Christmas Morning

All of our wishes came true on Christmas morning (Dustin was really excited about that plunger!)...

Amber and Katelyn (yes, they're twins)...

Waffles after presents (Dad and Brooke)...

Kitchen Transformation

Our big project this fall was remodeling the kitchen...and it's finally (mostly) done! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of its original state...yellow walls, tacky floral border, dirty linoleum, etc...but here are some photos of the transformation!

Dustin and I spent hours scraping leftover glue off of the cement in preparation to tile (Hint: KrudKutter works miracles.)

Starting to tile...
Almost done...

Dustin getting soaked by the tile cutter...

And now for the finished product (post painting cupboards and walls)...

Chopped It Off

Me minus 5 inches of hair. (It took a lot of hard work and patience to reach its previous length and it was all gone in a matter of seconds.) But its now healthier and lighter and (so far) I don't regret it.

Family Time

This Christmas I miss my brother. Our usual family traditions felt a little empty without him around. The house was definitely quieter and life a bit more dull. We got the chance to talk to him on Christmas morning--it's so weird that he is across the world in a freezing, bleak, desolate country (Ukraine). His Christmas gifts didn't arrive on time (and even if they get there they will have been rummaged through and half missing). But he was still cheerful and seemed unaffected by his situation. I sit here in my warm home with food abundant and piles of presents and realize how lucky I am. We wish we could have spent Christmas with you this year, Jacob.

With my brothers and sisters on our wedding day...

Siblings this summer before Jacob left on his mission...

We also missed not being able to be with Dustin's family. They were spread all over the West for the holidays this year. We can't wait to come out and visit!

With Dustin's Family on our wedding day...

This last year...

Since we missed blogging about so many important events over this last year I wanted to post a few photos (it helps remind me that my life wasn't always as boring as it is now- as I am STILL jobless and spend an unusual amount of time alone on our couch)! Maybe blogging will be the solution and I won't even need a career. (Kidding, Dus.)

We begin with our (FREE!) Mexico cruise in February. Looking very tan.

We have a quick trip to LA in March to visit Kristin (miss you) where my dreams came true when I sat in the audience of Dancing With the Stars. I didn't catch much of the show because I was staring at Gerard Butler the whole time.






And then Dustin graduated in April and his family came to celebrate with us. (I should have graduated if I had not slacked off previous semesters. I am officially graduating in a week or so. It's really happening.)


We left Provo for good and drove with all our belongings (Civic's can fit a surprising amount of luggage/junk!) to Hartford, CT. Dustin sold security and we had the chance to see Boston, New Haven and the coast.

Mid-July we made our final move to Virginia and took one last vacation before real life started. (For Dustin anyway.) We flew to Miami and experienced South Beach, Key Largo, alligators, monsoons, and oysters (yuck!). (Photos yet to come.)

And so now we find ourselves in Richmond (rebels in the confederate south) and loving it!