2013 is going to be a good year... I can feel it.

Happy New Year!

 I must say that I have never been able to relate when people say, “I survived the holidays” or “I made it through the holidays.”  Maybe that’s because I absolutely LOVE the holidays—it’s my favorite time of year. 

 I totally understand that things get hectic and crazy… and everyone is rushing to get their shopping done.  But that is the fun part for me—I love making yummy holiday foods, shopping for gifts, going to parties, etc. 

 But most importantly, I love how happy I feel during Christmas time as a result of focusing more on Christ.  

 It's a time of year when I truly feel like things are in order and I have my priorities straight. 

AJ and I were lucky enough to go home this Christmas to be with our families! 

We spent Christmas in AZ with AJ’s family and New Year’s in UT with my family.   

It was quite the contrast coming from sunny, warm AZ to snowy, cold UT.   

I loved it though! 

I loved being able to escape the cold and feel the warmth on my skin for a few days and then go sledding in fluffy snow you can only get in UT the very next day.   

We definitely ate our fair share of Mexican food this trip.

You just can’t get the same quality of Mexican food in Boston so we pretty much gorged ourselves in the 12 days we were gone.   

That includes multiple trips to Café Rio of course.

I also got to go to a very good friend's wedding while in UT.

It was amazing!! 

The bride, the groom, the reception center, the actual wedding, the dress... it was all gorgeous. 

Bachelorette Party

While we were in AZ, we took some family pics.
Our photographer was adorable and made it so much fun. 

 

We have been very blessed in 2012. 

It's been a really good & challenging year at the same time. 

I  can confidently say everything has worked out the way it’s supposed to and I’m grateful for that.   

This year I have decided to choose a theme that ties all of my New Year’s resolutions together… the theme I have chosen is: Be Positive.   

In a nutshell, I want to enjoy the little things every day in my life, be happy, and choose not to complain. 

 I want to be less angst-filled for whatever is supposed to come next, and simply enjoy the here and now. 

 Sure do love these kiddos. 

 Can't get enough of that face!

A Memorable Thanksgiving

This year we decided to go to New York to see the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving with some friends!

We kind of made the decision on a whim a month or so ago. 

I'm not going to lie... there was a moment the night before we left when we questioned our decision to go. 

We knew we were going to be sitting in traffic for hours and hours to get there...

and fighting crowds of people....

and having to wake up super early on Thursday morning....

and not really knowing where we were going to eat Thanksgiving dinner yet...

but there was no way we were backing out. 

And let me tell you... we are SO glad we decided to go!!

We had the BEST time!

The parade was absolutely magical. 

It is now going to be a tradition in our home to always watch the parade on TV and remember exactly where we stood and how excited we were to be there.

Seeing the parade in person was like being in Disneyland... everyone was so happy and it seemed as though nothing was wrong in the world.

I loved it. 

 Jimmy Fallon

 

As you can see... I didn't know this picture was being taken. Everyone else looks cute though!

 Don McLeen

 Turns out we do still use bayonets...

 Whoopi Goldberg

 Fab Five - US Women's Gymnastics Team

 Trace Adkins

 My favorite float... it was so pretty!

 Santa!!! Best way to end the parade!

 Our dear friends Kyle & Russanne... why do you have to leave us in 3 weeks?? :o( 

Sorry for the picture overload. I had a hard time choosing my favorite pics.

Mormon Helping Hands

Yesterday AJ and I had the opportunity to drive to Queens, NY to help people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. 

I had no idea what I was going to see or do, but I knew I wanted to help in any way I could. 

When we first got to Queens, I was overwhelmed with emotion and sadness for all the people who lived there.

It honestly looked like a war zone to me. 

There were hundreds of cars lined up on the medians in the middle of the road that were completely abandoned... you could see that there had been water that went all the way to the roof of the inside of the car and they were completely destroyed. 

Many of the people who had left their car were hoping they could get cash for the parts.  

 When we got to the church where we were meeting, we were given an assignment of a particular home to work on. 

We were also given yellow vests that said "Mormon Helping Hands" with the name of our church on the back of them... I was so proud to wear that vest!

There was also a number on the vests where people could call if they needed help from our church. 

The particular family we went to help was one of the many people who called for our help. 

 We worked mostly on their garage and basement, which had both been completely flooded. 

We started by clearing everything out and making a big pile in the front of the house for the garbage trucks to pick up.

