so festive right now

I feel like I've been the worst self-proclaimed lover of all things Fall this year! I was thiiiiis close to letting my biggest Fall festivity be making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Like, I haven't even worn dark lipstick or watched Hocus Pocus. . . who am I?!?! Thankfully, Chris saved the day when he suggested we go to Jaker's Jack-o-Lanterns! It was all cutesy and festive-y . . . even if we felt a little bit like creepers because we were the only ones without kids there. It's fine. We're fine. Also, what followed Jaker's was not festive, but definitely noteworthy: Mooyahs! (always)

Speaking of noteworthy festivitities.... The Gourley's had a Halloween Harry Potter party (kicking myself for not taking any pictures)! All my nerdiest dreams came true stepping through Platform 9 3/4, watching the kids be sorted into houses, and refereeing quidditch (which technically is still an ongoing game since nobody can find the snitch). I'm hoping Harry Potter becomes a tradition, because I've got so many ideas that my wizarding heart needs to execute! Yay, family! Yay, Harry Potter! Yay, chili dogs! 

And if having a Harry Potter Halloween party wasn't festive enough. . . 

My department decided to go all out and dress up for Halloween as trolls! Even though some of our students thought we were fairies (kids these days!). If you're thinking that my department is just silly and fun, it's only because we are silly and fun-- I just love them! Sister Wives for life! 

Okay, so maybe I do need to give my self-proclaimed lover of all things Fall heart more credit. . . October did turn out more festive than I realized, despite the fact that I'm still upset Chris didn't want to do the haunted lift ride at Sundance... ha! PLUS! It's still November! Plenty of time to still be festive + bust out my dark lipstick + CRANBERRY SPRITE ZERO. 

Freak, I love this time of year. 

Tidbits of September

(this post has been sitting in my drafts box)

Hi! Hello! Remember when I took a break from blogging?

...Who am I kidding? Does anyone even read blogs anymore? Can we please just go back to 2012 when people had blogs, YouTubers actually did makeup tutorials, and I didn't feel the social pressure of needing to fill in my eyebrows yet (sigh...my biggest wedding regret)? Oh! And when my weight was significantly less?!

ANYWAY. Besides getting sidetracked per usual, I'm gonna need to do some September catch-up via phone dump... per usual. It blows my mind that we are already into October! September was such a strange month this year... the days felt long, but the month went by so fast! So many feels + mixed emotions + ah... I guess I should just make you keep reading? Duh.

So here we go!

Chicago// I got to go to Chicago for a few days with my parents + sister + Averi Shay! Our trip consisted of all the usual things that I love: food + shopping + family + more food! It also consisted of me wearing a Cub's hat that I've owned for 8 years and having to pretend that I'm a Cub's fan. The only disappointment of the trip would be discovering that the Hershey store was no more. Actually, a bigger disappointment might the fact that I was more willing to drop $30 on Ghirardelli's chocolate than on a shirt. But! Caramel Pumpkin Spice! Oh, Chicago... I already miss you, and your deep dish pizza.

Graham and Jett// I'd be lying if I said September wasn't a hard month in this regard. I don't think I was fully anticipating all the emotions the boys' due date would bring up, especially since we had never truly planned on them making it to their due date, but then September 6th came and it was like surprise! Ugly crying! Lots of it. I'm a little afraid of what emotions are going to come up during all the holidays this year (do we really have to go through another Christmas without a baby?!), but I know that we have the most amazing family members that will help us get through them all. Seriously, our families have been so amazing through everything and continue to be answers to our prayers daily. Our boys are so, so loved, and for that, we are grateful.

Birthday Explosion// Of course I've gotta blog about my birthday! How could I not after Chris pulled out all the stops and made it the best birthday yet? I'm talking food, pedicures (Chris even got one! He was a "vujin pedicue" according to our Asian nail lady ha!), family, movies... everything I love! Even if I had to remind him a few times that I was expecting big things since he was leaving me on my birthday to go hunting... ha! I'm the worst. I know. After this year I kind of always want Chris to always leave on my birthday ;) Some other noteworthy things about my birthday month: It's always 21 days of Beauty at Ulta during September! + a Sodalicious just opened up by my work... coincidence? I think not! Yay September! Yay for being a Libra! ... whatever that means.

