reflecting and resolutions

I've been thinking back on our 2015 and am filled with nothing but gratitude. kendrick and i have been incredibly blessed this past year and are so grateful for the opportunities, memories, and new friendships that have come our way.

this year, we...

...traveled! 

we started the year off with a trip to montana for some snowmobiling with family.

we were able to celebrate our good friend's birthday in las vegas.

we took a road trip to seattle, which ended up being one of my favorite vacations to date.

we celebrated our one year anniversary in california, making a mandatory stop at disneyland

...got new jobs/promotions!

I started the year working as a front desk receptionist for healthequity. in may, I was promoted to an executive assistant for the svp of member services. currently, I am working as an assistant for the executive vp of operations.

kendrick started the year out at captioncall, but transitioned over to cardon outreach as a patient advocate. he finally found his ideal job in september as a medical research assistant at pra health sciences. he excelled in his position, and was quickly offered a promotion in december. 

...added to our family!

no, we did not have a baby this year, but we did gain two sisters-in-law (jade and karissa), and two nieces and a nephew (myla, olive, and aiden)

...got our own place!

our original plan was to buy a home this year, but not knowing if we'd be living in utah much longer for kendrick's schooling, we decided to go the apartment route. we are currently at a one-bedroom apartment on the midvale/sandy border, and we absolutely love it.

a pretty good year, right?  we both feel so lucky to be in jobs that we love, in a place that feels like home, and overall, with each other. 

and now the fun part, next year's resolutions:

- attend the temple once a month 

we were actually quite good this past year (pat on the back), and only missed two months. so next year, we aren't missing any.

- pressing forward in school

kendrick is getting closer to his degree, and i'm committing myself to start going again!

- be healthy

I'm not going to do the cliche thing and commit to going to the gym four times a week, because I know that will not happen. however, you got to start somewhere.. so we are going to work on eating healthier. maybe that will mean stocking our fridge with fresh produce and vegis... maybe it will just mean no more late-night runs to wendy's... it's too soon to say. 

- travel

we want to go to some new places! so far, canada is a candidate. we were thinking europe, but just the planning stages stressed me out. maybe in two years?

- church attendance

staying for all three hours of church seems to be a never ending challenge for us, and we are committing ourselves to being better this year! who knows, maybe our church time now being eleven will help...

- giving back

we've frequently discussed wanting to get involved in more charity work, whether that be donating items to a shelter or volunteering at a soup kitchen, I think 2016 is the time to make it happen!

- being content

this one is more personally for me, as I find myself often comparing myself to others or wishing for more items to fill my home or closet with. I want to work on being content with myself, my belongings, and all other components in my life that I'm so incredibly lucky to have.

cheers to a happy and healthy 2016!

after christmas shopping

I'm sure it doesn't come to much surprise that kendrick and I went out shopping the day after christmas. crowded shopping malls may get to some people, but in my opinion, it's all part of the christmas season.

our first stop was nordstrom rack, where they were having a "clear the rack sale" which took twenty five percent off any marked down item. I scored a pretty silver dress and some distressed ag jeans (their softness and quality has convinced me to never, ever return to forever 21 for jeans again). afterward, we spent some time at city creek, where kendrick became the proud owner of a shiny new xbox one. I kid you not, he just about cried when we were walking out of the store with it. 

New jeans, purse, and watch!

we had work off monday the 28th as well, so decided to spend the day in park city. our first stop was j.crew factory, where we experienced one of the best sales of our life. everything in the store was fifty percent off- with an additional twenty percent off at check out. how on earth do you pass that up? we have both been needing socks lately, so decided to stock up on those. and when I say stock up, I mean stock up. we also snatched kendrick up a new pair of pants, which we of course got for an absolute steal.

and you thought I was kidding...

this day was also bitterly cold, but so pretty!

our past week has been packed with plenty more shopping, but those were the two best sales that we hit, so I thought they were worth a mention. 

now just three months until we will need to restock our sock collection again, as I am ninety-five percent sure that we have a ghost that steals them all. seriously.

two more days 'til new years eve!

christmas morning

my ideal christmas morning would be sleeping in until ten... maybe eleven. I mean, let's face it, the magic is pretty much gone when you're no longer anxiously waiting to see what santa brought you (especially when you're the one setting out the presents for yourself the night before). as I've gotten older, sleep has definitely made it's way up on my priority list, even if it means present-opening will be delayed an hour or two.

