Early Bird

I honestly used to hate it when people started celebrating Christmas early. Then one day I realized that Christmas makes me happy- the decorations, music, food, love, and just the whole spirit! Why can't I start celebrating it now?? Is that a crime??

Here is a little craft I made to kick of the celebration of the season. Don't hate me for bringing the spirit of Christmas early :)

But really... let's remember what it is truly about. 

An excerpt from our loving Prophet, Thomas S. Monson's address "Because He Came."

"There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ.

Because He came to earth, we have a perfect example to follow. As we strive to become more like Him, we will have joy and happiness in our lives and peace each day of the year. It is His example which, if followed, stirs within us more kindness and love, more respect and concern for others.

Because He came, there is meaning to our mortal existence.

Because He came, we know how to reach out to those in trouble or distress, wherever they may be.

Because He came, death has lost its sting, the grave its victory. We will live again because He came.

Because He came and paid for our sins, we have the opportunity to gain eternal life.

Because He came, we are gathered tonight to worship Him, in bonds of brotherhood and love."

There is a reason why this season is special. Let us not forget that.

The Big 24

THANKS FOR ALL OF THE BIRTHDAY WISHES EVERYONE!! If you are ever feeling down just change your birthday on Facebook to tomorrow. You will be feeling great by the end of that next day.

I am so blessed to have amazing family and friends in my life! My brother and his friends brought me ballons, candy, and cake. I got to go out to Sushi with my wonderful husband and then he took me to "The Saratov Approach." AWESOME movie. Then we got sonic for dessert! It was truly an excellent day :)

Thanks for all the love and support everyone. Here's to 24!

Yes, the blue and pink balloons say "It's a boy!" & "It's a girl!" NO. We are not pregnant. Marcus just has an nice sense of humor. 

Fall Photos

First off,  BIG thanks to Danielle Cluff and Terie Young for taking these pictures. These two are "up and coming" photographers and they are AMAZING. If anyone is in need of a recommendation these two are top of my list.

These may or may not look like engagements. We don't mind though. Take a look at the colors people! Utah is Beautiful! Enjoy :) 

Everything in Its Place

There are times in my life when I misplace things, forget things, and sometimes completely lose things. This happens more than it should. One item that I never want to misplace, forget, or completely lose is my wedding ring. I usually take it off at night when I sleep, but I don't always put it in the same place. This leads to heart attacks in the morning when I seem to have misplaced my ring. I saw this great idea on Pinterest that is the perfect solution to my problem. I decided to be crafty and make one of my own.

What you need:

• Frame
• Scrapebook paper or fabric
• Hook (I used a button)
• Glue gun

I planned on getting a cheap frame from DI or Goodwill but I found this gem at Hobby Lobby and couldn't pass it up. The scrapbook paper was cheap and HL has every option in the world. The hook was the hardest thing to find. I could not find ANYTHING that didn't have to be screwed in. I found the button and decided it was much cuter anyway! 

This little project was so easy I don't even need to provide steps... but I will just in case :)

1) Cut the paper to the right size and put it in the frame. I got a nice little surprise here when the glass in my frame was permanently attached. I just put the paper behind the glass and decided I would glue the button directly on the glass.

2) Warm the hot glue gun. Glue the button/hook on the frame with enough space for the ring to hang down. 

3) Wait for it to dry and hang your ring. Easy!

Here's how it turned out. I love it!

The Horse Whisperer

If you know me than it is an absolute given that you know Marci Stucki. This girl and I have pretty much been attached at the hip since we were 15........  She literally got me through college. Not to mention High School. She was my replacement Mom while we were away from home. Always keeping me on the right track. She is one of the sweetest most kind hearted people that I know. I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about her. Also, she has pretty much won every horse show she has ever entered. Talk about talent.....I love her with all of my heart and I want to wish her a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

MEXICO 2013

The past 8 days we have been in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico! We got this trip as a wedding gift over a year ago. You can imagine how excited we were after waiting a year for it. First off, we would like to give a HUGE thanks to the Tatz family for the trip. We had an amazing time and we REALLY appreciate it!!

Our resort was not in the main city of Cabo San Lucas. This was actually pretty nice because we had the option to go to the city and experience it all, but we also got to come back to our nice quiet resort. Our resort wasn't all inclusive which gave us the opportunity to venture out into the city and try all of the local food. It was all so yummy and pretty cheap too! We also went kayaking, snorkeling, zip lining, rock climbing, repelling, and relaxed at the resort. Here's a little photo montage of the trip: 

**Keep in mind we forgot a camera... oops. These all came from our phones. 

                     

We'll never forget this trip! 

THANKS AGAIN TATZ FAMILY!!!

Prison Break My Heart

Over the past few weeks we watched the entire series of Prison Break. The show revolves around two brothers. One gets framed for murder, sent to prison, put on death row. The other brother gets himself sent to the same prison so he can break his innocent brother out from the inside.  The series is filled with lots of intense moments and frankly, lots of violence. This doesn't sound like the type of show that would leave you in tears after the series finale. WRONG. I cried like a baby.

For some reason I got so attached to these characters! SPOILER ALERT: In the end, the main character, Michael sacrifices himself to break his wife and soon to be child out of prison. Maybe it was the insane sacrifice that made me cry. Maybe it was to hard too see him die after everything they had been through. I don't know what it was exactly, but I was a freaking water hose.

I feel like this happens to me every time I finish a book or TV series. This is a serious sign that I need to get a life. And also maybe I am turing into an emotional girl. It had to happen at some point.

                                        All my fellow Prison Break friends- Tell me you did not cry right here...

What Champions Are Made Of

This morning I had one of those experiences that would only happen on a Monday morning, when you husband was already gone. I was getting ready for work, minding my own business and a HUGE spider crawled from behind my makeup bag! Actually I am not sure if it was behind or in it.... either way it was terrifying. I mean look at the thing!

