Thanksgiving in Califronia

Disclaimer: I am the worst picture-taker ever. I always forget to take pictures and when I do they are on my iphone. Not the best quality, but here's what I captured during our four days in California.

We drove to California Wednesday afternoon. We met my family for dinner and then went home and were put to work preparing for the next day's feast. Watching Zac, Carli and Justin tear the bread into small pieces for the stuffing brought back such tramatic childhood memories of my mom making me tear apart like 500 loaves of bread. Maybe not that many but at least a dozen huge loaves. Who needs that much stuffing? It's probably my least favorite part of Thanksgiving. So much sage-yuck.


Since Carli worked so hard the night before, she felt like she deserved the turkey leg that all of the grown men usually fight over. Actually when she wasn't looking Rob grabbed it from her plate and shortly after that she was forced to move to the kid table becuase there was not enough room for her to eat with the adults. Rough day for her. Rob has never really been one of her favorites, so he chose the turkey leg over their relationship. Poor Carli. Luckily she's still pretty resilient.

Zac tried to force out a smile for a photo before he dove into his plate of food.

Here we are together. My mom took family photos for her Christmas cards that day so that's why we are in green and red instead of Thanksgiving colors.

We had a great time spent with family going to Roger's Gardens. It's a fun place to go at Christmastime. The Santa there was awesome, so nice, I almost believed he was the real thing. We went to Crab Cooker, the San Diego Zoo, a fast trip to the crazy Mission Viejo mall on black friday, and got our nails done. It went by too fast and was a ton of fun. We are off to Utah for Christmas to spend the holiday with the Freestone's. We can't wait!!

Feliz Navidad!

A couple of Saturdays ago Zac had to work and so I went here: the mall. They have this little holiday lane in the back corner of Macy's every year. It's on the second floor and I visit it whenever I'm needing a little Christmas cheer. Don't forget, A Christmas Carol comes out tomorrow. I think it's going to be good, but don't blame me if it's not, I haven't seen it yet obviously.

I did not intentionally skip over Halloween pictures just to get to Christmas faster, honest. I just don't have any taken from my phone and so blogging those ones just takes more work. I'm lazy sometimes, it's true, but I will get to it. In the meantime, time is fleeting away from us as Christmas is fast approaching. I feel so unprepared this year for some reason. Zac and I went and bought our first normal sized Christmas tree. 6.5 feet to be exact. We, no, I was very thrilled about it. I was a nice wife though and made sure we went to In-N-Out afterwards for dinner so he could get just as excited about something too. As soon as we got home we got to work decorating the beautiful new tree that is ours. It fits perfectly in our our new little house. A lot of firsts this Christmas. First time celebrating the holidays in a house. First time we've had an actual tree to put presents under. First time we've been married 4 years on Christmas. Ok, that one's lame, but there really aren't as many firsts as I thought so I had to stretch it a little. This holiday season we will be travelling to California for Thanksgiving and Utah for Christmas. I can't wait!

Update

Usually with a title like "Update" you're expecting something exciting. I'm afraid I may have mislead some readers. I just didn't have any other creative juices flowing at the moment and so that one seemed safe. Zac just finished his internal medicine rotation. I love the third year of medical school. One test once a month, home by five or six every night, sometimes as early as one or two in the afternoon. We get to hang out in the afternoons now. I am substitute teaching now and so I am home by 4:00 everyday. I am really enjoying it actually, mostly because the schedule is the same as Zac's. I am also working with a little three-year old boy who is speech delayed. I only see him twice a week though. He is so cute and sweet. Other than that we haven't been up to a ton. I am getting kind of excited for the holidays, mostly Christmas. Actually I take that back, I am getting reall excited for Christmas. I weakened and listened to a Christmas CD I bought for $4 at Big Lots the other day. I was having a really hard day and need some comfort. Some people reach for Twinkies or ice cream when times get tough, but my magic comfort tactic is Christmas music. It instantly warms my soul and makes all my worries go away. It's a real blessing for me. Enough about that, the weather is trying to cool off here in Arizona, but I think the state is confused. We'll have a few nice days of high 80's low 90's and then it gets scared and isn't ready to say goodbye to summer and so it shoots back up into the 100's. It's October, time to move on desert. It's going to look weird when I have Christmas lights and a snowman in the front yard when it's still 100 degrees outside. I'm starting to make soups and drink hot chocolate, but it's not helping. Anyway that's what we've been up to-not a lot.
P.S. Does anyone have any good couple costume ideas? We are going to a Halloween Costume party this weekend and have no idea what to be. I'd love any suggestions. Thanks ahead of time.

