Nephew News..

My nephew actually rolled over. Collin is two weeks old and he rolled over all on his own. We were shocked!!!!!! He has gotten really close to rolling over many times since but we still can't believe how strong he is. He is already able to hold his head up, too! It has been so fun spending time with my family!! 

Christmas events part I

This is our first married Christmas together! It was so nice to spend it together and not go our separate ways at night! The other bonus is not having to work on wedding announcements. We spent the entire break last year doing wedding stuff. 

 Shaun and I enjoyed our Christmas decorations for a few weeks and after school was out we packed up and headed to Idaho. Shaun and I didn't want to take our Christmas gifts with us so we had a quick pre-Christmas at our house in Utah. Shaun gets SO excited for Christmas. I think he gets more excited than some of my first graders. I love this about him!  He definitely had no objections to pulling out the gifts before Christmas! 

Christmas break has been SO much fun! Shaun and I made it to Idaho in between storms. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we were literally dumped on with snow. It was so fun to watch it snow and even better having no where to go!!! 

My family is doing SO well!! It has been so much spending time with them. Shaun is even enjoying his stay with the in-laws! 

More to come with pictures!!

Do you have a hacker on your computer?

It's me (Shaun) again. I'm really excited about a new interent search engine called Chrome from Google. If you've already fallen asleep, wake up; I won't make this too boring :) . Just to make you aware, Internet Explorer (IE), which is used by 70% of population, is a great way for hackers to steal important informaiton from you. The latest and biggest problem in the history of IE has affected millions of users. Apparently there is a flaw in IE's software allowing hackers to infect your computer with a Trojan horse virus which scans your hard drive for personal information. This virus infects every version of IE to date, even IE 8 Beta 2. 

There are much better and safer search engines out there. I've used Mozilla Firefox for years and it has been better and much safer, but I dumped it two days ago for the best search engine yet. It's called Chrome from Google. It is a million times faster than IE and it has a simple interface. I put it on Nicolette's slow school computer. It was so slow that she had to check her email at home before she went to school. After installing Chrome her internet was faster than ever. She loves it too and feels it is so easy to use. For the safety of your online bank account information, and all of your user names and passwords, dump IE and treat yourself to Chrome. You can download it in seconds from http://www.google.com/chrome, and for more info go to http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html. To read more about the Trojan horse, here is a link for that as well http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24813650-661,00.html.

Shaun's a Law Breaker

Since I finished my finals yesterday and Nicolette is at school, I've decided it's time for me to post again.

I've determined that Provo police have nothing better to do than give out parking violations. I'm beginning to think that the entire city is built on the backs of paid parking tickets. They've done nothing to fix their parking problems; my parents remember having parking issues when they attended BYU decades ago. Action to correct the parking problems would stop Provo's revenue. (Okay, it's not really that bad. Mainly I'm just bitter that I lost the bragging rights to driving eight years accident free without even getting pulled over.) I got my first parking ticket. Luckily they don't appear on your driving record.

I had to pay $30 dollars because I parked within 15' of a fire hydrant that was next to a dirt field. I know, the dirt may have spontaneously combusted in December and may have even burned Provo to the ground. I thought I was safe because the curbing was red-lined for about 8' from the hydrant until the curb dipped for what will someday be an entrance to an apartment complex. I also see someone parked there daily. I bet that violators have complained hundreds of times that the curb is not red-lined out to 15'. That spot just makes Provo too much money for city officials to care.

Frankly, I had completely forgotten the exact distance a car must be from a hydrant. To remind everyone of the parking rules they have forgotten from Driver's Ed, here's the checklist printed on the parking ticket to expedite ticket writing and prevent hand-cramping:

1. Blocking a Driveway - $25
2. 15' of a Fire Hydrant - $30
3. 20' of a Crosswalk or Intersection - $25
4. Parking on Sidewalk - $30
5. Painted Line/Curb/Sign Violation - $30
6. Red Curb - $30 (I don't see how this is different from number 5; maybe it's an attempt to create a list of 10 violations.)
7. Time Restriction - $25
8. Registration/Plate violation - $30 (Yes, they did forget to capitalize violation.)
9. Disability Space Violation - $125
10. Facing Traffic or 12" From Curb - $30

Don't worry I promptly paid Provo City their $30 dollars, and they made it simple. Just log onto www.payprovo.com. They accept BOTH Visa and Mastercard.

