Better late than never...

Sorry Kat, this picture was too good NOT to post.

Not pictured: Christmas eve/Christmas day.

 As you can tell, this year has been an epic fail at documenting holidays (that last word was unnecessary), so I guess that's another thing to add to the resolutions list for 2014! If it goes anything like my past resolutions have, you can expect a buttload of pictures for the first week of January. And by week, I mean the first three days... if we're lucky. But guys, I really am going to start working out more this year..... 

This holiday season was a success for us! We got to go to River Woods, Thanksgiving Point, and Temple Square to see the lights (that's all I wanted to do last year). And since we weren't brand spankin' new newlyweds this year, it just felt more like Christmas (and looked more like Christmas since we were able to put a few more presents under the tree this year). We also got to enjoy juggling two families. It felt like we had one party after the next, but we ain't complainin'! Especially after winning $9 in quarters at the Gourley game night, almost all of which have been spent at Swig. 

I think the highlight of my Christmas this year was going to visit my grandma and grandpa Sanderson. Seeing their faces light up when we walked into their house just really made me remember what Christmas is all about. If there is one resolution I want to keep for 2014, it's going to visit them regularly. There is definitely a special feeling in their home. They are some of the most amazing people I've ever met.

Anyway, before I get too sentimental here, I'll just end with saying how blessed we are to have such amazing family and friends that make this time of year the best! Here's to many more Christmas seasons!

PS! Let it be known: I have remembered to wear a bra every day since December 20, 2013! Glad I could get that off my chest... (see what I did there?!) 

That awkward moment...

...when you've been sitting at work for an hour before you realize you're not wearing a bra.

Yep. That happened today.

SO EMBARRASSING.

Now, I know what you're thinking: HOW? How could you not remember to put a bra on?! Trust me, I'm asking myself the same question. I do have some theories though... Maybe I'm still suffering from finals week brain? Or maybe I was just so focused on actually doing my hair today (sorry, topknot... I'm sure you'll make an appearance tomorrow...and the next day...and the day after that). Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I was more worried about shoving candy cane kisses in my pockets for breakfast? I don't know.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that today also happened to be the day I decided to wear a white shirt? Or that today was the first day in weeks that I was assigned to be up at reception at work? Which meant no hiding behind a desk for this braless girl. Nope. Just constant walking students to the testing room. I'm sure they thought covering my chesticles with their test was normal, right? And I'm sure my coworkers thought I was just trying to be really reverent walking down the halls with my arms folded like the little sunbeams* I teach.

Thankfully, I had a lunch break to go home and cover the ladies up! Man, I never thought I'd see the day where I'd actually be excited to put a bra on. I came back from lunch a whole new (more shapely) woman!

Needless to say, bras are going in the gratitude journal tonight.



*That was a lie. My sunbeams are little crazy humans. But I love them. Most of the time.

I'm educated....feel bad for me!

Guys, I'm happy to report that I made it through finals week. 

...barely.

This week got ugly. 

Like, haven't-showered-or-slept-and-I've-already-consumed-180 oz-of Dr. Pepper-and-holy-crap-it's-only-Tuesday! type of ugly.

There's also a permanent indent of my bum on the kitchen chair currently surrounded by an embarrassing amount of wrappers from the candy cane kisses consumed during my seven hour retreat there yesterday.

But I guess I can't complain too much... after all, it was my fault for procrastinating. Chris was even nice enough to say, "We have such different studying styles, babe. I would have studied the week before finals" instead of just calling me out for waiting until the last minute. (But guess what, babe? You're not human!)

But hey, at least now I can finally say that I'm done! And I can do the important things I've been meaning to get around to all semester... like starting Vampire Diaries and working out  painting my toenails.

Happy finals week to the rest of you who put the "pro" in procrastination out there! 

Oh, hey aunt Flo!

....all men stop reading NOW. Or don't unless you like hearing about lady parts? Actually, just keep reading. I don't mention any lady part words that make you cringe.

I should have known a storm was a'brewin' down in my lady parts...

This week has consisted of me pounding down food. Seriously, pounding. And then asking Chris every night "Umm.. can we go get food??" And holy #*%# I need some chocolate!

Poor Chris...