Family in Town and finally some pictures

Well my sweet parents, sister and brother decided to come spend the weekend with Zac and I. It was so nice of them and I was so excited to have our first overnight guests. My dad and Justin took the reclining chairs as you can see and left my mom and I squished in the middle-wait, what's wrong with this picture??


Here are Justin, me and Carli. I love these two kiddos. I would adopt them if my parents would let me.


We spemt most of Saturday shopping for cars. We've done this several times the past couple of years, but never had any luck finding one we could afford. One good thing about the economy being horrible is that cars are really cheap right now. We traded our old "clunker" in and bought a new Saturn Vue. I love it and am so excited to feel safe and secure in a car that doesn't have so many crazy problems. My Rodeo was a great car, but it was getting tired and it was time to say goodbye. It was actually a little sadder(is that a word?) than Zac and I were anticipating as we parted with the car we first talked about marrying each other in. It treated us well for so long and then within a matter of minutes we abondoned it and drove off with a new and better car. Poor thing.

And here is the car we chose. As you can see I am pretty elated about it.

Unfortunately, Carli had a misunderstanding and thought we were shopping to find her a car. She was jumping in every car pretending to drive and saying, "Oh yeah, I like this one. I think this one will be fine." She demamded I took a picture of her in every car. I spared you all with only one.

Once reality set in and she realized this was not her lucky day, we found her like this inside of the car dealership. Drama Queen!!

Justin couldn't find his bread when we got home from church because he left it in the car and forgot about it. When Zac found it this is all Justin could do to express his relief. He gets a little cranky and uptight when he doesn't get his bread fix.

One day a very sleep-deprived Zac came home from working a long shift at the hospital and decided it was time to buzz his head. He kept asking for my approval. I never said no and I never said yes, so what did he do? He took matters into his own hands, literally. I found him in the backyard doing it himself. Here is the final product. It took some getting use to for both of us. We are liking it better now that it has grown out a little. Sorry about the way blurry picture.

BYU football season started again as I'm sure you are all aware. Here is Zac trying to contain his excitement by acting way cool for the camera. Too bad inside he was like a little boy jumping for joy when they won their first game of the season. He's been a little depressed since the loss against Florida State, but after about a week he started talking again and he's just now able to get himself out of bed-jk. He really does live for BYU football though, no joke about that.

We got awesome BYU shirts to wear to the awesome BYU party our awesome friends hosted. I think I should use a Thesaurus. Anyway, it was a lot of fun-good food, great company, and BYU crushed Oklahoma first game of the season. What more could a fan ask for?

Here are the girls posing for some nervous husbands. They were giving us a hard time about missing a second of the game while taking our pictures. FYI-There is a thing called a pause button.

Waterskiing Trip

One of the highlights of the trip to Lake Mead was helping Carli ski. She was so excited to try that she demanded she go first. It was hilarious. She made two attempts and in her mind she was so close to getting up she practically did. From our perspective she did a nose dive as soon as she yelled "hit it". Her skis flew off instantly, but she held on submerged under water for a few seconds until she realized she was simply dragging and swallowing a lot of water. It was a lot of fun to be in the water with her though. I kept telling her just to take deep breaths and relax because she was shaking she was so nervous. Every person who went after her she would just scream out to them to breath deep and relax and they'll get right up. She is a riot and I love her so much.

Here I am enjoying an epic day on the lake.


We got so lucky and the water was glass both days. I love Lake Mead!!

Here I am attempting to jump both wakes. It didn't happen.

For some reason while I am skiing water pelts me really hard on my leg, just on this one side. Here are the bruises to show for it.

The trip was so much fun. I didn't decide to go until last minute, but I am so glad I did. I hadn't been waterskiing for four years so it was definitely time for me to remember how much I love it.

As of late...and then some

So this is what we've been up to lately...hanging out with friends and going to the temple. Not a whole lot here. Zac is done with his boards and so he has a lot more time to hang with me. He is doing his OB rotation now in labor and delivery and loving it. His schedule is kind of demanding, but still better than classwork the first two years. He gets home and he is done. I love it. We get to eat dinner together and watch our favorite shows everynight. It's awesome. I feel like I have my husband back. We get to go over to friends houses and don't have to leave early so he can study. He doesn't have to meet me there because he has to come late. We just go places together. I think things are looking up...

