My Apartment's First Christmas!

As soon as I got my apartment looking how I wanted to look, it was time to move everything around to make room for my Christmas decor.  My family's Christmas tradition is to put up the tree and decorate on my dad's birthday (December 12th) and we've gotten real Christmas trees almost as long as I can remember!  This year, I was so excited to be able to start my own tradition.  I didn't really pick a specific date to decorate, but my mom and I were going tho see the Nutcracker on the 6th and I kind of wanted to have my place decorated before then so that it would really feel like Christmas!  I ended up choosing a rainy Sunday evening.  After church, I decided that this was the day!  So I pulled out all of my stuff and went for it.  I had a fake tree, which I wasn't really used to, so putting it together was a new adventure, but I did it!

While decorating, the plan was to have some Turkish Delight and hot cocoa while watching The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I know it's not actually a Christmas movie, but it makes me feel Christmasy, so I went with it.  Everything was going as planned until I decided to make so cocoa and realized that I had no mugs!  How did this happen?!?  I was a little bummed, but decided that I could drink my cocoa out of a regular cup.  Anyways, as I took my decorations out of the box, I came across a little box, still sealed, which I recognized immediately as the box that held the most perfect Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer MUG ever!  I had completely forgotten about it until it was rediscovered!  Now I could go forward with my decorating plans and I even even had a mug for my cocoa!  Without further ado, here's my finished Christmas-ed apartment!

Welcome!

 I fell in love with this Jim Shore snow globe many years ago when I saw it at Disneyland!  I bought it and put in away to use in first apartment!  I was SO excited to finally get to use it!

I love Nativities!  Sadly, I have way too many to put out!  I have about 7 more really pretty ones that I didn't use this year, but maybe next year!  I was very excited to have these out, though!

This Nativity belonged to my Grandma Merrell.  I love it and was so happy to finally be able to put it out in my own place!  It reminds me of her and how I used to look at it on display in her china closet year-round when I was a little girl!

These two Nativities (the one above and the one below) came from the Christmas Store, Jule Hus, in Solvang!  I saw them and fell in love, so I've had them for a while, just waiting to be put out in my own place!

This Nativity is one of the Fisher Price Little People playsets and I bought it so my nephews would have one to play with when they came over.

 I made these "JOY" letters several years ago!

 The "Merry Christmas" banner is one of my few new Christmas decorations!  I love how it matches with the accent colors in my apartment!

 After searching for a 1st Apartment ornament, I finally found this one at the mall!

Here I am with my very first Christmas tree in my very own apartment!

And last, but not least, here is the mug that saved the day!

Well, that's about it!  Merry Christmas, y'all!

The Nutcracker!

About a month ago, I got a flyer in the mail, from the Lewis Family Playhouse, advertising the Inland Pacific Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.  As I looked at the flyer I mentioned to my parents that someday I wanted to see The Nutcracker, but for now I was going to work on saving my pennies.  I didn't really put any more thought into it.  However, the next day, when I came home from work, my parents told me that they had an idea for my Christmas present, but wanted to run it by me first.  My dad asked if I would like to go see The Nutcracker with my mom for Christmas.  Ummm...YES!  How cool is that?!?  I was super excited about it and when the night finally arrived, my mom and I had a great time seeing the show!  At first I was scared that we weren't going to make it to the show because the Lewis Family Playhouse is at Victoria Gardens, which is a mall, and malls are always crazy at Christmas time!  We had to park SO far away and hustle all the way to the other side of the mall to get to the Playhouse!  We did make it, though!  Phew!  

I had never been to a ballet and it was on my bucket list, so I was super excited!  The first act went by super quickly and the dancers and music were amazing!  After intermission, the second act flew by as well!  It was fun to see how the music I'd heard all my life fit into the actual show!  I loved seeing the show and, especially, getting to see it with my mom!  It was a super fun night!

With the Sugarplum Fairy!

 In the lobby during intermission

And, of course, we had to end the night with a mother-daughter selfie!  :)

My New Apartment!

So, the plan was to move out in January.  Christmas would be over, we'd be starting out the new year, and I'd still be on Winter Break!  When could be a better time to move into my first apartment than that?!?!  I had been scoping out apartments and driving by ones I was interested in during the day, night, weekends, etc. to make sure they weren't too scary at any given time and finally, I set aside a time for my mom and me to go out and actually tour the apartments and ask my million questions so that I could really narrow down my options.  I made a spreadsheet for each apartment complex (there were 6 on the list) that I was considering, so that I could fill in all the essential information and make sure I didn't forget any questions.  Everything was mapped out, organized, January was 3 months away, and everything was running as planned.  On the way to the first complex, which was my first choice, my mom asked me what I would do if they had something available sooner.  Would I take it or was I firm on January?  Um, really???  I was a girl with a plan from which I was not interested in deviating.  I told her that I was firm on January, maybe I would consider the very end of December when I was on break, but definitely nothing sooner than that!

