Santa Clause is coming to town!

I love Christmas!!!! Dallin and I were talking about what we used to say was our favorite holiday when we were little. I used to say Easter just to try and be different but I was only lying to myself and everyone else because it's common knowledge that Christmas is the best. And dallin said that he did that too except with Halloween! haha

Look at all these cute christmas cards!

This is the best "winter" I've ever experienced. Even better than last year. It's almost new years and we sat out back today in our shorts. It's soo freaking beautiful. 

The Doggy Kids

We have now met several people who are crazier about dogs than we are. I'll spare you with the specific interactions, but there have been about times 4 since I last blogged where I have specifically thought, "Woah and I thought we were crazy dog parents."

lol 

However- I understand this is the monotonous part of the blog for some. Feel free to scroll through to the next part. 

(For me, this is the best part! lol)

 She brought that thing in through the dog door! It was hilarious because it took her like 5 tries to get it in haha I wish I would have recorded it but I was too busy watching and laughing my butt off.

 They got the mail together and I was laughing from the window because Dallin has never gotten the mail. So he was putting the key in every single spot seeing where it would fit and he came back convinced that he had the wrong key. Hahah and Jake and Jo thought it was so cool that they were allowed to be out there with him. It was pretty funny to watch.

Work 

We destroyed a bat, our last few weeks before Christmas break went great, and the weather was beautiful. ALA made a bunch of changes for the next semester and now I'm teaching all dance and 2 weights classes so I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT! haha I have missed dance, and I was getting sick of P.E. I love working with Chelsea (the other dance teacher) so I am really looking forward to 2nd semester.

 Doggie Christmas Party

We joined a meet up group for 20 pound and under dogs. We went to a party in Scottsdale that was a christmas party where you bring a doggie gift, an old sweater, and the puppies play. 

 They had so much fun meeting new friends.

 They had food for the doggies and people and it was so fun.

 The whole group!

 Josie in the ball pit and me with our gift!

 What the?!?!? PIGS ON THE LOOSE!

Arizona is a freakin' weird place. We literally had wild pigs walk by. (I had to google what a group of pigs is called so that I knew what to write...)

A "sounder of swine" moseyed through our front yard, across our driveway and went on to the next house. But they're really slow so it took a long time. There were like 8 or 9 of them and some of them were little babies and some were huge!

 These are the 2 babies

These aren't very good pictures because it's through the window because I was really afraid to go outside and actually be around them. Jake was losing his mind barking like a mad man but I wouldn't let him out there either because I read that they're aggressive.

 These things are ugly and gross. One walked right up to the window and just stared and sniffed for a while. They strike me as stupid and lazy as well. I could be off but I think it's so weird that around here you could run into a coyote, pig or scorpion whenever.

Scottsdale is da bomb.

We went into Scottsdale for dinner one night and it reminded me of how amazing it is here. It was so picturesque because it was all decorated for Christmas, and no chain restaurants or stores. Everything is unique and of high-quality there. Anyway we tried a new italian place where they make their own noodles and they make fancy stuff that we didn't even understand but let me tell you it was divine. They even lit our dessert on fire!

 Look how pretty. And the weather is perfect of course.

 It is so pretty. I love it.

Such a good time with my best friend and so relaxing and pretty. 

 Spa Night(s) In!

I didn't know what it meant when I bought a "bubble sheet mask." That sounded to me like what they give you when you take the ACT lol 

But it starts out as black and then the bubbles grow and it feels AMAZING! You can feel them growing and popping and it feels so cool. 

I also had a red and gold festive thing going on for Christmas.

Shelly gave me this for Christmas and it is so cool! I love it. You put it in the microwave and then you put them on your feet. Its a paraffin wax and essential oil mixture that feels and smells sooooooo good. Dallin did it for me and then after I was done, I put them on him because they're reusable and he loved it too. haha Both of our feet were as smooth as baby butts that night. 

 Let the Festivities Begin!

I planned a whole bunch of things we could do each night to celebrate the holidays because I was afraid of it feeling like just another weekend where we sit around and watch TV. Christmas is a much different experience without family, kids, or snow, so we both wanted to try and make it extra special instead of sitting around and wallowing for no good reason. I hate it when people choose to see the bad in a situation instead of making the best of it. And now that it's all said and done, I wouldn't trade this last month for any other experience because it ended up PERFECT! We had so much fun. 

