I'm Going To Have Nightmares

Russell and I just watched The Dark Crystal. I am already scared of Muppets. Everything about them and their Muppet ways makes me feel uneasy. This movie was absolutely terrifying. Jim Henson is a total creep. How on earth did Russell and his siblings watch this as young children? Be warned. If you stumble across this film, know that its freaky bizarreness is not for the fainthearted. That is all.

Highlights Of 2009

2009 is over. All I can think about is how much I love the way I write the number 9, and how sad I am that that opportunity will not come near as often as it did.
Some of my highlights in the last year include:
-climbing to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos for a second time
-seeing my best friend get married in the temple
-visiting Canada
-turning 22
-reading a lot of good books
-going horseback riding
-celebrating our first wedding anniversary
-trying yoga for the first time and enjoying it
-conquering the stick shift
-moving out of our first married apartment
-earning my first 4.0 GPA in college, then earning another one the following semester
As I think back on 2009, I am flabbergasted at how fast it came and went. I am determined to make 2010 last, and enjoy the special moments just a little bit more.

Joyeux Noël

For us, December has been the most bustling month of the whole year. We both finished up busy semesters. This was my last one at BYU! The day after finals ended, Russ and I moved into my Nana's basement. That was a hectic and exhausting experience. Russell did all the moving and I did all the cleaning.

This is the Allenbach Christmas party that was held in the basement three days after we moved in. Russ and I helped Nana put up Christmas decorations and set up tables and chairs. She says we are a blessing to her. I think she is a blessing to us. Living with her is so great. She's so easy to be around and kind and accommodating and Russ and I are happy and comfortable there.

Since school got out, we've both been working full-time. We're exhausted and don't sleep in very much, but we're grateful for the extra money.

We went sledding with my best friend Melissa and her family up at Tibble Fork. She has a really sweet niece and a hilarious nephew that were so fun to sled down the hill with.

Let's talk about the Navidad! We had a beautiful Christmas with the Lee family in Logan.

Brian and Mary-Jane came home from Texas and joined us for a formal dinner on Christmas Eve, complete with Christmas crackers and crowns and prizes and what-have-you.

Auntie Carol also came up and made us all chuckle with her crown-turned-Batman mask.

We braved the bleak Logan winter night and went out caroling. We delivered these adorable Santa Pants filled with peppermint popcorn.

We had a shepherds' meal late Christmas Eve. This is a Lee tradition that I was excited to be a part of this year. It was so fun! We dressed like shepherds and watched a Nativity movie while eating unleavened bread and drinking sparkling cider out of wooden flasks.

Diane made us all matching jammies to wear on the special night. She's awesome.

Christmas morning was so fun. Russ and I unknowingly bought each other the same jacket.

The day after Christmas, we drove down to see my family and their favorite Christmas gift...a puppy named Sammy.

He's the cutest thing I have ever seen. I am not a dog person in the slightest and yet I find myself baby-talking him and cooing when he hops around and pounces on stuffed animals. See how close I am holding him to my face? What am I doing? Who have I become? How can you resist a face like that? Do you think I can complete this paragraph in questions? Do you dispute that I have just accomplished that feat?

Everybody is obsessed with this dog. He even received a green and blue argyle sweater for Christmas. Can we say favorite child?

We had a wonderful Christmas and we're now enjoying the rest of our winter break before Russell goes back to school and I start molding 15-year-old skulls of mush into sculptures of the Eiffel Tower. Or die trying.

Too Good To Be True

I promised myself I'd be on a social networking hiatus during this busy time of final papers and tests, but I absolutely can't resist posting this jewel from the Best of Police Beat:

"November 25, 2005: An unknown person used a washable wipe marker to write obscenities such as 'poo-poo' and 'poo' on a black Denali parked in Heritage Halls."

This is the funniest thing that I have read. Ever. Ever.

My Thoughts Right Now

Yesterday, a girl sitting by me in class asked to borrow a pencil. I searched through my bag and found my one and only mechanical pencil that I keep when I need to take a test. At the end of the period, I turned back to her and she had all her stuff packed up and was about to leave when I asked her for my pencil back. Awkward, but it is my only one. She reluctantly handed it back to me and I stuffed it in my bag, mad that I felt stupid about asking for my own pencil back. I pulled it out again today to use it on a test for my flexibility class. No matter how many times I clicked and clicked, no lead would come out. I took a closer look and discovered that the entire top of my precious mechanical pencil had been chewed and was now mangled and busted. Definitely not ideal.

Know what else is not ideal? Walking outside to find that your car, which has up to this point been nothing but a total lemon and a thorn in your side and needing expensive replacements far too often, has rolled down the driveway and crashed into the neighbor's tree.

Sometimes, while I'm walking around campus, I'll remember something funny and I'll start smiling uncontrollably. Today I thought about an apple that I saw at my family's house. It was on the counter and it had three tiny chipmunk bites taken out of it. Katie looked at it and said, "Mom, this is what happens when you give Emma a whole apple to eat."

