I have severely slacked at blogging, but my reason is pretty legitimate- I got a job! I am now working for Health Equity as the front desk receptionist, alongside another girl. I've only been there for about a month so far, but can already tell it's going to be a perfect fit.
I was scrolling through my pictures on my iPhone the other day, hoping to clear some out for space reasons, when I realized that so many pictures from the holidays were never blogged or posted! So here is my cheat post, or as I like to call it, my "holiday recap".
I
really got into the Christmas spirit (maybe even a little too much?) and made sooo many holiday treats. From white chocolate pretzel rods to reindeer cupcakes, I did it all. Unfortunately, I only got this one picture of rice krispy pops, but I assure you that all the others were just as festive.
Kendrick and I joined Chris and Jade in seeing the infamous "tree of life"- a tree in Draper that is completely covered in white lights, which resembles the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon (hense the name,
obviously). To be perfectly honest, Temple Square does their trees a
million times better and this Draper tree received way too much attention for what it actually was, but either way we got a cute picture out of it. ;)
Kendrick's extended family throws a yearly ugly sweater/white elephant party- and this was my first year getting to go! I purchased my sweater at JC Penneys (I know, I know, it's not that ugly. But trust me, I tried) and we made Kendrick's sweater from a kit on Amazon.
The party was a blast! Cafe Rio catered and it was so much fun seeing the sweaters that everyone came up with. The best part was surely the white elephant gift exchange, as this was notorious for getting a little bit... risque. There were definitely a couple of gifts that left people blushing, but all were down right hilarious. The funniest part was watching Chase's girlfriend open up a "drug kit" (it included a homemade pipe and little baggies of spices that were made to look like drugs) and then seeing Kendrick's mom bright red from embarrassment and laughing so hard, as it was from her and she wasn't expecting it to go to her son's new girlfriend.
We took the liberty of starting a brand new Christmas Eve tradition for our little family this year- new pajamas and eating Chinese take out while watching A Christmas Story! My parents and Chris and Jade joined us this year and it was so much fun being with everyone! I'm definitely looking forward to this tradition continuing each year.
Unfortunately, I got pretty sick that night and spent most of the night running to the bathroom to throw up. There may have been a couple of occasions where I snuck out to the front room to see what Kendrick had put in my stocking... I just really needed something to lift my spirits. ;)
Christmas morning was awesome! Kendrick loved the Italian wool cardigan that I surprised him with, which I'm really happy I was able to get! I had ordered it online for a steal back in November, but something completely different came in the mail. So I quickly made it over to Banana Republic to find out that they were sold out everywhere... Until they found one more available in New York in Kendrick's size! Fate, I tell you. That sweater was meant to be Kendrick's. (Joke) (kind of)
After presents were open and everyone was showered and ready, the rest of the family came over (except for Harmony and Jeff's family, who were in Florida for the holidays with Jeff's family.)
We all opened the rest of the presents and ate some delicious soup and treats. I still wasn't feeling too great, so headed off to the bedroom to get some rest before Kendrick and I headed out that night.
Oh, by the way, Kendrick completely spoiled me rotten! I got a few major things on my wish list, including some Hunter Boots, a Kate Spade watch, and a pearl necklace.
Kendrick woke me up from my glorious Christmas nap around 5:00, and we packed up our things and headed out to Richfield! Kendrick's dad made plans for us all to stay a few nights in St. George at his sister Liz's house, and we all couldn't wait to get down there and ditch the snow.
The drive to Richfield was pretty stressful, as it was a blizzard for about the third of the way. Also, I was still pretty nauseous, and it sure isn't easy to get comfortable in a car. However, we arrived safely and it was so much fun to see Kendrick's family and all their new Christmas presents and gadgets.
We left for St. George the next morning, and I slept for a large portion of the drive. Once in St. George, we made our way over to Liz's house- I couldn't believe the size of it! Definitely one of the nicest houses I have ever stayed in, and the decorating was on point.
That night we got to use Liz's credit at the country club and treat ourselves to a dinner buffet. For how much that dinner was, it was shockingly not that great! However, who can complain about a free dinner and the atmosphere of a big-shot country club was definitely an experience.
The next day was an eventful one- we got up early and made our way to Vegas!
Not much can be said about this day, it was mainly just a fun day of a lot of shopping, a little gambling, and all the food you could ever need or want.
However, I do have to mention the fabulous deals I scored at the Kate Spade outlet! If you know me, you'll know that I love Kate Spade. It's definitely pricey, and each purchase has to be thought out and saved for, but it's so worth it. Anyways, at the outlet, everything was 60% off! Kendrick's parents had generously given us both a good chunk of spending money for Christmas, so I was able to treat myself to not one, but two Kate Spade bags. Best. Shopping. Trip. Ever.
We spent the next couple of days in St. George lounging around and watching movies- definitely my kind of vacation. However, I did find out that I had a bladder infection (TMI?) and I was super stressed out about it, since I was currently uninsured. But, my sweet PA brother called in an antibiotic prescription to the closest pharmacy to where we were, and I'll forever be grateful for that.
All in all, it was an excellent Christmas vacation, nauseua and bladder infections aside. (TMI, again).