Everything that was in their garage and their basement was completely damaged from the water. 

Every soaking wet box we opened up, we would ask the owner if she wanted to try to salvage it or not... unfortunately, 90% of it could not be salvaged. 

We threw away so many things that meant so much to that poor little couple!!

The husband had collected baseball cards for years and years and we found a whole box full of them that were probably worth a ton of money at one point.... it made me so sad to have to throw every single one away because they were so ruined.  

In their garage, they also had a fridge that was standing up and had completely fallen over when the hurricane hit.... everything that was on their shelves came crashing down too so their garage was a total disaster!

You can see in the before/after pictures I took. 

 Before

 After

 

By the time we got to the back of the garage, the water had started to cause mold on a lot of things and so the smell was awful! After we finished cleaning out the garage, we tried to clean as much as we could so the smell would go away.  

There was also a lot of work to be done in the basement.  All of the dry wall had to be torn down.... the poor couple basically has to start from scratch on their basement now. 

At one point, all the guys had to move the two cars that were parked in the driveway to make room for things we were hauling to the front of the house.

Yes, they MOVED A CAR!

This is the pile that was in front of the house when we were done (and this was only 1/3 of it because the garbage trucks had already made 2 stops earlier in the day). 

You can see they had a lot of their clothes hanging out to dry as well.

Another thing that broke my heart was all the signs we saw throughout the neighborhood trying to ward off "looters"... I didn't know what the term "looters" meant until yesterday, but it's when people come and steal things that have been layed out to dry. 

It made me really mad to think that people would steal from others who have already lost so much!

This is a picture of all the young men & leaders we came with.  It was so great to have so many boys who wanted to help out. 

We even got to keep the vests!

This entire experience was so humbling and I'm just glad we were able to be a part of it. 

One of the things that made me feel really good was having people honk at us as they drove by and yell "thank you" from their cars. 

Someone in our stake made a video... I posted the link below. I definitely recommend watching it!

http://vimeo.com/53357089 

 

Our Version of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast on Monday.

We didn't get the brunt of the storm here in Boston... just what they call a tropical storm.

We had friends over on Sunday night and they were all talking about how school and work had been cancelled for them.

All of AJ's classes were cancelled for Monday.

I was super jealous!!

Unfortunately, I had to go into work on Monday morning and fight some pretty fierce winds on the way there.

I have never felt wind that strong in my life!! It was truly incredible.

As I was walking to work, I saw the top of a huge lamp post fly off and go barreling down the road...

Cars were literally swerving to not hit it.

It was at that moment that I thought to myself, "What in the heck am I doing going into work today?? It's seriously dangerous out here!"

There were only SIX people that actually came into the office (out of 30).

I would have taken the day off but I am saving up all my vacation days for Christmas!

So anyway, after only working 2 hours, we got news that all public transportation was going to be suspended for the rest of the day, so we all got to go home.

The best part is that the 2.5 hours I worked counted as a full day. Wahoo!

I felt like a little kid in elementary school again wishing school would get cancelled so I could go home and play!!

And that's exactly what I did.

AJ picked me up and we went driving all around town to get our Halloween costumes (yes, we are crazy).

Although, I think our crazy decision to brave the storm was well worth it because our costumes turned out great!

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Salt & Pepper Shaker...

 

 

 

As we drove along the Charles River, we noticed WAVES in the water... the Charles River NEVER has waves and is usually completely still!! I tried to get a picture but couldn't get one in time.

By the time we had everything bought for our costumes, we noticed the wind was picking up and the news radio host was saying there were winds reaching 60 mph in Boston.

We saw branches flying all over and knew it was time to get home FAST!

So we went home and cuddled up and turned on the news.

It was the perfect day for some baking... so of course I made cupcakes.

Almost 600,000 people in the Boston area lost power that day... we were among the lucky ones that never lost power. 

BUT... we were prepared if we did lose power (thanks to my mom's wise counsel :o))

There were quite a few trees that fell on people's homes and cars; however, the damage in Boston was MINIMAL compared to the damage in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

It breaks my heart to watch the news and see pictures of all the destruction in those areas.

I feel so sorry for all the people that lost everything they have...

Mother Nature is more powerful than we think.

The weirdest part for me is seeing New York completely under water... I always think of New York City as such a lively and invincible city.

Not like this....