Why hasn't it snowed? What is going on? I can't even listen to Christmas music because it feels like September. It's definitely cold enough in the mornings, but then the afternoons are just sunny. It's the first week of December and Timp is bare and still conquerable. I feel weird.

Moving is not a fun experience, but it is a good opportunity to get rid of some crap you've been holding onto for years. I am a very sentimental person and I have kept every birthday card anyone has ever given me. I just can't throw them away. It was only when I moved to BYU as a freshman that I finally found the wherewithal to chuck all my old notes from junior high that were folded in crazy ways and had "For Your Eyes Only!!" written on the front in pink glitter pen. Russell can't believe all the weird things I have kept and stashed away - little horse keychains, my old retainer, twelve best friend necklaces that Melissa has the other half to (as if just one necklace wouldn't have made a clear enough statement), magazine cutouts of Heath Ledger that I taped to my locker in tenth grade, a stack of burned CDs with songs from cool artists like Jewel and Matchbox 20, old bookmarks that I made in Young Womens...making this list is making me feel quite lame. It's also, however, filling me with some wonderful memories.

I got to ride my uncle's horse when we went to his house for Thanksgiving. It made me remember how much I want to have a horse of my own someday. I think Russell is okay with this dream. I think he will also be okay with being the official pooper scooper.

Life Is So Good Right Now

I saw New Moon on Thursday night at 12:45 A.M. What a joy. I did not go with Russell. If you read the post below, you'll know why. When I throw all my scruples and judgment and intellect to the wind, I actually enjoy these movies quite a bit. This one did not disappoint. My favorite part was driving to the theater with Ellen and seeing all the obsessed Twilight teens wearing cheap vampire makeup and eating Cheetos while wrapped up like burritos in their down comforters and laying in the parking lot. Some had been there for HOURS. Come on, people.

I think all my raving about shirtless Native Americans this weekend was starting to perturb Russell. He went to the gym on Saturday and worked out so hard he threw out his back. What is he, 65? Okay, actually he just pulled a muscle. He spent the whole morning yesterday lying flat on his back while I nursed him back to health with Ibuoprofen and hot water bottles. Luckily he is back to his spry and chipper self. And don't worry, I'd take him over any werewolf, any day.

This past weekend we played with both the Logan Lees and the American Fork Allenbachs. We went to Audrey's high school play. She had a solo and was fabulous. We ate yummy food and braved a snowstorm. I don't know if I'm ready for snow, but it's definitely beautiful. We went to my cousin Wade's wedding reception. Mazel tov. I watched Groundhog Day for the first time. We played Balderdash, that dictionary game. My favorite made-up definition: "Muntjac: a rare condition which causes the feet to corrode into a fine powder" (written by Daniel). Or maybe "Lekvar: A springboard mink trap used by fur traders" (written by my dad). Or maybe "Serry: A disease leading to the rapid yellowing and pickling of the liver" (written by Katie). Hilarious.

It's official. We're moving. It all happened so fast. We listed it online and within a day or two, an engaged couple came to see our apartment and then bought the contract. We're leaving right before Christmas and moving in with my Nana who has generously offered her basement to us. Along with a bedroom and tons of storage space, there's a piano and a fireplace and a huge plasma screen TV and a pool table. How could we refuse?

We're spending Thanksgiving at my uncle's house in Midway. It's nestled in the mountains and definitely has that "over the river and through the woods" feel to it. I can't wait to visit with my extended family and play games and eat myself into a food coma.

Narnia

Sometimes, Russell will go to the gym at night. I don't like being left alone, especially when it's dark out. I don't like the quiet and stillness that sets in. It makes me nervous. So I turn on the television for company while I do homework or pilates.
A few nights ago I watched "The Chronicles of Narnia" while Russell was gone. I love this movie. I have crushes on both Peter and Edmund (never mind that neither of them is older than 15 probably) and I love Aslan the lion and the whole Christian allegory. I try to forget that that creepy goat man with weird patches of hair all over his bare back is James McAvoy.
Russell came home right in the intense battle scene and started making all sorts of comments like, "I bet the guy in the yak suit thinks doing this movie was a huge mistake...I bet he never admits to his friends that he's in this movie" and "Wow...James McAvoy...really?" and "Is that beaver seriously wearing chain mail?" Of course I refused to answer him. But yes, if you must know, that beaver was wearing chain mail. It's a battle after all. And then Lucy started going around and healing people with her little bottle of medicine and Russell was like, "Where did she even get that?" And I said, "Santa Claus came to Narnia and gave it to her, remember?" And he just stared at me.
Moral of the story: If your husband is realistic and practical like mine, and what you are watching might be mocked relentlessly, wait by the window to see when he gets home so you can quickly change it to something age-appropriate.