Oh yeah, Christmas came and went...

Whoa, it's been a while... I'm already slacking in the "blog often" quest. It's really, really hard to be motivated to do it when I don't have any pictures to show. BUT good news in that department. Whoa - time out. I just remembered that I had a very vivid dream last night in which a woman called to tell me she had found my camera. I literally cried with joy. Alas, just a dream.
Anyway - mine and Al's one year anniversary is in three weeks (HOLY CRAP, I know!)and we decided that instead of a big expensive trip we're going to buy a new camera! YAY! I'm so excited to have one again. So stay tuned for pictures in a few weeks!

Ok, so I guess I better give the Holiday report. It was totally awesome. I absolutely love Christmas. We went caroling with my family the Sunday before Christmas. I love, love, love being with my family and sharing our talents with people. We got to spend Christmas Eve with my family having dinner and chatting and then we went to the Theobald's and they were pretty much done partying so we helped them with gifts. Christmas morning was a new experience with just Alex and me. It was...quiet :) So fun, though! He loved all his gifts and he did really well with mine! He got me make up and bathroom stuff (I love getting stuff that I would've had to buy myself in a few weeks), P90X work out stuff (so pumped to start next week!), a massage!, and the highlight was a craft storage box that he decorated himself!! He told me to tell everyone that it is very manly but it is the cutest thing ever. He did such an amazing job! Thanks, babe!

We also got some awesome gifts from other family members, including a VERY generous gift from Al's parents. Also movie money and gift card for Texas Roadhouse! Couldn't ask for anything better.

We've been to the movies a few times and have seen Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, both of which were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I'm excited for some other movies coming out in January. I LOVE movies :D We also got to hang out with some friends from high shcool and we had a freaking blast. I hate video games, unless played with a group of crazy friends that yell the whole time.

I can't believe how fast the last few weeks have gone, let alone the last year!! It seems like just yesterday that I was planning my wedding. P.S. let me know if you have any ideas of what Al and I can do for our anniversary. We'd like to stay somewhere other than our house (a cabin, vacation rental, etc) for really, really cheap so we can afford our camera. Long shot, I know, but I figure people have vacant stuff all over the place that they'd die to make $50 off of.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and that you have a Happy New Year!!

-Jaylyn

Holy crap, Christmas is soon!

Ok, I admit that I have no motivation to blog when I don't have exciting pictures to show. We've definitely had some fun times, but when I don't have cool pictures maybe I think you won't believe me or something. But I'll tell you about them anyway.

Last week the highlight was both of our work Christmas parties. Well, mine much more so than Alex's :) They were coincidentally on the same night, so we had dinner at his work (Heritage Elementary) where we were basically shunned as everyone else sat at different tables, so we left after 30 minutes. Which was great with me because I was dying to get to my work party! Guys, I don't know how to tell you this, but my work rocks. I love everyone I work with. Even the ones I don't like, I love. Hope that makes sense :) We had a total blast decorating gingerbread houses, playing this crazy dice game for prizes (during which I may or may not have screamed a lot of profanities) and playing a really fun white elephant game. We walked away with "Anger Management" on dvd, a cute ceramic popcorn bowl with goodies and a $25 gift certificate for Red Lobster! Yeah, baby! I looooove Red Lobster and haven't been in forever.

The weekend was super fun. I got some awesome sister time going to lunch and getting free manicures! I love free stuff! And then we almost sold the car. Ugh. I don't think we'll ever sell it. We'll end up selling it for parts when we finally get the stupid thing paid off. Or maybe we'll donate it to one of the schools for the Homecoming week when they destroy a car decorated like their rival. I would be okay with that. We got some Dan time on Saturday, which is always great. Love that kid.

I'm looking forward to decorating gingerbread houses and dinner with Dan this week.
On a side note, I wish I knew what I should be doing with my life right now. And how to get motivated to do so. That's all.

Friday Already?!

Whoa! I didn't even realize that I hadn't blogged this week since Monday. Despite how slowly I felt this week going while I was in it, now I feel like it went by fast. I haven't gotten much sleep so I'm feeling pretty freaking loopy this morning! 4 hours last night, not much more the night before. But for now I'm hyped up on Dr. Pepper! Might have to step it up to a Mountain Dew after lunch time. I always get SO sleepy after lunch! My tummy is full, and it so nap time. I need to move to somewhere where they have siestas...