As for this picture...I don't know where we are looking. For some reason it's really challenging for us to take a picture where we are looking in the same direction. I don't think it's our fault though. It's our husband's fault. They struggle big time. They are too impatient to take them one at a time and so we get overwhelmed with flashes and "say cheeses" and we buckle. I am sure this is the problem because this is isn't the first incidence we've had such as this. I can count a handful of awkward, unprofessional pictures and it's always the one's of just the girls. Ironic? I don't think so. We just know the guys are not taking it seriously enough. You may be wondering why we don't just take another one if we have digital cameras, right? Oh, we do, they are all the same. Nothing changes, confusion, frustration and anxiety occurs with each flash just to capture a memory like this. I give up!!


The temple was beautiful and relaxing as usual. This was the view we had as we were walking to our car. I always love going, especially since we go to Cafe Rio afterwards. I, no, we LOVE that place. Somehow, our forgetful selves, forget how amazing it is. The first bite is like an explosion of pure bliss in between two salivating, spoiled cheeks. We both pause, look up at each other, share our joy, and fall in love all over again. Everything in the world could be upside down, but for that moment life is good. Thank you Cafe Rio!

Unemployed

I think it's time I start looking for a job. Anyone have any ideas? Usually I get lucky and just stumble upon one, but no luck this time. I've come to a dead-end with ideas and am humble enough to admit that I need help. Please let me know, especially my Arizonan friends, if you know of any job openings. My long-distance friends-maybe you can help me think of something I might enjoy. I hate the job-hunt. I just want babies!!

More Photos

What's a road trip with out slurpees really? We got one every night we were in Vegas. They are everywhere. This 7-11 happens to be brand new and very nice. They really hit the spot after a long night of walking the strip.


I loved this place!! If I were an M&M I would so want to be the green one. Yes, she is the only female M&M, but still, she has so much style and sas. After an hour in there I felt like I knew her well. I started wondering if this M&M had a name other than the "green one". That's when I knew I needed to give my "not-so-fast, but thorough," shopping buddy a gentle nudge to get going. Not you Teri, or you Liz, our other friend. Actually this thorough friend planned our whole trip. She should go into the travel agent business. She made it so carefree and fun for all of us. Thank you Cadi!!



Here we are in the car. Zac gave me these glasses for my birthday. When I opened them I thought, "what in the heck are these going to go with?" Well, I was wrong for doubting him because they go with everything and I love them.

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!

I WISH! I bet with a title like this you were expecting something crazy, but no, just four married, mormon girls enjoying a weekend getaway.

This blog is so out of order and it's driving me crazy, but I spent so long figuring out how to download the pictures off my phone now I'm too tired to fix it. So here is my horribly scattered post-forgive me.

Here we are at the Hoover Dam. When Cadi pulled over to take pictures, I thought she was joking, but she wasn't. I guess I've just travelled this road one too many times.

I guess this is what happens when you leave your husband for too long. He gets a little crazy on you. Poor guy!! Now it's time for some real TLC for the babe.

Zac's been so busy with his rotations and studying for Boards I figured he wouldn't notice my absence for a couple of days. While in Vegas we went to M&M World, a dinner and show about the medieval times and ate at the #1 rated buffet in Vegas in 2007, at the Planet Hollywood. We were pretty excited about it because the information desk guy gave us coupons because he felt bad for us. Play the poor card, and put on a cute dress, it always works. It was pretty awesome and worth every penny. Since Zac and I are near poverty, my good friend Cadi is letting me babysit her kids to payoff the trip she practically paid for. We stayed up intil at least 2:00 am every morning and woke up between 10:00 and 11:00. Threw me off a little when I got home because I was on a 11-7 sleep schedule. I'm back on track though. It was fun to go to the pool or shop in the afternoon and then walk the strip at night. I felt like I was in college again. It was a much needed bonding time with the girls.

WOW!!

WoW-wOw-WoW!! So I have some really amazing friends. Thank you.
I am hoping to get some pictures up soon, but it might be a little tricky. We just moved into a house and we do not have internet yet. When we will get it, I do not know. We are renting from some friends who moved to Utah. Our house is just a mile away from our old apartment so we're still in the same great ward as before. So far we are loving it. I love having people over now for parties and not having to climb up stairs with groceries. Zac loves having a garage and an attic. He does the yardwork on Saturday and we barbeque. We are starting to feel more like a "real" family. Now all we need is a kid I guess. Zac keeps talking about how he needs some kids around to play with. I suppose I'm not fun enough for him. He tells me it's because kids laugh at him way more than I do-he's right about that. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of the new place soon.
I am going to Vegas tomorrow with some girlfriends for the weekend. I am sure I will have some fun stuff to report come Monday. For now, not too much else is going on.