Gone huntin'// Speaking of Chris going hunting... it wasn't just on my birthday. Almost any free time he's had this last month, he's gone scouting for elk with the fellas. Just going to look for elk, not shoot, in freezing cold weather, with not very good food is probably my worst nightmare... but whatever makes you happy, right babe?! Really though, Chris deserves it. He's so giddy whenever he gets back and I pretend to be super interested in elk bugling. I will say that I am grateful for elk hunting to be over soon, though...I'm not used to this hunting wife life!

I guess I should also mention that September consisted of way more football watching then I'd like. And by watching, I mean Chris watches while I fall asleep and wake up to BYU getting crushed. I have a feeling October is going to follow this same pattern...

THE END!

Tuliping + Half Marathoning + Mother's daying

This weekend felt so, so busy! But the good kind of busy, like the busy that makes you feel like you got your sh*z together, you know? I only say that because I feel like I have anything BUT my sh*z together these days... why is May the month where students decide to go crazy and act like they don't need to follow rules anymore? Can I just curl up in the fetal position and read Harry Potter and have Chris feed me chocolate peanut butter ice cream? Ah, I'll save you from my teacher vents (Chris can be the lucky one to hear them ha!) and just get back to telling you how BUSY I was this weekend... ha! I'm the worst.

The weekend started off with me and Chris going to the Tulip Festival on Friday... after it hailed all day...leaving pretty much all the tulips destroyed. NBD. I think that worked in Chris' favor, though... since I only asked him to take ONE picture there with me. Chris did tell me he had mentally prepared himself for 5 or 6 pictures, though... he's slowly learning! But anyway, I guess we couldn't complain too much about the destroyed tulips since I was able to get us in for free (#teacherperks) + I love just walking around those gardens because it brings up memories from one of my most favorite dates with Chris (you can read about that here). Long story short: We had fun tuliping for date night!

Saturday was my half marathon! <--You'd think from that exclamation point that it was something I trained consistently for, and didn't completely stuff myself with Los Hermanos the night before... but you'd be wrong! Because I probably should have trained more, and ate a lot less Mexican food... but it all worked out! I made it across the finish line without losing my sh*z (literally) + I crossed the finish line with my brother, Mckay! It was his first half marathon ever and I was so proud of us because we never stopped and walked or anything. It was so fun, and I hope that Mckay will forget the pain of those last 4 miles so that he'll want to sign up for another race with me! I'm strategically waiting a couple of months before I ask him.

Last but not least... Mother's Day! Chris surprised me with my favorite homemade smoothie in bed + a Swig giftcard + ice cream. Is Chris my person or is he my person? Which now that I think about it, maybe I need to set the standard a little higher than just bringing me all of the junk food to become "my person." Anyway, Chris was so sweet and made this Mother's Day imposter feel special.

And speaking of Mother's Day. . . I'm so grateful for my own mom and my mother-in-law! They are both so self-less, funny, loving, AND always feeding me... so I guess I can consider them both "my person" too? Anyway, I'm grateful for all the other wonderful mother figures in my life--aunts, cousins, sisters, friends--I love you all! Can we all just agree with Beyoncé when she asks us WHO RUN THE WORLD?!

I hope everyone had as "busy" of Mother's Day weekend as I pretended to have + has the ability to walk down the stairs normally.

xo

It's September 1st

Which means . . .

+ That I've officially been teaching for a week! Which also means a whole lot of other things like holy physically and emotionally exhausting! I arrive early, leave late, and then toss and turn all night because I can't shut my brain off. But don't let my cry for help-I'm-a new-teacher-and-don't-know-what-the-heck-I'm-doing (!!!) fool you -- I love it! My students are so adorable, and not as awkward as I remember being in junior high. Like, where's the blue eye shadow girls?! And where are the polo shirts with the popped collar, boys?! Also, I may or may not have done the whip nae nae in front of my students last week... so there's that. 