Okay, fine maybe I googled this picture (which I do NOT recommend..... I may have nightmares.) Moving on. Since Austin had already left for school I couldn't ask him to dispose of it for me. I had a decision to make:

1) Run away and let the fear of this monstrous creature haunt me for the rest of my days or.....

2) Face my fear and kill it.

I knew if I did not kill it that it would be long gone when I came home. At that point it could be anywhere. In my bed, in my shoes, in my clothes, on the ceiling right above my head.... the possibilities were endless. And also terrifying. Keep in mind that once I found a spider in my room and I chose NOT to kill it. When I came back it was gone. I opened my covers that night and found it IN MY BED. No joke. I slept in my sister's room for a week.

With that said, I knew what I had to do.

I proceeded to walk to the bathroom and unroll at least half of the roll of toilet paper. I opened the seat for quick and immediate disposal. I walked back to my room and located it. Luckily, it had not moved from it's original position. Stupid spider. So I took a deep breath and........ SQUISHED THE BEAST

or so I thought.

I lifted up the wad of toilet paper only to see nothing. The spider was gone. Vanished. WHERE IN THE HECK DID IT GO?? Oh, don't worry. The next thing you know it is crawling out from the middle of the toilet paper wad, UNHARMED. I freaked. And by freaked, I mean threw the toilet paper wad and ran away squealing. Literally squealing like a 5 year old girl. Not my finest moment, I must admit.

So now I was back to square one and the spider was who knows where. My heart was racing. Tragedy had struck. It was loose in my room and it was going to eat me. I was running out of time because I had to leave for work. I was frantically searching the contaminated corner of the room for the monster. I finally found it sneakily hiding in the dark corner. This time I grabbed a shoe (Austin's of course. Love you honey!) I'm no dummy... Obviously the TP wasn't doing the job.

I SLAMMED the shoe down on the carpet and twisted it a few times to make sure it was dead. I lifted the shoe and to my amazement I had killed it! There may have been a leg left on the carpet. I was too grossed out to do anything about that though. I ran to the bathroom with the spider as far away from my body as humanely possible and flushed that baby!

At this point, adrenaline was pumping and I was pretty proud of myself. I did that. I killed that thing! *Insert chest pound here* BAM. I grabbed my lunch and walked out the door with my head held high, feeling like a champion.

How's that for a Monday morning?

365 Days Ago....

We got married! I can't believe it has already been a year.... 

People say the first year is the hardest. If this was the hardest year of our marriage I feel great about that! Yes, he hates the hair in the shower and still doesn't understand why I change my outfit 8 times in the mornings. But he puts up with me and I love him for that. I'm so blessed to have an amazing man by my side for the rest of forever. Sure, we've had our ups and downs (mostly ups) and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am so excited for all the many years to come. Love you honey!

Change

Change can be hard. Change can also be really exciting. In the context of hair, change is scary. See previous post. With that said, I got bangs! And we are not talking about any of that wimpy side swoop stuff. We are talking full on Taylor Swift, Zoey Deschanel, FRONT bangs.

Judge me if you will- but it was a nerve-racking decision! I have a real job and need to look all professional, so I had to take that into account. Also, I still wanted my husband to like me so his approval was necessary. I most definitely didn't want to look like a toddler again (you know you had those bangs when you were 5). All very valid concerns if you ask me. This was the result!

Yes, these are seflies........ in the bathroom.

At times I get anxiety because I know it will take about 10 years for these babies to grow out. For now- I love them!

WOW Wednesday: Pride

Story time: The other day Aust and I got in a little scuffle. What about? No idea. I'm sure I did something inconsiderate and took it out on him. I continued to be inconsiderate and told Austin that he was being prideful. The most perfect thing I could have said at the time?  Um no. Good one, Callie.

You know you need to shape up when you come across Pinterest quotes that call you to repentance.  

Yeah, We Hike.

If you have never been to Zion National Park- go. It was unbelievable. I have lived in Utah for a good five years, and I have not once ventured to the amazing sites here! This past weekend we decided to finally experience it.

The first day we drove straight to Zion and parked in some random parking lot like newbs. We had no idea where to go so we finally asked someone who looked real serious. (hiking boots, bandanas, camelbacks, you know... the real deal). They directed us to the park entrance, and we followed maps from there. Also, it was like $25 bucks to get into this place. At 3 million visitors a year... this place is making BANK.

That day we hiked the narrows. Way fun. Also way crowded. The water was freezing. The canyon was breathtaking. Very worth it.

That evening we went back to the camp site and cooked our tin foil dinners down on the beach. You could drive your car right up to the lake! That was an awesome idea until we got the good ole' Subi stuck... An hour or so later (with the help of some random dudes with a truck- AND NOT THE 3 PARK RANGER TRUCKS THAT PASSED BY) we got out. Stressful. But also kind of funny.

S'mores and card games filled the rest of the rest of the evening. The wood we brought was wet. That made for a great "fire." Thanks for trying boys :) 

Day 2 was a little more strenuous. And by a little I mean I couldn't walk on day 3. We hiked up to Observation Point. It was an 8 mile hike with an elevation change of about 2,100 feet. That may not sound like a lot, but it was a pretty difficult trek. Aust was so supportive the whole way. Love that man.

We planned to grill burgers over the fire that night but we bailed on that idea and hit up Red Robin in a near by city. (Happy Birthday Rachael!) Also, the game was on. Couldn't miss that. 

The final day we went up to Kolab Canyon and did a nice really short hike to conclude our trip. Great views. 

I may or may not have a rash on my legs from the lake. Also, a sunburn. Oh, and blisters on my weirdy toes. BUT we are all alive. I would say the weekend was a success!