This last photo I adore.  I am trying to keep a schedule because after the little fur ball peed on the floor twelve times I thought I better start a schedule to keep track of what we were doing.  Paige helped.  I love how she spells!! Also please note the last three items on the board.  Honestly, my floor has never been cleaner, I have scrubbed every spot with bleach at least once today!

PS This puppy is as of yet unnamed.  I think we will be picking a name by tomorrow so if anyone wants to throw a name in the ring, now is the time to do it.  We are considering Sandy, Artie (short for Art Vandalay) Ace, Diego and Neil Patrick Harris.

Number One

It isn’t January.  Ugh.  January.  I can’t even.. listen, I don’t even want to discuss the air.. the weather, the post Christmas letdown, the general pissedoffedness, I won’t… just… yuck.  I am so happy it isn’t January.

Number Two

Groundhog Day.  The movie, not the actual holiday, which I am sure is also awesome, if you live in or around Punxutawny, PA.  I don’t and so I watch the movie.  You’ve seen it, right??  ”Ned Ryerson, I used to do the whistling belly button trick in the highschool talent show?  Needle nose Ned?”  Great movie.

Number Three

Valentines Day.  I am technically opposed to this holiday on moral grounds but I am not opposed to the treats that come along with it, more specifically, the cinnamon lips you can get. And did you know they now come chocolate covered??  Be still my rapidly beating, sugar laden heart.

Number Four

Only 28 days.  Which is great because it puts us that much closer to March which as we all know, is the best winter/springish month because of spring training for baseball.

Number Five

By the end of this month the average temperature in Utah is 50 degrees, which isn’t great, but I can deal.  50 degrees means I don’t have to scrape ice off my windows, 50 degrees means I don’t have to go tromping around in snowboots all day.  50 degrees means that we may catch a glimpse of blue sky instead of inversion.  50 degrees, y’all.  Not great but I will take it.

So last month we snuck off to California for a few days, simply to breath the cleaner air and walk upright outside without being covered from head to toe in snow clothes.  It was heaven.  I quite literally walked around with my arms outstretched and my face lifted towards the sun like a lunatic the whole four days.  We saw lots of friend and family, most of whom traveled quite a ways in order to be able to spend time with us.  We are a really lucky family to have the best friends in the world. Here are a few snapshots of our trip..

1. Downton Abbey. This may have come out some other year, I don’t know, but it became available on Netflix this year and like many a fan before me, I watched episode after episode while my house went to pot and my kids ate the scraps they could come up with on their own out of the pantry. And speaking of pot, I would also like to give an honorable mention to Weeds, which also became available on Netflix and made me believe in my heart of hearts that I could be a really good drug dealer. If Nancy Botwin can do it, why can’t I?

2. Fun. Love their songs, and try as I might, I never got sick not one time of hearing them on every radio station every five minutes.

3. Wicked. We went to see it this summer with the girls and I have still not stopped listening to the music pretty much every day. Every song resonates with me in some way or another on this personal journey that I am on and I just love the stuffing out of that musical. Mia was Elphaba for Halloween and I cry tears of pride whenever she belts out Defying Gravity to strangers on the streets.

4. Organic Rooibus Vanilla Chai. My friend Altemar introduced us to it while he was here visiting and it has quickly become a cold weather favorite. It is naturally decaffeinated and for some strange reason you can get it at Big Lots for like two bucks a box. Best hot drink ever. Also, Rooibus tea is supposed to be really good for you so huge plus!!

5. The 17 Day Diet. I can’t remember if I have mentioned this here before but last year around this time my friend Tessa introduced it to me and I started on it. It was the best thing I have ever done weight loss wise to get rid of those last twelve pounds and even after 9 months I have managed to keep most of those pounds off, despite the assumption I had made that the drop in poundage was simply due to water weight loss and not actual fat. Guys. Seriously. I cannot say enough about how this diet has changed my life. Making food and sticking to a weekly menu has helped in decreasing my anxiety, increasing my energy, and fitting into jeans that I have kept in my closet for years and years “just in case”.

6. The high platform at the Oquirrh Mountain outdoor pool. We went there for Paiges end of summer karate party and I got dared to jump off the second to highest platform so I did, along with my new friend Leesa. I don’t know how to explain how something that is so seemingly mundane could change my year for the better but it did. I guess maybe because it has been a pretty long time since I have done anything I was scared to do and I didn’t die, and it was sort of awesome. It lead me to try some other things I wouldn’t generally do, like float down the provo river in water that had just been snow a few hours before on the Butler Family Camp Out, or hiking to a natural water slide and going down, twice. I feel like I really tried to have some life experiences in my own way after the big jump.

7. Paddle Boarding. I tried it for the first time with some dear friends in San Diego and it was hands down the most cathartic activity I have done all year long. There is something so spiritual about gliding over water at your own pace, something quiet about the dip and pull of the oars, something soul stilling about the entire activity.

8. Do Terra Oils. Look, I am not one of those people that totally buys into alternative medicine. I mean give me a giant dose of some narcotic that I have to show my drivers license in order to get from the pharmacy any day. But as I may have mentioned, I have anxiety and this year it got particularly difficult to control so when someone suggested I try some Bergamot and Lavendar oils and they worked like a charm, I was convinced. So I am totally onboard with Do Terra and if you want to try them, let me know, cuz now I know a guy.

9. Rodan and Fields. Before this year my beauty regimen consisted of washing my face with regular bar soap if and when I took a shower, followed by a slathering of vaseline intensive care body lotion on my face to keep it from peeling. No lie. My friend Amy at http://amygentili.myrandf.com turned me on to this stuff and it is amazing!!  Good bye fine lines and my skin feels baby butt soft every time I use the micro dermabrasion paste.  It was created by the same doctors that created proactive and I am telling you, it is great!!

10.  Travel, visits, family and friends.  We had been kind of hermits since Brett died, kind of hiding in our own grief, not ready or willing to let people in but this year we tried to be different.  We took a cruise with the girls, we went to St Lucia and photographed our amazing friends as they committed their love to one another, we spent ten glorious days in San Diego with family and friends, and we had some really incredible friends come and visit us on several occasions.  We hiked, we explored, we swam, we played, we rode the Alpine Slide, we made quick trips to vegas, it was fantastic.  There is no other replacement for friends.  They add incomprehensible value to life and am I so so thankful for all of mine, both the old and the ones I hope to get to know better in the coming year.

So there it is, my positive things only review of 2012.  I look forward to 2013 and the new experiences and relationships it will bring in.  Most of my goals center around quieting my mind, finding peace, finding divinity, and deepening relationships with those around me.  Oh and watching season three of Downton Abbey.  Or potentially starting a grow house, just to see if I can.  (disclaimer: I would never really do that, for one thing it is illegal, for another, I am way too lazy)

Oh and you get to see one picture, of my incredible friend Justin at a dinner he threw to benefit victims of hurricane sandy.  I adore him.

In other news, my cousin in law Nathan got married to Jennifer this weekend and I was on hand with my camera to photograph it. The light at the Tuscany is always incredible on the outside, but we had to shoot indoors for logistic reasons before the ceremony and it was super fun, I am just going to post a couple of my fave photos from in the dining room!

A giant shout out to Hollee for coming and second shooting with me, and another out to the wonderful Ginger of Bed of Roses in Lindon for not only making gorgeous florals and bringing up a box of live butterflys, but lugging a thousand cinderblocks up to the ceremony site for the table. You rocked that!!
We also had an amazing DJ but more on that in the next post!