I must have been joking myself when I thought sleeping in until ten would even be an option. kendrick was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at six a.m., and then was bouncing around and dragging me out of bed by eight. however, once I saw the nice stack of presents, I quickly forgave my cute husband and all was right in the world again.

this year was a little different, as no one else in kendrick's family had presents to open. chase and karissa did their own thing the morning before and james had already redeemed his presents earlier in the month. so kendrick and I got cozy in front of the fireplace and took turns unwrapping ours. since we don't have kids yet, we love to spoil each other for christmas. of course, we are well aware of the true meaning of christmas and that will always come before any other part of the holiday season. but at the same time, we love having fun with the gift portion, and shopping for the perfect surprises for each other. I guess it's just kind of our thing. 

it was so much fun seeing the gorgeous things that kendrick picked out for me, and I loved seeing him open the things I found for him. kendrick surprised me with a beautiful light pink michael kors bag, a rose gold tortoise michael kors watch, gold slippers, boots, an anthropologie jewelry box and "k" mug, a portable blue tooth player for my iPhone, a new phone case, and a new black coat that I'm obsessed with. I surprised kendrick with a leather temple bag, a drone, a pair of sperry boots, two button ups (including a jack spade one- I was pretty proud of that find), a set of leather bound lord of the rings books, mocassin slippers, two copper mugs, and a weekender bag. 

I'm still obsessing over a few of my gifts... I can't get enough of them.

once kendrick and I were finished, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of smoked turkey, quiche, fruit, and egg nog. afterwards, we opened up presents from our family secret santa gift exchange. trish had my name, and she gave me a set of super nice kitchen knives which is something that we were in desperate need of. I honestly love getting practical gifts, because they are not something that I'm usually willing to go out and buy myself (I usually come across a necklace or pair of shoes and get that instead). so, the knives were a really, really nice surprise. kendrick received a sushi gift card from karissa, which was also pretty great, as we've been craving sushi lately like it's no ones business.

we decided to head out to my parent's house around one o'clock. the rest of the afternoon and evening was filled with delicious scones, opening presents, and a couple of nerve-wracking games of pie face and jenga. 

harmony and jeff had our name for the family's secret santa exchange, and they gave us an adorable gift basket full of items that related to the song "let it snow". it was such a thoughtful and well put together gift!

in all, it was a very wonderful (and white) christmas spent with all my favorite people!

christmas eve

I honestly can't believe that christmas has already come and gone! it's so nice having new years eve to look forward to right after the holiday, as it seems to soften the post-christmas-blues a bit (is that a thing? because I totally feel like that's a thing)

however, my christmas was absolutely wonderful and I am so thankful for the family and friends that made it that way! now, let's fast forward things a bit...

on tuesday, my work took everyone and their families to see the new star wars movie. to be perfectly honest, I have never been a major fan of that series... it may just be due to the fact that I'm not really into the sci-fi genre (kendrick tries desperately to forget this small and shameful fact about me). so basically, I wasn't expecting a lot. however, that ended up playing in my favor because I was completely blown away. I absolutely loved it! I've heard quite a few mixed reviews regarding the movie, but all I know is that it was jam packed with nostalgia and actually felt like a star wars movie, which is pretty impressive when the last one came out years ago and it was directed by someone new. so, two thumbs up from me!

after the movie, we took a small drive over to the infamous "christmas street" in taylorsville. my family and I have visited this street every year since I was little, and it's a tradition I want to keep alive for when kendrick and I start having kids. the street is absolutely decked out with lights and holiday decor, and the story "the night before christmas" is displayed on large canvases outside each home. pure magic, I tell you.