Anyway here we are making gingerbread houses :)

 Goodbye Lily

Ben and Jamie finally came and got Lily! 

 We went to the dog park, ate Del Taco, watched Tv, and drank steamers with Ben and Jamie.

 Drive Through Christmas Cheer

We went to this drive through light show and it was really fun! These pictures don't really do it justice  and Dallin says that when we tried to get a picture together it just looks like we're being pulled over by a cop.

Look how cool this is!!!

 They used dubstep music and there was a lot to it. I thought it was really cool.

 Finally Christmas Break!

Got a few gifts from students :)

 We had an assembly for all the winter sports

 And of course the wrestlers had to make an impression...
Complete with a choreographed routine that reminded me of Mulan or something. And they had the fog machine going so much that the cheerleaders couldn't stop coughing lol

 And then they had to fight each other in front of the whole school. Here's a girl fighting a guy... because there are 4 girls on the wrestling team. So that was probably the most mortifying moment for a little 8th grade boy when he was beat up by a girl in front of the whole school....
I couldn't stop laughing. I can just see the conversation happening, "What'd you do at school the last 2 days before break? Take your final exams?" "No, we watched while people fought each other like the days of the colosseum or something."

 And some people think cross country is weird because it's running for no specific purpose. But hey, different strokes for different folks. haha I will probably never understand wrestling.

 This is the cool way that the other dance teacher takes attendance.

 We had another assembly the next day for the last day before the break and it was for all of the fine arts department. The Orchestra, band, choir, art, and dance classes did great!

 Afterward we had the teachers party and we ate, played a game, and did a 3 point shooting contest.

 Our newest project is this paint by numbers painting. It was funny because I have always liked painting so I got it on amazon and then when it came and I saw how many numbers/sections there are I thought Dallin might hate it. And we were both super overwhelmed at first because the directions didn't make sense at all. But that first night we started with just number 1, and as you can see number 1 was white, and we've done 2 more numbers since then. It's really relaxing and you just have to do it little bits at a time. And even if it looks like crap when we're done, who cares? haha it's just supposed to be a bonding experience anyways so why not try something different.

 I was laughing in the second picture because Josie was licking the camera in the first lol She is such a pudgy little cutie pie.

Dallin gave them both baths and it is pretty funny because it makes Josie depressed and it makes Jakey all hyped up. After a bath she looks like she's been beaten and Jake runs around like a psycho for a couple hours. It's the weirdest/most hilarious thing.

 More holiday festivities! Our first time making fudge! And it really wasn't even that hard to do! As you can see from the bottom right picture we both tried a taste after it was all done and we didn't really like it much. But it was fun and festive to do, so mission accomplished! haha

 Christmas Eve & Day

I had a little sickness for like 4 days over christmas, but it wasn't too bad. On Christmas eve we went to a church service at this huge church by our house. 

They deck out their grounds with lights. It's really pretty.

And we loved it! It was nice that we weren't singled out for being newbies because there were a ton of people there and the minister was so down to earth and easy to follow. We loved the candle lighting part and the band was MARVELOUS! It was a foot-tapping yet reflective time. lol so good. 

We didn't want to wait for our turn to take a pic in front of the big tree because there were so many people doing that so we just did it in the lobby. 

After church we went home and had a fancy dinner with crab, bacon-wrapped scallops, potatoes, and rolls. It was delectable. And we couldn't leave the kids out so we got them a wet dog food organic stew thing and they seemed to enjoy it quite thoroughly. 

 They didn't put out any cookies for Santa. Such Jerks. But they did wear their cute pajamas so I guess it's okay lol

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!!!

Jojo and Jake got boots from my mom, Jake was afraid of the wrapping paper, Jojo loved all of the toys they got and hoarded them while he sulked in the closet. 

 Shelley made me another table runner, and my dad gave Dallin tools. My mom gave me leggings and Dallin shoes, and then Dallin and I gave each other stuff. I got an orange theory membership, new skin whitening toothpaste and mask. Dallin got a new gaming chair, leaf blower, beard glitter. We both got other things but for some reason I'm not remembering very well right now. Overall it was a great haul!

 He loved his chair, and I was so glad because i was nervous about picking it out. He is picky about where the armrests have to be and how it feels and the height of the back and stuff. (sigh of relief, he likes it.)