+ Chris and I had what we called our "last hoorah" yesterday. Our last hoorah involved riding our bikes to Sonic and then having our hopes and dreams crushed when the guy who took our order told us that shakes are no longer 1/2 priced after 8. So, water and a very watered down lemon berry slush it was! And what better way to celebrate our last hoorah than by taking a super cute picture at Sonic like this one:

+ Chris started his second year at grad school today! My picture-taking heart was crushed that I wasn't able to take a first day of school picture for him this morning, but hopefully the note I left in his lunch made up for it. Chris has decided to double up on classes this semester so that he can finish school early... I'm so proud of him!!! But so not looking forward to being husband-less on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next year. I like to tell myself that I can do hard things... and that there's always Netflix.

+ I'm going to be THAT girl who won't shut up about Fall and how much she loves it... even if it's still 95 degrees out, but my Pumpkin Pecan Waffles candle can't wait any longer! And don't be surprised if you start seeing berry lip colors and "scarecrow hats" (as Chris likes to call them) on my Insta... I can't suppress my inner basic white girl much longer!

+ It's officially my birthday month! And not just any birthday, but my GOLDEN birthday, which really means that Chris' email is about to get spammed with lots of links or as I like to call them, "gift ideas."


YES SEPTEMBER. WELCOME!

my life is ending tomorrow

^^What a dark + dramatic title for this post, right?^^ But it's true... my life is ending tomorrow. Well, according to my mother-in-law and all other teacher's alike it is, because tomorrow I start my contract time as a full-time teacher (I just peed a little typing that)! WHAT?! Time to find those big girl pants I stuffed in the back of my closet way back in April, I guess.

In all honesty though, I'm excited to start being in the classroom--I need structure back in my life! I think the most structure I've had this summer is making sure I wake up in time to watch Live with Kelly & Michael and transfer clothes to the dryer before the mildew sets it. Also, anyone who knows me knows that I'm already ready for fall. It's not even summer to me anymore, it's just heat + chafed thighs.

Don't mistake my readiness for fall as me having a miserable summer, though. I have fully enjoyed it! In fact, last week was probably the best week of my summer yet, and what I've declared as "What the Summer of Shay was supposed to look like" all wrapped up into one week!  So here's what it looked like:

Monday: 

-Riding bikes with Chris to the temple and then admiring the temple from a distance in Tom and Martha's hot tub.

Tuesday:
-Going to see a movie at 10:30 in the morning with Martha... just because!
-Adding a bike to the family after having so much fun on Monday (click here to read Tonk's labor & delivery story)

Wednesday:
-Going on a looooong walk with Shelbs + discovering the amazingness of the dole whip shack in Pleasant Grove. Very good thing this wasn't discovered until last week, or there would've been a lot more thigh chafing this summer.
-Repelling for Young Women's. So scary, but what's the Summer of Shay without a little adventure? (and by adventure I mean slipping off the ledge and almost swearing in front of my bishop)

Thursday:
-School clothes shopping! Chris is convinced that the only reason I became a teacher was so that I'd always have summer off AND the excuse to go school clothes shopping (he's kind of right).

-Riding FrontRunner up to Salt Lake to meet Chris for an early date night! Chris wanted us to try this fancy Mexican restaurant called Alamexo and ay ay ay! It was SO good. My heart skips a beat just thinking about the queso and the complimentary churros! So, so yummy...  and a little pricey,.. but, yolo?
-Chris also taking me to get ice cream after dinner. Even though the place we went to didn't have the pineapple/coconut ice cream he was hoping for, we still indulged in some chocolate coconut ice cream.

Friday:
-Riding my bike on the Murdock Canal Trail to Pleasant Grove to visit my grandparents.
-Stopping at my parent's and making myself at home to the leftovers in their fridge.
-Tagging along on my parent's date night to Mi Ranchitos and then going to see The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (thanks, mom and dad!)

Saturday:
-Another walk with Shelbs.
-Swimming with the Gourley gang!
-Another dole whip.
-Sleeping over with the roomie's and watching another movie with Martha.

