O Christmas Tree

Since Christmas is my favorite holiday, I wanted our house to have a little Christmas spirit. And it really is little:


A real Christmas tree isn't exactly in our budget this year, so we're settling for a mini version. Our little Christmas tree stands at a whopping total of 2 feet and is decorated with a few things I dug out of my craft drawer. It doesn't really give the grand effect I was hoping for, but it's our first Christmas tree together which makes it special. At least it's a step up from Charlie Brown. Maybe even two steps.

Now all we need are a few presents....

A Pink Tutu

Baby Josie is so stinking cute! Especially in a tutu. It definitely suits her.


So I might have stolen this picture off of Katie's blog. I think I'm becoming one of those aunts who brags about their nieces and has to show pictures of them to anyone who even glances in their general direction.

As a baby gift for Josie, I volunteered to make her baby announcements. After all, people should know who she is. I love being crafty, especially when it comes to pretty papers. Here is how they turned out:


The pink tutu is my favorite part!

....

Yesterday was Josh's birthday. It was a pretty busy day: eating, napping, eating, relaxing. It was great! We also went to the theater and saw Inception, which is one of Josh's new favorite movies. It's really good and if you haven't seen it, you need to. During the entire movie, I kept leaning over to Josh saying "This is crazy!" or "This is so cool!" We had fun. Then ended the day with birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Josh! I LOVE YOU!

Let It Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

It has been snowing every other day for the past 2 weeks. It makes me want to go sledding and Christmas shopping! Or maybe just curl up on the couch with a gallon of hot chocolate- that's more like it.

We decided to do a little playing in the snow:

Josh throwing snow at Lilo

Taking a break

Jumping for joy (or to keep warm)

Lilo likes eating snow

Lilo's snow face

Josh's snow face

The end!

The Search for Boots

I love shoes. I can't always find a pair of jeans that fit just right, but I can always find a pair of shoes that fit perfectly. I came to Fargo with a shoe wardrobe made up of flip flops and peep toes. As I have recently discovered, that's not going to cut it.

With winter approaching, I have been looking everywhere for boots. And I mean everywhere. I'm a little (okay, a lot) picky when it comes to clothes shopping, so that may have something to do with it. We looked everywhere in Fargo and I tried on countless boots, but I couldn't find any that fit right or looked good. The whole process was very frustrating.

We decided to take a day trip to Minneapolis this past weekend and do a little boot shopping while in town. Josh and I were prepared to be trying on boots for hours. Surprisingly, at the first store we went in I found not only one, but two pairs of boots that I liked and both happened to be on sale. Seriously!?! My luck changed and I finally found boots that were both cute and warm.

So now I feel a little more prepared for winter. Next I have to accept the fact that I won't be seeing my flip flops for a very long time...

The Little Things

As a newlywed, you realize what things are really important in life. After 10 months of being married, here is my answer: the little things.

Starting a life together is beyond wonderful, but it's also hard. Being in a new city and being a little tight on money has brought its challenges. We've had to cut back and spend a lot of evenings at home. But those evenings have been some of the best. It's just the little things: watching our favorite movies and quoting every line, rearranging furniture, eating nachos at 1 a.m., wearing ridiculous footie pajamas, laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. Life is fun together.

Yesterday was my birthday. Josh and I spent the entire day together, went out to eat sushi, and finished by cuddling to a movie. We hadn't eaten sushi in months, so we were pretty excited. Although we didn't do anything big, it was a nice day. I appreciated just spending time together and enjoying the little things. Everything is better together.

"It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving, I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together."
-Jack Johnson

Dress Up Day (aka Halloween)

Halloween is Josh's favorite holiday, as it is the one day of the year where it's acceptable for anyone over the age of 5 to play dress up. He's one of those people who plans his Halloween costume months in advance. So naturally, I'm required to wear one too.

Last year Josh chose our Halloween costumes. There is one word to describe them: Pokemon. Being a good fiancee, I went along with it. Our costumes involved buying and returning 3 different sweatshirts, Josh slaving over a sewing machine, and me shopping in the boys department. They actually turned out pretty well:


This year we decided to dress up as Shaggy and Velma. Lilo, of course, dressed as Scooby Doo. To complete the gang, some friends from the ward, Matt and Haylie, went as Fred and Daphne. We had fun with it.


I have to point out that I made my skirt, which I am very proud of. We couldn't find a red skirt anywhere so I had to get creative. Since I can barely sew a button, sewing an entire skirt was definitely out of the question. Instead, I made the whole thing out of red fabric and safety pins. I'm still impressed with myself.


It was a good Halloween. And we already have next year's costumes in the works.