New Address

If you are reading this, Hooray! You found our new blog address! Unfortunatly, when I changed our address, I lost all of my blog contacts! Ahh! I tried to add on as many as I could remember on my own. But If I don't have you on my side bar, please don't be mad! Just leave me a comment so I can continue reading your blog! Thanks everyone!

Parties, Parties, and More Parties!

So far this Christmas, we have sure done one thing a lot... party! It started out on December 5th, I was able to go to the Festival of Trees with my mom, aunt and cousin. This is definitely the way to start off the Christmas season! I go to the Festival every year and it always gets me in the Christmas spirit. Can you guess which tree was my favorite this year? That's right, it was "A Cullen Christmas". Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it... because I am a lame-0.

December 6th was Brian's work Christmas party. Jody reserved a conference room at The Little America Hotel and there was a delicious dinner, gifts for all the employees, and of course, a lot of laughs. We love going to Brian's Christmas party and Jody is always so generous and we appreciate him planning out a nice and yummy dinner for us, but when he asked all of his employees if they would like to go back to having their party at the dealership, everyone said yes. Bring on the Bingo, December 2009!

December 9th was my company Christmas party. I look forward to this party ALL year. "Why" do you ask? It's not just because of the delicious meal at the Marriott hotel, it's not just the fact that the table I sit at is known as the "rowdy" table. It is not just the fact that I will take home a center piece, whether or not I was the one that actually won it. It is because the first presidency, and quite a few members of the quorum of the 12 attend this Christmas party. And the Prophet always gets up and says a few words.


This was my center piece that I took home. I had three in my hands before I was able to keep one ;-). I love lilies!

December 12th was my department Christmas party. This party is more laid back. It's just the seven of us in the Office Services department and our spouses. We had dinner are Biaggi's which was delicious, then we did our traditional white elephant gift exchange. Brian came home with a G.I. Joe army kit, and I got some tooth brushes, toothpaste and some fake dentures. It was really fun and I went home with belly ache and my face hurt from laughing.

December 13th was the John Schmidt Christmas concert! My mom and I have gone every year for the past... I lost count how many years. And I love it! This year we decided to mix it up and we brought our spouses and my brothers and their significant others came too.


After the concert, my family had a birthday celebration for me! We had roast for dinner (one of my favorites!) and there was cake and presents and games. I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ALMOST 25! Is anyone else freaking out about this? Well, happy early birthday to me, I guess!

Bring on the Christmas Season!

Ok ok, Brian and I have actually had our Christmas lights on the outside of our house now for almost a month. I kept telling him "we better do it now, this might be the last warm Saturday". Little did I know that I would be standing outside on December 1st in just a jacket and I was perfectly comfortable. C'mon weather man! Let's get this snow on the road!

Last night was spent putting up additional decorations outside, and decorating our tree.
Yes, we have a Hanukkah tree. Yes, there is already a present under it. And YES, the present has also already been opened and played with for several days now.

Brian decided at 9:30 that we needed more Christmas decorations. So, we headed off to Wal-Mart and stocked up.I love our wreath! This picture does not do it justice!

Last night while I was decorating the tree, I was reminiscing about where we got it. So here is our little Christmas tree story. On our second date, Brian took me with him to the store to pick out a tree and some decorations for his apartment. We kept laughing and joking that this was a married couples idea of a date, rather than a date for people who only knew each other less than a week. About the time that we thought of that, Brian ran into some friends and got to talking. Brian's friend asked us "so how long have you two been married?" and we just laughed some more. We went back to Brian's apartment and turned on some Christmas tunes and decorated the tree. When we finished, we sat down on the floor to admire our masterpiece. We joked about how this would make a great story to tell our kids one day, that we bought our Christmas tree on our second date. A few weeks later, Brian proposed. So now, we really can tell our Christmas tree story to our kids! (Wouldn't that have been awkward for you, Brian, if you would have had to explain that Christmas tree to some other girl if I didn't steal you off of the market!) Love ya hunny! Can't wait to spend more and more Christmas' with you!