Sunday:
-Chris arriving home from his fella's camping trip!!!
-Celebrating Tom and Martha's 40th anniversary! And for anyone wondering, the secret to 40 years of marriage, it's p a t i e n c e ... or just knowing when to turn your head (advice from Tom G. ha!). Congrats, roomies!!!

What more could I ask for in the last week of the Summer of Shay?! Truth: probably more dole whip...but other than that, probably nothing!


Now off to recover those big girl pants...

The weekend Chris got me to karaoke

Hello, blog world! This last week was pretty crazy busy for me. Mostly because I had to work through Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale (SAS) all week and get yelled at by a customer who just couldn't believe we didn't have the scent strawberries and champagne. How could Vickie's not have it?! The nerve! Oh, and did I mention I saw that lovely customer again this morning while I was out running? Because I did. And I totally thought of all the things I wanted to say to her for a good mile or two...I know where you live, strawberries and champagne lady! ANYWAY. Back to how this last week was busy!...er...busy by Summer of Shay standards anyway. But busy doesn't always mean bad!  My weekend was busy, but the good kind of busy!

I started the weekend off by taking advantage of the fact that Orem Summer Fest is basically my backyard and went to the carnival with my niece and nephew!

Right before we went on the gravitron ride aka Chris' worst nightmare (just spinning the whole time). I've declared Dash my new ride buddy! Just need him to grow a couple more inches before we go to Lagoon. Also, squinty eyes.

Then Chris got home from work early and we took advantage by going to dinner at Mama Chu's (note to self: remember you don't like the salsa there--spicy!!). Then we set out for our double date with Adub and Sarah for some fishin' up at deer creek, which basically turned into one big photo op thanks to me (and the fish that wouldn't bite). 

But I wasn't the only one posing for pictures! Adub and Sarah were in plenty of pictures, too....even if they didn't know about half of them that I took. But aren't they cute?! Sigh... I remember when me and Chris were dating and always had to be touching too ;)

Finally after the sun went down, we started gettin' some bites! It was so fun! I feel like we got to spend some good quality time together. And by 'we', I mean me and Sarah, since the last hour of the date was really me and Sarah talking to each other while Chris and Adub continued to fish as we slowly made our way back to the dock. ha! 

Not pictured (and for good reason): Saturday I went straight from work up to West Jordan to meet Chris at his work party that he was in charge of. He did such a good job putting a work party together!...and ordering more Texas Roadhouse food than needed so that we could bring the leftovers home--he just gets me. Chris had told me all week that there was going to be a karaoke competition at the party and that there were prizes for the winners, so I had a lot of time to mentally prepare myself to watch Chris and others sing karaoke (I get embarrassed for people super easily). The whole way up to the party I just kept cringing at the thought of singing, and had also mentally prepared myself to say "no" if anyone tried to pressure me into it. Yeah... that lasted for about 30 minutes at the party. The next thing I know, I'm singing All About That Bass in front of dozens of strangers while Chris is shaking his butt in front of them! I was relieved to see most of them laughing, but after about a minute their laughs were gone, and I started to become aware of how tight my throat was getting and  how long that song actually is. Ah! I get the tard tingles just thinking about it now! But the pain and suffering that is singing karaoke was worth it! Chris got his village baker gift card, and I got shaky hands the rest of the night. That's true love, guys! 

The only thing that was able to stop my shaking hands that night was coming home to my family and fireworks! It's sort of become a tradition to watch the Summer Fest fireworks from our house and eat treats with everyone. Seriously, I am going to miss our town home when we buy a real house someday... I love where we are at! 

Also, isn't this picture so cool? That was supposed to be me and Chris kissing with the fireworks behind us, but Chris immediately rejected the idea (I think I pushed my luck out on the lake the day before ha), so Koree it was! But for some reason, Chris let me take a picture with him AFTER the fireworks... stinker. 

And... is anybody still reading? I realize this is getting a bit picture heavy, but I guess that's just what happens when you have an awesome weekend that totally makes up for working at Vickie's during SAS. One more week, guys...one more week! I can do it... even if the thought of censoring another bra or recovering one more panty table makes my eyes water. At least I have plenty of candy from the cute "Semi-Annual Sale Survival Kit" Chris made for me to get me through the last week? Oh, and the thought of leaving for St. George on Friday helps, too. 