Drive safe in the snow, and mind where your park :)

My Nephew is here!

My Sister had her baby! Yea! He is the cutest thing ever! He was born on Wednesday, December 10th at 5:00. Weighing 9 lbs 7 oz. and he was 22 1/2 in long! He is one big boy!!
They named him Collin Murray Talbot.

My Brother-in-law is currently in Medical school so when my sister was rushed to have a c-section he was able to be part of the action! My sister and Collin are both doing great!!! Ü

This is my mom! She flew out to NY to help with the new arrival.

My sister is amazing! Collin looks exactly like her! Big eyes, cute nose, and nice lips!
I really look up to her! I can't wait until it's my turn to hold Collin!

a few of my favorite things

Christmas Season is here!!!! This year it has been so fun to actually decorate our own place for Christmas. Sorry if you are getting tired of looking at our house. That is about the only big thing that seems to change in our lives. Ü
Anyway, Shaun and I first began the process by pulling out what decorations we had. AKA, my box of stuff. Last year my sister gave us some fun Christmas balls. That was a great start. My mom also let us borrow a fake Christmas tree. Yea...2 for 2.
Then, we went through all of the random things I have collected. To put it nicely, most of these items were rejected...let's just say tacky teacher gifts! Their were a few keepers that I was not giving up. Shaun was good about letting me decide what I wanted to keep.

Santa srame...a gift from school last year! I Love this big guy and put a
picture of my family in there.

This was a gift from a coworker. It goes perfect in our bathroom vanity!

We can't leave out our nativity scene! This was a gift from my sister. I can't get over the little baby ducky. He is attached to the mom. Ü

Our Tree! I loved how it turned out!
When we were at Robert's Shaun fell in love with the little owls.
I was not too hot on them at first, but I gave in and bought him some for our tree.
When I went looking I literally bought the last ones in the store.
They wouldn't let me buy the one off of their display. :(
I really really love the baby owls. Shaun was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Now for the shelf...This shelf has been my favorite to decorate.
The tree on the left is SO cool. Shaun and I both loved it.
We got it at 50% off. Yea for coupons.
The only other requirement I had for Christmas decorations was berries.
We also found these strands on sale.

The final touch:
All through high school I was in a performing group. Each year we sang literally 40 + Christmas concerts all around the community. Although the extent of my singing right now is the ward choir, one of my favorite things is to have Christmas music playing all of the time. The song I added to our blog is Josh Groban's "Thankful" song from his Christmas CDs. Take time to listen to the lyrics and I promise it will put you in the Christmas spirit.
Merry Christmas to all!

Super Saturday

Today was a major accomplishment!!! I want everyone to know that I survived Super Saturday. I am the Enrichment Counselor in my ward and between my Enrichment leader and I we had less than a month to come up with projects, get things arranged, and pull all the the logistics together. Those of you who have ever attended a Super Saturday know exactly what I am talking about.
But...proudly I can say within the 3 weeks of planning I only had two meltdowns and three nightmares about things falling apart. Now that it is all said and done, things worked out great.
Lastly, I am really grateful for a husband who is so supportive and willing to do anything to help me, especially through days like today. Life is good!

Tag...

My cousin tagged me a couple of weeks ago and I finally have time to blog...Sorry that I took so long Christy!

My 5 favorite restaurants:
PF Changs
Mimi's Cafe
Cafe Rio
Tastee Treat
Kneaders

5 things I did yesterday:
Go to the gym
Eat breakfast with my family
work on a sewing project
Clean the church
Eat dinner and watch a movie with Shaun

5 things I look forward to:
Shaun having a break from school...
Christmas break with the family
My brother's wedding
Visiting my sister & brother-in-law in NY
My Super Saturday turning out

5 things I love about fall:
Driving through Provo Canyon
Pulling out my winter clothes
Making soup
Cuddling up in a blanket
beautiful sunsets