So anyway, let's talk about Christmas!! I love, love, love, LOVE Christmas! Just going to the store really quick turns into this happy occasion where people smile more, there's super cute stuff everywhere and always a good song playing in the background. Last night really helped me to get in the Christmas spirit even more by making a totally awesome Christmas book! My family makes them to give to the people they do 12 Days of Christmas for, but after spending 7 HOURS on mine there is no way I can part with it! So I'm being selfish first thing this Christmas season and keeping ours :) I love it.

These are all totally out of order, but I don't know how to fix that, so I'll be content knowing that you're probably smart enough to know what the front and back page look like.











So cute, huh? I brought it to work and now everyone here wants to do one. I love crafts!
Well I'm so ready for this weekend to start. Not a whole lot planned, but we are definitely going to the Dicken's Festival. Love that place! I'm excited to go and feel the Christmas spirit even more!

HOLIDAY WEEKEND - WOOT

Ah, sweet bitterness. I loved, loved the long weekend, but getting up this morning and getting back in the swing was a total drag. We had a super fun and relaxing weekend. I got all our Christmas stuff up. (I love having my own house to decorate! However I want!! And my husband is so cute about decorating, he loves it and is so supportive of whatever I want to do.) I wish I could put up pictures, but refer to a previous post about our camera. I can't discuss it or I become ill.

Thursday morning we went down to Las Vegas for a good dose of service. We went to this really nice hotel and put together about 40 baskets, full of food; turkey, canned goods, non-perishable stuff, clothes & hygiene stuff. Then we got together in groups and went to deliver them to needy people. It was really fun to visit with them and see the little kids and how happy they were. Once again, wish I had pics...
Alex and I got done 3 hours before the rest of our family so we hung out for a while, walking up and down the crazy shops and trying on ridiculously ugly clothes and laughing. Then we had P.F. Chang's for Thanksgiving dinner. Mmmmmm!!! LOVE Chang's! Two words: MELON SHRIMP. YES.

Friday I went shopping a little and spent money we didn't have. I love buying gifts for people, I can't help it :)

Saturday we spent most of the day bumming around our house, I made some crafts that I'm giving as gifts (I love making stuff!) and then we hung out with my family for a while. PS - did anybody see the BYU/Utah game?! It was crazy! I yelled a lot in Troy's. Also, to all the people who are giving Max Hall crap for what he said about Utah fans: if anyone poured BEER all over my family and harassed them, I would speak of them in ways that would make Max Hall look like Shirley Temple.

And then there was Sunday. Church and then the real Thanksgiving dinner with the fam. Mmmmm. I love my mom's cooking and all the comfort of home that it brings.

And that brings us to today. Monday, Monday, Monday (said in booming announcer voice). It's been pretty good so far. My husband has been super cute and taking really good care of me. Tonight we're looking forward to a night in with a movie, cuddles, pumpkin roll and hot chocolate. Love!

Doobie, doobie, doo

Last night as I was falling asleep I thought to myself to wake up early enough to make waffles. That didn't go well. Of course we slept in until the last possible moment. So Alex and I brought breakfast to my work. He doesn't have to be to work for an hour after he drops me off, so we brought our waffle iron and hot chocolate maker and made PUMPKIN WAFFLES here. We even shared. We are so nice. Don't you wish you worked at my office? I would...if I didn't. I can still smell them in the break room. They were SO delicious!!

Also, today I heard one of the awesome songs ever "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on the radio - twice. Must be a good day if that happens. I have to dance when I hear that song. It's a rule, and only people who have been through the Turning Leaf Seminars would understand. The first time was in the car on the way home for lunch and Alex let me indulge myself and turn it up way loud and car dance. He even shook it a little with me. I love it when he car dances. He never used to, and he would always make fun of me for doing it, because I basically only have one move. How many moves can you have in the car?

I'm getting really excited for this week to be over - only one more day of work!! YAY :D

I am thankful

So my last blog wasn't the cheeriest piece of literature in the world, and I felt more of the same coming on today as I thought about what I could blog about. I don't like that. I am going to work on being much more happy and positive. So in an effort to bring you something other than another vent today, I set to work creating a list of things I'm thankful for. It is SO amazing how quickly this changes my mood around. I made a long list, and I plan to keep adding to it, but I will highlight some of my favorites here.

