New Years Eve at Disney World

Happy New Years Eve, everyone! We spent the day at Disney World, and it was so fun! We started out the day on the Frozen ride, where they randomly have a weird troll that we had to take a picture by, of course.

Then as we were walking through the park, we noticed small lines to Meet Belle and Mary Poppins. Because we weren't really riding rides (the lines for most of the rides were around 2 hours, so, no thanks), we were just looking for random fun things to do in the park, this definitely qualified.

 We spent the day just kind of doing everything. We rode random rides that we hadn't before, we saw a Pixar short-film fest, and just did random things in Epcot (which is where we were, by the way). We found an awesome tea shop in the England part of the World Showcase, so of course we bought a bunch of tea.
Then it was night! We partied it out, dancing where there were some bands playing, and it was some fun times.

 There was a giant clock on the ball in Epcot, that was pretty fun to watch it count down the hours.

Then, the night ended with fireworks. I don't have pictures of that because I was too busy doing the countdown and watching everything, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Promptly after the fireworks we left, we were so tired by then. 

Now, was today fun? Heck yeah it was. Do I want to do it again? Heck no. There were way too many people, too long of hours, it was just too much. So yeah, fun to do once, will never do again haha

Universal Studios!

Today, we decided to head up to Orlando and have some fun at theme parks. We chose Universal Studios for today, how fun! First we went to Hogsmeade, taking the opportunity to have some butterbeer while we were there.

Always delicious! We spent the day riding rides, eating foods, etc. I tried a cauldron cake from the HP land, although it wasn't a great cake, it was pleasing to look at.

At the end of the night, we finished with another butterbeer, I'm seriously addicted! The place was super busy of course, being the week of vacation between the holidays, but it wasn't too bad. We worked the system as best as we could and only rode rides with the short lines, so we got a lot done, it was a great time. 

Horseback Riding in the Ocean

Y'all, I have done something crazy and fun today. We went horseback riding, but in the ocean. And since we were in the ocean, we had to ride them bareback, it was wild. We got on the horses (with saddles at first) and rode them up and down the beach, getting used to each other. We stopped at some point and the trainers took some pics of us, how kind.

Then we rode back over, took the saddles off, and went into the ocean. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of that! Because we weren't going in the water in the beginning, I had my phone on me. Since we then went into the ocean up to the horses necks (and beyond!) we couldn't take phones since they aren't waterproof, of course. They took pictures of us, but when we contacted them to get those, they said that they didn't have any, which makes me so mad! I wanted the proof of riding bareback! But that's okay. It was an awesome day! So glad we got to do it.

Shelby Botanical Gardens

Hello from Florida! It's been a few days from Christmas, but things have been quiet. On the day after Christmas, we were knackered from our overnight flight (in which I didn't sleep at all, awesome) so we just had a chill day, it was nice. Then we went to the beach yesterday, but there are no pics to share. It was a pretty cloudy day, but I got a good tan/sunburn, so that's nice, I wanted to come home with some color. Then today, we went to a giant red barn/flea market place, that was a good time. Tonight, we went to the Shelby Botanical Gardens Christmas lights. They were awesome! Here's some highlights:

I will say, it was super weird walking through Christmas lights and seeing all this cheer when it was 80 degrees outside! I'm used to having snow and cold, so that was a trick.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone had a great holiday. We got to talk to my SIL who's on her mission in Germany, and that was a delight to do. We had a fun day of family and love. Tonight we're flying out to Florida to spend some time with Husband's grandma. Since we had a couple of hours between family and flying out, we decided to have a self-care night.

Terrifying in these face masks? Absolutely! But our skin was so soft haha.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Y'all, it's Christmas Eve! I know that as an adult, the magic of Christmas is supposed to be gone, but I still have it. I love this time of year and I feel its the best time of year. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely day. The fellas were dressed up in their pajama finest, and they look great.

Happy Christmas Eve!

A Concert!

Tonight I went to the Assembly Hall on Temple Square for the first time. A friend was performing in a chorale there, and we went to support. The traffic was aaaaaawful, with it being: The last Saturday before Christmas, one of the last days to see the lights at Temple Square before the holiday, and there was a Jazz game. Finding parking was a jooooke but we finally got it. After a quick dinner and jaunt over, we were seated in some pretty good seats, front row of the balcony.

 They did an awesome job, it was so great! And then after the performance, the MC-type fella had the entire group give a smile, in case anyone wanted to snap a pic.

After the performance was over, we just walked through the grounds a bit, looking at the lights and the temple in general. 

Really love how they light everything, it looks great!

Card-Makin' Time

I realized this week, with no school, no work, no anything, that this was the perfect time to get my cards made for the January card swap! I actually made this love one in no time at all, the design just came perfectly to my head and got out so fast! The thank you card was also easy - I just wanted a simple design this time, hopefully the other gals enjoy them as well.

He is proud of me!

Today they finally posted the final grades for this last semester, and I'm proud of my grades, of course. I texted people to celebrate my good news, and my sister sent back a video of the fellas celebrating too.