We arrived at my first choice apartment complex and went into the office and met with one of the people there.  I started asking my list of questions and filling in my spreadsheet.  This complex was looking better and better all the time!  They had everything I wanted and, on top of that, I found out that each apartment has its own storage room attached to the balcony!  The fact that apartments are severely lacking in storage space had been of great concern to me, so this was absolutely amazing!  I felt good about this place and asked to walk through some apartments.  She told me that they had models of their studio apartment and their two-bed, two-bath apartment, but that they didn't have a model of the one-bedroom OR any empty ones we could go through.  So, I wouldn't be able to see the type of apartment I would actually be interested in living in.  Before I go on, I should mention that I had two deal breakers.  First, I was NOT going to live in something I hadn't walked through first; this was going to be my home and I needed to see it to make sure it felt like home and that I would love it there.  Second, parking.  I have been to so many apartment complexes where the parking situation is absolutely terrible.  I didn't want to live anywhere where there wasn't plenty of parking for my friends and family. Deal. Breaker. I soon found out that this apartment had BOTH of my deal breakers!  I went ahead and took the tour anyways and figured that, by January, they would come up with a vacant one-bedroom that I could tour.  The parking situation was one that I would have to put some thought and consideration into.

After the tour, I went back to the office and went over different options with the person showing me around.  I told her the options I was interested in and she went through her list of apartments that met my qualifications and their availability.  When she mentioned one that was available on November 8th, I had the craziest, yet clearest feeling that I should take it.  It was NOT what I had planned on, nor what I wanted.  I was set on January, but suddenly all of that changed.  So, I signed my lease, put down my deposit, and freaked out...just a little!  haha  My move-in date was no longer three months away, but just three weeks away!  Also, I had just signed for an apartment I had never seen and the floor plan was not super great!  All of my deal breakers were out the window and I now had my first apartment!

The next three weeks passed painfully slowly, but when it finally arrived, everything was ready!  My parents, Steven, David and his boys, and Scott helped me move everything is and it all went super quickly!  They were awesome!  I've never actually seen a move that ran so smoothly.  I was having my couches, washer and dryer, and cable/wifi installed that day and everyone showed up at the very beginning of the given delivery windows, except the cable guy, who showed up about 4 hours early and said that he was in the area and had a cancellation and asked if I would mind him getting the job done early!  When does that ever happen???  But it did!  Just more reassurance that I had done the right thing.  It's amazing to me how we can have the best laid plans and that, in a moment, everything can change.  I still don't know why it was pivotal for me to move now instead of in January, but I truly feel that it was.  I love that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that He knows what's best even when we have no idea why things happen the way they do.  I've been in my place for almost a month now and I LOVE it!  Everyday, I feel so happy to be in my own place!

Here's a little tour:

Welcome!

The front door is on the left side of the picture in the living room and I'm standing in the dining room.

This is the dining room, obviously, and the washer and dryer are in the closet with the white doors.  I love being able to do laundry in my own place and not having to take it to the laundry rooms at the complex.

Kitchen!

Bathroom! Yes, it's orange!  Would you expect anything different from me?

Bedroom!

My balcony!  The storage room is on the right, but is not in the picture.

It also has a playground, which my nephews had to test out right away!

They approve!

Anyhow, that's about it!  I love it and am so grateful for it!  Now, my next adventure will be to decorate for Christmas!!!  We'll see how that goes!  ;)

Go Fish!

Since Josh's birthday is on July 8th and Dylan's is on the 25th, they usually have a big joint celebration.  This year it was at John's Incredible Pizza in Riverside.  The boys decided that they wanted to go fishing for their birthdays, so Jacob planned a fishing trip to Irvine Lake immediately following their birthday party.  So, for their birthdays I got them tackle boxes loaded with all kinds fishing gear and a couple cartons of night crawler worms as bait.  Here's a couple of sweet pictures from their party.  

 I love how Josh is looking at Nancy!  He loves the silly faces she makes to keep him entertained!

The party was a little bittersweet because the end of July not only signals their birthdays, but also their return to China for the year.  We just try really hard to make every moment count.

Anyhow, after leaving the pizza place, we all headed to Lake Irvine.  We had some crazy toll road drama, but eventually we all made it there and picked a spot on the far side of the lake.

We used garlic flavored shrimp as bait and it smelled disgusting!

 Jacob helped the boys get set up!

 I love fishing, but I hadn't originally planned on going fishing, so I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion.  It was a beautiful day out on the lake!

 This was Nancy's first time fishing!  It took some convincing, on my part, to get her to try it, but once she did, she rocked it!

Sweet Dyl with his fishing rod!

 Look at that gorgeous sunset and that precious little boy!

 The moon was also enormous and incredibly bright!  You can't really tell how huge it was from this picture, but its reflection in the water was beautiful as well!

So pretty!

By the end of the night, no one had caught any fish, but we definitely had a great time together!  

Baby, It's Hot Outside aka Our Great Arizona Adventure!

