Christmas is Coming

So I've been feeling the Christmas spirit this year a lot more than I usually do.  I don't think we even so much as got a tree last year. I know. I'm a horrible person. And I generally don't like Christmas music. It makes me instantly irritated. Maybe it's the fact that they redo the same 10 songs over and over. But I digress.

My point is, this year I'm doing much better already. We went and picked out a tree this weekend and actually decorated it! Gracie loves it. She always does love the tree though. And surprisingly she doesn't ever attack the ornaments. And I played Christmas music! I still have a very limited amount of music that I'll listen to, specifically music I remember hearing growing up, but hey, it's the first time I've listened to Christmas music by choice in a really long time!

She looks so introspective...

We also had my company Christmas party this past weekend. It was nice to get dressed up with my super hot husband and hang out with my work buddies. Didn't win another Wii this year, but the trip into the photobooth was a nice consolation prize. I don't think I've ever even been in one!

Now to see if the festive feelings continue!

Who Wants a Madball?!

When I was a kid, we always had one Saturday of Christmas shopping during the holiday season during which we would go to the mall and get presents for each of our family members. My dad would give us $5 to spend on each family member and then we'd split up, half of us going with Mom and half going with Dad.

This shopping excursion usually lasted a couple of hours. The first half was spent trying to find presents for the other group of family members all whilst sneaking around the mall, trying not to let them see what stores we were going into. After the first hour was over, we'd meet up again and switch around the groups in order to get everyone covered. Everybody was always very secretive and tried their best to hide the contents of their shopping bags while handing them to Dad to make a trip to the car to stash them.

Now $5 was worth a little more back then, but not much, so we had to be pretty choosy about what we spent the money on. I'm sure there were a few choice gifts given through the years. Who can forget the "Madball" Annie gave my dad. I'm sure he loved that one. Or the Miss Piggy stickers Corinne gave me one year. And I can't remember who was the giver and who was the receiver, but at one point someone was given underwear. Yippee!

The ever popular 'Madballs'

The hardest part of buying Christmas presents for your siblings is actually keeping them a secret. I think there was once or twice that we divulged to each other what it was we had purchased. It always spoiled the fun on Christmas morning though, so we eventually learned that it was better to keep our mouths shut.

I know the money spent on those gifts probably would have gone to better use in my parents' hands, but I admire them for letting us in on the giving aspect of Christmas and letting us make our own choices. It produced such good memories and I appreciate the time and effort they put into making it a special time for us.

The Loot

Seth and I had a great Christmas this year. We both got everything we wanted and then some. We feel pretty fortunate.

Seth got a fly reel for his new...

...8 weight fly rod! He can't wait to go try out his new setup.

I got a new camera! Wahoo! It looks pretty fancy. (This picture was taken with the old camera, that's why my face looks so... somehow).

I also got a cute new beanie. I asked for one with ear flaps and Santa didn't disappoint.

Seth  tied a bunch of Chernobyl Ant flies for me so I could have some backup lucky bugs. They look great!

Mom & Dad Holley gave a generous donation to the "Hanson Super Fun Time Fund" and Mom made me this cute apron out of 2 napkins.

Annie & Eric gave us this awesome 80% homemade bulletin board.

Mom & Dad Hanson gave us all these goodies. The box of chocolate truffles didn't survive long enough for the picture.

The Smiths gave us some fleece socks (great for fishing!) and a box of assorted flies. Plus the box it was wrapped in was super cute so I'm counting that too. Collette & Marty also took us out for breakfast. Thanks guys!

Heidi & Paul gave us this fancy salt & pepper grinder. Our old set was looking pretty sad!

We just wanted to thank everybody for being so dang generous. We really appreciate all the thought and effort you put into these gifts. We feel really lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family. Thanks again!

Boobs & Christmas Trees

A couple weeks ago we went to the tree lot at The Boob Theatre (I'm sure you can see why we call it this) and picked out a little Christmas tree. It was fun, but fairly uneventful, except for the part where Seth used his man-skills to start up the lot owner's 4 wheeler for him. I was so proud.

The Boob Theatre

I just posted this one because he looks insane. He was really just taking the trash out.

Pretending to put the Christmas tree skirt on, even though I'd already done it 5 minutes before this.

The finished product. That is Gracie's new favorite spot. She likes to look at the tree.

We managed to get the tree up and decorated without killing each other, which is always a plus. It looks totally different from last year's.

Nothing Really

So I've been in the blogging mood these last few days, but I've got a little bit of writer's block. So I'll just ramble about nothing for a minute.

For any of you who were curious, I didn't win anything for my Sarah Palin costume at work. Big jerk faces. I probably just didn't campaign hard enough. Several supporters have voiced their disappointment & surprise at my loss. I think maybe it's best I take some time off and concentrate on my family and work on my book. There's more fame and fortune true happiness in that anyway.