I am thankful for:
·A bed to sleep in, a home to call my own, running water, a car to drive, a heater to keep me warm, and a hot chocolate machine.
·Christmas.
·My husband, who constantly teaches me how to do things differently - and be okay with that.
·Butterflies, dandelions, beautiful flowers, fall colors, spring flowers, hoodie weather, lightning storms.
·Cuddling. And having someone to cuddle with for ALWAYS.
·Really good books.
·Friends. Those who you can always count on to be there for you, to love you, even if you haven’t spoken in months. Those who you can always laugh with, no matter what is going on in life. Those who will lie to you when you need it, and be brutally honest when you need that.
·Siblings, who are the best of friends.
·MUSIC.
·The opportunity to always be better, and the encouragement and acceptance from a perfect Father.
·Baby laughter.
·Puppy snuggles.
·Dan’s cooking.
·C.J. hugs.

I love life and am so grateful for ALL of the experiences that it brings. Sometimes I forget that, but I'm glad that I know I can always get back on the wagon.

P.S. - There's a guy coming to look at the Pontiac tonight! Please, please, please, Mr. Looking at the Pontiac guy, BUY OUR CAR SO WE CAN HAVE CHRISTMAS!!! K, thx, bye.

Thoughts I Have Thought

Unfortunately this morning did not start out well. I did NOT want to get out of bed and several other frustrating moments took place before I even got to work. I feel much better now, but somehow that orneriness seems to stick around a lot longer than it is invited to. I feel a little like this:



Here I will take a moment of the blog to address customers:
- Do not expect me to know what you want. You cannot call and think I can read your mind, or know how big you want your sign to be. You should figure those things out before you call me and bug me.
- Do not call me if you are a slow-talker. Period.
- Don't call me if you are not smart.
- Do NOT talk down to me and assume I don't know anything just because I sit at the front desk and look pretty. UGH.

Now I will dedicate a moment of this blog to some other, not so perturbed thoughts.
I read this REALLY great book in the last few days. I recommend "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins to anyone and everyone. It is a post-apocalyptic, dysotpia story (totally my favorites) about this young girl who finds herself caught up in the manipulations of the evil and controlling government. It is SOOOOOO good. I could not put it down. It's really made me think about how we view the world and what life is like through one person's eyes. And how quickly that can change. For instance: 3 years ago I saw construction all over St. George and groaned at what a pain it was to drive in. Now I see construction on new buildings and I feel so happy that there are at least some people left with enough money to be building. Within a matter of a few short years my whole paradigm on how the world works has changed.
What will it be like for my kids? Will they hear me talk about the crazy recession and find it hard to imagine a life where people were so worried? Or will they find it crazy to imagine a time where millionaires were a dime a dozen?
It is amazing to me how much the world has changed in my lifetime. How much more Satan's influence is apparent in every day life. I am so glad and feel so lucky to have the gospel in my life and be able to attend the temple and find the refuge that waits there for me. I'm so glad I know who I am and where I'm going! Even though sometimes I forget and go off path, I always know how to get back on track and what is expected of me. So nice to havea a constant in a world that is ever-changing.

Sorry for the religious rant, but I'm so glad I know the truth!
And at least the blog ended on a happy note :)
YAY FOR THE WEEKEND!!

Another Day....

Things have been SOOOOOOOOO slow at work lately. I mean - SLOW. I literally play on the internet pretty much all day. There's really not much out there to do when it comes down to it. Especially since I have to do everything all sneaky like, because I really should be working :) When I get really bored, though, I go to www.icanhascheezburger.com and browse to my heart's content. I don't even like cats, but they make some pretty funny faces. And I also love the ones of other animals. Like this one:


I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Other things going on in life:
-Money problems. I hate being poor. Alex finally has a job, but he only gets paid once a month - what is that?! So we're still waiting to reap the benefits of that.
-Still stressed over what to do about school. Filled out apps and got pretty much approved for financial aid, so that's good, but what am I going for???
-Always trying to be better. Why is it so hard to just stick with something?
-Lost our $300 camera two months ago. After we already got it replaced like a week before that. Makes me literally ill to think about.
-Why does my back hurt all the time???
-I need to stop complaining and enjoy life.

Crafts, Creativity, Talents and Laughs

Well these last few days have been filled with totally awesome stuff. Wednesday night I got together with some lovely ladies to nourish our creativity and....create...stuff. And we did! Check out some of the awesomeness that went on.








It was so much fun to see what everyone created. I'm still waiting on some pictures from a few of the gals so I'll get those up when I get them.
There is just something about being around awesome women. I just feel this great and empowering energy. I love the opportunity to be around all of them.