Who also had to deal with two huge vent sessions from me today: 

"I don't care if breastfeeding is "natural!" It makes everyone uncomfortable when you whip out your boob in public! I don't mind if you cover up and feed in public, but oh my gosh, no one needs to see your breasts in public! I fee like those women are just trying to make a point! Don't you agree with me, babe? Don't you?!!" (this may seem like a random topic, but we talked about breastfeeding in my women's health issues class--I promise I don't just randomly start debates about boobs...most of the time) 

"Ugh, I am so sick of everyone on Facebook complaining about Elf-on-the-Shelf! If you don't like it, just don't do it! Don't make other people feel bad for doing it!!  -By the way, I don't even have an Elf-on-the-Shelf. 

And then I finally went to the bathroom and  all of my days of starving, crying, and wanting to just punch people in the face this past week made more sense... Um, hi aunt Flo! How nice to see you!...NOT. 

I guess having ovaries isn't completely bad... Now I can justify sobbing at this video my friend, Kara, posted while simultaneously shoving two handfuls of candy cane kisses in my mouth.

...the point of this all is that there really is no point. I have a 10 page paper due tomorrow and Chris is gone playing basketball while I sit here and watch the Kardashians. Braless.

Thanksgiving Break Recap

I feel like our Thanksgiving break was jam-packed with fun this year! So, naturally, you'd think I have tons of fun pictures to post on the blog, right? Spoiler alert: I don't. For some reason, picture-taking Shayli decided to take a break herself, or maybe she just couldn't discipline herself to wait an extra second longer to take a picture of all the delicious food in front of her before eating it? Anyway, here's a recap of our weekend! Minus lots of pictures.

Thanksgiving dinner. This year was our year to eat with my family (my family + all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side), which means that I got to see how hard my mom goes on Thanksgiving! Also, if you've ever been to an event thrown by my mom's side of the family, you know that there is going to be freaking delicious food. And a lot of it. Food and family... two of my favorite things! Could I ask for more?

Black Friday Shopping. I'm almost kind of embarrassed to let blog world know that Chris and I bought a TV on Thanksgiving. Especially since my last post was on gratitude...ha! But in my defense, I wasn't really planning on buying a TV--let alone a 55 incher! I also didn't think Chris had it in him to spend that much money on a TV ;) But when Chris texted me about getting a 55" TV from Best Buy, I wasn't about to say no! My favorite part was watching the guys from Best Buy squeeze the monster-sized TV into our little Sentra. Chris says it fit like a glove, so it was obviously meant to be our TV. Chris was giddy the whole drive home. Behold:

Pure joy...

The Fault in Our Stars. OH.MY. I could not put this book down over the break! I'm pretty sure I would have finished it in two days if we didn't have so much family stuff going on this weekend. I was so sure I was just going to cry through the whole thing, but I actually ended up laughing more than crying! Which is weird, since I cry at everything. Anyway! If you haven't read this book, just read it. Humor, drama, and a love story--this book has everything.

Frozen. My grandma Walker paid for everyone to go to the movies! So, not only was Frozen a free movie, but it was a good one! I loved it. I was so worried Chris wasn't going to like it because it had so much music, but even he liked it! I'm still singing the songs...

Putting up Christmas decorations. First, you should know that my mother has ingrained in my mind that Christmas decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving. Not a day before, not on Thanksgiving, only the day after. So when I didn't get my Christmas decor up, I felt like a little piece of my mom that lives inside of me died. Oh, the shame! But when I finally did get my Christmas up I was so happy! Even though we don't have a whole lot to put up, it's still fun to just sit in our living room with our Christmas tree lit up. Plus, it doesn't hurt that we bought two bags of Candy Cane Kisses to go in our treat bowl, which is half empty now (not half full...there is no such thing as optimism when there is a decrease in Candy Cane Kisses). The Christmas decorations got me so excited, that I actually attempted to take a  "Look! I put Christmas up, and me and my husband are cute"  picture that turned into an epic fail. You can see why it didn't make the Instagram cut...

Bless our hearts...

Salad and scones. Let it be known: my mother-in-law makes THE best scones. It's become a Gourley tradition to have salads and scones. Some people might think that's a weird combination, but I think it makes perfect sense. You eat a butt-load of scones, and then you eat salad to feel better about yourself after consuming your body weight in scones. Amirite or amirite?! 

I'm so glad we got to start and finish our holiday weekend with family and delicious food! I love this time of year because I get to see how blessed I am with such amazing family and an amazing husband (especially when he agrees to ride to Swig with me!). The break made me even more excited for the upcoming holiday and all the time we'll be spending with our families. 

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving!