Oh Christmas Tree! {Two Years}

I wasn't into blogging much at all last year so I didn't post pictures of our Christmas tree. So I figured I would put some of those up before putting up pictures of this year's tree!

Enjoy one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas songs while you enjoy a little bit of a picture overload!! 

December 2010 

{Our first Christmas together}

Now on to this year's Christmas tree decorating adventures! 

I LOVE this time of year! :]

And I love our new camera! I am still not very good at taking pictures but Race is having tons of fun with it! {It was more for him than anything!} 

We have a couple of traditions for decorating our tree {and I know you all want to hear all about them so here goes!}:

1. We buy/make one new ornament per year. 

2. We always put the star on last. 

3. We always listen to Christmas music on the record player. 

&

4. We always take lots of pictures!

What are some of your Christmas-tree-decorating traditions?

And do you have a favorite ornament? 

P.S. I used MyMemories Scrapbook Software for all the collages above and you can still use the coupon code from this post to get some awesome deals! Check 'em out! 

Happy December Everyone!! 

Sierra Trading Post Coupons

Pretty Pretty Pictures

We just got our pictures back from our photo shoot with Lauren of Busy Bee Lauren that we did a month or so ago and I've been LOVING looking through them! :] So I thought I'd better share some of them on the blog! Also, if any of you need photos for any event you should definitely contact Lauren! She is very talented!

We did these pictures for our anniversary {kinda} and are really loving how they turned out. 

Being in love and being married is so much fun!
And I'll end this post with some major catch-up on the many things that I am grateful for this month!

11.23.11 I am grateful for fun surprises. Life always has little surprises and Wednesday was full of them! It was a good day! :]

11.24.11 I am grateful for Thanksgiving! It is seriously one of the best holidays and it is always so filled with love and gratitude. And good food of course!
11.25.11 I am grateful for Black Friday deals! {And that Race didn't get trampled while he was getting our brand new camera!}

11.26.11 I am grateful for naps. I took TONS of naps this weekend and it. was. wonderful! 

11.27.11 I am grateful for a car that gets us safely to and from our families' houses. 

11.28.11 I am grateful for a cute husband who I get to cuddle with all the time. He makes me super happy. Seriously, finding the little things that I am grateful for each day has made me realize how lucky I am to be married to such a wonderful man{child}!
11.29.11 I am grateful for our Christmas tree! {Pictures to come!}
11.30.11 I am grateful for the example that my husband is to me. :]

What are you grateful for today? 

And what do you think about getting pictures taken every year for your anniversary? 

{I am not sure if we'll carry on this tradition but it was definitely fun to do it this year!}

I am Back! {Weekend in Photos}

There is so much I need to catch up on but it will stress me out if I try to get it all out in one post. So I just wanted to say that I'm back for real now! Thanksgiving weekend was absolutely wonderful! We loved spending time with both of our families and getting lots of rest! Here are some pictures!!

Oh, Race and I got a Canon Rebel T3 on Black Friday so we've been loving taking pictures with it! Race is way better at getting good pictures than I am but I'm still having lots of fun with it!

Baby Edmond in his cute plaid shirt. 

Cute nieces playing in the "castle" at Gram and Granddad's.

Shooting guns!

My hair from this tutorial. {It looked cooler in real life}

Thanksgiving day outfit.

{Breakdown: Shirt-Delia's $14, Skirt-Forever21 $6.50, Tights-borrowed.}

Twins. {Photo Credit to my brother Enoch I believe.} 

These boys were feeling sick so they cuddled up together and fell asleep. How cute is that?! 

This is my face at one in the morning. No makeup. Exhausted. And deathly white.

My sister might kill me for this but I think she's super cute! 

My sister-in-law Anetta and I.

The whole family! Only half of us were ready for this picture!

Jack & Madison. So cute! 

Madison makes the cutest faces! 

Grandma Georgia.

Cute cousin Hattie!

Ivy and her famous glare! {She does this on command! How funny is that!}

Tuck's awesome profile. 

Cute baby Madison and her faces again. :]

{Diaper changes are lots of fun!}

Ivy and her Granny Jo!

Some of our Christmas decorations! 

{Hopefully the tree is coming soon!}

How was your holiday weekend?! Did you brave Black Friday and get anything exciting?

Major Catch-up! {Weekend.Gratitude.}

I've been missing for a while now! I've been playing catch-up in school and now it's time to play catch-up on the blog!

First I'll update you all on my wonderful weekend! Friday was my youngest brother's birthday! He turned 12. I called him that morning to wish him a happy birthday and then I got 'roped into' visiting my family. I wasn't really roped into it though. My brother mentioned it and I knew that it would mean a lot to him if I came so I threw some stuff together and headed down to the valley. Unfortunately Race didn't get to come with me because we also had family coming to visit us in Flagstaff.

Friday night we celebrated my brother's 12th birthday and it was lots of fun. ALL of my siblings {except for my brother who is on a mission} were there with their spouses and cute babies. We ate yummy food, opened presents, ate delicious yogurt pie, and just enjoyed each others' company. It was a perfect evening.

Saturday was spent thrift shopping, getting some Christmas shopping done, and hanging out with family some more. I got to see my brother and sister-in-law's new house and it made me SUPER house hungry! I didn't even know that "house hunger" existed! But now I can't wait to get into a real home someday!

Sunday was spent going to church, hanging out with one of my cute nephews in the hallway, and being in the room while my brother received the Aaronic Priesthood. The Spirit in the room was AMAZING. And it is so crazy to think that Solomon was the last of the eight Olmstead boys to receive the priesthood! Sunday was a good day. :] It was followed by making pizzas for dinner and then driving back up to Flagstaff.

The weekend was a lot of fun but I really missed Race and he really missed me. It was funny because normally he does okay if I am gone for a couple of days but this time around he called me and left cute messages where he just kept saying how much he missed me and kept asking when I was going to be home. It was funny. I was so excited to see him and Sunday evening was spent enjoying lots of snuggles!

The birthday boy!

Edmond makes cute faces {when he's getting his diaper changed}!

Helena and I like to cuddle on the couch. Even when no one else is on it with us. 

Now for some things that I've been grateful for recently:

11.17.11 Sisters & Sisters-in-law

11.18.11 Celebrations with the family! {Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.}

11.19.11 Thrifting! I haven't been thrifting in a long time {especially since Flagstaff's thrift stores are kind of expensive and they don't have sales very often} so it was fun to go with my mum and sister-in-law for a little bit. My mom bought me a skirt and two shirts! For under $10! It was fun! 

11.20.11 I am so grateful for my brothers and their willingness to live righteously so that they can hold the Priesthood. It was amazing cramming my family in a little tiny room while my dad gave my brother the Priesthood. 

11.21.11 I am grateful for surprise date nights from my husband. We went and saw Breaking Dawn after making ourselves some dinner at home. This was the first time I had been to the movies in a while and I had forgotten how fun it is to cuddle up in a dark movie theater, eat some popcorn, talk about the previews, and giggle about silly things in the movie. It was also fun to play each other in Scrabble on my phone before the movie started! I was totally beating Race. :] Otherwise I might not have mentioned how fun it was to play! 

11.22.11 Today I am grateful that I got two tests out of the way! 

How were all of your weekends? What did you do? And what are you grateful for today? 

Guest Post: Brooke of Silver Lining

I'm super excited to introduce you to Brooke of Silver Lining! I posted on her blog last week {check it out here} and now she's taking over my blog! Brooke is awesome! Her blog is all about finding the silver lining in everything that she does and let me tell you--she's a pro at it! So go and check it out after you read her amazing post here! {I didn't give her any direction or ideas for this post but she came up with something AWESOME!} 


READ ON!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hey there!

I'm Brooke. I blog over at Silver Lining. Emma asked me to guest post today {yes, ok, fine, if you insist, just to be gracious, not like I'm super honored or anything}. I'd love to ramble on and on in this post about my everyday life, being a newlywed, and the small things that make life so full of silver linings.

But I do that all the time at my blog. Instead, I thought I'd be concise today. So I'm doing 6-word memoirs.

Have you guys heard of six-word memoirs? 

Basically, Ernest Hemingway was once asked to write a six-word short story. This is what he came up with:

For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Stories don't have to be long. They don't have to be fancy or filled with big words. Either do blog posts. So here are some 6-word memoirs I came up with on the spot. Enjoy!

Me:

One cavity, one speeding ticket, summer freckles.

Husband:

Saving the world with hand-eye coordination.

Us:

Snuggling trumps to-do lists, no exceptions.

Our big day:

His black tux- something important happened?

Currently thinking:

Keep blogging or vacuum hairy spider?

And:

Elephant paradise involves antiquity and talcum.

And:

My bangs are growing out awkwardly.

Okay, I better stop before I get carried away with this :) Now it's your turn! Make up a 6-word memoir. The first thing that comes to mind. I dare you! Leave it in a comment, or else hop on over to my blog and tell me your memoir.

Thank you so much Emma for letting me invade your adorable blog! 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Brooke just seriously wowed me! I LOVE these six-word memoirs. But let's be honest, I haven't written one yet because I'm afraid it will suck. Brooke wrote so many wonderful ones though! I guess I can give it a try! 


Here goes {on what I'm doing RIGHT now}:
Christmas music fills me with joy.
No snuggle time- UGH video games! {Haha}
Nap time ruined my bedtime. Oops!


Well, there are a few for you! Now give it a go and then head over and check out Brooke's wonderful blog! {And share your six-word memoirs with her!}


Thanks for guest posting Brooke!!