We did Skype on Christmas with Dallin's parents and my mom, but it was way easier to use Marco Polo this year. It's a video sending app that makes it so that you don't have to be on at the same time and you can still see what they're doing and stuff. I like it a lot better than regular calling on the phone. 

Dallin also got me a new license plate frame!

 The aftermath of christmas in the living room and dallin's festive beard glitter lol

 We watched a lot of cheesey Hallmark Christmas movies on TV. They're so bad but you can't seem to pull your eyes away lol and it's okay that they're cliche and you can call it from the beginning what's going to happen because it's christmas and that's what you're supposed to do.

 It was such a good day. I wouldn't trade it because it was our first christmas on our own completely. It was exciting at times, relaxing at times, and we were still in contact with family so it was the best.

We had breakfast for dinner on Christmas, so we made waffles and bacon and eggs. I love cooking with dallin because I feel like I usually don't like cooking because I feel like an isolated servant for everyone else while they have fun. But Dallin always cooks with me and when we do it together it's actually a really good time. He is the best. 

Clear link Stuff and Brian Visits

Brian came down and stayed with us for almost a whole week but I feel like I never really saw either of them. One day they went to the casino twice! Anyway they're besties and I understand. They got wined and dined by these people at the suns trying to sell Clearlink tickets for incentives and stuff. So they got to be "captains of the game" and go down onto the court and meet the refs and they got food and really good seats. He said it was sooooo cool. 

This girl won some christmas shopping from clear link so she got some stuff from the disney store for her daughter.

My dress came for the clear link party! I know i'm so early. Idk what came over me- I just saw it and I wanted it and I get so excited for that dang party lol

I know it's not a great picture, but it's what I got.

This guy won a laptop from clear link!

 Hiking (ish)

We went to Papago park to experience it because I keep seeing it on pinterest and because we wanted to do something outside because the weather is so beautiful. So the whole in the rock is more of a walk than a hike, but still kinda cool. 

 For some reason, Josie LOVED it. She was more energetic and outgoing than I've ever seen her. It was weird.

 Kinda crowed and underwhelming if we're being honest.

 But I'm glad we went. It's one of those quintessential Arizona things you just gotta do.

 Jakey hopping the rocks to stay out of the creek lol it was funny to see Josie all stoked because it never happens.

 Fire, Smores, and Steamers

We had a fire outside, made smores and drank steamers one night. It was a really good time as usual. 

Abby's Wedding

My coworker Abby got married and I went to film her wedding video. It was kinda crazy because I saw a girl there that I danced with at UVU in like 2012. She's the brother of the groom's wife now- what are the odds of that!?

 It was really pretty. I didn't get many photos because I was only doing video the whole time.

"Iceskating"

We went to the aquarium and butterfly place because I read they had iceskating for only 5 bucks. We were going to go ice skating at this place in scottsdale, but it was 50 bucks just to park and then 25 per person just to skate, let a lone food or drinks. (I couldn't figure out why on earth it would be so expensive- so I called to see how much it costs if you park somewhere else or take an Uber in or something, and she said its still 20 to walk in. So they're charging you to exist without even doing anything yet. Makes perfect sense.) So anyway, I thought we'd go for the 5 dollar option instead. So we went up top to this restaurant first and ate.

 It was really good and we were just sitting there laughing so hard at all the people trying to ice skate in the middle. We were making fun of them so much and trying to figure out why NO ONE in Arizona can ice-skate (or why no one seemed to have any coordination at all).

 But it was really pretty and good food and times. Then we went down and got our skates and put them on. (Dallin wrote today's date as his birthday and they had to make sure he wasn't born today because there's an age limit on this thing.) As we're heading out to skate the guy says "so you know it's not normal ice right?". LOL well you called it iceskating, so we figured it would be.
Nope.
Turns out, it's a plastic material coated in something slippery that's supposed to mimic ice. Except it doesn't mimic ice.

It was then that we realized why everyone who does this looks like a total idiot. We were falling all over the place like baby giraffes learning to walk for the first time or something and we couldn't stop laughing and that of course made it harder to get up. (The reason it was so funny was because we made fun of people so relentlessly and here we are looking absolutely worse than they did because we were prepared for normal ice.) And got so caught up in the moment and trying not to fall one time that I said an expletive kindof loud and I felt like an idiot because there were kids around Dallin was busting a gut laughing because he apparently can't take me anywhere. 

