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Christmas in California

Thursday, December 31, 2009

We were lucky to get to go home for Christmas this year...and not just for a few days...for two weeks! It was such a fun, relaxing, and MUCH-NEEDED vacation for both of us! We did so much and had so much fun! To make things simple, I'll post about the whole vacation here in one post. Be prepared for lots of words and LOTS of pictures!

Here is a list of all the things we did/experienced.

*Road Trip! I think I have made this round trip 9 times now and Thomas about 6 times. I hope we only have to do it a few more times! There was SO much fog that we could hardly see ten feet in front of us! And it was so cold outside that the fog actually froze to our car. The Evidence:

*Reunion with the dogs (Strider and Rosie). I think all three of us were pretty happy to be reunited.
*Sunday night dinner at Kristen's house. So much fun to be with everyone! I can't wait until we move back to California and get to do this on a more regular basis!
*Hair accessories party! I hosted one at my parents' house the Monday before Christmas and it went amazingly well! I think I can safely say all my start-up costs have finally been covered! :] Thanks to everyone who came and everyone who bought things!
*Fun with the sisters
*CHRISTMAS!
My favorite gift: a t-shirt blanket custom-made for me with all my high school/soccer team/efy/etc t-shirts. I LOVE IT!!!!
Thomas's favorite present: GPS :] (or at least this is what I'd like to believe since it's the one I got him!)

This is the cute present I made for my niece, Emma. Tutu and matching hairbow! She's so adorable!
Chris got a motorized scooter and we all had a lot of fun riding it!

*Temple!...to seal my great-grandmother to her husband :]
*STREP THROAT! Yes, I started have symptoms Christmas night and called my doctor a few days later to ask for antibiotics. They kicked in enough by my birthday to have an enjoyable day/night but the strep sure did stink for those few AWFUL days!
*KINGS GAME!!!!! Kings vs Denver Nuggets...KINGS WON!!! Yeah!!! Go Kings!!! The strep was pretty bad this night so I, unfortunately, didn't get to scream and cheer but I did CLAP a lot!!!








*Interview with Grandma. I'm going to write a historical fiction/biography of sorts about her so I asked her all sorts of questions about her childhood and learned a lot! I also learned I'll need to spend another good five hours with her to get enough information! :]
*BIRTHDAY!
We saw The Blind Side (where I lost my cell phone and where I also luckily found it 10 hours later) and went to dinner at On the Border (yummy)! Later we went to Lisa's house and partied with the Wallace's for NEW YEARS! :]












My mom & dad and Kelli, Jamie, and Chris all chipped in some money for me to get a swedish massage!!! YEAHHH. So excited!!


My gorgeous new Steve Madden boots from my wonderful husband (he picked them out all by himself)!

hahah our shoes!


*Lots of love from Emma-boo. She suddenly became really attached to me in California (maybe due to all the new people and I was someone familiar)! So cute...she followed me whenever I left the room and would ask for me constantly "marci? marci?" i hope she never grows out of it!
*LOTS of shopping!
*Golfing for Thomas!
*"Friends" & cookie dough with my sisters
*Dinner at Cory and Alyson's! mmm :]
*Leatherby's!....something we dearly miss here in Utah
*Sherlock Holmes and Avatar for Thomas
*In N Out (even though we have it here it's still exciting to go at home!)

We had such a fun vacation spending time with family and friends! We can't wait to be home for good (hopefully!) and have the chance to spend lots more time with everyone!
17,639

17,639

This is how many pages I read in the year 2009. No, I did not complete my goal of 65 books but I feel okay about that. I decided I didn't want to waste my two-week vacation in California buried in books so I decided I was okay with only reading 61. :] And I must say, I'm pretty proud of my page total. About 40 pages per day! YEAH! I thought I'd share my book list (sorry the page numbers are still there because I didn't want to go through and erase them all) in case anyone is looking for books to read!

2009 Book List
1. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau-288 pages
2. The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau-352 pages
3. Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane-192 pages
4. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright-288 pages
5. I Sailed to Zion by Susan Arrington Madsen-192 pages
6. Beyond the Western Sea: The Escape From Home by AVI-336 pages
7. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink-288 pages
8. Journey to America by Sonia Levitin-160 pages
9. The Touch of the Master’s Hand by Larry Barkdul-109 pages
10. Silver Days by Sonia Levitin-192 pages
11. Annie’s Promise by Sonia Levitin-192 pages
12. Beyond the Western Sea: Lord Kirkle’s Money by AVI-415 pages
13. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury-192 pages
14. Accepting Joy by Todd F. Cope-173 pages
15. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix-160 pages
16. Weaver’s Daughter by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley-166 pages
17. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares-352 pages
18. Marley and Me by John Grogan-320 pages
19. Keeping the moon by Sarah Dessen-240 pages
20. Land of Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon-169 pages
21. Whirlwind by Cathy Marie Hake-368 pages
22. Hazardous Duty by Betsy Brannon Green-304 pages
23. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks-288 pages
24. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-448 pages
25. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-368 pages
26. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-416 pages
27. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks-352 pages
28. American Diaries #19: Zellie Blake-144 pages
29. Saddle Shoe Blues by Carroll Hofeling Morris-167 pages
30. Saving Kristen by Jack Weyland-199 pages
31. The Work and the Glory, vol. 1 by Gerald Lund-437 pages
32. Horse Stone House by Harold K. Moon-195 pages
33. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham-240 pages
34. The Work and the Glory, vol 2 by Gerald Lund-515 pages
35. Midway to Heaven by Dean Hughes-225 pages
36. The Work and the Glory, vol 3 by Gerald Lund-541 pages
37. The Cinderella Pact-352 pages
38. The Work and the Glory, vol 4-605 pages
39. The Work and the Glory, vol 5-600 pages
40. Previously Engaged by Elodia Strain-292 pages
41. Yearbook by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-231 pages
42. Jen and Ashley by Jack Weyland-287 pages
43. The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum-352 pages
44. Chasing Yesterday by Rachel Ann Nunes-272 pages
45. Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite-173 pages
46. Secret Santa by Anne Osborn Pollman-153 pages
47. First Day by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-304 pages
48. The Undaunted by Gerald Lund-802 pages
49. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom-196 pages
50. For One More Day by Mitch Albom-197 pages
51. Reunion by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-217 pages
52. Timepiece by Richard Paul Evans-236 pages
53. Christmas Rose by Robyn Buttars-115 pages
54. Pirates by Celia Rees-379 pages
55. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld-425 pages
56. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld-370 pages
57. Specials by Scott Westerfeld-372 pages
58. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright-122 pages
59. Across the Rolling River by Celia Wilkins-254 pages
60. The War Within by Carol Matas-151 pages
61. Tuesdays with Morrie-199 pages

My best recommendations:
All three books by Mitch Albom: The five people you meet in Heaven, For One More Day, and Tuesdays with Morrie. If you only get to one, choose the last. It's amazing.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The City of Ember
Marley and Me (my second time reading it and I loved it just as much the second time around!)
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series

And if I can warn you against some others...
Farenheit 451...I will never read that book again.
Undaunted by Gerald Lund. 800 pages of boring.
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. BLAHHHHH.

The rest, minus the three directly above, are all recommendable! :]
Impossible Feat?

Impossible Feat?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I have 9.5 books left to read to complete my goal of reading 65 books by December 31. Think I can do it? I have faith...and also a little pride that makes me want to be able to complete my goal! 21 days and nine books means three books a week. I think I can do it! Wish me luck!

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