Gobble Gobble

I didn't take many pictures, but we did have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We ate dinner with my Mom's huge extended family, and then we ate another dinner a few hours later with Scott's family. We were stuffed, but it was all delicious! All but one of my sisters were in town, and all but one of Scott's sisters were in town, so we did our best to split the time between our families. Here are the only pics I took:

My family made the trek to Salem Pond to feed the ducks the day after Thanksgiving. Scott and my nephew Joseph preferred to throw bread at the ducks... Too bad I didn't get a picture of us all playing with the huge parachute in the gym at my mom's school. Super fun!

Scott's nephews and nieces. Even though the Carter adults don't like to have their pictures taken, they are pretty darn fun to play games with! I especially enjoyed my brother-in-law's impersonation of me playing games. :)

Scott and I attended the BYU vs. Utah game on Saturday. It was cold, fun, and very intense. Go Cougs!

Scott was right, I was wrong

There. I said it. And it isn't the first time. (And I'm not talking about In N Out.)
Let me back up by saying that about a month ago, Scott asked me if we had anything planned for November 14th. I said no, and he said to keep it open. He then told me that he had made an impulse buy and thought I might hate it. I started to imagine a few things he may have planned for my birthday gift, but I couldn't figure it out. Well, a few days before my birthday, I picked up the mail and saw an envelope addressed to Scott marked "artTix." Being the good wife I am, I didn't open it but took it inside and then pestered Scott to let me open it early. He gave in, and I tried not to feel too disappointed when I saw that he was going to take me to Bravo Broadway with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. He said (again) that he thought I wouldn't like it and that it could just be his Christmas gift from me. (He didn't explain until many days later that he originally bought the tickets thinking that it would be fun to hear one of the original actresses who played Elphaba in Wicked sing some of the songs from the play because Scott and I started having stronger feelings for each other on a trip to CA to see Wicked.) Anyway, at first I tried pretty hard not to feel or act disappointed. But as the evening wore on, I let my thoughts run wild about how sad it is for me that Scott can't think of things that I would really like to receive as gifts (I won't go into the history there). I think I'm a pretty easy person to shop for because I am always expressing my opinion about what I do and don't like or want. And I really don't care about the size or cost of a gift. I just like it to be thoughtful. Anyway, I moped all weekend, and then I decided that we needed to compromise. I don't want to have to tell Scott exactly what to get me, but I shouldn't just expect him to catch all my hints. So we decided that we will each make a wish list, and then we can choose from that list. This way, we will both get what we want and still have an element of surprise. I hope it works...
So how did I like Bravo Broadway, you ask? Well, that's the part I was wrong about. I really liked it. Scott initially thought I might like it, and I did. It was fun to hear different songs from different musicals by famous singers/actors and a great symphony. But it was more fun to get dressed up and spend the evening with Scott. I really love that I LOVE to just be with him.

Before the show, we ate dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake. Yum! Scott had never eaten there before, and I hadn't been in years.

Scott and me in front of the funky sculpture in the lobby of Abravanel Hall.
I love Scott! And for the record, he is very thoughtful.

Question

I have a question that has recently come to my attention. What in the world is so amazing about IN-N-Out Burger? I know there are a lot of people out there that think it is the best burger place int he world, my wife being one of those. I for one don't get it. They have recently opened a few locations along the Wasatch front and I hear reports that the people slept outside just to be one of the first to eat at these new stops. It is a mystery to me what about IN-N-OUT is so amazing. I think their food is maybe a little above average for fast food, but it is certainly nothing to get too excited about. I have never understood Mary Ann's constant need to eat there whenever we have been in Las Vegas, St. George or anywhere else that might have an
IN-N-OUT. I pretty much thought that she was a special case and that most people were not nearly as obsessed, I guess I was wrong. Anyway I guess I might be in the minority. For those of you out there who love IN-N-OUT please explain what is so wonderful about it, and why so many people are so thrilled to have one close.

