'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

I am SO excited for Christmas this year! It isn't our first Christmas together, but it is our first Christmas in our house so I had tons of fun decorating! I have actually been really on the ball this year with presents and things. I had the tree up before Thanksgiving and all my presents have already been gotten and wrapped! For a girl who is rarely only 15 minutes late, let alone on time, this is a major accomplishment! :)

One of my favorite things to put out is my little nativity scene. I got it at a white elephant exchange in college and think it is just perfect. This year I noticed that the cow was missing a leg. In a true Christmas miracle, it would still stand up, unlike it's sheep friend who I just tell everyone is very tired; even though he has four legs, he still can stand up. Well, one day when I came home, Cory said "Look" and held up the cow for me to see. He had made it a prosthetic leg from a bobby pin! He is just so sweet and you can't even really tell! Keep in mind that he has lots of practice from making toys out of twist ties when he was a kid. Whenever a limb was lost, it was no problem. Dr. Cory was right to the rescue with a new twist tie replacement.

Our little Christmas tree! I love adding ornaments to our tree that mean something. This year we got three new ones, all gifts. One is a pretty pink shoe from my cousin, the another is an ornament with my initial from "the only girl" in my primary class and the other is a little snow globe with Cory's name on it from our sister in laws mom. She is super thoughtful and bought it just because it had his name on it. I am a little sad that I can't find one of my boxes with all the ornaments from last year that we bought for our first mini tree together. It is the price you pay for having your things stored all over the place. Maybe next year we will have a real tree and all of our ornaments.

I had this little snowman to go on top of the tree, but I thought he looked a little sad. I tried to make a bow to replace him with but it turns out that I am not so good at that. So now they are sharing the glory at the top of the tree in a sort of sad tribute to my lack of skills.

And finally, our christmas picture!

We hope everyone has a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year!

Hot Dog!

Last Sunday I was teaching my 5 year olds at church a lesson about being kind to animals. Sometimes lessons have things in them that I don't really know how to teach to five year old. The fact that Noah brought 7 of each clean animals so they could eat them makes sense to me at 24, but I'm not sure how my 5 year old self would have felt about that. Regardless, I charge forward and explain to children that sometimes killing animals is necessary for food and that is okay, but we should never kill an animal we won't eat. For some reason, I decide to ask the kids "What animals do you eat for food?" thinking they may say things like "cows" "chicken" "fish" ect. Well the first one to answer says excitedly "Dogs! We eat dogs!" I was literally speechless at this point. I just looked at the other teacher in the room in shock until he says "You know, corn dogs!" and then the boy beside him says "And hot dogs!" At this point I just want to burst out laughing. They were both so excited to answer the question and were doing so with absolute sincerity. It is called a corn dog so it must be made of dog, right?? I did my best to explain to them that we only call them that without going into detail of what hot dogs are actually made of because I don't think any of us really want to know. Kids sure know how to keep things interesting!

Looks Like We Made It!

Who would have thought these two crazy kids would now be celebrating their first wedding anniversary?? I'll tell you who: definitely not me! While I may not have expected it all those years ago, I am so grateful for it now. Cory is definitely my EC in every way! He loves me for my goofiness and calls me out when I'm being rediculous (traits I have decided are essential for husbands). It has basically been the best year ever.

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures from the wedding. People always say it is the happiest day of your life but for me that isn't true. It is the day that made all the other happiest days possible. We've definitely had a lot since then!

And they have all taught me a lot. For examples: Men do not know how to put clothes in a hamper. What sometimes seems very sensible to me seems crazy to my husband. No one can make me laugh like the guy beside me. My favorite memories aren't the ones I have pictures of or write about on my blog; they're the ones that are written on my heart. I am way spoiled by a wonderful man who will do pretty much anything to make me happy...And is also super excited to celebrate our anniversary.

So here we are. An entire year of marriage under our belts. It seems sort of crazy and it has definitely been an adventure! And definitely one I can't wait to continue!

Count Your Blessings

We have had an absolutely wonderful weekend. I feel so blessed to have all my family so close! Holidays are always so much fun. Before the Thanksgiving season is over, I just wanted to make quick thankful post. Lists are my favorite so here it goes, in no particular order (except for maybe #1 :)).

1. My husband and our almost one year of marriage. He really is amazing and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. He gave a talk in church today and listening to him speak about the gospel and bear his testimony I felt so proud and blessed to have such a wonderful man for my husband.