P.S. Today I am grateful for WORDS. It's amazing what we can 
use our words for and how other peoples' words can change our lives. 


P.P.S. Check out my new blog button over to your right! 
It was made by Daryl of Roots, Wings, and Other Things. 
She is amazing at all things Blog Designing so you should check her out!

Fashion Guest Post: Autumn

I'm excited to have Autumn of Stay gold, Autumn posting on my blog today! Autumn is one of my swap sponsors and she is one of my wonderful blog friends! I absolutely adore her clothes, she takes gorgeous pictures, and her words are always inspiring. You can see her blog here, her button to your right, and another guest post by her here! Have fun viewing Autumn's very first {I'm pretty sure} outfit post!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma always has the cutest outfits and so I decided to try my hand at my very first fashion post.

 Cardigan - Macey's

Blue shirt - Sam's Club

Gray under shirt - Bella Bird at Walmart

Blue jeans - Levi's 524 skinny cut

Shoes - Walmart...from high school 

Headband - Provo farmer's market 

Belt - random store in Arkansas

Coat....yeah, I should have been wearing one.

Since beginning teaching I have found myself in a rut with my hair and clothes; this rut is called having to leave our apartment at 6:50 AM for work. Until I began blogging I thought people were born with innate talents of mixing and matching clothes.  What am I realizing?  Like every talent, some people are naturals, but we all have to practice.  For me?  I didn't really start practicing until I came to BYU. Someone once told me with my body type I shouldn't wear an empire waist anything- that person was silly and I have a beautiful empire-waist cut wedding dress in my closet.  Someone else once told me cargo pants would be slimming on me in middle school....what?! What I do know?  I try on a lot of different types of clothes and I'm often surprised at how they fit or lay.  I know that I often try a little too hard to blend in, but at the end of the day?  My husband thinks I'm pretty and that's really all that matters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I LOVE her outfit! Don't you?! And I agree that in the end if my husband thinks I'm pretty it really doesn't matter if I blend in. I love that! Thank you for this wonderful post Autumn! Can I borrow your outfit?!

P.S. Today I am grateful that I am more than halfway done with this semester. And way more than halfway done with college! One and a half more semesters!! 

ReBlog.

I guest posted over Brooke's blog Silver Lining last week. 
It was all about Winter Dressing and I 
just wanted to share it all with you. 
I added in where everything is from. Enjoy!! :]


Emma's Tips on Winter Dressing:
 I am fairly new to the whole winter dressing thing as I grew up in Chandler, AZ where it does not get cold. I moved to Flagstaff, AZ where it snows just about as much as it does in Utah. In fact, a couple of years ago it snowed more in Flagstaff than in anywhere else in the US {excluding Alaska}! That year was awesome. Our finals were cancelled! Anyway, I'm off topic! This year will be my fourth winter in my life so here are some little tips and tricks that I have learned on how to stay warm {in no particular order}!

Warm boots are a must have!
From left to right:
Land's End- $40{?}
Kohl's- $8
Kohl's- $15

Scarves! Wear them over or under your jackets and outfits. 

Either way they keep your neck nice and toasty warm!

Top Left: Old Navy- $5

Top Right: H&M- Scarf Swap!

Bottom Left: WalMart $3

Bottom Right: Old Navy- Gift!

Tights! I wear tights with everything! I even wear them under my jeans when it gets super cold. 

But they're much cuter when paired with a skirt or dress!

Top Left: Charlotte Russe- $3

Top Right: Old Navy- $2

Bottom Left: Target- $5

Bottom Left: Charlotte Russe- $3 

Cardigans & Sweaters {layers!}

Layer everything with a cardigan or sweater for extra warmth!

Top Left: Target $8

Top Right: Old Navy- $3

Bottom Left: Target- $4

Bottom Right: Target- $6

Cute coats! Every year I like to add a coat {or two} to my ever-growing collection. 

A cute coat on top of your outfit makes everything just that much classier!

{Other tips: Coats can make a boring outfit look super cute! And every year OldNavy has coat sales sometime before 

Christmas where almost all of their 

coats are 50% off. Look for those!! I am pretty sure they have that sale going on RIGHT NOW!}

Top Left: Old Navy- $10

Top Right: Target- $6

Bottom Left: Charlotte Russe- $10

Bottom Right: Newport Beach- $20

Hats/Earwarmers!

Keep those ears nice and cozy with a cute hat or some earwarmers. 

I just learned how to make earwarmers thanks to Pinterest! 

Top Left and Bottom Right: Made by my sister-in-law- GIFT!! 

Top Right and Bottom Left: Made by me from old t-shirts- FREE!!

Well, that's all I have for you today!

Dress warm and enjoy the winter!! :]

Today I am grateful for my adorable new blog design! {I seriously can't stop looking at it! Teehee!} 

What are you grateful for?
And what are your tips for staying warm during the winter?