Clarification

I am NOT pregnant. I've had several people ask me recently if I am pregnant. The answer is "NO." I am not sure if it's because my stomach is bloated, or because I wear big dresses that look maternity or people are just hopeful that I am. I'm afraid there is a rumor going around and so I just thought a simple blog would be easier to clarify the truth. Do I wish I was, yes of course, but I'm not.

What to blog about...

I stole this idea from my friend Sharon.  It's a little journal entry idea, but on your blog for all to read.  Here it goes.

Outside my window.... it's dark out I'm sure since it's almost midnight, but I can't see because my blinds are shut.

I am thinking about.... what I am going to do tomorrow and going to bed soon.

I am thankful.... for my electric heating pad.  It's not even cold here, but I like to put it on my back at the end of the day.

From the kitchen.... I have yummy chicken alfredo pasta with artichoke hearts and raosted garlic cloves in the fridge and Jo-Jo's in the cupboard.  Thank you Missy for getting me addicted to those years ago.

I am wearing.... an oversized red Snowbird long sleeve shirt and flannel pajama pants with little skiers on them (they are Zac's, I stole them).  

I am going.... to probably Walmart tomorrow for some random things like an ink cartridge and body wash-maybe I'll see you there Sharon.

I am hoping.... I sleep well tonight.  Lately I've been getting up like five times during the night to pee.  What's my deal, I don't know.

I am hearing.... a BYU devotional talk on KBYU, notice the word hearing, not listening to.  I am kind of tuning it out, but it's more uplifting than the news.

Around the house.... there is a blanket draped over one end of the couch and Zac's jeans and sweatshirt on the other end.  There is an empty Easter candy bowl on the coffee table that was once filled with Peanut Butter M&M's-one of my fav's.

One of my favorite things.... my ice cream cone I eat every night before bed.

A few plans for this week.... get through another week of work and then fly to California to babysit Carli and Justin-yeah!!

Not too exciting here, but I figured, hey, it's an update right?

Sweet dreams!

Valentine's Day Recap

These are the amazing cupcakes Zac was so kind to buy me for Valnetine's Day.  He knows how much I love this kind of icing- wait no, i really don't like this kind of icing.  He said it was all they had in the Valentine's tent outside of Frys grocery store.  How t sweet eh?  

Luckily he had these beautiful white roses to go along with them.  
Here are some peanut butter heart cookies I made for our Valentine's Day party we went to.
Pardon the photography, clearly I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to taking pictures.  I also made these little brownie bites, thought they ended up looking a lot like the store bought ones from Costco.
Here are all the wives that were at the party.  The men were grilling chicken and relaxing on the couch.  Sorry no pictures of them.  We played a couple of really fun games and ate yummy food.  The guys really lucked out this year because we had the party on Valentine's day night.
Here is Zac in his new camping chair.  This is what he came home with the other day.  He used his birthday money for it and was beyond excited about it.  He watches t.v. in it, studies in it and even sleeps in it apparently.  Who knew such a simple chair could bring a young man so much joy.
Zac and I celebrated Vday on our own on Friday night.  We went out to dinner and then saw "He's Just NOT That Into You."  We both liked it.  It was different than what we expected, but it was pretty cute.  Overall we had a great weekend.

Tatiana...Are you kidding me??

AAAHHHH! is anyone else as bugged as I am about the fact that Tati-what's her name is still in American Idol? How could that cute homeless girl go home last night but not Tatiana? I don't get it. America had better vote her off asap. I know I will be. So far I have liked the modifications they have made this year with less audition weeks, and less crazies. I think they've filtered out a lot of the fluff. I also really like Kara, the new judge. Paula needs to go though, she is pretty much useless. I like seeing her hair done differently every night though. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts or opinions about this season's Idol.

Rock Climbing 101

For Zac's birthday we celebrated by going to BJ's-one of our latest favorite restaurants- and then off for some rock climbing.  Not a great idea to eat a huge meal and then put a tight harness on.  We had a lot of fun.  If we had the money we would have a membership, but....we don't.  

Here I am not making too much progress yet.  
Please ignore the extremely sweaty pits of mine.  I guess I shouldn't wear a colored shirt to rock climb next time.  After about an hour and half we were both beat.  Our forearms wanted to be done.  We hit up 7-11 for some slurpees and caught a movie on the couch.  I love his birthday because he always uses his money on something fun and it always includes me.  I feel like it's my birthday too almost.  