 on christmas eve, kendrick and I spent the day relaxing, doing some shopping (yes, we're insane), and wrapping up last-minute presents. once 2 o'clock hit, we were on the road and headed to his parents house.

a majority of the night was spent at a dinner party held at kendrick's aunt's house. this house (or i should say estate) is no doubt the most gorgeous home i've ever been in. the walls had the original brick, the ceiling had exposed beams, and all of the decor was so incredibly perfect that the house looked straight out of a catalog. also, we later learned that the granite used to build the house was from the same block that built the salt lake temple. so yeah, the more you know, right?

there was a white elephant gift exchange that allowed us to leave as the proud owners of the game pie face. kendrick and I have wanted to play this game since we started seeing video clips of it popping up all over facebook. however, it wasn't exactly one we wanted to go out and buy (not sure how much it would get played), so walking away with it from a gift exchange was a win in itself. and yes, we have already pulled out that baby and yes it is as hilarious as we thought it would be (and quite terrifying if you're the one getting whip cream slapped in your face).

once back at kendrick's house, we all enjoyed some egg nog while watching a christmas story, because what respectable christmas eve is complete without that movie?

christmas day coming up next!

playing holiday catch-up

kendrick finally wrapped up finals last week, and I am thrilled to announce that we are filling up every spare moment of every single day with festive holiday activities. last year, Kendrick decided to forego the fall/winter semester, as we were busy planning a wedding. so, this year, I definitely wasn't used to Kendrick being buried in books and studying the first half of december. but, with finals now out of the way, we are finally able to play holiday catch-up with the remaining week that we have before christmas.

challenge accepted. 

last thursday night was my team's holiday dinner party. being the executive assistant of the operations department, it was my responsibility to plan and make arrangements. it didn't take me long to decide on a dinner with spouses at Benihana. almost every single person from the team showed up, and we all had such a great time getting to know one another and watching shrimp and utensils thrown into the air as the food was cooked. with money not being an issue, kendrick and I loaded our plates with chicken, steak, shrimp, and some of the most terrific sushi.

friday night was kendrick's holiday work party. it was held at the natural museum of history, located right behind the university of utah. it was such a gorgeous venue with ceiling to floor length windows that overlooked the entire salt lake valley, and I couldn't help but think how lovely it would be to have a wedding reception there. the party started with an open bar and some of the most delicious appetizers I've ever had. Kendrick and I loaded (and I mean loaded) our plates with an assortment of cheeses, crackers, bruschetta, and Indian spiced chicken skewers. we also helped ourselves to Italian sodas from the bar, and learned the secret to making them the most heavenly concoction ever- cream soda instead of club soda. honestly, it's life changing.

there was a raffle held after dinner, and while we missed out on the big screen tv, kendrick's name was drawn for grizzly tickets in january- dinner and suite included. yeah, it wasn't a tv, but our names are never drawn for anything, so we will take what we can get.

saturday morning was my extended family christmas party. the theme of the party was "star wars", in honor of my uncle bret who passed away earlier this year (he was a huge star wars fan). the party included a delicious breakfast buffet, trivia games, a white elephant gift exchange, and a pinata. kendrick and I both walked away from the gift exchange with two pretty great gifts- a five dollar target gift card and the game scattergories (my favorite!)

the rest of saturday was a craft day with all my sisters. harmony helped jade and nicole sew some clothing, wendy and my mom worked on their own sewing projects, and i painted a canvas.... let's just say the sewing gene that runs deeply in my family did not transfer over to me.

sunday afternoon was the "december birthday party" with my family, as we have four birthdays in this month alone. we pigged out on fajitas, opened presents, and devoured a delicious birthday cake and pie. afterwards, most of us headed over to temple square to look at the lights- definitely my favorite christmas tradition!