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving 2008 took place at my Granny's house. When my mom's side gets together for Thanksgiving, we do what we like to call the "chomp and stomp". We stuff ourselves with Thanksgiving goodness... the "chomp" then we go to Hogle Zoo... the "stomp". I love the Zoo on Thanksgiving. There is hardly anyone there. And this year they had the Christmas lights already up, so that was fun to see. After the Zoo we came back for pie and games. Another successful Thanksgiving!
In the picture: My cousin Brenna, Dad, Cousin Lexie, Mom, Me, Sis-in-law Heather, and my brother Mike. (My cute aunt Jan is taking the picture and that is why you can't see her beautiful face.)

Things we are thankful for in 2008:
*Buying a house!
*Getting a new sister-in-law
*Getting a new niece
*Wonderful and supportive family
*The Gospel
*A new prophet
*Our church callings
*Our marriage and how grateful I am that I was able to marry my wonderful husband in the Temple
*Going to Portland for Christmas!
*Awesome friends
*Our jobs during the current hardships in the world
*Our health
*Zoey and Bubba
*Cars
*Cell phones
*The internet
*So many more things this list could go on and on and on!

More Good News!

If you thought that now that "Twilight" has hit the big screen, I would stop talking about it, boy were you wrong! I just can't help myself especially since I heard some super exciting news this morning! Ehhmm Ehhmm...(that was me clearing my throat) "Twilight" made $35 million on Friday alone, and $70 million over its opening weekend! Do you know what this means?! This morning it was announced that Summit will be making "New Moon"!!! For those of you who may not know, "New Moon" is the second book in the series. Can you say "HOORAY!"? No word on a release date yet (I'm assuming mid or late 2010), but you can be sure that as soon as I find out, I'll let you all know! Yay! Check out Stephenie Meyer's website or here for more info.

My Official Twilight Review

Ok, so I'm going to try not to give too much of a detailed review for those of you who haven't seen the movie and would like to, and don't want me to spoil anything. I loved the movie. I was a little "eh" about a few things but I would defiantly see it again. A few things I will admit. I went to this movie with low expectations. I knew going in that you can't squish a 600 page book into a 2 hour movie. I knew it was low budget and I was not familiar with Rob Pattinson (except for Harry Potter), Kristen Stewart, or Catherine Hardwicke. So I didn't have my hopes up too high. However, I was very impressed with their interpretations of Edward and Bella. I was pleasantly surprised. And now I would like to share mine, Chris' and Natalie's experience at the movie last night to give you the feeling of how appreciative I was to see the ENTIRE movie.

I had originally planned to leave work at 3:30 and take the train down to Gateway to pick up our tickets and make sure everything went smoothly. Well, I had Brian's mom offer to pick me up from work so I didn't have to take the train, woo hoo! So, she came to get me about 4:00. Eh, I was ok since the movie didn't start until 4:45. We get to the Gateway and pull in the underground parking garage and it was a JOKE! There were a million cars down there, hardly moving. All for the movie, I'm sure. So after ten minutes and moving pretty much 5 feet, I got out the car to go up to the theater to pick up the tickets. In the mean time, Natalie calls me at 4:20 and is just leaving work and has NO IDEA how to get to the Gateway. I'm already in a frenzy from thinking I'm going to miss the beginning of the movie, and I'm also trying to give her directions to get there, but not to get mixed up in that joke of a parking lot. So I get the tickets and I'm pacing around outside the theater waiting for Chris and Natalie to find me... and it's 4:45. I was just about to pee my pants. At about 4:55 we are FINALLY all together and I'm just about running in the movie theater thinking we missed the beginning. So we find theater 3 and burst through the doors and once I can finally see the screen.... THEY WERE STILL SHOWING PREVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tears welled up and I was shouting "It's still previews! It's still previews!" Yes, I just about cried. I waited a year for this movie. We ran to our seats (thank heaven for reserved seating!) and literally right as we sat down the movie started. SIGH of relief! For the first 20 minutes I keep thinking "I can't believe I'm finally here".

