Fall so far...

You know what I love? Washington. Its so beautiful. All the time.

This Thanksgiving, like most of the ones in the past, we spent the holiday at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bill's cabin. It was rainy, and sometimes there were snow flurries, but at least there was some snow on the ground!

We had amazing food, as per usual. And Leighton joined us this year! She is so sweet, and I loved just sitting with her and talking to her.

Excuse me ahead of time for this blog being a little scattered. I may jump back and forth between things. Any way, I made sweet potato fries for Ashton a couple weeks ago. They were definitely a crowd pleaser, as my roommates also stole quite a few. ;)

I just cut up the sweet potato (very hard to do, actually) and brushed it with oil, added a little salt and pepper, and baked in the oven until they browned. Much better than chips with lunch. :)

Moving right along, we some elves decorated Fox Hollow the other night. They brought tons of lights and stockings for every barista and they even watched Elf while decorating! Don't ask how I know that, its just a guess.

Like the elves, Orting has been busy decorating as well. I cannot express how much I LOVE driving through town under the Christmas lights. They are super old and the bells aren't centered but I love it. I don't think pictures can capture how perfect it really is.

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is open my mom's box of ornaments. She has the most beautiful antique ornaments from my grandma, and maybe my great grandma, as well as silly ones from when I was little. Its so fun to look at each ornament and remember decorating the tree in years past. And I love waiting to find my very favorite one, which she actually GAVE to me this year! (The one in the bottom right that is minty green and says 'Merry Christmas!')

I also love making Christmas cookies. I usually do it twice. First at the beginning of December... just for fun. Then a second time right before Christmas as gifts for all my friends and family. :)

Mom came over one day when I had Ashton, and we made a TON of cookies.

Ashton had one, and he LOVED it.

I was really excited for Saturday. Why? I got to watch baby Cam again! I was his nanny from the time he was about 6 months old until he was almost 2! It was so cool to see him all grown up and talking! I'm used to talking to babies even when they can't respond, so I kept getting surprised when I would ask something and he would talk back! He is precious!

And lastly... I have developed a deep love for all vegetables. Its strange, but good. The other night, after watching the Grinch, I decided on going to Tacoma Boys. No matter that it was 12:30, they are open 24 hours! Thankfully Aaron came with me, because I might have fallen asleep driving home otherwise. Anyway, I love Tacoma Boys. And their vegetables. And yesterday I made mushrooms and broccoli and snap peas, all from Tacoma Boys, for lunch. If you've known me for any length of time, you would know this is not normal. But I guess I have a new normal?

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Lately I've been so busy that I keep forgetting to blog. With Katy home, now Hope coming home... its just been crazy. In a good way. But... as I promised to Kelsey before she left for North Carolina, I WILL BLOG. As will she. :)

This might be a little random, but I have so many precious black and white pictures on my phone, and I had to post some.

Brody and Cam in their hats. For some reason Brody LOVES the infant sized bear hat. He brings it to me everyday wanting me to put it on him. And if I don't snap the bottom part, he gets mad. So his not-infant-sized face gets squished into that hat almost daily around here [unless I remember to hide it...]. And Cam, well he doesn't keep hats on. At all. This picture took about 14 tries before I got one with the hat still on him. :)

Ah the top of our tree. I love it. I had a picture on my camera of the full tree, in color, lights on and everything.... but.... it was blurry. Oh well. We have a TON of pretty vintage Christmas ornaments that were my grandma's. They are super colorful and super breakable. We learned that when our tree fell over one year... bummer. But there are still a lot left. :)


Lastly, two of my very favorite kids, Claire and Miles. I was their chauffeur on Monday, and while we waited at the dance studio for Alex to be done with hip hop, Claire and Miles wanted to pretend to be asleep. Miles is really convincing, huh?

Its the most wonderful time of the year...

I feel like I am at a weird age as far as Christmas presents go. Actually I feel like I am at a weird age for everything in life. But this is regarding Christmas presents, so yeah. [Thank you Katy for the inspiration.]

I am too old to write a letter to Santa asking for clothes and shoes and a pony.

But I am too young to have my own house/family so it'd be weird to ask for a blender or a couch or a new set of silverware.

Also, I really do have more than I need. And I'm not just saying that.

Anyway, after all of that, I do know ONE thing I would LIKE. A new computer. I have said before, my precious sweet Apple [her name, after Gwyneth and Chris' daughter] is getting up there. She was given to me because the computer I got for my graduation present 3.5 years ago got the blue screen of death. And while I love Apple, she does not usually like me. She refuses to recognize my camera. She does not have the capability to play videos at a regular speed. She has absolutely no programs besides Safari because she is just too old to run them. All in all, her time has come.

I really can deal with Apple. She is fine for internet alone. Not so much blogging, or videos like I said. But e-mail, facebook, checking the weather--GREAT!

[Sidenote: It is storming like crazy outside right now, and the boys are both peacefully asleep. It is like heaven on earth for me. The two things I love most in life. Naptime and storms. And blogging. Okay back to the post...]

I want a new computer for the reasons listed above, and for the following:

1. I am going to do school online.

2. I want something that is reliable/not going to crash when I have a paper due.

3. I want to have the latest word processing programs.

Easy enough. So I am asking my parents for money that is specifically for a new computer. I asked my brother too, but he said he is giving me a TV for Christmas. No joke. Love my brother. He is awesome. I haven't gotten a TV since I was in 7th grade. It weighed 75 pounds. It was an 18 inch tube TV. Yeah I'm a little excited. Sorry for the short sentences.

Now I will just have spend some time thinking of a new name for the computer when I get it. Apple Jr.? Baby Apple? Grape? Banana? We'll see.

Lastly, I didn't ask for anything, but Brody and Cam's parents are getting me a Christmas gift in the form of h&m. Yes they already told me. I guess they aren't much for surprises? Oh well.

:)

oh the weather outside is frightful...

Okay not really.

That just goes with what I am about to say... I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC.

I'm definitely not one of those people that is like, "UGH... Christmas music, turn it off!" Now that its November, I plan on listening to it as often as possible. Norah Jones Holiday on Pandora? Yes, please. Trevor Davis Christmas in the car on the way to work? Mhmmm.

The air is crisp and cold. My mom's car has heated seats. And the road is calling me to go for a drive. So bring on the Christmas tunes and hot chocolate! :)