Also, I've got this weird phenomenon going on with me. I've been drinking water pretty regularly now for the last few months. Before this I didn't drink much of anything and I didn't ever feel thirsty. Now whenever I drink water it makes me more thirsty. I could drink my whole bottle of water and still feel extremely thirsty. How is that possible? I mean it wouldn't be so bad if I could drink that much water and still be a productive member of society, but having to run to the bathroom every half hour gets little old. And then it makes people think I must have some kind of bowel issues. Which I don't. Really.

Lately we've been getting a lot of catalogs in the mail (OK there's only 3 and two of them were from Cabelas). Last night Seth told me I should go through them and circle everything in there that I liked so he could have some ideas for Christmas. I'm all for helping people figure out what to get for me, even though Seth always does a good job. Plus I'm usually surprised still because there's several items to choose from.

So I sat on the couch with my red Sharpie and started flipping through the pages. The L.L. Bean catalog was first and they had some cute hoodie jackets in there but they were like $50! $50 for a hoodie? That's insane! So I went on to the next catalog which was the Cabelas Christmas catalog. Of course I circled the camo bedspread set with matching curtains. And I was tempted to circle the meat and cheese sets or the pheasant roast, because they seriously looked really good. Then the sleeping bags looked really nice, but who wants to get a sleeping bag from their husband for Christmas? Turns out finding your own present is hard. I didn't make it to the last catalog which was the Cabelas Fly-Fishing Catalog. I think maybe there'll be something more my style in there, but we'll see. Other people always think of way better stuff to get me than I think of, and half the time they've made it themselves! I'm not very creative at gift giving. Well, actually, I wouldn't say I'm not very creative at gift giving, it's just that all the things I think of are way too expensive. I need to work on having cheaper taste in merchandise. Or expand my crafting abilities.

Super Fun Time

I know you've all been waiting for this moment... the time when I get to share with you all of the wonderful activities Seth and I enjoyed over Christmas vacation. We both really needed the break from work and school and made the most of the time we had together and with our families.

We spent our first Christmas together at home. Seth got me a fancy new Simms fly fishing vest and tied up a whole box of Royal Wulff flies. He spent a lot of time on my gift and I really appreciate all the thought he put into it. I really loved it!

I just woke up... Don't be jealous!

Seth also really liked his gift. I got him a fly tying bench complete with a lamp and a fly box. He's been tying a lot of flies lately (in addition to the ones he made me!) and he uses his new bench a lot.

We did really well this year I thought especially considering we set a reasonable budget for gifts and actually stuck to it. We may have had to think a little more and spend a bit more time, but I think it made everything mean that much more.

We also got some really nice things from our family. My parents gave us a set of monogrammed towels (which my mom made herself!). Corinne and her family gave us a print of one of my Dad's pictures. It turned out really beautiful and looks great in our apartment. Annie and Eric put all of the family home videos on DVDs along with music and everything. There were around 10 DVDs that they made and I could tell it was a lot of work. We really appreciated and loved it. Seth's family exchanges names and this year Rachel and Abraham had our name. Rachel crocheted a beautiful white afghan for us and made some mixes for soup, biscuits and cookies. It was very thoughtful and I'm sure it took her a long time to make.

We spent Christmas with my family this year because my sister, Corinne and her family were here from Arizona. The day after Christmas my dad took me, Seth, Corinne and JR out shooting on the west side of Utah Lake. Not too many people were out because it was pretty cold and snowy.

My 'Home Defender'



I think this is an AR-15, but who cares... I look hot!



Dad showing Seth his sawed off shotgun.



Militia anyone?


We had a great time skeet shooting using my dad's double barrelled shotgun.

Corinne's gone a little soft since she moved to Arizona...


JR's gone a little crazy.

It was great to see my nieces Lily and Ella and my nephew, Bryce. They are such cute kids and it was a blast hanging out with them. Lily, who just turned 5 was nice enough to give me a make-over using the make-up she just got for Christmas. I really needed it.

First, lipstick and face sparkles...

Next, eyeshadow. Blue is my signature color....


The finished product. Don't be a hater.

We also went to Clark Planetarium with my parents and Corinne and her family. We saw a 3-D movie called 'Santa vs. the Snowman.' The kids really liked it and we thought we looked pretty awesome in our special glasses!

We drove up to Idaho to spend New Year's with Seth's family. January 1st is our nephew, Soren's birthday. He turned 2 this year and we had fun with him and the family at Rachel's house.

Soren smiling while we sang him Happy Birthday.



Grandpa Hanson and Arielle


Collette and Marty

Tessa



Seth and Grandma Hanson... they were having a good time... really.

We probably won't get another long vacation like that for a while but it was fun while it lasted. We appreciate our families and the great people that they are. Hopefully we'll get to see them all again soon!

Look We're Festive!

After going for about 4-5 years without a Christmas tree, Seth and I decided this was the year to get one. We didn't have much room for a tree in our apartment, but we squeezed it in! I think it turned out pretty good and Gracie hasn't even torn it down yet!