Mistletoe and Holly

Well Christmas came and went with a bang, and now we are facing the sadness/emptiness following that. The lull in activities is driving me insane, whereas before I was going insane with all of the things to do.  December 14th was "G-Day", the day Cory took the GMAT, and he rocked it. Seriously, my husband is a genius. He got in the 97th percentile and for that we celebrated. We went out to Iggy's that night and feasted on the relief of having that major milestone out of the way. Now he is just finishing up all of his applications and then we will be playing the waiting game until February for interviews. He is doing such a good job and I am so proud of him. Unfortunately, I couldn't fully get into celebration mode that night because I was still working on my finals that week. I took 19 credits this semester and I was feeling the effects of it by the end of finals week. I am so glad to be done, though, and one semester away from graduating. From college. :) So happy.  So, finally, after all of the testing, we were able to slow down and really get into the Christmas spirit. We went up to Park City where we spent Christmas break with Cory's family. Cory's dad works at the Canyons resort so we even got some tickets for a ski day trip that we spent with his family as well. We had some great food, great games, and great new memories. As it was my first Christmas ever away from my family, I had some rocky spots, but it really was a great Christmas with only a few tears shed.  Spending so much time with Cory was the best, everyday I was so happy that we didn't have work and that we could just be together. I loved it. Here are a few iPhone pictures that will illustrate our time a little better. 

Boots from Cory that I have been coveting for somewhere around forever. 

Winter golf at Thanksgiving Point. A chilling -400 degrees, hence the scarf turned turban. 

"The Family" Christmas party dessert. Such a fun night.

Tebowing during golf.

Good food + sports + big-screen tv's = best celebration GMAT dinner ever. 

Mark stayed with us for a week and a half, so we made his room appropriately festive.

Ski rack made by Cory's BIL and hung with care  :)

A very delicious ski lunch made even better by Cory's homemade double-decker turkey and ham sandwich. 

The whole gang.

Showing off his GMAT talent for the family Christmas Eve talent show.

Our meagerly decorated tree. I heart Christmas.

Reading a little nighttime book for my favorite niece and nephew.

Thanksgiving

I love holidays. Love them. This past Thanksgiving was no exception, it was absolutely wonderful. We went back to my home and spent 6 days in the marvelous state of California. I love my home. It's so homey. It gets even homier each time we go back, too! Everyday I thanked Cory for taking me home. It had been 11 months!!! Way too long. We went on plenty of runs and hikes, cooked a delicious feast, made homemade doughnuts, played, got our hair did by Marissa, and reveled in the company of family. {sigh}  I miss it already. We also got to  go up to our "cabin" up country and take some pictures and cut down a Christmas tree. It was so much fun.

If you look closely you can see Nelson's cardboard presence. :)

Such a good uncle!

90's Kids

If you were a 90's kid, you will love this list of things that you will have to explain to your kids. I laughed so hard at how much I agreed with each one! Check it out: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/10-things-90s-kids-will-have-to-explain-to-their-children/#.TtXbSssmVtI.facebook

Birthday Treats

Well Cory's birthday month was a success. The letters from everyone were so amazing. I teared up, laughed, and rolled my eyes at the stories everyone told. This husband of mine...he is special. :) I had such a good response from people that I had to start doubling it up near the end, which was so great and even more exciting. He got to open a present a couple of the days which made his birthday last so long. It was so nice too, because we didn't really get to spend too much time focusing on him on his actual birthday due to classes and what not, so the whole month celebration was perfect. We had a get together with close friends at Goodwood the night before and I don't think there is any other way he would have preferred to spend his time. He was in heaven.  We also dragged out the celebrating by taking the free birthday meal coupons to all of the places we could. :) So many delicious treats. We had a lovely time during Octcoryfest. I loved every minute of it. Thank you so much to all those who took the time to write the letters. I can't emphasize it enough, but he absolutely LOVED each and every one of them.

Fall

I love fall. I don't like, at all, what it brings after, but for the brief period of crisp, sunny, clear weather, I love it. A couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough to go to with our friends, the Utterbacks, to the Big Red Barn in Santequin. It was a beautifully warm day, almost too warm!, and we picked out some perfect pumpkins. There were so many to choose from, but Cory and I both have really good eyes for perfection, so it was pretty easy. We snacked on some apple cider doughnuts as we rode on the hay ride. It was perfect day and trip, thanks guys! 

We then spent a lovely evening with our other friends, the Tengbergs, and carved the best pumpkin ever! It was really fun to spend some time with them, and their brother and his girlfriend, eating apples and caramel and watching the world series. Bring on more fall fun!

These were our pumpkin shots last year. I can't believe it has already been a year!

Funnies

So, during work I sometimes need some pick-me-ups. Today was one of those days. So I found these and thought I would share them.

Octcoryfest!

October is Cory's birthday month and the most exciting month of the year! It's such a fun season with Fall slowly creeping in that I decided that Cory's birthday should slowly creep in as well. So I was trying to think of a cheap but meaningful thing that would last a whole month, so I thought of a birthday countdown!! I emailed friends and family members for letters or thoughts about Cory and got such great responses! I was tearing up with so many of them because they were saying exactly the things I feel about Cory too. I knew he would love it. So, while he abandoned me for 10 days to do his research study, I got to work putting it all together and was able to surprise him with this when he came home!

He gets to open one each morning and so far they have been amazing. I'm so happy that we have such great friends and family who did this for us. I also have a few presents sitting out all wrapped that he cannot touch! :) I'm loving his anticipation. Throughout the countdown there are a few special days that will let him pick a present to open. I can't wait for his actual birthday and am so excited to make it through all of these special letters. Thank you all! Also, on a side note, we made these delicious pizza rolls the other night. They are amazing. I'm pretty sure what made them so good was that we went to the bakery at Smiths and got some fresh dough there-so cheap and so delish. We were in heaven eating them and I am telling you that you must go make these now. They are that good.