After the movie, we had dinner at The Melting Pot. I was so excited because I'd never been there. It was way yummy and we had so much fun! I think Natalie and I got a little drunk off the cheese! I'll post pictures of our girls night out when I get them! Thanks ladies I had so much fun!

P.S. If you DO want to know what I thought of the movie, you'll have to email me!

I Was Tagged

8 Things About Me

Rules, Rules - here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.2. Answer all 8 of the six items listed below.3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

8 Favorite TV Shows:

• John and Kate Plus 8
• Friends
• The Cosby Show
• Who's The Boss?
• Chuck
• The Office
• ER
• American Idol

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

• Went to work
• Played with Zoey
• Watched "The Biggest Loser"
• Made french toast
• Unloaded the dishwasher
• Made a menu for the upcoming week
• Made a grocery list
• Read "Twilight" to get it fresh on my mind for the movie
  

8 Things I Look Forward To:

• TWILIGHT ON FRIDAY!!!!!
• Thanksgiving
• Going to Portland for TWO AND A HALF WEEKS!
• Christmas
• Egg Rolls for dinner on Saturday
• Disneyland in 2009!
• Having babies (someday)
• Getting my hair cut

8 Favorite Restaurants:

• Cafe Rio
• Olive Garden
• Red Robin
• Asian Star
• Sizzler
• Carver's
• Mimi's Cafe
• 5 Guys Burgers and Fries

8 Things on My Wish List:

• Losing 15 pounds
• Winning the lottery and paying off all our bills
• A fenced yard
• I wish it was 4:45 on Friday and I was sitting in the theater watching my movie
• For Brian to want to go to DL with me next year
• A haircut
• Edward was my boyfriend
• To always be happy for the rest of my days!
  

8 People to Tag:

• Andrea
• Jenni
• Lachelle
• Leah
• Natalie
• Chris Mom
• Erin
• Kristi
  

My newest Niece and Nephew

These are Natalie's super cute puppies, Charlie and Max! Don't you love them!

I tried to sneak them into my purse so I could take them home, but she caught me.

Bite me Edward!

It's official... I'm holding in my little hands, my movie ticket to see "Twilight" on November 21st!! Yes, I will admidt, I was trying to find a crazy person to go with me at midnight when the movie opened, but I came to my senses, and am going Friday afternoon! WOO HOO. And yes, I will be wearing my "Bite Me Edward" tee shirt to the movie. Brian bought this for me, isn't he a sweetheart?! Even though he thinks I'm crazy, he supports it.

Our Baby Girl

I was cleaning out my memory card the other day and found these pictures of Zoey that I didn't know I had! She used to be so little! Now she's all grown up and wearing Nemo diapers...






This one is my favorite :-)


I love this dog so stinkin much!

New Favorite

Too Soon For Pine Cones And Holly Berries?

Late Saturday night, we received the first snow fall of the 2008 winter season. It was just barely starting to stick when we left Brian's mom's house around midnight. And when we woke up on Sunday morning, this is what was waiting for us...


I couldn't believe how much it had snowed! This first snow storm has given me the "umph" to get into the Christmas spirit early this year. No, I don't have my tree out or lights on the house or anything crazy like that... I just am ready to be holly and jolly. One of the biggest things that puts me in the Christmas spirit is this little experience that happens only in the winter time. And it happened to me on Saturday when we got home. It was about 12:30 and Zoey and I went out for one last potty break for the night, and when I stepped outside, I got an almost spiritual feeling. The snow was falling, it was just cold enough to see your breath and it was completely silent. I LOVE these moments in the winter! I recommend trying it. Happy holidays everyone!

Picture Game

I saw this game on a friends blog and I thought it was so dang cute!

Go to Google and type in the words and see what pictures pop up! But be careful, some can be a little racy!

First Name: Mallory

Middle Name (or maiden name): Weiss

Last Name: Andreasen

Age: 24

Place I'd like to visit someday: New York


Favorite Vacation Spot: Disneyland!