it's safe to say that our weekend was filled to the brim with holiday cheer... not bad for half a month's worth of catch-up, right? i'm so excited for what this week holds, as both kendrick and i took work off wednesday through monday of next week. we'll probably fill the week with last-minute christmas shopping, a visit to christmas street, gingerbread house making, christmas movie watching, and a trip to the temple. we are especially excited for my company's party, as they rented out four theaters for everyone and their families to come and watch the new star wars.
 I just can't think of a better week.

merry christmas!

also, p.s. remember how I said we were waiting to get snow in salt lake? yeah that happened, like literally the next morning. crossing my fingers that it sticks around- i want a white christmas!

let it snow...

lately, I have been absolutely overwhelmed by how blessed I am. I have the most thoughtful husband in the world, who will go to any length to ensure that I'm happy. I have a wonderful family and two loving parents who have been the greatest examples of love, devotion, and selflessness. kendrick and I both have great jobs that allow us to pay the bills and save, yet have enough left over to enjoy the things that we love. we live in a darling apartment that we both absolutely adore and got for quite a steal. we have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives that fills every single day with hope and meaning.

obviously, my life is far from perfect and each day is filled with it's own demanding trials. however, through and through I have realized that there is one way to get past life's difficulties, and that thing is gratitude. I may not have it all, but I do have everything that I need, and for that I am truly, truly blessed.

p.s. we got our first taste of snow this weekend in Richfield! just waiting for it to hit Salt Lake....

deck the halls

I have had so much fun decorating the apartment for the holidays, as this is our very first place together. kendrick has been a pretty great sport, letting me decorate and re-decorate everyday, and making plenty of trips to target for more decorations. honestly, I don't think you can ever have enough.

a little view of our place:

 I had fun making these gold trees, using leftover sparkly gold paper from my and kendrick's wedding invitations. (also- candle stick missing candle)

the uglier the sweater, the better the party

this month has put me in such a great mood, and all I really want to do with every free moment I have is watch Hallmark Christmas movies, wrap presents, and drink hot chocolate (which is admittedly exactly what I have been doing). on Friday, Kendrick and I attended our very first Christmas party of the season- his family's annual ugly sweater/white elephant soiree. now, this is not your typical wrap-up-any-junk-in-the-house white elephant gift exchange. there are high expectations with this one, and bringing something truly hilarious and border-line risque is mandatory.

this year's party did not disappoint- we were laughing our heads off at every gift opened! my favorite was probably the poor sucker who opened up a gift bag to find a plastic bag full of goldfish, a bag of Sun Chips, and a note that said "enjoy your fish and chips". also, apparently the couple who got the gold fish also received a gerbil in the exchange a previous year... so they must have quite the pet collection accumulating at home.

unfortunately, Kendrick and I didn't get too creative with our sweaters this year, and just threw on the ones we wore last year. However, after seeing Chase and Karissa's... we're ready to bring our A-game next year.

'tis the season!

give thanks

thanksgiving week went by way too fast.. which I know is crazy to say seeing that it was basically a five day weekend. kendrick and I had such a great time relaxing in our cozy apartment and spending quality time with each other- I wish every week could be like that!

this year, our Thanksgiving feast took place at Aaron and Nicole's house. dinner was delicious, and we had fun playing games afterwards while pigging out on a large assortment of pies. later that evening was spent at Kendrick's parents house, where we watched a movie and spent time with the family. it was a great day to reflect on how incredibly blessed I am. I can't express how thankful I am for my loving husband, supportive family, great job, and the gospel of Jesus Christ- I can't imagine my life without any of them!

we decided to forego Black Friday shopping this year, which I know is absolutely shocking, considering how much of a shopper I am. however, this year I'm doing all of my Christmas shopping online (and I'm just about done, woo!) so I figured that if I went out searching for deals, I'd end up purchasing things I don't even need. look at me being all financially responsible and whatnot.

the day after Thanksgiving is always my favorite, because it's the day that I finally get to put up the Christmas tree! there is honestly something so magical about putting up Christmas decorations while having a holiday movie playing and a cup of hot chocolate nearby... seriously, nothing beats it. I think this year I might even be turning Kendrick into an extreme-Christmas-enthusiast like myself, as he just told me that he created a holiday "play list" on his iPhone. I just don't know if I've ever heard him say anything sexier.