And then this worker guy says you can go faster if you make your feet perpendicular to each other like a T and use the back foot to push off. So I tried it and I got all excited that I was doing it that I screamed "woohoo I'm doing it!" and then the stupid turn came and I ate it so hard. As you can see, there are tables where people eat right up against the fence of the "ice." And this older family was sitting there eating and of course I biffed it right in front of them. So this old guy holding a pomeranian said, "Oh my gosh... are you okay? Do you need help?" 

I literally rolled onto my back laughing because he was talking to me like I was handicapped. And because one of the reasons we were making fun of people while we were eating was... "If they don't have it down when they're going slow, why are they trying to go fast? Just slow down!"

Yet, there I was, splayed out on my belly inches away from people trying to have a nice quiet meal. 

Dallin would have recorded it I'm sure but both of our phone were dead. 

I think the funniest line of the night was when I asked, "Why don't they warn you?" And Dallin responded, "Yeah, they should probably say you're going to hate this, right after they sell you the tickets."

Hair Doing and Stuff

I got this deal through Aveda that was 4 hair visits for 60 bucks and I went for my first one. The first one was a hair cut, and every time you get a shoulder massage, hand massage, and some stuff for your chakras or something. 

I love it! 

 Renovations

Well this renovations crap has been a nightmare to tell you the truth. 

Here is where we started in October....

They brought us the wrong sized island, then fixed it and brought the right one back, and then this is them putting the granite on, and the hole in the ground for the electrical. 

 We finally got the fan installed.

 

And this is where we're at now. We don't know what we're going to do about the floor because the tiles are discontinued. They tried to get some out of the laundry room to put there and it didn't work so now we have 2 naked strips. So that's nice. 

Orange Theory Fitness!

This was the best experience I've ever had with working out. LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT. If you haven't tried orange theory yet, go. We made dream boards and, among other things, there is of course a picture of a really ripped girl on mine. I am hoping this is what gets me there because it is really challenging but not boring because they change it up enough and it keeps you ultra-accountable because your heart rate is always up on the screen in front of everyone. They're so sweet when they're helping you with the lay of the land your first couple times. And I love it. 

Can you believe that I seriously burned 629 calories in one hour? And they have it down to a science so that you can keep burning as many calories as possible throughout the day after you leave. It's expensive, but worth every penny. 

 Wrapping up 2017

We were talking about how fun scavenger hunts used to be as kids, so I surprised Dallin. I made him a scavenger hunt full of all of our memories throughout 2017 and then he did it on the last day of the year. All the clues were in spanish, and it was cute because he got all competitive. He remembered more spanish than I thought he would, but there were still some things that he had to look up. 

Scavenger Hunt of 2017 memories Video!

It was so fun I think we might have to make that a tradition. 

 It was fun for me too because it was a nice walk down memory lane and a time to reflect on what I've learned this year. After we spent a lot of money on gifts for our ever-growing families, Dallin suggested that we just do Christmas cards next year. Lol I'm starting to see the value of Christmas cards. So here's our non-printed version. We had a really good year.

The next part of our new years eve was going to a special suns game. I say special because we got special treatment being in the season ticket holder area. We got free food and it was an amazing buffet of really high quality food. Then we sat in excellent seats that were CUSHY! Half time was a Frank Sinatra performance by a Jazz band that was really good, and although we lost, it was a really good game because they went back and forth with the 76ers.

After that we met up with Rodney, Kim, Luis, Nikki, Christal, and Micky. 

We wanted to try the old-fashioned experience of going out on new years because we have never been able to get ourselves to pay the higher prices and battle the crowds and whatnot. 

So they were in town, and we figured why not. It was fun because we got to ride on one of those bike carriages!

 It was fun and we got to dress up and see friends and celebrate.

And I was so happy I got to have my best friend be my new years kiss at midnight. Look how cute his smile is when all the confetti happened! 

Hahaha here is a video of the official count down!

 It's times like this that I get all nostalgic and realize how quickly time is passing. This seems like yesterday, but it was already 3 years ago. Now that it's 2018, we're in our 4th year of marriage! Weird.
This was the best decision I've ever made because everyday with Dallin is the best day ever.

sigh.

Well, better go, tonight's the sugar bowl! Roll Tide!

Happy New Year! -Dallin and Sydney and Jake and Josie :)