Celebrity Crush: Vin Diesel

College Major: Ummm... graduate with an associates

Place I grew up: Sandy, UT

First job: Jamba Juice

Favorite Dessert: cookies

Favorite Food: Pot Roast


Favorite Color: Pink



Somewhere you've been today: Work


What's for Dinner: spaghetti

Woo Hoo!

Have you seen the newest trailor?! I'm getting so excited for the movie! 42 more days!

We're an Aunt and Uncle again!

Welcome to the world, Jessi Mae Turner! Brian and I are so excited to have a new niece! Andrea (Brian's oldest sister) and her family are excited to announce the arrival a new baby girl into the world on Friday, October 3rd. She's so darling! I can't wait to see and hold her! I'm so sad that the first time we get to see her won't be until December when Brian and I go up to Portland for the baby blessing and Redden's baptism! Isn't that sad! We're excited to meet you, Jessi, and we can't wait to see you all, Turner's! Congratulations!

There's Only One Lagoon!

Natalie came up on Saturday and we went to Lagoon! I love Lagoon, and I even talked Brian into getting a season pass with me (next year I will know better than to do that again). We went on all my favorite rides including the White Roller coaster and the Tilt-A-Whirl. I have recently discovered how much I like both versions of the Rocket. That is the ONLY ride that I HAVE to scream on because it tickles my belly. The other rides I just scream on because they are fun and it's fun to act like a kid. My other favorite thing to do at Lagoon is eat til I burst. When ever me and my friend Brenda go to Lagoon, the first thing out my mouth when we walk through the gate is "Can we get a churro? Can we get a carmel apple? Can we get cotton candy? Can we get corn on the cob?" And the list goes on and on. Brian met up with us later and we went on the Log Flume, Wicked, Colossus, and the White Roller Coaster. Brian really liked Wicked and said he would have even gone on it a second time, but the line was SO long. Another successful trip to Lagoon. Only 18 days left to ride in the 2008 season :-( but my season pass has more than paid for itself this year!

We are still alive!

Yes, I realize how unusual it is for me to go so long without blogging. And I could give you my long list of excuses... we've been having tons of fun, our computer had a super awesome virus and we had to clear it out and start from scratch, I haven't taken any pictures lately or feel like we've done anything blog worthy. And Brian even said to me after my latest Twilight post "why don't you blog about something worthwhile." So... here are a few things we've been up too this summer, some funny stories and some upcoming plans.

Recently, Brian's oldest sister Andrea came to Utah for a long visit and we (well, mostly I) got to spend a lot of time with her and her family. In fact, Brian talked them into staying an extra day so Brian could play with Rich. They are friends. Brian doesn't have an older brother, and Rich doesn't have a younger brother, so I think they kind of fill that void in each other's lives. Tender with a capital T.

Brian and I have season passes to Lagoon. I love Lagoon. I want to live there. I have been to Lagoon A LOT this season. Brian... not so much.

We have gone to Logan several times for slumber parties with Brian's dad. Our most recent trip consisted of Zoey getting her paw tangled up in the weeds, which got stuck in her paw, and is now infected :-( and she is taking doggy antibiotics. Who knew they made doggy antibiotics?


I was cursed with some sort of the flu last week which had me achy all over the first day, and a belly ache for 4 days after that. It was not awesome. Let's just say that I had to leave work early one day and I'll leave it up to you to figure out why...

I, for the last year that we have been in our ward, have been blessed to be in the nursery teaching the 2 year olds. I was pretty butt-hurt at first when they called us in the nursery because we were new in the neighborhood and I knew that being in the nursery I wouldn't get to know anyone my age. But I really love my calling and I love the kids. They are so cute and fun. I will be sad to see them go in December when they move up to the next nursery. Yes... our ward has not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR nurseries. I'm in the not-quite-youngest class. There are 200+ kids in our ward... Please take a moment to ponder what our sacrament meeting is like...

Last month, Brian sold his rifle to a friend of his, and a few weeks ago, bought a new sniper rifle. Don't ask, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. He's really enjoying it and wants to get more into hunting.