Since my sister works for a company that owns lots of hotels and offers their employees a certain amount of R&R days each year, she and I decided to hit up the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona.  I had gone to Flagstaff a few years back, but I was pretty much just passing through and didn't really do much in the area, so it was pretty much like visiting a new place altogether.  Beforehand, Diane had looked up some of the local attractions and we discovered that there's actually a ton to do there!  AND many of those things involved areas of archaeological interest, which was right up my alley!  

Super early in the morning of July 18th, I hopped in the car and drove to Phoenix to pick Diane up from the airport.  I made really good time and ended up killing about an hour at...drum roll, please...Wal Mart!  Um.  The Wal Mart in Phoenix is really scary; I don't ever want to go there again, but on the upside, the Phoenix airport is one of my favorites to fly in and out of.  So, I'll just focus on that.  Anyhow, I suck at directions, but am extra talented at getting lost, so finding Diane in the labyrinth of arrival and departure lanes, terminals, etc. was extra adventurous, but once I found her, our vacation officially began!

The first place we went was Montezuma's Castle!  I'm pretty sure that Arizona actually means "hotter than the Sun" in some ancient language, and the second I exited my car, that belief intensified.  Oh. So. Hot. BUT it was ok because what we were about to see was amazing!  Look at this:

I know, I know!  It's amazing!  To give you more perspective of just how amazing it is, here's a picture that shows exactly how far up the mountain that dwelling was built!

This stuff always blows my mind!  I love it!

After we spent some time here, we got back in the air conditioned car and drove to Sedona.  Sedona is a cute little town that is known for it's beautiful rock formations.  They really were pretty to look at with their multi-colored striations and rich red color.  We walked around a bit and then went to see The Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a church that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was built right into the mountain and was an interesting looking building.

After that, it was off to the hotel!

I thought our room was super cute (and also huge).  Although it's not really my typical style, I totally fell in love with the chandelier in the room.  After a long day of driving, we were ready to call it a night.  We got dinner at the hotel restaurant and then just chilled in the room for the rest of the evening.

The next day was crazy busy!  It was full of great things, but extremely full nonetheless!  First up: Lowell Observatory!  We got here at opening time so that we could fit everything into our day.  This is actually a very famous observatory, where lots of cool things have been discovered.  For example, this is where they discovered that the universe is actually expanding.  Kind of a big deal.  It's also where they discovered Pluto!  Side Note: we had the COOLEST tour guide who was SO passionate about what she was telling us.  Seriously, she's the kind of teacher I aspire to be!  So knowledgeable and engaging!  Plus, she helped us feel better about Pluto being demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet.  Sorry, Pluto.

So, this is me playing with the telescope/camera that Pluto was discovered with.  I totally geeked out!  

And here's Diane looking at the sun through a special filtered telescope and that's our awesome tour guide!

After this, we headed toward the Grand Canyon.  On the way there, I was driving through the middle of nowhere when, all of a sudden, a huge, dark grey WOLF ran out in front of my car!  It was definitely not a coyote, but a gigantic wolf.  Oh my goodness!!!  I did not hit it, but I had to slam on my brakes and swerve like a maniac.  Diane was sleeping and woke up very startled. For the record, I had no idea there were wolves in Arizona, so I Googled it a little later and discovered that the Mexican Grey Wolf lives in that area,  Vindicated.  We stopped at Bedrock City, which is right outside the Grand Canyon and it was pretty cool!  It's basically like visiting the Flintstones' town.  It's a major tourist trap, but I'm not gonna lie: it was awesome and well-worth stopping.

 And this happened:

 We each got to go down the slide a couple of times before some kids came a wanted a turn!  Sheesh, kids!  Do I look like I'm in the mood to share???  ;)

Next, we went to the Grand Canyon!  I went there a couple of years ago, but this was Diane's first time.  I'm still in awe of how beautiful this is!  Truly, the work of the Master.

We also did some hiking and ran into this guy on the way back:

He was not bothered that there were people around at all.  Later, as we drove out, we saw a whole family of deer, including adorable little babies!

When we left, we went back to Lowell Observatory for their nighttime programs and we got to look through the telescope at various stars and then we got to go into one of the big domes and look at Saturn through a big telescope!

It was awesome!  BUT it had been an exceptionally long day and I was ready for bed!  I had to go to a grocery store and then came back and hit up the room service menu.  Sometimes you just have to eat a reuben and creme brulee in bed.  Tonight was one of those nights.  I must admit, however, that it was delish!

The next day, we found a local ward and went to Sacrament Meeting there.  It was a bit of an adventure because they were changing the bishopric, so there was really a lot going on.  We, then, headed to Wupatki National Park.  There were lots of different settlements there and it was awesome!  I even got to stand on a ball court!  Those always fascinated me when I was taking my anthropology classes in college.

After this, we went to visit Sunset Crater, which is basically a huge lava field from a volcanic eruption.  Seriously, lava was everywhere!

Pretty cool!

This was pretty much the last thing we did on the trip, but it was definitely a packed three days!  Diane was flying out of McCarran in Las Vegas, so we made the trek out there and parted ways.  Overall, it was a great trip where I got to spend quality time with my sister and see lots of awesome things I had never seen before!