5 things on my wish list:
A nice and affordable house
a good job for Shaun
Good kids
a trip to London (Shaun's Mission)
A piano

5 favorite things to do:
Spend time with Shaun
Spend time with my family
Work on projects
Teaching my 1st graders
Just being outside

Tag...
Ben
Seleta
Jess & melissa
Aimee

I am going to be an Uncle

When I was in college my roommates and I would joke that if someone was having a girl you were going to be an "aunt" if someone was having a boy then that would make you an "uncle." Well, I am here to tell everyone that I am going to be an Uncle. My sister is having a baby boy in about 4 weeks. This is the first grandchild in the family so it is quite a big deal. I wanted to make my little nephew something so fun and warm for those cold nights... and maybe, just maybe, secretly I made it so he would think I am the BEST aunt ever! Ü When I saw this material I had to get it!! And since Shaun is always busy with school I thought this blanket would be a great project.

I borrowed Shaun's mother's sewing machine and away I went. Since it has been literally years since I have touched a sewing machine and quilting frames Shaun's cousin got me started and away I went.


This is the final project. My sister and her husband live in NY so I had to wait a few days before she could open it. And She loved it! YEA for a successful project!!

These monkey's are SO adorable!

Way to Go, Idaho

Shaun and I went to Idaho a few weekends ago to attend a symphony concert. My mom is on the symphony board and bought some extra tickets. This is the first year in twenty that they have had a new conductor. Let's just say the new conductor is amazing!!
The cool part about all of this is the new Performing Arts Center. It was built just a few years ago and is completely breath taking...especially because it is in Pocatello! Shaun said several times that he couldn't believe little old Pocatello had a performing arts center like this.

They have several different venues all designed to perfection. The main hall was built with such state of the art acoustics that performers speaking on the stage can be easily heard without a microphone to the back of the concert hall. WOW!! Don't bring any candy or the front row will hear you opening your wrappers.



This is a model of what the entire center looks like...





I just LOVE the windows on the bottom floor! They are two stories high.



This concert featured an amazing violinist named Corey Cerovsek. As some of you may know my husband is a very very good violinist. We couldn't believe when we heard that Corey's violin used to be owned by PAGANINI, a famous violinist. It was made over 250 years ago by Stradivarious. Corey does not own the violin; he has been "borrowing" it for a few years. I definitely wouldn't let a multi-million dollar piece of wood out of my sight! I think he had body gaurds for the violin. Ü


After the concert we attended the reception for the artist, Corey. This guy was AMAZING! Shaun said he is probably one of the top ten violinists in the world. It was incredible!! What's even cooler is that Shaun got to actually talk to Corey for a few minutes about his music, etc. Corey seemed impressed with Shaun's knowledgeable questions!
THANKS mom and dad for giving us your extra seats. The night was unforgetable.

Fall is here!

Fall is Here!

It is so fun having a place I can finally decorate without roommates that add a little here and add a little there so in the end it just looks tacky. During the conference weekend I went shopping with my mom. I was in luck because everything was already 50% off. (The Christmas displays were already up and running...shouldn't they have a law about such things?) My mom and I found a few things but not everything so Shaun and I went looking this week and had great success!
Yea for good deals!
We didn't get too fancy but enough to make it feel like fall at our house. Ü



This wreath was already put together. We added a little more color to brighten it up. It is so fun having something on our door.

This shelf has officially become the "holiday shelf." We can change things up a bit but still have a clean, uncluttered look. I LOVE how it turned out!!!

fixing up the house Part II

So...we have had our house done for a while;
it is now time to share our hard work with all of you!

Check out the transformation:

Here are a few pictures of the "dirty work." Most of you know how much I HATE having clutter. At our house we call this "project mode" Project mode is when everything has to be out and Shaun leaves his tools and supplies everywhere. Don't worry, I still love him in project mode. Ü









As you can see I got the best job! I got to clean out
all of the vents. At our house there is no such thing
as doing a project halfway.


Before and After Pictures:

The kitchen looks about the same...just a new coat of paint.


The office:
Step 1-assess the damage
The previous owners seemed to like Cardboard brown. This picture doesn't do this ugly room justice. We knew the brown had to go!