So here's a funny story. I was driving us to Sandy to have dinner at Brian's mom's on Sunday, and as we're turning from I-15 to 215, we drive up to this truck that has a sticker in the back window that says "Got boobs? Show me!" So sure enough, as we drive past this truck, Brian, lifts up his shirt to show his "boobies". Wow, we laughed for a long time about that one!!

The same day as the "boob" incident, we ate dinner at Brian's mom's house. Burgers and corn on the grill, Yum! Later that night, we were watching tv when Brian gets up to get a snack. I saw him come back with a big bite taken out of an even bigger cookie. (Anyone that knows me, and knows my fondness of treats knows where this is going). So I said to Brian
"where did you get that?"
And he replied "get what?"
"cookie... I want a bite"
So Brian starts walking over with his cookie and says "tell me if you can see what kind it is". I go to take a bite out of it, but before I can sink my teeth into this treat I discover what it REALLY is. It was a freakin hamburger patty from dinner!!! GROSS!! Brian for a "snack" was having a cold hamburger patty. Yeah, he and his mom that that was REALLY funny. In my defense, it was dark where I was sitting. I should have known, Brian wouldn't have offered to share a treat with me, he would have told me to get my own.

On Saturday, I participated in the American Heart Association's heart walk. Beneficial Financial Group is a sponsor every year, so we go to Sugar House park and walk a 5K for those who have suffered, or are suffering from some sort of heart condition. My mom, my aunt, and her girls came to the walk with me.

After receiving his Master Tech, Brian has been featured in the Acura professionals 2008 calender. They posted his picture and a little blurb about him for the month of November. Way to go, Brian!




A few upcoming events we have planned:
A party for ourselves for living in our house for one year! Woohoo! You are all invited. Saturday the 20th in the evening. Bring your own meat and we'll throw it on the grill!
A trip to Portland for a baby blessing and a baptism
More fun than we can handle!

Have you heard?

Twilight has some great news, and we wanted you to be some of the first to know!

Twilight will be in theaters THREE WEEKS SOONER than originally planned!!! It will open in theaters everywhere in North America on

November 21, 2008!

Be on the lookout next week for more Twilight-related happenings - including a special look back at our fan-tastic time at Comic-Con!

Stay Tuned...

For more information, go to www.TwilightTheMovie.com

Happy Birthday, Zoey!

It's our dear little puppy's birthday today! She is one year old! Well, one human year old. I wanted to have a birthday party for her and have cake and ice cream (yes, they make doggy ice cream) and make Zoey wear a party hat, but Brian wasn't going for that. But, she did get her hair cut and she got lots of hugs and kisses today! We sure love her!

Some fun facts about Zoey:

She LOVES to snuggle

She loves kids, especially her "cousins" Redden, Austin, Riley, Madisen and Lily

She is terrified of guns, even though she's never been around one when it's been shot, or even knows what it is.

Whenever she runs down the basement stairs, she doesn't let her back left leg touch the ground

She gets really excited when we ask her if she wants to go outside or go for a ride in the car (she waits by the garage door until we get the car keys)

She snorts like a pig when she's wrestling or excited

She gives good hugs!

She is fairly obedient and can sit, stay, jump and dance

We call her tail her "happiness meter". The faster it goes, the happier she is!

Hopefully, next year we can get her a fence in our backyard for her birthday. She LOVES to run around outside and we can't wait to let her do it!

Breaking Dawn

I just finished Breaking Dawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone else has finished with it, will you please talk to me because I'm screaming about it in my head! I need to talk to someone about it!!!!!!

Weekend Warrior, Part 2

Remember the rock wall that Brian and his Dad worked so hard to build? Well, the poor thing has been empty for about a month and a half. But not anymore! Yesterday, Brian and I spent 13 long hours in the hot sunshine finishing the front yard. I think it was 102 degrees yesterday. We always seem to pick the hottest day of the year to work in the yard. But boy, was it worth it. Is this not the most beautifully landscaped yard you have ever seen? We have two trees, about 15 bushes and flowers, and TONS of bark. I'm so excited, it looks so good! I keep looking out the front window or going outside to look at it.

