Christmas is a special time for us. Last year around this time, I was packing for a vacation in Hawaii with my family. I was totally playing it cool with Joe, not wanting to get my hopes up in case he wasn't ready to get serious, so I made the most of my time in paradise. During the week I was gone, he would text me (without me texting him first) and sent me selfies and pictures of the snow. He was totally missing me.

Fast forward a couple weeks later to Christmas Eve. I snuck away from my family and met up with Joe at his apartment to exchange gifts. His gifts to me included my own Nixon (his signature watch brand), a peony bush and a series of little notecards that asked me to be his girlfriend. It was the sweetest. The watch came after I answered yes to the girlfriend question, with a little notecard that said "Its about time". Cute, right?

Later that night, he came back over to hang with my family and we watched movies together. The next morning after opening gifts with our families, we met up again and cuddles and just reveled in our new relationship status. So Christmas last year was our first as an official couple. This Christmas is our first as a married couple. And if all goes according to plan, next Christmas will be our first as a family of 3. 

This weekend we headed over to the (very cutely lit) Christmas tree lot around the corner and picked out our first tree together. Then the nice man secured our cute 5.5 foot tree to the top of the car, took this blurry photo of us and sent us on our way with a smile. We spent the rest of the evening decorating it and eating some homemade chicken alfredo. Unfortunately the latter was my first ever culinary fail but Joe sucked it up and gave me compliments anyway. Love that man. Stay tuned for a sneak peek at our Christmas card!

That's What Thanksgiving Is For

Earlier this week we took a little road trip to my dad's place in Idaho for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Joe had to work both Wednesday night and Friday night, so we headed out first thing Thursday morning and headed back Friday morning. Unless Joe's work schedule changes in the future, I don't think we'll be doing that again. Its just alot of driving for just 1 day's worth of celebrating. I love my dad and I love getting away but it was just too much in such a small amount of time. We'll have to figure out the holiday situation going forward, especially since we have Joe's family to consider now too.
The great thing about traveling with our pup Jackson is that he is SO well behaved in the car! Back when Joe and I were still living separately while we were engaged, I would drive over to Joe's place with Jackson in the passenger seat and just trained him to sit still and be good. Now that he's a big boy, he rides in the backseat but sometimes he gets spoiled and somehow finds a place on our laps up front. :)

 
My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner was dessert. I brought two homemade pies; chocolate silk and pecan (with an amazing, flaky crust I made from scratch!). Happy Homemaker Award to me please. Thanks. Haha. I also made a third pie- pear/blueberry- but I left it home for us to enjoy when we got back. I was really proud of how yummy all 3 pies turned out. Pie making (especially homemade crust) used to seem overwhelming to me but its actually pretty easy. Still challenging sometimes but really worth it.

Our short time in Idaho was fun though. My dad's dog, Willy, finally paid attention to our puppy Jackson. Actually, he gave him a little too much attention (er, trying to be "dominant"...). My sister and I got to chat on the phone with our Grandma Sally, we loaded up on tons of our dad's garden grown produce and mostly just lounged around in front of the TV. That's what Thanksgiving is for though, right?

Staycation All I Ever Wanted

Joe had a few days off this last week but because of my work schedule and his current classes, we couldn't go anywhere very far so we planned a little getaway, that wasn't very far away. 

Friday night, after a not-so-greasy (and disappointing) stop at a Beto's knockoff, we headed down to Lehi (so glamorous, I know) and checked into the Marriott. Then we had a couples massage together and fell asleep watching one of those locked up prison documentaries. I am obsessed with those. 

Saturday morning we slept in until noon. I took a delightfully long hot bath and finished the last few chapters of the book I was reading. If you're a newlywed, you'll totally find this relatable and also hilarious. 

For breakfast, we drove to American Fork craving some IHOP only to find a really long line so I decided to give in and give Joe's favorite Del Taco a second chance. For the record, I was disappointed. Again. I am not a fan of Mexican food in general. Let alone fast Mexican food. Especially there. Its so bland. And I don't even like spicy food either. But everything tastes like cardboard. No offense to other Del Taco lovers. Its just not my thing at all. From now on, he can enjoy his Del Taco as long as he swings by Zupas for me. But anyway. 

After breakfast/lunch (it was like 1PM by then), we went up to the Traverse Mountain outlets for some shopping. Joe is the most patient guy ever when it comes to shopping. Partly because he likes to look good too and is always looking for ways to improve his wardrobe but even when he's standing outside the fitting rooms waiting for me, he is so sweet and never complains. Love him. 

Next on the agenda, we went to see Interstellar at the Megaplex there at Thanksgiving Point since we were already down there. It blew my mind. My sister said it made her brain hurt. Agreed sista! But we loved it. And we also loved the loads of candy we snuck in and the buttery popcorn we indulged in. Yum! By the time the movie got out (3 hours later), it was snowing and the freeway northbound was jammed so we took the back way through Provo Canyon. I finally convinced Joe to let me put his 6 screens worth of apps into folders on his phone so I spent the next 1.5 doing that while Joe navigated the snowy, icy roads. Just outside of Heber, we came a few feet from hitting a deer who was just standing there contemplating crossing the rest of the road. I hope she changed her mind. 

We reached Park City safely and checked into our Marriott there. I didn't get my points which is a bummer but I also saved $50 with a last minute Groupon so I'd still call that a win. :) Dinner was sushi at Oishi Sushi which was actually really delicious.

The next morning, I woke up early and started a new book. The library had been breathing down my neck about the return dates so the pressure was on! And fortunately, the book was so good, I finished the whole thing within a few hours. Probably one of my fastest reads ever. Again, I'd recommend this one too. When I finished it, I laid there and just said "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over again. Finally Joe asked what was up and I tried to explain the whole plot to him, which probably sounded totally crazy the way I was jumping around the different points telling the story. But my sweet husband acted interested anyway. Even though I could totally tell he didn't 'get' it. 

We decided to put off breakfast until we got back to SLC but we popped by the other outlets to grab a few things and then headed down the mountain. After a short wait at The Original Pancake House, we STUFFED ourselves with waffles and a chili verde breakfast burrito. Amazing. We couldn't stop eating it was so good. Its our new favorite. After brunch, we headed home to our puppy and spend the evening on the couch watching that James Franco Planet of the Apes movie. It wasn't a crazy, exotic adventure but we had such a great time getting 'away' and relaxing.