I've said it before (like, three hundred time), and I'll say it again- I love the Christmas season! I love the spirit of the holiday- from gift giving, Christmas light watching, hot chocolate drinking and holiday movie binge watching to remembering our Savior's birth- there's just nothing like the month of December!

pass the cake and bread pudding, please

last Tuesday I received a couple of Jazz tickets from work. Kendrick and I have been chatting about going to a Jazz game for a while, so we were both obviously excited to attend their opening game for the season. once home, I put the tickets up on the fridge using a magnet (as I tend to lose small things that are made of paper). when Kendrick got home from school, he saw the tickets on the fridge and immediately exclaimed, "um, these are for the executive suite!" I didn't exactly know what that was, so nonchalantly replied with a "...yes."

apparently, there is a huge difference between an executive suite and your basic seat at a Jazz game. ours was on the top floor of the arena, included a large formal dining room and buffet, and seats that overlooked the game. unfortunately, due to parking issues, we ended up being 45 minutes late and missed dinner. however, the staff was incredibly accommodating and put together two plates for us that had a variety of options that were offered at the buffet (the variety was certainly random, as I had a large piece of meat, a cup of soup, and a handful of mini corn dogs). luckily, we were there in time for the dessert buffet, because that was obviously the selection that mattered. kendrick grabbed some bread pudding, pie, and a strawberry cream pastry, while I grabbed chocolate ice cream and a piece of chocolate cake (the other couple that was there with us from work was on their first date, and they both only grabbed fruit... it was pretty hysterical to see who was the married couple and who was the 1st date couple by what was on our plates).

it was a wonderful evening, and for the icing on the cake, the Jazz won!

happy halloween!

I had the idea for Kendrick and my costumes since last Halloween, and naturally, I waited until the night before and morning of Halloween to create them. I have to say, major props to Kendrick... because I really don't think there are many men out there okay with being dressed as a pinata.

making his pinata outfit was honestly so much fun (and really sticky- lots of spray adhesive!) one thing I didn't take into account was the realization that a stretchy shirt would infact stretch when put on.... so, of course, a good amount of crepe paper tore once we he had put on the top half of his costume.

(this is probably my favorite picture of all time- the candy flying in the air was timed perfectly)

as always, Harmony's family hit it out of the partk with their costumes, as they came as the characters from the game Clue! harmony was Mrs. Peacock, Jeff was Colonel Mustard (I'm still convinced he was Professor Archimedes Q. Porter from Tarzan), Keegan was Mr. Green, and Aiden was the cutest little Professor Plum I ever did see. let's just say that after they all came down the stairs, everyone was in agreement to not even go on with the costume contest- we had our winners!

chris and jade's costumes won major cool points, as they came as Black Widow and Hawk Eye. they both pulled of their costumes extremely well, and I'm still convinced that Jade should dye her hair red.

we also had a special appearance from Buzz Lightyear and Woody.... I just don't remember them being so dang cute in the movies?

and last but not least, the zombie prom queen and king themselves!

the afternoon was spent listening to my dad's Halloween CD, eating delicious pretzel bites and caramel fondue with apples, and then feasting on our traditional dinner in a pumpkin. after dinner, Chris and Jade had some fun minute-to-win-it games, in which Kendrick and I shamefully came in last place. we'll brush up on our toilet-paper-mummy-wrapping and water-pong skills by next year!

people starting getting ready to leave for trick-or-treating soon after the games ended, so that's when Kendrick and I decided to leave. we ended up going to Cornbelly's Insanity Point haunted corn maze with our friends Collin and Sara that night, and it was honestly so much fun! I don't know the last time I've been that scared in a haunted house... my heart was pounding for like an hour after we got out! there was one point in the maze where I actually tripped from being scared so bad, and banged up my knee pretty good. It was hilarious! I'm definitely going back there next year.

in all, it was a fantastic Halloween with all of my favorite people- including the cutest lil' pinata in the world.