During our project yesterday, we also discovered at least 5 wasps nest and there are about 9 million wasps in our backyard. I'm scared for our lives. I do NOT do bees. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them? We have tried spraying the nests with wasp/yellow jacket killer, and I have one of those yellow cone trap thingies hanging in the back yard, but it hasn't caught anything yet. I think they are plotting against us. I don't want to have to move...

Before...

After...

Look how cute our trees are!

Wow

Have you seen the newest "Twilight" trailer yet? Wow! (perhaps I should start a blog just for my Twilight obsession)

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810010670/video/8858452

The Latest...

I've been waiting to blog hoping that my uncle would email me some pictures that I requested, but he hasn't yet, so here is what has been going on with us the last little while.

We had a very laid back 4th of July. We got to sleep in a bit, then we "helped" my brother move into his new house. We went out to lunch with my family at Winger's, then back to my parents house to lounge around. That night we went to see "Get Smart" with some friends. It was very funny and family friendly. We highly recommend it. (not to mention, I LOVE Dwayne Johnson!!)Yes... we are losers and didn't go see fireworks on the 4th. As a matter of fact, we haven't been to fireworks since we've been married. So, I bought sparklers for the 24th of July. Even if we do nothing else, there will be sparklers! Another fun thing about the 4th of July this year is that my older brother Mike proposed to his girlfriend, Heather! Yay and congrats! They are getting married in the Jordan River temple on October 11th. I'm so excited for them!

On July 9th we got to go to a Bee's baseball game with my co-workers. It was so much fun! The company I work for does it ever summer and we get pretty awesome seats. This year we were on the 3rd base line. We had fun eating burgers and yelling at the players and singing "take me out to the ball game" at the TOP of our lungs. Brian was being silly and making everyone in my department laugh. . And perhaps I shouldn't tell this story, but it's just so darn cute I can't resist. My boss' son, Corbyn loves to hang out with my friend Brenda. So he asked her if he could come sit on her lap. And just before Kip and Corbyn left the game, Corbyn said something to Brenda that he shouldn't have (kids will be kids) and Kip got angry and made him apologize and Corbyn felt SO bad. A few days later, Kip brought a letter to work for Brenda that was from Corbyn in his cute little 6 year old handwriting that said something like: Brenda, I'm sorry about what I said. Thanks for playing with me. Love, Corbyn. I thought that was so stinkin' cute! Kids really do say the darndest things...



This is my team (minus my team lead) Tami, Kip, Jason, Suzy, Me, Brenda


July 11th I was able to ditch work and go to Lagoon with my Aunt Jan, her girls Lexie and Brenna, Uncle John, Aunt Gina, and their kids Katherine, Erika, AJ, and David (these are the pictures I was waiting for). I LOVE Lagoon! We had such a blast! And I was SO relieved that it was not blasted hot outside. It was hot, but breezy. We were there from almost open, til the time they closed. A few of my favorite rides are the white roller coaster (classic), the tilt-a-whirl and the spider. This year, Lagoon has a new ride called Odysea which I have to say is pretty darn cute. We're talking Disneyland cute. You'll have to check it out!

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Yesterday, Brian celebrated his 28th birthday! Brian's mommy took us out to dinner at Red Robin, very tasty, and she took Brian on a shopping spree at Dillard's where he got TONS of great stuff for way cheap.
For his birthday, Brian also bought himself an AR (which he actually purchased several months ago which is going to count as all of his presents for the remainder of the year 2008), which at the time I was pretty ticked about, but it's actually really awesome to shoot.

When I asked Brian how he felt about turning 28 he said "old". And I have to admit, I used to think the same thing. But one of my best friends is 14 years OLDER than me, so I figured it's ok.

Thanks to all the family and friends who wished Brian a happy 28th! And an extra happy birthday from your wife. I love you so much and I'm so lucky to have such a stud for a husband. Thanks for working so hard to provide for our little family. I know I don't say thank you enough. I love you!