Okay, well, here I am again.

Turns out it's New Year's Eve.  I guess that means people don't sleep peacefully in their beds at 10:30.  By people I mostly mean my neighbors.  Whom I LOVE, really really I do (that's not sarcasm, Ashley I think you are sweet and adorable), but maybe a little less yelling and jumping?  Turns out we share the same floorboards.  Poor Tonyface has to work in the morning.  I don't, so I can stay up blogging and editing pictures.

One time we made Irish Nachos and drank some fancy Target juice.

Another time we made cinnamon and sugar tortilla chips.

For Thanksgiving I put together an outfit and got vain about it.

The next day we got a Christmas tree.

We made Maya wear a shirt collar.

We had a little visitor.

I drew a picture.

And we did NOT stay up to party all night for New Year's because we are GEEZERS.

2010

I thought about doing a month-by-month recap of my year like I've seen other blogs do, but I decided that I didn't want to be so organized.

So in the words of Inigo Montoya, let me sum up.

This year I got married.  What a pretty big deal that was.  Almost everything else that happened this year stems from that one event.  This year I bought my first pieces of furniture.  I got a piano.  I set up a kitchen and organized bookshelves and tried different duvet covers on our bed.  This year I finally learned what it is to sleep with someone (and I don't just mean what you think I mean), to share all my living space with someone, to begin putting a home together with someone.  This year we built a fence.

We got a puppy...

...and then decided to find a better home for her while we got used to being married, and then 6 months later we got another puppy...

...and we're so very glad we did.

We also got kitties, lost one, found it, and then had to say goodbye to the other sooner than we wanted.

This year I learned about debt, and credit scores, and loans.  I learned about disappointment, heartache, hope, and the power of silence.

I learned about emotional loneliness, and I'm learning again what it takes to make and keep friends.

This year I've experienced the unrivaled joy of being happy with what I have and looking forward to what the future may bring.


So, my New Year's resolution is to soldier on.  To keep my feet moving forward and not backward and not standing still.  Soon we'll enter our second year of marriage and I just know there's going to be challenges I didn't expect, as well as triumphs and other things, and I hope that by this time next year I'll have achieved some goals and know more than I do now.  I hope everyone has a happy New Year.


love,
kayla

Brain Dump

I should probably not be looking up Final Fantasy 4 walkthroughs for my Gameboy Advance right now. 

I should probably be asleep in my bed with my head on my pillow and my butt all scooted up against my sleeping Tony.

Remember when 11:00 wasn't late?  I do.

Would it be bad form to pop the bubble wrap sitting next to me right now?

Tony got me Beauty and the Beast for Christmas, and we watched it tonight.  Do you know that Tony saw Beauty and the Beast maybe once or twice when he was younger and didn't remember hardly any of it?  Tragedy.  He sat and watched it with me, and laughed at the funny parts, and asked me if he was my Beast and if I danced around and sangs songs like Belle when he wasn't home, and he seemed a little swooney over how pretty Belle is.

Beauty and the Beast is my favorite.  Have you read this?:

Do so.

I'm kind of a fairytale lover.  I'm pretty much a sentimental person.  When I play video games like Final Fantasy, I put the characters in order according to their relationships to each other.  When #7 came out, my best friend and I would play it after school in my basement, complete with voices and everything.  We don't hang out anymore, but we still talk about that.

I still have dreams of my first car.  Her name was Towanda, and when I came out of stores and crossed the parking lot to her I was certain that she was happy to see me, like a faithful dog might be.

We're buying another car tomorrow, because both of ours died right before Christmas.  I'm excited about it, and I'll post pictures once we get her. 

She's yellow and I'm thinking of naming her Belle.

Merry.

Hello.

Was your Christmas merry?

Ours was.

We woke up, opened presents (gameboyoldschoolnintendoreloadingkitt-shirtbeautyandthebeasthandmadeblanket+miscellaneousstockingstuffers.  Now that's done, let's move on.)  And then we were treated to a tasty mountain breakfast up the canyon at Silver Fork Lodge by my lovely mother and stepfather.  And then, we snowboarded.  Guess who's learning her toe edge, and also learning about jumping up after a fall?

Snowboarding is exciting to me, because it's something I never thought I'd do.  Mentally or physically.  Strapping me footly into that board was a fear conquered in itself, and actually sliding down the mountain with some amount of speed is another.  This year I'm grateful for a patient husband.

So now we're looking forward to the New Year.  I'm not big on resolutions, but this year I may have something.  Nothing big or concrete, but something that works for myself.

I love Christmas, but I'm a little glad it's done with now.  Our first Christmas together was memorable.  I feel we've got some traditions started, but only time will tell.  The best part, though?  Seeing family.

This year, I got to know my sister better.

Which was a wonderful present in itself.  (But the boots she bought me are cool too.)

O.M.G.

(I never say that, by the way.  Except to Tony, and then only when I'm joking.)


But seriously.  Omg.

This is an earring holder, which I think is pretty genius, because currently my earring holder is one of our glass drinking cups.  Lulz.  (I don't say that either.)  Anyway, it's from here, and it's cute.

Hey, Merry Christmas everyone.  Or Happy Holidays.  You know.  Have you guys been totally gnoshing on Christmas goodies too?  I have, and I need to stop it because it's literally making me sick.  After one particularly treat-filled day I woke up completely nauseous and my first thought was "Oh no, I'm pregnant!" (I'm not) and my second thought was "Salad."  So for lunch today I am eating grape tomatoes, avocado, and smoked ham lunch meat.  It's like a sandwich without the bread, and I don't know why I chose to do things this way because, hello, I love bread.

Please have a Merry Christmas, everyone.  Tonight we're going to my brother's house for dinner, and then I'll be continuing my Holidays tradition of one year and watching The Empire Strikes Back (A New Hope was on Thanksgiving, and Return of the Jedi will be for New Year's.)  Then tomorrow it's our First Christmas as a married couple, which I think is the best thing ever.  I love being married.  We may even go snowboarding.  And then it's FONDUE DINNER WITH DAD, YIPPEE!!!  I love fondue and dads.

love,
kayla

Christmas List

I have a hard time not buying things for myself.  Not on a daily basis, but on days like these when Christmas shopping is involved and I'm spending money anyway, I find myself whispering "No, no," under my breath a lot and steadying myself as I walk away from whatever it is I'm dying to buy myself.  You see, I know what *I* like.  And  not so much what other people like, you know?  I'm beginning to realize that I need to learn how to be a better friend.

So let's get it out of our system, shall we? Here's some things I've been drooling over whilst walking about, trying to decide what my loved ones might be drooling over.

#1.

 

I've been in love with Cat Power for a while now, and this album is first on my list of new music to buy.

#2.

Still.  They just make me all warm inside.  Via VonlenskaVintage.

#3.

These kinds of bowls are delightful and practical and I'd probably want one even if I didn't knit.  Via RedHotPottery.

#4.

I've been wanting to read this for a while now, and I saw it again while browsing Barnes and Noble with my mom and sister.  Once I finish Deerskin, I'll probably find myself a copy.

#5.

Again in the knitting vein, Spud & Chloe yarn is my new crush.

Aaanyway.  Our tree is acquiring presents beneath it, and tonight Tony, Maya, and I are heading over to my mom's house to party it up with a bunch of beloved family. 

Yippee!

No time for blog, only for Facebook status updates.

Today I: ate yummy sushi with my mom and seester, saw my daddy at work, bought a truck, went to a movie, got a babysitting gig, watched the last of The Good Guys, and then my husband volunteered to go to the store to get some cheese so I can have cheesy chili.