Sing-Off Finale!

Last year as Brian and I were preparing to move we happened to watch the most amazing show! Yes it was Sing-Off! Seriously it is one of the shows that you catch yourself (and Bri) just staring at the TV with  huge smiles on your faces and once they are done singing you are cheering as if you were at a concert! Well I will admit that some didn't do that to ya, but more than half did :)

I was so excited to here that there would be a second season! There are only a few episodes so some may have missed it, but don't worry we have last year and this year DVRed. For the finale we decided to have a little pizza party and cheer the final few on...I personally was all for Street Corner Symphony! Have a listen to Hey, Soul Sister!

Oh and I had to throw this one in becasue it reminds me of my dad! :)
but feel free to browse the other groups!!

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Here are a few pics of the delicious pizzas and dessert (shoot didn't get a final shot of dessert) we made!

This was the deep dish pepperoni!

Cooks in the kitchen!

 White Pizza with tomatoes and ricotta on the left

Pesto and Mozzarella on the right

 These three things put in that pan is what we called...

Magic in Your Mouth! Sooo good!

A Fun Day at the Park...

With Fiona!

We took Fiona to the dog park this weekend, it was our first time altogether. Adriane and I have gone together once before but Age loves to take her. Honestly it stresses me out just a bit becasue some owners are a little crazy (me included, hehe) You just dont know what to expect I guess. However; Miss Fiona Pearl had a great time!

Things That Made Me Smile Today!

I had one of my students from last year say the cutest thing to me. One of those that you wish could have been recorded  because it was that cute! It was the end of the day and he came over to say hello! I gave him a big squeeze and I asked, "Oh S, what do you want from Santa Claus ( I believe he was wearing a Santa hat and this is what sparked the convo), tell me, tell me, what is it that you want from Santa Claus"? At this time he grabbed my hands, put his forehead to mine and then he looked at me, how creepy does that sound, I should probably leave it out but I wont cause that is what he does. He then responds,

"Yooouuu".

In his silly little (somewhat soft and drawn out) voice!

Oh my heart melted! :)

I also received something on my back porch today (Thank you Chris)! It was a pasta maker! I love me some cheese ravioli and have had wonderful thoughts of creating my own. I have seen it made many times on various cooking shows...so it will be a challenge of mine. I will attempt to create the best cheese stuffed (with other things) ravioli over my Christmas break! If anyone would like to assist me in this Challenge I would greatly accept any willing Sous-Chef (de Cuisine (under-chef of the kitchen) is the second in command and direct assistant of the Executive Chef) Hehe!

Cant wait to share the good news of a successful day in the kitchen! (Thinking positively)
P.S. I really ahve no idea what I am getting myself into so if you have any
 recipes and/or ideas I would greatly appreciate them! :)

Christmas Traditions

Every year for Christmas my mom has given us an ornament. I think it is one of my all time favorite traditions! I appreciate them now more than ever. It might be because we have our own home and that is what fills up our tree. I love putting them up each year and doing the, “oh ya, I remember this one”! Brian’s mom has also passed down her big collection of Disney ornaments…I can’t wait to pass both the ornament collection and tradition on to our children!

My (Oldest) Babies First Christmas Ornament 1983!

My (Newest) New Home Ornament2009

Brian and I celebrated our first Christmas together in 2001 but I gave him his first LOVE ornament in 2002! Jessica reminded me the other day how we would search all around the mall for the perfect ornament. I usually went to the little kiosk, they had really cute ones but you can see in 2006/07 I had to look elsewhere because they did not update their selection ;)

Not sure where 2009 is...yikes!

This is one tradition I would recommend

to anyone!!

Oh and I had to add this cute little thing that was beside the tree!!

The Days Leading Up To the Big Day…Tuesday:

I had lunch with Adriane and Jessica at Brio, such a yummy place!! Then we ran around getting a few last minute things! All of us girls had Mac appointments for our makeup to be done on the wedding day. Well we went into confirm our appointments and I was asking about a trial run. The girl told me to sit down and she could give a “trial”. Jessica had a picture with really soft makeup that I liked. I wanted to look like me, not over done, you know a natural look! Well…I walked out looking like a clown! YIKES!! She caked it on big time. Jessica took a picture on her phone but I am not sure I would share it even if I had the pic, it was bad! I was almost convinced to do my own…but realized it had stayed on all night and I just had to be more specific (I guess) when saying what I wanted…I was worried!!

Later in the evening we had some pretty important people arrive at the house! Jacob, Rachel, and Isreal flew in from Portland! It was so nice to see them and of course hold Miss Iz, she is just the cutest thing I have ever seen and you just want to squeeze her! They came over pretty late but we chatted for awhile and then hit it! We had many plans for the following day…

This is the little Miss we were so excited to see!

Along with my brother and Rachel...we just didnt take a family pic :) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! We had our first Thanksgiving at our house as a married couple, isn’t that just so sweet ;) hehe! It was very relaxed and simple, just the basic sides and such. We brought the air mattress down to the living room and we were on it for almost the entire day and it was wonderful! Watched two movies and a whole lot of stuff on the DVR…oh how I love Parenthood and Modern Family :)

We are thankful for each other, our families, our  friends, our home, and our fabulous Fiona Pearl. It is easy to make a list of what we are thankful for but the hard part is remembering to be thankful for these things year round. It is easy to complain about our jobs but we have one. It is easy to want to do all kinds of things to the house but we have one. I want to try my best when I am complaining to remember that I do have amazing things in my life and to not take them for granted!