Last night some friends came with Al and me to see "A Year with Frog and Toad" at Dixie State College. Interesting show... Aside from the homosexual undertones, it didn't have much of a plot or theme at all, but it was fun entertainment. There was this one part with a snail delivering mail that I may or may not have peed my pants during. I have to admit that I absolutely love, love, love musicals. Last week we went and saw "Brigadoon" at Pine View High, and I had this huge grin plastered on my face the whole time. I just love a good random song about random stuff and some good laughs.

Well this Friday is bittersweet because I'm excited for it to be the weekend, but we're completely broke so I really have nothing to look forward to :( I really, really want to go see 2012!! Maybe we'll see what we have in the change jar...

Hmmm......School?

So in this last week school has been on my mind a lot. What is that? Brain, I don't like that. But as it stands, it seems I'm going to have to like it because I'm feeling like it's the right thing to do.

When Alex and I have talked about more school it has always meant moving away because neither of us feel like Dixie has anything more to offer us. I don't want to move away! How can I, with this awesome job, Al's new job and both of our families around us? I don't feel like we're going to be moving, but what classes can I take here? One of the biggest reasons I'm hesitant to go back to school is that I don't have any idea what I want to do. I've always been fine with that while getting my Associates, but I don't want to go to more school just to go to school. I need to get my stuff figured out and find out what I want to do.

I've always envied those people who have known what they want to do since 9th grade. Lucky turds.

Wish me luck.

Friday

I like to look at this picture when I feel down. It's just one of those that gives me an out loud chuckle, no matter what mood I'm in.

Gotta love Fridays!! This one is going by INSANELY slow. I literally wanted to pluck my eyeballs out with a knitting hook at 11:00 am. But somehow I've made it this far. Only two more hours to go.

Why do we do things to ourselves that we know we will regret later? I know that eating lots of sugar throughout the day will make me ill. But today was celebrate birthdays at work day, and what did I have? A slice of German chocolate cake, a brownie and a sugar cookie. AND a dab of ice cream. It was delish. But I'll pay later.

But before I pay Dan-THE-Mexican-Man will be coming over to our house to make us Tempura. I don't know what that is, but if Dan makes it, it will be awesome. After that we are going to see the Pine View High School play - my old choir teacher is actually in it. It's basically going to be epic.

Yay for the weekend.

Work, Work, Work

Sometimes I hate getting up for work. I was having this really good dream when my alarm went off this morning. And then it went off 8 more times before I finally got up. I have this system where I set my first alarm for a good 20 minutes before I actually have to get up. And then I have a different tone for the alarm that goes off when I really do have to get up or I'll be late. It's been working quite well.

Anyway, where I was going with this was that I hate getting up for work, but sometimes I come in and I just really enjoy it. Every two weeks we have this meeting called "Changemasters" and it sometimes is such a drag, but then other times it gets me so jazzed about working at the best. place. ever. I love, love, love working at a place where the boss and everyone I work with hold the same ideals and values that I do. I really am so lucky to work here. Rainbow Sign & Banner for anyone who doesn't know. Come to us for all your signage needs!

Also today I would like to say that I am working on redefining how I feel about some things. It seems that's a common necessity that comes with marriage. Redefining how I've been slash felt for the last 20 years of my life is a difficult journey, but I guess that's what it's all about, yeah? What good can it be if I don't learn how to be a better person from it? I love Alex and I'm glad he gives me the opportunity to redefine my world.

The end.

Yay For Blogs!

Well, I caved. I've been thinking about doing a blog for a while, but I've always thought it's a little conceited to think that someone would actually want to take the time to read all about my life. But then...well, I started following other people's blogs, and I like it :) So hopefully you will enjoy mine.

What a day to begin - the day to celebrate my beginning in life! Yay for birthdays! Yay for birthday blogs! My husband is the greatest, he's been so sweet this morning. Cute little notes and an awesome breakfast! My man knows how to make his waffles! I love waffles. Waffles with fruit are super awesome.

Know what else is awesome? Taco Tuesday! Where else can you get a full meal for $2?!? I love it. And the last two times we've been there we've seen some serious drama. The last time there was a table of old guys next to us and they were insulting each other the whole time. It was awesome. Then last night we were next to a table full of sisters, then the mom showed up. She was only there for a few minutes before she stormed out, saying "It's never you! You're a selfish brat, and it's never you!" I don't know what that means, but I have to admit I love watching other peoples drama :) People watching is for sure one of mine and Alex's favorite pastimes.

Well that's all for today. I'm off to enjoy a day full of birthday wishes and getting spoiled.