile and was like "I like you too". Well, I love that age b/c the minute one gets attention they want it too. So next I hear "I love you", "I like your shoes", "I like your hair", etc.... I left thinking I was a million bucks. Seriously, I can see why they're the ones we should emulate. Every day when I'm walking across campus I see the things they do and say, even the ones i work with who may not have the cognition, but are amazing with how they just have this inherent sweetness and share everything they have. So, I've been racking my brain thinking of what I'm going to be for Halloween, any ideas? I'm looking for cheap, easy and comfortable? I say that I'm doing it for the kids, but it's really b/c I love Halloween, it seriously brings back so many fun memories. What was one Halloween that was most memorable to you guys and do you remember what you dressed up as?

Summertime!

Wow! Nothing like being midway through September to look back and remember how great Summer was and how much I miss it. So after coming home from N. Carolina, spent 3 great weeks at home. I can't remember the last time I had that much uninterrupted time just to spend time with family, friends and relaxing. What a great vacation! I was able to do a little bit of everything. Thanks to Mind's generous offer, Amber and I were able helped reaped the benefitsof her waverunner rental at Jordanelle, walked and talked with Kim Pee: always a fav!, went hiking a few times up Milcreek Canyon and had s'mores up there one night w/the whole fam, went to a concert at Brigham Park (for free, but then again I can see why, no offense but a man in his mid-50's trying to do Michael Buble covers just doesn't cut it: but lisa, of course the company was great!), went shopping, went back to the "Y" and got a great tour of campus and the ASB, (AKA Arnie Smumkin Bldg.....ask Ky about this one) from Ky who just started his MBA this fall there, went to the U of U Monet exhibit (so great!), went to visit my friend Brenda from the mission, such great memories! and even though it had been years was like no time had passed. All in all was such a great trip and made me really really miss being home!

In my mind I'm going to Carolina......

I've been meaning to post this since last week when we got back! Last week I got back from the greatest trip to N. Carolina to visit Mitch, Ali and the kids and for Klein's blessing. It ended up that my Mom, Dad, sister Mindy, nephew Brandon, brother Ky and his wife Haley and their baby Olivia, so that made it even more fun just all being together.

Mitch, Ali and the kids were great hosts as usual and showed us such a great time. Now, I'm in love w/a new place. Seriously, North Carolina is so incredibly beautiful, nothing but beautiful houses and green everywhere. We had so much fun seeing them again and I'm already going through withdrawals not seeing them and their kids. So, favorite quotable of the trip.....we were asking Cairo about all of their names and she said "I know how we got our names, I'm named after a city, Levi and Klein are named after pants and Cameron, well I can't remember where his came from". Do I have the cutest nieces and nephews or what?

Beijing 2008!

Well, the countdown is done and the Olympics are finally here!! I am so excited! My first memories of the Olympics were the ones in 1984 held in Los Angeles. I still remember our family hanging out and watching the fanfare and all the events. To me, the Olympics are the ideal of what people are capable of, no matter what their nationality, their age, their life circumstances. I just think it's amazing how hard so many of these athletes work in order to get here and I have such respect for their dedication.

So, we had a little Olympic Opening Ceremonies party last night and besides the S.L. Olympics, this was the only other one I've watched the entire program. The visual effects and just the sheer number of people involved in the ceremony were amazing, but have to say I keep coming back to my favorite, the parade of nations. I love it! Not only do the athletes look like they're having such a great time, makes me wish I could compete in anything just to be there. Seriously, there's gotta be a sport that is not too competitive and where they're lacking participants, I would even be willing to be a ball girl :) But, my all time fave is checking out the different Olympic fashions.

Here are my pics for best dressed this year: America (of course, loved the Ralph Lauren jackets and newsboy caps),Great Britain (take note of the beautiful man wearing the beautiful outfit), Brazil (loved how they used the green from their flag), Netherlands (so classic, but sporty with the orange ties) and Portugal (couldn't find any pics of this one, but was so cute and colorful). Which ones were your faves?

Shake it up baby now.....

So today was a first for me, felt one of my first earthquakes. I think I was too little to remember any quakes before our family moved to UT and in the 6 years since I've been out here in L.A., I've only felt minor "rumbles" which more closely resembled my neighbors downstairs playing their music a little loud. Anyway, this one was a biggie, 5.4, not as big or destructive as the L.A. earthquake of '94, but things were definitely moving! I was alone in my room at work, doing some paperwork, when all of a sudden I felt the whole room shake. They've been doing a lot of construction at my school, so at first I just assumed it was that, but then the shaking continued and it freaked me out, so I promptly darted under my desk ( I guess something stuck from the years of earthquake drills). It was actually a good little wake-up call b/c it made me think "what do I need to do in order to be more prepared for an emergency?". I know I've been a little lax in that department lately and I know it's time to update.

A New Addiction

It's official, I have a new show that is defnitely appointment television: "Rock the Reception" on TLC. For those of you who know me, it combines 2 of my favorite things: dancing and weddings. This is right up my alley. It is seriously hilarious, I'm just bummed I didn't think of it first. I think the best part is seeing the look on their guests faces when they don't expect them to break out into another dance.

So, a little synopsis of the show according to the TLC website: " Rock the Reception follows engaged couples as they plan and carry out an elaborate first wedding dance. World-class choreographers will work with bride, groom and bridal party to create an outrageous first dance that will knock the socks off their wedding guests.

The first dances will be choreographed to songs that range from the likes of "Thriller" to "Baby Got Back." With the couples having only a limited amount of time to learn an elaborate dance while also preparing for their wedding, tensions are sure to run high. No matter the outcome, the wedding guests are sure to see a first dance they'll never forget.

Still learning how to post video, but in the mean time, you have to pull it up through this, so funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np-8GrutlXM

Welcome to the Fam Baby Klein!!

So, I'm a little slow to report, but had to share the latest addition to the Pulley family, grandchild # 23: Mitch and Ali's baby boy: Klein Alistair Pulley and can I just say, what a cutie! Seriously, he is just such a beautiful little baby, can't wait to meet him!

Here's a pic of him and his brothers and sister: Cameron, Levi and Cairo

Friends for Life!

So, as many of you know, Freshman year was one of my absolute highs in life, loved every single non-sleep getting, dancing in the elevators, nickname giving, spying on would-be crushes, laughing minute of it! The best part of all was the great friends that I made! So, what a treat that me and 2 of my favorite friends from BYU: Kim (we go back to freshman year at Skyline :) and Kammy and their cute kids all got together. It was like no time had passed, laughing as usual at all of the fun memories and how life has changed, but not them, not even one bit. They are still the fun-loving, beautiful, great friends. Seriously, everyone deserves to have good friends like them and I'm just happy that they're mine. Here's just a few pics of our day together. I have to say I'm impressed the kids were such good sports after how many pics we took :)

summertime!

Wow I love summer!! It's my favorite time of the year. I love how everyone's outside, people seem happier and of course my favorite part is coming home. So, had to cram all of the fun on this post. We had a family BBQ/Swim Party and had so much fun chatting/swimming. Kudos to the Jones' for keeping their pool the most ideal temp. for swimming. It made me a little sad to see all of my cute nieces and nephews growing up and so quick, sometimes I just want time to freeze! I'm sorry and not to be partial, but aren't they seriously the cutest bunch of kids? I've also included a classic pic of my Mom's first intro to guitar hero and Mindy's accompanying reaction. I know everyone says this about their families, but I really mean it, I don't know how I lucked out to be placed in the family I was, I couldn't ask for a more amazing set of parents or brothers and sisters!