And now for (I think it might be) our 6th Annual Thanksgiving Eve celebration!

The Family Friendship Pic!!

We have a great time the night of, we wake up and have mimosas and biscuits and gravy, then we eat all day on Thanksgiving! The first one started at RT O’Sullivans (remember those days friends!)! Each year we have tried somewhere different (Doc and Eddies/Half Moon, Grahams) but this year we decided to stay at home and it was a blast!

I made a turkey!!

Haha I found it on this really cute blog and just had to make one! :)

Serving it up...

We moved the fire pit out front it sure was a chilly one this year and the guys were playing

all the college day games in the garage.

Thanks again to everyone that came, it was a really good time! Cant wait for next year ;)

I need my camera back ASAP, these pics are terrible! I called The Geek Squad and they told me it was with a "technician". I asked if she could give an update and she told me that they could not until it was over thirty days, P.S. it was at 28 days.  Its a camera, does it work or not! I said...well the holidays are around the corner and I would just like to know whether I need a new one or not! Hopefully I get some type of update soon! I will be hassling them on day 30 :)

The Days Leading Up To The Big Day…Monday:

Well I have to admit that the days began to blend together and I have no idea what happened on Monday!

Well actually...

I think I ran around and picked up a few things I needed during the day and then my mom came over in the evening and we worked on all kinds of things! We finished boutonnieres, programs, candy jars, table numbers, and organized everything into boxes! My mom deserves a VIP award for her commitment to helping me with everything I needed to get done. Mom, I could not have done it without you and I appreciate all your support and dedication in making our wedding full of beautiful details!! Love You!

The Days Leading Up To the Big Day…Sunday

I called this the calm before the storm…the stresses that would soon come! ;) 

The following day would be the Monday of the week I would be getting married! WOW!

Brian and I went to the Jack Johnson concert and it was amazing! We were with my friend Brienne (we have been going to camp together since we were 9) and her husband and they shared some exciting news with us! Hooray for them and their little McDowell on the way!

Jack (his hair was a lot longer than it was last time I saw him) played every song I wanted to hear. He also brought along G Love and the Special Sauce and Paula Fuga which was just fantastic!

When I was 13 a counselor at Camp AZDA…(Friendly Pines Camp) the greatest place on earth for one week of the year! played this tape while we were cruising to the lake and I just looooved it! I asked him numerous questions about the band and he ended up giving me the tape…it was G Love!! :)

On the last encore song they played Better Together all together and I was a happy woman! Side note: This is the song we used for our bridal party to come down to…

we are all Better Together that’s for sure!

Unfortunatley the camera ran out of memory...oops,

so Brian recorded it on his phone but we had some technical difficulties so no recording...bummer!

But we did get a portion of this cute song(one of my favs)! Do You Remember

**I am working on my video skills ;)

If you want to hear the great version....have a listen here!
Do You Remember



Wedding Celebration at School

I have such an amazing group of parents this year…I feel extremely lucky! On Friday (a week before the wedding) nine moms came in to give me a wedding celebration! They sang Happy Wedding Day to You…; they presented me with a gift card to Target with the sweetest card.

It said…

You have only taught our children for a short period of time now but they have absolutely fallen in love with you and so have we”!

Tears began to fall and I told them I was not sad just super happy! One of my little guys said I know those are tears of joy! Big smile! Oooh, I cant forget about the delicious and fancy homemade cupcakes! Then they gave me the Keys to A Happy Marriage and Wedding, a book that they made for me! A few of the quotes from my one and only little ones!

“You should be beautiful and super smart”! –Brennan

“Don’t be mean when you are getting married”.-Adrianna

“Be really nice to your husband, Stay together and have a baby”! –Amyrah

“You’re not supposed to be crazy when you get married. You’re supposed to do what you are supposed to do! You should look pretty!” –Lauren

“You’ll get lots of kisses! You should look really beautiful! You are beautiful! Go to the zoo with Brian!

–Ashton

“Be good to Mr. Brian”. –Arturo

SO I got it covered…Don’t be crazy, have a baby, do what I am supposed to do…be beautiful and take Brian to the zoo!! : ) I will see what I can do! Hehe!

I also received this amazing clock…the front said The West Family est. 2010 and then Celestial Clock Co, the mom that made it for me is named Celeste! So creative! All the kids signed the back and then they wrote, Thank you for all the time you put in to teaching our children. We hope every minute of your wedding is joy and bliss! Oh boy, just writing about it gets me all choked up. If you want a clock let me know she can make one for you!


They are beuatiful and the customized part is my favorite!

I felt so special and loved!

I'm Back! ;)

Hello! I am officially Mrs. West! Yes that’s right I married my main man and it was absolutely wonderful!! I can’t wait to share everything but it will take some time to recap.

Oh boy, where do I begin well I think I am going to back track as much as I can but I will start with Halloween work my way back and throw things in when I can!

Most importantly I am waiting for pictures from the photographer and friends 

* *Remember if you have any I would love if you could upload them to Walgreens. Let me know and I will send you the email.

Halloween

We celebrated at Lindsey and Austin’s new house, which is very cute! Lindsey has done a great job decorating the house and Austin did an awesome job Halloweening it up. There were graves, bloody hands, flying ghosts, and a smoking skull! Very well done. A few pictures…

Our crab/craw fish/ lobster! Not sure to be honest, we got it at Petsmart for $3.75!!

 It's a cream cheese Mummy...looks kinda disturbing! haha

 Kristian giving it a try

 Love me some Luigi!

Luigi and Fiona...even better! :)