My Mitt

I actually caught the end of the Republican debate in Florida tonight. It was fun to listen to - Mitt was on top of his game and sounded great. While I was listening, one line by Romney made me laugh OUT LOUD! When responding to a question about Bill and Hillary back in power, he said, "The idea of Bill Clinton back in the white house with nothing to do is something I just can’t imagine and I don’t think the American people can imagine." I totally cracked up. After the debate the commentators really seemed to latch onto the line as well. GO MITT 2008!!

MLK Day: Painting the Basement

We thought about going out to do something "fun" for our Monday holiday, but it was pretty much freezing outside so we didn't really pursue the idea. We decided to stay home and paint our basement instead! We've been in our house 2 1/2 years now and we painted quite a bit at the beginning (green kitchen, soft yellow front room, blue, brown, and cream bedroom, etc.). Lately we haven't done much of anything, but we have LOTS of projects we'd like to do. It was nice to get a small one behind us!

Here is the messy basement while the painting was in progress. Right now our basement is pretty much just an exercise area. Here you can see my beautiful treadmill (one of my most favorite possessions)! We also have a weight set Joe found on Craig's list.
Here is Joe - always the happy painter. He did all of the rolling and painted the baseboards. I did the edging. A day or so earlier I told him I didn't like that shirt he is wearing very much. By the end of the day, it was covered in paint. I guess now it's his painting shirt!

Edging is a very tough and important job! Lots of concentration!
Here is the final result. Yes, we know the paint color doesn't match the carpet. Don't worry - the carpet is going to go! The paint color is kind of hard to see but it looks good, I promise.

At the end of the day we decided it had been a good day. It is always nice to accomplish something tangible. Plus we got to hang out with each other all day while we were painting! We also listened to my iPod music on the iPod speaker I got for Christmas, which made painting a lot more fun. I love my new speaker! After we finished we went out to Macaroni Grill with Lori and Nate - yum! Then we went home and did some studying.

More Partying in AZ

This is the last of the holiday posts - so sad! Joe is already back in school, and in one day I will be, too. I am excited about my new classes but am not so excited about the pace of life and stress that law school entails. Joe is always pleading with me to lighten up a little one of these days. It is definitely a goal of mine, so we will hope for the best as far as that goes! Anyway, I wanted to post a few more pictures from our Arizona trip! We had a great time ... as always. One tradition was missing, though ... no shopping at Last Chance (crazy store where you can find all of Nordstrom's returns). Every time I have gone to Arizona I have gone to Last Chance with Joe's sisters ... shopping is one of the few ways Joe has successfully convinced me that AZ isn't so bad after all. Last Chance is a little overwhelming for me (obviously not a true bargain shopper) but lots of fun. This time I decided I didn't really need anything and shouldn't spend any more money. The week was pretty packed anyway, with fun things such as ...

A caramel apple party!! As you can see, Joe's sister Michelle and I were pretty excited about it. We went all out on the toppings - caramel, chocolate, white chocolate, crushed m&ms, heath bar, peanuts ... are you hungry yet??

You kinda had to eat them fast ... cuz we never quite figured out how to get them to set very well. It wasn't too much of a problem because they were so yummy! Crisp apples are one of my favorite foods, and who wouldn't want to add a little pizzazz?

Also, we had to make some visits to our favorite eating joints that we don't have back East. Cafe Rio and/or Costa Vida (Cafe Rio is slightly better but I'm always up for either) is at the TOP of the list. Jamba Juice is also on the list ... although we have been there in NY, just not Baltimore. By the way, my first job as a 16 yr old was at Jamba Juice! Joe thinks I should make him amazing smoothies but so far I haven't tried.
On our last night there the whole family went out for pizza and wings. The Dastrups are definitely wing lovers ... all the wings were gone way before the pizza. Also, they all were eating the topping part of the pizza and leaving the crust to "save room" for the good stuff. Well, I thought the crust was the good stuff so I started scavenging crusts.
Dastrup sisters minus one (Franchesca wasn't in the mood for a picture) and plus the favorite (so far, only) sister-in-law ... me!!
This girl totally steals the show ... can you believe how adorable Eva is? Then the leg goes up totally on her own ... so I had to snap another one!

New Years Eve

This New Years wasn't anything too spectacular (not like last year in Valparaiso, Chile!) but we still had a lot of fun. We hung out with Joe's family at a party hosted by some friends in their neighborhood. The teenagers jumped in the pool at midnight and walked around with their own big bottles of bubbly, the adults sat around and talked, and we played Rock Band! I'm not sure what got into Joe's drink, but he looks a little loopy, what do you think??

Me with two of Joe's sisters, Franchesca and Lori

Joe and Lori took their jobs on the drums and guitar pretty seriously. Allen, a brother-in-law, looks a little more relaxed.

I totally rocked at the mic - Nirvana, Wheezer ... you name it, I was all over it.

Visit to AZ

We loved having snow during Christmas in Utah but were getting sick of trudging around in the slush ... so it was nice to travel to clear skies and warmer days. Light jacket weather is my favorite! Getting to AZ was not so fun ... by the time we waited for our delayed flight and then waited for our luggage to come in on a later plane (nice one Southwest!) we might as well have driven there! I was sick and sleep deprived, so after getting there I slept all the next day and got up just in time for afternoon family pictures.