If you're wondering why I am just posting about his birthday that was almost 3 weeks ago it's because I finally took my laptop over to my friends and am now using her wireless connection.  What an inconvenience, I know.  That's another thing Zac and I will one day purchase right after we can afford a rock gym membership, the internet.  

It's been forever

I haven't posted in forever for a good reason- we don't have the internet anymore. our nice neighbors have been letting us use their connection, but they just cancelled it which means we are living primitively for a while until we can muster up some mula to buy our own. It was so kind of them to let us use their's for so long. We never realized how spoiled we were until it was taken away. I am using my friend's computer right now, but I don't have any of my photos to post. What was life like before the internet you might ask. I can tell you, it stinks. Anyways thank you Sharon and Rob for letting us mooch off you for so long.

As of late Zac and I have been keeping busy with school and work. Not a whole ton going on here. The weather is epic. Sometimes we forget it is January. I have been to the pool at least five times this month. LOVE IT!! There are two things I need to make me happy, Zac and the sun. I am a happy woman.

Happy lover's month tomorrow.

You Complete Me

Happy Birthday Zachary Turley!!

A thank you to my husband for being so:

*thoughtful
*selfless
*entertaining
*gracious
*forgiving
*dedicated
*resilient
*funny
*laughable (is that a word?)

Favorite things about you:

*you laugh at Geico commercials really hard
*you love to spend time with me
*you want me to be happy and will do anything to cheer me up on a bad day
*you'll drop anything for me when I need help
*you'll drop anything for anyone when they need help
*you never question me
*you never judge me
*you never judge anyone
*you never assume anything
*you never expect anything from me
*you never ask me to change
*you never say never
*you always listen to me
*you always support the parties I like to throw
*you always put the toilet seat down
*you always wash out your hair from the sink after you shave
*you always save me leftovers, even if you really want them
*you always call me when you are on your way home
*you always call if you are running even five minutes late
*you always tell me how much you love me
*you always tell me all about your day
*you always make me happy to be married to you!! (well, almost always)

I love you so much! Thanks for being born 29 years ago.

Don't be scared....

In case you were wondering who this is, it's my husband.  He was sick of the sun in his face and so he solved the problem.  So typical of Zac, always practical, never vain.  I love him so much for this reason.  I miss him so much when he is studying.  I can't wait to have him back.  Our Christmas vacation was so fun because we got to spend so much time together.  He does a great job at making me feel number one in his life despite how busy he is.  He's the best.  He has a birthday this month and so I thought I would embarrass him a little.  I kept asking him to smile and this was all he could muster.

Happy New Year!!

Every Christmas Eve my family does a talent show.  It is usually pretty entertaining considering the fact not one of us has any talent, at least not on a stage.  Zac and I performed a synchronized swimming routine to Andrea Bocelli.  I'll tell you what- not easy with out a pool.  We made do with a blue sheet the water.

As if that weren't enough humiliation we carried on our annual American Idol night the week after Christmas.  We always do this to kick off the season.  This was the fourth season of this tradition.  We performed to the song entitled "Jessie's Girl."  Not the best, but it was acceptable.  My family is a tough crowd to please.  There is a competition factor involved so sometimes it gets a little ugly.  The prize is cash .... do you blame us??

Three reasons for me posting this picture for all to see:

1.  Zac starts singing "Who Let the Dogs Out" every time I make this face.

2.  Anyone ever seen the Seinfeld with the pirate blouse-enough said.

3.  This is what having to get up when it is still dark outside to get to church by 8:00 makes you want to do- be ugly!

Can you say Ralphie from the Christmas story?  Pretty close look alike, but he is actually just my very cute and incredibly bright nephew, Nathan.

Just what the doctor ordered- a little bit of physical activity for the Carli girl.  Thanks to Zac for showing her how to play some of the games with out actually having to move.  Gotta love her.

Zac and I on Christmas Eve, the last of my red and green apparel.

Carli enjoyed matching every day I was there.  She would go change after she saw what I was wearing every morning.  It was pretty flattering actually.  Some classic quotes from Carli this vacation:

1.  "I tooted"

2.  We were playing Catch Phrase, it's Carli's turn and the word is "nothing."  She says, "you know what I do around the house."

3.  I ask her one morning, "How many Kraft singles did you eat?"  She says "what?" with a puzzled look.  I hten proceed to count six wrappers hiding under the table.

4.  "Whatever."  "Pllleeease!"

5.  I say, "Carli rinse your ice cream bowl out."  She replies, "Are you kidding me?"
We had a fun time in California, but were happy to get back to Arizona.  Thanks family for making Christmas 2008 so memorable.  Love ya lots.