Anyway, I'd love to stay and dump more phone pictures on you, but I have some leftover Texas Roadhouse rolls to go eat...

Happy Monday!

PHONE DUMP

Remember when I told you that the Summer of Shay looks like painting my whole house? Um, yeah... why didn't anyone warn me that painting every single day would put me into a weird funk? I feel like I haven't gotten a good nights rest in weeks + my body has been running solely on diet Dr. Pepper + every room in my house is basically torn apart. I can barely even remember what day it is, too..they all are just blurs of washing, taping, and painting. Oh, and I feel like I need to tell you that I'm chowing down on some beef jerky for breakfast while I type this. WEIRD FUNK, GUYS! 

Anyway, I was trying to think of what I've done besides paint this month, so I started looking through my phone pictures. Hence, the good ole fashioned phone dump of bad quality pictures to remind me that I have not just been a painting robot this month. You've been warned!

from left to right:

-Chris and I conquered the land where happy couples go to die aka IKEA. There might have been some eye rolling on Chris' part (oooohhh  babe I want hangy things like that in our kitchen!), but for the most part, we were able to leave unscathed. I'm pretty sure it's because I got Chris a cinnamon roll at the end + we both took pleasure in watching newlyweds argue. But anyway, I convinced Chris that it was time to upgrade from our $5 TV stand from Wal-Mart (thanks, Shell!), and so we got a new stand that actually can hold all of our stuff! Which was very difficult trying to load into the car with an ice cream cone in hand. And if you had any question as to whether I would rather drop my ice cream cone or my new TV stand, the answer is DROP THE $60 TV STAND! SAVE THE $1 ICE CREAM CONE. 

-Sanderson pickle ball has started up again! Which means my alter ego comes out to play... we call him Shane. As you can tell from the picture above, Shane really cares how he looks, and he can always depend on Shelby to snapchat super flattering pictures of him to everyone. Yes, Shane is an interesting character... he definitely is going to need his own post since he can't be explained in just one bullet point. 

-Chris' rec ball team won the championship! Since Chris usually played on Wednesdays when I had mutual, I didn't get to go as much, but when I would go, there would usually be some kind of fight among the grown men playing. Gotta love rec ball. Anyway, good job, Chris! And I'm glad we were able to celebrate your victory at Taco Amigo after. 

-On Memorial Day we had a BBQ at my grandma Walker's. My aunt Joelle brought Spike Ball for everyone to play, which turned into the guys playing Spike Ball while the girls went for a ride on the Razor. All of us Walker girls + motor vehicles = lots of swearing, laughing, and the occasional peeing of pants. Oh, and fun fact: my shirt in that picture I had worn for a good 4 days in a row... so the universe (or my cousin Jenica) gave me the sign that it was time to wash the shirt and quit being disgusting by getting mud splattered on it during that ride. Okay universe! I'll do my laundry! But don't you know that I'm in a weird funk!?

-This week I went with my mom to watch my cute niece, Koree, at field day! It was so fun getting to watch her, and it totally brought back memories of when I was in elementary school and took so much pride in the fact that I was always the fastest runner in my class (the early years of Shane!). Oh, and it totally reassured me that I made the right career choice as a secondary teacher... I don't know how you EL ED people do it! SO MUCH PATIENCE!

-My cute nephew Collin graduated from Kindergarten, so my SIL, Kat, invited me to go with her to his graduation. I had to try reeeeeally hard not to tear up at their little songs they sang! So much adorableness! I know, I know... I'm so screwed for when I have kids. Anyway, good job Collin! It kind of freaks me out that the next graduation I'll be watching you at is in 2027...and that I'll be 36. Hopefully by that time I'll be able to give you a better graduation gift than a cupcake with a gummy worm on it, huh?    

And now that I've checked the date today...

Happy funk-free Friday!

March Madness

While there has been way more basketball watched in our house this month than I care to admit, this post is not about basketball--despite the misleading title of this post. No, this post is about the madness that seems to have been our life this past month, a "life-update" post if you will (we love those, right? Indulge me!).