Ha ha I just love these two, they are the best!

Ice Skating!

Tonight, I went ice skating with my YW. We drove up to Midway (despite only having a handful of girls show up, but that's fine) and used their outdoor rink. Of course it was very cold but we had a great time. It was the first time ice skating for one of the girls but by the end of the night, she had moved away from the walls and was attempting to skate with us! It was a great time.

Since its at night you can't really see much, but still, we had a grand time!

A Productive Day

Y'all, today is the first official start of my time off from school. I know what you're thinking. "But Vieve, you finished your last final on Tuesday, so you had Wednesday as your first day". But I disagree, because this is the start of a new week, so this is where I'm counting it. So today, I was planning on getting my to-do list done. I had a short list. Vacuum the entire house (top to bottom!), mop the hard floors (just kitchen and bathrooms, you see where I'm at) and then wrap gifts. So after my running and whatnot, I started my stuff because I figured, best to do it while I'm already dirty and sweaty.
So first of all, I did all the vacuuming. Cookie, of course, got mad at the vacuum being on, so she angrily sat on the couch all morning. Then I did all the mopping, and emptied the dishwasher, cleaned all the countertops, cleaned out the fridge, and then decided a shower was in order. Then I spent the afternoon wrapping gifts. With so many people in both Husband's and my families, and various friends and whatnot, it took the whole afternoon! I finished off my productive day with shipping all of the things I needed to out of state, and then I was ready for a rest - it had been a full day!
Now, I'm ready for Christmas. I am psyched for the upcoming week of festivities, family, and fun! I hope you all have fun in the upcoming days.

Festival of Lights

Tonight, our family went to the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork. I just love this, it's so low-key, you can just stay in your warm car, listen to the Christmas music they have on their station, and enjoy the lights. There were like, 8 of us: myself, Husband, Darth, Gecko, Sis, Cassandra (her husband), and mom and pops. So we had to divide ourselves between two cars, and Husband and I had the fellas in our car. It was so fun watching it with them, they were just so jazzed about everything. And also they kept talking about robot fights (they had recently watched Pacific Rim) and are obsessed with robot fights. I took a pic of one of my favorite parts of the lights.

Stampin' Along

Y'all, last night was Stamp and Chat and again, we had lovely time, delicious foods, and made great cards.

I need to start taking pics of our food...they're always a great treat!

Mint Poke Cake

Today I made my very first poke cake, what a day ! I got my recipe from Pinterest, of course, and here it is for your enjoyment:

• 1 box devils food cake, plus ingredients to make cake
• 1 (11.75-oz) jar Smucker's hot fudge sauce
• 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 tsp mint extract
• 1 (8-oz) container Cool Whip
• 1 (10-oz) bag Andes baking chips

Bake cake in a 9x13-inch pan according to direction on the package While cake is baking, mix milk, hot fudge sauce and mint extract. When the cake is done and while it's still hot, poke holes in it. I did it with the end of a large mixing spoon. Pour milk mixture over the cake. Allow cake to cool completely. Sprinkle half the Andes over cake. Spread Cool Whip over the top, then sprinkle the remaining Andes on top. Chill in refrigerator.

Guys, this is delicious. Of course, I couldn't find Andes mint chips, so I had to chop my own, which was annoying, but not too bad. At least it was good. 

Choo Choo!

Today I ran some errands with the fellas, we went to a mall that's a bit of distance from our houses. As we were there, they saw a train that was just going around the mall. The fellas begged to go on it, but at first I resisted. Finally, we made a deal and they got to ride the train. They had a great time, of course.

Time for Sweaters!

Guys, its cold. We had a giant snowstorm over the weekend, so now everything is covered in snow and cold. So with this weather, its time to make Cookie warm.

She's probably mad, but I think she looks dashing.

We did it!

We did it! We finished the month! Although it could have gone worse, there were definitely some days that we struggled. But we finished, and here's a celebratory picture of Gecko!

Angry Fella

Today I was watching the fellas as their mom was at the dentist, and after a walk to the gas station (literally this is their favorite activity, I don't understand it but they love it) we were inside getting warm and enjoying our treats. Darth was lightly caressing my leg with his foot, which I don't think he realized he was doing it. I sent a pic of him doing that to his mom and to Husband, and Husband wrote back "ah I don't think he's scared enough of me". I told Darth to make an angry face to send back, and he supplied me with:

To which Husband replied with an angry face back, and when Darth saw it he's like, oh why is uncle mad at me?" In one of the cutest small voices I've heard, so I had to work overtime to reassure him that nobody is mad at him, and everyone is okay. But look at that angry face! So cute.

Dancing Fools

I have a small dancing Santa in the living room. You turn him on, and he plays "Rockin' around the Christmas tree" as he moves side to side. The fellas tried to mimic the Santa, and it was so funny. I just love when they do this cute stuff. 

The Giant Cow

Oh my goodness, has everyone seen the giant cow? There was a story that broke on the internet today, about a giant cow found in Australia.

My brain cannot handle this!