Birthday = Good Times

Well, I turned 33 on Monday, but I spent the entire weekend celebrating...

Friday: Lunch with several friends (former co-workers) and Red Mango with a couple of friends that I've known since elementary school.

Saturday: Dinner at the Pizza Factory with my fam to celebrate my twin nephews' birthday which is actually today. I know the celebration wasn't really for me, but it feels like it's for me whenever I get to spend time with cute Cole, Clay, and Faith.

Cole & Clay with their gifts. I know, they don't look like twins.

Saturday night: Karaoke party with friends and siblings. Rock on!

Friends & fam at the karaoke party. All of our friends are from our former singles ward or from my mission.

Scott thought he wasn't in the picture. Ha ha.

Stacey, Melissa, & Carla gave me an AMAZING gift--replacing some Cubs treasures that got stolen along with my car.

Sunday: Dinner & cake & ice cream at my parents' house in Salem. The highlight of the evening: Faith, Cole, and Clay putting on an amazing show for me. Really wish I had pics/video of that.

Monday (my actual birthday): I slept in, watched the Price Is Right, read, went to lunch with a friend (former co-worker), read some more, avoided doing any work, played with my gifts, got a great visit from my niece and nephews, ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with Scott and our good friend Carla, and spent the evening watching the first season of Alias (our weekly date with Carla).

Yeah, we had to take our cheesecake to go, but we did eat it that night.

It was a GREAT birthday! Thank you for all the fabulous birthday wishes!

Weekend o' Halloween

Here are some pics from our weekend of Halloween fun:

On Thursday afternoon, I got to help out in my nephew Cole's 1st grade classroom for his Halloween party. So much fun!

Then I got to watch the school parade. This is Cole the Red Power Ranger.

And Clay the race car driver.

And Faith the Egyptian princess. This is how she posed every time she said "trick or treat."

This is me as Brigitta Von Trapp (for the 3rd year in a row). I dressed up Thursday for our ward Halloween party, Friday for a fun Halloween party thrown by Scott's brother and his wife, and also on Saturday to go trick or treating with Faith, Cole, and Clay. Scott hates to dress up and just wore a straw hat to the party on Friday night and said he was a drunk Mexican. Don't worry--he's not racist. There's a story behind it...

Halloween night I carved my pumpkin, and Scott cut up his pumpkin and another one to cook and puree to freeze for use in lots of yummy pumpkin soup this winter. No, Scott isn't stoned or drunk--just tired.

Here's my amazing pumpkin (can you guess what C is for) next to our spooky haunted house. We spent the rest of Halloween evening roasting pumpkin seeds, watching a dumb "scary" movie, and not getting a single trick or treater. I guess next year we should make sure we replace the burnt out bulb in our porch light.

My Semi-Brunette Self

A couple of weeks ago I finally did what I've been thinking of doing for quite some time. I had my hair dyed darker instead of having my normal blond highlights done. I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. First, I'm trying to cut down on the cost of having my hair weaved every few months. Second, I've wondered for a long time what my natural color really is these days. So I asked my hairdresser to match the dark blond hair at the top of my neck. It ended up quite dark, and I felt like a brunette for the first time in my life (even though the dye color was actually called dark blond). Unfortunately, it was a pretty ugly dishwater blond color, and the ends seemed to have a greenish/grayish tint to them. Fortunately, that color only lasted a few days. My hair has rebelled against being brunette and has become blonder and blonder as I wash it. It's still not nearly as blond as it was, but I like to think that it is looking more natural and less ugly. I guess only time will tell what my natural color really is. I'm really hoping for dark ash blond. Without further ado, the before and after pics:

This is right after my haircut and color a few months ago.

And this is me about 9 days after becoming a "brunette." I know it's not that dark, but it's definitely a change for me. Maybe I'll dare go truly dark one of these years, but I think in my heart I'll always be blond.