This whole month has just been kind of a blur. Between Chris playing on 4 different sports teams + getting a new calling in church,  and me finishing up my last month of student teaching, I feel like there hasn't been a whole lot of time for anything else. I can't remember the last time I ate anything green/grew from the ground + was on a regular sleep schedule. Truth: I took five naps over the weekend. I also slept over 26 hours, which Chris was kind enough to point out to me after my nap on Sunday. I guess that's what happens when you stop sleeping during the week (something I will not miss about student teaching).

But let's be honest, the real madness started this last weekend after I bought two bags of Reese's eggs. I tried so hard to stay strong and not purchase any Easter candy until next week, but Target got the best of me (as usual). Those eggs in the bowl are all that remain, which I'm sure it's safe to say will be gone by the end of the night. Sorry swimsuit season, but I regret nothing. NOTHING! (...yet)

Also, Chis was kind enough to remind me that he hates fake flowers because they "look tacky." Probably not the best thing you want to say to your sleep-deprived wife during March madness, dude. Just saying.  (...But is Chris right? Are those flowers tacky and I just don't see it?? Help a sista out!)

Anyway, here's to making it through the last few days of the madness we're calling March! Which I guess I shouldn't complain too much about, because I know it's only going to get crazier with graduation and applying for big girl jobs.  *mini heart attacks* I wonder how many Reese's eggs it's going to take to get me through that?



Update: There's only one Reese's egg left in the bowl... Chris better know how much he is loved.

tidbits of life

(from left to right)

+ My dad basically has the best backyard ever now. He extended the basketball court and added a pickle ball court to it! + the volleyball net is up + horseshoe golf is still set up back there. So basically, I've become a mega-butch this past week and all I've wanted to do is be in my basketball shorts and play everything in my parents backyard. On Friday, my dad held his annual movie night where all of his zoobies employees come over to play in the backyard and watch a movie on the projector. It was so fun! Except Dash didn't think watching World War Z was too fun. Poor kid... I was impressed that he made it 20 minutes into it, though!

+ My mom's side of the family all got together for the Dash for Donation 5k to run in honor of my Uncle Darin . It was such an awesome experience and there were definitely tears shed while running. I thought it was a great way to celebrate my uncle D, especially since it's his birthday month. I hope it becomes a yearly tradition! Oh, and aren't those shirts so awesome?! My aunt Les never ceases to amaze me.

+ My grandpa and his brothers put on a little concert for us on Sunday. Again, tears were shed. I love hearing my grandpa Walker sing with his brothers. Except it makes me wonder how I got skipped in the musical talent department? Between me and Chris, our kids have no chance... sorry future Gourley children.

+ My boss' last day at work was on Friday, so we had a going away party for her (my department looks for any excuse to have a party and bring food) and made a shrine of her complete with candles and inflatable dinosaurs! Never a dull moment in my department. I'm not sure I'm really ready for transitioning to a new supervisor, though. Luckily, I only have one semester left before I start student teaching! Then onto a grown-up job... yikes! Can someone please teach me to adult?!

+ I am a closet cat lover. I'm always hesitant to say I love cats because anytime I mention cats all the dog lovers come out and start giving me the stink-eye. Like, am I not allowed to love both?! Anyway, I've become a little obsessed about getting a cat ever since I played with my brother's new kitten. I bug Chris about getting one at least five times a day. I think if I bug him enough, he might just give in. Even if he claims to be "allergic." Keep your fingers crossed that I can convince him to get me a cat for my birthday! :)

+ Summer is almost over... and I am not even sad about it. Believe me, I want to love summer and wish it would never end, kind of like I want to love Breaking Bad, or I want to love green smoothies--but I don't. I get giddy thinking about buying notebooks for school and walking through crunchy leaves and drinking hot chocolate! The rainy weather lately is not helping me suppress my love for fall, either.

+ My sister-in-law Emily had me do her makeup for family pictures. I had to keep telling her, "Okay, I've never done this before! So if you hate it, I'm really really sorry!" But I was actually quite pleased with the result! Thanks for letting me experiment on you, Em!

