I GOT IT!

My new camera is here!! We went to pick it up last night and it is SO beautiful!!!! I love it and cant wait to actually figure it all out and know how to use it. :)



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Christmas eve...

Christmas eve was a blast! I love having our annual extended family get together to go caroling on Christmas Eve. And then having my entire immediate family together in the same room to open presents. My family does our entire Christmas on Christmas Eve- we wait for santa and then open gifts till the early hours of the morning. Although there is mo longer anyone in my family who believes in Santa Clause anymore. It was a really good Christmas this year!

Christmas day we got to talk to Nathan which was really good. He is doing well and it was good to hear his voice. We had breakfast with Mom and Dad Smith and then they were off the airport pretty early- mom is going to see Mandi's family in Columbia MO.

I love Christmas and cant believe it is over... but next year will be here before i know it.


On another note- today is Brett and my 5 year anniversary. Time has gone by so fast. But I am so happy that I married Brett. He is amazing and is a trooper for putting up with me.




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Christmas Card

I emailed my Christmas Card out to all my family- Here it is in case I missed anyone. Merry Christmas!

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Christmas with the nieces

We were so so happy that Trevor and Elise and their 4 girls were able to spend 4 days here in Orem this Christmas. We thought that they were not going to be able to be here so it was awesome to spend time with them. Those girls are the cutest girls that I know and it was fun to play with them. We did Christmas on Friday before they headed out. It was really fun... the girls got lightsabers with were a big hit. We miss them already but will see them this summer!


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5 year anniversary getaway

For our 5 year anniversary which is on Monday we went up to Salt Lake to spend a few days. We stayed at the Hilton and they upgraded our room to a big room for free since we were celebrating a big anniversary. We went to Temple Square to see the lights one night and the net night went to a nice dinner and to a movie. It was really fun to just get away for the weekend just the two of us.


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FInals are over!

It is the time of year that both Brett and I have been waiting for.... Finals are over and we are back to a normal life... at least for a few weeks. At one point I had 8 projects in the works plus I had 2 final tests so it got a bit stressful for a while. Brett did really well on all of his finals and despite being really stressed and working practically full time he managed to get a 3.75 GPA. I'm so proud of him. He is half way done with his Masters program and he is so happy about it. I did pretty well this semester as well and I learned SO much. I don't have my final grades but I think I have all A's and A-'s except in drawing- So I guess I'm pretty proud of myself too. :)

Now I am just at home working on a few crafts and a video for my cousins court of honor. Brett's work schedule is really busy now that Christmas is so close so he is working long hours. I am so excited for my sister to get here from Montana on Saturday and even more exited for Christmas!

Brett and I are going to Slat Lake for a couple nights this weekend for a getaway/5 year anniversary celebration. I'm not sure what we are going to do but it will be fun.



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Brett's 27th Birthday

My Honey B turned 27 yesterday. He was able to get off work around 4 so we headed to a movie- We saw Unstoppable and it was really good. Then we headed over to Red Lobster for dinner. It was fun to just get away from work, school and homework for a while to be together. When we got home, We had some cake that I made and I sang to him. The girls enjoyed some cake too. :)

Happy Birthday Sweetie!


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Black Friday Recap....

Thanksgiving was a blast! I had so much fun with all my family. Macy was not able to come because roads in Montana were either closed or frozen same with Idaho. It was really sad but at least Drew's family lives in Bozeman too so they had somewhere to go for thanksgiving.

Black Friday Shopping is a tradition in our family... our motto- Divide and Conquer! Walmart did part of their Black Friday at Midnight so we all went to that- even Brett came with me. It was really crazy there. Then Alyssa and I went to Shopko. We had a big list of things to get for ourselves as well as others that were at other stores. We got there around 2am and were about 7th or so in line. We took a heater and blankets and stayed really warm.... We got everything on our list and were home and in bed by 6. I am still trying to catch up on my sleep and have been a bit grouchy because of it the last 2 days. The people in our family who went to Target did not have the same luck we did and came home empty handed- I guess it was pretty crazy over there. :) I'm glad I went to Shopko-


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Thanksgiving is almost here!

I am getting excited for the holidays... Family will be arriving tomorrow night. My sister Macy and her Husby Drew are driving from Montana- Alyssa and Kellen are coming from Ogden, and my aunt and uncle are driving in from Northern California. I am a bit worried about them all driving in the cold snowwy weather. There has been a blizzard warning put out and that is supposed to hit this evening and all through the night. I am glad that the rest of us live so close and will not have to drive so much. We are having Thanksgiving in Orem at a church because there will be 30 something of us here this year. I just love big family get togethers. The only family missing is Keith's. We will miss them.
Another exciting thing is Black Friday shopping!! This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. The last 2 years were spend out of state with the Smith's so I have missed out so I am excited for all the hustle and bustle of all the crazy people who get up at 2 in the morning to wait in line in the freezing cold.
My immediate family will be getting a new family picture taken this weekend. We do not have one with Andrew added except ones from their wedding.
So that is the madness/funness I have have going on this week. But today and tomorrow will be spent on homework projects and laundry folding :(



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New blog layout & new camera

I redesigned my craft blog so now it has videos that I have made, my photography portfolio, all my crafts and also a place for my other projects- school, painting, drawing (I will post those later)
http://creationsbycali.blogspot.com

I am SO excited for christmas this year... well its more like the first week of January when I will get my only gift from brett... but its a big one and I have been wanting it for a long time. It is the just barely released last month Nikon D7000- Isn't it so pretty... oh I cant wait. - I am doing my very first wedding in April so I will have to get used to it pretty fast. :)



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BoO

Halloween was low key again this year... however we kinda had costumes. We went to our ward Halloween party on Friday night just to see our primary kids all dressed up. Brett put on a tie dye shirt and a peace necklace and I put on a tutu...

I was the only one to do a pumpkin this year... and it was a little one. I didn't want to carve it so I just put brads in it... easy enough and it is cute.

Last night we drove up to Odgen and spent the night with Lyssa and Kellen. We went to dinner and then made caramel apples- ( they may look good but we didn't make the caramel right so they were not very good, but they were fun to make.

We then watched a scary movie called The Crazies. It was pretty scary. We spent the night there and came back home today. Its always fun to hang out with them. :)

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Blocks Project

I did a cute new project.... Memory Blocks! they were super fun to make. There are more pictures and how I made them on my craft blog here.


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Volunteering

Doing volunteer work for the Now I Can Foundation has been so awesome... Helping kids with Cerebral Palsey learn to walk again is not only a miracle but it is so humbling and uplifting. These kids have such drive and determination to walk that they push through the sometimes painful therapy and I see improvements everytime I see them. Therapy sessions are everyday for 4 hours- for 4 weeks. Its tough but so worth it.

This little girl was the first girl I worked with... She is 3 years old. I worked with her for 4 weeks. She is now done with therapy for now. What an amazing little smile she has and she now has a place in my heart. When she started therapy this year she just dragged her little legs around to get around. Now, with a little help, she is walking.

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I am alive... I promise!

Wow- I have been a major blog slacker... things have been really busy around here. Brett is in school 3 nights a week and I have school every day.

I started volunteering at a foundation called Now I Can. It is a intensive therapy program for kids with Cerebral Palsy and I really love it. I have been working with this little 3 year old girl named Bella for the last 4 weeks and she is such an amazing girl... so strong and determined to walk on her own. It is fun to be able to help her do that. We had a fundraiser concert in the park a couple of weeks ago with a few local bands at the Scera Shell... It was really fun.

AutoNetTV called me last week and asked if I could come back to work part time for a little while. The office manager is quitting and they need a bit of help in the transition. I dont mind doing it.. I actually like it. I always loved my job- but full time was too much for me. So I am doing that a few times a week for a few hours a day.

I have done a few fun things since I last posted. Last week, I went to see Brett's mom get dunked in a dunking booth for her school carnival... she went in the water 4 times... It was pretty entertaining because the kids were trying so hard. :)

I have been spending a lot of time with my mom. I go to orem everyday for school and after school I go over to her house and hang out with her until volunteering or work start. It is so much fun. I cant imagine living far away from her.

Brett and I both sold our old phones on ebay and got iphones- which we love!! I have so much lab time for my classes that i use my ipod all the time and it is so nice to not have to carry around multiple devices..

I have been busy with a lot of art projects... I found that i am decent at drawing and I have been having a lot of fun painting with acrylics.. I will post some pictures of projects someday.


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