(kendrick totally gets dibs on what our costumes are next year)

california, part four

okay, so I'm a little embarrassed to admit how we spent our last day in California, but I guess it's kind of funny... and a memory is a memory, right?

well, basically, while we were at the Angels game the night before, we were lured into a booth outside of the stadium with the promises of a free iPad and trip to Hawaii... so, we had every reason to stop... right? (ha! in retrospect.. wrong, so wrong). it took the guy about 15 minutes to convince us to drive out to San Diego the next day to check out a resort and sit through a "short" presentation on timeshares. easy enough, right? also, I was having trouble walking from how sore my feet and legs were, so we were both completely okay with skipping out on our 3rd day in Disneyland (because honestly, at that moment, nothing sounded less appealing that another full day of walking and waiting in lines). so, we signed the paper and the plans were made- we were headed out to San Diego for our last full day in California.

to be honest, it was a fun and unexpected adventure... at first. we were able to stop at the San Diego temple, which is a temple I have always wanted to see. the place literally looks like a castle! we ended up meeting a couple of sweet sister missionaries on the temple grounds, and they gave us tips on good beaches in the area (then again, are missionaries really the best people to get advice from on beaches?...just kidding). San Diego is in the middle of a pretty awful drought at the moment, so the grounds weren't as beautiful as they usually are, but major props to the church for not using more water than necessary! the place was still completely stunning.

after the temple, we headed out to Walmart to stock up on treats for our beach trip later that day. afterwards, we were off to the resort for our timeshare presentation.

I am not going to bore you with the details- and to be honest, even talking about it still makes me frustrated (I guess I'm still not in the "able to laugh about it" phase), but what was supposed to be a 90 minute presentation, quickly turned into 4 hours. yeah, you read that right- 4 hours. 4 hours. we had made it pretty clear in the first 30 minutes that we were not going to be purchasing anything, and in all transparency- we were just there for our free stuff. BUT that did not stop our lovely sales agent from telling us over and over how "we were the perfect couple for this", and how this "opportunity only comes once", and making us sit through a 20 minute video on families who have built strong relationships only because they purchased a timeshare from this resort. please excuse me while I roll my eyes.

one thing that really got our blood boiling was when we were told that our marriage could fail if we didn't vacation enough, so in order to avoid such a terrible thing, we must get a timeshare now! ...seriously, what outcome do they hope to get from that sales technique? "our marriage will fail what?! we can't let that happen, where do we sign?! do you take american express?"

anyways, after about 3.5 hours, we had made it abundantly clear that we were not interested, to which the lady told us she would "have someone bring us our prizes". it wasn't our prizes that showed up next, but another sales person offering us even lower rates. I can't even begin to explain how much anxiety I was having at this moment, and when the guy was in mid-sentence, I abruptly cut him off and exclaimed- "i'm sorry, but this is our last day in California for our anniversary, and if I am not on a beach in 30 minutes, I am going to be really, really sad!"

he seemed a little shocked and uncomfortable by my outburst, but it worked! he let us leave! Kendrick and I collected our prizes and raced back to our car as fast as possible. my heart was pounding in my chest and there may have been some choice words escaped towards those people who stole four hours on the last day of our vacation. yes, we were the ones who decided to go- but please don't advertise a presentation as 90 minutes when it's really almost triple that.

the rest of the night was spent at Carlsbad beach, which was exactly what we needed. this was honestly one of the prettiest beaches I have ever been to and it was nearly empty! Kendrick and I swam in the ocean for a bit, took some pictures, and sat on the beach while the sun set. it was the perfect ending to our mini-vacation (and very frustrating day), and both of us wished the whole day had been spent there.

it was a wonderful vacation with my love, celebrating one whole year of good times. I already can't wait for our 2 year anniversary trip... which I'm sure will include a little more beach and a lot less timeshare presentation. ;)

(okay, so maybe I'm easing into the "able to laugh about it" phase)