+ The Gumball Gang is growing. I swear every day they knock (more like pound on my door and then ring the doorbell 4 times) and I open the door, there is about 3 more kids in their group that I don't recognize. We are running out of candy and we've had to dig deep into our cabinets to find something to give them. Our inner 90 year-old selves have resorted to giving the kids caramels-ha! The picture above was taken on a day that I was in a particularly good mood and I invited them in to drink some Tang-I've regretted that decision ever since.

+ That picture was taken at the top of Squaw Peak while I waited for my cross country kids to run the whole way up there (I wasn't even mad that I was on popsicle duty that day). Anyway, I'm leaving for cross country camp tomorrow and I'm so excited! I'm also super nervous... who am I going to hangout with?! And how am I going to hide my cellulite from all the little kids (cellulite is non-existent in high school girls' legs--I hate them) when we go swimming?! Also, I heard the girl's saying that we only get to shower twice while we're up there.... wish me luck for 5 days with 60+ teenagers.

a kind of eventful weekend

Weekends have been a little dry at the Gourley house for a while now. I blame Utah weather + basketball games + my leggings. But this weekend we actually got out and did some stuff! So I'm documenting, because who knows, maybe someday our children will look deep into the archives of this blog, and see that their graying parents were once fun and did more than drive to Swig on the weekends? Anyway, here is our semi-eventful weekend brought to you by the crafty use of bullet points ;)

Friday:
+ After weeks of bugging/begging Chris, he finally took me to Cafe Rio, and it did not disappoint. It never does. I heart you, Cafe Rio.
+ I got to tag along on Chris' date with his new girlfriend (or my sister wife, as Mama Gourley says), his handgun. Actually, if we're being honest, his gun is more like his child. He's constantly holding it, caressing it, and trying to keep it clean! Anyway, we hiked up in the mountains to go shoot it. A piece of advice: Do not go hiking immediately after shoveling down Cafe Rio. Cafe Rio gut is REAL and it hurts.
+ We finally went and visited our friends Tyson and Lisa + their new beautiful baby, Claire! Who is so good at making me think that I'm ready to have a baby and then immediately reminding me that I'm not. I'll just be a baby cuddler for now.
Saturday:
+ Started the day off by running 10 miles with my brother, Dugan! We crushed it, and probably our knees, but it was such a good run besides the crazy gusts of wind we had to run through. I'm so glad I have someone to train for this marathon with!
+ Chris played in 2 ward basketball games, and then went shooting (surprise?) with his buddies.
+ Me and my sister-in-laws celebrated Deanna's birthday by having a "favorite things" party. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a party where you bring one of your favorite things for everybody else. I highly recommend it if you like leaving a party with a bunch of gifts ha.It was seriously so much fun. I can't wait until the next one!
+ Chris had a DTR with me. Del Taco Runs are the best at 11:00 at night!...said no one's stomach ever.
Sunday:

+ Chris woke up wanting to go look for some turkeys, so I told him I'd go if we didn't have to get out of the car and hike for them. Before I even finished my sentence Chris explained to me that he put on his slippers so that he "wouldn't be tempted." After about an hour of driving we finally found some (guess who was the one who spotted them?!). Chris was giddy for the rest of the day.
+ We had no intentions of making any lunch so we did what we always do--stopped at my parents. Sure enough, there was a huge container of food in the fridge for us! Bless you, mom. Bless you.
+ Stopped at the Gourley leprechaun party! If we hadn't stuffed our faces at my mom's, we probably would have dished up green waffles and eggs with everybody else! We were sad to miss the leprechaun scavenger hunt since we had a baby blessing to go to, but I'm sure it ended with a lot of happy grandkids.
+ We ended our day with our usual routine of How I Met Your Mother before bed. I'm using this series as a gateway to other series for Chris to watch. I'm thinking Friends will be next...we'll see.

Now that we've given you the illusion of an eventful weekend through bullet points, I'm excited to tell you that our next weekend we'll be having is going to require a lot more bullet points... we're leaving for our cruise this week!!! Consider this a warning in advanced for a vacation post, since we all love reading those...

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?!) 

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!