I was so excited to see my other nieces and my only nephew! Eva, who turned 3 that day, is such a doll. I love Kohlter (5) and miss him to pieces!
Giselle (Gizzy) is the 1 year old. Here they are posing for the photographer. Their parents are Maria and Allen - Maria is Joe's oldest sister and she is amazing. She is the most creative person I know. She is working on a music album that will be out this year - it is going to be incredible - and I'll post more details about that as I get them because I know you all will LOVE it! I can't wait.

That evening we had a "pink party" for Eva's birthday (getting her excited about her pink birthday is about the only way Maria could get her to put on that blue dress for the family pictures ... she is a totally pink girl!). Tutus were the must-have accessory of the night.
Unfortunately I wasn't feeling so well so I didn't get into the pink tutu mood. However, Joe's sisters were all excited about my cute red jacket. Red is the favorite color of everyone in Joe's family - they are pretty much obsessed with it - and it is really not me at all. But I do love my red jacket - a little red is fine.

Sledding!

Another fun thing we did over Christmas: pulling sleds behind the four wheelers up at our cabin! My niece Tyler got a snow suit for Christmas and we had to put it to good use. It snowed so much in Utah around Christmas which was so much fun! We had way more snow up at the cabin than usual.

Tyler and I went for several rides and at the end of each one she wanted to go again.

Pulling two sleds at once!

Finally we got cold and decided to go inside and have yummy potato soup for lunch ... but not before Joe decided to tackle me in the snow ... again and again.

Presents!

Well I know Christmas isn't all about the gifts by any means, but I think it is such a fun way to show each other your love and thoughtfulness! I love the shopping (most of it anyway), wrapping, and opening. We open all the gifts from family members on Christmas Eve and it is such a cozy, special evening. This year the tree seemed packed with presents ... but that is just because our family has grown! And who doesn't want to spoil their nieces/ daughters/ granddaughters? This was also my first Christmas spent at my parents' new house ... luckily it seemed totally homey and I didn't miss our old house too much.
My big gift from Joe was ... a new camera! It is a sweet one and has been working out great so far ... though I still have tons to learn about it. It was a total surprise, though in retrospect maybe it shouldn't have been. He never ceases to keep me guessing!

I thought Joe's wrapping job on this gift was so cute ... look at the little tree - so crafty! I am training him well. :)

My main gift to Joe was a Leatherman! He dropped plenty of hints about how much he wanted it ... I guess he didn't trust me to pick up on subtle hints even though I had gotten it before the last round of hint-dropping. I think I am finally learning what he really likes for gifts - anything really manly like camping stuff, tools, and sports gear. I can't wait until we have the money for me to bring him home some huge scary power tool.
Here is sweet little Tyler in the Snow White dress I gave her! When my brother (her dad) was growing up, I was the little sister who lived in her Snow White dress for several years (well, several dresses - they got worn out). Tyler loved it - isn't she beautiful?

Tyler and sister Kai enjoying a gift from Santa.

Look - I got quadruple gifted! I had just gotten a new green iPod for my birthday and was in major need of some accessories. Funny enough, my brother and sister-in-law, husband, and parents all had the same idea to help me out with that. These 4 cute covers are worth almost as much as the iPod itself! I loved them all, but returned a couple and exchanged them for some other Christmas goodies.

Christmas in Utah!

This year Joe and I were lucky enough to spend Christmas in Orem with my entire family together! It had been two years since we had all been together so it was so so exciting. Also, since last year we were in Chile for Christmas (amazing!) it had been a while since I had enjoyed my favorite Christmas traditions so I was super psyched. This picture is missing some of us ... but it was taken after an exciting round of "Cosmic Catch." Sweet game!

Here we are at breakfast Christmas morning. We had a delicious spread of german pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, homemade cinnamon roles, eggs benedict, sausage, hashbrowns, you name it! It was awesome. At home, even if Joe and I do manage to cook something yummy once in a blue moon, it is likely only one or two things. With family, you get the whole shebang! A few hours after breakfast, my sister-in-law led us through a grueling hour of aerobics class! My legs were feeling it for days.

One of the BEST things about Christmas was getting to see my three beautiful nieces! This is Bella, my newest niece. She is so so cute!! I could hardly believe it.

And here is Kai ... the cutest 1 year old in the whole world. I couldn't believe that the first time I met her we were celebrating her first birthday! She has the most beautiful eyes and the happiest little personality! Plus LOTS of energy.

This is my 3 year old niece Tyler! She is the sweetest ... she lives far away in Washington and I am so sad I am not around to see her grow up! I know not everyone blogs so much about their nieces, but that is what you do when you don't have children of your own!

Besides having fun with my nieces, it was wonderful to see my beautiful 15 year old sister, my 3 awesome brothers, my 2 wonderful sisters-in-law, my mom and dad, and everyone else! My parents were pretty thrilled to have us all there and made everything wonderful. We played games and talked and laughed into the early morning hours. That may have contributed to me getting sick near the end of the trip, but it was worth it.