To Infinity and Beyond!!

On this day one year ago I entered the House of the Lord to marry Curtis James Mitton. It really does not seem that long ago! But I guess in the grand scheme of things one year is not very long, especially considering that we're planning on being together until the end of time.

In the past year so much has changed! We moved halfway across the country.  We have a little house where we're responsible for grown-up things like cleaning clogged drains and fixing broken appliances and just providing for ourselves in general.  Curtis has gone back to school full-time and I'm working a real job so that we can just barely squeak by.  We've learned a lot too.  For instance, Curtis now knows how to sort laundry into whites, darks, and lights, and I've learned how to play Halo (it's all about the little sacrifices).  We've learned to think of each other's needs instead of just our own.  And we've learned how to coexist in a small place with no personal space.

With all of these changes, some things have stayed the same.  We still love each other and love spending time together.  We still have a bright hope for the future where we'll have some kids (2 boys), Curtis will get a job that he loves, I'll get to go back to school, and we'll build our dream home in the country with some land and a big library.  But we have plenty of time for all of that. We only have until the end of time..

(By the way, our anniversary was good.  We got to eat some good Mexican food, although it was so hot that I burned my tongue.  We got each other books (for our future library). And we went shopping for some new jeans because we both really needed them. It was nice to get out for the day and just have some fun together.)

A Merry Little Christmas

Well, it looks like Curtis and I have survived our first holiday season as old married people.  We missed getting to spend time with his family, but I'm grateful that we were able to be with my family this year.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so we started getting ready for Christmas on Thanksgiving.  We kicked off our shopping with Black Friday, of course.  I'm of the opinion that Black Friday is a holiday in an of itself.  Some people say that it's a waste of their time to wait in the lines to buy stuff for cheap. Well it certainly is not a waste of mine! I got some awesome deals (I'm proud of the fact that I got all eight Harry Potter movies for $2 each) and spent about an hour shopping.  We also got a great deal on a Christmas tree and some decorations so we were set.

The actual day after Thanksgiving we had a Harry Potter movie marathon and started decorating. I'm a little OCD so I need everything to match.  We (and by that I mean I decided and Curtis went along with it) decided to go with a red and gold theme.  We got some really cute decorations from a boutique in town because I wanted some unique things.  I think our tree was really cute!

Our First Christmas Tree

We also invested in these stockings

I'm one of those weird people that starts doing my Christmas shopping months early, so I had a decent jumpstart.  However, I kind of put off buying Curtis his "big" present until a couple of weeks before Christmas. Luckily I was able to get it and wrap it without him finding it, an endeavor that was much more difficult than I originally thought it would be.

Anyways, due to my crazy work schedule I didn't get time to do my Christmas baking until the Sunday before Christmas.  My mom came to my house to bake with me because her oven sucks and mine ranks just above sucking.  In about four hours we made four loaves of banana bread, four loaves of banana bread, and a batch of truffles.  When we were about 5/6 of the way done I burned my finger, but as this was the only mishap of the day we counted it as a success.

Christmas Eve I sent Curtis out to do his last minute shopping while I baked some cookies.  I made some gingerbread and some white chip macadamia nut cookies that turned out pretty well (there were no complaints from the menfolk of the family).  Then we went to my mom's house to spend Christmas Eve with my mom and my siblings.  It was so fun to have my little nieces and nephew there.  I love any time that we get to spent with them and to see how they have grown! They are so cute and they were more entertained with the wrapping paper than they were with their gifts!  It was a lot of fun to show them how to use their new toys and to play with them.  They are such sweet, fun kids!  And my mom got me just what I asked for a new pair of moccasins!    

Carson and his new basketball goal

Carli with her new bike

Sophie with her soft new blanket

Christmas morning Curt and I got up early to see if Santa came, and he did!!  I guess we were both pretty good this year. We both got lots of nifty new things in our stockings, and then we got to open our presents from each other and from Curtis' family.  I think Curtis liked his "big" present, as we will be going to see the OKC Thunder game when the Utah Jazz come to town (it isn't until March, but we are both excited).  Curtis of course got me everything I wanted, particularly a couple of good books that I've been wanting.  His parents also got us some great gifts, like new moccasins :)

Curtis checking out his Thunder tickets

YAY BOOKS!

After opening our presents we started making breakfast because my dad and my little brother and sister were coming over to eat with us.  We made cinnamon rolls and bacon banana pancakes, and everyone ate much more than they planned on eating, but it was great having my family here for Christmas.  Then we opened gifts from my dad which included Cirque du Soliel tickets (WE'RE SO EXCITED!!!) and a pair of moccasins. Yes, that's right, I asked for moccasins for Christmas and I'm now the proud owner of THREE new pairs!!

Moccasins for all occasions :)

We then went to my Grandma Crain's house for dinner with the family and it was wonderful to be surrounded by so many people that we love.  I'm so blessed to have my family around me and to be able to spend so much time with them.  My favorite thing about Christmas is being able to spend so much time with the people I love, from baking secret family recipes with my mom, to making breakfast for my dad and siblings, to creating new family traditions with Curtis, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be with the people I love, particularly during Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.