Step 2: Patching the holes
I thought I hated cleaning vents. Patching holes was worse. Take a look at where these holes are. Shaun and I couldn't figure out why they needed so many random holes!




I mean, look at this horrible ceiling line. Shaun had to literally hand
paint along the ceiling line to make it look decent.
After!



The livingroom



After!!
Yes, this is the infamous ceiling fan!

Those of you that are thinking...they are so rich they have a beautiful painting on their wall. The truth is we found it on sale for 75% off because the frame was broken. Shaun decided to try and fix it and it turned out great!! A little Gorilla glue goes a long way!
Shaun's hands were sticky for at least a week! Next time maybe he will wear gloves.
Knowing my Husband, though. He will forget! Ü Did anyone notice that the curtains match the chairs
Shaun fixed? We had some extra material!


Before:
I know, a big wall should not have little pictures!
That was all we had at th moment... :(

After!!
We found this shelf at IKEA. Gotta love that store!!



This is the bedroom set we got over the summer
We found it at a retirement sale and couldn't believe
The deal!!! We both absolutely loved it!



Overall I learned some valuable lessons:
Shaun is very messy when working on projects.
Lows is NOT your friends.
Home Depot is great! We made friends with the paint mixer guy.
Shaun is very patient with my lack of experience in fixing up a house
Shaun and I have the same taste---So nice!!
The mess is worth the beautiful results.

My 26th Birthday

Thursday was my 26th Birthday! It was a great day! Shaun made me waffles and then I was off to school.

My little brother, Joseph, called and sang Happy Birthday to me. At the end he told me to mail him a piece of cake. Ü

Here are a few of my baby memories...


These next two pictures are mostly for my sister. We loved playing together all growing up.



Don't worry...I am on the left... no wonder we rarely had pets. J/K


Now we are at the present! I am married to the most amazing guy!! He treats me like a queen!



Shaun and I went to PF Chang's to celebrate!! The waitress asked me how it felt to be over a quarter of a century old... I did not like that question...she looked about 20.


Shaun made me a three layer Chocolate cake!!
It was made with dutch chocolate...YUMMMY!


This is where the night ended...me asleep on the couch while Shaun was watching The presidential debate. The cool part in this picture is the blanket I am using. Shaun's parents gave it to me for my Birthday. When Shaun and I were engaged I borrowed it to have a bed spread. I got really attached to it for some reason. It is Shaun's grandmother's blanket she made years ago. She has passed on now but I feel very fortunate to have a part of her in our home. Ü

Shaun started back at BYU today so our Summer is officially over. :( I thought it would be fun to share a few more highlights before school gets busy...Enjoy

Last Trip to Idaho-My Brother Ben's Birthday

We decided to take one more trip to Idaho before I started school. It worked out perfectly as it was my Brother's 24th birthday. Ü
We went swimming, played games, and Shaun and I even went on a double date with my brother's girlfriend- Sarah

Check us out!
Isn't my little brother Joseph getting so big?

I forgot to mention that Shaun ended up spending the last 24 hours of our trip fixing my parent's computer. Their antiviral program had been out of date since 2005. Needless to say, it had many many viruses on there including over a dozen trojans. ( I found out that these are not so nice to computers) Anyway, Shaun got things up and running for them and the trip was a success.


Then of course we can't forget the weddings we went to. One of the best parts was meeting up with old friends and family that we rarely see. It was great!!

Shaun's cousin, Becky. Becky & Seth got married in the Manti Temple


Shaun was having fun with our camera






Shaun's good friend Boyd Bills:
Boyd and Allison were married in august in the SLC temple.


My Friend Whitney:
Whitney & Jason's wedding was beautiful and sweet.


The fun part of this wedding was that we were actually the decorating crew for his sweet car, a Mercedes. Shaun and I found these little tiny plastic babies. We didn't get pictures of this but we put these little babies everywhere. We even had them climbing up the air vents in the car. It was hilarious. It we get some pictures I will definitely blog them.

Also, weird enough my dental hygentist was also there. Small world. She knew Jason from his Mission in Vagas.











All in all Shaun and I had a fantastic summer together! Now, back to life... back to reality.