2. My crazy, funny, awesome family. They really are all those things and I love them.

3. My Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally and truly answers my prayers.

4. My silly puppies who always keep me laughing at their antics. I have a lab that points.

5. My sweet primary class. I never knew 5 year olds could be so smart. They have taught me so much and I am dreading giving them up at the end of the year.

6. My friends who just "get me."

7. Prayer. Can't say how much I love talking to my Heavenly Father.

8. My Savior who makes overcoming my mistakes and shortcomings so much easier.

9. Our jobs. Cory and I are both so blessed to have jobs in our fields that we enjoy. And coworkers who make us laugh.

10. The home we have built together. I love filling this house with memories and turning it into a home.

And so so many more!

Watts Cooking

I am a huge believer that our ancestors play a huge part in who their decendants become. Not like predetermination or anything, but just that them having a certain strong characteristic makes it easier for their decendants to develop that same characteristic. The more I learn about my ancestors and myself, the more I realize how similiar we are. In my life, it just makes sense and I kind of like it. I have always had a strong sense of who I am and who I want to be and learning about the amazing women in my family before me gives me some clues as to why that is. One thing I know I got from my grandmothers and mother is a love of cooking. I can remember being a littel girl and helping my Grandmomma make pickles (the only kind of pickles I have ever liked and I have yet to taste any similar) and loving my Granny's country cooking. I now have my very own kitchen and a husband who loves to try new things and am loving it! I try old and new recipies, yummy health food and delicious desserts. Basically, if it sounds good or interesting, I'll cook it. So I have decided to start posting some of my favorites on here.

First up are Pita Pizzas I made us for dinner the other day. They are REALLY simple and so yummy! All you do is take a pita (I used whole wheat) spread 1/4 cup of marinara sauce over it (I like Newman's Own) and add your favorite toppings. Pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and you're done! It was so nice because Cory and I have some different tastes when it comes to what we like on pizza and this way we both get to have it just how we like it. It was so easy we made extras to take for lunch. Check it out!

Mine has onions, artichoke and mozerella cheese. Cory added olives to his.

KIDS 101

Any day now, my best friend is going to be a MOM. I'm so excited for little Grace aka Peanut to get here, but not nearly excited as her awesome parents! Isn't she the cutest soon to be Mommy?!
As an aunt of 11 for 11 months today, I know a lot about kids. Really. Well, maybe not a lot but definitely something. So here it goes, just for you, Na: Everything you need to know about kids in one blog post or less!


1. First things first. Babies are adorable.

Everyone needs to know how much more adorable yours is than any other baby they ever imagined. You are lucky that you are already a professional photographer; that will make this one easier. You must be ready AT ALL TIMES to take a picture when they do something cute. I know what you are thinking, "what about actually enjoying those cute moments naturally when they come?" Terrible thing to think. What is the point of babies doing something cute if you can't post it on your blog later for EVERYONE to enjoy?

Exhibit A: Cute as a button baby face captured to bring joy to all who see it.

2. What's mine is mine; what's yours is mine too.

This is the baby mantra. It starts young. First they just go for little things like earrings or necklaces(nevermind you are wearing them), but they move to larger items very quickly. You should be careful how far you let this go, or she may turn out like this kid...

Notice the stolen shoes and obvious casing of the TV...

3. Privacy: Forget about it.

Kids have basically no concept of the word privacy. You are in the bathroom. They think "Who cares, I'm hungry!" Very inconsiderate. Babies are the worst about this, but it doesn't stop when they get older. That pile of laundry you were planning to wash? Nope. That is now dress up.

Your most intimate secrets will be EXPOSED.

4. Kids like to laugh.

So you need to know what is funny. Luckily, I have discovered the answer to this through my rigorous research.


Hilarious.

5. Kids are nosey.

They are always listening. You may be trying to have a private conversation, but if there is a kid within a mile radius, it's not happening. Who cares that they think you are the most interesting person they know? It's just rude.

So there you have it, my list of the 5 most import things to know about kids. ;)

Good Grief!

We have been having so much fun lately! Things have been busy, but definitely fun too! We had a great Halloween weekend going to a party with our ward friends as Charlie Brown and Lucy. Then drove to Georgetown to spend some time with my family and have some of my Papa's famous Catfish Stew followed by trick or treating with our super cute nephews! I felt like I needed a 10 hour nap by the end of everything, but it was definitely worth it! :)