Haircut Day

Today, Cookie was getting a haircut. I helped her into the giant truck, and then on the way there, I saw her in my mirror and almost cried laughing at how cute and small she looks. I love that you can barely see her but its amazing.

I forgot to snap a pic of her afterwards, but she always looks the same and is as cute as ever.

Ah...nothing

Well, it took a bit, but I have absolutely nothing to day. School starts tomorrow, the house is decorated, homework is caught up on, my journal is caught up on, I got nothing to do. Today was just a chill day, dreading the return of school.

Enjoy this pic of the goose, for fun.

Time to Decorate!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's time to decorate the house! Last night after dinner we put up the tree, for ease of today, and then this afternoon I got to business. It only took a few hours to get everything up, and it looks great! (in my humble opinion)

 (It pains me that you can't really see the JINGLE up here, but alas, the other stuff takes away from the visual but I still like it)

 We can't find the thing that holds the star to the top of the tree, so its just sort of ... resting on there

Happy Nearly Month of December!

Pizza?

Today, we went Black Friday shopping, and at the end of the shopping day, we were having a small snack, and Gecko expressed that he wanted some pizza for dinner. His mom wasn't near us, so I told him to say it into a video and we could send it to her. It ended up being the cutest video! 

Then later, as we were eating our delicious pizza, I just had to record him eating it because it was just about the cutest thing I had ever seen. 

PS I hope these videos are in order, I was having a struggle with the upload!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I started with the standard race, which I got 4th place in my age group, not too bad for having not run fast with this cold I've had!

After the race, I had breakfast with some siblings, who would be at other Thanksgiving dinners that evening. Tiny Darth held new niece Ken, and so cute! Look at these jokers, what a pair of cuties. 

Hope everyone had a great day today! 

Unlucky Day

Y'all, this was a straight up garbage day. This morning we woke to finding out that our Wi-Fi was broken and not working. So Husband had to spend the entire day (minus maybe one hour) on the phone with our internet company, trying to fix it. Finally, at about 6:00, my brother in law (who works in IT) had to come over and also help us fix it and we finally got it 'sort of' working (not really) but at this point, I had given up on any Wi-Fi at all. Blergh.
In addition to this, I also had a development with my car. It started to do a lot of jerking and whatnot, so I brought it in to the mechanic. He found what it was, he said, but it was something that a dealer had to fix, not him. Great. So I drove it carefully to the dealer, and then found the same problem, an issue with the timing chain. Great. So they gave me a loaner car, and said they might be able to get to it by Saturday. Great great great. So I took me loaner truck that was GIANT and came home.

This thing is a BEAST! I struggle to park it and its so big I almost don't know what to do with myself. Let's hope my car is done sooner rather than later !

School's Out For the...Week...

Ah, today starts the second day of having no school. I do so love that school gives me the entire week off! Yesterday was dedicated to doing errands and whatnot, and then today was dedicated to catching up on homework. Is that super nerdy? Oh heck yeah. But I have an 8 page paper due for my film class in the upcoming weeks, as well as a final business report in my entrepreneurship class, so I was like, yeah, I'm gonna get started on this. And then, after we come back next Monday, we only have 2 weeks of classes before finals and we are finished! I am honestly so excited and happy, we're so close to the end of the semester!
We can do it, guys!

Happy birthday, Mama!

Y'all, it's my mama's birthday today, so let's all wish a happy birthday. We went out for dinner, at the delicious Cracker Barrel. We all wanted to try the chicken-fried turkey and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Chicken fried things are just my favorite things, let's be honest, and it was nice to celebrate the day with delicious food and amazing people. Happy birthday!

(this is an unrelated pic of Gecko taken today, enjoy)

Flips!

The fellas were over tonight, and Darth decided to show us how he can do a somersault. Gecko said that he could do one too, and the results are the best, please enjoy.

Christmas Card Swap

Today was our Christmas card swap, which means we do a Christmas card and a neighbor gift. Everyone always has such good ideas! I always feel so lazy with mine haha. But I tried to arrange them artfully for a great pic.

Now I have one full year to think of great ideas for next year!

Nail Time!

Today I was watching the fellas whilst their mom was at the doctor. After we walked to the park and had a fun afternoon, we came back inside. Darth said that he wanted to paint his nails. I said sure, and pulled out all the colors he wanted. He wanted a different color on each hand, and then of course, Gecko wanted the same thing. It looked great.

He loves his nails, and keeps showing them to everyone he sees.

Deserved

My last class of every week is Thursday, I never have classes on Friday, which is really nice, having a 4-day week. So today, I decided to treat myself to some Chip Cookies. 

Never had Chip? It's delicious! Basically you hit up their website, https://www.chipcookies.co and order some cookies. They will deliver them warm to you! And they have a new flavor in addition to their standard chocolate chip every month, so that's fun. 

Anyway, I tried the flavor of the month, Pumpkin Nutella. I decided to write myself an encouraging note on the package. 

These were pretty good cookies, but not great. I think it's because this is the first time my cookies were delivered to me cold, and that was such a disappointment. They're much better warm! But give then a go, maybe they were just having an off night.